BJP, CONG CONTINUE TO SPAR OVER RAGHUL GANDHI’S WORDS IN LONDON

The BJP yesterday accused Rahul Gandhi of insulting India's democracy from foreign land and lashed out for his trenchant criticism of the govt and RSS at events in Britain, claiming it is its clear conviction that he is completely in the grip of "Maoist thought process through his minions" and also "anarchist elements".

Addressing a press conference, former Union minister and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad also expressed his party's disapproval of Gandhi "misusing the forum of British Parliament" to "insult" India by spreading "shameful" lies and unfounded claims, and said there needed to be a "proper rebuttal".

He accused the Congress leader of seeking to shame India's democracy, polity, Parliament, judicial system and strategic security from a foreign land with his speeches in Britain.

If people of India do not support him and he keeps losing elections, then he should not tell lies from a foreign country to vent out his frustration, Prasad said.

The BJP leader sought reactions from Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge if he "feels" that he is an elected president of the party. He and his predecessor Sonia Gandhi should make their stand clear on Rahul Gandhi's "utterly irresponsible" statements and whether the opposition party supports them or not, Prasad said.

Gandhi told British parliamentarians in London on Monday that microphones in front of opposition members in Lok Sabha are often silenced.

During an event organised by ] Opposition Labour Party MP Virendra Sharma within the House of Commons complex, he said opposition parties in India are often not allowed to debate issues in Parliament.

Prasad said Gandhi has forgotten all parliamentary norms, political propriety and "democratic shame" by criticising Indians from abroad.

He also said the RSS could be called a “secret society” that is built along the lines of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist organisation, banned in several countries for terror links.

The Congress slammed Ravi Shankar Prasad, accusing him of distorting, twisting and lying "with a straight face". "Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad is doing what he and his Supremo do best-- distort, twist, defame and lie with a straight face," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a tweet.

Tagging a media report on Prasad's remarks at the presser, Congress' media department head Pawan Khera said on Twitter, "There is nothing more amusing than watching an unemployed leader of a ruling party trying to seek relevance and re-employment."

"Those who have a full time job of twisting statements of opposition leaders forget their own favourite slogan 'Ab Kii Baar, Trump Sarkaar'," Khera said.

INDIA TO SEND 20,000 MT OF WHEAT TO AFGHANISTAN

India yesterday said it will send 20,000 metric tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan. It will be sent through the Chabahar Port in Iran.

The first meeting of the India-Central Asia joint working group on Afghanistan in New Delhi also witnessed a resolve by the participating countries exploring ways to jointly counter threats of terrorism, extremism, radicalisation and drug trafficking in the region.

A joint statement said the meeting emphasised the importance of formation of a “truly inclusive and representative political structure” that respects the rights of all Afghans and ensures equal rights of women, girls and members of minority groups, including access to education.

The joint statement said India announced the supply of 20,000 metric tonnes of wheat assistance to Afghanistan in partnership with UN World Food Programme through Chabahar Port.

Months after the Taliban captured power in Kabul in August 2021, India had announced an assistance of 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat to Afghan people as they were reeling under a severe food crisis. Subsequently, the consignments were sent to Afghanistan using the land route through Pakistan.

Besides host India, the meeting was attended by special envoys or senior officials of the Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Country representatives of the UN Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) and UN World Food Programme (UNWFP) also participated in the meeting.

MODI ATTENDS OATH TAKING CEREMONIES IN MEGHALAYA AND NAGALAND

National People’s Party (NPP) president Conrad K Sangma was sworn in as the Meghalaya Chief Minister along with 11 members of his Council of Ministers, while in Nagaland the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) leader Neiphiu Rio took oath as the CM for the fifth term.

Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah attended the oath-taking ceremonies in Meghalaya’s capital Shillong and Nagaland’s Kohima.

Sangma, who became the CM of the northeastern state for the second time in a row, said his focus would be on sectors that could provide large-scale employment.

With his fifth term, Rio has become the longest-serving CM of Nagaland.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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CHINA SLAMS ‘ASIAN NATO’

The US announced the four-day visit of its Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to India to take forward the Indo-Pacific economic framework on a day China denounced its attempts in this direction which, it said, were “bound to fail”.

Raimondo, along with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, will be the second VIP to spend Holi here. At the business end, she will hold discussions not just on giving life to the Indo-Pacific economic framework announced by US President Joe Biden in the presence of PM Narendra Modi.

Apart from the four Quad members, the other participants are Brunei, Fiji, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.

At a first press conference in Beijing on Tuesday, the new Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said the Indo-Pacific strategy’s attempt to form exclusive blocs, provoke confrontation through an “Asian NATO” is “bound to fail”.

“Asia should be the stage for win-win cooperation rather than a chessboard for a geopolitical contest. No cold war should be reignited and no Ukraine-like crisis should be repeated in Asia,” he observed.

While the Chinese Foreign Minister spoke on the US, Taiwan, Russia, Japan and the Middle East, he did not touch on India in his address nor were any questions posed on his recent meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar here last week.

RISHI SUNAK UNVEILS NEW LAW TO CHECK ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

Rishi Sunak, British Prime Minister, yesterday announced a controversial new plan to stop the surge of illegal migrants coming into the country. Issuing a warning, Sunak said that those who enter UK illegally will not be allowed to claim asylum.

"If you come here illegally, you can't claim asylum. You can't benefit from our modern slavery protections. You can't make spurious human rights claims and you can't stay," Rishi Sunak said in a tweet.

"We will detain those who come here illegally and then remove them in weeks, either to their own country if it is safe to do so. Or to a Safe Third Country like Rwanda and once you are removed, you will be banned as you are in America and Australia from ever re-entering our country," he added.

Called the 'illegal migration bill', the draft law will crack down on those crossing the English Channel in small boats.

More than 45,000 migrants arrived on the shores of southeast England on small boats last year -- a 60 percent annual increase on a perilous route that has grown in popularity every year since 2018.

Rights groups and opposition parties have criticised the new law and say that the plan unfairly scapegoats vulnerable refugees.

THE REST

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WHY NO ARREST FOR BJP MLA AFTER CASH HAUL, ASKS KEJRIWAL

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should not talk about fighting corruption as a BJP MLA in Karnataka was not arrested despite a huge amount of cash was found at his home.

However, Manish Sisodia was arrested although nothing was found during raids at the AAP leader's residence, Kejriwal said.

"Mr Prime Minister, there was nothing found in raids at Manish Sisodia's residence. He was arrested by applying all sections of the law by CBI, ED. A huge amount of cash was found with your party MLA. He was not arrested? "You should henceforth not talk about fighting corruption. It doesn't suit you," the AAP national convener said in a tweet in Hindi.

The Karnataka high court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to Channagiri BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa, who is the main accused in the Karnataka Soaps and Detergents contract scam.

His son Prashanth Madal, who is the chief accounts officer of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, was arrested by the Lokayutka police on March 2 while allegedly receiving a bribe of Rs 40 lakh on behalf of his father at the KSDL office.

The MLA's petition claimed that he had no role to play in the alleged bribery case and he has been falsely implicated in it.

FAKE REPORT, OLD VIDEOS FUELLED FERARS IN TAMILNADU

A fictitious report about 12 labourers from Bihar being hanged and two old videos of clashes falsely attributed as Tamils attacking Hindi-speaking migrant workers in Tamil Nadu were widely shared on social media as proof during the recent controversy.

The first video was from Tirupur and it was not a fight between Tamils and North Indian migrant workers, but a fight between two non-Tamil men. The fight broke out at the Nesavalar colony close to Tirumalai at about 8.30 pm on February 19. Pawan Yadav, 27, from Bihar, was killed in the fight and one Upendradhari, 50, of Jharkhand, was detained for the crime.

The second clash video was from Coimbatore and the incident happened on February 13, 2023. The video resurfaced again on March 2 with false claims that it was an attack by Tamils on Hindi-speaking people. In fact, it was a clash between two local gangs.

FIRST IAF WOMAN OFFICER TO HEAD FRONTLINE UNIT

The Indian Air Force announced Tuesday that it has selected Group Captain Shaliza Dhami to take command of a frontline combat unit in the Western sector. Group Captain Dhami will be the first woman officer in the IAF to command a missile squadron in the Western sector facing Pakistan. She is currently posted in the operations branch of a frontline command headquarters.

Commissioned in 2003 as a helicopter pilot, Group Captain Dhami has over 2,800 hours of flying experience. She has flown the Chetak and Cheetah helicopters.

The development comes weeks after the Army cleared as many as 108 women officers for the rank of Colonel (selection grade), making them eligible for command roles.

Women officers have started taking command of various Army units in arms and services including Engineers, Signals, Army Air Defence, Intelligence Corps, Army Service Corps, Army Ordnance Corps and Electronics and Mechanical Engineers. The Navy has also started inducting women officers on frontline ships, earlier a no-go zone for women officers.

About two months ago, Captain Shiva Chouhan became the first woman army officer to be operationally deployed in Siachen -- the world's highest battlefield.

MP: A ROW OVER WOMEN BODYBUILDING EVENT IN FRONT OF HANUMAN IDOL

Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath on Tuesday asked the party workers to recite 'Hanuman Chalisa' before Holika dahan (bonfires) on Tuesday, saying Lord Hanuman was "disrespected" at a programme organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

A row erupted when women bodybuilders posed in front of the image of Lord Hanuman at the venue of the 13th Mister Junior Bodybuilding Competition held in Ratlam on March 4 and 5, after which local Congress leaders sprinkled 'ganga jal' as part of the "purification" of the venue on Monday. They had also recited 'Hanuman Chalisa'.

Nath said it has been a tradition of the Sanatan Dharma to burn all the evils to ashes during Holika dahan on the day of Holi.

"We recently saw how Lord Bajrangbali was disrespected in the BJP's programme in Ratlam. My heart is pained by this insult to Hindu Dharma. I urge you to burn effigies of evil in your city and village today and recite Sundar-kand (a part of Ramayana) and 'Hanuman Chalisa' to awaken goodness. Take part in Holika Dahan as per tradition in the night," Nath tweeted.

As per the invitation card of the bodybuilding programme, the organising committee includes the city's BJP mayor Prahlad Patel, while the patron is legislator Chaitanya Kashyap.

CBI GRILLS LALU FOR 5 HOURS OVER LAND-FOR-JOB 'SCAM'

The CBI questioned RJD leader and former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad for over four hours in Delhi on Tuesday in a corruption case, prompting his daughter Rohini Acharya to allege harassment and threaten to “shake up the chair in Delhi”. “Papa is being harassed continuously. I will not forgive anybody if anything happens to him.... We shall remember everything. We should remember that time is very powerful.”

Lalu Prasad, 74, convicted of corruption in various fodder scam cases, is out on bail after serving part of his sentences. He is now staying in Delhi with his eldest daughter and Rajya Sabha member Misa Bharti.

NAAC PROCESS IN HARSH SPOTLIGHT

On Sunday, Bhushan Patwardhan quit as chairman of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), alleging that the Council was issuing “questionable grades” to higher education institutions.

Yesterday, the agency said that the entire process of accreditation and assessment it carries out through teams of experts is “transparent” and “cannot be compromised”.

In a statement, NAAC director S C Sharma sought to counter the red flags raised by a committee commissioned by Patwardhan to examine the functioning of NAAC, and said that the processes within the Council are “continuously being improved”. “As per the mandate of NAAC, the entire process of accreditation and assessment is robust, transparent, ICT-driven and automated. The system cannot be compromised because the whole process is decentralised, transparent and accessible to the stakeholders through a user friendly portal…”

MAHARASHTRA ONION FARMERS IN TEARS AMID CRASHING PRICES

On Monday morning, ahead of Holi, Krishna Dongre, a farmer from Yeola taluka in Nashik district burnt his Holika - 150 quintals of onion crop he grew on his one-and-a-half-acre land in the presence of his family, who were all in tears.

Dongre had even written a letter in blood to the Chief Minister and printed invites about “his Holi” Monday but received no response. “It has been 15 days since I sent the invitation to the CM and Dy CM about this Holi, but nobody cared to respond,” he said.

And Dongre is not alone. The crash in onion prices for the past three weeks has brought tears to the eyes of several farmers in this Nashik district.

According to the commodity prices index, until 4 February, the onion prices at Lasalgaon were Rs 1,151 per quintal, which dropped to Rs 550 around February 26-27, and currently stands at Rs 700 per quintal.

According to Dongre, the transportation cost to take the produce to the market is an added trouble, which only multiplies his loss. “I would have earned only Rs 2-4 per/kg. I had no other option, but to burn the crop,” he said.

ADANI PREPAYS $902 MILLION LOAN

The Adani group on Monday said that its promoters have prepaid share backed financing of Rs 7,374 crore ($902 million) as part of their commitment to reduce the overall leverage. The embattled conglomerate, which is battling allegations of stock manipulation and accounting fraud by Hindenburg Research, on Monday said that this prepayment is for loans that were to mature in April 2025. Following the repayment of the amount to various international banks and domestic financial institutions, the group said that the shares of four companies will be released.

These include 15.5 crore shares of Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone (APSEZ), representing 11.8 per cent of the promoters’ holding, 3.1 crore shares of Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL) which account for four per cent of the promoters’ holding, 3.6 crore shares of Adani Transmission (ATL) or 4.5 per cent of the promoters holding and 1.1 crore shares of Adani Green Energy, representing 1.2 per cent of the promoters’ holding. The group added that along with the repayments done in February, it has prepaid $2,016 million of share-backed financing. According to the conglomerate, this payment is consistent with promoters’ commitment to prepay all share-backed financing before March 31 2023.

While all listed shares of the group came under intense selling pressure following the allegations made by the US based short seller, the past four sessions have seen most of them ending in the green.

ISRO SUCCESSFULLY CARRIES OUT CONTROLLED RE-ENTRY EXPERIMENT OF AGED SATELLITE

The Indian Space Research Organisation said it successfully carried out an “extremely challenging” controlled re-entry experiment of the decommissioned orbiting Megha-Tropiques-1 (MT-1) satellite on Tuesday. “The satellite re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere and would have disintegrated over the Pacific Ocean,” the Bengaluru-headquartered national space agency said on Twitter.

About 125 kg on-board fuel remained unutilised at its end-of-mission that could pose risks for accidental break-up, an ISRO statement had noted.

This left-over fuel was estimated to be sufficient to achieve a fully controlled atmospheric re-entry to impact the uninhabited location in the Pacific Ocean, ISRO had said.

Controlled re-entries involve deorbiting to very low altitudes to ensure impact occurs within a targeted safe zone.

Usually, large satellites/rocket bodies, which are likely to survive aero-thermal fragmentation upon re-entry, are made to undergo controlled re-entry to limit ground casualty risk.

INDICATORS

(Indian markets were closed yesterday ion account of Holi)

Nasdaq 11,530 (-145) Dow 32,856 (-575), S&P 3,986 (-62)

(US$-Rs. 81.89 GBP-Rs. 97.90, Euro-Rs. 87.07, UAE Dhm-Rs. 22.29, Can$-Rs. 59.91, Aus$- Rs. 54.53

GBP 0.83 /US$, Euro 0.94 /US$, Jap.Yen 136.35 /US$, Aus$ 1.50 /US$, Sing 1.34 /US$, Bang Taka 103.77 /US$, Can$ 1.36 /US$, Mal Ring 4.47 /US$,

Pak Re 275.05 /US$, Phil Peso 55.10 /US$, Russian Rouble 75.56 /US$, NZ$ 1.62 /US$, Thai Baht 34.69 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 36.61 /US$)

Bitcoin - USD 22,189

Dollar Index 105.64 Brent Crude 83.41 BDI 1258

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,812 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 5,635 / 5,165, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 70,000

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances. - Martha Washington (1732 - 1802)

OFF TRACK

When the graveside service had no more than just finished, there was a tremendous burst of thunder accompanied by a distant lightning bolt and more rumbling thunder, and more lightning.  

The husband of the departed woman looked at the pastor, pointed at the sky, and calmly said, "Well, she's there."