PM MODI, SCOTT MORRISON DISCUSS UKRAINE CRISIS, INDO-PACIFIC AND CHINA

A virtual summit between PMs Narendra Modi and Scott Morrison witnessed investments worth Rs 1,500 crore in cutting-edge sectors. One of the significant MoUs signed on the occasion will give Indian companies access to Canberra’s rare earth stockpiles as well as technologies, especially to propel their foray into the electric vehicles segment. The two countries have already inked a Cyber and Critical Technology Partnership to create an R&D fund for Indian and Australian businesses and researchers.

On Ukraine, Morrison “expressed his understanding of India’s position,” said Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla. A day earlier, Australian High Commissioner Barry O’Farrell had said: “Quad countries have accepted India’s position. We understand that each country has a bilateral relationship and it is clear from the comments of the MEA and PM Modi himself that he has used his contacts to call for the end of the conflict and no country will be unhappy with that.”

But there were suggestions that the other Quad members, who are actively assisting the Ukraine regime, continue to pressurise India. Though not as forthright as the Japanese PM last week, Morrison said: “The tragic loss of lives underlines the importance to hold Russia to account.”

At the same time, he said the Quad’s focus “is always very much on what is occurring in the Indo-Pacific and ensuring that those events could never occur here in the Indo-Pacific”. On his part, Modi apprised his Australian counterpart about the situation in eastern Ladakh and emphasised that peace and tranquillity in the region was an essential prerequisite for the normalisation of India’s ties with China. PM Modi referred to the close cooperation in trade and investment, defence and security, education and science and technology. He welcomed the Australian announcement of a Centre of Excellence for Critical and Emerging Technologies in Bangalore.

FOR 10 YEARS, ZERO DEFENCE PURCHASES: SITHARAMAN IN RAJYA SABHA

Defence procurement under the UPA-led govt was nil for 10 years, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday during a debate in the Rajya Sabha on supplementary spending for the current fiscal.

“For people, who are worried about the basic essentials for Defence, for soldiers, for their guns, for their bulletproof jackets, for the bullets, for the carbines and even for fighter aircraft, I want to tell that 10 years of Indian Defence history recorded nil purchases. Sir, 10 years were lost. After 2014, rapidly, we had to buy from pin to aircraft, everything,” Sitharaman said.

Defending the govt’s proposal to cut interest rate on employees’ provident fund deposits to over four-decade low of 8.1 per cent, Sitharaman said the rate is dictated by today’s realities where interest rate on other small saving instruments was even lower.

Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri allayed fears of short supply of crude oil amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as he informed the Rajya Sabha that the import of fossil fuel from Russia has been miniscule at just 0.2 per cent of total import requirement of the country till January this financial year.

PETROL, DIESEL PRICE UP 80 PAISE A LITRE; RS 50 HIKE IN LPG RATES: REPORTS

Petrol and diesel prices have been hiked this morning by 80 paise a litre each while domestic cooking gas prices were increased by Rs 50 per cylinder, ending a over four and half month election-related hiatus in rate revision, sources said.

Petrol in Delhi will now cost Rs 96.21 per litre as against Rs 95.41 previously while diesel rates have gone up from Rs 86.67 per litre to Rs 87.47.

A 14.2-kg non-subsidised LPG cylinder will now cost Rs 949.50 in the national capital.

While LPG rates were last revised on October 6, petrol and diesel prices had been on a freeze since November 4 ahead of the assembly elections in states like Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

Prices have been on a freeze since then despite the cost of raw material spiralling. International oil prices were around USD 81-82 a barrel in early November as against USD 114 now.

MOST FARMERS’ BODIES SUPPORTED THE THREE FARM LAWS, SC-APPOINTED PANEL’S REPORT REVEALS

Months before the Centre repealed the three controversial farm laws, a Supreme Court-appointed committee had recommended against their withdrawal, underlining that a “majority” farm unions support them and “a repeal or a long suspension” would be “unfair to this silent majority”. The committee’s report was made public on Monday for the first time since it was submitted to the apex court a year ago.

The 92-page report was released by Anil Ghanwat, one of the three members of the committee, at a press conference in New Delhi on Monday. Two other members of the committee, agricultural economists Ashok Gulati and Dr Parmod Kumar Joshi, were not present on the occasion.

Citing the feedback received by the committee, the report states, “The bilateral interactions of the committee with the stakeholders demonstrated that only 13.3 per cent of the stakeholders were not in favour of the three farm laws. Around 85.7 per cent of the farmer organisations representing around 3.3-crore farmers supported the laws.”

The committee had recommended to make the MSP the prerogative of the states, providing for a legal backing for such procurements at their own costs as the recent Punjab Amendment Act does, the report said. The committee felt that instead of a blanket procurement of wheat and paddy, the FCI should instead put a cap on procurement.

COVID DASHBOARD – INDIA

As of 0800 IST / March 22

from mohfw.gov.in ,

New Cases on Monday 1,581

Active Cases 23,913 (-1,193)

Total Deaths (Deaths Yesterday) 5,16,543 (11)

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

======================

UKRAINE DEFIES RUSSIAN DEMAND TO LAY DOWN ARMS IN MARIUPOL

Ukraine defied a Russian demand that its forces lay down arms before dawn on Monday in Mariupol, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have been trapped in a city under siege and already laid to waste by Russian bombardment. Russia’s military had ordered Ukrainians inside the city in the country’s southeast to surrender by 5am, saying those who did so would be permitted to leave, while those who stayed would be turned over to tribunals run by Russian-backed separatists.

“There can be no question of any surrender, laying down of arms” in Mariupol, Ukrainian Deputy PM Iryna Vereshchuk responded. Russia’s assault on Ukraine, now in its fourth week, has stalled along most fronts. Moscow has failed to seize a single major Ukrainian city much less capture the capital Kyiv or swiftly topple the govt of President Volodymyr Zelensky. But Russia has pounded residential areas, causing massive destruction.

Nowhere has suffered worse than Mariupol, a port on Sea of Azov, home to 4,00,000 people before the war. It has been under siege and constant bombardment, with no food, medicine, power or water, since the invasion’s early days. Officials said at least 2,300 people have died in the siege, with some buried in mass graves.

Ukrainian defence minister Oleksii Reznikov praised the city’s “heroic defenders”, saying that by continuing to hold out they had helped thwart Russia’s march on other big cities across the country. “By virtue of their dedication and superhuman courage, tens of thousands of lives throughout Ukraine were saved. Today Mariupol is saving Kyiv, Dnipro and Odesa. ”

Zelensky on Monday said any compromises agreed with Russia to end the war would need to be voted on by Ukrainians in a referendum. “The people will have to speak up and respond to this or that form of compromise. And what they (the compromises) will be is the subject of our talks and understanding between Ukraine and Russia,” he said. Issues that could be raised in any referendum could concern territories occupied by Russian forces, including Crimea, or security guarantees offered to Ukraine by countries in lieu of Nato membership, he said.

PAKISTAN PM CALLS HIS POLITICAL RIVALS WEAK, CORRUPT AND TRAITORS

Staring at a no-confidence motion in parliament, Pakistan PM Imran Khan has launched a tirade against his political rivals. He has been particularly scathing in his attacks on Nawaz Sharif’s PML(N), calling the former PM a “geedar” or jackal, and also inveighed against his brother and party president Shehbaz Sharif as well as vice-president Maryam Nawaz. “The absconder and his daughter say bad things about the army and Shehbaz polishes every boot he sees,” he said at a rally. Maryam was quick to respond that Khan’s “game is over”.

Khan called his three political rivals — Shehbaz, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari of PPP and Pakistan Democratic Alliance chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman — corrupt, weak and traitors.

While his rivals blame him for bad governance and economic incompetence, political observers believe Imran Khan has lost the backing of the military establishment responsible for bringing him to power.

Khan, 69, came to power in 2018 with the slimmest majority of 176 votes in the parliament. PTI has 155 members and needs at least 172 to remain in power. The party has the support of 23 members from six political parties. Defections from PTI had made matters worse as these members have threatened to vote against Khan.

His govt filed a petition in the Supreme Court on Monday seeking clarification on Article 63-A of the Constitution regarding disqualification of nearly two dozen dissident PTI MPs whose votes are crucial for the opposition as it needs 172 votes to remove Khan. The article says anyone voting against the party leader’s directive on key points will be disqualified.

Khan has also been trying to cultivate a narrative that a no-trust move was a western conspiracy due to his independent foreign policy approach.

THE REST

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CHINA PLANE WITH 132 ON BOARD CRASHES; NO SIGN OF SURVIVORS

Hopes to find the survivors among the 132 people travelling by the crashed Chinese aircraft in the thick forests in the southern Guangxi province on Monday receded as the night fell making efforts by scores of rescuers difficult.

The Boeing 737 aircraft of China Eastern Airlines, which flew from Kunming to Guangzhou, crashed in Tengxian County near the city of Wuzhou, causing a mountain fire in the worst air disaster in the country in over a decade.

Footage shot by locals in their phones showed the area of the crash was engulfed by massive mountainous fire with explosions heard in the background.

There is no official word yet on the number of casualties or survivors except speculation about the unlikelihood of survivors.

China’s last domestic fatal air accident was in 2010, when an Embraer passenger plane crashed in Yichun, Heilongjiang province, killing 42 people.

DESPITE LOSING OWN SEAT, DHAMI SET TO BE CM AGAIN

Before the Uttarakhand assembly polls, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had compared Pushkar Singh Dhami to cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Dhami, he said, was a “good finisher”, suggesting that he will get the BJP the runs it needed to win the election.

On Monday, the BJP picked him for the CM's post again. It was a difficult decision as Dhami had failed to win his own seat even as the party scored big in the hill state.

Dhami was plucked out of obscurity by the BJP last July and made the Uttarakhand chief minister, with just months to go before the state elections. He also happened to be the third leader to occupy the CM's post during 2021. Earlier in the year, Trivendra Singh Rawat had to make way for Tirath Singh Rawat.

Dhami seemed to have justified the party's confidence in him.

At 45, he was the state's youngest chief minister when he first took over in July. The state was then grappling with a series of problems and with elections just round the corner Dhami had little time to prove himself. The state's economy was battered by Covid, the Char Dham priests were agitating against a new regulatory board, and a massive Covid testing scam had hit the headlines earlier.

Like other BJP chief ministers, Dhami styled himself as the one who executed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's “grand vision” for the state's development through a “double-engine” govt.

AND IN GOA, PRAMOD SAWANT GETS ANOTHER TERM AS CM

The BJP on Monday picked Pramod Sawant, 48, as its chief minister designate in Goa, putting to rest all the speculations.

After the two-hour-long meeting of the BJP legislature party, central observer Union Minister for Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar said, “Former health minister Vishwajit Rane proposed Sawant’s name for the CM post. The proposal was endorsed by all the MLAs. I heartily congratulate Dr Sawant.”

Soon after Sawant was declared the Chief Minister designate, he approached Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai to stake claim to form the next govt with the support of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and three Independent MLAs. The move comes 11 days after legislative assembly election results were declared.

Sawant led the BJP in Goa in the recently held legislative assembly elections in which the party won 20 of 40 seats. He served as the CM since March 2019 after Manohar Parrikar passed away.

"SOMEONE RECOGNISED MY WORK": GHULAM NABI AZAD ON PADMA AWARD

Congress's Ghulam Nabi Azad, who received the Padma Bhushan award from President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan yesterday, said, "It feels good when the country or the govt recognises someone's work". "I like that someone recognised my work. Even during my ups and downs in different phases of my life, I always strived to work for the people, be it in the social or political sphere or as a (former) Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir," he said. "Keeping this in view, I am happy with the award given by the govt and the people of the country," he added.

COMMON ENTRANCE TEST IN JULY FOR CENTRAL UNIVERSITIES, CLASS 12 MARKS WON’T COUNT

The first ever mandatory common entrance test for admission to undergraduate programmes in all the 45 Central universities will be held in the first week of July, UGC chairman M Jagadesh Kumar announced on Monday.

The Common University Entrance Test (CUET) is a computerised exam and will be conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), which will announce the test pattern on Tuesday, he said. The application window for the examination will open in the first week of April.

Admission to undergraduate courses in these universities will henceforth be solely based on the CUET score, and Class 12 Board marks will not carry any weightage, Kumar said.

The sky-high cut-off marks at Delhi University are now history. This year, seven DU colleges had asked for 100 per cent marks in the first list to admit students to a total of 10 programmes.

The Govt did not favour using Board marks for admission because of the “diversity” in evaluation methods.

HIJAB ROW: KARNATAKA GOVT DENIES ANOTHER CHANCE TO STUDENTS WHO SKIPPED EXAMS

Many Muslim girl students are uncertain after Karnataka Education Minister BC Nagesh on Monday clarified that the govt would not hold re-exams for absentees.

“Whatever the reason for the student absenting himself or herself during the exams, this year would be no different. We cannot re-organise board examinations and whatever the order says, we will follow it. It might be for hijab issue or other reasons, we will not hold examinations again,” Nagesh said.

Following the interim order of the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday that banned hijab in colleges where uniform is prescribed, several Muslim girl students boycotted classes and exams across Karnataka.

CRYPTO INDUSTRY MIFFED BY GOVT'S POSITION ON BARRING TAX DEDUCTIONS

Crypto players on Monday strongly reacted to the govt’s position in the Lok Sabha that restricted ways for investors to avail deductions from trading in such virtual assets. This move will hurt the industry and incentivise users to look for underground platforms for trading, according to them.

“Not being able to offset the losses of one virtual digital asset with another will discourage a lot of investors as it increases their risk and decreases the end reward. This would disincentivize them from trading with Indian exchanges and deal only with foreign exchanges or decentralized exchanges,” said Bhagaban Behera, co-founder and CEO of blockchain start-up Defy.

“The proposed tax framework on digital assets would lead to a decline of the blockchain industry in India and talent and companies would eventually move outside,” he added.

Responding to a question on crypto taxation provisions announced in the Budget, FinMin MoS Pankaj Chaudhary said on Monday that losses from one kind of VDA like cryptos and NFTs cannot be set off against gains from another. He also said that any infrastructure cost in mining such assets will not be allowed to be used for availing any deductions.

ICC WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

The Women’s Cricket World Cup is currently being played in New Zealand. Each of the 8 teams play once against each of the other 7 teams in the league round. The top 4 teams will go into semi-finals. India have lost to Australia, England & New Zealand and have beaten Pakistan and West Indies.

Points Table So far

TEAMS                                    M         W         L          NRR

AUSTRALIA WOMEN               5          5          0          1.424

SOUTH AFRICA WOMEN         4          4          0          0.226

WEST INDIES WOMEN 6          3          3          -0.885

INDIA WOMEN                         5          2          3          0.456

ENGLAND WOMEN                  5          2          3          0.327

NEW ZEALAND WOMEN          6          2          4          -0.229

BANGLADESH WOMEN           4          1          3          -0.342

PAKISTAN WOMEN                 5          1          4          -0.878

Matches Remaining in League Round:

South Africa Women vs Australia Women

Bangladesh Women vs India Women

South Africa Women vs West Indies Women

England Women vs Pakistan Women

Australia Women vs Bangladesh Women

New Zealand Women vs Pakistan Women

Bangladesh Women vs England Women

India Women vs South Africa Women

INDICATORS

Sensex 57,292 (-571), Nifty 17,118 (-170), Trading Value NSE (Rs.crores) 58,915

Nasdaq 13,838 (-55) Dow 34,553 (-202), S&P 4,461 (-2)

US$-Rs. 75.96 GBP-Rs. 99.99, Euro-Rs. 83.84, UAE Dhm-Rs.20.67, Can$-Rs. 60.29, Aus$- Rs. 56.21

GBP 0.75 /US$, Euro 0.90 /US$, Jap.Yen 119.27 /US$, Aus$ 1.35 /US$, Sing 1.35 /US$, Bang Taka 84.43 /US$, Can$ 1.25 /US$, Mal Ring 4.19 /US$,

Pak Re 180.24 /US$, Phil Peso 52.38 /US$, Russian Rouble 105.22 /US$, NZ$ 1.45 /US$, Thai Baht 33.46 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 29.15 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 41,666

Dollar Index 98.69 Brent Crude 118.89 BDI 2,589

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,933 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 5,170 / 4,740, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 72,500

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

We do not see things as they are; we see things as we are. - Talmud

OFF TRACK

A woman announces to her friend that she is getting married for the fourth time.

"How wonderful! But I hope you don't mind me asking what happened to your first husband?"

"He ate poisonous mushrooms and died."

"Oh, how tragic! What about your second husband?"

"He ate poisonous mushrooms too and died."

"Oh, how terrible! I'm almost afraid to ask you about your third husband."

"He died of a broken neck."

"A broken neck?"

"Stupid fellow, he just wouldn't eat the mushrooms."