UNGA VOTES TO SUSPEND RUSSIA FROM UNHRC, INDIA ABSTAINS

Russia was suspended from the UN Human Rights Council after the 193-member General Assembly on Thursday voted to adopt a resolution moved by the US that received 93 votes in favour and 58 abstentions, including by India.

The resolution was adopted with 93 votes in favour, 24 against and 58 abstentions.

Those abstaining included Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka and UAE.

"India has abstained on the resolution with regard to suspension of the Russian Federation from the Human Rights Council adopted in the General Assembly today. We do so for reasons of both substance and process," India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti said in the Explanation of Vote after the voting.

"Since the inception of the Ukrainian conflict, India has stood for peace, dialogue and diplomacy. We believe that no solution can be arrived at by shedding blood and at the cost of innocent lives. If India has chosen any side, it is the side of peace and it is for an immediate end to violence,” he added.

Since January this year, India has abstained on at least eight occasions on procedural votes and draft resolutions in the UN Security Council, the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council that deplored Russian aggression against Ukraine.

The Human Rights Council consists of 47 member States, elected directly and individually by secret ballot by the majority of the members of the General Assembly. The General Assembly, by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting, ”may suspend the rights of membership in the Council of a member of the Council that commits gross and systematic violations of human rights.”

SESSION ENDS EARLY; GOVT DODGED DEBATE ON PRICE RISE: OPPOSITION

The Budget Session of Parliament was adjourned sine die yesterday with the Opposition accusing the government of ending proceedings a day ahead of schedule to “avoid a discussion on price rise and inflation”.

Overall, the Lok Sabha registered a productivity of 129 per cent (13 Bills passed) and the Rajya Sabha 99.80 per cent (11 Bills passed). The Rajya Sabha lost nine-and-a-half hours due to disruptions which it made up by sitting for extended hours. Chairman Naidu said, “If only the House had functioned for 10 more minutes, the productivity would have been 100 per cent.”

In the Lok Sabha, Speaker Om Birla said the session registered an overall productivity of 129%. “Twelve government Bills were introduced and 13 Bills passed. Oral answers were given to 182 starred questions. Members raised 486 matters of public interest under Rule 377,” he said

Opposition MPs criticised the government for ending the session ahead of schedule, accusing it of “running away from discussion on price rise and inflation” which Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi countered by saying “the Opposition requested in the Rajya Sabha Business Advisory to adjourn the House on April 7. I had asked them before the Chairman and they all agreed to adjourn the House due to Ram Navami and other festivals”. Major Bills passed during the Session included the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, the Delhi MC (Amendment) Bill, the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, etc.

AMIT SHAH PITCHES FOR PRIMACY OF HINDI AGAIN

People of different states should communicate with each other in Hindi, and not English, Home Minister Amit Shah suggested on Thursday.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided that the medium of running the government is the Official Language, and this will definitely increase the importance of Hindi. Now the time has come to make the Official Language an important part of the unity of the country. When citizens of States who speak other languages communicate with each other, it should be in the language of India,” Shah was quoted by the Ministry of Home Affairs as having said at the 37th meeting of the Parliamentary Official Language Committee.

Shah, however, clarified that Hindi should be accepted as an alternative to English, and not local languages.

The Home Minister stressed the need to give elementary knowledge of Hindi to students up to Class IX and pay more attention to Hindi teaching examinations.

In 2019, delivering his first speech on the language on Hindi Diwas, he had pushed for the idea of “One Nation, One Language”. He had said, “India is a country of different languages. Every language has its own importance. But it is absolutely essential that the entire country has one language that becomes the identity of the nation in the world. If there is any language that can tie the whole country in one thread, it is the most spoken language of Hindi.”

The statement had then drawn sharp reactions from opposition parties.

IF WE HAVE TO TAKE UP ALL YOUR PILS, THEN WHY DID WE ELECT THE GOVERNMENT, WONDERS SC

The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed dismay over people approaching it on issues relating to governance meant to be dealt with by the political executive even as it agreed to take up a PIL seeking direction to the Centre to detect, detain and deport illegal immigrants, including Rohingyas and Bangladeshis.

“These are political issues. Take it up with the government. If we have to take up all your PILs, then why did we elect the governmsnt? There are houses like Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha,” a Bench led by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana told petitioner advocate Ashwini Upadhyay.

Upadhyay said there were five crore Bangladeshis and Rohingyas in India who were taking away the right to livelihood of Indian citizens and few state governments were providing free houses to these illegal immigrants. Many of them are living in Jammu, Hyderabad, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-NCR, and Rajasthan.

As Upadhyay pointed out that the top court had issued notices on the PIL in March last year, the CJI said that he would hear the matter if the reply has been filed by the Centre.

COVID DASHBOARD – INDIA

As of 0800 IST / April 8

from mohfw.gov.in ,

New Cases on Thursday 1,109

Active Cases 11,492 (-147)

Total Deaths (Deaths Yesterday) 5,21,573 (9)

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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PAK SC STANDS TALL, RESTORES PAK PARLIAMENT

The full five-member bench of the Pakistan Supreme Court unanimously decided on Thursday to quash deputy speaker Qasim Suri’s decision to dismiss the opposition’s no-confidence motion against Imran Khan government, thereby reversing President Arif Alvi’s order to dissolve parliament on prime minister’s recommendation.

In a brief order, the bench said, “all actions, acts or proceedings initiated, done or taken by reason of, or to give effect to the president’s order, are of no legal effect, and are hereby quashed”.

Khan said on Thursday he will continue to fight, and will address the nation on Friday. “I have always & will continue to fight for Pak till the last ball,” he tweeted after losing the case, adding he had called a meeting of his cabinet on Friday.

The court ordered that the PM and all federal ministers, ministers of state, advisers and other functionaries of the government be restored to their respective offices as on April 3, 2022. “The assembly was at all times, and continues to remain, in session, as summoned by the speaker on March 20, 2022, and any prorogation of the assembly by the speaker prior to its dissolution is of no legal effect, and is set aside,” the bench said.

The apex court directed National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser to summon Saturday’s session and get the no-trust vote started “not later than 10. 30am”. “If the no-confidence motion against the PM succeeds, then the assembly will appoint the new PM,” states the court’s order.

Alluding to dissident law- makers of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led coalition, the SC said the federal government must not in any manner hinder or obstruct, or interfere with, members of the National Assembly who wish to attend the session and cast their votes on the no-confidence resolution.

Shehbaz Sharif, leader of the opposition in the lower house and president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, said the court had “definitely fulfilled the expectations of the people”.

Pakistan Peoples Party chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari termed the verdict “a victory for democracy and the constitution”. Bilawal said Pakistan’s history was littered with “controversial decisions”, but the apex court's verdict on the parliamentary impasse would be “written in golden words”.

SRI LANKA CONSTITUTES EXPERT PANEL, IMPOSES TAX ON RICH

Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has constituted an expert panel to bail his country out of an unprecedented economic crisis characterised by shortage of essential commodities and widespread protests. The panel of eminent economists has been mandated to address the $8.6 billion of debt and the soaring inflation by engaging with IMF and other probable lenders.

A statement issued by the president’s office said “among the responsibilities that the Presidential Advisory Group will undertake are to engage in discussions with relevant Sri Lankan institutions and officials engaging with the IMF, and to provide guidance that will address the present debt crisis and lead towards sustainable and inclusive recovery for Sri Lanka.”

In a bid to garner some quick revenue, the Sri Lanka parliament on Thursday passed, without voting, a retrospective surcharge tax bill with amendments. This would enable the government to impose a 25% windfall tax on groups of companies, individual companies, partner- ships and individuals who earned more than 2 billion Sri Lankan rupees in the financial year 2020-21. The government estimates a revenue of 100 billion rupees through this tax.

UKRAINE WAR: HOPES FOR PEACE TALKS DIM

The prospect of successful talks between Moscow and Kyiv over a potential peace deal further dimmed on Thursday after Russia’s foreign minister said the Ukrainian side had proposed a new draft deal that deviated from previous versions. President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus also complicated the situation by demanding that his country be included in the talks. Minsk’s involvement in the talks would benefit Russia Lavrov said that Kyiv had suggested an “unacceptable idea” that the two countries’ leaders needed to discuss the status of Crimea and the Donbas, the Ukrainian region that Russia recognised as independent He also said the new draft put forward by Ukraine on Wednesday had removed a clause that would allow Russia to veto all international “war games” held on Ukrainian soil. He said the Russian delegation would nonetheless continue the negotiations, pushing its own draft agreement.

US, Nato pledge more arms to Kyiv as Ukraine braces for more assault

The US will send new weapon systems to Ukraine, Washington’s top diplomat said on Thursday after Nato foreign ministers agreed to accelerate arms deliveries in response to Russia’s invasion. Urged by Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba to end delays, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said the US and 30 other countries were sending weapons to Ukraine and that that process would intensify. He spoke of “new systems” that have so far not been provided by Nato allies, but declined to go into details.

Ukrainian officials say that after withdrawing from Kyiv’s outskirts, Russian forces are regrouping to try to gain full control over the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. The besieged southern port of Mariupol, where the mayor said over 1,00,000 people were still trapped, was also a target. The Ukrainian military said capturing Mariupol is still Russia’s focus, while Russian battalions are bombarding the northeastern city of Kharkiv.

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A SCARED BJP WANTS ANURAG THAKUR AS NEW HIMACHAL CM: MANISH SISODIA

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday claimed that the BJP was considering replacing Jai Ram Thakur with Union Minister Anurag Thakur as the chief minister of Himachal Pradesh ahead of the assembly elections in the state.

Addressing a press conference, he said the BJP wanted to make the big change as it feared defeat in the elections with the growing "popularity" of AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal.

“We have learnt from very reliable sources that the BJP wants to replace Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur with Anurag Thakur as it is scared of the popularity of Arvind Kejriwal and his model of governance in Delhi," Mr Sisodia claimed.

TOURISTS THRONG VALLEY: 50 FLIGHTS A DAY AND NIGHT

From millennials and young professionals to honeymooners and multigenerational families, the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir is witnessing record levels of tourism.

The increased number of direct flights to Srinagar, in addition to the UT’s tourism department initiatives, are drawing travellers there, travel agencies said, adding that the demand for tourism in J&K in the ongoing summer travel season is four times what was witnessed pre-pandemic. Also, given that most hotels are running at near full-occupancy, room tariffs have seen a sharp increase of 40-80%.

J&K typically is among the top tourism destinations for domestic travellers in the summer season. “With heatwaves gripping India earlier than usual this year, travellers are preferring hill stations and beach destinations for summer getaways. We have seen 17-20% month-on-month growth in travel search queries for Srinagar. Advance bookings for the region are also picking up,” Rajnish Kumar, co-founder & group chief product & technology officer at online travel portal ixigo, said.

With night-operations being approved last year at Srinagar’s Sheikh ul-Alam International Airport, the city has seen increased flight connectivity. In the Summer Schedule 2022 for domestic flights, Srinagar was directly connected with several more destinations like Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru. Currently, the airport is witnessing close to 50 departures every day.

INSACOG TESTING SEWAGE WATER SAMPLES ACROSS 55 SITES TO DETECT SARS-COV-2

With cases of symptomatic Covid-19 disease on the decline, the Indian Sars-CoV-2 Genomic Consortium (INSACOG) has started surveillance of sewage water samples across 55 sites to detect presence of the Sars-CoV-2 virus. INSACOG also clarified that so far no confirmed case of XE variant has been detected in India.

“This is called environmental surveillance, and India has done this during the polio campaign. Now, the learnings from the polio drive are being used to pick up the Sars-CoV-2 virus from sewage water samples,” said N K Arora, co-chair, INSACOG. He added that very few countries in the world have the technology and capability to detect virus particles from sewage water. India was the first country in the world to do so for polio, Arora said.

The protocol has been set methodically and this is being used to see the virus circulation in the environment. Many people with Covid-19 infection are either asymptomatic, or have very mild influenza-like symptoms. Therefore, many are not opting for testing through RT-PCR anymore.

DELHI COURT ASKS CBI DIRECTOR TO APOLOGIZE TO AAKAR PATEL

Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court on Thursday ordered the Director of CBI to tender a written apology to former Amnesty International India Chief Aakar Patel, who was restrained from boarding a US-bound flight from Bengaluru airport on Wednesday, owing to a Look Out Circular issued by the agency.

Finding that the issuance of LOC was a "deliberate act" of the investigating agency to put restriction on the valuable rights of the accused, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Pawan Kumar said,

"In this case, a written apology from head of CBI i.e. Director, CBI acknowledging lapse on part of his subordinate, to applicant would go a long way in not only healing wounds of applicant but also upholding trust and confidence of the public in the premier institution...A copy of the order be accordingly sent to Worthy Director, CBI for ensuring compliance. It is expected that this court shall be duly apprised about the compliance of the order."

Patel was stopped from boarding a flight to the US at Bengaluru airport - he claims that the impugned action was taken despite a Gujarat court's order granting him permission "specifically for this trip".

KEY CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE PASSES BILL TO END GREEN CARD CAP

A key US Congressional committee has passed a legislation to eliminate the per-country cap on issuing of Green Card on employment-based immigrant visas and to increase the per-country cap for family-based immigrant visas from seven per cent to 15 per cent, a move which will benefit Indian IT professionals languishing over decades of waiting for the permanent resident card.

A Green Card, known officially as a permanent resident card, is a document issued to immigrants as evidence that the bearer has been granted the privilege of residing permanently in the US.

The legislative move, when it is finally signed into law, would greatly benefit the immigrants from India and China, from where hundreds and thousands of employment-based category people are currently having decades-long wait for their green cards or permanent legal residency.

DE KOCK DAZZLES AS SUPER GIANTS SLAY DELHI CAPITALS IN THRILLER

Quinton de Kock showed imperious form in his 80 off 52 balls as Lucknow Super Giants outplayed Delhi Capitals by six wickets for their third successive win in their debut IPL season in Navi Mumbai on Thursday.

Delhi Capitals lost their way after a sizzling knock from Prithvi Shaw (61 off 31) to end at 149 for 3 after Lucknow predictably decided to field first.

With the resources that Lucknow possess, 150 should have been a comfortable chase and the K L Rahul-led side made sure it was, getting home with two balls to spare on a tricky surface.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Not what we have, but what we use; Not what we see, but what we choose

These are the things that mar or bless the sun of human happiness. - Joseph F Newton

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