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WANT PEACE…: PAKISTAN PM SHEHBAZ SHARIF’S OUTREACH

In remarks that are being seen in New Delhi as conciliatory, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called for “serious and sincere talks” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on “burning issues like Kashmir”. He also said his country has learnt its lesson after three wars with India that “only brought more misery, poverty, and unemployment”, and wants peace with its neighbour.

Speaking in an interview to Dubai-based Al Arabiya TV, Sharif sought the intervention of UAE ruler Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to bring India and Pakistan together for talks. He said that he has given his “word of honour” that he will talk to the Indian side with “sincerity of purpose”.

“My message to the Indian leadership and Prime Minister Modi is that let’s sit down on the table and have serious and sincere talks to resolve our burning issues like Kashmir. It is up to us to live peacefully and make progress or quarrel with each other and waste time and resources,” Sharif said in the interview.

“We have had three wars with India, and they have only brought more misery, poverty, and unemployment to the people. We have learnt our lesson, and we want to live in peace with India, provided we are able to resolve our genuine problems,” he said.

“India is our neighbour country, we are neighbours. Let’s be very blunt, even if we are not neighbours by choice, we are there forever and it is up to us for us to live peacefully and progress or quarrel with each other and waste time and resources. That is up to us,” he said.

Sharif said that both the countries have engineers, doctors, and skilled labourers. “We want to utilise these assets for prosperity and to bring peace to the region so that both nations can grow… Pakistan does not want to waste resources on bombs and ammunition. We are nuclear powers, armed to the teeth, and if God forbid, a war breaks out, who will live to tell what happened?” he said.

The Pakistan PM’s remarks, coupled with China lifting its block to let the LeT deputy chief be listed as a global terrorist, is being seen as an important signal to Delhi. India has welcomed the terror listing but is silent on Sharif’s remarks.

PAKISTAN PMO ISSUES A CLARIFICATION

Much after the interview made it to the media, the Pakistan PM office drew a firmer line. In a statement, Sharif’s office said, “In reference to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s interview to Al Arabiya channel, the spokesman of the Prime Minister’s Office has said that the Prime Minister had consistently maintained that Pakistan and India must resolve their bilateral issues, especially the core issue of Jammu & Kashmir, through dialogue and peaceful means”.

It said, “However, the Prime Minister has repeatedly stated on record that talks can only take place after India had reversed its illegal action of August 5, 2019; without India’s revocation of this step, negotiations are not possible. The settlement of the Kashmir dispute must be in accordance with the UN resolutions & the aspirations of the people of Jammu & Kashmir.”

REACH OUT TO MINORITIES, MARGINALISED, INDIA’S BEST ERA COMING: PM TO PARTY

With the BJP preparing its strategy to expand its reach, ahead of the nine state elections this year and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asked party members to reach out to every section of society, including the marginalised and minority communities, “without electoral considerations”.

In his address to the BJP national executive, Modi asked party workers to reach out to Pasmandas, Bohras, Muslim professionals and educated Muslims, without expecting votes in return.

The two-day meeting, convened to discuss the party’s strategy for the upcoming elections, ended on Tuesday.

Briefing mediapersons on Modi’s address, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said: “The Prime Minister said we need to sensitively reach out to all sections of society. He said that while doing so, we don’t need to think of votes only. We need to keep working for all sections of society”.

Asked about the party’s outreach programmes for Pasmanda Muslims, Fadnavis said: “The Prime Minister said our development journey will not be completed till the marginalised are mainstreamed. He spoke about reaching out to all sections of society and said only 400 days are left for elections, so we must use this time to work for the marginalised sections.”

Modi told party leaders that the BJP is no longer just a political movement, but it is a social movement as well, working to transform socio-economic conditions, said Fadnavis.

“His address was inspiring, it gave direction and showed the way and vision for the future. He said the best era for India is coming and we should not shy away from working as hard as we can. So that we can be witness to this golden period and turn ‘amrit kaal’, the 25-year-period till 2047, into ‘kartavya kaal’ (era of duties),” said Fadnavis, adding that it was “more like a statesman’s speech, not like a politician’s address.”

‘FULLY ENDORSE MANMOHAN, SONIA’ — RAHUL ASSERTS HIS STAND ON OPERATION BLUE STAR

Stressing that both Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi have made their position “very clear” in the past, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Tuesday asserted that he “fully endorsed” their statements, in the light of the Akalis seeking his apology for Operation Blue Star.

Addressing a press conference in Hoshiarpur, Rahul said that former prime minister Manmohan Singh as well as former Congress president Sonia Gandhi had made their position over Operation Blue Star.

While Singh had apologised in the Rajya Sabha in 2005 over Operation Blue Star, Sonia in 1998 had regretted the army action at Golden Temple.

As the Bharat Jodo Yatra entered its Punjab leg on 10 January, Rahul increasingly faced attacks from the Shiromani Akali Dal which demanded an apology from him for Operation Blue Star and also sought an explanation for the alleged role of the Congress party in the anti-Sikh pogroms in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination.

To a media query about the Congress party’s “reconciliation” with the Sikhs, Rahul said he had great “love and affection” for Punjabis and respect for the Sikh community. “India would not be India had it not been for the Sikh community. They are the backbone of this country,” he added.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

UN CALLS UPON ISLAMABAD ON RELIGIOUS CONVERSIONS, FORCED CHILD MARRIAGES

The United Nations has expressed alarm at the spike in the number of abductions, forced marriages, and conversions of minor women from religious minorities in Pakistan. The body has called for immediate efforts to prevent this crime and ensure justice for victims, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement.

"We urge the government to take immediate steps to prevent and thoroughly investigate these acts objectively and in line with domestic legislation and international human rights commitments. Perpetrators must be held fully accountable," a statement quoted the experts as saying. "We are deeply troubled to hear those girls as young as 13 are being kidnapped from their families, trafficked to locations far from their homes, made to marry men sometimes twice their age, and coerced to convert to Islam, all in violation of international human rights law," it said.

DEMOGRAPHERS LAMENT CHINA WILL GET OLD BEFORE IT GETS RICH

China’s population is shrinking faster than expected. Long-term, UN experts see the country’s populace shrinking by 109 million by 2050, more than triple the decline of their previous forecast in 2019. In 2022, the country officially registered its first population dip in six decades.

That’s caused domestic demographers to lament that China will get old before it gets rich, slowing the economy as revenues drop and government debt increases due to soaring health and welfare costs. “China’s demographic and economic outlook is much bleaker than expected. China will have to adjust its social, economic, defence and foreign policies,” said demographer Yi Fuxian. He added that the country’s shrinking labour force and downturn in manufacturing heft would further exacerbate high prices and high inflation in the US and Europe.

THE REST

RAHUL ON REACHING OUT TO COUSIN VARUN: ‘OUR IDEOLOGIES DON’T MATCH

Dismissing speculations about him reaching out to cousin and BJP MP Varun Gandhi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Tuesday said their ideologies. “My ideology does not match with his ideology. I can never go to a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh office. For that to happen, you will have to first slit my throat. My family has an ideology, it has a thought system. I can meet him with love, hug him. But I cannot accept that ideology, that is impossible,” Gandhi said.

He was addressing a press conference on the sidelines of the sixth day of his footmarch’s Punjab leg. Rahul said that Varun once told him that the RSS was doing good work in the country. “I told him that had he read a bit about his own family’s history and understand what family’s ideology was, he wouldn’t have said that. But I don’t have any hatred (towards Varun) or anything like that.”

Gandhi’s remarks on his cousin comes amid speculation that the Pilibhit MP, who often has been critical of BJP, might be joining the Congress in near future.

The Congress leader also accused the RSS and the BJP of controlling institutions. “RSS and BJP have captured all the institutions of India and they exercise pressure on them. There is pressure on press, bureaucracy, the Election Commission, judiciary. This is no more a fight between one political party and another. It is now a fight between the institutions, which were captured by them and the Opposition. Out of which one factor is electronic voting machines,” Gandhi said while replying to reservations by some opposition parties on the use of EVMs for conducting polls. He said the normal democratic process that existed in the country is now missing.

UNION MINISTER NARAYAN RANE UTTERS THE WORD; CONG MAKES THE MOST OF IT

Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Narayan Rane could not have chosen a worse timing or venue for his statement on Monday that India might see recession towards mid-year.

The minister who often courts controversy with his statements said this at a time that the Centre is readying for the Union Budget, and the government has been pains to stress that India has beaten the trend of global economic downturn. Besides, Rane was speaking after delivering the inaugural speech at a programme related to G20 – the Modi government is celebrating the annual G20 presidency that has come to India as a showpiece event.

“There is a global recession and it is in many countries. This is what I have gathered from discussions at meetings of the Union government. The recession is expected to hit India after June,” Rane said, while speaking to the media after the G20 event in Pune, adding that the government was working towards lessening its impact.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh shot back on Twitter: “Narayan Rane, Union Cabinet Minister of MSMEs – that have been destroyed since 2014 — forecasts recession in India after 6 months. He said this in Pune to a G20 gathering. What are the PM & FM hiding from the country?”

Rane's remrks coincide with the BJP national executive meeting in Delhi. On Tuesday, the socio-economic resolution passed by the party at the meeting celebrated India emerging as “the fifth largest economy in the world”.

CHORUS OF 'NTPC GO BACK' GROWS LOUDER IN SINKING JOSHIMATH

Amid evacuations and demolitions in sinking Joshimath, several residents and activists are calling for the National Thermal Power Corporation to shut down its activities in the region, alleging that one of its projects contributed to subsidence in the area.

From the numerous small and big shops in the main markets to the residential properties, vehicles, and billboards, posters with the slogan 'NTPC go back' have come up around the town in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district over the past few days.

Local people allege that the digging of a 12-km tunnel for the 520 MW Tapovan Vishnugad hydroelectric project exacerbated the subsidence in the area.

The NTPC, however, has denied any link between the project and Joshimath's subsidence, saying the tunnel connected to the Tapovan Vishnugad hydroelectric project is over a kilometre under the ground and not below Joshimath. 'The tunnel built by NTPC does not pass under Joshimath town. This tunnel is dug by a tunnel boring machine (TBM) and no blasting is being carried out currently,' it said in a statement last week.

CONG TARGETS TEJASVI SURYA FOR 'OPENING EMERGENCY EXIT', IN AN INDIGO FLIGHT

A passenger accidentally opened the emergency exit of an IndiGo plane after boarding at Chennai airport last month and the aircraft, which was on the ground, was subject to mandatory engineering checks before it flew to Tiruchirapalli, the airline said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Congress targeted BJP's Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya, amid reports that the passenger, who accidentally opened the emergency exit of the plane was the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha chief.

It has also questioned as to why the government hid the incident so long.

Neither Surya nor his office have reacted to the allegations so far.

In a series of tweets, Karnataka Congress said, 'Tejasvi Surya is an example of what will happen if children playing games are given the proprietorship. An act of children's mischief by trying to open the emergency exit door of the plane has come to light. Why prank with the lives of passengers?' 'Why is this not being investigated?' it further asked.

All India Congress Committee general secretary in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala in a tweet said, 'The BJP VIP Brats ! How dare the airline complain? Is it the norm for the BJP power elite? Did it compromise passenger safety? Ohhh! U can't ask questions about BJP's entitled VIP's !'

NEWS FLAGGED AS ‘FAKE’ BY PIB NOT ALLOWED ON ONLINE PLATFORMS: MEITY

Any piece of news that has been identified as “fake” by the fact-checking unit of the Press Information Bureau (PIB) – the Centre’s nodal agency to share news updates – will not be allowed on online intermediaries, including social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has said in a draft proposal.

As MeitY uploaded a new draft of amendments to the Information Technology Rules, 2021, on Tuesday to include regulations for online gaming platforms, it has significantly changed the proposal’s scope to include this new provision. The proposal has alarmed members of civil society, who fear that anything the government contradicts could potentially become a ground for content takedowns.

The requirement has been added under due diligence requirements that intermediaries need to follow to enjoy safe harbour, which is legal immunity from third-party content they host. Intermediaries essentially allow users to access services on the internet, and the proposed changes to the rules mean that not just social media platforms but internet service providers and web hosting providers – who are all classified as intermediaries currently – will have to follow the rules if notified with this provision.

This means that if a piece of news has been flagged as fake or false by either the PIB or any other fact-checking agency authorised by the government, internet service providers will also have to disable the link to that particular news piece. MeitY did not respond to an immediate request for comment.

“That is dangerous because it sets a scenario that any news item inconvenient for the government can be flagged as fake by the PIB fact-checking unit and then be taken down,” says Prateek Waghre, policy director at the Delhi-based digital rights group Internet Freedom Foundation

STATES COURTING RISK BY REVERTING TO OPS: RBI

The RBI has said some states may be courting a major risk by reverting to the old pension scheme (OPS). “A major risk looming large on the sub-national fiscal horizon is the likely reversion to the OPS by some states. The annual saving in fiscal resources that this move entails is short-lived,” said a RBI report “State Finances: A Study of Budgets of 2022-23”.

In its brief comments on the subject, the RBI said it could pose a major risk on the “sub-national fiscal horizon” and would result in accumulation of unfunded liabilities in the coming years for them.

Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand have informed the Centre and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) about their decision to restart the OPS. Punjab, too, issued a notification on November 18, 2022, on implementing the OPS for state government employees who are currently covered under the NPS. The UPA government had, in 2004, introduced the NPS which is self-contributing instead of the OPS under which employees are entitled to pension which is half the last drawn salary.

HOCKEY WORLD CUP: TUESDAY’S MATCHES

Korea 2-1 Japan (Pool B)

Germany 2-2 Belgium (Pool B)

NOVAK DJOKOVIC GETS A VERY WARM WELCOME

Novak Djokovic thanked the crowd for a "welcoming reception he could only dream of" after he made the perfect return to the Australian Open with victory over Roberto Carballes Baena.

The Serb won 6-3 6-4 6-0 in his first Grand Slam match in Melbourne since his controversial deportation last year.

Djokovic, 35, walked out to loud cheers, with flags and banners displayed around Rod Laver Arena. "I couldn't ask for a better start to the tournament," he said. "Thank you for giving me such a welcoming reception that I could only dream of," he told the packed crowd.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

All that is human must retrograde if it does not advance. - Edward Gibbon

OFF TRACK

John, a restaurant owner, hired a pianist to entertain his customers. After several performances, he discovered that the pianist had walked away with some of his valuables. He notified police, who arrested her.

Desperate for another pianist, John called a friend who knew some musicians.

"What happened to the pianist you had?" the friend asked.

"I had her arrested.”

“Really? How bad did she play?"