PERVEZ MUSHARRAF PASSES AWAY

Former Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf, remembered in India as the architect of the Kargil war, died in a Dubai hospital Sunday after a long illness. He was 79.

In 1999, when General Musharraf ousted the then Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, from office, many Pakistanis welcomed the coup. People distributed sweets on the streets, celebrating that their Army chief would repair the economy, nearing collapse after the 1998 nuclear tests. Many also appeared to buy Musharraf’s story that Sharif had aborted the Kargil plan by succumbing to US pressure and getting the Pakistan Army to withdraw.

Nine years later, when Musharraf stepped down as President of Pakistan rather than face a joint impeachment motion by the Asif Ali Zardari-led Pakistan People’s Party government and the Opposition Pakistan Muslim League (N) of Sharif, people of Pakistan celebrated again. No tears were shed over his departure.

Instead there were calls to hold him to account for a long list of alleged crimes: treason for carrying out the coup and subverting the constitution; conspiracy, or at least complicity, in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto; killing Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, the powerful tribal sardar who was leading an insurgency in the Balochistan province; for the killings of 24 people in Karachi when security forces opened fire against supporters of Ifthikar Chaudhary, who had been sacked as Chief Justice of Pakistan; for the disappearance of hundreds of people, allegedly sold by the Pakistan Army to the US as terror suspects during the war on terror.

Eventually, he would be convicted and sentenced to death by hanging for subverting the Constitution, and lived in self-exile in Dubai thereafter. He was declared a fugitive in the Benazir Bhutto case.

Resentment against Musharraf had been growing among conservative sections of Pakistanis, and two religious parties allied to the military ruler, against Pakistan’s ready participation in the Global War on Terror, even though Musharraf was playing double games with the Americans.

AMID BBC SERIES ROW, RISHI SUNAK JOINS INDIA-UK STRATEGIC DIALOGUE

National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval met his UK counterpart Tim Barrow in London to find commonalities in their respective positions on Bangladesh, Pakistan, Ukraine and Afghanistan. In a "special gesture", British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak joined the meeting between Doval and Barrow.

The UK has responded in Parliament to diaspora protests across the country over the two-part series by declaring the BBC as a media outlet “independent in its outlet” and reiterating its commitment to enhance ties with India.

The annual strategic dialogue, taking place against the backdrop of the bad blood created by the BBC documentary on the Gujarat riots, attempted to resolve the contradiction of the two sides being keen on improving trade ties but at odds on political issues.

In his brief comments, Sunak highlighted the UK government's support to deepen strategic partnerships in areas such as trade, defence and S&T. Doval had stopped over in London for the dialogue on his way back from Washington where he met his US counterpart Jake Sullivan for similar talks. Doval is now scheduled to visit Moscow for talks with his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev.

The two sides are understood to have touched on the issue of residents in the UK advocating violent extremism in Punjab and Kashmir and the Citizenship Amendment Act. The Indian view is that besides perfunctory police deployment at the Indian missions due to aggressive demonstrations advocating separatism in Kashmir and Punjab, the UK Government has not acted to choke the sources of funding to the radical gurdwaras in Britain.

WANT DEBATE, NOT DISRUPTION: TMC DIFFERS WITH CONGRESS

Even as the Congress on Sunday stepped up attack against the Centre over allegations against the Adani Group, questioning the government’s silence, the TMC broke ranks with the larger Opposition led by the Congress, saying it wanted a debate, not disruption.

“Great chance to skewer the Modi government when both Houses debate President’s Address. If any Opposition party disrupts, they are in cahoots with the BJP. We (TMC) want debate, not disruption,” Derek O’Brien, leader of the TMC in the Rajya Sabha, tweeted.

Upping the ante, Congress chief whip in the Rajya Sabha and AICC general Secretary Jairam Ramesh said he would daily pose three questions to the PM regarding the Adani Group. “What does the fact that a business entity you are well-acquainted with faces serious allegations tell us about the quality and sincerity of your investigations,” he asked.

The Congress is slated to hold protests outside SBI and LIC offices across the country on Monday to highlight how the government had “forced” these public sector institutions to invest in the Adani group.

The Opposition parties on Monday will gather at the Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge’s chamber in Parliament before the sittings begin. The TMC attended first such meeting on Thursday but skipped a meeting of Opposition MPs the following day.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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CHINA PROTESTS US SHOOTING DOWN ITS BALLOON

Hours after their balloon was struck by a Sidewinder missile and crumpled into the waters off South Carolina, the Chinese foreign ministry declared its “strong discontent and protest” and doubled down on its position that the balloon was a civilian research airship blown way off course by fierce winds. Washington, not Beijing, had broken the rules, the ministry said.

“The Chinese side clearly requested that the US appropriately deal with this in a calm, professional and restrained manner,” said the statement from the Chinese ministry on Sunday. “For the US to insist on using armed force is clearly an excessive reaction. ”

Chinese officials had been preparing to host the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, for talks this week in Beijing aimed at containing tensions over a glut of issues: technology barriers and bans, Western opposition to hard-line Chinese policies in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, and American support for Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing has demanded must accept unification.

Blinken pulled out of his trip to China, citing anger over the balloon.

Beijing’s reaction to the bipartisan furore in the US over the high-altitude balloon suggested that Chinese leaders were baffled that those planned talks in Beijing had been upstaged by what they described as an innocent mistake. But China also suggested that it could somehow retaliate against the American military’s action: The foreign ministry noted that it “retains the right to respond further.”

Meanwhile, Republican US lawmakers on Sunday criticized President Joe Biden for waiting days to shoot down the balloon.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Saturday the US military was able to collect "valuable" intelligence by studying the balloon, and that three other Chinese surveillance balloons had transited the United States during Donald Trump's administration - a disclosure the Republican former president denied.

Republican Senator Tom Cotton, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee told the "Fox News Sunday" program that he believed Biden had waited to disclose the penetration of US airspace because he wanted to salvage Secretary of State Antony Blinken's planned diplomatic trip to Beijing, which ultimately was postponed.

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MUSHARRAF BECAME ‘REAL FORCE FOR PEACE’, SAYS THAROOR; BJP SLAMS ‘PAK WORSHIP’

Congress MP and former Union External Affairs Minister Shashi Tharoor’s tweet calling former Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf “a real force for peace” drew sharp criticism from the BJP, which accused the Congress of “worshipping” Pakistan.

In a tweet referencing his interactions with Musharraf while he was a United Nations official, Tharoor said: “Once an implacable foe of India, he became a real force for peace 2002-2007. I met him annually in those days at the @un & found him smart, engaging & clear in his strategic thinking. RIP.”

Quoting Tharoor’s tweet, Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said there was “nothing like a proper military thrashing for Fatcat Pak Dictator Generals to become a ‘force for peace’ and develop ‘clear strategic thinking’”. “Not withstanding many lives lost and international laws violated and harm caused all around, these Generals will have their admiring fans in India,” he wrote.

In another tweet, the MoS said: “That a former Cong Foreign Min (a party that refused to celebrate Kargil Vijay Diwas till 2010) wud think that a Pak General who inflicted terror, a back-stabbing conflict n tortured our Soldiers in violation of every intl law, wud be a ‘force for peace’ – best describes Cong.”

EC SAYS NO GUJARAT-STYLE VOTER-TRACKING MOUS FOR POLLS IN NE STATES

The Election Commission of India (ECI) will not replicate in the Northeastern states going to polls this month its initiative in Gujarat last December, where it signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with workplaces to determine whether employees who take leave on election day actually cast their votes.

In fact, senior ECI officials said there were no plans to enter into such MoUs with workplaces in any state going forward.

Instead, the existing Voter Awareness Forum initiative, which was launched in 2019, would be used to spread awareness in organisations that employ more than 500 workers.

The MoUs in Gujarat, which were signed by the office of the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) P Bharathi ahead of the December 2022 Assembly elections, were meant to track the electoral participation of the workforce.

In reply to a question asked by The Indian Express under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the Gujarat CEO’s office had said on January 12 this year that “Total 19 MoUs were signed by office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Gujarat State to encourage the electoral participation.”

THE ANTI-ENCROACHMENT DRIVE IN J&K

The Jammu and Kashmir administration claims to have retrieved 15 lakh kanals or 1.87 lakh acres of state and ‘ghacharai (grazing)’ land across the Union Territory since an anti-encroachment drive was launched in early January, including from several senior leaders across parties.

A anal equals 605 Sq yards.

Of the 15 lakh kanals retrieved, almost half (7 lakh kanals) fall in Kashmir. Officials estimate nearly 7 lakh kanals more remains to be cleared. The leaders who have faced action include those belonging to the BJP.

With protests continuing, Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta recently issued a statement that “state land is being retrieved from big vested interests, only with the purpose of reverting it back for public use”.

AP’S GUARANTEED PENSION SCHEME MODEL CATCHES THE ATTENTION OF CENTRE

With at least four Opposition-ruled states reverting to the Old Pension Scheme which offers defined benefits, and the BJP-Sena (Shinde) coalition in Maharashtra not averse it, senior officials in the Union government are seeing merit in the demands of employees who joined service post January 2004, and are part of the New Pension System where their contributions are defined, but benefits depend on the market.

While no proposal is on the Union Finance Minister’s table yet, there are discussions about a new model, which has been proposed by the YSR Jagan Mohan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh. What has attracted officials in the Union government about this model is it combines the elements of both the OPS (defined benefit) and the NPS (defined contribution). In doing so, it seeks ‘defined contribution’ from employees every month and offers two options of ‘defined benefit’.

A senior official in the government said, “The core idea of this model is good, but the Andhra government has deliberately understated the rate of return of the NPS.”

Andhra’s proposed model is attractively called the ‘Guaranteed Pension Scheme’ or the GPS. Employees can get a guaranteed pension of 33 per cent of their last drawn salary if they contribute 10 per cent of their basic salary every month which is matched by a 10 per cent contribution by the state government. They can get a guaranteed pension of 40 per cent of their last drawn salary, if they are willing to contribute a higher 14 per cent of their salary every month, which will be matched by 14 per cent government contribution.

SC TO TRIAL COURTS: RELAX CONDITIONS IF BAIL BOND NOT FURNISHED IN A MONTH

As thousands of undertrial prisoners continue to languish in jail despite having been granted bail, the Supreme Court has directed trial courts to suo motu consider relaxing bail conditions in cases where accused persons are unable to furnish bail bonds for over a month.

The order came from a Bench led by Justice SK Kaul after a National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) report highlighted “that there are 5,000 undertrial prisoners who were in jail, despite grant of bail, out of which, 2,357 persons were provided legal assistance and now 1,417 persons have since been released.”

NALSA said it was in the process of creating a "master data" of all such undertrial prisoners who were unable to furnish sureties or bail bonds due to poverty or other reasons.

The Bench – which had earlier said that persons in jail who had completed at least 10 years of sentence and whose appeals were not likely to be heard anytime soon should be released on bail provided there were no other extenuating circumstances -- posted the matter for further hearing on March 28.

HAVE ENERGY NEEDS, NO CUT FOR COAL PHASE-DOWN: POWER MINISTER

Asserting that it was wrong to expect India to start reducing its coal capacities, Union Power Minister R K Singh said the country will continue to set up new coal-fired power plants to meet its growing electricity needs — making it clear the promised phase-down of coal will happen in terms of its declining share in the overall fuel mix and not as an absolute cut in existing capacities.

“As per the targets we have set for 2030, the fossil fuel capacity (in electricity generation) would come down from the current about 60 per cent to about 35 per cent. This is the phase-down. If you are talking in absolute terms, the numbers (installed capacity of coal) will go up because our demand (for electricity) is going up (between now and 2030). In percentage terms (as share of overall production), it will come down,” Singh said during an Idea Exchange session at The Indian Express.

CENTRE BLOCKS 232 BETTING, LOAN APPS WITH CHINA LINKS

In another crackdown on mobile phone apps with Chinese links, the Union Government has ordered a ban on 232 such apps — 138 related to betting and 94 lending.

“The decision was taken after enforcement agencies flagged incidents of extortion and harassment of common people who had availed small amounts of loans through these apps, particularly in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka,” a senior official said.

Most of these Chinese apps employed Indian nationals and appointed them on top positions. If the debtors failed to repay the money, representatives of the apps would harass them by sending lewd messages and threatening to release their morphed pictures.

The issue came to the fore after several cases of suicides by borrowers of these apps were reported in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

The MHA had started investigating some Chinese loan giving apps around six months ago. In the past few years, nearly 250 Chinese apps related to betting, dating, loan lending and e-commerce have been banned.

KOMAGATA MARU WAY: CANADA TO NAME ROAD IN MEMORY 1914 INCIDENT

A portion of a road in Abbotsford in Canada’s British Columbia province will be renamed Komagata Maru Way in memory of the 376 Indians who sailed to Canada from India in 1914, but were denied entry in the dominion due to the prevalent racist policies.

On April 4, 1914, the Japanese steamship “Komagata Maru” carrying 376 Indian passengers, mostly Sikhs, set sail from Hong Kong to the coast of British Columbia. These passengers were in search of a new home and economic security. Upon the ship’s arrival, the hopeful immigrants were denied entry and forced to return to Kolkata. When they reached Kolkata, the Indian Imperial Police attempted to arrest them, following which a riot ensued and the subsequent police firing led to the death of 22 people.

The move comes after descendants of the members aboard the Komagata Maru in 1914, asked a previous council to commemorate the humanitarian role played by Abbotsford’s South Asian community at the time.

"SHOULDN'T TALK ABOUT WHAT'S FAIR": SALMAN BUTT TO IAN HEALY

Former Pakistan captain and batter Salman Butt has lashed out at the Australian cricket team and Ian Healy for the latter's controversial statement regarding Indian pitches. Australia are gearing up to play a four-match Test series in India against the hosts, starting February 9 in Nagpur. Healy had said that if India offered a 'fair pitch' in which there is consistent spin, without the ball "jumping ridiculously and sliding down low from day one", then Australia will end up on the winning side. The ex-Australia wicketkeeper-batter had added that if 'unfair pitch' is offered then India would play better than the visiting team in those conditions.

Commenting on Healy's statement, Butt said that the Australian team has a habit of complaining and calling it 'unfair' if the pitches don't favour them.

"When subcontinent teams travel to Australia, they don't complain about the pitches. They don't say there's extra bounce pitch and that it's unfair. There are different home conditions and you have to get used to those. Teams face difficulties in Perth, likewise, they also face problems against spin. So, you shouldn't talk about what's fair or unfair. The pitch is giving results. If the other team is winning on the same pitch that means they are performing better than you," said Butt on his official YouTube channel.

"But ye aadat bhi hai. Unko samajh naa aaye toh fair nahi hota (It's their habit. If they can't understand the pitch, they call it unfair)," he added.

Earlier, commenting on the statement of Healy, Ashwin had said that the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy needs such type of 'spark'.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same. - Carlos Castaneda

OFF TRACK

One night a wife found her husband standing over their baby's crib. Silently she watched him. As he stood looking down at the sleeping infant, she saw on his face a mixture of emotions: disbelief, doubt, delight, amazement, enchantment, skepticism.

Touched by this unusual display and the deep emotions it aroused, with eyes glistening she slipped her arm around her husband.

"A penny for your thoughts," she said.

"It's amazing!" he replied. "I just can't see how anybody can make a crib like that for only $46.50.