INDIA A TOP-TIER SECURITY PARTNER, OPEN INDO-PACIFIC IS OUR NEED: AUSTRALIA PM

In the first bilateral visit by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to India since he entered office in May last year, New Delhi and Canberra are looking to expand cooperation in defence, clean energy, education and economic spheres.

Albanese’s visit comes days after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to India last week, and 10 days before Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s visit between March 19 and 21.

Put together, this marks the visits by all the Quad member countries to India, days after the Foreign Ministers of the Quad grouping met in New Delhi last week.

While the visit by Albanese began with cricket diplomacy in Ahmedabad Thursday, officials said Australia will host military operations with India, Japan and the US in the ‘Malabar’ exercises off the coast of Perth in August. Australia has also invited India to join the Talisman Sabre exercises later this year, a major operation for the Australian Defence Force.

“For Australia, India is a top-tier security partner. The Indian Ocean is central to both countries’ security and prosperity. And there has never been a point in both our country’s histories where we have had such a strong strategic alignment. We both depend on free and open access to sea lanes in the Indo-Pacific for our trade and economic well-being,” he said on board INS Vikrant.

“And we share an unwavering commitment to upholding the rules-based international order and ensuring the Indo-Pacific is open, inclusive and prosperous,” he said.

OFFICERS FROM V-P’S STAFF ATTACHED TO HOUSE PANELS, DRAWS OPPN IRE

Eight officers from the personal staff of Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar have been “attached” to 12 standing committees and eight department-related standing committees of Parliament, drawing criticism from the Opposition.

These officers are expected to assist the committees in their work, which includes meetings that are confidential in nature.

On Thursday, after the Opposition criticised the move, Vice-President Dhankhar said he acted because chairmen and members of the committee had come to him, and indicated to him to iron out issues. “This was done after multi-layered deliberations,” he said. “A democrat is made out to be a despot,” he said.

He said he is “terribly upset and concerned” over such a “kind of narrative which is based on falsehood” and has directed his office to get in touch with newspaper editors and channel heads. “I want the media to be fair… Please don’t be so unfair that you set afloat untruths to run down a Constitutional authority.”

Responding to Dhankhar’s remarks, Jairam Ramesh, Congress chief whip in Rajya Sabha, said, “The Chairman of the Rajya Sabha has said that his controversial move to have his staff attached to various Committees was after consultations with the respective Chairpersons. I chair a Standing Committee and I can categorically say I wasn’t consulted at all.” He had earlier questioned the “logic or necessity” behind the move.

Former Lok Sabha secretary general P D T Achary says that as per the definition of Parliamentary committees, only MPs and staff of either the Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha secretariats can offer such roles of assistance. “There is no rule under which the Speaker or the Chairman can appoint their personal staff to assist the committees,” Achary said.

US INTEL COMMUNITY FEARS INCREASED INDIA-PAK, INDIA-CHINA TENSION AND CONFLICT

The American intelligence community on Wednesday told lawmakers that it apprehends increased tension between India and Pakistan and India and China with the possibility of a conflict between them.

It also noted that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is more likely than in the past to respond with military force to Pakistani provocations.

This assessment forms part of the annual threat assessment of the US intelligence community that was submitted to the US Congress by the Office of Director of National Intelligence during a Congressional hearing.

While India and China have engaged in bilateral border talks and resolved border points, relations will remain strained in the wake of the countries' lethal clash in 2020, the most serious in decades, said the report.

The expanded military postures by both India and China along the disputed border elevate the risk of armed confrontation between two nuclear powers that might involve direct threats to US persons and interests, and calls for US intervention. Previous standoffs have demonstrated that persistent low-level friction on the LAC has the potential to escalate swiftly, it said.

According to the report, the crises between India and Pakistan are of particular concern because of the risk of an escalatory cycle between two nuclear-armed states.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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NORTH KOREA FIRES MISSILE AHEAD OF US-SOUTH KOREA MILITARY DRILLS

North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile Thursday, Seoul's military said, in Pyongyang's latest show of force just days before South Korea and the United States kick off major joint military exercises.

Pyongyang's KCNA news outlet said hours later that leader Kim Jong Un was on the ground to witness "a powerful volley" by an artillery unit "ready to respond to actual war".

Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their worst points in decades, with the nuclear-armed North conducting ever more provocative banned weapons tests as Seoul moved to ramp up security cooperation with Washington in response.

Last year, Kim's regime declared North Korea an "irreversible" nuclear power and vowed to exponentially increase weapons production, including tactical nuclear weapons, as the US looks to move more assets to the region to defend ally Seoul.

North Korea has long claimed its nuclear weapons and missile programmes are for self-defence, and has bristled over US-South Korea military exercises, describing them as rehearsals for an invasion. Earlier this week, North Korea accused the US of "intentionally" ramping up tensions, and Kim's powerful sister warned that if the US were to intercept one of Pyongyang's missile tests, it would be seen as a "clear declaration of war".

IMRAN BOOKED FOR MURDER, TERRORISM IN LAHORE

The police in Lahore on Thursday booked Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan and 400 others on charges of murder and terrorism during their clash with police personnel during the party’s rally that left one activist dead and scores injured. This is the 80th case against ousted PM Khan registered by the PML-N-led coalition government during its 11 months of rule.

Police on Wednesday allegedly killed PTI activist Ali Bilal and injured over a dozen during a crackdown outside Khan’s residence from where they were to take out a pro-judiciary rally. Over 100 PTI workers were also arrested. The FIR said 11 police officials were injured in the clash with PTI workers who hurled stones at them. The FIR said six PTI workers also suffered injuries.

PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said instead of registering an FIR against the policemen for killing the PTI worker on the complaint of his family, the police have booked Khan and 400 others in his murder.

THE REST

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STALIN HITS OUT AT BJP ON MIGRANT RUMOURS; JD(U) JOINS IN

Lashing out at the BJP over alleged rumours of migrants coming under attack in the state, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday accused “BJP leaders from North India” of spreading “fake news” and pointed out that these began a day after he called for the unity of all non-BJP parties in the country.

“The spread of fake videos was initiated by BJP leaders from North India, revealing their ulterior motive. This occurred a day after I spoke about the necessity of anti-BJP parties uniting. This [the timing] itself suggests a clear motive behind spreading these lies,” Stalin said in a video statement that’s part of the latest edition of Ungalil Oruvan (One Among You), a prepared Q&A session with the CM. He was responding to a question on the “spread of fake news about North Indian workers being attacked in Tamil Nadu”.

In Patna, the JD(U), too, hit out at the BJP, accusing it of spreading “rumours” of attacks on migrant workers in Tamil Nadu to allegedly cause a rift between the two states and to “browbeat Opposition parties”.

“The BJP spread rumours on migrants and tried to cause tension and rift between Tamil Nadu and Bihar. But what happened? None of the incidents of assault were true. A team from Bihar visited Tamil Nadu for a probe and their government also looked into it… but not a single incident was reported,” said JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh a.k.a. Lalan Singh.

ED ARRESTS MANISH SISODIA DAY BEFORE HIS BAIL HEARING IN CBI CASE

A day before his bail plea was to come up for hearing in court, former Delhi Dy CM Manish Sisodia was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) Thursday in connection with its money laundering probe linked to the Delhi government’s now-scrapped excise policy.

Sisodia was questioned by ED officials before his arrest in Tihar jail where he has been lodged following his earlier arrest on February 26 by the CBI over the same policy.

Sisodia’s bail plea in the CBI case will be heard by a special judge at Rouse Avenue Court today. The court had earlier sent the AAP leader to judicial custody till March 20.

On Thursday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, “Manish was first arrested by the CBI. CBI did not find any evidence, no money was found in the raid. There is a bail hearing tomorrow. Manish would have been released tomorrow. So today ED arrested him. They have only one aim – to keep Manish inside at all costs by creating new fake cases everyday. The public is watching. It will answer.”

IN NAGALAND, NCP STANDS ON SAME SIDE AS BJP

The Opposition camp seems to be in disarray ahead of the resumption of the Budget session of Parliament on Monday.

In a U-turn, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, a major opposition player, on Wednesday announced that seven NCP MLAs of Nagaland would support the NDPP-BJP government in the state “in the larger interest” of Nagaland.

“The newly elected MLAs and the NCP local unit of Nagaland were of the opinion that we must be part of the government to be headed by Nephiu Rio, chief of the NDPP and Chief Minister of Nagaland, in the larger interest Nagaland and our own relationship with Rio,” a statement issued by Narendra Verma, national general secretary and Northeast in charge of the NCP, said.

While most Opposition parties are yet to react to NCP’s change of heart, the Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM took a dig at the NCP and its “secular” associates.

‘PRADHANI AND ADANI’: KCR'S DAUGHTER REACTS AHEAD OF ED QUESTIONING

Telangana’s ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi on Thursday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his proximity to Gautam Adani, asking the country to reject the “one-nation-one-friend government”.

The coordinated broadside, in Hyderabad and Delhi, came ahead of the Enforcement Directorate’s scheduled questioning of Telangana CM K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter K. Kavitha on Saturday in connection with the Delhi liquor scam.

Kavitha, MLC and former Lok Sabha member, said the “double-engine government” that the BJP dangles during state elections “actually stands for Pradhani and Adani Sarkar”. Her brother and Telangana minister K.T. Rama Rao was reported from Hyderabad as saying that Adani was the “benami of Modi”.

PULWAMA WIDOWS’ DEMANDS INAPPROPRIATE, EXPLAINS RAJASTHAN CM GEHLOT

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot Thursday accused the BJP of using the “widows of [Pulwama] martyrs for their narrow political interest”, days after his party colleague and rival Sachin Pilot asked the state government to consider their demands sympathetically.

Forty CRPF personnel lost their lives in the Pulwama terrorist attack in February 2019. The families of three personnel from the state — Hemraj Meena, Rohitash Lamba and Jeet Ram Gurjar — have been protesting since 28 February in Jaipur over what they describe as “non-fulfillment of promises” by the state government. BJP MP Kirodi Lal Meena had also joined the protest.

In a statement on Twitter Thursday, Gehlot said that the families of the martyrs have been compensated in line with state norms, and sought to explain why some demands are not being fulfilled.

“The wife of martyr Sh. Hemraj Meena wants his third statue installed at a circle (chauraha) whereas two of his statues have already been installed,” wrote Gehlot, adding that such a demand “is not appropriate in view of the families of other martyrs”.

“Wife of martyr Sh. Rohitash Lamba is demanding [a] compassionate appointment of her husband’s brother. If [a] job is given to brother of martyr Sh. Lamba, then in future the family members of all the widows may exact inappropriate social and family pressure to give job to other relatives while depriving the children of the martyr of the right to a job… How can we justify giving [a] job to any other relative by trampling upon the rights of the children of the martyr?” said Gehlot.

He said that he has apprised Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge of his arguments.

“THE LAURELS OF THE INDUSTRY HAVE LOST THEIR HARDY.”

Satish Kaushik called Neena Gupta Nancy and she called him Kaushikan. Actress Neena Gupta shared an emotional video on her Instagram handle. Along with the video, Neena wrote, "Goodbye Kaushikan."

The actor-filmmaker passed away following a heart attack on Thursday morning. He was 66. He was remembered as someone who never stopped smiling. Kaushik was last seen at Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi's Holi party in Mumbai, this Tuesday.

Neena Gupta, in her autobiography, 'Sach Kahun Toh', had claimed that Satish Kaushik had offered to marry her when she was expecting Masaba. Kaushik told Neena, "Don't worry, if the child is born with dark skin, you can just say it's mine, and we'll get married. Nobody will suspect a thing."

As tributes continue to pour in, his ‘Mr India’ co-star Anil Kapoor puts it best, “The Laurels of the industry have lost their Hardy.”

BHARAT MATRIMONY FACES MASSIVE IRE OVER VIDEO POSTED ON HOLI, WOMEN’S DAY

Bharat Matrimony, a platform designed to seek brides and grooms, is in the middle of row after it shared a video on Holi and International Women’s day.

“This Women’s Day & Holi, let’s celebrate by creating safer and more inclusive spaces for women. It’s important to acknowledge the challenges that women face in public spaces and create a society that truly respects their well-being - today & forever,” reads the caption of the post.

The video features a woman who washes her face after playing Holi only to see her face left in bruises. The shared post has accumulated over 1.8 million views.

The matrimony platform perhaps tried to convey a message against domestic violence but is facing massive ire over ‘portraying Hindu festival in bad light’ by associating a social message with Holi. Many started a campaign to ban the site and apprise people about its mentality.

MONEY-HAPPINESS LINK ACCELERATES AT NEARLY $100,000-A-YEAR SALARY

Money really does buy happiness, and the correlation extends well beyond the $75,000-a-year salary threshold that had been seen as the upper limit for making an impact, according to a team of scientists including the Nobel Prize-winning psychologist who introduced the idea of a happiness plateau more than a decade ago.

Contentedness does increase steadily in line with incomes and even accelerates as pay rises beyond $100,000 a year — as long as the person enjoys a certain baseline level of happiness to begin with. That’s according to the authors’ study of 33,391 people living in the US, published March 1 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal. They say the effect can be observed in salaries up to $500,000, though they lack conclusive data beyond that level.

The results contradict a famous 2010 paper by the psychologist Daniel Kahneman and economist Angus Deaton, which reported that happiness goes up with income until the relationship starts to “flatten” at between $60,000 and $90,000 a year.

Now Kahneman has re-analyzed his work in collaboration with Harvard University psychology doctoral student and former software product manager Matthew Killingsworth, who found no happiness plateau at all in a 2021 study researching the same topic.

AHMEDABAD TEST, DAY 1: KHAWAJA'S TON GIVES AUSTRALIA UPPER HAND

Usman Khawaja combined patience with grit to raise his 14th Test hundred that guided Australia to a comfortable 255/4 as a keen contest between bat and ball marked the opening day of the fourth and final match, in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

After dominating the batters in the first three matches of the series, the Indian spinners struggled to trouble the Australians with the Motera track turning out to be a better wicket. 

Khawaja, Australia's best batter on the tour, was determination-personified throughout his six-hour stay as he struck 15 boundaries in his unbeaten 104-run knock.

Before the match started, Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Anthony Albanese did an open-buggy lap of the ground. The two captains, Rohit Sharma and Steve Smith, were presented their Test caps by the PMs. All four first held hands and, in unison, raised them to the skies.

The duo then watched the match for about half an hour.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

The ability to see beauty is the beginning of our moral sensibility. What we believe is beautiful we will not wantonly destroy. - Reverend Sean Parker Dennison

OFF TRACK

Two elderly couples were enjoying friendly conversation when one of the men asked the other, "Fred, how was the memory clinic you went to last month?"

"Outstanding," Fred replied. "They taught us all the latest psychological techniques: visualization, association. It was great."

"Wow! What was the name of the clinic?"

Fred went blank. He thought and thought, but couldn't remember. Then a smile broke across his face and he asked, "What do you call that flower with the long stem and thorns?"

"You mean a rose?"

"Yes, that's it!" He turned to his wife, "Rose, what was the name of that memory clinic?"