CONG TO HOLD PRESS CONFERENCES IN 35 CITIES

Upping the ante over Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from Lok Sabha, the Congress will hold press conferences in 35 cities over the next two days on 'Democracy Dis'Qualified' while also highlighting other issues such as the Adani matter and the alleged "clean chit" to fugitives.

Attacking the BJP over Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from Lok Sabha, Congress leaders and workers had held protests across the country on Sunday, with party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accusing the govt of "trying to silence" a "martyr's son" for raising the voice of people.

OPPOSITION'S NEW 'RESOLUTION' AFTER UDDHAV THACKERAY BACKS OUT OF MEET

The opposition leaders will steer clear of commenting on sensitive topics like VD Savarkar, the Congress and representatives of 17 parties present at a strategy meet last evening have decided. The absence of Uddhav Thackeray loomed large over the dinner meet at Mallikarjun Kharge's home. Mr Thackeray -- upset over Rahul Gandhi's comment on VD Savarkar -- had pulled out of the meet. Thackeray warned of a rift in the Opposition alliance in Maharashtra if Mr Gandhi did not "stop insulting our God".

Sources said at the dinner meet, the Congress had indicated that it would take into account feelings of like-minded parties.

Besides the Congress, members of the DMK, Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party, Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United, Telangana's ruling Bharat Raksha Samithi, RS, CPM, CPI, Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party, MDMK, KC, TMC, RSP, RJD, J&K NC, IUML, VCK, SP, JMM were present at the meet.

Many of the opposition leaders, however, made it clear that this was an issue-based support to the Congress and not a gesture to be read in the context of the 2024 general elections. "The question of walking together is due symbolism, which we undertook today - a special mark of solidarity against coordinated and undemocratic attacks on everyone," Trinamool's Jawahar Sircar had said.

ARMY CHIEF: CHINA USING WEAPONISATION OF SUPPLY CHAIN TO EXPAND ITS INFLUENCE

Chief Of Army Staff General Manoj Pande on Monday said ‘China is using predatory economics and weaponisation of supply chains to expand its sphere of influence’. He also said obfuscation of reality and exploiting cyber and information operations are some of the common tools in the Chinese playbook.

Speaking about the markers of the rise of China, Gen Pande said, “China’s rise as a political, technological and military power has accorded it a new hierarchical position in the world order, which it intends to lead. China’s strides as a political powerhouse are evident in its pursuit for a much larger seat at the high table. Brokering of peace talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran and putting forth the Chinese 12-point peace plan for ending the ongoing Russia Ukraine conflict is reflective of a Chinese urgency to replace the US as the global net security provider.”

“Today China stands as the largest economy in purchasing power parity terms. On one hand, it is building an international network of coercion through predatory economics while on the other it claims pulling out more than 100 million of its own people out of poverty. Its pursuit to expand the sphere of influence through economic maneuvering, weaponisation of resource supply chains, financing large infrastructure projects with scant regard for environmental and safety standards and straddling recipient countries with unsustainable debt, are there for the world to see.”

Speaking about the current situation in the context of China, Gen Pane said, “The most important aspect remains our legacy challenges of our unsettled and disputed borders. Pockets of disputes and contested claims to territories continue to exist due to differing perceptions of the alignment of the line of actual control. Transgressions remain a potential trigger for escalation..….The boundary issues cannot be divorced from bilateral relations.”

AFTER INDIA ALERT, NEPAL PUTS AMRITPAL SINGH ON SURVEILLANCE LIST

Nepal Monday put fugitive Amritpal Singh, who is believed to be hiding in the country, on its surveillance list after India requested it not to allow the pro-Khalistan preacher to flee to a third country and arrest him if he attempts to escape using an Indian passport. Nepal’s Department of Immigration has put Amritpal on its surveillance list following a request from the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu.

“We have received a written note along with a copy of his passport from the (Indian) embassy suspecting that Amritpal Singh might have entered Nepal,” said Kamal Prasad Pandey, the Information Officer at the Department. “The Indian Embassy has sent the note asking the Department to put Amritpal Singh, a member of a separatist group, on the surveillance list,” Pandey said.

Amritpal has continued to evade arrest and remained untraceable ever since a crackdown against him and members of his outfit — Waris Punjab De — was launched in Punjab on March 18.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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ANOTHER SHOOTOUT IN A US SCHOOL KILLS 6

At least three children and three adults were killed in a shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday morning before police shot dead the shooter, who appeared to be a teenage girl.

Police began receiving calls of a shooter at The Covenant School at 10:13 a.m.. Officers could hear gunfire coming from the school’s second floor, Don Aaron, a spokesperson for Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, told reporters.

The shooter had at least two semi-automatic rifles and a handgun, Aaron said.

“We do not know who she is at this juncture,” Aaron said.

RUSSIA WON'T CHANGE PLANS ON DEPLOYING NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN BELARUS: KREMLIN

The Kremlin on Monday said Western criticism would not change plans announced by President Vladimir Putin to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in neighbouring Belarus.

The West condemned Putin's weekend announcement on placing the weapons in EU and NATO-bordering Belarus, triggering calls for new sanctions on Moscow.

Ukraine said it was seeking an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council over the move. "Such a reaction of course cannot influence Russian plans," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Speaking during a televised interview on Saturday, Putin said Moscow would station the tactical nuclear weapons "without violating our international agreements on nuclear non-proliferation". He said this was "nothing unusual".

"The United States has been doing this for decades. They have long placed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allies," Putin said.

ISRAEL PM NETANYAHU DELAYS JUDICIAL OVERHAUL AFTER PROTESTS

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that a controversial plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary will be delayed after months of protests, growing labour strikes and opposition from within his own govt. “When there’s an opportunity to avoid civil war through dialogue, I, as prime minister, am taking a time out for dialogue,” Netanyahu said in a nationally televised address on Monday.

The govt’s plan to tighten parliament’s control over judicial processes has triggered some of the biggest mass protests in Israeli history, with the plan’s opponents calling the move a threat to democracy. Netanyahu spoke after tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated outside the Knesset or parliament and workers launched a nationwide strike in a dramatic escalation of the mass protest movement aimed at halting his plan.

Netanyahu’s announcement had initially been expected earlier in the day, but was delayed after far-right members of his govt reportedly urged him to not back down.

THE REST

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RAHUL GANDHI ASKED TO VACATE OFFICIAL BUNGALOW BY APRIL 22

Disqualified Lok Sabha member Rahul Gandhi was on Monday asked to vacate the govt bungalow allotted to him by April 22. The housing committee of the Lok Sabha took the decision following which the secretariat of the House served the notice on the former Congress president, a Z-plus protectee who has been living in the 12, Tughlaq Lane bungalow since 2005.

Sources said Gandhi can write to the housing committee seeking an extension, and the panel can take a decision depending on the validity of the reasons cited by him.

The committee has 11 members drawn from different parties and is headed BJP MP C R Patil.

Congress member Manickam Tagore, who is a member of the committee, hit out at the govt over the decision and linked it to Gandhi's trenchant criticism of its policies.

When Gandhi spoke against a few corporate groups getting all benefits under this govt, his security was given to the CRPF from the SPG and when he spoke on February 7 about "Adani & Modi friendship" he was disqualified as an MP, Tagore alleged.

"When RG spoke on March 25 the about Mo-Adani... 27th March they want to take the house also. Wah Narender baba. What else can you take from him now? Rahul Gandhi speaks truth and he is fighting for India against the wealth being gifted to Adani and make him super rich," he tweeted.

MUSLIM LEADERS IN DIALOGUE WITH RSS EXPRESS ‘ANGUISH’

THE Muslim intellectuals who have been engaging with the RSS since last year have written to Sangh Parivar chief Mohan Bhagwat expressing “anguish’’ that hate speeches and anti-Muslim meetings are continuing unabated, mentioning the “love jihad” rallies in Maharashtra, and saying there was little intervention on part of the RSS to stop these.

The letter, sent to Bhagwat on March 23, carries the signatures of former Lt Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung, former Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi, ex-Rajya Sabha member Shahid Siddiqui, Lt General (retd) Z U Shah and Saeed Shervani. They are the founding members of the AEEDU (Alliance for Economic and Educational Empowerment of the Underprivileged), which initiated the dialogue with the RSS to bridge the divide between the two communities by addressing each other’s concerns.

“After our meeting with you last August, we had met a large number of influential leaders (religious and otherwise) among Muslims. With one voice they supported our initiative and we had carried this message to Bhai Krishna Gopal and others. Today, there is a sense of dismay and a question on the usefulness of our efforts,’’ it adds.

The AEEDU met Bhagwat in August last year for the first time, and at a January meeting in continuation of that, the Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind had sent its representatives. The AEEDU has also been holding talks with other Muslim groups to bring them into the dialogue process.

RAJASTHAN DOCTORS HOLD MASSIVE RALLY AGAINST RIGHT TO HEALTH ACT

Govt and private doctors along with medical and paramedical professionals took out a massive rally yesterday in Rajasthan's Jaipur to protest against the recently passed Right to Health Act in the state assembly. Private doctors have threatened that their hospitals will not be part of any healthcare scheme by the state in future.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) had earlier called for a nationwide black day against the contentious law. Doctors across the state, including IMA's Rajasthan chapter, have been protesting against the Act, that gives rights to every resident to avail free of cost treatment along with ‘emergency treatment’ without prepayment at any health institution in the state.

“Right to health is definitely a right of the poor and the citizen of the country. The state govt has the responsibility to fulfill that. Since they are unable to fulfill their responsibility, they are putting it on the doctors, without clarifying who will pay the expenses,” IMA national president Dr Sharad Agarwal said while talking to reporters.

SC ISSUES NOTICE TO CENTRE, GUJARAT GOVT ON BILKIS BANO'S PETITION

The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Centre, Gujarat govt and the convicts in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case on her petition challenging the premature release of 11 men convicted of raping her and killing her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Noting that there’s a gamut of issues involved that needed to be heard in detail, a Bench led by Justice KM Joseph posted the matter for hearing on April 18.

It asked the Gujarat govt to be ready with relevant files relating to grant of remission on the next date of the hearing. The Bench, which also included Justice B V Nagarathna, said it would not be overwhelmed by emotions and would only go by the law.

The Supreme Court had earlier dismissed Bilkis Bano’s petition seeking review of its verdict asking the Gujarat govt to consider the petitions for remission of sentences and premature release of the 11 convicts.

GANGSTER-POLITICIAN ATIQ AHMED BROUGH BACK TO UP

Gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed was brought to the Naini Central Jail in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh Monday evening amid tight security arrangements. The police cavalcade bringing him from a prison in Gujarat reached the Naini Jail at 5.30 pm.

Ahmed will be produced before a court today, when it is likely to pass an order in a 17-year-old kidnapping case in which the former MP is an accused.

He has been brought to Prayagraj in compliance with the court's orders, Police Commissioner Ramit Sharma said.

Ahmed, a former Samajwadi Party MP from Phulpur, was shifted to the Sabarmati Central Jail in Gujarat in June 2019 following a Supreme Court order after he was accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and assault of real estate businessman Mohit Jaiswal while in prison in Uttar Pradesh.

He is named in more than 100 criminal cases, including the recent Umesh Pal murder case, police said.

ADANI ACQUIRES 49 PER CENT IN QUINTILLION BUSINESS MEDIA FOR RS 48 CRORE

Billionaire Gautam Adani’s AMG Media Networks has acquired about a 49 per cent stake in Raghav Bahl-curated digital business news platform Quintillion Business Media Pvt Ltd for about Rs 48 crore.

In a stock exchange filing, Adani Enterprises Ltd said its subsidiary AMG Media Networks Ltd has completed the acquisition which was originally announced in May last year.

The transaction was completed on March 27 for “Rs 47.84 crore”, it said.

Adani group had set up AMG Media Networks for its foray into businesses of “publishing, advertising, broadcasting, distribution of content over different types of media networks”.

In May last year, it had signed a shareholders’ agreement with Quintillion Media Ltd (QML) and QBML.

SERVE NOTICE BEFORE TAGGING BANK A/C AS FRAUD, RULES SC

Observing that declaring a bank account as fraud could be fatal for the borrower leading to his “civil death”, the Supreme Court on Monday ruled that banks must serve a notice and grant an opportunity to borrowers to be heard before taking such a decision, instead of unilaterally declaring the account as fraud.

Abench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli said that declaring an account as a fraud not only results in reporting the crime to investigating agencies, but also has other penal and civil consequences against the borrowers and principles of natural justice must be followed. The court passed the order on the issue of validity of RBI (Frauds Classification and Reporting by Commercial Banks and Select FIs) Directions, 2016.

NAMIBIAN CHEETAH SASHA DIES OF KIDNEY AILMENT IN KUNO PARK

Namibian cheetah Sasha died due to a kidney ailment on Monday, more than 6 months after she was translocated along with seven other big cats to Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park from the African country, a top forest department official said.

The death is being seen as a setback to Project Cheetah, aimed at reviving the population of the world's fastest land animal in India, seven decades after they became extinct.

E-SHOPPERS FROM SMALLER CITIES SPEND 77 PC MORE THAN TIER 1 COUNTERPARTS

Online shoppers from Tier 2 to Tier 4 cities spent up to 77 per cent more than those from Tier 1 cities in their last online shopping transaction, according to a survey by the IIM Ahmedabad.

The report of ‘Digital Retail Platforms and Consumer Emotions: An Indian Perspective’ that was released Monday gives crucial insights into adoption of digital retail both in urban and rural India.

The study reveals how browsing online has become a favourite pastime for consumers, with one-third of them visiting digital retail platforms every two to three days, investing an average of 34 to 35 minutes in their last online shopping.

NETFLIX GETS LEGAL NOTICE OVER DEROGATORY REMARKS ON MADHURI DIXIT IN 'THE BIG BANG THEORY'

A political analyst has filed a lawsuit against video-streaming platform Netflix over an episode in American sitcom 'The Big Bang Theory'. He claims that it uses a "derogatory term" to refer to Bollywood actor Madhuri Dixit.

In the legal notice, political analyst Mithun Vijay Kumar wants the streaming giant remove the first episode of season 2 where Kunal Nayyar's character Raj Koothrapalli and Jim Parsons's character Sheldon Cooper compare Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit.

In the scene in question, Sheldon Cooper calls Aishwarya Rai a poor man's Madhuri Dixit. In response to his comment, Raj Koothrapalli replies, "Aishwarya Rai is a goddess, by comparison, Madhuri Dixit is a leprous prostitute".

"My client is deeply concerned about the negative impact that such content can have on society, particularly in perpetuating harmful stereotypes and discrimination against women. This content is not only insensitive but also promotes sexism and misogyny, which is unacceptable in any form," the notice said.

'The Big Bang Theory' debuted in 2007 and ended its 12-season run in 2019.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

The difference between a smart person and a wise person is that a smart person knows what to say and a wise person knows whether or not to say it. – Anonymous

OFF TRACK

A salesman was testifying in his divorce proceedings against his wife. "Please describe," said his attorney, "the incident that first caused you to entertain suspicions as to your wife's fidelity."

"Well, I'm pretty much on the road all week," the man testified. "So naturally when I am home, I'm attentive to the wife."

"One Sunday morning," he continued, "we were in the midst of some pretty heavy love-making when the old lady in the apartment next door pounded on the wall and yelled, 'Can't you at least stop all that racket on the weekends?'"