FARMER LEADERS TO HOLD TALKS WITH CENTRE TODAY, PROTESTERS STILL AT BORDER

DAY 2 of the ‘Dilli Chalo’ march by Punjab’s farmers, under the umbrella of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, ended on a note of hope on Wednesday, with the farmer leaders accepting another invitation for talks with Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Arjun Munda and Nityananad Rai on Thursday.

Farmer leaders Sarvan Singh Pandher and Jagjit Singh Dallewal said they asked the protesters at the Shambhu border (Punjab-Haryana border) whether they should press on towards Delhi or return to the table for talks. “Our people told us that we should explore a solution through talks,” said Dallewal.

Farmer leaders said they would refrain from advancing towards Delhi on Thursday. “We aim to engage in peaceful talks with Union ministers in Chandigarh at 5 pm on Thursday. Haryana security forces should avoid instigating our farmers with teargas or other measures… We are in favor of dialogue. If the government is committed to resolving our issues through discussion, we are also willing,” said Pandher.

This will be the third round of meetings between the farmer leaders and the Centre.

Meanwhile, stray groups of protesters who tried to surge ahead at Shambhu and Khanauri — the two border points between Haryana and Punjab — on Wednesday were beaten back by teargas, water cannons and rubber pellets, which left more than 40 farmers injured. At least a dozen of them were evacuated to the government hospital in Patiala, where the state’s Health Minister Balbir Singh called on them and said the Punjab government would offer free treatment.

Long cavalcades of tractor-trolleys were parked at both the protest sites as the farmers.

A day after the Haryana police used drones to drop teargas shells on the farmers, kites dotted the sky at both the protest sites. Farmers said this was not a celebration of Basant Panchami, but a bid to thwart the drones.

The day also saw heated exchanges between the Punjab and Haryana authorities. As the Patiala Deputy Commissioner, Shaukat Ahmed Parray, shot off a missive to the Haryana Police, asking them not to fire teargas shells deep inside Punjab’s territory, Haryana’s Home Minister Anil Vij took offence. “What do they want to say? Is it the India-Pakistan border? Why didn’t the Punjab government take any action while these convoys first started from Amritsar? Do they mean to say that if anybody kills Haryana police personnel and escapes into Punjab, we can’t chase him and catch him there,” he asked.

MODI OPENS UAE TEMPLE, SAYS ABU DHABI ENHANCES AYODHYA JOY

Inaugurating the first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the UAE for “writing a golden chapter in human history”.

With the inauguration of the BAPS (Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha) Mandir in Abu Dhabi coming weeks after the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, Modi said the joy was further amplified. “Our immense pleasure in Ayodhya has been further enhanced by the wave of happiness received in Abu Dhabi today,” he said.

“Today, the UAE has written a golden chapter in human history. A beautiful and divine temple is being inaugurated here. There are many years of hard work behind this moment,” he said.

Addressing a gathering that included UAE Tolerance Minister Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan and spiritual leaders from all faiths, he said, “I hope the BAPS Mandir will become a symbol of communal harmony and global unity for the whole world.”

He said the UAE, known for its Burj Khalifa, Museum of the Future, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and other landmark buildings, has added another cultural chapter to its identity. “We do not see hatred in diversity, we consider diversity as our specialty. In this temple, we will see a glimpse of diverse faiths at each and every step,” Modi said.

Requesting the audience to give a standing ovation to UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, he said: “When I came to the UAE in 2018, I met Sheikh Al Nahyan and showed him two models of the temple that had been prepared — one that was based on Vedic architecture and another that was a simple model without Hindu religious symbols. His thought was clear: he told me the temple in Abu Dhabi should be built with splendour and glory. He wanted the temple to not only be built, but to also look like a temple.”

Speaking at the event, UAE’s Tolerance Minister Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan called Modi a “great friend and representative of a great and friendly country”.

SC TO DELIVER VERDICT ON VALIDITY OF ELECTORAL BONDS SCHEME TODAY

The Supreme Court will today pronounce its judgment on a bunch of four petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the electoral bonds scheme. The scheme was announced in the 2017 Union Budget speech when Late Arun Jaitley was the Finance Minister. Electoral bonds are interest-free bearer instruments that are essentially used to donate money anonymously to political parties.

This is also why this scheme has been challenged in court by transparency activists since voters can no longer know which individual, company, or organisation has funded which party and to what extent. Earlier parties had to disclose details of all donors who have contributed more than Rs 20,000.

Besides challenging the constitutionality of the electoral bonds scheme, the petitioners have asked the court to declare all political parties as public offices to bring them under the ambit of the Right to Information Act and compel political parties to disclose their income and expenditure.

A five-judge bench had reserved its judgment in the matter on November 2 last year.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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SHEHBAZ SHARIF SET TO BECOME NEXT PAKISTAN PM

Shehbaz Sharif, the younger brother of former premier Nawaz Sharif, is expected to become Pakistan's next prime minister. The surprise move means the party of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan will not be in power, despite independent candidates backed by his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf winning the maximum number of seats in Parliament in the February 8 elections marred by allegations of rigging.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz on Tuesday night nominated 72-year-old Shehbaz as the prime ministerial candidate instead of the party supremo and three-time former premier Nawaz Sharif.

Earlier, Shehbaz along with Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan Peoples Party, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui of Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan met at the residence of Shujaat Hussain of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid for a consultative meeting and agreed on government formation. “Today we have united to tell the nation that we all accept the split mandate. I am thankful to Zardari and Bilawal (Bhutto) that they decided for their party to vote for the PML-N,” he said.

PML-N Information Secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb has said that party supremo Nawaz Sharif has nominated the party president and his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif for the post of the country's prime minister. She added that PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz, considered the political heir of Nawaz Sharif, was nominated for the post of the chief minister of Punjab province.

FORMS 45 AND 47, THAT ARE AT THE HEART OF PAKISTAN’S ELECTION CONTROVERSY

Allegations of rigging and result manipulation marr Pakistan’s February 8 election results. Raoof Hasan, close Imran Khan aide and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Central Information Secretary, tweeted that Imran’s “mandate has been stolen in the dark of the night”.

At the heart of the controversy have been Forms 45 and 47, meant to provide official documentation of election results.

Form 45 acts as a formal record of votes polled at a polling station, and thus is crucial for compiling results at the level of the constituency. It contains essential information on the polling station, including the station number, the constituency it falls under, total number of registered voters, total number of votes cast, and a breakdown of the votes earned by each candidate. It is signed not just by the presiding officer of the polling station, but also polling representatives of candidates present, who act as witnesses of the process.

Thus, Form 45 acts as the most basic record of electoral outcomes in Pakistan. By law, polling stations have to publicly display copies of the form in order to ensure accountability and transparency.

After voting is completed and ballots are counted at a polling station, the Presiding Officer fills Form 45 and submits it to the Returning Officer of the constituency. The Returning Officer then gathers and tallies results from Form 45s from every polling station in the constituency to determine the final results.

Form 47 is prepared by tallying all the results obtained from Form 45s of a constituency.

The two forms have been at the centre of the controversy surrounding poll results in Pakistan.

On election night, various reports said that candidates and their representatives were being denied Form 45s by the presiding officers. PTI expressed serious concerns over non-provision of Form 45 to its polling agents, even after lapse of several hours “seemingly under a malicious plot to change the results". The party later claimed that the results tallied in Form 47s, in several cases, showed a major discrepancy with regards to the granular data provided in Form 45s.

Imran Khan, in his AI-generated statement of victory, claimed that PTI won “170 seats” according to Form 45s. Form 47s, however, show PTI-backing independents only winning 93 seats.

These results have now been challenged in Pakistani courts.

IN SETBACK TO TRUCE TALKS IN CAIRO, NETANYAHU ‘RECALLS’ HIS TEAM

International efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas suffered asetback on Wednesday as Israel reportedly recalled its negotiating team and PM Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of hobbling the high-stakes negotiations by sticking to “delusional” demands.

Netanyahu’s remarks came hours after local media reported that the Israeli leader had ordered an Israeli delegation not to continue talks in Cairo, raising concerns over the fate of the negotiations and sparking criticism from the families of the roughly 130 remaining captives, about a fourth of whom are said to be dead.

The mediation efforts, steered by the US, Egypt and Qatar, have been working to bring the warring sides toward an agreement that might secure a truce in the months-long war. “In Cairo, Israel did not receive any new proposal from Hamas on the release of our captives,” Netanyahu said. “A change in Hamas’ positions will allow progress in the negotiations.” Israeli media reported that Netanyahu told his delegation not to return to the talks unless Hamas softens its demands. Hamas has said it will not release captives until Israel ends its offensive, withdraws from Gaza and releases a large number of Palestinian prisoners, including militants. Hamas officials had no immediate comment.

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ED ISSUES 6TH SUMMONS TO CM ARVIND KEJRIWAL IN MONEY-LAUNDERING CASE

The Enforcement Directorate has issued a fresh and the 6th summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his questioning in the excise policy-linked money-laundering case. The 55-year-old leader has been asked to depose before the federal agency on February 19.

A Delhi court last week had asked Kejriwal to appear before it on February 17 acting on a complaint filed by the ED for disobeying ED summons in this case and noted that prima facie the AAP chief was “legally bound” to comply.

TN ASSEMBLY PASSES RESOLUTION AGAINST DELIMITATION, BJP LENDS SUPPORT

Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed attempts to divide the country along “North-South lines”, the Tamil Nadu government brought in two resolutions in the Assembly opposing the scheduled delimitation of poll constituencies in 2026 and the Centre’s measures for ‘One Nation One Election’.

The resolutions, which said the two moves went “against the basis of democracy”, were “impractical”, and “not enshrined in the Constitution”, were passed by the Assembly with overwhelming support, including from the opposition AIADMK. The BJP too said it understood the concerns regarding delimitation expressed in the resolution, thought it opposed the one on ‘One Nation, One Election’.

The resolution against delimitation said the exercise due in 2026, following the new Census, “not be carried out”. “Due to unavoidable reasons, if the number of (Lok Sabha and Assembly) seats on the basis of population were to (change), (they) shall be maintained at the present ratio for constituencies within states… and for both Houses of Parliament, (which were) fixed based on the population of 1971.”

Tamil Nadu, along with other states in the South, has been arguing that they should not be “penalised” for their successful implementation of population control measures, compared to high-population states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

The issue has also taken the dimension of “financial atrocities” against the South, with the LDF-led Kerala and Congress-led Karnataka governments recently holding agitations in the Capital over the sharing of resources by the Centre with them. The Tamil Nadu government, led by the DMK in alliance with the Congress, lent its support to the two agitations.

BIKE TAXIS GET CENTRE'S LEGAL KICK-START PAVING WAY FOR NEW RIDING OPTION

The Centre has issued an advisory notification to state governments, clarifying the definition of bike taxis. The notification, titled ‘Motorcycles fall within the definition of contract carriage as per Section 2(7) of the Motor Vehicles (MV) Act, 1988’, was issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) on January 22.

This move now allows motorcycles to operate legally as contract carriages in India, potentially opening up new transportation options and income opportunities.

A contract carriage, according to the MV Act, is a vehicle carrying passengers for hire under a specific agreement. This agreement involves renting the entire vehicle for a fixed price, based on either distance or time, with or without a specific route. Unlike public buses, it cannot pick up or drop off additional passengers during the journey.

Legal experts suggest that although the central notification clarifies the legality of bike taxis, states and UTs will need to update their procedures and guidelines to accommodate motorcycle permits.

FORMER DUTCH PM AND WIFE DIE "TOGETHER HAND IN HAND" VIA DUO EUTHANASIA

Former Dutch Prime Minister Dries van Agt has died by legal euthanasia, "hand in hand" with his wife Eugenie. The couple, who were both 93, died earlier this month in his hometown Nijmegen, The Rights Forum, a human rights organisation Mr Agt founded, announced.

As per the press release, Mr Agt suffered a brain haemorrhage in 2019 and never fully recovered. He and his wife were "very ill", but "couldn't live without each other," the nonprofit's director Gerad Jonkman said about the choice of euthanasia, as per The Guardian.

Their deaths are now being seen as part of a growing trend in the Netherlands for "duo euthanasia", or two people receiving a fatal injection simultaneously. According to the outlet, 29 couples opted for assisted suicide in 2022, which is up from 16 who chose it in 2021 and 13 pairs the year before.

BRIJ BHUSHAN’S SON, AIDE BACK AT HELM, WRESTLERS THREATEN PROTEST

India’s top wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik have threatened to restart their protest following the election of former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s son Karan Bhushan Singh as the president of the Uttar Pradesh Wrestling Association.

The wrestlers, both Olympic medalists, are also unhappy that Sanjay Singh — a close aide of Brij Bhushan, the BJP MP from Kaiserganj — will return as WFI president and run the day-to-day affairs after the United World Wrestling lifted the suspension of the federation on Tuesday.

Decision-making powers in the hands of Brij Bhushan loyalists at the state-level and in the WFI saw Sakshi and Bajrang take to social media with a threat to relaunch their protests.

“Just 2-3 days back, Brij Bhushan’s son became the president of the UP wrestling body despite him saying no one from his family will come into wrestling administration. The government had promised that Brij Bhushan or his relatives or associates will not govern the sport,” Bajrang said in a video posted on Instagram.

ROHIT SHARMA TO CAPTAIN INDIA AT 2024 T20 WORLD CUP

India will be playing the T20 World Cup 2024, to be organised in the Caribbean and the USA, under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, announced BCCI secretary Jay Shah yesterday.

India have had Hardik Pandya as their full-time skipper in the shortest format but the heartbreaking loss in the final of the 2023 World Cup to Australia have reignited the murmurs of senior batters Virat Kohli and Rohit returning for the T20 showpiece in June.

“In 2023 (final) at Ahmedabad, even though we did not win the World Cup after 10 straight wins, we won hearts. I want to promise you that in 2024 (T20 World Cup) in Barbados (venue for the final), under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy, ham Bharat ka jhanda gaadenge (we will hoist the Indian flag),” Shah said at the end of his speech.

RAJKOT TEST: INDIAN CHOOSE TO BAT, 2 DEBUTANTS MAKE IT TO PLAYING XI

As the 3rd Test of the series gets underway today, India have won the toss, and they will be batting first. They have made four changes to the playing XI. Debutants Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel come in for Shreyas Iyer and KS Bharat. Ravindra Jadeja comes back for Axar Patel, and Mohammed Siraj is in for Mukesh Kumar.

So India are going in with three spinners - Ashwin,Jadeja, Kuldeep, and two pacers - Bumrah and Siraj.

England had announced their XI yesterday itself, with Mark Wood replacing Shoaib Bashir.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

When our memories outweigh our dreams, we have grown old. – Anonymous

OFF TRACK

Some young interns at a hospital were discussing theories about pre-natal influence.

“Obviously, there’s no such thing,” scoffed one. “It’s been disproved time and again. For example, before I was born, my mother broke a huge batch of phonograph records. But it’s never bothered me… never bothered me…never bothered me…”