FARMERS' AGITATION: YOUTH’S DEATH TAKES CENTRE STAGE

The death of Shubhkaran Singh, a 22-year-old farmer from Bathinda’s Ballo village, cast a shadow over any chance of a resolution between protesting farmers and the Centre, as demands gathered pace to declare him a “martyr”. Shubhkaran died of an injury to the back of his neck while protesting at Khanauri border on Wednesday, prompting farm leaders to suspend talks with the Centre.

His body has been lying at the hospital since Wednesday, with farm outfits not allowing the police to get an autopsy conducted. Bharti Kisan Union (Sidhupur) president Jagjit Singh Dallewal and Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee convener Sarvan Singh Pandher led the demand for the state govt to declare Singh a “martyr”, and appealed to people to hoist black flags atop their homes, shops and vehicles as a mark of protest against his “murder”.

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), which had led the 2020-21 farm laws agitation on the Delhi border, also demanded that an FIR under murder charges be lodged against Haryana govt officials and the state Home Minister.

Avik Saha, a member of SKM’s national coordination committee, sought a compensation of Rs 1 crore for Singh’s family, a judicial inquiry into his death, and for Haryana to bear the cost for tractors damaged during the agitation.

A decision was made to declare a nationwide black day on February 23 in collaboration with the central trade unions, whose members will wear black badges to work.

Rakesh Tikait, leader of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), announced a tractor march on highways leading to Delhi on February 26, and a one-day event at the Ramlila ground in Delhi on March 14. “Let us see if the govt stops us,” he said.

A Punjab govt official said: “The state govt’s view is sympathetic… His family will be given financial help. But a decision will not be taken under pressure. I can say there is a soft corner… That is why Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann addressed the state via video after the death.”

PM LISTS AGRI SCHEMES, SAYS WORKING ON IMPROVING LIVES OF SMALL FARMERS

Continuing the govt’s outreach amid an ongoing farmer agitation, PM Narendra Modi on Thursday said his dispensation was focused on transforming farmers into energy producers and fertiliser suppliers.

“The govt is significantly expanding the scope of cooperation in the rural economy. Cooperative movement is gaining momentum with the establishment of over 2 lakh cooperative societies in more than 2 lakh villages across the country. The govt stands with farmers in every way, and this is Modi’s guarantee,” the PM said.

JAISHANKAR BATS FOR UN REFORMS

India put its trust on multilateralism and took the Kashmir “aggression issue” to the United Nations but others made it a matter of “accession” for geopolitical reasons, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday.

He made the remarks while elaborating on need for having coexistence between national interests and multilateralism at a session of the Raisina Dialogue.

“That was always the case. Look at our own example. Very literally in our first year of Independence, we put our trust in multilateralism and took the Kashmir aggression issue to UN and others made it into an accession issue and they did it for geopolitical reasons,” Jaishankar said.

He was asked whether values are looking less important in the current geopolitical landscape as countries compromise on principles but never on interests.

“If you say people are playing multilateralism, they always did. We have grown up. It is not that we should be against multilateralism,” he said.

Responding to a question on reform of UN, Jaishankar, citing globalisation, said the “fact is the world trading rules have been gamed”. “If you look at the last 5 years, all big issues, in a way, we have not been able to find a multilateral solution. So, the results or lack of results demonstrates the case for reform,” he said.

He suggested that the “short-sighted” approach of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council is holding back forward movement in the long-pending reform of the global body. He said sentiments for changes in UN system is “very strong, but the challenge has been to get the concurrence for it from certain quarters”. “If you are going to ask 5 countries saying would you mind changing the rules that you would have less power, guess what the answer is going to be,” he said. “If they are wise, the answer would be something else. If they are short-sighted, the answer is what it is today,” he said.

WILL COMPLY, BUT DISAGREE WITH GOVT ORDER ON BLOCKING POSTS: X

Elon Musk-led X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday said the Govt of India had asked the microblogging site to act against some accounts and posts and while it will withhold the flagged content in India, “it disagreed with these actions”.

“The Indian Govt has issued executive orders requiring X to act on specific accounts and posts, subject to potential penalties, including significant fines and imprisonment. In compliance with the orders, we will withhold these accounts and posts in India alone; however, we disagree with these actions and maintain that freedom of expression should extend to these posts,” Global Govt Affairs, an arm of X, said.

The opposition Congress weighed in on the issue with Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh tagging the X post on the issue and saying: “Murder of democracy in India.” In 2022, Twitter had challenged orders to take down some content. In 2023, the Karnataka High Court dismissed the plea.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

======================

PAK OFFICIAL TAKES BACK POLL RIGGING ALLEGATIONS

A former senior bureaucrat, who claimed that 13 candidates from Pakistan’s garrison city of Rawalpindi were forcefully declared winners in the elections, withdrew his allegations on Thursday and said he made the false charges after ex-prime minister Imran Khan’s party offered him a “lucrative position”.

“I take full responsibility for my actions and surrender myself before the authorities for any kind of legal action,” Liaquat Ali Chattha, the former commissoner of Rawalpindi, was quoted as saying by Geo News.

On Saturday, Chattha — a civil servant for 32 years — had resigned from his office saying he was “accepting responsibility” for manipulation of election results. He had accused Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja of facilitating the rigging of votes.

Retracting his claims in a letter to the Election Commission on Thursday, Chatha said that after the Feb 8 elections, he had “secretly travelled to Lahore” to meet a PTI leader on Feb11. “It was in this meeting, that he made an offer to me that if I play a role in supporting the PTI’s ongoing narrative of rigging in elections and maligning state institutions, he would ensure a lucrative position for me in future.”Chatha said that the PTI leader told him that the entire planning had been formulated after consultation and approval of the party’s senior leadership.

BIDEN CALLS PUTIN ‘CRAZY SOB’; KREMLIN HITS BACK: CUT THE ‘HOLLYWOOD COWBOY’ ACT

US President Biden called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a “crazy SOB” at a public fundraising event Wednesday, which the Kremlin decried as “shameful”. “We have a crazy SOB like that guy Putin, and others, and we always have to worry about nuclear conflict,” Biden said.

The response from Moscow was swift. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the comments “boorish”, but unlikely to offend Putin. “If the president of such a country uses such language, well, then he should be ashamed,” Peskov said in an interview with Russian media. “It’s clear that Biden is demonstrating Hollywood cowboy behaviour to suit domestic political interests.” Others were less restrained. Putin ally Dmitry Medvedev said the existential threat to the world came from “useless old geezers, like Biden himself ”.

Putin, himself, responded with his trademark sarcasm. When asked about the “crude” Biden remark by Russian state TV, he smiled sarcastically and bit his lip before looking at the ground. “We are ready to work with any president. But I believe that for us, Biden is a more preferable president for Russia, and judging by what he has just said, I am absolutely right,” he said, with a slight smile.

THE REST

=========

SHARAD PAWAR FACTION OF NCP ALLOTTED NEW PARTY SYMBOL

The Election Commission has allotted a new party symbol, ‘man blowing turha’, to the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar.

This decision comes days after the commission recognized Ajit Pawar’s faction as the real NCP.

"It is a matter of pride for the Nationalist Congress Party – Sharad Chandra Pawar’ that the same Tutari(Turha) which had blown the eardrums of Delhi In the history of Maharashtra by the valor of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is alloted to us as poll symbol. With the progressive thoughts of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the idols of Maharashtra, Phule, Shahu, Ambedkar, respected Mr. This ‘Tutari’ is ready to blow the trumpet once again to shake the throne of Delhi along with Sharad Chandra Pawar Saheb!” the NCP Sharad Pawar tweeted after the allotment of party poll symbol.

NOW SATYA PAL MALIK ON CBI RADAR

The CBI on Thursday knocked on the doors of Satya Pal Malik, the charge in the case of former Jammu and Kashmir Governor being alleged corruption in a Kashmir Valley-based hydel project. Interestingly, the case only got registered after Malik himself made the allegation in a media statement in 2021, when he was the Meghalaya Governor, causing embarrassment to the BJP govt at the Centre, as he pointed to the involvement of an RSS leader.

Malik, shorn of any constitutional position, has been making statements against the Modi govt since then, ranging from grave allegations of the Centre trying to silence him on “lapses” that led to the 2019 Pulwama attack, to corruption in Goa (where he was Governor after his J&K stint).

FRESH PROTESTS AND ARSON IN SANDESHKHALI

Tension gripped Sandeshkhali again Thursday after a group of residents staged fresh protests and allegedly set fire to an ‘alaghar’ (guard room) of a fishery that they claimed had been built on land grabbed by local TMC leaders. Following the incident, the administration invoked prohibitory orders under CrPC Section 144 in nine areas under five gram panchayats of Sandeshkhali.

A small island in the Sundarban delta in West Bengal’s North 24-Parganas district, Sandeshkhali has been at the centre of BJP-TMC politics ever since January 5 when Enforcement Directorate officers were assaulted while conducting a search at the home of local strongman and TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh. The ED team had gone there in connection with an investigation into alleged irregularities in the state’s public distribution system.

Earlier this month, local residents went on a rampage seeking the arrest of Sheikh and his associates Uttam Sardar and Shibaprasad Hazra – the residents accused the TMC leaders of sexually harassing women and land grab. While Sardar and Hazra have been arrested, Sheikh remains at large.

CHILD RIGHTS BODY SEEKS ACTION OVER ‘ANTI-INDIA’ FATWA ON WEBSITE OF DARUL ULOOM DEOBAND

National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) Thursday sought legal action and FIR against an “anti-India” fatwa published on Darul Uloom Deoband’s website.

Darul Uloom Deoband is an Islamic school or madrasa in India where the Deobandi Islamic movement began. According to the NCPCR’s letter, the fatwa issued on “Ghazwa-e-Hind” or “invasion of India” will lead to hatred against the country.

“The fatwa talks about the invasion of India (Ghazwa-e-Hind) and how whoever will be martyred in it is a great martyr. Darul Uloom Deoband, a madrasa is an academic body of Islamic education and affiliating Madrasas across South Asia. Such kind of fatwas is exposing children to hatred against one’s own country and eventually causing them unnecessary mental or physical suffering,” the letter states.

The fatwa issued on the website is in response to a query posted on the website whether Hadith talks about invasion of India, said NCPCR chairperson Priyank Kanoongo.

INDIA ON WAY TO ELIMINATING KALA AZAR

In 2023, India hit target towards eliminating Kala Azar, first timeIndia’s initial target year for Kala Azar elimination was 2010, which was later extended to 2015, 2017, and then 2020.

In a significant step forward towards eliminating Kala Azar — the second deadliest parasitic disease after malaria in the country — India has achieved the target of reporting less than one case per 10,000 population across all blocks in 2023.

Data from the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme showed that there were 595 cases and four deaths of Kala Azar reported nationwide last year compared to 891 cases and three deaths in 2022.

Although this marks just the first step – India will need to sustain this momentum over the next three years to receive WHO certification – it’s an important milestone, considering that India has missed at least four deadlines for Kala Azar elimination.

"WHY NAME THEM AKBAR, SITA?": HIGH COURT ASKS BENGAL TO RENAME LIONS

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday asked the West Bengal govt to rename the lion "Akbar" and lioness "Sita", whose names caused a controversy after both animals were placed in the same enclosure at the Bengal Safari Park in Siliguri.

The court was hearing a petition by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad to change the name of the lioness who was recently transferred to West Bengal from Tripura, reported Live Law.

The single-judge bench of Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya, in an oral direction, asked the state to avoid controversy and consider renaming the animals,

"Will you name a lion after a Hindu deity, a Muslim prophet or Christian god or freedom fighter or nobel laureate? Generally anyone who is revered or respected by the people of our country?" Justice Bhattacharyya asked.

"You are a welfare state and it is a secular state. Why should you draw controversy by naming a lion after Sita and Akbar? This controversy should have been avoided," Justice Bhattacharyya said.

CHINESE FIRM HACKED INDIAN IMMIGRATION DATA, CLAIMS WASHINGTON POST

India is one of the targets of China’s intelligence and cyber-surveillance and Beijing’s hackers appeared to have successfully breached 95.2 gigabytes of immigration data from the Indian govt, an investigation by The Washington Post has revealed.

The Post, in a report published Thursday, said that a trove of leaked documents from a “Chinese state-linked hacking group shows that Beijing’s intelligence and military groups are carrying out large-scale, systematic cyber intrusions against foreign govts, companies and infrastructure — exploiting what the hackers claim are vulnerabilities in software systems from companies including Microsoft, Apple and Google”.

IN A FIRST, CERN SCIENTISTS CARRY OUT LASER COOLING OF POSITRONIUM

In a first, an international team of physicists from the Anti-hydrogen Experiment: Gravity, Interferometry, Spectroscopy (AEgIS) collaboration has achieved a breakthrough by demonstrating the laser cooling of Positronium.

Positronium, comprising a bound electron ( e- ) and positron ( e+ ), is a fundamental atomic system. Due to its very short life, it annihilates with a half life of 142 nano-seconds.

Physicists representing 19 European and one India research group comprising the Antihydrogen Experiment: Gravity, Interferometry, Spectroscopy (AEgIS) collaboration announced this scientific achievement on Thursday.

The experiment was performed at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, more popularly known as CERN, in Geneva. This is an important precursor experiment to the formation of anti-Hydrogen and the measurement of Earth’s gravitational acceleration on antihydrogen in the AEgIS experiment, they said. In addition, this scientific feat could open prospects to produce a gamma-ray laser that would eventually allow researchers to look inside the atomic nucleus and have applications beyond physics.

IPL 2024 OPENER ON MARCH 22

Defending champions Chennai Super Kings will host Royal Challengers Bangalore at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in the opening match of IPL 2024 on March 22.

On Thursday, the IPL released a partial schedule comprising an initial set of 21 matches between March 22 and April 7. The IPL final is expected to be played on May 26, with less than a week between that and the opening match of the men's T20 World Cup, to be played in the USA and the Caribbean from June 1.

The second half of the tournament schedule is expected once the Election Commission of India reveals the dates of the national elections, which are expected to take place in the months of April and May.

Rishabh Pant will start IPL 2024 as Delhi Capitals' captain but will not keep wicket in the first half of the season, franchise co-owner Parth Jindal has said. In a chat with ESPNcricinfo, Jindal also said Capitals were expecting South Africa fast bowler Anrich Nortje to be fit to play from their opening game, against Punjab Kings on March 23. "Rishabh is batting. He's running. He has started his wicketkeeping. He is likely to be fully fit for the IPL," Jindal said.

RANCHI TEST GETS UNDERWAY, ENGLAND BAT FIRST; AKASH DEEP DEBUTS FOR INDIA

Akash Deep gets his Test cap from his head coach the legendary Rahul Dravid. He will replace Bumrah as the hosts make a solitary change. Bumrah has been rested for work load management.

Rajat Patidar retained his place despite his twin failures in Rajkot.

England have brought in the tall Shoaib Bashir to replace Rehan, while Mark Wood gets a break as he makes way for Ollie Robinson.

INDICATORS

Sensex 73,158 (+535), Nifty 22,217 (+162)

Nasdaq 16,042 (+461) Dow 39,069 (+457), S&P 5,087 (+105)

US$-Rs. 82.88, GBP-Rs. 104.88, Euro-Rs. 89.77, UAE Dhm-Rs. 22.56, Can$-Rs. 61.48, Aus$- Rs. 54.38

GBP 0.79 /US$, Euro 0.92 /US$, Jap.Yen 150.38 /US$, Aus$ 1.52 /US$, Sing 1.34 /US$, Bang Taka 108.46 /US$, Can$ 1.34 /US$, Mal Ring 4.77 /US$, Pak Re 278.64 /US$, Phil Peso 55.80 /US$, Russian Rouble 92.09 /US$, NZ$ 1.61 /US$, Thai Baht 35.87 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 38.25 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 51,420, Dollar Index 103.85, Brent Crude 83.67, BDI 1676

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 2026 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 6,272 / 5,749, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 78,000

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

People in their handlings of affairs often fail when they are about to succeed. If one remains as careful at the end as he was at the beginning, there will be no failure. - Lao Tzu

OFF TRACK

"Doc," said the young man to the orthopaedic surgeon, "you've got to help me! Every night I have the same horrible dream. I'm lying in bed when all of the sudden some women rushes in and starts tearing off my clothes."

The surgeon nodded, "And what do you do?"

"I push her away."

"I think you should see a psychiatrist?"

The patient implored, "No, doc, please break my arms."