OPPOSITION PUTS UP UNITED FRONT AT INDIA'S DELHI SHOW OF STRENGTH

Top leaders of the INDIA bloc on Sunday exhorted the people to defeat the BJP to save democracy and the Constitution and alleged that the Opposition has been deprived of a level playing field in the Lok Sabha elections due to the government's "dictatorial" actions.

Coming together at the 'Loktantra Bachao' (Save Democracy) rally at Ramlila Maidan in the national capital, the first such show of strength by the Opposition after the announcement of Lok Sabha polls, the leaders of 18 major parties slammed the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren and gave a fervent call to the alliance partners to unite in national interest.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of trying to do "match-fixing" in the Lok Sabha polls and warned that if the BJP wins the election through this endeavour and "changes" the Constitution, then the whole country would be "finished".

The public meeting was aimed at highlighting the issue of "attack on democracy" including the alleged misuse of agencies against opposition leaders in the aftermath of the arrest of AAP chief Kejriwal and JMM leader Hemant Soren and income tax notices to parties.

Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal and Hemant Soren's wife Kalpana Soren also addressed the gathering, lashing out at the central government over the arrest of their husbands in corruption cases.

Reading out a message from Arvind Kejriwal, Sunita Kejriwal told the gathering that they should keep alive the "dream of India which can provide education and health care for all irrespective of whether they are rich or poor.. If you give an opportunity to the INDIA bloc, we will build a great nation."

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge described the RSS-BJP combine as "poison" that has "destroyed" the country, and called on all opposition parties to unite to defeat the ruling party in the upcoming Lok Sabha election.

The BJP is raising the slogan of getting 400 seats, but without EVMs, "match-fixing", pressuring media and buying them, they will not be able to reach even 180 seats, claimed Rahul Gandhi. "When pressure is put on umpires and captain, players are bought off and the match is won, in cricket, it is called match-fixing. We have Lok Sabha polls before us. Who selected the umpires? Before the match started, two players were arrested... Narendra Modi is trying to do match-fixing in these polls," Gandhi said, asserting that this is not an ordinary election but one to save the country's democracy and Constitution.

The other leaders who attended the rally included former Congress president Sonia Gandhi; AAP leader and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Sharad Pawar, RJD’s Tejasvi Yadav, DMK’s Stalin, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Shiv Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray, NC leader Farooq Abdullah, Left leaders Sitaram Yechury, D Raja, Dipankar Bhattacharya; and TMC's Derek O'Brien.

INDIA BLOC'S "5 DEMANDS" TO ELECTION COMMISSION AT MEGA RALLY IN DELHI

At the INDIA bloc's rally yesterday, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra listed the five demands of the Opposition to the Election Commission. These are:

EC should ensure a level-playing field for all parties in the upcoming national polls

EC should stop forceful action of Income Tax, CBI and ED against opposition

Hemant Soren and Arvind Kejriwal be released immediately

Attempts to strangle the opposition parties financially need to be stopped

An SC-monitored SIT should be formed to probe the BJP's extortion of funds through electoral bonds

OPPOSITION TRYING TO SAVE THE CORRUPT: PM MODI

As the INDIA bloc leaders gathered at the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a no-holds-barred attack on the Opposition, saying its leaders were trying to “save the corrupt” at a time when he was waging a war against corruption.

Addressing a well-attended rally in Meerut, Modi said “action will be taken, no matter how big a person the corrupt may be”. He said his fight against corruption had made the Opposition lose its senses.

“On one side is the NDA and on the other a khema (camp) to save the corrupt. You have to decide. Should the corrupt be saved? Should corruption be removed or not?” he said.

“When Modi is fighting corruption, they have made an INDI alliance. They think Modi will be afraid. But for me, Bharat is my family.”

“Listen, corrupt leaders: attack Modi as much as you like. Yeh Modi hai, jhukne wala nahin hai (This is Modi, he won’t bend),” he said. “Action will be taken, no matter how big a person the corrupt may be. Those who have looted the nation, unko lautana hi padega (they will have to return it). Yeh Modi ki guarantee hai (this is Modi’s guarantee,” he said.

MODI SLAMS CONG FOR 'CALLOUSLY GIVING AWAY' ISLAND TO LANKA

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday led a charge against the Congress for "callously" giving away Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka, slamming it as yet another "anti-national" act of the party for which the country is still paying the price.

With the issue having a resonance in Tamil Nadu whose fishermen often bear the brunt of Lankan action against their alleged intrusion into its waters,

Modi seized on a media report -- based on an RTI reply to Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai received on the decision of the then Indira Gandhi government in 1974 to hand over the territory in Palk Strait to the neighbouring country -- to target the Congress, an ally of the state's ruling DMK.

"Eye-opening and startling! New facts reveal how Congress callously gave away Katchatheevu. This has angered every Indian and reaffirmed in people's minds- we can't ever trust Congress," Modi said on X, sharing the report. Modi added, "Weakening India's unity, integrity and interests has been Congress' way of working for 75 years and counting."

He raised the matter later at his rally in Meerut and linked the issue of the capture of Tamil Nadu fishermen and the seizure of their boats by the Lankan forces to the island treaty.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the island was given to Sri Lanka as part of a friendly agreement in 1974 and reminded the government that it too had undertaken a similar "friendly gesture" towards Bangladesh with an exchange of border enclaves.

Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK should stop its "misinformation" on the Katchatheevu issue. "...What the RTI reply has revealed has been stated authoritatively by former CM Jayalalitha Amma in the TN state assembly itself," she said on X.

Responding to the allegations, DMK organisation secretary RS Bharathi said the prime minister has "no achievements" to showcase and charged that he was only spreading "lies." Bharathi said in 1974, the DMK held state-wide agitations and public meetings to oppose and condemn the ceding of Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka. The DMK's position has been made amply clear multiple times by late party patriarch M Karunanidhi and party president M K Stalin. The DMK was out and out against giving away Katchatheevu to the neighbouring country, Bharathi said.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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‘LARGEST’ ANTI-BIBI STIR IN ISRAEL SINCE GAZA WAR

Tens of thousands of Israelis gathered outside the parliament building in Jerusalem on Sunday in the largest anti-govt demonstration since the country went to war in Oct. They urged the govt to reach a deal to free dozens of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and to hold early elections.

PM Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas and bring all the hostages home, yet those goals have been elusive. While Hamas has suffered heavy losses, it remains intact. Protest groups, including some that led the mass demonstrations that rocked Israel in 2023, also demanded a more equal share in the burden of army service that binds most Israelis. Around 600 soldiers have been killed so far since the Hamas attack of Oct 7 and the ensuing war in Gaza, the military’s highest casualty toll in years.

Netanyahu has also faced widespread criticism over the security failure of the Hamas attack on Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and over 250 taken hostage. “This govt is a complete and utter failure,” said a protester. “They will lead us into the abyss.”

SHARIF CONVEYS TO BIDEN WILLINGNESS TO WORK WITH US

Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif assured US President Joe Biden on Sunday that his country was willing to work with the US “on the shared targets of international peace and regional security”.

Sharif was responding to Biden’s letter on Friday in which the latter, departing from his earlier stance of not engaging with Pakistani leaders, had assured him of Washington’s support to Islamabad to tackle “the most pressing global and regional challenges”. Biden’s letter suggested that despite allegations of election fraud, the US govt is ready to work with Pakistan’s new govt. In the letter, Biden did not congratulate Sharif for assuming charge or winning the election.

Interestingly, the US president had not communicated with Imran Khan, the jailed former prime minister, when he assumed office in Jan 2021.

Responding to Biden’s letter, Sharif, according to the PM’s Office, stated that Pakistan is willing to work with the US towards a common goal of global peace and security and development and prosperity of the region. He said Pakistan attached “key importance” to its relations with the US, adding that the two countries were jointly working together on important initiatives regarding energy, climate change, agriculture, health and education sectors.

A BILL AIMS TO MAKE CALIFORNIA FIRST IN US TO GIVE EMPLOYEES ‘RIGHT TO DISCONNECT’

Few places have done more than the Bay Area — the center of the smartphone industry — to ensure that bosses can call, text or Slack their workers all the time, nights and weekends included.

But a San Francisco lawmaker wants to help curb the constant ringing and pinging that his region helped create. New legislation from Assembly member Matt Haney would make his state the first in the country to give employees the legal right to hit the ignore button on their phones when the boss calls after hours. Emails, texts and other work communication could also be put off until workers are back on the clock.

Haney, a Democrat, got the idea from Australia’s new “right to disconnect” law, to be implemented later this year. It will allow workers to reject “unreasonable” professional communication outside their regular workday.

The idea originated in France and has spread in various forms to countries including Canada, Italy, Belgium and the Philippines. New York City debated a similar proposal in 2018 but didn’t adopt it.

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INDIA’S TRADE RELIANCE ON CHINA AND EU RISING: UN TRADE BODY

India’s trade reliance on China and the European Union is rising as global trade is witnessing a marked shift along geopolitical lines, says a report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The UNCTAD estimates, based on national statistics, showed that India’s dependence on China and the EU grew by 1.2 per cent while its reliance on Saudi Arabia slid by 0.6 per cent.

This came despite India’s efforts to cut reliance on China by implementing its flagship Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme and Quality Control Orders (QCOs) largely to limit entry of cheap Chinese products.

UNCTAD’s estimates showed a major shift in trade due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. While Russia’s trade dependence on China surged by a record 7.1 per cent, its reliance on the EU slid by 5.3 per cent.

The US managed to cut reliance on China by 1.2 per cent in 2023 and increase its trade dependence on the EU and Mexico.

The dependence of an economy on another is calculated as the ratio of their bilateral trade over the total trade of the dependent economy.

SUNETRA PAWAR IS LIKE MY MOTHER, BJP HAS CAUSED A SPLIT IN OUR FAMILY: SUPRIYA SULE

In her first comment about her sister-in-law’s candidature for Maharashtra’s Baramati Lok Sabha seat, sitting MP Supriya Sule of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP described Sunetra Pawar on Sunday as being like her mother and accused the ruling BJP of causing a split in the Pawar family.

“BJP leaders who are campaigning in Baramati are claiming that they want to defeat Sharad Pawar. This clearly shows that BJP does not want to ensure the development of Baramati. They only want to defeat Sharad Pawar. They didn’t have a candidate. And so they decided to cause a split in our family. They made our own family member stand for the election. The wife of an elder brother whom we address as Vahini is like a mother. This is in our culture… The BJP has fielded my mother against me,” Sule said while speaking to reporters in her constituency.

Sule had earlier refused to even mention Sunetra’s name in the context of the Lok Sabha elections. Instead, she had repeatedly said that everyone has the right to contest elections in a democracy. Neither Sunetra nor Sule has attacked each other directly.

ON RUN, WIVES OF 3 UP GANGSTER-POLITICIANS MISSED HUSBANDS’ FUNERAL

Former five-time MLA Mukhtar Ansari’s wife Afsha Ansari, who is wanted in connection with a case registered under the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act against her, did not attend the gangster-turned-politician’s funeral on Saturday (March 30) two days after he died of purported cardiac arrest in the Banda district jail.

Afsha, who has had nine cases against her and carries a reward of Rs 50,000 on her head, is not alone in this. For, the wives of two other gangster-politicians — former MP Atiq Ahmed and his younger brother and former MLA Khalid Azim, alias Ashraf — were also unable to attend the final rites of their husbands in April last year.

While Atiq Ahmed’s wife Shaista Parveen carries a reward of Rs 50,000, no bounty has been announced yet for Ashraf’s wife Zainab Fatima. Law enforcement agencies have been conducting raids to apprehend these women who remain untraced.

The three were named as conspirators in the cases involving their late husbands and rewards were announced on the Afsha and Shaista after the police failed to track them down.

BRITISH NATIONAL DETAINED FOR ENTERING PURI TEMPLE, ASSAULTING COPS

Odisha Police detained a British national for entering the Jagannath Temple in Puri and assaulting cops deployed inside the shrine, an officer said on Sunday.

According to the police, the foreign tourist, identified as Thomas Craig Sheldon from Wandsworth in south London, had unauthorisedly entered the 12th-century shrine on Saturday. When the police personnel stopped him and asked him to leave the temple premises as non-Hindus are not allowed entry into the temple, Thomas allegedly assaulted the cops.

The incident occurred just a week after a woman from Poland was detained and later released for entering the temple on March 23. Prior to that, a few Bangladeshi nationals had been caught while entering the temple on March 3 and later released.

DIVIDEND FROM PSUs EXCEED ESTIMATES, BUT DISINVESTEMENT TARGET NOT REACHED

Dividend collected by the Centre from public sector undertakings (PSUs) has exceeded the revised estimates (RE) target by nearly 26 per cent during financial year 2023-24 (FY24). It has touched Rs 62,929.27 crore.

The RE stood at Rs 50,000 crore compared to the budget estimate (BE) of Rs 43,000 crore set during the beginning of FY24.

Robust dividend mop-up by central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) in FY24 made up for the disinvestment receipts that lagged behind the government’s estimate.

The government has been able to meet almost 92 per cent of its intended disinvestment target at Rs 16,507 crore by the end of FY24. Most of it includes small stock market transactions, such as offer for sale (OFS) in Coal India, Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd, SVJN, Housing & Urban Development Corporation of India, Ireda, Ircon International and NLC India.

This is the fourth time in a row that the government has not been able to meet the disinvestment target set at the beginning of the year. In the recent past, the government was able to meet its disinvestment target in FY19.

IPL MATCH 12: MILLER FIRES GUJARAT TITANS TO VICTORY OVER SRH

Dishing out an all-round show, Gujarat Titans brought down high-flying Sunrisers Hyderabad with a clinical seven-wicket win in Ahmedabad, on Sunday.

Veteran seamer Mohit Sharma was at his deceptive best in the last over for his splendid figures of 3/25, while Afghan spin twins Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad bossed the middle overs as GT restricted the marauding SRH to a modest 162/8 after Pat Cummins opted to bat.

South African batter David Miller found his flair in his 44 not out from 27 balls to anchor the small chase despite suffering cramps and finished the game with a six off Jaydev Unadkat in the first ball of the final over.

Wins So Far: GT: 2 out of 3; SRH 1 out of 3

IPL MATCH 13: DHONI DAZZLES BUT CSK LOSE TO DELHI CAPITALS

Mahendra Singh Dhoni slammed an entertaining 37 from 16 balls but a clinical showing from their pace bowlers saw Delhi Capitals outclass champions Chennai Super Kings by 20 runs in the IPL 2024 match in Visakhapatnam on Sunday.

Faced with a tough 192-run target, CSK tried to scale it down through Ajinkya Rahane (45) and Daryl Mitchell (34) but the DC pacers bowled with great discipline to bowl their team to the first victory of the season after two defeats, in Visakhapatnam yesterday.

Rishabh Pant smashed a much-awaited fifty (51 from 32 balls) after David Warner's quickfire half-century (53 from 35 balls) to power Delhi Capitals to an imposing 191/5 in their 20 overs, despite Matheesha Pathirana's fiery spell of 3/31 in four overs.

Pant, who came into the tournament after recovering from a life-threatening road mishap in December 2022, belted four boundaries and three maximums for his first fifty in 15 months.

With CSK needing 58 off 18 balls, Dhoni walked out to bat for the first time this season amid chants of 'Dhoni Dhoni' and treated his fans to some delightful shots. However, the assault came a bit too late for CSK, who finished on 171/6 in their 20 overs.

Wins So Far: CSK 2 out of 3; DC 1 out of 3

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Conservatism stands on man's confessed limitations; reform on his indisputable infinitude - Ralph Waldo Emerson

OFF TRACK

One day, Gramma sent her grandson Little Johnny down to the water hole to get some water for cooking dinner. As he was dipping the bucket in, he saw two big eyes looking back at him. He dropped the bucket and hightailed it for Gramma's kitchen. "I can't get any water from that water hole, Gramma" exclaimed Johnny. "There's a BIG ol' alligator down there!"

"Now don't you mind that ol' alligator, Johnny. He's been there for a few years now, and he's never hurt no one. Why, he's probably as scared of you as you are of him!"

"Well, Gramma," replied Johnny, "if he's as scared of me as I am of him, then that water ain't fit to drink!"