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8pm NEWSFEED

22, మార్చి 2022, మంగళవారం

8pm NEWSFEED

French automaker Renault resumes production in Moscow

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 06:13 AM PDT

Moscow [Russia]: French automaker Renault on Tuesday resumed production in Moscow after it suspended production due to a disruption in logistics in late February.


“On March 22, the company decided to resume operations in the country. Renault is the majority owner of AvtoVaz, Russia’s largest car manufacturer famous for the Lada brand,” tweeted The Kyiv Independent. Following the February 24 special operations by Russia in Ukraine, many automakers including, Jaguar Land Rover, Ford and Volvo have stopped shipments to Russia, “considering the potential risks associated with trading material with Russia, including the sanctions imposed by the EU and US.”


It’s been nearly a month since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, deploying tens of thousands of troops into an offensive against its neighbour from three sides.
As per the Armed Forces of Ukraine indicative estimates of Russia’s losses on Tuesday, Moscow has lost approximately 15,300 troops, 99 planes, 123 helicopters, 509 tanks, 252 artillery pieces and 1,556 armoured personnel carriers, reported The Kyiv Independent.


While Ukraine’s military is much smaller, its forces have mounted a fierce resistance that has managed to hold off Russian advances in some parts of the country.


The indicative estimates of Russia’s losses also included 80 MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System), 3 boats, 1,000 vehicles, 35 UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), 45 anti-aircraft warfare and 15 special equipment, reported The Kyiv Independent.


Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday urged Italy to freeze Russian assets in an address to the Italian parliament.


“Zelensky calls on Italy not to be a ‘resort for murderers.’ In an address to the Italian parliament, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Italy should freeze Russian assets, impose an embargo on Russian goods and block seaports for Russian vessels,” tweeted The Kyiv Independent.


Zelenskyy also told the Italian parliament that the danger to grain exports from Ukraine can cause hunger in many parts of the world.


Zelenskyy and Pope Francis also talked over the phone on Tuesday about the war.
“Today I spoke with his Holiness Pope Francis, and he said very important words, ‘I understand that you want peace. I understand that you have to defend yourselves, that soldiers defend civilians, they defend their homeland. Everyone is defending it,'” Zelenskyy said in an address to Italian Parliament.


“And I answered, ‘Our people have become the army when they saw how much evil the enemy brings, how much devastation it brings, and how much bloodshed it (Russia) wants to see,'” added Zelenskyy. 

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Assets worth Rs 19,111.20 cr of Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, Choksi attached: Govt to RS

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 06:11 AM PDT

The Central government on Tuesday informed the Rajya Sabha that assets amounting to Rs 19,111.20 crore relating to fugitives economic offenders Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, and Mehul Choksi have been attached by March 15 this year.

Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary made the declaration in a written reply to a question asked by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Brij Lal. Pankaj Chaudhary was asked whether the government has proposed or proposes to return the funds to the banks by confiscating the properties of business persons who fled abroad without repaying the loans of the banks.

In a written reply, the minister said Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) and Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 (FEOA) provide that the Special Court trying the offence may restore any property or assets involved in money laundering to a third party claimant with a legitimate interest, including banks.

In the cases pertaining to Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, and Mehul Choksi who have defrauded Public Sector banks by siphoning off the funds through their companies which resulted in a total loss of Rs 22,585.83 crore to the public sector banks, as of March 15, 2022, the Minister said, “assets worth Rs 19,111.20 crore have been attached under the provisions of PMLA”.

“Out of which, assets worth Rs15,113.91 crores has been restituted to the Public Sector Banks,” said Chaudhary.

In addition, the Minister said assets worth Rs 335.06 crore have been confiscated by the government of India.

“As on March 15, 2022, 84.61 per cent of the total defrauded funds in these cases have been attached or seized and 66.91 per cent of a total loss to the banks has been handed over to Banks or Confiscated to the government of India,” the minister added.

The Minister also mentioned that the consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India has realized Rs 7,975.27 crore by sale of assets handed over to them by the Directorate of Enforcement as of March 15 this year.

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Taliban snubs Pakistan at OIC foreign ministers conference in Islamabad

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 06:09 AM PDT

Islamabad [Pakistan]: At the meeting of foreign ministers of Muslim countries in Islamabad, Afghanistan was represented by an Afghan ministry official and not by Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, indicating that all was not well with the leadership of the two countries.


Despite the fact that Islamabad supported the Taliban take over of Afghanistan last year, the absence of Afghan foreign minister at the 48th Council of Foreign Ministers (CFMs) of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation that began here earlier on Tuesday reflects a strain in ties between the two countries.

Afghanistan is being represented at the two-day conference by Foreign Ministry official of the Taliban named Muhammad Akbar Azeemi, Dawn reported.


The Taliban had sent Muttaqi to the extraordinary session of the OIC foreign ministers in Islamabad in December. But his absence this time at OIC is significant.


It is to be noted that Afghanistan is high on the agenda at the Pakistan conference. It is a diplomatic setback for Pakistan that facilitated Taliban’s return to power in Kabul last August and has since been campaigning their cause before the world, seeking foreign aid to meet “urgent humanitarian needs” of Afghanistan whose economy has collapsed.


Muttaqi is a familiar figure in Pakistan where he has lived for over two decades since his government was ousted following the US-led operations in the wake of 9/11.

He has also been a frequent visitor trying to troubleshoot issues that crop up between the two neighbours, ranging from tensions on the border to access to the outside world to the sea route via Pakistan.


“There had been a lot of debate over Muttaqi’s participation in the last OIC meet in Islamabad when he was missing in the foreign ministers’ group photo while the Afghan seat had remained vacant. Muttaqi was sitting in the last rows of guests,” Dawn newspaper reported.


Analysts say this is Afghanistan’s ambivalent response to the universal refusal to recognise the new regime.


The world community has been urging the Taliban to form an inclusive government that has a representation of women and ethnic and religious minorities. None of the 57 countries represented at the Conference, including Pakistan, has recognised the Taliban regime.


There is no word if the recognition of the regime, or an assessment of the measures to make Afghanistan’s governance ‘inclusive’ is on the agenda. It is also likely that the Taliban have chosen to keep a low profile at the conference where no major breakthrough is expected.


Also, Kabul may want to play safe vis-a-vis Islamabad which is witnessing a major political crisis, awaiting resolution of its outcome. Prime Minister Imran Khan, a vocal campaigner of the Taliban regime, is under serious challenge with his parliamentary majority under a cloud.


Pakistan’s National Assembly is scheduled to take up an opposition-sponsored no-confidence motion against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Government. 

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For 4th consecutive year in 2021, Delhi world’s most polluted capital in world: Report

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 06:03 AM PDT

New Delhi [India]: Delhi has been declared the most polluted capital in the world in terms of air quality for the fourth year in a row in 2021, reveals a new report which says 35 out of 50 cities with worst air quality were in India.


The World Air Quality Report released Tuesday by Swiss organisation IQAir is based on PM2.5 data from 6,475 cities in 117 countries. The dataset used to generate this report was derived from the IQAir real-time online air quality monitoring platform, which aggregates, validates, calibrates, and harmonises data from air quality monitoring stations around the globe.


The report said that publicly available air quality monitoring station data continued to increase in 2021. India, New Zealand, and Canada, in particular, saw significant increases.


Air pollution has a massive impact on human health in India. The researchers said, “India was home to 11 of the 15 most polluted cities in Central and South Asia in 2021. Delhi saw a 14.6 per cent increase in PM2.5 concentrations in 2021 with levels rising to 96.4 ug/m3 from 84 ug/m3 in 2020. No cities in India met the WHO air quality guideline of 5 ug/m3. In 2021, 48% of India’s cities exceeded 50 ug/m3, or more than 10 times the WHO guideline.”


Air pollution causes and aggravates many diseases, ranging from asthma to cancer, lung illnesses and heart disease and in this age of COVID-19, researchers have found that exposure to PM2.5 increases both the risk of contracting the virus and of suffering more severe symptoms when infected, including death.


For the increased pollution concentration in Delhi, India, the researchers said the country’s “annual average PM2.5 levels reached 58.1 ug/m3 in 2021, ending a three-year trend of improving air quality. India’s annual PM2.5 averages have now returned to pre-quarantine concentrations measured in 2019.”


The report weighed that major sources of air pollution in India include vehicular emissions, power generation, industrial waste, biomass combustion for cooking, the construction sector, and episodic events like crop burning.


Researchers also found that the air quality improved in China as more than half of the cities in the country included in the report saw lower levels of air pollution when compared to the previous year. 

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There has been substantial progress in J-K, significant decline in terrorist incidents: Govt to LS

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 05:57 AM PDT

The Central government on Tuesday informed the Lok Sabha that Jammu and Kashmir has improved substantially and there has been a significant decline in terrorist incidents in the region.

Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai announced through a written reply that 25 out of 53 projects under Prime Minister’s Development package 2015 pertaining to 15 different ministries have been completed or substantially completed.

Replying to a question asked by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Kunwar Danish Ali “Is the situation in J-K still not normal?”, the Minister said, “the government has instituted a robust security and intelligence grid along with proactive operations against terrorists in J-K”.

“Therefore, the security situation in J-K has improved substantially and there has been a significant decline in terrorist incidents and infiltration of terrorists from across the border,” Rai said.

Giving data, the Minister informed the Lower House, “The net infiltration has decreased from 143 in the year 2014 to only 31 in 2021 and the terrorist incidents also declined from 417 in the year 2018 to 229 in 2021.”

The data also mentions that 138 infiltrations were noted in 2019 followed by 51 in 2020, and 255 terrorist incidents occurred in 2019 followed by 244 in 2020.

Meanwhile, the Minister said, “257 terrorists were killed in the year 2018 followed by 157 in 2019, 221 in 2020 and 180 in the year 2021.” Rai further said that the government has taken several steps to boost the development of J-K.

“The progress of projects being implemented in the Union Territory (UT) of J-K under the Prime Minister’s Development Package-2015 has been accelerated. 53 different projects pertaining to 15 ministries are being implemented at a cost of Rs 58,477 crores, in various sectors such as Roads, Power, Health, Education, Tourism, Agriculture, Skill Development etc., out of which 25 projects have been completed or substantially completed,” said the Minister.

Rai said a new Central Sector Scheme has been notified on February 19, 2021, for the Industrial Development of UT of J-K, with an outlay of Rs 28,400 crores which is likely to provide employment to over 4.5 lakh people while boosting the industrial development of J-K.

He also said the government of J-K has approved a business revival package of Rs 1,352.99 crores on September 25, 2020.

Under languishing projects programme, Rai later said 1,193 projects worth Rs 1,984 crores were completed, including 5 projects which were incomplete for more than 20 years (15 projects for more than 15 years and 165 projects for more than 10 years.)
J-K has been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) under Swachh Bharat Mission; and 100 per cent saturation has been achieved in 17 individual beneficiary centric schemes, including Saubhagya, Ujala, Ujjwala and Indradhanush schemes, said the Minister.

During the year 2020 to 2021, the MoS said, 1,289 road construction works were completed at a cost of Rs 1,638 crore.

“The construction work of 14,500 km of road has been completed so far under ‘Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, which has connected about 2,000 places.”
Work has been taken up for setting up of one All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) each in J-K Divisions at a cost of Rs 2,000 crores each, besides seven other medical colleges in the UT of J-K, he said, adding “Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Jammu and Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Jammu have been made functional”.

“21 hydropower projects with an aggregate capacity of 5,186 Mega Watt have been taken up for development in next five years, and international flight from Srinagar to Sharjah has been started on October 23, 2021,” added the Minister.

In addition, Rai said, night flights from Jammu and Srinagar have also been started.
The scope of the High-Density Plantation Scheme for Apple has been expanded to include Mango, Litchi, Cherry, Walnut, and Kashmiri Saffron has been given the Geographical Indication (GI) tag, said Rai.

Under fast-track recruitment, 26,330 posts have been identified in various departments in the UT of J-K and taken up for recruitment, said the MoS, adding “presently selection process has been completed with respect to 11,324 posts”.

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India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage surpasses 181.56 crore

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 05:55 AM PDT

New Delhi [India]: India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 181.56 crore (1,81,56,01,944) as per provisional reports till 7 am on Tuesday.


This has been achieved through 2,14,38,677 sessions, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Meanwhile, more than 34 lakh vaccine doses were administered to people aged between 12-14 years.


India’s active caseload declines to 23,913 today while the positivity rate stands at 0.06%.


On the other hand, the country reported 1,581 new cases in the last 24 hours with the recovery rate at 98.74 per cent.


COVID-19 vaccination for the age group 12-14 years was started on March 16, 2022.
So far, more than 34 lakh (34,19,633) adolescents have been administered the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. 

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Birbhum violence: West Bengal BJP MPs seek Amit Shah’s intervention

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 05:51 AM PDT

Kolkata (West Bengal): Following the violence in Bhirbhum, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs from West Bengal on Tuesday sought Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s intervention over the “rapidly deteriorating law and order situation” in the state.


“With a heavy heart, we are writing to draw your kind attention to the unabated post-poll violence in West Bengal and the rapidly deteriorating law and order situation in the state.

Over 50 BJP supporters have been murdered by TMC goons in the state following the 2021 Assembly Elections,” the MPs said in their letter to Shah.

“On March 19, there was an attempt to assassinate Jagannath Sarkar, MP from Ranaghat. Political terrorists backed by the ruling party hurled bombs at him, thankfully he escaped the attack unharmed. On March 15, intraparty rivalry saw the killing of newly elected TMC councillor Anupam Dutta in North 24 Parganas and Congress councillor Tapan Kundu in Purullia,” the letter stated.


Referring to the Birbhum violence, the MPs wrote, “Shockingly, last night 10 people were burnt alive in Rampurhat, Birbhum following the killing of a Panchayat Up-Pradhan in the area. Strong note should be taken of the fact that the Panchayat Up-Pradhan was killed after being attacked by bombs.”


The MPs said that the increasing use of explosives and firearms, points towards terrorists being actively used by TMC to settle political scores and to spread terror among the common citizens.


“We humbly request you to take cognisance of the rapidly deteriorating law and order situation in the state and take appropriate action as required to bring this spate of violence under control. We cannot allow for the lives of our citizens to be put at risk under increasing political terrorism in the state anymore. We will remain grateful for your timely intervention, and strictest of actions against the perpetrators,” urged the BJP MPs.

As many as eight people have been burnt to death in the Rampurhat area of West Bengal’s Birbhum on Tuesday after a mob allegedly set houses on fire following the killing of Trinamool Congress leader Bahadur Shaikh.

Director-General of Police (DGP) West Bengal, Manoj Malviya informed that 11 arrests have been made in the case so far. He further informed that Bahadur Shaikh’s murder was reported last night, an hour after which 7-8 houses nearby had caught fire.
A special investigation team has been formed to investigate the matter.

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Selection of 11,324 govt posts completed in J-K since Article 370 abrogation

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 05:47 AM PDT

New Delhi [India]: The Centre on Tuesday informed the Lok Sabha that selection of a total of 11,324 gazetted, non-gazetted and class-IV posts have been completed in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 and 35-A from the erstwhile state in August 2019.


Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai shared the details in a written reply to a query asked by BJP leader Gopal Chinnaya Shetty. Responding to Shetty’s question, Rai said that the government has taken several steps since August 2019 to fill up all the vacant posts in the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.


“In the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, the government has taken up recruitment drive in a transparent manner for which an Accelerated Recruitment Committee (ARC) was constituted for identifying Gazetted, Non-Gazetted and Class-IV posts and to expedite the recruitment process in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir,” Rai informed.


Accordingly, the MoS said, 26,330 posts have been identified in various departments in the UT of J-K and taken up for recruitment.


“Presently, the selection process has been completed with respect to 11,324 Gazetted, Non-Gazetted and Class-IV posts,” Rai added.


In Ladakh, the Minister said that the administration has taken required measures for filling up vacant posts and 613 district cadre posts have been filled.


Besides, 293 vacant posts in Ladakh Police have been advertised and 45 vacant posts of JK Bank have been advertised for candidates from Ladakh.


The Minister also mentioned that the Ladakh administration has tied up with Staff Selection Commission (SSC) for recruitment to UT and Divisional cadre posts.
Accordingly, Rai said that 829 Union Territories or divisional cadre posts have been referred to SSC in Ladakh.


“The District Staff Selection Board, constituted under Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Act is already in place for recruitment to vacant district cadre posts. All the concerned Requisitioning Authorities have been directed to send the requisition of vacant Direct Recruitment quota posts to respective Recruitment Agencies,” he said.

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IT Dept raids various premises of real estate firm in North India

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 04:20 AM PDT

The Income Tax Department has raided 45 premises spread across Delhi-NCR, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Lucknow, and Indore of a leading real estate firm in North India, the Union Finance Ministry said on Tuesday.

“The search action has led to the seizure of unaccounted cash of more than Rs 25 crore and jewellery worth Rs 5 crore. Moreover, 11 lockers have been placed under restraint, and are yet to be operated,” the ministry said. The search and seizure operations were carried out on 14th March. A large number of incriminating evidence including hard copy documents and digital data have been found and seized during the search.

The seized evidence contain unaccounted ‘on-money’ cash receipt data of the group from various customers for more than 10 years. The key employees/business heads of various projects have stated the modus operandi of the group and have admitted that the group has generated unaccounted income by accepting ‘on-money’ unaccounted cash from its customers which have not been recorded in the regular books of account. Evidence of receipt of such ‘on-money’ exceeding Rs 3,000 crore has been gathered so far, the ministry said.

“The perusal of evidences further reveals that they contain particulars of investors from whom, the group has received cash loans amounting to Rs 450 crore,” the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

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Common University Entrance Test to be held for admission to UG programs in all UGC-funded varsities

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 04:00 AM PDT

University Grants Commission (UGC) chairman M Jagadesh Kumar on Tuesday announced that UGC has decided to make Central University Entrance Test (CUET) compulsory for admission in universities which can be given in 13 different languages.

In an exclusive interview with ANI, the UGC Chairman said, “We have decided to make Central University Entrance Test (CUET) compulsory for admission in universities which can be given in 13 different languages. We have given a lot of choices to the students.” He said that the announcement of CUET is a student-friendly reform and state universities, as well as private and deemed universities, can use the score of CUET for the admission process of undergraduate courses.

“We told the universities that your existing reservation and admission policy will not be changed but your admissions should be on the basis of CUET, not on the basis of class 12 marks,” Jagadesh Kumar, UGC Chairman further said.

He asserted that students should focus on learning, not on marks. “This is our primary objective that the students should focus on learning. We want to provide a level playing field through CUET,” Kumar added.

UGC issued notice on March 21 that Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for admission in UG programs from the academic session 2022-2023 in all UGC-funded Central Universities will be conducted in 13 languages including English, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.

According to UGC, the CUET 2022 paper pattern will be in two sections, that is, Section 1B will be optional for students and can be opted by students who want to go for any other language apart from the ones mentioned above. In this section, questions can be expected from French, German etc.

The other section will be the domain-specific subjects section. Here, the students will have the liberty to choose up to six domains that they wish to pursue in their UG course.

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Sensex jumps 697 points; RIL, ITC, TCS soar

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 03:46 AM PDT

The Indian equities markets benchmark Sensex closed 697 points higher in volatile trading on Tuesday, led by strong buying support in heavyweights Reliance Industries, ITC and TCS.

The 30 stock S&P BSE Sensex ended the day at 57,989.30 points, 696.81 points or 1.22 per cent higher from its previous day’s close at 57,292.49 points. Earlier, the Sensex opened marginally higher at 57,297.57 points but soon slipped into negative. The Sensex traded in the negative till around 1 pm. However, it witnessed a strong rally towards the end of the trading session.

The Sensex touched a high of 58,052.87 points and a low of 56,930.30 points in the intra-day. The Sensex had lost 571.44 points or 0.99 per cent on Monday.

The broader Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange soared 197.90 points or 1.16 per cent to 17,315.50 points from its previous day’s close at 17,117.60 points. The Nifty had lost 169.45 points or 0.98 per cent on Monday.

The index heavyweight Reliance Industries surged 2.59 per cent to Rs 2531.10 after petrol and diesel prices were hiked by 80 paise a litre each. Retail prices of petrol and diesel have been hiked after 137 days of freeze.

There was strong buying support in IT stocks. Tech Mahindra surged 3.83 per cent to Rs 1538.45. TCS surged 2.09 per cent to Rs 3700.95. Infosys rose 1.87 per cent to Rs 1887.30. Wipro rose 1.62 per cent to Rs 609.90.

Bajaj Finserv 2.46 per cent higher at Rs 16574.85; ITC 2.21 per cent higher at Rs 249.80; Kotak Bank 1.88 per cent higher at Rs 1808.65; Power Grid Corporation 1.85 per cent higher at Rs 208.70 and Bajaj Finance 1.67 per cent higher at Rs 6985 were among the major Sensex gainers.

Only four of the 30 Sensex scrips closed in the red. Hindustan Unilever slumped 2.81 per cent to Rs 1993.80. Nestle India dipped 2.49 per cent to Rs 17415.65. NTPC and Sun Pharma also closed in the red.

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Union cabinet approves Bill for unification of all 3 Municipal Corporations of Delhi

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 03:38 AM PDT

New Delhi [India]: The Union Cabinet on Tuesday gave its nod to present a bill for the unification of three municipal corporations in Delhi, “The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2022”.


The central government will present the bill in the parliament during the ongoing budget session 2022.

Erstwhile, Delhi Municipal Corporation was trifurcated into three municipal corporations including South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) in the year 2011, as per Delhi Municipal Corporation Amendment Act, 1911 (Delhi Act, 12 Of 2011).


Earlier, State Election Commissioner SK Srivastava informed that the Centre has deferred the announcement of polling dates for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) election after the central government raised a few issues that are yet to be legally examined by the Election Commission.


He also informed that the Centre is planning to “unify” the three civic bodies and hence did not announce the poll schedule.


The trifurcation of the corporation was uneven in terms of the territorial divisions and revenue-generating potential of each corporation. As a result, there was a huge gap in the resources available to the three corporations, vis-a-vis their obligations.


The gap has widened over a period of time, increasing the financial difficulties of the three Municipal Corporations, leaving them incapacitated to make timely payment of salaries and retirement benefits to their employees and thereby creating serious impediments in maintaining civic services in Delhi. 

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Pakistan FM Qureshi rakes up Kashmir issue at OIC foreign ministers conference

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 03:25 AM PDT

Islamabad [Pakistan]: Hurling several accusations against India at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Tuesday tried to draw a parallel between Muslims in Palestine and those in Jammu and Kashmir.


Speaking at the OIC Opening Ceremony in Islamabad here on Tuesday, Qureshi said, “The Muslim world is faced with conflicts in the Middle East, prolonged foreign occupation and denial of the right to self-determination, most notable to the people of Palestine and Kashmir.” Pakistan Foreign Minister said that promoting solidarity and cooperation within the Muslim Ummah is one of the central pillars of Pakistan’s foreign policy.


“As Chair of the OIC-CFM during 2022-23, Pakistan’s overarching goal shall be to solidify this bridging role further,” he said.


He highlighted global issues such as the ongoing Russo-Ukraine war, global arms race, rising commodity prices, declining world trade and growth, COVID-19, global warming, inequality and others, along with the conflicts in Middle East.


“The Muslim world is faced with conflicts in the Middle East, prolonged foreign occupation, and the denial of the right to self-determination, most notably to the people of Palestine and Kashmir”


Foreign Minister noted that these conflicts and disputes left unaddressed, undermine the unity and solidarity among nations.


“(…) expose our countries to foreign interference and intervention, fuel terrorism and extremism, and deflect attention from our development goals and the welfare of our people,” he said during the meeting.


Qureshi also drew the attention of OIC Foreign Ministers towards three specific challenges, “to help forge a collective response” under the theme of “Partnering for Unity, Justice, and Development.”


The 48th Council of the Foreign Ministers (CFMs) of the OIC began earlier today in Islamabad.


The summit is taking place under the theme: “Building Partnerships for Unity, Justice, and Development.”


Pakistani media said that over 100 resolutions will be considered during the two-day session. Although the meeting is being convened to promote OIC efforts in Afghanistan, Pakistan is likely to rake up the issue of Kashmir even as it fails to speak about Shia Muslims in their own country.

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Lalu Prasad Yadav’s health worsens, being shifted to AIIMS Delhi from RIMS

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 02:59 AM PDT

Ranchi (Jharkhand): Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad Yadav is being taken to the AIIMS Delhi from Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) here on Tuesday after his health condition worsened.


“It was found that he has issues in his heart and kidney. He is being sent to AIIMS Delhi for better treatment. The jail officials will decide (the date),” said Kameshwar Prasad, Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) Director.


The Jharkhand High Court on March 11 differed the hearing on the bail plea of Yadav till April 1 in connection with a fodder scam case.


Earlier in February, a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court had sentenced Yadav to five years imprisonment in the fifth fodder scam case and imposed a fine of Rs 60 lakh on him.


Yadav was declared guilty in the fodder scam case on February 15. He was found guilty of illegal withdrawals of Rs 139.35 crore from the Doranda treasury by a special CBI court in Jharkhand’s Ranchi.


The Rs 950-crore fodder scam (the total scam of five fodder scams, Lalu has been proven guilty of) relates to the fraudulent withdrawal of public funds from government treasuries in various districts of undivided Bihar.


The scam came into light after a raid conducted by Deputy Commissioner of Chaibasa Amit Khare at the Animal Husbandry Department in January 1996.


The CBI was roped in by the Patna High Court in March 1996 after increasing pressure to investigate the case. The CBI registered an FIR in the case at a time when Bihar was still undivided.


In June 1997, Yadav was named an accused in the case for the first time in the charge sheet filed by the CBI. 

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Akhilesh Yadav resigning from Lok Sabha, will retain MLA seat in UP

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 01:37 AM PDT

New Delhi [India]: Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav will resign from Lok Sabha on Tuesday, sources said.


“Akhilesh Yadav is resigning from Loksabha and he will continue in politics as an MLA from Karhal assembly,” the top sources from Samajwadi Party confirmed.

Akhilesh Yadav is resigning from the Lower House of the Parliament as in the recently held Uttar Pradesh elections, he was elected as an MLA from the Karhal assembly seat.


The 48-year-old former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh is currently inside the Parliament House to meet Lok Sabha Speaker over his resignation.


Samajwadi Party sources also expressed that Akhilesh Yadav will lead the party in the state and play the role of opposition leader in the Uttar Pradesh assembly.

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Congress hits out at govt over fuel price hike

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 01:33 AM PDT

New Delhi [India]: Congress on Tuesday slammed the Centre over the hike in petrol and diesel prices, alleging that the government is “making a gain worth Rs 10,000 crores by plundering the poor”.


Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said that while it’s said that crude prices are rising due to the Ukraine-Russia crisis, the Petroleum Minister has stated that India doesn’t buy even one per cent of crude oil from Russia.

“By increasing fuel prices the Narendra Modi government is making money worth Rs 10,000 crores by plundering the poor. Many say prices are rising due to the Ukraine-Russia crisis. But as per Petroleum Minister, we don’t even buy one per cent of crude oil from Russia,” he said.


Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that there will be an exorbitant rise in fuel prices post the Assembly elections. We have been proven right, he said, adding that Congress will stand with common people both outside and inside the Lok sabha.


Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also came down heavily on the Centre over the rise in petrol, and diesel prices.


“The lockdown imposed on the prices of gas, diesel and petrol has been lifted. If the Prime Minister is questioned about the pandemic of inflation in the country, he will ask everyone to bang utensils,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted.


Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan also attacked the Centre over the hike in fuel prices and said that Akhilesh Yadav had repeatedly said in his campaign that the price is going to increase after the elections.

“This is how the government does… Akhilesh Yadav has repeatedly said in his campaign that you people should be alert, the price is going to increase after the elections. Don’t know who brought them (BJP) to power,” said Jaya Bachchan.


Petrol and diesel prices have been hiked by 80 paise per litre each on Tuesday morning, after a pause of over four months.


Petrol price in Delhi has gone up from Rs 95.41 to Rs 96.21 per litre while diesel in the national capital will now cost Rs 87.47 a litre.


Petrol and diesel prices per litre in Mumbai will cost Rs 110.82 and Rs 95.00 respectively.


In Kolkata, petrol and diesel will cost Rs 105.51 and Rs 90.62 per litre respectively while the prices in Chennai will be Rs 102.16 and Rs 92.19 respectively.

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Sri Lanka succumbs to Chinese investment trap

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 01:28 AM PDT

Colombo [Sri Lanka]: Sri Lanka is battling one of its worst economic crises in over seven decades, as successive governments in the island nation have ignored sovereign bonds to Sri Lanka, with China being a major lender.


It has succumbed to Chinese foreign investment with the hope for better infrastructure, higher employment, income, economic stability, thereby increasing the standard of living of the common people.

However, they ignored repeated warnings of China’s ulterior motives of keeping them indebted and dependent for years. The country has foreign debt obligations of around USD 7 billion in 2022, including prepayment of bonds worth USD 1 billion in July 2021.


Sri Lanka found a “friend” in China after the war with LTTE. Footprints of China became visible in Sri Lanka with infrastructure projects like bridges, roads, railways, ports, airports, offers to develop special economic zones (SEZ), oil refineries, industrial towns, LNG power plants, etc.


However, the eclipse of domestic innovation made Sri Lankans mere spectators while the country remained more China dependent.


Despite huge Chinese investments in Sri Lanka for years, the country is reeling under one of the worst economic crises in its history with depleting forex reserves, huge foreign debt and debt servicing obligations.

The crisis has now hit the nerves of the common man with a shortage of food, fertiliser, fuel, power and spiralling prices.


Apprehending the major political fallout of the current crisis, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa requested Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his visit to Sri Lanka in January this year to restructure debt repayments.

Wang’s visit comes after China-Sri Lanka relations took a nosedive after a recent tussle over contaminated organic fertiliser dispatched to Sri Lanka.


China’s relatively closed and inward-looking investment model with low participation from Sri Lankans is a matter of concern. The current crises expose the inability of Chinese investments to generate sustainable employment and revenue generation in the island nation, thereby having little impact on the lives and livelihoods of the common people.


Further, Chinese investments failed to ensure enough forex inflows to equip the Sri Lankan exchequer to service its debts. Though China refutes these assessments, structural imbalance in bilateral trade, investment, rising debt and interest obligations are the hot subjects among the intelligentsia, media and even on the streets.


The Sri Lankan government under liberalisation policy has tweaked their foreign investment policies to attract foreign investments since the 1980s.


China enjoyed liberal duty exemptions for the huge imports from China for infrastructure projects.

The quantum of duty exemptions granted to China for years since the construction of Hambantota port (Nov 2010), to the reclamation of land (2020) for the Colombo Port City project can no way match the benefits accrued to the common people of Sri Lanka.


However, the quantum of benefits enjoyed by the political leaders of Sri Lanka is an open secret.


China successfully cultivated the Buddhist clergy and arranged lucrative trips to China to create public opinion in favour of Chinese investments and its footprints in Sri Lanka, despite China attempting to destroy Buddhism in China and forcing Tibetans to seek refuge in the neighbouring countries.


Loss of employment of local Sri Lankans due to implementation of Chinese investment projects solely through state-owned Chinese companies and deploying large numbers of Chinese experts and technicians are yet to attract the attention of public scrutiny.


The irony is that trade unions failed to raise sufficient voice for their claim on employment loss from these projects.


With the cancellation of joint venture agreements with Japan and India for the development of East Container Terminal (ECT) following trade union protests, China made another attempt by excluding Japan from the project, its largest development partner of Sri Lanka while media attention diverted to the Sri Lanka-India tussle on the issue.


Later the work on ECT was given to China Habour Engineering Company and its local partners Access Engineering of Sri Lanka. Rajapaksa blamed the former UNP government for leasing Hambantota port for 99 years to a Chinese company on its failure to repay the loan for the port project.

However, the Rajapaksa government in May last year subsequently also passed Colombo Port City Commission (CPCC) bill granting major representation to Chinese experts/officials in its governing body.


It also ensured no Parliamentary scrutiny, revealing the deep influence of China on Rajapaksa.


The brewing of a deep sense of dissatisfaction amongst the Sri Lankans cannot be ruled out in view of the scant trickle-down effect of Chinese investment.

Meanwhile, a Chinese company, CITS Overseas Economic Cooperation Co Ltd, financed the launching of a TikTok account for the Sri Lankan Embassy in Beijing recently, hoping to raise Sino-Sri Lanka relations to the next level.


China is keen to avert a Pakistan like situation in Sri Lanka. In Pakistan, large scale protests were organised by locals in Balochistan against CPEC with slogans like “Gwadar Ko Haq Do’ (give Gwadar its rights) as CPEC failed to give employment to locals.


Given the current crisis coupled with the absence of any assurances from China for concrete support, Sri Lanka seems to be reassessing the extent to which it can bank on China.


It is nearly impossible for Rajapaksas to deny China its committed space in Sri Lanka due to arbitration threats and likely obligations. It is an economic annexation of a sovereign country and not a debt trap alone.


However, Rajapaksas seem to be looking out for avenues to come out of China’s shadow in the pretext of balancing relations with major powers. 

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India needs to leverage ‘China Plus One’ strategy: Parliament panel

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 01:12 AM PDT

New Delhi [India]: The Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce on Tuesday suggested the Central government leverage the ‘China Plus One Strategy’ for making India an alternative investment destination for major global companies that intend to substitute their China-dependent supply chains.


The growing preference of companies located in major economies of Europe and the US to shift to other manufacturing bases than China provides a window of opportunity for India’s trade sector which needs to be capitalised, suggested the committee in its 167th Report on Demands for Grants (2022-23) of Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The report was presented to both Houses of the Parliament– the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha.


The Committee, headed by Rajya Sabha MP and YSRCP leader V Vijayasai Reddy recommended that a policy measure to benefit from the strategy should be “devised which should incorporate steps to ensure a business-friendly environment and best-in-class manufacturing infrastructure for the incoming investments”.


It further recommends that the government should endeavour to pursue “Free or Preferential Trade Agreements” or an interim and mini-trade agreement with countries that seek to invest in India under the ‘China Plus One’ strategy.


In the report, the panel discussed and examined the Demands for Grants of the Department of Commerce proposed for the financial year of 2022-23.


Along with an exhaustive evaluation of the budgetary proposals to be utilised in the current year, the report also scrutinises the budget of previous years, the details of expenditure incurred as well as financial prudence adopted by the Department in its overall functioning.


The report further oversees the optimal utilisation of financial resources by the Department for effective implementation of schemes and programmes as well as the adequacy of allocated funds for their proper execution. It also gives an analysis of the trade performance of India in the financial year 2021-22 and the related challenges, prospects, avenues and constraints.


The Committee considered and adopted the draft Report in its meeting held on March 21, 2022.

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Omelette, Coffee, Chai, Biryani, Momos in 10 mins. with Zomato

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 01:03 AM PDT

New Delhi [India]: Online food delivery platform Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal on Tuesday clarified the 10-minute food delivery plan stating that the service “will be for specific nearby locations, popular and standardised items only.”


Taking to Twitter, Goyal said, “Hello Twitter, good morning. I just want to tell you more about how 10-minute delivery works, and how it is as safe for our delivery partners as 30-minute delivery. This time, please take 2 minutes to read through this (before the outrage),” Goyal tweeted today morning. “Zomato Instant will only be for items that are popular, standardised and can therefore be dispatched within 2 minutes. Ten-minute deliveries will lead to lesser to time spent on the road per order.

We continue to educate our delivery partners on road safety and proved accidental/life insurance as well,” he added.


“Delivery partners are not informed about promised delivery time for both 10 and 30 minutes deliveries. No penalties for late deliveries. No incentives for on-time deliveries for both 10- and 30-minute deliveries,” Goyal said.


“10-minutes delivery will be for specific nearby locations, popular and standardised items only,” he added.


On a question about what items could customers expect in 10 minutes, Goyal replied, “Bread Omelette, Poha, Coffee, Chai, Biryani, Momos, etc.”


The CEO’s explanation came after people on social media criticised the company’s plan terming it unnecessary and potentially dangerous for delivery partners.


“Don’t you think, you are risking lives of your delivery partners? How will you ensure their safety when they need to rush in traffic to deliver within this short time? And what abt food? will it be cooked well in hurry?” said a Twitter user.


Goyal on Monday had said that the fulfilment of his quick delivery promise will rely on a dense finishing stations’ network, which will be located in close proximity to high-demand customer neighbourhoods.


Zomato Instant will start a pilot with four stations in Gurugram from April onwards.

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Bihar: Muslim family donates Rs 2.5 crore land for construction of world’s largest temple

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 12:35 AM PDT

Patna (Bihar): A Muslim family in Bihar has donated land worth Rs 2.5 crore for the construction of the world’s largest and tallest ‘Virat Ramayan Mandir’ in the Kaithwalia area of East Champaran district.


Ishtiaq Ahmed Khan, a businessman, has donated the land for the ‘Virat Ramayana Temple’.


“Majority of land (in the village) is owned by our family. I think it is my responsibility to do something for the construction of the temple. This is a tradition of our family,” said Ishtiaq Ahmed Khan.


Khan along with his family members donated 23 katha (71 decimals) of land to the temple on Wednesday at the registrar’s office of the Kesharia sub-division, East Champaran.


According to the prevailing market prices, the value of the land is pegged at more than Rs 2.5 crore.


Talking to reporters, Acharya Kishore Kunal, chief of the Patna-based ‘Mahavir Mandir Trust’, which will build the ‘Virat Ramayan Mandir’, said that Ishtiyaq Ahmad Khan, who has donated the land, is a businessman from East Champaran, who has business activities in Guwahati.


“In the past also, Khan and his family have been open to the idea of extending help for the temple project. Khan also gave land on the main road at a subsidised rate. Inspired by him, others in the village also started giving land. So far, 100-acre land has been acquired for the Virat Ramayan Mandir,” said Kishore Kunal.

He said that Khan and his family are a great example of social harmony. “Without the help of Muslims, it would have been difficult to realise this dream project,” he added.
He further said that a huge Ramayana Temple will be built on a total of 125 acres of land, one of the tallest and largest temples in the world.


“The structural design of the ‘Virat Ramayana Temple’ will be such that it will be durable for more than 250 years. For the construction of the temple, the services of technical experts and skilled craftsmen engaged in the construction of the new Parliament House are being taken,” he said.


Kunal said that the trust will soon take advice from the experts engaged in the construction of the new Parliament building in New Delhi.


He said that the height of the ‘Virat Ramayana Temple’ will be 270 feet, which is the highest in the world while its length is 1080 feet and width is 540 feet. “There will be a road on three sides of the ‘Virat Ramayana Temple’ complex. The Ram-Janaki road being built from Ayodhya to Janakpur will pass through the area. Saffron Buddhist Stupa is also located on this route,” he added.


Acharya Kunal said that the temple is coming up on the banks of river Devaki, where Lord Ram is believed to have stayed overnight while returning from Janakpur to Ayodhya.

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10 persons burnt alive in W. Bengal after deputy Sarpanch’s murder

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 12:28 AM PDT

At least 10 people were burnt alive after Bhadu Sheikh, a deputy Sarpanch in Baguti village in Rampurhat in Birbhum was allegedly murdered on Monday night.

An irate mob set ablaze several houses in which about 10 people were burnt alive.

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Sensex slides 265 points; FMCG, banking stocks dip

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 12:17 AM PDT

Mumbai (Maharashtra): The Indian equities markets benchmark Sensex fell 265 points at around noon trading on Tuesday due to heavy selling pressure in FMCG and banking stocks.


The 30 stock S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 57,027.27 points at 12.14 pm, which is 265.22 points or 0.46 per cent down from its previous day’s close at 57,292.49 points.

Earlier, the Sensex opened marginally higher at 57,297.57 points and rose to 57,340.42 points in the early morning trade. However, heavy selling pressure in FMCG, banking and auto stocks dragged Sensex down to 56,930.30 points.


The market is under selling pressure for the second consecutive day. The Sensex had lost 571.44 points or 0.99 per cent on Monday.


The broader Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange was trading 74.75 points or 0.44 per cent down at 17,042.85 points against its previous day’s close at 17,117.60 points. The Nifty had lost 169.45 points or 0.98 per cent on Monday.


FMCG and banking stocks fell sharply. Hindustan Unilever slumped 3.64 per cent to Rs 1976.80. Nestle India dipped 3.19 per cent to Rs 17290.


State Bank of India slumped 2.13 per cent to Rs 480.15. Axis Bank fell 2.13 per cent to Rs 710.95. HDFC Bank fell 1.35 per cent to Rs 1466.05.


The index heavyweight Reliance Industries jumped 1.82 per cent to Rs 2512 after petrol and diesel prices were hiked by 80 paise a litre each. Retail prices of petrol and diesel have been hiked after 137 days of freeze.


There was good buying support in IT stocks. Tech Mahindra surged 2.01 per cent to Rs 1511.50. Infosys, TCS, Wipro and HCL Technologies were also trading in the positive.

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Budget session: Rajya Sabha misses 2019 record run of adjournment free sittings

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 12:03 AM PDT

New Delhi [India]: The continuous run of 12 consecutive full sittings of the Rajya Sabha during the second half of the Budget session without forced adjournments was interrupted on Tuesday after the Upper House was adjourned by Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu following the ruckus created by the opposition parties on the issue of the fuel price rise.


The last eight full sittings of the first part of this Budget session and the first four sittings of the ongoing second part of this session were without adjournments. The previous record of 13 full sittings of the House without forced adjournments was during the Monsoon session of 2019.


The opposition parties, including Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena and Congress, created pandemonium in the House after the Rajya Sabha Chairman rejected their plea to hold a discussion on the issue of the rising fuel prices under Rule 267.


The TMC MPs trooped into the well of the Upper House and started sloganeering against the government while holding placards.


Rajya Sabha missed the opportunity of setting a new record for a continuous run of the House without adjournments after three years today, said a senior official.
With the Opposition MPs not yielding to Chairman’s request to allow the smooth functioning of the House and take up the Zero Hour, Naidu adjourned the House till noon. 

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UN General Assembly to vote again on Ukraine

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 11:43 PM PDT

New York [US]: The UN General Assembly (UNGA) will vote Wednesday on a draft resolution on Ukraine, the second such resolution since the start of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, a spokesperson said Monday.


The 11th Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly will be held after a letter requesting the resumption was received by UNGA President Abdulla Shahid, his spokesperson Paulina Kubiak told reporters in an email. “A draft resolution sponsored by Ukraine and other member states has been submitted and is being processed,” she said.


According to diplomatic sources, the new UNGA draft resolution focuses on the humanitarian situation, calling for the protection of civilians, medical personnel, aid workers, journalists, hospitals, and other civilian infrastructure.

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Holiday declared in Punjab on Bhagat Singh’s death anniversary tomorrow

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 11:31 PM PDT

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday declared a holiday in the state for tomorrow (March 23), on the death anniversary of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh.

Mann, in the Vidhan Sabha, said that the holiday will allow the people of Punjab to be able to visit Khatkar Kalan, the ancestral village of Bhagat Singh to pay homage. A resolution to install a statue of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh and BR Ambedkar in the Punjab Assembly has also been passed today.

Notably, on March 16, Bhagwant Mann took oath as the Chief Minister of Punjab in a grand ceremony organized in Khatkar Kalan, the ancestral village of the legendary freedom fighter.

Mann, in a video message, released earlier had invited the people of the state for his oath-taking ceremony, urging men to wear ‘basanti (yellow)’ turbans and women yellow ‘dupatta (stole)’ for the ceremony.

Basanti colour signifies revolution and the spirit of sacrifice and is identified with Bhagat Singh. It also aligns with welcoming the Spring season.

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Ukraine crisis: UK, US, France, Germany, Italy set to increase pressure on Russia

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 11:16 PM PDT

Ukraine crisis: UK,US, France, Germany and Italy are set to increase pressure on Russia in connection with Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine, the UK government said in a statement.

“The Prime Minister spoke to the leaders of the Quint – the United Kingdom, United States, France, Germany and Italy – this afternoon to discuss our coordinated response to the escalating crisis in Ukraine,” it said.

“The leaders affirmed their ongoing commitment to support Ukraine militarily, diplomatically and economically, equipping the democratically-elected government in Kyiv with the tools it needs to defend itself. They also resolved to increase the pressure on Russia to halt its unprovoked invasion, including by maintaining wide-ranging and coordinated sanctions,” according to the statement.

Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24 in response to calls from the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics (DPR and LPR) for protection against intensifying attacks by Ukrainian troops.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the special operation, which targets Ukrainian military infrastructure only, aims to “demilitarize and denazify” Ukraine. Moscow has said it has no plans to occupy Ukraine. Western nations have imposed numerous sanctions on Russia.

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Israeli PM’s India visit from April 3 to mark 30 years of diplomatic relations

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 11:08 PM PDT

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is set to visit India on April 3, his first such visit after assuming office last year.

Israeli PM is undertaking the visit on the occasion of the commemoration of 30 years of diplomatic relations between India and Israel. Bennett is paying the visit to India from April 3-5 at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Ministry of

External Affairs (MEA) said in an official statement.
Both the leaders had earlier met on the sidelines of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in Glasgow in November last year. They also had a telephonic conversation on August 16, 2021.

“The visit by Bennett would be his first to India in his capacity as Prime Minister. This visit would take place on the occasion of the commemoration of 30 years of full diplomatic relations between India and Israel and 75 years of India’s Independence,”

MEA said in a statement.
India and Israel elevated their bilateral relationship to a strategic partnership during the visit of Prime Minister Modi to Israel in July 2017.

Since then, the two countries have continued to deepen their strategic partnership, with a focus on innovation and research, read the statement.

“The visit by Israeli PM is expected to further strengthen our excellent bilateral cooperation in diverse areas, including agriculture, water, trade, education and science and technology,” the statement added.

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Ahead of UP govt formation, Yogi Adityanath resigns from state Legislative Council

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 10:57 PM PDT

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has tendered his resignation from the state Legislative Council days after he was elected as an MLA from Gorakhpur.

Adityanath was elected to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council in 2017 after he took oath as the Chief Minister following the Bharatiya Janata Party’s landslide victory in the Assembly polls. He also represented the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat several times until 2017. Yogi Adityanath, who led his party to a thumping victory in Uttar Pradesh, is likely to take oath as Chief Minister of the state for the second tenure on March 25, according to sources.

Adityanath will be the first Chief Minister in the last 37 years to return to power after completing a full term in the state.

Adityanath, a monk-turned-politician, won his first-ever Assembly election by a margin of 1,03,390 from Gorakhpur Urban constituency, defeating the Samajwadi Party candidate Subhawati Upendra Dutt Shukla. This is the first time that Adityanath has been elected as an MLA.

The BJP retained power in Uttar Pradesh by winning 255 out of 403 constituencies, securing a 41.29 per cent vote share.

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COVID-19: India reports 1,581 new cases, 33 deaths in last 24 hrs

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 10:50 PM PDT

India reported new COVID-19 cases below the 2000-mark for the third consecutive day as the daily positivity rate dipped further to 0.28 per cent.

After 2,075 new cases on March 19, the Union Health Ministry recorded 1,761 new cases on March 20 and 1,549 new cases on March 21. With 1,581 new cases in the last 24 hours, the cumulative caseload reached 43,010,971, informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday.

As recoveries continue to outnumber fresh infections, the active cases have declined to 23,913, constituting 0.06 per cent of the country’s total positive cases. The weekly positivity rate stood at 0.39 per cent, the ministry said.

As many as 2,741 patients have recovered in the last 24 hours and the cumulative tally of recovered patients since the beginning of the pandemic is now at 4,24,70,515. The death toll due to COVID climbed to 5,16,510 with 31 new fatalities.
India’s recovery rate stands at 98.74 per cent while the fatality rate is at 1.20 per cent.

According to the health ministry, a total of 5,68,471 COVID-19 were conducted in the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative number of tests conducted in the country to 78,36,13,628.

The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 181.56 crore as per provisional reports till 7 am today. This has been achieved through 2,14,38,677 sessions.

COVID-19 vaccination for the age group 12-14 years was started on March 16, 2022. So far, more than 34 lakh (34,19,633) adolescents have been administered with the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The nationwide COVID-19 vaccination started on January 16, 2021. The new phase of universalization of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from June 21, 2021. The vaccination drive has been ramped up through the availability of more vaccines, advanced visibility of vaccine availability to States and UTs for enabling better planning by them and streamlining the vaccine supply chain.

As part of the nationwide vaccination drive, the Government of India has been supporting the States and UTs by providing them COVID vaccines free of cost. In the new phase of the universalization of the COVID19 vaccination drive, the Union Government will procure and supply (free of cost) 75 per cent of the vaccines being produced by the vaccine manufacturers in the country to States and UTs.

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Australia to invest over USD 280mn to boost economic cooperation with India

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 09:52 PM PDT

The Scott Morrison government is investing over USD 280 million to boost cooperation with India, to further grow its economic relationship and support jobs and businesses in both countries, the Australian government said in a press statement on Tuesday.

India and Australia held a virtual leaders meeting on Monday, where Australia committed USD 17.2 million to extend the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund to continue supporting a world-class relationship and establish an Australia-India Innovation and Technology Challenge.

According to the government release, USD 35.7 million will be given for a Green Steel Partnership, a Critical Minerals Research Partnership, and a contribution to the International Energy Agency to support cooperation on research, production and commercialisation of clean technologies, critical minerals and energy.

USD 25.2 million will be allotted to expand the Australian Space Agency’s International Space Investment initiative to deepen space cooperation with India. As many as USD 28.1 million will be allocated to launch a Centre for Australia-India Relations to deepen community ties, promote public discussions and policy dialogue, and engage the Indian diaspora.

Australia’s Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan said the Morrison Government was investing to grow the Australia-India economic, trade and investment relationship.

The Indian diaspora is Australia’s fastest growing large diaspora community. The Indian-born population became Australia’s second-largest overseas-born migrant group behind the UK-born at 721,050-strong in 2020.

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Measures being taken for water conservation: PM Modi on World Water Day

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 09:45 PM PDT

On World Water Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the nation is undertaking numerous measures to ensure water conservation and access to clean drinking water for citizens.

The PM tweeted, “On World Water Day, let’s reaffirm our pledge to save every drop of water. Our nation is undertaking numerous measures like Jal Jeevan Mission to ensure water conservation and access to clean drinking water for our citizens.”

He further said, “Over the last few years, it is heartening to see water conservation become a mass movement, with innovative efforts taking place in all parts of the nation. I would like to appreciate all those individuals and organisations who are working towards saving water.”

Water Day looks at the global issues surrounding access to clean, safe drinking water and sanitation.

This year, the focus is on preserving groundwater levels.

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Tripura’s international cricket ground likely to be completed by this year

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 08:50 PM PDT

Tripura’s first International Cricket ground is under construction at West Tripura district’s Narsingarh, and is expected to be completed by the next seven to eight months.

A sum of Rs 185 crore has been released by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the same, Tripura Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Sushanta Chowdhury said on Monday. Responding to a starred question submitted by CPI (M) MLA Bhanu Lal Saha, Chowdhury said that the project was taken into hands in August 2017.

“A construction company from Jharkhand was awarded the contract but due to certain reasons, the company refused to complete the project. Later, the contract was renewed and construction works started once again,” he informed.

Further, Saha expressed his desire to enjoy an international cricket encounter in the state and requested the Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs to take the necessary initiatives to complete the project as soon as possible.

To this, Chowdhury said, “We all desire to enjoy international cricket matches here in Tripura. But, to be specific, cricket does not come under the direct control of the Tripura state government. It is the Tripura Cricket Association, an affiliated body of the BCCI that oversees cricket related matters. The answers that have been submitted on the floor of the house are all prepared by the Tripura Cricket Association.”

Chowdhury, however, assured Saha that he would pursue the matter with appropriate authorities to ensure that the project gets completed in time.

Speaking on the issue, Tripura Cricket Association Joint Secretary Kishore Kumar Das said that the new stadium will be equipped with all modern facilities.

“Gym, club house and practice nets are being installed in the ground right now. We are trying to arrange a three-star category hotel within the stadium for the accommodation of the players. The sitting capacity of the stadium will be 22,000,” Das added.

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Sterlite Power Successfully Concludes Refinancing of Khargone Transmission Project for INR 1200 Crores

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 08:42 PM PDT

Sterlite Power, a leading power transmission developer and solutions provider, announced the successful refinancing of its project loan for the recently commissioned Khargone Transmission Project.

The new financing from Aseem Infrastructure Finance Limited (INR 525 cr), NIIF Infrastructure Finance Limited (INR 450 cr) and Aditya Birla Finance Limited (INR 225 cr), will enable prepayment of the existing project loan of approximately INR 1100 crores.

With this transaction, Sterlite Power has achieved a reduction of almost 400 basis points in the interest cost to be incurred by the project on a per annum basis, demonstrating the considerably improved risk profile of the project post achievement of CoD (Date of Commercial Operation).

The refinancing of this critical inter-state transmission project also highlights the keen interest of financial institutions in funding power transmission projects with stable long-term cash flows.


Khargone Transmission Project achieved successful commissioning in December 2021. The project evacuates 1,320 MW of power generated by the Khargone Power Plant to 765 kV Khandwa substation to further distribute it downstream across the western and central region in India.

Sterlite Power is a leading private sector power transmission infrastructure developer and solutions provider with projects covering approximately 13,700 circuit kms of transmission lines across India and Brazil.

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New Satellite images show damage from Russian military air strikes across Irpin, Kyiv

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 08:40 PM PDT

Kyiv [Ukraine]: In its fourth week of the Russia-Ukraine war, new satellite images from Maxar Technologies shows damage from Moscow military strikes across Irpin, northwest of Kyiv in Ukraine.


Two distinct fires are seen in central Irpin near a complex of city government and apartment buildings. The images show fires from military strikes and growing flooding from the Irpin River, CNN reported.

The images, taken on Monday, also show Russian artillery positions west of the Russian-held Antonov Air Base northwest of the capital, Kyiv. Two other fires can also be seen in another satellite image among a group of buildings near a school in the city and a residential area near a lake.


An additional satellite image shows growing floodwaters from the Irpin River. It’s unclear how the dam began flooding the Irpin River basin, whether the gates were opened on purpose by the Ukrainians to flood the area, or it was hit by a military strike.


According to CNN, a dam along the Dnieper River was flooding the Irpin River basin and its tributaries. The Irpin River is critical to the Russian advance toward Kyiv; if the Russians cannot cross it, they can’t take Kyiv from the west.


In the early hours of February 24, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine after the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) appealed for help in defending themselves against the Kyiv forces. Russia said that the aim of its special operation is to demilitarise and “denazify” Ukraine and that only military infrastructure is being targeted – the civilian population is not in danger. Moscow has repeatedly stressed that it has no plans to occupy Ukraine.


According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the goal is to protect the people of Donbas, “who have been subjected to abuse, genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.”
The head of the Russian National Defence Control Center, Mikhail Mizintsev said on Saturday that there are over 2.7 million people in Ukraine who wish to evacuate to Russia.

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RBI cancels license of Kanpur-based People’s Co-operative Bank

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 08:35 PM PDT

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday said it has cancelled the license of Kanpur-based People’s Co-operative Bank Limited as the bank does not have adequate capital and earning prospects.

“Today, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), vide order dated March 17, 2022, has cancelled the license of People’s Co-operative Bank Limited, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Consequently, the bank ceases to carry on banking business, with effect from the close of business on March 21, 2022.

The Commissioner for Cooperation and Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Uttar Pradesh has also been requested to issue an order for winding up the bank and appoint a liquidator for the bank,” RBI said in a statement. The RBI said the “bank does not have adequate capital and earning prospects. As such, it does not comply with the provisions of Section 11(1) and Section 22 (3) (d) read with Section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.”

Consequent to the cancellation of its license, People’s Co-operative Bank Limited, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh is prohibited from conducting the business of ‘banking’ which includes acceptance of deposits and repayment of deposits as defined in Section 5(b) read with Section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 with immediate effect, the RBI added.

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Hindu girl shot dead in Pakistan’s Sindh province

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 08:31 PM PDT

Islamabad [Pakistan]: An 18-year-old Hindu girl in Pakistan’s Sindh Province was shot dead during a failed abduction attempt, media reports said on Tuesday.


The girl identified as Pooja Oad was said to have been shot in the middle of the street in Rohi, Sukkur after she put up resistance to the attackers, The Friday Times newspaper reported.

This is not a stand-alone incident in Pakistan. Human rights activists say that hundreds of Christian and Hindu girls are forced to convert to Islam every year.


Women belonging to minority communities are regularly abducted and forcibly converted. Rights group says the country’s minority communities have long faced the issue of forced marriages and conversions.


Multiple rights organisations have accused the Pakistan government of not taking necessary actions over the rising crimes against Hindus and other minorities.


Earlier, the provincial government in Sindh had attempted to outlaw forced conversions and marriages. However, religious protestors contested the bill, stating that girls only convert after falling in love with Muslim men.


The overall population of the Hindu community in Pakistan at 1.60 per cent, and 6.51 per cent in Sindh, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. 

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Airbus in talks with Tatas to supply new aircraft for Air India

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 08:31 PM PDT

Airbus said on Monday it is in talks with Tata Group airlines including Air India and Vistara to supply new A350 aircraft.

Talking to reporters at an event organised to showcase the new generation aircraft A350, Remi Maillard, President and Managing Director, Airbus India, said Airbus is in talks with all the airlines operated by Tata Group. He said apart from Air India, Airbus also has a relationship with Tata Group’s other airlines Vistara, and AirAsia India.

An Airbus is showcasing their next-generation A350 aircraft in India to attract the operators for International long haul operations.

“Indian aviation has been booming market last several years and Airbus has a long business relation with India operators, our aircraft is not only lighter but fuel-efficient next-generation aircraft,” Airbus’s head of Widebody Market Development Francois Obe told ANI.

Union Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia has been pitching to make India an aviation hub in wide-body aircraft.

“We are very optimistic and we want to help and contribute to make India as an aviation hub in the coming years,” said Obe.

Airbus clarifies that for the operation of Airbus A350, “there is no special infrastructure requires for the operations, Where Boeing B777 operates, so can this plane operates normally at same infrastructure,” Airbus said. 

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Petrol, diesel dearer by 80p/ltr, LPG cylinder to cost Rs. 50 more

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 08:23 PM PDT

The retail price of petrol and diesel increased by 80 paise each in Delhi from 6 am on Monday, marking the first revision since December 1 2021.

Price of petrol & diesel in Delhi is now at Rs 96.21 per litre & Rs 87.47 per litre respectively, Rs 110.82 & Rs 95.00 in Mumbai; Rs 105.51 & Rs 90.62 in Kolkata; Rs 102.16 & Rs 92.19 in Chennai respectively.

The 14.2 kg Domestic cooking gas LPG price has been hiked by Rs 50 per cylinder. The cylinder will now cost Rs 949.50 effective from today: Sources.

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Ranveer Singh, Siddhant Chaturvedi mourn death of ‘Gully Boy’ rapper MC Tod Fod

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 08:11 PM PDT

‘Gully Boy’ actors Ranveer Singh and Siddhant Chaturvedi are mourning the death of Dharmesh Parmar aka rapper MC Tod Fod, who passed away at the age of 24.

Taking to his Instagram Story, Ranveer shared a picture of the rapper who lent his voice to the song ‘India 91’ for ‘Gully Boy’. He added a broken heart emoticon.
Siddhant also extended his condolences by sharing a screenshot of his conversation with the late Gujarati rapper, in which the who can be seen appreciating each other for their music and performance.

He wrote, “RIP bhai,” along with a broken-heart emoticon.

The cause of MC Tod Fod’s death has not been revealed. He was associated with the Mumbai based hip hop collective ‘Swadesi’. 

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Retired civil servant from Odisha arrested in murder case

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 08:01 PM PDT

Bhadrak (Odisha): A retired Odisha Information Service cadre officer, who had served as the public relation officer to former Governor and former Chief Ministers has been arrested on Monday for his alleged involvement in the abduction and murder of cameraman Manas Swain, informed police.


“Manas Swain had gone missing on February 7 from Bhadrak district where he came to record some videos. After his family filed the complaint, three teams were formed to investigate the matter and arrested many people in connection to the case,” said Jatin Panda, Additional superintendent of police, Bhadrak district.

As per Panda, three people named Vivek Nayak, Krishna Chandra Nayak and Bhagyadhar Nayak were arrested earlier. From the information provided by the two people including an OIS officer was arrested on Monday.


“The initial investigation reveals that Swain was abducted on February 7 and was taken to Bhubaneshwar. There he was kept in a “Dayal Ashram” which belongs to the owner of the web channel for which Swain used to work. He was murdered in the ashram only,” said Panda.


According to Panda, Swain was killed after he denied handing over a purported Sex Scandal videotape which includes many politicians and police officers.


Meanwhile, the main accused in the case and the owner of the web portal has been absconding since the day Swain was murdered.

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Jailed for molestation- Army court martial takes swift action

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 07:51 PM PDT

New Delhi [India]: Taking swift action against a non-commissioned officer, a general court-martial of the Indian Army has recommended the dismissal of a Havildar from service along with a one-year jail term after he was found guilty of molesting a jawan’s wife.


Sources said the crime took place on November 10 last year at the Fazilka Cantonment in Punjab where Havildar from the 2 Jat regiment was posted and charge against him in the court-martial was that he used criminal force against a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty, sources said.

“This GCM trial commenced on February 7 and March 7, the verdict was passed against him finding him guilty. He has been punished with a reduction in rank, one-year rigorous imprisonment and dismissal from service without any benefits,” sources said.


A total of 16 witnesses in the case were examined and the prosecution was represented by lawyer Akshit Anand.


“In comparison with the civil courts, this trial was held at a very fast pace. Justice has been delivered by the Indian Army to the victim following due process of law within a month and punishment is subject to confirmation. This also shows the zero tolerance in the force towards such crimes,” he said.


The top brass of the Indian Army has issued orders to the field formations to adopt a zero-tolerance policy towards such crimes.

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Anupam Kher begins shooting for ‘IB 71’ with Vidyut Jamwal

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 07:50 PM PDT

Veteran star Anupam Kher, who has received a lot of attention for ‘The Kashmir Files’, has started shooting his 523rd film titled ‘IB 71’.

The film marks actor Vidyut Jamwal’s debut project as a producer via his company Action Hero Films. Taking to his Instagram handle, Kher shared pictures from the shoot, unveiling the look of his and Jamwal’s characters.

Directed by Sankalp Reddy, the film reportedly revolves around the 1971 India-Pakistan war. Vidyut will be seen essaying the role of an Intelligence Officer.

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Filmmaker Chandraprakash Dwivedi felicitated with Padma Shri

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 07:46 PM PDT

For his contribution to Indian cinema, filmmaker Chandraprakash Dwivedi was on Monday honoured with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award.

Chandraprakash was bestowed with the award by President Ram Nath Kovind in the presence of Vice-President M Venkaiah Nadi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah at a Civil Investiture Ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Best known for directing the television period drama ‘Chanakya’ and the critically acclaimed film ‘Pinjar’, Chandraprakash has put together the story of valour of the fearless King Prithviraj Chauhan in his next ‘Prithviraj’ which will see Akshay Kumar playing the titular role.

The Home Ministry had announced the Padma Awards on the eve of 73rd Republic Day.

This year the President approved conferment of 128 Padma Awards including two duo case (in a duo case, the Award is counted as one). The list comprises four Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan and 107 Padma Shri Awards. 34 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 10 persons from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and 13 Posthumous awardees.

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Chinese Foreign Minister to visit Nepal from March 25 to 27 to hold bilateral talks

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 07:43 PM PDT

Kathmandu [Nepal]: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is scheduled to visit Nepal from March 25 to 27 and hold bilateral talks with his Nepali counterpart Narayan Khadka.


“At the invitation of Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Khadka, State Councillor and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China Wang Yi is visiting Nepal from 25 to 27 March 2022,” Nepal Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

During the visit, Wang will pay courtesy calls to President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister of Nepal Sher Bahadur Deuba.


On March 26, Khadka and Wang Yi will hold bilateral talks, leading their respective delegations.


Wang Yi will also meet with former Prime Minister and Chairman of CPN-UML K P Sharma Oli, and former Prime Minister and Chairman of CPN-Maoist Centre Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, the statement said.


China’s Foreign Minister will be visiting Nepal to push for the implementation of China’s infrastructure development strategy, the ‘Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)’.
During his visit, Wang Yi will look to sign at least two projects, The Kathmandu Post reported.


“We have already received the text of the project implementation plan of the BRI from China,” a senior Nepali government official told the Post, adding that “both sides during the visit are expected to agree on the text of the project implementation plan, which will pave the way for the execution of BRI projects”.


Nepal signed the BRI agreement back in 2017. Back then it was regarded as a watershed moment in Nepal and China bilateral ties. However, no project took off over concerns regarding the Chinese infrastructure programme. 

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Kylie Jenner announces her baby boy is no longer named ‘Wolf’

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 07:40 PM PDT

After Kylie Jenner shared unseen footage from her pregnancy and son’s birth on social media, she also announced that the baby is no longer named Wolf.

The reality star, 24, revealed the update on her Instagram Story. “FYI OUR SONS NAME ISN’T WOLF ANYMORE,” she wrote. “WE JUST REALLY DIDN’T FEEL LIKE IT WAS HIM.”

Jenner added, “JUST WANTED TO SHARE BECAUSE I KEEP SEEING WOLF EVERYWHERE.”

As per Page Six, the YouTube video, titled ‘To Our Son’, captures most of the Kyle Cosmetics mogul’s second pregnancy, including her very first doctor’s appointment.
At the time, Kylie had just learned that she was “days away … from a heartbeat.”

The video also includes Kylie’s giraffe-themed baby shower for her son and a brief interview with Travis Scott’s mother, who gushed that she is “so happy that (Kylie) is the mother” of her grandkids.

At the time of the birth, Kris Jenner excitedly shouted in the video, “He’s out!” as Kylie said, “Hi, buddy!”

“Oh, my gosh. Your son is here!” Kylie then told Scott, who said, “What’s up, boy? What’s up, big boy?”

Kylie and Scott, who have been dating on and off since Coachella 2017, are also parents to 4-year-old daughter Stormi.

Kylie gave birth to Stormi on February 1, 2018, after a very secretive pregnancy. Four years and one day later, she welcomed her son on February 2, 2022.

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Hockey star Vandana Katariya receives Padma Shri

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 07:27 PM PDT

India women’s hockey team star Vandana Katariya on Monday received the prestigious Padma Shri award, in the field of sports.

The 29-year-old is among nine athletes and the lone hockey player this year who has been named for the award. She also became the first Indian women’s player to score a hat-trick of goals in an Olympic Games. She was part of India’s historic fourth-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics and has also been part of India’s Gold medal win at the Asian Champions Trophy in 2016, Asia Cup in 2017, Asian Games Bronze in 2014, and Silver in 2018 among several other achievements. The double Olympian started her career playing for the Railway Sports Promotion Board and made it to the Indian Junior Women’s team in 2006.

Vandana received her prestigious award from President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in a ceremony today.

The Padma awards are conferred in three categories — Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri. These awards are given in various disciplines and fields such as art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc.

‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; ‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order and ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.

These awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhavan usually around March/ April every year. This year the President has approved conferment of 128 Padma Awards including 2 duo case (in a duo case, the Award is counted as one) as per list below. The list comprises 4 Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan and 107 Padma Shri Awards. 34 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 10 persons from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and 13 Posthumous awardees.

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Para-shooter Avani Lekhara receives Padma Shri

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 07:22 PM PDT

Indian Paralympic shooter Avani Lekhara on Monday was conferred with the Padma Shri award, in the field of sports.

Lekhara won a gold medal in 10m air rifle standing and a bronze medal in 50m rifle 3 positions at Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. The paralymic shooter received her prestigious award from President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in a ceremony today.

The Padma awards are conferred in three categories — Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri. These awards are given in various disciplines and fields such as art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc.

‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; ‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order and ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.

These awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhavan usually around March/ April every year. This year the President has approved conferment of 128 Padma Awards including 2 duo case (in a duo case, the Award is counted as one) as per list below. The list comprises 4 Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan and 107 Padma Shri Awards. 34 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 10 persons from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and 13 Posthumous awardees.

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Tharoor says ‘no’ to invite on Sonia’s diktat

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 07:18 PM PDT

New Delhi [India]: Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday turned down the invitation from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) to attend a seminar of CPI(M), on the orders of AICC president Sonia Gandhi.


According to sources, CPI(M) has invited Tharoor and K.V. Thomas to attend a seminar on Centre-State relations during a party event being organised in Kerala’s Kannur from April 6 till April 10. Declining the invitation, Tharoor in his official statement said, “I have discussed with AICC President (Sonia Gandhi) the matter of my participation in the seminar on centre-state relations on the sidelines of the CPI(M) National Party Congress.”


“I respect her views in this matter and have conveyed to the organisers my inability to participate,” he added.


Tharoor also quoted the reasons for welcoming the invitation in the first place.


“No difference of opinion on the issue of ‘centre-state’ relation between the two parties and intellectual exchange on policy issue among anti-BJP parties,” are some of the reasons Congress leader quoted in his official statement.


However, he also pointed out that issues related to engaging invitations of other political parties and Congress relation with CPI (M) at the national level should be addressed separately.


Meanwhile, Karnataka Congress Party President has said that central leadership has given clear instructions to all its leaders against participating in the seminars against the sentiments of Congress party workers. 

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Indian Paralympic javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia receives Padma Bhushan

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 07:18 PM PDT

Indian Paralympic javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia on Monday received his Padma Bhushan award, in the field of Sports.

Ace Indian javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia is a two-time Paralympics gold medallist (Athens 2004, Rio 2016) and one-time silver medallist (Tokyo 2020). In 2012 he was the first Paralympian to be honoured with Padma Shri.
Today, President Ram Nath Kovind conferred the Padma awards.

The Padma awards are conferred in three categories – Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri. These awards are given in various disciplines and fields such as art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc.

‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; ‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order and ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.

These awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhavan usually around March/ April every year. This year the President has approved conferment of 128 Padma Awards including 2 duo case (in a duo case, the Award is counted as one) as per list below. The list comprises 4 Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan and 107 Padma Shri Awards. 34 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 10 persons from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and 13 Posthumous awardees.

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Rajasthan Royals has always felt like home for Karnataka duo of Karun Nair and KC Cariappa

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 07:12 PM PDT

Having had a strong and lengthy relationship with Royals Sports Group-owned franchise Rajasthan Royals over the past few years, Karnataka’s duo of stylish batter Karun Nair and mystery spinner KC Cariappa are back in the Royals camp for IPL 2022 and are looking forward to contributing to the team’s success.

“Obviously a lot of things have changed since when I was here (at the Royals) first, but this team always feels like home to me. We have a well-balanced side, and I’m enjoying getting to know all the guys here. It’s an exciting phase in the history of this franchise and I’m looking forward to playing an exciting brand of cricket, which I know the Royals always strive to do,” expressed 30-year-old Karun Nair. On the other hand, right-arm orthodox spinner KC Cariappa, who has spent the last two seasons with the franchise, is looking forward to working with two of India’s leading spinners.

“It’s obviously good to be back at the Royals – my second home. There’s a new feeling around the camp, which is obviously also down to the fact that we’ve got a solid team. I’m really looking forward to working with both Ashwin bhai and Chahal. I’ve known Yuzi for a long time and have enjoyed interacting with him over the years. Whereas, with a legend like Ashwin bhai in the team, it’s a great thing for me to learn and improve my bowling by taking inputs from him,” said the 27-year-old.

Having played with Royals’ skipper Sanju Samson before in the IPL, Nair says he’s excited to play with his ‘good friend’. He said, “I’ve always loved playing with Sanju so I can’t wait to reconnect with him on the ground. We’ve had some really good partnerships over the years and I’m really happy to know Sanju, along with Kumar (Sangakkara) and Zubin (Bharucha), have shown the faith in me to bring me back into the team.”

Cariappa, on the other hand, believes the experience gained with the Royals during the past couple of seasons, has helped him cement a place at his stateside. “I think the best part has been that I’ve been able to get into the Ranji team as well. I’ve always played white-ball cricket, but playing the three formats is a good feeling, and I think what has helped me the most has been the knowledge and experience I’ve been able to gain through working with the Royals,” he said.

Despite having had a great start to his IPL career, scoring 330 runs for the Royals at a strike rate of 142.24 in 2014, and having played for a few more franchises consequently, Nair has been unlucky when it comes to establishing himself as a mainstay in T20 cricket. “In my opinion, the reason behind that is that I’ve never been the kind of the main player in a team in T20 cricket. If you see, whenever I score runs, there’s someone else who scores better in the same match (laughs). But I’m not really bothered about that at all – all I care about and why I play matches is to help the team win.”

“On a more serious note, why people don’t see me as a T20 specialist is because I’ve been asked to play different kinds of roles over the years, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But I’m hoping to have a great season with the Royals and just focus on whatever I’m told to do,” Nair added.

With two other Karnataka teammates in youngsters Devdutt Padikkal and Prasidh Krishna also present at the Royals, both Nair and Cariappa are currently enjoying their time around the group. “Having my homeboys, Devdutt, Prasidh and Karun here is good. They’re top players and bring a new dimension to our team. I’m certainly enjoying having them here at the Royals.”

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Why is Nitin Gadkari being called Spiderman?

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 07:09 PM PDT

New Delhi [India]: Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Arunachal Pradesh, Tapir Gao on Monday called Union Minister Nitin Gadkari a ‘Spider-Man’ and said that Gadkari has laid a wide network of roads across the county just like a spider weaves a web.


“I have named Union Minister for Roads and Highways Nitin Gadkari a Spider-Man. He has established a network of roads in every nook and corner of the country just like a spider weaves its web of threads,” said Gao, MP from Arunachal East Lok Sabha seat.

Gao praised Gadkari during the Lok Sabha debate on the support of the demand for grant for Road Transport and Highways.


As per Road and Transport Ministry, the development of roads is going on with an average of 37 km/day across the country.


Recently, Gadkari inaugurated and laid foundation stone of 46 National Highway (NH) projects in the state of Karnataka with an investment of Rs 19,930 crore.


He said the National Highway Projects of total length 238 km with an investment of Rs 3,972 crore will improve the interstate road connectivity from Karnataka to Maharashtra and Goa.

He said these projects will decrease traffic jams and fuel consumption, make commuting faster and improve port connectivity in the region.


The second half of the Budget session of Parliament which began on March 14 will conclude on April 8. The first half of the Budget session was conducted between January 31 and February 11.

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IPL 2022: Skipper Rishabh Pant shares first impressions of new DC squad

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 07:05 PM PDT

Delhi Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant expressed his thoughts of working with the newly formed squad, ahead of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022.

Pant, who attended his first training session with the side in Mumbai, said that all players are in a good frame of mind. “It seems like the team has been made for the first time. I observed every player during my first practice session with the team and it looks like everybody is in a good frame of mind. Everybody is enjoying each other’s company,” said Pant in a statement.

The wicketkeeper-batter also spoke to the new players about the DC team environment, “At the moment, we are trying to understand what do the new players need during nets sessions. We are discussing the roles the players can take up during matches and the kind of team environment we would like to set up. We have spoken to the new players about the team environment we’ve had in the last few years.”

Speaking about working with Head Coach Ricky Ponting for yet another season, Pant said, “It’s always special meeting Ricky Ponting. Whenever I meet him, it feels like I am meeting a family member. And he always brings the energy out of every player on the field. Everyone looks up to him and waits for him to say something different.”

IPL 2022 will kick start from March 26 with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) squaring off in the first clash. DC will be going against Mumbai Indians in their opening game on March 27. 

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Goa: Pramod Sawant invites PM Modi to his oath ceremony

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 06:57 PM PDT

Panaji (Goa): Goa Chief Minister-designate Pramod Sawant said that he has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Amit Shah and Bharatiya Janata Party national president JP Nadda for his swearing-in Ceremony as Goa CM.


However, he clarified that the date for the ceremony has not been decided yet. “The swearing-in date has not been finalised yet. I have invited PM Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president JP Nadda,” said Sawant on Monday.


Sawant on Monday met Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai and stake his claim to form the government in Goa.


Earlier in the day, Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) central observer for Goa Narendra Singh Tomar stated that the party has unanimously elected Sawant to be the Chief Minister again.


“Vishwajit Rane proposed the name of Pramod Sawant as the Leader of the Legislative Party and everyone unanimously elected him as the Leader. He will be the Leader of the Legislative Party for the next 5 years,” Tomar had said.


In the recently concluded state Assembly polls, the BJP emerged as the single largest party in Goa, winning 20 seats in the 40-member state Assembly and decimated Congress to 11 seats.


The BJP fell one seat short of the majority figure in Goa but is set to retain power in the state with the help of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and independent candidates.

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Oil prices jump amid growing supply concerns as EU considers ban on Russian energy

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 06:51 PM PDT

New York [US]: Oil prices jumped on Monday as reports that the European Union (EU) is considering a ban on Russian energy stoked fears about crude supply.


The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for April delivery added 7.42 U. dollars, or 7.1 per cent, to settle at 112.12 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude for May delivery increased 7.69 dollars, or 7.1 per cent, to close at 115.62 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange. “The reason for the upswing is news that the EU appears to be considering a ban on oil imports from Russia,” Carsten Fritsch, energy analyst at Commerzbank Research, said Monday in a note.


The EU is highly dependent on Russian oil, “covering almost 30 per cent of its import needs with crude oil from Russia,” he said, adding “in the case of diesel, Russian oil even accounts for as much as 80 per cent of its net imports.”


“This means that large quantities would have to be obtained elsewhere, which would further tighten the market,” said Fritsch.


In its monthly report released on Wednesday, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said “the prospect of large-scale disruptions to Russian oil production is threatening to create a global oil supply shock.”


The Paris-based energy watchdog estimated that three million barrels per day of Russian oil output could be shut in from April “as sanctions take hold and buyers shun exports.”


For the week ending Friday, the WTI and Brent both declined 4.2 per cent, based on the front-month contracts.

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India’s response “Shaky” In Ukraine conflict- Joe Biden

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 06:43 PM PDT

Washington: US President Joe Biden said Monday that India was an exception among Washington’s allies with its “shaky” response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Biden lauded the US-led alliance, including NATO, the European Union and key Asian partners, for its united front against President Vladimir Putin.

This includes unprecedented sanctions aimed at crippling Russia’s currency, international trade and access to high-tech goods.

However, unlike fellow members of the Quad group — Australia, Japan and the United States — India continues to purchase Russian oil and has refused to join votes condemning Moscow at the United Nations.

Addressing a meeting of US business leaders in Washington, Biden said there had been “a united front throughout NATO and in the Pacific.”

“The Quad is, with the possible exception of India being somewhat shaky on some of this, but Japan has been extremely strong — so has Australia — in terms of dealing with Putin’s aggression.”

Biden said that Putin was “counting on being able to split NATO” and instead, “NATO has never been stronger, more united, in its entire history than it is today.”Ads by 

Indian oil refiners have reportedly continued to purchase discounted Russian oil, even as the West seeks to isolate Moscow.

An Indian government official said last week that the world’s third-biggest consumer of crude relies on imports for almost 85 percent of its needs, with Russia supplying a “marginal” less than one percent of this.

But “the jump in oil prices after the Ukraine conflict has now added to our challenges… India has to keep focusing on competitive energy sources,” the official added.

New Delhi, which historically has had close ties with Moscow, called for an end to the violence in Ukraine but has stopped short of condemning Russia’s invasion, abstaining in three votes at the United Nations.

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COVID-19: Delhi HC asks Centre to file status report on vaccination for children below 12

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 06:37 PM PDT

The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the Central government to file its status report on a plea seeking a roadmap for COVID-19 vaccination of children aged below 12 years.

The Division Bench of Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Navin Chawla on Monday said the status report should be filed within 3 weeks and listed the matter for further hearing on May 12. The submission came during the hearing of a plea filed by a minor, Tia Gupta, who sought immediate vaccination of minors between 12 and 17 years.

The petitioners, in the PIL filed by advocates Bihu Sharma and Abhinav Mukerji, have urged the court to put in place appropriate vaccine protocol for children residing in Delhi and to make the same available expeditiously.

Senior Advocate Kailash Vasudev appearing for a minor petitioner earlier submitted that no road map has been given by the government for vaccinating children aged 12 and below. The road map is only provided for those who are 15-18 years.

The Delhi High Court earlier had said that if COVID-19 vaccines are administered to children without proper research, then it may be a disaster while objecting to the submission of the petitioner seeking research on vaccines for children in a time-bound manner.

The plea also sought direction from the respondents to give priority in vaccination to parents of children who are residing in Delhi.

The petitioner also urged the court to formulate a comprehensive National Plan with respect to children covering all aspects of their protection from the ill effects of the pandemic.

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Sec 144 imposed in Kota ‘to maintain law, order’ in view of ‘The Kashmir Files’ screening

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 06:34 PM PDT

In view of maintaining law and order during the screening of the recently-released film ‘The Kashmir Files’, authorities in Rajasthan’s Kota have imposed Section 144 in the city from March 22 to April 21.

“Section 144 will be imposed in Kota from tomorrow, March 22, till April 21, in view of maintaining law & order with the screening of ‘The Kashmir Files’,” said Kota District Collector & District Magistrate via a notification. According to the order, there should be no crowd gathering for watching the movie “The Kashmir Files”. The upcoming festival in the district should be conducted in a ceremonial manner and people should not take baths in rivers including canals.

Kota North ex-MLA from BJP, Prahlad Gunjal, on the order of imposing Section 144, targeted the government and said, “A huge ‘Chandi march’ will be taken out in the Kota North assembly constituency on Tuesday, therefore Section 144 was imposed and ‘The Kashmir Files’ is just an excuse.”

He added, “Earlier also a similar clause has been invoked a day before the protest. Women and girls are being raped and a minister terms Rajasthan as ‘the state of men’. This has hurt the self-esteem of women, they will proceed with the rally tomorrow.”

“The government is so scared that Section 144 has been imposed. No power in the world can stop the ‘Chandi March’ tomorrow, whether the police resort to lathi-charge or arrest,” stated Gunjal.

The movie, which had released in theatres on March 11, stars Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty, Pallavi Joshi, Darshan Kumaar, and others.

“The Kashmir Files” has been declared tax-free in Madya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Tripura, Goa, Uttarakhand among other states.

The movie revolves around the genocide of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990 and has been directed by Vivek Agnihotri, known for films like ‘Tashkent Files’, ‘Hate Story’ and ‘Buddha in a Traffic Jam’.

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Bengal coal scam case: TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, wife move SC challenging ED’s summons

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 09:26 AM PDT

Trinamool Congress’s MP Abhishek Banerjee and his wife Rujira Banerjee on Monday approached the Supreme Court. They went to court for challenging the summons issued to them by Enforcement Directorate (ED) for appearance here in connection with the money laundering probe linked to an alleged coal scam in West Bengal.

They have challenged the Delhi High Court March 11 order by which their pleas against the issuance of summons were dismissed. Filing the plea through advocate Sunil Fernandes, Banerjee requested the top court to quash summons and restrain ED from seeking their presence for questioning in Delhi. They pleaded that they can be questioned by ED at Kolkata and sought a stay on High Court’s order.

The petitioners have asked the apex court to decide whether ED can assume pan-India jurisdiction to summon persons from anywhere to Delhi.

“Whether the Respondent can assume pan-India jurisdiction to summon any person at the place of their choice, while exercising powers under Section 50 PMLA?,” the plea questioned while adding that High Court has failed to appreciate that the couple are permanent residents of Kolkata and the entire alleged cause of action and the place of alleged offence, is in the State of West Bengal.

The search and seizure operations recorded in the FIR/RC took place in West Bengal wherein allegedly stolen coal was recovered and all the accused persons named in the FIR/RC are permanent residents of West Bengal, it added.

Seeking relief from the appearance in Delhi, the plea stated, “Direct the Respondent (ED) to summon the Petitioners under Section 50 PMLA only at Kolkata (for Petitioner no. 1 -Abhishek Banerjee) or only at their residence (for Petitioner no. 2 – Rujira Banerjee), as the case may be, during the pendency of the present proceedings.”
Abhishek Banerjee, the nephew of TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, appeared before the ED office at Delhi today.

The High Court on March 11 dismissed their plea and following this, the ED issued fresh summons to Banerjee and his wife to depose before the financial probe agency’s office in Delhi on March 21 and 22.

Abhishek Banerjee was grilled for eight hours straight by ED officials when he last appeared at the agency office in Delhi in September 2021.

Approaching the top court, Banerjee said he belongs to TMC and was leading figure in keenly contested Assembly Elections in West Bengal in April/May 2021 (around the same time when the FIR was registered) wherein his party trounced the political party at power in the Centre, and “thereby giving justifiable cause to “target” and “fix” the Petitioner no.1 (Banerjee) by misusing the Central Investigation Agencies”.
The contention of the petitioners is that this entire case against them is nothing but a political witch-hunt and cannot be brushed away lightly as done in the impugned order (of the High Court), the plea drawn by advocate Fernandes said.

“The Petitioners’ contention of political victimization is further fortified by the inscrutable and inexplicable insistence of the ED to interrogate the Petitioners at their New Delhi office instead of their full-fledged office in Kolkata. The ED seems more interested in causing prejudice to the Petitioners herein rather than sincerely and expeditiously investigate the alleged offence,” it added.

The plea further stated that the High Court order is “misconceived, erroneous and deserves to be set aside”.

The High Court had dismissed Banerjees’ plea who had challenged the September 10, 2021 summons issued to them and had sought direction to the ED not to summon them for their appearance in Delhi since they are residents of West Bengal.
The 34-year-old MP represents the Diamond Harbour seat in Lok Sabha and is the national general secretary of the TMC.

The ED lodged a case under the provisions of the PMLA based on a November 2020 FIR registered by the CBI that alleged a multi-crore coal pilferage scam related to Eastern Coalfields Ltd mines in the state’s Kunustoria and Kajora areas in and around Asansol.

Local coal operative Anup Majee is alleged to be the prime suspect in the case. The ED had claimed that the TMC MP was a beneficiary of funds obtained from this illegal trade. Banerjee has denied all charges.

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Congress begins stocktaking for Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh polls; party leaders from two states to reach Delhi

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 09:12 AM PDT

Having faced drubbing in the elections to five states, Congress has started preparing for the electoral challenges later this year in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat where the BJP is in power and Aam Aadmi Party is keen to emerge as a challenger. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi will meet senior party leaders from Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday at her residence to take stock of the party’s preparations in the assembly polls.
The party has to take several crucial decisions concerning the hill state including that on the chief ministerial candidate.

The Congress had done well in the bypolls held in Himachal Pradesh last year, winning the Mandi Lok Sabha seat and three assembly seats. Virbhadra Singh, a tall leader of the party in the state, had died last year and there has been speculation about the party’s decisions in the state.

Anand Sharma, another senior leader from the state, will complete his term in Rajya Sabha next month.

The Congress had given a tough fight to the BJP in the Gujarat assembly polls in 2017 and the party will be hoping to build on its performance.

Party sources said that Rahul Gandhi will meet senior party leaders from Gujarat along with Laghu Sharma, who is AICC in charge of the state. The meeting will be held at Rahul Gandhi’s residence.

Rahul Gandhi had addressed ‘Chintan Shivir’ in Dwarka in Gujarat last month and had done some plain-speaking about the need for the leaders to work hard. The sources said that the leadership will seek to foster greater unity among leaders to put up a strong fight in the assembly polls.

The sources said the party is keen on early preparation in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat in view of the drubbing in assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur.

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Pushkar Singh Dhami will be CM of Uttarakhand again

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 07:28 AM PDT

Dehradun (Uttarakhand): After days of speculation, Pushkar Singh Dhami has been elected leader of BJP legislature party in Uttarakhand on Monday, paving the way for his taking over the reins of the state for a second time.


Dhami, who lost from the Khatima constituency in the Uttarakhand, led the party’s poll effort as Chief Minister during the assembly polls held last month. The results were announced on March 10 and there was speculation if he will be chief minister for a second time.


Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi were central observers for the meeting. They announced that Dhami had been elected leader by the newly-elected party MLAs.


Several names, including that of former union minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Union Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt, Rajya Sabha member Anil Baluni, MLA Dhan Singh Rawat and Uttarakhand Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj were among doing the rounds as possible choices for chief minister.


Dhami had lost to Congress candidate Bhuwan Chandra Kapri from Khatima by a margin of 6,579 votes in the state polls. He got a total of 41,598 votes with a vote share of 44.8 per cent against Kapri who got 48,177 with 51.89 per cent votes. Dhami had won twice from the seat.


The son of an ex-serviceman, Dhami was born in 1975 in Kanalichhina village in Pithoragarh district. He holds a law degree and worked as a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) volunteer. He also had been a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).


Dhami served as the president of BJP Yuva Morcha in Uttarakhand twice between 2002 and 2008. He is believed to be a protege of former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshyari.


Dhami will be the 13th Chief Minister of the hill state. He belongs to the Kumaun region. The last two chief ministers before him were from the Garhwal region.
The BJP won the popular mandate for the second consecutive term in Uttarakhand and won 47 seats in the 70-member assembly. 

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PM Modi, Scott Morrison express concern over Myanmar situation during India-Australia Summit: Shringla

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 05:11 AM PDT

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison were concerned about the violent situation, protection of the citizens, and humanitarian access in Myanmar during the India-Australia virtual summit on Monday.

Addressing a special briefing following the conclusion of the summit, Foreign Secretary said both sides spoke about supporting the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) initiative in Myanmar. “Both sides were concerned about the violent situation (in Myanmar) and that the civil population should be protected and humanitarian access to Myanmar was also emphasised,” Shringla said.

“We stressed that our relationship with Myanmar is historical and based on people to people ties. Both sides spoke about supporting the ASEAN initiative in Myanmar and the International community must also come together for humanitarian assistance to Myanmar,” Foreign Secretary said today.

The ASEAN’s five-point consensus, which includes dialogue, humanitarian assistance, and an end to violence, was reached last year.

The Myanmar military junta took control of the country following a coup on February 1 last year. Myanmar’s junta has carried out a brutal nationwide crackdown to suppress those opposing military rule.

The junta’s systematic and pervasive abuses, including mass killings, torture, arbitrary arrests, and indiscriminate attacks on civilians, amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) had said.

Since the coup, security forces have killed at least 1,600 people and detained more than 12,000, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

Over 500,000 people have been internally displaced since the coup, while tens of thousands have fled as refugees to Thailand and India, the HRW report had further said citing United Nations refugee agency, United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) data.

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India-Australia Summit: PM Modi stresses border peace key for normalisation of ties with China

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 05:06 AM PDT

In a reference to the border standoff with China, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday emphasised that peace and tranquillity at the border area was an essential prerequisite for normalisation of relations with the neighbouring country.

PM Modi made these remarks during the virtual summit with his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison, during which the two leaders exchanged views on important regional and global issues. Addressing a special briefing on India-Australia virtual summit, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said, “Ukraine and China were discussed (during the virtual summit). On the Ukraine issue, it was clear that the two sides had referred to the Quad summit in which the leaders had a fairly clear perspective that the situation in Ukraine should not impact on the Indo-Pacific.”

Shringla said that there was equal emphasis on the fact that international orders stand on the UN Charter on the rule of law and respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of states.

“The conflict in Europe should not be a region for us to divert our attention from the Indo-Pacific region, and our position, far as Quad is concerned, also was on similar lines,” the Foreign Secretary said.

Shringla informed that PM Modi and PM Morrison exchanged perspectives about regional and multilateral matters and global issues of mutual interest including shared concerns such as terrorism.

“PM Modi referred to LAC (Line of Actual Control) in Ladakh, the incidents of the previous year and he emphasised that peace and tranquillity in the border area was an essential prerequisite for normalisation of relations with China,” said Foreign Secretary.

Morrison also gave a fairly detailed perspective of how he saw China and its actions in the region and he spoke in particular about the South China Sea, he added.
Earlier this month, the 15th round of Corps Commander level talks between India and China was held at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Indian side on March 11, 2022.

India and China agreed to maintain the security and stability along the LAC in the Western Sector during the 15th round China-India Corps Commander Level talks. Both countries have been holding talks on the LAC in the Eastern Ladakh area to resolve the standoff.

The talks held till now have resulted in the resolution of the North and South Bank of Pangong Tso, Galwan and Gogra Hot Spring areas. Both sides will now focus to achieve a resolution of balance at friction areas.

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Plane carrying 133 crashes in China, casualties unknown

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 04:00 AM PDT

Beijing: A China Eastern passenger jet carrying 132 people crashed in Southern China. The jet involved in the accident was a Boeing 737 aircraft and the number of casualties was not immediately known. the crash led to a fire on a mountain where it crashed.

The Boeing 737 flight from Kunming city to the southern hub of Guangzhou “lost airborne contact over Wuzhou” city in the Guangxi region, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said in an online announcement.

“At present, it has been confirmed that this flight has crashed,” the CAAC said, adding that it had activated its emergency response and “dispatched a working group to the scene”.

The plane was carrying 123 passengers and 9 flight crew members, the CAAC said.

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N Biren Singh takes oath as Chief Minister of Manipur

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 03:39 AM PDT

N Biren Singh takes oath as the Chief Minister of Manipur in Imphal, for the second term, on Monday.

Singh was unanimously elected as leader of the legislature party of the BJP in a meeting held on Sunday, which was attended by the party’s central observers, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and Union law and justice minister Kiren Rijiju. Ahead of the BJP’s state legislature party meeting, Singh had visited Delhi and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

BJP retained power in the state by winning an absolute majority with 32 seats in the 60-member House in the recently concluded Assembly polls. Congress bagged five seats and the NPP won seven seats. Naga People’s Front bagged five and the Kuki

People’s Alliance got two seats. Independents bagged three seats.
The BJP leaders had been discussing the government formation in Manipur after the BJP won an absolute majority in the state for the first time.

The BJP had formed the previous government in the state with the support of the Naga People’s Front (NPF) and the National People’s Party (NPP) with Biren Singh as Chief Minister. 

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Mumbai: Nawab Malik’s judicial custody extended till April 4

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 03:33 AM PDT

Special PMLA court on Monday extended the judicial custody of Maharashtra minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader Nawab Malik who was arrested in a money laundering case till April 4.

The court has also allowed Malik to be provided with a bed, mattress, and chair during his judicial custody. However, the court has kept his application for home food pending and will decide on this on the next date of hearing. Malik, the chief of NCP’s Mumbai unit and also the Guardian minister for Parbhani and Gondia districts, is currently in judicial custody in connection with a money laundering case related to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. He was arrested on February 23.

Last week, the Bombay High Court had denied any interim relief to Malik and refused to pass an order for his release from judicial custody. 

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PM Modi calls for early conclusion of CECA with Australia

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 03:18 AM PDT

Noting the rapid progress made in the bilateral ties with Australia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday called for early closure of the ‘Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA)’ for the economic security of the two countries.

Delivering his opening remarks at the second India-Australia Virtual Summit, PM Modi said, “Our (India-Australia) collaboration has grown rapidly in areas such as critical minerals, water management, renewable energy, and Covid-19 research.” During his address, the Prime Minister underscored that India and Australia have made remarkable progress in their ties in the last few years. “Trade and investment, defence and security, education and innovation, science and technology – we have very close cooperation in all these areas,” he added.

This virtual meeting comes as the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership has maintained the momentum of an upward trajectory with both countries continuing to collaborate closely, despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Prime Minister stressed that the “early closure of CECA will be important” for economic ties, economic revival and economic security of the two countries. “We have good cooperation going on in Quad also. This collaboration of ours reflects our commitment to free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific,” he said.

In his opening remarks, PM Modi also thanked his Australian counterpart for the initiative to return 29 Indian antiquities.

“I would like to especially thank you for taking the initiative to return ancient Indian artefacts. Among them are hundreds of years old idols and pictures illegally removed from Rajasthan, West Bengal, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh along with many other Indian states,” he said.

During the summit, the two leaders are expected to lay the way for new initiatives and enhance cooperation in a diverse range of sectors between the two countries.
The Summit follows the historic first Virtual Summit in June 2020 when the relationship was elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. During the upcoming virtual summit, the leaders are expected to take stock of progress made on various initiatives under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

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Scott Morrison wary of ‘Europe like events’ in Indo-Pacific

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 03:08 AM PDT

Amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday said that the focus must be to ensure that the events of Europe do not occur in the Indo-Pacific region.

“Our meeting today is set today at the very distressing backdrop of the war in Europe which must never happen in our own region. I very much want to thank you for the partnership that we have while we are obviously distressed at the terrible situation in Europe. Our focus is very much on what is occurring in the Indo-Pacific and ensuring that those events do not occur here,” Morrison said while delivering his opening remarks at the second India-Australia Virtual Summit. “Our region is facing much change and I think our Quad leaders in their teleconference recently discussed Russia’s unlawful invasion of Ukraine and also implications and consequences of the terrible event,” he added.

Underlining the ties between India-Australia reflects the ambition that two nations share and hold for the bilateral relationship, he said cooperation between like minded-liberal democracies is key to an open, inclusive, resilient and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.

“Our comprehensive strategic partnership reflects the ambition that we share and hold for relationships. The pace and scale for our relationship since we left the ties in 2020 have been remarkable. But our ambition is to make it even closer,” Morrison said.

He also congratulated PM Modi for the BJP’s recent victory in the Assembly polls.
During the summit, the two leaders are expected to lay the grounds for new initiatives and enhance cooperation in a diverse range of sectors between the two countries.

The Summit follows the historic first Virtual Summit in June 2020 when the relationship was elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. During the upcoming virtual summit, the leaders will take stock of progress made on various initiatives under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
The leaders are expected to commit to closer cooperation in trade, critical minerals, migration and mobility, and education, among others.

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