1. PM Launches Renewed Farmer, Dalit Outreach
Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised on Sunday, 25 March, that the cost of every input will be factored in while calculating the minimum support price (MSP) for farm produce and said his idea of a New India by 2022 was aligned with Bhim Rao Ambedkar’s, signalling an effort to reach out to the Dalit and farmer communities ahead of next year’s general elections.
Modi sought to win over both sections in his monthly radio address ‘Mann Ki Baat’ at a time when agrarian distress has been in sharp focus and a political realignment of Opposition parties with Dalits, farmers and backward classes at the nucleus is being discussed.
The BJP suffered significant defeats in two Lok Sabha bypolls in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur and Phulpur on 14 March when political rivals the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) came together.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. Ball Tampering: Smith is Banned for One Test
Steve Smith has been suspended for one Test and fined 100 percent of his match fee by the International Cricket Council (ICC). This was after he confessed of attempted ball tampering during the third day’s play in the Cape Town Test against South Africa. Smith was charged under to Article 2.2.1 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel which prohibits to ‘all types of conduct of a serious nature that is contrary to the spirit of the game’.
Australia opener Cameron Bancroft fined was also fined 75 percent of his match fee and handed three demerit points for breaching Level 2 of the ICC Code of Conduct during the third day’s play.
(Source: The Indian Express)
3. Defying Ban, BJP Holds Armed Rallies in West Bengal, One Killed
Five police personnel were injured in West Bengal’s Purulia district Sunday after clashes broke out between two groups over a Ram Navami rally. A deputy superintendent of police-rank officer was among the policemen injured after violence erupted between the two groups over the Ram Navami procession taken out in the Arsha police station area of the district, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Anuj Sharma said. Some people were arrested for their alleged involvement in the incident, he added.
The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Opposition BJP had organised processions to celebrate Ram Navami in various parts of the state Sunday, with the saffron party dubbing these rallies as the first step towards “uniting the Hindus” of Bengal. At several places, armed processions were taken out to mark the occasion.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. Users’ Data in PM’s Mobile App Being Given to US Firms: Rahul Gandhi
Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday, 25 March, alleged that the data of users who had installed the NaMo App on their mobile phones was shared with an American firm, a charge the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) immediately denied.
“Hi! My name is Narendra Modi. I am India’s Prime Minister. When you sign up for my official App, I give all your data to my friends in American companies. Ps. Thanks mainstream media, you’re doing a great job of burying this critical story, as always,” Gandhi wrote on Twitter.
His tweet shared the link of an article on a news website that quoted a “French vigilante hacker” who alleged that the personal data of Indians who use the NaMo app was compromised.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. India Ready to Tackle Any Unforeseen Situation in Doklam, Says Nirmala Sitharaman
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday, 25 March, maintained that India is ready to counter any unforeseen situation in Doklam, which had become a potential flashpoint with China. “We are alert and ready for any unforeseen situation in Doklam. We are constantly working on the modernisation of our forces. We will maintain our territorial integrity,” Sitharaman told reporters.
Her comments came a day after Indian envoy to China Gautam Bambawale said that the Doklam crisis started because the Chinese military changed the status quo in the region. In a significant step that is being seen as an attempt to mend fences with Beijing, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Qingdao in China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit on June 9-10, Bambawale has confirmed.
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. JNU Students Say They Will Continue Strike in University
Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) has described the registration of a rioting case against unknown persons as “bizarre and dangerous”, saying they will continue to strike in the university.
JNU students and teachers and the police clashed on Friday, 23 March, during a protest march to Parliament. The cops had said that the protesters did not have permission to march up to Parliament and had allegedly turned rowdy when stopped. However, the students alleged that the police had used undue force.
The ‘Padyatra’ to Parliament called by JNU Teacher’s Association (JNUTA) on Friday against the autonomy granted to the university and demanding action against professor Atul Johri, who has been accused of sexual harassment by several students.
A female journalist had alleged molestation by a cop, and HT’s photojournalist’s camera was snatched away while covering the protests.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
7. Nirav, Mallya Only Exports Under PM’s Watch: Rahul Gandhi
The central government has made the economy weak and the country’s sole exports on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s watch were jeweller Nirav Modi, former IPL chairman Lalit Modi and liquor baron Vijay Mallya, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Sunday, 25 March.
In his fourth visit to Congress-ruled and poll-bound Karnataka since February, Gandhi took a jibe at the Prime Minister ’s remarks that he is the chowkidar, or guard, of the nation against corruption.
“Only one thing is being exported: Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi and Vijay Mallya. Someone takes Rs 10,000 crore, another takes Rs 22,000 crore, but the chowkidaar only watches,” the Congress leader said at a rally in Mysuru after inducting seven former Janata Dal (Secular) lawmakers into his party.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
8. Alphons Compares Aadhaar to US Visa Scan, Sparks Row
Two days after he was quoted as saying “we have no problems in putting our fingerprints and whole body naked in front of a white man”, junior Union Tourism and IT minister Alphons Kannanthanam continued to be in the eye of a storm as he clarified his statement while resolutely defending the virtues of Aadhaar.
“When I was filling the application form for the US visa, I had to fill 10 pages of data, including where my grandfather was born… where I had travelled to in the last 10 years and for what purpose. We have no problems in putting our fingerprints and whole body naked in front of a white man. But when the government of India asks for name and address, then there is a massive revolution in the country saying it is an intrusion into the privacy of the individual,” he had said in Kochi on Friday.
(Source: The Times of India)
9. India May Send Doctors to Pakistan for Prisoner Repatriation
In an attempt to de-escalate tensions, India and Pakistan are currently discussing a proposal by the former to allow a team of over 20 doctors to visit Pakistan to examine mentally unsound, women, children and elderly prisoners. These Indian prisoners have been awaiting repatriation since the two countries arrived at an understanding earlier this month for their release.
Both countries are in touch over the issue of visas for the doctors but diplomatic sources here said Pakistan may not give visa to such a large number of doctors and medical experts.
(Source: The Times of India)
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