‘The Hindu’ News paper The Evening Wrap 03 March 2024

The Evening Wrap

03 March 2024

Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu.

Farmers give call for ‘Delhi Chalo’ on March 6, ‘rail roko’ on March 10
The Kisan Mazdoor Morcha and the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) — the two umbrella bodies that are spearheading the fresh farmer’s agitation – on March 3 gave a call to reach Delhi to farmers from across the country on March 6.

Along with the ‘Delhi chalo’ march, the farmer outfits have announced a ‘rail roko’ agitation across the country for four hours on March 10 pressing for their demands.

Farmers from Punjab and Haryana would, however, will continue their protest at Shambhu-Ambala and Khanauri-Jind – the inter-State boundary between Haryana and Punjab, where they have been camping after being stopped from entering Haryana since February 13. The KMM and the SKM (Non-Political) had earlier given the call for the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march on February 13.

KMM coordinator Sarwan Singh Pandher said farmers, labourers and tribals from all over the country would march to Delhi on March 6, and this march will be by trains and buses.

“The government keeps saying that the farmers should come without tractor-trolleys, so we have decided that the friends who were supposed to come to Delhi by trains and buses should now march to Delhi. Farmers from Punjab and Haryana will continue to camp at the different locations on the inter-State boundary of both the states,” he said.

“Also, we have decided that a ‘rail roko’ protest will be held on March 10 across the country, which will beheld from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.,” he added.

Pandher alleged that the Union government is treating the farmers and labourers demanding their rights like enemies. “This is unfortunate and an attempt is being made to establish dictatorship in the country, but the people of the country will not allow this to happen,” he said.

“The struggle will continue till the MSP and crop purchase guarantee act, implementation of Swaminathan Report, complete loan waiver of farmers and the entire charter of demands are resolved,” he added.

PM Modi brainstorms over Vision 2047 with ministerial council, sets 100-day agenda for third term in office
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 3 chaired a day-long meeting of his Council of Ministers to ‘brainstorm’ over the vision document prepared to attain the “Viksit Bharat: 2047” goal, along with fleshing out a detailed action plan for the next five years.

Government sources said that a 100-day agenda for immediate steps to be pursued for quick implementation, after the formation of the new Government in May, was also discussed at the meeting, where several ministries made presentations on their achievements in recent years and their plans for the future.

The roadmap for ‘Viksit Bharat’ is a result of more than two years of intensive preparations by ministries, an exercise that was steered by the Centre’s think tank Niti Aayog.

“It involved a whole of government approach involving all Ministries and wide-ranging consultations with State Governments, academia, industry bodies, civil society, scientific organisations and mobilization of youth for seeking their ideas, suggestions and inputs. More than 2700 meetings, workshops and seminars were held at various levels. Suggestions of more than 20 lakh youth were received,” an official source said.

It also added that the roadmap for ‘Viksit Bharat’ has a comprehensive blueprint with clearly articulated national vision, aspirations, goals and action points. Its goals includes areas like economic growth, SDGs, ease of living, ease of doing business, infrastructure, social welfare, and so on.

Lok Sabha elections | Denied ticket from Chandni Chowk, BJP MP Harsh Vardhan bows out of active politics
With sitting MP Harsh Vardhan’s name not figuring from his Chandni Chowk constituency in the list of candidates announced by the BJP for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, he, on March 3, announced bowing out of active politics.

In a long post on X, Vardhan said he will return to his roots after over 30 years of a “glorious electoral career”.

Looking back at his journey, he said, “I shall continue to pursue my work against tobacco and substance abuse, against climate change and teaching simple and sustainable lifestyles.”

In the first list of 195 candidates declared by the BJP, Praveen Khandelwal has been fielded from Chandni Chowk, the seat which Vardhan holds at present.

The MP said he had twice served as Delhi Health Minister and Union Health Minister. He also said it was a great privilege to work with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In 2014, Vardhan defeated Kapil Sibal, then with the Congress, to win the Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha seat while in the 2019 polls, he trounced Congress’ Jai Prakash Agarwal.

Former Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat and BJP leader Nitin Patel also decided to withdraw his candidature for the Mehsana seat for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

While announcing the withdrawal of his candidature in a post on X on March 3, Patel said that the name of the candidate from Mehsana is yet to be finalised.

“I pray to God that Narendrabhai Modi becomes the Prime Minister for the third time in a row and increases the prestige of India in the whole world,” he added.

Pakistan condemns India’s ‘high handedness’ in seizure of ‘commercial goods’
Responding to the seizure of dual-use items bound from China to Pakistan by Indian authorities at Mumbai port in January, Pakistan condemned India’s “high handedness” in seizure of “commercial goods” and this “disruption of free trade underscores the dangers inherent in arbitrary assumption of policing roles by states with dubious credentials.”

“This is a simple case of import of a commercial lathe machine by a Karachi-based commercial entity which supplies parts to the automobile industry in Pakistan. Specifications of the equipment clearly indicate its purely commercial use. The transaction was being conducted through transparent banking channels with all the relevant documentation,” the spokesperson of Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement late on March 2. “The relevant private entities are pursuing the matter against this unjustified seizure.”

Terming reports on this as reflective of Indian media’s “habitual misrepresentation of facts”, the spokesperson added, “Such acts also highlight the growing impunity of certain states in violating international norms and taking arbitrary measures in violation of international law.”

As reported by The Hindu on March 2, two advanced Computer Numerical Control machines manufactured by GKD, Italy, bound from Shekou Port in China to Karachi port were seized by Indian customs at Mumbai Port on January 23, 2024.

The consignment was shipped on January 9 on a merchant vessel CMA CGM Attila, a Malta-flagged vessel and as part of its voyage the vessel reached Nhava Sheva Port Mumbai on January 22 and was subsequently seized based on intelligence inputs on possible proliferation concerns by Pakistan and China. The consignment continues to remain in Indian custody.

Bengaluru Rameshwaram cafe blast | Police probing different angles including business rivalry: Karnataka Home Minister
Karnataka Home Minister Dr. G. Parameshwara on March 3 said business rivalry, impending elections and terrorising investors coming to Bengaluru in view of a stable government in the State are some of the angles which the police are working on to crack relating to the blast at a Bengaluru eatery.

The explosion took place at Rameshwaram Cafe in Brookefield in East Bengaluru on March 1. A man wearing a cap, mask and glasses is the prime suspect in the case and remains untraceable.

Eight teams are working to crack the case and they are accompanied by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), National Security Group (NSG) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) are assisting the teams.

Parameshwara said one of the angles being probed was to see if it was to terrorise Bengaluru in view of the impending elections.

“As many investors are coming here in view of a stable government, this might have been done either to stop investors from coming to Bengaluru or due to some other unknown reasons,” the Minister added. He said business rivals might have done it out of jealousy.

He said The Rameshwaram Cafe has 11 units and the owners were planning to set up their 12th unit, for which advance deposit was also paid.

He appealed to people to rely only on the statements issued by him, police and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and not on speculative ones.

Shehbaz Sharif voted Pakistan’s PM for second time
Shehbaz Sharif on March 3 became the Prime Minister of Pakistan for a second time to lead a coalition government after he comfortably won a majority in the newly-elected Parliament.

Shehbaz, 72, who was the consensus candidate of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), received 201 votes in the 336-member house. His challenger Omar Ayub Khan of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) secured 92 votes.

The session of the new Parliament convened amid ruckus and sloganeering by PTI-backed lawmakers.

Shehbaz will be administered the oath of office on March 4 at the Presidential mansion, Aiwan-e-Sadr.

He thanked his allies in the coalition government for trusting and making him Leader of the House. “When my Quaid (leader Nawaz) was elected the Prime Minister thrice, the development that followed in the country is an example of its own. And it is not wrong to say that Nawaz Sharif is the one who built Pakistan,” Shehbaz said in his victory speech.

In his speech, Shehbaz also said that the nation would always remember the sacrifices of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the founder of the PPP and the maternal grandfather of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. He said that his elder brother has never even thought of harming the country, unlike his opponents.

He also raked up the Kashmir issue in his maiden address but pledged to improve ties with all leading nations, including the country’s neighbours. “Let’s all come together […] and the National Assembly should pass a resolution for the freedom of Kashmiris and Palestinians,” he added.

He vowed to do a “deep surgery” and bring changes in the system to bring the cash-strapped country out of the alarming debt crisis and secure G20 membership by 2030.

In Brief
India climb to top spot in World Test Championship standings
Two-time finalists India jumped to the top of the World Test Championship standings, replacing New Zealand in the latest rankings issued on March 3. India, who defeated England by five wickets in the fourth Test in Ranchi to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series, replaced the Kiwis with a stronger points percentage of 64.58. With five wins, two losses and one draw, India have 62 points in 8 matches, while the Black Caps have 36 from five matches (three wins, two losses) and have a point-percentage of 60.00.

Blancaneaux clinches Delhi Open Challenger
Geoffrey Blancaneaux of France played a fine all-round game to outwit the 19-year-old Coleman Wong of Hong Kong 6-4, 6-2 in the final of the Dafa News $82,000 Delhi Open Challenger tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex in New Delhi on March 3. It was the second Challenger title and 15th singles triumph in the 25-year-old Blancaneaux’s career, who was ranked a career-best 134 two years ago.

Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.

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