U.N. General Assembly asks Russia to pull back troops
India, once again, abstained as the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voted 141-5 (35 abstentions) to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, calling on Moscow to unconditionally withdraw its troops. Voting on the resolution occurred after representatives of more than 120 countries, territories and associations, made remarks over two days at a special emergency session of the UNGA.
IAF sent four C-17s for evacuation on March 2
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has launched three C-17 transport aircraft today to Romania, Hungary and Poland in the morning on Wednesday, said Air Marshal Sandeep Singh, Vice Chief of Air Force. A fourth C-17 was sent later in the day. The C-17 was sent as it can do a non-stop flight to these countries.
Curtain rises on prominent and penultimate phase of U.P. Assembly polls
The fate of five Ministers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, will be locked on Friday, as 57 constituencies spread over ten districts of Purvanchal are set to exercise their franchise in the penultimate phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
Students fume at Embassy advisory to leave Kharkiv ‘at short notice’
There is anger and exasperation among hundreds of Indian students and professionals in Kharkiv after the Indian Embassy in Kyiv issued an advisory on Wednesday asking them to leave the city at a “short notice”.
Nine out of 10 Indians think wife should always obey husband: study
While Indians accept women as political leaders, they mostly favour traditional gender roles in family life, says a report released by the Pew Research Center, a Washington DC-based non-profit. The study, titled ‘How Indians View Gender Roles in Families and Society’ and released on March 2, is based on a survey of 29,999 Indian adults conducted from November 2019 to March 2020.
The big influence of small parties in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls
Until a decade ago, few would have heard of Sanjay Nishad, Mukesh Sahani, Krishna Singh, Om Prakash Rajbhar or for that matter, even Anupriya Patel, currently a Cabinet Minister in the Central government. But today, there’s huge, consuming interest in these leaders, who head a cluster of “small parties” that have come to significantly influence the shaping of U.P.’s political landscape, especially in the Poorvanchal region. The poverty-stricken eastern region goes to polls in the last two rounds of voting coming up on Thursday and Monday.
In Chillupar, there’s angst over the Adityanath government’s ‘casteist approach’
“ Jahan Brahmin raha wahan sarkar bani (whoever the Brahmin backs forms the government),” thundered Vinay Shankar Tiwari, Brahmin strongman and Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate from Gorakhpur’s Chillupar constituency, weather vane of the community’s angst against what’s perceived in some sections as the Yogi Adityanath government’s casteist approach. Its epicentre is Tanda, the Tiwari family’s native village.
Experts denounce study that forecasts ‘fourth COVID wave’ in June
Independent experts have criticised a recent modelling study from a group of researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur that predicts a fourth COVID wave in India around June.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the government to respond to advocate Prashant Bhushan’s “important” argument that a person has an absolute right to refuse COVID vaccine and States cannot compel them to take the vaccine on the pain of denying them basic rights.
Trinamool Congress sweeps civic polls in West Bengal
The Trinamool Congress swept the polls to the 108 civic bodies across West Bengal, winning 102 municipalities. In pockets across the State where the Opposition still had some sway, the results established the complete dominance of the ruling party.
PM Modi cites Biden’s ‘Make in America’ pitch for India’s ‘Atmanirbhar’ campaign
Citing United States President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address where he exhorted Americans to ‘Make in America’ and rely less on ‘foreign supply chains’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said India too ought to be ‘Atmanirbhar’ (self sufficient) and take cognisance of this “global trend.”
EU cuts Russian banks from SWIFT, bans RT, Sputnik
The European Union on Wednesday cut seven Russian banks from the SWIFT payment system and banned Kremlin-controlled media outlets RT and Sputnik from broadcasting into the bloc. The measures, effective immediately, were the latest ratcheting up of the Western-coordinated sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, now in its seventh day.
Feb. trade deficit widens past $21 billion again
India’s merchandise exports rose 22.3% to $33.81 billion in February, while imports shot up 35% to surpass $55 billion, widening the trade deficit to $21.2 billion, as per preliminary foreign trade estimates. The trade deficit, which shrank to about $17 billion in January, had earlier hit a record $22.9 billion in November 2021, and had averaged $21.7 billion between September and December.
Space junk on 5,800-mph collision course with moon
The moon is about to get walloped by 3 tons of space junk, a punch that will carve out a crater that could fit several semitractor-trailers. The leftover rocket will smash into the far side of the moon at 5,800 mph (9,300 kph) on March 4, away from telescopes’ prying eyes.
