Daily briefing: Rawat resigns at Uttarakhand CM; Mamata files nomination from Nandigram today

A year before his term ends, Trivendra Singh Rawat resigned as Chief Minister of Uttarakhand on Tuesday, saying the time had come to pass on the baton.

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A year before his term ends, Trivendra Singh Rawat resigned as Chief Minister of Uttarakhand on Tuesday, saying the time had come to pass on the baton. Sources said there was growing discontent in the Uttarakhand unit of the party over the centralisation of power with the Chief Minister’s Office, the composition of Rawat’s Cabinet, the high-handedness of the bureaucracy and growing anti-incumbency.

From the Front Page

After many years, Indian farmers are benefitting from both bumper production and remunerative prices, even as harvesting and marketing of rabi (winter-spring) crops have taken off. That’s good news for the economy — and for the NDA government facing unrelenting protests over its farm reform laws.

The car filled with explosives that was found parked outside Mukesh Ambani’s residence was being used by assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze, Vimla Hiren has told the ATS. Vimla is the wife of Mansukh Hiren, whose body was found in the Kalwa creek last Friday. Vimla also alleged Vaze told her husband to get arrested in the case, and assured him he would get bail.

Bhulte pari nijer naam, bhulbo nako Nandigram (I can forget my name, but never forget Nandigram)” — Mamata Banerjee, who held her first meeting in the constituency on Tuesday, will file her nomination today. Telling the BJP not to teach her to be a “good Hindu”, Mamata said, “Don’t play the Hindutva card with me. I am a Hindu Brahmin girl…”

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There is anger and despair among members of the newly elected District Development Councils from all parties, including the BJP, about “lack of powers” in the councils that are being showcased by the Centre as the first step for J&K to return to the political mainstream. Members staged a demonstration on Tuesday seeking better status and facilities.

The passing away of Tarun Gogoi has left a void in Titabor constituency, which he represented for two decades. Locals say they trusted Gogoi, a “simple and polite” leader. But now, with neither Tarun’s son Gaurav nor his sister-in-law Mitali getting the ticket, the Congress may struggle to hold on to its stronghold.

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Inaugurating the Rs 133 crore ‘Bharat Bangla Maitri’ bridge in Tripura’s South District, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it would not only serve as a new trade corridor between India and Bangladesh but would also help Northeast states grow. Just months ahead of the election to Tripura’s autonomous tribal council in the state, PM Modi highlighted the progress made under the BJP-led rule.

With India finally at the table to decide on the roadmap for peace in Afghanistan along with five other countries, Russia said that India’s “eventual deeper involvement” is “natural”. While Washington recognised the urgency of including India in dialogue, Delhi viewed Moscow’s statement as an attempt to delay the inevitable.

One in 3 women, a total of 736 million individuals, are subjected to physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner, or sexual violence from a non-partner in their lifetime, according to a chilling new report by the World Health Organization. The violence starts early — one in four women (aged 15-24 years) who have been in a relationship will have already experienced violence by an intimate partner by the time they reach their mid-twenties.

ICYMI

From 500 high-mast Tricolours across the national capital, to a curriculum based on patriotism in schools — “deshbhakti” was the “defining feature” of the Delhi government’s annual budget for 2021-22.

Former Karnataka Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, who was forced to resign after being linked to a sex CD scandal, claimed a top leader in the state framed him, and alleged the woman seen in the CD was paid Rs 5 crore for the entrapment.

Opposing bail to academic Anand Teltumbde, the NIA claimed the former IIT professor would exchange literature on ideology, training and the working strategy of banned organisation CPI (Maoist) with “international communist organisations”.

In a report tabled in the Lok Sabha, the Standing Committee on Agriculture asked the Centre to launch a scheme for procurement of cattle dung from farmers while citing the Godhan Nyay Yojana — Chhattisgarh government’s cow dung procurement scheme.

And Finally…

A cricket tournament exclusively for scheduled caste communities in North Gujarat’s Banaskantha district aims to provide a platform for Dalit youth to showcase their cricketing skills. The ‘Dalit Premier League’ was organised by a group of young people in the area on March 6, and is likely to end by the first week of April.

Delhi Confidential: Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has publicly hit out at bureaucratic inertia once again. At a function, he said he liked officers who took wrong decisions rather than those who delayed decision-making.

Until tomorrow,

Leela Murali and Rahel Philipose


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