Meeting of Permanent Indus Commission between India and Pakistan is underway in New Delhi. The Commission deals with water rights on the Indus river. The Permanent Indus Commission was set up under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960. The Indian side is being led by the Indian Commissioner for Indus Waters Pradeep Kumar Saxena. The Pakistan side is being led by Syed Muhammad Meher Ali Shah.
 
The Indus water treaty warrants the two commissioners to meet at least once a year. Last year’s meeting scheduled to be held in March in New Delhi was cancelled in view of the Corona virus pandemic. The last meeting took place in Lahore in August 2018. The Indus Waters Treaty was signed between then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and former Pakistan President Ayub Khan. It sets out a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between the two countries regarding their use of the rivers.

The BJP national President J P Nadda has released the party’s Sankalpa Patra for Assam promising to make the state free from floods.

Releasing the Sankalpa Patra or the manifesto in Guwahati in presence of several leaders including Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Mr. Nadda said that the party would launch Mission Brahmaputra to eliminate all losses to lives, livelihoods and property.

The manifesto also promises to bring 30 lakh families under the coverage of Orunodoi scheme if comes to power again. It also assures to increase the monthly amount to 3000 rupees under Orunodoi from the present 830 rupees. The party promises to protect the rights of the people through a corrected National Register of Citizens, NRC.

Ruling BJP has swept local body elections in Goa. In Panaji Corporation, the party has won 25 of 30 wards. BJP has also won many wards in other councils. Polling for six municipal councils, 30 wards of Corporation of City of Panaji, a Zilla panchayat, and 22 panchayat took place on Saturday. The six civic bodies that went to polls last Saturday are Canacona, Curchorem-Cacora, Bicholim, Cuncolim, Valpoi and Pernem.
 
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has thanked people of Goa for the continuous support to BJP. In a tweet, Mr Modi said, the results of the Municipal Elections 2021 in the state shows the people’s appreciation towards the Party’s development agenda. He lauded all hardworking BJP workers who went among people and worked hard during the campaign.

Lok Sabha has passed the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill 2021. The Bill amends the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991 which provides a framework for the functioning of the Legislative Assembly and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. The Bill amends certain powers and responsibilities of the Legislative Assembly and the Lieutenant Governor.
 
It further seeks to ensure that the Lieutenant Governor is necessarily granted an opportunity to exercise the power in select category of cases, in emergency. The Bill also gives powers to LG to make rules in matters which fall outside the preview of the Delhi Legislative Assembly. It has a provision that all executive action will be expressed to be taken in the name of the Lieutenant Governor.
 
Replying to the discussion, Minister of State for Home, G. Kishan Reddy said the bill aims at promoting harmonious relations between the legislature and the executive in the national capital. He said it was a technical necessity as the Supreme Court, High court and other forums were discussing the ambiguity at different times and issuing the orders on the NCT Act 1991. Therefore, the Minister said, it’s the responsibility of Parliament to clear confusion and the ambiguity.
 
While refuting the comments of some Members, he said, amendments in the Bill neither aimed at taking away the powers of the elected government of Delhi nor give additional powers to the Lieutenant Governor of the National Capital.
 
He also reminded the members that Delhi is a Union Territory with a Legislative Assembly with limited powers, in its originality. He said, the Government has to keep consulting the LG as the administrator. In case of any difference of opinion on any matter between LG and the Delhi government, the Minister said that the LG would refer the same to the President of India.

The Philippines government has claimed that around 220 Chinese boats have been spotted at a reef in the South China Sea waters controlled by Manila. It urged China to recall the boats saying the presence of the vessels violated Manila’s maritime rights by encroaching into the Philippines’ sovereign territory.

According to the Philippines coast guard, the boats are believed to be manned by Chinese maritime militia personnel. The boats were spotted on March 7 at the Whitsun Reef, which Manila calls the Julian Felipe Reef. In a strong-worded statement, Philippines Defence Minister Delfin Lorenzana warned of appropriate actions not limited to filing diplomatic protests if the boats were not withdrawn. It called on the Chinese to stop this incursion and immediately recall these boats.

The Philippine military spokesman Marine Major General Edgard Arevalo said that it had conducted air and maritime patrols in the South China Sea to further validate the incursion report. A Philippine cross-government task force said yesterday that the vessels’ presence in the area raises concern about overfishing and the destruction of the marine environment, as well as risks to safe navigation.       

Over four crore 50 lakh 65 thousand doses of Covid vaccine have been administered to the beneficiaries in the country so far. Union Health Ministry said that more than four lakh 62 thousand doses were given to the beneficiaries in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, the country’s COVID-19 recovery rate reached 95.75 per cent with the total recovery of more than 21  thousand patients in the last 24 hours.

The Ministry said over one crore 11 lakh patients have already been recovered from this disease. Presently, the total number of active cases in the country is over three lakh 34 thousand which comprises only 2.87 per cent of the total positive cases. A total number of 46 thousand 951 new cases have been reported in the country in the past 24 hours taking the cumulative positive cases to over one crore 16 lakh.

The Health Ministry said, 212 deaths have been reported during the last 24 hour taking the toll to one lakh 59 thousand 967 across the country. The Indian Council of Medical Research said that various laboratories have conducted more than 8 lakh 80 thousand tests of corona virus samples during the last 24 hours and more than 23 crore 44 lakh tests have been conducted in the country so far.

Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia has won the All England Badminton Championships men’s title as he defeated Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen in the summit clash.

The 22-year-old defeated Axelsen 30-29, 20-22, 21-9 in the summit clash which lasted for one hour and 14 minutes. With this win, Malaysia’s title drought came to an end and it is after four years, that someone from the country has managed to win the All England Open. Lee Chong Wei had last won the All England Open for Malaysia in 2017. Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara won the women’s title as she defeated Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-12, 21-16 in the finals. 

The Rajasthan government has decided to impose night curfew in 8 cities starting tonight to contain the recent spike in the number of Covid cases. Night curfew will be imposed in Ajmer, Bhilwara, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Udaipur, Sagwara and Kushalgarh from 11 in the night to 5 in the morning. Markets will remain closed in all the urban bodies of the state after 10 pm today. The decision was taken in a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
 
The government has also made it mandatory for people visiting the state to carry an RT-PCR COVID negative report not older than 72 hours from March 25. Those without a negative test report will have to remain in quarantine for 15 days. The system of mini-containment zones will also be implemented again. Wherever there are more than five positive cases, that cluster or apartment will be declared as a contention zone. Curbs have also been imposed on maximum attendance at weddings and funerals.
 
A maximum of 200 people will be allowed to attend a wedding ceremony and only 20 people can attend a funeral. Primary schools in the state will remain closed till further orders. In the classes above primary and in colleges, educational activities will be conducted with the COVID-19 protocol. Not more than 50 per cent of the students should be present in the class at a time. 

Government has said that more than 67.5 lakh people have been brought back from around the world under the Vande Bharat mission so far. India commenced one of the world’s largest evacuation operations from 7th May last year to bring back stranded Indians from abroad. Initially, Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express played a key role in the operations.
 
Afterwards, other air carriers were allowed to take part in the programme. Besides, aerial evacuation, ships were also used to bring back Indian citizens. In a tweet, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri said, Vande Bharat is not just a mission that brought back stranded and distressed citizens but it is also a Mission of hope and happiness.
 
He added that the Mission has let Indian people know that they will not be left behind by the government even in the most testing times. A total of 8,587 people returned to India on Saturday under the Vande Bharat Mission.

Today is the last day for withdrawal of candidature for assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry. The single-phase polling will be held in these states and Union Territories on 6th April. Today is also the last date for withdrawal of candidature for the third phase of assembly elections in West Bengal and Assam. While assembly elections in West Bengal will be held in eight phases, Assam will witness three phase polling.

Campaigning has intensified in all poll bound states and Union Territories.  In Assam, the star campaigners of various political parties are criss crossing the state to woo the voters. Senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister, Amit Shah will hold a series of election rallies in Assam today. BJP President, JP Nadda is also likely to hold rallies in Dibrugarh, Zorhat and Biswanath today.

Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari is likely to visit Puducherry for campaigning. He is expected to hold the road show. In Puducherry, 382 nominations were found valid after scrutiny. In Tamil Nadu, a total of 4469 nominations were found valid, while 2700 were rejected following scrutiny. The final list of candidates for 234 assembly constituencies will be released today. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually launch Jal Shakti Abhiyan : Catch the Rain campaign on the occasion of World Water Day today. The theme of the campaign is ‘Catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls’. In the presence of the Prime Minister, the signing of historic Memorandum of Agreement between the Minister of Jal Shakti and the Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh to implement the Ken Betwa Link Project will also take place. This is the first project of the National Perspective Plan for interlinking of rivers.

This project involves transfer of water from the Ken to the Betwa River through the construction of Daudhan Dam and a canal linking the two rivers. It will provide annual irrigation of 10.62 lakh hactare, drinking water supply to about 62 lakh people and also generate 103 Mega Watt of hydropower. The Project will be of immense benefit to the water starved region of Bundelkhand, especially to the districts of Panna, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur, Sagar, Damoh, Datia, Vidisha, Shivpuri and Raisen of Madhya Pradesh and Banda, Mahoba, Jhansi and Lalitpur of Uttar Pradesh.

It will pave the way for more interlinking of river projects to ensure that scarcity of water does not become an inhibitor for development in the country. The campaign will be undertaken across the country in both rural and urban areas. It will be implemented from today till 30th November – the pre-monsoon and monsoon period in the country. It will be launched as a Jan Andolan to take water conservation at grass-root level through people’s participation.

The campaign is intended to nudge all stakeholders to create rainwater harvesting structures suitable to the climatic conditions and subsoil strata, to ensure proper storage of rainwater. After the event, Gram Sabhas will be held in all Gram Panchayats of each district, except in the poll bound states to discuss issues related to water and water conservation. Gram Sabhas will also take Jal Shapath for water conservation.

Indian Embassy in Beijing started India@75 celebrations with belated Vishwa Hindi Diwas celebrations yesterday which was attended by the Chinese students studying Hindi in different Chinese universities, their Hindi teachers and members of the Indian community in Beijing.

Ambassador Vikram Misri read Prime Minister’s message on Vishwa Hindi Diwas. He said that Hindi is one of the top spoken languages in the world and Vishwa Hindi Diwas is an occasion to promote Hindi and celebrate its popularity at global level.

A video celebrating India’s achievements since Independence was played on the occasion to celebrate the 75 years of India’s Independence – “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav”. AIR Correspondent in Beijing reports that the celebrations of 75 years of India’s independence – Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav could not have got a better start when Chinese academicians and students joined embassy officials and Indian community to celebrate Vishwa Hindi Diwas.

Chinese teachers and students termed Hindi as an important medium to understand India’s culture and emphasised on its role in building bridges between India and China.

Professor Jiang Jingkui, a renowned Chinese authority on Hindi language and spearheading the efforts to promote and popularize Hindi in China told Prasar Bharati, Beijing that efforts are underway to establish 4 more national level centres for studies related to India, specially Hindi by the end of this year in addition to existing two centres at Peking University and Shenchen University.

At present, around 500 Chinese students are studying hindi in around 17 universities in China. The Indian community, students from Peking University and Chinese friends presented cultural performances in Hindi language highlighting the role of language in enhancing people-to-people exchanges.

National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has brought 80 plus medicines under Price Regulation. NPPA has fixed the price of 81 medicines including off-patent anti-diabetic drugs allowing due benefits of patent expiry to the patients. 

NPPA has fixed the Retail Price of Insulin Human Injection, 200IU/ml and 70 per cent Isophane Insulin Human Suspension 30 per cent Insulin Human Injection 200IU/ml for M/s Wockhardt Ltd at 106.65 rupees per ml each excluding GST and Prasugrel Hydrochloride 10 mg as film-coated Aspirin 75 mg as enteric-coated Capsule’for M/s Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd. at 20.16 rupees per Capsule excluding GST with effect from 17th March 2021. 

Both the medicines were being sold at MRP of 132.50 rupees per ml and at 27.26 rupees per capsule. With this price regulation, NPPA has re-assured availability of medicines at fair prices to public at large.

NPPA had granted price exemption for above-mentioned formulations to the companies under Para 32 of the Drug Prices Control Order (DPCO), 2013 for a period of five years due to new drug delivery system developed through indigenous Research and Development. Price regulation was not applicable during the exemption period. NPPA in its meeting on 10th of this month decided to regulate the price of these formulations as per provisions of DPCO, 2013 as the exemption period has been over.

This has resulted in reduction of the prices of Insulin Human Injection, 200IU/ml and 70 per cent Isophane Insulin Human Suspension 30 per cent Insulin Human Injection 200IU/ml’, causing sizeable reduction over the existing prices. Now, these medicines have become more affordable to the public.

NPPA also fixed retail price of 76 new drugs in the meeting dated 10th of this month to be launched by existing manufacturers including off-patent Anti-diabetic drugs allowing due benefit of patent expiry to the patients.

In addition, NPPA fixed ceiling price of 2 scheduled formulation namely Povidone Iodine 7.5 per cent Scrub an anti-infective formulation and Levo-Thyroxine 37.5 mg tablet used for treatment of Thyroid related diseases, causing considerable reduction to their present prices.

Revision in existing ceiling prices of scheduled formulations based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) was also approved by the Authority. The revised prices will be effective from next month.

Maharashtra chief minister’s office has informed that it is authenticating the unsigned letter said to be sent by Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Parambir Singh. In a statement, CMO has informed that today, it has received an unsigned letter with the name of Param Bir Singh at 4.37 PM. It was sent from email ID paramirs3@gmail.com. But Parambir singh has given parimbirs@hotmail.com as a personal email ID for the list of IPS officers. Hence email ID is being checked and home department is trying to contact Param Bir singh.

AIR correspondent reports that sources have said that the letter said to be sent by Singh is addressed to the Chief Minister and copied to the Deputy Chief Minister, Additional Chief Secretary of Home ministry and Principal Secretary of the Governor of Maharashtra. Letter claims that, Home minister has given target to collect 100 Crores a month to Sachin Waze, former head of Crime Intelligence Unit and recently suspended API of Mumbai Police.

The Said letter also contains some messages exchanged between Parambir Singh and ACP Sanjay Patil, Social Service Branch. In a letter it is also claimed that  Parambir singh has already pointed out several misdeeds and malpractices being indulged into by Home minister to Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar. Letter also claims that the Home minister desired a case of abetment of suicide to be registered at Mumbai in a death case of Dadra & Nagar Haveli MP Mohan Delkar.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) will now investigate the death case of Mansukh Hiren. The NIA spokesperson has said that, Home ministry has issued an order in this regard.

At present, Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad is investigating the case. Mansukh Hiren is reported to be the owner of an explosive-laden vehicle found outside the house of Industrialist Mukesh Ambani. He was found dead in Thane creek on the 5th of March.