Daily Briefing: As Putin claims Indian nationals being held, Delhi looks at safe evacuation; impact of war beyond oil & more

Though three of the four Quad members have criticised Russia for the invasion, India has chosen to remain “neutral”. Setting aside these differences, in a virtual meeting joined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Quad leaders agreed to establish a “new humanitarian assistance and disaster relief mechanism”.

Stating it would be difficult for India to continue buying military hardware from Russia after US financial sanctions, a senior official of the US State department implied in a hearing on India-US relations that the US would not need to invoke sanctions against “an important security partner” for the purchase of the Russian S-400 air defence system.

Only in the Express

Speaking to The Indian Express, the AICC observer for Manipur, Jairam Ramesh, called the series of party leaders leaving the Congress a “pull exodus”. “The BJP brought into play full force of money power, and a lot of our colleagues left us. They were pulled by superior money power,” he said.

From the Front Page

The Russian invasion of Ukraine threatens to derail the inflation calculations of the Reserve Bank of India. “My concern is that the accommodative stance carries with it the risk of falling behind the curve in future because the stance limits the MPC’s freedom of action in ensuing meetings,” said Jayanth Varma, Member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the RBI.

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In Jharkhand’s Jamtara district, an ‘Elder’s cub’ is gaining popularity among senior citizens in the area, who often gather there for hours sharing their joys and sorrows or simply hanging out. Each member had a story to tell. One person had found a place to recite his poems dealing with nostalgia while some others engaged in plain conversations about their family, grandchildren and health. A few said they now understood various religions better, thanks to the diverse set of people who were part of this Club.

Everyone in Ukhrul, the Tangkhul Naga heartland of Manipur, has a similar view on the controversial AFSPA, which gives sweeping powers to the armed forces to maintain law and order in ‘disturbed areas’ — they believe it must go. The far-reaching resonance of AFSPA is not lost on parties contesting the Manipur elections. Barring the BJP, all parties from the Congress to the little-known Kuki People’s Alliance (KPA) have AFSPA repeal on their manifestos.

After the Indian Embassy gave an urgent call on Twitter earlier this week, asking all students in Kharkiv to leave within four hours, hundreds of medical students from India walked around 25 km to reach the city of Pesochin. Students recall the difficult journey and how they navigated their way to the city amid explosions and what some of them described as a “stampede-like situation”.

The current Russian invasion of Ukraine – unlike previous wars in Iraq and Libya or sanctions against Iran – is having an impact not just on energy prices. The effects of shipping disruptions through the Black and Azov Seas, plus Russian banks being cut off from the international payments system, are extending even to the global agri-commodities markets. We explain the impact of the war, beyond oil.

And Finally…

The BCCI constitution bars its president from having any role in picking the national team in order to retain the independence and autonomy of the selection committee. But some cricketers have been complaining about former India captain and present BCCI president Sourav Ganguly’s involvement in selection matters. Three present and past selectors under Ganguly’s tenure confirmed that he was a regular feature at selection meetings.

Delhi Confidential: After spending three days in the national capital, Telangana Chief Minister and TRS supremo K Chandrsekhar Rao will leave for Ranchi on Friday for a lunch meeting with his Jharkhand counterpart and JMM leader Hemant Soren. Contrary to expectations, KCR did not have any major political meetings in Delhi.

Until tomorrow,

Rahel Philipose and Sonal Gupta

Business As Usual by EP Unny