First technical team from India arrives in Maldives; Massive fire kills 43 in Dhaka, and more

The government has confirmed that a team of Indian technical personnel have landed in Maldives to replace military troops that have been operating aircraft there. The development indicates a compromise between the Modi government and the recently elected Muizzu government on the contentious issue of Indian troops stationed in the Maldives that had become the target of the “India Out” campaign run by the ruling party. 

As the Manipur Assembly has passed a resolution to urge the Union Government to abrogate the suspension of operations (SoO) pact with Kuki-Zo insurgent groups, in effect since 2008, suspense prevailed over the extension of the agreement. The 10 Kuki-Zo-Hmar legislators in the 60-member Assembly were not present in the House when the resolution was passed.

The slogan ‘Abki Baar, 400 Paar (This time, above 400)’ was not coined by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but by the public itself to bring back the current government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said. “Today, there is only one thing being heard everywhere: ‘Abki Baar, 400 Paar’. This has happened for the first time that the public itself has elevated a slogan like this to bring back its beloved government.

It has not been given by the BJP,” he said, virtually addressing the ‘Viksit Bharat, Viksit Madhya Pradesh‘ programme, a part of the Centre’s Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra.

Making a flurry of revisions in the economy’s growth estimates, the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Thursday raised India’s real GDP growth esimate for this year to 7.6% from the 7.3% projected last month. It also scaled down its 7.2% growth estimate for 2022-23 to 7%, and raised its 2021-22 estimate from 9.1% to 9.7%.

The Gross Value Added (GVA) in the economy is projected to rise 6.9% this year, with the NSO downgrading last year’s GVA growth to 6.7% from 7%. GDP growth for the first two quarters of this year was raised to 8.2% and 8.1%, further rising to 8.4% for the the October to December 2023 quarter (Q3).

A fire at a six-story commercial building in Dhaka killed at least 43 people and injured dozens of others, Bangladesh’s health minister said on March 1. The country’s Health Minister Samanta Lal Sen said the fire broke out late on February 29 in the building in Dhaka’s Bailey Road area.

Firefighters rescued survivors and pulled out dead bodies, and by early Friday, at least 43 people died and at least 22 others were being treated, he said. Firefighters said the fire began in a popular restaurant on the first floor of the building, and that many people were trapped by the fire.