NATIONAL 
EXPRESS

In Nepal, the foundation stone for the construction of the Shree Diding Basic School Building was laid at Chichila Rural Municipality-3, Sankhuwasabha District, being built with the Government of India’s financial assistance at the tendered cost of NRs.40.29 million under ‘Nepal-India Development Cooperation’. Political representatives, government officials, social workers, representatives of school management, teachers, parents and students were also present on this occasion. The Government of India grant under ‘Nepal-India Development Cooperation’, will be utilized for the construction of a double-storied academic and administrative block with other facilities for this school. The project is taken up as a High Impact Community Development Project (HICDP), under an Agreement between the Government of India and the Government of Nepal being implemented through Chichila Rural Municipality, Sankhuwasabha. The project is an important example of the robust development partnership between India and Nepal. Pasang Nurbu Sherpa, Chairman of Chichila Rural Municipality in his remarks appreciated the continued developmental support of the Government of India in the upliftment of the people of Nepal in priority sectors. The new school building would be useful in providing better education facilities to students of Shree Diding Basic School in Chichila Rural Municipality, Sankhuwasabha and would create an improved environment for learning as well as contribute to the development of education in this area. Since 2003, the Government of India has taken up over 550 HICDPs in Nepal in various sectors and has completed 488 projects. Amongst these, 85 projects are in Koshi Province in various sectors, which include 2 projects in Sankhuwasabha.  As close neighbours, India and Nepal share wide-ranging and multi-sectoral cooperation. The implementation of HICDPs reflects the continued support of the Government of India in bolstering the efforts of the Government of Nepal in the upliftment of its people and augmenting infrastructure in the priority sector, especially in the education sector in Nepal.

In IPL Cricket, Chennai Super Kings defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by seven wickets at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, in Chennai last night. Chasing a target of 138, Chennai reached 141 for the loss of three wickets, with 14 balls to spare. Skipper Rithuraj Gaikwad scored an unbeaten 67 runs from 58 balls. Earlier, put in to bat first, Kolkata scored 137 for the loss of nine wickets. Shreyas Iyer was the top scorer for Kolkata, scoring 34 off 32. For Chennai, Tushar Deshpande and Ravindra Jadeja took three wickets each, while Mustafizur Rahman scalped two wickets. Today, Punjab Kings will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Chandigarh. The match will start at 7.30 PM, IST.

The 2024 edition of the Badminton Asia Championship will begin today in Ningbo, China. Star shuttlers, including H S Prannoy, Kidambi Srikanth, Lakshya Sen, PV Sindhu and others will represent the Indian contingent. In Men’s singles, H S Prannoy will take on Lu Guangzhou of China whereas Kidambi Srikanth will lock horns with Anthony Ginting of Indonesia in the opening round. Meanwhile, Lakshya Sen will face the top-seeded Shi Yu Qi in the first round. Another Indian shuttler Priyanshu Rajawat will also mark the Indian presence in the tournament. He will meet Malaysia’s Lee Zii in the first round. In women’s singles, P V Sindhu will take on the Malaysian Goh Jin Wei in the first round. Sindhu will be accompanied by Aakarshi Kashyap, who will be facing Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan, in the main draw. Meanwhile, Ashmita Chaliha and Malvika Bansod will start from the qualifiers. In Men’s doubles, the pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila will face the seventh-seeded Chinese Liu Yu Chen and Ou Xuan Yi. Krishna Prasad Garaga and Sai Pratheek K are also in the fray. In women’s doubles, the duo of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa will face the Indonesian pair of Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma and Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi, while Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will take on the fourth-seeded Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning of China. The competition will provide an opportunity for players to boost their rankings ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics which will take place in July this year.

People across Maharashtra are celebrating Gudi Padwa or the Maharashtrian New Year today. It is that time of the year when grand rallies are taken across the state out to herald the New Year. Since early morning, men in traditional feta and women dressed in Navaris can be seen riding bikes while participating in these rallies. Rangolis and a traditional Gudi, which is a combination of a Kalash, a piece of cloth, and flowers along with mango and neem leaves are also adorning each household. AIR correspondent said that the festival of Gudi Padwa was being celebrated with much fanfare across Mumbai and Maharashtra. Among the most awaited Shobha Yatras, the Girgaon-based cultural committee, Swami Vivekananda Yuva Prathisthan have planned the yatra to commemorate 350 years of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s coronation. Also keeping in mind the inauguration of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya earlier this year, the committee aims to express how Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s rajya was Ram Rajya. Meanwhile, Mumbai Suburban District Collector Rajendra Kshirsagar has urged citizens to unfurl the Gudi of democracy this year and participate in the upcoming general elections by voting.

The 9-day long festival of Navratra, which marks the worship of Goddess Durga, began today with religious fervor and gaiety. Devotees thronged temples from early this morning to offer their prayers to the Goddess. On the first day of Navaratri, Devi Durga is worshipped as Shailaputri. In the national capital, devotees visited Kalkaji, Jhandewalan and other temples to offer prayers.

Trinamool Congress TMC on Monday (8th April 2024) approached the Election Commission over alleged misuse of Central agencies including  National Investigation Agency by the government. A party delegation met the Commission in New Delhi over the issue. Talking to media after the meeting, party MP Sagarika Ghose said they raised the issue of alleged misuse of NIA to intimidate TMC workers in West Bengal ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. She urged the poll body to intervene and protect the sanctity of the poll. Later, TMC leaders Derek O’Brien, Dola Sen, Saket Gokhale and others staged a protest outside the Commission office in New Delhi over alleged misuse of ED, CBI and NIA by the central government.

In the forex market, the rupee closed at 83 rupees and 31 paise against the US dollar on Monday (8th April 2024). The dollar index, which indicates the US dollar’s strength against a basket of six other leading currencies was up at 104.38 in intra-day trade.

Former BJP President and Union Minister Rajnath Singh said that the development of the Country is the Prime objective of the NDA government. Speaking at a road show at Namakkal on Monday (8th April 2024) , he said that in the past ten years the Country’s economy has been growing as also the agriculture and infrastructure. Mr. Singh said that India will grow to become an economic power and reach the third place in the world and also asserted that the NDA would get 400 seats in this election.

Congress’ star campaigner Rahul Gandhi on Monday addressed a public meeting in Dhanaura of Seoni district in Madhya Pradesh. He said, tribals are the first owners of this country and this land and so, the Congress party calls you an Adivasi. On the other hand the BJP, Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah call you a Vanvasi Rahul Gandhi further added that there are two different ideologies behind these words. The word Adivasi means those people who were the first owners of this land of this country. He said that if you were the first owner, then you have rights over the land, water, forests and wealth of the country. Whereas Vanvasi means people who live in forests. There is an ideology behind the word Vanvasi. First of all, this word tries to erase your history, your languages, your way of life. On the other hand, when they call you Vanvasi, it means that forest dwellers or Vanvasi should not get the right to land, water or forest. Mr. Gandhi will also address an election rally in Shahdol today.

Senior leader and Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur today said that the tenure of the NDA government is phenomenal as it has brought the highest amount of FDI in the past ten years. Speaking to the media in Chennai at the airport this morning, he said that schemes implemented during the NDA rule have benefited people from all sections of the society and pegged the economic growth at a higher level. He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has implemented various schemes for the benefit of the fishermen.

Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh accused the incumbent BJP government of corruption in the name of electoral bonds. He claimed that companies that donated to BJP were given tax exemptions. Mr Singh alleged that 33 companies, which, despite incurring losses of one lakh crore rupees in the last seven years, donated 450 crore rupees to BJP. He also alleged that there are also companies that donated more than their profits. The AAP leader has launched a spree of attacks on BJP since coming out of Tihar Jail last week. He was granted bail by the Supreme Court in the Delhi excise policy case.

Gold and silver prices reached all-time highs in today’s opening trade, April 8. Gold contracts on MCX surged to 71,080 rupees per 10 grams, up by 440 rupees.  Meanwhile, silver hits a new peak of 82,064, rupees up by 1,076 rupees. The rise in prices was due to a decline in the dollar index (DXY), which was hovering around the 104.25 mark, down by 0.05 per cent. The DXY has decreased by 0.73 per cent over the past five trading session.