Hindustan Times News | 17th February 2022 | 8 AM

HT Daily News Wrap

EU loops in India on Ukraine concern to talk its plans to impose ‘massive consequences’, There will be wider ramifications of developments in Afghanistan to Central Asia, Delhi University is all set to reopen for offline classes on Thursday after remaining shut for nearly two years & other top news in this bulletin.
The European Union (EU) has informed India of its concerns over the situation in Ukraine and its plans to impose “massive consequences” in the event of any Russian aggression against the eastern European country. The EU is in constant dialogue with India, which it views as a “friend and partner”, to keep New Delhi apprised of its assessments and concerns regarding the situation in Ukraine following a large build-up of Russian troops, an EU official told a group of Indian reporters on Wednesday. The EU, in conjunction with NATO and its allies such as the US, has prepared “tariff measures and a robust reaction in case of any further aggression against Ukraine”. The official added: “There will be massive consequences. The EU stands by Ukarine, but at the same time, we do our utmost to explore all avenues for dialogue and a diplomatic solution.”

India on Wednesday warned about the developments in Afghanistan having wider ramifications in the Central Asia region. TS Tirumurti, India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, drew the UN Security Council’s attention towards the threat of possible growth in international terrorism and drug trafficking following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan. “The developments in Afghanistan will have wider ramifications to the Central Asia region, particularly the possible growth in international terrorism and drug trafficking emanating from the Afghan territory,” Tirumurti said. The Indian envoy was participating in a UNSC debate on “Cooperation between the United Nations and the Collective Security Treaty Organization”. CSTO, which consists of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its establishment.

In a rally in Akbarpur in Uttar Pradesh on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in an apparent reference to the Trinamool Congress (TMC), “Aap khule aam, hindu vote ko baatna chahte hain, toh aap kiske vote ikkhata karna chahte hon (You openly talk about splitting the Hindu vote. Whose votes are you trying to gather?)?” The apparent confidence of this claim may belie nervousness around the fragmentation of the “Hindu vote.” The Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013 made the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nearly unassailable due to a consolidated Hindu vote. Indeed, in the 2017 elections, the BJP achieved a strike rate of 91% in assembly constituencies (ACs) that went to the polls in Phase One of the Uttar Pradesh (UP) election. The strike rate dropped to 69% in ACs in Phase 2, indicating that the BJP was less able to engineer Hindu consolidation.

Delhi University is all set to reopen for offline classes on Thursday after remaining shut for nearly two years for the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The varsity was shut in March 2020, during the outbreak of the pandemic, and since then, online classes have been taking place for all undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Many students who took admission at the university during these two years will be visiting their respective colleges for the first time. The reopening of the university comes amid a decline in the number of Covid-19 cases in the national capital. Student bodies had held protests earlier this month, demanding the reopening of the campus. Talking to news agency PTI, a student expressed excitement at having to return to the campus. “The university was shut for around two years. The online mode of study was not efficient enough to substitute the offline mode of education. It is a time to reclaim our lost years,” Gajendra Mohan Thakur, a 26-year-old Campus Law Centre student, was quoted as saying.

As many as eleven people lost their lives after falling into a well during wedding celebrations in the Nebua Naurangia area of Kushinagar district of Uttar Pradesh. Further, two people have been seriously injured after they accidentally fell into a well. Speaking on this, the District Magistrate of Kushinagar, S Rajalingam said to reporters, “We have got to know that 11 people have died and two others have been seriously injured after they accidentally fell into a well. This happened during a wedding program wherein some people were sitting on a slab of a well and due to heavy load, the slab broke.” “An ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh will be given to the kin of the deceased,” he added. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has deeply condoled the death of people in the accident of falling in a well in Nebua Naurangiya police station area of Kushinagar. “He has directed the concerned officials to conduct rescue and relief operations immediately and provide proper treatment to the injured,” tweeted the office of the Chief Minister.