The Evening Wrap: PM discusses border security, Ukraine at Cabinet Committee meeting

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on Sunday to discuss Indian security preparedness. The meeting, which dealt with the war in Ukraine and also the defence situation in the neighbourhood, came four days after an Indian unarmed missile accidentally misfired and landed inside Pakistan. The meeting was attended by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla. Home Minister Amit Shah did not attend the meeting as he is in Gujarat. “The Prime Minister was briefed on latest developments and different aspects of India’s security preparedness in the border areas as well as in the maritime and air domain,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement that didn’t directly refer to the missile incident that occurred on March 9, but indicated that border security was at the top of the agenda. The meeting is also understood to have discussed the global security scenario in response to the war in Ukraine, and sanctions against Russia. “The Prime Minister was also briefed on the latest developments in Ukraine, including the details of Operation Ganga to evacuate Indian nationals, along with some citizens of India’s neighbouring countries, from Ukraine,” the PMO said, adding that Mr. Modi asked for all efforts to be made to bring back the mortal remains of Naveen Shekharappa, who died in Kharkiv on March 1 during shelling by Russian forces. Sources said that the PM was briefed separately about the government’s responses to the incident involving a missile that accidentally misfired on Wednesday, and landed 124 km into Pakistan’s Punjab province. A statement issued by the Ministry of Defence said that the missile firing had been “accidental”, and was caused by a technical malfunction during “routine maintenance”, adding that the government had taken a “serious view” of the lapse and ordered a high-level court of inquiry into it. Russian airstrike hits Ukrainian military base close to Poland border, kills 35 Waves of Russian missiles pounded a military training base close to Ukraine’s western border with NATO member Poland, killing at least 35 people. The strike followed Russian threats to target foreign weapon shipments that are helping Ukrainian fighters defend their country against Russia’s grinding invasion. More than 30 Russian cruise missiles targeted the sprawling training facility that is less than 25 km from the closest border point with Poland, according to the Governor of Ukraine’s western Lviv region. Poland is a key location for routing Western military aid to Ukraine. Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Lviv had largely been spared the scale of destruction unfolding further east and become a destination for residents escaping bombarded cities and for many of the nearly 2.6 million refugees who have fled the country. The training centre in Yavoriv appears to be the most westward target struck so far in the 18-day invasion. The facility, also known as the International Peacekeeping and Security Centre, has long been used to train Ukrainian military personnel, often with instructors from the United States and other NATO countries. U.S. journalist shot dead in Ukraine A U.S. journalist was shot dead and another wounded on Sunday in Irpin, a frontline northwest suburb of Kyiv, medics and witnesses told AFP. Danylo Shapovalov, a surgeon volunteering for the Ukrainian territorial defence, said one of the Americans died instantly and he had treated the other. AFP reporters in Irpin saw the body of the victim. A third victim, a Ukrainian who had been in the same car as the Americans, was also wounded. Ukrainian officials were quick to blame Russian forces for the shooting but the exact circumstances were unclear. AFP reporters heard small arms and artillery fire in the area. “The car was shot at. There were two journalists and one of ours (a Ukrainian),” Mr. Shapovalov told AFP. “Our guy and the journalist are wounded, I provided them first aid, the other one received a wound in the neck, he died immediately.” Papers found on the American reporter’s body identified him as 50-year-old video documentary shooter Brent Renaud, of New York. A New York Times identity card was among the papers, leading to reports he worked for the paper, but the U.S. daily said he was not working for it at the time of his death. Adityanath meets PM Modi, Amit Shah over U.P. government formation Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, fresh after winning the recently concluded Assembly elections in the State, held a series of meetings in New Delhi on Sunday, including with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on government formation. A big issue that Mr. Adityanath needs to grapple with, along with leaders in Delhi, is the future of Keshav Prasad Maurya, who was Deputy Chief Minister but lost his election from Sirathu. Mr. Maurya still remains an MLC, and is popular within the party and represents a significant non-Yadav OBC community, a key factor in the BJP’s victory. Promises made to farmers in the BJP’s manifesto — that of free power and payment to sugarcane growers by mills within 14 days of supply are being prioritised for implementation, and modalities worked out, informed sources said. “Today I met with Yogi Adityanath and greeted him on the historic victory in Uttar Pradesh. He has worked hard in fulfilling the aspirations of the people of the State in the last five years and I am confident that he will take the state to newer heights in future,” tweeted Mr. Modi. Mr. Adityanath also met with Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu, BJP president J.P. Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah with whom he went through the nitty-gritty of forming the next government. An angry Punjab voted decisively for change Even as the Punjab election verdict constitutes a clear rejection of the Congress State government by voters, it wasn’t just the Congress that the voters were angry with. They were almost equally angry with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre. The Lokniti-CSDS post-poll survey in the State found dissatisfaction with the performance of the Narendra Modi government during the last three years to be nearly as high as the dissatisfaction with the Congress government’s five-year tenure. Even though most voters ended up voting solely on the performance of the State government (58% did) and not that of the Modi government’s (8%), the BJP and the Amarinder Singh alliance was simply unable to capitalise on the dissatisfaction with the Congress government because of its own unpopularity. Not only were voters dissatisfied with the Modi government, but the dissatisfaction among voters with the Congress government’s five years was more on account of Amarinder Singh’s four-and-half-year tenure and less due to Charanjit Channi’s six-month tenure. Click here to read the Lokniti-CSDS post-poll survey results from Punjab. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments India logged 3,116 new coronavirus infections, the lowest in 676 days, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,29,90,991, while the active cases dipped to 38,069, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday. The death toll climbed to 5,15,850 with 47 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 a.m. stated. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 13 MARCH 2022 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( PM looks at border security, discusses Ukraine at Cabinet Committee on Security  meeting [Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS)]( on Sunday to discuss Indian security preparedness. The meeting, which dealt with the war in Ukraine and also the defence situation in the neighbourhood, came four days after an Indian unarmed missile accidentally misfired and landed inside Pakistan. The meeting was attended by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla. Home Minister Amit Shah did not attend the meeting as he is in Gujarat. “The Prime Minister was briefed on latest developments and different aspects of India’s security preparedness in the border areas as well as in the maritime and air domain,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement that didn’t directly refer to the missile incident that occurred on March 9, but indicated that border security was at the top of the agenda. The meeting is also understood to have discussed the global security scenario in response to the war in Ukraine, and sanctions against Russia. [Prime Minister Narendra Modi chairs a high-level meeting to review security preparedness in New Delhi on March 13, 2022.] “The Prime Minister was also briefed on the latest developments in Ukraine, including the details of Operation Ganga to evacuate Indian nationals, along with some citizens of India’s neighbouring countries, from Ukraine,” the PMO said, adding that Mr. Modi asked for all efforts to be made to bring back the mortal remains of Naveen Shekharappa, who died in Kharkiv on March 1 during shelling by Russian forces. Sources said that the PM was briefed separately about the government’s responses to the incident involving a missile that accidentally misfired on Wednesday, and landed 124 km into Pakistan’s Punjab province. A statement issued by the Ministry of Defence said that the missile firing had been “accidental”, and was caused by a technical malfunction during “routine maintenance”, adding that the government had taken a “serious view” of the lapse and ordered a high-level court of inquiry into it. Russian airstrike hits Ukrainian military base close to Poland border, kills 35   Waves of Russian missiles pounded a military training base close to Ukraine’s western border with NATO member Poland, [killing at least 35 people](. The strike followed Russian threats to target foreign weapon shipments that are helping Ukrainian fighters defend their country against Russia’s grinding invasion. More than 30 Russian cruise missiles targeted the sprawling training facility that is less than 25 km from the closest border point with Poland, according to the Governor of Ukraine’s western Lviv region. Poland is a key location for routing Western military aid to Ukraine. [Medics transport a serviceman on a stretcher at a hospital in Yavoriv, Ukraine on March 13, 2022 following an attack on the Yavoriv military base.] Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Lviv had largely been spared the scale of destruction unfolding further east and become a destination for residents escaping bombarded cities and for many of the nearly 2.6 million refugees who have fled the country. The training centre in Yavoriv appears to be the most westward target struck so far in the 18-day invasion. The facility, also known as the International Peacekeeping and Security Centre, has long been used to train Ukrainian military personnel, often with instructors from the United States and other NATO countries. U.S. journalist shot dead in Ukraine A [U.S. journalist was shot dead and another wounded]( on Sunday in Irpin, a frontline northwest suburb of Kyiv, medics and witnesses told AFP. Danylo Shapovalov, a surgeon volunteering for the Ukrainian territorial defence, said one of the Americans died instantly and he had treated the other. AFP reporters in Irpin saw the body of the victim. A third victim, a Ukrainian who had been in the same car as the Americans, was also wounded. Ukrainian officials were quick to blame Russian forces for the shooting but the exact circumstances were unclear. AFP reporters heard small arms and artillery fire in the area. “The car was shot at. There were two journalists and one of ours (a Ukrainian),” Mr. Shapovalov told AFP. “Our guy and the journalist are wounded, I provided them first aid, the other one received a wound in the neck, he died immediately.” Papers found on the American reporter’s body identified him as 50-year-old video documentary shooter Brent Renaud, of New York. A New York Times identity card was among the papers, leading to reports he worked for the paper, but the U.S. daily said he was not working for it at the time of his death. Adityanath meets PM Modi, Amit Shah over U.P. government formation    Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, fresh after winning the recently concluded Assembly elections in the State, [held a series of meetings in New Delhi]( on Sunday, including with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on government formation. A big issue that Mr. Adityanath needs to grapple with, along with leaders in Delhi, is the future of Keshav Prasad Maurya, who was Deputy Chief Minister but lost his election from Sirathu. Mr. Maurya still remains an MLC, and is popular within the party and represents a significant non-Yadav OBC community, a key factor in the BJP’s victory. Promises made to farmers in the BJP’s manifesto — that of free power and payment to sugarcane growers by mills within 14 days of supply are being prioritised for implementation, and modalities worked out, informed sources said. “Today I met with Yogi Adityanath and greeted him on the historic victory in Uttar Pradesh. He has worked hard in fulfilling the aspirations of the people of the State in the last five years and I am confident that he will take the state to newer heights in future,” tweeted Mr. Modi. Mr. Adityanath also met with Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu, BJP president J.P. Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah with whom he went through the nitty-gritty of forming the next government. An angry Punjab voted decisively for change Even as the Punjab election verdict constitutes a clear rejection of the Congress State government by voters, it wasn’t just the Congress that the voters were angry with. They were almost equally angry with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre. The Lokniti-CSDS post-poll survey in the State found dissatisfaction with the performance of the Narendra Modi government during the last three years to be nearly as high as the dissatisfaction with the Congress government’s five-year tenure. Even though most voters ended up voting solely on the performance of the State government (58% did) and not that of the Modi government’s (8%), the BJP and the Amarinder Singh alliance was simply unable to capitalise on the dissatisfaction with the Congress government because of its own unpopularity. Not only were voters dissatisfied with the Modi government, but the dissatisfaction among voters with the Congress government’s five years was more on account of Amarinder Singh’s four-and-half-year tenure and less due to Charanjit Channi’s six-month tenure. Click [here]( read the Lokniti-CSDS post-poll survey results from Punjab. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments [India logged 3,116 new coronavirus infections, the lowest in 676 days]( taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,29,90,991, while the active cases dipped to 38,069, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday. The death toll climbed to 5,15,850 with 47 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 a.m. stated. 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