The Evening Wrap: Dozens feared dead after Russian bomb levels Ukraine school

Dozens of Ukrainians were feared dead Sunday after a Russian bomb flattened a school sheltering about 90 people in its basement, while Ukrainian troops refused to surrender at a besieged steel plant that Moscow’s invading forces sped to seize before Russia’s Victory Day holiday. The governor of Luhansk province, one of two areas that make up the eastern industrial heartland known as the Donbas, said the school in the village of Bilohorivka caught fire after Saturday’s bombing. Emergency crews found two bodies and rescued 30 people, he said. “Most likely, all 60 people who remain under the rubble are now dead,” Gov. Serhiy Haidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Russian shelling also killed two boys, ages 11 and 14, in the nearby town of Pryvillia, he said. The largest European conflict since World War II has developed into a punishing war of attrition due to the Ukrainian military’s unexpectedly effective defense. Since failing to capture Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, Moscow’s forces have attacked cities, towns and villages in eastern and southern Ukraine but not gained much ground, according to Western military analysts. To demonstrate success in time for Victory Day on Monday, the Russian military worked to complete its takeover of Mariupol, which has been under relentless assault since the start of the war. The sprawling seaside steel mill where an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters were making a last stand is the only part of the city not under Russian control. All the remaining women, children and older civilians who had been sheltering with the fighers in the Azovstal plant were evacuated on Saturday. The troops still inside have refused to surrender; hundreds are believed to be wounded. 800 Pakistani Hindus left India after failing to get citizenship, says advocacy group Around 800 Pakistani Hindus in Rajasthan, who came to India seeking citizenship on the basis of religious persecution, returned to the neighbouring country in 2021, according to Seemant Lok Sangathan (SLS), a group that advocates for the rights of Pakistani minority migrants in India. Many of them returned to Pakistan after they found that there had been no progress in their citizenship application. “Once they return, they are used by Pakistani agencies to defame India. They are paraded before the media and made to say that they were ill-treated here,” Hindu Singh Sodha, president, SLS, said. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) initiated an online citizenship application process in 2018. It also made 16 Collectors in seven States accept online applications to grant citizenship to Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis, Jain and Buddhists from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. In May 2021, the MHA empowered 13 more District Collectors in five States — Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab — to grant citizenship certificates to applicants belonging to the six communities under Section 5 (registration) and Section 6 (naturalisation) of Citizenship Act, 1955. Though the entire process is online, the portal does not accept Pakistani passports that have expired, forcing people seeking refuge to rush to the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi to get their passports renewed for a hefty sum. “If it is a family of ten, then they end up spending more than ₹1 lakh at the Pakistan High Commission to get the passports renewed. These people come to India amid great financial hardships and to cough up such a high amount of money is not feasible,” Mr. Singh, who is based in Jodhpur, said. According to Mr. Singh, other than applying online, applicants have to submit documents to Collectors in the physical mode, which is an added burden. A Home Ministry official said they were examining the online system. Ahead of Amit Shah’s visit, northeast organisations warn of anti-CAA stir Various organisations in the northeast have threatened to resume their agitation against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) of 2019 if the Centre tries to implement it. The warning has been sounded ahead of Home Minister Amit Shah’s three-day tour of Assam from May 9 for a slew of events coinciding with the completion of one year of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government. The government headed by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was sworn in on May 10, 2021. In Meghalaya capital Shillong, the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) said any attempt to implement the CAA would lead to unrest in the State. The Centre, instead, should implement the inner-line permit system in Meghalaya to check the entry of “illegal immigrants”. The inner-line permit is a temporary travel document issued according to an 1873 regulation. This permit requires Indians to possess one while entering four States of the northeast – Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland. “We will always oppose the CAA, pandemic or no pandemic,” KSU president Lambokstar Marngar told journalists in Shillong while reacting to Mr. Shah’s statement during his visit to West Bengal that the CAA will be implemented once the COVID-19 pandemic ends. The All Assam Students’ Union and the Raijor Dal, a political party headed by MLA Akhil Gogoi, have also opposed Mr. Shah’s comment on the CAA. Another students’ body, the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chhatra Parishad, advised the Home Minister to hold a referendum on the CAA before making assertions regarding its implementation. “The BJP got the CAA passed in Parliament because it has the numbers. But popular sentiments are against the Act because it had overlooked the concerns of the indigenous people of the northeast,” the Parishad said in a statement. ‘Khalistan’ flags found at Himachal Pradesh Assembly gate in Dharamshala A few ‘Khalistan’ flags were found on the main gate and walls of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly premises, situated at Dharamshala in Kangra district on May 8. As a common practice, the winter session of the Assembly is held at Dharamshala, while the other sessions are held at the Assembly in Shimla. Currently, the Assembly was not in session. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said the incident took place during Saturday night. He said the incident would be probed quickly and strict action would be taken against those who were involved. “I condemn the cowardly incident of raising ‘Khalistan’ flags at the gate of Dharamshala Assembly Complex in the night,” said Mr. Thakur in a tweet. Interest rate hike wasn’t surprising, timing was: Nirmala Sitharaman Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the recent interest rate hike by the Reserve Bank was not surprising for her but the timing was, asserting that the rising cost of funds will not impact the government’s planned infrastructure investments. For the first time since August 2018, RBI had on May 4 delivered a blunt 40 basis points increase in key repo rate to 4.40%, and also hiked the cash reserve ratio by 50 basis points to 4.5% after an unscheduled meeting of the rate setting panel, citing increased inflation pressures following the Ukraine war and the resultant spike in crude oil prices. Retail inflation printed at 6.9% in March and the April reading is forecast to top 7.7%. “The timing of RBI’s rate hike came as a surprise but not the action itself as people thought it should have been done anyway. It came as a surprise because it is between the two MPCs (Monetary Policy Committee) meetings. But the U.S. Fed had been saying it all the while,” Ms. Sitharaman said in her first reaction to the rate hike while addressing an event on Saturday evening in Mumbai. In Brief Boos and heckles greeted Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on Sunday on his first public outing since nationwide protests erupted demanding his ruling family resign over the worsening economic crisis. Months of blackouts and acute shortages of food, fuel and medicines have caused widespread suffering across the South Asian island in its worst economic downturn since independence in 1948. On Sunday, the premier visited one of the holiest Buddhist temples – housing a reputedly 2,300-year-old tree – in Anuradhapura. But dozens of people carried hand-written placards and chanted slogans demanding that “thieves” be banned from the sacred city, 200 km north of Colombo. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow [logo] The Evening Wrap 08 MAY 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]( Dozens feared dead after Russian bomb levels Ukraine school    [Dozens of Ukrainians were feared dead]( Sunday after a Russian bomb flattened a school sheltering about 90 people in its basement, while Ukrainian troops refused to surrender at a besieged steel plant that Moscow’s invading forces sped to seize before Russia’s Victory Day holiday. The governor of Luhansk province, one of two areas that make up the eastern industrial heartland known as the Donbas, said the school in the village of Bilohorivka caught fire after Saturday’s bombing. Emergency crews found two bodies and rescued 30 people, he said. “Most likely, all 60 people who remain under the rubble are now dead,” Gov. Serhiy Haidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Russian shelling also killed two boys, ages 11 and 14, in the nearby town of Pryvillia, he said. The largest European conflict since World War II has developed into a punishing war of attrition due to the Ukrainian military’s unexpectedly effective defense. Since failing to capture Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, Moscow’s forces have attacked cities, towns and villages in eastern and southern Ukraine but not gained much ground, according to Western military analysts. To demonstrate success in time for Victory Day on Monday, the Russian military worked to complete its takeover of Mariupol, which has been under relentless assault since the start of the war. The sprawling seaside steel mill where an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters were making a last stand is the only part of the city not under Russian control. [All the remaining women, children and older civilians]( who had been sheltering with the fighers in the Azovstal plant were evacuated on Saturday. The troops still inside have refused to surrender; hundreds are believed to be wounded. 800 Pakistani Hindus left India after failing to get citizenship, says advocacy group Around 800 Pakistani Hindus in Rajasthan, who came to India seeking citizenship on the basis of religious persecution, [returned to the neighbouring country in 2021]( according to Seemant Lok Sangathan (SLS), a group that advocates for the rights of Pakistani minority migrants in India. Many of them returned to Pakistan after they found that there had been no progress in their citizenship application. “Once they return, they are used by Pakistani agencies to defame India. They are paraded before the media and made to say that they were ill-treated here,” Hindu Singh Sodha, president, SLS, said. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) initiated an online citizenship application process in 2018. It also made 16 Collectors in seven States accept online applications to grant citizenship to Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis, Jain and Buddhists from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. In May 2021, the MHA empowered 13 more District Collectors in five States — Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab — to grant citizenship certificates to applicants belonging to the six communities under Section 5 (registration) and Section 6 (naturalisation) of Citizenship Act, 1955. Though the entire process is online, the portal does not accept Pakistani passports that have expired, forcing people seeking refuge to rush to the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi to get their passports renewed for a hefty sum. “If it is a family of ten, then they end up spending more than ₹1 lakh at the Pakistan High Commission to get the passports renewed. These people come to India amid great financial hardships and to cough up such a high amount of money is not feasible,” Mr. Singh, who is based in Jodhpur, said. According to Mr. Singh, other than applying online, applicants have to submit documents to Collectors in the physical mode, which is an added burden. A Home Ministry official said they were examining the online system. Ahead of Amit Shah’s visit, northeast organisations warn of anti-CAA stir Various organisations in the northeast have [threatened to resume their agitation]( against the [Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA)]( of 2019 if the Centre tries to implement it. The warning has been sounded ahead of Home Minister Amit Shah’s three-day tour of Assam from May 9 for a slew of events coinciding with the completion of one year of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government. The government headed by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was sworn in on May 10, 2021. In Meghalaya capital Shillong, the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) said any attempt to implement the CAA would lead to unrest in the State. The Centre, instead, should implement the inner-line permit system in Meghalaya to check the entry of “illegal immigrants”. The inner-line permit is a temporary travel document issued according to an 1873 regulation. This permit requires Indians to possess one while entering four States of the northeast – Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland. “We will always oppose the CAA, pandemic or no pandemic,” KSU president Lambokstar Marngar told journalists in Shillong while reacting to Mr. Shah’s statement during his visit to West Bengal that the CAA will be implemented once the COVID-19 pandemic ends. The All Assam Students’ Union and the Raijor Dal, a political party headed by MLA Akhil Gogoi, have also opposed Mr. Shah’s comment on the CAA. Another students’ body, the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chhatra Parishad, advised the Home Minister to hold a referendum on the CAA before making assertions regarding its implementation. “The BJP got the CAA passed in Parliament because it has the numbers. But popular sentiments are against the Act because it had overlooked the concerns of the indigenous people of the northeast,” the Parishad said in a statement. ‘Khalistan’ flags found at Himachal Pradesh Assembly gate in Dharamshala A [few ‘Khalistan’ flags were found]( on the main gate and walls of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly premises, situated at Dharamshala in Kangra district on May 8. As a common practice, the winter session of the Assembly is held at Dharamshala, while the other sessions are held at the Assembly in Shimla. Currently, the Assembly was not in session. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said the incident took place during Saturday night. He said the incident would be probed quickly and strict action would be taken against those who were involved. “I condemn the cowardly incident of raising ‘Khalistan’ flags at the gate of Dharamshala Assembly Complex in the night,” said Mr. Thakur in a tweet. Interest rate hike wasn’t surprising, timing was: Nirmala Sitharaman Finance Minister [Nirmala Sitharaman said]( the recent interest rate hike by the Reserve Bank was not surprising for her but the timing was, asserting that the rising cost of funds will not impact the government’s planned infrastructure investments. For the first time since August 2018, RBI had on May 4 delivered a blunt 40 basis points increase in key repo rate to 4.40%, and also hiked the cash reserve ratio by 50 basis points to 4.5% after an unscheduled meeting of the rate setting panel, citing increased inflation pressures following the Ukraine war and the resultant spike in crude oil prices. Retail inflation printed at 6.9% in March and the April reading is forecast to top 7.7%. “The timing of RBI’s rate hike came as a surprise but not the action itself as people thought it should have been done anyway. It came as a surprise because it is between the two MPCs (Monetary Policy Committee) meetings. But the U.S. Fed had been saying it all the while,” Ms. Sitharaman said in her first reaction to the rate hike while addressing an event on Saturday evening in Mumbai. In Brief [Boos and heckles greeted Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa]( on Sunday on his first public outing since nationwide protests erupted demanding his ruling family resign over the worsening economic crisis. Months of blackouts and acute shortages of food, fuel and medicines have caused widespread suffering across the South Asian island in its worst economic downturn since independence in 1948. On Sunday, the premier visited one of the holiest Buddhist temples – housing a reputedly 2,300-year-old tree – in Anuradhapura. But dozens of people carried hand-written placards and chanted slogans demanding that “thieves” be banned from the sacred city, 200 km north of Colombo. 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