Morning Digest: 300 Kashmiri students flee to Jammu and Delhi, Shah, Goyal to visit Chennai for alliance talks, and more

A select list of stories to read before you start your day

Jawans moving people to safety during a gunfight with terrorists in Pulwama on Monday.

Pulwama attack: Probe on to trace source of explosives

Forensic experts are analysing the chemical signature from the high-grade RDX used in the car-borne  suicide attack on a CRPF bus in Pulwama  last week in order to trace its source, a senior government official said.

300 Kashmiri students flee to Jammu and Delhi

Nearly 300 Kashmiri students, who arrived in Jammu and Delhi on Monday from colleges in Uttarakhand, alleged large-scale eviction from the campuses and hostels in the past three days.

Mohamed Nasheed: In a sense, we now need to buy back our sovereignty from China

After returning to the Maldives from exile, and receiving an acquittal on cases against him, former President 

Mohamed Nasheed  is now eyeing a return to active politics by standing for Parliamentary elections due on April 6. On a visit to India, where he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr. Nasheed told The Hindu about his hopes that the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) he leads will work closely with India, and rejects claims on the debt to China.

Shiv Sena makes U-turn, to ally with BJP

Barely 13 months after the Shiv Sena passed a resolution in its national executive to go it alone in all future polls, it took a U-turn by announcing an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday.

India, Saudi Arabia to launch Strategic Partnership Council

India and  Saudi Arabia  will launch a mechanism for coordinated decisions regarding strategically important issues, sources said on Monday. The announcement came a day before the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman arrives here as part of his tour of Asia, where he chose Pakistan as his first destination.

Shah, Goyal to visit Chennai for alliance talks today

BJP president Amit Shah and the party’s Tamil Nadu election in-charge, Piyush Goyal, will visit Chennai on Tuesday to broadly finalise the alliance with the AIADMK for the upcoming Lok Sabha election.

California and 15 other States sue Trump over emergency wall declaration

California’s attorney general filed a lawsuit on Monday against  President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration  to fund a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

RBI to pay govt. ₹28,000 cr. in interim surplus

Ending the suspense, the Reserve Bank of India announced on Monday that it would transfer ₹28,000 crore to the Centre as interim surplus for the half-year ended December 2018.

ASI begins work on pillars at Vishnu temple in Hampi

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) Hampi mini-circle has taken up work on restoring and conserving the granite pillars at the ancient Vishnu temple in Hampi.

Benelli rolls out TRK range of adventure bikes in India

Premium bike manufacturer Benelli in association with Adishwar Auto Ride India of Mahavir Group has announced the launch of adventure-oriented range “Benelli TRK 502” and “Benelli TRK 502X” at starting ex- show room price of ₹5 lakh and ₹5.40 lakh respectively.