🚨 The Big Story: A four-decade high inflation in the US triggered concerns about aggressive rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and singed stock and currency markets in India. The Sensex plummetted 2.68 per cent or 1,457 points to close at 52,846.70. The rupee also plunged against the US dollar below the 78-mark to hit a low of 78.29, recovered a bit during the day, but still closed at a record low of 78.13. 🔴 Foreign portfolio investors pulled out Rs 4,164 crore from Indian stocks on Monday. 🔴 Tech, bank, metals, and realty stock indices fell by over three per cent 🔴 LIC shares fell 5.85 per cent to Rs 668.20 as anchor investors unloaded the shares after the lock-in period ended. ⚡ Only in the Express China emerged as the top buyer of Indian rice during the pandemic, with the neighbouring country importing 16.34 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) — or 7.7 per cent — of India’s total rice export of 212.10 LMT in financial year 2021-22, according to an analysis of trade data. Nearly 97 per cent, or 15.76 LMT, was broken rice, which has seen a spike in demand from that country. In fact, China is now the top buyer of Indian broken rice, which was earlier exported mostly to African countries. 📰 From the Front Page Official records show that the house demolished by the Prayagraj administration on Sunday was in the name of his wife Praveen Fatima and not Mohammad Javed, the activist arrested in connection with violent protests against Prophet remarks last week. Fatima paid a water bill of Rs 4,578 in February and also received a house tax certificate for financial year 2020-2021. Days after he alleged before a Lankan parliamentary panel that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had “pressured” President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to award a power project to the Adani Group, the Chairman of Sri Lanka’s Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), M M C Ferdinando, resigned on Monday. 👩💻 Must Read First-year engineering students, across major disciplines, struggle with mathematics more than any other core subject, according to a learning assessment survey carried out by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). The survey found civil engineering students to be the “lowest performers” in “fundamental subjects”. The Bombay High Court is facing an acute shortage of judges, with nearly 40 per cent of posts vacant. And according to the National Judicial Data Grid ( NJDG), there are 5.88 lakh cases pending before the Bombay High Court of which 1.14 lakh fresh cases were filed in the last year. While the Supreme Court collegium in February recommended the names of ten lawyers as judges of Bombay HC, the central government has not cleared them yet. A couple in Chhattisgarh’s Piharid village returned home to find their eldest son Rahul missing. Rahul is deaf and mute, and also has developmental disabilities. After looking for long, they eventually realised he had fallen down a pit that was dug for borewell. It has been more than 75 hours since he fell into the pit even as more than 200 men battle multiple challenges to rescue him. ⌛ And Finally… Ten months after the Tokyo Olympics high, javelin gold medallist Neeraj Chopra will compete for the first time in Turku. With the World Championship a little over a month away, he will be rubbing shoulders with some of the greats who exited Tokyo empty-handed on championship glory. Delhi confidential: As senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi appeared before the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the National Herald case, the party's official Twitter handle posted photos of Rahul and Mahatma Gandhi with a caption: “We are Gandhi. Struggling for trust and justice is our identity.” Until tomorrow, Leela Prasad
