United States President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he “guessed” that the previous administration was “trying to get somebody else elected” in India by having allegedly provided $21 million to a programme “for voter turnout”.

Trump’s comment on Thursday came a day after he defended his administration’s decision to cancel the funds allegedly being provided by USAID for the project in India. On Sunday, the US Department of Government Efficiency, led by billionaire Elon Musk, revoked several USAID grants, including the alleged $21 million for India. This was part of $486 million in grants to the nonprofit Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening, which supports elections and political transitions globally.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Amit Malviya claimed that the funding was “external interference” and linked it to Hungarian-American businessman and philanthropist George Soros. India’s ruling party has repeatedly accused Soros of conspiring with the Opposition Congress to destabilise Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. Read on.

The Panamanian government has informed India about the safe arrival of a group of Indians deported from the US, the Indian Embassy said on Thursday. The deportees are being kept in a hotel with consular access and essential facilities.

The group is part of 299 undocumented Indian migrants sent to Panama under an agreement by that country with the US. The US has deported at least 335 Indians since February 5 amid a crackdown by President Donald Trump’s administration.

Panama denied reports that the deportees were confined. It said that they were receiving medical care before they were repatriated. Costa Rica also agreed to accept a US flight on Wednesday with 200 deportees from India and Central Asia.

After meeting with Trump in Washington DC last week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated India’s willingness to take back undocumented migrants. Read more.

The Supreme Court has stayed a Lokpal order asserting its authority to hear complaints against High Court judges. A bench of Justices BR Gavai, Surya Kant and Abhay S Oka found the Lokpal’s reasoning “very disturbing” and issued notices to the Centre, Lokpal and the complainant. The complainant has accused a High Court judge of exerting influence to favour a private company in a lawsuit.

On January 27, the Lokpal held that High Court judges fall under Section 14 of the Lokpal Act, which deals with the jurisdiction of the anti-corruption body.

The Supreme Court, however, said that High Court judges are constitutional authorities and not just statutory functionaries, as held by the Lokpal. It directed that the judge’s identity remain confidential. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that High Court judges were never meant to be under Lokpal’s jurisdiction. The case will be heard on March 18. Read on.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to release Rs 2,152 crore under the Samagra Shiksha scheme for secondary education without linking it to the National Education Policy 2020. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader accused the Centre of coercing states into adopting centrally mandated policies.

Stalin reaffirmed Tamil Nadu’s commitment to its two-language policy, rejecting the imposition of Hindi. His letter came after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s remarks suggesting that the funds would be withheld until Tamil Nadu implemented the National Education Policy and its three-language policy, which includes instruction in Hindi.

Stalin warned that withholding funds jeopardised teacher salaries, student welfare and access to education. He called the Centre’s stance a violation of cooperative federalism and reaffirmed Tamil Nadu’s non-negotiable stance on its language policy, which includes only Tamil and English. Read on.

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