A select list of stories to read before you start your day.
 India rejects Pakistan’s claim of another attack plan
India on Sunday rejected as “irresponsible and preposterous” Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s comments that India was planning to attack Pakistan again between April 16 and 20.
In a strongly worded statement, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said the comments by the Pakistani Foreign Minister were aimed at whipping up war hysteria in the region.
CM Edappadi Palaniswami defends Deputy Speaker in Pollachi case
AIADMK leader and Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Sunday strongly defended Assembly Deputy Speaker Pollachi V. Jayaraman in the sexual abuse and blackmail case, saying the latter had given strength to the complainant, a college student, to approach the police, which led to the arrest of the accused.
U.P. alliance says it will provide a PM
In a display of unity and strength, ‘mahagathbandhan’ leaders Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav and Ajit Singh said at a massive rally here on Sunday that their alliance would put forward a Prime Minister, while targeting both the BJP and the Congress for their poor record of governance.
Criticising the BJP and the Congress for their ‘Manuwadi’ (anti-Dalit) policies, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati hit out at the Congress for putting up candidates who would cut into the votes of the alliance.
As Congress goes local, BJP banks on Modi magic in Uttarakhand
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s April 5 rally was large but the organisers were upset that the parade ground was not swamped by supporters.
Police sources who oversaw the recent rally as well as the one in 2014, said last time supporters spilled over to the nearby markets. Probably they depend more on WhatsApp and TV coverage than on actual physical presence, the sources said.
Maldives: MDP headed for big win in parliamentary polls
Reinforcing their vote for President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in September 2018, Maldivians gave his party a significant majority in the legislature in Saturday’s polls.
Provisional results that were still coming out Sunday evening pointed to the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) heading for a big win in the parliamentary election, securing some 60 out of the total 87 seats in the people’s Majlis or parliament.
The governance dashboard: the BJP regime and its promises
The elites and upper middle-income groups were ready to strike back and found in Narendra Modi an able politician who could spearhead their agenda. He was the vikas purush who would restore high profitability for the corporate sector and provide a clean government. There was also a populist appeal of “development for all”.
However, the true meaning and significance of Mr. Modi’s ascent to power was not lost on those who had deep knowledge of India.
Rwanda is a family again, 25 years after genocide: Kagame
President Paul Kagame said on Sunday that Rwandans had become a family again, 25 years after more than 8,00,000 people were slaughtered in a genocide that shocked the world.
Mr. Kagame lit a remembrance flame at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, where more than 2,50,000 victims are believed to be buried, mainly from the minority Tutsi people, as the country began its annual 100 days of mourning that coincide with the length of the slaughter.
Jallianwala Bagh massacre: The unending wait for an apology from Britain
During a visit to Amritsar in February 2013, the then British Prime Minister David Cameron described the Jallianwala Bagh massacre as a “deeply shameful event in British history,” insisting that “we must never forget what happened there”.
However, he stopped short of offering an apology for the events of April 13, 1919, when hundreds were killed and more than 1,200 injured after British troops led by Reginald Dyer opened fire on a peaceful gathering.