| Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day's biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. We hope you are staying safe. 18 anti-coup protesters killed in Myanmar military crackdown: U.N. rights office Myanmar police fired on protesters on Sunday in the bloodiest day of weeks of demonstrations against a military coup and at least seven people were killed and several wounded, political and medical sources and media said. The U.N. Human Rights Office says it has received "credible information" that a crackdown Sunday on anti-coup protesters in Myanmar has left at least 18 people dead and over 30 wounded. Deaths reportedly occurred as a result of live ammunition fired into crowds in Yangon, Dawei, Mandalay, Myeik, Bago and Pokokku," it said in a statement, referring to several cities in Myanmar. "Tear gas was also reportedly used in various locations as well as flash-bang and stun grenades."  Protesters take cover as they clash with riot police in Yangon on February 28, 2021 during a protest against the military coup. Myanmar has been in chaos since the army seized power and detained elected government leader Aung San Suu Kyi and much of her party leadership on Feb. 1, alleging fraud in a November election her party won in a landslide. "Myanmar is like a battlefield," the Buddhist-majority nation's first Catholic cardinal, Charles Maung Bo, said on Twitter. Police were out in force early and opened fire in different parts of the biggest city of Yangon after stun grenades, tear gas and shots in the air failed to break up crowds. Soldiers also reinforced police. Several wounded people were hauled away by fellow protesters, leaving bloody smears on pavements, media images showed. Maharashtra Minister, linked to Pune girl's death, resigns from cabinet Maharashtra Forest Minister and Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Rathod has resigned from the Maharashtra cabinet for his alleged connection with the death of a 23-year-old woman from the nomadic Banjara community in Pune. Mr. Rathod, who has been under fire from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for nearly three weeks following the incident, tendered his resignation to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday. Mr. Thackeray has yet to take a call on whether or not to accept the Minister's resignation. While stating that the affair was a ploy to defame him, Mr. Rathod said that he would assist in the investigation. Former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is the BJP's Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Legislative Assembly, however, hit out at the Uddhav Thackeray government for the latter's handling of the affair. "This [resignation] has come too late … the current state of Maharashtra's law and order situation is deplorable. Despite so much evidence against Mr. Rathod, why has no FIR still been lodged against him? This case has exposed the Thackeray government's true colours," he alleged. ISRO launches Brazil's Amazonia-1, 18 other satellites ISRO successfully launched Brazil's optical earth observation satellite, Amazonia-1 and 18 co-passenger satellites from India [5] and the U.S.A. [13] successfully from the Satish Dhawan Space, SHAR, at Sriharikota, on Sunday. The satellites were carried on board the PSLV-C51, the 53rd flight of India's workhorse launch vehicle and the first dedicated mission for New Space India Ltd (NSIL), the commercial arm of ISRO. The mission was undertaken under a commercial arrangement with Spaceflight Inc., USA.  Indian Space Research Organisation launches the Amazonia-1, Brazil's optical earth observation satellite, and 18 co-passenger satellites from U.S. and India on board the PSLV-C51 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on February 28, 2021. The PSLV-C51, equipped with two solid strap-on boosters, the third such launch of the PSLV-DL variant, lifted off at 10.24 a.m. from the first launch pad at Sriharikota. Of the 18 satellites, 13 were from the U.S.A , one of them a technology demonstration satellite and the remaining for 2-way satellite communications and data relay. Among the five Indian satellites, one belongs to DRDO. Five satellites belong to India — the Satish Dhawan SAT (SDSAT) built by Space Kidz India is a nano-satellite intended to study the radiation levels, space weather and demonstrate long range communication technologies and the UNITYsat, a combination of three satellites intended for providing radio relay services. Kejriwal describes farm laws as 'death warrant' for farmers Describing the contentious farm laws as "death warrants" for farmers, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal made Aam Admi Party's political ambition to cross over Yamuna into Uttar Pradesh clear at a kisan panchayat in Meerut on Sunday. Promising to control erring sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh on the lines of power distribution companies in Delhi, Mr Kejriwal asked the gathering to vote for a party with the right intent. He said farmers were in pain for 70 years because they have been cheated by different governments and parties. Now the three farm laws have made it a matter of life and death. "All that the farmer has been asking for is the right price of his produce," he said. He said farmers were sitting on the road in the cold because "these laws would reduce them to labourers on their own land. It has come down to a do or die kind of situation," he said. He reminded the massive gathering of party workers and farmers that in 2014, BJP asked for votes by promising to implement the Swaminathan Committee Report. "However, within three years in power, it submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court that said minimum support price could not be 50% more than the cost of the produce. It amounts to backstabbing the farmers." Army cancels recruitment exam following paper leak The Army has cancelled an examination for pan-India recruitment of general duty personnel after paper was found to have been leaked, officials said on Sunday. They further said at least three persons have been arrested in Pune so far. "The Indian Army has zero tolerance towards corrupt practices in the recruitment process for selection of suitable candidates," an official said. Based on a proactive joint operation with local police at Pune, a case of possible leakage of question paper prepared for Common Entrance Examination for Recruitment of Soldiers (General Duty) was reported last night, the official added. While further investigations are underway, it was decided to cancel the examination to ensure continuous transparency in the recruitment process. Ghulam Nabi Azad praises PM Modi for being 'frank about his past' Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Sunday said he likes leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi who are proud of their roots and noted that Mr Modi speaks frankly about his past as a tea-seller. Addressing a function by Gujjar Desh Charitable Trust here, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said a person should not try to hide his background from the world.  Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad is felicitated by members of Gurjar Desh Charitable Trust during an event in Jammu on February 28, 2021. "I, myself, had come from a village and I am proud of being a villager. I admire a lot of things about leaders like our Prime Minister who also says that he was from a village. He used to sell tea. "I might have political differences with Modi but he is also frank about his past of being a chaiwala (tea-seller)," Mr Azad said. The remarks come a day after Mr Azad and other 'G-23' dissident leaders, who have been pressing for a leadership change and organisational overhaul in the Congress, gathered on one stage here and said the party is weakening. Covid watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stands at 1,11,01,947 at the time of publishing this newsletter with the death toll at 1,58,441.  A pedestrian walks past a mural painted to thank frontline workers fighting against the spread of coronavirus in Mumbai on February 28, 2021. The Union Health Ministry has said that Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat accounted for 86.37% of the new cases. Meanwhile, Arunachal Pradesh's coronavirus case count hit zero on Saturday as three patients recovered from the infection. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow | 
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