Author: Shivali Varshney, Vidhyarthi Darpan

NATIONAL NEWS 

Lakhimpur Kheri violence: Ashish Mishra sent to 3-day police custody

The Uttar Pradesh Police on Monday got a three-day remand of Union minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case. Eight people, including four farmers, were killed in the violence on October 3. Police had demanded a 14-day remand of Ashish. They have got three-day remand from October 12 to 15, senior prosecution officer SP Yadav told reporters. The remand will end on October 15 morning. The police remand was granted by Chief Judicial Magistrate Chintaram, with the condition that Ashish Mishra will not be harassed and his lawyer will remain present during interrogation, Yadav said. Earlier, a court had sent Ashish Mishra to 14-day judicial custody. Meanwhile, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha’s (SKM) deadline for its demands that Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra be sacked and arrested for his alleged involvement in the deaths of farmers at Lakhimpur Kheri ran out on Monday. As hundreds of farmers pour into the region for the last rites of the victims on Tuesday, the protesting unions plan to go ahead with an intensified agitation, including kalash yatra, rail roko and mass rally in Lucknow later this month. Minister’s son Ashish Mishra was arrested over the weekend and remanded to three days police custody on Monday, but no action has been taken against the Minister himself. The SKM accused the Minister of seeking to promote enmity, hatred and disharmony against minority Sikhs of the Terai region in a speech on September 25. His speech was of intimidation and threat, in a public meeting at that, where he was also proudly alluding to his criminal antecedents, and on the basis of this, stern action should have taken place by now, which could have prevented the entire episode of Lakhimpur Kheri massacre, said an SKM statement, adding that Mishra owned the vehicles which ran over the farmers and had attempted to protect his son from arrest. It is clear that his continuation as a Minister in the Union Council of Ministers can be construed only as Narendra Modi’s harbouring of criminals, it added. 

Five Army personnel, including JCO, killed in Poonch encounter 

Five Army personnel, including a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO), who were critically injured in an ongoing encounter in the Pir Panjal valley’s Poonch on Monday, succumbed to their injuries. The Army spokesman said all the critically injured were evacuated to a nearest medical facility but succumbed to their injuries. Based on intelligence inputs, the Indian Army on Monday launched a cordon and search operation in villages close to DKG (Dera Ki Gali) in Surankote area of Poonch. In the ensuing firefight, one JCO and four jawans suffered critical injuries, Jammu-based Army spokesman Lt. Col. Devender Anand said. The anti-militancy operation in Surankote, which falls in the frontier district with a long Line of Control with Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, is still on. Preliminary reports suggested three to four militants may be hiding in the area. Earlier in the day, security forces killed two militants, including a The Resistance Front (TRF) militant behind a civilian killing, in two separate operations. Imtiyaz Ahmad Dar, a TRF militant, was killed in Gund Jahangeer village of Hajin area of north Kashmir’s Bandipora. The slain militant was involved in the recent civilian killing at Shahgund, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Vijay Kumar said. 

Uttarakhand Minister Yashpal Arya and his son quit BJP, join Congress 

Transport Minister in the BJP-led Uttarakhand Government Yashpal Arya and his son Sanjeev Arya, who is a legislator from Nainital, joined the Congress on Monday. Uttarakhand Assembly poll is scheduled early next year. This is a ‘ghar wapasi’ (home-coming) of sorts for Yashpal Arya, who had been the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee president for seven years before joining the BJP. A prominent Dalit face in the State, he is a six-time MLA. Speaking at his induction, Congress general secretary (Communications) Randeep Surjewala, said that Yashpal Arya forwarded his resignation to the Governor on Monday morning, following which he met former Congress president Rahul Gandhi to formally join the party. Yashpal Arya said that he felt relieved to be back in his home — the Congress. Congress has a history of sacrifice, a legacy that we are proud to carry forward. Democracy in the country can be strengthened only if the Congress is strengthened, he said. Senior Congress leader K.C. Venugopal said the father-son duo’s return to the party in a way showed which way the wind was blowing in the State. Today is a home-coming for both of them. When they met Gandhi this morning, he told them that their return to the party will strengthen the party in the State, Venugopal said. Senior party leader Harish Rawat also indicated that more BJP leaders were likely to join the party. Mr. Gandhi asked Mr. Arya, what is the difference between the BJP and the Congress. Mr. Arya said that the Congress has inner party democracy, which is completely absent in the BJP, Rawat said.

National Green Tribunal needn’t wait for ‘Godot’ to save environment: Supreme Cosaid

The Supreme Court has declared that the National Green Tribunal (NGT) is a unique forum endowed with suo motu powers to take up environmental issues across the country. The court said the NGT need not wait for the metaphorical Godot to knock on its portal to flex its considerable muscles to save the environment. The exercise of power by the NGT is not circumscribed by the receipt of applications. When substantial questions relating to the environment arise and the issue is civil in nature and those relate to the Act, the NGT, in our opinion, even in the absence of an application, can self-ignite action either towards amelioration or towards prevention of harm, a three-judge Bench of Justices A.M. Khanwilkar, Hrishikesh Roy and C.T. Ravikumar held in a judgment. Justice Roy, who authored the 77-page judgment for the Bench, dismissed objections from the Centre, legal experts and even the court’s own amicus curiae who all argued against the NGT clothed with suo motu powers. The court, speaking through Justice Roy, explained that the role of the NGT was not simply adjudicatory in nature. The Tribunal has to perform equally vital roles that were preventative, ameliorative or remedial in nature. The functional capacity of the NGT was intended to leverage wide powers to do full justice in its environmental mandate, Justice Roy observed. The judgment described the NGT as a complimentary, competent, specialised forum to deal with all environmental multidisciplinary issues both as original and also as an appellate authority, which complex issues were hitherto dealt with by the High Courts and the Supreme Court. The NGT embodied the international obligation India owed to the environment. The NGT has been recognised as one of the most progressive Tribunals in the world. This jurisprudential leap has allowed our country to enter a rather exclusive group of nations which have set up such institutions with broad powers, Justice Roy pointed out. The legislative history of the NGT traced its objective to address societal concerns. Hence, the legislature had given it a wide berth to craft its own procedure to entertain oral and documentary evidence. No rules shackled the good work the Tribunal was intended to perform. Unlike the civil courts, which cannot travel beyond the relief sought by the parties, the NGT is conferred with power of moulding any relief, the court stated.

 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

Three share Economics Nobel for research on ‘natural experiment’ to study cause and effect 

A U.S.-based economist has won the Nobel prize for economics for pioneering research that showed an increase in minimum wage does not lead to less hiring, and immigrants do not lower pay for native-born workers, challenging commonly held ideas. Two others shared the award for creating a way to study these types of societal issues. Canadian-born David Card of the University of California, Berkeley, was awarded one half of the prize for his research on how minimum wage, immigration and education affect the labour market, while the other half was shared by Joshua Angrist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Dutch-born Guido Imbens from Stanford University for their framework for studying issues that can’t rely on traditional scientific methods. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the three have completely reshaped empirical work in the economic sciences. Card’s studies of core questions for society and Angrist and Imbens’ methodological contributions have shown that natural experiments are a rich source of knowledge, said Peter Fredriksson, chair of the Economic Sciences Committee. Their research has substantially improved our ability to answer key causal questions, which has been of great benefit for society. Card worked on research that used restaurants in New Jersey and in eastern Pennsylvania to measure the effects of increasing the minimum wage. He studied what happened when New Jersey raised its minimum wage from $4.25 to $5.05, using restaurants in bordering eastern Pennsylvania as a comparison group. Contrary to previous studies, he and his late research partner Alan Krueger found that an increase in the minimum wage had no effect on the number of employees. Card later did further work on the issue. Overall, the work concluded that the negative effects of increasing the minimum wage are small and significantly smaller than believed 30 years ago, the Nobel committee said. Card also found that incomes of those who are native-born in a country can benefit from new immigrants, while immigrants who arrived earlier are the ones at risk of being negatively affected. Angrist and Imbens won their half of the award for working out the methodological issues that allow economists to draw solid conclusions about cause and effect even where they cannot carry out studies according to strict scientific methods. Speaking by phone from his home in Massachusetts, Imbens told reporters that he had been asleep when the call came. I was just absolutely stunned then to get a telephone call, he said. And then I was just absolutely thrilled to hear the news, a particular kind of hearing that I got to share this with Josh Angrist and and David Card were both very good friends of mine. The award comes with a gold medal and 10 million Swedish kronor (over $1.14 million). Unlike the other Nobel prizes, the economics award wasn’t established in the will of Alfred Nobel but by the Swedish central bank in his memory in 1968, with the first winner selected a year later. It is the last prize announced each year.

 

LAC talks stalemate: Made ‘constructive suggestions’ says India, ‘unreasonable demands’ says China 

The 13th round of senior military commander talks between India and China ended in a stalemate with both sides holding the other responsible for it. The Army, in a statement, said the Indian side made constructive suggestions for resolving the remaining areas while the Chinese military in a statement said India had made unreasonable and unrealistic demands. During the meeting, the Indian side therefore made constructive suggestions for resolving the remaining areas but the Chinese side was not agreeable and also could not provide any forward-looking proposals. The meeting thus did not result in resolution of the remaining areas, the Army said in a statement issued on Monday morning. India and China held the 13th round of Corps Commander talks on Sunday at Moldo on the Chinese side with a focus on working out the third phase of disengagement from Patrolling Point 15 in Hot Springs as part of overall disengagement and de-escalation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The talks began around 10.30 a.m. at Moldo and concluded at about 7 p.m., a defence official said. The Army further said on the meeting, The Indian side pointed out that the situation along the LAC had been caused by unilateral attempts of Chinese side to alter the status quo and in violation of the bilateral agreements. It was therefore necessary that the Chinese side take appropriate steps in the remaining areas so as to restore peace and tranquility along the LAC in the Western Sector. The Chinese military’s statement on Sunday night came not from China’s Defence Ministry in Beijing, as was the case in some of the earlier rounds, but from the PLA Western Theatre Command in Chengdu, which has in recent rounds appeared to have taken over the responsibility for putting out statements on the LAC situation, seen by some observers as Beijing placing less importance on the slow-moving negotiations. The PLA statement did not suggest any agreement reached on either disengaging or on new protocols. PLA Senior Colonel Long Shaohua, spokesperson for the Western Theatre Command, said China had made great efforts to promote the easing and cooling of the border situation and fully demonstrated its sincerity in order to maintain the overall situation of the relations between the two militaries. However, India still insisted on the unreasonable and unrealistic demands, which made the negotiations more difficult, he said, adding that China’s resolve to safeguard national sovereignty is firm. He called on India to not misjudge the situation and to cherish the hard-won situation in the China-India border areas and abide by relevant agreements and consensus between the two countries and the two militaries. The PLA’s comment on India making unrealistic demands stands in stark contrast to India’s view on the LAC crisis, which began in April 2020 when the PLA massed thousands of troops along the LAC, carried out multiple transgressions in eastern Ladakh, and disregarded the many previously agreed upon border agreements aimed at keeping the peace. While negotiations have led to disengagement in some of the areas, thousands of PLA troops remain in forward areas.

NATIONAL NEWS 

Allegations of Modi being dictatorial baseless, says Amit Shah

Home Minister Amit Shah has said in an interview that an illiterate person is a burden to the country and cannot be a good citizen. He made this observation while speaking to the government channel Sansad to mark 20 years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding a public office. Mr. Shah, while speaking on Mr. Modi’s focus on increasing primary school enrolment while he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, said: You can understand what contribution this had on the development of the country and Gujarat. An illiterate person becomes a big burden on the country. Neither does he know his Constitutional rights, nor the duties asked of us by the Constitution. How can he be a good citizen? In the interview, he dismissed the charge that Mr. Modi’s decision-making process was dictatorial, and emphasised the public support for the PM. While Mr. Shah has been Mr. Modi’s right-hand man from before he became the Gujarat CM and has been a de-facto spokesperson for the PM, he is now first and foremost the Home Minister of India. In that light, his characterisation of an illiterate person as not being good enough to be citizen of India is problematic.

After protests over delay, Ashish Mishra arrested

Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister Ajay Mishra, has been arrested and remanded to 14-day judicial custody over the Lakhimpur Kheri incident. Mr. Mishra was arrested based on the FIR in a case which alleges that he was at the wheel of one of the cars that mowed down protesting farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri in U.P. The chain of events left eight people dead. While both the Minister Mr. Mishra and his son deny that the latter was even at the location of the incident, the farmers allege that Ashish Mishra, in fact, shot one of the dead farmers. Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra is escorted out of the crime branch office in Lakhimpur Kheri late on October 9, 2021 to be produced before a magistrate.  The arrest, which happened late on October 9, comes a week after the events of October 3. The delay in Ashish Mishra being detained had led to massive protests from farmers, and the U.P. government had come under pressure from the Supreme Court itself. While the arrest might lift some pressure on the Yogi Adityanath government in U.P., the political implications for the BJP in the poll bound State, as well as at the Centre, remain.

COVID-19 vaccine: Govt allows export of Russia’s Sputnik Light made in India

The government has permitted the export of Russia’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik Light domestically produced here as the jab has not yet been approved for emergency use in India, sources said on Sunday. Indian drug firm Hetero Biopharma Limited has been allowed to export 40 lakh doses of Sputnik Light to Russia, sources in the know of the developments told PTI. Sputnik Light is the same as component-1 of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V which is being used in India’s anti-COVID inoculation programme after getting emergency use authorisation from India’s Drug Regulator in April. The Russian ambassador had urged the Indian government to allow the export of  Sputnik Light produced by Hetero Biopharma, one of the partners of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) in the production of the jab, to his country till the vaccine gets emergency use authorisation from India’s drug regulator. In a communication to the Centre, Russian Ambassador Nicholay Kudashev had stated that Hetero Biopharma Limited already has manufactured one million doses of Component 1 of the Sputnik V and two million doses of the Sputnik Light but the six-month shelf life of the vaccine may expire before its registration which will result in the wastage of vaccine doses, sources said. The government has permitted Indian drug firm Hetero Biopharma to export 40 lakh doses of Sputnik Light to Russia. The decision was taken this week following detailed deliberations, a source said. Over the past months, the RDIF has been working closely with Indian pharmaceutical companies to ramp up the production of Sputnik vaccine in India that could be used in the local and global markets, the ambassador had stated in his communication last month. At the moment RDIF together with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories is working with authorities concerned on the registration of the Sputnik Light in India. We would like to note that Indian manufacturers of the Russian vaccine are discouraged by the current ban that prevents the use of the produced Sputnik Light vaccine in India and its export to other countries, stated the communication from the ambassador to V K Paul, chair of the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC).

 

Centre rebuts fears of power blackouts

Terming any fear of disruption in power supply in the country due to coal shortages ‘misplaced’, the Government on Sunday said coal stocks at power plants would ‘gradually improve’ and were currently sufficient for 24 days. At a review meeting of the coal stocks at thermal power plants attended by Power Minister R.K. Singh and Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi, the Coal Ministry and Coal India assured that there is ample coal available to meet the demand of power plants. The Coal Ministry also said coal supplies were set to hit a ‘record high’ in 2021-22 and blamed extended monsoons for constraints in dispatches from mines. Coal India, the Ministry said, was supplying more than 2.5 lakh tonnes daily to non-power industries such as aluminium, steel and cement, which reflected the ‘comfortable coal position in the country’. The daily average coal requirement at power plants is about 18.5 lakh tonnes whereas the daily coal supply has been around 17.5 lakh tonnes per day. Citing the heavy rains in coal field areas, the Ministry said the CIL was now supplying over 14 lakh tonnes a day to power plants which would increase to over 16 lakh tonnes by the end of October as the rains recede. The Power Ministry said in a separate statement that domestic coal supply had sustained the power plant operations despite heavy rains in August and September, steep hike in power demand due to economic recovery and increase in imported coal prices. All out efforts are being made to ensure full power supply to the DISCOMs as per requirements, the Ministry added. Taking special note of concerns raised by Delhi about the prospect of power supply disruptions in the capital, Mr. Singh had directed that distribution companies of Delhi would get ‘as much as power as requisitioned by them as per their demand’. The Minister had directed the NTPC and the DVC to give full availability of power as per the needs of distribution companies, and advised GAIL India to provide gas from all sources to gas-based power plants in Delhi. If any DISCOM is found to resort to load-shedding despite being power available as per the PPA, action would be initiated against them, the Power Ministry warned.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

13th edition of ground-level India-China talks

The 13th round of the Corps Commander level talks between India and China were held on Sunday at Moldo on the Chinese side. The aim of the meeting was to figure out disengagement at patrolling point 15 at Hot Springs in Eastern Ladakh, as part of the larger de-escalation along the Line of Actual Control in the region. There have been many engagements at various levels between the two sides since the standoff began in May last year, with Defence Ministers and Foreign Ministers from both sides meeting to reduce tensions. The Corp Commander level talks is the most consistent engagement between the two sides, ensuring cooperation at the ground level in an area filled with disputed areas and points of friction. While the talks may help in avoiding direct engagement, India’s concerns about Chinese build-up in the region remains.

Father of Pakistan’s nuclear programme dead

A.Q. Khan, known as the father of Pakistan’s nuclear programme, has died at the age of 85. Khan was born in 1936 in Bhopal and migrated to Pakistan after the Partition in 1947. Dr. Khan was put under house arrest in early 2004 after he admitted to running a clandestine nuclear proliferation ring. He later recanted that confession, saying it was made under pressure from the regime of the former military ruler, Pervez Musharraf.

NATIONAL NEWS 

Diesel breaches the ₹100 mark!

Diesel prices breached the ₹100 per litre mark in Mumbai on Saturday after fuel prices were hiked again —fifth day in a row. Petrol prices were hiked by 30 paise per litre and diesel by 35 paise a litre, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. The increase is likely to have a cascading effect on the price of essential commodities, vegetables fruits and milk with consumers bearing the brunt of the price rise. In Mumbai, diesel costs ₹100.29 a litre; while in Delhi, it costs ₹92.47. The price of petrol in Delhi soared to another high of ₹103.84 a litre and ₹109.83 per litre in Mumbai, the notification said. The prices of fuel vary from state to state according to the local taxes levied on them. As for price rise in gas, an explainer in The Hindu, has attributed this to a host of reasons from economic recovery to geopolitics, attributed to the price rise. Global energy demand fell last year when economies slipped into COVID-induced lockdowns When growth returned this year, especially to Asian economies, demand shot up and energy producers struggled to meet the growing demand, pushing up prices, The Hindu said. Being a net importer of oil, India prices petrol and diesel at rates equivalent to international prices. With state-owned fuel retailers passing on the price of the cost to consumers, prices of petrol, gas and diesel have been reaching new highs for four days in a row; the price of petrol has been hiked by 30 paise a litre and diesel by 35 paise, the biggest rally in rates. Fuel rates are linked to international price of crude as USD was 82 per barrel after the decision by OPEC not to increase output more than 0.4 million barrels per day; fuel rates are being increased by a larger proportion. India imports oil and hence the oil prices swing with international prices. 

Ashish Mishra appears before SIT

Reports of the arrest of Ashish Mishra,  son of Union Minister of State for Home, Ajay Mishra, continued to do the rounds as he finally appeared before the Special Investigation Team, after days of dodging summons issued by the police in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case. Police officials refused to comment on the ongoing interrogation. Official confirmation on Mishra’s arrest is awaited. A nine-member team headed by D.I.G. Upendra Agarwal has been formed to investigate the FIR lodged against the minister’s son and others. Ashish Mishra was supposed to appear before police on Friday, but he did not do so. The Uttar Pradesh Police then issued a fresh notice asking him to appear before it by 11 a.m. on Saturday. The state police then had pasted a notice outside Ashish Mishra’s house asking him to appear before it in connection with the violence that claimed eight lives. Four of the eight people who died in the violence on Sunday were farmers, allegedly knocked down by a vehicle carrying BJP workers. Angry farmers then allegedly lynched some people in the vehicles. The other dead included two BJP workers and their driver. Farmers have claimed that Ashish Mishra was in one of the vehicles, an allegation denied by him and his father. 

Samyukt Kisan Morcha blames the BJP for fomenting violence

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, the umbrella body of farmer unions spearheading the ongoing farmers’ protests against Centre’s farm laws on Saturday has accused the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) of attempting to dislodge the current agitation by resorting to violent measures; their intent  exposed in the backdrop of Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri incident. Senior SKM leader Darshan Pal said that the Lakhimpur Kheri violence should not been seen in isolation as the incident is a part of larger conspiracy against farmers’ and the ongoing struggle. The Lakhimpur incident is an attempt to create an atmosphere to terrorise people and to shut people’s voice. The SKM has stood firmly against this approach and will continue to raise the voice, he said at a press conference in New Delhi. Joginder Singh, president of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan), one of the SKM constituent said that ongoing farmer’s agitation is going on peacefully, but BJP governments – be it at the Centre or in Uttar Pradesh have been attempting various tactics to dislodge the movement.  Even though the BJP is involving in violence, we will reply in a peaceful manner, which is strength of our movement. Our agitation will continue until our demands are fulfilled. There’s no question of relenting now, he added. We will observe October 12 as ‘Shaheed Kisan Diwas’ and we appealed to the farmers all over the country to join the ‘antim ardas’ (final rites) of the farmers, who died in Lakhimpur Kheri at Tikonia, he said.

India, China talks tomorrow

India and China will hold their 13th round of talks on Sunday to address the ongoing military stand-off between the two countries, according to Army sources. The mediations are likely to be held at Moldo (Chusul) on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). A resolution to the friction at Hot Springs is likely to figure in the talks. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday had said that it expected China to work towards early resolution of the remaining issue along the Line of Control (LoC) in Eastern Ladakh by fully abiding by bilateral agreements and protocols. Addressing a weekly media briefing, the MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, It is our expectation that China will work towards early resolution of the remaining issue along the Line of Control in Eastern Ladakh while fully abiding by bilateral agreements and protocols. Earlier, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, met Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and the two leaders discussed the border tensions and disengagement along the LAC. Soldiers of India and China clashed last year resulting in the loss of several lives on both sides. The clashes erupted after the transgression by Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) in Galwan Valley. More than a year has passed since the incident, but tensions have not abated between the two countries. So far, 12 rounds of military talks and a series of diplomatic parleys were held between India and China, but tensions remain.  India insists that only full disengagement will result in de-escalation. 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

If China There to Stay, We are Too’: Army Chief Naravane on LAC Build-up at Eastern Ladakh

The military build-up by China in the eastern Ladakh region and new infrastructure development to sustain the large-scale deployment are matters of concern and India has been keeping a close watch on all the activities by the Chinese PLA, Chief of Army Staff Gen MM Naravane said on Saturday. He said if the Chinese military maintains the deployment through the second winter, it may lead to an LoC-like situation (Line of Control) though not an active LoC as is there on the western front with Pakistan The Chief of Army Staff said if the Chinese military continues with its deployment, the Indian Army too will maintain its presence on its side which is as good as what the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) has done. Indian and Chinese militaries have been on a standoff in several areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh for nearly 17 months though both sides disengaged from a number of friction points this year following a series of talks. Yes, it is a matter of concern that the large-scale build-up has occurred and continues to be in place, and to sustain that kind of a build-up, there has been an equal amount of infrastructure development on the Chinese side, Gen Naravane said at the Indian Today conclave. So, it means that they (PLA) are there to stay. We are keeping a close watch on all these developments, but if they are there to stay, we are there to stay too, he said. Gen Naravane said the build-up and the infrastructure development on the Indian side are as good as what PLA has done. But what this would, especially if they continue to stay there through the second winter, definitely mean that we will be in a kind of LC (Line of Control) situation though not an active LC as is there on the western front, he said. But definitely, we will have to keep a close eye on all the troop build-up and deployments to see that they do not get into any misadventure once again, the Army Chief said.

 

China’s Xi vows ‘reunification’ with Taiwan

Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed on Saturday to achieve peaceful reunification with Taiwan, and did not directly mention the use of force after a week of tensions with the Chinese-claimed island that sparked international concern. Taiwan responded to Xi by calling on Beijing to abandon its coercion, reiterating that only Taiwan’s people could decide their future. Democratically ruled Taiwan has come under increased military and political pressure from Beijing to accept its sovereignty, but Taipei has pledged to defend its freedom. Speaking at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, Xi said the Chinese people have a glorious tradition of opposing separatism. Taiwan independence separatism is the biggest obstacle to achieving the reunification of the motherland, and the most serious hidden danger to national rejuvenation, he said on the anniversary of the revolution that overthrew the last imperial dynasty in 1911. Peaceful reunification best meets the overall interests of the Taiwanese people, but China will protect its sovereignty and unity, he added. No one should underestimate the Chinese people’s staunch determination, firm will, and strong ability to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity, Xi said. The historical task of the complete reunification of the motherland must be fulfilled, and will definitely be fulfilled. He struck a slightly softer tone than in July, his last major speech mentioning Taiwan, in which he vowed to smash any attempts at formal independence. In 2019, he directly threatened to use force to bring the island under Beijing’s control. The presidential office said they were a sovereign independent country, not part of the People’s Republic of China, and had clearly rejected China’s offer of one country, two systems to rule the island. The nation’s future rests in the hands of Taiwan’s people, the office said. In a separate statement, Taiwan’s China-policy making Mainland Affairs Council called on Beijing to abandon its provocative steps of intrusion, harassment and destruction and return to talks. A U.S. State Department spokesperson reiterated Washington’s rock-solid commitment to Taiwan and said the United States will continue to support a peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues, consistent with the wishes and best interests of the people on Taiwan.

NATIONAL NEWS 

Lakhimpur Kheri violence | Supreme Court dissatisfied with U.P. government’s status report

The Supreme Court on Friday said the Uttar Pradesh Government’s resolve to fairly investigate the Lakhimpur Kheri violence and deaths, including allegations of murder against a Union Minister’s son, seemed just all talk and no action. Your seriousness is only in words and not in your actions, Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana addressed the government. Justice Hima Kohli told the State, There is an old adage which rings true in this situation the proof of the pudding is in the eating. The State is represented by senior advocate Harish Salve and State Additional Advocate General Garima Parshad. Justice Surya Kant, on the Bench, told the State, It is a case of brutal murder of eight persons, law must take its course against all the accused. The court stated that it was dissatisfied with the government’s status report on the investigation. Chief Justice Ramana pointed out how even a special investigation team formed by the State was made of local police officers, inspectors, police superintendents and a DIG. The court asked whether the State has yet made a request to the CBI to take over the case. Salve replied in the negative. After a pause, the court itself went on to express doubts about transferring the case to the CBI. The CBI is not a solution for reason of the persons involved…, Chief Justice Ramana told Salve. The persons involved may have been a reference to the case’s link to a Central Minister. Salve began his submissions, saying a young man, ostensibly Ashish Mishra, son of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra, was being targeted. Ashish is accused of shooting dead a farmer while trying to escape agitated farmers after vehicles in the Minister’s convoy rammed into them. The charges are serious, Chief Justice Ramana addressed Salve. The latter said a notice had been issued to Ashish, asking him to appear before the police by 11 a.m. tomorrow. If the person does not come, the rigour of law will take its course, he assured. The CJI asked sharply, Is it the same way you treat other accused too? Like sending notices, etc.? Salve said he was instructed by the State that the postmortem report on the victim did not show bullet injuries. That is why notice was issued. If the allegations are true, it is certainly a Section 302 IPC [murder] case, he stated. After conferring for a moment, the CJI addressed Salve, This is the opinion of the Bench. As a responsible State government with a system and police, when there is a serious allegation of death or gunshot injury, will any other accused in this country be treated the same way? Salve remarked that the investigators had found two cartridges and may be he had bad aim. Chief Justice Ramana told Salve, It is an extremely serious issue, you are not proceeding in the way you should be… Imagine, what is the message we are sending out? In normal circumstances, a case of Section 302 IPC will be registered. The police will go out and arrest that person. The senior lawyer urged the court to give some more time to the State to repair the shortfalls in the investigation. He said everything would fall in place in a day or two. He would talk to the Home Secretary and the DGP. They [State] should have done the needful. They have to make another pudding and make it palatable, Salve agreed with the court. He said the court could list the case immediately on reopening after the Dussehra holidays. The Bench posted the case for October 20 as the first item on the list. We have respect for you, Salve. We hope the State will take the necessary steps, the CJI observed.

Will gherao PM’s residence if culprits not arrested in 7 days, says Chandrashekhar Azad.

Azad Samaj Party (ASP) chief and Dalit leader Chandrashekhar Azad on Friday said he and his supporters will gherao the residence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi if the culprits of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident are not arrested within seven days. The Prime Msinister tweets on every issue but he is yet to react on the killing of the farmers. The culprits are roaming free. We will gherao the PM’s residence if the culprits are not arrested within seven days, Azad said at a press conference. PM Modi was celebrating ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ in Lucknow when the families of farmers were in mourning, he said.  Those who are mum on the killing of farmers cannot be loyal to the country. The Prime Minister should talk to farmers, go to Lakhimpur Kheri and meet family members of slain farmers, he said. The Dalit leader compared the October 3 incident to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and said it will have huge repercussions in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections next year. Azad alleged there is no law and order in Uttar Pradesh and demanded that the CM tender his resignation.

My son is innocent, will appear before police on October 9, says Ajay Mishra 

Union Minister Ajay Mishra, whose son faces a murder case in connection with the October 3 violence in Lakhimpur Kheri on Friday said his son was innocent and will appear before the Uttar Pradesh police on Saturday to record his statement. He said Ashish missed the police summons for Friday 10 am as he was not well. We have full faith in the law. My son is innocent. He got a notice on Thursday but he said he was not well. He will appear before the police tomorrow and give his statement and evidence as he is innocent, the Union Minister of State for Home told reporters at Chowdhury Charan Singh airport here. The Minister’s son is named in the FIR in the Lakhimpur violence that took place on October 3 in which eight persons including four farmers and a journalist were killed. Ashish was asked by the police to appear before it at 10 am Friday, but he skipped the summons.

 

Tata Sons wins bid to acquire Air India 

The government on Friday announced Tata Sons subsidiary Talace Pvt Ltd as the winning bidder for Air India. Talace has quoted an enterprise value of ₹18,000 crore. Of this, ₹15,300 is towards debt component of Air India, and the remaining will be cash paid to the government, DIPAM Secretary, Tuhin Kanta Pandey said at a press briefing. Total Air India debt as on August 31, 2021 is ₹61,562 crore. Of this, the winning bidder takes on ₹15,300 crore and the balance ₹45,263 crore will be repaid by the government to the lenders. The second highest bidder was a consortium led by SpiceJet’s Ajay Singh, which had cited an enterprise value of ₹15,100 crore. The reserve price determined by the government was ₹12,000 crore. The government aims to conclude the transaction by December, 2021, when the government shares will be transferred to the Tata subsidiary.

Mumbai court refuses bail to Aryan Khan, two others in drugs case 

A metropolitan magistrate in Mumbai on Friday denied bail to Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, and two others in a case pertaining to the alleged seizure of banned drugs from a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate R.M. Nerlikar rejected the bail pleas of Aryan Khan (23) and the other two accused. The court on Thursday sent Aryan Khan and seven others arrested in the case in 14-day judicial remand after their NCB custody ended. Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), opposed the bail applications of the three accused. After hearing the arguments, the magistrate denied bail to Aryan Khan, Munmun Dhamecha and Arbaaz Merchant, saying their applications were not maintainable. The NCB had arrested these three along with some others over the last weekend after raiding the Goa-bound Cordelia cruise ship on Saturday evening. The central agency had claimed to have recovered drugs from the ship. A total of 18 persons have been arrested so far in the case.

In favour of raising speed limit on expressways to 140 kmph: Gadkari 

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said that he is in favour of increasing the maximum speed limit on expressways to 140 km per hour, and added that a Bill will soon be introduced in Parliament to revise the speed limits for vehicles for different categories of roads. The Minister for Road Transport and Highways added that there is a mentality regarding speed that if the speed of the car increases, then there will be an accident. My personal view is that the speed limit for vehicles on expressways should be increased to 140 km per hour, he said while addressing the ‘India Today Conclave 2021’. Gadkari added that while the speed limits for National Highways should be at least 100 km per hour on four-lane roads, the respective speed limits for two-lane roads and city roads should be 80 km per hour and 75 km per hour. He said the parameters of speed limits for vehicles in India is one of the big challenges. There are some decisions by the Supreme Court and High Courts regarding car speed due to which we are not able to do anything, Gadkari said. He added, Such expressways have been built in the country that not even a dog can come on those roads because barricading has been done on both sides of the road. He said he had prepared a file to revise the maximum speed limits for vehicles for different categories of roads. In a democracy, we have the right to make laws and judges have the right to interpret the law…a Bill will soon be introduced in Parliament to revise the speed limits for vehicles on Indian roads, he said.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

Two journalists win Nobel Peace Prize for defending freedom of expression 

The 2021 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded on Friday to journalists Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia. The Norwegian Nobel Committee cited their fight for freedom of expression, stressing that it is vital in promoting peace. Free, independent and fact-based journalism serves to protect against abuse of power, lies and war propaganda, said Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the committee. Without freedom of expression and freedom of the press, it will be difficult to successfully promote fraternity between nations, disarmament, and a better world order to succeed in our time, she said. Ressa in 2012 co-founded Rappler, a news website that has focused critical attention on the (President Rodrigo) Duterte regime’s controversial, murderous anti-drug campaign, the Nobel committee said. She and Rappler have also documented how social media is being used to spread fake news, harass opponents and manipulate public discourse. Reacting to the news, Ressa told Norway’s TV2 channel that the government (of the Philippines) will obviously not be happy. I’m a little shocked. It’s really emotional, she added. But I am happy on behalf of my team and would like to thank the Nobel Committee for recognising what we are going through. Muratov was one of the founders of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta in 1993. Novaya Gazeta is the most independent newspaper in Russia today, with a fundamentally critical attitude towards power, the Nobel committee said. The newspaper’s fact-based journalism and professional integrity have made it an important source of information on censurable aspects of Russian society rarely mentioned by other media, it added. The Nobel committee noted that since the launch of Novaya Gazeta, six of its journalists have been killed, among them Anna Politkovskaya, who covered Russia’s bloody conflict in Chechnya. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov hailed Muratov as a talented and brave person. We can congratulate Dmitry Muratov he has consistently worked in accordance with his ideals, Peskov said in a conference call with reporters after the prize was announced. Reiss-Andersen noted that the peace prize has gone to journalists in the past, including Ernesto Teodoro Moneta of Italy who was cited in 1907 for his work in the press and in peace meetings. In 1935, Carl von Ossietzky was awarded the prize for his burning love for freedom of thought and expression after revealing that Germany was secretly re-arming after World War I. Reiss-Andersen also noted the risks to free speech in today’s world due to the spread of fake news, noting that Ressa has been critical of Facebook’s role in manipulating public debate. Conveying fake news and information that is propaganda and untrue is also a violation of freedom of expression, and all freedom of expression has its limitations. That is also a very important factor in this debate, she said.

 

Bomb kills at least 100 at Shia mosque in Afghanistan’s Kunduz 

An apparent bomb attack on worshippers at a Shia mosque in the Afghan city of Kunduz killed at least 100 people on Friday, in the bloodiest assault since US forces left the country. Scores more victims from the minority community were injured in the blast, which has not been claimed but appears designed to further destabilise Afghanistan in the wake of the Taliban takeover. A medical source at the Kunduz Provincial Hospital said that 35 dead and more than 50 injured had been taken there, while a worker at a Doctors Without Borders hospital reported 15 dead and scores more wounded. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid had earlier said an unknown number of people had been killed and injured when an explosion took place in a mosque of our Shiite compatriots in Kunduz. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic State group, arch-rival of the Taliban, has claimed similar recent atrocities. Residents of Kunduz, the capital of a province of the same name, told AFP the blast hit a Shiite mosque during Friday prayers, the most important of the week for Muslims. Kunduz’s location makes it a key transit point for economic and trade exchanges with Tajikistan. It was the scene of fierce battles as the Taliban fought their way back into power this year. Often targeted by Sunni extremists, Shiite Muslims have suffered some of Afghanistan’s most violent assaults, with rallies bombed, hospitals targeted and commuters ambushed. Shias make up roughly 20% of the Afghan population. Many of them are Hazara, an ethnic group that has been heavily persecuted in Afghanistan for decades. In October 2017, a lone IS suicide attacker struck a Shiite mosque as worshippers gathered for evening prayers in the west of Kabul, killing 56 people and wounding 55, including women and children.

NATIONAL NEWS 

Lakhimpur Kheri violence | Who are the accused, have they been arrested, SC asks U.P.

The Supreme Court on Thursday gave the Uttar Pradesh Government 24 hours to file a status report identifying the accused in the First Information Report (FIR) registered on the Lakhimpur Kheri violence and whether they have been arrested or not. Instilling a sense of urgency in the State Government, a Bench led by Chief Justice of India ordered the State to facilitate immediate medical care for the mother of a 19-year-old man who was among the killed in the incident. While hearing this case now we got a message that the mother of one of the people who died is in a state of shock over the loss of her son and needs immediate medical attention… We want you to get her admitted at the nearest hospital, the court addressed Uttar Pradesh Additional Advocate General Garima Prashad, for the State. Prashad said it would be done immediately while describing the Lakhimpur Kheri incident as extreme, unfortunate. We also feel the same way, Chief Justice N.V. Ramana said. But we want to know who are the accused in the FIR and whether they have been arrested or not, Justice Surya Kant, on the Bench, told the Uttar Pradesh Government. Chief Justice Ramana said the status report should contain details of the eight persons killed in the incident. News reports said four of the deceased were farmers mowed down by a vehicle which was part of the convoy of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs and BJP MP Ajay Kumar Mishra. Prashad said the State Government had constituted a Special Investigating Team and a judicial inquiry had begun. An FIR had been registered and the investigation was on. But the grievance here is your investigation is not proper, the CJI said. The Chief Justice was referring to a letter written by two lawyers, advocates Shivkumar Tripathi and C.S. Panda, based on which the court had taken cognisance of the Lakhimpur Kheri case. Prashad said the State would try to file the status report by Thursday itself even as the court listed the case for Friday. The court hearing comes on the same day when news channels have aired videos reportedly of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident. Thursday’s hearing of the case before the CJI’s Bench comes just three days after another Bench of the court had lashed out at farmers’ bodies, connecting their nearly year-long protests against farm laws to the violence that occurred in Lakhimpur Kheri. That Bench led by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar had said that nobody takes responsibility when incidents like in Lakhimpur Kheri occurs When such incidents happen, causing deaths, loss to property and damage, nobody takes responsibility, Justice Khanwilkar had observed on Monday. Earlier in the day, hours before the Supreme Court hearing, the Uttar Pradesh Government had announced that a single-member inquiry commission under retired Allahabad High Court judge Pradeep Kumar Srivastava will probe the Lakhimpur Kheri incident. The commission will complete its probe in two months, said a notification dated October 6 issued by the State Government.

Explain basis of fixing ₹8 lakh limit to determine EWS category for NEET: Supreme Court to Centre 

The Supreme Court on Thursday posed searching questions to the Centre on its decision to fix a limit of ₹8 lakh annual income for determining Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) category for reservation in NEET admissions for medical courses. The top court allowed the impleadment of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and Department of Personnel and Training and asked them to file an affidavit on what was the basis for fixing the limit of ₹8 lakh annual income to determine the EWS category. The Centre said fixing a limit of ₹8 lakh annual income for the EWS category is a matter of policy based on the National Cost of Living Index. A bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud, Vikram Nath, and B.V. Nagarathna asked the Centre to specify what was the basis and parameters for fixing the limit and whether any deliberation has taken place on the issue or simply the figure of ₹8 lakh income was picked up from the limit of determining the creamy layer in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. The top court was hearing a batch of pleas challenging the Centre and Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) July 29 notice providing 27% reservation for Other Backward Class (OBC) and 10% EWS category in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) admissions for medical courses. We want to know what the basis for ₹8 lakh annual income is. What was the study behind this? Was there any deliberation? Can you say the ₹8 lakh limit is for all over the country? Every state has a different cost of living. Cosmopolitan cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, and Chennai have different costs of living than cities in Uttar Pradesh or any other smaller city. How can the limit of ₹8 lakh be the same for every place in the country, the bench said. It asked whether the government has undertaken the study of the Gross Domestic Product of every household in a State and whether it has ascertained the criteria for economic backwardness and what its methodology was. Even for House Rent Allowance, you have a concept of Class-1 and Class-2 cities. How can you say ₹8 lakh will be applied for everywhere in the country. You cannot just say it is a matter of policy and get away with it, the bench said. The top court asked Additional Solicitor General K.M. Nataraj to reflect on the issue and to file an affidavit with regard to the questions asked by it and clarified that these questions are only its prima facie views. Economic Backwardness is a realistic thing. There is no doubt about it as people don’t have money to purchase books, to even have food. But as far as the EWS is concerned, they are forward class and there is no social or educational backwardness among them. So can you apply the same yardstick of ₹8 lakh limit for the creamy layer to the EWS? Please remember, with regard to the EWS we are not dealing with social and educational backwardness. What was the basis of fixing the limit or have you simply lifted the criteria for the creamy layer and put it for EWS, the bench said. The top court said that it wants to know what exercise was undertaken to arrive at these indicia for EWS as it cannot apply the same indicia which have been applied for Social and Economically Backward Classes (SEBC). The case of a creamy layer is that due to economic advancement they have crossed the threshold and the indicia of backwardness with regard to them have been completely obliterated. But in regard to EWS, there is no concept of obliteration of social backwardness, the bench said. Nataraj said that though he does not have any instruction from DoPT and the Ministry of Social Justice, as they were not the party to the case, these are larger issues that will be deliberated before a five-judge Constitution bench where the validity of the 103rd amendment is pending. The bench in its over three-and-half-hour hearing said that the court at present was not concerned with the validity of the amendment but is dealing with the implementation of the amendment.

Maneka, Varun, Swamy out; Scindia, Smriti inducted into BJP national executive 

Lok Sabha members Maneka Gandhi and her son, Varun Gandhi, were dropped from the BJP’s national executive, while Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Jyotiraditya Scindia were among those inducted into the 80-member decision-making body that was announced on Thursday. The list was announced hours after Gandhi said via a tweet on Thursday morning that the video of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, where a group of farmers was on Sunday allegedly mowed down by cars in Union Minister of State Ajay Kumar Mishra’s convoy, was crystal clear. Protestors cannot be silenced through murder. There has to be accountability for the innocent blood of farmers that has been spilled and justice must be delivered before a message of arrogance and cruelty enters the minds of every farmer, Gandhi tweeted.  On Monday, Gandhi had written to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath seeking action in the matter. BJP president Jagat Prasad Nadda appointed the 80 members, which included Prime Minister Narendra Modi, senior leaders L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, and former party presidents and current Union Ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari. In a statement, the party said 50 special invitees and 179 permanent invitees, including Chief Ministers, Deputy Chief Ministers, national spokespersons, presidents of national wings and state unit leadership, would also be a part of the national executive committee. Since Nadda took over as party president in January 2020, this was the first appointment of the national executive by him. According to sources, a meeting of the national executive, which was last held in 2019 during Shah’s tenure as party president, could be held on November 7. Among the national executive members dropped by Nadda are former Union Ministers Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Vijay Goel and Dr. C.P. Thakur; current Union Ministers Rao Inderjit Singh, Ashwani Kumar Choubey and Prahlad Singh Patel; and Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy. Some new entrants to the party have been included in the national executive, including Scindia and Dinesh Trivedi, a former Trinamool Congress MP who joined the BJP in the run-up to the West Bengal Assembly elections earlier this year. Prominent BJP campaigners and candidates in the Bengal polls like actor Mithun Chakraborty and MP Swapan Dasgupta have also been included in the national executive. Union Ministers G.Kishan Reddy, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Hardeep Singh Puri, V. Muraleedharan, Bhupender Yadav, Anurag Thakur, Meenakshi Lekhi and S. Jaishankar are among those in the national executive.

Two teachers shot dead inside a Srinagar school 

Two teachers were shot dead inside a government school in Srinagar on Thursday, just two days after three civilians, including a well-known Kashmiri Pandit chemist, were killed in the Valley. A police official said unknown gunmen barged into the Government Boys Higher Secondary School, Iddgah Sangam, in the old city and fired from a point-blank range at two teachers. Both the teachers were declared brought dead at a nearby hospital, officials said. The victims were identified as Satinder Kaur, principal of the school, and Deepak Chand, a teacher, both residents of Allocha Bagh in Srinagar. Locals said Chand, a Kashmiri Pandit, had shifted back from Jammu after his family migrated in the 1990s, when militancy broke out. A teacher told The Hindu that they were sipping tea when they heard gunshots outside the principal’s room around 11:15 a.m. We saw our colleague Chand falling to the ground outside the principal’s room, the teacher said. The Resistance Front (TRF), floated after the Centre ended J&K’s special constitutional position, has purportedly claimed responsibility for the attack on the social media platforms. The Shaheed Gazi Squad carried out the targeted attack on two non-locals who were domicile holders and had harassed the parents of the students to salute the occupier’s flag on August 15, a TRF spokesman said. Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh, who visited the spot, said, This is an attempt to defame the local Muslims of Kashmir. Killing innocent civilians, including teachers, is a move to attack and damage the age-old tradition of communal harmony and brotherhood in Kashmir. The police have got some clues and leads about the killers in the previous cases. Police will nab the killers very soon, he said. The Union Territory’s political parties have condemned the killings. Disturbing to see the deteriorating situation in Kashmir where a minuscule minority is the latest target. (Government of India) GOI’s claims of building a Naya Kashmir has actually turned it into a hellhole. It’s sole interest is to use Kashmir as a milch cow for its electoral interests, Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti said. A spree of civilian killings, seven in the past 10 days, has come at a time when Union Ministers are on a nine-week outreach programme in Jammu and Kashmir. Three civilians, including famous M.L Bindroo of the Bindroo Medicate, were shot dead on Tuesday. Around 27 civilians have been killed this year so far.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Literature Nobel goes to novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah 

Tanzanian-born novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah, whose work focuses on colonialism and the trauma of the refugee experience, won the Nobel Literature Prize on October 7. Gurnah, who grew up on the island of Zanzibar but who arrived in England as a refugee at the end of the 1960s, is the fifth African to win the Nobel Literature Prize. The Swedish Academy said Gurnah was honoured for his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents. His novels recoil from stereotypical descriptions and open our gaze to a culturally diversified East Africa unfamiliar to many in other parts of the world, the Nobel Foundation added. Gurnah has published 10 novels and a number of short stories. He is best known for his 1994 breakthrough novel Paradise, set in colonial East Africa during World War I, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction. The theme of the refugee’s disruption runs throughout his work. Born in 1948, Gurnah fled Zanzibar in 1968 following the revolution which led to oppression and the persecution of citizens of Arab origin. He began writing as a 21-year-old in England. Although Swahili was his first language, English became his literary tool. In an article he wrote for The Guardian in 2004, Gurnah said he hadn’t planned to be a writer when he was living in Zanzibar, but once in England he felt overwhelmed by the sense of ‘a life left behind’. If one way of seeing distance as helpful to the writer pictures him or her as a closed world, another argument suggests displacement is necessary, that the writer produces work of value in isolation because he or she is then free from responsibilities and intimacies that mute and dilute the truth, he wrote. Gurnah has until his recent retirement been Professor of English and Postcolonial Literatures at the University of Kent in Canterbury, focusing principally on writers such as Wole Soyinka, Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Salman Rushdie. The Nobel Prize comes with a medal and a prize sum of 10 million Swedish kronor (about $1.1 million). Ahead of the October 7 announcement, Nobel watchers had suggested the Swedish Academy could choose to give the nod to a writer from Asia or Africa, following a pledge to make the prize more diverse. It has crowned mainly Westerners in its 120-year existence. Glaringly, 102 men have won and only 16 women. The Academy has long insisted its laureates were chosen on literary merit alone, and that it did not take nationality into account. But after a #MeToo scandal that rocked the Academy — prompting it to postpone the 2018 prize for a year — the body said it would adjust its criteria towards more geographic and gender diversity. Previously, we had a more Eurocentric perspective of literature, and now we are looking all over the world, the head of the Nobel committee, Anders Olsson, said in 2019. The Nobel season continues on October 8 in Oslo with the Peace Prize, followed next October 11 by the Economics Prize.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Sherman in Pakistan; discusses regional security, economic ties. 

Pakistan and the U.S. have discussed regional security issues, including the situation in Afghanistan, and bilateral economic cooperation as America’s Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman held talks with the country’s NSA Moeed Yusuf here, the official media reported on October 8. The two countries expressed a desire to promote their bilateral relations during a meeting between Advisor to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on National Security Yusuf and the visiting U.S. diplomat on October 7. No statement was issued after the meeting but according to Radio Pakistan, both sides discussed economic cooperation and the regional security situation. In his talks with Ms. Sherman, NSA Yusuf said that the world must maintain contacts with the interim government in Afghanistan, which is now under Taliban rule since August 15 when the Afghan militant group ousted the elected government of President Ashraf Ghani, forcing him to flee the country and take refuge in the U.A.E. The U.S. Deputy Secretary of State arrived here from New Delhi on October 7 on a two-day visit to discuss various aspects of bilateral ties and the regional situation in the wake of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. According to the Foreign Office (FO), Ms. Sherman’s visit follows a recent meeting between Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in New York on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly. During Ms. Sherman’s visit, views will be exchanged on all issues of mutual interest, including the bilateral relationship as well as the regional situation. We look forward to reinforcing a balanced Pakistan-U.S. relationship that is anchored in mutually beneficial cooperation in all areas including security, trade, investment, energy and regional connectivity, the FO added. The Taliban swept across Afghanistan last month, seizing control of almost all key towns and cities in the backdrop of withdrawal of the U.S. forces that began on May 1. On August 15, the capital city of Kabul fell to the insurgents. The Afghan militant group claimed victory over opposition forces in the last holdout province of Panjshir on September 6, completing their takeover of Afghanistan three weeks after capturing Kabul. The Taliban have put in place a hardline interim 33-member Cabinet that has no women and includes UN-designated terrorists. The Taliban last ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.

 

NATIONAL NEWS

Family of farmer killed in Lakhimpur violence says second autopsy also doesn’t mention bullet injury

The second autopsy report of farmer Gurvinder Singh, one of the eight killed in Lakhimpur Kheri on Sunday, also did not mention any bullet injuries, his family said on Wednesday a day after they had rejected the first autopsy. The body was, meanwhile, cremated in his village in Bahraich district, his family said. Gurvinder’s brother-in-law Raman Singh told The Hindu the second autopsy report also did not reflect any bullet injury. Gurvinder was one of the four farmers killed in the violent incident involving the convoy of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra in Tikonia. His family had demanded a fresh autopsy after they refused to accept the findings of the post-mortem report. The family said that the first autopsy report showed Gurvinder had died of internal injuries but it alleged that he was shot dead by Ashish Mishra, the Minister’s son, while trying to escape into the fields following the incident. A fresh panel was formed to conduct the second autopsy. The second report has also given a similar conclusion that Gurvinder died of internal injuries and bleeding after being hit by the car, said his family, though The Hindu is yet to see a copy of the second autopsy. The family said it has received the autopsy report. It has nothing about the bullet. He has been cremated, Raman Singh said. District Magistrate Dinesh Chandra Singh said the family members of Gurvinder Singh had raised objections on the post-mortem examination done earlier. With the permission of the state government, it was done again and videographed as well, he added. Locals claiming to be eyewitnesses in Tikonia said on Sunday they saw Ashish Mishra sitting in the SUV that mowed down the farmers and alleged that after his car lost balance he ran towards the sugarcane fields and while doing so fired at Gurvinder who had tried to nab him. In the FIR lodged against Ashish Mishra in Lakhimpur Kheri in the wee hours on October 4 on the complaint of Hari Singh of Bahraich, it is mentioned that the Minister’s son ran towards the sugarcane fields after his car lost balance and that he was firing shots while trying to hide. Hari Singh, the complainant, accused Ashish Mishra of shooting dead Gurvinder. The FIR was lodged under IPC 302, 304a and under criminal conspiracy among other charges. Ashish Mishra was sitting on the left front seat of his Thar jeep, the FIR alleged. Ashish Mishra has, however, claimed that all allegations against him were false and that he was present in his ancestral village Banveerpur, a couple of kms away, to attend the annual wrestling event organised in the memory of his grandfather. I have all videos and evidence, he told a television channel claiming innocence. Apart from the four farmers, a local scribe, two BJP workers and a driver were killed in the incident. Ajay Mishra had alleged they were lynched by the protesters. The autopsy results of the others were not known. Their bodies have been cremated. The family of the scribe, Raman Kashyap, has said he was killed after being run over the car and they believe that the farmers did not lynch him even though an autopsy report is still awaited.

Dictatorship in India; new kind of politics in Uttar Pradesh: Rahul Gandhi 

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday claimed that the government has been attacking farmers and that there was dictatorship in the country now. At a press conference, Gandhi said he along with the two Congress Chief Ministers – Bhupesh Baghel (Chhattisgarh) and Charanjit Singh Channi (Punjab) – will visit Lakhimpur Kheri to meet the families hit by the violence. He said, The first attack was for trying to reverse the Land Acquisition Bill. Then, the Farm Laws were brought and that’s why the farmers are protesting outside Delhi. The Prime Minister was in Lucknow yesterday but couldn’t go to Lakhimpur Kheri. The post-mortem report was not proper. Today, we are trying to go to Lucknow and Lakhimpur Kheri with two Chief Ministers. Let’s see. The Congress leader asked, Why are they stopping us when others have been allowed. What’s our fault? Later in the day, the State government gave permission to Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and three others to visit Lakhimpur Kheri. Also mentioning about Hathras rape case and that an MLA had been accused of rape, he said, There is a new kind of politics in Uttar Pradesh. Those who commit crimes are outside and those who are victims are inside jails. In India, there is dictatorship now. Since yesterday, we have not been able go to Uttar Pradesh. Why dictatorship? Because, there is a lot of theft that is happening and wealth is being taken away from common people, Gandhi said. He claimed that all the institutions in the country are being captured by the BJP and the RSS. There is a narrative that is being built by capturing the democratic institutions. Or else, there will be an explosion that you cannot imagine.

Chhattisgarh, Punjab govts to give ₹50 lakh to families of farmers, journalist killed in Lakhimpur violence 

Both Chhattisgarh and Punjab governments on October 6 announced a financial assistance of ₹50 lakh each to families of four farmers and a journalist killed in the violence that broke out in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri. The Chief Ministers of the two Congress-ruled States, along with party leader Rahul Gandhi, have arrived in Lucknow, from where they intend to go to Lakhimpur Kheri to meet the families of the victims. Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi said the Lakhimpur violence reminded him of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919. He said the U.P. government has made a mockery of democracy.  Our government will provide ₹50 lakh each to families of farmers and the journalist killed in the Lakhimpur violence, he told reporters in Lucknow. Echoing the same sentiments, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said his government will also give ₹50 lakh to the families of the farmers and the journalist. Four of the eight people who died in Sunday’s violence in Lakhimpur Kheri were farmers, allegedly knocked down by vehicles driven by BJP workers travelling to welcome U.P. Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya to an event in the area. The four others included two BJP workers, a driver of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra, and Raman Kashyap, a journalist working for a private TV channel. While the first three were allegedly lynched by agitating farmers, the scribe, according to his father, died after being hit by a vehicle when he was covering news of farmers’ protest against Maurya’s visit to Ajay Mishra’s native place. The U.P. Police has lodged a case against Ajay Mishra’s son, but no arrest has been made so far.

Maharashtra Minister alleges BJP link in cruise drug bust involving SRK’s son 

In a new twist to the cruise drug bust case in Mumbai, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and Maharashtra Minister for Minority Development Nawab Malik on Wednesday claimed that two private individuals — a private detective facing a cheating case and a BJP leader, had brought Aryan Khan and Arbaz Merchant to the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) office and allegedly participated in the NCP raid. K.P. Gosavi claims to be a private detective while Manish Bhanushali is a BJP leader who has been seen in photographs with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J P Nadda, Both were part of the NCB raid. Visuals of bringing Merchant and Khan to the NCB office show that these two individuals brought them to the office. Who are they? Are private individuals allowed to be a part of drug bust raid? The NCB must explain this, said Malik. The NCP leader claimed that the entire case of alleged seizure of drugs and panchanama is manipulated and smells foul. Ever since the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, the NCB started planting stories about Bollywood and drug connection. The only motive is to defame Bollywood and subsequently Mumbai and Maharashtra to which the BJP is also a party, he said. He said no drugs were seized at the cruise and the manipulated panchnama was made at the NCB office. The NCB in its press release accepted that both Gosavi and Bhanushali acted as independent witnesses but termed the allegations as baseless. Some allegations levelled against the organisation are baseless and seem to be with malice and probable prejudice that may have been harboured in retaliation against earlier legal actions carried out by the NCB, said the statement issued by Gyaneshwar Singh, Deputy Director General, NCB. The NCB, however, did not answer questions on how Gosavi and Bhanushali were allowed to handle the accused and whether they were part of the raid as well. The Congress has demanded a high-level inquiry from the State Government. How can an accused in a cheating case and a BJP leader participate in the raid? Has the NCB given its work to the BJP? Was the motive behind this to divert attention from the Mundra port drug seizure? The allegations against the NCB are extremely serious and need to be probed, he said.

Nearly a month after tenures expire, no word on new parliamentary panels 

Nearly a month after the tenure of the parliamentary standing committees ended on September 12, there is no word on reconstitution of these panels, with sources pointing to bureaucratic delays. Opposition leaders stated that the delay was yet another way to subvert an important parliamentary instrument. The government has a tardy record in the constitution of the panels. In 2019, the committees were constituted in October, nearly five months late. In 2014, the panels were notified on September 1, less than three months after the process was started. In 2009, during the UPA term, it was notified on August 31. And in 2004, it was constituted by August 5. Even though the composition of the committees largely remain the same, yet every year, more than a month is spent in renominating the panels. Sources said political parties took a long while in submitting their list of nominees and the BJP was the last to submit the list. Rajya Sabha floor leader of Trinamool Congress (TMC) Derek O’ Brien pointed out that the number of legislations scrutinised by the parliamentary panels had declined under the present regime. In the 14th and 15th Lok Sabha during the UPA years, 60% and 71% of legislations were vetted by the standing committees. In comparison to this, the figures for the 16th Lok Sabha was 25% and the current one a dismal 11%. With these figures do you think Modi-Shah’s BJP cares two hoots about the standing committees? he said. RJD MP Manoj K Jha observed that the delay was a textbook example of the government’s approach towards Parliament and the instruments attached to it. Congress Lok Sabha member and senior leader Manish Tewari alleged that the government had broken several conventions, including the one on leaving the committees on External Affairs and Finance for the Opposition to lead. This convention has been in place keeping in view the parliamentary practice of providing checks and balances to everyday functioning of the government through legislative oversight. The practice of circulating verbatim minutes of the meeting of the standing committees had also been dispensed with, he noted. Accepting that the delay imposed unnecessary pause on the functioning of the parliamentary panels, BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahtab questioned the limited and indifferent participation in the panel meetings. How many members actually take part in these deliberations? The panel chairpersons are supposed to inform the presiding officer of the House if a member remains absent for three consecutive meetings, but I believe that even the floor leaders of the respective parties should be alerted about such errant MPs, he remarked. A recent analysis of 361 meetings held over the last one year by the Rajya Sabha secretariat has put up grim numbers. The average attendance of MPs in these meetings was 46%.  A party-wise analysis showed that the average attendance of 92 BJP members in the Rajya Sabha was 57%, while the same for 38 Congress members was 42%. The average attendance of the TMC MPs was just 24.4%.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Two scientists share Chemistry Nobel for developing tool for building molecules 

The Nobel Prize for chemistry has been awarded to German scientist Benjamin List of the Max Planck Institute and Scotland-born scientist David WC MacMillan of Princeton University. They were cited for their work in developing a new way for building molecules known as asymmetric organocatalysis. The winners were announced Wednesday by Goran Hansson, secretary-general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The Nobel panel said List and MacMillan in 2000 independently developed a new way of catalysis. It’s already benefiting humankind greatly, Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede, a member of the Nobel panel, said. Speaking after the announcement, List said the award was a huge surprise. I absolutely didn’t expect this, he said, adding that he was on vacation in Amsterdam with his family when the call from Sweden came in. List said he did not initially know that MacMillan was working on the same subject and figured his hunch might just be a stupid idea until it worked. I did feel that this could be something big, he said. It is common for several scientists who work in related fields to share the prize. Last year, the chemistry prize went to Emmanuelle Charpentier of France and Jennifer A. Doudna of the United States for developing a gene-editing tool that has revolutionised science by providing a way to alter DNA. The prestigious award comes with a gold medal and 10 million Swedish kronor (over $1.14 million). The prize money comes from a bequest left by the prize’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, who died in 1895. Over the coming days prizes will also be awarded for outstanding work in the fields of literature, peace and economics.

Biden, Xi to hold virtual meet this year

The decision came out of a meeting between U.S. NSA Jake Sullivan and Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi. U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping have agreed in principle to have a virtual meeting before the end of the year, according to senior U.S. administration officials. The decision came out of a six-hour meeting in Zurich late on Wednesday between U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Chinese Politburo member and top diplomat Yang Jiechi. The meeting had a different tone from Anchorage, reports quoted the officials as saying, referring to a stormy March meeting between Mr. Sullivan and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their Chinese counterparts, Mr. Yang and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, which was marked by public rancour. Today really involved a genuine back and forth, which was quite welcome — a different tone than Anchorage, a different kind of feel in the ability to go back and forth than in Anchorage, an official said, according to the Financial Times, which reported on the possibility of a Biden-Xi meeting. A virtual meeting means Mr. Biden and Mr. Xi will not meet in person at the G20 summit in Rome to be held at the end of this month. Mr. Xi is unlikely to travel to Rome, and the Chinese leader has not left China for more than 600 days, since the pandemic began. His last overseas visit was to Myanmar in mid-January 2020. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be travelling to Rome for the summit. Asked to confirm if Mr. Biden would be meeting Mr. Xi virtually, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said there was agreement to continue the dialogue at a very high level and the details of what that meant were still being worked out. We’re still working through what that would look like, when, and, of course, the final details. So we don’t quite have them yet, she said. A White House readout of the meeting did not announce the virtual meet. Instead, it spoke of the importance of managing the competition between the two countries responsibly and of maintaining open lines of communication, following the September 9 call between Mr. Biden and Mr. Xi. The Chinese Foreign Ministry’s readout also did not mention a leaders’ meeting, but offered a more positive take on the state of relations in comparison to the March meeting in Anchorage, Alaska. It said both sides agreed to maintain regular dialogue and communication on important issues. Beijing said the meeting was constructive, and conducive to enhancing mutual understanding and both sides agreed to strengthen strategic communication, properly manage differences, avoid conflict and confrontation, seek mutual benefits and win-win results, and work together to bring China-U.S. relations back on the right track of sound and steady development.