NATIONAL NEWS
I’m leaving Congress but not joining BJP, says Amarinder
Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday made it clear that he would be leaving the Congress party as he felt ‘humiliated’ by the leadership that had replaced him with Charanjeet Singh Channi. He more or less ruled out joining the BJP as well, despite his much-talked about meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday evening. I will resign will not stay in the party, he said in a statement released by his team, and clarified that he was still thinking through his options in the interest of Punjab and its security. I will not be treated in this humiliating manner…I will not take such insults, his statement quoted him as saying, adding that his principles and beliefs do not allow him to stay in the Congress. Singh met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Thursday morning, where he said he talked about the security situation in the sensitive border State. My experience showed that the people of Punjab tend to vote for a single party/fora, irrespective of the number of parties in the fray. Misgovernance in Punjab would give Pakistan the opportunity to create trouble in the State and in the country, he said, adding that his meeting with Doval was centred on this theme. The long-running farmers’ protest against the three contentious farm laws were issues that he discussed with Shah and tangentially with Doval, as the agitation with no end to the confrontation was inimical to the security of the State. Singh said those undermining the growing Pakistani threat in Punjab were playing into the hands of anti-India forces by being in denial mode, a direct hit at Congress leader Navjyot Singh Sidhu. They [Pak-backed elements] are killing our soldiers every day. They are pushing weapons into the State through drones. How can we overlook such dangers? In his visit to Delhi, which he had said was to just collect his things from Kapurthala House (the official home for the Punjab Chief Minister in Delhi) and hand it over to his successor, Singh managed to delineate his political plans quite clearly. The prospects of Singh floating his own party and even walking away with some Congress MLAs who owe him loyalty seem open. His rhetoric and campaign will rest on not just a narrative of being humiliated by the Congress, but also high nationalism and concern for issues regarding farmers, and most of all, the need to have a stable government that can guarantee security at the borders. The BJP, on its part keen to end its confrontation with farmers’ groups, especially in Haryana and Punjab where its party workers are facing hostility, is eager to press Singh into finding a solution out of the maze of this issue. Singh’s anti-Pakistan, nationalistic credentials also make him a good fit in the BJP’s ideological calculus. For his own party, the Congress, which he is set to exit, Singh had some home truths: Senior Congressmen are the thinkers but they are being sidelined. He condemned the attack on former Union Minister Kapil Sibal’s residence by Youth Congress workers for what he termed choosing to express views that were not palatable to the party leadership. AICC Treasurer Pawan Bansal said, Capt. Amarinder Singh’s assertion that he had been humiliated is not correct. The fact is that most of the 74 Congress MLAs did not want him as CM, yet the party continued with him and only repeatedly requested that he should respect party MLAs’ sentiments regarding Bargari sacrilege, electricity costs, and sand mafia. He failed to act. It was only then that he was asked to resign.
SC asks govt to ensure farmers’ groups are made parties in case The Supreme Court on Thursday said the government had to take the initiative to ensure that organisations of farmers, who are blocking the Capital’s arterial border roads with Uttar Pradesh and Haryana against the Central agricultural laws, were made parties in efforts to resolve the nearly year-old impasse. A Bench led by Justice S.K. Kaul stated that the issue could be resolved either through Parliament debates or in the judicial forum, but the blocking of highways and inconveniencing of commuters cannot go on perpetually. The court was hearing a petition filed by Noida resident Monica Agarwal, who highlighted that the blocks caused by the protests had turned her daily commute between Noida and Delhi a nightmare. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta noted that farmers were refusing to participate in talks before a high-level committee. Sections of highways have become inaccessible due to their protests. He suggested that farmers’ organisations be made parties in the current petition. The court urged the government to take the initiative to make them parties rather than depend on Agarwal and other private citizens. Justice Kaul observed, How will they know which organisations have to be made parties? The Bench asked the government to file an application seeking permission to implead farmers’ bodies in the case. The court listed the case on Monday. The court had consistently taken a nuanced stand on the issue, saying farmers have the right to protest but their agitation should not hinder traffic or public movement. It had pointed out that the solution to end the farmer-government impasse over the three agriculture laws lay with the government. Protesting farmers have been camping on the outskirts of the Capital for over a year. Recently, U.P. and Haryana filed affidavits in the court that said despite sincere efforts, farmers were not relenting.
Supreme Court adjourns Jayalalithaa death inquiry case
The Supreme Court on Thursday scheduled for October 20 a case concerning the Justice (retired) A. Arumughaswamy Commission of Inquiry into the death of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa in 2016. A Bench of Justices S. Abdul Nazeer and Krishna Murari adjourned the hearing after senior advocate Aryama Sundaram, who appears for Apollo Hospitals where Jayalalithaa died, cited a personal difficulty. Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, for the Tamil Nadu government, raised strong objection to the adjournment. However, the court agreed to hear the case after the Dussera holidays. In the previous hearing, the Inquiry Commission had said that only four witnesses remain to be examined and the panel should be allowed to complete its work and place its fact-finding report before the State Legislative Assembly. In 2019, the court had stayed the inquiry into the death of J. Jayalalithaa after Apollo Hospitals alleged that the Commission, instead of conducting an impartial inquiry, had transformed itself into an adversary. The proceedings before the Commission were stayed by the Supreme Court in April 2019 on the basis of a plea by Apollo Hospitals that the inquiry panel’s functioning was replete with bias. Only four witnesses are left to examine. A fact-finding inquiry report should be presented in the House. The House will then decide… 155 witnesses have been examined… only four more. The inquiry has been pending since 2017, the panel had submitted. In 2019, the court had stayed the inquiry after Apollo Hospitals alleged that the Commission, instead of conducting an impartial inquiry, had transformed itself into an adversary. Sundaram had argued for the hospital that the proceedings before the inquiry panel was causing grave prejudice to the hospital’s reputation. Tamil Nadu had, in 2019, urged the court to not stay the Commission proceedings. However, the Bench had refused to oblige the State and proceeded to freeze the inquiry. The State had appointed the inquiry commission headed by Justice Arumughaswamy, a retired Madras High Court judge, on September 25, 2017. The Commission’s reference was to examine the circumstances which led to the hospitalisation of Jayalalithaa on September 22, 2016 and the nature of treatment given in order to determine the cause of hospitalisation.
Tamil prisoners file Fundamental Rights petition in Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court
As many as eight Tamil prisoners in Sri Lanka’s Anuradhapura prison on Thursday petitioned the country’s Supreme Court, seeking relief after a ‘gun-wielding’ Prisons Minister allegedly threatened them a fortnight ago. The prisoners stated that they fear for their lives, asking to be transferred to a prison in the Tamil-majority Northern Province. Jaffna parliamentarian and senior lawyer M.A. Sumanthiran will appear for them in the case, media reports said. On September 15, Lohan Ratwatte, who was State Minister of Prison Management and Prisoners’ Rehabilitation, stepped down from the portfolio amid enormous pressure, after allegations of him asking Tamil prisoners to kneel, threatening them at gunpoint, surfaced. Ratwatte is still a junior Minister in the Rajapaksa administration, overseeing the Gem and Jewellery portfolio, although government critics have demanded that he be sacked from all positions, citing the reported incident that sparked much public outrage. In their petition, the prisoners accused the Minister of asking the detainees to stand in a semi-circle and ordered them to kneel before him. He then started to abuse them in Sinhala saying that His Excellency the President had given him all the power in relation to PTA prisoners and that he could either release them or shoot them dead. He had a pistol in his hand and appeared to be intoxicated, the petition stated. The Minister’s office earlier denied any wrongdoing on his part. The eight Tamil men — who have sought relief from the Supreme Court through Colombo-based lawyer Moahan Balendra — are in remand following their arrest under Sri Lanka’s infamous Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). Rights activists and Tamil political leaders have for long demanded repeal of the PTA, pointing to different governments’ tendency to use the law to target dissidents or arbitrarily detain terrorism suspects for long periods without trial. Soon after the violent incident in the prison complex — allegedly involving the Prisons Minister — was reported in the media, the country’s Human Rights Commission started a suo motu investigation. International human rights watchdogs were swift to condemn the Minister’s actions. Human Rights Watch said the incident reflected the disregard for human rights that prevails under the administration of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and in particular the vulnerable position of people held under the PTA.
Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments
The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 3,37,62,154 with the death toll at 4,48,294. Around 69% of the country’s adult population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 25% has taken both doses, the government said on Thursday. It also said that increased population density raises chances of COVID-19 spread and it will be prudent to avoid non-essential travel and observe festivity at low key. The government said that 64.1% doses of COVID-19 vaccine has been administered in vaccination centres in rural areas and 35% in urban areas. A total of 67.4 lakh doses (approximately 0.88%) have been administered at vaccination centres not tagged as rural or urban, it said. It said that 59.66% of the total COVID-19 cases last week were reported from Kerala and the state has over one lakh active cases. The government also stressed that the number of COVID-19 tests has not reduced and 15 to 16 lakh tests are being done every day in the country.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
India, Australia agree to conclude free trade agreement by 2022-end.
India and Australia on Thursday agreed to conclude the long-pending free trade agreement by the end of 2022 and an early harvest trade deal by as early as December. The decision to expedite negotiations for India-Australia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) between the two countries was taken at a meeting between Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan. We have agreed on aggressive timelines (for concluding the trade pact), Goyal told reporters at a press conference held jointly with Tehan. India and Australia have decided to conclude an interim agreement or early harvest trade deal by December end. Under the early harvest agreement duties on certain selected items will be reduced. The two sides have decided to have an exchange of offers regarding the proposed CECA agreement by October. The final trade deal, which has been pending for the past several years, will, however, be concluded by 2022-end. This is like a T-20 match, that is why such aggressive timelines. The spirit of this partnership is that both India and Australia work in the same team for a win-win for each other, said Goyal. India-Australia bilateral trade has exceeded AUD 24 billion last year. The proposed trade agreement would cover trade in goods and services, and investment, among others. What we have agreed today is to make sure that we will conclude a free trade agreement between Australia and India by the end of 2022. Now, this Free Trade Agreement will include an interim agreement, which we will seek to finalise by Christmas. It will be consistent with Article 24 of the WTO, and it will cover goods, services, investment, we will begin discussing government procurement energy and resources, logistics and transport, standards, rules of origin and we have agreed to exchange offers by the end of October. Now, this is extraordinarily ambitious, Tehan said. Goyal said that both India and Australia have a very positive interest in expanding trade, which could be kick-started or which could be implemented in the interim, while the contours of the final agreement may take a little longer period of time. The interim agreement or the early harvest deal, he said, will cover areas of immediate interest, you could call them the low hanging fruits. On a question whether past discussions will be taken into account while finalising the CEPA, Goyal said, What has been discussed in the past will always be there before us and help us speed up our negotiations. We will, however, bring in a fresh perspective to the talks. The visiting minister said the current trade between the two countries does not reflect the true extent of the economic partnership. He said that if the trade agreement is reached by 2022, then you would see over the years to come that trading relationship double, and it will double in all areas because the complementarity between our economies is so great.
N Korea Test-Fires Newly Developed Anti-Aircraft Missile
North Korea said Friday it had test-fired a newly developed anti-aircraft missile in the fourth round of weapons firings in recent weeks, even as it pushes to reopen dormant communication channels with South Korea in a small reconciliation step. In September, North Korea resumed its first missile tests in six months but still offered conditional talks with Seoul in what some experts say is an attempt to extract concessions in its nuclear diplomacy with the U.S. Earlier this week, North Korea leader Kim Jong Un expressed his willingness to restore communication hotlines with South Korea in coming days to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula. The Korean Central News Agency said the anti-aircraft missile test is of very practical significance in studying and developing various prospective anti-aircraft missile system. It said the test was aimed at confirming the practicality of operation of the launcher, radar and battle command vehicle as well as the combat performance of the missile. South Korea, Japan and the United States typically publicly confirm North Korean missile launches soon after they occur, but did not do so for Thursday’s test, indicating it may not have been a major weapons test. While Kim said he intended to reopen inter-Korean hotlines during his speech at parliament, he also shrugged off U.S. offers for dialogue as a cunning concealment of its hostility against the North. He also reiterated the North’s demands that South Korea abandon a double-dealing attitude over the North’s missile tests if Seoul wants to see the resumption of talks and major cooperation steps. South Korea has said it would prepare for the restoration of the hotlines, which it called necessary to discuss and resolve many pending issues. The cross-border phone and fax lines have been largely dormant for more than a year. Some experts say North Korea wants South Korea to persuade the United States to ease punishing economic international sanctions on it. Other say North Korea is pressuring South Korea not to criticize its ballistic missile tests, which are banned by U.N. Security Council resolutions, as part of its quest to be recognized internationally as a nuclear power. North Korea also recently has test-fired a new hypersonic missile, a newly developed cruise missile and a ballistic missile launched from a train. South Korea’s military assessed the hypersonic missile to be at an early stage of development, but experts say the two previous missile tests displayed the North’s ability to attack targets in South Korea and Japan, both key U.S. allies that host U.S. troops. The North’s recent tests were in line with Kim Jong Un’s earlier vows to introduce sophisticated weapons and enlarge his nuclear arsenal to defend itself against U.S. hostility — a reference to U.S.-led sanctions on the North and regular military drills between Washington and Seoul that North Korea believes are an invasion rehearsal.
