Tag: CLAT

NATIONAL NEWS 

CJI for forming special panels led by HC CJs to probe plaints against ‘atrocities’ by police, bureaucracy

Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana said he was in favour of forming standing committees headed by the Chief Justices of the High Courts to investigate complaints received from the common man of atrocities committed by the bureaucracy, especially police officers, in the country. The CJI’s oral observation comes even as police officers are in the spotlight for committing serious crimes. Recently, police officers in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh have been accused of causing the death of a businessman during a raid in a hotel. In Tamil Nadu, the CBI had charge-sheeted nine policemen for the custodial deaths of the father-son duo, P. Jayaraj and J. Benicks. There have been instances in which district administration officers were recorded on video physically manhandling citizens during the lockdown. We are very disturbed by what the bureaucracy, particularly police officers, are doing… I was in favour of forming standing committees led by Chief Justices of High Courts to look into complaints of atrocities committed by bureaucrats, especially police officers, in this country, Chief Justice Ramana said in court. The observation came when the court was reserving judgment on petitions filed by suspended Additional Director General of Police Gurjinder Pal Singh in Chhattisgarh. He had sought protection from arrest in various criminal cases, including sedition, extortion and criminal intimidation, arraigned against him by the current government. The court recently made oral observations in the case about how police officers act with impunity with one government but have to pay back with interest when there is a regime change. It had, in an earlier instance, wondered at the plight of police officers caught between rival political parties who come to power one after the other. The Bench had highlighted how police officers become targets of political vendetta, stating that it was a sad state of affairs. The CJI said orally, When a political party is in power, police officers side with a particular party. Then when a new party comes into power, the government initiates action against those officials. The court stated that this new trend needed to be checked in its tracks. The court had granted Singh protection from arrest in the sedition case. Senior lawyers F.S. Nariman and Vikas Singh appeared for him and the State government was represented by senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Rakesh Dwivedi. Cases of sedition and other offences were lodged against Singh by the Congress-led Chhattisgarh government.

Farmers strangulating New Delhi with protests against farm laws, says Supreme Court 

The Supreme Court on Friday accused farmers of strangulating the city [New Delhi] with their protest against farm laws. A Bench led by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar was hearing a petition filed by Kisan Mahapanchayat, a farmers’ body, for a direction to the Delhi Police to permit them to go on ‘satyagraha’ at the iconic Jantar Mantar in the heart of the national capital. On one hand, you have been strangulating the entire city and blocking highways… now you want to enter the city and protest here? Justice Khanwilkar lashed out at the farmers’ body. The Bench asked why the farmers’ organisations continued with protests even after the laws were under challenge or sub judice in the Supreme Court. Are you then protesting against the judiciary? Once you have approached the court, let the law take its own course… But, instead, you continue with the protests and block the national highways… You have to trust us, Justice Khanwilkar, flanked by Justice C.T. Ravikumar, chided the farmers’ organisation. Justice Khanwilkar asked the farmers whether they had taken the permission of citizens who live near the protest sites on the national highways and public roads. Have you taken permission of the citizens living nearby? There is a right to protest, but there is a right to use public roads and free movement… You are even obstructing defence personnel’s movement. You block trains and then say you are protesting peacefully. There is no point in continuing to protest once you have come to the court, Justice Khanwilkar said. The Mahapanchayat’s counsel, advocate Ajay Choudhary, said the police had blocked the highways and not the farmers. The farmers only stressed on their right to protest peacefully. The Bench directed the petitioner to serve an advance copy of their petition to the Attorney-General and listed the case for Monday. The court also ordered the organisation to file an affidavit declaring they are not part of the protest being carried out, blocking the highways. Kisan Mahapanchayat has argued that the patently discriminatory, arbitrary and unreasonable action of the Delhi Police in preventing it from holding peaceful, unarmed and non-violent Satyagraha at a designated place in Jantar Mantar is in violation of basic democratic rights enunciated as fundamental rights under the Constitution.

Amarinder Singh, Harish Rawat in war of words as Congress crisis continues 

Amid the ongoing crises in the Congress party’s Punjab unit, the party’s State affairs in-charge Harish Rawat and former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday were embroiled in a war of words. After Rawat accused Capt. (retd.) Amarinder of failing to keep his promises on important issues and insisted that the latter was never humiliated in the Congress, the former chief minister rejected the claims, saying they were clearly prompted by the pathetic situation the party now found itself in Punjab after being on a winning spree for four and a half years. Three weeks before stepping down as CM, I had offered my resignation to Sonia Gandhi but she had asked me to continue, said Capt. Amarinder, adding that the humiliating manner in which he was pushed into resigning just hours before the CLP meeting that was clearly convened to oust him, was a matter of public record. The world saw the humiliation and the insult heaped on me, and yet Rawat is making claims to the contrary, he said, adding If this was not humiliation then what was it? The ex-CM of Punjab recalled that Rawat himself had publicly stated after meeting him that he was satisfied by his government’s track record on the 2017 poll promises. In fact, the Congress in-charge of Punjab had categorically stated, as recently as September 1, that the 2022 elections would be fought under his (Captain Amarinder’s) leadership and the high command had no intention of replacing him, he pointed out. So how can he now claim that the party leadership was dissatisfied with me, and if they were, then why did he deliberately keep me in the dark all this time? he said. On Rawat’s remarks that he [Capt. Amarinder] seemed to be under pressure, the former Chief Minister said the only pressure he had been under for the past few months was that of his own loyalty to the Congress, because of which he continued to tolerate insult after insult.

GoM to decide on winning bidder for Air India 

A Group of Ministers (GoM) led by Union Home Minister Amit Shah will meet soon to take a decision on the winning bidder for Air India, a top government official said. Air India Specific Alternative Mechanism [AISAM] will meet soon to decide, the official told The Hindu. AISAM is the name given to the GoM headed by Shah. It includes Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. The statement means that while a decision has been taken on who has bagged Air India by the Committee of Secretaries, it is yet to be approved by the GoM. Earlier this month, Tata Sons and a grouping led by SpiceJet’s Ajay Singh placed their financial bids for Air India. The government will divest its 100% stake in Air India, Air India Express, and a 50% stake in ground handling company AISATS. The bids for the national carrier are being sought at enterprise value instead of equity value as the government had changed the bidding parameter for Air India. As per the plan, 15% of the total enterprise value will have to be paid upfront in cash to the government and the rest will be used to reduce the debt burden on the airline.

Process of renunciation of Indian citizenship simplified 

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has simplified the process for Indians who want to renounce their citizenship. Provisions have been made for applicants to upload documents online, with an upper limit of 60 days for the renunciation process to be completed. Over 6.7 lakh Indians renounced their citizenship between 2015-19, the Lok Sabha was informed in February. In 2018, the MHA revised the Form XXII under the Citizenship Rules for declaration of renunciation of citizenship, which for the first time included a column on circumstances/reasons due to which applicant intends to acquire foreign citizenship and renounce Indian citizenship. An official familiar with the subject said there was no sudden surge in the number of applications to renounce citizenship but the online process has been initiated to check fraudulent documents and reduce the compliance burden. As many as 1,41,656 Indians renounced their citizenship in the year 2015, while in the years 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, the numbers stood at 1,44,942, 1,27,905, 1,25,130 and 1,36,441, respectively. The Ministry issued new guidelines on September 16 stating that the form, after being filled online, has to be downloaded, signed and submitted at the District Magistrate’s office, if the applicant is in India, or at the nearest Indian mission, if she or he is in a foreign country. The applicant will also be interviewed by the DM before the certificate is issued, the Ministry said. Other than the passport, the applicant also needs to submit proof of address and proof of payment of fee. The Ministry stated that once a copy of the form had been received, the entire process for issuance of renunciation certificate would take 60 days after verification of documents. According to the 2009 Citizenship Rules, the fee to renounce citizenship for an applicant in India is ₹5,000, and for someone applying through an Indian mission in a foreign country is ₹7,000. The guidelines said that when a person ceases to be a citizen of India under Section 8(1) of Citizenship Act, 1955, every minor child of that person shall thereupon ceases to be a citizen of India. The minor child may, however, within one year of attaining full age apply to resume Indian citizenship. The guidelines are not clear if minors would also lose citizenship if only one of the parents gives up her/his Indian citizenship.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

India slaps tit-for-tat travel curbs on U.K. nationals 

India on Friday imposed reciprocal quarantine measures on citizens of the United Kingdom. Sources said the new regulations will enforce a 10-day quarantine on all British nationals in the way that the UK currently enforces similar quarantine measures on fully vaccinated Indian nationals. The new measures will come into effect from October 4, indicating that India-UK negotiations over the latter’s 10-day mandatory quarantine requirement have broken down. Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had first mentioned the possibility of imposing reciprocal measures on September 21 as the UK had not relaxed the quarantine requirement till then. According to the new regulations, all British nationals arriving in India from the UK, irrespective of their vaccination status, will have to undertake pre-departure COVID-19 RT-PCR test within 72 hours before travel, followed by similar tests upon arrival at the Indian airport which is to be followed by another RTPCR test on the 8th day after arrival in India. That apart, the British travellers to India will have to be in mandatory quarantine at home or in the destination address for 10 days after arrival in India. The deepening dispute regarding vaccination certificates and the quarantine period has cast a shadow on expected high level visits from London to India. Sources explained that the move will not affect the Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) staying in the UK with permits but is likely to affect PIOs and OCI-card holders as they may be citizens of the UK. The new measures have been imposed though there is no tourist traffic from the UK to India at the moment as New Delhi has not resumed issuing tourist visas. However, it is understood that the Indian move is being perceived as unexpected by the British side which had witnessed some positive progress in the dialogue over relaxing the UK’s quarantine requirement for Indian citizens. Informed Indian sources have, however, told The Hindu that the UK can make the necessary adjustments in its policy by October 4. The Indian announcement comes days after the UK recognised Covishield vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India but retained the 10-day quarantine period for fully vaccinated travellers from India, which intensified the rift between the two sides. The UK had moved India from the ‘Red List’ to the ‘Amber List’ on August 8, reopening tourist visas for Indian travellers but maintained that the 10-day quarantine period would remain in place. British sources had earlier said that there were no issues related to the Covishield vaccine but there are technical difficulties that were preventing the UK from connecting with the Indian side, which is a requirement for verifying vaccination certificates.

 

India, US to set up joint working group on defence industrial security

As Chinese and Russian cyber-spies increase snooping via the internet to pick up American defence secrets, including stealth and long-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology, the US and Indian defence industrial establishments are developing joint protocols to block any leakage of classified information from their communications. To formalise and refine their joint security protocols, Washington and New Delhi held a five-day Industrial Security Agreement (ISA) summit that began on Monday and ended on Friday in the national capital. The summit was led by Designated Security Authorities (DSAs) from both sides. The Indian DSA is Anurag Bajpai from the Ministry of Defense (MoD), while the American DSA is David Paul Bagnati. The two sides reached an In principle agreement to establish an Indo-US Industrial Security Joint Working Group, said an Indian MoD statement on Friday. The Group is to meet regularly to align policies for defence industries to collaborate on critical defence technologies, it said. The US-India framework for industrial technology security began with an agreement termed General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), which was signed on January 17, 2002 between the Indian and US defence ministers of that time, George Fernandes and Donald Rumsfeld. GSOMIA 2002 prescribes security standards and protocols for safeguarding information shared by the Pentagon with India’s defence ministry; and by US defence firms with Indian defence public sector undertakings (DPSUs). However, GSOMIA does not cover the exchange of classified information with Indian private industry. Washington wanted this covered too, given New Delhi’s emphasis on the proposed strategic partnership (SP) model of procurement. The SP model involves the manufacture of defence equipment by Indian private firms, using technology supplied by American original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). For this, Washington asked New Delhi to sign an annexure to GSOMIA 2000, which would cover the Indian private sector. That agreement, called the Industrial Security Agreement (ISA), was signed in December 2019. Now that is being taken further. During the summit, both sides agreed in principle to establish the Indo-US Industrial Security Joint Working Group. This group will meet periodically to align the policies and procedures expeditiously that will allow the (two countries’) defence industries to collaborate on cutting edge defence technologies, stated the Indian MoD on Friday. The DSAs also visited selected Indian defence industries to prepare for setting up a roadmap. GSOMIA 2000 is not a public document. It is one of four agreements – initially termed foundational agreements by Washington, but subsequently toned down to enabling agreements – that US legislation requires for facilitating deeper defence cooperation with India. A second agreement, the Logistic Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) that facilitates mutual logistical inter-dependence, was signed in 2016 and the Communications Compatibility and Security Arrangement (COMCASA) in 2018. The last of the four — the so-called Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) for Geospatial Intelligence – was signed last October. This allows India’s military to access a range of US topographical, nautical and aeronautical data that enables more accurate missile and long-range unmanned airborne vehicle guidance and targeting.

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.

NATIONAL NEWS

Former Punjab CM Amarinder Singh meets Union Home Minister Amit Shah

Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh met Union Home Minister Amit Shah at his residence in New Delhi on Wednesday, raising speculation over his future in politics. Singh arrived in the national capital on Tuesday, days after he quit as the chief minister of Punjab. The meeting assumes significance as Singh had not opened his cards but had claimed that he had not quit politics and would fight till the end. The veteran Congress leader had also launched a scathing attack on his bete noire, Navjot Singh Sidhu, who was appointed as the party’s Punjab unit president. Sidhu quit as the Punjab Congress chief on Tuesday. As regards his political future, Singh had said there were several options before him. Captain Amarinder Singh arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday, days after he quit as the chief minister of Punjab. Meanwhile, a day after he resigned as president of the Punjab Congress, Navjot Singh Sidhu on Wednesday hardened his stand, saying he will stick to his principles and continue his fight even if it means losing everything. Sidhu said that during his 17 years of political life, he had been working with a purpose to improve the life of people in Punjab and make a difference. Taking a principled stand on issue-based politics and sticking to it has been the core of his political journey, he added. Raising the Behbal Kalan police firing case of 2015, related to the Bargari sacrilege issue, which has been a political flash point in the State politics, Sidhu said people who had given a clean chit to the Badals and people who had fought for ‘blanket bail’ for the accused were today appointed to key posts such as Advocate-General. The people who were earlier talking about issues… where are they now and where are the resources through which we would have achieved our objective? asked Sidhu. The Congress party’s crisis in Punjab spiralled further on September 28, with Sidhu resigning from his post, Minister Razia Sultana quitting her post in support of him, and some other leaders too coming out in his support. Sidhu announced his resignation hours after portfolios were allocated by Channi. His suggestions on ‘choices of bureaucrats and ministers’ are believed to have been overruled by the party leadership. Also, the appointment of senior advocate A. P. S. Deol as Advocate-General was another reason for Sidhu’s decision, the close aide stated. Deol was counsel for former Director General of Police Sumedh Singh Saini, an accused in the Behbal Kalan police firing case of 2015.

 

Court’s power of contempt can’t be taken away even by legislatures, Supreme Court observes

Observing that the court’s power of contempt can’t be taken away even by a legislative enactment, the Supreme Court on September 29 held the chairperson of an NGO guilty of contempt for not depositing ₹25 lakh for scandalising and browbeating the court. We are of the view that the contemnor is clearly guilty of contempt of court and his action to scandalise the court cannot be countenanced, the top court said. A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M.M. Sundresh said the chairperson of NGO, Suraz India Trust, Rajiv Daiya has been throwing mud at all and sundry, including the court, administrative staff and the State government. The power to punish for contempt is a constitutional power vested with this court which cannot be taken away even by a legislative enactment, the court said. The top court issued notice to Daiya and directed him to be present on October 7 for hearing of the sentence. With regard to recovery of money, the bench said it can take place as arrears of land revenue. The top court had issued contempt notice to Daiya as to why he should not be proceeded against and sentenced for his endeavour to scandalise the court. Daiya had told the bench that he did not have the resources to pay the costs imposed by the apex court and would approach the President of India with a mercy plea. The apex court was hearing an application filed by Daiya seeking recall of the apex court’s 2017 judgement by which it had imposed costs of ₹25 lakh on it for filing 64 PILs over the years without any success and repeatedly misusing the jurisdiction of the top court.

CBI probe shows violation of court ban on toxic material use in crackers: Supreme Court 

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said a preliminary enquiry by the CBI into the firecracker industry, including in Tamil Nadu, revealed rampant violation of its ban on use of toxic ingredients like Barium and its salts. In an order in March 2020, the court ordered the CBI Joint Director in Chennai to conduct a detailed probe. The CBI was directed to examine the allegations of violation of the court ban in 2018. The CBI had filed a report in a sealed cover in the court. A Bench led by Justice M.R. Shah, referring to the contents of the report, observed that a chemical analysis of the samples of finished and semi-finished firecrackers and raw materials taken from the manufacturers showed Barium content. The court stated that loose quantities of Barium were purchased from the market. Firecracker covers did not show the manufacture or expiry dates. The court discussed why the manufacturers should not be asked to show cause why contempt action should not be taken against them. Everyday there is a celebration, but you should also be mindful of the people living around you… People who have asthma, Justice Shah remarked. The court posted the case for further hearing on October 6. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court prima facie brushed aside the manufacturers’ contention that thousands of employees earned their livelihood in the industry. Justice Shah retorted that we have to balance between employment, unemployment and the right to life and health of citizens. We cannot sacrifice the lives of many for a few. Our prime focus is the right to life of innocent people. The case gained significance with the onset of the wedding season and festivals like Dussehra and Deepawali. Everyday, there is a violation in this regard… in religious processions, political rallies, Justice Shah, accompanied by Justice A.S. Bopanna on the Bench, pointed out.

 

Locked up again, this is real picture of Kashmir: Mehbooba 

Former Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday accused the security forces of barring her from visiting a village in south Kashmir’s Tral. Locked up in my house today yet again for attempting to visit the village in Tral allegedly ransacked by army. This is the real picture of Kashmir that visiting dignitaries must be shown instead of GOIs (Government of India) sanitised and guided picnic tours, Mufti said. A PDP spokesman said policemen from the Ram Munshibagh Police Station locked up the main gate of Mufti’s residence and placed a mobile bunker to block it. Mufti had earlier alleged that the Army from Yagwani camp in Tral ransacked homes and ruthlessly thrashed a family on September 27. The daughter owing to her serious injuries was admitted to hospital. Not the first time that civilians from this village have been beaten up by army in this area, Mufti said. The police have not issued any statement on the move to restrict Mufti’s movement.

 

Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments 

The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 3,37,20,974 with the death toll at 4,47,855. Available evidence suggests that children aged 12 and above are at a high risk of contracting COVID-19 infection and must be prioritised for vaccination compared with younger children, said experts at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). They said schools should be reopened in a phased manner (beginning with primary schools) and allowed to function safely with appropriate implementation of multi-layered mitigation measures where children’s participation was essential. An opinion piece titled Reopening of schools during COVID-19 pandemic: a persistent dilemma published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research stated that there was ample evidence to suggest that children aged between one and 17 had similar susceptibility to a mild form of SARS-CoV-2 infection as in adults. However, the risk of severe disease and mortality in children was less. Meanwhile, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) decided on September 29 that schools for all classes, except those currently allowed (Class 9 to 12), will remain shut for the moment and will be allowed to open after conclusion of upcoming festive season. According to sources present in the meeting, the DDMA concluded that the situation related to COVID-19 was good, but the guard cannot be let down. In view of the upcoming festive season, Delhi Police and district administration directed to ensure enforcement of COVID-19 protocol and take care that gatherings taking place during the festive season are strictly in compliance with the laid down standard operating procedures (SOPs).

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Taliban write to DGCA for resumption of flights by Afghan carriers 

The Taliban have written to India’s DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) requesting that Afghan carriers be allowed to resume commercial flights to the country, according to a senior government official. The letter from the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was addressed to DGCA Director General on September 7, 2021. The matter is being reviewed by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the official said. Air connectivity between the two countries came to a halt after the Taliban closed the airspace over Afghanistan on August 16.

 

India, Australia sign ‘Terms of Reference’ for navy to navy talks

The Indian Navy and the Australian Navy on Wednesday signed the ‘Terms of Reference’ (ToR) for the conduct of the navy to navy talks under the framework of the ‘Joint Guidance for the India – Australia Navy to Navy Relationship’ document, signed by the two Navy Chiefs in August. This is the first such document signed by the Indian Navy with any country. The document set the navy to navy talks as the principal medium for guiding the bilateral cooperation, the Indian Navy said in a statement. The document would be pivotal in consolidating the shared commitment to promoting peace, security, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, it stated. The ToR detailed the modalities for engagement at various levels between the two navies and streamlined the process, an official source said. More such documents could be signed with countries in future, a second official source said. The document provided flexibility for the implementation of separate agreements based on the specific outcomes of the talks. The broad scope of the guidance was focused on developing mutual understanding, cooperating for regional security, collaborating in mutually beneficial activities and developing interoperability, the statement noted. The highlights of the document included close cooperation in regional and multilateral fora, including Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS), Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and expert working groups subordinate to the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus framework. The document was aligned to the ‘2020 Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’ agreed by the Prime Ministers and aimed to ensure shared approaches to regional and global security challenges. The inaugural navy to navy talk with Australia was held in 2005. Bilateral defence relations between India and Australia have significantly expanded over the years and they have also concluded a Mutual Logistics Support Agreement. Australia is also part of the Malabar naval exercise, which also includes Japan and the U.S. Australia has deployed a Liaison Officer at the Indian Navy’s Information Fusion Centre for Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) as part of efforts to expand cooperation in maritime domain awareness.

NATIONAL NEWS 

Two locals killed in firing during an eviction drive in Assam’s Darrang district 

Two persons were killed and at least ten others, most of them policemen, were seriously injured on Thursday in firing by the force on protestors demanding rehabilitation of 800 families evicted by the Darrang district administration in Assam and the clash that followed between the two sides, police said. The evicted families had launched a protest at Sipajhar demanding that the eviction be stopped and that they be provided with a comprehensive rehabilitation package. Trouble broke out when a mob of protestors, who were armed with sharp weapons, started pelting stones and attacking policemen and general people present at the spot, Darrang Superintendent of Police Sushanta Biswa Sarma said. The police opened fire in self-defense, killing two persons, both civilians. This led to the two sides coming to blows in which at least ten others were injured, he said. Most of the injured were policemen and the condition of an assistant sub inspector Moniruddin was stated to be critical by doctors treating him. He has been shifted to Gauhati Medical College Hospital, he said. The dead have been identified as Saddam Hussain and Sheikh Forid, Sarma said. The situation was later brought under control and the mob dispersed. The eviction is on in Dholpur I and Dholpur III villages despite the tension in the area after the clash with the police. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in Guwahati that there will be no stop to the ongoing eviction drive. The police has been entrusted with the responsibility of clearing the land of illegal encroachers and they will continue till the job is done. The eviction will stop when it turns dark and resume again on Friday, he added. The Darrang district administration has cleared 602.04 hectares and evicted 800 families since Monday and demolished four illegally constructed religious structures at Sipajhar, officials said. The chief minister had visited the area on June 7 and inspected the riverine areas allegedly encroached by illegal settlers near Dholpur Shiva Temple and had directed the district administration to clear the area for a community farming.

Tension continues in Chhattisgarh Congress 

As uncertainty over change of guard in Chhattisgarh continues, supporters of Health Minister T.S. Singh Deo complained of intimidation by police following an FIR against Congress secretary Pankaj Singh for allegedly manhandling a paramedic at the Chhattisgarh Institute of Medical Sciences. Deo, who has staked claim for the Chief Minister’s post as part of a 2018 arrangement of rotational tenure that he claims was agreed upon between him and Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, has been in Delhi since Monday. He has said it is a personal visit. So far, he has not met former Congress president Rahul Gandhi or any other functionary at the party headquarters, to avoid speculation of renewed efforts by him to lobby for the post. He is leaving for Raipur on Friday. Gandhi is expected to visit the State next week. He is coming on an invitation from Baghel. The tension between the two sides in the State has refused to subside. Deo’s supporters held a demonstration outside the Kotwali police station in Bilaspur on Wednesday to protest against the FIR. Singh himself has described it as an act of revenge. He claimed that he was only intervening because the hospital staff refused to conduct an MRI on a poor patient. The FIR was also filed days after the incident, the supporters claimed. The Bilaspur police booked Singh based on a CCTV footage retrieved from the hospital. Bilaspur MLA Shailesh Pandey said the action was unfortunate and it had been taken only because Singh was a supporter of Deo. This FIR is just the tip of the iceberg, the police have been told to dig up dirt on everyone who is supporting Deo. Discreet investigations are also on against Deo himself, a Congress leader close to Deo said.

Kapil Sibal demands immediate meeting of CWC, says ‘group of 23’ not ‘Jee Huzur 23’ 

With several Congress leaders quitting the party and its Punjab unit in turmoil, senior party leader Kapil Sibal on Wednesday demanded that an immediate meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) be convened and wondered who in the party was taking decisions in the absence of a full-time president. Addressing the media, he said a senior member of the ‘Group of 23’ has written to Congress President Sonia Gandhi for convening the CWC meeting immediately to discuss the party affairs and the exodus. Sibal said the grouping is not a Jee Huzur 23 and will continue to put forth the views and will continue to repeat the demands. He said the Congress needs to be strengthened as a strong opposition to take on the government and once again reiterated the demands of the group for holding elections to the post of Congress president, the CWC, and the central election committee. He expressed anguish over the developments in the party in Punjab and the recent exodus of party leaders, saying all such issues need to be discussed at a party platform.

Clearly define exemptions to govt. agencies from Data Protection Law: Parliamentary panel 

The Joint Parliamentary Committee on Data Protection has found a middle ground on the contentious clause, which in the name of sovereignty, friendly relations with foreign states and security of the state, allows any agency under the Union government exemption from all or any provisions of the law. More than ten MPs in the panel had objected to the clause, saying that it made the entire Act infructuous.  Invoking sovereignty and integrity of India, public order, friendly relations with foreign states and security of the state, the legislation gives powers to the Central government to suspend all or any of the provisions of the Act for government agencies. Sources said that the committee has largely agreed that the clause needs to be appropriately amended. The members demanded that the conditions for making the exemptions should be clearly laid down without leaving scope for interpretation. No other details of how it will be worded to avoid a possible abuse were forthcoming. In a day-long meeting on Wednesday, the committee deliberated on close to 55 clauses and is nearly half-way through the Bill. The report on the Bill is long overdue. The Bill that seeks to provide protection of personal data of individuals was introduced in the Lok Sabha in December 2019 and soon after referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee. It got its fifth extension in the monsoon session of Parliament in July this year and has now been asked to submit the report by the winter session, which is expected to be called in the third week of November.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

China displays new drones, jets.

Country stages its biggest airshow in Zhuhai. China on Tuesday showed off its increasingly sophisticated air power including surveillance drones, with an eye on disputed territories from Taiwan to the South China Sea and its rivalry with the United States. The country’s biggest airshow, in the southern coastal city of Zhuhai, comes as Beijing pushes to meet a 2035 deadline to retool its military for modern warfare. China still lags behind the United States in terms of tech and investment in its war machine, but experts say it is narrowing the gap. On Tuesday, the air force aerobatic team left colourful vapour trails as it manoeuvred in formation, while visitors inspected new jets, drones and attack helicopters on the tarmac. The CH-6, a prototype drone with a wingspan of 20.5 metres, was among the domestic tech unveiled. It is designed for surveillance and can also carry weapons for strike missions, according to open-source intelligence agency Janes. Other debutants included the WZ-7 high-altitude drone for border reconnaissance and maritime patrol as well as the J-16D fighter that has the ability to jam electronic equipment. The Zhuhai airshow, usually held every two years, was postponed from last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and is being staged before a largely domestic audience due to travel restrictions.

Pakistan exploring expansion of CPEC to Afghanistan: envoy

Pakistan has discussed Taliban-led Afghanistan joining the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) infrastructure project, the Pakistani Ambassador to the country said on Monday. Regional connectivity is an important element of our discussion with the Afghan leadership and our way forward for our economic interaction with Afghanistan, said Mansoor Ahmad Khan, Pakistan’s envoy to Kabul, in an interview with Reuters. This important project — China Pakistan Economic Corridor provides good opportunities, good potential for providing infrastructure and energy connectivity between Afghanistan and Pakistan [and] also connecting South Asia to the Central Asian region. CPEC is a central part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), under which Beijing has pledged over $60 billion for infrastructure projects in Pakistan, much of it in the form of loans. Mr. Khan said discussions had been held with the Taliban-led administration on this and other ways to develop the country’s economy. There has been deep interest in terms of developing the economic connectivity of Afghanistan with Pakistan through CPEC and with other neighbouring countries, including Iran, China and Central Asian countries. In recent days, representatives from Pakistan, China and Russia have held meetings with the Taliban officials. Mr. Khan said security and economic development were the two main topics under discussion. 

 

NATIONAL NEWS

Bharat bandh sees mass rallies, shutdowns

The Bharat Bandh call given by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha today to protest three contentious farm laws passed by the Government, led to mass rallies, shut down of markets and institutions exactly a year after the President gave his assent. The SKM, a platform of farm unions which joined hands to protest the contentious laws, whose members marched to the borders of Delhi in the tens of thousands 10 months ago to demand that the three laws be repealed. Their call for a Bharat Bandh between 6 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Monday was supported by major political parties including the Congress, the Left, Akali Dal, YSR Congress, Trinamool, Aam Aadmi Party, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. Trade unions and transport unions also backed the bandh in some parts of the country, though some declined to shut. In Kerala, the bandh was complete in most parts of the State with a full shutdown of normal life. There was a more lukewarm response in Karnataka, with some protesters detained in Bengaluru. Heavy rain in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh dampened protest activities, but the farmers’ cause was supported by most political parties, including the ruling YSRCP in AP, which suspended the State bus services and declared a school holiday. Farmer bodies staged protests in parts of Tamil Nadu as well. Markets were shut and public transport stayed off the roads in Odisha and Jharkhand. The RJD and the Congress workers blocked roads and rail tracks in parts of Bihar. Rallies were held in parts of Rajasthan, with train services affected in border districts. There was little impact on normal life in Mumbai, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Assam or Arunachal Pradesh. Vehicular movement was disrupted on national and State highways in most parts of Punjab and Haryana, with hardly any public transport, buses or taxis seen on the roads. Shops and commercial establishments were closed in many parts of the two States which make up the largest mass of the protesting unions, though the situation was normal in their joint capital Chandigarh. Train tracks were blocked at more than 20 locations in the northern zone, with the Railways saying at least 25 trains were affected in the morning. There were also reports of train tracks being blocked at some locations in Bihar and West Bengal. In the national capital, there were massive traffic snarls at Gurugram and Ghazipur as Delhi’s borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh saw heavy security due to the farmers protests as the Delhi police instituted intensive checks of vehicles entering the city.

Accessing healthcare, only a click away

With the promise of healthcare only a click away, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission to provide a digital health ID to people which will contain their health records. The pilot project of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission had been announced by the prime minister from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15, 2020. Currently, Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission is being implemented in a pilot phase in six union territories. Based on the foundations laid down in the form of Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile (JAM) trinity and other digital initiatives of the government, Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission will create a seamless online platform through the provision of a wide range of data, information and infrastructure services, duly leveraging open, interoperable, standards-based digital systems while ensuring the security, confidentiality and privacy of health-related personal information, according to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). It will enable access and exchange of longitudinal health records of citizens with their consent, the PMO said. The key components of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission include a health ID for every citizen that will also work as their health account, to which personal health records can be linked and viewed with the help of a mobile application, a Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR) and Healthcare Facilities Registries (HFR) that will act as a repository of all healthcare providers across both modern and traditional systems of medicine. This will ensure ease of doing business for doctors and hospitals and healthcare service providers. The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission Sandbox, created as a part of the mission, will act as a framework for technology and product testing that will help organisations, including private players, intending to be a part of the National Digital Health Ecosystem become a health information provider or a health information user or efficiently link with building blocks of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, the PMO said. This mission will create interoperability within the digital health ecosystem, similar to the role played by the Unified Payments Interface in revolutionising payments, it said.

Former Goa CM likely to join TMC

Amidst speculation that Luizinho Faleiro might join the Trimanool Congress, the former Goa Chief Minister and Congress leader resigned as member of the State Legislative Assembly on Monday, bringing the party’s strength in the 40-member Assembly to four. Minutes before resigning, Faleiro praised West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC head Mamata Banerjee and said the country needs a leader like her to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Faleiro, who represented the Navelim Assembly seat and was recently made the Goa Congress’s campaign committee chief in the wake of the state polls due next year, submitted his resignation to Assembly Speaker Rajesh Patnekar. The Congress had won 17 seats in the 2017 state Assembly elections, but later a number of MLAs resigned from the party. In July 2019, 10 MLAs quit the party and joined the ruling BJP.  Mamata is the one who has given a fight to Narendra Modi and his juggernaut, he said. He further said the Mamata formula has won in West Bengal. She has been able to stand up…she is a street-fighter…, the 70-year-old leader said. We need such fighters who have the same wavelength, ideology, principles and programmes. The country needs a leader like Mamata, he said. I am a Congressman, I would like larger picture of all the Congress parties (which have split from the Congress) to come together and fight the next parliamentary election. I would do everything to achieve this dream. It is definitely my dream, he said. Meanwhile, TMC leader Derek O’Brien told PTI on Saturday in Goa that the party will be contesting the upcoming Assembly polls and they were in touch with several local leaders. The party will be announcing its chief ministerial candidate soon.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Merkel loses; to stay till road ahead clears

The center-left Social Democrats in Germany’s national elections defeated outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right Union bloc in a closely fought race. Election officials said that a count of all 299 constituencies showed that the Social Democrats won 25.9% of the vote, ahead of 24.1% for the Union bloc. But Merkel, who was the chancellor for 16 years will stay at the helm till the way forward becomes clear as the results so far indicate nothing about who is going to succeed her or what the next government is going to look like. The environmentalist Greens came third with 14.8% followed by the pro-business Free Democrats with 11.5%. The two parties have already signaled that they are willing to discuss forging a three-way alliance with either of their two bigger rivals to form a government. The far-right Alternative for Germany came fourth with 10.3%, while the Left party took 4.9%. The party, known by its German acronym AfD, failed to get its core issue — migration — onto the campaign agenda this year. Germany’s Left party has scraped into Parliament, despite failing to meet the required 5% threshold. The Left, which is partly rooted in the communist party that ruled East Germany for decades, managed to win three constituencies outright in the September 26 election. Had it failed to win those constituencies it would have been kicked out of the Bundestag, as it is currently projected to receive only 4.8% of the vote. Another party, the South Schleswig Voters’ Association, looks set to win its first seat in Parliament since 1949, German public broadcaster ARD reports. Election officials said that the party is exempt from the 5% rule because it represents a national minority group, the Danes in northern Germany. Voters in the German capital have backed a proposal for the Berlin regional government to take over nearly 2,50,000 apartments worth billions from corporate owners to curb rising rents. A nearly complete count of the September 26 referendum showed 56.4% of voters in favor of the measure, and 39% opposed. Both the Social Democrats and the Greens made gains in the elections, but the Greens had hoped for better results. Projections from public television, based on exit polls and early vote counting, put voters’ support at around 26% for the Social Democrats and about 14% for the Greens. Social Democrats supporters waved the party’s red flags, broke into chants and burst into long party candidate Olaf Scholz walked onto the stage at the party’s headquarters in Berlin. Scholz thanked the crowd, voters and campaigners across the country. saying on September 26 that the party managed to pick up vote in three separate elections — nationally, in Berlin and in the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania State elections. Michael Mueller, the outgoing mayor of Berlin who ran for a seat in the country’s national Parliament, said as he stood in the crowd: I couldn’t be happier tonight.

UK warship makes first Taiwan Strait transit since 2008

Britain sent a warship through the Taiwan Strait on Monday for the first time since 2008, a move that challenges Beijing’s claim to the sensitive waterway and marks a rare voyage by a non-US military vessel. HMS Richmond, a frigate deployed with Britain’s aircraft carrier strike group, sailed through the strait on a trip from Japan to Vietnam, Britain’s defence ministry said. Wherever the Royal Navy operate, they do so in full compliance with international law, the ministry said in a statement. The UK has a range of enduring security interests in the Indo-Pacific and many important bilateral defence relationships, this deployment is a sign of our commitment to regional security, it added. Britain said it was the first time one of its warships had travelled through the narrow waterway separating Taiwan and mainland China since 2008, when HMS Kent made the voyage. US warships regularly conduct freedom of navigation exercises in the strait and trigger angry responses from Beijing, which claims Taiwan and surrounding waters — and almost all of the South China Sea. The US and most other countries view those areas as international waters that should be open to all vessels. China’s initial response to the British warship’s passage was muted on Monday. We hope the relevant countries can do more to build mutual trust between countries and uphold peace and security in the region, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters. Until recently, Washington was the main global power willing to sail through the Taiwan Strait. But a growing number of US allies have transited the route as Beijing intensifies its military threats towards Taiwan and solidifies its control over the disputed South China Sea. Canadian, French and Australian warships have all made voyages through the Taiwan Strait in recent years, sparking protests from China. A Royal Navy survey ship, HMS Enterprise, transited through the strait in 2019 but it was not a warship. Taiwan’s defence minister Chiu Kuo-cheng confirmed to reporters that a foreign vessel had sailed through the waterway but did not state which country it was from. Taiwan’s 23 million people live under constant threat of invasion by authoritarian China, which has vowed to seize the island one day — by force if necessary. Beijing has stepped up military, diplomatic and economic pressure on Taiwan since the election of President Tsai Ing-wen in 2016, who views the island as already independent. Last year, Chinese military jets made a record 380 incursions into Taiwan’s defence zone, and the number of incursions for the first eight months of this year has already exceeded 400.

NATIONAL NEWS

CJI voices support for 50% representation for women in judiciary

Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana on Sunday backed 50% representation for women in judiciary. It is your right. It is not a matter of charity…Enough of this thousands of years of suppression, Chief Justice Ramana said. The CJI paraphrased Karl Marx to say, Women of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains. Speaking to women judges and advocates of the Supreme Court at an event organised to felicitate him and the nine new apex court judges, the CJI said women constitute only about 30% of the subordinate judiciary. In High Courts, women judges constitute 11.5%. Here in the Supreme Court, we currently have four women Justices out of the sitting 33. That makes it just 12%. Of the 1.7 million advocates, only 15% are women. Only 2% of the elected representatives in the State Bar Councils are women. There is no woman member in the Bar Council of India. This needs urgent correction, Chief Justice Ramana said. The Chief Justice highlighted the need to increase gender diversity in legal education. I strongly advocate reservation of a significant percentage of seats in law schools and universities for women, as a first step. Ultimately, inclusion of women judges and lawyers will substantially improve the quality of justice delivery, the CJI said. The Supreme Court has the highest ever number of women judges serving now. The Ramana Collegium scripted history by successfully initiating the appointment of three women judges to the apex court in one go. One of them, Justice B.V. Nagarathna, is poised to be the first woman CJI in 2027. My sisters (women Supreme Court judges) here have carved out a name for themselves already. My dear sisters, your actions in upholding the Constitution will inspire women, not only in this profession but in all walks of life, the CJI addressed his women colleagues. Chief Justice Ramana said the lack of infrastructure, gender stereotypes, and social attitudes have plagued the entry and progress of women in the legal profession. Clients’ preference for male advocates, uncomfortable environment within courtrooms, lack of infrastructure, crowded courtrooms, lack of washrooms for women etc. — all these deter women from entering the profession, the CJI said. The CJI said the need for basic facilities, especially for women, need to be addressed immediately. The survey I directed found out that out of 6,000 trial courts, nearly 22% have no toilets for women, the CJI informed. Chief Justice Ramana has been repeatedly pressing for the need to form a separate entity — National Judicial Infrastructure Corporation — to introduce inclusive designs for court complexes and create a more welcoming environment in them.

Govt plans to intensify operations against Naxals, choke flow of funds, act against groups that serve as fronts 

Intensifying operations against the Naxals and choking the flow of funds to them were the two key issues discussed at a high-level meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and attended by six Chief Ministers and top officials of four other States in New Delhi on September 26, sources said. Action against frontal organisations of the Maoists, filling up the security vacuum, and concerted action by the Enforcement Directorate, the National Investigation Agency, and the State police were other vital issues discussed during the nearly three-hour-long meeting. The Chief Ministers who attended the meeting were Naveen Patnaik (Odisha), K. Chandrashekar Rao (Telangana), Nitish Kumar (Bihar), Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Uddhav Thackeray (Maharashtra) and Hemant Soren (Jharkhand), official sources ssaid West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Bhupesh Baghel of Chhattisgarh, Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan did not attend the meeting. Their States were represented by senior officials. Focused investigation and prosecution of cases, action against front organisations, coordination amongst States, capacity-building of State intelligence branches and the special forces of the States, and construction of fortified police stations were other issues discussed at the meeting. The home minister reviewed with the Chief Ministers and officials the security situation and ongoing operations against Maoists and development projects being carried out in the Naxalism-affected areas, the sources said. Shah took stock of the requirements of the States, the strength of forces deployed to tackle the extremists, and development works such as the construction of roads, bridges, school, and health centres being carried out in Naxal-hit areas. The Naxal problem, also called Left Wing Extremism (LWE), were reported in 61 districts in 2019 and in only about 45 districts in 2020. About 380 security personnel, 1,000 civilians and 900 Naxals were killed in LWE-affected areas from 2015 to 2020. A total of about 4,200 Naxals have also surrendered during the same period, as per data shared by the government.

Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi carries out first cabinet expansion 

The new Chief Minister of Punjab Charanjit Singh Channi on Saturday expanded his cabinet with 15 ministers taking oath of office here. Seven fresh faces that were included in the new cabinet include Raj Kumar Verka, Pargat Singh, Sangat Singh Gilzian, Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Gurkirat Kotli, Rana Gurjit Singh and Nabha Randeep Nabha. Former Irrigation minister and three-time MLA from Kapurthala Rana Gurjit Singh was also inducted. The Ministers that have been retained from former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh’s cabinet include Brahm Mohindra, Manpreet Badal, Sukhbinder Sarkaria, Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Vijay Inder Singla, Aruna Chaudhary, Razia Sultana and Bharat Bhushan Ashu. Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit administered the oath of office and secrecy to the legislators. Ahead of the cabinet expansion a few Congress leaders wrote to Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu against including Rana Gurjit Singh in the cabinet for his alleged involvement in a sand-mining scam in the state. Channi and two deputy Chief Ministers — O P Soni and Sukhjinder Randhawa — had already taken oath of office last week.

Caste census: Nitish to hold all-party meeting on way forward 

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday reiterated that holding a caste-based census in the country is the need of the hour, and said he would hold an all-party meeting after the Central government informed the Supreme Court that conducting such a census was not feasible. Last month leaders of ten political parties from Bihar, led by Mr. Kumar, had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to demand a caste-based census in the country. A 11-member, all party delegation led by Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren had also met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday demanding a caste-based census. Last month leaders of 10 political parties from Bihar, led by Mr. Kumar, had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to demand a caste-based census in the country.  Caste-based census is a legitimate demand and need of the hour. The Central government should think over it as it is pro-development and will help policy-makers frame targeted welfare policies for the backward classes. It (caste-based census) must take place. We’ll hold an all-party meeting again over this issue in Bihar, Kumar told media persons in Delhi. Kumar was speaking after attending a high-level meeting on Left Wing extremism. On Saturday, Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly Tejashwi Yadav had written to 33 non-BJP leaders for the demand of caste-based census in the country. The ruling party does not have a single rational reason against conducting caste based census, Yadav said in his two-page letter. The RJD leader had earlier served a three-day ultimatum to Kumar to reveal the next step after the Centre’s refusal. While listing benefits of a caste-based census in the country, Soren said the data would help in providing reservation to backward people, help in framing better policies and their implementation for development of backward class people.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Avoid shifting goalposts on border dispute, Indian envoy tells China 

India’s envoy to China has called on Beijing to avoid shifting goalposts by blurring the immediate challenge of managing disputed border areas with the longer term negotiations to resolve the boundary dispute, saying both sides needed to follow past agreements and pursue both objectives on parallel tracks. Underlining the obstacles that India-China relations currently face, Ambassador to China Vikram Misri said, The first is to avoid shifting goalposts. He was speaking at a Track Two dialogue held by Indian and Chinese institutes last week and the transcript was made available by the Indian Embassy in Beijing on Saturday. Misri said both sides continued to have conversations about resolving the crisis on the Line of Actual Control, and following disengagement at Galwan Valley, the north and south banks of Pangong Lake, and most recently at Gogra last month, were now taking up remaining friction areas. For long, the Indian and Chinese sides have adhered to a well-understood distinction between resolving the boundary question and managing border affairs, he said. The 1988 understanding between our leaders was precisely for keeping the resolution of the boundary question on a track separate yet parallel to the bilateral relationship, with maintenance of peace and tranquillity as the prerequisite. The Special Representatives mechanism, the Agreement on Political Parameters and Guiding Principles of 2005 and the three-phase framework were all designed to work on the boundary question, which we agreed was a complex and sensitive issue requiring time to work through. On the other hand, he said, for managing border affairs on a daily basis, we evolved a mechanism, consisting of instruments such as the WMCC [Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on border affairs] and a succession of agreements, protocols and CBMs, to govern behaviour on the ground and ensure peace and tranquillity. A serious violation of peace and tranquillity in the border areas naturally requires us to apply our minds on the basis of established agreements, protocols and mechanisms to resolve it, he said.

 

China has completed a key section of the Beijing-Lhasa expressway, a 295 km stretch from Lhasa to Nagqu. 

This section is located at an average altitude of 4,500 metres above sea level which Chinese state media have termed the world’s highest expressway. The Lhasa-Nagqu section is part of the G6 Beijing-Lhasa expressway and is the first expressway linking Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region to north Tibet. It also connects the PLA’s Central Theatre Command with the Western Theatre Command which is responsible for the border with India. An important stretch of the expressway between Nagqu to Yangbaijain of Lhasa-Nagqu section was put into operational trial on August 21. On completion of Lhasa-Nagqu section, the driving time between Lhasa and Nagqu has reduced from six hours to three hours. The completed expressway will pass through seven major cities of China including Beijing, Hebei, inner Mangolia, Ningxia, Gansu, Qinghai and Lhasa with an approximate length of 3,710 km. China has been on a massive infrastructure build up in Tibet which continued all through the standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh with India since May last year(2020). The infrastructure includes duel use airfields, roads, accommodation for troops, ammunition dumps among others. In June, China had launched a high speed bullet train connecting Lhasa with Nyingchi, a strategically located Tibetan town located close to Arunachal Pradesh.