Daily news wrap: Bihar phase II polls tomorrow, 19 dead in Afghan university attack & more

The stage is set for the second of the three-phase Bihar assembly elections, which will decide the fate of RJD chief minister candidate Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and seven ministers of the Nitish Kumar government.

Voting will take place on November 3 in 94 assembly segments in which over 2.85 crore voters are eligible to decide the fate of nearly 1,500 candidates on Tuesday.

The seven ministers whose fate will be decided are Nand Kishore Yadav (Patna Sahib), Rana Randhir Singh (Madhuban), Shravan Kumar (Nalanda), Ram Sevak Singh (Hathua), Maheshwar Hazari (Kalyanpur), Suresh Sharma (Muzaffarpur) and Madan Sahni (Gora Bauram).

Gunmen stormed Kabul University on Monday as it hosted a book fair attended by the Iranian ambassador to Afghanistan, sparking an hours-long gun battle and leaving at least 19 dead and 22 wounded at the war-torn country's largest school.

The ministry's spokesman, Tariq Arian, also said there were three attackers involved in the assault, all of whom were killed in the ensuing firefight. As the sun slowly set over the Afghan capital, there were few other details though the Taliban issued a statement denying they took part in the assault.

The attack came as the insurgents are continuing peace talks with the US-backed government. Those negotiations, taking place in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, aim to help the US finally withdraw from America's longest war, though daily bloodshed continues and an Islamic State affiliate launches its own attacks on Shiites in the country.

Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu on Monday gave a "mini heart attack" to sports fraternity with a social media post where she said: "I RETIRE".

In a lengthy post on her official Twitter handle, Sindhu said that the Denmark Open was the final straw and she has decided to 'retire'. However, the reigning World Champion was not talking about retiring from the sport.

"Denmark Open was the final straw. I RETIRE," the Rio Olympics silver medallist said.

"I have been thinking about coming clean with my feelings for a while now. I admit I have been struggling to deal with it. It just feels so wrong, you know. That's why I'm writing today to tell you that I'm done. It's understandable if you're shocked or confused but by the time you finish reading this you would have learnt about my point of view, and hopefully, will support it too," she added.

The government on Monday released Rs 6,000 crore as second tranche of GST compensation shortfall to 16 states and 3 union territories (UTs), the ministry of finance said in an official statement.

Till date, the finance ministry has facilitated loans of Rs 12,000 crore under the special window to states and UTs.
The amount will be passed on to them at the same interest rate, which is lower than the cost of borrowings for the states and UTs, thus benefitting them.

The Centre had on October 23 transferred Rs 6,000 crore to 16 states and 2 UTs of Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir as part of its first tranche of transfer to states.

At four back to back rallies at Chhapra, Samastipur, Motihari and Bahuarwa (West Champaran) that brought a close to campaigning for the second and penultimate phase of Bihar polls on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi exerted his super star thrust on the NDA campaign that has been carpet bombing Bihar with an array of star campaigners ranging from UP CM Yogi Adityanath to star Bhojpuri singer Nirahua.

The PM targeted the lone Mahagathbandhan crowd puller: its CM face Tejashwi Prasad Yadav. The latter, who was dismissed as a mere pretender just weeks ago, was acknowledged as the NDA’s challenger. In rally after rally, PM Modi referred to the RJD leader as ‘jungle raj ka yuvraj’.

While the NDA’s chosen leader in Bihar – CM Nitish Kumar – seemed slipping on his ‘15 years vs 15 years’ campaign, the PM recalled the 15 years of the Lalu-Rabri raj as the jungle raj which, he reiterated, must not be allowed a rerun.

India and Nepal may be emerging from its sudden deep-freeze, when General MM Naravane travels to Kathmandu on November 4 on his second consecutive diplomatic mission.

Visiting at the invitation of his counterpart, Gen Purna Chandra Thapa, Gen Naravane will be conferred the honorary rank of the commander of the Nepal Army, an old reciprocal tradition.

But Naravane’s visit is a lot more than that. Coming soon after an unusually publicised visit by the RAW chief, Samant Goel, it is a signal that New Delhi may finally be open to engaging Kathmandu, after a map fiasco earlier this year soured relations between the two countries. In fact it was Naravane’s comments about Nepal acting at “someone’s behest” (read China) that inflamed opinions in Kathmandu.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday no manufacturing unit will be allowed in new industrial areas of the city and only service and hi-tech industries will be permitted there.

Addressing an online press conference, he said the Centre has okayed the Delhi government's proposal in this matter and issued a notification to implement it.

Kejriwal said the existing manufacturing units, which cause pollution, will be given the option to shift to service or hi-tech industry.

Asserting that Delhi's economy is mainly based on service industry, he said, hi-tech and service industry will be provided space at cheaper rates in industrial areas.

India continues to occupy the top position globally in terms of Covid-19 recoveries, while the total number of active cases have witnessed a sustained downward trend with its percentage having reduced more than three times in just two months, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday.

With 53,285 people recuperating from the infection in a day, the total number of recoveries have surged to 75,44,798 on Monday, while at the same time the country recorded 45,231 new cases.

There are 5,61,908 active cases of coronavirus infection which comprises only 6.83 per cent of the total caseload in the country, the ministry said. The number of active cases remained below six lakh for four days in a row.

The economic blockade on NH-306 connecting Silchar with Aizawl entered the fifth day on Sunday, crippling supply of essentials and other commodities to Mizoram from other parts of the country.

Police said no truck or other vehicles could leave for Mizoram from the Lailapur inter-state border point on Sunday because of blockade. Truckers from Assam also joined in. They said there was no report of fresh violence in the areas along Assam-Mizoram border.

Sources said while the agitators have been demanding withdrawal of Mizo security from Assam areas, truckers have been demanding adequate security inside Mizoram territory.

China is all set to begin the construction of the strategic Sichuan-Tibet Railway between Ya’an in southwest Sichuan province and Linzhi in Tibet, close to the Indian border in Arunachal Pradesh, the official media reported.

China Railway announced on Saturday the bidding results for the construction of two tunnels and one bridge, as well as the power supply project for the Ya’an-Linzhi section of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway, indicating that construction of the project is about to begin.

The Sichuan-Tibet Railway is the second such project in Tibet after the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. It will go through the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, one of the world’s most geologically active areas, said a report by the state-run China News.