| | 5 THINGS FIRST | Army Commanders' Conference in Delhi to deliberate on emerging security aspects; External Affairs Minister Jaishankar to visit Russia; Proceedings of CJI Lalit-led ceremonial bench to be live-streamed on his last working day; In SC: plea of accused in TRS MLAs poaching case; COP27 climate conference in Egypt | |
| | 1. And the bypoll winners are … |  | - The BJP on Sunday won four out of seven assembly seats that went to bypolls on November 3. It has come as a boost for the party ahead of crucial assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
- While the saffron party retained its seats in Bihar’s Gopalganj and Odisha’s Dhamnagar, and gained one in Haryana’s Adampur, it was left red-faced in Telangana’s Munugode.
Six states, seven seats- In Munugode, bypoll was necessitated after sitting Congress MLA K Rajagopal Reddy resigned from the party and joined the BJP. On Sunday, Reddy lost the seat to TRS’s K B Reddy. BJP has been aggressively trying to expand its footprints in the southern state where assembly polls are due next year. Sunday’s outcome also indicates that Chief Minister K Chadrasekhar Rao remains popular, even as he chases a larger ambition to emerge as a national leader and has been working towards forming an opposition bloc ahead of the 2024 general elections.
- At Mokama and Gopalganj in Bihar, it was the first election after CM Nitish Kumar broke his alliance with the BJP and formed the 'Mahagathbandhan' government around three months ago. While BJP won the Gopalganj seat, the RJD, which is part of the grand alliance in Bihar, won Mokama. Both parties retained these seats.
- In Gokarannath, the BJP seems to have reinforced its supremacy in a direct contest with the Samajwadi Party by winning this seat in Uttar Pradesh.
- In Adampur, former Haryana CM Bhajan Lal’s family never lost the seat since the creation of the state in 1966. The tradition continues with Bhajan Lal’s grandson, Bhavya Bishnoi of BJP winning the seat on Sunday. The bypoll was necessitated after Bhajan Lal’s son Kuldeep Bishnoi (Bhavya’s father) switched from the Congress to BJP, resigning from the seat, earlier this year.
- Dhamnagar was a crucial win for BJP. The saffron party has been working on recalibrating its strategy to regain the ground it has lost in Odisha over the last three years in the state.
- In Andheri East, there was technically no contest because BJP pulled out of the race after the Shiv Sena faction led by Uddhav Thackeray fielded the wife of its deceased MLA Ramesh Latke from the constituency in Maharashtra. Read more here.
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| | 2. Is a quota for the poor constitutionally valid? |  | The Supreme Court on Monday will pronounce its verdict on the constitutional validity of 103rd constitutional amendment for granting 10 percent reservation to Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) from unreserved categories in educational institutions and government jobs. Key questions- A five judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice India U U Lalit will pronounce its verdict on three questions framed by it regarding validity of EWS quota.
- The first issue is whether reservation based on economic criteria is permitted under the Constitution and whether it would go against the basic structure if allowed. The issue assumes significance as the Constitution does not talk about the concept of preferential treatment on the basis of economic status
- The second issue said whether the 103rd Amendment can be said to breach the basic structure of the Constitution by permitting the State to make special provisions in relation to admission to private unaided institutions.
- The third question is whether the amendment can be said to breach the basic structure in excluding the SEBCs (Socially and Educationally Backward Classes)/OBCs/SCs/STs from the scope of EWS reservation.
The 50% cap- The court's verdict may also decide whether the 50 percent cap on reservation as fixed by it is inviolable and could not be breached as this point was argued by various lawyers opposing ESW quota for breaching the cap.
Centre’s stand- Arguing that granting of 10 percent quota to the poor would not impact other categories, the Centre said that it has approved creation of more than 2.14 lakh seats in central educational institutions to ensure that EWS quota did not impact SC/STs and OBCs.
- However, the petitioners contended that economic criteria could not be a basis for granting reservation and pleaded the court to declare the amendment as unconstitutional. They said that granting quota to the forward class is a “fraud on the constitution” and amounted to stabbing its heart.
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| | 3. A question of age and consent |  | - POCSO Act: The Karnataka High Court has directed the Law Commission of India to reconsider the age of consent with regard to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
- Needs a rethink: “Having come across several cases relating to minor girls above 16 years having fallen in love and eloped and in the meantime, having had sexual intercourse with the boy, we are of the considered opinion that the Law Commission of India would have to rethink on the age criteria, so as to take into consideration the ground realities," a division bench of Justices Suraj Govindaraj and G Basavaraja said in a judgement passed on November 5.
- Police appeal: The court heard an appeal by the police challenging the acquittal of a POCSO accused. It found that the girl, then 17, had eloped with the boy in 2017. Though the girl's parents had filed the complaint, all the witnesses turned hostile. While the case continued, the two had married and now have two children.
- The high court said that it was lack of awareness of POCSO and IPC that resulted in many offences being committed by young persons. "Many a time the boy and girl involved are either closely related or very well known to each other being classmates or otherwise," the court observed.
- Greater awareness: Though lack of knowledge of law is not an excuse for committing a crime, the high court said students should be made aware of the POCSO Act. "It is required that students, especially at least of IX standard onwards, are educated on the aspects of POCSO Act, the acts which are criminalised under the POCSO Act as also under the Indian Penal Code," it said.
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| | 4. Oil’s well between India and Russia! |  | - Russia has become India's top oil supplier in October, surpassing traditional sellers Saudi Arabia and Iraq, according to data from energy cargo tracker Vortexa, cited by news agency PTI.
- Russia, which made up for just 0.2% of all oil imported by India in 2021-22, supplied 935,556 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil to India in October – the highest ever.
- It now makes up for 22% of India's total crude imports, ahead of Iraq's 20.5% and Saudi Arabia's 16%.
- India's appetite for Russian oil swelled ever since it started trading on discount as the West shunned it to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
Ups and downs - According to Vortexa, an energy intelligence firm, India imported just 36,255 barrels per day of crude oil from Russia in December 2021 as compared to 1.05 million bpd from Iraq and 952,625 bpd from Saudi Arabia.
- There were no imports from Russia in the following two months but they resumed in March, soon after the Ukraine war broke out in late February. But between March and June, oil imports from Russia sharply increased from 68,600 bpd to 942,694 bpd.
- But in June, Iraq was India's top supplier with 1.04 million bpd of oil. Russia in that month became India's second biggest supplier. Imports dipped marginally in the following two months.
- Iraq slipped to No.2 slot with 888,079 bpd of supplies in October, followed by Saudi Arabia at 746,947 bpd. The Indian government has been vehemently defending its trade with Russia, saying it has to source oil from where it is cheapest.
Meanwhile- External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is on a two-day visit to Russia starting today. He will hold talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Deputy Prime and Minister of Trade and Industry Denis Manturov. Economic cooperation between India and Russia in various domains is scheduled to take place in the talks being held amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
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| | NEWS IN CLUES | | 5. She is a boxer from India’s Northeast | Clue 1: She shot to fame after winning a Bronze medal in the 2017 Asian Boxing Championship in the women’s welterweight category
Clue 2: She is a recipient of the prestigious Arjuna Award
Clue 3: She is the third Indian boxer to win a medal in the Olympic Games
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| | 6. A push for more transparency in polls |  | - What: The Election Commission of India has proposed reducing the amount a candidate contesting polls can pay in cash for campaign-related expenditure from the existing Rs 10,000 to Rs 2,000 to make such transactions more transparent, sources in the Commission told news agency PTI.
- A proposal: In a proposal submitted to the government recently, the poll panel is learnt to have recommended that the Conduct of Election Rules should be amended to ensure that all cash payments in excess of Rs 2,000 made to a person or entity for election-related expenses are made either through account payee cheques or digital means.
- Larger goal: This, the sources told PTI, is part of larger efforts to bring greater transparency in the expenditure by individual candidates contesting polls and to remove “fungibility”. The development, on which the Union government is yet to take a call, comes ahead of polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
Applicable rules- As of now, the candidates have to ensure that all payments in excess of Rs 10,000 are made by cheque, draft or bank transfer through a bank account opened exclusively for the purpose of election expenditure.
- According to the Commission’s instructions, candidates have to open a separate bank account exclusively for election expenditure purposes, at least one day before filing of nomination.
- Candidates also have to maintain day-to-day accounts, cash books and bank books from the date of filing of nomination to the date of declaration of results. They have to include all expenses incurred on the date of filing of nomination as well.
- A candidate has to submit the election expenditure account to the District Election Officer within 30 days of the declaration of the poll results.
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| | 7. A war of words over poll promises |  | BJP president J P Nadda on Sunday promised Uniform Civil Code (UCC), 33% reservation for women in government jobs and educational institutions, and sops for different segments as he released the party's manifesto for the Himachal Pradesh assembly polls scheduled for November 12. Women’s empowerment- A mix of Hindutva, development and welfare promises underpinned the 'sankalp patra', with Nadda also releasing a separate manifesto for women, a voting segment where measures like free grains, cooking gas connections and toilets have drawn favourable responses for the BJP in different polls.
- A new BJP government will also order a survey of Waqf properties to prevent their “illegal” use, he said.
Jobs- Nadda promised creation of 8 lakh jobs, including government, bicycles for girl students in classes six to 12th and scooters for girls pursuing higher education and five new medical colleges if his party retained power.
UCC- The saffron party has been pushing for UCC which calls for the formulation of one law for India, which would be applicable to all religious communities in matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption.
- Article 44 of the Constitution lays down that the state shall endeavour to secure a Uniform Civil Code for the citizens throughout the territory of India.
A ‘cut-copy-paste manifesto'- The Congress has termed the BJP’s manifesto as a “cut-copy-paste” of their 2017 promises and in parts borrowed from the grand old party’s 2022 election document.
- On UCC, Congress' in-charge for Himachal Pradesh Rajiv Shukla asked who stopped BJP from doing so in Uttarakhand where they promised it earlier.
- Union home minister Amit Shah hit back, claiming the Congress was involved in corruption during its tenure. “Who will believe in their guarantees? They ruled for 10 years but only indulged in big scams. Now they are making guarantees to befool the innocent people of Himachal Pradesh." More details here
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| | 8. A new plan to protect Chinese nationals in Pak |  | - Pakistan and China have agreed to use bulletproof vehicles for all outdoor movements of the Chinese nationals working on the CPEC projects in Pakistan to protect them from terrorist attacks after Beijing expressed concern over their security, according to a media report.
- CPEC: The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) links Pakistan's Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea with Kashgar in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The $60 billion CPEC is part of China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a pet project of President Xi Jinping.
- Agreements: Both sides have also agreed to strengthen the capabilities of the law-enforcement agencies and investigators, according to the draft minutes of the 11th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) of the CPEC, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.
- President Xi last week had expressed “deep concern” over the security of Chinese nationals working in Pakistan on the CPEC projects and sought "reliable and safe environment" for them in his talks with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during his maiden visit to Beijing to bolster the all-weather friendship.
- A major concern: Beijing has been raising the issue of recurring attacks on Chinese nationals working in Pakistan by the Baloch Nationalist Army and other militant groups that oppose the Chinese investments in the troubled province.
- Training & personnel: The Chinese side has also committed that it would establish a training centre for the private security guards and law enforcement agency personnel to equip them with modern techniques and modules. China had even asked Pakistan to let its security personnel protect the Chinese nationals.
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| | X-Plained | | 9. Is Japan deviating from its ‘pacifist’ Constitution? |  | - Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at an international fleet review on Sunday said his country urgently needs to strengthen its military capabilities amid a worsening security environment in the East and South China seas and threats from North Korea’s nuclear and missile advancement and Russia’s war on Ukraine.
- Eighteen warships participated in the review from 12 countries, including the United States, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea. The US and France also sent warplanes. South Korea joined for the first time in seven years, in the latest sign of improvement in badly strained ties between Tokyo and Seoul over Japan's wartime atrocities.
- Countering threats: Japan has steadily stepped up its international defence role and military spending over the past decade, and plans to double its military budget in the next five to 10 years to about 2% of its GDP, citing a NATO standard, amid threats from North Korea and China's growing assertiveness.
- ‘No time to waste’: Kishida said Japan urgently needs to build more warships, strengthen anti-missile capability and improve working conditions for troops. “We have no time to waste,” Kishida said after his review aboard JS Izumo.
- A mini carrier: The 248-metre-long Izumo has been retrofitted so that it can carry US-made F-35Bs, stealth fighters capable of short take-offs and vertical landings.
- New security strategy: Kishida's government is currently working on a revision to its national security strategy and mid- to long-term defence policies, and is considering allowing the use of pre-emptive strike capability in a major shift to Japan's self-defence-only postwar principle.
- Critics say allowing pre-emptive strike capability could violate Japan's pacifist Constitution. But Kishida said Japan will stick to its pledge as a “pacifist nation” and continue to explain its security policy to gain understanding, while asking other countries to do the same.
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| | | Answer To NEWS IN CLUES |  | Lovlina Borgohain: The boxer from Assam assured herself of a medal in her maiden outing in the 75 kg category with a 3-2 split decision victory against Valentina Khalzova at the Asian Boxing Championships in Amman, Jordan. Lovlina needed just one win to assure herself of at least a bronze and the 25-year-old boxer toiled hard to eke that out against Kazakhstan’s Khalzova in the quarterfinal late on Saturday night. | |
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| Written by: Rakesh Rai, Jayanta Kalita, Prabhash K Dutta, Abhishek Dey
Research: Rajesh Sharma
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