EAM JAISHANKAR DISCUSSES UKRAINE CONFLICT, INDO-PACIFIC WITH US SECRETARY OF STATE BLINKEN IN CAMBODIA

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday and discussed the Ukraine conflict, the strategic Indo-Pacific region and bilateral relations on the sidelines of the ASEAN-India summit here in the Cambodian capital.

Jaishankar is accompanying Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, who is leading the Indian delegation to the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit and the 17th East Asia Summit in Phnom Penh.

“A good meeting with US Secretary of State @SecBlinken. Discussed Ukraine, Indo-Pacific, energy, G20 and bilateral relations,” Jaishankar said in a tweet.

He also met UN chief Antonio Guterres at the end of the ASEAN gala dinner on Saturday.

Jaishankar held also talks with his counterpart from Thailand Don Pramudwinai.

“Always nice to catch up with DPM & FM Don Pramudwinai of Thailand. Discussed our shared regional concerns and the strengthening partnership with ASEAN,” he said.

“Met Canadian colleagues Trade Minister @mary_ng and FM @melaniejoly at the ASEAN gala dinner. All for greater trade and strategic convergence, while countering terrorism and opposing radicalization,” he said in another tweet.

COP27: INDIA THWARTS ATTEMPT TO CLUB IT WITH HISTORICAL POLLUTERS

Supported by other developing countries, India blocked an attempt by rich nations to focus on all top 20 emitters of carbon dioxide during discussions on the 'Mitigation Work Programme' at the ongoing UN climate summit in Egypt.

During the first week of the climate talks, developed countries desired that all top 20 emitters, including India and China, discuss intense emission cuts and not just the rich nations which are historically responsible for climate change, they said.

There are developing countries in the top 20 emitters, including India, that are not responsible for warming that has already occurred.

India pushed back the attempt with the support of like-minded developing countries, including China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan.

At COP26 in Glasgow last year, parties acknowledged that a 45 per cent reduction in global CO2 emissions by 2030 (as compared to 2010 levels) is required to limit average global temperature rise to 1.5 degree Celsius. Accordingly, they agreed to develop a Mitigation Work Programme (MWP) to "urgently scale up mitigation ambition and implementation" . Mitigation means reducing emissions, ambition means setting stronger targets and implementation means meeting new and existing goals.

Coming into COP27, developing countries had raised concerns that rich nations, through the MWP, will push them to revise their climate targets without enhancing the supply of technology and finance. In the run-up to COP27, India had said the MWP cannot be allowed to "change the goal posts" set by the Paris Agreement.

‘IT’S HERE TO STAY’: FORMER CJI UU LALIT DEFENDS COLLEGIUM SYSTEM

Amid criticism of the Collegium system of appointing judges, former CJI UU Lalit on Sunday defended it as ‘the best’ and said it’s here to stay.

“In my opinion the Collegium system is the best system it has proved to have worked effectively,” Justice Lalit, who demitted office as the 49th CJI on November 8, said.

Talking to reporters at his residence this evening, he however, said Parliament was free to enact a law like the National Judicial Appointment Commission (NJAC) once again, if it wished to.

Law Minister Kiren Rijiju had recently criticised the Collegium system for being opaque. “No system can be 100 per cent perfect. But we need to strive for a better system. When Parliament passed the NJAC in 2015, the Supreme Court struck it down. They (SC) should have told us which system would be better,” Rijiju had said.

Terming the Law Minister’s comments as his “personal opinion”, Justice Lalit asserted, “The collegium system has got the approval of five judges’ Bench of the Supreme Court.”

The former CJI’s comments came two days after a Bench led by Justice SK Kaul took serious objection to the Centre sitting over the recommendations made by the Collegium for judicial appointments.

Justice Lalit also disapproved of former CJI Ranjan Gogoi accepting nomination to the Rajya Sabha. “To my mind, having held the position as Chief Justice of the country, perhaps, I think the position as a nominee Member of Rajya Sabha is not the correct idea or as a Governor of a state is again not a correct idea,” Justice Lalit said.

However, he said he won’t mind taking over as the National Human Rights Commission Chairman, Lokpal, and Law Commission Chairman.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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6 DIE IN ISTANBUL BLAST, PREZ HINTS AT TERRORISM

An explosion shook a bustling pedestrian thoroughfare in central Istanbul on Sunday, killing at least six people and wounding dozens, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. Erdogan attributed the blast to a “bomb attack” and said those who carried it out would be punished, without accusing any specific group of being behind it. Speaking to reporters, he said preliminary findings suggested that a woman had been involved but did not provide further details.

“Efforts to make the Turkish nation surrender by terror will not reach their aim today, as they did not in the past,”he said.

The blast hit Istiklal Avenue, a short walk from Taksim Square and one of the city’s busiest areas for shopping, tourism and transit. A soccer game scheduled for later Sunday nearby may have brought even more people than usual to the area.

The person who left the bomb that caused Istanbul's explosion was arrested by the police, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Monday.

DEMS RETAIN SENATE CONTROL AS HOUSE HANGS IN BALANCE

The Democratic Party has retained control of the US Senate, winning two close contests in Arizona and Nevada to go up 50-49, with one seat (Georgia) going into a runoff election in December because no candidate could hit the 50% vote required under state laws. With the vice-president having a tie-breaker vote, Democrats have once again edged out Republicans who were tipped by pollsters to win both the Senate and the 435-member House. Winning Georgia would, a distinct possibility now, would be the icing on the cake, freeing vice-president Kamala Harris from babysitting the Senate.

For that matter, even the House results remain on knife’s edge with Republicans struggling to reach the 218 majority mark. With results in 20 seats, mostly from the Democrat-leaning west coast still due, the GOP is leading 211-204. It is now expected to win only a very narrow majority, possible of only one or two seats rather than the 25-50 seat lead it was projected to take. There is still a small possibility Democrats can retain an equally thin majority in the House where they had a five-seat advantage.

The shock results, one of the best in mid-term elections, by a party in control of the White House, has completely changed the political dynamics in America. Bloodletting and circular fire has erupted in the Republican with the establishment GOP unloading on Donald Trump for blowing the chance to win.

A visibly happy President Biden, travelling in east Asia, tweeted, “Tuesday was a good day for America and a good day for democracy—and a strong night for Democrats. He said the Democrats’ midterm election successes sent him into crunch talks with China’s Xi Jinping in a stronger position.

WAR A CATALYST FOR EXPANSION OF NUKE ENERGY: IAEA CHIEF

Despite the continued risk of damage to Ukraine’s largest power plant due to the fighting between Russian and Ukrainian troops, the war is acting as a “catalyst” for deployment of nuclear power in many countries, especially those in eastern Europe, the head of International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Mariano Grossi has said.

“I know it is paradoxical… it is not something to be celebrated, but it is happening…,” Grossi said.

Asked whether the war in Ukraine, particularly the threats of use of a nuclear weapon or the risk of damage to a nuclear facility, was dampening interest in nuclear power, Grossi said the reverse seemed to be happening.

“Take (the case of) eastern Europe. The war in Ukraine has been a steroid for (adoption of) nuclear (power). It has made Poland decide to go all the way (opt for nuclear power). No doubts about it. Ukraine (is asking for) more (nuclear power), Czech Republic more, Slovakia more, Romania more, Bulgaria more. All of them. And several of them, almost all of them, with the exception of Poland, are working with Russia (on their nuclear plans). Paradoxical, isn’t it?” Grossi said.

“I wouldn’t say this is something to be celebrated. I am just saying this is happening. Let me put it like this. The war has acted like a catalyst… something that accelerates a process that was already there. Most of the plans (in these countries) already existed. Maybe it is just about the factor of speed. People realise that if energy security is a concern, nuclear power gives you the kind of autonomy or reliability that you need,” he said, adding that Egypt, the host of COP27 meeting, was also in the process of installing nuclear power.

“In a few years, you would have a very good percentage of electricity of nuclear origin in this country,” he said, referring to similar plans in countries like Ghana, Namibia and Kenya.

Grossi said this was happening despite the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine remaining at constant risk of damage due to the war, or from the forced outages of external power at the facility that threaten the shutdown of cooling systems and potential release of radiation.

THE REST

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PUNJAB GOVT BANS PUBLIC DISPLAY OF FIREARMS, SONGS GLORIFYING WEAPONS

Amid sharp Opposition criticism over an allegedly deteriorating law and order situation, Punjab’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government Sunday ordered a complete ban on public display of weapons and songs glorifying violence.

In a communication to the Director General of Police, Commissioners of Police, District Magistrates and Senior Superintendents of Police, the Punjab Home Department also directed a review of all firearm licences issued in the state so far within three months.

According to the order, “public display and exhibition of weapons including on social media” as well as songs glorifying weapons or violence are to be banned.

It asked officers to “immediately cancel the arms licence” if it was found to be issued to any miscreant during the review.

According to the order, no new firearm licence should be issued in the next three months, except when competent authorities were “personally convinced that issuing of arms licence was necessary due to extraordinary circumstances”.

The order also directed that “FIR be registered against person making hate speech against any community”.

The orders have been issued in the backdrop of recent killings of Shiv Sena (Taksali) leader Sudhir Suri in Amritsar and dera follower Pardeep Singh, who was out on bail in 2015 sacrilege case, in Kotkapura. Earlier, the killing of kabaddi player Sandeep Nangal Ambian in Jalandhar in March and the killing of singer Sidhu Moosewala in May had sparked outrage.

BAN ON 5 MEDICINES OF RAMDEV'S DIVYA PHARMACY REVOKED

An order asking Yoga guru Ramdev's Divya Pharmacy to stop the production of five medicines for diabetes, blood pressure, goitre, glaucoma and high cholesterol has been revoked by the Uttarakhand Ayurveda and Unani Licensing Authority.

Amending the earlier order, the authority on Saturday issued a fresh one allowing the firm to continue the production of these medicines. Observing that there was an error in the previous order dated November 9, the drug controller of the state health authority GCN Jangpangi said it had been issued in haste. "We should have given the company time to explain its stand before issuing the order," Jangpangi said.

Ramdev's close aide Acharya Balkrishna expressed his gratitude to the state government for rectifying the error.

POCSO ACT ENACTED TO PROTECT KIDS FROM SEXUAL EXPLOITATION, NOT TO CRIMINALISE CONSENSUAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN YOUNG ADULTS: DELHI HC

While granting bail to a man booked for kidnapping and offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), the Delhi High Court recently held that the Act intends to protect children from sexual exploitation and not “criminalise consensual romantic relationships between young adults”.

A single judge bench of Justice Jasmeet Singh, in his order of October 20, made this observation while hearing a bail application of a man booked for aggravated penetrative sexual assault (Section 6) and abetment (Section 17) under the POCSO Act, kidnapping (Section 363) and rape (Section 376) under the IPC.

According to the facts of the case, a 17-year-old girl was married to a man on June 30, 2021, but she did not wish to stay with him. On October 27, 2021, she went to the accused’s house, her friend, who took her to Punjab where they got married. The girl’s father then lodged an FIR against the accused, alleging he took her against her will.

On the nature and intent of POCSO, the HC referred to a January 2021 order of the Madras High Court in Vijayalakshmi v. State which said, “what came to be a law to protect and render justice to victims and survivors of child abuse, can, become a tool in the hands of certain sections of the society to abuse the process of law”.

INDIAN STARTUP'S ROCKET LAUNCH PUT OFF BY 3 DAYS

Inclement weather has put off the launch of India’s first privately manufactured rocket that was to take off on November 15 from ISRO’s port Sriharikota for suborbital flight.

The launch has been postponed by three days, said Skyroot Aerospace, the Hyderabad-based manufacturer of the rocket.

Anything lofted above the “Karman Line” (100 km above sea level) is considered a foray into space. Objects that remain below it are considered to have made suborbital flights for upper-atmospheric experiments.

“Due to the inclement weather forecast, we have been given a new launch window from November 15 to 19 for our Vikram-S rocket from Sriharikota, with the most likely date being November 18 at 11.30 am,” said a spokesperson for Skyroot, a space startup.

The maiden mission of Skyroot, named “Prarambh” (the beginning), will carry three payloads, including one from a foreign customer. The mission will help Skyroot validate the technologies that will be used in the next Vikram series rocket (Vikram-1) planned for commercial launch in 2023.

“One of the key areas that we will be monitoring closely during the November 18 flight will be the performance of our solid-fuelled rocket engine,” the Skyroot spokesperson said.

6 KILLED AFTER VINTAGE AIRCRAFT COLLIDE AT DALLAS AIR SHOW

Six people were killed after two historic military planes collided and crashed to the ground on Saturday afternoon during a Dallas air show, officials said.

Emergency crews raced to the crash scene at the Dallas Executive Airport, about 10 miles from the city’s downtown.

News footage from the scene showed crumpled wreckage of the planes in a grassy area inside the airport perimeter.

Officials did not specify how many people were inside each plane, but Hank Coates, president of the company that put on the airshow, said one of the planes, a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber, typically has a crew of four to five people. The other, a P-63 Kingcobra fighter plane, has a single pilot.

The Kingcobra, a US fighter plane, was used mostly by Soviet forces during the war. Most B-17s were scrapped at the end of World War II and only a handful remain today, largely featured at museums and air shows, according to Boeing.

MUKESH AMBANI ENTERS RACE TO BUY LIVERPOOL: REPORTS

Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, is reportedly eyeing up a bid to take over Liverpool after the club were put up for sale by their current owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG).

According to the Mirror, the FSG are willing to sell for £4bn, and there is a greater desire to buy the Merseyside club outright. Ambani, with a net worth of around £90billion and rated by Forbes as the eighth richest person in the world, has already enquired about the club.

FSG, who took charge of the Liverpool club in 2010, stunned the footballing world earlier this week when they said they would be open to listening to offers for the club.

However, it is not the first time Mukesh Ambani had shown interest in buying Liverpool. Back in 2010, along with Subroto Roy, chairman of Sahara Group, Reliance Industries wanted to bid for a 51 per cent stake in Liverpool. However, the rumours were denied by then Liverpool chief executive Christain Purslow.

ENGLAND CROWNED T20 WORLD CHAMPIONS

England's golden generation of white ball cricketers overcame a spirited Pakistan to lift the T20 World Cup trophy with a comfortable five-wicket victory in Melbourne on Sunday.

The Pakistani fans were longing for an encore of 1992 when Imran Khan's team created history at this very venue but batting let Babar Azam's side down as 137 for 8 was never going to be good enough.

The seasoned Ben Stokes (52 not out off 49 balls) just like the 2019 ODI World Cup, anchored the chase despite occasional scratchiness and had a calm Moeen Ali (19) as an ideal foil.

They chased down the target in 19 overs to regain the title they had won in 2010 in the West Indies. Stokes took 30 balls to measure the Pakistani attack but with no scoreboard pressure, the southpaw pressed the accelerator just when needed to finish the match.

Experienced Haris Rauf and young Nasim Shah bowled their hearts out to prevent it from becoming a one-sided game but Stokes soaked the pressure along with Ali as the duo put on a 48-run stand for the fifth wicket to nail the win that avenged England's loss to the same rivals in the '92 (ODI) World Cup final.

Shaheen Shah Afridi also could not bowl his full quota of overs after suffering a hamstring injury while fielding and that too helped England.

But player of the evening certainly was left-arm seamer Sam Curran (3/12), whose couple of spells had heavily tilted the game in the favour England.

Shane Warne had tormented Pakistan at the MCG in the 1999 final and it was turn of another leggie Adil Rashid (2/22) to flummox them.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

You cannot be anything you want to be, but you can be a whole lot more of who you already are. - Tom Rath

OFF TRACK

Some members of a health club were having their first meeting. The director of the group said, "Now, I'd like each of you to give the facts of your daily routine."

Several people spoke, admitting their excesses, and then one obviously overweight member said, "I eat moderately, I drink moderately, and I exercise frequently."

"Hmm?" said the manager. "And are you sure you have nothing else to add?"

"Well, yes," said the member. "I lie extensively."