RELIGIOUS CONVERSION BY FORCE, ALLUREMENT OR FRAUDULENT MEANS ‘VERY SERIOUS’ MATTER: SUPREME COURT

Terming forced religious conversion a “very serious” issue, the Supreme Court on Monday took a serious note of such proselytisation through deception, allurement and intimidation, and asked the Centre to step in and make sincere efforts to check the practice.

The apex court was hearing a plea filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay seeking direction to the Centre and states to take stringent steps to control fraudulent religious conversion by "intimidation, threatening, deceivingly luring through gifts and monetary benefits".

It warned a "very difficult situation" will emerge if such religious conversions are not stopped as they may pose a danger to national security and the fundamental right of citizens to freedom of religion and conscience.

A bench of Justices MR Shah and Hima Kohli asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to enumerate measures to curb the practice through allurement.

The top court observed there may be freedom of religion but there cannot be freedom of religion by forced conversion.

"The issue with respect to the alleged conversion of religion, if it is found to be correct and true, is a very serious issue which may ultimately affect the security of the nation as well as the freedom of religion and conscience of the citizens. "Therefore, it is better that the Union government may make their stand clear and file counter on what steps can be taken by Union and/or others to curb such forced conversion maybe by force, allurement or fraudulent means," the bench said in its order.

It granted time till November 22, 2022 to the Centre to file its response on the issue and posted the matter for hearing on November 28.

NEED TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO MEET NET-ZERO TARGET BY 2070: INDIA AT COP27

India would need “tens of trillions of dollars by 2050” to transition to a low-carbon development path that would take it to the promised net-zero status by 2070, the government said on Monday.

Separately, nearly two trillion dollars would be required just for adaptation purposes in the short term between now and 2030, it said, in its long-term strategy document that was released at the climate change meeting in Sharm El-sheikh.

Every country has to submit its long-term strategy, showing how it plans to reach its net-zero target. Developed countries have to reach net-zero status by 2050, China has decided to get there by 2060, while India has set 2070 as its target year.

India has provided details of the kind of transitions it is seeking to make in electricity, transport, building and forests sectors, along with the research and development efforts and finance that would be required to make these transitions. Unlike some other countries that have submitted their long-term strategies, India has avoided mentioning specific details like numbers, mid-term targets, scenarios, pathways or projections in its journey towards the net-zero goal.

The 121-page strategy document has nothing that can be treated as interim targets. India’s climate targets, as for everyone else, is only till 2030. These are what are known as nationally determined contributions, or NDCs, which have to be renewed for a further five-year period every five years.

PM MODI GOES TO  BALI, FOR G20 SUMMIT

Ahead of his visit to Indonesia for the G20 summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said he will hold extensive discussions with leaders of the G20 grouping in Bali on key challenges such as reviving global growth, ensuring food and energy security, and addressing issues related to health and digital transformation.

In a pre-departure statement, Modi said he will also highlight India’s achievements and its “unwavering commitment” to collectively address global issues while noting that the country’s upcoming presidency of the G20 will be grounded in the theme ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam‘, or ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’.

The Prime Minister reached Bali late Monday evening on a three-day visit to participate in the G20 summit, which is expected to discuss pressing global challenges, including implications of the Ukraine conflict, especially on food and energy security.

The Prime Minister said he will also highlight India’s achievements, and its “unwavering commitment” to collectively address global challenges, during the summit. “In a significant moment for our country and citizens, President of Indonesia Joko Widodo will hand over the G20 Presidency to India at the closing ceremony of the Bali Summit,” the statement quoted him saying.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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AT G20 SUMMIT: US, CHINA PEDAL BACK TENSIONS WITH XI-BIDEN MEET

China and the US resolved to keep an open line of communication in order to prevent competition veering into conflict. China had shut down military-to-military and other lines of communication with the US after a visit to Taiwan by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

As the first step to maintain communication, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Beijing, the two leaders agreed.

Meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping for the first time since he took over as US President, Joe Biden explained that the US would continue to compete vigorously with China, including by “investing in sources of strength at home and aligning efforts with allies and partners around the world”.

“This competition should not veer into conflict and the US and China must manage it responsibly,” said a White House readout. The two leaders, meeting in Bali on the eve of the G20 Summit, discussed the importance of developing principles that would advance these goals and tasked their teams to discuss these further, it added.

Xi spoke about charting a “flight course” for the relationship between the two superpowers, which was important not only for the two countries, but also for the whole world. He also said there was “no intention to challenge or displace the US”, according to Xinhua.

During their meeting, Xi said he also looked forward to working with Biden to bring China-US relations back to the track of healthy and stable growth to the benefit of the two countries and the whole world. Xi pointed out the current state of China-US relations was not in the fundamental interests of the two countries and people, and was not what the international community expected.

On Taiwan, Biden said the “One China policy” had not changed and raised objections to China’s coercive actions toward Taiwan. He also raised concerns about China’s non-market economic practices, which “harm American workers”, the White House stated.

PERMANENT RESIDENTS CAN NOW JOIN CANADIAN ARMY

The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) have announced that permanent residents, of whom Indians form a large chunk, will now be allowed to enlist, as the military struggles with low recruitment levels, according to a media report.

The move came five years after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) announced that they’re changing their “outdated recruitment process” which will allow permanent residents who have lived in Canada for 10 years to apply, CTV News reported.

The announcement came amid reports that the Canadian military is struggling to recruit new members to fill thousands of vacant positions.

As of 2021, there were more than 80 lakh immigrants with permanent residence living in Canada, roughly 21.5 per cent of the total population.

Nearly 1,00,000 Indians became permanent residents of Canada in 2021 as the country admitted a record 4,05,000 new immigrants in its history. One in five people coming to Canada was born in India, the data shows, making it the top country of birth for recent arrivals.

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BJP HIGHLIGHTS NEHRU ‘FOLLY’ ON J&K, CONGRESS COUNTERS

The BJP and Congress on Monday clashed on Jawaharlal Nehru’s Kashmir policy, with Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju and Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri slamming Nehru’s decision to take the matter to the UN as a “folly” and “monumental blunder”.

The Congress paid rich tributes to Nehru on his 133rd birth anniversary, as party leaders said there are “motivated attempts” to malign him and that Union ministers are “abusing Pandit-ji every day.”

Rijiju, who has criticised Nehru on multiple occasions in recent days, said in a series of tweets that Nehru let the “myth” of a UN-mandated plebiscite in J&K perpetuate and created the “divisive” Article 370. “Nehru was aware even in June 1947 that all that Hari Singh wanted was to join the Indian dominion. Nehru stated as much in his note to Mountbatten…people of this region, along with the rest of India, deserve to know the truth of what actually happened…” he posted.

In Srinagar, Puri said, “Why was the (Kashmir) issue taken to international or multinational fora? My information has been that then Maharaja Hari Singh was happy to sign the instrument of accession…. But the political leadership in Delhi was saying they wanted it (accession) to be more broad based and therefore they wanted a plebiscite. So they wanted to take it to a multilateral forum.” He said, “Was it an error of judgment? You can say the man (Nehru) made a mistake but you cannot justify it. The historical facts are staring you in the face that making the reference (to multinational fora) and calling for a plebiscite is not a folly, I think it is a monumental blunder…”

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh countered by tweeting, “(Mo)Distorians will continue to distort, defame and denigrate but Nehru continues to inspire and his relevance has only increased after 2014.”

LIVE-IN PARTNER CHOPS WOMAN'S BODY INTO 35 PIECES, DUMPS THEM AT VARIOUS PLACES IN DELHI

A 28-year-old man allegedly strangled his live-in partner and sawed her body into 35 pieces which he kept in a 300-litre fridge for almost three weeks at his residence in South Delhi’s Mehrauli before dumping them across the city over several days, police said on Monday.

In a harrowing tale of betrayal and subterfuge, the accused, a trained chef, evaded detection for six months, continued to live in the house they shared and was only arrested on Saturday after details of the killing and its grisly aftermath came to light during his interrogation.

Aaftab Amin Poonawala told the police during the investigation that he killed Shraddha Walkar after a quarrel over marriage and the idea of chopping her body into pieces was inspired by “Dexter”, an American crime TV series.

He not only bought the fridge to preserve the body parts but also stocked incense sticks and room fresheners to suppress the foul smell emanating from the corpse.

Stepping out past midnight with body parts packed in poly bags, the accused meticulously planned which ones to dispose of first depending upon which part starts decomposing at the earliest, the police said.

According to police officials, 13 body parts were found after the accused pinpointed the areas where he had thrown them, but only after their forensic examination, it can be confirmed if they belong to the victim.

For the next few weeks after the murder, Poonawala allegedly interacted with the woman’s friends using her social media accounts so as to not arouse any suspicion. Walkar was not talking to her family as they had objected to their relationship.

Moving on with his life as if nothing happened, the accused continued to live in the same place where they had shifted in May after moving from Mumbai.

The victim’s father in Mumbai filed a complaint when one of her friends informed him in September that Walkar’s phone had been unreachable for two months and Poonawala claimed that they had parted ways some time back.

Poonawala and Walkar had met each other through an online dating application. Later, they started working for the same call centre in Mumbai and fell in love. But their families objected to the relationship as they belong to different faiths, prompting the couple to move to Delhi earlier this year, the officials said.

“Around mid-May, the couple had an argument over marriage, which escalated and Poonawala killed her,” Ankit Chauhan, Additional DCP-I, South district, said.

SLOWER RISE IN FOOD PRICES HELPS EASE RETAIL INFLATION TO 6.77%

India’s retail inflation eased to a three-month low of 6.77 per cent in October from 7.41 the previous month, helped by a slower rise in food inflation and the base effect, data released by the National Statistical Office on Monday showed.

Food inflation, which accounts for nearly 47 per cent of the CPI basket, eased to 7.01 per cent per cent in October from 8.6 per cent the previous month while fuel inflation continued to stay elevated at 9.93 per cent.

Retail inflation has stayed above the RBI Monetary Policy Committee’s tolerance band of 2-6 per cent for over three successive quarters with the October print marking the tenth month of staying above 6 per cent and three years of staying over 4 per cent.

On November 3, the MPC held a special meeting to finalise a report to the government regarding the failure on meeting its inflation target. RBI governor Shaktikanta Das had said Saturday he expected retail inflation to come below 7 per cent in October.

ADANI GROUP GETS APPROVAL FOR NDTV OPEN OFFER BOOSTING TAKEOVER BID

Billionaire Gautam Adani’s conglomerate received the regulatory nod to float an open offer for a further 26% stake in New Delhi Television Ltd., marking a crucial milestone in a takeover battle between Asia’s richest person and the broadcaster’s founders.

The SEBI approved Adani Group’s open offer, according to a statement on the market regulator’s website Monday, allowing Adani to buy more equity from the media firm’s minority shareholders.

NDTV’s founders -- Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy -- have opposed the bid, amid concerns that the transaction will erode press freedom in the world’s largest democracy given the powerful tycoon’s perceived close relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Adani Group has offered to buy NDTV shares at 294 rupees ($3.6) each, while the media firm’s stock closed 24% higher at 364.85 rupees on Monday in Mumbai.

NUMBER OF INDIAN STUDENTS IN US ON RISE, NOW AT A HIGHER RATE THAN CHINESE

In the last one decade, the number of Indian students annually picking the United States for higher education has more than doubled, with the country’s share in the total number of international students going up from 11.8 per cent to 21 per cent, according to the Open Doors Report 2022 released Monday.

The numbers assume more significance when compared to China, which continues to account for the largest cohort of international students in the US with a share of 31 per cent, but with a slower decadal growth rate as its share was already 29 per cent in 2012-13, a look at past data showed.

The growth rate of Indian students heading to the US is likely to surpass China in 2022-23 as well, with 82,000 visas issued between June and August this year — the highest number among all countries. The corresponding period in 2021-22 saw 62,000 student visas being issued, said Don Heflin, Minister Counsellor for Consular Affairs at the US embassy in New Delhi.

Overall, the total number of international students pursuing higher education in the US rose from 9.14 lakh in 2020-21 to 9.48 lakh in 2021-22. “The increase is not just limited to Indians. The numbers show that the US remains the top destination for students looking for higher education options and that also demonstrates that the country continues to offer future opportunities,” Heflin said, adding that the “bulk” of the Indian students are registered for master’s programmes.

AMAZON PLANS TO LAY OFF 10,000 PEOPLE STARTING THIS WEEK

Amazon.com Inc is planning to lay off about 10,000 people in corporate and technology jobs starting as soon as this week, the New York Times reported on Monday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

Amazon joins a bandwagon of U.S. companies making deep cuts to its employee base to brace for a potential economic downturn. Last week, Facebook-parent Meta Platforms said it would cut more than 11,000 jobs, or 13% of its workforce, to rein in costs.

BEZOS TO GIVE AWAY MOST OF $124BN WEALTH

Amazon. com Inc founder Jeff Bezos and the fourth-richest person in the world will give away a majority of his $124 billion wealth during his lifetime.

Critics have chided Bezos, 58, for not signing the Giving Pledge, a promise by many of the world’s richest people to donate the majority of their wealth to charitable causes. His ex-wife MacKenzie Scott has sent more than $12 billion to nonprofits since the two split in 2019.

ACHANTA SHARATH KAMAL GETS ‘KHEL RATNA’ AWARD

Table Tennis legend and Commonwealth Games medalist Achanta Sharath Kamal has been awarded with the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2022, the highest sporting honour in the country, announced the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on Monday.

Arjuna Awards for outstanding performance in Sports and Games 2022 have been awarded as follows:

Seema Punia (Athletics), Eldhose Paul (Athletics), Avinash Mukund Sable (Athletics), Lakshya Sen (Badminton), Prannoy HS (Badminton), Amit (Boxing), Nikhat Zareen (Boxing), Bhakti Pradip Kulkarni (Chess), R Praggnanandhaa (Chess), Deep Grace Ekka (Hockey), Shushila Devi (Judo), Sakshi Kumari (Kabaddi), Nayan Moni Saikia (Lawn Bowl), Sagar Kailas Ovhalkar (Mallakhamb), Elavenil Valarivan (Shooting), Omprakash Mitharval (Shooting), Sreeja Akula (Table Tennis), Vikas Thakur (Weightlifting), Anshu (Wrestling), Sarita (Wrestling), Parveen (Wushu), Manasi Girishchandra Joshi (Para Badminton), Tarun Dhillon (Para Badminton), Swapnil Sanjay Patil (Para Swimming), Jerlin Anika J (Deaf Badminton).

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not; it is the first lesson that ought to be learned. - Thomas H. Huxley

OFF TRACK

“I feel like my body has gotten totally out of shape, so my doctor told me to join a fitness club and start exercising. I decided to take an aerobics class. 

I bent, twisted, gyrated, jumped up and down, and perspired for an hour. But, by the time I got my leotards on, the class was over.”