MORE FROM JAISHANKAR’S ADDRESS TO UNSC

In a veiled attack on Pakistan and its ally China, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar Thursday said “contemporary epicentre of terrorism remains very much alive and active” and lamented that evidence-backed proposals on terrorism are put on hold without assigning adequate reason.

Presiding over the ‘UNSC Briefing: Global Counterterrorism Approach: Challenges and Way Forward’, Jaishankar said terrorism is an existential threat to international peace and security and that it knows no borders, nationality, or race.

“The threat of terrorism has actually become even more serious. We have seen the expansion of Al-Qaida, Da’esh, Boko Haram and Al Shabab and their affiliates,” he said in his address to the 15-nation United Nations Security Council.

“We cannot let another ‘9/11 of New York’ or ’26/11 of Mumbai’ happen again,” he said.

Further highlighting the challenges being faced by the counter-terrorism architecture, Jaishankar stressed the need of addressing double standards in countering terrorism, leading to concerns of politicisation.

The minister said the credibility of the UN depended on its effective response to the key challenges of our time, be it pandemic, climate change, conflicts or terrorism. “While searching for solutions, our discourse must never accept the normalisation of such threats. The question of justifying what the world regards as unacceptable should not even arise.”

“That certainly applies to state sponsorship of cross-border terrorism. Nor can hosting Osama Bin Laden and attacking a neighbouring Parliament serve as credentials to sermonise before this council,” he said. Earlier in his main statement, he had also obliquely criticised China when he stated, “On the challenge of terrorism, even as the world is coming together with a more collective response, multilateral platforms are being misused to justify and protect perpetrators.” This was a reference to China blocking joint Indo-US proposals to internationally sanction five Pak-based terrorists.

LAW MINISTER AGAIN, AGAINST COLLEGIUM SYSTEM

Linking the huge pendency of cases in courts to vacant posts of judges, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, referring to the Supreme Court’s Collegium system of appointments to the higher judiciary, told Rajya Sabha Thursday that this issue will not be resolved until a “new system” on appointments is evolved.

Rijiju’s remarks in the House came days after he criticised the Collegium system as being “opaque” and the Vice-President called the Supreme Court’s 2015 judgement striking down the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act a “severe compromise” of parliamentary sovereignty and disregard of the “mandate of the people”.

Replying to a question by Congress MP Rajeev Shukla in the Rajya Sabha on the number of working days of courts, Rijiju said the number of pending cases in the country was nearing 5 crore, having reached 4.90 crore.

He said there were many reasons for this, but the “primary one is the appointment of judges” and vacancies in the sanctioned strength.

“At this point, the government has very limited powers to reduce vacancies… I don’t want to comment much on the courts as it sometimes looks like the government is trying to interfere with the court’s powers. If you look at the provisions of the Constitution, the process of appointments was the right of the government with the consultation of the court. This changed after 1993. We are giving our support to end the pendency of cases, but till we don’t set up a new system for appointments, questions on the appointment of judges will keep being raised,” he said.

Citing the National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014, Rijiju said Parliament had unanimously passed the Bill, but it was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2015. He said the current system of appointment of judges – the Collegium system – did not reflect the feelings of the public and the House. He said many retired judges, including members of the Constitution Bench that struck down the NJAC, have since stated publicly that striking down a Bill passed by Parliament was not right.

GOVT ALLOTS AIRWAVES, CAN SEEK NATIONAL INTEREST CONTENT: ANURAG THAKUR

Airwaves are allocated and not auctioned, so there should be no problem if the government asks broadcasters to highlight national interest content in return, said Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur in the Rajya Sabha Thursday.

Satellite TV channels in India are required to broadcast at least 30 minutes of content daily on “themes of national importance and of social relevance”. This is part of the ‘Guidelines for Uplinking and Downlinking of Satellite Television Channels in India’, which were approved by the Union Cabinet on September 28.

Thakur was replying to a question by TMC member Jawahar Sircar, also the former CEO of Prasar Bharati.

STATES FREE TO LEGISLATE ON UCC: CENTRE

The Union Government on Thursday told Parliament that the state governments were well within their powers to legislate on the issue of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC).

Responding to a question by CPM MP in the Rajya Sabha John Brittas, who asked the government if it was aware of the states progressing on the matter and if yes, what its response was, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said the Centre was aware that states were moving ahead on the UCC.

“Article 44 of the Constitution provides that the state shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a Uniform Civil Code throughout the country,” the minister said.

BJP-ruled Uttarakhand was the first state to form a committee to enact a UCC legislation. The BJP included UCC implementation as a poll promise in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. In Gujarat, CM Bhupendra Patel is committed to implementing the pledge, which, the party feels, was one of the principal factors behind BJP’s historic win.

Last week, BJP MP Kirodi Lal Meena introduced a private member’s Bill in the Rajya Sabha, opening the door for the government to convert the Bill into a law, if need be. Leader of the Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal had vehemently defended the Bill amid intense resistance by the Congress, Left and other Opposition parties.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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INDIA ABSTAINS FROM VOTE TO REMOVE IRAN FROM UN WOMEN'S COMMISSION

India abstained from a spirited debate at the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) which adopted a draft resolution on removal of Iran from its membership of the Commission on the Status of Women for the remainder of its 2022-2026 term, citing its oppression of women and girls.

Adopted by a recorded vote of 29 in favour to eight against (Bolivia, China, Kazakhstan, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Russian Federation and Zimbabwe) with 16 abstentions, the draft expressed concern over actions of the government of Iran since September 2022 to increasingly suppress the human rights of women and girls, using lethal force that has resulted in the deaths of peaceful protesters. By the text, the council decided to remove with immediate effect Iran from the membership of the Commission on the Status of Women for the remainder of its 2022-2026 term, stated a UN press note.

Russia sought to turn the tables on the US, which was the main sponsor of the draft resolution. The Iranian government should take measures to prevent tragedies such as that of Mahsa Amini, but Russia said it did not recall an ECOSOC meeting to discuss memberships of the UK, France, Germany or Poland after the use of water cannons and service dogs to crush peaceful protests.

SPAIN PARLIAMENT OKS PIONEERING SEXUAL, REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH BILL

Spain’s parliament on Thursday passed a sexual and reproductive health law that allows girls aged 16 and 17 to undergo abortions without parental consent and, in a first for a European country, offers state-funded paid leave for women who suffer from painful periods. “These advancements allow us to exercise freedom over our bodies, with the state recognising the full citizenship of more than half the population,” equality minister Irene Montero told lawmakers before the vote, which was adopted with a 190-154 majority and five abstentions.

The country’s leftist coalition government had introduced the bill — opposed by antiabortion activists and the Catholic Church — in May with the aim of guaranteeing abortion access and destigmatising menstrual health. The new law removes a mandatory three-day “reflection” period for women who wish to terminate their pregnancy and eliminates the need for those aged 16-17 to obtain the consent of a parent or guardian to abort.

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'IF YOU DRINK, YOU DIE,' SAYS NITISH BLUNTLY

As the toll in Bihar's latest hooch tragedy climbed to 26, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday warned that if people drink spurious liquor, they will die.

The chief minister's blunt comments came as his policy of prohibition came under attack from many quarters.

"Jo piyega woh marega (those who drink spurious alcohol will die),” thundered Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as he stood his ground maintaining that prohibition was ”not my personal wish but a response to the cries of the women of the state”.

He also expressed displeasure over criticisms from the opposition BJP which has raised the issue 'even inside Parliament'.

Civil surgeon and medical officer in charge Dr Sagar Dulal Sinha said deaths were being reported from those homes in affected villages where a family member falling ill after consuming intoxicants was not reported out of fear of landing on the wrong side of the law.

While the opposition BJP continued to create a ruckus inside the assembly for the second consecutive day over the Saran hooch tragedy, the Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist) Liberation which supports the 'Mahagathbandhan' government staged a demonstration outside before the commencement of proceedings, demanding a 'review' of the draconian provisions of the prohibition law and monetary compensation to bereaved family members.

Prashant Kishor, a former confidant of the chief minister, demanded that the prohibition law be scrapped, terming it as a 'stupid' step and suggested allowing 'regulated' sale of alcohol besides sustained social awareness campaigns to dissuade people from consuming all types of intoxicants.

However, in the state capital, on the sidelines of a function organised on the occasion of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel's death anniversary, Nitish Kumar told reporters: "Prohibition has been of immense benefit to the society. I wonder how people are speaking against it."

"I am aghast at a link being drawn between hooch deaths and prohibition. People die upon consuming spurious liquor even in states where there is no ban on alcohol," claimed Nitish.

INTERCASTE OUT, PANEL WILL TRACK ONLY INTERFAITH MARRIAGES IN MAHARASHTRA

A day after media reports that Maharashtra had constituted an ‘Intercaste/ Interfaith Marriage-Family Coordination Committee (state level)’ to gather details about couples in such marriages, the state government Thursday amended its Government Resolution (GR), saying the task of the committee will now be limited to gathering information about interfaith marriages, and not intercaste marriages.

On Tuesday, a committee, under state Women and Child Development Minister and BJP leader Mangal Prabhat Lodha, had been tasked to look at interfaith and intercaste marriages.

The decision drew criticism from the Opposition which pointed to the state government scheme of granting funds to couples who go for intercaste marriage.

Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis yesterday said, “Tuesday’s GR of the WCD department has been amended. This committee is only for interfaith marriages, and not intercaste marriages. The earlier GR was not the correct one.”

NO CONTAMINATION IN MAIDEN PHARMA'S SYRUPS, INDIA WRITES TO WHO

India on Thursday said the WHO drew a premature deduction in linking cold and cough syrup products of Sonepat-based Maiden Pharma to the death of 66 Gambian children in late September this year. It said the control samples of the four products in question tested domestically were not found to contain contaminants diethylene glycol (DEG) and ethylene glycol (EG).

“It is clear that perhaps premature deduction was drawn on September 29 itself regarding the cause of death of children. Every subsequent alert or publication from the WHO only seems to be a reaffirmation of the deduction without waiting for independent verification,” India’s drug regulator VG Somani said in a letter to the WHO, which had issued a global medical alert in respect of four cold and cough syrups manufactured by the Sonepat firm on October 5.

Somani said that as per the test reports received from a government laboratory in India, all control samples of the four products in question had been found to be complying with specifications. Somani said the statement issued by the WHO in October this year was amplified, which led to a narrative being built internationally targeting the quality of Indian pharmaceutical products.

FLIPKART SAYS SELLER BLACKLISTED AFTER NOTICE OVER ACID IN DELHI ATTACK

Online marketplace Flipkart on Thursday said it has blacklisted a seller who allegedly sold acid that was used to attack a 17-year-old girl in west Delhi this week and is extending all support to the probe agencies.

"We strongly condemn this unfortunate incident, and our thoughts and prayers are with the victim and her family. The Flipkart marketplace platform closely monitors and delists products that violate expected standards," the company said in a statement. "Strict action is taken against sellers who are found to be engaged in selling products that are illegal, unsafe, and prohibited. The concerned seller has been blacklisted, and we are extending all support to the concerned authorities in their investigation," Flipkart said.

Earlier in the day, Flipkart and its rival Amazon were issued with notices by the Delhi Commission for Women, asking why dangerous acids are available on their sites.

NIRAV MODI LOSES BID TO BLOCK EXTRADITION IN UK COURT

Nirav Modi, the fugitive diamond merchant wanted in India to stand trial on fraud and money laundering charges, on Thursday suffered another setback in his legal battle against his extradition as the High Court here denied him permission to appeal against the move in the UK Supreme Court.

In an order pronounced at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, the judges ruled that “the appellant’s (Nirav’s) application for permission to appeal to the Supreme Court is refused”.

HE SOLVES A 2500-YEAR-OLD SANSKRIT LANGUAGE PROBLEM

Dr Rishi Rajpopat, a PhD candidate at Cambridge University, has solved a long-standing grammar problem in the Ashtadhyayi — a Sanskrit text written by the scholar Panini around the 6th or 5th century BCE.

Comprising 4000 sutras, the Ashtadhyayi explains the science behind Sanskrit, and has often been compared to the Turing machine due to its complex set of rules for creating words — a linguistic algorithm of sorts. Using it, you can feed in the base and suffix of any Sanskrit word, and produce grammatically correct words and sentences. However, two or more of Panini’s grammar rules can apply at the same time, which has often been a source of confusion.

To resolve these conflicts, Panini had written a ‘meta-rule’ (rule governing rules), which had traditionally been interpreted as: ‘In the event of a conflict between two rules of equal strength, the rule that comes later in the serial order of the Ashtadhyayi wins’.

But in his PhD thesis, aptly titled In Panini We Trust, Dr Rajpopat has rejected this system, choosing to go with a simpler interpretation of Panini’s sutras that stays loyal to the text.

He argues that the meta-rule has always been misunderstood; what Panini really meant, was that for rules applying to the left and right sides of a word, readers should use the right-hand side operation. Using this logic, Dr Rajpopat found that the Ashtadhyayi could act as an accurate ‘language machine’, producing grammatically sound Sanskrit words and sentences almost every time.

Experts are calling Dr Rajpopat’s findings ‘revolutionary’, as the discovery will allow Panini’s Sanskrit grammar to be taught to computers for the first time. The linear and exact nature of the Ashtadhyayi‘s rules also make it suited for natural language processing (NLP) systems.

AIRLINES, NOT AIRPORTS, ASK PASSENGERS TO COME 3.5 HRS BEFORE FLIGHT: DIAL

"Airlines have given an advisory to come 3.5 hours before departure, not the airport. Airlines are giving the advisory for their comfort," Narayan Rao Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL)  deputy MD said yesterday.

Rao added that within a month the airport will be able to tackle congestion issues. However, he stressed that "post-Covid the number of passengers has gone up and bags too. That's why this sudden congestion has been reported."

Meanwhile, the Airline companies have blamed the airport authorities for not clarifying the situation leading to chaos at the Delhi Airport.

Earlier, Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia visited the airport and inspected the situation of congestion and directed all stakeholders associated with Delhi airport to ensure that efforts are made to avoid congestion in view of the congestion situation at the airport.

CHATTOGRAM TEST, DAY 2: INDIA ON TOP

Spinner Kuldeep Yadav and seamer Mohammed Siraj wreaked havoc with the ball sharing seven Bangladesh wickets between them to put India in the box seat in the opening Test in Chittagong on Thursday.

Kuldeep's career-best 40 had already helped India post 404 in their first innings after resuming day two on 278-6.

When they returned, Siraj (3-14) wrecked Bangladesh's top order before Kuldeep (4-33) joined the party to leave the home side reeling at 133-8 at stumps, still 271 behind.

Earlier, Ravichandran Ashwin (58) and Kuldeep dashed Bangladesh's hopes of quickly polishing off the Indian tail when play resumed at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

All the effort in the world won’t matter if you’re not inspired. - Chuck Palahniuk

OFF TRACK

When you're finished with me, will my husband think I'm beautiful?

Beautician: Maybe. Does he still drink a lot?