PREZ, PM PAY TRIBUTE TO MAHATMA GANDHI

President Droupadi Murmu on Monday led the nation in paying tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 154th birth anniversary with people from across segments paying homage. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in a message on the International Day of Non-Violence, said, “We commemorate not only the birth of Mahatma Gandhi, but also the timeless values he championed: mutual respect and understanding, justice, and the power of peaceful action.”

Murmu and Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar visited the Gandhi Smriti Museum, and attended a prayer meeting.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Gandhi memorial at Rajghat this morning and paid floral tributes.

“I bow to Mahatma Gandhi on the special occasion of Gandhi Jayanti. His timeless teachings continue to illuminate our path. Mahatma Gandhi’s impact is global, motivating the entire humankind to further the spirit of unity and compassion,” the Prime Minister said on X.

BIHAR CASTE SURVEY OUT; OBCS, EBCS 63% OF POPULATION

The Nitish Kumar govt in Bihar on Monday released findings of its much-awaited caste survey months ahead of the 2024 Parliamentary elections, which revealed that Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) constitute a whopping 63 per cent of the state's total population.

The data which could spur demands for similar caste-based census elsewhere is a key agenda of the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) which may well help Kumar and the alliance in the forthcoming elections in the Hindi heartland where caste politics plays a major part.

According to the data released in Patna by Development Commissioner Vivek Singh, the state's total population stood at a little over 13.07 crore, out of which the EBCs (36 per cent) were the largest social segment followed by the OBCs at 27.13 per cent.

Backward caste politicians have long claimed that the population of castes they represented numbered far more than the conventional wisdom based on the 1931 census, which was the last time a caste headcount was conducted and released.

The survey also stated that Yadavs were the largest in terms of the population, accounting for 14.27 per cent of the total.

Dalits, also known as the Scheduled Castes, accounted for 19.65 per cent of the total population in the state, which is also home to nearly 22 lakh (1.68 per cent) people belonging to the Scheduled Tribes.

Those belonging to the unreserved category, which denotes the proverbial upper castes who dominated politics till the Mandal wave of the 1990s comprise 15.52 per cent of the total population.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Monday, "A meeting will soon be convened of all the nine political parties with an electoral presence in the state legislature and the facts and figures will be shared with them."

Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad, also issued a statement, declaring the survey will set the tone for 'a nationwide caste census which will be undertaken when we form the next govt at the Centre'.

"There was no regular census in 2021, while the Bihar state has managed to conduct the caste survey this year, it exposes the central govt's incompetence Mulsim population has also been found to be 17.7 per cent (against 16.86 per cent in the 2011 census) which exposes the lie spread by Sanghi propaganda about infiltration by Bangladeshi Muslims," Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya told PTI.

Christians, Sikhs, Jains and those following other religions as also the non-believers have a minuscule presence, together making up for less than one per cent of the total population.

OPPOSITION DIVIDING PEOPLE ALONG CASTE LINES: MODI ON CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Hours after the Bihar Govt released the caste survey data in Patna, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the INDIA bloc, mainly the Congress, saying the Opposition had been dividing people along caste lines for years.

Without naming the ruling BJP’s direct rival Congress in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior today, the PM said, “The opposition party has played with the emotions of the poor and divided the country along caste lines for six decades, a sin which it continues to commit even today.”

The PM’s veiled retort was to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s remarks in MP’s Shajapur rally two days ago where he said the Congress, if elected, would conduct a caste-based census to benefit all sections, mainly the OBCs.

Earlier in election-bound Rajasthan, the PM put at rest the speculation in respect of fielding a chief ministerial candidate. “Lotus is the only face of the BJP in Rajasthan,” the PM said at a rally in Mewar’s Chittorgarh, with former CM Vasundhara Raje on the stage.

Raje has been hopeful of projection as the party’s face in the upcoming polls but the BJP has settled for collective leadership. The Prime Minister also recalled the grisly daylight murder of Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal and recent heinous sexual assaults against women and children in the state to target the ruling Congress govt.

The PM also referred to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s recent remarks seeking Modi’s guarantee for the continuation of development schemes in the state and said, “Ashok Gehlot has conceded defeat and is asking us not to discontinue his schemes. I give a guarantee that we will not discontinue any development scheme in the state.”

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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EU MINISTERS MEET IN KYIV TO SUPPORT UKRAINE AMID SIGNS OF STRAIN IN ALLIES

EU foreign ministers convened in Kyiv for their first ever meeting outside the bloc on Monday, broadcasting their support after a pro-Russian candidate won an election in Slovakia and the US Congress left Ukraine war aid out of its spending bill.

Kyiv brushed off the wobbles on both sides of the Atlantic, especially the prospect that the US Congressional vote, which excluded aid to Ukraine from an emergency bill to prevent a govt shutdown, represented a deeper change in policy. “We don’t feel that the US support has been shattered... because the US understands that what is at stake in Ukraine is much bigger than just Ukraine,” foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters as he greeted the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. As for the election victory of pro-Russian Slovakian former PM Robert Fico, Kuleba said it was “too early to judge” the impact on politics there, noting that a new leader would still have to form a coalition.

“I am sure that Ukraine and the entire free world are capable of winning this confrontation. But our victory depends directly on our cooperation with you,” Ukraine’s President Zelensky told the ministers.

Borrell told a news briefing with Kuleba the EU remained united in its support for Ukraine and that he had proposed an EU spending package for Kyiv of up to 5 billion euros for 2024 which he hoped to have agreed by then.

TRUMP ACCUSED OF REAPING $1BN FROM FRAUD AS NY CIVIL TRIAL STARTS

The fraud lawsuit that could cost former President Donald Trump control of some of his most prized properties went on trial Monday, with New York state lawyers vowing to hold him accountable while he denounced the case as a politically motivated “scam”.

Kevin Wallace, a lawyer in state AG Letitia James’ office, said in his opening statement in a downtown Manhattan courtroom that Trump described his finances to banks and insurers in a “materially inaccurate way” for a decade. Wallace said Trump did this to get better loan terms and lower insurance premiums, illegally generating more than $1 billion of financial benefits. “This isn’t business as usual, and this isn’t how sophisticated parties deal with each other,” Wallace said. “These are not victimless crimes.”

Christopher Kise, a lawyer for Trump, countered in his opening statement that the financials for Trump and the Trump organization were entirely legal. He said. “There was no intent to defraud, there was no illegality, there was no default, there was no breach, there was no reliance from the banks, there were no unjust profits, and there were no victims.”

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MANIPUR: ‘INDEFINITE SHUTDOWN’ BRINGS NORMAL LIFE TO A STANDSTILL

An “indefinite shutdown” came into effect in Churachandpur district, Manipur from Monday in protests against the arrests of five Kuki-Zomi persons in connection to two cases in the last few days . The shutdown had been initiated by the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum referring to their arrests as “selective haste of central investigating agencies.”

Four of the people had been arrested by the CBI on Sunday in connection with the killing of two Meitei youths who had been missing from their homes in Imphal since July 6. These arrests came after widespread and fierce protests in Meitei-dominated valley areas after the photos which appeared to show the dead bodies of the missing two students surfaced last week.

Another person Seiminlun Gangte (51) had been arrested by the NIA on September 30 from Kwakta, Bishnupur in connection to an IED car blast on June 21 and a case of transnational conspiracy by Myanmar-Bangladesh-based militant groups was found during preliminary investigation.

BIHAR DATA CAN REOPEN DEBATE ON SC’S 50% QUOTA CEILING IN 1992

Underlining the need to ensure “efficiency” in administration, the Supreme Court in its 1992 decision in ‘Indra Sawhney vs Union of India’ had fixed the 50% ceiling for reservation.

The caste survey data released by the Bihar govt on Monday, which puts the general category population at 15.52%, could once again reopen the debate on the Indra Sawhney ceiling.

A nine-judge bench with a 6:3 majority, the Indra Sawhney ruling upheld the 27% reservation for socially and economically backward classes (SEBC). In doing so, the court set important precedents. It set social and educational backwardness as the criteria for a group to qualify for reservation and also reiterated the 50% limit – unless in, “exceptional circumstances”.

In May 2021, a five judge Constitution bench of the SC unanimously struck down the Maharashtra law, which provides reservation to the Maratha community, as unconstitutional, holding the total quota limit would exceed 50%. With the implementation of the Maratha quota, reservation could have gone up to 68%. Similar to the Maratha issue are the cases of Patels in Gujarat, Jats in Haryana and Kapus in Andhra Pradesh.

WHO RECOMMENDS OXFORD-SERUM INSTITUTE MALARIA VACCINE FOR GLOBAL ROLLOUT

The malaria vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and the Serum Institute of India, leveraging Novavax’s adjuvant, has now been recommended for use by the World Health Organization’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts and the Malaria Policy Advisory Group, paving the way for a global roll-out soon.

Around half a million people die from malaria every year across the world.

Hundreds of millions of doses of this vaccine, R21/Matrix-M, are to be supplied to countries that are suffering a significant malaria burden, the University of Oxford website said. The Serum Institute of India has already established a production capacity for 100 million doses per annum, which will be doubled over the next two years, it added.

5G DRIVES INDIA’S SPEED RANKING UP 72 PLACES

The mobile download speeds in India have seen significant improvement since 5G telecom services were rolled out on October 1 last year. The country jumped 72 places to clinch 47th spot on the Speedtest Global Index, according to Ookla, a global internet speed testing agency.

“India’s speed performance has seen a 3.59 times increase, with median download speeds improving to 50.21 Mbps in August 2023, from 13.87 Mbps in September 2022, a 259 per cent increase,” it said, adding in August 2023, Jammu and Kashmir emerged as the leader in mobile median download speeds at 150.96 Mbps.

Dubbing the country's 5G advancement as remarkable, Ookla said this put India not only ahead of its neighbours like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan, but also some G20 countries such as Mexico (90th), Turkey (68th), the UK (62nd), Japan (58th), Brazil (50th place), and South Africa (48th place). The 5G deployments have led to an improved overall user experience across all telecom circles. The launch of 5G technology by operators like Jio and Airtel has led to a substantial increase in 5G subscribers, and operators still have ambitious rollout plans, with the deployment of a significant number of 5G base stations across the country, the report said.

NOBEL IN MEDICINE TO TWO SCIENTISTS BEHIND COVID VACCINES

Two scientists won the Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for discoveries that enabled the creation of mRNA vaccines against Covid-19.

Hungarian-born American Katalin Karikó and American Drew Weissman were cited for contributing “to the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times,” according to the panel that awarded the prize in Stockholm.

The pair’s groundbreaking findings fundamentally changed understanding of how mRNA interacts with the immune system, said the Nobel panel

The panel said the pair’s “groundbreaking findings fundamentally changed our understanding of how mRNA interacts with our immune system”. Traditionally, making vaccines required growing viruses or pieces of viruses — often in giant vats of cells or, like most flu shots, in chicken eggs — and then purifying them before next steps in brewing shots.

The messenger RNA (mRNA) approach is radically different. It starts with a snippet of genetic code that carries instructions for making proteins. Pick the right virus protein to target, and the body turns into a mini vaccine factory. But simply injecting lab-grown mRNA into the body triggered an inflammatory reaction that usually destroyed it.

A major advantage of mRNA technology was that vaccines could be made in extremely large quantities since their main components were made in laboratories.

UK NURSES OF ACCUSED OF INSTITUTIONAL RACISM

In a shocking incident of "institutional racism" in the UK, nurses reportedly tied a Sikh patient's beard with plastic gloves, leaving him in his own urine and offering him food he could not eat for religious reasons, according to a media report.

Despite the man complaining about the discrimination in a note on his deathbed, the nurses were allowed to carry on working, The Independent newspaper reported last week, quoting from a dossier leaked to it from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), the UK's nursing regulator, which outlines multiple counts of alleged racism against nursing staff and patients.

The council has launched an investigation into the newspaper's revelations.

A senior NMC whistleblower claims that the regulator has failed to address “institutional racism” in its ranks for 15 years, warning this has allowed NMC staff “to go unchecked” when “applying guidance inconsistently based on their own discriminatory views”, the report said.

SECURITIES TRANSACTION TAX COLLECTION LIKELY TO GO PAST BUDGET TARGET

The Union govt’s revenue from securities transaction tax (STT) is on track to exceed its Budget projection for the current fiscal year, with the mop-up already surpassing 50 per cent of the annual estimate.

Provisional figures reveal that the Centre has collected approximately Rs 14,000 crore in the first half of this fiscal year up to September, according to a govt official. This amount exceeds half of the full-year target of Rs 27,625 crore set for FY24.

The increase is largely attributed to the ongoing buoyancy in the stock markets, increased STT rates on futures and options sales, and the addition of unique investors. These factors have stimulated trading activity and bolstered STT collections.

ASIAN GAMES, DAY 9 HIGHLIGHTS

Parul Chaudhary and Priti Lamba won the silver and bronze medal in the women's 3000m steeplechase final. They finished behind Bahrain's Winfred Yavi, who clinched the gold medal and created a new Asian Games record.

Ancy Sojan then went to win a silver medal in the women's long jump final but it was disappointment for Shaili Singh, who finished fifth. She started the competition with a modest 6.13m jump but found her range soon, jumping 6.49m and 6.56m in her next two attempts. A 6.30m was followed by the winning leap of 6.63m and Ancy closed the competition with a foul.

China's 19-year-old national champion Shiqi Xiong won the gold with a jump of 6.73m that arrived on her third try.

The Indian team comprising Md Ajmal, Vithya Ramraj, Rajesh Ramesh and Subha Venkatesan initially won bronze medal in the mixed team 4x400m relay event, which was later upgraded to silver. The decision came after second-placed Sri Lankan team were disqualified due to lane infringement.

Earlier, Sutirtha and Ayhika Mukherjee crashed to a narrow defeat in the table tennis women's doubles semifinal and had to settle for bronze. The semifinal match went down to the wire as North Korea's Suyong Cha, Sugyong Pak sealed a narrow 4-3 (11-7 8-11 11-7 8-11 9-11 11-5 2-11) victory.

India bagged two surprise rolling skating bronze medals. The Indian team consisting of Sanjana Bhatuka, Karthika Jagadeeswaran, Heeral Sadhu and Aaratju Kastury clinched a third-placed finish in women's speed skating 3000m relay team event. India made it back-to-back roller skating bronze as the men's team came 3rd in the 3000m relay final.

In archery, India defeated Hong Kong, China to enter the quarterfinal of men's recurve team event and also went to the quarterfinal of the women's recurve team event. The Indian men's hockey team thrashed Bangladesh 12-0 and advanced to the semifinals.

In Medals Tally, India is currently placed 4th (13G, 24S, 23B), behind China (147G, 81S, 42B), Japan (33G, 44S, 45B) and S Korea (31G, 39S, 63B)

INDICATORS

(The Indian Stock Markets were closed yesterday, on account of Gandhi Jayanti)

Nasdaq 13,308 (+88) Dow 33,433 (-74), S&P 4,288 (+0)

US$-Rs. 83.19, GBP-Rs. 101.07, Euro-Rs. 87.59, UAE Dhm-Rs. 22.64, Can$-Rs. 61.05, Aus$- Rs. 53.17

GBP 0.82 /US$, Euro 0.94/US$, Jap.Yen 149.74 /US$, Aus$ 1.56 /US$, Sing 1.37 /US$, Bang Taka 109.20 /US$, Can$ 1.36 /US$, Mal Ring 4.70 /US$, Pak Re 287.37 /US$, Phil Peso 56.74 /US$, Russian Rouble 98.67 /US$, NZ$ 1.67 /US$, Thai Baht 36.87 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 36.65 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 27,450, Dollar Index 106.76, Brent Crude 90.22, BDI 1716

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,824 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 5,804 / 5,320, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 75,500

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. - Mark Twain