5 STATES TO VOTE FROM NOV 7 TO 30; RESULTS ON DEC 3

Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram will go to the assembly polls between November 7 and 30, and the counting of votes will be on December 3, the Election Commission said on Monday, setting the stage for what is being seen as the semi-final between the BJP and opposition parties ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Announcing the election schedule at a press conference in New Delhi, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said single-phase assembly polls will be held in Madhya Pradesh on November 17, Rajasthan on November 23, Telangana on November 30 and Mizoram on November 7 while Chhattisgarh will go to the polls in two phases on November 7 (20 seats) and 17 (70 seats).

The BJP and the Congress will be engaged in a direct fight in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan while the two parties are also in contention for power in Telangana, where Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi is eyeing a third straight term.

In Mizoram, regional parties and the Congress will challenge the incumbent Mizo National Front amid the opposition party's hope that political polarisation on ethnic lines following violence in Manipur may boost its chances.

In an unusual move, the BJP has already named 79 candidates, including three Union ministers and four other Lok Sabha MPs, for elections to the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly, and 21 candidates for the 90-member Chhattisgarh polls, underlining its determined intent to get the better of the Congress which is fancying its chances after handing its rival a big defeat in Karnataka.

The BJP is also hoping to emerge as a big force in Telangana where, observers believe, the Congress has seen a rebound in its fortunes since the Karnataka polls in May.

CONGRESS VOWS TO HOLD PAN-INDIA CASTE CENSUS

The Congress yesterday promised that a government led by it will conduct a nationwide caste census and implement 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative Assemblies at the earliest.

The party made this declaration in a resolution passed during a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) chaired by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and attended by former AICC presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi among others.

The resolution also promised to remove the cap of 50 per cent for the reservation of OBCs, SCs and STs in line with the population share.

Welcoming the Bihar Government’s decision to release the findings of the state’s caste survey, the CWC resolution said: “The disparity between representation and share in population revealed by the final figures of the survey highlights the urgent need to take effective steps to ensure social justice.” Rahul Gandhi said the Congress-ruled states would also conduct such a census. Four Congress CMs – Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu (HP), Bhupesh Baghel (Chhattisgarh), Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan) and Siddaramaiah (Karnataka) – were present at the meeting.

The CWC resolution said Justice Rohini Commission’s prescription of sub-categorisation within the OBCs would remain incomplete without detailed data on the socio-economic position of various communities, which could be obtained either from the still unreleased data from the 2011 socio-economic and caste census or a fresh caste census.

Asked if the INDIA bloc supported it, Rahul said a majority of the parties backed the idea.

AFTER HUGE DELY, CENTRE SENDS 70 NAMES TO COLLEGIUM FOR JUDGES’ APPOINTMENT

After sitting on the recommendations made by collegiums of various high courts for appointment of judges for 11 months, the Centre has “suddenly” forwarded all 70 pending proposals to the CJI-led top court Collegium in the last few days, the Supreme Court said on Monday.

SC had on Sept 26 pointed finger at Centre for sitting on 70 recommendations for appointment and transfer of HC judges

“Seventy names pending before the Ministry (of Law and Justice) starting from November 2022 have now suddenly landed before the Collegium… From tomorrow onwards, we will start processing the names because we can’t suddenly process 70 names on one fine day because the consultee judges’ views have to be taken… We will try to finish it before the October vacation,” a Bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said.

Attorney General R Venkataramani told the Bench Delhi High Court judge Siddharth Mridul’s appointment as Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court would be notified soon.

The Supreme Court Collegium led by CJI DY Chandrachud had recommended his name for appointment as the CJ of the Manipur HC on July 5, saying he was “fit and suitable in all respects for being appointed…” “Appointment of Chief Justice to the high court of a sensitive state has finally received their attention and they are doing it now,” Justice Kaul commented. Transfer files of 14 HC judges have also been cleared and the remaining 12 are under process, Venkataramani told the Bench, adding five of the 19 names — either proposed for the first time or reiterated by the SC — had been cleared.

Terming it a “positive development”, Justice Kaul complimented AG Venkataramani at the very outset of the proceedings.

“Since you’re normally on the receiving end, some compliments for what has been done (by the government)… I compliment the AG first, because names have been sent to us,” Justice Kaul told Venkataramani.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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ISRAEL BLOCKADES GAZA AS IT COUNTERS HAMAS FIREPOWER

As the Israel-Palestine fighting continued for a third day, after the initial multi-pronged attack by Hamas on Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Israel’s response to the Hamas aggression will “change the Middle East”, while the country’s foreign minister, Eli Cohen termed Hamas’ incursion a “historical massacre that the world will not forget”.  Earlier in the day, Israel’s Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, had declared that Israel is imposing a “complete siege” on Gaza, adding that “no electricity, no food, no water, and no fuel” will be supplied to Gaza.

The conflict has killed over 1,200 people, and injured over 4,000 on both sides so far, and Israeli media said that around 130 Israelis, including civilians and soldiers, have been taken as hostages. On Monday, Gaza’s health ministry indicated that at least 493 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli bombardments since the warfare began on Saturday. Israeli authorities, on the other hand, said that their death toll had touched 800.

Israel has amassed tanks, shut off electricity and stopped all food and medicines as a prelude to a bloody ground invasion into Gaza Strip, said to be the most densely populated piece of land in the world, even as its air force continued pounding the Hamas stronghold and the military battled militants for the third day.

Hamas said it would execute Israeli captives if civilian houses were bombed.

The situation remained serious in Israel with rockets slamming into Jerusalem and southern towns, suggesting that the Israeli military is yet to fully suppress Hamas’ firepower.

The Israeli military said some Palestinian militants were still at large and a few were continuing to enter the southern parts of the country.

Israel’s military intensified the airstrikes in Gaza - over 1.2 lakh Gazans have been displaced from their homes, with many seeking limited shelter in schools, according to the UN.

"SAUDI STANDS BY PALESTINIANS": CROWN PRINCE

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also told Abbas the Gulf kingdom continued "to stand by the Palestinian people to achieve their legitimate rights to a decent life, achieve their hopes and aspirations, and achieve just and lasting peace," the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

The spiralling violence kicked off amid speculation that Saudi Arabia, which has never recognised Israel, would agree to normalise ties as part of a deal in which it would obtain security guarantees from the United States as well as assistance developing a civilian nuclear programme.

However Prince Mohammed told Fox News last month that the Palestinian issue was "very important" for Saudi Arabia. "We need to solve that part. We need to ease the life of the Palestinians," Prince Mohammed said.

Analysts say any progress towards normalisation has now been dealt a heavy blow by the ongoing fighting.

US SAYS "NO DIRECT EVIDENCE" OF IRAN'S ROLE IN HAMAS ATTACK ON ISRAEL

Iran is complicit even though the United States has no intelligence or evidence that points to Iran's direct participation in attacks in Israel by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, a White House spokesperson said on Monday.

"Iran has long supported Hamas and other terrorist networks throughout the region with resources capabilities training," White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on MSNBC. "And so in that regard, clearly, Iran is complicit here, but in terms of specific evidence on this, these sorts of attacks, no, we don't have anything," he said.

QATAR NEGOTIATING HOSTAGE-PRISONER SWAP BETWEEN ISRAEL, HAMAS: REPORT

Qatari mediators have held urgent calls with Hamas officials to try to negotiate freedom for Israeli women and children seized by the terrorist group and held in Gaza in exchange for the release of 36 Palestinian women and children from Israel's prisons, a source briefed on the talks told Reuters.

The ongoing negotiations, which Qatar has been conducting in coordination with the United States since Saturday night, are "moving positively" said the source, who has been briefed on them.

But there are no signs of breakthroughs as both sides dig in.

The exact number of Israeli women and children hostages Hamas is offering in the potential exchange of 36 Palestinian women and children prisoners Hamas identified is not clear.

THE REST

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MORE TROOPS, GEAR FOR SIKKIM SEARCH OP, FOCUS ON RESTORING CONNECTIVITY

The Armed Forces Monday continued search operations for 105 missing people in the debris in the aftermath of the devastating flash floods in Sikkim last week. So far, 34 bodies, including those of 10 army jawans, have been recovered.

The IAF has already deployed Garud commandos, and bolstered the search operation with Chinook and MI 17 V5 helicopters with communication gears, fuel, medicines, and search and rescue equipment.

Army’s Trishakti Corps is carrying out operations to restore connectivity in villages in Sikkim as a defence spokesperson statement said, “The operations are focussing on restoring connectivity to north Sikkim through Chungthang, which was the worst-affected during the devastating flood.” Air evacuation of tourists has already started on Monday.

UNEASE IN CONG AS CWC RESOLUTION SKIPS REFERENCE TO HAMAS OR TERROR

A day after Congress general secretary in-charge for communications, Jairam Ramesh said the party believed in the “legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people”, but also spoke about “ensuring legitimate national security interests of the Israeli people”, the party made a shift in its stand following objection by some leaders.

On Monday, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) expressed anguish over the Israel-Hamas war, reiterating it support for the rights of the Palestinian people to land, self government and to live with dignity and respect. The CWC resolution, however, skipped any mention of the attack on Israel by the Hamas.

“The CWC expresses its dismay and anguish on the war that has broken out in the Middle East where over a thousand people have been killed in the last two days. The CWC reiterates it long-standing support of the rights of the Palestinian people to land, self government and to live with dignity and respect. The CWC calls for an immediate ceasefire and for negotiations to begin on all the outstanding issues including the imperative issues that have given rise to the present conflict,” read the Congress resolution.

As the formulation was read out at the CWC, sources said several members, including Shashi Tharoor and Pawan Kumar Bansal, pointed out that there was no mention of Hamas and the word terrorism.

ASSAM, MIZORAM BOUNDARY ISSUE COIMING TO A BOIL AGAIN

Assam has rejected Mizoram’s territorial claims along the disputed border between the two Northeast states, questioning Aizawl’s interpretation of a map drawn up by the British administration in 1875, ThePrint has learnt.

The Mizo National Front (MNF) government, which is eyeing another term in office in next month’s elections, sharply disputed the decision of the neighbouring state.

Mizoram Home Department Joint Secretary Lalthiamsanga Sailo said on day that the grounds on which Assam has dismissed territorial claims along the Cachar border was “baseless and illogical”.

In its 7 October letter to Mizoram, the Assam Border Protection and Development Department wrote that the 1875 notification that Aizawl is relying on, had been superseded by the boundary line notification issued on 28 August, 1930. While Mizoram recognises the 1875 demarcation, which it claims was drawn up in consultation with Mizo chiefs, Assam accepts the latter.

The simmering tension over the boundary dispute issue had snowballed into a major flare up on 26 July, 2021, resulting in the deaths of six Assam Police personnel, and one civilian at a boundary point. Since then, the two Northeast states have held several rounds of discussions, with the last taking place in November 2022.

ELECTORAL GENDER RATIO SEES IMPROVEMENT

All five states going to polls in November have seen an improvement in their electoral gender ratio, according to the Election Commission’s data, with Chhattisgarh not only closing the gender gap but having more women voters than men for the first time.

While Chhattisgarh has 1,012 women voters for every 1,000 men, there are 1,063 women electors in Mizoram for every 1,000 men. In the previous elections held in 2018, Chhattisgarh had 995 women voters against 1,000 men, and Mizoram had 1,051 women.

While the other states have also shown an improvement over 2018 in their electoral gender ratio, parity is yet to be achieved. Madhya Pradesh, which has the largest Assembly among the five states, has 945 women voters for every 1,000 men as opposed to 917 women in 2018. Rajasthan has 920 women voters against 914 in the previous elections. Telangana has 998 women voters against 982 last time.

INDIA GETS 5TH SET OF SWISS BANK ACCOUNT DETAILS

India has received a new set of Swiss bank account details of its nationals and organisations as part of an annual automatic information exchange under which Switzerland has shared particulars of nearly 36 lakh financial accounts with 104 countries.

The information allows tax authorities to verify whether taxpayers have correctly declared their financial accounts in their tax return

This is the fifth such annual exchange of information between Switzerland and India with the officials saying that the new details shared with Indian authorities pertain to “hundreds of financial accounts”, including many cases of multiple accounts associated with some individuals, corporates and trusts.

The details that have been shared include identification, account and financial information, including name, address, country of residence and tax identification number as well as information concerning the reporting financial institution, account balance and capital income.

The officials did not divulge the amount involved in the exchanged information or any other specifics, citing the confidentiality clause of the information exchange and the adverse impact it may have on further investigations but asserted that the data would be used extensively in probes of suspected tax evasion and other wrongdoings, including of money laundering and terror funding.

According to experts, the AEOI data received by India has been quite useful for establishing a strong prosecution case against those who have any unaccounted wealth as it provides entire details of deposits and transfers as well as of all earnings, including through investments in securities and other assets.

ISRAEL-HAMAS CONFLICT: HOPES OF RESPITE IN OIL PRICES DASHED

The ongoing Hamas-Israel conflict has disrupted India’s efforts to gain from a recent fall in crude oil prices. Since Hamas’ invasion of southern Israel on October 7, petroleum has become costlier by around $5 per barrel, threatening to stoke prices and impact growth.

The region where the conflict is occurring is the centre of global energy, said India’s oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday. He expressed confidence that the country would navigate through this.

India's Strategic crude reserves, which can aid a nation during wars and calamities, at 39 million barrels provide for only around 7.5 days of crude oil requirement, according to government data.

The growing conflict in West Asia threatens to further impact India’s fiscal and balance of payments position, which was already suffering from surging oil prices since August, and hinder New Delhi’s efforts to control inflation. The Indian crude oil basket, a mix of Gulf sour and Brent sweet grades, averaged $93.54 a barrel last month.

NEW ZEALAND PICK UP 99-RUN WIN OVER NETHERLANDS

Mitchell Santner produced a five-wicket haul to complement a superlative batting display as New Zealand continued their impressive run in the World Cup with a massive 99-run win over the Netherlands in Hyderabad on Monday.

Santner (5/59) spun a web around Netherlands who were all out for 223 in 46.3 overs on a sluggish pitch after Will Young (70), Rachin Ravindra (51) and Tom Latham (53) posted fifties to power New Zealand to 322 for 7.

INDICATORS

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Nasdaq 13,484 (+53) Dow 33,605 (+197), S&P 4,336 (+27)

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GBP 0.81 /US$, Euro 0.94/US$, Jap.Yen 148.88 /US$, Aus$ 1.56 /US$, Sing 1.36 /US$, Bang Taka 108.95 /US$, Can$ 1.36 /US$, Mal Ring 4.72 /US$, Pak Re 279.53 /US$, Phil Peso 56.89 /US$, Russian Rouble 100.43 /US$, NZ$ 1.66 /US$, Thai Baht 37.02 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 36.33 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 27,587, Dollar Index 105.78, Brent Crude 87.95, BDI 1929

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,863 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 5,820 / 5,335, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 72,600

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits. - Thomas Edison

OFF TRACK

These two women were walking through the forest when they hear this voice from under a log. Investigating, the women discovered the voice was coming from a frog:

"Help me, ladies! I am a Stocks Analyst who, through an evil witch's curse, has been transformed into a frog. If one of you will kiss me, I'll be returned to my former state!"

The first woman grabbed the frog and stuffed it inside her handbag. The second woman screamed, "Didn't you hear him? If you kiss him, he'll turn into a Stocks Analyst?"

"Sure, but these days a talking frog is worth more than a Stocks Analyst!"