PM MODI AT DUSSEHRA EVENT

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called upon people to finish off forces trying to divide the country with casteism and regionalism, saying Dussehra should also mark the burning of ideologies which are not about India's development but about fulfilling selfish interests.

Addressing a huge gathering at a Dussehra event in New Delhi, he said the festival should not be confined to the burning of Ravana's effigies and Lord Ram's victory over the demon but also mark the triumph of patriotism over every evil in the country.

"We should pledge to end social ills and discrimination," he said, adding that every evil which disturbs the social harmony should be burnt as well.

Modi noted that a grand temple dedicated to Lord Ram is being built in Ayodhya and said it is everyone's good fortune that they are witness to it after a wait of centuries. The temple will be completed in a few months and it marks the victory of people's patience, he said. "Bhagawan Shri Ram bas aane hi wale hain (Lord Ram's arrival is imminent)," he said, asserting that prayers at the temple during the next Ramnavmi will spread happiness in the entire world.

The construction of the temple, he said, is happening amid many auspicious developments and cited India's successful lunar mission, inauguration of the new Parliament building and the enactment of women's reservation law.

India is today emerging as the world's largest democracy as well as the most trusted democracy, he said.

As Lord Ram is coming under such auspicious signs, he said after 75 years of independence, India's fortunes are now going to rise.

Modi also asked people to take 10 pledges, including helping at least one poor family to raise its socio-economic status.

CJI: CORRECTING HISTORICAL WRONGS GOAL OF ANY CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM

Underlining the role played by affirmative action in correcting “historical wrongs”, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud called for rejecting the arguments of “caste elites” that “just because affirmative action is being provided, structural issues of discrimination don’t exist any more”.

“Even the slightest success of affirmative action is used by the caste elites to dismiss the issues around caste inequalities. Arguments are advanced that just because affirmative action is being provided, structural issues of discrimination don’t exist any more. Such binary narrations must be rejected,” the CJI said while delivering the keynote address at the sixth international conference on ‘Unfinished Legacy of Dr B R Ambedkar’ at Brandeis University in Massachusetts.

“Throughout history, marginalised groups have been subjected to horrendous wrongs. From the brutal transatlantic slave trade to the Native American displacement, to the caste inequalities in India, to the systemic oppression of women, LGBTQ+ individuals and minority communities, the annals of history are stained with instances of profound injustice,” he said. “Remedying historical wrongs ought to be the goal of any constitutional system,” he said, adding that “representation is only one way of” achieving this.

INDIAN ECONOMY TO BE 3RD LARGEST BY 2030: S&P GLOBAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE

India, the world’s fifth largest economy, may overtake Japan by 2030 to become the world’s third-largest economy, says S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Currently, Japan is the third biggest economy with a GDP of $4.2 trillion, followed by Germany with GDP of $4 trillion. The US’ GDP is $25.5 trillion and that of China is about $18 trillion. After two years of rapid economic growth in 2021 and 2022, the Indian economy has continued to show sustained strong growth during the 2023 calendar year. If this trend endures, India will have a GDP of $7.3 trillion by 2030. There will, however, be a huge gap with the first two economies. China by 2030 is projected to have a GDP of $43 trillion to become the biggest economy and the US’ economic size will be about $28 trillion.

PANEL ON NEW NCERT SOCIAL SCIENCE CURRICULUM WANTS ‘BHARAT’, NOT INDIA

Bharat, not India, should be the country’s name in school textbooks, from primary to high-school level, a high-level committee set up by the NCERT to revise school curriculum has recommended, according to its chairman Prof C.I. Issac (Retd), a historian and RSS ideologue.  The committee has also suggested toning down the focus on “Hindu defeats” in the curriculum, says Issac.

Issac said the “unanimous” recommendation of the seven-member committee has found mention in its final position paper on social sciences, which is a key prescriptive document that is supposed to lay down the foundation for the development of new NCERT textbooks on the subject.

Issac, who was conferred the Padma Shri in January this year, said the committee has specifically recommended that school students be taught the name Bharat, instead of India, in textbooks. “The name Bharat finds mention in the Vishnu Purana. Kalidasa used the name Bharat. It is an age-old name. The name India came much later with the invasion of Turks, Afghans and Greeks,” he said.  “They identified Bharat on the basis of the Sindhu river. The invaders found it convenient. I insisted that only the name Bharat be used in textbooks till 12th standard. The other members accepted and it became the committee’s unanimous view,” Issac added.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

======================

NO PARTY TO AN ARMED CONFLICT IS ABOVE INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW: UN CHIEF

UN chief Antonio Guterres on Tuesday asserted that no party to an armed conflict is above international humanitarian law as he expressed deep alarm over the “relentless bombardment” of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip by Israeli forces and appealed to all to “pull back from the brink” before the violence escalates even further.

Guterres said he is deeply concerned about the “clear violations of international humanitarian law that we are witnessing in Gaza”. “Let me be clear: No party to an armed conflict is above international humanitarian law.”

Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan described Guterres’ speech as “shocking”. In a post on X, he called on Guterres to immediately resign, while Cohen said he would no longer meet with Guterres later on Tuesday as planned. “I will not meet with the UN secretary-general. After Oct. 7 there is no room for a balanced approach. Hamas must be erased from the world!” Cohen posted.

While condemning unequivocally the “horrifying and unprecedented” acts of terror by Hamas in Israel on October 7, Guterres said that it is important to also recognise the attacks by Hamas “did not happen in a vacuum”. “The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence; their economy stifled; their people displaced and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing,” he said.

He, however, stressed that the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas. “And those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”

The UN chief said an immediate humanitarian ceasefire would ease the “epic suffering” and make delivery of aid in Gaza easier and safer.

He termed the humanitarian relief that is finally getting into Gaza as “a drop of aid in an ocean of need.”

Drawing a parallel between terrorist attacks by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba in Mumbai and by Hamas in Israel, US Secretary of State Blinken said that all acts of terrorism are “unlawful and unjustifiable” and the Security Council must denounce member states that arm, fund and train terrorist groups. “We must affirm the right of any nation to defend itself and to prevent such horror from repeating itself. No member of this Council, no nation in this entire body could or would tolerate the slaughter of its people,” Blinken said.

US MILITARY ADVISERS RUSH TO ISREAL

With the well-being of hostages emerging as a key factor, Israel could delay a ground invasion of Gaza for a few days to enable their release by Hamas. The release of two Israeli women on Monday preceded by the release of two US women earlier has led to western leaders wanting to get hostages out of Gaza before a ground assault.

Fears of a wider war increased after the US beefed up its ground troops and sent two top military advisers to Israel. Forty years after the bombings that killed American and French soldiers in Beirut, United States troops are being deployed east of the Mediterranean.

The Pentagon is actively assisting Israel in its planning by sending military advisers and sophisticated air defence systems ahead of a ground assault into Gaza by Israel’s military.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who was in Tel Aviv, proposed a coalition of willing nations to fight Hamas and sought the release of kidnapped French citizens. This has made numerous western bases all over West Asia susceptible to attacks which, so far, have been sporadic and caused only superficial damage at some US military installations.

'MISSING' FOR 2 MONTHS, CHINA DEFENCE MINISTER SACKED

China on Tuesday formally sacked Defence Minister Li Shangfu, who has been missing from public view for the past two months, from the Cabinet as well as his position as a state councillor, reported the state media. No replacement has been announced.

Former Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who similarly slipped out of public view earlier, was stripped of his state council position. He has already been replaced by his predecessor Wang Yi.

Science and Technology Minister Wang Zhigang and Finance Minister Liu Kun have also been removed from their posts. They have been replaced by Yin Hejun and Lan Fo’an.

The fall from grace of Li and Qin is seen as an error on the part of Chinese President Xi Jinping who had handpicked them for the two crucial posts.

Li was last seen giving a speech on August 29. He was a close confidante of Xi and his absence was first noted when he did not turn up for a meeting with senior Vietnamese defence officials on September 7. He was also not seen in the footage of a military meeting held last month.

THE REST

=========

ODISHA CM'S PRIVATE SECRETARY GETS CABINET RANK POST DAY AFTER VRS

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's close aide V K Pandian was on Tuesday appointed chairman of 5T with the status of cabinet minister, a day after his voluntary retirement from government service.

Pandian, a 2000 batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre, applied for voluntary retirement on October 20 and got the approval on October 23. The chief minister appointed Pandian as the chairman of 5T and Nabin Odisha programmes within hours after his voluntary retirement proposal was accepted.

The opposition BJP and Congress on Tuesday expressed surprise over the speed at which Pandian's VRS was accepted and his appointment as chairman of 5T (Transformational Initiatives).

Starting his bureaucratic career as Sub-Collector of Dharmagarh in Kalahandi district, Pandian had worked as Collector of Mayurbhanj and Ganjam districts. He came in contact with Patnaik during his tenure as Ganjam collector as Ganjam is the home district of the CM. The chief minister picked him up and he joined the CMO as private secretary in 2011.

After Patnaik became the chief minister for the fifth time in 2019, Pandian was given the additional responsibility of '5T secretary' to implement some transformational initiatives in government departments.

Both the BJP and Congress had earlier asked Pandian to resign from government service and join politics as he allegedly misused his official position as the chief minister's private secretary while making tours across Odisha at the cost of state expenditure.

'DON'T FEEL LIKE...': BJP'S NILESH RANE QUITS ACTIVE POLITICS

BJP's Nilesh Rane, a former Lok Sabha member on Tuesday that he is stepping away from active politics. Nilesh is the elder son of Narayan Rane, former Maharashtra Chief Minister and current Union Cabinet Minister of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

"I am stepping aside from active politics and there is no reason other than that I don't feel like ruling anymore," Rane tweeted on social media app X. "I have no interest left in contesting the elections," said the former Lok Sabha member.

He further mentioned that critics will always criticize but he would not like to waste his time and others' time when continuing further does not suit his heart.

HINDUTVA IDEOLOGUES MUST SHOW RESTRAINT: RSS CHIEF AHEAD OF POLLS

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Tuesday called for national unity urging people to exercise restraint and strive to end the prevailing distrust in society by striking friendships.

Speaking ahead of the five state Assembly elections, Bhagwat directed his appeal mainly at the majority community, exhorting them to take everyone along.

“Those who want unity and those who take pride in real Hindutva, they must restrain their tongues. A call for friendship is not about surrender or cowardice. Powerful people don’t indulge in hooliganism. They protect the weak. We must avoid provocations which will rise in poll season…the message is for everyone,” said the chief of RSS, the ruling BJP’s ideological mentor, in his annual Vijayadashmi speech in Nagpur.

Calling for unity, Bhagwat urged minorities to shed their sense of victimhood. “There is no victim…There are bound to be contests for a share in the national resource pie, but we must eschew selfishness to build developed India. Once India develops, all problems will end,” the RSS chief said adding that celebration of diversity over centuries was the force behind India’s unity.

“We may worship different faiths, but we are all one. The love for motherland, truth, propriety and unity – the tents of Dharma – bind us,” said Sangh chief.

He also called for programmes across the country on January 22 when the idol of Ram Lalla will be consecrated in the temple in Ayodhya.

HOW MUMBAI AIR QUALITY DETERIORATED SO MUCH

No marshals to monitor garbage dumping, no segregation of waste in slum clusters and non-gated societies, no localised bio-methanation plants, and no penalty for burning garbage — inaction by the BMC on several fronts over the last couple of years has resulted in a sharp dip in air quality in the city this year, much before the onset of winter.

The BMC’s Mumbai Air Pollution Mitigation Plan (MAPMP) released in March this year has identified garbage and solid waste burning in the open as one of the top five sources of air pollution. The other four are: dust arising from construction site and construction debris, road dust and its displacement, usage of unclean fuels in restaurants, dhabas, bakeries and roadside eateries, and a range of industries including those using ready mix concrete plants and casting yard plants.

As per BMC bye-laws cleared by the state in December 2006, the penalty for disposal of waste by burning was set at Rs 100. Over the last 17 years, while there has been no revision in the penalty amount, the civic body does not have records of any penalty imposed so far either.

INDIA'S AC POWER DEMAND TO RISE 9-FOLD BY 2050

India’s demand for electricity for running household air conditioners is estimated to expand nine-fold by 2050 and will exceed total power consumption in the whole of Africa today, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday.

In its latest World Energy Outlook, the IEA said India would see the largest energy demand growth of any country or region in the world over the next three decades.

The AC ownership has tripled since 2010 to reach 24 units per 100 households.

META’S INSTAGRAM LINKED TO DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, INSOMNIA IN KIDS – US STATES’ LAWSUIT

Dozens of US states are suing Meta Platforms and its Instagram unit, accusing them of fuelling a youth mental health crisis by making their social media platforms addictive.

In a complaint filed in the Oakland, California, federal court on Tuesday, 33 states including California and New York said Meta repeatedly misled the public about the dangers of its platforms, and knowingly induced young children and teenagers into addictive and compulsive social media use. Meta also operates Facebook.

The states noted research has associated children’s use of Meta’s social media platforms with “depression, anxiety, insomnia, interference with education and daily life, and many other negative outcomes.”

Eight other U.S. states and Washington, D.C. are filing similar lawsuits against Meta on Tuesday, bringing the total number of authorities taking action against the Menlo Park, California-based company to 42.

WORLD CUP MATCH 23: ANOTHER HUGE WIN FOR S AFRICA, THIS TIME AGAINST B’DESH

Quinton de Kock racked up his third century in five innings as South Africa extended their belligerent run in the World Cup with a 149-run win over Bangladesh in Mumbai on Tuesday.

Having piled up the third highest total of 382/5 in this World Cup -- the first two also belonging to them -- the Proteas ran through a largely disappointing Bangladesh batting line-up, dismissing their opponents for 233 in 46.4 overs.

Mahmudullah Riyad struck a valiant 111 off as many balls -- his fourth ton in 225 ODIs and first in six years -- but the other Bangladesh batters cut a sorry figure on a pitch that remained conducive for batting.

Results so far: S Africa Played 5 Matches, Won 4. Bangladesh Played 5, won 1

INDICATORS

(Indian markets were closed yesterday on account of Dussehra. On Monday, Sensex closed at 64,572 (-826) and Nifty at 19,282 (-261))

Nasdaq 13,140 (+122) Dow 33,141 (+205), S&P 4,248 (+31)

US$-Rs. 83.03, GBP-Rs. 101.04, Euro-Rs. 88.26, UAE Dhm-Rs. 22.60, Can$-Rs. 60.56, Aus$- Rs. 52.77

GBP 0.81 /US$, Euro 0.94 /US$, Jap.Yen 149.73 /US$, Aus$ 1.57 /US$, Sing 1.36 /US$, Bang Taka 108.77 /US$, Can$ 1.37 /US$, Mal Ring 4.78 /US$, Pak Re 277.46 /US$, Phil Peso 56.72 /US$, Russian Rouble 93.96 /US$, NZ$ 1.70 /US$, Thai Baht 36.15 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 36.23 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 34,333, Dollar Index 106.05, Brent Crude 88.04, BDI 1949

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,975 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 6,169 / 5,655, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 74,600

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right. - Henry Ford

OFF TRACK

As his model reported for work and began to undress, the artist who specialized in nudes told her not to bother, that he felt pretty bad with a cold he had been fighting. He added that he would pay her for the day, but that she could just go home; he just wanted some hot tea and then, off to bed.

The model said, "Oh, please, let me fix it for you. It's the least I can do."

He agreed and told her to fix herself a cup, too. They were sitting in the living room just exchanging small talk and enjoying their tea, when he heard the front door open and close, then some familiar footsteps.

"Oh my God." he whispered loudly. "It's my wife! Quick - Take off all of your clothes!"