DELHI EXCISE POLICY CASE: ED SUMMONS CM ARVIND KEJRIWAL FOR QUESTIONING

The Enforcement Directorate has summoned Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday for questioning in relation to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy case.

Earlier, in April this year, Kejriwal was questioned by the CBI in connection with its case in the excise policy. After being questioned for nine hours, Kejriwal had said he was asked 56 questions, mostly centred around why the policy was brought in and when it was prepared. “I believe that this case is completely false… They don’t have even a shred of evidence,” he had said.

The ED summons came on a day the Supreme Court denied bail to Kejriwal’s former deputy, Manish Sisodia in the same case. The court noted that a money trail of Rs.338 crore had been "tentatively established" and that the "rule of law applies equally to all citizens and institutions, including the State". In refusing Mr Sisodia bail, the court accepted the CBI's argument that there is a "carefully hatched conspiracy... (to) assure unjust enrichment" of a select few, and that the policy "facilitated getting bribes" from wholesale distributors "assured exorbitant profits".

The Aam Aadmi Party said the BJP was out to destroy AAP. “It is very clear that BJP wants to use any and every means to arrest Arvind Kejriwal. The attempt in the liquor policy investigation has been to file a fake case and finish off the Aam Aadmi Party. BJP has got the summons issued to achieve that objective,” said Jasmine Shah, a senior AAP leader.

WILL DO ALL TO SECURE RELEASE: JAISHANKAR ASSURES KIN OF EIGHT ON QATAR DEATH ROW

Days after a Qatar court sentenced eight former Indian Navy personnel to death in a case of alleged espionage, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar Monday met the family members of the eight and assured them that the government attaches “the highest importance” to the case.

Stating that he “fully shares the concerns and pain of the families”, Jaishankar told the family members that the government will make all efforts to secure their release.

The charges against the Indian nationals have not been made public by Qatari authorities. According to a report in the Financial Times, the eight Indians had been charged with spying for Israel. There was no official word on the charges from the Indian side.

ELECTORAL BONDS SCHEME: SUPREME COURT BENCH TO BEGIN HEARING TODAY

A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court is scheduled to commence a crucial hearing from Tuesday on a batch of pleas challenging the validity of the electoral bonds scheme for funding political parties.

The scheme, which was notified by the government on January 2, 2018, was pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring in transparency in political funding.

Ahead of the hearing, Attorney General (AG) R Venkataramani, in a statement filed before the court, has said citizens do not have the right to information under Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution regarding the source of the funds. Holding that the electoral bonds scheme for funding political parties contributes to clean money, the top law officer has said there can be no general right to know “anything and everything” without being subjected to reasonable restrictions.

As the court is set to commence hearing in the matter, Congress leader P Chidambaram alleged on Monday that the ruling BJP had made its intentions clear that it would raise its funds from big corporates in an “opaque, secretive and conspiratorial manner”. The BJP hit back at Chidambaram, saying it was piteous that the Congress opposed any attempt to ensure a more transparent and democratic political funding system.

SONIA GANDHI CONDEMNS HAMAS ATTACK, REITERATES CONGRESS’S STAND ON ‘RIGHTS OF PALESTINIANS’

The Congress condemned the Hamas attack on Israel while also denouncing Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, former party president Sonia Gandhi wrote in a column for a leading English daily. Her column came close on the heels of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge taking a similar line, after the party went back and forth on its stance on the issue.

In her column for The Hindu, Sonia Gandhi stated that the Congress’s stand on the issue was “long standing” and “principled”. She also criticised the government’s decision to abstain from voting on a resolution moved by Jordan at the UN General Assembly calling for an “immediate” ceasefire in Gaza.

“…it is to support direct negotiations for a sovereign, independent, viable and secure state of Palestine coexisting in peace with Israel. This is also the stand taken by the Ministry of External Affairs on October 12, 2023,” she wrote.

Gandhi added that it is “noteworthy that a reiteration of India’s historic position on Palestine came only after Israel began its assault on Gaza”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she wrote, “made no mention of Palestinian rights in the initial statement expressing complete solidarity with Israel” — referring to the Prime Minister’s initial reaction to the attack by Hamas.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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ISRAEL VOWS TO "FIGHT UNTIL BATTLE IS WON"

"Calls for a ceasefire are calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism... this will not happen," Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu told a foreign briefing, vowing Israel would "fight until this battle is won".

Netanyahu's government is facing mounting pressure amid a hostage situation with around 230 Israelis and foreign nationals being held captive in the Gaza Strip. Hostages remain an important political currency for the Hamas and had been a major reason for negotiations for Israel in the past.

Hamas yesterday released a video of three women who were taken hostage during their October 7 attack, the deadliest in Israel's history. Netanyahu denounced the anguished images of the three women as "cruel psychological propaganda" and vowed to do everything to bring home the kidnapped people.

In another instance, a woman soldier was freed from Gaza Strip by the Israeli army during their ground operations.

Israeli tanks were seen advancing into the fringes of Gaza City yesterday amid an intensified military operation by Israel.

Israel's intensified military operations in the Gaza strip has sharply heightened fears for the 2.4 million inhabitants with the UN warning that not enough aid was reaching there to meet "unprecedented humanitarian needs". The Hamas-controlled health ministry said over 8,300 have been killed in Gaza.

BIDEN UNVEILS SWEEPING RULES TO REGULATE EMERGING AI TECH

US President Joe Biden is directing the US government to take a sweeping approach to artificial intelligence regulation, his most significant action yet to rein in an emerging technology that has sparked both concern and acclaim. The lengthy executive order, released on Monday, sets new standards on security and privacy protections for AI, with far-reaching impacts on companies. Developers such as Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet Inc.’s Google will be directed to put powerful AI models through safety tests and submit results to the government before their public release.

The commerce department has been asked to issue the guidance to label and watermark AI-generated content.

The new rules, some of which are set to go into effect in the next 90 days, are likely to face many challenges, some legal and some political.

THE REST

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SC AGAIN PULLS UP MAHARASHTRA SPEAKER, SETS DEC 31 DEADLINE

Coming down heavily on Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar yet again, the Supreme Court on Monday directed him to decide on the disqualification pleas filed by rival Shiv Sena factions before December 31.

A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said procedural wranglings should not be permitted to delay disqualification petitions..

The Supreme Court had earlier taken exception to the Speaker not deciding on the petitions and asked him to set a timeline.

SHINDE GOVT FACES HEAT AS MARATHA QUOTA STIR TURNS VIOLENT

Amid a fresh round of protests by the Maratha community pressing for a quota in government jobs and educational institutions, MLAs and MPs of the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP-NCP combine are facing the heat, with the agitation turning violent in parts of Maharashtra.

On Monday, agitators pelted stones at the residence of NCP MLA Prakash Solanke in Majalgaon in Beed district, besides torching some of his vehicles parked there. The MLA from Majalgaon, Solanke is part of the NCP faction led by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar. Around the same time Solanke’s residence was attacked in Beed, some persons also reportedly attacked the Majalgaon municipal council building.

CM Shinde, meanwhile, tried to soothe protestors by forming an advisory board of three retired judges to oversee the state’s preparedness in presenting its case for a Maratha quota in the Supreme Court. The apex court had in 2021 struck down Maharashtra’s Maratha quota law. CM Shinde, who belongs to the Maratha community, also appealed to protestors not to engage in violence or create a law and order situation.

On Sunday, Hemant Patil, an MP of the Shinde-led Sena from Nanded district in Marathwada, offered to resign in solidarity with the Maratha community. And on Monday, BJP MLA from Georai Laxman Pawar and Shinde-led Sena MP Hemant Godse also reportedly sent letters to the Speaker, offering to resign from the assembly.

KERALA BLASTS; POLICE INVESTIGATING IF IT WAS INDEED A LONE WOLF ATTACK

Dominic Martin, an electrician and the key accused in the Kochi blasts had extensively searched the internet to learn about how to make explosives, and  had made more than one IED at his house at Thammanam in Kochi, which he carried in a plastic bag to the convention centre in Kalamassery early Sunday morning.

After placing the plastic bags containing the IEDs at the convention hall before participants entered, he waited nearby and triggered the blast using two remotes. He then rode his two-wheeler towards Thrissur and checked into a hotel, from where he uploaded a confessional video. After spending less than half an hour at that hotel, he turned up at Kodakara police station in Thrissur claiming responsibility for the blasts.

On Monday, police formally arrested Martin and booked him under the UAPA, the Explosives Act, and IPC sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder). A police team, led by ADGP (law and order) M R Ajith Kumar, questioned him Monday. Police were also looking into Martin’s claims he planned and executed the blasts by himself, without any accomplices.

INDEFINITE EXCLUSION A CONCERN: SC ON RAGHAV CHADHA'S SUSPENSION FROM RS

Raising questions on the indefinite suspension of AAP leader Raghav Chadha from the Rajya Sabha, the Supreme Court on Monday said that “exclusion of a member of the Opposition from the House is a very serious matter” as “Parliament must have voices from across the spectrum”.

Presiding over a three-judge bench, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud asked Attorney General R Venkataramani whether the MP’s conduct would constitute a breach of privilege and said: “..he is a member of the Opposition. Exclusion of a member of the Opposition from the House is a very serious matter, A) he is a representative of his constituency. B) he is representative of a viewpoint which may not be consistent with the views of the government. Must be very careful about excluding those voices from Parliament. Matter of very serious concern to us as a constitutional court. Parliament must have voices from across the spectrum”.

The CJI added, “that’s why the indefinite suspension is a call for concern. I can understand if the privileges committee was going to decide that in 15 days or a month. 75 days have gone. Winter Session is coming and this member will be out”.

TRIBUNAL AWARDS TATA RS 766 CRORE COMPENSATION OVER SINGUR LOSSES

An arbitration tribunal has awarded Tata Motors Ltd Rs 766 crore in compensation — recoverable from the West Bengal government — for its capital investment losses in the stalled Singur manufacturing plant, the company said on Monday.

In an exchange filing, Tata Motors said the three-member tribunal on October 30 ruled unanimously that it is entitled to recover from West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation Ltd (WBIDC) “a sum of Rs 765.78 crore with interest thereon at 11 per cent per annum from September 1, 2016, till actual recovery thereof”.

The Mumbai-based automobile manufacturer has also been allowed to recover Rs 1 crore for the cost of the proceedings from WBIDC.

The ruling TMC played down the arbitral proceedings, stressing that it is not the “final verdict” and that legal options are available before the state government. “This is not a final verdict or a verdict by the Supreme Court. This is a ruling by an arbitral tribunal. It doesn’t mean this is the end of the road for the state government. Legal avenues are still open for the state government,” said TMC MP Sougata Roy.

In 2006, the Left Front government in West Bengal had announced that Tata Motors would set up a car manufacturing unit to roll out its cheapest car, the Rs 1-lakh Nano. The Buddhadeb Bhattacharya-led government allotted about 1,000 acres of farmland to the company in Singur.

By October 2008, however, the company had scrapped its plans and shifted the plant to Sanand in Gujarat after facing stiff protests from opposition political parties — particularly the Trinamool Congress (TMC) which is now in power — and farmers in the area over land acquisition. By this time, Tata Motors had already put in more than Rs 1,000 crore in Singur.

‘MDR NECESSARY TO DRIVE GROWTH IN DIGITAL PAYMENTS’

The merchant discount rate (MDR), which has been the most debated aspect in Unified Payments Interface (UPI), continued to get divided opinion from industry players at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit.

There is a need for an MDR for larger merchants along with a zero per cent MDR for small and medium merchants to drive sustainable growth of digital payments while maintaining scale, said Vishwas Patel, joint managing director, Infibeam Avenues and chairman, Payments Council of India. “We have a zero MDR for big merchants, which have billion dollar budgets for UPI, and the government is paying for it. Essentially, taxpayer money is subventing UPI transactions of big merchants, who can easily afford it. Why not do it only for small and medium merchants at zero MDR, where we can grow it?” Patel asked.

Merchants will be able to afford a low control MDR of 0.2 per cent as out of a transaction of Rs 100, they will still be able to get Rs 99.80, he added.

Sharath Balasu, director, product management, Google Pay, agrees. In order to operate payments at India-scale, it is necessary for digital payment companies to find a sustainable path for operations, he said.

“I think it is critical that this industry as a whole becomes self-sustainable as economically it is going to matter a lot. I don’t think anyone has deep enough pockets to operate at India-scale if one cannot figure out a sustainable path,” Balasu added.

ELON MUSK'S X IS NOW VALUED LESS THAN HALF OF PRICE HE PAID FOR IT

X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, is worth less than half of what Elon Musk paid for it a year ago. Restricted stock units awarded to employees value the company at $19 billion, or $45 a share. A year ago, Musk bought Twitter Inc. for $44 billion.

Since the takeover, most of Twitter's staff was laid off or resigned. Musk renamed the company X, changed some of its content rules and lost more than half of its advertising revenue.

Musk's plan for X is to shift away from advertising toward paid subscriptions. But so far the company has persuaded less than 1% of users to sign up for its monthly premium service, translating to less than $120 million annually, Bloomberg has estimated.

Musk has also been vocal about turning X into an "everything app" that could generate revenue from features like shopping and payments. The company rolled out audio and video calling earlier this month, has a beta version of a hiring service and announced plans to launch a news wire. Musk told employees that X plans to compete with Google's YouTube, Microsoft Corp.'s LinkedIn and Cision's PR Newswire.

WORLD CUP MATCH 30: NOW AFGHANISTAN BEAT SRI LANKA

Rahmat Shah, skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai slammed well-timed half-centuries to complement a superb bowling effort of pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi as Afghanistan defeated Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the ICC World Cup match, at the MCA International Stadium in Pune, on Monday.

Chasing 242 for victory, Afghanistan went past the target in 45.2 overs for the loss of three wickets.

A 111-run partnership between Shahidi (58 not out) and Azmatullah (73 not out) for the unbroken fourth wicket stand formed the cornerstone of the big win, their third in this tournament.

Following their breathtaking performances against England and Pakistan, Afghanistan went into the match against Sri Lanka as slight favourites and pacer Farooqi made a huge statement by unleashing his full fury to grab four wickets for 34 runs and demolish the Islanders for 241 runs.

Results so far: Afghanistan (5th) Played 6 Matches, Won 3; Sri Lanka (6th) Played 6, won 2

LIONEL MESSI PIPS ERLING HAALAND AND KYLIAN MBAPPE TO WIN BALLON D'OR 2023

Lionel Messi won the Ballon d'Or for the eighth time in his career at a star-studded ceremony in Paris on Monday. Messi, 36, was awarded for his performances last season, when he inspired Argentina to glory at the World Cup. It was his displays in Qatar, when Messi dragged his country to a victory that crowned his remarkable career, that allowed Messi to see off stiff competition from Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland in particular. Haaland came second in the final voting, with Mbappe third and Kevin De Bruyne in fourth place.

Former Barcelona superstar Messi scored seven times at the World Cup and was named the tournament's best player after Argentina beat France on penalties in the final in Doha.

INDICATORS

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GBP 0.82 /US$, Euro 0.94 /US$, Jap.Yen 149.40 /US$, Aus$ 1.57 /US$, Sing 1.36 /US$, Bang Taka 108.97 /US$, Can$ 1.38 /US$, Mal Ring 4.75 /US$, Pak Re 277.08 /US$, Phil Peso 56.79 /US$, Russian Rouble 93.21 /US$, NZ$ 1.71 /US$, Thai Baht 35.95 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 36.14 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 34,506, Dollar Index 106.05, Brent Crude 88.06, BDI 1563

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1996 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 6,240 / 5,720, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 78,500

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone. - Henry David Thoreau

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