UP GOVT RELENTS, ALLOWS OPPN LEADERS TO MEET AFFECTED FAMILIES

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Wednesday met the family members of farmers killed in the violence in Lakhimpur Kheri and promised them all assistance. They arrived in Lakhimpur after the UP government allowed them visit the violence-hit district.

Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and his Chhattisgarh counterpart Bhupesh Baghel accompanied them in another car.

Earlier in the day, a high-voltage drama played out at the Lucknow airport where Rahul Gandhi staged a dharna briefly to protest the administration's decision to take him to Lakhimpur in a police vehicle instead of his own. Later, the administration relented and the former AICC president reached Sitapur guest house in his own vehicle on his way to Lakhimpur Kheri.

Before, the high-level Congress team reached Lakhimpur, a delegation of Aam Aadmi Party landed at Dhaurahra tehsil, home of one of the dead farmer.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party general secretary S C Mishra have finalised their itinerary to Lakhimpur for Thursday.

BSP General Secretary will set out for Lakhimpur from his Lucknow house around 10 am Thursday to meet families of the victims of the violence, a party statement said.

SUPREME COURT TAKES SUO MOTU NOTICE, HEARING BY CJI-LED BENCH TODAY

Even as the Uttar Pradesh administration on Wednesday allowed politicians to visit Lakhimpur Kheri in groups of five, the Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance of the violence in which eight persons, including four farmers, were killed.

The case is listed before a three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana for Thursday. The others on the Bench are Justice Surya Kant and Justice Hima Kohli. The UP administration permitted political leaders into Lakhimpur only after the mortal remains of the fourth farmer were consigned to flames following a second autopsy.

SC, ST QUOTA IN PROMOTIONS: GOVT GIVES DATA, SAYS ENOUGH TO SHOW LOW NUMBERS

A day after the Supreme Court asked it for data to show inadequate representation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in public employment to justify providing reservation in promotions to them, the Centre on Wednesday produced figures which it said were enough to establish their low numbers.

Additional Solicitor General Balbir Singh told a three-judge bench headed by Justice L Nageswara Rao that according to the data the total number in Group A, B and C categories in 19 ministries is 15.34% for SCs and 6.18% for STs.

The bench, also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B R Gavai, was hearing a clutch of petitions by the Centre and states highlighting the issues in connection with implementation of two Constitution bench judgments laying down the guidelines to be followed in providing reservation in promotions.

Singh said that “the data collected… satisfies the test of adequacy of representation”.

“The court should interfere only if any arbitrariness is reflected in the Centre’s decision… beyond that the court must not interfere,” he said.

The bench said if the government’s argument that this data is enough is accepted, there would arise a problem. “In the data that you have given, some classes have more than what has been prescribed. And, if this is your argument, reservation for some classes will have to be discontinued,” said Justice Rao.

The court pointed out that the data produced by the government showed that representation in Group A is low, it said that it is as if the government is ensuring adequate representation by adjusting in Group B and C, “which is not fair”.

Attorney General K K Venugopal, justifying the need for reservation in promotions, said, “It is a fact of life because we are not being able, after 75 years, to bring the SCs and STs to the same level of merit.” “They are admitted at entry-level, thereafter there is no reservation,” he said, adding that “time has come for your lordships to give concrete basis for the SC, ST and OBC to fill up vacancies”.

INDIA, US ON SAME PAGE OVER CHINA: ENVOY

US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman on Wednesday said she believed India was of the “same mind” as Washington in cooperating with China where it is in its interest but challenge Beijing where it undermined the interests of the US and its allies.

The visiting senior US diplomat said China would also be challenged if it threatened the rules-based international order.

She was speaking at a session of the USIBC India Ideas Summit where Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said fast-paced developments in South Asia, especially in Afghanistan, will keep India and the US engaged. “We have a keen desire to ensure that we both work together to ensure peace, security, and stability in South Asia and beyond,” he said.

KEY COVID NUMBERS

Current Active Cases Countrywide: 2,37,364

New Cases in last 24 hours: 22,616

Recovered in last 24 hours: 24,628

Change in no. of Active cases in last 24 hours: -2,327

No. of deaths in last 24 hours (Total Covid Deaths so far): 315 (4,49,883)

Daily Tests (Tuesday): 14,09,825

Daily Positivity Rate (Proportion of Positives among total Tested): 1.6%

Percentage of Population Vaccinated (At Least One Dose / Two Doses): 50.1% / 19.1%

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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NOBEL PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY HONOURS ‘GREENER’ WAY TO BUILD MOLECULES

Two scientists won the Nobel Prize for chemistry on Wednesday for finding an “ingenious” and environmentally cleaner way to build molecules that can be used to make everything from medicines to food flavourings.

The work of Benjamin List of Germany and Scotland-born David WC MacMillan has allowed scientists to produce those molecules more cheaply, efficiently, safely — and with significantly less environmental impact. “It’s already benefiting humankind greatly,” said Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede, a member of the Nobel panel.

Making molecules — which requires linking individual atoms together in specific arrangement — is a difficult and slow task. Until the beginning of the millennium, chemists had only two methods — or catalysts — to speed up the process. That all changed in 2000, when List, of the Max Planck Institute, and MacMillan, of Princeton University, independently reported that small organic molecules can be used to do the same job as big enzymes and metal catalysts.

The new method, known as asymmetric organocatalysis, “is used widely today, for example, in drug discovery and in fine chemicals production”, said Wittung-Stafshede. Johan Aqvist, chair of the Nobel panel, called the new method as “simple as it is ingenious”. “The fact is that many people have wondered why we didn't think of it earlier,” he added.

H N Cheng, president of the American Chemical Society, said the laureates developed “new magic wands”.

WHO APPROVES FIRST MALARIA VACCINE IN BIG BREAKTHROUGH

The WHO on Wednesday endorsed the first ever vaccine to prevent malaria, debuting a tool that could save the lives of tens of thousands of children in Africa each year. Malaria is among the oldest known and deadliest of infectious diseases. It kills about half a million people each year, nearly all of them in sub-Saharan Africa — among them 2,60,000 kids under age 5.

The new vaccine, made by GlaxoSmithKline, rouses a child’s immune system to thwart Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest of five malaria pathogens and the most prevalent in Africa. The vaccine is not just a first for malaria — it is the first developed for any parasitic disease.

In clinical trials, the vaccine had an efficacy of about 50% against severe malaria in the first year, but dropped close to zero by the fourth year. And the trials did not measure the vaccine’s impact on preventing deaths, which has led some experts to question whether it is a worthwhile investment in countries with countless other intractable problems.

THE REST

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NEW VIDEO SHOWS MINISTER'S SUV RAM UNARMED FARMERS AT GREAT SPEED

A cleaner, longer clip of the viral video from Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri that reveals what happened on Sunday before the violent clashes shows a black SUV - which a union minister has confirmed to be his family's - ploughing into an unarmed group of protesters at great speed.

The video appears to contest claims by the minister Ajay Mishra and his son that their Mahindra Thar was under attack - it shows no stones or sticks being thrown at the car - and that the driver lost control resulting in the death of at least four farmers and injuries to many more.

In this video, the driver seems to holding on to the steering wheel firmly and driving at great speed into a group of farmers marching in front of the SUV, with their backs to it.

According to witnesses, it was after this incident, that an enraged mob attacked the cars, set them on fire and four people in the convoy were beaten to death.

A lower resolution, slowed-down version of the same video was earlier shared by a series of opposition leaders as proof that the blame for the Sunday's clashes - that left eight people dead in all and many injured - lay on the convoy of minister's aides and BJP workers.

VALLEY UNITED IN GRIEF OVER BINDROO’S KILLING

There is rage on social media and the separatists and mainstream political parties are united in their condemnation. For the first time since the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, a civilian killing has sparked such rage in the Valley.

Makhan Lal Bindroo, who ran one of the Valley’s most trusted and popular pharmacies, set up back in 1947, was killed Tuesday evening by suspected militants while he was at his store in Srinagar. There are no leads yet on the killing, though an unverified statement by The Resistance Front, which police say is a front for Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), claimed responsibility and termed Bindroo an “RSS ideologue”.

It’s not just his reputation as a go-to man for any medicine that made Bindroo, 68, a household name in Srinagar. His family was among the few hundred Pandit families who decided to stay on when militancy forced the others out. As Bindroo’s pharmacy gained popularity, he expanded his business.

On Wednesday, his daughter Shraddha released an emotional video saying her father had said he would never die. “I am an associate professor, I started from zero. My father started from his bicycle. My brother is a famous diabetologist, my mother runs a shop… This is what Makhan Lal Bindoo made us,” she said. “A Kashmiri Pandit, he will never die, You just killed the body. I being Hindu, I have read the Quran and the Quran says that only the body dies, the soul remains intact. Makhan Lal Bindroo is alive in spirit.”

She dared the persons who had killed him to show their face. “Mister who shot my father while he was working, if you have the guts, come and debate with us… You can only pelt stones and shoot in the back.”

SUSPEND TIHAR STAFF WHO HELPED UNITECH EX-PROMOTERS, ORDERS SC

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered immediate suspension of Tihar Jail officials, who allegedly extended undue favours to former Unitech promoters Sanjay Chandra and Ajay Chandra while they were in jail in violation of its orders.

A Bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud, which had on August 26 directed shifting of the Chandra brothers from Tihar Jail to separate jails in Mumbai, also ordered a full-fledged probe into the alleged collusion of Tihar Jail officials with the Unitech’s ex-promoters after perusing a report submitted to it in a sealed cover by Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana.

The court ordered registration of criminal cases against Tihar Jail officials and other unidentified persons under the Prevention of Corruption Act and IPC for alleged involvement in the collusion. The Tihar Jail officials shall remain suspended pending proceedings against whom cases will be lodged as per the report, following ED’s disclosure that the Chandra brothers were conducting business while lodged in jail.

RAID ON CRUISE SHIP ‘FAKE’, NO DRUGS FOUND, CLAIMS A MAHARASHTRA MINISTER

The Nationalist Congress Party has alleged that the NCB raid on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast on October 2 was “fake” and no drugs were found during it.

The party also questioned the presence of two persons along with the NCB team during the raid, and alleged that one of them was a BJP member. “The drama (the raid) was fake. They did not find drugs on the ship,” NCP spokesperson and Maharashtra Minorities Affairs Minister Nawab Malik said during a media interaction.

He also released a few videos, purportedly of the raid. “A man who is seen escorting Aryan Khan in one of the videos was not an NCB official, and his social media profile states that he is a private detective based in Kuala Lumpur,” the NCP leader said.

Further, two men were seen escorting Arbaaz Merchant, also arrested in the case, in another video, and one of them was a member of the BJP, Malik alleged. “If these two men are not officials of the NCB, then why were they escorting two high-profile persons (Khan and Merchant),” the NCP leader asked.

The man seen with Merchant was in Gujarat on September 21-22 and could be connected to the seizure of about 3,000 kg of heroin at Mundra Port, Malik alleged, asking the BJP to come clean on this person’s credentials. However, the BJP has so far not responded to Malik’s accusations.

However, the NCB scoffed the claims of Malik as “baseless, with malice to malign the agency’s image and in retaliation against an earlier action of the NCB”. Responding to the charges, the NCB said the two persons—Manish Bhanushali and Kiran Gosavi—were among more than half-a-dozen of its “independent witnesses” during the October 2 rave party raid on the luxury ship Cordelia Cruise.

Bhanushali spoke to a private Marathi TV channel and said that he had given the tip-off about the rave party to the NCB and was accompanying them as a ‘witness’ to affix his signature on the relevant case papers.

RISING CRUDE GIVES MKTS THE JITTERS

Rising crude oil prices on Wednesday pulled down the sensex by 555 points to close at 59,190, weakened the rupee to near the 75-to-adollar level, a level not seen in the last six months and pushed up the yield on 10-year government bond to 6.28%, near to its 18-month high mark.

The rising US government bond yield, fear of central banks’ liquidity support in several countries and withdrawal of funds by foreign funds also are making Dalal Street traders jittery. The day’s session on D-Street left investors poorer by Rs 2.5 lakh crore with BSE’s market cap now at Rs 264.9 lakh crore.

Wednesday’s session also witnessed foreign and domestic funds selling in tandem, something that is not seen regularly. BSE data showed that while foreign portfolio investors were net sellers at Rs 803 crore, the corresponding figure for domestic institutions was Rs 999 crore.

At near the $83-per-barrel level, the brent crude price was near the level last seen in September 2018. The day also saw the rupee falling to 75-toa-dollar mark intraday and close 43 paise weaker at 74.98.

ANSHU MALIK MAKES HISTORY, ENTERS WORLD WRESTLING FINAL

Anshu Malik created history on Wednesday, becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to reach the World Championships final. She outclassed junior European champion Solomiia Vynnyk, even as Sarita Mor lost her semi-final after shocking World champion Linda Morais of Canada earlier in the day.

The 19-year-old Anshu, the reigning Asian champion, controlled the semi-final from the beginning and won by technical superiority in the 57kg category to go into history books.

Only four Indian women wrestlers have won medals at the Worlds and all of them -- Geeta Phogat (2012), Babita Phogat (2012), Pooja Dhanda (2018) and Vinesh Phogat (2019) -- clinched bronze.

Anshu is only the sixth Indian ever to make the World Championships gold medal match, after Bishambar Singh (1967), Sushil Kumar (2010), Amit Dahiya (2013), Bajrang Punia (2018) and Deepak Punia (2019).

IPL MATCH 52: SUNRISERS DENT RCB'S HOPES OF TOP 2 FINISH

Royal Challengers Bangalore made a mess of their run-chase as bottom-placed Sunrisers Hyderabad dented their hopes of a top-two finish with a narrow four-run victory in the Indian Premier League match, in Abu Dhabi, on Wednesday.

After putting up a modest 141 for 7, the Sunrisers returned to restrict the Royal Challengers to 137 for 6 and register only their third victory in this year’s tournament.

Defending 18 off the last two overs, Jason Holder bowled a superb over, giving away just five runs for one wicket.

AB de Villiers smashed a six off the fourth ball of the final over, bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, but couldn't take the team home – he managed to get only one run of the last 2 balls while the team needed 6.

Each team has played 13 matches now and there’s only one more to go for each. The points and NRR for each are as follows:

DELHI CAPITALS                               20        0.526                                     

CHENNAI SUPER KINGS                  18        0.739                         

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE        16        -0.159                                     

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS              12        0.294 

MUMBAI INDIANS                              12        -0.048            

PUNJAB KINGS                                 10        -0.241                                    

RAJASTHAN ROYALS                                   10        -0.737                                    

SUNRISERS HYDERABAD               6          -0.422

Remaining Round Robin Matches:

Thursday - CSK vs PBKS AND KKR vs RR

Friday - SRH vs MI AND RCB vs DC

INDICATORS

Sensex 59,190 (-555), Nifty 17,646 (-176), Trading Value NSE (Rs.crores) 76,018

Nasdaq 14,502 (+68) Dow 34,417 (+102), S&P 4,364 (+18)

US$-Rs. 74,67 GBP-Rs. 101.44, Euro-Rs. 86.32, UAE Dhm-Rs.20.32, Can$-Rs. 59.21, Aus$- Rs. 54.20

GBP 0.73 /US$, Euro 0.86 /US$, Jap.Yen 111.49 /US$, Aus$ 1.37 /US$, Sing 1.35 /US$, Bang Taka 84.21 /US$, Can$ 1.26 /US$, Mal Ring 4.18 /US$,

Pak Re 170.47 /US$, Phil Peso 50.78 /US$, Russian Rouble 72.43 /US$, NZ$ 1.44 /US$, Thai Baht 33.82 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 26.13 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 55,093

Dollar Index 94.23, Brent Crude 80.64 BDI 5,647

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,758 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 4,668 / 4,568, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 64,900

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Childhood - The period of human life intermediate between the idiocy of infancy and the folly of youth -- two removes from the sin of manhood and three from the remorse of age. - Ambrose Bierce

OFF TRACK

A woman was making a breakfast of fried eggs for her husband.

Suddenly, her husband burst into the kitchen.

"Careful," he said, "CAREFUL! Put in some more butter! Oh my GOD! You're cooking too many at once. TOO MANY! Turn them! TURN THEM NOW! We need more butter. Oh my GOD! WHERE are we going to get MORE BUTTER? They're going to STICK! Careful . CAREFUL! I said be CAREFUL! You NEVER listen to me when you're cooking! Never! Turn them! Hurry up!

Are you CRAZY? Have you LOST your mind? Don't forget to salt them. You know you always forget to salt them. Use the salt. USE THE SALT! THE SALT!"

The wife stared at him. "What in the world is wrong with you? You think I don't know how to fry a couple of eggs?"

The husband calmly replied, "I just wanted to show you what it feels like when I'm driving."