ENCOUNTER IN POONCH ENTERS DAY 7; THREE LOCALS HELD FOR QUESTIONING

Jammu and Kashmir Police detained three locals including a 45-year-old woman and her son at Bhatta Durian on Sunday, as the security forces operation against militants in the dense forests between Mendhar-Dehra Ki Gali-Thanamandi and Bhimber Gali in the border districts of Poonch and Rajouri entered the seventh day.

The three individuals detained for questioning are suspected to have provided logistics support to the militants who are thought to have come from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir two and a half months ago.

The woman has been identified as Zarina Akhter, and her son as Shafait, 19.

Militants do not usually get support from the local population in these districts, which are predominantly inhabited by Jammu region Muslims, along with sizable numbers of Gujjars and Bakarwals. Many Hindus too live in this area, especially those who were displaced from PoK in 1947.

The militants, believed to be six to eight in number and heavily armed, engaged security forces in a fierce gunbattle through Saturday night. The forces used illuminating bombs to light up the area, the sources said, adding that the exchange of fire continued for nearly an hour on Sunday as well. The dense forest and treacherous terrain were making the operation difficult, the sources said. Para commandos of the Army have joined the operation, and drones and a helicopter are being used for surveillance over the area, they said.

ATTACKS DURING DURGA PUJA "PRE-PLANNED", SAYS BANGLADESH HOME MINISTER

Minister of Home Affairs of Bangladesh Asaduzzaman Khan on Sunday termed the attacks on Durga Puja pavilions as 'pre-planned' and said these attacks were aimed at destroying the communal harmony in Bangladesh.

This came after multiple cases have been filed against hundreds of named and unnamed people for the attacks in Comilla on Wednesday.

When he was asked about the reason behind the Comilla incident, the minister said, "We'll make it public once we get all the evidence and those who were involved in it will be given exemplary punishment." "No incident has been reported since Saturday night. Our security forces are working patiently based on intelligence information. Those who are trying to destroy communal peace will not succeed," Mr Khan added.

The Home Minister's remarks came after Wednesday's communal violence that broke out in several places in Bangladesh after news broke on social media about the alleged desecration of the Holy Quran at a Durga Puja venue on the bank of Nanuar Dighi.

ISKCON has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to raise the issue with Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina and seek strong action against the guilty after its temple in Noakhali suffered significant damage and the body of a third devotee was recovered from a pond on Sunday.

ENFORCE PREVENTIVE DETENTION SAFEGUARD: VETERAN BUREAUCRATS TELL GOVT

A group of 100 former civil servants, including IAS, IPS and IFS officers, has written an open letter to Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, urging the govt to notify a date to bring into force a constitutional amendment on preventive detention cleared by Parliament in 1978.

The amendment sought to “provide for (an) impartial and independent advisory board to examine the justification for preventive detention”, in order to prevent the abuse of the provision for preventive detention by govts.

Currently, under Article 22 of the Constitution, any advocate who is qualified to be a high court judge can be appointed to the advisory board, which decides if someone can be kept in detention longer than three months.

However, the 44th constitutional amendment decrees that the advisory board be headed by a sitting judge of that high court and have at least two serving or former judges of any high court as members, “in accordance with the recommendations of the chief justice of that high court”. No one can be kept in preventive detention longer than two months unless the board says so, it adds.

In the letter, written Saturday, the former civil servants said it would be travesty if a date was not notified.

WILL GO BY SCIENTIFIC RATIONALE ON VACCINATION FOR KIDS: GOVT

The govt is proceeding cautiously on the issue of vaccinating children against Covid-19 with the World Health Organisation guidance on the issue also awaited.

Top Health Ministry sources today said the govt was proceeding highly cautiously with respect to inoculating children while the adult vaccination drive was yet to achieve its target of covering all 93 crore people above the age of 18 years with both doses.

Chairperson of the National Covid-19 Vaccine Administration Task Force VK Paul said yesterday that scientific rationale and vaccine availability would guide the child inoculation strategy of India.

Paul said a balance between vaccine availability and prioritisation for children could be the way forward but research in this respect was being studied. The subject experts of the national drug regulator recently recommended the emergency use authorisation of Covaxin in 2 to 18-year-olds. The Drug Controller General of India’s approval is awaited.

ZyCov-D was earlier approved by the drug regulator for emergency use in persons above 12 years. The National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, India’s apex body guiding vaccine plans nationally, is currently studying how to roll out ZyCov-D and whether to prioritise adolescents (12 to 18-year-olds) for inoculation by first covering those with comorbid conditions.

KEY COVID NUMBERS

Current Active Cases Countrywide: 1,83,885

New Cases in last 24 hours: 14,286

Recovered in last 24 hours: 19,578

Change in no. of Active cases in last 24 hours: -5,457

No. of deaths in last 24 hours (Total Covid Deaths so far): 165 (4,52,321)

Daily Tests (Saturday): 11,00,123

Daily Positivity Rate (Proportion of Positives among total Tested): 1.3%

Percentage of Population Vaccinated (At Least One Dose / Two Doses): 52.1% / 21.1%

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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CHINA SLAMS US AND CANADA FOR SENDING WARSHIPS TO TAIWAN STRAIT

The Chinese military on Sunday condemned the US and Canada for each sending a warship through the Taiwan Strait last week, saying they were threatening peace and stability in the region.

The US military said Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Dewey sailed through the waterway that separates Taiwan from China along with a Canadian frigate HMCS Winnipeg on Thursday and Friday. “The warships’ transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the commitment of the US and our allies and partners to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” it added.

China’s People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theatre Command said its forces monitored the ships and “stood guard” throughout their passage. “The US and Canada colluded to provoke and stir up trouble... seriously jeopardising peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait,” it said. “Taiwan is part of Chinese territory. Theatre forces always maintain a high level of alert and resolutely counter all threats and provocations.”

Meanwhile, China has tested a new space capability with a hypersonic missile, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.  The report added that China's progress on hypersonic weapons "caught US intelligence by surprise."

Hypersonic missiles, like traditional ballistic missiles which can deliver nuclear weapons, can fly at more than five times the speed of sound. But ballistic missiles fly high into space in an arc to reach their target, while a hypersonic flies on a trajectory low in the atmosphere, potentially reaching a target more quickly.

Crucially, a hypersonic missile is maneuverable (like the much slower, often subsonic cruise missile), making it harder to track and defend against.

THE REST

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MORE BODIES FOUND AFTER KERALA RAIN TRIGGERS FLOODS, LANDSLIDES

The toll from disastrous flooding caused by heavy rains and landslides in hilly areas of two central Kerala districts rose to 21 as rescue workers recovered more bodies from the rubbles on Sunday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and discussed the situation. "It is saddening that some people have lost their lives due to heavy rains and landslides in Kerala. Condolences to the bereaved families," Modi said in a tweet.

The brief, intense rain spells in a couple of regions in Kerala indicated mini cloudbursts, a factor that also led to casualties, damage and loss of properties, a scientist at the Cochin University of Science and Technology claimed on Sunday.

2 MORE NON-LOCAL LABOURERS SHOT DEAD BY TERRORISTS IN J-K

Terrorists shot dead two non-local labourers and injured another on Sunday in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, the latest in the series of attacks targeting civilians.

According to officials, the militants barged into the rented accommodation of the labourers and fired on them indiscriminately.

This is the third attack on non-local labourers in less than 24 hours.

Amid the spate of civilian killings, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha vowed to avenge every drop of their blood by hunting down terrorists and their sympathisers. Sinha said attempts are being made to disrupt the peace and socio-economic progress of Jammu and Kashmir and the individual growth of people, and reiterated the commitment to the fast-paced development of the Union territory.

'PUNJAB'S LAST RESURRECTION CHANCE': SIDHU WRITES TO SONIA

Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu has sought a meeting with party president Sonia Gandhi, flagging in his letter issues which the govt "must deliver upon" and saying it is the poll-bound state's "last chance for resurrection and redemption".

In the letter to the Congress president on October 15, a day after he had meetings with senior party leaders in Delhi, Sidhu pitched for a "Punjab Model with a 13-Point Agenda to be part of the Congress manifesto for the 2022 Assembly Elections".

Days after resigning as Punjab Congress chief, Sidhu had on October 15 said his concerns have been resolved and the party asserted that he will continue as the head of the state unit.

The letter to Sonia Gandhi reminded her of the party's 18-point agenda "given to the last chief minister" of Punjab and said that those were "equally relevant today".

He said the people of Punjab demand justice for the 2015 police firing at Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan in Faridkot following the desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib during the previous SAD-BJP regime.

On the drugs issue, the Punjab Congress chief said, "The big fish mentioned in the STF report must be immediately arrested and given exemplary punishment."

He also wrote that the state govt must reject the "three black farm laws" of the Centre "by announcing that they will not be implemented in Punjab at any cost".

The state govt must release a white paper on power purchase agreements and cancellation of "all faulty PPAs as promised by us", Sidhu said in the letter.

‘GOVT KILLINGS’ HAVE REPLACED ‘CONTRACT KILLINGS’: SANJAY RAUT

Launching a stinging attack on the BJP and the Centre over the alleged misuse of investigative agencies, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday alleged that “contract killings” are now replaced by “govt killings” to finish off political rivals in Maharashtra.

With some ministers in the Shiv Sena-led MVA Govt under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), income tax, and at least one of them facing a CBI inquiry, Raut said that Central investigating agencies are working as “contract killers for the party in power in Delhi”.

“Is there a rule of law or (a rule of) raids in Maharashtra? This is the question which comes to one’s mind considering the record-break raids being conducted through Central investigating agencies,” Raut wrote in the weekly column ‘Rokhthok’ in the Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’.

RIFT BWTEEEN LALU'S SONS WIDENS

The rift between Lalu Prasad’s sons Tej Pratap and Tejashwi Yadav seems to be ever-widening, despite the former’s repeated attempts to paint their bond as that of Lord Krishna and Arjuna, respectively, in the Mahabharata.

The latest point of conflict between the brothers surfaced Saturday when Tej Pratap called on the supporters of his own outfit Chhatra Janshakti Parishad to work for the victory of Congress candidate Atirek Kumar in the bypoll to the Kusheshwar Asthan assembly constituency on 30 October, thus pitting him against the Tejashwi-led RJD's candidate Ganesh Bharati.

The RJD and the Congress are allies under the ‘Grand Alliance’ or Mahagathbandhan umbrella, but have both fielded candidates for the two bypolls.

SAMYUKT KISAN MORCHA CALLS FOR 6-HOUR ‘RAIL ROKO’, WANTS MOS SACKED

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Sunday gave a call for a six-hour nationwide ‘rail roko’ protest from 10 am on Monday to press for the dismissal of Union Minister Ajay Mishra Teni, whose son Ashish is an accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

In a joint statement, SKM leaders said a series of actions had been planned to secure “justice” in the incident in which four farmers were mowed down under SUVs, with Ashish allegedly seated in one of them.

FIRST ZERO-COVID-DEATH DAY IN MUMBAI SINCE MARCH LAST YEAR

After a period of over 18 months, Mumbai on Sunday registered zero Covid-19 deaths. Considering that the city registered three-digit deaths on some days, the zero-death figure is being seen as a milestone.

Municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said, “Mumbai will see zero deaths more often now.” His reply is based on extensive vaccination coverage in Mumbai: 97% of the city’s population has been covered with at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine and 55% are fully vaccinated. “We aim to reach the 100% target for the first dose in the next three to four days,” he said.

TAX MOP-UP LIKELY TO TOP TARGET BY RS 2.5 TRILLION, SAY EXPERTS

The central govt is likely to exceed the budgeted tax collection target of Rs 22.2 trillion for the current fiscal year, led by better indirect tax mop-up, compliance measures, and recovery in most sectors following the second wave of the Covid pandemic. It, according to experts, may overshoot the target by Rs 2.5 trillion.

Personal income and corporate tax collections (net of refunds) grew 74 per cent to Rs 5.70 trillion in the first half of the current financial year, driven mainly by advance tax and TDS payments. The target for the current fiscal year is Rs 11.08 trillion; higher taxes are paid usually towards the end of a fiscal year.

The GST mop-up is expected to remain above the Rs 1.1 trillion-mark a month as the festive season is set to see an improvement in consumer spending. Besides, a sharp increase in duty on petrol and diesel continued to keep excise revenue on an upswing.

The companies, so far, have paid taxes cautiously amid uncertainties around the third Covid wave, but since vaccination is proceeding rapidly and is set to cover the entire adult population by December, the impact is not expected to be as severe as the second wave.

YUVRAJ SINGH ARRESTED, RELEASED ON BAIL IN CASTEIST COMMENT PROBE: POLICE

Former cricketer Yuvraj Singh was briefly arrested and then released on bail in Haryana on Saturday, the police said, as part of an investigation into a complaint that he had used a casteist slur in an Instagram live video against cricketer Yuzvendra Chahal.

The 39-year-old had earlier apologised for the "unintentional remarks" said he was "misunderstood" after his June 2020 Instagram live video with ex-teammate Rohit Sharma - that had his comments on leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal - was widely shared on social media, triggering outrage. Yuvraj Singh and Rohit Sharma were seen discussing Chahal's TikTok videos.

The move came following a complaint filed in February this year by a Dalit activist in Haryana, demanding his arrest and registration of a case under the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, which aims to prohibit discrimination. An FIR was filed in the case on orders of the court.

T20 WC: TWO WARM-UP GAMES FOR INDIA TO FINE TUNE THE PLAYING XI

All-rounder Hardik Pandya's form and few batting slots will be foremost on captain Virat Kohli's mind as India look to make the most of two T20 World Cup warm-up matches starting with a game against England on Monday.

With all the Indian players coming straight from the recently-concluded IPL, match practice isn't a problem for Kohli and his men but getting the perfect combination on the park before the high-profile opening game against Pakistan on October 24 is a priority.

Against England on Monday and then Wednesday's game versus Australia, the Indian team management would look to give the players who are still not automatic choices in the playing XI, more overs to bat or bowl to get a better idea about their current form.

Vice-captain Rohit Sharma is a certainty at the top but it would be a tough choice between Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul as his opening partner.

Rahul will be the favourite considering that he has the experience of playing pressure matches and is in good form having amassed 626 runs at a strike-rate of 138.80 in 14 IPL games.

Ishan Kishan was brilliant as Rohit's opening partner in the last two games as he nearly took Mumbai Indians into the play-offs with two blazing fifties.

If Rahul is the team's preferred choice, Kishan might just force Hardik into the No. 6 slot in the batting order, which is ideal for a finisher. For MI, both Hardik and Kishan had underwhelming returns in the UAE leg.

In the spin bowling department, Ravindra Jadeja may have two spinners playing with him and Varun Chakravarthy is all but confirmed if he remains fit. The third spinner's choice is between Rahul Chahar's leg-breaks and R Ashwin's off-breaks. During the captain's meet, skipper Virat Kohli praised Chahar junior for extracting good pace off the slow UAE wickets, which has enabled him to keep the more seasoned Yizvendra Chahal out of the team.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah are expected to be the two pacers but if the team plays a spinner less, then Shardul Thakur's inclusion will provide the depth required.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit. - W. Somerset Maugham

OFF TRACK

"Mrs. Ward, this is Doctor Jones at the Medical Testing Laboratory. When your doctor sent your husband's specimens to the lab yesterday, a specimen from another Mr. Ward arrived as well, and we are now uncertain which one is your husband's.

"Unfortunately, one of the specimens tested positive for Alzheimer's and the other one tested positive for AIDS and we can't tell which is your husband's."

"That's dreadful! Can't you do the test again?" questioned Mrs. Ward.

"Normally we can, but Medicare will only pay for these expensive tests one time."

"Well, what am I supposed to do now?"

"The people at Medicare recommend that you drop your husband off somewhere in the middle of town. If he finds his way home, don't sleep with him......