AFGHANISTAN MUST NOT BECOME HAVEN FOR TERROR, SAYS DELHI DECLARATION

India, Russia, Iran and five Central Asian countries on Wednesday vowed to work for ensuring that Afghanistan does not become a 'safe haven for global terrorism' and called for the formation of an open and truly inclusive government in Kabul during a meeting of their top security officials in New Delhi. The Central Asian countries that attended the dialogue are Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

At the end of the India-hosted security dialogue to review the unfolding situation in Afghanistan, a declaration was adopted by these eight nations, reaffirming that Afghan territory shouldn't be used for sheltering, training, planning or financing terrorist activities.

Significantly, the declaration also emphasised the need for respecting the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Afghanistan and non-interference in its internal affairs, seen as an indirect message to Pakistan.

The Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan expressed concern over the deteriorating socio-economic and humanitarian situation in that country and underlined the need to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people.

The security officials also said that humanitarian assistance should be provided in an unimpeded, direct and assured manner to Afghanistan and that the assistance is distributed within the country in a non-discriminatory manner across all sections of the Afghan society.

NO CHINESE VILLAGE ON INDIAN SOIL: RIJIJU

In a strong statement on India-China border issues, law minister Kiren Rijiju slammed it as misleading and said it is a “huge crime” to misrepresent facts to claim the Chinese have intruded into Arunachal Pradesh and constructed a village. Speaking at the Times Now summit, Rijiju said that a section of the media misreported facts and that was used by others to quote unverified reports that China has intruded into Indian territory and constructed houses.

“Misleading reportage have caused harm to the national interest and it has demoralised the Army. What pleasure do people get by reporting such misleading facts,” he asked objecting to reports calling them fresh incursions. “Later, a small clarification was carried out that there has been no change in status of the disputed areas since 1959,” he said, adding that the media should be more responsible as such misleading reportage are against the national interest.

Later the minister said that any news report on sensitive border issues should be at least factually correct and said for the government, every inch of Indian territory is sacred.

A recently released Pentagon annual report had said that China has built a large village in the disputed territory with India sometime in 2020 as part of China’s “incremental and tactical actions to claim new areas. The report mentioned a 100-home village by China in Arunachal Pradesh. However, the government has claimed that these disputed territories were in Chinese occupations since 1959 and there has been no change in status.

UNION CABINET RESTORES MPLADS SUSPENDED DURING PANDEMIC

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved restoration and continuation of the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS), which was suspended in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Addressing a press conference after a meeting of the Cabinet presided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said the scheme has been restored for the remaining part of financial year 2021-22. The scheme will continue till 2025-26.

Funds will be released at the rate of Rs 2 crore per MP for the remaining period of 2021-22 in one instalment, he said.

From 2022-23 to 2025-26, funds will be released under the scheme at the rate of Rs 5 crore per annum to each of the MPs in two instalments of Rs 2.5 crore each, he added.

GOVERNMENT REACHES OUT TO STs, JANJATIYA GAURAV DIVAS ON NOV 15

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved November 15 as “Janjatiya Gaurav Divas” in memory of tribal freedom fighters. November 15 is the birth anniversary of Birsa Munda (1875-1900), the Santhal hero who spearheaded a movement in the Bengal Presidency (now Jharkhand) in the late 19th century.

The government plans to hold week-long programmes beginning November 15 to commemorate the history of the Scheduled Tribes, their culture and achievements. The PM will address a rally at Jamboori Maidan, Bhopal, on November 15.

A museum dedicated to Munda in Jharkhand’s capital Ranchi is almost complete. It is being built in the jail complex where Munda breathed his last.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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CHINA, US UNVEIL SURPRISE CLIMATE ACTION PLAN AT COP26 SUMMIT

The United States and China, the world's two largest emitters of carbon dioxide, unveiled a deal to ramp up cooperation tackling climate change, including by reducing methane emissions, protecting forests and phasing out coal.

The framework agreement was announced by U.S. climate envoy John Kerry and his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua at the U.N. climate conference in Scotland, and was billed by both as way to tip the summit toward success.

"Together we set out our support for a successful COP26, including certain elements which will promote ambition," Kerry told a news conference. "Every step matters right now, and we have a long journey ahead of us."

Speaking through an interpreter, Xie told reporters that the deal would see China strengthen its emissions-cutting targets and develop a national plan on methane. He also said both countries wanted to do more to stop deforestation. "Both sides will work jointly and with other parties to ensure a successful COP26 and to facilitate an outcome that is both ambitious and balanced," Xie said.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the agreement between China and the United States.

Britain has organised the COP 26 meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, which aims to secure net zero carbon emissions pledges and keep the Paris Agreement target of a 1.5 degrees Celsius temperature rise within reach to curb the impact of global warming. read more

Chinese President Xi Jinping is not attending the United Nations meeting in person. Instead, last week he delivered a written statement to the opening section of the summit, when leaders usually give speeches. In it, he offered no additional pledges, while urging countries to keep their promises and "strengthen mutual trust and cooperation". read more

Xi pledged at the U.N. General Assembly in September that China would achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.

PAK SC QUESTIONS PM OVER PEACE TALKS WITH TTP IN SCHOOL MASSACRE CASE

Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Wednesday grilled PM Imran Khan in the Army Public School massacre case, questioning his government for holding peace talks with the very terrorist group that had carried out the deadly attack on the Peshawar school in 2014, and ordered the PM to probe security lapses leading up to the assault. In December 2014, a total of 147 people, 132 of them children, were killed when Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) terrorists stormed the school. Khan’s government, however, is currently in talks with TTP and as part of the reconciliation process it has already announced a complete ceasefire with the banned outfit.

“Are we going to surrender once again?” one of the judges, justice Qazi Mohammad Amin, asked the PM.

At one point of time, the debate over fixing responsibility became heated when Imran Khan said before the court: “Find out why 80,000 people were killed. Also, find out who is responsible for 480 drone attacks taking place in Pakistan.” The chief justice responded: “Finding out about these things is your job, you are the prime minister. As the PM, you should have the answer to these questions.”

Khan’s appearance is the first time since 2012 that a sitting PM had been asked to appear before the top court. Raja Pervez Ashraf, the then PM, was asked to appear in connection with a graft inquiry against former president Asif Ali Zardari.

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CONGRESS VIEW ON AYODHYA VERDICT, SECULARISM, LYNCHINGS, TEMPLE VANDALS

“Because both sides have accepted it, it is become the right judgment, not the other way around. It’s not a right judgment, which both sides have accepted. Because both sides have accepted it, it has become the right judgment,” said Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram yesterday. He was speaking at the release of party colleague Salman Khurshid’s book “Sunrise over Ayodhya”, a Penguin publication.

“Secularism has moved away from acceptance to tolerance and from tolerance to an uneasy coexistence. Unless we recognize what happened in the last 20 years, we won’t be true to what we believe India should be,” Chidambaram said lamenting that “we live in a world where lynching is not condemned by anyone in authority and certainly not the prime minister and Home minister.”

Speaking on the occasion former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh said this about temples. “In history, vandalism of temples happened in India even before Islam came into the country. It did not start after Islam came. It used to happen whenever a king conquered another and wanted to establish his religion. But today it has been told that vandalism came with Islam and that is why they are responsible for it,” said Singh.

HARDEEP SINGH PURI RETURNS ‘JEB KATRA’ JIBE

Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday responded to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s ‘pickpocket’ barb at the government over the levy of high taxes on petrol and diesel, and described him as a “jeb katra” who would not understand what capital expenditure is.

Speaking at the Times Now Summit, Puri said he was ready to debate on economic progress and development under the Modi government.

“How do you look at economic development, progress?... There has been record hike in capital expenditure. That is what is economic progress is,” he said responding to the question on Gandhi’s tweet of November 1 that cautioned against “pickpockets” as he charged the government of “profiteering” from record high fuel tax and “fleecing” common man.

Gandhi tweeted “jebkatro se savdhan” (beware of pickpockets) before the government’s November 3 announcement of a Rs 5 per litre cut in excise duty on petrol and Rs 10 a litre reduction in the tax on diesel to bring down retail rates from their all-time high levels.

Puri made the comment on record-high capital expenditure being done by the Modi government to boost the economy from the depths pandemic had thrown it in. “Par jeb katra ko kya pata hogo what capital expenditure is (but how will a pickpocket know what capital expenditure is),” he remarked.

Puri said the record excise duty on petrol and diesel helped India navigate through very difficult times during the pandemic as it helped fund government schemes to provide free Covid vaccines, meals and cooking gas to millions.

26 KASHMIRI PANDITS WHO FLED VALLEY ‘GET NOTICE TO REJOIN WORK’

The Anantnag district social welfare officer Tuesday allegedly directed 26 Kashmiri Pandit employees who have fled the Valley following a spate of civilian killings in Kashmir, to resume their duties within two days.

Calling their absence “unauthorised”, the officer is believed to have asked them to explain their position, failing which action shall be taken against them. The order in question was shared by journalist Rahul Pandita on Twitter.

Dated 9 November, the order shared by Pandita lists the names of each of the 26 individuals, saying their “unauthorised absence has hampered the office work both at district as well as subordinate offices”, and the “common people are badly suffering” as a consequence.

The order came a day after a Kashmiri Pandit grocery shop owner, Sandeep Mawa, was allegedly targeted by suspected militants in Srinagar. Mawa was alerted by local police about the possible attack and was advised to leave his shop. Militants then allegedly killed Mawa’s salesman Mohammad Ibrahim Khan in what appears to be a case of mistaken identity.

A large number of Pandits have fled their homes following the targeted killings of two Pandits and multiple other civilians last month. The victims include a chemist, migrant workers from UP and Bihar, and a cab driver.

NEGATIVITY AND POLITICS OVER COVAXIN HURT: BHARAT BIOTECH

Bharat Biotech chief and the developer of India’s first indigenously made Covid 19 vaccine, Covaxin, Krishna Ella on Wednesday said six months after the second dose was the best time for a booster adding that the company was working to see if their under development nasal vaccine could serve as a booster as it would be easy to scale up.

Ella said negativity and politics over Covaxin “hurt the product and delayed its WHO emergency use listing approval.” “When the PM took the vaccine it was called a BJP vaccine. People’s negative projections of Covaxin hurt the product. Politicians should take up different battles, not on the front of science…..Negative perceptions about Covaxin delayed approvals and publication. But I am happy we finally won the game,” he said.

On Biotech’s nasal Covid vaccine, he said phase-2 trials are complete and safety established. “In three months we hope to make progress. Nasal vaccine can serve as a booster as it would be easy to scale up,” he said.

ANTI-COVID PILLS TO BE SOON MANUFACTURED IN INDIA

Emergency Use Authorisation for the Merck drug Molnupiravir -- an oral antiviral medicine for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 -- is likely "within days", says Dr Ram Vishwakarma, Chairman of the Covid Strategy Group, CSIR. Another pill from Pfizer, Paxlovid, may take some more time, he added.

The two drugs, he said, will make a difference and "as we move from pandemic to endemic, these are the ones which are going to be more important than vaccination".

He called it the "final nail in the coffin of the virus by science".

Merck has already contracted five companies "and the way Merck has given this license to several companies, Pfizer will also do because Pfizer will have to utilise the Indian capacity to manufacture the drugs that are required for the global use".

The cost, he said, will be far lower than the 700 dollars that's being considered in the US for the Merck vaccine "because in America it is costly for various other reasons and not for the manufacturing cost". He said it might initially cost "2000 to 3000 or 4000 rupees per cycle of treatment, then it will come down to 500 to 600 or 1,000 rupees".

NYKAA SHINES ON D-STREET DEBUT; MARKET CAP CROSSES RS 1 TRILLION

FSN E-Commerce Ventures, the parent entity of beauty start-up Nykaa, saw its market value nearly double to over Rs 1 trillion ($13 billion) during its stock market debut on Wednesday. Shares of the company rose 96 per cent over its IPO price of Rs 1,125 to close at Rs 2,207 apiece.

Nykaa, founded by Falguni Nayar, a former investment banker, is India’s first unicorn led by a woman. The strong debut has made Nayar, who owns a 54 per cent stake in the company, the country’s richest self-made female billionaire.

Nykaa’s Rs 5,352-crore IPO was subscribed 82 times, the most among large start-up IPOs. Nykaa has joined food delivery firm Zomato in the exclusive Rs 1-trillion-plus market cap club of listed start-ups. Overall, Nykaa will be the 55th listed company in the Rs 1-trillion-plus m-cap club, ahead of firms like Godrej Consumer and Britannia.

Meanwhiel, India’s largest IPO, by digital payments major Paytm’s parent company One97 Communications received a lukewarm response from investors, garnering just 1.9 times subscription. Nearly 80 per cent of the bids in the IPO came from overseas investors.

The price band for the Paytm IPO was set at Rs 2,080-2,150 per share. At the top end, the company is valued at Rs 1.39 trillion.

MALALA YOUSAFZAI MARRIES ASSER MALIK. KNOW MORE ABOUT HIM

Malala Yousafzai, Nobel Laureate and activist, married Asser Malik, a Pakistani Cricket Board official, in an intimate ceremony in the UK on Tuesday.

"Today marks a precious day in my life. Asser and I tied the knot to be partners for life. We celebrated a small nikkah ceremony at home in Birmingham with our families. Please send us your prayers. We are excited to walk together for the journey ahead," the 24-year-old posted on Twitter, sharing images.

Asser Malik, who is from Lahore, is an entrepreneur and the general manager of the Pakistan board's High Performance Centre. He was reportedly also associated with a Pakistani Super League franchise and had a player management agency.

DARYL MITCHELL FIRES NEW ZEALAND TO T20 WORLD CUP FINAL

Daryl Mitchell emerged the hero, blazing away in the death overs, as New Zealand beat England by five wickets to enter the final of the T20 World Cup, in Abu Dhabi, on Wednesday.

The dashing opener scored an unbeaten 72 off 47 balls to enable the Kiwis chase down 167 in the first semi-final. Put in to bat first, England had scored 166/4.

They will take on the winners of today’s second semi-final between Pakistan and Australia in Sunday's final.

It was a stunning knock by the Black Caps opener, who produced a brilliant late display of power-hitting as New Zealand stepped it up in the last few overs to emerge triumphant, with six balls to spare.

After 16 overs in New Zealand innings, England seemed to be on course for a win. New Zealand were 110/4, needing 57 in last 4 overs. But they got there in just three – 23 in 17th over, 14 in 18th and 20 in 19th, courtesy Mitchell (72 off 47 not out) and James Neesham (27 off 11)

INDICATORS

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GBP 0.74 /US$, Euro 0.86 /US$, Jap.Yen 113.36 /US$, Aus$ 1.35 /US$, Sing 1.34 /US$, Bang Taka 84.15 /US$, Can$ 1.24 /US$, Mal Ring 4.14 /US$,

Pak Re 171.23 /US$, Phil Peso 50.05 /US$, Russian Rouble 70.88 /US$, NZ$ 1.40 /US$, Thai Baht 32.73 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 25.83 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 65,045

Dollar Index 94.89, Brent Crude 82.66, BDI 2,805

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,849 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 4,825 / 4,725, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 69,300

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

It isn’t what we say or think that defines us, but what we do. - Jane Austen

OFF TRACK

A man goes to the doctor with a swollen leg. After a careful examination, the doctor gives the man a pill big enough to choke a horse.

"I'll be right back with some water," the doctor tells him.

The doctor has been gone a while and the man loses patience. He hobbles out to the drinking fountain, forces the pill down his throat and gobbles down water until the pill clears his throat. He hobbles back into the examining room.

The doctor comes back with a bucket of warm water. "Ok, after the tablet dissolves, soak that leg for at least 30 minutes."