SUPREME COURT ASKS CENTRE TO HOLD EMERGENCY MEETING ON CONTAINING AIR POLLUTION

The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Centre to call an emergency meeting on Tuesday to take measures such as stopping non-essential construction, transport and power plants and implementing work from home to check alarming levels of air pollution in Delhi-NCR.

“We direct the Union of India to call for an emergency meeting tomorrow with all stakeholders and discuss the areas which we have indicated above and to state what further orders they can pass or steps they can take to effectively control air pollution and to ensure implementation,” a Bench led by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana said.

Call emergency meeting... decide what industries are to be stopped, which vehicles can be prevented from plying, which power plants can be stopped. CJI-led Bench

It ordered the Principal Secretaries concerned of the states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi to attend the meeting and make their submissions before the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas.

After perusing the affidavits filed by the Centre, Delhi Govt and others, the Bench, which had earlier taken exception to farmer-bashing, said, “We find that the major contributors of air pollution in National Capital Region are construction activities, running of non¬essential industries, transport and running of power plants on coal etc.”

“As far as the air pollution caused by stubble burning is concerned, the affidavits filed in the matter do indicate that stubble burning is not responsible for causing air pollution to that extent except for the two months of October and November. However, we find that there is a rise in stubble burning incidents in the states of Punjab and Haryana,” it noted.

40% OF NCR POLLUTION DUE TO FARM FIRES: PANEL

Contrary to the Supreme Court’s observation that “stubble burning is not responsible for causing air pollution to that extent”, the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas has blamed it for about 35-40 per cent of total current pollution in the NCR.

“Post Diwali, there has been a spurt in the number of fire incidents owing to paddy stubble burning, particularly in Punjab where about 42,285 farm fires have been reported in the last 10 days alone, out of a cumulative fire count of 62,863 till November 13 this season,” the commission recorded in its November 14 meeting.

“Likewise, the instances of paddy stubble burning in Haryana have also witnessed an increase with respect to last year (with 5,400 incidents being reported in 2021 against a cumulative figure of 3,635 in the corresponding period in 2020)," it noted.

DAY AFTER ORDINANCE, CENTRE AMENDS RULES FOR TENURE OF IB, RAW CHIEFS, SECRETARIES

The Centre on Monday amended Fundamental Rules to facilitate extended tenure and in-service benefits to CBI and ED directors.

It comes a day after it effected two ordinances that empowered it to extend tenures of CBI and ED chiefs up to five years from existing two years, drawing criticism by opposition parties with the Trinamool Congress terming it as "elected autocracy".

The FR is a set of guiding principles applicable to all govt servants and covers the entire gamut of their in-service and post-retirement working scenarios. It bars extension in service to any govt servants beyond the age of retirement of 60 years except a few including Cabinet Secretary, those dealing with budget-related work, eminent scientists, IB and RAW chiefs besides the CBI director among others with certain conditions.

The rules now allow the central govt to give extension in the public interest to the defence secretary, home secretary, director of Intelligence Bureau, secretary of Research and Analysis Wing and directors of CBI and ED on a case-to-case basis, subject to the condition that the total term of such secretaries or directors, "does not exceed two years or the period provided in the respective Act or rules made thereunder", according to a personnel ministry notification.

PREVIOUS GOVTS LACKED POLITICAL WILL TO TAP TALENT OF TRIBALS: PM MODI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday accused previous govts of not acknowledging the contribution of tribals in the freedom struggle and lacking political will to tap their potential.

“My govt is determined to give the tribals their due and make sure that they face no discrimination when it comes to enjoying the fruits of development,” he said at a rally of tribals in Bhopal on Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas.

The PM also announced that henceforth Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas, the birth anniversary of revered tribal icon Birsa Munda, would be celebrated like Gandhi Jayanti, Sardar Patel Jayanti and Ambedkar Jayanti.

GANDHI STATUE VANDALISED IN AUSTRALIA; PM TERMS IT DISGRACEFUL

An attempt was made to desecrate the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Melbourne a day after it was unveiled by the Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison.

Morrison said in a statement on Sunday that he was “devastated to hear that the statue has been vandalised after it was unveiled on Friday”. The Australian PM was trenchant in his criticism. “Australia is the most successful multicultural and immigration nation in the world and attacks on cultural monuments will not be tolerated. It is disgraceful and extremely disappointing to see this level of disrespect. Whoever is responsible for this has shown great disrespect to the Australian-Indian community and should be ashamed,” he said.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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BIDEN PROMISES CANDOUR ON HUMAN RIGHTS, XI GREETS 'OLD FRIEND' IN TALKS

U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping stressed their responsibility to the rest of the world to avoid conflict as the heads of the two top global economies opened their closely watched talks on Monday.

Calling Biden an "old friend," Xi said the two sides must increase communication and cooperation to solve the many challenges they face. Biden promised to address areas of concern, including human rights and other issues in the Indo-Pacific region.

"Maybe I should start more formally, although you and I have never been that formal with one another," Biden said from a conference table in the White House's Roosevelt Room, smiling broadly as the Chinese president appeared on a large screen in the room. "You and I have talked about this - all countries have to play by the same rules of the road."

The U.S.-China bilateral relationship “seems to me to have a profound impact not only in our countries, but quite frankly the rest of the world," Biden said.

Xi, speaking through an interpreter, said: "As the world's two largest economies and the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, China and the United States need to increase communication and cooperation."

The talks, which were initiated by Biden and began shortly after 7:45 p.m. on Monday (0045 GMT Tuesday), were intended to make the relationship less acrimonious

The early moments of the two leaders' dialogue was observed by a small group of reporters before the heads of state and top aides spoke privately in a meeting U.S. officials expected to stretch for several hours.

The United States and China disagree on the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, trade and competition rules, Beijing's expanding nuclear arsenal and its stepped-up pressure on Taiwan, among other issues.

U.S. officials have downplayed expectations for any concrete agreements between both sides, including on trade, where China is lagging in a commitment to buy $200 billion more in U.S. goods and services.

REPORTS OF RIFT BETWEEN BIDEN AND HARRIS ROCK DEMOCRATS

US vice-president Kamala Harris returned to Washington DC after a visit to France to a devastating report on Sunday of her purported rift with the Biden White House, alarming Democrats still reeling from the loss of a bellwether election in Virginia.

The report — a 4800-word, 12-minute account on CNN — was considered so damaging that the White House immediately pushed back at it. Biden’s spokesperson Jen Psaki tweeted, “For anyone who needs to hear it. @VP is not only a vital partner to @POTUS but a bold leader who has taken on key, important challenges —from voting rights to addressing root causes of migration to expanding broadband.” The vice-president’s aides also snapped back at the report. “It is unfortunate that after a productive trip to France in which we reaffirmed our relationship with America’s oldest ally and demonstrated US leadership on the world stage, and following passage of a historic, bipartisan infrastructure bill... some in the media are focused on gossip,” Harris’ press aide said.

The story, coming on the heels of several reports of dysfunction within the vice-president’s office, spoke of an “exhausted stalemate” between Biden and Harris camps despite cordial ties between the principals.

THE REST

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MANIPUR AMBUSH: FALLEN SOLDIERS CREMATED

Cries of 'Jai Hind' rent the air as a large number of people bid a final adieu to Colonel Viplav Tripathi, his wife and five-year-old son, who were killed in a terrorist attack in Manipur two days ago, in their hometown Raigarh in Chhattisgarh on Monday.

Meanwhile, three other personnel of the Assam Rifles, who were killed during the attack, were cremated in their respective ancestral villages in Rajasthan, Assam and West Bengal.

The last rites of the colonel were held with full military and state honours while his wife and son were cremated and buried, respectively.

The atmosphere turned more sombre when the colonel's grieving mother, Asha Tripathi, 70, saluted the mortal remains of her son and chanted 'Jai Hind' after all his family members laid floral wreaths at coffins in the crematorium in Raigarh.

Earlier in the day, a special plane of the Indian Air Force carrying mortal remains of the martyred colonel, his wife and son, landed at an airstrip in Raigarh at 12:42 pm. From the airstrip, the bodies, kept in coffins, were taken in an open flower-decked truck to Colonel Tripathi's home with a large number of people standing on both sides of the road chanting 'Colonel Viplav amar rahe'.

UP GOVT AGREES TO HAVE EX-JUDGE FOR MONITORING LAKHIMPUR KHERI PROBE

The Uttar Pradesh Govt on Monday agreed to the Supreme Court’s suggestion to appoint a retired high court judge to monitor the probe into the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in which eight persons, including four farmers, were killed on October 3.

“I have taken instructions… I will leave it to your Lordships. Whoever your Lordships consider may be appointed,” senior counsel Harish Salve told a three-judge Bench, led by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, on behalf of the Uttar Pradesh Govt.

Dissatisfied with the probe, the Bench, which also included Justice Surya Kant and Justice Hima Kohli, had on November 8 said it wanted to appoint former Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge Ranjit Singh or Justice RK Jain to oversee the manner in which statements of witnesses were being recorded.

“It (probe) is not going the way we expected,” the Bench had noted on Friday while asking Salve to seek instructions from the UP Govt on the issue. It had given time till Monday to the state govt to spell out its stand on its suggestion.

Noting that it’s the person being appointed who mattered, Salve on Monday said, “Your Lordship may appoint a judge from any state.”

VANDALS TARGET SALMAN KHURSHID'S NAINITAL HOME AMID BOOK ROW

Congress leader Salman Khurshid's house in Uttarakhand's Nainital was vandalised on Monday amid the row over his recent book in which he draws a comparison between Hindutva and terror outfits like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The attack came days after the former Union minister launched his new book, Sunrise over Ajodhya: Nationalism in Our Times, drawing much criticism.

Asked about this kind of reaction to his book, Khurshid said, "I don't have to prove anything more. It just proves my point."

CENTRE'S TAX DEVOLUTION TO STATES DOUBLED TO RS 95K CR IN NOVEMBER: FM

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said the Centre would release double the monthly amount of tax devolution -- a total of Rs 95,082 crore -- in November to enable the states to step up their capex and spur economic growth close to double digits this fiscal year.

The states were to be given Rs 47,541 crore in November in line with the 15th Finance Commission’s formula of devolving 41 per cent of central taxes to the states, Sitharaman told reporters after a meeting with chief ministers and finance ministers of states, and lieutenant governors of Union Territories.

“The chief ministers requested that if part of tax devolution be front-loaded, it would be helpful. I have directed the finance secretary to do this immediately. This is an exceptional year. States should not be short of money when we are requesting them to push up capital expenditure,” she said.

GOVT PERMITS AUTOPSIES AFTER SUNSET

The long-practiced convention of “no autopsy after sunset” ended on Monday with the govt issuing a new protocol allowing postmortems after sunset except in homicides, suicides and suspected foul play where the govt said post-sunset autopsies should only be done if a law and order situation develops.

Cases where autopsies are now permitted after sunset include fire deaths, road accidents, railway accidents, aircraft crashes, occupation related deaths, unwitnessed accidents, accidents in which natural disease cannot be ruled out as a factor, deaths of persons in govt custody, sudden and unexpected deaths and deaths during medical or surgical intervention.

The new rules mean relatives will no longer have to wait in front of mortuaries to get postmortems done on the bodies of their deceased relatives. Families have long suffered harassment due to past procedures whereby hospitals refused applications for postmortem after fixed hours, asking relatives to return the next morning.

The new procedure can also promote organ donation and transplant as organs will now be harvested in the stipulated time window after the procedure.

INDIA RESUMES QUARANTINE-FREE ENTRY, SINGAPORE PLANS TOO

India on Monday resumed quarantine-free entry for foreign travellers from 99 countries, which have agreed to a mutual recognition of COVID-19 vaccination certificates with it, almost 20 months after restrictions were imposed due to COVID-19.

Travellers from these 99 countries, including the US, the UK, France, Germany, Australia, the Netherlands and Russia, which have been listed under "Category A", have to submit a self-declaration form on the Air Suvidha portal (newdelhiairport.in) before the scheduled travel, apart from uploading a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR report. The RT-PCR test should be conducted within 72 hours prior to undertaking the journey.

Some of the countries currently considered to be "at risk" by India, which means the travellers from where would need to follow additional measures on arrival including testing, are the United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe and Singapore.

Singapore is planning to allow quarantine-free travel for fully-vaccinated passengers from India and Indonesia from November 29 and will add three more countries early next month as it hopes to “reclaim and rebuild” the country’s status as an international aviation hub with global connectivity, according to media reports on Monday.

Currently, there are 13 countries, including Canada, Australia and Germany, under Singapore’s vaccinated travel lane (VTL) programme. Travellers under the VTLs are not subject to stay-home notice on arrival. Instead, they are required to produce a negative pre-departure test taken within two days prior to departure and undergo an on-arrival PCR test.

‘NEED TO REGULATE, NOT BAN CRYPTOCURRENCY’

At a parliamentary panel meeting Monday on issues related to cryptofinance, a majority of industry experts and MPs spoke against banning cryptocurrency but stressed the need for regulation.

This was the first meeting held by the Standing Committee on Finance, which is headed by former MoS Finance and BJP leader Jayant Sinha, on cryptocurrency-related issues amidst a growing clamour for bringing in a law to regulate it.

The govt is also planning to bring a bill on Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency and might take it to the Cabinet for approval soon.

STARTING TOMORROW, INDIA VS NZ – 3 T20s AND 2 TESTS

The T20 World Cup has been a reality check for India. The brand of cricket the team played seemed outdated in front of the competition.

Such has been the calendar for the team that there has been very little time to reflect on the debacle. They are in Jaipur getting ready to play a T20I series against eventual runners-up New Zealand from Wednesday.

“In terms of template, we all need to sit down and make a collective decision about what is the best template or brand of cricket we need to play to make sure Team India is getting better performances. We will have this discussion in a couple of days. It starts with the series and we are going into it with a fresh frame of mind,” newly-appointed vice-captain KL Rahul said on Monday, making it clear that there was little time to be in denial about what transpired in UAE the last fortnight.

The hurting stars of Indian cricket will have another shot at winning the T20 World Cup in a year in Australia. The next T20 World Cup will be staged Down Under from October 16, 2022.

Meanwhile, India are set to play 3 T20i – Jaipur/Wednesday, Ranchi/Friday, Kolkata Sunday.

This will be followed by 2 Tests, first in Kanpur from Nov 25 and the second in Mumbai from Dec 3

INDICATORS

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GBP 0.74 /US$, Euro 0.87 /US$, Jap.Yen 113.95 /US$, Aus$ 1.36 /US$, Sing 1.35 /US$, Bang Taka 84.21 /US$, Can$ 1.25 /US$, Mal Ring 4.15 /US$,

Pak Re 174.67 /US$, Phil Peso 50.01 /US$, Russian Rouble 72.51 /US$, NZ$ 1.41 /US$, Thai Baht 32.68 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 26.02 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 61,875.80

Dollar Index 95.40 Brent Crude 82.79 BDI 2,759.00

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,867 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 4,893 / 4,793, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 71,000

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Forgive others, not because they deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve peace. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie

OFF TRACK

An artist asked the gallery owner if there had been any interest in his paintings on display at that time.

"I have good news and bad news," the owner replied. "The good news is that a gentleman inquired about your work and wondered if it would appreciate in value after your death. When I told him it would, he bought all 15 of your paintings."

"That's wonderful," the artist exclaimed. "What's the bad news?"

"The guy was your doctor."