INDIA SLAMS TURKEY, PAKISTAN FOR ATTACKS ON MACRON

In a rare move, India on Wednesday came out in support of France’s President Emmanuel Macron, whom Pakistan and Turkey have targeted for strongly defending the French people’s right to freedom of expression.

New Delhi joined major European countries in condemning the personal attacks against the French President.

On October 16, an 18-year-old Chechen refugee in France beheaded a 47-year-old schoolteacher, Samuel Paty, days after Paty had shown caricatures of the Prophet to his students.

Condemning the murder, Macron said: “We will continue… We will defend the freedom that you taught so well and we will bring secularism.” France, the President said, would “not give up cartoons, drawings, even if others back down”.

In response, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Macron of running an anti-Islamic agenda, and said the French President needed a “mental health check”.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan said Macron was encouraging anti-Muslim sentiments and provoking Muslims; Iran and Saudi Arabia condemned the cartoons.

In an official statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Wednesday: “We strongly deplore the personal attacks in unacceptable language on President Emmanuel Macron in violation of the most basic standards of international discourse. We also condemn the brutal terrorist attack that took the life of a French teacher in a gruesome manner that has shocked the world. We offer our condolences to his family and the people of France. “There is no justification for terrorism for any reason or under any circumstance.”

It is unusual for New Delhi to wade into a controversy over religion in another country. Earlier in March 2006, controversy over the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet in a Danish daily had forced the cancellation of Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s scheduled six-day visit to India. Following widespread protests over the cartoons, New Delhi had conveyed to Copenhagen that this was not the “optimal time” for the visit.

MAP ROW: JPC REJECTS TWITTER EXPLANATION

A joint parliamentary committee (JPC) on Wednesday rejected as “inadequate” Twitter’s explanation for showing Ladakh as part of China, saying it amounted to treason.

As per media reports, the committee said an explanation must be tendered by the US-based parent of the social media platform in the form of an affidavit. Appearing before the JPC on the Data Protection Bill, chaired by BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi, representatives of Twitter India “begged apology”, but they were told that it was a criminal offence that questioned the sovereignty of the country and an affidavit must be submitted by Twitter Inc, not by its ‘marketing arm’ Twitter India.

A Twitter spokesperson said, “The recent geo-tagging issue was swiftly resolved by our teams. We are committed to openness, transparency around our work and will remain in regular touch with the government to share timely updates.”

TROOPS STANDING FIRM AT LAC, SAYS RAJNATH

On a day China objected to US “meddling” in the LAC standoff, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said Indian troops were standing firm along the Line of Actual Control but talks for a peaceful resolution to the ongoing crisis with China would continue.

A day after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo assured India that the US stood firmly with it to confront threats to its sovereignty, China objected to the US “meddling” in its border standoff with India, saying it was a bilateral issue.

Rajnath Singh was addressing the four-day Army Commanders’ Conference in New Delhi. The minister said it was a national responsibility to ensure the best weapons, equipment and clothing for the troops braving extreme weather and hostile forces to defend the country’s territorial integrity.

Rajnath complimented the forces on the high standard of operational preparedness and capabilities. He also paid tributes to the bravehearts of Galwan, Kashmir and the North-East.

PARLIAMENT PANEL WANTED TO VISIT LEH, DEFENCE SAYS ‘NOT ADVISABLE’

The Defence Ministry has objected to a visit by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to Leh next month to study the working conditions of soldiers deployed in forward locations in the high altitude areas.

In a letter sent on Wednesday, the Ministry said “it may not be advisable” for the MPs to visit, given the standoff with China along the LAC.

The PAC, headed by the Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, had last month got clearance from Speaker Om Birla to visit Ladakh to meet the soldiers.

The PAC wanted to visit Leh since it is examining a CAG report which had earlier this year said that the troops stationed in areas like Siachen and Ladakh faced an acute shortage of high-altitude clothing and equipment, including snow goggles, because of delays in procurement.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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PAK OPPN LEADER ACCUSES THE GOVT OF 'KNEELING' TO INDIAN PRESSURE, ON WG CDR ABHINANDAN'S RETURN:

Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) league leader Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, on Wednesday, claimed that foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had said during a meeting that if Wing Commander Abhinandan was not released, India would attack Pakistan by 9 pm that night. Describing the atmosphere in the meeting that was attended by Qureshi, Sadiq said that Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa's ' legs were shaking' and he was 'sweating'.

Sadiq made the explosive revelation in Pakistan Parliament.

"Ab Abhinandan ki kya baat karte hai? Mujhe yaad hai, Shah Mahmood Qureshi saab uss meeting mein the, jisme Prime Minister sahab ne aanese inkaar kar dia aur Chief of Army Staff tashreef laye. Pair kaanp rahe the, paseene maathe pe the. Shah Mahmood saab ne kaha, Foreign Minister ne, ke khuda ka vaasta, isko jaane de, kyunke nau baje raat ko Hindustan Pakistan pe attack kar raha hain (You talking about Abhinandan. I still remember that Shah Mahmood Qureshi was in that meeting in which PM Imran Khan had refused to come and Chief of Army staff was present... His feet were shaking...He was sweating... Foreign Minister said, for god's sake, please let him go, otherwise, India will attack Pakistan at 9 pm tonight)," Sadiq said.

He further went on to attack the government for 'kneeling' to Indian pressure and releasing Wg Cdr Abhinandan and said that the opposition had supported the government on all issues including Kashmir and Abhinandan, but was no longer willing to do it any further.

CHINA IS A PREDATOR, POMPEO TELLS SRI LANKA

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday slammed China for operating as a “predator” in Sri Lanka, while the U.S. came as a “friend”. He made the remark during his visit to Colombo, amid a heightening geopolitical contest playing out in the island nation.

“We see from bad deals, violations of sovereignty and lawlessness on land and sea that the Chinese Communist Party is a predator, and the United States comes in a different way, we come as a friend, and as a partner,” Mr. Pompeo told a media conference in Colombo, winding up his 12-hour trip, the second stop on his four-nation tour spanning India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Indonesia.

The Chinese Embassy in Colombo was quick to respond to Mr. Pompeo’s attack. “Sorry Mr. Secretary @SecPompeo, we’re busy promoting #China-#SriLanka friendship and cooperation, not interested in your #AlienVsPredator game invitation. The US can play two roles at the same time as always,” the Embassy said in a tweet from its handle.

TURKEY TO TAKE LEGAL, DIPLOMATIC STEPS AGAINST FRENCH CARICATURE OF ERDOGAN

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vented his outrage Wednesday at a "disgusting" cartoon in the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo depicting him looking up a woman's skirt while drinking beer in his underpants.

Erdogan's office vowed to take "legal and diplomatic action" while Turkey's NTV television said Ankara had also summoned the second-most senior diplomat at the French embassy to express its "strong condemnation".

The front-cover Charlie Hebdo cartoon came out just days after Erdogan called for a boycott of French products and questioned President Emmanuel Macron's sanity for promoting a drive against Islamic extremism.

THE REST

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BIHAR REPORTS 54.26% VOTER TURNOUT IN 1ST PHASE

The polls were held in 71 constituencies spread across 16 districts amid tight security and strict COVID-19 regulations in place. According to the Election Commission's Voter Turnout App, the provisional polling percentage was 54.26 that was updated till 10 pm.

The Chief Electoral Officer's office said in Patna that the voter turnout in the 2015 election in these 16 districts was 54.75 per cent.

Deputy Election Commissioner in-charge of EVMs said in Delhi that the functioning of electronic voting machines was "very satisfactory" during the polling. A minuscule 0.22 per cent of the total 41,689 ballot units, 0.25 per cent of the total 31,371 control units and 1.28 per cent of the total 31,371 paper trail machines were replaced due to malfunctioning, the officer said.

NITISH SEEKS VOTES IN NAME OF MODI, SAYS PM WILL DEVELOP BIHAR

Marking a full circle from the time he had refused to share stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on Wednesday sought votes in his name. Nitish devoted his speech in Patna to works undertaken by the Centre in Bihar and said Modi would ensure the state was developed if the NDA was voted back to power.

Praising Modi profusely and thanking him for “taking time out” to campaign, Nitish said, “Listen to his appeal. If you give the NDA one more chance, then you can be sure he will transform the state. Bihar will march ahead.” The CM referred to Patna Metro, Smart Cities plan, the Ujjwala scheme and roads in Bihar while applauding the PM’s “generosity”.

Amid slogans of “Modi, Modi” from the crowd, Nitish said people had come to the rally to listen only to Modi, and said his efforts in controlling the Covid-19 were “exceptional”. After Nitish’s speech, Modi was invited to speak, with introduction as “Yug Purush”.

Earlier in the 2009 Lok Sabha and 2010 Assembly polls, when he was the Gujarat CM, Modi had kept out of Bihar during NDA campaigns reportedly at Nitish’s behest. At a 2010 public meeting Nitish had said, “When there is Sushil Modi in Bihar, there is no need of another Modi (Narendra) here.” He had even cancelled a scheduled NDA dinner in 2010 in Patna over Modi’s presence.

Nitish’s discomfort with Modi was attributed to the 2002 Gujarat riots, though the JD(U) leader himself had been part of the NDA government at the Centre at the time.

Nitish parted ways with the NDA in 2013. He fought 2015 polls as part of Mahagathbandhan. During that time, he had called for a “Sangh-mukt” Bharat.

NIA RAIDS ACTIVISTS, JOURNALISTS IN J&K, TRIGGERS OUTRAGE

In a coordinated action targeting activists, NGOs and news organisations based in J&K, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said Wednesday that it has conducted searches at ten locations in Srinagar and Bandipora, and one in Bengaluru, in connection with a case of funds being raised from “India and abroad in the name of charitable activities” and allegedly used “for carrying out secessionist and separatist activities in J&K”.

The locations that were targeted included the offices of Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), English daily Greater Kashmir and NGO Athrout — and the residences of leading activists, including JKCCS coordinator Khurram Parvez.

The action drew sharp criticism from political leaders in the Valley, with PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti describing it as a “vicious crackdown on freedom of expression” and Peoples Conference president Sajad Lone saying that the “raids add to the environment of fear”.

The Kashmir Editors’ Guild (KEG) condemned the raids and said that the local media “continues to get targeted, demonised, villified and raided by both the state and non-state actors…”

The NIA said in a statement that it “conducted searches at 10 locations in Srinagar & Bandipora (J&K) and 1 location in Bangalore in connection with a case pertaining to certain so-called NGOs and Trusts raising funds in India and abroad in the name of charitable activities and then using those funds for carrying out secessionist and separatist activities in J&K”.

"AAROGYA SETU BUILT BY...": GOVERNMENT AFTER NOTICE FOR "EVASIVE REPLY"

The Aarogya Setu app was developed in the most transparent manner with public-private collaboration in record time to fight the coronavirus, the government said on Wednesday, in a detailed clarification after reports that ministries denied any knowledge of who created the app.

"The Aarogya Setu app was developed in a record time of around 21 days, to respond to the exigencies of the Pandemic with Lockdown restrictions only for the objective of building a Made in India Contact Tracing App with the best of Indian minds from Industry, Academia and Government, working round the clock to build a robust, scalable and secure app," said the government.

The clarification came after it emerged earlier on Wednesday that the government had been served notice by the Central Information Commission for what it called "evasive answers" to a RTI application on who created the contact tracing app that the government pushed as an essential tool in the fight against the coronavirus.

Aarogya Setu's website says it was developed by the National Informatics Centre and the Information Technology ministry but according to the Central Information Commission, various ministries and departments had given "evasive answers" to a Right to Information (RTI) query on who created the Aarogya Setu app.

BHARAT BIOTECH AIMS TO IMPROVE CLINICAL RESULTS BY AT LEAST 60%

Bharat Biotech, which will soon be starting late-stage human trials of its Covid-19 vaccine on over 20,000 volunteers in India, is trying to ensure its candidate can improve clinical outcomes by at least 60 per cent. If it works, this vaccine — Covaxin — would be able to prevent at least 60 per cent of those inoculated from being clinically diagnosed with Covid-19.

This would be higher than the 50 per cent efficacy cut-off that the Indian drug regulator and various international counterparts have suggested would be enough for firms to meet in order for their Covid-19 vaccine to be considered successful. “What globally has been accepted by WHO and the US FDA (American regulator), MHRA (UK regulator) and our NRA (Indian drug regulator — CDSCO) is 50 per cent as the lower-bound efficacy cutoff. We are designing our trial for a 60 per cent efficacy cut off, so we are above what the NRA wants,” said Sai Prasad, executive director, Bharat Biotech. “But, again, the trial will tell us where we are,” he added.

A FARIDABAD COLLEGE GIRL IS KILLED IN BROAD DAYLIGHT

The police have arrested two youths allegedly involved in the killing of a 21-year-old woman outside a college in Ballabgarh on Monday. The victim, Nikita, was shot point blank range. The accused —Tausif (22) and Rehan (21) —have been remanded in police custody for two days.

Hundreds of local residents blocked the Ballabgarh-Sohna road for over four hours yesterday.

Victim’s father Mool Chand Tomar alleged Tausif was booked in a case of kidnapping in 2018 on their complaint, which they later withdrew “under pressure”.

On Wednesday, Haryana's Home Minister Anil Vij claimed that the main accused in the case was related to some Congress leaders in the state and it was due to pressure from them that the victim's family had withdrawn an earlier complaint against the man.

While preliminary probe revealed that Nikita Tomar had refused Tausif’s overtures to convert to Islam and marry him, reports now claim that the accused killed her also out of revenge.

Nikita’s family has now said that the boy had been harassing her for several years, so much so that they had to file an FIR against him in 2018. Following this, the police arrested Tausif, as a result of which he could not complete his medical studies.

GIG WORKERS TO MAKE PF CONTRIBUTION, GET SOCIAL SECURITY FOR FIRST TIME

For the first time, gig workers would be asked to make a contribution for availing provident fund and insurance cover benefits under a new social security framework. Prominent aggregator firms representing the gig economy such as Uber, Ola, Swiggy and Urban Company have told the Union government that they expect more than 1 million workers to join the new social security regime in the first year itself.

The government is planning to design the rules under the Code on Social Security, 2020, in such a manner that the finances of gig companies do not take a hit while contributing towards a national social security fund for workers.

At present, gig workers, often treated as independent workers, are bereft of social security cover.

IPL: MUMBAI INDIANS BEAT ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE BY 5 WICKETS

Suryakumar Yadav smashed an unbeaten 79 (off 43) as Mumbai Indians beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 5 wickets. MI chased down the total of 164 set up by RCB in 19.1 overs.

In RCB innings, Jasprit Bumrah ended with figures of 3/14 after his 4 overs.

Mumbai Indians: Placed 1st, Played 12, Won 8, Points 16, NRR 1.186

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Placed 2nd, Played 12, Won 7, Points 14, NRR 0.048

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

When you know a thing, to hold that you know it; and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it – this is knowledge - Confucius

OFF TRACK

In a church one Sunday morning a preacher said, "Anyone with 'special needs' who wants to be prayed over, please come forward to the front of the altar."

With that, Peter got in line and when it was his turn the Preacher asked, "Peter, what do you want me to pray about for you?"

He replied, "Preacher, I need you to pray for help with my hearing."

The preacher put one finger of one hand on Peter's ear, placed his other hand on top of Peter's head, and then prayed and prayed and the whole congregation joined in with much enthusiasm.

After a few minutes, the preacher removed his hands, stood back and asked, "Peter, how is your hearing now?"

Peter answered, "I don't know. My hearing is actually next Thursday in the magistrate’s court."