LAKHIMPUR VIOLENCE: UP GOVT, FARM LEADERS REACH AGREEMENT ON RELIEF, PROBE

In signs of truce between the UP govt and farmers over the Lakhimpur Kheri violence that left eight people, including four farmers, dead on Sunday, the state police announced an ex gratia of Rs 45 lakh for the kin of each of the deceased and Rs 10 lakh each for the injured.

Appearing in a joint press conference with BKU’s Rakesh Tikait on Monday, UP Additional DG, Law and Order, Prashant Kumar, announced that the state govt after talks with farmer representatives had decided to agree to their demands.

“FIRs under relevant sections will be lodged as demanded by the farmers. The incident will be probed by a retired high court judge and perpetrators caught within eight days,” said Kumar.

The state govt may just have averted a major crisis in the area with the Additional DG reiterating that no politicians would be allowed to enter Lakhimpur Kheri as Section 144 of the CrPC has been imposed to maintain law and order.

The entire opposition has thrown its weight behind the farmers with leaders of all hues lining up to reach the violence-hit village. The state police have not allowed entry to anyone.

AICC general secretary Priyanka Vadra has been detained at Sitapur guesthouse near the epicentre of violence, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel and Punjab CM Charanjit Channi have not been allowed to land in Lucknow, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav hasn’t been allowed to move out of his Lucknow home, BSP and TMC leaders have also been stopped.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, meanwhile, has appealed to people to await the results of the investigation and not reach any conclusion or get misled. Yogi Adityanath has promised strict action against the accused.

'WHY PROTEST WHEN MATTER IS IN COURT', SUPREME COURT ASKS FARMERS

A day after eight people were killed in Lakhimpur in Uttar Pradesh, the Supreme Court on Monday questioned the rationale behind farmers' protest against the three farm laws, saying it had already stayed the laws in question.

"We have stayed the farm laws. There is nothing to be implemented. What are the farmers' protesting about? No one other than the court can decide the validity of the farm laws. When that is so, and when farmers are in court challenging the laws, why protest on street?" a Bench led by Justice AM Khanwilkar wondered.

"When you have already filed a petition before a court challenging the Acts or action of the Executive, how can you then protest? Who are you protesting against? How can the Executive allow these protests? What is the validity of these protests?" the top court asked the farmer unions.

The Bench was hearing a petition filed by Kisan Mahapanchayat seeking directions to the Centre, Delhi Lt. Governor and Delhi Police Commissioner to allow it to stage ‘satyagraha’ at Jantar Mantar in the national capital.

COAL SHORTAGE BEYOND USUAL, SITUATION TOUCH AND GO: POWER MINISTER

As the economy recovers from pandemic blows, a sharp surge in energy demand has triggered an unprecedented fuel shortage at the country’s coal-fired stations, a situation that Union Power Minister R K Singh terms way “beyond” the normal post-monsoon supply crunch.

While there is expectation that the demand could start tapering off from the latter half of October, Singh said the bridging of the fuel gap is still likely to be a “touch and go” affair and that he is bracing for a trying “next five-six months”. “I can’t say I am secure… If you have 40,000-50,000 MW (of thermal capacity) with less than three days of stock, you can’t be secure,” Singh told The Indian Express in an interview.

In India, coal-fired power stations account for nearly 70% of the electricity generation.

India’s coal crisis comes amidst a global energy crunch, as a sharp surge in demand across Europe, China and elsewhere, following the opening up of economies after repeated lockdowns and extended restrictions on movement of people, is beginning to test supply chains.

MULTI-AGENCY GROUP TO PROBE INDIAN NAMES IN 'PANDORA PAPERS'

The govt will investigate every Indian name appearing in an unprecedented leak of financial records, known as the 'Pandora Papers', which alleged that many world leaders have secret offshore stores of wealth.

A Multi-Agency Group made up of the tax department, Enforcement Directorate, RBI and FIU, will probe the names and the govt will seek from foreign jurisdictions information about Indians in the list, the Central Board of Direct Taxes said in a statement.

Anil Ambani, Vinod Adani, Jackie Shroff, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Niira Radia, Sachin Tendulkar and Satish Sharma are among the Indians who figure in the 'Pandora Papers'.

A couple of Indian names appearing in the papers have rejected allegations of financial misdoing.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said her husband's offshore trust was bona fide and legitimate.

KEY COVID NUMBERS

Current Active Cases Countrywide: 2,45,689

New Cases in last 24 hours: 16,758

Recovered in last 24 hours: 29,322

Change in no. of Active cases in last 24 hours: -12,818

No. of deaths in last 24 hours (Total Covid Deaths so far): 254 (4,49,283)

Daily Tests (Sunday): 9,91,676

Daily Positivity Rate (Proportion of Positives among total Tested): 1.7%

Percentage of Population Vaccinated (At Least One Dose / Two Doses): 49.5% / 18.6%

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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PANDORA PAPERS: THE RICH & POWERFUL DENY WRONGDOING

The Czech prime minister and the king of Jordan were among global figures denying wrongdoing on Monday, after the leak of what major news outlets called a secret trove of documents about offshore finance.

Pakistani finance minister Shaukat Tarin said officials named in the documents, known collectively as the “Pandora Papers”, would be investigated — including himself. The Kremlin said it had seen no evidence in the leak of hidden wealth among Russian President Putin’s entourage, after the Washington Post said the documents showed Putin’s “mistress” had used offshore funds to buy a flat in Monaco.

Jordan’s King Abdullah, a close US ally, was reported to have used offshore accounts to spend more than $100 million on luxury homes in the UK and the US. The royal palace said it was “no secret that His Majesty owns a number of apartments and residences in the US and the UK. This is not unusual nor improper”. “The cost of these properties and all related expenditures have been personally funded by His Majesty,” it said. DLA Piper, a London law office representing Abdullah, told the ICIJ that he had “not at any point misused public monies”.

The Kremlin said it had seen no evidence in the leak of hidden wealth among Putin’s inner circle. “For now it is just not clear what this information is and what it is about,” spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. Asked about Putin’s alleged relationship with Krivonogikh in November, Peskov said he had never heard of her.

Days ahead of the Czech Republic’s October 8-9 parliamentary election, the documents reportedly tied prime minister Andrej Babis to a $22 million estate near Cannes, France. Speaking in a television debate, Babis, who was a billionaire before he entered politics, denied any wrongdoing. “The money left a Czech bank, was taxed, it was my money, and returned to a Czech bank,” Babis said.

CHINA SENDS ANOTHER 52 AIRCRAFT TOWARDS TAIWAN

China on Monday sent 52 PLA Air Force aircraft towards Taiwan in the latest show of aerial force, marking a third record aerial intrusion in the past four days.

Monday’s entry of the PLA aircraft into the Air Defence Identification Zone followed a record 38 aircraft sent on Friday, when China marked its National Day, and 39 aircraft on Saturday in two separate waves.

Taiwan officials have hit out at the aerial intrusions into the ADIZ as acts of “military aggression” and “damaging regional peace”.

China on Monday slammed the U.S. statement, saying “Taiwan belongs to China and the US is in no position to make irresponsible remarks…..Taiwan independence’ leads nowhere. China will take all necessary measures to resolutely crush all attempts at ‘Taiwan independence.’ China has firm resolve and will to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

AMERICAN DUO WINS 2021 NOBEL PRIZE IN MEDICINE

American scientists David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian won the 2021 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch, the award-giving body said on Monday.

Their groundbreaking discoveries “have allowed us to understand how heat, cold and mechanical force can initiate the nerve impulses that allow us to perceive and adapt to the world around us,” it said. “This knowledge is being used to develop treatments for a wide range of disease conditions, including chronic pain.”

THE REST

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PURPORTED VIDEO OF MoS AJAY KUMAR MISHRA SURFACED ON SOCIAL MEDIA AHEAD OF LAKHIMPUR VIOLENCE

A purported video of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra in which he is heard warning agitating farmers that he would discipline them in “two minutes” appears to have angered farmers even before Sunday’s violent clashes in Lakhimpur Kheri.

“Face me, it will take just two minutes to discipline you fellows,” the two-time BJP MP from Kheri is heard allegedly saying in the video.

“I am not only a minister or a MP and MLA...People who know me even before I became a Parliamentarian know that I never run away from taking a challenge. The day I accept the challenge you all have to leave not only Palia but Lakhimpur itself,” he is heard saying in the video.

Source said Mishra’s speech came in the backdrop of some farmers showing him black flags in Palia locality in his Kheri Parliamentary constituency where he had gone to address a public meeting there late last month.

Since then farmers have been up in arms against him and on Sunday while protesting against the visit of Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya in Mishra’s native village Banbirpur violence erupted resulting in eight deaths.

FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, WHATSAPP RECONNECT AFTER NEARLY SIX-HOUR OUTAGE

Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram faced a major global outage on Monday evening with millions of users, including from India, not being able to use these digital platforms.

Facebook owns photosharing platform Instagram and messaging platform WhatsApp. The outage is estimated to have started around 9 PM IST. Users complained of not being able to use any of the three services.

'We are aware that some people are having trouble accessing our apps and products. We are working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible, and we apologise for any inconvenience,' a Facebook spokesperson said.

The company did not specify the reason for the global outage.

WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram restored their services on early hours of Tuesday after being down for more than six hours.

100 APPLY FOR 20 SEATS IN DU COLLEGE: ALL HAVE 100%, ALL BUT ONE FROM KERALA

The BA (Hons) programme in Political Science at Hindu College received more than 100 applications as of 5 pm on Monday with a 100% best-four subjects score as admissions opened at Delhi University on Monday — and all except one of these perfect scorers were from Kerala.

The college has 20 first-year seats in this course, and Delhi University cannot under the rules turn away any student who meets the cutoff criteria.

DU approved more than 2,200 applications on the first day of admissions, with top colleges reporting a large number of applicants with 100% marks from the Kerala State Board.

The BA (Hons) Political Science course at Hindu College is one of the 10 programmes at DU this year where the first list cutoff for unreserved seats is 100%.

A member of the faculty at the political science department of the college expressed concern over the extraordinary homogeneity that the first year political science class at the college would likely have due to the absence of suitable filters in the admissions process. “The  lack of any kind of scaling or filtering for a level-playing field means that the plural nature that a class should have, is getting disturbed,” the teacher said.

Miranda House had decided not to set the cutoff at 100% for any course — highest it did was 99.75% for Political Science. But the college has received a number of applications from students with perfect scores, again from the Kerala Board.

'PROBE IMPORTANT': COURT EXTENDS ARYAN KHAN'S NCB CUSTODY

A Mumbai court on Monday extended till October 7 the NCB remand of Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, and two others in connection with the seizure of banned drugs from a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast, observing their further interrogation was required for investigation which is of prime importance.

The trio was produced before the court after the end of their one-day custody given to the NCB on Sunday. The NCB had arrested them after raiding the Goa-bound ship.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate R M Nerlikar also remanded to NCB custody till October 7, the six other accused who were arrested in the case late Sunday night and produced in the court on Monday.

The court, in its order, noted that the investigation in the case was of prime importance and considering this aspect, the further presence of the accused before the NCB was necessary.

'The fact is that the co-accused in the case were found in possession of intermediate drugs and these three accused (Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha) were accompanying them. 'Investigation is of prime importance and presence of the accused is needed for detailed investigation. It is useful for both the prosecution and the accused to prove their innocence,' the court said.

Aryan Khan, 23, and the two others -- Munmun Dhamecha and Arbaaz Merchant -- were arrested on Sunday evening and produced before a special holiday court on Sunday that remanded them to NCB custody till Monday.

Six others -- Nupur Satija, Ishmeet Chadha, Mohak Jaiswal, Gomit Chopra, Vikrant Chhokar and a drug supplier from suburban Juhu (name not disclosed) -- were arrested later.

SC NOTICE TO CENTRE ON PIL FOR UNIFORM BUILDER-BUYER PACT

The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Centre on a PIL seeking uniform model builder-buyer agreement under the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) Act, 2016, for protecting the interests of homebuyers who often get duped by realtors.

“It is very important for consumer protection because builders try to put any number of clauses in the agreement which common people may not be aware of. There should be some uniformity in the agreement. It’s important that this (uniform model builder-buyer agreement) is achieved,” a Bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud said.

BYJU'S VALUATION ZOOMS TO $18 BILLION WITH FRESH $300 MILLION FUNDRAISE

Edtech giant Byju's valuation has zoomed to $18 billion from $16.5 billion, the latest company filings from company research platform Tofler shows.

Byju's raised Rs 2,200 crore (nearly $300 million) in a Series F funding round, which was led by Oxshott Venture Fund LLC. Oxshott invested Rs 1,200 crore for around 1 per cent stake in the firm.

Other investors in the current fundraise were Edelweiss, IIFL, Verition Multistrategy Master Fund, XN Exponent Holdings, among others. The Bengaluru headquartered firm received nearly $200 million from a bunch of investors in July at a $16.5-billion valuation. Since last year, the total funds raised by Byju's stand at $1.8 billion.

With the latest fundraise, the total shareholding of the Byju's promoters, including the CEO and co-founder Byju Raveendran, his wife Divya Gokulnath and brother Riju Raveendran, now stands at 22.9 per cent, whereas the non-promoters hold 77.03 per cent stake in the company.

FACEBOOK STOCKS SLIDES

Mark Zuckerberg’s personal wealth has fallen by nearly $7 billion in a few hours, knocking him down a notch on the list of the world’s richest people, after a whistleblower came forward and outages  took Facebook Inc.’s flagship products offline.

A selloff sent the social-media giant’s stock plummeting around 5% on Monday, adding to a drop of about 15% since mid-September.

The stock slide on Monday sent Zuckerberg’s worth down to $120.9 billion, dropping him below Bill Gates to No. 5 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He’s lost about $19 billion of wealth since Sept. 13, when he was worth nearly $140 billion, according to the index.

On Sept. 13, the Wall Street Journal began publishing a series of stories based on a cache of internal documents, revealing that Facebook knew about a wide range of problems with its products — such as Instagram’s harm to teenage girls’ mental health and misinformation about the Jan. 6 Capitol riots — while downplaying the issues in public. The reports have drawn the attention of govt officials, and on Monday, the whistleblower revealed herself.

In response, Facebook has emphasized that the issues facing its products, including political polarization, are complex and not caused by technology alone.

DELHI CAPITALS EDGE CSK TO TAKE TOP SPOT

Shimron Hetmyer produced a gutsy knock under pressure to guide Delhi Capitals to a three-wicket victory over Chennai Super Kings in a battle for a top-two finish in the Indian Premier League, in Dubai, on Monday.

Needing 28 from the last three overs to overhaul a 137-run target, Delhi Capitals completed the job with two balls and 3 wickets to spare.

With this win, Delhi Capitals have 20 points from 13 games and moved to the top of the eight-team table. Chennai Super Kings are placed second with 18 points.

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INDICATORS

Sensex 59,299 (+534), Nifty 17,691 (+159), Trading Value NSE (Rs.crores) 74,422

Nasdaq 14,255 (-311) Dow 34,003 (-324), S&P 4,300 (-57)

US$-Rs. 74,25 GBP-Rs. 100.85, Euro-Rs. 86.23, UAE Dhm-Rs.20.21, Can$-Rs. 58.89, Aus$- Rs. 54.03

GBP 0.73 /US$, Euro 0.86 /US$, Jap.Yen 111.02/US$, Aus$ 1.37 /US$, Sing 1.35 /US$, Bang Taka 84.02 /US$, Can$ 1.26 /US$, Mal Ring 4.17 /US$,

Pak Re 170.17 /US$, Phil Peso 50.76 /US$, Russian Rouble 72.66 /US$, NZ$ 1.43 /US$, Thai Baht 33.70 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 26.40 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 49,290

Dollar Index 93.91, Brent Crude 81.56 BDI 5,267

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,762 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 4,649 / 4,549, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 64,800

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

The more things you do, the more you can do. - Lucille Ball

OFF TRACK

Two fellows stopped into an English pub for a drink. They called the proprietor over and asked him to settle an argument.

"Are there two pints in a quart or four?" asked one. 

"There be two pints in a quart," confirmed the proprietor. 

They moved back along the bar and soon the barmaid asked for their order. 

"Two pints please, miss, and the bartender offered to buy them for us." 

The barmaid doubted that her boss would be so generous, so one of the fellows called out to the proprietor at the other end of the bar, "You did say two pints, didn't you?" 

"That's right," he called back, "two pints."