Daily briefing: JD(U) calls LJP’s exit from alliance suicidal act; Trump returns to White House

From the string of FIRs filed across Uttar Pradesh to probe attempts to “incite caste and communal tension" over the Hathras incident to why the outgoing Lokayukta in Goa wants the post abolished, read the top stories from print edition today.

Good morning, 

We are covering the string of FIRs filed across Uttar Pradesh to probe attempts to “incite caste and communal tension” over the Hathras incident, how close did India come to striking China after Galwan and why the outgoing Lokayukta in Goa wants the post abolished.

Big story

Stung by the criticism over its handling of the murder and alleged gangrape of the 19-year-old Dalit woman, the Uttar Pradesh police has filed 21 cases across the state, but an FIR filed in Hathras stands out for its claims of international conspiracy to defame the Yogi Adityanath government. 

From the Front Page

Did India come close to striking China? That was one of the questions put to Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria on whether the IAF had come close to  carrying out strikes against China after the Galwan Valley clashes. His response: “No. But were we prepared for it? Yes.”

The deadlock over compensation between states and the Centre remained unresolved at the 42nd GST Council meeting, with 10 non-BJP-ruled states rejecting the two borrowing options floated by the Centre. A call for voting, too, was learnt to have been proposed by them but the numbers are tilted in the Centre’s favour.

In his tenure, that lasted nearly four-and-a-half years, the Goa government has not acted on even one of the 21 reports, including against a former Chief Minister and a sitting MLA, submitted by Justice Prafulla Kumar Misra (retd) as Lokayukta. Before leaving the state, he called for abolition of the post. “Why should public money be spent for nothing?”

The Pandemic

The Education Ministry has issued broad guidelines for reopening schools for all grades, including junior students, in a phased manner, amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, but has left the decision on whether to bring back the youngest or the oldest students first up to the state governments.

The Maharashtra government, in a report, has said that a spike in the state’s unemployment rate in August is threatening the revival of the Covid-hit economy. It blamed the imposition of micro lockdowns in several parts of the state and loss of work under MGNREGS for the latest uptick in numbers.

As several experimental vaccines against Covid-19 near the end of clinical trials, the National Expert Group on vaccine administration has begun to map cold chain storage facilities across the country, including those available with the food processing industry, The Indian Express has learnt.

Beyond Covid-19

During a hearing on Vijay Mallya’s extradition to India, the Centre has told the Supreme Court that it will have to wait as there were some “secret” proceedings going on in the UK, but the Government of India does not have knowledge about it as it is not a party to the process and the UK side has not shared any details.

Being the hardest hit by the Covid lockdown, over 20 lakh street vendors have applied for interest-free loans of Rs 10,000 each as working capital under the PM SVANidhi. And now, they are hoping that a special loan scheme will turn out to be a lifeline — despite the glitches.

The LJP’s exit will have “no impact” on the Bihar poll results, at least, according to the JD(U), which termed the move “a suicidal act”. And the JD(U) cited the 2010 results in which the BJP-JD(U) alliance won 206 of 243 seats. “We will swim or sink together,” a party spokesperson said.

ICYMI

  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are scheduled to attend the BRICS summit meeting via virtual mode on November 17.
  • The CBI on Monday carried out searches at the Bengaluru residence of Congress leader D K Shivakumar after booking him in a case of disproportionate assets.
  • The Haryana government has said that the tractor rally led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will not be stopped from entering the state on Tuesday
  • Actor Richa Chadha moved a defamation suit on Monday in the Bombay HC against an actor, who had accused filmmaker Anurag Kashyap of sexual misconduct, as well as film critic Kamaal R Khan, a news channel and others.
  • President Donald Trump returned to the White House on Monday after a three-night hospital stay for treatment for COVID-19.

And Finally

Chirag Falor, a Pune student who topped the JEE-Advanced with 352 out of 396 marks and who didn’t even use a mobile phone for two years to avoid any distraction in his plans to get into IIT, has now no intention of studying in the coveted institution. 

Delhi confidential:  Will the CPI(M)’s decision to join the RJD-Congress alliance in Bihar open the door for an electoral understanding with the grand old party in West Bengal? 

In today’s episode of the Three Things podcast, we look at how India can prevent future COVID-19 deaths, the latest developments in the Hathras gangrape case, and how PM Modi and President Jinping could have their first interaction amid the border standoff.

Until tomorrow,

Leela Prasad G and Shreyasi Jha

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