[NEWS OF THE DAY]

1. Terror funding case: NIA conducts searches in 8 districts of Jammu and Kashmir
2. UN World Geospatial Congress started in Hyderabad
3. At UNGA, India votes to reject Russia’s call for secret vote on Ukraine
4. 2020 Palghar lynching: Ready to transfer case to CBI, Maharashtra govt tells SC
5. Sri Lanka cabinet approves downgrade to ‘low-income country’

What Else

6. India, UAE decide to explore establishment of efficient and integrated Single Window Solutions and VTC to reduce time and cost in trade
7. Bhopal gas tragedy: Centre to pursue curative petition filed by Congress govt, seeks fresh compensation of Rs 7,844 crores
8. Chief Justice UU Lalit recommends Justice DY Chandrachud as his successor
9. Centre announces new Chief Justices for Rajasthan, Karnataka, J-K and Ladakh HC
10. ‘Shiv Sena (Thackeray)’ as the party name of the Uddhav faction and the flaming torch
11. Pakistan: Hindu girl abducted in Pakistan’s Sindh, fourth incident in 15 days
12. Pakistan still to give US FBI access to 26/11 killer Sajid Mir
13. Moody’s downgrades ratings for 5 Pakistani banks
14. Pakistan hits back at Modi for claiming to have ‘resolved’ Kashmir dispute
15. Sri Lanka cabinet approves downgrade to ‘low-income country’
16. ‘If this is not provocation, what is it?’: Taiwan says China sends 4-6 warships every day

Terror funding case: NIA conducts searches in 8 districts of Jammu and Kashmir

• National Investigation Agency on Tue carried out searches in at least 8 districts in a terror funding case having links to suspicious activities of Al Huda Educational Trust.
• ANI (sources) that the case is related to the suspicious activities of Trust in the Rajouri.
• The case was reportedly registered suo-motu by the NIA about the funding pattern and activities of Trust, which is working as a frontal entity for an ‘unlawful association’ Jamaat-e-Islami J&K.
• The local media reported that among the people whose residences were raided by the NIA include renowned religious preachers and rectors. (here)

UN World Geospatial Congress started in Hyderabad 

• PM Modi inaugurated the UN congress in Hyderabad where India is set to showcase the strides it has made in the sector over the past several years on Tue.
• The 5-day conference will see the participation of over 550 delegates from 115 countries to discuss issues related to integrated geospatial information management, and its capabilities.
• There is a need for an institutional approach by the international community to help each other during a crisis…UN can take resources to the last mile in every region, PM at the Congress. (here)
• Geospatial technology can be used to create intelligent maps and models which help to collect geographically referenced data.

At UNGA, India votes to reject Russia’s call for secret vote on Ukraine

• India on Mon voted to reject Russia’s call to hold a secret ballot at UNGA on a draft resolution to condemn Moscow’s “attempted illegal annexation” of 4 Ukrainian regions.
• A public vote will be held now be held later this week in UNGA on Russia after its referendum in Ukrainian territories.
• Russia had flagged the procedure, proposing that the resolution being debated, be voted on by secret ballot, while Albania opposed it, which India voted in favor.
• A resolution condemning Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian regions was up for adoption at the UNGA, where the 193 UN members vote and no one wields a veto.
• The proposal received 107 votes in favor, 13 against, and 39 abstentions, while 24 countries including China, Iran, and Russia did not vote. (here)
• The UK and the US lobby Nepal to vote against Russia at the UN: Hours before crucial voting, Lord Ahmad, Minister of State for the Middle East, S Asia and the UN, foreign Commonwealth, and the Development Office of the UK, spoke to PM and requested him to vote against the annexation. (here)
• Targeting infrastructure and causing civilian deaths is not acceptable in any part of the world, External Affairs Minister said, a day after Moscow launched missiles over parts of Ukraine, including its capital city Kyiv.

2020 Palghar lynching: Ready to transfer case to CBI, Maharashtra govt tells SC

• The Maharashtra govt on Tue informed the Supreme Court that it has no objection to handing over the 2020 Palghar lynching case to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
• Two Hindu seers were lynched by a frenzied mob in 2020 in Maharashtra’s Palghar that had triggered a massive outrage against the then-collision state govt.
• Two sadhus and their driver were lynched by a mob in Palghar district, 140 km north of Mumbai, on Apr 16, 2020.
• They have attacked amid ‘rumors’ of child lifters were in the area during the Covid lockdown.
• As many as 18 police officers were punished [transferred] after an inquiry. 1 junior officer was sacked, while another 2 were compulsorily retired. (here)

Bhopal gas tragedy: Centre to pursue curative petition filed by Congress govt, seeks fresh compensation of Rs 7,844 crores

• The central govt has announced its intention to pursue a curative petition seeking Rs 7,844 crore as additional funds from successor firms of the US-based Union Carbide Corporation in connection with the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy.
• The declaration was made before the SC today, with a 5-judge constitution bench directing the Centre to prepare a compilation within eight weeks in this regard.
• However, counsel for respondents has questioned the maintainability of the petitions as they have come 19 years after the judgment. (here)

India, UAE decide to explore establishment of efficient and integrated Single Window Solutions and VTC to reduce time and cost in trade

• The 10^th meeting of the UAE-India High-Level Joint Task Force on Investments took place on Tue in Mumbai, chaired by the trade minister, and UAE Member of the Executive Council.
• The first meeting of the JTF since the signing of the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and unveiling of the Joint UAE-India Vision Statement in Feb 2022.
• The two discussed the mechanism for carrying out bilateral trade in national currencies. (here)

Chief Justice UU Lalit recommends Justice DY Chandrachud as his successor

• Chief Justice of India UU Lalit has named Justice DY Chandrachud as his successor and handed over a letter to Justice DY Chandrachud on Tue morning in the presence of the other judges of the Supreme Court.
• The law ministry – as per protocol – writes to the CJI around a month before the due date of retirement to seek the successor’s name.
• The SC will get its 50^th chief justice when Justice Lalit retires, just after a 74-day tenure.
• Meanwhile, Justice Chandrachud is set to retire on Nov 10, 2024. (here)

Centre announces new Chief Justices for Rajasthan, Karnataka, J-K and Ladakh HC

The central govt on Tue announced the names of new Chief Justices for the High Courts in Rajasthan, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. (here)

‘Shiv Sena (Thackeray)’ as the party name of the Uddhav faction and the flaming torch

• Former Maharashtra minister on Mon lauded the new poll symbol – ‘Mashaal’ (flaming torch) as his party gets a new name – cleared by the EC ahead of the next month’s by-poll in Mumbai’s Andheri.
• The Election Commission of India on Mon allotted ‘Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray)’ as the party name to the Thackeray faction and the flaming torch as its symbol. (here)
• ‘Peepul Tree’, ‘Shining Sun’: breakaway Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde faction submits symbol options to EC.

[NEIGHBORHOOD]

Sri Lanka cabinet approves downgrade to ‘low-income country’

• Sri Lanka’s cabinet has approved a proposal to downgrade the economic status to “low-income country”, to get access to concessional funding from international orgs, on Tue.
• Sri Lanka’s economy is in a deep slump, shrinking at an annual 8.4% in the June quarter in one of the steepest quarterly declines.
• Per capita GDP was $3,815 in 2021, which had placed it in the lower-middle economy category, according to the WB.
• “..representatives of international organizations had informed us that if it was categorized as a low-income country access to funding would be easier,” an official said.
• The World Bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (here)

Pakistan: Hindu girl abducted in Pakistan’s Sindh, fourth incident in 15 days

• A Hindu girl has been reportedly abducted from the Fateh Chowk area, Hyderabad of Sindh province while she was returning home.
• This comes days after 3 women from the same community were kidnapped and forcibly converted to Islam.
• On Sept 24, A 14-year-old girl was abducted from the Nasarpur area and another girl was kidnapped while returning home in Mirpurkhas town.
• Hindus and other minorities, who constitute just 3.5% of Pakistan’s population as per CIA data, continue to face persecution in the Islamic Republic.
• In Oct last year, a parliamentary panel rejected a bill against forcible conversions. (here)
• Hindus in particular, are forcibly converted to Islam, which according to the Highest estimate is up to 1000/year.

Pakistan still to give US FBI access to 26/11 killer Sajid Mir

• Although Islamabad seeks to exit from the “grey list” of the Financial Action Task Force on grounds of acting against terror groups and terrorist funding, it is still to provide access to the US FBI to interrogate 26/11 killer and planner Sajid Mir.
• The 46-year-old chief planner and handler of the 2008 Mumbai attacks is a top terrorist belonging to the globally proscribed Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT).
• He is wanted by US FBI for a terror conspiracy against Denmark paper between 2008-09 and an Illinois court indicted and issued a warrant against him.
• After claiming that Mir had been killed over the past decade, Pakistan claimed to have arrested the terrorist and a local court sentenced him to jail for 15 years.
• As per Pakistani media, he is said to be in Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore while intelligence inputs suggest that he is in the custody of the Pakistani deep state. (here)

Moody’s downgrades ratings for 5 Pakistani banks

• Moody’s Investors Service on Tue downgraded the long-term deposit ratings of 5 Pakistani banks to Caa1 from B3.
• It also lowered the banks’ long-term foreign currency counterparty risk ratings (CRRs) to Caa1 from B3.
• “The outlook on all banks’ deposit ratings remains negative,” Moody’s said in a statement on their website.
• The downgrade comes days after Moody’s cut Pakistan’s local and foreign currency and senior unsecured debt ratings to Caa1 from B3. (here)

Pakistan hits back at Modi for claiming to have ‘resolved’ Kashmir dispute

• Pakistan on Tue “categorically rejected” the remarks made by Indian PM about India-occupied J&K during a public rally in Gujarat.
• FO said that his narrative was not only false and misleading but also reflected “how oblivious the Indian leadership has become of the ground realities in IIOJK”.
• Modi, at a rally in Gujarat on Mon, claimed that he had somehow “resolved the Kashmir issue”.
• It said that Jammu and Kashmir was an internationally recognized dispute, the resolution of which had been on the agenda of the UN since 1948. (here)

‘If this is not provocation, what is it?’: Taiwan says China sends 4-6 warships every day

• Chinese Army has deployed between 4 and 6 warships in waters close to Taiwan every day since August, the island’s defense minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said on Tue.
• Beijing responds to Tsai Ing-wen’s Double Tenth Day speech, accusing her of distorting cross-strait relations, exaggerating threats, and sabotaging ties (here)