[NEWS OF THE DAY]

1. Supreme Court upholds 10% quota for economically weaker sections in 3:2 split verdict
2. 650 Maoist supporters surrender in Odisha
3. Two men missing for months along the Indo-China border yet to be traced
4. Jaishankar starts his Russia visit on Mon as war rages in Ukraine, India looks for issues beyond energy
5. Indian hackers took control of Pakistani military leaders, diplomats’ laptops at behest of secret services: Report

What Else

6. India issues comprehensive advisory for students planning to study medicine in China
7. Twitter fires more than 90% of Indian staff, leaving just a dozen
8. South Korean envoy visits Srinagar to hold talks with various stakeholders
9. Chinese CPEC workers to move in bullet-proof cars in Pakistan
10. Pak SC warns of suo motu notice if FIR of attack on Imran not registered in 24 hours
11. German leader Olaf Scholz under scrutiny as he leads business delegation to China
12. British minister to meet Taiwan president, drawing China’s anger, article with image
13. China’s chip imports see biggest drop in 2022 with accelerated decline in October amid US restrictions and weak demand

Supreme Court upholds 10% quota for economically weaker sections in 3:2 split verdict

• The Supreme Court in a majority judgment on Mon upheld the validity of the Constitution’s 103^rd Amendment Act 2019, which provides for 10% reservations of the Economically Weaker Section.
• A 5-judge Constitution bench in a 3:2 upheld the validity of Act 2019, where 3 judges passed the verdict upholding the Act while the CJI with another Justice and passed a dissent order.
• The CJI said there will be a total of 4 judgments that will be delivered in the matter. (here)

650 Maoist supporters surrender in Odisha

• As many as 650 active Maoist supporters — residents of villages along the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border— surrendered before the police.
• Most of them are members of local village committees, once a Red corridor that lay cut off from mainland Odisha.
• The sympathizers burnt Maoist literature, effigies, and uniforms worn by cadres of the banned outfit before surrendering on Sat.
• Earlier in the year, too, hundreds of Maoist supporters in the area had surrendered before the police, while police expect much more surrender in the coming time. (here)

Two men missing for months along the Indo-China border yet to be traced

• Two youths who went missing on Aug 24 along the Indo-China border in the Anjaw district of Arunachal Pradesh are yet to be traced.
• Two men 33 and 35 years old had left home on Aug 19 and went to the mountains in search of medicinal plants, and were reportedly last seen on Aug 24.
• They carried with them their bedding and food items that could last for 15-20 days.
• The family members of the missing youths doubt that they might have crossed Indian territory mistakenly and are abducted by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
• Notably, 5 youths were abducted from the Arunachal earlier in Sept 2020 by PLA and were released after a few weeks, 1 boy was also abducted on Jan 18^th, 2022. (here)

Jaishankar starts his Russia visit on Mon as war rages in Ukraine, India looks for issues beyond energy

• External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will begin his 2-day Russia visit on Mon to hold talks with his counterpart.
• Talks between the two sides are expected to cover the entire range of bilateral issues and various regional and international developments.
• Jaishankar is scheduled to meet Dy PM, and Minister of Trade and Industry, his counterpart for the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission.
• Marking the occasion of Russia’s Unity Day (Nov 4), President said India has much potential with no doubts that it will achieve outstanding results. (here)
• India and Russia will use this visit to finalize the agenda for cooperation under multilateral frameworks including G-20, SCO, and BRICS.
• The situation in Afghanistan and counter-terrorism are also among the issues that will figure prominently in the meetings.
• [Modi… has been trying to refashion the country’s tradition of nonalignment into a more commanding strategy — an “all alignment”… Peacemaking could carve a more prominent place for India in the global order.]
• MoS Muraleedharan arrives in Sao Paulo, to address Brazilian Congres
• On his first-ever visit to Brazil, Minister of State, External Affairs V Muraleedharan on Mon reached Sao Paulo.
• MoS will also call upon the Vice President of Brazil and have interactions at the Brazilian Foreign Ministry,
• This is followed by a meeting with the Indian community in Sao Paulo and participate in a reception in Brasilia with members of the Congress and Senate. (here)

Indian hackers took control of Pakistani military leaders, diplomats’ laptops at behest of secret services: Report

• The Sunday Times – Indian hackers “seized control of computers owned by Pakistan’s politicians, generals, and diplomats and snooped on their private conversations seemingly at the behest of the Indian secret services.”
• Hacking gangs in India are at the center of a global hacking scandal after it was discovered that they had illegally gained thousands of dollars by breaking the emails of hundreds of world leaders.
• This was done at the request of international private investigators.
• To enter the criminal hacking sector, news agencies deployed undercover reporters to India early this year while pretending as former MI6 officers turned corporate.
• After receiving so many responses, they traveled to India to interview and covertly film these hackers to learn more about their activities.
• One of the hackers in a Delhi hotel room stated that the Indian govt hired him to hack.
• He said that the govts of Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, Cambodia, and Canada had hired him to hack into the computer systems of several ministries. (here)

India issues comprehensive advisory for students planning to study medicine in China

• The Indian Embassy in Beijing on Sun issued a comprehensive advisory to students planning to study medicine in China.
• It advised Indian medical students and their parents to see the Gazette Notification dated Nov 18, 2021, by the National Medical Commission (NMC).
• It has unambiguously stated that foreign medical students must be “registered with the respective professional regulatory body”
• The Embassy also apprised the concerned Chinese authorities with a request that they should ensure for clinical medicine programs are educated, trained, and facilitated.
• Earlier, the External Affairs Minister in his meeting with the Chinese FM on the sidelines of the G20 FM’s Meeting also stressed the need to expedite the process. (here)

South Korean envoy visits Srinagar to hold talks with various stakeholders

• South Korean Ambassador to India, Chang Jae-bok paid an official 3-day visit to Srinagar and held talks with various stakeholders on issues about the bilateral cooperation in several domains, including the development journey of the region.
• During the visit, Jae-bok met various stakeholders including the Divisional Commissioner of and office bearers of the J-K Policy Institute and its staff, as well as the University of Kashmir. (here)

Twitter fires more than 90% of India staff, leaving just a dozen

• About 70% of the jobs cut in India were from the product and engineering team which worked on a global mandate, one of the people said.
• Positions were also slashed across functions including marketing, public policy, and corporate communications, the people said.
• Globally, San Francisco, California-based Twitter reduced its headcount by about half, or roughly 3,700 workers.
• Twitter didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comments.
• India has one of the most febrile political conversations on Twitter.
• PM Modi has more than 84 million followers on the service.
• It’s unclear how Twitter expects to moderate that discourse with its newly reduced staff in the country, which has more than 100 languages. (here)

[NEIGHBORHOOD]

Chinese CPEC workers to move in bullet-proof cars in Pakistan

• Amid the growing concerns over the safety and security of the Chinese working on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects, the two on Sunday agreed on the same.
• Against general expectations, the two did not sign the 11^th JCC minutes during the 2-day visit of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to Beijing earlier this week.
• In the past, the minutes were signed immediately after the JCC.
• Pak Minister had said after the meeting that the minutes would be signed during the PM’s visit, adding that either a delegation would go soon or would be signed virtually.
• To speed up the investigations into the crimes, involving Chinese nationals, it had been decided the National Forensic Science Agency would be built on modern lines.
• The Pak side requested Chinese support for a full upgradation, and the Chinese side assured their full support, and also committed to establishing a training center. (here)

SC warns of suo motu notice if FIR of attack on Imran not registered in 24 hours

• The Supreme Court on Mon directed Punjab police chief Faisal Shahkar to register a first information report of the gun attack on PTI chief Imran Khan within 24 hours.
• The PTI chief was injured during a gun attack while leading the party’s long march in Punjab’s Wazirabad on Nov 3.
• A PTI supporter was killed while 14 others, including Imran, were wounded.
• He also asked the Punjab inspector general (IG), who joined the hearing from the SC’s Lahore registry via video link, why the FIR was not registered.
• IG said that he is unable to work under the present state dispensation.
• CJP observed that it had been 90 hours since the attack but the FIR had not yet been registered. (here)
• PTI to resume march from Wazirabad
• Imran Khan urges followers to continue protesting against three people whom he accuses of plotting an assassination plan.
• Military says PTI chair’s claims ‘unacceptable, uncalled for’.
• Khan was leading PTI’s march towards Islamabad when he came under attack at Wazirabad.
• Haqeeqi Azadi March is to resume from Wazirabad on Tue.
• PTI chief to join the march from Rawalpindi. (here)

German leader Olaf Scholz under scrutiny as he leads business delegation to China

• When Olaf Scholz reach Beijing on Fri, it will mark the 23^rd time a German chancellor has visited China since the normalization of diplomatic relations 50 years ago.
• But none of the visits have generated as ferocious a storm as Scholz’s.
• Scholz will be in Beijing for less than 24 hours, but his travel plans have sparked a huge debate in Europe, pulling the country’s China policy further under the microscope.
• Chancellor under pressure to take a tougher line, while European allies fear trip will undermine efforts to talk to Beijing in ‘single voice’
• Germany is, by far Europe’s biggest trader and investor with China
• It comes amid a broad pushback against China, a trend that began during the pandemic but accelerated post-Ukraine crisis, due to Beijing’s “no limits” partnership. (here)

British minister to meet Taiwan president, drawing China’s anger, article with image

• A British minister will visit Taiwan this week for trade talks and meet President Tsai Ing-wen, his office said on Mon, drawing an angry reaction from Beijing to the latest high-level engagement between a Western govt and the island. (here)
• China opposes British minister’s planned visit to Taiwan: ‘Stop colluding’
• China’s foreign ministry said on Mon that Britain must stop any form of official exchanges with Taiwan, which China claims, for trade talks.
• Taiwan’s authorities need to stop colluding with foreign forces, the ministry said at regular media briefings. (here)

China’s chip imports see biggest drop in 2022 with accelerated decline in October amid US restrictions and weak demand

• China’s chip imports shrank by more than 13% this year through Oct, according to customs data, as an escalating tech war with the US and economic slowdown weighed on the world’s biggest semiconductor market.
• For the first 10 months of the year, China imported 458 bn integrated circuits (IC), a 13.2% decline from the 527.9 bn units imported in the same period last year.
• It marked an accelerated decline from the first nine months when imports were down 12.8%.
• The reduced volume is also a reversal over 2021 when IC imports jumped 21.3% year on year in the same 10-month period.
• China’s chip exports were also down as the country grapples with fresh US restrictions and the semiconductor industry faces a slump. (here)