[NEWS OF THE DAY]

1. As PM Modi unveils G20 logo, India readies to display global muscle in elite grouping
2. D-Company has special unit to target politicians, businesspersons: NIA’s claim against Dawood
3. ‘Seeing consequences of Ukraine war’: S Jaishankar meets Lavrov in Moscow
4. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to represent India in the Universal Periodic Review at UNHRC
5. Army commanders’ conference begins, top military brass to discuss border situation with China, Make in India

What Else

6. Justice DY Chandrachud: India’s ‘dissenting’ CJI
7. At least 1,300 Indian students have received Chinese visas, says Chinese foreign ministry
8. 16 Indian sailors ‘unlawfully’ detained in Equatorial Guinea for over three months
9. Centre appoints Justice Rituraj Awasthi as Chairperson, Law Commission of India
10. Indian High Commissioner inaugurates India pavilion at WTM in London
11. China-Pakistan secretly developing virus deadlier than Covid, reports claim
12. China strengthens surveillance network in Tibet, opens new big data center in Lhasa
13. US says it wants to get defence talks with China ‘back on track’
14. Nepal: Missing migrant workers of Sudurpaschim
15. Abrar H Hashmi appointed new Pakistani ambassador to Nepal
16. Imran Khan’s long march 2.0

As PM Modi unveils G20 logo, India readies to display global muscle in elite grouping

• PM Modi today unveiled the logo, theme, and website of India’s G20 Presidency for the Summit 2023 which is the highest-profile international gathering ever to be hosted by India.
• The global muscle of G20 can be gauged by the fact that its member nations account for around 85% of the global GDP, over 75% of the trade, and about 67% of the population.
• India is set to take over the G20 presidency from Dec 1, 2022, till Nov 30, 2023.
• The presidency offers India a unique window to get counted as a nation that matters in the global agenda on pressing issues of international importance.
• India’s G20 logo juxtaposes planet Earth with the lotus, India’s national flower, thus representing a uniquely Indian approach to the G20 Presidency, with reverence to Mother Earth as the core value. (here)

D-Company has special unit to target politicians, businesspersons: NIA’s claim against Dawood

• As per the National Investigative agency, a “huge amount of money” was sent by underworld don Dawood through hawala channels to the accused arrested in terrorist activities.
• NIA on Mon filed a charge sheet last week before a court in Mumbai against Dawood, his associate Chhota Shakeel and 3 others for running a global terrorist network
• The 3 members, all Mumbai residents, were arrested in Aug this year.
• The NIA alleged that the accused received the money for triggering “sensational terrorist and criminal acts” in Mumbai and other parts, to create a “terror psyche”.
• The D-Company has established a special unit to strike terror in the people by attacking eminent personalities, using explosives/firearms the NIA claimed.
• The agency also said that the investigation revealed Rs 25 lakh in cash was sent to the arrested accused through the hawala channel from Pakistan via Dubai. (here)

‘Seeing consequences of Ukraine war’: S Jaishankar meets Lavrov in Moscow

• External affairs minister S Jaishankar and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov held talks in Moscow on Tue covering a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues of mutual interests amid the ongoing Ukraine war.
• Jaishankar arrived in Moscow on Mon evening.
• Jaishankar and Lavrov have already met 4 times after the Ukraine conflict began in Feb.
• Since the start of the Ukraine conflict, PM Modi has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy several times.
• “… PM Modi and President Putin met recently in Samarkand this Sept and our defense ministers spoke to each other,” Jaishankar said.
• “India and Russia engage each other in an increasingly multi-polar and rebalanced world. We have had an exceptionally steady relationship,” the minister said. (here)
• Lavrov said, “We coordinate our actions in international organizations such as the UNSC where India is now a non-permanent member.”
• ‘Hope to see India benefiting from Russian oil price cap,’ says US Treasury Secy Janet Yellen
• India stands to gain from a price cap on Russian oil and the US hopes that it will take advantage of it, U.S. Treasury Secy Janet Yellen said ahead of a visit to India this week.
• The G7 nations plan to cap prices of sea-borne oil shipments from Dec. 5, with a second cap on oil products from Feb. 5. (here)

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to represent India in the Universal Periodic Review at UNHRC

• Solicitor General Tushar Mehta will be heading the Indian delegation to the 41^st Session of Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the UNHRC in Geneva.
• There will be a peer review of the human rights performance by all countries from Nov 7^th to 18^th,” said Mehta.
• India’s National Report for the 4^th UPR Cycle will be reviewed on Nov 10^th, read the Ministry of External Affairs press release.
• Mehta is leading the Indian delegation that comprises officials from the MEA, Ministry of Home Affairs, Women & Child Development, Social Justice, etc.
• “India has actively participated in the review of other States and we welcome the fact that 133 member States have registered to engage in our peer review,” MEA said. (here)

Justice DY Chandrachud: India’s ‘dissenting’ CJI

• Dhananjaya Yashwant Chandrachud, the new 50^th Chief Justice of India will be taking over the office on Wed following the retirement of current CJI Justice UU Lalit on Nov 8.
• Justice UU Lalit, who had a short tenure of just 74 days as the CJI is slated to demit the office on Nov 8, a court holiday.
• Justice Chandrachud will have a tenure till Nov 10, 2024.
• Justice Chandrachud holds an LLB degree from Campus Law Centre, Delhi University, and went on to pursue LLM and SJD from Harvard Law School, USA.

Landmark cases, judgments by CJI: Decriminalization of Section 377, Aadhaar (While the court upheld the Aadhaar Act, he wrote it ‘fraud on Constitution), Bhima Koregaon case, Termination of pregnancy, Hadiya marriage: ‘Love Jihad’ (here)

Centre appoints Justice Rituraj Awasthi as Chairperson, Law Commission of India

• The Central Govt on Mon appointed Justice RR Awasthi, Retired High Court Chief Justice of Karnataka as Chairperson of the Law Commission of India along with 5 members.
• Justice KT Sankaran, Prof. Anand Paliwal, Prof. DP Verma, Prof.(Dr) Raka Arya, and Shri M. Karunanithi as Members of the Commission.
• Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi was a Judge of Allahabad HC for nearly 12 years.
• The Commission’s function is to research and advise the Govt of India on legal reform, and is composed of legal experts, and headed by a retired judge.
• The Supreme Court of India and academia have recognized the commission as pioneering and perspective. (here)

Indian High Commissioner inaugurates India pavilion at World Travel Market in London

• India’s High Commissioner to UK, Vikram Doraiswami on Tue, inaugurated the India pavilion and several state tourism pavilions at the World Travel Market London.
• He made the inaugurations along with the Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, and state leaders from Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Karnataka.
• The MEA in the press release called WTM “one of the largest international travel exhibitions.”
• It further said, “With the reopening of the country to foreign tourists, after a gap of almost 2 years, this year`s participation of India is particularly significant.
• The country is ready for international tourists. India is participating in WTM 2022 to showcase itself as a preferred destination for tourism.” (here)

Army commanders’ conference begins, top military brass to discuss border situation with China, Make in India

• The 5-day Army Commanders’ Conference began here on Mon in which the Army top brass will discuss the present and emerging security threats to the country including the Line of Actual Control.
• The top Army brass is also expected to take up the projects that are going to be undertaken to substitute imports and promote Make In India in the weapon systems.
• Armey Chief has been pushing indigenization and has instructed his commanders to handhold the Indian industry to help them evolve on the global stage.
• Various agenda points were projected by the Comdrs, including an update by the CnC Andaman and Nicobar Command and briefings on various issues on the table. (here)

At least 1,300 Indian students have received Chinese visas, says Chinese foreign ministry

• China on Mon said that at least 1,300 Indian students have received Chinese visas despite COVID-19 restrictions.
• As per reports, 40 Chinese universities have still not issued Indian students the NOCs required to apply for Chinese visas.
• While many of these universities are not replying to their requests, a few universities said that their provincial govt is stopping them from issuing the NOCs.
• Over 23k Indian students, mostly studying medicine, are reportedly stuck back home due to COVID visa restrictions.
• Earlier on Sun, Indian Embassy “Any student, who joins for clinical medicine program in China after Nov 2021 and fails to obtain a license to practice as a medical doctor in China, will be rendered ineligible to appear for Foreign Medical Graduate Examination” (here)

16 Indian sailors ‘unlawfully’ detained in Equatorial Guinea for over three months

• The Indian sailors have been held hostage by the Navy of Equatorial Guinea, (on the west coast of Africa) for nearly the last 3 months.
• A Norway-based ship ‘MT Heroic Idun’ reached AKPO Offshore, a conventional gas development located in ultra-deepwater in Nigeria on Aug 8 when he was held hostage along with other crew members of the ship.
• The crew of 26, including 16 Indians was waiting for their turn when the Navy detained the ship and the crew the next day on suspicion that they had come to steal oil.
• Of them, 15 were taken to a hotel, and 11 have been kept on the ship. (here)

[NEIGHBORHOOD]

China-Pakistan secretly developing virus deadlier than Covid, reports claim

• A report has revealed that China and Pakistan are working in partnership to develop pathogens even deadlier than the Covid virus in a research lab in Rawalpindi.
• The special project is being carried out by Wuhan Institute and Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO), a report quoting Geo-Politik.
• Notably, DTSO is run by the Pakistan Army.
• Pakistan had, however, refuted reports of any special project being carried out, in 2020.
• There is nothing secret about the Bio-Safety Level-3 (BSL-3) Laboratory of Pakistan referred to in the report,” Pakistan’s Foreign Office had said, as per the report by Geo-Politik.
• The DSTO is located in Chaklala cantonment in Rawalpindi, a highly secure zone, and is headed by a two-star General, the report further added.
• Several media reports have claimed that China is indeed, working on developing pathogens having capabilities of incurring far more damage than Covid. (here)

China strengthens surveillance network in Tibet, opens new big data center in Lhasa

• China is set to develop its AI and Big Data capabilities and applications, which will strengthen the existing surveillance network in Tibet, Tibet Rights Collective reported.
• According to local media, it is the “first such center at the regional level and a step toward big data integration and application sharing”.
• CCP has claimed that this will help “to boost digital services including govt affairs, economic development, social governance, people’s livelihoods, market supervision ..”
• In 2020, it declared the building of the world’s highest-altitude cloud computing data center, which “will meet the data storage needs of the country and S Asian nations”.
• This comes after recent reports about DNA collection by CCP in Tibet.
• CCP is significantly increasing policing, including an arbitrary collection of DNA from residents in many towns and villages throughout Tibet, HRW reported this Sept. (here)

US says it wants to get defence talks with China ‘back on track’

• Washington’s top national security official urged Beijing on Mon to resume defense talks with the US, which China cut off after the US House Speaker visited Taiwan over the summer.
• “.. we have not had the military-to-military communication that we believe can help create more stability and reduce the risk of misunderstanding,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said.
• “We hope to get that back on track.”
• NSA’s comments were the latest sign of the high tension still present between Washington and Beijing more than 2 months after the Speaker’s visit to Taipei. (here)
• Communication channels could be reopened, but it will depend on interaction and political atmosphere between nations, according to the observers.

Nepal: Missing migrant workers of Sudurpaschim

• Several men from the far west go missing in India, and hundreds bring home HIV infections every year but mothers and wives still send their sons and husbands to India for livelihood.
• The Kathmandu Post reported citing 5 cases and a 2017 survey, in Doti and Kanchanpur districts showing that as many as 209 men went missing in India.
• According to a report published in 2017, workers associated with the informal sector account for 61.2% of globally, they are higher in number in Nepal and India.
• The report shows that 80.8% and 88.6% of people are involved in the informal economy in Nepal and India respectively. (here)

Abrar H Hashmi appointed new Pakistani ambassador to Nepal

• Abrar H Hashmi has been appointed the new Pakistani ambassador to Nepal.
• Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Saturday approved the appointment of new ambassadors of Pakistan for different countries.
• Hashmi had earlier worked as Consul General of Pakistan in Huston, Texas, USA.
• Before Houston, he had worked at the Pakistan Foreign Ministry and missions abroad.

Imran Khan’s long march 2.0

• Police finally register FIR over attack on Imran
• Senior govt and military officials were not nominated in the case despite PTI’s insistence
• PTI protests hit public life in Pindi, Islamabad
• PTI sends mixed signals about the resumption of the long march, says long march to resume from Thu.
• “There must be some sort of evidence for the first information report (FIR) to be registered,” said Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah while addressing a press conference.
• He lashed out at PTI chief Imran Khan for wanting the FIR of the attack on his life to be registered as per his wishes.
• By that argument, someone can even register a case against the chief justice, the minister said.
• “There must be some sort of evidence […] to convince the police.” (here)