1. Maharashtra, Haryana Set for People’s Verdict Today, Counting to Begin at 8 am
Counting of votes from the 21October 21 elections to the Maharashtra and Haryana assemblies and the declaration of results on Thursday will show whether the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has reinforced its pole position in Indian politics after winning a bigger majority in the Lok Sabha elections or if the Congress-led opposition has been able to fight back.
Votes will also be counted in the bye-elections to 51 assembly seats in 16 states and one Union territory and two Lok Sabha seats --- Samastipur in Bihar and Satara in Maharashtra.
Voting for the 288-seat assembly in Maharashtra and 90-member Haryana assembly took place on October 21 -- the first electoral test for the BJP since the April-May general elections -- and most exit polls predicted that the ruling party would perform better in both states than it did in 2014.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. India, Pakistan to Sign Kartarpur Pact Today
Pakistan said on Wednesday that a historic agreement with India to operationalise the Kartarpur corridor was likely to be signed on Thursday.
The corridor will connect the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Punjab with the gurdwara at Kartarpur, just about four km from the international border, located at Narowal district of Pakistan's Punjab province.
Initially, the two sides had agreed that the pact will be signed on Wednesday.
"It is our effort to get the agreement signed tomorrow (on Thursday)," Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal told reporters here.
He said a mechanism had been agreed under which the pilgrims would come in the morning and return in the evening after visiting Gurdawara Darbar Sahib. At least 5,000 pilgrims will be allowed to visit the holy site every day.
(Source: The Times of India)
3. In First Test After Article 370 Move, J&K Votes in Block Polls Today
In the first democratic process in Jammu and Kashmir since the government’s August 5 decision to scrap the special status under Article 370, elections to Block Development Councils (BDC) — the second tier in the Panchayati Raj system — will be held on Thursday.
This is the first time that over 26,000 panchs and sarpanchs from across the state — elected in November-December last year — will cast their votes in their respective blocks to elect the BDC chairpersons. Any panch or sarpanch can stand for the post of block chairperson.
But with the mainstream political leadership detained since August, and, barring the BJP, all the major parties — NC, PDP and Congress — deciding to boycott the polls, questions are being raised about the credibility of the process.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. Zakir Musa Gang Wiped Out: Jammu and Kashmir Police
Jammu & Kashmir Police and army troops have killed the chief commander of Ansar Gazwatul Hind, an al-Qaida affiliate, and two of his associates in a gunbattle in south Kashmir’s Awantipore area, scoring a major success in the fight against militancy, the police said.
Identified as Hamid Lelhari, the militant commander took over reins of the group after the killing of Zakir Musa on May 23, the police said.
Lelhari, who was carrying a reward on his head, and the two associates were hiding in a house in Rajpora village when the police and army troops launched a joint operation in the area on Tuesday evening, acting on specific information about their presence.
The encounter ended Tuesday night. The other two militants killed in the encounter were identified as Junaid Rashid and Naveed.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. An Old Delhi Demand Met: Govt Will Regularise Illegal Colonies
In a move that will impact over 40 lakh people — a fifth of Delhi’s population — the Centre Wednesday cleared the proposal to regularise 1,728 unauthorised colonies in the national capital, fulfilling a promise made by political parties in the city for almost two decades.
Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, who called the decision the “most farsighted, progressive, revolutionary step” taken in Delhi’s history since 1947, said 69 affluent colonies such as Sainik Farms, Mahendru Enclave and Anant Ram Diary, or colonies in forest or protected areas, have been kept out of the purview of the Union Cabinet’s decision, demonstrating “the government’s commitment to first deal with the issues of the economically weaker sections”.
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. CBI Books Ex-Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat, Others on Graft Charge
The Central Bureau of Investigation has booked former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat, his then Cabinet colleague Minister Harak Singh Rawat, Samachar Plus news channel’s CEO Umesh Kumar and others on graft charge.
Mr. Harak Singh Rawat is now in the Cabinet of the BJP government in the State.
It is alleged that Mr. Harak Singh Rawat had sought a Cabinet berth, two departments of choice and money to help the then Chief Minister Harish Rawat save his government by getting back the support of three dissident Congress MLAs, including him. Mr. Harish Rawat agreed to the demands, says the FIR.
(Source: The Hindu)
7. Jailed Cong Leader DK Shivakumar Granted Bail in Money Laundering Case
Karnataka Congress leader DK Shivakumar, who is in Tihar jail in a money laundering case file by the Enforcement Directorate, was on Wednesday granted bail by the Delhi high court saying he cannot tamper with the evidence or influence witnesses.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court granted bail to another Congress leader P Chidambaram, who was also in Tihar, in the INX Media case being probed by the CBI. The senior leader, however, still remains in ED custody as it is probing the money laundering angle in the same case.
Justice Suresh Kait said the Karnataka Congress leader was “entitled” for grant of bail as no material has been shown to indicate that he was a flight risk.
The judge also said that Shivakumar, 57, cannot tamper with the evidence as the documents are with the investigating agencies.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
8. S&P Waves a Red Flag: Contagion Risk Rising in Financial Sector
S&P Global Ratings Wednesday said the Indian financial sector is facing rising risk of contagion and failure of any large finance company will adversely impact economic growth.
In its report ‘Indian Financial Sector Braces For Fat Contagion Tail Risk’, S&P said a bank failure could disrupt the inter-bank market, payments, hurt credit availability and adversely affect economic growth.
“India’s finance companies are among the country’s largest borrowers. A substantial part of this funding comes from banks. The failure of any large non-banking financial company or housing finance company may deliver a solvency shock to lenders,” said S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Geeta Chugh.
(Source: The Indian Express)
9. It Is Judge vs Judge on the Same Bench in Bombay HC over a Corruption Case
Sitting on a High Court division bench, they heard a case together and reserved the order. But then according to one judge, the other — the more senior member — pronounced the judgment before he could add his views. The upset judge went on to pen a dissenting verdict, making evident his strong displeasure.
In his October 3 dissenting judgement, Justice K K Sonawane of the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court said: “I did not receive any opportunity to go through the judgment authored by Senior Member of the Bench (Shri T V Nalawade, J.) nor the draft of the same was forwarded to me for perusal”.
(Source: The Indian Express)
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