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Russia indicated that it was moving swiftly towards revoking its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) after President Vladimir Putin held out the possibility of resuming nuclear testing.
Putin said Russia’s nuclear doctrine – which sets out the conditions under which he would press the nuclear button – did not need updating but that he was not yet ready to say whether or not Moscow needed to resume nuclear tests.
The Kremlin chief said that Russia could look at revoking ratification of the CTBT as the United States had signed but not ratified it.
Russia’s top lawmaker, Vyacheslav Volodin, then said the State Duma lower house of parliament would swiftly consider if there was a need to revoke Russia’s ratification of the treaty.
Front Page
Red flags since 2005 Teesta 3 dam may not survive lake outbursts (Page no. 3)
(GS Paper 3, Disaster Management)
The glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) that ravaged parts of Sikkim also washed away the 60-metre-high rock-filled concrete dam of the 1200-MW Teesta-III hydel project near Chungthang village.
A probe is on to ascertain if the dam’s spillways — openings to allow excess water to flow out — were opened before the flood waters from the South Lhonak glacial lake reached Chungthang roughly 55 km downstream. But even opening the doors may not have been enough.
For, with a spillway capacity of 7,000 cumec (cubic metres per second), the Teesta-III dam was not built to survive a GLOF that can discharge as high as 15,000 cumec.
As many as 102 people, including 22 Army personnel, continue to remain missing since the early hours of Wednesday.
RBI leaves Repo rate unchanged at 6.5% (Page no. 3)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
IN LINE with market expectations, the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) left its key interest rate unchanged for the fourth time in a row, even as it flagged retail inflation as a “major risk to macroeconomic stability and sustainable growth”.
The RBI’s decision to keep the repo rate — the rate at which the RBI lends money to banks to meet their short-term funding needs — unchanged at 6.5 per cent will mean that all external benchmark lending rates (EBLR) linked to the repo rate will not rise. It will provide relief to borrowers as their equated monthly instalments (EMIs) will not increase.
The rate-setting panel, while retaining FY2024 consumer price index (CPI) based inflation projection at 5.4 per cent, revised upwards its inflation forecast for the second quarter of current fiscal to 6.4 per cent, from 6.2 per cent announced in the August policy.
The inflation forecast for the third quarter has been revised to 5.6 per cent, from 5.7 per cent, while the fourth quarter projection has been retained at 5.2 per cent.
City
GRAP stage 1 kicks in as air quality dips to poor condition likely to prevail till Sunday (Page no. 5)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Water sprinkling, diversion of truck traffic not destined for Delhi through the eastern and western peripheral expressways, ban on coal/firewood in tandoors in hotels and open eateries: With the air quality deteriorating to the ‘poor’ category in the Capital, pollution-control measures under stage I of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) have been imposed across Delhi-NCR.
The AQI on Friday was 212, having deteriorated from 177 on Thursday. AQI between 201 and 300 is considered to be ‘poor’, and can cause breathing discomfort to most people on prolonged exposure, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
The AQI in Noida, Greater Noida, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, Faridabad and Meerut, was also in the ‘poor’ category on Friday.
Govt & Politics
SC asks HCs to ensure hybrid mode hearing in 2 weeks (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
Taking strong exception to several High Courts being “tech indifferent”, the Supreme Court said that those aspiring to be judges “have to be tech friendly” and that “there is no choice now”.
Issuing a series of directions to the High Courts to ensure that facilities for video conferencing and hybrid hearing are put in place in two weeks, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, presiding over a three-judge bench, said, “The question is not whether a particular judge is tech friendly or not. If you want to be a judge, you have to be tech friendly. There is no choice now.”
Just as you cannot as a judge say you don’t know what res judicata is or I do not know what interpretation of statutes is, if you want to be a judge in the country, you have to know how to use technology, just like if you have to drive a car on the road, you have to have a licence to drive the car.
The bench, also comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, in its direction said that “after the lapse of two weeks from this order, no High Court shall deny access to video conferencing facilities or hearing through the hybrid mode to any member of the bar or litigant desirous of availing such a facility”.
Why did you Publish caste survey data: SC to Bihar govt (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 2, Judicairy)
The Supreme Court issued notice on a bunch of petitions challenging the caste survey undertaken by the Bihar Government.
Senior Advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for the state, said it was because “Your Lordships had made it clear that first and foremost the court will decide whether or not to issue notice in this case”.
The bench, also comprising Justice S V N Bhatti, did not pass any restraining order but said it would examine whether the state government had the competence to do the survey. “We are not staying anything at this moment. Let them file counter,” said Justice Khanna.
He added, “We cannot stop the state government or any government from taking decisions. That will be wrong. Yes, if there is an issue with regard to the data that will be considered. We are going to examine the other issue with regard to the right of the state government to do it.”
Express Network
Govt to SC: Told all depts to ensure SC, ST, OBC quota in temporary jobs (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 2, Social Justice)
The Centre has informed the Supreme Court that there “shall be” reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Class in temporary appointments, which are to last for 45 days or more.
The government said this in response to a petition which sought the court’s intervention to ensure reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs in temporary appointments.
The Centre pointed out to a bench of Justices Sanjeev Khanna and S V N Bhatti that in the Office Memorandum dated September 24, 1968, “reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes has been provided in all temporary appointments, except the appointments which are to last for less than 45 days”.
This was reiterated “in respect of appointments to central government posts and services” in the Office Memorandum dated May 15, 2018.
The Parliamentary Committee on the Welfare of SCs and STs, however, observed that the instructions contained in the Office Memorandums “are not followed in letter and spirit and directed that these instructions may be recirculated to all Government Departments”.
Editorial
The art of letting it be (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
As expected, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) maintained the status quo on interest rates during its review meeting in October and retained its stance of withdrawing accommodation.
The current cycle peaked with the repo rate hike in February. The RBI prefers higher rates for longer periods for both domestic and external reasons.
While external factors have a bearing, domestic ones matter more. Unanticipated risks to inflation — quite beyond the control of policymakers — started manifesting at the beginning of the second quarter of this fiscal in the shape of the red-hot prices of tomatoes and other food items.
While that pain from vegetables has subsided, another has reared up in volatile and rising crude oil prices. The RBI Governor also noted that the transmission of past rate hikes — 250 basis points since May 2022 — to bank lending and deposit rates remains incomplete. These factors have nudged the MPC to hold its stance of “withdrawal of accommodation”.
Ideas Page
One country, two Names (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
On September 5, images of a formal invitation extended by President Droupadi Murmu to the heads of state and ministers attending the G20 event in the national capital became public.
The invitation referred to “the President of Bharat” rather than “the President of India”. It set off speculation that a resolution regarding the country’s name change could be moved during the special session of Parliament later that month, and that India would henceforth be called Bharat.
Changing the name of the country presents a complex challenge in the constitutional framework. Article 1 of the Indian Constitution explicitly refers to India as Bharat, which shall form a union of states.
This essentially means that, constitutionally, “India” and “Bharat” are synonymous, differing only in usage, where the former is used in English and the latter in Hindi communications. The primary distinction lies in the choice of language that is used.
India has been using both English and Hindi as its language of official communication. However, it has become increasingly evident that ever since the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power at the Centre in 2014, there has been an emphasis on promoting the Hindi language.
The BJP government has a clear objective, to establish a Hindu Rashtra, and in pursuit of this goal, they have placed a strong emphasis on promoting the Hindi language and Hindu culture.
Economy
As RBI surprises on govt paper sales, bond yields spike over liquidity fears (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said the central bank may conduct open market sales of government papers to manage liquidity in the system, triggering a spike in bond yields to their highest level in FY 2023-24.
The RBI signal on open market operations (OMO) to rein in inflation took bond market participants by surprise, particularly those who had anticipated an influx of foreign funds following India’s inclusion in JP Morgan’s bond indices.
The yield on benchmark 10-year government bonds shot up by 12 basis points to 7.34 per cent, the highest level since March 23. The benchmark Sensex rose by 0.55 per cent, or 364 points, to 65,995.63.
Explained
TRAI cannot regulate OTT says Tribunal. This is why it matters (Page no. 19)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Over the top (OTT) platforms like Hotstar are not in the jurisdiction of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and are governed by the Information Technology Rules, 2021, notified by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), India’s telecom appellate panel has held.
In an interim order passed on Wednesday (October 4), the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) said that OTT platforms are outside the purview of the TRAI Act since they do not require any permission or a licence from the central government.
TDSAT’s findings came in a petition filed by the All India Digital Cable Federation (AIDCF), which alleged that free streaming of matches of the ICC Cricket World Cup on mobile devices by Star India through its platform Disney+Hotstar is discriminatory under TRAI regulations, as the matches can be watched on Star Sports TV channel only if the viewer has subscribed by making a monthly payment.
Woman life freedom: Peace nobel for jailed Iranian woman activist
(Miscellaneous)
Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi has been awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize for Peace, “For her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all”, as stated by the Norwegian Nobel Committee in its citation.
The committee also referred to last year’s protests in Iran, following the killing of a young woman named Mahsa Amini while she was in the custody of the Iranian morality police.
The protests’ motto ‘Zan –Zendegi – Azadi’ (Woman – Life – Freedom) “suitably expresses the dedication and work of Narges Mohammadi”, the committee said.
Mohammadi is currently in Iran’s Evin House of Detention, serving a 16-year sentence that began in 2015 over charges that include spreading propaganda against the state.
Her family expressed their gratitude to the committee in a statement, adding, “We also want to extend our sincere congratulations to all Iranians, especially the courageous women and girls of Iran who have captivated the world with their bravery in fighting for freedom and equality… As Narges always says: Victory is not easy, but it’s certain.”