Whatsapp 93125-11015 For Details
Israel knocked out internet and communications in the Gaza Strip in stepped-up bombardment Friday night, largely cutting off its 2.3 million people from contact with each other and the outside world and creating a near-blackout of information, as the military said it was “expanding” ground operations in the territory.
The military’s announcement signaled it was moving closer to an all-out invasion of Gaza, where it has vowed to crush the ruling Hamas militant group after its bloody incursion in southern Israel three weeks ago.
Explosions from continuous airstrikes lit up the sky over Gaza City for hours after nightfall. The Palestinian telecom provider, Paltel, said the bombardment caused “complete disruption” of internet, cellular and landline services.
The cutoff meant that casualties from strikes and details of ground incursions could not immediately be known. Some satellite phones continued to function.
Front Page
Delhi explores legal and diplomatic options after Qatar death sentence (Page no. 5)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Caught unawares by the death sentence in Qatar to eight Indian nationals, all former personnel of the Indian Navy, Delhi is faced with tough legal and diplomatic challenges as it plots a way out.
India is now looking at a range of possible legal and diplomatic options to provide relief to the eight men now on death row.
According to a report in the Financial Times, the eight Indians had been charged with spying for Israel. There was no official word on the charges from the Indian side.
Sources said since the verdict has been given by Qatar’s Court of First Instance, the Indian embassy in Doha is reaching out to top legal experts in Qatar, including a former government counsel in a top Qatar court, to appeal the sentence.
The embassy is turning to a couple of top lawyers in Doha for guidance on the death row case. It is also looking at the charges and the basis on which the court took such a harsh view of the offence.
Govt & Politics
Panel likely to seek redraft of provisions on organised crime (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, reviewing the three Bills to replace existing criminal codes, is likely to recommend redrafting key provisions that were brought in for the first time to tackle organised crime, The Indian Express has learnt.
The Bharatiya Nyana Sanhita, 2023, which seeks to replace the Indian Penal Code, 1860, introduced new provisions to define and penalise “organised crime”.
The deliberations by the panel headed by BJP MP Brij Lal are likely to lead to a recommendation to re-draft this provision.
It is learnt that while the panel feels that the provision is a very effective addition, many terms used must be clearly defined to avoid uncertainty.
Section 109 of the proposed law defines an organised crime syndicate to include a “gang, mafia or (crime) ring” involved in “gang, criminality, racketeering and syndicated organised crime.”
Editorial
Diplomacy to the rescue (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
The death sentence given by Qatar to eight retired Indian naval personnel — seven officers and one sailor — on espionage charges is unprecedented in India’s diplomatic history.
In the past, Indians have been given the death penalty and executed abroad, but these have been on charges of murder or narcotics. It is also true that Pakistan has convicted Indians on espionage and terrorism, including Kulbhushan Jadhav, a retired naval officer, who is currently under a death sentence.
But there is a fundamental difference between an inimical country like Pakistan and Qatar with which India has multifaceted ties. Besides, this is not a case of a solitary individual, but a group of retired defence officers.
Hence, this case presents the Narendra Modi government and, in particular, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar, who is responsible for the welfare of Indians abroad, with a most difficult challenge.
The country would expect that not only are the death sentences lifted, but that the convicted personnel return safely to India at the earliest.
Ideas Page
Afghanistan, on its own (Page no. 11)
Pakistan was angry after the loss to India at Ahmedabad. The humiliation against Afghanistan would leave them seething and frothing.
This was their “enough is enough” World Cup moment, it was when the proud cricketing nation collectively snapped.
Within minutes of the humiliating defeat at Chennai, Pakistan’s finest, Wasim Akram, was on air. It wasn’t a day to be the TV pundit, Akram became the voice of people. He sounded painful, frustrated and very shrill.
Captain Babar Azam was the prime target; coach Mickey Arthur, others too weren’t spared. By the time he came to the team’s fitness, Akram had switched to Punjabi. “Look at their thick, broad faces do they have eight kg of nihari and kadhai everyday?”
Express Network
Punjab farm fires down by half than last yr (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
This year between September 15 and October 27, Punjab has recorded around 50% less stubble burning incidents compared to the same period in 2022.
According to data from Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the state recorded 4,059 stubble burning cases this year from September 15 to October 27, while in the same period in 2022, Punjab saw 8,147 fires.
Similarly, in 2021 and 2020, the state saw 6,742 and 20,910 stubble burning cases, respectively. Going by the data, this year’s stubble burning cases are are 80.5% less than that of 2020. It’s also 40% less than 2021 and 50% less than 2022.
On October 27 this year, Punjab recorded 766 farm fires against 1,111, 279 and 2,563 cases in 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
Of the 766 farm fires witnessed on Friday, Tarn Taran reported a maximum of 104 crop residue burning incidents, followed by 98 in Sangrur, 97 in Patiala and 76 in Amritsar.
Several experts have attributed the decrease in the number of farm fires this year to ex-situ stubble management programme that encourages industries to use stubble as a fuel.
Rice production t dip 3.7% due to uneven monsoon (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
As per the first advance estimates of major kharif crops for 2023-24 released by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare (MoA&W) Friday, India’s rice production has been pegged at 1,063.13 lakh metric tonnes (LMT), a 3.7 per cent dip than the figure of 1,105.12 LMT recorded during the same season of the last year.
The estimated production figure for 2023-24 is also lower than in 2021-2022, when it stood at 1,110.01 LMT.
The estimated decline in rice production for 2023-24 shows an impact of uneven distribution of monsoon rain. The decline is despite an increase in area under paddy production.
As per the Agriculture Ministry, the area for rice production in the kharif season for 2023 is 411 lakh hectare, which is higher than 404.27 lakh hectare during the same season in 2022.
The estimation of crop production relies on data provided by states and is subsequently validated using information from various alternative sources.
These sources include reports from the Crop Weather Watch Group (CWWG), Remote Sensing estimates, estimates based on econometric modeling, inputs collected from farmer surveys, and historical trends in crop estimation.”
Economy
Jio demonstrates nation’s 1st satellite based giga fiber service (Page no. 19)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, India's top carrier, announced on Friday the rollout of its JioSpaceFiber satellite broadband service, which it showcased at the India Mobile Congress as the nation's inaugural satellite-driven giga fiber service.
The satellite broadband aims to extend high-speed internet access to previously untapped regions in India. To display its extensive reach, the Mukesh Ambani-backed telecom connected four distant locations: Gir in Gujarat, Korba in Chattisgarh, Nabrangpur in Odissa, and ONGC in Jorhat, Assam.
“Jio have enabled millions of homes and businesses in India to experience broadband internet for the first time. With JioSpaceFiber, we expand our reach to cover the millions yet to be connected," said Akash Ambani, chairman, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.
Explained
India, Qatar, natural gas (Page no. 20)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
The death sentence given to eight former personnel of the Indian Navy by a court in Qatar presents the biggest challenge yet to New Delhi’s historically friendly ties with Doha.
In the relationship between nations, trade relations play a significant role. In the case of India and Qatar, the balance of trade is tilted heavily in the latter’s favour — which means imports from Qatar far outweigh India’s exports.
What also gives Qatar huge leverage is the nature of the trade — dominated as it is by a commodity of critical importance to India, now and for the foreseeable future.
It is India’s largest source of liquefied natural gas (LNG) — gas that has been super cooled to liquid form so that it can be transported by sea — accounting for more than half of overall import volumes of the fuel. Indeed, LNG is at the heart of the trade relationship — it makes up almost 50% of overall Indian imports (by value) from Qatar.
India’s import dependency in natural gas is around 50%, and given the government’s concerted push to increase natural gas consumption, imports are only likely to rise in the coming years, even if domestic production of natural gas increases.
US ally sympathiser of Hamas: Qatar’s unique position in Middle East (Page no. 20)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
When Hamas released the American-Israeli mother-daughter pair of Judith and Natalie Raanan on October 20, one of the first things that US officials did was to thank Qatar.
I again want to thank the government of Qatar for playing a very important role in getting them out,” US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on October 22. A day later, Hamas released two more hostages — again, with Qatar playing middleman.
A tiny gas-rich country on the Persian Gulf, Qatar is a close ally of the United States and crucial to its military strategy in the region. At the same time, it is also known to share close ties with Hamas.
This makes Qatar an ideal middleman to facilitate the release of Hamas hostages. But it also brings under the spotlight, the precarious balancing act it has been playing in the region. We explain just where Qatar stands in the Middle East.