Daily Briefing: J&K admin orders probe into Hyderpora encounter; Bihar, UP worst in policing, finds survey

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The J&K administration has exhumed the bodies of the two civilians killed in Monday’s shootout with police and ordered a magisterial inquiry, after protests over the incident spread across the Valley. Till Thursday night, the bodies of Altaf Bhat, a businessman, and Dr Mudassir Gul, a dentist, had not been handed over to the families. Four people had been killed in Monday’s encounter in Hyderpora, Srinagar, and buried quickly by police in Handwara, 70 km away.

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As India seeks global collaboration on regulating cryptocurrencies, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi identifying them at the Sydney Dialogue as one of the key areas where democracies should work together, the Centre is deliberating on a taxation framework for the sector following concerns that digital currencies are skirting the banking system. 

From the Front Page 

A Ladakh politician representing Chushul, along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh, has urged Rajnath Singh to provide infrastructure, telecommunication and other facilities in national security interest in the villages of the area to make them comparable to the ones that the Chinese are building to assert territorial claims. “I have read in the papers that China is building hundreds of border villages along the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh and other places. Here, on our side of the LAC, already the villages exist, we just need to develop the infrastructure,” he said. 

The Supreme Court has given a go-ahead to the Centre to disinvest its 29.54 per cent residual shares in Hindustan Zinc Ltd. At the same time, it directed a CBI probe into alleged irregularities in the process of disinvestment of 26 per cent government shares in the company in 2002. The decision came on a 2014 plea by the National Confederation of Officers Association of Central Public Sector Enterprises and certain others, challenging the government’s proposed sale of its residual shareholding. 

The Allahabad High Court has directed that the marriages of 17 interfaith couples in Uttar Pradesh should be registered without insisting on or waiting for approval from the competent district authority with regard to the couples’ conversion of faith. The court stated that while the state’s Unlawful Conversion Act does not prohibit interfaith marriages, individuals marrying outside their religion “can be subjected to harassment”.

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A parliamentary standing committee, headed by BJP Rajya Sabha member Sushil Kumar Modi, is scheduled to meet on November 25 to deliberate on the proposed electoral reform, including linking of Aadhaar with voter ID. In August this year, The Indian Express had reported that the government had approached the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) with a proposal to permit the EC to use Aadhaar for registration of new voters.

Three years ago, a single-member inquiry committee chaired by a retired judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court released a report revealing serious lapses in award of degrees to more than 150 students at the National Law Institute University (NLIU), Bhopal. Now, the General Council of the university has only found different ways to regularise the degrees of most of the students. It has not initiated criminal action against any of the nine (four teaching, five non-teaching) staff as recommended by the inquiry report. 

According to a nationwide survey conducted by independent think-tank Indian Police Foundation, Bihar scored the lowest in overall policing, followed closely by UP. Meanwhile, southern states and some in the Northeast fared better on most policing indices compared to states in the north. The national average of satisfaction with the police has been found to be at 69%. Through questionnaires, the survey attempted to address issues such as police sensitivity, accessibility, responsiveness and technology adoption. 

Fintech app Paytm’s parent company, One 97 Communications Ltd, made a weak debut in the stock exchanges on Thursday, listing at a loss of over 9 per cent below their issue price and eventually settling after hitting a lower circuit towards the end of its first day. We explain why this happened and what it means for coming offerings. 

And Finally 

Venkatesh Iyer had struggled to get going for Kolkata Knight Riders on a two-paced pitch in Sharjah against Rajasthan Royals. He hung in, though, to move to 38 off 34 deliveries, but then tried a big reverse-sweep against the legspinner Rahul Tewatia only to be bowled. Dinesh Sharma, one of Iyer’s mentors and his long-time coach at Maharaja Yeshwantrao Cricket Club in Indore, was unimpressed seeing him give away a hard-earned start. 

Delhi Confidential: Union Minister Anurag Thakur, when he was in the opposition, used to lead vociferous attacks on the-then ruling Congress and the Left. However, speaking at the presiding officers’ conference in Shimla, Thakur fondly remembered how the the-Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee would support the young MPs. 

In today’s episode of the ‘3 Things podcast’, we take a  look at the highlights of the 2021 ASER survey, communal clashes in Tripura and the crackdown by the state police, and why  local residents and Hindu right wing groups are disrupting namaz in Gurgaon.

Until tomorrow,
Rahel Philipose and Rounak Bagchi

Express Cartoon by EP Unny.