The Evening Wrap: J&K phase 3 polls see over 65% voter turnout

The third and final phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls saw a voter turnout of 65.65 % on Tuesday. Election Commission of India said that the polling was peaceful. Among districts, Samba recorded the highest polling percentage of 73.45% followed by Udhampur at 72.91% while Baramulla was lowest at 55.73%. A voter turnout of 61.38% and 57.13% was recorded in the first and second phases respectively. The Union Territory, where elections were held after a decade and the first time since the abrogation of Article 370, voted in three phases on September 18, 25 and October 1. Counting of votes would take place on October 8. In the third phase, polling took place in 40 constituencies and an electorate of more than 39.18 lakh voted to decide the fate of 415 candidates. These included two former deputy chief ministers Tara Chand and Muzaffar Baig, and several former ministers and legislators. Jammu and Kashmir has around 87.09 lakh voters. Of this 44.46 lakh are men, 42.62 lakh women, 3.71 lakh first timers. The poll body said in the statement that no repolls have been ordered so far and compared to 2014 when 170 incidents were reported, no major law and order incidents were reported this time. India does not share Japanese PM Shigeru Ishiba’s view of ‘Asian NATO’ External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said India does not share Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s view of the Quad and other alliances involving Japan eventually forming an ‘Asian NATO’ like structure to deter China from using military force. Ishiba, who assumed the office of Prime Minister today, had expressed his views in a Hudson Institute paper released last week. “He’s Japanese. This is a country which has a treaty relationship with the United States,” Jaishankar said, adding that countries which had that history and that strategic culture would have a lexicon to match. The Minister was speaking at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP), a thinktank headquartered in Washington DC, where he is on an official visit. “We have never been a treaty ally of any country. We don’t have that kind of strategic architecture in mind,” Jaishankar said when asked about Ishiba’s remarks. The Minister said he could see a certain evolution of this thinking where Ishiba was concerned but that “would not be ours [ India’s thinking ] ”, and that India had a different history and a different way. In a different segment of the discussion Jaishankar said that India was pursuing a policy of multi-alignment, a result of global rebalancing, accelerated by globalisation. Asked to describe how that differed from non-alignment, India’s stated foreign policy doctrine for decades after its independence, Jaishankar said it was different in a few ways. For instance, he said, a non-aligned policy would not have been compatible with the Quad or Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, a grouping of India, the U.S., Australia and Japan. India is now more willing to make choices, he said, adding that one of the characteristics of the non-aligned era was a reticence about an issue-based joining together with other countries. “I think that reticence is less where our stakes are involved,” he said, adding, “You would not have a Quad in the non-aligned era, you will have a Quad in [ the era of ] multi-alignment.” The earlier era was also more defensive and less capability driven, he said, citing the example of Houthi attacks on vessels in the Red Sea. Forty years ago India may have said something about it but now, it can also send ships and contribute to an international effort to secure sea lanes. India is also willing to take more risks since it wanted certain outcomes, in the multi-aligned policy era, Jaishankar said. Will protect even convicted criminals against punitive demolitions, but not public space encroachers: Supreme Court The Supreme Court on Tuesday promised to protect even convicted criminals from State-sponsored punitive demolition of their legal private property but refused any kind of immunity to public space encroachers, whether they be Hindus or Muslims. A Bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and K.V. Viswanathan said a conviction or being accused of a crime was no ground for States to bulldoze private homes and shops. But at the same time, the apex court, which has proposed to frame pan-India guidelines to protect private property from illegal and targeted State demolitions, said it would not condone or shield public encroachments, irrespective of the faith of the violators. “We are a secular country… Whatever we lay down, we lay down for all citizens. There cannot be a particular law for a particular religion. Unauthorised constructions belonging to members of any community have to go, no matter their religion or faith,” Justice Gavai observed orally in court. The Bench was hearing petitions accusing States like Uttar Pradesh of misusing municipal laws to bulldoze the private property of members of minority communities. The petitions argued that municipal laws were misused for crime-fighting and grandstanding by ruling parties in these States. Justice Viswanathan pointed out during the hearing that there have been 4.45 lakh demolitions in recent years. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, agreed that even conviction in heinous offences such as rape, murder and terrorism should not lead to punitive demolition. However, he said demolitions under municipal laws must not always be given a communal colour. The law officer expressed an apprehension that the top court’s intervention on the basis of a few illegal demolitions may work to encourage encroachments and paralyse “genuine” demolition of unauthorised structures across the country. “It would open a Pandora’s box,” Mehta feared. “Any religious structure in the middle of a public road, be it a dargah or some temple, it has to go… For us, public safety and public interest are paramount,” Justice Gavai said, clarifying that the court’s ambit was confined to illegal State demolitions. Justice Viswanathan illustrated how State action should not display obvious discrimination. The judge suggested some sort of judicial oversight over State demolitions. “The real problem is, let’s say, there are two structures having violations. But proceedings are initiated [under the municipal law] against only one. You find that the owner or occupant of that structure was accused of a criminal offence just before the proceedings started… Now, that is the issue. Proceedings happen only with this one structure, while the other one remains intact…” Justice Viswanathan explained. Senior advocate C.U. Singh said the petitioners were not against the lawful use of municipal laws. “We are only against the abuse of these laws by authorities,” he submitted. He referred to the case of a man accused of pelting stones at a religious ceremony. His house was demolished the same day. Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde said these demolitions were a display of power through bulldozers, similar to power derived from the barrel of a gun. He said the demolitions were meant as a spectacle with well-known TV anchors giving bytes perched on these machines. Justice Viswanathan suggested videographing demolitions, so the footage could be used in court to prove the State action was either required or disproportionate. The court finally reserved the case for judgment while extending its September 17 order staying illegal bulldozer demolitions across the country. MUDA writes to Sub Registrar to cancel sites allotted to Siddaramaiah’s wife Hours after receiving a letter from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife Parvathi surrendering the 14 compensatory sites allotted to her, Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) has written to the Sub Registrar to cancel the sale deeds of the sites given up voluntarily by her. MUDA Commissioner A.N. Raghunandan, who was handed over the letter by Parvathi’s son and MLC Yathindra Siddaramaiah on Tuesday, told reporters that there was provision in the rules for the Authority to take back the allotted sites “without delay” if surrendered voluntarily. Hence, after perusing the relevant provisions in the rules and consulting its legal team comprising advocates, a decision was taken by MUDA Commissioner to take back the sites. The MUDA Commissioner’s order authorising MUDA Secretary Prasanna Kumar to take necessary steps for cancellation of the sale deeds of all the 14 sites has been handed over to the Sub Registrar. “Now, the sites, which stand in the name of Ms. Parvathi, will be transferred back to MUDA. This will be financially beneficial to the MUDA too,” said Raghunandan. The decision taken by MUDA will be communicated to Lokayukta Police and the Justice Desai Commission constituted by the State government to probe in the alleged irregularities in MUDA as well as the State government, he said. Meanwhile, MUDA Secretary Prasanna Kumar said he personally took the MUDA Commissioner’s order on cancellation of the sale deeds to the Sub Registrar’s office to start the process. Even though the owner of the sites was not present, the Sub Registrar informed the MUDA official there was a provision to cancel the sale deeds through “private attendance”. Kumar said the process of cancellation of the sale deeds had begun with the Sub Registrar proceeding for the “private attendance.” Responding to questions from reporters, Kumar said Section 8 of the Karnataka Incentive Sites Allotment rules of 1991 provide for taking back sites surrendered voluntarily by the allottees without any delay. Section 13 of the Karnataka Urban Development Authorities Act empowers the MUDA Commissioner to exercise the authority to cancel the sale deeds, he added. Earlier in the day, the Lokayukta Police, which conducted a spot inspection of the land gifted to Parvathi by her brother Mallikarjunaswamy in Survey number 464 in Kesare on the outskirts of Mysuru, had requested MUDA to spare the services of Special Land Acquisition Officer, Town Planning members and surveyers during the exercise. It may be mentioned here that MUDA had allotted 14 sites to Parvathi in 2021 in lieu of 3 acres and 16 guntas of land on Survey number 464 belonging to her in Kesare. that had been used for developing a layout without completing the acquisition formalities. GST revenue growth slowed in September Growth in India’s Gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections slumped to a 40-month low of 6.5% in September, with revenues at ₹1,73,240 crore, about 1% lower than the tally in August. Net GST receipts, after adjusting for refunds made to taxpayers, were 3.9% higher than a year ago, marking the slowest growth in this financial year. However, net collections were 1.5% higher than August’s receipts, at ₹1,52,782 crore. In the preceding month, net GST receipts had grown 6.5% while gross collections were up 10%. Gross domestic revenues were up 5.9% in September, with the uptick moderating 4.5% higher after adjusting for refunds, provisional numbers from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) showed. Growth in gross revenues from imports outpaced domestic revenues for the third straight month, rising 8% in September. GST refunds continued to grow at a healthy pace for the second successive month, with domestic refunds to taxpayers rising 24.3% in September, while export related refunds of Integrated GST (IGST) revenues were up 39.2%. Overall refunds were 31% higher, compared with a 38% uptick in August and an over 19% contraction in July. As many as seven States recorded negative revenue growth, led by a 33% contraction in Manipur, while revenues were flat in Gujarat. Ten States underperformed the national level 6% uptick in domestic revenues, including Telangana (1%), Rajasthan (2%), Uttar Pradesh (3%), and Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and West Bengal (5% each). Poll-bound Haryana recorded the sharpest rise in revenues of 24%, followed by Delhi where receipts grew 20%. It must be noted that September’s GST revenues are linked to transactions undertaken in the month of August. Tax experts reckoned that revenue growth will pick up from this month with the onset of the festive season. Israeli forces have carried out raids in Lebanon for months, military says Israeli forces have been carrying out raids into southern Lebanon for months, uncovering Hezbollah tunnels and weapon caches under homes and uncovering invasion plans by the group, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Tuesday (October 1, 2024). Hagari said the details were being declassified, hours after Israel announced a ground operation against the Hezbollah movement in southern Lebanon. Dozens of such operations had uncovered detailed plans by Hezbollah to enter Israel and carry out an attack similar to the one led by the Palestinian militant group Hamas in southern Israel on October 7 last year. The findings and evidence discovered under homes in villages in southern Lebanon during the raids will be presented to the international community, Hagari said. He presented videos from soldiers’ body-cameras and maps. In brief Above normal rainfall is expected in several parts of central, southern peninsular, and northeast India from October to December, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Tuesday. The IMD also said above-normal maximum temperatures are likely in most parts of the country in October, except for certain areas in central India and the adjoining southern peninsula. The Evening Wrap will return tomorrow [logo] The Evening Wrap 01 October 2024 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [View in browser]( [More newsletters]( Over 65% voter turnout in phase three of J&K Assembly polls The [third and final phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls]( saw a voter turnout of 65.65 % on Tuesday. Election Commission of India said that the polling was peaceful. Among districts, Samba recorded the highest polling percentage of 73.45% followed by Udhampur at 72.91% while Baramulla was lowest at 55.73%. A voter turnout of 61.38% and 57.13% was recorded in the first and second phases respectively. The Union Territory, where elections were held after a decade and the first time since the abrogation of Article 370, voted in three phases on September 18, 25 and October 1. Counting of votes would take place on October 8. In the third phase, polling took place in 40 constituencies and an electorate of more than 39.18 lakh voted to decide the fate of 415 candidates. These included two former deputy chief ministers Tara Chand and Muzaffar Baig, and several former ministers and legislators. Jammu and Kashmir has around 87.09 lakh voters. Of this 44.46 lakh are men, 42.62 lakh women, 3.71 lakh first timers. The poll body said in the statement that no repolls have been ordered so far and compared to 2014 when 170 incidents were reported, no major law and order incidents were reported this time. India does not share Japanese PM Shigeru Ishiba’s view of ‘Asian NATO’ External Affairs Minister S [Jaishankar has said India does not share Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s view]( of the Quad and other alliances involving Japan eventually forming an ‘Asian NATO’ like structure to deter China from using military force. Ishiba, who assumed the office of Prime Minister today, had expressed his views in a Hudson Institute paper released last week. “He’s Japanese. This is a country which has a treaty relationship with the United States,” Jaishankar said, adding that countries which had that history and that strategic culture would have a lexicon to match. The Minister was speaking at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) , a thinktank headquartered in Washington DC, where he is on an official visit. “We have never been a treaty ally of any country. We don’t have that kind of strategic architecture in mind,” Jaishankar said when asked about Ishiba’s remarks. The Minister said he could see a certain evolution of this thinking where Ishiba was concerned but that “would not be ours [ India’s thinking ] ”, and that India had a different history and a different way. In a different segment of the discussion Jaishankar said that India was pursuing a policy of multi-alignment, a result of global rebalancing, accelerated by globalisation. Asked to describe how that differed from non-alignment, India’s stated foreign policy doctrine for decades after its independence, Jaishankar said it was different in a few ways. For instance, he said, a non-aligned policy would not have been compatible with the Quad or Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, a grouping of India, the U.S., Australia and Japan. India is now more willing to make choices, he said, adding that one of the characteristics of the non-aligned era was a reticence about an issue-based joining together with other countries. “I think that reticence is less where our stakes are involved,” he said, adding, “You would not have a Quad in the non-aligned era, you will have a Quad in [ the era of ] multi-alignment.” The earlier era was also more defensive and less capability driven, he said, citing the example of Houthi attacks on vessels in the Red Sea. Forty years ago India may have said something about it but now, it can also send ships and contribute to an international effort to secure sea lanes. India is also willing to take more risks since it wanted certain outcomes, in the multi-aligned policy era, Jaishankar said. Will protect even convicted criminals against punitive demolitions, but not public space encroachers: Supreme Court The Supreme Court on Tuesday promised to protect even convicted criminals from [State-sponsored punitive demolition of their legal private property]( but refused any kind of immunity to public space encroachers, whether they be Hindus or Muslims. A Bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and K.V. Viswanathan said a conviction or being accused of a crime was no ground for States to bulldoze private homes and shops. But at the same time, the apex court, which has proposed to frame pan-India guidelines to protect private property from illegal and targeted State demolitions, said it would not condone or shield public encroachments, irrespective of the faith of the violators. “We are a secular country… Whatever we lay down, we lay down for all citizens. There cannot be a particular law for a particular religion. Unauthorised constructions belonging to members of any community have to go, no matter their religion or faith,” Justice Gavai observed orally in court. The Bench was hearing petitions accusing States like Uttar Pradesh of misusing municipal laws to bulldoze the private property of members of minority communities. The petitions argued that municipal laws were misused for crime-fighting and grandstanding by ruling parties in these States. Justice Viswanathan pointed out during the hearing that there have been 4.45 lakh demolitions in recent years. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, agreed that even conviction in heinous offences such as rape, murder and terrorism should not lead to punitive demolition. However, he said demolitions under municipal laws must not always be given a communal colour. The law officer expressed an apprehension that the top court’s intervention on the basis of a few illegal demolitions may work to encourage encroachments and paralyse “genuine” demolition of unauthorised structures across the country. “It would open a Pandora’s box,” Mehta feared. “Any religious structure in the middle of a public road, be it a dargah or some temple, it has to go… For us, public safety and public interest are paramount,” Justice Gavai said, clarifying that the court’s ambit was confined to illegal State demolitions. Justice Viswanathan illustrated how State action should not display obvious discrimination. The judge suggested some sort of judicial oversight over State demolitions. “The real problem is, let’s say, there are two structures having violations. But proceedings are initiated [under the municipal law] against only one. You find that the owner or occupant of that structure was accused of a criminal offence just before the proceedings started… Now, that is the issue. Proceedings happen only with this one structure, while the other one remains intact…” Justice Viswanathan explained. Senior advocate C.U. Singh said the petitioners were not against the lawful use of municipal laws. “We are only against the abuse of these laws by authorities,” he submitted. He referred to the case of a man accused of pelting stones at a religious ceremony. His house was demolished the same day. Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde said these demolitions were a display of power through bulldozers, similar to power derived from the barrel of a gun. He said the demolitions were meant as a spectacle with well-known TV anchors giving bytes perched on these machines. Justice Viswanathan suggested videographing demolitions, so the footage could be used in court to prove the State action was either required or disproportionate. The court finally reserved the case for judgment while extending its September 17 order staying illegal bulldozer demolitions across the country. MUDA writes to Sub Registrar to cancel sites allotted to Siddaramaiah’s wife Hours after receiving a letter from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife Parvathi surrendering the 14 compensatory sites allotted to her, Mysuru Urban Development Authority ([MUDA) has written to the Sub Registrar to cancel the sale deeds]( of the sites given up voluntarily by her. MUDA Commissioner A.N. Raghunandan, who was handed over the letter by Parvathi’s son and MLC Yathindra Siddaramaiah on Tuesday, told reporters that there was provision in the rules for the Authority to take back the allotted sites “without delay” if surrendered voluntarily. Hence, after perusing the relevant provisions in the rules and consulting its legal team comprising advocates, a decision was taken by MUDA Commissioner to take back the sites. The MUDA Commissioner’s order authorising MUDA Secretary Prasanna Kumar to take necessary steps for cancellation of the sale deeds of all the 14 sites has been handed over to the Sub Registrar. “Now, the sites, which stand in the name of Ms. Parvathi, will be transferred back to MUDA. This will be financially beneficial to the MUDA too,” said Raghunandan. The decision taken by MUDA will be communicated to Lokayukta Police and the Justice Desai Commission constituted by the State government to probe in the alleged irregularities in MUDA as well as the State government, he said. Meanwhile, MUDA Secretary Prasanna Kumar said he personally took the MUDA Commissioner’s order on cancellation of the sale deeds to the Sub Registrar’s office to start the process. Even though the owner of the sites was not present, the Sub Registrar informed the MUDA official there was a provision to cancel the sale deeds through “private attendance”. Kumar said the process of cancellation of the sale deeds had begun with the Sub Registrar proceeding for the “private attendance.” Responding to questions from reporters, Kumar said Section 8 of the Karnataka Incentive Sites Allotment rules of 1991 provide for taking back sites surrendered voluntarily by the allottees without any delay. Section 13 of the Karnataka Urban Development Authorities Act empowers the MUDA Commissioner to exercise the authority to cancel the sale deeds, he added. Earlier in the day, the Lokayukta Police, which conducted a spot inspection of the land gifted to Parvathi by her brother Mallikarjunaswamy in Survey number 464 in Kesare on the outskirts of Mysuru, had requested MUDA to spare the services of Special Land Acquisition Officer, Town Planning members and surveyers during the exercise. It may be mentioned here that MUDA had allotted 14 sites to Parvathi in 2021 in lieu of 3 acres and 16 guntas of land on Survey number 464 belonging to her in Kesare. that had been used for developing a layout without completing the acquisition formalities. GST revenue growth slowed in September [Growth in India’s Gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections slumped to a 40-month low of 6.5% in September]( with revenues at ₹1,73,240 crore, about 1% lower than the tally in August. Net GST receipts, after adjusting for refunds made to taxpayers, were 3.9% higher than a year ago, marking the slowest growth in this financial year. However, net collections were 1.5% higher than August’s receipts, at ₹1,52,782 crore. In the preceding month, net GST receipts had grown 6.5% while gross collections were up 10%. Gross domestic revenues were up 5.9% in September, with the uptick moderating 4.5% higher after adjusting for refunds, provisional numbers from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) showed. Growth in gross revenues from imports outpaced domestic revenues for the third straight month, rising 8% in September. GST refunds continued to grow at a healthy pace for the second successive month, with domestic refunds to taxpayers rising 24.3% in September, while export related refunds of Integrated GST (IGST) revenues were up 39.2%. Overall refunds were 31% higher, compared with a 38% uptick in August and an over 19% contraction in July. As many as seven States recorded negative revenue growth, led by a 33% contraction in Manipur, while revenues were flat in Gujarat. Ten States underperformed the national level 6% uptick in domestic revenues, including Telangana (1%), Rajasthan (2%), Uttar Pradesh (3%), and Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and West Bengal (5% each). Poll-bound Haryana recorded the sharpest rise in revenues of 24%, followed by Delhi where receipts grew 20%. It must be noted that September’s GST revenues are linked to transactions undertaken in the month of August. Tax experts reckoned that revenue growth will pick up from this month with the onset of the festive season. Israeli forces have carried out raids in Lebanon for months, military says [Israeli forces have been carrying out raids into southern Lebanon for months]( uncovering Hezbollah tunnels and weapon caches under homes and uncovering invasion plans by the group, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Tuesday (October 1, 2024). Hagari said the details were being declassified, hours after Israel announced a ground operation against the Hezbollah movement in southern Lebanon. Dozens of such operations had uncovered detailed plans by Hezbollah to enter Israel and carry out an attack similar to the one led by the Palestinian militant group Hamas in southern Israel on October 7 last year. The findings and evidence discovered under homes in villages in southern Lebanon during the raids will be presented to the international community, Hagari said. He presented videos from soldiers’ body-cameras and maps. In brief [Above normal rainfall is expected in several parts of central, southern peninsular, and northeast India]( from October to December, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Tuesday. The IMD also said above-normal maximum temperatures are likely in most parts of the country in October, except for certain areas in central India and the adjoining southern peninsula. The Evening Wrap will return tomorrow Today’s Top Picks [[Fast-track courts face challenges in resources and efficiency] Fast-track courts face challenges in resources and efficiency]( [[Watch | Situation on ground with China ‘not normal’, trust ‘biggest’ casualty: Army Chief on Ladakh standoff] Watch | Situation on ground with China ‘not normal’, trust ‘biggest’ casualty: Army Chief on Ladakh standoff]( [[TH01 BINDU Health Ministry ironing out technical hurdles to enrol senior citizens above 70 years under expanded AB-PMJAY] TH01 BINDU Health Ministry ironing out technical hurdles to enrol senior citizens above 70 years under expanded AB-PMJAY]( [[Watch: Israel starts ground operations in Lebanon] Watch: Israel starts ground operations in Lebanon]( Copyright© 2024, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. If you are facing any trouble in viewing this newsletter, please [click here]( Manage your newsletter subscription preferences [here]( If you do not wish to receive such emails [go here](