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A shocking mystery

Saudi Arabia’s official admission of death of Jamal Khashoggi raises many questions.
Saudi Arabia says it has arrested 18 people in connection with the death and dismissed five senior officials, which U.S. President Donald Trump has termed a “good first step”.
The Kingdom is clearly trying to distance Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, its de facto ruler.
A forensic expert who was reportedly carrying a bone saw.
The world needs to know what actually happened to Khashoggi.

Turf battle

The central bank last week made public its reservations against the government’s plans to set up an independent payments regulator.
Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007: Amendments are being finalized by an interministerial committee.
RBI: Payments Regulatory Board should function under the purview of the RBI Governor.
There is definite overlapping between the current regulatory powers of the RBI and the proposed regulations for the payments industry.
Unified regulator can thus help in lowering the compliance costs
There is the real risk that a brand new regulator may be unable to match the expertise of the RBI in carrying out necessary regulatory duties.
Govt and RBI should work together for the betterment of whole economy.

Ripe for prison reform

India: more than a century-old system of prisons
Supreme Court committee: Headed by former Supreme Court judge, Justice Amitava Roy
To look into entire gamut.
1980s: Justice A.N. Mulla & Justice Krishna Iyer committees
The objective of criminal punishment should be one of reform rather than wreaking vengeance on a perpetrator of crime.

The Hammurabi Code, it is argued, is no longer acceptable.
Divide in opinion when it comes to prison.
Except in parts of Europe, overcrowding is rampant.
U.S.: two million prisoners
U.K.: 92,500.
India: 4.2 lakh inmates in 1,401 facilities, with an average occupancy rate of 114% in most.
67% of total inmates were undertrials
Another complaint against prisons is the brutality and venality of prison officials, again common across the world.
No political loss or gain

The value of a health scheme

Every year about 36 million families, or 14% of households, face a medical bill that is equal to the entire annual living expenses of one member of the family.
The focus continues to be on the top-down, deductive reasoning of the scheme, including issues such as allocation of funds for each illness, the types of care provided, financial considerations for empanelment of hospitals, types of illnesses covered, and transaction costs.
It is more important than ever before to explore how citizens exercise their right to health and understand how it could be better practised.
The biggest challenges for the success of the PMJAY scheme are not just financial and infrastructural at the local level, but how its value is perceived by the community.
They had little value for the RSBY because of many reasons.
One, officials who distributed the RSBY smart card did not provide information on how to use the card.
Two, hospitals did not respect patients with the card, believing that they were availing medical care free of cost. Sometimes they did not honour the card either due to inaccuracy of fingerprints or lack of money on the card.
Three, neighbours and family members did not discuss the utilisation of the card, making households perceive the card as just a showpiece: important to possess but not useful.
Four, the lack of involvement and endorsement by local leaders further diminished the value of the card for the households.

Fanning the flames

Scapegoating is a well-worn political technique to divert attention from governance failures.
Massacre of minorities would appear to be a recipe for winning elections.
The Sarkari Musalman: Lieutenant general Zameeruddin Shah
He was commanding the Army troops sent to Gujarat to quell the “riots” in the State.
For one whole day, the troops were kept waiting for transport at Ahmedabad airport, during which time the killings took place.
Since General Shah had requested then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for transport and had informed the Army Chief, General Sundararajan Padmanabhan, why was it not provided?
The Special Investigation Team appointed by the Supreme Court to investigate the incidents in Gujarat was headed by retired CBI Director R.K. Raghavan who was called an “absentee investigator” as he spent only a few days a month in Gujarat during the probe and as half his team consisted of Gujarat police officers.
Similarly, after Indira Gandhi’s assassination on October 31, 1984, the massacre of Sikhs in Delhi and other places started, but the Army was not called to quell them until the night of November 3.

Important News

Modi steps in as CBI begins to probe its own leadership
SC to list review petitions today
19 pleas against Sabarimala verdict
Nun rape case witness found dead
Father Kuriakose Kattuthara, a Catholic priest, was found dead at a church in Hoshiarpur’s Dasuya on Monday.
Why are media regulators soft with scribes, asks SC
The Supreme Court on Monday said media regulators tend to wear a “velvet fist inside a velvet glove” when it comes to dealing with journalists and media organisations whose actions, like revealing the identity of a rape survivor, make them criminally liable.
Neelakurinji flowers fail tourists
blossom once in 12 years –

Lower judiciary vacancies unacceptable: SC
5,000 vacancies in the lower judiciary across the country
In a five-page order, the Supreme Court recorded that there are a total of 22,036 posts in the district and subordinate judiciary, from district judges to junior civil judges, across the States. As on date, 5,133 posts out of the total 22,036 are vacant, the court found.
Bolton arrives in Russia for talks on nuclear treaty
White House National Security Advisor John Bolton on Monday began two days of meetings with senior Russian officials following Washington’s weekend announcement of its withdrawal from a Cold War-era nuclear weapons treaty.
An African island’s troubled waters
The Migingo Island, claimed both by Kenya and Uganda, is a fisherman’s paradise
A rounded, rocky outcrop covered with metallic shacks, Island rises out of the waters of Lake Victoria like an iron-plated turtle. – Record project A portion of the Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge is lit up in Hong Kong. The bridge, the world’s longest cross-sea project with a total length of 55 km, will be opened on Tuesday.

Financial News –

The data showed a growth of more than 80% in the number of returns filed in the last four financial years from 3.79 crore in financial year (FY) 2013 -14 to 6.85 crore (these figures include revised returns) in FY 2017 – 18.