HIGHLIGHTS

LEGAL LGD6 SC-RESERVATION Pleas challenging constitutional validity of extending reservation to SCST in LS, state assemblies to be heard on Nov 21 New Delhi The Supreme Court on Wednesday posted for hearing on November 21 the pleas challenging the constitutional validity of extending reservation to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in Lok Sabha and the state assemblies beyond the original 10-year period contemplated in the Constitution.

Following are the top stories at 9.35 pm: NATION DEL67 LDALL INDO-CANADA **** Exercise ''utmost caution'' in view of ''politically-condoned'' hate crimes in Canada: India's advisory to its citizens amid raging diplomatic row New Delhi/New York: India on Wednesday advised all its citizens living in Canada and those contemplating travelling there to exercise ''utmost caution'' in view of growing anti-India activities and ''politically-condoned'' hate crimes in the North American country, as the diplomatic row over killing of a Khalistani separatist leader threatened to snowball into a major confrontation. **** PAR56 LS-LD WOMEN BILL **** Lok Sabha nod to women's reservation bill with near unanimity New Delhi: The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed a bill granting reservation to women on one-third seats in Lok Sabha and state assemblies with near unanimity amid demands from the opposition to extend similar benefits to Other Backward Classes and immediate implementation of the measure before the elections next year.**** DEL46 WOMEN BILL-LD CONG **** Post-dated cheque: Cong takes swipe at govt over women's reservation bill New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday hit out at the government over the women's reservation bill, saying the only appropriate description of what Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done with the matter is ''it is a post-dated cheque drawn on a failing bank''. **** DEL45 OPPN-CONSTITUTION-2NDLD ROW **** 'Secular', 'socialist' missing from copies of Constitution given to lawmakers: Adhir New Delhi: Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Wednesday alleged that the words ''secular'' and ''socialist'' were missing from the Preamble in the copies of the Constitution given to lawmakers on the opening day of proceedings at the new Parliament building. **** DEL62 WOMEN BILL-LD AAP **** Women's reservation bill a jumla, brought in with intention to befool women: AAP New Delhi: The BJP-led Centre has brought in the women's reservation bill with the intention to befool women and has made sure with the riders of delimitation and population census that it will not be implemented before 2039, senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh said on Wednesday. **** PAR52 RS-DHANKHAR **** Emphasis on indigenization, reducing imports critical aspects of ISRO's cost-effective approach: Jagdeep Dhankhar New Delhi: The ISRO has launched 424 foreign satellites, half of them for the United States, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said Wednesday calling the space agency's journey so far extraordinary. **** PAR49 RS-SITHARAMAN-CHANDRAYAAN **** Chandrayaan-3's success going to have big impact on industrial, technological ecosystem: N Sitharaman New Delhi: The successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the lunar south pole is going to have a very big impact on India's industrial and technological ecosystem, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday. **** DEL58 INDOUS-BIDEN-INVITE **** Modi invites Biden to be chief guest at upcoming Republic Day celebrations New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited US President Joe Biden to be the Chief Guest for the Republic Day celebrations on January 26 during their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti said on Wednesday. **** DEL54 NIA-KHALISTANI TERRORISTS-CRACKDOWN **** NIA intensifies crackdown on Khalistani terrorists, announces cash rewards on five BKI operatives New Delhi: Stepping up its crackdown on Khalistani terrorists, the NIA on Wednesday announced cash rewards for information leading to the arrest of five Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) operatives, including Harwinder Singh Sandhu alias ''Rinda'' and Lakhbir Singh Sandhu alias ''Landa''. **** DEL63 NEET-CUT OFF **** Health ministry reduces NEET PG 2023 cut-off to zero across all categories New Delhi: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on Wednesday reduced the qualifying percentile for NEET PG 2023 to be eligible for counselling to zero across all categories. **** DEL53 DEF-IAF-C295-AIRCRAFT **** First C-295 aircraft lands in Vadodara New Delhi: The first C-295 medium tactical transport aircraft landed in Vadodara on Wednesday, days after it was handed over to the Indian Air Force (IAF) in the southern Spanish city of Seville. **** DEL66 RAIL-EX-GRATIA-INCREASE **** Railways increases ex gratia relief in train accidents by 10 times New Delhi: The Railway Board has increased by 10 times the ex gratia payments made in case of death or injury to anyone in train accidents.By Jeevan Prakash Sharma **** CAL25 RAIL-3RDLD KURMI STIR **** Kurmi rail blockades in Jharkhand, Odisha lifted; normal train services to resume soon Ranchi/Bhubaneswar: The rail blockade by Kurmi bodies demanding Scheduled Tribe status for the community in Jharkhand and Odisha ended on Wednesday, though for different reasons, while the train traffic is expected to resume on those tracks “at the earliest”. **** BOM24 MH-IDOL-LD IMMERSION **** Nearly 7,000 Lord Ganesh idols immersed in Mumbai on 2nd day of festival Mumbai: Nearly 7,000 Ganesh idols were immersed in Mumbai till 6 pm on Wednesday, the second day of the 10-day festival dedicated to the elephant-headed god, officials said. **** LEGAL LGD6 SC-RESERVATION **** Pleas challenging constitutional validity of extending reservation to SC/ST in LS, state assemblies to be heard on Nov 21 New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday posted for hearing on November 21 the pleas challenging the constitutional validity of extending reservation to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in Lok Sabha and the state assemblies beyond the original 10-year period contemplated in the Constitution. **** LGD21 DL-COURT SATYENDER JAIN **** Delhi court dismisses Satyender Jain's plea to transfer cases against him to another judge New Delhi: A district court here on Wednesday refused Delhi minister Satyender Kumar Jain's plea to transfer two cases of alleged disproportionate assets against him to another judge, saying strong observations by a judge could not be the basis to conclude that the trial was not being conducted in a fair and impartial manner. **** LGD3 SC-ASSAM-CITIZENSHIP ACT **** Assam illegal immigrants: SC to commence hearing on validity of Citizenship Act's Section 6A on Oct 17 New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will commence hearing on October 17 to examine the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act relating to illegal immigrants in Assam. **** FOREIGN FGN37 CANADA-LD ALLIES **** Allies divided over support for Canada’s allegations against India over killing of Sikh separatist leader Toronto: A day after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged India’s involvement in the killing of a prominent Sikh separatist leader, the Canadian media reported that Ottawa’s Five Eye allies were not keen on taking sides though they have said that the claims should be thoroughly probed. ****