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  • Supreme Court questions the continuing relevance of two-child norms. The Court observed that falling fertility rates have weakened the population-control rationale behind laws disqualifying people with more than two children from contesting local body elections. It referred the issue to a larger Bench for consideration
  • Supreme Court declines to shift Tirupati laddu case outside Andhra Pradesh. The Court rejected a plea seeking transfer of the trial, despite arguments that political statements by Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister could affect the fairness of proceedings
  • Supreme Court transfers Azam Khan's fresh ED bail plea to Allahabad High Court. The apex court declined to consider the Samajwadi Party leader's bail request in a fresh Enforcement Directorate case and directed that it be listed before a division Bench of the High Court on November 16
  • Two killed in Delhi building collapse; contractor booked. Two bodies were recovered after a building collapsed in Chawri Bazaar. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the contractor had been booked and the concerned junior and assistant engineers suspended
  • Uttar Pradesh voter rolls show a 2.4-crore discrepancy. A difference of approximately 2.4 crore names has been reported between the state's panchayat and rural Assembly voter lists. The Election Commission has ordered the two sets of rolls to be matched
  • Gujarat announces 3% dearness allowance hike. The state government announced a three-percentage-point increase in dearness allowance for government employees and pensioners ahead of Diwali
  • Sensex and Nifty post their strongest single-day gains in months. The Sensex surged 2,008.61 points, or 2.60%, to close at 79,310.01, while the Nifty 50 climbed 576 points, or 2.40%, to 24,536.60. Financial and automobile stocks led the rally, supported by falling crude prices and renewed foreign investor buying
  • Maaya Rajeshwaran reaches WTA-level quarter-final. The 17-year-old Indian defeated Poland's Weronika Falkowska 6-4, 6-3, becoming the first Indian woman since Sania Mirza in 2012 to reach a quarter-final at a WTA Tour-level singles event
  • Tanvi Patri reaches Youth Olympics badminton final. The 15-year-old defeated Japan's Yuzuno Watanabe in the semi-final, assuring India of a medal and becoming the first Indian badminton player to reach the girls' singles final at the Youth Olympics
  • India beat Pakistan 3-2 in SAFF Championship. India defeated Pakistan in a closely contested match, having led 3-0 before conceding two late goals. The victory was reported as a significant result for India's second-string side
  • India beat Japan 4-1 to win a record sixth Asian Champions Trophy. India recovered from an early deficit to defeat Japan in the final at Mohali, extending its record as the tournament's most successful men's team
  • The Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission on a petition challenging Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which grants the CEC and Election Commissioners protection from legal proceedings for acts performed in their official duties. The petition argues that such blanket immunity could leave citizens without an effective remedy for alleged wrongdoing by the Commission
  • The Supreme Court told voters whose names were deleted from Delhi's draft electoral rolls not to be apprehensive about seeking re-enrolment through Form 6, after the Election Commission assured it that such applicants would not be prosecuted merely because their names had appeared in earlier rolls
  • Congress leader Rahul Gandhi opened the party's campaign for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections with an Insaaf rally in Sangrur, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's home district, accusing the AAP government of failing to control drugs, gangster violence and corruption. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge outlined six commitments, including a drug-free Punjab, protection of farmers, employment for young people and action against corruption
  • Rahul Gandhi accused the AAP government of running Punjab through a remote control from Delhi and questioned Bhagwant Mann's ability to tackle drug abuse, making personal allegations about the Chief Minister's conduct during their time together in Parliament
Stock markets on fire due to US results, Sensex gains 2008 points to reach its highest level in 8 months
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Elections In States Must Not Be Allowed To Play Spoilsport

By Partha Roy
First publised on 2021-01-03 13:42:34

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Freelance contributor

After prolonged suffering for a span of nine months, a silver lining is seen with some recovery on the economic front and experts are quite upbeat about a rebound in the GDP which had contracted abysmally to 23.9 per cent during April-June quarter. With Covid vaccination slated to rollout from this month, the economy may rebound by as much as 7.6 to 9.2 per cent. On the fiscal side, the highest ever GST collections of Rs 1.15 lakh crore in December has boosted the government's kitty. Good GST collections for the last three months will ensure healthy public spending which is urgently needed to give a shot in the arm to the economy. To carry forward this positive story should be the focus now.

Meanwhile, as the new mutation of the coronavirus is on the loose in India (brought in by travellers from the UK) some sort of uncertainty has been added to the revival story. If people are not traced and isolated, if the new strain goes on to infect a huge number of people and is not stopped by the current vaccines, there will be problems. The Centre and the states, along with the medical fraternity are on their guard to nip it in the bud. Nine months of experience in fighting the virus will hopefully help in countering the spread of corona's new avatar.

But the ensuing assembly elections in West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu this year may cause a health scare as all political parties are desperate to lure voters to their political gatherings where managing social distancing and other health protocols are next to impossible. If the new coronavirus strain starts infecting people, election crowds will become new superspreaders. Hence, the Election Commission of India, along with the health ministry, must come out with strict guidelines for political gatherings on urgent basis. Since the country is showing signs of throwing off the lockdown-induced slide and is moving into positive territory, nothing should be allowed to play spoilsport. 

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