The Evening Wrap: What's wrong with economic criterion for reservation, asks Supreme Court

What is “so principally, so fundamentally wrong” in singling out economic criterion for grant of reservation, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of India U.U. Lalit asked on its third day of hearing petitions challenging the 103rd Constitutional Amendment, which introduced 10% quota for ‘economically weaker sections’ (EWS) of society. EWS quota makes persons with less than ₹8 lakh gross annual family income eligible. The quota excludes Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, who form ‘homogenous groups’ included in the prevalent 50% reservation granted separately. Petitioners have argued that economic criterion alone cannot be the basis for granting reservation in government jobs and educational institutions. They contend that the privilege of 10% quota was aimed at the “middle class” forward classes. “What is so principally, so fundamentally wrong in singling out an economic criterion for reservation? Is it that they do not belong to a homogenous group? Is it cast in stone that they [beneficiaries of reservation] should belong to homogenous group? Why cannot economic criterion be a ground for the state’s affirmative action?” Justice S. Ravindra Bhat, on the Constitution Bench, asked advocate Shadan Farasat, who is appearing for a petitioner, on Thursday. Farasat replied that “affirmative action” could take the form of a whole range of measures like money transfers of ₹6,000 to farmers. “There are other affirmative actions which can address the problem of economy, but not necessarily reservation. Reservation was a way for reparation for the Backward Classes. It was the most assertive, the most aggressive way of affirmative action. Reservation was not meant to address any problem, but a specific problem — to bring Backward Classes to the mainstream by giving them access to education, government jobs,” Farasat answered. He said the income criterion fixed by the government, that is, ₹8 lakh, mirrors not any mechanism to identify the poor, but the criterion for identifying the creamy layer already used for OBC reservation. “The Amendment, by excluding the Backward Classes from the ambit of the EWS quota, betrays the actual intent to serve as a quota for middle class members of the forward castes,” Farasat argued. He contended that the net effect of exclusion of Backward Classes from EWS was that persons who were hitherto able to access the 10% as part of the General Category would now be denied open competition for the same. He said the mere presence of 50% reservation for Backward Classes on account of their social and educational backwardness would not permit their exclusion from reservation on account of economic backwardness. Senior advocate Gopal Sanakaranarayanan, for another petitioner, said the 103rd Constitutional Amendment to the extent it said “in addition to the existing reservation” was unconstitutional as it froze the existing reservations of 27% (OBC), 15% (SC) and 7.5% (ST). He argued that the Amendment which gave the extra 10% EWS quota was “contrary to the temporary nature of reservations and the fact that it must be petered out/reduced”. The EWS quota violated the 50% ceiling limit, a constitutional norm that is a Basic Feature, and breached the equality code. U.P. Dalit sisters death | Six arrested for rape and murder in Lakhimpur Kheri Six men were arrested on Thursday in connection with the alleged rape and murder of two teenage Dalit sisters in Lakhimpur Kheri, police said. The girls, aged 15 and 17, were found hanging from a tree in a sugarcane field about a kilometre from their home in Nighasan police station area on September 14. Police sources said the post-mortem report stated that the girls were raped while strangulation was confirmed as the cause of death. According to preliminary investigation, the two sisters left their home on September 14 afternoon with two of the accused, Junaid and Sohail, Lakhimpur Kheri Superintendent of Police (SP) Sanjiv Suman told reporters. “Junaid and Sohail have confessed to strangulating the girls after raping them,” Suman added. The SP also said Junaid and Sohail were allegedly in a relationship with the two sisters. “We have arrested Junaid, Sohail, Hafizur Rehman, Karimuddin, Arif and Chottu in an overnight operation,” said Suman. Junaid was arrested following an encounter around 8.30 a.m., the police said. The motorcycle used in the crime was also recovered. The police have also seized a country-made pistol and ammunition from him. Additional Director-General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said Junaid was injured in the encounter. “The bodies have been handed over to the girls’ family, who will conduct the last rites,” Kumar said. SP Suman said the clothes of the other accused have also been sent for examination as part of a detailed probe. A case has been registered against them under sections 302 (murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 452 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrong­ful restraint), 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Suman also dismissed claims that police used force to send the bodies for post-mortem. The post-mortem had been conducted with the family’s consent and in their presence, he said. Videography of the post-mortem examination was also done, the SP added. The victims’ mother lodged a complaint at Nighasan Kotwali police station late on September 14 night, alleging that her daughters were raped and murdered. She alleged that three motorcycle-borne unidentified youths, along with her neighbour Chhotu, stormed her hutment and abducted her daughters. When she resisted, one of them kicked her and took the girls on a motorcycle towards the fields outside the village, the victims’ mother alleged. The family later found the girls’ bodies hanging from a tree in a field a few hundred metres from their village, she said. After the incident came to light, the villagers staged a demonstration at Nighasan Cross. The police took the bodies into custody and sent them to the district headquarters in an ambulance shortly after, while SP Suman and Assistant Superintendent of Police (APS) Arun Kumar Singh spoke to the villagers to assuage them. A large number of police personnel were deployed to ensure law and order in the village. Kumar said senior officials from Lucknow were also sent to the spot. The incident has triggered angry reactions from Opposition parties that attacked the State’s BJP Government. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati said the incident had sparked discussions everywhere. “Criminals in U.P. are fearless because the priorities of the government are wrong,” she said in a tweet in Hindi. “This incident exposes the claims of the government in the matter of law and order. The criminals are moving without any fear since there has been a cover-up [’leepa potee’] in most of the criminal cases including the one in Hathras. The government should make necessary reforms in its policy, working and priorities,” she said in another tweet. On the other hand, the state’s two Deputy Chief Ministers — Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak — said the government was with the victims’ family and assured action against the accused. In a tweet in Hindi, Maurya said, “Strictest action will be taken against the criminals who had raped and murdered daughters in Lakhimpur Kheri. An issueless opposition should not do politics in such matters! The punishment given to the accused will set an example.” Pathak tweeted, “The State Government stands with the family members of the victims. The government takes such an action that the future generations of these accused will shiver.” Wednesday’s incident has also drawn parallels to the Badaun gang-rape of 2014. In Badaun, two Dalit cousins, aged 14 and 15, were allegedly gang-raped and murdered and their bodies found hanging from a mango tree in Katra village. Karnataka hijab ban | Wearing hijab is an expression of the self, says Sibal Hijab is a Muslim woman’s self-expression. She cannot be compelled by the state to shed her persona at the gates of her college, senior advocate Kapil Sibal told the Supreme Court on Thursday. “As Polonius said in ‘Hamlet’, ‘clothes maketh the man’. Wearing hijab is an expression of what you are, where you are from, who you are. It is an expression of the self,” Sibal argued before a Bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia. The senior counsel, appearing for a student-petitioner against Karnataka’s ban on wearing hijab in classrooms, said the Supreme Court should refer the case to a Constitution Bench, which should in turn first decide whether “wearing a dress is self-expression, which lies both at the heart of the fundamental rights of privacy and freedom of expression”. Hijab can be given the same protection as Sikh turbans and kirpans. Senior advocate Dushyant Dave too pushed for the court to refer the case to a Constitution Bench. The petitioners were responding to a repeated question from the Bench as to “where is your right to wear a hijab to school”. “Privacy and dignity is attached to your person and not to the place you go to… A convict does not shed his fundamental rights at the gates of the prison…”, advocate Shoeb Alam, for a student, said. Alam said the state could not “barter” one fundamental right for the other. “The state cannot say I will give you education and in return you surrender your privacy, lay it on my doorstep. The school or the state can have no say to what extent I should clothe myself to feel safe. It is a matter of choice, of my discretion,” he contended. Advocate Prashant Bhushan said the hijab, has over the years, acquired a religious identity, protected under Article 25 of the Constitution. Advocate Thulasi K. Raj, for a petitioner, argued that state action motivated by the prejudice and patriarchal notions amounted to gender stereotyping. “Discrimination on the ground of religion does not require a threshold as high as essential religious practice,” senior advocate Jayna Kothari submitted. The proscription against hijab in schools was both a religion and sex-based discrimination. Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora said the ban highlighted religious intolerance with school-going children at the centre of the controversy. Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves said the Karnataka High Court’s observations overturning a Muslim student’s right to attend classes in hijab were “hurtful”. “The High Court said in schools there are no individual rights… The High Court said such ‘qualified spaces’ by their very nature repel the assertion of individual rights to the detriment of their general discipline and decorum. The use of such obscure terms like ‘qualified spaces’ conclude that constitutional and fundamental rights are somehow absent and are at a lower pedestal in schools, war rooms and defence camps,” Gonsalves submitted. He said the High Court judgment gave the impression that “order” in schools was somehow threatened by a girl wearing a hijab. Justice Dhulia wondered from where the concept of ‘qualified spaces’ came from. “No child wearing hijab is saying I will not wear the school or college uniform. Their hijab symbolises the autonomy of the mind by giving expression to the autonomy of the body. They are saying ‘hijab is a part of me, part of my persona, my cultural tradition… Does that right stop at the college gates?” Sibal asked the court. At SCO Summit, India expects discussions on topical issues, expansion of grouping Prime Minister Narendra Modi will join Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders at the SCO summit in the Uzbek city of Samarkand on Friday that is set to deliberate on regional security challenges, and boosting trade and energy supplies among other issues. Modi is also expected to hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit, including with Russian Presient Vladamir Putin, and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev among other leaders. There is no confirmation over his possible bilateral with Xi. “We will keep you fully apprised when the PM’s schedule of bilateral meetings unfolds,” Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said on Thursday at a media briefing when asked if Modi and Xi will have a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the summit. He also said the Prime Minister’s participation in the summit was a reflection of the importance that India attaches to the SCO and its goals. The summit of the eight-nation influential grouping is taking place amid the growing geo-political turmoil largely triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and China’s aggressive military posturing in the Taiwan Strait. He said India expects that the discussions at the summit will cover topical regional and international issues, reforms and expansion of the SCO, the regional security situation and cooperation perspective. Strengthening connectivity as well as boosting trade and tourism in the region was also part of the agenda. The Foreign Secretary said the duration of Modi’s visit to Samarkand will be around 24 hours and he will also hold some bilateral meetings. According to reports in Russian and Iranian media, Modi is likely to hold separate bilateral meetings with Putin and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. In a statement ahead of the visit, the Prime Minister said, ”at the SCO Summit, I look forward to exchanging views on topical, regional and international issues, the expansion of SCO and further deepening of multifaceted and mutually beneficial cooperation within the Organisation.” Roger Federer retires from competitive tennis Roger Federer broke the news fans across the world have long been fearing when he announced on Thursday he will retire from competitive tennis after next week’s Laver Cup in London. The 41-year-old Swiss, who has won 20 Grand Slam titles and is regarded by many as the best player ever to wield a racket, has not played a match since last year’s Wimbledon. “As many of you know, the past three years have presented me with challenges in the form of injuries and surgeries,” Federer said in a post on Instagram. “I’ve worked hard to return to full competitive form. But I also know my body’s capacities and limits, and its message to me lately has been clear. I am 41 years old.” “I have played more than 1,500 matches over 24 years. Tennis has treated me more generously than I ever would have dreamt, and now I must recognise when it’s time to end my competitive career. The Laver Cup next week in London will be my final ATP event. I will play more tennis in the future, of course, but just not in Grand Slams or on the tour.” Federer, who dominated men’s tennis after winning his first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2003, has been troubled by injuries in recent years. He has undergone three knee operations in the last two years and his last competitive match was a quarter-final defeat against Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz at the 2021 Wimbledon. Federer had announced he planned to return to the tour when he teams up with long-time rival and friend Rafael Nadal to play doubles at the Laver Cup in London. He had also planned to play at the Swiss indoors tournament at home in Basel. In Brief: India-Bhutan border gates at Samdrup Jhongkhar and Gelephu along the Assam frontier will reopen for tourists on September 23 for the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak. A Bhutanese delegation, led by Tashi Penjore, the Himalayan kingdom’s Director (law and order) of the Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs, held a meeting with Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) officials in Kokrajhar on Wednesday and announced that the gates will be reopened after a two-and-half-year hiatus. As the COVID-19 scenario has improved, the Bhutan government has announced the reopening of its borders for trade, commerce and official transit from September 23, provided the pandemic situation does not worsen, Penjore said. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 15 SEPTEMBER 2022 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Constitution Bench asks what is ‘so principally, so fundamentally wrong’ in singling out economic criterion for reservation What is “so principally, so fundamentally wrong” in singling out economic criterion for grant of reservation, [a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of India U.U. Lalit asked]( on its third day of hearing petitions challenging the 103rd Constitutional Amendment, which introduced 10% quota for ‘economically weaker sections’ (EWS) of society. EWS quota makes persons with less than ₹8 lakh gross annual family income eligible. The quota excludes Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, who form ‘homogenous groups’ included in the prevalent 50% reservation granted separately. Petitioners have argued that economic criterion alone cannot be the basis for granting reservation in government jobs and educational institutions. They contend that the privilege of 10% quota was aimed at the “middle class” forward classes. “What is so principally, so fundamentally wrong in singling out an economic criterion for reservation? Is it that they do not belong to a homogenous group? Is it cast in stone that they [beneficiaries of reservation] should belong to homogenous group? Why cannot economic criterion be a ground for the state’s affirmative action?” Justice S. Ravindra Bhat, on the Constitution Bench, asked advocate Shadan Farasat, who is appearing for a petitioner, on Thursday. Farasat replied that “affirmative action” could take the form of a whole range of measures like money transfers of ₹6,000 to farmers. “There are other affirmative actions which can address the problem of economy, but not necessarily reservation. Reservation was a way for reparation for the Backward Classes. It was the most assertive, the most aggressive way of affirmative action. Reservation was not meant to address any problem, but a specific problem — to bring Backward Classes to the mainstream by giving them access to education, government jobs,” Farasat answered. He said the income criterion fixed by the government, that is, ₹8 lakh, mirrors not any mechanism to identify the poor, but the criterion for identifying the creamy layer already used for OBC reservation. “The Amendment, by excluding the Backward Classes from the ambit of the EWS quota, betrays the actual intent to serve as a quota for middle class members of the forward castes,” Farasat argued. He contended that the net effect of exclusion of Backward Classes from EWS was that persons who were hitherto able to access the 10% as part of the General Category would now be denied open competition for the same. He said the mere presence of 50% reservation for Backward Classes on account of their social and educational backwardness would not permit their exclusion from reservation on account of economic backwardness. Senior advocate Gopal Sanakaranarayanan, for another petitioner, said the 103rd Constitutional Amendment to the extent it said “in addition to the existing reservation” was unconstitutional as it froze the existing reservations of 27% (OBC), 15% (SC) and 7.5% (ST). He argued that the Amendment which gave the extra 10% EWS quota was “contrary to the temporary nature of reservations and the fact that it must be petered out/reduced”. The EWS quota violated the 50% ceiling limit, a constitutional norm that is a Basic Feature, and breached the equality code. U.P. Dalit sisters death | Six arrested for rape and murder in Lakhimpur Kheri [Six men were arrested]( on Thursday in connection with the alleged rape and murder of two teenage Dalit sisters in Lakhimpur Kheri, police said. The girls, aged 15 and 17, were found hanging from a tree in a sugarcane field about a kilometre from their home in Nighasan police station area on September 14. Police sources said the post-mortem report stated that the girls were raped while strangulation was confirmed as the cause of death. [A crime scene tape cordons off a tree where the bodies of two Dalit girls were found hanging after they were allegedly raped, in Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh on September 15, 2022. ] According to preliminary investigation, the two sisters left their home on September 14 afternoon with two of the accused, Junaid and Sohail, Lakhimpur Kheri Superintendent of Police (SP) Sanjiv Suman told reporters. “Junaid and Sohail have confessed to strangulating the girls after raping them,” Suman added. The SP also said Junaid and Sohail were allegedly in a relationship with the two sisters. “We have arrested Junaid, Sohail, Hafizur Rehman, Karimuddin, Arif and Chottu in an overnight operation,” said Suman. Junaid was arrested following an encounter around 8.30 a.m., the police said. The motorcycle used in the crime was also recovered. The police have also seized a country-made pistol and ammunition from him. Additional Director-General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said Junaid was injured in the encounter. “The bodies have been handed over to the girls’ family, who will conduct the last rites,” Kumar said. SP Suman said the clothes of the other accused have also been sent for examination as part of a detailed probe. A case has been registered against them under sections 302 (murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 452 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrong­ful restraint), 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Suman also dismissed claims that police used force to send the bodies for post-mortem. The post-mortem had been conducted with the family’s consent and in their presence, he said. Videography of the post-mortem examination was also done, the SP added. The victims’ mother lodged a complaint at Nighasan Kotwali police station late on September 14 night, alleging that her daughters were raped and murdered. She alleged that three motorcycle-borne unidentified youths, along with her neighbour Chhotu, stormed her hutment and abducted her daughters. When she resisted, one of them kicked her and took the girls on a motorcycle towards the fields outside the village, the victims’ mother alleged. The family later found the girls’ bodies hanging from a tree in a field a few hundred metres from their village, she said. After the incident came to light, the villagers staged a demonstration at Nighasan Cross. The police took the bodies into custody and sent them to the district headquarters in an ambulance shortly after, while SP Suman and Assistant Superintendent of Police (APS) Arun Kumar Singh spoke to the villagers to assuage them. A large number of police personnel were deployed to ensure law and order in the village. Kumar said senior officials from Lucknow were also sent to the spot. The incident has triggered angry reactions from Opposition parties that attacked the State’s BJP Government. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati said the incident had sparked discussions everywhere. “Criminals in U.P. are fearless because the priorities of the government are wrong,” she said in a tweet in Hindi. “This incident exposes the claims of the government in the matter of law and order. The criminals are moving without any fear since there has been a cover-up [’leepa potee’] in most of the criminal cases including the one in Hathras. The government should make necessary reforms in its policy, working and priorities,” she said in another tweet. On the other hand, the state’s two Deputy Chief Ministers — Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak — said the government was with the victims’ family and assured action against the accused. In a tweet in Hindi, Maurya said, “Strictest action will be taken against the criminals who had raped and murdered daughters in Lakhimpur Kheri. An issueless opposition should not do politics in such matters! The punishment given to the accused will set an example.” Pathak tweeted, “The State Government stands with the family members of the victims. The government takes such an action that the future generations of these accused will shiver.” Wednesday’s incident has also drawn parallels to the Badaun gang-rape of 2014. In Badaun, two Dalit cousins, aged 14 and 15, were allegedly gang-raped and murdered and their bodies found hanging from a mango tree in Katra village. Karnataka hijab ban | Wearing hijab is an expression of the self, says Sibal Hijab is a Muslim woman’s self-expression. She cannot be compelled by the state to shed her persona at the gates of her college, [senior advocate Kapil Sibal told the Supreme Court]( on Thursday. “As Polonius said in ‘Hamlet’, ‘clothes maketh the man’. Wearing hijab is an expression of what you are, where you are from, who you are. It is an expression of the self,” Sibal argued before a Bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia. The senior counsel, appearing for a student-petitioner against Karnataka’s ban on wearing hijab in classrooms, said the Supreme Court should refer the case to a Constitution Bench, which should in turn first decide whether “wearing a dress is self-expression, which lies both at the heart of the fundamental rights of privacy and freedom of expression”. Hijab can be given the same protection as Sikh turbans and kirpans. Senior advocate Dushyant Dave too pushed for the court to refer the case to a Constitution Bench. The petitioners were responding to a repeated question from the Bench as to “where is your right to wear a hijab to school”. “Privacy and dignity is attached to your person and not to the place you go to… A convict does not shed his fundamental rights at the gates of the prison…”, advocate Shoeb Alam, for a student, said. Alam said the state could not “barter” one fundamental right for the other. “The state cannot say I will give you education and in return you surrender your privacy, lay it on my doorstep. The school or the state can have no say to what extent I should clothe myself to feel safe. It is a matter of choice, of my discretion,” he contended. Advocate Prashant Bhushan said the hijab, has over the years, acquired a religious identity, protected under Article 25 of the Constitution. Advocate Thulasi K. Raj, for a petitioner, argued that state action motivated by the prejudice and patriarchal notions amounted to gender stereotyping. “Discrimination on the ground of religion does not require a threshold as high as essential religious practice,” senior advocate Jayna Kothari submitted. The proscription against hijab in schools was both a religion and sex-based discrimination. Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora said the ban highlighted religious intolerance with school-going children at the centre of the controversy. Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves said the Karnataka High Court’s observations overturning a Muslim student’s right to attend classes in hijab were “hurtful”. “The High Court said in schools there are no individual rights… The High Court said such ‘qualified spaces’ by their very nature repel the assertion of individual rights to the detriment of their general discipline and decorum. The use of such obscure terms like ‘qualified spaces’ conclude that constitutional and fundamental rights are somehow absent and are at a lower pedestal in schools, war rooms and defence camps,” Gonsalves submitted. He said the High Court judgment gave the impression that “order” in schools was somehow threatened by a girl wearing a hijab. Justice Dhulia wondered from where the concept of ‘qualified spaces’ came from. “No child wearing hijab is saying I will not wear the school or college uniform. Their hijab symbolises the autonomy of the mind by giving expression to the autonomy of the body. They are saying ‘hijab is a part of me, part of my persona, my cultural tradition… Does that right stop at the college gates?” Sibal asked the court. At SCO Summit, India expects discussions on topical issues, expansion of grouping Prime Minister Narendra Modi will join Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders at [the SCO summit in the Uzbek city of Samarkand]( on Friday that is set to deliberate on regional security challenges, and boosting trade and energy supplies among other issues. [Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 15, 2022 leaves for Samarkand, Uzbekistan to attend the 22nd Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. Photo: Twitter/@PMOIndia via PTI] Modi is also expected to hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit, including with Russian Presient Vladamir Putin, and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev among other leaders. There is no confirmation over his possible bilateral with Xi. “We will keep you fully apprised when the PM’s schedule of bilateral meetings unfolds,” Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said on Thursday at a media briefing when asked if Modi and Xi will have a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the summit. He also said the Prime Minister’s participation in the summit was a reflection of the importance that India attaches to the SCO and its goals. The summit of the eight-nation influential grouping is taking place amid the growing geo-political turmoil largely triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and China’s aggressive military posturing in the Taiwan Strait. He said India expects that the discussions at the summit will cover topical regional and international issues, reforms and expansion of the SCO, the regional security situation and cooperation perspective. Strengthening connectivity as well as boosting trade and tourism in the region was also part of the agenda. The Foreign Secretary said the duration of Modi’s visit to Samarkand will be around 24 hours and he will also hold some bilateral meetings. According to reports in Russian and Iranian media, Modi is likely to hold separate bilateral meetings with Putin and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. In a statement ahead of the visit, the Prime Minister said, ”at the SCO Summit, I look forward to exchanging views on topical, regional and international issues, the expansion of SCO and further deepening of multifaceted and mutually beneficial cooperation within the Organisation.” Roger Federer retires from competitive tennis Roger Federer broke the news fans across the world have long been fearing when he announced on Thursday [he will retire from competitive tennis]( after next week’s Laver Cup in London. The 41-year-old Swiss, who has won 20 Grand Slam titles and is regarded by many as the best player ever to wield a racket, has not played a match since last year’s Wimbledon. “As many of you know, the past three years have presented me with challenges in the form of injuries and surgeries,” Federer said in a post on Instagram. “I’ve worked hard to return to full competitive form. But I also know my body’s capacities and limits, and its message to me lately has been clear. I am 41 years old.” “I have played more than 1,500 matches over 24 years. Tennis has treated me more generously than I ever would have dreamt, and now I must recognise when it’s time to end my competitive career. The Laver Cup next week in London will be my final ATP event. I will play more tennis in the future, of course, but just not in Grand Slams or on the tour.” Federer, who dominated men’s tennis after winning his first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2003, has been troubled by injuries in recent years. He has undergone three knee operations in the last two years and his last competitive match was a quarter-final defeat against Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz at the 2021 Wimbledon. Federer had announced he planned to return to the tour when he teams up with long-time rival and friend Rafael Nadal to play doubles at the Laver Cup in London. He had also planned to play at the Swiss indoors tournament at home in Basel. In Brief: India-Bhutan border gates at Samdrup Jhongkhar and Gelephu along the Assam frontier will [reopen for tourists on September 23]( for the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak. A Bhutanese delegation, led by Tashi Penjore, the Himalayan kingdom’s Director (law and order) of the Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs, held a meeting with Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) officials in Kokrajhar on Wednesday and announced that the gates will be reopened after a two-and-half-year hiatus. As the COVID-19 scenario has improved, the Bhutan government has announced the reopening of its borders for trade, commerce and official transit from September 23, provided the pandemic situation does not worsen, Penjore said. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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