The Evening Wrap: Congress releases first list of 33 candidates for Rajasthan polls

The Congress on October 21 released its first list of 33 candidates for the Rajasthan Assembly elections, fielding Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot from Sardarpura and his former Deputy Sachin Pilot from Tonk. Speaker C.P. Joshi will contest from his Nathdwara Assembly seat, while the party’s State president Govind Singh Dotasra has been fielded from Lachhmangarh. Minister Harish Chaudhary will contest from Baytoo and Mamata Bhupesh from the Sikrai seat. The Congress is yet to declare candidates on a majority seats as its Central Election Committee will meet on October 21 to finalise names for more seats. The polls to the 200-member Assembly will be held on November 25. Meanwhile, the BJP named 83 more candidates for the polls, fielding former CM Vasundhara Raje from her traditional Jhalrapatan seat. The party also fielded Narpat Singh Rajvi from Chittorgarh. Rajvi was earlier denied renomination from his Vidhyadhar Nagar seat, which triggered a backlash from a section of party workers. The BJP’s about-turn on his candidature is being seen as a damage-control exercise after Rajvi reacted angrily and cited his family legacy to hit out at the party. Vishwaraj Singh Mewar, a descendent of Maharana Pratap Singh, who joined the party recently, former state BJP president Satish Poonia, Rajendra Rathore also figured in the list. With this list, the BJP has so far named 124 candidates. Israel-Hamas war | Egypt-Gaza border crossing opens, letting desperately needed aid flow to Palestinians The border crossing between Egypt and Gaza opened on October 21 to let desperately needed aid flow to Palestinians for the first time since Israel sealed off the territory following Hamas’ bloody rampage two weeks ago. Gaza’s 2.3 million people, many of whom have fled their homes, are rationing food and drinking filthy water. Hospitals say they are running low on medical supplies and fuel for emergency generators amid a territory-wide power blackout. Israel has launched waves of airstrikes across Gaza that have failed to stem ongoing Palestinian rocket fire into Israel. The opening came after more than a week of high-level diplomacy by various mediators, including visits to the region by U.S. President Joe Biden and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Israel had insisted that nothing would enter Gaza until some 200 people captured by Hamas were freed and the Palestinian side of the crossing had been shut down by Israeli airstrikes. More than 200 trucks carrying roughly 3,000 tonnes of aid had been positioned near the crossing for days. But Egypt’s state-owned Al-Qahera news, which is close to security agencies, said just 20 trucks had crossed into Gaza on October 21. Hundreds of foreign passport holders also waited to cross from Gaza to Egypt to escape the conflict. The Hamas-run government in Gaza said the limited convoy “will not be able to change the humanitarian catastrophe that Gaza is currently enduring,” calling for a secure corridor operating around the clock. The opening came hours after Hamas released an American woman and her teenage daughter, the first captives to be freed after the militant group’s October 7 incursion into Israel. Biden spoke with the two freed hostages and their relatives. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which transported the freed Americans to Israel, said their release was “a sliver of hope.” Hamas said in a statement that it was working with mediators “to close the case” of hostages if security circumstances permit. The group said it is committed to mediation efforts by Egypt, Qatar and others. There are growing expectations of a ground offensive that Israel says would be aimed at rooting out Hamas. Israel earlier said it does not plan to take long-term control over the small but densely-populated Palestinian territory. Israel has also traded fire along its northern border with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group, raising concerns about a second front opening up. The Israeli military said on Saturday it struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in response to recent rocket launches and attacks with anti-tank missiles. Gaganyaan test flight mission successful, crew escape module splashes down ISRO scientists on October 21, after a two-hour delay and nerve-wracking moments as the engine of Gaganyaan’s first Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1) failed to ignite initially, launched the rocket carrying payloads related to crew safety with precision from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota and achieved the goal of Crew Module and Crew Escape separation. ISRO chief S. Somanath said Gaganyaan’s first TV-D1 was successfully accomplished. ISRO announced on X that TV-D1 Mission was fully achieved and that the Crew Escape System performed as intended. Earlier in the day, the launch was held five seconds before lift off. However, the reason for the launch hold was identified and corrected, ISRO said. The flight which was originally scheduled to lift off at 8 a.m was rescheduled for 8.30 a.m. The mission director initiated the automatic launch sequence with the lift off again rescheduled at 8.45 a.m. but five seconds before liftoff the launch was called off. Somanath said that the onboard computer withheld the launch in view of an anomaly observed. He added that the launch vehicle is safe and that ISRO will study and analyse anomalies. The vehicle finally took off at 10 a.m. and the payloads later splashed into the sea as planned, a development that witnessed jubilation. Somanath said, “I am very happy to announce the successful accomplishment of the TV-D1 mission. The purpose of this mission was to demonstrate the Crew Escape System for the Gaganyaan program through a test vehicle demonstration in which the vehicle went up to a Mach number, which is slightly above the speed of sound, and initiated an abort condition for the Crew Escape System to function.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that ISRO’s successful launch took India a step closer to realising its first human space flight programme. Moitra’s parliamentary login ID used in Dubai when she was in India: BJP MP Nishikant Dubey Firing a fresh salvo at TMC MP Mahua Moitra, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on October 21 said Moitra was in India when her parliamentary ID was used in Dubai and claimed that the National Informatics Centre (NIC) has disclosed the information to probe agencies. In a post on X (formerly, Twitter) in Hindi, the BJP leader said that “an MP pawned the country’s security for some money.” “Does the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the opposition still have to do politics?. People will take a decision. The NIC has given this information to probe agency,” Dubey said but did not name the agency. In his post, Dubey did not directly name Moitra who he has accused of accepting bribes and favours for asking questions in Lok Sabha at the behest of businessman Darshan Hiranandani to target the Adani Group and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Lok Sabha’s Ethics Committee, looking into Dubey’s complaint, has asked him to appear on October 26 for recording “oral evidence”. In a signed affidavit submitted to the committee, Hiranandani admitted to using Moitra’s parliamentary login to ask questions targeting Adani after state-owned behemoth Indian Oil Corporation booked capacity at the Gujarat-based conglomerate’s Dhamra LNG import facility in Odisha and not at his firm’s planned facility. Moitra, whose party has kept quiet on the issue, has remained combative and continued to attack the Adani Group and Dubey, dismissing the allegations against her. Bahujan Samaj Party MP Danish Ali accused Parliamentary panels of applying different standards to recent complaints filed by and against MPs from the ruling BJP. In a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Ali said that BJP MP Nishikant Dubey’s complaint against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, which is under the purview of the Lok Sabha’s Ethics Committee, is being treated differently from the Opposition’s complaints against BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri for using communally charged and abusive language against Ali, which is under the consideration of the LS Privileges Committee. The established Parliamentary procedure, Ali said, is to call the complainant before the panel first, before calling the accused. U.K. disagrees with Indian decisions on Canadian diplomats row The U.K. government has expressed its disagreement with Indian government’s decisions, which it believes resulted in the departure of Canadian diplomats amid an ongoing stand-off between India and Canada over the killing of a Sikh separatist. The move impacted the effective functioning of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, a statement from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said on October 20. It came after Canada said it had withdrawn 41 diplomats following an alleged Indian threat to unilaterally revoke their status amid strained bilateral relations over Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s claims of Indian agents being involved in the June murder of Canadian Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has strongly rejected the allegation and also refuted any violation of the Vienna Convention in relation to the diplomats’ exit. “Resolving differences requires communication and diplomats in respective capitals. We do not agree with the decisions taken by the Indian government that have resulted in a number of Canadian diplomats departing India,” reads the FCDO statement. “We expect all states to uphold their obligations under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. The unilateral removal of the privileges and immunities that provide for the safety and security of diplomats is not consistent with the principles or the effective functioning of the Vienna Convention. We continue to encourage India to engage with Canada on its independent investigation into the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” it said. The U.K.’s statement followed the U.S. government also backing Canada over the standoff, with the State Department saying they are “concerned” by the departure of Canadian diplomats from India. The MEA had rejected all attempts to portray the implementation of diplomatic parity as a violation of international norms. CBI books man for cheating U.S. citizen; seizes cryptocurrencies worth about ₹7.7 crore The CBI booked a person for his alleged involvement in cyber enabled fraud and seized various cryptocurrencies worth about $930,000 (around ₹7.7 crore) from different crypto-wallets. The accused was identified as Ramavat Shaishav, who operated under the pseudonym James Carlson. It is alleged that he contacted a U.S. citizen over phone, introducing himself as a representative of the Fraud Department of a multi-national company falsely informing the victim that someone had been trying to order a computer using the victim’s account. The accused also misguided the victim that people in four different States had used the person’s social security number to open the accounts of the company. He then induced the victim to withdraw cash from his bank accounts and deposit the same in the form of Bitcoins with RockitCoin ATM wallet. Shaishav also allegedly shared a QR code falsely claiming that it was opened by the U.S. Treasury for the victim. The victim ended up withdrawing $130,000 (around ₹1.08 crore) from his bank accounts on different dates and deposited the same in the Bitcoin address provided by the accused. Subsequently, the funds were misappropriated by the accused. The CBI received inputs in this regard from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. After registering the case, the agency conducted searches on the premises of accused in Ahmedabad and took control of various cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, USDT, etc. worth about $930,000 kept in crypto-wallets of the accused. In Brief: Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returned home on October 21 on a special flight from Dubai after a four-year self-imposed exile in the U.K. to head his party and try to secure a record fourth term in the general elections expected to be held in January. He flew in from Dubai to Islamabad on the chartered flight “Umeed-e-Pakistan” along with some family members, senior party leaders and friends. Ahead of his return, he deplored the “very chaotic” situation back home and expressed confidence that his party was “competent” to take the cash-strapped country out of the present crisis. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 21 October 2023 [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]( Rajasthan Assembly polls | Congress releases first list of 33 candidates; BJP clears 83 more names The [Congress on October 21 released its first list of 33 candidates for the Rajasthan Assembly elections]( fielding Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot from Sardarpura and his former Deputy Sachin Pilot from Tonk. Speaker C.P. Joshi will contest from his Nathdwara Assembly seat, while the party’s State president Govind Singh Dotasra has been fielded from Lachhmangarh. Minister Harish Chaudhary will contest from Baytoo and Mamata Bhupesh from the Sikrai seat. The Congress is yet to declare candidates on a majority seats as its Central Election Committee will meet on October 21 to finalise names for more seats. The polls to the 200-member Assembly will be held on November 25. Meanwhile, the [BJP named 83 more candidates for the polls]( fielding former CM Vasundhara Raje from her traditional Jhalrapatan seat. The party also fielded Narpat Singh Rajvi from Chittorgarh. Rajvi was earlier denied renomination from his Vidhyadhar Nagar seat, which triggered a backlash from a section of party workers. The BJP’s about-turn on his candidature is being seen as a damage-control exercise after Rajvi reacted angrily and cited his family legacy to hit out at the party. Vishwaraj Singh Mewar, a descendent of Maharana Pratap Singh, who joined the party recently, former state BJP president Satish Poonia, Rajendra Rathore also figured in the list. With this list, the BJP has so far named 124 candidates. Israel-Hamas war | Egypt-Gaza border crossing opens, letting desperately needed aid flow to Palestinians The [border crossing between Egypt and Gaza opened on October 21 to let desperately needed aid flow to Palestinians]( for the first time since [Israel sealed off the territory following Hamas’ bloody rampage]( two weeks ago. Gaza’s 2.3 million people, many of whom have fled their homes, are rationing food and drinking filthy water. Hospitals say they are running low on medical supplies and fuel for emergency generators amid a territory-wide power blackout. Israel has launched waves of airstrikes across Gaza that have failed to stem ongoing Palestinian rocket fire into Israel. The opening came after more than a week of high-level diplomacy by various mediators, including visits to the region by U.S. President Joe Biden and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Israel had insisted that nothing would enter Gaza until some 200 people captured by Hamas were freed and the Palestinian side of the crossing had been shut down by Israeli airstrikes. More than 200 trucks carrying roughly 3,000 tonnes of aid had been positioned near the crossing for days. But Egypt’s state-owned Al-Qahera news, which is close to security agencies, said just 20 trucks had crossed into Gaza on October 21. Hundreds of foreign passport holders also waited to cross from Gaza to Egypt to escape the conflict. The Hamas-run government in Gaza said the limited convoy “will not be able to change the humanitarian catastrophe that Gaza is currently enduring,” calling for a secure corridor operating around the clock. The opening came hours after Hamas released an American woman and her teenage daughter, the first captives to be freed after the militant group’s October 7 incursion into Israel. Biden spoke with the two freed hostages and their relatives. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which transported the freed Americans to Israel, said their release was “a sliver of hope.” Hamas said in a statement that it was working with mediators “to close the case” of hostages if security circumstances permit. The group said it is committed to mediation efforts by Egypt, Qatar and others. There are growing expectations of a ground offensive that Israel says would be aimed at rooting out Hamas. Israel earlier said it does not plan to take long-term control over the small but densely-populated Palestinian territory. Israel has also traded fire along its northern border with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group, raising concerns about a second front opening up. The Israeli military said on Saturday it struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in response to recent rocket launches and attacks with anti-tank missiles. Gaganyaan test flight mission successful, crew escape module splashes down ISRO scientists on October 21, after a two-hour delay and nerve-wracking moments as the engine of [Gaganyaan’s first Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1]( (TV-D1) failed to ignite initially, launched the rocket carrying payloads related to crew safety with precision from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota and achieved the goal of Crew Module and Crew Escape separation. ISRO chief S. Somanath said Gaganyaan’s first TV-D1 was successfully accomplished. ISRO announced on X that TV-D1 Mission was fully achieved and that the Crew Escape System performed as intended. Earlier in the day, the launch was held five seconds before lift off. However, the reason for the launch hold was identified and corrected, ISRO said. The flight which was originally scheduled to lift off at 8 a.m was rescheduled for 8.30 a.m. The mission director initiated the automatic launch sequence with the lift off again rescheduled at 8.45 a.m. but five seconds before liftoff the launch was called off. Somanath said that the onboard computer withheld the launch in view of an anomaly observed. He added that the launch vehicle is safe and that ISRO will study and analyse anomalies. The vehicle finally took off at 10 a.m. and the payloads later splashed into the sea as planned, a development that witnessed jubilation. Somanath said, “I am very happy to announce the successful accomplishment of the TV-D1 mission. The purpose of this mission was to demonstrate the Crew Escape System for the Gaganyaan program through a test vehicle demonstration in which the vehicle went up to a Mach number, which is slightly above the speed of sound, and initiated an abort condition for the Crew Escape System to function.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that ISRO’s successful launch took India a step closer to realising its first human space flight programme. Moitra’s parliamentary login ID used in Dubai when she was in India: BJP MP Nishikant Dubey Firing a fresh salvo at TMC MP Mahua Moitra, BJP MP [Nishikant Dubey on October 21 said Moitra was in India when her parliamentary ID was used in Dubai]( and claimed that the National Informatics Centre (NIC) has disclosed the information to probe agencies. In a post on X (formerly, Twitter) in Hindi, the BJP leader said that “an MP pawned the country’s security for some money.” “Does the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the opposition still have to do politics?. People will take a decision. The NIC has given this information to probe agency,” Dubey said but did not name the agency. In his post, Dubey did not directly name Moitra who he has accused of accepting bribes and favours for asking questions in Lok Sabha at the behest of businessman Darshan Hiranandani to target the Adani Group and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Lok Sabha’s Ethics Committee, looking into Dubey’s complaint, has asked him to appear on October 26 for recording “oral evidence”. In a signed affidavit submitted to the committee, Hiranandani admitted to using Moitra’s parliamentary login to ask questions targeting Adani after state-owned behemoth Indian Oil Corporation booked capacity at the Gujarat-based conglomerate’s Dhamra LNG import facility in Odisha and not at his firm’s planned facility. Moitra, whose party has kept quiet on the issue, has remained combative and continued to attack the Adani Group and Dubey, dismissing the allegations against her. [Bahujan Samaj Party MP Danish Ali accused Parliamentary panels of applying different standards]( to recent complaints filed by and against MPs from the ruling BJP. In a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Ali said that BJP MP Nishikant Dubey’s complaint against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, which is under the purview of the Lok Sabha’s Ethics Committee, is being treated differently from the Opposition’s complaints against BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri for using communally charged and abusive language against Ali, which is under the consideration of the LS Privileges Committee. The established Parliamentary procedure, Ali said, is to call the complainant before the panel first, before calling the accused. U.K. disagrees with Indian decisions on Canadian diplomats row The [U.K. government has expressed its disagreement with Indian government’s decisions]( which it believes resulted in the departure of Canadian diplomats amid an ongoing stand-off between India and Canada over the killing of a Sikh separatist. The move impacted the effective functioning of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, a statement from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said on October 20. It came after Canada said it had withdrawn 41 diplomats following an alleged Indian threat to unilaterally revoke their status amid strained bilateral relations over Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s claims of Indian agents being involved in the June murder of Canadian Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has strongly rejected the allegation and also refuted any violation of the Vienna Convention in relation to the diplomats’ exit. “Resolving differences requires communication and diplomats in respective capitals. We do not agree with the decisions taken by the Indian government that have resulted in a number of Canadian diplomats departing India,” reads the FCDO statement. “We expect all states to uphold their obligations under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. The unilateral removal of the privileges and immunities that provide for the safety and security of diplomats is not consistent with the principles or the effective functioning of the Vienna Convention. We continue to encourage India to engage with Canada on its independent investigation into the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” it said. The U.K.’s statement followed the U.S. government also backing Canada over the standoff, with the State Department saying they are “concerned” by the departure of Canadian diplomats from India. The MEA had rejected all attempts to portray the implementation of diplomatic parity as a violation of international norms. CBI books man for cheating U.S. citizen; seizes cryptocurrencies worth about ₹7.7 crore [The CBI booked a person for his alleged involvement in cyber enabled fraud and seized various cryptocurrencies worth about $930,000 (around ₹7.7 crore) from different crypto-wallets.]( The accused was identified as Ramavat Shaishav, who operated under the pseudonym James Carlson. It is alleged that he contacted a U.S. citizen over phone, introducing himself as a representative of the Fraud Department of a multi-national company falsely informing the victim that someone had been trying to order a computer using the victim’s account. The accused also misguided the victim that people in four different States had used the person’s social security number to open the accounts of the company. He then induced the victim to withdraw cash from his bank accounts and deposit the same in the form of Bitcoins with RockitCoin ATM wallet. Shaishav also allegedly shared a QR code falsely claiming that it was opened by the U.S. Treasury for the victim. The victim ended up withdrawing $130,000 (around ₹1.08 crore) from his bank accounts on different dates and deposited the same in the Bitcoin address provided by the accused. Subsequently, the funds were misappropriated by the accused. The CBI received inputs in this regard from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. After registering the case, the agency conducted searches on the premises of accused in Ahmedabad and took control of various cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, USDT, etc. worth about $930,000 kept in crypto-wallets of the accused. In Brief: Pakistan’s former Prime Minister [Nawaz Sharif returned home on October 21]( on a special flight from Dubai after a four-year self-imposed exile in the U.K. to head his party and try to secure a record fourth term in the general elections expected to be held in January. He flew in from Dubai to Islamabad on the chartered flight “Umeed-e-Pakistan” along with some family members, senior party leaders and friends. Ahead of his return, he deplored the “very chaotic” situation back home and expressed confidence that his party was “competent” to take the cash-strapped country out of the present crisis. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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