Daily Briefing: Death penalty for arrested Indians in Qatar; West Bengal Forest Minister arrested by ED | Live News

🚨 Big Story

Eight former Indian Navy personnel arrested in an alleged case of espionage were handed the death sentence by a court in Qatar yesterday, complicating New Delhi’s efforts to secure their release.

Terming the judgment “deeply shocking,” Indian government said that it was “exploring all legal options”. The Indian nationals, all employees of Doha-based Dahra Global, were taken into custody in August 2022. The charges against the men were never made public, but the fact they were put in solitary confinement led to speculation that they had been detained in connection with a security-related offence, writes Nirupama Subramanian.

⚡ Only in Express

In our ‘Best of both sides’ section today, two senior advocates Fali Nariman and Saurabh Kirpal argue for and against the Supreme Court judgment on same-sex marriage.

“The power to make laws — including laws as to marriage — vest exclusively either with Parliament at the Centre or with a state legislature in a state” writes Nariman, while Kirpal argues that “electoral politics, while essential in a democracy, was not the surest way to achieve justice for all.”

📰 From the Front page

Don’t hold yatra in poll-bound states, the Election Commission has told the government after receiving complaints about the government’s plan to depute senior bureaucrats for its proposed Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra from November 20.

Rajasthan and West Bengal have joined the long list of states where senior opposition leaders have faced Enforcement Directorate raids. In the latest development this morning, West Bengal Forest Minister Jyotipriya Mallick was arrested by the ED in the ‘ration scam’ case. Rajasthan, meanwhile, Congress in Rajasthan and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal are poised to sharpen their attack on the Centre today after the day-long raids over the past two days.

⚖️ A day after a judge of the Gujarat High Court apologised for his outburst against his woman colleague on the bench, the High Court has asked YouTube to remove the videos of the apology claiming copyright violation, The Indian Express has learnt.

In the latest development in the cash-for-query allegations involving TMC MP Mahua Moitra, the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee has asked her to appear before it on October 31. Find out more here.

👩‍💻 Must read

Decision 2023: With Mizoram heading to polls on November 7, we take a look at how BJP is wooing non-Mizo voters in the state.

Meanwhile, in Madhya Pradesh, BJP national secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya is preparing for the unexpected Assembly election he finds himself in, “armed with fistfuls of mithai”. His competitor, sitting Indore-1 Congress MLA Sanjay Shukla says he is not intimidated: “Beta hi jitega, neta nahin”. Check out our ground report for more on the rivalry.

Israel-Hamas war: The Indian Express’s Diplomatic Affairs Editor Shubhajit Roy spent a week travelling through Israel and the West Bank and spoke with the victims of both the Hamas massacre and the bombing campaign in Gaza. Here’s what he saw, heard, and understood.

In our Opinion section today, C Raja Mohan writes on the US role and reaction in the ongoing conflict in West Asia: “The US has more leverage than the other major powers with both the Arabs and Israel. All that was not enough to produce peace, but there should be no doubt about who has the greater influence in shaping the regional landscape.”

⌛ And finally

🏹 “These medals prove that I am special. These medals are not just mine, but of the whole country”: Meet Sheetal Devi, the “first female archer without arms to compete internationally”, who won two medals at the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou this week.

🤫 With BJP leader Nishikant Dubey deposing before the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee on Thursday to submit oral evidence on his cash-for query allegations, things seem to have come full circle for him. Find out why, only in today’s Delhi Confidential!

🎧 In the latest episode of the ‘3 Things’ podcast, we talk to Shubhajit Roy about his ground report from Israel on the war with Hamas. We also discuss Bihar removing 20 lakh students from public schools, and ED raids in Rajasthan.

Until next time,

Navmi Krishna and Arushi Bhaskar

Business As Usual by E P Unny