Morning Brief: NIA Heads To US For Extradition Of 26/11 Suspect Tahawwur Rana; Counting Of Votes To Begin Shortly; And Other News

Good morning, dear reader! Here’s your morning news brief for today.

NIA Heads To The US For Extradition Of 26/11 Suspect

A team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) will head to the United States today to resolve legal issues in the extradition of Tahawwur Rana, who is accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, The Indian Express has reported. According to the daily, the US’ Federal Bureau of Investigation had invited NIA to Washington to “resolve outstanding issues”. The team will return on 17 December.

Rana, a Pakistani Canadian, was convicted by a US court for providing support to Hafiz Saeed's terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba. He is serving a 14-year term in the US. Agencies in the US have been unable to hand him over to India as US law prevents punishment for the same offence twice. NIA believes Rana should be tried for offences registered in India, including forgery and criminal breach of trust.

Counting Of Votes To Begin Shortly

The month-long election season will enter its last day as the counting of votes starts in Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to determine the electoral fate of over 8,500 candidates who contested the elections. Over 1.74 lakh Electronic Voting Machines, stored in 670 strongrooms across Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Telangana, will be opened today. Results are likely to be announced for all 678 assembly seats which went to polls in these states

In Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the ruling BJP was in a direct fight with the Congress. Chhattisgarh witnessed a three-way contest as Mayawati teamed up with Ajit Jogi to challenge the BJP and the Congress in the state. In Telangana, the contest was between the ruling TRS and the Congress-TDP alliance. Most exit polls have predicted a victory for the Congress in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, a neck and neck fight in Madhya Pradesh and a TRS sweep in Telangana. In Mizoram, the only remaining state in the North-East which is not under the rule of BJP-led NDA, Congress may lose power.

Vijay Mallya To Appeal Against UK Court’s Extradition Order

Absconding liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who lost his legal battle against the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate on Monday, has said that he will appeal against the UK court’s order which gives approval to his extradition to India on charges of money laundering. Office of the UK Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, will have to pass an order based on the verdict. If the Home Secretary decides to allow Mallya’s extradition, he can appeal against the decision in the UK High Court. The Indian side can also appeal if the decision of the Home Office goes against it.

The UK court has found “clear evidence of dispersal and misapplication of the loan funds” and concluded that there was “a prima facie case (that) Dr Mallya was involved in a conspiracy to launder money.” It observed that Mallya hid his assets and “divested it on to his three children in trust for their benefit”.

Urjit Patel Quits As RBI Governor

Late on Monday, Urjit Patel resigned as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor amid what appeared to be a period of calm following major differences with the government over a range of issues. Patel had over a year left in the current term. According to Bloomberg, Patel had not informed the government about his move. His resignation comes just days after a nine-hour long RBI board meeting on 19 November, in which both sides seemed to have softened their stance.

Ironically, the Congress, which had organised a protest demanding Patel’s resignation in 2017, attacked the government following this development. In 2016, Patel was manhandled by Congress workers at the Kolkata airport.

From Swarajya

More Pros Than Cons If RBI’s ‘Excess’ Capital Is Used To Fund PSU Bank Recap: A return of capital from the RBI will be more positive than negative for the economy, especially if it helps turn the tide on credit growth and economic expansion. The only issue is negotiating the conditions the government needs to agree on reforming the public sector banks before accessing this capital.

Agriculture Export Policy Is A Welcome Initiative That Has Miles To Go:The government must consider appointing a chief information officer in the Ministry of Agriculture, who can bring a difference to farmers’ prospects through technologies such as block chain and artificial intelligence.

How India Is Dependent On Bangladesh’s Taka: Bangladesh is critical to the success of India’s ‘Act East’ policy and India has huge stakes in Bangladesh’s industry and infrastructure. So, the narrative needs to move beyond ‘illegal influx’ and focus on the criticality of Bangladesh to India’s economy.

We hope you enjoyed reading our morning brief. Have a great day ahead!

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