Daily Briefing: Challenge for oil PSUs; whether judges declare assets; Turkey’s bid for BRICS; and more

• Whether judges state assets
• Turkey’s bid for BRICS
• Wrestlers successful dilemma

Big Story

It is simply a billion-dollar question — rather literally. Indian lipid companies person recovered themselves successful a unsocial position, courtesy the Russia-Ukraine conflict. An estimated $900 cardinal of dividend income is stuck successful a slope successful Moscow owed to restrictions connected outgo channels — a complication resulting from Western sanctions connected Russia.

Where is this wealth coming from? Well, Indian lipid companies, namely ONGC Videsh (OVL), Oil India (OIL), Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), and Bharat PetroResources (BPRL), are receiving dividend payments from their investments successful lipid and state projects successful Russia.

Where is it going? The payment, successful roubles, is understood to beryllium accumulating astatine the Commercial Indo Bank (CIBL), an affiliate of the State Bank of India (SBI). However, owed to sanctions, Russia has been shunted retired of the planetary payments system, and is incapable to determination the wealth anyplace else.

The agelong and abbreviated of it: There are respective complications successful utilizing this wealth wrong Russia. The quagmire extends beyond Russia to overseas territory.

Only successful Express

Right to know?: Nearly 15 years ago, courts had decided to marque the assets of their judges public. Today, of the 749 judges posted successful 25 High Courts crossed the courts, the assets of only 98 are available successful the nationalist domain. The Indian Express sought to cognize wherefore the assets of others person not been made nationalist done the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The responses varied from the accusation being labelled “personal” oregon not covered nether the Act.

A mismatch: The rape-murder lawsuit successful Kolkata has enactment a spotlight connected the corruption astir biomedical discarded – and a booming grey marketplace for its unauthorised commercialized reuse. A discarded mitt oregon syringe, sold illegally and repackaged, tin find its mode backmost to the market. What’s down this lapse? An Indian Express probe takes a cue from the discrepancies successful authorities authorities data.

From the Front Page

Seat politics: For the archetypal clip since the abrogation of Article 370 successful 2019, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not notation the contented of Kashmir successful his code astatine the United Nations General Assembly. What prompted this interruption from tradition? Perhaps it’s due to the fact that Turkey wants a spot astatine the BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – table.

‘Satisfied’: The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea by the Gujarat government, which sought a reappraisal of its judgement that cancelled the remission granted to 11 convicts successful the Bilkis Bano case. The reappraisal petition had besides pointed to “extreme observation” successful the tribunal bid against the authorities government. However, the tribunal said it saw nary merit successful the government’s plea.

Must Read

In our Opinion pages today, erstwhile Mumbai constabulary commissioner Julio Ribeiro raises immoderate troubling questions connected the sidesplitting of a rape accused wrong a constabulary van successful Thane. “In astir cases of fake encounters the victims are poor. This remark was made by a constabulary constable successful a radical of policemen discussing the sordid event. That aforesaid antheral went connected to remark that if the accused was a affluent antheral oregon a person similar the alleged molester of women wrestlers… the constabulary would not person dared to signifier specified an ‘encounter’.”

Tackling ‘kharchi, parchi’: In backdrop of a pugnacious electoral contention successful Haryana, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s run speeches look to person 1 changeless refrain: the notation of a “parchi” and “kharchi” system, brought nether the Congress’ 10-year regularisation successful the state, wherein adjacent jobs were not obtained without corruption oregon favouritism.

Wrestling woes… The Wrestling Federation of India is nary alien to controversy. This time, the Sanjay Singh-led federation has barred medallists from a government-backed National Championship from taking portion successful the enactment trials for adjacent month’s World Championships. In contrast, those who won medals astatine the WFI-conducted Nationals successful Pune (not recognised by the government), person been fixed the greenish awesome to instrumentality portion successful the trials.

And Finally…

Chip dreams: At the bosom of India and the United States’ concern to acceptable up the precise archetypal semiconductor fabrication works for nationalist security, lies 1 Indian start-up: Bharat Semi, and its holding entity, 3rdiTech.

Delhi Confidential: Do appearances matter? When UP Congress main Ajay Rai spoke of his lad wearing a crisp achromatic kurta, different person pointed to Rahul Gandhi’s ‘jeans and T-shirt’ look.

🎧 In today’s occurrence of the ‘3 things’ podcast, we sermon the contention surrounding Karnataka High Court Justice V Srishananda’s ‘Pakistan’ notation to a Muslim-majority country successful Bengaluru. We besides talk astir the Tirupati laddu controversy, and wherefore the Supreme Court quashed the Punjab government’s notification connected the NRI quota. Tune in!

That’s each for today.

Until tomorrow,

Sonal Gupta and Ayesha Jain