5 THINGS FIRST Justice Ranjan Gogoi to take over as new Chief Justice of India; PM Modi to receive environment award from UN chief; RBI's three-day monetary policy review meeting begins; Bypollfor one Maharashtra and three Karnataka legislative council seats; Nobel prize for chemistry to be announced

1. Why farm loan waiver is always in demand Thousands of agitating farmers from across states marched into Delhi on Tuesday demanding, among other things, loan waivers. They met representatives of the Centre but have threatened to continue the agitation till all their demands are met. Government is okay with most demands but not loan waiver. Farm loan waiver is a standard demand across India now. The reason: It's a permanent promise: In the run-up to Karnataka elections this year all major parties — BJP, Congress and JD(S) — promised farm loan waivers. It was announced in August. That's now the pattern before elections in most agrarian states. Last year, Maharashtra, UP, Punjab and Karnataka waived farm loans. It's a way out of crisis: Farm income growth has been subdued in recent years due to poor monsoon (on which most farmers depend), falling prices and limited MSP hikes till last year. Over half of farm households in the country are in debt. That is a reason behind repeated demands. It's easy to get: If elections are around, it goes without asking. If not, all it takes is an agitation to bring the government to its knees. Maharashtra government was arm-twisted into giving one after a sea of agitating farmers swamped Mumbai with the demand. It's easy to give: To reduce farm distress, there are better long-term alternatives to loan waivers. But building irrigation systems or warehouses, electrifying villages or creating markets takes time and effort. A loan waiver is quick and returns are instant. UPA's return to power in 2009 was in a large part credited to the massive Rs 70,000 crore farm loan waiver. It's about numbers: Over 60% of India's population depends on agriculture. Unhappy farmers worry politicians. It's difficult to ignore the suffering of farmers from a humanitarian perspective too. But it's not helping farmers: Waivers punish farmers who repay loans on time and encourage defaults. That makes banks suspicious the next time they go asking for a loan. In Maharashtra, waivers haven't had much impact on suicideseither. It's not helping states: States are going to have a higher deficit. Two big reasons are farm loans and elections, says the report.

2. Vandalism isn't protest. It's vandalism, says SC The judgment: If protesters turn violent and vandalise property, their leaders must present themselves in for questioning at the police station within 24 hours of the incident, failing which they would be proceeded against as suspects first and absconder later, ruled the Supreme Court on Monday. To make it worse for the protesters turning into mobs that vandalise property, the SC said that they would be granted bail only if they deposit the estimated cost of loss of or damage to the properties, either individually or collectively. The problem: It's not about law but its implementation. There are laws and punishment for vandalism, destruction of public property (though mild) and rioting (which attracts higher punishment) but they are enforced in high-profile cases based on political convenience. The politics: A case in point is the file and withdrawal of cases against right-wing leader Sambhaji Bhide. He and his organisation were charged with rioting and stone-pelting while protesting against a movie and an artist in 2008 and 2009. An RTI revealed this week that Maharashtra Police has withdrawn these cases. A case of rioting and vandalism against Yogi Adityanath filed in 2007 is still in court. Full story here

3. It takes 55-60 years for a woman to win a Nobel in Physics The XX factor: Donna Strickland, from the University of Waterloo, Canada, became just the third woman in history to win a Nobel Prize for Physics, when the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the awards on Tuesday — jointly awarding her, Arthur Ashkin, who, at 96, is the oldest Nobel laureate, and Gerard Mourou the Nobel for their groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics. Press pause: When Marie Curie became the first woman to win the Nobel in Physics in 1903, she set in (slow) motion a trend that comes full circle every 55-60 years — the next woman to win was Maria Goeppert Mayer, in 1963, exactly 60 years later, jointly with Eugene Paul Wigner and J Hans D Jensen for their discoveries concerning nuclear shell structure. Strickland's win comes 55 years after Mayer's. The 55 jinx: The average age of Nobel prize winners in Physics, from the time they were first awarded in 1901 till last year, stands at 55 — interestingly, the medal for the Nobel in Physics is engraved with the figure resembling the goddess Isis, who, mythology says was imbued with magical powers and great wit but was content to stay in the background. Read more here

4. Why spending time with granny is a profitable venture Time of life: A recommendation by NHRC's Core Group on Disability and Elderly Persons, if put into practice, will address perhaps the most important issue facing India's senior citizens — of loneliness in old age — by having the young spend time with them and 'bank' that time spent. Inspired idea: Taken from the Swiss and UK concept of a time bank, people save time and volunteer to care for the elderly in need, and the number of hours they spend on this is deposited into their personal account of social security system. When the volunteer grows old and needs assistance, he/she could use the 'time bank' and a volunteer is assigned to care for him/her. Money is time: The NHRC also recommended increasing the pension of elderly persons from Rs 200 to Rs 2,000 per month and the appointment of a nodal police officer to deal with issues of senior citizens living alone — there are approximately 10 crore senior citizens in India out of which around 1.5 crore live alone, according to the government figures.

NEWS IN CLUES 5. Which is the second most engaged social network? Clue 1: It was initially called Codename, before being changed prior to the launch. Clue 2: On the site, Selena Gomez and National Geographic are the most followed person and brand, respectively. Clue 3: In June this year, it launched its video service IGTV. Scroll below for answer

X-PLAINED 6. Innocent passage On Tuesday, warships of the US and China "narrowly avoided collision" in the South China Sea — where China has been on a military build-up . China said the USS Decatur (in pic) threatened its sovereignty and security; US Navy says it was a routine sea patrol to ensure "freedom of navigation operation" — a right granted by a UN Convention called "The Innocent Passage”. Law of the sea: It is one of the oldest UN Conventions, and grants a ship of any state — coastal or landlocked — the right of innocent passage through the territorial sea of another country so long as it is not "prejudicial to the peace, good order or security of the coastal state". The UN law, introduced in 1958 and codified in 1982, has the heft of history — 3rd-century Roman jurist Ulpian had written: "mare quod naturia omnibus patet" (the sea is open to everybody by nature). Importance: The law is crucial for the smooth conduct of international trade; it allows for trade between two nations even if the ship has to traverse through waters of a third country. The law is a necessity considering nations such as Spain and Portugal had staked claim to entire oceans in the Colonial Era. Warships too: The code's 'a ships of any state' clause lets even warships pass through territorial waters of a country, though it can't launch or recover aircraft, collect military intelligence or distribute propaganda. It isn't just the US, others too send warships for sea patrol — in 2015, five Chinese warships made an innocent passage through US waters near Alaska. India too: The Indian Navy too sends its warships on deep sea patrol, although most of it is to ward against smuggling or illegal activity in its or international waters; it does, however, partner with Myanmar, Indonesia and the like for joint patrols. The US is keen for India to join its South China Sea patrol — in fact, it said in 2016 that a deal has been agreed, only for the then defence minister Manohar Parrikar to reject it ("we only do joint exercise and not joint patrol," he said). But since then India and the US has grown a lot closer, and Chinese presence in Indian Ocean has increased; so don't rule out a future operation.

7. No one deserves a Gandhi The award, we meant, or to be precise, the Gandhi Peace Prize, named after the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, which has not been awarded for the last four years — the last time it was awarded was in 2014, to ISRO. The reasons for not awarding the prize are not clear, says an official at the Ministry of Culture, the nodal agency which receives proposals by April 30 for conferring the award, which is announced on October 2, the birth anniversary of Gandhi. The code of procedure for the prize, though, does state that in case no one merits an award in any given year, it may be withheld. Thus far, the award has been given only 12 times since it was instituted in 1995, with no awards being given in 2004, 2006-2012 and 2015-2018. What's being missed out is the Rs 1 crore in prize money, along with a plaque and citation, with the prize money convertible into any currency in the world as the award is open to all regardless of nationality, race, creed or gender. Read more here

8. This man spent $6,000 to challenge Google — and won Uber cool: Google owns a bunch of patents crucial to operate autonomous cars — in fact, these patents on the lidar technology, which help cars "see", were the subject of a big battle between Google's Waymo and Uber, one which Uber had to settle. Well driven: The battle between Uber and Google intrigued many across the world; but none looked into it more keenly than Eric Swildens, an engineer who works for a small cloud computing company not involved in self-driving or any such fancy tech battles. Not so cool: Swildens' interest in the case was simple: He said the design of the lidar circuit — which he downloaded from public documents of the lawsuit — was so simple, he couldn't imagine the circuit didn't exist prior to this patent. So he hunkered down and started looking into a whole lot of patents on the relevant subject; turns out the technology that Google said it created (and alleged Uber to have copied) was patented by another company — lidar maker Velodyne — before it. Deep pocket vs will: So Swildens spent $6,000 of his personal money to challenge Google's patents at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); Google sent its army to counter him. After taking a deeper look, USPTO rejectedall but three of 56 patents Google had owned on the subject. The unintended winner of the decision: Velodyne, which had no clue this had happened (though its joy is muddied by a lawsuit by another company which said the technology is originally its). Swildens gets no reward for his work; he was only interested in vigilantism — motivated by a patent case that had forced him to sell his internet network startup to Akamai in 2002. And Uber? The company says it is not planning to redesign its lidar back to the original as it has spent a lot of money and time after settling with Google.

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9. Why Rohingya are happy about delay in project meant for them Project & delay: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was slated to open a new settlement built to house 100,000 Rohingya refugees on Bhashan Char island today. The project has been delayed and the government will "announce a new date soon". Not what it seems: The remote island rose from the sea only in 2006. It takes one hour by boat to get there from the nearest land but violent storms make the journey by sea dangerous or sometimes impossible. Bangladesh's armed forces have overseen the $280 million-effort to transform the muddy islet into a habitable camp. The decision remains unpopular in the teeming Rohingya camps. Why: The camps along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, where about a million Rohingya stay, are overcrowded and at risk from floods, landslides and disease. However, rights groups warn it is too risky to house refugees on the island. Read the full story here

10. The Kashmiri batswoman who's still not out Revival of the finest: From battling the after-effects, and the continuing effects, of insurgency, to facing ridicule and even hostility as a woman entrepreneur, 40 year old Rifat Masoodi has come a long way since 1999 when she revived her father-in-law's defunct bat manufacturing unit to become Kashmir's only woman owner of a bat making unit. How the wheels rolled: Her journey started with the historic Delhi-Lahore bus trip undertaken by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1999, that ushered in some semblance of peace — the mother of two, whose husband is a football coach, began making calls to each of the Indian buyers who had shown interest in Kashmiri bats, made from Kashmir willow, and offered wholesale customers free stay at the Masoodi residence. A long road: The industry might have recovered from the situation in the 1990s, when the Masoodi unit had to be shut down, but it is still much smaller than other cricket equipment manufacturing hubs. While firms like Punjab's FC Sondhi, BAS and Meerut's SG clock net revenues between Rs 150 and Rs 300 crore, Kashmir's batmakers are a loose industry spread between Pampore, Anantnag and Srinagar where each maker earns around Rs 1-10 crore a year. Read the full story here

PLUS Best friend? Yes. Intelligent? Not so. Dog owners who've asked their pets 'Who's a clever boy?', chew on this. Canines are less intelligent than most people think. In fact, we've seriously overestimated their brainpower, which is on a par with pigeons, sheep or goats. In fact, previous studies may have given a false impression of how clever dogs are, said researchers at the University of Exeter and Canterbury Christ Church University. "They are often compared to chimpanzees and whenever dogs 'win', this gets added to their reputation as something exceptional," said Exeter professor Stephen Lea. Having reviewed more than 300 papers on animal brain power—comparing dogs with other domestic animals, social hunters and carnivores—here a few examples the study threw up: Dogs are unable to recognise themselves in a mirror, unlike animals including chimpanzees and dolphins. Unlike dogs, animals including pigs, pigeons and chimpanzees have the ability to remember the what, where and when of an event. Goats, pigs, dolphins, seals and sea lions do at least as well as dogs at following human pointing. Cats do at least as well as dogs at identifying humans by their voices. Donkeys, mules and horses are as able to find their way around barriers as dogs. Dolphins, chimps, giant pandas, two species of bear and sea otters can use tools at least as well as dogs.

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Answer To NEWS IN CLUES Instagram. Facebook veteran Adam Mosseri has been appointed as the new head of Instagram. Last week, co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, CEO and CTO respectively, resigned abruptly amid reported clashes with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Serving as Instagram’s vice president of product till now, Mosseri joined Facebook as a designer in 2008. He worked on Facebook's mobile product and news feed before moving over to Instagram.