5 THINGS FIRST Russian President Putin arrives in India for 2-day visit; SC hearing on shelter homes sexual abuse case; First batch of 7 Rohingya to be deported to Myanmar; Suresh Prabhu to chair inter-ministerial meet on rupee, trade deficit; First cricket Test match between India & West Indies at Rajkot

1. Why Mayawati matters as much for BJP as for Congress What: Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati has ruled out any alliancewith the Congress for the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. She announced last month that BSP won't tie up with Congress in Chhattisgarh either. Why: It was about seats. "In Rajasthan, Congress was offering us only 9 seats (out of 200), in MP 15-20 (out of 230), in Chhattisgarh 5-6 (of 90)". Plus, Mayawati said, "BSP loses more due to alliance as all its votes get transferred to Congress". Contest 2018: The importance of BSP in these states comes from the strength of Dalits, whom she counts as her core vote bank. In MP, Dalits account for over 15% of the population, in Rajasthan about 17% and in Chhattisgarh close to 12%. In the last assembly polls in MP, BSP's vote share was 6.3%, while the difference between BJP's and Congress' vote share was 8%, leading experts to say that the results could have been different had BSP and Congress fought together. In fact, Congress + BSP vote share was more than BJP's in 6 out of 9 assembly elections in these states since 2003. BJP is in power in all these states and a split opposition will work for it. Battle 2019: Mayawati shutting the doors on an alliance with Congress is a huge setback to the opposition's effort to put up a united front against the ruling BJP. However, in a sign that she may be amenable to exploring a partnership for 2019, she didn't hit out Rahul or Sonia Gandhi ("I feel that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi's intentions for the Congress-BSP alliance are honest.") nor did she say anything about the Lok Sabha polls. A three-cornered contest works for BJP, in UP and every other state where it's in power. Full story here

2. India's drive against immigrants hits Rohingya Acting on it: BJP president Amit Shah had vowed to expel all "Bangladeshi infiltrators" in India (he called them termites). If not all Bangladeshis, Assam, the BJP-ruled state, has found another target: it plans to deport seven Rohingya Muslims back to Myanmar today in India's first such action against the discriminated community. Banking on it: The subject of immigrants has gained currency as India approaches the 2019 General Elections — this April, a BJP youth wing leader claimed on social media to have set on fire a Rohingya refugee camp that housed 200 in Delhi. Falling back on it: Even Assam's National Register of Citizens was largely been based on a fear of large-scale immigration of Bangladeshis. But India later had to assure Bangladesh that no one will be deported. Deportation of Rohingya, however, appears to have had a better reception, with India opening talks with Bangladesh to deport them this July. That is so as neither Bangladesh nor Myanmar, where they are originally from, accept Rohingya as their own. UN says more than 700,000 Rohingya have escaped Rakhine state in Myanmar to Bangladesh — it calls it an ethnic cleansing. And 40,000 are estimated to be in India. Bangladesh says it has no plans to assimilate Rohingya in its country, and India has refrained from criticising Myanmar for the Rohingya crisis, meaning deporting them from India is unlikely to upset geopolitics. A U.N human rights official has said the forcible return of the Rohingya is a violation of international law.

3. Why guaranteed crop prices don't work for farmers What: Union cabinet raised the government-mandated prices for winter-sown crops such as wheat on Wednesday. The move came a day after agitating farmers clashed with police in Delhi over the demand. It's also aimed at tackling rising discontent among farmers. Why: Prices of some crops have fallen sharply after two years of record harvest; input costs, especially of diesel, has gone up too. The guarantee: Centre announces minimum support prices (MSPs) for specific crops every year by taking into account the cultivation cost and also to set a benchmark for the market. However, the cost varies from state to state and the one that Centre considers is a weighted all-India average based on a low sample size. Plus, state agencies usually buy only limited quantities at MSP because of lack of funds and storage facilities. Majority of small farmers don't have access to their state's procurement mechanism. The false benchmark: MSPs don't really help prices or farmers. Government bought Rs 29,000 crore of pulses from farmers last year but wholesale prices remained lower than the MSP. Market prices for all winter crops last season were below the government recommended rates. MSPs also distort markets. When Haryana announced 100% procurement of bajra (millet) at a higher MSP than Rajasthan, stocks from the state found their way into Haryana, to take advantage. Since MSPs don't help, governments have to either threaten traders or bribe them to buy at prices it has declared. Some state governments have put in place laws against traders who buy farm produce at prices that are below the MSP announced by the government. Some announce monetary incentives (like a 15% commission) for traders to buy at MSP. High MSPs not only prevent diversification of crops by farmers but also sometimes increase supply without any increase in demand forcing the government to sell at a loss.

4. Putin is not in India to just sell missiles The visit: Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives for the 19th India-Russia Summit today. Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj was in Moscow last month to discuss trade and prepare the ground for the visit and Army chief was next, giving an idea of what to expect in the next two days. Made in India: New Delhi will gift India-built MiG-21 to Moscow as a symbol of the long strategic partnership between the two countries. Russian MiGs first entered India's air force in the 1960s after the US and UK refused to sell their supersonic jets to India; they have since then been developed by India's HAL. Make in India: On India's shopping list: S-400 missile defence systems, another refurbished submarine, assault rifles and helicopters. A deal to buy the first two and make the others in India is likely to be signed this week. The training of astronauts for India's first manned space mission for 2021 is also likely to happen in Russia. Energy security: India's investment in Russia's oil and gas sector exceeds $10 billion. ONGC Videsh is likely to sign another deal with the Russian oil firm Gazprom for a joint development project. India looks to oil and gas from Russia for "price stability and energy security". Expanding nuclear ties may also be on the agenda. Russia is the only country that's building a nuclear plant in India. Investments: Russia's $10 billion sovereign wealth fund that has been increasing its footprint in the infrastructure sector is likely to sign a dealwith India's National Investment and Infrastructure Fund to jointly invest in port and logistics and in mineral fertilisers. Strategic interest: Russia-Pakistan military relationship and cooperation over Afghanistan coupled with the increased Moscow-Beijing engagement, especially after Trump's sanction, has been worrying India. Strategic autonomy: An increasingly-assertive US has been punishing countries doing 'significant' deals with Iran or Russia with sanctions. Going ahead with the 'significant' defence deals will also be a message about India's 'strategic autonomy' despite its dependence on both US and Russia. Read the full story here

NEWS IN CLUES 5. Which carmaker began in a London workshop in 1913? Clue 1: The luxury automobile company was purchased by Ford Motor Co in the late 80s. Clue 2: Their logo is believed to be inspired from the Bentley logo which featured wings — representing speed. Clue 3: Celebrity owners of their cars include Prince Charles, David Beckham, Halle Berry and Steven Spielberg. Scroll below for answer

6. No more midnight hearings unless you're dying or being evicted Life, death, or house: Stamping his authority as soon as he was sworn in as India's 46th Chief Justice, Ranjan Gogoi made it clear that henceforth, urgent hearings will be limited to cases involving those facing same-day death penalty or eviction from their house. Among the first two casualties of this ruling were a congratulatory message by a lawyer and activist-advocate Prashant Bhushan's mention of the deportation of illegal Rohingya Muslim immigrants, for which he was told to file it for listing. Midnight knocks: Justice Gogoi's directive, however, makes no mention of cases pertaining to constitutional matters, like the Karnataka Assembly case earlier in May, when the SC heard the petition against swearing-in of a BJP government in the state post midnight, though that was not the only such case of a Cinderella hour hearing — in 1985, the SC granted bail to industrialist Lalit Mohan Thapar, who had been arrested for foreign exchange violations, and again in December 1992, when, in an emergency hearing post the Babri Masjid demolition, the SC ordered a status quo at the disputed site. PIL not for every ill: Justice Gogoi — who was among the four judges to have called a press conference against the conduct of his predecessor, Justice Dipak Misra, earlier this year — also discouraged the frequent Public Interest Litigations (PIL), saying that a PIL "on every ill is not maintainable in the SC". Incidentally, the new roster, devised by him, assigned the hearing of all PILs to benches headed by him and those headed by SC's second senior most judge, Justice Madan B Lokur. Read more here

7. IAF wants Rafale as HAL is undependable Delays are dangerous: In one of the strongest indictments of a PSU, the IAF chief, Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, came down heavily on Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for its repeated delays in delivering aircraft needed by the IAF to be an effective strike force — citing a 3-year-delay in the delivery of Sukhoi-30, a 6-year-delay on Jaguar aircraft, 5-year-delay on the LCA and a 2-year-delay in the Mirage 2000 upgrade. Forced acquisition? Blaming the delays for forcing their hand to buy the Rafale aircraft, the IAF chief said that the air force had reached a situation where it had to choose one of the three options: "either wait for something to happen, withdraw the RFP or make an emergency purchase." The Rafale aircraft deal, he added, was an emergency purchase. Thanks, but no thanks: The most prominent failure of HAL's product line has been its Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) programme, that was first mooted in 1969, with the first prototype to be airborne in 1982 — nearly 50 years later, not one of them is operational, as the 17 supplied to the Army between 2013 and 2015 were returned to HAL due to technical snags and deficiencies. Read more here

8. A Nobel for speeding up a billion years of evolution This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry is being shared by Frances H. Arnold, George Smith and Gregory Winter. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said "this year's prize is about harnessing the power of evolution". Arnold, only the fifth woman to win the prize in its 117-year history (and first after 2009), was rewarded for her work on directing the evolution of enzymes — proteins (such as sucrase in the small intestine) that assist chemical reactions (breakdown of sugar). Arnold introduced random genetic mutations into enzymes, then selected the cases where a particular mutation was useful, and repeated the process. The work has helped in making new drugs, biofuel, and even create a bond between carbon and silicon — a bond not found in nature. The approach takes "natural evolution's billion-year process" into what is probably less than a week, said an expert. Smith and Winter's works were on tinkering with the genes of phage (a virus) to create the desired effect, such as a molecule or antibody on its outside — a technique that has helped scientists identify what protein molecule a particular gene gives rise to, thus helping in the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer.

9. World's 'super editors' just banned Trump's preferred website Who? Wikipedia editors — that's right. The website every kid, his mother, uncle and grandfather visit to know more on a subject is cracking down on fake news. On Wednesday, it was revealed that Wikipedia editors voted to ban Breitbart — the US right-wing website preferred by Donald Trump — from being used for factual citation. The website editors reached a consensus that Breitbart "should not be used, ever, as a reference for facts, due to its unreliability". This isn't the first such crackdown on fake news on Wiki. It has also banned InfoWars, the website run by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who was kicked out of social media platforms recently. Also banned are British tabloid Daily Mail (banned in 2017) and left-wing activist group Occupy Democrats. Who are they, though? Wikipedia lets anyone contribute after registering as an editor — a character that should, in theory, lead to widespread hoax. Yet, Wiki is remarkably accurate (though it does publish a few mistakes, usually corrected quickly). That's thanks to the diligent work by an autonomous group of international volunteers. At the time of writing this newsletter, the site has 34,605,754 registered editors, though only a minority contribute regularly (129,672 have edited in the last 30 days) — in fact, a 2015 study says nearly all of Wikipedia is written by just 1% of its editors.

YOU SHARE YOUR B'DAY WITH... Source: NASA, Space.com

10. The rise & rise of Prithvi Shaw India broke from tradition by naming a 12-man shortlist on the eve of the first Test versus West Indies. The bigger news: There's an 18-year-old debutant, in Prithvi Pankaj Shaw. Here's what you need to know about, possibly, the next big thing in Indian cricket. 2012 Captained Rizvi Springfield High School to Harris Shield title — a minors' cricket competition in Mumbai. 2013 Aged 14, he scored 546 off 330 balls (85 fours and five sixes) for Rizvi in the Harris Shield A division match versus St Francis D'Assisi — then the highest score in school cricket. Captained Rizvi to second Harris Shield title. 2016 Part of India U19 squad that won the youth Asia Cup in Sri Lanka. First-class debut — in the Ranji Trophy semi-final against Tamil Nadu. Scores a match-winning, second-innings century. 2017 List A debut for Mumbai, aged 17, in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Became the youngest player to score a century on Duleep Trophy debut, a record previously held by Sachin Tendulkar. Named captain of India's U19 squad for the 2018 World Cup held in New Zealand. 2018 Captained India to fourth ICC Under-19 World Cup title. Sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs 1.2 crore at the 2018 IPL auction. Became joint youngest player to score an IPL fifty along with Sanju Samson (18 years, 169 days). Scores first List A century (132) playing for India A versus Leicestershire. Called up to India's Test squad for final two Tests in England. Did not play. Slated for India debut versus West Indies in the first Test in Rajkot.

PLUS A punch that's cost Thailand millions already The millions: Chinese tourist arrivals in Thailand are falling (they fell 12% in August, the biggest drop in a year) and that's got the country worried. Chinese travellers contribute close to a third of 2.09 trillion baht ($65 billion) in Thailand's foreign tourism revenue which accounts for about a fifth of the economy. The reason: It started with a tour boat accident off Phuket in July that killed dozens of Chinese holidaymakers, sparking safety concerns. Thailand's image in China has also been hurt by a dengue outbreak and the strength of the baht. The latest trigger: The most recent one was a viral video of an airport guard punching a Chinese tourist. The government has moved to limit the damage from the video, getting the Prime Minister to say he regrets the incident — underlining the administration's sensitivity to bad press in China. The impact: The Tourism Council of Thailand predicts Chinese arrivals will plunge around a quarter to 1.9 million in October through December from a year earlier. The tourism slowdown and the impact of global trade disputes will cut Thai economic growth to 4.2% next year from an estimated 4.5% in 2018. Full story here

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Answer To NEWS IN CLUES Aston Martin. On Wednesday, James Bond's favourite carmaker launched on the London stock market, valuing the British luxury sports car brand at about £4.3 billion ($5.6 billion). It said that it has priced its initial public offering at £19 per share in the middle of its stated rang