5 THINGS FIRST SC to hear CBI chief Alok Verma's plea on his removal & conduct Amrapali CFO's 'memory test'; Pune court to hear bail application of 3 activists in Bhima Koregaon violence case; PM Modi to inaugurate Agriculture Kumbha 2018; BJP to launch poll campaign in Telangana with Amit Shah rally in Hyderabad; Ahmedabad court to hear defamation suits filed by Anil Ambani's firms against media houses over Rafale articles

1. What CBI mess says about probes and politics Supreme Court will today hear Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director Alok Verma's petition (he is still the director but can't attend office), challenging the centre's order to send him on leave. The court may finally put a lid on the controversy, but the shake-up says a lot about the goings on in India's top investigating agency. Still a caged parrot? It was the Supreme Court that called the elite CBI a 'caged parrot' and 'its master's voice' in 2013. Earlier, it had tried to reduce the political influence on its decisions by fixing a two-year tenure for its chief and putting in place a selection process for its chief. The removal of the top team of the agency in a sudden government decision shows it's far from the independent agency it is supposed to be. Chief doesn't mean powerful: Heading a company, ministry or a department means having juniors report to you. Not so in CBI. The start of the current (at least a year-old) feud between the top two officers of CBI was over appointments, a final decision over which in most places would be the chief's. 1, 2 doesn't lead to 3: When Centre decided to send CBI's number 1 and number 2 officers on leave, it didn't hand over the reigns to its number 3 officer (AK Sharma now) but to a relatively 'junior' officer. Who investigates matters: CBI's number 2 officer wanted to arrest a businessman (whose dubious role is under CBI scanner) and claimed that he was hand-in-glove with the CBI chief to settle a case. The CBI chief complained that the same businessman had paid a Rs 5 crore bribe to settle a case. Boss isn't the boss, the super boss is: The 10 junior CBI officers, who have been shunted out to places like Andaman, for basically following their boss' orders point towards this. Drama isn't over: Intelligence Bureau (IB) officers were picked up by CBI chief's security officers from outside his residence on Thursday and dragged inside (held by their collars) in full public view allegedly for snooping. Reports said they were stationed outside the residence since Wednesday night. IB officials (informally) called it a 'routine patrol' by their men in a 'sensitive area'. Plus, the leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, who is one of the three members of the committee that appoints the CBI chief has written to PM Modi saying the government move was 'illegal'. Meanwhile another intelligence and enforcement agency, ED, filed a chargesheet against former Union minister P Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis money laundering case, accusing him of conspiring with foreign investors to give them clearance for their venture.

2. Why US universities love Indians more than Trump What's up? At least four US colleges have filed a lawsuitagainst the Trump administration's policy change that would make it easier to bar foreign students from the US for three or 10 years for 'unlawful presence'. International students can be categories as unlawfully present if they out of visa status, which can happen for many reasons like failing to update address, dropping below threshold course load or having an error in records. What's new? Students earlier had 180 days after receiving a notification of 'unlawful presence' to regain their status before they were barred from the US. The new policy gives them 180 days from when their status violation begins instead of when they were notified, which means students won't have a change to rectify a mistake. So what? Over a million individuals travel to US every year to study and teach. India is the second largest source country of foreign students in the US, with over 2 lakh Indians studying in American universities. China tops the list with over 3.7 lakh students. In fact 77% of all international students in US are from Asia. And? Foreign students pay up to three times more than US students at its public universities, "effectively subsidising tuition costs for domestic students and functioning as a bailout for universities." Read the full story here

3. A win that may end up being as bad as a loss The win: Madras High Court on Thursday confirmed the disqualification order passed by Tamil Nadu assembly speaker, expelling 18 AIADMK rebel legislators from the assembly under the anti-defection law. That means the ruling AIADMK government (of chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and deputy CM O Panneerselvam) is safe for now. The case: 18 AIADMK MLAs (owing allegiance to TTV Dhinakaran) had met the Tamil Nadu governor last year and expressed lack of confidence in the chief minister (EPS). The party complained to the assembly speaker and he disqualified the MLAs. The MLAs approached the high court. On September 20 last year, a single judge stayed the floor test and restrained the Election Commission from declaring their constituencies as vacant. Since the pleas involved constitutional issues, they were transferred to the two-judge bench. The two-judge bench delivered a split verdict. So, the case was referred to a Supreme court-appointed third judge and the majority (2-1) view (which upholds the disqualification) is the judgment. The next match: The AIADMK government, however, has a bigger test ahead if the legislators don't appeal the decision in Supreme Court, as by-elections to these constituencies can reduce the government (which has only 110 assured MLAs) to a minority in the 234-member house as the DMK can garner many seats. Read the full story here

4. Fast-track courts not fast enough to nail politicians? On slow track: Supreme Court has been pushing for fast-tracking of criminal case trials against politicians and sitting MPs and MLAs but trials against accused politicians in criminal cases in states like Gujarat have been pending for nearly 30 years. Gujarat model: In reports received by the top court from various high courts, it was mentioned that 10 cases pending against an MLA from Vadodara district filed between 1989 and 1998 are still pending for evidence and that cases under TADA in Porbandar district between 1999 and 2002 are pending under stay of high court. India story: A compilation of reports suggested that as many as 3,956 sessions and magisterial cases were pending against politicians and the existing 12 special courts were highly inadequate. To fast track: The amicus curiae has suggested that there should be 70 more special courts to deal with the large number of cases pending against politicians, MPs and MLAs, if they were to be decided in a period of one year, a deadline set by the SC. Interestingly, the amicus pointed out that though the Centre has released Rs 4,144 crore for setting up of fast track courts for trial of heinous crimes, "there is nothing on record to show whether these fast track courts have been set up". Read the full story here

NEWS IN CLUES 5. Who's the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the IPL? Clue 1: He was his country's first player to have captained both the Test and ODI teams by the age of 24. Clue 2: He played his last Test in 2010 and last ODI in 2014. Clue 3: He's turned out for 3 different franchises—Gujarat Lions, Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians—in the IPL, missing only the 2017 edition of the tournament. Scroll below for answer

X-PLAINED 6. The other Saudi killings What: A Saudi-led coalition airstrike at a fruit-and-vegetable market near Yemen's Red Sea port of Hodeida (also known as Al Hudaydah) killed 19 civilians, including children, Yemeni officials said. Video footage obtained by The Associated Press, though not independently verified, showed the aftermath of the strike, with body parts lying scattered across the market and coffins lined up in the hospital. A crisis: Besides the immediate casualties, the attack could have an adverse knock-on effect as the port city of Hodeida is a lifeline for international aid deliveries to Yemen, which is ravaged by a brutal three-and-a-half-year war between the Saudi-led alliance and Shiite rebels known as Houthis (supported by Iran). Not new: In August, a Saudi airstrike hit a bus carrying school children in northern Yemen, killing more than 40. A CNN investigation found that a US-made weapon that was sold to Saudi — laser-guided MK 82 bomb made by Lockheed Martin — were used in the attack. According to the Yemen Data Project, the Saudi-led coalition carried out an average of 15 air raids per day; a total of 16,749 air raids were recorded between March 2015 and March 2018, of which nearly one-third (31%) targeted non-military sites. Neverending: An estimated 10,000 people have been killed so far in the Yemen war, and the conflict has pushed 22% of the population below the poverty line, over and above the 30% prior to 2014. Around two-thirds of Yemen's population of 27 million rely on aid, and over 8 million are at risk of starvation. Critics: After the latest airstrike, US Senator and Democratic Party leader Bernie Sanders, wrote in an op-ed on the New York Times: The "American engagement there [in Yemen] has not been authorised by Congress, and is therefore unconstitutional"; and called for a US pullout.

7. Musk has the last laugh — or a quarter of a laugh Elon Musk, the bold entrepreneur behind companies such as Tesla, SpaceX, and The Boring Company, has earned a reputation of setting lofty targets on Twitter and failing to follow through. One of those — a claim to have secured funds to take Tesla private — cost him a total of $40 million in fines. But this time it was different... as he told in April. Tesla posted a net profit of $312 million — its first positive income in two years — in the quarter ending September, compared with a loss of $619 million a year ago. That makes up a profit of $1.75 per share — Wall Street analysts, who have often been sceptical of Tesla's business discipline, has expected a loss of 19 cents a share. The electric carmaker's revenue surged over 70% from $4 billion a year ago to $6.8 billion. All that meant, Tesla's stock, which is the most shorted in history, sore 12%. It isn't just the balance sheet that is shining. Tesla's Model 3, its most affordable offering, is a hit, selling more than double the amount of its closest competitor, Mercedes C-Class, in the mid-size luxury segment in the US. In the large luxury segment, Tesla's more advanced Model S continues to dominate over Lexus LS, BMW 7 Series, and Mercedes S-Class. Also note: Unlike other cars, Tesla is all electric and hence has a technological advantage. The icing on the cake: The research was done by a longtime critic of Tesla. The irony is that the good news came at possibly the worst time for Musk, with the settlement with the SEC over his 'taking private' tweet also costing him the post of chairman (read more on the SEC case here on story No: 6).

8. Why telecom is certainly not tobacco Let's talk taxes: Airtel's founder chairperson Sunil Bharti Mittal took to hyperbole and misinformation when he claimed at an industry event that telecom is being taxed like tobacco in India; he was explaining his company's poor financial performance for the second quarter ended September 30. According to Mittal's own calculation, telecom companies pay less than 20% as tax on their earnings. But compare that to cigarettes, the largest selling tobacco product, which are taxed nearly 55% on each stick. A different bracket: Contrary to the Airtel top honcho's lament that taxes on telecom are among the highest GST slab, they are a distant second to the highest GST slab of 28% levied on cigarettes — telecom attracts a GST rate of 18%, with an added benefit of input tax credit on capex. Competition: It's not so much the taxes that resulted in a 65% drop in Airtel's earnings for the second quarter but a bruising tariff war with new entrant Reliance Jio and newly-merged Vodafone-Idea, which has pipped Airtel as India's largest telecom operator. Airtel's ARPU has declined nearly 29% year-on-year for the second quarter. Read more here

9. Why aren't you working for Savji Dholakia? Company: Hari Krishna Exporters HQ: Surat, Gujarat Owner: Savji Dholakia And why should you be working for him? Just for the bonuses and incentives alone. 2014: Spent Rs 50 crore as Diwali bonus for employees 2015: Diwali bonus of 491 cars and 200 flats for employees. 2016: Diwali bonus worth Rs 51 crore for employees. 1,260 cars and 400 flats gifted. 2017: 1,200 Datsun Redi-GOs gifted as a New Year bonus for employees. 2018: Three employees, who had completed 25 years with the company, rewarded with Mercedes-Benz GLS SUVs (on-road price nearly Rs 1 crore) And as Diwali 2018 arrives, 'Savjikaka' will be gifting cars to 600 employees — we're talking Renault KWIDs and Maruti Suzuki Celerios (on-road prices Rs 4.4 lakh and Rs 5.38 lakh, respectively). Nine hundred other workers have opted for fixed deposits and flats. Who is Savji Dholakia? Hailing from Dudhala village in Gujarat's Amareli district, Dholakia opted out of school at the age of 13 and joined his uncle's diamond business. Later he started his own business with a small loan from his uncle. After 10 years in the diamond polishing business, he set up Hari Krishna Exports in 1991. The company, which exports diamond jewellery to about 50 countries, boasts an employee strength of over 6,000. Who gets the gifts? Not everyone. The rewards are usually given to employees who meet targets — there's a software that evaluates them on various performance parameters (including how they take care of their families). Only 1,500 of its current staff were eligible for Diwali bonuses in 2018. Call it philanthropy or team management, this appears to be the perfect incentive to get the best manpower in the industry. Full story here.

YOU SHARE YOUR B'DAY WITH... Source: Various

10. Tee-riffic! Golfer beats odds to score two holes-in-one When odds of 60 million-to-1 have been defied, you know it's incredible! Stand up and applaud Jim Grant (in pic), an Australian amateur golfer, who shot two holes-in-one in a single round on a course in Green Acres Golf Club, Melbourne. In golf, a hole-in-one (also known as an ace) occurs when a ball hit from a tee finishes in the cup. This awards the player a score of one for the hole, but not if the player is making a second shot from the tee due to a lost ball, out of bounds or water hazard. Grant, in fact, missed seeing his first ace go in on the 11th at the in the suburb of Kew because he was chatting with playing partners. But he managed to repeat the feat just six holes later at the 17th, a 180-metre par three with a bunker guarding the front left of the green. Grant used a 5-iron. The odds of an amateur golfer carding a hole-in-one are around 12,500:1, according to insurance companies. And the odds of two holes-in-one in the same round are quoted at roughly 67,000,000:1.

PLUS Another boys only institution opens up Entries open: Another male bastion, the Sainik Schools, will now start admitting girls as students, according to an announcement by the minister of state for defence, Subhash Ramrao Bhamre, at a two day conference of all the principals of India's 26 Sainik Schools. Making a start: The schools, which serve as feeder institutes for the armed forces, have already made a beginning with two Sainik Schools — Sainik School Chhingchhip in Mizoram and the Sainik School in Lucknow — admitting six girls in Class VI in June and 15 girls in Class IX in April this year respectively. Breaking stereotypes: The Indian armed forces have only recently started warming up to the idea of inducting women in combat roles, with the IAF and Indian Navy inducting women fighter pilots and reconnaissance aircraft pilots respectively, though they aren't allowed to serve on warshipsyet, while the Indian Army opened up positions for women in combat roles earlier this year. Full story here

KEEPING TRACK Cloudy: The US mail-bomb scare widened on Thursday after three more suspicious packages were seized — two addressed to former Vice President Joe Biden and one to actor Robert De Niro (a Trump critic). Meanwhile, President Trump continued his 'fake news' jibe at the New York Times after a report that claimed Russia and China were snooping on his iPhone. Cloud: Microsoft's bet on cloud service helped it post sales of $29 billion for the quarter ending in September. Its stock rose as much as 4% in after hours trading Wednesday even as the other tech stocks fell. Clouted: A UK agency fined Facebook £500,000 in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. In India, representatives of Facebook's WhatsApp, Google and Twitter met the home secretary as they face the heat on failure to curb fake rumours on their platforms.

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Answer To NEWS IN CLUES Dwayne Bravo. The 35-year-old allrounder from Trinidad & Tobago has announced his retirement from international cricket in all formats of the game. Bravo, who made his debut for the West Indies 14 years ago, will however continue to play franchise T20 cricket across the world. His last international match was a T20 international against Pakistan in September 2016.