5 THINGS FIRST Supreme Court to deliver verdict on a plea for ban on firecrackers across the country; SC to decide when the petitions seeking review of its Sabarimala verdict will be heard; Last date for filing nominations for Chhattisgarh elections; Joint Parliamentary Committee on Citizenship AmendmentBill to meet; India play Malaysia in Asian Champions(Hockey) Trophy

1. Indians are getting better at earning and paying tax Who: 5.1 crore individuals filed income tax returns (out of 7 crore taxpayers) in 2017-18. Indians paid Rs 4.2 lakh crore as personal income tax in 2017-18. That accounts for 42% of government's total direct tax revenue. Direct tax collection has gone up by 18% from the previous year, the highest increase in a decade. The number of salaried taxpayers is rising at a faster pace than the non-salaried, although the count is the same - 2.3 crore. How much: The three highest tax-paying income brackets in 2017-18 are: annual income of over Rs 500 crore (that paid Rs 7.2 lakh cr in taxes), income between Rs 5.5 lakh and Rs 9.5 lakh (Rs 6.3 lakh cr tax paid) and Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3.5 lakh (Rs 4.3 lakh cr). The number of individual taxpayers disclosing income above Rs 1 crore has increased from 48,416 in 2014-15 to 81,344 in 2017-18, a growth of 68%. Where: Four states — Delhi (Rs 1.37 lakh cr), Maharashtra (Rs 3.8 lakh cr), Karnataka (Rs 1 lakh cr) and Tamil Nadu (Rs 67,584 cr) — account for 70% of the government's total direct tax collection. Direct taxes make up 52% of the total tax revenue. What: Government spent Rs 6,087 crore in collecting the direct tax, which is 0.61% of tax earned. Why: We are paying more tax also because we are earning more. The number of salaried taxpayers has increased from 1.7 crore in 2014-15 to 2.33 crore in 2017-18, a rise of 37%. The average income declared by salaried taxpayers has also gone up by 19% (from Rs 5.76 lakh in 2014-15 to Rs 6.84 lakh in 2017-18). Meanwhile, the Income Tax Department plans to investigate'thousands of Indians' who have transferred funds or bought property abroad illegally.

2. Kashmir: Has BJP's withdrawal from PDP government backfired? This June, in the aftermath of the murder of editor Shujaat Bukhari, BJP pulled out of the coalition government in J&K headed by CM Mehbooba Mufti of PDP, saying it "is untenable for BJP to continue in alliance". BJP then said: "In order to bring control over the situation prevailing in the state, we have decided that the reigns of power in the state be handed over to the governor." But has the control helped? On Monday, Kashmir came to a standstill as separatist called for a strike in protest of the death of seven civilians due to a leftover explosion following an encounter in Kulgam district on Sunday. Reports say the joint party of Army, police and paramilitary forces had left the site of the encounter, where three Jaish-e-Mohammad militants were killed, without clearing the debris. Making matters worse for BJP, Kashmir Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS), which represents the Pandit community that remain in J&K, expressed its support to the shutdown call against the 'bloodshed'. This follows municipal polls that, though, gave BJP control of four of the 20 civic bodies in south Kashmir — where militancy is the worst — was sullied by a low single-digit voter turnout in Kashmir, due to the boycott by PDP and NC. The first phase saw 8.2% voting, the second 3.4%, the third 3.42% and the final 4.2%. This was lower than the record-lowest turnout in Kashmir at a parliamentary election — in 1989. There was also the case of three policemen being shot dead by militants on the day of Eid. With Kashmir under Governor's rule, and hence effectively controlled by the Centre, any setback would fall on the government of PM Modi as there is no local J&K government to take the blame. Meanwhile, Pakistan PM Imran Khan, via a tweet, called for the resolution of the Kashmir issue through dialogue, while blaming the Indian security forces for the deaths of six civilians.

3. Church rape case gets murkier: Priest who testified found dead Plot thickens: The rape case that has marred the Catholic Church of Jalandhar (officially called the Diocese of Jalandhar) took a turn for the worse: Father Kuriakose Kattuthara, who testified against the chief accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal, was found dead in his room at the St Mary's Church in Jalandhar on Monday. Here's the story so far In June, a nun belonging to the Missionaries of Jesus, a body set up under the Diocese of Jalandhar that also has covenants in Kerala, registered a police case in Kerala accusing Bishop Franco of raping her in 2014 at a guest house. The police said the Bishop had registered a complaint against the nun's brother a few days earlier for threatening him. Since then a Bishop who heads the Pala diocese told the police that the nun had previously complained of Bishop Franco to him. Police also recorded statements of two former nuns who left the congregation reportedly due to the harassment by Bishop Franco. The case has also piled on the heat on the Vatican, as the Catholic Church worldwide is battered with a series of child sexual abuse revelations. One of the sex scandal to have hit the Vatican has even put pressure on Pope Francis to come out clean on his stand on an ally who is accused. The Bishop Franco case also comes as #MeToo gets wider attention in India. The case also saw five nuns protest in Cochin in support of the victim, and as support from various quarters of the society grew (even as some on social media abused them), other churches such as Syro Malabar Church extended its support (even though it initially took action against one of its nuns before retreating). Kerala Police arrested Bishop Franco on September 21, and 25 days later he was released on bail and given a hero's welcome by a few, including a Kerala MLA — by then, the Vatican had temporarily relieved him of pastoral duties. Mulakkal had denied the charges as "baseless and concocted" — his initial alibi of not being at the guest house in 2014 was rejected by eyewitness account. He later went back to Jalandhar. And now... a Father is found dead — the Father’s brother said he suspects Kuriakose was killed and has filed a police case of suspicious death.

4. Saudi's hit squad had a Khashoggi body double... The latest CCTV footage to emerge out of Turkey shows the 15-member hit squad that was in Istanbul the day Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in the Saudi consulate (that part is now confirmed) included a man who dressed up in the clothes Khashoggi wore while entering the building and later spotted around the city — he even sported a replica beard. This matters as Saudi Arabia's latest version of the story goes: Khashoggi was interrogated by the team but a fistfight broke out and he was strangled to death in an act of rage. Turkey is asking: Why was a lookalike — identified as Mustafa al-Madani, who is of a similar height and body proportion — part of a team meant to only ask a few questions? Saudi Arabia has been changing its story on Jamal Khashoggi almost every day ('He left the building' to 'Yes, he was questioned, but don't know more' to 'there was a fistfight, and an accidental death'). And every day, Turkey, officially or through the local media, has leaked evidence to punch holes in the coverup. And Saudi's attempt to avoid the dirt from reaching its crown prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) almost paid off when Trump supported the claim of "rogue agents". But Turkey — which is a trade partner of Saudi but politically opposed to it on many fronts, including Syria — has been piling on the pressure (go deeper on Saudi-Turkey relations here). A Turkish newspaper on Monday also reported that four calls were made from the Istanbul consulate to MBS's office in Riyadh on the day Khashoggi was killed. It did not say how it got the information or if Turkey had bugged the telephone in the consulate. Meanwhile, Mohammed bin Salman has called Khashoggi’s sonto express condolences on the death of the journalist.

NEWS IN CLUES 5. This scientist died on Albert Einstein's birthday. Clue 1: He was born on Galileo's 300th death anniversary, in 1942. Clue 2:He allegedly couldn't read properly until the age of 8, and his grades were among the worst in class at age 9. Clue 3: At 17, he received a full scholarship to Oxford, where he also coxed the rowing team. Scroll below for answer

6. Man or a boy? Is 18 old enough to get married? Bad question: If a man at the age of 18 years can vote to choose MPs and MLAs, and can join Army as a soldier, why can't he marry at that age? This question posed in a PIL irked the Supreme Court, which asked the petitioner advocate whether the apex court should decide such questions in PIL. It imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on the 50-year-old advocate and told him that if an 18-year-old came up with this question through a PIL, it would consider giving him the money deposited by the advocate. Good suggestion: The Law Commission has suggested that the legal age for marriage for both men and women across religions should be fixed at 18 years, the universal age for majority. Its reasoning: If a universal age for majority is recognised, and that grants all citizens the right to choose their governments, surely, they must then be also considered capable of choosing their spouses. Plus, the commission says, it will prevent child marriages and remove inequality (gender-based discrepancy in determining majority — of 18 years for girls and 21 years for boys — contributes to the stereotype wives must be younger than their husbands). Globally: While countries like US, UK have a uniform legal age of 18 years for marriage for both boys and girls, there are at least 17 countries (including India) that have a different legal age of marriage for boys than for girls. Wherever this is the case, girls are allowed to get married at a younger age.

7. How every Diwali becomes cleaner, less noisy than the last one What: The Supreme Court on Monday said it will pass an order today on a number of petitions seeking a direction to ban the sale of firecrackers in the country. Whether it bans crackers throughout the country or not, its orders over the last few years have been taking us towards a less polluted Diwali. Don't be loud: In 2001, SC asked states to stick to anti- noise pollution norms and standards for fire crackers. It restricted the use of firecrackers only between 6.00 p.m. and 10.00 p.m. It also asked states to educate students about ill effects of crackers, a big reason for reduction in use of crackers. A festival of light: In 2005, SC banned the bursting of noise-generating firecrackers between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. while allowing the use of light-emitting crackers unrestricted. Celebrate with caution: In 2016, the top court allowed sale of firecrackers but directed government authorities to ensure that fireworks are not burst in silence zones. Good cracker, bad cracker: In 2017, SC first lifted the earlier order saying it preferred a graded and not radical approach for curbing pollution but within days reimposed a ban on sale of firecrackers in Delhi due to concerns over pollution. The order, however, does not prohibit bursting of crackers - which means that people with last year's stock can use firecrackers. It also banned use of compounds of antimony, lithium, mercury, arsenic, lead and strontium chromate in fireworks. The impact: Delhi, that has been the focus of SC's cracker-related orders till now, saw its least polluted Diwali in three years in 2017.

8. Fresh spot fixing claims, but dead ball again? Al Jazeera has released its second documentary on alleged corruption in cricket. The latest one claims that up to 15 international matches in the 2010-11 period had been subject to spot-fixing. Many of the matches appear to include multiple fixes, making a total of 26 fixes across six Tests, six ODIs and three World T20 matches. Of these, seven involved England, five Australia, and one New Zealand. Unnamed Australia and Pakistan players too were accused by the broadcaster in the documentary aired on Sunday. Spot-fixing occurs when players agree to manipulate part of a match by, for example, bowling a wide on a particular delivery or ensuring a particular run rate. The corruption does not usually affect the overall outcome of the match but gamblers in the know can use the information to beat the betting market. In focus is Aneel Munawar, who is said to work for the crime syndicate D Company. He was at the centre of Al Jazeera's previous documentary on cricket corruption as well, which alleged that the Chennai Test in December 2016 and the Ranchi Test in March 2017 were subject to spot-fixing by England and Australia players. The previous claims had been dismissed by the England and Wales Cricket Board and Cricket Australia. Both said there was no credible evidence linking any of their players. The International Cricket Council (ICC) had also hit out at Al Jazeera then for failing to share unedited footage from their investigations; the ICC has now made another appeal to Al Jazeera. Full story here

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9. Why India's best friend is courting its worst enemy Enemies turn friends: Proving true the adage that there are no permanent friends or foes in international diplomacy but only permanent interests, Pakistan and Russia, who were once on the opposing sides of a battlefield in the 1980s during the latter's occupation of Afghanistan when Islamabad aligned itself with the US to arm the local resistance, are now playing out the third season of their joint military training exercise — in what will be a keenly-watched affair in both New Delhi and Washington, the former holding Pakistan responsible for several acts of terrorism on Indian soil, including in Jammu and Kashmir. Why the angst: New Delhi's growing closeness to Washington, ever since the civil nuclear cooperation of 2005 has led Moscow to explore its options with other countries, even as trade between India and Russia fell below $10 billion after 2014 — Russia in 2014 lifted the arms embargo it had earlier imposed on Pakistan with a military cooperation agreement. The current joint training exercises, named Druzhba, meaning friendship, involve a 70-strong Russian mountain troops contingent engaging with its Pakistani counterparts. India and the US, along with Japan have been conducting an annual naval exercise named Malabar since 1992. Friends with benefits: Pakistan and Russia were on more than cordial terms before the 1979 Afghanistan invasion by Soviet-era troops — Islamabad was even willing to give USSR's navy access to Pakistan's ports in exchange for Russian arms as India's tilt to the US, by buying American weaponry, after the 1962 war with China, pushed Moscow closer to Islamabad. Home alone: Russia's growing isolation globally, following the US President Donald Trump's ultimatum to countries to not do business with Moscow, has left it with few allies — its own sluggish economy has left it with little option but to cosy up to non-traditional allies like Pakistan and even China, with whom it had fought a brief border war in 1969.

10. Babysat your sister? Harvard wants you then Moolah matters: Harvard University will take you in if your daddy or mommy dearest made a huge donation to the varsity, or will help fund the construction of a building, or even have an art collection worth millions (or billions) that could be willed to it — these are the revelations made by the university in its reply in the trial brought against it by Students for Fair Admissions that alleges it of a bias against Asian-American applicants. Add to that the Dean's interest list, which is basically a compendium of applicants with clout and a Z list, that enables a backdoor entry for those not strong in academics and you have a few exceptional applicants being rejected for admission. What matters: Harvard considers not just the grades and test scores, such as performance in the SAT (earlier known as the Scholastic Aptitude Test) to athletic ability — Winklevoss twins, the Harvard alumni famous for Facebook, were rowers and later even went to the Olympics — and interview performance, grading the students on a scale of 1 to 6, with 1 being the topmost and 6 implying an utterly hopeless performance. What else matters: There are, of course, a few positives to emerge out of the closet — for instance, a rural student is given a boost in the chance of gaining admission and if you were a babysitter for your younger sibling, Harvard will further boost your score (to give the poor a chance as it is the rich that usually hire babysitters). Read more here Not that Harvard has done no good — its revenue model, which largely relies on social funds and donations, has been adopted by China’s first private research university, the Westlake University in Zhejiang Province's Hangzhou city, which was inaugurated on Monday. Tencent Holdings Chairman Pony Ma Huateng and Wanda Group Chairman Wang Jianlin are two of its most high-profile funders. The university, to be set up across two campuses, will host 2,000 research fellows and 3,000 doctoral students, along with housing 420 laboratories.

KEEPING TRACK You no supreme: The CBI on Monday arrested its Deputy Superintendent of Police Devender Kumar in connection with bribery allegations involving its Special Director and second-in-command Rakesh Asthana, even as PM Modi is thought to have summoned Asthana and Director Alok Verma to "get details of the current happenings". Court no supreme: Another woman was forced to cancelher attempt to enter the Sabarimala temple in Kerala by agitated protesters; she was escorted to safety by the police. The temple closed on Monday 10pm at the end of the 6-day puja, and will reopen for the annual two-month festival season on Nov 15. Sea no supreme: The world's longest sea bridge, linking Hong Kong and Macau to the Chinese mainland, is set to open on Tuesday.

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Answer To NEWS IN CLUES Stephen Hawking. On Monday, auctioneer Christie's announced an upcoming online sale of some of the late physicist's possessions, including complex scientific papers, his iconic wheelchairs and a script from The Simpsons. In total, the auction will feature 22 items from Hawking, including his doctoral thesis on the origins of the universe, some of his many awards, and scientific papers such as Spectrum of Wormholesand Fundamental Breakdown of Physics in Gravitational Collapse.