5 THINGS FIRST Third phase of J&K municipal elections today; Rahul Gandhito address HAL employees in Bengaluru; Mayawati to address rally in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh; Trade ministers of 16-member RCEP countries, including India and China, to meet in Singapore; Annual meetings of IMF and World Bank Group in Bali, Indonesia

1. Have you heard of the Caesarean 'epidemic'? The number of babies born worldwide through caesarean section (CS) has nearly doubled between 2000 and 2015 — from 16 million (12% of all births) to 29.7 million (21% of all births) — according to research published in The Lancet. The Dominican Republic has the highest rate of any nation, with 58.1% of all babies delivered using the procedure, instead of vaginal birth. CS is a life-saving intervention for women and newborns when risks occur, such as bleeding, foetal distress, hypertensive disease, and babies in abnormal position. But, the surgery is not without risk for mother and child, and is associated with complications in future births. The worry now is that CSes have reached "epidemic" proportions in some nations — a 2010 WHO report, based on the analysis of 132 nations, says the recommended rate of CS is 10-15%. The Lancet report says 60% of countries overuse CSes, and 25% underuse them, suggesting wide disparities in adherence to clinical recommendations, as well as huge gaps in childbirth care between the rich and the poor, public and private sectors, and between regions. The inter-state differences in India range from 7% to 49%, with tribal areas showing a low rate while states such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu show overuse. Bottomline: Millions of women may be putting themselves and their babies at unnecessary risk each year by undergoing C-sections at rates "that have virtually nothing to do with evidence-based medicine".

2. #MeToo hits India Inc too Communication breakdown: Forced by the #MeToo campaign, Tata Motors has sent its chief communications officer Suresh Rangarajan on leave, pending the completion of an investigation by the ICC, following allegations of sexual misconduct made public by a female journalist. Not a first for Tata: Rangarajan's case of sexual harassment is not the first in recent years to have hit the Tata Group. In 2015, Tata Group's hospitality company, Indian Hotels' CEO Rakesh Sarna was accused by a female employee of unwanted sexual advances. The female employee later quitas she was transferred even as the enquiry was on — Sarna was later cleared of the charges. He was one of the executives who resigned in the management shake-up following Cyrus Mistry's ouster as Tata Sons Chairman. #TimesUp for India Inc? Corporate India has been buffeted by sexual harassment charges even earlier — former Idea Cellular Chief Marketing Officer Pradeep Shrivastavaand former Penguin India head David Davidar were forced to quit following charges of inappropriate conduct. The number of cases of sexual harassment being reported by 44 Nifty companies — a mandatory requirement in their annual reports — has gone up by over 48% in the last four years. Meanwhile, several firms providing consultancy on sexual harassment at workplaces are seeing a spike in enquiries from companies to conduct training programmes for their employees, even as Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi proposed setting up a committee of senior judges and lawyers to look into all cases emanating from the #MeToo campaign.

3. Why India wants investors to fill its caves with oil Caves of oil: They are called strategic petroleum reserves (SPRs). India has three underground storage facilities (built at the cost of Rs 4,100 crore) that can store 5.33 million tonnes of crude oil. Oil in caves: The one in Visakhapatnam is filled with 1.33 MMT of oil purchased by the government, another in Mangalore (with 1.50 MMT capacity) has been half-filled by the government and another half leased to Abu Dhabi National Oil Co, and the third in Padur, Karnataka, is built but awaiting oil for storage. Dig some more: Cabinet early this year approved two more SPRs: a 4.4 million tonnes SPR at Chandikhol in Odisha and a 2.5 million tonnes facility at Padur in Karnataka. What now? Centre is seeking $1.5 billion in investments from global oil producers and traders to build the two additional reserves. It plans to hold roadshows in New Delhi, Singapore and London this month to draw investors. Getting private investors will lessen the financial burden on the government. Private or public? While the oil will be filled by private companies, India will reserve the first right over the crude. Government-owned Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (formed in 2006) will collaborate with private entities to invest in the project. Why? For India's energy security (we import 85% of our crude needs), and to insulate us from external price and supply shocks. The oil in the three SPRs already built can help meet 10 days of crude requirement, and the two planned ones can hold supply of about 12 more days. What crisis? There was one during the Gulf War in 1990, when our oil reserves were adequate only for three days. Plus, others like US, Japan, China, UK and EU have it too. Read the full story here

4. As India becomes more corrupt, its cops get a little honest State of states: Transparency International's India Corruption Survey 2018 has named Uttar Pradesh, followed by Punjab and Tamil Nadu as India's three most corrupt states — with more than half the people surveyed in each state admitting to paying a bribe to get their work done. No big brother: The survey also pointed out that computerisation alone will not help in curbing corruption, in the absence of CCTVs — the level of corruption increasing by 11 percentage points, with 45% of the survey respondents in 2017 admitting to paying bribes compared to 56% in 2018. Copping honesty? According to the survey, while in 2017, 30% paid bribes to the police, 27% to municipalities and 27% for property registration, this year, 25% paid bribes to police, 18% to municipalities and 30% for property registration. Read the full story here

NEWS IN CLUES 5. Which sportsman's middle name is 'St Leo'? Clue 1: He owns a 3-tonne segment of the Berlin Wall. Clue 2: He was born with Scoliosis — an abnormal curvature of the spine. Clue 3: He's won four Laureus World Sportsman of the Year awards — 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2017. Scroll below for answer

X-PLAINED 6. Bru refugee crisis More than 11,000 Bru ethnic voters, staying in relief camps of Tripura, have refused to go back to Mizoram to vote for the November Assembly elections, saying it is difficult to exercise their franchise on an empty stomach — the Centre had discontinued the supply of food ration and other relief materials to Bru camps from Oct 1. Here’s a lowdown on the crisis: Who and what? The Bru or Reang (as they are referred to in Tripura) are an ethnic group native to Mizoram, and had fled the state following ethnic riots in 1997 — when the majority Mizos, who were against their long-held demand for an autonomous region, took to arson and violent attacks in response to the alleged murder of a Mizo guard by Bru militants. The riots were also communal — ethnic tension was flamed by an RSS annual report that accused Christian missionaries of abetting "a terrible spree of looting, burning, killing and raping" of Reang tribals in Mizoram because "they resisted conversion to Christianity". They have been lodged in the Tripura camps since. Another riot in 2009, following the murder of a Mizo teen, exiled Bru who had stayed back. Deal no deal: On July 3 this year, a repatriation agreement was signed between the Mizoram Bru Refugees Displaced Forum, the Centre, and the governments of Mizoram and Tripura. Under this agreement, all Bru refugees in Tripura were to repatriated in Mizoram, and the camps to be shut by October 1 (hence the end of food ration). But more than 30,000 Brus refused to accept the rehabilitation package. Only 40 of the 5,407 Bru families have returned to Mizoram so far. What now? Mizoram goes to Assembly polls on November 28, and thus repatriation of Brus is even more sensitive politically — a better rehabilitation package than that has been agreed could upset the majority Mizo.

7. Why Pakistan's 13th bailout will also be its toughest With Pakistan formally requesting IMF aid (it plans to raise anywhere between $6 billion to more than $12 billion), it will be the country's 13th loan programme since 1988. Islamabad's cycle of financial crashes and bailouts has also been about taking the lender's money but dragging its heels on economic reforms that should follow. It has successfully completed just one IMF programme (meaning it received all the disbursements as planned) in 2016 and even then a number of requirements were relaxed. But this time the loan terms are likely to be tougher, including a closer scrutiny on the debt it owes to China. Pakistan knows this and has shown some signs of following the path. It devalued its rupee — the most in two decades after long-standing IMF observations that the currency was overvalued. It has said that it will publish the terms of the Chinese loans. This time the army is worried too, especially after US President Donald Trump cut military aid to Pakistan earlier this year. An economically-troubled and indebted Pakistan means that India will have to live with an increased Chinese influence in the country. Read the full story here

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

8. Kid gloves for Saudi prince and sanctions for Putin? Turkey is mounting the pressure on Saudi Arabia for the alleged murder of journalist and critic Jamal Khashoggi, saying it has audio and video recordings proving he was tortured inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. (Re-trace Khashoggi's disappearance here) But Turkey faces a dilemma on the evidence: Should it publish and risk admitting to snooping on Saudi consulate (thus breaking the Vienna Convention) or should it just hope the world takes it at face value and pressure Saudi? A Turkish media has also published the names of the 15 Saudi officials, including the heads of Saudi forensic department and spy organisation, who flew to Istanbul in private jets for a one-day trip the day Khashoggi disappeared, prompting Saudi to cancel the offer of opening up its consulate to Turkish probe. (A Saudi media tweeted saying the 15 are tourists wrongfully accused of crime). MBS is no Putin Donald Trump said the US investigators will look into the incident, but has ruled out cancelling the lucrative defence deal with Saudi Arabia, even if its guilt is proven. This highlights the difference in the world's approach to Muhammad bin Salman (MBS), the Saudi crown prince and de facto ruler, and Russia's Putin. This year, when the UK probe showed Russia was behind the radioactive poisoning of a former spy and his daughter (they survived) in England, almost all EU nations imposed sanctions on Russia, followed by the US. But MBS is likely to escape such a fate, because: 1. Since the Cold War most Western nations has had limited ties to Russia, and thus could penalise the country without significant harm to trade and commerce; 2. Saudi has the second-largest reserve of crude oil in the world and thus (not to mention the depleted supply from Iran due to sanctions), Riyadh is important for global economy; 3. Trump — the former businessman (he is still tied to his business) has prioritised commercial benefits in diplomacy, enabled Saudi to corner Qatar, and is himself no exemplar of human rights; 4. Precedent — last year, MBS detained a sitting PM of Lebanon, for two weeks in November, and faced no significant repercussion. It's not all smooth for MBS — World Bank president (and some investors) has decided to skip a business summit in Riyadh, soon after Financial Times, CNN and CNBC pulled out as media sponsors.

9. Train that will travel faster than a jumbo jet Plane facts: A new train, to be developed in China and be operational by 2025, will travel at 1,000 kilometres per hour (kmph) — beating the top speed attained by a Boeing 747-400, which is 988 kmph. Magnetic attraction: The train, dubbed T-flight and a scale model of which was unveiled this week, will use magnetic levitation technology, travelling 100 mm above the ground and will slowly accelerate to 1,000 kmph. The authorities have assured that the train will be safe — a bullet train crashin China in 2011 left 40 dead and 200 people injured. Contest open: Magnetic levitation isn't a new technology — it's also used to power the world's fastest train, the Japanese Maglev train, which travels at 603 kmph. The Chinese meanwhile, are also keeping an eye out for the Americans, as some US based companies, like Hyperloop Transportation Technologies and Hyperloop One, are engaged in designing trains that will travel faster than 1,000 kmph.

10. What's a fake finger worth? Real business: Police in UP have come across stamp-makers who run a thriving business of selling fake 'thumbs'for anywhere between Rs 60 to Rs 500 depending on the place and competition. Their clients include employees planning to fudge their biometric attendance, hackers of screen-fingerprint passwords, those preparing fake documents to procure cell-phone SIMs etc. A silicone 'thumb making' unit costs about Rs 1 lakh and just a computer or laptop, a scanner and a cast machine. Real votes: There have been reports about prosthetic suppliers selling silicone fingers to political parties trying to rig elections. The fake fingers would have made it easier to remove the ink mark and allowed a voter to vote again. Real marks: Last year a 'dummy' candidate was arrestedwhen he was appearing for an exam for the real candidate when his fake finger fell to the ground while giving biometric attendance.

PLUS A princess who married her dog's namesake Hollywood stars joined Queen Elizabeth and her family as the monarch's granddaughter Princess Eugenie married wine merchant Jack Brooksbank. It was Britain's second major royal wedding this year, after Prince Harry's to Meghan Markle. Eugenie, 28, is the daughter of the queen's third child, Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York. Fun fact: Eugenie's dog is also named Jack.

3 CURATED WEEKEND READS 1. Malaysia’s Indian gangsters Though just 7% of the population, more Malaysian Indians are gangsters than any other race, a result of their estate labour history and general state neglect. 2. Gamified life From scoreboards to trackers, games have infiltrated work, serving as spies, overseers and agents of social control. 3. The rise and fall of affirmative action With a lawsuit against Harvard, Asian-American activists have formed an alliance with a white conservative to change higher education.

Follow news that matters to you in real-time. Join 3 crore news enthusiasts. GET APP

Answer To NEWS IN CLUES Usain Bolt. The world's fastest man scored the first two goals of his professional football career on his full debut for Central Coast Mariners on Friday. Aiming to impress in his latest trial appearance, the 32-year-old Jamaican’s did his chances no harm as the A-League side roared to a 4-0 pre-season victory over Macarthur South West United in Sydney.