Daily Bulletin: SC to hear CBI chief Alok Verma's plea against Centre order; Congress to protest outside CBI offices across India; day's top stories

Supreme Court to hear CBI chief Alok Verma’s plea against govt order  As the CBI deals with an unprecedented internal crisis, all eyes are on the Supreme Court on Friday when former director Alok Verma’s plea against the Centre’s order divesting him of duties and sending him on leave is slated to come up. On Thursday, there was high drama over the presence of Intelligence Bureau officers allegedly “snooping” outside Verma’s official residence in Delhi. Ahead of the hearing in the Supreme Court, the CBI clarified that Verma and special director Rakesh Asthana, who are locked in a bitter feud that triggered this crisis, will remain its director and special director, in a bid to stress they were not removed from their posts. Both Verma and Astana were stripped of their powers and sent on leave by the Centre on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday. In his legal challenge before the apex court, Verma also sought stay on the Centre’s order asking him to proceed on leave and giving interim charge of his post to Rao, a 1986 batch Odisha-cadre IPS officer. Verma’s petition is listed for hearing before a bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices SK Kaul and KM Joseph. It will come up along with the petition filed by ‘Common Cause’. The CBI chief contended that the decision taken “overnight” by the Centre and the CVC to divest him of his role as the head of the probe agency was “patently illegal” and such interference “erodes” the independence and autonomy of the institution. [caption id=“attachment_5438881” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Alok Verma. News18[/caption] Rahul Gandhi to lead Congress protests outside CBI officeagainst Alok Verma’s removal Congress president Rahul Gandhi will lead the party as Congress workers will stages protests outside all Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) offices across the country on Friday, demanding the reinstatement of CBI director Alok Verma and seeking apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “destroying” the image of the premier investigating the agency. In a letter to all Congress general secretaries, state unit chiefs and legislature party leaders, AICC General Secretary Ashok Gehlot asked them to hold demonstrations against the BJP government outside all CBI offices across the country. Senior Congress leaders will participate in the protest outside the CBI headquarters in the national capital, while state leaders will lead the demonstrations in their regions, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said. Gehlot in his letter said, “An illegal, unconstitutional and illegitimate removal of the CBI director by the Modi-Shah duo has shamed India and its premier investigative agency.” Bhima Koregaon case: Pune court to hear bail plea of 3 activists, Bombay HC to hear petition of Gautam Navlakha, Anand Teltumbde A Pune special court will pronounce its order on the bail application of human rights’ activists Sudha Bhardwaj, Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves on Friday. Meanwhile, the Bombay High Court will also hear the petitions of Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde. The two activists filed petitions to quash the FIR and criminal proceedings initiated against them after the violence at Bhima-Koregaon. Navlakha, Varavara Rao, Ferreira, Gonsalves, Bharadwaj were arrested on 28 August for allegedly having Maoist links. In the FIR filed against them, it is alleged that they, along with Anand Teltumbde were responsible for violence at Bhima Koregaon earlier this year. Sensex plummets Sensex slumped about 344 points on Thursday to settle at 33,690.09 on across-the-board selling on prevailing liquidity crunch and fresh weakness in the rupee amid a global sell-off. October futures and options (F&O) expiry added to the woes as investors offloaded their long bets instead of carrying them forward to the next series for November, brokers said. During October F&O series, the BSE Sensex dropped 2,634.08 points, or over 7 percent while the NSE Nifty lost 852.65 points, or almost 8 percent. Rocket Launch: Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL ICON The Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) will launch aboard a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket. ICON will explore a zone in our atmosphere where Earth weather and space weather meet. Radio communications and GPS signals travel in this zone, so variations in the area’s gasses can impact our reliance on technology. ICON will help NASA understand what causes the variations. ICON, aboard the Pegasus XL rocket, will launch from an in-flight Northrop Grumman L-1011 “Stargazer” aircraft. The aircraft will carry the rocket over the Atlantic Ocean, where it will launch into orbit. India Mobile Congress - Day 2 While Day 1 was all about setting the roadmap for 5G in India, Day 2 is expected to bring us more on India-centric use case scenarios of 5G. Ericsson and Reliance Jio will be holding a briefing tomorrow at noon to discuss the 5G network in India. Sectors such as Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Smart Cities, Start-ups in the technology space and other allied industry sectors will also be talked on by leading professionals. #MeToo movement has given voice to years of anger: Anurag Kashyap Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, who is embroiled in a legal battle with his former partner and director Vikas Bahl, on Thursday said the #MeToo movement has given voice to years of anger. Bahl has been accused of sexual harassment by an employee of the now-dissolved Phantom Films, the company that was founded by Kashyap, Bahl, Vikramaditya Motwane and Madhu Mantena. Kashyap and director Motwane have been under fire for the alleged inaction in the sexual harassment allegations against Bahl. Both Kashyap and Motwane have denied the charge. Kashyap, in an interview to PTI, said there is a need to understand and grow up to the movement, which has taken the industry by storm.