LEAD

In an oblique reference to the Supreme Court’s 2015 judgement striking down the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014, which sought to overturn the Collegium system of appointments in the higher judiciary, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, sharing the dais with Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, said Friday it was “never too late to reflect”.

Underlining the “primacy of the will of the people”, Dhankhar, who was addressing a gathering at the 8th Dr L M Singhvi Memorial Lecture in New Delhi, said “that power was undone” and “the world does not know of any such instance”.

Avoter turnout of 60.23 per cent was recorded in the first phase of high-stakes Gujarat assembly elections held in 89 out of the total 182 seats across 19 districts of the Saurashtra-Kutch region and southern parts of the state on Thursday.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has ruled Gujarat for 27 years, is trying to retain power in the state for the seventh term in a row. While leaders of the saffron party including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have exuded confidence in a sweeping win with a record number of seats, the BJP faces its traditional rival Congress as well as new poll entrant Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has tried to position itself as the main challenger of the ruling party.

China has warned American officials not to interfere in its relationship with India, the Pentagon has said in a report to Congress. Throughout its standoff with India along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Chinese officials sought to downplay the severity of the crisis, emphasising Beijing's intent to preserve border stability and prevent the standoff from harming other areas of its bilateral relationship with India, the Pentagon said in a report on Tuesday.

"The PRC (People's Republic of China) seeks to prevent border tensions from causing India to partner more closely with the United States. PRC officials have warned US Officials to not interfere with the PRC's relationship with India," the Pentagon said in its latest report to the Congress on Chinese military buildup.

Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi clapped back at a Congress leader's "aukat" comment, the party's new chief Mallikarjun Kharge has delivered a new controversy for the party, just before the Gujarat election, by targeting the Prime Minister with a "Ravan" reference.

The BJP has accused Kharge of "insulting Gujarat's son" repeatedly.

Kharge made the comments while addressing a rally in Ahmedabad ahead of polls next month.

The government has asked the Supreme Court Collegium to reconsider 20 files related to the appointment of high court judges, including that of advocate Saurabh Kirpal who has candidly spoken about his gay status, sources said on Monday.

The government expressed "strong reservations" about the recommended names as it sent back the files to the collegium on November 25, sources aware of the procedure to appoint Supreme Court and high court judges said.