NEW PREZ SAYS MALDIVES TOO SMALL TO BE TIED UP IN GEOPOLITICS

Minister for earth sciences and BJP’s face from Arunachal Pradesh Kiren Rijiju will represent India at the swearing-in of Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu Friday, the govt announced even as the incoming leader said he did not want to redraw regional balance by bringing in Chinese forces after expelling Indian troops.

“Maldives is too small to be entangled in geopolitical rivalry. I am not very much interested to engage Maldivian foreign policy in this,” Muizzu told AFP. He has pledged to remove Indian military personnel from the Maldives in the very first week of his presidency. “The people of the Maldives did not vote for me to allow any military presence in the Maldives,” he said.

That is why we are talking with the Indian govt to remove them, and I’m sure we can do that in a peaceful and democratic manner,” Muizzu added.

“Maldives is India’s key maritime neighbour in the Indian Ocean Region and occupies a special place in Prime Minister’s vision of ‘SAGAR’ (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and the Neighbourhood First policy,” said the govt.

China announced earlier this week that it will be represented by President Xi Jinping’s special envoy and state councillor Shen Yiqin at the inauguration.

PM MODI ROLLS OUT ₹24K CR PROJECT FOR 28L TRIBALS ON BIRSA MUNDA BIRTH ANNIVERSARY

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched on Wednesday, from Jharkhand’s Khunti district, the Centre’s new Rs 24,000-crore scheme for the holistic development of nearly 28 lakh people from 75 particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs) countrywide.

Modi also became the first incumbent PM to visit Ulihatu, the native village of tribal revolutionary Birsa Munda, and meet his followers. His visit to Ulihatu, in Khunti district, came on the third Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas, which has been celebrated from 2021 on the birth anniversary of Munda to honour forgotten freedom fighters and revolutionaries from tribal communities across the country.

The PM also formally marked the direct benefit transfer of the 15th instalment of Rs 2,000 to 8 crore farmers under PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi and inaugurated projects worth Rs 7,200 crore in Jharkhand.

Congress accused the PM of delaying the payment cycle of the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi instalment to coincide with the elections in five states, in what it called was a sly attempt by BJP to influence voters in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Telangana.

PM Modi on Wednesday released Rs 18,000 crore as the 15th instalment of the PM-Kisan scheme to more than eight crore farmers across the country.

LANDSLIDE, ISSUES WITH DRILLING MACHINE HIT U'KHAND TUNNEL RESCUE OPS

Operations to rescue 40 labourers trapped in a tunnel have been hampered after a landslide at the site and technical problems with a drilling machine being used to create an escape passage.

The labourers are safe, and oxygen, electricity, medicines, food items and water are being constantly supplied to them through pipes.

Meanwhile, workers, family members and others held a protest outside the under-construction tunnel over the delay in rescuing trapped labourers. The protestors vented their anger over the absence of an alternative plan when the machines deployed for drilling the rubble to prepare an escape passage for trapped labourers did not work on Tuesday evening.

A portion of the under-construction tunnel, which is part of the ambitious Chardham All Weather Road project, collapsed on Sunday.

On Tuesday night, rubble from the landslide fell on the collapsed part of the tunnel, hampering operations as well as injuring two rescue workers.

A new platform is being built inside the tunnel for another drilling machine, which is on the way, an official at the police control room set up near the site, said on Wednesday. Some more equipment is being brought from Delhi by air to aid rescue efforts, according to officials of the state and national disaster response forces.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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BIDEN,  XI JINPING MEET IN CALIFORNIA

US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping shook hands Wednesday and pledged to reduce tensions as they met for the first time in a year at a high-stakes summit in California.

A smiling Biden greeted Xi after the Chinese leader stepped out of a black limousine at the scenic Filoli country estate in the California foothills near San Francisco, before the two leaders shook hands on the front steps.

The two leaders then headed inside for painstakingly choreographed, closed-door talks on issues including Taiwan, sanctions and trade that have roiled relations between the world's largest economies.

Biden opened his remarks by saying that tensions should "not veer into conflict."

Xi responded by saying that "turning their back on each other is not an option" for the superpowers.

US officials have played down the chance of major breakthroughs although an agreement on restoring a hotline between the Chinese and US militaries is on the cards. But the main goal of the talks is to restore predictability to the relationship, US officials say.

ISRAEL RAIDS GAZA’S LARGEST HOSP, SAYS ARMS, TERROR INFRA UNCOVERED

Israeli troops entered Gaza’s biggest hospital on Wednesday and searched its rooms and basement, witnesses said, in pursuit of Palestinian Hamas militants, an operation that has stoked global alarm over the fate of thousands of civilians trapped inside. Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City has become the main target of the ground operation by Israeli forces, who say Hamas fighters located the “beating heart” of their operations in a headquarters in tunnels beneath it, which Hamas denies. Israel said its troops had uncovered unspecified weapons and “terror infrastructure” inside the hospital compound after killing militants in a clash outside. Once inside, they said there had been no fighting and no friction with civilians, patients or staff.

Hailing the entry of his forces into the hospital, Israeli PM Netanyahu said in a statement: “There is no place in Gaza that we cannot reach. There are no hideouts. There is no shelter or refuge for the Hamas murderers. We will reach and eliminate Hamas and we will bring back our hostages. These are two sacred missions.”

Qatari mediators were on Wednesday seeking to negotiate a deal between Hamas and Israel that includes the release of around 50 civilian hostages from Gaza in exchange for a three-day ceasefire, an official briefed on the negotiations said. The deal, under discussion, would also see Israel release some Palestinian women and children from Israeli jails and increase the amount of humanitarian aid allowed into Gaza, the official said.

RISHI SUNAK PLANS EMERGENCY LAW TO GET PAST SC RULING

British PM Rishi Sunak said he would pass an emergency law after the UK’s top judges dealt him a major blow by ruling his scheme to send asylum seekers to Rwanda was unlawful. After the UK Supreme Court said his flagship immigration policy could not proceed as it was, Sunak said he was working on a new treaty with Rwanda, and would bring in an urgent law to declare the East African nation a safe destination for migrants.

“My patience has run thin, as I do believe the country’s patience has run thin, and that’s why we’ll take all the necessary steps to ensure that we can remove any further blockages towards getting this policy executed,” Sunak told reporters.

Under the scheme, Britain intended to send tens of thousands of asylum seekers who arrived on its shores without permission to Rwanda in a bid to deter large numbers of migrants crossing the Channel from Europe in small boats. But the top court on Wednesday ru led that Rwanda could not be considered a safe third country.

The first planned flight to Rwanda was blocked last June after the European Court of Human Rights granted a temporary injunction to a small number of asylum seekers. Sunak signalled to his angry lawmakers that Britain could potentially leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and other such treaties as some have demanded, saying he would do what was necessary to allow the deportation flights to start in the spring of next year.

THE REST

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MANIPUR TRIBAL GROUP GIVES ULTIMATUM: ‘WILL SET UP SELF-GOVT’

A leader of the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum, a major Kuki-Zomi organization in Churachandpur, Wednesday gave an ultimatum that it will set up a “self govt” if its demands are not met in two weeks, “whether the central govt recognises it or not.

This statement was made by Muan Tombing, General Secretary of the ITLF, to media persons on the sidelines of a rally held by the body in Churachandpur on Wednesday.

“It has already been six months but nothing of our demand, that is of separate administration from the Manipur govt, has been addressed. So, if the voice that we have raised in the rally is not heard, in a couple of weeks, we will set up our self govt whether the central recognises it or not…,” he said, in a video widely circulated.

PRIYANKA GANDHI TAKES A DIG AT JYOTIRADITYA SCINDIA; HE RESPONDS

Congress's Priyanka Gandhi Vadra hit out today at friend-turned-rival Jyotiraditya Sindia, branding him a "traitor" who has "betrayed" the mandate of the people. Speaking at Datia, Madhya Pradesh, on the last day of campaigning, she said, "All of their (the BJP's) leaders are a little weird. First our Scindia... I have worked with him in UP, Actually, his height is a little short but in arrogance, 'waah bhai waah'".

"Any worker who used to go to him, said, 'We have to call him Maharaj and if we don't say that, our issues will not get addressed'. He followed his family's tradition well. Many have betrayed, but they betrayed the public of Gwalior and Chamba... He made the govt fall," she said.

Scindia hit back, saying Ms Gandhi Vadra should look in the mirror before teaching a lesson on arrogance. In a post on X, he said the general secretary of the grand old party who accused his family of having a tradition of 'betrayal' is a "part-time leader".

"As she is the part-time leader, I do not expect her to have the ability to understand the difference between these two traditions--the sons of which family sacrificed their lives to protect Mother India from the Afghans, the Mughals and the Britishers--and who gave Indian land as a gift to China. The second generation of which family had imposed an emergency in the greed for power? And even today, the present generation of which family is defaming the country by going to foreign forums?... Before teaching a lesson to the ego that weighs ability with height, please take a look in the mirror yourself." he wrote.

NARAYANA MURTHY CALLS FOR A USD 1 BN PER YEAR FOR TRAIN TEACHERS

Software icon N R Narayana Murthy on Wednesday called for spending USD one billion a year to train school teachers by 10,000 retired highly accomplished teachers from the developed world and from India in STEM areas (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).

One possible way of accelerating NEP's (National Education Policy) outcome is to invite 10,000 retired highly accomplished teachers from the developed world and from India in STEM areas to create 2,500 "Train the Teacher" colleges in the country's 28 states and eight union territories, Mr Murthy said.

"Experts tell me that each set of four trainers can train 100 primary school teachers and 100 secondary school teachers a year. We will be able to train 250,000 primary school teachers and 250,000 secondary school teachers every year by this method," the founder of Infosys said. These trained Indian teachers can themselves become trainers over a period of five years.

If you think this is expensive, you may recall the words of Derek Bok, a former President of Harvard University, who said, "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance," he noted.

TWO VETERAN PAK CRICKETERS CAUGHT ON WRONG FOOT, ON TV SHOWS

Former Pakistan cricketer Abdul Razzaq has apologised for comments about actor Aishwarya Rai. He made the comments earlier this week, at a public panel where he was joined by fellow former cricketers Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi, both of whom applauded and chuckled at Razzaq’s remarks.

In a video apology posted on Twitter, Razzaq said that it was not his intention to hurt anybody’s sentiments. “I am very ashamed of yesterday and I realise I said very bad words. I apologise to everyone, please forgive me,” he wrote, and said in his statement that he originally wanted to use a different analogy, but because of a slip of tongue, took Aishwarya Rai’s name.

On the show, he had said in Urdu, “If your thinking is that you marry Aishwarya Rai and expect a pious and virtuous child to be born, then that can never happen.”

Fashion designer and actor Masaba Gupta on Wednesday slammed former Pakistan cricketer Ramiz Raja for laughing at a racist comment directed towards her parents, West Indies batting great Vivian Richards and veteran actor Neena Gupta, saying he had no grace. Masaba's reaction came after a two-month-old clip of Raja laughing at the quip made on a Pakistani TV news channel started circulating on social media.

"Dear Ramiz Raja (sir) grace is a quality few have. My father, mother and I have it in spades. You have none. Sickening to see you laugh on national TV in Pakistan at something the world stopped laughing at about 30 years back. Step into the future. All 3 of us are here with our chin up. #ramizraja," Masaba wrote in an X post.

In the video, Raja, the former Pakistan Cricket Board chief, can be seen sniggering when a comic on the show made the objectionable remarks after saying that Richards broke her heart when he started dating Gupta.

WORLD CUP: INDIA BEAT NZ IN SEMI-FINAL

Making the big stage his own, Virat Kohli added more lustre to his larger than life persona with a historic 50th ODI century that extended India's bullish World Cup run to the title clash even as New Zealand threatened to spoil the home team's party with a lion-hearted fight, in Mumbai Wednesday.

The semifinal tilted heavily in India's favour after Rohit Sharma's team put on board a massive 397 for four, bulldozing the Kiwi attack but before the hosts romped home by 70 runs for an unprecedented 10th win in a row, New Zealand did cause considerable anxiety in home team's camp.

It was Daryl Mitchell's valiant 134 off 119 balls that had the Indian hearts racing as the equation became a gettable 112 from 54-balls with six wickets in hand but Kuldeep Yadav delivered under pressure a price-less two-run 42nd over that released the pressure.

Pacer Mohammed Shami, who had scalped top four Kiwi batters earlier, then sealed the fate of the Kiwis by ending Mitchell's belligerent knock and ended up with a gold-standard seven-wicket haul.

Shami is serving reminders of his class in each and every game since making the playing XI after being left out initially and he only made it bigger at the big stage.

New Zealand folded for 327 in 48.5 overs and India rejoiced a hard-earned memorable victory with yet another team effort, that earns them a shot at their third ODI world title.

A fearless Rohit Sharma (47 off 29) dented the confidence of New Zealand bowlers with his ultra-risk, power-packed knock that blew away the pressure of the big semifinal, leaving the stage for Kohli (117 off 113) to conjure up the knock that perched him atop a mountain from where displacing him does not seem possible for a long time to come.

Shreyas Iyer not only watched Kohli take the crown from his idol, Sachin Tendulkar (49 ODI centuries), from the best seat in the house but he himself made a huge contribution in India raising a mammoth total, albeit his knock of 105 (off 70) was overshadowed due to the sheer significance of Kohli's milestone mark.

And interestingly, while it was alleged that India tried to take advantage by opting for spin-friendly track, it was a fast bowler that made the ball talk.

SACHIN LAUDS KOHLI FOR 50TH ODI TON

Sachin Tendulkar penned a heartfelt congratulatory message to Virat Kohli, who made a 50th ODI hundred to break his record during the World Cup semifinal against New Zealand here on Wednesday. Tendulkar had owned the record for the highest number of ODI hundreds till this day with 49 centuries.

“The first time I met you in the Indian dressing room, you were pranked by other teammates into touching my feet. I couldn't stop laughing that day. But soon you touched my heart with your passion and skill. I am so happy that the young boy has grown into a 'Virat' player,” Tendulkar wrote on his X account. “I could not be happier that an Indian broke my record, And to do it on the biggest stage – in the World Cup semi-final – and at my home ground is the icing on the cake,” he concluded.

Kohli also said going past Tendulkar was a dream come true for him. “Sachin paaji was there in the stands. It's very difficult for me to express it. My life partner, my hero - he's sitting there. And all these fans at the Wankhede,” said an emotional Kohli during the innings break.

During his innings, Kohli also became the highest run scorer in a single edition of a World Cup, surpassing Tendulkar's 673 runs he had aggregated in the 2003 edition.

“For me the most important thing is to make my team win. I've been given a role this tournament and I'm trying to dig deep. I played the role so that the guys around me can come and express themselves,” said Kohli, who has scored 711 runs so far, including three hundreds and five fifties.

BABAR AZAM STEPS DOWN

Babar Azam took the fall for Pakistan’s failure to reach the knockout stage of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 as he resigned from his position as captain of the team from all three formats. He announced his resignation on Wednesday, November 15. In all the conversations about Pakistan cricket, Babar’s captaincy was a bone of contention.

During Babar's stint, Pakistan went to the No. 1 position in ODIs. Babar Azam-led ended their disastrous campaign in the WC with a debacle at the hands of England by 93 runs.

INDICATORS

Sensex 65,676 (+742), Nifty 19,675 (+232)

Nasdaq 14,104 (+9) Dow 34,991 (+164), S&P 4,503 (+7)

***US$-Rs. 83.11, GBP-Rs. 103.50, Euro-Rs. 90.26, UAE Dhm-Rs. 22.62, Can$-Rs. 60.73, Aus$- Rs. 54.08

GBP 0.80 /US$, Euro 0.92 /US$, Jap.Yen 150.81 /US$, Aus$ 1.53 /US$, Sing 1.34 /US$, Bang Taka 109.07 /US$, Can$ 1.36 /US$, Mal Ring 4.67 /US$, Pak Re 286.17 /US$, Phil Peso 55.72 /US$, Russian Rouble 89.80 /US$, NZ$ 1.65 /US$, Thai Baht 35.50 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 35.88 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 37,770, Dollar Index 104.28, Brent Crude 81.18, BDI 1662

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1958 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 6,104 / 5,595, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 77,700

Note - ***The currency rates quoted above are only indicative. At best these can give trends of currency movements. The banks' buy/sell rates can be different from these.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

It's the most unhappy people who most fear change. - Mignon McLaughlin

OFF TRACK

You all know Albert Einstein? They now say he had as many as ten girlfriends. Think about it. That's ten names. Ten phone numbers. Ten birthdays. You'd HAVE to be a genius!