CRUSHING TERROR WITH FULL MIGHT: PM ON 26/11 ANNIV

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said India today was combating terror with “full ardour” due to its fortitude, as he paid tributes to the martyrs and victims of Mumbai terror attacks, which took place 15 years ago on November 26, 2008.

“We can never forget November 26. It was on this very day that the country had come under the most dastardly terror attack. Terrorists had shaken Mumbai and the entire country. But it is India’s fortitude that made us surmount the ordeal. We are now crushing terror with full ardour. I pay homage to all of them who lost their lives in the attack,” he said during his monthly radio broadcast “Mann Ki Baat”.

The Prime Minister also noted that November 26 is also important for another reason as in 1949, the Constituent Assembly had adopted the Constitution of India on this day. He, however, said it was a “misfortune” that the Constitution’s first amendment related was to curtailing the “Freedom of Speech” and “Freedom of Expression”.

But, he added, through the 44th Amendment, the “wrongs committed during the Emergency have been duly rectified”.

Touching upon his campaign to encourage “vocal for local”, the PM urged people not to go abroad for holding family weddings. He said by hosting weddings in the country, the nation’s money would remain within and would also generate employment opportunities for people here.

“Why don’t we hold such wedding ceremonies in our own country? It is possible that the kind of system you want may not be there today, but if we organise such events, systems will also develop. This is a topic related to very big families. I hope this pain of mine will definitely reach those families,” the Prime Minister said.

SC HAS ACTED AS 'PEOPLE'S COURT', KEPT CITIZENS' FAITH INTACT: CJI

Asserting that the Supreme Court has acted as the “people’s court”, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Sunday said citizens should not be afraid of approaching courts or view it as the last resort for redressal of their grievances.

“In the last seven decades, the Supreme Court of India has acted as a people’s court. Thousands of citizens have approached it with the faith that they will get justice through this institution,” the CJI said at a Constitution Day function organised by the Supreme Court.

“Individuals should not be afraid of going to courts or view it as the last resort. Rather it is my hope that by our efforts, citizens of every class, caste and creed can repose trust in our court system and view it as a fair and effective forum to enforce the rights,” Justice Chandrachud said.

He emphasised that the Indian Supreme Court was perhaps the only court in the world where a citizen can set in motion the constitutional machinery by simply writing a letter to the CJI.

CJI Chandrachud said citizens moved courts to seek protection of their personal liberty, accountability against unlawful arrests, protection of rights of bonded labourers, tribals seeking protection of their homelands, prevention of social evils such as manual scavenging and even hoping for intervention to get clean air.

“These cases are not just citations or statistics for the court. These cases resemble the expectations of people from the Supreme Court as well as the court’s own commitment to deliver justice to the citizens,” he said.

RESPECT BOUNDARIES: VP JAGDEEP DHANKAR’S MESSAGE TO JUDICIARY

Cautioning that any “incursion” on the Parliament’s domain by other state organs will disturb the “delicate applecart” of governance, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar Sunday said “constitutional provision providing for interpretation of law or Constitution to the Supreme Court is a small slit” and “can’t be a floodgate”.

At Constitution Day celebrations held by the Law Ministry in New Delhi, Dhankhar said: “Parliament alone is the architect of the Constitution to the exclusion of any other agency, executive or judiciary… Parliament can’t script a judgment to the Supreme Court. Similarly, Supreme Court can’t script law for us.”

He said: “People who sit in Parliament are there because through a legitimised mechanism on a proper platform, the people have expressed their mandate. Therefore Parliament is the soul of democracy…”

The VP said supremacy of Parliament as the “sole architect of the Constitution” is “unquestionable” and that “it is not amenable in its task to intervention either from the executive or the judiciary”. Dhankhar stated: “The sovereignty of Parliament is synonymous with sovereignty of the nation and the same is impregnable. Why I say so? The executive survives only if it has strength in Parliament. I don’t want to be a loudmouth; but the other institution also survives only when it is sanctified by Parliament. Therefore, such a body, the foundation of which is the mandate of the people, cannot allow any incursion in its domain. That will be disturbing the delicate applecart of governance in a democracy.”

Dhankhar said: “Democracy is optimally nurtured when state organs work in harmony… It is a constitutional mandate that all these organs of the state function in their respective domain.”

He said differences must be resolved using statesmanship. “Public posturing generating perception as a strategy to deal with such differences is best avoided,” Dhankhar said.

PEACE ACCORD WITH IMPHAL-BASED INSURGENT GROUP SOON: MANIPUR CM

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Sunday said his government was holding talks with an Imphal Valley-based insurgent group, and a peace accord will be signed soon.

Speaking to PTI-Video, Singh said the talks were at an advanced stage, even though he stayed away from naming the underground organisation.

This was for the first time that there was an official confirmation about such talks being held by the government, since ethnic violence broke out in the state on May 3.

More than 180 people have been killed since the violence broke out in May after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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DON'T RETURN TO BURY THE DEAD: ISRAEL WARNS GAZANS AMID TRUCE

Reiterating warnings made in dropped leaflets, the IDF's Arabic spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Avichay Adraee directed Palestinians to continue moving south of Wadi Gaza.

He also instructed Gazans not to try return to the Strip's northern areas, enter the sea or approach within one kilometer of the Israel-Gaza border.

One condition of the temporary ceasefire was that Palestinians would not try to return to their homes in the combat zone of northern Gaza. While there does not appear to be large-scale Palestinian efforts to return, the warnings have not stopped some Palestinians from returning to inspect damage or bury the dead.

A temporary four-day ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas terrorist organisation went into effect at 7 am on Friday.

Meanwhile, IDF Chief of Staff Lt Gen Herzi Halevi on Sunday assured troops in Gaza that the war against Hamas would resume following the ceasefire to rescue dozens of hostages being held by Hamas. "The IDF and its soldiers fight fiercely to protect the lives of our people while upholding the values of the military. We created conditions for the release of the hostages, children and mothers, during this truce," Lt Gen wrote Halevi. "When the deal is completed, we will return to our operations with determination, for the continued release of the hostages and the complete dismantlement of Hamas," he added.

Meanwhile, Hamas militants on Sunday freed 17 more hostages, including 14 Israelis, in a third set of releases under a cease-fire deal. Israel was to free 39 Palestinian prisoners later Sunday as part of the deal.

It was the third consecutive day in which Hamas released Israeli hostages it has been holding in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

A fourth exchange is expected to take place on Monday – the last day of the four-day cease-fire between the enemies. A total of 50 hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners are to be freed.

CHINA SAYS SURGE IN RESPIRATORY ILLNESSES IS CAUSED BY FLU AND OTHER KNOWN PATHOGENS

A surge in respiratory illnesses across China that has drawn the attention of the World Health Organisation is caused by the flu and other known pathogens and not by a novel virus, the country’s health ministry said on Sunday.

Recent clusters of respiratory infections are caused by an overlap of common viruses such as the influenza virus, rhinoviruses, the respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, the adenovirus as well as bacteria such as mycoplasma pneumoniae, which is a common culprit for respiratory tract infections, a National Health Commission spokesperson said.

The WHO earlier this week formally requested that China provide information about a potentially worrying spike in respiratory illnesses and clusters of pneumonia in children, as mentioned by several media reports and a global infectious disease monitoring service.

The emergence of new flu strains or other viruses capable of triggering pandemics typically starts with undiagnosed clusters of respiratory illness. Both SARS and COVID-19 were first reported as unusual types of pneumonia.

Chinese authorities earlier this month blamed the increase in respiratory diseases on the lifting of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. Other countries also saw a jump in respiratory diseases such as RSV when pandemic restrictions ended.

THE REST

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UTTARKASHI TUNNEL RESCUE: VERTICAL BORING BEGUNS; HORIZONTAL OPTION NOT GIVEN UP ON

Rescuers began drilling into the hill above the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel on Sunday, boring nearly 20 metres on the first day of adopting the new approach to reach 41 workers trapped inside for 14 days.

The vertical approach was one of the at least five options on which preparatory work had begun some days back, as anxiety mounted over the fate of the men trapped in the under-construction tunnel on Uttarakhand's Char Dham route.

Rescue workers have to drill down 86 metres to reach the tunnel. By evening, the heavy drilling equipment had bored down to about 19.5 metres.

National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) managing director Mahmood Ahmed said vertical boring would be over by Thursday if there are no hurdles.

As the drilling progresses, 700-mm wide pipes are being inserted to create an escape passage. A little distance away, a thinner, 200-mm probe is being pushed in. It has reached the 70-metre mark. The vertical boring option was picked as the next best alternative after the latest in a series of snags that hit the horizontal drilling operation from the tunnel's Silkyara-end, where an estimated 60-metre stretch of rubble faced rescue workers.

This portion of the tunnel collapsed on Diwali morning, cutting off the exit of the workers inside. A huge auger drill -- a corkscrew like-device with a rotary blade at the front-end -- that is drilling into this stretch of debris got stuck Friday evening, forcing officials to give up on the 25-tonne machine. Individual workers have been entering this incomplete escape passage -- in which a steel chute has been inserted -- to cut through and bring out the stuck blades and the auger's shaft in pieces.

On Saturday morning, a plasma cutter was airlifted from Hyderabad to supplement the gas cutter. A Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) team and a unit of Army engineers, the Madras Sappers, also reached Silkyara. By Sunday evening, only 8.15 metres of the auger shaft -- of the 47 metres altogether -- remained to be cut out, officials said.

Once the auger is completely extricated, rescuers will adopt another fresh approach -- manual drilling to clear the remaining 10 or 12 metre stretch of rubble.

Asked about the absence of an escape tunnel that some say should have been constructed at an earlier stage of the Silkyara-Barkot project, NHIDCL MD Ahmed said he had also thought about this aspect. "A committee has been set up to go into all that. But as of now our first priority is the safe evacuation of the trapped workers as early as possible," he said.

MINISTER BHUJBAL STANDS AGAINST APPEASEMENT OF MARATHAS

Maharashtra minister and senior OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal took a tough stand against his own government on Sunday by demanding a stay on the Kunbi certificates given to Marathas over the past two months and scrapping of the Justice (retired) Sandeep Shinde Committee for-med to explore ways to provide reservation to the Maratha community.

Speaking at the second OBC Elgar rally at Hingoli, Bhujbal said, “I want to tell the state Backward Classes Commission (BCC) that survey of Maratha community alone cannot be done to prove its social backwardness. If you want to fix that, you must study the backwardness of all communities… only then compare it with the Marathas.”

Questioning the actions of his own government of giving over 13,000 Kunbi certificates to Marathas, Bhujbal demanded immediate cancellation of those, saying as the process to award them has not been transparent.

“The Shinde Committee was asked to repeat this exercise across the state. We demand that the committee should be disbanded right away,” he said.

The committee was formed after Maratha activist Manoj Jarange Patil’s hunger strike and the community’s agitation for reservation in September turned violent, leading to a police lathicharge.

Attacking his own government as to whether it would take action against those Maratha activists who are banning the entry of elected representatives in villages, Bhujbal said, “I am showing this (paper) to police and to the government. If anyone dares to stop anybody from entering the village then that person can be jailed for a month. Is the government going to take action? Are the police going to take action? What is the use of the Constitution? Article 19 of the Indian Constitution gives us the freedom to move. Nobody can stop anyone from entering. The sign boards must be removed.”

GO HOUSE TO HOUSE, SEEK VIEWS ON BOOZE BAN: NITISH

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar ordered on Sunday another statewide house-to-house survey on the lines of the caste enumeration exercise that triggered a reservation rejig — this time to find out what citizens think about liquor prohibition.

“There is a need to tap into public opinion on this,” he said during a ‘Deaddiction Day’ event without specifying whether this had anything to do with the BJP-led opposition’s clamour to lift the liquor ban on the ground that it had proved counter-productive.

The CM hastened to add that Bihar would remain a dry state, come what may, as “currently 99% women and 92% men are in favour of it”.

Ek-ek ghar me pata karen ki kaun paksh mein hai, kaun khilaf hai (Visit every home to find out who is in support of the liquor ban and who is against it). I don’t want a report based on a survey of limited areas, Nitish said.

The liquor ban came into force in April 2016, when Nitish headed the first Mahagathbandhan government that would fall apart a year later with him switching allegiance to BJP.

PNEUMONIA OUTBREAK IN CHINA: CENTRE ASKS STATES TO STAY PREPARED

The Union health ministry has advised states to immediately review public health preparedness in view of recent reports indicating a surge in respiratory illness in children in northern China.

In a statement on Sunday, the ministry said it has decided to proactively review preparatory measures against respiratory illnesses as a matter of abundant caution.

In a letter to all states and Union territories, the Union health secretary has advised them to immediately review public health and hospital preparedness such as availability of beds, drugs and vaccines for influenza, medical oxygen, antibiotics, personal protective equipment, testing kits and reagents, functionality of oxygen plants and ventilators, and infection control practices.

The state authorities have been asked to send nasal and throat swab samples of patients with severe acute respiratory illness (SARI). to the Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratories for testing for respiratory pathogens.

IPL TRANSFERS: HARDIK SET TO REJOIN MUMBAI INDIANS

India's flamboyant all-rounder Hardik Pandya is set to return to the Mumbai Indians franchise for IPL 2024, with a one-way all-cash trade deal nearing completion.

The 30-year-old player's name, though, figured in the list of retained players announced by Gujarat Titans, his existing franchise, earlier on Sunday, the deadline for player release and retention.

The Pandya deal was possible because all-rounder Cameron Green was traded to Royal Challengers Bangalore in another all-cash transaction to the tune of Rs 17.5 crore.

Initially, Hardik was named in the Gujarat's list of retained players before a late twist saw Mumbai Indians push the deal through following hefty negotiations after the end of the deadline.

The trading window, however, is open till December 12, while the mini auction is on December 19, in Dubai.

Pandya led Gujarat Titans to title success in their debut season in 2022 and helped them finish runners-up in IPL 2023.

The move will make Pandya one of the few captains to be traded in the IPL, joining the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane, who were traded in 2020.

Meanwhile, in other notable moves, Sunrisers Hyderabad let go off Harry Brook. Having splurged Rs 13.25 crore last season, SRH released Brook after just one campaign.

On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bangalore, still looking for the elusive IPL title, made an unexpected move, releasing Josh Hazlewood along with Harshal Patel and Wanindu Hasaranga.

T20i SERIES: INDIA GO 2-0 UP AGAINST AUSTRALIA

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad gave a telling manifestation of their talent with twinkling fifties, the catalyst of India's 44-run win over Australia in the second T20I in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.

India are now leading the five-match series 2-0.

Opener Jaiswal led the charge of India's young brigade with a sparkling 53 off 25 balls, guiding India to a massive 235 for four in the company of Ishan (52 off 32 balls) and Gaikwad (58 off 43 balls).

Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi (3/32) then muffled the Australian top-order with two quick blows, and the visitors were eventually limited to 191 for nine despite aggressive knocks by Tim David (37 off 22 balls) and Marcus Stoinis (45 off 25 balls).

Pacer Prasidh Krishna grabbed three wickets to accentuate Australia's fall as they lost five wickets for 16 runs.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him. - James D. Miles

OFF TRACK

An old Hyderabadi couple in conversation:

Wife: Aji Allah mian boley jannat mein tum logon ku hooran (fairies) miltey boley, phir hum logon ku kya miltey?

Husband: (who is in a foul mood) tum logon ku langooran miltey.

Wife: (with a deep sigh) aiy ye kya ji yahan bhi woich wahan bhi woich.