Manual drilling on to reach stuck workers

Despite multiple setbacks , officials were hopeful of a breakthrough in their operation to rescue 41 workers trapped under Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi as manual horizontal drilling started on Monday , The digging is being carried out by  ‘ rat miners ‘ .

Simultaneously both vertical drilling and horizontal manual drilling is going on. By 7 PM Monday 36 meter of vertical drilling has been completed . Total 86 meter has to be completed to reach the tunnel .

 . While manual horizontal drilling must be.Completed for a further 10 – 12 meters and a length of .9 meters is covered on Monday .

EC stops Telangana farmer aid scheme

The election commission on Monday withdrew permission for the Ryuthu Bandhu scheme of Telangana govt citing violation of model code of conduct . In its order ,poll body withdrew the permission citing violation of same day by state finance minister T. Harish Rao .

Under Ryuthu Bandhu scheme , financial assistance is directly transferred to each faremr’s account per season towards meeting the cost of input and other initial needs .

The Congress had filed the complaint against BRS regarding Ryuthu Bandhu scheme , On November 25, the EX allowed disbursement of Ravi season installment under the scheme .

Seven Kashmiri students charged unde UAPA for pro Pak slogans during world Cup final

The Jammu and Kashmir police has filed cases under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act ( UAPA ) against seven Kashmiri students for allegedly raising pro – Pakistan slogans during the Cricket World Cup final held recently .

Khalistan supporters heckle Indian envoy at US gurudwara

A group of Khalistani supporters tried to heckle India’s ambassador to US , Taranjeet Singh Sandhu , at a Gurudwara in New York on Sunday  ,but they’re were escorted out by member of Sikh community . Mr Sandhu and others from Sikh community has gathered on occasion of Guruparab.

SC rejects undertrial’s plea to use its powers to club 30 FIRs arraigned across states

The Supreme Court has refused an undertrial plea to flex it’s extraordinary powers under article 142 of constitution to do “  complete justice “ by clubbing 30 FIRs arraigned against him across seven states .

A bench involves offenses under the Indian Penal Code but charges under specific  state laws .

As death due to work related factors go up , report urges countries to strengthen safety net

Nearly 30 lakh workers die every year globally owing to work related accidents and diseases , according to new report prepared by International Labour Organization ( ILO ) . More than 63% of these deaths has been related to Asia Pacific region .

Exposure to long working hours ( 55 hours or more per week )  , was the  biggest “ killer “ with almost 7.45 lakh people dying of it in 2016 , followed by exposure to occupational particulate matter , gasses and occupational injuries .

The report said mining and quarrying , construction  and utilities , sector where three most hazardous sector globally .

The report “ A call for safer and healthier environment “  will be discussed at the 23 rd World Congress at safety and health at work , one of the largest international conferences , on this subject , which began in Sydney on Monday

World

On final day , Israel Hamas agree to extend truce by two more days

Israel and Hamas agreed to extend their ceasefire for two more days past Monday . The announcement was made by Qatari foreign ministry’s spokesperson  .

Qatar , Egypt and USA are key mediator between Hamas and Israel .

Israel has said that it will extend the ceasefire by one day for every 10 additional hostages released .

But Israel says it remains committed to crushing Hamas’s military capability by ending it’s 16 year  rule over Gaza after its October 7 attack .

Israel plans to more settlement ‘appalling’ says EU’s Josep borrell

EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell called Israel’s plan to extend settlement in West Bank “ appalling “ and Israel’s biggest security liability . He also called for extension of four day ceasefire .

Speaking at Mediterranean for Barcelona he referred to Israel’s 43 million dollar plan to use for building new settlement , he said “ this is not self defense and will not make Israel safer “ adding that settlements are breach to international humanitarian law and Israel’s greatest security liability .

On humanitarian pause he said “ pause should be extended to make it sustainable and long lasting while working on a political solution “

Barcelona meeting was attended by various foreign ministers of EU countries , West Asia , North Africa , including Palestine but Israel abstained from this .

Russia intensely attacking Avdiivka , Robotyne :Ukraine

Russia was intensely attacking the eastern town of Avdiivka and the southern village of Robotyne , where fighting has been center’s in recent weeks , Ukraine said on Monday .

Neither side has made significant breakthrough on the battlefield for weeks .

Kyiv did not mention win or loss in the area . The US based institute for study of war said “ Russian forces made btt

Paul Lynch  wins 2023 booker prize for prophet song

Irish author Paul Lynch won 2023 booker prize for fiction on Sunday  for his novel Prophet Son .

The story of book is set near Dublin . It shows struggle of mother of four as she tries to save his family from totalitarianism .

Thousand arrested in Crackdown in Bangladesh

Editorial

A touchstone at risk

Extra precautions must be in plaxe while carving through mountains

The editorial is about Sikyara tunnel bridge collapse . 41 persons are trapped under this .

Its about 2 weeks since workers are trapped .

The tunnel is being constructed as part of CharDham project , to connect Char Dham better , the total length of the project is 900 km of roads via tunnels , passes , culverts ,bypasses and bridge . Earlier Supreme Court had given green signal for the project over “ national security “ . But govt didn’t consider Environment impact Assessment ( EIA ) . The editorial says that  the tunnel collapse should be a reaching for govt and for further projects in Himalayan region , it should be even more cautious.

 Not a panacea

Intra community disparities lie behind Maratha demand for reservation

The editorial is about reservation demand by Marathas in Maharashtra . Jarange Patil recently gave 24 April as deadline for reservation in government of Maharashtra . Looking at census and other figures the editorial says that Maratha are well placed and their is no need to put them to fir reservation .