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Uttarakhand tunnel collapse Live updates: After more than a week's endeavour to reach the 41 workers trapped in a collapsed tunnel in Uttarakhand, the rescue and relief operation has entered its last stage after rescuers managed to place broad pipes up to a depth of 45 metres through the debris via horizontal drilling. Further drilling is underway.
Digging to rescue 41 workers trapped in a collapsed tunnel is in the final stretch(ANI)
On Wednesday night, a senior official expressed his confidence that rescuers would reach workers and
complete the operation today.
The team found steel rods embedded in the debris which caused some hindrance in the drilling
process,
however, the officials said they managed to remove all the pieces of steel and carry out the final
process to insert the last bit of pipeline through the rubble.
Earlier on Wednesday, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel entered the tunnel, an
official statement issued by Uttarakhand Chief Minister's Office said.
An ambulance is also deployed inside the tunnel and a team of doctors is also put on stand-by for
health
check-ups of the workers, it said.
Meanwhile, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will undertake a safety audit of all 29
under-construction tunnels across the country to ensure safety and adherence to the highest quality
standards, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said on Wednesday.
Read More
Uttarakhand tunnel collapse Live updates: After more than a week's endeavour to reach the 41 workers
trapped in a collapsed tunnel in Uttarakhand, the rescue and relief operation has entered its last
stage
after rescuers managed to place broad pipes up to a depth of 45 metres through the debris via
horizontal
drilling. Further drilling is underway.
Digging to rescue 41 workers trapped in a collapsed tunnel is in the final stretch(ANI)
On Wednesday night, a senior official expressed his confidence that rescuers would reach workers and
complete the operation today.
The team found steel rods embedded in the debris which caused some hindrance in the drilling
process,
however, the officials said they managed to remove all the pieces of steel and carry out the final
process to insert the last bit of pipeline through the rubble.
Earlier on Wednesday, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel entered the tunnel, an
official statement issued by Uttarakhand Chief Minister's Office said.
An ambulance is also deployed inside the tunnel and a team of doctors is also put on stand-by for
health
check-ups of the workers, it said.
Meanwhile, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will undertake a safety audit of all 29
under-construction tunnels across the country to ensure safety and adherence to the highest quality
standards, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said on Wednesday.
Read More
Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson informed that the truce deal would include a comprehensive ceasefire in both the north and south of the Gaza Strip.
After seven weeks of bombardments resulting in loss of lives and property, Israel and
Palestinian
militant group Hamas have agreed to a four-day truce beginning Friday with the first batch of
Israeli hostages released later, Qatar said on Thursday.
What are the details of the deal?
Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari while addressing the reporters in Doha,
informed that the truce deal would include a comprehensive ceasefire in both the north and south
of
the Gaza Strip.
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The first ceasefire in the war triggered by the Hamas terror attacks on Israel on October 7,
would
be accompanied by the release of 50 women and children hostages captured by the Hamas
terrorists,
while around 150 Palestinian detainees would also be released from Israeli jails as part of the
deal.
The first group of hostages to be released on Friday would be 13 women and children, Ansari
further
informed. "If there were a group of hostages from the same family they will be released together
in
this first batch," he added.
"During these four days, information will be collected about the rest of the hostages to
consider
the possibility of more releases and thus extending the pause," Ansari added.
However, Israel has said that the peace deal could go beyond four days if Hamas would set free
at
least 10 hostages per day. The Qatar spokesperson also said that it hoped to negotiate a
subsequent
agreement to release additional hostages from Gaza by the fourth day of the truce. Israeli PM
Benjamin Netanyahu also made it clear that the country was not ending its war on Gaza and that
the
stopping of fighting was only temporary.
Commenting on the pause, Ansari said that it entailed "a complete ceasefire... with no attacks
from
the air or the ground," adding that he hoped "there will be no violations".
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Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said Pakistan enjoys friendly ties with most of the BRICS members, as well as the newly invited group of countries
Pakistan on Thursday confirmed that it has applied for membership in the BRICS grouping.
Pakistan’s application to join the the five-nation bloc comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and
South Africa came as the grouping of emerging economies was set for its biggest expansion with six new
members under Moscow's rotating Presidency in 2024.
This year’s BRICS summit held in South Africa formally admitted Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi
Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as new members. They will formally join during the 2024 summit
in Russia
“Yes, I can confirm that Pakistan has made a formal request to join BRICS, which we believe is an
important grouping of developing countries,” Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in her
weekly press briefing.
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An inexperienced politician and heir to a fortune built on the banana trade has been sworn in as Ecuador's president
Daniel Noboa, an inexperienced politician and heir to a fortune built on the banana trade, was sworn in
on Thursday as Ecuador's President, a role that citizens are demanding he uses to restore the public
safety that drug cartels and other criminal organizations robbed them of at the decade's start.
Mr. Noboa’s term will run only through May 2025, which is what remains of former President Guillermo
Lasso's tenure. Mr. Lasso cut his term short when he dissolved the National Assembly in May as lawmakers
pursued impeachment proceedings against him.
The head of the country's newly elected legislature, Henry Kronfle, placed the presidential sash on Mr.
Noboa during a ceremony in Quito, the capital.
Under Mr. Lasso’s watch, violent deaths in Ecuador soared, reaching a record 4,600 in 2022, which was
double the number from the year before. Killings, kidnappings, robberies and other criminal activities
became part of Ecuadorians’ everyday life.
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During this period, Gaza's ruling Hamas group pledged to free at least 50 of the about 240 hostages it and other militants took on October 7
A four-day truce in the Israel-Hamas war took effect early on November 24, setting the stage for the
exchange of dozens of hostages held by militants in Gaza in return for Palestinians imprisoned by
Israel.
The halt in fighting promised some relief for Gaza's 2.3 million people, who have endured weeks of
Israeli bombardment, as well as families in Israel fearful for the fate of their loved ones taken
captive during Hamas' October 7 attack that triggered the war.
Read More
The statement also acknowledged that handing over the property to India is in the “best interest of Afghanistan”
The CMEC is the newest of the six land corridors under the BRI, and has assumed prominence in place of the Bangladesh China India Myanmar (BCIM) corridor which has largely stalled.
The External Affairs Minister categorially denied that he had seen any evidence that implicated India in the killing of the Khalistani separatist
Bills need to be sent back to Legislature ‘as soon as possible’; in case the State Assembly reiterates the Bill ‘with or without amendments’, the Governor has no choice or discretion, and has to give his assent to it, rules Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has laid down the law that a Governor, in case he withholds assent, should send
back a Bill forwarded to him by a State Legislature “as soon as possible” with a message to
reconsider the proposed law.
In case, the State Assembly reiterates the Bill “with or without amendments”, the Governor has no
choice or discretion, and has to give his assent to it.
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The decision comes in the wake of accusations that TMC MP Mahua Moitra asked Parliamentary questions in exchange for monetary benefits, with concerns raised about who had access to her log-in credentials
Ahead of the upcoming Winter Session of Parliament, access to the questions portal has been
restricted to Lok Sabha MPs only, excluding their personal staff, according to sources. No official
orders have been issued. The process of filing questions for Rajya Sabha MPs continues as before,
with personal assistants also having access.
The Parliament website for both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha was upgraded on August
Instead of two different portals — one for ‘e-notices’, to submit questions, notices and private
bills, and a separate members’ portal to submit travel bills and other necessities — a single,
common portal was launched. Sources said that, till recently, Lok Sabha MPs and their designated
personal assistants each had log-in credentials for this portal. Ahead of the winter session, this
has been restricted to just the MPs’ registered numbers.
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Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) will develop a platform on which users can notify about IT rule violation by social media platforms.
The Congress leader shared a picture of himself with the victim’s parents on X, formerly Twitter. The post was taken down on August 6.