Daily Briefing: Opening day view of COP29

The origin story of the legend of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, playing out now from Mumbai to Canada, can be traced in some way to Jodhpur’s Kankani village. Tourists continue to trickle in for a “darshan” of the iron frame-and-cement blackbuck statue, at the very spot where Bollywood actor Salman Khan allegedly poached the animal sacred to the Bishnoi community. Quite ironically, the statue also has two horns from a dead blackbuck fixed atop it. As Lawrence, his men (and those who claim to be his men) are still issuing death threats to Khan over the 1998 incident, the ongoing saga does resonate in parts of this memorial.

With that, let’s move on to today’s edition:

• Neerja Chowdhury on Maharashtra poll race
• India-China ties ‘wish list’
• Gautam Gambhir’s press conference

🚨Big Story

• A group of climate NGOs held a memorial for people killed in the Gaza war, Their demand: For countries to persuade Israel to conclude an immediate and permanent ceasefire.
• A Chinese proposal to discuss climate-related trade barriers introduced by the European Union (EU) last year was opposed by the EU and the United States.

Rocky start: This is how Day 1 of this year’s climate conference in Baku took off.

In focus: The two ongoing wars—in Gaza and Russia-Ukraine—have been exacerbating the climate change problem, adding significant amounts of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. Emissions from such conflicts are an issue that have largely been overlooked in dialogues but may find some resonance as countries assembled Monday, writes Amitabh Sinha from Baku.

“This is not the end of our fight for a cleaner, safer planet… The fight is bigger than one election, one political cycle in one country.”

The US on Monday said the four years of President-elect Donald Trump’s term beginning next year may slow down global climate action but would not be able to reverse the momentum that has been built in the country and elsewhere.

What China said: In its proposal, Beijing said “unilateral restrictive trade measures” in the guise of furthering climate objectives were counter-productive and violative of several international legal instruments. The proposal held up the adoption of the agenda at COP29 for several hours. Ultimately, it was marked for more consultations before it could be considered for inclusion into the agenda of COP29.

⚡Only in Express

“In Maharashtra, it is not Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi but state leaders who crowd the “Maha story” this time.”

In the run-up to the Maharashtra Assembly elections, Neerja Chowdhury writes on why the “sons of the soil” are dominating conversations this time around. She also comments on why people in Marathwada region expect a post-poll ‘khichdi’ and how “the BJP and the Congress will stay where they are”.

At Express Adda today: Revanth Reddy, Telangana’s first ever Congress chief minister, will be in conversation with The Indian Express’ Executive Editor Anant Goenka and Deputy Editor Liz Mathew.

📰 From the Front Page

The ongoing conflict in Manipur saw the highest number of casualties in a single day this year with 10 suspected militants being shot dead by security forces in Jiribam district.

‘Chemistry’ is clear: Expecting the “wish-list” to materialise soon, Chinese officials said India and China are discussing a slew of measures to bring ties back to “normal” — as it was before the 2020 face-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The Chinese government also expects Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit next year.

📌 Must Read

With the pollution situation in the national capital worsening, the Supreme Court on Monday pulled up the Delhi police for failing to enforce the firecracker ban, calling their actions a “mere eyewash”. “Prima facie, we are of the view that no religion promotes any activity that promotes pollution or compromises with the health of the people,” the top court said, emphasising the right to a pollution-free environment as a fundamental right.

Jharkhand polls: Chatra – one of the state’s most backward and “aspirational districts”– goes to polls in the first phase of Jharkhand’s Assembly elections on Wednesday. Here, a section of local residents supporting the BJP believe that the party gave them “freedom from the Naxal menace”. That could fuel the saffron party in the tight contest with the JMM-Congress-RJD coalition.

⏳ And Finally…

Yours abrasively, Gambhir: Only Gautam Gambhir can come across as a cantankerous man during a press conference.when he actually praised several big names in the Indian squad and accepted mistakes that led to Test series defeat against New Zealand. Even with all that praise and honest self-appraisal, the inherent ‘boxer-like’ tendency of Team India’s head coach took centrestage.

🎧In today’s episode of our 3 Things podcast, we explain the newly expanded Ayushman Bharat Scheme – its launch, the rationale and the distribution across states.

That’s all for today.

Vibha B Madhava

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