Good morning! In today’s edition: As Uttarkashi tunnel rescue operations gather pace, a look at the 11 days since the collapse; PM Modi welcomes announcement on release of hostages in Gaza; Centre earns Rs 550 crore by disposing off scrap 👷 Uttarkashi rescue ops gather pace 📌 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel entered the Uttarkashi tunnel on Wednesday evening, where 41 men have been trapped since last Sunday. Equipped with stretchers and rescue tools, the team appeared to be making preparations for the moment the workers would finally be pulled out. Currently, 50-55 metres of debris separates the trapped men and the rescue teams outside the tunnel. 📌 As rescuers inch ever so close to their goal, take a look at the 11 days since the collapse that trapped workers in the under-construction tunnel. 📌 The rescue efforts by a plethora of government and private agencies using advances in technology, communication and transportation is a marked departure from times when fatalities during disasters were taken in stride, writes Syed Ata Hasnain. ⚡Only in Express At the latest Express Adda, policymaker, economist and politician NK Singh and Charles W Eliot University Professor, President Emeritus at Harvard and former US Treasury Secretary Lawrence H Summers spoke on global cooperation, the impact of the American economy on the world and India’s growth rate. The co-chairs of the G20 Expert Group on ‘Strengthening Multilateral Development Banks’ said eight per cent seems to be a very ambitious, but not completely unreasonable growth target for India. 📰 From the Front page 📌 Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the announcement on the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and expressed the hope that all hostages will be released soon. Addressing the G20 virtual summit, he underlined that it is important to ensure that the Israel-Hamas war does not take the form of a regional conflict. 📌 The United States “thwarted a conspiracy to assassinate” Khalistan separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil and “issued a warning to India’s government over concerns it was involved in the plot,” UK-based daily Financial Times has reported, citing multiple sources. 📌 Two Army captains are among four soldiers killed in an encounter that has been continuing between security forces and militants in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district since Wednesday morning. The deceased have been identified as Captain MV Pranjal of 63 Rashtriya Rifles, and Captain Shubham and Havildar Majid of 9 PARA. The identity of the fourth soldier is yet to be established. 👩💻 Must read ➡️ As Rajasthan goes to polls on November 25, we give an overview of the unique political history of the state, where governance has been a revolving door of Congress and the BJP. ➡️ Condemned vehicles, outdated laptops, old files: the Union government has earned more than Rs 550 crore by disposing of scrap during a clean-up campaign in October, said Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances Secretary V Srinivas. We report. ➡️ It a white Hyundai Santro that led police first to a brothel in west Delhi and then to the alleged killer — Gurpreet Singh, 33, who stands accused of killing Nina Berger, a 30-year-old lawyer from Zurich in Switzerland, in what has come to be known as the Swiss murder case. Arnabjit Sur reports how the accused got a second-hand car to mask his identity. ⌛ And finally.. 🏏 Virat Kohli, the top run-maker at the World Cup, was the driving force of the Indian team – the assurance behind Rohit Sharma’s aggression, the stability behind Shreyas Iyer’s enterprise. Whatever be the narrative that is yet to unfold, 2023 was Kohli’s World Cup, one wherein he was both the hero and the tragic-hero. 🤫 BSP president Mayawati’s nephew and party national coordinator Akash Anand has been holding public outreach programmes in poll-bound Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana for a couple of months. While results of the state polls will be announced on December 3, Mayawati has decided to assign Akash another state — Andhra Pradesh — to strengthen the organisation there. Don’t miss today’s Delhi confidential for more! 🎧 In today’s 3 Things podcast, we discuss Maldives’ request to withdraw Indian military personnel from the island nation, the issues that dominated the campaign for the Rajasthan assembly elections, and the latest on the Israel-Hamas war. Until next time, Ayesha Jain and Srishti Kapoor
