Morning Digest: Cyclone Fengal to cross the coast close to Puducherry today; New Maharashtra CM likely to take oath on December 5, and more

Here is a select list of stories to start the day

Cyclone Fengal to cross the coast close to Puducherry, bringing heavy rainfall over north T.N., delta districts

With the slow-moving system picking up pace, the Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai (RMC) announced that cyclone Fengal will cross close to Puducherry by Saturday afternoon. The RMC has maintained a red weather alert indicating isolated extremely heavy rainfall in seven coastal districts. Intense rainfall will cover various other districts too. On the day of the cyclone’s landfall, Chennai and neighbouring districts, Cuddalore, Puducherry, Villupuram and Kallakurichi, lie in the path of intense rainfall.

Cyclone Fengal has persisted for a longer time over the Bay than a normal weather system

During the northeast monsoon, the normal life of a weather system that develops into a cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal is up to 4.4 days. However, cyclonic storm Fengal has persisted for a longer time before intensifying. Citing his research paper, Forecasting based on climatology of tropical cyclones in Indian seas, published in the India Meteorological Department’s publication, Y.E.A. Raj, former Deputy Director-General of Meteorology, Chennai, said that normally, the lifespan of a depression over the Bay of Bengal was 2.7 days during the northeast monsoon. The duration increased as the weather system intensified, according to the data collated from 1961.

New Maharashtra CM likely to take oath on December 5

Top sources from the BJP and the Shiv Sena told The Hindu that the oath-taking ceremony of the new Chief Minister would likely be held on December 5 at Azad Maidan. “The BJP follows its party discipline and procedure. Two Central observers will be appointed by the party. They will come to Mumbai and will hold a meeting with the legislators. Once the leader is appointed, we will approach the Governor,” a top BJP source told The Hindu.

Bangladesh must protect rights of all religious minorities: India

India reminded the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government in Bangladesh that it “must” protect the rights of all religious minorities in the country and that the reported incidents of violence against minorities cannot be described as “media exaggeration”. Speaking at the weekly press briefing, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the Indian concerns about the rights of minority religious communities had been conveyed to Dhaka. Yunus government’s Law Adviser Dr. Asif Nazrul hit back at India saying “numerous brutal incidents are taking place against the minority Muslim community on India’s own soil”.

Questions on Places of Worship Act remain pending in SC for four years

The last order available in the Supreme Court about a pending case centred on The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act of 1991, is from a year ago. The statute prohibits conversion and preserves the character of religious sites as of August 15, 1947. The case involves a slew of petitions challenging the legality of the 1991 Act. The petitioners, including advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, blamed the 1991 law of barring Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs from approaching courts to “reclaim” their places of worship which were “invaded” and “encroached” upon by “fundamentalist barbaric invaders”.

Find missing Meitei man, Manipur Govt. tells Army

Manipur Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh asked the Army to take responsibility for tracing a 56-year-old Meitei man who went missing near a garrison in Kangpokpi district on November 25. He told journalists in the State’s capital Imphal that the onus was on the Army to find Laishram Kamalbabu Singh, a resident of Loitang Khonou falling under Sekmai Assembly constituency, as he was last seen near Leimakhong Army camp.

L-G sacks two govt. employees in J&K even as ruling NC pushes for reviewing such cases

J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha invoked a special Section of Article 311 and terminated the services of two government employees in J&K for “anti-national” activities. It comes at a time when the elected government, headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, has questioned such terminations and proposed to review them. Officials said the Lieutenant Governor invoked Article 311 (2) (c) of the Constitution of India, a special provision introduced in 2020 dropping the requirement of departmental inquiry to sack Abdul Rehman Naika, a school teacher from Qasba Devsar in Kulgam district, and Zahir Abbas, a pharmacist from Badhat Saroor in Kishtwar district.

Clamour for President’s Rule increasing in Imphal, says former Chief Justice of Manipur High Court

Former Chief Justice of Manipur High Court Siddharth Mridul said that the “clamour for President’s Rule seems to be gaining momentum in Imphal”, which saw protests and violence after six women and children were abducted by armed militants in Jiribam during an encounter with security forces on November 11 and were later found killed.

Pak PM Sharif announces task force to identify perpetrators of chaos during Islamabad protest

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced the formation of a task force, to be led by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, to identify the perpetrators of chaos during a protest by jailed former premier Imran Khan’s party earlier in the week. The Prime Minister also announced the establishment of a Federal Anti-Riots Force to prevent any future attempt to create chaos and disorder in the country.

‘By design, not accident’: U.K. PM Starmer on migration numbers under the Tories

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused Conservative governments before him of conducting an experiment with open borders and allowing record-high migration intentionally, after official migration data released showed that net migration to the U.K. was 9,06,000 in the year ending June 2023. The figure had been revised upwards from initial estimates. Mr. Starmer vowed to “turn the page” on migration as he promised stricter policies.

China jails journalist who met with Japanese diplomats: family

A Beijing court sentenced veteran Chinese state media journalist Dong Yuyu to seven years in prison on espionage charges, his family said. Mr. Dong, a senior columnist at the Communist Party newspaper Guangming Daily, was detained in February 2022 along with a Japanese diplomat at a Beijing restaurant. The diplomat was released after a few hours of questioning, but Dong, 62, was charged with spying last year.

Zomato raises ₹8,500 crore via Qualified Institutional Placement at ₹252.62 per share

Food delivery aggregator Zomato has raised ₹8,500 crore by selling equity shares to qualified institutional investors, mainly domestic mutual fund houses, to fund its expansion and growth plans. Zomato, which also owns quick-commerce firm Blinkit, had launched its Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) issue on November 25, which closed on Thursday.

Champions Trophy: PCB sticks to ‘No Hybrid Model’ stance, meeting adjourned till November 30

The emergency meeting of the International Cricket Council's executive board could not achieve a consensus on the much-awaited Champions Trophy schedule and will reconvene on Saturday (November 30, 2024) after Pakistan once again rejected the 'Hybrid' model of hosting the event. The meeting was brief after Pakistan Cricket Board chief Mohsin Naqvi made it clear that the 'hybrid' model won't be acceptable despite India's firm refusal to travel to his country owing to a lack of government clearance.

Published - November 30, 2024 06:52 am IST