The Evening Wrap: Farmers face water cannons

The Hindu Newsletter - Here are the latest updates and the big news stories to follow today [The Hindu Logo]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Youtube]( [Linkedin]( [Instagram]( Thursday 26, November 2020 [alt_text]( The Evening Wrap [Here are the biggest news stories of the day]( [alt_text]( Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. We hope you are staying safe. Today is Punjab’s 26/11, says Sukhbir Singh Badal on police action against farmers marching to Delhi Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Thursday [slammed the Haryana government for trying to thwart farmers’ ‘Delhi Chalo’ march](, terming the attempt as Punjab’s 26/11 . “Today is Punjab’s 26/11. We are witnessing the end of the right to democratic protest. @Akali_Dal condemns the Haryana govt & Centre for choosing to repress the peaceful farmer movement,” said Badal in a tweet. The SAD chief also lashed out at the BJP-led government in Haryana for using water cannons against farmers on the Punjab-Haryana border. The battle for the rights of Punjab farmers cannot be throttled by using water cannons against them, he said. Earlier in the day, undeterred by winter chill, overnight rainfall and police restrictions, at least half a lakh protesting farmers hit the roads and were set to reach Delhi’s borders on Thursday night, according to the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM). The alliance of farmers groups protesting against the Centre’s contentious new agriculture laws has issued a call for a Delhi Chalo campaign, and an “indefinite siege” of the capital. Thousands of farmers from Punjab surged across Haryana throughout the day, having broken through or bypassed police barriers at multiple locations. At other points in Haryana as well as along the Uttar Pradesh border, however, farmers were blocked from entry, while leaders were detained or arrested. Within Delhi, two protests were broken up by police, and hundreds of protestors detained. Although Delhi’s borders have not been sealed, barricades and pickets have been activated to prevent entry by the marching farmers on Friday. Five sand-laden trucks have been stationed at the Singhu border point to stop tractors, said senior Delhi Police officials, adding that drones have also been deployed for security purposes. The Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh, All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee, and various factions of the Bharatiya Kisan Union are leading the protest under the SKM banner. Farmer convoys were seen cutting across fields to bypass barriers, travelling by foot, tractor-trolleys, cars and two wheelers. “The way we are being stopped from reaching Delhiit seems Punjab and its people are not citizens of India. Barbed wires have been put at many places at Haryana border, which gives an impression as if it’s ‘Attari—Wagah’ border,” said Nirbhay Singh, senior leader of Kirti Kisan Union. Cyclone Nivar makes landfall [Cyclone Nivar made landfall near Puducherry]( as a very severe cyclonic storm that lasted from 11.30 pm. on Wednesday till 2.30 a.m. on Thursday. It weakened into a severe cyclonic storm, still maintaining wind speeds of 85-95 kmph as it moved to interior areas. It is expected to weaken further into a cyclonic storm as it moves northwestward. [Water water everywhere: The Manimangalam main road in Chennai resembled a lake on November 26, 2020 after the Chembarambakkam reservoir opened its shutters to release excess water. ]Water water everywhere: The Manimangalam main road in Chennai resembled a lake on November 26, 2020 after the Chembarambakkam reservoir opened its shutters to release excess water. Parts of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, including State capital Chennai, saw persistent rains and strong winds, resulting in [property damage due to water-logging and fallen trees](. Thousands of people have been evacuated to storm shelters across Tamil Nadu. Many districts in Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry had declared a holiday on November 26 though Chennai resumed Metro and bus services by evening. Heavy rainfall ranging from 6 cm to 30 cm battered at least half of Andhra Pradesh under the influence of cyclone Nivar, leaving one dead. Do not have a straw and sipper to give Stan Swamy, NIA tells court The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday told the special NIA court that [they do not have a straw and sipper to give 83-year-old Father Stan Swamy](. Special NIA Judge D.E. Kothalikar, presiding over the case, had directed the medical officer to reply to the requirement of a straw and sipper, along with winter clothes. The matter will now be heard on December 4. [Stan Swamy. File]Stan Swamy. File On November 6, Father Swamy had filed an application seeking permission to allow him a straw and sipper in Taloja Central Jail as he cannot hold a glass because he has Parkinson’s Disease. Father Swamy is an accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence of 2018 and is currently in the prison hospital. India needs ‘One Nation, One Election’, says PM Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday [made a pitch for “One Nation, One Election’](, saying it is what India needs, as polls every few months affect development work. Addressing the concluding session of the 80th All India Presiding Officers Conference via video conference, Modi also paid homage to the victims of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and asserted that India is fighting terrorism now with new vigour. [Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the All India Presiding Officers Conference via video conference on November 26, 2020. Photo: Twitter/@narendramodi]Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the All India Presiding Officers Conference via video conference on November 26, 2020. Photo: Twitter/@narendramodi Pitching strongly for ‘One Nation, One Election’, Modi said, “Elections are held at different places every few months, and the impact it has on development works is known to all. Therefore, it is a must to have deep study and deliberation on ‘One Nation, One Election.’” The Prime Minister also suggested a single voters’ list for Lok Sabha, assembly and panchayat polls, saying separate lists are a waste of resources. Legislature, Executive and Judiciary should work with better coordination and national interest should be the basis for every decision, Modi said. “We must remember that when politics takes over people and nation-first policies, the nation has to pay adversely in such situations,” he added. Foreign Secretary Shringla in Kathmandu to mend ties Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla reached Kathmandu on Thursday in a [major outreach to Nepal after a bitter boundary dispute]( over the Kalapani region for more than a year. In comments to the media at the Tribhuvan International Airport, he said his visit was aimed at “further strengthening” bilateral ties. “Our relationship is very strong. Our efforts are aimed at how we can move our relationship forward,” he said. Shringla said his first meeting would be with his Nepalese counterpart Bharat Raj Paudyal, after which he is scheduled to meet Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali. He also mentioned scheduled meetings with “high dignitaries”. Ajit Doval to visit Colombo tomorrow [National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval will be in Colombo]( on Friday for trilateral discussions among India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Maldivian Defence Minister Mariya Ahmed Didi will also travel to Colombo, while the Sri Lankan side will be represented at the highest levels by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lankan newspaper Daily Mirror reported on Thursday. This is Doval’s second official visit to Sri Lanka this year. He had visited in January — on the heels of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resounding election victory last year and New Delhi visit soon after — and held discussions on strengthening military ties and avoiding a “debt trap”. There is no official information yet on whether Doval will hold separate bilateral meetings with either partners, but Friday’s scheduled meeting of the Indian Ocean neighbours marks the resumption of NSA-level trilateral Maritime Security Cooperation talks after six years. Trump pardons his former national security adviser Micheal Flynn President Donald Trump on Wednesday [pardoned his former national security adviser Michael Flynn](, who had twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI during the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Trump’s pardon, which could be the first of several after he lost the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden, drew condemnation from Democrats and other critics. A retired Army general, Flynn had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the interactions he had had with Russia’s ambassador to the United States in the weeks leading up to Trump’s inauguration in January 2017. He has since sought to withdraw the plea, arguing that prosecutors violated his rights and duped him into a plea agreement. His sentencing has been deferred several times. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The [number of coronavirus cases reported from India]( stood at 93,01,410 at the time of writing this newsletter, with the death toll at 1,35,675. The first ‘wave’ of Covid-19 vaccinations in India will be available to a priority group of 30 crore Indians. This will consist of health care workers, police, armed guards, those above 50, and those with ‘significant comorbidies’, Principal Scientific Advisor, K VijayRaghavan said on Thursday. In Brief: Senior Congress leader [Ahmed Patel was laid to rest]( at his native village Piraman in Gujarat’s Bharuch district on Thursday. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attended the funeral of the party’s key strategist and troubleshooter, who died on November 25. Patel’s mortal remains reached Piraman from Vadodara and he was laid to rest at a cemetery in the presence of hundreds of locals and Congress leaders. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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