The Evening Wrap: Nine Indians among 10 killed in Maldives fire

At least 10 people died in a fire that broke out in a garage in Male, the Maldivian capital city, early on Thursday, officials said. The victims likely included workers from neighbouring countries, authorities said. “The Maldives Police Service is working to confirm their identities,” a top government official in Male told The Hindu. In a tweet on Thursday morning, the National Disaster Management Authority of Maldives said: “NDMA has established an evacuation centre in Maafannu Stadium for those displaced and affected by the fire in Male. Arrangements are being made to provide relief assistance and support.” It made no mention of the casualties. Mohamed Nasheed, Parliamentary Speaker and former President of the Maldives, offered his “deepest consoldences” over the fire tragedy. “Appalled to hear the news that 10 expat workers have died in a fire in Male. My deepest condolences to the family and friends of those who perished. There must be a swift and thorough investigation into what happened, & the living conditions of expat labour in Maldives,’ Nasheed tweeted. The capital of the archipelago best known as an upmarket holiday destination is one of the world’s most densely populated cities. Officials said 10 bodies were recovered from the upper floor of a building destroyed in the fire, which originated from a ground-floor vehicle repair garage. “We have found 10 bodies,” a fire service official said, adding that it took them about four hours to put out the fire. A security official said the dead included nine Indians and a Bangladesh national. Maldivian political parties have criticised conditions for foreign workers. They are thought to make up about half of Male’s 250,000-strong population and are mostly from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Their poor living conditions were brought to light during the Covid-19 pandemic when the infection spread three times faster among foreign workers compared with locals. Visa wait times to drop after July 2023, says U.S. ahead of Yellen visit U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will meet with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on November 11, 2022 to hold the 9th India-US Economic and Financial Partnership in Delhi, where the two sides will sign a joint statement, explore cooperation on financial regulatory and technical issues as well as U.S. support for India’s upcoming G20 presidency. The bilateral meeting will be followed by a meeting with Indian and U.S. companies that will focus on “India-US Business and Investment opportunities”, officials said. However, while Yellen has indicated she will discuss sanctions on Russia, and the G7 plan for an “oil price cap”, she will not press India to reduce its oil intake from Russia, which is now India’s biggest supplier, and accounts for more than 22% of Indian oil imports. “We want Russian oil to continue to supply global markets; stay on the market. But we want to make sure that Russia doesn’t profit unduly from the war by enjoying prices that are essentially very high due to the war,” Yellen told news agency PTI before leaving for Delhi, where she will stop enroute to Indonesia for the G-20 summit. Ahead of Yellen’s visit, which will begin with a visit to the Microsoft India Development Centre in NOIDA on Friday morning, US embassy officials said they have expedited visas for Indians working in the IT sector, amidst protests by the government of long delays for visas for Indians compared to other countries. This month, the officials announced, US Embassies and consulates in India have released 100,000 extra appointment slots for “H” (including H-1B) and “L” category visas that pertain to technology and management professionals moving to the US for work, bringing down their waiting periods considerably. However, the officials said that bringing visa disbursal capacities for all categories to pre-COVID levels, when the U.S. used to process more than a million Indian visa applications per year, will take several months, and will not return to “100%” capacity until July 2023. At present, appointment waiting times for B1/B2 business and tourism visas are more than 900 days (about two and a half years), which has led to formal complaints by the government to the U.S. administration, including during External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s visit to the U.S. in September. “India is the number one priority for the US administration on visa issues,” a US embassy official said in Delhi on Thursday, blaming a shortage of personnel due to the Covid pandemic as the primary reason for delays in visa processing. “In an ideal world, there would be no disruptions and staff shortages,” the official added. During the talks, Yellen is also expected to discuss India’s participation in the Indo-Pacific Economic Forum launched earlier this year, including several Asian countries, Australia, New Zealand and the US, where India has decided to stay out of trade discussions. Court reserves order on bail of Jacqueline Fernandez, asks ED why it has not arrested actor yet A Delhi court on Friday rapped the Enforcement Directorate for adopting a pick-and-choose policy, and asked why the agency had not arrested actor Jacqueline Fernandez despite issuing a lookout circular against her in a ₹200 crore money-laundering case involving conman Sukesh Chandrashekar. Special Judge Shailendra Malik, who had earlier granted Fernandez interim bail, reserved the order for Friday on the bail plea of the actor after hearing arguments from the lawyers appearing for Fernandez as well as the ED. On the ED’s submission that Fernandez can escape the country easily as she is not short of money, the court questioned why the actor was not arrested so far. The agency told the court that it has issued a Lookout Circular (LOC) on airports to stop the actor from leaving the country. “Why haven’t you (ED) arrested Jacqueline yet during the investigation despite issuing an LOC? Other accused are in jail. Why adopt a pick-and-choose policy,” the court asked the probe agency. The accused has sought bail, saying there was no need for her custody since the investigation is already complete and the charge sheet has been filed. The court had on September 26 granted interim bail on a personal bond of ₹50,000. The court had on August 31 taken cognizance of a supplementary charge sheet filed by the ED and asked Fernandez to appear before the court. Fernandez, who was summoned by the ED several times in connection with the investigation, has been named as an accused for the first time in the supplementary charge sheet. The ED’s earlier charge sheet and a supplementary charge sheet did not mention her as an accused. The documents, however, had mentioned the details of the statements recorded by Fernandez and fellow actor Nora Fatehi. T20 World Cup 2022 | England thrashes India; to meet Pakistan in final A thoroughly professional England annihilated an out-of-sync India by 10 wickets to sail into the World Cup final as Alex Hales and Jos Buttler’s relentless hitting mortified Rohit Sharma’s clueless attack, in Adelaide on November 10, 2022. England seemed to have saved their best for the grand stage as they reduced the semifinal to a lop-sided affair, courtesy a splendid bowling effort which they complemented with some breathtaking stroke-making. It was Hardik Pandya’s (68 off 33 balls) fearless hitting that took India to 168 for six but it was just about a par-score at the Adelaide Oval. England captain Buttler (80 not out) set the tone with three boundaries off Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s opening over but it was Hales (86 not out) who butchered the Indian attack into submission. The target was achieved in just 16 overs as the England batting line-up clicked for the first time in the tourney and what a day it chose to brings its A game to the fore. The England opening duo gave India’s star-studded line-up a lesson in how to build a T20 innings: that there is only one way, the offensive way. It was one match that was decided in Powerplay as India managed only 38 runs in six overs as the archaic style of safety-first approach hurt them terribly. In complete contrast, England’s top order, which looked shaky throughout the league stage, smashed 63 in their six overs. The match was won and lost then and there. Hales hit as many as seven sixes in his 47-ball knock and his approach showed that there were no demons in the track. He deployed the old-fashioned ‘Sanath Jayasuriya school’ of hitting in the first six overs. When Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were batting, they were looking to hit through the line unlike Hales and Buttler. Against lesser opposition like Bangladesh, they could make it up with a total of 168 but it was never enough for a side like England which has reinvented the grammar of T20 batting. Bhuvneshwar and Arshdeep Singh didn’t get enough swing up front and the team management’s fascination to play Axar Patel (0/30 in 4 overs) and Ravichandran Ashwin (0/27 in 2 overs) ahead of Yuzvendra Chahal backfired badly. The success England spinner Adil Rashid (1/20 in 4 overs) had on the same track added insult to the injury. By the time, Buttler hit Mohammed Shami (0/39 in 3 overs) down the ground for one of his three sixes, the Adelaide Oval stands wore a desolate half-empty look. In Brief The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to constitute a Bench to hear a plea at 3 p.m. on Friday to extend the protection of an area in the Gyanvapi mosque premises where a ‘shivling’ was found. Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud agreed to constitute the Bench to hear the case on Friday after advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain mentioned that the apex court’s interim order to protect the area would expire on November 12. In May, the apex court had ordered the securing of the ‘shivling’ area while Muslims would be able to offer namaaz in the mosque. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 10 NOVEMBER 2022 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Nine Indians among 10 killed in Maldives fire At least [10 people died in a fire that broke out in a garage in Male]( the Maldivian capital city, early on Thursday, officials said. The victims likely included workers from neighbouring countries, authorities said. “The Maldives Police Service is working to confirm their identities,” a top government official in Male told The Hindu. In a tweet on Thursday morning, the National Disaster Management Authority of Maldives said: “NDMA has established an evacuation centre in Maafannu Stadium for those displaced and affected by the fire in Male. Arrangements are being made to provide relief assistance and support.” It made no mention of the casualties. [Firefighters try to douse a fire that broke out in a building lodging foreign workers in Maldives capital Male on November 10, 2022. ] Mohamed Nasheed, Parliamentary Speaker and former President of the Maldives, offered his “deepest consoldences” over the fire tragedy. “Appalled to hear the news that 10 expat workers have died in a fire in Male. My deepest condolences to the family and friends of those who perished. There must be a swift and thorough investigation into what happened, & the living conditions of expat labour in Maldives,’ Nasheed tweeted. The capital of the archipelago best known as an upmarket holiday destination is one of the world’s most densely populated cities. Officials said 10 bodies were recovered from the upper floor of a building destroyed in the fire, which originated from a ground-floor vehicle repair garage. “We have found 10 bodies,” a fire service official said, adding that it took them about four hours to put out the fire. A security official said the dead included nine Indians and a Bangladesh national. Maldivian political parties have criticised conditions for foreign workers. They are thought to make up about half of Male’s 250,000-strong population and are mostly from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Their poor living conditions were brought to light during the Covid-19 pandemic when the infection spread three times faster among foreign workers compared with locals. Visa wait times to drop after July 2023, says U.S. ahead of Yellen visit U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will meet with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on November 11, 2022 [to hold the 9th India-US Economic and Financial Partnership in Delhi]( where the two sides will sign a joint statement, explore cooperation on financial regulatory and technical issues as well as U.S. support for India’s upcoming G20 presidency. The bilateral meeting will be followed by a meeting with Indian and U.S. companies that will focus on “India-US Business and Investment opportunities”, officials said. However, while Yellen has indicated she will discuss sanctions on Russia, and the G7 plan for an “oil price cap”, she will not press India to reduce its oil intake from Russia, which is now India’s biggest supplier, and accounts for more than 22% of Indian oil imports. “We want Russian oil to continue to supply global markets; stay on the market. But we want to make sure that Russia doesn’t profit unduly from the war by enjoying prices that are essentially very high due to the war,” Yellen told news agency PTI before leaving for Delhi, where she will stop enroute to Indonesia for the G-20 summit. Ahead of Yellen’s visit, which will begin with a visit to the Microsoft India Development Centre in NOIDA on Friday morning, US embassy officials said they have expedited visas for Indians working in the IT sector, amidst protests by the government of long delays for visas for Indians compared to other countries. This month, the officials announced, US Embassies and consulates in India have released 100,000 extra appointment slots for “H” (including H-1B) and “L” category visas that pertain to technology and management professionals moving to the US for work, bringing down their waiting periods considerably. However, the officials said that bringing visa disbursal capacities for all categories to pre-COVID levels, when the U.S. used to process more than a million Indian visa applications per year, will take several months, and will not return to “100%” capacity until July 2023. At present, appointment waiting times for B1/B2 business and tourism visas are more than 900 days (about two and a half years), which has led to formal complaints by the government to the U.S. administration, including during External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s visit to the U.S. in September. “India is the number one priority for the US administration on visa issues,” a US embassy official said in Delhi on Thursday, blaming a shortage of personnel due to the Covid pandemic as the primary reason for delays in visa processing. “In an ideal world, there would be no disruptions and staff shortages,” the official added. During the talks, Yellen is also expected to discuss India’s participation in the Indo-Pacific Economic Forum launched earlier this year, including several Asian countries, Australia, New Zealand and the US, where India has decided to stay out of trade discussions. Court reserves order on bail of Jacqueline Fernandez, asks ED why it has not arrested actor yet A Delhi court on Friday rapped the Enforcement Directorate for adopting a pick-and-choose policy, and [asked why the agency had not arrested actor Jacqueline Fernandez]( despite issuing a lookout circular against her in a ₹200 crore money-laundering case involving conman Sukesh Chandrashekar. Special Judge Shailendra Malik, who had earlier granted Fernandez interim bail, reserved the order for Friday on the bail plea of the actor after hearing arguments from the lawyers appearing for Fernandez as well as the ED. [Actor Jacqueline Fernandez at the Patiala House Courts in New Delhi on November 10, 2022. ] On the ED’s submission that Fernandez can escape the country easily as she is not short of money, the court questioned why the actor was not arrested so far. The agency told the court that it has issued a Lookout Circular (LOC) on airports to stop the actor from leaving the country. “Why haven’t you (ED) arrested Jacqueline yet during the investigation despite issuing an LOC? Other accused are in jail. Why adopt a pick-and-choose policy,” the court asked the probe agency. The accused has sought bail, saying there was no need for her custody since the investigation is already complete and the charge sheet has been filed. The court had on September 26 granted interim bail on a personal bond of ₹50,000. The court had on August 31 taken cognizance of a supplementary charge sheet filed by the ED and asked Fernandez to appear before the court. Fernandez, who was summoned by the ED several times in connection with the investigation, has been named as an accused for the first time in the supplementary charge sheet. The ED’s earlier charge sheet and a supplementary charge sheet did not mention her as an accused. The documents, however, had mentioned the details of the statements recorded by Fernandez and fellow actor Nora Fatehi.  T20 World Cup 2022 | England thrashes India; to meet Pakistan in final A thoroughly professional [England annihilated an out-of-sync India by 10 wickets]( to sail into the World Cup final as Alex Hales and Jos Buttler’s relentless hitting mortified Rohit Sharma’s clueless attack, in Adelaide on November 10, 2022. England seemed to have saved their best for the grand stage as they reduced the semifinal to a lop-sided affair, courtesy a splendid bowling effort which they complemented with some breathtaking stroke-making. It was Hardik Pandya’s (68 off 33 balls) fearless hitting that took India to 168 for six but it was just about a par-score at the Adelaide Oval. England captain Buttler (80 not out) set the tone with three boundaries off Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s opening over but it was Hales (86 not out) who butchered the Indian attack into submission. The target was achieved in just 16 overs as the England batting line-up clicked for the first time in the tourney and what a day it chose to brings its A game to the fore. The England opening duo gave India’s star-studded line-up a lesson in how to build a T20 innings: that there is only one way, the offensive way. It was one match that was decided in Powerplay as India managed only 38 runs in six overs as the archaic style of safety-first approach hurt them terribly. In complete contrast, England’s top order, which looked shaky throughout the league stage, smashed 63 in their six overs. The match was won and lost then and there. Hales hit as many as seven sixes in his 47-ball knock and his approach showed that there were no demons in the track. He deployed the old-fashioned ‘Sanath Jayasuriya school’ of hitting in the first six overs. When Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were batting, they were looking to hit through the line unlike Hales and Buttler. Against lesser opposition like Bangladesh, they could make it up with a total of 168 but it was never enough for a side like England which has reinvented the grammar of T20 batting. Bhuvneshwar and Arshdeep Singh didn’t get enough swing up front and the team management’s fascination to play Axar Patel (0/30 in 4 overs) and Ravichandran Ashwin (0/27 in 2 overs) ahead of Yuzvendra Chahal backfired badly. The success England spinner Adil Rashid (1/20 in 4 overs) had on the same track added insult to the injury. By the time, Buttler hit Mohammed Shami (0/39 in 3 overs) down the ground for one of his three sixes, the Adelaide Oval stands wore a desolate half-empty look. In Brief The Supreme Court on Thursday [agreed to constitute a Bench to hear a plea at 3 p.m. on Friday]( to extend the protection of an area in the Gyanvapi mosque premises where a ‘shivling’ was found. Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud agreed to constitute the Bench to hear the case on Friday after advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain mentioned that the apex court’s interim order to protect the area would expire on November 12. In May, the apex court had ordered the securing of the ‘shivling’ area while Muslims would be able to offer namaaz in the mosque. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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