Morning Filter: Sikkim cloud burst and missing Army men

1. Flash floods in Sikkim | 23 army soldiers missing As many as 23 Indian Army personnel are reportedly missing at Bardang near Singtam after a flash flood occurred in Teesta River in Lachen valley on Wednesday. Guwahati defense spokesperson said that search operations are underway. The floods were due to a cloud burst over Lhonak Lake in North Sikkim and Vehicles submerged under slush. Twenty three Army personnel are reportedly missing and some vehicles submerged under slush at Bardang near Singtam after a flash flood in the Teesta River in Lachen valley caused due to sudden cloud burst over Lhonak Lake in North Sikkim. Search operations are underway: Defence Spokesperson Guwahati. 2. ED raids AAP MP Sanjay Singh’s premises in Delhi excise policy money laundering case The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday morning raided the premises of AAP MP Sanjay Singh in connection with the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case, officials said. Some other premises of linked people were also being covered, they said. 3. Nobel week - prize announcement for Chemistry Chemistry Nobel Prize announcement on Wednesday by 11.45 am CEST (3.15 pm IST) at the earliest. On October 2, the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their research that enabled the development of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19. On October 3, the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz, and Anne L’Huillier “for experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electro dynamics in matter”. 4. NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha arrested in UAPA case The Delhi Police has sealed the office of news portal NewsClick in connection with its probe into a case filed under the anti-terror law UAPA following allegations that it received money for pro-China propaganda. NewsClick founder Prbir Purkayastha and Amit Chakravarty have been arrested. Further investigation is in progress, the Deputy Commissioner of Police said. Regarding the search, seizure and detentions carried out on October 3 in connection with a UAPA case registered with Special Cell, DCP (PRO) Suman Nalwa said, a total of 37 male suspects have been questioned at premises, and nine female suspects have been questioned at their respective places of stay and digital devices, documents etc. have been seized and collected for examination. 5. Rajasthan polls: BJP chief Nadda to flag off 51 chariots for taking public suggestions BJP chief J P Nadda will flag off 51 chariots to different places in Rajasthan which will collect suggestions from the public ahead of the upcoming assembly elections, Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said on Tuesday. Based on these suggestions, the party will prepare its poll manifesto, Meghwal said at a press conference here. He said the public suggestions will be taken under the ‘Aapno Rajasthan Sujhav, Sankalp Hamara’ programme of the party’s Sankalp Patra Committee. “This initiative will be launched by BJP chief Nadda on Wednesday at Birla Auditorium at 1 pm,” Meghwal said. 6. Odisha receives heavy rain, more downpour likely: IMD Even as Odisha received heavy rain in the last 24 hours due to southwest monsoon, the Met department on Tuesday forecast more downpour for one more day. As many as 16 districts in Odisha, including Cuttack and Khurda, of which Bhubaneswar is a part, have received heavy rainfall till Tuesday evening. The state received an average rainfall of 26.4 mm in the last 24 hours till 8.30 am on Tuesday, which is 477 per cent more than normal rainfall of 4.6 mm on October 2. 7. Deal to expedite grain exports reached between Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania have agreed on a plan they hope will help expedite Ukrainian grain exports, officials said Tuesday, with needy countries beyond Europe potentially benefitting from speedier procedures. The deal means that grain inspections will shift from the Ukraine-Poland border to a Lithuanian port on the Baltic Sea, according to a statement from the Ukrainian farm ministry. The move seeks to facilitate the transit of Ukrainian exports through Polish territory, the statement said, without providing further details. 8. Congress asks why cant PM Modi conduct caste census if he claims to be an OBC leader The Congress on Tuesday questioned how can Prime Minister Narendra Modi claim to be a leader of the other backward classes (OBC) if his government cannot do a caste census. The party also distanced itself from the now deleted comments of Abhishek Singhvi, who in a post on X, had claimed that the formulation of ensuring “rights proportionate to the strength of a community” it will lead to “majoritarianism”. Addressing a press conference at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters, Capt (retired) Ajay Yadav, who heads the OBC department of the party, asserted that the Bihar caste survey will change the direction of politics as well policy. 9. UK PM refuses to end uncertainty over high-speed rail line’s future Prime Minister Rishi Sunak refused on Tuesday to end speculation about the future of Britain’s HS2 high-speed railway project, saying he was still considering whether to scrap or delay construction of the northern leg of the train line. At his party’s annual conference in Manchester, one of the destinations for the second phase of the high-speed train link, Sunak was under pressure from business leaders and organisations to make a decision and end uncertainty about whether the project would or would not go ahead. 10. UK regulator to push for probe into Amazon, Microsoft cloud dominance British media regulator Ofcom will this week push for an antitrust investigation into Amazon and Microsoft’s dominance of the UK’s cloud computing market, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Between them, Amazon and Microsoft enjoy a combined market share of 60-70% of Britain’s cloud computing industry. Meanwhile, their closest competitor, Alphabet’s Google, has closer to 10%. 11. Chinese President Xi vows to deepen ties with Maldives Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday pledged to deepen bilateral ties with the Maldives as he congratulated President-elect Mohamed Muizzu, whose party campaigned for forging close ties with Beijing. Muizzu, from the People’s National Congress and a close associate of former Maldives President Abdulla Yameen who forged close ties with China during his Presidency from 2013 to 2018, defeated India-friendly incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in the presidential runoff held on Saturday. 12. CEC Rajiv Kumar-led team in Hyderabad to access poll preparedness A 17-member delegation headed by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar reached here Tuesday as part of a three-day visit to assess poll preparedness in Telangana, official sources said. Telangana Chief Electoral Officer Vikas Raj received the team at the Rajiv Gandhi Airport here, they said. During the three-day visit, the team will also hold a crucial meeting with the Chief Secretary and the Director-General of Police (DGP) to align their efforts with state administration and security agencies. 13. Nuh violence: Cong MLA Mamman Khan gets interim bail in remaining cases, to be released Wednesday Congress MLA Mamman Khan, arrested last month in connection with the July 31 Nuh violence, was granted interim bail by a court here on Tuesday in two cases. Khan, however, will have to spend Tuesday night in jail as the release order did not reach the prison authorities till 6 pm, officials said. He is expected to be released Wednesday morning, they added. According to police officials, the sessions court granted him the relief till the next date of hearing on October 18. 14. Hangzhou Asian Games: Indians in action on October 4, 2023 ATHLETICS: 4:30 am: 35km Race Walk Mixed Team - Manju Rani, Ram Baboo 16:30 pm: Men’s High Jump Final - Sandesh Jesse, Sarvesh Kushare 16:35 pm: Men’s Javelin Throw Final - Neeraj Chopra, Kishore Kumar Jena 16:40 pm: Women’s Triple Jump Final - Sheena Nellickal Varkey 16:55 pm: Women’s 800m Final - Harmilan Bains, KM Chanda 17:10 pm: Men’s 5000m Final - Avinash Sable, Gulveer Singh 17:45 pm: Women’s 4 x 400m Relay Final - India 18:05 pm: Men’s 4 x 400m Relay Final - India (Muhammad Anas Yahiya, Amoj Jacob, Nihal William, Mijo Kurian) KABADDI: 6:00 am: Men’s Team Group A match - India vs Thailand 1:30 pm: Women’s Team Group A match - India vs Thailand ARCHERY: 6:10 am: Compound Mixed Team Quarterfinal - India vs Malaysia 11:50 am: Recurve Mixed Team Quarterfinal - India vs Indonesia EQUESTRIAN: 6:30 am: Jumping Individual and Team Qualifier Round 1 - Kirat Singh Nagra, Tejas Dhingra, Yash Nensee 11:30 pm: Jumping Individual Qualifier Round 2 and Team Final Round - Kirat Singh Nagra, Tejas Dhingra, Yash Nensee BRIDGE: 6:30 am onwards: Men’s Team Semifinal Session 4, 5 and 6 WRESTLING: 7:30 am onwards: Men’s Greco Roman 67kg 1/8 final - Neeraj 7:30 am onwards: Men’s Greco Roman 87kg 1/8 final - Sunil Kumar 7:30 am onwards: Men’s Greco Roman 60kg 1/8 final - Gyanender Dahiya 7:30 am onwards: Men’s Greco Roman 77kg 1/4 final - Vikas BADMINTON: 7:30 am: Women’s Singles Round of 16 - PV Sindhu vs Putri Wardani (Indonesia) 7:50 am: Men’s Singles Round of 16 - HS Prannoy vs Dmitriy Panarin (Kazakhstan) 8:10 am: Women’s Doubles Round of 16 - Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand vs H Kong/ S Kim (South Korea) 8:30 am: Mixed Doubles Round of 16 - Tanisha Crasto/SP Krishna Prasad vs Ew Too/TJ Chen (Malaysia) 9:10 am: Men’s Doubles Quarterfinal - Chirag Shetty/Satwiksairaj Rankireddy vs D Marthin/L Rollycarnando (Indonesia) 10:10 am: Men’s Singles Round of 16 - Kidambi Srikanth vs Kodai Nagaoka (Japan) 10:30 am: Women’s Doubles Round of 16 - Tanisha Crasto/Ashwini Ponappa vs Y Zheng/S Zhang (China) VOLLEYBALL: 8:00 am: Women’s Classification Pool G - India vs Nepal SPORT CLIMBLING: 9:05 am: Women’s Speed Relay Qualification - India SQUASH: 9:30 am: Mixed Doubles Semifinal: India vs Hong Kong 10:30 am: Mixed Doubles Semifinal: India vs Malaysia 15:30 pm: Men’s Singles Semifinal: Saurav Ghosal vs Chi Hin Henry Leung (Hong Kong) DIVING: 10:30 am: Men’s 10m Platform Preliminary - Siddharth Pardeshi BOXING: 11:30 am: Women’s 57kg Semifinal - Parveen Hooda 13:15 pm: Women’s 75kg Final - Lovlina Borohain vs Qi Lian (China) CHESS: 12:30 pm: Men’s and Women’s Team Round 6 HOCKEY: 13:30 pm: Men’s Semifinal - India vs South Korea. 15. Asian Games Javelin: Neeraj all set to defend his gold as arch-rival Nadeem pulls out due to knee injury India’s Neeraj Chopra would seek to defend his gold medal and end the season on a high when he takes the field for the much-anticipated men’s javelin throw event here on Wednesday. It could just be a cakewalk for India’s greatest athlete as his nearest competitor and world silver medallist Arshad Nadeem has pulled out of the Games due to a chronic knee injury which has troubled him for some time now. 16. Asian Games | Untested India look to keep focus intact against South Korea in men’s hockey semifinal Untested in the pool stages, the Indian men’s hockey team would look to guard against complacency against an unpredictable and dangerous South Korea in the semifinal of the Asian Games here on Wednesday. Clear favourites to clinch the gold here which will guarantee a berth to next year’s Paris Olympics, world no.3 India looked menacing in the pool stages, scoring as many as 58 goals and conceding just five. [logo] The Morning Filter 04 October 2023 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Morning Filter newsletter, your guide from The Hindu on the major news stories and events to follow today. [Arrow]Open in browser [Mail icon]More newsletters Here are the latest updates and the big news stories to follow today 1. Flash floods in Sikkim | 23 army soldiers missing As many as 23 Indian Army personnel are reportedly missing at Bardang near Singtam after a f[lash flood occurred in Teesta River]( in Lachen valley on Wednesday. Guwahati defense spokesperson said that search operations are underway. The floods were due to a cloud burst over Lhonak Lake in North Sikkim and Vehicles submerged under slush. [Twenty three Army personnel are reportedly missing]( and some vehicles submerged under slush at Bardang near Singtam after a flash flood in the Teesta River in Lachen valley caused due to sudden cloud burst over Lhonak Lake in North Sikkim. Search operations are underway: Defence Spokesperson Guwahati. 2. ED raids AAP MP Sanjay Singh’s premises in Delhi excise policy money laundering case The Enforcement Directorate [on Wednesday morning raided the premises of AAP MP Sanjay Singh]( in connection with the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case, officials said. Some other premises of linked people were also being covered, they said. 3. Nobel week - prize announcement for Chemistry Chemistry Nobel Prize announcement on Wednesday by 11.45 am CEST (3.15 pm IST) at the earliest. On October 2, the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their research that enabled the development of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19. On October 3, the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz, and Anne L’Huillier “for experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electro dynamics in matter”. 4. NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha arrested in UAPA case The Delhi Police has sealed the office of news portal NewsClick in connection with its probe into a case filed under the anti-terror law UAPA following allegations that it received money for pro-China propaganda. NewsClick founder Prbir Purkayastha and Amit Chakravarty have been arrested. Further investigation is in progress, the Deputy Commissioner of Police said. Regarding the search, seizure and detentions carried out on October 3 in connection with a UAPA case registered with Special Cell, DCP (PRO) Suman Nalwa said, a total of 37 male suspects have been questioned at premises, and nine female suspects have been questioned at their respective places of stay and digital devices, documents etc. have been seized and collected for examination. 5. Rajasthan polls: BJP chief Nadda to flag off 51 chariots for taking public suggestions BJP chief J P Nadda will flag off 51 chariots to different places in Rajasthan which will collect suggestions from the public ahead of the upcoming assembly elections, Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said on Tuesday. Based on these suggestions, the party will prepare its poll manifesto, Meghwal said at a press conference here. He said the public suggestions will be taken under the ‘Aapno Rajasthan Sujhav, Sankalp Hamara’ programme of the party’s Sankalp Patra Committee. “This initiative will be launched by BJP chief Nadda on Wednesday at Birla Auditorium at 1 pm,” Meghwal said. 6. Odisha receives heavy rain, more downpour likely: IMD Even as Odisha received heavy rain in the last 24 hours due to southwest monsoon, the Met department on Tuesday forecast more downpour for one more day. As many as 16 districts in Odisha, including Cuttack and Khurda, of which Bhubaneswar is a part, have received heavy rainfall till Tuesday evening. The state received an average rainfall of 26.4 mm in the last 24 hours till 8.30 am on Tuesday, which is 477 per cent more than normal rainfall of 4.6 mm on October 2. 7. Deal to expedite grain exports reached between Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania have agreed on a plan they hope will help expedite Ukrainian grain exports, officials said Tuesday, with needy countries beyond Europe potentially benefitting from speedier procedures. The deal means that grain inspections will shift from the Ukraine-Poland border to a Lithuanian port on the Baltic Sea, according to a statement from the Ukrainian farm ministry. The move seeks to facilitate the transit of Ukrainian exports through Polish territory, the statement said, without providing further details. 8. Congress asks why cant PM Modi conduct caste census if he claims to be an OBC leader The Congress on Tuesday questioned how can Prime Minister Narendra Modi claim to be a leader of the other backward classes (OBC) if his government cannot do a caste census. The party also distanced itself from the now deleted comments of Abhishek Singhvi, who in a post on X, had claimed that the formulation of ensuring “rights proportionate to the strength of a community” it will lead to “majoritarianism”. Addressing a press conference at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters, Capt (retired) Ajay Yadav, who heads the OBC department of the party, asserted that the Bihar caste survey will change the direction of politics as well policy. 9. UK PM refuses to end uncertainty over high-speed rail line’s future Prime Minister Rishi Sunak refused on Tuesday to end speculation about the future of Britain’s HS2 high-speed railway project, saying he was still considering whether to scrap or delay construction of the northern leg of the train line. At his party’s annual conference in Manchester, one of the destinations for the second phase of the high-speed train link, Sunak was under pressure from business leaders and organisations to make a decision and end uncertainty about whether the project would or would not go ahead. 10. UK regulator to push for probe into Amazon, Microsoft cloud dominance British media regulator Ofcom will this week push for an antitrust investigation into Amazon and Microsoft’s dominance of the UK’s cloud computing market, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Between them, Amazon and Microsoft enjoy a combined market share of 60-70% of Britain’s cloud computing industry. Meanwhile, their closest competitor, Alphabet’s Google , has closer to 10%. 11. Chinese President Xi vows to deepen ties with Maldives Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday pledged to deepen bilateral ties with the Maldives as he congratulated President-elect Mohamed Muizzu, whose party campaigned for forging close ties with Beijing. Muizzu, from the People’s National Congress and a close associate of former Maldives President Abdulla Yameen who forged close ties with China during his Presidency from 2013 to 2018, defeated India-friendly incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in the presidential runoff held on Saturday. 12. CEC Rajiv Kumar-led team in Hyderabad to access poll preparedness A 17-member delegation headed by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar reached here Tuesday as part of a three-day visit to assess poll preparedness in Telangana, official sources said. Telangana Chief Electoral Officer Vikas Raj received the team at the Rajiv Gandhi Airport here, they said. During the three-day visit, the team will also hold a crucial meeting with the Chief Secretary and the Director-General of Police (DGP) to align their efforts with state administration and security agencies. 13. Nuh violence: Cong MLA Mamman Khan gets interim bail in remaining cases, to be released Wednesday Congress MLA Mamman Khan, arrested last month in connection with the July 31 Nuh violence, was granted interim bail by a court here on Tuesday in two cases. Khan, however, will have to spend Tuesday night in jail as the release order did not reach the prison authorities till 6 pm, officials said. He is expected to be released Wednesday morning, they added. According to police officials, the sessions court granted him the relief till the next date of hearing on October 18. 14. Hangzhou Asian Games: Indians in action on October 4, 2023 ATHLETICS: 4:30 am: 35km Race Walk Mixed Team - Manju Rani, Ram Baboo 16:30 pm: Men’s High Jump Final - Sandesh Jesse, Sarvesh Kushare 16:35 pm: Men’s Javelin Throw Final - Neeraj Chopra, Kishore Kumar Jena 16:40 pm: Women’s Triple Jump Final - Sheena Nellickal Varkey 16:55 pm: Women’s 800m Final - Harmilan Bains, KM Chanda 17:10 pm: Men’s 5000m Final - Avinash Sable, Gulveer Singh 17:45 pm: Women’s 4 x 400m Relay Final - India 18:05 pm: Men’s 4 x 400m Relay Final - India (Muhammad Anas Yahiya, Amoj Jacob, Nihal William, Mijo Kurian) KABADDI: 6:00 am: Men’s Team Group A match - India vs Thailand 1:30 pm: Women’s Team Group A match - India vs Thailand ARCHERY: 6:10 am: Compound Mixed Team Quarterfinal - India vs Malaysia 11:50 am: Recurve Mixed Team Quarterfinal - India vs Indonesia EQUESTRIAN: 6:30 am: Jumping Individual and Team Qualifier Round 1 - Kirat Singh Nagra, Tejas Dhingra, Yash Nensee 11:30 pm: Jumping Individual Qualifier Round 2 and Team Final Round - Kirat Singh Nagra, Tejas Dhingra, Yash Nensee BRIDGE: 6:30 am onwards: Men’s Team Semifinal Session 4, 5 and 6 WRESTLING: 7:30 am onwards: Men’s Greco Roman 67kg 1/8 final - Neeraj 7:30 am onwards: Men’s Greco Roman 87kg 1/8 final - Sunil Kumar 7:30 am onwards: Men’s Greco Roman 60kg 1/8 final - Gyanender Dahiya 7:30 am onwards: Men’s Greco Roman 77kg 1/4 final - Vikas BADMINTON: 7:30 am: Women’s Singles Round of 16 - PV Sindhu vs Putri Wardani (Indonesia) 7:50 am: Men’s Singles Round of 16 - HS Prannoy vs Dmitriy Panarin (Kazakhstan) 8:10 am: Women’s Doubles Round of 16 - Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand vs H Kong/ S Kim (South Korea) 8:30 am: Mixed Doubles Round of 16 - Tanisha Crasto/SP Krishna Prasad vs Ew Too/TJ Chen (Malaysia) 9:10 am: Men’s Doubles Quarterfinal - Chirag Shetty/Satwiksairaj Rankireddy vs D Marthin/L Rollycarnando (Indonesia) 10:10 am: Men’s Singles Round of 16 - Kidambi Srikanth vs Kodai Nagaoka (Japan) 10:30 am: Women’s Doubles Round of 16 - Tanisha Crasto/Ashwini Ponappa vs Y Zheng/S Zhang (China) VOLLEYBALL: 8:00 am: Women’s Classification Pool G - India vs Nepal SPORT CLIMBLING: 9:05 am: Women’s Speed Relay Qualification - India SQUASH: 9:30 am: Mixed Doubles Semifinal: India vs Hong Kong 10:30 am: Mixed Doubles Semifinal: India vs Malaysia 15:30 pm: Men’s Singles Semifinal: Saurav Ghosal vs Chi Hin Henry Leung (Hong Kong) DIVING: 10:30 am: Men’s 10m Platform Preliminary - Siddharth Pardeshi BOXING: 11:30 am: Women’s 57kg Semifinal - Parveen Hooda 13:15 pm: Women’s 75kg Final - Lovlina Borohain vs Qi Lian (China) CHESS: 12:30 pm: Men’s and Women’s Team Round 6 HOCKEY: 13:30 pm: Men’s Semifinal - India vs South Korea. 15. Asian Games Javelin: Neeraj all set to defend his gold as arch-rival Nadeem pulls out due to knee injury India’s Neeraj Chopra would seek to defend his gold medal and end the season on a high when he takes the field for the much-anticipated men’s javelin throw event here on Wednesday. It could just be a cakewalk for India’s greatest athlete as his nearest competitor and world silver medallist Arshad Nadeem has pulled out of the Games due to a chronic knee injury which has troubled him for some time now. 16. Asian Games | Untested India look to keep focus intact against South Korea in men’s hockey semifinal Untested in the pool stages, the Indian men’s hockey team would look to guard against complacency against an unpredictable and dangerous South Korea in the semifinal of the Asian Games here on Wednesday. Clear favourites to clinch the gold here which will guarantee a berth to next year’s Paris Olympics, world no.3 India looked menacing in the pool stages, scoring as many as 58 goals and conceding just five. [Sign up for free]( Today’s Best Reads [[2023 Nobel Prize in physics: Seeing electrons in brief flashes of light | Explained] 2023 Nobel Prize in physics: Seeing electrons in brief flashes of light | Explained]( [[PM draws BJP campaign lines for Assembly polls, one rally at a time] PM draws BJP campaign lines for Assembly polls, one rally at a time]( [[World Cup offers Men in Blue a shot at redemption] World Cup offers Men in Blue a shot at redemption]( [[With justice question back, BJP’s harmony platform faces fresh challenge] With justice question back, BJP’s harmony platform faces fresh challenge]( Copyright @ 2023, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. 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