The Evening Wrap: Uttarkashi tunnel rescuers set 100-hour deadline to complete vertical drilling

Vertical drilling, one of the several chalked-out options to bring out 41 workers trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi since November 12, finally started on November 26. Two locations were identified for the vertical drilling, and both are on the Silkyara side of the tunnel. SJVN, a public sector undertaking company involved in hydroelectric power generation and transmission, started the vertical drilling work. As of 7.30 p.m. on November 26, 19.2m vertical drilling was completed. Rescue teams set a target of 100 hours to complete the vertical drilling (by November 30), in case of no hurdles. Meanwhile, rescuers at the Uttarakhand tunnel collapse site are expected to face more difficulty over the next two days as rains at several parts and snowfall above 3,500m above sea level are predicted in Uttarkashi district on November 27. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said that the megna, laser and plasma cutter machines reached the rescue site to remove broken parts of the auger machine. “Six plans are being adopted in a synchronised manner. Operation wasn’t put on halt and is still under way in terms of repair work,” NDMA member on Uttarakhand tunnel rescue operation Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain said. A unit of Madras Sappers, an engineer group of the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army has also been called in for manual drilling. 30 personnel of the engineer regiment arrived at the spot to expedite the rescue operations. For manual drilling, the Indian Army along with civilians will do rat boring inside the tunnel. Parliament not amenable to any intervention from executive, judiciary, says Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar Parliament is the soul of democracy and its supremacy is not amenable to any intervention from the executive or the judiciary, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said on November 26. Addressing a Constitution Day event in New Delhi, he said, “Sovereignty of Parliament is synonymous with sovereignty of the nation and it is impregnable.” “Any incursion into the exclusive domain of Parliament will be a constitutional aberration and antithetical to democratic essence and values,” he said. Parliament is the soul of democracy and its supremacy is not amenable to any intervention from the executive or the judiciary, he said. The Vice-President said that for the country’s continual growth, the executive, judiciary and the legislature “must generate collaborative discourse and not confrontational perception.” Without taking names, he also took a swipe at the critics of the government, saying every time something great happens in the country, some people engage in acts of tainting, tarnishing and demeaning its institutions. The Vice President described the Emergency, imposed in 1975, as the “darkest period” in the history of independent India. Manipur government in peace talks with Imphal Valley-based insurgent group, peace accord to be signed soon: CM Biren Singh Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh on November 26 said his government was holding talks with an Imphal Valley-based insurgent group, and a peace accord will be signed soon. Singh said the talks were at an advanced stage without naming the underground organisation. “We are advancing, and we are expecting to sign a peace accord with one big UG [underground organisation] very shortly,” the Chief Minister said. This was for the first time that there was an official confirmation about such talks being held by the government, since ethnic violence broke out on May 3. Earlier, sources had said that the government was holding talks with one faction of the proscribed United National Liberation Front. Asked about newspapers going off the stands in Imphal and local TV channels off the air, Singh said he came to know about it only on November 26. He said he has already sought a report from the CID on the issue. Union Health Ministry directs States to monitor ILI and SARI trends in children and adolescents Union Health Ministry on November 26 directed States to ensure that the trends of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) be closely monitored by the district and State surveillance units of Integrated Disease Surveillance Project, particularly of children and adolescents. The action comes following the recent reports indicating a surge in respiratory illness in children in northern China in the past few weeks. States have also been asked to send nasal and throat swab samples of patients with ILI/SARI, particularly of children and adolescents, to Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratories located in the States for testing for respiratory pathogens. In a letter by issued by the Ministry, States have been advised to immediately review public health and hospital preparedness measures viz. availability of HR, hospital beds, drugs and vaccines for influenza, medical oxygen, antibiotics, personal protective equipment, testing kits and reagents, functionality of oxygen plants and ventilators, infection control practices in health facilities, at a senior level. All States and Union Territories are to implement ‘Operational Guidelines for Revised Surveillance Strategy in the context of COVID-19’ — which provides for integrated surveillance of respiratory pathogens presenting as cases of ILI and SARI. The Union Health Ministry said that the data of ILI/SARI from the States is required to be uploaded on a Central portal particularly from the public health institutions, including medical college hospitals. Meanwhile, China said that the surge in respiratory illnesses across the country, which has drawn the attention of the World Health Organisation, is caused by the flu and other known pathogens and not by a novel virus. Recent clusters of respiratory infections are caused by an overlap of common viruses such as the influenza virus, rhinoviruses, the respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, the adenovirus as well as bacteria such as mycoplasma pneumoniae, which is a common culprit for respiratory tract infections, a spokesperson for the country’s National Health Commission said. Bhopal gas tragedy | Pleas seeking Dow Chemical to be made accused posted to January 6 A court in Bhopal has posted for January 6 the hearing on various petitions, including of the CBI, seeking that Dow Chemical be tried for the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy that killed more than 3,000 people and caused environmental damage. Dow Chemical, headquartered in Michigan in the U.S., had bought the Union Carbide Corporation, a gas leak from whose facility in Bhopal on the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984 resulted in the tragedy. Judicial Magistrate First Class Vidhan Maheshwari on November 25 adjourned the hearing until January 6 after the American multinational corporation contended the case does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Bhopal court that served a show cause notice to it on the pleas of petitioners. The petitioners, however, have said that the Madhya Pradesh High Court decided the issue of jurisdiction in 2012, and thus Dow Chemical should be made an accused in the case, Avi Singh, a lawyer representing organisations working for the gas tragedy victims, said. Lawyers led by Supreme Court senior advocate and former advocate general of Chhattisgarh Ravindra Shrivastava and Sandeep Gupta put forth the company’s side. A lawyer representing Dow Chemical said that the case does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Bhopal court given that the multinational firm was governed by international law. In their pleas, the CBI, the Bhopal Group for Information and Action and other organisations argued that since the Dow Chemical owns Union Carbide, it should be made an accused in the criminal case. In Brief: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the World Climate Action Summit (WCAS) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, during the 28th Conference of Parties (CoP-28), the Ministry of External Affairs confirmed on November 26. Modi will be present from November 30 to December 1 as part of WCAS proceedings. CoP-28 is being held from November 28 to December 12, under the Presidency of the UAE. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 26 November 2023 [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]( Uttarkashi tunnel collapse | Vertical drilling under way, rescuers set November 30 deadline [Vertical drilling, one of the several chalked-out options to bring out 41 workers trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi since November 12, finally started on November 26](. Two locations were identified for the vertical drilling, and both are on the Silkyara side of the tunnel. SJVN, a public sector undertaking company involved in hydroelectric power generation and transmission, started the vertical drilling work. As of 7.30 p.m. on November 26, 19.2m vertical drilling was completed. Rescue teams set a target of 100 hours to complete the vertical drilling (by November 30), in case of no hurdles. Meanwhile, rescuers at the Uttarakhand tunnel collapse site are expected to face more difficulty over the next two days as rains at several parts and snowfall above 3,500m above sea level are predicted in Uttarkashi district on November 27. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said that the megna, laser and plasma cutter machines reached the rescue site to remove broken parts of the auger machine. “Six plans are being adopted in a synchronised manner. Operation wasn’t put on halt and is still under way in terms of repair work,” NDMA member on Uttarakhand tunnel rescue operation Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain said. A unit of Madras Sappers, an engineer group of the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army has also been called in for manual drilling. 30 personnel of the engineer regiment arrived at the spot to expedite the rescue operations. For manual drilling, the Indian Army along with civilians will do rat boring inside the tunnel. Parliament not amenable to any intervention from executive, judiciary, says Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar [Parliament is the soul of democracy and its supremacy is not amenable to any intervention from the executive or the judiciary, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said on November 26.]( Addressing a Constitution Day event in New Delhi, he said, “Sovereignty of Parliament is synonymous with sovereignty of the nation and it is impregnable.” “Any incursion into the exclusive domain of Parliament will be a constitutional aberration and antithetical to democratic essence and values,” he said. Parliament is the soul of democracy and its supremacy is not amenable to any intervention from the executive or the judiciary, he said. The Vice-President said that for the country’s continual growth, the executive, judiciary and the legislature “must generate collaborative discourse and not confrontational perception.” Without taking names, he also took a swipe at the critics of the government, saying every time something great happens in the country, some people engage in acts of tainting, tarnishing and demeaning its institutions. The Vice President described the Emergency, imposed in 1975, as the “darkest period” in the history of independent India. Manipur government in peace talks with Imphal Valley-based insurgent group, peace accord to be signed soon: CM Biren Singh [Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh on November 26 said his government was holding talks with an Imphal Valley-based insurgent group, and a peace accord will be signed soon.]( Singh said the talks were at an advanced stage without naming the underground organisation. “We are advancing, and we are expecting to sign a peace accord with one big UG [underground organisation] very shortly,” the Chief Minister said. This was for the first time that there was an official confirmation about such talks being held by the government, since ethnic violence broke out on May 3. Earlier, sources had said that the government was holding talks with one faction of the proscribed United National Liberation Front. Asked about newspapers going off the stands in Imphal and local TV channels off the air, Singh said he came to know about it only on November 26. He said he has already sought a report from the CID on the issue. Union Health Ministry directs States to monitor ILI and SARI trends in children and adolescents [Union Health Ministry on November 26 directed States to ensure that the trends of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) be closely monitored by the district and State surveillance units of Integrated Disease Surveillance Project, particularly of children and adolescents.]( The action comes following the recent reports indicating a surge in respiratory illness in children in northern China in the past few weeks. States have also been asked to send nasal and throat swab samples of patients with ILI/SARI, particularly of children and adolescents, to Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratories located in the States for testing for respiratory pathogens. In a letter by issued by the Ministry, States have been advised to immediately review public health and hospital preparedness measures viz. availability of HR, hospital beds, drugs and vaccines for influenza, medical oxygen, antibiotics, personal protective equipment, testing kits and reagents, functionality of oxygen plants and ventilators, infection control practices in health facilities, at a senior level. All States and Union Territories are to implement ‘Operational Guidelines for Revised Surveillance Strategy in the context of COVID-19’ — which provides for integrated surveillance of respiratory pathogens presenting as cases of ILI and SARI. The Union Health Ministry said that the data of ILI/SARI from the States is required to be uploaded on a Central portal particularly from the public health institutions, including medical college hospitals. [Meanwhile, China said that the surge in respiratory illnesses across the country, which has drawn the attention of the World Health Organisation, is caused by the flu and other known pathogens and not by a novel virus.]( Recent clusters of respiratory infections are caused by an overlap of common viruses such as the influenza virus, rhinoviruses, the respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, the adenovirus as well as bacteria such as mycoplasma pneumoniae, which is a common culprit for respiratory tract infections, a spokesperson for the country’s National Health Commission said. Bhopal gas tragedy | Pleas seeking Dow Chemical to be made accused posted to January 6 [A court in Bhopal has posted for January 6 the hearing on various petitions, including of the CBI, seeking that Dow Chemical be tried for the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy]( that killed more than 3,000 people and caused environmental damage. Dow Chemical, headquartered in Michigan in the U.S., had bought the Union Carbide Corporation, a gas leak from whose facility in Bhopal on the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984 resulted in the tragedy. Judicial Magistrate First Class Vidhan Maheshwari on November 25 adjourned the hearing until January 6 after the American multinational corporation contended the case does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Bhopal court that served a show cause notice to it on the pleas of petitioners. The petitioners, however, have said that the Madhya Pradesh High Court decided the issue of jurisdiction in 2012, and thus Dow Chemical should be made an accused in the case, Avi Singh, a lawyer representing organisations working for the gas tragedy victims, said. Lawyers led by Supreme Court senior advocate and former advocate general of Chhattisgarh Ravindra Shrivastava and Sandeep Gupta put forth the company’s side. A lawyer representing Dow Chemical said that the case does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Bhopal court given that the multinational firm was governed by international law. In their pleas, the CBI, the Bhopal Group for Information and Action and other organisations argued that since the Dow Chemical owns Union Carbide, it should be made an accused in the criminal case. In Brief: Prime Minister [Narendra Modi will attend the World Climate Action Summit (WCAS) in Dubai]( United Arab Emirates, during the 28th Conference of Parties (CoP-28), the Ministry of External Affairs confirmed on November 26. Modi will be present from November 30 to December 1 as part of WCAS proceedings. CoP-28 is being held from November 28 to December 12, under the Presidency of the UAE. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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