Uttarkashi Tunnel Rescue Highlights: Drilling halted, rescue team faces a technical glitch once again

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Mortal remains of Paratrooper Sachin Laur was brought to his native place in Aligarh. Paratrooper Sachin Laur lost his life in the Rajouri encounter in J&K.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi says, "We hope that all of them are rescued safely. They have been stuck there since November 12...Every expert says that there was no escape tunnel. No rules & regulations were followed...The central or the state government should take accountability from the contractors..."

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Geophysicist, GPR survey team member B Chendhoor says, "We were called because something got stuck in the auger machine. GPR helps us know how far the metallic object is...GPR basically scans, therefore two people are needed one to run the GPR & the other to acquire the data..."

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Rescue team faces a technical glitch once again. Auger machine is being brought out once again. Drilling halted. Details awaited.

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Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami disposed of the government files from the temporary camp office established in Matali (Uttarakashi) and reviewed the Silkyara rescue operation. He has been in Matli since Wednesday to ensure the safety of the workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel. To ensure that government work is not disrupted, the CM's temporary camp office is being operated from Matli itself. On Friday, the Chief Minister not only disposed of important government files but also gave necessary directions to the officials. This evening, the Chief Minister reached Silkyara and inspected the ongoing rescue operation there and talked to the team engaged in the operation and took necessary information.

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- Freshly cooked food and fresh fruits are being inserted inside the tunnel at regular intervals using the 2nd life line (150 mm dia) service which has been extended from the initial position to a distance of 12 m to ensure higher stability and safety.
- Auger drilling started at 0045 Hrs on 22.11.2023 was halted due to metallic object (Lattice girder rib) being encountered in front of the pipe and the pipe could not be inserted further.
- Drilling Machineries arrived at site. Platform for launching of drilling machine has been completed. Marking of drilling point over the tunnel has been finalized at ch. 300 L/S after discussion with GSI, RVNL & ONGC. Assembly of machine has started.
- THDC has initiated the construction of a rescue tunnel from the Barkot end, with four blasts already completed, resulting in a 9.10 meter drift.
- Access road of 1150 meter has been completed by BRO and handed over to RVNL. Machine for drilling towed to location by BRO.
- Work is underway to create a drift inside the tunnel. The Army is mobilizing box culverts for this purpose. 15 numbers of frames have been fabricated.
- BRO is also building approach road for ONGC with geological surveys conducted by ONGC. 700 meters of approach road has been constructed so far.

"Overall, the operation is going on very well. We are hopeful that we will be in a much better position tomorrow morning," says Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain, NDMA member on Uttarakhand tunnel rescue operation.

- Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain, NDMA member said, "It's a very challenging operation. A war is being fought to save the sons of India who have been toiling up there in the mountain, and the government of India is ensuring that no resources will be left which are required and have not been mustered for this particular rescue operation."

- Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami leaves from Silkyara Tunnel where the rescue operation is underway to bring out the trapped workers.

- The CM visited the site to take stock of the rescue operation

- Member of the National Disaster Management Authority, Lt General Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd.) said, "Using ground penetrating radar, it has been detected that there is no obstacle the next 5 mtrs on our path. We continue to use this to detect obstacles, if any."

- Vishal Chauhan, Member NHAI said, "We are using the best technology and best manpower to rescue the 41 workers."

- Syed Ata Hasnain said that work on the evacuation pipes 2-5 will be restarted if evacuation pipe 1 does not make any progress by end of day today.

- "Himalayan geological is not predictable and hence we did not anticipate a tunnel collapse of this magnitude," says Chauhan.

- "We are going to be very careful for the remaining 15 mtr as the debris is very delicate," said Syed Ata Hasnain

- CJI orally says he will consider the submissions and pass directions.

- CJI said, "As lawyers, you should be responsible with what you’re asking. This is not some school debate!"

- "You’re asking Supreme Court to order investigation against SBI and LIC without a shred of evidence? Do you know what the consequences?" asks CJI.

- Prashant Bhushan said, "In this investigation sebi has not done due diligence. The court should formulate a sit or other group of experts to conduct the investigations."

- Prashant Bhushan appears for a PIL petitioner who is a third year law student.

- Uttarakhand government said the auger machine had to be disassembled due to steel pipes coming in front of it and the pipe being inserted inside getting bent. Due to this, the auger machine was damaged, it has been repaired.

- Bhushan said that many articles have come out on Financial Times and Guardian.

- To which CJI replied, "We cannot ask a statutory regulator to take something published in a newspaper as gospel truth? Does SEBI have to get information from journalists?"

- Bhushan asked if the journalists can get it, why can’t sebi do it.

- CJI said, "When we get information published by news outlets, we have to rely on our regulators."

- Prashant Bhushan read the OCCRP report and alleged that many entities are linked to Vinod Adani.

- To which CJI replied, "They have concluded the investigation but they are yet to issue notice. There is no material before us to doubt sebi. SEBI is a statutory body. Is it proper for the highest court to just form an SIT."

- SG Mehta said, "We wrote to OCCRP asking for details. They asked us to get details from Prashant Bhushan. He gets a report prepared and then appears in the same case. Did not say this because it would be embarrassing for Bhushan."

- SG Mehta said, "We wrote to OCCRP asking for details. They asked us to get details from Prashant Bhushan. He gets a report prepared and then appears in the same case. Did not say this because it would be embarrassing for Bhushan."

- CJI said that this is very unfair to the committee. "If this goes on people will not work in committees appointed by us. Why did you not flag all this when we appointed them in March 2023?" he said.

- Somasekhar Sundaresan was appointed as a judge of Bombay High Court on November 23.

- Bhushan said, "He (Sundaresan) was the counsel for Adani group for the issue of price manipulation against SEBI."

- CJI further replied, "Sundaresan was financial sector committee of the previous government! These are not the names suggested by sebi. Telling this to you because you are doing background check."

- CJI "SEBI did not select the SC expert committee. Don’t allege conflict of interest because against members of the panel because some member of the committee appeared for Adani 17 years ago," CJI further added.

- CJI said, "You cannot make such allegations. You have to be careful. We are not giving a character certificate to anyone."

- Prashant Bhushan replied, "Some of the members of the SC committee have conflict of interest. OP Bhat was a member of Greenco which was associated with Adani group. Somasekhar Sundaresan was the lawyer of Adani group."

- To which, CJI said, "Mr Bhushan , let’s be fair. He was appearing as a lawyer. You’re pointing out conflict of interest because he appeared for Adani in 2006? There has to be responsibility."

- SG Mehta said, "This letter was written in 2013. DRI completed its investigation in 2017 matter went to CESTAT and the tribunal also cleared it. This is just a letter from social media. Supreme Court confirmed this order.

- CJI said, "You have picked out one letter and cestat has cleared the case. This order is not in question before us"

- Bhushan said, "SEBI feigns ignorance to this letter which was written in 2014. Chairman of DRI writes to them of misappropriation of funds by Adani group. Nothing is done about this."

- CJI told Prashant Bhushan, "We don’t have to accept the allegations in Hindenburg report as truth. They are not before us here. That’s why we asked SEBI to investigate it."

- SG Mehta said, "there is an application filed by one of the petitioners. I don’t want to file a reply. There are assertions against members of the government , I don’t want to dignify it by filing a response."

- "OCCRP has refused to give us any details of their report. It seems to be a self serving report. Responding to such reports will make all of efforts meaningless," Mehta added.

- CJI said, “With respect to the changes suggested by the committee, how much can SEBI do and how much can Finance ministry do?”

- SG Mehta replied, "SEBI is a regulator, however finance ministry has the rule making power.

- He said, “Spirit of this report is accepted and respected. However there maybe some constraints here or there, we will mould accordingly. These are broad suggestions."

- "There are some functional constraints, we may require some elbow room for them," he added.

- CJI said what is important to us is what SEBI is going to do to avoid loss of investor wealth under such circumstances of short selling, that’s the reason why we decided to intervene in the case

- Observing that processions, rallies and meetings are a "regular feature" in West Bengal, a division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Friday upheld a single bench order allowing a public meeting to be organised by BJP and addressed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on November 29

- The division bench presided by Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam dismissed an appeal by the West Bengal government, challenging the November 20 order of the single bench.

- The annual tiger census in West Bengal's Sunderbans will begin on November 27, a senior Forest department official said.

- The tiger census is part of the nationwide census by different states having big cat populations, the official said.

- France and China should work together to reduce global tensions and address issues such as climate change and biodiversity, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said on Friday.

- "As big powers, we both share the responsibility to tackle global challenges .... and we can make concerted efforts in alleviating tensions around the world," Colonna said at a meeting with Premier Li Qiang, China's No. 2 leader.

- Gaza truce to bring relief for families of 13 women, children

- Taking to X, Rishi Sunak thanked “Qatar, Egypt and others for the intensive diplomacy” that resulted in today’s truce.

- He called the humanitarian pause is “critical to end the terrible ordeal of hostages held by Hamas and get life-saving aid into Gaza”.

- SEBI says they are in principle agreeing with the suggestions of the expert committee on strengthening the regulatory framework to protect investors

- SEBI says they will take action wherever short selling is involved.

- CJI asks how the regulator is looking to protect investor wealth under these circumstances.

- SEBI says they identified 24 ‘cases’ and investigation of 22 such cases have concluded.

- For two more cases, they are awaiting the response from foreign regulators.

- Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on the phone today.

- Information was taken about the rescue operation. The PM also inquired about the condition of the workers trapped inside the tunnel and the food and daily routine items provided to them.

- Information was also taken about the condition and safety of the personnel engaged in relief and rescue work.

- As per Al Jazeera, Israeli forces say they will be stationed at the truce lines and will move on the Salah al-Din axis and Beach Street in Gaza during the truce.

- They also said they will not allow Palestinians to head to northern Gaza during the truce.

- Congress MP Manish Tewari said, "Election Commission for years now has been behaving in an extremely partisan and biased manner....The PM during election camping announced the extension of PM Garib Kalyan Yojayana. This is a clear violation of the Model Code of Conduct. Where is EC now?

- "Now you see the systematic persecution and hounding of the opposition leaders by institutions, and EC is at the forefront of it," he added.

- Delhi's Environment Minister, Gopal Rai, notes, "Over the recent days, a decrease in wind speed in Delhi has contributed to a rise in pollution. In response to this, we have organized a meeting today with DPCC and officials to assess the situation and explore additional measures that can be implemented..."

- The Red Cross is set to accompany the released individuals to the Rafah border crossing, where they will be transferred to the Israeli military for the commencement of the identification procedure.
- Subsequently, the detainees will be transported to Tel Aviv hospitals for comprehensive physical and psychological assessments.
- Additionally, on the initial day of the exchange, thirty-nine Palestinian prisoners from Israel will be released, originating from the Damon and Megiddo prisons situated southeast of Haifa.

- Considering the prevailing pollution conditions, Gopal Rai, Delhi Environment Minister, is scheduled to convene a review meeting today with representatives from the Environment Department and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) at the Delhi Secretariat, as per a statement by the office of the Environment Minister.

- Dr. Munir al-Bursh, the Director General of Gaza's Ministry of Health, informed Al Jazeera Arabic that during the incursion of Israeli forces into the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, one woman lost her life, and three others sustained injuries.
- Three individuals were detained by Israeli forces at the hospital, which had to halt its operations due to insufficient fuel and a scarcity of medical supplies.
- As of Thursday, the hospital housed approximately 550 patients, along with 200 medical staff and a minimum of 1,500 displaced Palestinians who had taken refuge there, having fled their homes amid Israeli attacks.

- "We anticipate completing our work by 6pm, based on our calculations. The auger machine is currently functioning smoothly, and the workers who were trapped are in good spirits," stated Bhaskar Khulbe, former advisor to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), regarding the Silkyara Tunnel rescue.

- "We successfully secured the auger machine firmly to its foundation. Clearing obstacles at the pipe's entrance required cutting, adding complexity to the task. Given the challenging nature of the work, the process is taking some time," explained Bhaskar Khulbe, former advisor to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), regarding the Silkyara Tunnel rescue.

- "I anticipate the recommencement of drilling around 11-11.30 am", stated Bhaskar Khulbe, former advisor to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), regarding the Silkyara tunnel rescue.
- "The ground penetration radar study indicates the absence of metallic obstructions in the next 5 meters," Khulbe further noted.

- "We need to bore an additional 14 meters into the tunnel. If all progresses as planned, our aim is to reach the trapped workers by this evening," stated Bhaskar Khulbe, the former advisor to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), regarding the Silkyara tunnel rescue.
- Rescue operations were halted once more on November 23 due to the discovery of cracks in the platform supporting the drilling equipment.

- The first set of 39 Palestinian prisoners is scheduled to be released around 8 pm (18:00 GMT) on Friday, as reported by Israeli Army Radio.
- However, this release is contingent on the condition that the captives held in Gaza are transferred to Israeli soil.
- Additionally, the truce may be extended by one day for every 10 additional captives released by Hamas.

- The first set of 39 Palestinian prisoners is scheduled to be released around 8 pm (18:00 GMT) on Friday, as reported by Israeli Army Radio.
- However, this release is contingent on the condition that the captives held in Gaza are transferred to Israeli soil.
- Additionally, the truce may be extended by one day for every 10 additional captives released by Hamas.

- During the four-day truce, Hamas will release 50 women and children out of the approximately 240 captives taken during its assault on southern Israel on October 7.
- In return, Israel plans to release 150 Palestinian women and children from its prisons, many of whom are held without charges.

- While enjoying his Thanksgiving holiday on the Massachusetts island of Nantucket, US President Joe Biden expressed optimism, hoping that a 3-year-old American girl would be among the first to be released.
- A State Department official referred to the truce as a "hopeful moment" but emphasized that efforts would persist to secure the release of all hostages.

- More assistance is set to be sent to Gaza, and the initial release of hostages, including elderly women, is scheduled for 4pm local time (1400 GMT).
- The total number of liberated hostages is expected to reach 50 within the next four days, as announced by Majed Al-Ansari, the ministry spokesperson, in the Qatari capital of Doha.