The Evening Wrap: Search operations enter final phase in Wayanad

The search and rescue operations to locate survivors and bodies of victims of the landslides that ravaged Chooralmala, Mundakkai, and Attamala in Wayanad reached the final stage on Saturday, the fifth day of the mission. Joint teams of Central and State forces concentrated their efforts on Punchirimattam, Chooralmala, and Mundakkai areas of the landslide-hit region. As many as five bodies were recovered on Saturday, including one from Mundakkai and three from Chooralmala. The official death toll rose to 219, of which 152 bodies were identified. Rescue teams also retrieved 143 body parts from various locations. A total of 10,042 people are staying in 93 relief camps in the district. As many as 88 people are undergoing treatment at various hospitals, while 215 were discharged. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the rescue operations in Wayanad were nearing completion, with the focus on saving lives and relocating stranded individuals. He said 206 persons were still reported missing from the areas devastated by the landslides. The Cabinet subcommittee monitoring the search operations said a drone survey would be carried out in the landslide-hit areas to assess the extent of damage and change in topography. Minister for Public Works P.A. Mohamed Riyas said the government would discourage visitors to the disaster zones as they would impede the rescue operation. More than 1,200 personnel of the Indian Coast Guard Disaster Relief Team, the Indian Army, Navy, NDRF, SDRF, Military Engineering group, Territorial Army, Fire and Rescue Services from Tamil Nadu and Kerala and local authorities, apart from the volunteers of various NGOs, took part in the rescue operations. The services of 11 trained dogs of the dog squads of Army and police force are also being utilised for the rescue operations. The canine teams helped recover 15 bodies from the landslide debris. Manu Bhaker narrowly misses out on 3rd shooting medal at Paris Olympics The sensational Manu Bhaker’s dream of a grand treble went up in smoke after she lost the tie-shoot for bronze medal to Hungarian Veronika Major by the narrowest of margins in the women’s 25m sports pistol event at the Olympic Games in Chateauroux, France on Saturday. In a high-quality final, Bhaker gave it her all and was placed No.1 among eight shooters for a brief period, but she could not maintain her consistency and eventually finished fourth. Nonetheless, the 22-year-old will return home with her twin bronze-medal feat in women’s 10m air pistol and mixed team 10m air pistol partnering Sarabjot Singh. The affable Indian shot 28 in the final to be tied at third place along with Veronika after the eighth series of five shots. She missed two of the five shots to aggregate three points, while Veronika drilled in four bullets into the target to clinch the third spot, leaving Bhaker to pack up the kit and leave her firing station. Expectations were really high from Bhaker to bring home a hat-trick of medals given her awe-inspiring form. She stood up to the challenge even after slipping to sixth position early in the final. Bhaker conceded at the end of the contest that she was nervous, and no matter how hard she tried to remain calm, she couldn’t. “I got like really nervous about it, but again, I was trying my best to keep calm and to just try to do my best. But that was not enough,” Bhaker said after the event. Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann denied political clearance to visit Paris Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann said on Saturday that “for reasons best known to the Centre” he has been denied permission to attend a hockey match involving the Indian team at the Paris Olympics. During a telephonic conversation with the captain of the Indian team, Harmanpreet Singh, the Chief Minister had said that he wanted to go to Paris and cheer up the team live the Union government did not give him political clearance. Mr. Mann said he wanted to be with the Indian team during the match but wouldhave to now see them on TV. He extended best wishes to the team for the quarter-finalmatch. Mr. Mann, who holds a diplomatic passport, was scheduled to visit Paris from August 3 to August 9 for the Indian hockey team’s quarterfinal clash on August 4 and had sought political clearance for the same. The Chief Minister said that no matter they have been denied the permission but the entire country in general and Punjab in particular will be with the Hockey heroes during this match. Iran says a short-range projectile killed Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on August 3 that Israel killed Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh using a “short-range projectile” launched from outside of his accommodation in Tehran. “This terrorist operation was carried out by firing a short-range projectile with a warhead of about 7kg — causing a strong explosion — from outside the accommodation area,” the Guards said in a statement. It added that Israel was “supported by the United States” in the attack. Haniyeh was killed early on July 31 in the Iranian capital where he was attending the swearing-in of the new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. Iran and Hamas have vowed to retaliate. The Guards repeated their insistence that Haniyeh would be avenged and that Israel would receive “a severe punishment at the appropriate time, place and manner”. Israel, which has declined to comment on Haniyeh’s killing, had earlier struck a Hezbollah stronghold in south Beirut. That strike killed a senior commander of the Lebanese militant group it blamed for a deadly weekend rocket strike on the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. The killings are the latest of several major incidents that have inflamed regional tensions during the Gaza war, which has drawn in Iran-backed militant groups in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen. In Iran, the voices clamouring for revenge have intensified since Haniyeh’s killing. On August 3, the ultraconservative Kayhan daily said retaliatory operations were expected to be “more diverse, more dispersed and impossible to intercept”. “This time, areas such as Tel Aviv and Haifa and the strategic centres and especially residences of some officials involved in the recent crimes are among the targets,” the newspaper said in an opinion piece. In Brief: Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi veteran Yamini Krishnamurti died at the Apollo hospital in New Delhi on Saturday. She was 84. “She was suffering from age-related issues and was in the ICU for the last seven months,” Krishnamurti’s manager and secretary Ganesh told PTI. Her mortal remains will be brought to her institute — Yamini School of Dance at Hauz Khas — on Sunday. Krishnamurti is survived by two sisters Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 03 August 2024 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [View in browser]( [More newsletters]( Wayanad landslides: Search operations enter final phase The search and rescue operations to locate survivors and bodies of victims of the landslides that ravaged Chooralmala, Mundakkai, and Attamala in Wayanad [reached the final stage]( on Saturday, the fifth day of the mission. Joint teams of Central and State forces concentrated their efforts on Punchirimattam, Chooralmala, and Mundakkai areas of the landslide-hit region. As many as five bodies were recovered on Saturday, including one from Mundakkai and three from Chooralmala. The official death toll rose to 219, of which 152 bodies were identified. Rescue teams also retrieved 143 body parts from various locations. A total of 10,042 people are staying in 93 relief camps in the district. As many as 88 people are undergoing treatment at various hospitals, while 215 were discharged. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the rescue operations in Wayanad were nearing completion, with the focus on saving lives and relocating stranded individuals. He said 206 persons were still reported missing from the areas devastated by the landslides. The Cabinet subcommittee monitoring the search operations said a drone survey would be carried out in the landslide-hit areas to assess the extent of damage and change in topography. Minister for Public Works P.A. Mohamed Riyas said the government would discourage visitors to the disaster zones as they would impede the rescue operation. More than 1,200 personnel of the Indian Coast Guard Disaster Relief Team, the Indian Army, Navy, NDRF, SDRF, Military Engineering group, Territorial Army, Fire and Rescue Services from Tamil Nadu and Kerala and local authorities, apart from the volunteers of various NGOs, took part in the rescue operations. The services of 11 trained dogs of the dog squads of Army and police force are also being utilised for the rescue operations. The canine teams helped recover 15 bodies from the landslide debris. Manu Bhaker narrowly misses out on 3rd shooting medal at Paris Olympics The sensational Manu Bhaker’s dream of a grand treble went up in smoke after [she lost the tie-shoot for bronze medal]( to Hungarian Veronika Major by the narrowest of margins in the women’s 25m sports pistol event at the Olympic Games in Chateauroux, France on Saturday. In a high-quality final, Bhaker gave it her all and was placed No.1 among eight shooters for a brief period, but she could not maintain her consistency and eventually finished fourth. Nonetheless, the 22-year-old will return home with her twin bronze-medal feat in women’s 10m air pistol and mixed team 10m air pistol partnering Sarabjot Singh. The affable Indian shot 28 in the final to be tied at third place along with Veronika after the eighth series of five shots. She missed two of the five shots to aggregate three points, while Veronika drilled in four bullets into the target to clinch the third spot, leaving Bhaker to pack up the kit and leave her firing station. Expectations were really high from Bhaker to bring home a hat-trick of medals given her awe-inspiring form. She stood up to the challenge even after slipping to sixth position early in the final. Bhaker conceded at the end of the contest that she was nervous, and no matter how hard she tried to remain calm, she couldn’t. “I got like really nervous about it, but again, I was trying my best to keep calm and to just try to do my best. But that was not enough,” Bhaker said after the event. Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann denied political clearance to visit Paris Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann said on Saturday that “for reasons best known to the Centre” [he has been denied permission]( to attend a hockey match involving the Indian team at the Paris Olympics. During a telephonic conversation with the captain of the Indian team, Harmanpreet Singh, the Chief Minister had said that he wanted to go to Paris and cheer up the team live the Union government did not give him political clearance. Mr. Mann said he wanted to be with the Indian team during the match but wouldhave to now see them on TV. He extended best wishes to the team for the quarter-finalmatch. Mr. Mann, who holds a diplomatic passport, was scheduled to visit Paris from August 3 to August 9 for the Indian hockey team’s quarterfinal clash on August 4 and had sought political clearance for the same. The Chief Minister said that no matter they have been denied the permission but the entire country in general and Punjab in particular will be with the Hockey heroes during this match. Iran says a short-range projectile killed Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on August 3 that Israel killed Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh [using a “short-range projectile” launched from outside of his accommodation]( in Tehran. “This terrorist operation was carried out by firing a short-range projectile with a warhead of about 7kg — causing a strong explosion — from outside the accommodation area,” the Guards said in a statement. It added that Israel was “supported by the United States” in the attack. Haniyeh was killed early on July 31 in the Iranian capital where he was attending the swearing-in of the new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. Iran and Hamas have vowed to retaliate. The Guards repeated their insistence that Haniyeh would be avenged and that Israel would receive “a severe punishment at the appropriate time, place and manner”. Israel, which has declined to comment on Haniyeh’s killing, had earlier struck a Hezbollah stronghold in south Beirut. That strike killed a senior commander of the Lebanese militant group it blamed for a deadly weekend rocket strike on the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. The killings are the latest of several major incidents that have inflamed regional tensions during the Gaza war, which has drawn in Iran-backed militant groups in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen. In Iran, the voices clamouring for revenge have intensified since Haniyeh’s killing. On August 3, the ultraconservative Kayhan daily said retaliatory operations were expected to be “more diverse, more dispersed and impossible to intercept”. “This time, areas such as Tel Aviv and Haifa and the strategic centres and especially residences of some officials involved in the recent crimes are among the targets,” the newspaper said in an opinion piece. In Brief: Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi veteran [Yamini Krishnamurti died at the Apollo hospital in New Delhi]( on Saturday. She was 84. “She was suffering from age-related issues and was in the ICU for the last seven months,” Krishnamurti’s manager and secretary Ganesh told PTI. Her mortal remains will be brought to her institute — Yamini School of Dance at Hauz Khas — on Sunday. Krishnamurti is survived by two sisters Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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