The Evening Wrap: Cyclone Fengal begins landfall near Puducherry

Cyclonic storm Fengal has commenced making landfall close to Puducherry and it may approximately take four hours for it to cross the coast completely, an India Meteorological Department official said on Saturday. Citing data and observations, IMD-Regional Meteorological Centre, Additional Director General, S. Balachandran said that the process of the cyclone’s landfall commenced at about 5.30 p.m. on November 30. On the area of landfall, he said it was close to ‘Puducherry area’ and that it may take approximately four hours for the completion of the landfall process and added that more related information would be made available later. Puducherry administration sent SMS alerts to around 12 lakh residents cautioning them to remain vigilant in view of the approaching cyclonic storm Fengal. Chief Minister N. Rangasamy visited the rain-affected areas to review the steps taken by the Disaster Management department, especially in accommodating those evacuated from low-lying areas into relief centres. The Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai, has maintained its red weather alert for Chennai, Tiruvallur, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, Villuppuram, Kallakurichi, Cuddalore districts, and Puducherry on Saturday. Chennai airport on Friday (November 30, 2024) announced suspension of operations till 4 a.m. on December 1, 2024, following heavy inundation of runways and the taxiway, with over 50 flights being cancelled and scores of passengers left in the lurch. Chennai MRTS services have also suspended its operations. Fewer buses were seen on the roads. Hindu priest Shyam Das Prabhu arrested in Bangladesh: ISKCON Kolkata International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) Kolkata on Saturday said that a Hindu priest Shyam Das Prabhu had been arrested in Bangladesh. ISCKON Kolkata spokesperson Radharamn Das in a post on X said tha the priest was “arrested by the Chattogram police”. The development comes days after the Dhaka Metropolitan Police on November 25 arrested Chinmoy Krishna Das, a Vaishnavite leader and one-time member of ISKCON in Bangladesh. Das’ arrest prompted protests demanding his release in Dhaka’s Shahbag neighbourhood and Chittagong, where he is based. Since then, clashes intensified. On November 26, assistant public prosecutor Saiful Islam, the lawyer of Chinmoy Krishna Das, was killed during clashes between the security personnel and followers of the Hindu leader, who was denied bail and sent to jail by a Chittagong court, police said. Based on CCTV footage of the violence, authorities have reportedly arrested at least six people belonging to the Chhatra League, the student wing of the Awami League which was banned by the government in October. The same day, a war of words broke out between India and Bangladesh after the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) termed the arrest and denial of bail for Das as “unfortunate” and expressed “deep concern” over incidents targeting minority communities in Bangladesh. The MEA’s statement called upon the interim government of Bangladesh to “ensure safety and security of Hindus and all minorities.” ECI reiterates transparency in Maharashtra polls; invites Congress for meeting on December 3 The Election Commission of India on Saturday asserted that a transparent process was followed as far as Maharashtra Assembly polls were concerned even as it assured the Congress of a review of all their legitimate concerns and invited the party for a meeting on December 3. On Friday, the Congress had raised “serious and grave inconsistencies” which it said were being revealed in the data relating to the polling and counting processes for the recently-concluded Assembly elections. The Congress’ chief allegations pertained to “Arbitrary deletion of voters and subsequent addition of over 10,000 voters in each constituency from the final voter lists” and “inexplicable increase in voting percentages from 5 pm to the final voter percentage declared by the EC at 11:30 pm on the day of polling.” In an “urgent memorandum” submitted to the commission, the party also urged it to grant an “urgent in-person hearing” to raise all its issues in detail. In an interim response to the Congress complaint on Saturday, the poll body reiterated that a transparent process was followed with involvement of candidates and their agents at every stage. The commission though still assured the party of further review of all its legitimate concerns. Regarding voter turnout data issue raised by the party, the ECI asserted that there was no discrepancy in the data which is available with all candidates polling station wise and is verifiable. The gap in 5 p.m. polling data and the final voter turnout are due to procedural priorities as presiding officers perform multiple statutory duties near close of poll before updating voter turnout data, it said adding that as an additional disclosure measure, the commission’s press note at around 11:45 p.m. was introduced during the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year and has been followed in all subsequent Assembly elections. Man throws liquid on AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, detained Man throws liquid on AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, while he was taking out a padyatra in Greater Kailash Assembly constituency of South Delhi, on Saturday. Kejriwal has been doing padyatras in different parts of Delhi ahead of Delhi Assembly election due in February. A police source said the man, involved in the incident has been detained. “The goon who attacked Kejriwal ji today is directly linked to the BJP,” senior AAP leader and Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said in a post on social media platform X. Delhi Chief Minister Atishi said in a tweet, “Today in broad daylight, a BJP worker attacked Arvind Kejriwal ji. The BJP is feeling very nervous about losing the Delhi elections for the third time. BJP leaders, people of Delhi will take revenge for such cheap acts. Last time they got 8 seats, this time Delhi people will give zero seats to the BJP.” Delhi BJP Spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor alleged that the incident of throwing liquid on Kejriwal is “old wine in a new bottle.” “Elections are held across the country, and leaders, whether good or bad, participate in campaigns under varying levels of security. However, such bizarre incidents occur only with Arvind Kejriwal during every Assembly election,” he said. “The Delhi BJP condemns all forms of violent protests. However, our (Delhi) President Virendra Sachdeva had already remarked that Arvind Kejriwal, now desperate, would orchestrate another old-new spectacle, much like the past “slap incident”. Today, that suspicion has been proven true,” he added. In Brief: Pakistan blinks, PCB source says will accept hybrid model if same policy followed for ICC events in India Backing down from its boycott threat, the Pakistan Cricket Board has told the ICC that it is willing to accept the ‘Hybrid’ model for hosting next year’s Champions Trophy provided the world body allows the same arrangement for events to be held in India till 2031. A top PCB source said that the Board is also demanding a greater share in the annual revenue cycle for agreeing to the model under which India would be playing its share of matches, including the clash against Pakistan in Dubai, owing to security concerns. World Chess Championship: Gukesh draws with Liren, scores still tied after five games Indian challenger D Gukesh played out a hard-fought draw with white pieces in the fifth game of the World Chess Championship against defending champion Ding Liren of China in Singapore on Saturday. The second draw in a row left both players with an identical tally on 2.5 points apiece, still shy of 5 more points in order to win the championship. The two players signed peace after 40 moves. It was the third draw of the match. [logo] The Evening Wrap 30 November 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]( Cyclone Fengal begins landfall near Puducherry [Cyclonic storm Fengal has commenced making landfall close to Puducherry]( and it may approximately take four hours for it to cross the coast completely, an India Meteorological Department official said on Saturday. Citing data and observations, IMD-Regional Meteorological Centre, Additional Director General, S. Balachandran said that the process of the cyclone’s landfall commenced at about 5.30 p.m. on November 30. On the area of landfall, he said it was close to ‘Puducherry area’ and that it may take approximately four hours for the completion of the landfall process and added that more related information would be made available later. Puducherry administration sent SMS alerts to around 12 lakh residents cautioning them to remain vigilant in view of the approaching cyclonic storm Fengal. Chief Minister N. Rangasamy visited the rain-affected areas to review the steps taken by the Disaster Management department, especially in accommodating those evacuated from low-lying areas into relief centres. The Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai, has maintained its red weather alert for Chennai, Tiruvallur, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, Villuppuram, Kallakurichi, Cuddalore districts, and Puducherry on Saturday. Chennai airport on Friday (November 30, 2024) announced suspension of operations till 4 a.m. on December 1, 2024, following heavy inundation of runways and the taxiway, with over 50 flights being cancelled and scores of passengers left in the lurch. Chennai MRTS services have also suspended its operations. Fewer buses were seen on the roads. Hindu priest Shyam Das Prabhu arrested in Bangladesh: ISKCON Kolkata International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) Kolkata on Saturday said that a [Hindu priest Shyam Das Prabhu had been arrested in Bangladesh](. ISCKON Kolkata spokesperson Radharamn Das in a post on X said tha the priest was “arrested by the Chattogram police”. The development comes days after the Dhaka Metropolitan Police on November 25 arrested Chinmoy Krishna Das, a Vaishnavite leader and one-time member of ISKCON in Bangladesh. Das’ arrest prompted protests demanding his release in Dhaka’s Shahbag neighbourhood and Chittagong, where he is based. Since then, clashes intensified. On November 26, assistant public prosecutor Saiful Islam, the lawyer of Chinmoy Krishna Das, was killed during clashes between the security personnel and followers of the Hindu leader, who was denied bail and sent to jail by a Chittagong court, police said. Based on CCTV footage of the violence, authorities have reportedly arrested at least six people belonging to the Chhatra League, the student wing of the Awami League which was banned by the government in October. The same day, a war of words broke out between India and Bangladesh after the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) termed the arrest and denial of bail for Das as “unfortunate” and expressed “deep concern” over incidents targeting minority communities in Bangladesh. The MEA’s statement called upon the interim government of Bangladesh to “ensure safety and security of Hindus and all minorities.” ECI reiterates transparency in Maharashtra polls; invites Congress for meeting on December 3 The Election Commission of India on Saturday asserted that a [transparent process was followed]( as far as Maharashtra Assembly polls were concerned even as it assured the Congress of a review of all their legitimate concerns and invited the party for a meeting on December 3. On Friday, the Congress had raised “serious and grave inconsistencies” which it said were being revealed in the data relating to the polling and counting processes for the recently-concluded Assembly elections. The Congress’ chief allegations pertained to “Arbitrary deletion of voters and subsequent addition of over 10,000 voters in each constituency from the final voter lists” and “inexplicable increase in voting percentages from 5 pm to the final voter percentage declared by the EC at 11:30 pm on the day of polling.” In an “urgent memorandum” submitted to the commission, the party also urged it to grant an “urgent in-person hearing” to raise all its issues in detail. In an interim response to the Congress complaint on Saturday, the poll body reiterated that a transparent process was followed with involvement of candidates and their agents at every stage. The commission though still assured the party of further review of all its legitimate concerns. Regarding voter turnout data issue raised by the party, the ECI asserted that there was no discrepancy in the data which is available with all candidates polling station wise and is verifiable. The gap in 5 p.m. polling data and the final voter turnout are due to procedural priorities as presiding officers perform multiple statutory duties near close of poll before updating voter turnout data, it said adding that as an additional disclosure measure, the commission’s press note at around 11:45 p.m. was introduced during the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year and has been followed in all subsequent Assembly elections. Man throws liquid on AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, detained [Man throws liquid on AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal]( while he was taking out a padyatra in Greater Kailash Assembly constituency of South Delhi, on Saturday. Kejriwal has been doing padyatras in different parts of Delhi ahead of Delhi Assembly election due in February. A police source said the man, involved in the incident has been detained. “The goon who attacked Kejriwal ji today is directly linked to the BJP,” senior AAP leader and Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said in a post on social media platform X. Delhi Chief Minister Atishi said in a tweet, “Today in broad daylight, a BJP worker attacked Arvind Kejriwal ji. The BJP is feeling very nervous about losing the Delhi elections for the third time. BJP leaders, people of Delhi will take revenge for such cheap acts. Last time they got 8 seats, this time Delhi people will give zero seats to the BJP.” Delhi BJP Spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor alleged that the incident of throwing liquid on Kejriwal is “old wine in a new bottle.” “Elections are held across the country, and leaders, whether good or bad, participate in campaigns under varying levels of security. However, such bizarre incidents occur only with Arvind Kejriwal during every Assembly election,” he said. “The Delhi BJP condemns all forms of violent protests. However, our (Delhi) President Virendra Sachdeva had already remarked that Arvind Kejriwal, now desperate, would orchestrate another old-new spectacle, much like the past “slap incident”. Today, that suspicion has been proven true,” he added. In Brief: Pakistan blinks, PCB source says will accept hybrid model if same policy followed for ICC events in India Backing down from its boycott threat, the Pakistan Cricket Board has told the ICC that it is [willing to accept the ‘Hybrid’ model]( for hosting next year’s Champions Trophy provided the world body allows the same arrangement for events to be held in India till 2031. A top PCB source said that the Board is also demanding a greater share in the annual revenue cycle for agreeing to the model under which India would be playing its share of matches, including the clash against Pakistan in Dubai, owing to security concerns. World Chess Championship: Gukesh draws with Liren, scores still tied after five games Indian challenger D [Gukesh played out a hard-fought draw]( with white pieces in the fifth game of the World Chess Championship against defending champion Ding Liren of China in Singapore on Saturday. The second draw in a row left both players with an identical tally on 2.5 points apiece, still shy of 5 more points in order to win the championship. The two players signed peace after 40 moves. It was the third draw of the match. Today’s Top Picks [[In Pictures: As Cyclone Fengal intensifies in Tamil Nadu] In Pictures: As Cyclone Fengal intensifies in Tamil Nadu]( [[Cyclone Fengal: What is landfall?] Cyclone Fengal: What is landfall?]( [[Watch: Explained: Why did Israel accept the Hezbollah ceasefire?] Watch: Explained: Why did Israel accept the Hezbollah ceasefire?]( [[Why the U.S. Department of Justice wants Google to divest its Chrome browser | Explained] Why the U.S. Department of Justice wants Google to divest its Chrome browser | Explained]( Copyright© 2024, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. If you are facing any trouble in viewing this newsletter, please [click here]( Manage your newsletter subscription preferences [here]( If you do not wish to receive such emails [go here](