mondAY Bangladesh’s BNP party members march to Indian high Commission 09 December, 2024 epaper.morningstandard.in Three wings of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on Sunday held a protest march to the Indian High Commission in Dhaka facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard south korea Today former defence minister detained Prosecutors on Sunday detained Kim Yong Hyun, who allegedly recommended enforcement of martial law last week. He is the first to be detained in the case Page 9 Protesters slam attack on B’desh mission A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS l New Delhi l J8.00 Assad flees as Syria falls to rebels Regional security key for India, says Jaishankar AGENC I ES The Syrian government on Sunday fell to a lightning rebel offensive that seized control of capital Damascus, ending the 24-year rule by president Bashar al-Assad and forcing him to flee—reportedly to Russia. Syrian state television stated Assad had been overthrown. Rebel group Hayat Tahrir alSham (HTS) claimed it released all prisoners from Sednaya prison, where political opponents were said to have been tortured by the Assad regime. Syrian prime minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali said the government would turn its functions over to a transitional government. Jalali will supervise Syrian state institutions until they are handed over, HTS chief Abu Mohammed al-Golani said, E x p r e ss r e a d J&K cop shoots dead colleague, ends life A policeman allegedly shot dead his colleague with an AK-47 assault rifle before turning the weapon on himself to commit suicide in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur district early Sunday, officials said. Officials said the head constable opened fire at the driver over some argument. Modi to inaugurate Raj investment meet today The Rising Rajasthan Global Investment Summit 2024 will be held in Jaipur from December 9-11, with the state government aiming to attract investments. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will open the summit, with key industrialists including Anand Mahindra and Gautam Adani in attendance. P8 Parts of Delhi-NCR get rainfall, more today Parts of Delhi-NCR experienced rainfall on Sunday evening, with the IMD predicting more light rain in isolated areas of the city. Some areas of West Delhi, Outer North Delhi and Gurugram received rain. The city recorded its secondlowest daytime temperature so far on Sunday at 23.7°C. winter trial for building workers continues It’s an annual cycle. Air quality deteriorates. City adopts stringent GRAP measures. Construction activities screech to a halt. The daily wage construction labourers face a winter of uncertainty, struggling to feed their families | P4 Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri will visit dhaka. He will raise India’s concerns over the attacks on hindus Manama: Addressing the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday highlighted the importance of West Asia for New Delhi and spoke about the need to improve the security situation there and prevent conflicts from spreading further Syrians welcome opposition fighters in Damascus on Sunday | AP signalling the Islamist group prefers an orderly transition. Seizure of Damascus comes a day after opposition forces took the central city of Homs, as government forces abandoned it. There were few casualties as government forces withdrew or surrendered without trying to put up much of a resistance. There was no immediate comment from Iran, Assad’s staunchest supporter, while close ally Russia said Assad ordered a “peaceful transfer of power” and left the country . Israel, another key player in the region, moved quickly to de- ploy its forces in a demilitarized buffer zone in Golan Heights, established in 1974 by a ceasefire agreement with Syria. While Syrians largely welcomed Assad’s fall, the sudden onset of events portend regional instability due to the shift in P9 balance of power.  l Thousands of BNP members took part in the march. Leaders of the three wings were allowed to proceed to the IHC to submit a memorandum, protesting the attack on Bangladesh’s mission in Tripura on December 2 | P7 PAGES 12 India to soon have comprehensive anti-drone unit, says Amit Shah M u k e s h r a n j a n @ New Delhi Union home minister Amit Shah said on Sunday that India will soon have a comprehensive anti-drone unit to deal with the ever-increasing menace of unmanned aerial vehicles being used by Pakbased elements to drop weapons and drugs along the western frontiers. Speaking at an event to mark the Border Security Force’s 60th Raising Day in Rajasthan’s border district of Jodhpur, Shah said the initial results of a “laser-equipped anti-drone gun-mounted” mechanism have been encouraging, adding that cases of drone neutralisation and detection, have gone up from 3% to 55% along the IndiaPakistan border in Punjab. “The drone menace is going to get more serious. We are tackling this issue with a ‘whole of government’ approach with the defence and research organisations and the DRDO joining hands,” Shah said, adding: “We are going to create a comprehensive anti-drone unit for the coun- Farmers suspend march as tear gas injures eight h a r p r e e t b a j w a @ Chandigarh After eight members of their group sustained injuries when the Haryana Police fired tear gas shells, the agitating farmers were compelled to suspend their ‘Dilli Challo’ foot march on Sunday . Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said at least eight farmers were injured, and one of them has been admitted at PGIMER at Chandigarh. “We have called back the ‘jatha’. The next course of action will be decided after a meeting of both forums — the Samyuka Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha. Wearing face masks and protective eyewear against the tear gas, a group of 101 farmers had resumed their foot march to the national capital from the Shambhu border, situated on the Punjab-Haryana border, to press the central government for various Plea in SC to remove farmers from Shambhu A PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Punjab, Haryana and Central governments to remove restrictions on farmers’ protest, and ensure that NHs and railway tracks are not blocked by the agitating farmers. Filed by a Jalandhar resident, the plea is likely to be taken up for hearing on Monday. demands, including a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP). However, after walking a short distance, they were stopped at the police barricades and asked to produce the requisite permission for the march. This led to a heated argument between the farmers and the police. As a determined group of farmers attempted to remove the iron mesh fencing, the police were forced to use pepper Liren blunders to hand Gukesh advantage India’s D Gukesh took a giant step towards becoming the youngest world champion in history after winning game 11 of the World Championship. A look... spray and tear gas. In a symbolic gesture, police showered flower petals on the protesters at the site before while using tear gas to block their advance. At the Shambhu border over the Ghaggar River, tea and biscuits were offered to them by the fellow farmers. Justifying, DySP Haryana Po, lice, Varinder Kumar said the action was taken after the protesting farmers started pulling the iron mesh, which is the last line of defence. A list of 101 farmers was shared but around 300 of them reached near the fence. “The police had to maintain law and order and we just followed orders. The action was taken as few farmers took law in their hands,” he said. The Haryana Police had requested their Punjab counterparts to keep the media away from the Shambhu border to avoid potential injuries. However, the order was revoked. Gukesh’s escapes Even though the 18-yearold had a narrow advantage, he didn’t play precise moves. It resulted in him feeling the heat for a majority of the game as Liren sensed an opportunity. But the youngster from Chennai found a big resource in the middle game Liren’s Mistakes With three more games to go, if Gukesh avoids a loss in all of them, he will become the youngest World Champion | FIDE Rude surprise for world champion Gukesh has been the more enterprising of the two in that he has asked more questions with White. It came to pass on Sunday also as his lesser-spotted opening made Ding Liren spend a lot of time. By the time he had made five moves, he had already burned one hour With both players needing to play precisely to escape with a draw, it was going to be a case of handling pressure with time dwindling. Unfortunately for Liren, he fumbled twice in three moves before finally resigning | P11 try in the coming days”. As per recent government data, more than 260 drones have been downed or recovered from India’s border with Pakistan this year as compared to about 110 in 2023, most of them in Punjab. Shah said the ongoing Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) for securing India’s borders with Pakistan (2,289 km) and Bangladesh (4,096 km) is a work in progress. “We have had an encouraging response from the CIBMS deployed along the riverine borders in Assam’s Dhubri (India-Bangladesh international border) but some improvements are required,” he said. Wanted human trafficking gang kingpin held by special cell s h e k h a r s i n g h @ New Delhi snowtime! Snowfall at Peer ki Gali, in Shopian district of north Kashmir on Sunday | PTI Six of family injured as roof collapse sparks fire e x p r e s s n e w s s e r vi c e @ New Delhi SIX members of a family suffered burn injuries on Sunday after the roof of their two-storey home collapsed, sparking a fire in the Shani Bazar area of Delhi, police said. The incident occurred around 7 am when the family was cooking, police officials confirmed. Delhi Fire Services (DFS) chief Atul Garg said they received an emergency call at 7.53 am regarding a fire and structural collapse in Narela. “Two fire engines were immediately dispatched. The collapse damaged the piped natural gas (PNG) line, causing a fire that quickly engulfed the kitchen,” said Garg. The injured include Raju (40), his wife Rajeshwari (35), their son Rahul (18), and daughters Mohini (12), Varsha (5), and Mahi (3). All the six were trapped beneath debris before neighbours rushed to rescue them. Initial fears suggested a gas cylinder explosion, but authorities later confirmed no such blast occurred. Severed piped natural gas line ignited fire The roof of the two-storeyed house collapsed around 7 am when the family was cooking. The injured include Raju (40), his wife Rajeshwari (35), their son Rahul (18), and daughters Mohini (12), Varsha (5), and Mahi (3). All six were trapped beneath debris before neighbours rushed to rescue them. Initial fears suggested a gas cylinder explosion, but authorities later ruled out such a blast. The victims were rushed to Raja Harishchandra Hospital, where doctors reported a combination of impact and burn injuries. Raju suffered 52% burns, Rajeshwari and Rahul sustained 45% burns each, while Mohini, Varsha, and Mahi suffered 50%, 6%, and 8% burns. “Upon speaking to neighbours, it was found that the family was cooking when the roof collapsed. So, the family suffered impact injuries along with burn injuries. Cylinder blast has been ruled out, so far,” said a senior police official. The Special Cell of Delhi Police has arrested an alleged mastermind behind a human trafficking network that lured Indian youth with fake job offers abroad, only to trap them in cyber fraud operations for Chinese-run call centers. The accused, identified as Kamran Haider, who carried `2 lakh reward declared by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), was apprehended on December 7 near Nampally Railway Station in Hyderabad. Police said on the complaint of one Naresh Lakhavat, a case was registered with the New Friends Colony police station on May 27. Seeking employment, Lakhavath had approached a consultancy firm, Ali International Services. He was sent to Thailand with the promise of a job, only to have his passport confiscated and be forced into a Chinese-run cyber fraud scheme targeting Indian citizens. The investigation, later transferred to the NIA, uncovered a vast human trafficking network led by Kamran Haider. His associates trafficked vulnerable youth to the Golden Triangle region in Laos and Thailand, where they were coerced into committing online scams. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Manoj C said that Haider not only orchestrated the trafficking but was also involved in crypto extortion. After Haider absconded, police tracked his movements through Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. “Using technical surveillance and manual intelligence, they finally located him in Hyderabad. He was arrested on December 7 after a long persevering chase of 2,500 km by the team without any rest,” said the DCP. Safe return INS Garuda all set to impart sea survival techniques to Gaganyaan astronauts M a n o j V i s w a n at h a n @ Kochi the the four astronauts selected for India’s inaugural human space flight programme, the Gaganyaan, will undergo rigorous training at the Indian Navy’s water survival training facility (WSTF) at INS Garuda in Kochi on how to survive in water after landing in the sea. While ISRO and DRDO are pioneering the space flight, the Navy is tasked with recovering the crew module from sea on its return to earth after the threeday mission. The module is expected to land in the Indian Ocean and the Navy will be positioning its vessels in the region. The ISRO has marked the waters for landing with 48 backup spots. Upon landing, the astronaut will open the module’s hatch and jump into the water. He will then inflate the personal safety pack and wait for the recovery team’s arrival. WSTF’s training is essential- ly to help the crew survive in rough sea for about six hours till help arrives. Gaganyaan’s recovery team comprising naval divers and marine commandos has already undergone one round of training at the facility. “This is our first attempt. Navy, in coordination with ISRO scientists, has prepared a standard operating procedure on recovering the crew. The recovery team has been trained to ensure safe extraction of the astronauts even rigorous plan Navy’s water survival training facility at INS Garuda in Kochi to train astronauts on survival techniques as the space module will land in the sea Space module to land in Indian Ocean; Navy to position vessels across the region for its recovery If for some reason the module lands away from the ships, then a C 130 aircraft will air-drop marine commandos who will rescue and escort the crew to ships in harsh weather conditions,” Captain Shinodh Karthikeyan, officer in-charge of WSTF, told this paper. “We brought people from Canada to train our divers in underwater egress drills and later launched our own instructor course to create a pool of expert instructors,” he added. WSTF, the third such facility in the world, simulates sea conditions with wave of more than 1.5 m height, winds up to 40 knots, rain, along with thunder and lightning effects. The key components include the helicopter underwater egress trainer, cockpit underwater egress trainer, parachute drop trainer, parachute drag and disentanglement trainer, rescue hoist trainer and environmental simulation equipment. Designed for rigorous survival exercises, the WSTF has trained more than 4500 aircrew of Navy, Air Force and Army to survive a range of challenging scenarios at sea. “We train aircrew to survive in rough sea conditions. Their safety is of paramount importance. Naval aircraft fly low over the sea as our job is to search for a target, life or a capsized boat in the vast sea. We have to train the aircrew on how to come out of the aircraft and survive in case of ditching at sea. The facility provides a real-time experience and removes fear from the aircrew’s mind,” explained Captain Shinodh.