NEWS
Indian Army Begins Hand-Digging To Rescue 41 Trapped Workers
After numerous setbacks, Indian military engineers have resolved to excavate by hand from Monday in an attempt to rescue 41 workers who had been stuck in a collapsed road tunnel for 16 days.
Underneath the snow-capped peaks of Uttarakhand in the Himalayan state, soldiers intend to adopt a method known as “rat-hole mining,” excavating by hand to remove the remaining nine metres (29 feet) of rocks and debris.
Last week, engineers working to drive a metal pipe horizontally through 57 metres (187 feet) of rock and concrete ran into metal girders and construction vehicles buried in the earth, snapping a giant earth-boring auger machine.
“The broken parts of the auger (drilling) machine stuck inside the tunnel have been removed,” senior local civil servant Abhishek Ruhela told AFP on Monday, after a specialised superheated plasma cutter was brought in to clear the metal.
“Preparations are being made to start manual drilling work,” he added. “Indian Army engineering battalion personnel, along with other rescue officers, are preparing to do rat-hole mining”.
Engineers in the bitterly cold conditions will use manual drills to clear the route, a tough task in the narrow pipe, just wide enough for a man to crawl through.
Tunnel expert Chris Cooper, who is advising the rescue teams, said he was optimistic the soldiers will be able to dig through.
“It depends on how the ground behaves,” he told reporters, saying they may yet have to cut through heavy-duty girders that had been meant to hold the collapsed roof up. “We are confident that we can overcome it”.
Vertical drilling, constituting a distinct initiative, has penetrated over 25% of the 89-meter depth to reach the trapped individuals through a perilous path in an area previously impacted by a collapse. A drilling apparatus was transported to the wooded hill above the tunnel via a custom-built track.
“Vertical drilling is going on at a fast pace,” with teams having reached 19 metres (63 feet) by late Sunday, said Mahmood Ahmed, a top official in the national roads ministry.
Work is ongoing at “full speed but with caution”, he added.
Digging, blasting and drilling have also begun from the far side of the road tunnel, a much longer third route estimated to be around 480 metres.
The 41 construction workers have been trapped in the Silkyara road tunnel since November 12.
Efforts have been painfully slow, complicated by falling debris and repeated breakdowns of drilling machines.
Hopes that the team was on the verge of a breakthrough on Wednesday were dashed, with a government statement warning of the “challenging Himalayan terrain”.
For the distraught relatives of the trapped men, it has been an ordeal without an imminent end in sight.
But Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami vowed Monday that all the men would be rescued.
“Do not worry, all the labourers will be taken out safely,” he said on X, formerly Twitter.
Tuesday marked the first time the workers were spotted alive, when they looked through the endoscopic camera that rescuers had sent down a tiny line that supplies food, drink, power, and air.
Despite being imprisoned, they have plenty of room in the tunnel, which is almost two km long and 8.5 metres high.
NEWS
N1.7trn Loan: Atiku Blames NASS For Worsening Nigeria’s Debt Burden
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has criticized the federal government’s plan to secure an additional N1.7 trillion loan through Eurobonds to cover a shortfall in the 2024 budget, describing the borrowing as unsustainable and harmful to Nigeria’s economy.
In a statement shared on Thursday via his X (formerly Twitter) handle, Atiku accused the Bola Tinubu-led administration of burdening Nigerians with debt while failing to provide clear answers about the country’s fiscal challenges.
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He also faulted the National Assembly for enabling what he called a “voracious appetite” for loans.
The former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate expressed alarm over a recent World Bank report ranking Nigeria as the third most indebted country to the International Development Association (IDA), calling the development troubling.
“The recent report released by the World Bank, showing Nigeria as the third most indebted country to the International Development Association (IDA), is very concerning,” Atiku stated.
He raised further concerns about the government’s decision to benchmark the proposed loan at an exchange rate of 1 USD to N800, despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s official rate being over N1,600.
“What makes this particular loan proposal even more concerning is that it is benchmarked at the exchange rate of 1 USD to N800, whereas the current exchange rate from the Central Bank of Nigeria stands at over N1,600 to 1 USD,” he said.
Atiku questioned the need for additional borrowing, given the government’s earlier claims of record-high revenue collection.
“In July this year, Tinubu boasted that the FIRS and Customs under his watch had collected all-time high revenues to finance the budget. Why are they still borrowing?” he said
He accused the government of a lack of transparency, describing the borrowing spree as detrimental to Nigerians already struggling under economic hardship.
“There is something that they are not telling Nigerians, even as they are being crushed by a combination of their failed trial-and-error policies and loan rackets.”
Atiku also referenced a report by BudgIT, a budget monitoring group, which criticized the 2024 budget for its inefficiencies.
He alleged that corruption, rather than infrastructure or development needs, was driving the government’s borrowing decisions.
“These loans are powered by corruption and not for infrastructure and development needs. This voracious appetite for humongous loans is deeply concerning,” he said.
Reflecting on Nigeria’s financial history, Atiku lamented the return to significant foreign indebtedness just years after former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration cleared the country’s debt.
“It is agonizing to see that just a few years after the Obasanjo administration took us out of foreign indebtedness, we are today back at the top spot in the same conundrum,” he stated.
He called for a more cautious approach to borrowing, urging the government to prioritize fiscal responsibility and transparency to avoid worsening Nigeria’s economic challenges.
International News
ICC Issues Arrest Warrants For Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, Others
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has taken a historic step, issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The charges include crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed during Israel’s recent assault on Gaza.
In a detailed statement, the ICC accused the Israeli leaders of “intentionally and knowingly depriving the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity.”
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The ICC’s move marks a significant escalation in international scrutiny of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Netanyahu and Gallant are alleged to have orchestrated policies that caused severe harm to the civilian population in Gaza, leading to widespread condemnation from human rights organizations.
Alongside the charges against Israeli officials, the ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif. Deif has long been a central figure in Hamas’s military operations. Israel’s military claims to have killed him in a July airstrike, although this has not been independently verified.
The warrants highlight growing calls for accountability amid the ongoing conflict in the region. The ICC’s actions are likely to provoke heated debate and may complicate diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving the crisis.
With the warrants issued, global attention now turns to how the international community will respond and whether any practical steps will be taken to enforce them.
NEWS
Edo State Governor Sets Up Committee To Recover Missing Gov’t Vehicles
Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State has inaugurated a 12-member committee tasked with recovering government vehicles reportedly in private hands.
The committee, led by Kelly Okungbowa, has been given a two-week mandate to retrieve the vehicles and ensure their return to the state government.
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Speaking during the inauguration ceremony in Benin City, Governor Okpebholo emphasized the importance of accountability in the management of public resources.
He urged the committee to carry out its assignment thoroughly and within the bounds of the law.
In his response, Okungbowa expressed gratitude to the governor for entrusting the team with the assignment, vowing to deliver results within the stipulated timeframe.
“A lot of vehicles used by the past administration are missing, as those in custody of the vehicles have refused to return them,” Okungbowa said.
“The governor deemed it fit to inaugurate us today with a mandate to recover all government vehicles in private hands.”
The committee, which includes representatives from Edo’s three senatorial districts, is set to investigate and recover the vehicles based on credible intelligence already at their disposal.
“We already have vital information regarding some persons still holding government vehicles,” Okungbowa stated. “We will do the job according to the law, and both the government and the people will be satisfied with the outcome.”
He also called on members of the public to assist the committee by providing information about any government vehicles that may still be in private possession.
“We want to appeal to members of the public who might be aware of anyone still keeping government vehicles in their houses to please inform us to enable the committee to recover such for the Edo State Government,” Okungbowa said.
The committee’s vice chairman, Rt. Hon. Victor Edoror, a former Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, will work alongside other members to ensure the success of the initiative. The public can reach the committee at 08110165121.