Morning Digest | Central team of officials to visit Nipah-hit areas, Joe Biden’s son Hunter indicted on gun charges, and more
The Hindu
The Hindu’s Morning Digest brings readers a select list of stories to start the day
Central team of officials to visit Nipah-hit areas
A Central team of officials is expected to visit Maruthonkara and Ayancheri areas in Kozhikode district of Kerala on Friday where two persons died due to Nipah infection recently. Five people have so far tested positive for the virus, of whom two are dead. The others are undergoing treatment. Restrictions are continuing in at least nine grama panchayats in Kozhikode district, where a holiday has been declared for educational institutions till Saturday. The Central team reached Kozhikode on Thursday morning and held parleys with State officials. According to sources, they will coordinate with the State departments of Health and Animal Husbandry in taking up containment measures.
Joe Biden’s son Hunter indicted on gun charges
U.S. President Joe Biden’s son Hunter was indicted on Thursday for illegally buying a gun five years ago at a time when he admits he was using drugs heavily .Mr. Hunter Biden was charged with two counts of making false statements, for claiming on forms that he was not using drugs illegally at the time he bought a Colt revolver in Delaware. A third charge said that, based on the false statements, he illegally possessed the gun — a charge that can bring up to 10 years in prison. The charges were filed by Justice Department Special Counsel David Weiss, who has been investigating Mr. Hunter Biden since 2018.
Asia Cup 2023, SL vs PAK | Sri Lanka’s Mendis and Asalanka script a thrilling win over Pakistan
After displaying a clinical approach in its run-chase, Sri Lanka’s nerves showed towards the end in a two-wicket win over Pakistan at the R. Premadasa Stadium here on Thursday as it booked a date with India in the final of the Asia Cup. The host lost five wickets for 36 runs and was forced to scramble over the line, into the teeth of a thrilling final over, bowled by Zaman Khan. Defending seven runs, the debutant conceded just two runs off the first four balls before the ball took the edge of Charith Asalanka’s blade and went for a boundary. With two needed off the last delivery, Zaman fatally strayed on the pads and the left-hander flicked it for a couple amidst the deafening roar of a capacity crowd.
Business jet veers off Mumbai airport runway, breaks into two
“Writing, in general, is a very solitary process,” says Yauvanika Chopra, Associate Director at The New India Foundation (NIF), which, earlier this year, announced the 12th edition of its NIF Book Fellowships for research and scholarship about Indian history after Independence. While authors, in general, are built for it, it can still get very lonely, says Chopra, pointing out that the fellowship’s community support is as valuable as the monetary benefits it offers. “There is a solid community of NIF fellows, trustees, language experts, jury members, all of whom are incredibly competent,” she says. “They really help make authors feel supported from manuscript to publication, so you never feel like you’re struggling through isolation.”
Several principals of government and private schools in Delhi on Tuesday said the Directorate of Education (DoE) circular from a day earlier, directing schools to conduct classes in ‘hybrid’ mode, had caused confusion regarding day-to-day operations as they did not know how many students would return to school from Wednesday and how would teachers instruct in two modes — online and in person — at once. The DoE circular on Monday had also stated that the option to “exercise online mode of education, wherever available, shall vest with the students and their guardians”. Several schoolteachers also expressed confusion regarding the DoE order. A government schoolteacher said he was unsure of how to cope with the resumption of physical classes, given that the order directing government offices to ensure that 50% of the employees work from home is still in place. On Monday, the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) had, on the orders of the Supreme Court, directed schools in Delhi-NCR to shift classes to the hybrid mode, following which the DoE had issued the circular. The court had urged the Centre’s pollution watchdog to consider restarting physical classes due to many students missing out on the mid-day meals and lacking the necessary means to attend classes online. The CAQM had, on November 20, asked schools in Delhi-NCR to shift to the online mode of teaching.