China confirms agreement with India to end standoff in eastern Ladakh | Top News of Oct 22, 2024

[00:00:08] Hello, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. I'm your host Vishnu and these are the major news stories of Tuesday, Oct 22, 2024.

[00:00:19] China confirmed it reached an agreement with India to end the standoff between the two armies in eastern Ladakh.

[00:00:26] Several BJP leaders, including three former MLAs, joined the ruling Jharkhand Nukti Murcha weeks ahead of the assembly polls in the state.

[00:00:35] Olympic wrestler Sakshi Malik claimed that Babida Fogat of the BJP was the one who motivated wrestlers to start the protest against Brig Boshan Shahran Singh, aiming to take over his position as president of the Wrestling Federation of India.

[00:00:48] US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Israel on Tuesday in the first big push for the Middle East ceasefire since Israel killed the leader of Hamas last week.

[00:00:58] The post-mortem report confirmed that Karnur additional district magistrate K. Naveen Babu died by suicide.

[00:01:04] No signs of other injuries or the involvement of a third party were found on the body.

[00:01:08] Let's get into the details.

[00:01:11] China on Tuesday confirmed that it has reached an agreement with India to end the standoff between the two armies in eastern Ladakh.

[00:01:18] Over a recent period of time, China and India have kept close communication through diplomatic and military channels on issues related to the China-India border.

[00:01:24] Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a media briefing.

[00:01:29] He added China will work with India to implement it but declined to provide details.

[00:01:33] There was no immediate reaction from the Chinese side after India on Monday announced it has reached an agreement with China on patrolling along the line of actual control in eastern Ladakh,

[00:01:42] a major breakthrough in ending the over four-year-long military standoff between the two armies.

[00:01:47] The ties between the two Asian giants nosedived significantly following the fierce clash in the Galvan Valley in June 2020

[00:01:54] that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.

[00:01:58] External Affairs Minister S.J. Shankar on Monday said Indian and Chinese soldiers will be able to resume patrolling in the way they had been doing before the border phase-off began

[00:02:06] and the disengagement process with China has been completed.

[00:02:11] Several BJP leaders, including three former MLAs, joined the ruling Jharkin Mukti Morcha weeks ahead of the assembly polls in the state.

[00:02:18] The former legislators, who switched sides on Monday, were Luis Marandi, Kunal Saranki and Lakshman Tudu.

[00:02:24] The development also comes barely two days after three-term BJP legislator Kedar Hazra and AJSU party leader Uma Kandrajak joined the JMM.

[00:02:33] Elections to the 81-member Jharkin Assembly will be held in two phases, November 13th and November 20th, with the counting of votes scheduled for November 23rd.

[00:02:42] In total, 2.6 crore people are eligible to vote in the assembly elections.

[00:02:47] Olympic wrestler Sakshi Malik claimed that Babida Fogat of the BJP was the one who motivated wrestlers to start the protest against Rich Bushan Sharan Singh,

[00:02:56] aiming to take over his position as president of the Wrestling Federation of India.

[00:02:59] In an interview with India Today TV on Monday, Sakshi Malik also claimed that Babida Fogat had gathered several wrestlers for the meeting,

[00:03:07] urging them to protest against the federation's alleged misconduct, including cases of molestation.

[00:03:12] Sakshi said Babida had her own agenda and that she wanted to become the WFI president.

[00:03:17] Sakshi Malik said their protests developed cracks when people close to Bajrang Poonia and Minesh Fogat began to fill their minds with greed.

[00:03:24] The trio had alleged that Rich Bushan Sharan Singh sexually harassed women wrestlers during his tenure as WFI president.

[00:03:30] The case is still being heard in a deadly code.

[00:03:33] Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Israel on Tuesday in the first big U.S. push for the Middle East ceasefire since Israel killed the leader of Hamas last week

[00:03:42] and the last attempt before the presidential election that could upend U.S. policy.

[00:03:46] Diplomatic efforts have so far failed to bring an end both to the year-long war in the Palestinian territory Gaza

[00:03:52] and to its spillover conflict between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

[00:03:56] Washington hopes the death of Hamas leader Yahya Senwar, Israel's most wanted man blamed for triggering the year of warfare

[00:04:02] by planning the deadly attacks on October 7 last year on Israeli territory, will provide a new opportunity for peace.

[00:04:09] But Israel has so far shown no signs of relenting in its military campaigns against both Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

[00:04:16] Hamas, which is still holding scores of hostages seized in its October 7, 2023 raid on Israel,

[00:04:21] refuses to release them without an Israeli pledge to end the war.

[00:04:25] Israel says it will not halt fighting until Hamas is destroyed once and for all in Gaza,

[00:04:29] which has been largely reduced to ruins by Israel's campaign.

[00:04:32] The war between Israel and Hamas has devastated the Palestinian economy and left nearly all of Gaza's population in poverty,

[00:04:38] with quality-of-life indicators such as health and education knocked back 70 years,

[00:04:43] the United Nations Development Agency said on Tuesday.

[00:04:46] Launching a study on the war's socioeconomic impacts,

[00:04:49] the UNDP said the economy of the Palestinian territories, the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank

[00:04:53] was now 35% smaller than it was at the start of Israel's invasion of Gaza a year ago.

[00:04:59] The post-mortem report has confirmed that Karnut additional district magistrate K. Naveen Babu died by suicide.

[00:05:05] The autopsy report, which was handed over to the police on Monday, did not specify the exact time of death.

[00:05:10] Initial findings suggested that the death occurred between 4.30 a.m. and 5.30 a.m. on October 15.

[00:05:15] No signs of other injuries or the involvement of a third party were found on the body.

[00:05:19] The inquest report had earlier indicated that the cause of death was asphyxiation caused by a titan rope around his neck.

[00:05:25] Naveen Babu was found dead at his official residence in Karnut last Tuesday morning.

[00:05:29] Reports suggested that he died by suicide following public humiliation and allegations of corruption

[00:05:34] made by the then-Karnut District Pajayat President P. P. Divya during his farewell event on Monday.

[00:05:39] Divya accused Naveen Babu of delaying the issuance of a no-objection certificate for an entrepreneur Prashantan

[00:05:44] who was seeking to open a petrol pump in Tsenglai, Karnut.

[00:05:48] That brings us to the end of this episode.

[00:05:51] Thanks for listening to Daily News Stores.

[00:05:52] Hosted and produced by me, Vishnu Muriladharan.

[00:05:55] Follow www.onmanodoma.com for detailed updates on the latest news and be sure to come back tomorrow.