FirstUp: Amit Shah in Kolkata and more… The big news today

One day more and November will officially end. The second last day of the second last month of the year brings some major news developments. In some good news, all 41 workers trapped inside a tunnel in Uttarakhand were rescued last night after a 17-day ordeal and sent to hospitals for a detailed medical examination. As Wednesday unfolds, Union home minister Amit Shah is set to address a major rally in West Bengal’s Kolkata. This comes after the Calcutta High Court gave the nod to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to organise the public meeting. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will release its latest Economic Outlook. Today (29 November) marks the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. This day gains all the more significance amid the latest flare-up between Israel and Hamas that has killed thousands in the West Asian nation as well as thousands of Palestinians in Gaza. On this day in 1947, the United Nations General Assembly had adopted a resolution proposing to partition Palestine into two states – Arab and Jewish – with Jerusalem placed under a special international regime. [caption id=“attachment_13442312” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A woman waves a Palestine flag as she attends a protest in support of Palestinians in Gaza, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, in Nairobi, Kenya, on 22 October. Reuters File Photo[/caption] Here’s a simple overview of what to expect today. Amit Shah in Kolkata Union minister Amit Shah will be in Kolkata for a rally. The BJP plans to mobilise one lakh people who it claims were deprived of the Centre’s schemes because of the alleged corruption of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in West Bengal. The public address comes after a division bench of the Calcutta High Court upheld a single-bench judgement allowing the BJP to hold the rally in the Esplanade area. It is the same venue where Shah held a rally in 2014 and the BJP even then had to get the permission of the Calcutta High Court to organise the public gathering. Speaking to reporters, West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar expressed confidence that Shah’s meeting will see a “record turnout” of people. Gyanvapi case A court in Varanasi will hear a plea seeking the handover of the keys of a basement in the Gyanvapi mosque to the city’s district magistrate. The hearing was deferred last week as a mark of respect for a senior advocate who passed away earlier. The petitioner, Madan Mohan Yadav, said that authorities had blocked and locked the basement in the Gyanvapi complex, which he claimed was used for worship by a priest named Somnath Vyas before 1993. Yadav has sought to give over the basement keys to the Varanasi DM fearing tampering with the contents there. OECD’s Economic Outlook The OECD will publish its latest analysis and projections for the global economy, OECD member countries, G20 nations and key partners. The OECD is an international organisation founded in 1961 with the aim to shape policies that “foster prosperity, equality, opportunity and well-being” of all. In its June report, the OECD had projected this year’s Global GDP growth to be 2.7 per cent, which it said was the lowest annual rate since the global financial crisis, with the COVID-19 pandemic year in 2020 being the exception. Pakistan’s caretaker PM to appear before court The Islamabad High Court has summoned caretaker Pakistan Prime Minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar to appear before it today in a case relating to the 55 missing students from the restive Balochistan province. [caption id=“attachment_13442332” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Pakistan caretaker PM Anwaar ul Haq Kakar has to appear before the Islamabad High Court. AP File Photo[/caption] In its previous hearing in October, the IHC had asked the state to fulfil its responsibility and recover the missing Baloch students. DK Shivakumar’s plea before Karnataka HC The Karnataka High Court will hear a plea filed by Deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar against the sanction granted by the previous BJP government to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to prosecute him in a disproportionate assets case. Last week, the Karnataka Cabinet withdrew the sanction accorded to the central agency to investigate the disproportionate assets case against Shivakumar. BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal has now filed an intervening application in the Karnataka HC against the Congress government’s decision to withdraw the sanction given to the CBI.