FirstUp: NATO foreign ministers meet and more… What to expect today

We will soon be entering the last month of this year. But before that, there are still a couple of days left in November. As we move to the second day of the week, there are certain big news developments awaiting us.   The Supreme Court will hear a review petition against its order in the marriage equality case. Several other important matters will come up before the courts today (28 November).   NATO foreign ministers will convene a meeting in Brussels. Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan will appear before a court in the cipher case.   As the day unfolds, here’s a quick overview of what to expect today.   Supreme Court to hear review petitions   The apex court will hear a bunch of petitions seeking reconsideration of its 17 October verdict refusing to grant legal recognition to same-sex couples and putting the ball in Parliament’s court on the subject of same-sex marriages. In a 3:2 verdict, a five-judge Constitution bench had ruled that there is no fundamental right to marriage and refused to tweak the Special Marriage Act (SMA) of 1954 to legally recognise queer marriages. [caption id=“attachment_13437242” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The Supreme Court will hear review petition against its verdict in the same-sex marriages case. Reuters File Photo[/caption] Of the five judges who delivered the order, Justice S Ravindra Bhat has retired. So, a new judge will be added to the bench to hear the review petitions. It remains to be seen if it will be an open court hearing.   Important cases before courts  A court in Delhi will hear arguments on framing of charges against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP and former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brijbhushan Sharan Singh in the sexual harassment allegations by six wrestlers. The Delhi Police has filed a charge sheet in the case against Singh and co-accused Vinod Tomar. While the BJP MP has been booked under 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), 354-D (stalking) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Tomar has been accused of sexual harassment, stalking, and abetment. A Delhi court could pronounce the verdict in the Shahbad Dairy murder case where a 16-year-old girl was stabbed and bludgeoned to death by a 20-year-old man in May in full public view in Delhi.   NATO foreign ministers meet United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken will underscore NATO’s commitment to Ukraine in its war against Russia as foreign ministers of the Western military alliance meet today. NATO is backing Ukraine, which aims to join the alliance one day.   In Brussels, the military bloc, besides reaffirming its support for Ukraine, will look into ways to ease tensions between Kosovo and Serbia, and discuss preparations for NATO’s 75th anniversary next year. Imran Khan’s cipher case  Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan and ex-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will appear before a Pakistani special court at the federal judicial complex in Islamabad for the hearing of the cipher case. Punjab Assembly winter session  A two-day winter session of the Punjab Assembly will commence today. This comes after Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit summoned the session on the recommendation of the state Cabinet.   Purohit had prorogued the budget session of the Punjab Assembly held earlier this year. What else to expect Rat miners are expected to continue manual horizontal drilling today to rescue 41 men who have been trapped for more than two weeks after a portion of an under-construction tunnel in Uttarakhand collapsed. These labourers who are used to drilling narrow shafts started the work at 7 pm on Monday after the American Augur machine broke again.   [caption id=“attachment_13437272” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Uttarakhand tunnel rescue operations are still going on. PTI File Photo[/caption] A truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza that was on the verge of expiring was  extended  by  two  days, mediator Qatar said on Monday, raising the prospect the Palestinian group will free  hostages  beyond the 69 released since Friday, according to Reuters. Hamas said the extension was “under the same conditions”, which were for 50 Israeli hostages to be released in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners. Israel has yet to comment, but it had previously said it would extend the truce by one day for every 10 more hostages released.