FirstUp: Modi to open cross-border railway project, and more… Big news today

There are loads of big news stories set to unfold today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will join his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina to inaugurate a cross-border railway project. Maratha activist Jarange Patil, who is on an indefinite hunger strike, is set to announce the third phase of the quota protests. President Droupadi Murmu will visit the base camp at Siachen and meet Indian soldiers. All eyes are on the US Federal Reserve – which is set to announce its all-important  decision on the interest rate. Meanwhile, the UK is set to kick off its AI Safety Summit at an iconic location. And finally, it’s the birthday of Apple CEO Tim Cook. Let’s take a look at today’s big-ticket items: PM Modi-Hasina to inaugurate railway project Modi and Hasina will look to continue the ‘golden’ relations between India and Bangladesh on Wednesday. The two prime ministers will jointly inaugurate the Agartala-Akhaura Cross Border Rail Link Project via a virtual ceremony at 11 am. The 15-kilometre rail link is expected to give a fillip to cross-border trade and significantly reduce the travel time between Agartala and Kolkata via Dhaka. The project’s trial run is slated for noon on Monday. The project comprises one major bridge and three minor bridges.

“At present, it takes about 31 hours to reach Kolkata from Agartala by train, which will be reduced to just 10 hours,” an official said.

The Indian Railways had allocated Rs 153.84 crore from its budget to expedite the project work. Maratha activist to make announcement Activist Manoj Jarange-Patil had previously vowed to launch the third and most difficult part of the agitation for the demand for a Maratha quota – if his demands were not met. Jarange, who has refused to get a health check-up, previously went on a hunger strike in August. Jalna’s acting civil surgeon Dr Pratap Ghodke told PTI on Monday Jarange vital organs and parameters may be impacted. [caption id=“attachment_13320172” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The home of NCP MLA Prakash Solanke in Maharashtra’s Beed was torched and his car set ablaze. ANI.[/caption] Members of the Maratha community have been staging protests seeking reservation in government jobs and education under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. The protest on Monday turned violent with the home of NCP’s  Prakash Solanke being torched and his car set ablaze after an audio clip purportedly of the MLA taking a dig at Patil went viral. Now, with Patil on another ‘indefinite hunger strike’ and in seemingly no mood to relent, the eyes of many including the Maharashtra government will be on the small village of Jalna. President Murmu in Siachen President Droupadi Murmu, who is on a two-day trip of Ladakh, will visit Siachen base camp today. Murmu is slated to interact with the troops. She will also attend the foundation day celebrations of the Union Territory of Ladakh at Leh on Tuesday. US Fed to announce interest rate decision Will the Fed change the interest rate? That’s what many are wondering ahead of the Federal Reserve announcing arguably its most important decision. [caption id=“attachment_13325772” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The US Federal Reserve building is pictured in Washington. Reuters[/caption] The Fed in September announced it would hold the policy rate steady – a pronouncement that was followed by chairman Jerome Powell reiterating afterwards on no less than 11 occasions that the central bank would go ahead ‘carefully’. While they have hinted that no change is in the offing a vociferous debate – both on the US outlook at the likely responses – are set to be in the offing. This, in light of recent data that showed surprisingly strong growth in jobs and the economy and a rise in longer-term borrowing costs expected to slow both down. UK two-day AI summit Britain is set to host the world’s first artificial intelligence (AI) safety summit of international governments. The AI Safety Summit, which will take place on 1 and 2 November, will see leading experts from the tech industry and share their knowledge. The summit will be held at the iconic Bletchley Park site – the place where codebreakers cracked the Enigma – the device favoured by the Germans during World War II. Happy b’day Tim Cook! Timothy Donald Cook – known simply as Tim Cook to the world and ‘Tim Apple’ to Donald Trump – was born in Alabama on this day in November 1966. Cook’s father worked at a shipyard and his mother was employed at a pharmacy. [caption id=“attachment_13206562” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Apple CEO Tim Cook has taken the company to new heights.[/caption] He joined Apple at age 37 in 1988. Cook, who had the unenviable task of following in the footsteps of Apple founder Steve Jobs as CEO in 2011, had vowed that the tech giant “would not change” and that it would “continue to make the best products” in the world. Cook has arguably succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. He also made history by coming out of the closet as the first openly gay CEO of a Fortune 500 company. With inputs from agencies