oppn parties Operation Ganga: A Big Achievement

News Snippets

  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
oppn parties
Operation Ganga: A Big Achievement

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-03-09 09:28:36

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

India has successfully evacuated its nationals, a majority of them students, from the war zone in Ukraine. This is a big achievement. There was high drama in evacuating the last batch from Sumy as both Ukraine and Russia were violating the ceasefire making it difficult for India to bring the students to a safe location from where they could be airlifted back to India. Prime Minister Modi had to talk to both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukranian President Vladimyr Zelensky to ensure the safety of these students and arrange for their evacuation. Still, the students faced a harrowing time when they were first allowed to board the buses and then asked to disembark as shelling had resumed in the route the buses were to take. Finally, the government was able to pull them out of Sumy and has confirmed that they will be flown back home soon.

The success of Operation Ganga (despite initial criticism by the opposition and a section of the media which failed to appreciate the many levels at which the government was working to ensure the safety of Indian nationals in Ukraine) shows that India has now become an expert at such evacuations from strife zones. It efforts were appreciated by the global community when during the strife in Yemen it managed to airlift its citizens and many nationals of foreign nations, to safety. Even this time, Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh has thanked PM Modi for evacuating some Bangladeshis from Ukraine. India has also evacuated students of other countries including Nepal. It was good that the government pressed the Indian Air Force into service in the operation as it was clear that the scale of the operation was huge and the expertise and experience of the IAF would be needed.

But ensuring their safety and bringing back the students is just one part of the good deed. The government must now think about their future and ensure that they are able to complete their studies. It will have to find seats for them in medical colleges which, given the demand-supply equation in medical education in India and the high costs involved, is a tough task. But the government will have to find a way so that the students do not lose a year.