Morning Digest: SpaceX’s Falcon-9 deploys India’s GSAT-N2 satellite into orbit; Global South hit by several crises due to conflicts, says PM Modi at G-20 Summit, and more

The Hindu Morning Digest gives a select list of stories to start the day. Read the top news today on November 19, 2024

India’s GSAT-N2 (GSAT-20) communication satellite was successfully launched by SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket in the early hours of November 19, 2024. After lifting off at 12.01 a.m. (Indian Standard Time) from the Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, Falcon-9 put the GSAT-N2 into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. This is India’s first collaboration with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

The countries of the Global South are most adversely impacted by the food, fuel, and fertiliser crisis caused by global conflicts, and the G-20 must give primacy to their concerns and priorities, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday (November 18, 2024). In an address on the first day of the G-20 summit, Mr. Modi complimented the Brazilian presidency of the grouping for taking forward the “people-centric decisions” taken at the bloc’s summit in New Delhi last year. The Indian G-20 presidency's call for "One Earth, One Family, One Future” continued to resonate at the Rio conversations, he said.

Former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh was injured after a stone pelting on his car on Monday (November 18, 2024). He was returning from campaigning when his car was attacked by stone pelters, sources close to Mr. Deshmukh told The Hindu. Mr. Deshmukh had been shifted to Alexis Hospital, Nagpur. “Some unidentified persons threw stones at Mr. Deshmukh’s car near Belphata on the Jalalkheda Road near Katol,” police said.

The Union Home Ministry will deploy 50 additional companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), comprising around 5,000 personnel, in the next few days amid violence and killings in Manipur. “The 20 additional companies, of around 2,000 personnel, that were sanctioned last week will arrive in the State on Tuesday,” officials said. At least 22 people have been killed in the State in fresh round of violence since November 7.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposed a penalty of ₹213.14 crore on social media major Meta for unfair business ways with respect to WhatsApp privacy policy update done in 2021. Besides, the competition watchdog has directed Meta to “cease and desist” from anti-competitive practices. Meta and WhatsApp have also been asked to implement certain behavioural remedies within a defined timeline to address the anti-competition issues, according to a CCI order.

Following allegations of a police conspiracy to silence him, made by the principal accused in the R.G. Kar rape and murder case, the Kolkata police have tried to prevent Sanjay Roy from interacting with the media. The police personnel were seen hitting prison vans so that journalists were unable to hear what the accused was saying while being produced in court today. The police’s move comes after the accused made shocking allegations against former Commissioner of Police Vineet Goyal on November 11, while coming out of his first court hearing. “Big officers... I am even giving you names, Vineet Goyal, DC Special, they are trying to frame me. They have conspired against me,” he had said. The accused was hurriedly taken away from the premises in a police car at the time. 

“The Coast Guard has rescued seven Indian fishermen who were apprehended by the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) in the mid-sea off the Gujarat coast and kept on their ship near the maritime boundary between the two countries,” officials said on Monday (November 18, 2024). The incident took place on Sunday (November 17, 2024) when the Coast Guard received a distress signal from an Indian fishing boat (IFB) operating near the No-Fishing Zone (NFZ) in the afternoon, said an ICG release. “At approximately 15:30 pm, an ICG ship on patrol received a distress call from an Indian fishing boat operating near the NFZ. The call reported that another Indian fishing boat, Kal Bhairav, had been intercepted by a PMSA vessel, and seven Indian crew members on board had been apprehended,” said the release.