Daily Briefing: Loss and damage on COP27’s agenda; stubble burning in Punjab and how to tackle pollution; and more

Head to indianexpress.com to follow our coverage of the COP27.

Only in the Express 

Stubble burning has been at the centre of the debate around rising air pollution in Delhi-NCR. Despite the availability of stubble management machines, farmers in parts of Punjab have been unwilling to use them. Why? The rental costs and fuel prices are among several reasons.

Dr Sachchida Nand Tripathi, an atmospheric scientist and professor at IIT Kanpur, meanwhile, spoke about ways to combat air pollution at the latest edition of the Idea Exchange. From strengthening pollution regulators and training staff in the latest technology to a realistic assessment of Delhi’s Air Quality Index, here’s what Dr Tripathi said.

From the Front Page 

Election Watch: With a new slogan, “We have made this Gujarat”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first election rally in his home state was as much about Gujarati pride and identity as it was about ‘wiping out’ those who try to spread hatred or “defame” Gujarat. 

The BJP, meanwhile, received a shot in the arm in the bypolls to seven Assembly constituencies ahead of the Gujarat and Himachal polls. It retained the three seats that it had in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha, and wrested one from the Congress in Haryana. In Munugode, while the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi won, the Congress was wiped out, with its candidate failing to save her deposit. Significantly, the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi was in Telangana and the party had claimed huge support in the state.

Amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is headed to Moscow on Monday for a bilateral visit. The visit assumes significance as it comes days before the G-20 summit scheduled for November 15-16, where Russian President Vladimir Putin and the western leaders, including US President Joe Biden, will be in the same room. Delhi, meanwhile, is being billed as a potential negotiator between the two sides.

Must Read 

While the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections are right around the corner, Chhattisgarh CM and Congress Himachal Pradesh in-charge Bhupesh Baghel sat down for quick chat with The Indian Express. He spoke about how his party is looking to make gains while BJP faces rebellion and factionalism within the Congress.

In Ajmer, more than 250 teenaged girls have found football as a means to break the established gender norm. Shockingly, many of them were married off at a very tender age. Through football, which they believe can be a medium to express themselves, promote social inclusion, and help create an equal society, these girls are aiming high to become professional players and financially independent.

The Supreme Court last week agreed to examine a plea challenging the expansion of restrictions to the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression that was made by the first amendment to the Constitution. The petitioner, who has challenged the law, argued that the amendment damages the basic structure doctrine. We explain what the first amendment was and what provoked the then PM Nehru to introduce a Bill to amend the Constitution.

And Finally… 

Suryakumar Yadav has been the story of this T20 World Cup so far. With such hand-eye coordination at work, bowlers never know when Surya will come down the track and use his wrists to flick the ball over the wicketkeeper’s head. His consistency has been India’s big strength Down Under. According to head coach Rahul Dravid, “he is the No. 1 T20 player in the world at the moment.”

Delhi Confidential: When BJP president J P Nadda launched the party’s vision document on Sunday, ahead of the Himachal Pradesh elections, one leader whom he remembered fondly was late party veteran Arun Jaitley. Nadda talked about how Jaitley prepared and launched the party’s vision document in 2017. Nadda, who referred to Jaitley at least six times in his brief address, claimed that all the promises made in the 2017 vision document and more were fulfilled. 

🎧 In today’s episode of the ‘3 things’ podcast, we talk about stubble burning across Punjab and the easing food prices and how that may help the RBI’s policy to tackle inflation in India.

Until tomorrow,

Sonal Gupta and Anandu Suresh