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Journalism of Courage
Good morning,
After the two VIP-studded Pran Pratishtha ceremonies, the Ram Temple in Ayodhya is set for the third and final event, which will mark the hoisting of a ‘Dharma Dhwaj (flag)’. Around 10,000 people are expected to attend, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. Notably, the event will put the foot soldiers who were part of the mandir movement at the front and centre. According to sources, RSS spent six months finalising the invitees, focusing on the SC and ST communities and women.
On that note, let’s get to the rest of the edition👇
Every winter, the air quality in the National Capital Region (NCR) deteriorates. A statutory body set up by the Supreme Court, the Commission for Air Quality Management, has identified transportation and vehicular pollution as one of the key concerns.
In October this year, a high-level task force met with secretaries from at least eight departments, including environment, power and agriculture, and chief secretaries from Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. Two key highlights from the discussion emerged:
👉 Delhi holds more than half (~1.57 crore) of all vehicles registered in the entire NCR despite occupying just 2.7 per cent of the geographical area.
👉 At least 37 per cent of NCR’s vehicles still belong to outdated BS I to BS III emission norms.
In this backdrop, the task force, chaired by Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, has directed all states and UTs to accelerate the shift to electric vehicles. Sophiya Mathew has more details.
Meanwhile, the Delhi government has asked all government and private offices to implement “work from home” for half of their staff under Stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) for air pollution.
Residents have been protesting against the poor air quality in the NCR. On Sunday, one such protest at the India Gate turned violent, with several police personnel allegedly attacked with pepper spray. As many as 22 people, mostly college students, have been arrested and sent to judicial custody. The police said it was probing “Naxal links”.
Legendary actor Dharmendra passed away at 90 in Mumbai on Tuesday. The burly, handsome Jat had earned two monikers in his career spanning over 60 years: He Man and Garam Dharam. His body of work includes every genre of Hindi cinema, from action to pensive romance to laugh-out-loud comedies.
Our film critic Shubhra Gupta writes: His best films were those in which he brought out his Naram Dharam side, his strong frame reflecting a softness, a gentleness, and that unique mix, so rare for his era, made him the complete man, both naram and garam.
Alaka Sahani traces his journey. As a teenager in Ludhiana, Dharmendra fell in love with cinema and won a 1958 Filmfare talent hunt to join the film industry. In the years that followed, Dharmendra went on to achieve the kind of success that dreams are made of.
🎧 Today’s ‘3 Things’ podcast episode also pays homage to He Man. Tune in!
‘Ludicrous’: Prema Thongdok, an Indian-origin, UK-based woman, has alleged that she was held at the Shanghai airport for 18 hours on the grounds that her Indian passport, specifying her place of birth as Arunachal Pradesh, is “invalid”. India has lodged a protest with China, making a “strong demarche”. Prema Thongdok recounts her ordeal to The Indian Express: “They were insisting that Arunachal Pradesh is a part of China… They were mocking me.” Read on.
Big cats in the backyard: Rising cases of human-animal conflict in Uttar Pradesh have concerned residents and authorities. One of the hotspots is Bijnor, where sugarcane fields have become ideal habitats for leopards. But consider the numbers: Since 2023, more than 30 people have died of leopard attacks, and over 100 big cats have been captured. What’s pushing the leopards out of the forests, and what is the way forward? Jay Mazoomdaar reports.
ExplainSpeaking: US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies may have come back to bite him. Not only has he cut tariffs on commonly consumed items like bananas, coffee and beef, he has also dangled the promise of a payout totalling $2000 to each American from tariff revenues. Udit Misra explains how the tariffs created an affordability crisis in the US and what could force Trump to rethink his policies.
The Chandigarh question: The central government has clarified that it will not be introducing a Bill to include Chandigarh under its ambit. However, as Hina Rohtaki reports, the Centre has already increased its footprint in the Union Territory, implementing Central service rules and appointing AGMUT cadre officers to key posts.
Also read: What happens if Chandigarh is brought under Article 240?
Once seized by Left-wing extremism, Bastar is turning over a new leaf. Residents are now gunning for sporting glory, participating in “Bastar Olympics“, which includes 11 games. In its second iteration this year, as many as 3.91 lakh people participated — 500 of them are former members of the banned Maoist party. The government initiative not only lays out the youngsters’ changing aspirations, but also aims to build trust in the conflict-torn region.
That’s all for today, folks! Until tomorrow!
Sonal Gupta
