The Catch Up: 19 November
This is the Catchup on 3 Things by The Indian Express and I'm Flora Swain. Today is the 19th of November and here are the headlines. Delhi’s Dangerous Air Quality: Inhalation Equivalent to 50 Cigarettes Delhi’s air quality hit alarming levels early Tuesday, with an AQI of 492, placing the capital in the "severe-plus" category. Certain areas, including Alipur and Anand Vihar, surpassed the 500 mark. This means Delhi residents are breathing in pollutants equivalent to 50 cigarettes a day, posing serious health risks to everyone, not just those with pre-existing conditions. The government has implemented its highest emergency measures, and the Supreme Court has ordered these actions to remain in place until further notice. Political Tensions Escalate in Maharashtra Ahead of Polls Tensions flared in Virar, Maharashtra, just a day before state elections, as Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) workers accused BJP General Secretary Vinod Tawde of distributing cash to sway voters. Election officials recovered nearly Rs 10 lakh from Tawde’s hotel room. After a three-hour standoff, a press conference involving political leaders was halted by the Election Commission for violating rules. An FIR has been filed, and the matter is under investigation, with political tensions continuing to rise in the lead-up to the polls. Karnataka Police Kills Fugitive Naxal Leader Vikram Gowda Karnataka’s Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) shot and killed fugitive Naxal leader Vikram Gowda in a gunbattle on Monday night in Udupi’s Kabbinale forest. Gowda, 44, had been a key member of the banned CPI (Maoist) group, considered one of the last remaining major Naxal leaders from Karnataka. His death follows the 2021 arrest of another top leader, B.G. Krishnamurthy. With Gowda’s death, the remaining underground Naxals in Karnataka number just seven, including four women. Tirumala’s New Plans to Improve Temple Experience and Operations The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) under its new chairman, B.R. Naidu, has proposed several changes to improve operations at the Lord Venkateswara temple. Key decisions include setting up a panel to reduce darshan waiting times to just 2-3 hours, banning political statements within the temple, and ensuring the use of higher-quality ghee for laddoos. Additionally, the TTD aims to streamline temple operations using AI to manage the flow of devotees. These decisions follow the recent change in state leadership. Putin Revises Russia’s Nuclear Doctrine Amid Growing Tensions Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a new nuclear doctrine declaring that any conventional attack on Russia, backed by a nuclear power, will be considered a joint assault on Russia. This revision of Russia's nuclear strategy comes on the 1,000th day of the war in Ukraine. The move follows U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to use longer-range missiles supplied by the U.S. to strike targets inside Russia, further escalating tensions in the ongoing conflict. This was the Catch Up on 3 Things by The Indian Express.
