Cloudbursts. Flash floods. Landslides. Could the Char Dham highway project be making the Uttarakhand Himalayas more vulnerable? Help us investigate the true cost of this infrastructure push. Click here.

The Supreme Court has allowed the sale and lighting of green firecrackers in Delhi and the adjoining areas in the National Capital Region during Diwali. The bench allowed the sale between October 18 and October 21 in designated locations, and limited the use of firecrackers between 6 am to 7 am and 8 pm to 10 pm.

The court said that a total ban, which it had imposed in April, had proven counterproductive as it led to the smuggling of conventional firecrackers that caused far greater harm to air quality. “We have to take a balanced approach,” it added.

Green firecrackers are considered less polluting than regular ones as they are made with modified formulations and do not contain harmful elements such as lithium, arsenic, barium and lead. Read on.

Why some Delhi residents leave the city during Diwali

Jan Suraaj party founder and former political strategist Prashant Kishor has announced that he will not contest the Bihar Assembly elections. The decision was taken by the party “for its greater good”, said Kishor.

“It was decided that I continue to do the work I have been doing [for Jan Suraaj],” he said. “If I contest, the loss of two to five days could hurt the chances of our other candidates.”

Kishor had announced on October 7 that he would contest the polls. Bihar will head for polls in two phases on November 6 and November 11. The votes will be counted on November 14. Read on.

The Union government told the Supreme Court that it had no objection to activist Sonam Wangchuk sharing the notes he had prepared while in jail to challenge his detention with his wife, Gitanjali Angmo. The court was also told that the grounds for the activist’s arrest had been shared with Angmo.

This prompted Angmo’s counsel to seek the court’s permission to amend the petition challenging Wangchuk’s arrest to include the grounds for detention.

The activist was arrested in Leh on September 26, two days after four persons were killed in police firing during protests seeking statehood for Ladakh. The government has claimed that the violence was incited by Wangchuk’s “provocative statements”. Read on.

In Sonam Wangchuk, the Centre finds a scapegoat for its failures in Ladakh

Mallojula Venugopal Rao, alias Bhupathi, a central committee member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), surrendered in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli. Besides him, 60 suspected Maoists also surrendered to the security forces.

Bhupathi, who carried a bounty of Rs 6 crore on his head, said that the Communist Party of India (Maoist) had been in talks with the government since March. In May, the banned outfit submitted a ceasefire proposal, but received no official response. “Instead, they increased the intensity of their attacks,” he alleged.

He urged security forces to suspend operations in Maoist strongholds for one month to allow consultations with other leaders and those who are in jail. The Union government has repeatedly vowed to end Maoism in the country by March 31, 2026. Read on.

Skill training for surrendered Maoists or forced detention by Chhattisgarh police?

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