The Supreme Court has sought the Election Commission’s response to a petition filed by the Kerala government seeking to postpone the revision of voter rolls in the state.
The state’s Left Democratic Front government has sought to defer the exercise until after the local body elections, which will be held in two phases on December 9 and December 11.
The bench also issued notices on petitions filed by the Indian Union Muslim League, the Kerala Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), challenging the exercise.
The matter has been posted for November 26. The Election Commission began the enumeration phase of the roll revision on November 4 in 12 states and Union Territories, including Kerala. Read on.
A pilot of the Indian Air Force was killed as a Tejas fighter jet crashed during an aerial display at the Dubai Air Show.
The light combat aircraft, manufactured by the government-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, went down around 2.10 pm local time. The jet crashed in an open area near the Al Maktoum International Airport, the venue of the air show.
The Air Force said it has constituted a court of inquiry to ascertain the cause of the accident.
This is the second known accident involving the Tejas fighter jet. In March 2024, a Tejas aircraft crashed during a training sortie in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer. In that incident, the pilot ejected safely. Read on.
The Delhi government has directed all schools in the national capital to suspend outdoor activities in November and December. The move came in view of the health risks that deteriorating air pollution levels could pose to children.
The directive followed an advisory by the Commission for Air Quality Management. The Supreme Court had earlier asked the panel to consider asking schools to shift such activities to “safer and less susceptible months”.
Meanwhile, the Air Quality Index at 11 of the 39 monitoring stations in Delhi recorded readings above 400, categorised as “severe”, on Friday. Despite restrictions to curb pollution, Delhi’s average AQI stood at 364, placing it in the “very poor” category. Read on.
Why air quality numbers in Delhi vary widely
The raid conducted by Jammu and Kashmir’s State Investigation Agency at the office of the newspaper Kashmir Times is a “direct assault on press freedom”, press body Digipub News India Foundation said. Such patterns weaken independent journalism and undermine the public’s right to information, it added.
The State Investigation Agency had raided the office in Jammu after alleging its involvement in “anti-national” activities.
Digipub, an association of independent digital news organisations and journalists of which Scroll is a member, said that it was “deeply concerned by the increasing instances of journalists in Jammu and Kashmir – including members of Digipub – being subjected to intimidation under the guise of ‘verification’ and ‘background checks’.” Read on.
Reliance Industries stopped importing Russian oil into its refinery at Gujarat’s Jamnagar from Thursday. The Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate said that it will abide by western sanctions against Russia amid Moscow’s war on Ukraine.
The transition away from Russian oil was completed ahead of schedule to ensure that it complies with restrictions that will take full effect on January 21, the company said. The United States had given companies time till Friday to wind down their transactions.
Washington and its European allies have imposed a series of sanctions on Russian businesses, especially oil exporters, since February 2022, when the war in Ukraine began. In August, the Trump administration also doubled the tariffs on goods imported from India to 50% for purchasing Russian oil. Read on.
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