A look at the headlines right now:

  1. Delhi air quality worsens to ‘severe’ category on Diwali: The overall air quality index rose past 420 on a scale of 500, indicating hazardous conditions.
  2. ‘India will give befitting reply if tested,’ says PM Modi in Diwali address to soldiers: Modi visited the Longewala post in Rajasthan to celebrate the festival of lights with the soldiers – a tradition he has been following since 2014.
  3. India says ‘deplorable’ that Pakistan chose festive occasion to disrupt peace in J&K after LoC shelling: Meanwhile, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti asked India and Pakistan to initiate dialogue after major cross-border shelling.
  4. BJP announces new team of states’ in-charge with an eye on upcoming Assembly elections: Ram Madhav, who was dropped as the general secretary in September, has not been been allotted any state.
  5. Temples and other places of worship will reopen on Monday in Maharashtra, says chief minister: Uddhav Thackeray stressed on the importance of wearing face masks and urged people to avoid crowds.
  6. US hopes to immunise 20 million in December, says coronavirus vaccine programme head: Gustave F Perna, Operation Warp Speed’s chief operating officer, said they would begin vaccination within 24 hours after a shot secures authorisation.
  7. UP journalist found dead on train track in Unnao, sub-inspector, constable booked for murder: The police, however, said it seemed like Suraj Pandey had died by suicide.
  8. ‘How much does Obama know about India,’ asks Sanjay Raut after his remarks on Rahul Gandhi: The Congress said it does not comment on ‘an individual’s view in a book’ after the former US president said Gandhi has ‘a nervous, unformed quality about him’.
  9. ‘Humanity is bubbling in Taloja prison,’ Stan Swamy says in letter to friends: The 83-year-old suffers from Parkinson’s disease and needs help with chores.
  10. Iran denies report that Al Qaeda’s founding leader was killed in Tehran: ‘The New York Times’ reported that Al Qaeda’s second-in-command, accused of helping mastermind the 1998 bombings of two US embassies, was killed in August.