Delhi: SC imposes Environment Compensation Charge

The Supreme Court on Monday formally imposed an Environment Compensation Charge on commercial vehicles entering Delhi from November 1. In order to check persistently high levels of air pollution in the city, the ruling has mandated that heavy trucks would have to pay Rs 1,300 and light commercial vehicles Rs 700, in addition to the toll tax, to enter the city. The charge will be effective for four months, until February 29, 2016, after which the court will review its order. According to a study, commercial vehicles entering Delhi emit close to 30% of the total particulate load and 22% of the total nitrogen oxide load from the transport sector.

Maharashtra: Shiv Sena may end BJP alliance, claims report

Former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri's book launch in Mumbai on Monday and the resultant imbroglio may soon consign the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena alliance in Maharashtra to a thing of the past. According to a report in the Times of India, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray may ask his party's ministers in Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's government to quit their offices, as the party is peeved with the BJP on a slew of issues, the release of Kasuri's book being only the latest among them.

Punjab: Farmers’ protests to continue

The six-day-old ‘Rail-Roko’ agitation carried out by farmers in Punjab will continue till Tuesday, the union leaders announced after talks with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Monday. The unions have been demanding compensation for farmers and farm labourers whose crop got damaged by the whitefly attack. They are also seeking payments of sugarcane dues by private mills, debt relief and Rs 5 lakh financial assistance to the family of farmers who commit suicide. The farmers’ agitation, which began on October 7, has paralysed rail movement in Punjab.

Bihar: BJP seeks action on bribe videos

The recent exposé on two Grand Alliance leaders taking bribes has once again changed the Bihar election narrative. Initially being fought on the development agenda, the build-up to the election has since seen factors like caste, beef and now bribes take over from the debate on growth and inclusive development. The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday demanded that the Central Bureau of Investigation step in and inspect the videos, which allegedly show Janata Dal (United) leader Awadhesh Prasad Kushwaha and Rashtriya Janata Dal candidate Mudrika Singh Yadav taking bribes.

Gujarat: SC rules out interim bail for Teesta Setalvad

A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Monday refused to extend the interim bail given to activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand in connection with an embezzlement case. “It is a three-judge bench matter. Place it before the appropriate bench,” the court said, ruling that only a larger bench should consider their plea. The SC added that the decision to pass an interim bail order the last time by a two-judge bench was a mistake. The activist couple have been accused by the government of embezzlement of funds meant for constructing a museum in the memory of the 2002 Gujarat riot victims.