Morning Digest: Bengal doctors call off hunger strike after meeting CM Mamata; Delhi implements stricter measures to fight air pollution, and more

The Hindu Morning Digest gives a select list of stories to start the day. Read the top news today on October 22, 2024

The West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front called off their hunger strike on Monday (October 21, 2024) after a two-hour-long meeting with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee earlier in the day. The resident doctors have been on a fast-unto-death at Esplanade in the heart of Kolkata since October 5. More than half a dozen of the doctors had to be hospitalised from the protest site after their health deteriorated.

The breakthrough between India and China towards disengagement in eastern Ladakh comes after two years of stalemate over two remaining friction points, Depsang and Demchok, and according to defence sources will see the resumption of patrolling along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in this sector. This was later confirmed by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar who said the understanding is that “we will be able to do patrolling which we were doing till 2020”.

The Kerala Police have filed a report in the Supreme Court, urging custodial interrogation of Malayalam actor Siddique in a sexual assault case, saying it was “essential to expose his lie of righteousness before he goes down in history as a hero”. The State Police said there was a “stockpile of evidence” against Mr. Siddique, who was granted anticipatory bail by the top court in September.

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Monday ordered the implementation of Stage-2 emergency measures under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to curb the city’s air pollution. The restrictions came a week after the Central panel tasked with improving air quality in the National Capital Region (NCR) imposed Stage 1 measures, which included curbs on construction activities.

The Congress late on Monday night released its first list of 21 candidates for the Jharkhand Assembly election. Former Jharkhand Congress chief Ajoy Kumar, veteran tribal leader Rameshwar Oraon, legislator Deepika Singh Pandey and Irfan Ansari are among the prominent names in the list.

Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and others from Ladakh ended their hunger strike after 16 days on Monday, following an invitation from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to resume dialogue with civil society leaders from the region. The Ministry has agreed to convene a meeting of the high-powered committee (HPC) led by Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai on December 3.

Two Hamas sources said the Palestinian militant group was moving towards appointing a Doha-based ruling committee rather than a single successor to its chief Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by Israeli troops last week. “The Hamas leadership’s approach is not to appoint a successor to the late chief, the martyr Yahya Sinwar, until their next elections” scheduled for March “if conditions permit”, a well-informed source from the group told AFP.