Justin Trudeau: Man who can make diplomacy look easy

Delhi traders and the Chamber of Trade and Industry have claimed losses worth 11,000 crore rupees following the INDIA bloc rally held at Ramlila Maidan. Traders reported that 2.5 lakh shops remained shut and roughly 80% of business activity stopped within a 5-kilometre radius, disrupting daily-wage workers and festive shopping. The traders questioned who would compensate them for the losses after their requests to postpone the rally were rejected. Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi stated that the rally participants intended to shop in Delhi and blamed the ruling BJP government for forcibly closing shops in Connaught Place.

A ruling party representative addressed voter verification processes, stating that thirty lakh voters must choose their registration location, while one crore duplicate registrations face cancellation. The address raised questions over three crore non-traceable voters found unavailable during booth-level officer visits. The address stated that verification notices were issued professionally, reaching senior political leaders, ministers, former army leadership, investigating agency directors, members of parliament, and family members of election commissioners. The address also criticised the opposition for organising a mock parliament and a symbolic public impeachment of the Chief Election Commissioner, comparing such parallel proceedings to methods historically used in insurgent-affected areas.

Delhi's air quality has slipped into the very poor category, with Central Pollution Control Board data recording an Air Quality Index of 349 around ITO. In response to worsening air pollution, authorities have enforced strict curbs prohibiting non-BS6 compliant vehicles from entering the national capital until January 31st. Over 10 lakh vehicles from Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram, and Faridabad face the entry ban. Ground reports from the Delhi-Noida highway and Ghazipur border show massive traffic jams and rigorous document checks by officials, with non-compliant commercial vehicles turned back or penalised as Delhi braces for elevated pollution levels in the coming months.

In a major political shift in Punjab, three legislators from the ruling Aam Aadmi Party—former Inspector General of Police Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, former cabinet minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra, and Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra—formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party at its central office in New Delhi. The leaders were inducted in the presence of senior party functionaries, including Punjab in-charge Satish Poonia and state unit president Kewal Singh Dhillon. Addressing the media, the MLAs criticised the state government over issues concerning governance, rampant drug abuse, extortion rackets, and rising gangster activities. Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh remarked that his tenure with AAP was like an 'internship' that has now concluded, pointing out administrative failure, collapsing industries, and rising state debt. Chetan Singh Jouramajra highlighted a breakdown in the state's healthcare and education systems, while Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra pledged to mobilise support at the grassroots level to establish a double-engine government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party in Punjab.