Daily Bulletin: Kerala tense as Sabarimala re-opens today, Delhiites breathe easy as air quality improves; day's top stories

Sabarimala temple re-opens today; heavy police security deployed for special puja As the Lord Ayyappa temple opens on Monday for a special puja, a thick security cover has been put in place after violent protests were witnessed last month against the entry of women of all ages into the shrine. Around 2,300 personnel, including a 20-member commando team and 100 women, have been deployed to ensure smooth ‘darshan’ and security of devotees, a move that came in for criticism from the erstwhile royal family of Pandalam, the BJP and the Congress. Ayyappa devotees from Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have already reached Erumeli and they will be permitted to go to ‘sannidhanam’ only on Monday. Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPc, banning assembly of four or more people, is in force at Pamba, Nilackal, Elavungal, and Sannidhanam for 72 hours from Saturday midnight. [caption id=“attachment_5425131” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of protests against the Supreme Court verdict in the Sabarimala case. PTI[/caption] Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections: Congress releases second list comprising of 17 candidates The Madhya Pradesh Congress on Sunday announced its second list of 17 candidates for the polls to the 230-member state Assembly slated for 28 November. The party on Saturday had declared the names of 172 candidates for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections. Of the 17, four candidates are for the reserved seats. The names of Congress state unit chief Kamal Nath and poll campaign committee in-charge Jyotiradtiya Scindia are not on the list as they are being touted as the frontrunners for the chief minister’s post if the party wins. Signature Bridge in Delhi inaugurated amid ruckus The much-awaited Signature Bridge, connecting Wazirabad across the Yamuna to the inner city, was inaugurated amid a surcharged atmosphere on Sunday as a scuffle broke-out out between the Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari and AAP supporters. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal attacked the saffron party for creating a ruckus at the event, which he termed as “unprecedented”. During the event, Kejriwal attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that the nation needed bridges, schools and hospitals and not temples and statues. Meanwhile, Tiwari alleged that an AAP MLA threatened to shoot him and a few policemen also misbehaved with him. Delhiites breathe easy as air quality improves; authorities warn of deterioration from Monday Delhiites breathed easy on Sunday after air quality significantly improved due to increased wind speed and control measures implemented by the government, even as authorities warned of severe deterioration from Monday. On Sunday, a total fine of Rs 83,55,000 was imposed on violators by the teams deployed to monitor implementation of measures to combat pollution in Delhi-NCR. The overall air quality index (AQI) on Sunday was recorded at 181, which falls in the ‘moderate’ category. The improvement in air quality can be attributed to the increase in surface wind speed to five kilometres/per hour. CIC issues show-cause notice to RBI governor for non-disclosure of wilful defaulters’ list The Central Information Commission (CIC) has issued a show-cause notice to RBI Governor Urjit Patel for “dishonouring” a Supreme Court judgment on disclosure of the wilful defaulters’ list. The CIC has also asked the Prime Minister’s Office, the Finance Ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to make public the letter of former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan on bad loans. Irked over the denial of information on disclosure of names of wilful defaulters, who have taken bank loans of Rs 50 crore and above, by the RBI in spite of a Supreme Court order, the CIC has asked Patel to explain why a maximum penalty should not be imposed on him for “dishonouring” the court verdict. Petrol prices decline Petrol price has been cut by over Rs 4 per litre and diesel by Rs 2.33 in the last 18 days on softer international rates, a pace faster than the spike in prices witnessed in the two-month period beginning mid-August. Petrol price on Sunday was cut by 21 paise a litre and diesel by 17 paise, according to a price notification issued by state-owned fuel retailers. In Delhi, petrol now costs Rs 78.78 per litre while diesel is priced at Rs 73.36, it said. While in Mumbai, petrol costs Rs 82.28 and diesel Rs 76.88. With this, the reduction in rates in the last 18 days now totals Rs 4.05 per litre for petrol and Rs 2.33 for diesel. Rates have been on the decline since 18 October.