SC's ‘Green Crackers’ Order Fails Miserably as Delhi Skies Turn Toxic; Cut Russian Oil or Continue to Face Tariffs, Says Trump; Canada's Ex-Spy Chief Says India Never Gave Proof of Khalistani Activity

Rampant Bigotry is the New Normal in New India, Pakistan and Afghanistan Reach Ceasefire Agreement After Qatar Talks, Two Journalists Arrested by Rajasthan Police for ‘Defaming’ Dy CM

A newsletter from The Wire | Founded by Tanweer Alam, Sidharth Bhatia, Pratik Kanjilal, Seema Chishti, Sushant Singh, MK Venu, and Siddharth Varadarajan | Contributing writer: Kalrav Joshi, with additional inputs by Anirudh SK

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Snapshot of the day

October 21, 2025

Sidharth Bhatia

The assumption by both the Supreme Court and the Delhi government that using green crackers could keep pollution under check turned out to be damp squib, as the national capital region woke up to thick layers of smog and the AQI (Air Quality Index) metre hitting ‘severe’ and ‘very poor’ levels at various places on Tuesday, the morning after Diwali. Thirty-three monitoring stations out of 36 showed pollution levels in the ‘red zone’, indicating ‘very poor’ to ‘severe’ air quality across the national capital, while a majority of other stations remained in ‘very poor’ category where readings remained between 300 and 400. The visuals indeed capture a thick blanket of smog covering the city that led to very poor visibility on several arterial roads, with the overall AQI of the city stood at 359 at 10 am in the morning, while according to the CPCB, Delhi recorded 345 AQI on the afternoon of Diwali.

At several places, residents of Delhi complained about breathing difficulties. Last year, a similar situation around Diwali saw the number of lung disorder patients going up multiple times, with children under 10 years the worst affected. The 2025 data is still awaited but is likely to be more or less the same. The toxic smoke over the national capital drew criticism from unusual quarters too. Former CEO of Niti Aayog and ex G20 Sherpa, Amitabh Kant, hit out at the SC and said that the apex court chose the right to burn crackers over the right to live.

Claiming for the third time in less than a week that India will stop buying Russian oil, United States President Donald Trump over the weekend threatened that New Delhi would have to keep paying “massive tariffs” if it does not fall in line. He also repeated his claim that he precipitated the end to the India-Pakistan military conflict in May, saying he used the threat of a 200% levy on either side to get them to stop the fighting. Asked about the Indian government’s denial of knowledge about a phone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and himself on Thursday – when the president had claimed that Modi assured him India would stop buying Russian oil – Trump told reporters en route to Washington from Florida: “Well, then they’re just going to keep paying a lot of tariffs. If they said that, but I don’t believe they said that.” He was further asked why India would “say that they’re not going to do that”, to which he replied: “I don’t know. But if they wanna say that, then they’ll just continue to pay massive tariffs. And they don’t wanna do that.”

Over the phone call saga, it is evident from Trump that he was referring to US Ambassador to India, Sergio Gor’s meeting with Modi when he mentioned that Modi has promised to stop buying Russian crude, and that he doesn’t want to politically damage Modi. KP Nayar sets the record straight in his piece:

“He (Gor) reported to me that…,” Trump stopped himself from completing the sentence in the White House Oval Office on October 15 about the meeting with Modi. A few minutes later, Trump unilaterally announced an end to India’s oil purchases from Russia. Before the bombshell announcement, Trump asked Gor’s permission to say so as a “breaking story.” Gor was present in the Oval Office during the announcement. To put the record straight, Trump never said that he and Modi had a phone conversation where the assurance was conveyed to the President. Modi “assured me today (October 15) that they will not be buying oil from Russia,” was what Trump said. It is clear from the full video of Trump’s press conference that it was Gor who, rightly or wrongly, conveyed Modi’s thoughts on this subject to the President. So, the entire brouhaha in India about a Modi-Trump phone call that did not take place is misplaced and based on the wrong premise.

Modi was ill-served by his advisers, who did not create a buffer between the Prime Minister and the incoming US Ambassador. They should have ring-fenced Modi against the possibility that with an unconventional occupant in the White House, exposing him to Gor could have unforeseeable consequences. The Prime Minister should be the last resort in such circumstances, not the first stop for an envoy-designate who has no clue of the mores and nuances in the conduct of diplomacy in India.”

Continuing his party’s criticism of the government over Trump’s remarks, Congress MP and communications general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Tuesday that the president “has clearly brushed aside the MEA’s attempts at denial”. “The matter of India’s imports of oil from Russia has been raised by President Trump now thrice in the past five days. And no doubt he will keep increasing this tally as he prepares to meet [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin in Budapest later in the week,” Ramesh said on X. He added: “President Trump says he has spoken to his good friend Mr. Modi and India has promised to stop these imports. The MEA says that it is unaware of such conversations(!) but President Trump has clearly brushed aside the MEA’s attempts at denial.”

PM Modi is heading into a crucial diplomatic phase as he