(1) Bihar records improved turnout in phase one polls
For the first phase of Bihar’s two-phase Assembly elections, over 64% turnout was recorded. This was the highest turnout in several constituencies since 2010 for an Assembly election.
Moreover, in phase one, no constituency recorded a decrease in turnout, unlike previous elections in 2020 and 2015, where a negative growth was recorded in 18 constituencies in 2015 and 50 in 2020. Overall, the average increase in turnout (percentage points) was the highest this election. On average (averaging phase one constituencies), turnout increased by over 8 percentage points. compared to the 2020 turnout.
The exact impact of this higher turnout on winning margins or vote shares depends on which sections of the voter base turned up more this year, and who their loyalty lies with. While higher voter turnout may or may not indicate a stronger anti-incumbency sentiment among the voters, both the NDA and the MGB alliances have spun it in their favour.
(2) Delhi’s air quality slips into ‘severe’ category again, on Sunday
Several parts of Delhi registered alarming pollution levels with AQI readings crossing the 400-mark on Sunday (November 9, 2025). As per CPCB data, Anand Vihar recorded an AQI of 412, Alipur reported 415, and Bawana registered the highest level at 436. Chandni Chowk recorded an AQI of 409, while RK Puram and Patparganj logged 422 and 425, respectively. Sonia Vihar also recorded a ‘severe’ AQI of 415, indicating hazardous air conditions across the city.
The average AQI as per the CPCB’s daily bulletin was recorded at 370 for November 9.
On Friday (November 7) and Saturday (November 8), the air quality in the national capital remained in the ‘very poor’ category. Since Deepavali, the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) has been reeling under the ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ categories in several areas, even as Stage 2 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) remains in effect.
The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has already announced the doubling of parking fees across the national capital after the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) Stage II was invoked due to deteriorating air quality.
Over a hundred people took part in a protest against the deteriorating air quality for nearly two hours on Sunday. Around 55 protesters, including 15 women, were taken away in police buses.
(3) ₹3,000 crores stolen in total due to cybercrimes
More than ₹3,000 crores have been scammed by fraudsters from victims, the Supreme Court said last Monday (November 3, 2025). The Court was referring to a confidential report submitted by the Union Government. These scams follow a general modus operandi involving pressure tactics and deception to trick victims, usually the elderly, into paying huge amounts of money under threat of arrest by fake government officials. Cross-border links have been found in these scams.
The National Cybercrime Reporting Portal is one of the ways victims can report cybercrimes. Between 2020 and February 2025, the NCRP received complaints of over 38 lakh incidents involving over ₹36 lakh.
While Uttar Pradesh reported the most number of cybercrimes, Maharashtra reported the largest amount of money involved, followed by Karnataka.
Cybercrimes have a low conviction rate of 27.6% as per the National Crime Records Bureau 2023 report. Pendency rate stood at 92.6% (including cases carried over to 2023 from previous years). Chargesheeting rate was 33.9% for cybercrimes.
(4) Democrat Zohran Mamdani creates history as New York’s first Muslim, South Asian Mayor
Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday (November 4, 2025) made history by becoming New York City’s first Muslim mayor-elect, and its youngest since 1917, topping off a stunning grassroots campaign led by the message of affordability and upending a political class dominated by wealthy donors.
In his victory speech before a jubilant crowd in Brooklyn, the 34-year-old former state assemblyman declared, “Tonight, New York has stepped from the old into the new.” Quoting from Jawaharlal Nehru’s ‘Tryst with Destiny’ speech, Mr. Mamdani said, “Standing before you, I remember the words of Jawaharlal Nehru. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.”
He defeated both a Republican challenger Curtis Sliwa and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who was backed by a formidable coalition of billionaires who spent millions in an effort to block his rise.
(5) Earthquake in Afghanistan kills at least 20
On November 3, an earthquake of magnitude 6.3 struck northern Afghanistan, killing at least 20 people and injuring 945 others. The earthquake comes after a magnitude-6 earthquake in August. Six provinces in northern Afghanistan reported injuries and deaths, according to WHO assessment report.
Afghanistan’s conflict-ridden past, involving armed conflict, political instability and economic collapse, have weakened governance, public service delivery and infrastructural resilience, according to a GRADE report from World Bank. Moreover, construction using informal traditional materials like mud, wood and stone, steep and unstable terrain, inconsistent enforcement of building codes have all added to the country’s vulnerability to earthquakes, the report says.
Afghanistan’s position between the Eurasian and Indian plates also makes the region prone to earthquakes.
In terms of scale of severity, the latest earthquake is not the more severe ones the country has faced. Earthquakes in 1998, 2002, 2015, 2022, 2023 and the August earthquake this year killed more people.
Published – November 11, 2025 07:54 pm IST