Delhi-NCR imposes GRAP IV restrictions as air quality dips due to rising pollution levels, know what’s closed
The Commission for Air Quality Management sub-committee has decided to take drastic measures to combat Delhi’s severe air pollution. With immediate effect, they’re implementing all actions under Stage-III and Stage-IV.
User’s Manual: Why some Trump nominees could be confirmed with a voice vote – and why some could not
The Senate will likely have a few Cabinet nominees who are relatively non-controversial. In the interest of time, senators could agree to expedite the process and confirm an individual nominee or several nominees by voice vote or unanimous consent. As long as there are no objections among all 100 (currently 99) senators. This speeds things up in the Senate, where floor time is at a premium. However, there’s a good reason why some Democrats may oppose a streamlined process for this. It’s not because they’re trying to clog up the Senate plumbing. Democrats may demand a roll call vote on nominees they support in order to show that they voted in a bipartisan fashion to confirm some of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees. Democrats are likely to reject the nomination of Pete Hegseth to be Defense secretary. However, other relatively easy to confirm nominees like Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., picked to serve as secretary of state, or Sean Duffy for Transportation secretary, could require roll call votes. As a result, Democrats can then argue that they voted in favor of “X” number of Mr. Trump’s nominees – and argue they operated in a bipartisan fashion.
Biden admin plows ahead with 11th hour plan to effectively ban cigarettes
The Biden administration’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took a significant new step on Wednesday that would effectively ban cigarettes currently on the market in favor of those with lower levels of nicotine. “Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a proposed rule that, if finalized, would make cigarettes and certain other combusted tobacco products minimally or nonaddictive by limiting the level of nicotine in those products. If finalized, the United States would be the first country globally to take such a bold, life-saving action to prevent and reduce smoking-related disease and death,” the FDA said in a statement on Wednesday. “The FDA first announced its intent to propose such a rule in 2018, and today’s announcement is an important next step in the rulemaking processExternal Link Disclaimer. The agency intends to seek input on the proposal, including through public comment and the FDA’s Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee,” it added. The “Tobacco Product Standard for Nicotine Level of Certain Tobacco Products” cleared a regulatory hurdle earlier this month. The rule is not yet published or finalized. BIDEN ADMIN WORKING TO EFFECTIVELY BAN CIGARETTES IN 11TH HOUR PROPOSAL A ‘GIFT’ TO CARTELS, EXPERT SAYS “Multiple administrations have acknowledged the immense opportunity that a proposal of this kind offers to address the burden of tobacco-related disease,” said FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf, M.D. “Today’s proposal envisions a future where it would be less likely for young people to use cigarettes and more individuals who currently smoke could quit or switch to less harmful products. This action, if finalized, could save many lives and dramatically reduce the burden of severe illness and disability, while also saving huge amounts of money. I hope we can all agree that significantly reducing the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the U.S. is an admirable goal we should all work toward.” The FDA’s press release states that “the proposed rule would not ban cigarettes or any other tobacco products,” and instead “cap the nicotine level at 0.7 milligrams per gram of tobacco in cigarettes and certain other combusted tobacco products, which is significantly lower than the average concentration in these products on the market today.” Fox News Digital reported earlier this month, when the rule cleared an FDA regulatory review, that if nicotine levels in cigarettes are lowered under federal regulation, experts say cartels running black market sales of cigarettes will likely benefit. “Biden’s ban is a gift with a bow and balloons to organized crime cartels with it, whether it’s cartels, Chinese organized crime, or Russian mafia. It’s going to keep America smoking, and it’s going to make the streets more violent,” Rich Marianos, former assistant director of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the current chair of the Tobacco Law Enforcement Network, told Fox News Digital earlier this month. Marianos said that criminal groups would likely quickly catch on to the proposal if it takes effect and subsequently amplify their tobacco operations – which he says will serve as an economic boon for the criminals. Americans who want to purchase cigarettes with higher levels of nicotine would then need to go through the illicit channels to obtain them, similar to buying “loosie” cigarettes on the streets of New York, putting average Americans at further criminal risk while also offering them cigarettes that are not regulated and originating from foreign nations. BIDEN ADMIN FACING CONGRESSIONAL PROBE OVER PROPOSED BAN ON MENTHOL CIGARETTES The Biden administration pushing the cigarette rule at the 11th hour of his administration comes after its previous effort to ban menthol cigarettes in what was described as a “critical” piece of President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot initiative. The administration announced last year, however, it was abruptly delaying such regulations as the public decried the move. A handful of groups argued that banning menthol unfairly targeted minority communities, while others argued the ban would open the floodgates to illicit menthol sales. “This rule has garnered historic attention and the public comment period has yielded an immense amount of feedback, including from various elements of the civil rights and criminal justice movement,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said at the time. “It’s clear that there are still more conversations to have, and that will take significantly more time.” POPULAR ITALIAN CITY OFFICIALLY BANS CIGARETTE SMOKING OUTDOORS The state of Massachusetts banned menthol cigarettes and flavored tobacco in 2020, with local police since uncovering illegal menthol cigarette sales in the state, including just this month when a man was busted with 700 packs of unstamped menthol cigarettes, as well as 38 bags of crack cocaine, the Boston Herald reported. “Mass. banned menthols and dangerous criminals stepped right in to create an illegal supply chain and make millions in the underground market,” Marianos’ Tobacco Law Enforcement Network posted to X this week about the bust. Former President Barack Obama signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act in 2009, which granted the FDA the power to regulate tobacco products. In the years since, the agency has worked to lower nicotine levels, including in July 2017 under the Trump administration, when then-FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced it would seek to require tobacco companies to drastically cut nicotine in cigarettes in an effort to help adult smokers quit. BIDEN ADMIN ABRUPTLY DELAYS PLAN TO BAN MENTHOL CIGARETTES AMID WIDESPREAD OPPOSITION The FDA announced in 2022 plans for the proposed rule that would lower levels of nicotine so they are less addictive or non-addictive. “Lowering nicotine levels to minimally addictive or non-addictive levels would decrease the likelihood that future generations of young people become addicted to cigarettes and help more currently addicted smokers to quit,” FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said at the time.
Delhi Assembly elections 2025: BJP releases star campaigner list, it includes…
Ahead of the Delhi assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday released a list of star campaigners who will be participating in the poll campaign.
House GOP resolution would overturn Biden’s gas water heater ban
EXCLUSIVE: A new, GOP-introduced congressional resolution could block President Biden’s recent ban on natural gas water heaters, Fox News Digital has learned. In the waning days of the Biden administration, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced a new rule banning non-condensing, natural gas-fired water heaters by 2029 in an effort to reduce carbon emissions. Republicans in Congress, however, are seeking to intervene. On Wednesday, Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Ala., introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA), which allows Congress to overturn rules enacted by federal agencies, to circumvent the administration’s appliance crackdown, shared first with Fox News Digital. “It’s a radical ban on water heaters. Another example of government overreach under the Biden administration on their way out the door. They care nothing about consumers,” Palmer told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. NEW BIDEN WATER HEATER BAN WILL DRIVE UP ENERGY PRICES FOR POOR, SENIORS: EXPERT Proponents of Biden’s regulation, such as the Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP), suggest it will eliminate 32 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions from water heaters sold over 30 years. But Palmer said it will have serious economic implications on working Americans, given the amount a household would have to pay out of pocket for a new water heater that complies with the rule. The Alabama congressman expressed confidence that the CRA is going to pass in the House, as several other Republican lawmakers have signed on as sponsors. Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., one of the cosponsors of the CRA, told Fox that “Joe Biden’s last-ditch effort to ban gas water heaters in his final days in office is nothing short of another green energy scam.” “This latest assault on American consumers isn’t about saving the planet; it’s about control, higher costs, and forcing an unsustainable, radical agenda on every household,” Burlison said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital. “It’s time we stand up against this tyranny of regulations and protect the freedoms and choices of the American people.” NEW. NYC ‘CHAR BROIL’ RULE WOULD FORCE RESTAURANTS TO CUT EMISSIONS BY 75% Other Republican co-sponsors include Reps. Julia Letlow of Louisiana, Mike Collins of Georgia, Randy Weber of Texas, Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma, Barry Moore of Alabama, Andy Ogles of Tennessee, Claudia Tenney of New York, Russ Fulcher of Idaho, Jack Bergman of Michigan, Dan Crenshaw of Texas, Michelle Fischbach of Minnesota, Jeff Hurd of Colorado, and Jim Baird of Indiana. The National Propane Gas Association also supports overturning the ban, telling Fox that it “threatens to eliminate the non-condensing instantaneous gas water heaters market.” “This rule would compel families to replace their existing equipment with unnecessary expensive retrofits, imposing an undue financial burden for a marginal level of energy savings and questionable economic benefits,” Steve Kaminski, President and CEO of the National Propane Gas Association told Fox News Digital. Biden has introduced regulations on several different household appliances during his term, such as washing machines, gas stoves, and ceiling fans. But the Republican-controlled congress is reportedly going to be “very aggressive in rolling back” some of the regulations that evolved from Biden’s climate agenda, Palmer said.
John Ratcliffe says US faces ‘most challenging security environment’ ever in confirmation hearing
CIA nominee John Ratcliffe is telling senators on Wednesday about how he’ll reshape the intelligence community in what he calls “the most challenging national security environment in our nation’s history.” Ratcliffe, who served as director of national intelligence during President-elect Trump’s first term, is testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee. The committee will then vote on his nomination before a full Senate vote to confirm him as director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Ratcliffe ticked off the nation’s biggest threats – China, the border, the Russia-Ukraine war and risk of nuclear fallout, Iran, North Korea and “increasing coordination among America’s rivals.” At a time when intelligence and law enforcement agencies have found themselves front and center in the political realm, a source familiar with Ratcliffe told Fox News Digital he’s focused on “depoliticizing” the agency, and “eliminating any distractions” to its core mission of obtaining intelligence. TOP 5 MOMENTS FROM PETE HEGSETH’S SENATE CONFIRMATION HEARING Ratcliffe is also expected to push for more aggressive spying operations, particularly on Beijing, where CCP operatives have been spying on the U.S. for years. “With Trump and Ratcliffe, the days of China pillaging American companies, infecting American infrastructure, and otherwise targeting and abusing the American people are over. The jackals can only scavenge in the lion’s domain for so long before they get their heads ripped off,” the source said. Ratcliffe signaled plans in his opening statement to increase the agency’s capacity to obtain human intelligence “in every corner of the globe, no matter how dark or difficult.” “We will produce insightful, objective, all-source analysis, never allowing political or personal biases to cloud our judgment or infect our product,” Ratcliffe will say in his opening statement. “We will conduct covert action at the direction of the president, going places no one else can go and doing things no one else can do. To the brave CIA officers listening around the world, if all of this sounds like what you signed up for, then buckle up and get ready to make a difference. If it doesn’t, then it’s time to find a new line of work.” RUBIO TO PITCH FOREIGN POLICY CREDENTIALS TO SENATE AS HE VIES TO BECOME AMERICA’S TOP DIPLOMAT Ratcliffe said he would try to recruit agents that could be described as “a Ph.D. who could win a bar fight,” but promised to fully investigate anomalous health incidents like Havana Syndrome. Ratcliffe also hopes to increase coordination with the CIA and the private sector – potentially through rotations that allow CIA agents to do a stint in the private sector or allowing private employees at AI and tech companies to join the CIA in mid-career appointments, according to the source. Ratcliffe’s hearing is expected to have a more policy-heavy focus than some of Trump’s more controversial nominees like Pete Hegseth, picked to lead the Defense Department. Hegseth faced senators on the Armed Services Committee on Tuesday where he was questioned on his drinking, sexual assault allegations and reports of financial mismanagement. Trump’s choice to oversee all intelligence agencies, Tulsi Gabbard, has also been met with skepticism by some in the Senate over her past opposition to U.S. surveillance laws and seeming closeness to U.S. adversaries, in particular a meeting she took with former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. She’s since walked back her opposition to a surveillance program known as Section 702. Gabbard’s hearing is not yet on the books, neither is Trump’s nominee to lead the FBI, Kash Patel. Trump’s national security nominees are in lockstep on at least one thing – the threat of China – and the need to update technologies and defenses to thwart the CCP’s chronic attacks on U.S. infrastructure. “We have to stop trying to just play better and better defense,” Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser pick, recently told FOX Business. “We need to start going on offense.”
Former Trump HHS official tapped to be RFK Jr’s chief of staff: report
President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team tapped a former senior health official from Trump’s first administration and an ally to top Trump loyalist, Harmeet Dhillon, to be Health and Human Services Secretary-nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s chief of staff, a new report indicated Monday. Heather Flick, a lawyer who previously served in multiple top roles at the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department during the first Trump administration, has been working closely with Kennedy over the last few weeks as an informal chief of staff, according to Politico. The outlet added Monday that she had been tapped by Trump’s transition team to fill the role permanently, according to four sources familiar. The announcement has yet to be made public. Meanwhile, the law firm that currently employs Flick, as well as its founder, congratulated her on the new position this week on their social media accounts. Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump-Vance transition team for confirmation but did not hear back in time for publication. RFK JR. TO MEET WITH SLEW OF DEMS INCLUDING ELIZABETH WARREN, BERNIE SANDERS Flick’s selection to work in Trump’s second administration is just the latest pick among a list of Trump loyalists who have been given jobs in the administration during his second term. When Flick first joined the Trump administration, she was HHS’ acting general counsel before becoming its acting secretary for administration and then eventually a senior adviser to then-HHS Secretary Alex Azar. Before joining HHS the first time, Flick was an attorney at Dhillon Law Group, a firm founded by Dhillon, who Trump has tapped this time around to be his assistant attorney general. RFK JR. ‘WRONG’ ABOUT VACCINATIONS, GOP SENATOR SAYS Dhillon has represented clients in big conservative civil rights cases and defended Trump supporters in court. During the pandemic, she challenged Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home orders, and in 2020, she served as the co-chairwoman of Lawyers For Trump, a conservative group of lawyers supporting Trump throughout the 2020 election. Most recently, Dhillon helped lead Trump’s election integrity team in Arizona during the 2024 election. “Heather Flick is outstanding and will most definitely help soon to be Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,” former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn said in a post on X after news of Flick’s new role. Flick’s appointment comes amid rumblings from some of Kennedy’s allies that he could advance an agenda that is not completely in line with the Trump world, but rather more centered around Kennedy’s priorities, Politico reported. The potential HHS secretary has been taking meetings with lawmakers on Capitol Hill recently in an attempt to shore up support. Democrats and Republicans have both been very critical of the HHS secretary-nominee’s opinions about vaccines, while Republicans have also been probing Kennedy during meetings about his past pro-choice views on abortion. PHYSICIAN GOVERNOR URGES CAPITOL HILL TO BLOCK RFK JR.’S CONFIRMATION: ‘OUR CHILDREN’S LIVES DEPEND ON IT’ Critics of Kennedy have questioned his ability to handle major crises like the COVID-19 pandemic and posited that Kennedy pushes conspiracy theories about things like vaccines and antidepressants. Meanwhile, business leaders have suggested there is reason to worry as well, on account of past claims Kennedy has made about the dangers of food additives, pesticides and vaccines. Flick will be tasked with helping Kennedy clean up some of those criticisms. One former Food and Drug Administration Official, granted anonymity to speak openly, told Politico that depending upon how involved HHS Secretaries are in the agency’s work, their chief of staff can end up being “very, very involved.” “On really high-profile things, if she’s an effective chief of staff, she could be super involved,” the former official added. “I certainly saw that happen across multiple administrations.”
President Biden set to deliver farewell speech to the nation
President Biden is set to deliver his farewell address to the nation Wednesday evening as he closes out four years in the White House. Biden will deliver the address at 8 p.m. ET from the Oval Office, having earlier Wednesday published a farewell letter to the country. “Four years ago, we stood in a winter of peril and a winter of possibilities. We were in the grip of the worst pandemic in a century, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War,” Biden wrote. “But we came together as Americans, and we braved through it. We emerged stronger, more prosperous, and more secure.” PRESIDENT BIDEN RELEASES FAREWELL LETTER, SAYS IT’S BEEN ‘PRIVILEGE OF MY LIFE TO SERVE THIS NATION’ Biden will officially exit the Oval Office on Jan. 20, when President-elect Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president around noon that day. BIDEN SAYS HE’S BEEN CARRYING OUT ‘MOST AGGRESSIVE CLIMATE AGENDA’ IN HISTORY AS HE DESIGNATES CALIFORNIA MONUMENTS Biden has spent more than 50 years in public office, making his mark on the national map in 1972, President Richard Nixon’s landslide re-election year, when he beat a Republican incumbent in a long-shot Senate race in Delaware at the age of 29. “I ran for president because I believed that the soul of America was at stake. The very nature of who we are was at stake. And, that’s still the case,” he added in his farewell letter. BIDEN STILL REGRETS DROPPING OUT OF 2024 PRESIDENTIAL RACE, BELIEVES HE COULD HAVE BEATEN TRUMP: REPORT “America is an idea stronger than any army and larger than any ocean. It’s the most powerful idea in the history of the world. That idea is that we are all created equal, endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We’ve never fully lived up to this sacred idea, but we’ve never walked away from it either. And I do not believe the American people will walk away from it now.” Biden served 36 years in the U.S. Senate, one of the longest Senate careers in the chamber’s history, before joining former President Barack Obama’s ticket during the 2008 election and serving as vice president for eight years. DONALD TRUMP ELECTED AS THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES The 46th president defeated Trump during the 2020 election, and was set to square up against him again last year, but abruptly dropped out of the presidential race as concerns surrounding his mental acuity mounted. Vice President Kamala Harris was soon quickly endorsed by Biden and other high-profile Democrats to take up the mantle as the party’s presidential nominee, but lost the election as Trump swept all seven battleground states. Biden has been an outspoken and repeated critic of Trump’s, calling him a “genuine threat to this nation,” but vowed to ensure a peaceful transfer of power and that “of course” he will attend Trump’s inauguration. Ahead of his final address to America, Biden also delivered a foreign policy-focused farewell address at the State Department on Monday. “The United States is winning the worldwide competition compared to four years ago,” Biden said in his final foreign policy speech Monday. “America is stronger. Our alliances are stronger, our adversaries and competitors are weaker,” he added.
Majority say Biden will be remembered poorly as president says farewell to the nation: poll
More than half of Americans say that President Biden will be remembered as a below-average or one of the worst presidents in the nation’s history, according to a new national poll. Just over a third of adults nationwide questioned in a Marist poll released on Wednesday said Biden will be remembered as one of the worst presidents in American history, with another 19% saying he will be considered a below-average president. Twenty-eight percent of participants offered that Biden’s legacy will be considered average, with 19% saying he would be regarded as an above average or one of the best presidents in the nation’s history. The poll was released just hours before the president delivers his farewell address to the nation, with just days left before Biden’s term ends and he is succeeded by President-elect Trump in the White House. WILL HISTORY BE KIND OR UNKIND TO PRESIDENT BIDEN? In his Oval Office speech, Biden will likely aim to cement his legacy as a president who pushed to stabilize politics at home while bolstering America’s leadership abroad, and as a leader who steered the nation out of the COVID-19 pandemic and made historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy. Biden, in a letter to Americans released early Wednesday morning, emphasized that when he took office four years ago “we were in the grip of the worst pandemic in a century, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War.” And he touted that “today, we have the strongest economy in the world and have created a record 16.6 million new jobs. Wages are up. Inflation continues to come down. The racial wealth gap is the lowest it’s been in 20 years.” But the Marist poll is the second straight national survey to indicate history will likely not view Biden kindly. According to a USA Today/Suffolk University survey released on Tuesday, 44% of voters nationwide said history will assess Biden as a failed president, with another 27% saying he will be judged as a fair president. HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING RESULTS Twenty-one percent of those questioned said history will view Biden as a good president, with only 5% saying he will be seen as a great president. The president’s single term in the White House ends next Monday, Jan. 20, as Trump is inaugurated as Biden’s successor. However, according to the USA Today/Suffolk University poll, 44% also said that Trump will be seen by history as a failed president. One in five said that Trump would be viewed as a great president, with 19% saying good and 27% saying he would be judged a fair president. Trump ended his first term in office with approval ratings in negative territory, including 47% approval in Fox News polling from four years ago. In Marist polling four years ago, as Trump finished his first term, 47% thought he would be remembered as one of the nation’s worst presidents. A MAJORITY OF AMERICANS SAY THIS IS HOW THEY’LL VIEW BIDEN’S PRESIDENCY Biden stands at 42% approval and 50% disapproval in Marist’s new survey, as the president departs the White House. He stood at 43%-54% approval/disapproval in the USA Today/Suffolk University poll. Biden’s approval rating hovered in the low to mid 50s during his first six months in the White House. However, the president’s numbers started sagging in August 2021 in the wake of Biden’s much-criticized handling of the turbulent U.S. exit from Afghanistan, and following a surge in COVID-19 cases that summer that was mainly among unvaccinated people. The plunge in the president’s approval rating was also fueled by soaring inflation – which started spiking in the summer of 2021 and remains to date a major pocketbook concern with Americans – and the surge of migrants trying to cross into the U.S. along the southern border. Biden’s approval ratings slipped underwater in the autumn of 2021 and never reemerged into positive territory. As Trump gets ready to once again assume the presidency, the Marist poll indicates opinions of him remain low, with 44% of Americans viewing him favorably and 49% holding an unfavorable opinion of the incoming president. However, opinions about Trump’s first term have risen in numerous polls conducted since his convincing victory in November’s presidential election over Vice President Kamala Harris. The vice president succeeded Biden in July as the Democrats’ 2024 standard-bearer after the president dropped out of the race following a disastrous debate performance against Trump. The poll also indicates that Americans have high expectations for Trump when it comes to the economy. “While many Americans feel the current economy is not working well for them, residents nationally have grown more optimistic about the future of their own finances,” the poll’s release highlights. The survey also indicates Americans are divided about Trump’s proposed mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. According to the poll, more than six in 10 disapprove of Trump’s pledge to pardon his supporters who were convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. The Marist poll was conducted Jan. 7-9, with 1,387 adults nationwide questioned. The survey’s overall sampling error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.
‘Reflects entire tradition of spirituality and knowledge’: PM Modi inaugurates ISKCON temple in Mumbai
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new International Society for Krishna Consciousness’ (ISKCON) temple at Khargar area of Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra on Wednesday.