Officials attributed the dip in pollution level to the change in wind direction from north-westerly to south-easterly. (Express photo by Gajendra Yadav)Delhi News Updates, November 6: All diesel cars will be allowed back on Delhi roads, trucks will be allowed to enter and goods vehicles will be allowed to run inside the city as AQI has improved and the most stringent restrictions have been lifted.
On Sunday morning, Delhi’s air quality had improved further, with the AQI at 345 at 11 am, down from the daily average of 381 on Saturday. The AQI will get better in the coming two days, but will remain in the ‘very poor’ category, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR). Air quality index (AQI) between 301 and 400 is considered to be ‘very poor’.
Meanwhile, on Saturday evening, The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday conducted searches at four places, including the house of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s personal assistant (PA) in connection with a money laundering probe it had launched on the govt’s liquor policy. Sources at the ED said that no arrests have been made so far.
Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai to take a call on reopening schools and orders to work from home in a meeting at the Delhi secretariat on Monday afternoon.
This week, due to worsening air quality, the Delhi government had ordered closure of schools and work from home for government employees.
This is a story about how civic action, political will and fighting a common enemy, won a public space for the people of Delhi. Not so long ago, the DDA District Park and forest land adjoining the Basant Lok Market lay in decrepit wilderness, from open nallahs and a dilapidated Tughlak-era monument to becoming a crime hotspot with murder and drug-peddling cases making headlines. Today, the 43 acres have been transformed to become a public park that has close to 2,000 users a day. Visitors, young and old, have made the space their own. If in a corner one sees children from the nearby slum playing cricket, there are tik-tok-ers making videos, senior citizens out for a stroll, friends catching up and employees from nearby shops taking a work break.
But this renewal did not happen in a day. Telling this story is a book, “The Garden of Pride: Project Vasant Udyaan”, published by Citizen Action for Water Sustainability, which was released at the India International Centre on November 1.
It all began in 2015-16, when a group of concerned residents of Munirka Enclave stepped out of their comfort zone to reclaim their neighbourhood. The park, which was riddled with multiple issues, from encroachment and security concerns to lack of toilets for the slum cluster nearby and raw sewage, which made the air toxic, was a space waiting to be reclaimed. Shiny Varghese reports
In December last year, a month when the national capital recorded seven ‘severe’ air quality days, PM 2.5 levels at a distance of 100 metres from the smog tower at Delhi’s Anand Vihar fell by around 13 per cent.
On November 3, when the air quality was in the ‘severe’ category, the PM 2.5 level peaked at 650 µg/m3 at 4 am at Anand Vihar, according to data from the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC). A 13 per cent reduction due to the smog tower — at 100 metres from the tower like in December last year — would mean that the PM 2.5 level fell to 565 µg/m3, which would still put the air quality in the severe category and at a little over nine times the 24-hour standard of 60 µg/m3 for PM 2.5.
Data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), obtained by The Indian Express under a Right to Information request filed in October, shows that the reduction in PM 2.5 levels at a distance of 100 metres from the Anand Vihar smog tower ranged from 7 per cent in March to 17 per cent in April this year. At 150 metres from the tower, the reduction in PM 2.5 levels was 8 per cent in April, while the PM 10 level saw a reduction of 5 per cent at the same distance from the tower in May. Abhinaya Harigovind reports
The worsening air quality across Delhi-NCR is affecting children too, with doctors saying cases of asthma and respiratory issues among the young have doubled as compared to last month.
According to Dr Ajay Kumar, professor of the paediatric chest clinic at Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital, cases of asthma exacerbation have increased in the last two weeks. read more.
Two men snatched a woman's phone outside the NKS hospital in North Delhi on Friday evening.
The woman was talking to someone over the phone when the accused came on a scooter and snatched the phone.
The woman tried chasing them but they managed to escape. No arrests were made as yet.
Delhi’s air quality improved further on Sunday morning, with the AQI at 345 at 11 am, down from the daily average of 381 on Saturday. According to the SAFAR forecast, Delhi’s AQI will improve in the coming two days, but will remain in the ‘very poor’ category. Air quality index (AQI) between 301 and 400 is considered to be ‘very poor’.
Officials attributed the dip in pollution level to the change in wind direction from north-westerly to south-easterly. This means that the impact of farm fires in Punjab and Haryana is not reaching Delhi at the pace it did earlier. Read more.
After implementing a series of anti-pollution measures to control the plummeting air quality index (AQI) in Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party government is also considering bringing back the ‘odd-even’ vehicle rationing scheme. “We are also exploring the need for odd-even as well,” Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said Friday.
As reported by The Indian Express, among local sources, vehicles may have contributed the most to air pollution in Delhi over the week from October 21 to 26, according to an analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). It is in this context that the government’s emphasis on public transport to curb pollution gains significance. Read more.
With registrations for the mid-entry scheme for Delhi University admissions underway, several seats are still available for science courses and those such as Home Science and Journalism.
Candidates will find openings in science courses in several colleges. For instance, even a prominent North Campus college like Hansraj still has several seats vacant in its Botany, Electronics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, Geology, Zoology, and B.Sc. programme courses.
There are also several seats available in the B.Com. courses in many of the lesser-known colleges. For example, Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College has 9 unreserved seats, Bharati College has 10, Mata Sundri College for Women has 11 and Swami Shraddhanand College has 20. Read more.
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The air quality in the national capital was recorded in the "very poor" category on Sunday, while the minimum temperature settled at 17.5 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season's average.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board data, Delhi's overall Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 331 at 10.30 am.
An AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good”, 51 and 100 “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 “moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”, 301 and 400 “very poor”, and 401 and 500 “severe”.
The relative humidity at 8.30 am was 91 per cent, the India Meteorological Department said.
The weatherman has forecast partly cloudy skies for the day while the maximum temperature on Sunday is expected to hover around 31 degrees Celsius, it said.
On Saturday, the maximum temperature in the national capital settled at 30.6 degrees Celsius while the minimum temperature settled at 17.4 degrees Celsius, three notches below the season's average temperature. PTI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted Sunday two of the eight cheetahs brought from Namibia to the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh were released to a bigger enclosure for further adaptation after mandatory quarantine.
“Great news! Am told that after the mandatory quarantine, 2 cheetahs have been released to a bigger enclosure for further adaptation to the Kuno habitat. Others will be released soon. I’m also glad to know that all cheetahs are healthy, active and adjusting well,” Modi posted on Twitter along with a video. Read more.
The Delhi BJP will reach out to common people for suggestions on making the manifesto or Sankalp Patra for the MCD polls to be held next month. Satish Upadhyay, the convener of the BJP election manifesto committee, said the party has launched a website and released a WhatsApp number seeking suggestions from the public for upcoming corporation elections.
The WhatsApp number, 7827514514, has been issued by the party to seek suggestions from people. They can also give their suggestions through the website bjpdelhivision4mcd.com, Upadhyay said.
Along with this, the party will also ask for suggestions from the public by placing suggestion boxes at about 1000 places in different corners of the city and they will also be placed on the party’s campaign vehicles, said Upadhyay. Read more.
Air quality continued to dip in Delhi-NCR. The Air Quality Index (AQI) is presently at 349 in Noida (UP) under the 'Very Poor' category, 304 in Gurugram (Haryana) -- 'Very Poor' category. Delhi's overall AQI alos in 'Very Poor' category at 339, reports ANI.
Delhi recorded 68 fresh COVID-19 cases on Saturday with a positivity rate of 1.37 per cent, and one more person died due to the viral disease, according to the data shared by the health department here.
With these new cases, Delhi's COVID-19 tally has risen to 20,06,511 while the death toll due to the infection rose to 26,512.
Delhi recorded 54 coronavirus cases on Friday with a positivity rate of 1.22 per cent, and two deaths.
The city recorded zero death and 65 COVID-19 cases on Thursday with a positivity rate of 1.29 per cent.
The national capital had recorded 58 Covid cases on Wednesday with a positivity rate of 1.03 per cent.
The city had reported 63 cases of the infection with a positivity rate of 1.18 per cent on Tuesday.
The fresh cases came out of the tests conducted the previous day.
The number of active cases stands at 298 while the number of patients in home isolation is 202. Of the 8,773 Covid beds in the city hospitals, only 49 are occupied. PTI
A Delhi court on Saturday framed charges against former AAP leader Tahir Hussain for attempt to murder and criminal conspiracy in a case related to the 2020 riots in northeast Delhi. The court was hearing a case on the basis of a statement by complainant Ajay Goswami, who suffered a bullet injury during the riots at Main Karawal Nagar Road on February 25, 2020.
"I find all accused persons liable to be tried for the offences punishable under sections 307 (attempt to murder), read with 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) of the Indian Penal Code," Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala said. Eight persons, including Hussain, have been charged. (PTI)
Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena has sent a proposal to the home ministry recommending that non-consensual sex with wife aged between 15 to 18 years will amount to rape and punishable under the Indian Penal Code, according to Delhi Police sources. It will also remove the discrepancy between the POCSO Act, which is applicable to offences against anyone up till 18 years and the prevailing provisions of the IPC, they said.
"Saxena has sent a proposal to the MHA recommending striking down of Exception 2 of Section 375 of Indian Penal Code (IPC), that provides if a girl child between 15 and 18 years is married, her husband can have non-consensual sexual intercourse with her, without being penalised under the IPC," the sources said. "If the recommendation is incorporated and the IPC amended, non-consensual sex with a wife between 15 to 18 years will amount to rape and will be punishable under IPC. (PTI)
A 58-year-old man sustained injuries after being beaten up by his former tenant over the removal of an expensive toilet seat he had installed while using the property, police said on Saturday. The incident took place on Friday afternoon. Police received information about a scuffle between a landlord and his ex-tenant at Chanakya Place, 30 Foota Road near a church, at 3.38 pm.
During the inquiry, the injured, identified as Ved Prakash, said he had rented his property to one Subhash Maggo for office purposes in 2021, who vacated the premises about one month ago, a senior police officer said. (PTI)
Nearly nine months after a portion of a sixth-floor apartment in a building collapsed all the way to the first floor at Gurgaon’s Chintels Paradiso society in Sector 109 and killed two women, the Gurgaon deputy commissioner (DC) on Saturday said that tower D, which has over 50 flats, will be demolished as per recommendations of a report of experts from IIT Delhi, which was probing the collapse. The incident had prompted the authorities to conduct a structural audit of several high-rise buildings in the city.
Addressing the media, Gurgaon DC Nishant Kumar Yadav said the IIT Delhi report had found that tower D, where the collapse started, had “structural deficiencies” due to which the slab of flat D-603 collapsed. Read more
The Delhi High Court has dismissed a plea seeking summoning of Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi, his father Suresh Oberoi and their Delhi-based firm Yashi Multimedia Pvt Ltd for allegedly cheating an entertainment company in 2003.
Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav said he was disallowing the relief not only on the ground that the petitioner has resorted to civil remedies but also because the court found that perusal of the entire complaint would not prima facie attract commission of the offence of cheating under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Read more
Alleged conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar Saturday claimed in a press release that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had taken Rs 50 crore from him and offered him a Rajya Sabha seat. He also alleged that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had asked him to bring 20-30 people on board to contribute Rs 500 crore to the party in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in 2016. Chandrasekhar is lodged in Tihar jail at present, and he has also been accused there of bribing jail officials to get preferential treatment.
Chandrasekhar had earlier written a letter to Delhi Lieutenant General (L-G) VK Saxena and alleged that Delhi Home Minister Satyendar Jain, who is in jail in relation to a case of alleged money laundering, had asked him for ‘protection money’ while he was in jail. Read more
The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday conducted searches at four places, including the house of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s personal assistant (PA) in connection with a money laundering probe it had launched on the government’s liquor policy.