Delhi News Highlights: Schools switch to online mode as GRAP III kicks in tomorrow

Delhi witnessed cold, breezy winds across the city on Thursday evening, accompanied by a thick layer of fog that lowered visibility and added a chill to the air, as the capital recorded its second-lowest daytime temperature of the season so far at 29.4 degrees Celsius.

The maximum temperature was recorded a notch above normal, with the mercury touching 27.8 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, the lowest maximum temperature of this winter season so far, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Visibility was recorded at 200 metres at both Safdarjung and Palam at 5:30 am and 8:30 am respectively.

The weather office has forecast a largely clear sky for Friday, with surface winds expected to predominantly blow from the northwest at a speed of fewer than 8 kilometres per hour in the morning.

Smog or moderate to dense fog is expected at a few places in the morning. The wind speed will increase thereafter, reaching up to 12 kmph from the northwest in the afternoon. (PTI)

With Delhi’s air quality remaining in the ‘severe’ category for the second consecutive day on Thursday, all classes for students up to Class V for all schools in Delhi-NCR have been switched to online mode, until further directions by the Delhi government.

Newly elected Delhi Mayor Mahesh Kumar Khichi thanked all councillors for their support.“I would like to thank all councillors for supporting me, I would like to thank our former CM, all party leadership for making me the mayor of Delhi.Together, we will work hard to drive Delhi's development," he said.

Khichi, an AAP councillor from Karol Bagh's Dev Nagar ward, won against BJP's Kishan Lal from Shakurpur ward.

With Delhi’s air quality remaining in the ‘severe’ category for the second consecutive day on Thursday, all classes for students up to Class V for all schools in Delhi-NCR are expected to switch to online mode.

The action is part of measures to be undertaken as part of the invocation of GRAP stage III by the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) and will come into effect starting 8 am on Friday. Delhi’s 24-hour average air quality on Thursday recorded at 4 pm was 424 AQI, in the ‘severe’ category. Read More

Amid the rising air pollution in Delhi, the Supreme Court said Thursday it would take up for hearing on November 18 a plea to enforce urgent measures to remedy the situation.

Senior advocate Aparajita Singh, who is the amicus curiae in air pollution-related matters, informed a bench of Justices A S Oka and A G Masih that the Delhi Government had not taken any preemptive action.

“They have not done anything. We should not become the most polluted city in the world,” Singh said while urging the bench to hear the matter urgently. Read More

According to Flightradar24, Delhi airport saw 151 flight delays and one cancellation in arrivals on Thursday. The airport saw 282 flights delayed in departures, with an average delay of 45 minutes per flight.

Authorities in Delhi are mulling shutting schools up to Class 5 as toxic smog engulfed the national capital for the second consecutive day on Thursday morning.

Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) was 423, in the ‘severe’ range, at 11 am Thursday.

However, the Delhi Education Department is yet to receive orders to shut schools for primary school students. A senior official in the education department said, “After the CAQM invokes GRAP, the Environment Ministry will notify the education department officials, and accordingly a decision will be implemented. So far, we have not received any orders.”

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, recently back in Delhi from Kerala's Wayanad after contesting the Lok Sabha bypoll, compared Delhi's air to a "gas chamber," urging a united approach to tackle the city’s worsening pollution. She noted the contrast between Wayanad's low AQI of 35 and Delhi's heavy smog, which is especially harmful to children, elders, and those with respiratory issues. (PTI)

Delhi’s air quality remained alarming with an average AQI of 428 in the ‘severe’ category as of 9am on Thursday. Anand Vihar and Patparganj experienced the worst pollution levels, with AQIs of 473 and 472, respectively. Additionally, moderate fog created challenging visibility conditions, with a recorded 300-meter visibility range at Indira Gandhi International Airport by 7:30 a.m.

Rouse Avenue court, on Thursday, denied taking cognizance of the supplementary chargesheet filed by ED against AAP leader Amanatullah Khan in the Delhi Waqf Board money laundering case.

The court also ordered Khan's release from judicial custody.

The Court said there was sufficient evidence against Khan to proceed against him, however, there is no sanction to prosecute him.

Nineteen police officials have been shunted out and sent to district lines after they failed to curb crime in their area. The order was issued on Wednesday, after the approved of DCP Shahdara.

A senior police official said, “It is an outcome of the non-performance of the officers despite giving them ample time.”

The list includes 2 ASI, 14 Head Constables and 3 Constables from Anand Vihar, Jagat Puri, Mansarovar Park, Shahdara, Seemapuri, and Vivek Vihar police stations.

The Delhi Police launched another round of Operation 'Kawach' on Wednesday, detaining around 1,000 people for allegedly being involved in activities such as possessing illegal firearms, theft, banned drugs, and illegal liquor across the city, an official said.

(With PTI inputs)

Delhi University’s long-awaited Students’ Union election results, delayed by nearly two months, will finally be declared on November 21, varsity officials said Wednesday.

This comes following the Delhi High Court’s direction on Monday to count the votes for the DUSU polls “on or before November 26” subject to the varsity’s satisfaction that all sites defaced with election graffiti were cleaned and repainted within a week.

Speaking to The Indian Express, DU Proctor Rajni Abbi said, “Following the court’s order, we decided to hold the counting on November 21 as per the availability of all Election Commission officials and technicians. The counting will start at 8 am and the result will be announced the same day.”

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice in a fresh application moved by wrestlers Bajrang Punia and others seeking the court’s directions to appoint an independent administrator to run the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), including overseeing the selection trials.

The plea comes after the Delhi High Court had in August directed the reconstitution of the ad hoc committee of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) that was tasked with overseeing and supervising the WFI’s operations, including selections and trials, after the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) had suspended the wrestling body’s newly elected executive committee in 2023. (Read More)

Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport saw 10 flight diversions and several delays on Wednesday morning due to low visibility caused by dense fog, according to officials. Nine flights were diverted to Jaipur, and one to Lucknow, starting at 7 am, as weather conditions worsened. Many flights were also delayed, though visibility improved later in the day, officials added.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported that very dense fog began to form around 5:30 am, creating a thick haze over various parts of the capital. Indira Gandhi International Airport, the busiest in the country with around 1,400 daily flight movements, was particularly impacted by the poor visibility. (With PTI inputs)

Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court on Wednesday reserved its decision on whether to take cognizance of the supplementary chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Delhi Waqf Board money laundering case. The court will soon decide on the ED's charges against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Amanatullah Khan in connection with the case. (ANI)

Rents in seven cities across India, including Delhi, have risen by as much as 70 per cent over the past two years, according to a recent research by property consultants ANAROCK group. The research covered 7,615 aged 24 to 78 respondents from across 14 cities.

The research highlights that 52 per cent homebuyers in Delhi-NCR prefer to buy 3BHKs and 38 per cent prefer 2BHKs. It also showed that real estate was the most preferred asset class investment for over 59 per cent people, followed by the stock market which was preferred by 31 per cent respondents.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Shehzad Poonawalla on Wednesday wore a gas mask as the pollution level rises in the Delhi-NCR region and said that the national capital has become a gas chamber. (ANI Input)

A Delhi police sub-inspector was Monday arrested by the Vigilance Unit for allegedly accepting a bribe worth Rs 10,000 from a complainant. The accused officer, Sub-Inspector Shripal of the Laxmi Nagar Police Station, was presented in the Rouse Avenue Court Tuesday and remanded to judicial custody.
The complainant approached the Vigilance Unit after the accused allegedly demanded Rs 20,000 to take action in a cheating case he had filed against two men in July. The Vigilance Unit laid a trap on Monday when the alleged first instalment worth Rs 10,000 of the bribe was to be collected.
The team apprehended Shripal at Laxmi Nagar Police Station and recovered from his pocket Rs 10,000 in cash that he collected from the complainant. The accused has been booked under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

At least seven flights were diverted and several others delayed at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport on Wednesday morning due to low visibility caused by dense fog, officials reported.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that very dense fog began forming around 5:30 am, enveloping parts of the national capital in thick haze. As a result, six flights were diverted to Jaipur and one to Lucknow since 7 am.

Officials noted that while some flights faced delays, visibility conditions were gradually improving. Indira Gandhi International Airport, the busiest in India, handles approximately 1,400 flight movements daily. (Inputs by PTI)

The Delhi Police Special Cell on Tuesday arrested a member of the Rahul Baba gang, which allegedly has an alliance with the Kapil Sangwan alias Nandu gang, from Najafgarh in connection with two incidents of shooting at Paschim Vihar and Chhawla near Najafgarh on November 6.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Special Cell (Northern Range), Amit Kaushik said the arrested accused, Shivam alias Bhola (23), helped the attackers flee after the shootings by providing them logistical and financial assistance. (Read More)

Three days after an alleged member of the Gogi gang was shot six times by bike-borne assailants, leading to his death in Outer Delhi’s Mundka, a social media post surfaced on Tuesday, in which a gang purportedly took responsibility for the killing.

The deceased, Amit Lakra (26), who recently got bail in a case of robbery, was shot at a crowded market of Mundka in the night of November 9. (Read More)

Dense smog engulfed Delhi and its surrounding areas Wednesday morning with visibility dropping and the air quality settling in the “very poor” category.

According to data by the Central Pollution Control Board, the city’s air quality index (AQI) was at 361 at 8:00 am. However, the Aya Nagar station reported the worst air quality with the AQI at 417 (severe), followed by Anand Vihar at 399 (very poor). (Read More)