According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the 24-hour average concentration of lung-damaging fine particles known as PM2.5 in Delhi-NCR shot up from 243 micrograms per cubic metre at 6 pm on Thursday (Diwali day) to 410 micrograms per cubic metre at 9 am on Friday, around seven times the safe limit of 60 micrograms per cubic metre.
Curfew was imposed on Tuesday night in 10 police station areas of KashmirValley as a precautionary measure with the authorities apprehending law and order problem following the killing of a youth in firing allegedly by security forces in Baramulla district.
A thin layer of toxic haze hung over Delhi in the morning and the overall air quality index stood at 313 at 9 am. It continued its upward trend and was recorded at 337 at 1 pm.
Pollution levels in Delhi during the Diwali period are likely to remain in the higher end of the 'very poor' category in the absence of emissions due to fireworks, the Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality monitor, SAFAR said.
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With increasing temperature, the toxic ozone levels, which cause a number of health problems especially for asthmatics, have breached the permissible limits in the city, the MET department said on Thursday.
With the skies over Delhi clouded with smog, many cast worried eyes on the fate of the first India-Bangladesh Twenty20 International scheduled at the Arun Jaitley stadium on Sunday.
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The United States embassy's pollution monitor recorded 'hazardous' air quality with the index scoring an alarming 878, which the mission considers 'beyond its air quality index' (AQI), which ends at 500.
The national capital on Friday recorded a 24-hour average air quality index of 239. On Thursday, it was 315, the worst since February 12 when the AQI was 320.
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Welcoming the reduction in pollution, environmentalists urged the government to treat it as a "wake-up call" and stop its "obsession" with "development" at the cost of the environment.
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The official data maintained by the Centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research put the condition at severely polluted. The Particulate Matter 2.5 level was recorded at 146 while the PM 10 was at 233 in New Delhi.
In April, the JKLF announced "a three-month long Safare-Azadi to cover the entire Valley to press for the inclusion of people of the state in the ongoing peace process between the two south Asian nuclear neighbours, India and Pakistan".
With seasonal crop residue burning, coupled with vehicle emissions, calm winds and low temperatures persisting for some time, the thick layer of toxic smog has hovered over the national capital.
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Engineer poet Shakil Shifai, who authored the book titled 'Mera Safar' from the English version of 'My Journey' recited one of the poems of the book in Urdu after presenting it to the President.
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Authorities said preparations were "well on track," although security and logistical problems would likely keep a few of the polling centers from opening.
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Pollution levels skyrocketed by the hour in Delhi on Sunday, turning the air quality hazardous, which agencies consider unfit for inhalation even by healthier people.
The top court did some tough-talking and had warned that the administration at large will be made accountable even if there is a single incident of stubble burning henceforth.
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A Central Pollution Control Board official said the AQI entered the "severe plus" or "emergency" category late on Thursday night, the first time since January this year.
New Delhi's overall air quality index read 456 at 4 pm, up from 425 at 4 pm on Tuesday.
Cadets at a police training academy in Pakistan awoke to the horror of suicide bomb-wielding terrorists in an attack late Monday that killed 61 and injured 117.
As visibility remained poor and the city choked due to a haze, the Centre for Science and Environment asked the Delhi govt to roll out stringent plans for controlling winter pollution.
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Pollution levels in Delhi and satellite towns shot up again on Sunday morning, with the air quality bordering the 'severe plus' category at several places.
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