The Delhi government has lifted the ban on construction and demolition activities in view of an improvement in the air quality and inconvenience caused to workers, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Monday.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress's alliance in Uttar Pradesh came under scrutiny as both parties did not hold a single joint campaign for the bypolls to nine assembly seats. While both parties maintained that the alliance is strong, BJP ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) claimed a crack in the alliance. The Congress opted out of the bypolls and announced coordination committees for all nine seats to support the SP. However, the absence of joint rallies raised questions about the alliance's strength. The SP campaign was spearheaded by its chief Akhilesh Yadav, while the Congress cited its leaders' busy schedules in Maharashtra and Jharkhand for the lack of joint campaigns. The bypoll results will be announced on November 23.
'A government whose policies are focused around making the life of ordinary citizens, specially the most deprived sections, richer; a government that prioritises education, health and transport, that doesn't treat its citizens as subjects who must come to it for everything, is rare in our country.' 'When such a government is thrown out, one is left stunned,' notes Jyoti Punwani.
A search is on for suitable accommodation for Arvind Kejriwal and his family, Singh had said.
With Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal having been sent to judicial custody till April 15 by a city court in connection with the excise policy case, buzz over his replacement intensified even as his party leaders asserted that he will continue to head the government no matter how long he stays in jail.
In view of an 'improvement' in the air quality, the Delhi government has decided to resume physical classes in schools, colleges and other educational institutions and reopen government offices from November 29, environment minister Gopal Rai said on Wednesday.
Braving the heat, hundreds of protesters, including women and children, gathered at the Jantar Mantar to protest against the killings of Kashmiri Pandits in the valley.
The development comes after the resignation of Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, the key faces of the city government and were instrumental in steering the national capital through the COVID-19 crisis.
The team held two rounds of talks at the protest site of Jantar Mantar, where Anna Hazare's fast entered the fourth day and that of Kejriwal, Rai and Manish Sisodia entered the eighth day.
Ahead of the crucial INDIA alliance meeting in Mumbai, AAP leader Priyanka Kakkar Wednesday pitched for Arvind Kejriwal as the opposition bloc's prime ministerial candidate but party colleagues Atishi and Sanjay Singh hastened to deny that the Delhi chief minister had such aspirations.
Under this rule, traders will sell vegetables on alternate days in mandis. The government has also decided to stagger the timings for the sale of vegetables and fruits in these mandis.
The central air quality panel had on Friday allowed authorities in Delhi-NCR to resume physical classes for students in classes 6 and above, colleges and other educational institutions with immediate effect.
AAP workers, nervous but hopeful, had their eyes glued to LED screens throwing the latest counting trends.
"He is lodged in the prison in connection with a rape case and sections of the Pocso Act. Rinku is not a physiotherapist," the sources said.
According to the Aam Aadmi Party, it has received permission from the authorities concerned to hold the rally of more than 20,000 people.
Production, storage and sale of firecrackers in the capital will be punishable with a fine of up to Rs 5,000 and three years jail under Section 9B of the Explosives Act, the minister told a press conference in New Delhi.
Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan and four other leaders of India Against Corruption on Monday accused the police of harassing their supporters, who participated in the protest on August 26 against coal block allocation. Kejriwal, Bhushan, Manish Sisodia, Gopal Rai, Kumar Vishwas and Sanjay Singh went to the Parliament Street police station on Monday morning and met additional commissioner K C Dwivedi.
Bursting firecrackers is not a matter of religion, it affects people's lives, Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai said on Wednesday and urged the Opposition not to jeopardise the well-being of children and the elderly for political ambitions.
The two ministers were released from Parliament Street police station an hour later.
With Delhi recording air pollution levels seven to eight times above safe standards on Monday, the city government announced the return of its flagship odd-even scheme after four years anticipating further deterioration of air quality post-Diwali.
As per the allegations, some parts of Delhi also had posters with the caption Modi Hatao Desh Bachao.
Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai have refused hospitalisation despite their health condition worsening and a warning from police that organisers will be "squarely responsible" if anything happens to the fasting activists.
The Delhi police on Wednesday advised Team Anna to immediately hospitalise Arvind Kejriwal and two other fasting activists and warned that the organisers will be "squarely responsible" if anything untoward happens to them.
Kejriwal will take oath as chief minister for a third term in a "Delhi-specific" ceremony, AAP's Delhi unit convener Gopal Rai said.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday alleged a 'well-planned' conspiracy by the Bharatiya Janata Party for the violence in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal, where a team of Congress MPs led by Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to visit on December 4 amid restrictions imposed by the district administration.
On Friday evening too, Crime Branch teams had visited the residences of Kejriwal and Delhi Minister Atishi. But sources said the police teams could not serve the notices as officials at Kejriwal's home refused to take it and Atishi was not present.
Rai said Salem's lawyers were making efforts to get his name registered in the voter list in Mubarakpur assembly segment.
"Last year, the ban was imposed after traders had already stored firecrackers for sale which had resulted in losses for them. I appeal to the traders to not stock up on firecrackers in view of the complete ban," he said.
Goel was challaned near Raisina Road, on his way to Parliament.
With the arrest of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in the excise policy scam case, uncertainty looms over several critical Delhi government projects, including streetscaping and traffic decongestion plans, ahead of the G20 summit.
Fearing forcible hospitalisation of three fasting activists, including Arvind Kejriwal, scores of Team Anna supporters kept vigil throughout the night at the Jantar Mantar protest venue.
As team Anna sat on a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar reiterating their demands, thousands joined them in pledging their support to the cause. Rediff.com's Priyanka mingled with the crowd to get their reactions.
Team Anna met in Noida on Monday amid a rift between them and yoga guru over the treatment meted out to Arvind Kejriwal in public and differences within them over attacking Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The BJP released a sting video shot purportedly by a former AAP volunteer from north west Delhi's Rohini to allege the AAP sold tickets for Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls.
As the health of his aides deteriorated, Anna Hazare on Wednesday warned the government that he will not negotiate with them if the fasting activists are forcefully removed from the Jantar Mantar protest site in New Delhi.
In tough posturing, Anna Hazare on Tuesday ruled out any talks with the government or even the prime minister to end their stir and expressed readiness to return Padma Bhushan award bestowed on him, even as government showed no signs of initiating negotiations with his team.
A leopard strayed into a village in north Delhi's Wazirabad early on Monday, creating panic in the area and injuring eight residents before being tranquillised by forest department officials after an over five-hour-long rescue operation.
As the air pollution in Delhi-NCR ameliorated over the last two days, the Centre's air quality panel Sunday directed authorities to lift the ban on plying of non-BS VI diesel light motor vehicles in the region and the entry of trucks into the capital imposed under the final stage of the Graded Response Action Plan.
There will be a blanket ban on the production, sale and use of all types of firecrackers in the national capital, including on Diwali, till January 1, 2023, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Wednesday.
The odd-even scheme faces a real test with reopening of offices, schools and other institutions after the extended weekend.
