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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
According to the Aam Aadmi Party, it has received permission from the authorities concerned to hold the rally of more than 20,000 people.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
As per the allegations, some parts of Delhi also had posters with the caption Modi Hatao Desh Bachao.
It's intriguing that the prime minister now wants his American partner to help protect the Hindu minority in Bangladesh. That's conceding to the Americans a pre-eminence India has always contested, resented and feared, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
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.
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.
The two ministers were released from Parliament Street police station an hour later.
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.
Besides the national capital, polling for the sixth round of the marathon seven-phase elections will be held Saturday in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, all 10 seats of Haryana, eight seats each in Bihar and West Bengal, six seats in Odisha, four seats in Jharkhand and one seat in Jammu and Kashmir.
"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.
Kejriwal will take oath as chief minister for a third term in a "Delhi-specific" ceremony, AAP's Delhi unit convener Gopal Rai said.
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.
Five people died in rain-related incidents in Delhi Friday as Monsoon arrived with a fury early in the morning, lashing the city with its highest rainfall in a single day of June in 88 years which brought it to a standstill with streets flooded, traffic in chaos and some commuters stranded on roads.
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.
Rai said Salem's lawyers were making efforts to get his name registered in the voter list in Mubarakpur assembly segment.
Goel was challaned near Raisina Road, on his way to Parliament.
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.
General secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Champat Rai on Monday announced that the idol of Lord Ram will be placed at its position at the 'garbh griha' of the temple on January 18 and Pran Pratishtha will take place at 12.20 pm on January 22.
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.
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.
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.
While the Aam Aadmi Party is contesting on four seats, the Congress has fielded candidates for the remaining three seats.
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.
The city's Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 420 at 8 am on Thursday, compared to 426 at 4 pm on Wednesday. The AQI map prepared by the Central Pollution Control Board showed clusters of red dots (indicating hazardous air quality) spread across the Indo-Gangetic plains.
The Delhi government has banned construction and demolition activities in the city till November 21.
