The Art of Living Foundation chose to hold the World Culture Festival on the Yamuna floodplains in spite of being aware of the environmental, legal consequences, letters exchanged between it and the Delhi Development Authority show.
Demanding a fresh probe by an "unbiased" panel, AOL lawyer Kedar Desai and environment expert Prabhakar Rao told a press conference in Noida that "no damage" was caused to the environment due to the event held in March.
The National Green Tribunal on Thursday issued notices to the Centre, the Delhi government, the police chief and Asaram Bapu's trust on a petition seeking direction to demolish an alleged illegal 'ashram' constructed by the self-styled godman in the ridge area in New Delhi.
However, the NGT expressed its displeasure over the spiritual guru's statement that he 'will go to prison but not pay the fine' and said such a statement was not expected from a person with such high stature.
A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel directed the carmaker to deposit the amount within two months.
Due to the continuous activity of the protesters, the site has virtually become hell for the residents, the Tribunal said.
The alarming pollution level is literally 'capital punishment' for Delhi'ites who are being robbed of three years of their lives due to it, Delhi High Court said on Thursday, holding government's inaction and stubble burning in Punjab as being responsible for the "genocide".
The NGT directed the Delhi govt not to implement the scheme unless it established that it was not counter-productive.
Gadkari said the NDA govt is keen to develop inland waterways in the country.
The anti-corruption watchdog posts have been vacant for the last nine months.
It pulled up the Delhi government for its plan to introduce 6,000 new buses without conducting any study or research.
The water resources ministry told the NGT panel it has not granted permission for 'World Cultural Festival' being organised by Art of Living foundation.
R-Power, Essar could be hit as state mulls benefit-sharing levy for ecology loss.
The 'World Culture Festival' extravaganza organised by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living on Yamuna has "completely destroyed" the riverbed, an expert committee has told by the National Green Tribunal.
Air toxics emissions are high from older vehicles.
It refuted the allegations that its three-day mega event had damaged Yamuna floodplains and hinted that it may approach the Supreme Court against the NGT's order which asked it to pay Rs 5 crore as compensation.
The green panel has also asked the city government to identify the most polluted areas on Tuesday itself and sprinkle water.
NHRC issues notices to Centre and governments of Delhi, Punjab and Haryana, saying 'the state cannot leave its citizens to die due to the toxic haze.'
ASG said it would be impossible to accommodate people in public transport if odd-even scheme is made applicable for two-wheelers also.
The guru described the Central government and the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi as "intelligent" for supporting the event.
The national capital woke up on Tuesday morning to 'severe' air quality under a blanket of thick haze, as pollution levels breached the permissible standards by multiple times.
In a relief to former Supreme Court judge Justice Swatanter Kumar, the Delhi high court on Thursday restrained the media from publishing and telecasting the contents of the law intern's complaint of sexual harassment against him.
In an attempt to corner the Centre, the Opposition raised the issue of the Indian Army's involvement in the Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living event.
The green tribunal noted that the Art of Living would have to pay a Rs 5 crore penalty and develop the entire area into a biodiversity zone.
The apex court directed the Centre to frame guidelines on the matter.
The government sought exemption of women drivers from the scheme, saying it may affect the safety and security of women.
'Does the government help ordinary citizens like you and me with our marriages, birthdays and anniversaries?' Rashme Sehgal reports on the controversy over the the Art Of Living Foundation's plans for a cultural festival on the Yamuna floodplains.
Amarinder Singh dubbed Kejriwal's proposed visit to Chandigarh as another example of the Delhi CM allegedly leaving the national capital in the midst of a crisis and travelling to other places when his presence was needed the most at home.
The expert panel has suggested that there would be two components of rehabilitation plan -- physical and biological, and they would cost Rs 28.73 crore and Rs l3.29 crore respectively, besides additional ancillary expenses.
'The size or economic potential of no event can be a valid excuse to break the law of the land.'
Singer Adnan Sami's efforts to become an Indian citizen have been jolted after Pakistani officials refused to issue "renunciation of citizenship certificate" to him over his alleged "disrespectful behaviour" towards his national identity, according to a media report.
The price differential has been upwards of 20%.
Customers have started to factor in the narrowing gap between petrol and diesel and the premium that needs to be paid for a diesel vehicle.
A baby died in Shakur Basti area in West Delhi where a demolition drive was carried out by railways, triggering an angry reaction from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who slammed the railways and suspended three officials for "failing to arrange" food for those evicted.
Concerns have been raised about the likely damage to the environment caused by holding it on the flood plains of the already polluted river in east Delhi.
The stage is now set for the controversial three-day cultural event opening on Friday on the Yamuna flood plains even as Art of Living guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar struck a defiant note that he will not pay Rs 5 crore fine imposed by Green Tribunal and would rather go to jail.
Besides opening up the possibility of a policy that allows vintage cars retrofitted with electric batteries to ply on roads, this also gives a clue to how cars older than 15 years that are banned can be valued again by a similar conversion to EVs, says Ritwik Sharma.
The NGT, however, refused to impose any further environment compensation on the AoL.
Despite the presence of mosquitoes and reeking fields, workers continue to give shape to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's event where 3.5 million people are expected to convene.
When Nitin Gadkari took charge as Road Transport and Highways Minister in 2014, he had set a target of constructing 40 km a day in two years. But construction at this point is a mere 16 km a day. Megha Manchanda on what ails the road sector.
