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.
The Delhi metropolitan area has one of the highest concentrations of population in the world, and suffocating the people of the area on an annual basis should be treated as a crime against humanity, especially when the cause for such suffocation can be controlled, says Arvind Kumar.
The current spell of weak monsoon over the country is likely to continue for the next five days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Wednesday.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said there is no alternative to the Trinamool Congress, and no other party can take its place in the state.
The cyclone, according to an IMD report early Sunday, is developing into a severe cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal and can potentially become a very severe cyclonic storm in the next 24 hours, S N Pradhan, the chief of NDRF said in New Delhi.
Their demands will be met of course, and this government will move on to the next great idea, without an apology or an explanation, predicts Aakar Patel.
Through the past 18-month period, peace has prevailed in the disputed border regions, which was immensely helpful in the difficult situation that the country was passing through, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
In yet another jolt to the Bharatiya Janata Party, the party's Alipurduar district president, Ganga Prasad Sharma, joined the Trinamool Congress on Monday, as senior leader of the state's ruling party Mukul Roy, who also switched sides two weeks ago, claimed that this was the 'beginning of the saffron party's end' in the state.
'Imagine for a soldier -- first you conquer territory after fighting a fierce battle, suffer casualties and then you are ordered to come back to your side of the International Border in India.'
According to latest data, crops have been sown in around 72.13 million hectares, which is 8.90 per cent less than the same period last year.
The protests over the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act notwithstanding, the players' auction for the Indian Premier League will go ahead in Kolkata as scheduled on Thursday. There have been reports of violence in West Bengal but Kolkata hasn't exactly been affected.
Metro likely to keep lakhs of cars off city's roads
Very light rains and thundershowers occurred at isolated places in Uttar Pradesh though, and a fresh warning of heavy showers was issued in Himachal Pradesh as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely in several parts of the country, including the northern region, over the next six-seven days.
A study shows that the country has experienced 706 heatwave incidents from 1971-2019.
An unspecified number of people were evacuated from coastal areas of Odisha where Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore were likely to experience heavy rainfall accompanied by high-velocity winds, particularly on May 19 and 20, IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said.
Thunderstorms and dust storms are 'very likely' on Tuesday too, the weather office warned.
'I'm very proud of having worked with one of the finest minds of India and Indian cinema.'
If the Opposition has any chance at the prime minister's job, it can happen only if they all stop dropping names and work at the grassroots-level, state-wise, suggests N Sathiya Moorthy.
Incessant rains over the past two days in eastern Rajasthan have led to a flood-like situation in the region and severed road connectivity to many areas.
Here are 5 BJP MPs who have taken up cudgels against their party leadership for its handling of Dalit issues.
Unless public health is prioritised over swift re-opening, the chances are that a third wave will hit India sooner than we would like.
El-Sisi welcomed Modi, who is on a two-day state visit to Egypt, at the Presidential Palace where the two leaders were closeted for one-on-one meeting after which the two sides signed a memorandum of understandng.
With just over a month to go for assembly elections in Goa, political observers feel the Congress may upset the Bharatiya Janata Party's plans for retaining power in the coastal state, but appear less enthused about the Trinamool Congress, whose entry has added colour to the poll campaign.
Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra said images of students clashing with police at various institutions over the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) are deeply disturbing and crushing voices of dissent will only turn the agitators against India.
'No matter how big the name, no one lives forever; like medicines, we come with an expiry date.' 'But, in the short time that we have, we try to make something that will stay on long after we are gone.'
'Rohit had so much talent that he would have made it anyhow, under any coach, but I am happy I was able to guide him.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday reviewed the preparedness to deal with the situation arising out of the likely formation of Cyclone Jawad that is expected to hit the North Andhra Pradesh-Odisha coast and directed officials to take every possible measure to ensure that people are safely evacuated.
'Why shouldn't we talk against the BJP when it is solely responsible for bringing in these three laws by riding rough over Parliamentary procedures and norms?' 'We will talk against the BJP because it is the sole political party responsible for pushing these destructive farm laws'
India discards Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag finally got back among the runs as the duo struck fluent half-centuries to help Delhi outclass Haryana by three wickets in the North Zone leg of the Vijay Hazare One Day Tournament, in Dharamsala, on Wednesday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
It is a timely reminder that when faced with twin threats, India has succeeded by wisely choosing allies, points out Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The weatherman said when 'Amphan' makes the landfall between West Bengal's Digha, some 180 km from Kolkata, and Hatiya island in Bangladesh on Wednesday afternoon or evening, it will pack sustained wind speed of 155 to 165 kmph, gusting at 185 kmph. The gale-force wind, blowing at a speed of 240 to 250 kmph and gusting to 275 kmph at one point, had lost intensity and was moving at a speed of 200 to 210 kmph, gusting to 230 kmph on Tuesday evening.
Polling was held on Sunday for 59 Lok Sabha seats in the sixth and penultimate phase of Lok Sabha polls. Elections are being held in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 10 seats in Haryana, eights constituencies each in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, seven seats in Delhi and four in Jharkhand. Take a look at the famous faces who exercised their democratic right.
'Every single Indian dish is a jewel.'
Sharpening its attack on West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday, a day after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed that his name figures in the Jain Hawala scandal, the Trinamool Congress said it will think of ways to step up the demand for his dismissal.
Prasanna D Zore reports on the backroom drama accompanying the efforts to cobble together the next government in Maharashtra. 'While the Congress is insisting upon equal power sharing structure among all the three parties, the NCP is of the opinion that ministries should be distributed based on the number of MLAs belonging to each of the three parties.' Prasanna D Zore reports on the backroom room accompanying the efforts to cobble together the next government in Maharashtra.
The India meteorological department has stated that day temperatures are likely to be above normal by 0.5 degree Celsius, reports Sanjeeb Mukherjee.
After Rahul's Bharat Jodo Yatra began criss-crossing the Hindi heartland, BJP leaders have revived their attacks on 'dynasty politics' and 'family rule' in the Congress, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Rising prevalence of work-from-home and e-learning is driving sales of notebooks and tablets for most brands, but Apple's superior performance has more to do with its product quality.
A day after Cyclone Yaas tore through coastal Odisha and Bengal to cause havoc as far as Jharkhand, tornadoes, torrential rains, bridge collapses and swelling rivers continued to plague eastern India as people tried to pick up their lives amid the debris of swept away mud homes and swamped farmlands.
