The city recorded a minimum temperature of 14.6 degrees Celsius, a notch above normal, according to the India Meteorological Department.
Delhi's overall air quality index (AQI) stood at 463 at 11.30 am, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR).
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.
A bench of the NGT, headed by its chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, directed that the order will also apply to all cities and towns in the country where the average of ambient air quality during November (as per available data of last year) falls under 'poor' or worse category.
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.
The fire was in the middle of the wetlands, fire brigade officials said.
The capital witnessed a clear morning on Friday with the minimum temperature settling a notch below normal at 14.6 degrees Celsius.
The city's 24-hour Air Quality Index, recorded at 4 pm every day, stood at 418, up from 334 the previous day, and it may trigger stringent restrictions under the third stage of the graded response action plan to mitigate hazardous conditions.
The rains could lead to a rise in the water levels of the Yamuna, which has been flowing above the danger mark of 205.33 metres for days now.
The overall AQI deteriorated further and touched the 268 mark, which falls in the poor category.
Firecracker bursting till late Sunday night led to a spike in pollution levels amid low temperatures.
India captain Rohit Sharma assured BCCI boss Sourav Ganguly that his team is ready to play Sunday's opening T20 International against Bangladesh despite growing concerns about severe air pollution.
The pollution board said that the situation will improve further by Sunday if favourable conditions prevail.
The nationwide 'Janta Curfew' followed by the 21-day lockdown to combat the coronavirus outbreak have led to a significant reduction in pollution in the country, with 91 cities recording air quality in the 'good' and 'satisfactory' category on March 29, a Central Pollution Control Board report has stated. Travel restrictions and the closure of industries have helped reduce the pollution level, it said.
The AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships is taking place in an indoor stadium from Thursday through to November 24 but teams are complaining about a toxic smog hanging over the city, caused by seasonal burning of crop stubble and emissions from vehicles and industry.
Move comes close on the heels of MoEF's decision to grant conditional clearance to the Lavasa hill city project.
The environment ministry is likely to soon issue regulations that will mandate automakers to recycle a specified percentage of steel from old vehicles, starting from the next financial year, according to people familiar with the matter. "We recently held a meeting with members of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam). "The final regulations are likely to be issued in the next 10 days," a government source informed.
The step follows huge outcry over the pollution caused by these off-shore casinos. The state government body -- Goa State Pollution Control Board -- on Tuesday directed all the six casino operators to suspend their operations on the grounds of pollution.
The Tribunal sought response from the Maharashtra government and the state pollution control board asking whether any standards have been laid down regarding noise pollution and what steps are taken against use of sirens in "silence zones".
A number of persons fainted after experiencing 'burning sensation' in their throat and chest. Many people who were asleep woke up in panic and scurried out of their homes and alerted neighbours and all of them soon reached the main roads unsure of what to do.
Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta's Sterlite Copper has come out with a fresh notification inviting expressions of interest (EoIs) to supply raw materials like copper concentrate, imported thermal coal, rock phosphate and petroleum products, among others, as part of its preparatory measures to restart production at its Thoothukudi unit in Tamil Nadu. This plant is likely to restart operations if a Supreme Court verdict goes in favour of the company. On June 12, the company had invited EoIs for carrying out plant 'restart activities'.
The city's air quality index stood at 385 at 9.05 am, while that of Noida, Gurgaon and Greater Noida was recorded at 406, 363, 296, respectively.
It also asked the governments of Punjab and Haryana to take immediate stringent actions to curb stubble burning and authorities in Delhi-NCR to strictly check biomass burning.
Over the past three trading sessions, the stock of Cummins India has gained about nine per cent on strong January-March quarter (Q4) results and good near-term prospects. Its Q4 performance was led by a healthy 29 per cent revenue growth over the year ago quarter. This was largely on the back of a 33 per cent jump in domestic revenues while exports witnessed a growth of 17 per cent.
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.
DLF's upcoming project Mall of India in Noida, projected to be one of the largest in the country, has been served a notice to stop all construction activities till a clearance from the National Board for Wildlife is obtained.
Police have sealed the area while a fire brigade and an ambulance have been deployed there.
Smelter produces more than 300,000 tonnes a year to supply half of India's domestic copper needs.
The Kerala government has initiated the process of filing criminal charges against Coca-Cola for water pollution.
Low temperature -- Delhi recorded a minimum of 13.5 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, the season's lowest so far -- allowed accumulation of pollutants, said Mahesh Palawat, vice president (meteorology and climate change), Skymet Weather.
In a statement, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the air pollution had reached the severe level and asked people to follow the dos and don'ts as mentioned in the advisory.
Air quality in Delhi and its suburbs dropped to the severe category again on Wednesday morning, with smoke from post-harvest paddy straw burning in neighbouring states accounting for one-third of the air pollution in the national capital.
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Areas in the National Capital Region -- Noida and Gurugram -- recorded an AQI of 529 and 478 respectively both in the highly toxic 'severe'.
People stood at their places with their phone cameras open but faced trouble capturing aircraft formations due to the layer of fog and smoke cloaking the capital.
Top officials of the environment ministry, Delhi Development Authority and municipal commissioners also stayed away from the deliberations.
The government may soon think in terms of charging soft drink companies and others for extracting groundwater and using it for commercial and industrial purposes.
Against the backdrop the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's demand to remove loudspeakers from mosques, the Maharashtra director general of police on Tuesday instructed the officials to enforce the law and Supreme Court's guidelines on the issue strictly.
