Delhi faces a severe financial crunch and the deficit is largely due to numerous welfare schemes without adequate revenue flowing in. The success of welfare schemes and electoral promises will need careful financial planning and out of the box thinking to whip up additional revenue, notes Ramesh Menon.
The Supreme Court on Friday said that crop residue burning in Punjab and some other states adjacent to Delhi have to be stopped and solution has to found to reduce the pollution level in the national capital region (NCR).
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal inaugurated the 'country's first smog tower' at Connaught Place in New Delhi on Monday and said it will prove to be a milestone and many such structures can be installed in the city if the pilot project yields results.
For deciding which vehicles are to be scrapped, the setting up of fitness centres and regulating them would be a humongous task.
The overall AQI deteriorated further and touched the 268 mark, which falls in the poor category.
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.
The Bombay high court said on Wednesday that if the use of loudspeakers and sound systems beyond permissible noise levels was harmful during the Ganesh festival then it also has the same effect during the Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi processions.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to interfere with the Delhi government's order putting a comprehensive ban on manufacturing, storage, sale and bursting of firecrackers in the city, saying people's health is important.
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.
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.
Naval assets take years to build, and therefore, not only is futuristic force planning essential, but indigenous projects must also be put into the pipeline, technologies developed and contracts for assets signed regularly so that the Indian Navy always remains a future-focussed force, asserts Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta (retd).
Uncertainty looms over Lanka-Bangla World Cup clash due to severe air pollution
Iceland leads the world as the most eco-friendly nation while India is ranked at a dismal 123.
The increase in stubble burning has kicked off a political slugfest, with Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Wednesday saying that there had been a 19 per cent rise in farm fires over 2021 in Punjab and that the Aam Aadmi Party had turned the national capital into a gas chamber.
The court, however, said the party will have to follow noise pollution control rules in respect of silence zones.
Pollution levels were inching towards 'severe plus emergency' category due to a change in wind direction and rampant stubble burning in neighbouring states
The bench said when the people were running, the police chased them and opened fire.
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.
If industrial units do not have functional PETPs, then they will not be allowed to function any more, the court said.
The companies will have to secure a minimum of 400 points out of 1,000 to be able to participate in the rating system.
Air quality in the national capital deteriorated alarmingly a day after Diwali as pollution levels spiked more than five times higher than normal leaving many at the risk of respiratory problems.
The city's air quality index will fluctuate between the higher end of the "poor" category and the lower end of the "very poor" category, it predicted.
Vedanta Ltd, which is planning to restart its copper plant in Tamil Nadu, is weighing the option to sell the unit at a valuation of up to Rs 4,500 crore, banking sources have said. The company had sought expressions of interest (EoIs) for the plant in June last year but did not get a good response as the unit was shut for the last five years. "The process has now restarted with the bankers reaching out to potential bidders," said a banker.
Health expert termed the problems caused due to the rise in pollution as a "medical emergency".
The Kerala State Pollution Control Board has ordered closure of soft drinks major Coca Cola's plant at Plachimada in Palakkad district.
Cars with engine capacity of 2000 cc and above will not be registered in Delhi and National Capital Region till March 31, 2016
The Central Pollution Control Board has asked Tata Steel to submit the closure schedule of the battery at the earliest, minister of state for Steel A Sai Prathap said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha. Coke oven battery is a plant where coking coal is converted into coke.
The overall Air Quality Index was recorded at 231 on Sunday which falls in 'poor' category.
The central government's Great Nicobar development project, proposed around an unprecedented transhipment port, will be executed to keep environmental impact minimal, and is essential as it is of national importance, the government has said amid calls to abort the controversial project due to ecological concerns, the Centre said in an official statement.
Dr Ashish Mishra, consultant interventional cardiologist, Wockhardt Hospitals, explains how smoking and alcohol can impair your heart health and lead to cardiac arrest.
Despite the national capital recording its best air quality on Diwali day in eight years, pollution levels may rise due to low night temperatures and sporadic burning of firecrackers though there is a ban on their manufacture, storage, sale and use within the city.
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.
Genset manufacturer Cummins India has seen its share price rise by 45 per cent in the past three months. The management has reaffirmed that growth would be in double digits over the coming two fiscal years. Growth is expected to be driven by a pickup in domestic infrastructure spending.
'If we don't control the additional pollutants that come from various human activities then, the pollution level will not come down.'
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal hopes pollution will not affect the India-Bangladesh T20 International in the city on November 3, emphasising that his government has been taking steps such as the odd-even scheme to improve the air quality.
The city's 24-hour average AQI was recorded in the 'poor' category at 265 on Saturday as residents flouted the ban on firecrackers in parts of the national capital ahead of Diwali, according to Central Pollution Control Board's (CPCB) data.
The air quality in the national capital remained poor for the sixth consecutive day on Monday with stubble burning accounting for seven per cent of the capital's PM2.5 pollution.
The government asserted that the Central Pollution Control Board will inspect the ship
Acentral panel directed authorities to ban the plying of 4-wheeled diesel LMVs in Delhi and adjoining NCR districts and the entry of trucks into the capital.
