'Modi knows the people here are opposed to this project, but he is using the might of government to push this port down our throats.'
The 24-metre-high air purifier recorded a PM2.5 concentration of 642 micrograms per cubic metre at the inlet and 453 micrograms per cubic metre at the outlet.
Measures under the GRAP's 'very poor' and 'severe' categories came into effect on Tuesday.
According to a survey carried out by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the accepted set value for crackers is 124 decibels at a distance of four m from the point of detonation, but 95 per cent of crackers breach this noise and pollution standard.
The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board has scheduled the hearing on January 15.
Rediff Labs has analysed Delhi region's air quality through its product real-time air quality analyser
The Goa government has constituted several teams to inspect and quantify the iron ore stacked at various points in the state before allowing it to be exported, a senior official said on Wednesday.
Skies over Delhi hung heavy with smoke and its air quality inched towards "severe" category on Diwali night as people burst firecrackers in a blatant disregard to the government's ban against it, imposed amid an increase in the contribution from farm fires.
The India Meteorological Department on Wednesday issued an orange alert for Delhi, predicting 'heavy' to 'very heavy' rainfall in parts of the capital with winds gusting up to 60 kilometers per hour.
Delhi woke up to the season's worst air quality as smoke from Diwali fireworks, coupled with moisture and nearly stagnant wind movement, shrouded the city in a thick cover of smog with respirable pollutants reaching perilous levels.
Officials have admitted that the problem of frothing will continue until sewage treatment plants in Delhi are upgraded to meet the new standards.
Residents of south Delhi's Okhla area were delighted to see what they thought was the season's first snowfall. But they were enraged after realising that it was toxic ash from a large waste-to-energy plant operated by Jindal Ecopolis in the neighbourhood.
A division bench led by Justice Nitin Jamdar said the MPCB order was set aside for being 'disproportionate' and noted the order was passed in a 'hasty manner'.
Amid criticism over the formation of foam in the Yamuna -- a sign of its hazardous water quality -- the Delhi government on Tuesday deployed 15 boats to remove the froth with the help of ropes.
It said Delhi is facing an unprecedented heatwave with temperatures hovering around 50 degrees Celsius in some parts for the first time in the city's history.
The government has put a spanner in the plans of oil companies like Reliance Industries Limited and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited to make ethanol directly from sugarcane, without producing sugar.
The Comptroller of Auditor General (CAG) on Friday came down heavily on the environment ministry for lapses in implementation of its green schemes whether it was for afforestation, biodiversity, pollution control or creating awareness.
'Till such time climatic activities resume up north in the plains and the hills, Mumbai's air quality may not improve.'
MPCB said Indiabulls had started the construction work at the IT Park project in violation of consent to establish and without complying with its directions issued on January 27.
Govt has done away with the need to secure crucial permits.
In an affidavit filed in the top court, the health ministry told the apex court that the family welfare programme in the country is voluntary in nature, which enables couples to decide the size of their family and adopt family planning methods best suited to them, according to their choice and without any compulsion.
The dramatic reversal in the situation caught people and weather scientists unaware.
The smog reduced the visibility to merely 300 meters in the morning affecting traffic, an official of the India Meteorological Department said.
There is a proposal to term forests as areas so notified and not include plantations on private land.
"The overall Delhi's Air Quality Index is in the very poor category with few Delhi locations entering at higher zone but that will be short lived. This is mainly because the extremely calm local surface winds which were prevailing yesterday are likely to increase slightly and may further pick-up by Oct 26," SAFAR said.
Despite legal deterrent in place to discourage people from doing so, by dusk, residents in many neighborhoods, including some areas in south Delhi and northwest Delhi, had started bursting crackers.
A CPCB official said a number of factors were responsible for the deteriorating air quality, including vehicular pollution, construction activities and meteorological factors.
A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel directed the carmaker to deposit the amount within two months.
Tamil Nadu Minister for Environment and Pollution Control and Minorities Welfare N Mariam Pitchai died in a road accident in Tiruvelangurichi, about 40 km from Tiruchurapalli, early on Monday morning.
The Delhi government on Monday started a process of deregistering 15-year-old diesel vehicles in the city and also imposed a ban on use of fire crackers except for religious functions, following directions from Lt Governor Najeeb Jung to bring down air pollution.
Chinese Minister of Environmental Protection Zhou Shengxian said on Tuesday a new survey will undertaken to conduct a final check on local governments' emission-reduction efforts as the country was on course to meet the pollution control targets for the 11th plan period.
Better living conditions must be an integral part of all political campaigns. But this will only happen if the public pressures the political class to understand the irreversibility of climate change and make the environment a crucial part of their manifestos.
Doctors have declared the situation as a 'public health emergency', while the government has taken a series of measures in view of high pollution levels.
Kerala-based Kitex Garments, the world's second-largest children's garments producer, has landed in trouble after sporadic violence at its workers' camp led to an attack on the local police, injuring at least five officers. The local police told Business Standard that at least 156 migrant workers were detained after the incident and around 50 have been arrested so far. A decision on any possible action against the company will be taken after the investigation.
Expressing concern over the alarming level of air pollution in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has directed concerned officials for banning 15-year-old diesel vehicles in the state capital among other measures to improve the situation.
Two Silicon Valley firms - Nanostellar and Meraki - have been selected by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum as Technology Pioneers 2008. Both companies are headed by Indo-Americans - Nanostellar by Pankaj Dhingra, president and chief executive officer, and Meraki Inc by Sanjit Biswas, co-founder and chief executive officer.
The neighbouring cities of Faridabad (469), Greater Noida (464), Ghaziabad (470), Gurgaon (472) also recorded 'severe' air pollution levels.
A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde passed the order while considering the Centre's stand that it is coming out with a comprehensive legislation to deal with air pollution, including the aspect of stubble burning.
What will the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government do to answer the queries and fears of investors who will want to be doubly sure they would not be harassed at a later date, as has been happening to Sterlite, should be interesting to watch, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
