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.
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.
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.
Cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir on Monday hit back at the Aam Aadmi Party after being targeted by "missing" posters that said the MP was "last seen eating jalebis in Indore".
The announcement declaring New Delhi Municipal Council a winner of the smart city challenge came when the rest of Delhi was drowning in urban waste.
Several MPs on Monday made a statement against pollution in the national capital by riding bicycles, sporting masks and even choosing electric vehicles over fuel guzzlers as they arrived for the Winter Session of Parliament.
Arvind Kejriwal's strategy to take the pollution bull by the horns needs to be applauded. And I am sure that all the imaginary problems and grievances will be addressed before the restrictions are actually implemented, says Sudhir Bisht.
Hybrids have helped Maruti acquire leadership in SUVs, a segment that was never its forte. Toyota has also risen with the hybrid tide to clock its highest-ever annual sales in 2023.
Under interim measures, there will be no renewal of registration of diesel vehicles which are more than 10 years old.
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.
Pollution is not merely the price to be paid for growth; it is also a drag on the same growth.
According to Ministry of Earth Science's air quality monitor 'SAFAR', the air quality is likely to improve from Friday onwards due to better wind speed.
As the curtains came down on the odd-even pilot scheme on Friday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appealed to the people of Delhi to continue observing the car rationing measures "voluntarily", which the government claimed has reduced air pollution by up to 25 per cent.
'Gandhigiri' was on display at 200 locations in the city with civil defence volunteers offering roses to those violating odd-even rules implemented for 15 days.
'Last year, Diwali came in November when winter had set in, when there was high humidity and fog in the air.' 'But this year Diwali has come in October and there is no high humidity in the air.'
Experts are unanimously endorsing that a reduction in the volume of cars is bringing down levels of gaseous pollutants in New Delhi.
Transport Minister Gopal Rai said that the government will make the announcement on Thursday after reviewing over 11 lakh responses received from the public through multiple channels.
Doctors and experts say that besides spike in fresh cases, health complications have aggravated in people having a history of asthma, allergy or other related ailments.
If you live in Delhi you can quit smoking, give up alcohol, go to bed early, exercise every day and eat right, but unless you also give up breathing, you can still get very sick, says Mitali Saran
The national capital has been witnessing a fresh surge in coronavirus cases amid the festive season and rising air pollution. On Friday, Delhi recorded over 7,000 COVID-19 cases for the first time.
As pollution reaching alarming levels in Delhi, Veer Arjun Singh guides you how to protect yourself.
The industry players couldn't hide their disappointment.
Keeping up his tradition of celebrating the festival with soldiers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Sir Creek near the Indo-Pak border in Gujarat's Kutch district and offered sweets to jawans.
"Get instruction why such exemption (women and two-wheelers) is necessary," a bench of justices Hima Kohli and Sunil Gaur said.
The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) also issued guidelines for implementation of the ban on firecrackers, which included directions to the Delhi Police to register a first information report against the violators of the ban.
"Last year, the ban was imposed after traders had already stored firecrackers for sale which had resulted in losses for them. I appeal to the traders to not stock up on firecrackers in view of the complete ban," he said.
Hundreds of school children on Wednesday took pledge in the presence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to fight pollution and convince their parents, relatives and friends to adhere to the odd-even scheme to be rolled out in two days.
A high-level meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, also decided to enforce the restrictions date-wise as even numbered cars will be allowed to ply on even dates and odd-numbered ones will ply on odd dates.
'Mumbai's corroding infrastructure, Delhi's pollution, Bangalore's rain water drainage, Kolkata's electricity -- these are all real and serious life threatening situations.'
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.
Firms are offering employees flexi hours; demand for air purifiers, masks have skyrocketed.
'The strange thing is that they (Sri Lanka) did not face any problem till the lunch time of the second day. But as soon as they were handed masks following lunch, the 6 to 7 players were seen wearing masks on the field. And the two fast bowlers who were already facing problems were handed bowling'
The coaching-tuition-profiteering model built on the back of a broken education system is a scandal and an abomination, and must go, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Violation of the ban will invite punitive action, including a fine or a jail term or both, detailed under Section 15 of the Environment Protection Act (EPA) and under bylaws of respective municipal corporations, they said. For effective enforcement of the ban, national and state-level control rooms have been set up and special enforcement teams formed to check illegal manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of banned SUP items, officials in the ministry said.
As pollution levels worsened in Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said schools in the city will remain closed till Wednesday and announced a raft of "emergency" measures to deal with the situation including ban on construction and demolition activities for next five days and temporary closure of Badarpur Power Plant.
This is the third time this season, after December 8 and January 1, that visibility has dropped to zero metres in the city.
The Delhi CM wrote to Modi on the fourth day of the sit-in he and his ministers are holding at Baijal's office, demanding that the L-G direct the IAS officers to end their "strike" and act against those who have struck work.
The rapid spike in the pollution level after Diwali has become a cause for concern
An open letter to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on a few ways to reduce pollution in the city.
A study pointing that the pollution levels in New Delhi is worse than that of Beijing may have been quoting the data from the worst period of the year but the air quality in Indian cities is progressively getting worse, United Nations climate change chief Rajendra Pachauri said on Tuesday.
