An additional collector in Akola, Maharashtra, has been booked for allegedly extorting money from a stone crusher owner and threatening others. The official denies the allegations, and an investigation is underway.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in Jammu and Kashmir has intensified its efforts to combat illegal mining, conducting raids in Reasi and Udhampur districts and seizing critical evidence.
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.
The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has revoked restrictions imposed under GRAP 3 in Delhi-NCR following improvements in air quality. Non-essential construction and demolition activities are now allowed to restart, and restrictions on vehicles have been lifted.
During negotiations, the officer allegedly agreed to reduce the amount to Rs 2 crore, with the condition that the first installment of Rs 50 lakh had to be paid to the middleman by Thursday evening, the complaint said.
Eight bodies have been recovered from the debris of a stone quarry that collapsed in south Mizoram's Hnahthial district on Monday, an official said Tuesday.
Of the deceased, five were from West Bengal, two each from Jharkhand and neighbouring Assam and one from Mizoram's Lunglei district, the official said.
Curbs under Stage III include a ban on non-essential construction and demolition, closure of stone crushers and mining activities in Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR).
There was no casualty but several houses around the farm developed cracks due to the blast and the structure where the explosives were stocked collapsed, a police official said.
The anti-encroachment drive by Jammu and Kashmir administration intensified on Saturday as the land illegally occupied by 'influential persons' was retrieved at many places in the valley, officials said.
Swami Nigamananda, who was on fast for nearly four months demanding a halt to quarrying in Ganga, died due to coma, Septicaemia and degenerative brain disorder, his postmortem report said.
The agency wants to question and record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The Chhattisgarh police have solved the case of a home theatre music system explosion in Kabirdham district and arrested the former lover of a newly married woman for allegedly planting a bomb in the electronic device with an intention to kill the couple, an official said on Wednesday.
The Enforcement Directorate has issued fresh summons to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren to appear before it in Ranchi on November 17 for questioning in a money laundering case linked to alleged illegal mining in the state, official sources said Wednesday.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader had asked the ED to advance the date of appearance to November 16, which has not been agreed to by the agency, they said.
The Central Pollution Control Board on Monday reviewed the air quality in Delhi-NCR observing that the contribution of stubble burning may rise in the next five days with the AQI fluctuating between 'very poor' and 'severe' categories.
With the Congress in power in the state and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) snapping at its heels, the BRS is now fighting an existential battle.
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With CPCB saying that the air quality is not severe now, the SC partially lifted its ban.
While Solicitor General Tushar Mehta during the hearing claimed that the stubble burning only contribute 10 per cent of the air pollution, senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for the petitioners seeking action to curb air pollution, pointed out that the Centre's Sunday meeting had recorded a finding that stubble burning is responsible for 35-40 per cent in Delhi air pollution.
The GST Council, headed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprising representatives of all states and Union territories, will have its 37th meeting in Goa against the backdrop of economic growth hitting a six-year low of 5 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal.
The overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi stood at 398 at 11 am, worsening from 357 at 4 pm on Friday. It was 354 on Thursday, 271 on Wednesday, 302 on Tuesday and 312 on Monday (Diwali).
According to senior IMD scientist Kuldeep Srivastava, clear sky or absence of clouds allows sun rays to reach the ground, warming up the air close to the ground which lifts up and clears the pollutants.
Other Graded Response Action Plan measures like ban on diesel generators, hot mix plants, stone crushers and brick kilns, however, continue to remain in place.
The overall AQI deteriorated further and touched the 268 mark, which falls in the poor category.
Pollution levels in Delhi during the Diwali period are likely to remain in the higher end of the 'very poor' category in the absence of emissions due to fireworks, the Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality monitor, SAFAR said.
Measures under the GRAP's 'very poor' and 'severe' categories came into effect on Tuesday.
Pollution levels were inching towards 'severe plus emergency' category due to a change in wind direction and rampant stubble burning in neighbouring states
Delhi recorded an air quality index of 315 at 11:10 am. The last time the air quality hit such a poor level was in February.
The overall Air Quality Index was recorded at 231 on Sunday which falls in 'poor' category.
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New Delhi's overall air quality index read 456 at 4 pm, up from 425 at 4 pm on Tuesday.
The national capital woke up on Tuesday morning to 'severe' air quality under a blanket of thick haze, as pollution levels breached the permissible standards by multiple times.
Authorities alerted people to avoid staying outdoors and L-G ordered to halt all civil construction activities across the city till Sunday.
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