Health Minister Satyendar Jain's car surrounded by Delhi BJP workers on Sunday. (Photo: Screengrab from video on Twitter/@ArvindKejriwal)Delhi News Live: The Aam Aadmi Party alleged that BJP “goons” attacked the convoy of its senior leader and Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain. The Delhi unit of the BJP, however, rejected the charge. The party said residents of the Chhawla area in Delhi’s South-West district had protested against the new liquor policy of the Arvind Kejriwal government.
In a series of tweets, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) alleged that the Delhi unit of the BJP deployed its “hooligans” to attack Jain’s convoy as it realised that it is going to lose the upcoming civic body polls. A senior police officer said when the minister was passing through Najafgarh, some people climbed onto the bonnet of his vehicle and protested against him.
In other news, Delhiites woke up to a pleasant Monday morning with the minimum temperature settling at 14.3 degrees Celsius, normal for this time of the year. The weather office has forecast partly cloudy sky for the day with the maximum temperature expected to settle around 29 degrees Celsius.
The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has directed the malls in its jurisdiction to avoid single-use plastic in eateries inside their premises. “They shall display the stickers provided by the SDMC which says ‘We do not use Single-Use Plastic’," the SDMC said.
A senior official of the civic body said the step has been taken as part of efforts towards achieving a complete ban on single-use plastics.
The deputy commissioner of the South Zone held a series of meetings with major malls and food chains on the subject. It was attended by Epicuria Mall in Nehru Place, Sangam Courtyard in R K Puram, Emporio, Promenade, Ambience and Vasant Square malls in Vasant Kunj, and by MGF Mall, DLF Avenue and Select City Walk Mall in Saket.
The initiative will be extended to the remaining areas and to all malls and eateries under the jurisdiction of the civic body, the SDMC said.
The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) fleet will get hundred more air-conditioned low-floor buses, which will run on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), and a new electric bus. The new buses will be launched by Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot Monday at 10.30 am at the IP depot.
With the addition of these new buses, the vehicle count will reach up to 200. In January, the Delhi government inaugurated 100 new buses, including electric ones. According to transport officials, the new AC CNG buses will be equipped with state of art features and facilities such as CCTV cameras, panic buttons for women’s safety, bus kneeling with ramp facilities among others. Read more
Cloudy skies and light rainfall are on the forecast for March 9 and 10 in Delhi. The rainfall will be on account of a western disturbance that is likely to affect the Western Himalayan region and the adjoining plains from the night of March 8.
On Monday, the maximum temperature in the city is likely to be 29 degrees Celsius, and the minimum temperature could be 14 degrees Celsius, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The maximum temperature is likely to hover at around 29 or 30 degrees over the next six days, the IMD forecast indicates.
The AQI on Sunday was 162 in the 'moderate' category, as per the CPCB bulletin issued at 4 pm on Sunday. The AQI has remained in the 'moderate' category from March 3 onwards.
According to the SAFAR forecast issued on Sunday, the AQI is likely to remain in the 'moderate' or lower end of the 'poor' category from March 7 to 9. Coarser particles of size more than 2.5 micrometres dominate since dry conditions enhance resuspension of dust from vehicular movement. Around 55% of these particles are PM10.
Volunteers of Hindu Sena, a right-wing organisation, took out a march in central Delhi’s Connaught Place on Sunday raising slogans in support of Russia.
National president of the Hindu Sena, Vishnu Gupta, said, “Not getting into the official Indian stand at the United Nations, we personally think that India, rather than abstaining, should have voted in favour of Russia and put our boots on the ground to safeguard our citizens and support Russia against the fascist, racist Ukraine which has always supported Pakistan and had voted against our nuclear programme.” Read more
Days after a teenage student of a private school in Greater Faridabad died by suicide, with a police complaint by his mother alleging he was harassed over his sexuality and the school ignored her complaint, a group of students and activists Sunday held a solidarity march at Jantar Mantar for him and his family.
In a purported suicide note recovered by police, the boy had blamed his school and “higher authorities”. Faridabad Police had arrested the school’s academic head based on the mother’s complaint. Read more
Termination notices have been issued to at least 26 anganwadi workers and show cause notices to many more over their continuing participation in the anganwadi workers’ and helpers’ strike in the capital.
Hundreds of workers and helpers have been on strike since January 31 with the primary demand of a substantial increase in pay. They have also been demanding that they be given the status of government employees — currently they are considered honorary workers — along with the benefits that accompany it. Read more
An audit of dark spots and dimly lit places, conducted by the Delhi Police, has revealed that there are 986 dark areas in the capital. Out of 15 districts, the audit found that five of them — 139 in Outer Delhi, 129 in the South, 118 in Southwest, 101 in Southeast and 91 in West — had the most dark spots, The Indian Express has learnt.
Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana has asked all DCPs to not only identify dark areas but also spots with dim lighting and poor phone network, a senior police officer said. Read more
An Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has recommended granting of terms of reference (ToR) for a road tunnel in the Ridge area in the southern part of the city.
The proposed tunnel is to be part of the NHAI’s project for NH 148AE. The highway project is to begin from the under-construction Shivmurti Interchange at Mahipalpur that is part of the Dwarka Expressway package. The 4.78-km long, six-lane stretch will end at Nelson Mandela Marg, Vasant Kunj. Part of the project is the 2.8-km-long twin tube tunnel in the “ridge area”, as per minutes of the meeting of the EAC which considered the proposal for granting of terms of reference last month. Read more