Delhi has witnessed high levels of pollution in the past few years. (Express File/Praveen Khanna)Delhi News Live: Delhi Environment Minister Monday said a ‘summer action plan’ will be implemented from April to September to minimise air pollution in the city by dealing with sources like open burning of waste and dust.
The Delhi High Court on Monday permitted journalist Rana Ayyub, who was stopped from flying to London from the Mumbai International Airport last week, to travel abroad. The court on Friday had asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to respond to her petition challenging the lookout circular issued against her by the ED which is probing her in connection with a case of alleged money laundering.
Delhi police have registered FIR against some people involved in spreading rumours on social media. FIR complaint contains the names of Twitter handles, said police. Yati Narsinghanand the head priest of Ghaziabad’s Dasna Devi Temple and an accused in the Haridwar hate speech case, Sunday exhorted Hindus to pick up arms and said that if India were to get a Muslim Prime Minister, “50% of you (Hindus) will change your faith in the next 20 years”. The event was organised by Preet Singh. He was arrested and currently out on bail.
The South Delhi Municipal Corporation Mayor has sought “closure of meat shops during the nine day period of the Navratri festival extending from April 2 to April 11”.
A ‘summer action plan’ to minimise air pollution in the city, by dealing with sources like open burning of waste and dust, will be implemented from April to September, according to Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai.
A meeting was held on Monday with agencies and departments including the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, Fire Service, Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board, environment department, revenue department, Delhi Development Authority and municipal corporations. They have been asked to chalk out their detailed action plans by April 11, when another meeting will be held, and the final summer action plan will be declared, Rai said. Read more
The Delhi High Court on Monday directed the North Delhi Municipal Corporation and Archaeological Survey of India to ensure that no further illegal construction takes place around Jama Masjid and the Walled City area of Old Delhi. Read more
The South Delhi Municipal Corporation Mayor has sought “closure of meat shops during the nine day period of the Navratri festival extending from April 2 to April 11”.
In a letter to the commissioner of the South MCD dated April 4, Mayor Mukesh Suryan wrote: “I want to draw attention to the fact that the present Navratri festival is being celebrated all over the country from April 2 to April 11. During the auspicious period of Navratri, devotees of goddess Durga observe fast for nine days with a strict vegetarian diet and abstaining from the use of non-vegetarian food items, alcohol and also certain spices. The area in the city is also coloured in the consonance with the festival.” Read more
Hundreds of students protested at Delhi University’s North Campus on Monday demanding that their end semester examinations be conducted in the online mode.
Due to the Covid pandemic, DU had shifted to the online open book exam mode for students in 2020 and had been continuing to hold exams in the same format since.
Classes moved offline and the university reopened physically this February. While students of first, third and fifth semesters are appearing for online open book exams, for students of second, fourth and sixth semesters, the exams will be held in the physical mode after May. Read more
Parts of Delhi-NCR remained in the grip of a heatwave on Sunday, and similar conditions are on the forecast for isolated parts of the national capital and southern Haryana on Monday, as per the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
The maximum temperature at the Safdarjung weather station is likely to be 39 degrees Celsius on Monday, and the IMD has predicted strong winds.
The air quality in Delhi was in the ‘poor’ category on Sunday with an AQI of 245, and it is likely to remain the same on Monday, according to a forecast issued by the air quality early warning system on Sunday. Read more
Journalist Rana Ayyub was stopped from flying to London from the Mumbai International Airport on Tuesday last week. The Delhi High Court on Friday asked the Enforcement Directorate to respond to a petition filed by journalist Rana Ayyub against the lookout circular issued against her by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) which is probing her in connection with a case of alleged money laundering.
The ED earlier argued that it's an apprehension that she may not return back. The court observed that she has not been charged with siphoning of 1000s of crores. It added that her bank account has already been frozen.
A businessman and his friend were allegedly robbed at gunpoint in Delhi’s Shahdara, the police said Monday. The incident took place early on Sunday when the complainant and his friend were walking toward Yamuna Sports Complex, according to the police.
Police said they received a call around 6.13 am. The businessman, 29, alleged that two bike-borne men came near him and threatened him with a pistol. Other people walking near the sports complex screamed for help. The accused shouted at them saying they will kill the complainant if he doesn’t listen to them. Read more
B Bhaskar Rao, a 1990-batch Karnataka cadre IPS officer and a native of Bengaluru, joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) here on Monday after serving the police force for 32 years in various capacities.
He was welcomed to the party fold by senior AAP leader and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. AAP's Karnataka unit convenor Prithvi Reddy, election in-charge for the state and Timarpur MLA Dilip Pandey, organisation secretary Damodaran and other leaders were present on the occasion at the party headquarters here.
Rao, who was serving as the Additional Director General of Police (Railways), had resigned from the service in September last year, citing personal reasons. He demitted his office on Friday to join the AAP after the Karnataka government accepted his resignation and relieved him of his duties. (PTI)
A day after booking the organiser of the ‘mahapanchayat’ in Delhi and the speakers for inflammatory speech, the Delhi Police have registered an FIR against some people for spreading rumours on social media. In their FIR, they have mentioned the names of Twitter handles, the police said.
“Due legal action is being taken against those who are spreading rumors/misinformation using various platforms including through social media,” deputy commissioner of police (north-west) Usha Rangrani said.
A senior police officer said after taking legal opinion, they have lodged an FIR against some Twitter handles for posting some false messages. “Taking a suo moto cognizance, we have registered an FIR – mentioning about these twitter handles for spreading rumours,” the officer said.
On Sunday, DCP Rangrani had tweeted also, “Some of the reporters, willingly, on their own free will, to evade the restless crowd which was getting agitated by their presence, sat in PCR Van stationed at the venue and opted to proceed to Police Station for security reasons. Nobody was detained. Due police protection was provided.” (ENS)
Four months after he joined the Trinamool Congress, Ashok Tanwar, who quit the Congress in 2019, is likely to join the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Monday. An AAP spokesperson said that Tanwar will join the party in the presence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Tanwar, once considered a close aide of Rahul Gandhi, has also headed the Congress’ Haryana unit in the past, after leading the party’s youth wing. Buoyed by its success in Punjab, Haryana is among the major states where the AAP plans to contest the next Assembly polls.
On November 23 last year, Tanwar had joined the TMC in Delhi in the presence of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee when she was visiting the national capital. Former JD(U) MP Pawan Varma and Congress leader Kirti Azad had also joined the TMC along with Tanwar. Read more
The Delhi High Court refused to grant more time to Indian classical artiste Rita Ganguly, who had challenged a single judge's decision directing her and others to vacate government allotted residences in the national capital by April end.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Navin Chawla said it will not grant even one more day and noted that the single judge was more than benevolent while granting two months' time to the artistes to vacate government accommodation.
As the court cautioned the counsel for the 81-year-old Ganguly that it will impose heavy costs on her, the lawyer sought to withdraw the appeal. (PTI)
Two men were booked for allegedly kidnapping two drivers in Gurgaon’s Bilaspur area on Saturday night. The police said a zero FIR in the case was initially lodged in Nuh on March 26 and was later transferred to Bilaspur police station.
According to the police, Savita, a resident of Ferozepur Mev in Nuh district’s Pinangwa, filed a complaint alleging that her husband Alijan and his associate Arshad, a native of Meerut, had gone to deliver a load from a private company in Bilaspur to Guwahati.
“My husband had told me that he would return in 2-3 days. On March 20, he called me from someone else’s number and said that he and Arshad were being held hostage in Bilaspur. We tried searching for them and with the help of a relative, we contacted the company’s foreman, who claimed to have held them hostage. I suspect the company’s owner and foreman are behind this. My husband’s life is in danger,” the complaint said. Read more
Parts of Delhi-NCR remained in the grip of a heatwave on Sunday, and similar conditions are on the forecast for isolated parts of the national capital and southern Haryana on Monday, as per the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
The maximum temperature at the Safdarjung weather station is likely to be 39 degrees Celsius on Monday, and the IMD has predicted strong winds.
The air quality in Delhi was in the ‘poor’ category on Sunday with an AQI of 245, and it is likely to remain the same on Monday, according to a forecast issued by the air quality early warning system on Sunday. Read more
Petrol in Delhi will now cost Rs 103.81 per litre as against Rs 103.41 previously, while diesel rates have gone up from Rs 94.67 per litre to Rs 95.07, according to a price notification of state fuel retailers.
Petrol and diesel prices were on Monday hiked by 40 paise a litre each, taking the total increase in rates in the last two weeks to Rs 8.40 per litre. In all, petrol prices have gone up by Rs 8.40 per litre.
Rates have been increased across the country and vary from state to state, depending upon the incidence of local taxation. This is the 12th increase in prices since the ending of a four-and-half-month long hiatus in rate revision on March 22. (PTI)
Delhi reported 85 cases of COVID-19 and zero death due to the infection on Sunday, while the positivity rate stood at 0.86 per cent, data shared by the city health department showed.
The data pertaining to Sunday was shared on Monday morning. These cases came out of the 9,829 tests conducted on Saturday. With 85 fresh cases, the national capital's case count has increased to 18,65,300 while the death toll stands at 26,153.
The city reported 114 fresh COVID-19 cases on Saturday with a positivity rate of 0.71 per cent. On Friday, it had logged 131 COVID-19 cases and one fatality due to the infection, while the positivity rate stood at 0.57 per cent. (PTI)
Delhi Police has lodged an FIR against the organisers of a ‘mahapanchayat’ where anti-Muslim slogans were raised on Sunday, and also booked the speakers for inflammatory speech.
An ‘Early Warning System’ identifying children in potential distress by tracking their school attendance is helping authorities in the capital to intervene and identify solutions to keep them in school.
From the system’s introduction in September 2021 to February 2022, 1,600 children were brought back to school — at least for the immediate time being — after interventions through this tracking, according to records maintained by the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR). Read More
A differently-abled girl was raped allegedly by a man in her neighbourhood in Delhi, said police, adding that the accused has been arrested.
“The incident took place on Saturday when the man allegedly raped the girl. Later, she narrated her ordeal to her parents,” a senior police officer said.
Taking to Twitter, the Delhi Police said it has arrested the accused in a rape case. “On receiving the information, the police reached the spot and sent the girl for medical examination. Further proceedings continue,” it tweeted. Read More
Over 500 protests, demonstrations and sit-ins have taken place in the national capital in the first two months of this year, according to official data.
While a dharna or sit-in is a way of showing disagreement with something by refusing to leave a place, a protest is a strong complaint showing disagreement, disapproval or opposition, police said.
Using these definitions, the data stated that in January and February, there were 103 dharnas, 49 demonstrations and 349 protests in the city.
Of the total number of dharnas, 60 were political, 33 related to issues of labourers, five were youth or student programmes, and five were communal in nature, it stated.
Thirty demonstrations were political, 13 related to issues of labourers and six communal in nature. PTI