Page 87 - Delhi

First section of Delhi Metro phase-IV to open by July 2024, says DMRC chief

Due to impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, "fresh targets" have been set for Ph-IV project of the Delhi Metro, and the first section of a priority corridor is planned to be opened by July 2024, DMRC chief Vikas Kumar said. In an interview to PTI, Kumar also said that besides commissioning of a small 2.5-3 km segment of the Janakpuri West-R K Ashram Marg corridor, the whole Majlis Park-Maujpur corridor is planned to be opened by March 2025. The managing director of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said the construction of the Ph-IV has brought many firsts for the country, and "beam technology-enabled TBMs" are being used in the phase to assess strata layers in advance so that "there are no surprises" during the drilling process. The work on Ph-IV, which had begun in December 2019, was hit due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 in Delhi. At present, the DMRC is undertaking construction work on 65.2 km of three priority corridors spanning 45 stations under the

Mother Dairy's Safal outlets to sell buffer onion at Rs 25 per kg

Stepping up measures to provide relief to consumers from rising onion prices, the Centre on Saturday said Mother Dairy's Safal outlets will also sell buffer onion at a subsidised rate of Rs 25 per kg from weekend in Delhi-NCR, while Hyderabad Agricultural Cooperatives Association is doing so in Telangana and other southern states. Already, cooperative bodies NCCF and Nafed are retailing buffer onion at subsidised rate on behalf of the central government. While Nafed has so far set up 329 retail points consisting of mobile vans and station outlets in 55 cities across 21 states, NCCF has set up 457 retail points in 54 cities in 20 states, it said. Kendriya Bhandar too has started retail supply of onion through its outlets across Delhi-NCR from November 3. "Safal Mother Dairy will start from this weekend. The retail sale of onions to consumers in Telangana and other southern states is being taken up by Hyderabad Agricultural Cooperatives Association (HACA)," the consumer affairs minist

MHA relaxes regulatory requirements for live performances in Delhi

The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a notification relaxing regulatory requirements for live performances such as skits, comedy shows and poetry sessions at public amusement places in the national capital, officials said on Friday. Earlier, details such as scripts and contents of live performances at public places were required to be approved by the police but now it would not be needed provided the performers maintain public order, morality and decency, they said. The Licensing of Places of Public Amusement and Public Amusement Performances (other than Cinema), 2023, was notified on October 31. Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena had pushed for rationalising and easing licensing requirements and procedures for public performances in line with the motto of "ease of doing business". A key feature of the revised regulations is that the entire process of licensing is now online. Provisions related to performance hours and music have been clearly laid down and the chapter on ...

Will stay focused on Delhi & Bengaluru, open charging hubs for biz: Jaggi

Jaggi also won't mix the electric DNA of the company with either hybrid or any other fuel cars. But he has other plans to improve revenue

Besides Delhi, NCCF to sell subsidised onion at Rs 25/kg in other states

Besides Delhi-NCR, cooperative body NCCF on Friday said it will retail onion at a subsidised rate of Rs 25 per kg in other states too in order to provide relief to consumers from the high prices of the key kitchen staple. On behalf of the central government, the National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India (NCCF) started retailing onion at a subsidised rate from September 9 at 100 different locations in and around Delhi. "In addition to Delhi-NCR, we have increased our coverage to all states from Jammu and Kashmir to Kerala," NCCF said in a statement. The cooperative body has been selling onion online for the last two weeks through the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) platform through Paytm, MagicPin and MyStore in Srinagar, Jaipur, Varanasi and Delhi-NCR, it said. So far, 416 vans are plying and have sold 2,219.61 tonnes onion in the retail markets, it added. Retail onion prices have shot up in the last two weeks up to Rs 80 per kg in different parts of the country

Air pollution situation extremely worrisome: Delhi LG calls meeting with CM

Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena Friday said the air pollution situation in the city is "extremely worrying" and called a meeting with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Environment Minister Gopal Rai at Raj Niwas. In a series of posts on X, Saxena appealed to people to remain indoors and not to expose themselves and especially children and elderly to the hazardous ambient conditions. The LG has also cancelled his public engagements at Yogmaya Mandir and Urs of Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya. "The situation arising out of air pollution in the City is extremely worrying. I have asked Hon'ble CM & Hon'ble Minister (Environment) for a meeting at Raj Niwas at 06:00 PM today, to take stock of the situation," he posted on "I appeal to the people to remain indoors as much as possible and to not expose themselves- especially children & elderly to hazardous ambient conditions wherein AQI has reportedly crossed 800 at places," he said in another post. Delhi's air quality plummeted to the .

Congress seeks total revamp of Air Pollution Act amid rising AQI levels

The Congress on Friday voiced concern over rising air pollution in the country and called for a total revamp of the Air Pollution Act and air quality standards to make them stringent and effective. The demand came amid rising air pollution levels in the national capital and other parts of the country. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said The Air Pollution (Control and Prevention) Act came into being in 1981. Thereafter, ambient air quality standards were announced in April 1994 and later revised in October 1998, he noted. In November 2009, after a thorough review by IIT Kanpur and other institutions a more stringent and wide-ranging National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) was put into effect. This covered 12 pollutants considered very detrimental to public health, he said, while sharing the press note that accompanied the implementation of NAAQS which reveals the thinking for the significant shift that took place then. "It is now time for a revisit and a total reva

Metro to run 20 extra train trips from Nov 3: DMRC after Grap-III

Delhi Metro will run 20 extra train trips across its network starting November 3 in view of the measures taken by pollution control authorities on Thursday to encourage more and more people to use public transport in Delhi and neighbouring cities, officials said. Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 402 at 5 pm, prompting the Centre's pollution control panel imposed Stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) that is implemented in the region during the winter season. "In view of the implementation of GRAP-III stage to combat pollution in Delhi, the DMRC will be further adding 20 extra trips across its network starting tomorrow i.e, 3rd November 2023 (Friday)," the DMRC said in a statement. Delhi Metro is already running 40 additional train trips on weekdays (Monday-Friday) from October 25 onwards when GRAP-II stage had come into force. "Thus, from tomorrow, the DMRC will be running a total of 60 additional trips as part of its measures taken under GRAP to encourage mor

Primary schools in Delhi shut for 2 days in view of rising pollution: CM

All government and private primary schools in Delhi will remain closed for the next two days in view of rising pollution levels, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced Thursday night. Pollution levels in the national capital entered the "severe" zone for the first time this season on Thursday, with scientists warning of a further spike over the next two weeks. In a post on 'X', the chief minister said, "In light of the rising pollution levels, all govt and private primary schools in Delhi will remain closed for the next 2 days." At least 18 out of 37 monitoring stations in Delhi recorded Air Quality Index (AQI) in the severe category. The areas where AQI breached the 400-mark are - Anand Vihar (450), Bawana (452), Burari Crossing (408), Dwarka Sector 8 (445), Jahangirpuri (433), Mundka (460), NSIT Dwarka (406), Najafgarh (414), Narela (433), Nehru Nagar (400), New Moti Bagh (423), Okhla Phase 2 (415), Patparganj (412), Punjabi Bagh (445), R K Puram (417), Rohini (454), Shadipur .

Wait time for getting appointment for B1, B2 US visas 37 days in Delhi

The waiting period for getting an interview appointment for a US visa in the B1 and the B2 categories (business and tourism) currently stands at 37 days in Delhi, according to official data. The US State Department on its website has shared the estimated wait time to receive an interview appointment for visas at a US embassy or consulate. According to the data updated November 1 on the website, the current waiting period for getting an interview appointment for an American visa in the B1 and the B2 categories stands at 37 days in Delhi, 322 days in Mumbai, 126 days in Kolkata, 341 days in Chennai and 511 days in Hyderabad. Visitor visas are nonimmigrant visas for persons who want to enter the US temporarily for business (visa category B1), for tourism (visa category B2), or for a combination of both purposes (B1/B2). The US Embassy in India on Wednesday had posted on X that over the weekend "we opened over a quarter million nonimmigrant visa appointments". "It was a busy weekend f

CAQM invokes third stage of Grap as air quality worsens in Delhi-NCR region

The sub-committee reviewed the air quality scenario in the region as well as the forecasts for meteorological conditions and air quality index made available by IMD and IITM

Next 15 days to remain crucial: Rai on deteriorating air quality in Delhi

"We need to work unitedly in order to curb the situation. Everyone needs to be aware of it", he said

Delhi hospitals witness spike in patients as air pollution rises: AIIMS

To carry out this study, the hospitals daily monitored the health of the patients coming to the emergency wards

Severe air quality alarm in Delhi-NCR area due to surge in stubble burning

The smoky haze shrouding Delhi thickened on Thursday, obscuring the skyline and hiding the sun, due to a surge in farm fires and unfavourable weather conditions, prompting doctors to issue warnings about breathing issues being aggravated. Scientists have warned of a spike in pollution levels in Delhi-NCR over the next two weeks. This is concerning as the Air Quality Index (AQI) in many areas has already breached the 400-mark to enter the severe category. An official from the India Meteorological Department reported that visibility reduced to just 500 metres at the Safdarjung Observatory around 7 am, gradually improving to 800 metres as temperatures increased during the day. Cold temperatures create stable atmospheric conditions, known as temperature inversions, where a layer of warm air traps cooler air near the ground, allowing the accumulation of pollutants. At 3 pm, the city's AQI reached 378. The 24-hour average AQI was 364 on Wednesday, 359 on Tuesday, 347 on Monday, 325 on ..

BJP workers protest at Rajghat, demand resignation of CM Arvind Kejriwal

Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva, Leader of the opposition Delhi Legislative Assembly and BJP leader Ramvir Singh Bidhuri and other leaders were present during the protest

Delhi recorded highest number of road accidents at 5,652 last year: MoRTH

Delhi recorded the highest number of road accidents in 2022 among cities with a population of over a million people, followed by Indore and Jabalpur, according to a report by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). Delhi recorded 5,652 accidents, followed by Indore (4,680), Jabalpur (4,046), Bengaluru (3,822), Chennai (3,452), Bhopal (3,313), Mallapuram (2,991), Jaipur (2,687), Hyderabad (2,516) and Kochi (2,432), the report said. These 10 cities accounted for 46.37 per cent of the total road accidents in 50 cities with a population of one million each. A total of 76,752 road accidents were recorded in 2022 in these 50 cities, resulting in a loss of 17,089 lives and causing injuries to 69,052 people. These cities are spread across 17 states and 2 UTs. The cities accounted for 16.6 per cent of the total accidents and 10.1 per cent of the total accident-related fatalities in the country. The number of road accidents and fatalities has increased in all million-plus cities ex

Chandrawal WTP to be shut for Nov 2-3, water supply may affect in Delhi

The Chandrawal Water Treatment Plant (WTP) will remain shut for two days beginning Thursday due to work for the installation of a flowmeter, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) said. "The Chandrawal WTP will remain under shutdown on November 2 from 10 am onwards and thus, the water supply will not be available in several areas in the evening of November 2 and the morning of November 3," the water utility said in a post on X on Wednesday. Water supply will be affected in the Civil Lines, Hindu Rao Hospital, Kamla Nagar, Shakti Nagar, Karol Bagh, Pahar Ganj and New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) areas. "Water supply will also be affected in Old and New Rajinder Nagar, Patel Nagar (east and west), Baljeet Nagar, Prem Nagar, Inderpuri adjoining areas, and parts of Cantonment area and South Delhi," the DJB said.

Will ban construction work in areas with severe air quality: Delhi govt

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Wednesday said the city government will ban construction work in areas recording an air quality index (AQI) above the 400 mark for five consecutive days. During a press conference, he said Delhi's AQI has remained around 350 for the past few days and meteorologists attribute this to a drop in temperatures and calm winds. "These conditions are expected to persist for the next few days, making the next fortnight crucial for Delhi," Rai said. Despite the implementation of preventive measures under Stage 2 of the Central government's air pollution control plan, pollution levels in the city continue to rise. Therefore, the Delhi government will halt construction work within a one-kilometer radius where the AQI exceeds the 400-mark for five consecutive days, Rai said. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered "good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe" The ministe

Mumbai reports 4th highest rise in home prices globally: Knight Frank

The price rise was the steepest in Manila at 21.2%, followed by 15.9% in Dubai and 10.4% in Shanghai

No fireworks in Delhi, Mumbai during World Cup matches as pollution worsens

The BCCI has banned the display of fireworks during the remaining World Cup games in Delhi and Mumbai due to worsening air quality in the two mega cities. Delhi has only one match left to host, the Bangladesh-Sri Lanka game on November 6, while Mumbai are scheduled to host two more league games, on November 2 and November 7, and the semifinal on November 15. BCCI is sensitive to environmental concerns. I took up the matter formally with the ICC and there won't be any fireworks display in Mumbai, which can add to the pollution level," said BCCI secretary Jay Shah in a statement on Wednesday. "The Board is committed to combating environmental issues and will always place the interest of our fans and stakeholders at the forefront. The BCCI acknowledges the urgent concern surrounding air quality in both Mumbai and New Delhi. "While we strive to host the ICC World Cup in a manner befitting the celebration of cricket, we remain steadfast in our commitment to prioritising the health and .