Delhi breathes easier as air quality improves to 'poor'category

News Network
November 17, 2019

New Delhi, Nov 17: After reeling under a layer of hazardous levels of pollution for almost a week, the air quality in Noida significantly improved but remained in the 'poor' category.

According to data provided by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the Air Quality Index (AQI) at Sector 62 Noida docked at 221, which falls in the 'poor' category. The current AQI is down from 573 (severe) that was recorded on Saturday.

Isolated pockets of the region were covered in a thick blanket of smog due to the spike in pollutants in the air. The smog cover also reduced visibility at major junctions of the city in the wee hours.

It is to be noted that all government and private schools in Gautam Budh Nagar district remained closed on November 14 and 15 due to rising pollution levels in the region, as the AQI had entered the 'severe' category, forcing people to limit their outdoor activities.

"Pollution has increased in the last few days. Schools were closed and this has affected my studies. We cannot breathe if we don't put a mask. I used to play for around one hour, but since pollution levels have increased, I cannot go out," Aditi, a youngster, told ANI.

Echoing similar sentiments, Shailendra, another resident in Noida, said, "Pollution levels have decreased because of the winds. However, it is still a dangerous situation. Schools were closed as pollution levels spiked and have affected the studies of children. They cannot go out and play as well. We are doing our activities indoors."

Elsewhere in the National Capital Region (NCR), the air quality came out of the 'severe' category due to strong surface winds, which helped in clearing out the pollutants from the atmosphere.

In Gurugram, the AQI at NISE Gwal Pahari area read at 301, which falls in the 'very poor' category, as per the CPCB data.

In Delhi, major pollutants PM 2.5 and PM 10, read at 218 and 217 at Lodhi Road area respectively, both of which falls in 'poor' category, according to SAFAR.

Residents in the Delhi-NCR have been gasping for fresh air since due to the noxious smog that has enveloped the region owing to incidents of stubble burning in Haryana and Punjab.

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News Network
April 20,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 20: The Kerala health department has declared 88 local bodies including the corporation, municipality and panchayats, spread over 14 districts in the state as COVID-19 hotspots.

"The lockdown restrictions in these areas will be continued in the hotspots announced by the state health department," said state DGP Lokanath Behera in a statement.

"Hot spots are being announced based on COVID-19 positive cases, primary contacts and secondary contacts. As the outbreak of the disease increases, hot spots will be revised daily," said State Health Minister KK Shailaja.

However, the Minister said that a particular region will be excluded from the hot spot after a weekly data analysis.

District wise hot spots in the state - Thiruvananthapuram (3) including Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, Kollam (5), Alappuzha (3), Pathanamthitta (7), Kottayam District (1), Idukki (6), Ernakulam (2), Thrissur (3), Palakkad (4), Malappuram (13), Kozhikode (6), Wayanad (2), Kannur (19) and Kasaragod (14).

In Kerala, 400 people have detected positive for coronavirus, including 3 deaths, as per the Union Health Minister.

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News Network
January 18,2020

New Delhi, Jan 18: Senior advocate Indira Jaising urged the mother of Nirbhaya to pardon the men on death row who were convicted for the 2012 gang rape of her daughter.

Jaising took to Twitter to make the request shortly after Asha Devi on Friday expressed her disappointment following a Delhi court postponed the date of the execution of the four convicts.

"While I fully identify with the pain of Asha Devi I urge her to follow the example of Sonia Gandhi who forgave Nalini and said she didn't not want the death penalty for her. We are with you but against the death penalty," Jaisingh tweeted.

Asha Devi lashed out at Jaisingh suggesting pardon for the convicts. "I can't believe how Indira Jaising even dared to suggest such this. I met her many times over the years in Supreme Court, not once she asked for my wellbeing and today, she is speaking for convicts. Such people earn livelihood by supporting rapists, hence rape incidents don't stop," Asha Devi told ANI.

Nalini was arrested and convicted for her role in the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.

Earlier on Friday Asha Devi had lashed out at the courts and the government stating that "the same people who had in the year 2012 gone around participating in rallies and raised slogans for women's safety are playing with the death of my daughter for their political gains. They have stopped the execution for their political gains."

The death-row convicts who were earlier slated to be executed on January 22 at 7 am are set to be hanged on February 1 at 6 am.

Asha Devi rued that the convicts got what they wished for. "I will not be satisfied until they are hanged," she added.

Four convicts, Vinay, Akshay, Pawan and Mukesh were convicted and sentenced to death for raping a 23-year-old woman in a moving bus in the national capital on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012.

The victim, who was later given the name Nirbhaya succumbed to injuries at a hospital in Singapore where she had been airlifted for medical treatment.

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News Network
March 11,2020

Jaipur, Mar 11: A 85-year-old man in Jaipur, who had returned from Dubai on February 28, has tested positive for coronavirus, a state government official said on Wednesday.

He was found presumptive positive in the first test on Tuesday and hence, a second test was conducted with fresh samples, the reports of which arrived late Tuesday night, Additional Chief Secretary, Medical and Health, Rohit Kumar Singh, said.

“The man who travelled to Dubai has been tested positive for coronavirus. It has been confirmed now,” Singh said.

“We have also got the manifest of the Spicejet flight he took from Dubai to Jaipur and are doing due diligence on that,” the official said, adding that intense contact tracing was underway.

The man has been kept in isolation at the SMS Hospital here.

“The man came to the hospital on Monday with symptoms of the virus. After the first test, his wife and son too have been kept in isolation at the hospital. The two, however, do not have coronavirus affliction symptoms,” Singh said.

A total of 235 people who came in contact with the octogenarian and his family have already been traced and are being monitored, he said.

Other contacts are also being traced, Singh added.

An Italian couple, who tested positive for COVID-19 last week, are also admitted in the hospital but their condition is improving, he said.

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