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Pollution levels in Delhi and satellite towns shoot up, air quality 'severe plus' at several places

News Network
November 3, 2019

New Delhi, Nov 3: Pollution levels in Delhi and satellite towns shot up again on Sunday morning, with the air quality bordering the 'severe plus' category at several places.

A slight increase in the wind speed and a light drizzle on Saturday had led a drop in pollution levels with the air quality index settling at 399 in the evening.

However, weather experts said pollution levels shot up overnight due to calm winds leading to accumulation of pollutants.

At 11 a.m., Delhi's AQI read 483.

On Friday, the city recorded the 24-hour AQI average of 484, which prompted authorities to shut schools, ban all construction activities and declare a "public health emergency".

The Friday's highest was the worst since November 9, 2017, when it was 486.

The AQI at Pusa, Bawana, Anand Vihar, Ashok Vihar, Mundka, Punjabi Bagh and ITO was between 490 and 500.

In the National Capital Region (NCR), Noida (487), Ghaziabad (483) and Greater Noida (470), Gurgaon (457), breathed extremely polluted air.

An AQI between 0-50 is considered 'good', 51-100 'satisfactory', 101-200 'moderate', 201-300 'poor', 301-400 'very poor' and 401-500 'severe'. Above 500 falls in the 'severe plus' category.

NASA satellite imagery showed vast swathes of the northern plains, covering Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and parts of Jharkhand and West Bengal, blanketed under a smoky haze.

Delhi is pinning hopes on meteorological relief with the weatherman saying winds gusting up to 20-25 kilometers per hour are likely to prevail in the region from Sunday evening to Tuesday.

Scattered rainfall in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi is likely on November 7 and 8 under the influence of Cyclone Maha and a fresh western disturbance.

This rainfall, however light, will be significant in terms of reducing the effect of stubble burning and washing away pollutants, officials said.

On Friday, the Supreme Court-mandated Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority had declared the "public health emergency", following which the Delhi government decided to shut all schools.

The EPCA also banned all construction activities in Delhi-NCR till November 5.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called Delhi a "gas chamber" and blamed stubble burning in Haryana and Punjab for the apocalyptic haze shrouding Delhi.

The share of stubble burning in Delhi's pollution stood at 46 per cent on Friday, the highest so far. It dropped to 17 per cent on Saturday and is expected to be 12 per cent on Sunday, according to the Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality monitor SAFAR.

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News Network
August 7,2020

Kozhikode: An Air India Express flight from Dubai with 190 people on board overshot the Kozhikode tabletop runway on landing there today. The Boeing 737 “fell off” the runway into the valley, broke into two causing death and devastation. 

According to reports, around 20 people were dead including two pilots.

An Air India spokesperson said: “Air India Express flight IX 1344 operated by Boeing 737 aircraft from Dubai to Calicut overshot the runway at Kozhikode at 7.41 pm Friday. No fire reported at the time of landing. There are 174 passengers, 10 infants, two pilots and five cabin crew on board. Rescue operations are on and passengers are being taken to hospital for medical care. We will soon share the update in this regard.”

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is probing this accident. “Prima facie, the aircraft landed beyond the touchdown point and fell into a valley. It has broken into two. We suspect some casualties. More information is awaited,” said a senior DGCA official.

Taking to twitter, defence minister Rajnath Singh wrote: “Devastating news from Kozhikode, Kerala. I am deeply anguished by the loss of lives due to an accident carrying several passengers on Air India flight. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the bereaved families. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured.”

Foreign minister S Jaishankar tweeted: “Deeply distressed to hear about the Air India Express tragedy at Kozhikode. Prayers are with the bereaved families and those injured. We are ascertaining further details.”

While, senior BJP leader from Kerala K J Alphons tweeted: “Second tragedy of the day in Kerala: Air India Express skids off the run way at Kozhikode, front portion splits , pilot dies and lots of passengers injured . All passengers evacuated. Very lucky the aircraft didn’t catch fire.”

More details are awaited.

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News Network
March 26,2020

New Delhi, Mar 26: The total number of people who have been confirmed positive for COVID-19 in India has risen to 649 in India, including 593 active cases and 42 people who have been cured or discharged from hospitals, according to the recent update by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on Thursday morning.
The death toll due to the novel coronavirus in the country has reached 13, the official data reported. There have been 3 more deaths due to COVID-19 reported in the country since last evening.
An 85-year-old woman in Gujarat died yesterday while with the passing away of a 65-year-old woman, Madhya Pradesh reported its first COVID-19 death. Tamil Nadu also reported its first death in the state yesterday due to the deadly infection.
According to report from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) India had tested 24,254 people as of 8 p.m. on March 25.
The country is now in its second day of a 21-day lockdown that was announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday to deal with the spread of coronavirus, saying that "social distancing" is the only option to deal with the disease, which spreads rapidly.
The central government had on Wednesday announced that it will provide 7 kg ration to 80 crore people in India. The Centre also said that it has earmarked Rs 1.80 lakh crores for providing wheat at Rs 2 per kg and rice at Rs 3 per kg
"Union Cabinet has decided to provide wheat at Rs 2 per kg which is worth Rs 27 per kg and rice at Rs 3 per kg which is worth Rs 37 per kg. A total amount of Rs 1 lakh 80 thousand crores is being spent for the cause. The amount will be given in advance to the states for the coming 3 months," Union Minister Sadananda Gowda said yesterday.
Those shops which are catering to essential services will continue doing so during the 21-day nationwide lockdown.

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News Network
July 22,2020

New Delhi, Jul 22: With a spike of 37,724 cases and 648 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, the total number of COVID-19 cases in India stands at 11,92,915, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The total number of cases includes 4,11,133 active cases, 7,53,050 cured/discharged/migrated and 28,732 deaths, the Health Ministry informed.

Maharashtra remains the worst affected state with 3,27,031 cases and 12,276 deaths.
The second worst-hit state, Tamil Nadu has reported 1,80,643 COVID-19 cases so far while Delhi has reported 1,25,096 cases, according to the Ministry.

Other states that have witnessed a higher number of COVID-19 positive cases include, Andhra Pradesh with 58,668 cases, Karnataka with 71,069 while Telangana has reported 47,705 COVID-19 positive cases.

Meanwhile, as per the information provided by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the total number of samples tested up to July 21 is 1,47,24, 546 including 3,43,243 samples tested yesterday.

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