Delhi air pollution: Know govt's emergency plan to avoid smog filled winter

Last winter, the Delhi-NCR suffered one of the worst bouts of pollution. The entire region was in the grip of haze and smog. Now, the dreadful pollution is back to the national capital and its nearby states. Meanwhile, recent satellite images from the NASA showed that farmers in Punjab and Haryana have started burning crop residue earlier this month.

On Sunday, the air quality in Delhi remained poor, as the overall air quality index (AQI) recorded at 10 am Sunday stood at 208 which falls in the poor category, according to Centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR).

The PM10 level (presence of particles with diameter less than 10 micrometres) in Delhi stood at 183 and the PM2.5 level was recorded at 93, according to the data.

Authorities have predicted further deterioration of air quality in the coming days.

An emergency action plan has been implemented from Monday to combat air pollution that has begun to show a trend towards poor category.

Monsoon likely to cover entire India in next 2-3 days, says IMD

The south-west monsoon, which reached Delhi on Thursday and stretched into Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu & Kashmir, is expected to cover the country in the next two-three days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in its daily update on June 28.

The monsoon normally covers the country by July 15, but this time it is expected to do so about 14 days before the anticipated date.

“The south-west monsoon has further advanced into some more parts of the Gujarat region, most parts of east Rajasthan, some parts of West Rajasthan, entire Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, remaining parts of west Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab," the IMD said.

“Conditions are favourable for further advance of the south-west monsoon into remaining parts of the north Arabian Sea, Gujarat, Rajasthan and thus the entire country during the next 2-3 days,” the IMD added.

The monsoon reached Kerala on June 28, three days ahead of the normal onset date. It pounded the western coast in the first half of the month.

IPL 2017 gets bigger with sponsors, key players missing in the 10th edition

Amid much fan-frenzy, and competition among sponsors and players, the Indian Premiere League turns 10 this season. And organisers are preparing for a big celebration for the landmark edition, which kicks off on Wednesday. Unlike past editions, the 10th season will host eight different opening ceremonies, one before the first home game of each franchise, IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla announced on Monday.

After Pepsi terminated its contract with IPL, Vivo Electronics bagged the title sponsorship for two years in 2015. Business Standard had earlier reported that Vivo will pay Rs 100 crore a year, against the Rs 80 crore Pepsi was paying annually.

Broadcaster Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) has signed up 11 sponsors, including Amazon, and it is targeting over Rs 1,200 crore in advertisement revenue from the 10th season.

E-commerce major Amazon, mobile handset maker Vivo and telecom giant Vodafone will be the presenting sponsors, while Ceat, wire-maker Polycab, Yamaha Motorcycles, Vimal Pan Masala, MakeMytrip, Parle Agro's Frooti, Voltas and YES Bank are associate sponsors.

However, the only regret for some fans of the cricket extravaganza this year is going to be the absence of some blockbuster names in the game. Thanks to international cricketing calendar getting busier with every passing year, the players are getting more prone to injuries. Even before the start of the touranment, injuries have already started bothering the franchises as well. Many star players could give this year's IPL a complete or partial miss.

The biggest among missing names in IPL 2017 is Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli, who is out due to his shoulder injury. Kohli, however, is likely to return on the field by the second week of April.

K L Rahul, Quinton de Kock, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mitchell Marsh, Murali Vijay will completely miss the tournament due to their respective injuries. While Umesh Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja are likely to regain fitness, they would be missing some of the initial matches. Lasith Malinga is on a national duty and might miss the first few matches, while J P Duminy pulled out of the tournamnet citing personal reasons. (READ MORE)

Opposition demands Budget 2017 be tabled after March 11

Union Budget 2017 - Opposition parties have demanded that presentation of the General Budget 2017 be postponed to after March 11, the date of counting of votes for the five states going to the polls. They have slammed it as a short term political move with an eye on the assembly polls to enable the Narendra Modi government to announce sops before the elections while bypassing the Election Commission's (EC) model code of conduct.

The Election Commission on Wednesday announced poll dates for Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. Polls in Goa and Punjab will be held in a single phase on February 4, while in Uttarakhand on February 15. Manipur will have a two-phase election with polling on March 4 and 8. Uttar Pradesh will have a seven phase polling from February 11 to March 8. The counting of votes is on Saturday, March 11. The process will be completed before Holi, which this year falls on March 13.

On Tuesday, the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs decided to advance the first phase of the Budget session of Parliament from January 31 to February 9, instead of last week of February. The General Budget will be presented on February 1, instead of the usual last working day of February. (Read More)

Assembly elections announced. Voting for 5 states begins Feb 4

Breaking News - Uttar Pradesh will go to polls  in seven phases on February 11, 15, 19, 23, 27 and March 4 and 8 , said Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi on Wednesday.

Assembly elections Voting in Goa and Punjab will be held on February 4. Uttarakhand will go to polls on February 15.

Polling in Manipur will be in two phases. The first phase with 38 constituencies will go to polls on March 4 and the second phase with 22 constituencies on March 8.

The counting for all five assemblies will take place on March 11.

The model of conduct comes into effect immediately.

The terms of the legislative assembly in Uttar Pradesh is going to end on May 27, Uttarakhand is due to expire on March 26 while that of Goa, Manipur and Punjab expires on March 18.

160 million voters will exercise their franchise in polling that will be held in 690 Assembly consitutencies. 1.85 lakh polling stations will be set up with some of them being modern polling station as well.(Read More)