LIVE: India needs collaboration to solve air pollution problem, say experts

Latest live news: India's environment and climate minister says the phrase reflects the "national circumstances of emerging economies.

Latest live news: Negotiators from nearly 200 countries accepted a new climate agreement at the COP26 summit in Glasgow, recognising India's intervention for the world to "phase down" rather than "phase out" coal power.

India's environment and climate minister, Bhupender Yadav, said the revision reflected the "national circumstances of emerging economies." "We are becoming the voice of the developing countries," he told Reuters, saying the pact had singled out coal but kept quiet about oil and natural gas.

Authorities cut off internet and enforced a four-day curfew in Maharashtra's Amravati city on Saturday after fresh violence during a shutdown.

A mob hurled stones at shops during the bandh allegedly organised by local BJP workers to protest rallies by Muslim organizations the day before to condemn the recent violence in Tripura, police said.

10:27 PM

Russia tops the world in new Covid-19 infections and deaths

As of early Sunday, there have been more than 253.6 million COVID-19 infections in the world and more than 5.11 million deaths, according to worldometer.info.

 

The number of new cases in the last 24 hours was 422,735 and 5,929 new deaths. Russia recorded the highest number of new infection cases and deaths around the globe - 39,256 and 1,241 respectively.

 

But since the beginning of the pandemic, the US remains the most severely affected country, with 783,412 deaths and nearly 48 million infections, followed by India and Brazil.

9:44 PM

Marked improvement in Delhi's air quality; city govt to submit lockdown proposal to SC on Monday

A visible improvement in Delhi's air quality was recorded on Sunday although it was in the 'very poor' category while the city's Environment Minister Gopal Rai said his government will submit a lockdown proposal to the Supreme Court on Monday to reduce pollution further.

 

The national capital recorded a 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) of 330 on Sunday as against 437 the previous day as emissions from farm fires in Haryana and Punjab dropped significantly. The AQI was and 471 on Friday, the worst this season so far.

 

The air quality index of neighbouring Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, Noida, Faridabad, Greater Noida was recorded at 331, 287, 321, 298 and 310, respectively.

 

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'.

9:13 PM

Bengal reports 875 new Covid cases, seven more fatalities

West Bengal on Sunday recorded seven fresh COVID-19 deaths, six less than the previous day, with the toll rising to 19,314, a health department bulletin said. At least 875 new infections raised the coronavirus tally in the state to 16,04,193, it said.

 

Of the seven fatalities, two were recorded in Kolkata and one each in South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Howrah, Uttar Dinajpur and Jalpaiguri districts, the bulletin said.

 

Kolkata registered the highest number of fresh cases at 238, followed by North 24 Parganas at 140. The daily positivity rate went up marginally to 2.13 per cent from 2.12 per cent on Saturday, while the number of single-day sample tests was at 41,066, down from 41,193, it said.

8:42 PM

Maharashtra reports 956 Covid cases, 18 deaths; 966 recover

Maharashtra on Sunday reported 956 COVID-19 cases and 18 deaths, taking the tally in the state to 66,24,300 and the toll to 1,40,583, an official said.

 

All 18 deaths took place in the Mumbai division, including 11 in Raigad, five in Kalyan-Dombivali civic area in the Thane district and two in the metropolis.

 

The discharge of 966 persons took the recovery count to 64,67,879 in Maharashtra, which is 97.64 per cent of the overall tally, leaving the state with 12,191 active cases, he said. The fatality rate stood at 2.12 per cent.

8:30 PM

UNICEF India calls for urgent action for safe reopening of schools

UNICEF India unveiled a symbolic 'Pandemic Classroom' installation in the national capital to mark Children's Day on Sunday, ahead of the World Children's Day on November 20, and called for urgent action to support learning.

 

Empty rows of desks and chairs along with unused backpacks were set up to draw attention to the plight of millions of young children who missed going to school for over a year due to closures in the wake of the pandemic and have consequently experienced learning loss.

 

UNICEF India Representative Yasumasa Kimura unveiled the installation by ringing a school bell.

8:18 PM

Congress to go solo in UP polls, contest all 403 seats: Priyanka

The Congress will contest all 403 seats in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh polls on its own and emerge victorious in the electoral battle, party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Sunday.

 

Ruling out an alliance with any political party, she said the leaders of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (SP) were nowhere to be seen even when the 2017 Unnao rape case and the Hathras gangrape-and-murder case in 2020 rocked the country, adding that only the Congress was fighting for the people.

 

Addressing the party cadre at the Pratigya Sammelan - Lakshya 2022 in Anoopshahr here, the Congress general secretary stressed on the importance of the Uttar Pradesh polls for the party, calling it a "do-or-die" situation.

7:58 PM

Railways' PRS service shut for 6 hours from Nov 14 to Nov 21

The Railways' Passenger Reservation System will shut down for six hours during the lean business hours of night for the next seven days, as part of the national transporter's efforts to normalise passenger services and revert back to pre-covid times in a phased manner.

 

The step is to enable upgradation of system data, new train numbers and other work, the railway ministry said on Sunday.

 

"Since a huge amount of past (old train numbers) and current passenger booking data is to be updated in all mail/express trains, this is being planned in a series of carefully calibrated steps and implemented during night hours in order to minimise the impact on ticketing services.

7:52 PM

Indian economy to grow at double-digits this fiscal: CEA

Indian economy is expected to see a double-digit growth in 2021-22 and between 6.5-7 per cent in the next financial year, outgoing chief economic advisor K V Subramanian said on Sunday. The CEA said that he does not expect commodity inflation will taper the V-shaped recovery going forward.

"I expect India to grow at double digit this year (FY22) and 6.5-7 per cent next year and over seven per cent and thereafter growth accelerating over seven per cent, Subramanian told PTI in a interview.

He was in the city to receive the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta. India's growth projection had been capped between 8.7 per cent and 9.4 per cent by IMF and other institutions.

7:46 PM

Doctors say severe respiratory cases on rise in Delhi amid hazardous pollution levels

Meena Thakur coughs non-stop as she sits down on the floor to have lunch near the entrance of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi, PTI reported.

 

With a stuffy nose and watery eyes troubling her, she wraps it up quickly and covers her face with her scarf to keep the dust away hazardous air quality has pushed the national capital on the cusp of a health emergency and an increased number of people have been seeking medical help.

 

"My father-in-law is in the hospital. I came from Jalaun (in Uttar Pradesh) to see him on Thursday. I was okay at home, but developed a cold and cough after coming to Delhi. There's smoke all around. I will leave as soon as he is discharged, she says. Across the road, Pawan Yadav, a sanitation worker at Safdarjung Hospital, coughs up phlegm every few seconds.

7:42 PM

Haryana shuts schools in four districts due to air pollution

A day after the Delhi government announced to shut schools amid air pollution, the Haryana government on Sunday also ordered closure of all schools -- private and government -- in four districts, Gurugram, Faridabad, Jhajjar and Sonipat, till November 17.

 

According to the order, both government and private offices have been advised to work from home.

 

Besides, there is a complete ban on operation of stone crushers and hot mix plants used in construction activities. The Deputy Commissioner of the concerned districts has been directed to constitute joint inspections teams for enforcing the directions and ensuring extensive checking, monitoring and action against the violators.

7:34 PM

Smog towers, fly ash in concrete among steps mandated in Central Vista tenders: Bimal Patel

Preservation of topsoil, smog towers installation and use of fly ash in concrete are among the environment-friendly measures mandated in the tenders for the construction of buildings under the Central Vista project, said its master architect Bimal Patel. He said the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) has also been keeping a close watch on the projects from the environmental perspective. The entire project is designed to be energy efficient for improving the air quality in the long run, he said.

 

Confident of completing the new parliament building in time, Patel said contractors, clients and designers are all working hard towards achieving the goal of sticking to the committed timeline.

 

The new parliament building is scheduled to be completed before the winter session of 2022.

 

"Various measures have been mandated in the tender documents of the buildings being built as part of the Central Vista project to safeguard the environment during construction. These include preservation of topsoil, installation of smog towers and use of fly ash in concrete," Patel told PTI.

7:30 PM

BJP leaders from Punjab meet PM Modi seeking reopening of Kartarpur corridor

A delegation of BJP leaders from Punjab met Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Sunday and requested him to reopen the Kartarpur corridor before Gurpurab.

 

The Kartarpur corridor provides a visa-free border crossing for pilgrims from India visiting the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara in Pakistan. It links the Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, the final resting place of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, to the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district in India. Pilgrimage to the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara was suspended in March 2020 because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

 

The delegation comprising 11 leaders from Punjab met Modi at his official residence and conveyed the sentiments of Guru Nanak Dev's devotees, BJP Punjab unit president Ashwani Sharma told PTI.

7:24 PM

236 covid cases, two deaths in Karnataka

Karnataka on Sunday reported 236 fresh COVID-19 cases and two deaths taking the caseload and cumulative fatalities to 29,91,850 and 38,145 respectively, the health department said.

 

It also said 264 people were discharged, taking the total number of recoveries to 29,45,679. The active cases stood at 7,997. Bengaluru Urban remained the major contributor of COVID cases with 152 fresh infections and both the deaths being reported from the city. 

6:58 PM

Skye Air to showcase India-made drones at Dubai Airshow

Drone delivery tech startup, Skye Air has become the first such entity from the country to showcase India-made drones at an international diaspora.

 

The platform said it will be exhibiting its cutting-edge technology at the 17th edition of the five-day Dubai Airshow, which commenced in the Gulf country on Sunday.

 

Skye Air will be exhibiting its flagship 'Skye Air One'- a multicopter with a load carrying capacity of 5 kg, speed of 40km/hour and an operational range of 20km, the company said in a release.

 

Dubai Airshow is expected to attract over 1,200 exhibitors from 148 countries at the Dubai World Central.

6:58 PM

TMC, CPI(M) target Centre over extending tenure of CBI, ED directors

Opposition parties the TMC and the CPI(M) on Sunday targeted the central government over extending the tenure of the CBI and the ED directors, asking why it could not wait for Parliament to be in session.

 

The tenures of directors of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) can now be up to a maximum of five years from the present two years, according to two ordinances brought in by the government on Sunday.

 

The Parliament session begins on November 29.