TOP NEWS

Indian union minister for Environment Bhupender Yadav on Wednesday reported that in the northern state of Punjab there has been a 19 per cent rise in the cases of stubble burning, while Haryana has witnessed a significant drop of 30.6 per cent.

Taking to Twitter Yadav lashed out at the Aam Aadmi Party-led state government of Punjab and its Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for not providing ample relief to the farmers, reports IANS.

"As of today, Punjab, a state run by the AAP government, has seen an over 19 per cent rise in farm fires over 2021. Haryana has seen a 30.6 per cent drop. Just today, Punjab saw 3,634 fires. There is no doubt over who has turned Delhi into a gas chamber," he wrote.

As the air quality is set to worsen from tomorrow, construction and demolition activities in Delhi have been suspended. The Air Quality Index reached 415, i.e. in the 'severe' category in the Anand Vihar area on Monday, as per the Central Pollution Control Board.

The AQI near IGI Airport (T3) also stood in the 'very poor' category on Monday. Meanwhile, the AQI stood at 377 near Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

The air quality of the national capital on October 31, 2022 night deteriorated to the “severe” category, according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi commands respect globally because he leads a country that has deep roots in democracy. Speaking at a public function at Mangarh Dham in Rajasthan's Banswara, Gehlot said India has scripted history in the world as democracy in alive in the country even after more than 70 years since it achieved independence.

"When Modi goes abroad, he gets so much respect. He gets the respect because he is the prime minister of the country of Gandhi, where the roots of democracy run deep and where, even after more than 70 years of independence, democracy is alive," he said.

Gehlot urged Modi to declare Mangarh a national monument as well as for a review of the railway project between Ratlam-Dungarpur and Banswara, which was started by the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre.

BJP Spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia Tuesday blamed AAP national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann for “criminal negligence” as the pollution level plunged to “severe” category in Delhi, and demanded resignations of the two AAP CMs.

Addressing a press conference, Bhatia said, "The residents of Delhi and Punjab are breathing poison and that is only because of Delhi CM. Despite having facilities provided by the central government, the Kejriwal and Mann governments have done nothing to control the air pollution.”

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday issued a notification empowering collectors of Mehsana and Anand districts in Gujarat to grant citizenship certificates to six minority communities–Hindu, Sikh, Parsi, Christian, Buddhist and Jain– from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The October 31 notification was issued under the Citizenship Act, of 1955 and is not related to the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019, which is yet to come into effect.

The CAA  passed in 2019 also seeks to grant Indian citizenship to six minority communities coming from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, but as the rules under the Act have not been framed yet, citizenship can not be granted under it.