Delhi

New Delhi, Nov 16 (PTI) Former chief election commissioner S Y Quraishi has supported a ban on door-to-door campaigning by candidates in the 'silence period' to prevent allurement of voters using cash and liquor.

He also batted for change in law to allow the Election Commission deregister a political party on various grounds, including repeated violation of the model code.

New Delhi, Nov 17 (PTI) Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday attacked the Uttar Pradesh government over the issue of women's safety, saying will Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath answer how successful is his 'Mission Shakti' as news reports on crimes against women show they are "not safe" in the state at all.

Chief Minister Adityanath last month launched 'Mission Shakti' campaign focusing on ensuring the safety and dignity of women and girls, with a stern warning that perpetrators of crimes against females will be dealt with an iron hand.

New Delhi, Nov 15 (PTI) Gold imports, which have a bearing on the current account deficit, declined 47.42 per cent to USD 9.28 billion during April-October due to fall in demand in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data from the Commerce Ministry.

Imports of the yellow metal stood at USD 17.64 billion in the corresponding period of 2019-20.

The imports, however, recorded a growth of about 36 per cent in October.

Silver imports during the period too dipped 64.65 per cent to USD 742 million.

New Delhi, Nov 14 (PTI) Delhi's air quality turned "severe" on Diwali with stubble burning accounting for 32 per cent of the city's PM2.5 pollution and calm winds worsening the situation as they allowed accumulation of pollutants, weather officials said.

The Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality monitor, SAFAR, said, "Even a small increase in local additional emissions is likely to have significant deterioration impact on Sunday and Monday."

It said peak levels of PM10 and PM2.5 are expected between 1 am and 6 am in case of additional internal emissions.

New Delhi, Nov 13 (PTI) India's exports fell 5.12 per cent to USD 24.89 billion in October after recording positive growth in September, on account of drop in shipments of petroleum products, gems and jewellery, leather and engineering goods, according to government data released on Friday.

Trade deficit in October narrowed to USD 8.71 billion as against USD 11.75 billion, as imports also fell 11.53 per cent to USD 33.6 billion during the month under review.

New Delhi, Nov 13 (PTI) As many as 33 politicians of Jammu and Kashmir have been named in a list that bars them from travelling abroad, as a result of which former National Conference MLA Atlaf Ahmed Wani was prevented from boarding a flight to Dubai, according to official sources on Friday.

They said that the names of former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti are not in the list, which has mostly former legislators and former ministers from various political parties.

New Delhi, Nov 14 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday paid tribute to the country's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru on his birth anniversary.

Born in 1889, the Congress stalwart remains India's longest serving prime minister.

"My humble tributes to the country's first prime minister Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru on his birth anniversary," Modi tweeted.

New Delhi, Nov 12 (PTI) Driven by rising food prices, retail inflation inched up to 7.61 per cent in October, remaining above the comfort level of the Reserve Bank.

According to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released by the government on Thursday, inflation stood at 7.27 per cent in September 2020. It was 4.62 per cent in October 2019.

The rise in general inflation was mainly on account of elevated food prices.

New Delhi, Nov 13 (PTI) The national capital recorded its air quality in the very poor category on Friday morning, and it is likely to enter the "severe" zone on Diwali night.

The city recorded an air quality index (AQI) of 330 at 9 am. The 24-hour average AQI was 314 on Thursday.

New Delhi, Nov 12 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday targeted the government over the state of the economy, claiming the country has entered into a recession for the first time in history due to the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"India has entered into recession for the first time in history. Mr Modi's actions have turned India's strength into its weakness," he said on Twitter.