Delhi

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.

New Delhi, Nov 11 (PTI) A Delhi court Wednesday granted bail to a man in a case related to the communal violence in north east Delhi in February, saying the video footage showing his alleged involvement in the riots and murder does not pertain to the day of the incident.

Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat granted the relief to Anwar Hussain on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 40,000 with one surety of like amount in the case of death of one Furkan due to gunshot injuries during the riots in Kardampur Pulia.

New Delhi, Nov 12 (PTI) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday announced a new job creation scheme by giving subsidy to those establishments that make new hires.

The subsidy would be to cover for retirement fund contributions by employees as well as employers for two years, she said.

Employees contribution (12 per cent of wages) and employer's contribution (12 per cent of wages) totalling 24 per cent of wages would be given to establishments for two years, she said.

New Delhi, Nov 12 (PTI) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday announced a Rs 65,000-crore fertilizer subsidy for farmers as part of her stimulus package to boost the economy.

She said Rs 65,000 crore is being provided to ensure adequate availability of fertilisers to farmers and to enable timely accessibility of fertilisers in the upcoming crop season.

She said an additional outlay of Rs 10,000 crore will be provided for PM Garib Kalyan Rozgar Yojana in the current financial year.