Chandigarh, Nov 14: Keeping in view the rising levels of air pollution in Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonipat and Jhajjar districts of Haryana around the National Capital Territory of Delhi, the Haryana government has decided that all schools will remain closed with immediate effect till November 17.
Stating this here on Sunday, an official spokesperson said that the state government is voluntarily putting a number of measures in operation with immediate effect for the next seven days in revenue districts of Faridabad, Gurugram and Jhajjar falling within NCR area.
The spokesperson said that as per the directions issued in a letter by Chief Secretary-cum-Chairperson, Haryana State Executive Committee to all the Administrative Secretaries in the State of Haryana, Director General of Haryana Police, Divisional Commissioners and IGPS, Gurugram, Faridabad and Rohtak, Deputy Commissioners and SPs Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonipat and Jhajjar, Chairman, Haryana State Pollution Control Board, Panchkula, Member Secretary, Haryana State Pollution Control Board, Panchkula, all Government and Private Schools shall remain closed.
He said that with an aim to reduce 30 per cent plying of vehicles on roads which will impact vehicular emissions and also reduce dust in the air, all Government and private offices are advised to work from home. Vehicles older than 10/15 years (Diesel/Petrol respectively) shall be strictly checked with regard to emissions and impounded accordingly, he added.
He also informed that there will be complete ban on all types of construction and development activities. Mechanized Stone Crushers and Hot Mix plants used in construction activities shall be closed. No trash burning by Municipal bodies shall be allowed. Stubble burning shall be prohibited. No manual sweeping of roads shall be allowed, he added.
He said that to control dust pollution, water sprinkling on roads will be done. Deputy Commissioners will constitute joint inspection teams for enforcing the above directions/instructions and shall ensure extensive checking, monitoring and action against the violators as per law/rules/instructions/directions issued from time to time by the Haryana Government.
He said that these guidelines will come into force with immediate effect and remain operational till November 17, 2021. The district administration will ensure wide publicity by MUNADI (beat of drums) within their jurisdiction. Publicity shall also be carried out through press release and social media. Strict compliance of the same directions be ensured by all concerned, he added.
New Delhi, Nov 14: The tenures of the Directors of both the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have been extended up to five years.
According to the Ministry of Law and Justice, the President on Sunday promulgated two Ordinances, the Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 and the Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021, to extend the tenures of the ED and CBI chiefs, respectively up to five years from the existing two years.
The Centre brought both the Ordinances, days before the start of the Winter session of Parliament.
New Delhi, Nov 10,2021: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved restoration of Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) for the remaining part of the current fiscal and to continue till financial year 2025-26.
Accordingly, the funds under the scheme would be released at the rate of Rs 2 crore per MP for remaining period of FY 2021-22 in one installment and at the rate of Rs 5 crore per annum per MP during FY 2022-23 to FY 2025-26 in two installments of Rs 2.5 crore each.
The government had suspended the MPLADS in the face of Covid pandemic early last year to use the funds for fight against the deadly virus.
“Looking at Covid 19 pandemic situation it was decided one and half year back that funds would be utilised for the fight against Covid 19 pandemic. With the improvement, as far as economic situation is concerned and as you have seen GST numbers and other indicators where the economy is doing well, government has decided to release Rs 2 crore under MPLADS to each MP in the financial year 2021-22,” Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thankur said while briefing the media on Cabinet decisions.
“From FY23 onward till FY25-26 annually Rs 5 crore grant of this MPLAD scheme would be given to the MPs,”he added.
The Cabinet also approved Rs 17,408.85 crore committed price support to the Cotton Commission of India. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) cleared expenditure for reimbursing losses under MSP operations for cotton during the cotton season (October to September) 2014-15 to 2020-21.
Thakur said that 60 lakh farmers would be directly benefitted across 11 states from the decision.
In another decision to help farmers, the Cabinet approved reservation norms for jute packaging materials for Jute Year 2021-22 under JPM Act, 1987.
Accordingly, 100% foodgrains and 20% of sugar to be packed in jute bags.
The Cabinet also approved mechanism for procurement of ethanol by Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies (Oilcos) under Ethanol Blended Petrol programme.
New Delhi, Nov 3,2021: In a major relief to the common man ahead of Diwali, the Centre on Wednesday announced to cut excise duties on petrol and diesel by Rs 5 and Rs 10 respectively.
Prices of petrol and diesel will thus come down accordingly from tomorrow.
“Government of India has taken a significant decision of reducing Central Excise Duty on Petrol and Diesel by Rs 5 and Rs 10 respectively from tomorrow. Prices of petrol and diesel will thus come down accordingly,” Finance Ministry said.
Fuel prices have been on a high and breaching all previous records with opposition political parties mounting pressure on the government to cut taxes on the two motor fuels.
Petrol in Delhi is currently being sold at Rs 110.04 per litre, while diesel at Rs 98.42 per litre.
While announcing the duty cut on petrol and diesel, the government said that reduction in excise duty on petrol and diesel will also boost consumption and keep inflation low, thus helping the poor and middle classes.
New Delhi, Nov 3,2021: The Indian Air Force and the DRDO conducted two flight tests of indigenously-developed smart anti-airfield weapon, which were first electro optical seeker based flight test of this class of bomb, the Defence Ministry said on Wednesday.
An official statement said here that two different configurations based on satellite navigation and electro optical sensors have been successfully tested.
“Electro optical seeker based flight test of this class of bomb has been conducted for the first time in the country. The electro optic sensor has been developed indigenously,” the Defence Ministry said.
The weapon was launched by an Indian Air Force aircraft from Chandan ranges at Jaisalmer, Rajasthan on October 28 and November 3.
Electro optical configuration of the system is equipped with Imaging Infra-Red (IIR) Seeker technology, enhancing the precision strike capability of the weapon.
In both the tests, the intended target was hit with high accuracy. The system is designed for a maximum range of 100 km. The newly-adapted launcher ensured smooth release and ejection of the weapon.
“Advanced guidance and navigation algorithms, software performed as per the mission requirements. The telemetry and tracking systems captured all mission events throughout the flight. All the mission objectives were achieved,” the statement said.
Smart anti airfield weapon has been designed and developed by Research Centre Imarat (RCI), in coordination with other DRDO Laboratories and extensive support from IAF, it added.
Quality and design certification agencies have contributed significantly in its development and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bengaluru has carried out weapon integration with the aircraft.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh complimented the synergistic efforts of DRDO, IAF and the teams associated with the mission.
Congratulating the teams, Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO G Satheesh Reddy said the performance and reliability of the weapon has been proved.
SAAW is a 125-kg class smart weapon, capable of engaging ground enemy airfield assets such as radars, bunkers, taxi tracks, and runaways, up to a range of 100 km. The high precision-guided bomb is lightweight, compared to a weapon system of the same class.
Dehradun (Uttarakhand) , October 21,2021: Union Home Minister Amit Shah On Thursday said that the death toll in the rain-battered Uttarakhand has mounted to 64 and more than 11 people have been reported missing so far.
Shah, who was addressing the media after conducting an aerial survey of the rain-affected areas in the state, said that no tourist casualty has been reported in the state so far and the Char Dham Yatra has also been resumed.
“I held a high-level review meeting with officials of the State and Centre over the natural calamity in Uttarakhand. Due to timely rainfall alerts, the extent of damage could be controlled. Now, the Char Dham Yatra has resumed,” said the Home Minister.
He further said that more than 3,500 people were rescued and over 16,000 precautionary evacuations were done so far.
“As many as 3,500 people were rescued and more than 16,000 precautionary evacuations were done in the state. 17 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams, 7 State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams, 15 companies of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and more than 5,000 police personnel are deployed for the rescue operations,” Shah said.
The Home Minister added that normalcy is returning in the state gradually. “Roads have been cleared in Nainital, Almora and Haldwani. Power stations will also resume operations soon. The mobile network has been restored in 80 per cent of areas of the state,” he stated.
Shah arrived in Uttarakhand’s Dehradun earlier today to take stock of the situation arising out of incessant rains.
Damage to properties has also been recorded in Uttarakhand following torrential rains in the last few days.
Oct 18,2021:Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National General Secretary Tarun Chugh on Sunday said that the Central government is making efforts to convert the union territory from ‘terror capital to tourism capital’.
Speaking to ANI, Chugh said, “Central government is committed to the safety, security of life and property of the people of Kashmir. We have started a new era of development in Union Territory. We are making efforts to convert the union territory from terrorism capital into tourism capital, in which we all will be successful.”
A street hawker from Bihar and a labourer from Uttar Pradesh were killed in two back-to-back attacks by terrorists in the Srinagar and Pulwama districts of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday.
Over the past few days, several civilians have been killed by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, sparking fear in the valley.
Meanwhile, the security forces in the union territory have undertaken many counter-terrorist operations over the past few days and as many as 13 terrorists have been killed in nine encounters between security forces and the terrorists after the civilian killings.
New Delhi, Oct 18,2021: India has registered 13,596 new cases of coronavirus cases in past 24 hours, lowest in 230 days, while the number of deaths climbed to 452,290 with 166 more fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry’s data on Monday.
The Ministry said, the recovery rate touched 98.12 per cent as 19,582 patients recovered in past 24 hours, taking the cumulative tally of recoveries to 33,439,331.
They said, “The active caseload falls below 2 lakh-mark and is presently at 1,89,694; which is lowest in 221 days. Active cases presently constitute 0.56 per cent of the country’s total positive cases.
“The daily positivity rate is 1.37 per cent, which is less than 3 per cent for last 49 days, whereas weekly positivity rate is 1.37 per cent, which also remains less than 3 per cent for the last 115 days now.”
The testing capacity across the country continues to be expanded. The last 24 hours saw a total of 9,89,493 tests being conducted. India has so far conducted over 59.19 crore tests.
In past 24 hours, India administered 12,05,162 vaccine doses. The vaccination coverage has exceeded 97.79 crore landmark as per provisional reports till 7 am on Monday, the Ministry added.
New Delhi , October 17,202: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) spokesperson Sudhindra Bhadoria on Sunday urged the Centre to reduce prices of petroleum products and bring Achhe Din for the common man.
Speaking to ANI, Bhadoria said, “We hear every day that petrol and diesel prices have increased. Petrol and diesel prices already scored a century. Even LPG cylinders are available for Rs 1,000. If you go to the farmers, they are saying that Diammonium phosphate (DAP) fertilizer is available at a cost of Rs 2000 in the black market.”
“I want to say that the government is giving relief neither to the farmers nor to the poor and the common man. Only some capitalists are flourishing here so the BJP government needs to bring ‘Acche din’ to the public,” he added.
Petrol and diesel prices continued to rise across the country for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday.
Petrol and diesel prices reached an all-time high as fuel rates continued to rise by 35 paise/litre across the country for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday. With the latest hike, the petrol price becomes Rs 105.84/litre while diesel will now cost Rs 94.57/litre in Delhi today.