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Delhi: Air Constantly โ€˜Very Poorโ€™, NCR Borders On โ€˜Severeโ€™

Air Quality

The air quality in Delhi continued to remain in the โ€˜very poorโ€™ category on Wednesday morning as the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of the city stood at 354.

New Delhi:  The air quality in Delhi continued to remain in the โ€˜very poorโ€™ category on Wednesday morning as the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of the city stood at 354.

Noida, which is part of the national capital region, slipped to an AQI of 406, and continued to remain in the โ€˜severeโ€™ category, while Gurugramโ€™s AQI stood at 346 and continued to remain in the โ€˜very poor category, as per data released by SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research) India.

Air Quality Index from 0 to 100 is considered as good, while from 100 to 200 it is moderate, from 200 to 300 it is poor, and from 300 to 400 it is said to be very poor and from 400 too 500 or above it is considered as severe.

A little less poor air quality in Delhiโ€™s satellite cities gave some respite to the people, but it is only a relative term from the previous day.

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The city of Delhi too fared very poorly. Narela in North West Delhi reported the highest AQI at 571 on Tuesday.

North Delhi Air Quality is the poorest at the moment as almost all the stations have AQI above 400. Most of the stations in the capital have an AQI above 300 except a few like Mandir Marg in central Delhi.

According to data by SAFAR, Dhirpur in Model Town dipped to an AQI of 356. The AQI near IGI Airport (T3) also stood in the โ€˜very poorโ€™ category on Wednesday at 350.

Delhi slipped into โ€˜severeโ€™ on the AQI meter on Saturday. With air pollution worsening in the national capital, Delhi authorities halted all construction work and demolition activities till further orders.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by HW News staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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United Nations

DR Congo: Guterres โ€˜deeply concernedโ€™ by resurgence of fighting between Government troops and M23

UN News

The UN Secretary-General has expressed deep concern over the uptick in fighting between Government troops in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and M23 rebels in the east, which in the past ten days have seen multiple civilians killed, โ€œmassive displacementโ€ and four peacekeepers from the UN Stabilization Mission (MONUSCO) injured.

The latest advance from the M23 militia formed in 2012 to defend the interests of Congolese Tutsis against Hutu armed groups, saw the rebels reportedly seize two towns, consolidating months of gains since its resurgence last year, after commanders โ€“ many of whom had joined the national army โ€“ accused the Government of failing to honour a demobilization agreement.

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Possible war crimes

Two UN peacekeepers were injured by mortar fire and two others by small arms during attacks by M23 on Saturday on one of the reportedly captured towns, Kiwanja in North Kivu, carrying out their protection mandate.

โ€œMONUSCO recalls that attacks targeting United Nations peacekeepers may constitute war crimes and that it will spare no effort to prosecute those responsible before national and/or international courtsโ€, said a statement released by the Mission.

โ€œThe Mission strongly condemns the hostile actions of the M23 and their serious consequences on the civilian populations.

โ€œIt calls on this rebel group to immediately cease all belligerence and warns that it stands ready to retaliate vigorously in the event of new aggression on its bases.โ€

Calls for โ€˜immediate de-escalationโ€™

In the statement released on Sunday by the UN Spokesperson on behalf of UN chief Antรณnio Guterres, it made clear the UN chief had spoken with the President of Angola, Joรฃo Lourenรงo, DRC President, Fรฉlix Tshisekedi, the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, the President of Kenya, William Ruto, and the President of Senegal, Macky Sall, as Chairperson of the African Union.

Over the weekend, according to news reports, the DRC ordered the Rwandan ambassador to leave the country within 48 hours, after accusing Kigali once again of supporting the M23 rebels, a claim which has been repeatedly denied by Rwanda.

โ€œThe Secretary-General called for immediate de-escalation and reiterated the full support of the United Nations for the ongoing mediationโ€, the statement continued, which is being led by the Angolan president, and the Organizationโ€™s support for the so-called Nairobi process, being led by former Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta.

M23 fighters head towards Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
MONUSCO/Sylvain Liechti
M23 fighters head towards Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Disarm โ€˜unconditionallyโ€™

โ€œThe Secretary-General urges the M23 and other armed groups to immediately cease hostilities and to disarm unconditionally. He calls for the respect of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.โ€

Mr. Guterres also called on all parties to facilitate humanitarian access across eastern DRC, โ€œand to ensure protection of civilians and respect for international humanitarian law. He also calls on all actors to refrain from hate speech and incitement to violence.โ€

The UN chief reiterated that the UN, through his Special Representative and head of MONUSCO, Bintou Keita, would continue to support the Congolese Government and the people overall, โ€œin their efforts to bring about peace and stability in the east of the country.โ€

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