Indian Sub-continent

NEW DELHI (AP) — Air pollution remained extremely high in the Indian capital on Thursday, a day after authorities closed schools indefinitely and shut some power stations to reduce smog that has blanketed the city for much of the month.

New Delhi’s air quality remained “very poor,” according to SAFAR, India’s main environmental monitoring agency. The concentration of tiny airborne particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter — known as PM 2.5 — neared 300 micrograms per cubic meter in some parts of the city, it said.

18 Nov 2021; MEMO: Britain's Prince Charles said yesterday that Jordan's custodianship over Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem is "vital" to achieving peace in the Middle East.

"The United Kingdom views Jordan, under the leadership of King Abdullah II, not only as a friend, but as a consistent voice of moderation and tolerance, as was the case during the reign of the late King Hussein Bin Talal," Prince Charles said during a visit to the Jordan Museum in the capital, Amman, accompanied by his wife, Camilla.

Kanpur: The Zika virus infection has been confirmed among 133 people in the most affected Kanpur.

The number of patients has now increased to five after two more new infected were found in Lucknow on Wednesday.

Apart from this, one patient each has also been found in Kannauj and Unnao. After which the number of Zika infected patients in UP has increased to 140.

On Wednesday, Zika virus infection was confirmed in one patient each in Alambagh and LDA Colony of Lucknow.

New Delhi, Nov 17 (PTI) An unidentified man was found hanging from a ceiling fan at a police booth in southeast Delhi's Sarita Vihar on Wednesday morning, police said.

The man was aged around 30 and no suicide note was recovered from the spot, they said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) Esha Pandey said that at about 8.45 am, Constable Bharat informed the Sarita Vihar police station that a man was found hanging at the police booth of Madanpur Khaddar.

Bhopal, Nov 18 (PTI) Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra on Thursday said comedian Vir Das, who is facing police complaints over his monologue I come from two Indias , would not be allowed to perform in the state.

Das, who is in the US right now, on Monday uploaded a six-minute video on YouTube titled "I come from two Indias", which was a part of his recent performance at the John F Kennedy Centre in Washington DC.

Srinagar, Nov 18 (PTI) PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday claimed she was put under house arrest, while two of her party colleagues were arrested by the police.

The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said her party chief spokesperson Suhail Bukhari and spokesperson Najmu Saqib were arrested.

Again under house arrest & PDPs @SAAQQIIB & @Suhail_Bukhari too have been arrested, she wrote on Twitter and posted pictures of the locked gate of her residence.

Lahore/Der Baba Nanak (Gurdaspur), Nov 18 (PTI) Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi along with some of his Cabinet ministers on Thursday offered prayers at the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan after travelling through the visa-free Kartarpur corridor that reopened for pilgrims after a gap of 20 months.

Kanpur: In order to strengthen its position at the polling booth level, a strategy will be chalked out during the visit of the BJP national president in UP.

It has reportedly completed the work of formation and verification of committees up to the booth level.

Even the party workers in-charge of individual pages of voters' list in a constituency have also been appointed.

Now these booth committees will be explained their electoral role.

Dehradun, Nov 16 (PTI) A man allegedly involved in an inter-state kidney transplant racket busted in 2017 in Uttarakhand has been arrested from Guwahati, police said on Tuesday.

Accused Akshay Raut, absconding since 2017 carrying a reward of Rs 20,000 on his arrest was nabbed in Assam's capital on November 14 and was brought here on a five-day transit remand on Tuesday, Dehradun SSP Janmejay Khanduri told reporters.

He is the son of racket kingpin Amit Raut who is among 17 accused already arrested in the case, he said.

Jaipur, Nov 16 (PTI) Amid pressure to reduce VAT after reduction in excise duty by the Centre on petrol and diesel, the Congress government in Rajasthan on Tuesday night announced to slash VAT to make petrol and diesel cheaper by Rs 4 per litre and Rs 5 per litre. respectively, from midnight.

This will result in annual revenue loss of Rs 3,500 crore to the state.