As winter comes closer, Delhi’s air usually gets worse. But on Sunday morning (October 12), the city saw a small improvement. The Air Quality Index (AQI) was 169, which is in the moderately polluted range. This is lower than 193 recorded at 5 a.m. on Saturday.

Still, the AQI has been rising compared to 129 on Friday morning and 91 on Thursday, showing that pollution is increasing slowly.

Weather update:
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicts that temperatures in Delhi will stay between 30°C and 32°C during the day and 18°C and 19°C at night. Temperatures have been steady in Delhi-NCR for the past few days.

About AQI:
The AQI scale is divided into six levels: Good (0–50), Satisfactory (51–100), Moderately Polluted (101–200), Poor (201–300), Very Poor (301–400), and Severe (401–500). Higher numbers mean the air is harder to breathe.

AQI is measured by checking several pollutants, especially PM2.5. These are tiny particles that can go deep into the lungs and are harmful to health.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says that breathing in PM2.5 can cause heart problems, lung cancer, and long-term lung diseases like COPD.

People in Delhi-NCR might be able to burst firecrackers again this Diwali. The Supreme Court is thinking about allowing green firecrackers for a few days during the festival.

A team led by Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran said they will soon give their final decision. For now, they are thinking about allowing green firecrackers for five days on a trial basis, with fixed hours.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta asked the court to lift the ban and let people use green firecrackers. He said people should be allowed to burst them from 8 pm to 10 pm on Diwali, from 11:45 pm to 12:30 am on Christmas and New Year’s Eve, and for one hour on Gurpurab.

He also said that PESO and NEERI will check the factories to make sure only green firecrackers are made and sold. These crackers should be made using approved materials that cause less pollution.

Mehta added that joint crackers should not be made or sold in Delhi-NCR. He said only licensed sellers should be allowed to sell firecrackers, and only from approved makers.

He also asked that online shopping sites like Amazon and Flipkart should not take any orders for crackers.

Senior lawyer Aparajita Singh, who is helping the court with this case, warned that fake green crackers are being sold under wrong labels and may still have harmful chemicals.

The court also asked if the air quality in Delhi had gotten better between 2018 and 2024. Mehta said it has stayed almost the same, except during the COVID-19 lockdown, when the air was cleaner.

Earlier, on September 26, the Supreme Court had allowed green firecrackers to be made in Delhi, but they were not allowed to be sold in the NCR area.

The final decision is still waiting, but many people are hoping this year’s Diwali will have firecrackers again.

A woman and her lover were caught by Ghaziabad Police for killing her husband and throwing his body near Hapur Road about two weeks ago.

Police said the man who died was Yogesh (31) from Sahibabad. His wife Pooja (27) and her lover Aashish (31) have been arrested.

As per Assistant Police Commissioner Shweta Kumari Yadav, Yogesh left home on September 24 after getting a phone call but never came back. On October 2, Pooja went to the Link Road police station and said her husband was missing.

Later, on October 8, police found a dead body near Saraswati Medical College in Pilkhuwa, Hapur. The body was later confirmed to be Yogesh’s.

Officers found injury marks on his head. After checking his phone records, they saw that his last calls were with Pooja and Aashish. When police questioned Pooja, her answers did not match, which made them suspicious.

After being questioned further, Pooja and Aashish confessed to the murder. Police said the two had been in a relationship for around three years. When Yogesh came to know about it, he often fought with Pooja. Because of this, the two planned to kill him.

On September 24, Pooja called Yogesh and asked him to come near the college. Aashish came there with his friends Chandrapal and Praveen. When Yogesh reached, they attacked him with a sharp weapon and killed him on the spot.

They left his body and motorcycle there. Later, Aashish and Chandrapal threw Yogesh’s phone into the bushes. Pooja went back home and acted as if she didn’t know anything about his whereabouts.

Police caught Pooja and Aashish on Saturday near Kisan Chowk, Gaur City, Greater Noida West. Yogesh’s phone was found with Aashish.

Police are still checking the role of Chandrapal and Praveen in the case.