DELHI (national capital territory)

New Delhi: The ongoing India Open Super-750 Badminton Championship at Indira Gandhi Stadium has come under scrutiny due to complaints about dirt and mismanagement. Danish player Mia Blichfeld expressed concern over the lack of improvement since last year, urging the Badminton World Federation (BWF) to ensure better venue conditions ahead of major tournaments. The championship, running until January 18, features 256 players from 20 countries. Another Danish player revealed via social media that he had skipped the India Open for three consecutive years due to Delhi’s severe pollution and hopes conditions improve for the World Championships. An inspection of the stadium revealed significant cleanliness issues. From the galleries to the VIP entry stairs, reporters observed trash, spit to...

New Delhi: Residents of Delhi-NCR continue to face severe disruption as the city battles an unrelenting cold wave combined with extremely poor air quality. The harsh winter mornings and evenings are making daily life difficult, while pollution levels remain dangerously high, raising concerns over public health, particularly for people prone to autoimmune diseases. According to AIIMS doctors, factors such as stress and sleep deprivation further increase the risk of autoimmune conditions. Dr. Uma Kumar, Head of the Rheumatology Department at AIIMS, explained that limited sunlight during winter leads to vitamin D deficiency, while pollution, viral infections, and mental stress compound the risk. Post-COVID, the number of such patients has also risen. Delhi recorded a minimum temperature...

New Delhi: The Delhi Zoo is under scrutiny after sensational allegations surfaced that a jackal was burned alive. Reports suggest that the animal was killed in the Himalayan bear enclosure, with chili and salt reportedly thrown on it, and its body later disposed of to destroy evidence. The incident dates back to November 22, 2025, when several jackals reportedly escaped from the zoo towards the Azimganj Sarai forest area. The zoo administration initially claimed that all escaped jackals had been returned. However, the National Zoo Workers Union’s General Secretary, R.S. Bhadouria, stated that one jackal never returned. According to allegations, upon discovering the missing jackal in the bear enclosure (Beat No. 4), zoo staff allegedly turned off nearby cameras, set fire in the enclos...

In a heartbreaking incident in southeast Delhi’s Jaitpur Pushta area, 20-year-old Tushar Kumar lost his life while trying to evade a pack of stray dogs. The tragic accident occurred on the night of January 10, around 10 PM. According to police reports, Tushar, who worked as a compounder at a local pharmacy, was riding a motorcycle with his friend, 29-year-old pharmacist Sudhakar Singh, when the incident occurred. The duo had ventured out in search of a relative, Uddham, who had left home intoxicated after a dispute. As they returned from a nearby colony, the motorcycle’s headlight stopped working, reducing visibility significantly. At that moment, a pack of stray dogs surrounded their vehicle. Attempting to escape, Tushar accelerated, unaware of a pothole approximately 1.5 feet deep....

Delhi experienced an unusually sharp cold on Wednesday morning, when a sudden blanket of dense fog engulfed the city, reducing visibility to nearly zero in a matter of minutes. According to reports, around 7:45 to 8:00 AM, Delhi-NCR was hit by an abrupt and thick fog that startled commuters and residents alike. The phenomenon, identified by meteorologists as “flash fog” or “rapid-onset fog,” forms and dissipates very quickly, unlike conventional overnight fogs. What Causes Flash Fog? Weather experts explain that flash fog is the result of a combination of cold air patterns, high humidity, and a sudden drop in temperature. Delhi’s air was already saturated with moisture overnight. When a sudden chill swept in with light morning winds, the ground temperature dropped instantly, causi...

Delhi residents have reason to celebrate as the historic Barapullah Bridge near Nizamuddin is set to reopen to the public in February. However, vehicles will not be permitted on the bridge to preserve its structural integrity. The 17th-century Mughal-era bridge, which had long suffered from neglect and encroachment, has undergone extensive conservation work by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). To protect the bridge and prevent future encroachments, iron gates have been installed at both ends, allowing only pedestrian access. Reopening UpdateASI officials stated that most of the conservation work is complete, with only minor masonry repairs remaining, expected to take around two weeks. The gates will remain in place permanently to prevent vehicular traffic from damaging the br...

The Delhi Municipal Corporation (MCD) has submitted a proposal to construct three new parking facilities across the city at a total cost of ₹500 crore, aiming to address the growing parking challenges in the capital. The projects will commence once they receive approval from the Delhi government. The plan comes as a response to Delhi’s increasing vehicle population and the shortage of parking spaces in key areas. According to the proposal, the first multi-level parking will be built on Eidgah Road in the City-Sadar Paharganj zone, on the site of an old slaughterhouse. This facility will have three floors and is estimated to cost ₹346 crore. The second parking project is proposed for Rajendra Nagar, featuring a basement, stilt, and three upper floors, with an estimated cost of ₹76.6 c...

A fire broke out on Wednesday morning at the official residence of BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad in New Delhi. Fire brigade teams and forensic experts rushed to the scene and brought the fire under control within a short time. The cause of the blaze is yet to be determined. Officials stated that the fire started around 8:00 AM in one of the bedrooms of the MP’s residence. Three teams from the Delhi Fire Service were immediately deployed, and the fire was extinguished by 8:35 AM. Fortunately, there were no casualties reported in the incident. It is not immediately known whether the Patna Sahib MP was present at the residence at the time of the fire. Ravi Shankar Prasad, who has represented the Patna Sahib constituency in the Lok Sabha, has previously served as the Union Minister for Elec...

The Delhi government is planning to establish monitoring stations along a 22-kilometer stretch of the Yamuna River to closely track water flow during the summer months. One station will be set up near the Hathini Kund Barrage, and another at the river’s end point in Delhi. Officials highlight that, to maintain adequate flow during summers, Hathini Kund Barrage in Haryana should release 2,500 cubic feet per second (cusecs) of water daily. However, in recent years, only 352–400 cusecs have been released, reducing flow from Wazirabad Barrage to Okhla Barrage and potentially creating a water crisis in Delhi. According to a Water Board report, the Yamuna’s flow remains critically low for nine out of twelve months, which not only threatens the river’s ecosystem but also impacts Delhi’s wat...