Current Affairs of 5th November.

BJP MP spews venom at Shah Rukh, party brass frowns at `such nonsense'

A day after Union minister Prakash Javadekar sought to distance BJP from general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya's toxic comments against Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, party MP Yogi Adityanath spewed venom against the actor, saying he should heed 2611 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed of Pakistan since “they speak the same language“.

While Vijayvargiya on Wednesday retracted his tweet that SRK's heart lies in Pakistan, Adityanath said, “I will welcome the decision of people like Shah Rukh to go to Pakistan on the invitation of Hafiz Saeed.“ Saeed had tweeted on Wednesday that India's disenchanted Muslims and intellectuals feeling persecuted by “Hindu extremists“ were welcome in Pakistan. Adityanath said, “Shah Rukh should understand that if Hindus stop watching his films, he will become like any other common Muslim... There's no difference in what Shah Rukh and Hafiz Saeed say about intolerance in India.“

Delhiites don designer masks to escape bad air

With Delhi being dubbed the most polluted city in the world, a growing number of people have started wearing masks to avoid getting exposed to the toxic air. And it's not just the usual green-white ones but a good variety of designer masks that seem to have caught fancy of young Delhiites who feel that health and fashion can go hand in hand.

Priced in the range of Rs 2,000-2,800 each, these fashionable masks are available in Saket, Vasant Kunj and Khan Market. From pedestrians to cyclists to those with fragile immune system, they are useful to all kinds of people, including children and adults.

Unlike the surgical masks, these masks come in unique colour prints. For bikers, there is a special mask made of leather.Priced at Rs 2,800 each, this can be an integral part of other bike accessories like gloves and kneepad. The masks for morning walkers or cyclists cost Rs 2,200 each.

SC panel clears road to impose green tax

The Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA), a Supreme Court-appointed panel, held a meeting with the Delhi government and South Delhi Municipal Corporation on Wednesday and resolved the procedural and legal issues related to collection of the environment compensation charge (ECC). These issues had been raised by the concessionaire, SMYR Consortium, which collects toll tax on behalf of the corporation, in a legal notice.

Collection of ECC or the pollution tax, mandated by the Supreme Court for heavy diesel vehicles, has not taken off as besides other things, there is also an apprehension on the part of the concessionaire and corporation that it would lead to loss of revenue that was originally expected as the number of vehicles entering the city will be less. The matter has acquired an urgency because smog seems to be gripping the city with a vengeance.

Smog shoots up respiratory cases

Diwali is still a week away but people with respiratory problems are already in distress due to smoggy weather and the rising level of particulate matter in the air. Hospitals say their OPDs are flooded with patients suffering from asthma, chronic bronchitis, wheezing and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Healthy individuals, too, are complaining about breathing difficulty , say doctors.Elderly and infants are the worst affected. “There is a 2030% increase in the number of patients seeking consultation for respiratory distress.Many of them also require admission because they have breathing difficulty and lower respiratory tract infection,“ said Dr Arup Kumar Basu, head of the department of chest medicine at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. He said the situation is likely to worsen further during Diwali when the burning of firecrackers will deteriorate the air quality.

Why no smog alert, EPCA asks city govt

Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) on Wednesday asked the Delhi environment secretary , Ashwani Kumar, why a smog alert has not been issued despite the air quality deteriorating severely in the last three days. EPCA member Sunita Narain asked why emergency measures like closing schools and guidelines for preventing exposure are not being issued.“We want to know what emergency action will you take?“ she asked. When the levels of PM 2.5 (fine, respirable pollution particles) reaches 250 micrograms per cubic metre, its considered critical.

Kumar said, “Schools will not be closed in Delhi because of air pollution.“ He added boards with real-time data on air quality and preventive measures will come up soon.

Maggi clears trial by fire, to return this mth

Maggi is finally set to hit the shelves this month. Swiss food giant Nestle India said on Wednesday all samples of its instant noodles have been cleared by accredited laboratories mandated by the Bombay high court.

However, the company is still facing bans and technical issues that may affect sales of its popular noodles in several states, including Tripura, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Nagaland, Delhi and Maharashtra. Last month, Karnataka and Gujarat lifted the ban on Maggi.

“We have received results from all three NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories) accredited laboratories mandated by the Bombay high court to test newly manufactured Maggi noodles samples.All samples have been cleared with lead much below the permissible limits,“ the company said. “We will make our best endeavour to commence the sale of Maggi within this month as well as continue engaging with states where permissions are needed or specific direc tions may be necessary .“

In final bout, Nitish, Lalu can fancy their chances

If the last two elections are any guide, the Mahagath bandhan should fancy its chances of winning the bulk of the seats in the fifth phase of polling in Bihar on Thursday . For the BJP, on the other hand, this is an area in which it has little to lose.

In the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, the NDA led in a mere 17 of the 57 assembly segments that constituted this phase. This was despite the fact that the JD(U) was then contesting separately from the RJD-Congress-NCP alliance. Even among the 17 segments in which the NDA led, in 10 seats the combined votes of the constituents of the current grand alliance were more than its tally . The UPA was the leading force in this part of Bihar, unlike in any other, leading in 28 of the segments, while the JD(U) led in 12.

INDIAN SAFARI - VIRAT TEST FOR INDIA

The wry smile on Virat Kohli's face when asked if he would tone down the aggression for the grandlytitled Gandhi-Mandela series was perfectly in character. So was the mischievous twinkle in Daljit Singh's eyes as the curator fielded suggestions on the amount of turn the pitch was likely to take. learn the art of h o m e a dva n tage, and a few freebies against South Africa, the world's top team, wouldn't hurt. Not that Kohli is expecting any -Thursday, after all, is the feisty Test skipper's 27th birthday , and a trial by fire in his first home Test as leader would be an apt present.

India have not played in their den or nearly two years. Since the last time they played South Africa here in 200910, the team has been uprooted root and stem. A host of formidable names have been replaced by a batch of combative, audacious and talented players who are still finding their feet in this format.