Flights, trains disrupted; Delhi to see more fog likely on Monday
New Delhi: Even as a thick fog enveloped the city on Sunday morning and disrupted flight operations for over three hours, the weather office has predicted dense fog on Monday morning with temperature expected to fall further to five degrees Celsius.
Flight operations were affected at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport here between 7.30 a.m. and 11 a.m. with visibility dropping to below 50 metres. The low visibility delayed around 200 flights with over 40 flights diverted to other airports and several cancelled.
Even as flight operations resumed at around 11 a.m., the three-hour delay led to bunching up of flights which took hours to clear up.
At least 15 trains were also cancelled, 57 delayed and 18 rescheduled due to fog in several parts of northern India.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said there would be dense fog on Monday morning as well with mist or shallow fog during the day.
"The minimum temperature on Monday would fall to five degrees Celsius from 6.4 degrees Celsius recorded Sunday," an official said.
The maximum temperature on Monday would hover around 23 degrees Celsius, the official said.
On Sunday, the maximum temperature was recorded at 23.9 degrees Celsius, four notches above the season's average while the minimum temperature was recorded a notch below the season's average at 6.4 degrees Celsius.
According to IMD, the mercury will start falling from January 1 with cold winds expected from the snow-covered mountains in the north.
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Why was Indira Gandhi's 1973 budget called the 'Black Budget'?
New Delhi: The Union Budget for 2025 is set to be presented in Parliament on February 1 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. As the nation awaits the financial roadmap of the third term of Narendra Modi-led government, a look back at the 1973-74 budget reveals one of India's most financially challenging periods.
The 1973-74 budget, presented by then-Finance Minister Yashwantrao Chavan under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, is often referred to as the ‘Black Budget’ due to its unprecedented fiscal deficit of ₹550 crore. This was a significant sum at the time, reflecting the severe economic strain India faced in the aftermath of the 1971 war with Pakistan.
The war had drained government resources, and a series of natural disasters, including drought, led to a sharp decline in agricultural production. This worsened the financial crisis, with declining revenues and rising expenditures. Presenting the budget, Chavan acknowledged the economic distress, stating that the drought had caused a major drop in food grain production, which contributed to the widening deficit.
In response, the government allocated ₹56 crore for the nationalisation of coal mines, insurance companies, and the Indian Copper Corporation. The move aimed to strengthen the energy sector and ensure state control over key industries. However, the large deficit forced the government to implement cost-cutting measures and financial discipline in subsequent years.
As the Modi 3.0 government prepares to unveil the 2025-26 budget, various sectors are putting forth their demands, including tax reliefs and economic stimulus measures. Social media is rife with memes attacking the Finance Minsiter for the tax policies and it's impact on the middle class. The government’s first estimates project a 7.3% GDP growth for 2023-24, shaping expectations for the upcoming budget.
