Delhi to get 1,000 e-buses
New Delhi, July 11 : In a major move to fight air pollution in Delhi, the city government on Wednesday approved the hiring of a consultant to run 1,000 electric buses estimated to cost Rs 2,500 crore in the national capital as promised in its 2018-19 Budget.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced the development on Twitter after the move was cleared at a cabinet meeting.
"Cabinet approves hiring of consultant to run 1,000 electric buses in Delhi. A big step in modernizing Delhi's transport sector and reducing pollution," Kejriwal said.
Earlier this month, the Delhi government had informed the Supreme Court that each vehicle would cost around Rs 2.5 crore.
The Delhi Assembly had passed the 2018-19 "green" budget with a focus on fighting pollution by commissioning 1,000 electric buses and providing subsidies for switching to non-polluting fuel.
As per a 1998 order of the Supreme Court, Delhi should have a fleet of 10,000 buses for public transport but currently it has only 5,815 buses.
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US VP JD Vance says Lebanon not part of ceasefire, calls it ‘misunderstanding’
Budapest/Washington: US Vice President J D Vance has said that Lebanon was never included in the ceasefire understanding with Iran, describing the confusion as a “legitimate misunderstanding”.
Speaking to reporters before departing from Hungary, Vance said, “I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never made that promise.”
He stressed that the United States had not included Lebanon in the scope of the ceasefire at any stage.
His remarks come amid continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where more than 200 people were reported killed, even as ceasefire talks between Iran and the US move forward.
Vance said Israel had “offered … to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful”.
He warned that if Iran allows the situation in Lebanon to affect the negotiations, it could derail the talks.
“If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart in a conflict where they were getting hammered over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” he said.
