Thick fog blankets city; air quality very poor
New Delhi (PTI): Delhi woke up to dense fog on Wednesday, with poor visibility disrupting movement of vehicles.
The minimum temperature at Safdarjung, the city's base station, settled at 8.2 degrees Celsius, 0.2 notch below the season's normal, according to data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
The IMD issued a yellow alert and forecasted dense fog during the morning and forenoon.
A yellow alert is an early warning signal showing that severe weather conditions are to be expected and may affect day-to-day activities.
Station-wise data showed the minimum temperature at Palam at 9.4 degrees Celsius, Lodhi Road at 8.3 degrees Celsius, Ridge at 9.2 degrees Celsius and Ayanagar at 8.6 degrees Celsius.
The city's Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 319 at 9 am, placing it in the 'very poor' category.
According to the CPCB, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 to 100 'satisfactory', 101 to 200 'moderate', 201 to 300 'poor', 301 to 400 'very poor', and 401 to 500 'severe'.
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Rahul calls Bittu 'traitor', Union minister retorts with 'desh ke dushman' jibe
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday exchanged barbs with former party colleague and union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu in Parliament premises.
In videos released by the Congress, Gandhi was heard calling Bittu "a traitor" and the minister retorting with "desh ke dushman" (enemy of the nation) jibe.
The incident took place right outside Parliament's Makar Dwar, the main entrance which MPs take to enter the new Parliament building, where Gandhi was standing in solidarity with suspended Congress MPs, mostly from Punjab.
As soon as he was about to speak, Bittu passed by, and remarked, "they (suspended Congress MPs are sitting here as if they have won a war".
Gandhi hit back, "The thing is, here is a traitor walking right by. Take a look at the face. How he looks."
Gandhi then extended his hand towards Bittu for a handshake, and said, "Hello brother, my traitor friend".
"Don't worry, you will come back (to the Congress)", Gandhi added addressing the Union Minister of State for Railways and Food Processing.
Bittu, however, declined to shake hands with Gandhi and, while pointing to him, said, "desh ke dushman."
The union minister was seen in the videos springing past the Makar Dwar stairs, repeating his "desh ke dushman" charge while pointing at the Congress leaders and suspended MPs, who continued to jeer at him.
They were also heard saying, "surrender, surrender".
Bittu, the grandson of late Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, was a former MP of the Congress from Ludhiana and Anandpur Sahib before he switched sides to the BJP ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
