Capital’s air quality hovers close to 'severe' mark; 18 stations log above-400 AQI
New Delhi (PTI): Delhi’s air quality hovered close to the 'severe' category on Thursday as the average AQI was recorded at 391, with more than 15 monitoring stations logging readings above the 400-mark, according to the CPCB.
The 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) settled at 391 -- in the 'very poor' category for the seventh consecutive day.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the average AQI stood at 392 on Wednesday, 374 on Tuesday, and 351 on Monday.
Delhi’s air quality is likely to deteriorate further, slipping into the 'severe' category in the coming days, and will remain in the 'very poor' to 'severe' range for the next six days, according to the Ministry of Earth Sciences’ Air Quality Early Warning System.
The CPCB's Sameer app -- which displays AQI readings from all monitoring stations across Delhi -- showed that out of 38 operational stations, 18 logged AQIs in the 'severe' category. These include Chandni Chowk, DTU, Bawana, Anand Vihar, Mundka, Narela and Wazirpur stations where above-400 AQI levels were recorded.
As per CPCB standards, an AQI between 0–50 is 'good', 51–100 'satisfactory', 101–200 'moderate', 201–300 'poor', 301–400 'very poor' and 401–500 'severe'.
Meanwhile, the Decision Support System of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, estimated that vehicular emissions contributed 17.3 per cent to Delhi’s pollution on Thursday, while stubble burning accounted for 2.8 per cent.
For Friday, these parameters are projected to comprise 16.2 per cent and 1.8 per cent of the capital's pollutants, respectively.
Satellite imagery detected 16 farm fires in Punjab, 11 in Haryana and 115 in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the minimum temperature was recorded at 11.4 degrees Celsius, 0.9 degrees below normal, while the maximum settled at 28.2 degree celsius, 0.4 degrees above normal, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
For Friday, the IMD has forecast moderate fog, with the maximum and minimum temperatures expected to hover around 27 and 12 degrees Celsius, respectively.
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Rupee falls 9 paise to all-time low of 90.58 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): Rupee depreciated 9 paise to an all-time low of 90.58 against US dollar in early trade on Monday, weighed down by uncertainty over an India-US trade deal and persistent foreign fund outflows.
Forex traders said rupee is trading with a negative bias as investors are in wait and watch mode and awaiting cues from the India-US trade deal front.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.53 against the US dollar, then fell further to an all-time intraday low of 90.58 against the greenback, registering a fall of 9 paise over its previous close.
On Friday, the rupee had slipped 17 paise to close at an all-time low of 90.49 against the American currency.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.05 per cent lower at 98.35.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 0.52 per cent at USD 61.44 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex was trading 298.86 points lower at 84,968.80, while the Nifty was down 121.40 points at 25,925.55.
Foreign Institutional Investors sold equities worth Rs 1,114.22 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
"FPIs continue to be in selling mode in equity and debt while RBI has been selling dollars to fund their long positions," said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
