Air quality deteriorated to hazardous levels in New Delhi on Wednesday as toxic smog blanketed India, leaving residents of the capital complaining of “apocalyptic” scenes. The crisis also affected neighbouring Pakistan, with at least seven districts recording high levels of pollution.
The average air quality reading in New Delhi reached 366, placing it in the “very poor” category, according to India’s leading environmental authority, the Central Pollution Control Board. Swiss technology company IQAir, which analyses global pollution data, recorded an air quality index of 577 at noon and said New Delhi was the world's most polluted major city. A figure of more than 301 on its scale is considered “hazardous”.
The Indian capital has been enduring dangerous levels of smog in recent weeks as residents set off millions of fireworks for the Hindu festival of Diwali and farmers engage in the seasonal burning of crop waste. In Lahore, a city of 14 million and Pakistan’s cultural capital, the air quality index was recorded at 435 on Wednesday, according to IQAir. The reading was 700 on Tuesday and had on Monday reached 1,200.
“This is an apocalyptic situation,” New Delhi resident Maitri Deb told The National. "Nothing is visible because of this thick blanket of toxic pollution. The eyes are burning and I am feeling discomfort in breathing."
Neighbouring Indian cities were also affected by the smog, including Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad and Gurgaon. Experts say an air quality reading between 400 and 500 on the government's scale is equivalent to smoking 25 cigarettes a day.
The concentration of harmful PM2.5 particles in the air was 332 microns per cubic metre, more than 22 times the World Health Organisation's safe limit, according to IQAir. These fine particles penetrate deep into the lungs and bloodstream and are blamed for chronic respiratory and cardiac diseases.
Visibility in the morning was down to about 100 metres in New Delhi, according to the India Meteorological Department, as pollutants combined with winter fog and mist, prompting authorities at the city's airport to issue an alert.
“While landings and take-offs continue at New Delhi airport, flights that are not CAT III compliant may be affected,” Indira Gandhi International Airport said.
CAT III is a navigation system that enables aircraft to land in low visibility.
Authorities have rolled out several measures in recent years in a bid to tackle the smog, including switching to electric buses and at times banning construction. However, air pollution remains severe, especially in November and December.
Last week, Delhi’s Environment Minister Gopal Rai said officials were keen to use cloud seeding to fight the problem in the hope that it would disperse the pollutants.
The Supreme Court this week ruled that it was a “fundamental right” to live in a pollution-free environment and reprimanded the government for a failure to enforce a ban on fireworks over Diwali that the court introduced in 2018.
Rawalpindi, Pakistan’s third-largest city, reported a reading of 300 on Wednesday, while Multan recorded 293, IQAir said. The two cities are in Punjab province, where more than 40,000 people have reportedly been treated for respiratory ailments since last month.
The UN Children's Fund warned this week that more than 11 million children in Pakistan's Punjab were exposed to health risks due to the unprecedented levels of air pollution. Authorities have closed educational institutions and public spaces for a week as a precaution.
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
'Panga'
Directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring Kangana Ranaut, Richa Chadha, Jassie Gill, Yagya Bhasin, Neena Gupta
Rating: 3.5/5
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The biog
Name: Mohammed Imtiaz
From: Gujranwala, Pakistan
Arrived in the UAE: 1976
Favourite clothes to make: Suit
Cost of a hand-made suit: From Dh550
Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
Profile Idealz
Company: Idealz
Founded: January 2018
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Size: (employees): 22
Investors: Co-founders and Venture Partners (9 per cent)
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Biography
Favourite drink: Must have karak chai and Chinese tea every day
Favourite non-Chinese food: Arabic sweets and Indian puri, small round bread of wheat flour
Favourite Chinese dish: Spicy boiled fish or anything cooked by her mother because of its flavour
Best vacation: Returning home to China
Music interests: Enjoys playing the zheng, a string musical instrument
Enjoys reading: Chinese novels, romantic comedies, reading up on business trends, government policy changes
Favourite book: Chairman Mao Zedong’s poems
READ MORE ABOUT CORONAVIRUS
European arms
Known EU weapons transfers to Ukraine since the war began: Germany 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles. Luxembourg 100 NLAW anti-tank weapons, jeeps and 15 military tents as well as air transport capacity. Belgium 2,000 machine guns, 3,800 tons of fuel. Netherlands 200 Stinger missiles. Poland 100 mortars, 8 drones, Javelin anti-tank weapons, Grot assault rifles, munitions. Slovakia 12,000 pieces of artillery ammunition, 10 million litres of fuel, 2.4 million litres of aviation fuel and 2 Bozena de-mining systems. Estonia Javelin anti-tank weapons. Latvia Stinger surface to air missiles. Czech Republic machine guns, assault rifles, other light weapons and ammunition worth $8.57 million.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
