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2017 is the year of long weekends.While you are arranging the last moment things for tomorrow drive to hill station or beach, someone else is actually earning profits. 
 
Companies are buzzing over the long weekend starting 24th February and we're not just talking flights. Road trips are the flavor of holidays, with cab and car rental services reporting an upward swing of bookings and enquiries. 
 
Travellers are now taking short breaks through the year and not limiting themselves one or two big holidays as in the past, which experts believe will help the travel and tourism industry as it ensures that demand is well spread out. 
 
"This year, we will have many long weekends and many travellers are opting to go for short trips rather than longer vacations. There has been 10%-15% increase in the bookings for this Shivratri weekened and mostly people are travelling to local destinations," said Aditya Loomba, Joint Managing Director, ECO Rent A Car. 
 
With this trend on the rise, and 11 long weekends coming up in 2017, it is going to be a great year ahead for the industry. "We have witnessed 15-20%spike in the bookings for the intercity cabs as many people are taking this opportunity to go to nearby places. We are seeing trend for bookings coming for Goa, Lavasa and <keyword id="106069" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Aamby-Valley">Aamby Valley</keyword> from Pune and Mumbai. This year is a good opportunity for us as people make their long weekend travel plans way in advance, " <keyword id="4213005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="vivek-kejriwal">Vivek Kejriwal</keyword>, Founder &amp; CEO, OneWay.Cab told <keyword id="824043" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Business-Insider">Business Insider</keyword>.

Who’s profiting from extended weekends? This time it’s the car rental companies

In the last eighteen months, the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=aam+admi+party&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Aam Aadmi Party</a> including Delhi Chief Minister <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=arvind+kejriwal&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Arvind Kejriwal </a>and six cabinet members have managed to spend over Rs 1 crore on just tea and snacks for their guests. 
 
The details emerged from an <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=RTI&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">RTI</a> query filed by <keyword id="193039" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Vivek-Garg">Vivek Garg</keyword> who sought to know how much the Delhi ministers spend on tea and snacks. Leading the pack is <keyword id="260213" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Arvind-Kejriwal">Arvind Kejriwal</keyword>, who drew up a cumulative bill of Rs 47.29 lakhs which includes Rs 22,42,320 spent at the secretariat office and Rs 24,86,921 spent at his residence camp office. It goes without saying that Kejriwal seems to have left his hunger strike days way way behind. 
 
Following him is Deputy Chief Minister <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=manish+sisodia&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Manish Sisodia</a> who spent a total of Rs 11.28 lakhs on refreshments. 
 
 
Ex-transport minister Gopal Rai who was fired for allegations of corruption was not one to be left behind. As it turns out, he too raked up a bill of over TRs 11 lakh. 
 Then there is <keyword id="6367909" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sandeep-Kumar">Sandeep Kumar</keyword>, the ex-social welfare minister who was recently sacked and is in the midst of a sexual assault allegation. Kumar spent over Rs 9 lakh on tea and snacks, while Health Minister <keyword id="6378951" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Satyendra-Jain">Satyendra Jain</keyword> also used up Rs 9.1 lakh. Last, but not the least, Tourism Minister <keyword id="6381732" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kapil-Mishra">Kapil Mishra</keyword> spent over Rs 6 lakh and <keyword id="339091" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Imran-Hussain">Imran Hussain</keyword>, the Food and Civil Supply Minister spent a little over Rs 5 lakh on snacks. 
 
Picking up the tab for all of them is none but us-the taxpayers. 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

Believe it or not: Aam Aadmi Party spent Rs 1 crore of taxpayers money on chai and samosa

Delhi Election 2020: 26 candidates names axed as BJP released its first list

The <keyword id="100242" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Electricity-bill">electricity bill</keyword> of Delhi CM <keyword id="260213" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Arvind-Kejriwal">Arvind Kejriwal</keyword>’s Civil Lines residence has shocked the nation. This Aam Aadmi’s electricity bill for the month of April and May is found to be Rs 91,000. Now, this amount is almost ten times more than the electricity consumption of an average Indian household. 
 As per a recent report published in Economic Times, the General Administration Department of <keyword id="6354952" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Delhi-Government">Delhi Government</keyword> has furnished the copies of electricity bill of Kejriwal's house in the <keyword id="6356198" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="RTI">RTI</keyword> query that was filed by Vivek Garg, an advocate and RTI activist. 
 However, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Delhi officials are claiming that the bill was over Rs 1 lakh. Not just this, but Delhi BJP has also said that it will seek power bill details of all <keyword id="6356115" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="AAP">AAP</keyword> ministers. 
 
Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Kapoor also alleged that the CM house is equipped with two different electricity meters. In a statement he said, "The Chief Minister's residence has two electricity meters. The latest bills for the two meters are Rs 55,000 and Rs 48,000 (total Rs 1, 03,000)." 
 
According to a senior official, the government will verify the bill before commenting on the matter. 
Image: indiatimes

Delhi CM’s electricity bill ten times more than what Aam Aadmi can afford

New Delhi, Nov 22 (IANS) To improve the national capital's air quality, the Delhi government on Sunday said it has installed 23 anti-smog guns at key intersections and construction sites across the city, and assured that this number will be increased, if necessary. Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said that the Public Works Department (PWD) has installed these 23 anti-smog guns. He also said that PWD officials have also been instructed to sprinkle water on trees, roads and on the construction sites to combat dust pollution. "A total of 150 water tankers have been deployed for sprinkling water," Rai said. "I have also instructed the PWD officials to increase the number of tankers further so that all the key roads of Delhi can be covered. If necessary, we will install more anti-smog guns as well at the key intersections of Delhi." The Delhi government this year has launched a massive anti-pollution campaign - 'Yuddh Pradushan Ke Viruddh' - which is being led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Rai. However, pollution levels breached the emergency threshold twice this month here with a grey apocalyptic smog enveloping the city for days, blotting out the sun and obsuring landmarks. To curb increasing pollution, the Delhi government had on November 5 also banned the sale and use of all kinds of firecrackers in the city till November 30. The National Green Tribunal had also imposed a total ban on sale or use of all kinds of firecrackers in the National Capital Region from November 9 midnight to November 30 midnight. Sources in the government said that over 70 lakh litres of water was sprinkled at 13 pollution hotspots in the past 36 days by the Delhi Fire Service to hold down dust as a measure to improve the deteriorating air quality in the city. The drive began on October 17 following orders from the Delhi government to check the dust pollution in the city, said the officials. Delhi's Fire Service Department has been also participating in the exercise and springling about two lakh litres of water on city's roads, construction sites and other key places regularly. The major 13 places, declared as pollution hotspots by the Delhi government, are Jahangirpuri, Narela, Ashok Vihar, Vivek Vihar, Dwarka, Mundka, Rohini, Wazirpur, Okhla, Bawana, Anand Vihar, Punjabi Bagh and R.K. Puram. --IANS rak/vd

23 anti-smog guns across Delhi to combat dust pollution

The national capital's air quality was in the "very poor" category on Tuesday morning, the first time this season, with calm winds and low temperatures allowing accumulation of pollutants. According to the Ministry of Earth Sciences' Air Quality Early Warning System for <keyword id="66" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Delhi">Delhi</keyword>, an increase in farm fires in Punjab, Haryana and neighbouring regions of <keyword id="3001" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pakistan">Pakistan</keyword> is also going to impact the air quality in Delhi-NCR. The city recorded an air quality index (AQI) of 304 at 9:30 am, which falls in the "very poor" category. The 24-hour average AQI was 261 on Monday, the worst since February. It was 216 on Sunday and 221 on Saturday. Wazirpur (AQI 380), Vivek Vihar (AQI 355) and <keyword id="6374669" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="jahangirpuri">Jahangirpuri</keyword> (AQI 349) recorded the highest pollution levels. An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'. A senior scientist at the Delhi Pollution Control Committee said the dip in the air quality can be attributed to low wind speed and temperatures which allowed accumulation of pollutants. "Stubble burning has also increased in neighbouring states. Also, the ventilation index is low," he said. Ventilation index is the speed at which pollutants can get dispersed. A ventilation index lower than 6000 sqm/second, with average wind speed less than 10 kmph, is unfavourable for dispersion of pollutants. PM10 levels in Delhi-NCR stood at 300 microgram per cubic meter (g/m3) at 9 am -- the highest this season so far, according to CPCB data. PM10 levels below 100 g/m3 are considered safe in India. PM10 is particulate matter with a diameter of 10 micrometers and is inhalable into the lungs. These particles include dust, pollen and mold spores. The levels of PM2.5 - finer particles which can even enter the bloodstream - were 129 g/m3. PM2.5 levels up to 60 g/m3 are considered safe. NASA's satellite imagery showed a large cluster of fires near Amritsar and Firozpur in Punjab and Patiala, Ambala and Kaithal in Haryana. According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research, farm fires contributed 3 percent particulate matter to Delhi's PM2.5 concentration on Monday. It is likely to be "negligible" for the next two days due to a change in the wind direction from northwesterly to southeasterly, the government agency said. On Tuesday morning, the maximum wind speed was 4 kilometers per hour, according to the <keyword id="6355166" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="India-meteorological-department">India Meteorological Department</keyword>. Low temperatures and stagnant winds help in accumulation of pollutants near the ground, affecting air quality. With Delhi-NCR bracing for months of poor air quality, experts have warned that high levels of air pollution can aggravate the COVID-19 pandemic. Severe air pollution in Delhi is a year-round problem, which can be attributed to unfavourable meteorological conditions, farm fires in neighbouring regions and local sources of pollution. According to an analysis by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, a Delhi-based think tank, transportation contributes the most -- 18 to 39 percent -- to Delhi's air pollution. Road dust is the second largest source of air pollution in the city (18 to 38 percent), followed by industries (2 to 29 percent), thermal power plants (3 to 11 percent) and construction (8 percent). This year, the Delhi government has launched a massive anti-air pollution campaign -- "Yuddh Pradushan Ke Viruddh' -- which is being led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Environment Minister <keyword id="6391020" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="gopal-rai">Gopal Rai</keyword>. A "green war room" with a 10-member expert team has been set up at the Delhi Secretariat to monitor the steps being taken to deal with high levels of air pollution in winters. The environment department has also taken stern action against project proponents at large construction and demolition sites flouting dust control norms. The government will also start the spraying of "Pusa bio-decomposer" solution in non-basmati rice fields in the national capital, on Tuesday. The solution, experts say, can turn the stubble into manure in 15 to 20 days and therefore, can prevent stubble burning. Starting October 15, stricter measures to fight air pollution will also come into force in Delhi and its neighbourhood as part of the Graded Response Action Plan, which was first implemented in Delhi-NCR in 2017. <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/covid-19-vaccine-updates-and-news-from-around-the-world/articleshow/78632654.cms">COVID-19 vaccine updates: WHO believes COVID-19 vaccine may be ready by year-end, even as Johnson &amp; Johnson pauses trial over safety concerns</a>

Delhi's air quality hits 'very poor' level for first time this season

By Asim Kamal(Eds: SPECIAL) New Delhi, May 4 () The convalescent plasma therapy is no "magic bullet" to deal with coronavirus, and only large-scale controlled trials can ascertain its efficacy as part of the treatment strategy, top medical experts said on Monday, even as several states are considering the use of the therapy to treat critically-ill COVID-19 patients. The therapy involves taking antibodies from the blood of a person who has recovered from COVID-19 and transfusing those antibodies into an active coronavirus patient to help kickstart the immune system to fight the infection.The Health Ministry last week warned against its use, saying that the plasma therapy for treatment of coronavirus patients is at an experimental stage and has the potential to cause life-threatening complications.However, some state governments, including Rajasthan, Punjab, Maharashtra and Delhi have shown keenness for plasma therapy treatment, and the Centre has permitted few states to perform plasma therapy on a limited number of COVID-19 patients. Top medical experts feel it should not be looked upon as something that could make a "huge difference" in the treatment of COVID-19 and only randomised controlled trials can prove its efficacy as an important treatment strategy. Director of AIIMS, Delhi, Randeep Guleria said there have been very few convalescent plasma therapy trials as far as COVID-19 is concerned, and only in very few patients it has shown some benefit. "It is just one part of the treatment strategy. It helps improve the person's own immunity by giving what we call passive immunity because the antibodies in the plasma enter the blood and try to help fight the virus in the afflicted individual. It is not something which will dramatically make a difference," Guleria told . There is no study to suggest that "it is a magic bullet" or it will make a dramatic difference, but it is part of the armamentarium of treatment that physicians have along with other drugs, the senior pulmonologist said. ICMR has already called for a proposal and a large number of institutes have enrolled for the convalescent plasma therapy trials, he said. "Important issue to remember is that not everyone's plasma can be given, you also have to test the blood ----whether it is safe and also has enough antibodies. So, you have to have an antibody testing mechanism which is being done by NIV (National Institute of Virology), Pune, to show that the plasma you are giving has enough antibodies" Guleria said. Research should be done on a multi-pronged treatment strategy and should not be focused on only one strategy, the AIIMS Director said. "You will need to give it to a large number of individuals, more than 200 or 300 people and then analyse the data...We should go ahead in research mode giving it to more people and do a proper well conducted study so as to know one way or the other," Guleria said. Dr Vivek Nangia, Director Pulmonology, MICU and Sleep Disorders, Fortis Hospital, Vasant Kunj, said the therapy is only in the experimental stage, but it is promising as there is a clinical knowledge involved, and also some experiments and past experience behind it having been used for SARS and H1N1 epidemics in a limited manner. "Dire circumstances require desperate measures, you need to have an out of the box thinking and this is one of those measures, when nothing else is working you want to try this, there is no harm. It has its pros and cons," he told . Backing Guleria, Nangia also said, "larger randomized placebo-controlled trials are very essential only then we can make it a standard of therapy." These expert views come amid lack of definitive evidence in favour of or against the use of the convalescent plasma therapy.As per reports, a patient who was administered plasma therapy for the first time at a private hospital here was discharged last week after being cured, while the first person to undergo plasma therapy in Maharashtra had died in Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had said last week that the Delhi government will not stop clinical trials of plasma therapy to treat severally-ill COVID-19 patients as its initial results are good. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday said that with the ICMR nod, SMS hospital in Jaipur will start convalescent plasma therapy on COVID-19 patients from Monday, while Maharashtra, which had started the trials last month after a nod from the ICMR, is considering to continue with it despite the Union health ministry warning. Professor Rajesh Malhotra, Chief Trauma Centre AIIMS, said as of now, there is no concrete evidence of convalescent plasma therapy's usefulness."It essentially relies on the assumption that the body fires up its resistance in the form of chemicals called antibodies to fight the infection and those who have recovered have sufficient numbers in their convalescent plasma to fight the infection," Malhotra said. However, the degree of antibody response that a person throws and the timing are variables, making it difficult to have a predictable standard protocol, he said. It is too early to say if plasma treatment is the only way and it has its own risks also, the AIIMS professor said, adding that at present it is at best an experimental therapy and definitive answers cannot be obtained without large-scale trials.Dr Pankaj Kumar, Head of Critical Care Unit Fortis Hospital, Shalimar Bagh, echoed similar views, saying trials till now are too small to clear doubts about the therapy and large-scale trials should be done. "Theoretically speaking it should be helpful because we are taking the antibodies from a person who has had the infection. But it is still experimental... we have to weigh the risks and benefits," he told . Dr Atul Kakar, Vice-Chairman, Department of Medicine, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said it is very important to pick the right patient for being the donor as he has to have a very severe infection so that the antibodies are quite high and should be free from other viruses. ASK PYKPYK

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Who’s profiting from extended weekends? This time it’s the car rental companies

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