Delhi News Live Updates (November 3): The national capital woke up to a thick layer of toxic haze blanketed the skyline.The air quality in several parts of Delhi reeled under the ‘severe’ category having deteriorated from 402 Thursday evening. The worst AQI of 498 was at Mundka, followed by 496 at Bawana, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Starting today, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) will run 20 additional train trips across its network under Stage 3 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), which kicks in when the air quality dips to ‘severe.’

In the light of rising pollution levels, all government and private primary schools in Delhi will remain closed today and tomorrow, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday. With the air quality in the ‘severe’ category (AQI of 402 at 5 pm) in Delhi, the Commission for Air Quality Management has invoked Stage-III of the Graded Response Action Plan. With this, a ban on construction and demolition activities will kick in across the National Capital Region, except for certain projects (railways, metro, healthcare facilities etc). State governments in the NCR are also required to impose restrictions on plying of BS III petrol and BS IV diesel 4-wheelers in Delhi and in districts of Gurgaon, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal did not appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday and headed to poll-bound Madhya Pradesh’s Singrauli for a roadshow with Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann. The central agency had summoned Arvind Kejriwal for questioning in connection with the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy case. In April this year, the Aam Aadmi Party convenor was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with its case on the excise