Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday extended greetings to the people of Uttarakhand on the occasion of the state’s Foundation Day, praising its spiritual heritage, natural beauty and development journey.

In a message posted on X, PM Modi described Uttarakhand as a land enriched by spiritual consciousness, mountain landscapes, sacred rivers and the Char Dham. He also highlighted the state’s distinct identity rooted in its cultural heritage.

PM Modi highlights Uttarakhand’s development

The Prime Minister credited the people of Uttarakhand for the state’s progress, saying their hard work, talent and progressive outlook had helped it reach new heights across different sectors.

He expressed confidence that Uttarakhand would continue to move rapidly along the path of development. PM Modi also wished happiness, peace and prosperity to the people of the state on the occasion.

Why Uttarakhand celebrates Foundation Day

Uttarakhand Foundation Day is observed every year on November 9. The state was formed on November 9, 2000, after being carved out of Uttar Pradesh, becoming the 27th state of India. Dehradun serves as its capital.

The Himalayan state is popularly known as Devbhoomi, or the Land of the Gods. It is home to the four major pilgrimage sites of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath, collectively known as the Char Dham.

Yogi Adityanath also greets Uttarakhand

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also extended greetings to the people of Uttarakhand on Foundation Day.

Yogi highlighted the state’s natural beauty, folk culture, spiritual heritage and tradition of valour. He also said that Uttarakhand was setting new benchmarks for development under the guidance of PM Modi and the leadership of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.

Delhi-NCR witnessed a sharp deterioration in air quality on Diwali night as thick smoke blanketed several parts of the region and visibility fell. Delhi’s overall Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 373, in the “very poor” category, at 11:05 pm on November 8, according to data cited from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

Several parts of the capital, however, recorded AQI levels above 400, placing them in the “severe” category. Areas reporting such levels included Alipur, Bawana, Burari, Chandni Chowk, Mundka, Punjabi Bagh, Rohini and Vivek Vihar, among others.

Delhi-NCR air quality on Diwali night

The pollution was not restricted to Delhi. At 11:05 pm, Noida’s average AQI stood at 319, while Ghaziabad recorded 360. Gurugram and Faridabad recorded AQI levels of 280 and 297, respectively.

According to the CPCB classification, an AQI between 301 and 400 falls under the “very poor” category, while 401 to 500 is classified as “severe”.

The Air Quality Early Warning System had predicted that Delhi’s air quality was likely to remain in the severe category from November 9 for the next few days.

GRAP Stage 3 already in force

Ahead of Diwali, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) had enforced Stage 3 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across Delhi-NCR as a pre-emptive measure.

The move came amid forecasts of worsening air quality around the festival.

Despite restrictions, concerns were raised over compliance with pollution-control measures and the continued use of firecrackers.

Environmentalist questions pollution data

Environmentalists also raised questions about whether official AQI readings fully reflected the pollution being experienced across neighbourhoods.

Environmental activist Bhavreen Kandhari questioned the reliability of government pollution data and pointed to differences between official readings and measurements from independent AQI monitors. She also raised concerns about data gaps at several monitoring stations on November 6.

Kandhari alleged that 11 monitoring stations had experienced data gaps, including 22 missing hourly PM2.5 readings and 27 missing PM10 readings. She specifically mentioned outages at IIT Delhi, Nangloi and NSIT Dwarka.

The concerns come as Delhi enters another period of severe winter pollution, with smoke, poor dispersion conditions and emissions contributing to deteriorating air quality.

The Uttar Pradesh government has announced a 5 per cent increase in Dearness Allowance (DA) for state government employees ahead of Diwali. With this revision, the DA rate has increased from 58 per cent to 63 per cent, providing financial relief to lakhs of eligible employees across the state.

The revised allowance will be effective from July 1, 2026, according to the government announcement. A government order was also issued on Saturday, November 7.

The enhanced DA will be paid along with employees’ regular November 2026 salaries.

Which employees will benefit from the DA hike?

The decision covers regular state government employees and several other categories of eligible staff.

These include employees of aided educational and technical institutions, regular and full-time employees of urban local bodies, work-charged employees and personnel drawing salaries under University Grants Commission (UGC) pay scales.

The revision is expected to benefit a large section of the Uttar Pradesh workforce ahead of the festive season.

What happens to the DA arrears?

The revised DA rate will apply retrospectively from July 1, 2026. Consequently, employees will also be entitled to arrears for the period preceding the November salary payment.

The government has made provisions for the payment of the arrears for July to October 2026. These amounts will be credited to employees’ provident fund accounts, according to the reported payment arrangements.

The enhanced allowance for November will be reflected in the regular salary for that month.

The decision comes ahead of Diwali and will provide additional financial relief to eligible government employees in Uttar Pradesh.