Crop fires and fireworks have worsened the situation in the Indian capital city, forcing workers and schoolchildren to stay at home. Air pollution kills more than a million people each year in India. Indian independence movement leader, Mahatma Gandhi, has been featured for the first time on an official UK coin, launched on the same day as Hindus celebrate Diwali. Waning alertness combined with the festival season could create the ideal breeding ground for a new surge, they say.
However, the potential for new variants remains a cause for concern. Visit the new DW website Take a look at the beta version of dw. Go to the new dw. More info OK. Wrong language? Change it here DW.
COM has chosen English as your language setting. COM in 30 languages. Deutsche Welle. It also holds special significance for married couples and babies celebrating their first Diwali, as both sides of the family can come together. On Diwali night, most Hindus offer prayers to Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, and Ganesh, the god representing good fortune and wisdom for the coming year.
As the religious ceremony comes to a close, sweetmeat offerings are placed in front of the deities, and small clay lamps known as diyas are arranged inside homes and outdoors, too.
The weeks leading up to Diwali are traditionally a time for redecorating the home, buying new clothes and jewellery, and exchanging gifts such as sweetmeats, dried fruits and nuts. This is the season for dinner parties, outdoor food festivals and craft fairs, all of which help build up excitement ahead of the main Diwali celebration. Gambling, especially in north India, is part of traditional celebrations, and card games are played late into the night in the weeks before Diwali.
Expect drinks and and plenty of finger food at these parties, which will usually include platters of kebabs, fried savoury snacks, tandoori grills and spiced sweetmeats. The third day is the main Diwali celebration. As the sun sets, prayers are said to Lakshmi and Ganesh, then dozens of clay lamps are arranged around the house. Firework displays follow, but in recent years these have been scaled back due to noise and air pollution concerns.
Activities on the day after Diwali will vary across different regions. In north India, for example, the morning is dedicated to worshipping the tools of work. Chefs will pay homage to their kitchen implements, businessmen will venerate their ledgers, and artists will offer gratitude for their paints and palettes.
On the fifth and final day of Diwali celebrations, sisters pray for the well-being of their brothers, and receive sweetmeats and gifts in return. Each region has its favourite dishes. Savoury snacks could include samosas , bhajis , aloo tikki griddle-cooked potato patties and channa bhatura spiced chickpeas and puffed bread.
On Thursday, the country recorded more than 12, new coronavirus cases and deaths, a far cry from earlier this year, when India buckled under a few hundred thousand new infections every day.
Overall, it has recorded more than 35 million infections and over , deaths, according to the Health Ministry. These figures, as elsewhere, are likely undercounts. Even states where infections were swelling a few weeks ago, such as Kerala along the tropical Malabar Coast, have seen a sustained decline.
India also celebrated administering its billionth COVID vaccine dose last month, further boosting confidence that life is returning to normal. There are also worries over air pollution, which typically shrouds northern India under a toxic grey smog at this time as temperatures dip and winter settles in. On Diwali night, people also light up the sky with firecrackers — their smoke causing pollution that takes days to clear. While there is no nationwide ban on firecrackers, a number of states have imposed restrictions to curb the pollution, with some allowing residents to light green crackers for a certain number of hours.
Green crackers produce fewer emissions than normal firecrackers. In the past, similar bans have often been flouted. Can Biden and Xi talk their way out of a slide into conflict?
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