All junior schools - private and state-run - will be closed today and children in Class 5 and above should not be permitted any outdoor activity including the morning assembly, Delhi's government announced on Tuesday, advising residents to avoid morning and evening walks as the capital breached hazardous levels of pollution. Thick, brown smog descended upon the world's most polluted capital, impelling a top medical body to declare a "public health emergency". A Supreme Court-appointed panel has recommended emergency measures like four times the parking fees to discourage the use of cars, and reduced metro fares.
