The air quality in New Delhi continued to remain severe even as the toxic haze cleared up after a light rainfall today morning. The weather agency expects the pollution to ease up ahead of Diwali on Sunday. The rains come amid the Delhi government’s ongoing discussions with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) to conduct artificial rains across the national capital to combat the deteriorating air quality.

New Delhi is reeling after a week of severe pollution that has seen concentrations of harmful particles as high as 100 times the levels recommended by the World Health Organization

The overall air quality in Delhi at 7 am today was 407, according to data by the government’s air-quality monitoring agency SAFAR.

Some of the worst-affected areas were Ashok Vihar (443), Anand Vihar (436), Bawana (433), Rohini (429) and Punjabi Bagh (422). The situation isn’t any better in Noida, Gurugram and other neighbouring cities. Noida’s average AQI this morning was 475, Faridabad 459, Gurugram 386, and Ghaziabad (325).

The data showed major drop in the level of pollutants PM 2.5 and PM10 after 4am across the national capital and surrounding areas.   

Meanwhile, the Delhi government is making efforts to execute anti-pollution measures, and it is also considering the idea of ‘artificial rain’ to curtail the pollution issue. Several ministers of the Aam Admi Party were also seen on the ground on Thursday night inspecting the execution of anti-pollution initiatives.

The Supreme Court will today review measures already put in place to improve air quality, consider further tightening the rules on road traffic, and discuss the role played by dust raised from construction, one of the main contributors to the city’s pollution problems.  

Delhi needs heavy and widespread rain to wash away the pollutants, and light rains could worsen the situation, said Gufran Beig, the founder director of the federal government’s air-quality monitoring agency SAFAR.

Mr Beig added that current airflow is carrying smoke from crop residue burning in the states of Punjab and Haryana to Delhi, which also has its own pollution sources and where there is currently almost no wind.

The odd trend of investors piling into the shares of bankrupt companies continued this week when WeWork Inc. jumped 92% on Wednesday, the day it started trading after seeking protection from its lenders.

The shared office-space firm that made Adam Neumann famous and a billionaire has seen its market value plunge from $47 billion to less than $100 million – and even that last bit will almost surely be wiped out as the company restructures its debt load of more than $4 billion. But that didn’t stop speculators from scooping up the stock in droves on Wednesday, the first day it traded after the company filed for Chapter 11 on Monday, driving the share price as high as $1.69, a 102% increase from where it closed Friday before the filing hit. Volume topped 8.5 million shares.

The stock is trading lower on Thursday afternoon, just above $1.30, almost 20% off from Wednesday’s close. But that’s still more than those shares will likely be worth before long. WeWork’s current plan calls for its equity to be canceled, as is true with the vast majority of bankruptcies.

While it may seem like a peculiar strategy, taking a flyer on a bankrupt company is becoming increasingly in the stock market. 

“Bounces in bankrupt companies have gone from bizarre to routine,” said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers. 

Perhaps the most famous example is Hertz. Back in 2021, the company’s shares swung dramatically in the first over-the-counter trading session after the car rental giant emerged from bankruptcy. 

Social media has played a significant role in fueling the rallies in some of the most beaten-down names. Shares of companies like Revlon, AMC Entertainment and GameStop Corp. have taken off after hype spread on social media. WeWork is no different, Sosnick said.

No Layup

“At a simple level, one can assert that it’s ‘sell the rumor, buy the news,’ as it was well-telegraphed that [WeWork’s] bankruptcy was coming,” he said.

Obviously part of the appeal of buying a bankrupt company’s stock is it looks like a layup short bet. However, the cost to borrow is extremely high and expensive to maintain, Sosnick said. And what’s worse, there’s nothing to prevent the rate from going higher, leaving the short seller hoping to make a dollar while funding an expensive borrow with a terrible risk-reward, according to the strategist. 

So, as traders snap up those cheap shares, there’s still a chance they could lose much of what they spent in the end. 

“I don’t think people fully understand bankruptcy and what that entails for an investor,” Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners said. “It’s uncertain that what is trading now is actually going to continue to trade.”

Still, WeWork isn’t the stock market’s first post-bankruptcy rally, and it almost surely won’t be the last. 

“As long as there are buyers willing to play musical chairs with the stock, hoping to trade it from the long side for a profit until the shares are delisted after being declared truly worthless by the bankruptcy court, we’ll see this type of behavior,” Sosnick said.

An experienced train driver, who earned accolades for his services in the past, spent nine days in a mental hospital and underwent a special checkup to prove his mental fitness because he had threatened to commit suicide to highlight his grievances.

After Shyam Singh was declared fit in the special checkup, the Agra Rail Division has now asked him to go for a refresher course before getting back to driving.

Agra Railway Division PRO Prashasti Srivastava said the medical examination was required to find out if he was mentally sound to drive trains. “We need to take every single measure to ensure safe train operations. A loco pilot, who carries thousands of passengers, must have an attentive and sound mind.” Mr Srivastava also denied any discrimination or revengeful behaviour by the department towards Mr Singh in any manner.

Mr Singh, 48, who joined the railways as an assistant loco pilot in 1996, has been fighting a legal battle against alleged injustice and highhandedness of his seniors for the past one year.

Mr Singh’s plight started in October 2022 when he received a notice for committing minor violations while driving. In his reply, he not only denied all allegations but also accused his seniors of victimizing him due to personal enmity.

When Mr Singh felt that he was being treated unfairly and not heard properly by his seniors, he applied for voluntary retirement from service (VRS) on December 23, 2022.

However, after his well-wishers and sympathizers advised him not to go for VRS and instead fight back, he opted to withdraw the VRS application, which the department refused and relieved him of his services on February 10, 2023.

Mr Singh challenged it in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Allahabad and got a stay order.

“Though the CAT restored his services, the department turned vindictive and put him in junior positions. They knew that he was an experienced mail and express train driver, still he was asked to work as an assistant driver in freight trains against the railway norms,” Sanjay Pandhi, working president of the Indian Railway Loco Runningmen Organisation (IRLRO), said. The IRLRO is providing legal assistance to Mr Singh to fight this case.

Mr Pandhi added, “Singh has been awarded multiple times…for his hard work and quick response to avert accidents.” Meanwhile, Singh wrote several times to his department to put him back to mail and express trains but it was turned down. Out of frustration and to draw the attention of his seniors towards his plight, one day, he wrote on a crew complaint book that he wanted to commit suicide to get rid of his humiliation.

The department used it against him and issued a direction for a mental fitness test and a special brain test to find out if he was mentally sound to drive trains.

When Mr Singh questioned that under which rule he was being subjected to such a test, the department justified it in writing saying that it was important to find out his mental fitness as he drives passenger trains which carry thousands of people and hence it is important for the safety of rail operations.

“Instead of holding a counselling session and trying to understand his grievances, the department sent him to a mental hospital to frustrate him further. This is really pathetic and I request that the Railway Board should intervene in such matters and help employees get justice,” Mr Pandhi added.

Mr Singh spent nine days in a mental hospital only to get a fitness certificate. Even after the hospital declared him medically fit, the department got another test – Non-contrast Computed Tomography (NCCT) of Head – done which showed him normal.

“Now to victimize him further, the railways has asked him to go for a refresher course. Loco pilots are sent for refresher course after three years of driving and Singh’s refresher course is due in July 2024 but the department wants to send him just because of its revengeful behaviour,” Mr Pandhi said.

Divisional PRO Mr Srivastava said that as winters are approaching and loco pilots will encounter foggy weather, every loco pilot will have to undertake a refresher’s course to ensure safe train operations.

“The department has treated Singh’s case with care and compassion. All allegations of injustice or highhandedness are incorrect. We are doing everything possible to bring him back to his job ensuring safety in railways.”