Cold refuses to depart from Delhi

 It was a bright cold morning in the national capital on Thursday with the minimum temperature recorded at 8.4 degrees Celcius, a notch below the season's average, the weather office said.

The maximum temperature is expected to hover around 22 degrees Celcius.

"The city witnessed shallow fog with a clear sky," the India Meteorological Department (IMD)said.

According to the Northern Railway, at least nine Delhi-bound trains were delayed due to fog in parts of northern India.

The overall Delhi's air quality index (AQI) was recorded under the 'poor' category at 249.

"A marginal deterioration of AQI to lower end of the very poor category is expected by day-end on Thursday," System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) predicted.IANS