34.5% decline in stubble burning cases in Haryana, SC told

The Haryana government has said in its undertaking before the Supreme Court that there has been 34.5% decline in the cases of stubble burning till November 24 this paddy harvesting season.
In an affidavit submitted before the apex court, the government said that the number of farm fires till November 24 was 6,581 this year against 10,050 last year in the same period.
While there were 4,135 cases between November 6 and November 24 in 2018, the number this year for the said period has come down to 1,408, a slide of 65.9%, the government affidavit read.
About its multi-pronged initiatives in cases of farm fires, the government said it had registered 2008 cases till November 24 this year of which challans were issued in 714 cases and penalty worth Rs 19.07 lakh imposed. Between November 6 and November 24, as many as 1,103 complaints were registered and penalty worth Rs 9.7 lakh imposed, besides issuing challans in 351 cases.
The government said while the entire non-basmati variety of paddy had been harvested, 94.8% basmati crop has been harvested.
Stating that against the target of providing 7,468 machines for residue management to individual farmers, the government provided such machines to 5,188 farmers (69.5% target achieved), while 120.7% target had been achieved through the custom hiring centres (CHCs) which provided 1,569 machines against the target of 1,300 machines.
The government further said that out of 7,088 villages, no fire incident was reported in 5,495 villages and 20,000 National Service Scheme (NSS) students (parali paltan) and 3,000 women volunteers (Rani Jhansi brigade) were spreading awareness about ill-effects of stubble burning and helping farmers hire machines from CHCs, the government said.
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Bengaluru crime watch: Three more bike thieves held
Police in Karnataka have succeeded in catching three more bike thieves who were involved in two separate cases. Bike theft: Chickpete traffic police, Bengaluru. August 10 A two-wheeler thief was caught by traffic police after he was stopped for not wearing a helmet. Bike theft: Belagavi. August 10 Meanwhile, in Belagavi, Kudachi police have arrested two persons for stealing bikes in various police stations limits. As many as 26 bikes have been recovered and seized.
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Meghalaya to host upcoming North East Olympics Games from October 30
Meghalaya will be hosting the upcoming North East Olympics Games beginning October 30 till November 6, 2022 in Shillong. Soon after chairing a high-level meeting between the North East Organising Committee, Directorate of Sports & Youth Affairs and the North East Olympic Association, sports & youth affairs minister Banteidor Lyngdoh stated that the sports selected were decided based on the availability of infrastructure and on the advice of the Meghalaya State Olympic Association.
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‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign gains momentum in Karnataka
The Bharatiya Janata Party's Karnataka unit on Tuesday took out a rally in Bengaluru in support of the central leadership's 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign in the run up to of India's 75th Independence Day. BJP National General Secretary C T Ravi along with several party workers participated in the 'Tiranga Yatra' by walking the streets with the tricolour. Not all were happy with the quality of flags.
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Petition in Gujarat HC for SC status to Mahar community
A petition has been filed in the Gujarat High Court by Ahmedabad based Lord Buddha Foundation seeking inclusion of the Mahar community in SC (Scheduled Caste) category. Architect of the Indian Constitution, Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar belonged to this community and they are recognised in most states of country barring Gujarat. The word Mahar is derived from the words 'Maha' which means great and 'Rashtra' means country or “people from the great country”.
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Overcast weather, drizzle likely in Delhi today
Delhi's air quality was in the satisfactory category on Thursday morning as overcast weather and drizzle were likely on Thursday while the mercury was expected to drop to around 35C. On Wednesday, the average 24-hour AQI was 102 in the moderate category. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'.