Earthquake in Delhi, PM Modi, COVID-19, farmer protest, farm law, winter, cold, Delhi,

18 December 2020

• Earthquake of 4.2 magnitude hits Alwar; tremors felt in Delhi

  A medium-intensity earthquake of magnitude 4.2 struck near Delhi on Thursday, prompting people to rush out of their homes.

  The epicentre of the earthquake was 48 km southwest of Gurgaon in Haryana, according to India's National Center for Seismology. The earthquake struck at 11:46 pm at a depth of 7.5 km from the surface.

  Strong tremors were felt in Delhi and surrounding areas for several seconds. There was no immediate report of any damage to life or property.

• Severe cold day conditions over North India for next 2 days: IMD

  Northern states like Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh will continue to witness the blast of the winter chill for the next two days, following which the mercury will start to rise, the India Meteorological Department said on Thursday.
  
  According to the weather department, icy winds are blowing towards the northern plains from the snow-clad western Himalayan range of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

• Stubble burning up 44.5% in Punjab, 25% down in Haryana: Centre

  The Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ministry has informed the Supreme Court that 'active fire events' (AFE), or stubble burning, have increased by nearly 45 per cent in Punjab, and reduced by 25 per cent in Haryana, when compared with 2019.
  
  According to the affidavit filed by the Ministry, total AFE reported in Punjab this year are 76,590, while in 2019, they were 52,991 (between September 21- November 25), which indicates stubble burning incidents have increased by 44.5 per cent.

• Mercury dips to 3.5 degrees Celsius in New Delhi

  The minimum temperature in Delhi was recorded at 3.5 degrees Celsius Thursday night, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. According to the IMD, northern states including Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh will continue to witness the blast of the winter chill for the next two days, following which the mercury will start to rise.

  Icy winds are blowing towards the northern plains from the snow-clad western Himalayan range of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, the weather department said.

• The Farm Acts are steps taken by the Government towards doubling farmers income by 2022 -- Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar

  Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar met members of Farmer Producer Organisations of Federation of Indian FPOs and Aggregators (FIFA) representing 15 states and around500 FPOs at Krishi Bhawan today.

  They expressed their support for the recent Agricultural Reforms by the Government of India. They thanked the minister for the enabling environment which these Acts have created to scale business of FPOs to benefit the small and marginal farmers. They narrated their experiences in which they described how small farmers have benefitted from the recent reforms and Farm Acts.