Shooter Aishwary Tomar smashes world record on way to gold in ISSF Junior World C'ship
Lima (PTI): Young Indian shooter Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar smashed the world record in the final to win gold in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions event at the ISSF junior world championships here.
Tomar equalled the junior world record score of 1185 in qualification to top the field on Monday.
The youngster then bettered the junior world record in the final with a score of 463.4, finishing nearly seven points ahead of second-placed Frenchman Lucas Kryzs, who won the silver with a score of 456.5.
Gavin Barnick of USA won bronze with a score of 446.6.
Among other Indians in the field, Sanskar Havelia was 11th with a score of 1160, Pankaj Mukheja 15th with 1157, Sartaj Tiwana 16th with 1157 and Gurman Singh finished 22nd with a score of 1153.
Earlier in the day, India's 14-year-old shooter Naamya Kapoor fired her way to the gold medal ahead of celebrated compatriot Manu Bhaker in the women's 25m pistol event.
Kapoor shot 36 in the final to claim the top prize ahead of France's Camille Jedrzejewski (33) and 19-year-old Olympian Bhakar (31), who has already won three gold so far in the tournament.
Bhaker settled for the bronze after the French markswoman prevailed in a shoot-off on Monday. Another Indian shooter in the women's final, Rhythm Sangwan, finished fourth as the country dominated the event.
Kapoor was sixth in the qualification with a total of 580 as Bhaker (587) and Sangwan (586) grabbed the top two spots.
Delhi's Kapoor had shot the second-best score of 583 in qualification to finish fifth in the national shooting selection trials at the Dr Karni Singh Range in August.
India lead the standings with eight gold, six silver and three bronze medals for a total of 17 medals.
This is the first multi-discipline shooting event since the Tokyo Olympics, with as many as 32 nations and nearly 370 athletes participating in the championship.
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BJP accuses Karnataka govt of 'failing' to prevent noise pollution caused by 'azaan'
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): Members of the Opposition BJP on Tuesday slammed the Karnataka government for not taking measures to prevent the alleged noise pollution caused by 'azaan', the Islamic call to prayer.
BJP MLC D S Arun raised the issue in the Legislative Council during the question hour, accusing the ruling Congress of "appeasement" by failing to take action against mosques that are violating the Supreme Court's directives.
Karnataka Minister for Forest, Ecology and Environment Eshwar Khandre, responding to the question, said, as per the directives of the Supreme Court in sensitive zones, the noise level should not exceed 50 decibels during the day and 40 decibels at night, and in residential areas, 55 decibels during the day and 45 decibels at night.
In commercial areas, the noise should not exceed 65 decibels during the day, 55 at night, and in industrial areas, 75 during the day and at night 70 decibels, he said.
Pointing out that the Karnataka government had issued an order in 2022, assigning responsibility to a committee headed by a DySPs or ACPs for the effective implementation of the rules, the minister said when a complaint is received about noise pollution, the Pollution Control Board will inspect it and provide information about the decibel level to the police to take further action, including filing of criminal cases.
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"Not only during azaan, but also during bhajans held in temples and marriage events, among others, the violations happen. There is a need to spread awareness. The Supreme Court has ordered against bursting firecrackers, but it is being violated. Efforts will be made to implement the rules effectively," he said.
Several BJP MLAs, including Arun, Bharathi Shetty, among others, were not satisfied with the minister's reply. They took strong exception to it.
Arun noted that in the last three years, only 52 cases have been taken, and said there are clear violations by almost all mosques, but no action has been taken. "The decibels have in fact increased under this government. The government is giving protection to them."
Reacting to this, Khandre, calling it a "sensitive matter", said, "It is not right to politicise the issue. The law of this land is equal for everyone."
Hitting back, Arun asked, "Why is the matter sensitive? What is preventing you (the government) from implementing the Supreme Court directives?"
