![CORRECTION / In this photo taken on November 6, 2019, farmers burn straw stubble after harvesting paddy crops in a field at a village near Sultanpur Lodhi. Police have arrested more than 80 farmers in a northern Indian state for starting some of the fires blamed for the new pollution crisis in New Delhi and other cities, officials said November 7. / AFP / NARINDER NANU](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/AJVWKDLZ2WG43VDBCU3HRLOQBU.jpg?smart=true&auth=19348aeb55619c6e482c39ca6ec5574b137b19cd3a3c84ed49b1a31cd2333c1c&width=400&height=225)
Farmers in India burn straw stubble in a village in November. Narinder Nanu / AFP
Farmers in India burn straw stubble in a village in November. Narinder Nanu / AFP
Several recent stories paint a patchy portrait of India
Air pollution, slow economic growth and the verdict on the Ayodhya dispute have taken some of the sheen off the nation's image