Innholdsfortegnelse for March 11, 2024 i India Today

Looking to avoid a repeat of 2019, the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala has announced candidates early for the coming general election. The CPI(M) candidates’ list has a number of heavyweights, including politburo member A. Vijayaraghavan in Palakkad, ex-finance minister Dr Thomas Isaac in Pathana-mthitta, and the former health minister who did such a stellar job during Covid, K.K. Shailaja Teacher, in Vadakara. Ally CPI, too, has upped their game, fielding Annie Raja (wife of party general secretary D. Raja) in Wayanad, where the sitting Congress MP is Rahul Gandhi. Coming to Rahul and the Congress, sources say the ‘will-he-won’t-he’ contest again from Kerala is keeping the state unit on tenterhooks. In 2019, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) had swept the state, winning 19 of the 20…

“There are two main pillars of building a developed India of the 21st century. First, pride in our heritage, and second, all possible efforts for development. Today, Uttarakhand is strengthening both these pillars. This decade will be the decade of Uttarakhand.”– Narendra Modi, Prime Minister WHY UNIFORM CIVIL CODE The passage of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) law in Uttarakhand is a significant step towards creating a legal framework for a more equal and unified society. The historic legislation will certainly be remembered as the pioneering step in creating a model for bringing the entire nation under a common set of laws for marriage, divorce, land, and property, regardless of religious affiliation. It also reflects Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami's commitment to the constitutional vision outlined in Article 44,…

The cultural significance of yoga in Uttarakhand is unparalleled. Nestled amidst the breathtaking landscapes of the Himalayas, this region is a haven for those seeking both physical well-being and spiritual enlightenment. Throughout history, Uttarakhand has remained a cherished destination for spiritual seekers, drawing visionaries and leaders from diverse backgrounds. Eminent figures such as Swami Vivekananda sought solace amidst the tranquil vistas of Kausani, while the revered Maharishi Mahesh Yogi received the profound teachings of transcendental meditation in Rishikesh. The iconic Chaurasi Kutiya witnessed The Beatles' transformative journey, while the ethereal serenity of Kainchi Dham left an indelible impression on modern-day pioneers like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been inspired by the spiritual aura of Kedarnath. Fuelled by the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra…

DUNLIN Calidris alpina Habitat: Wetlands of Haryana Reason for decline: Not clear TREND: India is a key nonbreeding destination for many Eurasian bird species. The decline in the number of long-distance migrants has been significant, over 50 per cent. Shorebirds that breed in the Arctic have been particularly affected, declining by close to 80 per cent as a group. By comparison, resident species as a group have remained much more stable. WHY: Conservation of long-distance migrants requires identifying and maintaining the health of critical habitats, including intertidal mudflats, mangroves, grasslands, open wetlands, paddy fields and reedbeds. This ensures they are able to feed and build up resources for their arduous migration journeys.…

INDIAN PEAFOWL Pavo cristalus A rapidly increasing species, it is expanding into new areas such as the rainforests in the Western Ghats and the high Himalayas. It is now found in every district of Kerala where once it was extremely rare. The exact reasons are unclear, but their proliferation owes to protection by law and through religious-cultural beliefs. However, rising uncontrolled numbers can have a negative impact on snakes and crops. ASIAN KOEL Eudynamys scolopaceus It has increased by almost 75 per cent compared to its pre-2000 baseline. No one knows why, but fruit-eating birds in general are doing well ROCK PIGEON Columba livia It has successfully adapted to humans and can nest and feed on whatever humans provide. Since wild populations have been interbreeding with domestic pigeons for years,…

ON February 22, as Tejashwi Yadav finished his 20-minute-long speech at a public meeting in Siwan, a stopover 132 km northwest of Patna, during his Jan Vishwas Yatra across the state, almost everyone in the first few rows, young men all, shouted out a request. The message could have been lost in the din, but the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader caught on what his audience wanted—to speak in the local dialect. And Tejashwi obliged, switching to chaste Bhojpuri to say, ‘Rauaa logan ke aye ke baa’—please come [to Patna for the March 3 rally]. On that day, a mega Opposition show, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is expected to share the stage with RJD president Lalu Prasad and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury. The words Tejashwi chose while speaking in…

MODERNISATION OF AIRFIELD INFRASTRUCTURE (MAFI) Phase I (2011-2018) and Phase II (2020-): 30 IAF airfields ➔ Resurfacing, expansion, lighting of runways (CAT-II Airfield Lighting System) for night operations ➔ Installation of tactical air navigation system, system instrument landing system (CAT-II ILS), air-to-ground radio communication (RCAG) system ➔ These allow aircraft to operate 24x7 in all-weather, poor visibility conditions…

With Eco Retreat Odisha, you can plan your luxury escapade to the pristine beaches of Konark, the Pentha beach in Bhitarkanika National Park and to the golden beaches of Sonapur. You can also plan an adventure getaway to Hirakud Dam and the Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary or take a relaxing trip to the quaint hill stations of Daringbadi or Putsil, Koraput. Eco Retreat is a seasonal camping event in Odisha which offers luxury tented accommodations at par with the best luxury resorts apart from hosting a slew of water sports, adventure activities, and trails to key tourist destinations. The best part is, true to the name, the Retreats are absolutely eco-friendly. Developed as a model for sustainable tourism, this event is for those who believe in responsible travel and tourism without…

Odisha Travel Bazaar, one of the flagship initiatives of the Department of Tourism, is an event that aims to bring together all the National and International travel and tour operators, and Destination Management Companies (DMCs) under one platform to let them explore the various tourism offerings of Odisha. The objective of Odisha Travel Bazaar is to promote Odisha as a leading tourism destination to both domestic and foreign tourists. This year, to elevate the experience of DTOs and FTOs, the outreach programme was conducted at Eco Retreat Konark for the very first time. This un-conferencing gave a one-of-a-kind chance to every participant to discuss future avenues of Odisha Tourism.…

Odisha Tourism hosts several festivals for tourists every year. Two of the most prominent are the International Sand Art Festival and the Konark Dance Festival, celebrating, respectively, the artistic prowess of sand sculptors and classical dancers, providing a visual spectacle against the backdrop of the iconic Sun Temple in Konark. International Sand Art Festival Held on the Chandrabhaga Beach near Konark, the Sand Art festival is a place where stories are made, where the formless sand morphs into shapes hitherto unimaginable. At the festival, the immense beach becomes the artist’s canvas. Visitors can see the exquisite sand sculptures produced by highly skilled sand artists from both India and abroad, from countries like Mexico, Spain, Singapore, France, Norway, Germany, Netherland & USA. Not just the traditional sand sculptures, you may expect…

It’s been a bit of a nerve-wracking rollercoaster ride for the Congress of late, with the latest jolt to its self-image coming from a state it would have deemed relatively peril-free: Himachal Pradesh. But as it realised on February 27, with a Rajya Sabha election that went horribly wrong, no paradise is free of things that move in sudden, unpredictable ways…. As another day rolled by unsteadily in trauma ward, the Grand Old Party was scrambling to save its only solo state government in north India. Home remedy was out of the question, since trouble had erupted precisely because the local unit was caught up in internecine strife. So, Congress troubleshooters from elsewhere—Karnataka strongman D.K. Shivakumar, former Haryana CM Bhupinder S. Hooda, Chhattisgarh’s Bhupesh Baghel—were drafted in to impose a…

The walls of Jitendra ‘Jitu’ Patwari’s office at his 74 Bungalows residence in Bhopal are covered with photos of the Congress pantheon. But two portraits—that of former Madhya Pradesh chief ministers Kamal Nath, 77, and Digvijaya Singh, 76—stand out, literally framing one of the key issues Patwari faces now. That is, how to work out a seamless transition from the old guard, represented by those two, to the new, of which he is the motif. Patwari, 50, who took over the reins of the state Congress from Kamal Nath in mid-December, a fortnight after the party failed miserably in dislodging the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the assembly election, faces a trial by fire. There is the Lok Sabha election looming ahead, and the attrition in the Congress’s ranks—real…

A newbie chief minister always elicits some curiosity. Add some extra layers to that when you have someone like Rajasthan’s Bhajan Lal Sharma, who came from beyond the pale of perhaps his own ambition to occupy high office. What kind of political personality would he develop as a CM? What policy orientation will he exhibit? The answer came as he drew lines in the sand—literally, with a new turn to the policy for mining sand from river beds. People got their first glimpse of it when his regime launched a major assault against illegal mining, striking at a vast, shadowy business centred around ‘the new gold’. Alleged bribes in sand mining are estimated to be to the tune of Rs 360 crore a year, against official annual revenues of only…

While remarking on Nitish Kumar’s February 12 trust vote, Opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav described the Bihar CM as King Dashrath who had exiled his son Ram. He also spoke of a ‘Kaikeyi’, who had poisoned the CM’s ears and got him to break the alliance with the RJD-Congress. On February 25, Tejashwi added a new twist to the Bihar Ramayana, telling reporters in Patna that there were 3-4 Kaikeyis and a Manthara too. “The CM should get rid of them, or in time we’ll expose them ourselves,” he said. Enough to pique everyone’s curiosity, for sure.…

LESSER FLORICAN Sypheotides indicus Habitat: Grasslands in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra Reason for decline: Invasive species in open habitats, collisions with power lines SLENDER-BILLED VULTURE Gyps tenuirostris Habitat: from the Gangetic plain north, west to Himachal, south as far as northern Odisha, and east through Assam Reason for decline: Toxins found in carcasses they eat MANIPUR BUSH QUAIL Perdicula manipurensis Habitat: Damp grasslands of northeast India Reason for decline: Drainage and destruction of tall grasslands; illegal trade WHITE-BELLIED HERON Ardea insignis Habitat: Wetlands of tropical/subtropical forests in the foothills of the eastern Himalayas of northeast India Reason for decline: Loss of breeding and feeding grounds GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD Ardeotis nigriceps Habitat: Flat open landscapes in Rajasthan and Gujarat Reason for decline: Loss and degradation of habitat, hunting BUGUN LIOCICHLA Liocichla…

IN the early 2000s, the sparrow population began to decline alarmingly in India, by almost 70 per cent in certain areas. Among the reasons for decline was the lack of nesting sites in concrete buildings, disappearing kitchen gardens, competition for food from pigeons, electromagnetic radiation from mobile towers and disturbances from traffic noise and pollution. However, the State of India’s Birds 2020 report noticed the sparrow population becoming stable in the past 25 years. The revival of the bird owes a lot to the several micro-conservation efforts. In Delhi, for example, the Eco Roots Foundation has put out 700,000 nests for the birds. The bird was adopted as the state bird in 2012 and March 20 is celebrated as World Sparrow Day. Many people are also returning to feeding the…

C130-J SUPER HERCULES* INDUCTED IN: 2011 STRENGTH: 12 ➔ Made by US’ Lockheed Martin, it has a 20 tonne capacity: 92 troops/64 paratroopers/ 2 armoured carriers C-295* INDUCTED IN: 2023 STRENGTH: Currently one, 15 more to arrive from Spain; 40 to be made jointly by Airbus and Tata ➔ The Airbus C-295 can carry 9.2 tonnes; up to 71 troops along with equipment DORNIER 228 INDUCTED IN: 1986 STRENGTH: 50 ➔ Payload of 2.3 tonnes; 19-25 troops HS 748 HAWKER SIDDELEY (AVRO) INDUCTED IN: 1964 STRENGTH: 57 ➔ UK-made aircraft with carrying capacity of 5.1 tonnes; 40-58 troops ILYUSHIN IL-76 INDUCTED IN: 1985; STRENGTH: 17 ➔ Russian-made ‘workhorse of the skies’. Can transport 60 tonnes cargo, including men, equipment, vehicles ANTONOV AN-32/ AN-32 RE INDUCTED IN: 1984; STRENGTH: 104 ➔…

Millennium City Cuttack has embraced a new era of leisure and recreation with the unveiling of the Byanjana Food Court and Watersports Zone at the Taladanda Canal Front and the redeveloped Silver City Boat Club in Cuttack. These are both Department of Tourism projects which have been executed by the Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) Ltd. The revamped Silver City Boat Club now features added Water Sports activities, an Open-Air Amphitheatre, Food Court, Children’s Play Area, Wooden Shack, and a breathtakingly beautiful Glass Deck facing the Mahanadi River. The Byanjana Food Court at Taladanda Canal Front features a diverse range of culinary delights, catering to every palate. Visitors can savour a gastronomic journey while enjoying the tranquil waterside ambience. Adjacent to the Food Court, the Water Sports Zone offers a…

India’s official nomination for UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites list for 2024-25 is the ‘Maratha Military Landscapes of India’. The Marathas developed a complex fortification system between the 17th and 19th centuries. There are nearly 400 of these forts in Maharashtra today, of which 11—Salher Fort, Shivneri Fort, Lohgad, Khanderi Fort, Raigad, Rajgad (in picture), Pratapgad, Suvarnadurg, Panhala Fort, Vijaydurg and Sindhudurg—besides one from Tamil Nadu (Gingee Fort) are part of the nomination. Distributed across a diverse geography, some like Salher Fort and Lohgad are hill forts, Vijaydurg is a coastal fort, and Suvarnadurg and Sindhudurg are island forts. True to their terroir, these majestic sentinels from the past blend seamlessly with their setting.…

On February 22, all the talk in Lucknow was about how ‘UP ke do ladke’ (the two boys from Uttar Pradesh, Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav) had come together again, sealing the alliance for the Congress and Samajwadi Party in the coming Lok Sabha election. The celebrations were short-lived, though, as a reality check presented itself on February 27 with the Rajya Sabha election. Even as voting was under way, five SP legislators, including the party’s chief whip Manoj Kumar Pandey, went to meet Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. By evening, it was clear that seven party MLAs had cross-voted (one more abstained), dashing the SP’s chances on what was a sure third seat from the state. The RS poll was no sidelight intruding upon the main event: it had been…

Total constituencies in Madhya Pradesh: 29 THE CONGRESS GAME PLAN ➔ Focus on 14 Lok Sabha seats, where the Congress has a “realistic” chance of winning, especially those dominated by the tribal vote ➔ Field younger candidates in these seats, who will be willing to put in effort for future electoral battles even if they lose the current contest ➔ Take the organisation down to the panchayat level and give a fillip to the offices of district, block, mandal and sector presidents ➔ Strengthen the state units of Youth Congress, NSUI and Mahila Congress to get a ready pool of winnable candidates…

The Uttarakhand government is steadfastly advancing its efforts to promote AYUSH. With its rich natural and cultural heritage, Uttarakhand emerges as an ideal destination to establish itself as a beacon of AYUSH practices. Boasting an abundance of rare herbs, favorable locations, and conducive environments for AYUSH treatments, the state holds immense potential in this domain. To enhance Uttarakhand's global standing as the "Dev Bhoomi," the Dhami administration took a significant stride by approving the state's first AYUSH policy during a cabinet meeting on September 01, 2023, three months prior to the December 2023 "Global Investors Summit". This visionary policy sets a commendable target: to extend AYUSH services to every individual in the state within the next five years. In alignment with this goal, the AYUSH policy delineates five key pillars…

BENGAL FLORICAN Houbaropsis bengalensis Habitat: Grasslands of UP, the Nepal Terai, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh Reason for decline: Land use change TREND: Four species of bustards, a group of iconic grassland birds, are found in India. All four are specialised to open natural ecosystems (ONEs). Of these, the population of the Lesser florican, which breeds in fragments of grasslands, is less than 900 individuals. The Great Indian bustard has only 100–150 individuals, most of which survive in the Desert National Park of Rajasthan, where captive breeding has been started. The Bengal florican is restricted to the Himalayan Terai and the grasslands of northeastern India, with a South Asian population of under 400 individuals. WHY: Bustard habitations have faced tremendous loss and change since the 1980s owing to infrastructural and developmental…

Carrying forward the noble endeavour to celebrate cutting edge research and exemplary medical services in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, the Apeejay Stya and Svran Group recently organised the 10th Indian Obstetrics and Gynaecology (IOG) Dr. Stya Paul Awards 2023-24. These awards have been instituted to recognise outstanding contributory articles published in the IOG Journal for Basic & Clinical Research. This highly-anticipated event that has become an annual fixture of the research and medical community was held at Hotel Le Meridien, New Delhi. IOG Dr. Stya Paul Awards 2023-24 were given to the authors of Best Papers published in the IOG Journal under three categories: Best Case Report, Best Review Article and Best Original Study. Apart from this, several special awards were given for outstanding contributions of the medical fraternity, under different…

ON a pitch dark night on January 7, 2024, the Indian Air Force (IAF) flew past a landmark achievement as an IAF pilot, after months of training, landed a C-130J Super Hercules tactical airlift/ transport aircraft at the Kargil airfield. With its unidirectional approach—surrounded by hills 14,000-15,000 feet high, with limited manoeuvrability and reduced engine efficiency—and short length of only 6,000 metres (as opposed to a normal one of 9,000 m), the airfield is a challenging place to land for aviators in daylight and good weather. To do so at night is notoriously tough. The feat is a testament to the superior skill and training of India’s military aviators. “You are landing close to the LoC (just 12 km away) and at an ALG (advanced landing ground) that is very…

Odisha’s tourism sector has witnessed significant strides with the approval of 170 tourism projects, collectively amounting to an impressive investment worth Rs 7,650 crore. These projects encompass a diverse range of offerings, including hotels, convention centres, resorts, motels, water amusement complexes (WACs), amusement parks, water parks, cruises, houseboats, and water sports facilities. One of the notable outcomes of these approved projects is the creation of employment opportunities, with an estimated 10,000 jobs expected to be generated, both directly and indirectly. In addition to project approvals, the acquisition of investible land around 22 tourism sites in Odisha marks a strategic move towards enhancing tourism infrastructure.…

In the heart of Odisha’s natural landscapes lie a collection of 35 eco-tour nature camps that stand as pioneers in promoting sustainable travel experiences. These camps, nestled amidst the region’s breath-taking wilderness, exemplify a commitment to preserving the environment. For Eco tourists looking to experience wild landscapes in a sustainable way, these nature camps are the perfect getaways. . “I feel proud to be a passionate advocate for Odisha and I have been showcasing the unparalleled beauty and untapped potential of this hidden gem to enthusiasts across the nation.”Waibhav Choudhury Founder, Odisha Off-Roaders Community…

Yavakapadi, Coorg, Karnataka Located along a picturesque ridge of the Brahmagiri range is the captivating hilly nook of Yavakapadi. Take a break in the hills, read a book by the brook or go on hikes to Baliyatra Ridge, Mallamma Betta and Thadiyandamol, the highest peak in Kodagu (Coorg). Stay at The Bungalow 1934, the erstwhile home of Diwan Bahadur Ketolira Chengappa, the first Chief Commissioner of Coorg. The hilltop bungalow within a coffee estate was run as a vintage homestay for a decade by his great grandson, rallyist Amrith Thimmaiah. After a recent renovation, the bungalow offers six spacious rooms, homemade chocolates by Amrith’s mother Fancy and authentic Kodava cuisine that drew celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay to learn pandi i (pork) curry here. This was where the Coorg leg of…