Art historian Kavita Singh from Jawaharlal Nehru University, while delivering the 17th National Museum Lecture on the topic, ‘The Museum is National’, said that it was a Nationalist spirit that laid the base for top museums in the subcontinent.

The National Museums of Pakistan, Bangladesh and India were set up soon after independence and were formed due to a pent-up urge to display pride in one’s heritage. The new museums were largely devoid of colonial-era artefacts, setting a trend in heritage conservation that continues to date, Ms Singh said. The National Museums of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh sought to focus on legacies that predate the British Raj era, she said, as they wanted to prove that centuries of colonial rule had not managed to snap the country’s ties with its medieval and ancient past.

“In fact, more diverse the culture, more was the effort to prove oneness — a case of an ‘imagined community’,” said Ms Singh, who works with the School of Arts and Aesthetics in Jawaharlal Nehru University, where she also teaches the politics of museums in South Asia. She said this mindset contrasts with the case of, say, the 1912-established London Museum or the Louvre in Paris (opened in 1793), where the exhibits speak less of national heritage and instead go for a broad narrative of history.

Ms Singh added that the National Museums in Delhi, Karachi and Dhaka sought to invoke and celebrate pride in heritage by displaying more of “one’s own” treasured historical possessions and at the same time making a point that “heritage is that part of the past we want to inherit”, thereby choosing to downplay objects that represent chapters or practices that are uneasy when viewed in hindsight nationalistically.

The National Museums of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have sought to focus on legacies that predate the British Raj era Kavita Singh Art Historian, JNU

- The Hindu, June 1, 2015

Water resources department (WRD) has commenced the desilting of a few ponds in Cuelim and Cansaulim to facilitate rain water harvesting in an extensive field that also serves as a balancing reservoir during the monsoon.

The heavy siltation of the storm water channels (pandi) and nullahs was obstructing the flow of rain water. The excavation of these water channels has been taken up.

Local MLA and forest minister Alina Saldanha said that the initiatives will help agriculture and farmers to raise their crops.

The work of repairs to a sluice gate called Hira Bhailem Khazan at Sancoale has been completed while the repair to sluice gate at Manxer, Cortalim, has been tendered and will be taken up shortly.

- The Times of India, June 1, 2015

This year, we celebrate 10 years of the revival of the lost art of Urdu story telling, dastangoi. The word refers to the art of storytelling; it is a com pound of two Persian words, dastan and goi, which means to tell a story. Dastans were epics, often oral that were recited or read out aloud. These tales of adventure, magic and warfare mapped new worlds and horizons, encountered the unseen and protected the hero through many travails and lovers as he moved on in his journey. The hero's adventures could sometimes parallel the mystic quest.

At other times, it was a purely profane tale. While telling the story, the narrators borrowed tropes and themes from other stories, thus Rumi's Masnavi, and Arabian Nights came to contain many stories from the Panchtantra tradition. While dastans had many protagonists and many stories, the story of Amir Hamza began to stand out early on.

Beginning with an unknown Arabic version, the Persian versions of the story from the 14th century onwards narrated Hamza's life and adventures. Dastangoi survived as a performance or recitation form for centuries before reaching its climax and sudden disappearance in 19th century north India. In 1881, buoyed by the success of the Hamza story, Lucknow-based publishing magnate Nawal Kishore embarked on an ambitious literary print project. He commissioned some of Lucknow's leading dastangos to produce the entire Hamza narrative as it existed in oral and written records.

The team of three writers, Mohammed Husain Jah, Ahmed Husain Qamar and Sheikh Tasadduq Husain, joined later by others, started work on reproducing in print the virtual entirety of the Hamza tradition. The result, by the end of a labour of 25 years, was a series consisting of 46 volumes, each about a thousand pages long.Each volume could be read as an independent entity or as part of the whole. Thus, the Hamza story, known to the rest of the world as a single-volume fantasy adventure, had become in India a gigantic enterprise running into 46 volumes.

Prompted by the Columbian scholar Frances Pritchett, Urdu critic SR Faruqi first started collecting dastans in the early 1980s. He found the volumes dispersed all over the world, many of them difficult to trace. Finally, in 1998, he published the first volume of his study of the tradition. Being involved I had been a theatre actor and director throughout my school and college days. I continued that passion when I went to England to study at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge as a Rhodes scholar. After finishing my MPhil in history,

I returned to India and joined a news channel. But my heart lay in the performing arts, so I quit my job soon to do some theatre and films in Mumbai. It was at this time that I read Faruqi's book on dastangoi. Here was a form that combined my interests in Urdu literature, history and performance. The stories were fantastic and unlike anything anybody had heard before on the modern stage. And yet, they were so simple. I have been hooked to dastangoi ever since because it allows me, as a performer,

to do everything that an actor does, and a lot more. Further, it had been so neglected and people had no knowledge of it. All these things made me take it up and dedicate myself to it full-time. While traditional dastangoi was restricted to a single performer, I tried to innovate by roping in another actor, my school friend Himanshu Tyagi. So, we would alternate our recitations and participate as listeners to each other's stories.

Due to the neglect, we had little information about the actual practice of the art -how did dastangos sit, how much did they move around, what were the individual stylistic feats, did they have breaks, how was the audience arranged, did they sing the verses -none of these things were clear, and remain so till now. Working closely with Faruqi and drawing on our experiences as theatre actors, we devised our way of putting together a one-hour show.The first modern dastangoi performance took place on May 4, 2005, at the India International Centre in Delhi.

Since then, nearly a thousand shows in several cities in India and abroad have taken place. Altogether, about 50 people have joined me on this voyage. We have now brought out a book of the performed stories in Urdu and Hindi. We hope to continue working with more people and more stories. The revival The present-day practice of dastangoi is not a revival at all. It is a reinvention of the art of dastangoi, even its reincarnation. The traditional art rested mainly on recitation whereas our performances require lighting and sound systems so our faces, eyes and expressions become equally important.

In the past, it was a solo performance whereas now it requires two performers. Over the past few years, I have used the form to create other stories as well. Dastangoi presentations around the partition of India and the trial and incarceration of Dr Binayak Sen have proved popular.In addition, we have performed a Rajasthani folk story, Chauboli, first adapted by Vijay Dan Detha, a Rajasthani folklorist, which I adapted from an English translation, and an adaptation of Satyajit Ray's film Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne.

Our latest production builds on the legend of Raja Vikram and the folk stories collected by AK Ramanujan. Therefore, by using this form, we can tell stories of many different kinds. Medieval folk tales and epics, modern-day novels, political stories, everything depends on the storyteller's ingenuity and the listeners' interest. The journey has just begun; there is a long way to go. (Farooqui is the author of the award-winning book, Besieged: Voices from Delhi, 1857 and of Dastangoi)

- The Times of India, June 1, 2015

While the office of the deputy commissioner in Shimla recently completed 200 years of its existence, the building currently housing the office too has completed over 120 years. After finding that the building built in Norman-Baronial style is perhaps the only structure in India, the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach) has proposed its complete restoration. A proposal has already been submitted to the state government.

A report on the heritage of Shimla, prepared by the town and country planning department of the state government, says that in the mid-19th century a house named Gaston Hall stood here; it was later renamed Rosna Hall. That was pulled down and replaced by the court of the deputy commissioner and his offices. "The position was specifically chosen due to its proximity to the bazaar. Architecturally, the building drew on England's Norman-Baronial castles of the middle ages and these elements are marked in the main arch, the heavy stonework, the spiral stairways, the turrets and in the proportion of some of the windows," says the report.

"Evolution of Norman-Baronial architectural style dates back to year 1066 following the Norman invasion of England. In India, Shimla DC office building is perhaps the only one of its kind," said Raja Bhasin, convener of Intach Shimla. He said that restoration of the building will preserve history for the future generation.

Bhasin said beauty of Norman-Baronial architecture was its defensive look. "These buildings were built like castles," he told and added that the offer of intent has already been submitted to the state government. "Intach has the expertise and required infrastructure to restore a building of such historic importance," he said.

"We are awaiting government response. If they accept our proposal, restoration work would be started," he added. Shimla has already completed 150 years of being the summer capital of British India. It was during the tenure of Viceroy John Lawrence in 1864 that Shimla was officially declared the 'summer capital' of British Empire in India, a status it retained up to Indian independence in 1947.

The first European house, Kennedy House, was built here in 1822 and was the residence of Charles Pratt Kennedy, then newly appointed political officer to the hill states. In 1827, British Governor General of India, Lord Amherst visited Shimla and in 1828, commander-in-chief Lord Combermere came to Shimla. He later created the trace of Mall Road.

- The Times of India, June 1, 2015

Call it `Walled City` or the `Pink City` but none of the two define the 19th century historic city made by Sawai Jai Singh II. Meant to house a population of 50,000 people, the city today houses over 6 lakh and is no longer walled nor is it uniformly pink. Decades of unplanned development, rampant encroachments bypassing heritage norms are likely to become hurdles in the way of historic Walled City getting world heritage city tag by Unesco.

Initially sprawling over two square km area, the old city faces myriad pressures that are cutting into its most intimate identity. Transport, housing, retail, recreation and tourism all compete over a relatively small area distorting the entire essence and character of the city. While the state department of archeology had submitted an application for Jaipur`s nomination to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in March 2015, minimal efforts were made to preserve its heritage over the years.

The dichotomy of the situation is that while the department of archeology claims the `Walled City` is in a well-defined area with nine gates, the Indian National Trust for Art and Culture Heritage (INTACH) recent report has revealed that only about 25% of the original Pink City wall remains. A survey conducted on the directions of Rajasthan High Court has stated that there are 2,800 existing encroachments along the city wall. Throwing caution to wind, the adherence of the by-laws is poor in the Walled City.

Residents flout rules and norms with impunity giving in to pressures of commercialization, need for modern conveniences and growing population. About 35% of high-class houses in the inner city and chowkris have been demolished since 1971 and replaced with new structures by their owners especially in Ghat Gate area. A 50-feet high construction by a private school stands as an eyesore, towering over the Char Darwaza, which was a four-sided gate built for emergencies.

Then at one place, there is a break in the historic wall as a three-storey house has come up there, violating the Walled City regulations.

- http://www.nyoooz.com/, June 1, 2015

You can't leave the Nilgiri Mountain Railway without pleasant memories,whether you're on the fabled toy train or at the Fernhill station

Duration — 5 hours. Distance — 46 km. Price of ticket — Negligible. What to do — Travel up and down a scenic route. What you get — A package of guaranteed romance, adventure, relaxation, nature and definite adrenalin-surge.

Come aboard the Nilgiri Mountain Railways’ (NMR) nostalgia-dipped toy train where the youngest X class locomotive is more than 50 years and the oldest more than 80. You can’t disembark without a clutch of memories, none of them unpleasant, even if there’s a break-down. If that happens it’s unpaid-for — extra time to enjoy the forests and mountains, misty valleys and the cool, cool weather. As it inches up its route between 1,069 and 7,228 ft.,

you might get off to pick flowers for your love, look up to find an elephant staring at you from two ledges above, point your camera to catch a pretty hoopoe posing on a tree, wonder about disappearing-deep gorges, or just scream your head off every time you pass through a tunnel. Its charm is fabled — the train has been whistling and chugging since 1899 — first from Mettupalayam to Coonoor, and since 1908, to Fernhill and Ooty — it’s a journey through 16 tunnels and across 250 bridges.

According to archaeologist Suresh, who is also the convener of the INTACH Tamil Nadu Chapter and Ramana Kumar, VP, Photographic Society of India, NMR has a unique history. Adds Suresh, “In the 1980s, I did extensive listing of historical monuments in Thanjavur, Sriperumbudur, Pudukkottai, Kumbakonam. I was asked to cover Ooty in 92-93. I focussed on the Coonoor-Ooty belt. Now I’m digitising the 70 per cent I had covered in that stint and will retain it.

Sadly, most of them have been re-constructed. The new listing is on the 30 per cent that was left out.” They were happy to find that the Breeks Memorial School had preserved its heritage features. Although the NMR has survived, many stops on the way are now ghost stations. Some structures are overgrown with flora and are crumbling fast. You can’t reach them for fear of wild animals. The train, thankfully, has stayed the way Swiss inventor Riggenbach had fashioned it. It is still painted in the original blue and yellow and still sports bench-seats without cushioning. And mercifully, the coaches remain open — no glass windows or curtains.

“Till 1820 no one knew of Ooty, it had fluctuating boundaries of forest land,” says Suresh. That year (so people say), cops chasing a couple of thieves followed them into the woods on the other side of Kallar. They returned with the bandits and information that the place where they had caught the thieves was cool and breathtakingly beautiful. The brigands might have lost a career, but gave the world a hill station and an ageless beauty. The district collector John Sullivan at once decided to migrate to the ‘paradise’ and in the 1820s, was the first European to do so.

He founded Ooty, built two stone-houses — one, called Kal Bangla which became the official residence of the Principal of the Government Arts College, and is being renovated. Of course, reaching Sullivan’s new home wasn’t easy. Travellers needed to ride on horseback or to be carried on ‘dolies’ up a forest path to Othaikkal Mandu or one-stone-temple (it is still around). The name was then anglicised to become Ootacamund and Tamilised to Udhagamandalam and shortened to Ooty. A railway line was the answer. It was first discussed in 1854, but took 40 years to get started.

In 1873, the train to Coimbatore was extended to Mettupalayam and one took the ghat road before the tracks were laid. Today, NMR is the lifeline of the Nilgiris economy. The hill towns live on tourism and the train is a major draw. In 2005, the NMR system of rakes-tracks-stations-signals-tunnels became world heritage. Suresh goes on rail-trails that include trekking along the tracks, tunnel-exploring and checking out railway structures like signal-systems and milestones.

The train passes through plains for the first five miles. In the next 12, it climbs dramatically up to 4,363 ft. through nine tunnels, treating you to magnificent views of the eastern slopes of Nilgiris. Then you move to the left for non-stop photo-ops. It’s a picture of tranquility as the train passes through Coonoor, Wellington, Lovedale and halts near the Ooty Lake.

. Close to the Mettupalayam station you’ll see the longest rail bridge here, across the Bhavani River. Watch out for the Coonoor station — it is stone-built and was the terminal for nine years. The Fernhill station has been closed and is now a ‘rest’ guesthouse. You have to be a senior railway official or someone with special permission to spend a night there, but with all that you’ll still be sleeping on a railway platform! With the tracks so close, the guesthouse windows have to remain shut. Or else, the train will have to stop for them to close before proceeding.

The tunnels are unique — rock-cut or masonry — and offer spectacular views. The toy train was featured as Marabar Express in David Lean’s movie version of E.M. Forster’s A Passage to India . At least three chief ministers of South India have been picturised dancing around the train in movies. If you can pull it off, get in touch with the wonderful Ooty station master Pramod.

He might even demonstrate the intricacies of the old signalling system. As there is no catering on the train, carry boxed lunches for train food. And don’t miss the tree planted by Sullivan in the Government Arts College compound. “I offered to join Suresh on this documentation project even before he asked me,” says Ramana. “I walked around with three cameras, with cops trailing me. They wanted to know why I was shooting odd spots. A curious Father asked me if I was cataloguing churches.

At the Fernhill Guesthouse, we were repeatedly warned: “Not safe, not safe!” The 4-km track/tunnel-walk through tunnel no. 16 was fabulous from a photographer's point of view, he says. Waiting for the train to emerge from the tunnel and catching the live-action was definitely the defining moment. Watch out for the Coonoor station — it is stone-built and was the terminal for nine years

- The Hindu, June 1, 2015

Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh on Monday expressed concern over the renovation of certain heritage temples of the state. The CM said that he was not satisfied with the work of Archeological Survey of India (ASI), which had been "delaying the upkeep and renovation work of major temples and sites under them in the state".

Chairing a meeting of Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Board (HPTDB) on Monday, the CM said that the rock-cut temples at Masrur were fast degenerating and so was an old temple in Chamba. Both these structures were under ASI but nothing concrete was being done.

"Our local handicraft and woodcraft workers are competent enough to do repair and renovation work, but we are helpless because of these temples are under ASI," he said. He also issued direction for preserving and renovating 'Sapni Fort' in Sangla in Kinnaur district.

He also ordered restoration of stained glass windows of Christ Church at Ridge and Catholic Church behind deputy commissioner's office in Shimla. Instruction were also issued to conserve the prominent heritage structures in Mandi town, including beautification of Tarna Mata Temple in Mandi.

Rules to save tourists from touts

Regarding framing of appropriate laws and rules to save the tourists from the touts or cheats, Virbhadra Singh said that it was under consideration and suggestions were pouring in for 'dress code' for hotel guides and taxi drivers. "Complaints have been received from the tourists of fleecing by coolies, taxi drivers and certain unqualified persons posing as guides," he said. He said that it was mandatory to keep a vigil on such self-styled guides and touts who deceive the visitors.

Preparation for paragliding event

He also directed to maintain the roads and take-off site at Billing well in time before the start of Paragliding World Cup -2015. He said that initially a sum of Rs 50 lakh has been provided to PWD for improving the take-off site so that simultaneously many pilots can take-off from Billing. He also assured to upgrade the existing Aero Sports Hostel at Bir. He asked all the departments concerned to sit together and sort out at the earliest regarding undertaking development of Bir-Billing.

Hung ropeway project

Annoyed over delay in starting the Jakhu ropeway project, the CM said that he hoped it would be completed by this year end. He directed the department to conduct a survey soon on Sarahan-Bashal Kanda project which was endowed with majestic natural opulence extending as far as till Ponda in Kinnaur.

In order to reduce traffic congestion in Shimla town, he said that Dhalli workshop will be converted into a bus stand for the buses plying for upper regions of Shimla. This will reduce regular traffic jams on the Lakkar Bazar road also, he added.

Night markets on cards

Suggestion was received in the meeting to keep open the shops on the Mall road, Shimla till 10 PM during the summer season and even on Sundays. Minister for housing and urban development Sudhir Sharma floated an idea of starting 'night markets' during the summer season in a few major tourist destinations in the state. Giving reason of additional revenue and additional activities for the tourists, he said this can be done by floating global tenders. Vice-chairman of Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Board Major Vijay Singh Mankotia advocated making Bollywood actor Kangana Ranout the state's brand ambassador for promoting tourism.

- The Times of India, June 2, 2015

The Mamata Banerjee government will not only promote West Bengal as an industry friendly state during chief minister Mamata Banerjee's London visit, the government also plans to showcase the state as an attractive tourist destination. The state tourism department has come up with a new brand logo for tourism and Bengal's Brand ambassador Shah Rukh Khan will come in the state in July for shooting for a new promotional advertisement campaign that will be set up keeping in mind the international audience.

"We are taking all kinds of initiatives to promote West Bengal as a tourism destination. It is the chief minister's wish to develop the state as an attractive tourist destination," said state tourism department secretary Ajit Ranjan Bardhan.

The earlier brand name that the tourism department had created — Beautiful Bengal — has been changed and will be now named - 'Experience Bengal — Sweetest Part of India'. According to state secretariat sources, the chief minister will be officially clearing the new brand name. "The new promotional film that will feature Shah Rukh Khan will be a 30 to 40 seconds film that will be shown nationally and keeping in mind the international audience. Shooting for the promotional film will take place in July," an official said. The tourism department had earlier roped in internationally reputed brand consulting agency Ogilvy and Mather to develop a new brand concept for Bengal tourism.

The tourism department have been giving much stress to showcase the state's tourist spots through social media. "Already, the tourism department's facebook page has crossed three lakh 'likes' and is now positioned in the number three spot in the country only followed by Kerala and Gujarat," an official said.

The tourism department has already participated in various international tourism fairs like ITB Berlin and ITB Singapore to project West Bengal. "The state government is planning to have road shows in countries like USA, Canada, China and Australia to promote West Bengal as a tourist destination," said a government official.

According to tourism department estimates, the tourist footfall, including both domestic and foreign, almost doubled from 2013 to 2014 from a total of 26792502 visitors to a total of 50415685 visitors. "The chief minister has been giving high priority to tourism. From a meagre budgetary allocation of only 44 crore in 2011, the budget provision for tourism this year stands at Rs 211 crore," an official said.

According to figures, West Bengal now stands as the 6th preffered destination for international tourists and ranks 9th among the states in respect of domestic tourist inflow," a tourism department official said.

Officials said that apart from the ongoing initiatives to set up eco tourism hubs in several places, the tourism department is exploring the opportunities of developing leisure tourism in upcoming tourist destinations like Gangasagar, developing eco tourism in PPP mode, developing tea tourism and investment in adventure and beach sports. Plans are on to develop heritage tourism and within the city the department has embarked on a project of restoration of the old China Town in Tiretta Bazar through preservation of the historic character of the place.

- The Times of India, June 2, 2015

The Mamata Banerjee government will not only promote West Bengal as an industry friendly state during chief minister Mamata Banerjee's London visit, the government also plans to showcase the state as an attractive tourist destination. The state tourism department has come up with a new brand logo for tourism and Bengal's Brand ambassador Shah Rukh Khan will come in the state in July for shooting for a new promotional advertisement campaign that will be set up keeping in mind the international audience.

"We are taking all kinds of initiatives to promote West Bengal as a tourism destination. It is the chief minister's wish to develop the state as an attractive tourist destination," said state tourism department secretary Ajit Ranjan Bardhan.

The earlier brand name that the tourism department had created — Beautiful Bengal — has been changed and will be now named - 'Experience Bengal — Sweetest Part of India'. According to state secretariat sources, the chief minister will be officially clearing the new brand name. "The new promotional film that will feature Shah Rukh Khan will be a 30 to 40 seconds film that will be shown nationally and keeping in mind the international audience. Shooting for the promotional film will take place in July," an official said. The tourism department had earlier roped in internationally reputed brand consulting agency Ogilvy and Mather to develop a new brand concept for Bengal tourism.

The tourism department have been giving much stress to showcase the state's tourist spots through social media. "Already, the tourism department's facebook page has crossed three lakh 'likes' and is now positioned in the number three spot in the country only followed by Kerala and Gujarat," an official said.

The tourism department has already participated in various international tourism fairs like ITB Berlin and ITB Singapore to project West Bengal. "The state government is planning to have road shows in countries like USA, Canada, China and Australia to promote West Bengal as a tourist destination," said a government official.

According to tourism department estimates, the tourist footfall, including both domestic and foreign, almost doubled from 2013 to 2014 from a total of 26792502 visitors to a total of 50415685 visitors. "The chief minister has been giving high priority to tourism. From a meagre budgetary allocation of only 44 crore in 2011, the budget provision for tourism this year stands at Rs 211 crore," an official said.

According to figures, West Bengal now stands as the 6th preffered destination for international tourists and ranks 9th among the states in respect of domestic tourist inflow," a tourism department official said.

Officials said that apart from the ongoing initiatives to set up eco tourism hubs in several places, the tourism department is exploring the opportunities of developing leisure tourism in upcoming tourist destinations like Gangasagar, developing eco tourism in PPP mode, developing tea tourism and investment in adventure and beach sports. Plans are on to develop heritage tourism and within the city the department has embarked on a project of restoration of the old China Town in Tiretta Bazar through preservation of the historic character of the place.

- The Times of India, June 2, 2015

After two years of rigorous river cleaning campaign, Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has dumped the much appreciated drive this year. The civic body is not going to clean and desilt Pora river.

Following TOI-MT's 'Save Nag River - My City, My River' campaign, NMC had cleaned and desilted the iconic Nag river in summer 2013 followed by Pili river, one of the two tributaries of the Nag river, in summer 2014. NMC had claimed it will continue the campaign with Pora river, the second tributary of Nag river, in summer 2015. Deputy director of NMC health department Dr Milind Ganvir had also revealed a plan to clean and desilt Pora river on April 18.

Later, mayor Pravin Datke, standing committee chairman Ramesh Shingare and ruling party leader Dayashankar Tiwari held a meeting to review cleaning of nullahs and rivers in the city as part of pre-monsoon activity. In a press conference, Ganvir said Pora river drive was called off due to lack of machines and also the fact that the river's major portion is situated outside the city limits.

However, NMC data says a major portion of Pora river is situated in South-West and South Nagpur before flowing through Besa into Nag river. NMC had even proposed rejuvenating the river under the National Rivers Conservation Plan.

Ganvir also said there are no plans to clean up Nag and Pili rivers completely. "Machines are working in Nag river for last few days to clean up blocked portions. There are no plans other than covering Nag river's stretch from Ambazari lake to Panchsheel square," he said.

Shingare told TOI 90% of big nullahs of the city have been cleaned and ready for the monsoon.

Meanwhile, NMC has planned year-long programmes to mark World Environment Day. Tiwari said activities will be planned and executed from June 5, 2015 to next year's June 5. "Major target will be improving rain water harvesting systems. NMC had made the system mandatory for buildings. But very few have complied with the condition prescribed during approval of building plan. Notices will be issued to all buildings lacking the system with an ultimatum of one month. Penalty and other action will be initiated if the conditions are not fulfilled," he said.

In a meeting, the standing committee also approved the proposal to invite tenders from private agencies for various studies related to cement concrete road project. The committee also approved empanelment of companies for construction and operation of pay and use public toilets. Proposal related to auction of old and abandoned vehicles was kept pending following an objection from a member.

- The Times of India, June 2, 2015

A seven-acre lake with fresh water, lush greenery, fish and migratory birds is rare in Bengaluru. Kalena Agrahara lake on Bannerghatta Road is the exception to the rule of encroached and polluted water bodies because residents of the locality have been looking after it Kalena Agrahara Lake Preservation and Beautification Members Association, which keeps the water body clean and beautiful comprises residents of apartment blocks near the lake and owners of farmhouses. They have raised Rs 3 lakh to look after the lake Bangalore Development Authority is its custodian but it rarely does anything for it.

J Krishnan, a member of the association, said, "We have been keeping the lake clean for close to a decade. During the season migratory birds visit and it is a wonderful sight." Many of the residents take morning and evening walks by the lake.

Another member Parimala N said they have tried to reduce sewage inflow to the lake. "We in stalled a low cost treatment plan and to clean raw waste coming from houses and apartments," she said However, the lake is not free of sewage. "Untreated sewage entering the lake from nearby layouts and villages are a worry. The association has appealed several times to the authorities, including BDA, but they have done nothing. Our efforts will come to naught if raw sewage continues to enter the lake," said a member Sujata N, a member of Vithola Residential Apartment Owners' Association, said illegal construction at one corner of the lake was another threat. "Efforts wil have to be made by each of the stakeholders to prevent encroachment on the lake. A few more months of neglect will send Kalena Agrahara Lake into history," she said.

- The Times of India, June 2, 2015

The New York Times’ South Asia correspondent Gardiner Harris’ piece on moving back to the US because of Delhi’s killer air pollution was one of the most widely read pieces on the web over the weekend, though many panned it as “over-the-top” and “extremely patronising”.

Harris did not say anything spectacularly new; the piece worked because it was a moving personal account that focussed on genuine problems that citizens face in Delhi on a regular basis.

By now, it has been a long-established fact that the country’s most pampered city’s air is noxious, its water polluted, its waste management system in shambles and the city and the central governments are unwilling – or incompetent – to rise to these challenges.

As citizens, we are as incompetent and callous as the government: We discuss and debate Delhi’s pollution problem but when it comes to throwing plastic bags into the river Yamuna, despite warning signs, we are second to none.

Our deep love for polluting diesel SUVs and wasting precious water too are legendary.

Thanks to such pathetic civic habits, lack of effective pollution control strategies and bad implementation of existing laws, we have given the West an effective handle to beat us with.

Over the years, we lost sight or refused to appreciate that pollution/human rights/climate change/gender rights would become the world’s high politics; these so-called “soft subjects” (soft stories, in journalistic parlance) will increasingly become foreign policy tools that the developed world can use to rile India from time to time.

It was/is used against China, and will be increasingly used against us too. When President Barack Obama came to India in January, the US embassy bought 1,800 air purifiers. The European Union countries followed suit. Without saying a word, a point had been made to India.

The US Embassy routinely monitors pollution levels in Delhi.

It does not matter how much we protest and contest the pollution data, it will never have the desired effect because on these issues we are treading on thin ice. It’s high time we realise that environment – and not just climate change – is world politics now, and the only way we can ever defend ourselves and improve our image abroad is to clean up our act.

Leave alone improving image, it is also about the citizens’ health and their quality of life in this country.

Last week, I met an envoy of a European country which has been showing a lot of interest in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Ganga rejuvenation plan and the Swacch Bharat campaign. The ambassador, an articulate man, spoke about the expertise and technologies that EU countries can supply to India to meet the targets of these campaigns.

Pollution, obviously, is big business. And sustained political pressure always helps.

(The views expressed by the writer are personal. She tweets as @kumkumdasgupta)

- The Hindustan Times, June 2, 2015

An engineer is making tribal artefacts and paintings available for sale on the Net.

Shalini Srivastav, who also holds a Master’s degree in management studies from Mumbai, is a visiting lecturer at various colleges in Bengaluru.

She has launched Kolourkloud (www.kolourkloud.com), where you can buy Bastar and Madhubani paintings, Pipli appliqué work, and bone and horn sculptures from Odisha, among other things.

Shalini has conceptualised the site and built it herself, and says her prices are affordable. The website features handicrafts from across India, and caters to all pockets. Just mention your budget and Kolourkloud comes up with multiple suggestions.

Painted pots, jewel hangers, ceramic lamps, and handmade diaries are among the more popular items on her site. She says her work should also provide inspiration for students and homemakers to be creative and enterprising.

“Kolourkloud provides a marketplace for creative minds. We are passionate and focused. Our creations keep in mind affordability for customers across all geographies,” Shalini says.

- The Indian express, June 2, 2015

The sordid tale of the pillage and plunder of the city's heritage continues. And yet again, this is being appropriated by the Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR). As it turns out, the 100-year-old Hankin's Kutcheri with its imposing colonial columns and wooden Jaffri lattices in Lakdikapul, the office of first inspector general of police (IGP) of the erstwhile Hyderabad State, is set to be demolished to make way for the metro.

It was Salar Jung's policies in 1890 which saw Hankin's appointment. The IGP is credited with creating a full fledged policing system in the Nizam's state. He dealt a crippling blow to the practitioners of black magic, an evil which still persists in various parts of the city. And it was on account of his initiatives that crime rate in Hyderabad State was the lowest in the country.

While HMR's Corridor-I, the line between Miyapur to LB Nagar via Lakdi-ka-pul, was slated to pass right in front of the legislative assembly, an alternate route was proposed recently so as to not block its visibility. The new suggestion seeks that the line passes from the west, behind the assembly building. And in the process, the Hankin's Kutcheri will be razed.

Reliable sources told TOI on Tuesday that it was last April that the HMR submitted plans for the alternate route which illustrated that though the line would pass close to the Kutcheri, it would leave the structure unaffected. But surprisingly, as recently as 10 days ago, a revised plan was made in which a pillar would be erected in its place, the source added.

Another source in the know of recent developments revealed, "There are a set of four buildings, including Hankin's Kutcheri, which are allotted to police officers. While the Kutcheri is on Lakdi-ka-pul main road, others are behind it, on the western side. The first plan sought to demolish the last building which in turn would have saved the structure. Inexplicably, the plan was revised. Now, the last building will be left untouched and the Kutcheri will be demolished."

The structure is significant on account of what heritage and conservation experts termed as "associational value". Explaining the term heritage expert Sajjad Shahid said: "The importance of the building is by virtue of its association to an important figure, in this case, the first IGP A C Hankin." He drew parallels with the Ronald Ross Building in Begumpet, another listed heritage structure, protected by the Department of Archaeology and Musems. "Though the buildings in the complex are not of exceptional architectural value, they are important because they're associated with Sir Ronald Ross and his research on malaria. While the Kutcheri is not a listed heritage building, it was given the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) award in 2009 and a push was made for it to be among the listed heritage structures of the city," Shahid said. It was in 2008 that the then convener of INTACH Sushil Kumar, an IPS officer, had proposed that the Kutcheri be turned into a police museum but the proposal was shot down, he added.

Times View: The preservation of heritage buildings was put on the backburner by previous governments. The TRS government's approach seems no different. While the metro is important for the city, it is imperative that the government understands that the protection of the city's heritage is paramount. For, razing its heritage buildings is akin to erasing the city's intrinsic character.

- The Times of India, June 3, 2015

PAMPA (People for Performing Arts and More) is organising South India Writers’ Ensemble (SIWE), a literary festival, in association with the Kerala State Youth Welfare Board, from July 24 to 26 at Chengannur in Alappuzha district. The festival has writings from the North-East as its focus. Prominent writers in the country and abroad will participate in the festival. Those wishing to attend may apply with at least three samples of their own works to Kanaka Hama Vishnunadh, Painumoottil, Puthencavu, Chengannur, Alappuzha-629123, Kerala.

- The Hindu, June 3, 2015

Guess what's missing in the peak tourist season this summer? An antique-looking placard - which could have helped innumerable tourists know about an important heritage aspect of Mussoorie - has suddenly disappeared.

The placard assumed significance as it bore information about an ice-well, built by the British in 1841.

To keep their beverages cool during the summer months, the British devised a mechanism in the form of ice-wells. During the winters, they would store snow in the ice-wells and used these to keep their beverages cool. While there were as many as 24-25 ice wells in the hill town, only a few exist now.

Located close to the Nagar Palika office, the placard was placed on the road, just above the ice-well.

It was a usual sight to see tourists - who liked to explore off-beat aspects of the town - take a brief halt to read the placard carrying information about the bygone era.

Saddened at the loss, historian Gopal Bharadwaj, who wrote the placard, says another attempt to revive old memories of the town has been defeated.

"Heritage is an important aspect for a town like Mussoorie. This particular ice-well was built by the British near the Himalaya Club in 1841. It was their favourite place to hangout and socialize back then. Since they liked entertaining guests, they used to take ice from the well for their drinks," he shares.

Shedding light on the mechanism adopted by the British to store ice, Bharadwaj, said, "The British used to store snow with salt and grass. This helped keep their beverages cool in the summer months."

He, however, said several ice-wells had been broken or damaged over time.

Even as refrigerators are becoming a necessity in the hill town of Mussoorie today, a natural refrigerator of the bygone era, which should have been preserved, has been completely forgotten.

- The Times of India, June 3, 2015

With the Met department lowering its rainfall outlook to ‘deficient’ from the earlier ‘below-normal’ prediction, the Centre is preparing to deal with a drought in the country.

Cabinet secretary Ajit Seth on Tuesday chaired a meeting of secretaries to review the situation after the Met department lowered its predictions.

“Below normal rainfall and development of EL Nino effect (a sea surface occurrence that causes global changes in temperature and rainfall) assumes more significance because last year was also a drought year (88% rainfall of long period average) and farmers have already faced a lot of distress in Rabi crop because of unprecedented hailstorm and unseasonal rainfall in February, March and April,” said a note prepared for the meeting.

Secretaries of food and public distribution, home, earth sciences, agriculture, water resources, department of expenditure, rural development, power, environment, chairman railway board and CEO of Niti Aayog participated in the meeting. “All ministries and states have been asked to remain prepared as the possibility of drought looms large,” said a government official requesting anonymity.

The Centre has already written to states to initiate advance remedial measures like constructing water harvesting structures under the Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) or other such schemes, promoting less water consuming crops, restoring irrigation infrastructure by desilting canals and replacing or repairing faulty pumps.

Besides, ministry of power has been asked to prepare contingency plans to ensure adequate power supply for farmers. Ministry of fertilisers has been asked to look for possible use of organic fertilisers as they are of great help in drought situations. Ministry of agriculture has prepared a crop contingency plan for 580 districts of 25 states in the country with the help of central research institute for dryland agriculture (CRIDA). States have been advised to fine-tune their contingency plan in consultation with the central agencies.

Unseasonal rain had damaged crops in various states this year.

- The Hindustan Times, June 3, 2015

The Delhi government has decided to actively pursue the matter of the national capital getting the prestigious Unesco world heritage city tag. Upset with the Centre's decision to stop Delhi's nomination just weeks before the 39th world heritage committee session was to convene in Germany, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal made it clear that they will discuss the issue with ministry of external affairs (MEA) and do whatever they can to ensure the status.

The Centre withdrawing Delhi's nomination was first reported by TOI. Culture minister Mahesh Sharma had said the decision was taken by MEA after the UD ministry expressed concerns that the heritage tag could impact development in Delhi. The Centre was heavily criticized for withdrawing the nomination by heritage lovers and citizens waiting for Delhi to become the country's first world heritage city.

In a reconciliatory move, the Centre then said the withdrawal was temporary. In line with a new communication with the central government, Unesco issued a corrigendum days after Delhi's nomination was withdrawn that it had been postponed for discussion to future date.

Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), which prepared the nomination dossier, sought a meeting with Delhi government to pursue the matter with MEA so Delhi could be eligible for nomination next year. Following this, a high-level meeting was held attended by CM Kejriwal, deputy CM Manish Sisodia, tourism minister Jitender Kochar, chief secretary KK Sharma and senior officials from ministry of culture and ASI, the stakeholders in the project.

"For Delhi to be considered for the tag next year, the Centre has to inform Unesco they want ICOMOS's evaluation report from last year to be opened by December 1 this year. For this, Delhi government needs to talk to the Centre and assure them a world heritage tag for Delhi will not hinder development, rather it will be an asset," said a source.

"Kejriwal wanted to know the reason for the withdrawal of the nomination and said he was surprised over the decision. The CM directed the chief secretary to talk to officials in MEA and ministry of culture to know the reason for the withdrawal, what the chances were now and how it can now be taken ahead," said a government statement.

The CM made it clear that they would meet officials from MEA or culture ministry to get the heritage tag, especially after being informed that Delhi and Mumbai were both advocating for the tag and India's apex world heritage committee had given preference to the former.

- The Times of India, June 4, 2015

Villagers of Mauxi on Wednesday continued excavation on a large scale by contributing money as well as their labour.

Unwilling to slow down the pace of excavation, Mauxci villagers unearthed a circular shaped stone, a part of an earthen artifact, a small rod-like stone from the bed of the Zarme rivulet. In front of Ravalnath temple on a slab-like stone, they found one more cupule. Three cupules are in a straight line whereas the fourth one is at the same distance from the newly-discovered cupule.

Dharma Gaonkar, a 68-year-old villager, told TOI, "Our forefathers told us that during olden times, the Hebar tribals resided and they might have used these cupules to perform rituals. We call these cupules pandavachi vayana."

Priti Sawant, deputy sarpanch of Mauxi says, "Our panchayat passed a resolution on April 28 that the government should take steps for the protection and conservation of this prehistoric rock carving site and the tourism department should promote it to develop our village through a heritage tourism angle.

In the week to come, a team of archaeologists from the Archaeological Survey of India has planned to visit Mauxi site and the officiating Director of Archaeology, Blossom Medeira told, "On June 6, I will visit Mauxi and afterward will take decision for taking necessary steps for protecting this site."

Meanwhile, few more potholes have been found in the river bed by the villagers on Wednesday. Raghav Gadgil, a research fellow of earth science department of Goa University said, "There exists various stages in the development of a pothole. Initially there is just a depression in the hard bedrock and in advanced stages they resemble a 'flower pot' with a wide diameter base and a narrow neck. At Mauxi, the general nature of potholes suggests that they belong to the advanced type. Available literature gives a time span of approximately 10,000-12,000 years required for the development of a pothole. The rocks which bear host to the potholes are metagreywackes."

- The Times of India, June 4, 2015

Australian scientists said on Wednesday they have uncovered a "very rare" 2,000-year-old natural sea pearl - the first found on the vast island continent - while excavating a remote coastal Aboriginal site.

Archaeologists were working the site on the north Kimberley coast of Western Australia when they came across the unique gem below the surface, said Kat Szabo of the anassociate professor, at the University of Wollongong.

"Natural pearls are very rare in nature and we certainly - despite many, many (oyster) shell middens being found in Australia - we've never found a natural pearl before," Szabo, who specialises in studying shells at archaeological sites, said. told AFP. A midden is a prehistoric refuse pit. "The location makes it particularly significant because the Kimberley coast of Australia is synonymous with pearling, and has been for the better part of the last century."

The pink-and-gold-coloured pearl is almost spherical, with a five-millimetre diameter. afp Due to its near-perfect round shape, the researchers used a micro CT scan to test its age and prove that it was naturally occurring rather than a farmed modern cultured pearl.

The oysters that produce pearls have been used in rainmaking ceremonies in indigenous cultures, and their shells have been found in the central desert more than 1,500 kilometres (930 miles) away.

Archaeologists have known about the rainmaking rituals but were not aware of how far back in history they had been practised.

"Studying the pearl has led us to the study of the layer in which it's found," Szabo said.

"In indigenous terms, that's telling a really interesting story about a cultural tradition to do with pearl shells which we knew historically but we've never been able to prove that it went back into the past."

The pearl is set to go on display at the Western Australian Maritime Museum in Perth later this month, with details of the find published in the Australian Archaeology journal.

- The Times of India, June 4, 2015

The aesthetic pleasure of viewing a sculpture that has been painstakingly and artistically created can be intimately felt in the works of Tanmay Banerjee, whose exhibition ‘Abahaman’ was on display at the Lalit Kala Akademi, recently. Even as spectators relived the sculptor’s agony and ecstasy in crafting and shaping his model, they went away with the artistic impression of something eternal.

The exhibition included works inspired from the villages of Bengal. Banerjee effectively tried to depict the lifestyle of the rural folk - farmers in field, shepherds with the sheep grazing, people sitting in salon, women going about their daily chores etc.

Using conte on paper as the medium of expression, the artist portrayed the rural community women and how their outer self is way too distant from their inner instincts.

Carved in bronze, Banerjee’s sculptures drew inspiration from the Harappan civilization such as the bull, the cat and a double- sided sculpture of dog – which depicted male from one side and female from the other.

A world of reality that is tinged with fantasy, Banerjee’s creativity took the onlookers on an elaborate journey of imagination.

Susanta Das, conceptualiser of the exhibition, said, “Banerjee’s world has frozen scenes that sometimes depict Neolithic rural life or hark back to Mesolithic primitive times. A few of the protagonists display nudity, which signifies his attempt in bringing the inner self of women into the limelight. In such cave paintings, a figure might be drawn over another, where domestic animals are always accompanied by human beings.”

Sandip Sarkar, an art critic, commented, “Banerjee’s lines dance to the tune of unheard music. They are never a work of a nervous artist, but of one who is always bold, strong and fluid. The works move from dark tone to lighter ones and gradually reach the final shades of white. Sometimes, they move into a calligraphic world. At times he enhances the linear movements by adding shades and areas of corresponding darkness.”

Banerjee who is currently working as an assistant professor in Government College of Arts and Craft, Kolkata has participated in many national and international exhibitions in Bangkok and Thailand. His collections are documented at French, Italian, Japanese consulates at Kolkata and All India Fine Arts & Crafts Society, New Delhi.

- The Deccan Herald, June 4, 2015

For the last three days, students and teachers of M S University's (MSU) Faculty of Performing Arts have occupied the stage of the newly constructed Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Auditorium. The stage has been converted into a classroom for a project to create a uniform postgraduate course for Indian performing arts for universities and educational institutes world-wide. Presently, nowhere across the globe there is a uniform programme to teach Indian performing arts.

The e-content for performing arts being developed in Vadodara 'Gujarat's cultural capital' is for 'e-PG Pathshala' initiative that University Grants Commission (UGC) has initiated as a nation-wide project. Experts from across the country are coming to Vadodara to give their inputs.

For the last three days, Prathibha Prahlad - India's celebrated Bharatnatyam dancer and founder festival director of Delhi International Arts Festival is giving her inputs for the project. "She is helping us for 'Nritya' — which will become a complete paper on the expressional forms of dance," says professor Parul Shah, former dean of Faculty of Performing Arts, who was nominated last year by UGC chairman as principal investigator for e-content development in performing arts.

"There are only ten universities with MSU being one of them where performing arts is taught. It is not easy to start teaching performing arts. This project will go a long way to provide them the base," said Shah.

UGC wants to create high quality material in four quadrants — textual documentation and preparation of e-books, video and audio content with virtual labs, related links and further reading, and testing modules.

This material will be available to teachers and students in the form of open online courses across through a learning management system set up at INFLIBNET Centre and through Sashakt portal.

"We are preparing 16 papers covering all aspects of dance as a subject," she said. Shah is roping 45 experts of dance to write the content and for the review committee. From Thursday, Jyothi Mohan, another renowned Bharatnatyam dancer from Mumbai will arrive with her students.

- The Times of India, June 4, 2015

“Environmental awareness is an essential parameter to lead a sustainable life. Awareness should be created on the importance of conserving natural resources since it is the prime factor that will govern the preservation of our environment,” former Union Secretary E.A.S. Sarma has said.

He was addressing a gathering at the eco friends awards programme organised by the Green Environment Service Society at Visakha Public Library on Wednesday as part of the World Environment Day campaign.

During the programme, awards were given away to four individuals for their contribution to society and efforts towards environmental awareness.

The ‘social worker’ award was presented to Digumarthi Venkayamma, who has been working for the welfare of vulnerable children for the past nine years.

Eco friend awards were presented to E.V.V. Rajith, a student of Class 6 of Sri Prakash Vidyaniketan for his works on environmental awareness programmes.

P. Lalitha, a school teacher working for environmental protection, and K. Prasad, district academic coordinator for National Science Congress, were awarded for their contribution towards environmental protection.

Prizes and participation certificates were distributed to the winners of drawing competition conducted on May 31. Later, short films highlighting various environmental issues were screened by the Environmental Film Society on the occasion.

Former member of INTACH, Visakhapatnam, Rani Sarma, cinematographer and Raghu Film Academy director M.V. Raghu, AP Pollution Control Board superintendent engineer Ram Murthy, assistant engineer Srinivas, professor in AU Department of Zoology C. Manjulatha, retired professor S. Rama Krishna Rao, and GESS president V.V. Sirisha were present.

- The Hindu, June 4, 2015

On World Environment Day, Hyderabad has no reason to cheer. At least, that's the verdict of the city's green brigade.

If its once expansive lung spaces now lie on their death bed, most of its brimming-to-the-seams water bodies have been given a quiet burial. To add to these are the fast disappearing rocks and the historically rich wealth of flora and fauna.

While municipal records, interestingly, paint a glorious picture, with its officials pegging the total number of parks in the city at an impressive 1,248, activists rubbish the claim."If you take a tour of these parks, you'll realize how most exist only on paper.In fact, 15 years ago, when we had compiled a list of parks in Hyderabad - following a high court directive - we found that a majority of them had little or no green cover. In the name of a park, there was just a place of worship, a milk booth or a few benches. The situation has only further worsened now," said environmentalist Capt J Rama Rao.

There are other star tling facts too. While in 2000, the erstwhile Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (Huda) had put the city's total number of lakes - with a water spread of 10 hectares or more - at 169, the current figure is just about 10% of that.Even those that exist have either shrunk to half of its original size, thanks to encroachments that paved way for profitable real estate ventures.

On this barely surviving lakes list, environmentalists share, are the iconic Hussainsagar, Mir Alam Tank, Fox Sagar, Saroornagar Tank, Hasmathpet Lake, Pedda Cheruvu (Kapra), Durgam Cheruvu and Malkam Cheruvu.

While successive gov er nments in the past have turned its back on the issue of environment, the new regime hasn't proved to be any better, experts rue.And their claim is rooted in more reasons than the on going Hussainsagar fiasco.

"A scan of the state gov ernment website will show how forest land is being consistently diverted for developmental projects - both in the city and rest of Tel angana.

T h e s e projects - be it for roads, mines or other purposes -are taking a huge toll on the green health of the state. The government should compensate at least twice the size of the land diverted, for afforestation.And this should be done on prime land, not degraded waste land," stressed wildlife biologist Imran Siddiqui.

Increased focus on enhancing the flora and fauna too should be on the cards, feels Farida Tampal.Pointing out how the biodiversity index of Hyderabad - when compiled two years ago - stood at 54 (on a scale of 92), the director (Hyderabad) of World Wide Fund for Nature said: "This goes to show that we still have scope to do a lot more.There has been a steady decline in the diversity of species in the city and that's disheartening. We need to correct this by enhancing the health of our water bodies that are currently in a deplorable state."

Even the city's rocks - that support a range of plants, especially those with medicinal value - are crying for attention."While we did manage to get 25 rock formations on to the heritage list, nobody still knows which these are. These 2,500 millionyear-old rocks need to be protected to spruce up the special flora and fauna they support, apart from assisting in soil formation," explained Frauke Quader of Society to Save Rocks.

Incidentally, on the eve of World Environment Day, a report released by the World Health Organization too highlighted the plight of biodiversity the world over. It stated: "Biodiversity loss is happening at unprecedented rates, impacting human health worldwide".

"Biodiversity loss can destabilize ecosystems, promote outbreaks of infectious disease and undermine development progress, nutrition, security and protection from natural disasters," said Dr Maria Neira, WHO director, Department of Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health.

- The Times of India, June 5, 2015

The 71st anniversary of the 'Battle of Imphal' was recently celebrated in Manipur as a part of a larger campaign to preserve the sites of historical importance and promote itself as a world tourism site.

Manipur was the site for one of the most historic battles during the World War-II, termed as the 'Battle of Imphal' that took place in 1944.

As a part of a sustained effort to make Manipur a war-tourism hub, a number of organisations like Manipur Tourism Forum and Second World War Imphal Campaign have been working towards preserving the heritage and harnessing the tourism potential of the state.

Recently, in order to commemorate the 71st anniversary of the Battle of Imphal, the 2nd World War Imphal Campaign Foundation, in association with Manipur Tourism Forum organized the "Battle of Red Hill" programme at Maibam Lotpa Ching.

Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh graced the occasion as the Chief Guest along with Ambassador of Japan to India Takeshi Yagi, and Australian High Commissioner to India Patrick Suckling.

The visitors paid floral tributes to those killed in the battle at the India Peace Memorial.

"First and foremost, let me pay my greatest tributes to and pray for all those, regardless of nationality, who have fought and fallen in the battle of Imphal, although 71 years have passed, the name of Imphal is deeply written in the mind of the Japanese. In fact Japanese groups still make memorial pilgrimage to Manipur every year," said Takeshi Yagi, Ambassador of Japan to India.

Co-Founder of the Second World War Imphal Campaign Foundation,

Rajeshwor Singh, said there are plans to develop the battle sites into a heritage tourist centre.

"We need to make a lot of research in identifying various locations including the Victoria Cross locations and we think that memorial plaque in all of the major battle field should be erected so that in future course of time it will become a major tourist attraction. Regarding our future course of action, we are planning for more research on each battle field sites. And definitely we are coming up with a proper museum," said Rajeshwor Singh.

Manipur has at present developed two World War cemeteries and a memorial complex that attracts many tourists.

Preserving and developing the battle sites and promoting the World War II memorials has a huge scope for attracting tourists from all over the world into the state.

- http://www.newkerala.com/, June 5, 2015

In a first-of-its kind green initiative, a rain water harvesting system will be set in the premises of the Taj Mahal. Two such wells in the monument's premises are on the verge of completion, while eight more will be completed by the end of this year.

The Archaeological Survey of India's (ASI) horticulture department is also mulling on installing reverse osmosis (RO) plants at Taj to deal with high saline content in water used for irrigation in the garden. The project, however, is in the initial stage and project details are yet to be chalked out.

Kanchan Singh, ASI chief horticulturist, Agra, said, "We have already dug two rain water harvesting wells in the Taj's forecourt. We will complete the remaining constructions around them by June-end. Each of them is being built at a cost of Rs 1.5 lakh."

Singh informed that eight more wells will be dug in the main garden in next year. He added that Taj Mahal would be the first monument here to have such a system. The project could be replicated at other monuments in future, he said.

In another initiative, the senior horticulturist informed that the department is seriously thinking to install RO plants. "There is one such small plant installed in the horticulture office, but lying out of order as of now. We will now repair and use water filtered by it to irrigate a portion of the garden and compare the results with other portion where normal water is used. It will help us in modifying the project accordingly," the chief horticulturist added. The officials, however, added that due to high concentration of salt and other minerals in the water, they face a major problem in planting rose and other flowering plants. "At present, we use gypsum to control the saline content of soil, but for how long? Alternatives are required and RO plant is one such option."

ASI's horticulture department is also mulling on installing reverse osmosis (RO) plants at Taj to deal with high saline content in water used for irrigation in the garden

- The Times of India, June 5, 2015

Sri Lanka has recalled its envoy to India Sudharshan Seneviratne, within a year of his appointment and just when bilateral ties were looking up between the two neighbours.

Acknowledging that he has been asked to return, Seneviratne, a highly respected academic who has many friends in India, believes that both countries need to understand each other and take care of each other.

Seneviratne, who has studied in Hindu College in Delhi University and done his doctorate at Jawaharlal University, said he has been working on a "multi-track" diplomatic engagement that would be a "win-win" situation for both, helping to bring the two neighbors closer.

"There is a lot of good faith that has to come out. There is a natural inhibition about India's largeness, it has larger capital, and to work on that one has to look at a win-win situation; we have to think in terms of working together," Seneviratne told IANS in an interview.

"Both countries have to take care of each other. Sri Lanka needs India and India needs Sri Lanka, especially because of its strategic location, as this is their opening to their backyard. If Sri Lanka is not kept secure India is not safe. And this message should be understood even in Tamil Nadu," he said.

"It should be a win-win situation, not imposing and patronising. We need to understand the problems of each other on an equal basis. On that basis I feel we are doing good if we work out our bilateral issues, work out our new partnerships in areas we can share, like heritage, health and tourism."

Seneviratne, who was head of the Department of Archaeology for nearly 10 years at the University of Peradeniya and holds the only Chair in Archaeology within the University system of Sri Lanka, says for India and Sri Lanka to come together both have to understand their historical realities "which is something we are forgetting".

"Sri Lanka has to understand how to image India; India is not a single entity, India is a multiple personality. We have to understand the historical roots of the country, not as a monolithic state. We have to strategise our own working norms and rhythm to India's personality," he said.

He says India and Sri Lanka have "taken each other for granted".

India too needs to understand Sri Lanka. "It is an island, but with a very cosmopolitan society. Its people have different cultures, religions, technology and its own personality. This, I don't think has been understood. This is the point I am trying to drive through - that both need to understand each other," he said.

As part of his vision of multi-track diplomacy, which includes heritage, tourism, leisure, religious synergy health and business, Seneviratne says he has identified different points in India to build connections with Sri Lanka.

He feels that northeast India, especially Assam, offers a lot in terms of investment in areas like plantations. "We would like Sri Lankans to come and invest. My theory is we have to think big."

"If we work out the CEPA (India-Sri Lanka Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) properly, it should be successful. Mr (Narendra) Modi gave a very strong message saying that I'll put my house in order and get the CEPA to work. We were very happy with the statement," he said.

He feels the cultural links cannot be confined to Buddhism alone. "We have to include Hinduism, how many South Indians migrated to Sri Lanka, the Islamic people who came to Sri Lanka from India, the Christian groups who came from Kerala; Guru Nanak came to Sri Lanka."

"When you put this background on the table, then you get a picture of which part of India can be worked with," he said.

The Kerala government has evinced interest in connecting with Sri Lanka in the field of business, heritage, arts and tourism, said Seneviratne, adding that things are set to move forward soon. Himachal Pradesh and Punjab have also shown interest, but with his sudden recall he is not sure if the programmes will move forward now.

Seneviratne, who has worked extensively at Sri Lankan and Indian archaeological sites and contributed towards cross regional studies, had been actively working toward holding three road shows in India as part of forging closer bilateral ties.

Modi visited Sri Lanka in March, in the first visit by an Indian prime minister to the island neighbor in 28 years.

(Ranjana Narayan can be contacted at [email protected])

- http://www.newkerala.com/, June 5, 2015

It may not be long before the golden sand dunes, that accentuate the beauty of any beach, vanish from the physical map of the Port City. With incessant human intervention and construction activities, the sand loss from the beaches and disappearance of natural sand dunes or sand hillocks is taking place at a rapid rate in areas stretching from the Coastal Battery and RK Beach to Tenneti Park as well as Rushikonda.

Studies related to coastal sand dune ecology show it's a serious ecological threat, affecting the flora, fauna and residents living close to the beaches. In the city, deposition of boulders and sand from dredging activity is leading to creation of artificial beaches' as the natural dunes have stopped forming due to unusually alarming rates of sand erosion.

Typically, sand erosion and accretion are natural processes. Erosion happens due to the waves coming perpendicular to the shore while accretion or deposition takes place due to the southern current that moves parallel to the shore. But the construction of the outer harbour near the Dolphin's Nose Hill is obstructing the natural process of sand deposition, say experts, pointing out that the various human activities and new construction near the shore are only aggravating the problem.

Emphasising on the need for restoration of beaches and checking further erosion, Aparna Sunrampudi, a scholar at the environmental sciences department of Andhra University, who has been conducting a research on Coastal sand dune ecology and conservation of biodiversity' over the last four years, said, "Dunes act as natural barriers against winds. Without sand dunes, the impact of storms and cyclones like Hudhud will be felt more strongly, especially in localities near the beaches. The leeward dunes that sit behind the fore dunes and are usually located around 12 feet from the shore, are biodiversity hotspots housing several varieties of flora and fauna. In Vizag, we have observed around 90 varieties of flora, many of which are of considerable medicinal value. With dunes vanishing, the rich biodiversity too is slowly getting affected."

Another problem with the vanishing sand dunes is the enhanced risk of salt water mingling with ground water or salinity ingress. Environment activist and founder-president of Mother Earth Environment Consciousness Society (Meecons) S Ravi Kanth Reddy said, "The dunes help maintain aquifers by preventing intrusion of marine saline water into fresh water as they maintain a sensitive demarcation between the sea water and fresh water. But now, with the dunes depleting and sand eroding, saline water is entering into the ground water and causing problems, especially for residential areas extending from Coastal Battery to RK Beach."

Prof M Jagannadha Rao of the department of geology at Andhra University averred, "The rocky beaches of Vizag used to protect the coast naturally but sand accretion is being obstructed by the outer harbour and increasing port activities. During dredging also, the sand gets dumped at some other place, which is not required instead of in the RK Beach submarine area, where there's no rocky subsurface and the damage is extensive. This continuous loss of sand is creating changes in coastal geomorphology, which is bound to affect buildings in the vicinity of the beach in the near future."

Experts point out that in the given scenario, restoration of the dunes is extremely important. "Natural dunes take more than five years to come up again with the accumulation of sand. Therefore, concrete perpendicular sea walls to trap the sand and sand binders are required to arrest further erosion at the earliest," stated Prof Rao.

"It's also essential to allow certain vegetation to grow in the hinterland behind the leeward dune zone that act as sand binders and foster sand accumulation. These species include Ipomea Pes Caprae and Spinifex Littoreus," added Sunrampudi.

- The Times of India, June 5, 2015

The centuries-old Qadam-i- Rasool, which was in a dilapidated condition, will soon greet visitors with a new look. The Indian National Trust for Art and Culture Heritage (Intach) recently completed renovation of the shrine at a cost of Rs 30 lakh.

"We had to redo the main dome, which was in a bad shape. The domes at the entrance too had lost their character. Traditional lime plaster was used on the shrine," said Intach official Mallika Mitra.

Qadam-i-Rasool, which literally means footprint of the Prophet, was built in 1700 by the then deputy Nizam of Odisha Nawab Shujauddin Mohammad Khan. The holy relic, according to locals, was brought from Najab in Arabia and first placed at Rasoolpur village in Cuttack district before being shifted to the mosque in the city.

With the passage of time, the walls were damaged and cracks appeared on the shrine. The renovation work, which began two years ago, has restored the structure to its former glory.

"It was a difficult job as the structure was very old. We also had to keep religious sentiments of locals in mind while carrying out the repair and renovation work," said Mitra.

The lime plaster used in finishing and plastering of the shrine was prepared by the experts of Intach. "No chemicals or any harmful colour has been used on the walls, dome and main structure of the shrine," she said.

In 2013, the state government sanctioned Rs 1.5 crore for renovation and beautification of the shrine.

Intach was entrusted with the job of renovating the main structure, while Cuttack Municipal Corporation was asked to improve sewerage and sanitation system in the area. The Idco was given the landscaping work.

Intach officials said plans are afoot to clean and restore the pond on the shrine premises. "We will submit a proposal to the government, seeking funds for desilting of the pond," added Mitra.

The majestic octagonal structure is an architectural marvel and a great combination of Muslim and Hindu architectural styles. Spread over half a square mile, the mosque had a shining golden dome replete with minarets and marble floors.

Locals said beautification and cleaning of the pond should completed at the earliest.

- The Times of India, June 6, 2015

For years, residents of Mudia Ahmednagar village have known about the medicinal and other benefits of the local plants that grow in the area. There were very few besides them who had the knowledge.

However, the forest department along with other bio-diversity experts recently decided to catalogue all plants in the area and filed a report titled the 'People Biodiversity Register'.

The report has been sent to the state biodiversity board for registration of the plants species found in the area. We have prepared a report detailing the local species of flora and have also mentioned special properties of the plant, if any, and how villagers have been using them for their wellbeing," said Dharam Singh, divisional forest officer. He added that 175 species of flora was found in this village which included nearly 35 medicinal herbs like achyranthes aspera, adhatoda vasica and latjira.

"Our ancestors used many plants for healing purposes but such knowledge became extinct with their demise. A retired teacher, Rukum singh (68), has been using some of the herbs found in the village to cure diseases like gout, piles, leucorrhea and blood pressure. We have discussed such things in detail in the report so that the knowledge can be passed on to others," said Singh.

Once the state biodiversity board registers the report, it will become a legal document.

"Companies across the world have been fighting to get patents on flora and fauna of a particular region. For instance, our ancestors for centuries have been using turmeric for healing purpose but in 90s, Germany had claimed its patent right for discovering the healing effect of turmeric. However, the claim of Germany was rejected when India had shown few research papers on the same topic which were conducted in 60s," said Alok Khare, head of the technical support group (TSG) of this project and a faculty member with the botany department in Bareilly College.

The national biodiversity board had initially directed that such a biodiversity report be carried out in every village of the district. However, later the orders were changed and it was conducted only in one village due to shortage of funds.

- The Times of India, June 6, 2015

Unknown monuments, wells, temples, dargahs and forsaken forts in Telangana stand a chance for protection, thanks to the Zilla Khazana, a programme in which people from all walks of life share information and photographs of unknown and unprotected monuments in their zilla. The data once collected would be published in a book form and rare and unknwon monuments would stand a chance of protection.

INTACH would pitch for their protection and submit proposals to the Department of Archaeology.Hardly a month since the launch of Zilla Khazana, people from villages and towns of Telangana started sharing photographs of monuments numbering over 500. The hidden monuments came to light in a one-day workshop on Heritage of Telangana State conducted at the Centenary Heritage Museum here on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, two heritage walks were held at Charminar and Qutub Shahi tombs as part of the Telangana State formation celebrations. Dr Jaikishan who is an expert on metals presented a paper on ‘Unprotected forts of Telangana State, Cannons, Historical Iron and Steel Industry’. He said that Telangana was and still is rich in iron ore and was a major source for crucible metal. There are about 250 forts in Telangana State which need protection.

P Anuradha Reddy, co-convenor INTACH Telangana, the brain child behind Zilla Khazana speaks about the programme

How is the response to Zilla Khazana?
It has been overwhelming. What is heartening is several students and young people are taking a keen interest in history. Students, lecturers, retired government employees and people from all walks of life are showing interest. This has to become a mass movement and we want even the RTC and police departments to get involved.

In what way would the information gathered be helpful?
It would help in preparing a primary inventory of the unprotected monuments in Telangana and also several unseen monuments that are hidden in the jungles would come to limelight.

Is the programme funded and is there any help from the government?
The programme is voluntary and people who have a passion for History and Archaeology are coming forward. As time passes we expect it to become a mass movement. I would also be using the amount received as part of the State Award given to me by the Telangana government into the movement. We hope companies come forward as part of their CSR initiative to fund the field trips. The Kapil group has been extremely helpful. District collectors can play a major role.

By:T P Venu

- The Hans India, June 6, 2015

I'm a dancer from a country that banned all public performances of classical dancing by women in 1981," writes Pakistani-national Sheema Kermani in Narthaki, an online publication. Kermani is referring to General Zia-ul-Haq's 1977 military coup and the subsequent "so-called Islamization" of the country, which targeted both women and the performing arts. It was during these troubled times that Kermani and a handful of like-minded folk formed Tehrik-e-Niswan or Women's Movement in Karachi. It started as a feminist political group to help working-class women but soon evolved into a cultural action group. Their first play in a women's-only bazaar, says Kermani, had a tremendous impact and made them realize the power of story-telling over conferences and seminars.

Today, the group has about 22 active members and performs skits in poor localities on issues like incest, fistulas, sexual harassment and domestic violence. Both Kermani and the group's field research coordinator, Waheed Ali Joyo, were in the city this past week for the SPIC MACAY festival at IIT-Bombay. Besides acting, Joyo's job is to research neighbourhoods and tailor each performance accordingly. "We do surveys to find out where early marriages or sexual harassment, for example, are a problem so locals can relate to the theme of the play," explains Joyo. The skit is followed by a discussion and a theatre workshop for women from the locality. "We train them to perform in their own community, in their own language," says Joyo. Some of these individuals have even gone on to form their own theatre troupes creating a ripple effect.

Recently, Tehrik-e-Niswan has taken up even more controversial subjects like Pakistan's blasphemy laws, religious fundamentalism and violence against religious minorities. "At this point, even just performing is dangerous," says Kermani. "Often our work is done at great risk to ourselves but we feel this is what we have to do." Kermani's troupe has performed multiple times in India, often incorporates Indian dance forms into its performances and collaborates with Indian directors. In 2010, for instance, they worked with Chennai theatre director Prasanna Ramaswamy on a feminist, anti-war play, which was performed in Delhi and Lucknow.

The troupe also showcases classical Indian dances like Odissi, Bharatanatyam and Kathak in Pakistan. As a teenager in Karachi, Kermani trained in the Uday Shankar style of creative dance at a studio set up by Mr. and Mrs. Ghanshyam, a couple from Calcutta. She also spent time in India perfecting her knowledge of Bharatanatyam, Odissi and Kathak. During the military coup, her childhood dance studio was closed down and the owners were forced to flee to the United States. "Whatever was left of their school, I picked it up from there and started teaching Bharatanatyam and Odissi," says Kermani. "From four students, we slowly expanded to as many as 50 students though the number at any given time depends on the political situation in the country." In 2011, Mr. Ghanshyam returned for a Tehrik-e-Niswan dance festival in his honour.

- The Times of India, June 7, 2015

In observance of World Environment Day 2015, Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development Regional Centre- Chandigarh organized a session on "Sustainable Consumption and Production of Resources" which is the theme of this year World Environment Day celebration by United Nation Environment Program.

The session was organized in the beautiful campus of RGNIYD RC- Chandigarh and witnessed the participation of all staff members and the youth enrolled in Skill development training programme which is running successfully at RGNIYD. The main aim of organizing this session was to deepen public awareness of the need to preserve the environment.

Addressing the gathering Stanzin Dawa, Regional Coordinator, RGNIYD said "World Environment Day needs not to be seen just a day set aside in a year to discuss, undertake and solve environment issues as they affect the world. But the day must continue to be every day. It should not be just one day in a week, month, a year or decade but every day of our lives." At the end of the session, a pledge was taken by all to adapt a habit which will have positive impact on our planet Earth, that habit could be as small as turning off lights after leaving room or to walk or cycle for distances which you can walk easily. Apart from the session, tree plantation was also done in the campus which aims at enhancing green cover in the region. Through today's event, the youth felt immensely connected with nature and understands their responsibilities towards flourishing and protecting our natural heritage.

- The Times of India, June 7, 2015

Indian works of art and craft are more likely to get attention in say UK than in the country of origin. That’s not because UK has 2,500 museums to India’s 800. It’s all got to do with what’s put on display, and how. Interactive setups and mapping museums digitally, so viewers can look at heritage at home, are among the endeavours to encourage footfall and interest. The results are mixed.

Museums can be timeless haunts. Instead, they turn out to be cobwebbed, time-warped spaces — filled with dust-gathering obscure objects. No Dan Brown will be inspired to write a Da Vinci Code around them. Across the world, museums are seeking new definitions, new approaches, new meanings and new opportunities to enhance learning. Indians too can take pride in the storehouses of heritage that they detest visiting on compulsory school tours, if only the managements are receptive to change. A beginning of sorts has been made, though it’s so slow that it is almost imperceptible. Public and private sector organisations are coming together to make India’s rich heritage accessible and approachable for the young, with a few foreign collaborations. On May 18, on World Museums Day, the Delhi-based Development and Research Organisation for Nature, Arts and Heritage (DRONAH) launched, for the first time, an interactive mapping of the museums of India. The foundation, consisting of professionals from various fields involved with documentation, research and conservation of heritage buildings and materials, came across many pitfalls in this endeavour.

Big and small, public and private, new and old —there are close to 800 museums in India. In clusters like Karnataka and Rajasthan, their presence and richness abound; in the North-East, the situation differs. But these numbers are just a fraction of what India, with its layered history and the diversity of cultural heritage, can offer. The United Kingdom has 2,500 museums, of which nearly 1,800 have been accredited, an indication that a museum has achieved a nationally-approved standard in management, collections care, delivery of information and visitor services. This results in more footfall. The Tate Modern alone got 45 lakh domestic visitors in a span of six years, while facing stiff competition from museums like the National Gallery. The museums are constantly innovating special exhibitions to generate greater public participation and revenue.

In the Indian context, the lazy approach of keeping close to 80 per cent of the collections in the storage area, fearing damage or theft, deprives visitors of the excitement of new discovery. The website of the National Museum in Delhi shows the number of visitors at 3.6 lakh, this despite the fact that the museum is seeing its best footfall. The outgoing Director General, Dr Venu Vasudevan, is said to have introduced a number of exhibitions that were curated following modern practices and showcased a variety of Indian art, including contemporary works. It was during his tenure that the rich heritage jewellery collection was displayed for the first time after decades.

Barring the 25 Science Centres that come under the National Council of Science Museums, and that have some standardised practices to follow, for the rest, the mandatory cataloguing and registration of the collections has a long way to go. This makes the mapping of museums a half-baked exercise.

Museums fear digitisation

In 2007, the National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities (NMMA) was launched with the objective of documenting and creating a credible national database of all heritage sites and antiquities. A standard format was created for the registration of antiquities so that the registered items could be protected from unlawful trafficking. UNESCO estimates that nearly 50,000 objects have been smuggled out of India between 1979 and 1989 alone, with figures multiplying significantly in the last over two decades. Out of the reported 11,000 thefts in the same period, just 10-15 objects were eventually traced and recovered. Yet, most museums are not forthcoming for digitising their collection for registration. The time-frame prescribed for the completion of the NMMA database creation of five years has long since lapsed; the work continues to be in progress.

This also explains why brochures produced by the Department of Tourism, state governments and the Ministry of Culture feed diverse information about the same museum, confusing the visitors.

“There is an inherent fear among the museums, perhaps misplaced, for digitising collections and putting it online for mapping. In some cases it’s not absolutely unfounded, because security in our museums is as outdated as is the rest of management,” says Abha Narain Lambah, Mumbai-based conservation architect and museum consultant. Also, the policy on evaluation of artefacts and insurance continues to be ambiguous, slowing down the modernisation of museums.

‘Do not touch’ approach

Introducing interactivity, which is the practice worldwide, is a far-fetched dream for Indian museums. The bold signage of “Do Not Touch”, placed before the objects one would like to admire, is a dampener for the inquisitive visitor. On the DRONAH website, there’s no virtual walk through the museums listed so far. Shikha Jain, one of the founder members, says that while collecting data, they found museum owners being apprehensive of losing out on visitors if the images of the collections were displayed online. Offering a virtual tour is not even under consideration at present. Concerns of security also bog down museum owners from offering virtual images online.

It is ironical. It was an Indian, Amit Sood, who headed The Art Project, the work of a group of Google employees drawn together by their love of art who pioneered the Google Art Project. The aim was to entice people to visit museums — as well as enrich the lives of those who cannot afford to do so by taking a virtual tour online. Sood admitted that growing up in Bombay he never got a chance to go to museums and explore the artworks. In 2011, using its Street View technology, Google launched a virtual tool for art appreciation from a new perspective by capturing paintings in super-high resolution of 7 billion to 14 billion pixels. It let the users on its new website see and experience the texture and intensity of a single brush stroke of the masters they would otherwise rarely get a chance to. The site allows users to view art from museums around the world, including the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and Tate Britain in London, among others. Indian museums have yet to explore the potential of this technology.

Despite these limitations, the latest mapping of museums shows several private endeavours changing the perception. This change is encouraged by the Ministry of Culture that is giving an aid of Rs 5 crore to the big museums for their upgradation and maintenance and Rs 1 crore to the small private museums. Within a span of four years, the Ministry has to spend Rs 99 crore for the betterment of museums. In 1998, Shobita Punja did an illustrated mapping of India’s museums, which was published in a paperback. Another mapping was done by Usha Agarwal, Director of INTACH’s Museum Development Cell. Her directory catalogues museums in 29 states and was first published in 2000 and updated in 2013. None of these mappings is available online.

Culture collaborations

In 2009, the Ministry of Culture issued a 14-point agenda for museum reforms, with the first formal cultural partnership between India and the UK. A Leadership Training Programme was organised with the British Museum. In the first two years, it was open only to government museums but in its third year, it was opened to professionals from private museums as well. In January 2012, an agreement was also signed between the Ministry of Culture and the Art Institute of Chicago. Under this agreement, a programme was initiated to improve and upgrade Indian museums and their human resources.

- The Tribune, June 7, 2015

If Delhi is a treasure trove of historical remains, neighbouring Haryana dates back even further. For those unacquainted with the state’s antiquity and rich built heritage, the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) has brought out a book titled Haryana: Cultural Heritage Guide.

The 424-page volume catalogues no less than 600 monuments and architectural sites scattered across Haryana’s 21 districts. Supported by the National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities (NMMA), under the Ministry of Culture, it is the first ever compilation of all existing architectural structures in any Indian State.

INTACH, a non-profit NGO, has previously published guide books for Chennai, Delhi and Agra. The Haryana project, involving all its district chapter conveners, has been in the works for the past 10 years.

History enthusiasts and school students went about identifying historical buildings and sites in their vicinity, noting down local folklores around them, and their present condition.

The book was launched by Kumari Selja, the Union Minister of Culture. Major contributions and analysis in the volume have been provided by chapter heads Atul Dev, Ratan Lal Saini, Sudhir Sharma, Sudhir Bhargava, Anand Mehta, and professor Anil Kumar among others, while it has a foreword by Juthika Patankar, additional director general, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Conservation architect Shikha Jain, who is also convener of INTACH in Haryana, said: “It is true that Haryana never received the kind of patronage that Delhi had, but Haryana is a land waiting to be discovered. The whole of Haryana is an archaeological site. Once, while visiting a village, where remains from the Harappa-Mohenjodaro times were retrieved, a village woman told me ‘we keep unearthing these things while farming. Now we hand them over to officials.’”

“Unfortunately, due to rapid urbanisation and construction, these monuments are disappearing and Haryana is losing touch with its historical character. Cataloguing them is the first step to conservation,” she added.

Owing to its geographical location, Haryana has been a perpetual witness to the confluence of statehoods and kingdoms in and around Delhi.

Because of its plain grounds and seating on the northwest frontier of India, it has observed continuous invasions and battles beginning from the Mahabharata to the battles of Tarain and Panipat.

Many of Haryana’s historical towns and villages were destroyed.

Atul Dev, the Gurgaon INTACH chief, said: “Haryana still has much to boast of. These include magnificent Harappan sites, inscriptions, coins, stupas, brick temples, forts, Mughal monuments, works of art, mosques, tanks, wells, sarais and churches. This book is just the beginning and the listing will continue.”

The book is divided into two sections. The first has some authoritative essays while second part carefully lists each district, monuments, their stories and some photographs

- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/, June 7, 2015

Citizens can now learn about the freedom fighters through 3D exhibitions and laser shows. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has planned a museum at Nanawada dedicated to the independence struggle and freedom fighters.

The initiative will be first-of-its-kind by the civic body. The civic administration has made a financial provision of Rs 1.8 crore in its budget for the project. Nanawada is a heritage structure of grade-1 category. The standing committee of PMC will take call on this project on Tuesday.

According to the civic body, the museum will have statues with audio-visual effects. A permanent 3D exhibition on freedom fighters will be set up along with a laser show with specially designed sound and light effects on the premises. Films, paintings and write-ups on the lives of freedom fighters as well as the independence struggle will be showcased. A seating facility for 150 people will be also developed in the museum, a civic official said. "We aim to promote tourism in the city through the museum. 3D statues of freedom fighters will tell their story and their contribution to the independence struggle. Five such 3D statues will be developed," said Shyam Dhawle, head of the PMC's heritage department.

Dhawle said the free space available at Nanawada will be used to develop the museum. "The original structure will be not be disturbed. We will seek help from historians and heritage architects to design the museum," he added.

The civic body also plans to conduct educational activities on the premises. The administration will organize heritage walks and educational tours for schools as well as colleges.

The initiative will be a first-of-its-kind by the civic body. The civic administration has made a financial provision of Rs 1.8 crore in its budget for the project.

- The Times of India, June 8, 2015

Art exhibitions, dance and music performances, as well as theatre shows and events like talks, meditation sessions and yoga workshops will be held across venues in the Capital between June 21 and 27 to celebrate the International Day of Yoga. June 21 was declared the International Day of Yoga by the UN General Assembly and the resolution was adopted by over 177 countries.

The “Yog Parv” aims to highlight the essence, philosophy and virtues of yoga for spiritual uplifting, healing and holistic developments that influences all aspects of life by taking participants beyond asanasand making them explore the world of visual and performance art that shares a strong connect.

The Lalit Kala Akademi, Sahitya Akademi, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts and National Museum have joined hands for the event. Over 300 selected works of art, dance and music performances, workshops, and other presentations by 150 plus artists from across India and overseas that bring out the essence of the spirit of yoga will be showcased. Besides these, a collaborative effort with yoga schools and centres like Isha Foundation, Patanjali, Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga have been curated to conduct workshops and yoga sessions along with showcasing different kinds of ayurvedic, herbal and organic products to visitors at the organic and wellness haats .

Sushma. K. Bahl, curator of the cultural projects of the event, says the act of creating art itself is a yogic practice for the artists, and the rasikas reflected in the vast corpus of visual arts. Encompassing traditions and modernity, some featuring idealised yogic bodies prepared, purified and adorned; and others in abstract meditative forms elucidate unity of the self with the absolute for harmony and peace.

The exhibitions, she says, will include antiquities selected and sourced from museums around the country as well as fresh commissions by contemporary artists.

Sangeet Natak Akademi secretary Helen Acharya says performing arts are understood in the context of yoga as naad yoga, asanas , mudras , pranayam , bandhas , kriyas and dhyana . Both yoga and performance art is based on physical exercise that has meditative and spiritual pursuits to connect humanity.

The Yog Parva will be organised at Rabindra Bhavan here.

- The Hindu, June 8, 2015

Young Indians (Yi), Tiruchi Chapter, along with the NSS unit of National College, Tiruchi, organised a sensitisation programme and a festival on the cultural heritage of India in association with the NSS Regional Centre, Chennai. Christened, Mini India, volunteers and artists from all over India and Sri Lanka participated and exhibited their talents on various art and cultural forms found abundant in the sub-continent.

K. Balamurugan, Regional Passport Officer, Chennai, the chief guest, observed that though the art forms of India are found in different languages, they convey, in uniform, the greatness of the soil. Art forms such as Karagam, Bharthanatyam, Koodiyattam, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Mohiniyattam, Yakshagana, Kathak and Odissi mirror the culture of India, he said. Ravi Murrugaiah, chairman, Vasan Estates, emphasised the need for preserving the art forms and cultural practices of the country.

There were nearly 20 events, performed by the participants from different parts of the country.

K. Anbarasu, Principal, National College, D. Prasanna Balaji, NSS Officer, and Ponnambalam, Chair, Young Indians (Yi), Tiruchi Chapter, spoke. Captain Subash Chand, NSS Chief, Chennai, Karthikeyan, Youth Officer, NSS, Bengaluru, Samuel Chelliah, NSS Officer, Thiruvananthapuram, were present.

SUMMER COACHING CAMP

Over 150 boys and girls took part in a summer coaching camp organised by Bishop Heber College’s Department of Physical Education and Sports Alumni Association in Tiruchi.

It was meant for enthusiasts for basketball, chess, and football. D. Paul Dhayabaran, Principal, Bishop Heber College, presented certificates to the participants.

GRADUATION DAY

Graduates should focus their attention on innovative research in order to develop our nation, said S. Ganesan, Registrar, Anna University, Chennai, in his Graduation Day address at E.G.S. Pillay Engineering College, Nagapattinam. Students should work towards their goal with self confidence, motivation and enthusiasm. Mr. Ganesan presented degrees to 317 graduates and 119 post-graduates. Medals and cash prizes were given to the university rank holders. S. Parameswaran, secretary, presided. S. Ramabalan, Principal, presented the annual report. R. Karunanithi, advisor, Sathish Kumar, Director, and V. Mohan, vice-principal, were present.

DEGREE CERTIFICATES DISTRIBUTED

S. Ganesh, Pudukottai Collector, distributed degree certificates to students of Mother Teresa College of Education at Iluppur near Pudukottai recently. He called upon the outgoing students to impart moral values and personality development to their pupils. “You have a great responsibility in guiding the future generation with a care and commitment for social welfare and development,” he said. Mr. Ganesh noted that the college has been registering cent per cent pass percentage in the university examinations ever since its inception. R. Chinnathamby, founder of the college, R.C. Udhayakumar, founder, Brinda, Principal spoke.

Contributed by
M. Balaganessin
and G. Prasad

- The Hindu, June 8, 2015

Bengaluru’s important water bodies including the Bellandur and Yemlur lakes are reported to have caught fire due to industrial effluents. These two along with the Agaram, Chellagatta, Madiwala and Varthur lakes to which they’re connected, are not just suffering from the effects of industrial waste flowing into them. The unchecked and rapid urbanization of what is popularly known as the Silicon Valley of India, means the disposal of sewage as well as construction materials has not been planned properly.

For quite some time, the sorry state of the Varthur, Bellandur, Yemlur and other lakes mentioned above, has been documented by the media, environmentalists and ecologists. The Bengaluru government has been slow to take any action in the matter and has not made any announcement about serving notices to the 100 or so industries dumpling their effluents into the water bodies. The Indian public’s awareness about this situation was raised when videos and images of these lakes overflowing with froth started hitting news and social networks.

But the citizens residing in these heavily polluted zones around Bengaluru have been staring at the ecological disaster in the face for too long. Deccan Chronicle notes that flames were observed in the Yemlur lake between the HAL Airport and Bellandur Wetland complex. Acting upon a request by the Upa Lokayukta, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) undertook the task of presenting a report on the current ailment afflicting the lakes. Now remember that the city’s government bodies (BBMP and KSPCB) say industrial waste does not get into the lakes.

To no one’s surprise, IISc’s study found traces of flammable chemicals in water samples taken from the Yemlur lake. This can hardly be discharged from household sewage lines. The froth caught fire because of the presence of these pollutants. Additionally, the pre-monsoon showers caused heavy metals deposited in the lake system to come to the surface. Samples of water taken from where froth and flames were seen, turned out to contain phosphorous and hydrocarbons, said Dr T V Ramachandra, head of the Energy and Wetlands Research Group at the IISc.

Until Bengaluru authorities take stringent action against industries allowing their effluents to flow into the chain of lakes including Bellandur, Varthur and Yemlur, we’ve not seen the last of the fires.

- http://www.mobiletor.com/, June 8, 2015

What is being built is bigger than the original - and it is being "Made in India". But for a Bihar temple trust, these very characteristics - which may appear in sync with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's manufacturing drive - have drawn the charge of doing a copycat.

Cambodia has asked the Modi government to stop the construction of a gigantic shrine a little over 100km from Patna that Phnom Penh alleges is a "copy" of that country's national symbol: the Angkor Wat temple complex.

Cambodia's foreign affairs ministry, in a note verbale to the external affairs ministry here, has cautioned that the construction of the Bihar temple could impact the "traditional historical relations between our nations and our people". A note verbale is a diplomatic note written in the third person and unsigned, and is used to signify that the message it contains reflects the views - usually criticism - of not just a government but a nation.

"The Royal Government of Cambodia considers that this copy of Angkor Wat temple (being built) for commercial benefit seriously violates (its) world heritage, which is a universal and exceptional value of humanity," the letter says.

It "strongly" requests that the Indian government "reconsiders the planned construction of the Angkor Wat replica in order to preserve the traditional historic relations between the two countries and our peoples".

The Bihar temple is the Viraat Ramayan Mandir, being built at an estimated cost of Rs 500 crore in Kesariya in northwest Bihar. It is expected to be twice as large as Angkor Wat, the organisation building the temple has said.

"It is not a copy," Kishor Kunal, secretary of the Mahavir Mandir Trust, which is building the temple, told The Telegraph over the phone.

"Even a senior Cambodian diplomat who recently visited the spot acknowledged that it was only a 60 per cent copy of the Angkor Wat," Kunal added.

Indian foreign ministry officials said they had not yet communicated with the Mahavir Mandir Trust on Cambodia's note verbale, but said Phnom Penh had, in 2012, first raised concerns over the name of the Bihar temple.

At the time, the trust had planned to name the temple the Viraat Angkor Wat Ram Mandir, Kunal confirmed.

"We changed the name keeping their sensitivities in mind, and if the government in New Delhi seeks an explanation from us now, we would be happy to share our views," Kunal said. "But there are some basic elements of the construction plan for the shrine that we cannot change."

Legally, the Mahavir Mandir Trust may not stand in violation of any international law.

The 1970 Unesco Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Export, Import and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property punishes the illegal sale of antiques anywhere in the world. But while this law talks about protecting the cultural heritage of individual countries, it does not refer to the reproduction of monuments.

The Luxor Las Vegas, one of the most prominent hotels in the US city best known for its casinos, boasts a 36-storey pyramid and a sphinx. Replicas of the Statue of Liberty and the Colosseum too stand proudly in the city.

China's Shenzhen has an imitation of London's Tower Bridge, and a copy of St Peter's Cathedral is a tourist attraction in Japan's Nikko.

Some nations, like Egypt, have introduced domestic laws aimed at protecting their monuments from copies overseas. Only a body known as the Supreme Council for Antiquities can authorise any replica of Egyptian monuments in another country.

But even the Egyptian law has limitations - only an exact replica with the same dimensions as the original is covered. "These attempts to protect cultural monuments from reproduction," lawyer Ann Horn Baroody wrote in a paper for the University of Georgia, reflect a concern "that production of replicas by outside parties impairs the source nation's right to exploit its heritage for commercial value."

Indian officials are familiar with these fears.

In 2008, when Bangladeshi film director Ahsanullah Moni announced plans to fund a $ 58-million replica of the Taj Mahal 10km outside Dhaka, the Indian high commission had responded sharply, questioning how anyone could just "go and copy a historical monument".

Later, India decided against pursuing any diplomatic or legal action, with the high commission concluding that the imitation was unlikely to impact the footfalls at the original Taj Mahal.

- The Telegraph, June 8, 2015

If Delhi is a treasure trove of historical remains, neighbouring Haryana dates back even further. For those unacquainted with the state's antiquity and rich built heritage, the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) has brought out a book titled Haryana: Cultural Heritage Guide.

The 424-page volume catalogues no less than 600 monuments and architectural sites scattered across Haryana's 21 districts. Supported by the National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities (NMMA), under Ministry of Culture, it is the first-ever compilation of all existing architectural structures in any Indian State.

INTACH, a non-profit NGO, has previously published guide books for Chennai, Delhi and Agra. The Haryana project, involving all its district chapter conveners, was in the works for the past 10 years.

History enthusiasts and school students went about identifying historical buildings and sites in their vicinity, noting down local folklores around them, and their present condition. It was launched by Kumari Selja, the Union Minister of Culture. Major contributions and analysis in the book have been provided by chapter heads Atul Dev, Ratan Lal Saini, Sudhir Sharma, Sudhir Bhargava, Anand Mehta and professor Anil Kumar among others, while it has a foreword by Juthika Patankar, additional director general, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Conservation architect Shikha Jain, who is also convener of INTACH in Haryana, said, "It is true that Haryana never received the kind of patronage that Delhi had, but Haryana is a land waiting to be discovered. The whole of Haryana is an archaeological site. Once, while visiting a village, where remains from the Harappa-Mohenjodaro times were retrieved, a village woman told me 'we keep unearthing these things while farming. Now we hand them over to officials.'"

"Unfortunately, due to rapid urbanisation and construction, these monuments are disappearing and Haryana is losing touch with its historical character. Cataloguing them is the first step to conservation," she added.

Owing to its geographical location, Haryana has been a perpetual witness to the confluence of statehoods and kingdoms in and around Delhi. Because of its plain grounds and seating on the northwest frontier of India, it has observed continuous invasions and battles beginning from the Mahabharata to the battles of Tarain and Panipat. Much of Haryana's historical towns and villages were destroyed.

The book, Haryana: Cultural Heritage Guide, is edited by Shikha Jain & Bhawna Dandona.

Atul Dev, the Gurgaon INTACH chief, said, "Haryana still has much to boast of. These include magnificent Harappan sites, inscriptions, coins, stupas, brick temples, forts, Mughal monuments, works of art, mosques, tanks, wells, sarais and churches. This book is just the beginning and the listing will continue."

The book is divided into two sections. The first has some authoritative essays while second part carefully lists each district, monuments, their stories and some photographs.

- http://indiatoday.intoday.in, June 8, 2015

What is being built is bigger than the original - and it is being "Made in India". But for a Bihar temple trust, these very characteristics - which may appear in sync with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's manufacturing drive - have drawn the charge of doing a copycat.

Cambodia has asked the Modi government to stop the construction of a gigantic shrine a little over 100km from Patna that Phnom Penh alleges is a "copy" of that country's national symbol: the Angkor Wat temple complex.

Cambodia's foreign affairs ministry, in a note verbale to the external affairs ministry here, has cautioned that the construction of the Bihar temple could impact the "traditional historical relations between our nations and our people". A note verbale is a diplomatic note written in the third person and unsigned, and is used to signify that the message it contains reflects the views - usually criticism - of not just a government but a nation.

"The Royal Government of Cambodia considers that this copy of Angkor Wat temple (being built) for commercial benefit seriously violates (its) world heritage, which is a universal and exceptional value of humanity," the letter says.

It "strongly" requests that the Indian government "reconsiders the planned construction of the Angkor Wat replica in order to preserve the traditional historic relations between the two countries and our peoples".

The Bihar temple is the Viraat Ramayan Mandir, being built at an estimated cost of Rs 500 crore in Kesariya in northwest Bihar. It is expected to be twice as large as Angkor Wat, the organisation building the temple has said.

"It is not a copy," Kishor Kunal, secretary of the Mahavir Mandir Trust, which is building the temple, told The Telegraph over the phone.

"Even a senior Cambodian diplomat who recently visited the spot acknowledged that it was only a 60 per cent copy of the Angkor Wat," Kunal added.

Indian foreign ministry officials said they had not yet communicated with the Mahavir Mandir Trust on Cambodia's note verbale, but said Phnom Penh had, in 2012, first raised concerns over the name of the Bihar temple.

At the time, the trust had planned to name the temple the Viraat Angkor Wat Ram Mandir, Kunal confirmed.

"We changed the name keeping their sensitivities in mind, and if the government in New Delhi seeks an explanation from us now, we would be happy to share our views," Kunal said. "But there are some basic elements of the construction plan for the shrine that we cannot change."

Legally, the Mahavir Mandir Trust may not stand in violation of any international law.

The 1970 Unesco Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Export, Import and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property punishes the illegal sale of antiques anywhere in the world. But while this law talks about protecting the cultural heritage of individual countries, it does not refer to the reproduction of monuments.

The Luxor Las Vegas, one of the most prominent hotels in the US city best known for its casinos, boasts a 36-storey pyramid and a sphinx. Replicas of the Statue of Liberty and the Colosseum too stand proudly in the city.

China's Shenzhen has an imitation of London's Tower Bridge, and a copy of St Peter's Cathedral is a tourist attraction in Japan's Nikko.

Some nations, like Egypt, have introduced domestic laws aimed at protecting their monuments from copies overseas. Only a body known as the Supreme Council for Antiquities can authorise any replica of Egyptian monuments in another country.

But even the Egyptian law has limitations - only an exact replica with the same dimensions as the original is covered. "These attempts to protect cultural monuments from reproduction," lawyer Ann Horn Baroody wrote in a paper for the University of Georgia, reflect a concern "that production of replicas by outside parties impairs the source nation's right to exploit its heritage for commercial value."

Indian officials are familiar with these fears.

In 2008, when Bangladeshi film director Ahsanullah Moni announced plans to fund a $ 58-million replica of the Taj Mahal 10km outside Dhaka, the Indian high commission had responded sharply, questioning how anyone could just "go and copy a historical monument".

Later, India decided against pursuing any diplomatic or legal action, with the high commission concluding that the imitation was unlikely to impact the footfalls at the original Taj Mahal.

- The Telegraph, June 8, 2015

The historic city of Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti (Ajmer) and the pilgrimage town of Pushkar are set to get a new lease of life. Bustling with pilgrims, Ajmer and Pushkar would now get their 'soul' stimulus under the Union government's 'Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY)' scheme of government of India.

"The city anchor for Ajmer and Pushkar has been finalized and we have received Rs 40 crore to begin with in this financial year. Now Delhi-based firm, Development and Research Organisation for Nature, Arts and Heritage (DRONAH) has been shortlisted to provide technical advisory and guidance. City level project monitoring cell would be finalized within a week. The concept plan would be prepared in a week and sent to GoI for approval," said Manjit Singh, principal secretary local self-government, Rajasthan.

The 'city anchor' (consultant) would be responsible for advising and supporting the City Mission Directorate and will prepare 'city HRIDAY' plan in consultation with local stakeholders. The primary objective of HRIDAY city anchors is to help the cities with successful implementation of the scheme. Capturing the city's heritage infrastructure improvement plans, concept plan for development, renovation of a city museum, cultural park, in addition to reviewing detailed project reports (DPRs) and monitoring the execution of works from a heritage perspective would now be done under the guidance of DRONAH.

"A total of Rs 500 crore would be released for the project by the Union government. To begin with we would take up six projects. First of all on a priority basis we plan to desilt, clean and beautify Anasagar and Foisagar lakes. This would be similar to the Jal Mahal project in Jaipur with a lake front beautification and management. The plan to have all the overhead electric wires underground and fix LED lights in Pushkar and Ajmer is in place," said Singh.

Landscape experts have been finalized for Subhash Garden and Daulat Bagh at Anasagar at the cost of Rs 8-10 lakh. "Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology University (CEPT) Ahmedabad, will be involved in the urban design action plan. Signages at both the places would be bilingual. We will get good mini buses for local transport and the entire action plan will be prepared on war footing so that we can start work within three months," said Singh. "Under the HRIDAY scheme, future development of any city should be based on its nature, history and culture and its unique ethos. Keeping that in mind we would be starting heritage walks in Ajmer and Pushkar," he added.

- The Times of India, June 8, 2015

Team to submit report on findings & apply for further excavation

Archaeologists and historians from Ravenshaw University have unearthed an urn with bones of an infant from an excavation site at Talagada, 20km from here.

The skeleton is presumed to be dating back to the Chalcolithic Age, said assistant professor of Ravenshaw University's history department Umakant Mishra, who is also the field director for the excavation.

Archaeologists said the Chalcolithic was a phase of the Bronze Age before it was discovered that adding tin to copper formed the harder bronze. The Copper Age was originally defined as a transition between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age. However, because it is characterised by the use of metals, the Copper Age is considered a part of the Bronze Age rather than the Stone Age.

Around 10 researchers and students of the varsity are conducting the excavation at Talagada. On May 26, the team had found an adult's skeleton from the same trench. The burial ground (from where the adult skeleton had been recovered) and the fifth layer of the index trench were at the same level, said Mishra.

The burial urn belongs to the late Copper and early Iron Age and carried cord impressed patterns, a member of the excavation team told The Telegraph today.

An expert said pottery such as the urn was used for burials. It is expected to help researchers throw more light on the lifestyle and social traditions of people during the Chalcolithic period in Odisha.

The actual age of the infant will be ascertained after the skeleton is examined at Ravenshaw University.

Apart from the skeleton of the infant, adze, an antler point, semiprecious stones, including carnelian bead, quartz and agate, have also been found during the excavation.

Mishra said the excavation had been a success because of these findings. "We will shortly submit a report on the findings and apply for permission from the archaeology department for further excavation at Talagada," he said. "The artefacts from the trench prove that the site belongs to the early Iron Age. Iron slag have been found aplenty at the site," said an expert.

According to the circumstantial evidence, the artefacts are nearly 4,000-year-old. During the excavation, researchers have unearthed stone tools, pottery and animal bones from the site.

Earlier, the varsity's history professor Subrat Acharya, who is also the director of the excavation, had said: "We have engaged research scholars and postgraduate students in the work, for which the state culture department has sanctioned Rs 2 lakh." Mishra said another mound had already been earmarked for excavation on the other side of the trench from where the urn was excavated yesterday.

A university official said samples collected from the thigh and arm bones had been sent to the US for radiocarbon dating. Earlier, Veena Mushrif Tripathy, a skeletal biologist from Deccan College, Pune, had examined the adult skeleton of a male.

Tripathy had also recovered a turtle shell and burnished wares dating to the Chalcolithic Age near the burial ground. Besides, within 2km of the excavation site at the village, there also lie ruins of a historic fort in a reserve forest. Earlier, copper plates belonging to the Bhoumakar rulers were also found at the nearby Patalinga village. The recovery of skeletons and other artefacts has now become the talk of the town in Cuttack, and a lot of people are keen to know more about the findings from the excavations.

"Such findings hold significance for the entire community, because we want to know more about the lifestyle, artefacts and other credible information about the people, who used to live here thousands of years ago," said College Square resident Apurba Das. The Pune-based expert came to the postgraduate department of anthropology, Utkal University, last year, to examine skeletons found from Baanga on the city outskirts. Three skeletons had been recovered from there during the 2013-14 excavations. Before that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had unearthed a human skeleton from Golbai Sasan in 1991.

- The Telegraph, June 9, 2015

Aaron Gray-Block, Crisis Response Campaigner for Greenpeace International, was not allowed to enter India, and sent back to Australia. Gray-Block responded to queries from Deccan Herald’s Shemin Joy.

What was the purpose of your visit?
I had travelled to India to take part in a series of meetings with staff, and to learn more about Greenpeace India’s current campaigns. These meetings were about air pollution, climate change and coal mining—global issues that Greenpeace International works on all over the world.

How do you view this government action?
I was given no formal reason on why I was denied entry into the country, and am quite surprised by this action. There is absolutely no reason why I should have been treated in such an arbitrary way.

Greenpeace supports the free movement of people and ideas across the world. In fact, all global organisations send staff members from one country to another, including most Indian companies.

Were you expecting it?
Not at all. I visited India last November, and still held a valid business visa, allowing multiple entries into the country.

What is your next course of action?
Greenpeace Australia will raise this issue with the Australian authorities. We want Indian officials to explain why they stopped someone with a valid visa from entering the country. We want them to clarify if it plans to ban all our international colleagues from other offices from entering the country.

- The Deccan Herald, June 9, 2015

Lighthouses that dot India's coastal regions and remote islands are set to get a major tourist makeover. With their long history and scenic locations, both ingredients for a great tourist attraction, lighthouses could act as blockbusters for India's growing tourism sector, the government believes.

According to shipping ministry officials, areas adjoining lighthouses such as the one in Kanhoji Angre island near Mumbai port, Muttom near Kanyakumari, False Point near Paradip in Odisha and Minicoy in Lakshadweep will be developed as major tourism zones with facilities including resorts, ayurvedic resorts, convention centre, heritage trail and water sports. Some of these will be operational in less than two years from now.

- The Times of India, June 9, 2015

Narrating tales of monumental neglect over the years, historic Lalbagh Palace is lying in shambles. Of late, the architecture marvel has reduced to a dilapidated structure in absence of repair work.

Besides, several ancient sculptures of the state's archaeology department have been placed in open area due to lack of space in museum. To make matter worse, all previous plans for renovation and conservation have been kept in abeyance.

According to officials, in 2011, the state archaeology department had prepared a draft of Rs 1.86 crore for museum, which was sanctioned till 2013 by the state government, but cost escalate with the time. Archaeology department had sent a revised proposal but failed to get additional fund. In the absence of sufficient fund project has failed to take off.

Curator of Indore museum, Prakash Paranjape said, "Initially, works were to be carried out on six galleries but now the previous list has been compressed. 4 galleries were included to place sculptures in shelter. The work is expected to kick off in next few months."

"Cracks have appeared on portions of the inner and outer wall of Lalbagh and roof of the palace is in dilapidated condition.

Till now, only half of the portion of Lalbagh Palace has been opened up for visitors. Even proper canteen service is not available," said Sanket Bokil, a visitor from Pune. Deputy in-charge of state's archaeology department Indore SN Raj said that 13th Finance Commission had allocated a grant of around Rs 2 crore for renovation of the historic palace under heritage conservation project.

Besides renovation work, lighting work at the outlay of Rs 9 lakh would also be carried out by the department. The department is making efforts to complete the repair work at the earliest.

As the sanctioned grant was not sufficient to carry out complete restoration work, the department had put forth a revised proposal demanding additional funds for the facelift, said Paranjape.

Wishing anonymity, another official said, "These works are being undertaken on papers only as the department has only been making plans."

- The Times of India, June 10, 2015

A team of archaeologists have discovered the remains of a 2000-year-old city at Jamraon, nearly 12 km from here.

This finding is viewed significant among the historians here since very few early historical urban settlements have been found in Chhattisgarh till date.

“The Archaeological Survey of India-sponsored exploration at Jamraon has yielded antiquities dating back to first century AD. Survey conducted at Jamrao has brought to light a continuous cultural sequence from early historical to medieval period,” director of the exploration Dr Pratap Chandra Parakh and site in-charge Dr Atul Kumar Pradhan disclosed to this newspaper here on Monday.

The archaeological site, located on the left bank of Kharun river, is dotted with two large mounds. A section of mounds has been washed away by the river exposing the archaeological deposits.

“The scientific survey has led to recovery of a large number of antiquities dating back to early historical period (6th century BC to 3rd century AD). The remarkable discovery at the site is the recovery of two circular copper coins belonging to the Kushan period (first century AD) and one square size copper coin belonging to the Satavahan period (second century AD),” the two archaeologists working under the Chhattisgarh government revealed.

“We are going to submit a proposal to the ASI for extensive excavation of the site,” director, state culture and archaeology department, Rakesh Chaturvedi said.

Significant among the antiquities found at the site included perforated ware pottery, terracotta beads, terracotta figurines of animals, a terracotta figurine of mother goddess, terracotta ear stud, bangles, copper rings, fragments of crucibles, skin rubbers, dices made of terracotta and ivory and a number of saddles and querns.

“A huge structure comprising six rooms with common veranda and courtyard lie exposed at the site, indicating the existence of an urban centre at the site during the period,” the archaeologists said.

- The Asian Age, June 10, 2015

The Modi government's responsibility to preserve biodiversity is likely to increase manifold as 148 new species of plants have been discovered by the Botanical Survey of India (BSI).

While these 148 species are altogether new to science, scientists at the BSI have also discovered 19 new varieties (sub-species) during 2014-15.

Besides, 101 species have been recorded for the first time in India.

While 114 novelties (new traits in a plant species) were described and published by scientists at the BSI, those from other institutes reported 164 novelties during 2014. Seed plants contributed the maximum with 42 per cent of the total discoveries followed by fungi at 19 per cent. Microbes contributed to 13 per cent of the new findings, while lichens had 12 per cent. Algae formed 9 per cent of the total new species while pteridophytes and bryophytes contributed to 2 and 3 per cent, respectively. Region-wise, most of the new species were discovered in Western Ghats, which accounted for 22 per cent of the total discoveries made, followed by Eastern Himalaya at 15 per cent. The North-East India contributed to 15 per cent of the total discoveries while Andaman and Nicobar Islands shared 13 per cent of the new species found. About 11 per cent of the new findings were recorded from Peninsular India, followed by Western Himalaya with 9 per cent.

The Gangetic Plains, Eastern Plains and Central India, collectively, contributed to 10 per cent of the total new discoveries of 2014.

According to the current estimates of BSI, India has about 11.4 per cent of the total recorded floral species in the world. "We are in the process of identifying several new species. But the existing floral biodiversity is under severe threat from human factors like urbanisation, industrialisation, pollution, destruction of habitats, overgrasing and deforestation among others," said a senior scientist at the BSI.

Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, when asked, said, "We have already started working to form biodiversity committees in all districts and ensure strict compliance of the protocols related to commercial utilisation of biological resources from India."

- http://indiatoday.intoday.in, June 10, 2015

The brunt of summer may have passed, but residents in the suburbs are still feeling parched as they battle a severe water crisis.

Residents in areas like Ananoor, Thirumullaivoyal, Ayapakkam, Tambaram, Pallavaram and Avadi say the groundwater levels in their localities have dipped drastically, forcing them to sink new borewells. Local body administrators are also looking for supplementary resources to bridge the gap between demand and supply.

While sinking a borewell is a solution, the affair is expensive. A borewell 200-feet deep costs around Rs75,000. Ramachandra Rao, a resident of Ananoor said, "Last week we had to sink a 300-feet deep borewell. With so many new buildings cropping up, the water demand has increased and the ground water table has plummeted." Residents alleged that the current situation is due to poor water management by authorities and failure to implement projects meant to rejuvenate groundwater. The areas, which experience above average rainfall, have seen no efforts to preserve water, said conservationist T K Ramkumar.

"Intensive rainwater harvesting and revival of lakes will help the residents. Authorities should ensure that sewage is not let into the lakes. These water bodies should be used to store rainwater," he said.

Residents in several areas in west Tambaram and adjoining Chitlapakkam Town Panchayat said they get drinking water only once in a week. Tambaram Municipality officials, while admitting that the groundwater table had dipped drastically, said they have been supplementing the deficiency by sinking additional borewells which enhanced supply by 25 lakh litres per day. While Palar river bed is a major source of water, official have been forced to look for alternate means.

Tambaram and Pallavam are two of the biggest municipalities in the city's southern subrubs. While Tambaram municipality requires 125 litres per capita daily (lpcd), Pallavaram requires around 55 lpcd.

- The Times of India, June 10, 2015

World Environment as well as World Ocean day was celebrated by INTACH Jammu Chapter on Monday in the capital city, a press statement said.

Dr.Ashok Aima Vice Chancellor, Central University, Jammu was the Chief Guest, Mr Saleem Beg, Convener INTACH, J&K Chapter and Prof.Anil Raina, Head of Department Environment Science Jammu University were the Guest of Honour.

Dr.C.M.Seth, Former Chairman, J&K Pollution Control Board(Chairman WWF,J&K), Prof.Anil Raina and Shri Ashok Mahajan, Sr.Architect delivered the lecture on Heritage & Environment.

Theme of the World environment day this year is “ seven billion dreams, one planet Consume with care”. The well being of the humanity, the environment and the functioning of economy ultimately depend upon the responsible management of the planets natural resources.

Consuming with care means living with in planetary boundaries to ensure a healthy future where our dreams can be realized. Human prosperity need not cost the earth. Though non dividend steps and efforts may seem small but collectively they make difference and definite impression.

Mr Saleem Beg gave the importance of Heritage & languages & emphasized the need to popularize local language while welcoming the participants, Mr S.M.Sahni, Convener, INTACH, Jammu and Mr Hemant Sharma, IAS co-convener explained the activities of INTACH Jammu Chapter.

Maj.Gen.(Retd) G.S.Jamwal proposed the vote of thanks. New members were introduced & inducted into INTACH Jammu Chapter.

Dr.Ashok Aima Vice Chancellor, Central University delivered presidential address and appreciated the efforts of INTACH Jammu Chapter.

On this occasion, a chinar as well as pine tree was planted in TRC Lawns in Jammu as token of Environment and Ocean Day.

Among others Prof.Deepak Raj, Director, Tourism & Management, Kuldeep Wahi, President, Hospitality Sector, Jyoti Bhatti, Principa, FCI, Vijay Tandon, S.Joginder Singh, CTP, Anil Papa (J&K Bank), Suvidha Khanna, Asstt. Prof. SHTM, Jammu University, Kamal Ganjoo, Photo & Exhibition Officer, Ms.Hemani Badayal, Conservation Architects efforts for Thesis on Rani Charak Mehal were appreciated

- http://www.scoopnews.in, June 10, 2015

A seaside town in Lithuania doted with colourful cottages, surrounded by spectacular sand dunes, and declared a world heritage site by Unesco has invited Indian investors to build a state-of-the-art hotel.

A picturesque village next to the Curonian Lagoon, Nida, has 500 traditional houses, most of which are over a century old. The historic town has now decided to convert old fishing harbour, which stands over one hectare of land, into the area's largest and most luxurious hotel. "It will have 87 rooms along with a spa and swimming pool," said Darius Jasaitis, the mayor of Nida on Monday , while announcing sops to attract Indian investors and developers for the project.

Indian investors will be provided 40% and tax discount and 40% discount on profit ax, he said. Jasaitis told TOI, "India is one of the world's fastest growing economies and we are keen to attract Indian companies who seek to develop world-class hotels." A Swiss realty company has already prepared a master plan but is looking for an investor who will construct the hotel and run it. The town which attracts over half a million tourists every year is also planning a Sea Therapy Centre next to the Baltic Sea. A rough estimate pegs the total investment at 30 million euros. Nida sits at the southern Lithuanian end of a remarkable geological formation known as the Curonian Spit. The spit starts at the sea gate of Klaipeda and runs 100 km south into the Russian region of Kaliningrad, separating the Baltic Sea from the Curonian Lagoon along its length.

According to Unesco, human habitation of the peninsula dates back to prehistoric times. Throughout this period it has been threatened by natural forces of wind and waves. Its survival has been made possible by ceaseless human efforts to combat erosion.

Nida, situated around 50 km south of Klaipeda, can accommodate up to 11,000 tourists at any time. Jasaitis stated that a 6,500 sq m property in the town would cost nearly 5 million euros, the highest property rate in Lithuania.

However, since Nida is a world heritage site it is governed by strict rules under the mandate of Unesco. "Land is state property and not for sale. It is available on a lease for 99 years which is renewable," clarified the mayor.

- The Times of India, June 11, 2015

Surat's Art Gallery at the Science Centre will host two world-class exhibits this June. Aficionados of art and history enthusiasts will be able to indulge in these maiden ventures visiting Gujarat for the first time.

While the ground floor of the art gallery will host, 'Magnificent Heritage of India as seen by the Daniells', — which comprises of amazing auatiqnts by Daniell Thomas and his nephew Daniell William — fine European artists from the renaissance era, who visited India from 1786 to 1793, documenting beautifully the architecture, landscapes, ghats, and people of India in romantic twilight hues . Their works have found their way to the catalogues of Christie's and Sotheby's.

"Reproductions from the Daniell's Oriental Scenery gallery in the permanent collection of Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkatay will be hosted from June 25 to 15 July 2015," said curator Vismay Raval.

Simultaneously, on the first floor, visitors will be able to view the exhibition, 'Africans in India', by the Schomburg Centre for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library USA.

Having earlier found display space in reputed places like Schomburg Centre for Black Studies, New York; UNESCO headquarters, Paris and in India at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi, this exhibition of 53 panels comprises of written documents, paintings of different eras, states and style, narrates the history of Africans and their integrated heritage with India, including Nawabs of Sachin (1791-1948), Sidi's in Gujarat, States with High-Ranking Africans of Khandesh , Gujarat , Kutch , Bhavnagar, Hyderabad .

This exhibition, curated by Dr. Sylviane A. Diouf and Dr. Kenneth X. Robbins, will be hosted in collaboration with Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi.y Diouf had earlier stated, "These are the only cases in history ywhere Africans went on to become from slaves to generals to rulers in a foreign country."

"I visited the Nawab of Sachin family on my trip to India last year and it is simply wonderful that this exhibit which covers royalty from local history will now be hosted in Surat. The Nawab of Sachin portraits have been our leading panels internationally," said Robbins.

- The Times of India, June 11, 2015

Much to the delight of bird-lovers, a flock of 12 flamingos was sighted in east Vidarbha on Wednesday morning. The migratory birds were sighted by wildlife researcher and avid bird-lover Ramzan Virani at Pandharkawada in Yavatmal district around 8am.

"I was delighted to see the birds near a water body as sighting such a big flock of flamingos is a dream of every birdwatcher. Flamingos mostly breed in Kaccha, Rajasthan, and foothills of Himalaya. This is their back migration period. Sometimes, the birds take a long halt while returning to their native place," he said. He added the birds usually feed on blue or green algae, planktons and some other organisms.

Stating that the birds are inhabitants of brackish water, bird expert Dr Anil Pimplapure said that the sighting is both good and bad sign. "As the birds are mostly found in brackish water, it raises a need for serious concern as there are chances that water bodies of the region are converting into brackish water. A sample of these water bodies must be taken to find out why these birds are visiting Vidarbha on and off," he added.

He further said that the birds have sighting records at Gorewada during pre-Independence period. "The birds are rare but have been previously sighted in different parts of Vidarbha including Akola, Amravati, and cities like Mumbai, Pune and Nashik. When they are not breeding, they are spread across different places in the country," he said.

Virani said that the sample of water body in Pandharkawada will be tested to find out if the dissolved salt level has increased. "Water analysis is a must to know if the Ph value of water is getting altered due to fertilizers or some other reason," he said.

- The Times of India, June 11, 2015

The students of Swathi Thirunal College of Music get candid about making their mark as musicians

Although located by a busy road, the Swathi Thirunal College of Music campus is rather silent. Determined to find a student or two I head for a nearby building.

A faint drone, which sounds as if it is coming from a shruthi box, hints at life inside. The steady hum leads me to a classroom with students from Master in Performing Arts (Music - Vocal) and final year students of Bachelor of Performing Arts in Vocal. I also manage to speak to the second year students of Bachelor of Performing Arts in Vocal and some students from the Violin Department.

The students say it’s their love for music that has led them to the institute. “Nearly anyone can be a doctor or an engineer, but you need to have an inborn talent to become a musician,” say Sreejith Srijan and Anulal C.K .as the rest of the duo’s classmates nod their heads in agreement. But, as in any profession, hard work is required if one wants to reach the top. “Practice makes perfect in this field as there are lots of talented singers out there. Talent alone won’t take you anywhere,” say Nayana P.S. and Athira Rajan.

But finding a platform to display their talent is often hard to come by. “One needs to grab whatever opportunity comes one’s way, be it performing at kutcheris, weddings or ganamelas, if one wants to be noticed in the music field,” says Mahesh M.. Although the annual college festival, Sadhana, which provides the students a platform to showcase their talent is a good thing, Jestin P. Reji wishes the five-day fete was not reduced to a mere three days.

Alvin D. Moses laments the fact that an open stage that is available on the college premise is rarely utilised. Say the students of the Violin Department: “It would be nice if the college organised concerts by the students at the open stage; it would help give us an exposure. Although we have a recording studio, most of us haven’t stepped inside. As a result, when it comes to the developments in music recording, most of us are at a loss and often register for other courses.”

What about a musician’s seemingly lack of economic clout, does that affect a person’s decision in pursuing a life in music? “Few make it big as Carnatic singers or playback singers. Those who are lucky may get jobs at All India Radio or in colleges. Many, especially the women, turn home-based music teachers. Although online music classes are a trend now, nothing beats learning from a teacher in person. The news about the government’s plans to hire music teachers in schools is good news to many,” says Karthika R.S.

According to Sajeev S., who is part of a local band called Bakery Junction, music reality shows has been a boon for upcoming musicians such as himself, as the exposure on one such show has helped him in getting various stage shows. But music played at such programmes often moves away from the traditional notes taught at the institute.

“One has to face the fact that the audience for classical music is small, although reality shows have helped create an audience and an appreciation for such music. Most in the audience prefer listening to light music and fusion music. If one wants to survive in the industry, one needs to play to the gallery,” he says.

Jijo Sachin T.S. points out on how musicians are slowly being replaced by technology, these days. “For instance, recently at a wedding, the music of the nagaswaram came from a CD.”

Vishnu L.S. and Nithin R. disagree though. “See that tree in the corner. It has been here since time immemorial. As long as there are lovers of music, Carnatic music and its musicians will stand the test of time.” (A monthly column on views from the campus)

- The Hindu, June 11, 2015

The St Peter's Church at Bheemili was built way back in 1864 and consecrated by Bishop Gell in March the same year. Administered by the Diocese of the Church of South India, the Protestant church boasts of a Bible and a bell that are as old as the church itself. However, the donation box, also nearly as old as the church, was mysteriously stolen in October 2005.

With a growing parish of more than 100 families, St Peter's Church is considered as one of the living monuments of the area. In fact, it is one of the few remaining structures in Bheemili that have been left untouched by modernity and is one of the last few historical remnants of the area to have retained its past glory.

The church was built in a manner that appealed to local aesthetics. The pews and coloured glass work depicting Jesus Christ dating back to the inception of the church add a touch of beauty to the otherwise simple structure. The roof, made of Mangalore tiles, is a simple tiled structure using long supporting beams with resistant cladding that is supported by metal joiners in between.

After Cyclone Hudhud destroyed the roof in October 2014, modern Mangalore tiles were placed. However, the church did not suffer much damage on account of the cyclone as its walls are 30-36 inches thick and the foundation is quite deep. Incidentally, Intach had taken up conservation work in 2005 to help restore the church to its past glory.

PV Prasad, convener of Intach-Vizag, said, "Restoration work was supposed to be conducted as per the guidelines of Intach and architect G Srinivasa Murthy took great pains in providing guidelines for it. The state government had even released funds to the tune of Rs 3 lakhs in 2005." However, sources in Intach disclosed that the guidelines were not completely followed.

"It is a living piece of history right in Bheemili. More importantly, people associated with the church are aware of its history and have taken great pains to keep it alive," said former Intach-Vizag member Rani Sarma.

Edward Paul, a conservationist and an expert in colonial heritage, said, "The church was built to be endeared, hence the lack of grandeur. It was built more like a simple village chapel to appeal to the people instead of catering to the grandiose needs of an upper-class parish."

A local resident and a member of the parish said, "St Peter's Church is a typical Protestant church. There is nothing grand about it. Its beauty lies in its simplicity and ability to connect with the masses. These are reflected in its architectural features which impress with warmth and homeliness rather than scale and size."

- The Times of India, June 12, 2015

A Buddha tourist circuit in Gujarat was among the high points of the meeting between Chinese president Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in September 2014 in Ahmedabad. But recent construction around the 4th century AD Buddhist cave in Khambalida, in Jetpur taluka of Rajkot, is an eyesore for heritage conservationists.

The facade of the ancient Buddhist cave has been hidden behind a fibreglass shield. Inside, the floor has been plastered with freshly-laid stone tiles. These are the interventions of the Gujarat archaeology department which doesn't seem to have understood the basics of conservation.

The reason given for constructing the grotesque canopy is constant seepage from cracks during monsoon, which was dissolving the facade of the limestone cave. However, conservationists say there were better ways of protecting the monument — which had braved the vagaries of nature for over 1,600 years — than covering it with artificial material. Ajanta caves had faced a similar problem and were reinforced with compatible material. Khambhalida has three caves.

The entrance of the central cave, 'chaitya', is flanked by two large sculptures of Avalokiteshvara Padmapani and Avalokiteshvara Vajrapani — both forms of Buddha. This is the only depiction of the Avalokiteshvara in a Gujarat cave. The cave features prominently in a book on Buddha circuit brought out by the government in 2010. Former director, Gujarat state archaeology department YS Rawat said, "There was no other way. This was a limestone cave which was fragile. The fiberglass on top prevents limestone from dissolving due to seepage. The complex is also sinking as a whole due to weakening and had to be supported by pillars."

- The Times of India, June 12, 2015

7.70 million international travellers visited India in last year, says India Tourism Regional Director

Soheb Samad, Regional Director, India Tourism (South), Government of India, said in Mysuru on Saturday that foreign tourist arrivals had gone up largely in the last year after the electronic visa system or e-visa was launched.

He was speaking at the inauguration of the 18th annual conference of the Tourist Guides’ Federation of India (TGFI) here. Mr. Samad said 7.70 million foreign tourists visited India in 2014, a growth of 10.6 percent from 5.9 percent that was registered in 2013. The regional director complimented tourist guides for playing the role of ambassadors to promote the country’s heritage and added that nine percent of employment comes from the tourism industry.

In his address, TGFI national president Narendra Singh Rathore said many professional tourist guides in the country were leaving the profession over uncertainty in the occupation.

“We bring revenue to the industry and work hard for six months, being a seasonal profession. But there is no protection to our profession with suitable welfare measures either from the Centre or the State government,” he rued.

Over 250 tourist guides from across the country and stakeholders from the tourism industry are attending the two-day convention. The delegates were mesmerised by the folk performances presented by local artistes prior to the start of the convention.

- The Hindu, June 13, 2015

I recently spent a week in Lahore. This was my first trip to the city and indeed also to Pakistan. As I crossed over the Wagah border from Amritsar into Lahore, I had no idea what to expect. A few weeks before the crossing, I had attended the flag-lowering ceremony at Wagah, which is usually how Indians usually interact, if at all, with this border. After having experie-nced this overly histrionic nationalist ceremony that included the requisite amount of drum-beating, flag-waving, and slogan-shouting on both sides of the border, I was admittedly a bit apprehensive about actually walking over to the other side.

To most Indians, even liberal ones, Pakistan remains shrouded in a spectre of state-sponsored terrorism, extra-judicial killings, military dictator-ship, and always, its role in Kashmir. In part this is because these are the only images of Pakistan we see in the media. A case in point is the media’s whipping up of jingoistic sentiments at the waving of Pakistani flags at recent rallies in Srinagar, shrilly calling for the arrest of the participants. And this despite the fact that Kashmiris have been waving Pakistani flags for one reason or another since the late 1940s. Perhaps we need Pakistan to represent everything that we do not want to be, or at least everything we claim not to be. It remains for us, thus, after almost 70 years of independence and partition, a necessary enemy.

Borders are designed to remind those crossing them of their nationality and hence otherness. I too was intensely aware that I was an Indian crossing over into Pakistan, if only because of the number of times I had to show my passport on both sides to have its details recorded in one dusty ledger or another. And yet, the gates that had been firmly shut not so long ago when I had witnessed the flag ceremony were now wide open as a few people walked across in groups or by themselves. As I hung back to observe and absorb the scene, it appeared shockingly sedate and matter-of-fact compared to the nationalist frenzy of the ceremony. One minute I was in India, and the next minute my feet were touching the soil of Pakistan. Even as the portrait of Jinnah greeted me, I turned around to see the portrait of Gandhi fading in the distance.

My first observation about Lahore was that it was clean, surprisingly free of stray animals, whether dogs, cows, or monkeys. Once in the old, walled city, I realised that Lahore was a Mughal city par excellence. While Delhi is a palimpsest of so many different kingdoms and empires, including the Mughals, over the centuries, old Lahore felt intensely Mughal. One only has to glance at the seventeenth-century Mughal histories to recognise that the Mughals, especially Shah Jahan, who born in Lahore, adored the city, and, not surprisingly, adorned it lovingly with the most beautiful architecture.

The Lahore Fort and Badshahi Masjid form the core of the Mughal presence in the city. The Fort, which pre-dates the Mughals, encompasses three generations of Mughal rule in Lahore—Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah Jahan. Although the first fortifications and building programmes in the fort were undertaken by Akbar, who lived intermi-ttently in the fort for about 12 years, the most visible buildings within the fort are from the period of Shah Jahan. These include remnants of palaces, the Char Bagh, garden pavilions, Diwan-i-Am, Diwan-i-Khas, and a stunning Sheesh Mahal. The splendour of these buildings, with their striking tilework that represent human and animal scenes and intricately inlaid marble panels, is still visible in places.

The Badshahi Masjid, opposite the Lahore Fort, and resplendent in red sandstone with marble domes, was built by Aurangzeb in the 1670s. It remains the fifth largest mosque in the world. Although it looks austere from a distance, at closer quarters one is struck by its highly ornate gateway, made entirely of finely carved and painted red sandstone. Once inside, the inlaid marble decorations and painted ceilings in a baroque style are unlike any other mosque from the Mughal period.

Two other Mughal-era buildings of Lahore are worth mentioning. The Wazir Khan mosque, built by Wazir Khan, Shah Jahan’s Governor in Lahore from 1632 to 1639, is the most beautiful mosque I have ever seen. In part this is because the striking exterior tilework in blue and yellow as well as the interior ceiling paintings retain much of their original colour and beauty (due to recent restoration) and remind one of what Mughal buildings must have looked like when first constructed.

Jahangir’s tomb is another building that retains much of its original splendour. Located in Shahdara, some distance from the Fort, the tomb was built under Shah Jahan’s direction. Entirely in marble, the structure’s entrance is carved with inlay work representing scenes of the earthly paradise, Kashmir, which Jahangir loved to visit. The stonework on the actual tomb is almost in pristine condition, and as the sunlight seeping through the latticework plays off the red, blue, and green gemstones, the effect is dazzling.

Of course Lahore is much more than the old Mughal city. The Sikhs carried out their own construction in the city, which was their capital, but not much of this architecture remains. The city also has a significant number of colonial buildings, not least of which are the Lahore Museum and Aitchison College, both dating from the late nineteenth century. Gulberg is the commercial heart of the city that also includes posh residential areas. Indeed some residents of this new Lahore may never visit the old city at all in their lifetimes.

Lahore was an intense experience, even for a seasoned traveller like myself. It was like and yet unlike Delhi. The thread of the Mughal past runs through both cities, and the old and new co-exist comfortably and sometimes uncomfortably in both, but Lahore displays a sense of pride in its architectural heritage, evident in its level of preservation and cleanliness, which is missing in many Indian cities, including Delhi. Lahore is not all of Pakistan, but surely we can learn something from it. As the Punjabi saying goes, “You haven’t been born until you’ve been to Lahore.”

Dr Chitralekha Zutshi is a Professor, Department of History, the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virgina (USA). A Senior Research Fellow (2014-15) at the American Institute of Indian Studies, she is the Associate Editor, South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies. She is also the author of the most recent publication, Kashmir’s Contested Pasts: Narratives, Social Geographies and the Historical Imagination.

- http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/, June 13, 2015

Set to be razed to the ground by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to make way for a modern structure only a few years ago, the ancient fish market in Begum Bazaar is now all set to get a new lease of life. And restoring it back to its past glory is city-based conservation architect Anuradha S Naik, who drew up an assessment report in 2011 on the market that was built by the erstwhile City Improvement Board (CIB) in the 1930s.

"This market is largely run by third generation vendors. After I submitted my analytical report, the GHMC stalled its plans of pulling it down," the Edinburgh University-educated architect said. Highlighting the "beautiful synchronization of spaces" that the "triangular shaped" market, with courtyards in the middle, showcases, she asserted: "Yes, it needs a lot of repairs, but it definitely can be restored." The project is being undertaken by the GHMC.

This apart, Naik has a bunch of other exciting projects in her kitty too, and implementing a heritage management plan in the town of Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh is one among them. As a representative of the Indian Heritage Cities Network (IHCN), which was recently appointed by the central government to implement its HRIDAY scheme in the heritage town, Naik, along with her team, will develop some of Amaravati's distinct heritage sites, create a city museum and enhance the infrastructure in the area to facilitate better tourist inflow. HRIDAY — the Heritage Development and Augmentation Yojana was launched by the Union ministry of urban development earlier this year with the objective to "preserve and rejuvenate the rich cultural heritage of the country". The 12 cities selected under this scheme are Varanasi, Amritsar, Warangal, Ajmer, Gaya, Mathura, Kanchipuram, Vellankanni, Badami, Dwaraka, Puri and Amaravati.

"We are collaborating with the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) for this project that has just taken off. It is a two-year programme for which we have been sanctioned a fund of Rs 22.3 crore," Naik said.

"We will also be working closely with the government of AP as it has already done some work in terms of identifying the heritage sites. It is definitely going to be a very interesting project as it is very close to the new capital of the state. We will have to adopt a multi-layered approach so as to ensure that the heritage development project seamlessly merges with the master plan of the area," she added.

Another ongoing project that Naik fondly talks about is the Domakonda Fort in Nizamabad. She was appointed consultant for the restoration of this approximately 300-year-old structure in 2011 by the Kamineni family ? to whom this ancient fort belongs.

"Along with using locally available material so as to reduce energy consumption, my focus has also been on creating jobs for locals. The restoration is being done in a very sustainable manner, courtesy the encouragement that came from my client," Naik shared, stressing the need for focus on 'environment conscious' ways of restoration. "In fact, restoration, if carried out properly, drastically reduces energy consumption. Therefore, focus on repairs is the way forward. It is no longer an option but a necessity," she reiterated.

GRAPHIC

Ongoing projects

* Begum Bazaar fish market: Built by erstwhile City Improvement Board (CIB) in the 1930s, the triangle-shaped market, with a courtyard in the middle, is run by third generation vendors

* Amaravati: As representative of the Indian Heritage Cities Network (IHCN), Naik will develop the Buddhist town's heritage sites, create a city museum and enhance infrastructure, all in keeping with the new AP capital's master plan

* Domakonda Fort, Nizamabad: Naik is a consultant for restoration of the nearly 300-year-old fort which belongs to the Kamineni family

QUOTE

We are collaborating with the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) for this project that has just taken off. It is a two-year programme for which we have been sanctioned a fund of Rs 22.3 crore Anuradha S Naik, conservation architect.

- The Times of India, June 14, 2015

The incessant rain clatter on the rooftops and windowpanes signaled the arrival of monsoon and relief from the water scarce days on Friday. Heavy showers rejuvenated some water sources that had dried up during the scorching summer season.

The famous network of aqueducts — Naher-e-Ambari and Naher-e-Panchakki — were activated after the overnight rain. The ancient network of aqueducts, once the lifeline of the city's water supply, had gone dry for the past month.

Water started overflowing from the huge tank adjacent to the Panchakki on Saturday after its catchment area received heavy rain. Similarly, some aqueducts of Naher-e-Ambari have also got heavy flow of water from the Kham river. The city received 13mm rain till Saturday morning, bringing down the maximum and minimum temperatures. The maximum temperature dropped by two degrees and the minimum temperature went down by a degree. The met department has forecast moderate rain till June 19.

Water was flowing through the source located at the foothills in Satara area. The area hasn't received water connection through the civic body and more than 500 residents in the locality depend on this water body through the year. The water source had almost gone dry in mid-May and residents were shelling out money for tankers.

On Saturday, residents thronged the to draw water from the source. "It is the only source of water for us but it was running dry for the past 20-25 days. We were buying water from private suppliers during peak summer. Now, we do not have to worry about water scarcity," said Sanjay Jadhav, one of the residents.

Quite a few water sources in the low lying areas of Satara, Devlai, Mitmita, Harsul and Naregaon were revived after the heavy showers over the past two-three days. The rain has brought much relief to the residents of the parched region.

Many private well and tubewell owners in the city reported significant improvement in water level. "We have made arrangements for rainwater harvesting, which has helped increase water level in our well in last 24 hours. We need consistent rain to see increase in the groundwater level," said Navneet Kasare, resident of Garkheda.

The residents receiving water from the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) continue to grapple with poor supply. On Saturday, residents of Padampura and Sillekhana parts of old city and Garkheda were seen waiting for hours for tap water.

In the meantime, the officials of the Aurangabad City Water Utility Company Limited (ACWUCL) on Saturday said the tough phase of water scarcity is over. "People will now see the supply system improving every day. Now, the demand for water will go down and supply will improve," he said.

- The Times of India, June 14, 2015

The incessant rain clatter on the rooftops and windowpanes signaled the arrival of monsoon and relief from the water scarce days on Friday. Heavy showers rejuvenated some water sources that had dried up during the scorching summer season.

The famous network of aqueducts — Naher-e-Ambari and Naher-e-Panchakki — were activated after the overnight rain. The ancient network of aqueducts, once the lifeline of the city's water supply, had gone dry for the past month.

Water started overflowing from the huge tank adjacent to the Panchakki on Saturday after its catchment area received heavy rain. Similarly, some aqueducts of Naher-e-Ambari have also got heavy flow of water from the Kham river. The city received 13mm rain till Saturday morning, bringing down the maximum and minimum temperatures. The maximum temperature dropped by two degrees and the minimum temperature went down by a degree. The met department has forecast moderate rain till June 19.

Water was flowing through the source located at the foothills in Satara area. The area hasn't received water connection through the civic body and more than 500 residents in the locality depend on this water body through the year. The water source had almost gone dry in mid-May and residents were shelling out money for tankers.

On Saturday, residents thronged the to draw water from the source. "It is the only source of water for us but it was running dry for the past 20-25 days. We were buying water from private suppliers during peak summer. Now, we do not have to worry about water scarcity," said Sanjay Jadhav, one of the residents.

Quite a few water sources in the low lying areas of Satara, Devlai, Mitmita, Harsul and Naregaon were revived after the heavy showers over the past two-three days. The rain has brought much relief to the residents of the parched region.

Many private well and tubewell owners in the city reported significant improvement in water level. "We have made arrangements for rainwater harvesting, which has helped increase water level in our well in last 24 hours. We need consistent rain to see increase in the groundwater level," said Navneet Kasare, resident of Garkheda.

The residents receiving water from the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) continue to grapple with poor supply. On Saturday, residents of Padampura and Sillekhana parts of old city and Garkheda were seen waiting for hours for tap water.

In the meantime, the officials of the Aurangabad City Water Utility Company Limited (ACWUCL) on Saturday said the tough phase of water scarcity is over. "People will now see the supply system improving every day. Now, the demand for water will go down and supply will improve," he said.

- The Times of India, June 14, 2015

The Samajwadi Party-led state government of Uttar Pradesh may have launched chief minister's 'Jal Bachao Abhiyan', on ground zero influential local party leaders are destroying water bodies like ponds and reservoirs by filling them up with mud and sand to sell them as residential and commercial plots. What is worse is that revenue authorities and staff members are allegedly hand-in-glove with these political strongmen by manipulating official revenue records.

On Saturday, a case was brought to light by a local RTI activist. A former block pramukh of Barkhera, Neeraj Gangwar, who is also a local SP leader, was found filling up a water body stretching obver a huge area and situated at a prime location in Pilibhit city. As the matter attracted attention of mediapersons on Sunday, the revenue authorities were compelled to inspect the site.

Kalim Athar, a RTI activist, found the SP leader filling up the water body situated on Pilibhit-Tanakpur state highway, near the district government hospital. Additional district magistrate AK Saini had to send a revenue team of Pilibhit tehsil to inspect the site when mediapersons asked him about what action he had taken over this alleged unlawful activity.

He alleged that the revenue officials were the key persons to manage the illegal possessions over water bodies by unlawfully entering the names of private persons as owners, showing their status as 'abadi' and then turning a blind eye to unauthorized filling work carried out by the mafia.

The activist said he would move the high court to protect the water bodies.

When TOI inspected the revenue record of this water body, a numbers of persons were found to be enlisted as legitimate owners of different parts of this water body. Former DGC (revenue) (district government counsel) and a revenue lawyer, Gurusaran Verma, told TOI that as per the revenue law of Uttar Pradesh, the water bodies, ponds or reservoirs always had the status of state property. The ownership of these water bodies were not possible to be entered in the names of private persons.

A segment of the same water channel bearing the revenue number 1295/4 had although been shown as a pond in revenue records but it had been entered in the names of Ganga Saran and some other co-account holders. These persons had been enlisted in official record as lease holders while as per the legal view of the former DGC, the names of leaseholders of water body could never be entered in revenue records.

Moreover, a major part of this huge water body had been entered as Abadi (populated human habitation). Gurusaran Verma said the conversion of revenue status of a water body in to Abadi was absolutely unlawful.

When asked about these strange entries in revenue records, tehsildar of Pilibhit tehsil IK Dwivedi accepted that there were faulty entries. He said he himself would inspect the site and would thoroughly examine the revenue records concerned.

Kalim Athar said he would file an PIL (public interest litigation) in Allahabad high court as the revenue officials could not be expected to probe the matter honestly. He said there was no other way out to protect the water bodies except taking up this matter with the high court.

- The Times of India, June 14, 2015

‘Procedural delay’ has affected the speedy renovation of Subramania Bharati’s memorial

More than five years have passed since the Mahakavi Bharatiyar Museum-cum-Research Centre was closed to the public for renovation.

Ever since the closure of the house, several admirers of the great poet and tourists, keen on visiting the historic site, have gone back with great disappointment.

N. Sengamala Thayar, research assistant and in-charge of the centre, said, “The memorial was closed in October 2009. Books and precious memorabilia housed there were shifted to another place. Since then, we have been operating from Makkal Thalaivar V.Subbiah Research Library.”

During his political asylum in Puducherry from 1908 to 1918, Bharati and his family were living in the house located on Eswaran Kovil Street. It was here that he conceived some of his masterpiece literary works.

Bharati was forced to live in exile in Puducherry after the British issued an arrest warrant against him for his involvement in the nationalist movement. Bharati scholars believed that the poet and his family resided at the house for about a decade. It took a long while — in fact not until 1973 — for the Puducherry government to acquire the house and convert it into a memorial and research centre for posterity.

However, the building languished in neglect as the renovation got delayed. Eventually, the house reached a dilapidated state owing to poor maintenance. After repeated demands to the government and writing letters on leaks during the monsoon, the authorities decided to close the centre and renovate the building in 2009.

Many prominent admirers submitted memorandums to Chief Minister N. Rangasamy condemning the Public Works Department’s proposal to demolish the heritage building. They insisted that the building should be restored after annexing the adjacent north side building which had been acquired by then.

The then Chief Secretary also inspected the two buildings and decided that both structures be restored and not demolished. A sum of Rs. 99 lakh was earmarked and entrusted with the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH). The renovation work began last March.

S.Hemachandran, scholar and vice-president of Bharathiyar Anbargal Arakatalai (Bharathiyar Admirers’ Trust), said, “If they are given required clearance and funds in time, they will complete the work at the earliest. If only the administration has an iota of respect for the ‘Mahakavi’ who lived here for a decade and was responsible for the arrival of Sri Aurobindo and who is responsible for a whole generation of radical poets from Bharatidasan to many others, the building would not be weeping silently in the company many other historic structures that remain unattended to.”

A spokesman from INTACH admitted that there was procedural delay. He said, “We have been pushing the project for more than five years but the memorial was closed in 2009. We were entrusted with the renovation work only last year. Of course, there is procedural delay in releasing money to execute the project. The PWD has rigorous procedures. We have to respect them. Anyhow, the work is in final stage and will be completed in two or three months.”

- The Times of India, June 14, 2015

The first phase of Muziris heritage tourism circuit will be launched within few months, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducting the inauguration.

The renovation of seven museums, including Paliyam Dutch Palace, Paliyam Nalukettu, Kottayil Kovilakom Jewish Synagogue, Paravur Jewish Synagogue, Kesari Balakrishna Pillai Memorial Museum, Cherai Sahodaran Ayyappan Memorial Museum and Kunjikuttan Thamburan Convention Centre, has been completed.

Apart from these museums, other sites like Kottapuram Fort and Gothuruthu Chavittu Nadaka Kalakendram, are ready to receive visitors. The construction of eight boat jetties is over and the air-conditioned boats are awaiting the inaugural ceremonies. “The second phase of the project has already started. Renovation of Pallipuram Fort, construction of the excavation site museum that exhibits the excavation remains from Pattanam, Kesavadev Memorial Museum, Christian History Museum in Kottakavu Church, renovation of Paravur market and beautification of Kottapuram market are the projects that are to be completed within a year.

Several historians are working on the content of the literature to be produced regarding the monuments. Fifty acres of land has been acquired for the construction of Asia’s biggest maritime museum in Chitatukara panchayat with US, French, Dutch and Danish association. We have developed a new project titled Global Spice Route, for which we convened a meeting in Delhi of ambassadors of 31 countries,” said V D Satheesan MLA, a director board member of Muziris Company, which is implementing the project.

The spice route traces the trade connection of Muziris with 31 countries covering the Arabs, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch, British etc.

The Muziris project mainly focuses on water transport. Visitors have the opportunity for sightseeing by boating through the beautiful backwaters of the region. Tourists can also depend on road transport, of which cycling is another attraction. The visitors’ centres that will be launched soon will provide passes to the visitors. Students and local people will be offered special rates. Route map system will be implemented, so that visitors can undertake the tour alone, without the help of a guide. Tourists can select either a place or places as a whole, which gives great freedom to people who visit the centres. Muziris project gives a glimpse of the cultural and historical background of the Paravur, Cherai and Kodungallur regions. It will also help in local employment generation. Development of 50 home stays is another project which will help the local people. An opportunity to depict Chavittunadakam in Gothuruthu, which will help the poor artistes, and in turn help in the preservation of this art form, is also offered. Food courts will be set up in various regions to promote traditional food and thereby help the women folk of the areas.

Performance of traditional temple arts in Chendamangalam will impart knowledge on Kerala art forms. The traditional handloom and other craft will be exhibited for sale, for which, several shops are being renovated. Visitors will be provided an opportunity to understand the traditional industries and they can buy the traditional products. Many private resorts have expressed keen interest, understanding the commercial value of the region. Many projects for infrastructure development are also being undertaking in connection with the Muziris project.

The people of the region are very enthusiastic about the project. “This region was a neglected area; even we were not aware of the historical value of our place. This project is actually an eye-opener for us and makes our land known around the world. This will increase tourist inflow, that will, in turn, help us in number of ways. Even now, many foreigners, especially Jews, are visiting the place. This project will earn revenue for the government also,” said Jacob George, a local resident. In Gothuruthu, local people have already started campaigns like ‘Clean Muziris, Green Muziris’. People are actively involved in planting trees, which will make the region more beautiful and attractive.

What is Muziris?

“The Muziris project was started mainly as a conservation project. Our heritage is getting lost and our old buildings are being pulled down. But Kerala’s cultural heritage is important to be conserved for the future generations,’’ said Benny Kuriakose, Chief Consultant, Muziris Heritage Project.

According to historians, in first century BC, Muziris was a major port which had trade relations with more than 31 countries. This port was considered as a business, cultural, religious centre.

The presence of various religious and cultural monuments in Muziris region contributes to this thought. Many communities, including Jews, Christians, Muslims and Konkanis, have lived here in harmony. It was the place where the Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Portuguese, Dutch, Jews and British arrived. It was one of the most important ports of trade even more than 3,000 years ago. Three religions came to India through this port namely, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

The famous Paravur market is an example of the brisk trade that was carried out in the region.

The archaeological excavations done in Pattanam region is the basis of the Muziris project, which helps us to trace the glorious past of the region.

But, in later period, Muziris port was lost following an earthquake, flood or both, say historians.

Thus ended the grandeur of the port. However, this lost fame is being revived through the Muziris Heritage Project, which is a tour back to the historic city of Muziris.

It was a place where various religiously and ethnically diverse people lived in harmony, a port where business and trade was the basis of life, an area where Paliathachans were the rulers and a land where the backwaters and water transport played a major role.

Museums, other Attractions Completed during Phase I

Paravur Jewish Synagogue: The synagogue is located in Jew Street of Paravur region. It was built by the Jewish community as their place of worship and is situated close to Paravur market.

¦ Paliyam Dutch Palace: The Paliyam Palace was built by the Dutch and presented to Paliyathachans, who were the prime ministers of the maharajas of Kochi. Its construction is a mixture of both Kerala and Dutch architectural styles.

¦ Paliyam Nalukettu: It is a lifestyle museum which was earlier used by women and minor boys of Paliyam. It is a typical Kerala architectural work with a courtyard in the centre surrounded by four blocks of buildings.

¦ Kottayil Kovilakom Jewish Synagogue: It is one of the two synagogues that come under the Muziris tourism project constructed in the 17th century. The synagogue has many attractions, including a 400-metre-long cemetery.

¦ Sahodaran Ayyappan Memorial Museum: Sahodaran Ayyappan was a social reformer and follower of Sree Narayana Guru who lived in Cherai. His house and belongings are preserved in the museum, which helps visitors to understand the life and principles of the legend.

¦ Kunjikuttan Thamburan Convention Centre: An international research and convention centre in Kodungallur Kunjikuttan Thamburan Memoial Government College. Kodungallur Kunjikuttan Thamburan was a Malayalam writer and Sanskrit scholar popularly known as Keralavyasa.

¦ Kesari Balakrishna Pillai Memorial Museum: A museum in Paravur region which was the house of Kesari Balakrishna Pillai, a famous Malayalam writer, thinker and journalist.

Kottapuram Fort: Built by the Portuguese in 1523, which is known as Cranganore fort. The fort is in a dilapidated condition and is now preserved by Archaeological Department.

¦ Gothuruthu Chavittu Nadakam: Gothuruthu is famous for the art form ‘Chavittunadakam’ which was introduced by the Portuguese and portrays the Christian stories and history. The visitors to Muziris will get a chance to witness this rare and beautiful art form.

The first phase of Muziris project has almost been completed and we are waiting for the Prime Minister’s date for inauguration. Muziris is a world-class tourism circuit, which will attract the foreigners as well as Indians. On the completion of the project, it will have a seven days’ trip that includes visiting varied monuments, museums, traditional industries and watching cultural programmes.

The primary aim of the project is to preserve our culture and tradition and revive our lost glory. It also has other aims like local employment generation. We are planning this as a pathway to help various poor artistes and people working in traditional industries. Proposals like development of 50 home stays project will help the locals. We are very cautious about the ecology also; the masterpiece project like Maritime Museum is eco-friendly as well

V D Satheesan MLA.

In a nutshell, the Muziris Heritage Project will talk about the 3,000 years of history of Kerala. The primary aim of the project is the conservation of heritage - both built and natural heritage, both tangible and intangible heritage. The future generation in Kerala can learn about our history and our links with the heritage of so many countries through the different monuments and the other cultural heritage of the Muziris area.

It is possible to achieve development through heritage. Tourism is only a byproduct. We did not follow any models from any part of the world when the idea of the Muziris Heritage Project was developed. It was developed as an alternate approach to sustainable heritage management and sustainable tourism

Benny Kuriakose, Chief Consultant, Muziris Heritage Project.

- The Indian Express, June 15, 2015

Smuggling of Rohini flowers in Satkosia Tiger Reserve came to the light after Pramod Sahu, 45, of Daspalla was caught transporting these in a mini-truck on Saturday.

Divisional forest officer (DFO), Mahanadi Wildlife Division, Anshu Pragyan Das said it was for the first time that a flower smuggler was arrested. "The flowers are in great demand in West Bengal. Sahu had got an order to supply these to a Kolkata-based flower trader," she said.

The flower is used for making dye and gum and the bark for medicinal purposes, she said.

"It is illegal to pluck flowers from core area of the reserve as it can have an adverse impact on its biodiversity. Trading these is another offence," the DFO said.

She said efforts are on to ascertain involvement of more traders and since how long these flowers are being smuggled from the reserve.

Field director of the reserve Anup Nayak said the flowers are mostly available at places with alkaline soil. "The petals are used for decoration during festivals and social functions," he said.

A week ago, the authorities discovered use of 'chocolate bomb' in Mahanadi Wildlife Division to kill animals after the arrest of two poachers. They had kept food, which exploded in the mouth of a wild boar.

- The Times of India, June 15, 2015

Nepal on Monday reopened most of the cultural heritage sites that were damaged in a pair of devastating earthquakes, hoping to lure back foreign tourists.

The April 25 and May 12 quakes killed more than 8,700 people and damaged hundreds of thousands of buildings in Nepal, including old temples, palaces and other historical structures that are popular with tourists.

Six of the seven UNESCO World Heritage sites closed after the quakes were reopened Monday, Tourism Minister Kripasur Sherpa said.

"We are urging people to come to Nepal for holiday to help Nepal rebuild," Sherpa said in Bhaktapur, a city filled with ancient temples that is among the reopened heritage sites.

The sites were closed due to the damage from the quakes, but also over concerns about the safety of tourists. Before the quakes, about 1,000 foreigners a day visited Bhaktapur, located just east of Kathmandu, but none were seen there on Monday. Tourists fled Nepal after the first quake, but it also is currently rainy season, a time when relatively few foreign visitors are usually around.

Bhesh Narayan Dahal, chief of Nepal's Department of Archaeology, said that measures have been taken to ensure that tourists are safe, and that there are plans to provide safety helmets for visitors in some places.

Some 741 heritage structures were damaged in the quakes, and it will take at least $18 million to rebuild and restore them, Dahal said.

Nepal is hosting an international donors' meeting next week in Kathmandu, the capital, to seek money to help rebuild the Himalayan country following the quakes.

About 800,000 foreign tourists visit Nepal every year and the government is worried that a fear of earthquakes will stop many from visiting.

UNESCO, the United Nations' cultural heritage organization, had raised concerns last week about the reopening of the heritage sites, urging tourists to be extra cautious and reconsider visiting them.

The agency also asked the government to restrict tourists' access to locations where structures had collapsed and that were still considered unsafe.

- The Indian express, June 15, 2015

etired diplomat Abasar Beuria, in his coffee table book Bhitarkanika; the mesmerizing mangrove', has vividly described the scenic beauty of the treasure trove of flora and fauna. Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan released the book here on Saturday.

The 112-page book is rich with pictures, along with brief descriptions, of the eco-hotspot. Nature painter and photographer Basudeb Pal Majumdar has captured the mesmerizing on camera. Beuria, who earlier wrote a book on Chilika in 2012 said, "Chilka and Bhitarkanika are the two unique biodiversity sites, which have potential of being declared world heritage sites. The books, which have been written on Bhitarkanika so far, are more of research-oriented. I decided to preset the pictorial beauty."

Dharmendra talked about promotion of biodiversity hotspots in the state along with their preservation.

- The Times of India, June 15, 2015

Exhibition on Buddhist architecture on at India International Centre till Friday

South-East Asia is a popular destination for tourists from India for its picturesque beaches, scenic beauty, culture and easy access. But, very few visit or even explore the Buddhist heritage.

To highlight the architecture in the region, an exhibition on the architecture that has been shaped by the philosophy and practice of Buddhism in Southeast Asia is on display at the India International Centre.

The exhibition highlights the work done by Vikram Lall who is an architect and author of the recently-released book, Architecture of the Buddhist World: The Golden Lands .

The show presents the cultural heritage of the region and is a display of architectural models and drawings with three dimensional renditions, supported by original photography.

It traces the evolution of architectural form and spaces in response to changing ideas, material realities, and building traditions of Southeast Asia. Art, architecture, archaeology, history, religion and philosophy are united to understand how Buddhist thought and ritual interacted with local traditions to produce distinctive architectural forms.

It is a journey through Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand over many centuries and traces how styles have changed and places have been adapted to provide a mystical feel to the already pleasing landscape. Some of the divisions include buildings as ornaments, underground monasteries in caves, and buildings as political and religious symbolism.

It highlights styles of Stupas, Viharas and Chaityas from across the region and across centuries. Lall in his recently published book searches for answers to questions such as:

How did Buddhist thinking and ritual determine distinctive architectural designs?

What are their origins and transformations? What were the architectural design strategies adopted to satisfy functional, technical, aesthetic and symbolic requirements?

What distinguishes the different building typologies found in Buddhist cultures — a monastery from a stupa or a pagoda? And many such questions.

The answers to these lie in the displays spread across the IIC that tell a story, that at first seems rather technical and meant for those familiar with architecture, but is a narrative about the culture of the region and how religion has shaped the look of the landscape.

The exhibition is on view in the Foyer and Quadrangle Garden at the IIC till June 19.

- The Hindu, June 16, 2015

The 'padithurai mandapas' on the south bank of Cauvery River near Oyamari, believed to be at least 250 years old, is in a dilapidated state as the public and authorities fail to treat it with the respect deserving of a heritage structure. The two rectangular structures, which flank the path that leads into the river, used to have domes on top. But just one dome remains, and the other has been damaged.

"The structure is in the core of the city, but is ignored by the administration. Neither the PWD (public works department) nor the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR & CE) protect the site. The spot does not even have a signboard declaring this as an archaeologically significant site. This proves that neither the state archaeology department nor the archaeological survey of India (ASI) recognise the structure," said a resident of Oyamari.

The structure is now used by boozers and locals who go there to wash clothes. The water in the area is polluted due to the dirt and the soap from the clothes. Sewage water is let into the river from nearby areas.

The elevated structures, which are estimated to date back to the 18th century, reflect the Indo-Saracenic architecture and have close associations with Hinduism and the Vijayanagara Empire. Brahmins used to go to the area to take bath. Since it was mandatory to do an act of charity after bathing in the padithurai, people used to feed birds and give food to the needy.

R Kalaikovan, director, Dr Rajamanickam Centre for Historical Research, said the "brick structures built as 'paditurai mandapas' could have been built during the late Nayak period. They were meant to be ornamental structures that provided importance to that particular bathing ghat. Such erections can still seen in good shape at the Cauvery in Thanjavur, built during the Maratha period. These mandapas could have been used to conduct 'thirtavari' festivals of the local temples".

"However, detailed studies of the structure could reveal further details on its historical significance and heritage of the region," he added.

A local expressed disappointment that the authorities did not seem too keen to protect these structures. There was a need to protect such edifices which are part of our heritage but were on the verge of extinction, he said, adding that around 12 such structures on the banks of Cauvery in Thanjavur had disappeared over time due to encroachment.

- The Times of India, June 16, 2015

The Indian Bird Conservation Network (IBCN) has decided to create bird atlas for Kerala, which will be the first bird atlas for an Indian state.

The bird atlas will provide precise distribution pattern of birds of a region, and when put together over a period of time, provides accurate trends for bird presence. Kerala has the distinction of having six bird monitoring schemes, which includes recording common birds, heronries, water birds, pelagic (sea) birds, and forest birds.

“The impressive range of bird monitoring schemes being undertaken by the dedicated Kerala birders makes Kerala one of the leading states for birdwatching in India. It is exciting to see the enthusiasm and dedication of Kerala birders at the IBCN workshop,” said Bruce Liggitt from RSPB.

“Kerala currently has 24 Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) but eleven more have been identified. These biodiversity jewels in Kerala’s crown are of high value not just for birds, but for fish and butterflies and should be protected. We spotted Southern Birdwing, considered the largest butterfly in India, endemic to South India many times in Vazhachal forests .This priceless site is threatened by power-generation projects. Also, the wetlands of the state distinguish Kerala from many other states. These amazing places deserve protection.”, said Neha Sinha from BNHS-India.

- The Indian Express, June 16, 2015

Career opportunities in the environment science offer research-based work, thrill, adventure and fat pay packages. Over a dozen disciplines related to environment science are being offered by state institutes.

At a time when environment issues are hogging the limelight across the globe and countries are pushing for strict laws to save the mother earth has created a space for environmental experts in various fields that can help the industries grow and keep the environment safe.

Highlighting the growing importance of this course, Deepak Saxena, director of Students Advisory Bureau, said, "Now, environmentalists can also have a full-time job in the corporate sector which is turning out to be a very successful career path. From core industries to NGO and from building a start-up in this area to become a writer, this field has multiple dimensions. The salary packages are also decent and depending upon the institute and work experience."

The conventional sector lies in the core environment sector. Several national and international agencies look for the environmentalist to work on their projects and to monitor of state policies and accessing the degradation of environment. Almost in every state they have been funding projects related to environment — climate change, air pollution, water pollution and population studies in the third world countries.

Rajasthan's rising industrial base in some regions has also created jobs opportunities for environmentalists. The regions like Jaipur-Alwar, NCR, Bhilwara-Chittorgarh-Pratapgarh area has huge potential for environmentalist. The cement plants in Chittiorgarh in Pratapgarh have already employed a force of such professionals who are helping in shaping policies to working on areas like checking the pollution levels, ensuring the green cover of areas around them.

Pratap Singh, HR head of a private company, says, "Our team of environmentalists takes care of companies' legal returns, affluent monitoring, and plantation drives, activities related to soil and water conservation."

Singh added that while those companies which are not harming the environment are also initiating projects under the Corporate Social Responsibility.

The overall scenario has created a positive face of this subject pulling students from all quarters. A trained expert in this field has always helped in coming up with critical view of government policies. Rajasthan University offers MSC in Environmental Science which is designed to unable student work in all sectors offering opportunities.

"This department also offers a yearlong diploma course on Population Studies which enables students to get into the in-depth knowledge about the every aspect of demography from population projections to study the impact of population in the various areas," said S Chauhan, a professor at department of Environmental Science.

A separate course on Population Studies has scope to work in various bodies including the United Nations.

- The Times of India, June 16, 2015

Career opportunities in the environment science offer research-based work, thrill, adventure and fat pay packages. Over a dozen disciplines related to environment science are being offered by state institutes.

At a time when environment issues are hogging the limelight across the globe and countries are pushing for strict laws to save the mother earth has created a space for environmental experts in various fields that can help the industries grow and keep the environment safe.

Highlighting the growing importance of this course, Deepak Saxena, director of Students Advisory Bureau, said, "Now, environmentalists can also have a full-time job in the corporate sector which is turning out to be a very successful career path. From core industries to NGO and from building a start-up in this area to become a writer, this field has multiple dimensions. The salary packages are also decent and depending upon the institute and work experience."

The conventional sector lies in the core environment sector. Several national and international agencies look for the environmentalist to work on their projects and to monitor of state policies and accessing the degradation of environment. Almost in every state they have been funding projects related to environment — climate change, air pollution, water pollution and population studies in the third world countries.

Rajasthan's rising industrial base in some regions has also created jobs opportunities for environmentalists. The regions like Jaipur-Alwar, NCR, Bhilwara-Chittorgarh-Pratapgarh area has huge potential for environmentalist. The cement plants in Chittiorgarh in Pratapgarh have already employed a force of such professionals who are helping in shaping policies to working on areas like checking the pollution levels, ensuring the green cover of areas around them.

Pratap Singh, HR head of a private company, says, "Our team of environmentalists takes care of companies' legal returns, affluent monitoring, and plantation drives, activities related to soil and water conservation."

Singh added that while those companies which are not harming the environment are also initiating projects under the Corporate Social Responsibility.

The overall scenario has created a positive face of this subject pulling students from all quarters. A trained expert in this field has always helped in coming up with critical view of government policies. Rajasthan University offers MSC in Environmental Science which is designed to unable student work in all sectors offering opportunities.

"This department also offers a yearlong diploma course on Population Studies which enables students to get into the in-depth knowledge about the every aspect of demography from population projections to study the impact of population in the various areas," said S Chauhan, a professor at department of Environmental Science.

A separate course on Population Studies has scope to work in various bodies including the United Nations.

- The Times of India, June 16, 2015

Here's one makeover, where an old structure is being dismantled to give way to a new one, that is not being hotly opposed by heritage conservationists. North coastal AP's largest and residuary AP's second largest shrine, Simhachalam Temple -- is getting a new granite kitchen, albeit in the traditional style, at a cost of Rs 6.5 crore.

The kitchen makeover will enable the temple to churn out 50,000 prasadam packets for devotees and three tonnes of 'nivedana' (food for the deity) daily and even more on special occasions.

On any given day, the renowned temple sees around 5,000 devotees trooping in for a darshan and the number goes up to nearly 2 lakh during special festivals and occasions. Around 60-70 people are employed in the temple kitchen and the number goes up to more than 100 during special occasions.

The existing temple kitchen has two parts - the nivedana part and the part where prasadam preparation takes place. Within a month, the first part will be dismantled and the new structure will come up in its place.

According to temple officials, the kitchen will be equipped to prepare around three tonnes of nivedana per day while nearly 50,000 laddoo and 20,000 pulihora packets are sold.

Simhachalam Temple Executive Officer (EO) Ramachandra Mohan said, "The old kitchens were made of sandstone and cement. But the new one will be made of manually dressed granite stone that will give it a more traditional look while making it more durable. Work will commence within a month and the new kitchen will be ready in six months."

Talking about the lack of resistance to the makeover from heritage conservationists, the Simhachalam temple EO said that the nivedana' part of the kitchen, though quite old, is not a heritage structure.

"The kitchen is 70-80 years old while the prasadam preparation part is less than 50 years old, which is why dismantling it won't interfere with heritage conservation.

"In fact, the design of the new kitchen will gel with the temple architecture and the temple itself, which is built from grayish-white manually dressed granite stone, has been standing tall since many centuries."

In another development, to permanently solve the problem of encroachment, Simhachalam Temple premises will soon be getting a new compound wall running nearly 30 kilometres around the Simhagiri Hill. "The concrete wall will protect the nearly 5000-acre temple land and the property within from encroachment," Ramachandra Mohan added.

- The Times of India, June 16, 2015

After long negotiations and approvals, Chandigarh signed a twin city agreement with Plaine Commune of France. On Tuesday, an MoU was signed between Chandigarh and Plaine Commune for mutual cooperation. The agreement was signed by UT's adviser to administrator Vijay Dev, and Patrick Braouezec, president of Plaine Commune. The agreement was signed at the office of Plaine Commune at Saint-Denis near Paris.

Plaine Commune is an association of nine municipalities north of Paris. It has an area of 4,200 square kilometers, and a population of approximately five lakhs. The commune has a huge secretariat, which provides for common infrastructure services like water supply, sewage, urban transportation, regional planning, waste management, tourism, heritage, and culture promotion. Both sides agreed to have technical support and capacity building in the areas mentioned above in Chandigarh, as well as its villages. In the process of Chandigarh becoming a smart city, it will benefit by getting technical support, mainly in areas of transportation, peripheral development, heritage preservation, and cultural promotion.

UT adviser invited the representatives of Plaine Commune to visit Chandigarh. They have agreed to come to the city in September, along with a delegation of experts in several areas. Braouezec has been a former mayor of Saint-Denis. He was appointed as president of Plaine Commune by the elected mayors of nine cities, which are constituents of Plaine Commune.

In general, the Joint Action Plan 2015-2016 agrees to support policy and planning initiatives; encourage the study of culture, heritage, and best practices of urban development between the partners; create a platform for information sharing and exchange of material; and raise awareness about consultation in related areas. In particular, the committee agreed to support improvement in the City Museum, and Le Corbusier Centre; prepare conservation plan for exhibits, including drawings, sketches, and photographs; plan the protection of villages falling in the urban area; revise and integrate heritage aspects and designs in some sectors; and prepare heritage management and conservation plans for villages, Sector 17, Capitol Complex, and nearby precincts.

- The Times of India, June 17, 2015

The city has lost 44% of its waterbodies in the last two decades, a survey has revealed. The vanishing ponds might be the reason why most think there must be only a handful left. The same survey, however, has thrown up an interesting fact — there are close to 5000 waterbodies in the Kolkata metropolitan area.

Environmentalist Mohit Ray will release his book 'Five Thousand Mirrors: The Water Bodies of Kolkata' at Bibeknagar Jheel on Jheel road on Wednesday. In the book, published by Jadavpur University Press, there is an empirical study focusing on the small waterbodies of Kolkata, a social survey, a history of less-known but important water bodies, water quality analysis, narratives of green activists' movement and a scrutiny of environmental politics.

"The actual number of ponds in the KMC area is still unclear. The list of ponds showed that in 1997, there were 1736 ponds. Almost a decade later, the number was 3874. So it would seem the number has doubled, which is impossible. On the other hand, a detailed map book of the city containing 284 plates by the National Atlas & Thematic Mapping Organisation showed it to be 8731 some 15-20 years ago. Google's satellite imagery of Kolkata said it was 4889 in 2006. Considering the figure may vary up to 10%, the number of ponds would be between 4400 to 5400. This means about 44% of the waterbodies have been filled up in the last two decades," Ray said.

"Kolkata's planning documents exclude ponds. But 10 lakh people use them daily. The authorities have never considered using this vast resource. Now occasionally we hear a few ponds are being beautified but that is not the solution," he added.

- The Times of India, June 17, 2015

The EU and India need to act on clean energy programmes. Time is running out. Climate change presents a global challenge. Extreme weather events like hurricanes, floods and droughts have increased all over the world, in frequency and intensity. Polar ice-caps and glaciers continue to retreat. Eight of the last 10 years have been the hottest in recorded history, and the world is at the receiving end of largescale and devastating climate change impact. India is among the countries most vulnerable to the increasingly unpredictable vagaries of nature.

We all agree that economic growth is vital for development and poverty alleviation, but to tackle the current impacts of climate change, this must be clean and sustainable.

Climate-smart development strategies have to be designed and implemented worldwide. Acting on climate change can help enhance food, energy and water security as well as create economic opportunities. Our window of opportunity to avoid severe social, environmental and economic consequences is closing quickly. Innovative technologies and declining prices for renewables mean it is now possible to achieve both a cleaner environment and economic growth. The low-carbon industry is a market worth around $6 trillion and, growing at 4-5 per cent per annum, is projected to be worth $11-15tn by 2030.

India has already taken many positive steps towards sustainability, including fiscal policy measures to support afforestation, increased taxes on carbon, investment in public transport systems for cities, the requirement of environmental clearances for large projects, and plans for a massive increase in renewable energies. It has been estimated that India’s solar market will be the fourth largest in the world this year, and its investments in clean energy will exceed $10 billion. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s target of 1,00,000 MW solar capacity by 2022 will make a huge and favourable difference to the energy intensity of India’s growth.

The EU and its member states have led global efforts to safeguard the environment by establishing a comprehensive system of environmental protection, covering all aspects of sustainability from emissions into the air to promoting non-carbon sources of energy, efficiency in energy production and use, reduction and recycling of waste, the management of water bodies, and the conservation of natural habitats. The results are positive: European cities and rivers are cleaner than they were 50 years ago. Between 1990 and 2012, greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by 19 per cent in the EU while the economy has grown by 45 per cent. Our target is now to reduce emissions by at least 40 per cent over 1990 levels by the year 2030.

India’s per capita emissions of 1.7 metric tonnes of CO2 per year are modest compared to those of other major economies and we acknowledge these will increase with demographic and economic growth. The facts, however, are that the earth’s climate is fast approaching a tipping point beyond which it will cause havoc. This is why we are encouraged by the action India is already taking.

EU governments, institutions and corporations are ready to support India in every way. The EU and its member states have committed their share of fast-track climate funding at a global level between 2010 and 2013; and with the Green Climate Fund operational as of May 2014, they are committed to scaling-up their contributions.

The EU and its member states are committed to clean energy programmes in India, supporting the country through deeds and not just words. The European Investment Bank has extended its commitment to clean energy projects in India to over a billion euro ($1.3bn). A solar biogas hybrid power project is under construction in Bihar with EU assistance. An EU-sponsored study on offshore wind energy is currently under way, and there are joint projects with India in the areas of green buildings, clean coal and waste management. The EU is also partnering with Mumbai in a major smart city initiative in which the experiences of European towns and cities will be offered to India’s commercial capital. Similarly, several EU member states have also initiated an institutional dialogue with India, promoting the twinning of cities and pledging technical support to the development of smart city initiatives in India.

Much more can happen, and much more will happen, if we are able to reach a global deal later this year in Paris. Our generation’s stewardship of this planet is a short one, but it is perhaps more crucial than any other previous one. The EU and India are crucial participants in this historically significant process, and we need to act now and together. The writer is ambassador of the European Union to India. The article is co-authored by the ambassadors to India of the 27 EU member states of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom

- The Indian Express, June 17, 2015

Over the course of its 2,500-year history, Buddhism has found expression in countless architectural forms, from the great monastic complexes of ancient India to the fortified dzongs of Bhutan, the rock-carved temple grottos of China, the wooden shrines of Japan, and the colourfulwats of Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand.

Architecture of the Buddhist World, a projected six-volume series by the noted architect and scholar Vikram Lall, represents a new multidisciplinary approach to this fascinating subject, showing how Buddhist thought and rituals have interacted with local traditions across the Asian continent to produce masterpieces of religious architecture.

Lall is an award-winning architect, educator, author, and patron of the arts. He has more than 25 years of experience in architectural practice and consultancy.

The first volume in the series, ‘The Golden Lands’, is devoted to Southeast Asia, home to many of the most spectacular Buddhist monuments. Following a general introduction to the early history of Buddhism and its most characteristic architectural forms (the stupa, the temple, and the monastery), Lall examines the Buddhist architecture of Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos. For each country, he provides both a historical overview and case studies of noteworthy structures. Lall’s concise and accessible text is illustrated throughout with new colour photography, as well as 3-D architectural models that make even the most complex structures easily comprehensible.

The monuments that Lall considers in ‘The Golden Lands’ range from the modest Bupaya stupa, constructed in Bagan, Myanmar, in the third century CE, to the vast complex of Borobudur, the world’s largest Buddhist monument in Central Java. Lall’s achievement is to place them all within a single panorama of history, religion, and artistic innovation.

Lall is also a teacher and scholar, he has lectured on architectural history and theory at institutions worldwide. The present series represents the summation of his 25 years of intensive research into Buddhist architecture.

The exhibition, The Golden Lands is currently on at India International Centre till June 19, from 11 am to 7 pm.

- The Deccan Herald, June 17, 2015

We are a culturally rich and vibrant nation, a colourful mosaic of different cultures, ethnicities, languages, customs, traditions, beliefs and values. Our heritage and traditions have stood the test of time and have had a strong bearing on our development, our standing in the comity of nations, and in keeping us connected to our roots.

No matter what the impact of technology and modern fads, our cultural heritage will always ignite a sense of pride in us, for our country and its heritage.

One experiences similar pride when one visits small haats in a city bursting with malls and shopping complexes. Somewhere, deep down they make a deep connect with us with their quaint, earthy and wholesome character, as opposed to their more plush and glitzy counterparts with their expensive fare.

A visit to a haat, which resembles a lot like rural India (long lost and forgotten by urban folks), makes one feel completely at one with the ambience around–a perfect way to spend a weekend.

But it’s not just about haats. Even as we in India, and indeed around the world, gear up to celebrate World Ethnic Day on June 19, the moot question remains -- ‘how much ethnicity is really alive today?’

One immediately goes back to places like Hauz Khas Village (HKV) in the city, with an exclusive vintage feel of rural India. A hub of fashion designer stores and cafes, the place attracts a lot of youth and tourists, foreignere and from within the country, who list it as their all-time favourite hangout spot.

Similarly, there are three Dilli Haats running in the city, though the Pitampura and Janakpuri haats are comparatively less popular than the one in INA.

While the Pitampura Dilli Haat faces problems like lack of sufficient products, unreasonably high-priced items, unappealing variety and quality of food in the few stalls that are operational, the one in Janakpuri is still relatively new and will take at least four years to get established, according to the authorities.

To learn more about the popular and successful one, Metrolife headed to INA Market, and was suitably rewarded. Known as the first-ever food, craft, culture and eco-friendly project, Dilli Haat provides the ambience of a traditional village market, but one suited for more contemporary needs. Here one sees a synthesis of crafts, food and cultural activity.

It also provides the much needed platform for artisans, craftsmen and the hard working weavers, many of who are feted master craftsmen, from across the country.

While speaking to Dilli Haat authorities at INA (who requested anonymity), Metrolife discovered some little-known facts about this sprawling cultural spot of the city.

“When it comes to exclusivity and the stand-alone qualities of the haat, we can confidently say that a few items that are found here, cannot be found anywhere else in Delhi,” say the officials.

Undoubtedly, the Punjabi jooti, the zari dupattas, the wooden toys and the ethnic chadars are difficult to find in the glittering malls and shopping complexes.

“It’s not just about the shopping items...,” they continue, “...the haat provides an effective and impressive platform to all our artisans and craftsmen, who work day and night to produce these wearable and decorative items. When people come and visit the craftsmen and the weavers and pay according to their hard work, that’s when our mission is fully accomplished!”

Meanwhile, various cultural festivals and events regularly take place at Dilli Haat, which on the other hand are celebrated in a more ostentatious manner by some of the more popular malls ,like Select Citywalk, in the city. Apart from the regular national festivals like Diwali, Holi, Eid and Baisakhi, the haat is also home to various other fascinating events like the recently concluded Sharbat Mela, the Mango Festival, crafts mela while doubling up as a popular locale for film shooting, music and other cultural events.

While employment generation is one of the big affirmations of having a haat in the city, it also helps promote tourism to a large extent.

But there is flip side to this pretty picture. Where on one hand the 201 stalls from 25 states of the country provide employment and visibility

opportunities to a lot of people, a lot of artisans are unhappy at not getting enough opportunities to showcase their creations at the stalls.

Lajwanti, a national awardee, sadly says, “Hamare koi ache din nahi aaye hain...” At 65, the lady has been selling phulkari in Dilli Haat ever since its inauguration. She hails from Patiala and works with 1,000 other women to create beautiful pieces. “The government should help is in getting more space, for better earnings and sustenance”

she says. “We keep making phulkari fabric all through the year, yet, we get only a few days to display them in a shop at Dilli Haat. Being a national award winner, I request the government to cater to our requirements and address our problems,” she tells Metrolife.

Even as one revels in the colours of India, in its rawest form, the question remains unanswered: Why don’t we have more haats or similar hubs, reserved exclusively to promote our ethnic Indian items?

- The Deccan Herald, June 18, 2015

K K Muhammed, a retired regional director (north) of Archaeological Survey of India, negotiated with the dreaded dacoits of the Chambal Valley and then the mining mafia to restore 200 temples in Morena, Madhya Pradesh. He is also the man responsible for saving the Taj Mahal from the corrosive effects of industrial pollution.

Muhammed, who was in the city on Monday, had a word of advice for Gujarat, which is home to many heritage monuments.

Speaking to TOI, on the sidelines of a seminar in Cept University, Muhammed — also known as the 'Man of Monuments' — said: "Gujarat lacks a revenue model despite having a plethora of heritage monuments.

There are a few monuments in state like, Patan, Modhera, Junagarh and Champaner that have a ticket system. They too charge a meager amount of Rs 5-10. There is a complete absence of a revenue model in Gujarat and the state government lacks vision," he said.

He said: "I am highly surprised that a beautiful monument like Adalaj Stepwell, which attracts a large number of foreign and domestic visitors every year, doesn't have a ticket system."

Muhammed said: "ASI needs to get cracking. The organization is breaking up. There is hardly anybody who is interested in looking after monuments. ASI also needs to immediately upgrade its infrastructure."

The archaeologist also criticized the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act (AMASR) (Amendment and Validation), 2010, as a 'toothless tiger'. "The National Monuments Authority didn't consult experts like me before formulating the law. Area up to 100 metres from protected monuments is treated as prohibited for construction. ASI allows construction only within a distance of 200 metres of the monument leaving the inner circle of 100 metres. However, in some states, there is an entire village settled around 100 metres of a monument. In such cases, we can't shift the entire village," he added.

- The Times of India, June 18, 2015

Have you ever seen maps that take you through lush forests harbouring endangered animals, birds and people enveloped by nature’s bounties, all depicted through enticingly funny caricatures?

Well, thanks to wildlife cartoonist Rohan Chakravarty’s prowess with the pen and some digital tools, these ‘illustrated biodiversity maps will soon be made available at certain popular Indian biodiversity hotspots to make conservation more appealing to the public.

Commissioned by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), two such graphically-rich maps have been launched: one on Pakke Tiger Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh and the other on Manas National Park in Assam.

“We are mapping the entire park or reserve, right from the terrain, the animal habitats, the threatened, endangered or vulnerable fauna and the interdependence of the tribal communities, locals and wildlife in a way that is educative and fun,” Chakravarty told IANS.

Pegged as souvenirs to be sold in and around these parks as an awareness initiative, the latest in the series takes one through a visual tour of Manas, a national park at the base of foothills of the Bhutan-Himalayas and a UNESCO Natural World Heritage site.

At first glance, the map resembles a vibrant graphic design layout of a board game – almost like animation frozen in time. Look closer and you find illustrations of crisscrossing rivers, the diverse terrain, and caricatures of Bodo and Assamese dancers as well as endangered species.

The 20-something Chakravarty, who observes the nitty-gritty of diversity during his travels for the project, said the most challenging aspect was to replicate the variety of terrain seen in Manas – grasslands, evergreen forests, montane forests, riverine ecosystems, lakes and marshes.

In addition to highlighting important spots like field stations and anti-poaching camps, the illustrations also shows life in action.

For example, there are caricatures of Purabi and Doimala, two orphaned rhino calves being hand-raised by WTI, its chief veterinarian, as well as smiling figures of locals engaged in rice and tea cultivation.

“The idea is to make them attractive so that people, especially children, will be excited to learn the value of these animals, birds and preserving the environment around them. We have more maps in the pipeline and will incorporate them on merchandise like mugs, T-shirts and the like,” Rupa Gandhi, WTI’s chief of social entrepreneurship and chief marketing officer, Terai region, said.IANS

The map resembles a vibrant graphic design layout of a board game – almost like animation frozen in time, but features dynamic illustrations

- The Hindu, June 18, 2015

After the geographical indication (GI) tag for Phulkari -- Punjab's traditional embroidery -- a move is afoot to get this certification for the rich Amritsari cuisine, comprising items like Amritsari Fish, Kulche-Chhole and Tandoori Chicken.

North Zone Cultural Centre (NZCC) is readying to register various items on Amritsar's traditional platter as GI produce of Amritsar. "This is to ensure that when a foodie orders Amritsari Fish in Mumbai or Amritsari Kulche-Chhole in Delhi, he gets the real thing and not poor quality fare being passed off as Armritsari delicacies," NZCC director Dr R S Gill told TOI on Tuesday "Punjabi cuisine is our heritage and we need to protect it, else someone else will register these as GI of their region as had happened in case of Phulkari," he said. The Phulkari GI, the first for Punjab, is relevant for Phulkari work being done in Haryana and Rajasthan, too.

Gill said that NZCC had begun the preliminary work and would start filing applications for registration of traditional Punjabi food items, beginning from Amritsar and then covering other cities.

Other items in the region that have obtained the GI tag are Kangra tea, Kullu shawl and Kangra paintings.

Gill said NZCC also planned to create awareness among students about their rich cuisine.

Vineet Sharma, a patent agent explained, "A GI tag is an assurance of quality and distinctiveness which is essentially attributable to the fact of its (product) origin in that defined geographical locality, region or country."

He said that a GI tag can be sought if a food item has attained distinctiveness due to climate, soil or due to human factors associated with the place of origin, such as specific manufacturing skills and traditions.

Once the GI tag has been granted for a particular food item, anyone selling it without consent of the government body having its registration can face legal action. The court can penalize the violator anything between 10% and 30% of the average sale of that product, he added.

The Parliament had passed the GI of Goods (Registration and Protection Act) in December 1999 which is administered by Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks.

No country can have a good future if it forgets its past. India has a very rich cultural heritage and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is doing a good job by conserving and preserving this heritage in the form of monuments, artefacts and antiquities, said Dr Mahesh Sharma, minister of state for culture and tourism and civil aviation, on Saturday.

Sharma was speaking after inaugurating the new ASI building in Seminary Hills. The building will house the three branches of ASI in city — excavation, prehistory and epigraphy. ASI is preserving and maintaining over 3,600 monuments across the country. The minister said that it was a matter of pride that last year UNESCO added two more Indian sites — the 11th century Rani Ki Vav (Queen's stepwell) in Patan in Gujarat and the Great Himalayan National Park in Kulu in Himachal Pradesh — in the list of World Heritage sites.

Divisional commissioner Anoop Kumar too stressed on conserving the rich heritage. "Very few people know about the rich heritage of Nagpur which was created in different eras of Satvahans, Vakatakas, Gond and Bhonsales. How many of us know about the rich culture of Nag-Vidarbha region spread from Paunar to Pauni?" said Kumar. He stressed on conservation of Kachargad fort in Gondia district, Ramtek temple premises and the Mansar site excavated by ASI.

Additional director general of ASI head office, Sharad Sharma, regional director of western region ASI, M Mahadevaiyah, Aurangabad, GS Khwaja, epigraphy head, ASI Nagpur, director of National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (Neeri) Satish Wate, former head of Ancient Indian History Culture and Archaeology (AIHCE) of Nagpur University, K Ismail, associate professor of AIHCE, Prabhash Sahu, Ashish Shinde, head of AIHCE, Morris College, and Nandini Bhattacharya Sahu, superintending archaeologist, excavation and Nagpur circle, were also present. Kalidas festival to be revived this year

The Kalidas festival will be revived in a big way this year to uphold the glory of the Kalidas Smarak in Ramtek where Kaildas wrote Meghdoot, said divisional commissioner Anoop Kumar during the inauguration of ASI's new building at Seminary Hills on Saturday. The administration in partnership with the Kavi Kulguru Kalidas Sanskrit University in Ramtek would be ensuring that the three-day function becomes a national-level programme. The Vasanatrao Deshpande Hall will be completely redone for the purpose. More details about the function would be revealed in a few days. - The Times of India, October 25, 2015

Gunter Pauli to attend green award ceremony Entrepreneur and expert on sustainable development Gunter Pauli will attend the 2015 Balipara Foundation Awards, which will felicitate outstanding contribution to biodiversity in the eastern Himalayas, on November 6. Pauli, the author of 'The Blue Economy' and popularly referred to as the 'Steve Jobs of sustainability', will deliver the third Rabindranath Barthakur Memorial lecture on the same day.

Balipara Foundation, an NGO involved in promoting naturenomics (sustainable economic development while conserving biodiversity), has been awarding outstanding contribution to biodiversity conservation since 2013. The ceremony will bring together leading conservation experts and think tanks, including WWF, National Geographic, International Union for Conservation of Nature, Wildlife Trust of India and Elephant Family.

This year, the awards will be given in categories like inspirational conservation work in the eastern Himalayas, protection of endangered species and threatened habitats, promotion of environment education and development of community-driven conservation. The awards will be given in 10 categories.

- The Times of India, June 18, 2015

The Tourism Department and the INTACH have identified a shelf of 51 tourism projects of historic, heritage, religious and monumental significance in Kurnool district.

A five-year action plan was being prepared and 28 tourism projects are being proposed in the first phase in a report to be forwarded to the State government within a week, District Tourism Officer and INTACH Convenor B. Venkateswarlu told The Hindu on Wednesday.

Under the plan, a theme park would be developed at Ishtakameswari temple at Srisailam, parks would be developed at Sangameswaram and Kolanubharathi temples in Kothapalle mandal and a convention centre would be developed at Yerragudi in Tuggali mandal, he said.

Beach and water-based amenities would be developed near Srisailam, Owk, Velugodu and Gorakallu reservoirs, Sunkesula Dam, Gajuladinne Project, Ramajala Lake at Adoni, Sangameswaram temple and the pump house at Kurnool, Mr. Venkateswarlu said. The Ashoka rock edicts at Yerragudi would be developed under restoration of Buddhist sites.

Under ecotourism theme, jungle resorts would be developed at Rollapadu and Nagaluti and jungle safari would be developed at the Srisailam tiger reserve at Rollapenta and tourist amenities would be developed at Upper Ahobilam, Omkareswaram, Mantralayam, Yaganti, Panikeswara. Trikutalayam and other temples, Sri Raghavendra Swamy Brindavanam at Sunkesula, Jamia Masjid at Adoni, Khadarlinga Swamy Dargah at Kowthalam, Adoni fort and rock paintings site at Kethavaram, Mr. Venkateswarlu said. Amenities for tourists would be developed at Billasargam caves and Valmiki caves at Boyavandlapalli village in Peapully mandal. Seven key temple zones around Srisailam would be developed to bring them on par with Tirupati.

A Hindu religious circuit would be developed around the pilgrim centres at Ahobilam, Mahanandi, Mantralayam, Jagannatha Gattu, Devaragattu temple and Yellarthi Dargah, including a visit to Tirumala.

Wayside amenities were proposed to be developed for tourists at Nagaluti, Konidedu village in Panyam mandal, Peapully, Gajuladinne project and Allagadda. A ropeway and amusement park would be developed at Sri Madduleti Narasimha Swamy temple at R.S. Rangapuram. As part of tourism development in Kurnool city, a mini-golf course, convention centre, mega shopping mall and multiplex, recreation park near Sri Nagasai temple, the Tourism Officer said. Nearly 5,000 heritage temples in Kurnool district have been classified into A, B and C grades.

District Collector Ch. Vijaya Mohan and Joint Collector C. Kiran held discussions with Principal Secretary, Tourism, Neerab Kumar Prasad, and he assured sanction of the projects if requisite land was allotted to them.

Employment
Former Minister and Rayalaseema, Uttarandhra Hakkula Aikya Vedika founder-president T.G. Venkatesh said on Wednesday that development of ancient temples in Rayalaseema and Buddhist centres in north Andhra in a planned manner would spur economic development and provide direct and indirect employment.

A five-year action plan is being prepared and
51 tourism projects are being proposed in a report to be forwarded to the State government within a week
B. Venkateswarlu
District Tourism Officer

- The Hindu, June 18, 2015

The list of heritage buildings, prepared by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), has finally been notified. It is yet to be uploaded on the civic body's website for objections and suggestions.

Interestingly, buildings by Louis Kahn, Le Corbusier, Charles Correa or B V Doshi — the stalwarts of modern architecture — do not figure in the list. Ahmedabad happens to be the only place in the world where Le Corbusier had designed four buildings. Louis Kahn's IIM-A building too does not figure in the list of heritage buildings. Corbusier made four buildings — Villa Shodhan, Villa Sarabhai, ATMA building, and AMC's Sanskar Kendra in Paldi — in the city between 1951 and 1957.

The list consists of 2,247 buildings and havelis in the Walled City and 382 buildings outside it. Inclusion in the list means that the provisions of the new conservation bye-laws are now applicable to these buildings. As promised, currently only Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) policy is applicable to these properties as incentive. The AMC is yet to announce the package of incentives for such buildings. The Walled City has just 99 buildings that are of utmost heritage value. There are 552 structures that fall under grade 2B and 1,596 under grade 3 categories.

"Industrial heritage like the Ellisbridge cannot be pulled down as the AMC has listed it amongst its heritage. Shah Jahan's Moti Shahi Palace in Shahibaug and Fatehwadi now form a part of city's heritage. The heritage committee has recommended that precincts of Gujarat College and Charles Correa's Sabarmati Ashram museum also be included in the list as a part of modern architecture," says a senior AMC heritage committee member.

- The Times of India, June 19, 2015

A think tank has concluded that Chennai’s traffic pattern resembles that of London and like the British city, will be benefitting from introducing such a tax

Even as pessimism is weighing down public policy on challenging topics such as congestion tax, independent think-tanks in the city have kick-started a study on congestion tax, offering innovative solutions to traffic congestion. While the government is yet to make a decision, concerns about resistance to congestion tax by residents in Chennai being valid, the first study by a city-based think tank has recently proposed a model that might work in Chennai. According to the study by the Mylapore Institute of Policy Research(MIPR), the “traffic profile of Chennai is strikingly similar to London,” with heavy traffic throughout the day.

Two zones in the city have such high levels of traffic volumes.

Based on the results of the study, congestion tax could be restricted to a central zone extending from Purasawalkam to Thiruvanmiyur and a super zone in T. Nagar, placing signs at 66 entry and exit points and up to 15 km on the main roads into the relevant area. Free parking spaces outside the zones with public transport connectivity have also been suggested. The study has recommended a programme to update motor vehicle ownership records at the Regional Transport Office, before implementation of a congestion charge. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (the RTO equivalent) in the U.K. went through a similar upgrade a few years ago, resulting in more effective enforcement in London.

Residents of T. Nagar covered in the proposed super zone said the commercial outlets in the area are likely to pay the congestion tax of visitors in cars to attract more people. “The congestion tax model should focus only on reducing cars on roads. Traffic congestion will continue if commercial outlets pay the tax without developing adequate planned parking spaces. People who cause traffic congestion should pay more tax. The government should not collect congestion tax from local residents,” said B. Kannan, a resident of T. Nagar.

“The government should offer the entire carriageway to traffic, free from all encroachments. You can think about taxing only after removing all bottlenecks to traffic, including transformers and garbage bins,” said S.S anthanam, former Member-Chief Urban Planner, CMDA.

“Local bottlenecks also have to be removed. For example, the traffic congestion in Perungulathur on GST Road is caused due to parking of government buses along the stretch. Vehicles take more than one hour to cross the stretch,” he said. London’s success in implementing such a scheme were due to careful preliminary research into a specific, practical and reliable design and a radical, strong and independent politician,” said Shiv Kumar, president of MIPR.

“MIPR has also held discussions with IBM in Chennai on exploring the issues surrounding the likely implementation of the project as part of the study,” said V. Balasubramanian, secretary of MIPR.

The congestion charge initiative is in line with TN Govt’s Vision 2023, which aims at a strategic plan for infrastructure development to move the State to a higher growth plane. Based on the proposed pricing in Chennai, the gross revenues after the initial 18-month build-up period will be in the region of Rs. 190 crore per year, and after deducting operating costs of Rs. 20 crore per year, will produce steady state net revenues of Rs.170 crore per year.

MIPR is an urban policy think tank launched with the initial support of The India Cements Ltd.

What is congestion pricing?
Collection of a surcharge from motorists visiting congested neighbourhoods in a bid to promote public transport

A study on congestion tax suggests:

1) Congestion pricing could be implemented in one Central zone and one Super zone in T. Nagar 2) The study however recommended that Mylapore be dropped owing to the heritage value and multiple entry points. The move is expected to reduce traffic congestion in most of the areas of the city by promoting public transport 3) Primary investment required for congestion pricing by commissioning a network of cameras – Rs.100-150 crore The investment will be recouped from the surplus revenue generated within a 2-3 year period after funding essential reinvestment programmes

Central Zone entry points

Moolakkadai, Purasawalkam, Nungambakkam, Thirumangalam, Vadapalani, St.Thomas Mount, Velachery, Thiruvanmiyur, Poonamalle and Vandalur

Super Zone entry points

G.N. Chetty Road, Pondy Bazar Road, Venkatnarayana Road in T Nagar.

Proposal An additional congestion charge be considered for a Super Zone (T. Nagar) with a 90 percent discount for residents of the Super Zone. This will tackle traffic. The charges will apply to both Central and Super zones from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. from Monday to Saturday The charges will apply once daily. No charges for multiple entry. Payment channels: Pre-paid cash cards, mobile, automatic payment by direct bank settlement Current scenario The total volume of traffic flow is spread across the 10 entry points for the Central Zone and three entry points in T. Nagar. The city is ideally suited for the implementation of a congestion charging scheme, with a traffic profile strikingly similar to London

Nearly 2 lakh vehicles enter the Central and Super zones of Chennai each day. The volume excludes motorcycles, autos, government buses, military and emergency service vehicles.

London model

London successfully implemented congestion charging scheme on February 17, 2003. After over a decade of operation, the scheme is an unqualified success.

- The Hindu, June 23, 2015

An exhibition at The Jewish Museum, New York, highlights preoccupations of Indian video art beyond the political.

The film opens with a shot of two closed doors, next to one another, in what is evidently a residence. They open simultaneously to the sight of a crane passing in the background, visible through the windows. As the doors shut and open repeatedly, they show a crane inside the house, dismantling public monuments from the past 20 years, — of Joseph Stalin, Saddam Hussein and Vladimir Lenin. There is also a visual of the fall of the Twin Towers. The three-minute Political Realism (2009) by Delhi’s Gigi Scaria ends with the visual of a passing Metro, a symbol of rapid globalisation.

In another video, 10-minute-long Forerunner (2013), Mumbai-based Sahej Rahal transcends spaces, switching between an abandoned, decrepit building in Delhi, the observatory built by Feroz Shah Tughlaq and subsequently named Pir Ghaib — after the incident of the vanishing of a saint from the site — and archival footage by NASA of the space shuttle Endeavor. These, Rahal intersperses with visuals of his own performance as a superhero wielding the lightsaber, which eventually turns into a bird of paradise. These two videos, distinct as they are, are part of a show titled “Sights and Sounds: India” at The Jewish Museum, New York, until June 25. It is because they are so widely different that they have been selected to be part of the show by curator Nancy Adajania. “Instead of selecting works that directly address the political as narrowly construed, I have chosen those that deal with the unpredictability and expansiveness of ‘vast narratives’ (Pat Harrigan and Noah Wardrip-Fruin), expressed through the modes of the fabular, the rhetorical and the performative,” says Adajania.

The show, part of a series at the museum, aims to focus on Indian video art. Mumbai-based Adajania was invited by Jens Hoffman, the museum’s Deputy Director, to curate the Indian section of the “Sights and Sounds: Global Film and Video” programme. She chose to look beyond films that engage with political urgencies — a theme that a great deal of video art centres on due to its documentarian legacy — “to explore other tonalities and preoccupations within the practice”. For the same, she chose to showcase Bangalore-based Ayisha Abraham’s I Saw a God Dance (2011) and Delhi-based Ranbir Kaleka’s Forest (2012) apart from Political Realism and Forerunner.

By focussing on these experimental films, Adajania also hopes to debunk the theory that video art in India emerged in the ’90s and has largely been “responsive to the economic liberalisation and the technologies it ushered in”. “I chart this pre-history through the collaborative endeavours, experimental films and photographic experiments of Akbar Padamsee, Nalini Malani, Tyeb Mehta, M F Husain and Krishen Khanna during the late ’60s and the early ’70s, and Dashrath Patel’s trans-disciplinary practice from the ’60s to the ’80s,” she says, adding that, at the time, the art system in India was fixated on painting as the premier form, so these were seen as aberrations if they were noticed at all. “There was no critical framework or cultural context for them,” she adds.

The scene has come a long way since. Video art has evolved in many interesting directions — as video sculpture, as an inter-media interface with painting and the internet and as an extension of the documentarian tradition in a world dominated by surveillance technologies.

Scaria believes that video art did not have to chart the same course in India as in the West. “The visual language has developed and people with no history in the medium have fresh ideas to offer,” he says. Rahal concedes that the medium may not have a “market” as traditional art does but adds that the internet is playing a huge role in the wide reach of video art.

- The Indian Express, June 23, 2015

The towering 85 m-lighthouse with a spiral staircase on the Aguada plateau is among many landmarks in India that are on the radar of the directorate general of lighthouses and lightships for promotion as tourism spots shortly.

A policy is being drafted to develop lighthouses as tourism points, considering that globally they are tapped for their tourism potential.

"The broad outlines for such a policy to leverage these assets for tourism are being finalized," a directorate official said.

Lighthouses are located at vantage points on the coastline and form picturesque locations. "They also attract local visitors and tourists due to their heritage value," the official stated.

The 37-year-old lighthouse at Fort Aguada is one of 13 such landmarks in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat and Lakshadweep that have been shortlisted by the directorate as sites with tourism potential.

Considering that tourism is one of the mainstays of Goa's economy and the nearby beach belt of Sinquerim-Candolim and Nerul's Coco beach are abuzz with visitors, the directorate's officials know that the Aguada lighthouse can become an attraction.

Tourists visit the historic Aguada fort built in 1613 that is by the side of the lighthouse. Another lighthouse built in 1864, though now non-functional is located within the precincts of the fort maintained by the archaeological survey of India (ASI).

The new lighthouse is one of the major ones guiding ships on the west coast with a range of about 20 nautical miles. The old lighthouse had a limited range of five nautical miles.

Goa's lighthouse is clubbed with False Point in Odisha, Dolphin Nose in Andhra Pradesh, Chennai lighthouse, Dwarka in Gujarat, among others.

"The drafting of the policy will take about a month," the official said.

Initially, the Mumbai office of the directorate had issued a tender inviting expressions of interest from agencies to draft a tourism-oriented plan to develop the 37-year-old lighthouse. But it was dropped as the directorate realized the importance of evolving a national policy.

- The Times of India, June 23, 2015

There is a misconception that the deeper one digs, higher the chances of finding cleaner water. But data on the city's shallow aquifers suggests otherwise. The water level in these aquifers has risen by nearly one metre in the past one year and very few are making use of it. While deep borewells seem to be the norm, an open well in the backyard could well be a reliable source of water barring summer days, say experts.

"Groundwater tends to turn salty in sandy areas under the sea level, but shallow aquifers contain clean water," said Rain Centre director Sekar Raghavan.

Metrowater officials have attributed the rise in the water level to about 8 lakh rainwater harvesting structures in the city . The level rose the highest in Sholinganallur where the water table jumped to 2.62m from last year's 3.79m. Among sandy areas, Thiruvottiyur has the highest water table at 3.77m, while Royapuram has the lowest at 5.57m.

As opposed to the general perception that areas close to the sea have salty groundwater, Raghavan, who studied the groundwater level in Besant Nagar, said the sandy area close to Adyar River has one of the richest shallow aquifers. The groundwater level in Adyar stands at 4.26m. "In a settlement near Velankanni Church, we found that about 600 homes had shallow wells of about 20-foot depth," he said.

At residential areas like Kodambakkam and Anna Nagar, which have clayey soil, water levels rose to 4.1m and 4.61m respectively . Water in deep aquifers in these areas contain iron sediments rendering it unsuitable for even non-drinking needs. In adjoining Virugambakkam, residents of Ceebros Gardens have been drawing water from aquifers 100ft deep. Raghavan said this water had high iron content while the water in aquifers just 25ft deep was better. His team subsequently built four open wells there.

But not much has been done to map shallow aquifers or devise ways to tap them. While Metrowater and the Public Works Department have observation wells across the state, they are limited to checking the fluctuation in the levels alone. In an effort to quantify the storage capacity of city aquifers, Rain Centre is working on a project which would map shallow wells every square kilometre. "The southern part of the city is rocky , the central has alluvial formation and the north has sedimentation," said J Saravanan, consultant hydrologist, who is part of the survey . "While the Central government has initiated massive exercises to map aquifers in terms of their vertical and spatial disposition, there is little done to assess their water holding capacity and yield," he said.

- The Times of India, June 23, 2015

Cold water or iced juices appear tempting in the sweltering heat but it often comes contaminated with bacteria, viruses, minerals and heavy metals, which not only cause gastro-intestinal trouble but also skin and eye disorders.

Gunjan Sharma, 22, a PR professional learnt her lesson the hard way, and now she is so conscious about the quality of water she consumes that even her gol-gappas are filled with mineral water. "I had once consumed regular water from outside and suffered for a week with gastroenteritis. To this day, I only drink mineral water when I'm out," she said.

Waterborne diseases are infectious diseases that spread primarily through contamination in water. They spread either directly from drinking unclean water or coming into contact with such water and through flies or filth. "Most intestinal (enteric) diseases are infectious and are transmitted through faecal waste that contains pathogens - which include viruses, bacteria, protozoa, and parasitic worms," said Dr Umesh Kapil, professor, Gastroenterology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

These disease-causing germs travel through water sources and interfuse directly through people handling food and water. "Since these diseases are highly infectious, extreme care and hygiene should be maintained by people looking after an infected patient. Hepatitis, cholera, dysentery, and typhoid are the most common waterborne diseases," Dr Kapil said.

Maulana Azad Medical College conducted a city-wide study aimed at assessing water and hygiene-related attitudes and practices, and quality of water in urban slums of south Delhi in July 2013.

Around 83% participants perceived gastro-intestinal tract infection as the most important health problem. Around 75% participants did not use treated water before drinking it while 45% participants consumed water from privately-owned tube well/ borewells.

According to the study, water shortage usually lasted two days or more at a stretch with severe scarcity occurring twice a year. About 45% participants had toilets within their households and around 53% of the drinking water samples collected from storage containers showed positive bacteriological contamination. Women aged 15 years and above were largely responsible (93%) for fetching water, found the study done across four urban slums of south Delhi.

Industrial and biological pollution are the main reasons for water contamination in India, say experts.

"Rivers and water bodies are contaminated with toxic chemicals such as cadmium, arsenic and lead in industry effluents that poison our lungs and brain. The government does not factor in public health while drafting policies for environmental pollution. Public health cannot work in isolation. It should also be linked with water contamination and air pollution and people must be trained and educated about it," said professor TK Joshi, director, Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health at Maulana Azad Medical College.

"The UK has adopted four simple measures to keep environmental pollution under control and this policy has been rated as one of the best methods to keep the environment clean. The four measures include adequate amount of clean drinking water for every citizens, safe disposal of waste, proper nutrition for the citizens and planned and proper housing for all its citizens," said Dr Joshi.

Contamination of drinking water supplies can occur at the source as well as through the distribution system.

"Water contamination also leads to fungal infection of the feet and toes, bacterial infection leading to boils all over the skin and the commonest thing among children is viral warts," says Dr RK Joshi, skin specialist at Indraprastha Apollo hospital. "Protozoan infection or acanthomoeba infection in the eye could be caused due to contamination of water. It can develop in people who usually wear contact lenses. Apart from this fungal and bacterial infections in the eye due to water are common," said Dr JS Titiyal, professor, RP Centre of Ophthalmology, AIIMS.

The reverse osmosis (RO) system is the best method to treat water and keep it safe.

- The Hindustan Times, June 23, 2015

sweet and sour Wild mangoes that once dominated the forests of the Malnad and coastal regions are fast disappearing. Mohan Talakalkoppa discusses various efforts that strive to conserve these mouth-watering treats of nature

Edde kukku, meaning good mango in Tulu language, is well known for its quality and versatility. This native variety can be consumed at four levels of maturity - tender, raw, unripe and ripe. Another interesting feature of the fruit is its long shelf-life, forging a general feeling that it doesn’t get rotten. Unique flavour of Balanja jeerige, another wild mango variety, makes it suitable for pickles. One more variety, Gundappe, is associated with good sleep. Every seed-propagated native variety produces distinct fruits, with features varying from tree to tree.

A native or wild mango tree can yield several tonnes of fruits. The fruits are pest- resistant and healthy, whereas the trees are valued for timber. While some varieties are known for their taste and aroma, some others are noted for their shape and size.

Natural heritage Each village in the Malnad and coastal regions relishes distinct mango varieties grown in the wild and along the river. Ripe mangoes are eaten raw as well as used in ethnic preparations, unripe ones are preserved in brine for use through the year, and tender mangoes are pickled. Appemidi is a special category of native mangoes that dominates the pickle industry. These varieties, used at the tender stage, are grown along the rivers in Uttara Kannada and Shivamogga districts. In fact, there are hundreds of appemidi varieties in the Western Ghats that are preferred for their inimitable aroma, exceptional taste and keeping quality. Some special varieties include Anathabhattana appe, Adderi jeerige, Malanji appe, Karnakundala, and Kanchappe.

However, in recent years, this extraordinary varietal diversity is fast dwindling due to massive deforestation, negligence of these varieties in favour of hybrid mangoes, unscrupulous harvesting and axing of old trees for timber. While the varieties are fast disappearing, there is also an erosion of traditional knowledge in terms of their propagation and recipes.

Fortunately, those who relish these sweet and sour fruits have plunged into action. Growers, fruit enthusiasts and organisations have come together to conserve and promote this unrivalled diversity. Mapalthota Subraya Bhat, a resident of Markanja village near Sullia has a collection of more than 100 rare varieties. Another farmer Hegde Subba Rao in Belur village of Sagar taluk has identified 120 varieties in Sagar and Soraba taluks. An authority over aromatic mango varieties, he has grafted and conserved about 80 varieties. His wife Bhagirathi Hegde has evaluated these varieties for their pickling qualities. Likewise, many enthusiasts of the state have put in their efforts to conserve this natural heritage.

College of Forestry, Sirsi has worked extensively with farmers to conserve aromatic mango varieties. Prof Vasudeva, who co-ordinated a project titled “Tropical Fruit Trees” under the United Nations Environment Programme says that they have documented 103 aromatic mango varieties of Uttara Kannada district and established a clonal bank(a living collection of selected clones). Grafts of best 40 varieties have been distributed to farmers. The project linked graft experts and encouraged self-help groups to take up value addition. It facilitated the creation of seven farmer diversity parks in Uttara Kannada district, where varieties of native species like appemidi, kokum (Garcinia indica), uppage (Garcinia gummi-gutta) and jackfruit are conserved.

The Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Hesaraghatta, Bengaluru has conserved more than 400 mango varieties collected from all over the country. Dr M R Dinesh, Head of the Division of Fruit Crops says “It is essential to document, conserve and improve wild mango varieties lest we lose the precious gene pool.” Dr K V Ravishankar, another scientist working in the Biotechnology division of IIHR opines that DNA bar coding of varieties is essential to avoid confusion in naming, theft and misuse of the plant material. Centre for Environment Education (CEE), Pune has documented more than 200 mango varieties in the Western Ghats range of Maharashtra.

Simultaneously, wild mango plantations are increasing in number in the state. Dattatreya Hegde of Sirsi, who owns a 15-year-old orchard of 125 trees is one of the pioneering farmers to consider wild mango as a crop. He feels that a two-acre plantation is suffice to earn a good livelihood. Ganesh Kakal who runs a pickle industry, has five acres of wild mangoes. Many farmers in Sirsi, Sagar and Yellapur taluks have taken up wild mango cultivation in recent years. Households are also exploring the potential of the crop by means of value addition.

Celebrating diversity

Mango diversity festivals organised in various parts of the state have brought similar efforts under one platform, giving them a boost. Appemidi festival held in Sagar in 2007 showcased more than five hundred varieties. The programme revealed the utility value of the crop, triggering interest among farmers. Though awareness programmes and farmer meets are organised in Uttara Kannada and Shivamogga districts since last one decade, they gained momentum in the coastal region only in the last couple of years. One such gathering was organised in Kepu village of Bantwal taluk in 2012 where people tasted various traditional mango recipes and selected best varieties that could be multiplied through grafting. So far, grafted wild mango varieties have given good results. “Kadu Mavina Meluku”, another fair held in Muliya village of Dakshina Kannada recently, helped to gain a comprehensive understanding of the various possibilities of the fruit. Exhibition-cum-sale of local mango varieties, value-added products, grafted plants, recipe books and tools required in mango cultivation was organised.

Participants savoured mango delicacies even as they interacted with experts and enthusiasts. A book of 59 authentic wild mango recipes was also released on the occasion. Organisers of the meet feel that proper documentation and promotion has led to the conservation and utilisation of appemidi. Likewise, a systematic effort to pool the information of coastal diversity would be useful as there many untapped varieties in the region that have a great potential.

There has been a renewed interest among people of these regions in the local biodiversity which essentially includes wild mango, jackfruit, kokum and uppage. Efforts of conservation, value addition and utilisation have helped them to keep the passion for these native varieties alive.

- The Deccan Herald, June 23, 2015

A paper containing 85 sketches of old ruins in Amravati, mistaken to be those of Deccan Jainism, that was presented by Surveyor General of India Col. Colin Mackenzie at the Asiatic Society in Kolkata in 1820 was the first step towards rediscovering Buddhism in its country of birth after nearly 1,200 years in oblivion. Mackenzie had stumbled upon the ruins earlier in 1798 during a campaign against Tipu Sultan of Mysore.

"No one understood then that the findings related to another religion — Buddhism — that India had forgotten for over 1,000 years. Almost all the grandeur of pre-Islamic India like the mighty stupas at Sarnath and Sanchi or the ancient universities of Taxila and Nalanda lay covered under centuries of neglect or destruction or both. They were just reduced to names like dhansa-stupa. Buddhism had survived and prospered outside its homeland but in its cradle, its existence was snuffed out, not only physically but in terms of history," Prasar Bharati chief executive Jawhar Sircar said at the Bengal Buddhist Association in the city on Monday.

Delivering the 6th Kripasaran Memorial Lecture in Kolkata on the occasion of the closing ceremony of the 150th birth anniversary of Karmayogi Kripasaran Mahasthavir, Sircar pointed out that several significant discoveries were made thereafter: Ajanta Caves in 1819, Mankiala Stupa at Taxila in 1830, Dhamek Stupa in Sarnath in 1835, Sanchi Stupa in 1851 and Bodh Gaya in 1861.

"It was James Princep's discovery of the Brahmi script in 1837 that shook our history. After years of speculation, Ashoka Maurya was finally demystified and firmly established on the throne of Buddhism and India. Within eight decades, Buddhism, which had 'died a natural death', was resuscitated. These structures and sculptures compensated for the apparent lack of India's tangible cultural and architectural heritage that started blankly at us from the end of the Harappan period (17th century BC) till the Mughal period (16th century AD). Without them, India would have little to show for about 2,500 years except for a few temples at Ellora and those of Pallavas," said Sircar.

So what led India to forget the most significant intellectual and cultural contribution to the world? What happened for the 12 centuries? While there are signs of destruction, it is the appropriation of Buddhism within the larger religion that led to its near-obliteration.

"Historian Kalyan Kumar Dasgupta cites several sculptures of Bodhisattva Avalokiteswara that have been taken into temples and worshipped as the popular Lokeswara Siva in Bengal. Hinduism also appropriated Ahimsa, vegetarianism, the saffron robe and the institution of monasteries from Buddhism," he said.

"Once Buddhism was rediscovered, Indians came forward to celebrate it. Buddha is now the collective pride of all Indians. Plays and dance dramas abound on his life and Bengal and other schools of art took him to great heights. But the mystery still remains as to how he was forgotten for more than 1,000 years," Sircar added.

- The Times of India, June 23, 2015

Brook International School in collaboration with the Indian Postal Department has brought out 'My Stamp' as part of the school's 10th anniversary celebrations. The stamp was released, followed by students posting letters in the Karunagappally Head Post Office.

Students got an opportunity to write letters to their friends and paste a stamp on the covers. The school head boy and head girl sent letters to the Prime Minister, Central Ministers, State Ministers and Gram Panchayath members. Nearly 2000 letters, with a brief detail of the school, its activities and the importance of rain water harvesting, were posted by the students.

KK Shivashankara Pillai, Assistant Superintendent of Post Office, Kollam division released the stamp. John Bland, vice-principal, received the same. The director Fr Abraham Thalothil presided over the meeting. PTA president R Giri Kumar and John Bland spoke on the occasion.

The name 'Linnaeus Tripe' hardly figures in most historical accounts of 19th century India, but a new exhibition here from Wednesday recognises one of the first Britons tasked with recording the land and its people that the East India Company came to govern.

The British 'raj' was one of the most documented administrations ever. Collecting local intelligence was one of the ways in which the British ruled over India, and Tripe's photographs at the Victoria & Albert Museum were part of the mammoth exercise undertaken over centuries of British rule.

An army captain attached to the Madras presidency, Tripe (1822-1902) was among the pioneers who used the then rudimentary techniques of photography. Sixty of his most striking views taken between 1852 and 1860 are being exhibited until 11 October.

Crispin Branfoot, an expert in south Asian art and archaeology at the University of London, told HT that Tripe's photographs were among the first ones of Indian temple architectures. "There were images and paintings, but not such striking photographs", he said.

In 1855, he was appointed by governor-general Lord Dalhousie to join expeditions to Burma and south India. After each trip he returned with over 200 large format paper negatives, which he developed in his studio in Bangalore.

Curator Roger Taylor said Tripe's photographs were taken amidst illness, inclement weather and official duties. "He had an eye of a surveyor and the sensitivity of an artist", Taylor said. Tripe's task was cut short when colonial officials in erstwhile Bombay were forced to cut costs after the 1857 rebellion.

To make a print, Tripe usually coated a sheet of paper with dilute albumen and applied a light sensiting solution. After exposure and fixing, he took photographs with gold. Unlike earlier salted paper prints or later glossier albumen on pre-prepared paper, his photographs have a delicate sheen.

On display are photographs of architectural sites and monuments, temples, as well as roads, bridges, moats, landscape vistas and geological formations throughout India and Burma.

The Mumbai chapter of System of Air Quality and weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) was inaugurated on Tuesday. The SAFAR system conceived and developed by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune in association with Regional Meteorological Centre (IMD)-Mumbai and the BMC will provide information to Mumbaikars like air quality, weather information and tide levels, extreme event alerts for weather and pollution and location wise sources of air pollution.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union minister of science and technology and earth sciences Government of India and Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated SAFAR for Mumbai on Tuesday. Mumbaikars can get advantage of this information either by downloading the SAFAR application or through the digital display boards erected in Mumbai on 14 locations like Colaba, Borivali, Malad, Chembur and Andheri. Dr. Gurfan Beig, project director SAFAR said that this is one of the best ways to bring science and technology to the door step of common man.

Fadnavis dedicated this facility not only to Mumbaikars but also to the entire nation. He said, "Climate change is a challenge before mankind. Last week itself Mumbai witnessed heavy rainfall leading the city to come to a standstill. We need to provide the city good quality of life which means not just physical infrastructure but also concerns the aspects like the air we breathe. This information which will be displayed would keep reminding us about the pollution levels being brought under control if they are in excess." Fadnavis thanked Dr. Harsh Vardhan for providing one of the best gifts to his state in the form of SAFAR.

The system of SAFAR already has a chapter in Delhi and Pune and after Mumbai there are plans of taking this system to places like Ahmedabad, Kolkatta and Chennai. Dr. Madhavan N Rajeevan, director of IITM Pune said that Mumbai is one of the most polluted cities with air quality deteriorating thanks to various human activities and therefore SAFAR is aimed to help in keeping a tab on the levels of pollution and weather.

L.S.Rathore, director General of Meteorology IMD said that this new service being offered to Mumbaikars is something that affects their life. "Most people can download this system on their phones and use it as pollution and weather both affect every individual," said Rathore. KS Hosalikar, deputy director-general (western region) India Meteorological Department added that they would extend his full support to this chapter and its working.

Filmmaker and artist Benoy K. Behl talks about taking yoga to the world

Striking a balanceA photograph from the exhibition As the world celebrates yoga, personalities practising and propagating this ancient practice have geared up to take yoga beyond geographical and religious boundaries. Benoy K. Behl is among those who took a step further to popularise this traditional Indian practice. His documentaryYoga - An Ancient Vision of Life throws the light on the history and the prominence of yoga in our life. Various practitioners of yoga have come up on board to define and making the people understand the value of this age-old practice. Behl's Yoga photograph exhibition is going on at Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan and is being showcased in 20 countries. In an interaction with The Hindu , Behl opened up on his project. What is your vision for yoga?

The world is going through a serious crisis of physical and mental health. In my view, yoga is the only answer left for the world. I have spent a lifetime researching the cultural history of India, the paintings, sculptures, caves and temples. Yoga provides an intrinsic and essential dimension to our culture . In fact, the basis of yoga is clearly spelt out in the Upanishads in 8th-9th centuries BC. Subsequently, yoga has been as an essential part of Indian philosophical thought. What is your take on associating yoga with one particular religion?

Yoga is not a religion, nor is it related to any religion. We should not let politicians spoil what is good and beautiful for all human beings. It is for the benefit of the mankind and we must follow it. With the hope that things will get better by the time I complete my next project on yoga in California. How this project came into being? I wrote to all the important schools of yoga in India, Germany and the U.S., with details about my previous work. Fortunately, practically all of them responded to give very warm support for the project. Carrying the bags at airport and for shooting was extremely difficult. I did entire shooting in Germany and the U.S., alone. I had no assistant or anyone to help me in carrying the camera and equipment. Working with the tripod and camera equipment was extremely difficult. Yet, by some miracle, hundreds of wonderful shots have been taken.

Don't you think yoga is getting commercialised as various forms have developed over the period? Today there are several commercialised fitness programmes in the West, which call themselves yoga. However, these are not yoga at all. Some celebrities have also produced their fitness videos. If they are doing it for a good cause, that helps, but it must be in selfless manner. Yoga cannot be lived or taught in a commercial way. Otherwise, it is not yoga.

Curbs on some cabs is a pointer to the fact that the indiscriminate number of taxis in Delhi and elsewhere has led to an increase in abduction and rape cases. Tracing the advent of taxis, it's worth noting that cabs began to ply in the Capital on a limited scale until Connaught Circus came up in the late 1930s. Interestingly enough, the first motor car in Delhi was the one bought by Lala Chunna Mal in 1902 or thereabouts. After that, some rajas and nawabs too began using cars (instead of buggies and phaetons) but public ownership was not there as horse-driven carriages were still the popular mode of transport, with a large number of hackney carriage stands at various transit points.

The scene changed after World War II broke out and the coming of American GIs. Some enterprising individuals started plying taxis not only in the city but also to destinations like Agra, Jaipur, Dehra Dun and Mussoorie, later extending to Shimla and Nainital. In the 1940s, a number of taxis were plying under the patronage of hotels like Imperial, Maidens, Cecil and Swiss, and hackney carriage stands near them gradually began to turn into taxi stands.

By the time war ended there was a taxi service worth mentioning. Came Partition and the wealthier refugees showed great enterprise in entering the taxi business. The tongas that plied from CP to Old Delhi and to Karol Bagh on the other side, began to give way to taxis. By the 1950s Delhi had a good enough taxi service though not as extensive as the one in Bombay and Calcutta. It's been about 75 years since the first taxis started operating and are still popular despite the cheaper autos, e-rickshaws and the Metro. Some still link them to the yesteryear film, starring Dev Anand and Waheeda Rahman in a youthful relationship.

The hackney carriage stand in the erstwhile Ludlow Castle Road (now Raj Niwas Marg) continues to be a taxi stand but the ones at Regharpura and outside New Delhi station are no more. Incidentally, the few taxis, which plied on Rouse Avenue, gave it the name of Lover's Lane, as they were popular with romantic couples. But surprisingly enough, there were no kidnapping cases. O P Jain of INTACH was one of those, who frequented the avenue and, as an octogenarian now, has nostalgic memories of those times. One name that stands out among the old taxi drivers is that of Madan Lal,

who learnt to drive a car under the stern guidance of a British sahib in pre-Partition Lahore, where the taxi service from Anarkali was in full swing. Later, Madan Lal started driving a taxi in Delhi and became just as popular as Kale Khan, the tonga driver, who was educated enough to type out petitions on behalf of other tonga wallahs.

Kale Khan died a nonagenarian while Madan Lal passed away in his 80s some years ago. Both are still remembered by old-timers. A E Finamore, a school principal, was very fond of Kale Khan as he went in his tonga to meet his girlfriend in younger days. Kale Khan's father had bought the horses and stables from Col Salvadore Smith of the Gwalior army after the colonel (1783-1871) died, never seeing a car in his life-time. Haji Faiyazuddin recalls that private taxis were the first to make their appearance in Delhi. Besides them, there was motor transport in the form of Rama Bus Service, Capital Bus Service and Delhi-Dehat Bus Service. The Gwalior-Scindia Transport Company came later.

The fare was just Rs 2 to Nizamuddin by taxi while buses charged just an anna. That was the time when one paid Rs 2.50 as taxi fare to go from the Walled City to the Qutub and back and Rs 2 for both ways to Okhla and Nizamuddin. Besides the trams, introduced in the first decade of the 20th century, there was an electric bus service from Lahore Gate to Sadar Bazaar and beyond. Madan Lal used to recall that once he took a sahib to the Gole Dakhana Church.

He gave him a 10-rupee note and when he ran after him to return the change, the Gora waved his walking stick at him thinking that he wanted more. His son, Sohan Lal, who lived in Beriwalah Bagh, recounted how an English lady hired his taxi up to her club and, after paying the fare, took him inside for lunch as she wanted someone to speak to her in Hindustani, which she was trying to learn. Such were the innocent pleasures of those times, when human values counted for a lot and taxis were the safest conveyance for both foreigners and locals with no incidents of rape, robbery or abduction. What a sad contrast to present times!

Delving into the past again, one remembers that taxis were freely available from the Punjab Bank crossing on Arya Samaj Road for office-goers. If intending to go to Connaught Place, one could hire a taxi at Rs 2 each and later Rs 4. Among the regular users were A V Ramana, The Statesman chief-sub, the two secretaries to the editor, Lakshmanan and K S Rao. Incidentally, both Ramana and K S Rao died while on their way to office one after a brain haemorrhage and the other following a heart attack.

A taxi driver brought word of these two mishaps to the office peon, the lanky Lalta Prasad, something hard to imagine in these days of scarce human values. During the Indo-Pak conflict of 1965, taxi drivers at Chandni Chowk Kotwali were offering take people to the Lahore war front at Rs 20 per head in a show of national solidarity.

Mr Luther, a journalist, who had become an alcoholic, would often leave his battered old bicycle at the Press Club at night and get into any passing taxi, which brought him safely to his little room in Scindia House, where he usually held beer parties on Sunday afternoons, with friends like Sam, residing in nearby Janpath Lane and Mukker Sahib, chipping in if he fell short of cash. Once a tipsy sub-editor fell asleep in a taxi but the driver, following instructions, dropped him safely in Lodi Road from CP. He put back the sub's wallet in his pocket, from where it had fallen down, after deducting the standard fare. Such incidents are not heard of now, when the taxi seems to have lost to cheaper auto-scooters and the Metro, though Radio Taxis can be hired after just a telephone call.

R S Mukud, who was an editor in PTI news agency, used to get dropped home after night duty by taxi, available outside AIR station. Once he forgot his purse at home and when he reached there at 2.30 am, his wife opened the door only after he had knocked for half an hour. The taxi-wallah, tired of waiting, left saying he would collect the fare the next night, when the "editor sahib" hired his vehicle again. Mukud talked of this incident till long after his retirement.

- The Statesman, June 25, 2015

The historic Chhota and Bara Imambaras remained lock on Wednesday despite high court on Tuesday directing district administration to get them unlocked forthwith. The administration said it was trying for a peaceful solution by negotiating with Shia protestors who have put locks on the gate for the past 20 days and are adamant to carry on with their agitation till their demand to oust Shia Central Waqf Board chairperson Waseem Rizvi are met.

As part of 'peaceful negotiations', chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had called Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawad for a meeting to his official residence, but talks remained inconclusive. Jawad, who met CM along with a three-member delegation, later told reporters that Yadav assured him of taking "suitable action" after "studying" his demands—of CBI probe into corruption in Waqf Board, action against Waseem Rizvi who has already been found prima facie guilty by the CBCID and implementation of Sharia rules in Imambaras.

Jawad said as far as contempt of court was concerned, action should first be taken against the district magistrate for not complying with several court orders, including appointment of Justice (retired) Haider Abbas as receiver of the Hussainabad Trust. On a PIL, the high court had on Tuesday directed district administration to get the two Nawabi-era monuments unlocked and opened for tourists. It also directed the DM to maintain law and order situation around Imambaras and ensure no harm is caused to the monuments.

District magistrate Raj Shekhar, when contacted, said the administration is committed to implement court's order. "We are first trying peaceful methods to resolve the crisis," he said. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, one Jamir Naqvi moved application in the high court, pleading to make him a party in the case and claimed that Imambaras were gifted to the Shia community by Nawab of Awadh, Muhammad Ali Shah, through a deed in 1838.

- The Times of India, June 25, 2015

Some 100 days are being internationally observed by the United Nations to bring attention to an issue, to commemorate an event or perhaps, even to just celebrate something. So we have everything from International Day of Happiness to World Intellectual Property Day (from the sublime to the ridiculous). We required an International Day of Yoga before we created the awareness that went with it. We require the approval of the international community before we can appreciate the genius of our yogis and Patanjali. Do we need an International Day of Ayurveda and get it a stamp from the United Nations before we can feel proud of our healing heritage?

When I was secretary, Health & Family Welfare Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, we started the process of setting up a first-of-its-kind Ayurveda Hospital in the state. When the government changed, allegation petitions started flying to the new dispensation. One such petition to the Chief Minister stated that the setting up of an Ayurvedic College in Tamil Nadu was initiated because I was a Malayali (I am not). During the same period, steps had been initiated to set up many allopathic/Western medicine-based hospitals but there were no petitions accusing me of being either a Westerner or of being culturally biased towards the West. Trying to set up a college based on Indian heritage and knowledge is considered a very inappropriate thing for a health secretary!

We often accuse the British of having done away with our wonderful cultural heritage but after so many years of Independence, we still require the approval of the West before giving our ways of healing the place they deserve. If we think allopathy is scientific and ayurveda is not, we have to recognise the hands of pharma companies and their extremely clever marketing where they bring out the theory that ayurvedic drugs contain steroids and metals, which are not safe. I have been taking ayurvedic drugs for as long as I remember and none of the drugs had any steroids or metals.

If you have serious health conditions, certain treatments containing treated metals may be included. These ayurvedic preparations will cure the disease and not harm the patient unlike what I have seen many allopathic cancer drugs do to patients. Did the intensely toxic chemotherapy guarantee a cure? No. So why do people then go for it? Simple marketing! We are convinced that we look better in thick, nondescript blue jeans than we look in our gorgeous silks. If the jeans are torn, that's even better. I salute the genius of these marketing men. But do governments also have to fall prey to them? We have 36 government ayurvedic colleges as against 150 government allopathic colleges (I could not get an exact count from the Ministry but this would give you an idea of the ratio). So many years after Independence, we still have only one government ayurveda college to every four government allopathic colleges. Why? Is it to cater to Western pharma and to Western biomedical equipment manufacturers?

I am hoping that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with his ability to convince Indians and the world about the efficacy, need and importance of yoga, will do the same for ayurveda. For a start, we can increase the number of government ayurvedic colleges in India so that we have well-trained ayurvedic doctors. Ayurveda should become not an alternate system of medicine, but India's mainstream system of maintaining health and preventing and treating diseases.

The writer is retired Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu. She can be reached at Sheelarani.arogyamantra@gmail. com.

- The Indian express, June 27, 2015

As India's e-visa scheme for Chinese tourists is set to get implemented, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh have made a strong pitch to woo travellers from China with lucrative packages and their age-old spice, martial arts links besides natural beauty steeped in local culture.

With its well laid out publicity network, Kerala made a big show at a special evening for Chinese media and travel writers here by organising a fusion performance combining its ancient martial art 'Kalaripayattu' with China's Shaolin temple, whose early roots stretches to the South Indian state. Six performers of 'Kalaripayattu' joined hands with Shaolin experts highlighting similarities between two traditional art forms at a glittery get-together organised by the Indian Embassy here.

K Sunilkumar Gurukkal, who featured in movies along with Hollywood's Kung Fu star Jackie Chan, headed 'Kalaripayattu' team. Kathakali dance form was also displayed. Kerala's Tourism Minister A P Anilkumar is heading a delegation to China that includes state Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson and Tourism Secretary G Kamala Vardhana Rao. Anilkumar said the fusion of 'Kalaripayattu' and Shaolin showed that Kerala and China have a lot in common, reminding the Chinese the adventure travels undertaken by China's marine adventure traveller Zheng He to Kerala few hundred years ago. The state still has China's imprints like the Chinese fishing nets dotting the coast line of Kochi, a major landmark for tourists. Though Kerala attracted over a million foreign tourists last year, Chinese accounted for little over 4,000, he said.

India is also holding "Visit India Year" campaign all over China to attract Chinese tourists whose numbers to India were less than two lakh last year. Last year's Chinese tourists numbers visiting abroad touched about 100 million spending over USD 128 billion. Boosted by Chinese government push, its tourists travelled mostly in the Indian subcontinent to Nepal (1.4 lakh), Maldives (4 lakhs) and Sri Lanka (1.3 lakh) last year.

Kolkata's heritage buildings are part of the city's unique DNA, as distinct to its landscape as a fingerprint. The writers talk to novelist Amit Chaudhuri, who is spearheading the city's brave fight to save its heritage.

In one of Kolkata's most prosperous neighbourhoods stands a two-storey house. It has shuttered windows and large pillars, in the style typical of colonial Calcutta. The house belongs to Tapati Mukherjee, and was built by her grandfather in the 1930s, in an area called Hindustan Park. The house next to hers, built around the same time and in the same architectural style, is owned by a former chief of the Indian Football Association. It is being torn down. It will soon be replaced by an anonymous high-rise.

Mukherjee, however, is adamant that she will not let her house suffer a similar fate. The Director of Culture and Cultural Relations and the President of Rabindra Bhavan at Visva Bharati University in Santiniketan, she said, "I don't want to live anywhere else. The house has a cultural ambience and feeling of old-world grandeur (that) I do not find elsewhere. I vow to protect this house till my death."

Unfortunately, not everyone thinks like Mukherjee. Thousands of Kolkata houses with red-oxide floors and sleepy green-shuttered windows, the spacious porches on the ground floor, with their intricate cornices, elaborate wrought-iron grills, and open terraces are being destroyed at an incredible pace. These houses give Kolkata its unique old-world charm and reflect the amazing architectural ethos of the city, but they are being lost in the mad rush for multi-storey buildings and concrete chaos. This loss of heritage is not unique to Kolkata.

Several Indian cities today are battling this dilemma. In Jaipur, for instance, many of the privately-owned historical havelis, with their jaali windows, false fronts and pink facades — which gave the city its moniker of Pink City — are in danger of being lost forever. They have become dilapidated over time and are slowly beginning to be pulled down to make way for modern buildings. Some of these havelis date back over 100 years.

Mumbai has a splendid architectural history, with a mix of Art Deco, Indo-Saracenic and Victorian, all contributing to a rich variety of features that contribute to the city's signature 'look'. But many of these buildings are crumbling today and, in the absence of government incentives, owners prefer to let the heritage homes decay rather than spend their own money on upkeep, which is understandably an expensive task. Once the buildings reach a certain stage of disrepair, the owners are allowed to demolish them and sell the rights to redevelopers for a lucrative sum. This makes it much more difficult to persuade owners to look after them. Bangalore and Chennai, too, are fighting the same battle, as is the state of Goa, with its stunning built legacy in the Portuguese-Baroque style.

The only weak but bravely flickering touch of silver in this bleak skyline is the fact that informed citizens across India are taking up cudgels to try and save the country's heritage structures. The newest episode to this saga of protest is being staged in Kolkata, where several people — both ordinary and prominent citizens — have written to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, pointing to the urgent need to stop the destruction of these historic buildings. Most of these houses were begun in the 19th century and continued to flourish over the next hundred years. In fact, even during the recession of the 1930s, the cement industry was flourishing as the middle-class was constructing these huge houses.

Eminent writer Amit Chaudhuri, who is leading the campaign, said, "Destroying these buildings is to destroy one of the chief characteristics of this city's history of modernity. Kolkata is a modern city and these houses are emblems of the city's modernity… they are as important as the painting, literature and music of Bengal." For Chaudhuri, this is an old battle. He has been speaking and writing on the issue for many years now. He talks of how the architecture of many neighbourhoods in Kolkata is quite distinct from the Indo-Saracenic or neo-Gothic style of architecture that can be seen in other Indian cities. They represent a Bengali-European style that is not seen elsewhere.

The Kolkata heritage protest team includes architects, artists, film directors and academicians. And one common factor that everybody agrees upon is the fact that these old buildings are not important only because of the nostalgia that surrounds them but because they represent a certain time in history. If preserved well, these buildings can actually lead to very practical and modern benefits, such as increased tourism revenue and, in turn, a renewal of the city. Take, for instance, the boutique hotel that opened in Kolkata a couple of years ago. Called Hotel 233 Park Street (based on the door number), it occupies the ground floor of an imposing Zamindari mansion located at the much less stylish but no less historical Park Circus end of the city's famous restaurant street. Rather than tear the mansion down, with its classical pillars and high ceilings and wooden-slatted windows,

the owner has recreated a piece of the city's cultural history here. The rooms have antique mahogany or Burma teak furniture, and a potpourri of Zamindari and Colonial tapestries, lithographs, curios and floor lamps. The hotel's revenues could be used to revamp the rest of the mansion over a period of time. It is testimony to how sensible restoration can go a long way. As Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen has said, the rich history of early habitation in the Calcutta region has suffered not only from intellectual neglect but also from the destructive tendencies of the past. "We owe to future generations a preserved and unmutilated heritage of Calcutta's eccentric but exciting old buildings," Sen had said in response to the city's petitioners.

Even as Kolkata's mayor Sovon Chatterjee has claimed that it is "next to impossible" to preserve the old neighbourhoods and houses, the supporters of the campaign have agreed that a legislative intervention is required to preserve the buildings. Architect Partha Ranjan Das has also come up with another idea. He suggests that buyers must be incentivised by the introduction of a transfer of development rights. In other words, he says, "While the buyers (of heritage properties) will not be able to make changes to these old houses, they can transfer the floor area ratio to other projects that they are developing in other localities." This is a unique solution that must be looked at seriously, not just in Kolkata but across cities.

Meanwhile, Sugata Bose, historian and MP from Trinamool Congress, has assured the petitioners that he will take up the matter with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. "During the Chief Minister's upcoming visit to London, I will try to show her what the authorities have done there to preserve the neighbourhoods," he said. However, well-known artist Shuvaprasanna, who heads the West Bengal Heritage Commission, is very clear that the best of intentions cannot achieve anything unless there is a change in existing laws to prohibit the demolition of these houses.

"The German author, Günter Grass, was awestruck by the city and had raised the issue of renovation with former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee during the 1990s. However, the discussion was not taken forward and nothing much could be done." As he points out, most of the houses are owned by several members of a family and, in many of them, litigation is involved, so that most owners find it the easiest option to sell the houses to private builders. In fact, most owners don't see any value in the structure itself, and sell it for the value of the land alone. Bose speaks of the need to change mindsets so that people can better understand the innate heritage value of the buildings.

But others say that none of this might work because rampant unemployment has resulted in real estate becoming one of the few growing sectors. In other words, the developers will not be stopped easily. "We have declared a number of these as heritage houses but we are failing to preserve them despite investing crores of rupees," said the mayor, adding that the Kolkata Municipal Corporation has neither the resources nor adequate laws to deal with the issue. A recent Bengali film, Bhooter Bhabishyat, (The Future of the Ghosts) was a huge hit. In the film, ghosts evict the greedy builders from a 19th century palace and settle down in it themselves. In real life, will the city's heritage ever be able to evict the powerful builders and promoters?

The return of tourists to the 231-year-old Nawabi moument Bada Imambara was accompanied by an unwelcome squabble between guides over the attire of some visitors on Saturday. The monument had opened 23 days after a lockout in protest by Shia community members. On Saturday, there was impressive turnout of tourists and besides the argument the transit back to business was peaceful. Around 1,300 persons visited the Nawabi monument on Saturday, including five foreign tourists. Rs 66,200 were collected at the window selling tickets.

Following strict warning by the Shia community to maintain religious sanctity of the imambara, visitors were being asked to cover their heads and guides were also providing stoles to women to cover up. A scuffle took place among the guides, when one of them questioned other guides why a foreign tourist in skirt was being let into the imambara, while entry of an Indian visitor in similar attire was being restricted.

"Tourists coming in should maintain the religious sanctity of the Imambara, like in the case of other monuments and masjids in Delhi and other cities. We are trying our best to check tourists at our level," said Ali, a guide at the imambara. "This has been a long pending demand, we guides and others too have been raising and it is not asking for too much," added another elderly guide. As a beeline of tourists formed at the ticket counter, in the otherwise mundane month of Ramzan for tourist activity, Husainabad & Allied Trust (HAT) had provided its team of guides long cotton stoles to hand over to female tourists so that they covered up before entering the two main halls.

Several tourists felt awkward being told by men to cover their heads, while others had come in already covered. Running behind a young girl to ask her to keep the cloth on her head, another guide Nizam repeated the instructions. Her parents on the other hand chided her for not being careful. "I came to Lucknow this morning from Bangalore. Since I have my extended family living in Lucknow, I had been following the imambara issue. When I read this morning that gates had been unlocked last night, imambara was the first place I came to, reliving my childhood memories of this grand place. I came with a stole to cover my head and it was no big issue for me as it doesn't hurt to maintain harmony," said Shabeen Faruqi.

The district administration and the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) have launched a massive drive for the restoration of water bodies across the city, which have been encroached upon, either fully or partially. The drive comes in the wake of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday issuing a show-cause notice to the district magistrate and the GDA vice-chairman, as well as the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary, on the restoration of water bodies in Ghaziabad and the rest of the state.

While district administration, under the chief development authority, has identified 530 ponds in the city under its jurisdiction and is working on a plan to restore and free those which have been encroached upon, the GDA on Saturday carried out an anti-encroachment drive in the Model Town area to free an encroached water body, but finally had to back off following stiff resistance from local residents.

"After NGT's show-cause notice, we went to free a pond in Karkar Model Town that has been converted into a park, but owing to stiff resistance from locals, we had to retreat. We reasoned out with the agitators who relented after we showed them the NGT order. We will resume the drive on Monday," said VK Sonkar, the executive engineer of GDA. He added, "The GDA will intensify its drive in the days to come." Likewise, the district administration, too, have swung into action. "We have identified 530 water bodies under our jurisdiction and have employed men to dig up the pond area. As per our report out of 530 water bodies more than 84 are encroached upon and we have set a target of one month to free them of squatters," Krishna Karunesh, the chief development officer, said.

However, environmentalists are skeptical about the measures the district administration and the GDA are taking to restore water bodies. Sushil Raghav, on whose petition the NGT had issued the show-cause notice, said, "The agencies should first act on those water bodies which have been encroached upon by them." In Ghaziabad municipal area alone, 136 water bodies have been encroached by the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation, 16 by the GDA and 14 by the Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC) while 98 are by private parties. "They would not be able to hoodwink the green court with such selective and half-hearted drives," Raghav added.

Even as India is making headlines with its rising air pollution levels, the water in the country may not be any better. An alarming 80% of India's surface water is polluted, a latest assessment by WaterAid, an international organization working for water sanitation and hygiene, shows. The report, based on latest data from the ministry of urban development (2013), census 2011 and Central Pollution Control Board, estimates that 75-80% of water pollution by volume is from domestic sewerage, while untreated sewerage flowing into water bodies including rivers have almost doubled in recent years.

This in turn is leading to increasing burden of vector borne diseases, cholera, dysentery, jaundice and diarrhea etc. Water pollution is found to be a major cause for poor nutritional standards and development in children also. Between 1991 and 2008, the latest period for which data is available, flow of untreated sewerage has doubled from around 12,000 million litres per day to 24,000 million litres per day in Class I and II towns. The database defines Class I towns as those with a population of more than 1 lakh, whereas towns with population ranging between 50,000 to 1 lakh are classified as Class II.

The report, titled 'Urban WASH: An Assessment on Faecal Sludge Management (FSM) Policies and Programmes at the National and State Level', is likely to be released next week. According to the report, inadequate sanitation facilities, poor septage management and a near absence of sanitation and waste water policy framework are primary reasons responsible for the groundwater and surface water pollution in the country. Experts say there are glaring gaps not just in treatment of sewerage water but also in case of water treatment itself, used in supply of drinking water as well as for kitchen use etc.

"Though there are standards, the enforcement is very low. Even the amount of water, which is treated, is also not treated completely or as per standards. And there is no civic agency accountable or punishable for that because we do not have stringent laws," says Puneet Srivastava, manager policy- Urban WASH & Climate Change at WaterAid India. Findings of the report show nearly 17 million urban households, accounting for over 20% of total 79 million urban households, lack adequate sanitation.

"Among those with access to improved sanitation facilities, a vast majority relies on on-site sanitation systems, such as septic tanks and pit latrines. Today, these septic tanks and pit latrines have become a major contributor to groundwater and surface water pollution in many cities in the country," the report said. However, the report acknowledges that India has of late started focusing on the problem of septage management, which is one of the most immediately implementable solutions to address urban waste water.

But there is an urgent need to focus on infrastructure as well as enforcement, says Srivastava. "Most of the sewerage treatment plants are performing under their capacity as these utilities do not have enough money to run full capacity," says Srivastava pointing at dearth of human resource, improper management etc.

Estimates show there were 269 sewage treatment plants across the country, with 211 in Class I cities, 31 in Class II towns, and 27 in other smaller towns. "At the policy level, sanitation was not prioritized until the early 1990s and became an important policy concern only around 2008. It was not until the inception of the National Urban Sanitation Policy (NUSP) in 2008, that urban sanitation was allotted focused attention at the national level," the report said.

In a unique and first of its kind, Chhattisgarh archaeology department has unearthed most distinctive rarest of the rare ceramic pieces of Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW) dating back to 2nd century BC from its 2000-year-old mud-fort site Damroo in Baloda Bazaar-Bhatapara district.

Mainly found in Northern parts of archaeological sites including Taxila in Pakistan, Hastinapura, Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Pataliputra, Champa in Bihar, excavation of NBPW may include state's 40- acre of Damroo site among elite club of important sites in country.

The pottery is considered as rare and luxurious for it's made uniquely well navigated with fine clay, and that it has not been found in abundance indicates that it was among precious potteries found in ancient period which was used mainly by the elite or royal people.

Talking to TOI, Shivakant Bajpai, Excavation director Damroo and archaeologist Rahul Singh said, "This is the first finding of precious NBPW in Chhattisgarh and has been found in about 254 places in Indian sub-continent. Yielding this ceramic becomes an identity for any archaeological site because of its rarity. Properly baked and the paste potted in fast spinning wheel, the mat-finish shine pottery ware makes metallic sound when clinked and when broken, it has fine coarse unlike other potteries."

Though finding this ware may be infrequent but has been found in wide area like Saurashtra in Gujarat, Bandgarh in Bangladesh, Udaigram in Afghanistan, Tilorakot in Nepal and in Koraikal near Pondicherry, Bajpai added. "It was mainly manufactured between 6th century BC to 2nd century BC right from Buddha period and Mauryan period. While terracotta seals from 1st century AD were found, hopes for NBPW surfaces. Moreover, being a pottery hub, finding black and red ware, black slip ware which are associated wares of NPBW was promising," he said.

Now, the associated material would be sent for carbon dating to expert labs for authentication of its dates and would also make drawings with help of experts to find which part of pot or vessel are the pieces that are found. As per preliminary findings, seven pieces of NBPW has been found and according to Purushottam Sahu, excavation assistant chances of more such findings in the ancient mud-fort can't be refuted.

Dr BR Mani, additional director general, ASI (retd), Delhi told TOI, "What I could gather from archeologists is that NBPW is deposit of 50 centimeters which can date back to 2nd century BC period when Buddhism was spreading. The ware might have come through monks who might have stayed during migration and must have brought these potteries from north India." Dr Mani who excavated in Ayodhya during 2002-03 was the first to earliest date NBPW around 1200 - 1300 BC.

Director, Chhattisgarh culture and archaeology department Rakesh Chaturvedi said, "History of Chhattisgarh begins from 4-5 century AD onwards with few dotted evidences of early period. But finding this precious ware on 2nd century BC will help us connect the chronology of state's history as well as archaeology in continuous era. About Damroo: Located about 96 kilometres from state capital, Damroo has yielded richest pottery with black and red ware/ slip ware/ luster ware/ mica ware / stemmed or decorated pottery/ miniature pots.

Around hundreds of potteries were found intact on all levels of excavation which indicate huge urbanization on the site with ceramic industry. Evidences also indicate that Damroo was a Buddhist site with more than a dozen Votive stupas and other important artefacts. - The Times of India, June 28, 2015 Light at the end of ancient tunnels After remaining unnoticed for centuries, the ancient underground tunnels of Vijayapura city may now see the light of day, with the district administration keen on reviving these magnificent reminders of the rule of the Adil Shahi dynasty between late 15th century and late 17th century.

Deputy Commissioner D. Randeep has said the ancient water supply system will be revived and restored with help from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and other bodies. "This hidden history must be revived, preserved and protected," he told The Hindu . According to British writer Henry Cousens, who wrote extensively on the architectural remains of the then Bijapur in 1916, these intricately built chains of subterranean tunnels were the primary source to supply water from artificial lakes and wells to the ancient city.

Mr. Randeep said he would explore the possibility of introducing tunnel tourism by clearing a portion of a tunnel between Suranga Bawadi and Sainik School. Experts visiting the sites have said that a majority of the stretch was still intact and could be revived. Mr. Randeep said there was a long-term project to involve experts from Iran and the Indian Heritage Cities Network.

A sum of Rs. 60 lakh would be earmarked for consultation and revival, out of the Rs. 10 crore granted by the government for development of tourism. The Deputy Commissioner hoped that at least in the next three months, considerable work would be completed to open a small portion of the tunnel for the public. It may be noted that a similar ancient subterranean water system called 'karez' is found in Bidar city.

M.L. Khaneiki, groundwater expert from UNESCO's International Center on Qanats and Historic Hydraulic Structures, recently visited Bidar to study this ancient water system. There are plans to revive ancient underground tunnels of Vijayapura

Sanathana Dharma Charitable Trust: Gurusmarana to pay homage to Sri Sivananda Murthy, Tivoli Gardens, Secunderabad, 5.30 p.m. GENERAL Jayanthi: 94{+t}{+h}Jayanthi of former Prime Minsiter of India, P. V. Narasimha Rao, P. V. Gynabhumi, Necklace Road, 9.45 a.m. Diabetic Self Care Foundation: Health talk on 'Vitamin D and its Benefits', Vijaya Diagnostics Centre, next to Deccan Hospital, Somajiguda, 11 a.m. Telangana Vikas Samithi and Telangana Industrialists Federation: Round table conference on 'Section 8 and Recent Developments in Hyderabad', TGO Bhavan, Gruhakalpa, Nampally, 11 a.m.

Yuvatha: One-day special event for children 'Aamantran-2015', Mahendra Gardens, Kachiguda, 9 a.m. Homeopathic Medical Association of Telangana: Talk on 'Different Aspects of Carcinosin', Homeopathic Association of Telangana, Street no-1, Himayathnagar, 6 p.m. Children's Rights Initiative and Save Indian Family Group: National Father's Day Celebrations, Jawahar Bal Bhavan, Public Gardens, Nampally, 11 a.m. Seminar: Personality development and IQ Test by Yandamoori Veerendranath for students, Sri Shirdi Sai Baba auditorium, near Shivam, 2 p.m. Shine: Hyderabad Jumbo Job Fair 2015, MJ College, Sultan Ul Uloom, Road no-3, Banjara Hills, 10 a.m.

CULTURE South Indian Cultural Association: Two Telugu Playlets, 'Vaarni..Adha Vishyam' and 'Matruka', Ravindra Bharathi, 6.30 p.m. INTACH and Go-UNESCO: Heritage event titled #makeheritagefun-exploring Art College, Osmania University College of Arts and Social Sciences, 4 p.m. Sharada Cultural Trust: Silver jubilee year souvenir releasing function followed by musical discourse and music concert, Keyes Girls High School, Secunderabad, 6.30 p.m.

Hyderabad Zakat and Charitable Trust and Federation for Economic and Educational Development: The Annual Meet and Iftar, Khaja Mansion function hall, 5 p.m. Vignana Samithi: Classical music programmes, Anandnagar community hall, Khairatabad, 6 p.m. Vivek Vardhini Kanyashala: Centenary celebrations of Vivek Vardhini, Ravindra Bharathi, 10 a.m.

A group of villagers has revived a dried up river by building check-dams. River Meghal in Junagadh district dried up 15 years ago but this year, thanks to the effort of villagers, it overflowed after the very first spell of rain. Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) helped the villagers build as many as 1,100 structures, including 54 check dams, along the 70km length of the river. The cost of the project — it involved labour by 6,500 villagers from early 2000 to 2012 — came to Rs 7 crore. Incidentally, it costs the state government around Rs 8 crore to build an RCC sump and pump house.

The Mehgal has now turned into something of a 'perennial river' and has boosted farm output and prosperity of villages along its length. Check dams at strategic points ensure that water is available in the river throughout the year. Sonigbhai Dhandhiya, a farmer from Nani Dhanej, now grows three crops a year. Earlier, he had to be content with only one during the monsoon.

"The revived river has changed my life," he said. "My income has increased. Moreover, water levels in wells have also gone up. Further, the river has reduced salinity in the local water considerably." Dhandhiya has been able to renovate his house. "Usually, if a man's village faces water scarcity, he finds it difficult to find brides for his sons," he said. "But because of Meghal, I have been able to get one son married and the second one engaged."

Bhimjibhai Faryani, a farmer from Bhanduri village, says: "Earlier we used to grow only groundnuts and everything depended on the rains. Now I also grow wheat and vegetables in the Rabi season, as there is now adequate water because of the river." Apurva Oza of AKRSP said they had used a three-pronged approach for the Meghal River Basin Project. "Massive community participation, construction of check dams and use of traditional rain water-harvesting measures revived the river," he said.

The natural catastrophe in Uttarakhand in 2013 and the recent Nepal earthquake, which saw unprecedented death and destruction, has certainly exposed the vulnerability of heritage sites. The Valley of Flowers in Chamoli district, which is a Unesco world heritage site, bore the brunt in the disaster. The Dharahara tower in Nepal, too, met the same fate. However, there have been little efforts towards devising a strategy to minimise damage to the heritage sites,

particularly structures that are more than a century-old. Most of the heritage sites are virtually defenceless to potential natural disasters like floods and earthquakes and even forest fires. The present disaster preparedness and response mechanism policies do not have any plan for heritage sites. Several key bridges were washed away and trekking routes were demolished in the Valley of Flowers during the Kedarnath deluge. The normalcy is still to be resorted even two years of the calamity.

Girish Joshi, a disaster management expert, said, "These old constructions have in them wisdom of our forefathers, who were wise enough to resort to the best of techniques and material to ensure that the structures are safe and sound. However, with the passage of time these structures certainly need an action plan to safeguard them from potential natural threats", Joshi points out. He said the sudden collapse of the Dharahara tower, the most famous tourist destination in Nepal, was unimaginable as it had withstood several other earthquakes. However, the recent one proved detrimental to its existence.

A Unesco Centre for World Natural Heritage Management and Training for Asia-Pacific region here in Dehradun has been working for the conservation of heritage conservation in Asia and Pacific region. Director of the centre Vinod Mathur underlines the need for the inclusion of world heritage sites in national disaster reduction policies and calls for the development of an action plan for disaster risk reduction in world heritage management plans. "World heritage properties do not have any established policy, plan or process for managing vis-à-vis reducing risks associated with potential disasters", he added.

Hariraj Singh, a disaster management consultant, admits that heritage structures need special work plan for conservation which should also include the aspect of risk reduction to disasters. "There have been a rise in the incidents of climate change induced natural disasters across the globe. Special measures to safeguard heritage sites from disasters are needed to be taken on a priority basis", he added.

"Although the Biodiversity Act was passed in 2002, a large section of people are not aware of it. There is an urgent need to create awareness regarding this Act and students should be involved in the process of documentation of biodiversity," said Madhav Gadgil, a veteran environmentalist at Sane Guruji hall of the government high school Keri-Sattari.

Speaking as a chief guest for a series of lectures organized by Goa University under the extension service unit, he further said, "The Act has been passed 13 years ago. In order to manage the biodiversity of a local area, this Act has a lot of provisions.

The environment impact assessment done for the proposed Mopa international airport has been based on unrealistic facts and figures. Scientists, researchers of Goa University and other institutes should come forward to show what are the follies committed by the agency involved in making the EIA report for the proposed Mopa airport."

"The government authorities have miserably failed in protecting the environment and ecology. Rivers in various parts are polluted and fish and aquatic life are dying. If complaints are lodged the concerned authorities are not serious in taking action against the law breakers. When I had cross-checked an EIA done by an agency for a mining company at Cavrem in Quepem taluka,

it had not recorded two perennial springs which are in its vicinity and it had also not mentioned the sacred groves that had been protected by the local tribals. The geological map too had no record of these springs. The biodiversity management committee has to prepare a biodiversity register and a specimen for the electronic database for collecting information," he said. There is an urgent need to document various types of water bodies, flora and fauna, mountain peaks by involving students under the guidance of teachers, educators of biodiversity, he emphasized.

Writer Maria Aurora Couto, who was present as the guest of honour, said, "We have to protect our Goa for posterity. Today, there are a number of forces posing a threat to environment and ecology of the small state. Local people are struggling to protect their villages from haphazard development, whereas government instead of helping them is making efforts to curb their voices." The incharge headmaster Digambar Bhaje, welcomed the guests and Subodh Phadke compered the programme. Professor RamraoWagh and Rupesh Patkar were present on the dais.

They don't make cenotaphs anymore. But on the banks of river Ahar, about 5 km from The City Palace, Udaipur, there is a new tourist and academic attraction, the restored cenotaphs. After arduous effort of two years, the largest cenotaph complex among the medieval Rajput cenotaph complexes in the state is being restored, not just for tourism but as a monument to be showcased for ideal practices of restoration.

The cenotaph complex has always been a part of medieval Rajput towns along with other urban components. Due to its association with funerary activities the complex had always been ignored as a significant heritage component of a historic town. And while other buildings were restored over the years, the cenotaphs were a neglected lot in the conservation process.

Under the restoration plan to begin with two, 400-year-old cenotaphs in dilapidated condition that took about two years of rigorous effort have been recently completed. "The Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation (MMCF) has taken up the onus of conserving and protecting the cenotaphs of Rana Amar Singh I (1597-1620 AD), 55th custodian of the House of Mewar and Rana Sangram Singh II (1710-1734 AD), 61st custodian of the House of Mewar, as they are an important part of the culture and heritage," said Bhupender Singh Auwa, administrator-in-chief of MMCF.

The Ahar Cenotaph Complex commonly known as 'Mahasatya ji', spread over an area of 3.2 hectares, was established under the royal patronage of the House of Mewar. One of the largest cenotaph complexes, with 10 distinctive heritage components makes this complex a very significant heritage component of the medieval town of Udaipur. The complex is a unique example of memorial and ceremonial architecture. What makes this complex unique is its sacred linkage with a holy 'kund' known as Gangod Bhava Kund where the bathing ceremony is held after the cremation.

Today the complex includes 319 cenotaphs (memorial chattri) among which the most prominent are 21 cenotaphs of the Ranas and Maharanas who were cremated here. Along with the cenotaphs, there is a cluster of temples among which the most prominent one is the 10th century temple of Shiva and Parvati, constructed in 'Gurjar Pratihara' style and a few stepwells which were built under the patronage of various rulers of Mewar.

"In the present context Rana Amar Singh I cenotaph's platform cleaning, reinserting the damaged structural members and lime work on the dome are in progress. But most of the conservation work in Rana Sangram Singh II's cenotaph's is complete," said Auwa.

Remarkably, the conservation master plan here not only provides guidelines for future intervention and development but also aims at serving as a model in heritage management. "The project is specifically focused on skill development in restoration process for students of architecture and crafts persons in the region through field training programme on site by undertaking complete restoration works of the two cenotaphs. Step-by-step guidelines and manuals for future work in restoration will guide and assist architectural students and young professionals in future assignments," said Auwa.

On a recent Monday , hundreds of Tamil Jains assembled under a huge banyan tree in Pathiripuliyur near Tindivanam to perform a special puja. With small bags full of flowers and fruits, they waited as the priest decorated the newly-constructed structure erected to house an abandoned sculpture of Mahavira, the 24th and last Tirthankara of Jainism.

It was with the small donations that the Tamil Jains had collected from within their community that they could construct concrete structures in six places in Villupuram to house the sculptures of Tirthankaras that they found abandoned during their monthly heritage walks. It was a noble act by a small community that is struggling to retain its space in the state.

Once flourishing across Tamil Nadu, the Tamil Jains belonging to the Digambar sect are facing an identity crisis today. Migration, urbanization and lack of leadership are said to be the cause of this. "Once Jain villages flourished from Kanyakumari to Kancheepuram. But today, there are only 132 Jain villages in TN.Agriculture was the main source of income in those days. Due to rapid urbanization, many migrated to the cities. Those who live in TN today don't follow the ancient customs," said K Ajitha Doss, a Jain scholar based in Chennai.

Lack of leadership, according to Ajitha Doss, is another reason that makes many disoriented."Jainism played a vital role in moulding the culture and art of the Tamils. It also left an indelible mark on the thought and life of the people. Today, we lack great leaders who can teach our youngsters about our customs," he said.

Yet, some are working determinedly toward a resurgence.Though a largely invisible minority, a few thousands resolutely identify themselves as Jains de spite the whitewashing effects of Tamil Hinduism. Mostly poor farmers, these Tamil Jains have tried to reconstruct their heritage and rediscover rituals and practices.

"We don't have a god in Jainism. We have only Tirthankaras.But today Jainism has been diluted due to the influence of Hindu styles of worship in many villages. This may not kill Jainism, but these practices can lead to a lot of confusion," said P Rajendra Prasad, a retired engineer who has been spearheading some of the activities aimed at reviving Jainism in Tamil Nadu.

The official narrative of the Dravidian movement accords a high place to Jainism and sees it as a source of Tamil values. But that is likely only a political ploy to create a separate identity for Tamils as not belonging to mainstream Hinduism. In reality, the community gets a raw deal from the politicians and successive state governments, community elders say . "Politicians don't need us mainly because we are not a votebank for them," he said.

But Prasad is hopeful. "We have more than 100 Jain hill sites and monuments in TN. We still find abandoned sculptures of Tirthankaras every month. On Monday , we performed puja in six places in Villupuram where we constructed concrete structures for six Tirthankara idols that were found abandoned during our monthly heritage walk. At least 300 people participated in the event. The response was good, and we hope to do such event across TN to revive our community," he said.

As part of the effort to revive the customs, Jain trusts have been formed in many districts. "The trusts formed in many districts are doing a lot of community-related activities. They will help to unite the scattered members," said Ajitha Doss.

A considerably long stretch of the Great Wall of China has disappeared due to natural erosion and unchecked human activity in the absence of preservation measures, says a report in Beijing Times.

Research conducted by the China Great Wall Society showed that only around eight percent of the Great Wall built in Ming dynasty -- the most visible section of the Great Wall today -- are well-preserved.

The report on Sunday, citing a survey last year by the Great Wall of China Society, said nearly one-third of the Wall has given way as rains led to the erosion of ramparts and the wall. Trees and grass growing in the cracks of the wall have also increased the risks of collapse.

Meanwhile, human destruction, illegal trade or the practice of stealing bricks from the Great Wall have threatened the conservation of this Unesco world heritage. Villagers living near the wall are also reportedly selling the special bricks used on the Great Wall that have carved Chinese characters.

An increasing number of tourists who explore parts of the Great Wall that have not been repaired have also led to its destruction. Some local governments only protect and repair a short section of the Great Wall - the part that attracts most visitors - and brings economic benefits, the report said. But a major part of the Great Wall, in areas that have not been turned into tourist spots, are in a derelict condition.

Dong Yaohui, vice chairman of the China Great Wall Society, was reported as saying that the Great Wall was an architectural marvel and a major world cultural heritage, and hence the repair and protection work should be extended to encompass the entire Great Wall, rather than only a section of it.

Endowments Department Regional Joint Commissioner S.S. Chandrasekhara Azad said the government had issued a G.O. on Sobha Yatra. He added that district authorities had been directed to constitute committees for overseeing the transport of 'Pushkara Jalam in Kavallu' (Godavari sacred water in decorated vessels) from Rajahmundry.

The committee members will start from all districts on July 12 and reach Dwaraka Tirumala in West Godavari by evening. On July 13, they will take the 'Pushkara Deeksha' and take up a 72-km 'Pada Yatra' to Rajahmundry via Nallajarla, Devarapalli and Kovvuru Pushkara Nagar and reach Kotilingala Ghat on July 16 morning.

All members will take the sacred water in "Kavallu" and back to their districts on the same evening in buses. The water will be mixed in all tanks, reservoirs in mandals and villages.

Scholars differ on dates Scholars differed on dates of observing Godavari Pushkarams. Maha Mahopadhyaya Award winner and astrologer Madhura Krishnamurthy Sastry said Godavari Pushkarams should be observed from Sunday (June 28).

He along with his sons and a few disciples had Pushkara Snanam (holy dip) on that day. According to Mr. Butte Veerabhadra Daivagna Sidhanthi, "Aasthana Sidhanthi" of Srisailam Devasthanam, Pushkarams should be observed from July 7. However, all the Swamijis of different mutts from all over the India and others said Pushkarams should be observed from July 14.

Biodiversity conservation is not a destination but a journey. While the rationale for this long and enduring journey is clear, often the avenues are not, due to our inadequate knowledge of the interrelationships and interaction of different elements of biodiversity with the environment, their ecological requirements and prescriptions of sustainable use.

Biodiversity conservation is best achieved through a combination of protection, preservation and intelligent use. In India, we are well placed on the global biodiversity richness map, representing three of the biodiversity 'hotspots' by Conservation International – the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka, the Himalayas and the Indo Burma. We have been able to provide the necessary protection to those which need our intervention with some degree of success braving threats like habitat destruction and poaching.

This has been achieved through a network of protected areas – national parks, sanctuaries and reserve forests, sacred groves and community managed forests. With a set of stringent legislations including the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and National Wetland Rules, 2010, we have a National Biodiversity Authority to safeguard the nation's biological assets.

The three-tier Authority that empowers our villages, states and Centre has no parallel in the world. The five national bureaus for plant, animal, tree, fish and agriculturally important micro-organisms have well established facilities for conservation of the aforementioned genetic resources. In the global arena, we are signatories to the international conventions on biodiversity, wetlands of global significance, desertification and the laws of the seas.

With a mixed bag of stories, we need to introspect biodiversity conservation, our success and failures and focus on the impediments we face. In addition to the attention on charismatic species, we need a deeper understanding of our ecosystems also teeming with a diversity of smaller groups of flora and fauna. The immense ecosystem services they provide – the regulatory, provisioning and the cultural – are presently least understood and general awareness is limited.

Scientific knowledge on these is now inimical for conservation management. The genetic diversity of our species needs assessment, for it's the diversity in genes which helps biological species to cope and adapt to natural and anthropogenic stresses. They contribute to the resilience in functioning of ecosystems.

Biological diversity studies need an upgradation from species inventory to dynamics of their population, the role they play in ecosystems, their present distributional ranges, projections in event of threats like climate change and habitat loss. Conservation assessment

An information base collating ongoing research country wide has to be created so that meaningful contributions could be made to conservation assessment processes like Red listing and Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) delineation by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the 2020 Global Biodiversity targets, and to the management and working plans for forests of India. The very fabric of creating Biodiversity Registers under the Biodiversity Rules, 2006 has been an opportunity to monitor its trends with country's citizens needs encouragement and strengthening.

Biodiversity conservation is intricately linked to its sustainable use. Many plant species for which cultivation protocols do not exist, continue to be exploited in the wild in absence of spe-cies specific standards for their sustainable harvest. Measures like complete banning or rotational harvesting of non timber forest products have been futile, illegal collections are rampant and local communities in vicinity of forests are highly dependent on these for their livelihood.

New approaches initiated like forest certification or introduction of standards by organisations like the Fairchild, need piloting. Efforts are on to exe-mplify certification of forest management units through principles, criteria and indicators of certifying agencies like the Forest Stewardship Council. Promotion of sustainable fisheries through Marine Stewardship Council has been recently initiated in lake Ashtamudi, a Ramsar site, in Kerala.

Efforts of this kind need an upscaling country wide. Development and implementation of species specific standards will require intensive research on the ecological needs of the species, their regeneration, ability to withstand stress and the ecosystem services they provide. Outcomes of sound empirical studies can only contribute to good practices and modelling sustainable harvesting. (The writer is Associate Professor, Department of Natural Resources, TERI University)

Even while ill-maintained trees on roadsides pose a threat to motorists and pedestrians, some Fort Kochi residents have shown a way to save them. While constructing a drain near Nehru Park at Fort Kochi as part of the tourism department's project to beautify the streets, roots of a big tree was cut. Thereafter, some of the residents moved the court and secured a verdict asking the department to construct protection walls and protect big trees along the stretch where a walkway project is getting underway.

It was in September 2014 that the tourism department started the work on K J Herschelle Walkway Project. "We soon brought the issue to the notice of the revenue divisional officer (RDO). He gave instructions to tourism officials to stop the work of the drain. Later, the tourism department tried to resume the work, but the local residents blocked them,'' said Derson Antony, general secretary, International Forum for Cultural Heritage and Tradition. "Then, we moved the high court which issued an order that the trees along the walkway should be protected,'' he said.

Now, tourism department has started construction of protection walls for trees along K J Herschelle Walkway in Fort Kochi. "Following the court order, we changed the alignment of the drain,'' a tourism department official said. Meanwhile, an audit was conducted in Fort Kochi sub-division to identify the number of potentially dangerous trees in various government institutions.

The audit, which was conducted as per the instructions of sub-collector S Suhas, was carried out on Monday at government offices, public sector enterprises, educational institutions, public works department, local self-government as well as corporation and municipal offices in the division.

Victoria Memorial Hall (VMH) that has consistently received a big thumbs up from travellers has entered the TripAdvisor 'Hall of Fame'. It is the only museum in India to receive the honour that is extremely coveted since the rating is based on direct feedback from travellers. TripAdvisor with more than 200 million reviews is considered a traveller's online Bible, much like the Lonely Planet is offline.

"VMH has been inducted into the TravelAdvisor Hall of Fame after being awarded the Certificate of Excellence for five consecutive years. This is a huge honour because it reflects the genuine feedback of visitors to the Raj era monument," VMH secretary and curator Jayanta Sengupta told TOI on Monday.

The official concedes he is pleasantly surprised by the honour because he considers Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), formerly Prince of Wales Museum of Western India, in Mumbai to be the best managed museum in the country. "To be ranked still higher by visitors is a huge honour," said Sengupta, as delighted as the curator of Art Institute of Chicago that has been rated higher than either the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Museum of Modern Art in New York.

VMH and CSMVS had earlier received top billing from Lonely Planet and Fodor's, the largest travel related publication in English. "This is a beautiful place to visit in Kolkata. There are some amazing paintings inside which give you a glimpse of past India. May be having a guide can enrich the experience. There are some beautiful sculptures to see as well," Rahul Bansal wrote on TripAdvisor, reflecting the awe that visitors experience on viewing the marble masterpiece and discovering the treasure trove within. "Profound display of art, sculpture and history. From the entrance Guard Lions till the exit, it's a visual treat of art and craftsmanship. You cannot miss it," wrote Ashutosh Joshi.

Sengupta believes constant attempts to innovate and revitalize exhibition at VMH resonated with visitors. "We have in the past couple of years been extremely active in rotating exhibits. We are aware that expectations keep rising and are trying to adapt all the time," he remarked. The curator is aware that to stay on top, VMH will have to take bigger strides in the virtual space as attracting younger visitors who are hooked on to phones and other electronic devices is a major challenge facing all museums.

"Museums cannot be just repositories of the past. It has to be an open-ended cultural space, a hangout zone. At VMH, we are engaging the youth through Facebook and Twitter. Soon, we will upload on Youtube video recording of all programmes held in the past two-three years. The endeavour will be to upload the video in 24 hours in the near future and then attempt livecast," he said. VMH is also attempting to make its website more dynamic so that it can be viewed across devices—smart phone, tablet and PC.

"We will also be regularly hosting virtual exhibitions so that even those who do not visit VMH can enjoy the rich repository of art. Very soon, we will host two thematic digital exhibitions: Oriental scenery by 18th century English landscape artists Thomas and William Daniell and Works by Abanindranath Tagore. Since only a small part of the collection can be physically exhibited, we will enhance our digital presence," Sengupta added.

The row over the restoration of Laxmi Vilas Palace, the birthplace of Rajarshi Shahu Chhatrapati Maharaj, is unlikely to end anytime soon. District guardian minister Chandrakant Patil has reconstituted the restoration committee and expert members from the panel have voiced their doubts over the execution of the proposed museum on the premises.

Members have sought time from the archaeology department to study the museum proposal. They have raised objections over the structure of the museum and demanded that it should be related to Shahu Maharaj only. They are likely to submit their report on July 2.

Patil has reconstituted the restoration committee to include Bharatiya Janata Party's district president Mahesh Jadhav and Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Pawar. Former minister Satej Patil, former MLAs P N Patil and Maloji Raje have been removed from the committee.

Sources in the archaeology department said as per the government's norm, guardian minister can replace the members according to the requirements. The earlier committee was dominated by Congress leaders. The expert members such as historian Jaysingrao Pawar, Ramesh Jadhav, Vasantrao Mulik and Indrajeet Sawant have been reintroduced in the new committee.

In addition, a separate sub-committee will study the proposal of museum. Uday Surve, an officer of archaeology department will be the secretary of the sub-committee. Ramesh Jadhav, Indrajeet Sawant, curator of Town Museum Amrut Patil, heritage architect Amarja Nimbalkar will constitute the committee. The committee will study the proposal and prepare its final report in two months.

Since 2012, the committee members were insisting that the department make a roof that would suit the Shahu era structure of 1874. However, the contractor has used cement moulded roofs. "Expert members are insisting that the museum should reflect the Shahu era and must consist material, things used by Shahu Maharaj. We are studying the present proposal and found very less importance given to it. We will submit our report on July 2 to the department and will object to the provisions made in the proposal," said Sawant, Shahu historian.

State government has approved restoration plan of Rs 8.50 crore in 2007. The museum was included in the plan in 2012-13 on demand of the local activists. The proposed museum of Rs 7.50 crore consists exhibiting paintings depicting Shahu Maharaj's era and the prevalent culture. Eminent painters in the state are being invited to draw the paintings. The plan also consists of models of wrestling pit, railway station, Sathmari and sound-and-light show at Laxmi Vilas Palace.

The birthplace restoration project is underway since last eight years and the panel members have often expressed their annoyance over the quality and delay in work. At present, almost 80% restoration has been completed but not to the satisfaction of the members. Some work of constructing an entrance gate for which Rs 1.14 crore had been sanctioned, paving road and landscaping are yet to be completed.

"We have told guardian minister Chandrakant Patil, who is president of the committee, that we are not happy with the overall work. Patil has agreed to the replace the roof of the building known as the birthplace of Shahu Maharaj. Though our demand was to replace the roof of all the buildings, we have decided to agree with the replacement of roof of one building only," said Sawant.

You may have heard the story about the ghostly apparition that haunts the ramparts of Shaniwarwada, one of the most urban legends of the city, but have you heard about the spirit of the young boy who likes to trip devotees of a temple in Sadashiv Peth?

A city with a rich history and a landscape of crumbling wadas and abandoned mansions, Pune is a ripe setting for stories from beyond the grave. These myths, thought up by overactive imaginations and retold through the generations, have become a part of an oral tradition.

A collection of some of these stories was recently shared in a storytelling session, 'Haunted Pune', organized by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Pune. "Often, preserving heritage is limited to built heritage in the form of monuments. But there is so much more that is a part of our heritage, including oral traditions like these ghost stories. By conducting this session, we aren't trying to promote superstition, but exploring other forms of our heritage," said Jui Tawade, a member of INTACH.

The tremendous response (over 80 people attended the event that had initially been planned as an intimate storytelling session) was testament to the continuing lure of these stories. The themes — unrequited love, treacherous assassins or cantankerous caretakers — are not very different from stories from other genres, but adding a spooky touch makes them more exciting.

"Apart from the story about Shaniwarwada, none of these stories are widely discussed. They are all historic spots in the city and the stories seem to have emerged to add to their mystique. They seem to be discussed in small circles.

Every once in a while, of course, we do come across people who really really believe in ghosts or spirits and it is a constant endeavour to challenge these claims," said Avinash Patil, executive president of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti. Ghost stories are, however, an effective medium for people to relate to a city.

"If you know a gruesome tale of what happened at a particular spot, it makes you think you really belong to the city," said Sharvey Dhongde, co-convener of INTACH, Pune, who moderated the session. A stone's throw away from Shaniwarwada, in a darkened hall along a lane lined by wadas, Dhongde began narrated his stories. Every once in a while, someone in the audience would flash a torch or let out an eerie sound to set the mood.

For his first story, as if in the form of a disclaimer, Dhongde narrated an adaptation of English writer Saki's 'The Open Window,' setting the tone for a rationalist view of these tales. But the success of his yarn lay in the details — Pune hit by the plague at the turn of the 19th century, a young British surveyor roaming the wadas of Kasba Peth in the rains, even weaving in the 1857 war of independence.

His stories captured a view of the city as it existed in the past. That the premises of the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) used to be the home of the Governor of Bombay is a well-known fact. But when you are told about the young Alice Richman, who was part of the Governor's retinue but tragically died here, it becomes easier to imagine the university's main building as a Governor's mansion.

Or the claims that cries of soldiers on the battlefield can be heard at night at the desolate parts of the campus of Deccan College are a reminder that the Battle of Khadki occurred not too far away. In the same way, the story of the ghost of Joshi kaka in Pashan preserves the memory that the area once used to be agricultural land, often held by the elite who lived in the city. "Most ghosts in Pune seem to be of the benign sort, there aren't any vicious stories. It is as if the city of culture has rather cultured ghosts as well," Dhongde said.

As the floor was thrown open to the audience, more ghosts came tumbling out. These tales, set in housing societies with runaway elevators or involving modern technology like video-chatting, were ample proof that the lure of haunted stories continues. Some of the popular spooky myths of Pune: Shaniwarwada "Kaka! Mala Vachva!"

The origins of this myth go back to the era of the Peshwas. Raghunathrao had hopes of becoming Peshwa himself, but his young nephew Narayanrao was nominated instead. Differences between the two resulted Raghunathrao in hiring mercenaries to depose Narayanrao, but they killed him instead. As they chased him through the corridors of the Palace, Narayanrao appealed to his uncle for rescue, "Kaka, mala vachva! (Uncle, save me!)" Overcome by guilt, Raghunathrao could still hear his nephew's cries and the legend was born. It is believed that the cries can still be heard.

Lady in White at Savitribai Phule Pune University Alice Richman (born in Australia) was a part of the retinue of the Governor of Bombay when she died, probably of cholera. Her grave is found on the premises of the university. Over the years, tales of a unrequited love emerged along with the belief that the wandering spirit of Alice makes an appearance only to couples.

Lady on Balcony of Vishrambaugwada Breaking the cliche of wandering women in white, is the tale of the woman of Vishrambaugwada. Dressed from head to toe in green, the tradiitonl she has been spotted looking out of the balcony of the wada.

Merrymakers at Victory Theatre For a long time the belief persisted that after the last show in this movie theatre, the sounds of creaking chairs and people laughing.

A Rs 21-lakh challenge to bust ghost claims In a bid to challenge widespread belief in ghosts and spirits, the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti has thrown an open challenge that they will pay Rs 21 lakh to anyone who can provide actual proof of paranormal experiences.

"We have always endeavored to counter these kind of claims with rational scientific arguments. So whenever such a claim is made, we appeal to the people not to be taken in by them and point out that there can never be any scientific evidence for it. We have even offered the Rs. 21 lakh prize as proof of our confidence," said Avinash Patil, executive president of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti.

Patil pointed out that there are often scientific explanations for experiences that are described as "paranormal" for instance an undiagnosed psychosomatic condition and the organization focuses on these.

Memories are triggered by a piece of music, a phone call, a painting, a newspaper article or a photograph, like this one which brought an overwhelming flood of memories that simply must be shared!

The 1971 academic year at Bishop Cotton Girls' School had begun a few weeks before I joined as a teacher. Seventeen-year-old Christabel, a trained teacher, was in charge of the nursery section. This gorgeous, miniskirted young person needed an assistant, so the hunt was on for a second teacher. Susheila Mani, a friend on the faculty, managed to persuade me to write an application and present it to the Principal Mrs Acca Joseph. I entered the office with much trepidation but I need not have worried. As a parent of the school, motherly and mature at age 33, I was qualified for the job.

The following morning I walked into a room full of little girls and boys. They had taken their first step into the big world where each day brought fresh challenges and learning opportunities. Each one was one-of-a-kind and precious. It was a joy and a privilege to sing and dance and play with them. Their spontaneous response to stimuli, the natural development of social, intellectual and physical skills — it was fascinating to watch them bloom before our eyes. A special mention must be made of the parents who expressed their faith in us by appreciating and encouraging us. Christabel and I must have been a great team indeed.

Alas, my transfer to the high school came all too soon, but my interest in the nursery remained constant. I look at this photograph with pride as many of these little ones went on to make a great career for themselves. Ajay Loganadan is Head Investment Strategy Group Americas with HSBC Private Bank and Ravi Gopal Varma is a senior neurologist at the MS Ramaiah Memorial Hospital. Ashwin Shetty is the director of Classic Group while Sarosh Saher went on to become a renowned architect and is currently a Senior Planner with the City of Elgin, Illinois. Vivek Chandy is a senior partner in J Sagar Associates, one of India's largest law firms.

Change they say is inevitable. Numbers in the class doubled. Many new sections were added. Then the boys left the girls' school. There was also change of another kind. As the years went by, many a garage space and portico in the City was turned into playschools. At least one year of 'schooling' was done before they reached Cottons. The first day saw them getting together in little gangs, playschool A, B and so on. Senior prefects, assigned to cheer newcomers through their first week at school, withdrew. The hapless teacher was left to manage the many 'princesses'. As more mothers went to work, grandparents became a 'desirable commodity'. Admissions were sought at any cost. The race began, to be number one.

Hundred-and-fifty years is a milestone indeed! Last month I was privileged to participate in a 'Heritage Walk' organised as part of the Sesquicentennial celebrations of the Bishop Cotton Schools. Meera from INTACH, an old Cottonian, gave us a brief account of the historical background in which the schools came into being. There were facts and figures and photographs and anecdotes which made the experience a memorable one.

As we moved from St Mark's Cathedral, past Bowring Institute, through both the schools, we got a glimpse of the determination of the founding fathers, the tenacity of dedicated heads that sustained the school through difficult times and the zeal of the missionaries who emphasised truth, justice and honour. There is no present without the past, even as there is no future without the present.