Vol. 11 Issue: 15A Fortnightly publicAtion oF the high commission oF indiA, london

India launches

Insat-3D P3

1st issue of August 2013

Green boon with

eucalyptus P6

History and

harmony P8

Now, you can access India’sExternal Affairs Ministrywebsite, its passport services,

get to know your Haj status, or evenpose a question on foreign policy to theMinister — thanks to a smartphoneapp MEAIndia — launched in NewDelhi on July 29.

“It’s a one-stop-shop to provide youall you need to know,” said formerForeign Secretary Ranjan Mathai afterinaugurating the app at an event in NewDelhi. He retired on July 31.

Through the app, the Ministry hadtried to “adapt and adopt” to the needsof communication today, Mathai said.

The Ministry website, which last yeartook on a new look, is on course to get amillion visitors in the first year of itslaunch, he added.

The Ministry’s common digitalIdentity “is falling in place”, with all the120 Indian missions adopting a similartemplate. While 50 missions have adopt-ed the new template and made the tran-sition, the others are set to do so by2014, he said.

The Ministry is also reaching outacross the country in different languagemedia. Besides providing informationin Hindi, the Ministry is now provid-ing information in Malayalam, Bengali,Tamil and Urdu. Press releases inAssamese and Telugu are soon to begin,Mathai said.

Through the app, people can get helpwith passport, visa, and if abroad getconsular assistance, or even share theirviews and join the larger conversationon India’s foreign policy.

Users can also find out how toundertake the Kailash ManasarovarYatra and Haj Pilgrimage.

MEA gets interactive withone-stop-shop mobile app

His Facebook page has over35,000 likes, he is onYouTube, he has done awaywith excessive security to

mingle with the crowd, stuffy honorificshave been replaced and the palatialRashtrapati Bhavan has been thrown opento visits by the public — just some of thethings that President Pranab Mukherjeehas done in his first year in office to liveup to being a ‘People’s President’.

Mukherjee, 77, who became India’s13th President on July 25 last year afteran active political life of over 40 years,has kept up the momentum of being aPresident who thinks differently and yetmaintaining the decorum of the highoffice since taking over the country’stop job, largely seen as ceremonial.

Right from his well-crafted speech-es, which always have something to sayto the people, his decision to drop thehonorific of “His Excellency”, his deci-sion to confine most presidential func-

tions within the Rashtrapati Bhavan toprevent inconveniencing the public —Mukherjee has always been in the pub-lic eye.

To mark the day, the President had abusy schedule with back-to-back func-tions — opening a public library forresidents of Rashtrapati Bhavan, dedi-cation of a cricket ground in the schoolwithin the President’s estate, unveilingof a bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhiand launch of digital initiatives linked

to the President’s website. During the last one year as the

President of the country of over onebillion people, Mukherjee had travelledto 23 states, which includes five statesof the North-East during which he vis-ited 36 educational institutions.

Tours to Rashtrapati Bhavan are opento the public three days a week, thechange of guard ceremony everySaturday has been thrown open to thepublic, the library and its trove ofancient books, which were in anunkempt state earlier, have beenrestored and catalogued.

Besides opening up to the public,Mukherjee has sought to create morefacilities for the large number ofRashtrapati Bhavan staff. The Presidenthas begun sports facilities for the chil-dren of staffers. The President has alsoroped in the Indian National Trust ForArt and Cultural Heritage for conserva-tion of the 320-acre Presidential Estate.

People’s PresidentAn active politician for over four decades, President Pranab Mukherjee

completes one year in office — a period marked by several proactive steps

President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurating the

new cricket ground at the President’s Estate in

New Delhi to mark his one year in office.

Through the app, people can get help with

passport, visa, and even share their views on

India’s foreign policy.

Birmingham Airport welcomedAir India’s first Dreamlinerflight connecting Birmingham

with Amritsar and New Delhi. The AirIndia’s Dreamliner AI 461, with near-ly 220 passengers on board, was warm-ly welcomed at the airport on August 1.

The new service now operates fourtimes weekly each Monday, Tuesday,Thursday and Saturday.

The 256 seat B787-8 series aircrafthas a split cabin, consisting of 18 busi-ness class and 238 economy seats.

Welcoming the inaugural flight, theAirport’s CEO, Paul Kehoe, said, “We

are delighted to welcome this newservice into Birmingham and to nowoffer regular scheduled services toDelhi and Amritsar on the fantasticDreamliner aircraft. Air India hasresponded to the enormous demandthat lies in our catchment and wethank all the support received from theCity, and indeed the region, to securethese direct flights.”

The Chairman of Air India, RohitNandan, flew in on the inaugural serv-ice and was welcomed by a delegationof Midlands’ VIPs, including Sir AlbertBore, the Leader of Birmingham CityCouncil and Sri V.S. Ramalingam, theConsul General for India inBirmingham.

Commenting on the special occasion,Sir Albert Bore, Leader of BirminghamCity Council, said: “Birmingham has aproud reputation as a diverse city, withresidents from the wider Indian sub-continent. It makes a great deal of sensefor there to be a direct flight betweenDelhi and Birmingham, rather than justLondon.”

Air India’s inaugural Boeing 787 ‘Dreamliner’

flight touches down at Birmingham airport.

Air India’s maiden Dreamlinerflight lands in Birmingham

‘India to achieve80 percent literacy

rate by 2015’THE GOV-ERNMENT ishopeful of achiev-ing 80 percent lit-eracy rate by 2015,Human ResourceDevelopmentMinister Dr.M.M. PallamRaju said recently.

“Our efforts are being upscaledand I see no difficulty in achieving80 percent literacy rate by 2015,”Minister Raju said on July 18.

Inaugurating the InternationalConference on Achieving Literacyfor All in New Delhi, MinisterRaju said over 20 crore people havebecome literates since the lastCensus of 2001, out of which morethan half are females.

He said his Ministry is restruc-turing the adult education systemwith a paradigm shift to lifelongeducation.

HRD Minister Dr.

M.M. Pallam Raju.

LONDON MAYOR Boris Johnsonhas described the post-Olympic surgein Indian investments into Britain as“phenomenal”. Speaking at a press conference in

London to mark a “year on” sinceLondon played host to the OlympicGames in July 2012, he also high-lighted the role played by Tata Motorsin a resurgence in Britain’s automo-tive industry. “The story of Indian investment in

Britain is absolutely phenomenal. TheUK is set to become the No. 2 car pro-ducer in the whole of the EuropeanUnion, largely thanks to Indian invest-ment in the UK. That is a fantasticsynergy and we are very, very keen toencourage it,” he said.

According to recently released UKTrade and Investment (UKTI) figures,India is now the second-largestinvestor into London as a result of theinvestment fervour generated by the

London 2012 Games. Overall in theUK, India beat Chinese foreign directinvestment (FDI) figures to emerge asthe fourth-largest investor with 89Indian FDI projects which helped cre-ate as many as 7,255 jobs in Britain. Asked if his visit to India in

November 2012, soon after theOlympics, was responsible for thisIndian FDI boost, Mayor Johnsonsaid, “I had a good trip to India butthat the rise in investments was insome way an after-shock effect of thatparticular trip, I wouldn’t say.” “But we are very keen to build up

our intensified links between Londonand India and I will certainly be plan-ning another visit in the next 18months,” he added.

Take the lead in generatingsolar energy and developrequisite technology inIndia,” Prime Minister

Dr. Manmohan Singh said on August 2.Referring to the Jawaharlal Nehru

National Solar Mission for enhancingIndia’s energy security, the PrimeMinister asked Bharat Heavy ElectricalsLtd (BHEL) to take the difficult butworthy commercial decision in theinterest of the country. “The success of the solar mission has

the potential to enhance the country’senergy security and contribute hand-somely to our efforts to combat climatechange,” Dr. Singh said, exuding hopethat the BHEL, bestowed with engi-

neering expertise, manufacturingprowess and a commendable humanresource, would take the lead in solarenergy generation.

“We need to develop ways and meansto reduce our carbon footprint through technological innovation,” Dr. Singh said after dedicating to the

nation BHEL’s Power Plant PipingUnit (PPPU) at Tirumayam inPudukkottai district and Unit II ofHigh Pressure Boiler Plant in theTiruchi Complex.Formally commissioning the PPPU

that commenced trial production earlylast year, the Prime Minister com-mended BHEL for developing ultrasuper critical technology in line withthe country’s mission to invent cleancoal technologies.Dr. Singh said the government plans

to add over 100,000 MW of generationcapacity, including renewable, in the12th Plan. In the 11th Plan period, the country

added around 55,000 MW of genera-tion capacity, he added.

‘Take lead in solar power’

The best is yetto come: PM

PRIME MINISTER Dr.Manmohan Singh laid the founda-tion stone of the National Councilfor Applied Economic Research’s(NCAER) new centre in NewDelhi on July 27. Urging the institution to main-

tain its high standards of econom-ic research, the Prime Ministersaid, “The best is yet to come.” “I sincerely hope that this insti-

tute will stay faithful to what itsfounding fathers stood for” Dr.Singh added. Dr. Rajendra Prasad laid down

the foundation stone of NCAERbuilding in 1959 and PanditJawaharlal Nehru inaugurated it in 1961. Dr. Singh was walked through

the architectural plans for the NewCentre by a specialised team before his address and interactedwith eminent economists of thecountry at NCAER after the ceremony. The NCAER is an independent

non-profit economic researchinstitution that assists the govern-ment, civil society and private sec-tor to make policy choices.

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh addressing at the dedication ceremony of BHEL’s Power Plant

Piping Unit & Unit-II High Pressure Boiler Plant to the Nation, in Thirumayam, Tamil Nadu.

[ ] 21st issue of August 2013

The government’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission’s success has the potential to enhance India’s energy security, says Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh

London Mayor Boris Johnson.

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh

unveiling the plaque to lay the foundation-

stone of the new NCAER Centre in New Delhi.

India has emerged as the fourthlargest investor in the UK, creat-ing over 7,000 jobs, according to

latest foreign direct investment (FDI)figures released by the British govern-ment recently.UK Trade and Investment (UKTI)

published its ‘2012/13 InwardInvestment Annual Report’ revealingthat 89 Indian FDI projects had helpedcreate as many as 7,255 jobs in Britain.It puts India in the top five inward

investor economies in the UK with the US leading the charge with 396projects and 48,802 jobs, followed by Japan with 113 projects yielding7,442 jobs.Italy and France come in a joint third

with 93 projects each and 6,892 and16,001 jobs respectively. The figurescompare favourably to UKTI’s

2011/12 report, when India hademerged as the fifth-largest investorwith 81 projects, creating 5,454 jobs.“UKTI has led an improvement in

the impact and senior-levelbusiness engagement inoverseas trade visits.February 2013’s PrimeMinisterial (DavidCameron), 109-strong busi-ness delegation to Indiasecured a range of deals andjobs and further demon-strated our ability to deliverhigh-impact, innovative andprofessionally organised vis-its,” the UKTI report said.“Looking to the future,

the increased funding in theAutumn Statement 2012will help deliver an ambi-

tious package of support designed toreinforce the UK as the location ofchoice for Europe-bound investors,”the report added.

India emerges as fourth-largestinvestor in United Kingdom

British Prime Minister David Cameron’s India visit in February

2013 secured a range of deals and jobs.

‘Indian investments into Britain phenomenal’

It is one of the largest such knowl-edge transfer and development assis-tance programmes in the world that

has helped India, a developing countryitself, share its expertise with others. Inthe process it has helped build a reser-voir of goodwill for India across Africa,Latin America and Southeast Asia.Through its Indian Technical andEconomic Cooperation (ITEC) pro-gramme, launched in 1964 as a bilat-eral programme of assistance, India hasbeen “sharing its knowledge and skillsacquired in its own developmentprocess with other developing coun-tries going through the same processof development”, said Kumar Tuhin,

Joint Secretary, DevelopmentPartnership Administration-II, in theExternal Affairs Ministry. India is helping 161 countries, withmany in Africa, Latin America andSoutheast Asia, in a big way in capaci-ty-building under ITEC.

Under capacity-building, the ITECpartner countries send officials to Indiafor training in fields like IT, entrepre-neurship and English language, orIndia sends its experts to advise on howto set up similar institutions.India also provides to developingcountries Lines of Credit, or loans giv-en at concessional terms to financedevelopment projects.The Cuu Long Delta Rice ResearchInstitute, set up in Vietnam, is a primeexample of the effect of the ITEC programme.Another aspect of ITEC is the fullysupported and funded project grant.This aspect of ITEC has grown sub-

stantially in neighbouring South AsianAssociation for Regional Cooperation(SAARC) as well as those in SoutheastAsia and the extended neighbourhoodof Africa.Among examples of the project grantare: In Afghanistan, the Parliamentbuilding being constructed in capitalKabul as well as the Salma dam and power transmission lines; in SriLanka, houses being built for the internally displaced and dredging workof Kankesanthurai harbour; and inNepal, an emergency and trauma centre coming up in Kathmandubesides integrated check posts andTerai roads.

Indian Police sportspersons pro-duced an excellent performance atthe XV World Police and Fire

Games 2013, at Belfast, NorthernIreland, pocketing 11 gold, six silver andfour bronze medals so far. The 39-member Indian team is taking part in anumber of disciplines — athletics,archery, boxing, judo, swimming andwrestling — in the August 1 to 10 event.The first medal was pocketed by SINandar Anand Divase of BSF onAugust 3 after he finished on top in theMen’s 400m freestyle swimming byclocking 4:12:21 minutes. Indian teamcomprising Divase, Rohit Kumar ofCRPF, Rajvir Singh of Punjab Policeand Tulse Chetanya of Andhra PradeshPolice then went on to win the 4x50mfreestyle relay in 1:44:26 minutes.In athletics, India ended up with two

medals on the first day. Long distancerunner Anuradha Singh won a gold in5,000m for women, while Tajinder ofPunjab Police stood second inHammer Throw event for men.The second day saw the Indiansadding as many as eight gold, four sil-ver and three bronze to their kitty.The games are organised by theWorld Police and Fire GamesFederation since 1989.

India’s advanced satellite Insat-3D,which was launched on July 26onboard Ariane-5 rocket fromKourou in French Guiana off the

Pacific coast, will improve weather andmonsoon forecasting system.“After a perfect lift-off at 01:24 a.m.from the European Arianespace space-port at Kourou, the two-tonneadvanced weather satellite was placedin the geosynchronous transfer orbit(GTO) 32 minutes later, about 36,000km above from earth,” the Indian SpaceResearch Organisation (ISRO) said ina statement. The sophisticated spacecraft is orbit-ing at perigee (closest to the earth) of249.9 km and apogee (farthest from theearth) of 35,880 km in the orbit.“The satellite’s solar panel was auto-matically deployed soon after it was sep-arated from the rocket’s upper cryogenicstage and our master control facility atHassan took over its control for further

manoeuvres,” the ISRO statement said.Hassan is about 200 km from Bangalore. Preliminary checks of the subsystemsshowed the health of the spacecraft wassatisfactory.“The MCT will perform the orbit-raising manoeuvres over the next fewdays using the satellite’s propulsion sys-tem to place it in the intended geosta-

tionary orbit,” the statement pointed out.The satellite will improve weatherforecasting system, including predic-tions about the monsoon.“This is a big step and will certainlyimprove our forecasting system,”Shailesh Nayak, Secretary, UnionMinistry of Earth Sciences, toldreporters in New Delhi.

“Insat will send us data on weatherevery half-an-hour and these will beput in our computing models forpreparing weather forecast,” he said. Nayak, however, denied comment-ing on the accuracy. “The accuracy part,we will only come to know after usingit for 6-8 months.” The four instruments onboard thespacecraft are Imager, Sounder, DataRelay Transponder and Satellite AidedSearch & Rescue. The six channel imag-er can take weather pictures of the Earthand has improved features compared tothe instrument in (Kalpana-1) andInsat-3A, the two Indian geostationarysatellites, which have been providingweather services over the past decade.“The 19-channel sounder payloadadds a new dimension to monitorweather through its atmospheric sound-ing system, and provides vertical pro-files of temperature, humidity and inte-grated ozone,” the statement noted.

India launches weather satellite Insat-3DThe satellite will improve weather forecasting system, including predictions about the monsoon

Insat-3D was launched onboard Ariane-5 rocket from Kourou in French Guiana off the Pacific coast.

Good show by Indians atWorld Police and Fire Games

Domestic tourism grew byabout 20 percent in 2012while foreign tourist arrivals

saw a rise of six percent, the Ministry ofTourism said as it released the statisticsfor 2012. “The number of domestic touristvisits to Indian states and union terri-tories registered an increase of 19.87percent in 2012 as compared to anincrease of 15.6 percent in 2011,” saida statement issued by the Ministry.

“In 2012, the number of domestictourists was 1,036 million as comparedto 865 million in 2011 and 748 millionin 2010,” added the statement.Andhra Pradesh was the most preferred destination among domestictourists with 206.8 million people visiting the southern state followed byTamil Nadu, which got 184.1 millionvisitors and Uttar Pradesh at 168.4 million.Tamil Nadu moved from the thirdto the second slot in 2012 while UttarPradesh dropped from first to third.“The number of foreign tourist vis-its registered a growth of 6.33 percentduring the year 2012 over 2011 whilethe number of arrivals was 20.7 mil-lion in 2012 as compared to 19.5 mil-lion in 2011 and 17.9 million in 2010,”said the statement.

Domestic tourism up by 20 percent, Andhra on top

[ ] 31st issue of August 2013

India partners development across the world

Indian engineers at work at the Afghan

Parliament construction site in Kabul.

Tirumala Venkateswara Temple.

A healthy heart for millions of Indians

Sunetra Gupta, an India-bornchemist and physicist hasjoined the big league of femalescientists like Marie Curie in a

first-of-its-kind art exhibition at theprestigious Royal Society in London.Gupta, who was born in Kolkata andis now a professor at Oxford University,is among an exclusive group as part ofthe ‘Women in Science PortraitExhibition’ of the greatest female Fellowsof the Royal Society together with new-ly-commissioned drawings featuringRoyal Society Research Fellows.“It is a great honour to have my por-trait included in this show,” said Gupta,

a professor of theoretical epidemiolo-gy at the University of Oxford’sDepartment of Zoology, working oninfectious diseases.

Her main area of interest is the evolu-tion of diversity in pathogens, with par-ticular reference to the infectious diseaseagents that are responsible for malaria,influenza and bacterial meningitis.“The position of women in scienceis being increasingly viewed as a ration-al problem requiring scientific method-ologies to understand and improve,”she said.She has a parallel career as a novelistas well and has written five novels.Gupta grew up in the Calcutta of the1970s and 80s and wrote her first worksof fiction in Bengali. She is also an accomplished translator

of poetry by Rabindranath Tagore.“Sunetra’s childhood has had a great impact on her work, her earlyyears were spent between Ethiopia,Zambia and England” said the RoyalSociety.“When she was 11, the family returnedto Calcutta, a city which continues toinspire her writing,” it said in referenceto the writer-scientist behind acclaimedworks such as Moonlight into Marzipanand The Glassblower’s Breath.Her fifth novel, So Good in Black, waspublished in 2009, the same year inwhich she won the Royal SocietyRosalind Franklin Award.

NRI scientist joins famed UK league

Sunetra Gupta.

India-born Sunetra Gupta, a professor at Oxford University, is among an exclusive group as part of the'Women in Science Portrait Exhibition' of the greatest female Fellows of the Royal Society

Dr. Devi Shetty — a heart sur-geon who has started a chainof 21 medical centres around

India — aims to make heart surgeryaffordable for millions of Indians. By trimming costs with such measuresas buying cheaper scrubs and spurningair-conditioning, he has cut the price ofartery-clearing coronary bypass surgeryto `95,000 ($1,583), half of what it was20 years ago, and wants to get the pricedown to $800 within a decade. “It shows that costs can be substan-tially contained,” said Srinath Reddy,president of the Geneva-based WorldHeart Federation, of Shetty’s approach.“It’s possible to deliver very high qual-ity cardiac care at a relatively low cost.”Medical experts like Reddy arewatching closely, eager to see if Shetty’sdriven cost-cutting can point the wayfor hospitals to boost revenue on awider scale by making life-saving heartoperations more accessible to poten-tially millions of people in India andother developing countries.“The current price of everything thatyou see in healthcare is predominantly

opportunistic pricing and the outcomeof inefficiency,” Shetty, 60, said inBangalore, where he started his chainof hospitals, with the opening of hisflagship centre, Narayana HrudayalayaHealth City, in 2001.One in four people in India die of aheart attack and per-capita healthspending is less than $60 a year. Yet thecountry performs only 100,000 to120,000 heart surgeries each year, wellshort of the 2 million Shetty estimatesare needed. The mortality rate from

coronary artery disease among SouthAsians is two to three times higher thanthat of Caucasians, according to a studypublished in 2008 in the journal VascularHealth and Risk Management.The biggest impediment for heart sur-gery in India is accessibility. Shetty aimsto bridge that by building hospitals out-side India’s main cities. He said he plansto add 30,000 beds over the next decadeto the 6,000 the hospital chain has cur-rently, and has identified 100 towns withpopulations of 500,000 to 1 million thathave no heart hospital.One of the ways in which Shetty isable to keep his prices low is by cuttingout unnecessary pre-op testing, he said.In the future, Shetty sees costs com-ing down further as more Asian elec-tronics companies enter the market forCT scanners, MRIs and catheteriza-tion labs — bringing down prices. As India trains more diploma holdersin specialties such as anesthesiology,gynecology, ophthalmology and radi-ology, Narayana will be able to hire from a larger, less expensive talent pool.

Dr. Devi Shetty.

INDIA’S JAIPUR Foot, globallyfamed for quality artificial limbs, willhelp 100 Bangladeshis, includingSavar victims ‘without any charge’.The Ministry of Health says anexpert team from the world famousartificial limbs maker is visiting Dhakaand expressed their interest to helpthe victims during a meeting withBangladesh’s State Minister forHealth & Family Welfare MojiburRahman Fakir.They will set up a temporary campin the first week of October with allfacilities .Jaipur Foot says more than 1.3million have been benefitted fromtheir foot or limb, calipers, and aidsand appliances, mostly in India andalso in 26 countries of Asia, Africaand Latin America.It hit the headlines when actressSudha Chandran danced in a filmNache Mayuri with the Jaipur Foot.She remains the brand ambassadorof the organisation.The Ministry in a media releasesays all the formalities includingselection of patients would be com-pleted by September.Jaipur Foot first offered to helpthose maimed at Savar, butBangladesh Health Minister AFMRuhal Haque said in a press confer-ence that only 25 lost their limbs whilebeing trapped inside the debris of thenine storied building that collapsed inApril, killing more than 1,100 people.Of them many have managed artifi-cial limbs from Bangladesh.But to ensure their promised sup-port, Jaipur Foot would assist 100people who need artificial limbs.

Jaipur Foot totransform lives

[ ] 41st issue of August 2013

E-surveillance to save Indian tigers

India is planning to start round-the-clock electronic surveillance ofsome of the tiger habitats using

high definition cameras.After the satisfactory results of a pilotstudy in the Kalagarh range of theCorbett National Park, the NationalTiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)has decided to expand e-surveillance toAssam’s Kaziranga National Park,Madhya Pradesh’s Ratapani WildlifeSanctuary and the Ramnagar divisionsurrounding Corbett.Under the project, high resolutionthermal and infrared cameras mountedon towers will capture image of objectsweighing more than 20 kg in a range of3-5 km and generate alerts if they crossthe boundary.

“The use of technology is one way toensure safety of tigers. We are in theprocess of improving technology andmonitoring methodology in tiger habitats. We are planning to get more

tiger habitats under electronic surveil-lance,” a senior Environment Ministryofficial said.“Electronic surveillance helps in twoways by keeping an eye on unautho-rised people entering into the tigerhabitat areas and tigers straying intohuman habitat,” he said.“If we have the information before-hand of a tiger spotted near humanhabitat, we can send a rescue team totranquilise the animal,” the officialadded.The pilot project ‘electronic eye’ wasstarted in Corbett last year to test theefficacy of these cameras. And after thesatisfying results, the decision to usetechnology in other areas was taken, theofficial said.

Ghoomar, a folk dance ofRajasthan, has found its way intothe list of world’s most amazing

local dances after an international travelwebsite ranked it fourth on the list.According to website www.cheap-

flights.com, the folk dance is not only adisplay of rhythmic talent, but “its grace-ful performance in conjunction withtwirling of colourful and long-flowingskirts also elevates its aesthetic appeal”.The website has ranked Hawaii’s

Hula dance at number one, whileJapan’s Bon Odori dance at numbertwo. Ireland’s Irish Stepdance hassecured the third place and India’sGhoomar has been ranked fourth asthe most amazing local dance.In recent times, Ghoomar was pop-

ularised by music company Veena,based in Jaipur, Rajasthan.“We are really happy that Ghoomar

has been ranked as one of the top dances.We at Veena came up with the first

Ghoomar album in 1999.The popularity of the folkmusic soon spread,” saidK.C. Malu, chairman ofthe music company.“We brought out a

series of Ghoomaralbums and it sold likehot cakes. It became popular evenamong non-resident Indians (NRIs)living in several other countries also.”Describing the dance form, the web-

site said the dancers spin around theroom, occasionally snapping or clappingand both men and women are expectedto sing together.

WANT TO browse paintings andsculptures of Swami Vivekananda byeminent artists? Wish to know howhis legacy is being kept intact? Now,a comprehensive guide to his life andworks is accessible online, thanks toa new web portal.Commemorating Swami

Vivekananda’s 150th birth anniver-sary, the Ramakrishna MissionInstitute of Culture, Golpark, Kolkatalaunched a website recently. It hasbeen done with monetary assistancefrom the Union Ministry of Culture.“It’s a first in the country and has

lectures and other authentic infor-mation on a single site,” an institutespokesperson said. A virtual treasure trove for

Vivekananda’s followers, the cyberforum contains his letters, fables andpoems, among other things.

Biopics seem to be thenew way to hit the jack-pot. While Bollywoodfilmmakers are making

biopics on sports stars one afterthe other, directors in south-ern India are going the spiri-tual way. Hollywood is alsorecreating the lives ofimportant personalitieswho have been in thepublic eye. Globally,

filmmakers appear tobe on a biopicmaking spreeand the audi-ences seem to be

lapping them up.Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, a tribute to ace

athlete Milkha Singh, has been declareda superhit by many, including tradeanalyst Taran Adarsh. Paan Singh Tomar,The Dirty Picture, Bandit Queen and

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The ForgottenHero are some of the films based on thelives respectively of an ace athlete-turned-dacoit, an erotic actress, a dacoitand a freedom fighter, that were high-ly appreciated.In addition to Bhaag Milkha Bhaag,

Viacom18 is ready to unfold story of boxing Olympic medallist M.C.Mary Kom.Director Rohit Jugraj is also set to

reveal the life story of late wrestler-actorDara Singh on the big screen.While Bollywood is smitten by the

country’s sport stars, down south film-makers are dedicating their work tospiritual figures.J.K Bharavi, director of Telegu biog-

raphical-devotional Sri Jagadguru AadiSankara, has also penned stories forbiopics like Annamayya and SriRamadasu.“The Telugu industry has been fol-

lowing a trend of spiritual biopics, andthe reason we see more of it here isbecause it has been tested and provedover the years. Moreover, audienceshere connect very well with subjectswith a touch of spiritualism. They feelprivileged and blessed to watch suchbiopics,” said Bharavi.While Annamayya was a tribute to

poet-singer Annamayya, who devotedhis life to the service of Lord Balaji, SriRamadasuwas the story of Lord Rama’sdevotee Ramadasu.Hollywood is also working on a

string of biopics. Actor Ashton Kutcheris set to play late tech wizard Steve Jobsin the upcoming biopic JOBS.Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, the

biopic on anti-apartheid icon and ail-ing former South African presidentNelson Mandela, will premiere at theToronto International Film Festival(TIFF) in September.

From Bollywood’s Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Paan Singh Tomar toHollywood’s The Iron Lady and Lincoln — filmmakers are saluting legends and inspirational people by churning out biopics one after the other

[ ] 51st issue of August 2013

The age of biopics

Kerala Tourism to revive Spice route

MARY KOMPlayed by: Priyanka Chopra

M.S. SUBBULAKSHMIPlayed by: Vidya Balan

NELSON MANDELAPlayed by: Idris Elba

STEVE JOBSPlayed by: Ashton Kutcher

PRINCESS DIANAPlayed by: Naomi Watts

More leGendShonoured

Kerala Tourism is all set to pro-mote the two millennia-oldSpice Route from Kerala to

the West.This was revealed by Kerala Tourism

at a presentation during the three-dayinternational meeting on Silk Roadtourism in the Chinese city ofDunhuang recently.The meet was organised by the

United Nations World TourismOrganisation (UNWTO).While giving the presentation, Kerala

Tourism Secretary Suman Billa empha-sised on the importance of the routethat linked 31 countries in Asia andEurope with India, particularly Kerala,as a major hub. “With the recent archaeological

evidences excavated from Muziris, the major port of entry to India from the West for the ancient spicetrade, we have been presented with ahistoric opportunity to revive the

Spice Route for the modern world,”said Billa.Among those who heard him includ-

ed officials from UNWTO,UNESCO, the World Bank, the AsianDevelopment Bank and internationaltourism organisations.

“Peace is inherent to the idea of tradeas it overcomes the limitation of region,community, religion and ethnicity. By reviving the Spice Route, we will be able to respect a significant heritageshared by facilitating people from 31countries of the world to once againtravel the road used by traders for over2,000 years,” he said. UNWTO’s Regional Director for

Asia and the Pacific Xu Jing, who moderated the session, lauded theKerala model of tourism developmentand commented that Kerala Tourism’sSpice Route initiative is a mega project that UNWTO can successful-ly take up. Besides re-establishing Kerala’s mar-

itime trade relations with the 31 countries associated with the SpiceRoute, the project seeks to rekindleinterest among modern travellers,prompting them to undertake voyagesand excursions.

Swami Vivekananda’sweb archive launched

Ghoomar among world’s top local dances

They look like normal euca-lyptus trees up to 65 feet tallwith a trunk girth of about 19cm and towering over their

peers in an evaluation trial on thefoothills of Himalayas in Dehradun.They are hybrids, progenies of two high-growth species of eucalyptus parent trees.The progenies — just about six-

years-old — have shown a growth pat-tern which is substantially higher overa commercially available clone varietyof their age and with approximateheight of 25 feet and girth of 6 cm.Welcome to the world of tree breed-

ing at the Forest Research Institute(FRI), in the Himalayan foothills,where Indian scientists are working todevelop fast-growing, taller and thick-er eucalyptus trees so that their planta-tions can satiate the paper industry’sdemand and, in effect, help reduce theload on other species of the naturalforests for the purpose.The fast-growing progenies are the

centre of attraction at New Forest in theFRI campus and hold promise of devel-oping future eucalyptus varieties to feedpulp or biomass to the paper industryand other wood-based industries.“In eucalyptus tree breeding, scientists

are developing hybrids with controlledhybridisation among desired genotypesof different eucalyptus species,” said FRIDirector P.P. Bhojvaid.A hybrid that grows taller and faster

with greater volume is cloned and mul-tiplied. In this way, the plants producedwill have identical features and growthpatterns and could be distributed amongfarmers and growers who undertake cap-tive plantation for the paper industry.Ashok Kumar, head of the FRI’s

Division of Genetics and TreePropagation, said: “Cloning continuesparallel with tree breeding, adoptingconventional and tissue culture tech-niques (in a sophisticated lab).”

He said the FRI recently released a cloneof eucalyptus propagated through tissueculture — FRI-EH-001 — after estab-lishing its higher growth and biomass pro-duction in different locations such asHaldwani in Uttarakhand, Hoshiarpur inPunjab and Hissar in Haryana, whichreport different geographical conditionslike land, rainfall and temperature.Normally, a good quality eucalyptus

tree is considered to be one which growstall and its trunk fast becomes thick.

The FRI, an institute of the IndianCouncil of Forestry Research andEducation under the Ministry ofEnvironment and Forests, has, over theyears improved the quality of eucalyptusto such an extent that a biomass of up to40 cubic metres per hectare per year couldbe possible in experimental conditions.A related research paper titled “Sustained

hybrid vigour in F1 hybrids of E. torellianax E. citriodora” was published during 2010in World Applied Sciences Journal.

Musings of the Infinite:a photo-exhibition

THE NEHRU CENTRE organiseda photo-exhibitiontitled‘Musingsof theInfinite’ by

Dr. Ashish Dubey on July 16. There isa threat to wetlands in India and thephotographs intended to draw atten-tion towards the conservation of the same.

Music album launch ofSajdaa by Prabhjyot Kaur

SAJDAA, THE first music album ofPrabjyot Kaur, was launched at the NehruCentre onJuly 22.The musicfor Sajdaahas beencomposedby legendary tabla maestro Ustad Tari Khan.The album contains a variety of songs,including Punjabi, Arabic, Folk andWestern-style numbers.

Dance recital by KrishmaGajjar & Alisha Mann

A CONTEMPORARY and semi-classicaldancerecital byKrishmaGajjar andAlishaMann leftthe audiences spellbound on July 16.

Shankar on July 17-18. The festivalsaw performances by dancers fromEncee Academy, OMKAAR and a sitarsolo by Gaurav Mazumdar.

Satyajit Ray Foundation’sShort Film Competition 2013

Competition 2013 as part of the 4thLondon Indian Film Festival on July23. Six short movies were screened atthe event — Calcutta Taxi directed byVikram Dasgupta; I am micro byShumona Goel and Shai Heredia; Fauxdepartment’ by Shekhar Bassi; SikhFormaggio by Katie Wise, Devyn Bisonand Dan Duran; On migration by AsheqAkhtar and Kaun Kamleshwar? byAnurag Goswami.

A LECTURE-cum-demonstrationconcert by Shashikiran and SriGanesh, internationally renowned as

theCarnaticaBrothers,was heldat TNCon July 30.The duoblended

innovation with tradition in theirvocal renditions of South Indian clas-sical music.

Musical tribute to Mohd. Rafi

COMMEMORATING THE 33rddeath anniversary of legendaryBollywood singer Mohd. Rafi, TNCorganiseda musicalevening ofhis songson July 31.London-basedsinger Muhammed Fahad and his teamrendered Rafi Sahib’s evergreen classics to a packed auditorium of Rafi fans.

Book Launch — TheEmpire of the Sikhs

THE ANGLO-SIKH HeritageTrail/Peter Owen Publishers and TNCorganised the book launch of TheEmpire of the Sikhs - A biography of theMaharaja Ranjit Singh on July 25. Thebook, first published in 2008, was co-authored by Patwant Singh and Jyoti M.Rai, and became a landmark work.

[ ] 61st issue of August 2013

Greener, taller and betterIndian scientists are working todevelop fast-growing hybrideucalyptus trees in order to save natural forests

Green Boon: Scientists are developing hybrids with controlled hybridisation among desired genotypes of different eucalyptus species.

A tribute to Sitar LegendPandit Ravi Shankar

MARKING THE auspicious occa-sion of Guru Purnima, the Nehru

Centre,in asso-ciationwithSujata

Banerjee Dance Company, organiseda two-day dance and music festival asa tribute to Sitar legend Pandit Ravi

Sum of Impressions: Anexhibition by Tushar SabaleAN EXHIBITION of paintings byeminent Indian artist Tushar Sabale washeld at TNC on July 23. The exhibition,titled ‘Sum of Impressions’, reflected

Sabale’s takeon varioussubject mat-ters spanningthe entirespectrumfrom still life

and figures to personal collections andcommissions of portraits.

Painting exhibition:Elements of Nature

AN EXHI-BITION ofpaintings —‘Elements ofNature’ —by London-based artist

THE NEHRU CENTRE hosted theSatyajit Ray Foundation’s Short Film

Classical music eveningby Carnatica brothers

Meeta Garg was organised at TNC onJuly 29. The exhibition covered threeelements of nature — earth, water andspace, in which the moon was repre-sented in all its dreamy, unearthlybeauty.

n News from The Nehru Centre

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xaxk unh dks fgUnw leqnk; esa i`Foh dhlokZf/kd ifo= unh ekuk tkrk gSA eq[; /kkfeZdvk;kstu unh ds fdukjs fLFkr 'kgjksa esa fd, tkrsgSa tSls okjk.klh] gfj}kj vkSj bykgkcknA vHkhrd ;g ekU;rk jgh gS fd xaxk ty esa dhVk.kqugha iSnk gksrsA xaxk unh ckaXykns'k ds lqanj ou}hi esa xaxk MsYVk ij vkdj O;kid gks tkrh gSvkSj blds ckn caxky dh [kkM+h esa feydjbldh ;k=k iwjh gksrh gSA

nSfud ç;ksx ds “kCnCure : mipkj@fpfdRlkAdult : ifjiDo@o;Ld Background : Ik`’BHkwfe@fiNokM+kDozen : ntZu@ckjgLightning: fctyh@nkfeuh

m)j.kn vuUr”kkL=a cgqyk”p fo|k%] vYi”p dkyks

cgqfo?urk pA ;n~lkjHkwra rnqikluh;e~] galks;Fkk {khjkfeokEcqe/;kr~AA ¼”kkL= vuUr gS]cgqr lkjh fo|k,a gSa] le; vYi gS vkSj cgqrlh ck/kk,a gSaA ,sls esa] tks lkjHkwr gS] ogh djus;ksX; gS tSls gal ikuh ls nw/k dks vyx djdsih tkrk gS½ & pk.kD;

n fujk”kk lEHko dks vlEHko cuk nsrh gSA & izsepUn

n tc eSa Lo;a ij galrk gwa rks esjs eu dk cks>gYdk gks tkrk gSA & johUnzukFk VSxksj

n /keZ] O;fDr ,oa lekt] nksuksa ds fy;svko”;d gSA & Mkñ loZiYyh jk/kkÑ’.ku

D;k vki tkurs gSa n Hkkjr 15 vxLr] 1947 dks vktkn gqvk FkkA

gj o’kZ 15 vxLr dks ns”kHkj esa Lora=rkfnol g’kksZYykl ds lkFk euk;k tkrk gSAblesa vusd jk’Vªh; fnolksa dh [kq”kh “kkfeygS] D;ksafd ;g izR;sd Hkkjrh; dks ,d ubZ

“kq#vkr dh ;kn fnykrk gSAn 26 tuojh] 1950 dks Hkkjr ,d x.kra= cuk

D;ksafd blh fnu ns”k dk lafo/kku ykxw gqvkAbl izdkj ;g ljdkj ds lalnh; :Ik dslkFk ,d laizHkqrk”kkyh lektoknhyksdrkaf=d x.kra= ds :Ik esa lkeus vk;kAgj 26 tuojh dks x.kra= fnol mYykl dslkFk euk;k tkrk gSA

n Hkkjrh; jk’Vªh; /ot dh vfHkdYiuk fiaxyhosadS;kuan us dh FkhA bls blds orZeku Lo:Ikesa 22 tqykbZ] 1947 dks Hkkjrh; lafo/kku lHkkdh cSBd ds nkSjku viuk;k x;k FkkA Hkkjresa *frjaxs^ dk vFkZ Hkkjrh; jk’Vªh; /ot gSA

n Hkkjr ds jk’Vªh; /ot dh Åijh iV~Vh esadslfj;k jax gS tks ns”k dh “kfDr vkSj lkgldks n”kkZrk gSA chp esa fLFkr lQsn iV~Vh/keZpØ ds lkFk “kkafr vkSj lR; dk izrhdgS] fupyh gjh iV~Vh moZjrk] o`f) vkSj Hkwfedh ifo=rk dks n”kkZrh gSA

Hkkjrh; Lora=rk laxzke ds nkSjku viuhjpukvksa ls Hkkjrh;ksa esa jk"Vªh;rk dh vy[ktxkus okys jpukdkjksa esa dfo eSfFkyh'kj.kxqIr dk uke vfxze iafä esa j[kk tkrk gSA[kM+h cksyh esa dkO; jpuk dj fganhlkfgR; dks le`) djus okys] jk"Vªh;rk dhHkkouk ls vksrçksr *Hkkjr Hkkjrh^ tSls

dkO;laxzg dsjpf;rk xqIrthekuoh; laosnukvksads Hkh ç[kj çoäkFksA eSfFkyh'kj.k xqIrdk tUe 3 vxLr1886 dks >kalh dsfpjxkao esa lsB

jkepj.k dudus vkSj dkS'kY;k ckbZ ds ?kjgqvkA os vius ekrk&firk dh rhljh larkuFksA fo|ky; esa [ksydwn esa fo'ks"k #fp ysusds dkj.k xqIrth dh f'k{kk v/kwjh jg xbZvkSj ckn esa mUgksaus ?kj ij gh fganh] ckaXykvkSj laL—r lkfgR; dk v/;;u fd;kA

eqa'kh vtesjh dh çsj.kk ls 12 o"kZ dhvoLFkk ls gh cztHkk"kk esa dkO; jpuk çkjaHkdjus okys eSfFkyh'kj.k xqIr fganh lkfgR;dh vçfre lsok djus okys vkpk;Z egkohjçlkn f}osnh ds laidZ esa vk,A blds cknog f}osnh th ds vkxzg ij [kM+h cksyh esajpuk djus yxsA çFke dkO; laxzg *jax esaHkax^ ds ckn xqIrth us *t;æFk o/k^ dhjpuk dhA xqIrth us ckaXyk ls *es?kukFko/k^] *cztkaxuk^] laL—r ls ^LoIuoklonÙk^vkfn dk vuqokn Hkh fd;kA

ml le; rd jkedFkk ij vk/kkfjrdkO; jpukvksa esa y{e.k dh iRuh mfeZykds çfr dfo;ksa dh mnklhurk ij vkpk;Zegkohj çlkn f}osnh us *dfo;ksa dhmfeZyk ds çfr mnklhurk^ ys[k fy[kkFkkA dkO;txr dh deh dh vksj fd, x,b'kkjs ds ckn xqIrth us *lkdsr^ dh jpukdjus dk eu cuk;kA lkdsr esa mfeZyk dsfojg dks ftl ekfeZd <ax ls mUgksausçLrqr fd;k gS og vU;= nqyZHk gSA

eSfFkyh'kj.k xqIr dh L=h osnuk dhnwljh mR—"V jpuk *;'kks/kjk^ ekuh tkrhgSA xkSre cq) dh iRuh ;'kks/kjk dks fojgls T;knk ifr dk pqids ls pys tkuklkyrk gSA viuh ihM+k dks O;ä djrs gq,;'kks/kjk rRdkyhu vke Hkkjrh; ukjh dkçrhd cu tkrh gS] tks fujijk/k naMHkqxrus ds fy, foo'k FkhA

jk"Vªoknh Hkkoukvksa dsmn~xkrk Fks

eSfFkyh'kj.k xqIr

iapk;r dh dksf'k'kksa ls i;ZVu LFky cuh uhe igkM+he/; çns'k ds Xokfy;j dh ,d iapk;r dh

dksf'k'kksa us uhe igkM+h dks i;ZVu LFky ds:i esa cny fn;k gSA ;g deky jk;iqj

xzke iapk;r us fd;k gSA vkf/kdkfjd rkSj ijfeyh tkudkjh ds vuqlkj] Hkwfe dVko jksdus]ty&lao/kZu vkSj i;kZoj.k dks cpkus ds fy,jk;iqj dyk xzke esa uhe ioZr ekrk dh igkM+hij 25 gtkj uhe ds ikS/ks jksis x, gSaA vc ikS/kLFky dks yksx uhe ioZr i;ZVu&LFky ds :i esaHkh tkuus yxs gSaA blds j[k&j[kko ij vc rdpkj yk[k 15 gtkj ls vf/kd #i;s [kpZ gq, gSaA

ikS/ks yxus ds igys ;gka yxkrkj feêh dk

dVko gks jgk FkkA feêh dk dVko vc #d x;kgSA i;kZoj.k lq/kjus ls xehZ esa xkao esa BaMd Hkhjgus yxh gSA xzkeh.kksa dks bl ioZr ij vkSj xkaoesa eujsxk ds vU; dkeksa dh etnwjh Hkh fey jghgS vkSj xzkeh.kksa dk iyk;u Hkh #d x;k gSA

bruk gh ugha xzke&iapk;r }kjk fu;fer :ils i;kZoj.k esys dk vk;kstu fd;k tkrk gSftlesa Ldwyh cPpksa dks ikS/kkjksi.k ,oa mldsegRo ds ckjs esa crk;k tkrk gSA uhe ioZr dhrjg gh vU; LFkku ij Hkh ikS/ks yxk, x, gSaAou&xzke esa vkaoyk ioZr vkSj 'khryk ekrk eafnjçkax.k esa 5000 'kh'ke ds ikS/ks yxk, x, gSaA

[ ] 71st issue of August 2013

vkvks tkusa Hkkjr ds ckjs esa

Hkkjrh; Lok/khurk laxzke dhØkafrdkjh /kkjk esa R;kx vkSjcfynku dk tTck iSnk djus vkSjns'k esa vktknh ds fy, tku

U;ksNkoj djus dk lkgl Hkjus okys çFke lsukuh[kqnhjke cksl ekus tkrs gSaA mudh 'kkgnr usfganqLrkfu;ksa esa vktknh dh tks yyd iSnk dhmlls Lok/khurk vkanksyu dks u;k cy feykA[kqnhjke cksl ek= 19 lky dh mez esa ns'k dsfy, Qkalh ds Qans ij >wy x, FksA caxky esafenukiqj ftys ds gchciqj xkao esa =SyksD; ukFkcksl ds ;gka 3 fnlacj] 1889 bZ- dks tUe ysusokys [kqnhjke cksl tc cgqr NksVs Fks rHkh mudsekrk&firk dk fu/ku gks x;k FkkA mudh cM+hcgu us mudk ykyu&ikyu fd;k FkkA 

caxky foHkktu ¼1905 bZ-½ ds ckn [kqnhjkecksl Lora=rk vkanksyu esa dwn iM+s FksA lR;sucksl ds usr`Ro esa [kqnhjke cksl us viukØkafrdkjh thou 'kq: fd;k FkkA

[kqnhjke cksl jktuhfrd xfrfof/k;ksa esa Ldwyds fnuksa ls gh Hkkx ysus yxs FksA ostyls&tqywlksa esa 'kkfey gksrs Fks rFkk vaxzsthlkezkT;okn ds f[kykQ ukjs yxkrs FksA mUgksausukSoha d{kk ds ckn gh i<+kbZ NksM+ nh vkSj fljij dQu cka/kdj tax&,&vktknh esa dwn iM+sA

os fjoksY;w'kujh ikVhZ ds lnL; cus vkSjoansekrje iaQysV forfjr djus esa egRoiw.kZHkwfedk fuHkkbZA 

iqfyl us 28 Qjojh] lu 1906 dks lksukjcaxyk uked ,d b'rgkj ckaVrs gq, cksl dksncksp fy;kA ysfdu cksl iqfyl ds f'kdats lsHkkxus esa lQy jgsA 16 ebZ] lu 1906 dks ,dckj fQj iqfyl us mUgsa fxj¶rkj dj fy;k]ysfdu mudh vk;q de gksus ds dkj.k mUgsapsrkouh nsdj NksM+ fn;k x;k FkkA 6 fnlacj]1907 dks caxky ds ukjk;.kx<+ jsyos LVs'ku ijfd, x, ce foLQksV dh ?kVuk esa Hkh cksl

'kkfey FksA dydÙkk ¼vc dksydkrk½ esafdaXlQksMZ phQ çsalhMslh eftLVªsV cgqr l[rvkSj Øwj vf/kdkjh FkkA og vf/kdkjh ns'k Hkäksa]fo'ks"kdj Økafrdkfj;ksa dks cgqr rax djrk FkkAmu ij og dbZ rjg ds vR;kpkj djrkAØkafrdkfj;ksa us mls ekj Mkyus dh Bku yh FkhA;qxkarj Økafrdkjh ny ds usrk ohjsaæ dqekj ?kks"kus ?kks"k.kk dh fd fdaXlQksMZ dks eqt¶Qjiqj¼fcgkj½ esa gh ekjk tk,xkA bl dke ds fy,[kqnhjke cksl rFkk çQqYy pan dks pquk x;kA

;s nksuksa Økafrdkjh cgqr lw>cw> okys FksAbudh [kq'kh dk dksbZ fBdkuk ugha FkkA ns'k Hkäksadks rax djus okyksa dks ekj Mkyus dk dke mUgsalkSaik x;k FkkA ,d fnu os nksuksa eqt¶Qjiqjigqap x,A ogha ,d /keZ'kkyk esa os vkB fnu jgsAbl nkSjku mUgksaus fdaXlQksMZ dh fnup;kZ rFkkxfrfof/k;ksa ij iwjh utj j[khA muds caxys dsikl gh Dyc FkkA vaxzsth vf/kdkjh vkSj mudsifjokj ds yksx 'kke dks ogka tkrs FksA

30 vçSy] 1908 dh 'kke fdaXlQksMZ vkSj

mldh iRuh Dyc esa igqapsA jkf= ds lk<+s vkBcts felst dSusMh vkSj mldh csVh viuh cX?khesa cSBdj Dyc ls ?kj dh rjQ vk jgs FksAmudh cX?kh dk jax yky Fkk vkSj og fcYdqyfdaXlQksMZ dh cX?kh ls feyrh&tqyrh FkhA[kqnhjke cksl rFkk mlds lkFkh us fdaXlQksMZdh cX?kh le>dj ml ij ce Qsad fn;k]ftlls mlesa lokj eka&csVh dh ekSr gks xbZAØkafrdkjh bl fo'okl ls Hkkx fudys fdfdaXlQksMZ dks ekjus esa os lQy gks x, gSaA

[kqnhjke cksl vkSj çQqYy pan 25 ehy rdHkkxus ds ckn ,d jsyos LVs'ku ij igqapsA[kqnhjke cksl ij iqfyl dks lansg gks x;k vkSjiwlk jksM jsyos LVs'ku ¼vc ;g LVs'ku [kqnhjkecksl ds uke ij gS½ ij mUgsa ?ksj fy;kA viusdks f?kjk ns[k çQqYy pan us [kqn dks xksyhekjdj 'kgknr ns nh ij [kqnhjke idM+s x,Amuds eu esa rfud Hkh Hk; ugha FkkA

[kqnhjke cksl dks tsy esa Mky fn;k x;k vkSjmu ij gR;k dk eqdnek pykA vius c;ku esaLohdkj fd;k fd mUgksaus rks fdaXlQksMZ dksekjus dk ç;kl fd;k FkkA ysfdu] bl ckr ijcgqr vQlksl gS fd funksZ"k dSusMh rFkk mudhcsVh xyrh ls ekjs x,A

eqdnek dsoy ikap fnu pykA 8 twu] 1908dks mUgsa vnkyr esa is'k fd;k x;k vkSj 13 twudks mUgsa çk.k naM dh ltk lqukbZ xbZA 11vxLr] 1908 dks bl ohj Økafrdkjh dks Qkalhij p<+k fn;k x;kA mUgksaus viuk thou ns'kdh vktknh ds fy, U;kSNkoj dj fn;k

eqt¶Qjiqj tsy esa ftl eftLVªsV us mUgsaQkalh ij yVdkus dk vkns'k lquk;k Fkk] mlusckn esa crk;k fd [kqnhjke cksl ,d 'ksj dscPps dh rjg fuHkhZd gksdj Qkalh ds r[rs dhvksj c<+k FkkA 'kgknr ds ckn [kqnhjke brusyksdfç; gks x, fd caxky ds tqykgs mudsuke dh ,d [kkl fdLe dh /kksrh cquus yxsA

[kqnhjke cksl us txkbZ Fkh cfynku dh vy[k

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Disclaimer: India Digest gathers its contents from diverse sources and the views expressed in interviews and articles published do not necessarily represent the views of the High Commission or the Government of India.

Andhra Pradesh offers a vari-ety of surreal experiences —subtle charms, quiet tradi-tions, spiritual scholarship

and religious harmony, evident in theform of the large number of temples,mosques and churches that dot the state.Andhra Pradesh has a rich historical

past. The state was an integral part ofEmperor Ashoka’s vast Kingdom andnot surprisingly an important Buddhistcentre as well. Today ruins of stupas andmonasteries defy impermanence aroundthe state, especially at Amaravathi andNagarjunakonda. It was then ruled byseveral dynasties and prominent amongthese were the Pallavas, the Chalukyas,the Kakatiyas and the Mughals. All thesedynasties have played a significant rolein contributing to the rich cultural her-itage of the state and their presence isstill felt in the monuments that still sur-vive after the passage of so many years. Andhra Pradesh’s rich Islamic histo-

ry announces itself in Hyderabad’s huge,lavish mosques, its opulent palaces andthe stately Qutb Shahi tombs — butalso, more softly, in a tiny spiral staircasein the Charminar and in the sounds ofUrdu floating through the air.Travelling within Andhra is a delight

with the stunning Eastern Ghats nearVisakhapatnam, the holy maze atTirumala, the beaches at Visakhapatnam,the temple architecture at Warangal andthe cultural mix at Vijayawada.The state is set to become the new

beach destination of India if the TourismMinister is able to implement his plans.With Telugu superstar-turned-politicianChiranjeevi, who is from AndhraPradesh, as the Minister of State forTourism (Independent Charge), thestate is aiming to carve a niche for itselfin beach tourism by pumping moneyinto creating coastal corridors along theBay of Bengal as well as developingeight of its beach properties.

Does Goa serve as an inspiration forAndhra Pradesh’s next big tourismthrust? Not really, says Chandana Khan,Andhra Pradesh’s Special Secretary(Tourism and Archaeology).“We think Goa has a very different set

of offerings. Andhra Pradesh has a veryunique image and has something foreverybody. This combination of uniquechoices makes India a special mix for thevacation planners,” Khan said. “We believe the natural beauty of our

beaches will attract consumers whowant to take a break from the regularhustle-bustle of city life,” Khan said.With a 970-km coastline and relative-

ly virgin stretches of beach, the AndhraPradesh government now expects aninvestment of about $222 million,through public-private partnership proj-ects that it believes will shoot high thestock of its coastal tourism.“A separate coastal corridor is being

developed to link Visakhapatnam withBheemunipatnam (in northeasternAndhra Pradesh),” Khan said, addingthat nine beaches including Baruva,Perupalem and Kotta Kudur, would getproperties developed by the AndhraPradesh Tourism DevelopmentCorporation (APTDC).

(Clockwise from above) A hilltop view of the Bheemunipatnam town; the 1000-Pillared Temple on the slopes of Hanamkonda in Warangal; a panoramic

view of the Buddha statue and other monuments at Nagarjunakonda; and the Charminar in Hyderabad.

CHOWMAHALLA PALACE,Hyderabad & SecunderabadThe Nizam family has sponsored arestoration of this dazzling palace –or, technically, four (char) palaces(mahalla). Begun in 1750, it wasexpanded over the next 100 years,absorbing Persian, Indo-Saracenic,Rajasthani and European styles. MUSEUM OF HABITAT,Araku ValleyAndhra’s best train ride is throughthe magnificent Eastern Ghats to theAraku Valley, 120km north of Vizag.The area is home to isolated tribalcommunities, and the tiny Museumof Habitat has fascinating exhibits ofindigenous life. 1000-PILLARED TEMPLE,WarangalBuilt in 1163, the 1000-PillaredTemple on the slopes of HanamkondaHill is a fine example of Chalukyanarchitecture in a peaceful, leafy setting. BIRLA MANDIR, Hyderabad &SecunderabadThe Birla temple, constructed ofwhite Rajasthani marble in 1976,graces Kalabahad (Black Mountain),one of two rocky hills overlookingthe Hussain Sagar. UNDAVALLI CAVE TEMPLES,VijayawadaFour kilometres south-west ofVijayawada, the stunning Undavallicave temples cut a fine silhouetteagainst the palm trees and rice pad-dies. Shrines are dedicated to theTrimurti – Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. NAGARJUNAKONDAMUSEUM, NagarjunakondaThe thoughtfully laid-outNagarjunakonda Museum has StoneAge tools on exhibit, but more excit-ing are its Buddha statues and carvedstone slabs that once adorned stupas.

Must Visit

[ ] 81st issue of August 2013

Historyand harmonyVisiting Andhra Pradesh is a delight with the stunning Eastern Ghats nearVisakhapatnam, the holy maze at Tirumala, the temple architecture atWarangal and the cultural mix at Vijayawada