Indholdsfortegnelse for March 29, 2021 i India Today

Populism has become the buzzword for the ruling AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) and challenger DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) in the campaign for the April 6 assembly election in Tamil Nadu. Manifestos released by the two Dravidian majors, on March 13 (DMK) and 14 (AIADMK), have a plethora of promises for the young—particularly college students—and women. At 31.8 million, women outnumber men by a million in the state’s electoral rolls and are a key constituency for political parties. The DMK promises preference to first-generation graduates in government jobs, free tablets with data cards to all government school and college students, extending maternity leave to a year for government employees, a cut in the price of diesel by Rs 4 a litre and petrol by Rs 5 a litre,…

Barely six months ago, China dismissed the idea that an international coalition against it will emerge, saying “that day will never, ever come”. But, thanks to China’s aggressive expansionism and renegade actions, that day is coming, with the Quad likely to be at the core of a broader international coalition. China has fuelled the Quad’s development, with its military aggression in Ladakh helping to move India closer into this strategic grouping. It is precisely this border aggression that has lent new momentum to the Quad’s evolution toward a concrete formal security arrangement. India holds the key to the Quad’s direction and future because the US, Australia and Japan already are tied by bilateral and trilateral security alliances among themselves. Shocked by China’s furtive territorial encroachments in Ladakh, India shed its…

Two stalwarts of the Assam agitation— Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and Brindaban Goswami—will not contest the upcoming assembly election, for the first time since 1985. Both Mahanta and Goswami were denied tickets by the AGP (Asom Gana Parishad) leadership. The student leaders of the six-year-long Assam agitation, which began in 1979 against illegal immigration, had founded the AGP. While Mahanta became chief minister for two terms, Goswami served as a senior minister in his cabinet.…

Facing a perennial crisis, women in a Gujarat village take charge of piped water supply—and their destinies Geeta Ben still recalls with a shudder her daily struggle to get water when she married Hasmukh Bhai and shifted to his village Motipura Veda in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar district 22 years ago. She had to make several trips to a tube-well three kilometres away to fetch enough water for her daily needs. Her life and that of 1,000 others in the village changed dramatically when a pipe carrying water from the Narmada river was laid close to the village in 2004. Around the same time, Gujarat’s Water and Sanitation Management Organisation (WASMO) launched an innovative scheme, involving extensive community participation, to supply water to villages. It had been successfully tried out while implementing…

Rajasthan, a state with 10 per cent of India’s geographical area and 5.2 per cent of its population, has only about 1.16 per cent of its water resources. With 60 per cent of the land classified as desert, the state frequently sees drought years. To address the water scarcity, the then chief minister Vasundhara Raje had in 2016 launched the Mukhyamantri Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan (MJSA), a scheme to improve the harvesting, storage and utilisation efficiency of the state’s water resources. Implemented in three phases between 2016 and 2018, it included the creation of new watersheds by digging ponds and planting of trees to improve rainwater harvesting. A total of 374,292 projects were completed, including the planting of 13.8 million saplings in 12,056 villages across the state. “Total spending has been Rs…

Punjab is currently facing three daunting problems: i) polluted canals and rivers; ii) depleting groundwater; and iii) polluted groundwater. The three problems are interlinked, but according to Umendra Dutt, director, Kheti Virasat Manch, an NGO promoting organic farming in Punjab, while the water at the surface is a big challenge, what is happening to the groundwater is a bigger crisis. The groundwater level is depleting at the rate of 49 cm every  year in the state and groundwater extraction is 165 per cent of the naturally-available recharge. The biggest culprit is the paddy crop that is grown in 22 districts of the state. Studies done by the Ludhiana-based Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) show that every kilogram of paddy requires roughly 5,000 liters of water. PAU’s studies also highlight the fact…

Till last year, Fateh Ali, 40, a resident of the Gwaltoli locality of Kanpur, was selling vegetables. He has now switched to selling fish, like many other families in the Gwaltoli, Khalasline, Shoetarganj neighbourhoods. His income is now twice what it used to be. What made them switch to fishing, which has become an alternative source of income? A clean Ganga for one, which made the fish return to the surface of the water and therefore easier to catch. And how did the river become clean? By tapping the Sisamau Nullah, the country’s largest open drain, built by the British in 1892. “Earlier,” says Ali, “waste from the Sisamau Nullah would flow into the Ganga, making the river very dirty. The fish would stay away.” Passing through 40 mohallas inhabited…

Q. You’re hosting Splitsvilla again. In the age of OTT, do you fear reality TV has lost some of its appeal? MTV is adapting to the digital market very well. Their own digital platforms, like Voot, have helped that. Also, because it’s MTV, they are up to date with everything young, fresh and hip. I think we are in a good place. Q. You have one of the busiest Instagram accounts. Does having to regularly update your social media ever feel like too much pressure? My Instagram page is run by a team of people and together we create fresh content. Everyone should have tapped into the digital market long ago, but I’m also glad they didn’t. There has been more for me as a result, so thank you very…

Travel definitely counts among one of the biggest Covid casualties so it’s hardly surprising that tourism departments all over the world are doling out wonderful opportunities to lure travellers back. Switzerland is no exception to that rule; even though it was one of the better faring European countries from the crush of Covid, Switzerland Tourism has launched a new initiative by the tourism board on International Women’s Day called “100% Women”. This ongoing campaign offers multiple activities for women. One of the various programmes is ‘100% Women Peak Challenge’ that was launched in early March and will go on for the next six months. Why only women? Because, almost 80 per cent of travel decisions are taken by women, and solo travel has been touted as one of the top…

For most Indians—at least those of us west of the ‘Chicken neck’—the lush and remote valleys of Arunachal Pradesh are a tantalisingly exotic yet attainable idyll. Even before the pandemic, the state had been growing in prominence as a destination, thanks in part to a clutch of festivals and events that offered a heady blend of wilderness adventure, indigenous tribal culture and a cosmopolitan music scene. Meanwhile an energetic generation of tourism entrepreneurs had begun to develop imaginative new destinations, properties and experiential circuits in the mountain state. Given its location, sandwiched between the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan and the highlands of Southeast Asia, it’s tempting to see the future of tourism in the state as teetering between two very different alternatives: low impact and exclusive like Bhutan or mass-oriented…

Giving up law to pursue his romance with food has held Sriram Ailur in good stead as he helms the first South Indian restaurant in the world to win a Michelin star, which it has retained since 2008—a record-winning 14 years. “I remember being fascinated by the smell and aromas which used to come from the kitchen—it was my first love”, says the unassuming star chef, Sriram Ailur, of the iconic Taj 51 Buckingham Gate Suites and Residences, London. The journey which began in 1999, when Ailur was invited to open Quilon in the heart of London is replete with challenges and commendations. With Spice, the award-winning chef shares some of his favourite plates, palate pleasures at Quilon and his plans. What are winning qualities for acquiring a Michelin star?…

The depths of the sea have always been a source of endless fascination and mystery and it is this sense of adventure and beauty that Breguet’s new Marine Haute Joaillerie Poseidonia plays to perfection. Posidonia oceanica is an aquatic plant that is essential to the sea’s balance. The new Breguet model depicts the plant’s arabesques on the watch through the art of mother-of-pearl marquetry and invisible setting. Set with 85 baguette-cut diamonds, the dial appears to ripple across the intense iridescence of the Tahitian mother-of-pearl, which resonates with a deep colour that takes on a silvery hue depending on the light. The skillful setting continues on the bezel, caseband, lugs of the strap, and the clasp of the buckle. With an extra-thin self-winding manufacture movement, it is as delicate as…

Sit on It This cushioned stool called Dot from Baro Design can also be used as a foot stool to put your feet up after a long day. Made from reclaimed teak, the cushion is high density foam, and the upholstery can be customised fit your aesthetics. Price ₹13,200 (plus fabric cost and tax) AT www.baro.design Tweet This The Art Deco Morbi Palace in Gujarat is the inspiration behind the Morbi Palace Bird Feeder from AnanTaya. The feeder features a graceful floating marble bowl, framed by an elegant brass ring, suspended and weighed down by a marble piece. Perfect for your balconies and verandahs. Price ₹8,600 AT www.anantayadecor.in Plate Up Dress your dinner table with these Green Pastoral Plates from Baro Market. Available as a set of two—side plate and…

All it took was a minimal approach and clever spatial planning to create magic. The project involved the remodeling of a row-house, within a gated bungalow community situated in Deonar, Mumbai. The 244 sq m (2626.39 sq ft) site is the last in a row of houses. While the plot is tight, being the last one it has three sides open while sharing a common wall with the adjacent plot. The existing structure was in a dilapidated condition with ground water seepage and leakage form the RCC sloping roof slab. The existing roof, staircase and parking slab were demolished. The new footprint was extended in the front and back with additional columns introduced. The additions to the home are done in steel as seen on the first level. A lightweight…

At the Nandakumar crossing, about 75 km southwest of Kolkata, the highway takes a magnificent loop before branching out in four directions. Though there are few signboards here marking the turn for Nandigram, political indicators are aplenty. Two campaign hoardings dominate the scenery—one from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) that reads ‘Bangla nijer meye kei chaye (Bengal wants its own daughter)’ and another from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), proclaiming ‘Nandigramer bhumiputra Suvendu (Nandigram’s son of the soil, Suvendu)’. These mark the road to the highest-voltage contest of the 2021 assembly election—the battle for Nandigram between chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her former minister Suvendu Adhikari. From here on, the road is heavily flanked by poll symbols—saffron party flags, hoardings and buntings carrying images of Ram and Hanuman, interspersed with bright…

AIADMK › Free concrete homes for poor › Waiver of education loans › 2GB data per day for students › Rs 10,000 microloan for daily wagers in unorganised sector › Rs 7,500 per year subsidy for farmers › Washing machine, solar cooking stove, Arasu cable TV connection for poor households › Doorstep delivery of ration, six free LPG cylinders a year › Rs 1,500 per month for housewives of PDS card-holders › Introduce ‘Amma Banking Card’ to provide interest-free loans to the poor DMK › Fill up 350,000 vacancies in government jobs and create another 200,000 jobs › Waive education loans of people under 30 who did schooling and higher education in TN › Rs 4,000 grant for PDS cardholders to mitigate Covid impact › Cut diesel prices by Rs…

Congress veteran Veerappa Moily is also an acclaimed Kannada writer. He is the author of a dozen books, including three plays, and winner of the Saraswati Samman 2014 for his Shree Ramayana Mahanveshanam. Moily has now won the prestigious Sahitya Akademi award for his Sri Bahubali Ahimsa Digvijayam. The thousand-page epic is based on the Jain deity Bahubali who gives up his kingdom in pursuit of self-awakening. A literary hint to the political bahubalis of India?…

40 % of India’s population is projected to live in urban areas by 2030, up from 34 per cent in 2011 31 % of urban households lack access to piped water or public tap water 67.3 % of urban Indian households are not connected to a piped sewage discharge system 48 % of the urban water supply in India comes from groundwater, according to the Centre for Science and Environment Sources: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs; National Family Health Survey, 2015-16; Census 2011; Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation; Centre for Science and Environment THE SUPPLY GAP Average quantity of water supplied by urban local bodies in India KEEPING IT FLOWING While 80 per cent of households in India’s cities have water sources within their premises,…

The Crisis: As a desert state, Rajasthan frequently sees drought years, made worse by the fact that it has no perennial rivers The Solution: A statewide scheme to treat watersheds and improve water harvesting and utilisation efficiency of water resources has led to a 1-10 metre rise in water table levels, an increase in irrigated area and sundry other benefits to the farmers of the state 100,000 hectares, the increase in the state’s total irrigated area thanks to the MJSA scheme…

Maalav maati gahan gambhir, dag dag roti, pag pag neer (the soil in Malwa is fertile, food and water are available in abundance). For centuries, these lines had signified the prosperity of Malwa in western Madhya Pradesh. But Dewas, in the heart of the Malwa region, was an exception. The district was facing acute shortages of water, so much so that in the early 2000s, drinking water was transported to the town of Dewas by trains. Farmers were reduced to growing one crop, livestock was dying and the local economy was on the verge of collapse. So, what was happening in Dewas? Why was Malwa’s good fortune eluding the district? It isn’t that Dewas has scanty rain—its average rainfall stands at 1,066 mm—but overexploitation of ground water in the 1990s…

TO TRAVEL IS TO IMBUE THE MIND WITH MEMORIES, the body with experiences and the soul with the spirit to seek, beyond the monotony of the familiar. Artists in particular fuel their creativity by surrendering to the wandering spirit. Legendary artist Raja Ravi Varma travelled around the country extensively, usually in style, with a large retinue of staff, covering in excess of 90 cities in a little over two decades. Such was the imprint of his journeys that Rupika Chawla, the author of ‘Raja Ravi Varma: Painter of Colonial India’, comments that “had Ravi Varma not taken the road least travelled but rather continued to play out his life in Travancore he would not have become the Ravi Varma we know.” Taking a cue from Varma’s elegant signature style of…

Favourite dish on the Quilon menu Baked black cod as it is one of the dishes that evolved through a very thoughtful process, where we tried to achieve a very interesting combination of Japanese and Indian cuisine using palm jaggery and South Indian spices Most favoured comfort food I love Japanese, French, Italian, Chinese and of course, Indian food Most cherished food-related memory My memories of growing up in Mumbai are marked by watching my father in the kitchen. He enjoyed cooking and loved feeding people and Sundays in our home were always about family, friends and good food. I was often allowed to help him out in the kitchen and I believe that’s where my interest in the culinary arts stems from. Most underrated spice In London it’s Byadgi…

“IT’S ALL ABOUT MARRYING CRAFT WITH ART” Vanshika Gupta, 25 SUFNA by Vanshika Gupta | Delhi www.labelvanshika.com Why Gupta started the brand to save the dying arts like suf and rogan art When 2019 Buy This Coasters, cushions, masks, apparels and accessories. USP The biggest draw is the fact that the brand gives age old crafts a new lease of life. “Rogan is an asymmetric art as the fabric is doubled up to get this print, whereas suf is a tenuous art done by counting tana-bana,” says Gupta. Their cushions and pillows, create an exceptional design language. A good example is the beautiful handbrake coaster, made with knotted threadwork technique. Price ₹700 to ₹4,000 “OUR PRODUCTS BLEND SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS WITH MINIMALIST DESIGNS, HAVE STRONG SILHOUETTES AND ARE FUNCTIONAL AT THEIR…

The Kerala assembly election is less than three weeks away and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, 75, is busy tying up loose ends. The CPI(M) strongman is eyeing a second term for himself and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and, if it happens, it will be an occasion to savour. The state hasn’t given a repeat mandate to an incumbent government, the LDF or the rival United Democratic Front (UDF), since 1977 when, strangely enamoured with the Emergency, the people gave the Congress a second term in power. Normally, Pinarayi wouldn’t have fancied his chances as, despite a sterling term where his government overcame many a crisis, the past few months have been mired in scandal. What the LDF has going for it is the surprisingly good performance in the local…

On March 16, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor tweeted: ‘Advice to BJP in Assam and CPIM in Kerala: Ask not how many ships are in the harbour, but which way the wind is blowing!’ It was an indirect assertion that despite the BJP’s high-profile campaign in the two poll-bound states, the saffron party was unlikely to win. However, Tharoor’s counsel to the saffron party’s Assam unit came as a surprise to many, as the BJPled ruling alliance is perceived to be on a strong wicket in the northeastern state. His analysis of the direction of the ‘electoral wind’ perhaps flows from the confidence shown by the Congress’s Assam unit of a positive outcome in the assembly poll, scheduled in three phases on March 27, April 1 and April 6. This confidence…

The annual cricket match between the IAS Officers’ XI and Chief Minister’s XI at Lucknow’s La Martiniere grounds was a social fixture under the Akhilesh Yadav regime in Uttar Pradesh. But Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has repeatedly shot down proposals by IAS officers to stage the match. So there’s only the annual PWD ministry officers vs. staff match to look forward to. Deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, who is also the PWD minister, kicks it off each year, as he did recently.…

When 28-year-old Alka Chhetri got married in 2012 and settled in Mungram village in south Sikkim, her biggest challenge was sourcing water from afar and rationing its use. “I came from Darjeeling and was used to tap water. Fetching water from a spring four kilometres away left me fatigued. Water used for washing clothes and vegetables had to be repurposed for cleaning utensils and the toilet. Suddenly, my life began revolving around managing water,” says Chhetri. Her life turned for the better once the benefits of the Dhara Vikas Yojana began percolating to nooks and corners of south Sikkim. The programme was launched in 2008 by the rural management and development department (RMDD) to revive Himalayan springs, or dharas, and ensure water security for rural households. By one estimate, 80…

The Kadhiyanur irrigation tank in Iravadhanallur stands out for its clean water amid the dry or dirty ponds and water bodies dotting Madurai city. “Three years back, you would have only noticed the dirty water; now, it has been desilted and cleaned and provides water to over 50 acres of farmland. Local contributions and the work by the DHAN (Development of Humane Action) Foundation made this possible,” says M. Sedhuramu, a farmer in Iravadhanallur. The Vayalagam Tankfed Agriculture Development Programme (VTADS) is the one that inspired them. “We approached the Dhan Foundation in 2016. They selected five farmers (three men and two  women) and took us to Bengaluru to see a few water bodies which had been revived. Based on our firsthand experience, we devised a plan to desilt the…

IN the water-starved, drought-prone Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh, Jakhani village stands out as an oasis of prosperity. Wheat, rice, mustard, gram, pigeon pea and other crops flourish in this village of 2,000 people, located 20-odd km from the district headquarters of Banda. The six ponds and 33 wells in the village are full to the brim throughout the year and there is no scarcity of irrigation water either. Jakhani’s transformation from a parched to a water-abundant village happened over the past decade and a half through the initiative of 51-year-old farmer Umashankar Pandey, who launched the ‘Khet mein medd, medd par pedd (Trees on weirs in farms)’ programme in 2005. It drastically improved water availability in the village through various measures, such as raising farm bunds, developing farm ponds,…

N0 other river in India evokes as much awe or is surrounded with as much religious fervour as the mighty Ganga. The river begins its 2,525 km journey from the mouth of the Gangotri and ends up at the Gangasagar in West Bengal. The river covers 26 per cent of the country’s landmass, straddling a mammoth area of 8.6 lakh square kilometres. It flows through five states and has six other states in its basin. The Ganga and its tributaries contribute as much as 28 per cent to India’s water resources. More than 43 per cent, or 500 million people, of India’s population depends on it and the Gangetic delta is considered the food bowl of the country. There are 97 major urban centres and 4,457 villages along the river’s…

“I challenge DMK leader [M.K. Stalin] to come up on a stage and have a one-on-one debate with me”EDAPPADI K. PALANISWAMI Chief Minister, Tamil Nadu “WHILE THE RBI MAY TAKE A CALL ON OFFICIAL CRYPTOCURRENCY, WE ARE CLEAR FROM OUR SIDE—WE ARE NOT SHUTTING OFF ALL OPTIONS”NIRMALA SITHARAMAN Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs “I think we addressed it [conflict with China] with a fair deal of self-confidence... the political leadership gave the military the support it required to handle the situation”S. JAISHANKAR Union Minister for External Affairs “The AIADMK’s rule is going to end in one month. CM Palaniswami won’t be able to win even from his own constituency—Edappadi”M.K. STALIN President, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam “There has been a sea of change in Tamil Nadu politics and the image…

Perspective is often an image filtered through the prism of the mind onto whatever screen it fits with the least distortion. For a photographer, of course, it is the viewfinder that weighs in on that viewpoint. Nonetheless, it is this moving lens that structures the narrative of the stories the images convey. For this section, we invited four of our favourite Spice cover photographers to share some of their most compelling travel images that capture memory as a travel bag. While Manjari Sharma, who focussed the spotlight on the inimitable style quotient of fashion designers Naeem Khan and Rachel Roy for us found a take-me-back memory to a falling surfer on a New York beach; Ming T Evans, photographed the irrepressible London-based chef Asma Khan for Spice, and chose a…

Pesticides, microbes, dirt and toxins on your fruits, vegetables and meat have always been a problem. With the pandemic in full swing, ensuring what you eat is clean and healthy has never been more important. Thankfully, tech giants have come up with products that do the cleaning for you. One such product is Faber’s Oxypure. First Impressions It’s a light body made of plastic, making it easy to carry and fairly portable. We got our hands on the sea foam model, which is a lovely shade of green. The lid is also made of plastic; the LED display screen at the bottom is clear and well positioned, while the middle portion of the body uses a translucent plastic so that you can see your food getting cleaned. It has a…

LIVING IT UP Malav Padia and Rachna Purohit Padia Principal Architects, MetR Group @MetR Group (Facebook) Large French windows and bright hues makes this penthouse in Ahmedabad stand out. “The interiors are done with the perfect flow of materials with fine harmony of different styles,” says Rachna. The comfortable sofas and the fact that natural light brightens the decor makes this living room a perfect haven from the hot summer sun. SUN KISSED SPACES Rachna Agarwal Founder and Design Ideator, Studio IAAD  www.iaad.in Enjoy the play of light and shade as sunlight bathes this quiet corner in the living room, located in Emaar Digi Homes, Gurgaon. “Blurring boundaries between the outdoors and the indoors this home celebrates summer by enhancing the living experience through tactile material-play and weaving visual stories…

Looking back, after 30 years of being in the profession of architecture and interior design, I feel my design journey started at a young age. I was born in 1962, in Ahmedabad; a time when there was a lack of design awareness in our society at large, and it was this missing link that helped me absorb much more as a young Canna, when I travelled abroad with my parents. Dad, being one of the renowned architects of the country, always had a lot to share. Most of our discussions revolved around general experiences, rather than designing. My mother, on the other hand, guided me about how one must value little things in life. They were an inspiration for me. My work today reflects their sensibilities, and how they were…

These artworks have the most interesting canvas, veneers and what’s even more exciting are the artists who created them—architects and interior designers. The Art of Veneer campaign by VENZO Wood gave each expert a set of veneers, as their colour palettes, and the freedom to let their imagination flow. Therefore each work is a mix of varied veneer pieces stacked and inlaid like a unique jigsaw puzzle. So if interior designer Saniya Kantawala paid homage to the heritage, art and design of south Mumbai by creating a map of Kala Ghoda, architect Kanhai Gandhi’s DROP is a reminder to save the most precious resource on this planet. Other experts include Anand Menon, Akash and Poonam Mehta, Ishan Grover, Kumpal Vaid, Sameer and Shilpa Balvally, Rajiv Khushalani, Manish Dikshit, and Jannat…