Cruise from Varanasi To Dibrugarh Via Bangladesh
The world’s longest 50-day luxury river cruise from Varanasi to Dibrugarh via Bangladesh, covering 4,000 km, is likely to start on 10 January 2023. It will boost tourism in the entire region. The aim is to give a push to inland waterways development which will also facilitate trade and cargo services. The ‘Ganga Vilas cruise’ will start from Varanasi and pass-through Kolkata and Dhaka before reaching Bogibeel in the Dibrugarh district of Assam. The enchanting journey will cover 27 river systems and touch over 50 tourist spots including World Heritage sites. It will be the single largest river journey by a single river ship in the world. This will also put India and Bangladesh on the river cruise map of the world. Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, says that the development of coastal and rover shipping includes cruise services which is one of the priorities of the government. “We are working out to open more such services to tap India’s vast potential in this area.”
Puducherry’s Celebrity Temple Elephant Dead
In Puducherry, everyone knew Lakshmi (32), the celebrated elephant at a famous temple. She was a tourist attraction. She died of suspected cardiac arrest on Wednesday morning. The protagonist of French fiction, Ari Gautier, some years ago weaved a story around her highlighting the hypocrisy of society. Puducherry was once a French colony. Accompanied by her two mahouts, Lakshmi was on her daily morning walk from her enclosure at Sri Vedapureeswarar Temple on Eswaran Kovil Street when she died. Suddenly, she showed signs of fatigue and stopped walking, she swooned and collapsed. The elephant did not respond to her mahouts] commands and died soon. The temple authorities with the help of a crane lifted the body and brought it to the Sri Manakular Vinayagar Temple to enable devotees to offer homage. On Wednesday evening, people turned up in large numbers to pay their last respects to Lakshmi. They included Ministers K. Lakshminarayanan, C. Djeacoumar, MLAs G. Nehru alias Kuppusamy and Richard John Kumar. The body of Lakshmi was taken out in a procession from the temple to the burial site. A team of Veterinarians from Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Veterinary Education and Research (RIVER) conducted an autopsy following which the carcass was buried on a site belonging to Sri Kalatheeswarar-Varadharaja Perumal temple near Cuddalore Road.
MCD Polls Echo In NDMC Area’s Dhobi Ghats
For 250 wards, the MCD polls are taking place today. Residents of many parts of the Capital–the area under the NDMC and the Delhi Cantonment Board–however, won’t be taking part in these polls as they are not governed by the MCD. But the candidates of all the parties from Dwarka kept coming to the dhobi ghats in the NDMC area. Not for getting their dirty linen washed or for getting their campaign trail dresses ready. The NDMC area has about 15 dhobi ghats. But nearly 500 dhobis live in five blocks of Dwarka Sector 1; the houses were provided by the V. P. Singh regime. So, the candidates tried to woo the washer men at their working ghats.
NIA Officer Irked By Young Couples In Love
A Delhi-based senior National Investigation Agency officer knows how to handle terrorists. But when it comes to young couples in “love mood”, he is clueless. The IPS officer recently approached the Delhi Police to complain that he was feeling “disturbed by indecent behaviour” of couples in cars parked outside his house in the Lutyen’s zone. Asking for ‘help’, he said that the lane outside his residence has been witnessing this public nuisance for some time. The police have intensified patrolling in the area to keep the area free of “couples in love”.
Israeli envoy Invites Anurag Thakur To Join ‘Fauda’
At a time, when there is an uproar over Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid’s reference to the film ‘The Kashmir Files’ on the exile of the Pandit community from the Kashmir Valley as “propaganda” and “vulgar”, Israeli Ambassador to India Naor Gilon has made an interesting offer to Anurag Thakur, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister: Join Israel’s popular television serial Fauda. To welcome the cast and crew of Israeli TV series Fauda at International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, Anurag Thakur had tweeted in Hebrew on Monday: “I am pleased to welcome @FaudaOfficial stars @liorraz and @issacharoff to #IFFI53 in India! Israel and India share a special relationship.”
Thakur shared a clip of himself and Fauda actor Lior Raz jumping from the bus. In response, Israel’s Ambassador to India, Naor Gilon, tweeted: “You look one of the team and should probably consider joining Fauda”.