Hema Malini Becomes ‘Durga’ In Varanasi
On Tuesday, Mathura MP Hema Malini performed a dance drama at the Kashi Film Festival organised by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting along with Uttar Pradesh government. It was based on Shiva-Durga and Mahishasura Mardini. for her, it was revival of fond teenage memories.
Hema Malini had started her acting career at the age of 16. Then she used to go to Varanasi for similar performances. After watching her performance, I&B Minister Anurag Thakur was so excited that he said that people used to call Hema Malini “Dream Girl”, “but from now she should be known as Durga!” Hema Malini smiled amidst loud applause from the audience.
Khattar knows several languages
On New Year’s Eve, there was buzz in Chandigarh that Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar may say goodbye (Sayonara Sayonara) to Covid-stressed 2021 and welcome (Akemashite OmedetōGozaimasu) 2022 in Japanese language. Well, it didn’t happen. But many now know that Khattar speaks Japanese. Everyone was surprised with his language skills during an interaction with the media the other day.
Khattar declared that he could take questions in English, Hindi and Punjabi. But he sprang a surprise when he interacted with a reporter in Tamil. Khattar disclosed that he had passed his school certificate course in Tamil. Khattar surprised further when he revealed that he was learning Japanese these days with the aim to interact with the large expat population in Haryana. He said, “If you have to build heart-to-heart relations with someone, you have to speak in their language.”
BRO Cafes for Border States
As part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations, the Border Roads Organization will set up 75 BRO Cafes in the border states. This was revealed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday on the occasion of the inauguration of 27 projects built by the BRO. These cafes will present local traditions and food. There will be souvenir shops, photo galleries and medical facilities. “These ‘BRO Cafes’ will boost tourism as well as facilitate the armed forces,” Singh felt.
Omicron Stops Cheetah Arrival
Cheetahs from Africa will have to wait for their arrival in India because of Omicron threat. The ambitious plan to re-introduce the big cats in some Indian wildlife sanctuaries was on for quite some time. The cheetahs have become almost extinct in India.The cheetahs were to be relocated in 2021 from many parts of Africa, especially South Africa. Two Namibia and South Africa teams visited India earlier in 2021 to train forest officials in cheetah management. But their second visit before the animals’ arrival was cancelled as Omicron has rattled South Africa, making it the origin of Covid’s new variant.
Rajasthan’s ‘Green Man’ Gets 2021 Global Award
Shyam Sunder Jyani (42), Associate Professor of Sociology at Government Dungar College, Bikaner (Rajasthan), has received 2021’s prestigious United Nations’ Land for Life Award for his unique concept of familial forestry.This is said to be the world’s highest recognition for land conservation and restoration. It’s given biennially to only one individual or organisation by United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Jyani told The Sunday Guardian that familial forestry includes the matter of tree and environment in the family. Gradually, the tree becomes part of the family’s consciousness. And the family becomes a part of the ecological consciousness, and every issue related to plant, tree, leaves, and the climate becomes part of popular consciousness. This green or eco socialisation brings environmental sensitivity and empowerment in the society.
According to Jyani, 15,000 villages and over one million families have joined the familial forestry campaign in nearly deserted western Rajasthan. Over the past 18 years, more than 3.5 million trees have been planted.
Jyani spends most of his salary in planting trees. During the Corona pandemic period, Jyani has successfully run the door-to-door drumstick plantation campaign “Ghar-Ghar Sahjan” in collaboration with school teachers’ organisations, students and environment activists and has accomplished the incredible task of planting 2.3 million saplings of Moringa in millions of families of all 33 districts of Rajasthan, and thousands of schools. Jyani has done plantation of more than 3.5 million trees in the arid desert of western Rajasthan in the last 18 years.