By ANSHIKA KATHURIA

“Wildlife tourism in India is not guided or promoted properly”, says renowned conservation biologist Ra-ghu Chundawat, who has a bevy of wildlife honours under his belt.

In an exclusive inter-view to Times of Bennett , Chundawat, on whose game-changing work BBC’s Animal Planet made the award winning docu-mentary ‘Battle of the Ti-gers’, said his focus was on finding ways to grow sus-tainable and responsible tourism and allowing it to play an active role in wild-life conservation.

“The world over, Tour-ism is an important tool for wildlife preservation and promotion. It’s only in India, unfortunately, that it is looked at as a prob-lem. It is seens as without benefits,” Chundawat said.

Pointing out that wild-life tourism in India had grown in an unorgan-ised manner negatively impacting conservation, Chundawat said: “Wildlife tourism has grown inde-pendent of conservation ethics or principles. Most wildlife destinations are treated as regular desti-nations. Tourism is not planned in a way that it benefits local communi-

ties. The Supreme Court has put curbs on the num-ber of vehicles that can enter wildlife destinations. This restricts the growth of tourism.

Tigers often go out of their habitat to local areas. They can only be protected in these local areas if we have the goodwill of the lo-cal community, and we can earn the goodwill of the local communities by wild-life tourism,” he added.

Chundawat felt things need to be worked out. “Al-though India is home to 70 per cent tigers in the world, they only survive in 5-6 per cent of their original hab-itat. The range restriction, as far as the conservation

science is concerned, is the first sign of extinction. If we want to avoid extinc-tion, we have to reverse this,” Chundawat asserted.

In 2006, there were 1,411 tigers in India which rose to 1,706 in 2010 and 2,226 in 2014. Even

though this showed a posi-tive change in the attitudes of people and the Gov-ernment towards wildlife, “there is a lot that needs to be done in this direction, especially for the protec-tion of tigers.

The biggest threat posed to tigers is poaching. Tigers live in an unprotect-ed habitat, which makes them vulnerable to poach-ing. The lack of community goodwill adds to the prob-lem,” he said.

Explaining how the common man could con-tribute in the preservation of tigers, Chundawat rec-ommended staying in areas that support preservation ethics while visiting a wild-

life destination. “There are several programmes, vol-unteers and NGOs working to save tigers,” he said.

Chundawat’s frus-tration as a preservation scientist who fought the system has been the loss of Panna tigers. “It was the poor system and not any ecological reasons that contributed to the perish-ing of Panna tigers,” he said.

“I come from an aca-demic background. After my PHD, I did a 10-year study on Panna tigers. I saw an advertisement about a survey in Ladakh, on the ecology of the snow leopard and its prey species.

“Intrigued, I registered for a PHD on snow leop-ards and since then have been involved in conser-vation in central Asian mountains,” he added.

Despite the struggles, Chundawat said he is hap-py with his work.

“I’ve enjoyed what I’ve done, I feel privileged that I worked the way people would want to but couldn’t. I am satisfied with my work and contribution to wildlife conservation,” he added. Chundawat spent 15 years studying snow leopards, then a decade with tigers. It’s been eight years since he’s been work-ing on wildlife tourism.

THE TIME F BENNETTSOTHE TIME F BENNETTSOSTUDENT PAPER OF the Times school of Media GREATER NOiDA | monday, october 8, 2018 | VOL 2, ISSUE 3 | PAGES 8

Burn your evil this Dussehra Students discuss how good can tower over evil this Dussehra | PAGE 3

Merriment spot of DurgapurThis park in Durgapur is full of merriment for youngsters | PAGE 5

‘Nobel to Nadia will give strength to rape survivors’By APOORVA SHARDA

Nadia Murad, 25, of Yazidi community from Iraq, who won the Nobel peace prize for 2018, has evoked admi-ration and respect despite being a rape victim and tagged as a sex slave.

“The honour bestowed on Nadia Murad will give strength to all other rape survivors”, said Dr Garima Tiwari, Associate Professor of the School of Law at the Bennett University.

Appreciating the cour-age Nadia showed in leav-ing her past behind and emerging as the world’s fa-mous anti-human traffick-ing voice, Priyanka Mehta, B-tech first-year student with BU, said: “She is the right choice because doing such a thing like standing up for herself requires im-mense courage to fight for your right.”

Taking about the flip side, Dr Abinav Chaturve-di, Assistant Professor at Bennett University, said: “Giving Nadia the award in my views was not a good choice, as she isn’t the only or the first rape survivor in the world. There are many more with even more bru-tal circumstances,” he felt.

Nadia is the US good-will ambassador for Dig-nity of Survivors of human trafficking. She was a cap-tive of the ISIS and sshares the award with Dr Denis Mukwege, Congolese sur-geon treating rape victims.

Panna tigers fell to system failure, says expert

By LISHA BHASKER

The Buddha statue, a new addition to Chandigarh’s popular green lung, the Sukhna Lake, is a rage among visitors as it sits over the park’s new silent zone.

“To understand the immeasurable, the mind must be extraordinarily quiet and still,” says Jiddu Krishnamurti, the caretak-er.

The zone, called ‘Gar-den of Silence’ has a pin drop silence policy. Fol-lowing this policy, people come here and meditate early in the morning. The monument is developed by Chandigarh Adminis-tration and is financed by Ministry of Tourism. Na-man Rajput said, “I came here daily and give at least hour to myself.” On be-ing asked what he gains from the meditation, he

said that it is his way to get mental peace and get mentally fit. It is believed that meditation brings you inner peace and calmness

Some prefer a nice walk or jog in the morn-ing rather than mediation. For that crowd there is a jogging track in Sukhna Lake. For those who like to like to just have a look and absorb the beauty of nature the lake is beautiful enough and you can also

always click the pictures of the sunrise. Exploring this place in the morning, the people of Chandigarh enjoy the most beautiful time of the day and get fit by jogging. A tourist taking pictures of the rising sun, Fathima Narayan, said: “I feel complete when I come here. This place is the only time I have peace. I like to see people motivated and thinking about their inner peace.

Silence zone adds to pull of Sukhna Lake

Buddha meditates in the Garden of Silence at Sukhna Lake. Photo by Lisha Bhasker

Purana Qila gets facelift

By VIDUSHI MITTAL

Punjab Chief Minister Am-arinder Singh on Monday called for a national drug policy to save the young generation from drugg addiction, saying a com-prehensive formula was needed at the central lev-el to effectively check the drug abuse. The national policy could also address the need for cultivation of drugs needed for the phar-maceutical industry, he said, adding that Centre should involve states and experts while formulating such a policy.

“We need a compre-hensive and active support from the Central Govern-ment in formulating and pursuing effective meas-ures, including a national policy for prevention and control of drug abuse,” Singh’s letter to the Home Minister said.

Based on PIB report

By KYLE SIMALI

It is before Independ-ence that 43 years ago on this very date, 13 eminent judges of the Supreme Court assembled to ver-balize the judgement of Sikri the Chief Justice in Keshvananda Bharti which was the culmination of this conflict. In 1967, the Supreme Court, in Golak Nath held that Parliament could not amend or alter any fundamental right.

“This famous judge-ment was a huge consti-tutional cornerstone in the history of the nation,” says Praveen Tripathi, As-sistant Professor with the School of Law at Bennett University.

Awwab Sheikh, first-year law student with Bennett University, said, “The platform like KBC gives an opportunity to the common man to achieve his dreams by putting his knowledge to test.”

The question in this case, popularly known as

the Fundamental Rights Case, was did Parliament have unlimited power to amend the Constitution or was there any implied or inherent limitation on such amending power?

The entire case came very close to being reheard because of the illness of Justice Beg. His recovery and Chief Justice Sikri’s two-week Europe trip.

The case of Kesava-nanda Bharati v/s State of Kerala had been heard for 68 days, the arguments commencing on October 31, 1972, and ending on March 23, 1973.

The hard work that had gone into the preparation

of this case was breathtak-ing.

Literally hundreds of cases had been cited and the then Attorney-General had made a comparative chart analysing the provi-sions of the Constitutions of 71 different countries!

Article 368, on a plain reading, did not contain any limitation on the pow-er of Parliament to amend any part of the Constitu-tion.

A young Assamese teacher, Binita Jain had participated in the Am-itabh Bachan show KBC in its 10th edition and emerged as this season’s first crorepati.

Issue behind 1 cr query

Late risers now have biological excuse to sleep longer By KHUSHI PAL

It’s 8:30 am. You’re sup-posed to be up and on the go for your first lecture that you can’t afford to miss yet again. But here you are, fighting dragons or signing a new contract for an up-coming blockbuster as you hit the bed only in the wee hours.

Weeks pass by with the same routine, until one day you wake up to a no-tification on your ERP app

that throws up a dismal at-tendance percentage – and a text from your father ask-ing why your attendance is falling short?

You instantly blame Netflix but if it makes you feel less guilty there actu-ally exists a biological rea-son to your condition – not sleeping late into the night and thus feeling sleepy all through the day.

Although, there’s still hope, Madhu says: “To optimise the benefits of

sleep, decide whether you want to function optimal-ly or below par. And then start by maintaining a sleep routine that does not involve afternoon naps but

includes physical exercise, sleeping more in harmony with natural day and night cycle and having a gadget curfew before your bed-time”.

Researchers at the Uni-versity of Munich recently proved that biologically, teenagers have a different sense of time. The 24-hour cycle which determines when you wake up and sleep, gets delayed during your teens. The research-ers talked of the body se-creting a hormone called ‘melatonin’ which regu-lates the human sleep cy-cle. For children, this hap-pens in the early evening but as they grow into their

teens, they release it later. Because they start sleeping late, they sleep longer to fill up for those missed ear-ly night hours earmarked for a shut-eye.

Now, if you still want to be a rebel, make sure you’re aware of the psy-chological effects it has on your health. Madhu Suri, a counsellor at Bennett University, says: “Ade-quate sleep is important, especially at night as that is when melatonin is pro-

duced. Inadequate mela-tonin production throws the body-mind cycle into a tizzy. An imbalance pat-tern of sleep can also lead to sleep deprivation which, if not rectified on time, can cause disorientation, memory loss and even emotional instability.”

Whatever the science, it cannot save us from the harmful effects this skewed sleep cycle has on teenaged bodies. Waking up late means losing out

on the natural source of Vi-tamin D which is essential for growing years. It also makes you feel lousy and leads to an unproductive day. You might call your-self a night bird, but think twice before whiling away the night as not sleeping on time is bad news.

The study published in the Chronobiology Inter-national said, night owls were 10% more likely to die earlier than usual.

Panna tigers were lost due to system failure, not ecology or biology – Raghu Chundawat

Punjab CM calls for drugabuse policy

Infographic by APOORVA SHARDA

By CHARUSHREE CHUNDAWAT

Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Culture, recent-ly inaugurated the rejuve-nated lake and illumina-tion of Purna qila. Wants to make tourist attraction, also opportunity to know the country’s history and culture better. The intro-duction of various facilities for the benefit of visitors amenities, an attraction publication counter, which fall under the house of ASI publication.

The developmentworks at purna quila in associ-ated with NBCC and CSR estimated at a cost of RS 30 crore of which NBCC contributed Rs 15 crore as part of their CSR initiative and the rest by ASI. public could avail the newly inau-gurated facilities with an entry ticket of Rs 20. Pura-na Qila has been one of the major tourist attractions in Delhi with visitors throng ing the place.

Student dozes off Photo by Parul Raina

The tiger rests. Photo by Parul Raina

‘Wildlife tourism is must for tiger conservation efforts’

By LISHA BHASKER

India is developing and so are the educational in-stitutes and their way of imparting skill-based edu-cation.

Addressing the stu-dents of CHIREC School in Hyderabad on their Founder’s Day celebra-tions recently, Vice-Pres-ident M. Venkaiah Naidu listed the ways to skill In-dian youth with a revised education system.

The Indian education system focuses more on mechanical and techni-cal based knowledge, but Naidu suggested ways to induce more practical based knowledge and how the education policy mak-ers can revise the syllabus to help students get more hands-on training, which would help India overcome the poverty crisis.

There are some insti-tutes that focus on prac-tical knowledge, such as Bennett University, which give students the opportu-nity to experience the cor-porate sector.

The Indian Institute of Hotel Management is also a skilled training institute that devotes 60-per-cent of its syllabus to practical work.

Students today prefer vocational courses like ho-tel management, fashion designing and journalism over academic ones, which seldom give career options.

Naidu, content with the CHIREC curriculum and teaching methods, said, “I am happy to learn that CHIREC School fos-ters creativity in the stu-dent body by providing ex-posure to arts and sports.”

THE TIME F BENNETTSOTHE TIME F BENNETTSO GREATER NOIDAMonday, October 8, 20182

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

The four-day-long mega science expo, India Inter-national Science Festival 2018 concluded in Luc-know. IISF -2018 wit-nessed a footfall of more than 10 lakh people and more than 22000 registra-tions, was the largest festi-val of Asia in the last four years.

The IISF inaugurat-ed by the president, Ram Nath Kovind, saw a meet-ing of scientists, research-ers, students, farmers and people from a wide spec-trum discussing, debating, and witnessing how sci-ence and technology has shaped new India.

Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan said that

after witnessing the huge participation in the festi-val, it would not be wrong to add Jai Anusadhan to ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kissan, Jai Vigyan’.

More than 1200 re-search papers were pre-sented by 1500 farmers and the young enthusiasts of science participated mak-ing this festival unique.

Union Minister Nitin

Gadkari who was the chief guest at the valedictory function launched a web-site dedicated exclusively to science in India, (sci-enceindia.in) highlighting the pervasive role of sci-ence and technology across all the major schemes of government.

Gadkari said, “today is the day to Make In India” a major economic power in

innovation, entrepreneur-ship, technology, research and science.

The IISF saw two major Guinness World Records being made. One of these was a successful attempt at isolating DNA, performed by 550 students from class 8th to 10th standard with its focal theme being ‘Sci-ence for Transformation’.

Edited by Ishita Gupta

By ISHAAN DWIVEDI

Not many know but be-hind the towering and much feted Qutab Minar in Mehrauli, there lies an-other less known Minar which was built by Alaud-din Khilji.

“These monuments although not as popular as Qutub Minar are beau-tiful constructions with their own share of history. People do not visit these monuments as they have little knowledge of their presence,” the guide Raju Sekhri says.

The Khilji monarch’s plan was to construct a structure which was to be much higher than the 73 meters high, five-floored Qutub Minar completed by Iltutmish.

“Khilji could not fin-ish his proposed architec-tural marvel because he died midway. Today, Alai Minar, dwarfed in both height and popularity by the Qutub Minar, stands forgotten,” he adds.

Khilji started build-ing Alai Minar after he finished doubling the size of the Quwwat ul-Islam mosque.

He had conceived this tower to be two times high-er than Qutab Minar in proportion to the mosque. The construction was how-ever abandoned, just af-ter the completion of the 24.5-metre-high first-story core. Soon after the death of Khilji in 1316, the pro-ject was abandoned.

The first storey of the Alai Minar stands today

which was intended to be covered with dressed stones later. Noted Sufi poet and saint of his times, Amir Khusro, in his work Tarikh-i-Alai, mentions Khilji’s intentions to con-struct another Minar, the guide says.

The Qutub Minar, on the other hand, standing tall for 12 centuries and named after Qutab-ud-din-Aibak who started it, was finished by Iltutmish.

When Aibak died, only the first floor of the Minar had been constructed. Il-ltumish constructed an-other two floors and the Qutub Minar was finally completed by Firoze Shah Tughlaq with five floors.

“The Qutub Minar complex has many other historical monuments like Khilji’s tomb and the Iron Pillar which is seven me-

ters high and the inscrip-tion is in Pali. It is popular-ly believed that if someone hugs the pillar his wishes are fulfilled,” he adds.

The other monument is the Alai Darwaza, the main gateway from the southern side of the Quwwat-ul-Is-lam mosque.

It was built by Khilji in 1311 AD. The domed gate-way is in red sandstone and inlaid white marble decorations, the inscrip-tions being in Naksh script.

This is the first building in India to employ Islamic architecture principles in its construction and orna-mentation.

“The mosque was built after the Islamic conquest of India and is the oldest surviving example of Ghu-rids architecture in the sub-continent,” the guide says.

At the back of the complex, southwest of the mosque, stands an L-shaped construction, consisting of Alauddin Khilji’s tomb dating back to 1316 AD and a madra-sa also built by him. Khilji was the second Sultan of Delhi from the Khilji Dy-nasty who ruled from 1296 to 1316 AD.

The central room of the building, which has his tomb, has now lost its dome, though many rooms of the seminary or college are intact, and have since been restored

There were two small chambers connected to the tomb by passages on either side

The remains of the tomb building suggest that there was an open court-yard on the south and west sides also.

By VIDUSHI MITTAL

For 65-year-old Saroj, the Ashok Park in Del-hi’s Ashok Vihar area, is a place where she can make friends and also rev up her health by walking and ex-ercising in a pollution-free and peaceful environment.

“Every morning, I come here to unwind from my daily chores. I have now made many friends in the park and I feel good

when I interact with them,” says Saroj. A Delhi Devel-opment Authority (DDA) initiative, the Ashok Park is spread over 70 acres and is the biggest park in the area. The 40-year-old public park is not only for walking purposes, but also for other activities.

“The open gym at the entrance is available for children and the elderly, with everyone having free access,” Saroj explains.

Taekwondo, besides other sports like badmin-ton, cricket and football are a rage among the colo-ny children and they come here for training in the sport of their interest. “On holidays, you can see the youth playing team sports like cricket and football here. Many of us come to watch them,” adds Saroj.

Ashok Park is a source of entertainment for the aged as they find other

similar people who fall in the same age group as them, and can join clubs like ‘the laughter club’ or ‘the yoga club’. A meeting point for the the elderly is another major identifier of this park.

“I take around 40 min-utes to take one round. After walking in such a pleasant environment, I feel energet-ic and fresh the entire day”, Puneer Goel, a 35-year-old businessman said.

Qutub dwarfs Alai MinarHealth park aids fitness

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Bihar police has launched an enquiry into the death of over a thousand rats who are set to have been over dosed on Liquor.

These rats consumed about 1000 litres of con-fiscated alcohol, the police confirmed. Patna’s top cop Manu Maharaj said that he was told by his inspectors

recentlythat the liquor had been lost to rats. Ban on the consumption and sale of alcohol, soon after tak-ing office last year, and has seized more than 900,000 litres since. It was seen as a way of reducing domestic violence. Police launched search operations across the state to confiscate al-cohol. The law states that anyone found drinking or

selling alcohol can be jailed for 10 years. The police ar-rested President of Bihar Police Men’s Association on charge of liquor con-sumption. “If they fail the test they could even lose their jobs, apart from be-ing prosecuted under the new stringent exercise and prohibition laws,” said CM Nitish Kumar.

Edited by Mahikah Malik

Science expo at Lucknow a big success Bihar faces drunk rats issue

By MAHANDRILAI KUMANAN

Over the years, India has experienced promi-nent tansformative chang-es from digital technology and inclusive development policies to gender empow-erment.

The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on President Ram Nath Kovind on October 3 at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The President thanked Guterres for his participa-tion and support during the Mahatma Gandhi Interna-tional Sanitation Conven-tion, and the 4th anniver-sary of the Swachh Bharat campaign.

He also added that India remains fully com-mitted to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and its com-mitment is not limited to itself, its development cooperation programmes helping others to meet these goals as well.

The international com-munity through the United Nations has set in motion a historic plan– 17 SDGs so as to build a more pros-perous, equal and secure world by the year 2030. This is a part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable De-velopment adopted by 193 Member states at the UN General Assembly Summit in September 2015, which came into effect on 1 Jan-uary 2016.

As a signatory to the 2030 Agenda for Sustaina-ble Development, the Gov-ernment of India is strong-

ly committed to the 2030 Agenda. Indian Prime Minister Narendrea Modi noted, “these goals reflect our evolving understand-ing of the social, economic, and environmental linkag-es that define our lives.”

India is a developing nation and these SDGS

shall be targeting the cru-cially important areas, such as poverty, hunger, education, health, water and sanitation, amongst others. This agenda high-lights the fact that econom-ic growth will not render equality and prosperity. It recognises the fact that

tasks of peace, justice, en-vironmental protection are all far apart but still an im-perative part of the same change.

Another core of the Global Agenda for 2030 is based on the principle of universality to ‘leave no one behind’.

It is important for the proper implementations of these goals that they should be relevant to all govern-ments. Developments in all dimensions must consist of people everywhere and should be built with the participation of everyone, especially the most mar-

ginalised and vulnerable sections of the society.

The State governments are a crucial driving force in the SDG progress, with flagship programmes such as Swach Bharat and Make in India that are at the core of the SDGs.

Based on PIB report

Skill-based study is a must: Naidu

The unfinished Alai Minar Photo by Ishaan Diwedi

People use the open gym in Ashoka Park Photo by Vidushi Mittal

Development goals empower India: Kovind

Development, a slow process, built with the participation of everyone Photo by Devyani Verma

Infographic by Devyani Verma

THE TIME F BENNETTSOTHE TIME F BENNETTSOGREATER NOIDAMonday, October 8, 2018 3Experts study oldest rock paintings

By APOORVA SHARDA

India’s oldest and one of the world’s earliest, rock paintings

are being studied by archaeologists and pre-historic culture experts to get an understanding of the prehistoric records of art in the nation. “Whether these paintings are merely the creative expression of the pre-historic man or they had some other purpose is still being debated,” superintending archaeologist Bhuvan Vikrama said while talking about Bhimbetka caves, earmarked as a world heritage site by the UNESCO.

The art form depicts the pre-historic life of

human occupations from the Mesolithic ( C . 8 0 0 0 - 2 5 0 0 B . C . ) and the Chalcolithic (C. 2500-500B.C.) to the historic periods (500 B.C. onwards). Some paintings are made at a considerable height denoting that the primitive man was much taller than today.

“The paintings were made in different colours signifying different periods. Most of them are in red and white colours specifying an era earlier than those made in lush green and yellow colours,” Krishna Kumar, a guide at Bhimbetka, explained.

These colours were obtained from crushing locally available stone nodules of different

shades, which were then mixed with water or substances like glue as binders before application.

The art decorating the rock shelters are of Mesolithic era, characterised by closeness to Nature. Wild animal figures and hunting scenes represent a hunter-gathering way of life. Historians rely on superimposition of paintings in order to establish their relative chronology.

“The primitive artist, at times, took advantage of the natural features of the rock surface to depict animals falling from the cliff. This shows the creativity of the artist,” Dr Narayan Vyas, an expert

on Bhimbetka, said.Animals like deer,

bison, tigers, wild boar, elephants, monkey, antelope, lizards, peacock and rhinoceros have been abundantly depicted in the rock shelter.

Bhmbetka, however, is not the only rock shelter in this area. Bineka, Bhonrawali and Lakhajuar east and west are the other areas discovered by Dr V S Wakankar in 1957-58. He conducted archaeological excavations at Bhimbetka, bringing to light remains from the Palaeolithic age to the early Medieval period.

The rock-shelters of Bhimbetka are located about 45 km north-east of Bhopal, the capital of

Madhya Pradesh. The fringes of the ancient Vindhyachal range have been home to primitive man who left an eternal mark in the form of rock shelter paintings, thereby fortifying an ancient treasure.

According to folklore, Bhimbetka owes its name to the epic Mahabharata. The five Pandavas are said to have taken shelter in these caves after they were banished from their kingdom. The massive rocks were used as a seat by the gigantic Bhima.

The oldest paintings are found at Bhimbetka is 30,000 years old, but some of the geometric figures date to as recently as the medieval period.

The rock shelter of Bhimbetka in Bhopal Photo by Apoorva Sharda

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Indian pilot Bhavye Suneja captained the ill-fated Indonesian plane which crashed into the sea on Monday with 188 passengers and crew on board while en-route to Pangkal pinang city, the airline said.

The Lion Air flight JT610 crashed into the sea off Indonesia’s island of Java, 13 minutes after taking off from Jakarta Soekarno Hatta International Airport.

The flight carried 178 adults, one child and two infants, including three crew under training and one technician, the airline said in a statement.

The priority for will be finding the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder to help determine the cause.

The pilots had asked to

turn back to base shortly before losing contact with air traffic control, the report said, quoting spokesman for Indonesia’s air navigation authorities.

Flight JT610 was a Boeing 737 MAX 8 that was delivered in August and had 800 hours of flying time. It sunk in waters about 30 to 35 metres, north of the coast of Java island. The aircraft was declared operationally

feasible, the statement said. Privately owned budget carrier Lion Air was founded in 1999 and its only fatal accident to date was when a MD-82 crashed on landing at Solo City in 2004, killing 25 of the 163 people on board, according to the Flight Safety Foundation’s Aviation Safety Network.

The 31-year-old captain has 6,000 flight hours and the co-pilot more than 5,000 flight hours, the statement said.

Captain Suneja was a resident from New Delhi. He attended Ahlcon Public School in Mayur Vihar. He had been working at Lion Air since March 2011 and was also The aircraft was commanded by Captain Suneja and co-pilot Har-vino with six cabin crew members.

Edited by Girisha Saain

SC stays order in Koregaon casePRESS TRUST OF INDIA

The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the Bombay High Court order refusing extension of time to the state police for filing charge sheet in the Koregaon-Bhima violence case.

Recently, the Bombay High Court had set aside the lower court’s order allowing extension of time to police to file its probe report against the rights activists in the violence case.

Taking note of the appeal of the Maharashtra government, a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi stayed the high court order and issued notice to rights activists on the plea.

Earlier, the apex court had refused to interfere with the arrest of five rights activists by the Maharashtra Police in connection with the Koregaon-Bhima violence case and declined to appoint a SIT for probe

into their arrest. The Pune Police had arrested lawyer Surendra Gadling, Nagpur University professor Shoma Sen, Dalit activist Sudhir Dhawale, activist Mahesh Raut and Kerala native Rona Wilson in June for their alleged links with Maoists under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The arrests had followed raids at their residences and offices in connection with the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31 last year, which, the police had claimed, had led to violence at Bhima Koregaon the

next day. The Maharashtra

Government had on October 25 moved the apex court challenging the Bombay High Court order by which the extension of time granted to state police to conclude probe in the Koregaon Bhima violence case was set aside.

In the previous hearing, the bench had considered the submissions of lawyer Nishant Katneshwar, appearing for the Maharashtra government, that the appeal needed to be heard on an urgent basis. The lawyer had said that if the high court order

is not stayed then accused in the violence case would become entitled for grant of statutory bail for want of non-filing of charge sheet within the stipulated period.

Under the UAPA, a charge sheet must be filed within 90 days of arrest. However, the prosecutor can file a report before the trial court, explaining the reasons for the delay, and seek more time. If satisfied, the court can extend the time by 90 days.

In the present case, the Pune sessions court had granted the police the additional 90 days, following an application from the investigating officeR and written submissions by an ACP.

Gadling had challenged this, saying the report and the submissions came from the police, not the prosecutor. Under the Act, the report should be filed by the prosecutor, he said.

Edited by Girisha Saain

PM holds talks with Japanese ministerBy HARSHITA VIDUSHI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and held productive, focused discussion on bilateral, regional and global issues.

Modi arrived in Japan on Saturday to attend the 13th India-Japan annual two-day summit which will seek to review the progress in ties and deepen strategic dimension of the bilateral relationship.

“Strengthening the strategic orientation of our relationship. Foreign Minister of Japan Taro Kono called on PM @narendramodi. Held productive and focused discussion on bilateral,

regional and global issues,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

Modi also met Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the Minister of Economy Trade and Industry (METI) Hiroshige Seko.

He appreciated the Japanese support extended to the flagship initiatives in India.

“Secretary General of Liberal Democratic Party Toshihiro Nikai called on PM @narendramodi. PM appreciated his vision and experience in strengthening of our bilateral relationship,

specially support extended to the flagship initiatives in India,” Kumar tweeted.

Japan’s role in India’s economic journey continues to be integral to its transformation, Kumar added. “Minister of @METI_JPN Hiroshige Seko called on PM @narendramodi. Discussed ways to enhance our economic engagement, specially given METI’s role in strengthening our economic partnership,” Kumar tweeted.

Earlier, Modi addressed a gathering of the Indian community in Japan and also interacted with some respected names in Japanese venture capitalists.

Based on PIB report

Taking note of the appeal of the Maharashtra government, a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi stayed the high court order and issued notice to rights activists on the plea.

Indian pilot captained crashed plane

The flight number JT610 was a Boeing 737 MAX 8 that was delivered in August and had 800 hours of flying time.

Modi also met Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the Minister of Economy Trade Hiroshige Seko. He appreciated the Japanese support extended to the flagship initiatives in India.

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Priyanka Chopra celebrat-ed her bridal shower Sun-day night ahead of her wed-ding with Amiercan singer Nick Jonas.

The 36-year-old Indian star looked gorgeous in a white strapless Marchesa dress as she partied with her close friends at Tiffa-ny’s Blue Box Cafe in New York City. The party was thrown by bridesmaids Mubina Rattonsey and An-jula Acharia, reported Us Weekly.

Kelly Ripa, Lupita Nyong’o and Priyanka’s fu-ture brother-in-law Kevin Jonas, his wife, Danielle Jonas and their daughter Alena were part of the cele-bration. Asked how excited she was for the party as she was entering the venue the “Quantico” actor replied, “So much”.

Excited about the par-ty, Priyanka also shared a picture on Instagram while dressing up. She wrote, “My girls are in town! #anyrea-sontoparty #prewedding-celebrations”. At the par-ty, a DJ played Bollywood songs and several guests kicked off their shoes and danced to the music. The bridesmaids also gave speeches in honour of Pri-yanka. According to sourc-es, Nick and Priyanka are set to tie the knot “in India in December”. The couple have been spending some quality time in New York since last few days.

They were recently spotted at a restaurant and as they watched a Broad-way musical together. On Monday, Priyanka shared a photo of Nick with her nephew and wrote, “Neph-ew and Boo”. The duo got engaged in July in a tradi-tional Roka ceremony at her residence in Mumbai.

Edited by Girisha Saain

Priyanka celebrates bridal shower

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

There is a need for a large number of good doctors and medical colleges for the delivery of effective health services, President Ram Nath Kovind said on Monday.

Addressing the first convocation of Dr Rajen-dra Prasad Government Medical College in Dhar-amsala, Kovind said the re c e nt l y - p ro mu l g a t e d Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018, would encourage the establishment, expan-sion and modernisation of medical colleges and insti-tutions.

Need for good doctors, says Kovind

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

A woman footballer, who represented the country 10 years ago, is now running a roadside tea stall in Jalpai-guri district.

Kalpana Roy, 26, also coaches around 30 boys and trains them twice a day in order to keep herself fit, as she still nurtures the dream of playing again.

Kalpana’s stint as a footballer was cut short in 2013 after she suffered a serious injury in her right leg, during a match in the Women’s League, which is conducted by the Indian Football Association.

“It took me about a year to recover. I got no financial help for the treat-

ment from anyone. From then on, I am running the tea stall,” the footballer said. Her father used to run the tea stall but he is now suffering from old age ailments.

She said, “I was con-tacted for trial for the sen-ior national side but finan-cial constraints forced me to stay back. I do not have a place to stay in Kolkata. Besides, if I leave, who will look after the family? My father is not well now.”

Kalpana is the young-est of five sisters, four of whom are married. One of

them stays with her. Their mother died around four years ago.

The footballer, who used to play as a forward, did not marry as she has to look after her father and other members of the fam-ily.

Kalpana, who played four international matches as an under-19 footballer in 2008, now starts prac-tising with the 30 odd boys in the morning and opens the tea stall around 10 am.

She closes the shop at 4 pm, goes for two hours’ practice and reopens the shop after coming back.

“The clubs for which the boys play pay me Rs 3,000 per month. That money is also important to

me,” Kalpana said.Kalpana said she is fit

enough to play at the sen-ior level and also experi-enced enough to coach.

“I am confident that I can contribute to the game in both ways. All I need is a job so that I do not have to worry for the family’s re-quirements,” she said.

If anyone is interested, Kalpana said she can also set up a girls’ team taking players from north Bengal.

“We have plenty of tal-ent but no infrastructure,” Kalpana lamented.

Edited by Girisha Saain

By HARSHITA VIDUSHI

Manoj Bajpayee’s film Bhonsle was greeted with a packed house at the India Premiere of the film at the 20th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival With Star.

The film which has been directed by Devash-ish Makhija had been se-lected for the India Story section at the festival.

Audiences flocked to the venue of PVR Icon in Andheri where the pre-miere of the film was held.The premiere of the film was attended by Manoj Ba-jpayee and his crew.

In the film, Manoj Ba-jpayee plays the titular role of Bhonsle - a terminally ill lone wolf Maharash-trian cop who has retired against his will, in a polit-ically tumultuous Mumbai. Bhonsle finds himself forg-ing an unlikely compan-ionship with a 23-year-old North-Indian girl and her little brother, while the raging conflict destroying the world around them reaches his doorstep, giv-ing him one last battle worth fighting for, but it might just be too late.

The film reunites di-rector Makhija, producer Indie Muviz and Bajpay-ee – the trio behind the highly acclaimed short film Taandav. Manoj Bajpayee had bagged the Best Actor award for the short film at the Filmfare Awards 2016.

The film also features a stellar cast which includes Marathi star Santosh Ju-vekar, theatre thespian Ipshita Chakraborty Singh and introduces the child artist Virat Vaibhav. The film is produced by Ba-jpayee.

Based on a Press Release

Woman footballer runs tea stall in Jalpaiguri

‘I am confident that I can contribute to the game in both ways. All I need is a job so that I do not have to worry for the family’s requirements’.

Bajpayee’s film Bhonsle gets applause

By GIRISHA SAAIN

Roche has tied up with digital health compa-ny Wellthy Therapeutics to offer users of the Ac-cu-Chek Active system an innovative artificial intelli-gence-based digital diabe-tes coaching solution.

The joint offering will encompass the trusted Ac-cu-Chek Active blood glu-cose meter and the Wellthy Care app to new users. The bundle is being launched in the South and West Zones of India.

Speaking about the partnership, Rahul Ke-dia, Ad-Interim General Manager, Roche Diabetes

Care India said, “India is home to the second larg-est number of people liv-ing with diabetes in the world, numbering about 73 million in 2017 as per the International Diabetes Federation”.

The figure is expected to almost double to 134 million by 2025. Moreo-ver, factors such as limited doctor bandwidth to con-nect with patients outside the clinic, low adherence to care protocols and poor access to blood glucose monitoring makes it cru-cial to support people with diabetes in their daily ther-apy management.

Based on PIB report

New AI solution for diabetics

By ANUSHKA SINGH

The devotional music played at the famous Gold-en Temple in Amritsar is carefully curated and sing-ers practice on it for several years before they can be in-cluded in the choir.

Navtej Singh, one of the volunteers performing de-votional music for the vis-itors on a daily basis, says: “The total time for visiting the temple is two to three hours, because of thou-sands of devotees coming from all around the world in order to pay respects to the Guru Granth Sahib and to listen to our bhajans which have been scored by experts”.

Surrounded by water from three sides, the holy shrine is open for all irre-spective of their gender, class or faith and was built with the aim of having a place of worship where everyone could sit on the ground as equals and eat the same food.

Auto driver Papinder Singh who has long been ferrying visitors to the Golden Temple area, says: “The temple experiences maximum crowd during

the daytime but the rush is in all seasons”.

Every year, Amritsar attracts tons of tourists, thanks to its numerous at-tractions. Unarguably, the biggest source of tourism is Harmandir Sahib or Gold-en Temple and its special-ty lies in being the biggest place of worship for Sikhs across the globe.

The foundation stone for the temple was laid in 1574 by a Muslim saint named Guru Ram Das and it was rebuilt with marble and gold during the reign

of Ranjit Singh, a ruler of the Sikh Empire.

“Before entering the premises, we take off our footwear, wrap our head with any piece of cloth and dip our feet in icy cold wa-ter and then line up in a queue which is so long that it can take up to 1 hour 30 minutes to reach the main temple,” says Janu Singh, a pilgrim from Jallandhar.

“While waiting in the general queue can be very tedious, the line for ladies moves much more quick-ly,” he points out. After

completing their darshan, visitors drink the water of the man-made Sarovar which is considered to be very pure by Sikhs.

“If you come in the evening at six, it is much more relaxed as the village folk go back to their homes and retire for the day,” says Papinder.’

Then, there is also a lan-gar for the weary visitors organised by members of the Sewa Sangh serve food and water, free of cost. The temple has four different en-trances.

BY DEBPARNA NAYAK

The crippling terror attack on Mumbai, especially on the Taj Mahal Palace and Hotel, has not dimmed the fervour of tourists coming to visit the iconic Gateway of India.

Abhinav Sharma, a tourist says: “It is not just Mumbai’s most important landmarks, but also a na-tional symbol that attracts many foreign and local tourists”.

Another Mumbaikar Kristofer Wiley, who orig-inally hails from Germany, says: “More dreams are realised than extinguished in Bombay than any other place in India. The Gate-way stands tall as the ter-ror attack survivor, encas-ing the spirit of Indians in the face of any adversity,” he adds.

The milling crowd at the Gateway seconds his opinion and tells you how the pleasure of being here towers over any bad mem-ories of the 26/11 terror

attacks.The glory of this mon-

ument has long captured people’s eyes and makes them travel back into the time of King George and Queen Mary during whose reign this monument was built.

“As we all know, Mum-bai is the largest city in Asia. It is the financial, entertainment and com-

mercial capital of India. All multinational companies from all over the world have their offices. It is the hub of Indian cinema-Bol-lywood.

It is also home to many grand monuments on the planet, one of it being the imposing Gateway of In-dia,” says Wiley.

It is a famous tourist spot where tourists from

all over the world come here and click pictures of this great monument. One can enjoy the local snacks such as bhelpuri and sevpuri.

There is a ferry ghat from where small and big boats are available to go to Alibag- a beautiful beach and Elephanta caves- an exceptional rock cut sculp-tors on the caves.

Lohia Park walks you to good healthBy ANIKET SHARMA

The Lohia Park in Rajen-dra Nagar, Ghaziabad, is a morning haven for walk-ers of all ages. “Health plays an important role in everyone’s life and does so in mine too,” says retired Sociology Professor S S Sharma who never misses a morning to stretch out at this well-maintained colo-ny park. His routine is fixed and he says it always starts from the Lohia Park where he gets a good round of brisk walking, a pollution free breathing exercise and a clean environment.

“I wake up at 5:30 am and come here for a walk. I take four rounds of the track before sitting down for a yoga and meditation session with my friends. What yoga means is the union of mind with the su-preme soul and it helps in having better focus on the targets and goals that we desire to achieve,” he says.

Many like Prof Shar-ma visit this green lung of Rajendra Nagar for vari-ous recreational activities which are helpful in main-taining the fitness and health of individuals. “This

park connects a person with his surroundings. It gives all of us fresh air and ups our energy levels with its quiet and calm. The dew on the grass in this season makes me feel connected with the environment and also allows me to get united with Nature and feel good first thing in the morning. In short, it makes my day,” Sharma says.

The park opens at 4:30 in the morning and people come here for varied activ-ities like running, cardio exercises, yoga and med-itation. People of all age groups can be seen play-ing various sports, such as Cricket, Football, Badmin-ton and Kabaddi to name a few. Friendly matches in one of these sports are also held every weekend and they are well attended.

After a heavy-duty exercise schedule in the morning, Sharma goes home to study for his re-search on Old Age India and some other projects he is engaged in. “In the eve-nings, I come here again for small walks with friends. We often engage ourselves in discussing raging so-cial and political issue,” he

adds. Sharma emphasizes that the health of the pres-ent generation is not good as they do not play and in-stead waste their time on the social media.

“They should spend some time at parks like this one, maintain a proper diet and up their immunity,” he suggests. Lohia Park was developed by the Ghazia-bad Development Author-ity (G.D.A) in the memory of the great Socialist lead-er Ram Manohar Lohia in 2005. The park consists of five courtyards and four parking spaces.

Lake garden is a wedding venue

By MAHANDRILAI KUMANAN

A frenzy of activity and construction has engulfed the India Gate and its surropunding lawns ever since the Modi Govern-ment decided to introduce a complex with worlkd class facilities in its envi-rons.

Not many is Delhi agree with these modern-isation plans on grounds that it will defile the beauty of this British war memo-rial where 70000 British Indian Army soldiers are marked in tribute of their effort in the First World War. “To make an office or tour-ist complex, or for that matter any other struc-ture even in the vicitnity of such a heritage monumnet is not good thinking. Delhi has lots of space for such ventures and one should keep tLutyens Delhi out if it,” says Raghav Sharma, a student of architecture.

Ten years after the foundation of stone lay-ing ceremony on February 12,1931, this war memo-rial was inaugurrated by Viceroy Lord Irwin, who said on the occassion: “Those who after us shall look upon this monument may learn in pondering its purpose, something of that sacrifice and service which the names upon its walls

record”.“There is something

about that fire, the Amar Jawan Jyoti, that gives me goosebumps everytime I visit this memorial,” says John Burline, a foreign tourist who has visited In-dia many times.

People who travel to the Capital for Delhi dar-shan, make it a point to go visit this monument and pay their respects.

“The Amar Jawan Jyo-ti which signifies the flame of the immortal soldier has become one of the sole purpose of visits to India Gate,” said a guide when asked about why people arrive in such large num-bers to this place.

It is generally visited at nights so as to view the monument in light shades of the tricolour.

The guide also talked about the architecture of the monument which was designed by Sir Edwin Luytens who was also the main architect of New Del-hi and how it resembles a triumphal arch.

The inscriptions on its wall draw a lot of attention and when people attempt to read these names they are told to not do so for se-curity reasons.

Every year the Presi-dent visits the Amar Jawan Jyoti to pay his respects to the Indian Armed Forces.

Golden Temple promotes unityDelhi’s heart beats for India Gate

Devotees from across the globe queue up for darshan at the temple. Photo by Anushka Singh

By CHARUSHREE CHUNDAWAT

With the wedding season coming in, the beautiful Jag Mandir Palace is all set to wow the visitors with not just its placement but also its old world beauty.

“The last time I visited this lake property, I was floored by its luxury and style. We were attending the wedding of a friend and the event turned out to be a grand occasion as the event managers went all out to decorate this place with live diyas and lighting,” says Jhilmil Dutta, a Delhi res-ident and a content man-agement professional.

The construction of this monument was done by to Rana Karan Singh way back in 1628.

“A marble structure floating in the middle of the beautiful lake is anyone’s dream come true, espe-cially for a wedding,” adds Dutta.

The statue of an el-ephant in white marble welcomes tourists to Jag Mandir. “The best season to visit this beautiful city and palace is from Septem-ber to March. The tempera-ture does not go beyond 28 degrees. Tourists can travel

across the entire city,” the tourist guide says.

Gul Mahal, a part of this complex, catches the eye as this is the place where prince Khurram lived with his family. “The hall has amazing interiors and is decorated with a n impos-ing crescent,” Dutta says.

Other pavilions that are worth mention is Bara Patharon Ka Mahal, Kun-war Pada ka Mahal and the Zenana Mahal. Bara Pathoran ka Mahal is made out of 12 solid marble slabs. Kunwar Pada Ka Mahal of-fered several chambers for the women of the royalty.

Another attraction of this place is the courtyard which is festooned with black and white tiles but looks amazing in the night lights.

During the wedding season, either parts of or the entire property is given away to the clients but with specific instructions to not defile the walls with nails or other objects, the guide says. “The food, cooked by local chefs at the Darikha-na restaurant, is out of the world and succulently showcases the lip smacking cuisine of Rajasthan,” Dut-ta tells you.

Tourist rush mars beauty of Taj

By GAMINI CHANANA

The tourist rush at the Taj Mahal, over decades, has led to many a blemish on its formerly pristine white marble facade.

According to localite Shivani Kashyap: “Taj Ma-hal is an icon of the world but the city and the envi-ronment of Agra is so pol-luted that the marble of the Taj has gotten blemished and is constantly turning yellow.”

Add to that the prob-lem of air pollution, and you can see the monumnet of love’s marble façade turning yellow. “Parts of the monument are ob-scured by a scaffolding and a clay treatment is being given to restore its sheen,” Kashyap points out.

The only thing that caught my eyes was the crowd. The monument at-tracts far too many people than it can handle,” says Kashyap who is also angry about the irritating nature of the guides.

Many of the foreign tourists who come here for a must-visit, are awe-struck by its beauty but at the same time comment sadly about the colour of the pristine white marble changing. “I wish the pol-lution was somehow kept away from this monument of love and the Govern-

ment joined the public in keeping this iconic citiy clean of industry waste,” said Jack Jones who is in the business of bringing tourists from England to India.

The taj is a majestic tomb built in Mughal style, which combines Indian, Islamic and Persian archi-tecture.

Visitors marvel at the intricate Quran inscrip-tions, the structure’s per-fect symmetry, the ornate accents, and the surround-ing manicured gardens. Daytime: sunrise to sunset every day, except on Friday when it is closed for visi-tors and opened only for prayers at the Mosque in-side Taj Mahal.

“In a full moon night the beauty of this amazing monument leaves no scope for words. A silver glow that takes over Taj Ma-hal is so mesmerizing that most of the things you’ll see after that will feel ordi-nary at best,” adds Jones.

“This fabulous inter-play of colours all through the day symbolically im-plies the presence of God, who is never represented in the anthropomorphic form. Most visitors have seen pictures of this mon-ument coming face to face with the Taj Mahal is a unique experience,” says Kashyap .

Gateway continues to lure tourists

A view from the sea of Gateway Of India Photo by Debparna Nayak

The glory of India Photo by Mahadrilai Kumanan

Pristine beauty of Taj Mahal Photo by Gamini Chanana

People love to visit this green lung for recreation-al activities which are helpful in maintaining the fitness and health levels in a friendly environment

THE TIME F BENNETTSOTHE TIME F BENNETTSO GREATER NOIDAMonday, October 8, 20184

Ram Manohar Lohia’s statue stands tall at Lohia park in Ghaziabad’s Rajendra Nagar area. Photo by Aniket Sharma

By ARYAMAN CHOUDHARY

Busy routes, stalls offering mouth-watering delicacies, thickets, joggers, tourists, a fountain and a grand statue of Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the founder of Jaipur, all come under one sky at Statue Circle Park, popularly known as Statue Circle.

Jaipur is famous for its royal ambience, rich culture and history which manages to attract tourists from all over the country and lure the attention of outsiders . Statue Circle which is one of the most popular hang-out spots of Jaipur is located at junc-tion of busy roads. Owing to its location which is a central place almost half of the city’s population passes through it while navigat-ing in the Pink City. The grand statue reminisces the glorious history of the city: Jaipur.

People visit the place to jog, hang-out with their friends or families, or just take a sight of the life size statue of the Maharaja. Thismonument is now popular for the local deli-

cacies and snacks that the vendors offer.The coffee offered at the Statue circle is also famous for the local delicacies and snacks that the local vendors offer. tat-ue circle is one of the top recommendations by the Jaipurites to any outsider. The price rates are almost same at every coffee stall i.e., 100 Bucks for a glass of cold and 50 for a cup of hot coffee.“I come here of-ten along with my friends, after my tuition classes get over to eat something. My favourite choices are Pav-Bhaji and cold coffee.”, said, Deepanshu, an 18 year old teen.

“I come here because of the lovely ambience of the place. The lighting and fountain are good to watch. Also, as it is close to my home, I come here at night to walk around after hav-ing dinner.”, said Ayush, a first-year college student. The statue was built as a tribute to the founder of the city, Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II. The statue is made of white marble in which the Maharaja is shown as holding some astronomical paraphernalia in his hand, depicting his inclination to-

wards astronomy.The sight becomes even

more breath-taking in the evening with brilliant lights and fountain around the statue. Also, the coffee of-fered at the statue circle is one of the top recom-mendations by the Jaipu-rites

Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the popular mon-arch of Amber (later called Jaipur) the capital of the Kachwahas, founded and planned the city of Jaipur in 1728. A famous mathe-matician, astronomer and town-planner, Jai Singh is known to set some famous astrological observatories like Jantar Mantars in cit-ies of Jaipur, Delhi, Ma-thura, Varanasi and Ujjain. He also designed the city of Jaipur according to as-tronomy and ancient Hin-du treatise on architecture, the Shilpa Shastra, and plans of contemporary Eu-ropean cities of the period with his own ideas. Jaipur, which was built on the grid system with nine rectan-gular zones corresponding to the nine divisions of the universe and had different zones allotted to different professions.

Golu Devta’s court of justice at ChitaiBy AYUSHI BISHT

Chitai temple, dedicated to Golu Devta, who is one of the most revered deities in Kumaon region. The temple is located in Almo-ra district of Uttarakhand and considered as the most popular temples of Lord Golu. Lord Golu Devta is considered an ‘Incarnation of Lord Shiva’ and is wor-shipped all over the region. “He is regarded as the god of justice; every day, hun-dreds of devotees submit their wishes on paper and seldom on stamp papers in his temple.There is a firm

believe that the lord of Fair-ness will surely accept all those requests which have been made from a clean conscience” said Vinod, the priest of temple. ‘When the wishes are fulfilled, devo-tees express their happiness gratitude towards Lord by

tying bells around the tem-ple premises. Thousands of bells hanging in the temple premises are evident to this fact’ he added. The history says the temple was con-structed in 12 century by the ‘Chand dynasty’. The temple is very peaceful where one

can sit, worship and feel peace of the temple. There are many restaurants just on the opposite side of the road where people have their lunch.

The temple looks dis-tinct with numerous bells of all sizes. Lord Golu’s shrine is placed at the position from where one can have amazing vistas to Himala-yas. It is a must visit place which would introduce the visitor to a different kind of religious practice and de-votion. Hence, Chitai Golu Devta temple is a must visit to all the travellers travelling to Almora.

By GAURI DHIMAN

“If evenings are not in office or passed waya in urgent assignments, they have to spent taking a liesurely stroll in the Lodi Gardens. The sunset here is a mar-vellous experience. I love to go for a walk just before it is about to close. The expe-rience of standing atop the Athpulastone Bridge in the park and watching the sun go down is surreal,” says Payal, a regular walker who lives in the nearby Khan Market area.

For many like Payal, the gardens are a different land altogether, especially for people who want to find peace in this busy city.Situated between Khan Market and Safdarjung’s Tomb it is a hotspot for morning walks for Delhi-ites.It helps them to get away from the daily hectic buzz of city life into a sur-real and soothing bliss of

the nature .You can find old people laughing away in the morning, doing their regular yoga, and you can find tourists marvelling at these treasures.Spreading over 90 acres in Delhi, Lo-dhi garden is considered one of the Capital’s most stunning attractions. These gardens have been sur-

rounded by many histor-ical monuments including Mohammed Shah’s Tomb, Sikander Lodi’s Tomb, as well as architectural works of the 15th century.The domed mausoleums have been sited in an open land-scape, rather as the Ancient Greeks placed temples. Tombs of Mohammed

Shah and Sikander Lodi along with ancient monu-ments like Bada gumbad, Sheesh gumbad and Ath-pula which are protected and conserved by ASI.“But by the nineteenth century the tombs were occupied by squatters and only after the land passed into the ownership of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) were the squat-ters moved.” said Vijendra, a resident on lodhi road. ASI did the restoration work of bada gumbad and Sikandar lodi’s tomb at a fast pace. All the five build-ings inside lodi gardens are ASI protected.A walk in the lodi gardens during sunsets is a mar-vellous experience. People love to go for a walk just before it is about to close. They stand on Athpula stone bridge and look at the setting sun.This archiac beauty in the heart of Delhi deserves your time

Bells around the Chitai tenple premise Photo By Ayushi Bisht

Pilgrims seek solace at Sis GanjBy JAHANVI MANCHANDA

Even if you somehow mi-raculously fail to notice the imposing Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib as you walk down from the main Red Fort area right into Chand-ni Chowk, the intensely overpowering fragrance of the Halwa will invade your nostrils and possess you, pulling you right towards the Gurudwara, pressur-ising you to enter and pay your respects, even if it is for the greedy objective of getting a spoonful of the divine prasad. The Gu-rudwara Sis Ganj is the place of martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh guru and hence is a place of great rever-ence for the Sikh commu-nity.Everyday hundreds of people offer services in the Gurudwara ,while some get involved in cleaning the gurudwara floor oth-ers prepare the langar “Sis Ganj Sahib Gurudwara is a beautiful place with serene and pure vibes. One of the most memorable and beautiful part was seeing the dedication of people who were serving the vis-itors; they were so pious and spiritual. The people who serve the holy water recite prayers in continuity hence a per-son receiving the holy water receives blessing in each drop”. Says Miss Nikita Sharmawho regu-larly visits the gurudwara .Guru Tegh Bahadur pro-tested against the forceful conversion of Kashmiri Pandits and non-Muslims to Islam due to his protest Mughal ruler Auranzeb-

gave orders to behead him on the 11 November 1675 However, before his body could be quartered and ex-posed to public view, it was stolen under the cover of darkness by one of his dis-ciples, Lakhi Shah Vanjara who, then burnt his house to cremate Guru’s body; today, at this site stands Gurdwara Rak ab Ganj Sa-hib.

Following the Sikh cul-ture of not letting anyone return the gurudwara emp-ty stomach halwa and lan-gar is served to all . When

you enter the gurudwara it is mandatory for all the people to wash their feet in the pool. “I visited the gurudwara in the morning the time when the kirtan was taking place. The gu-rudwara was filled with the melodious sound of it . My visit to the Sheesh Ganj Gurdwara was an amazing experience. It is a histor-ical Gurdwara located in the bustling and crowd-ed Chandni Chowk area of Delhi”. Says Mr Sanjay Singh.

The gurudwara is usu-

ally very crowded during the day time. After the kirtan ended they served the Prasad in the form of halwa and poori cholle. While coming out the ser-vice of the kirtan service write in the middle of the gurudwara was the Sikh flag flying might in the air which was yellow in colour and had the Sikh emblem in right in the middle. Also there were young children between the age group of 5-15 giving away service in the form of serving holy water to people to drink.

Bliss of Nature at Lodhi Garden

Let no man live in delusion. Inside the gurdwara Photo by Jahanvi Manchanda

Statue of Circle gives heartbeat to Jaipur

Tomb at Lodhi Garden Photo By Gauri Dhiman

By APOORVA SHARDA

Udayagiri Caves, in Vi-dhisha, formerly known as Besnagar, is the only site verifiably associated with the era when Gupta Monarchs dominated the Indian subcontinent. The caves were created in final decades of the 4th-centu-ry, and consecrated in 401 CE was the patronage of Chandragupta II. These are twenty rock-cut caves containing some of the oldest surviving Hindu temples and iconography of Vaishnavism (Vish-nu), Shaktism (Durga and Matrikas) and Shaivism (Shiva). Udaygiri being the non ticketed monument so

there is there is no record of the exact footfall in the cave but on an average ,there is an approximate arriv-al of 150 tourists per day.Estimating the effects of footfalls Dr Sandhiya Bad-welkar, Assistant Archae-ologist said, “ Footfall is basically the rubbing offor erosion of the monument with every footstep that ba-sically leads to the erosion of the ancient heritage and makes the work even more harder. Getting into the scientific part of it,humans emits body oils and carbon dioxide which degrades the monument on another level.”Mrs Sushri Mishra, Assistant Superintending Archaeologist, Bhopal Cir-

cle said “Although Look-ing from the point of view of an Archaeologist, lower footfall is actually benefi-cial for the long life of the Monument. Comparing the same situation with the Taj Mahal, because of the in-creased footfall, the mon-ument is deteriorating at a faster pace than any other monument, Among these caves, the most elaborate and famous is the cave which depicts the ancient monumental relief sculp-ture of Vishnu in his in-carnation as the man-boar Varaha, rescuing the earth symbolically represented by Bhudevi clinging to the boar’s tusk as described in Hindu mythology.

Prominently, all the 20 caves which were excavat-ed are devoted to one or the other deity of the differ-ent faith. The first and the twentieth 20th cave belong to Buddhist and Jain affil-iation respectively, while the remaining belongs to the Brahmanical pantheon especially early Shaiva and Vaishnava cult.Udayagiri is manmade during the early Gupta period and is gen-erally associated with the hill of rising sun as it faces east, however, ‘It depicts the emancipation of earth from the bondage of de-mon by the Aadi Varah, the 3rd incarnation of Vishnu, hillock justifies its name as Udayagiri – hillock where

the Bhudevi rises’ inter-prets Dr, Bhuvan Vikrama, Superintending Archae-ologist of Bhopal circle, he is responsible for the upkeep and conservation of the site.Heliodorus, a Greek ambassador of king Antialcidas of Taxila came to the court of Shunga king Bhagabhadra and erected a pillar in praise of Vishnu. Excavations at Udayagiri stretch the antiquity of hu-man establishments to 3rd century BCE, a fact that strengthens the continuity of the place, it’s strategic significance and setting which the Gupta rulers ex-ploited to express their love for art and creativity of the artists of Besnagar.

By GIRISHA SAAIN

Jal Mahal a heritage mon-ument wasn’t been taken proper care of by the gov-ernment authorities , wa-ter bodies around it were stinking. The neglected state of the monument was a matter of disdain but now a privately owned compa-ny, Jal Mahal Resorts has taken i the initiative to re-store its beauty.

“Jal mahal had an eye catching view but the smell of the lake made me loathe the place so much that I would avoid visiting it .When I heard the news of it being handed over to a private company for its renovation I was content. The work is under rapid progress and I have per-sonally seen the change in lake’s water quality .”said Ashwini Kashnia who re-sides in Amer Road . The monument was built by Madho Singh II to fulfill his desire to conduct royal duck shooting parties has now been a monument which is being reworked. It will take years to completly undo the damage .The lake

was a home to migratory birds from across the globe however its degenerated state led to scarcity of birds .Major issue which led to the undertaking of such massive restoration project was the stinking due to the dumping of untreated sew-age and poorly managed dumping system .Tourist and visitors often com-plained about the state of the monument but lack of initiative and intention to resolve the issue led to such a situation in the first place.

The water’s biological oxygen demand (BOD) level went severely down of the lake .It was built us-ing the Rajput and Mughal styles of architecture. Lack of efforts by the govern-ment led to the detoriation of the monuments .Now Government is giving pro-jects to private companies to restore the beauty of monuments in Rajasthan. One example is Jal Mahal is now in hands of Jal Ma-hal Resorts.Jal Mahal will soon be seen as a beautiful figure again with emphasis on garbage disposition and drainaage system .

Udaygiri Cave ruins bring ancient Gupta period to life again

Statue of circles Photo By Aryaman Chaudhary

Caves at Bes River Photo By Apoorva Sharda

Jal Mahal goes under rennovation

A place for everyone at Sis ganj gurudwara Photo by Jahanvi Manchanda

THE TIME F BENNETTSOTHE TIME F BENNETTSOGREATER NOIDAMonday, October 8, 2018 5

By ESHA YADAV

“If there is one place that gives a polluted Delhi its much-needed oxygen, it is Aravalli green lung,” says Damini Dutta who is a regular visitor to the area.He caustions that it will not take much time before Delhi’s air becomes completely unbreathable as the pollution level is rising and the ozone layer depleting, “but if there’s one guard against it, they are the Aravalli mountain range,” he adds.

Stretching 800 km from Ahmedabad to Delhi, it is one of the oldest mountain range in India and the world. On its northern extreme, sits the emerging commercial city of Gurgaon

“It is an oasis in the midst of a concrete jungle. It provides a great ecosystem for a variety of flora, fauna

and birds. As residents of NCR, we all must ensure more such pockets be created’’, says Dutta.

Inaugrated on June 5, 2010, on World Environment Day by the Haryana Chief Minister

Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the park’s mandate is to rehabilitate an area that has been ravaged by the mining

industry. “Constant mining which is now banned under court orders, had resulted in the decimation of the

thick forests which once covered this ridge. But life is returning now. It is suitable for morning jogs and runs.

Open meditation sessions are also conducted early in the morning,” says Dutta.

Working with the municipal corporation of Gurgaon, the NGO ‘I am Gurgaon’ recently took up a mission to revive the park. Today, it is home to thousands of trees of native variety and over 183 different species of birds.

“The main rehabilitation strategy for the park’s management is the systematic replanting of endemic tree species, in hopes that the trees will enable the regeneration of the entire ecosystem. I feel refreshed and rejuvenated whenever I visit the place”, says Sanjeev Singh, a localite.

The park is divided in five zones - Northern Ridge Tilpath Valley, Yamuna River front, Neela Hauz and Sanjay Lake.

By JATIN NAIR

“Two very different cul-tures have been combined to create a masterpiece that will never fade in history,” says George Fer-nandes, a tourist from the United States who visited the sprawling 321-acre palace, the biggest pre-

sedential quarters in the world, The Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Designed by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Bak-er, it truly makes for a monument worth visiting.

“The flow of tourists in all seasons is heavy. The palace is known not only for its architecture but

for its lush and blooming Mughal Gardens as also the museum that talks about its rich history,” says George.

Asked about what he finds the most attractive, Ching, a tourist from Chi-na, said: “I adore Indian monuments due to their Indo-British influence.”

He also admired the dis-cipline the Presidential guards adhere to.

“I love the way people camp on Rajpath. It’s such a beautiful and refreshing experience because its well maintained and respected by its people”.

George was more at-tracted to the luxury of

the palace after getting to know that it is a 340-room house where the President resides. “I am awstruck by the beauty of it and how the architecture seems so appealing and huge,” he says.

The conducted tour was a revelation to him. especially as it covered the

detailing of from the inte-riors to even the cutlery, furnture, decor and design. “I felt patriotic when I vis-ited the Amar Jawan Jyoti. It gave me a sense of pride, being from the Navy my-self. I understand a sol-dier’s sacrifice,” he says.

The Rashtrapati Bha-van will never lose its charm and royal image that represents India.

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Youth ‘adda’ nestles in heart of busy marketplace

GREATER NOIDAMonday, October 8, 2018

By SATVIK SURESH IYENGAR

Agrasen Ki Baoli, which lost its presence over the years, has come back to life as it is the youth’s new favourite hangout spot. “For us, it is no longer a sideshow to the great old Jantar Mantar but a major attraction,” says Prabhav Singh, an engineering student who comes here often with friends.

Singh and Aayush Mehta, his friend, characterize typical Delhi teenagers looking for calm vibes that they get from here.

“Go to a café somewhere in Connaught Place, have a good cup of coffee, then just jump right here. What a way to spend your weekend,” says Mehta to a question on how he likes to spend his free time in crowded Delhi.

For Singh, the main magnetism is the monument’s architecture. “Few might call it treacherous as the stairs are high and steep and one might fall from the stairs in a heartbeat, but that’s what attracts teenagers like us to this place. The thrill of it all! And then there is this whole thing about the place being

haunted. That adds to the pull,” Singh says.

It is a photo haven too. “Each angle, if treated well, gives you a good click for your Instagram account,” Mehta says.

What also is a bonus point in alluring the young guns of the town in reaching this part of the city are the graffities right outside Agrasen Ki Baoli. “These colourful

and vivacious graffities are a huge draw for many students,” says Singh.

Talking about the artistic touch, the location has been used to shoot scenes from various

Bollywood films such as the blockbuster film PK, starring Aamir Khan and Sultan, starring Salman Khan.

It was also featured in the 2017 Sridevi thriller

Mom. In 2012, a photo-shoot of Formula One models also took place here.

There have been reports suggesting that the 60-metre-long and

15-metre-wide historical step well on Hailey Road, near Connaught Place is haunted.

With no restrictions on cameras, one can see a great many children carrying one on them. “On a serious note, people do discuss the presence of ghosts and other evils that might resside here. Its all in the air, you just have to stretch out your hands and catch it,” Singh says with a laugh.

Over the years, the Agrasen Ki Baoli has earned different tags for itself. With new offices in and around Connaught Place, there is no way you woudn’t expect the workers to walk into the silent zone for a break.

“This can well be a great resting spot after a session of heavy shopping one might do at Connaught Place,” says Mehta. One just needs to drop those heavy bags down, and feast on the silence and peace of the place.

Even though Agrasen Ki Baoli is open to all ages, it makes a bigger cut when it cones to tempting the youth into spending some funfilled moments here when they are in the vicitnity.

6

Aravalli gives Delhi reason to breathe easy and healthy

Scenic beauty of Aravali. (Right) The park map shows its eight divisions. Photo by Esha Yadav

Govt struggles to provide basic amenitiesPRESS TRUST OF INDIA

The Government is facing difficulties in providing basic amenities such as water supply and electricity connection in many tribal areas as a number of Scheduled Tribe families do not live in communities, a senior official in the Tribal Affairs Ministry has said.

Highlighting the same he said, “In many cases, schools for tribal children are located in areas that lack sources of drinking water. Wherever possible, the government installed submersible pumps or dug bore wells.”

When schools for tribal children were built 20-25 years ago, there was no concept of constructing toilets. Girls hostels were set up but water supply was sanctioned later. In many places, water connection could not be provided at all, he said.

According to him, “You can dig bore wells, but what will you do if there is no groundwater? Many a times, the source of water is more than two kilometres away from schools.”

Tribal people are dispersed over a large area. They do not have a concept of living right next to each other. When Scheduled Tribes families construct houses, one structure was easily a hundred metres way from another, the official said.

It is very difficult for the administration to build roads and provide water connection and electricity in “typical tribal habitations” as the houses are located at a large distance from another, he said.He suggested,”It is only when they make some lifestyle changes, the government will able to provide them services.”

Access to basic amenities should and must be a basic human right and hopefully there comes a day when no citizen of this country has to fight and struggle for the same. Regardless of the lifestyle, cultural and econmic background, each individual is equal and must have the opportunity to fulfill their basic needs in life.

Edited by Khushi Pal

163 Delhiites make it to rich list 2018By LISHA BHASKER

As many as 163 Delhiites featured in the Barclays Hurun India Rich List 2018 and their cumulative wealth stood at a whopping Rs 6,78,400 crore, a report revealed on Tuesday.

The list, which is a compilation of the richest individuals in India hav-ing a net worth of Rs 1,000 crore or more, noted that in terms of cities, Mumbai emerged as the hub of the rich and famous - with 233 names hailing from the city; while New Delhi and Bengaluru accounted for 163 and 69 names, respec-tively.

The Delhi list was topped by HCL’s Shiv Na-dar with a total net worth of Rs 37,400 crore; closely followed by Eicher Motor’s Vikram Lal with Rs 37,100 crore and Roshni Nadar at the 3rd place with a total wealth of Rs 31,400 crore.

Bharati Airtel’s Sunil Mittal and family was placed at the 4th place with total wealth of Rs 22,500 crore, while Rajiv Singh of DLF broke into the top 10 in the latest edition with a net worth of Rs 21,000 crore and was at the 5th place.

While the top 10 list had only 2 women, there

were as many as 29 wom-en among the 163 Delhiites who made it to the list.

An industry-wise analysis shows that Auto and auto component sec-tor contributed 21 names to the rich list, followed by Capital Goods (11 names), Pharmaceuticals and FMCG sectors (10 names each).

However, in terms of share of cumulative wealth represented by each sector - Software & Services topped the rank-ing followed by Auto & auto components, FMCG and Telecommunications sectors at the second, third and fourth position, respectively.

The list was compiled on the basis of net worth of living Indians as on 31st July, 2018 when the rate of exchange to the US Dollar stood at Rs 68.51.

It relates to Indians only, defined as born or brought up in India.The overall list had 831 super rich individuals, led by Reliance Industries Chair-man Mukesh Ambani with a net worth of Rs 3.71 lakh crore. There were 831 In-dians having a net worth of Rs 1,000 crore or more in 2018, which is 214 in-dividuals more than the 2017 list.

Rashtrapati Bhavan stands symbol of grandeur

Agrasen ki Baoli has become a top hangout for the young of Delhi. Photo by Satvik Suresh Iyengar

The front view of the Rashtrapati Bhavan Photo by Lakshay Kumar

‘I love the way people can camp in the sides of the Ra-jpath here, it’s such a beauti-ful and refresh-ing experience as it is well maintained and respected. I adore Indian monuments due to their Indo-British influence. Two cultures have been combined to create this masterpiece’

THE TIME F BENNETTSOTHE TIME F BENNETTSO

Delhi’s precious past hidden in Humayun’s tomb

Durgapur Troika rides high

GREATER NOIDAMonday, October 8, 2018 7

Humayun’s tomb is one of the most regal tomb’s in Delhi. Isa Khan’s tomb is another monument inside the complex. Photos by Dhruv Dhankar

By DHRUV DHANKAR

A massive renovation pro-ject is under way at the Humayun Tomb which was constructed in 1572 for the Mughal Emperor.

Marked as the UNE-SCO World heritage site, the monument’s makeo-ver is accompanied by res-toration of adjoining struc-tures in the area under the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC).

“The fixtures have been installed in a manner that the historic character of the site is not compro-mised and daytime visi-tors can continue to come here. The electric cables have been laid outside the tomb’s enclosed walled garden to ensure that no damage is done to the un-derlying archaeological structure,” said Ratish Nanda, Agha Khan Trust CEO, while talking about

the the safety issues and the electrical upgrade.

Entering into the elec-tronic gates the first thing that is visible to eyes is Isa Khan’s tomb who was a Muslim Rajput chief.

Although the construc-tion is strong, the colors have faded over the years except the blue colour on domes. “The biggest chal-lenge for AKTC was the scale of the structure. The whole area is spread across

27.04 hectare,” added Nanda.

The first concern for AKTC at the Humayun Tomb was the water seep-age on tomb’s roof. “To prevent further seepage, masons carefully filled the joints of the grand white marble dome prior to plas-terers restoring the plas-terwork on the inner face of the double dome,” Nan-da said.

Stone-carvers manu-

ally removed a million kg of concrete, 40 cm thick, from the roof in order to restore the levels. Made mainly of red sandstone. the entire terrace of the upper platform required lifting. “Major structur-al cracks were carefully stitched prior to resetting 5400 square metres of sandstone to original pat-terns and slopes,” he said.

Stone-carvers also lifted 3700 square metre

of stone from the plinth, which was buried under 20th century interventions of cement.

The tomb complex is surrounded by gardens also known as Char Baghs which also went through renovation by AKTC back in 2004.

“The last upgrade done by AKTC was to replace high energy consuming lights to energy efficient and long lasting LEDs to

make sure that the beau-tiful marble dome of the monument glows every night throughout the year,” said Nanda.

The tomb complex comprises several build-ings, tombs, mosques, and a lodging place. Im-portant buildings in the complex are: Nila Guband, Arab Sarai and Bu Halima. Tombs of Mughal royal-ty and nobility like Bega Begum, Hamida Banu Be-

gum, Isa Khan and Dara Shikoh are present with-in the main mausoleum building and the whole complex is said to be dot-ted with over 150 tombs earning the complex the name of “dormitory of the Mughals”.

The tombs and build-ings are centered around the shrine of 14th century Sufi Saint Hazrat Nizam-uddin Auliya, located out-side the complex.

By ALIVIA MUKHERJEE

“Taking a boat ride at this beautiful park is a pleasure you can’t miss if you are in Durgapur,” says a Dur-gapur resident Krishveer Roy.He has been coming to this amusement park, called the Troika Park, for many years and says that it is a good outing for the family, especially his children.

Durgapur’s only amusement park, is known for boat rides, cable cars and other water sports. “The kids safari is a big draw and my children just love it,” says Deyashini, Roy’s wife.

The greenery and the ambience not only attracts the youth but also the el-derly.

The Park is a great ex-ample of entertainment and food put together to create an amusement park

which offers several fun-filled options for the en-tertainment-starved pop-ulation of the city. “It has been created to entertain people in an eco-friendly atmosphere and there are rides for everyone,” Deyas-hini points out.

Some of the most thrilling rides, according to her husband, are Moon Walker, Toy Train, Water Coaster and Tornado Slide along with the lively pad-dle boating.

The park includes a water park where they en-joy swimming pools, wave pools and thrilling rides such as water coaster, tor-nado slide and children splash.

Rishi Sarkar who came along with his friends for a funfilled day, said: “We had lots of fun on the wa-ter slides, but more wa-ter rides should be intro-duced”.

The park boasts of a toy train, carriage rides, boat-ing facilities and small en-closures where rabbits are kept for the amusement of toddlers, along with sev-eral outlets retailing fast food & soft drinks.

“Of all the rides, the toy train is the most bor-ing even though it takes one along a tour of the vast complex, with noth-ing attractive to see along the entire route leaves one with no option but to enjoy the greenery and fresh air around. The park also in-cludes a package of sooth-ing landscaping and boat-ing,” says Roy.

The boat rides are the most entertaining, a 2/4-seater boat can be hired for Rs 30 for 10 min-utes. “The park is a great place for family as well as youngsters, rides are usu-ally smaller but overall area expansion and restau-

rant foods are good,” Roy says.

However, Deyashini said she was disappointed with the ticketing system. “Tthey give an adult ticket even for the children of 10 years. This is unfair and disappointing otherwise this place seems perfect for enjoying family time”.

Another interesting thing about this park is that it has some of the best party halls with in-house catering. It is ideal for anniversaries, birthday party, engagement, get-to-gether , kitty party, nam-ing ceremony/namkarana reception, sangeet.

Hotels with party halls and function halls in Troi-ka Park Durgapur offer standardized menus and packages at attractive pric-ing. The menu is customis-able and guests get variety of choice of food from a wide variety cuisine.

By SATVIK SURESH IYENGER

On June 5 next year, Team India would step out to face a South African squad at Rose Bowl, Southampton. The Virat Kohli-led squad will have the prestigious World Cup in sight.

What becomes im-portant is the final 15 that should make the cut.

Some spots are filled, but there are still a few that need introspection.

Looking at the batting order, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan are sure-shot openers. Playing in blue outfit, the two have been sublime in the 50 overs format.

Shikhar performs at crucial stages and with a great record in two edi-tions of Champions Tro-phy, both in England, his seal on the team is certain.

K.L. Rahul could be the cement for positions 3 and 4. Yes, Virat Kohli is signature No 3 but giving Rahul a chance may work well too.

Ambati Rayudu needs a the chance. He is know to be Mr Correct of Crick-et, although he’s been pretty unlucky on many occasions. A great domes-tic season, and a fantastic Asia Cup, gives Rayudu a

backing. Also, he is float-able and fit into any posi-tion.

Kohli could push him-self down to position 4, a small sacrifice that to make, but many includ-ing former captain Sourav Ganguly would say that it’ll be a worth a shot.

King Kohli is by far the best batsman India has and batting at No 4 will allow him to give more for-midability.

Positions 5, 6, and 7, should be led by M.S. Dho-ni. Dhoni might have lost the power to hit big ones, but his patience brings power to the middle order. A Kohli-Dhoni combine could be dangerous but healthy if India wants to succeed.

At 6 and 7 India needs to look for all-rounders. The 7th spot is surely Hardik Pandya’s. The only pace-all rounder, he’ll has a big role to play.

Kedar Jadhav looks like a great option for po-sition 6. He has the hitting abilities and can do well with the ball.

At No 8, Ravindra Jadeja might seem a sur-prise decision, knowing that he hasn’t been part of the ODI squad lately, only returning to participate in Asia Cup. But when you have someone who could finish his overs quickly, adjust his length and line accordingly to the bats-man and come more than handy with the bat, it’s al-ways a plus.

In the bowling seg-ment, swing master Bhu-vneshwar Kumar leads the pace attack, coming 9th in the order.

Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah are all set to play at 10th and 11th positions with the bat but it is their contribution in the department of bowling that needs to be noted as much depends on that.

Young leftie Khaleel Ahmed is a good bet. A thrilling talent, the left hander reminds one of Zaheer Khan. Yuzuvendra Chahal might find himself on the bench while Mo-hammad Shami has poten-tial to figure as the fourth pacer in the dispensation.

Team India builds up for 2019 Cricket World Cup

Children riding the toy train in Troika Park. Photo by Alivia Mukherjee

By PARUL RAINA

The Agrasen Ki Baoli in Delhi is less of a monu-ment and more of a spooky haunt for youngsters and other visitors alike.

“This lovely Baoli has gathered the reputation of being one of the most haunted places in Delhi. The dark and black water of the Baoli is known to possess hypnotizing pow-ers which drive the de-pressed to commit suicide. There are several stories and incidents of people be-ing chased by spirits here so it is exciting to visit this place,” says Samridh Ba-tra, an Amity University BBA student.

“The water of this Baoli is believed to mesmerized

people and driven them to death. There is no water left now so there are no deaths by drowing any-more. What’s left is just a silent place echoing with the cooing of pigeons and screaming of bats. Who knows how long it will con-tinue to evoke fear”, Batra adds.

Whether the spooky talk is for real, no one knows. But visitor’s do say that they have had an un-canny feeling while going near the well. The rampag-ing bats and pigeons inside the Baoli can be one reason for this feeling, a tourist Prateek Kohli saiys.

While going deeper the sounds totally vanish and what remains is an echo of footsteps.

“Despite all this, Agra-sen Ki Baoli is one of the best maintained monu-ments that Delhi can boast of. It is one of the surviv-ing ancient step wells in Delhi. It is now a protected monument under the ar-cheological survey of In-dia”, Kohli points out.

This monument is also a destination for skilled photographers! The shad-ow and light play takes imagination to a different level.

However, sadly there are only a few visitors. Mostly found in this his-torical marvel are bunking school kids or lovebirds, who do not mind throw-ing plastic bags, packets of chips and Coke cans here and there.

Agrasen Ki Baoli spooks visitors with ghost talk and folklore

Cricket is a passion in India Photo by Satvik Suresh Iyengar

M S Dhonibatting at No 5 looks like a good choice. At 8, Ravindra Jadeja may be brought in de-spite a lax per-formance in the run- up to the big event

Agrasen ki Baoli. Photos by Parul Raina

This monument is also a destination for photogra-phers. The shadow and light play takes your im-agination to a different level. However, sadly you will only come across few visitors.

By KHUSHI PAL

“Producing a newspaper is a spiritual experience. Whether you had a good or a terrible day achieving it, you get to start afresh the next day. Nothing else teaches you this humility,” said Vikas Singh, Deputy Executive Editor, The Times of India.

Addressing Mass comm-unication students at the Bennett University campus recently, he spoke at length on the the role of a page-maker. “You always need to be on your feet and that’s the biggest thing about it,” he said.

According to him, “The people who never make mistakes are the ones who don’t do anything while the hardest working individuals are the ones who will”.

He also highlighted the ABCD of the profession that stands for Authenticity, Brevity, Clarity, and Deadline, respectively.

He emphasized the need to carry the story on the basis of more than one source. He shared a famous adage “Kill your darlings” by William Faulkner, for the aspiring editors seated in the classroom. He added,

“Don’t get emotionally attached to something just because you worked hard on it”.

Singh, who started his career as a business journalist with the Economic Times in 1994, today heads the north zone for The Times of India that covers Delhi, Gurugram, Jaipur, Noida and Chandigarh. With 14 years of experience as an Editor behind him, he shared an abundance of knowledge with the students on the same. He threw light on the process that goes behind producing the newspaper- from preparing a dummy sheet to what you see on the front page the

next morning. The day at the newsroom, he said, starts at 12:30 pm and can go on till midnight.

“It starts with a discussion on everything that happened and the aim is to “Maintain a fine balance between exclusives and the big and small stories,” Singh said. Each section of the newspaper has a different team of reporters, sub-editors and page makers who work on it and by 6:30pm, he told students.

“Everybody reassembles to pitch the stories that finally appear on your doorstep the next day. Out of the 800 stories that are brought in, only a 100 are printed. The last call is taken at 11:45pm, when there’s still room to make some changes and by 4:30am the print run is finished and the circulation of newspapers takes place,” he added. Considering the amount of work that goes behind this entire process, he said. He concluded his talk by sharing his wisdom on one last thing which is indeed the most important.

He said, “The best article in the world is useless if the reader won’t read it”.

THE TIME F BENNETTSOTHE TIME F BENNETTSO

Let goodness triumph over evil this Dussehra, say students

‘Scribes need to be on toes’

GREATER NOIDAMonday, October 8, 2018 8

Soothing music is medicine for students while studying

RTI talk on campus

By GAMINI CHANANA

Students above 12 years of age listen to songs while studying as they feel mu-sic is soothing and relax-ing and helps them to beat stress or anxiety.

Apoorv Sharma of Am-ity University, said: “Mu-sic actually helps students study and those who listen to music before studying may actually be better off for it.” Experts admit that listening to music before

or while studying improves attention, memory and even ability to do mental math as also help lessen depression and anxiety.

According to Ansh Chanana, student of Prag-yan School, said: “The background music has improved focus on a task by providing motivation and improving mood, but during long study sessions, music can aid endurance.” Music helps Chanana with memorisation, likely by

creating a positive mood which indirectly boosts memory. Many of the stu-dents like to listen classi-cal, ambient and electron-ic music, instrumental and atmospheric music, instrumental jazz, ethnic folk, indigenous music and online radio streams like Drone zone, Groove salad, Secret Agent and so on. They usually listen to bands such as Explosions in the sky, Mogwai, and Godspeed You Black Em-

peror, chanana points out.Music can impact and

regulate mood and the best mood to study in is a relaxed one. “Music that relaxes us comes with some beat or rhythm,” says Simrat Kaur, a stu-dent with Miranda House.

Kaur adds: “Music that’s too loud or with an upbeat tempo can dis-tract, so having a playlist or specific artist during studies helps. I like to lis-ten to James Cobb, John

Coltrane.” Students also love to listen to Jazz mu-sic like Miles Davis, the complete album. “We’re really set on music while studying but sometimes our focus gets divided. So, it is always better to choose classical music or gentle music with mini-mal words,” she adds.

Music affects study habits which vary from person to person and can also be affected by what you’re listening to -- loud

music is out, explains Kaur. Some students like to listen Punjabi beats while studying as they get more confident and feel relaxed by listening beats. Ashutosh Sharma, a stu-dent of IIT, Roorkee, con-cluded by saying “Words can make you think a thought, music makes you feel it”. Music education, he feels, opens doors that help children pass from school into the world of culture.

Sapatparna Das Gupta, 18, Bennett University

Shalini Bhadwaj, 18, Punjab University

Vikas Singh delivers the lecture at Bennett University Photo by Lisa Bhasker

Professor Madhubhusanam Sridhar Archaryulu gives information to law students on RTI Photo by Medha Sharma

By MEDHA SHARMA

An eminent journalist, author, lawyer and lecturer at Nalsar Hyderabad Prof (Dr.) Madhubhusanam Sridhar Archaryulu who is currently working at the designation of Central Information Commissioner gave a guest lecture on Right to Information to the law students at Bennett University.

He cited examples as to how the disclosure of information is always resisted by the authorities. Information is crucial not only to make informed choices but also to survive in several instances. Right to Information is

the only legislature which is built by the people. Surprisingly 90 percent of all RTI’s filled , are filled by Government employees due to the benefits they seek from it .Earlier The annual confidential report (ACR) was an assessment about the performance of a government employee , it was termed as non-disclosable by authorities .An employee had no right to review or view the assessment report given by his superiors .It was unacceptable to not disclose the performance report of a public servant to the public or to the employee .It was after persistent efforts that a right to review and view

the valuation of Annual Confidential Report was created leading to the annual performance report which is in public domain. The annual performance assessment report is crucial in terms of the job prospects and the right to promotion to an employee, denying such information is unethical.

RTI guarantees the access of public records to the citizens. It gives power to the common man to question the lethargy and inaction of the public servants.

There are cases where when the common man puts up an enquiry, the Red Tapism is such that the

Tanvi Penumudy, 18 Bennett University

Giriraj Khandelwal, 21, Bennett University

Harit Narang, 18, Christ University

Mukul Bhasker, 17, Ryan School

Nikhil Mahatu,21 Bennett University

I feel that good really not win over evil like it does in Dussehra. When at times good wins, it leads to a revolution, but our world is shaped in such a way that evil has to win to gain momentary pleasure. I would think twice before I do an act that may have a negative consequence later to a person or society at large.

I love to celebrate Dussehra as it marks the end of evil over good and brings positivity. No doubtwe have high prevalence of evil people in today’s era still sooner or later good will always surpass evil. I would like to eradicate any negativity in life but most importantly extinguish the over thinking in life.

I feel that even in today’s era victory wins over the evil and it can be well reflected in the lives of public icons and their stories. Well, I feel that today’s reality and people have no Ravana and Rama but a combination of both. The Rama and Ravana conflict in Ramayana is a story that has a number of morals in it.

I celebrate Dussehra, go and watch Ravana dehan every year but I feel that this all is not relevant in today’s world as people do evil things and get away with it easily. The concept of Ramayana is possible only in the theory and does not exist in real world scenario. As far as my extinguishing evil is concerned, I would like to manage my time

The Rama and Ravana conflict is just a part of Hindu mythology which was early considered as right. The people those days considered everything as right and followed the path, but in today’s era I don’t think that the world can be divided between Rama and Ravana.

Where I’m an atheist I don’t really believe that good can win over evil in today’s era. If the Hindu believes are real or not is a debate, but today depicts a different story. Also, talkingabout the real-life Rama and Ravana, I feel that this world is full of faces showing Rama and hiding Ravana.

I think that the concept of Dussehra is relevant to some extent only today because I feel that just because Ravana did bad once he should not be punished for the same whole eternity. I always remember what my dad told me once, I will hand over my responsibilities and business to you, I will dedicate my life to today’s era.

By LISHA BHASKER

Dussehra is the festival marking the end of evil and advent of goodwill and positivity in this world. Revelling in the festival recently, students talked of what they think about the fight of good over evil. Excerpts of the interviews:

Dussehra marks the victory of good over evil. Does good really win in today’s era? Can you give an example to support your answer?

What do you think about the Rama-Ravana conflict in the Ramayana.These days can human beings be divided between Ravana and Rama?

Is Dussehra relevant today? Do you celebrate it?

What is the one evil inside you that you would extinguish this Dussehra?

Varun Grover denies sexual harassment allegationsBy PUSHKAR SINGH

Writer-lyricist Varun Grover has categorically denied the sexual harass-ment allegations levelled against him by an anony-mous person, who referred to herself as his junior in Benaras Hindu University (BHU).

In a screenshot of the post, that has been doing the rounds on social me-dia, the woman said the incident happened in 2001 while they were working on a play for the annual festival.

The “Sacred Games” writer said the screenshot was “untrue” and “mis-leading”. He said he would soon issue a detailed state-ment. “I completely, to-tally, categorically deny all the allegations being made. The screenshot in question is untrue, mis-

leading, and defamatory to say the least,” Grover post-ed on Twitter.

Filmmakers Anurag Kashyap and Neeraj Ghay-wan, who have frequently collaborated with Grover, supported him.

“This man I have known so closely and so so long that I refuse to be-lieve any allegations about him. #believethevictim and investigate the claims and also be careful to not let vested interests sabo-tage a long pending genu-ine movement,” Kashyap tweeted.

Ghaywan, who has worked with Grover on “Maasan”, said it was im-possible for him to believe this. ” The director said it was appalling that how-such slanderous allega-tions are trying to sabotage the #metoo movement.

Based on PIB report

The statues of Meghnath, Ravana and Kumbh Karan stand tall. Photo by Pushkar Singh

THE TIME F BENNETTSOTHE TIME F BENNETTSOMONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2018 | VOL. 2 | ISSUE 3

APOORVA SHARDA, KHUSHI PAL, SATVIK SURESH IYENGAR, CHARUSHREE CHUNDAWAT, LISHA BHASKER,

KYLE SIMLAI, KHUSHI PAL, VIDUSHI MITTAL, ISHITA GUPTA, MAHANDRILAI KUMANAN, ISHAAN DWIVEDI, MAHIKAH MALIK, MEDHA SHARMA, GAMINI CHANANA, ANUSHKA

SINGH, DEBPARNA NAYAK, JATHIN NAIR, JAHANVI MANCHANDA, AYUSHI BISHT, ESHA YADAV, GAURI DHIMAN,

GIRISHA SAAIN, ALIVIA MUKHERJEE, DHRUV DHANKAR, PARUL RAINA, ANSHIKA KATHURIA, ARYAMAN CHAUDHARY,

ANIKET SHARMA, PUSHKAR SINGH

SUB EDITORSPARUL RAINA, CHARUSHREE CHUNDAWAT (Page 1), JAHANVI MANCHANDA, DEVYANI VERMA (Page 2),

GIRISHA SAAIN, HARSHITA VIDUSHI (Page 3), DEBPARNA NAYAK, CHIRAG ANEJA (Page 4), MEDHA SHARMA, DHRUV SAWHNEY (Page 5),

KHUSHI PAL, LISHA BHASKER (Page 6), GAMINI CHANANA, GAURI DHIMAN (Page 7),

PUSHKAR SINGH, DHRUV DHANKAR (Page 8)

Published by Sunil Saxena on behalf of The Times School of Media, Bennett University, Plot no 8-11, Tech Zone II, Greater Noida, and printed at Veekay Printers, 140 Patpar Ganj, New Delhi - 110091.

The Times of Bennett is a training paper which is written, edited and produced entirely by students as part of their academic work.

It is for internal circulation only.

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