Tag: ISRO

FREEWHEELING

About: A break free commentary on events on our Planet, anchored on the news of the world. Any comments beyond the storyline, are entirely mine, without prejudice -take it or leave it. This is a run of interesting events from 1 November to 29 November 2025: Downfall of a Prince; India’s Bahubali; India’s Bad Doctors; Stunning Bihar Elections; and India’s Women’s Cricket on a high.

A Prince is Taken Down

The scandalous Jeffery Epstein story has been telling in the media over many years and this October it took down a Prince-who was blamed for being ‘sincerely’ involved.

Jeffrey Epstein, an American financier and convicted sex offender operated a vast sex trafficking network of underage girls for himself and his elite associates. His death by suicide in a New York jail in 2019, while awaiting trial, triggered widespread outrage and conspiracy theories.

On 31st October, Prince Andrew of Britain’s Royal Family, brother of the reigning King Charles, was stripped of his royal titles and duties and asked to move out of his royal residence at Windsor Mansion, Royal Lodge, following weeks of intense scrutiny over his links to Jeffrey Epstein. Prince Andrew will now be known simply as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.

He will now live in private accommodation in Sandringham Estate, which is privately funded by the King. Andrew’s two adult daughters, Eugenie and Beatrice, will retain their titles as Princesses. Sarah Ferguson, his ex-wife, will also move out of Royal Lodge.

Earlier in October, Andrew gave up his other royal titles, including the Duke of York. In a separate development, it has come to light that Andrew hosted Jeffrey Epstein at Royal Lodge as part of his daughter Beatrice’s birthday celebrations in 2006 – two months after a US arrest warrant had been issued for Epstein for the sexual assault of a minor. What perhaps was the final ‘gold’ nail on the coffin of Andrew’s sacking as Prince arising from his misadventures, was the memoir of Virginia Giuffre who repeated allegations that, as a teenager, she had sex with Andrew on three separate occasions.

Virginia Giuffre was an American and Australian advocate for survivors of sex trafficking and one of the most prominent accusers of Jeffrey Epstein. She founded Victims Refuse Silence, a US non-profit organization dedicated to supporting survivors. Giuffre provided elaborate details about being trafficked by Epstein and his partner-in-crime, Ghislaine Maxwell.

Giuffre pursued criminal and civil actions against Epstein and Maxwell while appealing directly to the public for justice and awareness. She sued Ghislaine Maxwell for defamation in 2015 and the case was settled in her favour in 2017 for an undisclosed sum. In July 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ordered the unsealing of documents from Giuffre’s civil suit against Maxwell. The first batch of documents was released in August 2019, further implicating Epstein, Maxwell, and their associates. The following day, Epstein was found dead in his prison cell.

In December 2019, Giuffre described being trafficked by Epstein to the Royal Lodge, which shifted public opinion against Andrew. She later sued him in a New York civil court. The suit was settled in February 2022 with Andrew paying Giuffre an undisclosed amount and also making a substantial donation to her charity. Giuffre died by suicide in April 2025. Her memoir ‘Nobody’s Girl’ was published posthumously in October 2025 and perhaps galvanised the King to act.

The Royal Family is bound to be, and set, an example in all aspects of life in the Kingdom, and there are no ifs and buts.

ISRO’s Bahubali

India’s, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), after being quiet for quite some time, is back with a bang and a new swag.

On 2nd November, ISRO successfully deployed GSAT-7R, a next-generation communication satellite for the Indian Navy, using its LVM3-M5 heavy-lift launch Vehicle Rocket, nicknamed as ‘Bahubali’. The launch took place from the time-tested Sriharikota, and with this success India’s space capabilities received a mighty upgrade. ‘Bahubali’ means ‘one with strong arms’ and the name reflects the Launch Vehicle’s immense lifting strength and consistent reliability across missions.

The name Bahubali is most famously associated with a revered figure in Jain mythology. Bahubali also known as Gomateshvara was a prince who renounced his kingdom after winning a nonviolent duel with his elder brother. Thereafter he meditated for a long time, eventually leading to his spiritual liberation. And the name became famous after a movie – nothing to do with the original -was made showing Bahubali as one of immense physical strength and of heroic character. He is worshipped across India and especially in the State of Karnataka with huge statues showing his full form. One even had creepers crawling up his body, while he was lost in meditation.

Bahubali is India’s heaviest operational rocket, earlier known as GSLV Mk-III with a payload capacity of up to 4,000 kg to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) and up to 8,000 kg to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). It is configured as a three-stage launch system consisting of S200 solid strap-on boosters for liftoff thrust; L110 liquid core stage powered by twin Vikas engines; C25 cryogenic upper stage-developed entirely in India.

Bahubali will serve as the baseline launcher for India’s Moon venture – Gaganyaan Human Spaceflight Mission, where its modified version is called Human-Rated LVM3 (HRLV).

The Bad Doctors

India’s capital New Delhi has been relatively free from terrorism for over 14 years. The last time there was a bomb blast was in September 2011 when Dr Manmohan Singh was Prime Minister of India. It took place outside Gate No. 5 of the Delhi High Court, where a briefcase bomb was planted. The blast killed 15 people and injured 79. The Terrorist group Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI) ) claimed responsibility, carrying out the attack with the support of the Indian Mujahideen-an Islamic jihadist group and designated terrorist organisation. Its signature weapons are timed Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) made from Ammonium Nitrate. To complete the connections, HuJI is a Pakistani Islamic fundamentalist organization affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

The motive for the attack was the commuting of the death sentence, ordered by India’s Supreme Court, for the 2001 Indian Parliament attack convict Mohammed Afzal Guru. The demand was that Afzal Guru should not be hanged. Later, Afzal Guru was indeed hanged, in February 2013, in Tihar Jail.

Over to the present.

In early November this year, Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) police stumbled upon wall posters that appeared in Nowgam, Srinagar, expressing support for Jaish-e-Mohammad- yet another Pakistani militant group active in J&K. Until 2019, posters glorifying terror groups were a common sight in Kashmir. The police would usually remove them, but not every time was there a serious investigation into who put them up.

This time, an alert Indian Police Service (IPS) Officer Sundeep Chakravarthy, currently Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Srinagar, had a hunch that it might be something more than the usual, and began probing. He started the hunt for the man who put-up the posters. And what followed was not routine. It was a revelation.

From those wall-posters unraveled a terror web, 2900 kilograms of IEDs, a chain of sleeper cells, and a treacherous plot meant to tear through India.

Sundeep didn’t just see paper on a wall, he saw the writing on it and acted before it became an epitaph. The rest never saw it coming. The probe led to the busting of Faridabad’s – what is now termed- White-Collar Doctor (Medical) terror module. That single decision, to investigate promptly, set off a butterfly effect. CCTV footage led to Dr Adil Ahmed Rather of Saharanpur, which led to Dr Muzzammil Shakeel, the seizure of IED-making material, and finally to a full-blown terror module stretching from Kashmir to Delhi and Faridabad.

It’s abundantly clear that had the J&K Police not acted when they did, those explosives, ten to fifteen times more than the one that happened in Pulwama in 2019, could have unleashed devastation on a scale India has not seen since 26/11.

In the following days a joint operation by J&K police, Intelligence Bureau and Haryana police lead them to the residence of Dr Muzammil Ahmad Ganai, a Pulwama native and faculty member at Al-Falah Medical College in Dhauj, Faridabad. Adeel Ahmed Rather of Kulgam, employed at a private health facility in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, is arrested soon after. On Monday, 10th November around 2,900 kg of explosive material, including 360 kg of ammonium nitrate, is seized from Dr Ganai’s rented home in Faridabad along with an assault rifle, ammunition, batteries, remotes, and timers. An AK-47 rifle and some ammunition are recovered from a sedan car owned by a female doctor, Dr Shaheed, from the same medical college. Several arrests are made in connection with the terror module, all linked to Jaish-e-Mohammad.

Meanwhile, on the same day, 10th November, during peak hours near New Delhi’s Red Fort in the evening, a Hyundai i20 car came to a halt at a traffic signal near Gate No. 1 of Lal Qila Metro Station, roughly 300 metres from the Red Fort, in the midst of slow-moving traffic. The time was 6.52 pm; the signal had turned red. Just then, the car exploded. Several people nearby were blown apart, their body parts strewn. Multiple other cars caught fire, windowpanes were blown, buildings trembled. The explosion killed 13 and injured several others, leaving nearby vehicles gutted, but no shrapnel or pellets were found at the site. It took about three minutes for someone to call the fire brigade.

Then the police and India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) swiftly began a hunt for the attackers and piece-together the ‘doctored’ plan. The multiple-times -sold i20 Hyundai car is traced through registration records and the driver is identified as Dr Umar Mohammad alias Umar Nabi, from Pulwama, J&K. The Bad Doctor was part of the terror module, and panicked after the arrests and seizure of the Ammonium Nitrate, earlier in the day. And turned himself as a suicide bomber driving the i20 Hyundai Car across Delhi, staying put in a parking lot, probably waiting for the busy evening, and then moving into the traffic, for the kill.

Dr Umar was working as an Assistant Professor in the general medicine department at Al-Falah University in Faridabad. His identity was established forensically by the NIA.

Ammonium Nitrate is an odourless, white crystalline chemical widely used as a fertiliser but is also a powerful oxidiser that, under the right conditions, can cause a powerful explosion resulting in fires that burn at high temperatures for sustained periods. Ammonium Nitrate by itself is not considered an explosive. It needs to be mixed with a secondary substance-in this case, fuel oil, which is a petroleum-based product- and triggered by an external detonation that gives off immense heat to explode. And it can be mixed with almost any kind of volatile substance. But the quality is important; pure Ammonium Nitrate is chemically and thermally stable, meaning it requires that external detonation. When combined with fuel oil, it becomes ammonium nitrate fuel, or ANFO, which is a commonly used bulk explosive in the construction and mining industries. It is popular because it is an inexpensive and simple explosive to manufacture and, if handled correctly, safe to store.

The J&K Police quickly arrested Dr Shaheen, a member of the Faridabad terror module, from Al-Falah University in Faridabad and later took her to Srinagar for questioning. Dr Shaheen confessed during interrogation that she and her group of doctors were plotting terror attacks across India. Shaheen told the Police that they had been collecting explosives for the last two years. She was in direct contact with Saadia Azhar, the sister of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar, and was an active member of Jamaat-ul-Mominat, the women’s wing of the JeM terror outfit. The wing was established by Saadia in October 2025 to avenge her husband’s death during India’s Operation Sindoor, earlier this year.

Dr. Shaheen completed her MBBS from Allahabad Medical College (1996–2001) batch and later earned an MD in Pharmacology. From 2006 to 2013, she worked as an Assistant Professor at Kanpur Medical College after being selected through the UP Public Service Commission. After that, she suddenly disappeared. She was later dismissed in 2021 for not responding to college notices. After this, she started working at Al-Falah University and where she came in contact with Dr Muzammil.

To sum up, the NIA identified the accused as Dr Muzammil Shakeel Ganai, Dr Adeel Ahmed Rather and his brother Mufti Irfan Ahmad Wagay of J&K and Dr Shaheen Saeed of Uttar Pradesh. The Bad Doctors involved in the Delhi blast were radicalised over the last five years and freely operated from a room in the campus of the Al-Falah University. Of course, the College denies any knowledge, but it’s their job to know what’s happening on its campus. The heat turned on the Medical College itself and further skeletons began tumbling from the proverbial cupboard. The origins of the College had a dubious history. Maybe we need more Sundeep Chakravarthys in the right places?

The Indian Press had a blast of a week with terms such as White-Collar Terror, Home-Grown Terror, gaining traction. Meanwhile, recall that the Government had vowed to treat any terrorist action from the Pakistan side as an ‘act of war’. For the moment we have to wait as the investigation works its way and finds inconvertible evidence to nail the people or country behind. The Bad Doctors had links to Turkey and that would an interesting angle.

Bihar Elections

The Assembly Elections in the State of Bihar was one of the most anticipated this year. When the counting of votes was done on 14th November and final results tumbled out it was an unbelievable, stunning, landslide victory of the India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

The NDA secured 202 of the 243 seats, defeating the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-led Mahagathbandhan (MGB) Alliance, which secured just 35 seats.

In the NDA, the BJP won 89 seats (20.08% votes); JDU (Janata Dal-United)- 85 seats (19.25%); LJPRV (Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas) -19 (4.97%); HAMS -5 (Hindustani Awami Morcha-Secular); RLM (Rashtriya Lok Morcha) -4.

In the MGB, the RJD won 25 seats (23% of the vote); INC (Indian National Congress -6 (8.7%), plus others.

Incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumar took the oath for a record tenth time. Incumbent deputy chief ministers Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha took the oath as the deputy chief ministers for the second consecutive time. For the first time, the BJP won the most seats in a Bihar Legislative Assembly election. The RJD, led by Tejashwi Yadav, fell to third for the first time since 2010, while Nitish Kumar’s JDU recorded its best result since 2010. The LJPRV and RLM secured seats for the first time. That’s a great making of new records.

The Congress’ Opposition Leader in Parliament who made wild, baseless statements and allegations against the Prime Minister and the Election Commission of India suffered his record 95th defeat in elections. He left abroad – perhaps of a yet another holiday – tail firmly between his legs.

Sports

India’s Women’s Cricket Team captained by Harmanpreet Kaur clinched the ICC Women’s World Cup in a first-ever win, on 3 November 2025, at the DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai. India beat South Africa by 52 runs in the Finals.

South Africa won the toss and chose to field. India made 298 for the loss of 7 wickets, in 50 overs. That total was the second-highest ever achieved in a Women’s World Cup final.

India’s Shafali Verma, in an extraordinary batting display made 87 off 78 balls to set-up a total of 298 for South Africa to chase down. Deepti Sharma, a world-class off spinner who has raised her batting to a new level this year, backed up with a run-a-ball half-century, making 58 runs.

In reply, South Africa were bowled out for 246 in the 46th over, despite a superb 101 runs off 98 balls, by Captain Laura Wolvaardt. Again, India’s Shafali Verma took two unexpected wickets of characteristic cheek at a crucial juncture, while Deepti Sharma took a five-wicket haul that combined old-school overspin with new-age defensive skills to power the historic win. Perhaps it was the day for Indian all-rounders to discover their class.

India’s has been a campaign of redemption and resilience. From three straight defeats in the group stage to a flawless knockout run, India’s turnaround was as dramatic as it was defining. For a cricket-mad nation long waiting for its women to stand shoulder to shoulder with its men, this triumph felt epochal! Hope, it is the bellwether of a new era!

Overall, sports in India has seen an upswing in recent years, with people making their mark in various games across continents.

More wonderful stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Stay with Freewheeling.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2024-22

About: the world this week, 26 May 2024 to 1 June 2024: Israel gets going in Rafah; landslide in Papua New Guinea; a US President is convicted; India’s Elections, the Heat, Rockets, and Sport; and Cannes 2024.

Everywhere

Israel Tunnels into Rafah

Israel pushes ahead, surgically and clinically, deep into Rafah.

An Israeli airstrike, early this week, triggered a fire that killed about 45 people in a tent camp in Rafah, prompting a wild outcry from global leaders who urged the implementation of a World Court order to halt Israel’s assault. The strike set tents and rickety metal shelters ablaze.

Israel’s military said it was investigating a precision strike it carried out against Hamas commanders in Rafah, which could have caused the fire, and was never intended to cause civilian casualties. In Rafah, about 1 million non-combatant residents have already been evacuated and despite best efforts, something could have tragically gone wrong. More than half of the dead were women, children, and elderly people.

Later in the week, the facts about the airstrike and the fire that followed, emerged, making things clear.

The airstrike that targeted senior Hamas commanders was more than a mile away from the safe zone for Palestinian civilians and more than 550 feet away from the shelters Hamas had falsely claimed were targeted in the incident. The munitions used were the smallest possible, far smaller than what other Western Militaries use in comparable situations. The munitions could not themselves have ignited a fire of the size that resulted in the deaths of Palestinian civilians, indicating that Hamas weapons stored in or near the targeted structure—of which Israel was unaware—may have exploded and caused the fire. Footage of the scene taken by Palestinians and uploaded to social media appears to show secondary explosions, further indicating the presence of weapons in the area. A phone call within Gaza, intercepted by Israeli intelligence, contained the admission that the structure targeted by the airstrike served as an ammunition warehouse, that secondary explosions took place. And that the Israeli airstrike wasn’t powerful enough to have ignited the fire. Hamas has been operating from the area since 7 October 2023; a rocket launcher used to fire rockets into Israel was located 150 feet from the targeted structure, suggesting that additional weapons were likely stored nearby and may have caused the fire.

Israel now controls the entire Philadelphi Corridor – a 14 km narrow strip of land between Gaza and Egypt – uncovering a far great number of tunnels crossing into Egypt than previously discovered.

While ‘All Eyes on Rafah’ was trending on social media, in support of Palestine, wonder why the eyes shifted from the 120 hostages, still under captivity for over 230 days. And the barbarism of 7 October 2023, by Hamas, is still livid.

A Landslide

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a country in the Pacific Ocean that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia -a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean, north of Australia. It shares its only land border with Indonesia to the west, and it is directly adjacent to Australia to the south, and the Solomon Islands to the east. Its capital, Port Moresby, is located along its southeastern coast. The country is the world’s third-largest island country.

PNG is a country of immense cultural and biological diversity known for its beaches and coral reefs. Tucked inside are active volcanoes, a dense rainforest, hiking routes like the Kokoda Trail, and many traditional tribal villages, with their own languages.

PNG regularly experiences landslides and natural disasters but the latest landslide is one of the most devastating it has seen in recent years. Parts of a mountain in the Maip-Mulitaka area in Enga province, in PNG’s north, collapsed in the early hours of last Friday killing more than 2,000 people and affecting up to 70,000 people living in the area. An entire village with shops, a fuel station, a lodge, a church, and a school all went under the rubble.

Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape blamed extraordinary rainfall and changes to weather patterns for multiple disasters this year, including the landslide.

“Our people in that village went to sleep for the last time, not knowing they would breathe their last breath as they were sleeping peacefully. Nature threw a disastrous landslip, submerged or covered the village. This year, we had extraordinary rainfall that has caused flooding in river areas, sea level rise in coastal areas and landslips in a few areas,” Marape said.

“It’s basically a mountain that has fallen on their heads,” said an officer with the UN development programme. Thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate amid further earth slips in the region.

Residents have been using shovels and bare hands to dig through mud and debris almost two storeys high, even as officials said chances of finding survivors were slim. Rescue teams have been slow to reach the site because of the treacherous terrain and tribal unrest in the remote area, forcing the military to escort convoys of relief teams.

Donald Trump of the United States of America

This week, former President Donald Trump earned the dubious distinction of becoming the first US President to be convicted of a crime. A 12-member jury found Trump guilty of falsifying documents to coverup a payment to silence a porn star’s account of a sexual encounter, ahead of the 2016 election. He was found guilty on all counts – 34 of them. Sentencing is set for 11 July, days before the Republican Party is scheduled to formally nominate Trump for President, ahead of the 5 November 2024 Presidential elections. Some said it’s too trivial a matter to warrant such action. And Trump could still go ahead and stand for President.Whatever, ‘Stormy’ times lie ahead, for sure!

India Elections-The End

India’s great Lok Sabha, General Elections finally reached the last phase – the seventh- on 1 June 2024. And it all began on 19 April 2024. The noise, heat and dust of campaigning settles down and candidates go over for a thorough wash, maybe some rest, some may sit on a rock and meditate-making loud plans to develop India- and then appear in their best clothes on 4th June 2024, for the counting and declaration of results. Exit polls will sound the bugle after 6pm on, 1st June.

Great Expectations in the upcoming week. I’m sure it will be a tale to tell. Will it be the best of times, the age of wisdom, the spring of hope? Over to the Voter.

Meanwhile, India’s Prime Minister went into a two-day hibernation at the southern most tip of India at the Vivekananda Rock, Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, to meditate over the future of the country.

The Heat in Delhi

This week, India’s Capital New Delhi recorded its highest ever summer temperature of 52.3 degrees celsius. In addition to climate change, could the heat of elections be a reason? Earth’s average temperature has increased by about 1.2 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times.

In India, a heatwave is declared over a region ‘when the actual maximum temperature remains 45 degrees Celsius or more’.

Earlier, Rajasthan’s Churu region was reported to be the warmest district of the season at 50.5 degrees Celsius. Now, Delhi has broken that record.

India’s Rockets Rock

This Thursday, Chennai-based private space startup Agnikul Cosmos successfully launched its 3D-printed, semi-cryogenic Agnibaan rocket after previous four attempts had been called off. Agnibaan is a customisable, two-stage launch vehicle that can carry a payload of up to 300 kg into orbit of about 700 km. The rocket uses a semi-cryogenic engine with a mix of liquid and gas propellants, a technology that is yet to be demonstrated by the Government’s own highly successful, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), in any of its rockets. The Agnilet engine is the world’s first single-piece 3D-printed semi-cryogenic rocket engine.

The mission featured a 6.2 meter tall single-stage launch vehicle with an elliptical nose cone and was equipped with advanced avionics, architecture, and autopilot, developed indigenously.

India’s private sector ‘launch into space’ is coming of age, supported by ISRO.

Indian Sport

Over the past few years Indian sport has been doing spectacularly well in all fields.

This time it’s gymnastics. Dipa Karmakar created history becoming the 1st ever Indian Gymnast to win Gold at the Asian Championships. She topped the Vault with an average score of 13.566.

Then, in a great move, India’s Chess wizard, Praggnanandhaa defeated Magnus Carlsen for the first time in Classical Chess. Pragg took down the World no.1 with the white pieces in the 3rd round of Norway Chess 2024. It was a fantastic game by Pragg – he got an advantage out of the opening, and converted in superb fashion. With this win, Pragg now takes sole lead with 5.5/9 points in the event.

In the Indian Premier League (IPL) Cricket Tournament 2024, Twenty-Twenty, finals held in Chennai, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won their third title defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad by 8 wickets. It was a dominating performance by the winner throughout the Tournament. Previously, KKR has won the Title in IPL- 2012 and IPL-2014. The most successful IPL teams have been the Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians with 5 Titles each.

The Cannes Film Festival

The 77th annual Cannes Film Festival was staged from 14 to 25 May 2024 at Cannes, France. American filmmaker and actress Greta Gerwig served as jury president for the main competition. French actress Camille Cottin hosted the opening and closing ceremonies.

American filmmaker Sean Baker won the Palme d’Or, the festival’s top prize, for the comedy-drama film ‘Anora’, which he had written and directed. It stars Mikey Madison in the title role of an exotic dancer and follows her beleaguered romance with the son of a Russian oligarch.

In a significant milestone for India, Actress Anasuya Sengupta became the first Indian to win the Best Actress award at the ‘Un Certain Regard’ segment of the Film Festival. This segment presents 20 films with unusual styles and non-traditional stories seeking international recognition. She received the award for her role in the film ‘The Shameless,’ directed by Bulgarian filmmaker Constantin Bojanov, which premiered at Cannes on 17th May.

‘The Shameless’, forays into a dark, disturbing world of exploitation and misery. Two sex workers, one who bears the scars of her line of work, and the other a young girl, days away from ritual initiation, forge a bond and seek to break the shackles of their condition. Sengupta plays the central character of Renuka, who escapes from a Delhi brothel after stabbing a policeman to death and takes refuge in a community of sex workers in northern India. There she meets Devika, a young girl condemned to a life of prostitution.

Sengupta was born in a Bengali family in Kolkata, West Bengal. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature from Jadavpur University, but wanted to establish herself as a journalist. She played a supporting role in the 2009 movie ‘Madly Bangalee’. She dabbled in theatre for some time before shifting to Mumbai in 2013 where she started working as a production designer. And eventually she landed ‘The Shameless’ role.

Then, in another lights-on moment at Cannes, Indian Filmmaker Payal Kapadia scripted history as her spellbinding drama ‘All We Imagine as Light’ won the Grand Prix award at Cannes 2024. The film bagged the second-most prestigious prize of the festival after the Palme d’Or, during the closing ceremony. Kapadia’s feature directorial debut received glowing reviews in the international press. It registered its name in the history books after it became the first Indian film in 30 years and the first ever by an Indian female director to be showcased in the main competition. The screening of the film received an eight-minute standing ovation from the audience members.

“All We Imagine as Light”, a Malayalam-Hindi feature, is about Prabha, a nurse, who receives an unexpected gift from her long-estranged husband, who lives abroad, that throws her life into disarray. Her younger roommate, Anu, tries in vain to find a private spot in the big city to be alone with her boyfriend. One day, the two nurses go on a road trip to a beach town where the mystical forest becomes a space for their dreams to manifest. International critics have given the film a thumbs up and praised Kapadia’s storytelling prowess.

Going back into history, the first and only Indian Film to win the top prize of Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, in 1946, was Chetan Anand’s ‘Neecha Nagar’ (a lowly City area) with music composed – in a first – by Pandit Ravi Shankar. It starred actress Kamini Kaushal, Zora Sehgal, and Chetan Anand’s wife, Uma Anand, among others. The movie is about the gulf between the rich and the poor in society. Ironically, the film was never released in India but was telecast on India’s national Broadcaster, Doordarshan in the 1980s.

In 1982, Mrinal Sen was the very first Indian to join the Cannes Film Festival Jury. And his movie ‘Kharij’ won the jury prize. Many of his movies were showcased at the festival. Sharmila Tagore has also attended as a jury member, in 1962 with Satyajit Ray. Between Sen in 1982 and Deepika Padukone in 2023, the Cannes jury had invited filmmaker Mira Nair (1990), novelist Arundhati Roy (2000), actresses Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan (2003), Nandita Das (2005), Sharmila Tagore (2009), filmmaker Shekhar Kapur (2010), and actress Vidya Balan (2013).

More screen stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Watch the world with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2022-43

About –the stories of the world this week, 23 October to 29 October 2022: unpredictable Britain, deadly Myanmar, unusual China, surgical ISRO, spectacular Indian Cricket.

Everywhere

Unpredictable Britain

In recent times British politics as become unpredictable and in keeping with the trend, the United Kingdom (UK) inaugurated its first British-Asian Prime Minister (PM), which is a truly significant historical moment. And we thought only the weather is unpredictable in London. Talent, if used wisely has a way of climbing to the top, no matter what race one belongs to, or religion one follows, or country one originated from. For the moment, it has stopped at No. 10.

Speaking outside 10, Downing Street, Britain’s newly-appointed PM, Rishi Sunak said on Tuesday that he has been elected (as the leader of his Party) to fix some of the mistakes made by his predecessor. He promised to place economic stability and confidence at the heart of his government’s agenda; he would confront the profound economic crisis-that the country is facing-with compassion; and lead a government of integrity, professionalism, and accountability. And the work begins immediately.

The 42 years old devout Hindu, formally took charge as Britain’s first Indian-origin Prime Minister, after an audience with the freshly minted King Charles III, this Tuesday, a day after he was elected the leader of the Conservative Party. The investment banker-turned politician is the youngest British PM in 210 years.

Rishi Sunak was born in Southampton, UK, to Indian-origin parents who migrated to the UK from East Africa in the 1960s, and before that from India. Sunak’s grandparents were born in the Punjab Province, British India. He is the eldest of three siblings: brother Sanjay is a psychologist and sister Raakhi Williams works in New York, as Chief of Strategy and Planning at the United Nations Global Fund for Education in Emergencies. Sunak’s father Yashvir Sunak was a General Practitioner with the National Health Service and his mother Usha Sunak runs a local Pharmacy. Yashvir and Usha Sunak were born in Kenya and Tanzania respectively. That’s a whole lot of countries in the bag!

Sunak was educated at Winchester College, studied philosophy, politics and economics at Lincoln College, Oxford, and earned an MBA from Stanford University as a Fulbright Scholar. While at Stanford, he met his future wife Akshata Murty, the daughter of Narayana Murthy – Indian billionaire and founder of the Indian software Company, Infosys – Fortune had listed Narayana Murthy among the ‘12 Greatest Entrepreneurs of Our Time’ in 2012.

After graduating, Sunak worked for Goldman Sachs and later as a partner at the hedge fund firms, The Children’s Investment Fund Management and Theleme Partners.

Sunak was first elected as an MP in 2015 – for Richmond in North Yorkshire – but rose quickly, and was made Finance Minister /Chancellor of the Exchequer, in February 2020, under former PM Boris Johnson.

Wife Akshata did a fashion designing diploma from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, which followed a short work stint at Deloitte and Unilever. Thereafter, she went on to pursue her MBA at Stanford where apparently ‘Rishi Sunak was waiting to meet’ her!

Sunak and his wife are one of the richest people in Britain, with a combined fortune of GBP 730 million as of 2022. The couple have two teenage daughters, Krisna and Anoushka; and a family dog, Nova – a fox red Labrador Retriever. The story goes that the daughters met Boris Johnson’s dog Dillyn and immediately fell in love with it, and begged their father for a pup of their own.

“British Indian is what I tick on the census, we have a category for it. I am thoroughly British, this is my home and my country, but my religious and cultural heritage is Indian, my wife is Indian. I am open about being a Hindu,” Sunak said in an interview in 2015.

I’m sure the United Kingdom is in a good pair of brown hands.

Deadly Myanmar

Myanmar has been under draconian military rule since February 2021, when an elected government was overthrown in a bloody coup.

This Sunday, over 60 people were killed in military airstrikes at a celebratory event in Myanmar’s mountainous Kachin State drawing international condemnation of the ruling military junta’s actions.

The victims were attending an event organised by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) to mark the 62nd anniversary of the armed ethnic rebel group’s political wing, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO). KIO personnel were in attendance, not as military personnel, but as entertainers helping welcome guests and performing.

The military junta said it was hunting down the KIA and was not deliberately targeting civilians. Hard to believe, but that’s the word!

Unusual China

This week the President of China, Xi Jinping was re-elected as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party for a norm-breaking third term of paramount leader, which is unusual.

This Sunday, a day after the close of the five-yearly Communist Party Congress, Xi announced a new leadership team of six men loyal to him: Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi, to stand alongside him as members of the Politburo Standing Committee- China’s top ruling body.

Events of the day were briefly interrupted by an unexpected scene when Xi’s immediate predecessor Hu Jintao, who is 79 years old and has been in frail health in recent years, was escorted out of the Great Hall of the People from his seat next to Xi, for reasons that were not immediately clear, though Hu appeared initially reluctant to leave. Of course, the Chinese Press came out with a statement that he was unwell and ‘needed to be lifted-up and shown the way out’.

The sweeping reshuffle of the Standing Committee came after the departure of key party leaders not in Xi’s inner circle – Premier Li Keqiang and Wang Yang, head of China’s top advisory body. Both have been retired despite being one year below the party’s unofficial retirement age of 68 and eligible to serve another term. Xi, at 69, is one year above that informal limit. That’s again unusual.

Also absent is a clear successor to Xi Jinping.

Standing Committee lineups prior to the Xi era have included younger members as potential successors. But with the youngest member now 60 years old, there’s no stand-out name in the mix – a potential sign Xi is not planning to step down anytime soon.

That’s again unusual.

With neighbour Russia already having a President for life, is China following suit? The signs are out there for all to read.

Surgical ISRO

Early this week, precisely on Sunday, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) kicked-off the Diwali celebrations in India with a faultless, efficient launch of its heaviest payload ever of 5,796 kilograms in a maiden commercial mission of its launch vehicle LVM3-M2. The 43.5 metre rocket lifted-off from the second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh State. Its payload consisted of 36 broadband communication satellites belonging to OneWeb. And ISRO perfectly placed all satellites in Low Earth Orbits (LEO) – about 600km above the Earth’s surface – four at a time. Imagine injecting 36 Satellites into LEO without allowing them to come too close together in the crucial 48 hours from injection. The satellites will be slowly pushed up to a final LEO of about 1000 km.

The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)-Mark III developed and built by ISRO has been renamed as Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM3). It is designed to carry 8,000 kgs of payloads into LEO (and 4,000 kg of satellites into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit – that’s about 35,000 km above the Earth). ‘M2’ refers to the fact that this is the second operational launch of LVM3.

The mission was undertaken as part of a commercial arrangement between New Space India Limited (NSIL) and OneWeb.

NSIL is the commercial area of ISRO which owns and builds satellites, provides launch vehicles and launch services, space-based services, satellite building and technology transfer to Indian Industries. Since inception in 2019, this is NSIL’s first commercial mission.

OneWeb (legally called Network Access Associates Ltd), is a communications company that builds and offers broadband satellite Internet services. It is building an advanced satellite constellation, consisting of 648 satellites, moving around Earth, in the LEO, to connect businesses, telecoms, and government partners with high-speed, low-latency, internet connectivity.

This is OneWeb’s 14th launch, bringing the constellation to 462 satellites representing more than 70% of its planned 648 satellite fleet. And has only four more launches to go. While 36 satellites were launched on Sunday, another batch of satellites was expected to be placed in the orbit by early 2023. And ISRO will be doing one more 36 satellite launch, as per its contract with OneWeb.

OneWeb is the world’s second biggest satellite operator – after Elon Musk’s Starlink, operated by SpaceX. OneWeb is headquartered in London, and has offices in Virginia, US and a satellite manufacturing facility in Florida – OneWeb Satellites – that is a joint venture with Airbus Defence and Space. In 2020, OneWeb was acquired by the UK Government and India’s Bharti Global, and has since welcomed leading satellite communications operator Eutelsat on board, as well as additional investment from SoftBank, Hughes Network Group, and Hanwha. That’s a lot of spin. With also those satellites hugging dear Earth, will it not be hard to find gaps for future rockets to fire?

Spectacular Indian Cricket

Though I like cricket, I had given up watching tournaments a long time ago except for crossing the boundary when someone comes over to pitch-in and watch a match at home. This Sunday I did just that when a cousin whose monsoon-rain leaking house was under renovation came over to watch the India-Pakistan ICC T20 Cricket match playing at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) Australia. Little did I know there would be a fireworks display of cricket to announce Diwali being celebrated across India and the World, the next day. An India-Pakistan cricket match is always pregnant with possibilities of fierce competition and wild sensationalism. And I was not disappointed.

I lazily got into the match with India winning the toss and electing to bowl. Pakistan started badly, losing wickets, but gradually lit the first sparks, fired-up the stadium, and smoked-out with 159 runs on the board at the end of 20 overs.

India then entered the arena, with 160 runs to fire in 20 overs: expectations, as always, were as high as the Himalayas. A few quick wickets falling and the run rate going below that required for India to win on a trot brought the usual sighs: oohs, aayes, and aahs! With the score at 31 with 4 wickets down in 6 overs, India was in tatters and my cousin was crestfallen and gave-up, but I said I’m an incorrigible optimist and believed India can always hit six sixes – if required- in the last over to win a match.

Former Indian Cricket Captain and awfully out-of-form Virat Kholi was at the crease with Hardik Pandya – known for sending rockets to the spectator stands. And today it was packed with more than 90,000 of them.

Once upon a time, Kohli was a mean run-machine and arguably peaked in 2016, the year in which he scored a masterclass 82 runs of 52 balls again Australia in Mohali in the 2016 T20 World Cup. As the Covid pandemic hit the world, the crowds vanished, and so too Kholi’s form with cheap dismals becoming the norm. Kholi could not find a vaccine to boost his performance until this Sunday. Maybe he held on to self-belief and talked to all those tattoos on his body.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man, goes the tired old saying. Virat Kohli smashed an unbeaten 82 off 53 balls including four massive sixes, and in what could be called the innings of a lifetime to put India within reach of a stunning victory off the final ball. The winning runs were hit by the just-arrived-at-the-crease Ashwin Ravichandran.

Going back to how it all unfolded: after 15 overs, India had a score of 100 runs with the loss of 4 wickets; Virat Kohli was on 42 and Hardik Pandya on 32. And after the 18th over India needed 31 runs off 12 balls, to win; and well into the 19th over it became 28 runs to win off 8 balls. When poised at this stage, Virat hit two bold sixes in succession to bring the score to 144, with 16 runs to win in the last over off 6 balls.

Let me try to bring the intensity and the edge-of-the-seat twist & turns of the thrilling last over – the 20th.

In the first ball, Hardik mistimes a shot and it rises up for any easy catch. Now, it’s 16 runs off 5 balls. In walks wicket-keeper batsman, old warhorse, Dinesh Karthik who has been in this ‘India situation’ many times before. He manages to needle the ball and takes a single run to bring Kohli to bat. Now it’s 15 runs off 4 balls. Kohli hits the next ball and takes two quick singles to bring it to 13 runs off 3 balls. After gathering his breath and surveying a possible Kingdom to capture, Kohli whacks the next waist-high ball for a super six and it is called a No-Ball with a free-hit (add one run and an extra ball). Now it’s 6 runs required off 3 balls. The free-hit ball is bowled and ricochets off the stumps for three runs behind the stumps making it 3 runs off 3 balls and bringing Karthik to face the bowling. Karthik is stumped when he tries to go after the next ball and misses, and it becomes 2 runs off 2 balls. He leaves the field to send spin-bowler Ashwin Ravichandran, who cooly and cleverly leaves alone the last but one ball – judging it to be a wide. It becomes 1 run required of just 1 ball. And a watchful Ashwin hits the last ball to the boundary to win a thriller of a match for India. King Kohli looks on from the other end, sitting on a Throne. A commentator thought he saw a tear in the corner of the King’s eyes. Take a bow, Virat Kohli.

More free-hitting stories will be surgically launched in the weeks ahead. Connect with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2020-45

About: This is what happened this week, in our World.

Wisdom

“To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.” – Bruce Lee

Everywhere

The United States (US) of America.

The World is watching and even the most noisy democracies are looking in the mirror and finding a better reflection of them, over what’s happening in the US.

The US has finally decided to name Joe Biden as ‘President-Elect’ in a gridlocked, knife-edged, roller-coaster Presidential Election, with every vote riding single in a large saloon car, crowding the roads, where the signals are coming on too fast for too short a time.

It could take days, even weeks, before the US Presidential race is finally settled, and there is not much hope that the incumbent President, Donald Trump, will ever utter the great words, “I concede”. He showed the best of his worst behaviour shouting-out that he has won, and that the counting be stopped, in baseless allegations of a fraudulent election – under his watch, as President? Damn! He has showed enough red signs of ‘not accepting the results’. He has even threatened to go to the US Supreme Court and is tweeting lies every time he opens his beak to speak. Meanwhile, the news channels are humming with reports of ‘dead people’ coming alive to vote and markers, using ‘Sharpie pens’, that disappear on ballot papers.

Most of us in India are stumped by the US Election process and I have never followed an US Election this closely – learning the names of all the States! It’s a fact that Americans actually do not directly vote for the President – as many of us might have believed – Something called the ‘Electoral College’ chooses the President. Let me explain.

The winner of the US Presidential Election is determined through a system called Electoral College. Each of the 50 American States, plus Washington DC, is given a number of electoral college votes adding to a total of 538 votes. More populous states are get more electoral votes than smaller states. A candidate needs to poll 270 plus 1 to win. In every State the candidate that gets the most votes wins all of the states electoral votes except in two states of Maine & Nebraska. Hence a candidate can win an election without getting the most votes at the national level.

Americans are also electing members of the two chambers of Congress: House of Representatives and the Senate.

At the time of this Post, Joe Biden was leading with 253 Electoral College Votes (ECV) over Donald Trump’s 213 and has just been projected to win the 20 EVC of Pennsylvania taking his score to 273. Votes are being carefully and furiously counted and all eyeballs are on the battleground States where results are yet to be declared: Pennsylvania – 20 ECV, Biden projected to win; Georgia – 16 ECV, Biden leading by over 7200; Arizona – 11 ECV, Biden leading by over 29800; Nevada – 6 ECV, Biden leading by over 22,000 votes. Alaska – 3 ECV, Trump leading by over 51 000 votes.

It’s easy to see that Biden will win, but the twists & turns have been far more than anybody imagined, and the suspense lingers along with a heavily guarded opinion. Watch an Alfred Hitchcock film, we’ll have to wait this out.

History will be made when the Democratic Party candidates, Biden-Harris win the US Elections. Joe Biden, at 77, will be the oldest President of the United States ever to be elected to a first term in Office. He based his campaign on standing for two things: one, workers that built the US and, two, values that can bridge its divisions. I reckon he needs to work real hard, like a Worker, to build great spans of bridges that add iron & steel to his Presidency.

Kamala Harris would become the first Woman Vice President of the US, and the first Afro-American, and the first Asian American. Previously, only Geraldine Ferraro, a Vice Presidential candidate, running with Democratic Presidential candidate Walter Mondale, in 1984, came close. Mondale and Ferraro lost the general election in a landslide receiving only 41% of the popular vote compared to Ronald Reagan and Bush’s 59%.

The election shows that the US is so fractured that the New President will have to learn ‘black-white-brown’ magic, to cast a spell, to mend the broken parts, before he puts the bones to work. God Bless America.

If Donald Trump doesn’t accept the result he may have to be pulled out of the White House, kicking, screaming and screeching – Marshalls around? (Call Bruce Lee, from the Dead?)

Driving in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Women in Saudi Arabia were not allowed to drive a motor car, all these decades, until June 2018, when they were finally granted this right, in what appeared to be an opening-up of the Kingdom.

This was largely due to a successfully campaign by woman activist, Loujain al-Hathloul, 31, who fought to sit on the drivers seat, and a demand to abolish ‘male guardianship’. But, she was arrested in May 2018 on charges of ‘attempting to destabilise the Kingdom’. A number of other activists who fought for women’s right to drive, alongside Loujain, have since been released, but two years on, she remains behind bars. She has, in end October 2020, began a hunger strike to try and urge Authorities to allow her to have regular contact with her family.

Loujain al-Hathloul was named one of Time magazine’s ‘100 Most Influential People of 2019’.

What is male guardianship? Under Saudi Arabia’s male guardianship system, every woman must have a male guardian who has the authority to make a range of critical decisions on her behalf. Traditionally, a woman’s male guardian from birth is her father and once she is married her guardian becomes her husband.

Unbelievable that in this modern World a woman had to fight for such basic rights and then on the right being made right, be punished for being right.

The United Nations is sounding the horn, but it needs to drive Saudi Arabia – at Formula-One speeds – into ensuring ‘passenger comfort’ for its citizens – especially women. I’m hoping Loujain al-Hathloul is released at the soonest.

India

Elections, again.

The third and final phase of the Bihar State Assembly Elections are happening this Saturday and counting Day is on 10th November.

Will this be another thrilling cliffhanger?

Space

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is back in action, this Saturday, with the successful launch of its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) -C49 in its 51st mission, lifting-off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, India. The PSLV put into orbit India’s own Earth Observation Satellite (EOS)-01 as primary satellite, along with nine International customer Satellites, a grand total of ten, at one blast.

This is one space the World is cheaply looking up to.

The Pandemic in India

While the World is seeing new waves of the COVID-19, coronavirus pandemic, India after making a slow steady climb in the number of infections, is gradually, but surely mixing all the waves into one and rolling down a declining slope.

I must appreciate India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi for having the foresight to lockdown very early, saving tens of thousands of lives and brutally locking people in their homes to learn their coronavirus lessons. So much so that every Indian has become fluent, like Donald Trump, and many have confidently declared that they have seen the back of this virus. They shout, ‘Stop the counting. Remove the masks’. I think it’s still too early to call a win as the Festive Season, could ‘un-mask’ new battlegrounds. Let me tell you a story.

On Tuesday evening, after over seven months of strictly adhering to COVID-19 prevention Rules, I reluctantly accepted an invitation to a small Family gathering in a small village near where I was born. My cousin called saying he is putting a knife to the throat of a few goats to propitiate the Gods and cook us all a good meal. This for the well-being of his father, who is struggling to walk again, after a stroke.

I wonder what the poor Goats can do? Maybe if a surgical knife is put to the Father he may recover!

It was late evening and I travelled alone in my Honda City Saloon on a largely ‘signal-less’ State Highway, with my Driver at the wheel. Both of us were masked-up tight, and fully- armed to the teeth with sanitisers, back-up masks, and other virus fighters. We reached the dinner spot, a Farmstead on the outskirts of the nearest Town, by 7.30pm just as the evening was running the last mile, to hand over the baton to Night.

I was welcomed by a few giggling ‘mask-less’ nephews, who when asked about wearing masks ushered us in to see for ourselves a ‘supremely coronavirus-free gathering’ huddled together, holding hands and making small conversation. Welcome to the party, they said.

I was the only one (repeat, only ONE) wearing a mask in the about 100 group.

I told everybody, of the family, either wear a mask, keep physical distance, or I leave. They were stunned for a moment – an Aunt pulled out a mask hanging at her sari folds and waved it. Others said they have no masks. And there is no coronavirus living in these parts, they laughed.

I then thanked the host, my cousin, and promptly walked out! The smell of dinner cooking on the fire was irresistible, but I held my ground.

The pandemic isn’t over as yet. Follow the Rules. I wish my cousin well and hope the day is remembered for the right reasons.

A friend of mine, an evolving Monk, trying to grow his beard to Sadhguru lengths, who drove all over India on a ‘Parikrama’, in his blue Suzuki car, believes the pandemic is a sham and a scam. Says he watched the cash flowing in all kinds of directions, in close quarters. Maybe, we should put him on a new Parikrama flight to the hotpots of Spain, Italy, or the US and hope for a safe return. Some people simply don’t get it!

Sport

Cricket

The IPL 2020 Cricket Tournament is counting the balls in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the last ball will be played on 10th November, to decide the winner, in the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai.

Mumbai Indians have kept-up their lead in the points table and have reached the finals. They will play the winner of second Qualifier Match, scheduled on Sunday, 8th November, between Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad, who have risen, over the week, to get here.

There’s a close fight at the very bottom with Rajasthan Royals pushing up Chennai Super Kings – slightly – to occupy the last position.

KL Rahul of Kings XI still has the most runs to his name, 670 in fourteen games. David Warner of Sunrisers Hyderabad is the closest with 546 runs in fifteen games. Ishan Kishan of Mumbai Indians has hit the most sixes – 29. Easy to understand how Mumbai Indians gained those points. He has pushed down last week’s Sixer, Rajasthan Royals’ Sanju Samson – 26 sixes.

Potpourri

Half-male, Half-female

While humans are expanding their sex orientation from the basic two of male and female, the Birds are fast catching up. In fact they are mixing it up.

Scientists have found a half-male, half-female songbird at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s Powdermill Nature Reserve, USA in what’s being described as a ‘once in a lifetime’ discovery. This songbird is a rare species and is only the fifth such songbird to be discovered out of the nearly 800,000 birds that the Nature Reserve has seen. Well, someone’s counting, for sure. The ‘mixed-up’ bird was identified as a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Male and female Grosbeaks are distinguished by their colour: males have pink ‘wing pits,’ while females are yellow-brown. And, you guessed it: the sides of this songbird’s body were of different colours, typical of the male, and female.

How does this happen? It’s the result of a genetic error when an unfertilised egg with two nuclei fuses with the sperm, and produces an embryo with both male and female cells.

Now, if the female-side has a functional ovary – not known as yet – it could attract a male and make and egg, to reproduce, while the other part can also get to do its job of impregnating ‘other halves’.

Every single day we Humans are discovering something new and it only shows the endless possibilities of life on Earth. Male and Female is ‘two narrow’?

Migration

Keeping the conversation flying with the Birds, I read in the local Newspapers that three new rare migratory birds, Whimbrel, Pacific Golden-Plover (both are Shore Birds), and Eurasian Wryneck (Woodpecker family) have been recently sighted in Salem,Tamil Nadu, near the Mettur Dam region, by the Salem Ornithological Foundation. These rare migratory birds are from the Northern European Region and have been spotted for the first time around these parts.

Over the week, Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has been asking the world to invest heavily in India highlighting its Democracy, Demography, Demand, and Diversity – and to build nests in India. The birds have lightly flown in, listened and have come to do a check, to take the tidings to the other parts, I’m sure.

Oh, I wish we could migrate like the birds!

Many fabulous things expected to happen in the upcoming week. Sit back and wait for the results – let others count!