Artifacts of bygone age unearthed

A team of archaeologists has unearthed ancient artifacts from the Bronze Age and the Iron Age in Myanmar.

Found in Thazi township in the central Mandalay division by the Archaeological, Natural Museum and Libraries Department under the Ministry of Culture, the artifacts provide an evidence of transition from Bronze culture to Iron culture in Myanmar.

Foreign archaeologists once considered that in the early history, Myanmar was transferred from Stone Age into the Iron Age without flourishing of Bronze culture.

According to state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar, the thesis was proved wrong when many artifacts were excavated in such regions as Nyaungkan, Myin-U Hle, Hnawkan and Kukkokha that provided evidences of bronze culture in the country, and that was supported by the artifacts found in Kanthitgon village.

Archaeological research was carried out in eight different places simultaneously and among the ancient objects found in Kanthitgon village were nine complete bodies along with some incomplete sets of bodies of all ages, child, middle age and old age.

The bodies were buried together with bronze and iron weapons.

The artifacts of the Bronze Age found in the village also included bronze arrow heads, spears, wire bundles, cups, floral works, stone beads, bone beads, different sizes of pots and plates and iron spears.


source :
http://www.zeenews.com/

Bihar floods: Manmohan, Sonia undertake aerial survey

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Thursday undertook an aerial survey of the four most affected districts by floods in Bihar where the swollen Kosi river continued to wreak havoc.

Singh and Gandhi arrived at the Purnia airbase by a special IAF plane from New Delhi and took off in an IAF chopper to undertake the aerial survey in Supaul, Saharsa, Araria and Madhepura districts, official sources said.

They were accompanied by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, Union Minister of State for Water Resource Jaiprakash Narain Yadav and BJP Lok Sabha members from Purnia and Araria -- Uday Singh and Sukhdeo Paswan -- respectively.

Earlier, Kumar received Singh and Gandhi at the Purnia airbase and briefed them about the flood situation.

Altogether 55 persons have so far lost their lives in the current spell of floods in the state.

Personnel of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Special Auxiliary Police (SAP), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), state police and the Army were engaged in the flood-hit areas to provide succour to the victims, the sources said.

Over 25 lakh people in 15 districts have been hit by the impact of one of the worst floods in recent memory with victims from these four districts making up 19.78 lakh.

A total of 396 boats engaged in relief and rescue work in the four districts have so far rescued 65,539 marooned people to safer places, they said, adding the number of people rescued from all the 15 districts was over 1.2 lakh.

Chief Minister Kumar, who called on Prime Minister Singh in New Delhi on Wednesday, had demanded an initial allocation of Rs 1,000 crore from the Centre in view of the unprecedented devastation caused by the turbulent Kosi river, which has charted a new course after breaching its embankment.

Kumar had stressed the need for an aggressive pursuit of diplomatic initiatives with Nepal for the construction of high dams and massive re-aforestation in the upper catchment area of the rivers, which would also imply the strengthening of embankments as part of long-term initiatives.

"More than 20 lakh people and their houses, including a number of townships, 242 panchayats and 671 villages which lie along the new course of the river have been inundated," he said, adding the state would immediately require one lakh metric tonne of rice for relief.

source :
http://www.hindu.com/

Surat is India's youngest city: Study

Here is one more proof that youth of the nation are drivers of its economic growth. Surat, the city with fastest GDP growth and richest households nationally, is also the city with the maximum youth in the country.

Even as the world celebrates International Youth Day on Tuesday, a study by National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) and Roopa Purshothaman of Future Capital Research says that 73.8 per cent of Surat's population is below 35 years.

Effectively, nearly 33 lakh of the 45 lakh people living in Surat are youngsters, pushing up Surat's growth. Ahmedabad, the only other city from Gujarat in the study of 20 cities, has finished 14th.

Experts say migrants have injected the energy of youth into the city.

As Akash Acharya, 33, of Centre for Social Studies in Surat, puts it: "Only people in the working age migrate in large numbers and take advantage of the city's industrial growth."

He adds that the city will continue to be the youngest for some time. "Once migrants grow older, they go back home and more migrants come in. This factor will help the city keep growing."

Interestingly, it is not just industrial labourers migrating here. Among the few young Turks to make Surat their home is Vardan Kabra, 34, an IIM-A graduate who has started a school in the city. "When I came here five years ago, I saw that the city was growing very fast and it had good infrastructure. I chose to stay back."

Kabra adds he chose Surat for its proximity to both Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Like Kabra, IIT-Mumbai graduate Amit Saraf also came to city to start a beauty saloon. "I was drawn to Surat by its economic environment. It's affordable to start a new business here."

source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Himachal traces Pandavas` footprint

In a bid to bring the rich historical root of Himachal Pradesh out of oblivion and to promote tourism, the state government is conducting a survey to find evidence of places linked with visit of the Pandavas.

"Survey is underway to find evidence for these historical references of visit of the Pandavas to the state during their 14 years of banishment to forest and on other occasions," said Prem Sharma, Director, Department of Language and Culture.

The objective behind the exercise is to trace the rich historical root of Himachal Pradesh popularly called "Dev bhoomi" (land of lords) and promote tourism by developing these sites, Sharma said.

"Historical texts say that during their banishment the Pandavas had stayed at Hatkoti which falls in the modern day's Shimla district," he said adding that there is a temple of Hidimba, wife of mighty Bhima, at Kullu.

There is also reference of Arjuna travelling to 'Kinner' country which is considered to be the modern day Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh, the director said.

To corroborate all these historical references with evidence, researchers of the state Language and Culture department are conducting the detailed survey expected to be completed in a year, Sharma said.

He said memorials would be built at the places where evidences are found about the links with Pandavas.

According to the epic Mahabharta, Pandavas -- a group of five brothers namely Yudhisthir, Arjuna, Bhima, Nakul and Sehdev -- were forced to live in jungle for 14 years.

source : http://www.zeenews.com/

Heavy showers wash Taj

Continuous rain for the past fortnight in and around Agra has brought cheer as well as despair to the citizens and tourists here.

The welcome change, of course, is the rain washed Taj Mahal against a lush green backdrop with the waters of the Yamuna flowing in full spate.

"The dry Yamuna presented such a pathetic and deplorable scene that people often would ask us why Shah Jahan chose this site to build such a monument, but right now the river is full and flowing majestically," said tourist guide Manu.

The showers have also eased the pressure on the water and power supply departments but the Agra Municipal Corporation has come under fire for its failure to keep the city drains clear of debris.

Low-lying areas of the city have remained water-logged for a week. The city's lifeline MG Road was under water at four different points Tuesday after a spell of heavy showers.

The Shiva fair on the Delhi-Agra highway was affected after a sudden downpour Monday night. The pilgrims were stranded for hours.

Heavy showers in Mathura, Vrindavan and Goverdhan also affected movement of pilgrims.


source :
http://www.ndtvtravels.com/

Foreign tourists head for Sunderbans

The West Bengal government will focus on the Sunderbans this year to promote tourism in the state, Tourism Minister Manab Mukherjee said.

"Sunderbans would be our focus this year. For the present fiscal, (the) government has allocated Rs.250 million for tourism," he said on the sidelines of the inauguration of 64th Travel and Tourism Fair (TTF).

He indicated that the state has bigger plans for promoting the Sunderbans to attract tourists.

Last fiscal the budget allocation was Rs.100 million.

The sunderbans are part of the world's largest delta. It is a mangrove forest spread over West Bengal and Bangladesh, that reaches inland for 100-130 km.

The travel and tourism fair offers a platform every year to various states and countries to set up stalls to promote their respective tourist sectors.

Apart from 250 participants across India including representations from 22 states, nine foreign countries have also participated this year.

Sanjiv Agarwal, chairman and managing director of Fairfest Media Ltd, said: "Every year nearly 10 million Indians visit foreign countries."

Singapore is the partner country, while Dubai, Nepal and Malaysia are the feature countries. The other countries represented are Indonesia, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Bhutan.

Besides Kolkata, TTF covers cities like Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Surat, Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai and New Delhi.


source :
http://www.ndtvtravels.com/

Stampede near Naina Devi temple claims 146 lives

A stampede on a slender trail leading to the famous hilltop Naina Devi temple in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh on Sunday killed 146 people, mainly women and children, and injured about 230.

Naina Devi, a key shrine of the temple tourist circuit of the hill State, is about 165 km from the State capital and is very popular among the people from neighbouring Punjab and the lower plains of Himachal.

According to officials, rumours of a landslip uphill triggered the stampede as terrified people started running down. More than 5000 devotees were on their way to the temple, situated at a height of about 4000 metres, at the time of the incident. Since this was an auspicious time of the year, the rush was more, said a temple official.

The communication network in the area was affected due to bad weather and rescue operations were hampered due to fog around the site.

Most of the injured have been referred to the Ropar hospital in Punjab and PGI Chandigarh.

Television footage showed slippers, torn clothes and bags with flowers and offerings lying along the narrow path winding up the hill.

People thronged hospitals looking for relatives.

A television channel showed a young woman pleading for water in a corner as rescuers brought in more injured people on stretchers.

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal rushed to the spot and supervised rescue operations. He announced an immediate relief of Rs. 1 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs. 50,000 to those seriously injured.

A magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the incident. A similar stampede occurred here in 1983, claiming 36 lives.

PTI reports:

As men, women and children stood in a serpentine queue, suddenly all hell broke loose. In 15 minutes, between 9.30 a.m. and 9.45 a.m. rumour of a landslip triggered a huge stampede.

Groups of devotees returning from the temple ran down and crashed into pilgrims trekking up the four km road to reach the temple.

Children and women clutching the hands of their near and dear ones got separated in the rush to escape the feared landslide, realising little that they were hurtling to another form of death.

As devotees tried to outpace one another to find an escape route, they tried to jump over the railings along the road leading to the temple.

Coming under massive human pressure, the railings gave way and people fell down along the slope.

Several women and children, who could not jump the railings and stuck to the regular path, were trampled upon, witnesses said.

source :

http://www.hindu.com/

Partial Solar eclipse in India

A total eclipse of the sun will occur on Friday afternoon and it will be visible as a partial eclipse throughout India.

In general, the total eclipse will be visible in the region covering northern and eastern parts of North America, Greenland, northern Europe and Asia except Japan.

Considering the earth as a whole, the eclipse begins at 1:34 IST when the shadow of the moon first touches the earth at local sunrise near a point in the North Atlantic Ocean close to New Found land in Canada.

The eclipse ends at 6:08 IST when the moon’s shadow finally leaves the earth at local sunset near a point in the Bay of Bengal close to Andaman Nicobar Island.

The total phase begins at 2:53 IST at a point near southeastern coast of Victoria Island in northern Canada.

The total phase ends at 4:50 IST at a point near Xi''an in southeast China.

The greatest phase of the eclipse with magnitude 1.040 occurs at 3:51 IST near a point close to Nadym in northern Russia.

The duration of the total phase at this point is two minutes 30 seconds.

Next total eclipse of the sun will occur on July 22, 2009. The path of the totality of the same eclipse will pass through India.


source :
http://www.zeenews.com/

Ancient sculptures found in Tripura

Nestled in the tiny Jolaibari town of Tripura's south district, Pilak, an eight-twelth century archaeological site, stands as an eloquent symbol of the Hindu-Buddhist affinity cultural as much as the glorious cultural past of the state.

Stone engravings and statues of Shiva, Surya, Baishnabi and Mahishashurmardini stand alongside the statues of Lord Buddha in different places like Shyam Sundar Tilla, Deb Bari, Thakurani Tilla, Balir Pathar, Basudeb Bari and others in a three-square-kilometre site.

The dominant form and style of the rock-cut images and the sculptures in Pilak carries the influence of the Palas and Guptas of Bengal, influence of the Arakan in Mynamar (formerly Burma) and local style, Jawahar Achariya, a historian and numismatist, said.

A number of rock-cut images and terracotta plaques lie scattered in various places of the area, which has been under the care of the Archaeological Survey of India, speaking of the state's past cultural glory.

"The moulded terracotta plaques bear resemblance to the moulded plaques recovered from Paharpur and Mainamati in Bangladesh," Achariya, who studied the history of the site, said.

Thaikhai Chowdhury, an official of the information department of Tripura and a Mog tribal said, "There is a reference of Pilak as Pilakko in the stone inscriptions at Mruhang, the ancient capital of the old Arakan kingdom in present Myanmar".

Chowdhury said according to the folklore and oral history, there was a close cultural link between 'pilakko' and Arakan via the Chittagong hill tracts of present Bangladesh.

The Archaeological Survey of India had taken over the site since 1999 and is now protected under the provision of the Government of India's relevant act of 1958.

A senior conservation assistant of the ASI, Narayan Chandra Debnath, said a new stupa had been excavated at Sundari Tilla.

Explaining the importance of the newly-excavated site, Debnath says this is a full size Buddhist stupa built in the 11th century on the pattern of architecture during the reign of "Palas of bengal".

Debnath, who was in charge of the Pilak site since 1999, said the stupa had been excavated under the supervision of ASI superintendent P Kumaran since January, 1999 and completed in March, 2006.

He pointed out that the stone image of meditating Buddha found in the sanctum of the stupa had "very close affinity to the tribal feature on the mouth".

A top official of the state government said that the government had plans to develop the site for Buddhist tourists of South-East Asia and other places and for this a project of Rs 150 crore has been submitted to the Centre.

The Centre will seek financial assistance from the government of Japan, he said.

The state government has already developed the site as a tourist spot by setting up a cafeteria and providing other facilities for visitors.


source :
http://www.zeenews.com/