Chhattisgarh uses satellite technology, force to reclaim 1,800 acres of encroached forest in tiger reserve
Regaining the vast forest area, progressively occupied over the last 18 years, posed a serious challenge for the Chhattisgarh Forest Department. The department carried out a difficult exercise to clear the encroached designated forestlands, estimated to be worth over Rs 500 crore, said Varun Jain (IFS), Deputy Director of USTR.
The IFS officer relied on technological interventions to address patrolling gaps, reduce man-animal conflicts, and strengthen the monitoring of forests and wildlife.
As many as seven major habitats and over 300 alleged encroachers settled in the region were evicted amid strong resistance, with reports of attacks on forest staff during the anti-encroachment drive that began two years ago.
Jain sought assistance from the National Remote Sensing Centre, one of the key centres of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Hyderabad, acquiring satellite images from 2008–2010. He also carried out drone mapping of the encroached area to create an imagery database for 2022.
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Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
India gets its first privately funded institute for maths research
Representational Image MUMBAI: India, said Fields medallist Manjul Bhargava, must fall in love with mathematics again. Not as a "drudgery of formulae" but as an act of "exploration". Bhargava, Canadian by nationality but of Indian origin, believes classrooms need an overhaul-"experimental, playful," he said, with teachers "trained" to spark curiosity. Speaking to TOI on the sidelines of the launch of the Lodha Mathematical Sciences Institute (LMSI), he added: "I'm happy with the new textbooks and the changes brought in them. But they will only show impact in a few years." On the scientific advisory council of LMSI, Bhargava will lead sessions on arithmetic statistics, its new developments, and future directions. State cabinet minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha called it a school "not for an individual, not for a business, but for the nation that always prioritised knowledge over all and for India that gave so much math to the world." Entirely devoted to post-doctoral research, LMSI is India's first privately funded mathematics institute, backed by Lodha Foundation with a Rs 20,000 crore endowment. "We realised that for any nation to become strong, we ought to have original thinking and promote innovation," said Abhishek Lodha, CEO and MD of Lodha Developers. The privately funded mathematics research institute in the country is completely free, he added. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Could This NEW Collagen Blend Finally Reduce Your Cellulite? Vitauthority Learn More Undo Founding director V Kumar Murthy-who earlier led Toronto's Fields Institute-described math as the hidden scaffolding of modern life: the foundation for finance, engineering, and technology. Economist Nachiket Mor, also on the advisory panel, noted that models built in the West often collapse in India because they rarely account for "unique characteristics" like limited liquidity and higher viscosity of adjustment. "This reality makes it all the more urgent for us to build deep capacity mathematics," he said. Murthy explained that LMSI would begin not with students but with teachers. Ten senior number theorists have been chosen to seed the effort. As president, Murthy said he plans to travel across the country, meeting mathematicians firsthand and mapping who is doing what. The aim is to build a network where the "brightest minds" are spotted early, handpicked, and nurtured. By Dec 2026, LMSI will host the first Indian Congress of Mathematicians, showcasing contributions of Indian-origin mathematicians worldwide.
Time of India
6 hours ago
- Time of India
It's all about numbers: Mumbai gets first privately-funded institute for math research
Mumbai: India, said Fields medallist Manjul Bhargava, must fall in love with mathematics again. Not as a "drudgery of formulas" but as an act of "exploration." Bhargava, Canadian by nationality but of Indian origin, believes classrooms need an overhaul—"experimental, playful," he said, with teachers "trained" to spark curiosity. Speaking to TOI on the sidelines of the launch of the Lodha Mathematical Sciences Institute (LMSI), he added: "I'm happy with the new textbooks and the changes brought in them. But they will only show impact in a few years." On the scientific advisory council of LMSI, Bhargava will lead sessions on arithmetic statistics, its new developments, and future directions. State cabinet minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha called it a school "not for an individual, not for a business, but for the nation that always prioritised knowledge over all and for India that gave so much math to the world." You Can Also Check: Mumbai AQI | Weather in Mumbai | Bank Holidays in Mumbai | Public Holidays in Mumbai | Gold Rates Today in Mumbai | Silver Rates Today in Mumbai Entirely devoted to post-doctoral research, LMSI is India's first privately funded mathematics institute, backed by the Lodha Foundation with a Rs 20,000-crore endowment. "We realised that for any nation to become strong, we ought to have original thinking and promote innovation," said Abhishek Lodha, CEO and MD of Lodha Developers. The privately funded mathematics research institute in the country is completely free, he added. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Could This NEW Collagen Blend Finally Reduce Your Cellulite? Vitauthority Learn More Undo Founding director V Kumar Murthy—who earlier led Toronto's Fields Institute—described math as the hidden scaffolding of modern life: the foundation for finance, engineering, and technology. Economist Nachiket Mor, also on the advisory panel, noted that models built in the West often collapse in India because they rarely account for "unique characteristics" like limited liquidity and higher viscosity of adjustment. "This reality makes it all the more urgent for us to build deep capacity mathematics," he said. Murthy explained that LMSI would begin not with students but with teachers. Ten senior number theorists—working in a field almost untouched in India—have been chosen to seed the effort. Faculty will return to their classrooms with fresh knowledge, passing it on. As President, Murthy said he plans to travel across the country, meeting mathematicians firsthand and mapping who is doing what. The aim is to build a network where the "brightest minds" are spotted early, handpicked, and nurtured—whether a graduate is on the verge of a breakthrough or a scholar is trying to prove a theorem. By December 2026, LMSI will host the first Indian Congress of Mathematicians, showcasing contributions of mathematicians of Indian origin worldwide. Ashish Singh, former chief secretary of Maharashtra and now chief mentor of the Lodha Foundation, said the idea of LMSI grew from parents failing to convince children that mathematics is foundational to all STEM knowledge. The institute, he stressed, is one where scholars can do pure research—"no onerous administrative responsibilities, no responsibility of teaching. There's no other responsibility other than the responsibility of pushing the boundaries of knowledge itself. " Inviting those for whom mathematics is a calling, Singh spoke of those who see "symmetry in numbers," find "beauty in logic," and dream like Ramanujan "standing on the shore of the infinite." The big dream, he added, is for an Indian to win a Fields Medal in the next decade—or perhaps to nurture someone who "looks up from his chalkboard and glimpses the truth no one else has seen, some elegant, exact, and entirely human moment of insight. " Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.
Indian Express
9 hours ago
- Indian Express
Study reveals how partial flood defences in Surat shifted risk toward vulnerable communities
Do partial flood defences actually protect cities, or do they simply redistribute the hazard? With this question in focus, a recent study by the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) and University of Burdwan, West Bengal, has revealed how partial flood defences shift risk toward vulnerable communities, raising critical questions about urban planning and equity. The findings of the research, published in the journal Nature Cities, offer a blueprint for cities to rethink flood adaptation strategies and build a more just, resilient, and climate-ready infrastructure. 'Most flood adaptation strategies are judged by whether they reduce total damage. By that measure, Surat's partial embankment system, which was built after the catastrophic 2006 floods, was successful in protecting its dense city centre,' explained Dr Udit Bhatia, Associate Professor at IITGN's Department of Civil Engineering and the principal investigator of the study. To understand these flood adaptation strategies further, Dr Bhatia and his co-authors used advanced hydrodynamic simulations, socio-economic data, and demographic-focused analysis to model a 100-year flood event in Surat. Employing simulations to create partial embankment systems or levees systems that counter the hypothetical catastrophic event, they assessed the impact of partial embankments as a primary systemic response to flooding, and analysed how human life, infrastructure, and the economy are affected. The team noted that levees reduced flood damage in core wards of Surat by Rs 31.24 billion (US$380 million) and in suburban areas by Rs 10.34 billion (US$125 million). But those numbers did not provide the whole story. 'By simulating floods under both 'no levee' and 'partial levee' conditions using a fully coupled 1D – 2D hydrodynamic model, we observed a sharp redistribution of risk,' stated Ashish S Kumar, the lead author of the study and a Ph D scholar in IITGN's Department of Civil Engineering. When the team analysed flood impacts across Surat's 284 neighbourhoods, they found that 134 areas experienced reduced flooding, while 119 saw deeper water. The maximum flood depth reduction reached an impressive 10.13 meters in protected areas, but some unprotected neighbourhoods faced increases of up to 2.38 meters. 'While core areas remained dry longer, downstream and peripheral wards, which are often less affluent and less protected, flooded earlier and more severely,' added Kumar, who is also the recipient of the central government's prestigious Prime Minister Research Fellowship. 'We observed that flooding was delayed by up to 12 hours in protected wards near the river, a valuable lead time for evacuation or emergency response,' said Dr Bhatia in a statement issued by IITGN. In contrast, the team noted that in some downstream regions, the onset of flooding happened up to seven hours earlier than in the baseline scenario. 'This temporal resolution in flood modelling is vital for preparedness planning. Delaying a flood by even a few hours can make the difference between controlled evacuation and disaster,' he added. To better understand the social impact, the IITGN team collaborated with Prof Rajarshi Majumder, a development economist from the University of Burdwan, and Prof Vivek Kapadia, a water policy expert who served as Secretary to the Government of Gujarat and Director of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited between 2020 and 2023. Relying on Prof Majumdar's economics expertise, the researchers analysed how flood damage and exposure were distributed across neighbourhoods. They used the Gini index, a standard measure of inequality, where 0 means perfect equality and 1 indicates extreme disparity. The results were striking. The Gini index for flood damage rose from 0.55 to 0.66, and for population exposure, it rose from 0.31 to 0.39. More starkly, 91% of post-levee flood damage was concentrated in just 50% of the city's neighbourhoods, many of them poorer, with a higher proportion of marginal workers, a proxy for economic vulnerability. 'The data suggest that the residual flood risk disproportionately shifted toward communities that were already disadvantaged,' observed co-author Majumder. In Surat, as in many cities of the Global South, peripheral areas house informal settlements, agricultural workers, and artisanal communities with limited access to infrastructure or disaster support. 'It is not that levees should not be built,' noted Dr Bhatia. 'But policymakers need better tools to understand the knock-on effects, especially in cities where development is uneven and capacity is constrained.' While Surat's levees reduced overall flood losses, a common justification for such investments, the study underscored that cost-benefit analysis alone is insufficient. 'If a flood plan protects downtown but worsens conditions for outlying villages, it transcends from being just a technical issue to becoming a moral one,' said Dr Bhatia. Towards this, the study offers a much-needed model for integrated flood planning that balances structural engineering with social equity. Shedding light on the holistic approaches to urban flood adaptation that cities could undertake, Kapadia, a co-author of the study and a Professor of Practice at IITGN, suggested the deployment of multi-scalar governance, where benefits in protected zones are not assumed to justify harm in others. 'We propose redirecting tax revenue from safer zones to fund adaptation in high-risk peripheries and investing in nature-based infrastructure like wetlands or buffer zones that distribute water pressure more evenly,' Kapadia said. In the face of rising floodwaters and increasingly erratic weather, cities worldwide have turned to a seemingly straightforward solution: Build a wall. From Spain to Surat, partial embankment systems or levees have become the go-to defence against riverine and coastal flooding. The team of researchers said that often built along rivers and low-lying urban corridors, these structures are designed to hold back water during high discharge events, shielding the most economically important urban cores. But, historically, it has been observed that this protection is uneven and temporary. Floodwaters rerouted by these barriers found new paths, it was found. In safeguarding these high-value zones, flood defences often push rising waters to the edges of the city, into informal, less developed settlements that are ill-equipped to absorb the blow, the study noted. With climate change making extreme weather events more common, cities must move beyond patchwork defences, according to the study. Protecting one side of a river while flooding the other may save a few billion rupees today, but it risks compounding inequality and social unrest tomorrow, the study noted, positioning itself as a potential toolkit for city planners, policy makers, and governments.
