Latest news with #1991
NDTV
6 days ago
- Politics
- NDTV
Sikkim Seeks Ban On Scaling Kanchenjunga, Days After Army Team Summitted It
The Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang has written to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah to hold talks with Nepal to bring into effect a ban on scaling Mt Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain peak in the world, as it is regarded sacred by the people of his state. Climbing the Kanchenjunga is not allowed from the Sikkimese side and mountaineers scale the peak from the Nepal side. In the letter, Mr Tamang referred to the May 18 ascent of the peak by a five-member team from the National Institute of Mountaineering and Adventure Sports (NIMAS) from the Nepal side, adding that this has hurt Sikkim's indigenous communities. The Chief Minister wrote, "Mount Khangchendzonga holds profound spiritual and religious significance for the people of Sikkim. Regarded as the most sacred mountain in the state its name translates to "Five Treasures Of The High Snows", symbolising five divine treasures. According to the Sikkimese belief system, these treasures remain hidden and shall be revealed only to the devout when the world is in grave peril." "The mountain is revered as the abode of the principal guardian and protector-deity of Sikkim known as the 'Dzoe-Nga'. This sacred being is worshipped as the 'Pho-Lha,' or chief of the entire assemblage of supernatural entities of Sikkim. These deities were recognised and anointed as the 'Guardian Deities of the Land' by Ugyen Guru Rinpoche, also known as Guru Padmasambhava, the patron saint of Sikkim," he further wrote. Asking for a complete ban on mountaineering activities on the mountain, the Mr Tamang wrote the move will be "in deference to the deeply-held beliefs and cultural values of the people of Sikkim". His letter comes after Sikkim Bhutia Lepcha Apex Committee (SIBLAC) raised the issue with the authorities. On April 4 this year, the SIBLAC wrote to the Sikkim Governor Om Prakash Mathur, seeking his immediate attention for safeguarding the cultural and spiritual heritage of Sikkim. "The Government of Sikkim in 2001, banned expeditions to Mount Khangchendzongna under the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which protects sacred sites. This ban was reinforced by Article 371 (F) of the Indian Constitution, which safeguards Sikkim's cultural and religious laws post its 1975 merger with India, under which there exists a law prohibiting the climbing of this mountain. Additionally, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, revoked its earlier decision to open this mountain in September 2019, removing Kanchenjunga and thirteen other sacred peaks from the list of open peaks", the SIBLAC said in a letter to the Governor. The Indian Army's NIMAS, located at Dirang in Arunachal Pradesh, summitted Mount Kangchenjunga (8,586 metres), as part of the 'Har Shikhar Tiranga' Mission, a patriotic mission to hoist the Indian national flag atop the highest peak of each of India's 28 states. The summitting of the Kanchenjunga has secured a 100 per cent success for the NIMAS. "This wasn't just another expedition for us. This was the final summit of the iconic Har Shikhar Tiranga Mission - a journey to hoist the Tricolour on the highest peak of every Indian state. With this climb, Team NIMAS has etched history - completing a mission that fused adventure, patriotism, and purpose. 5 team members, 100 per cent success, and a summit that tested every ounce of our will. To all those who believed, supported, and prayed , this one is for you. And to the mighty Kangchenjunga - you humbled us, and you made us better," the mountaineering team from NIMAS said. The NIMAS team summitted the Kanchenjunga using the normal route that mountaineers use, which is climbing the mountain from the Nepal side and sources say the expedition was conducted with utmost respect and reverence to all beliefs. The mountain is accessible to mountaineers and Nepal has not imposed any ban on the climbing of the mountain. Sources familiar with the expedition told NDTV that they were surprised the summiting of the peak has become an issue. "Mountaineering activity continues at the Kanchenjunga normally and the team summitted the peak like all other expeditions from across the world. Keeping our beliefs in mind, all efforts were taken to keep the sanctity and spiritual sensibilities intact and the expedition was conducted with utmost respect," the team said. According to Nepal's Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation, from March 1 to April 25 this year, 41 climbers received permits to scale Mt Kanchenjunga, the world's third highest peak, within the climbing season which is usually limited to a period of one-and-a-half months every year. The Government of Nepal collects royalty fees from climbers and issues permits and it is a major economic activity and source of revenue for Nepal. This year, the revenue earned from royalty fees amounted to $73,800 between March 1 to April 25. However, no expeditions to the mountain have taken place from the Indian side over the last two decades in deference to the customs and beliefs of the people of Sikkim who regard climbing of the peak as the desecration of the mountain. The Kanchenjunga, till today, remains the highest in terms of the fatality rate for mountaineers and it is considered more difficult to climb than Mount Everest, the highest mountain peak in the world.
Forbes
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
An Interview With Jason Carl About The Rebirth Of White Wolf
In 1991, White Wolf Game Studio released Vampire: The Masquerade which took the tabletop gaming world by storm. This game, about vampires hidden in a dark reflection of our modern world, eventually grew to be part of the World of Darkness. Now, World of Darkness has announced a return home by rebranding itself White Wolf once again. This interview has been edited for clarity and combines quotes from multiple interview sessions. "Around eight months ago, I think,' said Jason Carl, Brand Marketing Manager at White Wolf, 'when Marco [Behrmann] World of Darkness is a setting much like our own, except supernatural monsters are real. Vampires engage in bloody political battles in the shadows of the cities while werewolves stalk the countryside fighting a losing battle against the end of world. What launched the game into the imaginations of millions was the chance to play those creatures as they fight to control their monstrous side with their human feelings. 'You are the monster,' said Carl. 'That has been at the core of the World of Darkness ever since its inception. It remains a core today. You are playing in a game of very personal struggle and you're the monster. You're not necessarily the antagonist or the bad guy but you are the monster. That was a revolutionary idea when it came out and it stood the role playing games hobby on its ear. Now, it's not as revolutionary of an idea but the way the World of Darkness presents it and the way in which it invites you to engage with that idea is still unique.' As a mirror to the real world, fans want to know what's going on in their neck of the woods and how to experience it. The original games had a sprawling interconnected metaplot that the current edition moved back into shadow not unlike what happened with IP like Star Wars or Marvel. Moving forward, they want to rebuild World of Darkness in a similar manner by taking stuff from the past that works while also not being afraid to explore new ideas that resonate more with modern day players. 'We've reached a point now where the demand for the IP is so strong and so high and where our players, our fans, our partners are expecting consolidation and centralization of that IP development,' said Carl. 'They want to go to one place to learn who is the Prince of Milan tonight, right? What really happened in Minneapolis/St. Paul when that stuff went down in the Winter's Teeth comic book series? Are the events of Night Road canon? Are those characters available to us to put in a video game? How should we stat them for our tabletop games? All that is perfectly valid. I think our fans and partners should expect that from us. But the best way for us to do it, at least with the maximum efficiency, is to bring it all inhouse and have that IP development run centrally.' The tabletop roleplaying games side of the World of Darkness has been handled recently by Renegade Game Studios. They took over publication of Vampire The Masquerade while also bringing two other classic game lines to life: Hunter: The Reckoning and Werewolf: The Apocalypse. For the time being, the company will still be producing those games with White Wolf as a partner. 'No immediate change,' said Carl. 'There's no reflection on Renegade at all. They've been a fantastic partner with World of Darkness. As a publishing business we need to work more directly with developing tabletop RPGs. The demand for the IP is growing. It's really significant already and it's only growing. We need to do more with it. That means we've got to bring more people on board. We've got to build out our creative team. We have to build out our publishing. We have to build out our distribution. We need to be able to manage that business centrally now top to bottom. What is it the British say? Soup to nuts.' Vampire: The Masquerade: Fifth Edition was released in 2018. Seven years into a gameline is often when publishers consider an undated corebook if not an entirely new edition. As White Wolf settles into its new role as steward of the World of Darkness, there are lots of ways the company could go. 'We're going to bring on more people into the core team inside the White Wolf organization,' said Carl. 'we're going to take a really thorough look at the environment. We're going to pay a lot of attention to what our TTRPG players and storytellers are telling us that they want. I do see the interest in a combined set of V5 or condensed set of V5 books that combine all the recent changes, all the updates that are in the Players Guide, all the new information across a number of source books. It makes sense that we should at least look at consolidating some of that material in a different format. Maybe they're different. Maybe they're prestige versions. Maybe they're softcover versions. Maybe they're PDF and soft cover together with a hardcover omnibus that follows later. I don't think that we've made any decision about that yet. We owe it to our players and our storytellers to listen to what they're telling us about that. And if it's possible and it makes sense for the business, that's exactly what we should give them.' The first game published under the revived banner of White Wolf will be the long awaited Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 video game currently slated for an October 2025 release.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Michael Jordan told Phil Jackson that Scottie Pippen was the second-best player on the 1992 Dream Team: "He was a legitimate star"
Fans and analysts were relieved for Michael Jordan when the Chicago Bulls captured the 1991 NBA Championship, the first in his career. The victory signified Jordan's transition from a talented star to a true winner. Jordan's stock reached an all-time high in the summer of 1991. When the Bulls won their second consecutive title in 1992, the "Black Cat" was still considered the greatest player alive, but a handful of analysts were starting to look at the help Mike was receiving on his way to championship glory. After all, winning back-to-back chips is very rare, and MJ, for all his greatness, could never do it alone. The rise of a star Their eyes turned to University of Central Arkansas alum Scottie Pippen, the forward who, in Game 6 of the 1992 NBA Finals, led the second unit on a 14-2 run before Jordan and the starters returned to seal the deal against the Portland Trail Blazers. Advertisement Pippen continued his hot streak in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. He played so great on the 1992 Dream Team that he was finally starting to get the recognition he deserved. MJ admitted to Bulls head coach Phil Jackson after the games that Scottie was turning heads in Barcelona with his great play. The "Zen Master" agreed, noting that, after the 1992 Championship and the Olympics, Pip became a star in his own right. "Michael came back from the Olympics and he told me Scottie was the second-best player on that team," said Jackson, via It wasn't just Michael who made this great discovery. Fans, too, began to notice how important Pip's defense and intelligence were in the Bulls and Team USA's success. Advertisement "People knew he was a pretty good sidekick to Michael, but all of a sudden, they were starting to recognize that he was a legitimate star in his own right who had really developed over the prior three to four years. He wasn't just an active, defensive small forward anymore. He was a player who could excel at three, if not four, positions. He was a real force on our team in that regard and Michael recognized that," Jackson believed. Related: "They think he was a chubby White guy" - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar thinks people don't appreciate Larry Bird enough Pip's greatest talent To the untrained eye, Pippen's height, length, and quickness enabled him to match up against anyone on the floor. It was these traits that separated him from an ordinary small forward. Advertisement But for Jackson, one of the greatest coaches ever, who could see beyond the physical, Pippen was more than just a special athlete. He also possessed a sound basketball mind and was an expert communicator. When he wasn't locking people down, he was telling his teammates how to defend. "His greatest strength was his knowledge of how things worked on the defensive end of the floor," he said. "Scottie was the voice of our team — figuratively and literally, as he did a lot of the talking and kept our team on the same page. When he wasn't at the top of the key harassing a guard as a special assignment, he was on the backside of our defense talking his teammates through different situations, whether it was a double team, trap or some other important aspect. Because of that, he was very vital to the run that we made," Jackson concluded. Related: "He looks like the old Scottie, in the Red and White" - Bruce Bowen admitted guarding Blazers Pippen was still a problem
Arab News
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Some Ukrainian soldiers say Russians must withdraw before any peace talks
ZAPORIZHZHIA REGION, Ukraine: After fending off attacks during a three-day weekend ceasefire declared by Russia, some Ukrainian soldiers fighting near the front line had advice for their president, Volodymyr Zelensky: don't talk to Moscow until Russian troops withdraw. Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed direct talks with Ukraine just over an hour after his ceasefire ended, something Zelensky said was possible, but only after Moscow agreed to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire from Monday. Preparing drones to observe Russian troop movements as the ceasefire was ending, the commander of a drone unit in Ukraine's national guard, using the call sign Chepa, told Reuters any talks could only start with a full Russian withdrawal to Ukraine's borders when the country won independence in 1991. 'As a soldier and a citizen of Ukraine I believe that before we sit down at the negotiation table we should go back to the borders of 1991,' Chepa said in a bunker near the front line. 'That's it. Full withdrawal of all troops from the territory of Ukraine. Then when we can talk. Whatever he (Putin) is thinking of, take certain regions or divide territories, nobody has given him the right to do it.' Chepa's views were echoed by others in the unit. Russia occupies nearly a fifth of Ukrainian territory and has repeatedly said Kyiv must recognize the 'reality on the ground.' Zelensky has acknowledged that at least some of Ukraine's occupied territory will have to be retaken through diplomacy. But Kyiv cannot legally recognize Russian control over any Ukrainian territory because of the constitution. Zelensky has said any discussion about territory can only take place after a ceasefire is in place. Putin used a late night press conference to make his proposal for talks, which he said, should be based on a draft deal negotiated in 2022, under which Ukraine would agree to permanent neutrality. That would contradict Ukraine's constitution, amended in 2019 to include the goal of 'fully-fledged membership' of NATO. Zelensky received a show of support from European powers on Saturday, when the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Poland backed an unconditional ceasefire beginning on Monday. Chepa said he also wanted negotiations but feared they would never come about. 'Yes, we do need negotiations. But he (Putin) is scared of talks,' Chepa said, adding his brigade had seen no evidence of a ceasefire over the weekend. 'We have not seen any ceasefire, there were continuous attacks by howitzers, rocket launchers, they used it all. We have not experienced any ceasefire.' The Russian movements continued into Sunday, after the Russian-declared ceasefire ran out at midnight (2100 GMT), when the reconnaissance drones flew over a nearby village. 'There is a lot of movement there of military as well as civilian vehicles,' Chepa said. 'Interesting that so close to the contact line there is a civilian car. Not damaged, mind you. They must be making good use of it.'
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Some Ukrainian soldiers say Russians must withdraw before any peace talks
By Alina Smutko and Herbert Villarraga ZAPORIZHZHIA REGION, Ukraine (Reuters) - After fending off attacks during a three-day weekend ceasefire declared by Russia, some Ukrainian soldiers fighting near the front line had advice for their president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy: don't talk to Moscow until Russian troops withdraw. Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed direct talks with Ukraine just over an hour after his ceasefire ended, something Zelenskiy said was possible, but only after Moscow agreed to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire from Monday. Preparing drones to observe Russian troop movements as the ceasefire was ending, the commander of a drone unit in Ukraine's national guard, using the call sign Chepa, told Reuters any talks could only start with a full Russian withdrawal to Ukraine's borders when the country won independence in 1991. "As a soldier and a citizen of Ukraine I believe that before we sit down at the negotiation table we should go back to the borders of 1991," Chepa said in a bunker near the front line. "That's it. Full withdrawal of all troops from the territory of Ukraine. Then when we can talk. Whatever he (Putin) is thinking of, take certain regions or divide territories, nobody has given him the right to do it." Chepa's views were echoed by others in the unit. Russia occupies nearly a fifth of Ukrainian territory and has repeatedly said Kyiv must recognise the "reality on the ground". Zelenskiy has acknowledged that at least some of Ukraine's occupied territory will have to be retaken through diplomacy. But Kyiv cannot legally recognise Russian control over any Ukrainian territory because of the constitution. Zelenskiy has said any discussion about territory can only take place after a ceasefire is in place. Putin used a late night press conference to make his proposal for talks, which he said, should be based on a draft deal negotiated in 2022, under which Ukraine would agree to permanent neutrality. That would contradict Ukraine's constitution, amended in 2019 to include the goal of "fully-fledged membership" of NATO. Zelenskiy received a show of support from European powers on Saturday, when the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Poland backed an unconditional ceasefire beginning on Monday. Chepa said he also wanted negotiations but feared they would never come about. "Yes, we do need negotiations. But he (Putin) is scared of talks," Chepa said, adding his brigade had seen no evidence of a ceasefire over the weekend. "We have not seen any ceasefire, there were continuous attacks by howitzers, rocket launchers, they used it all. We have not experienced any ceasefire." The Russian movements continued into Sunday, after the Russian-declared ceasefire ran out at midnight (2100 GMT), when the reconnaissance drones flew over a nearby village. "There is a lot of movement there of military as well as civilian vehicles," Chepa said. "Interesting that so close to the contact line there is a civilian car. Not damaged, mind you. They must be making good use of it." (Writing by Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Giles Elgood)
