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Time of India
02-08-2025
- Time of India
5-Hour Wonder: 38 Jawans Build Bridge To Reconnect Marooned Gadchiroli Village
1 2 Nagpur: Thirty-eight commandos of Gadchiroli police constructed a 70m-long, 14-foot-wide makeshift bridge in just five hours on July 28 in the marooned Maoist-hit region of Linganoor, near Jhinganoor in Gadchiroli. The hamlet, 65km off Sironcha in south Gadchiroli, is cut off for four months of the monsoon (June to September) due to an overflowing lake in the adjacent forest, leaving 30-odd families in peril. The bridge designed for pedestrians, two-wheelers, and small four-wheelers, now serves as a lifeline to ensure access to medical emergencies and uninterrupted education for the tribals. The operation coincided with the first day of the Maoists' annual 'Saheed Saptah' (Martyrs' Week), a seven-day period of heightened tension when Maoists commemorate their fallen comrades and target security forces. Undeterred by the risks, a young brigade led by sub-inspectors Abhijit Ghorpade, Aniket Khopade, and Omkar Hegde cordoned off the area and executed the mission under challenging circumstances. Their efforts not only addressed a critical community need, but also won hearts of Linganoor's residents, marking a significant step toward peace in a former Maoist stronghold. The initiative was born out of 'grambhet' — a village visit programme where the cops learned of the hamlet's isolation during the monsoon. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Your Finger Shape Says a Lot About Your Personality, Read Now Tips and Tricks Undo The overflowing Linganoor tola nullah prevented students from attending school and led to tragic outcomes in medical emergencies. "We heard stories of students missing months of school and families unable to access timely medical care," said Ghorpade. The team's resourcefulness was key to the bridge's swift construction. Spotting abandoned cement pipes at a nearby bridge construction site, the commandos, with the contractor's permission, transported eight pipes over 5km to form the bridge's base. Cement bags were used for bonding, with gravel and pebbles for fortification, and a tractor flattened the surface. "Most of us come from agricultural families," Ghorpade explained. "We've built bunds and diverted water before, so we applied that practical knowledge here." The 38-member team, supported by a few villagers, completed the bridge before sundown—a critical deadline given the risks posed by the guerrillas' 'saheed saptah.' SP Neelotpal highlighted the Gadchiroli Police's broader community outreach efforts, which include building roads and other village utilities. "This bridge is a testament to our commitment to improving lives in a region long affected by conflict," he said. The operation's timing added complexity, as Maoists are known to be active during their martyrs' week. Yet, the commandos' vigilance ensured the area was secure, allowing them to work in the overflowing nullah and complete the structure in record time. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Friendship Day wishes , messages and quotes !
Indian Express
10-07-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
‘Power game, ‘recovery' – Yashaswini Ghorpade's learnings from foreign Table Tennis players
Indian upcoming TT player Yashaswini Ghorpade lost 13-11, 11-9, 11-3 to Japanese Miwa Harimoto over the weekend at the US Smash, a top tier tournament internationally. Though she has managed to re-enter the Top 100 this week, and is at World No 99 currently, her title-winning turn at UTT, India's franchise league in June alerted her to challenges of the whole wide world, beyond the domestic bragging rights. U Mumba beat Jaipur Patriots 8-4 in the UTT finals, after Ghorpade had helped yank the team, holding her nerve in the semis. But beyond the euphoria was a stack of lessons learnt, some that got drilled down at the Smash (like a Grand Slam). Ghorpade led the World No 6 Japanese 11-10 and 9-8 in the first two games, and lost her advantage from there, before a drubbing in the third. The 20-year-old youngster had delved into what possibly stops Indians from pressing home their advantage and frittering their leads – something that was seen even with Indian No 64 Sreeja Akula at the Olympics. 'Maybe at that moment, the top players take the opportunity and the lesson is to not play it safe at that juncture,' she had said last month. 'They pounce at the chance.' Ahead of flying out for the circuit, the youngster had also noted another takeaway from watching foreign stars turn out at UTT. 'They tend to have good serves which gives them the upperhand,' Ghoroade said. At the Orleans Arena where the Smash was hosted, the Bangalorean youngster frittered her service opportunities twice when leading on the cusp of taking the games. Though she might be the first of Indians to lean onto an attacking style despite playing with a pimple rubber, the power differential often shows up. 'Top players just have a better technique on their power game,' she would say. The maddening schedule in TT where they will play in Americas, Europe, China and other parts of Asia in quick succession means hard-core training blocks are few and far in between. 'We don't get to train a lot, but I do my strength training, lifting weights, twice a week,' she would add. The UTT triumph though was especially satisfying. 'It's very different from the international circuit. You realise how top paddlers prepare, there's shoots and interviews, and contribute to team as against taking all pressure on yourself,' she said. Matches might be shorter, but they demand focus and afford no breathers. 'In UTT pressure is different. You are not supposed to lose concentration even for a second or momentum changes in 3 sets as against five,' Ghorpade added. 4-7 down in her semis against a higher ranked opponent, she had turned the tables, but there was plenty of catching up to do with the top players. 'What I learnt was that foreign players are very quick. But I also got to see their routine and how they keep focus on match days, as well as recovery sessions. I've realized recovery is most important,' she says, hoping to carry forward these learnings when she is in the cauldron of the circuit. The Bangalorean stumbled into TT at age 7 or 8. 'I used to watch TV and be very lazy. Parents decided they had to do something because I was falling sick often too. We had TT coaching at school so it was easily accessible,' Ghorpade recalls. The pimples carry the usual jeopardy though they can offer surprise value up front. 'I use a pimple rubber on the backhand but it's not easy,' she says. 'It's tough to get control and opponent gets used to the momentum. Then you have to mix things up,' she explains, adding her strengths are patience in rallies and general control on the back hand, even if it takes a lot out of her. How does she unwind? 'Bollywood music,' she ends.
Indian Express
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
For renewal of Western Ghats, put people at the centre
The National Mission for a Green India bases its estimates and proposals for action on the information provided by the Forest Survey of India (FSI), and its execution by the Forest Department (FD). Regrettably, FSI data is quite outdated, available on a crude scale and deliberately distorted. At the same time, the FD, an anti-science, anti-nature, anti-people agency, will never end up greening the Western Ghats. What we need instead is a different science-based, nature-centric and people-oriented approach. I came to understand the way the FD manages its affairs as a result of M Y Ghorpade, then Karnataka's finance minister, being gheraoed by basket weavers in 1975. The weavers were complaining about the excessive cutting of bamboo by the paper industry in the state, which was adversely affecting their livelihoods. Ghorpade decided that an objective evaluation was required and asked me to undertake the task. This took me to the West Coast Paper Mills (WCPM) at Dandeli, in the district of Uttara Kannada in Karnataka. My mandate was to investigate whether bamboo resources had indeed been depleted and assess afresh the resource position, based on the data available from the FD's 'Pre-Investment Survey of Forest Resources' (PISFR), WCPM, and our own fresh fieldwork. These field studies revealed the PISFR figures to be overestimates by a factor of 10. This inflated figure for bamboo had provided a justification for setting up one more paper mill. We were able to reassess the bamboo stocks in the field because detailed information, disaggregated to the level of forest compartments (a geographically defined and permanently demarcated unit of forest land, used for management, planning, and record-keeping purposes), was made available to us. This would not have been possible if we had access only to highly aggregated data such as at a district or division level, which is all that is available to the general public as official statistics. In 1972, Satish Dhawan became the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). In July that year, satellite imagery of Earth became available with the launch of the Landsat programme. Dhawan immediately set up the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) in Hyderabad to undertake and facilitate remote-sensing activities in the country. One of the early projects of NRSC was to interpret the 1972–75 Landsat imagery to assess the forest cover of the country. The results of the NRSC study were startlingly at variance with FD's official information. While the FD claimed that 23 per cent of the country was under forest cover, remote-sensing imagery showed that the forest cover was much less, only about 15 per cent. The government forthwith ordered NRSC to stop its assessment and set up the FSI as the exclusive agency to do so. The FSI provides data at highly aggregated levels, such as at that of districts, and after a delay of two or three years. There is absolutely no justification for data continuing to be so delayed and aggregated in the day and age of Google Earth and other satellite data that are freely available to all members of the public in real time and at scales as fine as 10 hectares. There are other instances, too. Earlier, in 1963, the Grasim rayon factory began producing pulp and fibre in Mavoor, on the banks of the Chaliyar river in Kerala's Kozhikode district. The management neglected to adopt any pollution-control measures citing profitability concerns and recklessly released poisonous effluents into the river, adversely impacting its fish and clam population and human health. It turned out that the effluent had high levels of poisonous mercury, lead, nickel, cobalt, iron, chromium zinc and copper. The factory was supplied bamboo at a throwaway price of Re 1 per tonne when its market price was Rs 1,400 per tonne. It led to the destruction of 10,000 hectares of bamboo forests in Wayanad. As stocks of bamboo became depleted, Grasim came to depend on eucalyptus, and the government promoted eucalyptus and Australian acacia plantations, accompanied by large-scale use of pesticides in the forest areas. Together, it led to the destruction of natural resources and human suffering with the active knowledge and collusion of the FD. What, then, should we do? Pachgaon in Maharashtra's Chandrapur district shows the way. Pachgaon was assigned Community Forest Rights (CFR) under the Forest Rights Act of 2006 over 1,000 ha of land. It is exercising this right to good effect. Through bamboo sales, Pachgaon earns a good income. So its people have stopped setting fire to tendu leaves to stimulate fresh growth. This is despite the fact that tendu leaves, too, were a good source of income. Additionally, they have voluntarily set aside 30 hectares as a sacred grove. With this, the forest is registering healthy growth and sequestering large quantities of carbon. This has also meant security of livelihoods and greater self-respect for the people. Earlier, many villagers used to migrate all the way to Gujarat to earn a living. Now, very few people leave the village. This is clearly the way forward for effectively greening the Western Ghats. The entire region is crying out for an honest implementation of the Forest Rights Act and assignment of Community Forest Rights to a substantial proportion of the population that has been living inside forests or on their fringes for over three generations. At the same time, we should take forward the process of democratic decentralisation and involve people in the decision-making process. This is what the Western Ghats Ecology Expert panel advocated and I wish to reassert that this, indeed, is the way ahead. The writer is an ecologist
Time of India
15-06-2025
- General
- Time of India
Younger generation moves into frontline for climate action
1 2 3 4 5 6 Pune: As India grapples with heatwaves and environmental degradation, the country's young demographic is stepping up to take action. Several dynamic youth leaders are battling to salvage the future, spearheading movements to save rivers, forests and more, both by moving the judiciary and initiating change at the grassroots level. For instance, environmental lawyer Maitreya Ghorpade (30) has been behind landmark legal actions in Pune, including a National Green Tribunal (NGT) directive ordering Centre to frame India's first guidelines on light pollution in 2024. The city resident also played a key role in challenging felling of heritage trees for the Sadhu Vaswani bridge project, prompting the Maharashtra Tree Authority to demand a scientific tree-age assessment from Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) last year. Ghorpade said, "The law reflects our collective understanding of justice. We need that clarity more than ever in a climate-stressed world." His efforts are a bid to secure a better future for his family, friends, and others. "My father is an organic farmer, and my mother was a lawyer. I'm a culmination of both their values. I wasn't satisfied with my work stints till I started utilising my education for a cause. My first draft for a case regarding pollution in the Arabian Sea during an internship in 2018 changed my life," he added. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Play Chess on Your PC, Free Play Classic Chess Install Now Undo Since then, Ghorpade has held corporations and governments accountable, delving into issues ranging from illegal coastal mining to the non-implementation of afforestation by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), resulting in an order for 39,000 trees to be planted and a Rs 9.23 crore fine being slapped in Feb 2025. According to a 2024 survey by Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), nine in ten Indian youth (15-25 years) feel the impact of climate change. The survey also determines a rising problem of climate anxiety amongst this generation, who, however, still believe in outcomes of singularly contributing to reduce the impact of global warming. The trend is apparent in the actions of another youthful eco-crusader — Girish Patil (23) — who is continuing his fight to save the Pavana river in Pune while he finishes his degree in water policy in Mumbai. For his task, Patil in 2020 founded the Youth Organisation for Green India, which today has over 15 active members. Patil was inspired by the fight against illegal mining depleting groundwater along the Girna riverbanks in Jalgaon, his hometown. This prompted him to reach out to award-winning conservationist Rajendra Singh, better known as the "Waterman of India", with whom Patil went around the country to understand green issues and conflicts on ground. Through Nadi Ki Paathshaala, an initiative under social group Jal Biradari, Patil encountered the Pavana river and formed a deep connection with it. As Biradari's national youth convener, he has mobilised over 30 volunteers for the cause — many from his time at Fergusson College — who routinely walk the entire river stretch to document pollution and land conflicts. Today, their findings help shape Pavana's official rejuvenation plan undertaken by the state environment department. Patil also mentors FC's 'River Club', empowering students to engage in river conservation through awareness and action. He told TOI, "The green cause is my passion — it has determined my career. I want to continue to fight and save the rivers of this country. This sphere does not let you generate a huge income, but it gives me the satisfaction that I am saving our lifeline. To reduce the impact of climate change, we need a group of young people asking the right questions. I want to build that collective voice." Not too far away, the toxic foam-blanketed Mula-Mutha and skies vanishing under a pall of black smoke made Gangotri Chanda (35), a film production professional in Pune, dedicate her time to fighting for the city's vanishing tree cover. "I want to prevent this destruction and interact with the authorities to save it," said Chanda, who moved to Pune in 2015 and has witnessed its changing face during a key decade of infrastructural growth. She now keeps a regular tab on tree felling documents published by PMC, fights to save every tree proposed to be felled without reason that she comes across, challenges the infrastructure planning system and more. "We need to say no to luxuries that end up choking our planet and instead, save the necessities like air, water and trees," Chanda summed up.
Hindustan Times
01-06-2025
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Goal is to break into top-75 and then to top-50: young paddler Gorpade
Ahmedabad, Having made her senior debut in 2024, young Indian women table tennis player Yashaswani Ghorpade has fast risen in the sport, breaking into world top 100 the same year. But Ghorpade, ranked 84 in the world currently, is now determined to break into top-75 and then to top-50 to seal her place in next year's Asian Games in Japan and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. "I was in 8th standard when I won my first national championships in Under-15 and then I won with Under-19 national championships. Last year, I did well in the domestic circuit. I finished second in the national rankings. I also got into top 100 world rankings last year," she told PTI. " my first goal is to be in the top-75 and to become India no.1 this year only. These are my short-term one-year goals. But of course Asian Games is the next target. The next big Games after that are the Olympics. So after getting into top 75, the goal is to get into top 50 and get a good seeding to make it to the Olympics. "Asian Games there is a criteria that we need to maintain good national ranking as well as world rankings to qualify directly," she added. Ghorpade partners with Diya Chitale in women's doubles and pairs up with Harmeet Desai in mixed doubles. Highlighting some of her achievements in her nascent journey, she said: "I have been former a world no.1 in Under-15 girls, and we have been the runner-up in WTT Contender last year." However, the journey was not easy for Ghorpade as she struggled with fitness from childhood. "I started my sports journey when I was in second standard. I was not a very strong kid and I used to fall sick often, so my parents wanted me to start sports, something indoor. I noticed table tennis was going on in my school, so I joined that. "I have been connected with table tennis for last 12 years and its been an amazing, continuous journey. When I started I would have never thought I would be at this place. I am very grateful," said the rising paddler, who studies second year in Jain University. Ghorpade, who idolises Manika Batra and Desai, also shared her future plans. "Three Smash tournaments are lined up in the coming 2 months US, Europe and China and then Asian Championships to be held in Bhubaneswar in October," she said. "I do look up to Manika di and Harmeet bhaiya. Both of them have been amazing. Manika di has given us a very high bench mark and Harmeet bhaiya has always been a very good supporter." In the ongoing Season 6 of Ultimate Table Tennis, Ghorpade is turning out for UMumba TT, having made her debut in the tournament last year with two-time defending champions Goa Challengers. "This is my second year in UTT. First season was amazing, I was with the Goa Challengers and it was dream come true to win the title. "UTT gave very good foundation for women's TT in India. In UTT we get to play with the foreign players, get to interact with them," she concluded.
