Latest news with #Lalbagh
New Indian Express
3 days ago
- Science
- New Indian Express
Bengaluru's Lalbagh to get e-cycles
BENGALURU: For the first time, electronic bicycles and tricycles will be made available to the public at Lalbagh Botanical Garden, as part of a series of eco-initiatives, the Department of Horticulture said on Wednesday, to mark World Environment Day on June 5. Along with promoting green mobility, the department will plant hundreds of rare indigenous trees. 'Thirteen electric cycles have been introduced on a one-month trial basis. The eco-friendly trikes can travel up to 50 km on a single charge. Based on public response, pricing and formal operation will be decided, and designated take-and-drop points will be created,' an official said. Meanwhile, a total of 341 rare, native trees belonging to 110 genera will be planted along the inner side of the 5-km-long compound wall. Lalbagh will introduce QR codes for plant species as well. The new QR codes will provide comprehensive information on each tree's origin, flowering and fruiting seasons, uses, and distribution. Initially, QR codes will be installed for 50 plant species and will be expanded to more in a phased manner.
NDTV
22-05-2025
- General
- NDTV
This Pune Farmer Is Growing Japanese Miyazaki Mangoes. Cost: Rs 1.5 Lakh/kg
Pune (Maharashtra): As summer sets in, mango lovers across the country indulge in seasonal delights like Hapus, Pairi, Lalbagh, and Keshar. But one farmer in Pune has taken his passion for mangoes to a global scale, cultivating rare and exotic varieties, including the world-famous Miyazaki mango from Japan. Farooq Inamdar, a farmer and former local politician from Varvand village of Pune district in Maharashtra, has successfully grown 120 mango trees on just 20 gunthas (half an acre) of land. Of these, 90 are international varieties, while 30 are native to India. Among his prized collections is the Miyazaki mango, renowned for its exorbitant price, fetching as much as Rs 2.7 lakh per kilo in Japan and around Rs1.5 lakh per kilo in India. Inamdar's journey toward cultivating these rare species began during a pilgrimage to the Hajj, where he witnessed a vast selection of mangoes from around the world. Inspired, he imported saplings from various countries and began growing them on his farm in Pune. Two years later, the trees have successfully borne fruit, with his farm now hosting global varieties such as Red African, Red Taiwan, Arunika, Banana Mango, A2 R2 from Australia, Katomoni and Shahjahan from Bangladesh, and the sought-after Miyazaki. While most exotic mangoes command several thousand rupees per kilo, Miyazaki stands out for its premium pricing. A single kilo contains four to six mangoes, each weighing approximately 300 grams. Inamdar also highlighted another high-yielding tree, "Koyatur," which produces 8-10 kilos of mangoes per season and fetches prices between Rs1,500 and Rs5,000 per fruit. Encouraged by his success, he plans to expand his efforts by cultivating even more rare mango varieties worldwide. Inamdar also clarified that although he is getting several demands from online buyers for his mangoes, he decided to use all the mangoes this time for his consumption.
Time of India
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Persona non manga
Bachi Karkaria's Erratica and its cheeky sign-off character, Alec Smart, have had a growing league of followers since 1994 when the column began in the Metropolis on Saturday. It now appears on the Edit Page of the Times of India, every Thursday. It takes a sly dig at whatever has inflated political/celebrity egos, and got public knickers in a twist that week. It makes you chuckle, think and marvel at the elasticity of the English language. It is a shooting-from-the-lip advice column to the lovelorn and otherwise torn, telling them to stop cribbing and start living -- all in her her branded pithy, witty style. LESS ... MORE Held in terror by Don Alphonso and Salim Langda Pray heed the plight of the Person Who Doesn't Like Mangos. Other minorities know naught of our marginalisation, discrimination, the looks ranging from sheer pity to sneer contempt. We are the pariahs of polite company – sliced, cubed, pulped, if not skinned alive and stoned. As the first basket of blushing Lalbagh lifts its hay veil, as the first Gulabkhas spreads its fragrance, the rest of the country awakes to life and salivation. I sink into inescapable hell. Soon the Don himself swaggers through the street, his flag-bearer trumpeting his arrival, 'Haaa- poos!' He overpowers every mall foodhall and street stall, establishing his dominance. His eager followers, nay worshippers, are swept up in the fervour of ecstasy. I get swept into the corners of ridicule. 'You don't like mangos?! What's wrong with you?! Are you anti-national, or wot?!!! Actually, I'm just hungry. There's nothing else on the menu. Especially if you are Gujju. Forget omnipresent aam ras. Even the skin isn't spared but is lavished with the rye-hing no vaghar bestowed on everything from bheenda to teenda. We Parsis seem to have adopted this mangi-ficent obsession along with the language and dress conditions for settling in Jadi Rana's Gujarat fiefdom millennia ago. We cook the ripe mango with mutton like we do everything from tomatoes to turiya. We uniquely pickle it whole, steamed and steeped in a mustard-spiked vinegar, earning brownie points or bucks with this Bafenu achar. Invited anywhere, I sit sullenly sucking my resentment while the rest of the table is spaced out sucking skin and stone. In humble Mumbai bhojanalay or hi-fly Bombabe restaurant, everything else gets its just desserts. Last week, it even drove un-evictable caramel custard off a toff Club's menu; actually, in an 'I kissed thee ere I killed thee' act, it smothered poor pudding to desecration and death. Mango may be the 'food of love' but no one seems to 'sicken and so die' of its 'surfeit'. My old aunt used to clear a shelf of her Godrej almirah for this summer visitor, pacing up and down her balcony awaiting the guy with crate and cry. She's gone to the great orchard in the sky where the aambrosial cup never runs dry, and where no keri appears perfect and ready to eat but turns out rotten at the core. That is 'the most unkindest cut-open of all.' Not just foods, everything bows-out to the 'King'. In my small, local readymades shop, you can't see the tees for this Dawood. I kid you not. Salim Langda, Malda Mastan, Lala Chausa will strut their hour about the state. Accompanied by molls: Don's own Pairi, Neelam, Dusseri, Badami or any aamrapalli as sweet by other name. Right through their stranglehold, we, disgruntled dishonourables, must remain silent. Bound by the 'Aamerta' code. *** Alec Smart said: 'MP mantri's Col Sofiya apology was just naam ke vastey. Just as his slur was naam ke liye. As is Prof Mahmudabad's absurd arrest.' Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
