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India Today
3 days ago
- Business
- India Today
The Brahmaputra: Myth, majesty and politics of water
News: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Tuesday if China were to reduce the water flow of the Brahmaputra, it would benefit the state and help it mitigate the devastating annual floods. He was responding to Pakistan's remark that China might weaponise the Brahmaputra's waters in support of its 'all-weather friend' and retaliate to India's suspension of the Indus Water A River With A Male NameThe Brahmaputra, like every river that flows through the Himalayas, has its own history and mythology. But there is a difference between other Indian rivers, revered as goddesses, and the Brahmaputra: It is one of the few major rivers in India with a distinctly male name, derived from its mythological association with Lord Brahmaputra is believed to have two mythological fathers - Lord Brahma (obviously) and sage Shantanu. In the 16th-century text Yogini Tantra, dedicated to the worship of goddesses like Kali and Kamakhya, the river is linked to an ancient ablution ritual with the following invocation: O Son of Brahma! O Son of Shantanu! O Lohit! O Son of Lohit!I bow before you, wash away my sins of the last three the link to Brahma—the God of creation?advertisementAccording to eastern folklore, sage Shantanu and his wife Amogha live near Lake Lohit in the Himalayas. One day, attracted by her beauty, Lord Brahma approaches Amogha when she is alone. But Amogha locks herself up in a hut. Fearing her curse, Brahma sheds his seed and departs in shame. When Shantanu learns of this, he asks Amogha to consume the seed. From her nostrils later flows the son of Brahma, ergo the name Brahmaputra.A Himalayan LegendAccording to Tibetan folklore, the river originates as a small stream from Mount Tise (the Kailash Parvat–abode of Lord Shiva). At the site of its birth, the river is guarded by four divine entities—a lion, an elephant, a horse, and a the indigenous communities of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, such as the Mising, Bodo, and Adi, the Brahmaputra is a living deity. In The Tribes of Assam (B.N. Bordoloi), the Mising people refer to the river as 'Father River' or a manifestation of Abo Tani, their ancestral Assam, the Brahmaputra is celebrated during festivals like Bihu, where communities honour the river for its bounty. The legendary singer Bhupen Hazarika's ode to the river - Mahabahu Brahmaputra - is considered one of the greatest Assamese does the river originate?advertisementThe Brahmaputra, known as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet, Siang or Dihang in Arunachal Pradesh, and Jamuna in Bangladesh, takes on different names along its journey. During the 18th and 19th centuries, British colonial rulers, restricted from entering Tibet due to political constraints, sent Indian explorers disguised as monks to trace the Brahmaputra's path. In the early 20th century, the source of the Brahmaputra was eventually traced to the Chemayungdung Glacier in the Kubi Kangri mountain range in southwestern Tibet, near the Himalayas. This glacier, located at an elevation of about 5,200 meters, was identified as the primary source of the Yarlung Tsangpo, which becomes the Brahmaputra the path of the river?From the Chemayungdung Glacier, the mighty river crisscrosses three countries - China, India, and Bangladesh - before merging with the Padma River (the main distributary of the Ganges) in Bangladesh. Joined by the Meghna River, it forms one of the world's largest river confluences, emptying into the Bay of Bengal. Its total journey from the source to the sea is approximately 2,900 descends the Himalayas in dramatic fashion, plunging through the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, the world's deepest gorge, on the Tibet-Arunachal Pradesh is building a gigantic dam in Medog, where the river plunges 2,000 metres over a 50-km stretch. In India, the proposed dam on the Tibet-Arunachal border to harness this steep decline for hydel power has led to environmental concerns and fears of weaponisation of the river. (More about it later)The Great BendAs the river makes its way through the Himalayas, it comes across Namcha Barwa, a 7,782-meter peak, often called the 'eastern anchor' of the range. Unable to breach the mighty barrier, the river makes a sharp, U-shaped bend, known as the Great Bend. With this stunning manoeuvre, the river swings from flowing eastward to southward, entering India through Arunachal Pradesh, where it is known as the Siang River (or Dihang).Flowing through Northeast India, it enters the plains of Assam, where it acquires the popular moniker—the Brahmaputra. In Assam, the river widens significantly, flowing west-southwest for about 800 km through a broad, fertile valley covering major towns like Dibrugarh, Guwahati, and this, it enters Bangladesh, where it is hailed as the Jamuna River. It continues to flow south, merging with the Padma River (the main distributary of the Ganges) in Bangladesh. Joined by the Meghna River, it forms one of the world's largest river confluences. The Meghna, now the river's main channel, empties into the Bay of crossing of the MeghnaIncidentally, in the 1971 India-Pakistan war, the Indian army crossed the Meghna River in heroic fashion. The crossing of the Meghna under Lt General Sagat Singh is considered one of the most daring acts of war, a raid that turned the tide of the war for the liberation of China block the river?Completely blocking the Brahmaputra is impossible since the Brahmaputra collects almost 40 percent of its water while flowing through India. Unless this huge basin is altered, the Brahmaputra would continue to feed India, and also India shouldn't worry about China's potential weaponisation of water?China's upstream dams could still manipulate flows, creating risks of artificial floods or droughts, as noted by geostrategist Brahma Chellaney. Chellaney argues China's control over the Tibetan Plateau gives it unparalleled dominance over Asia's water resources (Water: Asia's New Battleground). Its upstream location allows China the liberty to unilaterally manipulate river flows, which can be used to artificially create droughts and floods in addition, China's plan to build a massive dam on the Brahmaputra near the Great Bend is a seismic and strategic risk for India. Chellaney argues the project could manipulate transboundary flows to leverage China's claim over Arunachal Pradesh, a disputed territory, and exert pressure on downstream China's view on this?China has consistently dismissed concerns about its planned hydropower dam as 'conspiracy theories,' asserting that the project is a run-of-river initiative that will not significantly alter the river's flow or affect the rights of downstream to a statement from Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning on December 27, 2024, the dam, located in Medog County, Tibet, has been studied for decades with rigorous scientific evaluations to ensure safety and ecological protection. Mao emphasised that the project 'will not negatively affect the lower reaches,' referring to India and Bangladesh, and is designed to accelerate clean energy development and combat climate experts and downstream nations remain skeptical of China's assurances. A 2024 study in the Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs warned that the Medog dam could disrupt sediment flow, critical for agriculture in India's northeastern plains and Bangladesh's delta, impacting millions of farmers.A 2022 report by Bangladesh's Ministry of Environment estimated that a 5% reduction in Brahmaputra flow could lead to a 15% drop in agricultural output in some regions, threatening food is a precious commodity, especially in the 21st century, where environmental changes could lead to scarcity and flooding. Any country that has the ability to maintain the flow of a dynamic river like the Brahmaputra enjoys a strategic as well as hydrological advantage. India will have to deal with China diplomatically on the issue of the Brahmaputra. It will have to ensure the river is treated as a shared asset and heritage of the three countries through which it passes, not allowing Pakistan to needlessly meddle in the tripartite issue. India and China, as major powers focused on economic and technological growth, recognise the value of cooperation over conflict, reducing the likelihood of escalating tensions over the Brahmaputra at Pakistan's Watch
Fashion Value Chain
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Fashion Value Chain
Patriotism in Threads: Ranabhoomi's Inspiration in Weave design
Daman The National Institute of Fashion Technology Daman term end Jury for Textile Design was a platform for students to showcase their creativity and skills. The theme 'Glitch in Nature' inspired students to experiment with unique designs that highlighted the beauty of nature. As part of their Basic Weave Design subject, students presented their projects, incorporating elements that reflected their interpretation of the theme. Students Shantanu, Manya Parmar, Pranchi Sinha, and Khushi Singh drew inspiration from the Indian Army's spirit of courage and resilience, particularly from the Ranabhoomi. Their designs featured a predominantly navy-blue color palette, symbolizing peace, and calmness, complemented by earthy tones reminiscent of soil and forest hues. The projects showcased intricate weave designs, with some incorporating the twill weave technique to add texture and depth. The jury was impressed by the students' ability to blend traditional weaving techniques with modern design sensibilities, creating unique and captivating pieces.
Time of India
14-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
With perfect 500 in Humanities, Ishani is global CBSE star
Ahmedabad: The moment saw her Class 12 results on the screen, her jaw dropped. She had to pinch herself to be sure that it was not a dream. A hundred out of hundred in every subject is what utopia is made of, after all. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The Delhi Public School (Bopal) student is not only the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) India topper but also CBSE global topper in the . Her achievement is hard earned and she attributes her success to her teachers. "My success is not only mine but also the success of my educators, parents and friends who have been a huge support," Ishani said. Daughter of Shantanu and Rajeshwari Debnath, Ishani expressed gratitude to her educators Irum Ahmed (English core), Aanchal Chopra (Economics), Pushpa Nair (Political Science), Vibhuti Singh (Psychology) and Preetha Nambiar (History). She said, "My educators were my pillars throughout my journey. They helped me with concept clarity and taught me how to approach a topic.""I never took tuitions, so I always had time to study at my pace and do what I liked," she said. During her study break, she took solace in reading short stories and watching movies. Her preparation strategy involved thoroughly revising school topics, clearing doubts regularly, solving assignments and extra questions, studying the textbook in detail and referring to previous years' question papers. Ishani shared that she had scored well in Class 10 but opted for Humanities as she finds the subject interesting and enjoys reading beyond textbooks to gain knowledge. DPS (Bopal) principal Sabina Sawhney said, "It is a proud moment that out of 16.92 lakh students who appeared for the exam, the brightest star is our student. Gujarat is known for trade and business. Now it is time for education and academics to step into the spotlight." She added, "Ishani's earned the perfect score because she consistently followed her passion and took guidance from her educators. Besides, she has proven that cent per cent marks are possible in Humanities."Ishani, who aspires to graduate in psychology honours from a renowned university, concluded, "There are no miracles. It is only consistent hard work and planning under the guidance of able educators that brings success."
Indian Express
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
The Bhootnii movie review: 0 star review; this film lacks plot, production value, sense and sensibility
Within a few minutes of the film's opening, I asked myself: what am I doing here? Two hours, ten minutes, and what seems like a lifetime of groaning-and-moaning later, I have zero answers to that one. Horror comedies may be the flavour of the season after the 'Stree' jamboree, but even its part 2 was nowhere close to the delightful original. In this new film, we get a 'The', emphasising that this is not your random garden variety of bhootni, but a very specific one, with a double i to boot. Ergo, this one will stand apart. Which it does. It proudly and flagrantly stands apart from any vestiges of plot and production values, forget about sense and sensibility. There's a college called St Vincent's in Delhi, in which stands the Virgin Tree, around which love-struck students moon. This so-called college, which looks like a badly-constructed set, has scores of so-called students, of which our trio — Shantanu (Sunny Singh), Sahil (Nickunj Sharma), and Nasser (Aasif Shaikh) — is busy staving off needy spirits with the help of a black hoodie-clad ghostbuster called Baba (Sanjay Dutt), who quotes solemnly from the Gita about the 'aatma' being 'ajar and amar'. He also says, 'yeh chudail nahin, adhoori khwaish hai'. ALSO READ | Ibrahim Ali Khan's animated conversation with Palak Tiwari's half-brother during The Bhootnii screening fuels dating rumours. Watch Nope, I am not making any of this up. Then there's our Bhootni-in-chief, who goes by the name of Mohabbat (Mouni Roy). She has a tragic back-story, and emerald green eyes. She likes yanking 'scardey-cat' (this is an actual English subtitle from the movie, I swear) boys into the skies, and asking them, 'tumhari hobbies kya hain'? Can't see a broomstick, but anything is possible, right? There's loads of disjointed chatter about science and religion (vigyaan aur dharm), Valentine's Day and Holika Dahan, and oh, do not miss this woke stroke, 'koi Hindu Muslim ka time hai yeh'. Hear hear. It takes a film which is not even a film, just some scattered, stray ideas masquerading as one, to come up with that one. At one point the Bhootnii bats her lashes and says, I am not alive. Nor am I, dear reader, nor am I.
News18
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News18
The Bhootnii Review: Sanjay Dutt And Mouni Roy Struggle To Lift A Loud, Middling Film
Last Updated: The Bhootnii Movie Review: Feel free to give this film a miss and if you miss Sanjay Dutt, you better go watch Munna Bhai MBBS and Lage Raho Munna Bhai for the umpteenth time. The Bhootnii is currently running in theatres. The Bhootnii Movie Review: This is the age of horror-comedies and may god spare us from this wave! This week's brand-new (that's debatable) horror-comedy is The Bhootnii and it makes you wonder if succumbing to the formula is enough. What about the screenplay? And what about the treatment? Is brand 'horror-comedy' enough to entice a crowd into a theatre? It's a big, fat NO. The Bhootnii – though based on a decent plotline – is bereft of both horror and comedy and is too ambitious for its own good. What's left is a middling screenplay that tries too hard to keep the film afloat. It revolves around The Virgin Tree. Delhi University alumni must be familiar with it. For those who aren't, every year, the students of Hindu College used to perform the Damdami Mai puja (worship of The Virgin Tree) on campus, hoping to find love. One of the key highlights of the event included praying to a Bollywood actor and actress. This one time, the chosen celebrity was Sunny Leone. But coming back to The Bhootnii – that was previously titled The Virgin Tree – is set in a college called St Vincent College of Art and Culture. On every Valentine's Day, the students offer garlands, photographs and notes to a tree on the campus with the anticipation that they too will soon have a blossoming love life and a happening sex life. But little do they know that a spirit resides in that tree. Things go awry when a bunch of students die in unusual and inexplicable ways. The protagonist, Shantanu, too faces the wrath of the spirit when he breaks down before the tree and reprimands it for not listening to his prayers as his love interest takes off on a motorbike with another boy. And when this spirit comes to power, several students start hallucinating and get seizures. As all of this upsets the apple cart, the faculty and the management decide to call for a meeting. Unable to find answers, they reach out to an old student, Krishna Tripathi, who calls himself Baba and is now a 'para-physicist'. It's rather interesting how Baba is introduced in the film. He's seen fighting piśāca-like creatures in what looks like a shoddy VFX-heavy film shot against a green screen. His lackey, in fact, cautions him that this is no Naagin shoot. Interestingly, he uses guns to shoot down spirits. He also wears an energy detector on his wrist. So, this spirit named Mohabbat – who never found true love and suffered due to a betrayal – falls in love with Shantanu. And his closeness to his female friend, Ananya, makes her jealous. That's when her evil side comes to the core. She starts controlling Ananya. One day, she decides to tell Shantanu the truth about who she really is and when he's unwilling to believe her, she takes the form of a supernatural entity with green eyes and veins. Baba comes to the rescue and tries to send her back to the underworld. At 2 hours 10 minutes, The Bhootnii appears too long-drawn. A lot of time is wasted through the first half and when it's time for the interval, you'll realise that no real plot progression has happened. The makers resort to oodles of physical comedy, which, in all honesty, is jarring, to say the least. Shantanu has two best friends (played by Nick and Aasif Khan) and while they try to make do with the material available to them, a poorly written script doesn't help them soar. Instead, who soars (literally) are Mohabbat and Shantanu much like those piśāca-like creatures. We don't encourage drinking but there's an interesting game that you can play while watching The Bhootnii. Every time the words 'mohabbat' and 'rooh' are uttered, you take a sip from your fancy Stanley Cups (let's face it, no one will let you carry glasses inside a theatre). We can assure you that the spirit will eventually let you to enjoy this tale of a spirit. On a different note, the writer packs the screenplay with many 'jokes' – some of which are references to Ranbir Kapoor's Animal and one of which is borrowed from Munna Bhai's 'agle din apne mohalle mein Hema aayi'. And speaking of Ranbir, there's a flashback sequence in The Bhootnii where we see a young Sanjay Dutt. It will definitely make you think that the makers should have rather considered superimposing Ranbir as a young Sanjay from Sanju. Much like bad jokes, The Bhootnii is filled with aerial shots, which do nothing to elevate the drama. As for St Vincent College of Art and Culture, it's a unique place because students never study there. They spend their time looking at and thinking about The Virgin Tree and whiling their time away at the college café adorned with neon lights. The saddest part is that the funny dialogues don't evoke any laughter and the ones that aren't meant to be funny make you crack up. It's also packaged with a bunch of forgettable songs that don't render anything to the narrative. As for the performances, Nick in his debut acting outing, decides to fully play to the gallery. His histrionics are difficult to watch. Who makes up for him is Aasif. Even in a loud and noisy horror-comedy, he manages to leave a mark. His comic timing is relatively mellowed and he genuinely evokes a few laughs. This is an actor worth looking out for! Sunny Singh as Shantanu appears to be someone who isn't completely convinced with the script but still decides to go with it. There are moments when he's extremely loud and at other places, he's disinterested. His chemistry with Palak Tiwari's Ananya fails to strike a chord either. There's a scene when they have an altercation as a prelude to their confessions of love for each other. It's painful to watch. As for Palak, this script is hardly a parameter to her understand her talent. However, she needs to be given a benefit of doubt for being as confused as Sunny and not completely getting a grasp on the tonality of the script. It's Mouni, however, who, in a way, shoulders the show. Once again, she plays a supernatural entity (no, not Naagin) and though this is home ground for her, she deserves a story and a script that helps her push the envelope. She manages to hold your attention (for good or for bad, but attention is attention) even when you feel your hope slipping away from the film. Her Mohabbat is no Junoon from Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva, but she truly is convincing. But what's truly sad is that the film doesn't do justice to Sanjay. This is a man with an impeccable comic timing but even he's dealt with a deck of poorly written one-liners. For an actor of his stature, who we rarely get to watch on the big screen, he deserves bigger and better. However, his signature swag is still very much a part of The Bhootnii. His towering presence makes him the perfect fit for Baba, who can go against the natural order and crush any spirit to dust – sometimes with a gun and sometimes with love. We wish there was a little more backstory when it comes to Sanjay's Baba. What becomes a redemption of sorts is the last sequence where the climax unfolds. It bears the right kind of energy, treatment and texture, and adds a lot of gravitas to both Baba and Mohabbat. All in all, The Bhootnii is a reminder to filmmakers to stop underestimating the audience. For a horror-comedy to lack both is unforgivable. Even the jump scares are made to look diluted, thanks to the juddering noise and tonality of the film. Feel free to give this film a miss and if you miss Sanjay Dutt, you better go watch Munna Bhai MBBS and Lage Raho Munna Bhai for the umpteenth time. First Published:
