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Time of India
2 days ago
- Science
- Time of India
Ancient Andhra inscriptions found in Germany, Kadapa forest
1 2 Hyderabad: Two rare inscriptions linked to Andhra Pradesh's ancient history have surfaced—one in Munich, Germany, and the other in the Lankamalla forest of Kadapa district. These finds shed light on the cultural and administrative legacy of dynasties like the Eastern Chalukyas, Maitrakas, and Bhanjas. A copperplate charter from the Eluru–Pithapuram region, dating to the 9th–10th century CE, is currently in the Bavarian State Library. Written in Sanskrit using Telugu script, the corroded inscription likely records a village grant by an Eastern Chalukya king, with names like Vikramaditya and Mangi Yuvaraja faintly visible. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is now documenting Indian-origin copperplates housed abroad, with repatriation efforts already underway for the Leiden charters. The Munich collection also includes Maitraka and Bhanja plates. Shell script inscriptions In a separate discovery, three 6th-century CE inscriptions carved on stone were found in Lankamalla forest. Written in Sanskrit and Shell script, they are believed to mark pilgrim visits. Phrases such as Bhagate Radhiya and Dharadhisha Bhagavata appear in the text. Shell script remains largely undeciphered despite attempts by noted epigraphists like BN Mukherjee and Richard Solomon. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Вот что поза во сне говорит о вашем характере! Удивительные Новости Undo This marks the first such find in Andhra Pradesh, expanding the known geographical spread of Shell inscriptions. "The discovery of Shell inscriptions in Lankamalla is noteworthy. Earlier, such inscriptions were found only in north India and the Deccan region. This marks the first instance of Shell inscriptions being discovered in the Lankamalla forest of Andhra Pradesh, expanding the geographical range of these ancient texts," ASI epigraphy director K Muniratnam Reddy said. ASI's epigraphy wing has called for more data to trace and preserve such artefacts globally.
Hans India
29-05-2025
- General
- Hans India
CBC accords accreditation to NIGST
Hyderabad: The National Standards for Civil Services Training Institute (NSCSTI) under the Capacity Building Commission (CBC) is proud to announce the accreditation of the National Institute of Geo-informatics Science and Technology (NIGST) Hyderabad under Survey of India, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. This prestigious recognition signifies NIGST's commitment to delivering exceptional quality professional education and training programs in the field of Geospatial Sciences and Technology. Following rigorous scrutiny and verification of NIGST's training activities, an on-site assessment was conducted on May 27 and 28 by a team led by Ch Venkateswara Rao and a team of experts from CBC, New Delhi. NIGST has been awarded accreditation with the 'UTTAM' level of recognition. This evaluation meticulously assessed NIGST's adherence to the eight pillars outlined in the National Standards for Civil Service Training Institutions (NSCSTI). These pillars encompass crucial aspects like training needs assessment and course design, faculty development, resource and training targets, trainee support, digitalisation and training delivery, collaboration, training evaluation and quality assurance, operations and governance.
The Hindu
26-05-2025
- General
- The Hindu
The maths of how India's coastline lengthened without gaining new land
In December 2024, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs made an important announcement as part of its 2023-2024 annual report. It said the length of India's coastline had increased from 7,516.6 km to 11,098.8 km, and that the length is also currently under review. The 7,516.6 km figure was first recorded in the 1970s based on measurement techniques available at the time. The new revised figure wasn't prompted by any territorial expansion through new land/island annexation or geological upheaval, like tectonic activity stretching the shores. The last coastal State to join the Union of India was Goa in 1961 and the only other State that joined after — Sikkim in 1975 — is landlocked. The enclaves India exchanged with Bangladesh in 2015 also lie deep inland. So what changed? The root of the discrepancy lies in geometry, in a problem called the coastline paradox. The previous estimate from the 1970s banked on maps that displayed India's coastline at a 1:4,500,000 resolution, which is too coarse to capture intricate features like estuaries, tidal creeks, sandbars, and coastal ridges. Many island groups, particularly the Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep, also hadn't been comprehensively mapped or included. The more recent updated measurement — performed by the National Hydrographic Office (NHO) and the Survey of India — used electronic navigation charts at a much finer scale of 1:250,000. Preparing these charts requires the use of technologies like geographic information systems, satellite altimetry, LIDAR-GPS, and drone-based imaging. The government has also said the coastline length will be revised every 10 years from 2024-2025, as per the report. The Survey of India used highwater lines prepared by the NHO based on 2011 data on electronic navigation charts to measure the coastline. The highwater line was used as the base reference and river mouths and creeks were closed off at a fixed threshold inland. The review also included islands exposed to low tide. But for all these advances, there is a limitation — and that comes from geometry. The coastline as puzzle What's the difference between straight lines and ragged curves? In Euclidean geometry, the length of a straight line is the shortest distance between two points at the ends of the line. Curves on the other hand are measured by their geodesic length: i.e. the length along the surface of the curve. But what happens when the curve itself is irregular, jagged, and ever-changing the way a coastline is when it's shaped by river mouths, creeks, delta formations, etc.? The problem becomes harder when one attempts to draw a boundary at a river mouth: should it be marked at the ocean opening or traced further inland? Such ambiguities add to the complexity together with constant tidal fluctuations and shifting sedimentation. This is where traditional measurement concepts break down and the choice of scale becomes decisive. The coastline paradox The British mathematician and physicist Lewis Fry Richardson first identified the coastline paradox in the early 1950s. His Polish-French peer Benoît Mandelbrot examined the problem mathematically in 1967 and also popularised it. Mandelbrot found that coastlines exhibit properties similar to fractals. In a landmark paper entitled 'How Long is the Coast of Britain?', Mandelbrot explored why the length of Britain's coast varied dramatically depending on the length of the measuring stick. Using different ruler sizes on a map, he found that Britain's coast could vary from around 2,400 km to more than 3,400 km — a striking range for a fixed landmass. Note that coastlines are not true fractals in the pure mathematical sense but display fractal-like properties. To describe fractals, scientists use the concept of fractal dimension, a number that denotes the degree of complexity a shape exhibits as one zooms into it. For example, measuring a coastline with a 200-km-long ruler would smooth over most inlets and bends — but a 50-km ruler would detect them. At 1 km, the measurement will capture every estuary, tidal flat, and creek. So the more one refines the scale of the ruler, the longer the total coast becomes. Hypothetically, using a measurement unit the size of a water molecule would result in a coastline length approaching infinity. This dependence on scale underscores the inherent paradox: a finite piece of geography yielding a seemingly infinite measurement in cartography. Implications for security, fishing The change in length is not just a mathematical curiosity or an academic pursuit. The length of India's coastline influences maritime security plans, disaster preparedness (especially for cyclones and tsunamis), and fishing rights. A longer coastline obviously means a longer length to protect but it also means a longer economic zone. India has 11 coastal States and two large island groups, faces regular cyclones, and is especially vulnerable to sea-level rise. Understanding the true extent of the national coast can thus help refine climate models, coastal zoning regulations, and disaster response strategies. In the same vein, high-school geography textbooks may need to be revised as well. The coastline paradox also reveals more than a peculiar measurement challenge: it underscores how science evolves with better tools. What once appeared to be a fixed value turns fluid when examined more closely — not because the coast moved but because our eyes sharpened. India's redefined 11,099-km coastline is a testament to this progress. C. Aravinda is an academic and public health physician. The views expressed are personal.
Time of India
22-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
344 trees to make way for key road expansion project in Gurgaon, greens fume
Gurgaon: GMDA has begun felling 344 trees along Vyapar Kendra Road – approximately 2km long – as part of a road expansion project. According to the forest department, permission for felling 344 trees along the master dividing road between sectors 27 and 43 was given on March 12. This comes amid concerns that no concrete plan for afforestation — typically requiring 10 times the number of trees felled — has been announced yet even as environmentalists are livid at the "shrinking green cover in the city". Environment activist Vaishali Rana said, "Permissions were granted to cut down trees, but an afforestation plan has not been submitted to carry out ten times plantation." According to the Forest Survey of India (FSI) report 2023, Haryana's forest cover decreased by 14sqkm from 2021 to 2023, with Gurgaon's tree cover at 12.9% of its geographical area. The FSI report 2021 pointed out that Haryana's forest cover increased by 1sqkm in 2021 compared to 2019. Gurgaon lost 2.5sqkm of forest cover between Oct 2019 and Feb 2020. At the same time, urban clusters such as Gurgaon and Faridabad have rapidly grown to make space for houses, businesses, roads and other infrastructure. For instance, 5,000 trees were felled to make way for flyovers and underpasses on NH8 in Gurgaon in 2017, and a year later, permission was granted to chop down 10,000 trees to widen the Sohna road. Residents and environmentalists have voiced their frustration over the lack of transparency regarding replantation efforts. Residents warn that the loss of these trees will exacerbate air pollution and heat levels in the city. Residents are now urging GMDA to publicly disclose its afforestation strategy and ensure that the city's green cover is restored. Without immediate action, the city risks losing more of its natural shade and worsening environmental conditions. A GMDA official said, "We will identify land soon and carry out afforestation." When asked why they haven't done compensatory plantation, the official said, "We were not aware." Prashant Yadav, a resident of Sushant Lok, said, "We are already struggling with rising temperatures and deteriorating air quality. Cutting down trees without a proper replantation plan is irresponsible." City-based environmentalist Vivek Kamboj said, "The govt has made no efforts to increase the city's green cover over the years and now it again has given a free hand to incompetent civic agencies to fell trees for unnecessary road expansion." "In the stretch where GMDA is planning expansion, the stretch has already reached its ultimate capacity and now felling more than 20-30 years of trees doesn't make sense. Also, the road cannot be expanded at certain stretches because there is already construction, so what is the point of the exercise," Kamboj said. As per the permission letter, the conditions which GMDA needs to fulfil to fell 344 trees are: "Only the numbered trees will be felled. No dragging of wood will be permitted. Felling after sunset and before sunrise will not be permitted. No fire will be allowed." The letter says, "No damage to unmarked trees will be caused during felling in the area and the owner will have to pay the compensation as determined by DFO for any such damage. The owner of the land shall be responsible for any illicit felling in the area and he will have to pay the compensation as determined by DFO for any such illicit felling. Approved subject to compensatory plantation of ten times the number of trees to be felled by the agency. " It is also notable that unlike Delhi, Haryana does not have a Tree Act of its own.
Time of India
11-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
To avoid disputes, property owners asked to be present during land surveys
Bengaluru: With the state govt accelerating its ambitious land digitisation drive under the National Geospatial Knowledge-based Land Survey of Urban Habitations (NAKSHA) programme, the state survey and settlement department has issued a clarion call: Property owners must be present during survey work or risk ownership disputes initiative aims to digitise and modernise land records in urban areas using high-resolution drone mapping and ground verification to ensure transparency and accuracy. As part of a pilot rollout, 10 urban local bodies (ULBs) — including six city municipal councils and four town panchayats — were selected across the state. These include Bhagyanagara TP and Siruguppa CMC (Ballari), Boragav TP and Gokak CMC (Belagavi), Basavakalyan CMC (Bidar), Kolar CMC, Bagalkot CMC, Chikkamagaluru CMC, Bogadi TP (Mysuru), and Anavatti TP (Shivamogga). Officials have scheduled surveys on Monday and are urging owners or their representatives to be available on site."Once the department issues a draft card of property ownership after a survey, owners could raise concerns or queries about ownership," said J Manjunath, commissioner of survey settlement and land records. "There is a possibility that many owners may approach the department for corrections. If the survey is done in the presence of owners, the number of errors will decrease. So, the department has requested people to be present at their property for survey work."Drones, flown 120 metres above ground, have already completed aerial surveys in eight of 10 areas. The data was used to generate orthorectified radar images (ORI maps) showing every visible structure and feature, from buildings to drainage truthing, or on-site verification, is now underway to match drone data with physical features. "The department had ORI mapping for Kolar, Sirguppa, and Bhagyanagara before the NAKSHA programme was launched. So, the department began ground truthing work for these three ULBs. In the remaining five ULBs, the drone flyover was completed," Manjunath Survey of India provide ORI (origin of replication) maps. Once everything is mapped, the department plans to swiftly complete verification and issue ownership records — making early public participation critical. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Mother's Day wishes , messages , and quotes !
