Arts, Culture & Entertainment – Page 9

** New plant species of the genus Ophiorrhiza spotted in State

Researchers have come across a new plant species of the genus Ophiorrhiza, a group of plants valued for their medicinal uses, in the biodiversity-rich Western Ghats region.

Researchers spotted the new species from the Adichilthotty colony, near Malakkapara, in Thrissur district during a plant exploration trip. It has been named Ophiorrhiza sasidharaniana after Prof. A. Sasidharan, former Botany Department head of the University College, Thiruvananthapuram.

The journal Annales Botanici Fennici, brought out by the Finnish Zoological and Botanical Publishing Board, has published a paper on the discovery by researchers from the University of Kerala and the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI), Palode.

Kerala / th

** Glimpses of tribal freedom struggle at Ranipur police museum

With a history dating back to colonial years, the heritage building that once housed the police station is now a treasure trove of information on tribal revolutionaries.

Most visitors will mistake it for any other nondescript structure. But the Ranipur police museum is special. With a history dating back to colonial years, the heritage building that once housed the police station is now a treasure trove of information on tribal revolutionaries.

Betul district police chief Simala Prasad said the Ranipur police station functioned from the building from 1913 to 2016 before it was shifted to a new address. The building, meanwhile, was lying abandoned for the last six years.

“Local residents wanted us to preserve the erstwhile police station as a heritage building as it holds an integral place in the history of freedom struggle involving tribals. We consulted local historians and decided to turn the historic police station into a museum. The museum has a special section dedicated to the tribal revolutionaries from Betul which includes the likes of Vishnu Singh Uike and Ganjan Singh Korku,” the Betul SP informed.

The region has a rich history when it comes to the freedom struggle of indigenous communities. In 1942, freedom movement hero Vishnu Singh Uike led fellow revolutionaries to attack the Ranipur police station. They had even tried to set the police station ablaze.

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** ‘India-Japan are natural partners’: PM Narendra Modi meets Indian diaspora in Tokyo

Addressing the Indian community here on the first day of his two-day visit to Tokyo, Modi also said that India’s relationship with Japan is of spirituality, of cooperation and of belonging. “India and Japan are natural partners. Japan has played an important role in India’s development journey,” said Modi, who is visiting Tokyo at the invitation of his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida.

“Today’s world needs to follow the path shown by Lord Buddha. This is the way to save humanity from the challenges facing the world today, be it violence, anarchy, terrorism and climate change,” Modi said.

Noting that India has always found a solution no matter how big the problem is, Modi said that during coronavirus pandemic, there was an atmosphere of uncertainty, but even in that situation, India supplied ‘Made in India’ vaccines to crores of its citizens and also sent it to more than 100 countries.

“Whenever I visit Japan, I witness your affection. Many of you have settled in Japan for years and assimilated the Japanese culture. Still, the dedication toward Indian culture and language is ever-growing,” Modi told the Indian diaspora amid chats of slogans ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’.

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** Book on recovered temple assets released

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin launches the book

Immovable properties, including waterbodies, belonging to 167 temples across Tamil Nadu under the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE) Department, valued at ₹2,566.94 crore, have been recovered between May 2021 and March 2022, according to a book released by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin in Chennai on Tuesday.

A total of 1,375 encroachers have encroached these immovable properties. About 1,184 acre of land and plots, measuring about 467 grounds, buildings in about 47 grounds and waterbodies in about 36 grounds have been cleared of encroachments between May 7, 2021 and March 31 this year.

HR and CE Minister P.K. Sekarbabu received the first copy of the book Properties of Temples recovered from Encroachments during 2021-22 released by Mr. Stalin. Senior officials of the HR&CE Department were also present.

** Devasahayam Pillai: An anti-caste crusader who was canonised

Devasahayam Pillai was recently canonised by Pope Francis

For Devasahayam Pillai, recently canonised by Pope Francis , the enemy was caste.

And finally, with the canonisation, he will be known as Martyr Saint Devasahayam and not by his caste honorific Pillai. For a man who served food for all communities together in a common dining room, this is conceivably a dream realised.

Born Neelakanta Pillai to Vasudevan Namboodhiri and a Nair mother Devaki Ammal, he became Devasahayam, the Tamil rendering of Lazuras as “God’s help.”

He was referred to as Devasahayam Pillai when Pope Benedict XVI first made the announcement of his beatification on December 2, 2012. But the official press release on May 3, 2021, announcing Pope Francis’s decision to confer sainthood on him referred to him as Devasahayam.

** Faithful to celebrate canonisation of Devasahayam

Devasahayam Pillai had converted to Christianity in the 18th century

The Catholic Christian community in the district is set to celebrate the canonisation of Blessed Lazarus, popularly known as Devasahayam Pillai, by Pope Francis in the Vatican on Sunday.

Devasahayam Pillai, a Hindu who converted to Christianity in the 18 ^th century, will become the first Indian layperson to be conferred sainthood.

According to church records, Devasahayam was born as Neelakanda Pillai in 1712 in the village of Nattalam in Kanyakumari that formed part of the erstwhile Travancore kingdom. He assumed the name ‘Lazarus’ or Devasahayam that translates to ‘God is my help’ after embracing Christianity in 1745.

Devasahayam was declared Blessed in Kottar in Nagercoil in 2012. The Vatican had cleared him for sainthood last year.

SCOTLAND: Glasgow Indian restaurant named the best in Scotland, as wedding venue scoops top award

An Indian restaurant and a wedding venue in Glasgow have been named the best in Scotland.

At the Scottish Entertainment Awards, Swadish, on Ingram Street, won the Best Indian Restaurant Award, beating off competition from across Scotland.

There was also success for another three Glasgow venues, as The Auditorium at Òran Mór was given the award for Best Wedding Venue, The Record Factory in Partick, famous for its live music, won the Best Late Night Venue award, and Connolly’s Irish Bar won the Best Irish Bar award.

Swadish has scooped other awards in the past for its fine dining experience, which brings together seasonal Scottish ingredients and traditional and modern Indian culinary techniques.

glasgowworld.com

SCOTLAND : Edinburgh restaurant voted Scotland’s best Indian by Uber Eats hailed as ‘heavenly curry mecca’

An Edinburgh restaurant is celebrating success after it was shortlisted for the inaugural Uber Eats UK and Ireland Restaurant of the Year awards.

Mother India’s Cafe – based on the Old Town’s Infirmary Street – featured as one of ten Scottish nominees, with customers who voted deeming it the best Indian restaurant in Scotland , along with Mother India’s sister sites in Glasgow.

For the next stage in the awards process, customers can view the shortlist and vote for their favourite restaurants from across the UK and Ireland from until 16 June at ubereatsawards.com.

edinburghlive.co.uk

** ‘Vakeel Babu’ Selected for New York Indian Film Festival 2022

The film stars Abhishek Banerjee, Bhamini Oza Gandhi and Lovleen Mishra in pivotal roles.

The film Vakeel Babu, produced by Civic Studios and co-produced by TrainTripper Films, has landed a place at the 22nd edition of the New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) 2022, taking place virtually from May 7th to 13th 2022.

The film will be participating in the Shorts (Narrative) category and has also been nominated in the Best Short (Narrative) category.

source/category : thehindu.com (edited)

** The Indian leg of the Great Backyard Bird Count records an impressive 1,017 species

Hobby birders and students collaborated with naturalists from across the country at the 10th edition of biggest four-day bird-o-thon and documented over 1000 bird species

A pair of bright yellow eyes stared right back at Angeline Mano, a 23-year-old birder, as she zoomed in with her binoculars. Angeline was at Stanley Reservoir in Salem, one of the largest fishing reservoirs in South India, documenting birds for the recently-concluded, annual Global Backyard Bird Count (GBCC). The bulky bird with a finely streaked breast, was a brown fish owl, perched on a branch just 10 metres away.

The India leg of the four-day event, coordinated by Bird Count India, allowed participants to count birds for as little as 15 minutes from a particular location. They upload their sightings online, on eBird (www.ebird.org/india), the world’s largest biodiversity-related citizen science platform.