The hikers, who were from 12 states and union territories, traversed through 20 km of rugged terrain at Debrigarh encompassing the valleys, hills, grasslands and islands. They had previously trekked in India and abroad, including in the Himalayas.

The expedition was part of the nature education programme of Hirakud Wildlife Division conducted in collaboration of India Hikes, a popular trekking community of the country.

On the first day, they trekked up to an altitude of 500 metre and camped at Ranibasa at night. The next day, the hikers continued their expedition through mountains and valleys and reached Bat Island. The night halt was at the much talked about ‘Cattle Island’ inside the Hirakud Dam.

“Trained naturalists accompanied the hikers for three days, explaining the animal and bird diversity of the sanctuary. Different activities such as connect with nature and talking to the trees were also conducted during the trek conducted in an eco-friendly manner with zero plastic and zero litter left behind at camping spots and hiking routes,” said Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Wildlife, Anshu Pragyan Das.

It was for the first time that night camping was organised at Cattle Island, she said, adding that limited bio-toilets were also used in three days hiking.

“You are promoting Indian islands while putting a picture of Maldives. What is wrong with you, Ranveer?” one user pointed out Ranveer’s gaffe.

Ranveer then deleted the post and shared it again, without any picture this time.

Despite the correction, Ranveer continued to be trolled.

“Too late to delete , the internet always wins (laughing with tears emojis),” one person commented.

“Posted a Maldives pic and deleted (looking eyes emoji),” wrote another user.

The Maldives is a popular holiday destination for several celebrities, including Ranveer and Deepika Padukone.

The couple was seen flying out from Mumbai airport on Monday. Most people will be eager to find out if Maldives is struck off from Ranveer-Deepika and other stars’ holiday hotspots After Prime Minister Narendra Modi promoted tourism on Indian islands with posts from his visit to Lakshwadeep recently, several celebrities joined him to encourage Indians to look at home instead of travelling abroad.

One of them was Ranveer Singh.

However, the ‘Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani’ star goofed up in his post with the hashtag #exploreIndianislands.

“This year let’s make 2024 about exploring India and experiencing our culture. There is so much to see and explore across the beaches and the beauty of our country. Chalo India let’s #exploreindianislands Chalo bharat dekhe (Let’s explore India),” the Bollywood superstar posted on X along with the picture of an exotic island.

According to Hirakud Wildlife Division DFO Anshu Pragnya Das, 32 teams and as many boats have been engaged in Sambalpur, Bargarh and Jharsuguda for the counting of the avian species. A total of 78 Forest personnel, including 33 bird experts, are participating in the census. They will cover Hirakud reservoir, including power channels, by 5 pm.

The Hirakud Dam Reservoir extends up to the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border covering 533 sq km area and 5.5 sq km of the power channel. The reservoir has been divided into 21 sectors for the survey and each team has been given binoculars, birding & census kits along with lifesaving jackets following a training training programme at Sambalpur zoo.

All fishing and tourism activities have been stopped inside the reservoir.

The 2024 bird census result will be announced on January 11-12 after approval from Wildlife headquarters, she added.

Every year, thousands of exotic birds of different species migrate to the reservoir in November. The avian guests stay put for four months till March before flying back. The birds come from Caspian Sea, Baikal Lake, Mongolia, Central and South East Asia and Himalayan region to the reservoir due to the presence of large wetland. Till last month, five new species were sighted in Hirakud lake. These are Cotton Pygmy Goose, Little Tern, Purple Swamp Hen, Marsh harrier and Large Egret.

Notably, 1.24 lakh birds of 98 different species were recorded in 2021 census, while in 2022, the number increased to 2.08 lakh (of 104 species). Last year, more than 3 lakh avian guests of 108 species in the mid-winter waterfowl census here. At least 10 of them were new species.

The actor categorically dismissed the rumours by writing, “Achcha ye bataiye ye baat kisne bola ya kal raat Sapna aaya? Boliye boliye! (Who told you this, or did you have a dream last night? Tell me).”On January 1, 2024, Manoj Bajpayee took everyone by surprise as he posted a shirtless photo on his Instagram account. In the photo, the actor was seen flaunting his abs. Captioning it, he wrote, “New Year New Me! Dekho delicious soup ka meri body pe asar. Ekdum killer look hai na? (See how delicious soup has affected my body, Totatally killer look, isn’t it?) (sic).” Through the fun wordplay, he was referring to his next project, ‘Killer Soup’, which will be releasing on Netflix. In the photo, Manoj sported a chiseled body and six pack abs.Many celebrities praised his amazing transformation in the comment section. Anurag Kashyap wrote, “Chuppe Rustom”, while Sunil Grover praised him and wrote, “Aag laga di aane internet pe.” His Family Man co-star Sunny Hinduja wrote, “Wah wah… Mujhe nahi pata tha aap mein bhi aib hai sir.”

He issued the order during the inter-departmental meeting for undertaking disaster resilient projects under Disaster Mitigation Fund.

Environmentalists and weather experts in the state had earlier expressed concern over dwindling number of taller trees, including palm, that protect against lightning, which reportedly claimed 281 lives in rural areas during 2021-22. “Palm trees are taller than coconut trees. Lightning strikes those trees on and along farmlands, thus protecting farmers who work till late afternoon and during heavy rain and thunderstorm and lightning. They are now getting killed in such strikes due to nonexistent of palm trees,” said senior meteorologist Umasankar Das.

The palm tree acts as a lightning conductor during storms because of their height and reduces changes of people getting struck by it.

According to environmentalist Biswajit Mohanty, who had written to the principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) in this regard, said large-scale felling of palm tree has been noticed in Keonjhar district’s Telkoi range and Dhenkanal and Angul forest divisions.

“I am directed to release the second instalment based on the Utilisation Certificates and Physical Progress Report along with photographs submitted by Chilika Development Authority in compliance to the conditions,” a letter from the Ministry said.

According to sources, Rs 23.50 crore was sanctioned for Conservation and Management of Chilika Lake in Odisha under the National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems (NPCA) in March 2021. The NPCA is being implemented on 60:40 cost sharing between the Centre and Odisha government.

“In accordance with the revised procedure. the Reserve Bank of India may be advised for debiting the amount of Rs. 1.175 crore -first instalment for 2 year implementation cost of Rs 4.701 crore to the account of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and passing on the credit to the Central Accounts Section, Nagpur, for onward transfer to the Government
of Odisha in the books to the later,” it added.

Tweeting the letter, Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi said that she had requested Union Minister Bhupender Yadav for release of the funds and had been pursuing the matter. “25000 fishermen families living around Chilka will be happy,” she added.

In 2020, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had also informed that the Centre has sanctioned Rs 4.7 crore assistance to Odisha in the last two years for the conservation of Chilika lake and Anshupa lake under NPCA.

In this regard, letters have been issued to the Additional Special Relief Commissioner, PCCF of the Forest Department, PCCF of Wildlife Division, the Managing Director of OSDMA, all the RCCFs, Collectors and DFOs.

According to the new guidelines, only certified snake handlers can participate in the rescue and release operations and they are required to adhere strictly to the stipulated protocols, failing which will invite penal actions as per the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

The intervention to save snakes will only be undertaken in situations where their presence poses a risk to human life, such as when they are found indoors or in close proximity to human habitation. The snake rescue work should be confined to instances wherein the snakes have entered human dwellings, regardless of whether they are of venomous or non-venomous species.

It further said that these handlers are volunteers and will not receive remuneration for their services from the Odisha Forest Department, which may also use their services to create awareness in the local population on the ecological importance of snakes, identification of snakes and how to avoid snakebites.

Any individual who obstructs the efforts of a certified snake handler during a rescue operation may face legal repercussions. Creating public panic, publicly exhibiting the rescued snake(s), or any other form of public display involving snakes, even if conducted by the snake handler, will attract legal penalties.

Notably, Odisha has been witnessing 1,000 deaths annually due to snakebite for the last five years. Till July this year, snakebite incidents have claimed at least 34 lives, including three children in Keonjhar.

The monsoon trough is now passing through Ganganagar, Narnaul, Aligarh, Varanasi, Daltonganj, centre of low pressure area over North Odisha and adjoining Gangetic West Bengal & Jharkhand and thence, southeastwards to eastcentral Bay of Bengal.

It further informed that a cyclonic circulation is likely to form over Northwest Bay of Bengal around July 18, which is likely to increase the intensity of rain in the state. “In view of the above meteorological features, wet spells of monsoon rainfall activity likely to continue over Odisha with isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall,” the weather agency said.

According to the midday bulletin, heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely at one or two places in Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Sundargarh, Bargarh, Nuapada, Sonepur, Balangir and Deogarh on July 16. Heavy Rainfall may occur at one or two places in Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Boudh, Angul, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Nabarangpur, Koraput and Malkangiri districts with light to moderate rain at most places in the state during this period.

The weather agency has warned of temporary waterlogging in low-lying areas, poor visibility during intense spell of rain and traffic congestion in urban areas and possibility of wall collapse in vulnerable kutchha houses.

Yellow warning for heavy rainfall continues for some parts of coastal and southern districts of Odisha till July 19. Heavy to very heavy rain may occur at one or two places in Gajapati, Ganjam, Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Rayagada, Koraput, Nabarangpur with heavy rain one or two places in Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Khurda, Puri, Nayagarh, Balangir, Nuapada on July 20.

Time and again, communalism has been used by the ruling classes as a means to protect and promote power and supremacy.  These people preserve their seat of power at the cost of enormous loss of life and property of common people, by inciting sentiments in the name of religion, by creating enmity among them and even by sponsoring riots. India has already witnessed the most horrific result of the politics of bigotry — Partition.

We woke reasonably late following the feast and free flowing wine the night before. After gathering ourselves and our packs, we headed down to our homestay family’s small dining room for breakfast, where we enjoyed scrambled eggs, toast, mekitsi (fried dough), local jam and peppermint tea.

 We were making our way to the Rila Mountains, where we were visiting the Rila Monastery.

We wandered the site with busloads of other tourists, yet strangely the place did not seem crowded. I’m not sure if it was the sheer size of the place, or whether the masses congregated in one area and didn’t venture far from the main church, but I didn’t feel overwhelmed by tourists in the monastery.

Headed over Lions Bridge and made our way to the Sofia Synagogue, then sheltered in the Central Market Hall until the recurrent (but short-lived) mid-afternoon rain passed.

Feeling refreshed after an espresso, we walked a short distance to the small but welcoming Banya Bashi Mosque, then descended into the ancient Serdica complex.

We were exhausted after a long day of travel, so we headed back to the hotel and crashed. I had low expectations about Sofia as a city, but after the walking tour I absolutely loved the place. This was an easy city to navigate, and it was a beautiful city despite its ugly, staunch and stolid communist-built surrounds. Sofia has a very average facade as you enter the city, but once you lose yourself in the old town area, everything changes.

If You Have It, You Can Make Anything Look Good

Clothes can transform your mood and confidence. Fashion moves so quickly that, unless you have a strong point of view, you can lose integrity. I like to be real. I don’t like things to be staged or fussy. I think I’d go mad if I didn’t have a place to escape to. You have to stay true to your heritage, that’s what your brand is about.