Students moving away from govt schools, disturbing: Centre to states

Students moving away from govt schools, disturbing: Centre to states

Pointing to the “disturbing trend” of students “moving away from government schools”, and the steady increase in private school enrolment in states, including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Uttarakhand, the Ministry of Education has asked them to take steps to reverse the trend, official documents show. The enrolment of students came up in meetings that the […]

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Shoonya Festival: Be a part of this healing and conscious living festival in the mountains

Shoonya Festival: Be a part of this healing and conscious living festival in the mountains

Attendees at the Shoonya festival in Uttarakhand, 2023 | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement In a bustling landscape of festivals clamouring for attention with their A-list celebrity line-ups and gastronomic delights, stands a festival of nothingness. All set to be held in Tehri, Uttarakhand, the Shoonya Festival beckons soul-seekers, free spirits, and the curious minded with […]

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From Gulmarg to Padum, here’s your guide to skiing in India. We tell you how to start

From Gulmarg to Padum, here’s your guide to skiing in India. We tell you how to start

Skiers take the chairlift in Gulmarg | Photo Credit: Sajad Hameed/Getty Images In the cold winter mornings, when most of Gulmarg is fast asleep under layers of thick, cosy blankets, Amit Kapoor slips into his skiing gear and zips down the powdery slopes of the Apharwat Peak. The temperature, -2 degrees Celsius — hardly deters him. A […]

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Author Nuzhat Khan’s latest novel on love and loss is set against the backdrop of Uttarakhand’s forest fire

Author Nuzhat Khan’s latest novel on love and loss is set against the backdrop of Uttarakhand’s forest fire

Author Nuzhat Khan | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement Author Nuzhat Khan is among the growing tribe of writers confronting the world’s most pressing issue — climate emergency and the unfolding weather catastrophe — through a genre of fiction set in natural ecosystems. In her latest novel Whistling Woods (Petals Publishers), she highlights the impact of forest fire […]

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PM Modi’s meditation cave in Uttarakhand pulling tourists back after the pandemic’s lull

PM Modi’s meditation cave in Uttarakhand pulling tourists back after the pandemic’s lull

The Rudra meditation cave near Kedarnath. A little over a kilometre’s trek from Kedarnath, the Rudra meditation cave, about 3,500 metres above sea level, is booked out for April. It has a 75% booking for May and 65% for June, during the Char Dham Yatra in Uttarakhand, scheduled to start on April 22. | Photo […]

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Morning Digest | India abstains in U.N. vote on Ukraine; Gandhis likely to stay away from Congress steering committee meeting, and more

Morning Digest | India abstains in U.N. vote on Ukraine; Gandhis likely to stay away from Congress steering committee meeting, and more

The U.N. General Assembly votes in favour of a resolution upholding Ukraine’s territorial integrity and calling for a cessation of hostilities after Russia’s invasion, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023, at United Nations headquarters. | Photo Credit: AP India abstains in U.N. vote underscoring need for just, lasting peace in Ukraine India abstained in the U.N. General Assembly on February 23 […]

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‘Garh Bhoj’: A social activist’s mission to popularise traditional Uttarakhand foods

‘Garh Bhoj’: A social activist’s mission to popularise traditional Uttarakhand foods

At the peak of Uttarakhand’s statehood movement in the 1990s, the hills would often reverberate with the ” Kodo-Jhangora khayenge, Uttarakhand banayenge” slogan, remembers Dwarika Prasad Semwal, a social activist who has pioneered a mission to popularise the State’s traditional foods. The slogan appealed to Mr. Semwal, at the time a teenager helping his father […]

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Morning Digest | Tripura goes to the polls today; merchandise exports fall for 2nd month in a row, and more

Morning Digest | Tripura goes to the polls today; merchandise exports fall for 2nd month in a row, and more

Women poll officials head toward their respective polling stations for the Tripura Assembly elections, in Agartala, on Feb. 15, 2023. | Photo Credit: PTI Tripura voters hold the winning card as State goes to the polls today A triangular contest—between the BJP, the Left Front-Congress combine and new entrant Tipra Motha—is on the cards in […]

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