David Attenborough launches new initiative to protect 30% of world's oceans
This initiative is led by the NGO Dynamic Planet and the National Geographic Society's Pristine Seas programme and will assist local communities in their efforts to establish "marine protected areas" in coastal waters."The worst enemy of fishing is overfishing," Enric Sala, executive director of National Geographic Pristine Seas told Reuters.
Implementation of this treaty in the present year is essential to meet the global targets. (Photo: Getty)
The researchers also mentioned that protecting marine areas would have economic benefits, by improving fishing yields and boosting tourism.They also said Marine Protected Areas (MPA) creation has been far too slow, noting that more than 190,000 protected areas would need to be established in order to meet the "30 by 30" target - to bring 30% of the oceans under formal protection by 2030.advertisement"Reviving marine life revives local economies and communities. It's time for the world to recognise that MPAs are the building blocks of the blue economy," said Kristin Rechberger, the founder of Revive Our Ocean.The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement, which was signed in 2023 to protect ocean biodiversity, was signed by more than 100 countries, but ratified by just 21.The countries, except the United States, are meeting in New York this year to discuss further measures to be taken. Whereas the treaty needs ratification by 60 countries to come into force."Countries are pulling out all the stops to fast-track ratification in several places," said Rebecca Hubbard, director of the High Seas Alliance.Implementation of this treaty in the present year is essential to meet the global targets, as only 8% or 29 million square kilometres of oceans are protected.
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Hindustan Times
3 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
‘Joyous day': PM hails Piprahwa Buddha relics' return after 127 years
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday welcomed the return of the sacred Piprahwa relics of Lord Buddha to India after 127 years, calling it a 'joyous day' for the country's cultural heritage. He noted that the relics were discovered in 1898 but taken away from the country during the colonial period. 'Joyous day': PM hails Piprahwa Buddha relics' return after 127 years 'A joyous day for our cultural heritage! It would make every Indian proud that the sacred Piprahwa relics of Bhagwan Buddha have come home after 127 long years. These sacred relics highlight India's close association with Bhagwan Buddha and his noble teachings,' Modi said in a post on X. He added that the development 'illustrates our commitment to preserving and protecting different aspects of our glorious culture.' The relics, excavated from the Piprahwa stupa in present-day Siddharthnagar district of Uttar Pradesh in 1898, arrived in Mumbai on a chartered flight from Hong Kong on Tuesday night. On Wednesday morning, they were flown to Delhi and taken directly to the National Museum in the national capital. Later in the day, the relics were formally placed on display at the museum in a ceremony attended by Union culture minister Gajendra Shekhawat and senior officials from the ministry. Buddhist monks performed rituals as the relics were welcomed amidst traditional chants and ceremonial fanfare. The collection included 334 gemstones—amethysts, coral, garnets, pearls, rock crystals, shells and gold—many of which had been worked into pendants and beads and placed alongside cremated remains of the Buddha inside the stupa sometime between 240 and 200 BCE. The relics had been in private possession for decades after a portion was retained by the family of British colonial officer William Claxton Peppé, who led the excavation. In May this year, the relics surfaced at an international auction organised by Sotheby's in Hong Kong, prompting swift intervention from the Union government. The culture ministry issued a legal notice to the auction house, stating that the relics constituted 'inalienable religious and cultural heritage of India and the global Buddhist community' and should be treated as the 'sacred body of the Buddha.' The government invoked multiple legal, diplomatic, and financial channels to halt the sale of the relics. 'The culture ministry even sent a Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) notice to Sotheby's, warning that proceeding with the auction could amount to a financial crime,' Vivek Aggarwal, secretary, culture ministry, told HT. Sotheby's postponed the auction sale, originally scheduled for May 7, following which the culture ministry was actively seeking to repatriate the relics, HT had earlier reported. According to senior officials, Sotheby's reached out to the Indian government nearly a week after the auction was postponed, asking if the government would be fine with an Indian buyer getting the relics. The government agreed, but with a bunch of strict conditions — the buyer could not be an individual; the relics must not be resold in the future; they should be available to the government as and when required; and they could not leave India without prior government nod. During the negotiations, Sotheby's informed the government that the Pirojsha Godrej Foundation was interested in acquiring the relics. Godrej had reportedly come across media reports about the relics and reached out to Sotheby's independently, citing a 'personal interest in arts and culture.' Subsequently, a meeting was held among representatives of the government, Sotheby's, and Pirojsha Adi Godrej, where all parties agreed to the terms and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on July 24, 2025. As part of the agreement, the entire collection will be displayed at the National Museum in New Delhi for three months. For the next five years, a 'large portion' of the relics will remain on loan at the museum while the remainder will be housed in a new cultural institution that the Godrej Foundation plans to establish in Mumbai. 'This is the first ever public-private partnership (PPP) for the retrieval of Indian antiquities,' minister Shekhawat said.
Deccan Herald
4 hours ago
- Deccan Herald
A soldier's journey beyond the battlefield
The year was 2018. We were in the process of launching a new course in Aerospace Management at HAL Management Academy. I urgently needed someone to handle a specific computer task, but the staff was occupied. That was when 59-year-old Anthony Cruz stepped in to help. I was surprised because I had heard that he had been promoted from a cook in the canteen to the role of stores-in-charge. I also learned that Cruz, who had failed Class 8, had begun his career at HAL in the canteen at the age of 18. .He completed the work efficiently. I was amazed by his commitment to self-improvement and asked him what his secret was behind self-actualisation. He said that he had learned discipline and the importance of time from his father, Anthony Manickam, a World War II veteran. What unfolded was the story of one of the many sepoys of the British Indian Army, whose contributions were crucial to the war effort but who were largely forgotten after Manickam was born on June 10, 1923, in Pavitram village in Tamil Nadu. He had only studied up to Class 2 and mostly helped his father with farming. One day, he heard that the Army was conducting a recruitment camp in a nearby village. Out of curiosity, Anthony and his friend went to watch. .'Hindutva' activists booked for accusing Kargil war veteran's kin of being Bangladeshi look at the tall, well-built Anthony was enough to convince the selection officer to seek out his enlistment. Anthony immediately was enrolled on June 10, 1941, at the age of 18, as a sepoy in the Madras Sappers, later renamed the Madras Engineering Group (MEG), headquartered in Bangalore since 1834. .After just six months of training, he was deployed to the Burma Campaign of World War II, where he fought in the British colony of Burma against the invading Japanese forces. It was a brutal war, filled with gunfire and loss, and Anthony witnessed many fellow soldiers fall around independence came the joy of serving one's own nation. When Anthony Cruz brought in his father's medals, I held the Burma Star in my hand, a campaign medal awarded to personnel who served in Burma between 11 December 1941 and 2 September 1945. .The medal, a six-pointed star, bore the Royal Cypher 'GRI VI' (King George VI) on the front, surrounded by the inscription 'The Burma star'. There was also a second six-pointed star bearing The 1939–1945 star and a third medal, The war medal 1939–1945, with a side profile of King George his Indian honours were five medals awarded after Independence. One of them was the Indian Independence Medal, which featured the Ashoka lions with the inscription Indian Independence at the top and 15th August 1947 below. .Manickam was also promoted to the rank of 'Naik'. During his service, he was posted in Bangalore for several years. His eldest daughter was born at Bowring Hospital in 1949. His postings took him across the country, including to Poona, where Anthony Cruz was served in the Indian Army's MEG regiment until 1968. Upon discharge, he struggled to support his family of five children. In Bangalore, he found daily-wage work in a workshop near MEG as a pattern maker in carpentry. A chance visit by a former Army commander helped him secure a job at HAL in 1971. Here, he worked in the security department until his retirement in 1981. He passed away on March 13, 2016, carrying with him the proud memories of having served the Anthony Manickam, an unsung sepoy mostly invisible in the pages of history, served the country with pride and honesty. I saw his legacy live on in his son Anthony Cruz, who, wherever he was posted, canteen, stores, or library, left the place more organised and improved. Anthony Cruz retired from HAL as Senior Chief Supervisor in 2019.
Hindustan Times
4 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Delhiwale: Chandni Chowk Arbour
The martyrs' bodies were hanging from the trees, here in Chandni Chowk. That's one of the legends Purani Dilli wale tend to recall of this Walled City avenue. The executions were said to have followed the doomed 1857 uprising against the British. Many of the trees were later felled by the colonial occupiers. The martyrs' bodies were hanging from the trees, here in Chandni Chowk. That's one of the legends Purani Dilli wale tend to recall of this Walled City avenue. The executions were said to have followed the doomed 1857 uprising against the British. (HT) Today, Chandni Chowk is overloaded with trees—unlike the rest of Old Delhi, which hardly has any. A few of the trees are even furnished with stone benches. Indeed, over the decades, Delhi's many chroniclers have extensively dissected Chandni Chowk for its many historic monuments and landmarks. Time to make a note of its many trees as well. Let's start with a tree more common to coastal lands than to landlocked Delhi—the palm. Central Baptist Church has one. Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib has eight! The sacred peepal, however, is the tree most widely spread across Chandni Chowk. An exceptionally lush peepal stands outside the main gate of Town Hall. This afternoon, a towel-seller has stacked up a bundle of colourful towels right beside the trunk. The massive peepal is also harbouring about a dozen people sitting under its shade; they appear to be fatigued shoppers. Labourers and rickshaw pullers are also resting under the peepal facing Chhabra Trading and the peepal in front of Hero Pharmacy Sex Rogi Clinic. In fact, almost every Chandni Chowk tree is like a dharamshala, a refuge of transitory rest for citizens. This sun-filled hour, scores of men are sheltering under these trees. Some are lying flat in the shade, seemingly asleep. Others are sitting motionless, indifferent to the bazar chaos. Toy-seller Ramesh's establishment lies under a… he couldn't identify the tree, saying, 'it gives a fruit that only birds eat.' And what's this tree with unusually large leaves, next to Aditya Textiles? A passerby identifies it as sagwan (teak), remarking that its wood is the costliest. (The men sitting beneath instantly turn to look towards the trunk.) Steps away, two peepals are twinning like Seeta aur Geeta. One tree houses a shoe repairer's longtime stall. Lifting his face from Navodaya Times newspaper, the friendly gent introduces himself as Prakash Kumar Das. The other tree has a matar-kulcha stall. Its vendor's name too is Prakash. The peepal in front of Yammy Momos is vendor-free. It shelters a camp marked 'Police Post Beat No. 6.' For the moment, the noisiest tree is the peepal in front of Bhagwan Dass Labhu Ram Laces & Embroiders. Dozens of monkeys are jumping across the branches, making the tree shake with their hullabaloo. Last and least, the only tree in Chandni Chowk that is totally deserted stands outside Bhikharam Chandmal mithai shop. It has zero leaf, zero shade.
