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India.com
2 days ago
- India.com
Looking For Peace And Mystery? These 8 Historical Spots In Almora Feel Like Time Travel!
Almora, a beautiful town located in Uttarakhand's Kumaon hills in India is not only a delight to nature lovers but also a treasure trove of historical marvels. It is steeped in rich heritage and cultural significance, which has manifested into numerous historical sites that reveal its splendid history. The town of Almora is full of stories about ancient temples and colonial-era buildings. Come with me on an exploration expedition into the past to find out where the best historical locations are situated in Almora. Sun Temple: The Katarmal Sun Temple was built in the 9th century, an example of architectural capabilities and dedication towards sun god by Almora residents. This ancient shrine nestled among peaceful pine trees has been adorned with intricate carvings providing visitors with astonishing sights of the Himalayas. From this temple one can experience the majesty behind it as well as observe its celestial alignment said to have astronomical implications. Golu Devta Temple: Chitai Golu Devta Temple is one such place for prayers dedicated to Golu Devta, who was known for his righteousness and quick reactions; it attracts many devotees from all over Almora. This temple, which was built as far back as the twelfth century, practises the tradition of presenting written applications to God Devta's divine influence on their lives can be seen through thousands of bells present around temple campus. End Corner: Bright End Corner does not fall under list of usual historic spots yet it carries some weight due to colonial associationism named after a Britisher Brighton ,who had his house here,Bright End Corner provides stunning views across snow-capped peaks at sunrise or tranquil gardens provide a great opportunity for visitors to reflect on the colonial era that had once been part of this scenic landscape. Devi Temple: Kasar Devi Temple stands atop a hill, hoary with myth and spirituality. It is thought to be the abode of Kasar Devi, an important local deity, and as such it has been attracting spiritual seekers and artists for centuries. This then became a site of popular interest during the 1920s when Swami Vivekananda and DH Lawrence were among those who visited it, re-enforcing its mystique and cultural importance. Ballabh Pant Museum: Govind Ballabh Pant Museum would be very interesting for historians interested in learning about Uttarakhand's culture and heritage. The name of the museum comes from famous freedom fighter and statesman, Govind Ballabh Pant that contains a diverse collection including archaeological relics, manuscripts as well as traditional handicrafts. One can track the development of Almora's culture through time within the region's history. Park: Deer Park used to be a hunting ground owned by Chand rulers before turning into a peaceful sanctuary surrounded by oak & pine forests known for its deer population, one can also find here an ancient Shiva temple believed to have originated back in eleventh century. Visitors can roam around green surroundings, enjoy meals near streams or simply get lost in nature's quietness.' Martola is a charming village located just a few kilometres from Almora that has old-world appeal and rustic attraction. It is colonised with colonial style bungalows and beautiful orchards which give one an idea of how the town was like during the colonial times in Almora. People can have refreshing walks in the countryside, have chats with warm-hearted residents, and enjoy peace of mind. Kalimath is known for its ancient Kali temple and mystical atmosphere which is hidden among dense forests. This sanctuary is believed to have been established by Chand rulers and holds great spiritual significance for worshipers. With gigantic deodar trees surrounding it on all sides as well as providing majestic views of Himalayas, Kalimath becomes an idyllic place for those wishing to find solace or spiritual rejuvenation. Final Thoughts The town of Almora serves as a testament to India's rich cultural background and historical heritage. Every part of this small town has a story to tell; it could be ancient temples or other relics from colonisation periods which describe past eras viewed in holy enthusiasm. You may be someone attracted to history, nature or religion but Almora has something unique that will stay with you forever after taking part in any such time has come to take your bags and go on an exciting journey through ages so as not to miss the timeless charm of India's Almora City.
Los Angeles Times
10-07-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Unmukt Chand rejuvenates his cricket career with the L.A. Knight Riders
After captaining India to an Under-19 World Cup title in 2012 — with arguably the finest performance of his life — Unmukt Chand struggled to even watch his country play on TV. After donning the royal blue and molten orange jersey as part of India A — the second rung of the national team ladder — Chand's performance dipped and his name eventually disappeared from the game-day roster for his home state team in Delhi After donning the royal blue and molten orange jersey as part of India's A — or second-best — national team, Chand struggled and eventually fell off the game-day roster for his home state team in Delhi. After years gunning for India's main team, Chand found himself circling the fringes. His early stardom never quite translated into a stable senior career as opportunities dried up in a system overflowing with talent. By 2021, the dream was still alive, but the runway had faded and Chand decided to retire from all forms of Indian cricket. 'To let go of that feeling was something which took me time, and obviously I had to do my own catharsis. I had self-identity doubts,' Chand said. With the courage to start over, he unloaded his bags on American soil, where the pitch was still being laid. What the U.S. lacked in tradition, it made up for in potential, Chand said — seeing a future in a place that wasn't bound by his past. 'We've all grown up watching American sports and the way they do sports activities, and everything around it is something very exciting,' Chand said, 'and something very different from a cricketing point of view.' Chand and his wife, Simran Khosla, settled on relocating to Dallas. It was a leap made solely for cricket — one that left Khosla without work, stability or anything resembling certainty. In 2019, American Cricket Enterprises, the strategic partner of USA Cricket, pledged a $1-billion investment to jumpstart a professional T20 league in the country. T20 is a condensed, fast-paced format of the game. That vision materialized in 2023 with the debut of Major League Cricket, featuring six privately owned franchises each backed by global investors, including some of cricket's most iconic brands. ESPNcricinfo reported that the league will expand to eight teams in 2027, with sights set on 10 by 2031. The goal? Hook American to a flashier style of cricket that emphasizes quick scoring, frequent momentum swings and just enough chaos to attract fans who couldn't tell a wicket from a walk-off. 'MLC is exciting — that's why it is attracting so many players — top players from around the world,' Chand said. 'The way they have done this competition is also very nice, the way teams are being made, the way the domestic and international representation is there.' While MLC's launch was delayed to 2022 due to COVID-19, ACE had already been courting Chand as the kind of marquee talent who could lend legitimacy and hype to the U.S.'s cricketing scene. He made his American debut in August 2021 with the Silicon Valley Strikers in Minor League Cricket, a developmental league aimed at growing the sport across the U.S. 'We were his biggest fans,' said Natwar Agarwal, owner of the Strikers. 'We always heard about him, and it was like a dream come true — Unmukt Chand is here, and there's a possibility that he can play for our team.' You likely wouldn't have guessed that he'd just crossed nearly 8,000 miles or buried a dream that shaped his boyhood. Chand paced the league in runs per game, piling up 612 runs during 16 innings as he piloted his team to the inaugural Minor League Cricket title. 'Players like him, … showed that a good quality of cricket can happen in the U.S.,' Agarwal said. 'Still today, I get calls from players in India, Pakistan — they want to explore the opportunity where they can come here and play.' Chand's championship summer opened doors around the world — including Australia and Bangladesh — but none felt quite like home until 2023, when he signed with Major League Cricket's Los Angeles Knight Riders, the American arm of one of cricket's most storied franchises. The organization, owned by Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan, brought a built-in international fan base and marketing muscle rarely seen in American cricket. For Chand, it was the break he'd been denied back home: a team that backed him, and a league that let him prove he still belonged at the top. 'Playing for a franchise like Knight Riders is something very special, and being in L.A. makes it big,' Chand said. 'L.A. holds a very special place — it's been a sporting capital with obviously the Lakers, and us now being a part of the same sporting ecosystem.' He joined the Knight Riders as a top-order batsman in a locker room stocked with international firepower and helmed by Dwayne Bravo, a West Indies legend in the T20 format. Chand made good on it. 'He's been doing really well for us over the years — he was a really great addition to our Knight Riders team,' said Ali Khan, Chand's teammate and a member of the U.S. national team. 'Always helpful and engaged in the field, and off the field as well, he's always there and helping the team.' The Knight Riders languished at the bottom of the table in 2025, where they had the past two seasons. But Chand's 33.6 run average this year offered a rare glint in an otherwise dull stretch. He produced an unbeaten 86 runs off 58 balls to lift his team to one of its two victories this season, prompting Bravo to publicly endorse his star batsman for the U.S. national team. 'This guy deserves to be involved in USA cricket team! Cricket is bigger than politics, let's do right for these players. Well done!' Bravo wrote on an Instagram story. And yet, for Chand, a U.S. call-up remains elusive. He was left out of the 2024 T20 World Cup roster and passed over for multiple tours abroad. While Chand's domestic performances have been solid, selectors have said he has yet to shift the selection calculus in a system that might prioritize younger prospects. 'With the USA World Cup not happening for him, it was a little disappointing for us. Not little — very, because this is what we moved here for,' Khosla said. 'But he was at it even when things were not working for him — focusing on the process, going back to the basics, working hard, practicing more.' Though the lack of selection still stings, it's not unfamiliar for Chand. Adversity gave him a mindset he still leans on. The U.S. snubs haven't shaken him — his focus, he says, remains to 'perform wherever I can, make the best use of my opportunities and hopefully those things will happen sooner than later.' Khosla, who met Chand during what she called his 'most struggling phase,' said his drive never faded — even when things felt bleak. What kept him going? His love for the game. 'Cricket is his religion,' Khosla said. 'Cricket is something I would call his first wife. … If you take out his blood, his blood would be cricket.' Chand, 32, speaks ambitiously about the future of American cricket — and his desire to be at the center of its development. The signs are there, he said: the growth of Major League Cricket, the influx of youth academies, the construction of stadiums and the promise of the sport being featured during the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. He came to the U.S. chasing a reimagined version of a childhood dream. He didn't need to rediscover the game — just needed a new place to keep feeding the fire. His journey is chronicled in a documentary that was recently selected for screening by the Dallas International Film Festival. 'U.S. is my new home, and I'm going to be here only,' Chand said. 'Playing for USA, playing MLC, playing other franchises around the world is the way to go forward. And cricket has definitely been on the rise. … I look forward to the next few years in USA. It's going to be exciting.'
Time of India
05-07-2025
- Time of India
J&K HC acquits man in wife's murder, cites flawed probe
J&K HC (File photo) SRINAGAR: J&K high court recently acquitted a man sentenced to life imprisonment for allegedly murdering his wife in 2012, citing major flaws in the investigation and granting him benefit of the doubt. The division bench overturned the 2015 conviction by principal sessions judge of Udhampur, ruling that the prosecution's case was riddled with inconsistencies, unreliable evidence, and procedural lapses. Maan Chand, a resident of Ramnagar in Jammu, had been convicted under section 302 of the now-repealed Ranbir Penal Code for the murder of his wife Kanta Devi on the intervening night of Oct 26–27 in 2012. Prosecutors claimed he attacked her with a bamboo stick and sickle after objecting to an alleged extra-marital relationship, and then set her and the bedding on fire using kerosene from a lamp. The bench questioned the credibility of the evidence presented. 'There were inconsistencies regarding the type of weapons used, the nature of injuries, and contradictions in recovery of the alleged weapon of offence,' the high court said. Autopsy procedures were also called into question. It was conducted in a private residence, with conflicting reasons offered by the doctor, witnesses, and investigating officer. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Providers are furious: Internet access without a subscription! Techno Mag Learn More Undo The doctor wasn't shown the alleged murder weapon and issued the autopsy report 22 days after examination. The bench said he failed to explain how he remembered specific wound details after such a delay. The court flagged inconsistencies in the timeline of Chand's arrest and discrepancies in witness and police accounts of visits to the crime scene. It also said that no evidence was submitted to support the claim of Kanta Devi's alleged infidelity — mainstay of the prosecution's motive narrative. A crucial aspect overlooked by the trial court, the bench said, was the presence of the couple's 2.5-year-old son, who allegedly suffered burns on his back. 'No attempt was made to consider why, if the accused was present during the crime, he didn't rescue his son,' the judges wrote. Quoting Aristotle, the bench remarked: 'A father would instinctively risk his life to save his child.' He criticised the trial court for failing to weigh this natural paternal instinct. The bench allowed the appeal, set aside the lower court's judgment and acquitted Chand of all charges. 'He shall be set at liberty forthwith, if not required in any other case,' the order said.
The Wire
05-07-2025
- The Wire
Conflicting, Implausible Testimony; Shady Post-Mortem: J&K HC Chucks Case Against Murder Convict
Law Anirudh S. K. Having found untenable the case against a Jammu man who has spent 12 years in jail, the high court ordered that he be set free. The high court observed that the trial court's failure to examine the 'deficiencies and flaws' in the prosecution's story led to the flawed conviction of Maan Chand, a resident of Jakhed village, in 2012 for allegedly murdering his wife Kanta Devi over suspicion that she was having an extramarital affair. 'The judgment deprecates the practice adopted by trial judges to give primacy to evidence of witnesses mechanically without evaluating them with surrounding circumstances and more particularly, the normal course of human conduct,' advocate Anmol Sharma, who represented Chand, told The Wire. The Basantgarh police station in Jammu's Udhampur district claimed to have arrested Chand on October 29, 2012, two days after he was alleged to have committed the crime. On December 17, 2015, the principal sessions judge in Udhampur convicted him under section 302 of the Ranbir Penal Code and sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment for life and a fine of Rs 6,000. However, the high court on Tuesday (July 1) held that Chand was convicted by the trial court on the basis of 'fragile evidence' despite 'variations, contradictions and discrepancies' in the prosecution's case. A double bench of the Jammu wing of the high court comprising Justices Sindhu Sharma and Shahzad Azeem while granting the benefit of doubt to Chand observed that the trial court's failure to scrutinise the evidence and witness statements 'do not inspire [the court's] confidence'. The prosecution had relied heavily on the claim that Devi was allegedly involved in an extra-marital relationship, but the court pointed out that no evidence was presented to substantiate that allegation. 'We are unable to concur with the findings of the trial court, particularly when on every point under consideration we have noted deficiencies and flaws, which are staring at the heavy burden cast on the prosecution to prove the guilt beyond all shadow of doubt so as to rebut the presumption of innocence, which is a cornerstone of criminal jurisprudence,' the bench said. Quoting Greek philosopher Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics on parents' love for their children, the bench observed that the trial court failed to address the question of why the accused had left his 30-month-old son in the house that he allegedly set on fire on the fateful night. 'The trial court's failure to address this aspect in its judgment overlooks the natural and powerful paternal instinct,' the court said. In its chargesheet, the police claimed that Devi's brother Des Raj reported to the Basantgarh police station at 6 am on October 27, 2012 that Chand killed his sister with a sickle and a bamboo stick and later set her bedding on fire before escaping. Chand worked as a labourer in Katra in the adjoining Reasi district and mostly stayed away from home. Raj alleged that on the night of the incident, Devi had stepped out of their home late at night, which led to an argument between the couple. On the basis of Raj's statement, a case (FIR No 30/2012) was filed under sections 302 of the Ranbir Penal Code and 4/25 of the Arms Act on October 27, 2012 and investigation was started. The high court bench observed that the trial court overlooked the contradictions and discrepancies in the testimonies of the witnesses, the recovery of the weapon of offence and expert evidence, along with other issues. While Raj had told the police that Chand set his sister's bedding on fire after their argument turned violent, the high court pointed to his testimony during the trial that the accused poured kerosene on his sister and set her on fire near the door of the room. The prosecution's case was also marred by discrepancies in the statements of witnesses about the presence of the accused at the house after the murder. While the initial police report said that Chand had already fled from the house when Raj and two other witnesses, who lived in the same house, reached there, the prosecution told the court that he was present in the house and fled only after seeing the trio. The court punched holes in the prosecution's story by asking why other family members in the house didn't wake up as the violent crime occurred on the fateful night. The high court observed that the prosecution's story that the victim's brother was pinned down by the accused with a foot for two to three hours while holding a sickle in one hand, a bamboo stick in another and also setting fire to his wife's bedding while the brother-sister duo made no attempt to resist him doesn't hold water. 'Our [conscience does] not allow us to buy the version of the prosecution witnesses, because if any person would be subjected to such a gruesome assault, then in all probability, he would raise hue and cry, shall struggle and try to escape, particularly when there is also support of real brother [sic],' the court said. These discrepancies 'cast a doubt on the prosecution story, as it runs in [a] diametrically opposite direction to the natural behaviour,' the court said. While raising questions on Raj, who was the prosecution's star witness, the court observed that his behaviour was 'doubtful', making the 'manner of commission of crime … highly suspicious'. 'This also casts doubt on the occurrence and the manner of the commission of crime as alleged by the prosecution.' The court also raised questions about the post-mortem of the deceased, which was conducted in a private residence, while pointing out the conflicting reasons given by the doctor, prosecution witnesses and the investigating officer for the irregular procedure. The court said that the doctor was never shown the weapon of offence for his opinion on the nature of injuries suffered by the deceased. 'There is nothing on record to show that any attempt has been made in this regard either by the prosecution or by the court, therefore, it may not be wrong to say the genesis of the crime had been suppressed and the prosecution story becomes highly doubtful in view of this omission on the part of the prosecution,' it said. The court pointed out that Devi's post-mortem report was prepared 22 days after the crime and the doctor failed to explain how he was able to recall the details of multiple wounds of varying dimensions after such a long delay, even though he had not made any notes on the day he examined the body. The court also raised questions on the prosecution's claim of having found impressions of Chand's fingerprints on the sickle allegedly used in the commission of the crime, noting that it was not possible to find clear fingerprint impressions on a rough weapon like a sickle that was without a handle. Citing multiple judgments of the Supreme Court, the high court bench said that the prosecution's case was full of 'loopholes', while ordering the authorities to set Chand free. The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
Indian Express
05-07-2025
- Indian Express
Delhi man claims he was stabbed and robbed of Rs 13 lakh, arrested for cover-up
A robbery case that initially appeared to be a brazen daylight heist took an unexpected turn when the Delhi Police discovered that it was a meticulously staged act, allegedly orchestrated by the complainant himself. The accused and his associate were arrested, and the entire stolen amount of Rs 13 lakh was recovered, the police said on Friday. The incident was reported on Thursday when a call was received about a robbery involving a substantial sum of money, the police said. The complainant, Subhash Chand, 22, who works as an accountant at a trading company, claimed that he had withdrawn Rs 13 lakh from a bank and was subsequently robbed on a flyover by six unidentified men on three motorcycles. He alleged that the assailants stabbed him and fled with the cash. 'During the investigation, CCTV cameras were analysed, but no suspicious bikes were seen chasing the inquiry revealed that the complainant's injuries appeared superficial and inconsistent with being caused by a knife. Upon sustained interrogation, Chand broke down and confessed to the crime,' Sukant S Ballabh, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, West, said. Chand allegedly admitted that he had planned the staged robbery with his friend Vijaypal, 26. According to the police, Chand, who has been employed at the trading company for two years, was reportedly under immense financial pressure after losing Rs 30 lakh in gambling. In a desperate bid to recover his losses and repay the borrowed stake money, he allegedly concocted the plan to embezzle Rs 13 lakh from the company and cover it up as a robbery. According to his alleged confession, Chand withdrew the cash from the bank and handed it over to Vijaypal at Rajouri Garden Metro Station. Vijaypal then escaped using a Rapido bike service, reached Dhaula Kuan, and took a bus to his native village, the police said.
