Latest news with #SaltMarch
Mint
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Mint
From Gandhi's vlogs to a Mughal Shark Tank—AI is reimagining history for Gen Z
"From Mahatma Gandhi vlogging his Salt March to Shah Jahan offering a quirky home tour of the Red Fort, AI-generated videos are giving history a Gen Z twist. These short, influencer-style reels are going viral on Instagram, drawing in young audiences with their meme-worthy tone and bite-sized history lessons. Creators are using AI tools to bring historical figures into the modern era—speaking in everyday slang, joking about steroids, or even pitching businesses on a fictional 'Mughal Shark Tank.' 'I started my page just two weeks back, as an experiment to blend AI with history," said Rahul S. Nair, creator of the Instagram page which now has over 122,000 followers. 'I didn't expect that these videos will be received so well, especially by the Union Public Service Commission and government exam aspirants who now have an opportunity to brush up their concepts even while using social media." Nair, an Indian architect based in London, is a history buff leveraging AI to make learning fun. He explains that the key lies in using relatable language. 'When analysing the algorithm, I've noticed that in India, short-form content primarily targets audiences in their 20s and 30s. To engage this demographic, it's crucial to use a specific style of language and slang," Nair said. 'The trick is to share facts in a fun and engaging way. Picture a historical figure acting like they belong in today's world, that surprise factor really helps people remember better." Hard work Creating these videos, however, is far from easy. Due to copyright limitations, AI-generated likenesses of historical figures must be approximated, not replicated. 'Due to copyright restrictions, using actual images of historical figures is often impossible... The real challenge, then, is to generate a close likeness using AI prompts and then accurately sync the lip movements to the script. This intricate process can take over 12 hours for just an 8-16 second reel," Nair said. Tushar Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson, sees merit in the approach but warns against trivialisation. 'There are plus and minus points to this trend. It may make Bapu more believable to the younger generation, but there is a likelihood of oversimplification and trivialisation of the ideology," he said. Education experts echo this sentiment. Narayanan Ramaswamy, partner and head of the education and skill development practice at KPMG in India, said such content is ideal for sparking curiosity but lacks academic depth. 'While excellent for casual learning of historical trivia, these concise and entertaining videos cater to diminishing attention spans... Still, for now, this content remains better suited for casual engagement than formal education," he said. Monetising the trend Meanwhile, creators are exploring ways to monetise the trend. Shubham Kolgane, a 23-year-old freelancer from Parbhani, started with an AI-generated monkey video on 20 June. It saw modest engagement, but his pivot to historical reels paid off—his Mahatma Gandhi Salt March video garnered nearly two million views. 'People are curious to learn how to create viral videos like these, and I have been selling a tutorial course about how to generate prompts on ChatGPT that help them make such videos on Gemini Veo 3. In two weeks, I've sold the one-and-a-half minute video to 10 people for ₹99," Kolgane shared. Others like Shikhar Srivastava, a software professional in Noida, are seeing rising follower counts but no revenue yet. 'Currently, I am not making any money from this... I am planning to launch AI courses and seek brand collaborations," said Srivastava, who runs and has over 15,000 followers. Experts believe the trend has commercial potential—if it scales. 'In the past month, we've seen a rise in AI-generated history content, yet no brands have actively engaged with it," said Praanesh Bhuvaneswar, cofounder of marketing agency Qoruz. 'For these history AI pages to truly become a viable subcategory... we'll need to see their numbers grow to at least 20-30," he said. 'Currently, AI content pages in other niches charge around ₹20,000 per collaboration... we anticipate a rapid proliferation of these history-focused pages, leading to increased competition and potentially lower collaboration costs."
India.com
01-07-2025
- Business
- India.com
10 'Did-You-Knows' About Ahmedabad That'll Make You The Smartest In The Room
Ahmedabad exists in Gujarat's western India region as a magnificent fusion of historical significance along with cultural values and contemporary development. The city of Ahmedabad stands recognized as one of India's major municipalities because of its wealthy cultural background and economic growth alongside its creative mindset. The following 10 facts reveal both the distinct qualities and national significance of Ahmedabad city. 1. A Historical Foundation The city foundation of Ahmedabad happened in 1411 AD when Ahmed Shah established it on the banks of the Sabarmati River. Karnavati served as the capital of the Gujarat Sultanate when its founder established the settlement before receiving his namesake. During medieval times Ahmedabad thrived as a commercial and cultural center because of its advantageous location at major trade routes. Numerous historical landmarks from the Bhadra Fort and Teen Darwaza forthrightly represent the city's magnificent past which developed during this era. 2. A UNESCO World Heritage City The historic walled city of Ahmedabad secured its position as India's very first UNESCO World Heritage City in 2017. The recognition validates the unique architectural masterpieces which include the elegant wooden havelis alongside the mosques and stepwells and temples within the city. The traditional design of 'pols' in the old city's narrow lanes maintains past customs and community living through their preservation of century-old lifestyle customs. 3. The Birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi's Nonviolent Movement The freedom movement of India deeply connects with Ahmedabad because it became prominent through Mahatma Gandhi's Sabarmati Ashram. Gandhi chose the ashram as his home when he founded it in 1917 and used it as his headquarters to lead his nonviolent protests culminating in the Salt March of 1930. The Sabarmati Ashram now functions as both heritage museum and spiritual center which welcomes international travelers seeking knowledge about Gandhi's teachings of nonviolent opposition. 4. A Hub for Textiles and Denim Production People call this Indian city the 'Manchester of the East' because it has maintained itself as a major textile production center throughout history. During British colonial rule Ahmedabad became essential for India's industrial developments because of its developing textile mills. The manufacturing sector of textiles, particularly denim, continues to thrive in present-day Ahmedabad. The manufacturing facilities in India produce 80% of Indian denim which makes the nation a worldwide leader in this textile segment. 5. Home to One of India's Premier Educational Institutions The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad stands as a premier business school located inside Ahmedabad which holds a leading position among national educational institutions. IIM-A has maintained its position among worldwide top management institutions since its establishment in 1961. International architect Louis Kahn delivered an ideal architectural fusion of utility with visual appeal through his masterpiece campus design. The educational institution has consistently produced business leaders who have boosted India's economic growth through their industries. 6. Vibrant Festivals and Cultural Diversity Ahmedabad gains its recognition through its active festivals which coexist with multicultural traditions. During Navratri when people celebrate Goddess Durga for nine nights they perform energetic Garba and Dandiya Raas dances at this festival. Throughout the month of January the city hosts the International Kite Festival together with Uttarayan (Makar Sankranti) festivities that enable residents to fly colorful kites while celebrating the harvest season. The festivals display Ahmedabad's caring character as well as its historic heritage interests. 7. Architectural Marvels Beyond the Old City Two distinct features define Ahmedabad: its medieval old city retains traditional appeal while new modern architectural marvels flourish throughout its other areas. An awe-inspiring monument that worships Lord Swaminarayan exists outside the city in the structure of the Akshardham Temple. The Adalaj Stepwell stands proudly as an example of an architectural masterpiece from 1499 because it combines structures found in Hindu and Islamic traditions to create a five-story underground marvel. The Sidi Saiyyed Mosque stands out for its stunning stone lattice windows that has become known as the best exemplification of Indo-Islamic design. 8. The Sabarmati Riverfront Development Project One of the biggest urban redevelopment efforts occurring in Ahmedabad is the Sabarmati Riverfront Development project. Through this initiative the banks of the river obtained a new identity as recreational grounds with parks and promenades along with boating facilities and cultural centers. The project brought better infrastructure to the city and created a beautiful destination for people living in Ahmedabad and visiting tourists to relax in nature. The riverfront functions as an emblem of Ahmedabad's modern growth combined with its dedication to safeguarding natural resources. 9. A Thriving Economic and Industrial Center Among all the cities in Gujarat Ahmedabad stands out as the largest economic center. The city operates numerous industries which start from pharmaceuticals alongside chemicals and automobiles and information technology. Gujarat implemented its first Special Economic Zone (SEZ) which increased Ahmedabad's reputation as a supportive business environment. The industrial activities of Cadila Pharmaceuticals along with Torrent Pharma and the Adani Group take place within Ahmedabad which generates employment and innovation along with being home to their organizational headquarters. 10. Culinary Delights Reflecting Gujarati Culture Visitors cannot overlook the mouthwatering food scene when touring Ahmedabad. Gujarati dietary patterns mainly consist of vegetarian dishes with pairings of sweet and savory tastes. The most celebrated cuisine items in Ahmedabad include dhokla, khandvi, undhiyu and fafda-jalebi. The Law Garden Night Market offers street food lovers the chance to try the local specialties pani puri as well as sev tamatar nu shaak and pav bhaji. The city's food places provide residents and visitors an opportunity to experience traditional Gujarati eating customs. Wrapping Up The city of Ahmedabad connects historical ruins to modern buildings in perfect harmony to serve history enthusiasts along with students and food enthusiasts alongside architects and businesspeople. The city achieves UNESCO World Heritage status because of its cultural significance and supports its future-oriented economy through its educational training programs. A visit to Ahmedabad brings visitors through its historic old town architecture and lets them experience Indian heritage and modern aspirations through its various cultural attractions.
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First Post
16-06-2025
- Politics
- First Post
Baloch must embrace civil disobedience to resist Pakistan's repression
From Gandhi's Salt March in colonial India to the sit-ins led by Black students in segregated America, history shows that justice has always advanced when ordinary people chose civil disobedience over silent suffering read more What options are left when every legal path is blocked, when even mourning becomes a punishable act, and a mother clutching her son's photograph is seen as a danger? When the courts, human rights commissions, and press clubs all turn their backs, what remains is not hope, but a quiet determination to endure and to resist. The past year has made one thing clear to the oppressed Baloch nation: the state has no interest in dialogue, justice, or reform. The crackdown on the Baloch Yakjehti Committee; the arrests of peaceful activists like Mahrang Baloch, Sibghat Ullah Shahji, and Beebagr Baloch; the brutal response to the long march to Islamabad and the Baloch National Gathering in Gwadar—none of this was accidental. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD It is part of a long-standing campaign to silence and intimidate Baloch voices through brute force. These were not militants, but students, lawyers, doctors and families searching for their missing loved ones. They carried placards, chanted slogans and held photographs. In return, they faced repression, arrests, baton charges, tear gas and complete indifference from the very institutions meant to uphold their rights. In March 2025, in Balochistan's capital Quetta, families of the missing came to the streets alongside young activists to demand answers. These were families who had spent years searching for their loved ones—sons, daughters, and brothers who had disappeared without a trace. They called for the release of detained members of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee and others held without charge. The state responded not with dialogue or compassion but with violence. Pakistani forces opened fire on unarmed protesters, killing three children in broad daylight. Those who spoke out were arrested, and those who stood in solidarity were harassed and intimidated. Grieving women were dragged and manhandled in the streets, while Mahrang Baloch, a leading voice of the movement, was taken into custody along with others in a wave of unlawful detentions. In a political order where peaceful dissent is met with such force, mass civil disobedience is no longer just a right; it becomes a moral duty. And now, as Baloch women and sisters themselves are being abducted, harassed and even killed, as they were in Awaran, Kech and Quetta, the red line has been crossed once again. This time, the response cannot follow the same path. It must take the shape of mass civil disobedience. A refusal to continue participating in a system that criminalises identity and grief. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The Baloch must now break the illusion of normalcy that the state depends on. Let teachers resign until the disappeared are returned or at least acknowledged. Let bureaucrats leave their offices and stop lending their labour to a government that erases their families. Let students refuse to sit in classrooms where their accents turn them into suspects. Let shopkeepers shut their stores, transport come to a halt and the roads empty. The state's authority should be met with collective and determined withdrawal. And let the Baloch people march again, not to courtrooms that offer no justice or press clubs that refuse to speak the truth, but to the gates of military cantonments and intelligence offices, where so many of the disappeared were last seen, where countless others continue to face inhumane torture. Let them stand before the institutions that built this terror and say, 'Abduct or kill us too. You abducted our sons and our daughters. You killed our mothers. We will not live half-lives anymore.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD This is not some distant ideal or romantic notion. It has happened before, and it can happen again. From Gandhi's Salt March in colonial India to the sit-ins led by Black students in segregated America, history shows that justice has always advanced when ordinary people chose civil disobedience over silent suffering. When the law serves only power, disobedience becomes the highest expression of civic duty. Gandhi did not defeat the British with rifles; he broke their hold by daring them to arrest him, knowing thousands more would rise in his place. The Civil Rights Movement did not end segregation through appeasement but through the unbearable moral clarity of young people being hosed down for trying to go to school. The resistance that authoritarian states fear most is not violent—it is moral, disciplined, and impossible to ignore. Pakistan may fear militants in the mountains, but what it fears even more is unarmed, organised resistance. It fears a protest that refuses to disappear, one that grows stronger each time it is attacked. It fears women like Mahrang Baloch, who stand before cameras and say, 'We are not asking for charity; we are demanding justice. Stop your barbarity in Balochistan and give us answers.' And it fears thousands like her—people who carry no weapons, only the weight of memory and the strength to keep speaking when silence is safer. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The state has made it clear, time and again, that it has no tolerance for peaceful dissent. This is exactly why the leaders of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee were targeted—not because they took up arms or incited violence, but because they refused to be silent. They were not punished for insurrection but for daring to organise within the bounds of the law. They were not arrested for agitation but for remembering the disappeared. When a state begins to treat remembrance itself as a threat, when mourning is labelled as sedition, it becomes painfully clear that the era of appeals, petitions, and commissions is over. Civil disobedience offers a way forward that does not rely on violence but on collective courage and dignity. Imagine mothers standing in quiet rows outside Pakistani military camps, holding nothing but photographs of their missing children. Imagine students walking out of universities in protest, not for privilege, but because their language or surname has marked them as suspects. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Imagine entire neighbourhoods marching together to the gates of military installations with a clear message: 'We will not cooperate in our own erasure.' This is not disorder or chaos; it is disciplined, purposeful resistance. It is the reclaiming of moral ground in a system built on denial and repression. The question is no longer whether the Baloch should resist but how to resist in a way that is effective, principled, and enduring. The answer lies in resistance that is nonviolent, collective, and unwavering. Continuing to beg a state that responds only with indiscriminate firing, tear gas, batons, and silence is a slow and suffocating death. Mass disobedience is never easy. It requires discipline, sacrifice, and unity that reaches across cities, communities, and generations, from Awaran to Kech, Gwadar to Quetta, Panjgur to Pasni. Yet it remains the only form of protest that carries both moral legitimacy and the power to shake the foundations of repression. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Let the state be forced to choose between acknowledging its violence or exposing its fear of peace. Let it come to understand that if it continues to criminalise grief, then grief will grow beyond its control. Let it face the reality of Baloch mothers who no longer beg but who will not walk away either. And let it be clear that if the state insists on erasing the Baloch, then the Baloch will step away from the very system that depends on their silence and cooperation. This is what settles in when people have tried everything—waited outside courts, knocked on every door, held up photographs, but nothing changed. When silence and oppression are all the state offers, the only thing left is to say no, together. This is not a call to destroy but a call to sit down, to disrupt the system peacefully and refuse to be pushed aside any longer. And if the state sees even that as a threat, then let it do what it has done to so many before. Let it abduct us too. Let it kill us too. But we won't be silent, and we won't fade away like our lives don't matter. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Dilshad Baluch is a journalist from Pakistan's Balochistan Province and a graduate of Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @DilshadBaluch. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views.
Time of India
06-06-2025
- General
- Time of India
18,000 kg of waste collected from beaches during fortnight-long drive in Guajrat
Gandhinagar: More than 18,350kg of waste, including a large quantity of plastic, was collected from the beaches of the state in a fortnight-long drive from May 22 to June 5, the state govt informed on Friday. The drive to clean beaches was undertaken by the Gujarat Environment Management Institute (GEMI) with participation from citizens. An official statement said that cleaning activities were conducted at coastal sites of Dwarka, Shivrajpur, Umargam, Dandi, Dumas, Mahuva, Porbandar, and Ravalpir. The initiative was supported by the Gujarat Pollution Control Board, local municipalities, forest officials, NGOs, and industries. A number of awareness programmes were also held for the responsible disposal of waste, the statement said. With a 1,600-km coastline, Gujarat has several popular beaches like Shivrajpur (a Blue Flag-certified beach), Dwarka, Dumas, Tithal, Mandvi, Ghoghla, Somnath, Dandi, Porbandar, and Umargam. Some of these beaches also hold historical and ecological significance. Dandi is associated with Mahatma Gandhi's famous 'Salt March', while Shivrajpur's Blue Flag status signifies high standards of cleanliness, safety, and environmental sustainability. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Transform Your Child's Confidence with Our Public Speaking Program Planet Spark Book Now Undo An official statement said that increasing tourist footfalls and local littering have led to beaches being polluted, mainly by single-use plastics, plastic bottles, wrappers, fishing nets, and other non-biodegradable waste accumulating along the coast. This waste endangers marine life such as turtles, crabs, and coastal birds, apart from affecting the livelihood of fishermen. The statement said that apart from the cleaning of beaches, awareness was created through 37 street plays performed in urban and rural areas of 15 districts like Aravalli, Rajkot, Bharuch, Kutch, Dahod, Junagadh, and Dang. These performances reached over 4,100 people, educating them about plastic hazards and promoting eco-friendly practices. Ten residential societies of Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad also joined in the waste collection drive, with about 450 residents collecting more than 250kg of recyclable plastic, the statement said. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Eid wishes , messages , and quotes !
IOL News
26-05-2025
- General
- IOL News
20th Salt March
The 4.5km Salt March, which commemorated its 20th anniversary this year, was held on Sunday. The walk was from the Gandhi Phoenix Settlement to the Gandhi Luthuli Peace Park.
