FOURTH LARGEST NATIONAL PARK IN INDIA

Namdapha National Park

The fourth largest national park in India is the Namdapha National Park in the north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. Located in the Changlang district near the international border with Myanmar, the park is a diversity hotspot in the Eastern Himalayas. Spread out over an area of 1985 sq km, it is flanked by the Patkai hills to the south and south-east and the Himalayas to the north, and lies close to the Indo-Myanmar China trijunction.

The core area of the park stretches over 1808 sq km, making it the largest protected area in the Eastern Himalayas. The Noa-Dihing river, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, flows westwards through the park. Numerous streams drain into the Noa-Dihing; forest pools and natural salt licks are abundant in the area.

The park, described as a botanist’s dream, is home to more than 150 tropical trees pecies, several of them exclusive to the region. These Natural Wonders of India include the Sumatran pine(Pinus mercusii) and the Delavay’s silver-fir (Abies delavayi), which cannot be found anywhere else in India. Among the rare plants found here is the Blue Vanda orchid (Vanda coerulea), a striking species with large purple-blue flowers that is native to the North-Eastern Himalayan region.

The inaccessibility of the greater part of the park has helped to preserve the forests in their pristine and virgin state. The lush green undergrowths are thick and intertwined cobweb-like with a vast range of vegetation, which changes with altitude. While the lower reaches of the park are sub-tropical, the landscape is replaced by subtropical pine forests, temperate forests, Alpine meadows, and perennial snow on the higher regions.

Namdapha is home to four major big cat species – the tiger, the leopard, the snow leopard, and the clouded leopard. Other carnivores found here include the Asian wild dog or dhole, the Asiatic black bear, the red fox, the spotted linsang, the common palm civet, the Oriental small clawed otter, and the fishing cat. The elephant, wild boar, musk deer, sambar, gaur, hog deer, stump-tailed macaque, slow loris, Hoolock gibbon, and rhesus macaque are some of the herbivores that inhabit the park.

The park has about 425 bird species, including five species of hornbills, numerous species of wren-babblers, the pied falconet, the blue-eared kingfisher, the laughing thrush, the white-winged wood duck, and the Himalayan wood-owl. 

Namdapha was declared a national park in 1983 and designated a tiger reserve the same year. It is also on the Tentative Lists of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India.

ASIA'S NOBEL PRIZE

 Ramon Magsaysay Award

The Ramon Magsaysay Award is a prestigious annual award given to individuals and organisations in Asia who have achieved excellence in their respective fields and contributed to human development in doing so.

Awardees are either people from Asian countries or, occasionally, foreign citizens (people from outside Asia) who have worked, served, or accomplished something extraordinary in an Asian country. Hence it is considered Asia’s Nobel Prize.

The Award is given in six categories: Government Service; Public Service; Community Leadership; Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts; Peace and International Understanding; and Emergent Leadership.

Last year’s awardees (2023) were Korvi Rakshand from Bangladesh, Eugenio Lemos from Timor-Leste, Miriam Coronel-Ferrer from the Philippines, and Dr Ravi Kannan R. from India.

The Award was instituted in 1957 in honour of Ramon Magsaysay(1907 – 1957), a much-loved President of the Philippines, after the latter’s untimely death in a plane crash. It was established by the New York based Rockefeller Brothers’ Fund with the concurrence of the Philippines government to perpetuate Magsaysay’s example of integrity in government, courageous service to the people, and practical idealism within a democratic society. The Award is managed by the Ramon MagsaysayAward Foundation.

Prominent Indian awardees include Mother Teresa (1962) for Peace and International Understanding; Vinoba Bhave(1958), M S Swaminathan(1971) and Ela Bhatt of SEWA(1977) for Community Leadership; Satyajit Ray (1967), R K Laxman (1984), and Mahasweta Devi (1997) forJournalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts; Jayaprakash Narayan (1965) and M S Subbulakshmi (1971) for Public Service; and former Chief Election Commissioner T N Seshan (1996) and Kiran Bedi, I.P.S, (1994) for Government Service.

HAPPY NUT

 Pistachio

The pistachio (Pistacia vera) is a flowering nut tree with a long and illustrious history dating back to 7000 B.C. A unique feature of pistachio nut is that as it ripens and outgrows its shell, the shell splits open, giving it the appearance of a smiling face 🌝. For this reason, the Chinese refer to the pistachio as the 'happy nut'.

Originally a native of Asia Minor and Syria, the pistachio travelled from Syria to Italy in the first century A.D. and from there, spread throughout the Mediterranean region. Because the nuts were nutritious and did not spoil easily, they were a favourite with early explorers and traders, and were frequently carried by travellers along the ancient Silk Road connecting China with the West. 

In the mid-19th century, the pistachio reached the United States. Today, Iran is the world’s leading pistachio producer, followed by the USA, Turkey and Syria. 

The pistachio tree is a broad, bushy one that grows to a height of 20-30 feet. The fruits grow in clusters like grapes. The edible portion, which we know as the nut, is the seed. When the fruit ripens, the shell turns from green to yellow or red and splits partly open, with an audible pop. The pistachio's semi-split shell, which at the same time serves as a convenient form of packaging. 

The pistachio is also one of the two nuts specifically mentioned in the Bible. This is in Genesis chapter 43, verse 11, when Jacob instructs his sons to take back some of the best products of Canaan to Egypt. 

Since ancient times, the pistachio has been used by various cultures as a culinary ingredient. Its delicate sweetness makes it ideal for desserts 🍨 and pastries 🍰. 

In the Middle East, it is used to make baklava, a rich, sweet pastry of Turkish origin that is filled with chopped nuts and sweetened with honey 🍯. Further it is a key ingredient of pilafs and other rice dishes. 

In India, the pistachio is an integral part of the diet, especially in the winter months in Northern India. It is used to make numerous popular drinks and desserts such as kesar pista sharbat and pista kulfi. It is grated and used to garnish sweets such as rasmalai and burfi as well as desserts like pista ice-cream. 

INDIA'S FIRST FEMALE IAS OFFICER

Anna Rajam Malhotra

The distinction of being India’s first female IAS officer belongs to Anna Rajam Malhotra (1927–2018), a feisty woman who broke many barriers and held her own in a man’s world, earning respect in official circles for her efficiency and dedication in the course of a long and distinguished career. She served as a role model for future generations, inspiring countless women to take up the challenge of the civil service, after her.

Anna Rajam George was born on July 17, 1927 as the second of five children of Anna Paul and O. A. George, an educated progressive-minded couple hailing from Pathanamthitta district in south Kerala. A few years later, the family moved to Calicut, where George set up a small publishing business.

After completing her schooling and graduation in Calicut, Anna moved to Madras (now Chennai) to do her Masters in English literature from the Presidency College. She then worked briefly as a clerk at the AG’s office in Madras. In 1950, she decided to attempt the Indian Civil Service examination, and cleared the written round. Next came the interview, conducted by a distinguished board consisting of four ICS officers, headed by the UPSC chairman. They tried to dissuade her from joining the IAS, suggesting that she opt for the foreign service or central services instead, as these were “more suitable for women”. But Anna was determined not to be fobbed off with easier options. She convincingly argued her case and entered the IAS in 1951, choosing the Madras cadre. 

During the rigorous IAS training, Anna neither got nor expected any concessions as a woman, but performed all the exercises her male counterparts did, including shooting and horseriding. Anna’s next challenge came when she joined duty, reporting to the Chief Minister of Madras, S. Rajagopalachari (known as Rajaji). Rajaji, who was opposed to the idea of women entering public service, did not want to give the new recruit a field posting, as he believed that she would be unable to handle law and order issues. He offered her a post in the Secretariat instead. Once again Anna refused to back down and argued that she was as good as any man, pleading for a chance to prove herself. Eventually, she was posted as Sub-Collector of Hosur district. This proved to be an eventful posting, filled with challenges that gave her ample scope to prove her mettle –including encounters with wild elephants and smugglers. As promised, the young SubCollector handled everything competently, prompting the same Rajaji to subsequently change his stand and praise her publicly as an example of progressive women. 

After the adventurous stint in Hosur, Anna was posted back to Madras, where she went onto work under seven chief ministers over the years. Subsequently she was transferred to the central government and held key positions in the revenue, finance, agriculture, and education and culture ministries. At each stage, she had to fight ingrained gender bias from male colleagues and the public. But her indefatigable will - helped her to meet every challenge. Nothing – not even illness – could keep her down. 

The story goes that as Additional Secretary for Agriculture under PM Indira Gandhi and a key figure in the Green Revolution, she accompanied the PM on an 8-state tour to review food production, despite being hampered by a fractured ankle. She also worked with Rajiv Gandhi on the Asian Games project in 1982.

Even as Anna was conquering new frontiers in her career, a romance was steadily brewing with her batch-mate, the brilliant IAS officer, Ram Narain Malhotra(who later became governor of the Reserve Bank of India). But this was the 1960’s, and both knew that the ultra-conservative society of the time would not take kindly to the union of a Punjabi Hindu and a Malayali Christian. So they waited – await that was to last a quarter of a century. It was only in 1977, when Malhotra after completing all family responsibilities and was working as the executive director of the IMF in Washington D.C., that they got married. Anna was then 50 years old. However, she had no regrets, telling friends that getting such an extraordinarily humane and good-hearted life partner had been “worth the wait”. 

In 1985, Anna was given the charge of the Nhava Sheva Port Trust located in Navi Mumbai’s Raigad District. It was a very tough assignment, but Anna fought all odds to complete it before time in May 1989. Today known as the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), it is India’s first and largest fully computerised container port. In recognition of her sterling achievements, Anna Malhotra was awarded the country’s third highest civilian honour, the Padma Bhushan, in 1989. Her husband, R. N. Malhotra, also received the same award the following year. Even after retirement, Anna did not settle down to rest, but took up a challenging assignment –that of director of the Leela group of hotels, overseeing its many projects – that kept her as busy as before. This remarkable woman passed away on September 18, 2018, at the age of 91.

NEVER STOP LEARNING

Learning till Death

After having been sentenced to death, Socrates, Greek philosopher, was languishing in prison. 

One day he heard a fellow prisoner singing a beautiful lyric. Socrates went to him and asked the prisoner to teach him that lyric. The prisoner was surprised and asked Socrates why he, who had been sentenced to death, wanted to learn that song.

Socrates replied, "I will be happy if I could learn one thing more before I die!"

It is said, "Never stop learning, because life never stops teaching". 

American author Brian Herbert once said, "The capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to learn is a choice". 

The human being is very much a social person, and learning always happens, either directly or indirectly in interaction with other people.

Learning is the ability to do something better. And it is a life-long process.

As children, we are sent to schools and colleges to learn. 

"Why learn?", you may ask. 

We learn because it equips us with all that is needed to make our dreams come true. It transforms us into good human beings and better citizens. Remember the saying, "If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you."

WORDS WORTH READING

God and You 

☆ When you pray for others, God listens to you and blesses them, and sometimes, when you are safe and happy, remember that someone has prayed for you. 

☆ Prayer is not a "spare wheel" that you pull out when in trouble, but it is a "steering wheel" that directs the right path throughout. 

☆ Just as car's windshield is large and the rear view mirror is small, our past is not as important as our future. Look head and move on.

☆ Friendship is like a book. It takes few seconds to burn but it takes years to write.

☆ All things in life are temporary. If going well, enjoy them; they will not last forever. If going wrong, don’t worry; they can't last either. 

☆Old friends are gold! New friends are diamonds! If you get the diamond, don't forget the gold! Because to hold a diamond, you always need a base of gold!

☆ Often when we lose hope and think this is the  end, God smiles from above and says, "Relax dear, it’s just a bend, not the end!

☆ When God solves your problems, you have faith in his abilities; when God doesn't solve your problems, He has faith in your abilities. 

☆ Worrying does not take away tomorrow's troubles; it takes away today's peace. 

VACCINATION

The First Vaccine

In the 1790s, English doctor Edward Jenner was looking for a cure for a terrible disease called smallpox. Back then, no one knew about viruses. But many people had noticed that dairy workers, who milked the cows, almost never got smallpox. They did often catch a mild disease, called cowpox, from the cows. Jenner wondered, could the cowpox somehow be protecting them? 

To test his idea, Jenner collected some cowpox pus from a cow. He rubbed a tiny bit into a scratch on the hand of his gardener’s 8-year-old son. The boy got a slight fever, but that was all. Then came the real test. Jenner injected the boy with live smallpox germs. The boy did not get sick at all. It worked!

The idea of protecting patients by letting them catch a (hopefully) mild case of a disease had been around since ancient times. It was risky—some patients got very sick. But Jenner had found a new twist. A de-activated germ could protect just as well, and with less danger. He called this technique “vaccination,” from the Latin word for cow, vacca. Today, with the help of Jenner’s vaccine and others, smallpox has vanished from the world.