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The Hindu
17 minutes ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
World Bank and ADB delegates attend CRDA's orientation programme in Amaravati
A delegation of the World Bank (WB) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) visited various construction sites in Amaravati and participated in an orientation programme organised by the A.P. Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) on environmental and social safeguards, health and safety of workers, and other aspects related to the capital city construction, at its head office here on Thursday (June 19, 2025). CRDA Additional Commissioner G. Suryasai Praveen Chand explained the steps taken for environment protection in Amaravati during the construction stage and safety of workers, facilities being provided at workplaces, welfare programmes being implemented for the residents of Amaravati, skill development programmes, and employment generation. 'No child labour' Also, he emphasised that the construction of Amaravati was being done in strict compliance with gender equality norms and devoid of child labour. Mr. Praveen Chand threw light on the Grievance Redressal Mechanism (GRM) through which the issues raised by farmers and residents of the capital were being dealt with. WB senior social development specialists Bayana Venkata Rao and Ranjan Verma, and the ADB team discussed the process of assessment of environmental and social systems in Amaravati, and the resettlement action plan. They gave an overview of the mandates of WB and the ADB in the Amaravati project, and the importance of environmental and social welfare activities. Joseph, senior environmental specialist, and Damanjeet Singh Minhas, environmental safeguards adviser, from the WB and ADB, explained the social safeguards to be implemented by the contractors, environment protection measures and safety protocols to be followed in the event of untoward incidents. CRDA and Amaravati Development Corporation Limited officials, including chief engineers Ch. Dhanunjaya, N. Srinivasulu and M. Prabhakar Rao, superintending engineer R. Hanumanth Reddy, divisional engineer P. Venkateswarlu, and executive engineer K. Srinivasa Rao were present.
The Hindu
31 minutes ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Kashmir tourism likely to rebound to pre-Pahalgam levels by year's end: Minister
Union Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, speaking on Thursday (June 19, 2025), said that there were signs that tourism to Kashmir, which saw a dip after the Pahalgam attack on April 22, would likely return to normal by the year's end. 'The way tourism has recovered in J&K over the last 1.5 months, we will be able to achieve pre-Pahalgam status by December,' Mr. Shekhawat said. Appealing to people to join the Amarnath Yatra, starting from July 3, Mr. Shekhawat said, 'Kashmir is safe, and tourists should visit the valley. I appeal to the 140-crore people of India to try and see Kashmir's heritage and its historical grandeur and divinity, along with its natural beauty.' In a post on X, the Union Minister said he visited the majestic Martand Temple, 'which is a profound reflection of the glory of Kashmir's civilisational past'. 'Built by the legendary King Lalitaditya, this grand temple dedicated to Surya was one of the earliest and most magnificent sun temples in India,' Mr. Shekhawat said. 'If it looks this awe-inspiring in its weathered form, one can imagine its grandeur of yore given the temple's scale, sculptural richness, and strategic location atop a plateau overlooking the valley,' he added. Cultural glory About the Avanti Swami temple in the Awantipora area of the Pulwama district, the Union Minister said he had an enchanted morning at the temple complex. 'These stones that are remains of the mighty temples once built by King Avantivarman in what was once his capital tell tales of the cultural glory of that era,' he added. The Union Minister also met J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. An official said the duo 'discussed strategic measures for strengthening the tourism sector in Jammu and Kashmir.' The one-on-one meeting focused on a broad range of initiatives aimed at boosting tourism infrastructure, promoting heritage and cultural sites, and creating sustainable livelihood opportunities for local communities, the official said. Both the leaders underscored the significance of tourism as a key driver of economic growth and cultural exchange in the region. Mr. Abdullah, the spokesman, expressed appreciation for the Centre's continued support and reiterated the Government of Jammu and Kashmir's resolve to revive and reimagine the tourism sector to unlock its full potential for inclusive development.
The Hindu
an hour ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Two Air India international flights from Bengaluru cancelled
Two international flights of Air India from Bengaluru were cancelled on Thursday (June 19, 2025). The Air India flight AI 175 from Bengaluru to San Francisco, which was scheduled to depart at 1.20 p.m., was cancelled, and another flight AI 133 bound to London's Heathrow, which was scheduled to depart at 2.15 p.m., was also cancelled, the sources at the Kempegowda International Airport said. Air India on Wednesday (June 18, 2025) announced that it will be cutting down international flight services on widebody aircraft (Boeing 787 and 777 aircraft), that mostly connect long haul and ultra-long-haul destinations by 15%. While the Bengaluru-London flight is a Boeing 787, the Bengaluru-San Francisco flight is a Boeing 777-200LR aircraft. The direct distance between Bengaluru and San Francisco is approximately 13,993 km, and this is said to be the longest commercial flight in the world to be operated by Air India or any other airline in India. Air India said that the Bengaluru-London (Heathrow) flight services will be reduced from seven flights a week to six flights a week. The reduction in the flights on this route will be effective from June 21 and last until at least July 15, the airline said.
The Hindu
an hour ago
- General
- The Hindu
A childhood snatched, a future denied
V. Haritha isn't sure how old she was when she got married. 'I was just 14, maybe,' she says, adjusting a child on her hip while two more play nearby. Now 18, she is a mother of three, living in Gangaraju Madugula, a remote village about 120 km from Visakhapatnam, nestled in the Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh. The village is home to tribal communities such as the Kondhs and Porajas, listed among India's Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). Access to education, healthcare and steady income remains limited in the region, and families often make difficult decisions in the face of poverty and isolation. For many girls like Haritha, that includes getting married — and becoming mothers — while still in their teens. Standing beside her is 16-year-old S. Rupa, eight months pregnant. She married a 24-year-old man a year ago. 'My father couldn't afford to feed all of us. I am the third girl. He had no choice,' she explains with practiced calm. Teenage girls like Haritha and Rupa, married young and already mothers, are not exceptions in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Their stories are part of a larger trend documented in the Round Seven of the Work and Family Lives: Young Lives Survey, released in Hyderabad on May 30 this year. The study began in 2002 in the then-undivided Andhra Pradesh, selected as one of four global sites alongside Ethiopia, Peru and Vietnam. 'The State was chosen because of its early push to economic reforms — initiatives such as Vision 2020 and privatisation made it an ideal setting to study how liberalisation impacted children over time,' says E. Revathi, director of the Centre for Economic and Social Studies and lead investigator of the study in India. Using a longitudinal, mixed-methods approach, the study tracked 2,000 one-year-olds and 1,000 eight-year-olds across 20 sentinel sites — urban and rural clusters selected based on development indicators. Over 23 years, researchers followed these children across Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana, documenting how they grew up, studied, worked, got married and had children. While some indicators improved, one pattern remained stubbornly visible: the prevalence of early marriage and teenage pregnancies. One of those tracked was Kamakshi, a girl from the Goya tribal community in Mahbubnagar, Telangana. She was just 11 when she was married off to a 16-year-old relative. Her parents, struggling with poverty and homelessness, saw marriage as a way to reduce their burden. 'She was eight when we first met her in 2002,' recalls P. Prudhvikar Reddy, one of the field researchers. 'By our second visit in 2006, she was already married. And by 2013, she was raising three children.' Now 29, Kamakshi is a grandmother. One of her daughters was married before she turned 18; another, who is out of school, lives with a relative in Jogulamba Gadwal. 'I could not leave her alone at home while I went to work,' says Kamakshi, who makes a living through daily wage work, by frequenting the labour addas of Chandrayangutta, Hyderabad — just 100 km from Mahbubnagar. In forest-fringed Chittoor of Andhra Pradesh, a Scheduled Tribe girl from Bangarupalem recounts her troubled marriage to a 28-year-old daily wage labourer, now working near Tamil Nadu border. In October 2023, local police and activists intervened to stop her child marriage. The families agreed to delay it until she turned 18. 'But just two days later, my father took me to a temple of our village goddess, near Kolar in Karnataka. The wedding was conducted in the presence of a few relatives. From there, I was taken to Bengaluru, where I worked as a housemaid in a posh locality while my husband took up a job as a truck driver,' she shares. Within a month, she got pregnant. After she gave birth to a girl, her husband vanished without a word. She waited three months before returning to her parents' home in Chittoor. 'He came back a few months ago, promising he will never abandon us again. But I know, he is not just a drunkard but also a liar,' she says, her laughter tinged with resignation. In the Bangarupalem-Palamaner belt, considered a hotspot for child marriage, the Rural Organisation for Poverty Eradication Services (ROPES), a 35-year-old NGO, has intervened in several cases. 'Just in the last couple of years, we have stopped over 200 child marriages in these two mandals. The numbers are slowly falling compared to previous decades, but the threat still looms in silence,' says K. Dhanasekharan, chairman of the NGO. Data doesn't lie While the National Family Health Survey (2019-20) noted a modest drop in teenage pregnancies — from 8% to 7% — the Young Lives study painted a starker picture. In Telangana alone, 20% of women were married before the age of 18, and 28% had a child before they turned 19. Early marriage and motherhood continue to limit educational and economic prospects, though the overall trend is declining, note researchers. Among the younger cohort tracked by the study, 13% were married before 18 whereas 18% had become mothers by 19. The figures were higher among the older cohort (25% and 27%, respectively), suggesting gradual improvement over time. Some of that change is reflected in the trajectory of K. Mona, 31, who lives in a packed slum in northwest Hyderabad. A participant in the Young Lives study since 2002, Mona was just eight when her father died. With no government school nearby and her mother unable to afford private fees, her education ended in Class V. While her mother worked long hours as a domestic worker — leaving at 10 a.m. and returning after a 12-hour shift — Mona stayed home, read the Bible and dabbled in stitching. Her elder sisters, sent to relatives in Machilipatnam, managed to study further: one became a lecturer after completing her MBA, the other a teacher after earning a degree in engineering. Mona remained behind to help her mother and took up odd jobs, including at a local medical store, where she met her future husband, a driver. She got married at 20 and her husband, she says, remains her biggest support. With his encouragement, Mona completed her Class 10 through open schooling. 'I can read now. I understand English even if I can't speak or write. I help my children with their homework,' she says with quiet pride. Her seven-year-old son studies in a private school and wants to join the Army; her five-year-old daughter, who goes to the neighbourhood Anganwadi school, dreams of becoming a doctor. Sometimes, Mona wonders what her life might have been. 'If my father had lived, if there had been a school nearby... things would have been different,' she says, tears welling up. 'My sisters got chances that I didn't. It was not anyone's fault — just the place, the time, the options we had.' A different trajectory Just a few lanes away from her resides 22-year-old Jiya, another participant in the Young Lives study, enrolled when she was just a year old. Raised in the same slum as Mona, Jiya's journey has taken a different course, shaped by steady parental support, access to education and self-assured ambition. Her father, a local pastor, made it clear from the start: her education came first. Petite and poised, dressed in lavender trousers and a crisp white top, Jiya is a BSc (Mathematics) graduate from a private college in Hyderabad. Over the past few years, she has held two jobs — first at the help desk of Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, then at a customer service firm in the city. As a child, she had wanted to be a teacher. By her teens, she was training to become an air hostess. She cleared two rounds of interviews with a Middle Eastern airline, only to be rejected in the final round for something as trivial as a pimple. 'It upset me, of course, but not enough to make me give up,' she says. She took up the help desk job in Hyderabad anyway, travelling four km by bus every day, dressed in a blazer and formals. 'I liked the work, but the pay — ₹17,000 a month — and the atmosphere weren't great. The men passed uncomfortable comments,' she says. With her parents' support, she chose to walk away and pursue higher studies instead. She continued her open degree alongside a year of air hostess training and later joined a call centre, earning over ₹20,000. But the night shifts triggered persistent migraines, forcing her to quit last month. Now, Jiya is preparing to join an IT firm. Marriage isn't on her mind just yet. 'Maybe in a few years,' she shrugs. 'If I find someone I want to share my life with, I will think about it. But for now, I am focused on work and stability.' Growth on paper, gaps on ground One of the key factors contributing to the shift in social practices, particularly the delay in early marriages, has been the growing presence of social welfare residential schools across both States. Andhra Pradesh currently has over 590 such schools under the Tribal Welfare Department; Telangana has 158. These fully residential institutions offer free meals, three times a day, along with education, which has encouraged parents from tribal and low-income communities to send their children, especially girls, to school. 'By the time a student completes school here, they are around 17 years old. That alone has significantly reduced the likelihood of marriage before 18,' says an official from the Andhra Pradesh Tribal Welfare Department. Economic indicators in both States show impressive growth. Andhra Pradesh recorded a Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) growth of 12.94% in 2024, with balanced gains across agriculture, industry and services. Telangana followed with a GSDP growth of 10.1%, driven largely by industry and IT services. Yet, this economic momentum hasn't resulted in proportionate investment in social sectors. And until social development keeps pace with economic growth, the burden of inequality will continue to fall on the most vulnerable — young girls at the margins.
The Hindu
an hour ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
Bhambri-Galloway duo goes down fighting
Yuki Bhambri in partnership with Robert Galloway got a second chance as lucky-loser but went down fighting to Taylor Fritz and Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 1-6, [8-10] in the doubles pre-quarterfinals of the €2,522,220 ATP tennis tournament in London. Yuki and Galloway had lost the first round of the qualifying event to Rohan Bopanna and Sander Gille. The Indo-American pair did not win any ATP point but pocketed €`10,820. The results: €2,522,220 ATP, London, Britain Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Taylor Fritz (USA) & Jiri Lehecka (Cze) bt Yuki Bhambri & Robert Galloway (USA) 4-6, 6-1, [10-8]. €181,250 Challenger, Nottingham, Britain Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Jaime Faria (Por) & Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan bt Hendrik Jebens (Ger) & Albano Olivetti (Fra) 6-4, 1-6, [13-11]. €145,250 Challenger, Poznan, Poland Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Mateus Alves & Marcela Zormann (Bra) bt Anirudh Chandraskear & Ramkumar Ramanathan 7-6(5), 6-4; Sergio Gornes (Esp) & Vijay Sundar Prashanth bt Luca Sanchez (Fra) & Seita Watanabe (Jpn) 6-3, 6-2. €54,000 Challenger, Royan, France Doubles (quarterfinals): Adil Kalyanpur & Parikshit Somani bt Max Gurri & Nikolas Izquierdo (Esp) 6-3, 7-6(3). $15,000 ITF men, Monastir, Tunisia Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Dev Javia bt Tomas Luis (Por) 6-1, 6-3. $30,000 ITF women, Chinese Taipei Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Yeonwoo Ku (Tpe) bt Vaidehi Chaudhari 6-3, 6-1. Doubles (quarterfinals): Alisa Kummel & Elina Nepliy bt Vaidehi Chaudhari & Natsumi Kawaguchi (Jpn) 6-3, 6-3. $30,000 ITF women, Wichita, USA Singles (first round): Sahaja Yamalapalli bt Solymar Colling (USA) 6-2, 6-2. $30,000 ITF women, Tauste, Spain Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Hiromi Abe (Jpn) bt Vaishnavi Adkar 6-3, 7-5. Doubles (quarterfinals): Rutuja Bhosale & Ankita Raina bt Georgia Kalamaris (Fra) & Marina Oyonarte (Esp) 6-0, 6-0. $15,000 ITF women, Monastir, Tunisia Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Zeel Desai bt Loreana Donoso (Esp) 7-6(4), 6-4. Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Julia Adams (USA) & Andre Lukosiute (Ltu) bt Helena Bueno (Bra) & Aaddi Gupta 6-0, 6-1.
