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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Thackerays’ ‘Taandav’ for trees, tigers

AI generated image Mumbai: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray launched a sharp attack on the government for the systematic degradation of the state’s environment under the garb of development, even as the climate change poses a direct threat to the environment, economy, agriculture, public health and the future of both rural and urban centres. Questioning the state government’s claims of having planted millions of trees, he rued how the World Environment Day has been...

Thackerays’ ‘Taandav’ for trees, tigers

AI generated image Mumbai: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray launched a sharp attack on the government for the systematic degradation of the state’s environment under the garb of development, even as the climate change poses a direct threat to the environment, economy, agriculture, public health and the future of both rural and urban centres. Questioning the state government’s claims of having planted millions of trees, he rued how the World Environment Day has been reduced to an annual ritual of tree-planting drives and clicking selfies for social media, though 90 pc of the saplings don’t survive even a day. “Only the government knows where those trees really are,” said Raj sternly. He recalled a "Blueprint of Maharashtra’s Development" he had proposed in 2015, in which he advocated how development without environmental sensitivity is hollow. Justifying, he said that the consequences are visible where roads, bridges and infrastructure projects are hailed as achievements, but even a short spell of rainfall can paralyze entire cities. Referring to recent reports on farmers returning from the fields after 10 am due to the scorching heat, Raj said that the worsening climate crisis has become an everyday reality. Citing official statistics, Raj claimed that extreme heat has caused productivity losses of nearly USD 159 billion and slashing of 160 billion work-hours annually in recent years. He mentioned the World Bank estimates that India’s GDP could plummet by 2.5-4.5 pc while 57 pc of the country’s districts sheltering 76 pc of the population stare at serious climate-related crises. Taking a swipe, he said while the governments boast about growth figures and economical rankings, they are silent on the staggering costs of environmental destruction. He questioned the development model “whether flooded cities, washed-away crops and unbearable summers” genuinely indicate progress. Claiming that Maharashtra was increasingly becoming unliveable for upto 8 months in a year, he said excessive monsoon rains disrupt rural life and urban floods cripple cities, while extreme heat make normal life a torture in summers in both urban-rural areas. Targeting the Centre, Raj alleged that nearly 173,984 hectares of forest lands were diverted in the past 11 years for mining and infrastructure projects to benefit the PM’s single favourite Adani Group. He said that these lands amount to 1,730 sqkm, or equivalent to the area of 16 Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) that is spread over barely 104 sqkm. Dissolve state wildlife board: Aaditya Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray has accused the Maharashtra government for issuing a permit to carry out mining activity in the sensitive tiger corridor between the Tadoba-Andhari and Indravati sanctuaries housing the big striped cats. In a strongly-worded letter to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) Member-Secretary Sanjay Kumar, Thackeray sought his immediate personal intervention, sacking the Maharashtra State Board for Wild-Life (SBWL), revoking the permit, and probe against the Chief Wildlife Warden & Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) M. Srinivasa Reddy for the alleged lacunae. Aditya’s two-pager says the permit has been granted for “scientific exploration and excavation/systematic recovery of low-grade iron ore in existing mines in villages Hedri, Bande, Parsalgondi and Round Parsalgondi, in the Etapalli taluka of Gadchiroli district”. Last January, Aditya – MLA from Worli – had first raised the issue saying that the proposed mine would create only 120 jobs, including 32 permanent, and the estimated output is pegged at 1.1 million tons in a year. Referring to two letters of Reddy – on April 28 and May 21 – the SS (UBT) leader claimed that in communications to the state government, the PCCF had changed his stance on the issue. Aditya said that in the first letter, Reddy had effectively opposed the government plans for mining activity but in the second letter, he took a somersault, ostensibly due to government pressures or some commercial interests, “the U-turn is disgraceful and detrimental to India’s national interest” – and this abrupt shift in stance must be investigated thoroughly. In view of the contrary stance of the PCCF Reddy, entrusted with protecting the wildlife but failing to defend the NTCA and NBWL, point to serious malfunctioning of the SBWL, and hence it must be dissolved, besides reviewing all its decisions in the past three years, particularly those pertaining to hazardous activities in sensitive areas, demanded Aditya. 444 tigers roam in 11,000 sq.km As per the Status of Tiger Report (2002), and the Maharashtra Economic Survey 2025-2026, the state boasts of 444 tigers prowling in the wild along with other menacing creatures. The state’s total protected wildlife network of 88 Notified Areas of National Parks, Sanctuaries, and Conservation Reserves - including 6 dedicated to the striped big cats – is spread over 11,092 sq. kms as per current data.

A New Shooting Prodigy

Esha Singh’s dominance in Munich announces the arrival of a new kind of Indian shooting champion.

Perhaps because of the nature of her sport, shooter Esha Singh announced her brilliance quietly, almost stealthily. Earlier this week, the 21-year-old Indian shooter stood amid one of the strongest pistol fields in Munich, Germany to snare a gold in the women’s 25-metre pistol event at the ISSF World Cup with a world-record score of 43.


Munich is regarded as one of the toughest arenas in international shooting where the margins are microscopic and the pressure is relentless. Yet Esha shot as though she was insulated from both.


She opened the final with three flawless series, hitting 15 targets out of 15 and immediately forcing the rest of the field into pursuit mode. By the time the competition reached its closing stages, the contest was about how far ahead the Indian prodigy would finish.


Such was Esha’s dominance that Olympic champion Yang Ji-in of South Korea faded to fifth while Germany’s Doreen Vennekamp, shooting before a home crowd and carrying the pedigree of a former world champion, finished five hits behind. The previous world record, held by Kim Ye-ji was left in the shade by Esha’s new record.


But records do not fully explain what made her performance remarkable. From the opening series, Esha shot with an almost eerie composure.


Even her rare mistakes felt temporary. When she missed her first shot in the fourth series, there was no visible panic or collapse in rhythm. She responded with the kind of emotional neutrality that elite athletes spend entire careers trying to cultivate. Under elimination pressure in the sixth and eighth rounds, she fired perfect scores again.


There was something revealing in what Esha said afterward. She admitted that she had not even realized she had broken the world record until after the event ended.


That focused attitude has defined much of her rise. Born in Hyderabad in 2005, Esha did not initially seem destined for shooting. As a child, she moved through sports casually after trying her had at badminton and tennis before a visit to the shooting range at Gachibowli Stadium altered the trajectory of her life. Her father, a former rally driver, recognized both her fascination and discipline quickly enough to build a paper shooting range at home so she could train obsessively.


India’s shooting ecosystem had seen prodigies before, but Esha’s emergence was startling even by those standards. At 13, she defeated established names such as Manu Bhaker and Heena Sidhu to become the youngest national champion in the 10 m air pistol event. The victory announced her talent, but perhaps more importantly, it hinted at something psychological. While young athletes are often intimidated by reputations long before they are defeated by skill, Esha appeared immune to this phenomenon.


At the 2022 Asian Games, she collected four medals, confirming her place within India’s increasingly formidable shooting pipeline. Later came a junior world title in the 25-metre pistol event and qualification for the Paris Olympics.


Yet it would be simplistic to view Esha merely as the latest product of India’s shooting revolution. India has already produced icons in the discipline in form of Manu Bhaker’s fearless confidence, Heena Sidhu’s precision, Rahi Sarnobat’s resilience transformed the country into a serious shooting nation. But Esha represents a slightly different evolution of the Indian shooter, one who is technically polished, emotionally self-contained and unusually indifferent to external noise.


That emotional self-containment was visible even in the way she described pressure after the Munich final.


Esha’s victory carried an additional layer of redemption. During the previous Munich World Cup cycle, she had failed to qualify for the finals despite posting a respectable score. This year, she arrived determined not merely to compete but to conquer a venue that had once rejected her.


The setting made the achievement larger. Munich occupies a special place in world shooting because of the density of elite competition it attracts. “Even getting into the top eight is very tight,” Esha observed. For many shooters, surviving qualification there already feels like an accomplishment.


But Esha triumphed effortlessly, and with a kind of understated Indianness.


Her gold medal in Munich has secured India’s first individual shooting medal of the ISSF World Cup season and earned her qualification for the season-ending World Cup Finals in Rome later this year. The ISSF already regards her as one of the world’s brightest young talents.


Esha speaks softly and carries little visible theatricality. But behind that calm exterior exists an athlete capable of dismantling Olympic champions under suffocating pressure.

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