India News | Taj Mahal Engulfed in Thick Haze, Tourists Complain of Low Visibility

Travel

Agra, October 27: The iconic Taj Mahal in Agra, Uttar Pradesh was engulfed in a thick layer of haze on Sunday as pollution levels continued to rise. Manoharpur area in Agra recorded its Air Quality Index (AQI) at 190, categorized as ‘moderate’. Whereas Shahjahan garden area recorded an AQI of 113 as of 9 AM. The average AQI recorded of Agra for October 26 was 106, categorized as ‘moderate’ too.
An AQI between 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 is satisfactory, 101-200 is moderate, 201-300 is poor, 301-400 is very poor, and 401-500 is severe. According to a visitor at the Taj Mahal, the situation in the area has worsened over the years due to the industrial areas traffic increasing. Delhi Air Pollution: Gopal Rai Blames BJP for Pollution in National Capital, Says ‘There Is BJP Government in UP, Haryana and Rajasthan, They Are Sleeping and Are Inactive’ (Watch Video).
“I am here on a trip, I wanted to see the sunrise. 14 years ago, I was here and the sky was clear back then. Industrial areas are increasing towards Agra side and vehicle load is also increasing here, I think these are the reasons behind the rise in pollution..,” he told ANI.
Another visitor to the iconic site said that due to all the smog it has become difficult to see the monument properly. He told ANI, “It feels good to see the Taj Mahal early in the morning, but it’s been hazy, which creates problems in view, in the morning due to the pollution.” Delhi Air Pollution: Atishi Led-AAP Government Alleges Air Quality Deteriorating Because of Buses Coming From Uttar Pradesh (Watch Videos).
Moreover, Aligarh city was engulfed in a thick haze too. The Yamuna river also had its thick toxic sludge persisting in the Kalindi kunj area in Delhi. Taj Mahal is one of the UNESCO world heritage site, standing majestically on the river banks of the Yamuna.
A popular tourist attraction, many state guests and dignitaries are often taken to the Taj Mahal to have them experience the beauty of the mausoleum of white marble. Recently on October 8, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu accompanied by wife First Lady Sajidha Mohamed paid a visit to Taj Mahal, while the president was on an inaugural bilateral visit to India from October 6-10.
Earlier on Friday, the Health ministry also urged states and union territories to curb stubble burning amid the rising pollution levels across the country. Additionally, the ministry also urged people to use public transport and ‘minimise exposure.’
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)

Benidorm’s ‘Gypsy Lane’ where British tourists pay £20-a-week to live in squalor

Travel

Benidorm may be known for its cheap-and-cheerful holiday resorts, almost year-round sunshine, sandy beaches and lively nightlife. But the high-rise coastal town on Spain’s Costa Blanca has a dark side that’s not exactly hard to find. Less than 150 yards from a popular mobility scooter rental centre, and holiday apartment blocks, is Camí Azagador de Soria, or as it’s colloquially known, “Gypsy Lane”.Express.co.uk visited the narrow, winding lane, with expat, musician and charity volunteer, Jonny Elraiz. The Croydon native explained that the area, too dangerous for our reporter and photographer to spend much time in, was populated by Romanian gypsies that rented the properties to the homeless.The area Jonny’s vehicle stopped in was in front of a red and white house, without a door. The villa also had a bare mattress sticking out of it, with a sofa outside.Yards away from the crumbling house was a huge pile of rubbish and a burned-out car.He agreed that the scene looked like something from a “disaster movie”.”The gypsies that run this area, these ones tend to be more from Romania and they rent these out to homeless people”, he explained.When asked whether it was just Spaniards that populated the run-down street, Jonny said: “There was a British guy [who lived here], a while ago.” He didn’t know his name.Those looking to stay in the ramshackle accomodation, would need to pay the gypsy ‘owners’ “£20 to £25-a-week”, according to Jonny.“That’s affordable, it gives them a little bit of security, you know what I mean?”.

Govt’s delay in readying SAP-2 on climate change is worrisome: Science body

Science and Health

Guwahati, Oct 27: Both the governments in the state and at the centre allegedly have a lackadaisical attitude towards the credible sufferings of people under the impacts of the changes rapidly taking place in global climate. The responses of both governments towards the plea to announce the second version of the State Action Plan (SAP) for mitigating adverse impacts of climate change are there as proof, said the Assam State Coordination Committee of the All India People’s Science Network (AIPSN).The AIPSN State Coordination Committee is a conglomeration of the Gyan Vigyan Samiti, Assam; CRU (NER); and Ellora Vigyan Mancha.Since 2022, the AIPSN Coordination Committee has been making pleas to the state government to announce the SAP-2. The SAP-2 was scheduled to be ready in 2020. But there occurred a time lapse due to the Covid-related crises. Since by 2022 the Covid-related situation improved, it was expected that the SAP-2 would soon be readied.Strengthening this hope, the state’s Minister for Science and Technology Department made a statement on the floor of the State Assembly on September 16, 2022, in reply to a question (No-69) from MLA Mrinal Saikia on the impacts of climate change on the state. The minister presented a very grim picture. He stated that according to climate change-related projections, the mean average temperature in Assam is likely to shoot up by 1.7 degrees Celsius to 2.2 degrees Celsius by mid- 21st century if the AD 1971-AD 2000 mean average temperature is taken as the base line.The state’s extreme rainfall events are also likely to go up in the range of 5% to 38%. Again, barring its southern districts, prospects of drought are going to rise in the state by over 75%, and there are 25% more possibilities of flood prevalence during this time.Again, a 2019 Department of Science and Technology (DST) evaluation had ranked Assam as the fifth vulnerable state of the country with regard to climate change adverse impacts.The above statement of the Minister gave rise to the belief that the State Government was serious in its approach towards mitigating the adverse impacts of climate change. In addition, the Science and Technology Department had set up a climate change cell under the Assam Science, Technology and Environment Council (ASTEC) too.But there was no response from the department to the coordination committee queries on the SAP update. This baffled the Coordination Committee, said its core committee member, Khanindra Talukdar. Therefore, since October 2022, it started writing to both the state’s Science and Technology Department as well as the environment and forest department seeking information on SAP updates.The Environment and Forest Department became open only after receiving an RTI application. The state’s Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) and Head of Forest Force (HOFF) informed Talukdar on December 12, 2023, in reply to his RTI queries that the State Cabinet had approved the SAP-2 meant for the 2021–2030 period. But he maintained that it was waiting for the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change’s (MoEFCC’s) approval.Significantly, this top Forest Department official provided only negligible information on its consultation with 30 state government departments and 12 NGOs for the SAP-2 preparation. The department made the Coordination Committee also to make another communication on July 29, 2024, to get the information on the MoEFCC approval to the SAP-2, only to tell on August 16 that the Union Ministry had approved the SAP-2 on February 16 this year.Thus, a delay of four years is allowed to occur in getting the SAP version 2 ready. This perhaps explains the level of sincerity of the state as well as the central governments on this crucial matter, said Talukdar.By-Ajit Patowary

Govt’s delay in readying SAP-2 on climate change is worrisome: Science body

Science and Health

Guwahati, Oct 27: Both the governments in the state and at the centre allegedly have a lackadaisical attitude towards the credible sufferings of people under the impacts of the changes rapidly taking place in global climate. The responses of both governments towards the plea to announce the second version of the State Action Plan (SAP) for mitigating adverse impacts of climate change are there as proof, said the Assam State Coordination Committee of the All India People’s Science Network (AIPSN).The AIPSN State Coordination Committee is a conglomeration of the Gyan Vigyan Samiti, Assam; CRU (NER); and Ellora Vigyan Mancha.Since 2022, the AIPSN Coordination Committee has been making pleas to the state government to announce the SAP-2. The SAP-2 was scheduled to be ready in 2020. But there occurred a time lapse due to the Covid-related crises. Since by 2022 the Covid-related situation improved, it was expected that the SAP-2 would soon be readied.Strengthening this hope, the state’s Minister for Science and Technology Department made a statement on the floor of the State Assembly on September 16, 2022, in reply to a question (No-69) from MLA Mrinal Saikia on the impacts of climate change on the state. The minister presented a very grim picture. He stated that according to climate change-related projections, the mean average temperature in Assam is likely to shoot up by 1.7 degrees Celsius to 2.2 degrees Celsius by mid- 21st century if the AD 1971-AD 2000 mean average temperature is taken as the base line.The state’s extreme rainfall events are also likely to go up in the range of 5% to 38%. Again, barring its southern districts, prospects of drought are going to rise in the state by over 75%, and there are 25% more possibilities of flood prevalence during this time.Again, a 2019 Department of Science and Technology (DST) evaluation had ranked Assam as the fifth vulnerable state of the country with regard to climate change adverse impacts.The above statement of the Minister gave rise to the belief that the State Government was serious in its approach towards mitigating the adverse impacts of climate change. In addition, the Science and Technology Department had set up a climate change cell under the Assam Science, Technology and Environment Council (ASTEC) too.But there was no response from the department to the coordination committee queries on the SAP update. This baffled the Coordination Committee, said its core committee member, Khanindra Talukdar. Therefore, since October 2022, it started writing to both the state’s Science and Technology Department as well as the environment and forest department seeking information on SAP updates.The Environment and Forest Department became open only after receiving an RTI application. The state’s Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) and Head of Forest Force (HOFF) informed Talukdar on December 12, 2023, in reply to his RTI queries that the State Cabinet had approved the SAP-2 meant for the 2021–2030 period. But he maintained that it was waiting for the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change’s (MoEFCC’s) approval.Significantly, this top Forest Department official provided only negligible information on its consultation with 30 state government departments and 12 NGOs for the SAP-2 preparation. The department made the Coordination Committee also to make another communication on July 29, 2024, to get the information on the MoEFCC approval to the SAP-2, only to tell on August 16 that the Union Ministry had approved the SAP-2 on February 16 this year.Thus, a delay of four years is allowed to occur in getting the SAP version 2 ready. This perhaps explains the level of sincerity of the state as well as the central governments on this crucial matter, said Talukdar.By-Ajit Patowary

Gloucestershire’s best tourism businesses announced in epic list

Travel

The creme de la creme of the West Country’s tourism sector has been unveiled, with the announcement of the finalists for the prestigious 2024 Bristol, Bath, and Somerset Tourism Awards. The list includes contenders from Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, highlighting the region’s commitment to outstanding visitor experiences. This year’s competition was particularly fierce, showcasing a remarkable…

Democrats Took Over a Bucks County School Board, but Still Ban Some Books

Arts & Culture, Books

Democrats swept a school board election in Bucks County after Republicans instituted book bans and other changes. But the right-wing “parental rights” movement has left an indelible mark.For two years, the Republican Pennridge School Board, north of Philadelphia, governed with a burst of ideological energy. It instituted book bans and curriculum rewrites — the sort of politics pushed nationwide by Moms for Liberty, the conservative advocacy group allied with Donald J. Trump.But in this closely divided community, the board’s moves created a backlash.A slate of Democrats swept school board elections. They promised to put “Pennridge over politics” and end an era of drama and division for this community.Still, a year later, the legacy of the district’s Moms for Liberty moment has not at all been undone.Some removed books have been restored to library shelves, but others have not. Transgender students can use some bathrooms that align to their gender identities — but not all of them.At least for now, teachers remain barred from displaying identity markers like rainbow flags. There has been no move to reinstate the diversity, equity and inclusion trainings and reading assignments that were canceled by the previous board.Adrienne King, a parent activist, says her trust in the school district has been broken.Rachel Wisniewski for The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

Joan Didion Remains as Elusive as Ever. These Books Want to Fix That.

Arts & Culture, Books

Since her death, Didion has become a literary subject as popular for her image and writing as for the fascination she inspired for almost half a century.It’s still bright afternoon when the writer Lili Anolik slips into the dim recesses of the Odeon restaurant. Here, at New York’s timeless destination for downtown cool, she prefers to sit in the same place every time, a small booth by the host’s stand.Anolik orders an Earl Grey tea but furtively sips from a Pepsi she pulls from her purse. On the table: galleys of her new book, “Didion and Babitz,” out in November.Despite the split billing in Anolik’s title, the conversation quickly turns to Joan Didion.“She’s so opaque,” Anolik said. “I felt like I’ve been trying to understand her for years, but I’ve been standing outside a locked door.”Anolik isn’t the only one trying to crack open that door. “Didion and Babitz” is one of four books featuring Didion written since her death in 2021, with at least two more scheduled in the years to come. The published books include a memoir from Didion’s nephew Griffin Dunne about his family in Los Angeles; Cory Leadbeater’s memoir of his time working for Didion at the end of her life; and Evelyn McDonnell’s meditative tribute, “The World According to Joan Didion.” Next year, The New York Times’s movie critic Alissa Wilkinson’s depiction of Didion in Hollywood will be published in March.These writers, of course, bring their own gaze and interpretation of Didion, a figure whose distinctive blend of opacity and confession seems to invite dissection, speculation and projection perhaps more than any other contemporary writer. It’s not only Didion herself that these books grapple with, but the fascination she inspired and the enduring patina of cool she held onto for nearly 50 years.Lynn Nesbit, Didion’s longtime agent and now one of her three literary executors, expressed a lack of enthusiasm for the trend. “It makes me somewhat uncomfortable that so many writers are trying to understand their own lives through the prism of examining Joan’s life and her work,” Nesbit said. “Their books become so much about them, and not about her.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

Big tech censoring post that told the truth about the failure of Harris-Biden’s broadband connectivity program

Technology

MENLO PARK, CA – Meta, aka Facebook, simply cannot help itself. Four years after Meta head Mark Zuckerberg dumped tens of millions of dollars helping to get Joe Biden elected while throttling information helpful to the Trump campaign, the social media company appears to be at it again. 

In a post on X, Brendan Carr, a Republican commissioner with the Federal Communications Commission, wrote that Facebook is censoring the fact that the Biden-Harris administration has failed to connect anyone to the internet despite US taxpayers dropping $42 billion on the effort. 

Facebook is censoring that as “false information,” not because anyone has actually been connected but because the government is spending money to attempt to get people connected. Get it? Moreover, what is the source of Facebook’s “misinformation” claim? Biden-Harris administration officials, hardly “third-party” fact checkers. 

In August, ABC News reported that Zuckerberg told the House Judiciary Committee that he regretted the company’s caving to Biden administration pressure to censor some COVID-19 posts during the pandemic. 

In 2021, Kamala Harris promised broadband services would be brought to “rural America today” through the Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, a significant and pricey government initiative. Despite that, and 1,000 days later, not one person has been connected to the government’s broadband, which is the point being made on X. 

Facebook’s fact-checker is USA Today, a media outlet that has become a parody of itself with its “fact checkers” and is clearly intervening on behalf of the Biden-Harris administration. This raises serious questions about the independence and objectivity of Facebook’s fact-checking process. 

In another post on X, Carr wrote that nobody has been connected to the Internet through the BEAD program, no shovels of dirt have been turned, and no money has been spent on building out Internet infrastructure yet.

Carr confirmed with USA Today that their “fact checkers” were members of the Biden-Harris administration. 

Carr wrote, “This ‘fact check’ has other problems too. While it purports to check the claim that no dollars have been spent on Internet access, it instead focuses on whether funds have lawfully been spent on planning to connect people. 

Carr also found that USA Today had violated its own policies on “fact-checking” by failing to use “unbiased sources,” “gather[ing] a variety of perspectives,” and “seek official, nonpartisan sources.” 

In a later post, Carr wrote that Facebook had removed the censorship screen from the post about Internet connectivity but noted that “systemic issues” with Facebook’s “fact-checking” remain. 

A Meta spokesperson said in a statement, “Meta publishes clear rating guidelines for third-party fact checkers who independently review and rate content. In this instance, the rating fell outside of those guidelines, and we have removed it.” 

If anyone wonders why many have lost faith in mainstream media and social media, this is proof positive of why. 

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The secret island with hardly any tourists that’s far cheaper than its neighbours

Travel

At 11 square miles, with a population of 3,000 and no major cruise ports, you could be forgiven for not knowing about St Eustatius (Statia), one of the tiniest – and most charming – islands in the Caribbean.While many holiday destinations in this part of the world embrace an attitude of more is more, lining their shores with mega-resorts, margarita bars and beach clubs, this Dutch municipality tucked between St Kitts, St Barts, and St Maarten hangs fast to its identity as a biodiverse tourist paradise.Read NextArriving on the island, I was struck by the serenity. Rather than car horns and construction noise, birdsong and faint Calypso music followed me everywhere. A holiday in Statia is a steal compared with its better-known neighbours. In St Kitts, for example, UK visitors spend an average US$4,680.80 (£3,612) per couple on a 10-day stay (excluding airfare), according to the St Kitts Tourism Authority. Meanwhile, Statia Tourism estimates couples spend $3,800 (£2,932) for the equivalent – yet the island receives fewer than 10,000 visitors a year. The average hotel cost is around $180 (£139) a night, while most guests spend about $100 (£77) a day on excursions, food and shuttles (shared taxis). Perhaps because of its laid-back feel and relative affordability, Statia has become an under-the-radar favourite of outdoor adventure lovers.During my own recent visit, I discovered how the lush island earned a reputation for having some of the Caribbean’s best hiking and scuba diving. Established in 1988, St Eustatius National Parks manages all conservation efforts above and below water. Today, nearly half of Statia is protected, including 17 miles of marine reserve that contain ancient lava flows, 18th-century shipwrecks and coral reefs populated with marine life that includes four species of sea turtle, spotted eagle rays and Caribbean spiny lobsters, which can grow up to 60cm and weigh as much as 8kg. Diving in Statia (Photo: Gerard Soury/Getty/The Image Bank RF)During an excursion with Statia Divers, I also unsuccessfully searched the sea floor for one of the blue glass beads that were used as currency for the slave trade. Legend has it that when slavery was abolished here in 1821, a group of emancipated islanders threw their beads into the ocean. Statia has just as much to offer on land, particularly in Quill/Boven National Park. Most hikers flock to the Quill side, where the eponymous, 600m-high dormant volcano – the island’s best-known landmark – rises above several paths. These trails are well-worn, both by people and an estimated 14,000 free-roaming wild goats. Walkers can trek to the summit along the Mazinga trail for views across the Caribbean or descend into the verdant crater via the steep Crater Mountain Trail. There, they will find a rainforest full of native and introduced trees and plants, such as wild raspberries, begonias and more than a dozen species of orchids. Used as farmland by European colonisers, the Quill was once the site of a plantation whose remnants remain tucked beneath the overgrowth – a reminder that the past is everywhere you look. The Fort de Windt dates back to 1756 and was abandoned in 1815 (Photo: Stephan Kogelman/Getty)In fact, Statia – which was a thriving economic centre and hotly contested 18th-century trading post, as its port required no customs duties – has more protected historic monuments per square mile than any other Caribbean island. During the 17th and 18th centuries, it changed hands between the English, French, and Dutch 22 times.During a three-hour walking tour of the capital, Oranjestad, St Eustatius Historical Foundation Museum guide Misha Spanner showed me landmarks that shaped the island’s history, including the Dutch stronghold Fort Oranje, the Bethel Methodist Church with its English-made bell tower, and the ruins of Synagogue Honem Dalin, the third-oldest synagogue in the Caribbean. Still, the island can’t remain a secret for ever. A new fast ferry service from St Kitts, which launched in late 2023, makes it more convenient and less expensive to get to the island than the flight from St Maarten.Golden Rock Dive & Nature Resort (Photo: goldenrockresort.com)The recent opening of Golden Rock Dive & Nature Resort, Statia’s first truly luxury property, has also attracted the attention of tourists. Just don’t expect a typical all-inclusive with a casino.Golden Rock honours the island’s natural ethos – less than five minutes’ drive from the Quill volcano, the 40-acre estate has 75 ocean-view rooms; more than 130,000 endemic plants and flowers cover its land, while Bobbie’s Beach Club, an al fresco restaurant with live music and a man-made, ocean-fed lagoon, has become a popular hangout. Here, it is possible to feel at home on an island that mass tourism seems to have forgotten.
How to get there

British Airways offers flights between the UK and St Kitts, britishairways.com.

Winair has round-trip flights from St Kitts to Statia, winair.sx.

Water taxi transfer, St Kitts to Statia, makanaferryservice.com.

Where to stay

Golden Rock has a one-bedroom cottage for $349 (£269) a night, including breakfast, goldenrockresort.com.

More information  

statia-tourism.com