National Safety Day: Be careful around unsafe roads in Dwarka

National Safety Day is observed on 4 March every year, to raise awareness about safety measures that need to be taken into account to avoid accidents and mishaps.

On the occasion, CitySpidey took a tour of the roads in Dwarka and found many unsafe roads for the commuters. Many roads in sectors 12, 13 and 14 were found to be unsafe in the area.

These roads need immediate attention of the authorities. Take a look at these spots and be careful while commuting through them.

Damaged road at Ashirwad Chowk.

Manhole emerging out dangerously on Road Number 203, ahead of Iskcon Temple.

Entry to the road behind Sector 13 metro station covered in debris.

Walk straight ahead on the same road mentioned above, and you'll find crater-like potholes.

 

This sidewalk guide for the blind will surely trip the ones with perfect vision as well.

Open manhole like many others on the sidewalks of MRV Chowk.

Popular Levi's ad accused of plagiarism by 'Yeh Ballet' director

 A new Levi's video commercial, directed by Nadia Marquard Otzen featuring Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone, has landed in an embarrassing situation. The video shows Deepika entering a set and dancing to the tunes of 'Auva-Auva', the 1982 hit number sung by Bappi Lahiri and Usha Uthup.

The video has already garnered over 5.6 million views on YouTube alone and the comment section is full of praise for the song as well as for Deepika Padukone.

All about the controversy:

The controversy, however, concerns the set where Deepika is seen grooving on the song. Photographer and filmmaker Sooni Taraporevala on Tuesday claimed the set used in the video was extremely similar to the one she had created for her film 'Yeh Ballet'.

In a long Instagram post, with photographs of the set from her film and Levi's advertisement, Taraporevala lambasted the makers of the set, calling it an intellectual theft.

 

 

In a long post on Instagram, Taraporevala wrote, “A couple of days ago @cindy_jourdain brought this @levis_in ad to my attention. I was shocked to see our Yeh Ballet dance studio set in this ad, because it was conceptualized & created out of a derelict space by Shailaja Sharma @shalzoid (our PD) from scratch and dismantled after our shoot. Basically @nadiaeye (the director of this ad) saw Yeh Ballet and decided to plagiarize our set down to the very last detail (swipe for screenshot). Would Levi's and the director ever think of doing that in the west without permission / acknowledgment, and passing it off as their own creative work? This is not homage, this is intellectual theft! It's SO unfair to our wonderful production designer @shalzoid to have her work ripped off like that. (sic)”

She added, “Copycat culture in India needs to be called out and cancelled. You would think a foreign production company and director would know better. Are you so creatively bankrupt? What were you thinking?" she even added in her post that," PS. contrary to what clickbait news headlines say, this has nothing to do with Deepika Padukone or anyone else in the cast. (sic)”

Along with her post, Sooni Taraporevala shared pictures of the set in question from the film 'Yeh Ballet'. She also added a screenshot wherein production designer Rupin Suchak can be seen agreeing to using the dance studio as an inspiration for the set of the new Levi's ad.

RESIDENT SPEAK: Portion of road caves in at Dwarka

 

On the occasion of National Safety Day, a portion of road caves in due to negligence of Delhi Jal Board (DJB) at Sector 7, Dwarka. It happened in front of plot numbers 10 and 11.

The incident is quite ironic in accordance with the occasion. The situation doesn’t come as a shock to the residents as similar incidents have taken place in the past as well.

People have suffered and dealt with them. Fortunately, no resident has been injured due to the caved road. The omission on the part of the authorities of Jal Board is egregious.

National Safety Day: Know everything about speed breakers

National Safety Day is observed on March 4 every year to mark the foundation of the National Safety Council, set up under the aegis of the Ministry of Labour and Employment. This day aims to raise awareness about safety measures that should be embraced to reduce mishaps and incidents. This year marks the 50th celebration and the theme is ‘Sadak Suraksha’.

Under the theme, one issue that needs to be highlighted is that many people face problems because of the erratic speed breakers. In India, more than 2,800 people have died and 9,900 accidents have taken place due to faulty road infrastructure in the country, as per the Indian Road Accidents Report 2019.

According to the guidelines, speed breakers should be painted with alternate black and white bands to give additional visual warning. For better night visibility, the markings should be in luminous paint/luminous stripes. Embedded cat-eyes can also be used to enhance night visibility.

Speed breakers should be placed in a good manner. At ‘T’ intersections, speed breakers should be installed on minor roads or perpendicular arms about 10 meters away from the inner edges of major roads.

Proper signboards and markings are required to be provided at such locations. Speed breakers should be extended through the entire width of the road, supported on a proper base.
On bridges, speed breakers should not be provided. However, in accident prone areas which have bridges or curve and narrow bridges, either approach must have two-speed breakers each.

As per IRC-99 (Indian Road Congress) guidelines, a speed breaker should have a radius of 17 m with a width of 3.7 m and a height of 0.1 m. This is calculated to reduce the speed of the vehicle to 25 kmph. The distance between one hump to another can vary from 100 to 120 meters, center to center. Speed breakers may have to be repeated over a section to keep speeds low throughout.

Breakers should be constructed by Bitumen, which has a longer life and allows for the smoother landing of vehicles. Most speed breakers, however, are made of plastic and PVC which wear off quickly within a period of 5 to 6 months, resulting in the additional extra cost.

Speed breaker at Adarsh Apartment, sec-3, Dwarka.

President of TRAX NGO, Anurag Kulshresth said, “In societies, people find the way to secure themselves from the high-speed vehicles and when residents find their way and due to this they do not follow rules and regulation, its government responsibility to take care of all such things.”

Later he added, “Proper structure and size of the speed breaker is very important. In Noida, many speed breakers don't have any proper size and structure. According to the Indian Road Congress, the design and height of the speed breaker should be 4 to 5 inches. Rumble strips should be there before the speed breakers.”

According to Dr Rajeev Verma from Manipal Hospital, “We mainly have muscles, bones, and nerves in the back and due to heavy strain on the speed breaker, back muscles will strain and tear out. Sometimes, back discs can also be displaced. Sciatica pain can be caused due to this.” 

World Obesity Day: Awareness session on lifestyle diseases conducted in Dwarka

 

On the occasion of World Obesity Day, Manipal Hospital in association with Green Circle conducted an awareness session on how to manage lifestyle diseases and performed Yoga sessions in Dwarka on Thursday.

The event was headed by Dt Nidhi Singh, Clinical Nutritionist along with Krishan Kumar Garg, International Yoga Champion (Gold Medalist). The session started from 8 am onwards. The venue was beautifully set up on the terrace of Manipal Hospital. V Selvarajan from Green Circle welcomed all the participants.

30 volunteers of Green Circle and Robinhood Army participated in the program. The Green Circle is an organisation working for nature and the environment and its headquarter is in Dwarka. Dt Singh educated the gathering about the daily food habits which should be followed to avoid obesity.  She said, “Follow the right timings of food and a good lifestyle, this is the right way to stay healthy and happy.”

People asked about the correct timings to drink green tea, eating dessert after food and many more. While Dt Singh answered that eating sweets after food is just cravings and drinking green tea depends upon individual diet. She said that people can drink green tea anytime.

Later, the Yoga session was started, in which Garg asked the gathering to do Yoga with him on the mats and chairs for the ones who can't sit on the floor.

Many asanas including suryanamaskar, neck exercises, and many more were performed. The session ended with fat-free snacks which included fruits, dhoklas, and sandwiches. 

Dwarka: One killed, another injured in car collision

 

One killed and another one got seriously injured two cars collided with each other in Dwarka on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, police said.

A Mercedes car collided with a Ford Figo car at the traffic intersection of sectors 6 and 7. An occupant of Ford Figo car, 22-year-old Akash Ranaage was found dead at the spot. The other occupant of the car, 23-year-old Rahul Rana was seriously injured in the accident.

“Both the deceased and and injured were employees of an insurance company. They were returning from a party organised by their company,” a police official said.

The police informed that the driver of Mercedes car is absconding. However, a case was registered by the poli1ce. The Mercedes car was found registered in the name of Ajay Kumar Singh of Jharkhand.

Amazon revamps logo after netizens compared it with Hitler's moustache

 

In January, Amazon launched a new logo for its mobile apps replacing the old one with brown cardboard box design and a blue coloured strip on it that was said to symbolise Amazon's shipping packages. This was Amazon's first change in its app logo in the last five years.

The new logo design of Amazon featured Amazon's signature curved arrow against a brown background. Several social media users were quick to notice that the jagged edges of the blue tape closely resembled German Dictator Adolf Hitler's characteristic toothbrush moustache.

Trans woman Urooz Hussain's story enough to inspire community

Urooz Hussain is a trans woman who is challenging the stereotyping of her community people by taking brave steps and that too without getting unfazed by the scathing bullies and taunts. She stood firm and took her own decisions to take the challenges head on. She wasn't someone who would walk into oblivion, rather she developed her own restaurant to lead a respected life and also show the way to the transgender community.

27-year-old Urooz Hussain runs her restaurant 'Street Temptations' at Sector 119 in Noida. She hails from Munger district in Bihar. She is also a social worker, model and an entrepreneur. She believes that her decision to run a restaurant will inspire others from her community as well.

On November 21, 2019, Urooz opened her restaurant in Noida. It was not a simple journey since nobody was ready to give retail space to a trans woman. Urooz spent about Rs 7 lakh on the restaurant. The restaurant started doing well in 2019 but when the pandemic struck in 2020, everything halted.

The restaurant has seven staff who have been getting their salaries all throughout the lockdown period. According to Hussain, trans women normally open salons and boutiques but she wanted to break that mould and wanted to do something different.

Besides being an entrepreneur, Hussain is also co-founder of 'I Love Noida', . Recently, she also won Australia's beauty pageant for transgenders.

She said, “Pre-Covid, I had two trans women working at the restaurant, but they unfortunately had to go back home during the lockdown. Now, I am actively looking to hire people from the trans community.”

She continued, “Unfortunately, it’s been a tough year for all of us. I had to deal not only with this pandemic but also the judgements that came my way because of being a trans woman.”

In school, the majority of Hussain’s friends were all girls and she says that most of the conversation used to be about makeup. She said, “One of my happy memories from my school days was applying lipstick but I am very scared about how I confess my feelings to my parents.”

Get free wi-fi at these spots in Delhi

 

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation on Wednesday initiated the Prime Minister Wi-Fi Access Network Interface Scheme (WANI). Mayor Anamika and Deputy Mayor Subhash Bhadana inaugurated two public utility schemes.

The Mayor said that the civic agency has started the PM WANI Scheme under which Wi-Fi hotspots will be set up in each ward. Small shops located in unauthorised and JJ colonies will be converted into Public Data Office (PDO) where hotspots will be set up. The scheme is touted to be an attempt of the government to improve the wireless internet connectivity in the country.

People can use the internet free of cost for 1 hour. Consumers will have to pay Rs 5 for full-day, Rs 10 for a week, and Rs 50 for a month for unlimited use of the Internet. Shopkeepers will get 50 per cent profit on the sale of internet coupons.

Besides this, users can get information about government schemes through internet services and the move will also create job opportunities for people living in unauthorised and JJ colonies. SDMC will provide a router and other necessary infrastructure without any cost for the first three months. Local area councilors will have to identify shops where hotspots will be set up.

Deputy Mayor Bhadana said that SDMC will provide 15 public services through Common Service Centres (CSC) run by the central government.

The civic body also launched the Birth and Death Certificate registration service through CSCs. Services like property tax return, health trade license, factory license, veterinary license, tehbazari license, community hall & park booking, trade and storage license, conversion & parking charge, e-mutation, etc will be available on CSC.

People will get online facilities to avail these services without any manual interference.

Additional Commissioner AA Tazir, Councillors Sunil Sahdev, Abha Chouhan, Poonam Jindal, KK Shukla, Radhika Abrol, Suresh, and senior officials from SDMC were present. 

World Hearing Day: Free screening done for policemen at Dwarka

On World Hearing Day, Rampo Hearing Clinic along with Ayjnishd (Noida), Sonadev Aarogyam and Unitron conducted “Hearing care for All-Screening, Rehabilitation and communication program” at Dwarka Police Wellness Centre in Sector 23, Dwarka.

The program was organised to raise awareness on ways to prevent deafness, hearing and promote the ear and hearing care. Free hearing screening, training, early intervention, prevention, free ear protection devices and awareness materials were given to the policemen and their families.

During the program, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Santosh Kumar Meena (IPS) inaugurated the World Hearing Day events and narrated the purpose of the program to the policemen, and their family members.

DCP Meena encouraged them to get their hearing tested and follow early intervention training to keep their ear and hearing healthy.

Dr Ram P Kumar, President of Sonadev Aarogyam and Director of Rampo Clinic described why policemen have to get their hearing checked up regularly by Audiologists or hearing care specialists and the risks of staying in noise and its effects on hearing.

Training and talk on Noise Induced Hearing Loss, free ear protection devices were given to the policemen and their family members for free.

Total 300 policemen got their hearing tested, among which more than 36 were found to have hearing loss (7 requiring hearing aids) and 63 had Noise Induced Hearing Loss (requiring ear protectors). 

Garden of Tourism Festival – A great spectacle for nature lovers

 Are you a nature lover? Do you love growing plants in your backyard? Then you must visit the Garden of Tourism Festival, which is going on in Saket, Delhi. You will see multiple species of flowers, seeds to grow flowers, decorative items for your garden, and also some Ayurvedic plants for your healthy life.

Not only this, but you can also find some scented candles which will give you a fresh natural fragrance. Have a look at these pictures below to get a view of the Garden of Tourism Festival.

Prickly Pear Cactus

Prickly Pear Cactus

This is one edible alternative that you can grow at home. It requires full sunlight location and well-drained soil. Don't forget to wear thick gloves while touching them.

Old couple welcoming your garden entrance

Old couple welcoming garden entrance

We all love to make our garden a more decorative and comfortable place to sit or relax. While you are just thinking about it, why not visit this festival and get some decorative items. Why home be the only place to relax?

Lemons grabbing all our attention

Lemons grabbing attentions

Imagine your garden producing all your basic veggies and salad for your home kitchen, fascinating isn't it?

Little cute monks

Little cute monks

Somebody just entered your garden and got that sweet smile while looking at these little cute monks.

Organic Potatoes

Organic Potatoes

These organic potatoes are on discounts along with other veggies. Explore and buy if you want.

Purple Kale and Green Kale

Purple Kale and Green Kale

Purple and Green Kale are an excellent source of vitamins A and C, iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, protein, carbohydrates, and dietary fiber. Grow them and get your health treatment at your doorstep.

Rain Lily and its seed

Rain Lily and its seed

It requires full sun and also it looks very attractive. Rain Lily comes in many different colours like white, pink, etc.

Beautiful flowers in bloom

Beautiful flowers in bloom

Eye-catchy and beautiful flowers attract eyes with their looks. 

World Wildlife Day: Catch glimpses of birds in environs of Delhi

 On the occasion of World Wildlife Day, CitySpidey visited a waterbody at Sector 23 in Dwarka and caught glimpses of birds varying from domesticated to migrated.

World Wildlife Day is observed to celebrate and raise awareness of the world's wild animals and plants. Catch sight of these beautiful feathered creatures and read a bit more about them:

Bee Eater (Merops Orientalis)

Green bee-eater

Bee eater is a small-sized bird with distinct features such as crimson eyes, a black band that goes around her neck just below her blue chin. There is a black stripe that goes through her ruby eyes, meeting its long, slim beak. Bee eaters often have two narrow, long black tails that are found in mature birds.

White-Throated Kingfisher (Halcyon Smyrnensis)

White-throated kingfisher

This is a medium-sized tree bird that is widely distributed in Asia. It is also popularly known as white-breasted Kingfisher as its neck and breast are covered with a snow-white patch. Its thick orange beak and electric-blue wings are two distinct features that'll catch your eyes at first glance. It is a very shy but observant bird.

Sandpiper (Scolopacidae)

Sandpiper

Sandpipers have moderately long bills and legs, with slender wings and a fairly short tail. The colour of their wings often varies between patterns of dead grass or brown patches. Its belly is often covered with a white or creamy patch of feathers. Sandpipers are shorebirds with black-beady eyes, and a white-creamy stripe running through them.

Drongo (Dicruridae)

Drongo

Drongo is a medium-sized, pitch-black bird with blue highlights and a forked tail. These are short-legged birds that are often found in Africa and southern parts of Asia.

Domestic Goose

Domestic Goose

Domestic Geese have long necks and huge bodies. They have bright orange palmates (feet) and beak which are a huge contrast to their pure-white bodies. These are grey geese that are domesticated for their meat, eggs, and down feathers since ancient times.

Common Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus Collybita)

Common Chiffchaff

It's a tiny migratory bird, with a soft-brown body and thin, tiny legs. Very difficult to catch on a lens!

Teaser of Kartik Aaryan starrer Dhamaka released

 The upcoming Ram Madhvani-directed thriller will see Kartik Aaryan play a journalist named Arjun Pathak, who covers the live broadcast of a terror attack in Mumbai.

On Tuesday, the makers shared the teaser of the Ram Madhvani directorial, which lives up to the expectations of the audience. It seems the actor leaves his lover boy image to enter the newsroom and promises to speak 'the truth and nothing but the truth'.

In the Dhamaka teaser, we enter a tense newsroom which is in the middle of major news coverage and its star anchor, our protagonist Arjun Pathak, played by Kartik Aaryan, has lost his nerve.

He plays a news anchor, who is struggling to pull himself together but his colleague, played by Amruta Subhash, forces him to perform and do his best.

 

 

Apart from Kartik, Dhamaka stars Mrunal Thakur, Amruta Subhash, Vikas Kumar and Vishwajeet Pradhan in pivotal roles. Dhamaka will premiere exclusively on Netflix across 190 countries.

Salma Bano – An embroider empowering women

 India has been blessed with a vibrant and rich history of art and craft. In this era of modernisation, Salma Bano, a lady from Farukhabad, Uttar Pradesh chose to keep the traditional art alive through the art she inherited from her mother.

Salma's abbu (father) and her grandfather were into designing blocks of Sheesham wood for block printing. Salma says she has grown with art among artists, learned the art of sewing, knitting, and weaving from her mother, who always wanted to start something of her own for taking forward the art of embroidery.

Embroider Salma Bano

How did it start?

Salma Bano took the responsibility of her mother's dream and started creating her own designs while she was a young teenager. Salma recalled that her first work of embroidery was on a bedsheet in the year of 1995. Her brother Sunny noticed and appreciated her work and asked her to make a particular customised design, which turned out to be her second embroidery piece.

Gradually over the period of time, Salma kept refining her art and her designs. She mentions that art is a blessing from Allah and like daily prayers, it needs to be practiced everyday.

In 1998, Salma took a loan of Rs 15,000 to start her own venture as an entrepreneur. She started all by herself with just a few t-shirts, colorful threads, needles of different sizes, and a sewing machine. On being asked how being a woman she managed to gather the courage to start her own venture, she said, “I wanted to show the world what art my hands hold and keep the culture and tradition of India alive, I do what I know with all my heart.”

Virat Kohli hits new century with 100 million followers on Instagra

 Team India captain Virat Kohli has become the first cricketer to cross the mark of 100 million followers on Instagram. Not only this, he is also the first Indian and first Asian to achieve this milestone.

Kohli shared a post on Instagram announcing the achievement and thanking his fans for the love and support.

 

 

The fans of the cricketer can’t keep calm and a hashtag #100millionviratiansoninsta started trending. International Cricket Council also congratulated Kohli by tweeting a picture welcoming him to the 100 million club with the caption “Virat Kohli - the first cricket star to hit 100 million followers on Instagram.”

AAP wins 4, Congress 1 in municipal bypolls held at 5 wards

 

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won four seats and the Indian National Congress (INC) won one seat in the municipal bypolls for five wards in Delhi on Wednesday.

The Bhartiya Janata Party had held one of the wards. They failed to win any ward in the municipal bypolls held on Februay 28 (Sunday).

More than 50 per cent of the voters had casted their votes in the municipal bypolls in five wards on Sunday.

The AAP candidates came out victorious at Kalyanpuri, Rohini C, Trilokpuri and Shalimar Bagh North wards. However, the Congress candidate won from Chauhan Bangar ward.

AAP candidate Dhirender Kumar won by 7,043 votes at the Kalyanpuri ward. AAP's Vijay Kumar won by a margin of 4,986 votes in Trilokpuri. AAP's Sunita Mishra came out victorious from Shalimar Bagh ward by 2,705 votes.

Ram Chander of the AAP won by 2,985 votes in Rohini C ward. Congress candidate Chaudhary Zubair Ahmad won by 10,642 votes in Chauhan Bangar ward.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia congratulated the party workers for victory on Twitter. He said that people were fed up with the BJP and would bring in Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's politics of honesty and work in the municipal corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls next year.

10 women-centric movies you must watch

 For decades, Hindi cinema has been a mirror reflecting the times and scenarios the nation has gone through. From playing decorative objects in movies, if not victims or martyrs, to becoming a strong force, women have come a long way in our movies. The Hindi film actresses have graduated from being the innocent to the woman of substance and strength that stands for her rights, raises her voice against injustice, and fights for her dignity and self-respect and also rebels when she has to.

The women in Hindi cinema have been pivotal in bringing across the transformation the country has been through. We bring you 10 films that show women as the heroes:

1. Mom

Mom is a story of a mother who revenges her daughter's rape and death after being denied justice by the law. Sridevi plays the simple mother who transforms into a smart woman to avenge her daughter's death.

2. Lipstick Under My Burkha

Lipstick Under My Burkha is coming of age film for women's sexuality. A fearlessly feminist film, it holds a mirror to the present times we live in.

3. Pink

Pink told the nation that when a woman says 'no' it means 'no'. No matter what clothes she wears or what lifestyle she leads, she can't be forced into doing anything against her will. Amitabh Bachchan plays an advocate who fights for the girls entrapped in a legal battle against notorious boys belonging to influential families.

4. Neerja

Neerja, the film is based on a true life story of a flight purser who was shot and killed while making sure that hundreds of passengers of the hijacked Pan Am Flight 73 were safe and sound. Sonam Kapoor plays Neerja with great grit and elan.

5. Mardaani 2

Mardaani 2 is the story of a female cop, Shivani Roy. It's played by Rani Mukerji who vows to catch Sunny, a psychopath working for a politican, brutally rapes and murders innocent women  leaving a trail of battered bodies in his wake.

6.  Queen

Queen is a beautiful story of a young girl Rani played by Kangana Ranaut. It's heartbreaking when Vijay, played by Rajkumar Rao, just a day before the wedding breaks the news to Rani that he is no more interested in marrying her. The simple, small town girl is shattered but soon she decides to stand for herself and to go on a honeymoon all alone. During her travels, she meets new friends, discovers the world and comes back as a changed person, ready to take control of her life.

7.  No One Killed Jessica

This film is based on the real life story of Jessica Lal murder case. It's a tale of how Jessica's elder sister, Sabrina Lal played by Vidya Balan fights the wealthy and influential man who shot her sister. Rani Mukerji plays the gritty journalist who helps Vidya Balan to fight against all odds. The film shows that even a common woman can rise above all odds and fight for justice. The film is directed by Rajkumar Gupta.

8. Kahaani

Kahaani is a movie which lives up to its name more than you could ask for. The entire script of Kahaani was filled with unexpected twists and turns that you definitely won't see coming. Vidya Balan has done an amazing role for this movie.

9. English Vinglish

English Vinglish is a story of a common housewife Shashi Godbole played by Sridevi. It beautifully shows how the housewife, who is brilliant as a homemaker, a wife and a mother, is looked down upon and made fun of by her daughter and husband just because she can't speak fluent English. A hurt Shashi Godbole turns things around as she learns the language on her US trip to her niece's wedding. Gauri Shinde's simple story is an impressive one as the woman overcomes her shortcomings.

10.  NH 10

Anushka not only produced this movie but made sure she single-handedly handles the script on screen as well. And with this movie, we loved Anushka Sharma even more! In the movie, her husband is killed by the local gangster family. She survived and killed the family who killed her husband played by Neil Bhoopalan. Shout out to Deepti Naval for being an amazing antagonist!

Let's wait for more upcoming women centric movies in Bollywood like – Thalaivi, Gangubai Kathiawadi, Saina, Gul Makai and Dhaakad. Let's cheer for all the women out there on the occasion of International Women's Day.

'Brave lady' serves mouthwatering Dosa in Dwarka

 Dosa is one of the most-loved street foods in Delhi. There is a woman who has been selling amazing south Indian food in Dwarka for 21 years now. It's a very famous stall in Sector 7, Dwarka.

A 54 years old woman named Raja Mani, sits in one corner of a platform near Gokul garden in Sector 7. She has been selling Dosa, Idli for 21 years now.

How it all started?

Raja Mani is from Tamil Nadu and stays in New Delhi with her husband and two sons. Her elder son used to love her Dosa and Idli and wanted her food to reach out to all the people. It was his dream for her to start a stall in Dwarka.

In 2000, Mani started a south Indian food stall with the help of her elder son and her husband. But when she started her new venture, she lost her elder son in an accident. That didn't stop her and she went ahead and started the food stall and now she is a very popular food vendor in Dwarka. She did this for her son.

In the beginning, it was a huge struggle for her to get recognised but when people started coming to her stall and started eating her home-made south Indian food, she became a huge buzz among netizens. She makes really tasty masala dosa and idli and that too just for Rs 50. She and her husband, both run the food stall together now.

This International Women’s Day, let's cheer for all such brave women out there, who did not let the adversities of life affect them and went on to achieve and live their dreams. 

Delhi reports 217 new Covid-19 cases; no new deaths

 

The Capital on Wednesday recorded 217 new coronavirus cases, taking the cumulative tally to 6,39,681. The number of new cases reported came out of 66,624 tests conducted on the previous day.

At least 42,632 RTPCR/CBNAAT/TrueNat tests and 23,992 rapid antigen tests were conducted in the last 24 hours. The positivity rate was at 0.33 per cent.

No death was reported in the last 24 hours, keeping the death toll at 10,911. A total of 78 patients recovered from the deadly disease, taking the total recovery figure to 6,27,227 in the national capital.

Currently, there are 1,543 active cases in the city. Out of the total 5,721 beds in coronavirus hospitals, 5,177 are vacant. A total of 777 patients are in home isolation. 

Story of a nature enthusiast and birder

 

Dr. Jai Prabhan is a 68-year-old nature enthusiast and birder who visits the Dwarka waterbody in Sector 23 regularly. He is a pathologist and consultant by profession and a bird photographer by hobby. Prabhan’s journey as a birder started when his friends visited him and took him out to explore the birds of Jim Corbett and Nainital.

“We used to write down the descriptions of the birds we came across and discussed them in our meetings as there weren't many advancements in technology at that time. Today, we have the benefit of technology and with a click of our fingers, we can Google whichever bird we capture. We didn’t have this opportunity in our time,” said Prabhan when CitySpidey asked him about the start of his career as a birder.

He got his first camera with a 100 mm lens and started photographing birds seriously in 2007. He slowly transitioned from Kodak 100 mm to Canon 550 (Rebel). He now owns a telephoto lens attached to a Canon EOS R6.

“Bird photography is one of the most exciting career options but unfortunately there aren’t many opportunities for people who want to opt it as a profession. One first needs to seek financial stability  which will help them support their hobbies. It isn’t very lucrative,” he said.

Some benefits of bird photography as stated by Prabhan:

Bird photography helps you stay physically fit as you are supposed to be on your feet all the time. You might have to climb a tree and work out regularly to help your body stay in shape for the extreme conditions you might face during a shoot.

Being with nature gives you peace of mind. The process of nature photography is very harmonious. It makes you want to stay fit as one gets into a self-disciplinary lifestyle.

“I’m not a city man, I love the peace nature brings to me,” he ended with a laugh.