General
Pune trio goes on a ‘long drive’ – a record 21,000 km through borders of India

Creating a new record, a Pune couple and their friend – all software engineers-cum-adventure lovers – went on a ‘long drive’ in an SUV, covering a whopping 21,000 km in 70 days across the entire boundary of India, from east to west, north to south.
They are — Jaykumar Anadkat, his wife Pooja Padiya-Anadkat, both from Gujarat, and their friend Sonesh Mehra from Rajasthan, who are the co-founders of the adventure club, ‘PlacesAroundPune’.
“We have done many activities like hiking, trekking, cycling, mountaineering, scuba-diving etc., but this time we wanted to do something unique and fulfilling. So we charted out this trip — “#MapMyCountry” — in our Tata Safari SUV, and we hope to make it to the record books,” said Jaykumar, after the trio returned home late on Monday.
The trio, all aged 35, embarked on their journey on February 27 from Magarpatta and returned to the same location on May 8, zooming through 26 states, several Union Territories, 52 major cities and over 250 important travel destinations along the boundary and borders of India.
“We went around the country’s periphery, all the border states and drew the India map through the car route, starting in a clockwise direction from Maharashtra,” said Mehra.
From Maharashtra, they went to Gujarat (Dwarka and Koteshwar temples in the extreme western parts of India), Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, the Northeastern states like Kaho in Arunachal Pradesh, the first village of India in the east, and Danushkodi Rameshwar and Kanyakumari as the southernmost tip.
“We touched six international borders — Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. We learnt a lot about the different people of India, their cultures and lifestyles, the weather systems, the abundant beauty of different parts of the country. It was a very enriching drive indeed,” said Pooja.
The ultra-long drive took them from 45-degree Celsius in Rajasthan deserts to the -5-degree Celsius in snowy Kashmir, braving hailstorms in Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland, torrential rains in Assam, and the humid weather in the southern states. Though they carried suitable clothes, many a times they had to hunt for more locally in order to survive.
The trio recalls speeding through some of the wildest and densest forests akin to a jungle safari, off-roading, dusty dry desert sands, boat-rides in mangrove forests, traversing snowy mountains roads, or gingerly driving through bamboo bridges, over deep valleys and turbulent rivers in different parts of India, soaking in the first sunrise in the east and the colourful sunsets in the west and southern beaches.
They also joined some tribal and traditional cultural festivals, wearing local costumes, singing, dancing or prancing to their tunes, and gulping cuisines ranging from the weirdest to delicacies, cooking for themselves on roadside fires, or just gobbling some fruits when nothing was available or dhabas were shut.
There are literally miles of many memories, including some a bit spooky, that the trio returned with — like one excited gentleman from Punjab, Ripu Daman, who contacted them through Facebook and happily hosted them with his family for a night.
In Nagaland, they met a 95-year-old member of a tribe of erstwhile ‘headhunters’, who still proudly wears a garland with a few heads on it that he claimed to have acquired many decades ago!
Today, Jaykumar, Pooja and Sonesh are extremely thrilled on completing their ‘long drive’ without any untoward incident, something they will cherish for long.
Maharashtra
Opposition protests against the government for declaring Wari as urban Naxal

Mumbai: On the fourth day in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, the opposition created a ruckus over declaring Wari as urban Naxal and has made serious allegations against the government of insulting Wari. On the fourth day of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, the opposition has made several serious allegations against the ministers of the government while protesting on the steps of the Vidhan Bhavan. The ministers included in the cabinet of the state government are misusing their powers and occupying government lands in the state.
Just as the ruling front is trying to defame the holy pilgrimage of Hinduism, Wari, by calling Vitthurai and Warkars urban Naxalites and urban Maoists, in the same way it is insulting Wari Palkhi. This is reprehensible. Members of the Maha Vikas Aghadi staged a strong protest on the steps of the Vidhan Bhavan against the ruling front and accused the government of insulting Wari. In this demonstration, the members also raised slogans cursing the government and said that due to the scamster government, farmers are dying of hunger and the ministers are calling the laborers urban Naxalites. Shiv Sena leader of opposition Ambadas Danve, Vijay Varditwar, Sachin Ahir, Jitendra Ahawat etc. participated in this protest.
Maharashtra
Maharashtra Urdu Academy should be formed, funds and staff should be appointed for the promotion of Urdu language Abu Asim Azmi

Mumbai: Mumbai Maharashtra Legislative Assembly member Abu Asim Azmi has demanded the immediate formation of Urdu Academy to promote Urdu. He said that academies of other languages including Gujarati and Marathi are active, but the condition of Urdu Academy is pathetic. Earlier there were 25 employees in this academy, but now only the superintendent is left. The remaining 24 have retired. The government needs to pay attention to the plight of Urdu.
The formation of this academy will promote Urdu. Azmi demanded that the Urdu Academy is facing difficulties due to the provision of funds. He said that the government allocates Rs 1 crore on paper, but this fund is not provided. Abu Asim Azmi said that Urdu is the language of our country. Whenever the Chief Minister or any other minister speaks in the House, they resort to Urdu poetry. But when it comes to the establishment of Urdu Academy and the development of Urdu language, the government is doing injustice
Maharashtra
On the third day of Maharashtra Assembly, the opposition protested against the corruption of Rs 3000 crore.

Mumbai: On the third day of Maharashtra Assembly in Mumbai, the opposition accused the ruling party of corruption and protested on the stairs of Vidhan Bhavan, accusing the government of giving contracts to every company of its choice. The state’s construction and development department has given a contract of Rs 3000 crore to Mahagathbandhan government’s Megha Engineering Company. Many shortcomings have been found in the work of this company, but despite this it is dear to the government. Therefore, slogans were raised on the stairs of Vidhan Bhavan that giving contract to this company is condemnable. Opposition members were also holding banner posters of contractor Megha Engineering, in which the picture of the owner of Megha Company was also visible. The opposition has intensified its protest against corruption in the Mahagathbandhan government. Shiv Sena opposition leader Ambadas Danve, Congress members and all parties including Congress protested loudly on the stairs of Vidhan Bhavan and drew the attention of the government towards this.
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