Bringing "Green Boots" home!

India plans high-risk mission to bring "green Boots" home

India is seeking a specialist recovery team to retrieve the remains of Dorjee Morup, a 48-year-old lance naik of ITBP, from Mt Everest's summit.

Part of historic Everest expedition

For nearly 30 years, a body known as "Green Boots" has been frozen under a rock near Mount Everest's summit, Morup was part of a historic 1996 ITBP expedition aiming to become the first Indian team to summit Everest from the Chinese side. Three climbers reached the top; but a blizzard claimed all three. Two bodies remain missing. The third was Morup's.

Tricky recovery has September deadline

* Authorities hope to return Morup's remains to his family in Ladakh for DNA confirmation and final

   closure.

* Recovery from the death zone at 8,500 metres is hazardous. Temperatures can fall to -40 degrees                 Celsius and the Chinese side lacks helicopter evacuation. ITBP aims to complete the operation by               September.

300

At least 300 people have died in the region since records began. 

Pakistan-Saudi-Turkiye pact.

It's a NATO-style pact under which an attack against one will be treated as an attack against all three. Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkiye, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan signed the trilateral agreement in the holy city of Mecca yesterday. 

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia already have a bilateral defence pact.

The trilateral defence agreement was signed a day after Iran said it was in the final stages of an agreement with Oman on a framework for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. An Iranian lawmaker had said the trilateral "paper agreement" will not bring security.

India is watching the fall out and further developments.

Indian astronaut Anil Menon conducts spacewalk.

NASA astronauts Anil Menon and Jessica Meir began a spacewalk yesterday to carry out modifications for a future power upgrade at the ISS.

Duo performs ISS power system upgrades

The spacewalkers spent hours in the vacuum of space, carrying out necessary modifications for future installation of Roll-Out Solar Arrays on the International Space Station. The arrays are expected to provide additional power to support critical station operations, NASA said. This was the 281st spacewalk in support of ISS maintenance and upgrades.

Menon's first spacewalk, Meir's sixth

* Menon was born in Minnesota in 1976 to Indian and Ukrainian immigrants. This was Menon's first         and Meir's sixth spacewalk.

* Menon was SpaceX's first flight surgeon, helping it to launch its first humans to space during the             Demo - 2 mission. He joined NASA in 2014 as a space surgeon and began a tw0-year astronaut               training in 2022.

6 PM IST, 06 Jul

When the astronauts stepped outside the ISS to carry out tasks.

 

The 7th anniversary of the repeal of Articles 370 and 35A in J&K.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A, seven years ago, ushered in a "decisive new chapter" for Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, asserting that the constitutional changes have driven progress in infrastructure, education, healthcare, entrepreneurship and social empowerment across the two Union Territories.

The move had transformed the lives of people in the region by ensuring the full application of the Constitution and extending constitutional rights to communities that had remained deprived for decades.

The region has since witnessed changes in key sectors. Women and marginalised communities, who had long been denied full constitutional rights, have been empowered.

Tailpiece.

As Pakistan had rightfully said, then, "Modi hai toh mumkin ho!"

The aftermath!

After three days of heavy rain, it has subsided here at Guruvayur and hopefully the trend should continue. At least there's no weather warning!

Flood waters are yet to recede in places like Kuttanad, many places in Kottayam and in many other places. Feel bad for the plight of the people whose houses have shipped in muck and water! The cleanship is gonna take time and the stench doesn't go away that easily.

The Alappuzha-Changanacherry road looks pathetic with flood waters! Remember the times that we'd driven past and enjoyed the rides!

One needs to see as to what all post-rain illnesses are waiting to befall on the people!

Hope things get back to normal soon.

Ernakulam drives state's UPI economy.

From roadside tea stalls and fish markets, hospitals and educational institutions, QR codes have become as common as cash counters across Kerala. And true to its billing as Kerala's commercial capital, Ernakulam district is leading the state's shift to digital payments.

Kerala recorded 454.91 million Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions - 2% of the country's total volume - valued at Rs.63,489.63 crores, or 2.2% of the national total in June. Ernakulam logged 91.4 million transactions worth Rs.11,938.18 crores during the period.

Thiruvananthapuram ranked second with 54.74 million transactions worth Rs.7,460.96 crores. Kozhikode, Malappuram, Thrissur closely follow.

Banking experts say the numbers reflect more than just population. Ernakulam's emergence as the leading as the leading district for UPI transactions reflects its strong digital ecosystem, high smartphone penetration and vibrant economic activity.

As Kerala's commercial hub, it has a diverse mix of retail consumers, businesses, professionals, educational institutions and merchants who have made digital payments part of daily life.

Elappully to get 1st 'groundnut village' tag.

As the country looks to reduce its dependence on imported edible oils, a village in Palakkad is betting on a one small oilseed that can make a big difference. Elappully panchayat has launched an ambitious effort to revive groundnut cultivation, hoping to transform itself into Kerala's first organised 'groundnut village' while creating a new source of income for local farmers.

Barely a decade ago, groundnut fields had become a familiar sight across parts of Elappully. Though the crop was cultivated only for a brief period, it attracted scores of farmers, with traders and small processing units emerging to procure the harvest but as cultivation dwindled, the crop once again vanished from the village.

The panchayat authorities, with the help of the department of agriculture and the National Mission on Edible Oils-Oilseeds (NMEO-OS), are hoping to script a second comeback story with groundnut cultivation planned across 112 acres in the first phase. More than 65 farmers have already enrolled, raising hopes that the crop could once again become a viable source of income.

Unlike the previous revival, this one is backed by scientific planning. Farmers will receive high-yielding, disease-resistant varieties such as Kadiri, Lepakshi, VR-10, TMV-14 and TGS-1694. Soil samples from every participating field will be analysed, soil health crisis cards issued and extensive training programs conducted to promote scientific cultivation practices.

The project has identified areas such as Menonpara, Kottilpara and Eduppukulam as being particularly suited for cultivation. Groundnut with shell fetches around Rs.80/- per kg while cultivation costs are low. The crop offers farmers a profitable alternative and also supports crop diversification in the region.

Groundnut also has a deeper history in Elappully. Before sugarcane became the dominant crop following the establishment of the Menonpara Sugar factory, groundnut was widely cultivated in the area. As farmers shifted to sugarcane, groundnut cultivation declined. The current initiative seeks not only to restore groundnut cultivation but to establish a complete value chain - from production and procurement to oil extraction and marketing.

The first sowing of the new varieties is scheduled at Kottilpara on the 10th.