Fourth place finish for shooter Manu While she has already made history with two medals in Paris Olympics, another one at 25 m pistol event, would have sealed Manu Bhaker’s legacy among legendary Indian athletes. However, Bhaker finished fourth as she shot 28 in the eightwomen final, losing to Hungarian bronze medallist Veronika Major in the shoot-off | pti MADURAI l SUNday l AUGUST 04, 2024 l `12.00 l PAGES 26 l LATE CITY EDITION CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Iconic maestro of Indian classical dance Geetha Chandran Indian classical dancer, trained Carnatic vocalist Y amini Krishnamurthy an influen, tial force in India’s dance world and an Asthana Vidhwan (Resident Artist) at the 2,000-year-old Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams passed away in Delhi on Saturday. She was 84. In the post-Independence era, she stood out as a true icon of Indian classical dance. She introduced Bharatanatyam to northern India, taking Delhi by storm with her performances. She she also excelled in Kuchipudi and Odissi. I had the privilege of watching her performances. Once, I asked her why she adjusted the pace of her pieces when performing in Delhi. She said she often followed legends like Pandit Lachhu Maharaj and Sitara Devi and had to adapt her performance to reach out to her audience and make an impact. Yamini’s ability to innovate while preserving tradition significantly advanced and structured the dance form. After completing her training at Kalakshetra in Chennai, her father advised her to start anew with a guru if she truly wished to pursue dance. (As told to Prachi Satrawal) Area (sqkm) 1,197 259 Agasthyamalai ,1249 227 Srivilliputhur 310 Anamalai 566 323 1,457 No of jumbos Coimbatore India is now a food surplus country and is working to provide solutions for global food security and nutritional security, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday at a global conference of agriculture economists. The 32nd International Conference of Agricultural Economists organised here after 65 years drew over 1,000 delegates from 70 countries. Modi said agriculture is at the centre of India’s economic policy, adding the recent Union Budget gave a big push to sustainable and climate-resilient farming and developing a complete ecosystem to support Indian farmers. “After years of sustained efforts, now India is a food surplus country. India is also the number one producer of milk, pulses and spices in the world. Also, the country has become the second-largest producer of food grains, fruits, vegetables, cotton, sugar and tea,” Modi said. The PM recalled that there was a time when India’s food security was a concern for the world. “But now, India is working to provide solutions for global food security and global nutritional security .” He said the challenges before sustainable agriculture and food systems can only be tackled through the holistic approach of ‘One Earth, One Family and One Future’. Modi described small farmers as the country’s biggest strength for food security. As many as 90% of Indian farmers are smallholders. Highlighting India’s strides sustainable farming, Modi said the country has developed 1,900 new climate-resilient varieties of crops in the last 10 years. He added that India is promoting chemical-free natural and organic farming and moving towards achieving 20% ethanol blending in petrol. “In the Indian agriculture tradition, priority has been given to science and logic. India has a robust system of agricultural education and research based on its heritage,” he said. He also spoke about India’s willingness to share its millet basket with the world and how the country is leveraging digital tech in the farm sector. 2,253 @ New Delhi SV K R I S H N A C H A I TA N YA @ Chennai estimated population in each elephant reserve of state Nilgiris Eastern Ghats RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR 4,662 PM: India part of TN now home to 3,063 wild global solution jumbos, 100 more than last yr on food security The wild elephant population in Tamil Nadu has risen to about 3,063, as per the latest synchronised elephant population estimation report released by Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday This is an increase . of over 100 elephants compared to last year’s estimation. The TN forest department, in coordination with the neighbouring Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, conducted the estimation from May 23 to 25. Officials told TNIE that Karnataka was compiling the data for the entire landscape and the results will be made public on August 12, which is World Elephant Day. The contiguous landscape in these states is home to around 15,000 jumbos. Chief Wildlife Warden Srinivas R Reddy told TNIE that TN forests can hold a population of express read Search op on; plan to build township Mundakkai: Five days after the landslides in Wayanad, rescue operations for people entered the last phase on Saturday. While 206 people are still missing, chances of finding more survivors appear remote. Search teams recovered four bodies from Chooralmala and Mundakkai, while three bodies and 13 body parts were found in Chaliyar river at Munderi in Malappuram. Though official records show the toll as 218, it is estimated to have crossed 300. around 3,500 elephants. “Elephants are typically long-ranging animals and are distributed across landscapes covering different states. No drastic change in numbers is expected in the future as well, he said.” D Venkatesh, field director of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, said the estimate of 3,063 came with 95% confidence. The lower and upper limit of the population is 3,054 and 3,071, respectively . The present age-specific estimates indicated that around 40% of the population are adult jumbos. Adult-dominated age structures are common in the Asian elephant population, given their long life span and slow reproductive rate. Elephants are polygynous species with an expected equal sex ratio at birth. A normal male-female ratio for elephants would be 1:1.87; a similar ratio was noticed in the latest estimation in TN.  P5 Bangladesh back on boil Y esh i S e l i @ New Delhi With Bangladesh back on the boil as student leaders and protesters on Saturday rejected Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s offer of talks, the country’s Chief of Army Staff (CAS) General Waker-uz-Zaman drew the red line on the Army not firing at civilians. “While addressing Army officers, the CAS said there would be no further firing by the Army . He said if the transition of power happened in a non-democratic way then Bangladesh would become like Kenya. He also pointed out that the recent student protests were the worst since 1971,” said a source. Army personnel are visiting different places across the country to assess the situation. “We are confident the Army means well as they are under oath and not like their Pak counterpart who would threaten with a coup. The protesters are demanding the PM’s resignation ,” Prof Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah, a political commentator said. WITH THIS ISSUE Finding the Way Home PLUS 12 PAGES