Rising raw material costs push kite prices up by 40% ahead of Makar Sankranti festival
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (PTI): A sharp increase in raw material costs has led to a nearly 40 per cent rise in kite prices this year, affecting manufacturers ahead of the Makar Sankranti festival.
The minimum price of a kite, which was Rs 5 last year, has increased to Rs 7, a manufacturer told PTI.
The Rajput family from the Buddi Lane area of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar has been engaged in the kite-making business for over 60 years. They supply kites across Maharashtra and to neighbouring states.
Every year, both local and outstation buyers flock to their shops during the festive season. At present, kite manufacturing is in full swing at the Rajput brothers’ workshops.
Speaking about the price hike, kite manufacturer Anil Rajput said there has been a significant rise in the cost of raw materials compared to last year.
"Last year, the paper rim cost us Rs 900, which has increased to Rs 1,100 this year. A bundle of 1,000 bamboo sticks earlier cost Rs 1,050, but the price has almost doubled to around Rs 2,000," he said.
He added that the increase in production costs has directly impacted kite prices.
"The minimum price of a kite was Rs 5 last year, which has gone up to Rs 7 this year. We now have to convince customers about the revised rates,” he said.
Rajput also expressed concern about the future of the traditional family business.
"Kite making involves heavy physical labour. Our younger generation is not interested in continuing this work. At our age, we cannot switch professions, so we continue to run the business to support our family," he said.
The family works long hours, often starting at 9 am and continuing until 2 am.
"My wife was paralysed earlier, but as she is recovering, she has also started helping us with the work," he said.
Govardhan Rajput, another family member, said kite making is their ancestral occupation and continues throughout the year, with peak activity beginning after the Ganesh festival in August–September.
"Our kites are supplied to places like Nizamabad in Telangana, as well as Nanded, Vaijapur and Yeola," he said, adding that the family expects business to pick up significantly in the coming days with Makar Sankranti approaching.
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Four astronauts return after historic lunar flyby, NASA now eyes landing on moon
Washington (PTI): Amid claps and cheers, four astronauts of NASA’s Artemis-II mission splashed down in the Pacific ocean after a historic flight to the moon – the first by humans in more than 50 years.
“The path to the moon is open but the work ahead is greater than the work behind,” Amit Kshatriya, Indian-origin NASA Associate Administrator told a press conference shortly after the Artemis-II crew returned to earth off the coast of San Diego at 8:07 eastern time on Friday.
The lunar flyby mission involving Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canada's Jeremy Hansen was the first journey to the moon since the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972 when Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt spent three days exploring the lunar surface.
Rick Henfling, the flight director, said the Artemis II astronauts are “happy and healthy and ready to come home to Houston.”
Artemis II was the first crewed mission to utilise NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew module — demonstrating that the agency’s equipment can propel astronauts out of Earth’s orbit and bring them safely home.
"Yesterday, flight director Jeff Radigan said we had less than a degree of an angle to hit after a quarter of a million miles to the moon," Kshatriya told reporters.
"And their team hit it. This is not luck; that is 1,000 people doing their job," he said.
The mission flew 700,237 miles; its peak velocity was 24,664 m.p.h.; and the flight had an entry range of 1,957 miles but landed within one mile of its target, Henfling said.
NASA now aims to land humans on the moon where the space agency also plans to set up a habitat that would be the launchpad for future missions to Mars and beyond.
It was a triumphant homecoming for the crew of four whose record-breaking lunar flyby revealed not only swaths of the moon's far side never seen before by human eyes but a total solar eclipse.
They emerged from their bobbing capsule into the sunlight one by one.
Henfling said his team 'breathed a sigh of relief' once the side hatch opened on the Orion Integrity after it splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.
"We all breathed a sigh of relief once the hatch opened up, that's when we brought the team in," he said.
"We said a few words to the flight controllers, and then we turned around to the families and waved and gave them a thumbs up, and we all watched as each of their four astronauts got out of the spaceship and were hoisted up onto the helicopters. It was a great day," he added.
Henfling said his team felt "anxiety" as the four astronauts re-entered the Earth's atmosphere, but felt confident in all their training leading up the history-making lunar mission.
NASA said the Artemis III mission is "right around the corner" following its history-making journey around the moon.
"The next mission is right around the corner, and you know, we'll take the lessons learned from Artemis II," Henfling said.
"We learned a bunch on how to fly people in space, both from vehicle operations, but also from how to run a control room with a deep space mission. And when the time is right, we'll get back into specific training, and we've got a core group of about 30 flight directors, and they're all extremely capable.
"I think anybody who's assigned to that next mission is going to be as successful as us," Henfling said.
Amit Kshatriya is serving as the highest-ranking civil servant and a senior advisor to the administrator at NASA. He leads NASA's 10 centre directors, as well as the mission directorate associate administrators. He is also the agency’s chief operating officer.
Kshatriya previously served as the deputy associate administrator for the Moon to Mars Program in the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD) at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
LIVE: They are coming home.
— NASA (@NASA) April 10, 2026
Watch as the Artemis II crew returns to Earth, splashing down at around 8:07pm ET (0007 UTC April 11). https://t.co/n3vZE2rcFv
