Priyanka Mohite becomes first Indian woman to scale Mt Annapurna, world's 10th highest peak
Mumbai, Apr 20: Priyanka Mohite from Satara in western Maharashtra has scaled Mt Annapurna, the 10th highest mountain peak in the world, becoming the first Indian woman climber to achieve the feat.
The news of the 28-year-old climbing the peak was shared by her employer Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, the Executive Chairperson of Biocon Limited.
"Our colleague Priyanka Mohite scaled the peak of Mt.
Annapurna, (8091 metres) 10th highest mountain in the world, on 16th April 2021 at 1.30 pm. - first Indian woman to do so! We at @SyngeneIntl are so very proud of her," she tweeted.
The Biocon boss also shared a photo of Priyanka Mohite holding the national flag atop the peak.
Mount Annapurna is a massif in the Himalayas located in Nepal that includes one peak over 8,000 metres and is considered to be one of the toughest mountains to climb.
Priyanka has also climbed the world's highest peak Mount Everest (8,849 metres) in 2013, Mount Lhotse (8,516 metres) in 2018, Mount Makalu (8,485 metres) and also Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 metres) in 2016.
Passionate about mountaineering since childhood, Priyanka started to scale mountains in the Sahyadri range of Maharashtra as a teenager and in 2012 scaled Bandarpunch, a mountain massif of the Garhwal division of the Himalayas, in Uttarakhand, her brother Akash Mohite told PTI.
In 2015 Priyanka scaled Mt Menthosa which at 6443 metres is the second-highest peak in the Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh.
The Bengaluru-based climber is also the recipient of the Maharashtra Government's Shiv Chhatrapati state award for adventure sports for 2017-2018.
She works with Syngene International Limited, Biocon's research organisation offering pharma and biotechnology majors customised solutions in synthetic chemistry and molecular biology for early-stage drug discovery and development.
Our colleague Priyanka Mohite scaled the peak of Mt. Annapurna, (8091 mtrs) 10th highest mountain in the world, on 16th April 2021 at 1.30pm.- first Indian woman to do so! We at @SyngeneIntl are so very proud of her ?? pic.twitter.com/Eh85xy46g0
— Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (@kiranshaw) April 19, 2021
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Intend to allow feeding of pigeons for 2 hours in morning at Dadar Kabutarkhana: BMC to HC
Mumbai, Aug 13 (PTI): The city civic body on Wednesday told the Bombay High Court it intends to allow controlled feeding of pigeons for two hours each morning at the Dadar Kabutarkhana subject to conditions.
A bench of Justices G S Kulkarni and Arif Doctor, however, stated that before granting any such permission, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has to first issue a public notice inviting objections and then take a decision on allowing controlled feeding of the birds at the popular site in Dadar.
Since the BMC's decision to close kabutarkhanas (pigeon feeding spots) in the city and prohibit feeding of pigeons was in larger interest of public health, the sanctity of the same has to be maintained, the court noted, while hearing a bunch of petitions.
Last week, tarpaulin sheets were placed at the Dadar Kabutarkhana, a popular pigeon feeding site, by the BMC to prevent people from offering grains to the birds, a move which had led to protest during which the covers were forcibly removed by agitators.
Pursuant to this, a few individuals submitted an application to the BMC seeking interim arrangements for controlled feeding of the pigeons.
On Wednesday, BMC counsel Ram Apte told the court the civic body intends to permit controlled feeding of the birds from 6 am to 8 am subject to certain conditions.
The bench then questioned if the civic body had first invited objections to the application (seeking nod for controlled pigeon feeding) before taking its decision.
"You (BMC) cannot just allow feeding now once you have already taken a closure decision keeping public health in mind. You will have to take a well considered decision," the HC observed.
Once an application is received, you need to issue a notice and invite objections from people and then take a decision. Once you have taken a decision keeping people's health in mind then you need to maintain that sanctity, the bench affirmed.
The Maharashtra government on Wednesday also submitted a list of 11 names to be part of a committee that would carry out a scientific study on the issue of pigeon feeding at public places and its impact on human health.
The court said the government shall notify the committee by August 20.
Advocate General Birendra Saraf, appearing for the state government, said the committee would comprise officials from state public health and town planning departments and medical experts.
The court was hearing a bunch of petitions filed by people who regularly feed pigeons at kabutarkhanas. The petitioners have challenged the civic body's decision to ban such feedings and close down kabutarkhanas in the metropolis over potential health hazards from the exercise.
The high court had last month refused to grant any interim relief to the petitioners, but had asked the civic authorities not to demolish any heritage kabutarkhanas. The court had also said the BMC could take action as per law against those feeding pigeons at public places.
The Supreme Court had earlier this week refused to intervene in the HC order.
Senior counsel Anil Sakhare, appearing for the petitioners who have sought permission to offer grains to pigeons at the Dadar Kabutarkhana, said once the BMC takes a decision permitting controlled feeding, then they would move the HC seeking modification of the earlier order refusing interim relief.
