Rahul Gandhi interacts with fishermen in Kerala; ventures into sea
Kollam(Ker): Seeking to reach out to the fishing community in poll-bound Kerala, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday interacted with the fishermen at Thangassery beach in the district.
Gandhi, who had been touring the state for the last two days, also ventured into sea with the fisherfolks in their boat.
After beginning his journey from Vadi beach here by 4.30 am, he spent nearly an hour with them before reaching the venue of interaction.
He also cast the net and engaged in fishing along with them.
Clad in blue t-shirt and khaki trousers, the Congress leader could be seen waving hands to the onlookers from the boat while reaching back to the shores.
AICC general secretary K C Venugopal and T N Prathapan M P, also chairman of National Fishermen Congress, also accompanied him during his sea journey.
During the interaction, Gandhi said he always wanted to experience the life of fishermen.
"Early this morning, I went to sea with my brothers. From the moment the boat went and came back, they took the entire risk... their entire labour. They sought to the sea, buy the net and somebody else gets the profit," Gandhi said.
"We tried to fish but got only one. Even with this investment, the net came back empty. This was my experience," he added.
Gandhi further said he would strive to have a separate ministry for fisheries at the Centre.
"So that the issues of fishing community can be defended and protected," he said adding that the UDF leaders in the state would soon hold discussions with the fisherfolk to prepare a separate manifesto for them during the impending assembly polls.
Taking a dig at the LDF government apparently over the ongoing controversy related to the alleged deep sea fishing contract, the Congress leader said he would like to see what they were going to do with the trawlers.
"I am for competition...but not for unfair competition.
So, there should be a level playing filed for everyone," he added.
Gandhi's interaction with the fishermen assumes significance as the Congress-led UDF has raised allegations against the Left government in the state over an alleged deep sea fishing contract with a US-based company.
In the wake of the controversy, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had directed the officials concerned to cancel the MoU between EMCC, the US-based firm and Kerala State Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC), a public sector undertaking and probe the circumstances under which it was signed.
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'Amazon of Aligarh': Google Doodle pays tribute to India's first woman wrestler Hamida Banu
New Delhi (PTI): It was on this day in 1954 when Hamida Banu defeated famed wrestler Baba Pahalwan in just one minute and 34 seconds. While Baba Pahalwan deemed it fit to retire from professional wrestling, Banu's career expanded to international arenas and her victories reported across the globe.
Commemorating Banu's victory and to pay tribute to her as "India's first woman wrestler," Google on Saturday put up a colourful doodle on its homepage.
Born into a family of wrestlers in the early 1900s near Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, Banu grew up wrestling, winning over 300 competitions throughout her career that spanned the 1940s and 1950s at a time when women's participation in athletics was strongly discouraged.
Banu, however, competed with men anyway, and issued an open challenge to all male wrestlers, wagering her hand in marriage to whoever defeats her, Google wrote in a post.
Banu's success in international matches gained her further acclaim. One of these matches was the one against Russian woman wrestler Vera Chistilin, who she defeated in under two minutes.
Having made newspaper headlines for years, Banu came to be known as the "Amazon of Aligarh".
The bouts she won, her diet, and her training regimen were widely covered.
According to a BBC report, she weighed 108kg and was 5ft 3in tall.
"Her daily diet included 5.6 litres of milk, 2.8 litres of soup, 1.8 litres of fruit juice, a fowl, nearly 1kg of mutton and almonds, half a kilo of butter, 6 eggs, two big loaves of bread, and two plates of biryani," the British media outlet reported.
Reuters noted that she slept for nine hours and trained for six.
A "trailblazer of her time," Banu not only fought fellow wrestlers but the norms of her times.
"Hamida Banu was a trailblazer of her time, and her fearlessness is remembered throughout India and across the world. Outside of her sporting accomplishments, she will always be celebrated for staying true to herself," Google's note read.
