@Evening: 🤷 Pakistan's ISI In Real Vs Reel — Specifically Bollywood — Life

1. What's 🆕: The Catch-up 📰

• ORS pioneer Dilip Mahalanabis, architect Balakrishna Doshi, and tabla maestro Zakir Hussain are among those honoured with Padma Vibushan.

• President's nod for 412 gallantry awards, including six Kirti Chakras and 15 Shaurya Chakras.

• Work begins on 135-km-long Chushul-Demchok Road to counter Chinese aggression near the border in Leh.

• MP government is working on a new excise policy aimed at discouraging liquor consumption in the state.

• India is a "bright spot" in the world economy and on a "strong footing," according to a top UN economist.

2. 🤔 Tweet for thought: 🎦 Bollywood's amnesia with ISI

"Pak ISI is friendly only in Bollywood films," Gaurav C Sawant, Senior Executive Editor at India Today TV, has said in a tweet.

• His tweet was in reference to the Bollywood film Pathaan.

• ISI is Pakistan's intelligence agency.

• From terrorist attacks on Indian soil to trying to foment divisions within India — ISI is held responsible by Indian authorities.

Pathaan, directed by Siddharth Anand, produced by Yash Raj Films, and starring Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, and John Abraham, premiered in theatres on 25 January.

• The film opened amid protests and boycott calls in various states for a song called Besharam Rang (among other things).

• Pathaan is seeking success in the Hindi film industry, which is neck-deep in troubled waters.

• The movie amassed a record opening on day one, but it remains to be seen how far it goes.

• For context, do read Anger Against Pathaan, Explained and The Fictional Pathan on Swarajya.

• And on the plight of Bollywood overall, do consider reading: The Demise Of Bollywood.

3. 📚 Moving pictures: 🌌 Hanle, India's First Dark Sky Reserve

The Indian film centred around the site of the Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO) took the top honours at the India International Science Festival (IISF), 2023.

• Hanle won in the 'Science, Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Development' category.

• The documentary film, directed by Rakesh Rao, was commissioned by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, which manages the IAO, for the Ladakh Administration.

• It was released at the end of June last year.

• "Congratulations to the entire team involved in working towards making the dream become a reality," the Office of the Lt Governor, Ladakh, said in a tweet.

The Hanle Dark Sky Reserve — the first such reserve in India — was officially notified in December last year.

• Hanle is a cold and dry desert at an altitude of over 4,000 m with few people inhabiting the region.

• For the stark picture that this might paint, it supplies excellent conditions for probing the universe.

• The cloudless skies and low atmospheric water vapour are particularly beneficial.

A dark sky — devoid of interference from artificial light — is critical to capturing the cosmos faithfully and developing a better understanding of the wider world around us, which is unspeakably vast.

• The notification of the dark sky reserve will preserve the sanctity of the space for astronomy and astrophysics research as well as wildlife conservation.

• Specifically, it will help to keep artificial light pollution down, promote livelihoods through eco-friendly astrotourism, spread the word about astronomy to the wider community, and bolster scientific research.

🎧 Swarajya audiobook: 🗣️ Shiv Kunal Verma on India's contemporary history

"An autobiography, at one level, is an ego trip," Life of an Industani author Shiv Kunal Verma says in conversation with Swarajya's Sharan Setty.

• But his "unusual" life and career, with his focus in recent years on Indian military history, made writing the book a good idea.

• Verma is a writer, photographer, and filmmaker.

• His experience working on numerous films and books in connection with India's military is said to have made the book an engaging read.

• The book mainly covers Indian history in the 1980s and 1990s — a period when millennials were unborn or little, and therefore an excellent target audience for Life of an Industani.

• On the audiobook, Verma explains his two reasons for writing the book and speaks freely and engagingly covering a vast terrain.

• Download the all-new app and listen in.

4. 📷 Photo speaks: 🛩️ Bharat in the Sky

Pilots Gaurav Taneja and Ritu Rathee Taneja successfully accomplished their #AasmanMeinBharat (India in the sky) mission.

• The couple was attempting to make India’s largest map in the sky, as a tribute to India for its 74th Republic Day.

• They did it! And the picture above, shared by Gaurav Taneja on Twitter, is how that map looks.

• He had earlier referred to this mission "as our most challenging project."

• The Tanejas flew for close to three hours over the course of drawing out the 350-km-long map in the sky.

They are Flying Beast. Both Gaurav and Ritu fly Airbus A320 as captain on a domestic carrier.

• But besides their jobs in aviation, the pilot-couple are vloggers.

• They share their life stories via regular videos on the YouTube channel "Flying Beast."

• They have also documented their #AasmanMeinBharat mission on the channel, which has 7.8 million subscribers.

5. 💡 Culture cutlet: 👏 'Naya Jammu and Kashmir'

Pictured is Jammu and Kashmir's Republic Day tableau.

• It represents the beautiful natural and cultural landscape of the Union territory.

• The main theme of the tableau was 'Naya Jammu and Kashmir', with depictions of pilgrimage and recreational sites along with the flora and fauna of the region.

• Seen rolling down the Kartavya Path today were the ancient Amarnath cave shrine, tulip gardens, a lavender farm, a leopard, Kashmiri stags, and the Kalij pheasant, among other things integral to J&K.

There's been a welcome resurgence in tourism in Jammu and Kashmir over the last year.

• More than 1.6 crore tourists visited the UT in 2022 — the highest since independence.

• The Republic Day tableau was, thus, befitting!