VK News Today https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html In 1997, Shah Rukh Khan dreamt of buying ‘Mannat’; years later, his dream came true, but he hardly had any money for designing: ‘The lunch that he served us, telling us how he’ll design the house, was way more than the salary’ ‘Toxic’ actress Rukmini Vasanth brings sunshine to Chennai in orange strapless maxi dress Meet Jeremiah Bents, the Minnesota student who recreated Mars soil in a lab to test whether future astronauts could clean contaminated water From 10% to 100%: Aviation ministry weighs annual dope tests for all pilots “I deceived people, I lied”: A 37 year old woman pretrended to be a child for years and convinced families she needed protection; now she is convicted of fraud Women cannot participate fully in the economy if they carry a disproportionate share of unpaid care work. For years, CSR programmes aimed at women have focused on familiar themes such as scholarships, skill training, self-help groups and entrepreneurship. But a more fundamental barrier is increasingly coming into focus: women cannot participate fully in the economy if they carry a disproportionate share of unpaid care work.India’s 2024 Time Use Survey found that 81.5% of women aged six and above participated in unpaid domestic services on a given day, compared with 27.1% of men. Women who participated spent an average of 289 minutes a day on such work, against 88 minutes for men. The gap is also visible in unpaid caregiving, where 34% of women participated compared with 17.9% of men. Watch Are Indian Careers Judged Before They’re Even Chosen?The economic consequences are clear. India’s female labour force participation rate was 40% in 2025, compared with 79.1% for men. Among women outside the labour force, 44.4% cited childcare or commitments in homemaking as their main reason.This is changing how the private sector can think about inclusion. Instead of asking only how to train or employ more women, CSR programmes can address issues that prevent them from entering and staying in paid work.Women continue to shoulder a far greater share of unpaid domestic and caregiving work than men, a gap that affects labour-force participation and is increasingly being addressed through childcare, livelihood and inclusion-focused CSR initiatives.Childcare is an obvious starting point. The govt’s Palna scheme provides day-care facilities for children aged six months to six years, including early stimulation, pre-school education, nutrition and health services. By March 2025, 11,395 Anganwadi-cumcreches were approved across states and UTs, although only 1,761 were operational.This gap creates space for corporate and civil society partnerships. Vedanta’s Nand Ghar initiative is one example. Mobile Creches offers another model, combining childcare with support for children from marginalised communities.The significance of such programmes is that childcare need not be viewed simply as a welfare service. It can be economic infrastructure. If reliable childcare frees up women’s time, the next question is whether that time translates into income, assets and greater economic agency.This is where CSR-backed livelihood programmes can connect with care interventions. Mann Deshi Foundation, for example, reports having supported more than 1 million women, with 9 lakh reached through its women’s business schools since 2012.Its 2024-25 data shows that 94% of trained women reported an increase in monthly average income, with the average rise at 56%, while 76% gained ownership of assets. Its Rural Chamber of Commerce for Women reports reaching 1.3 lakh women for financial linkages, with average monthly income rising from Rs 4,300 to Rs 15,296 afterwards.The lesson for CSR is important. Training women without looking at constraints on their time, access to finance and ability to reach markets can produce limited gains. A more complete intervention connects childcare and care services with skilling, credit, entrepreneurship, market access and asset ownership.The same principle applies to disability inclusion. CSR-led organisations are increasingly helping move disability programmes from charity towards employment and economic participation. Other CSR and civil society partnerships address livelihood barriers among vulnerable groups.Join conversationView All Comments →Share your thoughts in the commentsInsightfulAgreeDisagreeSkepticalConcerningPromisingWorth ReadingBig DevelopmentPost CommentBe respectful · TOI community guidelinesWhat emerges is a broader understanding of inclusion. Women cannot be empowered simply by giving them a training certificate. A person with a disability cannot be included simply by providing an assistive device. A migrant worker cannot be protected merely by registration on a government portal. Effective social investment must address the barriers between a person and economic participation: care, mobility, documentation, accessibility, skills, credit and employment. For CSR, that represents a shift from funding individual interventions to building pathways. The opportunity is significant.Get the latest India News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.End of ArticleFollow Us On Social MediaVideos’People Were Shot In The Head’: Sonam Wangchuk Seeks Inquiry Report Into 2025 Ladakh ViolenceAjeet Bharti EXCLUSIVE On ‘Reservation Hatao Andolan’, Harsh Dubey, CJP & His Criticism Of BJPTMC’s Abhishek Banerjee Moves Supreme Court Over Delay In Disqualification Of 20 Rebel TMC MPsTrump Pushes $103,265 H-1B Fee; 71% Indian Professionals Brace For Major Immigration BlowJaishankar Meets Putin In Moscow, India-Russia Trade Soars As Both Sides Target $100 Billion By 2030Fresh Kashmiri Pandit Threat: Hit List Reveals Addresses, Phone Numbers, Vehicle Details OnlineDelhi-NCR Rain Fury: Gurugram Under Orange Alert, Work From Home Advisory Issued For August 25’Ram-Ram Inside, Fish Feast Outside’: Yogi Adityanath Slams Cong Over Ayodhya Event; Ajay Rai ReactsDisplaced By Ken-Betwa Project, Tribals Now Struggle For Basic Amenities | ExclusiveIn Leaked Audio, Lawrence Bishnoi’s Aide Goldy Brar Claims He Killed Hardeep Nijjar In Canada123Photostories‘They don’t love you, they love your name’:Asim Riaz takes explosive dig at ex Himanshi Khurana, calls her a ‘fame digger’First egg, now chicken? 7 things to know about the Salmonella outbreak in the UKHow to remove coconut flesh from the shell easily: 5 simple tricks without wasting the coconutFrom flamingos to puffins: 5 birds whose beaks look hand-painted by an artistMaria Sharapova to Naomi Osaka: 5 athletes who are serving major fashion moments off the courtSreeleela’s fish-cut saree just gave traditional draping a seriously savage upgrade10 beautiful baby girl names that capture a sense of wonderOptical Illusion personality test: What you spot first reveals the weak spot in your love lifePriyanka Chopra’s architectural black gown just proved that red-carpet glam needs a little more attitude10 of the world’s most colourful birds to see in the wild123Hot PicksGurgaon schoolAAP councillorsKPMG AustraliaTrump tariffICSI CS june resultNEET UG 2026Sridhar VembuTrump’s SpaceXNEET PG 2026 admit cardTop TrendingBandra Parsi BungalowSuresh GowdaRupali ChakankarKarnataka Food Licence SuspensionAllahabad High CourtMumbai Airport DemolitionRam RahimDelhi Women AccidentDelhi Gurgaon RainMaharashtra Hill Tragedy ‘They’ve fallen behind a little bit’: Rahul Dravid on Team India’s WTC final hopes IIT Delhi graduate built a battery-powered fridge for trucks: How Shaivee Malik is tackling India’s food waste problem ‘Gunmaaster G9’ teaser: Emraan Hashmi promises romance, action; Himesh Reshammiya’s ‘Afsana’ track gives nostalgia touch France’s first major Hindu temple to near Paris this September – all details inside | ‘Punishment that sends shiver down the team’: Ex-England captain on Brydon Carse nightclub incident Nathan Cofnas, scholar who exposed Jason Arday’s plagiarism, says he had no ill will towards him: “This was about DEI” | World News SC seeks response from 20 rebel MPs on Abhishek’s plea NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought the response of 20 rebel Trinamool Congress MPs on a plea filed by the party’s general secretary and Lok Sabha member Abhishek Banerjee, challenging the delay in deciding petitions seeking their disqualification.Abhishek has asked the top court to direct Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to expeditiously decide the disqualification petitions pending before him against the rebel MPs.Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Secretary General of the House.Join conversationView All Comments →Share your thoughts in the commentsInsightfulAgreeDisagreeSkepticalConcerningPromisingWorth ReadingBig DevelopmentPost CommentBe respectful · TOI community guidelinesThe Supreme Court asked Mehta to obtain instructions from the Speaker on the matter.The development comes months after a major political setback for the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, following a stinging defeat at the hands of the BJP.The setback was followed by a split within the TMC, with a group of 20 Lok Sabha MPs breaking away from the party under the leadership of Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, once considered a close Mamata loyalist who later turned into a vocal critic.The rebel MPs formed a separate grouping, known as the NCPI, with Dastidar leading the faction.Get the latest India News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.About the AuthorAbhishek MishraAbhishek Mishra is a Digital Content Producer at The Times of India, working with the news desk. He writes with a keen eye on foreign policy, defence developments, and the shifting currents of geopolitics-and yes, Indian politics always finds a way onto his radar too.Read MoreEnd of ArticleFollow Us On Social MediaVideos’People Were Shot In The Head’: Sonam Wangchuk Seeks Inquiry Report Into 2025 Ladakh ViolenceAjeet Bharti EXCLUSIVE On ‘Reservation Hatao Andolan’, Harsh Dubey, CJP & His Criticism Of BJPTMC’s Abhishek Banerjee Moves Supreme Court Over Delay In Disqualification Of 20 Rebel TMC MPsTrump Pushes $103,265 H-1B Fee; 71% Indian Professionals Brace For Major Immigration BlowJaishankar Meets Putin In Moscow, India-Russia Trade Soars As Both Sides Target $100 Billion By 2030Fresh Kashmiri Pandit Threat: Hit List Reveals Addresses, Phone Numbers, Vehicle Details OnlineDelhi-NCR Rain Fury: Gurugram Under Orange Alert, Work From Home Advisory Issued For August 25’Ram-Ram Inside, Fish Feast Outside’: Yogi Adityanath Slams Cong Over Ayodhya Event; Ajay Rai ReactsDisplaced By Ken-Betwa Project, Tribals Now Struggle For Basic Amenities | ExclusiveIn Leaked Audio, Lawrence Bishnoi’s Aide Goldy Brar Claims He Killed Hardeep Nijjar In Canada123Photostories‘They don’t love you, they love your name’:Asim Riaz takes explosive dig at ex Himanshi Khurana, calls her a ‘fame digger’First egg, now chicken? 7 things to know about the Salmonella outbreak in the UKHow to remove coconut flesh from the shell easily: 5 simple tricks without wasting the coconutFrom flamingos to puffins: 5 birds whose beaks look hand-painted by an artistMaria Sharapova to Naomi Osaka: 5 athletes who are serving major fashion moments off the courtSreeleela’s fish-cut saree just gave traditional draping a seriously savage upgrade10 beautiful baby girl names that capture a sense of wonderOptical Illusion personality test: What you spot first reveals the weak spot in your love lifePriyanka Chopra’s architectural black gown just proved that red-carpet glam needs a little more attitude10 of the world’s most colourful birds to see in the wild123Hot PicksGurgaon schoolAAP councillorsKPMG AustraliaTrump tariffICSI CS june resultNEET UG 2026Sridhar VembuTrump’s SpaceXNEET PG 2026 admit cardTop TrendingBandra Parsi BungalowSuresh GowdaRupali ChakankarKarnataka Food Licence SuspensionAllahabad High CourtMumbai Airport DemolitionRam RahimDelhi Women AccidentDelhi Gurgaon RainMaharashtra Hill Tragedy UPSSSC ANM result 2026 declared at upsssc.gov.in; direct link to download here Suniel Shetty built his dream home on barren land; 16 years later, it is surrounded by 400+ trees Urban Heat Island Effect: In 2024, Philadelphia coated one of its hottest neighbourhood roads with lighter colour coating to reduce the “urban heat island effect”; the pavement cooled down, but the people standing on it may not have felt it Watch: Gwalior man fined Rs 5,500 after girlfriend covers his car with 3,400 lipstick kisses Screen grabs from the video shared by AAP MLA Kuldeep Kumar NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday took a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after waterlogging was seen at Delhi’s Talkatora Stadium, where BJP national president Nitin Nabin flagged off a series of “Pavan Mati Kalash” processions.AAP MLA from Kondli Kuldeep Kumar shared a video on X showing Nabin flagging off the yatra amid waterlogged portions of the stadium. Taking a dig at Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta and the BJP, Kumar wrote:“Chief Minister @gupta_rekha ji has made excellent arrangements for a splendid swimming pool at Talkatora Stadium today for BJP’s National President Nitin Nabin ji! Nitin Nabin ji inaugurated the swimming pool by waving the flag and gave full credit for this work to the accomplished Chief Minister Rekha Gupta ji!”BJP holds Sant Ravidas anniversary programmeThe AAP’s jibe came after BJP leaders on Monday gathered at the stadium to launch the procession as part of the party’s Sant Ravidas birth anniversary programme.Led by Nabin, BJP leaders flagged off “Pavan Mati Kalash” processions across all districts of Delhi to mark the 650th birth anniversary of Sant Ravidas.The programme at Talkatora Stadium was organised under the banner of the “Samrasta Sankalp Abhiyan”.Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta, Delhi BJP president Harsh Malhotra and several seers and spiritual leaders also attended the event, according to news agency PTI.Nabin said Sant Ravidas showed society the path of social harmony and equality.Gupta said sacred soil brought to Delhi from Varanasi, described as Sant Ravidas’ birthplace, would be taken to different sections of society.“Our effort is to ensure that this sacred soil reaches every household and every locality, and through it, the teachings and blessings of Gurudev Sant Shiromani Ravidasji reach every individual,” Gupta said.Join conversationView All Comments →Share your thoughts in the commentsInsightfulAgreeDisagreeSkepticalConcerningPromisingWorth ReadingBig DevelopmentPost CommentBe respectful · TOI community guidelinesShe said the “Pavan Mati Kalash Abhiyan” was intended to take Sant Ravidas’ thoughts and message to households, streets and localities across Delhi.Malhotra said the BJP was conducting a nationwide campaign on the occasion of Sant Ravidas’ 650th birth anniversary to take his life, thoughts and teachings to different sections of society.Get the latest India News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.End of ArticleFollow Us On Social MediaVideos’People Were Shot In The Head’: Sonam Wangchuk Seeks Inquiry Report Into 2025 Ladakh ViolenceAjeet Bharti EXCLUSIVE On ‘Reservation Hatao Andolan’, Harsh Dubey, CJP & His Criticism Of BJPTMC’s Abhishek Banerjee Moves Supreme Court Over Delay In Disqualification Of 20 Rebel TMC MPsTrump Pushes $103,265 H-1B Fee; 71% Indian Professionals Brace For Major Immigration BlowJaishankar Meets Putin In Moscow, India-Russia Trade Soars As Both Sides Target $100 Billion By 2030Fresh Kashmiri Pandit Threat: Hit List Reveals Addresses, Phone Numbers, Vehicle Details OnlineDelhi-NCR Rain Fury: Gurugram Under Orange Alert, Work From Home Advisory Issued For August 25’Ram-Ram Inside, Fish Feast Outside’: Yogi Adityanath Slams Cong Over Ayodhya Event; Ajay Rai ReactsDisplaced By Ken-Betwa Project, Tribals Now Struggle For Basic Amenities | ExclusiveIn Leaked Audio, Lawrence Bishnoi’s Aide Goldy Brar Claims He Killed Hardeep Nijjar In Canada123Photostories‘They don’t love you, they love your name’:Asim Riaz takes explosive dig at ex Himanshi Khurana, calls her a ‘fame digger’First egg, now chicken? 7 things to know about the Salmonella outbreak in the UKHow to remove coconut flesh from the shell easily: 5 simple tricks without wasting the coconutFrom flamingos to puffins: 5 birds whose beaks look hand-painted by an artistMaria Sharapova to Naomi Osaka: 5 athletes who are serving major fashion moments off the courtSreeleela’s fish-cut saree just gave traditional draping a seriously savage upgrade10 beautiful baby girl names that capture a sense of wonderOptical Illusion personality test: What you spot first reveals the weak spot in your love lifePriyanka Chopra’s architectural black gown just proved that red-carpet glam needs a little more attitude10 of the world’s most colourful birds to see in the wild123Hot PicksGurgaon schoolAAP councillorsKPMG AustraliaTrump tariffIOB LBO recruitmentNEET UG 2026Sridhar VembuTrump’s SpaceXNEET PG 2026 admit cardTop TrendingBandra Parsi BungalowSuresh GowdaRupali ChakankarKarnataka Food Licence SuspensionAllahabad High CourtMumbai Airport DemolitionRam RahimDelhi Women AccidentDelhi Gurgaon RainMaharashtra Hill Tragedy He wanted to go to Mars. When told it was ‘not possible’ in India, he named his Bengaluru startup NoPo and set out to prove them wrong Yash’s ‘Toxic’: Cast, plot, release, CBFC rating, runtime, fees, box office prediction, everything to know about Geetu Mohandas film starring Kiara Advani, Nayanthara, Huma Qureshi, Tara Sutaria and Rukmini Vasanth How to prevent marble flooring from turning yellow Scientists turned plastic bottles and corn waste into protein-rich cookies; the food could help tackle hunger problem and also feed space crews US government wants companies to pay more while filing H-1B visas, what the revised fee hike proposal says Decades after disappearing from Indian fields and kitchens, heirloom paddy is making a comeback. Biryani made with Kaima instead of Basmati, payesh made with Badshahbhog, risotto made with Assam’s Bora. With heirloom rice vanishing from Indian kitchens faster than they could be documented, this seemed, until not very long ago, nothing more than nostalgia. The Green Revolution’s push for high-yield monoculture had, over the years, pushed out many old types of rice. But now, several of those varieties, thought long gone, are staging a comeback — thanks to the efforts of farmers, conservationists, NGOs, restaurateurs, and a bit of help from some state govts.Guardians of the grainIn coastal Karnataka’s Nettanige village, Padma Shri awardee Sathyanarayana Beleri — everyone calls him ‘Seeding Sathya’ — nurtures more than 100 traditional paddy varieties in grow bags outside his house. It’s a small selection from his vast collection of over 650 seed varieties, collected from across India, Sri Lanka, Japan and the Philippines.He has strains of flood-resistant Edekunhi and Nereguli, the medicinal Dodda Byra Nellu, and Kalanamak (also called ‘Buddha Rice’). He’s distributed seeds to hundreds of farmers across Karnataka and Kerala, as well as to agricultural universities nationwide. “Rice”, he says, “can be cultivated in grow bags, just like vegetables at home. As climate change reshapes agriculture, conserving traditional, climate-resilient varieties is no longer a choice. It is a necessity.”Sathyanarayana Beleri with some of the more than 650 seed varieties he has collected from across India, Sri Lanka, Japan and the Philippines.Further inland, entire families have turned conservation into a generational commitment. In Belthangady taluk, the Rao family has conserved 180-190 traditional varieties on 5.5 acres since B K Deva Rao started a seed bank in 1988. His son, Parameshwar Rao, points to a benefit beyond biodiversity. “Paddy cultivation is among the best forms of groundwater recharge and rainwater harvesting,” he says. “Strong field bunds can retain water for nearly a week. Even two cropping cycles can substantially improve the groundwater table.” Their prized variety, Kayame — a red rice — “has a flavour rarely found in modern commercial varieties,” he adds.Some 1,300km away in Chhattisgarh, Khemlal Dewangan, a maths teacher in Rajnandgaon district, started farming traditional paddy around 15 years ago. Dewangan started with a handful of desi strains. He now has a collection of around 70 varieties.His seed collection has grown through a nationwide network of farmers — brought together on WhatsApp — who test small quantities in their fields. “I now receive 10-15 enquiries a day from social media and word of mouth,” he says.For him, the appeal goes beyond the market: he says traditional varieties are healthier, as they take longer to mature, absorbing more soil nutrients.Roots of a revivalNone of this happened by accident. Back in 2004, the UN’s second International Year of Rice, Kerala-based NGO Thanal decided something had to be done about India’s vanishing rice varieties. They launched the Save Our Rice campaign through a workshop in Kumbalangi village. Thanal teamed up with Tamil Nadu’s CREATE (a non-profit organisation) to run it, and the campaign took root in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Bengal, later spreading into Chhattisgarh.Members of CREATE educate farmers about heirloom rice varieties on a farm in Tamil Nadu.India had over one lakh varieties of rice in 1966, but by the time the campaign started, that number had dropped to around 30,000 — most locked away in university seed banks, rather than growing in farmers’ fields. The campaign has had a big impact on southern states. “In the last 15-16 years, there has been a revival of traditional seeds in these states,” says Jayakumar C, executive director at Thanal. “Today, there are more than 25 or 30 farmers or groups doing traditional seeds in different parts of Kerala. Thanal’s own centre in Wayanad now holds around 320- 330 varieties of rice.”That demand has started showing up in the market. Thanal runs a regular shop now in Thiruvananthapuram. Jayakumar says Kaima (also called Jeerakasala or Jeeraga Samba), a traditional variety, has become popular for biryani. Brands have caught on, too. Thondi, from a Wayanad farmer-producer company, sells online and via courier across Kerala’s cities, even as Mappila Chamba has built a following.“Traditional rice tends to be more filling,” says Jayakumar. You feel full after eating less, unlike white rice hybrids. Also, the longer shelf life and taste after cooking is winning over urban households, especially the older people.”When state stepped inIn Tamil Nadu, govt push gave the revival momentum. According to Suresh Kanna, project director at CREATE Trust, state govt began promoting six native varieties some 10 years ago under the State Heritage Rice Mission: Mappillai Samba, Karuppu Kavuni, Thooyamalli, Poongar, Kaattuyaanam and Kichili Samba. “Today, they are liked by consumers and can be seen in organic shops across the state. They also fetch good income for the farmers. A Kavuni farmer can get up to Rs 200 for a kilo. My calculation is that more than one lakh farmers in the state are now cultivating traditional paddy varieties,” Kanna says.Even in Karnataka, grassroots efforts are now finding institutional backing. KVK Dakshina Kannada has begun field trials of 10 traditional varieties sourced from Beleri, aiming to identify strains suited to the coastal region, and reintroduce them into local food systems. Karnataka’s agriculture department has documented 2,164 traditional landraces (local, traditional varieties that evolved through natural and human selection to adapt to a specific geographic and climatic environment) across 20 crops, with paddy topping the list at 1,469 varieties, under its Conservation and Promotion of Landraces Programme. Rs 1.3 crore in incentives went to 490 farmers in 2025-26 for viable seed samples. The effort centres on custodian farmers who “continued cultivating them on small patches of land,” as department director GT Puthra puts it.The department is now supporting GI registration for varieties including Kagga paddy, Rajmudi paddy, Bijapur Jola, Joni Bella and Kumbi Mudli, and plans incentives for 15 “forgotten treasure” shops.Farm to fork, fork to fameA few restaurants are actively championing rare, indigenous rice over commercial varieties. Edible Archives in Goa works with regional grains like Thavala Kannan from Wayanad (a red rice from Palakkad, whose name means “frog’s eyes” in Malayalam), and Pokkali, which brings a distinct coastal terroir.The Kolkata-based Amar Khamar, both a heritage-grain retail brand and restaurant, is entirely built around Bengal’s native rice. Its signature is ‘Chhuti-r Bhat’, an 11-course meal following the traditional sequence of a Bengali meal, centred on heirloom varieties like Sugondhi Chine Kamini Aatap.‘Chhuti-r Bhat’ in Kolkata’s Amar Khamar, which is an 11-course meal centred on heirloom rice varieties.That influence has spread to other restaurants in the city. Sienna Cafe sources Chine Kamini, Radha Tilok, Kanakchur and Tulaipanji Atop from Amar Khamar; Yokocho, a Japanese alleyway-inspired bar and BBQ, draws on Kanakchur, Tulaipanji Atop and Karpurkanti; Red Bari incorporates Shatia, Mallifulo and Khejur Chhari.Juhi Punwani, head of kitchen operations at Amar Khamar, has built a career around collecting the many myths and stories behind Bengal’s native rice varieties. “Gobindobhog is not the only heritage rice in Bengal,” she says. A rice called Radhuni Pagol literally means “the cook gone crazy”, after lore that its fragrance once filled a kitchen so completely that the cook couldn’t think of anything else.Tulaipanji of North Bengal gets its name from how the cooked rice turns light and airy like cotton (tula); Khejur Chhari is named for the date palm its grains resemble; Radha Tilok’s dark-tipped grain evokes Radha’s tilak mark. “Every rice here has a beautiful story and a journey, and that’s what we’re trying to showcase,” says Punwani, whose team has worked to bring back over 100 varieties, keeping around 50 in active rotation.A look at select traditional rice varieties and the regions they are associated with across India.This past summer, that ambition crossed continents, as Amar Khamar toured France and Germany. In Paris, working with sommelier Rajat Parr, the team built an 80-guest, 10-course tasting menu entirely around rice. Kanakchur turned up as fritters with brown butter hollandaise, Sundarbansgrown Karpurkanti and Chine Kamini appeared as aatapan alongside a jackfruit-seed mung dal, Barddhaman’s Mohansal was served boiled, the meal closing with a Jhargram Fine Black Rice phirni.In Stuttgart, the team built a fully vegan Bengali tasting menu, rice carrying the meal from a humble jhal muri to a coconut-milk Badshahbhog payesh for dessert. A separate 200-guest winery event tested whether the format could scale — from Karpurkanti-paired lentils, a Chine Kamini peas pulao to Sunday lamb curry and Badshahbhog milk-rice. “None of this would be possible without the relationships we have built with a network of farmers,” says Punwani, who executed the menu in Europe.The traceability problemBut as heritage rice travels from the farm into retail shelves, a different problem emerges: knowing whether what’s being sold is really what it claims to be. One store has built its entire business around solving exactly that. In Chennai’s Mylapore sits a store unlike any other. Spirit of the Earth calls itself a “retail store and experience centre”, where customers come to see, touch, feel and know the story of every rice. Opened in 2017, it’s the retail face of a project that Sheela Balaji, chairperson of NGO AIM For Seva, began over a decade ago, built on a principle she believes the heritage-rice surge often misses: traceability.“Unfortunately, certain grains are being sold as certain varieties, which is inaccurate,” says Balaji.“The minute you say heritage rice, people will just come and buy it. But who is taking accountability? How do you know if it’s really diabetic friendly? So, I started this project more than a decade ago, first and foremost by building a seed bank. All the rice that you see in our store is grown from our farm in Manjakkudi, a village in Tiruvarur.”Join conversationView All Comments →Share your thoughts in the commentsInsightfulAgreeDisagreeSkepticalConcerningPromisingWorth ReadingBig DevelopmentPost CommentBe respectful · TOI community guidelinesThe 40-acre operation has grown as neighbouring farmers joined in, alongside a seed bank built from years of Balaji’s fieldwork with growers in Manipur, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.For Balaji, the mission is beyond nutrition or nostalgia. “Rice in our culture is Lakshmi,” she says. “And reintroducing its forgotten names and forms, one customer at a time, is as much about restoring that reverence as it is about the grain itself.”Sheela Balaji and Parameshwar Rao explain the importance of rice and paddy cultivation. Get the latest India News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.About the AuthorSneha BhuraSneha Bhura is an Assistant Editor with The Times of India. She loves exploring stories at the intersection of culture and technology. She is also a published poet and podcaster. Her debut poetry collection ‘Velvet Grapes’ was released in 2021.Read MoreEnd of ArticleFollow Us On Social MediaVideos’People Were Shot In The Head’: Sonam Wangchuk Seeks Inquiry Report Into 2025 Ladakh ViolenceAjeet Bharti EXCLUSIVE On ‘Reservation Hatao Andolan’, Harsh Dubey, CJP & His Criticism Of BJPTMC’s Abhishek Banerjee Moves Supreme Court Over Delay In Disqualification Of 20 Rebel TMC MPsTrump Pushes $103,265 H-1B Fee; 71% Indian Professionals Brace For Major Immigration BlowJaishankar Meets Putin In Moscow, India-Russia Trade Soars As Both Sides Target $100 Billion By 2030Fresh Kashmiri Pandit Threat: Hit List Reveals Addresses, Phone Numbers, Vehicle Details OnlineDelhi-NCR Rain Fury: Gurugram Under Orange Alert, Work From Home Advisory Issued For August 25’Ram-Ram Inside, Fish Feast Outside’: Yogi Adityanath Slams Cong Over Ayodhya Event; Ajay Rai ReactsDisplaced By Ken-Betwa Project, Tribals Now Struggle For Basic Amenities | ExclusiveIn Leaked Audio, Lawrence Bishnoi’s Aide Goldy Brar Claims He Killed Hardeep Nijjar In Canada123Photostories‘They don’t love you, they love your name’:Asim Riaz takes explosive dig at ex Himanshi Khurana, calls her a ‘fame digger’First egg, now chicken? 7 things to know about the Salmonella outbreak in the UKHow to remove coconut flesh from the shell easily: 5 simple tricks without wasting the coconutFrom flamingos to puffins: 5 birds whose beaks look hand-painted by an artistMaria Sharapova to Naomi Osaka: 5 athletes who are serving major fashion moments off the courtSreeleela’s fish-cut saree just gave traditional draping a seriously savage upgrade10 beautiful baby girl names that capture a sense of wonderOptical Illusion personality test: What you spot first reveals the weak spot in your love lifePriyanka Chopra’s architectural black gown just proved that red-carpet glam needs a little more attitude10 of the world’s most colourful birds to see in the wild123Hot PicksGurgaon schoolAAP councillorsKPMG AustraliaTrump tariffIOB LBO recruitmentNEET UG 2026Sridhar VembuTrump’s SpaceXNEET PG 2026 admit cardTop TrendingBandra Parsi BungalowSuresh GowdaRupali ChakankarKarnataka Food Licence SuspensionAllahabad High CourtMumbai Airport DemolitionRam RahimDelhi Women AccidentDelhi Gurgaon RainMaharashtra Hill Tragedy ‘Gut punch’: What Trump’s new $103,265 H-1B visa fee proposal means for Indian aspirants ICSI CS June 2026 Professional Result declared; merit list released, Executive result at 2 PM Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli SPOTTED at Delhi Airport; couple make low-key appearance: WATCH Think your tea is pure? Think again! These simple home tests using everyday items can help you check your tea for artificial colours, iron filings and possible adulteration | Video shows Dumri MLA Jairam Mahto allegedly abusing cop on call, FIR filed In 2020, 10-year-old Murphy Widdowson collected a spider on a remote Australian island that experts could not identify; scientists later declared it a new species and named it Artoriopsis murphyi after him File Photo Assam chief minister Himata Biswa Sarma met Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday in New Delhi. They had a discussion about the restoration of flood damaged National Highways and plans for enhancing the resilience of the state’s highway network against the floods.As per the official release, the meeting mainly focused on the immediate restoration of flood damaged National Highways as well as the long term important measures that should be taken to strengthen the infrastructure. This will help to improve the connectivity. The CM also emphasised the need for the evidence based planning to design the bridges to improve the drainage issue so that it can minimise the impact of floods and make the road connectivity smooth.”Our discussions focused on restoring flood-damaged National Highways at the earliest and building more flood-resilient highways, using evidence-based planning to improve the design and placement of culverts and bridges,” the Chief Minister said in a post on X following the meeting.Join conversationView All Comments →Share your thoughts in the commentsInsightfulAgreeDisagreeSkepticalConcerningPromisingWorth ReadingBig DevelopmentPost CommentBe respectful · TOI community guidelinesAs per the reports; the flash flooding at the Jorhat was also the main topic that was discussed between both of them for which the CM requested to redesign the highway infrastructure at the particular location and asked to provide a long term solution so that it can sustain.This meeting reviewed progress on various road projects in Assam that included the Kaziranga Elevated Corridor, the Guwahati Ring Road and the upgradation of the major highway stretches within the state. Himanta thanked Gadkari saying, “Grateful for the Hon’ble Minister’s assurance of the highest consideration and continued support in strengthening Assam’s road infrastructure.”Senior officials, including, Union Minister of state for External Affair Pabitra Margherita, chief secretary Ravi Kota, additional chief secretary K K Dwivedi, and other officials from the ministry of road transport and highways were present in the meeting.Get the latest India News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.End of ArticleFollow Us On Social MediaVideos’People Were Shot In The Head’: Sonam Wangchuk Seeks Inquiry Report Into 2025 Ladakh ViolenceAjeet Bharti EXCLUSIVE On ‘Reservation Hatao Andolan’, Harsh Dubey, CJP & His Criticism Of BJPTMC’s Abhishek Banerjee Moves Supreme Court Over Delay In Disqualification Of 20 Rebel TMC MPsTrump Pushes $103,265 H-1B Fee; 71% Indian Professionals Brace For Major Immigration BlowJaishankar Meets Putin In Moscow, India-Russia Trade Soars As Both Sides Target $100 Billion By 2030Fresh Kashmiri Pandit Threat: Hit List Reveals Addresses, Phone Numbers, Vehicle Details OnlineDelhi-NCR Rain Fury: Gurugram Under Orange Alert, Work From Home Advisory Issued For August 25’Ram-Ram Inside, Fish Feast Outside’: Yogi Adityanath Slams Cong Over Ayodhya Event; Ajay Rai ReactsDisplaced By Ken-Betwa Project, Tribals Now Struggle For Basic Amenities | ExclusiveIn Leaked Audio, Lawrence Bishnoi’s Aide Goldy Brar Claims He Killed Hardeep Nijjar In Canada123Photostories‘They don’t love you, they love your name’:Asim Riaz takes explosive dig at ex Himanshi Khurana, calls her a ‘fame digger’First egg, now chicken? 7 things to know about the Salmonella outbreak in the UKHow to remove coconut flesh from the shell easily: 5 simple tricks without wasting the coconutFrom flamingos to puffins: 5 birds whose beaks look hand-painted by an artistMaria Sharapova to Naomi Osaka: 5 athletes who are serving major fashion moments off the courtSreeleela’s fish-cut saree just gave traditional draping a seriously savage upgrade10 beautiful baby girl names that capture a sense of wonderOptical Illusion personality test: What you spot first reveals the weak spot in your love lifePriyanka Chopra’s architectural black gown just proved that red-carpet glam needs a little more attitude10 of the world’s most colourful birds to see in the wild123Hot PicksGurgaon schoolAAP councillorsKPMG AustraliaTrump tariffIOB LBO recruitmentNEET UG 2026Sridhar VembuTrump’s SpaceXNEET PG 2026 admit cardTop TrendingBandra Parsi BungalowSuresh GowdaRupali ChakankarKarnataka Food Licence SuspensionAllahabad High CourtMumbai Airport DemolitionRam RahimDelhi Women AccidentDelhi Gurgaon RainMaharashtra Hill Tragedy Bitcoin crosses $80,000 for first time since mid-May driven by weaker dollar, gains 28% in August Sydney Sweeney tells Tom Cruise to ‘watch out’ as she NAILS ‘Mission: Impossible’ style airplane stunt – WATCH Why you should put aluminium foil under your washing machine: 5 practical benefits and key safety tips | ‘Constitutional monstrosity’: P Chidambaram attacks One Nation, One Election Bill Meet Dr. Robert Parry: Ohio pediatric surgeon draws cartoons on kids’ bandages after surgery, creating 10,000 moments of joy | World News Salman Khan to begin Raj and DK superhero film in January 2027 after ‘SVC63’ and ‘Bigg Boss 20’ – Report 9-to-5 is out? 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