Main points of Union Budget for the financial year 2013-14

Highlights of Union Budget 2013-14.

1. Proposal to set up India’s first Women’s Bank as a public sector bank.
2. Nirbhaya Fund to empower women…
3. Rs. 1,000 crore for skill development of ten lakh youth to enhance their employability and productivity.
4. Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) Scheme to be rolled out throughout the country during the term of UPA Government.
5. Fiscal Deficit for 2013-14 is pegged at 4.8% of GDP. The Revenue Deficit will be 3.3% for the same period.
6. Plan Expenditure placed at Rs. 5,55,322 crore. It is 33.3% of the total expenditure while Non Plan Expenditure is estimated at Rs. 11,09,975 crore. The plan expenditure in 2013-14 will be 29.4% more than the RE of the current year i.e. 2012-13.
7. … Allocation for Rural Development Ministry raised by 46% to Rs. 80,194 crore.
8. The target for farm credit for 2013-14 has been set at Rs. 7,00,000 crore against Rs. 5,75,000 crore during the current year.
9.  Rs. 10,000 crore earmarked for National Food Security towards the incremental cost.
10. Education gets Rs. 65,867 crore, an increase of 17% over RE for 2012-13.

11. ICDS gets Rs. 17,700 crore. This is 11.7% more than the current year.
12. Drinking water and sanitation will receive Rs. 15,260 crore. Rs. 1,400 crore is being provided for setting up water purification plants to cover arsenic and fluoride affected rural areas.
13. Health and Family Welfare Ministry has been allotted Rs. 37,330 crore. National Health Mission will get Rs. 21,239 crore which represents 24.3% over the RE.
14. … JNNURM will receive Rs. 14,873 crore… against RE of Rs. 7,383 crore in the current year.
15. Defence has been allocated Rs. 2,03,672 crore.
16. Rs. 3,511 crore … to Minority Affairs Ministry, 60% higher than RE for 2012-13.
17. The Government will encourage Infrastructure Debt Fund (IDF) and allow some institutions to raise tax free bonds up to Rs. 50,000 crore which is 100% more than the current year.
18. India Infrastructure Finance Corporation (IIFC), in partnership with ADB will help infrastructure companies to access bond market to tap long term funds.
19. Income limit under Rajiv Gandhi Equity Savings Scheme (RGESS) will be raised from Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 12 lakh.
20. First home loan from a bank or housing finance corporation up to Rs. 25 lakh entitled to additional deduction of interest upto Rs. 1 lakh.

21. Proposal to launch Inflation Indexed Bonds or Inflation Indexed National Security Certificates to protect savings from inflation.
22. On oil and gas exploration policy, the Budget proposes to move from the present profit sharing mechanism to revenue sharing. Natural gas pricing policy will be reviewed.
23. On coal, the Budget proposes adoption of a policy of pooled pricing.
24. Benefits or preferences enjoyed by MSME to continue upto three years after they grow out of this category.
25. Refinancing capacity of SIDBI raised to Rs. 10,000 crore.
26. Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) for textile to continue in 12th Plan with an investment target of Rs. 1,51,000 crore.
27. Rs. 14,000 crore will be provided to public sector banks for capital infusion in 2013-14.
28. A grant of Rs. 100 crore each has been made to 4 institutions of excellence including Aligarh Muslim University, Banaras Hindu University, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati and Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH).
29. New taxes to yield Rs. 18,000 crore.
30. A surcharge of 10% on persons (other than companies) whose taxable income exceeds Rs.1 crore have been levied.

31. Tobacco products, SUVs and Mobile Phones to cost more.
32. Relief of Rs. 2000 for the tax payers in the first bracket of 2 to 5 lakhs.
33. ‘Voluntary Compliance Encouragement Scheme’ launched for recovering service tax dues.
34. Rs. 9,000 crore earmarked as the first installment of balance of CST compensations to different States/UTs.
35. The Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) has been allocated Rs. 11,500 crore.
36. Plans for seven new cities have been finalized for industrial corridors and work on two new smart industrial cities at Dholera (Gujarat) and Shendra Bidkin (Maharashtra) will start during 2013-14.
37. Two new ports will be established in Sagar (West Bengal) and in Andhra Pradesh.
38. New outer harbour will be developed in the VOC port at Thoothukkudi (Tamil Nadu) through PPP at an estimated cost of Rs 7,500 crore.
39. Grant of investment allowance at the rate of 15% to manufacturing companies that invest more than Rs. 100 crore in plant and machinery during the period 1.4.2013 to 31.3.2015
40. Rashtriya Swasthiya Bima Yojana, which cover 34mn families below the poverty line, will now be extended to other categories such as rickshaw, auto-rickshaw and taxi-drivers, sanitation workers, rag pickers and mine workers.

Courtesy: Ministry of Finance, GOI.

'RE' stands for Revised Estimates

Sajeev.

Dakshinayana Part Nine – Chhattisgarh and Raipur

MP-CG Border

I cursed myself for waking up so late and missing the first bus to Raipur. Around 10.30, I checked out from the hotel and walked towards the bus stand. One driver told “Bus will come soon”. As S K Pottekkad told, one of the best methods to explore a city is to walk through the roads. As there was not enough time, I simply roamed around the bus stand itself.

From a nearby store, I bought ‘Patrika’ – a widely available and popular newspaper here. By this time Raipur bus also arrived at the stand. After having a glass of sugarcane juice, I boarded that white bus to Raipur. It was a big bus with sleeper facility on upper deck. Fortunately, I got a window seat. After waiting for some more time, we started our legendry voyage to Raipur – ticket charge was 220 INR.

For bus conductor, everybody is a ‘savari’ - savari to Raipur, savari to Bicchiya etc. I got a co-passenger as well - a kid studying in 10th standard.

Bus stopped in between, to take some more passengers. Conductor becomes very cheerful whenever somebody tells him Raipur!!! During one of these stoppages, our conductor bought coconut and agarbati as well.

We finally reached on the banks of Narmada – a river widely respected and worshipped here. While crossing the river, we stopped again on top of the bridge. At first, I thought there may be some road block. Parallel to our bridge at a lower level, there was one more bridge on left side. A lot of people were walking through this bridge on foot. I just watched the slowly flowing calm waters of Narmada. Suddenly conductor came out through the front door, holding coconut in one hand and agarbati in other one. He did some pooja there and finally dropped the coconut to the river. Note that, all the time we were on the bridge.

After poojas we started again, travelled rest of the bridge and crossed city limits. My co-passenger was coming from Jabalpur after attending some cultural festivals there. We slowly started our communication – about villages, roads, his school etc. Contrary to my expectation, roads was not that much bad even in those uninhibited areas. He swiftly corrected me, “here roads are ok, but after some time roads will be bad. In Chhattisgarh roads are good.” What attracted me more was his comparison of MP and CG. Finally, he summarized in two sentences. “Ab tak yahan (MP border with CG) utna pragati nahi huva hei. CG ka road dekho, vahanka mukya Raman zhabardasth hei”.

Earlier also I heard about the improvements in Chhattisgarh - in infrastructure, stopping the leakages in Public distribution system (PDS) etc. Just like many other events in these faraway places (from Delhi and Mumbai studios of media), improvements stories may also end up somewhere in the inner pages of newspapers. After all there may not be any dedicated propaganda wing working non-stop to highlight it.

We crossed some more villages. Conductor was always aggressive in making sure that all have a seat. Interestingly, all this aggressiveness evaporated when a beautiful girl boarded the bus and sat next to him. She sat there because no other seat was empty. After that, he became as soft as lotus pedal. All of a sudden his voice become very soft and started a conversation with her. It didn’t surprise me, I saw many people roaring like lions suddenly start bleating like sheep in the presence of a beautiful girls.

Slowly road became very bad, so bad that I sincerely doubted whether our bus will reach Chhattisgarh border at all. Some more girls got in and remaining bus crews also engaged in conversation with them. Finally my co-passenger told good-bye and got down somewhere close or after Bicchiya.

After struggling through that road for some more time, we entered Chilpi range. Chilpi forest range is continuous to Kanha National Park (KNP) in the West, connected with Motinala Range in the north and Dongargath-Khaara forest range in the south.  MP-CG border is situated inside Chipli range. Both sides of the road were guarded by trees, which were getting a fresh coat of paint every time a bus/ heavy vehicle passing through that area.

Delhi Gang Rape Incident

An elderly person came and sat next to me. As he was sitting idle, I had to start the conversation. He also didn’t forget to add, his share of praise to CG (Chhattisgarh) roads. Suddenly, the issue of Delhi gang rape came up. His question was simple; according to me what should be the punishment for rapists? However answering it was not at all simple. Please note that, this conversation happened on 31st December - just two days after the victim died in a Singapore hospital.

“For rape they may get a maximum of 10 years according to law”. As she died, they would be prosecuted for murder as well. He was not satisfied with that answer; for him punishment is plain and simple - ‘shoot them’.

Well, I can understand his emotions; he may also have a daughter of same age. But what he proposed and what many other people suggested are not and should not be the choices of a modern society. We have to prosecute them, according to the law of the land and according to the process established by the law. Only the courts have the power to decide an apt sentence for them.
If we start shooting people accused of rape, then there won’t be any end. Justice should be swift, but due process has to be followed.

Rape – single or gang - was not started today or yesterday in India. Gang rapes and parading the victim naked throughout the village is happening every now and then. In all cases there will be some manufactured reasons - maybe she loved someone from higher caste, or some other gotra; may be her brother eloped with a girl from higher caste; may be social honchos want to enjoy her... reasons are always there. Which this tamasha went on unstopped in broad daylight in numerous Indian villages why the so called middle and upper class woke up to see the reality? If society liven up to its ideals at that time, probably that poor Delhi girl may live today as well.

According to the reports, none of the highly enlightened social members took them to hospital. Society can’t dump all accusations over government and simply wash their hands; they should take their share of blames. Even now, if you find an injured person bleeding on a roadside due to some accidents, will you take him/ her to hospital? Don’t say yes just to satisfy your moral consciousness.

Chhattisgarh

At Night

Slowly he moved to Gujarat and Himachal elections. By this time we crossed MP-CG border and entered Chhattisgarh. Bus stopped in front of a small dhaba. Roads were indeed good in this side of border. Chilpi Ghats are located some 20- 30 minutes away from here. But, what we don’t know was - the bus wouldn’t start again!!!

Yes, people had their tea/ coffee and came back only to see a dead bus. It didn’t surprise me; any vehicle would create problems after passing through that horrible road. In the middle of the jungle, while sun was rushing towards western oceans we had to wait for the next bus to come. Fortunately, it came and I got a seat in the sleeper - next to a movable glass window.

At Night

Chilpi Ghats

Chilpi at night.

I had to wait for some more time in that not so comfortable seat to see the ghats. Scarcity of light indeed decreased the visibility of this lengthy ghat wearing green cap. I just tried to imagine the bottom of the ghat. In between, I slipped in to a deep sleep.

When I woke up, bus was approaching Pondi. One of the next main stop was Kawardha. To my surprise, there were two road rollers working in that night to tar a road near to bus stand. Slowly but steadily number of travellers came down. I slept again for some more time. Finally we reached Raipur. I got down close to Railway station and started walking through the empty roads of the city. Minute needle was about to touch twelve - last seconds of 2012!!! Some people were already exploding crackers and celebrating the arrival of New Year - 2013. Sky was lit with fire crackers spitting multiple colours and drawing patterns in an otherwise dark blanket.

Raipur Railway Junction

Raipur Railway Station

I walked further and reached Raipur railway station. Its modern building was flooded with white lights. Finally clock stuck 12, some more explosions in the sky. Ironically, people in railway station were too much worried about their trains to celebrate new-year. Here, among these multitudes – some sitting on the floor, some others sleeping there – this 12 ‘o’ clock also end up just like any other 12. I didn’t reserve any ticket for Nagpur – for which I had to regret for rest of the night. After a lot of thinking finally I bought a general ticket for Nagpur. Train came at 2.15am; there were hardly any space in general compartments.

I got only some inches to stand, just to put my two legs on floor. Just in front, three guys were sitting in the floor. On another side, one guy was sleeping on the floor. He kept his head below the seats; his legs were below the seats on opposite side. I don’t know how he was able to take breath. On other side one lady is sleeping in sitting mode, two other guys were sleeping in the two side lower seats. Berth was filled with a lot of bags and vacant spaces were occupied by human beings. One mid-aged couple were standing in the back, always asking others to go forward and gave them some space to sit, as if train bogies were made of rubber band.

Carrying a big bag and camera increased my problems. After struggling hard, I could only find some 10 inches of space in the berth. If I put my bag there, I have to support it with one of my hand for rest of the journey. There were no other options.

Most frightening was the length of journey. I have to stand in the same position for the next five hours - till 7.20 in the morning. My last journey in General compartment was equally horrible - Palakkad to Bangalore – 7 hours standing in the night!!! At that time I was travelling with a small bag and space was available to stand, but here it was not even possible to turn my legs. We crossed Bhilai, Durg etc and finally reached came out of that furnace at Nagpur!!!

Sajeev.

For reading rest of the articles please visit,

Dakshinayana Part One – An Introduction
Dakshinayana Part Two – Bangalore to Bhopal
Dakshinayana Part Three – Sanchi
Dakshinayana Part Four – Bhopal: The city of lakes
Dakshinayana Part Five: Ujjain – The Holy City, hearing the sounds of forefathers
Dakshinayana Part Six: Indore – Trade hub of Central India
Dakshinayana Part Seven – Jabalpur: Kalchuris, Gonds and Narmada
Dakshinayana Part Eight – Kanha National Park and Mandla
Dakshinayana Part Nine – Chhattisgarh and Raipur
Dakshinayana Part Ten: Nagpur – The Orange City
Dakshinayana Part Eleven – Sevagram: Walking with Gandhi
Dakshinayana Part Twelve – Aurangabad: The City of Gates
Dakshinayana Part Thirteen – Ellora Memories
Dakshinayana Part Fourteen – U shaped Ajanta
Dakshinayana Part Fifteen – Pune: The Maratha heartland

“Tax the rich” or “Tax the people who are earning a lot but not paying any tax”, I support the second and you?

“Tax the rich”, is one of the catchphrases we are hearing regularly in these days. This is considered as most virtuous act, a finance minister can do. If targeted people support it, then they will be celebrated as an epitome of virtues; if someone opposes it, then they will be branded as morally bankrupt, selfish, enemy of general public etc. Thanks to systematic corruption, there is a general view that people who made money are not done it in an appropriate way, and rich are supposed to bequeath a part of their wealth to public.

Well, I disagree. Taxing the rich is not the solution for all of our economic problems, even though high sound bites make it more appealing. People who are generally working for government (I am talking only about salary not the sum coming through bribes) and reputed private companies are getting a salary, in which income tax is already deducted at source (TDS). This applicable for all legal transactions in stock markets, deposits in formal bank accounts etc. It’s altogether a different matter that, options are available to reduce the taxable income in the form of HRA, House loans, insurance policies etc. There are a number of people who are paying these taxes very honestly.

If government is more interested in augmenting tax rates for people - who are already paying income taxes - than enlarging the total number of people coming under tax bracket by coming down heavily on illegal transactions like havala, black markets etc, there is a good risk that people may start thinking about - why they should pay income tax? Now itself, there is a wide spread anguish among the people that, hard earned money they are paying to government in the form of income taxes are ending up in dishonest hands.

A recent Economist article says that,

“Before... reforms in 1991, taxation meant clobbering manufacturers with customs and excise duties...Farming, which employs half of all Indians, contributes only one-seventh of all GDP and is largely exempt from tax.)...

...Much of the economy remains out of sight of the taxman. A lot of the services sector is informal and cash-based. The property market is notorious for black money. Big firms in the formal economy pay a decent rate of tax, but many smaller businesses fall under the regime for personal tax, where compliance is poor. Surjit Bhalla, of Oxus Investments, reckons income-tax receipts are two-thirds below what they should be. Just 32m people, or 2.5% of Indians, pay income tax.” 

--- "A walk on the wild side - The Economist"

Do you really believe that, only 32mn Indians are qualified for paying income tax?

Government needs to come down heavily on people who are earning good amounts but not paying any tax at all; instead of forcing the people who are already paying, to pay more. Unreasonably putting more obligations on people who are properly paying tax, will be a punishment for earning more. If government really want to come up with taxes then bring in inheritance tax, where new generation will inherit huge amounts from parents without actually doing anything other than a birth by chance. But that also should be fair and just.

Remember, when you tax super rich they will bring in a super chartered account and bring down the tax through already existing loop holes to practically small amounts.

Sajeev

Hopping from parties to parties – the political dramas before elections in Karnataka

What you think about India's prospects for a gold medal for jumping events, say high jumps, long jumps etc, in next Olympics? Think for an instant before answering as zero. Recently, jumping events gained enormous popularity here. What more, we are currently witnessing stunning records set my some wonderful people whose original profession is politics.

Even though situation is not much better in many other states, Karnataka recently astonished entire nation by sheer number and quality of jumpers.

As a back ground information, let me tell you that, Karnataka is going for elections.  Prospect of ruling coalition, which already introduced three chief ministers in five years and witnessed a split is not so sound. It is not that, opposition is a sacred cow.

What we are seeing now is, many people including ministers are resigning from ruling party and joining in opposition parties. In next election, these people may get selected from opposition parties and become ministers; if opposition was elected to power. This was the scenario we witnessed five years back, when current ruling coalition extracted a number of people from opposition to create a majority.

Now what voters are supposed to do?

Sajeev.

Dakshinayana Part Eight – Kanha National Park and Mandla

Kanha National park is located in Mandla and Balaghat districts of Madhya Pradesh. This park - now stretches over 940 km² - was created on 1st June 1955. National park's buffer zone of 1,067 km² and neighbouring 110 km² Phen Sanctuary forms Kanha Tiger Reserve (created on 1974).  Park has three entrances - Kisli, Mukki and Serai (more information are given in the end).

Kanha Park Information

Entry points and How to reach?

Kanha Tiger Reserve has three entry points, namely, Khatia, Mukki and Sarhi. Khatia is nearly 160 Kms from Jabalpur (Via Mandla), 250 Kms from Raipur (Via Chilpi-Mukki-Baihar) and 220 Kms from Nagpur (Via Seoni-Nainpur Chiraidongri).

Mukki is nearly 200 Kms from Jablpur (Via Mandla-Mocha-Baihar), 210 Kms from Raipur (Via Chilpi) and 260 Kms (Via Seoni-NainpurMocha-Baihar) and 260 Kms (Via Balaghat-Baihar) from Nagpur.

Sarhi Gate is nearly 8 Kms off Bichhiya, which is on NH 12 A about 150 Kms from Jabalpur (Via Mandla) and about 220 Kms from Raipur (Via Chilpi-Sijhora). According to reports currently no logistic infrastructure available at Sarhi Gate.

Gates supports the Day Visitors only.

Best Time

Kanha Park opens from 16th October to 30 th June every year. Best time to visit Kanha  Tiger Reserve is from October to December and Aril to May.  All Wednesday afternoon safaris shall remain closed to the visitors. 'Holi' is also a holiday here.

Tickets

Tickets are available at Rs 1030/- for each safari to Mukki, Kisli and Sarhi Zone and Rs 1530/- to Kanha Zone. The cost of the ticket does not include the Guide (200) and Vehicle charges (six seats - 1800).

Email: fdkanha@rediffmail.com
Website: http://www.kanhatigerreserve.com

Mandla

Mandla Bus stand

Early morning, good sceneries on both sides, in total journey to Mandla were interesting. Jabalpur Vehicle Factory and Bargi Reservoir on Narmada River located on the sides of this road. Finally we reached Mandla town well before noon. This historical town is located on the banks of Narmada – will tell you more about Mandla later in this article. After getting down at Mandla bus stand, I got another bus to Kanha – The same one which broke down yesterday night and missed its schedule from Jabalpur. After waiting for some 20 minutes more in that stand, we finally started our journey to Kanha.

Kanha

Bus charge from Mandla to Kanha (KNP) was 50 INR. I got a seat in the front, bus was not so crowded. Slowly we entered to less and less populated areas; at one stop driver asked about my destination. Probably he wanted to know, whether I already have the ticket or not.

As I was not sure on which day I will be able to reach Kanha, I didn’t reserve the tickets. In case you would like to visit Kanha NP, it will be better to book the tickets online. Kanha NP is the last stop for that shuttle. After reaching there, bus driver introduced me to one of his cousins. He told me that, “there is a family who is going to the Park in afternoon session” (Park will close at noon and open only after 2.30pm. which will last till 5.30pm). Charge was – 2500. After some negotiation it came down to 2200 --- 1530 for ticket, 200 for guide and rest for vehicle (Maruti Gypsy).


This is the same jungle which inspired legendry Rudyard Kipling, author of ‘Jungle Book’, as well.

Just 30 minutes past noon. I had to wait next two hours on that road. Finally it was 2.30, Gypsy’s started to go in one by one. In our open Gypsy, there were three members other than me plus a driver and a guide. It was my first time, in an open gypsy (my favourite vehicle), through a national park where wild animals are free to roam around. Three other tourists were from Calcutta (rest of their family members were travelling in another gypsy). They already went in the morning to see tigers, but didn’t see the prince of the jungle. When they came to know that, I am from Kerala they explained about their trip to Thiruvananthapuram (aka Trivandrum), Alapuzha (aka Aleppey) and Ernakulum (aka Ernankulam :) ).

People often make the mistake of seeing forest for tigers or lions, and often underestimate the scenic beauty of trees and purity of atmosphere. We saw groups of spotted deer, Swamp deer (aka Barasingha), Leopard (I didn’t properly see him, but guide told it was leopard), peacock etc; but not tiger. On the way back, we heard the roar of a tiger.

Inside Kanha, we moved through designated paths overlooked by luxurious growth of Sal trees, in between there were a lot of open areas where deer groups enjoyed their time under sun. Guides, we, driver everyone were looking for pug marks. On the way back, we heard the roaring, stopped the gypsy and waited there for some time, but he didn’t come out. Three hours went quickly; around 5.30 Kanha’s gates were closed behind us.

I met the hotel guy again to collect my bag. He asked me to stay in the night and go to Raipur on next morning. Room charge was fixed at 1350 INR; however he was ready to give concessions. I analysed my options, my liquidity was very low – in fact I was short in cash (there was an ATM, with a notice indicating its inability to dispense cash). If I stayed there, it would be difficult for me to pay hotel bill and next day’s bus charge to Raipur. If I reached Mandla in that night, I could use some ATM and would get a cheaper room. Finally I decided to leave, thanking him for the offer. Last bus from Kanha was at 5.30 in the evening - fortunately it was 10 minutes late – otherwise I would have missed that one.

Before leaving Kanha let me tell you something about the park. Authorities want to restrict the number of people entering Kanha, in the name of protecting the environment. This attitude coupled with recent Supreme Court orders shot up the entry fee. This often limits the options available for people who can’t afford so much merely for three hours. Just imagine you are coming with 8-10 member family. Shelling out this exorbitant entry fee may not be a good idea. Another question is – compared to entry fee in other National Parks and Tiger Reserves, does a journey through Kanha worth the entree fee? May be I am wrong, maybe I didn’t travel enough to see the beauty of Kanha, but my answer is ‘No, it doesn’t’

Mandla

Bus was soon filled with people rushing to their homes to spend night with their family. Twilight soon transformed to dark night. Yellow light coming from the ceiling of our noisy vehicle hit the tired faces, which were desperately looking for a bed to sleep. Lady sitting next to me in black dress was eagerly talking to her son. Steady stream of cool air coming through an opening in the side window slowly made me sleep.

Finally the calmness of jungle gave her way to noisy Mandla. Six days of non-stop journey, sleeping only 2-3 hours in railway stations (that too in sitting mode), were slowly but steadily making me tired. Finally I rented a hotel room for the night (350 – double bed for a day). After having one aalo-paratha and some normal parathas from a nearby hotel, I slept happily in Mandla.

History of Mandla

Streets of Mandla

Mandla (aka Mahishmati in old days) is considered as the capital of Sahasrabahu Kartyaveer Arjun of puranas. Centuries ago, in this city, Adi Shankara had a debate with Mandana Misra - Misra’s wife Ubhaya Bharati was the referee. After 15 days of defeat Misra accepted defeat, but Adi Shankara was subsequently challenged by his wife. According to the story, she asked him questions related to sexual congress between man and woman – which as sannyasi was beyond the expertise of Shankara. So he called for 15 day recess. Later he defeated Ubhaya Bharati by answering all of her questions. Following this defeat, Mandana Misra accepted Sanyasa order with the new name Suresvaracarya as per the agreed conditions of the debate.

To Raipur

Next day I woke up very late for which I had to pay heavily - missed the first bus to Raipur at 6.30 in the morning. I had to settle for 11.30am bus which won’t reach Raipur before sunset.

Sajeev.

Kanha National Park

Kanha National Park

Kanha National Park

Kanha National Park

Kanha National Park

Kanha National Park

Kanha National Park

Kanha National Park

Kanha National Park

For reading rest of the articles please visit,

Dakshinayana Part One – An Introduction
Dakshinayana Part Two – Bangalore to Bhopal
Dakshinayana Part Three – Sanchi
Dakshinayana Part Four – Bhopal: The city of lakes
Dakshinayana Part Five: Ujjain – The Holy City, hearing the sounds of forefathers
Dakshinayana Part Six: Indore – Trade hub of Central India
Dakshinayana Part Seven – Jabalpur: Kalchuris, Gonds and Narmada
Dakshinayana Part Eight – Kanha National Park and Mandla
Dakshinayana Part Nine – Chhattisgarh and Raipur
Dakshinayana Part Ten: Nagpur – The Orange City
Dakshinayana Part Eleven – Sevagram: Walking with Gandhi
Dakshinayana Part Twelve – Aurangabad: The City of Gates
Dakshinayana Part Thirteen – Ellora Memories
Dakshinayana Part Fourteen – U shaped Ajanta
Dakshinayana Part Fifteen – Pune: The Maratha heartland