3rd Goa Kite festival to be held from 17 January 2017

Goa will hold the 3rd Kite festival in Miramar beach from January 17 to 18. The festival is set to paint the skies with vibrant hues as kites of various shapes and sizes take to the skies over the beach. It will have participants from 12 countries apart from India.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 12 January 2017.

Goa is keen to showcase its positives to international fliers and will play the perfect host so that the participants come back for another successful edition next year.
The highlight of this year will be stunt kites. There will also be night kite flyers who will begin their flights from 6pm onwards. And, in order to encourage little ones in the practice of kite-flying, there will be nearly 2,000 kites distributed for free among school children who attend the festival.
A total of 21 Indian teams and 21 international kite-flyers from Canada, Estonia, Germany, Malaysia, UK, Russia, Brazil, Australia, France, Italy, Netherlands and South Africa will participate.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

30th International kite festival in Gujarat, Telangana, Delhi and Karnataka

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Throats of two kids slashed in Delhi by glass-coated kite thread

It was tragedy for the parents when the throats of their kids were slashed by glass-coated kite threads - the kids were looking out of the sun roof of their vehicles when the tragedies struck. Both the incidents happened in Delhi.
One of the kids, a three-year-old girl, died in her mother's lap before they could reach the hospital. The other, a four-year-old boy, died in hospital.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 17 August 2016.

Police have registered a case against an unidentified individual, but, in the opinion of the authorities, it is very difficult to establish blame. In recent years, cheap synthetic and nylon kite strings from China have flooded Indian markets and this imported variety of product, coated with powdered glass, makes it both extremely sharp and strong.
The Delhi government plans to impose a ban on its sale and use and those who violate the ban could face up to five years in jail and also a fine.
In addition, police have raided shops that sell the string in the northeastern city of Rampur following the death of a 23-year-old man - he died when his throat was sliced as he was riding his motorcycle.
Animal rights activists have also expressed concern and have called for a ban on the flying of kites after a number of birds were either killed or injured.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


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Karnataka imposes ban on Chinese manja used for kite flying

The government of Karnataka has imposed a total ban on Chinese dor or manja and other synthetic (non-biodegradable) threads that are coated with glass powder and other harmful substances and used to fly kites. This has been done keeping the safety concerns of birds and save the feathered friends from getting injured by the razor-sharp threads.
As per a study carried out in 2015 on the effect of Chinese manja on birds in Bangalore it has been revealed that as many as 268 birds got entangled in Chinese manja in a span of four years. The effect is more severe on larger birds like the black kites, milvus migrans, and crows.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 21 July 2016.

The Chinese manja is a special type of thread made of nylon and is coated with finely crushed glass and poses grave danger to birds like vultures, kites, owls and crows. These get entangled in the thread and have difficulty in freeing themselves. As a result, these trapped birds suffer injuries and, at times die on the treetops or on building rooftops.
Not only birds, but the manja can be dangerous for other animals and humans too and for activists have been batting for a ban on its use. It has taken them six-long years to get this order. The ban circular, dated July 14, is very clear - no person, including shopkeeper, vendor, wholesaler, retailer, trader, hawker or salesperson shall procure, stock, sell and use Chinese manja.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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