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Ananya Bhattacharya

Ananya Bhattacharya

Editor, DailyO

ananya.bhattacharya@aajtak.com

Ananya Bhattacharya has covered news for nearly a decade, from sex trafficking in the tea gardens of Dooars to terrorist attacks in Assam, to the Bengal Assembly Elections. She works out of the India Today office in Noida. Her heart lies back in North Bengal. When not chasing a story, she is busy planning her next trip.

By Ananya Bhattacharya

How a revised Air India route helped AI 173 Delhi-San Francisco land on ground in Magadan

Till about four years ago, the Air India Delhi to San Francisco flight, AI 173, flew above the Pacific Ocean. Then the airline changed its route to fly over the North Pole because it meant reduced flying time and fuel costs.

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Urvashi Rautela and the curious case of the Cartier Crocodile neckpiece at Cannes

Urvashi Rautela has created a fresh row at Cannes 2023. At the centre of the controversy is a piece of one-of-a-kind luxury jewellery, the Cartier Crocodile necklace. The question is whether the neckpiece worn by Rautela is real or fake.

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On World Turtle Day, the story of a North Bengal town that blocks roads to save a turtle

No one can quite tell when a population of these black softshell turtles began calling a pond in Baneswar, a small town near Cooch Behar in North Bengal, their home. These turtles are lovingly called Mohan by the locals. And the locals have ensured their beloved Mohans are protected, come what may.

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Ziplining down rocky Ras Al Khaimah

I was flying down the world's longest zipline somewhere on top of the Jebel Jais mountain peak in Ras Al Khaimah, in the UAE. There were a lot of numbers to reckon with: 1,680 metre height; 2.831-kilometre zipline; 150-160 kmph speed.

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Chasing fireflies and Karnataka elections in Chikmagalur

To a North Indian ear, the word ‘Chikmagalur’ would seem like just another Kannada name. Of course, it is ‘just another Kannada name’, but like all towns in small-town India, the name has an interesting backstory.

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A night in Naples when Napoli played Frankfurt and German fans set the city centre on fire

Last afternoon, when we got to Naples, the fervour was tangible. There was a pulse in the air. It was raining quite heavily, and football fans were all perhaps praying to Maradona for the skies to clear up. There was a football match that no one wanted to miss.

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The Romantics who spoilt love forever for the Nineties Kids

It doesn't matter how many Akira Kurosawa or Stanley Kubrick films you spend your time watching, if there's Mehendi Lagake Rakhna playing outside the house as someone's baaraat goes by, you will still do a little jig. No Spielberg can take that away from us.

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Love Death Chatbots

Should we look to ChatGPT or a Bing bot for answers on the most elusive questions on love and death?

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Covid killed the skinny jeans. It is back stronger than before

The third year of the After-Covid era, the skinny is back with a vengeance. Forget the mom jeans and the boyfriend jeans and the in-betweens.

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I used Digi Yatra at Delhi airport Terminal 3 and it was a breeze

Can Digi Yatra help solve the problem of rush at the Delhi airport? My experience says it perhaps is the only way to navigate the chaos.

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Germany is all precision and punctuality. Till you board a Deutsche Bahn train

Germany, the country of precision engineering, crazy-good automobiles, and order and punctuality, is a superpower with a lot to be envied. But there are some things even all that super power cannot seem to fix.

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Two sheepdogs and an unlucky leopard: Postcard from Almora

Far from the flock of tourists and your usual touristy places lies The Kumaon, a sustainable resort in Kasar Devi, Uttarakhand.

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Violence follows Bengal election results, BJP leadership missing

The Trinamool Congress is back. The big BJP leaders have all left Bengal. The khela is on. The BJP groundworker has but nowhere to escape to.

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What will happen to rural Bengal when all big politicians leave?

The virus is now being taken to rural Bengal via helicopters and rally Raths.

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Meera vs Meera, in search of the real Meera: Book Review

With painstaking research and rich detailing, author Madhav Hada delves deep into the Meera that he knows, the Meera that we know, and the Meera that has mostly stayed buried deep in the recesses of history.

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One year since the last normal week

Coronavirus climbed the charts and got itself a name: Covid-19. It is '21. The virus, as we know it, isn't going anywhere. Life, as we know it, isn't returning to where it was.

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Do you still read Neruda in 2021? How?

Can you separate the art from the artist when the artist happens to have raped someone? Reading Pablo Neruda in 2021 feels like cheating. A betrayal.

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Leave The World Behind, in a post-Covid world: Book Review

Leave The World Behind by Rumaan Alam is almost the chronicle of a disaster foretold. Except, in his book, we never really know what the disaster is.

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Goodbye 2020: The year of loss, WFH backaches, and everything abnormal

2020 made a sticky mess out of all our dreams, achievements, plans, hopes and thoughts for a future.

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Loss, the art of creating art out of loss: Book Review

Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi's new book Loss burrows into your very being.

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Daily Recco, November 17: Together is Better, even in a socially distanced year

Together is Better by Simon Sinek is just the antidote to 2020 you need.

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Daily Recco, November 16: A life-changing trip with Apu

For most of the world beyond Bengal and Bengalis, Soumitra Chatterjee was synonymous with Apu, the role he played in Apu'r Sansar (The World of Apu), the Satyajit Ray masterpiece.

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Daily Recco, November 13: Leftover Apple Cinnamon Smoothie for a lazy breakfast

Our Apple Cinnamon Smoothie is a perfect ode to your laziness and the perfect end to those leftover apples.

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You don't have to like Kamala Harris. But you can't not acknowledge her

For women across the world, Kamala Harris's win is cathartic. Her win is another smirk wiped off, another taunt silenced.

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Daily Recco, October 28: Love and other ghosts in The Haunting of Bly Manor

If lost love is what haunts you, you will find The Haunting of Bly Manor just the perfectly splendid series to binge on.

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Hilsa is a grossly overrated and overpriced fish. Forget what Bengalis say

Yes, Hilsa tastes good. But have you seen the sheer amount of tiny little bones that this treacherous fish comes with?

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Gayatri Devi and Jai Singh to Padmanabh: What lies beneath the glamour of Jaipur

John Zubrzycki's fascinating inside story of India's most glamorous royal family, The House of Jaipur, breaks quite a few of the myths that anyone who has read about Gayatri Devi, came to believe in.

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Justice For Sushant died when a TV studio turned Supreme Court

The stinging reality about justice is that Sushant Singh Rajput will never get any. His fine legacy has been soiled beyond recognition.

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Monsoon in the foothills: Non-stop rain and Khichuri-Ilish Bhaja

Rain is the only constant in my part of the country. That's how it is with the foothills.

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Lockdown Love: French Hearts

Nearly three years had passed by and a virus had shut everyone in. The world was locked. The fragrance of bakeries were a thing of the past.

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