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#13203681

16 January 2026

Marble Lake, also known as Durga Bera, Tarpania Lake, Blue Dam, or Patal Dam, is an artificial body of water located in the Ajodhya Hills of Purulia. It forms from the abandonment of an open-pit mine during quarrying activities for the Purulia Pumped Storage Project (PPSP) and other excavations in the region. Discovered during blasting for the region's hydroelectric project, the lake is surrounded by white marble-like rocky outcrops and features deep blue water. Recent geological research identifies these areas, along with their surroundings, as featuring ancient, cooled dykes—vertical sheets of solidified volcanic magma—and is a geologically rich region containing Proterozoic, Precambrian, and metamorphic rocks. Many tourists visit this risky area, especially in winter, but entry is prohibited during the monsoon season due to the risk of flash floods. This photo is taken in Ajodhya Hill, Purulia, West Bengal, India, on January 11, 2026.

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#13203682

16 January 2026

Marble Lake, also known as Durga Bera, Tarpania Lake, Blue Dam, or Patal Dam, is an artificial body of water located in Ajodhya Hills, Purulia, West Bengal, India. It forms from the abandonment of an open-pit mine during quarrying activities for the Purulia Pumped Storage Project (PPSP) and other excavations in the region. Discovered during blasting for the region's hydroelectric project, the lake is surrounded by white marble-like rocky outcrops and features deep blue water. Recent geological research identifies these areas, along with their surroundings, as featuring ancient, cooled dykes—vertical sheets of solidified volcanic magma—and is a geologically rich region containing Proterozoic, Precambrian, and metamorphic rocks. Many tourists visit this risky area, especially in winter, but entry is prohibited during the monsoon season due to the risk of flash floods. This photo is taken at Ajodhya Hill, Purulia, West Bengal, India, on January 11, 2026.

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#13203685

16 January 2026

Marble Lake, also known as Durga Bera, Tarpania Lake, Blue Dam, or Patal Dam, is an artificial body of water located in Ajodhya Hills, Purulia, West Bengal, India. It forms from the abandonment of an open-pit mine during quarrying activities for the Purulia Pumped Storage Project (PPSP) and other excavations in the region. Discovered during blasting for the region's hydroelectric project, the lake is surrounded by white marble-like rocky outcrops and features deep blue water. Recent geological research identifies these areas, along with their surroundings, as featuring ancient, cooled dykes—vertical sheets of solidified volcanic magma—and is a geologically rich region containing Proterozoic, Precambrian, and metamorphic rocks. Many tourists visit this risky area, especially in winter, but entry is prohibited during the monsoon season due to the risk of flash floods. This photo is taken at Ajodhya Hill, Purulia, West Bengal, India, on January 11, 2026.

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#13203688

16 January 2026

Marble Lake, also known as Durga Bera, Tarpania Lake, Blue Dam, or Patal Dam, is an artificial body of water located in Ajodhya Hills, Purulia, West Bengal, India. It forms from the abandonment of an open-pit mine during quarrying activities for the Purulia Pumped Storage Project (PPSP) and other excavations in the region. Discovered during blasting for the region's hydroelectric project, the lake is surrounded by white marble-like rocky outcrops and features deep blue water. Recent geological research identifies these areas, along with their surroundings, as featuring ancient, cooled dykes—vertical sheets of solidified volcanic magma—and is a geologically rich region containing Proterozoic, Precambrian, and metamorphic rocks. Many tourists visit this risky area, especially in winter, but entry is prohibited during the monsoon season due to the risk of flash floods. This photo is taken at Ajodhya Hill, Purulia, West Bengal, India, on January 11, 2026.

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#13203689

16 January 2026

Marble Lake, also known as Durga Bera, Tarpania Lake, Blue Dam, or Patal Dam, is an artificial body of water located in Ajodhya Hills, Purulia, West Bengal, India. It forms from the abandonment of an open-pit mine during quarrying activities for the Purulia Pumped Storage Project (PPSP) and other excavations in the region. Discovered during blasting for the region's hydroelectric project, the lake is surrounded by white marble-like rocky outcrops and features deep blue water. Recent geological research identifies these areas, along with their surroundings, as featuring ancient, cooled dykes—vertical sheets of solidified volcanic magma—and is a geologically rich region containing Proterozoic, Precambrian, and metamorphic rocks. Many tourists visit this risky area, especially in winter, but entry is prohibited during the monsoon season due to the risk of flash floods. This photo is taken at Ajodhya Hill, Purulia, West Bengal, India, on January 11, 2026.

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#13203594

16 January 2026

Dancers perform traditional Mech, Rabha, and Nepali dance as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurates and lays the foundation stone of the proposed Mahakal Mahatirtha temple in the Matigara area on the outskirts of Siliguri, India, on January 16, 2026.

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#13203597

16 January 2026

Dancers perform traditional Mech, Rabha, and Nepali dance as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurates and lays the foundation stone of the proposed Mahakal Mahatirtha temple in the Matigara area on the outskirts of Siliguri, India, on January 16, 2026.

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#13202845

16 January 2026

Workers create batik patterns using traditional canting tools at the Komar Batik Production House in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. Komar Batik opens its doors to local and international tourists to learn batik as part of cultural education while introducing the batik-making process firsthand. This activity is carried out as an effort to preserve batik, one of the archipelago's distinctive fabrics, which UNESCO designates as an Intangible Cultural Heritage on October 2, 2009.

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#13202846

16 January 2026

Workers create batik patterns using traditional canting tools at the Komar Batik Production House in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. Komar Batik opens its doors to local and international tourists to learn batik as part of cultural education while introducing the batik-making process firsthand. This activity is carried out as an effort to preserve batik, one of the archipelago's distinctive fabrics, which UNESCO designates as an Intangible Cultural Heritage on October 2, 2009.

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#13196053

14 January 2026

KRAKOW, POLAND – JANUARY 14: Thick ice blankets the Vistula River near the former Forum Hotel amid freezing winter conditions in Krakow, Poland, on January 14, 2026.

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#13189987

13 January 2026

Chairperson of the Nepali Communist Party (NCP), Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as Prachanda, Co-chairperson Madhav Kumar Nepal, both former prime ministers, and central committee members take their oath during a ceremony at the party's central office in Parisdanda, Kathmandu, Nepal. The NCP forms in November 2025 through the merger of more than ten communist factions, including the CPN (Maoist Centre) and CPN (Unified Socialist), with the oath-taking following the formal announcement of the party's leadership structure.

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#13189989

13 January 2026

Chairperson of the Nepali Communist Party (NCP), Pushpa Kamal Dahal, a former prime minister also known as Prachanda, and central committee members take their oath during a ceremony at the party's central office in Parisdanda, Kathmandu, Nepal. The NCP forms in November 2025 through the merger of more than ten communist factions, including Prachanda's CPN (Maoist Centre) and Madhav Kumar Nepal's CPN (Unified Socialist), with the oath-taking following the formal announcement of the party's leadership structure.

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#13189990

13 January 2026

Co-chairperson of the Nepali Communist Party (NCP), Madhav Kumar Nepal, a former prime minister, takes his oath during a ceremony at the party's central office in Parisdanda, Kathmandu, Nepal. The NCP forms in November 2025 through the merger of more than ten communist factions, including Madhav Nepal's CPN (Unified Socialist) and Pushpa Kamal Dahal's CPN (Maoist Centre), with the oath-taking following the formal announcement of the party's leadership structure.

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#13189991

13 January 2026

Chairperson of the Nepali Communist Party (NCP), Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as Prachanda, Co-chairperson Madhav Kumar Nepal, both former prime ministers, and central committee members take their oath during a ceremony at the party's central office in Parisdanda, Kathmandu, Nepal. The NCP forms in November 2025 through the merger of more than ten communist factions, including the CPN (Maoist Centre) and CPN (Unified Socialist), with the oath-taking following the formal announcement of the party's leadership structure.

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#13190001

13 January 2026

Chairperson of the Nepali Communist Party (NCP), Pushpa Kamal Dahal, a former prime minister also known as Prachanda, delivers a speech during the party's oath-taking ceremony at its central office in Parisdanda, Kathmandu, Nepal. In his address, he highlights the goals of the newly unified NCP, which forms in November 2025 through the merger of more than ten communist factions, including his CPN (Maoist Centre) and Madhav Kumar Nepal's CPN (Unified Socialist). The ceremony follows the formal announcement of the party's leadership structure.

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#13190002

13 January 2026

Chairperson of the Nepali Communist Party (NCP), Pushpa Kamal Dahal, a former prime minister also known as Prachanda, and central committee members take their oath during a ceremony at the party's central office in Parisdanda, Kathmandu, Nepal. The NCP forms in November 2025 through the merger of more than ten communist factions, including Prachanda's CPN (Maoist Centre) and Madhav Kumar Nepal's CPN (Unified Socialist), with the oath-taking following the formal announcement of the party's leadership structure.

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