August is a busy month the world over but especially in India.
This year in the lead up to our 80th Independence Day and 387th Madras Day (Founded: 22 Aug 1639). There are other natural and international landmarks to keep in mind which in turn shape the definition of Independence in the AI, information and internet age that is the 21st century.
Friendship
India celebrates the first Sunday of August as Friendship Day, while the UN observes it on July 30th, which this year was Earth Overshoot Day.
Friends they say are the family we choose and a good friend can make us better while a bad friend can ruin us. In geo-strategy and geo-politics that shape International Relations, friends matter. Be it Chanakya's Arthashastra, Machiavelli or Sun Tzu's Art of War, a nation's friends matter. In the interesting times we live in India's international influence, allies and influence are a key component of its development in 80 years of independence and millennia of civilizational centrality.
Under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) the progress of the SDGs is also dependent on cooperation between nations, institutions and individuals - SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals
Natural Resources that Need Protection
In August we observe International Marine Fish Day (Aug. 6th), Indigenous Peoples (August 9th) & World Lion Day (August 10, 2026) all in the first ten days of the month.
By supporting, empowering and protecting these initiatives and keeping in mind the significance year round, we can ensure that Life on Land (SDG 15) and Life Below Water (SDG 14) thrives among others.
Empowering Indigenous People ensures multiple SDG wins.
Ensuring that marine fish thrive requires that our oceans are healthy which again boosts multiple SDGs.
The Lion, like all wild cats, is an apex predator and healthy lion population are indicators of its thriving ecosystem. Protecting lions, increasing their habitat and prey by ensuring thriving, forests, grasslands and mangroves without human and industrial encroachment is a win-win for us all. As the Apex Predator, the lion thrives in a healthy ecosystem with minimal man-animal conflict and instead harnessing their presence to build local community stakeholdership in their success means growing sustainable tourism, and economic growth by creating new income streams. Thus ensuring sustainable communities living in areas with thriving forests and lions benefit from forest and predator health.
Thus the news that Asiatic Lions have been spotted in Gujarat's mangroves in Amreli district is cause for celebration as it is an indicator of the mangroves thriving.
Swadeshi & Swaraj: Handloom & Independence
National Handloom Day is observed on August 7th in India. To honor the Swadeshi Movement that launched in Calcutta on 7 August 1905, National Handloom Day is observed across India. Textiles, especially hand woven natural fabric are woven into the fabric of Indian society just as much as the Khadi is woven into the Indian Independence Movement.
Source: Press Information Bureau (PIB) of Government of India
The standard Indian Flag is made from Khadi fabric.
Thus the days observed in the first third of August echo what one values about India's Independence 80 years on. As we move towards the Viksit Bharat (Developed India) with Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self-Reliant India) at its core, we need to ensure that our development embraces concepts of Sustainable Development and the Circular Economy. Also in our quest to become a developed nation the easy and moral method is to ensure that our most vulnerable and marginalized populations are empowered and mainstreamed in the roadmap to development:
Reduced Inequalities, Climate Action and ensuring our air, water, soil and environment thrives so that life thrives are hallmarks and the gold standard of an Empowered and Independent, Model Developed Nation.
