Elysium or the Elysian Fields is a conception of the afterlife that developed over time and was maintained by some Greek religious and philosophical sects and cults. Separate from the realm of Hades, admission was reserved for mortals related to the gods and other heroes, it expanded to include those chosen by the gods, the righteous, the heroic, where they would remain after death, to live a blessed and happy life, indulging in whatever employment they had enjoyed in life. The Elysian Fields were, according to Homer, located on the western edge of the Earth by the stream of Okeanos. In the time of the Greek poet Hesiod, Elysium would be known as the Fortunate Isles or the Isles of the Blessed, located in the western ocean at the end of the earth; the Isles of the Blessed would be reduced to a single island by the Theban poet Pindar, describing it as having shady parks, with residents indulging in athletic and musical pastimes. The ruler of Elysium varies from author to author: Pindar and Hesiod name Cronus as the ruler, while the poet Homer in the Odyssey describes fair-haired Rhadamanthus dwelling there.

In Homer's Odyssey, Elysium is described as a paradise: to the Elysian plain...where life is easiest for men. No snow is there, nor heavy storm, nor rain, but does Ocean send up blasts of the shrill-blowing West Wind that they may give cooling to men. According to Eustathius of Thessalonica the word "Elysium" derives from ἀλυουσας or from ἀλύτως, synonymous of ἀφθάρτως, referring to souls' life in this place. Another suggestion is from ελυθ-, ἔρχομαι; the Greek poet Hesiod refers to the Isles of the Blessed in his didactic poem Days. In his book Greek Religion, Walter Burkert notes the connection with the motif of far-off Dilmun: "Thus Achilles is transported to the White Isle and becomes the Ruler of the Black Sea, Diomedes becomes the divine lord of an Adriatic island", and they live untouched by sorrow in the islands of the blessed along the shore of deep-swirling Ocean, happy heroes for whom the grain-giving earth bears honey-sweet fruit flourishing thrice a year, far from the deathless gods, Cronos rules over them Pindar's Odes describes the reward waiting for those living a righteous life: The good receive a life free from toil, not scraping with the strength of their arms the earth, nor the water of the sea, for the sake of a poor sustenance.

But in the presence of the honored gods, those who gladly kept their oaths enjoy a life without tears, while the others undergo a toil, unbearable to look at. Those who have persevered three times, on either side, to keep their souls free from all wrongdoing, follow Zeus' road to the end, to the tower of Cronus, where ocean breezes blow around the island of the blessed, flowers of gold are blazing, some from splendid trees on land, while water nurtures others. With these wreaths and garlands of flowers they entwine their hands according to the righteous counsels of Rhadamanthys, whom the great father, the husband of Rhea whose throne is above all others, keeps close beside him as his partner In Virgil's Aeneid, like Heracles and Odysseus before him, travels to the underworld. Virgil describes those who will travel to Elysium, those who will travel to Tartarus: Night speeds by, And we, lose it in lamenting. Here comes the place where cleaves our way in twain. Thy road, the right, toward Pluto's dwelling goes.

But the left Speeds sinful souls to doom, is their path To Tartarus th' accurst. Virgil goes on to describe an encounter in Elysium between Aeneas and his father Anchises. Virgil's Elysium knows perpetual spring and shady groves, with its own sun and lit by its own stars: solemque suum, sua sidera norunt. In no fix'd place the happy souls reside. In groves we live, lie on mossy beds, By crystal streams, that murmur thro' the meads: But pass yon easy hill, thence descend; this said, he led them up the mountain's brow, And shews them all the shining fields below. They wind the hill, thro' the blissful meadows go. In the Greek historian Plutarch's Life of Sertorius, Elysium is described as: These are two in number, separated by a narrow strait, they enjoy moderate rains at long intervals, winds which for the most part are soft and precipitate dews, so that the islands not only have a rich soil, excellent for plowing and planting, but produce a natural fruit, plentiful and wholesome enough to feed, without toil or trouble, a leisured folk.

Moreover, an air, salubrious, owing to the climate and the moderate changes in the seasons, prevails on the islands. For the north and east winds which blow out from our part of the world plunge into fathomless space, owing to the distance, dissipate themselves and lose their power before they reach the islands; therefore a firm belief has made its way to the Barbarians, that here is the Elysian Field and the abode of the blessed, not true, of which Homer sang. Diodorus, in his first book, suggested that the Elysian fields which were much celebrated in ancient Greek poetry, corresponded to the beautiful plains in the neighborhood of Memphis which contained the tombs of that capital city of Egypt, he further intimated that the Greek prophet Orpheus composed his fables about the afterlife when he traveled to Egypt and saw the customs of the Egyptians rega

The giant sable antelope known in Portuguese as the palanca-negra-gigante, is a large, rare subspecies of sable antelope native and endemic to the region between the Cuango and Luando Rivers in Angola. There was a great degree of uncertainty regarding the number of animals that survived during the Angolan Civil War. In January 2004, a group from the Centro de Estudos e Investigação Científica of the Catholic University of Angola, led by Dr. Pedro vaz Pinto, was able to obtain photographic evidence of one of the remaining herds from a series of trap cameras installed in the Cangandala National Park, south of Malanje; the giant sable antelope is the national symbol of Angola, is held in a great regard by its people. This was one of the reasons the animals survived the long civil war. In African mythology, just like other antelopes, they symbolize vivacity, velocity and visual sharpness; the giant sable antelope is evaluated as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Both sexes have horns.

Males and females are similar in appearance until they reach three years of age, when the males become darker and develop majestic horns. The male antelope weighs an average of 238 kg with a height of 116–142 cm. Females weigh 220 kg and are shorter than males; the horns are massive and more curved in males, reaching lengths of 81–165 cm, while females' horns are only 61–102 cm in length. Coloration in bulls is black, while females and young are chestnut, except in southern populations, where females turn brown-black. Most sable antelopes have white "eyebrows", their rostra are sectioned into cheek stripes, their bellies and rump patches are white. Young under two months old are light brown and have slight markings. Like all antelopes, giant sables are shy by nature, but they can be aggressive; the males can be dangerous when hurt, attacked, or approached. In fights, males avoid some serious injuries by kneeling down on their front legs, engage in horn-wrestling fights. Fatalities from these fights are rare.

Juveniles are hunted by leopards and hyenas, while adults are only threatened by lions and crocodiles. When startled, the antelope run for only a short distance before slowing and looking back. Mitochondrial DNA evidence from a specimen preserved in the Museu da Ciência da Universidade de Coimbra before the Angolan Civil War, suggest that the giant sable is monophyletic within the sable antelope group, that it split from other subspecies around 170 thousand years ago; the giant sable antelope lives in forests near water, where leaves and tree sprouts are always juicy and abundant. It is an endangered species. Sable antelopes are specialized browsers feeding on foliage and herbs those growing on termite mounds. One of the reasons for the decline in antelope numbers could be the animals' specific feeding patterns, they will feed on tree leaves, which make up to 90% of their diets, at heights of 40–140 mm from the ground, taking only the leaf. The giant sable antelope is a national symbol of Angola and is portrayed on numerous stamps and passports of the nation.

The Angola national football team is fondly known as the Palancas Negras in honor of the antelope. Walker, John Frederick. A Certain Curve of Horn: The Hundred-Year Quest for the Giant Sable Antelope of Angola. Atlantic Monthly Press. 2002. Cabral, C. & Verissimo, L. - The Ungulate Fauna of Angola, systematic list, distribution maps, database report. Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical, Estudos Ensaios e Documentos, 163, Lisboa Mellon, James African Hunter Safari Bress ANGOLA: Rare sable antelope survives the war Kissama National Park: The Giant Sable of Angola BBC News: Search on for Giant Antelope Angola Press: Government Partners Sign Memorandum on Sable Antelope Protection Dr. Pedro Vaz Pinto's blog on attempts to revive the giant sable herd in Angola's Cangandala National Park

Kalna subdivision is an administrative subdivision of the Purba Bardhaman district in the state of West Bengal, India. Kalna subdivision is spread across the Bhagirathi basin, with its western part intruding into the Bardhaman plain, the central plain area of the district. Purba Bardhaman district is divided into the following administrative subdivisions: Kalna subdivision has 4 police stations, 5 community development blocks, 5 panchayat samitis, 47 gram panchayats, 543 mouzas, 525 inhabited villages, 1 municipality and 9 census towns; the single municipality is at Kalna. The census towns are: Srirampur, Jaluidanga, Nasratpur, Piarinagar, Uttar Goara and Shashpur; the subdivision has its headquarters at Kalna. As per the 2011 Census of India data Kalna subdivision, after bifurcation of Bardhaman district in 2017, had a total population of 1,087,732. There were 531,159 females. Population below 6 years was 113,711; as per the 2011 census data the total number of literates in Kalna subdivision, after bifurcation of Bardhaman district in 2017, was 732,111 out of which males numbered 402,516 and females numbered 329,595.

See – List of West Bengal districts ranked by literacy rate In the 2011 census Hindus numbered 766,230 and formed 70.44% of the population in Kalna subdivision. Muslims formed 28.17 % of the population. Christians formed 0.17 % of the population. Others formed 1.22 % of the population. Police stations in Kalna subdivision have the following features and jurisdiction: Community development blocks in Kalna subdivision are: The subdivision contains 47 gram panchayats under 5 community development blocks: Kalna I block consists of nine gram panchayats, viz. Atgharia Simlan, Krishnadevpur, Hatkalna, Begpur and Sultanpur. Kalna II block consists of eight gram panchayats, viz. Akalpaus, Baradhamas, Anukhal, Baidyapur and Satgachhi. Manteswar block consists of 13 gram panchayats, viz. Baghson, Monteswar, Vagra Mulgram, Majhergram, Denur, Mamudpur–I, Jamna, Mamudpur–II and Shushunia. Purbasthali I block consists of seven gram panchayats, viz. Bogpur, Nasratpur, Dogachhia and Samudragarh. Purbasthali II block consists of ten gram panchayats, viz. Jhaudanga, Nimdaha, Kalekhantala–I, Patuli, Kalekhantala–II, Muksimpara and Pilla.

In the erstwhile Bardhaman district agriculture was the pre-dominant economic activity and the main source of livelihood for the rural people. The soil and climate favours the production of food grains. Cash crops are grown. Irrigation facilities had contributed in a major way towards higher agricultural productivity. Amongst the districts of West Bengal, Bardhaman district had maximum irrigated land under cultivation. Given below is an overview of the agricultural production for Bardhaman Sadar North subdivision, other subdivisions and the Purba Bardhaman district, after bifurcation of the erstwhile Bardhaman district, with data for the year 2013-14. Given in the table below is a comprehensive picture of the education scenario in Purba Bardhaman district, after bifurcation of Bardhaman district in 2017, with data for the year 2013-14: Note: Primary schools include junior basic schools. Special and non-formal education centres include sishu siksha kendras, madhyamik siksha kendras, centres of Rabindra mukta vidyalaya, recognised Sanskrit tols, institutions for the blind and other handicapped persons, Anganwadi centres, reformatory schools etc.

The following institutions are located in Kalna subdivision: Kalna College was established at Kalna in 1943. Purbasthali College was established at Parulia in 2009. Dr. Gourmohan Roy College was established at Monteswar in 1986. Badla Vivekananda B. Ed. College was established at Badla in 2015; the table below presents an overview of the medical facilities available and patients treated in the hospitals, health centres and sub-centres in 2014 in Purba Bardhaman district, after bifurcation of the erstwhile Bardhaman district in 2017, with data for the year 2013-14. Medical facilities available in Kalna subdivision are as follows:Hospitals: Kalna Subdivisional Hospital, Kalna, 200 beds Indian Red Cross Society, Kalna, 8 bedsRural Hospitals: Srirampur Rural Hospital, Purbasthali I CD block, Srirampur, PO Vidyanagar, 30 beds Purbasthali Rural Hospital, Purbasthali II CD block, Purbasthali, 30 beds Atgharia Rural Hospital, Kalna I CD block, Atgharia, 30 beds Monteswar Rural Hospital, Manteswar CD block, Monteswar, 30 bedsBlock Primary Health Centre: Badla BPHC, Kalna II, Badla, PO Chagram, 15 bedsPrimary Health Centres: Kalna I: Baghnapara, Sultanpur Kalna II: Akalpoush, Angarson, PO Pindra, Tehatta Manteswar: Dhanyakherur, PO Majhergram, Moinampur, PO Katsihi, Putsuri Purbasthali I: Dogachhia, PO Rai Dogachhia, Nowapara Purbasthali II: Kub