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April 2004 British gesture to clean the Ganges Varanasi: Varanasi received a helping hand from an unexpected source to save its most prized possession - the river Ganges. Revered as mother Goddess, the Hindus believe that the river cleanses people of their sins. But in recent years a massive influx of human and industrial pollution has turned its waters into a liquid hell. British High Commissioner Michael Arthur on Friday visited the banks of the holy river to launch a cleanliness drive, funded by his country. British government has released 1.3 million rupees to "Sankat Mochan", a voluntary organisation, to initiate the Herculian task of cleaning the river banks, where the Hindus take their dips to wash off their sins. "The British government is working with an NGO Sankat Mochan. The foundation, as we have given some money to them to help on a very exciting project to clean out some of the ghats, which are of such importance for the Hindu community across the world including in Britain. So it's an environmental programme, which we are supporting to clean up the ghats. It's a pilot project," Arthur told reporters. The activists of the voluntary organisations have already launched the programme, starting with eight ghats of the river. People in the area feel that it needs much more time and efforts to complete the task. "It's not adequate. There are so many ghats here, which have not been cleaned for so long. These ghats are very dirty. It will take time and efforts to clean them," Valsala Brahmachari, a Hindu seer said.
Though numerous action plans are in place, little has changed for the
river. Though a Ganga Action Plan was set up by the Centre in 1985 to
cleanse the river, much of the action remains on paper. The Ganges runs
its course of over 2500 kilometers from Gangotri in the Himalayas to
Ganga Sagar in the Bay of Bengal through 29 cities with population of
over 100,000 each. In 1996, the Supreme Court had banned the discharge
of effluents from the various tanary factories located on its banks
in Kanpur. With one billion tonnes of waste being dumped into it everyday,
the Ganges remains the most polluted river in the world. Badrinath temple reopens (Go to Top) Badrinath: One of India's popular temples at Badrinath in the Himalayas re-opened for public on Tuesday. The temple, situated in the Garhwal region of Uttaranchal, remains closed for nearly six months from November due to heavy snow in the region. Naresh, a pilgrim, said that he has been visiting the shrine for the past eight years. "We have been coming here for the past eight years and till the time the road is open I come here," he said. This is one of the four holiest Hindu shrines in the area. The other three are Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. All the four are in the Garhwal region of Uttaranchal. Located on the banks of River Alaknanda, this ancient temple dedicated to Lord Badri or Lord Vishnu is visited by thousands of pilgrims every year. The pilgrims cannot go near the idols inside the temple and have to pay their respects from a distance. The idol of Lord Badri is made of shining black stone. Heavy security arrangements are made even during the period when the temple remains closed. Besides Indian Army, personnel from the paramilitary Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) are also posted there to keep a strict guard around the shrine. The temple at Badrinath is an ancient monument which was renovated later. Earlier, pilgrims had to take a long walk to reach there but now roads have been constructed to make the journey comfortable. April 27, 2004 Mumbai hosts month-long mango festival (Go to Top) Mumbai: Around 250 farmers from different parts of the country are participating in a mango festival in Mumbai of Bombay. The month-long festival gives a rare chance for the mango lovers to relish the yummy mango galore and the farmers a golden oppurtunity to sell their products directly. The event is being organised by Konkan Prathisthan Sanstha, an organisation working for the welfare of the farmers in Konkan region, to bring the farmers in direct contact with the consumers rather than the middlemen. The organisers have high expectations about the fair. "Last year around 50,000 people visited the mango festival stalls and the business done was above four million rupees. This year we expect at least one million people to visit the festival and there would be turnover of 50-60 million rupees only from the sale of Alphonso mangoes. The farmers- around 250 of them- who have come here for the fair, will be spared of tax burden," Sanjay Yadav, an organiser said. Other than the premium variety of Alphonso mangoes, commercial varieties like Vengurla, Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri and Raigad are on display. The cost of mangoes, which varies due to colour, taste and flavour, ranges between two to six dollars per dozen. Mango farmers who have come all the way from far away places, are happy that they can sell their produce directly to the customers. "Here we can sell more mangoes at a reasonable price and earn good money without the middlemen," Prashant Bhogte, a farmer said. The mango farmers in the villages, who do not have access to big urban markets, sell their produce through middlemen, who take out a large share of the profit in the business. State governments have also been organising such fairs to support the farmers.
India's mango industry is facing a crisis as the yield has been low
due to erratic rainfall and prices of even common varieties have gone
up. India, the biggest producer of the mango, contributes 59 percent
of world's total production. Mangoes are grown in an area of 2.5 million
hectares of land in India. Out of the 1,100 varieties of mangoes, about
1,000 are grown in India among which Kesar, Totapari, Neelam and Dombaia
are very popular. India exports about 30,000 tonnes of mangoes every
year to nearly 40 countries including Britain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
and Canada. But India's share in the world mango market is less than
15 per cent. Mangoes account for around 39 per cent of the total fruit
exports from India. The United Kingdom is India's largest European market.
The major mango growing states in India are Uttar Pradesh in the north,
Bihar, Orissa and Assam in the east, Maharashtra in the west and Andhra
Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in the south. Uttaranchal traders to strike work on Friday (Go to Top) Haridwar:
The trading community of Uttaranchal today announced that it would
observe a complete shutdown on Friday in protest against the police
atrocities committed against traders in Haridwar on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Even as the holy town remained under curfew for the second consecutive
day following clashes between the police and residents, the traders'
association called for a statewide shutdown to protest against the violence.
The clashes that broke out on Tuesday night resulted in one person being
killed and several others being injured. Meanwhile Uttaranchal Chief
Minister N D Tiwari has ordered a judicial probe by a sitting High Court
judge into the incident. The report is likely to be submitted within
a month. Simultaneously, three police constables -- Anuj Kumar, Ambarish
Kumar and Ram Kumar have been suspended for Tuesday's eve-teasing of
a businessman's wife. However, the Chief Minister refused to take action
against other administration and police officials, saying the judicial
inquiry would look into all aspects relating to the violence. Tiwari
has also announced a compensation of Rs.2.5 lakh to the next of the
kin of Kali, the person who was killed in police firing and Rs.50, 000
for all those who were injured, including journalists, in the violence. Lakhs take dip at Ujjain's Simhastha Mahakumbh (Go to Top) Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh): Over 10 lakh devotees took a holy dip in river Kshipra today on the occasion of the second "Shahi Snan" or royal bath of the ongoing Simhastha Mahakumbh mela. District officials said that Thursday morning's bath and ablutions were conducted smoothly and peacefully. Arriving in royal processions or peshwai, garlanded sadhus smeared in ash thronged the river's banks, dancing to the rhythm of drum beats and chanting slogans like Har Har Mahadev. Wielding spears, swords and sticks in a show of martial prowess, they walked through the congested streets of the Mahakal Mandir to the ghats as people showered flowers on them from their roof-tops. The
Ram Ghat and the Datt Akhada Ghat were the two focal points of the royal
bath. Others congregated at the other ghats spread over a three-km-long
radius. Sadhus from the 13 akhadas belonging to the Vaishnav and Shaiva
sects arrived on horse-backs, elephants, tempos and improvised jeeps
with their mahants on top, as some 15,000 police and security personnel
ensured smooth passage for the procession. The Shaiva Akhadas, Juna,
Niranjini, Mahanirvani and Atal, took the holy dip in the Datta Akhada
Ghat. Living up to their image of wild enthusiasm, the naked naga sadhus
of the Shaiva sect frolicked in the water, shouting mantras and shlokas.
Even some Naga Sanyasins from Nepal took a dip. They were followed by
the Vaishnav akhadas including Nirvani, Digambar and Nirmohi, who took
the holy dip on the Ram Ghat, on the other side of the river. The holy
dip of the sadhus, which started at 6 am, went go on till afternoon.
Before the sants took to the river, the ghats were opened to common
pilgrims at midnight. Security was stepped up in view of Wednesday's
scuffle between the police and the sadhus of Chatur Sampraday Virakth
Vaishnav Bairagi Khalsa Parishad and the Parishad's threat to take the
holy dip in spite of a ban on them. Taj Mahal replica (Go to Top) Mumbai: The world-famous architectural marvel, the Taj Mahal, has recently acquired another address, that of India's western metropolis Bombay. An exact replica of the Taj, though still undergoing some final touches, is currently on display at Somaiya Medical College grounds in the city and is attracting hordes of admiring onlookers. Built with thermocol and plaster of paris, the replica of the 17th century monument, a 20 percent scaled down version of its original, was displayed as part of a consumer exhibition. Apart from its size, the imitation resembles the original Taj Mahal, in all other aspects right down to the carvings, the Arabic inscriptions, the fountains and the Agra Suri trees. The 25 million rupees faux Taj Mahal made its debut in Bangalore last year as part of a similar fair. The Taj has been recreated from a book of photographs taken by Jean Louis Nou. Art director Anand Shinde said that he started the mammoth project in order to showcase the piece of beauty to wider audiences. "Everybody cannot afford to travel all the way to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, so I have brought the Taj here, so that people here can see what it looks like," said Shinde. People who had come to watch the architectural wonder said that the replica was as beautiful as the original. "It looks as though Agra has come to Bombay. He has made it very well. The way Shahjahan had cut the hands of his workers I belive his hands should also be chopped, it is so real," said Jehangir, an onlooker. "The main attraction was Taj Mahal and I wanted to see how it is being made and I was attracted to the concept because the earlier exhibitions were good," said Dhwani Mehta, another onlooker. More
than 400 workers worked for 40 days to accomplish the task. The consumer
fair which will go on till May 16 has an entry fee of Rs.50. And for
those who have never seen the Taj by moonlight, this one will glow too,
with the help of artificial lights. Tiger terror near Corbett Park (Go to Top) Dehradun: Recent killings by a man-eater tiger have triggered panic among the people living on the outskirts of the Jim Corbett National Park in Uttaranchal. So far, the tiger has killed two persons, and mauled several buffaloes and goats. Residents are worried that the man-eater might claim still more lives if the authorities do not take immediate steps to curb the menace. "We have young kids and they play out here, we are very scared to live out here near the jungles. Either the government provides us with some alternative or kill the tiger who is mauling our people," said Revati Devi, resident of a village in the vicinity of the Jim Corbett park. Forest officials said that besides declaring the tiger "man-eater", steps were on to catch the tiger.
"We have declared the tiger as man-eater. We would not have done so
had it not eaten the person. Our effort is that it should not target
more villagers, so we will try to catch him first and if there is no
alternative left then we will kill the tiger. Our forest officers have
been deployed for the task," said S.S. Rasaily, Deputy Forest Officer
of the Jim Corbett National Park. The Corbett National Park, which was
established on August 8, 1936, is spread over an area of 1,319 square
km and houses 137 tigers. India, with nearly 3,500 tigers, has the world's
largest tiger population. The Sunderbans ecosystem, divided between
India and Bangladesh, is home to the largest number of tigers in a single
region anywhere in the world. Mango lovers in Goa rue rising prices (Go to Top) Panji: As temperature soars, people will have little respite from scorching heat this summer, initial reports from farm markets indicate. If there is anything good about summer, it is the variety of juicy fruits that it brings along and the mango, often called the "king among fruits" stands tall among the delicacies. As the first harvest of mangoes starts arriving in western India, prices were firm in markets in Goa. The first lot of mangoes to hit markets in India are from southern and western regions where the fruit ripens faster due to early summer and practically no winters. But this season, the yield has been low due to erratic rainfall and the prices of even the common varieties are high. "This time the prices of mangoes are high due to less rainfall, leading to lower production. The quality is also not that high. There are several varieties of mangoes available like Malkurad, Totapuri, Alphonso and they are priced at 100-1,800. But this time the prices are double," said Rahim Khan, a mango trader. "Last year it was very cheap, this year the rate is a bit high," said Deepak, a buyer. Goa being a very small area, the whole horticulture yield is itself consumed by the state. In Goa the season for mango starts from April and continues till June last. Though
the country experienced the best monsoon rains in more than a decade,
last year, the distribution is not even across the vast expanse. Mango
lovers are expecting prices to drop as crops from other markets start
arriving. India is the world's biggest mango producer contributing 59
percent of total production but its share in the world mango market
is less than 15 percent. It exports about 30,000 tonnes of mangoes every
year to nearly 40 countries, including Britain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
and Canada. |
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