Excelsior... Nation

Gujarat forays into
organic farming

GANDHINAGAR, Oct 15: The Directorate of Agriculture in Gujarat has identified nearly 200 farmers in five districts in the Eastern tribal belt to start ......more

IAF band holds its
first ever concert for
Delhi audience

NEW DELHI, Oct 15: Building on the common thread of discipline and harmony that exists between music and the life of the armed forces, the ....more

BJP-SS bid to make
‘Vande Mataram’
compulsory in civic schools

MUMBAI, Oct 15: The BJP-Shiv Sena combine is making a renewed bid to make singing of ‘Vande Mataram’ compulsory in civic schools in Mumbai. .....more

Villagers recover
twelve bodies

RANCHI, Oct 14: Villagers carrying out rescue operations have so far recovered 12 bodies, including those of three ....more

Female condoms, microbicides to check HIV

NEW DELHI, Oct 15: Female condoms and microbicides are two women-focused HIV prevention options which can play a crucial role in . . .......more

President exhorts
students to eschew
violence

ITANAGAR, Oct 15: President A P J Abdul Kalam today exhorted the youth to eschew hatred and violence and work hard to double the country’s GDP and make it prosperous. . ........more

Threat to health, environment in Kanpur from toxic metals

KANPUR, Oct 15: High content of toxic heavy metals like chromium, cadmium, arsenic and mercury in tannery effluents ....more

Karnataka Govt is
in touch with Mahadevaswamy: Kharge

BANGALORE, Oct 15: Karnataka Government today said it is in touch with local JD(U) leader .....more

Gujarat forays into organic farming

GANDHINAGAR, Oct 15: The Directorate of Agriculture in Gujarat has identified nearly 200 farmers in five districts in the Eastern tribal belt to start organic farming with the help of Organic Farmers’ Groups (OFGs).

With the rising global demand for organic crops the authorities envisage premium price for such crops in near future, says to an official release.

For instance, ‘dry wheat’ grown in the Bhal region for ages, was still considered to be a status symbol. It fetches a high price and has huge demand abroad, especially with non-resident Gujaratis.

However, in the absence of any certification system a lot of other varieties of wheat were being passed off as ‘dry wheat’.

Premium quality wheat is grown through organic means in parts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh also, the release said.

While the State’s Eastern tribal belt, from Dahod to Vansda, was endowed with ideal soil and climatic conditions for organic farming, tribals too have been traditionally using non-synthetic inputs, without perhaps realising the benefits or scientific explanation of the word ‘organic farming’.

In a way, organic farming is opposed to genetic engineering. In organic farming, the use of synthetic fertilisers, genetically engineered seeds, trans-genetic plants or plant materials is ‘strictly prohibited’, and so also the use of synthetic herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, genetically engineered organism or product, the release added. Since organic farming involves ‘process’ certification and not ‘product’ certification, the role of certification agencies was most crucial and therefore had to be an impartial or non-government agency, the release said.

The time between the start of organic management and certification of crops, known as conversion period, varies between one and three years, depending upon the current usage of chemical and pesticides and past use of land.

These parameters were determined by certification agencies.

Internationally, accreditation was provided by such agencies like International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movement (IFOAM) and Codex Alimentarius Commission, a joint FAO/WHO body.

In India, there were at present six accreditation agencies, approved by the Union Ministry of Commerce (MoC). They are Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), Coffee Board, Spices Board, Tea Board, Coconut Development Board and Cocoa and Cashewnut Board.

The accreditation of a certification agency was mandatory, there being four such agencies accredited by APEDA, namely Institute of Marketocology and Skal India (both at Bangalore), SGS India Pvt. Ltd at Gurgaon and Ecocert International at Osterode in Germany.

A certification agency may appoint ‘inspection agents’, who in turn may get samples of soil, water, organic inputs, get them tested in their own or recognised laboratories and issue necessary certificates to the farmers after ensuring strict compliance of National Standards of Organic Farming (NSOF).

These standards, as prescribed by MoC, is valid for both domestic and export market, the release said. (UNI)

IAF band holds its first ever concert for Delhi audience

NEW DELHI, Oct 15: Building on the common thread of discipline and harmony that exists between music and the life of the armed forces, the Indian Air Force (IAF) band wove magic for the capital’s audience mesmerising them with their performance.

Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy, while introducing the band, said the iaf has plenty of machines, most of them modern and excellent, but what was crucial for it was the "collective strength of people behind us."

He likened this collective strength to the "orchestra" such as the air force band, which he said signified harmony, a unique blend of innovations and old tunes.

Sprining a pleasant surprise, the band which one would associate only with marshal tunes, played such compositions as pieces from Mozart’s famous Orchestra "marriage of figaro," with its highly emotional expressions, in its first concert in the capital yesterday.

There was Nostalgia writ large on the faces of the audience when the 58-year old band played "do re me," "these are a few of my favourite things," "what do you call a problem like maria" among other pieces from the 1960s classic movie and stage feature "sound of music."

One was reminded of Bollywood showman Raj Kapoor’s movies when it played the Romanian Waltz "Fanau Wellen," which was the theme music of many of R K Productions.

Among other tunes the band played were the Hungarian folk dance tune in gypsy style, made popular by Charlie Chaplin’s great dictator, a Persian tune and some tunes like "fame and glory" composed by IAF personnel themselves.

Earlier, the band had performed in Bangalore during the Air Force Mahotsav. It now plans to perform in many other cities.

The 60-piece band consists of bandsmen from across the country who work with "the harmony, the team spirit and a single minded devotion to touch the sky with glory," the Chief of Air Staff said.

Defence Minister George Fernandes was the chief guest on the occasion. (UNI)

BJP-SS bid to make ‘Vande Mataram’ compulsory in civic schools

MUMBAI, Oct 15: The BJP-Shiv Sena combine is making a renewed bid to make singing of ‘Vande Mataram’ compulsory in civic schools in Mumbai.

A resolution making the singing of the national song mandatory in these schools is likely to come up for discussion on Thursday before the general body of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) where the BJP-Shiv Sena has a majority. With the Samajwadi Party (SP) openly opposing the resolution, the meeting is likely to be stormy.

BJP corporator Parag Alawani who had moved the resolution in 1998 told UNI that the aim of making school children sing ‘Vande Mataram’ was to instill patriotism and respect for India’s cultural heritage and the freedom struggle in the younger generations.

The original resolution was passed by the BMC’s Education Committee by a majority in 1998. Moved by Mr Alawani and seconded by Mr Sada Saravankar (Shiv Sena), the resolution could, however, not be placed before the general body for various reasons including the strong opposition by Samajwadi Party leaders. It was then decided to work out a consensus, but that too failed.

Two years ago, SP corporator Yusuf Abrani had opposed making singing of ‘Vande Mataram’ compulsory and argued that certain lines in the song were against the basic principles of Islam. He had also contended that the compulsion of singing ‘Vande Mataram’ would be violative of freedom of religion granted by the constitution.

The BJP and Shiv Sena have maintained that any true nationalist would not mind singing ‘Vande Mataram’ as it is a song expressing reverence for the motherland.

Recently, there had been considerable hue and cry in the sensitive Bhiwandi and Malegaon towns over the issue. (UNI)

Villagers recover twelve bodies

RANCHI, Oct 14: Villagers carrying out rescue operations have so far recovered 12 bodies, including those of three children and five women, from the Getalsud Reservoir in which two boats capsized yesterday, police said here today.

The district administration has announced Rs 10,000 ex gratia for the next of kin of the dead.

Deputy Commissioner Jaishanker Tiwari said there were about 20 passengers from seven or eight villages in the two boats, which were tied to each other.

Eyewitnesses, however, claimed that there were around thirty people on the boats.

The State Government has requisitioned the help of Navy divers from Orissa’s Rengli base but they were yet to arrive.

The passengers, four of whom swam to safety, were sailing to Salhan village when they were caught in the storm near Rukka village, about 25 km from here.

Chief Minister Babulal Marandi, visited the spot yesterday.

Jirga Munda Bhakt, a survivor, who was sailing to Salhan with his wife Lakhi Devi and four-year old son Ramkrishna to offer Puja, said the child slipped from his hand when the boat tilted and overturned.

He buffeted through the choppy waters for two hours before he could reach the shore, a sobbing Bhakt said adding, his wife and son were still missing. (PTI)

Female condoms, microbicides to check HIV

NEW DELHI, Oct 15: Female condoms and microbicides are two women-focused HIV prevention options which can play a crucial role in checking the spread of the deadly virus among both men and women, according to experts.

About 50 Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) and social workers from all over the country working in the area of HIV prevention participated in a two-day community stakeholders’ meeting on "prevention options for women: female condom and microbicides" that ended here on Friday.

Some Government representatives and organisations also attended the meeting and according to Mr Vinay Kumar, country administrator of programme for appropriate technology in health (path), which was one of the NGOs that helped organise the meeting, this was an important achievement.

Both the NGOs and Government were made aware of the importance of women-focused HIV prevention methods, Mr Vinay Kumar told UNI.

The meeting aimed at mobilising community stakeholders towards shaping the process and progress of women-focused HIV prevention strategies over the next five years.

Among issues discussed at the meeting were eliciting Government support for popularising women-focused options and making positive use of the support already available, fighting the patriarchal mentality, fighting social stigma attached to such work, educating the media about the issue and winning its support.

It was also pointed out that female condoms were not cost-effective.

Although these are already being test marketed in cities in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, they are still virtually unknown and inaccessible to the majority of Indian women.

According to Mr Kumar, the only way to decrease their cost was by urging the Government to make it available to the people, as is the case with male condoms.

Mr Vivek Srivastava, path programme officer for microbicides and female condoms, told UNI the condoms cost Rs 45 apiece at present.

They are right now being imported and are manufactured by the female health company of the United Kingdom, which has entered into an agreement with Hindustan Latex Limited for the promotion of the product. One way to decrease the cost of female condoms for the public was if the government subsidises its rates under the reproductive and child health programme, he said.

India is likely to begin manufacturing female condoms by the year 2005, he added.

Meanwhile, along with the cost of female condoms, in view of the fact that a majority of the country’s population was illiterate, concerns were also raised regarding educating women about various aspects of their use and reuse.

About microbicides, it was said that leading Indian research institutions are working on their development. Microbicides are substances that can be applied in the vagina to reduce the transmission of HIV and other STDs.

The meeting observed that propagation of women-focused methods to prevent the spread of HIV has become important in view of studies showing that women are biologically and socially more vulnerable to being infected by the deadly virus.

Social factors like gender discrimination, economic dependency and lack of knowledge about HIV risk make ineffective for women such prevention strategies like focus on abstinence, mutual monogamy and use of male condoms.

Under such circumstances, prevention methods that women can initiate or use themselves become very important, the experts opined.

The two-day meeting was organised by gap, Indian network of NGOs on HIV/AIDS (INN) and programme for appropriate technology in health (Path) in collaboration with the global campaign for microbicides.

Representatives from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) were among those who participated in the meeting. (UNI)

President exhorts students to eschew violence

ITANAGAR, Oct 15: President A P J Abdul Kalam today exhorted the youth to eschew hatred and violence and work hard to double the country’s GDP and make it prosperous.

"If we want to prosper economically, the country’s GDP should be doubled and to achieve the goal we must develop our agriculture, communication, education and infrastructural requirement as also information technology," Kalam said in an interaction with school students here.

He urged them to ignite their mind with a vision for a prosperous India and work hard to fulfill their dreams because "dreams ignite the mind".

Kalam asked them to replace hatred and violence with love and compassion and forego egoistic attitude to create a better environment in society.

Soon after his arrival from Tawang on a two-day visit to Arunachal Pradesh, the President visited the state museum before interacting with the students where he answered a series of questions.

Replying to a question from a student, Kalam said he served the country as a scientist for more than two decades, then moved to defence where he could serve the country as space scientist and contribute in the field of missile production so that India could attain the nuclear capability.

"Now the country wanted I should be the President, so I am," he said.

He told the students that thinking is knowledge and thinking elevates our mind and gives it prosperity.

Dr Kalam said Arunachal Pradesh had abundant natural resources and people with spiritual bent of mind as he saw in Tawang. To achieve prosperity and happiness it only needed hard work.

Earlier, the students staged a cultural programme depicting the cultural heritage of the state.

They presented a cake to him, today being his birthday, which he cut and shared with them.

Later addressing the Ministers, officials and representatives of various NGOs, the President expressed optimism that Arunachal could develop within next ten years, if the huge natural resources were harnessed in proper perspective particularly the huge hydel power potential to enrich the national grid.

He asked the Government to invite industrialists from other parts to explore the abundant natural resources of the state.

As regards the fund, he said most of the Union Ministries were keeping 10 per cent of their yearly budgets for the development of North Eastern Region besides the fund allotted by the Planning Commission to these states.

"There should not be dearth of fund to develop the region," he said adding hard work and judicious utilisation of fund was the need of the hour. (PTI)

Threat to health, environment in Kanpur from toxic metals

KANPUR, Oct 15: High content of toxic heavy metals like chromium, cadmium, arsenic and mercury in tannery effluents and domestic sewage in parts of this industrial city is posing a serious threat to the public health and environment, points out a report.

Extensive tests conducted by the Facility for Ecological and Analytical Testing (FEAT) at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, at the intermediate pumping station, main pumping station, sewage irrigation water channel at Jajmau and Combine Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) at Unnao have detected alarmingly high levels of such toxic metals.

According to the test report, hexavalent chromium was found between 104.4 mg/l and 42.7 mg/l at different points. Arsenic was found between 5.07 mg/l and 0.28 mg/l, nickel between 0.94mg/l and 0.59 mg/l and mercury 0.59 mg/l and 0.09 mg/l at all the four points where the tests were conducted.

Besides, cadmium was found between 2.31 mg/l and 2.09 mg/l at three points but was absent in samples taken from CETP Unnao. Lead was detected between 2.66 mg/l and 0.60 mg/l at two points. It was unseen in samples from CEPT and intermediate pumping station, Jajmau.

As per the prevailing environmental laws and norms, these toxic heavy metals are not supposed to be discharged directly into nature.

The test was commissioned by eco friends, a Kanpur-based NGO engaged in a campaign against pollution in the Ganga for about a decade.

The tests were to determine the quality of the raw sewage and tannery effluents reaching the treatment plants, examine the nature and extent of heavy metals and other pollutants in the treated water being supplied for irrigation to over 20 villages in and around Jajmau. The tests were also to ascertain the quality of underground water, the only source of drinking water in the locality for a population of about 50,000, eco friends executive secretary Rakesh Kumar Jaiswal said.

Mr Jaiswal said the pollutants were present in sewage irrigation water channel used for farming in about 20 villages in Jajmau. Thus, the toxicants were finding their way into the food cycle through the crops also.

He said a wide variety of diseases including cancer of liver, kidney, skin ailments, neurological and circulatory complications along with blue baby syndrome affecting infants are known to occur if the toxicants enter the human body.

The alarmingly high levels of these metals in the intermediate pumping station catering to effluents indicated that tannery and other industrial units of Jajmau were responsible for the release of the pollutants.

Their presence in raw domestic sewage at the main pumping station showed that some of the tanneries were discharging the waste into the sewage line instead of through the tannery effluent trunk line.

Mr Jaiswal said it was all the more shocking as the CETP at Unnao, a model project, is supposed to cater exclusively to the effluents from big tanneries with no inflow of domestic sewage.

He said in the light of the test reports, the Central Pollution Control Board and Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board should immediately carry out comprehensive investigation of all polluting industries in Kanpur. The Government agencies should take stern action against those guilty of violation of pollution control norms and laws. (UNI)