DEOLI  BHANIGRAM (U’khand), June 15:
The wounds are too deep to heal even a year after this ill-fated hamlet in Kedar valley came to be known as the “village of widows”, having lost 57 of its men to the catastrophic deluge that ravaged vast swathes of Uttarakhand but a helping hand from a leading NGO has brought a ray hope into their dreary lives.
A visit to the village a year after the tragedy when nothing but a deathly silence brooded over it, is a welcome relief as it has begun to throb with life again, thanks to the efforts made by Sulabh International which lent a helping hand to the women in distress to pull them back to their feet.
Though the void created in the lives of 34 women who lost their husbands in the tragedy can perhaps never be filled, they are learning to come to terms with their bland existence and recollect themselves to take on the challenges ahead.
This was more than evident today as the village (a gram panchayat) took part in celebrations held by Sulabh to mark a year of its adoption of the hamlet to help it recover from the effects of the tragedy, in which thousands of people lost their lives.
23-year-old Dhanita is the youngest of the 34 women of this gram panchayat who were widowed by the landslides last year, having lost her husband Sunil and the family’s sole breadwinner in the flash-floods.
Singing lullabies to her daughter at her home in a remote valley in the Himalayas, Dhanita can now speak of her determination to fight for her family’s survival.
Sulabh not only adopted widows but also the elderly and the children of this gram Sabha by donating Rs 2,000 per month to each of them.
Besides opening a well-equipped training centre for computer education and tailoring, Sulabh pays Rs 1,000 to each affected family in this panchayat.
Girdled by mountains, the widows at the Sulabh training centre were occupied with assignments around the 22 sewing machines and a dozen computers the organisation donated in the month of December.
While the women say they are determined to learn ways to become breadwinners for their families, the trauma of losing their loved ones is still etched deep in their hearts.
“All I did was just cry and sleep. I didn’t have the energy to do anything else. How could I learn something new at this age and make enough money out of it?” asks Savitri Tiwari, a mother of three.
“However, Sulabh Founder Bindeshwar Pathak brought a ray of hope to by doing all this for us,” she said.
The women also worry about their daughters’ future in a region where, like many parts of India, marriage is a pressing priority.
With little money, they fear they cannot pay for a wedding or a dowry – a centuries-old tradition that is banned but still widely practised.
They were, however, confident of getting support from the Sulabh founder for education and marriage of their daughters.
In December last year Pathak launched a vocational training programme for them in the village in Guptkashi under Rurdaprayag district.
Sulabh opened training centre for the women most of them widows and few girls of marriageable age in village.
12 computers and 25 sewing equipments have been arranged for local villagers.
The Sulabh founder visited the village to launch various programmes for employment of local people.
The NGO started imparting them vocational training in candle making, sewing, making diya-batti (lamps) and is giving basic education besides making them computer literate.
With an aim to develop Deoli Bhanigram as a model village, Pathak urged business houses to adopt at least one village of this devastated state.
His organisation pays Rs 1,000 to 300 families of nearly six villages.
The dead are mostly males, having worked either as priests or shopkeepers or hoteliers or porters en-route to Kedarnath.
For their livelihood, the people of Ukhimath Tehsil depend on the religious tourism in Kedarnath.
A total of 440 lodges and shops in the Tehsil were destroyed in nature’s stroke of fury.
Six months of peak religious tourism used to provide men from the area enough to sustain their families for a year and save some money.
With the prospects of religious tourism at Kedarnath dimming, the residents of the Tehsil have been left in the lurch.
Pathak, while launching vocational training programme for this village, noted employment has become a challenge to the residents.
The entire population was dependent on Kedarnath for livelihood, and the tragedy has affected every individual in some way or the other, he says.
“We do not want the village to get a tag of ‘Village of Widows’. We want it to become ‘Model Village’. Now, we will take care of their needs. We will impart vocational training to widows and ensure proper education to the kids,” said Pathak.
“Whatever is possible to mitigate the sufferings of these hapless women, Sulabh will try its best. We have always helped people in distress, and in this instance of Himalayan Tsunami, our efforts will match the magnitude of the devastation,” the Sulabh founder said.
Pathak said: “The monthly relief given by us will not bring cheer to them but at least give them a source to run their families, the initial amount of Rs 2,000 per month will be paid for next five years.
We have decided to aid the rehabilitation of the women, so they can get the threads of life back together.
“We will make similar efforts in Deoli-Bramhagram panchayat area so that their proper rehabilitation could be ensured. Sulabh is committed to provide relief and succour to these women and their kids,” Pathak told journalists. (PTI)

WASHINGTON, June 15:
Fasting can reduce cholesterol levels in prediabetic people over extended period of time, according to a new research.
The research on periodic fasting has identified a biological process in the body that converts bad cholesterol in fat cells to energy, thus combating diabetes risk factors.
Researchers at the Intermountain Heart Institute at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah, noticed that after 10 to 12 hours of fasting, the body starts scavenging for other sources of energy throughout the body to sustain itself.
The body pulls LDL (bad) cholesterol from the fat cells and uses it as energy.
“Fasting has the potential to become an important diabetes intervention,” said Benjamin Horne, director of cardiovascular and genetic epidemiology at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute and lead researcher on the study.
“Though we’ve studied fasting and it’s health benefits for years, we didn’t know why fasting could provide the health benefits we observed related to the risk of diabetes,” Horne said.
Prediabetes means the amount of glucose, also called sugar, in the blood is higher than normal but not high enough to be called diabetes.
Prior research done by Horne and his team in 2011 focused on healthy people during one day of fasting and showed that routine, water-only fasting was associated with lower glucose levels and weight loss.
“When we studied the effects of fasting in apparently healthy people, cholesterol levels increased during the one-time 24-hour fast,” said Horne.
“The changes that were most interesting or unexpected were all related to metabolic health and diabetes risk.
“Together with our prior studies that showed decades of routine fasting was associated with a lower risk of diabetes and coronary artery disease, this led us to think that fasting is most impactful for reducing the risk of diabetes and related metabolic problems,” Horne said.
Horne launched the new study to look at the effects of fasting in prediabetics over an extended period of time. The study participants were prediabetics, including men and women between the ages of 30 and 69 with a least three metabolic risk factors.
These risk factors include a large waistline, a high triglyceride level, a low HDL or “good” cholesterol level, high blood pressure and high fasting blood sugar.
“During actual fasting days, cholesterol went up slightly in this study, as it did in our prior study of healthy people, but we did notice that over a six-week period cholesterol levels decreased by about 12 per cent in addition to the weight loss,” said Horne.
“Because we expect that the cholesterol was used for energy during the fasting episodes and likely came from fat cells, this leads us to believe fasting may be an effective diabetes intervention,” Horne said. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, June 15:
The national capital appears to be heading for assembly elections within next six months with all three major parties — BJP, Aam Aadmi Party and Congress — contending that there was no option but to seek people’s mandate afresh for formation of a new government.
A number of senior leaders from these parties admitted that their MLAs were reluctant to face the elections anytime soon but said preparations for fresh polls have already begun considering the current political situation.
“BJP is ready for fresh elections. The party has already started preparations for it. There is no possibility of government formation by any party and in such a situation, elections are the only option,” former Delhi BJP president Vijender Gupta said emphatically.
Sources in BJP said a sizeable number of party MLAs have already apprised the leadership about their unwillingness to go to polls again but they have been told to get ready for elections.
President’s rule was imposed in Delhi on February 17 and Lt Governor Najeeb Jung is likely to send a report to the Centre in a month or two, detailing about the political situation.
“The ball is on Lt Governor’s court. It is his prerogative to take the next step. Based on his report, a decision may be taken (by the Centre),” said Gupta.
The Union Cabinet is likely to take a decision on whether to extend President’s rule by another six months or go for fresh polls based on LG’s report. Sources in Delhi BJP said they have apprised the leadership about their readiness to go for polls.
They said though a section in the party had made some efforts to form a government, the leadership did not approve the initiative.
The number of BJP MLAs came down to 28 from 31 in the 70-member assembly after three of its legislators Harsh Vardhan, Ramesh Bidhuri and Pervesh Verma were elected to Lok Sabha.
After expulsion of rebel MLA Vinod Kumar Binny from the party, the number of AAP MLAs has also come down to 27 from 28. Congress has eight MLAs while BJP ally Akali Dal has one MLA.
Following its electoral drubbing in Lok Sabha polls, AAP had expressed willingness to form the government but Congress made it clear that it will not support the party again.
“There is no rethinking on extending support to AAP. Congress is ready for fresh election. We will prefer election than supporting AAP,” said DPCC Chief Arvinder Singh Lovely.
Another Congress leader Mukesh Sharma said there was no way out than holding elections in Delhi.
Admitting that party MLAs were reluctant to face the elections, he, however, termed as “baseless” reports that some Congress legislators were ready to quit the party to help AAP form a government.
“These reports are totally fabricated and baseless. All our MLAs are united and are true soldiers of the Congress,” said Sharma.
Sources in the Congress said the party will not review its decision not to support AAP as it feels the new party has taken away its traditional vote bank.
The Congress has already held a number of agitational programme in the city demanding better power and water supply, in an effort to connect with the masses.
After Congress’ refusal to support it, AAP has already announced that it was ready for election. The party has launched ‘Mohallah Sabha’ programmes in the city to touch base and extend its support.
A senior AAP leader said the party has started preparations for the assembly polls. (PTI)