29 Dec 2007
By Ravindra Saini

Interested in a purely natural therapy to get rid of those extra pounds around your belly or a remedy for irregular bowel movements, skin aliments and even cancer? Why not try gaumutra (cow urine) for a change. After having introduced a comprehensive law to protect the cow and her progeny from being slaughtered, the BJP Government of Uttarakhand has decided to conduct research on the medicinal properties of cow urine and market its products. Based on the similar immensely successful operation in Gujarat, the ambitious plan involves collection of cow urine with the help of co-operatives and market it among those interested in trying the have it for medicines purposes.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Shri B.C. Khanduri laid the foundation stone of the research center in Rishikesh on December 18. The project is the brain-child of state Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Minister Shri Trivendra Singh Rawat. The government has allocated a sum of Rs. 20 crore for the project and, if need be, the amount would be hiked based on the requirements.

Claiming that protection of cows benefited the humanity by combating environmental pollution, controlling disease and providing a ready source of income to people, Shri Khanduri said the research centre would focus on the medicinal qualities inherent in cow dung and urine.

“Studies conducted by the Bareilly-based Indian Veterinary Research Institute shows that urine procured from the auburn coloured cows has properties to fight cancer,” said Agriculture Minister Shri Trivendra Singh Rawat. Based on such findings, the state government has named this species of cows as Badri Gai and is planning to conduct a survey of all auburn-coloured bovines in every district with the intention of bottling their urine and selling it. According to the Minister, several leading companies dealing with Ayurvedic medicines are procuring cow urine at Rs. 4 per liter from the state at present. Yoga guru Swami Ramdev is also understood to have expressed willingness to buy the raw product at Rs. 6 per liter for his Divya Yog Pharmacy in Haridwar. The center is spread over 30 acres in Chamoli district, which would conduct research and development into medicinal aspects of cow urine. According to a survey carried out in 2003, Uttarakhand has over 11 lakh local cows and nearly 1.77 lakh cross-bred cows. As per estimates, one cow discharges nearly 4-5 liters of urine everyday.

Acharya Balakrishna of the Patanjali Yogpeeth, Haridwar, praised the government for prohibiting cow slaughter in the state. He urged the government to make all products made from the cow urine tax-free, which the Chief Minister accepted immediately. Praising the efforts undertaken by the state government, MLA Shri Premchand Aggarwal claimed that the research undertaken by the centre would help cure incurable diseases and at the same time help the agricultural sector. Dr R.S. Chauhan, deputy director of Indian Institute of Vaternary Research, Bareilly, gave detailed information about the research conducted on Panchgavya and cow urine at the institute. He said the cow urine and dung has the unique quality to cure some very critical diseases. Present on the occasion were Shri Gaurishankar Mahto of Geetabhavan, Smt. Susheela Balooni, chairperson of Uttarakhand Andolankari Samman Parishad, Shri Maheshwar Bahuguna, president of Teachers Cell of BJP, city president Shri Godwani, block president K.S. Rana, additional secretary of animal husbandry Shri P.S. Jangpangi, additional director, animal husbandry Shri R.P. Bahuguna and others.

New Delhi, 24 Dec 2007

The forests in Uttarakhand have been valued at $2.4 billion or Rs.107 billion per year in terms of services they provide to the people. This needs to be recognised and compensated, says a new report.

The average value of $1,150 per hectare per year for the services provided needs to be reflected in our economic planning and compensated for, according to the study ‘Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Forest Governance, in Uttarakhand, as a scoping study,’ brought out by LEAD India and its partner organisation, Central Himalayan Environmental Association (Uttarakhand). The report evaluates and quantifies the services rendered by the Himalayan ecosystem in the State, and is the first comprehensive collation of scientific information around various Ecosystem Services using mainly secondary sources.

Ecosystem Services is defined as a wide range of conditions and processes through which natural ecosystems, and the species that make them up, sustain and fulfil human life. As many as 32 such services, including carbon sequestration, climate management, hydrological regulation, timber, soil conservation, pollination and other non-timber forest produces have been identified so far.

The report described valuation as a balanced approach for conservation of ecosystems that calls to conserve whatever remains and restore it in areas where it is possible, rather than spending time and resources on selecting biodiversity rich areas.

Despite making considerable contribution in Uttarakhand’s economic and ecological systems, forests do not get proper recognition for their contribution in the State Domestic Product (SDP) in the absence of proper valuation and lack of information to decision-makers.

Its contribution reflected in the SDP is only 3.50 per cent (Rs.5,109.6 million) as only few goods and services from these forests are marketed and thus accounted in the current calculus, the report suggests.

Uttarakhand is rich in endemic biodiversity and the forests provide ecosystem services of high magnitude to the Indo-Gangetic Plain in terms of regulated water supply and nutrients rich soil through its river connections, thereby sustaining the livelihoods of about 500 million people inhabiting the area. Livelihoods for more than 5 million mountain-dwellers are also mainly forest-based.

The study further says that whatever success the people in mountains have achieved in conserving their forests, they have been able to do so without any access to modern energy sources.

From equity point of view alone, the poor people in Uttarakhand should be given support to have alternatives to biomass fuel.

News Source: http://www.hindu.com

Sandeep Joshi
New Delhi, 19 Dec 2007

Soldiers’ soldier: Uttarakhand Chief Minister B.C. Khanduri

The Uttarakhand Government has decided to take special care of defence personnel, retired as well as serving, hailing from the Himalayan State. To start with, Chief Minister B.C. Khanduri, who himself is a retired Major General, has announced a substantial increase in the award money for gallantry award winners from the State.

The State is also formulating new schemes to take care of the financial needs of retired Servicemen who form a sizeable population of Uttarakhand.

First State to take inititative

Stating that Uttarakhand is the first State in the country that has taken such a major initiative, Maj. Gen. Khanduri told The Hindu: “We have decided to increase the one-time award money for Param Vir Chakra and Ashok Chakra awardees to Rs.25 lakh each. Earlier, the award money was just Rs.1.72 lakh and Rs.1.45 lakh respectively. Similarly, the annual grant to Param Veer Chakra awardees has also been raised to Rs.1.5 lakh from Rs.1,000, while Ashok Chakra awardees will now get Rs.1.2 lakh instead of a meagre Rs.800.”

“We have also raised the award money for Mahavir Chakra winners to Rs.15 lakh, besides an annual grant of Rs.1.14 lakh, which earlier used to be Rs.1.15 lakh and Rs.400 each year. Similarly, Kirti Chakra winners will also get Rs.15 lakh and Rs.1 lakh annually, which is a substantial hike from earlier sums of Rs.87,000 and annual benefit of Rs.350,” he informed .

The Chief Minister also said that the award money for Vir Chakra and Shaurya Chakra winners from the State had been increased to Rs.10 lakh each, which was earlier Rs.57,000 and Rs.45,000 respectively, while their annual grant has also been raised to Rs.66,000 and Rs.55,000. Similarly, the winners of Uttam Yudh Sewa Medal will now get Rs.1.27 lakh compared to Rs.75,000 given earlier.

In another major initiative, the State Government has also increased the monetary help in the form of accommodation benefit given to widows and dependants of martyred soldiers as well as handicapped ex-Servicemen from Rs.5,000 to Rs.25,000, while ex-Servicemen and their dependents can now avail the facility of toll-free telephone in the Capital and district headquarters.

Re-employing ex-Servicemen

“Apart from increasing the award money, we are also taking steps to re-employ ex-Servicemen at various places for which we have already constituted an ex-Servicemen board. These retired soldiers are being given security-related jobs in hospitals and other government institutions, while various units of the Eco Task Force comprising retired personnel are being formed to safeguard our forests and help preserve the rich flora and fauna of the Himalayan State,” said Maj. Gen. Khanduri.

“The BJP Government in the State is committed to the welfare of ex-Servicemen and their families. We are also trying to find out more employment opportunities across the State for retired Servicemen and their children. More such initiatives are in the pipeline and will be announced soon,” the Chief Minister added.

News Source: http://www.hindu.com

New Delhi, 19 Dec 2007

Enumerating the problems of his state on account of its hilly terrain, Uttarakhand Chief Minister B.C. Khanduri today asked the Centre to determine plan priorities according to region and state-specific needs.

Khanduri also urged the Centre to relax norms for developing health and medical infrastructure keeping in mind the remoteness of villages and also low population density of the state.

“Determination of plan priorities should be according to region and state-specific needs, problems and constraints of economic development and status of resource endowment,” he said in his address at the 54th meeting of the National Development Council here.

The Forest Conservation Act, 1980, should be so amended as to exclude the “settled revenue lands” from the definition of “forests” and the lands not having forest cover should not be treated as forest.

“Adequate priority should be given in the plan to programmes for checking soil erosion,” he added.

The Chief Minister said that a second green revolution should be initiated keeping in mind the below subsistence agriculture in hilly areas of the Himalayan states.

Resources from the 11th five-year plan would be required to extend administrative support to the self-help group movement and delivery of micro-finance, he said.

Apart from this, he also asked the Centre to enact at the earliest the legal framework to protect the rights of people being displaced due to variety of developmental projects and natural disasters.

News Source: http://www.saharasamay.com

By HT
14 Dec 2007

There is good news for farmers in Kumaon. They will now be able to entertain themselves even while at work side by side getting updated on all the latest on the agriculture-related information.

Well, the poor hill farmers will get the taste of both just by switching on their tiny radio sets. A number of Frequency Modulated (FM) radio stations, through which programmes relating to info-cum-entertainment would be relayed, would soon be installed in remote areas of Kumaon, officials revealed.

“These programmes will be packaged in a manner that all our listeners including farmers would find them both educative and entertaining”, said P. C. Rajput, an Assistant Station Engineer (ASE) at the AIR’s broadcasting station in Almora.
“These programmes”, he added, “will also time to time keep the people inhabiting this side of the Indo-Nepal border touching Uttarakhand informed about the Maoists’ activities in Nepal and India.”

Speaking to the Hindustan Times from Pithoragarh on Wednesday he said the first FM radio station of Kumaon is currently being installed at the district headquarters’ town of Bageshwar.

“The radio station will be made operational through a five kilowatt-capacity transmitter”, said the ASE. “Besides, the radio station will also have attached to it an emergency studio, where different kinds of programmes will be prepared for our listeners,” he added.

Rajput told HT that one more FM radio station was also likely to be installed at Dharchula very shortly. It is a remote town, which is situated on this side of the porous Indo-Nepal border.

“Through this FM station we will also be broadcasting programmes which will educate the people living in the border areas about the activities of the leftist ultras active both in Nepal and India”, he pointed out.

Stating that similar FM radio stations would also be set up elsewhere in the remote areas of Kumaon the ASE said work on them (FM radio stations) would get underway as and when the required land would be available for the purpose.
Besides, plans were also underway to upgrade the capacity of the existing radio stations in the region. “Take, for instance, our 1-kilowatt capacity radio station at Almora”, said the ASE.

“A 50-kilowatt capacity transmitter will replace it, which would enhance the capacity of the existing radio station by as many times,” he told HT.

News Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com | http://news.yahoo.com

Dehradun, 14 Dec 2007

Fourteen sacred masks, believed to be 200 years old with religious and mythological values, went missing from Nanda Devi temple at Lata village in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand.

The incident was noticed by temple Pujari and villagers on December 12 when they went to lock the store where the masks were kept.

According to villager Rajendra Rawat, the locks were found open and masks missing. The masks were carved from the wood and donned by the dancers during Baishakhis while performing non-stop dancing for three days.

”The masks included that of Lord Ganesha, Surya, Mor-Morni (Peacock), Latu-Lati, Narad, Ishwarya, Gaura, Ganna-Ganni and Vishnuverma,” said Mr Rawat who is himself a dancer.

A social activist Dr Sunil Kainthola reminded that in the 80s too, the idol of the main deity of the temple was stolen. It was the second incident of theft.

SDM Joshimath Nidhi Yadav who came to know about the incident yesterday said, ”The police have been dispatched to the Lata village for investigation this morning.” Investigating Officer SO GS Rathore said the masks were around 200 years old. ”Case under Section 380 of the IPC has been registered and investigation is on,” he added.

Meanwhile, Ms Yadav has not ruled out enmity amongst the villagers behind the theft.

News Source: http://www.newkerala.com