We The State-Issue 4 Vol 3

We

he StateOCTOBER 20 TO OCTOBER 26 , 2014

Vol-03. Issue-04. Bhopal. Monday Page-12 Price-5/-

POSTAL REGD. MP/BHOPAL/4-323/2013-15

Published simultaneously from Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh

Online edition available at wethestate.com and wethestate.blogspot.in

Ranbir, Katrina to gethitched in Feb? The complete history oftheir hush-hush romance

Forgotten Watsonsays his bestyears are stillahead of him

Computer to createlabour inspectionlists; Modi promises to doaway with inspector raj

Poll results affirmation of Modi’s continuing grip on electorate’s imagination

he BJP’s terrific performance inHaryana and its emergence asthe strongest party ofMaharashtra is good news for

economic reform. It is now time to pushahead with a bolder version of economicreforms than what would have been possibleif the BJP had not fared so well. The pollresults are positive affirmation of Modi’s con-tinuing grip on the electorate’s imagination.

The Modi wave has swept throughHaryana, demolishing the Congress, theIndian National Lok Dal and two other par-ties that do not now even deserve to be list-ed by name.

From a strength of 4 seats in the 90member Haryana house, the BJP has nowacquired a majority on its own, thanks pri-marily to Modi’s personal appeal. The twoAssembly elections have injected an extradose of energy into an already purposefulGovernment. With the Congress licking itswounds and contemplating its own futureunder a dynastic leadership, the

Government is likely to move ahead moredecisively in implementing the more diffi-cult reforms. The dismantling of the eco-nomic roadblocks created by the earlierGovernment will probably be a feature ofthe next few months.

Once Shiv Sena’s junior partner,BJP now dominant partner

The BJP story has emerged as the sin-gle largest party in Maharashtra but fallsshort of a majority. The BJP was always thejunior partner of Shiv Sena inMaharashtra, except perhaps in Vidarbhawhere it had a significant organisationalnetwork.

In fighting the Assembly elections on itsown steam, the party had to over-extenditself considerably and bank almost exclu-sively on the euphoria around its May 2014triumph. It was an audacious gamble andbased on a claim to form a stableGovernment, even when its tentacles didn’tpermeate down to every region and locality.

Recall that the BJP had notcontested the majority ofAssembly seats ever sincethe 1990 alliance with theShiv Sena. From that posi-tion to attempt outright wasa colossal leap of faith. ButModi has conclusivelydemonstrated that his judg-ment that the BJP hasbecome more popular thanthe Shiv Sena and deservesto be the dominant partnerin their alliance has beenvindicated. The party’s voteshare has doubled to about32% and the credit legiti-mately goes to Modi than toany regional leader of theparty. The Maharashtraresult is notable for theCongress retaining about 50seats, even in its currentstate of being completely dis-credited, leaderless at thestate-level and at the Centre and whollyclueless about how to revive itself afterbeing knocked out in the Lok Sabha elec-

tions. This means that a Congress-freeIndia, which the BJP has declared to be itsmedium-term goal, will be quite tough.T

Make “DigitalMP” for“Digital

India”: CM

Minister hailslabour reformsannounced

by PM

Metro trainto run inGwalior

too

7

BJP has reinforced its image as the principal political party and the natural replace-ment to the Congress as a pan-India party. More important, this success will trigger achain reaction in places such as Assam and West Bengal, and to a lesser extent in Keralaand Tamil Nadu. Almost as if sensing the coming victory, the Narendra Modi governmentrecently announced the launch of labour reforms, and diesel price deregulation and amoderate hike in gas prices. LPG subsidies will gradually shift to direct cash transfers,eliminating the possibility of benami users. The fact that the BJP did not win a majorityon its own in Maharashtra could also be a seen as a plus for reforms, for this means theparty will have to woo the Shiv Sena to form a government in the state. And with the Senacome 18 MPs in Parliament, including some in the Rajya Sabha. The fact is Modi has asmall window – of possibly six to eight months – to push through his big-ticket legislativeagenda after which major elections will start looming again. Bihar is due by end-2015,and after that UP, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu a year later. To be sure, elections aredue to Jammu & Kashmir and Jharkhand over the next two months, but the results therewill not impact the national mood. What will impact is Delhi, where the assembly is insuspended animation. The BJP has to win Delhi to ensure that the reforms momentum isnot lost due to political loss or poor performance. But Delhi now looks distinctly easierafter wrapping up Haryana, and with the Aam Aadmi Party in some degree of decay.

BJP’s success to boost reforms

3

5

8

10

11

e-shopping boom hits localbusinessmen in Raipur

The stock of medicine usedto prevent mother-to-childtransmission of HIV has runout of stock in Chhattisgarh.Anti-retroviral therapy (ART)clinics in Chhattisgarh haverun out of the crucial drugNevirapine, leaving manyexposed to the risk of the dead-ly disease.

According to officials,around 17,000 HIV patientsincluding 2,500 children areregistered at ART centres in thestate.

Additional project director,Dr SK Binjhwar, said there isshortage of nevirapine syrupbut we can't do anything aboutit as only one company manu-factures the same and there isno supply from it. He said five

ART centres that provide thedrug free to HIV positivepatients across the state haveno stock of nevirapine syrupand tablets and some othermedicines too could soon runout since no fresh stocks are

coming in. ChhattisgarhNetwork for People Living withHIV said the shortage hadexposed many to risks of thedisease. Doctors revealed thatpregnant women are supposedto receive a single dose of the

drug at the time of labour andtheir newborn babies get a sin-gle dose of the drug syrupimmediately after birth. "Manybabies in the state have missedthis required dose”, said presi-dent of Chhattisgarh Networkof Positive People (CNPP),Rinki Arora.

She said however, medi-

cines- Tenofovir-lamivudine

combination, which is pre-

scribed to adults, and lopinavir-

ritonavir combination syrup

that is given to children, are

available for next two months.

However, they are apprehen-

sive of yet another crises build-

ing up as it's already happened

five times this year that stocks

had run out.

Rinki said she was in Delhi

just to discuss the treatment

strategy, as ART centres would

soon be going out of stock of

many medicines including teno-

fovir-lamivudine and lopinavir-

ritonavir".

She said this is the big issue

as drugs are necessary for the

health of the mother and child.

Secretary of CNPP, K Mukesh,

said recently around 15 deliver-

ies in Durg, 11 in Raipur and

four in Bilaspur were conducted

without the newborns being

given the mandatory dose of

nevirapine. He said the cost of

one bottle is around Rs 1,200

and the dose is given according

to weight but due to its cost,

people don't buy it. He said that

as per new guidelines of NACO,

the drug is required to be

administered to newborns with-

in six months.

Crucial drug to check mother-to-childtransmission of HIV runs out of stock

2 OCTOBER 20 TO OCTOBER 26 , 2014 (MP & CG)Chhattisgarh Explore

Online shopping industry may touch

Rs 2,800 crore in the country during the

ongoing festive season on rising sales of

consumer electronics and other products,

an Assocham survey has said. In 2013, the

e-shopping sector stood at Rs 2,000 crore,

Assocham said in a study. e-shopping boom

is not restricted to metros alone as people

in other cities like Raipur, Bhopal, Jaipur,

Dehradun also prefer to buy online

As per the chamber's estimates, the

sales of the shopping websites are expect-

ed to go up about 20-30 per cent in October

due to festive demand. Products like

mobile phones, e-tablets, consumer elec-

tronics, gift articles, apparel and orna-

ments are the major attractions for con-

sumers who shop online, it said.

Traditional shopkeepers in the metros are

witnessing a huge decline in their sales

due to the mega discounts being offered by

online shopping portals on a wide range of

products this Diwali season, businessmen

in smaller cities like Raipur have also

started feeling a pinch. The reasons for

number of e-shoppers multiplying include

24 hours shopping advantage and home

delivery of products. Also, the shopping

websites are offering discounts, free gifts

and shopping vouchers to attract con-

sumers, the study said. "Online shopping

has seen a phenomenal rise in the country

and will continue to do so given the great

potential and huge segment of the popula-

tion," Assocham said.

Worried by the impact of increased

sales of consumer durables and electronics

by shopping portals like Flipkart, Amozon,

Snapdeal and Myntra, Raipur business-

men are demanding legislations to regu-

late online shopping. Many shopkeepers

have said the online shopping craze is

picking up fast and if things keep on going

this way its only a matter of time before

their sales took take a hit.

The Chhattisgath Chamber of

Commerce has gone a step further with its

President Amar Parwani appealing to the

state government to ban online shopping.

He claimed that 40 percent business has

been affected due to online shopping, with

small shopkeepers being the worst hit. He

said that the state government is too los-

ing revenue due to online shopping. While

a ban on online shopping may be too far-

fetched, an executive of Bajaj Finance, one

of the leading financiers for consumer

goods, admitted that cash flow is surely

coming down in the market. Raj Kujur,

GM, Magneto Mall said, though impact of

online shopping is less here as compared to

the metros, people, especially young gener-

ation, is fast catching up with it. He said

the "older" ones still prefer to shop the tra-

ditional way. Sujeet Barai, owner of CG

World Furniture, said online shopping is

more common among people who come to

the city from outside the state and employ-

ees of multinational companies. Local peo-

ple still come to buy the products person-

ally. They want to check the product on

their own. A senior executive in multina-

tional company, Abhinav kumar said the

variety of products available online is vast

and its sheer waste of time and money to

shop at local malls. "Higher discounts are

available online this festive season and I'm

fully satisfied with my online shopping

experiences", he said. Amit Kumar, owner

of Amit Sales said, the sales may not have

been affected too much but yes the impact

is clearly visible in the market. "As com-

pared to previous years, craze of online

shopping has increased. Today people

want change and that's why they buy prod-

ucts online", he said.

Raipur

RAIPUR

3 OCTOBER 20 TO OCTOBER 26 , 2014 (MP & CG)MADHYA PRADESH

Rs. 100 crore venture capital fund for new entrepreneurs;affordable houses for poor; 7% DA to govt staff

A cabinet meeting chaired by C.M.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan decided to create a

Rs. 100 crore venture capital fund for help

of new entrepreneurs. C.M. Chouhan had

made an announcement in this regard. The

fund will be created as per rules of

Securities and Exchange Board of India

(SEBI). In the beginning, help from the

fund will be given to medium, small and

micro entrepreneurs to set up their units.

The Directorate of Institutional Finance

will appoint an advisor through transpar-

ent arrangements for the venture capital

fund and handholding support of institu-

tional arrangements.

The fund will help new and talented

entrepreneurs, who cannot set up innova-

tion-based new enterprises due to lack of

adequate share capital. State’s young

entrepreneurs will get share capital at

local level. At present, they have to go

other states and metropolitan cities of the

country to avail this facility.

Affordable houses for poorThe cabinet endorsed a scheme under

PPP mode for construction of affordable

houses for Economically Weaker Section

(EWS) and Low Income Group (LIG) fami-

lies. The cabinet also approved the guide-

lines issued for the scheme.

The area of the project on which hous-

es are to be built will be transferred to con-

cerning urban body at Re. 1 annual lease

rent without any premium. Under the

scheme, government land will be identified

by concerning Town Development

Authority and Special Area Development

Authority for construction of houses.

Authority will apply to concerning collector

to transfer this land to them. A committee

headed by collector will decide as to

whether proposed land is suitable for the

project or not. At divisional headquarters,

the committee will be headed by the com-

missioner. In Bhopal investment zone, a

committee of Urban Administration &

Environment Department headed by its

Secretary will ensure action of reservation

on collector’s proposal. After reservation of

land, the Authority will prepare a proposal

on the basis of technical and economic via-

bility of the project. The project will be pre-

pared in a manner that VGF is not

required for its implementation. The cabi-

net committee constituted under Atal

Ashray Yojana will be empowered to

remove difficulties in project’s implementa-

tion.

7 percent DA togovernment servants

The cabinet sanctioned 7 percent dear-ness allowance to government servantsand 7 percent dearness relief to pensionerswith effect from July 1, 2014. With this,state government servants’ DA has risen atpar with 107 percent DA of their counter-parts in Central Government. It will alsobenefit Adhyapak Cadre of Panchayat RajInstitutions and urban bodies andPanchayat Secretaries of Panchayats &Rural Development Department.Government servants contributing to

General Provident Fund will get increasedDA with the salary for October 2014.Amount of DA payable from July 1 toSeptember 30, 2014 will be deposited inthis account. The decision will entail finan-cial burden of Rs. 705 crore on the excheq-uer during the current fiscal.

Policies of Renewable EnergyDepartment amended

The cabinet endorsed amendments

made regarding permission to use revenue

land and performance guarantee in the

policies of Renewable Energy Department.

According to the amendments, rate for

use of revenue land by the project will be

equal to 50 percent of collector’s current

rate for unirrigated land as on date on

which agreement for land identified for the

project is signed.

Pension as per sixth payscale to employees of 6universities

The cabinet sanctioned payment of

pension as per sixth pay scale to teaching

and non-teaching staff of 6 universities

without arrears with effect from April 1,

2014. These include Barkatullah

University, Bhopal, Rani Durgawati

University, Jabalpur, Avdhesh Pratap

Singh University Rewa, Devi Ahiliya

Vishwavidyalaya, Indore, Vikram

University, Ujjain and Jiwaji University,

Gwalior.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh

Chauhan has said that metro train will

run in Gwalior in future. He directed to

prepare DPR for this. Chauhan was

addressing a public meeting at Gwalior

today. Union Steel and Mines Minister

Narendra Singh Tomar was also present

on the occasion.

The Chief Minister said that flyovers

necessary for developing Gwalior as ultra-

modern city will be constructed within 5

years. For this, he asked public represen-

tatives to get

action plans

chalked out in con-

sultation with dis-

trict administra-

tion. The Chief

Minister said that

25 thousand hous-

es for the poor will

be constructed in

the city in next 5

years. He assured

to make available

necessary funds for setting right city’s

sewage system. The Chief Minister sanc-

tioned Rs. 2 crore for infrastructure works.

He also announced Rs. 50 lakh each for

Antari, Dabra, Bilowa, Bhitarwar and

Pichhor urban bodies.

The Chief Minister inaugurated and

laid foundation stones of 242 development

works of Gwalior costing Rs. 62 crore 68

lakh. He said that pace of industrialisation

will further accelerate following recent

Global Investors Summit and lakhs of

youths will get employment. He said that a

new industrial area is coming up at

Sitapur and a new industrial corridor is

also being developed from Morena to

Gwalior.

Union Minister Tomar said that the

state is achieving new dimensions of devel-

opment under the leadership of Chief

Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan. He

urged people to partner in Chief Minister’s

efforts and “Make in India” campaign of

Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Foundation stonelaid for 100anganwadi centres

Chauhan laid foundation stones for

100 anganwadi centres at Gwalior today.

Chauhan inaugurated a trauma centre

costing Rs. 4 crore 46 lakh on the premises

of district hospital at Murar. Chauhan

also laid foundation stone for state’s first

4-storey multi-level parking costing Rs. 10

crore 75 lakh at City Centre and sports

complex costing Rs. one crore 75 lakh. An

attractive exhibition was put up by various

departments at the programme venue.

Metro train to run in Gwalior too

Bhopal

Bhopal

Tourism Year tobe celebrated inMadhya Pradesh

Bhopal: Chief Minister Shivraj Singh

Chauhan has said that next year will be cel-

ebrated as Tourism Year in the state. During

it, state’s tourism potential will be displayed

before the world. The Chief Minister was

inaugurating MP Travel Mart here recently.

The Chief Minister said that MP will be

developed as pioneer state in tourism sector.

State has immense tourism potential. MP

government has chalked out a pro-active pol-

icy. Impressive tourism infrastructures are

being constructed in the state. New tourist

circuits are being developed. The state has

also immense potential of religious tourism.

Sanchi, Khajuraho and Bhim Bhetka in the

state are world heritage. MP has also a num-

ber of National Parks and sanctuaries. The

state government wishes to develop tourism

facilities for every section so that people can

spend some peaceful time in present-day

complex life. Minister of State for Tourism

Surendra Patwa said that MP is progressing

rapidly in every sector. During last 8 years,

number of tourists coming to the state has

increased from one crore to 6 crore 40 lakh.

4 OCTOBER 20 TO OCTOBER 26 , 2014 (MP & CG)

Wildlife experts raise serious security concernsin zoo enclosures

Flipkart to marketproducts made byhandloom weavers

Chhattisgarh has signed an agreement with

'Flipkart' for marketing of products made by hand-

loom weavers, informed Chhattisgarh rural indus-

tries minister Punnulal Mohle during the annual

conference of state textiles ministers in New Delhi

recently. Mohle said Chhattisgarh is the second

largest raw tussar silk producing state in the coun-

try. Against the national production demand for 200

metric tonne, the state has been producing 500 met-

ric tonne of raw tussar silk, he added. He said

Chhattisgarh will soon become the first state to pro-

duce one thousand metric tonne in 12th Five Year

Plan. Union minister of state for textiles Santosh

Kumar Gangwar chaired the conference. Drawing

the Centre's attention on problems faced by the

state, the minister said shortage of handloom thread

adversely affects the state's textile industry and

urged the Centre not to stop supply of handloom

thread to Chhattisgarh due to delay in payment.

The tragic incident at Delhi, where a white

tiger mauled a 20-year-old youth after he fell into

the moat, has forced Raipur zoo officials to review

security arrangements. Wildlife experts have

raised serious security concerns in zoo enclo-

sures. Expressing displeasure over the state of

affairs, experts said visitors tease, hoot and even

hurl stones at animals, but officials refuse to

budge. In reply, zoo authorities have erected

warning boards on the premises bearing a few or

no stringent rules to stop the growing nuisance.

Is the Delhi incident not enough to raise an

alarm bell? asked an expert.

"Animal sensitization is must at zoo. National

parks and zoological gardens in state hardly fol-

low Central Zoo Authority guidelines. Lack of

veterinary doctors in case of emergency, insuffi-

cient staff, absence of emergency plan and laid-

back attitude of zoo officials, have raised security

concerns," said Ajay Dubey, an animal activist. A

walk at Raipur's Nandanvan Zoo or Bhilai's

Maitri Bagh will surely get unpleasant on seeing

hundreds of visitors playing mischief and booing

at animals. Zoo authorities, despite having

guards and supervisors, hardly take action, said

Dubey adding that it was partial responsibility of

visitors too to behave properly.

"There are no security guards standing near

the enclosures where the carnivores are kept. Zoo

officials must ensure proper safety of visitors,

especially those of children when they are watch-

ing the animals," said Dubey. Vet at Nandanvan

zoo, Dr JK Jhadia, said, "People lack awareness

about wild animals. Carnivores don't harm till

they are disturbed as they are used to human

intervention with guards, zoo officials." Jhadia

said. Dubey demanded a mechanism where visi-

tors are given basic education about behaviour of

wild animals. Animals are not there for people's

entertainment, he said.

CII eastern region has

signed MoU with Unicef to

establish a Corporate Social

Responsibility hub in

Chhattisgarh and monitor

nutritional levels among preg-

nant women and children up

to six years of age.

The project, which would

be on the lines of work going

on in West Bengal, is part of

CII-Unicef venture being

undertaken across the country.

Under this project, the CII-

Unicef would adopt few

Anganwadi centres in state

and monitor their minimum

nutritional requirements.

Talking to media, chairman of

CII- Eastern Region and man-

aging director, of Mjunction

Services Limited, Viresh

Oberoi, said that nutrition

among pregnant ladies and children up

to six years of age is required and we will

cooperate in this to assess the present

state and point out shortcomings.

Meanwhile a CII team, led by

Oberoi, called on C.M., Raman

Singh and briefed him on CII's

efforts to promote industrial-

ization in state and region.

Oberoi was accompanied by

chairman of CII Chhattisgarh

State Council & executive

director of Godawari Power &

Ispat Limited, Dinesh

Agrawal; Immediate past

chairman of CII Chhattisgarh

State Council and partner of

Beekay Engineering

Corporation, Manish Gupta

and regional director of CII

Eastern Region, Saugat

Mukherjee. The CII team

briefed Singh on CII's

Initiatives over the years, in

the areas of agri & food pro-

cessing, tourism, health care,

skill development and MSME

facilitation. CII is planning a

major agro show - Agro Chhattisgarh in

early 2015.

Nutritional levels among pregnantwomen, children to be monitored

RAIPUR TRAIL

Minister hails labour reformsannounced by PM

RAIPUR

Chhattisgarh labour minister Prem Prakash Pandey has

hailed the slew of labour reforms announced by Prime

Minister Narendra Modi. Speaking recently at a conference of

state labour ministers at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, he said

the new Labour Inspection Scheme and the Shram Suvidha

portal launched by the central government has in one stroke

addressed a long-pending need of the industry as well as the

workers. Pandey said, “The micro, small and medium scale

industries are happy to see a formal burial of the inspector

raj.”

The minister further said, “The power to choose an indus-

trial unit for inspection is now in the hands of an algorithm

and not arbitrary labour inspectors which will largely put an

end to the harassment faced by industry. Also, employers will

be greatly relieved that they are now required to file a single

sheet in place of 80 pages complying with 16 central laws

forms.” Pandey said portability through universal account

number for employee provident fund will ensure that EPF

gets deposited in a single account even if work place changes.

He said that the state has just one regional provident fund

association office in Raipur and demanded two sub-regional

offices of PF association in Korba and Raigarh.

The labour minister acknowledged that the introduction

of a single window for online registration of units, reporting

of inspections, submission of annual returns and redressal of

grievances is a move towards ‘Minimum Government,

Maximum Governance’ promised by the PM, while expressing

happiness at the fillip given to skill development with the

union labour ministry sharing 50 per cent of the stipend dur-

ing the first two years of training, under the Apprentice

Protsahan Yojana. “For the workers, the Shram Suvidha

labour facilitation portal will deliver easy portability of EPF

accounts by linking them bank accounts and also significant-

ly help to unlock the Rs 27,000-cr of unclaimed EPF deposit

lying with the Centre,” he said’.

RAIPUR

RAIPUR.............................................................................................................

RAIPUR

5 OCTOBER 20 TO OCTOBER 26 , 2014 (MP & CG)MADHYA PRADESH

School children of M.P. creat-

ed a new world record on Global

Handwashing Day, which was

held earlier jointly by Argentina,

Peru and Mexico. In these 3

countries, 740870 people had

created this record by simultane-

ous handwashing at different

places on October 14, 2011. M.P.

is the only state, which has sur-

passed the joint record of 3 coun-

tries.

Authorised information

about handwashing by 15,46,418

students of state’s 14,429 schools

has been registered. Additional

Chief Secretary Panchayats &

Rural Development Aruna

Sharma informed that hand-

washing with soap was success-

fully done in all one lakh 14

thousand government primary

and middle schools and 80 thou-

sand anganwadis in the state.

For verification of Guinness

Book of World Records, hand-

washing was video-graphed and

recorded on mobile phones in

19,735 schools specially selected

for this purpose. Sharma said

that uncut videography done at

these schools and names of stu-

dents participating in the event

will be presented to Guinness

Book of World Records, which

will officially announce creation

of new world record of hand-

washing after verification.

Sanitationnecessary toremaindisease-free

Sanitation is necessary for

“Disease-free life - Prime

Happiness”. This sanitation mes-

sage was given by C.M. Shivraj

Singh Chouhan on Global

Handwashing Day by getting

hands of girl students washed

with soap at the state level pro-

gramme at Government Girls

Higher Secondary School here

recently. With this began the

process of creating world record

of mass handwashing.

Chouhan said that etiquettes

of sanitation and hygiene exist in

India for thousands of years. In

olden times, elders did not allow

anyone enter the household

without washing hands and feet.

He urged to make beginning of

sanitation from one’s own house,

neighbourhood and school.

M.P. creates new worldrecord on GlobalHandwashing Day As a result of state government’s efforts to

promote organic farming in M.P., organic agricul-ture production in M.P. has risen to 5 lakh MT. Itis about 40 percent of country’s total organic pro-duction.

60 lakh employmentopportunities possible

Cotton, wheat, food grains, fruits and vegeta-bles are mainly produced through organic farmingin the state. According to a study of ASSOCHAM,M.P. has the potential of produce wealth of Rs. 23thousand crore through organic farming. This cangenerate 60 lakh employment opportunities. Inthe state, 45 percent arable land is conducive toorganic farming.

According to Agriculture and AgricultureProcessed Food Export Development Authority(APEDA), only 88 kg per hectare non-organic fer-tilisers among NPK fertilisers are used in M.P.,which is much less than 144 kg per hectarenational average. In the state, 29 lakh hectareland has been found suitable for organic farming.The state government is promoting organic farm-ing through programmes of village-to-village con-tact with farmers about bio-farming and benefitsof organic farming. In M.P., 1565 villages aredoing organic farming.

Future possibilitiesM.P. holds good possibilities for organic farm-

ing. Since M.P. is the largest organic cotton pro-ducer, it has large-scale possibilities for producingorganic textile products for Western countries.This will help textile companies and retail compa-nies to export their organic products. Due toincreasing awareness towards environment andhealth, organic food industries is growing by 20

percent in India. This will provide better opportu-nities to companies associated with organic foodgrains including organic oil, food grains, juice,dairy products etc. Trend of organic pharmacystores has increased much in western countriesand metropolitan cities of India. This has openedup new opportunities for pharma companies.

It is noteworthy that demand of organic prod-ucts is increasing continuously in the world.Organic farming is being done in over 47 lakhhectare in India producing 12 lakh 40 thousandMT products. As many as 135 products are export-ed from India. Their total quantity is one lakh 94thousand MT including 16 thousand 300 MTorganic textiles.

Organic products are mainly exported toAmerica, European Union, Canada, Switzerland,Australia, New Zealand, South Asian Countries,Middle-East and South Africa. This includes 70percent soybean, 6 percent food grains, 5processed food products, 4 percent Basmati riceand remaining items include pulses, dry fruits,spices, sugar, tea etc. In view of health hazardsdue to agriculture products grown using chemicalfertilisers, demand of organic products is con-stantly increasing in the world. America is thebiggest market of organic food grains and bever-ages. On the contrary, maximum organic productsare being produced in developing countries.

Organic agriculture productionin MP rises to 5 lakh MT

3-day National Organic Festivalgets underway at Mandla

A 3-day National OrganicFestival was inaugurated by ZilaPanchayat President SampatiyaUikay at Mahatma GandhiStadium in Mandla recently.During the festival, farmers’ sym-posium will be held on organic andtraditional farming and organicfood. Chief Minister Shivraj SinghChauhan will conclude the festivalon October 20. It is noteworthy that80 percent farming in Mandla dis-trict is done through organicmethod. The need is that these 80percent farmers are selected andmade experts in this field. Suchfarmers have been invited toOrganic Festival, whose organic

product business can be linked withtraders and marketing system isstrengthened. It is matter of pridethat tribal-dominant Mandla andDindori districts have been selectedat the national level for propagating

organic farming. Various scientistswill inform farmers about differentorganic farming methods during the3-day event. After learning thesemethods, farmers will make agricul-ture a profitable occupation as per

wish of Chief Minister ShivrajSingh Chauhan. Some new tech-niques have to be adopted for takingmore yield in limited land in tribalareas. Farmers will learn to use newtechniques through Kisan JaivikMela and increase their production.It is hoped that Mandla district willsucceed in giving identity to organicfarming throughout the country.

State has pride ofmaximum certifiedorganic farming

It is noteworthy that MP hasthe pride of maximum certifiedorganic farming in the country. Thestate has immense potential of

organic farming. The state govern-ment has initiated a number ofsteps in view of importance of agri-culture in growth of state’s econo-my. State’s agriculture is a mix ofagricultural and non-agriculturalactivities, which is a source of liveli-hood for various institutions andpersons. Organic farming will playan important role in state’s agricul-ture growth. The state governmentis committed to making agriculturea profitable occupation. For this,strategy of organic farming hasbeen chalked out to ensureresources management, technicaldevelopment, wide publicity andresearch for increasing productionto attain growth rate equal to pro-gressive states.

Bhopal

Bhopal

Bhopal

6 OCTOBER 20 TO OCTOBER 26 , 2014 (MP & CG)EDITORIAL

espite the camels' new status in

Rajasthan and an ongoing animal rights

campaign to end the annual sacrifice, sen-

ior Tonk royal family member Nawab Hamid Ali

Khan told he had not felt pressure to end the

practice. "The 150-year-old tradition ends now to

save the animal and to maintain peace and com-

munal harmony in the Tonk district," Hamid

said. A male goat would be sacrificed instead.

According to census data, there are only 322,000

camels left in Rajasthan state, down from

668,000 animals in 1997. Rajasthan says a law

may now be required to outlaw camel sacrifice

altogether.

D

e always talk of keep-ing our environmentclean. But, then again,

we are the only ones who pol-lute it. Swachh BharatAbhiyan launched on 2ndOctober 2014 stresses on aClean India. Prime Ministerhas appealed to each andevery one of us to maintaincleanliness in our homes andlocalities. Under these circum-stances, it will be interestingto see how people are going tocelebrate Diwali this time,when this is one festival whichcreates the maximum pollu-tion in a year just, that too,within a short duration.

Can we follow a GreenDiwali this time? GreenDiwali is not a new concept.Keeping the impact of environ-mental pollution in mind, itshould be our duty to play anenvironmental friendly andgreen diwali this time. And itis not that tough. If we havethe will, we can do it. First of

all, let us replace the electriclights by burning earthenlamps or diyas. The age oldtradition is much better thanthe new trend of decoratinghomes with electric lights. Nodoubt, this consumes more oilbut there will be less pollutionas the duration of the diyas isshorter. Plus, it looks beauti-ful. It is easy to say “stopbursting fire crackers” but inreality it is difficult to do so.After all, how can we stop allof a sudden an age-old tradi-tion? It is better to purchasecrackers from legal shops,where the packets are proper-ly labelled with the manufac-turer’s name, the instructions,the name of the item, includ-ing the decibel level.Nowadays, environmentalfriendly crackers are alsoavailable which produce lesssmoke and sound. Peopleshould reduce the amount ofpurchase of fire crackers. Hereare some precautions which

every one of us should follow:Select a common open space inyour locality to burst crackerswith all friends, family mem-bers and others from yourcommunity. Try lighting noise-less crackers.

Make sure to clean thatarea the very next day andthrow the garbage in the allo-cated space. Make rangolisusing ingredients available in

our homes and kitchen shelveslike as rice powder for white,turmeric or pulses for yellow,sindoor for red, including freshflowers.

By observing an environ-ment friendly Green Diwali,we as citizens of this country,can make our little contribu-tion towards the society, theenvironment as well asSwachh Bharat Abhiyan.

SwachhBharat

Abhiyan:Can we

celebrateGreenDiwali

this time?

Rajasthan royal family

not to sacrifice camelsA royal family in Rajasthan has reportedly announced that it will no longersacrifice camels as part of a religious feast. The Tonk royal family has been

sacrificing two camels every year since 1864 and giving the meat to the poor aspart of the Eid Al-Adha festival. But camels have now been named the stateanimal of Rajasthan, making it illegal to hunt or kill them, so the family hasdecided to put an end to the tradition. From next Eid Al-Adha, the family will

not sacrifice camels.

W

New Delhi: In order to check the rising prices ofpotato and improve domestic supplies, the govern-ment is planning to import potatoes for the first time.

The prices in some retail markets have gone up byRs 6-10 per kg since September 1. Potato prices havebeen rising in many cities because of rising demanddue to the festive seasons. Retails prices of potato inDelhi are in the range of Rs 34-40 a kg.

“We are taking all possible measures to controlthe rising prices,” Agriculture Minister Radha MohanSingh said recently. National AgriculturalCooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd(Nafed) and SFAC are expected to soon float tendersfor this purpose.

Retail prices have increased in almost all themarkets except Bengaluru where local produced cropfrom Hasan is arriving in market. Prices haveincreased this year due to less storage of potato cropin cold storages in major producing regions, SFACsaid in its monthly report for September.

A high high-powered group - comprising secre-taries from the departments of food, agriculture andconsumer affairs was recently constituted to keep awatch on prices of essential commodities. A dailyreport on retail price situation in four major metros issent to the Prime Minister's Office.

7 OCTOBER 20 TO OCTOBER 26 , 2014 (MP & CG)Commerce

Make “Digital MP” for “Digital India”: CM

Industries made “Made in MP Brand” as state’s identity

Chief Minister Shivraj SinghChauhan has urged for making “DigitalMP” for “Digital India”. He exhortedyouths to dream big and cooperate inmaking India prosperous. Chauhanwas addressing inaugural function ofTechnosearch-2014 of Maulana AzadNational Institute of Technology hererecently. He also inspected Rolta incu-bation centre and inaugurated a shop-ping complex on the institute’s premis-es.

The Chief Minister said that thestate will be developed as manufactur-ing hub. MP will become driving force ofcountry’s economy. Youths should comeforward and partner in building a newMP. They should become entrepreneursand employers instead of job-seekers.He said that every dream can be ful-filled through persistence, passion andperseverance.

Venture Capital Fund has beenestablished in MP to promote innova-tions of entrepreneurs. Schemes likeMukhyamantri Yuva Udyami Yojanaand Mukhyamantri Yuva SwarozgarYojana have been implemented. Ideas orsuggestions for MP’s progress can beposted on “Ideas for CM” website, headded. He said that MP’s growth and

agriculture growth rates are the highestin the country now. Attention is beingpaid to “Digital MP” for realising PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s dream of“Digital India”. MP will be developed asmost developed state of country andworld. Stress is being laid on invest-ment to transform the state. Youthsshould cooperate in laying a network ofsmall and cottage industries.

Vishnu Dutt Sharma said thatyouths’ role is vital in country’s develop-ment. Institution’s Director K.K.

Appukuttan said that academics, indus-tries and government should work intandem for country’s integrated devel-opment. Students Union’s PresidentHarshit vastava threw light onTechnosearh-2014. During the 3-dayevent, 60 competitions will be held. TheChief Minister released institute’snewsletter “MANIT News Wagon”.Student Union’s Advisor Dr. ShailendraKumar Jain proposed a vote of thanks.Dean Dr. R.M. Sarwaiyya was also pres-ent on the occasion.

Bhopal

State has farmer-friendly gov-ernment initiating a numbermeasures for their welfare. We willrelent only after making agricul-ture a profitable occupation. Stateis on top in the country in agricul-ture growth rate. This was statedby Chief Minister Shivraj SinghChauhan at Kisan Diwas pro-gramme organised by John DeereWorks on the first anniversary ofits plant near Khambata in Dewasdistrict recently. The ChiefMinister said that products manu-factured here will have their ownidentity. “Make in MP Brand” willcarve out a distinct identity of thestate. Agriculture MinisterGaurishankar Bisen, IndustriesMinister Yashodhara Raje Scindia,

Minister of State for SchoolEducation Deepak Joshi, JohnDeere's Managing DirectorSatish Nadigar, MP ManoharUntwal, MLAs Sarv RajendraVerma, Ashish Sharma andBahadur Mukati were present onthe occasion.

Skilled manpower tobe raised in state

The Chief Minister distributedtractor golden keys to farmers atthe programme and inaugurated acustom hiring centre. The ChiefMinister said that the MP is devel-oping as an industrial state at arapid pace. Global Investors Meetwas held successfully recently.Ultramodern industries are beingestablished in the state. Giving

example of John Deere plant, theChief Minister said that he did not

see such an ultramodern planteven in Germany. Skilled manpow-er will be raised in the state.Chauhan asked John Deere toimpart skill development trainingalso apart from providing jobs toyouths.

State first inagriculture sector

The Chief Minister said thatarea under irrigation in the statehas been increased to 27 lakh 50thousand hectares. Narmada andKshipra rivers have been inter-linked in view of requirement ofwater in Malwa region. KaliSindh, Parwati and other riverswill also be inter-linked. The ChiefMinister advised farmers to useridge and furrow method so that

production is not affected in rainyseason. Agriculture MinisterGaurishankar Bisen said that pro-duction has increased manifold asa result of farmer-friendly policiesin the state. A provision of 40 per-cent subsidy on sugarcane har-vester machines has been made inthe state in sugarcane producingdistricts. A target has been set toset up 450 custom hiring centres inthe state this year.

The RAP project team is goingto hold consultative meetings withthe Dima Hasao AutonomousCouncil members along with theForest Department authoritiesand the local village heads. Theteam is also pushing for a resolu-tion against hunting of Amur fal-cons in Umrangso.

Bhopal

Govt to importpotato to check

rising prices

Cabinet Secretary reviews preparednessin wake of Ebola crisis

The Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth chaired a high levelmeeting here recently to review the state of preparedness inthe context of emerging global crisis on Ebola. In a video con-ferencing with Chief Secretaries/ Health Secretaries of 19states/UTs which have international airport/ seaport, he tookstock of the measures being undertaken for strengthening thepreparedness, surveillance and response system in the respec-tive states.

Health Secretary, Home Secretary, Shipping Secretary andSecretaries/ representatives of Departments of HealthResearch, Civil Aviation and External Affairs were also pres-ent. The protocol/ preparedness measures including infectioncontrol practices to be followed by the States/UTs have alreadybeen communicated to the states. The State Governments

informed during the meeting that these protocols have beenput in place and all inbound passengers are being screened.

Till October 15, 2014, 22150 passengers have beenscreened of which 7 were identified to be at medium risk and56 at high risk while the others were categorised at low risk.

Low risk passengers are given general advice on the viruswhile medium and high risk passengers are kept under obser-vation for a further period of 30 days and their blood samplestested. A tracking system has been put in place under theIntegrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP). No caseof Ebola has so far been reported in the country althoughWHO has reported about 9000 cases and 4493 deaths globally.State Governments informed that in accordance with the pro-tocol, they have identified hospitals and isolation ward forEbola treatment.

New Delhi

The 3rd International Tourism Mart,organized by the Ministry of Tourism,Government of India, in association withthe North Eastern States and West Bengalwas officially inaugurated in Shillong,Meghalaya recently. The InternationalTourism Mart was inaugurated by Dr.Mukul Sangma, C.M. of Meghalaya in thepresence of pad Naik, Union Minister ofState for Tourism and Culture. pad Naiksaid that there has been a substantialincrease in inbound tourism during therecent months.

There has been a growth of 16.9 percent in Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) inIndia during August, 2014 over August,2013 as compared to a growth of 9.1 percent registered in August, 2013 overAugust, 2012, he said. Similarly the growthrate of FTA’s in July 2014 was three timesthe growth realized in the correspondingmonth of 2013.

pad Naik said that the TourismMinistry is working out an action plan forcleanliness of tourism spots in the country.This is sought to be done with the activeparticipation of the private sector in order

to build up the necessary tourism infra-structure which will facilitate travel andhospitality, he said. Naik said that theCentral Government has announced Rs.3000 crore for development of Nationalhighways and State roads in the NorthEastern region of the country which willhave a positive impact on the over all devel-opment of tourism in the North East. Heurged the states to complete the centralprojects in time to enhance tourist infra-structure in the North-East.

The Minister stressed the need todevelop niche and the InnovativeTourism Products and Services whichshould be the focus areas for StateGovernments and the Private Sector. The

Minister elaborated that concertedefforts are required to develop AdventureTourism, Eco Tourism, Rural Tourismincluding Home Stays, Birding Tours etcin the region. He asked the North-Eastern States to prepare a tourism fes-tival calendar well in advance and takeup publicity of the same both in domesticand international markets.

The Union Minister also urged the par-ticipants to discuss the new tourism prod-ucts of the North East region and to use theMart as a platform by the tourism stakeholders from the North East region tointeract with their International counter-parts and also with the tour operators fromother regions of the country.

8 OCTOBER 20 TO OCTOBER 26 , 2014 (MP & CG)Turning India

In order to provide a bet-ter environment to the laboursector of the country, PrimeMinister Narendra Modilaunched a slew of labourreform initiatives includingcomputerised inspection listsand uploading of inspectionreports within 72 hours, say-ing that better conditions forlabourers are a must toensure success of the 'Make inIndia' plan. He launched the'Shram Suvidha' portal,Universal Account Number(UAN) facility for EmployeesProvident Fund Organisation(EPFO) subscribers and alabour inspection scheme.

"The power thatSatyamev Jayate has is thesame power Shramev Jayatehas for the development ofour nation," Modi said afterthe launch. Speaking aboutthe steps to do away with theinspector raj, Modi said thatthe new inspection scheme isaimed at taking away the dis-cretionary power of theinspector and end 'InspectorRaj'. While so far the units forinspection were selected local-ly without any objective crite-ria, the new scheme envisagesthat serious matters will becovered under the mandatoryinspection list. A comput-erised list of inspections will

be generated randomly onpredetermined objective crite-ria and complaints-basedinspection will also be deter-mined centrally based on dataand evidence.

There will also be provi-sion of Emergency List forinspection of serious cases."We have replaced 16 forms,which factory owners had tofill, with one form, which isavailable online. Now com-puter draw will decide whichinspector (labour) will go forinspection to which factoryand he will have to upload his

report online in 72 hours."These facilities are what Icall minimum government,maximum governance. I havebeen hearing about 'inspectorraj' since childhood," Modisaid. Amongst other reforms,wage ceiling was also raisedfrom Rs 6,500 to Rs 15,000per month and a minimumpension has also been intro-duced for the first time, soafter retirement, a persongets at least Rs 1,000 permonth.

Through UAN, employeeswill no longer have to apply

for transfer of provident fund(PF) accounts claim, whileswitching jobs anywhere inthe country. The EPFO is inthe process of allotting aunique portable numbertermed UAN to the employeesacross the organised sector.The unified web portal willprovide a common window foronline registration of units,reporting of inspections, sub-mission of annual returns andredressal of grievances. Aunique labour identificationnumber or LIN will also beallotted to each employerafter registration. Modi saidthat initiatives have beentaken for development ofentrepreneurship for theindustry and ensuring labourwelfare. He also lauded theefforts of the labour ministryand said it efforts were agreat example of how tochange the work culture.Commenting on the reforms,FISME President, Dr DGandhikumar said the movewould help get rid of theInspector Raj. Further, itwould go a long way to helpthe industry grow. Withregard to the UAN number,he said that SMEs have beenlamenting the issue for a longtime. The decision wouldhelp mobility of labourersfrom one place to another.

New Delhi

Computer to create labour inspection lists;Modi promises to do away with inspector raj

Int’l Tourism Mart opened in Shillong; Tourism Ministryworking out action plan for cleaning of tourist spots

Woman athletebranded witch,severely beaten

SHILLONG

An Indian athlete has described how she wastied up and severely beaten after being branded awitch in her village in Assam. Debjani Bora, ajavelin thrower who has won several gold medals,fears her injuries may prevent her representingIndia in a forthcoming Asian contest.

One woman has been arrested for inciting acrowd to attack Ms Bora. Witch hunts targetingwomen are common in parts of India and a num-ber of those accused are killed every year.

Experts say superstitious beliefs are behindsome of these attacks, but there are occasionswhen people - especially widows - are targeted fortheir land and property. The latest incident tookplace recently in Ms Bora's home village in theremote hill district of Karbi Anglong, where shealso makes a living as a farm worker and liveswith her husband and three children.

’Targeted’She was blamed in the wake of the deaths of

four people in the village, including one man whotook his own life. Police said villagers dragged herto a community prayer hall to face a "public trialon charges of being a witch". Ms Bora recountedher experience to journalists.

"Instead of finding out why all the deathsoccurred, some village elders suspected a witchwas driving the people to death and organised aprayer. As the villagers were chanting hymns, oneelderly woman identified me as the witch andshouted that I should be punished," she said. "Iwas blamed for all these deaths in the village,wrapped up in fishing nets and beaten up severe-ly." Karbi Anglong police chief Mugdha JyotiMahanta said one woman has been arrested afterMs Bora's family filed a complaint with the police."We suspect that she may have targeted Ms Borafor personal reasons," Mahanta said.

Branding women as witches is particularlyprevalent among tribal communities and tea plan-tation workers in Assam. Nearly 90 people, most-ly women, have been beheaded, burnt alive orstabbed to death after such accusations over thelast five years, police say.

Karbi Anglong (Assam)

Andhra Pradesh is using lat-est technology tools to gather first-hand information about thedestruction caused by CycloneHudhud. As per initial estimates,several small and medium indus-tries have reported huge losses,even as the railway and power sec-tor particularly in Visakhapatnamhas suffered heavy damage.

Extensive damage has beenreported at Visakhapatnam air-port; and it has been estimatedthat repairs to roof, lounge, etcwould take several months to com-plete. C.M. N Chandrababu Naiduhas appealed to people to uploadpictures and videos of uprootedindustries, trees, breached roads,damaged buildings, crops andinundated areas. Further, theNational Remote Sensing Agency(NRSA) has been asked to do themapping.

"The uploaded pictures will beautomatically integrated withNRSA data and this will help thegovernment in assessing the dam-ages and mobilising required menand material to reach upto the lastpoint," he said here. Naidu saidthis would help the government inundertaking rescue and reliefoperations in an efficient manner.

People having smartphones candownload the mobile app fromwww.bhuvan.nrsc.gov.in andupload the pictures. ChandrababuNaidu's Cabinet is expected to bein Visakhapatnam as theGovernment focuses on bringinglife back to normal in the districtsof Visakhapatnam, Srikakulamand Vizianagaram which bore thebrunt of the cyclonic fury.According to the State's Revenue(Disaster Management)Department, many trees wereuprooted in the region, which waspounded by rains and gale windsat speeds ranging from 170 to 180kmph. In addition, railway lineshave been badly damaged inVisakhapatnam, while the airporthas been affected as heavy down-pour and gusty winds downed hun-dreds of electric poles, trees and

hoardings and blew away light-weight objects and vulnerable roof-tops. The government said thatdistrict officials, heads of depart-ments and every governmentemployee would be on field forrelief, restoration and rehabilita-tion work. The CM has directedH y d e r a b a d - h e a d q u a r t e r e dNational Remote Sensing Centreto use GIS, GPS and remote sens-ing technologies to spot the dam-age and put them on the satellitethrough geo-tagging. This wouldenable the government to have thedata on damages on the map. Headded that photographs of indus-tries loss, crop loss, damagedroads, bridges, reservoirs, tanksand railway lines would be madeavailable through satellite tech-nology by Indian Space ResearchOrganisation.

9 OCTOBER 20 TO OCTOBER 26 , 2014 (MP & CG)Turning India

Rare birds welcomed again in Nagalandvillages renew pledge to save them

e-Haat Yojana forSHGs and womento be chalked out

For economic empowerment ofwomen, they will be connectedwith modern techniques of mar-keting. For this, e-Haat Yojanawill be launched. At a review meet-ing of Women’s FinanceDevelopment Corporation heldrecently, Women and ChildDevelopment Minister MayaSingh said that women need to beassociated with permanent eco-nomic sources. Only then we canmake them able and empowered inreal terms. Minister Maya Singhsaid that a permanent source ofincome should be created forwomen so that they can lead a bet-ter life. She said that it is neces-sary for this that modern market-ing techniques are adopted on thebasis of which women can moveforward. She stressed the need forconcrete efforts for training.

Reviewing Shaurya Dal activi-ties, Minster Maya Singh said thatimportance and acceptability ofthese teams has increased in soci-ety. She said that Shaurya Dalsshould be empowered so muchthat they become voice of womenliving in last row of society.

e-Haat YojanaCommissioner, Women’s

Empowerment Kalpana vastavainformed that under e-Haat Yojana,all registered & producer self-helpgroups as well as individual womanentrepreneurs will be identified andlists of their products prepared onstate and district level. Womenentrepreneurs and groups will betrained subject-wise on need-basedassessment. She said that registeredbrand name “Bharti” of Women &Child Development Department willbe used in products under e-HaatYojana. Following branding, theproducts will be linked with variouspurchasing agencies including HaatBazaar of Delhi, Suraj Kund Mela,Gwalior Mela, Bhopal Haat-Bazaarand Bhopal Utsav Mela. Producers,self-help groups and woman entre-preneurs will be informed onlineabout institutions available for mar-keting and events. The corporationwill act as a facilitator under e-HaatYojana. Apart from directly connect-ing purchasers and producers, thecorporation will also give high-levelcommercial services for quality con-trol, branding and marketing.

Hudhud: AP using latest technologyto gather info about destruction

Nagaland's Wokha District has beenbustling with excitement since the first batchof rare raptor birds Amur falcons arrived in theDoyang Reservoir area last week. Upon thearrival of their special guests, the villagers ofAshaa, Pangti and Sungro once again reaf-firmed their last year’s commitment and dedi-cation to protect the falcons with the support ofWildlife Trust of India (WTI) and the NagalandForest Department.

In their incredible journey, the Amur fal-cons (Falco amurensis), travel from Mongolia,roost in Nagaland for over a month before car-rying onwards to the African sub-continent. Aprotected species under the Convention ofMigratory Species (CMS), tens of thousands ofthese raptors congregate near the Doyangreservoir in Nagaland every year and this isbelieved to be the single largest congregationof Amur falcons recorded anywhere in India. In2012, reports from Conservation India high-lighted that majority of the birds were beinghunted, prompting a Rapid Action Project(RAP) to protect the birds by WTI and NaturalNagas with the assistance of the State Forest

Department supported by CAF India. Anawareness campaign was initiated to gain thelocal community's support and also sensitizethem on the need to conserve the visitingguests.

Awareness meetings conducted in differentparts of Wokha emphasised the ecological andethical importance of the Amur falcons andurged villagers to ensure safe passage of thesemigratory birds. The local community includ-ing the village council heads and local forestdepartment authorities enthusiastically par-

ticipated in this campaign demonstrating theirsupport to the cause. Local churches alsoplayed a key role in spreading the message ofcompassion for Amur falcon, and thus motivat-ing the community to come forward to protectthe falcons during their roosting period inNagaland. An MoU was signed and a subse-quent resolution passed by the village councilsof Pangti, Ashaa and Sungro, making huntingAmur falcons illegal and punishable, whichhelped in reaching a zero mortality rate inDoyang, by the end of the birds' roosting peri-

od. This year with the return of the birds toNagaland a 'Welcome Programme' was organ-ised by the Forest Department in the honour ofthe falcons at Pangti village, with support fromWTI and the District Administration. ForestMinister of Nagaland, Dr Nicky Kire as theChief Guest inaugurated two watch towers-one constructed by the State ForestDepartment and the other by NagalandBamboo Mission- to witness the phenomenonof mass migration of these birds.

The Minister also distributed the equip-ment given by WTI to the protection squadsconstituted in the roosting area. "The Amurfalcons also stop in Dima Hasao, which is nearKarbi Anglong, Assam, for a few weeks duringOctober and November.

During this period, the falcons are huntedand traded in Dima Hasao. Keeping the suc-cess of last year's awareness programmes, inNagaland, a Rapid Action Project has also beenstarted in the area to encourage locals to helpconserve these birds which play an importantrole in the eco-system by helping check theinsect population," said Radhika Bhagat, Headof the Wild Aid Division which carries out theRapid Action Projects.

Wokha (Nagaland)

Hyderabad

Bhopal

10 OCTOBER 20 TO OCTOBER 26 , 2014 (MP & CG)SPORTS

est Indies cricket faces a potentially cripplingfinancial crisis after a peeved India Tuesday

suspended future visits to the Caribbean followingthe abandonment last week of the tour to India. TheWest Indies cut short their tour last Friday because ofan internal pay dispute, even though the fifth one-day

international, a Twenty20 match and three Tests stillremained to be played. India retaliated by cancellinga tour scheduled for February and March 2016 to playthree Tests, five one-dayers and a Twenty20 interna-tional. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI),one of the richest bodies in world cricket, also said itwould “initiate legal proceedings” against the WestIndies but gave no details.

“All bilateral tours between BCCI and the WICB(West Indies Cricket Board) stand suspended,” BCCIsecretary Sanjay Patel said in a statement onTuesday. India’s away tours usually generate hugesponsorship money for the host nation due to thecountry’s large cricket-viewing population. “TheWICB is caught between the devil and the deep sea,”popular TV commentator Harsha Bhogle told AFP. “IfIndia don’t tour, they (WICB) won’t get the revenueneeded to implement the agreement over which they

had the dispute.” Veteran Caribbean cricket journal-ist Tony Cozier, writing on the Cricinfo website lastweek, warned that it would be disastrous for theIslands if India cancelled future tours. “With its pur-chase of broadcast rights, ground perimeter advertis-ing and sponsorship by its big corporations, India in

the Caribbean bringsmore revenue to theWICB than any othertour,” Cozier wrote.India’s cricket chiefs hadwarned of “serious action”against the West Indiesfor abandoning their tour.

Tuesday’s statementcomes after the BCCI’sworking committee heldan emergency meeting inHyderabad. West Indies

captain Dwayne Bravo had said before the start of thetour on October 8 that the players had not acceptedthe payment agreement signed on their behalf by theWest Indies Players Association. But the tourists tookto the field for three one-dayers in Kochi, New Delhiand Dharamsala, while one match in Visakhapatnamwas cancelled due to a severe storm on India’s eastcoast. The West Indies board blamed the players, say-ing it had warned the BCCI the tour was “under acloud of uncertainty from the inception” as a result of“postulations” by the players. The BCCI has alreadyfinalised a five-match one-day series against SriLanka to take place in India between November 1 and15 to replace the cancelled West Indian tour. Cuttack,Hyderabad, Kolkata and Ahmedabad, which wereoriginally due to host matches against the WestIndies, will organise the Sri Lanka games, withRanchi named as the fifth venue.

enefiting from his return to form in theabruptly-ended West Indies series,

Indian batsman Virat Kohli claimed num-ber two slot in the ICC rankings whileswing bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar brokeinto top-10 for the first time in his career.Kohli scored 191 runs, including 127 in thefinal match, in India’s 2-1 series win as hepushed South Africa’s Hashim Amla tonumber three in the list, topped by Amla’scompatriot AB de Villiers.

Indian skipper MS Dhoni was the nextbest India at number six (unchanged) whileShikhar Dhawan lost a place to be eighth.Left-handed Suresh Raina gained threeplaces to move to 15th. Bhuvneshwar tookonly two wickets in the series but hejumped seven places to number seven, justbehind Ravindra Jadeja, who slipped tosixth from fifth. Paceman MohammedShami, who ended the series as the mostsuccessful bowler with 10 for 174, vaulted

five places to 16th and has broken into thetop 20 for the first time in his career. Off-Spinner was placed at number 18, a loss oftwo spots.

In the team rankings, India remain atnumber two with 113 points, same asSouth Africa, who though have a chance tosnatch top spot from Australia (114) whenthey face New Zealand in the three-matchODI series, starting Wednesday.

A 3-0 series will put South Africaahead of the four-time world champion byone ratings point. If South Africa managesto win all the three matches against NewZealand, then it will reclaim the number-one position for the first time in five yearsafter handing over the baton to Australiafollowing its first-round elimination fromICC Champions Trophy 2009. On theother side, if New Zealand wins the series,then it will leapfrog Pakistan into sixthposition.

B

W

West Indies could facefinancial trouble if BCCI

presses for payment

Saina, Sindhu and Srikanth losein Denmark Open quarters

Forgotten Watson says his bestyears are still ahead of him

ever-ending injury concernsand a string of promising all-

rounders in the wings have notdulled Shane Watson's optimismof playing a leading role forAustralia across all formats ofcricket. As Michael Clarke's sidehave enjoyed success in the

Middle East against Pakistan,Watson has spent time rehabili-tating an unlucky ankle injurysustained after treading on a balland then a calf strain. The burly33-year-old was named onMonday in Australia's 13-mansquad for three T20 matchesagainst South Africa next monthbut breaking back into the testside may prove a more complexundertaking. Youngster MitchellMarsh is all but certain to makehis test debut against Pakistan inDubai on Wednesday and the tall23-year-old has a golden opportu-nity to make it hard for selectorsto dislodge him.

ndian shuttlershad a disappoint-

ing outing at theDenmark Open SuperSeries Premier asSaina Nehwal, P.V.Sindhu and KidambiSrikanth lost theirrespective quarter-final matches hereFriday. While 2012 LondonOlympics bronze medallistSaina lost to World No.2 ShixianWang of China 20-22, 15-21 in45 minutes while two-timeWorld Championships bronzemedal winner Sindhu wentdown 23-25, 20-22 to SouthKorea's Sung Ji Hyun. Risingmale shuttler Srikanth failed tomove past South Korea's WanHo Son, who won 23-21, 21-17 in

a 45-minute encounter at theOdense Sports Park. In thematch between Saina andShixian, the World No.7 Indianpressurised the former WorldNo.1 with her immaculate dropshots and quick movement butmissed the killer instinct in theend to lose the first game 20-22before the Chinese stamped herauthority in the second game,winning it 21-15.

I

N

ICC ODI rankings: Kohli climbs to

second, Bhuvi breaks into top 10

11 OCTOBER 20 TO OCTOBER 26 , 2014 (MP & CG)GLAMOUR

Ranbir, Katrina to get hitched in Feb? Thecomplete history of their hush-hush romance

his is because these are very specific muscles required for a 6pack and some individuals may simply not have the muscle massto bulk up. However, the youngsters -- many of them are from

small towns -- look at Shah Rukh Khan flaunting ten pack abs (!) for hisupcoming movie Happy New Year, and want to look exactly like him.Before this, there was Hrithik and the Bang Bang posters. The young-sters don’t see the time and effort that these stars put into attainingthat look, rather they tend to only see the results – which they want toattain as quickly as possible.But here’s the bad news about six packs (leave alone, the eight or ten kind).1: Genetics often dictate the effort required to attain and sustain sixpack abs. Consider that six pack abs are the “pinnacle” of body compo-sition, much like professional athletes or CEOs achieve the pinnacle oftheir respective fields. Everyone may not be a candidate for six packs.

You can achieve several fitness goals. These fitness goals are extreme-ly desirable by themselves.

2: The effort you put in to achieve six pack abs may not be sustain-able long-term. Even the leanest of the bunch, bodybuilders, only

maintain their shredded physique for a few days of the year for theircompetitions. Look at them two weeks after a competition, it’s usually awhole different story.3: Achieving six-pack abs can be a considerable undertaking, similar toclimbing a mountain. To compare this with mountaineering, researchrecommends climbing mountains over 10,000 feet high in 1,000 footstages and then resting before continuing on. Likewise, getting sixpacks is a journey.

t has been five years since reports ofRanbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif being

the "newest item" of Bollywood surfacedand now, if media reports are to be trusted,the two may be all set to tie the knot nextyear, in February.

A month ago, we heard Kaif finallyadmit that Kapoor is a "huge part" of herlife and with reports of the couple movingin together, it seems a wedding isn't farbehind. However, in the same interview, inwhich Kaif admitted her love for Kapoor,she also said marriage wasn't on the cards.Whether that was the truth or a ploy tokeep media at bay, we won't ever know for

sure but of course, that doesn't stopthe speculation machine. As far as theeagle-eyed people in the know areconcerned, it seems a lot of thingsthat indicate a wedding early nextyear. Apparently, preparations are infull-swing at the Kapoor household. In

the grand tradition of theKapoor khandan, it willprobably be a big fatPunjabi wedding. Also,Kapoor's cousin, Kareena,has already promised onnational television thatshe would dance to"Sheila ki Jawaani" andat her little brother'swedding. For all those

who feel like a nostalgiatrip or if you've somehow

managed to avoid therumours, here are the high-

lights of their five year long hush-hushromance. Back in 2009, there were rumoursthat Kapoor had 'hooked-up' with Kaif duringthe shoot of Ajab Prem Ki Gajab Kahani whilehe was still dating Deepika Padukone.Padukone dropped hints to this effect when sheappeared on Koffee With Karan with SonamKapoor. Kaif, however, continued to deny arelationship with Kapoor. In the years that fol-lowed, Kaif followed up her denials with stonysilence.

Last year, a tabloid released photographsof Kaif holidaying with Kapoor in Spain, whichwas taken as confirmation that the two weredating. After almost a fortnight of those pho-tos, Kaif finally issued a statement, but it was-n't very informative. She just requested themedia to stop carrying the images and refusedto acknowledge who she was seeing at thetime. However, the two have since been spottedat several film screenings and private partiestogether.

What it takes toget the Happy

New Year look

In thirty years of practice, I have never seenanything close to this frenzy, as men queue uplike never before for six pack abs. It’s not justyoung aspiring actors, even regular young menaged between 17 and 25 are willing to do whatever it takes to attain the perfect body.Bollywood may make it look easy, but that sixpack is not easy to attain. Many youngsters hitthe gym, but it takestremendous hardwork, and justexercising may notgive that exact rip-pling effect, in theshort time periodthat theyhave inmind.

ctress Jena Malone

will reportedly play

Carrie Kelly - “female"

Robin - in the upcoming

film Batman v Superman:

Dawn of Justice. WILX-

10 News station reporter

Kirk Montgomery spoke

with a source at Michigan

State University, where a

scene involving Bruce

Wayne (Ben Affleck) and

Lex Luthor (Jesse

Eisenberg) was being

recently filmed. “I’ve

learned that the character

of Robin is now female,”

he said, reports

variety.com. Warner Bros.

(WB) declined to com-

ment. Malone, who

appeared in “The Hunger

Games: Catching Fire,”

has been seen on the WB

set. “Batman v Superman:

Dawn of Justice”, co-star-

ring Henry Cavill and

Gal Gadot, opens March

25, 2016.

A

T

Raveena hails PM Modi'sSwachch Bharat mission

I

Jena Malone toplay the female

Robin in'Batman v Superman'?

ollywood actress Raveena Tandon Sunday praisedPrime Minister Narendra Modi's cleanliness campaign

and appealed to all to lend support to the "swachchta mis-sion." She was speaking to reporters after formally opening ajeweller's shop here Sunday evening. The actress said sheloved coming to Sri Krishna's "nagri" so revered and loved byall. She also asked all to contribute generously to relief oper-ations in Jammu and Kashmir.

B

12 OCTOBER 20 TO OCTOBER 26 , 2014 (MP & CG)

Owned Printed and Puplished byM.M. Baig. Printed at lucky, 267, Pragati Nagar, Shahanshah garden, Bhopal (MP) and published from H.No. 101, A Sector Indrapuri BHEL, Ward No. 63, Dist. Bhopal- 462021, M.P.

Tele/FAX 0755-4292545, Mob. 9425029901 [email protected] RNI No. MPENG/2012/46415 Editor: M.M. BAIG- Responsible for selection of News & Articles under PRB Act, Subject to Bhopal jurisdiction

NATION

“Vision Ambassadors” toact as the link betweendonors and eye banks

Dr Harsh Vardhan wants 5 New AIISH-like institutions across IndiaDr Harsh Vardhan, Union

Health Minister, hasannounced plans for settingup five new national levelinstitutions along the lines ofthe All India Institute ofSpeech and Hearing (AIISH),the premier centre here,which is now in its goldenjubilee year. The Ministerwould soon form a committee

to decide on the location of thenew centres. A parallelendeavour would be to set upspeech and audiology depart-ments in all medical collegesof the country that desire tohave them. A number of suchcolleges have evinced interestwhich the Ministry is consid-ering. Addressing the facultyand students of AIISH, atMysore recently, Dr Harsh

Vardhan said that preventionof communication disabilitiesand rehabilitation of patientsform a major thrust area ofhis vision of a healthy India.He pointed out that aware-ness should be drilled intonew mothers on the linkbetween some drugs that areprescribed during pregnancyand the risks they carry forthe hearing abilities of the

child after birth. He alsoasked the authorities ofAIISH to institute a rural out-reach model for the wholecountry by undertaking sur-veys in villages on the burdenof hearing and speech disor-ders. Dr Vardhan inspectedthe facilities of AIISH andinteracted with patients,audiologists and speech ther-apists.

India says tobacco firms will soonhave to reserve almost all the space oncigarette packs for health warnings

Health Minister Harsh Vardhansaid by law warnings in picturesand text would need to cover 85% ofthe surface of packs - just 15%would be for branding. The newrules will be in force withinmonths, he said, adding: "Tobaccomeans nothing else except death."

India has about 11 crore smok-ers and the government says smok-ing kills nearly a million people ayear.

Government orders on new pic-torial warnings have faced stiffresistance from tobacco manufac-turers and the deadline for imple-menting them have been postponeda couple of times in the past. Thenew rules take effect from 1 Aprilnext year and the health ministrysaid printed warnings will need tobe carried on the front and back ofcigarette packs, with highly visible

pictorial warnings as well as theinformation that "tobacco causesmouth cancer". In 2010, two toptobacco manufacturers in Indiahalted production in a row over newhealth warnings they wererequired to put on their packaging.

In recent years, India has comeup with stringent rules to curb theuse of tobacco. Tobacco-relatedadvertisements are banned and thesale of tobacco products to minors isalso an offence. A countrywide banon smoking in public places cameinto effect in 2008 - although it isblatantly flouted and poorlyenforced.

Diesel price to be market determined

The Union Cabinet Committeeof Economic Affairs, chaired by thePrime Minister Narendra Modi,has approved the issues relating tothe under-recovery on sale of dieseland its present status. Instructionshave been issued to make the priceof Diesel market determined witheffect from midnight of 18th-19thOctober 2014. The prices of Dieselwill be market determined at bothRetail and Refinery Gate level forall consumers thereafter.

Based on an earlier decision ofthe Cabinet Committee on PoliticalAffairs (CCPA), instructions wereissued to the Public Sector OilMarketing Companies (OMCs)

allowing them to increase the retailselling price of Diesel in the rangeof 40 paisa to 50 paisa per litre permonth (excluding VAT as applicablein different States/UnionTerritories) till further orders.

Diesel prices will henceforth bemarket determined. This will facili-tate greater competition in the AutoFuels Retail segment and enhanceefficiency in service delivery of theoil companies.

This is expected to benefit con-sumers due to greater competitionamong oil companies and morechoices. The competition is alsoexpected to foster greater efficiencyin oil companies benefitting theconsumers.

r Harsh Vardhan, Union Health Minister, has wel-comed the launch of the “Vision Ambassador”

scheme of The Project Vision, Bangalore. “This is a sig-nificant step towards greater coordination between thedonor and the recipient. It is also a form of building up asocial movement over eye pledging,” he remarked.

The programme will be based on the work of volun-teers who will be called “Vision Ambassadors”. Theywould act as the link between donors and eye bankswhich is missing at present. More than 10,000 peoplehave already pledged their eyes with The Project Visionand 1,000 people have been declared “VisionAmbassadors.” The Minister, who has himself pledgedhis entire body, said the government will be workingwith NGOs in promoting the concept of eye donation.

“There are many lapses on the part of both thedonors’ families and the eye banks in implementing thewishes of a donor. Often the bereaved family membersforget to call the eye banks so that the cornea is takenaway swiftly. At other times, the collectors fail to turn upon time,” he noted. Dr Vardhan has decided to review theprogress of the National Programme for Control ofBlindness (NPCB) with a view to toning up its imple-mentation. The Minister, who was speaking at an eventat Bangalore recently to mark World Sight Day,remarked that he would ensure that the funds ear-

marked for NPCB for the 12th Plan period (2012-17) areutilised optimally and that he would raise the matterwith the state governments.

NPCB was launched in 1976 as a 100 percentCentrally- funded scheme with a goal to reduce theprevalence of blindness. However, the rate has notshown much appreciable difference even after 28 years,the Minister noted. The Rapid Survey on AvoidableBlindness conducted during 2006-07 showed a reductionin the prevalence of avoidable blindness from 1.1 percentin 2000 to 1 percent in 2006. NPCB has now targeted tobring down the prevalence of blindness to 0.3 percent by2020 from the present level of 1 percent.

The Health Minister appreciated the work done bythe alliance of ophthalmologists, social workers, faith-based organisations and ordinary citizens in fighting thescourge of blindness. In Karnataka the prevalence ofblindness is 13 percent, markedly above the nationalaverage of 8 percent.

India has the largest burden of global blindness–about 3.5 million with 30,000 new cases being addedeach year. Only about 35,000 corneas are collected in thecountry each year whereas 150,000 are needed to combatcorneal blindness. Father George Kananthanam,Director, The Project Vision, urged the government toactively promote the cornea donation culture in educa-tional institutions.

New Delhi

D

New Delhi

New Delhi

New Delhi