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Three-day Dialogue

To Talk Development Where It Matters Most The three-day Kalahandi Dialogue has resolved to speed up the development process of the district and conserve its cultural heritage

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Kalahandi

Robin Keshaw

W

hen you hear of Kalahandi what are the visuals cropping up in your mental imagery?

Picture of a poor tribal Dana Manjhi, who walked for 10 km carrying his

Quick Glance Kalahandi was associated with backwardness and starvation

In the 1980s, Kalahandi became a synonym of poverty

‘Talking development where it matters the most’ was the theme

Oct 15 - 21, 2018

dead wife’s body on his shoulders, because he was denied the medical support? Or the image of abject poverty-ridden, hungry Odiya tribes?

One can be excused for this painted imagery, for this is what national mainstream media has projected for years. The phrase ‘Kalahandi Syndrome’ has been loosely used to demonstrate the state’s failure in reaching to its own citizens in a place which is considered resource-rich.

“What I witnessed here is completely divergent from what I have read or heard about Kalahandi”, Shrikant Wad, a research associate with IIM, Ahmedabad says. “I am yet to visit the inner pockets, but if the development at Bhawanipatna district headquarters is even a part indicator, things are not as bad as they have been projected.” Shrikant was part of a panel discussion at Kalahandi Dialogue, a three-day development conference organised

by Odisha government to highlight the development discourse. Shrikant

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated India’s largest development conclave Kalahandi Dialogue at Bhawanipatna

was a part of the panel which discussed the ‘voices from youth in development policies.’

For decades, Kalahandi has been synonymous with poverty, hunger, migration and trafficking.

Development professionals and agencies have visited Kalahandi for the ‘poverty tourism’, offered their reproach and criticism and left the place. Kalahandi remained the same – poor, underdeveloped and neglected.

Things, they say, are changing though.

Kalahandi has become the second largest rice producing district in Odisha now. As per National Family

Health Survey-3, the infant mortality rate was 91 in 2000-01. In 2015-16, it was 40 as against national average of 41. The percentage of reduction is 56 per cent. The maternal mortality rate has also seen an impressive drop.

From MMR of 424 in 2000-01 to 222 in 2012-13, the change in percentage is 47 per cent.

Winds of change

Kalahandi district, located in the south-western part of Odisha state, borders Chhattisgarh state.

Kalahandi literally means ‘pot of arts’.

This name has been possibly derived

Kalahandi

Oct 15 - 21, 2018

from “Gudahandi Caves” containing pre-historic paintings in red and black colours. It is well known, not only for its rich flora, fauna, and minerals but also as a representative of Odisha’s rich cultural heritage.

Kalahandi, along with Koraput and Bastar, was part of Kantara referred in Ramayana and Mahabharata. After Indian independence, Kalahandi joined with the Union of India on 1 January 1948.

Geographically, Kalahandi is located at the crossroads of Southern and Western Odisha. It is naturally endowed with lush green forests and beautiful waterfalls. The region is not only gifted with natural wealth but has a very rich cultural heritage as well. It is well inhabited by a significant tribal population which has maintained its originality even till now. The beautiful amalgamation of tribal culture, tradition, languages, and belief with that of the mainstream Hindu culture have made Kalahandi region rich with culture and festivals.

Chhatar Jatra, Khandabasa, and Nuakhai are among the major festival celebrated here. Some of the dance forms found in Kalahandi are Dalkhai, Jaiphula, Rasarkeli, Sajani, Ghumura, etc. The language spoken by the people of Kalahandi is known as Kalahandia, a local dialect of Odia.

However, in recent times, it is never mentioned for its rich natural and cultural heritage. In the keynote address for the conclave, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said, “In the last few years, Kalahandi has scripted a new story. It is the story of growth and resilience. All the credit goes to the people of Kalahandi.

Transformation of Kalahandi is visible. It has now become the grain basket of Odisha. The area under irrigation in the district has increased

from 1,15,000 ha in 2000-01 to 1,32,000 ha in 2017-18. The district has witnessed massive infrastructure development.

The turnaround was possible only due to sheer perseverance and hard work of the people of Kalahandi.”

“Over the past two decades, Kalahandi has witnessed massive infrastructure development - physical and social. A new government medical college and hospital will also come up in Bhawanipatna. The district has also partaken in the industrial boom that is happening in Odisha. Inclusive growth has always been the focus of my government and Kalahandi is one of the finest examples of our model of development,” he pointed out. In his opinion, right policy planning and its effective implementation on the ground has led to this massive transformation of Kalahandi district.

It is in this context Kalahandi Dialogue was organised to change the narrative around the largescale development it has seen in recent times. The conclave was an opportunity to showcase the development works undertaken by the government over the years and its impact on the ground. At the

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The draft declaration comprising various proposals to transform the district into a developed region was finalised and submitted to the United Nations and the Central and State governments for support and action

same time, it was an invitation for the outside world to take a peep into this development journey and contribute to the growing discourse around development.

Setting the tone

Kalahandi Dialogue is quite an aspirational idea as the development discourse hasn’t yet moved out of the metro cities in India. For that purpose, it was important that the conclave kickstarts in an emphatic manner.

Subroto Bagchi, the co-founder of Mindtree and Chairman of Odisha Skill Development Council, was the right choice for the keynote speaker.

Being an Odia himself, he stressed on

the enterprising and resolute nature of Odias and how Kalahandi has demonstrated these values over the years.

He quoted the example of Sadananda Satpathy and his wife Ambika Satpathy, founders of the meat and poultry startup Zoo Fresh. Ambika worked as a financial analyst in the hospitality sector and her husband was employed by the Ministry of Defence in manufacturing and supply sector for eight years.

But when the call from motherland became impossible to ignore, they landed up in Kalahandi and started setting up their business. Their enterprise provides an assured market

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Kalahandi

for rural producers while ensuring hygienic and healthy supply of meat products to consumers. Within only two years they have employed more than 100 people directly and became one of the top 20 agri-startups in the country.

Bagchi also quoted another entrepreneur, Dipak Sahoo, a confectioner/sweet maker from Junagarh in Kalahandi who has become an inspiration for many by using innovative methods in business and using his business as a vehicle for social development. Bagchi mentioned three important ‘I’s in the development of a region. The first I stand for identity, a strong desire to create self-identity. He explained how the confidence in one’s own identity prepares the socio-demographic unit to take on the challenges. The Second I is individual progress, which factors in the socio-economic progress of the individuals. The last I is for institutional progress, which is achieved by a collaborative approach between administration, civil society and the local population. He said that Kalahandi has shown progress on all three fronts and hence, it is imminent that it will scale up the development charts in years to come.

Sujeet Kumar, the Chairperson of Kalahandi Dialogue delivered the welcome address. He explained the reason behind creating this collaborative platform to engage the youth in development dialogue and action. Highlighting the need of such a forum, Kumar stressed the need of interrogating development from the grassroots and see this from people’s perspective instead of imposing the ideas of development from above.

Oct 15 - 21, 2018

Interview

Kalahandi has been a victim of perception: Sujeet Kumar Kumar’s pain is understandable. Kalahandi evokes a patronising and sympathetic response from any outsider, which obscures the real challenges of the region

S

ujeet Kumar is a busy man.

His brainchild, Kalahandi Dialogue was off to a flying start and he wanted to ensure that it ends on a great note too. His observant eyes were following each and every minute details of the program, be it the arrangement of the chairs on the stage or the travel schedule of the panellists. Sujeet is the Chairperson of Kalahandi Dialogue. In his role as OSD cum Special Secretary of Odisha State Planning Board, he was given this responsibility by Odisha Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik.

“I belong to Kalahandi. Growing up, all I heard about Kalahandi were – hunger deaths, starvation, abject poverty. But, in last 20 years, a lot of development has taken place in Kalahandi which the outside world is not aware of. For example, Kalahandi has secured the top rankings in agriculture amongst all the aspirational districts identified

by NITI Aayog. Kalahandi has the highest per capita rice production amongst all the districts in Odisha.

This is the same district which was unable to feed its people 20 years back. We want to showcase this remarkable success story to the world,” tells Sujeet Kumar with an unusual mix of pain and pride in his eyes. “Kalahandi has been a victim

Niranjan Pujari, the Minister of Urban Development and Water Resources of Government of Odisha asserted that Kalahandi Dialogue is the right platform to celebrate the glory of Kalahandi. The development process of Kalahandi is not known to many people, he mentioned.

That is why Kalahandi Dialogue will do a yeoman service in explaining the history and the current in the context of Kalahandi.

Pratap Jena, Minister of Health, Law, I&PR congratulated Kalahandi Dialogue for the unique initiative and he strongly believed that Kalahandi

of perception and we wanted to change that through this dialogue” Kumar’s pain is understandable.

Kalahandi evokes a patronising and sympathetic response from any outsider, which obscures the real challenges of the region.

“Development discourse in our country is quite centralised. It is quite ironical to sit in Delhi or Bhubaneswar and talk about poverty, agriculture and rural development. I find it quite amusing that people sit in Taj Mansingh or India Habitat Centre and deliver talks on development issues. There is an urgent need to take the development discourse to the place where it matters the most. What would be a better place than Kalahandi to discuss poverty, hunger, development, art, culture and heritage?” Sujeet Kumar walks as he explains the motivation behind Kalahandi Dialogue.

The confidence in Kumar’s voice is infectious. He attributes this confidence to the real, on-ground experience of change which he has witnessed over the time. “One of the biggest boons for this region was the commissioning of Indravati dam project and subsequent constructions of numerous water channels for irrigation. It has happened over the course of the

is slated to be going to capture the global imagination of development and policy experts through Kalahandi Dialogue. Talking about local development, he assured that Government of Odisha has decided to make the Kalahandi Medical College and Hospital ready in two years.

Ramesh Majhi, Minister of SC & ST, Minorities & Backward Classes Development, highlighted the beauty and uniqueness of Kalahandi. He mentioned the coexistence of wisdom from the modern development of Kalahandi and the ancient

last 20-25 years and I must give credit to all the governments at the state and central level for this mega project. Indravati dam has changed the face of development at Kalahandi. Earlier, there was a drought every alternate year and farmers were unable to produce more than one crop a year. Now, they are consistently cropping at least twice, if not more, every year,” says Kumar.

“A region’s development is contingent upon the road infrastructure because even development needs to find its way to enter that region,” he jokes with a serious face. “Today, you will find road connectivity to even the remotest area of Kalahandi, which was unthinkable a decade

knowledge from the primitive tribals like Dongria Kondh in Kalahandi. He also shared how Kalahandi is no more a punishment post in government or private jobs. People who are coming to Kalahandi don’t want to leave the place, he asserted.

Satyanarayan Sahu, former Press Secretary to President KR Narayanan, spoke highly of the term Dialogue and mentioned its significance in governance. He shared several examples of how global media houses have shared Kalahandi’s success and how Kalahandi increasingly is capturing global thinking space in development

Kalahandi

Oct 15 - 21, 2018 back. Thuamal Rampur is at a distance of 70 km from the district headquarters of Bhawanipatna. It is one of the most backward blocks in the country as the development had failed to reach its doorsteps.

Two decades, no officer would want to go there because of being malaria-prone, lack of education and health facilities and due to lack of access. It would take almost 6-7 hours to reach there earlier. Today, you can be there in 70-75 minutes.

Better access has transformed the lives of citizens in that block”.

Kumar is right. Improvement of road infrastructure is the keystone for development in a region.

However, that’s just one aspect and real development happens when it improves the lives of the people.

Sujeet seems to agree. “Look, development is a decadal process.

I believe this is just the start and we have a long way to go. I can definitely vouch for the fact that there is an upward trajectory of development in Kalahandi. Today, Infant Mortality Rate(IMR) and Maternal Mortality Rate(MMR) in Kalahandi is close to the national average, which was unthinkable a few years back. Government has invested in developing the rural health infrastructure through primary health centres and community health centres.

There is a strong focus on capacity building and incentivisation of Anganwadi and ASHA workers who are at the forefront of health work.”

Development is never an isolated process, it needs support from all quarters. The role of administration, especially lower bureaucracy becomes quite crucial as they have to be engaged in the

studies. He argued that it will be easy to fight environmental challenges like global warming and climate change by respecting the indigenous traditions. He also thanked the Chief Minister and lauded his effort for suggesting Ahimsa (Non-Violence) be included in the preamble of the Indian constitution.

The ‘glocal’ conference

Kalahandi Dialogue was also graced

by Rwandan High Commission to India, His Excellency Ernest Rwamucyo.

He argued that development is an ongoing and multistakeholder process and it should

process day in and day out. Sujeet Kumar agrees, “Any development process is a multi-stakeholder engagement – government, administration, civil society, academia and of course the people of Kalahandi.

Government because of its reach, resources and legitimacy has to be the prime mover for any development process. I would say that political will and administrative zeal has led to such rapid development in Kalahandi” Sujeet Kumar has a quite progressive lens towards development.

His academic rooting has helped him shape his worldview towards the intricacies of development. Kumar is an MBA from said Business School of Oxford University. He also completed his Masters in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School.

That might be one of the reasons he is quite focused on strategising and planning and believes that governments can multiply their impact if they invest time and resources on planning well.

“Planning is a key step in any development process. State planning board is a defunct body in most of the states. But we have worked to make it functional and effective. There is enough data in the government domain but, unfortunately, there has not been enough use of data. If we mine the correct data and analyse it properly, we can improve the effectiveness of scheme implementation. Every department had a different list of beneficiaries and there was a lot of duplication, because of which government wasn’t able to provide a cost-effective delivery of

services. Once we triangulated the datasets and prepared a coherent database, we were able to stem the leakages and reduce the cost for government. I believe that planning well is half the battle won”, he said with firmness in his voice.

Development in itself is a complex paradigm. Different experts and practitioners have tried to decode the subtleties of development, but there hasn’t been one definite answer. On being asked whether Kalahandi model can serve as a template for the whole country, Sujeet Kumar responds, “One of the key challenges with development process is its variability – it changes the rules from region to region. I don’t think that there is a specific Kalahandi development model, but what Kalahandi has done is that it has demonstrated that acute poverty can be overcome through sustained efforts. It has shown that development is possible, it has shown that no region deserves to remain poor despite the odds and difficult past. In that sense, Kalahandi model is a model of hope, resilience and sustainability and that is what rest of India can learn from people of Kalahandi” As he walked towards the stage, he spoke to one of his colleagues and told him that there was a lot of work to be done for the closing session. In a symbolic sense, he also mentioned, “There is a lot to be done in Kalahandi. We are focusing on eco-tourism, food processing and solar energy to increase the livelihood opportunities for the people here. This is just a start and we have a long way to go. But, I have full confidence that we will reach there”.

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never stop after achieving a target. He prescribed a five-point formula for a successful development project. The first step is to prepare a systematic and comprehensive assessment of the gaps and challenges in the concerned geography or domain. This should factor in all the aspects, viz gender, ethnic, socio-cultural aspects of the region. The second step is to prepare a robust, coherent and evidencebased plan for the intervention. The plans should have clear priorities and specific targets.

The third and very important step is to allocate the resources which are aligned to the needs identified.

He highlighted how the majority of the development plans falter at this stage as resource allocation is often neglected by the decision makers.

Next step is to align the stakeholders with the plan and create structures to make administrative framework accountable to the plan. The final step is to build a monitoring and evaluation plan which is integrated with the overall strategy. He was quite appreciative of the nature of development which has taken place in Kalahandi.

Another global leader attending the conference was Dr Markus Wiencke, Co-founder & CEO, Bluebilities. He had visited India for the first time in 1999, when he backpacked across the Himalayas for 3 months. The goal of his company is to bring Indian graduates closer together with German companies and to establish sustainable partnerships between India and Germany. He told, “There is a natural fit between the German and the Indian working culture. In the field of job training, Germany offers a proven model with its practice-oriented universities and the dual training system. We like the Indian approach to try new, unusual ways, reflected with the term “jugaad innovation” which is used by the Indian start-up scene.

One of the speakers also mentioned an article in The Guardian about India’s female ‘seed guardians’ pioneering organic farming. These women from Bhimdanga village in Kalahandi are “pioneering new ways of sharing and storing seeds to reap a more sustainable future.

Heroes of Kalahandi were awarded for the inspiring work. Four people namely folk singer Sarbeswar Bhoi, mountaineer Jogabyasa Bhoi, poet Jaidrath Jena and Chess player Saundarya Pradhan were chosen for the awards. Awardees spoke about their journey and shared how they converted their difficulty into opportunities.

The conclave aimed to bring the

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Kalahandi

global perspectives in Kalahandi while keeping the local knowledge and values intact. A permeable conversation allows individuals and agencies from both sides to learn from each other. Kalahandi for the first time was witnessing such assimilation of people from different geographies, cultures, professions, etc but all with a common goal – development. Achyut Luitel from Nepal and Chaminda Rajapakse from Sri Lanka also delineated the importance of having ‘glocal’(global + local) dialogues which creates a synergetic environment for learning.

Luitel is the regional director for Practical Action in South Asia, while Rajapakse is Natural Resource Management expert from UNICEF.

Inclusive dialogues

The second at Kalahandi Dialogue was packed with conversations, ranging from social media to art and culture.

The first session brought together the grassroots workers and social entrepreneurs from the communities who are an integral part of the social

Oct 15 - 21, 2018

Iswar Pradhan from Thuamal Rampur highlighted that it’s very important to hear and acknowledge the voices from the ground fabric in Kalahandi. Development discussions in our country have been unfortunately restricted to the confines of fancy auditoriums in Lutyens Delhi, where the privilege of theoretical knowledge runs the show. There have been very limited formal spaces where the voices from the ground are addressed and given due weightage in the development discourse.

Iswar Pradhan from Thuamal Rampur highlighted that it’s very important to hear and acknowledge the voices from the ground. “Sitting at the air-conditioned cabins in Bhubaneswar and Delhi, one might feel that XYZ is very important for the tribals of Thuamal Rampur block

in Kalahandi. While the villagers feel that ABC is more important for them at this stage. There has always been a conflict between the real needs and aspirations of local communities versus what the government would want for them.

There is an urgent need for robust communication channels between the administration and the locals, which will facilitate the open conversation about development requirements,” he said. Pradhan is Junior Coordinator for Gram Vikas, a grassroots organisation working in some of the most impoverished districts in eastern India. There was a unanimous consensus amongst the panellists about the point which Pradhan highlighted.

The session on art, culture and heritage and their role in shaping the social development construct saw a wide array of panellists.

Historians, filmmakers, artists, media professionals adorned the stage to deliberate on the question – “Can art and culture be crucial drivers of positive social change?” Shankhajeet De, a National Award-winning documentary filmmaker argued, “Any development process which neglects the cultural aspects of a geography will never be sustainable. The whole idea of development is rooted in the people it is meant for. Systems and processes work for a while and have

their own benefits. However, systems and processes which are wedded in the local culture are the most effective ones.” Other panellists also highlighted the role of heritage and history in the identity of a region.

They invoked Rindo Majhi, who was from Kalahandi and was one of the first persons to revolt against the British in 1853, four years prior to Sepoy Rebellion of 1857. Even more than 160 years after his heroic act, Majhi is seen as an icon in Kalahandi and locals take pride in his name.

The session on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) was aptly titled ‘Doing well by doing good OR can Doing good do even better?’, where the panellists outlined the role of corporates in bringing social development. One of the panellists argued that it should be mandatory for the corporate houses to invest their CSR funds in their areas of operation.

The session on social innovation was designed to ‘augment their efforts by providing a platform to the rural innovators and social entrepreneurs, and play the role of a connector between the innovators and the mentors, impact investors, funding agencies, incubators among others to be able to make rural innovations sustainable and scalable.’

Surekha Routray works as a Social Incubation Manager at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Bhubaneswar. She highlighted the need of providing assistance to the grassroots innovators.

“They have tremendous potential as their innovations have arisen from a pertinent social challenge at the ground level. Their innovations might not be suitable for a B-school competition but they can play a big role in bringing the change at the grassroots,” she said. Another speaker highlighted that the three ‘A’s make the grassroots innovations workable – Adaptability, Availability and Affordability.

The ground report

Kalahandi Dialogue saw a kaleidoscope of speakers from different domains discussing the various aspects of development and the approach to achieve those. It becomes pertinent to move outside the confines of the discussions and witness the effects of development on the ground. All kinds of development are meant for the people of a region; hence their opinion is of paramount importance to understand the real impact of development there.

Sunil Sahu is a 20-years-old studying in College of Agriculture, Bhawanipatna which was established

Kalahandi

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in 2009 under Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar. While he was growing up in Junagarh, a development block in Kalahandi, Sunil was quite confused about his future prospects.

His daily wage-earning parents didn’t have enough finances to support his undergraduate education outside his home district. However, once the college was set up and started functioning properly, he heaved a sigh of relief. “I worked really hard for my 12th boards and secured good marks. Then I prepared for a year to pass the entrance examination for the college. My family was very proud of me,” says Sunil with a gleam in his eyes.

Rukmini Mohapatra shares similar thoughts as Sunil. Being a girl from Bhawanipatna, her avenues for further education was limited. Her family wasn’t willing to send her outside the district for her studies. By the time, she passed her 12th examination, Government College of Engineering in Kalahandi was up and running. The

college was established in 2009 by an act of Government of Odisha and is functioning as a constituent college of Biju Patnaik University of Technology, Odisha. “I was always good at Maths and had dreams of becoming an engineer. I prepared sincerely for the entrance examinations and once I was through, I opted for the college in my hometown. Had it not been for this college, I would have been married by now,” explains Rukmini.

There are hundreds of others like Sunil and Rukmini whose dreams and aspirations materialised due to the opening of these educational institutions.

As one enters the interior pockets of Kalahandi district, the newly built concrete roads catch one’s attention. The locals are very happy with the road development work carried by the government. Antaram Manjhi belongs to Tentulipada village in Thuamal Rampur block in Kalahandi. He is part of a youth club which is trying to revive the local government school in his

village. “The government should be commended for improving the road connectivity in this part of Odisha. After more than 70 years of independence, development has started seeping in. However, there is a long way to go. There is a lot of work to be done on education and health in these villages. Malaria deaths are still not uncommon. Drinking water is another area of concern. We are trying to work with district administration to bring water pipeline to our village,” narrates Manjhi.

The future

NITI Aayog has recently started working on Aspirational Districts

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program, which was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January. These districts are the bottom of pyramid districts where development has not yet made its inroads. Kalahandi is one of them. On one hand, the lack of development in all these years have become a hallmark of the district but on the other, the rising aspirations and participation of all agencies of development have presented a unique model to overcome the challenges. Kalahandi Dialogue was an innovative platform to bring forth the pertinent ideas of development and engage all the stakeholders in achieving the dream of a prosperous Kalahandi.

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Education

Oct 15 - 21, 2018 Corporate social responsibility

Building a Better Tomorrow for Today’s Children Careworks Foundation is working tirelessly to ensure an educated, healthy and sustainable future for the weaker section of the society

Quick Glance CWF is determined to create a better tomorrow for children

It is building a healthy and educated workforce and providing sustainable livelihood CWF believes that without WASH no school enhancement programme is possible

Ajit Isaac, Chairman & Md Careworks Foundation

Swastika Tripathi

“

No organisation can exist without creating both better work and better life for its ecosystem” – With these words on their mind and the vision to stand by it, Careworks Foundation (CWF) is striving to always put the best foot forward for the society.

Giving is not just about making a donation. It is about making a difference. And education and health are the best ways of bringing that difference. Through its focus on these two pillars of growth, CWF aims to build a healthy and educated workforce and thereby provide a sustainable livelihood for the marginalised sections of the society.

43 government schools supported, 8188 children benefitted, 195 school toilets renovated, 257 teachers involved, 10976 education kits distributed, 497 meritorious students supported through scholarships,

proactive healthcare support to 11792, 11 computer labs setup – Careworks lets the numbers do the talking for it whilst the dedicated team silently does the job.

Mahatma Gandhi said, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others,” and Careworks family abides by the legend’s saying.

AN INITIATIVE

CWF is an NGO initiative and CSR arm of Quess Corp Limited, a Bengaluru based business services group, and was established in January 2014 to act as a catalyst of change and create better lives. The NGO is driven by the belief that education and health are the two major pillars to accelerate growth in a society.

Since its inception, CWF is focused on healthcare and education and aims to build a healthy and educated workforce. With this, it provides a sustainable livelihood for the

marginalised sections of the society.

A 360-DEGREE APPROACH

CWF aims to provide a 360-degree holistic solution to issues faced by every school, for which the foundation first studies and examines the shortcomings and requirements in each one of them. Then the schools are provided with basic infrastructure like toilets, seating areas, cupboards for books, utensils for midday meals, computer labs, libraries and teachers, as per the requirements of each one of them.

There is no stopping. CWF also networks with other institutions and encourages them to use their resources to help these schools improve quality of education.

The extent of work done in these schools and the impact created is personally supervised by the chairman and managing director of Quess Corp – Ajit Isaac, who is passionate about

giving back to the society and was instrumental in setting up Careworks Foundation “I visit the schools, spend time with the teachers and children to understand their issues and see if we have managed to make a difference. We measure impact based on three things -attendance, academic performance and teaching quality,” says Isaac.

MUCH IN KITTY

CWF’s 360-degree approach means the foundation has much in its kitty to take care of. From school enhancement to proper sanitation to ensuring education kits and enhancing life skills for children – CWF has taken it all under its wings.

“Initiatives like these reaffirm our commitment of giving back to the community in which we operate.

Education and Health are the two major pillars to accelerate growth in a society and we have identified several smaller elements under these to encourage community development.

We have received a very encouraging response from the Government of Karnataka and going forward we have shortlisted many more schools,” says Isaac.

The various initiatives of CWF are as follows:

Foundation

Oct 15 - 21, 2018

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The Good Samaritan Meet the compassionate soul spearheading CWF The seeds of Careworks were sown by a compassionate first generation entrepreneur – who was a gold medalist in his PG programme in HR and a British Chevening Scholar from Leeds University – Ajit Isaac, the chairman and managing director of Quess Corp.

School Enhancement

The flagship initiative creates physical school infrastructure in a manner that enhances the attractiveness of schools among children, encourages them to attend classes regularly and also strengthens their learning outcomes.

Renovation for infrastructural development in government schools is an important aspect.

The focus is to work with government schools to enhance quality of education. CWF’s main concern is the realisation of sustainable development in which the children, teachers and the community are involved through positive activities that support proper learning environment by providing habitable surroundings and ensuring long term socio-economic welfare.

Scholarship

CWF Scholarship financially supports meritorious students pan India to pursue higher education in a stream and institution of their choice. Since 2014 the Scholarship has benefitted around 490 students, with girls as major recipients. The scholarship unleashes the potential of the youth of India to grow into leaders in their respective fields.

Education Kit

Education is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. As a result of unavailability of financial resources, a lot of families cannot afford to spend on the basic things needed for their child’s education. Careworks Foundation strives to bridge this gap between the students and their education by overcoming such barriers and helping them attain their right to knowledge

and quality education.

The kit is distributed annually at the beginning of the academic year and consists of school bag, note books, stationary, shoes etc. It encourages the children to attend school with dignity and also reflects on the increase in school attendance.

Health Camps

Through health checkup camps CWF first identifies children who are either suffering from any vaccine-preventable infectious diseases or haven’t been given basic vaccines and then provides these children further with treatment, accordingly. CWF carries out screening of general health, common skin conditions, dental and eye checkups among children of the adopted schools. In CWF health programmes have covered 10,000+ children and treated major dental issues.

Life Skills

Educating children of the life skills is as important as giving them book knowledge. It develops within children the abilities for adaptive and positive behavior that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of every day life. They represent the psycho-social skills that determine valued behavior and include reflective skills such as problem-solving and critical thinking, to personal skills such as self-awareness.

For this, CWF trains teachers working in government schools through capacity building programme, thus building up human resource within the schools. These teachers further impart this knowledge to the

Careworks Foundation is driven by the belief that education and health are the two major pillars to accelerate growth in a society

“Earlier, I would help people if approached. Then gradually I realised that a structured setup in place would help me achieve greater mass, make a difference to more people and even involve the government in my efforts,” recalls Isaac.

And, thus, in 2014 Careworks was incepted. Helping his employees battle alcoholism, solve their sanitation and education problems, Isaac tirelessly invests children who then show positive changes in their personal life, school, family and social spheres.

WASH IS THE KEY

No child can be educated a 100 per cent without having access to proper Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities. Inadequate access to safe water and sanitation services, coupled with poor hygiene practices, kills and sickens thousands of children every day and leads to impoverishment and diminished opportunities for thousands more. Children, and particularly girls, are denied their right to education because their schools lack private and decent sanitation facilities.

According to the estimates of the Joint Monitoring Programme ( JMP)

by WHO/UNICEF for Water Supply and Sanitation, 32 per cent of the world’s population – 2.4 billion people – lacked improved sanitation facilities and 663 million people used drinking water from unimproved sources in 2015.

Aware of these horrific stats and conscious of the immense importance of WASH for the development of society, especially for school-going children, CWF has given special attention to water, sanitation and hygiene in its adopted schools.

his time and energy in improving education and healthcare facilities for low-income families.

Isaac’s expertise in identifying value-accretive and transformative deals combined with his focus on operational efficiency and business development has helped Quess scale itself rapidly. He is passionate about giving back to society and was instrumental in setting up Careworks Foundation. Under his guidance, the foundation has been successful in developing meaningful interventions in the education and healthcare space and today supports 8,000+ students across 40+ schools.

Isaac now looks forward to providing impoverished farmers with education, healthcare and housing facilities.

Water: CWF makes sure every school has water purifiers, giving the children access to pure drinking water.

Sanitation: Every school adopted

by CWF has clean toilets, separate for boys & girls, which were first renovated and then continuously maintained by the foundation itself.

Hygiene: Hand washing is one of the most important factors in controlling the spread of microorganisms and in preventing the development of infections. It is CWF’s endeavor to provide sufficient grouphand washing facilities allowing 10-12 students to wash their hands at the same time. The hand wash station is simple and sustainable, relying on usage of minimum water. Both the teachers and students are educated on proper hand washing techniques.

“Without WASH, sustainable school enhancement programme is impossible,” firmly believes the foundation.

CWF is actively contributing to the community and creating a positive impact in the lives of people, specifically in the areas of health and education. In doing so, CWF is building a healthy and educated workforce and providing sustainable livelihood for the weaker sections of the society.

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Gender

Oct 15 - 21, 2018

Neeta Markam

Tribal Women Of Kanha Are Driving Their Own Destiny It was a difficult journey for Neeta Markam to become the first licensed forest driver

As the tribal culture marries girls young, the emerging trend of empowerment pitches these women to change traditions

Kushagra Dixit

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ukki zone in the famous Kanha National Park had been known throughout its recorded history to have been ruled by tigresses, rather than tigers. True to this legacy, tribal women of the Mukki zone are breaking conventional chains by taking over men-dominated jobs in the region. These women now drive, guide tourists, guard the forest that traditionally gave them sustenance and are coming forward to shoulder bigger responsibilities.

While the idea to promote women in forest staff, especially as drivers in this largest national park of central India, was conceptualised and executed only in December last year, the way these women excelled in a short span of time has surprised everyone. And encouraged by the success of the experiment, forest authorities are planning to set an

example by making Mukki the country’s first women-controlled forest zone while also replicating the idea in other zones.

Judged and under pressure from the day one, it was a difficult journey for Neeta Markam to become the first licensed forest driver here. Her battles began from home, right from convincing her father that she can share family responsibilities and that she wanted to do so by being a driver in Kanha.

People made fun of her when she enrolled in an induction course meant for drivers in this forest reserve but now other girls come to her for advice on how they can also do what she did.

“It never said that the course was only for men. My aunt convinced my father and he let me go even as some families taunted, while other girls and boys made fun. Today more girls want to be drivers and they come to me seeking advice. And the boys who made fun of me are now jealous,” said Neeta, who belongs to the Gond tribe and hails from Mukki village at the edge of core tiger reserve.

Neeta recalled composure of other trainees at driving school watching a girl stepping in. She also recalled how in the beginning of the safari season, people would be skeptic of being driven into a forest by a woman driver, often asking her bluntly if she would be able to manage.

“At times I had to convince them that this forest is my home and I had been trained to drive and show them around,” she recalled.

The Mukki zone - one of the three zones of Kanha Tiger Reserve -

Seminar

Oct 15 - 21, 2018

presently has two women drivers, six women guides and one forest guard apart from about ten tribal women operating the forest canteen, all hailing from neighbouring villages situated within the forest buffer.

As the tiger reserve is set to open again in October after a three-month hiatus, training is going on for six more guides with local ecology, and a batch of ten women with basic hygiene to work in the forest kitchen.

While Madhya Pradesh has highest number of the displaced tribal families, the example set by the forest authorities by extending support to rather marginalised tribes is now raising hopes and aspiration among villagers who previously abstained from allowing women to do jobs they thought were meant for men.

“In its recorded history, Mukki zone, unlike Khatiya and Kanha gate, had always been ruled by tigresses, rather than tigers. Staying true to its nature and name, we wanted to take the tradition ahead and turn it into a place where women guards go on night patrolling, drive vehicles and also show people around. And when you come back, you stop by an all-women-led cafeteria,” SK Khare, assistant director at Kanha Tiger Reserve, told this visiting correspondent.

He added that at present, Kanha is one of the few national parks where women forest guards are stationed in the core forest posts and licensed women drivers take tourists inside the forests.

Madhuri Thakur, who cleared her intermediate examination in 2017 at the age of 20 years, is another licensed driver. Inspired by her father, a retired forest guard, Madhuri said while the forest officials and her trainers had always been patient, her colleagues also encourage all women to believe in themselves.

“Once Neeta brushed her jeep and started crying; then other drivers came and started boosting her confidence and

making her comfortable. They jokingly told her that this is merely a small incident and they had almost killed a person in their initial phase,” Madhuri recalled.

As the tribal culture marries girls young, the emerging trend of empowerment pitches these women to change traditions.

“I don’t want to marry now, and even if my family forces me to do so, I would prefer to be married somewhere near my village because I don’t want to quit this job that I love. Why should women make all the sacrifices,” said Madhuri, who aspires to own her own vehicle some day.

Forest guard Lakshmi Maravi, who also hails from Gond community and is the sole breadwinner of her family of three siblings and a mother, said that forests had given her a sense of belonging and an identity.

“During my training, I was sceptical of my abilities but now I go on night trails, shoo away the poachers and keep the forest safe. Now I feel I was made to do this,” Maravi said.

Suhkati Dhurvey, a forest guide, told the visiting correspondent that merely six guides is a good start, but it isn’t enough. She, along with others, earn about Rs 10,000 per month, but since the park is closed for three months, this hampers their income.

“There should be more women employed in this sector; it means a lot for tribal ladies and gives them hope that they are more than mere labourers,” said Dhurvey.

She said that spotting birds is far more fun than tigers and that is something she likes to encourage tourists to do as well to show that there is more to a tiger reserve than tigers alone.

Asserting that employing women was not just another social experiment of “women empowerment”, forester Khare said it is rather part of a larger cause.

He said while there was a mistrust and misunderstanding among the tribes and the forest department - as tribals largely depend on the forests and the department has the responsibility of conservation - only steps like empowerment can make both go along.

“Almost every woman who works here has some sort of crisis back home.

These jobs have given them hope,” he said. Stating that while earlier women were not preferred for the job of a guide or a guard, it was observed that they work harder and with more passion than men.

“It is important that we create better work culture and environment. After we employed women, we saw the staff had started acting more responsibly,” Khare said, adding that the aim is to make Mukki zone an “all-women-operated area”.

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Gandhian Thought

Being Gandhian In Contemporary India National Archives of India held a 2-day seminar to reveal the true spirit of Mahatma Gandhi in modern society

n ssb bureau

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ational Archives of India celebrated the commencement of150th Birth Anniversary Year of Mahatma Gandhi by organising a two days seminar “Gandhian Thought and Polity: Contemporary Society” from October 4 to 5, 2018. The occasion was graced by Union Minister of Culture Dr Mahesh Sharma. Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh Sanitation and Social Reform Movement, also presented a paper.

Dr Pathak briefed the gathering of eminent scholars present on “how he actualised the Gandhian Vision of nonviolence as a tool of transformation”. He said, “Mahatma Gandhi, throughout his life, had advocated social transformation through non-violent means in many different ways and this has been the single most influence in my life and my work. I have dedicated the five decades of my life to actualise and accomplish the Gandhian dream of a peaceful social transformation.”

He said that Gandhi was a role model who fought simultaneously on social, moral, political, cultural, economic and ecological fronts. He waged all these struggles not on the strength of political power or military might but through leading a life of exemplary purity and resoluteness of moral purpose.

Dr Pathak urged people to not merely discuss the Gandhian thoughts and value but to implement them. He asked, “How many have done something to actualise Gandhian values, to fulfil Gandhi’s

dreams?” He said that to be a true Gandhian we need to do something about it and not just talk. We need to separate his fundamentals from his secondaries.

He also recounted his longstanding struggle and achievements as how by learning from the life and teachings of Gandhi, he adopted the fact that the key achievement lies in jolting the people’s conscience and changing the caste-ridden mindset for raising the social status and dignity of former untouchables.

Speaking at the seminar, Dr Mahesh Sharma said, “Gandhi has different meanings to different people. For some he is a freedom fighter, for some he is the face of Indian currency, for some he is the icon of cleanliness and so on. He is relevant not only in political sphere, but societal too. He is a thought process which people like Dr Bindeshwar Pathak have adopted and implemented in the modern society. He is as relevant today as he was then.”

“I have been hearing Dr Pathak for years now. He has been a source of inspiration for me and many others. For decades he is working tirelessly to fulfil Gandhian Visions. I salute him,” he added.

Dr Bindeshwar Pathak also chaired the Session “Gandhi’s Legacy: Environment and Sustainable Development”.

The two-day seminar organised by National Archives of India intended to present the Gandhian thought before the Nation anew, aiming at revealing the true spirit of the Mahatma for dealing with the emerging challenges faced by modern societ.

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Environment

Oct 15 - 21, 2018 tree park

This Govt College Has Only 15 Students, But 1,000 Trees!

The campus, spread across four acres, has more than 1,000 trees of different varieties

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n G Ulaganathan

he Government PU College at Balenahalli in Arsikere, Karnataka boasts of rich biodiversity.

The college has just 15 students, no sufficient rooms, but is rich with greenery. The campus, spread across four acres, has more than 1,000 trees of different varieties, forming rich biodiversity.

HR Swamy, an environmentalist and Principal, has ensured proper protection for the trees on campus.

The varieties include honge (Pongamia Pinnata), jatropha, neem, jamun, teak, Simarouba, tamarind, silver, hebbevu (Melia Dubia) and many others.

“I am unhappy with the decrease in the number of students in the college over the years. Earlier, we were getting students from neighbouring villages.

But they have stopped joining our college in the recent years owing to the lack of transport facilities. However, I am happy that our college has a tree park. The value of trees in the campus is huge.” Swamy says with mixed feelings.

Throughout his career with the Department of Pre-University Education, Swamy has worked in four

colleges. Wherever he went, his main interest was on developing a tree park.

When he was posted at Javagal village, in the early years of his career, he planted over 100 plants. Along with his students, he planted 200 saplings in the premises of Government Lower Primary School at Nagathihalli village in Arsikere Taluk. In the current posting, he has

planted over 1,000 saplings. He has not restricted his activities to the colleges.

Every year he conducts afforestation programmes involving schoolchildren.

“I have been conducting seed ball awareness programmes for the last 15 years. Thousands of children have participated in the programmes.

Swamy recalled that he had planted a

chairperson

Adversity Can’t Blind Him A visually challenged person will now be the chairperson of a postgraduate department

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n G Ulaganathan

t is a unique honour in the 102year history of the University of Mysore. A visually challenged person will now be the chairperson of a postgraduate department.

Krishna Hombal’s joy knew no bounds when he was appointed to assume charge as chairperson of the department. “I am happy to get this coveted post, my responsibility has increased with this,” Hombal says.

Fifty-year-old Hombal was

appointed an assistant professor in the department of political studies in the university way back in 1999 and was the first visually challenged man to be appointed to the post in the state.

The youngest of nine children, he says it was the off-spring of

“I am happy to get this coveted post, my responsibility has increased with this,”

Swamy had planted a spathodea sapling to mark Environment Day in 1996 in front of his house in Arsikere

spathodea sapling to mark Environment Day in 1996 in front of his house in Arsikere. Once his father attempted to remove the tree citing that it might affect a wall of the house, but he stopped him by threatening to file a complaint against him. “Spathodea is a flowering tree. It has added beauty to the house,” he says. On the depleting strength of students, he is very upset. There are no proper transport facilities to college. If the government can introduce regular bus services to this village, we can get students from neighbouring towns and villages. They would like to study under this natural ambience.

We have given some representations to the local MLA and also to the district minister in-charge. But in the present political turmoil will anyone have time to look at pour representations,” he wonders. consanguineous marriage of his parents which left him visually challenged. But it was no hurdle for him, he secured the Chandrashekar Patel Memorial gold medal for scoring the highest marks in BA, Political Science and later pursued his MA and MPhil at Karnataka University, Dharwad. He was awarded PhD by University of Mysore, for his research thesis on ‘Dynamics of India and World Trade Organisation: Responses of national political partiesan analysis.’ He has even published more than 40 research articles. Not stopping with this, Hombal has successfully guided five students in their PhD and 16 students in their MPhil studies. Now, he will be heading the political sciences department and says, “The feeling of disability is only in one’s mind,” and is looking forward to many more years of fruitful work in the historic university.

Northeast

Oct 15 - 21, 2018 assam

Methanol Pilot Project in Assam Adoption of methanol will enable availability of fuel at Rs. 19 per litre which could be at least 30% cheaper than any available fuel n Raj Kashyap

APL’s decision to launch the pilot project comes close on the heels of ssam Petrochemicals Limited the emphasis given by NITI Aayog to (APL) has firmed up plans to enhance the production of methanol start a pilot project in Namrup in all the states. Bhuyan informed that on the use of methanol as an alternative there were plans to import technology to cooking gas. Explaining the benefits from Sweden for distribution of of methanol, Chairman Jagadish methanol. In a meeting last year with Bhuyan told the media that the fuel is the Assam government NITI Aayog “green and clean” and cheaper by 30 had made a case for utilising stranded per cent compared to LPG. He added gas (gas that is wasted or unused), coal that methanol or methyl alcohol is a reserves, natural gas, carbon dioxide, building block for various chemical biomass, municipal solid waste, kitchen industries. Methanol has a lower risk of waste and wood for deriving methanol flammability compared to gasoline and which are available in good quantity in it can be manufactured from a variety the state. of carbon-based feedstocks, such as NITI Aayog’s focus on methanol natural gas and coal. Methanol can be is viewed as an effort to explore alternatives to the huge import of oil.

It has finalised a comprehensive plan to replace 20 per cent of crude imports from methanol alone.

Adopting methanol in this scale is expected to bring down pollution in the country by more than 40 per cent. The railways alone burn three billion litres of diesel every year.

Plans are on to convert 6000 diesel railway blended with diesel NITI Aayog’s focus engines to work on 100 and can be further on methanol is per cent methanol and converted to Dimethyl make railways a carbon ether (DME). viewed as an neutral organisation.

APL is one of effort to explore According to NITI the few profitAayog, adoption of making public sector alternatives to the methanol will enable undertakings of the huge import of oil availability of fuel at Assam government Rs. 19 per litre which which was established in Namrup in 1971 to utilise the huge could be at least 30 per cent cheaper reserve of Natural Gas in the upper than any available fuel. At least 20 per Assam oil fields and also to meet the cent diesel consumption can be reduced requirement of increasing national in the next 5-7 years which will result in demand for Methanol and Formalin. savings of Rs 26,000 crore annually. In Currently, it produces 100 tonnes of addition, Rs 6000 crore can be annually methanol per day which is expected to saved from the reduced bill in LPG over increase substantially next year. APL the next 3 years. The methanol blending sells its products to different states program with petrol will further reduce across the country, besides Nepal, the fuel bill by at least Rs 5000 crore annually over the next 3 years.

Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

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niti aayog

NITI Aayog For Clear Policy On ‘Jhum’ Cultivation Niti Aayog for mission mode approach for transforming shifting cultivation in Northeast n Raj Kashyap

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ational Institution for Transforming India (Niti) Aayog has made a case for a mission mode approach for transforming shifting or jhum cultivation in the Northeast. It has recommended that the ministry of agriculture take up a “mission” to derive the benefits of inter-ministerial convergence and cooperation.

A recent publication by NITI Aayog titled “Mission on Shifting Cultivation: Towards a Transformational Approach” said that the “Central as well as state government departments of forest and environment, agriculture and allied departments often have divergent approaches towards shifting cultivation. This creates confusion among grassroots level workers and jhum farmers.”

The report said there is a need to adopt a “landscape or systems” approach instead of a crop-based approach. “Integration of various land use elements at the landscape level is fundamental for the success of transformation of shifting cultivation in the Northeast,” it said, adding that the approaches for transformation should not reject traditional land use practices but try to blend the traditional with the modern. It also suggests that shifting cultivation should not be banned but communities ought to be assisted to transform the ancient practice.

The history of shifting cultivation can be traced back to around 8,000 BC in the Neolithic period. It is characterised by rotation of fields rather than rotation of crops, the exclusive use of human labour, absence of draught animals and manuring, use of dibble stick or hoe, and short periods of occupancy alternating with long fallow periods to assist the regeneration of vegetation, culminating in secondary forests. In the hilly region of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura, shifting cultivation continues to be a dominant mode of food production and the economic mainstay of many rural households.

The government is of the view that managing transformations in shifting cultivation areas is fundamental to agricultural development in the Northeast and an important element of the Act East Policy. While different schemes have claimed drastic reductions of the practice both in terms of area under cultivation as well as number of households involved, the Forest Survey of India’s reports over the years continue to attribute large scale deforestation and loss of forest cover in the region to shifting cultivation. NITI Aayog feels that steps should also be initiated for value addition of products from shifting cultivation, ensuring opportunities for large scale involvement of rural youth and women. Under-utilised crops from shifting cultivation have potential for being developed and promoted as health foods. Products from fallows can be used for the development of vegetable dyes and other high value products linked to weaving, a strength of upland women which will address income generation and employment.

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International Personality

Oct 15 - 21, 2018

William Wordsworth

On Nature, On Man, and On Life “To me the meanest flower that blows can give thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears”

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His poetic career

Urooj Fatima

ehold her single in the field Yon solitary highland lass Reaping and singing by herself Stop here or gently pass.

William Wordsworth, in my head, was an incredible storyteller!

The above verse is the beginning of his poem, The Solitary Reaper. He talks of a young woman working in the field, and singing her tunes.

What is the difference, then, between Wordsworth and the rest?

Well if you read the top verse again, you will imagine an image in your head. An image as clear as day.

With every passing stanza of the poem, the image transcends into what the poet imagines, and that is the true mark of Wordsworth. He created a movie in your head, with literally just simple phrases used gracefully.

Wordsworth worked with alliterations, metaphors, similes, the likes, and gave us something simply great.

William Wordsworth is a representative poet of the Romantic age in English Literature. The movement which fell away from the classic way of writing poetry, it is important to understand that Romanticism means taking “Liberty”.

They (Romantics) broke away from all the rules that existed about language, about structure, which the Neo-Classical writers before them had followed. They felt that poetry should be understandable to the common man, it should be about the common man, a common man should be able to enjoy it, and poetry shouldn’t only be something that the rich and highly educated can enjoy over drinks and cigars in their drawing rooms.

The Early period:

This period starts before 1791.

‘Descriptive Sketches’ and ‘Evening Walk’ are the bestknown poems of the period.

The Period of Gloom:

This period is characterized between 1792 and 1797. In this period, his feeling of remorse and his gloom find expression in the unsuccessful tragedy, ‘The Borderer, Guilt and Sorrow’ and ‘The Ruined Cottage’.

The Glorious Decade:

It falls between 1797 to 1807, the decade in which the poet’s powers were at their zenith and in which he produced his best works. The lyrical ballads contained many admirable pieces, such as ‘Lines written in Early Spring’ Michael, ‘The Fountain’, etc, and ending with the ‘Lines written a few miles above Tintern Abbey’.

The Period of Decline: Wordsworth along with Coleridge redefined English Literature in 1798 publishing, jointly, “Of Lyrical Ballads”, the collection of poems has a Preface written by Wordsworth which explains their whole idea behind this Romantic Movement and is an important work of Criticism.

Wordsworth and Coleridge were the heralds of this Romantic Age of

“That best portion of a good man’s life; His little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love”

Poetry, accompanied, of course, later by a no of great poets.

Another great feature of Wordsworth’s contribution lies in his understanding of Nature. He delighted in Nature, its beauty and all that it offers. A lot of his work focuses on Nature and his close relationship with it.

He upturned the pedantry and snobbishness that pervaded the literary circles and made literature accessible. When the Lyrical Ballads was published, the society erupted in both ways, joyous acceptance and blatant rejection.

His contribution to English Literature was this, making literature

The period from 1808 to 1850 is poet’s period of decline.

‘Laodameia’, ‘Ecclesiastical Sketches’, ‘Sonnet on the punishment of Death’, ‘Lines written on the Death of Charles Lamb’, ‘ Effusion on the Death of James Hogg’ etc. belonged to this period.

At the end of his life, he earned much fame. The critics were stilled by his laureateship, and his verse became quite popular with the burgeoning middle class. In 1850, the death of his beloved daughter Dora brought a depression from which he could never recover.

In the same year on April 23, he took his last breath.

International Personality

Oct 15 - 21, 2018

Facts…

• Wordsworth’s best known poem

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accessible. A massive, liberal Revolution that contributed in shaping contemporary literature.

You can understand from one of his most famous poems: ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’, his ‘Daffodils’ poem.

The last stanza states: For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils.

This is the romantic era in a nutshell. Taking natural imagery, and reflecting on it to find our absolute truths.

Throughout Wordsworth’s work nature formed its fundament! All manifestations of nature from the highest fountain to simplest flowerelicit noble, elevated thoughts and passionate emotions of the people who observe these manifestations!

Wordsworth repeatedly emphasised on nature having a strong influence on man’s spiritual and moral development!

He believed humanity’s innate empathy and nobility of spirit gets corrupted by artificial social conventions as well as squalor of city life. In contrast, people who

spend time with nature retain the purity of the soul.

Wordsworth praised the power of the human mind. Using memory one could overcome difficulty and pain. For instance, the speaker in “Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey” relieves the loneliness with memories of nature while the leech-gatherer in “Resolution and independence” perseveres cheerfully in the face of poverty by the exertion of his own will.

The transformative power of the mind is available to all, regardless of an individual’s class or background.

This democratic view emphasises individuality and uniqueness.

Throughout his work, Wordsworth provided for strong support to political, religious, artistic rights of individual including the power of his mind. Wordsworth through Lyrical Ballads explained the relation between mind and poetry.

According to him, poetry is “emotion recollected in tranquillity” or the mind transforms raw emotion of experience into poetry capable of giving pleasure.

His Childhood

William Wordsworth was born on 7 April 1770 in Cockermouth,

is probably Daffodils. It has been voted Britain’s 5th favourite poem, has been released in a rap version, and has been recited by 150,000 children at once.

His greatest work is The Prelude, an autobiographical poem written in 1798 in blank verse. The 14 books of the work also focus on a love of nature and the outdoors.

In 1796, William Wordsworth wrote his only play, which was turned down by a London theatre.

It was called The Borderers and was a tragedy set during King Henry III’s reign.

He became Poet Laureate in 1843, although wrote no poetry after being given the title. He also received an honorary degree from Oxford University in 1838.

In 1802, he married his childhood friend, Mary Hutchinson. They had a long and happy life together.

They had five children, two of whom died while they were young. Wordsworth was intimately acquainted with grief, having lost his parents, as well.

Cumberland, in the Lake District.

His father was John Wordsworth, Sir James Lowther attorney. The magnificent landscape deeply affected Wordsworth’s imagination and gave him a love of nature. He lost his mother when he was eight and five years later his father. The domestic problems separated Wordsworth from his beloved and neurotic sister Dorothy, who was a very important person in his life.

First Work

With the help of his two uncles, Wordsworth entered a local school and continued his studies at Cambridge University. Wordsworth made his debut as a writer in 1787, when he published a sonnet in The European Magazine. In that same year, he entered St. John’s College, Cambridge, from where he took his B.A. in 1791.

During a summer vacation in 1790, Wordsworth went on a walking tour through revolutionary France and also travelled to Switzerland. On his second journey in France, Wordsworth had an affair with a French girl, Annette Vallon, a daughter of a barber-surgeon, by whom he had an illegitimate daughter Anne Caroline. The affair was the basis of the poem “Vaudracour and Julia”, but otherwise Wordsworth

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did his best to hide the affair from posterity.

In 1795 he met Coleridge.

Wordsworth’s financial situation became better in 1795 when he received a legacy and was able to settle at Racedown, Dorset, with his sister Dorothy. Encouraged by Coleridge and stimulated by the close contact with nature, Wordsworth composed his first masterwork, Lyrical Ballads, which opened with Coleridge’s “Ancient Mariner.” About 1798 he started to write a large and philosophical autobiographical poem, completed in 1805, and published posthumously in 1850 under the title The Prelude.

He was appointed official distributor of stamps for Westmoreland. He moved to Rydal Mount, Ambleside, where he spent the rest of his life. In later life, Wordsworth abandoned his radical ideas and became a patriotic, conservative public man.

Had Anosmia

Famously, Wordsworth had anosmia.

As the poet’s nephew wrote in his Memoirs of William Wordsworth, ‘With regard to fragrance, Mr Wordsworth spoke from the testimony of others: he himself had no sense of smell. The single instance of his enjoying such a perception, which is recorded of him in Southey’s life, was, in fact, imaginary. The incident occurred at Racedown, when he was walking with Miss H––, who coming suddenly upon a parterre of sweet flowers, expressed her pleasure at their fragrance, – a pleasure which he caught from her lips, and then fancied to be his own.’

Keen Walker

Wordsworth was a keen walker among the Lakes where he lived for much of his life – as was his friend Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Wordsworth loved the natural world. He would often go on long walks, during which time, he would write down ideas for poems on scraps of paper. He sometimes walked at night. People living in his community thought he might be a spy for the French government because of his odd habits.

It is estimated that Wordsworth walked over 180,000 miles in his lifetime.

The Daffodils

Wordsworth best-known poem, often referred to as ‘The Daffodils’ or ‘Daffodils’, but in fact, it had no title and is technically known only by its first line, ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’. It didn’t appear in the famous Lyrical Ballads – it was written a few years after that volume had been published.

16

Oct 15 - 21, 2018

Dr MB Gaijan

My only desire is that India should be a good producer and no one should be hungry, shedding tears for food in the country

VIEWPOINT

Dr. M. B. Gaijan is a head, Department of English, Samaldas Arts College, Shri Maharaja Krishnakumar Bhavnagar University, Bhavnagar – Gujarat. He has contributed four books.

Sanitation is the Tool for Social Change

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

Since ancient era to till today Gujarat has unique importance in the progress and development of the nation

Dependent Sun and Earth…

Even the smallest grass leaf is related to the greatest star

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e are interdependent, not only with the trees but also with the sun, with the moon, with the stars. A solar eclipse, especially a total eclipse, will have tremendous effects on life on earth.

If you look at the sun directly, you can go blind forever. So, when the eclipse happens, I would like all meditators to go inside their rooms, close the doors, and sit in deep meditation…

But we are related to other suns and other solar systems, too. Everything in existence is interdependent, so you cannot be absolutely free on the outside —and there is no need, either. Enjoy this interdependence.

Don’t call it bondage. Even the smallest grass leaf is related to the greatest star. But in the inner world, you can be absolutely free. So, the whole question is of the inner. And then you will not feel sad and rebellious; there is no need. Understand that the outer interdependence is a must, it is inevitable; nothing can be done about it.

Accept it joyously, not as a resignation.

This is our universe; we are part of it. The ego is a false entity; we are not separate, how can we have egos?

It is good as far as language is concerned; it is utilitarian to use the word ‘I’, but it has no substance in it. It is pure shadow, utterly empty.

But inner freedom is possible. It happens as you go deeper and deeper into awareness. (OSHO)

Editor-in-Chief

Kumar Dilip Edited, Printed and Published by: Monika Jain on behalf of Sulabh Sanitation Mission Foundation, owned by Sulabh Sanitation Mission Foundation Printed at: The Indian Express Limited A - 8, Sector -7, NOIDA (UP) Published at: RZ - 83, Mahavir Enclave, Palam - Dabri Road, New Delhi - 110045 (India) Corporate Office: 819, Wave Silver Tower, Sector - 18, NOIDA (UP) Phone: +91-120-2970819 Email: editor@sulabhswachhbharat.com, ssbweekly@gmail.com

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igital technology has changed global scenario. Gujarat and other states of India are also influenced by the DigiTech change. The things which were earlier not known to people now they are screened, live telecasted. This digital technology also remains highly powerful means to present the social, cultural, academic, environmental and political issues. Since the ancient era to till today Gujarat has unique importance in the progress and development of the nation.

Gujarat remains a unique state in India geographically, culturally and socially since early era. Centuries ago Harappan civilization dwelt here. Dwarka, Somnath, Vallabhi are the historical places of Gujarat. Gujarat is the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr Vikram Sarabhai. Gujarat has given genius to the nation and the world. In our time Gujarat is emerging as the advanced state of the nation.

With the development of the nation citizens’ safety and welfare are essential. But still, there are some challenges/ hurdles in the path of progress of the state. The basic needs of people like water, sanitation and hygiene issues are one of them.

Oxford dictionary defines Sanitation as “Conditions relating to public health, especially the provision of clean drinking water and adequate sewage disposal”. Collons dictionary also refers “Sanitation is the process of keeping places clean and healthy, especially by providing a sewage system and a clean water supply”. For human beings’ safe survival and welfare WHO/UNICEF has given priority to WASH, it means Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Practices. According to UNICEF; “Today, there are around 2.4 billion people who do not use improved sanitation, and 663 million who do not have access to improved water sources.” So WASH is the challenge before humanity now.

WASH in connection with Gujarat is also a matter to worry. For public health collectively actions should be taken by the NGO, GOVT and people of Gujarat. In this paper main focus is given on Sanitation as the tool of Social Change especially in Connection with Gujarat.

In an ancient time in Gujarat, as the archaeological sites of Gujarat Lothal and Dholavira show there was well-planned

There are some challenges/hurdles in the path of progress of the state.

The basic needs of people like water, sanitation and hygiene issues are one of them

Oct 15 - 21, 2018

Districts face water problems, especially in rural areas.

Education rate is higher here. Caste orthodoxy still prevails in this region so caste conflicts are taking place sewage system at that time, even in the middle age in palaces and in the houses of administrators, the system was working. There was also a nice arrangement for storing drinking water from rainwater. But for the all the people there was no such system. The benefits were for the selected people.

In the 21st century, Digi-era, as the democratic state Gujarat is emerging as the advanced state. At that time welfare of citizens is equally important.

Social health and harmony lead path of progress. Without social harmony, progress leads anarchy and unhealthy environment. Sanitation can be the effective tool for better health as well, as the harmony of the state. To accept it as the tool geographical, social, cultural, educational and industrial regions of Gujarat should be considered and according to the plan, the goal can be achieved. Sanitation, like in whole nation in Gujarat too, is connected with caste issues. In Gujarat, sanitation work is only done

by Dalits and by women. Cleaning work is the work of Dalits, this wrong ideology still controls the minds of orthodox. So sanitation is the issue of Caste and gender discriminations. On account of that injustice is committed on both.

Women of all castes are traditionally the part of cleaning work at their homes.

Most of all women are cleaning right from their kitchen to the washrooms.

As a matter of fact, instead of social harmony, materialistic casteists’ and patriarchal dominating ideologies become stronger and consequently humanist ideology becomes weaker.

At that point, public health through sanitation suffers a lot. To accept sanitation as the tool for social change following steps can be useful; Geographical Divisions of Gujarat: Geographically and administratively Gujarat is divided into six regions:

Kutch Region

This region includes one district, Bhuj.

It is the largest district of the state.

Major part of the district is of Ranadesert. Water resources are limited.

Drinking water is also the issue in rural areas. There is the university but still learning level is not satisfactory.

Though there are large acres of land in this district but big industries face challenges due to water, men power and transportation. As far as the caste issue is concern Dalits are doing cleaning work. Hate crimes on Dalits are not reported. By and large social

harmony is visible.

Saurashtra Region

This peninsula is surrounded water of the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Kutch and Gulf of Khambhat. There is no ever flowing river in this region but during the rainy season’s water is stored by dams and check dams. Now Narmada/ Mahi river water is supplied through canals/pipelines. It is populated region includes Devbhoomi Dwarka, Jamnagar, Morbi, Rajkot, Porbandar, Junagadh, Gir Somnath, Amreli- Rajula, Bhavnagar, Botad, Surendranagar, Ahmedabad (part) {Dhandhuka taluka} and Diu. Dug wells are a major source of water. Gir forest is here. A few district face water problems especially in rural areas.

Education rate is higher here. Caste orthodoxy still prevails in this region so caste conflicts are taking place.

Hate crime on Dalits are reported here.

Injustices to women are reported.

Central Region of Gujarat

Since the British era, this region remains progressive. It includes the districts Ahmedabad, Anand, Bharuch, Dahod, Gandhinagar, Kheda, Narmada, Panchmahal and Vadodara.

Due to education, industries and water resource this region is rich. Narmada river water proved nectar to the region. Caste issues are taking place in rural areas. Hate crime are reported on Dalits. Injustices to women are reported.

South Region of Gujarat

Since middle age to our times, this region has unique importance due to natural resources including forest and rivers. Education and industries have developed on this belt. In includes districts Surat, Valsad, Dang, Navsari and Tapi. Surat, it is on the bank of rive Tapi, is the centre of this region.

Caste issues are not more reported.

But working-class women become victims of injustice. By and large social harmony is visible.

North Region of Gujarat

This region has historical significance.

Patan was the capital of Gujarat during Solanki dynasty. Earlier Banas and Saraswati rivers were flowing here. Now the river beds are dry. It includes districts Gandhinagar (part), Banaskantha, Sabarkantha, Aravali, Mahesana and Patan. Education and industries are developing. Caste issues are reported here. Hate crime on Dalits

OpEd

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and injustice to women are reported.

East Region of Gujarat

This region is rich with forest.

It includes districts Vadodara, Panchmahal, and Dahod. Education level is lower here. It is a tribal belt.

Dalits became victims here. Injustices to women are reported.

Possible Suggestions

To maintain and develop social health and harmony, considering education, industries, social environment and water availability some possible suggestions can be effective tools for social change. With the help of public attitudes can also be changed.

Following careful actions can gradually change public attitudes and can remain the effective tool for social change.

Water Supply

In Kutch, Saurashtra and North Gujarat regions water is the major issue as a drinking water as well as for agriculture.

Especially in rural areas, this issue is still a challenging one. People use well water for drinking purpose, it contains harmful minerals, and it invites diseases. For agriculture, it also harms the land. For drinking and irrigation purpose enough water supplies should be there. Caste discriminations and cruelties on women and Dalits must be stopped by learning and laws. Lessons of cleaning should be part of life.

Women Empowerment

Strict actions against injustices to women must be taken. Still, violence against women is increasing. Patriarchal orthodox attitudes can be changed by the empowerment of women.

They must be provided with quality education and skill-based learning.

In public dealing, women’s active participations must be encouraged.

Maximum digital technology can be used to empower women.

Strong actions castes hate crime

against

Strong actions and punishment must be used against those who involve in caste-hate crimes. It is shocking that still, caste controls major fields of human life, right from birth to death.

As a result identity as a nation’s citizen suffers. Caste identity still dominates.

Egalitarian ideology of Indian spirituality and the constitution of the nation must be popularised.

Recycling of waste to best

There are big industrial units in Gujarat but recycling units from solid and liquid waste are yet to be established. On a small scale biogas plants are working in Sanorasa, Bhavnagar district. But on a big scale solid and liquid waste can be

transformed into as a reusable product.

It can save the environment as well as satisfy the need of the people.

A large quantity of valuable recyclable human waste is going useless, as a solid waste and liquid waste. Through the latest technology, it should be recycled and reuse.

Sanitation awareness should be treated as a mission for a healthy society.

Rational environment for sanitation Rational society is yet to be born here.

Irrational practices should be treated as punishable. By using scientific and technology rational environment should be created. Rationalism means not a rejection of faith but irrationality on the name of faith. The culture of Gujarat follows mutual respect and brotherhood. It must be strengthened.

This sort of environment is the sign of a healthy society.

Use of latest technology for WASH

By using the latest technology the issues of WASH can be solved earliest.

Technology is perhaps the best means to unite humanity without any discrimination. It can also help to solve the millions of issues. Solar energy, as well as tidal water of Gujarat coast, can also be used for solving the sanitation issues.

Thus considering all the aspects of social health and harmony specific environment can prove useful. People’s nausea for cleaning work can be removed. As the rational environment develops the role of caste can be weaker. Injustice to Dalits and women would reduce too.

In short, these sorts of actions will remain useful to create better Gujarat, socially and by health. Women and those who are connected with sanitation work should be accepted as the guarding to the public health, not as the inferior. People will realise waste is not useless waste at all but it is the raw matter for the best reusable product.

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Photo Feature

Oct 15 - 21, 2018

Warriors of the Sky Indian Air Force Day was marked with ceremonial gaiety on October 8 PHOTO: Sipra Das

Oct 15 - 21, 2018

Photo Feature

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Fighting Plastic Pollution

Oct 15 - 21, 2018

Bihar

Delhi

Polythene-Bag Ban From October 25

Pepsico To Set Up PET Bottles Recycling Plant

Earlier, the government announced a ban from September 24 but deferred it due to lack of preparedness

PepsiCo India to enable collection and recycling infrastructure in Delhi to support recycling of used PET plastic bottles

Agency

No one will be allowed to store, distribute, sell or use any kind of plastic bag for storing or dispensing edible or non-edible goods

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Agency everage major Pepsico India has said it will set up waste collection centres and reverse vending machines in Delhi to recycle PET plastic bottles, in partnership with Gem Enviro Management.

“The company has partnered with Gem Enviro Management to set up an infrastructure for collection and recycling of used PET plastic bottles in Delhi, in line with the plastic waste management rules,” a statement from Pepsico said.

“As a responsible leader in the food and beverage industry, we are continually working to reduce the impact of our packaging on the environment and increase recycling of plastic waste,” PepsiCo India President and CEO Ahmed El Sheikh said.

“To this end, we have partnered with Gem Enviro to set up Reverse Vending Machines, collection points and collection centres for used PET bottles at several locations across the city. The programme will also provide training to waste pickers and ensure effective recycling of the used PET collected,” he said.

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he Bihar government informed the Patna High Court that it will ban all kinds of polythene and plastic bags from October 25 in urban areas of the state and in rural areas from November 25.

Advocate General Lalit Kishore gave this information to a bench headed by Chief Justice MR Shah.

Earlier, the government announced a ban from September 24 but deferred it due to lack of preparedness.

In August, the High Court had directed the government to impose the ban and later directed for a law on the matter and use of media to create public awareness.

Two months ago, a draft notification was circulated by the state on a blanket

ban on manufacture, import, storage, transport, sale and use of plastic after

seeking objections and suggestions from civilians, institutions and stakeholders.

According to the notification, no one will be allowed to store, distribute, sell or use any kind of plastic bag for storing or dispensing edible or nonedible goods within the jurisdiction of Municipal Corporations and Councils and Nagar Panchayats.

Odisha

Plastic Ban Comes Into Effect In Six Cities In the first phase, the ban has been enforced in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Sambalpur and Rourkela and the seaside town of Puri Agency he Odisha government enforced a ban on the use of plastic in six cities of the state on 2nd October, coinciding with the 149th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

A ban on the use of polythene, thermocol, and other such plastic products has been implemented in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Rourkela, Sambalpur and Puri.

“No person, by himself or another, shall knowingly or otherwise, sell,

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trade, manufacture, import, store, carry, transport, use or distribute polythene and single-use plastic within the municipal limits, or as the case may be within the municipal corporation limits of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Sambalpur, Rourkela and Puri,” an order of the Forest and Environment Department said.

The ban, however, excludes plastic for carrying and transporting garbage and containers like a cup for milk products including curd and icecream, polythene packaging materials used in plant nurseries, horticulture, agriculture and healthcare sector like medicines, blood transportation bags, syringes, sample or specimen bags, resealable bags, medical instruments and accessories.

The order said that manufacturers, dealers, and major commercial establishments will have to face a minimum punishment of five years of

jail term and fine up to Rs one lakh for flouting the norms.

Small traders could face a penalty of Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 for violating the norms.

The concerned district collectors and sub-collectors have been asked to ensure the ban with some flexibility till one month, after which action would be taken against the violators.

Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) Mayor Ananta Jena said teams comprising officials of the Labour Department, BMC, Odisha State Pollution Control Board and the Police Commissioner have been formed to ensure the ban on the use of plastic.

“The teams will make people aware against the use of plastic and polythene.

Notices have been served on plastic and polythene manufacturing companies while raids will be conducted on godowns where these items are stocked,” Jena said.

State News

Oct 15 - 21, 2018

Bihar

First Organic Waste Composting Facility Muzaffarpur is the first city in the state to setup a fully functional waste processing site

Agency

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ihar’s first solid waste processing site, which will convert organic waste into compost fertiliser, was inaugurated in Muzaffarpur district.

Inaugurating the new facility, Bihar’s Urban Development and Housing Minister Suresh Kumar Sharma said it will help to ensure that

the city is clean.

“This is an important milestone for Muzaffarpur. It is the first city in Bihar to set-up a fully functional waste processing site and the only city in the whole of north India to have above 70 per cent waste segregation at source,” said Chandra Bhushan, Deputy Director General, Centre for Science and Environment, which is working with the Muzaffarpur

Municipal Corporation (MMC).

By January 1, 2019, all 49 wards of Muzaffarpur will have segregation practiced at source, along with five model centres to make compost fertiliser and process recyclable wastes like plastic, glass, metal, etc, he added.

Volunteers have been going doorto-door to educate the residents on segregation of waste into wet, dry and domestic hazardous waste.

“Muzaffarpur is the first city in Bihar to have its own solid waste management bye-laws and is enforcing the ban on plastic carry bags which was recently announced by the state government,” said Sanjay Dubey, Municipal Commissioner.

“We are making money out of waste. So far, we have sold two tonnes of compost. Once all processing centres are operational, we can produce 25 tonnes of compost every day which will be sold to farmers and residents,” added Dubey.

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Assam

New Scheme For Pregnant Tea Garden Workers The workers will also be allowed maternity leave from the third trimester to the third month after pregnancy

NFSA

Odisha’s Own Food Security Scheme The beneficiaries of the State Food Security Scheme (SFSS) will also get cheap rice at the cost of Re 1 Agency

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disha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched the state’s own food security scheme to benefit 25 lakh people who have been left out from the National Food Security Act (NFSA).

Patnaik launched the food security scheme after interacting with people of four districts through video conferencing from the state Secretariat here.

The Chief Minister said the scheme will benefit the vulnerable populace who has been excluded from the NFSA. “We had made a promise in 2014 and I am happy that we have kept

our promise to provide food to the people. I will not allow any single beneficiary to be left out under the scheme,” he added.

He said the beneficiaries will get five kg of rice per person per month at a rate of Rs 1 per kg.

The state government will spend Rs 443.5 crore per annum to support the scheme and Rs 221.75 crore in the current financial year, said sources.

The State government had decided to launch its own food security scheme after the Centre did not respond to its request to add additional beneficiaries under the NFSA

Agency

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ssam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal launched a scheme which guarantees an amount of Rs 12,000 to each pregnant worker in tea gardens so that she can take better care of herself and her unborn baby.

Sonowal hoped that the initiative would help to considerably bring down the mortality rate among the pregnant women in the tea community.

He said diseases have been a major cause of worry and the mortality rate among pregnant women labourers in the tea gardens was on the higher side.

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Science

Oct 15 - 21, 2018

Let me sleep

hungrier

We Need More Hours In The Day

Rise In Insects’ Appetites

Scientists say this is the ideal amount of sleep to get for heart health

DAVID NIELD

a stroke. That fits in with previous warnings that too much sleep is a e’ve seen plenty of reliable indicator of poor health as research on the optimum well as too little sleep – either because number of hours’ sleep to it causes health issues to worsen get for the good of our bodies, but or because it reflects underlying a massive new study of more than 1 conditions that keep people snoozing million adults has focused specifically for longer. on cardiovascular health.

“Our findings suggest that too Based on the new analysis, the much or too little sleep may be bad researchers put the magic window at for the heart,” says lead researcher between six and eight hours a night Epameinondas Fountas, from the corn in order to protect your heart.

Onassis Cardiac Surgery Centre in That’s probably not a huge Greece. surprise, as it’s in line with most “More research is needed to clarify other sleep recommendations for exactly why, but we do know that sleep overall health and wellbeing. But it’s influences biological processes like more than a lot of us get - more than glucose metabolism, blood pressure, 40 per cent of American adults get and inflammation – all of which have less than seven hours’ sleep a night. an impact on cardiovascular disease.”

Interestingly, the study also The meta-analysis crunched the warned against people getting too numbers on 1,000,541 people in much sleep. total, logged in studies published in The research, which analysed 11 the last five years. They were split existing studies covering more than into three groups: less than six hours 1 million adults, showed that getting sleep, between six and eight hours less than six hours or more than eight sleep, and more than eight hours hours was associated with a greater sleep. risk of coronary artery disease or Based on a follow-up period

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Interestingly, the study also warned against people getting too much sleep

averaging 9.3 years, the short sleepers were 11 per cent more likely, and the long sleepers were 33 per cent more likely, to develop or die of coronary artery disease or a stroke.

Coronary artery disease is typically caused by the build-up of cholesterol deposits clogging up the channels responsible for blood flow to and from the heart. Factors such as high blood pressure and a sedentary lifestyle are thought to contribute.

Strokes are linked to heart health and coronary artery disease, and happen when the normal blood flow to the brain is interrupted.

While the study doesn’t go into why these correlations might have shown up, the fact that it only analysed prospective studies – where participants are followed over a period of time rather than asked retrospective questions – adds to its usefulness.

And while the researchers are keen to emphasise that the odd lie-in or late night won’t do too much damage, over a prolonged amount of time, they might – especially where your heart health is concerned.

As well as hitting the sweet spot of between six and eight hours, the team behind the study recommends avoiding alcohol and caffeine before bed, making regular exercise a part of your routine, and watching what you eat. Doctors should also be watching out for patients who are spending too long or not long enough in bed.

The details of how this fits with the biology of the heart aren’t yet clear, but it seems clear there’s a definite link here – which future research can shed more light on.

As we know from other studies, going without sleep can cause significant damage to the brain as well, even if we’re not yet sure how or why this occurs. Getting enough shut-eye is a crucial part of keeping our bodies running well.

“We spend one-third of our lives sleeping yet we know little about the impact of this biological need on the cardiovascular system,” says Fountas.

The hungrier pests may cause a total loss of about 213 million tons of corn, rice and wheat n ssb bureau

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ith temperatures creeping up as the climate warms, those very hungry caterpillars could get even hungrier, and more abundant.

Crop losses to pests may grow.

Insects will be “eating more of our lunch,” says Curtis Deutsch of the University of Washington in Seattle.

Insects already munch their way through eight per cent of the world’s maize and wheat each year, and damage 14 per cent of rice, Deutsch says. If Earth’s average global temperature rises just two degrees above pre-industrial levels, annual crop losses could reach about 10 per cent for maize, 12 per cent for wheat and 17 per cent for rice. That’s a total loss of about 213 million tons for the three grains combined.

Unlike mammals and birds, insects heat up or chill as their environment does. As an insect warms, its metabolism speeds up, too. The faster it burns energy, the more ravenously the insect feeds and the sooner it reproduces. The speed-up rates aren’t hugely different across kinds of insects, Deutsch says.

Tropical insects are often already near the ceiling of their temperature tolerance, where an insect has to cope with so much heat damage that reproduction rates falter.

In cooler temperate zones, where wheat is grown, insects have much more leeway to live faster. That makes future wheat especially vulnerable, Deutsch says.

This is “an incredibly valuable first step” toward predicting future pest losses, says physiological ecologist Nathan Lemoine of Colorado State University in Boulder. But he and others note that insect metabolism is just one factor out of many that will affect future crop yields for better or worse.

Farmers will likely adopt new defenses, though that would raise farmers’ costs, says Erich-Christian Oerke of the University of Bonn in Germany. Oerke was not involved in the new calculations.

Rising temperatures can encourage, or discourage, insects invading new territories. Temperatures may also affect the parasites that prey on crop-munching pests. Both pests and plants may adapt and evolve. Predictions will have to evolve, too.

Health

Oct 15 - 21, 2018

Tobacco

‘Tobacco Industry’ Out Of The Global Tobacco Treaty This step has been taken to discourage usage of tobacco and work towards building a healthy country Chandrani Banerjee

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ndia along with the governments of 181 countries has decided to keep the ‘Tobacco Industry’ out of the global tobacco treaty to ensure that it has no access to any conference or meeting to influence government or corporate sector. This step has been taken to discourage usage of tobacco and work towards building a healthy country.

“At the conclusion of the eighth session of the global tobacco treaty negotiations, countries unanimously adopted policies that eliminate loopholes Tobacco Industry has exploited to gain access to the talks, redouble defenses against evolving industry tactics, and mandated a study on new tobacco products” said Bobby Ramakant, who was part of Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals (NATT) leadership at this meet while speaking to Sulabh.

“The negotiations were under constant assault as Tobacco Industry attempted to undermine the talks by stacking government delegations, commandeering industry front groups, lobbying countries, posing as the media and employing other means to interfere with policies that would save lives and reduce tobacco consumption” added Bobby Ramakant, who is also part of Corporate Accountability in Boston as well as Vote For Health campaign of Asha Parivar.

For years, the tobacco industry has manipulated transparency guidelines in attempts to delay, weaken, or block the treaty’s progress. Today, Parties adopted landmark good governance policy that eliminates these loopholes, shutting out the industry and protecting the treaty from interference.

“The tobacco industry is the single greatest barrier to tobacco control policies globally—and these negotiations were no exception,” said Michél Legendre, associate campaign director at Corporate Accountability.

“We applaud delegates who stood up to the industry and rejected its

Key outcomes from the talks included • Policy preventing the industry partnerships with industryfrom attending meetings funded groups. posing as members of the • Issuance of an independent general public and media report on heat-not-burn and requires delegations to products and declaration that disclose any ties to the tobacco the FCTC guidelines apply industry. to these novel and emerging • Reaffirmation of Article 5.3 products. guidelines, safeguarding • Adopting a landmark global the treaty from emerging strategy for tobacco reduction industry tactics and calling to accelerate implementation for all institutions to reject of the treaty.

Tobacco-related illness remains the number one cause of preventable death in the world, and casting out the tobacco industry, which drives the epidemic, could provide precedent for insulating other policy-making spaces rhetoric. It’s thanks to them that governments have now adopted precedent-setting measures that will protect millions of people’s lives.”

Parties not only eliminated Big Tobacco’s last entryways into the talks, but they also expanded the treaty’s firewall policies that protect

public health policymaking from the influence of emerging industry tactics. The adopted policy includes language to expose and counteract public relations schemes like the Philip Morris Internationalfunded foundation and calls on all institutions to reject partnerships

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with industry-funded groups, among other measures.

“Big Tobacco will stop at nothing to try to undermine the lifesaving measures of the treaty,” said Hellen Neima, Uganda-based tobacco control legal consultant. “Today, we made great strides to keep the industry where it belongs: outside of the talks and away from public health policy.”

“This deadly industry may claim it’s turning a new leaf, but we aren’t falling for its latest scam,” said Behzad Valizadeh, a delegate for Iran which has taken pre-emptive action to ban emerging tobacco products such as Philip Morris International’s IQOS. “Big Tobacco tries to confuse, sow doubt, and derail policy with its PR stunts, but governments around the world are rejecting its attempts.”

“We made history this week,” added Hassan Mohamed, a delegate of Maldives, “With this, we are shutting the door on Big Tobacco and opening a new frontier of tobacco control.”

Parties also called on the Secretariat to fulfill its directive and provide governments with the necessary resources to hold the tobacco industry civilly and criminally liable for its abuses -- a potent tool for countries to advance tobacco control.

“Soon, Parties will have the tools they need to make Big Tobacco pay,” said Akinbode Oluwafemi, Deputy Executive Director of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FOEN). “Liability actions will unlock the unlimited potential to transform the way this industry, and other corporations operate globally.”

Tobacco-related illness remains the number one cause of preventable death in the world, and casting out the tobacco industry, which drives the epidemic, could provide precedent for insulating other policy-making spaces. This includes corporations that drive environmental and public health harms. For example, in the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, there are no checks on the fossil fuel industry’s influence.

And their obstruction has been at the core of the talks for the past three years.

The decisions adopted by Parties will shape the implementation of the treaty, formally known as the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), for the next two years and beyond. The treaty, which entered into force in 2005, contains the world’s most effective tobacco control and corporate accountability measures—estimated to save more than 200 million lives by 2050 if fully implemented.

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excerpts from the book: “NARENDRA DAMODARdas MODI: the making of a legend”

Oct 15 - 21, 2018

Mongolia

Today Indians and Mongolians are telling the world that the bonds of hearts and minds have the strength to overcome the barriers of distance. That bond Prime Minister Narendra Modi inspecting the Guard of Honour during the ceremonial welcome, at the State Palace, in Mongolia on May 17, 2015.

Asia-Pacific Region.

Modi said that he saw his visit to Mongolia as a special privilege for two important milestones—one to celebrate 25 years of democracy in Mongolia, and the second to celebrate 60 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations.

Addressing the Mongolian Parliament, officially known as the State Great Khural, on May 17, Modi laid emphasis on development partnership, economic ties, defence cooperation and diplomatic relations

thrives through the monks from Mongolia who come to India each year for spiritual learning; and the hundreds of others who go there for education and training.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi between the two countries.

The visit to Mongolia ended with a call on President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi playing a traditional Mongolian music instrument “Yochin” at Mini Naadam Festival, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

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he two-day visit to Mongolia on May 16 and 17, the first by an Indian Prime Minister, yielded 14 bilateral agreements after talks, including a pact to extend a credit line of USD one billion to expand Mongolia’s

economic capacity and infrastructure.

Expressing his delight over visiting Mongolia, Modi said it was a country that was integral to India’s “Act East” policy and added that Mongolia and India’s destinies were closely linked with the future of the

Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting the President of Mongolia, Mr. Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, in Mongolia on May 17, 2015.

Oct 15 - 21, 2018

excerpts from the book: “NARENDRA DAMODARdas MODI: the making of a legend”

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South Korea

Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting Former UN Secretary General, Ban Kimoon, in Seoul, South Korea on May 18, 2015.

Address to The Indian community in South Korea

India is now being looked upon as a rising star on the global horizon. (7 July 2015)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the 6th Asian Leadership Conference in Seoul, South Korea, on May 18, 2015.

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n South Korea, Prime Minister Modi held delegation-level talks with President Park Geunhye. Both nations inked bilateral agreements, including one on avoidance of double taxation and formalising consultations between the National Security Councils of the two nations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending a wreath laying ceremony at the Seoul National Cemetery in South Korea on May 18, 2015.

India and South Korea also agreed to having more flights, co-production of films, animation and broadcasting programmes, cooperation in the field of electric power development and new energy industries, youth matters, road transport and highways, maritime transport and logistics and a 10-billion dollar pact for the infrastructural and developmental projects in India. Prime Minister Modi also addressed the Asian Leadership Forum, where he met with top South Korean CEOs and urged them to invest heavily in India and participate in the Make in India initiative. He also spoke at a programme called “Friends of India in the Republic of South Korea” and urged all to participate in the June 21 International Yoga Day programme.

Earlier India had a “Look East” Policy. My government has adopted an “Act East” Policy to which a lot of importance is being given. India is now being looked upon as a rising star on the global horizon.

A realisation has dawned

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Park Geun-hye in Seoul, South Korea on May 18, 2015.

We have agreed to upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Special Strategic Partnership… We have

that BRICS would not be complete without the “I.” All global rating institutions like World Bank, IMF, Moody, etc., have, in different forums and in different contexts, accepted that India is the fastest growing economy in the world.

laid the foundation for a relationship that two major Asian countries with shared values should have….

We intend to deepen our cooperation in defence technology and manufacture of defence equipment in India.

This sector offers huge opportunities in India.

Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Continue in next issue

26

Off-beat

Oct 15 - 21, 2018 Slogs For 27 Years

Man Single-Handedly Digs A Pond In Chhattisgarh Lal identified a spot in the forest and kept digging — for 27 years, villagers say

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or years, Saja Pahad village in Chhattisgarh’s Koriya district faced water shortage. Villagers found it difficult to quench the thirst of

their cattle, but they did not know what to do. And the government, too, did nothing.

Then one day Shyam Lal decided to take his spade and dig a pond. Fellow villagers laughed at him. But the tribal

teenager was determined. no electricity, communication lines, Lal identified a spot in the forest or proper road connectivity. A local of and kept digging — for 27 years, member of the legislative assembly according to villagers.

Shyam Bihari Jaiswal visited the village The result is nothing less than that and rewarded Shyam with Rs 10,000 of Bihar’s mountain man, Dashrath for his commendable work. District Manjhi — a one-acre 15-feet deep pond, collector of Koriya, Narendra Duggal which is filled with the elixir also promised his support to Shyam. of life. Shyam was all of “I came to know about Shyam 15 when he decided to recently. His effort for his do something about village is commendable, and the drought that I will go to his village to “The pond is prevailed in his provide him all possible now used by village, killing many help,” he told. The state everyone and we of the villagers’ of Chhattisgarh has been cattle and leaving reeling under drought year are all thankful their fields dry. He after year. to him.” did not give in to the Villagers hail him as a role jeers and taunts that model and saviour. Ramsaran the villagers would often Bargar (70), a local who hurl at him. He took it upon witnessed Shyam toil through the himself to revive the pond. years, says, “The pond is now used by “No one helped me in my work, everyone and we are all thankful to him.” neither the administration nor the Lal’s work comes as a relief at a time villagers,” the 42-year-old beams Chhattisgarh is suffering from droughtproudly, adding that he did it for the like situation this year. The rainfall has welfare of the people and the cattle of been 10% short of the average over 10 his village. years. District collectors have been As per report, until late last year, directed to ensure proper utilisation of Saja Pahad was still in the dark with irrigation facilities.

Beating malnutrition

Health Awareness Seeps Into Interiors Of Bengal Immunisation, health check-ups and referral services are provided in convergence with the state government’s Department of Health and Family Welfare n Binita Das

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hruti Roy, a chubby sevenmonth-old baby of Loharsole village in this West Bengal district bordering Jharkhand, is a far cry from all-too-familiar pictures of malnourished children. And as awareness grows among the shy and conservative pregnant women and lactating mothers of this region, more and more infants now resemble Shruti.

Awareness is being spread thanks to initiatives of the state government that appears determined to bring down West Bengal’s rate of underweight children, currently at 31.6 per cent as per the National Family Health Survey (2015-16).

Shruti’s mother, Ashtami Roy, who valued her daughter’s health over tradition, told a group of visiting journalists: “I gave sattu and bananas to my daughter when she was six months old.”The Bede community residing in Loharsole village was snake charmers by profession. They are tribal people residing in mud huts in the extreme interiors. The total population of the village is 532. Talking about the gradual change and their initiatives, Amitabha Patra, District Programme Officer, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), said: “We provide supplementary nutrition for pregnant and lactating women and for the children up to six years.

In order to counter calorie- and protein-

related malnourishment, we provide nutritional support.” “We have been able to make them understand the importance of exclusive breastfeeding of new-borns till six months and the importance of the mother’s first milk,” he said.

Colostrum (the milk produced by the mother just after delivery) provides protective antibodies and essential nutrients, acting as a first “natural” immunisation for newborns, strengthening their immune system and reducing the chances of death in the neonatal period.

“When my baby was born I gave her the first milk immediately for I had learnt that it will keep her healthy. It is better than injection (vaccines),” said Mamoni Bedia,

who gave birth recently.

Patra said under the ICDS scheme, he and his team are imparting pre-school education, as well as health and nutrition education, for three- to six-year-old children through community-based Anganwadi Centres (AWCs). Immunisation, health check-ups and referral services (for severely undernourished children) are provided in convergence with the state government’s Department of Health and Family Welfare.

Here in Purulia, the ICDS provides these services to the remotest community with its vast network of 4,831 operational AWCs in 22 ICDS projects across the district.

Sanitation

Oct 15 - 21, 2018

Nicaragua

Quick Glance

Being Dirty Had To End

1.4 million people don’t have a decent toilet

Sanitation is not an event or a building, but a mind-set and a life-style aspiration

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he Nicaraguan urban poor have a long-standing history of lacking access to basic services, such as water and sanitation. In the capital city, Managua, the Greater Managua Water and Sanitation Project (PRASMA) was devised to create new water and sanitation infrastructure throughout the city.

This includes a system of lowcost sewage networks designed to target the poor regions of Managua.

Although the PRASMA was a solid start, city officials realised that more was needed if they hoped to achieve their goal of reaching universal piped water connectivity.

The Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (MHCP) reached out to the World Bank for funding to create the Nicaraguan Water and Sewerage Enterprise (ENACAL) in order to expand 15,798 water and 19,716 sewer connections to some of the poorest households.

Before ENACAL was launched, only 26.5 per cent of households had access to piped water. Only 1.2 per cent had in-house toilets. The majority of the population, more than 72 per cent, used latrines. The remaining portion of the population concerned city officials the most, with more than 26 per cent lacking access to any sanitation services.

Among the poorest neighborhoods, it was not uncommon to see raw sewage running down the streets. In other impoverished neighborhoods, even for those connected to piped-in water, service was less than reliable.

Some households received water as infrequently as two hours per day.

Since collecting $20 million in credit and $20 million in grant money from the World Bank to get ENACAL operational, the project has improved

service reliability for 161,896 Nicaraguans as well as increasing the overall financial sustainability of its operations.

The World Bank reported a little less than half of the money was used to expand and add additional infrastructure. The remainder of the funds was used to optimize technical efficiency and strengthen institutional activities.

Moving forward, ENACAL is developing the Master Plan for Operational Efficiency in Managua.

This focuses on non-revenue water reduction and the optimization of energy efficiency.

With the assistance in the funding of $300 million from the World Bank and other international donors, continued improvements under the Program for Human Water and Sanitation will take place over the course of the next 15 years.

Thus far, ENACAL has benefited 62,295 residents and improved the percentage of households with access to water for 16 or more hours a day to 72 per cent.

More communities access to water

with

With support from the World Bank through the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project (PRASNICA) more than 180 communities have

Toilets •In cities and towns, toilets are your

regular sit-down flush variety.

•Public toilets are not common but most businesses will let you use their facilities.

•As you venture into rural areas you will come across dry latrines, which are little more than a hole in the

27 07

ground covered by a wooden box.

•There is often no toilet paper in public bathrooms. Always carry a spare roll. And when you’ve finished, throw it in the trash basket, don’t flush it – the pipes get blocked easily.

Over 1 million people currently live without clean water

Almost 1 in 3 people live below the poverty line

now small wells, improved pumps, water tanks, aqueducts, household connections and local sanitation.

The US$20 million project has been under implementation since June 2008 and in January 2013 an additional US$6 million in funds were approved for the project. This will allow an additional 42 rural and indigenous communities in Nicaragua to have access to water. And so, people will be able to do household chores without traveling great distances to find water.

“Our interest is to continue to support this project because it has visible results. Also, infrastructure goes hand in hand with social awareness programmes that emphasise the importance of hygiene, water conservation and sustainability,” said Camille Nuamah, World Bank Country Manager for Nicaragua.

The rural Pacific area, the Atlantic coast, and the communities of Alto Wangki and Bocay in Jinotega, will also get expanded coverage of water services, with the construction and rehabilitation of infrastructure and the installation of latrines or septic tanks.

“We face the challenge of measuring improvements in terms of access to water and sanitation, as well as having a sustainable impact in the communities,” adds Nuamah.

Although Nicaragua has made great progress in access to drinking water, there are still disparities between urban and rural areas. It is estimated that only 37 per cent of rural population has sanitation services compared to 63 per cent in cities.

According to recent studies, the negative effects of lack of water and sanitation result in a loss of 0.9 per cent of the country’s GDP, affecting sectors such as health, education and productivity.

Source: World Bank, Central America Data, PRASNICA, ENACAL, UNICEF

28

Sports

Oct 15 - 21, 2018

Anil Kumble

Fiery bowler, Courageous leader Facts…

The leg-spinner took 619 wickets from 132 matches in the longest format and 337 wickets from 271 ODIs

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• Anil Kumble started his career as medium pace bowler.

• He has world record of caught and bowled dismissal.

• Kumble was awarded as Arjuna and Padma Shri.

• He was appointed as chairman of ICC cricket committee.

• He has best bowling figure in the world.(10 wickets in single inning) • Among the 16 cricketers shortlisted for the Wisden Indian Cricketer of the 20th Century (2002) • Bowled 40,850 balls in entire Test career, the highest for an Indian and the second highest overall

n ssb bureau

umbo (nickname of Anil Kumble) has bagged 619 test wickets for India over his 18-year long career. For a long time, test match victory for India depended on Kumble’s performance because you may win ODI by runs but you have to take 20 wickets in order to win a test match.

He was not a great turner of the ball. However, with his control over small turn & ability to pitch ball at the right place with the pace he got just enough width to beat the batsman. His straighter one was the most unplayable delivery when the batsman expects the ball to turn but it keeps its line.

Nobody expects a spinner to bowl at 110 kmph. A lot of batsmen used to play him like a medium pacer.

He is immensely respected because of his consistency & commitment. He dismissed Brian Lara in a test match while bowling with a broken jaw.

He is only the second bowler

in the world to claim all ten test wickets in an innings.

No bowler has come even close to Anil Kumble in terms of single-handedly winning matches for India. At home, he sent down deliveries that went down as the biggest challenge to negotiate for batsmen around the world (and Indian wicketkeepers). And after a decade and a bit of painstaking perseverance, success finally touched him on those unresponsive foreign pitches. Like vintage wine he improved with time, new essence added into the mix while the fizz and sparkle remained undiminished.

Kumble made his Test debut in August 1990 against England at Manchester when he was 19.

He made his ODI debut in April earlier that year against Sri Lanka in Sharjah. Kumble’s cricket career was spread over 18 years in which he single-handedly leads India to famous victories.

Kumble was awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian award in 2005. He was inducted into

ICC’s Hall of Fame in 2015. The Karnataka leg-spinner became the fourth Indian after Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and Bishan Singh Bedi to feature in the elite list.

Not just with the ball, Kumble was also a passable batsman. The right-hander scored his maiden century against England at The Oval in 2007.

Kumble was handed the responsibility of captaincy during the fag end of his career. After taking over from Rahul Dravid, Kumble captained India in 14 Tests and won three, lost five and drew eight.

The leg-spinner also led Royal Challengers Bangalore to the final in the second season of the Indian Premier League.

There was no sight more touching than when he left the international arena forever, chaired on the shoulders of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, the mighty hero of 18 years, the architect of triumphs, the biggest name in the pantheon of great spinners of the country.

Yet, he was hardly a spinner other

than in the pages that listed his profile. He seldom lured batsmen out of the safety of the crease with tantalising flight. Rarely were his victims stumped, or induced to a loft in the air and hole out in the deep. The vagaries of the googly improved with time, some of his leg-breaks did turn. But he preferred his own method of snaring batsmen — perfected through practice. The top-spinners and flippers, relying on the bounce and the skid, getting the batsmen leg before, bowled or caught in the close cordon. Kumble hated to be taken for runs. Sessions used to go down without a boundary scored off his relentless line and length. For the batsman, there was no moment to relax when Kumble was bowling a spell.

Off a gangly run, the arm came over from a great height on top of his six-foot two-inch frame, propelled by powerful shoulders. Through the air he was always quick, often compared tongue-in-cheek to the mediumpacer (which was, incidentally, what he started his career as) — by onlookers, seldom by the tormented batsmen. The stumps were his target, and he could go at them forever. If the surface helped the ball skid or there was a semblance of cracks, he would become unplayable.

Bounce would nourish him as well.

And at last, when he was asked to lead the team in tests, he proved that he is a hell of a leader.

But what admired cricket fans in India most was his humbleness and integrity. He is one true example of why cricket is called the Gentleman’s Game.

Oct 15 - 21, 2018

Entertainment

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Don’t shun Indian classical Music M u sician V id ya S hah

Vidya Shah, urging people not to shy away from appreciating it just because they may not immediately understand it -- which was a traditional way of is happy, then another is sad presenting even a ‘thumri’, ‘dadra’, listening to the same ‘raag’... (it) ‘ghazal’, or ‘khayal’ -- then people shows how much it has to offer,” want to listen to it at a relaxed pace,” said Shah, who is also a visiting Shah said. professor at the Goa University The music that excites her has the where she teaches the social ability “to improvise, to abstract, to history of music. decide your own colours within a Shah’s engagement with folk music dates back to her “idealistic certain grammar”.

She performed for a new batch phase after college” when she learnt about the “organic quality” at Ashoka University last week and and elasticity of music during her hopes to create more meaningful time spent in the tribal regions of spaces to engage youth in the music discourse.

Madhya Pradesh.

“Many young people are “I think music also has to adapt, interested in music’s history and to allow for itself to be interpreted n Siddhi Jain in Gwalior, Kennedy Centre in politics. It’s good reaching out to with the times. You have to move Washington, Asia Society in New young people who are otherwise with the times, you can’t say he nuances and technicalities York and Bode Museum in Berlin. branded as frivolous,” said the that just because I’m “It’s sheer ecstasy, bliss, and of Indian classical music are musician, who is quick to practising something sometimes hyped and do not a different level of emotion take such interaction a hundred that listening to classical music take away the emotional impact it has on a listener, says noted vocalist- generates,” emphasised the musician. years old, I Music has that opportunities.

She is currently She said that classical music serves won’t change composer Vidya Shah, urging people organic quality, gearing up for her different purposes. While there is “a anything. not to shy away from appreciating performance on poet “Music has whole set of purists and connoisseurs it just because they may not just like any Sahir Ludhianvi, and who consume music (to) enjoy each that organic immediately understand it. performative her participation in quality, raag and taal”, there are also people To put things in perspective, she Spain’s World Music just like any who may not be able to dissect and explained that as a practitioner, art for that Expo. performative art understand its technical aspects. it is important for her to “stick to matter Known for her for that matter,” But, the musician said, they her grammar”, but suggested that unconventional music, she quipped. everyone doesn’t necessarily have to should also be introduced to music Shah’s special performances Shah referred to appreciation before learning its identify “this is this ‘raag’ from this include “The Last Mughal” with the 10th edition of India basics. ‘thaat’, playing to this ‘taal’”. writer-historian William Dalrymple, Habitat Centre’s Lok Sangeet “Music is part of some school “When Pandit Ravishankar was “Akhtari: Life of Begum Akhtar”, and Sammelan, pointing out that curricula, but more than getting playing at the Woodstock Festival, “Bas Tu Hii” -- a rendition of Sufiana folk music was presented with them to learn music, it’s important all those present were not able to Kalam. a contemporary twist and was they learn how to appreciate it. In understand what exactly he was Vidya Shah is also a recipient allowed “malleability” at the festival India, we need to make that shift, playing. But the sheer ecstasy and of the Charles Wallace award; has curated by her. and that too at a younger age. affect he was able to generate was authored “Jalsa: Indian Women’s But has Indian music really “If we are able to do that phenomenal,” Shah told in an Journey from the Salon to the adapted? consistently, it might lead to a interview, referring to the maestro’s Studio”; and has received a senior Asking “who has the time to structural shift, but it’ll take time,” 1969 performance. fellowship from the Ministry of listen to a four-hour concert”, she Shah observed.

A household name today, Shah Culture for her project “Women on noted the time constraints in a She recalled the “sheer range started learning music at just 12 Record” that archives contributions formal, urban set-up, where one is of responses” she gets from her and has since performed at various of women singers in the gramophone done in “an-hour-and-a-half”. orientation programmes for national and international fora, era.

“However, if I do a ‘baithak’ appreciating classical music. “If one including the Tansen Samaroh

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Sulabh Parivar

Oct 15 - 21, 2018

Vikas Goswami, Head Sustainability - ‘Good and Green’, Karn Bawari, Deputy Manager from Godrej Industries Ltd. and Associate Companies, Mumbai,

Sunoor Verma, Book Editor from Geneva, Switzerland and Sunanda Verma, Author, Singapore visited Sulabh

Moral Story

The Bird With Two Heads

Samir Tiwari Co-Founder & CEO, Non Lineaar, and some other visitors visited Sulabh Campus. The guests were impressed to see various activities of Sulabh Gram.

Campus. The guests attended the morning prayer and were welcomed in Sulabh traditional way with shawl.

I

t was strange because he had two necks with two heads, but shared the common body. One day, as the bird was wandering, it found a delicious looking red-

golden fruit.

One of the heads mumbled, “Oh, what a delicious looking fruit. I am lucky to have found it. I am sure the fruit is sent from heavens only for me”. On saying so, it started eating the fruit with utmost pleasure. While eating, it kept on praising how it was the most delicious fruit he had ever eaten.

Hearing and seeing all this, the other head requested, “Oh dear, please also allow me to taste the fruit that you are praising with all your heart”.

The first head did not want to share it, so it laughed and said, “We share the same stomach. Whoever amongst us eats the fruit, it goes to the same stomach. It makes no difference on who eats the fruit. Moreover, since I am the one who found this fruit in the first place, I have the right to eat it myself.”

This selfishness of the first head hurt the second very much, and it went silent with

disappointment on hearing the first head’s reply.

Few days later, as they were wandering the second head found some fruits.

The fruits were from a poisonous tree. He declared to the first head, “You are a deceitful person. The other day you had insulted me by not sharing the delicious fruit.

Now I am going to eat this fruit and avenge your insult”.

The first head pleaded, “Please don’t eat this fruit, it is a poisonous one. We share the same stomach. If you eat it, we will both suffer” Mocking at the first head, the second head replied, “Shut up!

Since I am the one who found this fruit in the first place, I have the right to eat it myself”.

Knowing what would happen, the first head began to cry. The second head ate the poisonous fruit without bothering the first head’s requests. As a consequence of this action, as soon as the poison reached the stomach, the bird severely suffered.

The wise indeed say: Union is strength.

Events

Oct 15 - 21, 2018

events & more...

Across 2. What is the name of first British to visit India 5. The person who works for free 7. Where is the official home of Santa Claus?

11. Which of the following countries was not part of the Soviet Union in 1991?

12. Tuberculosis can be separated into how many categories of progression 14. One who speaks less 18. One who is unmarried 19. Word with the same meaning 20. Where is India’s First nuclear centre

11, Mansingh Road, Rajpath Area, Central Secretariat, New Delhi 26 Oct 11:00 AM - 28 Oct 11:00 PM

SSB crossword no. 44

events

The North East Festival Venue : Indira Gandhi National Centre For Arts, Mansingh Road

Down

SOLUTION of crossword no.43

Shopping, Painting Workshop Venue : Epicentre

SECTOR 44 Ground Floor, Apparel House, Sector 44, Gurgaon 26 Oct 11:00 AM - 28 Oct 11:00 PM

No Naan-Sense! At This Middle Eastern Restaurant Venue : Baris Greater Kailash - 2 Building 3, Local Shopping Complex, Mazjid Moth, Greater Kailash 2, New Delhi 24 Sep 12:30 PM - 31 Oct 6:30 PM

1.Jainas

11.Delhi

2.Pali

12. Sakas

3.Mysore

13.Ashoka

4.Trajan

14.Curtain

5.Travancore

15.Finance

6.Telugu

16.Neighbor

7.Greece

17.Sakyas

8.Jahangir

18.Dakhili

9.Iltutmish

19.Cornwallis

10.Nirvana

20.Chalukyas

solution of sudoku-43

Awadhi Adventure With Dinner At Namak Mandi Venue : Namak Mandi

VASANT KUNJ, DLF Promenade Mall, 2nd Floor, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi 24 Oct 2018 7:00 PM - 11:59 PM

31

1. One who can speak two languages 3. Killing of another human being 4. What is the largest City in the USA in terms of area?

6. A Government by the few 8. The person who collects stamps 9. Murder of a mother 10. People who work together 13. What is the largest country in the world in terms of land area?

15. Practice of having several husbands 16. Name of First Indian Missile 17. One who believes in god

sudoku-44

Bollywood Music & Jazz At This Piano Man Gig Venue : The Piano Man Jazz Club SAFDARJUNG, B-6-7/22, DDA Commercial Complex, Opp. Deer Park, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi 21 Oct 2018 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

on the lighter side by DHIR

Please mail your solution to - ssbweekly@gmail.com or Whatsapp at 9868807712, One Lucky Winner will win Cash Prize of Rs 500/-. Look for the Solution in the Next Issue of SSB

32

Newsmakers

Oct 15 - 21, 2018

Tababi Devi Thangjam

India’s First Judo Medallist The teenager from Manipur became India’s first judoka to win an Olympic medal at any level

T

ababi Devi Thangjam became India’s first judo athlete to win an Olympic medal - senior or junior - as she grabbed India’s second silver medal at the Youth Olympics 2018 in Buenos Aires.

Tababi went down to Venezuela’s

Maria Gimenez 11:0s1 in the Women’s -44kg Finals of Judo but created history for India.

For Tababi, the silver medal is a long-awaited victory, and a moment of triumph, that has come after a lot of hard work and struggle.

Tababi Devi is the Asian cadet champion in 2017 and won her second gold medal at the same level at the Cadet and Junior Asian Cup this year. At the continental level, she is a three-time champion.

Tababi comes from the tiny village of Kokchai Makha Leikai, located in the town of Mayang, which is 24 km away from Imphal. Her father, Thangjam Thoiba Singh, is a daily wage worker and mother Thangjam Ongbi Kamala Devi, is a fish vendor. The couple has four more children, and Tababi is the oldest.

Gifts air travel to all elderly of his village

Vikas Jyani

Haryana lad becomes pilot, gifts air travel to all granddads and grandmas of his village

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hat is the best gift someone can give to their hometown after they have climbed the ladder of success or achieved what they set out to do? Distribute sweets door-todoor? Host a party for their friends and neighbours across the village?

Well, what this newly-commissioned pilot from Haryana did for the elderly folks from his hometown will not just touch your heart but also make you respect the young man for his magnanimous gesture.

The newly licensed Punjab pilot Vikas Jyani, hailing from Punjab’s Adampur, kept his promise alive by making sure that 22 residents from his village who are over 70 years of age, get to experience the magic of flying.

Jyani’s father, Mahendra Jyani, said that Vikas fulfilled his dream with the flight, too. “That’s the most important thing for me,” he said. “All youngsters should follow Vikas’s example, and we should respect our elders,” Mahendra further added.

A 90-year-old woman, Bimla, one of the passengers who had never flown before, expressed that it felt like a dream, and stressed that “many people make promises to the elderly, but Jyani kept his word.”

Mahendra Jyani said that Vikas fulfilled his dream of becoming a pilot too. The group later visited the Golden Temple, Wagah Border and Jallianwala Bagh.

Unsung Hero Rifat Masoodi

Bat-Woman (maker) of Kashmir Amidst the turmoil, Kashmir’s only woman ‘Bat-maker’ is scripting saga of her own

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rom the ashes of conflict has emerged the story of Rifat Masoodi, who is the first woman to own a cricket bat manufacturing unit in Jammu and Kashmir.

Rifat has merely picked up after her father-in-law, who had started a bat-manufacturing unit, in the 1970’s. However, beginning in the late 80s, the escalation of the Kashmir insurgency, saw many businesses slowly come apart, including the one started by him.

In 1999, 21-year-old Rifat decided to revive the unit. The decision came from inspiration provided former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who went on a bus journey to Pakistan. Rifat told, how Vajpayee’s efforts at fostering peace brought a sense of calm and normalcy to Kashmir. That led to a renewed wave of interest in Kashmiri products, from buyers nationwide.

Rifat started from scratch, making calls to Indian buyers, even offering wholesale customers free stay at the Masoodi residence.

By her own admission to Kashmir Box, Rifat was married very young into a conservative family that didn’t approve of women working outside the confines of the home. However, she states that her venture received complete support from everyone, especially her husband, Showkat Masoodi, a forest department employee who quit his job and became a full-time football coach in 2010.

Rifat’s business model is quite simple. The raw material comes from Pampore Mandi, and once procured, the entire process is carried out under her watchful eye.

Breaking the stereotypes of the society of women being limited within their homes, Rifat said, It is challenging to manage it at times, but I am used to it now. I feel very attached to my work. We send bats to cities like Mumbai and mostly sell with our name Rifat uses the famous Kashmir Willow wood, a well-known material for its soft and lightweight properties. From getting the raw material from the source to maintaining the line of communication with her suppliers from other states, Rifat is the sole player in her business.

With only 10 members in her unit, the production doesn’t slow down at any time. If the demand rises, she hires an extra hand to meet the demand. Besides cricket bats, Rifat also manufactures tennis racquets and seasoned bats.

RNI No. DELENG/2016/71561, Joint Commissioner of Police (Licensing) Delhi No. F. 2 (S-45) Press/ 2016 Volume - 2, Issue - 44 Printed by Monika Jain, Published by Monika Jain on behalf of SULABH SANITATION MISSION FOUNDATION and Printed at The Indian Express Ltd., A-8, Sector-7, NOIDA (U.P.) and Published from RZ 83, Mahavir Enclave, Palam-Dabri Road, New Delhi – 110 045. Editor Monika Jain