Archive For The “General” Category
New Delhi, Oct 15 : Petrol and diesel price rose again on Friday taking its retail rates to record high levels across the country affecting consumers this festive season.
Accordingly, in the national capital, petrol and diesel prices increased by 35 paisa per litre to Rs 105.14 per litre and Rs 93.87 per litre, respectively.
In India's financial capital of Mumbai, petrol became costlier by 34 paisa per litre to Rs 111.09 a litre on Friday, the highest across all the four metro cities.
Diesel also costs Rs 101.77 for one litre in Mumbai.
The price hike on Friday is for a second consecutive day after the rates remained static on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Diesel prices now have increased on 17 out of the last 21 days taking up its retail price by Rs 5.25 per litre in Delhi.
With diesel price rising sharply, the fuel is now available at over Rs 100 a litre in several parts of the country.
This dubious distinction was earlier available to petrol that had crossed Rs 100 a litre mark across the country a few months earlier.
Petrol prices had maintained stability since September 5 but oil companies finally raised its pump prices last week and this week given a spurt in the product prices lately.
Petrol prices have also risen on 14 of the previous 17 days taking up its pump price by Rs 3.95 per litre.
OMCs had preferred to maintain their watch prices on global oil situation before making any revision in prices.
This is the reason why petrol prices were not revised for last three weeks. But extreme volatility in global oil price movement has now pushed OMCs to effect the increase.
Crude price has been on a surge rising over three year high level of over (Dollar) 84.5 a barrel now.
Since September 5 when both petrol and diesel prices were revised, the price of petrol and diesel in the international market is higher by around (Dollar) 9-10 per barrel as compared to average prices during August.
--IANS
sn/ksk/.
Source: IANS
Accordingly, in the national capital, petrol and diesel prices increased by 35 paisa per litre to Rs 105.14 per litre and Rs 93.87 per litre, respectively.
In India's financial capital of Mumbai, petrol became costlier by 34 paisa per litre to Rs 111.09 a litre on Friday, the highest across all the four metro cities.
Diesel also costs Rs 101.77 for one litre in Mumbai.
The price hike on Friday is for a second consecutive day after the rates remained static on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Diesel prices now have increased on 17 out of the last 21 days taking up its retail price by Rs 5.25 per litre in Delhi.
With diesel price rising sharply, the fuel is now available at over Rs 100 a litre in several parts of the country.
This dubious distinction was earlier available to petrol that had crossed Rs 100 a litre mark across the country a few months earlier.
Petrol prices had maintained stability since September 5 but oil companies finally raised its pump prices last week and this week given a spurt in the product prices lately.
Petrol prices have also risen on 14 of the previous 17 days taking up its pump price by Rs 3.95 per litre.
OMCs had preferred to maintain their watch prices on global oil situation before making any revision in prices.
This is the reason why petrol prices were not revised for last three weeks. But extreme volatility in global oil price movement has now pushed OMCs to effect the increase.
Crude price has been on a surge rising over three year high level of over (Dollar) 84.5 a barrel now.
Since September 5 when both petrol and diesel prices were revised, the price of petrol and diesel in the international market is higher by around (Dollar) 9-10 per barrel as compared to average prices during August.
--IANS
sn/ksk/.
Source: IANS
Dehradun, Oct 15 (IANS/ 101Reporters) Situated at an altitude of 2,745 metres, Harshil Ghati in Uttarakhand draws people from all over India who admire the pristine beauty of remote mountain villages set amid the echo of the fast-flowing Bhagirathi river.
But the very remoteness that makes up this paradise turned into a curse for the people of the hill state when Covid came calling in April-May this year.
Like elsewhere in India, the second wave of the pandemic took the hill folk of the district by surprise.
Shilpa Negi (33) of Bagori village in the valley was staying in Dunda village near Uttarkashi when she developed a fever.
Like most other people of Harshil Ghati, she had migrated to Dunda because of extreme cold in the region from October onwards.
"When my body started breaking down due to high fever, I understood that I too had got Covid.
Our entire village was sealed in the last week of April. First aid is available at a Community Health Center (CHC) in Dunda, but if seriously ill, one has to travel to Uttarkashi or Dehradun only," she said.
Uttarkashi, where Shilpa's first child was born, is about 25 km from Dunda and about 170 km from Dehradun.
Dearth of healthcare
Many villages in Uttarakhand have been plagued with inadequate and inaccessible healthcare, shortage of doctors and auxiliary nursing midwife (ANM), and poor access to the precious Covid vaccine ? which many hill folk see as the only way out of the pandemic.
Till September 27, as many as 7,393 people lost their lives to Covid in the state.
Uttarkashi, with a population of 3.30 lakh, has one district hospital, two community health centres (CHC) and three primary health centres (PHCs).
Two pregnant women died in the district hospital on September 10 and 20 this year. For one, the search for a doctor started at 3 o'clock, and ended at 9 p.m.
Sarita Rawat, head of Bagori village, lamented the state of PHCs, saying that the one in Harshil, which has as many as eight villages under it, is a primary health centre just in name.
The PHC got its first doctor in June this year, after waiting for almost a year since the administration complained of shortage of doctors in district hospitals during the second wave of Covid.
Sarita, now waiting for her second dose of the Covid vaccine, added: "We are being given the Covishield vaccine.
Its second dose is given after 84 days. We don't feel this is right because till we are fully vaccinated, the threat of corona will remain with us."
When this correspondent reached the Harshil PHC on the afternoon of September 15, it was lying vacant.
The ward boy was found in a house nearby. On requesting to meet the doctor and the ANM, they were only available for a meeting the next day.
For Dr Aastha Negi, it is her first appointment as a physician in Harshil PHC.
Staff nurses hired on contract during Covid have gone on study leave. There is one ward boy. There is no cleaning staff.
To a question on improvement in Harshil PHC after the second wave of Covid, Dr Negi said: "We now have seven large and five small oxygen cylinders and two oxygen beds.
This is our ICU, but we do not have trained staff to operate it. It is not possible for a doctor to provide 24-hour service. We often get emergency cases such as a head injury from a falling stone, and the facility of an X-Ray machine should have been here.
We usually attend to patients by giving first aid."
ANM Susheela Semwal, who handles four villages ? Harshil, Bagori, Dharali and Mukhba ? which together house about 1,400 families, is equally hard-pressed.
She is responsible for implementing government health programmes such as general immunisation, women-child healthcare, nutrition week, and National Rural Health Mission.
For her, work related to Covid is an additional responsibility.
She is also charged with implementing the vaccination drive for workers in apple orchards of Harshil, priest families of Gangotri, BRO camp of Bhairoghati and workers engaged in the snowy Nilang valley.
To make matters worse, ASHA workers of the area have been on strike for almost 50 days over salary demands.
But Susheela doesn't complain, though she admits that had there been some more ANMs, her work would have been easier.
On September 17, a team of pharmacists and ward boys from Harshil PHC visited Gangotri, about 23 km away, for the vaccination drive.
When asked whether they had been trained in Covid vaccination, the ANM's reply was evasive. "We are already doing general vaccination," Susheela said.
The dearth of ANMs was flagged by Rekha Devi, head of Sukhi village, too.
"There is only one ANM for 1,200 families of four villages in our area, namely Sukhi, Jaspur, Purali and Jhala.
Being a mountainous area, one has to climb from village to village on foot. ANMs should be appointed according to the population of a village," she said.
Roshni Devi, a member of the kshetra panchayat of Sukhi village, got her first dose of vaccine on June 18, but it was not easy for her.
"When vaccination started in March, one had to register on the COWIN portal. We couldn't do that. When vaccination started via Aadhaar cards, we got the jab but it was administered at Bhatwadi PHC, 19 km away," she explained.
In Pauri, about 165 km from Uttarkashi, the shortage of health workers is also stark.
Kamlesh Devi, the ANM of Bironkhal block with a population of 30,000, said: "There are 18 sub-health centres with one ANM post in each centre.
Only five ANMs are working as of now. The responsibility of 20-25 additional villages also falls on the five ANMs." Gitanjali Bisht, the ANM at Dwara village, echoed her words about the staff shortage.
According to information on the website of the Uttarakhand health department, the state has 2,270 ANM posts, of which 547 are vacant and 323 are contract workers.
Similarly, of the 1,117 posts of staff nurses, 349 are vacant. Worse, many doctors and nurses have gone on leave after getting a difficult deployment in the mountainous region.
Such staff is counted in the statistics but not in hospitals.
Vaccination woes
From April to June this year, Uttarakhand was in the grip of Covid with bodies lying alongside patients outside hospitals in Dehradun and Haldwani.
There was little vaccine hesitancy among the shocked populace at this time, but there was a severe shortage of vaccine in the state.
By July, only 13 per cent of Uttarakhand's adult population had been given both doses. However, inoculation numbers accelerated as supply increased from August.
State immunisation officer and Uttarakhand in-charge of National Health Mission Dr Kuldeep Singh Martolia shared data related to vaccination.
According to registration data recorded on the COWIN portal, 94.9 per cent people of the state have been given the first dose of the vaccine, whereas 39.5 per cent people have been given the second.
Dr Dhan Singh Rawat, who took over as state health minister in July 2021, is sure of achieving 100 per cent vaccination in the state by December.
"Our CHC-PHCs are fully prepared for the third wave of Covid. Ward boys, lab technicians and doctors are being recruited," he said, further talking about recruitment of more than 200 ANMs by October.
According to information received via RTI by SDC Foundation of Dehradun, 654 posts of specialist doctors were vacant till April 2021 in the state.
Also, only 17 per cent public health specialists, 41 per cent paediatricians and 36 per cent gynecologists are on duty in the state when compared to the existing posts for each.
(The author is a Dehradun-based freelance journalist and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.)
--IANS
varsha/ksk/.
Source: IANS
But the very remoteness that makes up this paradise turned into a curse for the people of the hill state when Covid came calling in April-May this year.
Like elsewhere in India, the second wave of the pandemic took the hill folk of the district by surprise.
Shilpa Negi (33) of Bagori village in the valley was staying in Dunda village near Uttarkashi when she developed a fever.
Like most other people of Harshil Ghati, she had migrated to Dunda because of extreme cold in the region from October onwards.
"When my body started breaking down due to high fever, I understood that I too had got Covid.
Our entire village was sealed in the last week of April. First aid is available at a Community Health Center (CHC) in Dunda, but if seriously ill, one has to travel to Uttarkashi or Dehradun only," she said.
Uttarkashi, where Shilpa's first child was born, is about 25 km from Dunda and about 170 km from Dehradun.
Dearth of healthcare
Many villages in Uttarakhand have been plagued with inadequate and inaccessible healthcare, shortage of doctors and auxiliary nursing midwife (ANM), and poor access to the precious Covid vaccine ? which many hill folk see as the only way out of the pandemic.
Till September 27, as many as 7,393 people lost their lives to Covid in the state.
Uttarkashi, with a population of 3.30 lakh, has one district hospital, two community health centres (CHC) and three primary health centres (PHCs).
Two pregnant women died in the district hospital on September 10 and 20 this year. For one, the search for a doctor started at 3 o'clock, and ended at 9 p.m.
Sarita Rawat, head of Bagori village, lamented the state of PHCs, saying that the one in Harshil, which has as many as eight villages under it, is a primary health centre just in name.
The PHC got its first doctor in June this year, after waiting for almost a year since the administration complained of shortage of doctors in district hospitals during the second wave of Covid.
Sarita, now waiting for her second dose of the Covid vaccine, added: "We are being given the Covishield vaccine.
Its second dose is given after 84 days. We don't feel this is right because till we are fully vaccinated, the threat of corona will remain with us."
When this correspondent reached the Harshil PHC on the afternoon of September 15, it was lying vacant.
The ward boy was found in a house nearby. On requesting to meet the doctor and the ANM, they were only available for a meeting the next day.
For Dr Aastha Negi, it is her first appointment as a physician in Harshil PHC.
Staff nurses hired on contract during Covid have gone on study leave. There is one ward boy. There is no cleaning staff.
To a question on improvement in Harshil PHC after the second wave of Covid, Dr Negi said: "We now have seven large and five small oxygen cylinders and two oxygen beds.
This is our ICU, but we do not have trained staff to operate it. It is not possible for a doctor to provide 24-hour service. We often get emergency cases such as a head injury from a falling stone, and the facility of an X-Ray machine should have been here.
We usually attend to patients by giving first aid."
ANM Susheela Semwal, who handles four villages ? Harshil, Bagori, Dharali and Mukhba ? which together house about 1,400 families, is equally hard-pressed.
She is responsible for implementing government health programmes such as general immunisation, women-child healthcare, nutrition week, and National Rural Health Mission.
For her, work related to Covid is an additional responsibility.
She is also charged with implementing the vaccination drive for workers in apple orchards of Harshil, priest families of Gangotri, BRO camp of Bhairoghati and workers engaged in the snowy Nilang valley.
To make matters worse, ASHA workers of the area have been on strike for almost 50 days over salary demands.
But Susheela doesn't complain, though she admits that had there been some more ANMs, her work would have been easier.
On September 17, a team of pharmacists and ward boys from Harshil PHC visited Gangotri, about 23 km away, for the vaccination drive.
When asked whether they had been trained in Covid vaccination, the ANM's reply was evasive. "We are already doing general vaccination," Susheela said.
The dearth of ANMs was flagged by Rekha Devi, head of Sukhi village, too.
"There is only one ANM for 1,200 families of four villages in our area, namely Sukhi, Jaspur, Purali and Jhala.
Being a mountainous area, one has to climb from village to village on foot. ANMs should be appointed according to the population of a village," she said.
Roshni Devi, a member of the kshetra panchayat of Sukhi village, got her first dose of vaccine on June 18, but it was not easy for her.
"When vaccination started in March, one had to register on the COWIN portal. We couldn't do that. When vaccination started via Aadhaar cards, we got the jab but it was administered at Bhatwadi PHC, 19 km away," she explained.
In Pauri, about 165 km from Uttarkashi, the shortage of health workers is also stark.
Kamlesh Devi, the ANM of Bironkhal block with a population of 30,000, said: "There are 18 sub-health centres with one ANM post in each centre.
Only five ANMs are working as of now. The responsibility of 20-25 additional villages also falls on the five ANMs." Gitanjali Bisht, the ANM at Dwara village, echoed her words about the staff shortage.
According to information on the website of the Uttarakhand health department, the state has 2,270 ANM posts, of which 547 are vacant and 323 are contract workers.
Similarly, of the 1,117 posts of staff nurses, 349 are vacant. Worse, many doctors and nurses have gone on leave after getting a difficult deployment in the mountainous region.
Such staff is counted in the statistics but not in hospitals.
Vaccination woes
From April to June this year, Uttarakhand was in the grip of Covid with bodies lying alongside patients outside hospitals in Dehradun and Haldwani.
There was little vaccine hesitancy among the shocked populace at this time, but there was a severe shortage of vaccine in the state.
By July, only 13 per cent of Uttarakhand's adult population had been given both doses. However, inoculation numbers accelerated as supply increased from August.
State immunisation officer and Uttarakhand in-charge of National Health Mission Dr Kuldeep Singh Martolia shared data related to vaccination.
According to registration data recorded on the COWIN portal, 94.9 per cent people of the state have been given the first dose of the vaccine, whereas 39.5 per cent people have been given the second.
Dr Dhan Singh Rawat, who took over as state health minister in July 2021, is sure of achieving 100 per cent vaccination in the state by December.
"Our CHC-PHCs are fully prepared for the third wave of Covid. Ward boys, lab technicians and doctors are being recruited," he said, further talking about recruitment of more than 200 ANMs by October.
According to information received via RTI by SDC Foundation of Dehradun, 654 posts of specialist doctors were vacant till April 2021 in the state.
Also, only 17 per cent public health specialists, 41 per cent paediatricians and 36 per cent gynecologists are on duty in the state when compared to the existing posts for each.
(The author is a Dehradun-based freelance journalist and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.)
--IANS
varsha/ksk/.
Source: IANS
New Delhi, Oct 15 : At a time when India is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the victory over Pakistan in 1971 that led to the creation of Bangladesh comes a definitive account of a war six years prior to that which also ended in a military victory but which came to naught with the hard-fought territory being returned without any political or diplomatic gains.
Noted military historian Shiv Kunal Verma's "1965 - A Western Sunrise" (Aleph) is focused on the 1965 war, but if one is to consider the larger picture, it would seem that China has drawn a lot of lessons from India's setbacks right from 1948.
In 1948, the Indian Army valiantly prevented the fall of Srinagar and thus the fall of the entire J (and) K but this gave a permanency to the Kashmir 'problem'.
India also lost what is now called POK. The 1965 war eventually ended in a stalemate and India gave back some hard-earned territory -- Haji Pir and Titwal, among others -- without any resolution on Kashmir.
After the 1971 war, India returned 93,000 Pakistani PoWs without the Simla Agreement resolving Kashmir.
The 1999 Kargil operations were decisive but the Indian establishment does not seem to want to take notice of this.
What is the lesson that China seems to have drawn? That India can be pushed without the possibility of retaliation? Is the incursion in Eastern Ladakh and the continued PLA presence -- with repeated consolidation without any intention of withdrawal -- a sign of this? The Indian Army chief, General M.M.
Naravane has declared that "if the Chinese are determined to stay, so are we" -- leading to a sharp riposte from Beijing.
Where is this long haul going to lead us?
Does China take this as a sign that when push comes to shove, the Indian leadership will not walk the last mile?
"In many ways, 1965 is a continuation of the 1962 story," Verma told IANS in an interview.
"China was nowhere on the scene when India got its Independence. Then first Sinkiang (Xinjiang) in 1949 and then Tibet in 1950 came under the direct control of the PRC which was Mao's Communists.
This meant the dynamics of our Northern border changed completely. What was worse, neither did our leadership nor we as a people, really seem to understand what was really happening.
"This lack of understanding of geo-politics has hounded us as a nation. How else can we explain what happened in 1949...going to the UN over Kashmir was Mountbatten's agenda, not Nehru's, even though the Indian Prime Minister copped the blame for it later.
In 1963/64 the former Viceroy of India was back again, pushing Nehru towards a settlement with Pakistan over Kashmir and they almost pulled it off," Verma said.
After the 1962 Sino-Indian War, "it was almost as if India had to now negotiate from the loser's position with the Pakistanis.
Let's face it... we were always two steps behind the rest of the world when it came to these matters. There were powers at play and the people of India and Pakistan -- especially the people of Jammu and Kashmir on both sides of the Cease-Fire Line were taken for a massive ride.
Pity is, the original issues were soon buried and over a period of time, every event developed its own tail..and ever since the tail continues to wag the dog", Verma explained.
"You've got to face up to the Chinese and the sooner we do that the better," he asserted.
"Economically the PRC has run away (ahead) not only from India but also most of the countries in the world.
The way I see it both their 'highway in the sky' -- the almost 4000 km long G-219 and the sea lanes that run past the Malacca Straits -- are vulnerable to Indian missiles that need to be deployed purely as a deterrent.
"Then, if the PLA comes calling in Arunachal or Sikkim or Barahoti or Ladakh - or even in Nepal and Bhutan - you have put your cards on the table already.
If nuclear weapons can act as deterrents, why not conventional ones? Surely we haven't spent all these years developing a variety of missiles only to parade them on Rajpath during Republic Day," Verma asked.
Still, this is not to detract from the seminal value of Verma's book on the 1965 war, during which the junior officers and men of the Indian armed forces acquitted themselves admirably despite the on-the-fly reorganisation of the forces, lack of intelligence, obsolete equipment, and lacklustre military leadership at a cost of 12,714 casualties, out of which 2,763 were killed, 8,444 wounded and 1,507 missing.
"In 1965, most army units were either being reorganized or had just been raised. They were hurriedly pushed into combat, sometimes with unfamiliar equipment. Quite a few decisions taken by the then Chief, General J.N. Chaudhury, the Western Army Commander, Lt Gen Harbakhsh Singh, and the 11 Corps Commander, Lt Gen Joginder Dhillon, defy conventional wisdom.
Deploying 4 Mountain Division in Khemkaran where the main Pakistani armoured thrust was expected...1 Corps was also raised and pushed into combat.
14 Infantry Division was still being raised... quite a long list," he explained.
In 1965, while India was still licking its wounds from the disastrous 1962 war, the belligerent Pakistanis attempted to wrest Kashmir from India.
To test the waters, they launched their first military probes into the Rann of Kutch between February and May; India responded.
By the end of July, India gave in to the dictates of the UN and stood down the troops it had mobilized in the Punjab and Kargil sectors in response to the Rann of Kutch skirmishes.
Pakistan then launched its masterstroke -- Operation Gibraltar -- in Kashmir in August. Nearly 12,000 trained mujahids were covertly deployed in multiple groups, each named after historical plunderers of the subcontinent.
Confident that they had superior armour (M-47 and M-48 Patton tanks), better fighter planes (F-86 Sabres and F-104 Starfighters), and better submarines (Daphnes) than India, the Pakistanis expected that in the event of an expanded war, the Indians would collapse just as they had against China in NEFA three years previously.
However, India repulsed the attack and cut off the entry and exit points into the Kashmir Valley by capturing the Haji Pir Bulge.
Operation Gibraltar fizzled out. Pakistan then launched Operation Grand Slam in September 1965 in Chhamb and Jaurian. The resultant Indian counter-attack saw the focus shift to various other sectors -- Lahore, Barki, Kasur (Khem Karan), Fazilka, Sialkot, and Barmer -- on the international border.
With the two air forces getting involved almost immediately, the armed skirmishes turned into a full-scale war.
Much territory was gained -- but returned after the Tashkent Agreement and hence the stalemate.
To return to the present: has India boxed itself into a corner with the QUAD agreement that effectively limits its negotiating space with China on the boundary dispute?
"World War III, for all we know, may have already begun at the end of 2019 (when the pandemic first emerged)," Verma said.
"The struggle for a new World Order has been going on for quite some time and while all eyes at the time were on Taiwan and the South China Sea, the fight is across various genres and is being fought on various continents -- East Africa, South Asia, frankly even on North American soil.
"QUAD is fine up to a point but India, despite its actual land proximity and dominating position in the Indian Ocean, is a junior partner to the US.
Historically, no one, absolutely no one, has ever got into bed with the Yanks without getting sold down the river.
In any case, India has to eventually walk alone?fall back on Tagore's famous poem -- Ekta Chalo Re! Just make sure you carry a big stick..that's all," Verma concluded.
(Vishnu Makhijani can be reached at vishnu.makhijani@ians.in)
--IANS
vm/dpb.
Source: IANS
Noted military historian Shiv Kunal Verma's "1965 - A Western Sunrise" (Aleph) is focused on the 1965 war, but if one is to consider the larger picture, it would seem that China has drawn a lot of lessons from India's setbacks right from 1948.
In 1948, the Indian Army valiantly prevented the fall of Srinagar and thus the fall of the entire J (and) K but this gave a permanency to the Kashmir 'problem'.
India also lost what is now called POK. The 1965 war eventually ended in a stalemate and India gave back some hard-earned territory -- Haji Pir and Titwal, among others -- without any resolution on Kashmir.
After the 1971 war, India returned 93,000 Pakistani PoWs without the Simla Agreement resolving Kashmir.
The 1999 Kargil operations were decisive but the Indian establishment does not seem to want to take notice of this.
What is the lesson that China seems to have drawn? That India can be pushed without the possibility of retaliation? Is the incursion in Eastern Ladakh and the continued PLA presence -- with repeated consolidation without any intention of withdrawal -- a sign of this? The Indian Army chief, General M.M.
Naravane has declared that "if the Chinese are determined to stay, so are we" -- leading to a sharp riposte from Beijing.
Where is this long haul going to lead us?
Does China take this as a sign that when push comes to shove, the Indian leadership will not walk the last mile?
"In many ways, 1965 is a continuation of the 1962 story," Verma told IANS in an interview.
"China was nowhere on the scene when India got its Independence. Then first Sinkiang (Xinjiang) in 1949 and then Tibet in 1950 came under the direct control of the PRC which was Mao's Communists.
This meant the dynamics of our Northern border changed completely. What was worse, neither did our leadership nor we as a people, really seem to understand what was really happening.
"This lack of understanding of geo-politics has hounded us as a nation. How else can we explain what happened in 1949...going to the UN over Kashmir was Mountbatten's agenda, not Nehru's, even though the Indian Prime Minister copped the blame for it later.
In 1963/64 the former Viceroy of India was back again, pushing Nehru towards a settlement with Pakistan over Kashmir and they almost pulled it off," Verma said.
After the 1962 Sino-Indian War, "it was almost as if India had to now negotiate from the loser's position with the Pakistanis.
Let's face it... we were always two steps behind the rest of the world when it came to these matters. There were powers at play and the people of India and Pakistan -- especially the people of Jammu and Kashmir on both sides of the Cease-Fire Line were taken for a massive ride.
Pity is, the original issues were soon buried and over a period of time, every event developed its own tail..and ever since the tail continues to wag the dog", Verma explained.
"You've got to face up to the Chinese and the sooner we do that the better," he asserted.
"Economically the PRC has run away (ahead) not only from India but also most of the countries in the world.
The way I see it both their 'highway in the sky' -- the almost 4000 km long G-219 and the sea lanes that run past the Malacca Straits -- are vulnerable to Indian missiles that need to be deployed purely as a deterrent.
"Then, if the PLA comes calling in Arunachal or Sikkim or Barahoti or Ladakh - or even in Nepal and Bhutan - you have put your cards on the table already.
If nuclear weapons can act as deterrents, why not conventional ones? Surely we haven't spent all these years developing a variety of missiles only to parade them on Rajpath during Republic Day," Verma asked.
Still, this is not to detract from the seminal value of Verma's book on the 1965 war, during which the junior officers and men of the Indian armed forces acquitted themselves admirably despite the on-the-fly reorganisation of the forces, lack of intelligence, obsolete equipment, and lacklustre military leadership at a cost of 12,714 casualties, out of which 2,763 were killed, 8,444 wounded and 1,507 missing.
"In 1965, most army units were either being reorganized or had just been raised. They were hurriedly pushed into combat, sometimes with unfamiliar equipment. Quite a few decisions taken by the then Chief, General J.N. Chaudhury, the Western Army Commander, Lt Gen Harbakhsh Singh, and the 11 Corps Commander, Lt Gen Joginder Dhillon, defy conventional wisdom.
Deploying 4 Mountain Division in Khemkaran where the main Pakistani armoured thrust was expected...1 Corps was also raised and pushed into combat.
14 Infantry Division was still being raised... quite a long list," he explained.
In 1965, while India was still licking its wounds from the disastrous 1962 war, the belligerent Pakistanis attempted to wrest Kashmir from India.
To test the waters, they launched their first military probes into the Rann of Kutch between February and May; India responded.
By the end of July, India gave in to the dictates of the UN and stood down the troops it had mobilized in the Punjab and Kargil sectors in response to the Rann of Kutch skirmishes.
Pakistan then launched its masterstroke -- Operation Gibraltar -- in Kashmir in August. Nearly 12,000 trained mujahids were covertly deployed in multiple groups, each named after historical plunderers of the subcontinent.
Confident that they had superior armour (M-47 and M-48 Patton tanks), better fighter planes (F-86 Sabres and F-104 Starfighters), and better submarines (Daphnes) than India, the Pakistanis expected that in the event of an expanded war, the Indians would collapse just as they had against China in NEFA three years previously.
However, India repulsed the attack and cut off the entry and exit points into the Kashmir Valley by capturing the Haji Pir Bulge.
Operation Gibraltar fizzled out. Pakistan then launched Operation Grand Slam in September 1965 in Chhamb and Jaurian. The resultant Indian counter-attack saw the focus shift to various other sectors -- Lahore, Barki, Kasur (Khem Karan), Fazilka, Sialkot, and Barmer -- on the international border.
With the two air forces getting involved almost immediately, the armed skirmishes turned into a full-scale war.
Much territory was gained -- but returned after the Tashkent Agreement and hence the stalemate.
To return to the present: has India boxed itself into a corner with the QUAD agreement that effectively limits its negotiating space with China on the boundary dispute?
"World War III, for all we know, may have already begun at the end of 2019 (when the pandemic first emerged)," Verma said.
"The struggle for a new World Order has been going on for quite some time and while all eyes at the time were on Taiwan and the South China Sea, the fight is across various genres and is being fought on various continents -- East Africa, South Asia, frankly even on North American soil.
"QUAD is fine up to a point but India, despite its actual land proximity and dominating position in the Indian Ocean, is a junior partner to the US.
Historically, no one, absolutely no one, has ever got into bed with the Yanks without getting sold down the river.
In any case, India has to eventually walk alone?fall back on Tagore's famous poem -- Ekta Chalo Re! Just make sure you carry a big stick..that's all," Verma concluded.
(Vishnu Makhijani can be reached at vishnu.makhijani@ians.in)
--IANS
vm/dpb.
Source: IANS
New Delhi, Oct 15 : Clear that all the hard-work, passion and drive is not just restricted to what they do on the stage, but also in establishing their brand in the market as well, the band members of fusion band 'Qaafiya' say that contacting and connecting with people and agencies, and exhibiting their talent at multiple forums is always an ongoing process.
"This is how to get from one show to another, and from one event to many. Of course, let us not forget the role the audiences play," says band member Rizwan Khan.
Believing that their paths crossed for a reason, the members -- Khan, Gurpinder Pal Singh, Arjun Ghai, Harshit Kumar and Kartik Chandel who were doing well in their individual projects point that it was the quest to produce quality music not constrained to a particular genre, that brought all of them together.
Adding that as musicians, they do not believe in restricting themselves to just one style of music, Singh says, "We are all multifaceted and believe in learning new and different elements of music.
Along with this, there is definitely an audience that believes in heterogeneity."
Talk to them about the two back to back lockdowns and how it hit the events and entertainment industry, and they admit that the going became tough with concerts drying up completely and audiences locking themselves inside their homes.
"Yes, it was really bad with many people losing their jobs. However, let us not forget that we all also found a new way to reach our audiences through digital concerts," asserts Arjun Ghai.
Considering the fact that most Indian bands have had a very short life, with members splitting up after a few years tops, Harshit Kumar feels that not being able to make enough money from their music is one of the major reasons why band members choose to take different paths.
"So, it becomes necessary to be able to grow not just musically but monetarily too. Apart from this, the onus is on the band members to be on the same page and work conjointly, in close association."
The band was recently part of HCL Concerts' 'Soundscapes'.
Lamenting that most companies in India focussed solely on profit maximization while investing little in the social sector, art or entertainment, Kartik Chandel adds, "However, with companies like HCL, we are witnessing a shift.
Let us hope more corporates come forward to do their bit for promoting art in our country."
Though missing live, the members say that the future will have digital and live concerts going hand in hand.
"Of course, live concerts are more entertaining, but with digital concerts, artists now have the opportunity to broaden their audience base in far and remote areas too."
(Sukant Deepak can be contacted at sukant.d@ians.in)
--IANS
sukant/pgh.
Source: IANS
"This is how to get from one show to another, and from one event to many. Of course, let us not forget the role the audiences play," says band member Rizwan Khan.
Believing that their paths crossed for a reason, the members -- Khan, Gurpinder Pal Singh, Arjun Ghai, Harshit Kumar and Kartik Chandel who were doing well in their individual projects point that it was the quest to produce quality music not constrained to a particular genre, that brought all of them together.
Adding that as musicians, they do not believe in restricting themselves to just one style of music, Singh says, "We are all multifaceted and believe in learning new and different elements of music.
Along with this, there is definitely an audience that believes in heterogeneity."
Talk to them about the two back to back lockdowns and how it hit the events and entertainment industry, and they admit that the going became tough with concerts drying up completely and audiences locking themselves inside their homes.
"Yes, it was really bad with many people losing their jobs. However, let us not forget that we all also found a new way to reach our audiences through digital concerts," asserts Arjun Ghai.
Considering the fact that most Indian bands have had a very short life, with members splitting up after a few years tops, Harshit Kumar feels that not being able to make enough money from their music is one of the major reasons why band members choose to take different paths.
"So, it becomes necessary to be able to grow not just musically but monetarily too. Apart from this, the onus is on the band members to be on the same page and work conjointly, in close association."
The band was recently part of HCL Concerts' 'Soundscapes'.
Lamenting that most companies in India focussed solely on profit maximization while investing little in the social sector, art or entertainment, Kartik Chandel adds, "However, with companies like HCL, we are witnessing a shift.
Let us hope more corporates come forward to do their bit for promoting art in our country."
Though missing live, the members say that the future will have digital and live concerts going hand in hand.
"Of course, live concerts are more entertaining, but with digital concerts, artists now have the opportunity to broaden their audience base in far and remote areas too."
(Sukant Deepak can be contacted at sukant.d@ians.in)
--IANS
sukant/pgh.
Source: IANS
Lucknow, Oct 14 : Forty one districts in Uttar Pradesh are now Covid free.
The drop in fresh and active cases in Amroha, Ayodhya, Badaun, Baghpat, Ballia, Basti, Bahraich, Bhadohi, Bijnor, Chandauli, Chitrakoot, Deoria, Etah, Etawah, Farrukhabad, Fatehpur, Ghazipur, Gonda, Hamirpur, Hapur, Hardoi, Hathras, Jaunpur, Kanpur Dehat, Kasganj, Kushinagar, Lakhimpur Kheri, Lalitpur, Mahoba, Mainpuri, Mau, Mirzapur, Rampur, Sant Kabir Nagar, Shamli, Shravasti, Siddhartha Nagar, Sitapur, Sonbhadra, Sultanpur and Unnao, indicate complete elimination of Covid-19 from over 54 per cent of the state.
According to a government spokesman, none of the 75 districts in the state have reported fresh Covid cases in double-digits lately which indicates the virus is receding.
The transmission levels in the state have been brought down by restricting the fresh cases below 50 for over two consecutive months.
The state continues to scale up the stringent testing mechanism which has helped in breaking the Covid chain with effective protocols in place, and by sticking to the time-tested strategy of case isolation and contact-tracing, combined with an alert community surveillance system.
The spokesman said that over 17 per cent of the population eligible for Covid-19 vaccination has received both doses of the vaccine.
So far, UP has administered over 11.75 crore vaccine doses.
In addition, the state has also achieved the landmark of administering the first dose of the Covid vaccine to over 62 per cent of the eligible adult population.
--IANS
amita/sks/bg.
Source: IANS
The drop in fresh and active cases in Amroha, Ayodhya, Badaun, Baghpat, Ballia, Basti, Bahraich, Bhadohi, Bijnor, Chandauli, Chitrakoot, Deoria, Etah, Etawah, Farrukhabad, Fatehpur, Ghazipur, Gonda, Hamirpur, Hapur, Hardoi, Hathras, Jaunpur, Kanpur Dehat, Kasganj, Kushinagar, Lakhimpur Kheri, Lalitpur, Mahoba, Mainpuri, Mau, Mirzapur, Rampur, Sant Kabir Nagar, Shamli, Shravasti, Siddhartha Nagar, Sitapur, Sonbhadra, Sultanpur and Unnao, indicate complete elimination of Covid-19 from over 54 per cent of the state.
According to a government spokesman, none of the 75 districts in the state have reported fresh Covid cases in double-digits lately which indicates the virus is receding.
The transmission levels in the state have been brought down by restricting the fresh cases below 50 for over two consecutive months.
The state continues to scale up the stringent testing mechanism which has helped in breaking the Covid chain with effective protocols in place, and by sticking to the time-tested strategy of case isolation and contact-tracing, combined with an alert community surveillance system.
The spokesman said that over 17 per cent of the population eligible for Covid-19 vaccination has received both doses of the vaccine.
So far, UP has administered over 11.75 crore vaccine doses.
In addition, the state has also achieved the landmark of administering the first dose of the Covid vaccine to over 62 per cent of the eligible adult population.
--IANS
amita/sks/bg.
Source: IANS
New Delhi, Oct 14 : Oakridge Rooftops, a leading rooftop solar power company has raised crowd financing from Germany for its portfolio of urban solar projects in New Delhi.
The company did not disclose the amount of funding.
This is the first time an Indian rooftop solar company has tapped into the large European crowd financing market.
This fund-raise opens doors for Indian companies for more innovative sources of international financing to develop renewable energy projects in India.
The company, in collaboration with leading German crowd-funding platform Bettervest Gmbh, obtained necessary regulatory approvals from the financial regulator BAFIN to list themselves for investment.
Oakridge has over 1,000 customers in North India, including over 400 projects in Delhi itself.
The company has installed rooftop solar plants in government buildings, Delhi government schools, colleges, hospitals, industrial and commercial establishments.
Oakridge CEO Shravan Sampath said: "we are happy to be solarizing a part of our Delhi solar portfolio through crowdfunding through retail investors in Germany.
We have always focussed on developing niche projects and offering the best possible returns to our partners.
It was nice to see the extent of interest there was in the German market for Indian projects."
Marilyn Heib, CEO, Bettervest Gmbh said: "Oakridge is one of our premium partners in the solar space, and the Oakridge rooftops' portfolio is also the single largest project we have ever financed until date."
--IANS
ksk/.
Source: IANS
The company did not disclose the amount of funding.
This is the first time an Indian rooftop solar company has tapped into the large European crowd financing market.
This fund-raise opens doors for Indian companies for more innovative sources of international financing to develop renewable energy projects in India.
The company, in collaboration with leading German crowd-funding platform Bettervest Gmbh, obtained necessary regulatory approvals from the financial regulator BAFIN to list themselves for investment.
Oakridge has over 1,000 customers in North India, including over 400 projects in Delhi itself.
The company has installed rooftop solar plants in government buildings, Delhi government schools, colleges, hospitals, industrial and commercial establishments.
Oakridge CEO Shravan Sampath said: "we are happy to be solarizing a part of our Delhi solar portfolio through crowdfunding through retail investors in Germany.
We have always focussed on developing niche projects and offering the best possible returns to our partners.
It was nice to see the extent of interest there was in the German market for Indian projects."
Marilyn Heib, CEO, Bettervest Gmbh said: "Oakridge is one of our premium partners in the solar space, and the Oakridge rooftops' portfolio is also the single largest project we have ever financed until date."
--IANS
ksk/.
Source: IANS
New Delhi, Oct 14 : Why digitalize? Where to digitalize? What to digitalize? And how at all to digitalize?
The effective digitalization of business can make you a business leader; however, if not executed accurately, it can destroy your business too.
Around 70 per cent of digital transformation projects have been failing. Even successful digitalization projects have become white elephants or expensive during the operations phase.
"Lean Digital Thinking" (Bloomsbury) introduces the 12-12-5 model -- 12 lean digital thinking principles, 12 digital business building blocks and 5 lean digitalization phases -- a brilliant guide that will enable business executives to become digital business champions.
Leading digital expert, author V. Srinivasa Rao or VSR, as he is popularly known, introduces the world's first lean digital thinking philosophy with 12 principles to acquire a new digital mindset and throws in critical questions: Why digitalize? Where to digitalize? What to digitalize? And how at all to digitalize? He provides lean digital methods, templates and frameworks for digitalizing 12 business building blocks at an optimal cost.
Further, new business models, products, services, processes, digital workplaces and operating models, driven by digital technologies, have been discussed with insights on how to leverage digitalization to get ready for the new normal that has emerged with the Covid-19 pandemic.
An effective practitioner's guide, this is a must-read for business and technology executives and anyone wishing to master the art of digital business.
V. Srinivasa Rao is the Chairman and MD of BT (and) BT Management Consultancy, and was the former Senior Vice President and de facto Chief Digital Officer (CDO) at Tech Mahindra.
He has worked with global customers in 25 countries. He featured in Fortune 500 (India), 2012, as one of the 'Rubber Souls' for Satyam Computers Turnaround story.
He is an executive coach, consultant and advisor to CXOs and senior executives on business digitalization.
He is the Chairman of Smart Cities Working Group at Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET), India, and a Member of Bureau of Indian Standards (Blockchain Smart Contracts ISO Standard).
He is the recipient of awards from the PMI and Indywood.
--IANS
vm/dpb.
Source: IANS
The effective digitalization of business can make you a business leader; however, if not executed accurately, it can destroy your business too.
Around 70 per cent of digital transformation projects have been failing. Even successful digitalization projects have become white elephants or expensive during the operations phase.
"Lean Digital Thinking" (Bloomsbury) introduces the 12-12-5 model -- 12 lean digital thinking principles, 12 digital business building blocks and 5 lean digitalization phases -- a brilliant guide that will enable business executives to become digital business champions.
Leading digital expert, author V. Srinivasa Rao or VSR, as he is popularly known, introduces the world's first lean digital thinking philosophy with 12 principles to acquire a new digital mindset and throws in critical questions: Why digitalize? Where to digitalize? What to digitalize? And how at all to digitalize? He provides lean digital methods, templates and frameworks for digitalizing 12 business building blocks at an optimal cost.
Further, new business models, products, services, processes, digital workplaces and operating models, driven by digital technologies, have been discussed with insights on how to leverage digitalization to get ready for the new normal that has emerged with the Covid-19 pandemic.
An effective practitioner's guide, this is a must-read for business and technology executives and anyone wishing to master the art of digital business.
V. Srinivasa Rao is the Chairman and MD of BT (and) BT Management Consultancy, and was the former Senior Vice President and de facto Chief Digital Officer (CDO) at Tech Mahindra.
He has worked with global customers in 25 countries. He featured in Fortune 500 (India), 2012, as one of the 'Rubber Souls' for Satyam Computers Turnaround story.
He is an executive coach, consultant and advisor to CXOs and senior executives on business digitalization.
He is the Chairman of Smart Cities Working Group at Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET), India, and a Member of Bureau of Indian Standards (Blockchain Smart Contracts ISO Standard).
He is the recipient of awards from the PMI and Indywood.
--IANS
vm/dpb.
Source: IANS
New Delhi, Oct 14: As Chinas economic growth shows signs of slowdown amid Beijings crackdown on its private sector and its President Xi Jinping calling for Common Prosperity, citizens are tightening their purse strings.
China's just-ended 'golden week' coinciding with the National Day that began on October 1 and ended on October 7 was a muted one.
According to Bangkok Post, travel and holiday spending during China's just-ended 'golden week' national holiday fell against prior years, not just due to travel restrictions triggered by recent coronavirus outbreaks, but because of what industry insiders say is a dwindling desire among consumers to open their wallets amid falling incomes and depreciating property values.
While BloombergQuint in a report said that despite China's economic slowdown, Beijing isn't opening the spending taps just yet, reflecting its overall aim in 'pursuing high-quality development rather than adopting a deluge of strong stimulus.'
However, economists have questioned the timing.
'It is non negotiable to have 'good' growth but at the same time governments must realise that 2020 was a year which was nowhere near being normal.
The world across, governments have come up with fiscal measures. Economic recovery is still patchy and this is definitely not the time to clamp down,' another economist said.
Deutsche Welle (DW) said that the extent of the clampdown has raised questions about the best time to carry out such sweeping reforms - after all the Chinese economy is just recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.
'With the country's property boom - a major driver of economic growth - now under threat, some economists are asking how much financial pain Beijing is prepared to tolerate,' it said.
'Anxiety levels are rising in China with this clampdown and what is surprising is the timing of such actions.
These actions are being taken at a time when the global economy is going through a shaky phase and these measures could have an adverse impact on its economy,' DK Srivastava, chief policy adviser, EY India told India Narrative.
China with its 18.3 per cent growth rate in the January-March quarter of this year had stunned the world, especially as most countries were in the middle of the Covid 19 grip battling multiple health as well as economic challenges.
Economists across the world had been quick to opine that China would drive world growth in the months to come.
However, last month, Fitch Ratings said that China's economy was losing momentum, prompting a recalibration of policy settings to support activity.
Since China began to open up its economy, its GDP growth has averaged almost 10 per cent a year, lifting more than 800 million people out of poverty but a slowdown in growth could even have social implications for citizens, especially for a country with a high level of debts, including household loans.
The household debt level in China has grown at a steady pace-it rose from 51.5 in January 2019 to touch 62 per cent at the end of the second quarter of this year.
Though there has been a slight dip from the 62.2 per cent recorded at the end of the second quarter in 2020, just when China was crawling out of the Covid 19 impact, household debt as a percentage of disposable income had reached a record high of 130.9 per cent by the end of last year.
The Evergrande Group's default has dealt a further blow as real estate has been one of the most preferred savings instruments in China.
And as uncertainty continues, anxiety and fear among citizens have increased.
(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)
--indianarrative.
Source: IANS
China's just-ended 'golden week' coinciding with the National Day that began on October 1 and ended on October 7 was a muted one.
According to Bangkok Post, travel and holiday spending during China's just-ended 'golden week' national holiday fell against prior years, not just due to travel restrictions triggered by recent coronavirus outbreaks, but because of what industry insiders say is a dwindling desire among consumers to open their wallets amid falling incomes and depreciating property values.
While BloombergQuint in a report said that despite China's economic slowdown, Beijing isn't opening the spending taps just yet, reflecting its overall aim in 'pursuing high-quality development rather than adopting a deluge of strong stimulus.'
However, economists have questioned the timing.
'It is non negotiable to have 'good' growth but at the same time governments must realise that 2020 was a year which was nowhere near being normal.
The world across, governments have come up with fiscal measures. Economic recovery is still patchy and this is definitely not the time to clamp down,' another economist said.
Deutsche Welle (DW) said that the extent of the clampdown has raised questions about the best time to carry out such sweeping reforms - after all the Chinese economy is just recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.
'With the country's property boom - a major driver of economic growth - now under threat, some economists are asking how much financial pain Beijing is prepared to tolerate,' it said.
'Anxiety levels are rising in China with this clampdown and what is surprising is the timing of such actions.
These actions are being taken at a time when the global economy is going through a shaky phase and these measures could have an adverse impact on its economy,' DK Srivastava, chief policy adviser, EY India told India Narrative.
China with its 18.3 per cent growth rate in the January-March quarter of this year had stunned the world, especially as most countries were in the middle of the Covid 19 grip battling multiple health as well as economic challenges.
Economists across the world had been quick to opine that China would drive world growth in the months to come.
However, last month, Fitch Ratings said that China's economy was losing momentum, prompting a recalibration of policy settings to support activity.
Since China began to open up its economy, its GDP growth has averaged almost 10 per cent a year, lifting more than 800 million people out of poverty but a slowdown in growth could even have social implications for citizens, especially for a country with a high level of debts, including household loans.
The household debt level in China has grown at a steady pace-it rose from 51.5 in January 2019 to touch 62 per cent at the end of the second quarter of this year.
Though there has been a slight dip from the 62.2 per cent recorded at the end of the second quarter in 2020, just when China was crawling out of the Covid 19 impact, household debt as a percentage of disposable income had reached a record high of 130.9 per cent by the end of last year.
The Evergrande Group's default has dealt a further blow as real estate has been one of the most preferred savings instruments in China.
And as uncertainty continues, anxiety and fear among citizens have increased.
(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)
--indianarrative.
Source: IANS
Lucknow, Oct 14 : Uttar Pradesh is all set to export bananas to Iran.
The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), an apex organiSation under the Union ministry of commerce and industry, will dispatch the first-ever shipment of bananas from Uttar Pradesh to Iran by sea route through Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Navi Mumbai on Thursday.
Officials of APEDA's regional office in Uttar Pradesh said the shipment will be sent by registered exporter M/s Desai Agro Foods from Mango Pack House at Malihabad in Lucknow district.
"It will be the first time that the international market will taste the bananas from Uttar Pradesh.
The fruit is being procured directly from farmers of Palia Kalan, Lakhimpur, and brought to the packhouse.
Two containers of 40 feet will be sent to the Iranian market on trial basis," said an APEDA official.
--IANS
amita/ksk/.
Source: IANS
The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), an apex organiSation under the Union ministry of commerce and industry, will dispatch the first-ever shipment of bananas from Uttar Pradesh to Iran by sea route through Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Navi Mumbai on Thursday.
Officials of APEDA's regional office in Uttar Pradesh said the shipment will be sent by registered exporter M/s Desai Agro Foods from Mango Pack House at Malihabad in Lucknow district.
"It will be the first time that the international market will taste the bananas from Uttar Pradesh.
The fruit is being procured directly from farmers of Palia Kalan, Lakhimpur, and brought to the packhouse.
Two containers of 40 feet will be sent to the Iranian market on trial basis," said an APEDA official.
--IANS
amita/ksk/.
Source: IANS
Nayagarh, Oct 13 (IANS/ 101Reporters) In January 2020, a few villagers in Mitukuli village in Odisha's Nayagarh, were patrolling the forests -- a practise popularly known as thengapalli -- when they found nearly 225 well-grown trees cut down by the forest department.
Infuriated at the sight, they put forth the issue before the Community Forest Resources Management Committee (CFRMC) (Gosthi Jangala Sambala O.
Parichalana Committee), formed by the villagers.
This kickstarted the process to formally reclaim the forest lands that they have been protecting for generations, and legally petition for the ownership of Community Forest Resources (CFR) under the Forest Rights Act, 2006.
Believing that this will empower them with rights for protection, regeneration, conservation and management of forest resources, the inhabitants of eight villages (including Mitukuli) in the Dasapalla block in the district met with the Welfare Extension Officer (WEO) On August 16 to submit the petition.
"Ame ama janglara sima nirdharana karichu aau ame chahunchu amaku ama jangala uapare adhikar milu (we have demarcated the traditional boundary of our forest and demand our rights over CFR)," said Laxmi Mallick (54), pointing to the forest just behind Mitukuli village.
On entering this village, comprising 50 homes, mostly belonging to marginalised tribal and Dalit families, one encounters a cement plaque displaying the words -- "Villagers protect and manage these forest resources".
The final straw
Last January, the day after the villages found the fallen trees, they noticed officials from the Forest Department, Forest Development Corporation and a few labourers bringing in a truck to remove the trees.
The villagers protested the entry of the vehicle. "We didn't allow them to lift the wood; we sat on the timber. We protested because after all, we are protecting our forest but without informing us, they cut down our trees," Pramila Jani, a committee member, told 101Reporters.
Initially, the department didn't agree and tried to forcibly take away the timber.
But the villagers were firm in their refusal to move. To diffuse the situation, the District Forest Officer, Ranger and other officials agreed to a negotiation.
"We demanded our share of the timber and asked them to not cut any more trees without taking permission from the committee," said Subhas Chandra Jani, President of the CFRMC.
Finally, the forest department decided on a compromise and assured to pay the villagers Rs 87,700 against the trees they had cut down.
The amount is yet to be transferred to the CFRMC account, but villagers are happy to have claimed their share for the first time.
This incident built confidence among the villagers, and they decided to redraw the traditional forest boundaries to claim control over their entire CFR area.
Reimagining borders
"Our ancestors have been protecting this forest, and now we continue their legacy.
If we establish the boundary, it will empower us to restrict the entry of outsiders," Dhaneswar Jani, an active member of Mitukuli CFRMC and representative of the Adivasi Cell in Nayagarh district, told 101Reporters.
This already includes timber thieves and smugglers, against whom women like Mallick protect their forests, stick in hand.
"But many times the Department itself cuts down and takes away timber in the name of making rath for Lord Jagannath, cutting down siali creepers just to clean the forest and plant trees which benefit them.
They never thought to consult us or take our permission," said Mallick.
Ironically, it's the villagers who had to worry about being arbitrarily pulled up by forest guards for venturing into the forest.
The community sat together to redraw the traditional boundary line so they can use the resources and impose restrictions.
They also invited neighbouring villagers, the Revenue Inspector and officials from the forest department for joint verification and to avoid any conflict in future.
"We have considered the cattle grazing land, barren land, streams, types of trees, forest deity and places our ancestors used to visit while preparing the outline of the traditional forest area," said Bhubaneswar Jani, Secretary of the Mitukuli CFRMC.
He added that once they finished the blueprint, each family contributed to buying lime powder to mark the boundaries.
"Before beginning this divine effort, we performed a puja before our village deity and ventured into the jungle.
Since then, we have been awaiting the official claim certificate over CFR," the secretary said with a confident smile.
Nirman, a non-profit organisation, took steps to empower villagers about information surrounding community forest rights.
Narayan Parida, Programme Officer at Nirman oversaw regular meetings and sensitisation programmes with community leaders, women and youth to guide them about the process.
Reliance on forest produce
Bankataila is one of the seven other neighbouring villages that was inspired by Mitukuli to petition for rights over CFR.
With a population of 160, Bankataila began as a satellite village and was sharing forest land with the neighbouring village of Munduli.
Laxmidhara Muduli, President of CFRMC, Bankataila, said, "When we heard Munduli were demarcating their forest area, we found they had taken away most of our forest land." But the villagers from both the villages were able to sit down together and amicably redraw the forest borders.
"Ame kaani pati bhikhya magilu, ama jangala amaku diya (We begged and requested them to give us our forest land to survive).
This touched the hearts of the village elders, and they returned the portion of the land to Bankataila," he said.
In Mitukuli, the villagers barely have about two acres of cultivable land on average where they generally grow paddy.
To supplement their income and nutrition, they collect sal, siali and tendu leaves, mushroom, fruits, jhuna, honey, mahul, palua, satabari and odanga from the forest.
It is estimated that each family makes at least Rs 10,000-15,000 from forest produce yearly which can be substantially augmented if they have stronger rights over these resources.
Dhaneswar told 101Reporters, "In 1999 and 2000 when we faced drought-like conditions, our forest saved us from starvation.
Women ventured into the forest to collect siali leaves and stitch them, while men sold these in the market to buy rice for their families.
Besides tubers, different types of spinach, potatoes and mushrooms helped us survive." This year too, they expect the sporadic rainfall to produce a below-average yield.
"But we are hopeful that our forest will help us," he said.
They also believe the restrictions on outsiders will help protect the forest from fires.
"Last year, our sanctuary went up in flames. We toiled into the night to extinguish the fire. Though the reason is still unknown, we believe restrictions on access will protect the forest," said Muduli.
Consolidating community efforts
Though these eight villages in Dasapalla are waiting for recognition of CFR, they have already started following the rules formed by their respective committees.
Each committee has 15 members with equal participation of women. If villagers require timber or bamboo for the construction of homes or any other purposes, they will have to obtain permission from the committee.
"The committee will decide on which trees can be cut and the villager will have to pay for it," said Sukanti Behera, secretary of the Bankataila CFRMC, showing the receipt book.
Till now, the Committee has received Rs 1,800 from villagers. "But the food from the forest has been exempted and we don't charge for it," she added.
The Bankataila CFRMC hopes to be able to spend the funds collected on the development of the village and community.
"We have planned to start a seed bank to collect seeds from the forest. Before the monsoons, we will plant them for the growth and regeneration of the forest," said Nandi Bhoi, a member.
If the eight villages fail to get the CFR title in the next three months, they will bring this issue before the Collector.
Dhaneswar Jani echoed their common belief, "After all, we are protecting our forests, so we rightfully deserve ownership over forest resources."
(The author is a Bhubaneswar-based freelance journalist and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.)
--IANS
rakhi/dpb.
Source: IANS
Infuriated at the sight, they put forth the issue before the Community Forest Resources Management Committee (CFRMC) (Gosthi Jangala Sambala O.
Parichalana Committee), formed by the villagers.
This kickstarted the process to formally reclaim the forest lands that they have been protecting for generations, and legally petition for the ownership of Community Forest Resources (CFR) under the Forest Rights Act, 2006.
Believing that this will empower them with rights for protection, regeneration, conservation and management of forest resources, the inhabitants of eight villages (including Mitukuli) in the Dasapalla block in the district met with the Welfare Extension Officer (WEO) On August 16 to submit the petition.
"Ame ama janglara sima nirdharana karichu aau ame chahunchu amaku ama jangala uapare adhikar milu (we have demarcated the traditional boundary of our forest and demand our rights over CFR)," said Laxmi Mallick (54), pointing to the forest just behind Mitukuli village.
On entering this village, comprising 50 homes, mostly belonging to marginalised tribal and Dalit families, one encounters a cement plaque displaying the words -- "Villagers protect and manage these forest resources".
The final straw
Last January, the day after the villages found the fallen trees, they noticed officials from the Forest Department, Forest Development Corporation and a few labourers bringing in a truck to remove the trees.
The villagers protested the entry of the vehicle. "We didn't allow them to lift the wood; we sat on the timber. We protested because after all, we are protecting our forest but without informing us, they cut down our trees," Pramila Jani, a committee member, told 101Reporters.
Initially, the department didn't agree and tried to forcibly take away the timber.
But the villagers were firm in their refusal to move. To diffuse the situation, the District Forest Officer, Ranger and other officials agreed to a negotiation.
"We demanded our share of the timber and asked them to not cut any more trees without taking permission from the committee," said Subhas Chandra Jani, President of the CFRMC.
Finally, the forest department decided on a compromise and assured to pay the villagers Rs 87,700 against the trees they had cut down.
The amount is yet to be transferred to the CFRMC account, but villagers are happy to have claimed their share for the first time.
This incident built confidence among the villagers, and they decided to redraw the traditional forest boundaries to claim control over their entire CFR area.
Reimagining borders
"Our ancestors have been protecting this forest, and now we continue their legacy.
If we establish the boundary, it will empower us to restrict the entry of outsiders," Dhaneswar Jani, an active member of Mitukuli CFRMC and representative of the Adivasi Cell in Nayagarh district, told 101Reporters.
This already includes timber thieves and smugglers, against whom women like Mallick protect their forests, stick in hand.
"But many times the Department itself cuts down and takes away timber in the name of making rath for Lord Jagannath, cutting down siali creepers just to clean the forest and plant trees which benefit them.
They never thought to consult us or take our permission," said Mallick.
Ironically, it's the villagers who had to worry about being arbitrarily pulled up by forest guards for venturing into the forest.
The community sat together to redraw the traditional boundary line so they can use the resources and impose restrictions.
They also invited neighbouring villagers, the Revenue Inspector and officials from the forest department for joint verification and to avoid any conflict in future.
"We have considered the cattle grazing land, barren land, streams, types of trees, forest deity and places our ancestors used to visit while preparing the outline of the traditional forest area," said Bhubaneswar Jani, Secretary of the Mitukuli CFRMC.
He added that once they finished the blueprint, each family contributed to buying lime powder to mark the boundaries.
"Before beginning this divine effort, we performed a puja before our village deity and ventured into the jungle.
Since then, we have been awaiting the official claim certificate over CFR," the secretary said with a confident smile.
Nirman, a non-profit organisation, took steps to empower villagers about information surrounding community forest rights.
Narayan Parida, Programme Officer at Nirman oversaw regular meetings and sensitisation programmes with community leaders, women and youth to guide them about the process.
Reliance on forest produce
Bankataila is one of the seven other neighbouring villages that was inspired by Mitukuli to petition for rights over CFR.
With a population of 160, Bankataila began as a satellite village and was sharing forest land with the neighbouring village of Munduli.
Laxmidhara Muduli, President of CFRMC, Bankataila, said, "When we heard Munduli were demarcating their forest area, we found they had taken away most of our forest land." But the villagers from both the villages were able to sit down together and amicably redraw the forest borders.
"Ame kaani pati bhikhya magilu, ama jangala amaku diya (We begged and requested them to give us our forest land to survive).
This touched the hearts of the village elders, and they returned the portion of the land to Bankataila," he said.
In Mitukuli, the villagers barely have about two acres of cultivable land on average where they generally grow paddy.
To supplement their income and nutrition, they collect sal, siali and tendu leaves, mushroom, fruits, jhuna, honey, mahul, palua, satabari and odanga from the forest.
It is estimated that each family makes at least Rs 10,000-15,000 from forest produce yearly which can be substantially augmented if they have stronger rights over these resources.
Dhaneswar told 101Reporters, "In 1999 and 2000 when we faced drought-like conditions, our forest saved us from starvation.
Women ventured into the forest to collect siali leaves and stitch them, while men sold these in the market to buy rice for their families.
Besides tubers, different types of spinach, potatoes and mushrooms helped us survive." This year too, they expect the sporadic rainfall to produce a below-average yield.
"But we are hopeful that our forest will help us," he said.
They also believe the restrictions on outsiders will help protect the forest from fires.
"Last year, our sanctuary went up in flames. We toiled into the night to extinguish the fire. Though the reason is still unknown, we believe restrictions on access will protect the forest," said Muduli.
Consolidating community efforts
Though these eight villages in Dasapalla are waiting for recognition of CFR, they have already started following the rules formed by their respective committees.
Each committee has 15 members with equal participation of women. If villagers require timber or bamboo for the construction of homes or any other purposes, they will have to obtain permission from the committee.
"The committee will decide on which trees can be cut and the villager will have to pay for it," said Sukanti Behera, secretary of the Bankataila CFRMC, showing the receipt book.
Till now, the Committee has received Rs 1,800 from villagers. "But the food from the forest has been exempted and we don't charge for it," she added.
The Bankataila CFRMC hopes to be able to spend the funds collected on the development of the village and community.
"We have planned to start a seed bank to collect seeds from the forest. Before the monsoons, we will plant them for the growth and regeneration of the forest," said Nandi Bhoi, a member.
If the eight villages fail to get the CFR title in the next three months, they will bring this issue before the Collector.
Dhaneswar Jani echoed their common belief, "After all, we are protecting our forests, so we rightfully deserve ownership over forest resources."
(The author is a Bhubaneswar-based freelance journalist and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.)
--IANS
rakhi/dpb.
Source: IANS