Once on verge of suicide, now a feted farmer

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/once-on-verge-of-suicide-now-a-feted-farmer/article19804007.ece

Durgappa picked to promote integrated farming

Life has come a full circle for this 43-year-old farmer from Shivamogga district. Durgappa Angadi of Sasaravalli village of Shikaripur taluk was contemplating suicide, unable to repay a loan of ₹9 lakh 30 months ago. His crops had failed consistently. Today, he has not only become a successful farmer, but has also become an ambassador of integrated farming. 

Recalling his difficult days, Mr. Durgappa says it was a programme on television that was the turning point for him. It portrayed a small farmer from Kolar district earning huge profits from just two acres of land through integrated farming. “This gave me new hope as everyone around me was saying farming was a loss-making venture,” says Mr. Durgappa.

He met experts to learn about integrated farming. “Within months, my experiment with integrated farming began and I harvested a bumper yield by growing ivy gourd,” he recalls. He was able to repay the entire loan within 18 months.

And then he decided to spend the rest of his life on instilling confidence among small and marginal farmers that farming is still a profitable venture. He now takes up organic farming on two and half acres of land and earns an average annual income of about ₹5.25 lakh. Apart from growing half a dozen horticultural crops and vegetables, he also takes up apiary and dog breeding.

University of Agricultural Sciences-Bengaluru’s alumni association, which comprises about 10,000 agricultural graduates, has now chosen four innovative farmers, including Mr. Durgappa, to become its ambassadors of integrated farming.

The other three farmers are physically challenged 27-year-old Ramakrishna Shavati of Ganaur village of Raichur district, Shabarish Suvarna of Udupi taluk, and H. Sadananda of Tapasihalli, who are now cult figures among the farming community of the State for their innovative experiments with integrated farming.

UAS-B alumni association president K. Narayana Gowda told The Hindu that these farmers would be feted with a cash prize of ₹25,000 each with the Dr. G.K. Veeresh Endowment Award by the association, and as ambassadors for popularising integrated farming system, at an event in Bengaluru on Saturday.

Emphasising that integrated farming was the only method to make farming a financially sustainable, Mr. Gowda said the association has popularised the concept by holding workshops at the fields of the innovative farmers.

PMO Seeks New Cowboys as Saviors

• Photos

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Roadbloack is the mother of the BJP-led Central government’s innovation. After deciding to put on hold the proposed national ban on cow slaughter due to political and legal reasons, it is coming up with innovative ways to encourage cow rearing while taking measures to discourage killing of cows.

Taking the lead in this is the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). It has asked Minister of Agriculture Radha Mohan Singh and various other ministries, including the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, to come up with “innovative ideas” to make cow rearing a profitable practice. The directive came after the Ministry of Law and Justice opposed a national ban on the killing of cows. The ministries have also been asked to think out of the box and do “serious research” to find out more about productive ways in which cow waste can be used.

The ministries are doing exactly that. The Ministry of Agriculture has decided to encourage production and marketing of products made from cow dung and urine. The government will also encourage marketing of a cleaning liquid made from a mixture of cow urine, neem and a fragrant that can replace phenyl.

“While phenyl is made out of chemicals not good for human health, this liquid is 100 per cent natural. Cow urine has inherent medicinal components, which should make it more attractive,” said an official with the ministry. He added that the product will be available at all kendriya bhandars across the country and will be made mandatory in all government spaces.

The government also plans to give subsidies to NGOs working in this area. “Making products out of cow urine and cow dung will make cow rearing a more lucrative proposition. The government hopes to dissuade farmers from selling cows when they become old. It will also help gaushalas across the country,’’ the official added.

http://www.newindianexpress.com/thesundaystandard/PMO-Seeks-New-Cowboys-as-Saviors/2015/08/23/article2988259.ece

Back to natural living!

http://www.thehindu.com/sunday-anchor/story-of-farmer-couple-karpagam-and-sriram/article7188754.ece

Karpagam points outside her window: “This is the view I wake up to every morning.” Ragi and neem seeds are drying in the sun. Parrot green paddy fields roll out into the distance, their borders dotted with palm trees. A gentle breeze drifts in — there is no need for a fan, even though it’s peak summer in this quiet village near Maduranthakam in Tamil Nadu.

A commerce and management graduate, Karpagam was a top-ranking executive in a shipping company, her job taking her around the world. While volunteering with a non-profit organisation, she met her husband Sriram “We both wanted the same things in life,” she says. Sriram is an IIT-IIM graduate, degrees he dismisses. “Why is it important?” he asks. “What is more important is what I was doing (or not doing!) for society.”

Five years ago, the couple quit their lives in Bombay to take up farming. How did their families react? “Violently,” Sriram laughs. “They were shocked,” says Karpagam. Eventually their parents came to respect their decision.Reading Gandhi and Kabir, Sriram realised that “Nature, and not human beings, is supreme”. What bothered him most was the chemicals in the food he ate everyday. “It’s poison,” he stresses. He was sure he wanted to quit and “do something with food”. Karpagam says, “I had an out-of-body experience one day,” when she was sales manager in a company. “I suddenly thought, ‘will the world stop because a new model of car is not sold every six months’?”

The transition itself wasn’t difficult. “We hit the ground running,” smiles Sriram. “Farming is physically taxing, that was our only worry. Mentally, we were both prepared.”

Today, they grow rice, groundnut, sesame, ragi, green gram, and urad dal. They distribute some of the produce to family members; the rest they sell. “We spend about Rs. 15,000 on one acre of paddy and make about Rs. 25,000. Commercially, I can make much more but there’s no point escaping an exploitative society only to return to it,” says Sriram.

They farm and drive away parrots and cows from their field. In the evenings, they read, blog, or do their accounts. These well-educated farmers quote Dharampal, Wendell Berry and Gandhi, but don’t consider them as inspirations. “Less than 200 years ago, this is how people lived. Our inspiration is our farmers. We are alive because of them,” they say.

‘Cow protection, better breeding on priority list’

Additionally, he announced to launch, in cooperation with other ministries, “Pradhan Man-tri Gram Sinchayee Yojana”.

Apart from two ambitious schemes to provide irrigation and insurance to farmers, Agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh Wednesday identified “cow protection” and “Indian cow breed improvement” as his priority areas while stressing that GM crops should be allowed only in extremely necessary cases.

“Countries like Brazil and Australia have taken Indian breeds of cows and developed improved breeds, while we are trying to bring foreign breeds of cows. I have asked officials to devise a programme towards breed improvement of indigenous cows,” Radha Mohan Singh said. He also emphasised on cow protection saying, “we will make all efforts towards cow protection and preservation.” The minister suggested only in extreme cases he would allow it. “GM technology will be allowed when it is very necessary,” Singh said.

The Minister declared his intention to launch two sche-mes towards enhancing irrigation coverage and providing “farm income insurance” to shield farmers. Additionally, he announced to launch, in cooperation with other ministries, “Pradhan Man-tri Gram Sinchayee Yojana”.

While saying that he will continue with the existing mechanism to determine Minimum Support Price, he said that he will strive to “ensure farmers get a minimum of 50 per cent profits over the cost of production” in the long-term.

Russia bans GMOs

Russia Completely Bans GMOs

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev recently announced that Russia will no longer import GMO products, stating that the nation has enough space, and enough resources to produce organic food.

If the Americans like to eat GMO products, let them eat it then. We don’t need to do that; we have enough space and opportunities to produce organic food.” – Medvedev

Russia has been considering joining the long list (and continually growing) of anti-GMO countries  for quite some time now. It does so after a group of Russian scientists urged the government to consider at least a 10-year moratorium on GMOs to thoroughly study their influence on human health.

“It is necessary to ban GMOs, to impose moratorium (on) it for 10 years. While GMOs will be prohibited, we can plan experiments, tests, or maybe even new methods of research could be developed. It has been proven that not only in Russia, but also in many other countries in the world, GMOs are dangerous. Methods of obtaining the GMOs are not perfect, therefore, at this stage, all GMOs are dangerous. Consumption and use of GMOs obtained in such way can lead to tumors, cancers and obesity among animals. Bio-technologies certainly should be developed, but GMOs should be stopped. We should stop it from spreading. ” – Irina Ermakova, VP of Russia’s National Association for Genetic Safety

(RIA Novosti/Ekaterina Shtukina)

A number of scientists worldwide have clearly outlined the potential dangers associated with consuming GMOs. I recently published an article titled “10 Scientific Studies Proving GMOs Can Be Harmful To Human Health,” you can read that in fullhere.  These are just a select few out of hundreds of studies that are now available in the public domain, it seems that they continue to surface year after year.

Russia completely banning GMOs, such a large, developed nation is a big step forward in creating more awareness with regards to GMOs. Ask yourself, why have so many nations banned GMOs and the pesticides that go with them? It’s because evidence points to the fact that they are not safe, they are young, and we just don’t know enough about them to safely consume them. They just aren’t necessary, so why produce them?

Within the past few years, awareness regarding GMOs has skyrocketed. Activism has played a large role in waking up a large portion of Earths population with regards to GMOs. People are starting to ask questions and seek answers. In doing so, we are all coming to the same conclusion as Russia recently came to.

In February, the State Duma introduced a bill banning the cultivation of GMO food products. President Putin ordered that Russian citizens be protected from GMOs.  The States Agricultural Committee has supported the ban recommendation  from the Russian parliament, and the resolution will come into full effect in July 2014.

This just goes to show what we can do when we come together and demand change and share information on a global scale. Change is happening, and we are waking up to new concepts of our reality every day. GMOs are only the beginning, we have many things to rid our planet of that do not resonate with us and are clearly unnecessary. We are all starting to see through the false justifications for the necessity of GMOs, no longer are we so easily persuaded, no longer do we believe everything we hear and everything we’re presented with. Lets keep it going!

For more CE articles on GMOs, click here.

For more CE articles on glyphosate, click here.

 Sources:

5000 years old remains of ancient civilization found!!

http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/history-and-culture/rakhigarhi-the-biggest-harappan-site/article5840414.ece?homepage=true

Bigger than Mohenjo-daro, claims expert

The discovery of two more mounds in January at the Harappan site of Rakhigarhi in Hisar district, Haryana, has led to archaeologists establishing it as the biggest Harappan civilisation site. Until now, specialists in the Harappan civilisation had argued that Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan was the largest among the 2,000 Harappan sites known to exist in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The archaeological remains at Mohenjo-daro extend around 300 hectares. Mohenjo-daro, Harappa and Ganweriwala (all in Pakistan) and Rakhigarhi and Dholavira (both in India) are ranked as the first to the fifth biggest Harappan sites.

“With the discovery of two additional mounds, the total area of the Rakhigarhi site will be 350 hectares,” asserted Professor Vasant Shinde, Vice-Chancellor/Director, Deccan College Post-Graduate & Research Institute, a deemed-to-be university in Pune. The two mounds are in addition to the seven mounds already discovered at Rakhigarhi, about 160 km from New Delhi. The eighth and ninth mounds, spread over 25 hectares each, are situated to the east and west of the main site. Villagers have destroyed much of these two mounds for cultivation. A team of archaeology teachers and students of the Deccan College discovered them when they surveyed the site in January.

Dr. Shinde, a specialist in Harappan civilisation and Director of the current excavation at Rakhigarhi, called it “an important discovery.” He said: “Our discovery makes Rakhigarhi the biggest Harappan site, bigger than Mohenjo-daro. The two new mounds show that the Rakhigarhi site was quite extensive. They have the same material as the main site. So they are part of the main site. On the surface of mound nine, we noticed some burnt clay clots and circular furnaces, indicating this was the industrial area of the Harappan site of Rakhigarhi.”

Dr. Shinde had earlier led the excavations done by the Deccan College at the Harappan sites of Farmana, Girawad and Mitathal, all in Haryana.

On the surface of mound eight were found terracotta bangles, cakes, and pottery pieces, typical of the Harappan civilisation, said Nilesh P. Jadhav, Research Assistant, Department of Archaeology, Deccan College.

Artefacts found

From January 10, the Deccan College team has excavated five trenches on the slope of the mound four and another trench in the burial mound numbered seven. The excavation in mound four has yielded a cornucopia of artefacts, including a seal and a potsherd, both inscribed with the Harappan script; potsherds painted with concentric circles, fish-net designs, wavy patterns, floral designs and geometric designs; terracotta animal figurines, cakes, hopscotches and shell bangles, all belonging to the Mature Harappan phase of the civilisation. The five trenches have revealed residential rooms, a bathroom with a soak jar, drainages, a hearth, a platform etc … The residential rooms were built with mud bricks. The complex revealed different structural phases, said Kanti Pawar, assistant professor, Department of Archaeology, Deccan College.

Much of the Harappan site at Rakhigarhi lies buried under the present-day village, with several hundreds of houses built on the archaeological remains. The villagers’ main occupation is cultivation of wheat and mustard, and rearing of buffaloes.

Making cow dung cakes is a flourishing industry. There is rampant encroachment on all the mounds despite the Archaeological Survey of India fencing them. Amarendra Nath of the ASI had excavated the Rakhigarhi site from 1997 to 2000.

An important problem about the Harappan civilisation is the origin of its culture, Dr. Shinde said. The Harappan civilisation had three phases: the early Harappan from circa 3,500 BCE to circa 2,600 BCE, the mature Harappan which lasted from circa 2,600 BCE to circa 2000 BCE, and the late Harappan from circa 2000 BCE to 1,600 BCE.

Dr. Shinde said: “It was earlier thought that the origin of the early Harappan phase took place in Sind, in present-day Pakistan, because many sites had not been discovered then. In the last ten years, we have discovered many sites in this part [Haryana] and there are at least five Harappan sites such as Kunal, Bhirrana, Farmana, Girawad and Mitathal, which are producing early dates and where the early Harappan phase could go back to 5000 BCE. We want to confirm it. Rakhigarhi is an ideal candidate to believe that the beginning of the Harappan civilisation took place in the Ghaggar basin in Haryana and it gradually grew from here. If we get the confirmation, it will be interesting because the origin would have taken place in the Ghaggar basin in India and slowly moved to the Indus valley. That is one of the important aims of our current excavation at Rakhigarhi.”

Living on love and fresh air

Author(s): Aparna Pallavi 

http://www.downtoearth.org.in/node/3187

Mar 31, 2009 | From the print edition

A family that has little use for cash

The morning I went to meet her Anusuyabai Meshram did something she does not usually do--milk one of her cows. It was a special day the Meshrams were having guests. "We do not need milk on a daily basis," she explained cheerfully as she served us tea, "Because we drink our tea black."

There are many other things that Anusuyabai, 44, and her 47-year-old husband Pandurang Meshram do not need electricity, piped water, security, a weather-proof house, regular social contact, and for the most part, even money.

For the past eight years, this couple has been living by choice on their seven acre (2.8 hectare) ancestral farm outside village Wasriphode in Maharashra's Yavatmal district without these facilities. Their joy in living a simple life shows on their faces. "We live like this because we like to," Pandurang said. "Two years ago our only daughter, Manisha, was married.Now we are free of parental responsibilities," he added.

Before moving to Wasriphode, Pandurang had worked as a mechanic and driver and also in a fishery for a few years, but the couple was never happy. "We were always anxious about something or the other, especially money and rising prices. Finally we decided to move away here and grow our own food so that we could live without worries," he said.

Over the past eight years, the Meshrams have evolved a lifestyle that requires minimal money. They plant cotton on three of their seven acres, and food crops--jowar millets, a variety of legumes, vegetables, oilseeds and spices on the rest.

The cotton--an indigenious variety--earns them around Rs 40,000 annually, which is enough to buy wheat, rice, the occasional set of clothing and a few necessities; perform their duties on social occasions like weddings in the family, and save a little.

"We do not need money to spend on addictions like tobacco or alcohol, or on visits to doctors," Anusuyabai said.

For transport they have a bicycle, which, they claim is enough, because apart from a monthly pilgrimage to Mahur about 75 km away, they never need to travel more than 25-30 km. They get enough fuelwood from the trees on their land. They harvest food items according to their requirements, leaving the rest on the field for whoever needs them. The couple says that they have never run short of food, and hardly ever harvest more than half of the crops they grow.

Our animals don't let us feel lonely, Pandurang said

"This year we had an excellent okra crop," Pandurang said, pointing to a plant still standing amid a festoon of dried pods, "Each plant yielded more than 100 pods. I gathered baskets of them and heaped them on the roadside for whoever wanted them."

Has he never considered selling his excess produce for money? "Yes, butloche wadteel (it will only create complications)," he replied without missing a beat. This sentence appears to be a refrain with the couple. Why don't they get an electric connection that they can very well afford? Why don't they add to their income by selling the milk from their nine cows? Why don't they avail of government subsidies? Why don't they put their money in a bank? The answer is the same always.

It took some coaxing to get Pandurang to explain the nature of the complications "See, if we get electricity, we will have to earn extra to pay bills, and will be frustrated over power cuts. If we sell our extra produce, I will have to spend more time in the market than with my land and animals. Subsidy means bribing officials."

So why do they bother to grow more than they need? "So we have something to give," he said with touching humility, "Villagers regularly take vegetables and lentils from our farm. Everyone trusts us and we trust everyone."

Love and trust. That appears to be the dominant philosophy of the couple.
Dogs, cats and cattle live in harmony on the farm, and injured wild animals find their way there too. "I have seen a peacock, a deer and a hare in their farm at different times," says Sucheta Ingole of Dharamitra, a non-profit which works in the area of organic farming.

"It is because of these animals that we don't get lonely," explained Anusuyabai, "We have them for love, not for making money."

But what about the investment involved in growing those extra crops and keeping the livestock? "What investment?" asked Pandurang.

This brings us to one of the most important achievements of the Meshrams zero-budget farming. The Meshrams have switched completely to organic farming. They preserve indigenous seeds (and give freely to whoever needs them) of a wide variety of crops they grow. Mulching and contour bunding have enriched the land and reduced the need for irrigation, and have no need for pest control. All other farming techniques have been simplified to a point where the need for labour is minimal.

"We do all the work and in any case our farm does not require more than three hours of work a day," Anusuya-bai said.

"Initially, we taught them techniques for making vermicompost, vermiwash, organic pesticide. But after a year or two, they simply took to tying their animals under some neem trees on the farm. The falling leaves, animal dung, urine and fodder waste accumulating under the trees combined into the best fertilizer-cum-pest repellant you ever saw. I have never heard of crop failure or a pest attack on their farm," Ingole said.

The same simplicity characterizes their financial transactions. The Meshrams keep their money with a trusted money-lender, refusing to bank, but most of their savings are spent in helping relatives.

Indigeneous seeds, the secret of good harvests

For the last two years they have been planning to rebuild their mud-and-tile house, which is sagging, but never got around to doing it because they gave away their money to relatives who were in need. "It does not matter," said a cheerful, sunburnt Ansuyabai, "We are used to living in the open with our animals. We will build the house when people repay us."

They do keep a nest-egg for an emergency though, but neither of them knows exactly how much they have. "I have everything written down," says Pandurang, who has an education up to the fourth grade, with a careless wave of his hand, "And anyway, the man is trustworthy."

The Meshrams have inspired Tarak Kate, agricultural scientist and founder of Dharamitra. A year ago Kate, 60, retired from the non-profit and started living on his own one hectare.

The Meshrams have no doubts nor fear about sustaining their unique self-sufficient lifestyle till the end of their lives. "When you love the land, it yields in abundance. When you love trees and animals, they love you in return. What else do you need to live?"

What else, indeed.

Cow dung on your walls!

Here are some customs which are followed in India from ancient time and people are following them because their ancestors asked them to do so. It may sound disgusting to many but people in Indian villages implant cow-dung in their homes.

Cow is considered very sacred in Hinduism and it is called Gow Maata (Cow, The mother). Cow dung and cow urine is considered holy in India. 

Applying Cow Dung is part of cleaning process in Indian villages. In festivals also, after cleaning their houses, rural people implant cow-dung paste on walls and floors for making their houses pure just like urban people make their houses painted for getting the festive feel. 
 
 

Benefits Of Applying Cow Dung

The recent researches have proved that Cow dung has the power to kill bacteria which are harmful for humans. Cow Dung is considered good for health. It is very rich in minerals and a great factor of anti-bacterial. It prevents people from various diseases and health issues. 

Small insects like scorpions, centipedes etc don't come near to the places which are coated with the paste of Cow dung. 

Cow Dung acts as a natural mosquito repellent. Mosquitoes stay away from such places. 

The floor which is coated with cow Dung remains warm in winters and cold in summers. 

In rural areas, people apply cow-dung on outer walls of their homes and let them dry. Villagers use these dry cow dung cakes as fuel. 
 
Even in many parts of the developing world, and in the past in mountain regions of Europe, caked and dried cow dung is used as fuel. 
 
Cow-dung is also used as raw material for bio-gas plant. 

It is said that if we follow vedic techniques and live vedic way then our lives can be disease-free. - See more at: http://experiencehinduism.com/scientific-facts/gobar-cow-dung-walls-floors#sthash.dAuxgUdl.dpuf

Chappan bhog

1 ) Ukhuda ( Sugar coated puffed rice)

2 ) Nadia kora(Coconut ladu)
3 ) Khua (condensed milk)
4 ) Dahi (Yoghurt)
5 ) Pachila kadali (Ripe Banana)
6 ) Kanika (Flavoured Rice)
7 ) Tata  Khechudi (Dry Khechudi)
8 ) Mendha Mundia (A kind of cake)
9 ) Bada Kanti (Fried Cake)
10) Matha Puli (A kind of Pan cake)
11) Hamsa Keli (Sweet cake)
12) Jhili  ( Thin pan cake like Dosa)
13) Enduri ( Idli)
14) Adapachedi (Ginger Paste)
15) Saga Bhaja (Fried spinach)
16) Kadali Bhaja (Fried Plantain)
17) Maric Ladu (Chilli Ladu)
18) San Pitha ( Small size Cake)
19) Bara/Vada (Donalds)
20) Arisha (Sweet fried cake made by rice flour)
21) Bundia ( Sweet granules made of Chick pea flour)
22) Pakhal oriya(Water rice)
23) Khiri (Milk Rice)
24) Kadamba( A kind of sweet)
25) Pat Manohar (Name of a sweet)
26) Takuaa(Sweets shaped like tongue)
27) Bhaga Pitha (A kind of cake )
28) Gotai(A kind of salty cake)
29) Dalma(Dal with vegetables)
30) Bada Kakara(Large Fried sweet cake)
31) Luni Khuruma (Salty Biscuits)
32) Amalu ( Malpua, Sweet Puri)
33) Suar Pitha (Poda Pitha, Baked Cake)
34) Biri Buha(Black gram cake )
35) Jhadai Nadaa(a cluster of small ball shaped cakes)
36) Khasta Puri(Strong fried cakes)
37) Kadali Bara(Fried Plantain)
38) Sana Arisha (Small fried cakes)
39) Sakar(Chatni)
40) Podo Pitha(Panned Cake)
41) Kanji(Sour Rice)
42) Dahi Pakhal(Curd rice )
43) Bada Arisha(Large size Fried cake)
44) Tipuri(Three stage fillings)
45) Sakara(Sugar candy)
46) Suji Khir(Milk with samolina)
47) Muga Sijha(Boiled green gram)
48) Manohar(a kind of sweet)
49) Magaja Ladu(A kind of sweet like simply wonderful)
50) Pana(Sweet Drink)
51) Anna(Rice)
53) Ghia Anna(Ghee rice)
54) Sweet Dal
55) Besar(Curry)
56) Sag(Spinach)

BJP may form ministry for cow protection in Rajasthan

http://www.livemint.com/Politics/BF9tT7SUT4sk7E0xqyKduK/BJP-may-form-ministry-for-cow-protection-in-Rajasthan.html

New Delhi: The new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Rajasthan is likely sticking to its promise and creating a ministry for cow protection even as the party, ahead of the Congress in the race to form the next government in the Centre if opinion polls are to be believed, has decided that it will stress its bovine-friendly image in the Hindi belt during the campaign.

Cow protection will be a major issue in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in many parts of North India (Rajasthan, Haryana and some areas of western Uttar Pradesh), senior leaders of the BJP said.

The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has already criticized the Union government for promoting India’s “pink revolution”—the export of meat.

“Vasundhara Raje (now the chief minister of the state) had promised people that the BJP would form a cow protection ministry (when elected); the state government has already started working on this plan,” said Prabhu Lal Saini, animal husbandry minister of Rajasthan. “There are 12.1 million heads of cattle in Rajasthan, the highest in the country. There are 1,304 cow sheds in Rajasthan and more than 500,000 cows are provided food in cow sheds. Some of the NGOs are also helping the government and working for protection of cows,” the minister added. Senior BJP leaders said the protection of cows—animals considered holy by most Hindus—is an issue close to the hearts of voters in parts of north India, and will be made an election issue in Rajasthan, Haryana and some areas of western Uttar Pradesh.

The three states are important for BJP’s bid to topple the ruling Congress in the general election because they account for 115 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha.

Western Uttar Pradesh constituencies being targeted by the BJP for its cow protection campaign include Agra, Mathura, Hathras, Aligarh, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Amroha, Saharanpur, Rampur, Badaun, and Pilibhit.

“Even if the BJP doesn’t raise it during the election, people will make it an election issue this time because it is such a sensitive issue,” said Satpal Malik, the BJP vice-president who is a prominent leader from western Uttar Pradesh.

“I attended a public meeting of Narendra Modi in Surat in which he told the gathering that the state government was busy in green revolution and white revolution (milk), but the Union government was busy giving subsidy for a pink revolution. We asked Narendra Modi to raise the issue during his visits in western Uttar Pradesh,” he added.

Malik pointed out that BJP president Rajnath Singh had also worked for cow protection when he was chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. Malik alleged that there were several illegal abattoirs in western Uttar Pradesh where animals, stolen from farmers, are slaughtered.

BJP leaders from Haryana said the issue would resonate in their state, too.

“Most people in Haryana are vegetarians and people value cows as their mothers. But now we get to hear and read cases of theft and deaths of these animals. This will be major issue,” said Om Prakash Dhankar, convener of the farmers wing of the BJP and a prominent leader in the state.

Political analysts say the BJP will make a special effort to raise the twin issues of cow protection and Hindutva with voters and potential supporters in order to differentiate itself from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has plans to field candidates against both the BJP and the Congress.

“There is a historical perspective also because the Bharatiya Jan Sangh (the BJP’s predecessor party) had led a major movement in 1950s and 1960s on cow protection. The BJP wants to be seen as different to the AAP and it wants to attract voters. These are issues which are close to people, so the BJP is trying to use it to win their support,” said Jai Mrug, Mumbai-based political analyst.

Srila Prabhupada on the "Green Revolution"

Great thanks to His Holiness for this post!

---------- Forwarded Message ----------
Letter PAMHO:23805528 (9 lines)
From: Bhakti Vikasa Swami
Date: 25-Jul-12 05:41 (09:41 +0400)
To: BVKS Sanga [9315]
To: (Krsna) Katha [15851]
To: (ISKCON) Lipa Dalmacija [6228]
To: Prabhupada Said [6777]
To: Bharat Chandra (das) BRS (NC VAD Ministry - IN) [20684]
Subject: Srila Prabhupada on the "Green Revolution"
------------------------------------------------------------
Many may claim that in the modern age material scientists have helped
increase agricultural yield. But we fearlessly proclaim that it is precisely
such atheistic views that have brought the world to the present acute food
crisis. If we are not careful, the day will soon come when fruits will be
reduced to just skin and seed, cows' udders will dry up, and paddy fields
will grow only grass. The scriptures predict that these things will come to
pass in the Kali-yuga.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => RTW 2.10: The Supreme Lord: Lover of His Devotees
(Text PAMHO:23805528) --------------------------------------

------- End of Forwarded Message ------

Interesting photo article

 

 
Evidence of the false portrayal of historical self sufficiency /
susbsistence life as miserable.

"There are unintentionally controversial photographs by policeman William
Armstrong, depicting plump and contented peasants in the 1920s, whereas
communist propaganda suggested they were starving and unhappy."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18784990

Srila Prabhupada assured us that a life of simple living and high thinking
is not at all a miserable existence. Yet the history books of most modern
cultures depict such a lifestyle as a miserable one.

"Krsna conscious devotees know very well that this material world is
designed by the complete arrangement of the Lord to fulfill all the
necessities of life for all living beings, without their having to encroach
upon the life or rights of one another. This complete arrangement affords
the proper quota of wealth for everyone according to his real needs, and
thus everyone may live peacefully according to the principle of plain living
and high thinking. Unfortunately, materialists who have neither faith in the
plan of God nor any aspiration for higher spiritual development misuse their
God-given intelligence only to augment their material possessions. They
devise many systems - such as capitalism and materialistic communism - to
advance their material position. They are not interested in the laws of God
or in a higher goal. Always anxious to fulfill their unlimited desires for
sense gratification, they are conspicuous by their ability to exploit their
fellow living beings." NOI 2 purport

Even devotees follow the status quo by employing people at the commercial
rate to do a job. What would it take for us to live up to Prabhupadas ideal?

Your servant
Samba das