‘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.

Vedic History

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/indus-valley-script-vedic-history-naga-stone/1/331040.html

In a startling development Mahesh Keshavam, Gangadhar Yadav and Akbar Patel have announced that they've deciphered the Indus Valley script. Their task was made simple by the discovery of an Indian equivalent of the Rosetta Stone. For those who don't know, the Rosetta Stone, an ancient Pharaonic-Egypt decree discovered in the 18th century, helped decipher the ancient Egyptian script.

The Indian equivalent of the Rosetta Stone, called the Naga Stone by the trio who discovered it, has a message from a king who lived many millennia ago, inscribed in three different scripts. One of these is the ancient Brahmi script, which as we all know, has been deciphered already.

"We discovered the Naga Stone in Nagaland, and hence the name,� explained Mahesh. "It appears to be a message from a local ruler, prescribing that a certain festival celebration be followed strictly. It has the same message in three different scripts, one of which is Brahmi, which we can read. Since the message is the same across the other scripts, it was a simple job of matching words to decipher the other scripts.�

Interestingly, all three scripts including Brahmi can be identified as Indus Valley scripts since they contain symbols commonly found in Indus Valley seals. The Indus script (which is a hieroglyphic script, like that of Mandarin) has largely been found to be inscribed on small seals that were probably used for trade and, some say, for inspirational quotes as well.

Akbar said, "What we have discovered is that there was not one uniform Indus Valley script. There were many, each differing from the other quite a degree, even if some of the symbols were similar. In fact, one of the scripts is even written right to left!�

It is a common view among linguistic experts that there should be one standard Indus Valley script. It seemed logical as everything within the Indus Valley civilisation seemed to be rigidly standardised, from the dimensions of the bricks used in construction to the broad layouts for cities. It appears that the linguistic experts were wrong. Different regions did use different scripts. But was the language common?

"Yes, the language was common even though the scripts were different,� said Mahesh. "And the language was Sanskrit.� At the look of surprise on my face, Gangadhar stepped in. "You know,� explained Gangadhar, "the practice of using the Devanagiri script for the Sanskrit language is a relatively recent phenomenon. In ancient times, many other scripts were used, including the Brahmi script. In fact, ancient manuscripts have been found in Kerala wherein Sanskrit had been written in the Malayalam script. So the idea of using different scripts for the same language is not new in India. Of course, originally, Sanskrit had no native script and was primarily an oral language.�

But this obviously raises questions about the version of history taught to us. We are taught that the Indus Valley people were Dravidians who were indigenous Indians. They were, apparently, overrun by Sanskrit-speaking Aryan invaders and pushed to the south. So how can the script of a defeated people be used for the language of the victors?

"If you read the message on the Naga Stone itself,� said Akbar, "your doubts will be cleared. There was no so-called Aryan invasion. Unbiased historians have always marvelled at this strange dichotomy in ancient Indian history-the Indus Valley civilisation, the largest, most urban and richest civilisation of its time, purportedly left behind no literature or markers of high culture; whereas the so-called Aryan invaders from Central Asia, who didn't build any great cities and were apparently barbaric warriors, left behind the largest body of literature when compared to any other people of the ancient world. The only logical explanation is that the Indus Valley civilisation and the Vedic-erroneously called Aryan-civilisation were one and the same.�

"In India, the study of history is unfortunately heavily politicised, with left- and right-wing ideologues making arguments based on their ideological positions rather than facts,� said Gangadhar. "They both, sadly, allow their ideological leanings to cloud their thinking. Therefore, today, we have to turn to Westerners or non-professional Indian historians who are still untouched by the politics that plagues our history departments, to find unbiased interpretations of our history which are based on facts. Most Western historians have already junked the Aryan Invasion Theory as colonial-era, European myth-making.�

But the convincing proof is the Naga Stone itself. The message written on it is unambiguous. The local ruler of that time, Vasuki, said that the ancient Naga celebration of Panchami must be followed since it had come down to his people (whom he called Vedic people) from an ancient 10,000-year-old tradition from Sangam and Dwarka. Since the stone itself is at least 3,000 years old, it makes the 'mother cultures' of Sangam and Dwarka more than 13,000 years old, that is, before the end of the last great ice age.

But where were Sangam and Dwarka? "We believe that Sangam refers to an ancient Tamil civilisation and Dwarka to an ancient Gujarati one,� said Akbar. "It would seem that the British writer, Graham Hancock, was right. He had postulated that there were many ancient civilisations spread across the world before the end of the last great ice age, when the sea levels were a lot lower. Two of those civilisations were based in India -one off the coast of modern Tamil Nadu and another off the coast of modern Gujarat. These civilisations were destroyed when the ice age ended and the sea levels rose. The survivors escaped to the north and established what we call the Vedic civilisation. So, according to Graham Hancock, the ancient Vedic civilisation descended from an even more ancient Tamil and Gujarati civilisation. The Naga Stone has just confirmed this theory.� Clearly, our history books need some rewriting!

- Amish Tripathi is the author of The Shiva Trilogy

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/indus-valley-script-vedic-history-naga-stone/1/331040.html

Tipu Sultan's ring has Lord Ram's name on it!

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/world/tipus-ring-to-be-auctioned/article6002224.ece?homepage=true

It is through the private commerce of the auction house that many a precious relic of India’s history has come to light.

On May 22, a remarkable artifact that illuminates a watershed moment in India’s history will be auctioned by the leading London auction house Christie’s — and presumably thereafter vanish forever from the public eye.

A heavy gold ring worn by 18th century ruler Tipu Sultan during his last campaign against the British in 1799 will be sold as part of the ‘Raglan Collection: Wellington, Waterloo & The Crimea.’

Unusually, the 41.2 gm oval ring has the name of the Hindu God Rama in raised Devanagari inscribed on it.

It was taken off the finger of the dead ruler by the Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, as his personal spoil of war after the Battle of Seringapatam in 1799.

The ring then found its way into the hands of another military family, that of FitzRoy Somerset, the 1st Baron Raglan. A famous soldier of the early 19th century, he joined Duke Wellington’s service in 1808 and rose to become his right-hand man for the next 40 years. He fought in major campaigns under Duke Wellington, including Waterloo and in the Crimea.

FitzRoy Somerset married the Duke’s favourite niece Emily Wellesley-Pole who was in possession of the ring, a gift from her uncle.

The ring has been valued at £10,000 to £15,000 and is part of the private collection of Fitzroy John Somerset, the great great grandson of the 1st Baron Raglan. The collection contains items that have been the possession of the family from 1858, including historical medals, arms and armour, militaria, pictures, furniture, silver, books, Indian weapons and works of art, as well as a selection of art.

Though a small object of personal use, the ring with its inscription awakens the spirit of the unusual 18th ruler who was its owner.

He sought out what was modern and transformatory for the time, putting it to use in his paramount objective of defeating the British.

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:

Sanskrit training in China

http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/history-and-culture/article2023696.ece?homepage=true

The Sanskrit programme at Peking University has a long history, set up in the
1960s and subsequently expanded by renowned Indologist Ji Xianlin, who
translated dozens of works

Almost two millennia after the language first came to China through Buddhist
scriptures, renewed interest in Buddhist studies  and recent discoveries of
long-forgotten manuscripts in Tibet have sparked a revival of the study of the
ancient language among Chinese scholars.

Beijing’s Peking University has now launched an ambitious programme to train
more than 60 Chinese students in Sanskrit, with the hope of creating a team of
researchers to help translate hundreds of manuscripts containing scriptures
that have been found in Tibet and other centres of Buddhism, such as Hangzhou
in China’s east.

“There is a rich manuscript collection in Tibet, particularly. Many of the originals have not been recovered, and are only available in Chinese and Tibetan, so it is important for us to find a way to render them back into Sanskrit,” said Satyavrat Shastri, a renowned New Delhi-based Sanskrit scholar and poet, who is in Beijing this week as a visiting lecturer to meet and advise students and teachers here.

“What they are trying to do here is invaluable, and they are making great progress,” Mr. Shastri said, adding that he was pleasantly surprised by the students’ technical level.

“I was struck by the interest, of both teachers and scholars, in little details, such as getting the pronunciation perfect. They recited the Bhagavad Gita with me, and it was a unique experience. The pronunciation, the metre [of reciting the verses], was remarkable.”

The Sanskrit programme at Peking University has a long history, set up in the 1960s and subsequently expanded by renowned Indologist Ji Xianlin, who translated dozens of works and is seen by many here as single-handedly introducing classical Indian culture to a whole generation of Chinese.

Today, the programme hopes to carry forward the legacy of Ji, who died in 2009.

The university’s efforts received a boost in 2005, when it was given support by the Ministry of Education to expand admissions, part of an effort to boost manuscript research.

Now, for the first time, the programme has a regular annual intake of students at both undergraduate and post-graduate levels, currently training between 50 and 60 students.

“We want to continue what Ji Xianlin started,” said Duan Qing, a professor in Sanskrit and Pali who once trained under Ji. “Our programme is quite mature now, and is the only complete Sanskrit programme in China.”

She attributed the recent boost in funding to increasing government support for the humanities, ignored during the People’s Republic’s first three decades when the country’s focus was on development alone.

“Sanskrit research is being viewed with importance now,” she said. “India and China were culturally connected. I don’t think there’s another country in the world where so many Sanskrit works were translated into another language, and this has been going on for more 1,000 years.”

Ms. Duan heads the Research Institute of Sanskrit Manuscripts and Buddhist Literature at Peking University, which is working with regional governments and hoping to create an archive for lost manuscripts and palm-leaves. Graduate students will work with the institute to help translate scriptures.

Yu Huaijin, a PhD student who is studying Kalidasa’s Kumarasambhava, said she joined the programme because she believed it was playing the role of “a bridge between two cultures.”

“India and China are neighbours, but they know little about each other, especially the younger generation. It is a big objective for me to introduce Indian culture and literature to a Chinese audience,” she said.

Few Chinese students are interested in Indian culture, with much greater interest in Western literature. Ms. Yu, too, was first a student of Western literature — until she happened to read a translation of the Mahabharata by Ji Xianlin. “It was a different world,” she said. “And one that few Chinese are aware of.”

Peking University has also begun working with Sanskrit programmes in universities in the West, particularly in Germany, to improve both teaching methods and archiving practices.

Indian universities, have however, appeared to show little interest in taking forward cooperation. Mr. Shastri, who is an honorary professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, admitted there was “precious little” cooperation between the two countries. There was room for much more, he said, encouraged by the positive response to his teaching methods this past week.

“We want to learn Sanskrit through traditional methods,” one teacher told him. “Not from the West.”

Sanskrit Newspapers!

Sanskrit Newspapers: Mysore, Kanpur and now Gujarat! Shubamastu!

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)

Indraprastha discovered!

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/the-discovery-of-indraprastha/article5772895.ece?homepage=true

If the ASI is successful in finding painted grey wares from the Mahabharata period, it will prove the existence of the city of Pandavas

The Archaeological Survey of India is on an expedition to discover painted grey wares of the Mahabharat period, which will conclusively prove the existence of Indraprastha.

The ongoing excavation at the Purana Quila site might lead to discovery of concrete evidence that will help in studying the culture and art patronised by the Pandavas. It is also expected to give a fillip to tourism.

In the first excavation in 1954, mounted under the supervision of renowned archaeologist B.B. Lal, who retired as ASI Director General, painted grey wares were discovered.

“However, the wares were not found in stratified deposit. If they were found in stratified deposit, we could support that there were traces of the Mahabharat period,” said Vasant Swarnkar, superintending archaeologist of ASI’s Delhi Circle. Under his supervision, around 60 labourers have been working six days a week at the project site.

To make things easier for Dr. Swarnkar, nearly 20 post-graduate diploma students of archaeology from the Institute of Archaeology have been assisting him. They have been guiding the labour force where exactly to dig, how to unearth crucial discoveries without damaging them and how to carefully hand them over to the authorities to preserve the artefacts for posterity.

Emphasising the site’s significance, Dr. Swarnkar said: “ This site has had continuous cultural deposit from the Mauryan to the Mughal period. The discoveries over the past month have reiterated the fact that there has always been habitation here during the Gupta and Kushan period.”

On Monday, a couple of enterprising students from the Institute of Archaeology discovered a terracotta miniature bull.

“This bull is of the Gupta period, which was a glorious period as it saw patronisation of art,” said Dr. Swarnkar as he cleaned the mud-filled artefact with a brush.

Pottery of the Gupta and Kushan period, semi-precious stones, ear-stud made of terracotta, bowls, miniature pots and sprinklers were also discovered.

According to Neelima Vasudevan, one of the students working at the site, the excavation is part of her field training and it gives her satisfaction if after a hard day’s work some artefacts are discovered.

Hage Sonia, another student, was delicately arranging bones on a plate. “These bones certainly are not of animals but indicate left over meals. I have also discovered iron pieces. This exercise is teaching us the art of supervising digging and identifying the discoveries,” she said.

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.

International miniature zebu association

http://www.imza.name/index.html

Interesting link. Of course most of the members are meat eaters. But,
devotees in US could source dwarf breed of cows through these links.

Cows grazing - solution to all climatic problems

http://www.ted.com/talks/allan_savory_how_to_green_the_world_s_deserts_and_r
everse_climate_change.html

"Desertification is a fancy word for land that is turning to desert," begins
Allan Savory in this quietly powerful talk. And it's happening to about
two-thirds of the world's grasslands, accelerating climate change and
causing traditional grazing societies to descend into social chaos. Savory
has devoted his life to stopping it. He now believes -- and his work so far
shows -- that a surprising factor can protect grasslands and even reclaim
degraded land that was once desert.

Allan Savory works to promote holistic management in the grasslands of the
world.

Muslims fight for cow protection in Gujarat

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-10-30/india/43526376_1_cow-slaughter-cow-protection-local-muslims

AHMEDABAD: Muslims have taken the onus of cow protection in Gujarat.
Following riots on Eid-ul-Adha over cow slaughter at Sansrod village in
Vadodara district, local Muslims have formed a cow protection group.

"We are going to convince butchers that they should give up slaughtering
cows. We are opposing cow
slaughter<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Slaughter>
as it is against the law," said Haji Dilawar Yakub, president of the newly
formed Gujarat Muslim Gau Hifazat Samiti in Bharuch.

He said that the decision to form such a committee was taken by
organizations after the alleged police torture of Sansrod villagers. These
organizations have planned a demonstration in Vadodara on Wednesday in this
regard.

The committee in Bharuch has 15 members and 150 volunteers who have begun
sensitizing Muslims on how cow slaughter has resulted in exploitation of
butchers and traders by animal protection activists in connivance with the
police.

"Muslims in four villages, including Vahalu and Hingala, have given an
undertaking that they will not indulge in cow slaughter," Dilawar said, and
added they plan to start propagating this idea across Gujarat.

Organizations like Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind, Gujarat, Bharat Bachao Andolan,
and Gujarat Muslim Development Council have supported the cause.

--
visit:
www.globalvarnasramamission.blogspot.in
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Global Varnasrama Mission" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to global-varnasrama-mission+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.

Super Smog Hits Chinese City

Super Smog Hits Chinese City As Air Pollution Soars To 40 Times Higher Than
International Safety Standard

Super Smog Hits Chinese City As Air Pollution Soars To 40 Times Higher Than
International Safety Standard


BEIJING (AP) — Visibility shrank to less than half a football field and
small-particle pollution soared to a record 40 times higher than an
international safety standard in one northern Chinese city as the region
entered its high-smog season.

The manager for U.S. jazz singer Patti Austin, meanwhile, said the singer
had canceled a concert in Beijing because of an asthma attack likely linked
to pollution.

Winter typically brings the worst air pollution to northern China because of
a combination of weather conditions and an increase in the burning of coal
for homes and municipal heating systems, which usually starts on a specific
date. For the large northern city of Harbin, the city's heating systems
kicked in on Sunday, and on Monday visibility there was less than 50 meters
(yards), according to state media.

"I couldn't see anything outside the window of my apartment, and I thought
it was snowing," Wu Kai, 33, a housewife and mother of a baby boy, said in a
telephone interview from Harbin. "Then I realized it wasn't snow. I have not
seen the sun for a long time."

She said her husband went to work in a mask, that he could barely see a few
meters (yards) ahead of him and that his usual bus had stopped running.

"It's scary, too dangerous. How could people drive or walk on such a day?"

The density of fine particulate matter, PM2.5, used as an indicator of air
quality was well above 600 micrograms per cubic meter — including several
readings of exactly 1,000 — for several monitoring stations in Harbin,
according to figures posted on the website of China's environmental
protection agency. They were the first known readings of 1,000 since China
began releasing figures on PM2.5 in January 2012, and it was not immediately
clear if the devices used for monitoring could give readings higher than
that.

A safe level under WHO guidelines is 25 micrograms per cubic meter.

Primary and middle schools and some highways were closed, said authorities
in the city, which is in China's northernmost province bordering Russia. At
least 40 flights to destinations in southern China and Beijing among others
were canceled or postponed at Harbin's Taiping International Airport on
Monday morning.

Austin's management team said the 63-year-old singer had been treated in a
hospital Friday morning for an asthma attack in combination with a
respiratory infection. She returned to her hotel later Friday to rest, but
was unable to perform at her Beijing concert scheduled for Friday evening.
Her Saturday night concert in Shanghai went ahead.

Her manager, Barry Orms, said Monday that Austin, as an asthma sufferer,
would have been "affected by the amount of pollution." He said that it
wasn't their goal to place blame, and that "Patti has expressed our belief
that the Chinese government can be a leader in this very important issue."

On the morning ahead of her concert Friday, Beijing's air was visibly
polluted, with the city's environmental monitoring center warning children,
the elderly and those with respiratory illnesses to reduce outdoor activity.

China's major cities have some of the world's worst smog. The government was
long indifferent to the environment as it pursued economic development, but
has begun launching some anti-pollution initiatives after mounting public
frustration.

Last month, China's Cabinet released an action plan that aims to make a
small reduction in the country's heavy reliance on coal to below 65 percent
of total energy usage by 2017. According to Chinese government statistics,
coal consumption accounted for 68.4 percent of total energy use in 2011.