tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10480212948776704032024-03-06T09:47:37.590+05:30HERITAGE WORLDWIDE e newsletterHERITAGE WORLDWIDE... e newsletter.. on Heritage activities Worldwide.....inspired by my association with INTACH-Sikkim Chapter...Editor: S.K.Sarda........... You can mail news on Heritage to: topintown_sikkim@yahoo.com for publication.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger680125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1048021294877670403.post-35542748595884087492014-03-30T19:16:00.001+05:302014-03-30T19:16:17.144+05:30<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span id="yui_3_13_0_1_1396186848274_10090" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span id="yui_3_13_0_1_1396186848274_10089" style="font-size: 12pt;"><i>Samvaad</i> is a quarterly online publication by <i><b>aadhar.</b></i></span></span></div>
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<span id="yui_3_13_0_1_1396186848274_10094" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span id="yui_3_13_0_1_1396186848274_10093" style="font-size: 12pt;"><i><b>aadhar</b></i> is a charitable trust working to Revitalise Traditional Arts and Crafts of India since year 2002.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Thank you,</span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1048021294877670403.post-13391805565687631422014-01-17T10:26:00.001+05:302014-01-17T10:26:27.028+05:30CM Inaugurated Ngadak Gompa In South Sikkim<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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CM inaugurated Ngadak Gompa in South Sikkim</div>
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15 Jan, Namchi : ( source:Voice of Sikkim)The ‘Ngadak Thupten Shedup Dhargay Choeling Gompa (Monastery)’ was inaugurated today in Namchi by the Chief Minister Mr Pawan Chamling in the presence of the Taklung Tsetrul Rimpoche of Shimla. Taklung Tsetrul Rimpoche performed the Consecration ceremony wherein the Chief Minister with wife Mrs Tika Maya Chamling and other guests attended the puja ceremony inside the monastery.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />It maybe recalled that the Chief Minister himself had laid the foundation stone of the Gompa on May 20th 2007. The vision, of the Chief Minister Pawan Chamling as accentuated in his public speech, is to make Sikkim the Pilgrimage and Religious Destination for people of all faiths and religions from all walks of life in the days to come and renovate Sikkim into a holy place for all faiths in the world. Today his vision has materialized another step ahead with the inauguration of the Ngadak Gompa.</div>
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The centuries old historical Ngadak Chyangter Gompa (Monastery) located in Ghurpishey Namchi South Sikkim has been taken up under South East Asian Regional Buddhist Cultural, Traditional and Heritage Study Centre in the form of a project which has been initiated and conceived by the State Government to incorporate this Monastery as a museum and a centre for Learning and Preservation of Buddhist Culture, Tradition and Heritage. In this context, Ngadak Monastery will be another historic Buddhist institution to be added in the list of other prominent tourist spots like statue of Guru Padmasambhava at Samdrupste, Char Dham at Solophok and Buddha Park Rabongla in the South District. This monastery which is located a few kilometers above Namchi Bazaar can be reached through a short road that deviates from the highway that leads to the premises of the monastery. The history of Ngadak Monastery is noteworthy as it relates to the era of monarchial system in Sikkim as well as foundation of the Buddhist religion here.</div>
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It must be mentioned that the old monastery has not been torn down, it is still there for the visitors to see with everything including all the old features persevered and intact. At present the state government has put up metal prop around the old structure of Ngadak Chyangter Monastery because of its fragile and dilapidated state after the earthquake of 1989 which rendered the monastery unsafe, adding upon the centuries old architect and materials used which consist of timber beam and post framework. This old monastery is a two storied structure built completely in the ancient style, the ground floor has stone and mud flooring and the first floor has timber planks and mud with husk in between the floor and ceiling.</div>
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According to the technical details presented by the Chief Engineer Buildings and Housing Department Mr Rinzing Dorjee, the total cost of the project till date has been revised to Rs.2076.79 lakhs owing to the additional works of the project. The other notable features of the new monastery include i) the yabring in the foreground of the monastery ii) Intricate traditional carvings on the wood and concrete, paintings, religious decorations in the exteriors of the monastery iii) and most importantly are the huge statues of three eyed Guru Rigzin Thongdup, Cherezig and Guru Dorjee Dakpo Chal (Yap Yum) crafted at the site and installed in the Altar said to be rarest and important combination of divine status. The main monastery has the plinth area of 48300sft. The project was completed with the collaboration of various teams like Ecclesiastical Department, Buildings & housing Department and Ngadak Duchi Committee. Artisans from Nepal, Bhutan and Sikkim were engaged in the project.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1048021294877670403.post-62965255045765070892013-04-18T15:12:00.001+05:302013-04-18T15:12:10.324+05:302 NE storytellers in Frank O’Connor Award longlist<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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New Delhi, April 17, 2013</div>
Two Indian storytellers – Prajwal Parajuly and Janice Pariat – are among 75
authors longlisted for this year’s Frank O’Connor International Short Story
Award.<br />
Sikkim-born Parajuly “The Gurkha’s Daughter” and Meghalaya-born Pariat’s
“Boats on Land: A Collection of Short Stories” are in contention for the Euro
25,000 award, regarded as the world’s richest prize for a short story
collection.<br />
A shortlist of up to six books will be selected in late May and the winner
will be announced in July.<br />
In “The Gurkha’s Daughter”, Parajuly blends rich colour and vernacular to
paint an eye-opening picture of a unique world and its people.<br />
“Boats on Land” is a collection of 15 stories set in and around Shillong,
Cherrapunjee and pockets of Assam. The tales span over the course of a century,
beginning in the 1850s and ending in the contemporary, modern world.<br />
Jhumpa Lahiri is the only Indian to have won the award for her “Unaccustomed
Earth” in 2008.<br />
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Among other authors in the
longlist are previous winner Ron Rash, previous shortlistee Peter Stamm,
Hollywood actress Molly Ringwald and recent winner of the Sunday Times Short
Story Award, Junot Diaz.
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The award is in memory of renowned short story writer late O’Connor and is
presented in his hometown of Cork in Ireland.<br />
The prize is awarded to the author of the book judged to be the best
collection of stories published in English for the first time anywhere in the
world.<br />
The award, into its ninth year, will be presented at the culmination of the
Cork International Short Story Festival in September.<br /><em><br /></em><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1048021294877670403.post-3732972815311239412013-02-01T18:46:00.003+05:302013-02-01T18:46:42.236+05:30India Art Fair<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Highlights of the India Art Fair<br />
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By <a class="url fn" href="http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/author/gayatri-rangachari-shah/" title="See all posts by GAYATRI RANGACHARI SHAH">GAYATRI RANGACHARI
SHAH</a></address>
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<img alt="An artwork on display at the India Art Fair, which opened in New Delhi on Friday." height="338" id="100000002038229" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/02/01/world/asia/1-artfair-Indiaink/1-artfair-Indiaink-blog480.jpg" width="480" /></div>
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<span class="credit">Sajjad Hussain/Agence France-Presse</span></div>
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<span class="credit">Getty Images</span> <span class="caption">An artwork on display at the India Art
Fair, which opened in New Delhi on Friday.</span></div>
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Source NYTIMES<br />
NEW DELHI —All roads in Delhi lead to the Okhla Industrial Estate this
weekend, where the <a href="http://www.indiaartfair.in/" target="_blank">India Art
Fair</a> opened to the public on Friday.<br />
At a preview on Thursday, a well-heeled crowd took in over 3,000 works of art
by 105 exhibitors from 24 countries. Eleven interactive art projects, works on
loan from the artists, are also on display, as well as Jitish Kallat’s
installation of Mohandas K. Gandhi’s letter to Adolf Hitler advising him against
war.<br />
Although there’s plenty of art to take in amid all the air-kissing society
folks, be sure to wander past the following booths:<span id="more-55115"></span><br />
<strong>GALLERYSKE:</strong> The gallery’s director, Sunitha Kumar Emmart,
shows a stellar lineup of contemporary artists, including Sudarshan Shetty,
Srinivasa Prasad and Prabhavathi Meppayil. <em>Where: booth C-2. </em><br />
<strong>Gallery Espace:</strong> Works by Zarina Hashmi, who is currently
showing at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, Nilima Sheikh, Rajinder Tikoo and
Rina Banerjee. <em>Where: booth B-2.</em><br />
<strong>Samdani Art Foundation:</strong> The nonprofit based in Dhaka,
Bangladesh, has on display “My Daughter’s Cot,” a baby crib made of stainless
steel razor blades, by the artist Tayeba Begum Lipi. <em>Where: booth
D-6.</em><br />
<strong>Tasveer: </strong>Powerful photography and photo-based art by
Maimouna Guerresi, Steve McCurry and Raghu Rai. <em>Where: booth D-9.</em><br />
<strong>Photoink:</strong> Great photography, with Vivan Sundaram riffing on
the work of his late aunt, Amrita Sher-Gil, and compelling contemporary photos
by Dhruv Malhotra. <em>Where: booth F-7.</em><br />
<strong>Seven Art:</strong> A must-see is Martand Khosla’s “Site Reconsidered
2,” made of brick dust. <em>Where: Booth C-15. </em><br />
<strong>Scream of London:</strong> Pakpoom Silaphan’s “<a href="http://www.screamlondon.com/exhibitions/upcoming/india-art-fair-2013/catalog#Pakpoom%20Silaphan%20Triple%20Gandhi%20on%20Pepsi3" target="_blank">Triple Gandhi on Pepsi</a>” attracted a lot of eyeballs. The
gallery’s works have already sold out, according to the fair’s founder, Neha
Kirpal. <em>Where: booth A-5. </em><br />
<strong>Imaginart Gallery/Tasneem Gallery:</strong> Big-name Spanish artists
you don’t typically get to see in India, including works by Salvador Dalí and
Pablo Picasso. <em>Where: booth B-9. </em><br />
<strong>TAG Fine Arts:</strong> A wall of black butterflies created by Jane
Dyer. <em>Where: booth D-5. </em><br />
<strong>Dhoomimal Art Center:</strong> A collection of the Indian master
Jamini Roy’s works, from the early 1900s to the 1950s. <em>Where: booth J-2.
</em><br />
The Swiss curator Mirjam Varadinis is offering curated walks through the
fair.<br />
There are also several don’t-miss Speakers Forum talks:<br />
“Art in the Age of Uprising” includes panelists Ravi Sundaram, a senior
fellow at the Center for the Study of Developing Societies; Chus Martínez, chief
curator of the El Museo del Barrio in New York, and Juan Gaitán, the curator of
the 8th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art. Monica Juneja, chairwoman of
global art history at Heidelberg University in Germany, moderates. <em>When:
Saturday, Feb. 2, noon to 1:30 p.m.</em><br />
“The Museum of the 21st Century: A Working Model?” includes panelists Barbara
London, a curator from New York’s Museum of Modern Art, Liu Yingjiu, from the
Rockbund Art Museum in Shanghai, Sandhini Poddar, from the Guggenheim in New
York, and Professor Tapati Guha-Thakurta of Kolkata. Professor Kavita Singh of
New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University moderates. <em>When: Sunday, Feb. 3,
noon to 1:30 p.m.</em><br />
There are also various events and in and around Delhi timed to the fair:<br />
This year’s four finalists for the Skoda Prize for Indian Contemporary Art
offer something for everyone at the <a href="http://www.ngmaindia.gov.in/" target="_blank">National Gallery of Modern Art</a>. Curated by Girish Shahane, the
exhibit includes art by a younger set of contemporary artists, including Shilpa
Gupta, L.N. Tallur, Srinivasa Prasad and CAMP. Kids especially will love Mr.
Prasad’s “Igloo” and “Rebirth,” both of which involve climbing in and out of
structures.<br />
At the <a href="http://ignca.nic.in/" target="_blank">Indira Gandhi National
Center for the Arts</a>, “Homelands,” a British Council-sponsored exhibit
curated by Latika Gupta, explores the idea of nationality, home and identity in
80 works of photography, painting, sculpture and video, many shown for the first
time in India.<br />
If you’re an audio buff, don’t miss an “Evening of Sound” on Feb. 2,
organized by the artists’ residency <a href="http://www.khojworkshop.org/" target="_blank">Khoj</a>. Arrive at their newly renovated studio, across the
street from Select City Walk Mall in Saket at 6 p.m. to hear live performances
by Chi-Wei Lin, Rudi Punzo and Robert Millis, then wander to nearby DT Cinemas
to hear a sound exhibition curated by Alexis Bhagat and Lauren Rosati.
<em>Khoj’s studio is at S-17, Khirkee Extension. </em></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1048021294877670403.post-1963484750768504902013-01-30T16:23:00.001+05:302013-01-30T16:23:59.832+05:30Launching of digital copies of Non-Priced Publications of NAI on Website <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="height: 600px; vertical-align: top;"><span id="content">Union Minister of Culture Smt. Chandresh Kumari Katoch and former Governor of West Bengal Shri Gopalkrishna Gandhi jointly launched the digital version of the catalogue of publications (till June 2012) of National Archives of India (NAI) on the website (www.nationalarchives.nic.in) under section “List of Publications”.<br /><br />This catalogue is not merely a list of publications brought out over the last seventy years in pursuance of the approved publication scheme in 1942; rather it unfolds the history of the publication policy of this Department since its origin. Over the last seventy years, approximately 101 titles have been brought out with many of the titles having several volumes. Out of these 101 titles, 40 are priced publications, 49 are non-priced, 8 are reprints and 4 are facsimile copies of the manuscripts preserved in the National Archives of India.<br /><br />In the first phase of the digitalization of publications of this department, only non-priced publications which are in single volume have been made available for download. In the second phase Annual Reports of National Archives of India (1891 onward) and Report of the Director General of Archives and other non-priced publications in various volumes would be made available on the website. The last phase of digitalization will deal with all priced publications of the department.<br /><br />The digital copies initiative of non-priced publications by NAI will help scholars, historians, academicians, administrators and users of archives. </span></td></tr>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1048021294877670403.post-7549453135277429202012-12-03T19:32:00.002+05:302012-12-03T19:32:42.881+05:30The story goes that the Taj Mahal was built by 22,000 workers who consumed petha for instant energy in Agra's hot summer month<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Agra, Dec 2 — There's no doubt that no one thinks of Agra without also thinking of the Taj Mahal. But Agra has much more to offer than Mughal monuments, say local artistes, businessmen and culture-activists, and that is its entrepreneurial excellence.<br />
"The whole Braj Mandal, roughly the area now under the Taj Trapezium Zone, has a vibrant centre of entrepreneurial excellence that catapulted Agra to the forefront decades ago," says historian Raj Kishore Raje, and author of "Bharat mein Angrez" (Englishmen in India).<br />
No other city in India can boast of producing a range of items for which raw materials are not locally available.<br />
"Agra is famous for iron foundries, glassware, leather shoes, its peculiar sweet called petha, and also handicrafts. But the raw material for all these industries is not locally available. It is the skilled workers, the artisans, craftsmen, the entrepreneurial class in Agra that has made the city rank among India's top industrial towns," Surendra Sharma, president of the Braj Mandal Heritage Conservation Society, told IANS.<br />
Gourd, from which petha is made, comes from Maharashtra and other southern states. It is processed and turned into a sweet by skilled workers in Agra.<br />
The story goes that the Taj Mahal was built by 22,000 workers who consumed petha for instant energy in Agra's hot summer months.<br />
Iron foundries depend on supplies of pig iron and coal, as well as natural gas from outside the state.<br />
"But it is the dexterous hands and "desi" (local) technology that evolved over years, to produce cast iron products including manholes that found markets even in America. Now a whole range of products are cast. During the green revolution, Agra's iron foundries provided solid support manufacturing pumps, agricultural implements and diesel generators," says Srimohan Khandelwal, a leading industrialist.<br />
Marble and coloured precious stones come from Rajasthan and various other places, but the expert in-lay artistes and craftsmen here create intricate artistic pieces.<br />
The glassware and bangles of Firozabad, earlier part of Agra but now a neighbouring district, are famous the world over.<br />
The glass manufacturers use soda ash and silica sand, which come from Gujarat and Rajasthan. "But it's the expertise, the skills of workmen, that really contribute to the growth and advance of this industry," says senior journalist from Firozabad, Raghvendra.<br />
How and why Agra became the chief centre of the leather shoe industry, nobody knows. For the past 80 years, Agra has continued to remain number one in terms of production and exports of leather.<br />
Leather and other raw materials come from Chennai and other centres. The leather shoe industry employs more than 100,000 workers directly and sustains 200,000 more in various ways.<br />
"The local workers, designers, cutters, and others are not just hard-working but have very creative talents and keep coming up with new ideas to stay ahead in the race," according to leading exporter Harvijay.<br />
Talking of the entrepreneurial genius of the local 'banias', retired banker P.N. Agarwal says: "The first loan to the East India Company in 1640 to build a factory at Surat was given by a local bania. Another local seth funded Aurangzeb's brother Murad to raise an army to rebel against the emperor. Agra's industrial base and entrepreneurial class were highly evolved and had far-reaching interests and networks," Agarwal told IANS.<br />
K.C. Jain, president of the Agra Development Foundation, regrets that the traditions and legacy of the city have long been neglected.<br />
"More attention these days is focussed on stones and monuments as tourism brings money. But for society's balanced growth, arts, culture, cuisine and industry are all to be seen as heritage," Jain said.<br />
(Brij Khandelwal can be contacted at brij.k@ians.in)<br />
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Read more: http://india.nydailynews.com/business/f707659ef313a62144d158aa3de9dc9f/agra-a-city-of-entrepreneurial-excellence#ixzz2DzuNQT00<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1048021294877670403.post-57944612493650294342012-12-03T19:27:00.001+05:302012-12-03T19:27:05.583+05:30<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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GANGTOK, 02 Dec: Annual chaam and prayers were performed on 01 and 02 December here at the Pabyuik Monastery situated in East Sikkim falling under Syari constituency. The programme was attended by area MLA and Speaker, SLA, KT Gyaltsen as the chief guest today.<br />The Chaam [“five gods dance”] was performed by monks of the monastery. The chaam and prayers were held to propitiate the Gods and Deities for peace and prosperity for the people of Sikkim and also to ward off evil omens. The programme was organized by Bara Kagui, Pabyuik Tashi Chiling Gumpa, which has 12 members in the committee.<br />The prayer was led by Kagyu Tulku Rinpoche Nowang Tempa Gyaltsen. A mela was also held at the venue today.<br /><div style="margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">
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SourceSikkim Now</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1048021294877670403.post-5666061507618646452012-12-01T07:17:00.001+05:302012-12-01T07:17:14.466+05:30Stories of Jhamphey Mung reach Mumbai<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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GANGTOK, 27 Nov: ( Source:Sikkim Now)</div>
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Acoustic Traditional’s work in Sikkim, especially in Dzongu, and neighbouring Darjeeling over the last few years seems to have finally received the nation’s attention. Yesterday Mid-Day, the afternoon English daily in Mumbai, carried a full page article on Acoustic Traditional [AT], the NGO behind the hard work, and Dzongu storytellers with their tales of Yeti or Jhamphey Mung.<br />“This is really great news for us and for the storytellers with whom we have been working all this time. Mr. Merek and Mr. Netuk Lepcha have been pictured in the article with their testimonials. It’s great because there is so much in our oral literature to tell. What people think is that our stories are just as much as they have come to know through books or documented works. Everything in the region is so much about storytelling that it is hard to believe that we have that much. Our oral traditions are as old as the sacred Earth and there is so much to know and listen to. It’s inspiring to know that interest in our work in growing. It’s time to tell our stories again, this time to the world,” said Salil Mukhia Kwoica, founder AT.<br />The article comes at a time when Acoustic Traditional is busy preparing for their upcoming Confluence, Festival of Indigenous Storytellers at Darjeeling between 07 and 09 December at the Windamere Hotel. Now in its 3rd year, the Confluence actually was initiated in Sikkim with the support of State Culture and Heritage Department. Last year, it was held in Bangalore.<br />The Confluence is a travelling Festival of Storytellers and the reason why it travels is because it aims to focus on a region’s folklore and storytelling. The focus in 2010 was Sikkim where around 12 storytellers from across various communities participated. In Bangalore, the focus was on the Southern tribes. This year, it is on Darjeeling. From Sikkim, storytellers from Dzongu will be participating this year.<br />AT will be nominating storytellers from the region to participate at the global Tera Madre Movement being organised in Shillong around 14 December 2012. “We are hoping that one storyteller from Sikkim and one from Darjeeling could be supported to represent there,” added Abhishek Pradhan, Programmes and Communication Manager, AT.<br />For the Confluence festival, AT is providing a concession especially for community-based associations to encourage their participation. The registration fee with concession is Rs 800 for three days as compared to the Rs 5,500 for non-regional participants.<br />For more information on how to register, please contact: 8972 313 930</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1048021294877670403.post-19284004349227950022012-11-29T08:51:00.000+05:302012-11-29T08:51:13.536+05:30<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<img alt="Stuntmen riding cars inside a makeshift cylindrical structure known as the "Wall of Death." The performance is part of Jhiri fair, an annual fair held in Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir." height="387" id="100000001927028" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/11/28/world/asia/28-POD-Fair-IndiaInk/28-POD-Fair-IndiaInk-blog533.jpg" width="533" /><br />
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<span class="credit">Channi Anand/Associated Press</span></div>
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<span class="caption">Stuntmen riding cars inside a makeshift cylindrical structure
known as the “Wall of Death.” The performance is part of Jhiri fair, an annual
fair held in Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1048021294877670403.post-56727494195673575982012-11-29T08:47:00.000+05:302012-11-29T08:47:02.118+05:30<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1048021294877670403.post-81483491491975388012012-11-29T08:45:00.001+05:302012-11-29T08:45:10.669+05:30<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1048021294877670403.post-90612578569024861922012-11-29T08:40:00.001+05:302012-11-29T08:40:51.357+05:30A year after the creation of the Pangthang Semi Hi-tech Nursery<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Nursery malis prepare
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<br /><b><br /></b><b>Dechen
Lachungpa</b><br />Under the JICA assisted Sikkim Biodiversity Conservation and
Forest Management Project a semi hi-tech nursery was created at Pangthang last
year. The nursery was created in order to propagate species of wild edible fruit
plants that are found growing in forests areas of Sikkim. Certain species of
wild edible fruits need care at the time of seedling stage. Species like oaks
whose “natural regeneration” is nil has to be raised in the nursery and then
transplanted. It is the policy of the Department of Forest Environment and
Wildlife Management to have a well balanced forest comprising of 10% fodder
species, 30% wild edible fruit species and rest locally available indigenous
species. The Department encourages the public to plant trees in their private
holdings for which these forest nurseries provide seedlings free of cost to the
public for plantation in their private land.<br />
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In this semi hi-tech nursery
the seeds are directly dribbled in special pots called as root trainers. Growing
of tree species in these root trainers is indeed a very scientific manner of
propagation. The use of root-trainers reduces significantly the use of plastic
polybags and moreover it can be re-used over a period of many years. Also, as
shown in the photographs the roots of seedlings grown in these root-trainers
become highly developed and well trained. Because of the hole at the bottom of
the root-trainer, the roots automatically becomes air pruned, coiled and hence
the soil is well bundled by the roots. At time of plantation the “ball of earth”
that should necessarily be maintained for successful plantation is compact and
well set in plants grown in root-trainers. Seedlings grown in root trainers can
be planted during any season. Moreover the transportation of seedlings grown in
these root-trainers is easier and it occupies less space in comparison to
seedlings grown in poly bags. This type of propagation of seedlings is highly
advantageous, there is efficient use of manure, soil and for water conservation
(volume of soil and manure used in root trainers is far less than in polybags).
The quantity and quality of seedlings produced in this small area of polyhouse
is far higher that that of the seedlings raised outdoors. Also since the nursery
is under cover the man power available in the nursery can be well utilized even
at time of unfavourable conditions during monsoons.<br /></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1048021294877670403.post-73962336648982073822012-11-29T08:39:00.002+05:302012-11-29T08:39:29.475+05:30AT BORONG HOT SPRING<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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PREPARATIONS
TO HOST PILGRIMS UNDERWAY AT BORONG HOT SPRING<br />NAMCHI, 22 Nov: Preparations
at Borong Tsa Chu, the Borong hot spring, located on the banks of river Rangeet
under Ravangla Sub Division in South Sikkim are underway full swing to host
pilgrims who come to visit this hot-spring for a rejuvenating dip. This hot
spring is popular among visitors as it is believed to have strong curative
powers and hundreds of visitors come every year to take a dip in it. The arrival
of visitors is expected to peak from the end of this month.<br />President,
Organizing Committee Borong Tsa chu, Devilal Sharma, informed that preparations
to host the pilgrims are in the final stages. Every year the committee sets up
temporary huts for visitors but warm clothes, bedding and utensils have to be
brought by the visitors themselves, he informed.<br />During the two-month season,
hundreds of pilgrims come from across the state as well as Bhutan and Nepal,
said Mr Sharma and added that this spring has also been a major source of income
for the villagers and unemployed youth of Borong.<br />A team from the South
district Zilla Panchayat also visited the location to oversee the ongoing
preparations. The was headed by ADC Development, DK Pradhan and he was
accompanied by Deputy Secretary, Bandhana Chettri, the newly elected ward
panchayat Karma Bhutia and organizing committee member, Chewang Bhutia.<br />The
team visited the site and to make the stay comfortable for visitors an amount of
Rs 1 lakh was sanctioned in order to construct a community toilet at the
spot.( Source:Sikkim Now)<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1048021294877670403.post-59802944589841383472012-11-29T08:35:00.000+05:302012-11-29T08:35:10.370+05:30IN CONVERSATION WITH PRAJWAL PARAJULY ON THE EVE OF HIS BOOK RELEASE <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Source:Sikkim Now<br />
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GANGTOK, 23 Nov: The year could not have been
better for writers from Sikkim, with three of them finding their way into the
national and international publishing scene. Yishey D’s work was featured in a
Random House publication, Chetan Raj Shreshta has been signed up by Aleph Book
Company [a collaboration between David Davidar and Rupa publications], and
finally Prajwal Parajuly who managed to bag an international two-book deal with
UK-based Quercus. A formidable sign that Sikkimese writing in English is coming
of age.<br />Prajwal’s debut, ‘The Gurkha’s Daughter’, a collection of short
stories is being launched in India on Saturday. The Indian edition is being
distributed by Penguin Books India. The book is being released by the
Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Vinod Rai and renowned author, Namita
Gokhale at the India International Centre in New Delhi on 24
November.<br /><br />Prajwal speaks to NOW! on the launch of his debut
book:<br /><i>How does it feel now that your book is finally being
released?</i><br />The release wasn’t happening until January of next year, but
things changed. The initial plan was to launch the book internationally first
and then in India. I had plans of being in New York for Thanksgiving, which I
had to abort, but I don’t mind because it’s an exciting time to be in India.
Delhi is beautiful in November, people have been very kind and the media very
generous. I am looking forward to the Delhi launch and launches after that. We
shall have one at Rachna Books, my favorite place in Gangtok, soon, and I am
pumped.<br /><br /><i>Even before its release, The Gurkha’s Daughter has generated
quite a lot of interest among readers, especially online. How do you feel about
that?</i><br />It’s been nice. Nice and undeserved. At times, all the coverage
made me feel guilty. At others, I feigned embarrassment in public and felt smug
in private. I claim that I don’t Google myself because I don’t want to see
what’s being written about me or the book, but that’s a big, fat lie. I try not
to take the sobriquets coming my way too seriously.<br /><br /><i>What should
readers expect from this book? Tell us a little about the stories.</i><br />The
Gurkha’s Daughter is a collection of simply written stories. I have two stories
based in Gangtok, one in Kalimpong, one in Darjeeling, one based on the
Bhutanese-refugee situation, one in Kathmandu and one that happens on a road
journey between Kathmandu and Birtamod. Some stories entailed weeks of research
and “field visits”. Others were all in my head, so it was simply a matter of
getting them down.<br /><br /><i>In present times, short story writing has not been
a very popular choice when it comes to publishers or writers. How did the choice
of this particular genre for your debut book come about?</i><br />I think it came
down to choosing the easy way. Writing a novel would have been intimidating. I
think a lot of first-time writers dabble with short stories before moving on to
novels. I hadn’t really written much fiction before I started my collection of
short stories. When I wrote the book, I had absolutely no clue about the
short-story market. A good thing because had I known how bad things were, I’d
probably have never written the book. Everyone at Oxford told me to write a
novel if I had any hope of selling my short-story collection. One would think
that the busier people got, the more of short stories they’d read because novels
are too long. Interestingly, I found writing the novel a lot easier than I did
writing the collection.<br /><br /><i>And how easy or difficult was it to get a
collection of short stories revolving around the Nepali speaking community
published?</i><br />Writing the short story collection may not have been very
easy, but getting it published wasn’t that hard. I got lucky. Once I put
together eight stories, we circulated the manuscript among my agent Susan
Yearwood’s contacts in London publishing circles. To be in a position to choose
was wonderful. We eventually chose Quercus because Jon Riley, the editor in
chief, and I immediately connected. He had been editor in chief at Faber before,
and I love Faber. He talked about how he worked as an editor, and I talked about
how I worked as a writer – it was the perfect fit.<br /><br /><i>Any particular
reason for choosing ‘The Gurkha’s Daughter’ as the title?</i><br />Oh, god, there
were many titles before that. And they were horrible. Let me make a list.
HIMALAYAN SUNSET. Eww. SUNSET IN THE HIMALAYAS. Phew. Then there was WARPED
IDENTITIES in the beginning – that one makes me laugh. Jon and I looked at all
the stories and thought, “Why not THE GURKHA’S DAUGHTER?” The title was already
there – sitting right in front of us. Hunting high and low for something as
hackneyed as WARPED IDENTITIES was silly!<br /><br /><i>Can you tell us something
about any future projects that you are working on?</i><br />We’ve been approached
by an independent film company in the U.K. about adapting one of my stories into
a movie. We’ll see how that goes. I have loosely adapated one of my stories into
a pathetic screenplay and may work on it a little. I’ve been thinking about the
idea of an anthology of stories from the northeast – select a brilliant writer
or two from every state and show off our talents to the world! It’s interesting
that the northeast has all these English-speaking people, all these
English-reading people, all these English-language-loving people but not that
many writers. Perhaps the anthology would give some brilliant, if unpublished
writers, a national platform? A publishing house has been talking to me about
doing a travelogue – a tongue-in-cheek compilation of Facebook notes I wrote
while traveling around India with my college roommate. Let this craziness
subside, and I shall choose a project.<br /><br /><i>Finally, how did you manage to
get a blurb for your book from Hope Cooke?</i><br />This concept of getting blurbs
for your debut book is absurd. You approach a writer and beg him or her to
endorse your book. I wasn’t going to do that! Or your editor does it for you. I
didn’t want my editor to do that. My professors are lovely people and reputed
writers, but using them for blurbs felt slightly … exploitative? I’d be
uncomfortable saying, ‘Oh, hey, you taught me, so endorse my book, please’. In
April, I read Hope’s TIME CHANGE. It’s a fascinating book – so well written.
It’s a shame it hasn’t been published in India. It’d be amazing if someone
published the book here. Someone told me the book was banned in India – is that
right? I thought it’d make sense for Hope to write the blurb – she was familiar
with the region, she’s a writer for whom I have a lot of respect, and she was
lovely things to say about my book. I am grateful. Please smuggle TIME CHANGE
into the country if you can!<br /><br /><i>What do you think about the current
reading and writing scene in Gangtok?</i><br />It has changed, grown so much.
Could it have started with THE WEEKEND REVIEW? I think it was in some ways
responsible for spawning a number of writers’ careers. I grew up on an overdose
of that publication. It was started when I was 13 or 14. Gangtok has some
excellent writers. I remember Serah Basnet’s HARES B’NET column. I read and
re-read it. And then prank-called her to grill her with questions. Yes, guys my
age prank-called girls their age. I called writers! There was Karchoong Diyali
who once wrote a hilarious piece about the proposed pedestrianization of MG Marg
– something about having to carry his bags and sick grandma to a building in the
middle of town had cracked me up no end. Then there was Coco – so irreverent and
delightful. Chetan Raj Shrestha’s story A VICTIMISED TRANSFER, which was
published in NOW!, was brilliant. He will soon be published – readers should
know they are in for a treat. Yishey D., too, had her start with THE WEEKEND
REVIEW, didn’t she? She’s now a published writer. Amazing! There was Gakila
Phemphu whose piece on new movies leaving little to the imagination was
hilarious. TALK SIKKIM is thriving. And Tenzin C. Tashi needs to stop wasting
that enviable talent of hers on books on the Raj Bhawan and concentrate on a
proper book on Sikkim’s history. God, all that knowledge juxtaposed with all
that lyrical dexterity – it’s criminal that she hasn’t seriously worked toward
getting published. I recently chanced upon a blog called KALIMPONG CALLING, and
there was some excellent writing there. See, we have the talent. And we are
reading, thanks to Rachna Books. I read about a library for children that’s
opened up at Mist Tree Mountain – excellent stuff. Takstse is doing some
wonderful things to encourage reading.<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1048021294877670403.post-78874916666970470132012-11-24T20:01:00.001+05:302012-11-24T20:01:22.034+05:30<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Heritage week begins today<br />
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TNN | Nov 19, 2012, 01.42 AM IST<br />
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NEW DELHI: With heritage week starting from Monday, Intach Delhi Chapter announced a series of seminars and events that are lined up for whole week in an attempt to spread awareness about the city's rich heritage. With Delhi in the queue for world heritage city tag from Unesco, the events are all aimed at involving as many citizens as possible in the nomination process.<br />
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While a theater workshop will be held on Monday, a quiz will be organized on Tuesday to test the awareness of students on Delhi's history. The quiz will be an inter-college/university quiz and the special theme will be Delhi's rich heritage. There will also be a panel discussion — titled 'the socio-economic imperative impact of preserving Delhi's heritage' — on the thousand plus monuments in the city, alongwith an exhibition on the last maharajah of Punjab later in the week.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1048021294877670403.post-87840482463914403512012-11-24T19:59:00.001+05:302012-11-24T19:59:02.138+05:30<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Films preach 'save heritage' message<br />
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TNN | Nov 20, 2012, 03.09 AM IST<br />
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.KOLKATA: As you glance through the slides, you will be gripped with a sense of remorse on seeing that priceless heritage structures the city once had were pulled down one after the other to make way for concrete structures.<br />
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As you glossed over the slides you were suddenly gripped with a sense of remorse. Priceless heritage structures that we once had were pulled down one after the other to make way for concrete structures.<br />
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The slides were shown by Intach, an NGO that works for heritage conservation, as part of a world heritage week programme organised at the Victoria Memorial. Two films on heritage preservation were also screened.<br />
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Be it the Bank of Bengal building, the senate building of Calcutta University that gave way to the centenary building, or the original building of Bengal Club - all are lost forever.<br />
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"What we need is awareness and activism on the part of the citizens of the city. Otherwise, it would be difficult to preserve our built heritage," said G M Kapur, state convenor of Intach.<br />
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The first film was based on the high-profile restoration of The Last Supper by Zoffany, a mammoth painting that the artist gifted to St John's Church. This one of its kind art restoration was done under the guidance of Renate Kant, a restorer from Singapore and had brought a lot of media attention in 2010.<br />
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On the other hand, the second film focused on Stefan Norblin, a Polish painter who sought refuge in India during World War II. Norblin's paintings adorned walls of palaces in Morbi, Jodhpur and Mumbai. These were mammoth in size and brought with them a new style to India where you saw Indian characters having prominent European features.<br />
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The film called Chitranjali celebrated the art deco style of architecture that was a common feature during the time of Norblin both in palatial India as well as in Poland.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1048021294877670403.post-31002336513894847252012-11-24T19:57:00.001+05:302012-11-24T19:57:50.947+05:30<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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TN to launch clean-up drive at 10 Tamil Nadu heritage sites<br />
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TNN | Nov 22, 2012, 04.37 AM IST<br />
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CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu tourism will soon take up a cleanliness drive at 10 heritage tourist destinations in the state. The project, to be carried out along with Indian National Trust For Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach), will include maintaining the tourist spots round the year.<br />
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The decision was taken at meeting chaired by tourism minister S Gokula Indira on Wednesday. The drive will be carried out at Mamallapuram, Thanjavur Big Temple, Kanyakumari, Rameswaram, Tranquebar, Meenakshi Temple, Srirangam Temple, Tiruvannama-lai Temple, Velankanni, Ooty and Kodaikanal.<br />
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"Intach will prepare and submit the action plan within a week. To help implement the plan, a period of one year has been fixed and more sites will be taken up in the future," said a tourism department official.<br />
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A five-member committee formed for each site will inspect and implement an action plan for the areas selected. The department also hopes to rope in local self-help groups to ensure cleanliness in and around the buildings.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1048021294877670403.post-23036386183363908002012-11-24T19:56:00.001+05:302012-11-24T19:56:24.888+05:30<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Five-year pact to save monuments<br />
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TNN | Nov 24, 2012, 06.31 AM IST<br />
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NEW DELHI: The Delhi government on Friday finally signed a new MoU with Intach Delhi Chapter for conservation and protection of 155 unprotected monuments in the city.<br />
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The last MoU had expired over a year ago and included only 95 monuments out of the 250 structures identified in 2008. The new agreement is for five years.<br />
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Fifteen monuments that were conserved in Phase I of the agreement are still waiting for the final notification to protect them under Delhi Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 2004. These include Badarpur gateways, Gol Gumbad, Darwesh Shah ki Masjid.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1048021294877670403.post-2519453386530067022012-11-21T07:14:00.003+05:302012-11-21T07:14:23.563+05:30<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<time datetime="2012-11-20T16:44:49+00:00" title="November 20, 2012, 11:44 am">November 20, 2012, 11:44 am</time></div>
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<span class="caption">A camel herder arriving with his livestock for
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1048021294877670403.post-13942188938937093802012-10-09T21:46:00.001+05:302012-10-09T21:46:02.143+05:30<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://www.indianexpress.com/news/dalits-are-being-raped-tortured-but-sonia-has-no-guts-narendra-modi/1014283/"><img alt="Narendra modi" height="180" src="http://static.indianexpress.com/frontend/iep/highlight/1349793289_narendramodi_highlight.jpg" title="Narendra modi-India News" width="300" /></a><br />
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Modi in traditional dress of Gujrat </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1048021294877670403.post-25734190468034917852012-10-08T07:56:00.003+05:302012-10-08T07:56:30.231+05:30ASI faces uphill battle over Jain temple<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Kundalpur, Damoh, Mon Oct 08 2012, 03:26 hrs</div>
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Six years ago, defying the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), members of
the Jain community shifted an ancient idol from a protected monument atop a
picturesque hill here to a new location, less than 100 metres away, where they
plan to build a grand temple.
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Arguing that the old structure could collapse and damage the idol of Lord
Adinath, thousands of Jains blocked the roads leading to the hill as the
relocation was carried out in January 2006.
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In fact, the Sri Digambar Jain Atishay Kshestra Kundalpur Public Trust, which
manages a group of 63 temples spread over nearly 200 acres on the hill, about
300 kms from Bhopal, had started construction of the new temple in 1997 itself.
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Claiming ownership of the protected site, the ASI asked the state government
to stop the construction work, but there was no response.
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Now, the Jains, who enjoy significant political clout, have got legal
backing, with the Madhya Pradesh High Court recently rejecting the ASI’s
ownership claim. While the community is quietly celebrating the court order,
calling it as much a victory of faith as facts, the ASI is set to move the
Supreme Court.
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The court told the trust to seek the state government’s permission for
further construction work on the new temple. If permission is not granted, the
trust will have to restore construction as it stood on May 20, 2006.
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But the trust is not worried because the state government has always been on
its side. Even as the case was going on in Jabalpur, the principal bench of the
High Court, hundreds of artisans from Rajasthan were quietly working on
expensive marbles and sandstones, making slabs that will eventually fit into the
grand temple.
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Earlier, an exquisitely designed dome was constructed over the idol, after
the trust won an interim order in its favour as it argued that the idol was
without a roof and needed to be protected.
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“We had no support from the administration,’’ said ASI counsel K N Pethia.
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Cabinet Minister Jayant Malaiya, who belongs to the Jain community, is the
legislator from Damoh.
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The chairman of the construction committee, Viresh Seth, said the proposed
temple will be the biggest in the country and the entire project will cost
around Rs 500 crore, more than double the amount the trust had in mind in 2006.
Copper, silver and gold will be generously used in place of iron.
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To be built in Nagar style of architecture, the temple will have a sanctum
sanctorum, gudh mandap, nritya mandap, a 90-feet man stambh and a huge entrance
door. The main temple will be encircled by a water body.
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Incidentally, besides the ASI, which had made the MP government and its
various departments respondents in the petition, a section of the Jain community
was also opposed to the Kundalpur trust.
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Jaipur-based Jain Sanskriti Raksha Manch had expressed concern over the
trust’s restoration work saying the sanctity of the old shrine and the deity had
been violated.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1048021294877670403.post-9459349286658430582012-10-07T08:04:00.006+05:302012-10-07T08:04:51.598+05:30<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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55cr expansion plan for museum</h1>
</span><span class="byline">TNN <span style="font-size: 9px;">|</span> Oct 5, 2012,
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MUMBAI: The <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/BMC">BMC</a>,
along with the trust that maintains the Bhau Daji Lad museum, has charted out a
Rs 55-crore expansion plan for the museum. Amenities on the lines of
international museums like the one in Singapore will now be provided at the
museum.<br />
The highlight of the expansion plan is the construction of an exhibition
area, souvenir shops, heritage conservation laboratory and seminar halls in the
area behind the museum, which currently features some dilapidated
structures.<br />
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The central government will contribute Rs 5 crore towards the expansion
plans, while the civic body and the <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Indian-National-Trust">Indian
National Trust</a> for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), which runs and
maintains the museum, will contribute Rs 25 crore each.<br />
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A decision to this effect was taken on Wednesday in a joint meeting held by
civic chief Sitaram Kunte, mayor Sunil Prabhu and standing committee chairman <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Rahul-Shewale">Rahul Shewale</a>
and <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/INTACH">INTACH</a>
officials. The new construction will add 50,000 sq ft to the existing building.
The museum hosts at least 1.5 lakh visitors every year, of which 10% are
foreigners.<br />
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"The budgetary provision for the project will be done in next year's budget
and the expansion will be completed by 2015 Consultants will be appointed to
prepare models for the new structure and the one who submits the best model in
terms of design and architecture will be awarded the contract," said Shewale. He
said that the budgetary provision for the project will be done in next year's
budget and the project will be completed by 2015.<br />
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The Bhau Daji Lad Musuem, which is Mumbai's oldest museum, hosts at least 1.5
lakh visitors every year, of which 10% are foreigners. had been renovated
between 2003 and 2007. Built in 1872 as the Victoria and Albert showcase, the
museum is symbolic of Mumbai's growing importance as a trading hub</tmp></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1048021294877670403.post-74956678429075313002012-10-06T08:14:00.002+05:302012-10-06T08:14:48.819+05:30Climate change mitigation & its importance for professionals<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<strong>CA Rajkumar S. Adukia</strong><br />
<img alt="" class="alignright" height="56" src="http://taxguru.in/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/CA-Rajkumar-S.-Adukia.jpg" width="58" />The Threat to the environment, posed by the global climate change is real. <span class="IL_AD" iceid="10" id="IL_AD8">Human activities</span> are increasing the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. All theoretical models predict that these increases in greenhouse gas concentrations will cause changes in climate, both regionally and globally — with adverse consequences likely for human health, as well as to ecological and socioeconomic systems.<span id="more-52957"></span><br />
Carbon dioxide, the most important greenhouse gas produced by combustion of fuels, has become a cause of global panic as its concentration in the Earth’s atmosphere has been rising alarmingly. This devil, however, is now turning into a product that helps people, countries, consultants, traders, corporations and even farmers earn billions of rupees while in turn benefiting the environment. This was an unimaginable trading opportunity not more than a decade ago. <span class="IL_AD" iceid="6" id="IL_AD4">Carbon credits</span> can form a massive source of revenue for the developing world.<br />
Over a decade ago, most countries joined an international treaty to address the danger of global climate change. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an international environmental treaty that sets general goals and rules for confronting climate change. The UNFCCC provides the basis for concerted international action to mitigate climate change and to adapt to its impacts. Its provisions are far-sighted, innovative and firmly embedded in the concept of sustainable development.</div>
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With 195 Parties, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has near universal membership and is the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol, an addition to the UNFCCC treaty, has been ratified by 193 of the UNFCCC Parties. Under the Protocol, 37 States, consisting of highly industrialized countries and countries undergoing the process of transition to a market economy, have legally binding emission limitation and reduction commitments.</div>
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The ultimate objective of both treaties is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system.</div>
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The clean development mechanism (CDM) allows emission-reduction projects in developing countries to earn certified emission reductions (CERs), each equivalent to one tonne of CO2. CERs can be traded and sold, and used by industrialized countries to meet a part of their emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol. With more than 4,500 registered projects in 75 developing countries, the CDM has proven to be a powerful mechanism to deliver finance for emission-reduction projects and contribute to sustainable development.</div>
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The greenhouse emission reduction credit or “<span class="IL_AD" iceid="9" id="IL_AD7">carbon credit</span>” market has become a multi-billion dollar industry for credits issued under the Kyoto Protocol internationally. India is being heralded as the next carbon credit destination of the world. On <sup>7th </sup>September 2012, the one billionth CER credit under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) was issued to a project at a manufacturing plant in India that has switched its fuel source from coal and oil to locally gathered biomass.</div>
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<strong>LEGISLATIONS REGULATING CARBON CREDITS MECHANISM</strong></div>
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The UNFCCC was adopted at the United Nations Headquarters, New York on the 9 May 1992. In accordance with Article 20, it was open for signature at Rio de Janeiro from 4 to 14 June 1992, and thereafter at the United Nations Headquarters, New York, from 20 June 1992 to 19 June 1993.</div>
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Pursuant to Article 22, the Convention is subject to ratification, acceptance, approval or accession by States and by regional <span class="IL_AD" iceid="8" id="IL_AD6">economic integration</span> organizations. States and regional economic integration organizations that have not signed the Convention may accede to it at any time.</div>
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The Convention entered into force on 21 March 1994. Currently, there are 195 Parties (194 States and 1 regional economic integration organization) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.</div>
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The Kyoto Protocol is an international and legally binding agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide and is an addition to the UNFCCC treaty.</div>
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The Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted at the third session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 3) in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997. In accordance with Article 24, it was open for signature from 16 March 1998 to 15 March 1999 at United Nations Headquarters, New York. Pursuant to Article 22, the Protocol is subject to ratification, acceptance, approval or accession by Parties to the UNFCCC. Parties to the UNFCCC that have not signed the Protocol may accede to it at any time.</div>
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The Protocol entered into force on 16 February 2005 and currently, there are 193 Parties to the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC.</div>
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India signed UNFCCC on 10th June 1992 and ratified it on 1st November 1993. India acceded to the Kyoto Protocol on 26th August 2002. Under the UNFCCC, developing countries such as India do not have binding GHG mitigation commitments in recognition of their small contribution to the greenhouse problem as well as low financial and technical capacities.</div>
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The Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, is the nodal agency for climate change issues in India.</div>
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<strong>OPPORTUNITIES FOR PROFESSIONALS AND BUSINESS IN THE CLIMATE CHANGE INDUSTRY</strong></div>
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In today’s increasingly challenging and volatile macro world, the role of the <span class="IL_AD" iceid="12" id="IL_AD10">Chief Executive Officers</span> (CEO’s) and Chief Financial Officers (CFO’s) of their companies has also evolved significantly. Their roles have expanded and evolved as strategic partners and advisors. The Key Personnel of an organization perform four main functions of Steering, Operating, Motivating and Planning, – they are in the best position to guide their organizations in shifting their business models towards adherence with the climate change agenda.</div>
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Organizations also stand to gain from environment protection and sustainable development. New business can be started as <span class="IL_AD" iceid="3" id="IL_AD1">green businesses</span>. Credits can be earned under the Clean Development Mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, thereby benefiting the Organisation and the Environment as a whole.</div>
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Professional Opportunities in the Climate Change industry include:</div>
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1. Conceptualizing the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project</div>
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2. Quantification of greenhouse gases (GHG) Carbon Footprint</div>
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3. Selection of Cleaner technologies for New projects</div>
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4. Project <span class="IL_AD" iceid="14" id="IL_AD12">risk analysis</span></div>
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5. Registration of project – both national and international level</div>
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6. Obtaining Host country approval</div>
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7. Preparation of Project Concept Note</div>
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8. Preparation of Project Design Document</div>
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9. Selection of Methodologies and Baseline</div>
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10. Legal and regulatory advice during negotiations with host country Designated National Authority (DNA)</div>
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11. Advice on the appointment of independent validators</div>
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12. Assistance to achieve registration of the project by the CDM Executive Board</div>
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13. Assistance in getting verification done by Designated Operational Entity (DOE)</div>
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14. Ensure Compliances</div>
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15. Assisting various Ministries associated with National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC)</div>
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16. Carbon Finance</div>
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17. <span class="IL_AD" iceid="5" id="IL_AD3">Energy Audit</span> under The <span class="IL_AD" iceid="7" id="IL_AD5">Energy Conservation</span> Act 2001</div>
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18. Advise on <span class="IL_AD" iceid="13" id="IL_AD11">investment</span> in carbon credit</div>
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19. Accounting advisory services</div>
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20. Taxation advisory services</div>
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<strong>Professional Opportunities in Environmental Laws and Green Sectors:</strong></div>
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1. Professionals as consultants can obtain consents for establishment of a Unit under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.</div>
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2. Before establishing an industrial unit a certificate from a professional about proposed <span class="IL_AD" iceid="4" id="IL_AD2">Capital Investment</span> or Gross capital investment (Land, building, plant and machinery) is required to be submitted along with the consent <span class="IL_AD" iceid="11" id="IL_AD9">application</span> for establishment of a Unit. This certificate is also known as Gross Block investment certificate. This certificate should include the cost of land, building, plant and machinery without depreciation.</div>
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3. Professionals as environment consultants can play an important role in obtaining environmental clearance under the Environment Impact Assessment Notification. The environmental consultant should be conversant with the existing legal and procedural requirements of obtaining environmental clearance for a proposed project. The consultant should guide the project proponent (i.e the person who is going to establish an industrial unit) through initial screening of the project and establish whether Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) studies are required to be conducted and if so finalise the scope of such study. The consultant should also be fully equipped with required instruments and infrastructure for conducting EIA studies. The environmental consultant is responsible for supplying all the environment-related information required by the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) and Impact Assessment Agency (IAA) through the project proponent. The consultant is also required to justify the findings in the Environment Impact Assessment and Environmental Management Plan (EMP) during the meeting with the expert groups at IAA.</div>
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4. Professionals can also assist the Industrial Units in record keeping of various hazardous wastes, chemicals etc, as prescribed under the Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989 and Manufacture, Storage, and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Rules, 1989.</div>
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5. Professionals can also provide information on the capital and recurring (O&M) expenditure on various aspects of environment protection such as effluent, emission, hazardous wastes, solid wastes, tree-plantation, monitoring, data acquisition etc. This is important information to be given in the application for consent to establish/operate/renewal of consent.</div>
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6. Status of compliance of Rules 5, 7, 10,11,12,13 and 18 under the Manufacture, Storage, and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Rules, 1989 need to be given in the application for consent to establish/operate/renewal of consent. This status of compliance can be given by a professional in the form of a certificate of compliance.</div>
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a. Rule 5- Notification of major accident</div>
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b. Rule 7- Notification of sites</div>
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c. Rule 10 – Preparation and submission of safety report</div>
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d. Rule 11 – Updation of safety report</div>
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e. Rule 12- Requirements of further information to given to the authority</div>
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f. Rule 13 – Preparation of on-site emergency plan by the occupier g. Rule 18-Import of hazardous chemicals</div>
7. After consent to establish/operate is obtained under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, professionals can ensure on a monthly/quarterly/half-yearly basis that the conditions of the consent order are complied with by the industrial unit.<br />
8. In the same manner professionals can also ensure on a monthly/quarterly/half-yearly basis that the conditions of the authorization are complied by the industrial units under the Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989.<br />
9. Professionals can give a report or certificate with regard to capital investment under the Biomedical waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998. This is an important document to be submitted along with the application for authorization.<br />
10. Professionals as environmental consultants can give opinion on – viability of various projects, technologies to prevent pollution and clean up polluted resources.<br />
11. Environmental audits can be conducted by Professionals. Environmental auditing refers to the monitoring of environmental management system of the Unit, checking the status of consent orders, compliance of consent orders, water cess, other legal requirements, industrial data collection regarding product process, electric consumption, water consumption, raw materials and energy balance etc</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1048021294877670403.post-38445595431452464212012-10-06T08:07:00.003+05:302012-10-06T08:07:47.559+05:30sighting of a snow leopard in Uttarakhand is a good sign<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Predators in the snow<br />
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The recent sighting of a snow leopard in Uttarakhand is a good sign. But it also underlines the urgent need to protect the habitat of this endangered animal <br />
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Shishir Prashant / New Delhi Oct 06, 2012, 00:08 IST<br />
Source: Business Standard<br />
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As now leopard (Panthera uncia), the elusive large cat which lives in the snow-bound ranges of the upper Himalayas, has finally been sighted in Uttarakhand. A specimen of this endangered species was caught on a camera trap for the first time on April 10, 2011, and again in June this year. (A “camera trap” is a camera placed in the wild, especially in areas that wild animals are known to frequent. These are activated by light or motion and are now widely used in animal census.)<br />
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The snow leopard, known for its beautiful greyish-black fur, is a solitary animal but is occasionally found in family groups. It breeds in winter and cubs (two to three) are born after a gestation of 90-100 days. Snow leopards are a highly endangered species, their numbers steadily depleting as a result of poaching fuelled by the international demand for their fur and bones, and retaliatory killings by farmers who fear the predators will kill their livestock. The fall in the population of their prey — herbivores such as the Himalayan blue sheep (or bharal, as they are known in these parts), musk deer (kasturi mrig) and Himalayan tahr (thar) — owing to competition for food from livestock, is another factor affecting snow leopards, experts say.<br />
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The carnivorous animals are found all over central Asia, from Mongolia to China, across the Hindu Kush mountains in the north-west to Sikkim in the south-east, covering an area spanning over two million square kilometres. There are between 4,500 and 6,000 of the big cats left in the wild today. In India, the snow leopard population is estimated to be around 500. In Uttarakhand, the “him bagh” or “tharuwa”, as it is called, is thought to live at altitudes over 3,000 metres. Its presence has been confirmed in Protected Areas such as the Nanda Devi, Valley of Flowers, Gangotri and Govind National Parks, Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary and the buffer zones of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve.<br />
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“For the scientific community, it was a great moment,” says S Sathyakumar, a scientist at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII). “In the past few years, we were afraid that the snow leopard had vanished from Uttarakhand. But now, we know that snow leopards are present in the snowy wilderness of the high altitude regions of Uttarakhand,” he adds. WII is working with the state forest department officials to conduct research on the snow leopard. It was a joint WII-state forest department team that captured the first camera-trap images of the snow leopard at Malari in Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve.<br />
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“The conservation of the snow leopard is globally significant, and so it was great achievement,” says Dr V B Mathur, the dean of WII.<br />
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Snow leopard is the apex predator in the Himalayan ecosystem and its conservation will help the entire eco-system of the upper Himalayas. The principal prey of the animals are the wild sheep and goat found in these regions, but it also hunts small mammals such as marmot (locally called pheya), pika (runda) and the Galliformes or heavy, terrestrial birds like snowcock, monal and snow partridge. It is also an opportunistic predator which sneaks up on domestic livestock such as goat and sheep grazing on the high-altitude pastures during summer, and this is what brings it into conflict with humans.<br />
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The Indian government initiated its first Project Snow Leopard in 1989, but it never took off. It started a second project in 2006 on the lines of Project Tiger in the five Himalayan states of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. The project is an ambitious one that is focussed on the snow leopard, but also seeks to safeguard the habitat of other high altitude wildlife species. It aims to promote participatory conservation practices and collate scientific information on the snow leopard and other wildlife species of the Indian Himalayas.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1048021294877670403.post-80985918103777386452012-10-06T08:01:00.001+05:302012-10-06T08:01:20.660+05:30<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Buddhist relic on display</h1>
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<tr><td class="articleauthor">VIVEK CHHETRI</td></tr>
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<tr><td align="left" class="articleauthor">A trumpet made of human bone (above) and another made of a goat horn that were on display. (Suman Tamang)<br /><br />source: The Telegraph</td></tr>
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<b>Darjeeling, Oct. 5: </b>An exhibition of Buddhist artifacts dating back to 2nd century B.C. and collected from Tibet, Bhutan, Myanmar, Sikkim and Darjeeling began in the Raj Bhawan here today.</div>
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The statues and models depicting every stage of Lord Buddha’s life, transformation of Buddhism and evolution of Buddhist art form would be on display till October 11.</div>
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It was one of the rare occasions when the gates of Raj Bhawan were thrown open for the public when the governor himself was present in Darjeeling.</div>
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Along with Buddhist art, the exhibits also portray work from the Kushana period in the 2nd century B.C. The Kushanas were known for their carvings on schist stone.</div>
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Every stage of Lord Buddha’s life, starting from the dream that queen Maya had about conceiving him, the birth, childhood, marriage, renunciation, attainment of <i>bodhi</i>, propagation of the doctrine to his demise, have been depicted at the exhibition called Buddhist Art and Crafts of South Asia.</div>
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The event organised by the Indian Museum and the Inner Wheel Club was inaugurated by governor M.K. Narayanan this morning. “The organisers need to encourage people from outside Darjeeling to attend the exhibition,” he said.</div>
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The exhibition at the Durbar Hall would be open from 11am to 5pm everyday.</div>
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“The most interesting part of the exhibition is the depiction of the transformation of the medium of work and the interpretation of the teachings of Buddha. One cannot miss the transformation of medium from schist stone in the 2nd century B.C. to bronze and basalt from the 10th century B.C. through the 8th century B.C,” said Suzet Tamang, an art follower from Darjeeling.</div>
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Some of the interesting exhibits include a trumpet made of goat horn collected from Lhasa and another made of human thigh bone found in Bhutan.</div>
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“Indian Buddhism and its art and craft were initially disseminated beyond India in purely Indian forms. However, all Buddhist countries in Asia quickly developed their own particular artistic trend,” said Anup K. Matilal, the director, Indian Museum. He added that a huge crowd was expected.</div>
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The artifacts will be taken back to the Indian Museum in Calcutta after the exhibition.</div>
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