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Wuhan Conversation

Narendra Modi-Xi Jinping connect – informal summitry

It is for the first time that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China President Xi Jinping have met in an informal summit for a candid exchange of views. This sets the tone for future meetings between leaders of the two Asian giants

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Cover Story

May 07-13, 2018

Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr

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he two-day meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China President Xi Jinping at Wuhan, the get-away resort in Hubei province on April 27-28 had all the trappings of a formal meeting between the leaders of the two most populous countries in the world and leading emerging market economies.

The summit which was not a summit because there was no formal agenda and there was no joint statement at the end of it was preceded by the meetings of Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with their counterparts. Earlier, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval too held talks with the special representative from the Chinese side. So, the meeting of the two leaders is not to be seen in isolation. It is a high-level, high profile India-China meeting.

The Modi-Xi meeting remains unusual despite the formal structured meetings that took place at other levels. And it reveals many interesting aspects. First, there is a certain personal rapport between the two leaders. One of the defining characteristics of Prime Minister Modi has been that he struck a personal rapport with all the foreign dignitaries he has met in the last four years. And he has done it without much effort. He broke the diplomatic routines and protocols and got into casual conversations. The friendly touch worked and developed.

This has been especially so with the Chinese leader. Mr Xi came to India in 2014, and Mr Modi arranged that he would take him to Ahmedabad in Gujarat. It has been one of the firsts with Mr Modi. Usually, visiting dignitaries, after completing the ceremonial functions in New Delhi, went to the other important places accompanied by a minister.

But Mr Modi accompanied Mr Xi to Ahmedabad, and chaperoned him and Mrs Xi through a visit to Sabarmati Ashram and a boat ride on the Sabarmati. This meant that the two leaders were in a less formal, structured situation and quite away from delegation level talks across

Quick Glance PM Modi visited China on April 27-28 for talks with President Xi The personal rapport between the two leaders will go a long way They focued on maintaining peace and tranquality

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Time line of their meetings so far

rime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met four times so far at the BRICS annual summit, at Fortaleza in Brazil in July 2014, at Ufa in Russia in July 2015, at Benaulim, Goa in July, 2016, at Xiamen in China in 2017. They will meet again for the BRICS annual summit at Johannesburg in South Africa in July this year. a long table. Those formal talks had their place, but the break away from the formal ways established a personal link.

The ties between the two countries went through a bad patch as it were. First, China was less than accommodative about India’s full membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), and it – China is one of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council

Mr Modi and Mr Xi also met at the G20 summits in Brisbane, Australia in 2014, in Antalya in Turkey in 2015, in Hangzhou in China in 2016 and in Hamburg, Germany in 2017.

Mr Modi and Mr Xi met at Astana in Kazakhstan when India, along with Pakistan, became a member of the Shanghai Cooperative Organisation (SCO).

(UNSC) – vetoed the Indian demand that Pakistan-based Islamic militant Masood Azhar be named a terrorist.

Prime Minister Modi and President Xi met each other during the multilateral meetings of the G20 in Hamburg and at the BRICS summit at Xian in China. All was not well between the two countries in terms of atmospherics, and it seemed that the Wuhan meeting was planned to diffuse some of the accumulated

misperceptions between the two countries.

But it would be a narrow way of looking at the Modi-Xi meeting at Wuhan. There is a broader context to it, and it is not confined to IndiaChina bilateral relations though it includes that as well.

The trade war between the United States and China has broken out in the open with US President Donald Trump imposing tariffs on imported steel and aluminium which impacted China’s exports. China has reacted by saying that it would go to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to challenge the discriminatory tariffs.

But China knows that it would not be able to confront the United States on its own, and that too at the WTO. There are two reasons for this. China is a late entrant to the WTO, while India is one of the founding members.

And India is much more conversant with dispute resolution mechanisms of the WTO. China needs India’s counsel on this issue. But this is part of a backchannel process, and it is rarely mentioned even in the informal diplomatic channels. One of the

Cover Story

May 07-13, 2018 topics of conversation between Mr Modi and Mr Xi at Wuhan must have been about the undeclared trade war with the US. There is recognition in India as well as in China that the Asian giants must consult each other on global affairs.

Though it is not necessary that the two countries agree with each other, the two will need to be consulting each other, informally. This consultation will have to be at the level of officials and policy-makers, but it cannot be done in a bureaucratic fashion.

Each in its own way, India and China have a bureaucratic mind-set. They will have to acquire the informal American approach to tackle their concerns. The two countries are also quite rigid and ceremonial in their approach, and it is a civilisational thing. They have not been able to talk to each other casually. The informal meeting between Mr Modi and Mr Xi could serve as an example of informal meetings between the representatives of the two countries at other levels as well.

The point has been articulated in the press statement issued from the Indian side at the end of the ModiXi summit. It said, “Prime Minister Modi and President Xi underlined that as two major countries India and China have wider and overlapping regional and global interests. They agreed on their need to strengthen strategic communication through greater consultation on all matters of common interest. They believe that such strategic communication will have a positive influence on enhancing mutual understanding and will contribute to regional and global stability.” Mr Xi is reported in the Chinese newspaper People’s Daily as saying that the relations between the two countries should be “enhanced continuously” and that they should be like Yangtze (the major Chinese river that flows through Wuhan) and the Ganges, “which never stop flowing and always move forward.”

It is interesting then that Mr Modi presented Mr Xi prints of paintings of Tagore by the Chinese artist, Xu Beihong, originally painted in 193940, when Xu was at Santiniketan.

Mr Xi presented with Mr Modi the replica of a 2,400-year-old chime, which was part of the ancient civilization that had developed in the Hubei province. There is certainly a sense of formality in the exchange of the meaningful gifts, but it is the cultural dimension of the gifts that shows that the relations between two countries are not bound by national interests alone, and that it brings in the aspect of soft power of the two sides apart from the immense and

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Xi’s Visit To Sabarmati Ashram advance the China-India relations.”

The Chinese statement about the Modi-Xi summit meeting in New Delhi on September 18, 2014, said, “Xi Jinping stressed that China and India are important neighbours to each other and both are major developing countries and emerging market economies. Also, they are two important forces in the process of world multipolarization and are both in the great historical course of national rejuvenation.

The international community comments that the 21st century is a PM Modi & Chinese President Xi visit Sabarmati Ashram in 2014 century of Asia and the development of China and he first meeting between a case in point. Chinese eminent India is the key. The harmonious Prime Minister Narendra monk Xuan Zang of Tang Dynasty coexistence, peaceful development Modi and Chinese President went on a pilgrimage for Buddhist and cooperative development of Xi Jinping took place on September scriptures in Gujarat, and then he the Chinese dragon and the Indian 17-18, 2014, a few months after Mr brought the Buddhist scriptures elephant will benefit the 2.5 billion Modi took office in the last week of back to China and passed the people of both countries as well as the May, 2014. scriptures on in my hometown Xi’an developing countries and will have Mr Modi took Mr and Mrs Xi of Shaanxi Province. profound influence on the region to Ahmedabad on September 17, Buddhism was spread from India and the world. China regards India which was also the birthday of to China, exerting a far-reaching as a long-term strategic cooperative the prime minister. The Ministry influence on Chinese culture. I invite partner, and we look forward to of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Prime Minister Modi to go and see working with the Indian side to Republic of China noted Mr Xi’s Xi’an next time he visits China and establish a closer partnership for feelings about his visit to Gujarat. to have a look at the place where development and deepen bilateral It said, “Xi Jinping stressed that Xuan Zang collected and translated cooperation at bilateral, regional my visit to Gujarat impressed me the Buddhism scriptures. We should and global levels. As leaders of the deeply. Prime Minister Modi has inherit and carry forward well the two countries, we should shoulder likened China and India to “two bonds of friendship and cooperation this kind of historical obligation and bodies with one spirit”. Gujarat is between the two countries and well responsibility.”

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intangible good will that it generates.

In a press interaction before the two leaders went into a meeting without aides, Mr Modi said, “Very positive environment created through the informal summit and you have personally contributed to it in a big way. It’s a sign of your affection for India that you have hosted me twice in Chian outside Beijing. The people of India feel really proud that I’m the first Prime Minister of India, for whom, you have come out of the capital twice to receive me.”

Mr Xi said, “In the past five years we have achieved a lot. We have met each other on many occasions.”

At the delegation-level talks, Mr Modi said, “I hope such informal summits become a tradition between the two countries. I’ll be happy if, in 2019, we can have such informal summit in India.”

Mr Modi also expounded his new acronym STRENGTH as the basis for bilateral relations. “S–spirituality, T–tradition, trade and technology, R–relationship, E–entertainment

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval too held talks with the special representative from the Chinese side

(movies, art, dances), N–nature conservation, G–games, T–tourism, and H–health and healing.”

India and China find themselves in a new situation in the 21st century.

Though they describe themselves modestly as emerging economies, the truth is that these two Asian countries have reached a point where the world expects them to provide leadership.

Mr Modi and Mr Xi seem to be acutely aware of the demand being made on their respective countries arising out of the global situation, and this is reflected in the post-summit statement issued by the Indian side.

It underlined the role that the two countries are poised to play in the world: “The two leaders agreed that as two major countries and emerging economies, India and China, given their vast developmental experiences

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Cover Story

May 07-13, 2018

PM Modi’s Visit to xian in 2015

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rime Minister Narendra Modi met President Xi Jinping in Xian on May 14, 2015. Xian is the hometown of Mr Xi. The Chinese president told the and national capacities, should join hands to take lead in offering innovative and sustainable solutions to challenges faced by humankind in the 21st century. These include combating diseases, coordinating action for disaster risk reduction and mitigation, addressing climate change and ushering digital empowerment.

They agreed to pool together their

Indian prime minister, “You received me very warmly in your hometown.

I am very glad to receive you in my hometown.” He also said, “This is the first time I have welcomed a expertise and resources in these areas and create a global network dedicated to these challenges for the larger benefit of humanity.”

There is the recognition that India-China relations cannot remain at the bilateral level, and that the two countries will have to concern themselves with the global challenges and provide answers which then can

Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met thrice so far at the BRICS annual summit

foreign leader to my town, and I hope you have a happy stay.”

During the press conference at Beijing on May 15, Mr Modi said, “I am very grateful to President Xi for his special gesture of hosting me in Xian; and, for showing me the city’s extraordinary heritage. It is a treasure of the world. Xian is also a symbol of our ancient spiritual and cultural links. I have a personal link with Xian through Monk Xuan Zang.

He visited my town 1400 years ago.”

Mr Modi visited the Daxingshan temple and wrote in Gujarati in the visitor’s book. It was in praise of Dharmagupta, a Buddhist monk from Gujarat, who had lived at the temple during Sui Dynasty (581618 Common Era). It had to be translated from Gujarati to Hindi to Chinese before the monks at the temple could read what the Indian prime minister wrote. be followed by the rest of the world.

At the end of the Second World War in 1945, the world leaders were United States president Franklin Delano Roosevelt, British prime minister Winston Churchill and the leader of the Soviet Union, Josef Stalin. Seventy-three years later, it is the leaders of India and China, Mr Modi and Mr Xi, who find themselves dealing with the global situation. The other leader who would complete the Asian triumvirate would be Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. It then becomes clear as to why the 21st century is being projected as

the Asian Century, following the American Century which marked the preceding 20th century.

This does not mean that there are no differences between India and China. There is the recognition on both sides that there are differences, but those differences are not to be allowed to block communication or be allowed to generate a cold war. There is clarity in the Indian view on this. It called for “prudent management of differences with mutual sensitivity”.

The advantage of the informal summit which facilitated a frank exchange of views was noted and it was felt that there should be more opportunities in the future. The Indian statement expressed the view: “The two leaders highly assessed the opportunity for direct, free and candid exchange of views offered by the Informal Summit and agreed on the utility of holding more such dialogues in the future. The forwardlooking dialogue raised the level of strategic communication about the perspective, priorities and vision that guide their respective policy choices domestically, regionally and globally.

It also helped them in forging a common understanding of the future direction of India-China relations built upon mutual respect for each other’s developmental aspirations and prudent management of differences with mutual sensitivity.”

Prime Minister Modi and President Xi seem to be aware of the fact that India-China relations are both important and complicated, and that there is a need to handle them with maturity and deftness. The two leaders realize that it is not the hassle-free relationship between the two countries. There will be times when they have to do a balancing act with their allies. For China, Pakistan is a close ally and it has to balance its interests between India and Pakistan.

Cover Story

May 07-13, 2018

The first meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping took place on September 17-18, 2014 There was a time when China would support Pakistan when there was a confrontation between India and Pakistan. Though China appears to be leaning towards Pakistan, Chinese leaders and strategists now know that they cannot afford to offend India.

Similarly, India has to balance its relationship with Japan and Vietnam even as it deals with China. India is aware that it should not be seen as anti-China even as it builds strategic ties with the other two countries.

Mr Modi and Mr Xi have been managing the contradictions and complexities involved in positioning their respective countries as emerging global powers. The personal rapport between the two leaders will go a long way in stabilizing the bilateral relationship.

If the informal summits become a regular feature of the two countries, then the precedent set by Mr Modi and Mr Xi will serve as a good example. It is a well-known fact that communication is the key to any relationship, and that this is more important in the case of large neighbours like India and China. The communication to be effective has to be direct. That is why, the informal meetings between the leaders gain in importance.

There would be speculation about whether Mr Xi meant the informal meeting with Mr Modi to be a oneoff event. Mr Xi has given enough hints that there should be frequent meetings and exchanges between the two countries at the informal level.

Mr Modi seems to have been taken in up the idea of an informal summit. He

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Wuhan: modern city with ancient roots

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uhan is in the centre of China. It is the capital of Hubei province. It is a picturesque place, girdled by Yangtze, one of the three major rivers of the country and its tributary, Han. The city is also spread across hills and hundreds of lakes. The most famous of them is the East Lake, where Prime Minister Modi and President Xi had a 30-minute boat ride even as they engaged in informal discussions.

Mr Xi took Mr Modi to a museum in the city which has historic artefacts, some of them, including bells that chime, dating back to three thousand years ago.

China’s first communist leader, Mao Zedong, used Wuhan as his had suggested to Mr Xi that he would like to host a similar, informal summit

holiday resort and he would swim in the Yangtze river here. Mr Modi was staying in the Mao Villa here.

Wuhan is also a major industrial complex, known for steel and automobile industries.

Its geographical location makes it a meeting point of many provinces and a ‘thoroughfare’ of the region.

Because of its scenic location, Wuhan has local traditions of close friends meeting in the ‘landscape of music’.

It can be speculated that Mr Xi had hosted Mr Modi in Wuhan to give a glimpse of the central city of China, which is strategically located in geographical and economic terms.

Beijing, the national capital, is at the eastern end of the country. in Indian in 2019. The summit venues could alternate between the two countries and this could become the norm. This would not however dispense with the need for formal state meetings, where representatives of the two countries meet, talk and make notes, which would serve as a basis for future negotiations. But the informal summit where leaders of the countries can meet without the pressure of issuing a formal statement whether they have reached an agreement on the many issues that they had discussed has an attraction of its own. It allows the leaders to discuss issues candidly, though it would not be necessary to decide one way or the

Mr Xi hosted Mr Modi in Xian in 2015, which is in the northwestern part of the country, and which had been the political centre of successive dynasties that ruled the country. Xiamen, the other city that Mr Modi visited to attend the BRICS summit in 2017, is in the south-eastern part of the country. Thus Wuhan is the ideal choice. It gave Mr Modi a glimpse of a part of the China which is literally in the middle of the country.

People have migrated to Wuhan from other parts of the country, and there are also people from Macao, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan as well as the United States. It is called the “Chicago of China”. other. It also helps the leaders as well as other representatives to be aware of what the other side’s position is on any issue. This is of great help in dealing with controversies.

Both Mr Modi and Mr Xi seem to agree that it is not going to be easy either for India or China to deal with each other because there will be many points of disagreement and even clash of interests. It is an old principle of diplomacy that even when there is a deadlock, communication channels should always remain open. It seems that informal summits would serve the purpose of communicating with each other when the formal means are closed.

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Sanitation

May 07-13, 2018

South Africa

Saga Of Sanitation In South Africa Since the end of apartheid, South Africa has made notable improvements in sanitation access and reforms Mihir Paul

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ccess to adequate sanitation is fundamental to personal dignity and security, social and psychological well-being, public health, poverty reduction, gender equality, economic development and environmental sustainability. Poor sanitation promotes the spread of preventable diseases like diarrhoea and cholera, places stress on the weakened immune system of HIV positive people and has a major impact on the quality of life of people living with AIDS. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), improved sanitation reduces diarrhoea death rates by a third, encourages children, particularly girls, to stay in school, and has persuasive economic benefits. Every US$1 invested in improved sanitation, translates into an average return of US$9.24 Water supply and sanitation in South Africa is characterised by both achievements and challenges.

After the end of Apartheid South Africa’s newly elected government struggled with the then growing service and backlogs with respect to access to water supply and sanitation developed. The government thus made a strong commitment to high service standards and to high levels of investment subsidies to achieve those standards. Since then, the country has made some notable progress with regard to improving access to water supply and sanitation: It reached universal access to an improved water

Quick Glance Sanitation access in South Africa was 91 per cent in 2011 After apartheid, a number of new reforms were introduced The government has extensively used UDDT and NIC toilets

source in urban areas, and in rural areas the share of those with access increased from 66% to 79% from 1990 to 2010.

In 2003 responsibilities for service provision of sanitation were devolved to local government in line with the constitutional allocation of functions.

Although much has been achieved, significant challenges remain. There is a need to build and sustain capacity at the local government level to continue to invest in, operate, and maintain services; to innovate and create more effective delivery pathways to reach the “hard to reach”; and, to improve the sustainability of services already delivered.

Sanitation Statistics of South Africa

The total number of people in South Africa with access to “improved” sanitation was 18 million in 2015.

This means that 86% of the total population had access to improved sanitation in that year.

According to Statistics South

Water supply and sanitation in South Africa is characterised by both achievements and challenges Africa, access is higher, partially because it includes shared facilities in its definition of sanitation. According to the 2011 census figures, access to sanitation increased from 83% in 2001 to 91% in 2011, including shared and individual pit latrines as well as chemical toilets. The share of households with access to flush toilets increased from 53% in 2001 to 60% in 2011. The health impacts of inadequate sanitation can be serious, as evidenced by the estimated 1.5 million cases of diarrhoea in children under five and the 2001 outbreak of cholera. While most coliforms are harmless to human health, the presence of E. coli, which covers approximately 97% of coliform

bacteria found in the intestines of animals and in faeces, underlines the presence of more harmful pathogens in the water system

History of Sanitation

During Apartheid, the national government had no role in providing public water or sanitation services.

The history of the water supply and sanitation sector since the end of Apartheid has been characterised by a strong government commitment to increase access to services and a gradual reduction of the role of Water Boards and the national government in service provision.

In 1994, the first post-Apartheid government assigned the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry the task of ensuring that all South Africans would have “equitable access to water supply and sanitation”. To that end, the Community Water Supply and Sanitation Program was created to target key areas for instituting water and sanitation systems, and the National Sanitation Program was established to increase the rate of distribution of water and sanitation services.

The passing of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa in 1996 created a new, constitutional dispensation with a guaranteed Bill of Rights. Among those rights are the section 24(a) right to an environment that is not harmful to health or wellbeing, and the section 27(1)(b) right to sufficient water.

The government also created new policies such as the Water Services Act, the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) of 1998, and the National Water Act (NWA) of 1998 in order to target water

National Sanitation Strategy

Bucket Eradication Programme and Free Basic Sanitation Implementation Strategy.

In February 2005 the government launched a programme to eradicate the use of bucket toilets. Bucket toilets consist of a bucket placed under a toilet seat; in formally established settlements the buckets are emptied on a daily basis by the municipality and the content is brought to a sewage treatment plant. However, buckets are also used in newly established informal settlements. There were 250,000 bucket toilets in formally established settlements as of 2005.

There was a strong political will to carry out the program. As of March 2008, 91% of the bucket toilets were replaced by flush toilets or Ventilated Improved Pit Latrines where water was not readily available.

Sanitation

May 07-13, 2018 and Northern Cape provinces.

Innovation In Sanitation

Urine-diverting dry toilet

The South African Bucket Toilet

A bucket toilet is a basic form of a dry toilet whereby a bucket (pail) is used to collect excreta. Usually, feces and urine are collected together in the same bucket, leading to odor issues. The bucket may be situated inside a dwelling, or in a nearby small structure.

In South Africa, bucket toilet frequently referred to as the “bucket system” - are still used in 2016 in some low-income communities as a relic of the Apartheid era. During that era, the poor, predominantly black townships generally did not get proper sanitation. The term “bucket toilet” or “bucket system” is nowadays very much stigmatized in South Africa and politically charged. Protests against bucket toilets are still occurring. As of 2012, 5.3 percent of households in South Africa either had no toilets, or used bucket toilets.

The South African government set up a bucket eradication programme in order to eradicate all pre-1994 sanitation buckets from the formal townships and replace them with sanitary sewers and other sanitation systems. According to the Department of Water Affairs & Forestry, in 2005 the bucket sanitation backlog in formal townships was estimated at 252,254 bucket toilets. In 2009, the majority of the pre-1994 buckets were eradicated. However, this change has not been completed throughout the country. In 2013 the use of bucket systems was still common in the Free State, Eastern Cape, Western Cape

In February 2005, the government launched a programme to eradicate the use of bucket toilets

A urine-diverting dry toilet (UDDT) is a type of dry toilet with urine diversionthat can be used to provide safe, affordable sanitation in a variety of contexts worldwide. Through the separate collection of feces and urine without any flush water, many advantages can be realized, such as odor-free operation and pathogen reduction by drying. While dried feces and urine harvested from UDDTs can be and routinely are used in agriculture (respectively, as a soil amender and nutrient-rich fertilizer— this practice being known as reuse of excreta in agriculture), many UDDTs installations do not make use of any sort of recovery scheme. The UDDT is an example of a technology that can be used to achieve a sustainable sanitation system. This dry excreta management system (or “dry sanitation” system) is an alternative to pit latrines and flush toilets, especially where water is scarce, a connection to a sewer system and centralized wastewater treatment plant is not feasible or desired, fertilizer and soil conditioner are needed for agriculture, or groundwater pollution should be minimized.

There are several types of UDDTs: the single vault type which has only one feces vault; the double vault type which has two feces vaults that are used alternately; and the mobile or portable UDDTs which are a variation of the single vault type and are commercially manufactured or homemade from simple materials. A UDDT can be configured as a sitting toilet (with a urine diversion pedestal or bench) or as a squatting toilet (with a urine diversion squatting pan). The most important design elements of the UDDT are: source separation of urine and feces; waterless operation; and ventilated vaults (also called “chambers”) or removable containers

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for feces storage and treatment. If anal cleansing takes place with water (i.e., the users are “washers” rather than “wipers”), then this anal cleansing water must be drained separately and not be allowed to enter the feces vault.

Ventilated Improved Pit Latrine

Ventilated Improved Pit Latrine (VIP) A Ventilated Improved Pit Latrine (VIP) is a dry on-site sanitation system consisting of a wellventilated top-structure (with a ventilation pipe and fly screen) built over a pit in which organic material decomposes and is emptied approximately every five years. In some cases, two pits are dug and when one is full, it is sealed and the other used until such time as

the first pit can be emptied 14 Ibid 14-15. For analysis of findings from case studies of UD toilets, see Still et al “Basic Sanitation Services in South Africa” 89-107. 15 Mjoli N “Review of Sanitation Policy and Practice in South Africa from 2001-2008” Report to the Water Research Commission (March 2010) 13. and reused. VIPS are appropriate in water-scarce and less densely populated areas. O/M is usually the responsibility of the local authority and consists of mechanical pit-emptying, sludge transfer, treatment and disposal. However, most municipalities do not have O/M plans for VIPs, nor have budgets for the emptying of full VIPs.16 VIPS can be upgraded to other sanitation technology types. Usually this involves the closure of the pit, reuse of top-structure with the removal of the pedestal and refitting with a flushtype, additional plumbing, drainage system and facilities for the treatment and disposal of waste.

NIC toilet

The New Improved Concept (NIC) toilet is a portable, freestanding toilet ideal for underground mines.

It operates without cables, pipes or connections to water or electricity.

The New Improved Concept (NIC) toilet is a portable toilet unit that is freestanding with a self-contained water supply which operates without cables, pipes or connections to water or electricity. They can be commissioned in underground mines and have low-

combustibility properties. The NIC toilets are affordable and provide increased dignity for users and the service provider who cleans and maintains them.

SavvyLoo

This waterless sanitation and bioenergy solution was designed for rural areas and temporary settlements with little to no access to adequate sanitation facilities. The SavvyLoo was engineered to be a competitive alternative to waterborne sanitation, pit latrines, and chemical and composting toilets – it is a more hygienic alternative to the others and the waste output can be converted to energy. Importantly, the SavvyLoo is easy to install and relocate, so it can be easily transported to remote communities where toilets are most needed.

Eliminating the need for water is a big positive factor for this system because many communities across Africa already struggle for clean water access. There is also an improved safety aspect – women and girls are often at risk of harassment when toilets are unavailable and they have to search for privacy, but the ease-ofuse of this inexpensive solution makes it easier to have safer toilets available where they are most needed. Already, the SavvyLoo is used extensively in Southern Africa and Kenya with plans to extend its use across the continent soon.

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Birth Anniversary

May 07-13, 2018

Rabindranath tagore

“The highest education is that which does not merely give us information but makes our life in harmony with all existence” Rabindranath n Sujit CHakraborty

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e was put into the Oriental Seminary, but quite it, saying that there was no proper learning system in the schooling of his childhood days. Was that the seed that lay dormant for decades till he founded an amazingly modern and advanced university, the Vishwa Bharati in Santiniketan in 1921?

Could be.

Rabindranath Tagore is what is often termed the encyclopaedists, or monumental intellectuals who straddled across disciplines, from poetry to composing music (for more than 2,500 songs), to lyrics, to novels, short stories, dance dramas, dramas, letters, essays on politics, philosophy art and culture, to painting and even making a film based on his own poem, not to mention the founding of a university. To my mind in living memory, without belittling any stalwart, perhaps there have been just two such persons in history, Tagore and before him Leonardo da Vinci.

Rabi Thakur, as Bengalis call him, came from perhaps the wealthiest family in Bengal, and among the wealthiest in India, with his grandfather, Dwarkanath Thakur having huge business interests, from opium trade with China to shipping and other businesses, plus a sprawling zamindari across Bengal. But rather than being just a crude moneyed man, he was well versed in Bengali, English, Arbi and Farsi, and perhaps this is also the foundation of the cultural fortress that his Jorashanko Thakur Bari, in Chitpur, North Calcutta, became.

Dwarkanath was declared a Prince by the Queen of England.

Rabi Thakur was born in this milieu, though he arrived 15 years after his

“Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man”

Rabindranath Tagore Beyond Comprehension grandfather’s demise. His intellectual felicity was massive from a very small age. His intellect was developed by his constant companionship of his father Debendranath Thakur. He was a deeply religious person and a master

of Upanishads, and this became the spiritual and intellectual foundation of his son Rabindranath.

Here, to understand the roots of Rabi Thakur, one must take a short glimpse of his family, his brothers and

sisters. Debendranath married Sarada Devi (died 1875) and they together had 15 children.They included: Dwijendranath (1840–1926) was an accomplished scholar, poet and music composer. He initiated

May 07-13, 2018

Birth Anniversary

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“I slept and dreamt that life was joy.

I awoke and saw that life was service.

I acted and behold, service was joy” shorthand and musical notations in Bengali. He wrote extensively and translated Kalidasa’s Meghdoot into Bengali.

Satyendranath (1842–1923) was the first Indian to join the Indian Civil Service. At the same time he was a scholar.

Hemendranath (1844–1884) was the scientist and organiser of the family. He was a spiritual seer and Yogi and he was responsible for development of modern Brahmoism which is now the Adi Dharm religion.

Jyotirindranath (1849–1925) was a scholar, artist, music composer and theatre personality.

Rabindranath (1861–1941) His other sons were Birendranath (1845–1915) and Somendranath.

His daughters were Soudamini, Sukumari, Saratkumari, Swarnakumari (1855–1932) and Barnakumari.

Soudamini was one of the first students of Bethune School and a gifted writer.

Swarnakumari was a gifted writer, editor, song-composer and social worker. All of them were famous for their beauty and education.

As they say, it was a galaxy of intellectual stars. Of these, Jyotirindranath was extremely fond of Rabi Thakur, and the latter always mentioned him as Jyotidada, with whom he went on various adventures, including riding an Arabian horse!

Jyotidada had a massive influence in shaping then small Rabi, being a playwright, editor, musician and a painter.

By the meagre age of 20, Rabi Thakur had completed three books of poems, Sandhya Sangeet, Pravat Sangeet and the novel, Baikunther Haat (1881).

The legendary litterateur of Bengal, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, was so taken by Sandhya Sangeet, that a wedding reception, when he was garlanded, he took it off and put it on young Rabi’s neck!

I have read somewhere that his father Debendranath was so delighted with Sandhya Sangeet that he gifted Rabi with Rs 500… in those days.

By this time, Jorashanko Thakur Bari had become a one-family cultural hub. In the sprawling courtyard of the palace, there would be held dance dramas and theatre. It is here that Barsha Mangal, a compilation of songs celebrating the monsoon was first performed.

Tagore’s dance dramas included Shyama, Chitrangada, Chandalika, Kalmrigaya, Valmiki Pratibha, Prakritir Protishodh, Mayar Khela, Tasher Desh and Biday Abhishap.

However, many of his other dramas, such as Rakta Karabi”, “Natir puja”, “Raja”, “Arupratan”, “Muktadhara” were also clubbed with his songs and performed as what is termed Nritya Natya.

Tagore was a great traveller, often riding the luxurious ‘bajra’, or a grand house boat. And from each place he would send letters to his friends and relatives. These letters are a treasure trove by themselves.

What most people do not know, however, is that even before all this,

Rabindranath Tagore and Jawaharlal Nehru, engaged in deep conversation on November 4, 1936 at the Sylvan retreat of the poet at Bolpur.

Mahatma Gandhi and Kasturba at a reception given by Rabindranath Tagore at Santiniketan in this February 20, 1940 picture.

say around when he was 20 or 21, at age 16, he had composed the fabulous series of songs known as Bhanusinha Thakurer Padabali, which are songs of Vaishnava philosophy songs written in Brajbuli. Being a singer myself, I know the trenedous depth of the philosophy ingrained in these songs.

Now, imagine a 16 year old learning Brajbuli sitting in Calcutta, composing Vaishnavite songs, composing its music… I wonder when he found the time for all this, and of course, this is surely not what he was doing.

Rabi Thakur’s family, in the meanwhile was imprinting its influence on the socio-political scenario of Bengal.

Father Debendranath was a confirmed Brahma Samaj person. Brahma Samaj was a major reformist movement against Brahmanical tyranny, and was one of the foundations of the fabled Bengal Renaissance, a huge sociocultural movement with intellectual giants such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidya Sagar, Keshav Chandra Sen and others.

It is also little discussed that Rabi Thakur had an active political life and thinking. This is reflected in his novel Gharey Bairey. Tagore was against armed revolution, and the chief character in Gharey Bairey, a proponent of armed revolution, turns out to be a coward in the end.

Tagore’s political involvement was most remarkable in his organizing the ‘Rakhee’, or Raksha Bandhan in 1905.

Entire Bengal had by then come under the scorching nationalist movement,

“Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark.”

Picture of Rabindranath Tagore when he was in his 20s

and to hit back, British Viceroy Lord Curzon devised the Partition of Bengal, or Banga Bhanga. This would drive a wedge between the Muslims of eastern parts of Bengal and Hindus of the western part.

Rabi Thakur found that the implementation of the partition would be in the month of Sravana, the month when the traditional Raksha Bandhan is held. He gave a call for Raksha Bandhan, and on his call, thousands of Hindus and Muslims came out in the streets of Calcutta, Dhaka and Sylhet and tied the rakhees as promise to protect each other.

Rabi Thakur’s other major political stance was seen after the Jalianwallah Bagh massacre.

The British government had in 1915 decided to confer knighthood on Tagore, “in recognition of the name he has established in India & Europe and of his genius as a poet”.

But such was his aura at the time that the Viceroy was fearful that Tagore might refuse. Anyway, he was conferred knighthood. But when the Jalianwallah Bagh massacre took place in 1919, Tagore repudiated his

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Birth Anniversary

May 07-13, 2018

‘‘Reach high, for stars lie hidden in you. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal’’ Though a confirmed nationalist, he was not a typical British hater, and he was one of those who looked upon British education as a factor leading to the Bengal Renaissance. Thus came his famous song after repudiation of the knighthood: “Ei monihaar amay nahi shajey… ere porte gele lage, ere chindte gele baje…” This garland of gems does not behove me. I feel

him, and took him home. It has been suggested that they had a platonic affair, but rare is the evidence behind that. However, Tagore and Ocampo spent two months together, Tagore convalescing at her place.

By the time, in 1921, Rabi Thakur had set up Vishwa Bharati in Santiniketan. That land was a part of the family zamindari and had been

Mahatma Gandhi’s promise of meeting Rabindranath Tagore annually is honoured when he visited him at Santiniketan in this February 20, 1940 picture. Here Tagore is in rapt attention to what Mahatma Gandhi is saying

knighthood. He wrote to Viceroy Chelsmford: “Your Excellency, The enormity of the measures taken by the Government in the Punjab for quelling some local disturbances has, with a rude shock, revealed to our minds the helplessness of our position as British subjects in India. The disproportionate severity of the punishments inflicted upon the unfortunate people and the methods of carrying them out, we are convinced, are without parallel in the history of civilised governments, barring some conspicuous exceptions, recent and remote. Considering that

such treatment has been meted out to a population, disarmed and resourceless, by a power which has the most terribly efficient organisation for destruction of human lives, we must strongly assert that it can claim no political expediency, far less moral justification.

“These are the reasons which have painfully compelled me to ask Your Excellency, with due reference and regret, to relieve me of my title of Knighthood, which I had the honour to accept from His Majesty the King at the hands of your predecessor, for whose nobleness of heart I still entertain great admiration.

Yours faithfully, Rabindranath Tagore

Sir Maurice Gwyer, Rabindranath Tagore, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan come out from Sinha Sadan, Santiniketan after the Oxford University Convocation on August 7, 1940.

Rabindranath Tagore, when in Berlin, paid a visit to Professor Albert Einstein in his cottage at Caputh near Berlin, where the two world famous men had an enjoyable time in this August 24, 1930 picture

pained to wear it, and feel strained to tear it…”

By this time Tagore was being fated across the world by top intellectuals, which included George Bernard Shaw, Romain Rolland and Einstein. British poets Yeats and Ezra Pound were the main promoters behind his getting the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, the first non-Eorpean to bag the award. His friendship with the top intellectuals would remain a major feature of his life till he died.

In 1924, Tagore was travelling to Chile, but fell ill on the way, and was forced to deboard in Argentina.

The fabled Argentine intellectual Victoria Ocampo came to greet

used by father Debendranath as his spiritual abode. Rabi Thakur set up the university on 23 December 1921, with proceeds from the prize money of the Nobel Prize he received in 1913 for the publication of his book of poems Gitanjali.

The university was s sort of a gurukul, firmly rooted in Brahma Samaj traditions. And Tagore managed to pull some of the best intellectuals of the country as teachers in the various faculties. In fact, he founded the first ever Chinese centre with professor Tan Chung.

And when he had met Einstein, the latter had informed him of a brilliant physicist, Satyendra Nath Bose, who Tagore was not aware of till then.

Birth Anniversary

Tagore during his tour of the West in 1921.

Bose was Einstein’s collaborator and he headed the physics department for some time.

The unusual university was a major draw, of course, also due to Tagore’s nationalist leanings, so much so that Mahatma Gandhi once wrote to his financer, Ghanashyam Das Birla to send Rs 30,000 to Tagore to help run the university.

The unending creativity of Tagore also saw him start to paint at a late age, influenced by painters of South France who he met.

It has been suggested that he could have been colour blind, which is reflected in the unusual colour

“Let my thoughts come to you, when I am gone, like the afterglow of sunset at the margin of starry silence.”

schemes. But more importantly, his major paintings, which I had the fortune to see in Jorashanko, relate to women and their pain. Though such terms as feminism were not coined till then, Tagore would be called thus had it been coined, and it was reflected in not just the paintings.

In his famous novel “Charulata”, for instance, a forlorn wife’s craving for sexuality is graphically depicted, seen clearly in Satyajit Ray’s eponymous film. Interestingly, Tagore actively collaborated with European feminist Marie Stopes in promoting birth control in India because he felt strongly that women must equally enjoy life without just being made the carriers of the husband’s children.

When I accepted to write this article, I was aware that a man of such monumental height cannot be put in a capsule of a few thousand words. I ask for forgiveness from my readers for failing to write much more. But if I have ignited some curiosity in them to delve into Tagore, then my effort will have been rewarded.

The All-People’s reception in honour of Rabindranath Tagore, the famous Indian Poet, took place on January 8, 1931, at 99, Gower-street, London.

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Painting by: Rabindranath Tagore

May 07-13, 2018

Are You A Mere Picture Poem by Rabindranath Tagore

Are you a mere picture, and not as true as those stars, true as this dust? They throb with the pulse of things, but you are immensely aloof in your stillness, painted form. The day was when you walked with me, your breath warm, your limbs singing of life. My world found its speech in your voice, and touched my heart with your face. You suddenly stopped in your walk, in the shadow-side of the Forever, and I went on alone.

Life, like a child, laughs, shaking its rattle of death as it runs; it beckons me on, I follow the unseen; but you stand there, where you stopped behind that dust and those stars; and you are a mere picture. No, it cannot be. Had the lifeflood utterly stopped in you, it would stop the river in its flow, and the foot-fall of dawn in her cadence of colours. Had the glimmering dusk of your hair vanished in the hopeless dark, the woodland shade of summer would die with its dreams.

Can it be true that I forgot you? We haste on without heed, forgetting the flowers on the roadside hedge. Yet they breathe unaware into our forgetfulness, filling it with music.

You have moved from my world, to take seat at the root of my life, and therefore is this forgetting-remembrance lost in its own depth. You are no longer before my songs, but one with them. You came to me with the first ray of dawn. I lost you with the last gold of evening. Ever since I am always finding you through the dark. No, you are no mere picture.

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North East

May 07-13, 2018 SHILLONG

Meghalaya to Promote Lakadong Turmeric Lakadong Turmeric (Curcuma Longa) is indigenous to Meghalaya which grows in a small region in the West Jaintia Hills district

Quick Glance In India the use of turmeric dates back to nearly 4000

The name of Lakadong is derived from the place where it was originated

It is slightly dark in colour compared to other turmeric varieties found in India

T

n Rajeev

he Meghalaya government has launched Mission Lakadong to promote cultivation of the Lakadong turmeric and improve the livelihood of farmers. The five-year-plan is an initiative undertaken by as many as the directorate of horticulture, department of agriculture, community and rural development department, forest department, North Eastern Hill University and Meghalaya Institute of Entrepreneurship.

Lakadong Turmeric (Curcuma Longa) is indigenous to Meghalaya which grows in a small region in the West Jaintia Hills district, one of the eleven districts of the border state. Lakadong turmeric is known for its high curcumin content which finds widespread application in pharmaceuticals and as an antioxidant and anti-carcinogenic agent.

Governor Ganga Prasad said that Lakadong turmeric is a rare type of turmeric and has the potential to change the lives of countless farmers if its uniqueness is properly exploited and there is an established demand for the variety and buyers who are willing to pay a premium for its quality.

According to Prasad, this chemical free turmeric is much sought after for use in the cosmetic, pharmaceutical and food industry.

The Governor said that despite such good demand, farmers have not, till date, been able to realize the full economic potential of this crop because most of them are small and marginal, and due to non-availability of planting material and low volumes.

Turmeric takes at least 10 months to mature. The process begins after the field is readied in the month of March by cleaning and burning the dried foliage. In April the field is ploughed and pieces of turmeric from the recent harvest are sown.

Weeds are removed and manure like cow dung added to the soil. To protect the plants from heat, stems are often covered with mud mixed with cut plants.

In India the use of turmeric dates back to nearly 4000 years when it was used as a culinary spice and as an essential ingredient of some religious rituals. India is the world’s largest producer, consumer

and exporter of turmeric with an annual production of about 658,400 tonnes. Its rhizomes contain yellow pigments called curcuminoids which is responsible for its numerous medicinal properties.

Turmeric is also used in cold, cough, bronchitis, conjunctivitis and liver diseases. An ethanolic extract of turmeric and an ointment of curcumin produce remarkable relief in patients with external cancerous lesions.

Lakadong turmeric is slightly dark in colour compared to other turmeric varieties found in India.

The name of this turmeric variety is derived from the place where it was originated.

Meghalaya produced 10508 metric tonnes of turmeric from 1,817 hectares in 2005–06. Although turmeric is now growing in almost all over the state, but still Jaintia Hills has the highest area under turmeric cultivation and contribute more than half of the total turmeric production from the state. Some of the villages where Lakadong turmeric cultivation

Lakadong turmeric is known for its high curcumin content which finds widespread application in pharmaceuticals and as an anti-oxidant and anti-carcinogenic agent

has been carried out include Sumer, Lakadong, Shangpung, Iooksi, Nongtyngkoh, Khoushnong, Umdeanglin, umchalait and Saphai.

In Lakadong turmeric is cultivated in humid and warm climate with very high rainfall of about 4000 – 10000 mm. This zone occurs in the southern slope comprising of the eastern part of Jaintia Hills. The soil is of light to medium texture and deep to very deep. The farmers had experienced that when this turmeric variety is cultivated outside the Jaintia hills the quality deteriorates thereby posing a limitation for cultivation outside the traditional Lakadong area. This turmeric has an immense potential for commercialisation for its high curcumin content.

According to farmers of the areas, there had been a higher and more extensive production of turmeric in this region previously but due to coal mining in the region for the past 20 to 30 years the cultivation has decreased considerably. However, in subsequent years, a sudden fall of the price shortly occurred followed by a high production, which resulted in low market demand of the produce.

Consequently, farmers could not get benefit from turmeric production for the last 3 to 4 years. As a result, a total production and the size of land allotted by farmers for its cultivation are declining at alarming rate.

Currently, almost all resourceful poor farmers in Lakadong area are shifting to the production of Zingiber officinal due to higher demand by abandoning turmeric cultivation and powder production. Farmers argue that growing turmeric commercially is full of uncertainty if there is no market guarantee based on certain agreement. Once the market demand decreases, the only alternative would be the dumping, because no part of it goes to household consumption, unlike food crops.

North East

May 07-13, 2018

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Guwahati

Tribals Shun The Path Of Hunting, Thanks To Gandhigiri By A Forest Officer They have resolved not to hunt; they are also determined to deter others, if found, from hunting animals in the forest

Quick Glance The Dalma tribals have vowed to give up hunting for peaceful co-existence

Forest official, Purabi Mahato inspired the tribals to give up hunting

Prasanta Paul

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eapons have been sharpened; other formalities traditionally being observed for decades before undertaking a `march on foot to the forest’, have neatly been performed.

Now, they are ready to venture into the forest with the sharpened weaponry. But they have resolved not to hunt; they are also determined to deter others, if found, from hunting animals in the forest. Meet the `reformed’ tribals of villages, living in the adjoining parts of the Dalma forest range in the Jhargram subdivision of West Midnapore district of West Bengal. These tribals have vowed to hang up their `boots’ (traditional weapons of hunting) to facilitate smooth co-existence of man and animals once again in this tribal-dominated areas of Midnapore district and the neighbouring region.

What has prompted the tribals a sudden change of heart and forsake the practice of killing wild animals to mark their `Shikar Utsab’ (Hunting Festival)? The West Bengal government has been heaping praise and giving full credit to Purabi Mahato, a senior forest official in the Midnapore range, for achieving this unique feat. Herself being a tribal, Mahato was aware of the traditional Adivasi sentiments associated with this hunting festival. Yet, the practice, she knew it too well, has been causing immense harm to the wildlife which has steadily been dwindling.

On the one hand, Mahato was determined to stop the practice; she wasn’t too keen to play with the tribal sentiments on the other. Yet, she took up the challenge because if this practice of killing can be stopped at one place, the message would start spreading in other tribals villages across the state and there is a possibility that it might yield dividends very soon.

A worried Mahato hit upon a plan; since the morning of the day of the festival (March 28), she along with other forest officers and staff had almost laid a seize to the approach

Her act of ‘Gandhigiri’ would act as a model and inspire fellow officials

path leading to the forest. That it would not be possible for her and the accompanying forest officials to dissuade the young brigade from withdrawing from the traditional practice, was more or less clear.

Nevertheless, Mahato and her men deployed at vantage points left no stone unturned to impress on the young people on the need for discontinuing the practice. With folded hands, the forest department staff began requesting each and every individual to return home and desist from this practice. However, their efforts had all gone in vain as none in the group bothered to listen to their `version of the story.’ One of them even snapped back, “We’re merely observing our age-old tradition and you’re very much aware of it. What’s your problem? Pls, leave us alone.”

Resolved not to leave the field with a blank sheet, Mahato made one last attempt, having notched up a plan meanwhile. The resurgent senior forest officer noticed an elderly man

in the group, went straight to him and literally fell on his feet. “Dear Dada, you’re the only person who can make this young brigade understand the crying need to save the wildlife in the surrounding forest,” Mahato kept on entreating. Her sudden act took everyone including her staff by surprise; they rubbed their eyes in disbelief --the Additional Divisional Forest Officer (ADFO) on the road holding the feet of an elderly man!

When scores of tribals following their leader and armed with their traditional weapons, saw this, they were equally transfixed; there was a screaming silence around for a minute.

Finally, Mahato’s act (photographed by a fellow officer that went viral) had the desired result. The elderly man, believed to be the leader of the group, began requesting everyone to wrap up the day’s trip to the forest. The leader directed one of his followers to dart fast and convince those walking ahead to return and pack up the weapons for the time being. Began,

On the one hand, Mahato was determined to stop the practice; she wasn’t too keen to play with the tribal sentiments on the other

thereafter, a long march back to the villages – something unprecedented and historic in the history of West Bengal.

According to West Midnapore Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Rabindranath Saha, March 28, 2018, would be a red letter day in the annals of the state forest department as Mahato’s act of `Gandhigiri’ would definitely act as a model and inspire fellow officials to imbibe an identical spirit among the tribals to gradually kick the practice.

Whether Mahato has inspired her fellow officials is yet to be known, but that her act of `Gandhigiri’ and relentless effort to win the hearts of the tribals have been paying dividends, is clearly evident from the decision of the settlers along the Dolma forest range. Quoting Mangal Munda, one of the tribals of the Dolma region, Chief Wildlife Warden of neighbouring Jharkhand L R Singh said “It was important to hunt wild animals in the past as we would have been hunted by them had we not killed them. But over the years, the practice of hunting has dwindled the number of wildlife in such a way that humans are now posing a threat to them, wild animals aren’t.” On top of it, these tribals had already come to know about Mahato’s `feat’ and they have started praising it.

Munda has even approached Mr Singh for advice on ways to turn this traditional hunting festival into a symbolic one and Mr Singh has not disappointed him. “We’ve now drawn up plans on organising soccer tournaments in those villages where the winners will be rewarded with live goats and chickens. Instead of hunting them in the wild, the forest department will ensure that animals are presented live to enable the tribals to taste the pleasure of hunting and then enjoy the sumptuous food.”

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Culture

May 07-13, 2018

child’s development

Art Can Develop A Child’s Mind, But Don’t Impose It: Paresh Maity As a little child, he was inspired by nature, miniature and tribal art. According to him, art can play a crucial role in a child’s overall development

n Vishnu Makhijani

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rt plays an important role in a child’s development and enables children to develop a sense of aesthetics and beauty from an early age but it should not be imposed, says noted artist Paresh Maity, whose vast oeuvre includes India’s longest painting at 850 feet.

“The most important thing to developing a child’s mind through art is to not impose anything. Let them grow in their own way... an innocent mind will develop its own identity and possibilities. The medium allows them to express themselves and explore their creative side and develop a sense for aesthetics and beauty from an early age,” Maity told IANS in an email interview.

It was in this spirit that he conducted a day-long session at a Mumbai school on Friday and termed it a “learning experience”.

“It was a fantastic experience to meet and conduct a session for students of Mount Litera School International as part of their ongoing Meraki art week. It was astonishing to see the creativity in them and the fabulous exhibition they had curated.

My visit to the school was a learning experience for me as well because when the mind does not have any preconceived ideas, I learn a lot.

Quick Glance Paresh vast oeuvre includes India’s longest painting at 850 feet

He was seven when he decided to be an artist

who has almost 80 solo exhibitions to his credit.

At the age 16, after his matriculation, he wished to get admitted in Calcutta’s (now Kolkata) Government College of Art and Craft but his father’s colleagues persuaded him to appear for joint entrance exams for medical and engineering.

“I was never attentive towards my studies as my mind would always wander towards art. Finally, at the age of 18, after my higher secondary education, I took an admission to the Government College of Art and Craft in 1983.

“Since I was a little child I have been inspired by miniature and tribal art. My first influential mentor was nature and people that I used to interact with on my commute to college. I would travel for four hours each way to reach my college from Tamluk since I did not have enough money to stay in Kolkata. I did this for

through it. I will be the happiest if my journey with art continues till the last day of my life,” Maity added.

As for “Indian Odyssey”, which is displayed at Terminal 3 of New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, he said when he was first approached; he did not think it would be possible to create it.

“It depicts India’s people, places, history, colours, festivals, culture and integrity in a unique way. When I was first requested eight years ago to make this painting, I was surprised because I could not believe an artist could make such a big painting, measuring approximately 850 feet. I expressed a desire to see the original place where

six years,” he said. “My journey, like that of any other individual, has been full of ups and downs and filled with good and bad experiences. We all go

the painting would be installed.

It took me a year to complete the painting and was a truly extraordinary experience,” Maity explained.

Art has a crucial role to play in the holistic development of young children through its integration of fine motor skills, language development, conceptual understanding in math and other subject areas

What of the future?

“I am currently busy designing large installations for public places as well as some large paintings where I wish to experiment a bit while staying true to my roots and identity,” Maity concluded.

“While this wasn’t a first-time effort and I have been to different cities and schools, it was great to witness the truly extraordinary art displayed by the kids,” he added.

“Art has a crucial role to play in the holistic development of young children through its integration of fine motor skills, language development, conceptual understanding in math and other subject areas. Children learn to bring all these together through using their hands, visualisation and through words to express what they have drawn or created. Art has its own language, which is universally understood,” Ruchika Sachdev, head of the school’s primary section, told IANS in an e-mail.

The school visit also prompted Maity, 53, to reminisce about his own four-decade journey in the world of art.“I was seven-years-old when I saw artisans in my native village Tamluk in West Bengal making idols of Goddess Durga. I was mesmerised and decided I wanted to be an artist. It has been a burning desire since then,” said Maity,

His first mentor was nature and people that he used to interact

Sulabh

May 07-13, 2018 Dr Bindeshwar Pathak

Best practices to combat climate change

The focus of the conference was environmental degradation cumulatively leading to catastrophic climate change and its deadly all-round consequences of sustainable development and helps decrease global warming and hence climate change in the developed nations also.

Dr Pathak encouraged the young researchers, participants and students to think out of the box and find the multiple alternative solutions rather than their conventional one in the field of Environmental Sciences.

In his presidential address, Prof.

Ashok Aima, HVC, CU Jammu

15 07

Quick Glance Dr Bindeshwar Pathak was the Chief Guest of the conference held at CJU Dr Pathak deliberated on the best environmental practices to combat climate change Dr Pathak encouraged the young researchers, participants to think out of the box

in this conference. He apprised the audience that about 12 invited talks, 20 oral and 45 posters on various topics linked to various aspects of Climate change is expected to be presented during this two day conference.

A Photo Exhibition was also

The pressing need of the time is to practice environmental sustainibility by avoiding the depletion or degradation of natural resources Dr Pathak Addressing at Conference

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n SSB Bureau

two-day national conference on “Climate Change, Societal Consequences Mitigation: Future Vision (NCCCSCM-2018)”, being organized by Department of Environmental Sciences, Central University of Jammu, commenced on 26, April.

The chief guest of the conference was Padma Bhushan Dr Bindeshwar Pathak (founder, Sulabh International) an international figure recognised working in the field of Sociology of Sanitation. Besides CUJ Vice-Chancellor, Prof Ashok Aima, other dignitaries who graced the occasion, included IGP Jammu, Dr SD Singh Jamwal, Prof KK Sharma, Prof Nil Ratan, Prof NK Tripathi Dean School of Life Sciences, CU Jammu, Dr Prashant Srivastava, (BHU), Prof. Milap Sharma (JNU), Dr RP Singh (BHU), Anil Singh (Chairman, Sulabh J&K State), AGM SBI, Ajay Sharma.

Chief Guest, Dr Bindeshwar Pathak deliberated on the sociology of sanitation, best environmental practices to combat climate change in which Sulabh International is working.

A Documentary on the achievements and contribution made by Sulabh International in India as well as in the world were also screened. He also laid stress on the Sulabh Water

Treatment, Biogas plant and STP plant which are working efficiently at Sulabh gram, New Delhi. These best practices are mitigating the process of climate change.

In addition, Dr Pathak encouraged the young researchers, participants and students to think out of box and find the multiple alternative solutions rather than their conventional one in the field of Environmental Sciences. He also appreciated the efforts of Organising Committee of NCCCSCM-2018 for making this a great technical event of the Central University of Jammu and in particular of Department of Environmental Sciences. The key attraction of the Conference was the Photo Exhibition displayed in the premises of CUJ on the best clean and green environmental practices to combat climate change being adopted by Sulabh International.

He informed the participants about the various activities carried out

by Sulabh International in the field of environmental sanitation, health & hygiene in the rural and urban areas. He told about the Sulabh’s Twopit Pour-Flush Ecological Compost Toilet technology which fulfills all the conditions

emphasised that Conference of such nature provides a great opportunity for the scientific community, not only to update knowledge and keep abreast with the latest developments in the field of environmental sciences, but also an occasion for the invited speakers, delegates and participants to exchange ideas and interact with each other. He also said that this will act as channel for creating an atmosphere which will encourage and inspire students and young researchers for their overall academic growth.

Prof. Deepak Pathania, Patron and HoD Environmental Sciences, CU Jammu presented the welcome address to the gathering. He also informed that about 95 participants from all over India are participating

displayed in the premises of CUJ on the best clean and green environmental practices to combat climate change being adopted by Sulabh International.

The environment, being home for all living beings, needs to be healthfriendly and life-supporting. The environment has forced to change its behaviour because of pollution and exploitation of air, water, soil, forests and sensitive ecosystems. The pressing need of the time is to practice environmental sustainability by avoiding the depletion or degradation of natural resources and longterm environmental quality can be achieved by means of environmental sustainability.

Climate change poses numerous risks to health and livelihoods of communities. In order to better understand various dimensions of sustainability and climate adaptation and to respond effectively to climate change impacts, its consequences on society and major inputs from the social sciences are required to provide crucial insights into the human-social-economic-environment dynamics of climate change. The focus of the national conference is aimed at addressing relevant issues related to environmental pollution, disasters, climate, alternative to fossil fuels, new technologies to reduce the resource degradation and other relevant issues.

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May 07-13, 2018

The most important lesson that man can learn from life, is not that there is pain in this world, but that it is possible for him to transmute it into joy Rabindranath Tagore

VIEWPOINT

Dr bindeshwar pathak Founder, Sulabh Sanitation and Social Reform Movement

Climate Change, Societal Consequences What Sulabh Movement has done for Environmental Sanitation, Public Health and the Social Acceptance of the former Untouchables

Mothers Are A Walking Miracle

No matter how old you get, sometimes, you still just need a hug from mom to make everything better

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ur mother is the creator of our existence, she is the one who has enabled us to feel what exactly life is, she made us alive and has produced virtues within us. Isn’t it?

Mother is the most lovable and adorable person. No love can exceed or even match the love of a mother for her child. She is the best trainer and guide of her child, no less than God, always the first person whom we think of in our happy and not so happy times. She has been blessed with the power to nurture a complete life in her womb with intense love and care.

All the great men have reached to such points only because of the support and devotion of their mothers who always stood by them and motivated to perform ahead of the field. Gandhiji is one such example of a man who has reaped benefits from a loving and devout mother, Putlibai.

From the time we enter this world till we are carried off by the death, we come across many relationships in our lives. Some are just for a while, some deceive us and some leave us when we need them the most and some are with us because of their self-seeking attributes. But the one being that surpasses the care, affection and love of everybody for a person is the “Mother”.

Editor-in-Chief

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

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p e rvasiv e environmental degradation cumulatively leading to catastrophic climate change and its deadly all-round consequences stare us in the face all over the world, including our own country. This has led to an increasing awareness about the enormity of the climate change and the impending danger that it poses to the future of ecology and humanity.

All of us are familiar with the growing importance of environmental sanitation and public health and the necessity of ensuring a clean and healthy environment in our lives by taking required action at both individual and collective levels. Apart from our work of social reforms and emancipation of former untouchables, Sulabh is primarily committed to eradication of manual cleaning of human waste, put an end to the practice of outdoor defecation, termination of contagious diseases and epidemics, provision of health and hygiene, harnessing of non-conventional energy resources, treatment of waste materials, purification of water, etc.

I would like to take you to a village in Vaishali District of Bihar where I was born in 1940s. I grew up in a big home with a large compound, but without a toilet. As a child, even though asleep or half-awake, I would often witness chaos every morning as all the women in the house had to complete ablutions before sunrise. Someone picking up a bucket, someone filling water, everyone in a hurry to go out to relieve herself before the daybreak! In case a woman fell sick she would have to relieve herself in a mitti ka bartan. The women often suffered from headaches because during the daytime they had to control the call of nature. This was the state of the women in a prosperous rural

family; imagine the fate of the less fortunate ones! As a child, I saw all this plus the ugly spectacle of male villagers defecating in the open even during the daytime—a common sight in those days.

As I was growing up, I became conscious of the environment around me. I would notice the extremely unhygienic conditions engulfing our life. Even unsanitary dry latrines were few and far between. Consider this: I studied in four different schools, none of which had a toilet. And almost everyone in my village would defecate in the open.

The problem of outdoor defection, which was the major cause of many life-threatening abdominal and infectious diseases, was not the tragedy of my village alone. By and large this was the tragedy of India’s 700,000 villages and thousands of small and big towns and cities.

I noticed that general lack of basic sanitation facilities like toilets filled our surroundings with pathogens and made life insecure for most people, especially children who would easily get infected which led to dysentery and diarrhoea. But the condition of women was even worse, as they suffered the most from the lack of toilets. Unlike men, they could not go out during daytime to relieve themselves.

And when they would step out in the shadow of darkness, they would be exposed to the

I noticed that general lack of basic sanitation facilities like toilets filled our surroundings with pathogens and made life insecure for most people

May 07-13, 2018 dangers posed by snakes, scorpions, or other noxious insects and reptiles.

In varying degrees this problem still lingers in the rural and semi-urban areas, and sometimes the women also face the brutality of physical assault or rape from anti-social elements that take advantage of the cover of darkness to commit such heinous crime.

In other words, the lack of toilets has a deep gender dimension in a patriarchal society like ours, especially in rural India. And this understanding has greatly helped us in taking women’s special needs into account in our sanitation plan and promotion. Similarly, I became aware of the social dimension of sanitation problems afflicting our society. In those days, there were lakhs of unhygienic pit latrines in rural and suburban areas being used by the relatively well-off people.

Those latrines had to be manually cleaned and disposed by people from a particular sub-caste among the community of untouchables, who were cruelly treated, discriminated and dehumanized by the larger society. It is very sad that this tragedy of manual scavenging still persists in some parts of the country, despite the Constitutional mandate and social outcry against it, but thankfully this hateful practice is on the way out of its existence, and our Sulabh movement has played a leading role in this turnaround.

Those early exposures and experiences helped me better grasp the fact that our environmental and social problems are deeply interconnected.

This insight enabled me to better perceive the interconnectedness of environment and people. When I started my social and sanitation work, I came to realize that the best way to ensure public health, sanitation, human rights, women’s safety and other elements of human empowerment is to adopt a holistic approach because human and environmental problems do not exist in isolation but in close proximity. One problem is difficult to be resolved unless other problems are also resolved.

In this backdrop, I started my social work (after doing my graduation in sociology from Patna University) as a volunteer of the Bihar Gandhi Centenary Celebration Committee in 1968–69. This Committee had formed a cell with the objective of freeing a group of the untouchables (called scavengers in English) from their traditional occupation of cleaning and disposing human excreta and restoring their human rights and dignity. The Committee entrusted me to explore a better and hygienic scavenging system, preferably a safe and affordable toilet technology, and more dauntingly,

The Sulabh technology has been featured by the BBC Horizons as one of the five unique inventions of the world to find a way to bring the scavengers in the social mainstream. Coming from a conservative Brahmin family, I was utterly unprepared for such a challenge, but the fate played a part in this and I went on to accept the assignment. This brought me faceto-face with the two interrelated challenges: how to liberate and rehabilitate the scavengers; and, how to develop an effective and affordable toilet system so that manual scavenging could be eliminated and scavenging untouchables freed and rehabilitated in other gainful occupation.

Toilet Technology for Environmental Sanitation

Traditionally no attention was paid to the occupational and environmental hazards of health associated with manual scavenging.

This practice created not only largescale environmental pollution and added to the burden of infectious diseases but also perpetuated social discrimination, including the vile practice of untouchability. I realized that no amount of advocacy and sensitisation would remove the manual scavenging unless it is backed by a viable technology which ensures that no manual handling is required for disposal of excreta. I was not an engineer or a scientist and thus not qualified at all to invent an appropriate toilet system, but I was impassioned to end the injustice against the scavengers.

I applied my mind, searched intensely, and with the help of a WHO handbook on the subject, I invented in 1968 a two-pit, pour-flush, on-site compost toilet. It was the technological tool to solve to the problems of manual scavenging as well as open defecation.

After this breakthrough, I founded Sulabh and struggled long and hard for the acceptance of Sulabh toilet technology in the community. But once the appropriateness and costeffectiveness of the Sulabh toilet became clear to the people, the government and municipalities came around and decided to promote our toilet system. Spurred by this success, I developed the model of pay-and-use community toilets in urban centres, which became very popular, first in Bihar and then across India. Gradually, Sulabh public and household toilets came all over the country. Today, Sulabh has about 1733 branches in the country, which have been actively working on the ground across 26 States, 4 Union Territories and 551

districts. Sulabh has built over 1.5 million household Sulabh toilets and 9,000 public toilets in India. More than 20 million people use these facilities. Now, Sulabh has crossed over into Afghanistan, South East Asia, Africa and Latin America. It has been recognized by the UNDP as a global best practice, as a potential instrument for achieving millennium development goals for providing sanitation and human excreta disposal facilities to more than two billion people who have no such facilities.

Environmental Sanitation and Public Health

Besides our engagement with environmental sanitation in the form of hundreds of public toilets in urban areas, Sulabh has been intensely engaged in the area of rural sanitation.

Sulabh household toilets are an ideal solution to open-air defecation in rural areas, where there is no sewerage system, where problems of insanitation abound, and where excreta disposal is a matter of letting nature takes its own course.

Sulabh has taken up programme of rural sanitation in 436 districts of the country, where our volunteers have been trained in the technology, methodology, implementation and follow up work.

In recent years, Sulabh has taken up various programmes such as health check-up camps, health and hygiene education campaigns in several villages of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Haryana. Sulabh has implemented a project on Sustainable Development and Health Environment in villages of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan. This has been sponsored by the WHO and its implementation facilitated by the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, with the objective of promoting safe drinking water, sanitation and rural water supply.

Under the initiative of Sulabh Purified Drinking Water that we have launched recently, impure water from the rivers, ponds, water bodies and taps is purified by the Sulabh technologies, which becomes safe for human consumption. An intense campaign at national and local level is necessary to make people aware of the adverse effects of outdoor defecation, which is responsible for infections and a number of diseases.

Programme of construction of toilets in rural areas is linked to making

OpEd

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people aware of sanitation standards and health impact of unsanitary conditions which require house-tohouse contacts and follow-up. This can be effectively done by the NGOs. The role of NGOs is very crucial in the implementation of sanitation programme throughout the country.

The NGOs selected for sanitation work should be allowed 15 per cent of the estimated cost of promotional and implementation activities, including follow up services. In addition, 10 per cent of the project cost should be allowed for training and support services, and publicity which would include printing of booklets, posters, organising street shows, etc., to promote the cause of sanitation, hygiene and health.

Summing up, nothing short than a nationwide movement will be able to solve the country’s environmental sanitation and health problems, especially in the rural and semi-urban areas. But if the necessary synergy is generated for the environmental sanitation, which is absolutely critical to achieve the objectives of the ongoing Swachh Bharat Mission, it will get India not only freedom from filth, but will also make millions of suffering Indians healthy and happy.

The campaign for emancipation of scavenging untouchables

Alongside freeing the scavengers from the subhuman work, I developed an integrated and holistic plan to restore their human rights and rehabilitate them in the social mainstream. First, I got the scavengers relieved from the work of cleaning excreta by getting the bucket toilets converted into Sulabh compost toilets. Alongside the toilet construction and sanitation work, we started schools in Patna, Delhi and other places to educate the scavengers’ children, helping them to break the vicious cycle of scavenging–illiteracy– dependency. Initiatives such as taking the “untouchables” to temples, the highest seat of sacredness; the uppercaste people visiting the untouchables’ homes and vice versa; the inter-caste meeting and commensality; and, a programme of social adaptation in which a high-status family adopts an untouchable family in order to break the caste barrier and helps educate and empower the adopted family in every possible way.

The liberated scavengers now freely mingle with the privileged-caste families, including those that had earlier employed them to clean and dispose night soil. We have brought the untouchables into the social mainstream. This marks a great transformation in their lives.

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Photo Feature

May 07-13, 2018

Buddha JayaNti celebrations Lord Buddha having lived for eighty years attained Maha Parinirvana that is leaving the mortal coils, on the same day. According to Buddhists and Hindus all over the world this day is considered the most auspicious day because Buddha also attained enlightenment on this day Photo: sIPRA dAS

May 07-13, 2018

India is the land of Buddha, 7 out of 8 Buddhist pilgrimage sites located in India : Teachings of Buddha are relevant even to this day not only for India but for the whole world

Photo Feature

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Science & Technology

May 07-13, 2018

anti-venom

Diagnosis

Scientist Confirm Bael Extracts Can Neutalize Cobra Venom Bael, also known as Bengal Quince, can be found throughout Indian subcontinent and South East Asia

n Manu Moudgil

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n India, an estimated 50,000 people die of snake bites every year and many don’t even make it to a hospital. In traditional systems of medicine, over 350 plant species have been identified as antidotes to snake venom but there are very few scientific studies validating their efficacy and mode of action at molecular level.

Now researchers at the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute ( JNTBGRI) and University College, Thiruvananthapuram, have successfully used extracts from Bael tree (AgeleMarmelos) to neutralize adverse effects of cobra venom, thus confirming what was known to traditional healers.

The research team found that the extracts inhibited destruction of red blood cells and action of acetylcholinesterase blockers induced by the venom. Acetylcholinesterase blockers prevent muscle contraction of ribs and chest making breathing difficult, a major reason for instantaneous death due to cobra bite. The extracts also reduced abnormal breakdown of proteins by the venom.

Bael, also known as Bengal Quince, can be found throughout Indian subcontinent and South East Asia.

Scientists evaluated extracts of leaves,

Quick Glance The extracts also reduced abnormal breakdown of proteins by the venom

Bael can be found throughout Indian subcontinent and South East Asia

Scientists evaluated extracts of leaves, bark and roots of the tree in laboratory

bark and roots of the tree in laboratory and then used computer-based studies to identify molecules in these extracts that attach to venom proteins and can aid detoxification. “Snake venom consists of innumerable biologically active molecules. Its individual constituents, quality and quantity are unstable and unpredictable. Similarly, the plant extract contains a plethora of chemical constituents which are not always stable but their synergistic effect can neutralize multi toxicity,” explained Dr S Sreekumar, a member of the research team while talking to India Science Wire.

The results of interaction between

Snake venom consists of innumerable biologically active molecules. Its individual constituents, quality and quantity are unstable and unpredictable

81 phytochemicals from Bael and each of the 14 venom proteins revealed that the plant contains potential molecules for detoxification of all cobra venom proteins. However, of the 12 selected molecules, three failed the drug likeness test.

“This is a good beginning but the study is in vitro. They have to prove its efficacy through tests in human beings and then arrive at exact amount of plant extract that will serve the purpose. It is a very tedious process,” commented Dr H.S. Bawaskar, an expert on snake and scorpion bites at Maharashtra-based Bawaskar Hospital and Research Centre, who is not connected with the study.

The research team is planning to take up this challenge in the next phase and develop a formulation that can be effective against four common venomous snake species of India. “We have already screened 60 plant species used in traditional medicine of which only four were found to effectively neutralize all toxic venom components.

Bael is one of them. Once the screening process is complete, we will develop a standard formulation that not only works for all venoms but also leads to fewer or no side effects,” said Dr Sreekumar.

In modern medicine, use of antivenom serum is the only method to treat snake bites but it comes with risk of various complications, including anaphylactic shock, pyrogen reaction and serum sickness. The serum is manufactured by injecting horses with safe levels of venoms. The antibodies they produce to fight off the venom are extracted from their blood and developed into the serum.

A big issue with this method is variation in amount of venom in a snake from region to region. Anti-venom prepared from a snake at one location loses its effectiveness when used at another site. “We need to decentralise anti-venom production to overcome geographical variation in snake venom,” said Dr Bavaskar. Some efforts are on to collect snake venoms from different regions to develop an antidote that can work pan India. Besides Dr Sreekumar, the research team included N. C. Nisha, D. A. Evans and C. K. Biju.The study has been published in journal Current Science.

New Method Developed For Faster Typhoid Diagnosis Method is quick as there is no need for multiple cycles of rapid heating and cooling as required in traditional methods n Monika Kundu Srivastava

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ndian scientists have developed a rapid and accurate method for diagnosis of Salmonella typhi bacteria which causes enteric fever and typhoid. The new test, developed by scientists at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, requires minimal blood quantity, besides being accurate and potentially cost-effective.

The new method uses magnetic nanoparticles coupled with antibodies. In tests, it was found that over 65 per cent bacteria cells got bound to nanoparticles within 30 minutes. The bacteria were separated from nanoparticles using magnets by heating it at 65°C for 45 minutes.

The cells were reheated at 100°C for 5 minutes to breakdown the covering of bacteria to recover the genetic material. Then the liquid was collected and put through the loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) process to increase in availability of genetic material required for identification of the bacteria.

This method is quick as there is no need for multiple cycles of rapid heating and cooling as required in traditional methods. The minimum time taken for conventional methods to confirm the presence of diseasecausing bacteria is 72 hours while the new method confirmed it in 6 hours.

The method, according to the study, has the potential for clinical use due to its high detection levels and ability to identify cells which can cause disease in a quicker turnaround time. In future, it can be developed into a handheld and portable device.

Sanitation News

May 07-13, 2018

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Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna

UP Villager Sold His Goats To Build Toilet

Jabbar Shah was given administrative sanction for the toilet, added to the list of potential beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna and shortlisted for a ration card

J

abbar Shah, the villager from Uttar Pradesh who sold his flock of seven goats to build a toilet for his family, is a happy man many times over.

Thanks to the attention that his action triggered, Jabbar was given administrative sanction for the toilet, added to the list of potential beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna and shortlisted for a ration card. And, he’s got a new flock of seven goats.

“I was ashamed and distressed that amidst the rising awareness against open defecation, the womenfolk in my household were still going behind the wheat fields to answer nature’s call,” Jabbar explained.

“I had sought help from the village pradhan and some district officers responsible for my area. But, I did not get any help. Eventually, I sold off all the seven goats for Rs 15,000 and constructed the toilet a fortnight ago,” said the 55-year-old resident of

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o bad smell, always stocked with toilet paper and hand soap, and environmentally sustainable – this is the mark of a sixstar toilet.

On Tuesday (April 24), three sets of “smart” restrooms – for both genders – in Marina Bay Sands’ (MBS) luxury mall were awarded Singapore’s first six-star accolade by the Restroom Association Singapore (RAS).

The washrooms not only met “excellent service and cleanliness requirements”, said the association, but also adopted smart solutions to improve productivity and efficiency through the use of automated feedback and cleaning systems.

Navada village in Laharpur tehsil of Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur district.

Jabbar, who on average used to earn about Rs 100 to Rs 150 per day, sold his goats though they were an integral part of his livelihood. They provided milk to the children, who treated them like pets. His family comprises While the technology is not apparent to users, a number of smart solutions installed help the cleaning attendants – who are certified with the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualification in washroom cleaning – to keep the throne rooms in tip-top condition.

For one, a sensor installed in each toilet monitors ammonia levels, with attendants receiving an SMS that the washroom requires some attention once a set threshold level is hit.

A second sensor, placed near each toilet’s entrance, detects the number of times a particular washroom has been visited. With the data, cleaning attendants can estimate when they should replenish consumables such as toilet paper or hand wash.

A third item installed within the restrooms is the state-of-theart Dyson Airblade V hand-dryer.

Without using a heating element, the energy-efficient machine dries hands

of a married daughter, her husband, a minor grand-daughter, and two minor grandsons. His wife is no more.

Jabbar’s story went up on social media while the plaster on the toilet shed was still fresh. And politician took notice.

The story reached Samajwadi Party

(SP) national president and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, who asked Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) Anand Bhadauria to go to the village investigate. If the story was true, Bhadauria was told, then buy seven goats and give it to Jabbar.

“We found the story true. We (the SP leaders and workers in the areas) bought seven goats--that are bigger and better than what he had--for Rs 22,000 and gave them to Jabbar on Saturday,” said Bhadauria.

The next day, the local media published the story, which galvanized the administration. The Block Development Officer (BDO), Laharpur, Rabia Begum reached the village with all the necessary paperwork executed.

“Jabbar is extremely poor. He doesn’t have a pucca house. The entire family lives in a thatched-roof hut. He is landless. The sanction for his toilet has come in. Rs 12,000, the sanctioned amount, have been transferred to his account. He will get a house under PM Yojna and a ration card too,” Rabia Begum said.

But Bhadauria attacked the administration for the delay. Pointing to the backdated paperwork for the toilet, Bhadauria said that “that too was taken, perhaps, to save the government embarrassment.”

Singapore

Marina Bay Sands Gets Singapore’s First 6-star Loos Under the Happy Toilet Programme launched in 2003, the RAS has been grading public toilets for the cleanliness and state of their facilities, and provision of amenities quickly and hygienically, and is more sustainable compared to regular paper towels.

A real-time feedback system, in the form of a smart device placed at the toilets’ entrance, also allows attendants to keep track of certain areas that might need more attention.

For instance, through the device, a user could highlight that a faulty tap might need fixing when they leave negative feedback.

Attendants of these washrooms will also have access to an ozone water system, which supplier Adsec Global said eliminates the need for

harsh cleaning chemicals, as ozone water acts as both a “powerful natural disinfectant against bacteria and viruses”, and a highly effective odour remover.

Under the Happy Toilet Programme launched in 2003, the RAS has been grading public toilets for the cleanliness and state of their facilities, and provision of amenities.

The ratings, which start at three stars to a maximum of six stars, are valid for 12 months. While there are currently 586 five-star toilets in Singapore, the six in MBS are the first to receive the six-star rating.

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Gender

May 07-13, 2018 Football player

Daring To Dream: How Football Changed The Life Of A Poor Dalit Girl Just a few years after she started playing, she has already represented India twice at the international level n Mudita Girotra

Her father died of a heart-attack when she was just two

She gets around Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000 for playing national match

Anyabai played in the U-15 South Asian Football Federation in 2017

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bout four years ago, 15-year-old Anyabai won Rs 54,000 when she led her school team to victory in a state-level football match. The prize money was more than what her mother earned in an entire year.

Hailing from Alakhpura, a village some 30 km from the district headquarters of Bhiwani in Haryana, Anyabai is a Dalit by caste and desperately poor by means.

Her father died of a heart attack when she was just two and the burden of earning for the four-member family passed on to her mother, Maya Devi, whose life story provides a window into the struggles of people at the lowest rungs of society.

Scheduled Caste communities like hers, comprising about 16.6 per cent of country’s population, are generally an oppressed lot, particularly in impoverished rural areas where they are discriminated against by higher castes and are condemned to menial cleaning jobs that no one else will do.

There are also those who have defied the system and become achievers in their own right. One of them is the fatherless girl Anyabai, who could have been a victim of the oppressive systems of caste and patriarchy, but her skills as a footballer helped her challenge both.

Just a few years after she started playing, she has already represented India twice at the international level.

“She gets around Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000 for playing every national match. Last year, she won around Rs 2.5 lakh by playing a few matches,” Sonika Bijarnia, her school coach, told IANS. “She manages to play twothree matches every year.”

So football is not only helping her find a purpose in life and represent her country at the highest levels, but is also helping her bring her family out of the vicious cycle of poverty.

Anyabai played in the U-15 South Asian Football Federation in 2017, in which India lost to Bangladesh in the finals. She recollects the final with a bit of disappointment, saying: “We lost 1-0.” Anyabai, who has a sister and a brother, is her mother’s

Quick Glance

Anyabai (Right) with her mother Maya Devi and brother Deepak at their home in Alakhpura. pride. “Nobody in the entire family has achieved so much,” Maya Devi said. “I didn’t have any hopes (while) Anyabai kept playing,” she said.

In 2016, she played in the Indian U-14 women’s football team at the AFC Regional (South and Central) Girls Championship in Tajikistan.

“Life changed. Of course, it did.

The scholarships I have been getting have helped us to build a two-room set in the village,” Anyabai said.

“When I go out of my village, my country, there is fear about going to an unknown land. It is a very different feeling. It’s also nice that I get to make friends from other parts of the country and the world,” she said.

“I used to struggle with English

earlier. I try speaking the language now. There is less hesitation.”

More than a decade back, when Anyabai was small and hadn’t started playing, it was really tough for Maya Devi to manage the family with just the Rs 150 a day that she got as a daily-wage worker. “This income depended on the farming season and yes, I struggled... used to borrow money and somehow managed,” she said.

“I made many efforts to bring my kids up all by myself. If Anyabai achieves something in life, I will consider my life to be successful. I have worked very hard,” she said.

Two years back, she was given the job of a “safai karamchari” (sanitation

Anyabai’s dreams are bigger. “I wish to grow up and play like Argentine footballer Lionel Messi,” she said passionately

worker). Among the five cleaners in the village, she is the only woman.

Despite some improvements, the life of struggle continues for Maya Devi and her family. She has modest dreams for her daughter. “Aap logon jaise ban jaaye kisi din, yahi chahti hun (all I want is, she becomes like one of you someday).”

But Anyabai’s dreams are bigger.

“I wish to grow up and play like Argentine footballer Lionel Messi,” she said passionately. The girl has plans of taking up social sciences as her subject in class 11 along with language and vocational subjects. “I will study further after class 12, but then I wish to just play and study football after that.”

The young player cheerfully talked about the two big village grounds where she, along with around 200 other girls, goes for a three-hour practice twice every day.

“Girls from other parts of India talk about the grounds in their villages and cities. I also boast of the two big grounds we have here in the village,” she said, excited as a child.

Anyabai recounts the village’s journey which goes back nearly a decade. The then school coach, Gordhan Dass, was busy training boys for kabaddi, a traditional rural sport, when girls began pestering him, and he was forced to indulge them by giving them a football to play with. Anyabai developed a fascination for the game. After that, there was no looking back.Today, it is the boys who are taking inspiration from the girls, who have put Alakhpura on the world map with their remarkable success stories.

According to her mother, Anyabai is a cheerful kid. “She doesn’t talk any nonsense...is a nice kid.” Maya Devi puts on a ghoonghat (veil), covering her head and face, when she moves out of the house. Anyabai finds the veil too heavy for comfort. “The ghoonghat is very heavy... I will never put it,” she laughs.

Gender

May 07-13, 2018 Women BIKERS

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empowerment

Daring Cross-border Bike Road Trip by Four Hyderabadi Women Indian women are breaking records and participating in activities that require courage and a daring attitude

A team of four Hyderabad women, Jai Bharathi, ASD Shanthi, Shilpa Balakrishnan and Piya Bahadur

n Chandrani Banerjee

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set of four daring women bikers from Telangana have completed their 17000 KM long cross-country road trip to promote incredible India. The road trip is aimed to promote adventure and safe travels for women in the region.

The bikers have set off on their eight-week-long expedition to ride across six South-East Asian nations including India, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia through the newly-laid India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral

India Tourism, Telangana Tourism, Bajaj Dominar, Raasta Films, Naavigo and IdentCITY support Road to Mekong Expedition

Highway. The ride, which was flagged off on February 11, 2018, is expected to reach Hyderabad back on April 8, 2018.

A team of four Hyderabad women, Jai Bharathi, ASD Shanthi, Shilpa Balakrishnan and Piya Bahadur are on their 17000 km long cross-country road trip. The women are promoting Incredible India & Telangana Tourism highlighting adventure trips and safe travels for women.

A film crew of four members headed by Sai Kumar Reddy Chinthala of Raasta Films from Hyderabad has been accompanying the riders documenting the whole journey highlighting the culture, people and places across the journey.

The team met former Union Minister Shri Bandaru Dattatreya in the capital. The former minister appreciated the adventurous feet of these four women who are from Telangana after meeting them in New Delhi. On this event, he said it is a proud moment for our country and especially for Telangana state.

“Women presents the real

glimpse of culture, eating habits and dresses of any region. And it adds up when the women are happy.

The contribution is immense and I am glad that women are involved in the project to promote the state” said the former minister.

“This is a lifetime opportunity for us.

The journey has been exciting so far & we have already completed 15500 km. We are thankful to Ministry of Tourism, Govt of India, Telangana Tourism & Raasta Films for extending excellent support for us to take up this adventure. We have been receiving excellent support from tourism departments, embassies and people across all 6 nations. I am sure our road trip will inspire many more women to take up adventure travels says Jai Bharathi, Road Caption of the ride, joined by fellow riders Piya Bahadur, Shilpa Balakrishnan and Shanthi.

Ministry of Tourism with Adventure Tour Operators Association of India has been working together to promote adventure tourism and we have already announced 2018 as year of adventure. India Tourism under MoT is planning various adventure activities during the year focusing Indian Himalayas, Wildlife, Trekking, Skiing, Mountaineering, Water Sports, Dessert Safaris including North East and Jammu and Kashmir. This expedition is a flagship event to promote more adventures among women and youth said a representative of India Tourism.

India Tourism, Telangana Tourism, Bajaj Dominar, Raasta Films, Naavigo and IdentCITY support Road to Mekong Expedition.

A brave journey to create awareness about women’s safety The 3,800-km journey was focused on women empowerment through financial and digital literacy n SSB Bureau

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rishti Bakshi, a gusty woman who undertook a walk from Kanyakumari to Kashmir to create awareness about the security and social status of women in India and their empowerment, ended her journey in Srinagar on Wednesday.

The 3,800-km journey was focused on women empowerment through financial and digital literacy as part of the larger CrossBow Miles movement, in association with the National Commission for Women (NCW) and The Hans Foundation.

Starting her journey on September 15, 2017, Bakshi walked through Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, New Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir for 230 days.

The closing ceremony at Srinagar was conducted at the Delhi Public School after over a 1,000 students walked the last stretch with Bakshi.

Throughout the journey, Bakshi and her team conducted approximately 110 workshops on topics like fundamental rights, women empowerment, gender sensitisation, financial and digital literacy, hygiene, sanitation, leadership amongst others.

“Deep-rooted misogyny and gender stereotyping cannot change overnight. It is a long process of taking small steps in your own life and then moving towards more active volunteerism. The task of walking for a cause everyday ignites the idea of working for change,” she said.

24

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

May 07-13, 2018

Skill India Scheme

A centre of excellence for automobile skill training at ITI Meerut opened by Maruti Suzuki under the Skill India initiative

T

he Skill India Scheme, a definitive vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was launched by the Government of India on July 15, 2015, and coincided with the firstever World Youth Skills Day. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the

chief guest for the event held in the plenary hall of Vigyan Bhavan.

The Skill India logo depicts a clenched hand with a spanner and a pencil, exemplifying empowerment of the individual through skilling.

The spanner and pencil are held together suggesting, that both

Women working at a Dastkar women’s craft co-operative under the Ranthambore Artisan Project in Rajasthan.

skill and general education are at parity and aspirational for India’s youth. The tagline “Kaushal Bharat, Kushal Bharat” suggests that skilling Indians (Kaushal Bharat) will result in a happy, healthy, prosperous and strong nation (Kushal Bharat).

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship launched the National Skill Development Mission and unveiled a National Policy for Skill Development. Two flagship schemes were also launched.

The Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) is a demand-driven, reward-based skilltraining scheme that will incentivise skill training by providing financial rewards to candidates who successfully complete approved skill training programmes.

The Skill Loan Scheme is designed to provide loans ranging from Rs. 5,000 to 1.5 lakh to 34 lakh youth of India seeking to attend skill development programmes over the next five years.

India can become the world’s largest provider of a skilled workforce for the world. In order to prepare for this, there is a need for mapping manpower requirements not just in India, but globally as well.

Prime Minister

Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the launch of the 'Skill India' initiative in New Delhi on July 15, 2015.

May 07-13, 2018

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

25

The Skill India Mission is not merely to fill pockets, but to bring a sense of selfconfidence among the poor. In the coming years, India will be the biggest supplier of workforce to the world. I will form an

army of poor, every poor man is my soldier, we will win this war against poverty on behalf of their strength.

Matching job creation with industry demand is the key to end unemployment.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the launch of Skill India, July 15, 2015

PM Modi with winners of the World Skill Oceania at the launch of Skill India Mission

Mission Statement The National Skill Development Initiative will empower all individuals through improved skills, knowledge, nationally

and internationally recognized qualifications to gain access to decent employment and ensure India’s competitiveness in the global market.

Skilled women workers assembling together air conditioners at the United Technologies air-conditioner plant on November 12, 2014 in Gurgaon, Haryana.

VISION STATEMENT Employees assembling Royal Enfield Classic 350 motorcycles at the Royal Enfield Motors Ltd. factory in Chennai.

Constant updating of training programmes and syllabi to ensure that the youth are exposed to the latest technology and industry environment.

Promotion of both apprenticeship and entrepreneurship. Predict the possibilities of the future and prepare for them in the present itself.

26

Health

May 07-13, 2018

Weight Loss

Aerobic EXERCISE

Higher Aerobic Fitness Can Boost Language Skills In Elderly Older adults frequently have word-finding difficulties and they experience these as particularly irritating and embarrassing

ALL YOU NEED IS A PINCH OF PEPPER Black pepper is loaded with Vitamins A, C, and K, minerals, healthy fatty acids and works as a natural metabolic booster

I

n SSB Bureau

ndian cuisine offers a variety of spices that tingle not only your taste buds, but also impact health positively. Black pepper, which can turn dull dishes into lip-smacking, can help you shed weight.

Black pepper is loaded with Vitamins A, C, and K, minerals, healthy fatty acids and works as a natural metabolic booster which makes it a storehouse of uncountable health benefits, including weight loss. It also contains piperine.

Adding up a little of it in your meal burns calories after eating for hours, prevents the creation of new fat cells and suppresses fat accumulation.

Clinical dietician and Nutritionist Nmami Agarwal and FITPASS’ Dietician and Nutritionist Mehar Rajput, have suggested a few ways to use the spice:

Gulp or chew directly

Those who can tolerate the burning hot flavour of black pepper can consume 1-2 peppercorns directly every morning. This will rev up your metabolism.

Black pepper tea

Add a dash of freshly ground black pepper in tea.

Sprinkle it over fruit and vegetable salad

Use black pepper as a seasoning and simply sprinkle it over your favourite salad. This not only adds an extra flavour to your plate but also aids in weight loss.

Add it your everyday beverage

A pinch of black pepper powder over a buttermilk recipe or summer refreshing masala-mint-lemonade goes a long way in not only shredding extra pounds, but also for a healthy gut and immunity.

Black pepper oil

Add a drop of 100 per cent pure black pepper oil in a glass of plain water and consume it before breakfast or else using it as a salad dressing is another option.

Pepper prevents new fat cells from forming

Pepper helps in reducing fatty acids, triglycerides, phospholipids and Cholesterol level in the plasma and lipid profile. It also helps in elevating the good cholesterol and reducing the formation of new fat cells in the body.

W

n SSB Bureau

hile aerobic exercises, such as walking, running, cycling, are known to confer various health benefits, for the first time researchers have shown that aerobic fitness may also be linked with increased linguistic skills in the elderly.

Older adults frequently have word finding difficulties and they experience these as particularly irritating and embarrassing. It also hinders in maintaining social relationships and independence in old age.

According to the study, published in journal Scientific Reports, older adults’ aerobic fitness levels are directly related to the incidence of age-related language failures such as “tip-of-the-tongue” states.

People in a tip-of-the-tongue state have a strong conviction that they know a word, but are unable to produce it, and this phenomena occurs more frequently as we grow older.

“There are a lot of findings already on the benefits of aerobic fitness and regular exercise, and our

research demonstrates another side of the benefits, namely a relationship between fitness and language skills,” said lead author Katrien Segaert from the University of Birmingham.

Significantly, the degree of decline was found to be related to one’s aerobic fitness. In other words, the higher the older adults’ aerobic fitness level, the lower the probability of experiencing a tip-of-the-tongue state, Segaert added.

The team analysed a small group of healthy adults, with the average age of 70 and 67, on a “tip-of-thetongue” language test, memory test and fitness test (cycling).

While some elderly worry that tipof-the-tongue condition indicates serious memory problems, the results showed it is “a misconception”.

“The tip-of-the-tongue states are not associated with memory loss... instead, it occurs when the meaning of a word is available in our memory, but the sound form of the word can temporarily not be accessed,” Segaert said.

She hoped that the findings would add gravitas to the public health message that regular exercise is important to ensure healthy ageing.

Vrindavan Saga

May 07-13, 2018

Kamala Giri

Quick Glance

She said goodbye to the bruises of life Kamala Giri’s husband, children abandoned her, so she headed Vrindavan

S

he is not a widow, but she is leading a life of one, happily.

This is the story of Tripura’s Kamala Giri. Her life is miles apart yet similar with her fellow in-mates in Sharda Ashram.

Tripura’s Kamala Giri was married at a young age, as was the general trend back in those days, and eventually had two children – a girl and a boy. But her life changed course when the husband left to marry another woman. Kamala was taken aback. Clueless about any such development, her husband’s decision came as a setback to Kamala’s life.

She kept wondering, and sometimes still does, that what was it that went wrong, was it her fault, was it destined to be and if yes, then why her only?

Her children got busy with their

She somehow put the pieces together to give children a fair life

Kamala. The hatred and the neglect broke her down.

Cousin showed the way to Vrindavan

In the midst of all these, one fine day to Kamala’s relief, her cousin visited her from Vrindavan. On seeing Kamala’s condition, she suggested her to accompany her back to Vrindavan and leave this life of misery behind.

Kamal had enough and so she took her sister’s advice and said goodbye to the bruises that the life had to offer her at her son’s place.

On first coming to Vrindavan, Kamala started performing ‘bhajans’ (devotional songs) at Lord Krishna and Radha Rani’s temples. In return she was offered ‘prasad’ which was enough to fill both her stomach and soul.

Husband abandoned her & children

Children did the unspeakable

Kamala’s husband left her and married another woman

The children in turn treated her as dirt when she needed them

n Priyanka Tiwari

Kamala’s husband was a farmer who on drawing curtains to all his relations with Kamala and their two children left nothing behind for the three to survive, not even for the sustenance of the girl and the boy. He instead transferred all his properties in the name of his new wife.

Kamala tells she tried convincing him to return to their family, even asked him to consider their children’s future, but nothing moved him. He was not ready to bend, so finally Kamal had to give up on the hope of having a complete family ever again.

To tackle the economic crisis, and to ensure her children are well fed and raised, Kamala started working as domestic help in various houses.

She ran from post to pillar to make the ends meet, never compromised on the needs of two children and finally married them off thinking she has finally performed all her duties and that it is the son and the daughter’s turn to do their bit for the old mother. But this is where Kamala was wrong.

27 07

Will return to son if possible

married lives. The daughter was happily living in a well-off family and the thought of ‘how her mother is’ was probably the last thing on her mind. As for the son, he somehow had this make believe idea that it was Kamala’s fault that his father left off without leaving any property for him – the ‘rightful heir’.

Her son and daughter-in-law would often beat her because of their day-to-day frustrations. To add to the pain, even her grandchildren would beat her up and never speak to her

with any amount of respect. While recalling the horrifying days, Kamala said that her son and his wife would have their merry meals together and none would bother to even ask her, let alone cook for her. Even on falling ill, there was nobody to ask of her condition and help with medication.

Kamala had imagined herself living with her son and his family whilst loving and taking care of the grandchildren. But things never unravel the way one plans it – at least it never did for

“I have a soft corner for my children, and for that I would travel miles back home to live the life I had imagined”

“I find peace in Vrindavan. Life is much better here. This is why I never returned to my homeland – not that my son or daughter ever called me back,” said Kamala in a low tone.

“I don’t have any grudges. It is good to have a life where you’re not treated like dirt. But yes, I have no grudges. My son and daughter are young, are tangled in the new responsibilities of new phase of life, they are naive. They may have done the unspeakable but I have forgiven them,” she added.

On being asked if given a chance to return to her homeland, to her son, would she consider the choice, “Yes, of course. Why not?

After all that is my homeland and this is my son we’re talking about.

Children commit mistakes but that doesn’t mean parents stop loving them. I have a soft corner for them, and for that I would travel miles back home to live the life I had imagined,” replied Kamala with a weak smile.

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Environment

May 07-13, 2018 climate

Cleanest City In Africa?

Kigali Scrubs Up ‘Kigali the cleanest city or Kigali the greenest city.’ This has now become a general comment to everyone talking about Rwanda

I

n SSB BUREAU

n the rainy season, water used to pour into Dativa Nyiramajyambere’s house on a cheap plot of land in the Kigali suburb of Rugenge. Outside her home, a half-metre-wide hole in the pavement gathered rubbish.

But in 2009, Kigali’s leaders decided to start demolishing slums in the capital’s poor suburbs – those with little access to piped water or electricity – and replace them with new roads and homes.

Nyiramajyambere, who had owned a small milk shop, was given a modest new home on the outskirts of the city. Families like hers also got compensation of $1,500-2,000 to help them settle in.

The move was a first step in what has turned into an ambitious master plan to clean up Kigali – one that has led to the city being hailed as one of the greenest and cleanest in Africa.

Earlier this year, at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, U.N. Environment Programme head Eric Solheim referred to Kigali as the “cleanest city on the planet”, both in terms of lack of rubbish on the streets and green initiatives.

The accolade recognised a combination of government schemes that have made the Rwandan capital much tidier than before, but that also have spurred resistance from many displaced

slum dwellers.

The clean-up effort is in part a response to rapid growth in the capital, which has seen its population double since 1996, to about 1.3 million residents, many of them living in informal settlements, according to the municipal government.

people to use public transport, said Bruno Rangira, a Kigali city spokesman, in an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

As well, the government committed nearly $40 million to relocate several dozen factories in a former wetlands industrial area to a newly established Special Economic Zone.

At the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Eric Solheim referred to Kigali as the “cleanest city on the planet”, both in terms of lack of rubbish on the streets and green initiatives TRAFFIC TO WASTE

In 2013, municipal authorities drew up a master plan to improve the city’s environment while also trying to promote social inclusion, sustainable economic development and access to civic facilities.

One focus was traffic congestion.

To try to alleviate it, the Rwandan government spent $76 million to pave narrow streets, widen all main roads to dual carriageways, and improve signs. It also upgraded bus services between the suburbs and the city centre to encourage

It has also begun to remove nearly 2,100 smaller businesses – from motor repair shops to restaurants – that encroach on the city’s wetlands, with the goal of restoring the land to its natural state by 2020. Parfait Busabizwa, Kigali’s vice-mayor for economic development, told reporters in December that the city wants to create an artificial lake on reclaimed wetlands, for recreation and to protect against flooding, a worsening problem in the city as climate change brings more intense rainfall.

BETTER SERVICES

One goal of the changes in the city is to reach more people with services, but greener ones – such as biogas from sewage, Rangira said.

Key contributors to Kigali’s green push are residents themselves who, like all Rwandan citizens, are required to perform a day of community work, called “umuganda”, once a month.

In the capital, the longestablished workdays focus on things like clearing land for community gardens, picking up rubbish, or helping to build new roads, classrooms or residential toilets for families that lack them.

The city also is trying to set up trash collection sites in all suburban areas and is working with local businesses to install public toilets, Rangira said. In the meantime, Busabizwa said that Kigali, rather than relying primarily on fines to ensure cleanliness, is building awareness campaigns to promote a culture of hygiene.

According to national government statistics, more than 90 percent of households in Kigali now have access to toilets and to clean water. The city also plans to create a new more than $300 million wastewater treatment plant by 2022 in GitiCy’Inyoni, a suburb of Kigali, according to Giselle Umuhumuza, deputy managing director of the government’s Water and Sanitation Corporation.

Teddy Kaberuka, a Kigalibased independent researcher on economic and development issues, said that clean-up efforts – from banning plastic bags to budgeting for city cleaning – have crucially been accompanied by efforts to persuade people of the benefits of the changes.

Even more progress in winning backing for the green push could be made by creating more jobs for cleaners, rubbish collectors, and gardeners, he said.

So far, the Rwanda Utility Regulatory Authority has granted nearly 200 licenses to cleaning services companies, which mostly hire women relocated from shanty towns, according to a 2017 report by the authority.

Nyiramajyambere is one of them, having traded her job as an informal shop owner for one as a street cleaner – something she says has increased her income.

“Thanks to the new job, I can now feed my family and my children are now going to schools,” she said.

Book

May 07-13, 2018 may READ

Five Books To Look Forward To In May 2018

n IANS

I

ts the dull season in the literary space and most known writers are currently doing what they are meant to do -- write. Shuffling between literature festivals and promotional events from mid-September to March, the harsh summer months provide the much-needed space for writers to focus on their craft as their minds are not shattered by constant invitations and events.

Rumour has it that Vikram Seth is about to finish his much awaited sequel to “A Suitable Boy” -- and even publishing insiders are eagerly awaiting it. Namita Gokhale has started working on what she calls “a fascinating novel”, Jeet Thayil, Manu Joseph, Amitava Kumar and Anjum Hasan, among other prominent writers are all absent from the limelight and are, perhaps, silently working on their next offerings.

Meanwhile, here are the five most anticipated books in May 2018:

Daughters of the Sun by Ira Mukhoty (Aleph)

Ira Mukhoty’s last book was the immensely popular and critically acclaimed “Heroines: Powerful Indian Women of Myth and History” and this time she returns with an equally appealing title.

In 1526, when the nomadic Timurid warrior-scholar Babur rode into Hindustan, his wives, sisters, daughters, aunts and distant female relatives travelled with him. These women would help establish a dynasty and empire that would rule India for the next 200 years and become a

byword for opulence and grandeur. By the second half of the 17th century, the Mughal Empire was one of the largest and richest in the world.

The Mughal women unmarried daughters, eccentric sisters, fiery milk mothers and powerful wives often worked behind the scenes and from within the zenana, but there were some notable exceptions among them who rode into battle with their men, built stunning monuments, engaged in diplomacy, traded with foreigners and minted coins in their own names. Others wrote biographies and patronised the arts.

“Daughters of the Sun” is billed as “the very first attempt to chronicle the women who played a vital role in building the Mughal Empire”.

and the pitfalls and prices that come along with its pursuit.

Koi Good News? By Zarreen Khan (HarperCollins)

This “hilarious private journal of a highly public pregnancy” has already been optioned for a feature film by a major production house and has come with rave endorsements. Swati Daftuar, Commissioning Editor at HarperCollins says “Zarreen’s is one of the freshest and most exciting voices in Indian fiction in English that I’ve read in a while.

It’s effortless, irreverent and entirely contemporary. This is the Indian urban life, laid out in all its hilarious glory - warts and all! We’re so glad to be publishing her.”

When Mona Mathur of Dehradun married her college sweetheart, Ramit Deol of Amritsar, there were two things she wasn’t prepared for: 1. The size of the Deol family -- it put any Sooraj Barjatya movie to shame. 2. The fertility of the Deol family -- they reproduced faster than any other species known to mankind. It’s been four years since their wedding, and Mona and Ramit have done the unthinkable - they’ve remained childless. Of course, that also means that they’ve battled that one question day in and day out: ‘Koi Good News?’

Now, the truth is, Ramit and Mona had been trying to conceive for the past one year. But having a baby isn’t as easy as it’s made out to be. Finally, aided by the wine at their highly glamorous neighbours’ party, Mona gets pregnant.

And so begins a crazy journey -complete with interfering relatives, nosy neighbours, disapproving doctors, and absolutely no privacy!

29 07

1,500 years. Today, these erstwhile cities remain as neighbourhoods with remarkable character -Siri, Jahanpanah, Tughlaqabad, Firozabad, Dinpanah, Shergarh and Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti -- giving Delhi a unique soul incomparable to other state capitals. In The Forgotten Cities of Delhi, Rana Safvi takes us on exploratory trails of the remains of these cities -- monuments and tombs that have survived the onslaught of urbanization and apathy - and gives us a soulful introduction to their histories, blending her narrative with stirring Sufi couplets.

The result is an in-depth tour that’s full of awe and pathos, and makes us marvel at remnants from an era that was possibly the richest in Delhi’s archaeological history - an era of kings and courtiers, poets and saints, princesses and philosophers.

Life Over Two Beers and Other Stories by Sanjeev Sanyal (Penguin)

An entertaining and surprising ride through an India you thought you knew Sanjeev Sanyal, bestselling author of Land of the Seven Rivers, returns to enthral readers with a collection of unusual stories. Written with Sanjeev’s trademark flair, the stories crackle with irreverence and wit. In ‘The Troll’, a presumptuous blogger faces his undoing when he sets out to expose an internet phenomenon. In the title story, a young man loses his job in the financial crisis and tries to reset his life over two beers. In ‘The Intellectuals’, a foreign researcher spends some memorable hours with

The Glass House by Chanchal Sanyal (Rupa)

What makes a house a home?

College professor M.B. and his designer wife, Roshni, are a yuppie couple living in the ever-expanding, smog-encrusted, roiling city of Delhi. They have finally achieved their dream of buying their own apartment-in an up and coming builder’s complex in Gurgaon (now Gurugram).

The problem is, it looks like it is going to be up and coming for a while.

Along with this woe come tumbling a hundred others. M.B. is sure his wife’s growing distance and disaffection has less to do with the stalling on the house front, and more because she is finding solace in the arms of Rocky, the stud son of their Punjabi landlord.

A darkly comic take on the big, bad city of Delhi, its many moods and characters, “The Glass House” presents a look into the ideals of urban happiness,

The Forgotten Cities of Delhi by Rana Safvi (HarperCollins) After the conquest of Delhi by Mohammad of Ghor, many dynasties ruled over it. Each of them either built a new capital or expanded the existing one, giving Delhi a living history of over

Kolkata’s ageing intellectuals. From the vicious politics of a Mumbai housing society to the snobbery of Delhi’s cocktail circuit, the stories in Life over Two Beers get under the skin of a rapidly changing India-and leave you chuckling.

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Literature

May 07-13, 2018 Moral

A Coin For the Needy…

A

Sage was passing through the capital city of the famous king. While he was walking, he noticed a single currency coin on the road. He picked it up. He was satisfied with his simple living and he had no use of that coin. So, he planned to donate it to the one who is in need of it. He strolled around the

streets throughout the day but didn’t find anyone such. Finally, he reached the rest area and spent a night there.

Next morning, he wakes up in the morning for his daily activities and sees that a king is going for his invasion of another state with his war ready army. When the king saw the sage standing, he ordered his army

no one such. Everyone was living a happy life. It seemed that they were satisfied with what they had. So I found no one to give this coin. But today, the king of this state, still have the desire to gain more and not satisfied with what he already has, I felt you were in need of this coin.”

The King realized his mistake and gave up the planned war.

to be stopped. He came to the Sage and said, “Oh Great Sage, I am going to war to win another state so that my state can be expanded. So bless me to be victorious”.

After thinking, Sage gave a single currency coin to the king! The king was confused and annoyed with this because what use he has for a single coin while he is already one of the richest kings! He curiously asked a sage, “what’s the meaning of this one coin?”

A Sage explained, “Oh Great King!

I found this coin yesterday while strolling around the streets of your capital city. But I had no use of it. So, I had decided that I will donate it to someone needy. I strolled around till the evening in your capital, but found

Moral: We all should learn to be happy with what we have. Yes, we all desire more or better than we already have, but do not waste a chance of enjoying what you already have. There are those who may not have what you have, and there will be some who have lots more than you have. Do not always compare, be happy and lead a healthy life.

(Courtesy: Moralstories26)

” He put the sword back and said, This is my answer”. I know God Loves me, and the storm is in His hands SO WHATSOEVER IS GOING TO HAPPEN IS GOING TO BE GOOD. If we survive, good; if

we don’t survive, good, because everything is in His hands and He cannot do anything wrong.

Moral: Develop Trust. This is the trust which one needs to imbibe. and which is capable of transforming your whole life. Any less won’t do!

Inspirational

Trust in God A

man just got married and was returning home with his wife.

They were crossing a lake in a boat, when suddenly a great storm arose. The man was a warrior, but the woman became very much afraid because it seemed almost hopeless: The boat was small and the storm was really huge, and any moment they were going to be drowned. But the man sat silently, calm and quiet, as if nothing was happening.

The woman was trembling and she said, “Are you not afraid ?”. This may be our last moment of life! It doesn’t seem that we will be able to reach the other shore. Only some miracle can save us; otherwise death is certain.

Are you not afraid? Are you mad or something? Are you a stone or something?

The man laughed and took the sword out of its sheath. The woman was even more puzzled: What he was doing? Then he brought the naked sword close to the woman’s neck, so

close that just a small gap was there, it was almost touching her neck.

He said,” Are you afraid?”

She started to laugh and said,” Why should I be afraid? If the sword is in your hands, why I should be afraid? I know you love me.

Events

May 07-13, 2018

events & more...

ACROSS 2. Which is the number one, most expensive cost of running a car?

3. Lamborghini started its business by producing what?

4. Who owns Lamborghini now?

10. Toyota Fortuner is based on Toyota’s which model?

14. The first car company, who forgot to keep reverse gear?

15. When Audi AG did acquire Lamborghini?

17. Name the fastest production car in 2018?

19. First company to use bike engine and develop a car around it, name it 20. What was the first car that was put into production and sold?

Delhi, Lodhi Road, Near Airforce Bal Bharati School, New Delhi May 13 | 7:30PM

SSB crossword no. 21

events

Toba Tek Singh Venue: Amphitheatre, Indian Habitat Centre,

DOWN

SOLUTION of crossword no.20

Darr Mat Bey, A Standup Trial Solo Venue: Playground Comedy Studio

C-2, Basement, SDA Market, New Delhi - 110016, Block C 5, Hauz Khas Enclave, Hauz Khas, New Delhi May 18 | 8PM

Thaikkudam Bridge Venue: Hard Rock Cafe, Gurgaon

DLF Cyber Hub, Unit No. 4/5/104/105, Ground And First Floor, DLF City Phase III, Gurgaon, Haryana May 19 | 8:30PM

VIVO IPL 2018 - Match 52 - DD vs. Chennai Super Kings Venue: Feroz Shah Kotla Ground, Delhi

31

1.Lawn tennis 2.Kerala 3.Andhra Pradesh 4.White Tiger 5.Karnataka 6.Celluloid 7.Rupaya 8.Australia 9.Aurangzeb

10. Manipur 11. Coimbatore 12. TCS 13. Swaziland 14. Lord Ripon 15. Mercury 16. 72 17. April 21 18. Hallucinogen 19. Vaishnavism

Jawaharlal Nehru Marg, Raj Ghat, Feroze Shah Kotla, Vikram Nagar, New Delhi May 18 | 8PM solution of sudoku-20

1. 7 grill designs is a patent to which car brand?

5. Adolf Hitler mostly travelled in which car brand?

6. Which car model was specially created on Adolf Hitler demand?

7. Biggest monster truck ever produced by which brand?

8. Which type of petrol engine is presently used by Suzuki?

9. 10X Series names, as it was patented to them. Name the brand 11. Thrust I and II created land speed record for which country?

12. The first automobile patent in the United States was in what decade?

13. What type engine does a Bugatti Veyron have?

16. Which company sells the most sold car (by 2012)?

18. The first car run on gasoline was invented in which country?

sudoku-21

Bhokal Tight Hai, A Standup Solo Venue: Playground Comedy Studio, C-2, Basement, SDA Market, New Delhi - 110016, Block C 5, Hauz Khas Enclave, Hauz Khas, New Delhi May 19 | 6PM & 8PM

on the lighter side by DHIR

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

32

POSTAL REGISTRATION NO. DL(W)10/2240/2017-19

Newsmakers

May 07-13, 2018

unsung hero

Dhaval Udani

DanaMojo Helps NGOs Receive Donations With a small team of 5 members, DanaMojo has big dreams and wishes to change the manner in which donations are made in India

D

haval Udani, an alumnus of IIM (Ahmedabad), seems to think so!

Recognising the need to have a platform that assists NGOs in accepting payments and fulfilling all their requirements, Dhaval, an alumnus of IIM (Ahmadabad) founded DanaMojo, a one-of-its-kind portal that provides a smart and intuitive payment platform which works for both NGOs and their donors. The platform started off two years ago with about 60 NGOs and today, more than 500 NGOs have signed up with them.

“For donors to keep donating, it is important that the NGO engages with them. The idea of DanaMojo germinated from this thought, in an attempt to try and bring together NGOs and their donors,” he said.

From the beginning itself, the platform wanted to connect NGOs directly with the donors and facilitate a seamless conversation and engagement “One of the first steps in that direction was to create a platform through which donors could pay seamlessly to the NGOs,” he

says.

The process of making an online payment itself is fraught with difficulties getting an 80G on time, and the general unresponsiveness by NGOs add to the problems. It becomes difficult for the NGOs to start addressing these issues because on most occasions they have bandwidth constraints and leveraging technology to their advantage isn’t their strong point.

Therefore not being able to service the donor’s leads to lack of engagement and that in turn means lesser donations coming their way. DanaMojo provides both online (credit card, debit card, net-banking, mobile wallets, EMI, UPI) and offline (cheque pickup facility in 1000+ cities) modes for the collection of donations.

It ensures that the NGOs can focus solely on utilising the donations and continue their fundraising activities, rather than work on managing these payment processes, and takes care of areas like operations, technology, and systems.

Durishetty Anudeep

Have Failed Thrice Before, Jouney Was Not Easy UPSC Topper, explained that his journey to crack the civil services examination was not an easy one

T

he Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on April 27, declared the final results of Civil Service examinations 2017. Hyderabad’s Anudeep Durishetty has topped the list.

On cracking one of the toughest recruitment exams, Anudeep Durishetty said that his journey was not an easy one.

“This is my fifth attempt. I have failed thrice before, and the journey was not easy for me.

However, I am now extremely happy with my achievement, and I am grateful to everyone who supported me through thick and thin,” he said.

28-year-old Anudeep, who has served as an

Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer for two years, bagged the first rank in the civil services preliminary examination which was conducted on June 18, 2017. While the Telangana candidate topped the list, Anu Kumari from Sonipat came second, while Sachin Gupta stood third.

Talking about her achievement, an elated Anu said ensuring the safety of women in the country would be her top priority.”My first preference is to be an IAS officer, as I would like to stay in India and serve the country.

My top priority would be to tackle matters related to safety of women in the country. I want all women across India to feel safe,” she said.

Chandan Kumar

A Wall Support For Many Students

In the battle against child traffickers, Chandan Kumar Maiti is the true Superhero

S

outh 24 Parganas, amongst other districts in West Bengal, tops the national list in child and human trafficking. Young, hapless girls are married off, to older men in Haryana, Punjab, Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir.

Children, who are pulled out of school to get married at a young age, face a bleak future the Krishnachandrapur High School, situated in the idyllic South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, has several interesting stories to tell, all thanks to its fiery headmaster, Chandan Kumar Maiti, who goes above and beyond of what is required of him.

He not only assists his students in every way he can but also helps save lives. In June 2017, a teenage girl from rural Bengal gave triple talaq to her husband, who opposed her wish to study. Her father, a tea stall owner, immediately married her off, even though she was just a Class IX student. The girl was slowly sucked into the wormhole of household chores her in-laws heaped on her, in an attempt to discourage her from studying.

On a visit to her parents’ home, the girl decided to stay on.

She got admitted to the Krishnachandrapur High School, and her determination impressed Maiti, who waived her admission and tuition fees.

In May 2017, the headmaster foiled a marriage plan involving a Class X student of his school, who happened to be a Kanyashree aid recipient. An anonymous letter, spilling the wedding plan beans, reached Maiti’s office. The headmaster immediately informed the cops, and Mujibur Rehman, the BDO, who reached the girl’s house. When their suspicions were confirmed, the authorities declared the marriage couldn’t happen.

When the girl’s family voiced concern about societal stigmas, the headmaster offered to take up the child’s education costs, and get her admitted into a hostel. In the same month, Maiti played guardian angel to a student, who lacked the funds to study and had to help his father in the fields. The boy would have given up studies in Class VII, but Maiti took him in, and even admitted him into the hostel, to ensure that his education did not suffer. A 15-year-old girl was reportedly married off to a 50-year-old man in the Kashmir valley, forcibly. When the girl escaped from confinement and made her way back to South 24 Parganas, her father allegedly refused to acknowledge her.

The girl approached Maiti and submitted a written complaint to him, which the headmaster sent to the Mathurapur Police Station, and to the Block Development office. Since the girl’s parents have denounced her, Maiti has allowed her to stay in the school’s hostel.

With tremendous risk to himself, and to the children involved, the dutiful headmaster goes beyond just books, to help students. He understands the importance of education, which can be the sole tool to empower these kids so that they leave dangerous environments and times behind, and can build a future.

RNI No. DELENG/2016/71561, Joint Commissioner of Police (Licensing) Delhi No. F. 2 (S-45) Press/ 2016 Volume - 2, Issue - 21 Printed by Monika Jain, Published by Monika Jain on behalf of SULABH SANITATION MISSION FOUNDATION and Printed at The Indian Express Ltd., A-8, Sector-7, NOIDA (U.P.) and Published from RZ 83, Mahavir Enclave, Palam-Dabri Road, New Delhi – 110 045. Editor Monika Jain