Work of Girish Kumar Dubey: December 2010

Monday, December 6, 2010

River Ganga conservation campaign

By Girish Kumar Dubey

Tuesday, November 16, 2010, 16:00[IST]

Varanasi, Nov 16 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh Police have organized a campaign from Haridwar to Varanasi to create awareness among people to save the River Ganga.

The campaign was initiated by the personnel of the Uttar Pradesh police in which personnel of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Border Security Force (BSF) were also included.

"There is lack of awareness among people and Ganga is becoming more and more polluted. As it is a heritage possession of our elders, so we are trying to spread awareness among people to keep the river clean," said Deep Chand Yadav, PAC official.

"At a few places the river is clean but at few places it's very dirty. Polythene and dead animals are flowing in the river. So, at every bank, with the help of the locals, we tried our best to clean the river," said Maan Singh, a policeman.

In recent years, non-stop inflow of untreated civic waste and industrial effluents has turned the Ganga into a polluted water body.

The Government has planned to end discharge of untreated waste into the Ganga by 2020.

Though the Union Government enacted Ganga Action Plan in 1985 to clean the river, much of the action seems to have confined to papers. (ANI)

Dozens injured as Samajwadi party activists clash with police in Varanasi

By Girish Kumar Dubey

Thursday, October 23, 2008 6:10:50 PM by ANI ( Leave a comment )

Varanasi, Oct 23 (ANI): Dozens including women were injured when Samajwadi party activists demonstrating against Mayawati Government clashed with police here today.
Police baton charged and used water canons to disperse the party workers who were staging a demonstration.
Samajwadi party, which was dislodged from power in the state by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) during last elections, has been accusing Mayawati as "anti development."
As per reports, police asked party workers to be calm as they were raising slogans against Mayawati as part of their three-day statewide campaign.

Police arrested about 150 party workers during the clashes.
Those injured have been sent to a nearby hospital.
Samajwadi party launched the statewide campaign against the Mayawati government following cancellation of the land allotment for a much hyped rail coach factory in Congress party President Sonia Gandhi''s Rae Bareli constituency.
On Sunday, Mayawati had announced cancellation of land allotment, a day before Gandhi was to attend a rally for a ground-breaking ceremony.

State authorities had cited resentment among displaced farmers as the reason for the cancellation of the land deal.
Mayawati said that the railway coach factory in Rae Bareli was part of a political conspiracy to mislead the poor, specially the residents of the constituency.

On Monday, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had directed the state and the Centre to maintain the status quo on the land allotted to the Railways for setting up of a rail coach factory in Rae Bareli.
Although the state government has reversed its decision, the Congress party''s hope of getting the project off the ground well before the Parliament elections are announced seems doomed. (ANI)

People offer special prayers after River Ganges is declared National River

By Girish Kumar Dubey

Monday, November 10, 2008 6:38:26 PM by ANI ( Leave a comment )

Varanasi, Nov 10 (ANI): Thousands of people offered special prayers in Varanasi on Sunday after the holy river Ganges got the status of country''s first national river.

Country''s Central government declared the river Ganges first national river on Tuesday with a separate authority to monitor its cleanliness.

Seers including head of the Jyotish and Dwaraka Pith Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand performed rituals amidst chanting of sacred hymns.

Swaroopanand expressed happiness over Government''s gesture, which would mean better and concerted efforts for cleaning the river battling pollution.

I want to convey my thanks to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on declaring Ganges a national river. I also want to say that by doing that he has won hearts of many countrymen and he will find an immortal place in the history. We now want him to accelerate pace of activities intended to clean the water of the Ganges, said Swaroopanand.

The residents are also upbeat and expect that the initiative will help their campaign for clean Ganges.

Now we feel that this step will help in cleaning the water of the Ganges and we would get the Ganges as clean as the one in Himalayas, said Asha Aggarwal, a resident.

The Prime Minister will chair the proposed Authority and Chiefs of the states through which the river flows would be its members.

Various agencies working on different aspects of river conservation and pollution management would be brought together under the proposed authority.

Environmentalists and scientists in India are concerned as the pollution levels in the river have reached alarming proportions.

Ganga or the Ganges, which finds a mention in mythological as well as historical texts, is in a pitiable condition.

The banks of the river present an ironical picture. On the one hand religious activities like prayers, recital of hymns and fire-rituals take place. On the other, heaps of garbage lies unattended.

One of the major causes of polluting the river is the cremation of human bodies on the banks of the river, the practice of throwing bodies into the river and immersion of flowers and other articles into the Ganga after performing religious rituals.

Hindus immerse the ashes of their deceased or just leave the bodies to be taken away by the "holy waters" to a heavenly abode.

Nearly 88 per cent of the pollution originates in 27 cities located along the banks of River Ganga and its tributaries.

Industrial effluents account for a quarter of the entire rubbish being thrown and pumped into these rivers.

Domestic and industrial pollution, combined with deforestation, use of pesticides and fertilisers and other factors, have rendered the water of River Ganga unfit for drinking. (ANI)

Tibetan robes in great demand in Varanasi

By Girish Kumar Dubey

Thursday, December 11, 2008 5:32:21 PM by ANI ( Leave a comment )

Varanasi, Dec 11 (ANI) Varanasi, famous for silk, is fast emerging as a market for the traditional Tibetan robes.
Tibetan robes made of brocket cloth and peacock feather has been given a special place in Buddhist religion. The Buddhist monks consider it as a holy cloth and use it in every religious activity and ceremony.
According to the exporters, the demand of robes made of peacock feathers is high in foreign countries and fetch a good deal of foreign clients.
"Peacock feather is in great demand in foreign countries and the Tibetan use it in their religious works also," said Badruddin Ansari, an exporter.
The main source of income for the weavers involved in the making of these robes comes from the sale of brocket cloth and regular export helps them to earn their livelihood. According to the Buddhist monks, the cloth is so pristine that to wear it, a man has to prove his qualities. Only monks of high status in Buddhist religion can use it.
"Varanasi silk cloth is very famous and it has been given high status in our religion, so a common man can"t use it. There should be some merits for a man to use it. It is mainly used in Chatpadu, Tibetan Lohsan, religious functions and programmes," said Karma, a Buddhist monk.
Tibetan exiles set up makeshift shops every year for two months at various places in India as winter approaches and make brisk sales at reasonable prices. (ANI)

Moral crisis responsible for global economic woes: Dalai Lama

By Girish Kumar Dubey

Wednesday, January 14, 2009 5:46:02 PM by ANI ( Leave a comment )

Varanasi, Jan.14 (ANI): Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama has said that a moral crisis in the world is to blame for the global economic woes. Selfishness and a lack of spirituality and culture in the world were key causes for the current crisis in the world''s financial markets, he told Buddhist students in Varanasi.

The 73-year-old Nobel peace prize winner said people had forgotten how their own fortunes and those of others were connected.

"People have become selfish and materialistic, which has led to the economic slowdown," said the Dalai Lama at a gathering of 20,000 students at the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies.

He said the solution was in recognising our interdependence, valuing education and protecting the natural environment.

He said that people needed to be less interested in consumerism, less selfish and to understand that if we want to survive and be happy, everyone must survive together. (ANI)

Handloom weavers protest in Varanasi against Chinese imitations flooding Indian markets

Handloom weavers protest in Varanasi against Chinese imitations flooding Indian markets
By Girish Kumar Dubey

Thursday, November 06, 2008 9:08:30 PM by ANI ( Leave a comment )

Varanasi , Nov 6 (ANI): Scores of handloom weavers took to streets on Thursday in Varanasi , famous for its world renowned Banarasi sarees, against the cheap quality Chinese imitation products flooding the market.

The Banarasi saree, named after Varanasi ''s old name, Banaras , is the city''s most famous export item.

The Banarasi saree that became popular during the Mughal era, is a cottage industry for millions of people around Varanasi .

The Banarsi saree industry has also been adversely affected due to the import of cheap Chinese fabric, official reports say.

Powerloom owners have been producing cheap imitation products at various places, helped by computer-assisted copying of designs. According to protestors cheap imitation products are doing roaring business while highly skilled weavers who produce the original product suffer.

When weavers had less work, some women weavers shifted to zardozi but there too their livelihood prospects were dimmed by the import of a Chinese machine.

The weavers lamenting loss in business due to imitations of the Banarasi sarees being sold at less prices, said they were forced to take to streets to make their pleas heard to the authorities.

Earlier we used to do good business in Banarasi sarees, but slowly it started falling, because of the Chinese sarees which are being sold at lesser price than our sarees. Banarasi sarees require more labour, money and expensive raw material, but people are selling imitation of Banarasi sarees in cheap quality Chinese material, so our business is being affected badly. After facing lot of hardship we have today decided to take to streets as for how long can we go on living in penury? said Razia Begum, a protester.

The weavers also want the government to award patent to the Banarasi sarees, in order to save them from cheap imitations.

The weavers also sent a memorandum to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh with their list of demands.

The business has seen a major slump in last few years, forcing many weavers to adopt alternative livelihood like working as construction worker, or pulling rickshaw or migrating to other cities in search of work.

According to data available through Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) working with the weavers, the number of people employed in the once thriving industry has reduced from around 700,000 people to 250, 000 people only. (ANI)