HAPPY DIWALI- ALSO FOR THE RAGPICKERS ?

TIMES NEWS NETWORK



New Delhi: As the Central Market at Lajpat Nagar shimmered and everyone went about shopping and eating out with family, 10-yearold Dipak pushed through the crowd with a sackful of rags on his shoulder. Diwali is serious business for ragpickers like him for this is when they make that extra buck with gift wrappings, cardboard containers and disposable plastic strewn all over the place.
Dipak starts his day as early as 5am and leaves his house in Badarpur to collect the rags before Central Market opens. Festival time means more work for the wrappings disposed of by shopkeepers are better in quality. The day’s collections from the sale of these waste items gets the children anywhere between Rs 50 to Rs 100 on an average. Festival days are, however, special and rags can fetch anywhere up to Rs 150 a day.
Rahul, 12, comes from Madanpur Khadar to Central Market with his grandmother to sift out useful waste from the lanes of the market.
He said that the collection of plastic wrappings has gone down this time due to the plastic ban. Ragpickers earn up to Rs 150 during festivals as compared to Rs 50-150 on normal days




Festival means boom time for city ragpickers
A vacant parking space in the middle of the market reveals the Diwali collection of these ragpickers. On the eve of the festival the children and their guardians were seen going through large sacks of waste items. From used glasses, plates, empty bottles, cardboard wrappings to ropes and containers, the sacks stock almost every piece of useful waste collected through the day. While Moushmi’s mother sorted the waste, the five-year-old giggled away smashing and rolling a used plastic glass a shopper threw along the way. For these children, life revolves around waste.
Ten-year-old Zakir who had a busy day in crowded Sarojini Nagar market pointed that after the market closes the collection process will pick up as that’s the time when the police doesn’t chase them away.
The buzz and the glamour of the markets is in absolute contrast to their lives, but these ragpickers perform their roles focussing only on the road below watching out for every small piece of waste that can get them money.
Ragpickers earn up to Rs 150 (approx 2 Euro) during festivals as compared to Rs 50-150 (approx 1- 2 euro)on normal days

A more cynical news paper article is indeed hard to find

HALF OF INDIA'S CHILDREN MALNOURISHED

As the world observes World Food Day on Friday, India, with 47 per cent of its children under the age of six malnourished, ranks below countries like Bangladesh and Nepal on the state of hunger, a report says.


According to the report by ActionAid, an international NGO, India stood at the 22nd spot amongst a list of 51 countries, like Australia, Britain, the US, Nepal and Bangladesh.



India's case showed a lot of contrasts. While the country ranked amongst the first three developing countries on the indicator for social protection, because of poor implementation over 30 million Indians have joined the ranks of hungry since mid-1990s, the study revealed.

Babu Matthew, country director for ActionAid India, said: "The dark side of India's economic growth has been that the excluded social groups have been further marginalised, compounding their hunger, malnutrition and even leading to starvation deaths."

Meanwhile, China has been able to cut numbers of its hungry people by 58 million in ten years through strong state support for small farmers, the report said.

The ActionAid report said that India has some of the best legislations for social protection amongst the developing nations on nutrition, free school meals, employment guarantee, and food subsidy for the poor and pension for vulnerable groups.

However, talking about poor implementation of laws and schemes which results in them becoming futile for the common man, Amar Joyti Nayak, food rights head of the NGO, said: "Implementation remains a massive challenge in the absence of recognition of rights of the poor".

"Entitlements have to be delivered on the ground by empowering the communities and enforced earnestly with greater political will by the government," he said.

"In a year when poor are reeling under crop loss due to droughts and floods in India, focus must be on supporting agriculture, especially subsistence and women farmers," Nayak added.

The report said that although the farm loan waiver enabled a boost in investment to agriculture in 2008, longer term interventions are required. Delay in payment of wages through the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) further ails those who have been already starving.


Jellema said: "Massive and urgent support to poor farmers, and social welfare programmes for vulnerable groups, are needed to reverse growing global hunger. At the World Food Summit next month, donor countries need to announce an additional 23 billion dollars to support these measures."

From IBN LIVE Network

THE DORMITORY TRUCK

The picture was taken at the centre of Nasik, but is typical for all India, not respecting any security rules , one sharp break and they will all be on the floor with risk of live !!!

GURGAON ONE HEALTH CLUB - LE CLUB SOIGNEE

The health club or gym is very well equipped with all machines and tools to activate the muscles after a day in the front of the laptop. And of coarse some beautifull ladies are visiting the club too. Obviously they are not happy with the smell of sweat bodies are producing so they decided to make deodorant use as a recommendation.

Next recommendation maybe use SOIR DE PARIS of CHANNEL before entering or FORBIDDEN TO SWEAT.
I think if everybody would put a fresh shirt and training suite that would help a lot in a country where each corner smells for urine and continious during walking you have to take care where to put the feet in the shit or on the ground.

TRIMBAKHESHWAR THE GATE TO SHIVA

Trimbakeshwar is situated approx 30 Km in the NW of Nasik on a road passing the astonishing formations of the Western Gath.



The holy spot is dedicated to Shiva and the city is almost completly occoupied by the pelgrim tourist. The temple must have been very beautiful but as was the case in Nasik , urgently need renovation. Unfortunately , not being Hindu I was not allowed to enter the temple, therefore only pictures from the surrounding. In the back of the temple is a wonderful lake showing some far away asram or temple or even mosque and the scene of the Western Ghats.

THE BEAUTIES OF NASIK AND THE SUSPICIOUS SWAMI

NASIK, PANCHAVATI AND GODAVARY GHAT RAM KUND

The city of Nashik on the banks of the Godavari River impregnated with history and religious tradition. Located on the western edge of the Deccan peninsula, Nashik had always been a centre of religion, dating back to 1st century BC when Buddhist monks resided here.
According to popular legend, Lord Rama and his wife Sita resided here for sometime during his 14 years of exile from the kingdom of Ayodhya.
At that spot several temples can be visited all of them in more or less desperated conditions due to lack of renovations and encroachments.
The city is also famous for its growing wine industry, so much so that Nashik is often called the Wine Capital of India. Punctuated by temples, forts, wineries and an equal number of industrial units, Nashik is an eclectic blend of old and new. In fact, it is the third largest industrial township in Maharashtra after Mumbai and Pune. Today, it exports grapes, roses, tomatoes and strawberries amongst other things.

THE RUBY GANESHA

In the mineralogical museum in Sinnar is also on display a statue of Gansha complete out of a ruby monolith. I was told that the carving proces took several months and a lot of diamond tools werew used- up since the hardness of ruby is coming close to diamond.
The statue is estimated on several 100,000 euro

THE MINERALOGICAL (CRYSTAL) MUSEUM IN SINNAR

On the way from Nasik towards Pune shortly after leaving the suburns of Nasik, Sinnar is located. In Sinnar only few kilometers from the main road is the surprising GARGOTI museum. Here I could admire the biggest crystal collection of my live. The crystal in display originating mostly from the local mines and surrounding cities in Maharasta. For educational purposes also a broad overview of crystals form all over the world are shown in 2 uge vitrines.
The general manager of the museum was so friendly to give my explanations about the crystals and to my surprise here I learned that the druse (geodes) are not detected by specialist looking for the form of the stones but mostly show up already broken- up after explosions for mining.
I realy recommend this museum, where I spent 2 fantastic hours. The museum also has a shop where smaller druse and jewels from differnt gemstones are for purchase.

























Address: Gargoti, D59 MIDC, Malegaon, Sinnar, Nassik, 422103

for more information:
www.superbminerals.com
www.gargoti.com
email: info@suberbminerals.com