Prime minister to visit Somnath on October 31 Monday, October 15, 2001
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
AHMEDABAD: Prime Minister Vajpayee will participate in the concluding golden jubilee year celebration of the 'Pran Pratishtha' of Jyotirling at the historic Somnath temple on October 31.
Chief Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Delhi, had extended the invitation to the prime minister to attend the function, which Vajpayee promptly accepted.
The function coincides with the celebration of the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Iron Man of India who first planned the renovation of the Somnath temple.
His dream was realised on May 11, 1951. Union home minister L K Advani, who is a devotee of the Lord Somnath, will also attend.
The Somnath Trust had organised a year-long programme for the celebration of the golden jubilee year which concluded on May 11.
But due to the devastating earthquake, the celebration function was deferred to October 31. Gujarat is also celebrating the 125th birth anniversary of the Sardar.
Vajpayee will also dedicate the drinking water project for the people and the coastal areas along the Arabian Sea near the Somnath temple in memory of late prime minister Morarji Desai. Later, he will address a public rally.
News Source : The Times of India [India's best Newspaper]
Demand for thrillers rise after WTC attacks Monday, October 15, 2001
BY NARANDAS THACKER, TIMES NEWS NETWORK
RAJKOT: The fall-out of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in the US capital is visible with the escalating sale of thriller books in Rajkot these days.
During the last one month, since the September 11 terrorist attacks, the reading tastes of the people of Rajkot has undergone a sea change.
Normally, Rajkotians do not spend much on buying books. Most of them would prefer to spend on their favourite 'paan' rather than on books. 'Paan' shops in every locality attracts lots of people, from morning till midnight.
But, not so with the book shops or book stalls, which in normal times hardly do normal business, not to speak of brisk business!
However, things have taken an interesting turn of late. People have evinced interest in books on spying, thrillers and astrology. Nostradamus' books are in great demand.
Similarly, the special issue of the 'Time' magazine is also in good demand. Booksellers confide this was rather an unusual phenomenon. They feel it may be a temporary phase.
Whether the trend to buy and read books indicates any major shift on the approach of the people and the trend continues to stay in the coming days, remains to be seen.
The current year has been designated as the 'Year of Books' by the government of India, but hardly has any institution taken note of it.
The only exception seems to be the Sister Nivedita School of Rajkot, which is always in the forefront of education in Saurashtra and Gujarat.
It has been relentlessly carrying on the campaign to popularise the book-reading habit. Ushaben Jani and Gulabbhai Jani, the couple running this educational institution, has implemented a number of innovative ideas and schemes over the last two decades.
One of them is the regular interaction on books. The Janis invite those interested in book reading and discuss their impressions every Wednesday.
The day is called 'Granth Goshti' (interaction on books). Some 40 to 50 people participate in the 'Goshti', with most of them being regulars.
The interaction covers a wide range of books, from poetry to prose, essays to fictions, travelogues to philosophy, spiritual to educational, and what not.
The group may be small, but its impact is widespread, as participants belong to various walks of life.
Sister Nivedita School also organises field programmes called 'Vachan Shibirs' in the quiet, sylvan surroundings of rural areas, far from the hustle and bustle of city life.
The school owns a van, donated by a foreign agency, known as the 'School on Wheels' that takes books to the doorsteps of the people in rural areas.
A recent survey indicated that people in Rajkot do not prefer to spend money on buying books. As such, the booksellers say, with the inroads made by the electronic media in the last few years, hardly 25 per cent of the people show interest in reading.
And those having an urge for reading books take recourse to the public libraries, which were lying 'idle' in the recent past. But, now the libraries are active with the new breed of readers like students, senior citizens etc.
The survey revealed that since books are costly, those who want to read the same would enrol themselves as members in these libraries, which offer them 'rich fare' at a nominal cost.
Students mostly go for books on computers, personality development and the like, while others go for books on ayurveda and vastushastra. The most popular ones are novels -- both Gujarati and English.
The booksellers agree that after the launch of the 'Kaun Banega Croreparti' last year, the sale of books on general knowledge has picked up considerably. And here there is no age bar! People of all age groups purchase books on general knowledge.
Coming to specific age groups' tastes, the booksellers aver that youngsters mostly opt for books on computer training and management, while those above 40 go for books on philosophy, psychology and serious subjects like yoga.
However, the survey says the reading habit and reading interest, which had dwindled in the last few years in the wake of the advent of TV channels, has been revived.
Another notable feature is the rising trend of reading is that the younger generation is in the forefront in this respect. Librarians at some public libraries vouch for this and say the majority of their new clients are in their twenties.
Again, this age group has preference for books on spying, thrillers and mysteries apart from books on computers and management.
The demand for the books on religion, social affairs, poetry etc., has also gone up, though not on a large scale. But the trend does show that the reading trend is making inroads again.
Perhaps, this new trend indicates the inner urge of the people that there is no other alternative to reading.
News Source : The Times of India [India's best Newspaper]
Palanpur :: Dantiwada hosts veterinarians' symposium Monday, October 15, 2001
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
PALANPUR: "We have left only four per cent of land for grazing animals as against 40 per cent in pre-independent India," said veterinary scientist and deputy director general of animal sciences, Indian Council of Agricultural Research Kiran Singh.
So the animal world, including wildlife, was in danger, he warned. Talking of the plight of animal world, he said the avarice of man has snatched away every thing, even the animals' right to survive. On the other hand we complain cattle come on the road and cause traffic problem.
The three-day 18th national symposium jointly organised by the Indian Association of Veterinary Pathology and Gujarat Agricultural University (GAU) ended here on Saturday with a resolution to prepare for 'current trend and challenges to the livestock and poultry diseases including wildlife crisis in 21st century'.
Nearly 150 veterinarians drawn from different states pledged to dedicate research for the betterment of animals. Of 200 papers discussed in the symposium 10 were entirely on wild animals.
Jayarama Shrinivas Gowada and Vijay Sarthi, both from Bangalore, bagged Dr C M Singh Award and were felicitated by vice-chancellor M H Mehta for the best publication of research papers in the IAVP journal for 2000.
Earlier GAU vice-chancellor M H Mehta underlined the importance of animals in our life. Recalling the ancient practices, he said the very name of Gujarat has been derived from the word Gujar which means cattle keepers- nomads who moved along with their animals from place to place. It is necessary for a healthy society to have healthy livestock.
He emphasised on a disease-free status for the livestock and expressed concern over the increasing nuisance of stray blue bucks and pigs that caused havoc by damaging crops.
He hoped the large gathering would come out with a pragmatic solution related to diagnosis and control of diseases by harnessing technology to combat the diseases.
In his inaugural address, Union minister of state for agriculture Shripad Naik said, "Sustainable economy could be achieved by quality consciousness among farmers".
He suggested that research-based findings should percolate among the farmers. He claimed over 70 per cent of livestock wealth was owned by 67 per cent of marginal farmers, landless labour and nomads and three fourths of the milk products was contributed by weaker section.
Agriculture minister Purushottam Rupala stressed the need for better dealing with wildlife. Gujarat was the only place which still has its pride possession of lions in Gir.
He expressed pleasure that the symposium would review problems faced by the wildlife and zoo in its perspective. He promised all help for the research centres in Gujarat.
Campus director Girish Patel gave an account of Sardar Krushinagar Dantiwada, the main campus of GAU.
Symposium chairman M C Desai, general secretary P L Kaul, Lila Kaul and students of the college of veterinary and animal husbandry took enormous pains to make the Indian panorama of veterinary pathologists a success.
Besides president of Indian Association of Veterinary Pathology, Dr J L Vagad, secretary general R N S Gowda many veterinarians took part in the symptom.
News Source : The Times of India [India's best Newspaper]
Seminar on gender and law Monday, October 15, 2001
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
AHMEDABAD: Gujarat State Judicial Academy of the Gujarat High Court will organise a three-day judicial colloquium on 'Gender and Law' in collaboration with the National Judicial Academy and the British Council on October 20.
A statement issued by the academy here on Sunday said Chief Justice D M Dharmadhikari, who is also patron-in-chief of the academy, will inaugurate the function.
Academy president Justice B C Patel will preside over the function. Representatives of the British Council, social service organisations and judges of the High Court will also attend the function.
News Source : The Times of India [India's best Newspaper]
Rich legacy of Guj needs conservation Monday, October 15, 2001
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
AHMEDABAD: The literary and cultural activities of medieval Gujarat have made a deep impact on the art, culture and civilisation of today, said Aqu-i-Muzaffari, cultural counsel of Iran Cultural House here on Sunday.
Speaking at the inauguration of the seminar 'Cultural and literary activities in medieval Gujarat', organised by the Hazrat Pir Mohamed Shah Library & Research Centre, he said the conservation of this rich legacy available today is a joint responsibility of all.
Director of the research centre, Mohaiuddin Bombaywala said distinguished scholars and eminent personalities from New Delhi, Nagpur, Aligarh, Lucknow, Vadodara, Azamgarh and Mumbai will present research papers on the theme at the seminar.
The seminar, which is held every alternate year, discusses and attempts newer ways and means to conserve the rich heritage of Gujarat.
Impressed by the richness of the collections of rare and original handwritten medieval age books and transcripts archived in the trusts' library, donated a set o f books written in Persian language.
'Akadas', a news seminar hall was also thrown open on the occasion in the Dargah campus. Chairman of the Pir Mohamed Shah Dargah Sharif Trust welcomed the delegates while Ziyauddin Desai delivered the keynote address.
News Source : The Times of India [India's best Newspaper]
