Please End Endosulfan

India, which is one of the few big countries, that still allows use of endosulfan pesticide .

India is a prime dissenter in the ban, and accounts for 70% of the world production of Endosulfan (Rs4500 crores annually). India cites lack of scientific evidence as one of the key reasons to opposing the ban along with the fact that the proposed alternatives to Endosulfan are not currently affordable.

In many un-expected encounters..
Endosulfan is commonly sprayed on over 70 crops like vegetables, fruits, paddy, cotton, coffee, tea, cashew & timber. Studies have shown that in India, 20% of all fresh produce have pesticide residues above the maximum residue limit (MRL).
Many water bodies have endosulfan run-off & some studies have shown high endosulfan levels in fish
Potentially absorbed through the skin , as cotton crops are the significant users of endosulfan
Smokers through tobacco

A brief history of Endosulfan Endosulfan was first registered for use as a pesticide in the U.S by Hoechst (now Bayer CropScience) to control agricultural insects and mites on a wide variety of field, fruit and vegetable crops.
By 2000, after consistent reports of water contamination due to the run off from agricultural use, the EPA cancelled Bayer’s License to sell Endosulfan for use in Homes and Gardens. In 2002, after further studies by the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, the EPA determined that Endosulfan residues in food and water posed high health hazards, and imposed further restrictions on agricultural use of Endosulfan.

In 2007, Endosulfan was recommended for inclusion in the Rotterdam Convention on Informed consent. This is a multilateral treaty to promote shared responsibility on the import and use of hazardous chemicals. Specifically, this convention requires informing purchasers of these hazardous chemicals on all known restrictions and bans, so that purchasers can make an informed decision on whether or not to buy these chemicals

How toxic is Endosulfan? The EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) classifies Endosulfan as “Ib” – Highly hazardous, as does the E.U. The Industrial Toxicological Research Centre (ITRC) in India also classifies Endosulfan as extremely hazardous.
Endosulfan is also widely considered to be a Persistent Organic Pollutant (POP). POPs are organic compounds that are resistant to environmental degradation and have been observed to persist in the environment, to be easily transported across long distances, to accumulate in human and animal tissue, increase in virulence in food chains, and have significant impact on human health and the environment.
Due to their chemical properties, POPs are semi volatile and insoluble. They attach themselves to particulate matter like soil, water and food, and travel long distances around the world, including places that do not even use them, like Antarctica.
Because of their eerie ability to travel, even countries that have banned POPs like Endosulfan, continue to find their residues in their food and environment as they travel from places where they are used.

How does Endosulfan affect human beings? Acute effects:
Endosulfan is highly toxic and can be fatal if inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through the skin. Consuming it orally is found to be more toxic than absorbing it through the skin, and this toxicity increases in the presence of solvents like alcohol.
Endosulfan directly affects the Central Nervous System, and high levels of Endosulfan in the body lead to convulsions, epileptic seizure or death. It also comprehensively damages the internal organs like the liver, lungs and the brain.
Chronic Effects:
Endosulfan is a proven endocrine disrupter, and exhibits estrogen like properties similar to DDT. Experimental evidence shows that this property leads to delay in sexual maturation in males or damage of the reproductive system. It also increases the risk of breast cancer among women, and has the ability to alter the chromosomes in mammals, leading to a risk of birth defects.
Tests on laboratory animals show high carcinogenic properties and internal organ damage.
What happens to Endosulfan in the environment?
Endosulfan is fairly immobile in soil, and highly persistent. It breaks down into further toxic compounds, some of which increase in production in tropical areas. It does not easily dissolve in water, and can bio accumulate in the bodies of fishes and other aquatic organisms.

How widespread is the Endosulfan contamination in the environment? Endosulfan residues have been detected in air, water and soil samples in India, river water in China, lagoons in Spain, vegetation in Madagascar, Zambia and Ghana, water from the Alps, and river sediments in Malaysia.

How widespread is Endosulfan contamination in the food that we eat?
Endosulfan has been detected in food samples from across the world: Australia (beef), U.S.A and Canada (food samples), Brazil (tomatoes), Cyprus & Croatia (vegetables), India (vegetables, vegetable oil, and seeds).
A high level of Endosulfan has been detected in human breast milk in India, cord blood in Spain, and blood and urine in Croatia.

Has Endosulfan actually killed or harmed people? In India
Kerala was the first state in India to ban Endosulfan after a court order in 2003. This happened after the Endosulfan tragedy in Kasargode, which is widely considered one of the worst pesticide disasters to happen to a region.
Aerial spraying of cashew plantations began in 1978, and was done 3 times a year covering 15 gram panchayats in Kasargode. There were many warning signals which the decision makers ignored like the mass death of bees, fishes, foxes, birds, and congenital deformities in cows.
Endosulfan is a stomachic and quick contact poison, which destroys quickly but is non-specific, so kills everything it comes into contact with (not just the insect pests it is meant to destroy).
In 1994, independent health observations by a local health doctor, revealed a rising incidence of mental illness and congenital anomalies in Kasargode. Initially radioactive toxicity or heavy metal poisoning of the water bodies was thought to be the reason behind this. After several more complaints in areas where Endosulfan was being sprayed and the work of many national and international groups, Endosulfan spraying was linked back to the abnormal health problems at Kasargode.
The commonly noted diseases were neurobehavioral disorders, congenital malformations in girls, and reproductive tract abnormalities in males. Another report showed increased rate of cancer and gynaecological abnormalities.
Good gesture
Endosulfan is just one of the many toxic compounds that are routinely sprayed on food. Several organisations and concerned parties are battling with the Indian government to reverse its stand on Endosulfan. The good news is that under all this pressure, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has decided to have a scientific enquiry on the effects of Endosulfan and has promised to take a more considered view on the subject.

There are no debates on this – It is time to embrace organic food. Most major cities have 3 – 4 organic outlets, so supply is no longer an issue. Even if it is not possible to consume only organic produce ALL the time, every little bit helps.

Is our lifestyle a killer ?

You feel proud to be a part of urban world. Isn’t it? The long working hours, junky flabby food, freedom of alcohol & smoke, parties lessening your sleep, late marriages & later pregnancies etc, surely fascinates everyone. But do you realize that this lifestyle might show you a classy urbanite but is taking you away from your healthy mind & body.

Oncologists opine that it is alarming to see younger patients walking into cancer care clinics with serious problems. As opposed to the West, the biggest concern is that patients getting affected with serious cancers are 20 years younger comparatively.A remarkable 90-95% of cancer cases are caused by your environment and lifestyle. Lifestyle factors linked to cancer include alcohol, sun exposure, environmental pollutants, infections, stress, obesity, and physical inactivity. The biggest determinants of your cancer risk however are whether or not you are exposed to tobacco smoke and the quality of your diet. Of all cancer-related deaths around 25-30% is due to tobacco and as many as 30-35% are linked to diet.

According to Dr. Sunil Gupta, Senior Oncologist, Rajeev Gandhi Cancer Institute, “Most of these cancers are lifestyle driven and are due to unhealthy habits like no exercise, overweight, popping hormonal pills, smoking, and tobacco chewing etc. Unfortunately, people think cancer is for the old and don't even get themselves screened but we would like to tell them that cancer is not just about the old anymore.”If we look at the feminine gender, Cervical Cancer is stalking them the most.

But besides urban, more cases are reported from rural areas. It is mainly because of poor hygiene habits. Another type of cancer that is steadily increasing is breast cancer followed by stomach cancer, both directly related to the sedentary urban lifestyle.“We see a rise in the working women population because they have late pregnancies and start breastfeeding much later. Also they tend to take too many self medicated hormonal pills and survive on junk food which is contributing to the rise.” says Dr. Shyam Aggarwal, Senior Medical Oncologist, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

We all know that Cancer is a preventable lifestyle disease yet every year it claims tens of billions of human lives with drug treatment costing hundreds of billions. Despite enormous investment in cancer treatment most cancer therapies are highly toxic, ineffective and unaffordable to greater than 80% of the world population. Therefore, more attention needs to be paid to lifestyle.

सिवाय सरकारी नौकरी के.......

तमिलनाडु के एक कलेक्टर ने अपनी छह साल की बेटी को एक सरकारी स्कूल में भर्ती करवाया है.जब वे इस स्कूल में अपनी बच्ची के दाखिले के लिए पहुँचे तो दूसरे माँ-बाप की तरह कतार में खड़े हुए.दिल्ली के एक अख़बार में इस ख़बर का प्रकाशित होना ही साबित करता है कि यह कुछ असामान्य सी बात है.यक़ीनन ज़िलाधीश को उनके साथी अधिकारियों ने समझाया भी होगा. लेकिन वे नहीं माने. उन्होंने अख़बार से भी बात करने से इनकार कर दिया कि ये उनका निजी फ़ैसला है.किसी अफ़सर की बेटी सरकारी स्कूल में, आम लोगों के बच्चों के साथ कैसे पढ़ सकती है?

वहाँ किसानों और मज़दूरों के बच्चे पढ़ते हैं, उस वर्ग के बच्चे जिनके लिए दो जून की रोटी के बाद इतना पैसा बचता ही नहीं कि वे सरकारी स्कूल के अलावा कहीं और अपने बच्चे को पढ़ा सकें.अब सरकारी स्कूल में किसी अफ़सर, नेता, व्यापारी, उद्योगपति, डॉक्टर और ऐसे ही किसी ऐसे व्यक्ति के बच्चे नहीं पढ़ते जो उच्च या मध्यवर्ग में आते हैं. जो महंगे निजी स्कूल में नहीं जा सकते वो किसी सस्ते निजी स्कूल में जाते हैं, लेकिन सरकारी स्कूल में नहीं जाते.

ठीक वैसे ही जैसे इस वर्ग के लोग और उनके रिश्तेदार सरकारी अस्पताल में इलाज के लिए नहीं जाते. एम्स और पीजीआई जैसे कुछ अपवाद हो सकते हैं लेकिन वहाँ भी वो तब जाते हैं जब जेब जवाब दे जाती है या और कोई चारा नहीं होता.

वो सरकारी बसों में नहीं चढ़ते, सरकारी डाक व्यवस्था के इस्तेमाल को टालते हैं. वो सरकारी कंपनियों के उत्पाद नहीं ख़रीदते यहाँ तक कि टेलीफ़ोन जैसी सुविधा में भी निजी कंपनी को तरजीह देते हैं.सरकारी के नाम पर वे रेल और सड़क जैसी गिनी चुनी चीज़ों का ही इस्तेमाल करते हैं. वो भी इसलिए कि उसका विकल्प नहीं है.

एक प्रोफ़ेसर का आकलन है कि संपन्न वर्ग को तो छोड़ दीजिए अब मध्यवर्ग के लोग भी हर उस सुविधा के इस्तेमाल को अपनी तौहीन समझते हैं जो सरकारी है.हालात इतने ख़राब हैं कि यदि कोई व्यक्ति पैसा खर्च करने में ज़रा सा भी सक्षम है तो वह सरकारी कंडोम पर भी भरोसा नहीं करता.

वैसे तो ये सरकार के लिए चिंता की बात होनी चाहिए लेकिन सरकार को चलाने वाले राजनेता और अधिकारी दोनों को इसकी चिंता नहीं दिखती.न्यायालयों को इस बात पर चिंता ज़ाहिर करते नहीं देखा कि सरकारी स्कूल इतने बदहाल क्यों है कि हर कोई अपने बच्चे को सरकारी स्कूल में भेजने से कतराता है. भेजता वही है जिसके पास विकल्प नहीं है या दोपहर को मिलने वाले उस भोजन की चिंता है जो न्यायालय के कहने पर सरकारी स्कूलों में बाँटा जा रहा है.

आज से दो दशक पहले स्थिति इतनी ख़राब नहीं थी. यक़ीन न हो तो उन राजनेताओं, अधिकारियों और न्यायाधीशों से बात करके देखिए जो आज से बीस साल पहले किसी छोटे शहर के प्रायमरी स्कूल में पढ़ते थे. उनमें से अधिकांश आपको किसी न किसी सरकारी स्कूल में पढ़े हुए मिल जाएँगे. उनका जन्म किसी न किसी सरकारी अस्पताल में हुआ होगा.

लेकिन आज क्या वे अपने बच्चों का जन्म किसी सरकारी अस्पताल में होने की कल्पना कर सकते हैं? क्या वे अपने बच्चे को किसी सरकारी स्कूल में पढ़ने भेजेंगे?

ये आज़ादी के बाद के पाँचवें और छठवें दशक में सरकारी व्यवस्था में हुए पतन का सबूत है. ये सरकारी प्रश्रय में निजी व्यवसाय के पनपने का सबूत भी है. ये नेहरू के समाजवादी भारत का मनमोहन सिंह के पूंजीवादी भारत में तब्दील हो जाने का सच है.

हमने अपनी आँखों से देखा है कि सरकारी अमला किस तरह से एक सरकारी व्यवस्था को धीरे-धीरे इसलिए ख़राब करता है ताकि निजी बेहतर दिखने लगे और आख़िर सरकारी व्यवस्था दम तोड़ दे या फिर उसका निजीकरण किया जा सके.

तमिलनाडु के ज़िलाधीश की बच्ची के सरकारी स्कूल में जाते ही सरकारी अमले ने उस स्कूल की सुध लेनी शुरु कर दी है. पक्का है कि अगर ज़िलाधीश की बच्ची वहाँ दो चार साल पढ़ पाई तो उसका नक्शा और स्तर सब बदल जाएगा.

लेकिन यह एक अपवाद भर है.

परिस्थितियाँ तो उस दिन बदलेंगीं जिस दिन हर राजनेता और अधिकारी अपने बच्चों को ऐसे ही सरकारी स्कूलों में भेजने का फ़ैसला कर ले.

यह समय है जब हम भ्रष्टाचार जैसी व्यापक समस्या के बारे में बात करते हुए ये भी सोचें कि जो कुछ भी सरकारी है वह धीरे-धीरे निकृष्ट क्यों होता जा रहा है ... सिवाय सरकारी नौकरी के.

Nomadic Nuance Of Rajasthan

Traditional ironsmiths always on the move. The Gadulia Lohars from Rajasthan live in close-knit communities that travel from village to village.Gadulia Lohras, a nomadic tribe of Rajasthan, have been moving around North India in their beautifully carved wooden carts sporting traditional Rajasthani robes since the 16th century! These are a closely knit community and prefer to live in isolation. Their seclusion had helped them keep their identity relatively uninfluenced by urban technological culture. Since the distant past, their caravans have been wayfaring from village to village and city to city to earn them their livelihood. Today, at the outskirts of the cities, cart-wheels stop where they singularly champion their traditional profession of ironsmithy (loha) which is why they are known as lohars down the ages. According to hearsay, these lohars are the descendants of weapon-makers from the 16th century who used to shape the valiant Rajput swords.


Gadulia Lohars claim that their ancestral home was in Chittorgarh. During the Mughals days, Maharaja Udai Singh used to rule Chittor. Udai Singh was defeated in the wave of Mughal expansion and in 1568 Chittor fell into the hands of the Mughals. Thus people abandoned the fort and fled to the Aravali hills. Maharana Pratap, son of Udai Singh, continued the valiant resistance to the Mughals and recovered some of the lost land of kingdom. Gadulia Lohars were the soldiers of Maharana Pratap’s army who fought the war. Before his death, Maharana Pratap took a pledge from his chiefs that Chittor would not be abandoned to the enemy. But fate had in store otherwise for the Rajputs. They had to give away Chittor to the vast Mughal army. After losing the battle, these Gadulia Lohars vowed to follow five principles till they could liberate the fortress of Chittorgarh. Today, when you visit the fortress, you will find a tablet bearing an inscription in Hindi proclaiming the five principles: Gadulia Lohars vowed that they would not go up to the fort of Chittor until the quila was liberated. They would love a nomadic life and would not live in houses. Furthermore, they pledged not to sleep on cots (charpais) or to light lamps and also not to keep ropes for drawing water from the well.

These Lohars are considered highest among all other nomadic groups of Rajasthan.The male members of the community wear jhavi or angarkhi (jacket) which is collarless. They sport a headgear called Potia which is colourful and designed with dots and flower motifs from the Rajasthani school of art. And they wear the dhoti as a lower garment. All Gadulia Lohars wear nagra jooti or hand-stitched shoes.The dressing of Gadulia Lohar woman are brighter and with bigger motifs. They wear a ghagra (skirt), kanchili (bodice) lugra (mantle) and a pair of nagra shoes.Gadulia Lohar women are especially fond of tattooing.Generally, at the time of birth itself, matches are made amongst the community. On maturity of the bride and bridegroom their marriage is performed and the dates are fixed with the help of a Brahmin who finds out the fright muhurat (auspicious time). The girl’s father demands bride price from the bridegroom which is generally decided upon by the elders of the community. When everything gets settled, nine knots are tied on a thread and one single knot is opened every day from the ninth day prior to the date of marriage. Gadulia Lohars refer to the bridegroom as lada and the bride as ladi.

It has been observed that when the son attains maturity at the age of sixteen, his parents present him a cart and blacksmith’s tools to enable him to lead an independent life. Generally the son’s cart is placed next to his parent’s cart.Gadulia Lohars make plough blades and axe blades of different sizes and dimensions. They also make cooking utensils, hammer and different types of cutting, boring and leveling equipment. To make all these, Gadulia Lohars use a bellow to inflame the oven, levers, anvils etc. they prefer to work with the furnace specially in the winter season when the heat is not hazardous for them. In summer the demand for iron goods is considerably lower too.

Gadulia Lohars have been leading a nomadic life for more than a hundred years. Their nomadic life goes on. Often the wheels of a carvan stop for a longer time in urban settings but always toe ventually move on. Although amidst cultural amalgamation they might have lost some of their traditions and cultural values, their blackish wooden carved carts and bellowing furnances are still to be seen all over the northern parts of India. They have not altogether lost their cultural ethos as this secluded community enjoys the prime Hindu festivals like Holi and Diwali with traditional gaiety. They can be seen encamped on the roadside of big metropolises where, even though the electronic culture looms large, they exist upholding their cultural ethos and live in their cramped carts. Symbolic nomadic nuances!

Sheep /Goat Farming

A sheep business can be a very profitable venture especially if you raise a lot of them however starting it may tend to be very slow. For an entrepreneur to succeed in such a venture a lot of patience is needed as well as understanding the cycles of your business for harvest time is a different season from planting.

Goat is a multi functional animal and plays a significant role in the economy and nutrition of landless, small and marginal farmers in the country. Goat rearing is an enterprise which has been practiced by a large section of population in rural areas. Goats can efficiently survive on available shrubs and trees in adverse harsh environment in low fertility lands where no other crop can be grown. In pastoral and agricultural subsistence societies in India, goats are kept as a source of additional income and as an insurance against disaster. Goats are also used in ceremonial feastings and for the payment of social dues.Goat is a multi functional animal and plays a significant role in the economy and nutrition of landless, small and marginal farmers in the country. Goat rearing is an enterprise which has been practiced by a large section of population in rural areas.

Goats can efficiently survive on available shrubs and trees in adverse harsh environment in low fertility lands where no other crop can be grown. In pastoral and agricultural subsistence societies in India, goats are kept as a source of additional income and as an insurance against disaster. Goats are also used in ceremonial feastings and for the payment of social dues. In addition to this, goat has religious and ritualistic importance in many societies.

The initial investment needed for Goat farming is low. ii) Due to small body size and docile nature, housing requirements and managemental problems with goats are less. iii) Goats are friendly animals and enjoy being with the people. iv) Goats are prolific breeders and achieve sexual maturity at the age of 10-12 months gestation period .Goat is a multi functional animal and plays a significant role in the economy and nutrition of landless, small and marginal farmers in the country. Goat rearing is an enterprise which has been practiced by a large section of population in rural areas. Goats can efficiently survive on available shrubs.

Indian goat breeds are
» Sirohi
» Jamunapari
» Barbari
» Surti
» Beetal
Exotic goat breeds in Indai are
» Alpine
» Anglo-Nubian
» Toggenberg
» Saanen
» Boer

An introspection at 64

Today ,on introspection we find there is much to celebrate ,including the fact that we are still unified after six decades.For when India was born in 1947 there were 40 odd independent nations in the world,and today there are more than 200.It's not as if more land was recovered from the seas,but simply that many countries splintered into smaller nation states.India itself was an amalgamation of diverse sub national entities,each of whom could have become a full fledged number of the United Nations.

The journey of the past years has been tumultuous marked with wars and famines,small and large changes in the constitution and governments,and occasional internal conflicts.But all these have been dealt by constitutional means within a democratic framework.On the economic front there is much to celebrate .Today we are a trillion dollar economy and among the fastest growing in the world.

The memories of severe food shortages and emergency wheat imports appear distant now.Even foreign exchange is no longer a scarce resource as it used to be.Most youngsters today expect to lead a better life than there parents.This optimism and the can do attitude of today's entrepreneurs is cause for celebration.

The remarkable feature of Indian economy is that the number of households tied directly or indirectly to agriculture is disproportionately large.These households need to move into service or industry,else their income and productivity will continue to stagnate,making it harder for the future generations to break the shackles of poverty.

Sixty four is the age when an  ordinary human being go into semi retirement and become contemplative.you don't quite cut off from the family or society ,but you delve deeper into spiritual pursuits.What happens to humans,is obviously not applicable to our still youthful nation.But after 64 years of independence ,this is an appropriate age to ask ourselves soul searching question about the quality and path of  economic development.The changing national agenda reflects the maturing of social concerns. Not surprisingly,today we care more about inclusive growth ,and not just growth.We passed a law guaranteeing 100 days of rural employment as a proxy for genuine unemployment insurance.we are working on making the right to elementary education a fundamental and an enforceable right ,right to information is also there .

The list of challenges look formidable,and is a cause for despair to the crowd who see the glass as less than half empty.Some go to an extreme and call it total darkness of development while some fear our progress and does coward acts of blasts to shake the system and economy but in vein.Even if one grants them the metaphor of darkness ,the only way forward is to light a candle.

Feeding everyday

Of the several services an NGO brings to the nation's children the most precious I feel is the Midday Meal ,it is the most daunting.Almost more than one million children everyday waiting to eat,what is for many ,their only food for the day;the hot midday meal brought to the schools.
Each and every meal like the students eating it have a story behind it.This one is  from Helpiya,a small un electrified village ,in Sarda block of Udaipur,up in the Aravalli.It is a 500 family ,one crop no health care and zero road village."After 26 January ,15 august and 2 October these villagers and the 50 students count 21 January ,the day on wards the village school started getting uninterrupted supply of cooked midday meal,  as the most important day in this village .Today no time for a story only fact and figures will reveal the truth .
With at least 450 calories and 12grams of proteins for students up to fifth standard and 700 calories and 20 grams of protiens from sixth to tenth standard is the only source of energy for about 1000000 children in 9535 schools where the 21 kitchens of the NGO works in India .Feeding more than a million children may seem a fair figure at a glance but it pales when compared to the number of children that still crawl without even a single meal everyday.
Everyday ,throwing discipline to the winds ,children come whooping down from their classrooms the moment they spot their food cans cross the stream .The indulgent school teacher lets them from their self styled convoy of excitement to lead the containers of rotis ,pulao and dal up the slopes to the school grounds.
Gratifyingly the school has 80 children now on its rools.The midday meal of sweet dalia ,subzi pulao and other varied menus is ,without doubt ,the biggest attraction that drew them to it.