Uttarakhand has decided to conduct research on the medicinal properties of cow urine

Interested in a purely natural therapy to get rid of those extra pounds around your belly or a remedy for irregular bowel movements, skin aliments and even cancer? Why not try gaumutra (cow urine) for a change. After having introduced a comprehensive law to protect the cow and her progeny from being slaughtered, the BJP Government of Uttarakhand has decided to conduct research on the medicinal properties of cow urine and market its products. Based on the similar immensely successful operation in Gujarat, the ambitious plan involves collection of cow urine with the help of co-operatives and market it among those interested in trying the have it for medicines purposes.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Shri B.C. Khanduri laid the foundation stone of the research center in Rishikesh on December 18. The project is the brain-child of state Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Minister Shri Trivendra Singh Rawat. The government has allocated a sum of Rs. 20 crore for the project and, if need be, the amount would be hiked based on the requirements.

Claiming that protection of cows benefited the humanity by combating environmental pollution, controlling disease and providing a ready source of income to people, Shri Khanduri said the research centre would focus on the medicinal qualities inherent in cow dung and urine.

“Studies conducted by the Bareilly-based Indian Veterinary Research Institute shows that urine procured from the auburn coloured cows has properties to fight cancer,” said Agriculture Minister Shri Trivendra Singh Rawat. Based on such findings, the state government has named this species of cows as Badri Gai and is planning to conduct a survey of all auburn-coloured bovines in every district with the intention of bottling their urine and selling it. According to the Minister, several leading companies dealing with Ayurvedic medicines are procuring cow urine at Rs. 4 per liter from the state at present. Yoga guru Swami Ramdev is also understood to have expressed willingness to buy the raw product at Rs. 6 per liter for his Divya Yog Pharmacy in Haridwar. The center is spread over 30 acres in Chamoli district, which would conduct research and development into medicinal aspects of cow urine. According to a survey carried out in 2003, Uttarakhand has over 11 lakh local cows and nearly 1.77 lakh cross-bred cows. As per estimates, one cow discharges nearly 4-5 liters of urine everyday.

Acharya Balakrishna of the Patanjali Yogpeeth, Haridwar, praised the government for prohibiting cow slaughter in the state. He urged the government to make all products made from the cow urine tax-free, which the Chief Minister accepted immediately. Praising the efforts undertaken by the state government, MLA Shri Premchand Aggarwal claimed that the research undertaken by the centre would help cure incurable diseases and at the same time help the agricultural sector. Dr R.S. Chauhan, deputy director of Indian Institute of Vaternary Research, Bareilly, gave detailed information about the research conducted on Panchgavya and cow urine at the institute. He said the cow urine and dung has the unique quality to cure some very critical diseases. Present on the occasion were Shri Gaurishankar Mahto of Geetabhavan, Smt. Susheela Balooni, chairperson of Uttarakhand Andolankari Samman Parishad, Shri Maheshwar Bahuguna, president of Teachers Cell of BJP, city president Shri Godwani, block president K.S. Rana, additional secretary of animal husbandry Shri P.S. Jangpangi, additional director, animal husbandry Shri R.P. Bahuguna and others.

Games of Our Uk(Uttarakhand)

Favourite Uttarakhand stepped up the momentum when it mattered to score a 74-66 win over Indian Railways in a men’s super league Group ‘A’ match at the 58th National basketball championship here on Friday.

With Trideep Rai and Riyazuddin probing through the opposition defence effectively, Uttarakhand raced to a 23-10 lead at the end of the first quarter. Railways showed signs of improvement in the second and reduced the deficit to seven points at the half-way mark.

The third quarter saw Railways staging a spirited fightback, with Jasjot Singh’s sharp shooting skills helping his team gain lead. But the turning point came when in-form Jasjot was benched just before the end of the third. Uttarakhand made the most out of Jasjot’s absence in the fourth to clinch victory. Trideep scored 24 points, while Riyazuddin managed 22 points. Jasjot netted 21 points for Railways.

The Group ‘B’ super-league match between Tamil Nadu and Chandigarh was a one-sided affair. Tamil Nadu cagers never gave their opposition a chance to settle down and the 31-12 score line at the end of the second session was a proof. Seasoned Sukhavaneswaran top-scored with 20 points.

Defending champion Services and Punjab won their respective super-league matches pretty comfortably.

The results: Men: Super League: Group A: Uttarakhand 74 (Trideep Rai 24, Riyazuddin 22, K. Murali Krishna 13) bt Indian Railways 66 (Jasjot Singh 21, Yadwinder Singh 16, Snehpal Singh 13); Services 70 (Jairam Jatt 16, Sweeto Francis 13, Smithin Settu 13) bt Assam 56 (Ramsare Yadav 16, Binod Choudhary 10).

Group B: Punjab 85 (Jagdeep Singh 19, Mod Singh 14, Harminder Singh 10) bt Rajasthan 65 (Nand Lal 16, Mahendra 16); Tamil Nadu 60 (Sukhavaneswaran 20, Bhuvaneswar 13) bt Chandigarh 41 (Bhupesh 10, Ashtaq Ahamed 10).

Qualifying league: Group C: West Bengal 56 (Amalandu Singh 10) bt Tripura 36 (Yogesh Kumar 19); Delhi 62 (Satwinder 18) bt Gujarat 52 (Inder Vijay 19). Group F: Orissa 78 (Ashok Naik 39) bt Maharashtra 60 (Sanjay K. Soman 14).

Women: Super league: Group A: Punjab 44 (Karamjit 15, Paramjit 11) bt Andhra Pradesh 17 (Mohini Kumar 10). Group B: Chhattisgarh 51 (Pushpa 17) bt Tamil Nadu 48 (Kokila 19, Sunitha Suren 14); Delhi 62 (Divya Singh 16, Prashanti Singh 10) bt Maharashtra 28 (Beena 12).

Qualifying league: Group C: Kerala 49 (Lity Mathew 13) bt Jammu & Kashmir 27 (Natasha 16). Group D: Madhya Pradesh 49 (Prasanna 12, Keerthi 11) bt Haryana 29 (Neha 10). Group E: Puducherry 40 (Leya 18) bt Uttarakhand 37; Karnataka 44 bt Gujarat 15. Group F: Uttar Pradesh 52 (Renumoria 16) bt Rajasthan 15.

Uttarakhand Tourism Office In The City

Minister for information and public relations and tourism Mr. Anam Ramanarayana Reddy today announced about setting up of a office of Uttarakhand state tourism department here in the city to facilitate state tourists to visit above place (Uttarakhand).

According to a press release here, Uttarakhand Minister for tourism and endowment Mr. Prakash Panth met Mr. Anam Ramanarayana Reddy at secretariat here. They discussed about having tourism relations between the two states. Mr. Reddy informed the visiting dignitary about the problems faced by the state's tourists during their visit to religious places like Manasa Sarowar, Haridwar etc.

He urged for setting up a tourist office of Uttarakhand in the city to avert problems of the pilgrims of the state. "Andhra Pradesh stood at number one position in respect of tourism sector. The number of visitors to the state has been increasing year after year. About 11.5 crores visitors from various parts of the country and another six lakh foreign visitors have come to the state during 2006", he informed.

Mr. Prakash Panth explained about the services offered by the Uttarakhand Government to the tourists coming from within and outside India. He thanked Mr. Anam Ramanarayana Reddy for giving permission to set up their state's tourist office in the state.

Principal secretary to tourism Mr. G. Sudheer, director of cultural affairs Mr. R. Kavitha Prasad were also present.

Uttarakhand for executing the project before seeking its approval

CEA declined to appraise the detailed project report (DPR) submitted for the 420-MW project, saying the agreement signed by Uttarakhand government and proposed developer National Hydroelectric Power Corp (NHPC) for implementing the project has expired, a senior CEA official said.

The agreement signed by NHPC with the Uttarakhand government for the project expired Oct 31 last year, the official added.

'In view of above, it may be appreciated that revival of DPR by CEA for examination for concurrence is not feasible till implementation agreement is signed by NHPC with government of Uttarakhand,' CEA has told NHPC.

CEA has advised NHPC to sign a fresh agreement with Uttarakhand for executing the project before seeking its approval, the official told IANS.

NHPC expects to complete the project in 54 months after securing approval and clearances.

The proposed hydroelectric plant is expected to generate 1,050 million units of electricity a year.

Tariff for the power generated at the project is expected to be Rs.3.77 per unit of electricity at the currently estimated completion cost of Rs.43 billion.

Alps Industries Ltd has set up a wholly owned subsidiary in Uttarakhand

Alps Industries Ltd has set up a wholly owned subsidiary company named Alps Energy Private Ltd to make investments in various energy projects.

This will be the vehicle for the company’s investments in the energy sector. The company is currently negotiating with several parties for acquisition of allotted hydel power projects in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. In addition, it is also making direct bids for projects yet to be allotted.

Delta plans a $3-million expansion in Uttarakhand to meet domestic demand.

As a trade-off for higher returns, Thai companies may have to change the way they manage their human resources in India.

For example, companies must adapt to India's caste system, which poses unique challenges to foreign companies, say executives of Thailand's largest auto parts group, Thai Summit Group.

Thai Summit has made offshore investments in four countries: Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and now India. It also aims to invest in China in the next five years. "Despite the cross-cultural and business practices, India and China cannot be overlooked (by Thai Summit) if we want to be a leading international auto parts supplier," said Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the company's executive vice-president.

India has emerged as one of the world's fastest-growing economies due to a large labour force and rich natural resources.

Based on World Bank statistics in 2006, India's 1.11 billion people could generate $911.8 billion in GDP, with anticipated double-digit growth annually through to 2010.

Thai Summit Group expects overseas revenues of 5.9 billion baht in 2008, an increase of 43% from 2007.

The added revenue generated by offshore plants would expand to 10 billion baht in 2011. By that time, Thai Summit would have more than 3,000 employees in overseas operations.

Focusing on its investment in India, Thai Summit has five manufacturing plants in Gurgaon (near New Delhi), Faridabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune and Himachal Pradesh.

The company has become a major supplier for some Indian's largest motorcycle and three-wheeled vehicle producers including Honda, Suzuki, the Bajaj and TVS groups.

Mr Thanathorn said management in its Gurgaon plant in northern India posed challenges due to the caste system and high turnover. For example, workers often leave their stations unclean, expecting lower-caste workers to clean them.

"We opt to outsource many a lot of work to others," said Mr Thanathorn.

Delta Electronics (Thailand) Plc, a SET-listed electronics components maker, is another investor in India, having recently established a power-supply assembly plant near New Delhi.

It generated nearly US$70 million in 2006 from its two other plants in Uttarakhand (formerly known as Uttaranchal) and Tamil Nadu.

However, the company faced serious labour problems in its first years, said executive director Anusorn Muttaraid.

"There was once a strike after we appointed a low-caste person to join management," he said.

Delta plans a $3-million expansion in Uttarakhand to meet domestic demand. A new plant in southern India near Chennai will be an export base.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri has warned industrialists

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri has warned that land allotted to various industries will be taken back if the entrepreneur does not establish the unit within the stipulated time.

“Uttarakhand is striving for development and only those genuinely interested in the State’s welfare are welcome,” he said.

Instances of people getting land allotted and not establishing their units and attempts by certain parties to use the premises as a mere assembling area have come to light and the Government would take strong steps to stop this practice, he warned.

Jobs for locals

The industries would also have to ensure a 70 per cent reservation in jobs to locals so that the community also benefits, he added.

Advocating the need for a balanced industrial growth all over the State, the Chief Minister urged government officials, local youth and investors to jointly come up with proposals that could catapult the village economies. The youth must get trained in value addition of farm produce and marketing skills and the trade confederations and social activists should come up with special programmes to impart the necessary skills, Mr. Khanduri said.