Khadi fair in Ranchi showcases handicrafts also

Khadi is a handwoven cloth that was made popular by Mahatma Gandhi during the freedom struggle, but, over the years it has lost its charm even though a section of the population cries hoarse to promote for everything desi!! Therefore, the 10th edition of Rashtriya Khadi and Saras Mahotsav, which began on Morbadi grounds in Ranchi, is of special importance. It is a khadi mela and, there are about 500 stalls of khadi and rural handicraft products from 25 states. The products include spinning on wheels, weaving on handlooms and pedal husking.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 8 February 2016.

For the art buffs, the state art and culture department has put up a pavilion that showcases paintings of about 60 artists of Jharkhand. This pavilion has been put up for the second successive year to promote state artists.
Moreover, there were other stalls that offered a wide variety of products, from pickles to ayurvedic medicines, from bamboo to dhokra artefacts, from miniature Eiffel Tower replicas to navratna meenakari ornaments of Rajasthan.
As far as khadi was concerned, there were khadi shirts and bundies in attractive colours in different stalls and the prices were also reasonable.

Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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200 girls leave government-run residential school hostel in Jamshedpur due to lack of toilets

In a big blow to the programs of toilet in every girls’ school as a part of the ‘Swatchh Bharat’ campaign, a report has surfaced about 200 students leaving a government-run residential school at Ichagarh in Seraikela-Kharswan district of Jharkhand due to lack of toilets – it seems there are just five toilets for the 220 boarders. An unimaginable ratio by any standards.
This town is located hardly 50-Km from the country's premier steel town of Jamshedpur as reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 2 August 2015.

In view of shortage of toilets, the girls had no other alternative but to relieve themselves in the nearby fields, where they were regularly harassed by the local boys. The school warden had approached the Ichagarh police with a written complaint requesting them to check the growing incidents of harassment and the police have intensified patrolling in the area.
Unfortunately, the school does not have any boundary wall and the local boys continue to harass the girls, at times hurling stones at the hostel at night. The school has students up to Class XII.
Obviously, under such conditions, school dropouts will increase and those in the seat of power must work out suitable solutions to overcome such situations.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Another stampede at a religious gathering – at least 11 trampled to death in Deoghar

It was yet another stampede during a religious gathering in which at least 11 devotees were trampled to death and another 50 injured – this time the venue was the annual Sawan Somvar celebrations at Deogarh's Belabagan temple in Jharkhand.
This has been reported in ibnlive.com dated 10 August 2015.

Preliminary findings indicate that the stampede happened because the lane leading to the temple is narrow and congested, and the local administration was unable to handle the crowd that had gathered there. The death toll could rise.
It seems people had begun to gather from 10 at night and the doors of the temple are thrown open only at 4 early morning.
One month earlier, on 16 July, there was a stampede in Rajahmundry - 27 people, mostly elderly women, were crushed to death in a stampede on the banks of the River Godavari – it was the first day of a major religious festival. At least 25 people were injured in the stampede. The festival was the "Maha Pushkaralu" – this occurs once every 144 years, based on astronomical configurations.
It is most unfortunate that religious beliefs draw many of the devotees to their deaths. A general belief is that on auspicious occasions, visiting a temple or taking a holy dip in rivers can help wash away all sins and help to achieve moksha – or get a place assured in Heaven.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Jharkhand 17-year-old girl commits suicide because there was no toilet at home

Since she was not able to convince her patents to build a toilet at home, a girl of Dumka, Jharkhand, studying in Class 12 has committed suicide. This has been reported in zeenews.insdia.com dated 6 July 2015.
The 17-year-old hanged herself from the ceiling of her room. As understood, the girl had repeatedly tried to prevail upon her parents to build a toilet, but they did not give her plea any priority because they wanted to save money for her marriage.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been harping on a clean India and has earmarked crores of rupees to remove open defecation from the country and make the ‘Swatchh Bharat’ campaign a success. He wants that there should be a toilet in every house and many big names have contributed to the fund. But, actual happenings at the ground level leaves much to be desired as is seen from this sad incident.
In this connection it may be noted that in Odisha, tribal girls in Bilabadi and Nahudimaha villages in Odisha’s Kandhamal district have decided not to marry into households that do not have toilets. Read details here.
In Akola, Maharashtra, a girl demanded and got the gift of a portable toilet as a wedding present. It is a prefabricated toilet with a water closet, a wash-basin and mirror standing around one foot above the ground. Read more here.
A recent UN report has noted that in India, there has been very little change over the last 20 years in reducing open defecation among the poor. (Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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