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billion-heartbeats · 4 years ago

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Thoughtless ban on online education for students 1 to 5or 7:

Digitise early Or Perish!

IRONY - Until now mobile phones were banned from the schools! Now schools have been put into mobile phones!

Lost opportunity to enable rural and urban kids to learn digital education!

We all want the best for our children—in both school and life. Kids are losing their childhood to the coronavirus pandemic. There are few things more depressing than constantly reminding a young child that she must stay six feet away from a friend she meets.

Is online learning the future of education?

online education has made great strides in recent years. The maturity of education technology has also enabled online education to become more manageable and accessible than ever before. All a prospective student needs are a computer, an internet connection and some basic skills. The deep penetration of mobile phones has enabled those skills in the kids of today! Over the last 10 years, digital media has evolved rapidly. In 2011, 10% of children aged younger than 4 years used mobile devices, a number that grew to 38% in 2013. By 2015, 97% of low-income children used these devices, with 75% owning their own device.

Undoubtedly, with the wider spread of technology and deepening of the global mandate of education for all, online education’s potential to become complementary – or in some cases alternative – to traditional education cannot be overlooked.

Instead of worrying whether or not online education can ever be as good as more traditional formats, perhaps we should instead focus on how we can use it to deliver quality education for people all over the world, particularly the poor and the havenots.

India has been under lockdown since 24 March. The impact on children, in particular, will need to be carefully monitored. Some 1.3 - 1.5 billion students and youth across the planet are affected by school and university closures. The resulting disruptions exacerbate already existing disparities within the education system but also in other aspects of their lives.

The media is 24/7- Corona first, corona second and corona last! unfortunately Electronic media made a full-throated campaign for the ban on online education. In fact, children were getting a hang of it after few days of online exercise. They were excited.

Ban online education!

The govt appointed a committee to ban the online education. The experts promptly gave the report. The committee lost a golden opportunity of converting a crisis into an opportunity of initiating online education and give the children a head-start in digital education which is the future mode of education globally.

In its wisdom, Karnataka government on June 10 decided to ban online live classes for students from LKG till class 5 in all the primary schools in the state. Confusion and chaos have prevailed over the issue of extending a ban on online lessons for students up to class 7.

Parents seem to be unhappy as Karnataka bans online classes.

An online petition called, 'We support ONLINE CLASSES,' has collected around 15,000 signatures as of now!

The petition claims, "We, the parents are really happy with the online classes being held by almost all the schools across urban and rural Karnataka. The schools are putting great effort to continue giving education to our kids even during this heavy pandemic rise. And the screen time for kids, that is bothering the government should be looked upon in a positive way. At least the screen time the kids are going through are the productive ones, instead of them getting glued to televisions, i-Pads and video games.” They urged that schools be allowed to continue with their online classes.

Plan and not Ban!

Teach students where they are

Focus on creativity over curriculum

Select tools that support your objectives- is the way to go forward

There will always be initial hiccoughs. We don’t know when schools will reopen. We have to plan for an uncertain future. Digital technology that is going to change learning beyond physical schooling is inevitable. All You need is a regular access to a computer, a tablet or a smart phone to take online classes. If you do not have a computer at home, you can use the computer lab at your school or local library. You also need internet access.

Online classes can work well for lock down students. You can log into class when it is convenient and attend class without ever leaving your home. They require the same dedication as regular classes and a good deal of self-motivation. Some online classes require daily participation. Instead of spending time on gaming and TV viewing online classes can be highly productive!

The digital Natives and the digital immigrants or digital illiterates!

The digital Native has the digital wisdom! The terms "digital native" and "digital immigrant" were popularized by education consultant Marc Prensky in his 2001 article entitled Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, in which he relates the contemporary decline in American education to educators' failure to understand the needs of modern students.

The arrival and rapid dissemination of digital technology has changed the way students think and process information, making it easy for them to excel academically using the digital language of the day. Prensky called these children "digital natives". Those who have no access to the digital language become Digital immigrants who are left behind pay a heavy price in the long run!

Bridge the gap

It is the duty of educators and the institutions to bridge the gap between the digital natives and digital immigrants who are at a disadvantage - they can sometimes be at variance and feel left out in their education.

It is a concern that all children do not have reliable access to digital devices. Some have raised health concerns of the children.

In the short term, we do not know when the corona will allow schools to reopen. In the long term, we do not know when the next disruption to the school system occurs. The data from around the world suggests that such events are more probable now than even 10 years ago. We cannot level down in the name of equality. We must level up. Perfection will not happen overnight. But the goal must be a progressive realisation of universal access. Let’s spread abundance, not scarcity.

The classroom with all its limitations, remains a location of great possibility. In the past few weeks, we have gone from Classroom to Zoom. From pedagogy to ‘panic driven tools’ to cope with hastily made transition. In the process, however, much has also changed. Perhaps never to return to whatever we knew of teaching and learning for generations.

Most students outside the metro-based middle class have limited computer access, Wi-Fi is kind of spotty and erratic, there is a lot of electricity outage and synchronous virtual classes are very stressful for students and teachers not used to working with technology.

Learning language is natural and kids are born with the ability to learn it. All children, no matter which language their parents speak, can learn more languages without any additional burden. As they grow, children continue to expand their knowledge and develop more complex languages including digital language! By age 6, a child's language begins to sound like adult speech. Digital language is no different!

It improves their self-esteem: Learning digital language allows children to master the language almost like digital natives! In addition, learning more than one language at early age improves lifelong ability to communicate with others and contributes to cognitive development and cultural awareness.

The sudden lockdown certainly caught the schools and colleges unawares, and what has compounded the problem is the fact that nobody is sure when life will get back to normal and students can once again return to their institutions.

This crisis can be a genuine opportunity. It is inevitable that we will need digital technologies to re-imaging learning beyond physical schooling. Instead of clamping down completely on online classes for young children, we should allow the flourishing... of experimentation and innovation!

Education across all levels will be imparted online and home-schooling will be the new norm. Children will go to schools only once a while, for group activities or for building social skills. Knowledge gets transferred via Zoom. There is stress on teachers as Transitions to distance learning platforms tend to be messy and frustrating, even in the best circumstances. Still move on!

Dr N Prabhudev

Former Director Sri Jayadeva institute of Cardiology

Former VC of Bangalore university

Former Chairman Karnataka state Health Commission

[email protected]

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ladystylestores · 4 years ago

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India’s coronavirus lockdown: One man’s agonizing 1,250-mile journey home … on foot

But he didn’t stop walking. He couldn’t.

The 26-year-old migrant worker was in the heart of India and only halfway home.

With no way to survive in the cities, and India’s vast railway network mostly shut down, many made the extraordinary decision to walk thousands of miles back to their families.

Many didn’t make it. In one incident, 16 laborers were run over by a freight train as they slept on rail tracks. Roadside accidents took the lives of others. Some died from exhaustion, dehydration or hunger. Those picked up by police were often sent back to the cities they had tried to leave.

Chouhan knew the risks. But on May 12, he decided to defy India’s strict lockdown laws and begin the 1,250-mile (2,000-kilometer) walk from the tech hub of Bengaluru, formerly known as Bangalore, to his village in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

He’d hoped to hitchhike much of the way, but with police checking trucks for stowaways, drivers were demanding fees beyond Chouhan’s budget. For 10 days, he’d have to dodge police check points, survive on tea and biscuits, and walk on aching feet.

“I don’t think I can forget this journey through my life,” he says. “It’ll always carry memories of sadness and anxiety.”

A 3 a.m. getaway

Chouhan moved to Bengaluru last December to work as a mason on a construction site.

In his home village of Tribhuvan Nagar, on India’s border with Nepal, he earned 250 rupees ($3.30) a day. In Bengaluru, he could double that.

He and his brother, who worked in another state, sent home about 14,000 rupees ($185) a month — enough to sustain their family of 11, including Chouhan’s two young children and his elderly parents, living in a thatched roof house set amid sugarcane and wheat fields. His nephew Arvind Thakur joined Chouhan in the city as soon as he turned 14, the legal age to work in India.

A video of Rajesh Chouhan’s house. 11 people share this space. “When it rains, we get wet even inside the house”

By the time Chouhan, his nephew and nine other migrants from their hometown had decided to leave Bengaluru, the country had been shut down for weeks. Some rail services resumed on May 3, allowing interstate travel — but only subject to a laborious approval process.

Migrants were told to register their travel plans at police stations. By May 5, more than 214,000 people had registered to leave Karnataka state, of which Bengaluru is the capital. However, barely 10,000 people got tickets as there was limited train service.

Normally Chouhan pays 300 rupees ($4) for the 48-hour trip home in the lowest carriage class, but during the pandemic that price soared to 1,200 rupees ($15.90). State police were assigned to sell tickets and keep order at police stations packed with travelers desperate to get home.

Police in Bengalore told CNN they resorted to using batons to clear the crowds when sales for the day ended. “We were beaten many times. Just because we are poor, doesn’t mean we can’t feel pain,” says Chouhan.

After spending five days outside a police station trying to get a ticket, Chouhan and his fellow villagers decided to walk. They didn’t dare tell their families.

“We were beaten many times. Just because we are poor, doesn’t mean we can’t feel pain.”Rajesh Chouhan

“My father is severely diabetic and it would take a toll on him and my mother if they found out that we were walking home with no money,” Chouhan says. “They’d cry until our return. All of us decided to tell our families that we were waiting for a train.”

He packed four shirts, a towel and a bed sheet in his backpack, along with a couple of water bottles. In his wallet was 170 rupees ($2.25).

At 3 a.m. on May 12, Chouhan slipped out of the single-room tin shed he shared with 10 other people and took his first step towards home.

Getting out

By the time Chouhan left, police checkpoints had been erected across the city. Authorities had not anticipated the rush of migrants wanting to leave and clarified that registration applied only to those “stranded” — not migrant workers. Unauthorized interstate travel was banned.

As Chouhan’s group walked across the city, they were picked up by police and taken to the station where their boss — who never wanted them to leave — would pick them up. While migrant workers have rights under Indian law, often they are unaware of them and exploited by employers.

At noon, police officers changed shifts and the group was left unattended. “We ran out of there,” Chouhan says. “We ran for two kilometers or so until we felt we were safe.”

Following railway tracks to avoid police on the roads, the group walked through the night, with other migrants, until they entered Andhra Pradesh at 1 a.m.

After 46 hours, they had crossed the first of the five state borders they would encounter. They had traveled just 74 miles (120 kilometers).

Hope, solidarity and hunger

Chouhan’s group of 11 migrants had nine smartphones between them, and they used Google Maps to navigate their route. They used the flashing blue dot to see if they were roughly walking in the right direction.

To conserve battery power, only one person would have their phone switched on at a time, and they took turns sharing GPS. There were few places along the way where they could charge their phones.

The first part of their journey traced National Highway 44 — a long, open road that slices India neatly in two, running the length of the country from Tamil Nadu in the south to Srinagar in the north.

This road would take them to Hyderabad, the city of 10 million people that was to be the first big landmark of their journey — and where they’d heard it would be possible to hitchhike the rest of the way home.

As temperatures topped 40 degree Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), Chouhan walked about 5 miles (8 kilometers) an hour, taking a brief rest every two hours. He aimed to complete about 68 miles (110 kilometers) a day. “There was temptation to rest or to nap,” he says. “But we were aware that it became more difficult to walk each time we sat down.”

Along the way, they’d see other groups of migrants heading for the impoverished western states of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, which supply India’s cities with much of their migrant labor force.

On the road, Chouhan says traditional divisions of caste and religion — deeply entrenched fault lines in India’s rural hinterlands — disappeared. His group of 11 spanned various castes from the same village. There were Brahmins and Thakurs, who are considered upper castes, and Chamars, who are among the lowest. On the long walk home, it didn’t make a difference.

When Chouhan’s slipper broke on the second day, the group pooled their funds to buy him a new shoe.

Rajesh Chouhan and his friends wait on the divider hoping for a truck to drop them across the border.

After asking locals about ways to bypass the upcoming police checkpost, Rajesh’s 11-member group heading to Gonda join a 17-member group heading to Chattisgarh state. The group peeled off the highway and walked through fields and forests to avoid the police.

But by day three, they had not had a full meal since they left Bengaluru. Each person had started out with between 150 rupees ($2) and 300 rupees ($4). Instead, they’d buy 20 biscuits for 100 rupees ($1.32) and ration them through the day. “We had to save every rupee in case we needed it later during the journey,” says Chouhan.

“Our stomachs would rumble. We’d eat a biscuit to keep it quiet. We were hungry, but we had no choice. We had to save every rupee in case of an emergency.”

Around 8 a.m. that day, they stopped on the side of National Highway 44, thinking they’d rest for an hour. They slept for eight, oblivious to the din of highway noises and blaring trucks.

When they woke up at 4 p.m. Hyderabad was 250 miles (400 kilometers) and one state border away.

Crossing borders

With Hyderabad in his sights, Chouhan walked through the night. But when his group reached the town of Kurnool at about 10 a.m. on day four, a police checkpoint blocked the bridge they had to cross to reach the city.

Chouhan saw a stream of migrants following a winding path along the river and followed them. About 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) away, hundreds were crossing the river on foot.

Chouhan and the others hesitated — they didn’t know how to swim. “Men, women, children, the elderly were crossing the river,” he says. “(We thought) if they can do it, why can’t we.”

After a long, hot summer, the river was only 3 feet (1 meter) deep. Chouhan held his bag over his head, and one of the tallest men in their group carried his 14-year-old nephew.

“We were so scared we’d be washed away. But we kept telling ourselves this was the only way home. This 100-meter stretch was perhaps the most scared we’ve been on this journey,” says Chouhan.

Back on the highway, truckers were asking as much as 2,500 rupees ($33) per person to take them towards Uttar Pradesh. “They told us that if the police caught them, they would have to pay big penalties. They didn’t want to take the risk without getting paid in return. We had no option but to walk,” says Chouhan.

But others were more charitable. One old man offered them their first full meal in four days. A truck driver took pity on their blistered feet and offered them a lift. He was transporting rice across the border and they slept between the gunny sacks, as he drove them around the outskirts of Hyderabad.

After they passed the Telangana-Maharashtra border, they had another stroke of luck — a villager took them to a school where NGOs were giving food and water to migrant workers.

More than 300 migrants were eating when the police arrived.

“They started to abuse us,” Chouhan says. “They said we were not following social distancing and we should sit 10 feet from each other. They attempted to disperse the crowd and told the organizers to stop giving out food.”

But the migrants outnumbered the police. “We started to shout back. Some migrant workers even started to push the police, and the police retreated towards their jeep,” he says. “We were angry. They (police) don’t help us at all — they don’t help people help us.”

Pandemic and death on roads

When Chouhan was in Bengaluru, he had heard about the pandemic that had brought India to a halt. But he says his understanding of it was poor. When he left on May 12, Bengaluru had just 186 confirmed cases. As he walked home, Chouhan chatted to other migrants, huddled in trucks and tractors, and ate meals in close quarters, breaking social distancing regulations.

There is little data on how the migration of urban workers has impacted the spread of coronavirus in India. Returning migrants have tested positive for the disease in large numbers in many states, but it is not known if they contracted Covid-19 in the city or picked it up along the way.

In Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, more than 807,000 interstate migrants were being quarantined by May 24. Of the more than 50,000 tested, 1,569 were diagnosed with Covid-19.

On day five of their journey, the group had a health scare as they approached the central Indian city of Nagpur.

Rajesh’s nephew Arvind Thakur had a fever. “I did get scared,” Thakur says. “I do not understand anything about coronavirus. But the adults told me it cannot be coronavirus as it comes first as a cold and cough. I only had fever. They gave me tablets and I felt better.”

On the highway, the pandemic was a low priority — there were more pressing health concerns: hunger, thirst, exhaustion and pain.

There is no official data on deaths due to India’s lockdown, but a volunteer-driven database set up by a group of Indian academics has been tracking local media reports of fatalities as a consequence of the policy.

By May 24, it had recorded 667 deaths, of which 244 were migrant workers who died while walking home: either through starvation, exhaustion or in rail and road accidents.

“In Bengaluru, I was scared of this illness,” says Chouhan. “Now, all we wanted to do was go home. It was not in our hands if we fell sick during this journey.

“The moment we left Bengaluru, we’d left our fate to the gods.”

The home run

Under the black night sky and thick canopies of the forested areas of Central India that once inspired Rudyard Kipling to write “The Jungle Book,” Chouhan crossed the Maharasthra-Madhya Pradesh border. It was day six.

In Madhya Pradesh, tractors, buses and trucks helped the group along during the day, and hillside villagers provided them with food and even a tanker to bathe in.

Two days later, they reached the border of their home state, Uttar Pradesh. Home was just 217 miles (350 kilometers) away. “We forgot our pain. It felt like we were already home,” says Chouhan.

As they passed Prayagraj, a site central to Hindu spiritualism where the rivers Ganges, Yamuna and Sarasvati converge, Chouhan allowed himself a rare moment of joy.

Joining thousands of Hindus, he took a dip in the cool waters, and said a prayer for the group to reach home early.

One day later, their ninth of walking, they reached the state capital, Lucknow.

Home was just 80 miles (128 kilometers) away. Chouhan bought a meal for the first time since their journey began and called his family. “We told them we had come by train to Uttar Pradesh. We would be home in a day,” he says.

The closer they came home, the more tired Chouhan says they felt.

On day 10, at Gonda, 18 miles (30 kilometers) from their village, Thakur’s body gave up. He fell face first into the asphalt. The group revived him by pouring water on his face.

Then, just 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from home, they ran into the police. Too weak to run, they allowed officers to place them quarantine.

Finally, they were home.

Home and scarred

The scars of walking up the spine of India took its toll on their bodies.

Chouhan says he has lost 10 kilograms (22 pounds) throughout the journey. He says his feet have swollen so much it’s a struggle to walk to the bathroom in the school where he is meant to be quarantined for 14 days.

However, in Uttar Pradesh the quarantine is badly enforced.

On May 24, Chouhan says his family was allowed to visit him in quarantine.

His children lunged towards him. And when they hugged tightly, Chouhan says he forgot his pain. He has been allowed to visit his family at their home, and go to the pharmacy to buy medicine, which he took out loans to pay for.

Seeing his thatched-roof house, where his big family sleeps, he says, reminds him how his work in Bengaluru has sustained his family.

Yet on May 25, tragedy struck. Thirty-year-old Salman, one of the 11 who walked from Bengaluru, was bitten by a snake just days after arriving home and leaving quarantine.

He died on the way to the hospital.

More than 45,000 people die of snake bites in India annually. More than 200 people attended Salman’s funeral, including some of the group Chouhan walked with, who were meant to be in quarantine.

Chouhan is mourning the tragedy. Yet he realizes that the poverty in his village, the hunger of his family, and the mounting debt from their medical treatment mean he must eventually return to the city to work.

“When I left Bengaluru, I resolved never to return,” he says. “The best I can do is wait for a few weeks to see if the lockdown is relaxed before heading out again for work.”

Design and graphics by Jason Kwok. Edited by Jenni Marsh and Hilary Whiteman.

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enewsz · 5 years ago

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“Anti-Worker” law: Equivocal reformation in the Law of Labours in 3 BJP-ruled states of India

19 May 2020: Sudden changes in Indian Labour Law are enforced in three BJP-ruled states of India. The state governments of Gujrat, MP, and UP have decided to remove 44 divisions of Industrial Relation Code while recreating 4 stages of the code, such as minimum wages, industrial relations, social security, and occupational hazards. The opposing party has marked the new law as the implementation of an "anti-worker" code. The newly reformed law has been declared by the authorities of the states even without the agreement of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour. Bhartuhari Mehtab, the chairman of the committee has said to The Economic Times," I have decided to summon before the Standing Committee on Labour, at its earliest meeting, representatives of state governments which have made contentious changes in Labour Law through executive orders. They need to explain certain aspects of their actions." The new law has emphasized to increase the working hours of the workers from 8 hours per day to 12 hours for the minimum wage of 178. It also declared that the workers cannot anymore go for strike for their rights as the trade union will only be allowed to call for a strike if it can gather 75% of the workers' support. However, Bharatiya Majdoor Sangh and BJP Workers Union is still opposing this contentious decision taken by the state government.

The authorities have the permission of getting rid of their workers whenever they want as each factory in Gujrat, UP, and MP can have only 100 workers or less than that as well. The contractors of the factories with 50 employees do not need to have the registration of their workplace and business. The government of UP has abolished many acts of rights of their workers except Building and Other Construction Workers act, 1996, Workmen Compensation Act, 1923, Bonded Labour System (abolition) act, 1976, and Payment of Wages act. The government of Gujarat also has eliminated a few acts for the rights of workmen except from some minimum wage acts like Industrial Safety Rules and Employees' Compensation act. The governments of the previously-mentioned states are free from many laws and regulations in favor of the workers of the country for 1200 days according to the new law. However authorities of some states like Punjab, Odisha, and Rajasthan are also following these new laws for the workers, even though these states are governed by the opposite parties. Rajasthan has started the application of the reformed law from April 11 of this year. Punjab has been following these laws from April 20. The state authorities of Gujrat and Himachal Pradesh have implemented the laws of newly improvised rules for workers from April 13 and April 21, respectively.

The new law of Industrial Relation Code certifies the registration of a new business in just within 15 days via an online connection. Apart from this, the land will be available before the eighth day after applying, and over the land of 33,000 hector is already chosen for this purpose. One of the most terrible effects of this law will be that if workers have to work without the electricity supply in various regions of these states and they may have to work like this for a maximum of 72 hours of overtime in the shops and established industries. The threatening situation is not limited to this only as though the State government of Punjab and Rajasthan has sanctioned the allowance of increasing the wages of the workers as they are ready to pay wages of 16 hours if the workers work for 12 hours daily but UP, the government of Yogi Adityanath has not even bothered to discuss the wages or minimal rights of the employees with the trade union or the opposite party. According to the general secretary of All India Trade Union Congress, Mr. Amarjeet Kaur has mentioned about the heavy vexation of 10 trade union of Centre against the new law for the Labours in India. He also raised the instability of this law in the crucial time of nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19 and the increasing distress of the migrant workers while this time. Meanwhile, the central government has sent the proposal of implying the new Law of Labour to the government of Telangana whereas Karnataka has already shut down the basic rights and welfare of the workers in there. This law does not permit any permanency of the job or security of basic social, education, or health of the wage-earners of India. It is on the way of establishing the path of 5-year contractual job offers, throwing the country to a hire and fire employment policy. The Central Disaster Management act, 2005, and the Epidemic act,2020 are not all helping the people of the country anymore. The future of the country is assumed to be in great danger. Read the full article

#Anti-Worker #BJPStates #IndianlabourLawReform2020 #Politics

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bigyack-com · 5 years ago

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Coronavirus updates: Full list of 80 districts under complete lockdown due to Covid-19 - india news

The Centre and several state governments announced on Sunday a complete lockdown in 80 districts nationwide, to control the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19), which has infected nearly 370 people in the country. Here’s a district-wise look at the areas which will be shut down to abort the threat of community transmission. Seventy-five districts across 22 states and Union Territories where positive coronavirus cases have been reported will be under a complete lockdown till March 31. State governments have been asked to decide which “essential services” will be allowed, the Union government announced on Sunday after a meeting with cabinet secretaries. On Sunday, the nation successfully observed ‘Janta Curfew’ by staying indoors after a clarion call given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has announced a total lockdown of the national capital until March 31 in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. In Delhi, the districts under lockdown will include Central Delhi, North Delhi, East Delhi, North West Delhi, North East Delhi, South Delhi and West Delhi. Follow live updates on coronavirus crisis here In Haryana, Faridabad, Sonepat, Panchkula, Panipat and Gurugram will be shut. Andhra Pradesh has put the districts of Prakasam, Vijaywada and Vizag under total lockdown. In Maharashtra, which has reported the highest number of coronavirus cases among the states, Ahmednagar, Aurangabad, Mumbai, Nagpur, Mumbai Surburban, Pune, Ratnagiri, Raigarh and Thane will be under a lockdown. Rajasthan has ordered a lockdown for the districts of Bhilwara, Jhunjhunu, Sikar, and Jaipur Tamil Nadu has ordered a lockdown for Chennai, Erode and Kanchipuram. In Uttar Pradesh, Agra, G B Nagar, Ghaziabad, Varanasi, Lucknow and Lakhimpur Kheri are part of the 75 districts where a lockdown has been ordered. Also read | Coronavirus update: Covid-19 forces Delhi lockdown till March 31, domestic flights cancelled West Bengal will close down Kolkata and North 24 Parganas. In Gujarat, Kutch, Rajkot, Gandhinagar, Surat, Vadodra and Ahmedabad will be shut. In Kerala, which had reported India’s first coronavirus positive case, Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Iduki, Kasargode, Kottayam, Mallapuram, Kannur, Thrissur and Trivandrum will come under the lockdown. Karnataka will lockdown Bangalore, Chikkaballapura, Mysore, Kodagu and Kalaburgi. Chhattisgarh will shut down Raipur. Protests and gatherings of over four people have been banned till March 31 in the national capital. And several other states have appealed to citizens to continue observing self-isolation after the Janta Curfew ends. Also read | Lockdown in 75 coronavirus-hit districts; no trains, Metros, interstate buses till March 31 Read the full article

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vsplusonline · 5 years ago

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Coronavirus in India: Death toll at 2; States get into lockdown mode

New Post has been published on https://apzweb.com/coronavirus-in-india-death-toll-at-2-states-get-into-lockdown-mode/

Coronavirus in India: Death toll at 2; States get into lockdown mode

New Delhi | Mumbai: A 69-year-old woman from west Delhi suffering from Covid-19 died on Friday, taking the toll to two a day after Karnataka confirmed death of a 76-year-old man on Thursday.

The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in India rose to 81 and state governments around the country went into battle mode, closing schools and colleges, entertainment venues and malls. Experts said the next month will be vital in determining whether community transmission will happen in the country.

High-profile events like the Indian Premier League (IPL) was postponed by two weeks, while novel coronavirus-related disruptions continued in sectors like aviation and restaurants, as well in bluechip institutions like IIMs, which postponed foreign faculty intakes and cancelled many campus events.

Experts at the Indian Council of Medical Research said community transmission — the disease spreading from people with no travel history to severely affected countries — has to be taken seriously after India has reported two deaths. In Karnataka’s Kalaburagi town, 46 people who were in direct contact with the elderly man who died on Tuesday night were placed under quarantine.

FM, CEA Strike a Positive Note There was some good news, too. All 112 people admitted to an ITBP quarantine facility in Delhi for over a fortnight tested negative for the novel coronavirus. All of them were evacuated last month from Wuhan in China.

Both finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and chief economic advisor K Subramanian struck a note of optimism saying the government was in full engagement mode with the industry as well as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for any specific or broadbased policy response that may be required. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a SAARC-wide coordinated response.

“Each department is spending a lot of time to see how best relief can be given,” the FM said, while the CEA said “markets are not reflecting India’s economic fundamentals”.

Army sources told PTI that a man who had returned from Italy this week tested positive at the force’s Manesar quarantine facility in Haryana. Officials in Maharashtra also said two more in Nagpur tested positive for the disease.

Union health ministry officials did not immediately confirm the cases in Maharashtra and Manesar. Giving a breakup, the health ministry said Delhi has reported six positive cases and Uttar Pradesh 10. Karnataka has five patients, Maharashtra 11 and Ladakh three suffering from Covid-19.

Rajasthan, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab have reported one case each. Kerala has recorded 17 cases, including three patients discharged last month after they recovered from the contagious infection with flu-like symptoms. The confirmed cases include 17 foreigners — 16 Italian tourists and a Canadian who was in Uttar Pradesh.

PARLIAMENT SESSION TO GO ON Responding to speculation over the ongoing Budget Session being shortened, Union parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi told PTI, “There is no question of curtailing the session.”

While states such as Karnataka, Odisha, Delhi, Bihar and Maharashtra went into virtual shutdown mode, others like Jharkhand, Haryana and Punjab have taken similar precautionary measures.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) deferred this year’s IPL cricket tournament from March 29 to April 15. “The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to suspend IPL 2020 till 15th April 2020, as a precautionary measure against the ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) situation,” said BCCI secretary Jay Shah in a statement.

India’s remaining two one-day matches against South Africa have also been cancelled.

The decision came hours after the Delhi government, which on Thursday announced that schools, colleges and cinema halls would be shut till March 31, said it was also stopping all sports gatherings, including IPL 2020. Jawaharlal Nehru University and Jamia Millia Islamia have suspended classes for now.

Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Friday announced a lockdown of universities, malls, cinema theatres, pubs and night clubs for a week and instructed against holding exhibitions, conferences, marriage and birthday parties.

Maharashtra followed suit on the same day with CM Uddhav Thackeray ordering closure of all theatres, gyms, swimming pools, auditoriums from Friday midnight in Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad, Navi Mumbai, Thane and Nagpur.

Airlines reported high numbers of cancellations for domestic flights and expect worse in days to come. And many are shelving plans for leasing aircraft. And India’s restaurateurs have asked the industry body to negotiate with local authorities and malls to reduce payment obligations like rents, given the steep fall in business.

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brajeshupadhyay · 4 years ago

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Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Many states/UT's recovery rate figures better than national average, says Centre

08:32 (IST)

Coronavirus in Kerala LATEST Updates

Kerala govt issues guidelines for Onam celebrations in view of pandemic

Kerala Government issues Guidelines for Onam celebrations: ▪️ Crowding in the name of Ona-Sadhya shall be avoided ▪️ No Public Onam Celebrations shall be allowed ▪️ All shop owners shall ensure there is no crowding pic.twitter.com/xqDPevYScC

— Prasar Bharati News Services (@PBNS_India) August 27, 2020

08:26 (IST)

Coronavirus in India LATEST Updates

Moderna says vaccine creates immune response in elderly people, no side effects

Moderna Inc said on Wednesday that the initial report shows that its COVID-19 vaccine-induced immune responses in older adults that were similar to younger participants, reports LiveMint. The drugmaker said the immune responses in those aged between 56 and 70 years, above 70 and those in the age-group of 18 and 55 were similar.

08:10 (IST)

Coronavirus in Rajasthan LATEST Updates

Religious places in Rajasthan to reopen from 7 Sept

All religious places in Rajasthan will reopen for public from 7 September, months after they were closed due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, an official statement said on Wednesday. The decision was taken during a review meeting on the coronavirus situation in the state chaired by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

Social distancing norms will have to be followed and all religious places will be sanitised from time to time, the statement said. District collectors and superintendents of police will carry out inspections and ensure all safety measures are taken, it said.

08:06 (IST)

Coronavirus in Karnataka LATEST Updates

Karnataka to open degree colleges from 1 September

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Higher Education Minister Dr Ashwath Narayana CN on Wednesday had announced that academic year for various degree courses will commence from the 1 September with online classes. Offline classes will be conducted starting in October, he said.

The development comes amid the controversy regarding the holding of JEE, NEET examinations.

Narayana said that the department is awaiting guidelines from the central government on conducting offline classes as well as the few degree exams to be conducted in September.

08:00 (IST)

Coronavirus in West Bengal LATEST Updates

Ensure no flights 7, 11 and 12 Sept: WB govt to civil aviation ministry

West Bengal Government in a letter to Union Ministry of Civil Aviation asked the ministry to ensure that there is no flight coming to or going out of any airport of West Bengal on 7, 11 and 12 September as the state will observe complete lockdown on these three days.

The government also aid restriction on flights coming in from six cities, viz. Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Chennai and Ahmedabad, is being partially lifted from 1 September onwards. Flights from these cities can come to the state thrice a week.

Ensure that there is no flight coming to or going out of any airport of West Bengal on 7th, 11th & 12th September as the state will observe complete lockdown on these three days: West Bengal Government in a letter to Union Ministry of Civil Aviation pic.twitter.com/a2mlH6zTLG

— ANI (@ANI) August 27, 2020

07:57 (IST)

Coronavirus in India LATEST Updates

Many states/UT have better numbers than national average, says Centre

According to the ministry of health and family welfare, early identification through aggressive testing, comprehensive surveillance and contact tracing, and focus on the timely and efficient clinical treatment of patients have ensured a high number of speedy recoveries. This has also kept the Case Fatality Rate low.

"Many states/UTs have performed better with more encouraging figures than the national average for the recovery rate and fatality rate," the ministry said.

#IndiaFightsCorona Early identification through aggressive TESTING, comprehensive surveillance & contact TRACING, and focus on timely and efficient clinical TREATMENT of patients have ensured high number of speedy recoveries. This has also kept the Case Fatality Rate low. pic.twitter.com/gNruO7ZtZ9

— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) August 27, 2020

07:45 (IST)

Coronavirus in Maharashtra LATEST Updates

3,244 new coronavirus cases in Pune district, 62 deaths

Pune district reported 3,244 new coronavirus cases since the previous evening which took its case count to 1,53,141, a health official said on Wednesday.

The death toll reached 3,804 with 62 patients succumbing to the infection, he added. "Of the 3,244 cases, 1,617 are in Pune Municipal Corporation limits, which has recorded 87,317 cases so far.

07:40 (IST)

Coronavirus in India LATEST Updates

Mamata Banerjee, Amarinder Singh call for approaching SC for postponing JEE, NEET

At a virtual meeting called by Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday, Opposition chief ministers mounted an attack on the Central Government over various issues such as pending GST compensation due to the states, and economic situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the meeting, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh said that all chief minsietrs must together approach the Supreme Court seeking that the Joint Entrance Examination (Main) and the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG) exams be postponed.

Read full report here

Coronavirus LATEST Updates: India's COVID-19 caseload reached 32.34 lakh on Wednesday amid a growing clamour against the Centre's decision to hold NEET and JEE (Main) exams as scheduled.

The chief ministers of seven non-BJP ruled states held a virtual meeting on Wednesday, asserting that the national level entrance exams could put lakhs of students across India at the risk of contracting the virus.

In the meeting called by Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, the chief ministers of the seven non-BJP ruled states agreed to file a review petition urging the Supreme Court to reconsider its recent order rejecting the postponement of the competitive exams.

The AAP and the DMK too have supported the demand to postpone the NEET and JEE (Main), with Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia asking the Central government to work out alternative methods for selecting students.

Some states on Wednesday also announced measures like cancellation or postponement of state-level exams and to keep educational institutions shut in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

In Maharashtra, which recorded its highest single-day surge of 14,888 new infections, the state Cabinet decided to postpone all examinations of the state Public Service Commission. A revised scheduled will be shared at a later date, said Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

In Odisha, which has reported 87,602 cases of the novel coronavirus infection so far, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced that educational institutions will remain closed till the end of the Durga Puja vacation.

The five-day Durga Puja festival is slated to be held from 22 to 26 October.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu chief minister E Palaniswami said that except for final semester exams, all other examinations for undergraduate and postgraduate students are cancelled.

However, in BJP-ruled Karnataka, deputy chief minister and higher education minister CN Ashwath Narayan said that the government has given the go-ahead for colleges to resume from 1 October, adding that guidelines in this regard were awaited from the Centre. Online classes would begin next month, the minister said.

Educational institutions across the country have remained shut since a lockdown to contain the spread of the viral infection was imposed in March.

Meanwhile, the Congress announced protests by its state units on 28 August in front of Central Government offices at state and district headquarters, besides a nationwide online campaign, #SpeakUpForStudentSaftey.

India reports 67,151 new cases, 1,059 deaths

India's cumulative case count rose to 32.34 lakh on Wednesday with 67,151 more people testing positive for the infection, while the recoveries surged to 24,67,758, said the health ministry its morning update. The toll from the virus climbed to 59,449 with 1,059 more fatalities.

The recovery rate rose to 76.30 percent with 63,173 more people recuperating from the disease in the 24 hours ending 8 am on Wednesday. The case fatality rate now stands at 1.84 percent, the ministry said.

There are 7,07,267 active cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), comprising 21.87 percent of the total 32,34,474 infections, the ministry data showed.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 3,76,51,512 tests have been conducted so far, of which 8,23,992 samples were tested on Tuesday.

Phase-2 trials of Oxford vaccine begin in Pune

Meanwhile, Phase II clinical trial of the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine 'Covishield' , being manufactured by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII), began at the city's Bharti Vidyapeeth's Medical College and Hospital, where at least two volunteers were administered doses of the vaccine.

"Doctors at the hospital administered the first shot of the 'Covishield' vaccine to a 32-year-old man after his reports of COVID-19 and antibodies tests came out negative," Medical Director of Bharti Vidyapeeth's Medical College, Hospital and Research Centre, Dr Sanjay Lalwani, said, adding that another 48-year-old male volunteer was also given the vaccine.

According to Dr Lalwani, a total of 25 candidates will be given the vaccine in the next seven days.

Maharashtra defers MPSC exams, Karnataka plans to open colleges in October

With several states reporting new cases and fatalities, some state governments announced steps to allay the concerns of students and their parents.

Odisha, which registered its highest single-day spurt of 3,371 new cases on Wednesday, decided that all educational institutions in the state would remain closed till the Durga Puja vacations. The state government also announced that school syllabus up to class 12 will be reduced by 30 percent for the current academic session.

The fresh infections have pushed the number of active cases in the state to 27,638, while the toll has reached 441.

Maharashtra reported its single-day highest spike of 14,888 coronavirus cases which took the case count to 7,18,711. The toll in the state due to the virus reached 23,089 with the addition of 295 fatalities.

In Mumbai, 1,854 new cases and 28 deaths were reported during the day. The total number of COVID-19 cases in the city thus rose to 1,39,537 and toll to 7,505.

Pune city reported 1,640 new cases along with 37 deaths. State Chief Secretary Sanjay Kumar said that all the MPSC exams were being put off due to the COVID-19situation in the state.

In a significant decision for the transport sector hit hard by the lockdown, the government has decided to waive vehicle tax on public transport and goods vehicles, said the CMO. The waiver will be effective for the period between 1 April, 2020 and 30 September, 2020.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Dr CN Ashwath Narayan final year examinations will be scheduled for all the undergraduate, diploma and engineering students alongside the commencement of classes, adding that arrear exams will also be held.

"The government has decided to get the ball rolling on all academic activities online from next month. In addition, all colleges will start in October and students are expected to attend classes in person," he said.

In Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister E Palaniswami said that except the final semester exams, students who have paid fees for subjects related to other semesters and waiting for exams shall be exempted from taking the examinations and they would be awarded marks. Palaniswami said he has directed the Higher Education Department to issue a detailed Government Order on the matter.

Tamil Nadu saw 5,958 fresh coronavirus cases that pushed the tally to 3,97,261, while 118 deaths took the toll to 6,839.

In Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said COVID-19 tests will be doubled to 40,000 per day within a week since there has been a "marginal" increase in the number of coronavirus cases in the city.

The National Capital recorded 1,693 new cases — its highest daily spike in the last 45 days. The total caseload rose to 1,65,764 while 17 fatalities pushed the toll to 4,347.

25 MLAs in Punjab test positive, Tarun Gogoi hospitalised

The list of politicians testing positive continued to grow on Wednesday.

Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh said that 23 MLAs and ministers are coronavirus positive with just two days to go before the state Assembly Session. Three among the 23 MLAs are Cabinet ministers.

"If this is the state of the legislators and ministers, one can only imagine how grave the situation on the ground is," he said, while registering his opposition to the exams being held in September.

Former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi said on Wednesday that he has been diagnosed with COVID-19. The veteran Congress leader urged all those who came in contact with him recently to get tested. Gogoi, who represents the Titabor Assembly constituency in Jorhat district, is the 13th Assam legislator to be diagnosed with COVID-19.

His former cabinet colleague Ajanta Neog, the MLA from Golaghat, tested COVID-positive on Tuesday and was admitted to the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital.

Another former Congress minister and legislator from Samaguri constituency in Nagaon, Rakibul Hussain, and his wife had earlier tested COVID-positive.

Gogoi, who has initially advised home isolation, was admitted to Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) on Wednesday night.

Minister for Health and Family Welfare Himanta Biswa Sarma said that a nine-member committee under the chairmanship of the head of Pulmonary Medicine department Dr Jogesh Sarma has been constituted to monitor the health status of the former chief minister.

With inputs from PTI

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risiondigital · 4 years ago

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The Kapil Sharma Show, Sonu Sood Explains, He Tried his Best to Help People in lockdown..

Actor Sonu Sood, came on show saturday (the kapil sharma show), here he explains how he helped migrants people in lockdown time. Sonu sood explains that it was really bad that people are going to their homes without buses or train, they had their family with them including small children. They had not even food for the ways. This thing struck the mind and Sonu Sood decided to help the people in lockdwon time. He asked the crowd what they need, all the people say that they need food as they will be reaching to their home in 8 to 10 days. https://www.instagram.com/p/CDX0srrHotc/ Sonu Sood added, that he and his team tried best to make the poosible things arranged. They took permission from police, they took permission from other states and from further authorities. They also got permission form transport and the first time, he and his team were able to arrange 10 buses to take more than 350 people to their home at Karnataka. Sonu Sood reveals, he did not plan anything in advance, it is just the demand of lockdown time or this is the God's will, as God wanted me to make it done. It seems as God has choosen me to make it done. https://www.instagram.com/p/CDX1DmfnYYR/ Everyone has praised Sonu Sood work, Really he is a actor with golden heart. If our all the good people like Sonu Sood has come ahead to help people then the lock down has not made anyone to suffer. Read the full article

#actorsonusood thekapilsharmashow migrantspeople akshaykumar lockdown

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net4news · 3 years ago

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Bengaluru institute on a mission to improve turmeric cultivation through soil-less agriculture

Soil-less agriculture could be the solution to increasing the yield and quality of turmeric cultivation in India, says this Bengaluru-based expert

For CV Prakash — a former naval officer who is also recognised as an expert in soil-less agriculture — making turmeric (Curcuma longa) more profitable for the ordinary farmer has become a passion during lockdown. His ongoing Mission Turmeric 2021 aims to begin an “orange revolution”, he says, by teaching people to cultivate the spice in grow bags (large porous containers made of high density polyethelene) packed with coco-peat (made from the pith of the coconut husk) instead of soil, in shade houses. Introduced to soil-less agriculture after he migrated to Australia in 2000, Prakash brought his interest back to his homeland in 2008. He has trained over 10,000 people in cultivating different crops using hydroponics and other soil-free alternatives at his CV Hydro training centre, which functions under the auspices of Aggragannya Skills, Bengaluru. With the lockdown bringing things to a standstill last year, and being unable to travel to Australia as usual, Prakash finally had the time to research the cultivation of turmeric. “My friend had sent around eight kilograms of seed rhizomes of Tiger Claw Salem variety turmeric (grown in Erode) last February. I planted 60 grams of seed each in 100 grow bags, substituting coco-peat for soil. The results were amazing,” says Prakash.

Encouraging results

Analysis of the crop in its sixth month by the Eurofins Lab, known for its work in bio-analytical testing, showed a curcumin content of 5.91% — nearly double of what it would be in a nine-month growing cycle. “Normally Salem turmeric does not give more than 3% curcumin content, so this was an eye-opener,” says Prakash. Curcumin is a bright yellow phenolic compound that has been in the news for its potential to fight cancer. As a result, the demand from pharmaceutical companies for high curcumin turmeric has risen to 58% of the global market share in recent years, according to research cited by the Trade Promotion Council of India. . The increased yield was another breakthrough. “In the sixth month when we harvested the crop prematurely, we got 4.45 kilograms of turmeric from one single grow bag. At the end of the seventh month, we had 6.44 kilograms, and in the final harvest, we got 8.17 kilograms of turmeric from a single plant,” says Prakash. As a bonus, no traces of heavy metals were found, making the crop a saleable product from the get-go. “Erode farmers usually get 500-600 grams of turmeric per plant in conventional farming. Our method gives a bigger yield, and its high curcumin rate makes it a valuable cash crop for farmers,” says Prakash. “When you grow turmeric on a field, in a harvest of around seven tonnes, at least four tonnes are wasted due to poor quality or pestilence. In our method, not even a milligram of turmeric went bad. This has got to do with many factors, because soil-less agriculture is a very deep science. But I’m still not happy; the yield can definitely be 10-11 kilograms per grow bag,” says Prakash. A spicy curative - Turmeric is a staple of the Indian kitchen shelf. - This perennial herbaceous plant of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae) has many uses in South Asia, in both fresh and powdered form. - When it is not lending its nutty aroma to food as a spice, turmeric (also known as haldi or manjal) is a skincare ingredient and a key additive in traditional medicines for a diverse range of ailments. - During COVID-19 pandemic, its reputation as a panacea has gained credence, especially since turmeric-infused milk was recently listed as an immunity boosting food by the Indian Government. - India is the world’s biggest producer of turmeric, (centred in the states of Telangana, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Arunachal Pradesh and Orissa ). At least 30 varieties of cultivars are grown in the country. - Approximately one million metric tonnes of turmeric was produced in 2020, with COVID-19 and unseasonable rains hitting the export market and pushing up prices locally.

Orange mission

Launched in January 2021, Mission Turmeric 2021 currently has a growing area of 1,28,000 square feet. Around 15 pilot projects featuring eight varieties of turmeric are underway in stretches of 500 and 1,000 square feet growing areas, while three ventures based on one acre each, are looking at commercial cultivation. “We have trained 18 people in Mission Turmeric 2021 through webinars, and have started a ‘watch and learn’ programme for people who could not make it to this year’s growing season (which began in May). I will be mentoring the applicants, besides sharing video lesson on all aspects, from pre-seeding to harvest,” says Prakash. Growers from different parts of India who are part of the project have to observe and report parameters like leaf length and width, stem diameter and height of the plant daily to Prakash. “All the monitoring is done by pure observation. I am a very conservative farmer; I believe you cannot remove the human from the equation in agriculture,” says Prakash. To encourage farmers, CV Hydro has been offering to buy back the turmeric, with rates ranging from ₹18 per kilogram of finger wet rhizomes up to ₹100 per kilogram for dry polished mother rhizomes.

CV Prakash has been researching the soil-less cultivation of turmeric at his training centre in Bengaluru. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement; CV Hydro “If the cost of production is ₹12 per kilogram, and the wet turmeric finger rhizome is sold at ₹20, then the gross profit is ₹8 per kilogram in India. But international pricing of this miracle plant ranges from ₹500 to ₹5,000 per kilogram. The farmers can really earn well if they cultivate turmeric through soil-less agriculture,” says Prakash. Chennai resident R Srinivasan, who got interested in soil-less cultivation after trips to the US, attended a two-day course at CV Hydro to learn the technique. He has been using the method to grow tomatoes, cucumber and other greens for the past three years. “Soil-less agriculture helps the grower to maintain a healthy root zone. The full potential of the plant can be achieved with careful monitoring because it is easier to manage diseases during the cultivation,” he says. Niharika Deora of Mumbai decided to try soil-less agriculture after college studies and trained under Prakash. “I have already cultivated exotic flowers and vegetables on an 800-square feet plot on a building’s terrace. Soil-less agriculture isn’t labour-intensive, and can be a good business opportunity if done with the right skills and knowledge,” she says. Farmers agree though, that soil-less agriculture cannot be treated as a magic solution. Besides the high initial investment, the method requires practice in order to succeed. “Growers need to manage the various parameters more meticulously as compared to soil-based cultivation. And despite the good results, there is no premium pricing for the produce from hydroponics,” says Srinivasan. Having taught innumerable home growers about soil-less agriculture, Prakash says the results of Mission Turmeric showed him the importance of reaching out to the nation’s farming community. “More farmers should take up soil-less agriculture, because it can help them to grow healthier crops in the long run. This is the difference between lab and applied science,” he says.

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#agritech #Bengaluru #coco-peat #CVHydro #CVPrakash #growbags #hydroponics #interviewNahlaNainar #soil-lessagriculture #technology #turmeric

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