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Court
admits plea to probe into Hajj quota |
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Centre not averse to CBI probe into
Ishrat case |
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Pune
blast:
ATS submits report, claims perpetrators identified |
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Anti-corruption inspector arrested for taking bribe |
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Pune RTI
activist murder case handed over to CBI |
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BJP
fact-finding team taken into custody in Hyderabad |
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Strong
quake jolts Indonesia’s Aceh, tsunami warning issued |
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Maoists massacre 76 troopers, government fumes |
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BHEL
Bhopal Unit records 60 pc growth in exports |
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Teacher
thrashed by four students in Greater Noida |
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Reservations:
Dilemmas Galore:
Heated debate has been generated
around women’s reservation bill (WRB) with both sides having their
inflexible positions. On one side there are those .....Read
Full
Women Reservation Bill:
All party meet fails to end impasse |
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Mumbai HC
dismisses Malegaon blast accused plea seeking fresh probe:
Bombay High court today refused to order a fresh probe .....Read
Full
Congress strives for
consensus on women's bill
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 Pune
blast:
ATS submits report, claims perpetrators identified:
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS)
on Wednesday submitted its investigation report on the Pune blast
.....Read
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 Maoists
massacre 76 troopers, government fumes: India’s sweeping
anti-Maoist offensive suffered a huge blow Tuesday when the Leftwing
guerrillas ambushed and massacred ......Read
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 Apex
court removes two Gujarat cops from riots probe panel: The
Supreme Court Tuesday removed two senior Gujarat police officers
from its special probe panel investigating ....Read
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 World’s tallest tower
saves 3,200 KW daily :
Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower, saves up to 3,200
KW of energy every day by tapping solar power to heat the 140,000
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Delhi HC snubs
school for violating Right to Education Act:
The Delhi High Court
Monday directed a private school to take back its class VI student,
whom they had expelled because she had failed in the exams.....Read
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Mishra report may be discussed in parliament:
Amid political stalemate over introduction of the women's
reservation bill in the Lok Sabha, the United ....Read
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 Shahi Imam meets PM on
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A top Muslim cleric Saturday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over
the alleged fake shootout at the Batla
.....Read
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Malegaon accused: Apparently not happy with the media spotlight on sadhvi Pragya Singh
Thakur, nine of the 11 co-accused ....Read
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 Govt. committed to quota
for 'backward Muslims':
Government on Wednesday
said it is committed to providing reservation to the backward
sections .....Read
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 2011 population census
begins April 1:
One of the largest
census exercises, to compile India’s estimated 1.2 billion people
into one single database .....Read
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industrialized countries like Britain, Singapore, Hong Kong and
Japan have become hub of .....Read
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Will Dawood's facing law
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The Congress Tuesday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for
lauding Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's appearance before the
Special Investigation Team .....Read
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Bharti-Walmart 'push' changes face of Punjab village
Thursday, April 08, 2010 04:26:15 PM ,
Alkesh Sharma, IANS |
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Malerkotla
(Punjab): Haider Nagar in Sangrur district was an
economically backward, little known village until the other day.
Today it takes pride in higher crop yield, better sanitation and
energy-efficient solutions. A community programme, launched by
Bharti-Walmart India, the wholesale retail venture between Bharti
Enterprises and Wal-Mart Stores of the US, has changed the face of
the predominantly Muslim village.
Called "sustainable agricultural programme", it has increased the
yield, enhanced the quality of farm produce and managed higher
price-realisation for the village's small and marginal farmers, says
the company.
"We believe that every system works like a fly-wheel where we just
need to give an initial push. Thereafter, it automatically gains
momentum and starts yielding positive results. Here, we have also
imparted that initial push," Raj Jain, managing director and chief
executive of the venture, told IANS.
Part of Bharti-Walmart's plan to provide quality fresh produce to
retail stores through an efficient supply chain management, the
programme provides closed loop sanitation and energy-efficient
solutions through modern toilets and bio-gas plants.
Haider Nagar now flaunts 80 toilets with a proper sewerage system.
Posters carrying messages to improve hygiene are displayed in the
narrow lanes of this village.
There was no proper waste management system in the area. More than
50 percent of the household garbage used to be dumped either in
empty plots or on the road. Now 20 community dustbins have been
installed from where the waste will be directly taken to the biogas
plants.
The company has installed seven bio-gas plants and aims to establish
175 more by the year-end. "The biogas plant will help to conserve
gas energy and utilize the waste generated from cattle and toilets.
It would also help to maintain the environment cleaner and
healthier," said Jain.
Bharti-Walmart has also started a health and education programme.
Jain said when they started working in this village, most of the
girls did not go to school.
"Today, all the non-school going children have been given the basic
education required to mainstream them in government schools," he
said.
And to facilitate all this, six self-help groups have been formed
which serve as an effective interface between the local community
and the company.
"We have also ensured effective participation of the community to
bring about a sense of responsibility among the people, thus
ensuring future maintenance. People are encouraged to participate in
different ways like in some cases they are providing monitory
contribution or labour or construction material," he said.
Villagers are also quite upbeat about the project.
"We are happy. Now we have toilets in our own courtyard. I could not
even think about this a few months ago," said Asifa Noor, a mother
of three.
There are 224 households in Haider Nagar. Before the start of this
project only 50 percent households had toilets.
"Open defecation is a major problem in our village. Although there
is a scheme of the central government to provide pucca toilets, our
village had not been covered under this project till date," said
Faizal Mohammed, a former sarpanch (village headman).
"We want to bring changes in the village at a broader level," Jain
said.
The company hopes to replicate the development model in other
villages.
Alkesh Sharma can be
contacted at alkesh.s@ians.in
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