leopard 013

leopard 013, originally uploaded by deshpande.devidas.

The leopards taken into custody by forest department of Maharashtra are put at Manikdoh near Junnar. I visited the place on June 23 for one of my stories. It was a thrilling experience. I got to know so much within that half an hour. And I was thrilled to no limits. I plan to write more on this subject because I am totally in love with this animal.

The story I did was funny indeed. Which is available here: NAAMKAHANI
The rescue centre at Manikdoh is run jointly by the forest department of government of Maharashtra and Wildlife SOS, an NGO based in New Delhi.

Dr Ajay Deshmukkh is representative and in charge of this centre. The centre is run by NGO Wildlife SOS. The centre has a total 10 employees among which six are from NGO and four from the state government. The entire expense of the centre is bore by the NGO.

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Nanded, my city

I come from a city situated in the interiors of Maharashtra. Nanded, which is on the borders of Maharashtra and Karnataka, was a small town when I left it in 1997. For the last 10 years, I am living in Pune and my practical contact with the city remained took place only casually. On a recent visit to the city, I saw many changes taking place there. I just tried to chronicle some of them here. I take proud in the fact that Nanded was a cosmopolitan city and many linguistic as well as religious communities have lived here for centuries.

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से Nanded

The Goadavari river flows through the Nanded city. Three of the most prominent Gurudwaras are located on the banks of the river and most importantly, the river divides the city by two. The banks of the river, especially the one where Gurudwaras stand have been beautified on account of Guru-Ta-Gaddi ceremony which took place in October 2008. Even though the water of the river is mixed with many a chemicals and waste water coming from a population of about five lakhs (0.5 million), the water is relatively clean. I could spot many a common birds in the riverbed. 

से Nanded

This is the famous clock tower standing in Old Mondha area of Nanded. It is supposed to be 100 years old and has been transformed many times during this time. The tower has statues of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on one side and Ravindranath Tagore on another. Once upon a time, it was famous for its height. But now many a new buildings appear taller than this structure.

से Nanded

The Nagina Ghat Gurudwara standing on the bank of Godavari. This was the place where, according to folklore, Guru Gobind Singhji showed an arrogant trader how valueless his offering, that of a diamond was. The gurudwara alongwith others two glows in the evening like a jewel in dark. The beauty of its reflection in Godavari's water is simply unmatchable.

से Nanded

Nanded railway station. The station is more than 100 years old. But the face of the building has changed so many times. The present building is comparatively big. The building is cleaner than many stations in the Marathwada region, wherein Nanded falls. The relaxing appearance of the building has now become a thing of past and now professionalism is sighted everywhere. 

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The Neighbouring Shopowner Needs Protection

Even though unorganised retail is reeling under the pressure of organised retail sector, it needs a strong protection. A code of conduct is necessary for the organised sector so that unorganised retail sector does not get affected. This is the recommendation given by a committee which has submitted its report to the government over the issue.

The findings and recommendations of the report furnished by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) and the follow-up action by the Government were tabled in the Rajya Sabha, the lower house of Parliament of India. The report was tabled by Shri Ashwani Kumar, Minister of State for Industry, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today

Main Findings

In its assesment of the impact on unorganized retailers, the report states that unorganized retailers in the vicinity of organized retailers experienced a decline in their volume of business and profit in the initial years after the entry of large organized retailers. But this adverse impact on sales and profit weakens over time. The report also claims that there was no evidence of a decline in overall employment in the unorganized sector as a result of the entry of organized retailers. It negates ‘some decline in employment’ in the North and West regions saying that it ‘also weakens over time.’

The committee seems not to have been amused by these facts, which it itself has given:

• The rate of closure of unorganized retail shops in gross terms is found to be 4.2 per cent per annum.
• The rate of closure on account of competition from organized retail is at 1.7 per cent per annum.
• Small retailers have been extending more credit to attract and retain customers.
• Only 12 per cent of unorganized retailers have access to institutional credit and 37 per cent felt the need for better access to commercial bank credit.
• The unorganized retail sector is expected to grow at about 10 per cent per annum with sales rising from US$ 309 billion in 2006-07 to US$ 496 billion in 2011-12. At the same time, organized retail which now constitutes a small four per cent of total retail sector is likely to grow at a much faster pace of 45-50 per cent per annum and quadruple its share in total retail trade to 16 per cent by 2011-12.
  

The full report is available here.

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