News on Agra & Current Affairs

Vijay Upadhyay | Agra Over the past five years, Keetham forest, located at the outskirts of Agra, has begun attracting international attention for being the biggest secure home for Indian sloth bears, who have been rescued by the wildlife authorities from the captivity of bear-dancing tribes.  But as the number of rescued bears is growing, the risk of these precious endangered animals falling in the hands of poachers is also rising at a dangerous pace. The bear sanctuary at Keetham, which also holds the distinction of being the world's biggest sloth bear sanctuary, is becoming crowded with sloth bears, who, being territorial in nature, could slip out of the sanctuary limits and come under the danger of falling in the hands of poachers.  Although a UK-based NGO, currently running the bear sanctuary, is doing its best to protect these animals, wildlife authorities of Uttar Pradesh have come up with an innovative idea of containing the bears and other wild animals inside the forest by

Vishal Sharma / Agra December 29, 2008, 0:00 IST Govardhan Udyog plans to use cowdung to produce particle board. Faced with the task of developing environment-friendly technology for industry due to guidelines issued by the Supreme Court, entrepreneurs in Agra are realising the cost-effective potential of such technologies and innovations. Govardhan Udyog is one such unit which plans to use a non-conventional raw material, cowdung, to produce particle board and pharmaceutical products. The unit was inaugurated this week on the Agra-Delhi national highway near the Mathura refinery, about 55 km from Agra. Company sources said the basic raw material used in the manufacture of particle board will be cow dung. This will perhaps make it the first particle board manufacturing facility using cowdung as the raw material. Govardhan Udyog Managing Director SK Mittal said particle boards were emerging as a viable alternative in designing office furniture and automation products in the country as c

  Vijay Upadhyay | Agra The residents of Kamlanagar and nearby posh colonies of Agra are undergoing a weird experience these days. No matter how much they offer, housewives living in these colonies are unable to find a kaamwali bai (domestic help), thanks to a social reform movement initiated by Dalit leaders prohibiting women in their community from working as domestic helps in residential colonies. According to Dalit leader Kartar Singh Bhartiya, it was often found that young girls and women, who went out to work as domestic helps in colonies, faced social and sexual harassment. While these women staked their honour to bring food for their kids, male members in their families whiled away their time with most of them becoming alcoholics. Most of the time, they beat up their women leading to serious domestic and social problems.   As a way out, the Jatav community leaders of Nagla Thipuri area of the town have asked Dalit families not to send their women to work as domest

Vishal Sharma / Agra September 15, 2008 The unorganised sector is unable to compete on account of the 8% duty; the price difference between branded and unbranded pumps declines and sales drop Agra’s unorganised mechanical pump manufacturing sector is paying 8 per cent excise duty on every pumpset it manufactures. The duty, in force since January 1, 2007, has affected the margins of small units, which are finding it difficult to compete with players in the organised sector. Players in the organised sector are exempt from the tax till a turnover of Rs 1.5 crore. Sanjeev Mittal, managing director, Atul Pumps Pvt Ltd, said the excise policy was different for Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)-certified units, which were exempt from excise duty till a turnover of Rs 1.5 crore. Non BIS-certified units were liable to pay 8 per cent excise duty on every pumpset produced. According to him, this was a quality control measure adopted by the government to introduce standardisation in the pumpset ind

Vis hal Sharma / New Delhi/ Agra September 08, 2008 Six production units of the Rs 125-crore disposable medical and surgical devices major Romsons Group began production after remaining under lockout for nearly three weeks due to worker unrest. The workers finally managed to extract an assurance from the company management that it will refrain from any action against them. According to sources in the Romsons Group, the workers had gone on a strike about three weeks back against the management’s decision of firing a few company employees for indiscipline. All the group factories in Agra had been under lockout after the strike. The management had been holding discussions with a delegation of workers led by representatives from the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (Citu). An accord was reached between the two parties with certain terms and conditions, which included the reinstatement of all six employees fired from the company following a three month suspension with a full-pay. The company

Vishal Sharma / New Delhi/ Agra August 26, 2008 Besides increasing hopes for a better performance in the forthcoming Commonwealth games, the Olympic medals by the Indian sportsmen is also to have a positive effect on the teetering sporting goods industry of Agra. While future sportsmen can be seen lined up for their turn at the racing tracks and swimming pool in the town’s only stadium, the newly constructed municipal shooting range is also witnessing a higher turnout of amateur shooters despite being located in the town’s outskirts. Once famous in north India as a major hub for cricket bat manufacturing, the sporting goods industry of Agra is now reduced to barely a handful of bat manufacturing units due to the shortage of raw material like willow and cane, used in the manufacture of bats. Other units manufacturing stuff like weight lifting equipment and hockey sticks are also on the verge of downing their shutters due to lack of business. The only segments where the Agra sporting goo

Vishal Sharma / New Delhi/ Agra August 26, 2008 The potato farmers of Agra are angry with cold storage owners, who, they say, are harassing them by increasing storage rates by up to Rs 30 a quintal. Farmers of villages around Agra held a meeting to discuss the situation. According to the Aloo Utpadak Kisan Samiti General Secretary Pushpendra Jain, the farmers are losing between Rs 17,000 and Rs 19,000 per hectare even after having selling their entire produce. Even the state government had accepted the loss figures of Rs 16,710 per hectare, which was an unbearable loss to small and big farmers alike. The potato arriving in the market from states like Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh will cause a steeper drop in potato prices throughout the state and without the government aid, it will be impossible for the farmers to come out of the debt. To further aggravate the situation, he said, the cold storage owners have decided to raise their storage fees from Rs 80 per quintal to Rs 120 per quinta

अब आलू के इस बंपर उत्पादन से हालात यह बन रहे हैं कि किसानों को उसे कोल्ड स्टोरेज की बजाय खेतों में ही रखने को मजबूर होना पड़ रहा है। आगरा के सभी 160 स्टोरेज ने आलू को रखने से मना कर हाउसफुल का बोर्ड अपने दरवाजे पर टांग दिया है। विशाल शर्मा / आगरा उत्तर प्रदेश सरकार के अनुमान को गलत ठहराते हुए आलू क्षेत्र के नाम से मशहूर आगरा के किसानों ने आलू की इतनी पैदावार कर दी है कि उनके उत्पाद को कोल्ड स्टोरेज तक मयस्सर नहीं हो रहे। अभी ज्यादा वक्त नहीं गुजरे, तीन हफ्ते पहले की ही तो बात है राज्य के बागवानी मंत्री नारायण सिंह सुमन ने विधानसभा में कहा कि वसंत के देर होने से आलू के उत्पादन में 8 से 12 फीसदी तक की गिरावट आने का अंदेशा है। पर महज कुछ ही दिनों बाद जब आलू की फसल उखाड़ी जाने लगी तो उत्पादन में कमी के कयास सिरे से गलत साबित हो गए। जहां राज्य सरकार का अनुमान था कि इस साल आगरा क्षेत्र में 8.35 लाख मीट्रिक टन आलू उपजेगा, वहीं पूरी फसल उखड़ने से पहले ही उपज का आंकड़ा 11 लाख मीट्रिक टन को पार कर चुका है। अब आलू के इस बंपर उत्पादन से हालत यह बन रहे हैं कि किसानों को उसे कोल्ड स्टोरेज की बजाय खेतों