Harsutaben Dave - Junagadh City Pride

Indian-American community members on June 21, joined in the rare and joyous occasion of celebrating the 100th birthday of Harsutaben Hemubhai Dave.

Her family, including four sons and three daughters most of who live in Southern California with their families hosted a celebratory party at the unjab Palace Restaurant, here.

The over 125 invitees who attended were treated to songs by the vivacious ‘birthday girl’ and a speech where she thanked all for her blessings.

Harsutaben Dave was born one hundred years ago in a little hamlet near Bilkha village of Junagadh District in Gujarat.

At 17, she was married to Hemubhai Dave of Bhavnagar. Two years later, with her husband who was a well known jeweler, she relocated to Burma. But in 1935, returned to India, due to the gathering of war clouds.

In December 1968, the family moved to the United States. Unfortunately her husband passed away just a year later. Today, her family are all well settled and doing well in Southern California. Only her eldest daughter lives in Mumbai.

The energetic Harsutaben pursued her creative interests and in 1997 published a book of poems.

Currently, she lives in Arleta in the San Fernando Valley area.

Asiatic Lions Sasan Gir National Park Junagadh Gujarat India

Gir National Park- Junagadh -The Best Wildlife and Eco-Tourism Site of 2008 :-

The Gir National Park and sanctuary has won a national award for the best wildlife and eco-tourism site of 2008.

The Gujarat State Tourism Minister Jay Narayan Vyas will be accepting the award in Mumbai next month.

The award follows a survey of frequent upwardly mobile travelers from 12 important cities in the country which was undertaken by a business television channel. The survey was supported and recognized by the central tourism department's Incredible india campaign.

According to tourism minister Vyas, while there has been growing global recognition of tourism activities in the state, this award will give a boost to the efforts of the Gujarat's tourism industry.

Jungadh Saurastra News

Jungadh (Saurastra)’s Real Hero :-

Briefly translated from Divayabaskar dated 6th June-Friday.

One Deaf Student Who is from Junagadh(Saurastra) got First Rank in 10th(S.S.C.) Exam of March-2008 in State in Special Category of Listening Problem whose name is JAY.

His Full Name is JAY VALLABHBHAI MUNGLPARA.

He said that “When he is only 9 months old, he became Deaf after his Lung’s Operation”.

He was mostly suffered from Illness of his Lungs,So that He was admitted 50 times & more in hospital during his Education Career.

He said that “I lost my Listening Energy not My Confidence.”

Now His will want to became DOCTOR in furure.

He also said “I get First Rank with 84.62% in S.S.C. Exam in Mar.-2008 with my 7 to 8 hours Reading.”

Jay’s Father is Clerk in High School and His Mother is Teacher.

“Because of this Lungs Problem Whenever Jay eat something extra more at soon we had to admitted him to hospital” as his Mother said.

She also added that “Jay also broght his important education notebooks with him,continue his study also in hospital during his treatment.”

Now He want to became DOCTOR in future and want to do research on his illness of Lungs.

Really After read this I remember Swami Vivekanand’s one Line,

“Try again,Try again You will succed at Last.”

And as per this Jay get Success in his 10th (S.S.C.) board Exam of March-2008.

Its really one of the Proud things for all 10th & 12th students of JUNAGADH(SAURASTRA) including Junagadh(Saurastra)’s People also.

Sasan Gir National Park Junagadh District News Gujarat India

Anthrax vigil disease attack Gir Sanctuary - Junagah(Saurastra) arounded area :-

Gujarat Forest Department has increased surveillance around Gir National Park in Junagadh in the wake of outbreak of anthrax in a village in the neighbouring Bhavnagar district.

Anthrax is a serious disease of sheep and cattle, able to be transmitted to humans. It is caused by the bacterium bacillus anthracis which is highly lethal in some forms.

The department is concerned about the safety of wild animals in the park which also houses Asiatic lions, said Principal Secretary to the department Sudeep Kumar Nanda.

Anthrax was reported from Bagdna village last week after samples of the some of the dead domestic animals tested positive for the disease.

Besides 359 Asiatic lions, the Gir sanctuary is home to 500 leopards and animals like jungle cat, hyena and jackal.

Some time in search of food, these wild animals stray into Bhavnagar district, where people from several villages around Bagdana have sighted lions in the past, he said.

If these wild animals consume anthrax-affected animals the disease can spread to the sanctuary, department officials said.

Nanda said Gir's forest guards have been told to bring to the notice of the department any incident of wild animals suffering from the disease.

Sakkarbaug Zoo Junagadh City Saurashtra Gujarat India

Cheetah in Junagadh (Saurastra)- Sakkarbaug Zoo :-

It’s a great news for all Saurastra Peoples aspecially Junagadh City Peoples and also Tourist of Junagadh(Saurastra) that,

“First time in India,the world fastest mammal who is known as “Chitah” is in Sakkarbaug Zoo of Junagadh.
So in Near Future, The Sakkarbaug Zoo of Junagadh will soon become the first zoo in India to house the world's fastest mammal -- Cheetah.

Zoo officials have decided to exchange a pair of lions to bring a pair of Cheetah from a zoo in Singapore.

Sakkarbaug Zoo, which was established in 1863, houses wild animals like lions, tigers, leopards and also has a breeding center of the famous Asiatic lions.

"The pair of Cheetah which is to be brought to Sakkarbaug Zoo would be from African gender. We have started procedures to exchange the animals but it will take at least three more months to import Cheetah from Singapore," they said.

Before exchanging the animals, the zoo officials of Sakkarbaug will visit Singapore Zoo to learn how to take care of Cheetah.

Kesar Keri Mangoes Junagadh Districts Gujarat India

Early Entry of rains in Junagadh(Saurastra), Make Mangoes more affordable :-

Early monsoon in the state might have brought respite from the scorching heat but it has come as bad news for mango farmers in Saurashtra.

Farmers say they have suffered a double whammy —the longest cold wave conditions in the state coupled with the early rains which affected the Kesar mango crop especially in Saurashtra.

The mango yield fell by over 40 per cent in Saurashtra region. Secretary of the biggest mango marketing yard, Agriculture Produce Market, Talala, HH Jarsania says: "There are hardly any buyers. The rate for a 10 kg carton is usually around Rs 150-160 per kg, but at present the same costs around Rs 60-70," says Jarsania.

In Saurashtra, over 20 per cent of Mangoes are yet to ripen in places like Vanthali.

Meanwhile, mango lovers in Gujarat who had to restrain their mango appetite that sold at Rs 60-70 per kg in May might get a chance to feast on the king of fruits in the last two weeks of the season.

Wholesale dealers and retailers of mangoes say that certain communities, sizeable in number, don’t eat mangoes after the first rains which will cut the demand by 20 per cent. "Mangoes will become affordable once the rains set in," says Magan Motibhai, a fruit retailer at Jamalpur who was selling Kesar mangoes at Rs 40 per kg. "Prices will come down once rains come but the quality and taste may suffer," says Lachhman Rohra, chairman of the Wholesale Fruit Market Association.

Bachubhai Ahir, a farmer from Talala says, "Once the rains begin the crop is totally destroyed and we have to simply dump the crop into the sea." According to Bachubhai about 30 per cent of the crop is still in the fields. Mohan Patel, a resident of Vanthali and a prominent mango farmer says, "In Talala and Junagadh the farmers pluck mango early but in Vanthali the plucking is about to begin and with early rains over 70 per cent of the crop is destroyed. The farmers are incurring huge losses."

PK Kapadia, associate research scientist, Mahuva says, "Due to late flowering this year in several areas, the mangoes are still not ripe and this early rain would definitely affect the crop. Nearly 30 per cent of the crop is due to late flowering," he said.

Saurashtra Monsoon Samachar Gujarat India

Saurashtra districts armed to the hilt to beat the monsoon floods.

The sudden rains in Rajkot on Monday caught many commuters unaware, but at the same time, some were prepared with their raincoats too.

With just a few weeks left for the monsoons, the authorities in Saurashtra are leaving no stone unturned to ensure safety of the villagers in case of a flood-like situation. Though only a couple of villages in the costal belt have been affected by the sea water ingress so far, the district authorities do not want to take any chance while checking on the adversities.

From information technology to human resources to security agencies like the local police and the SRP, all have been working in tandem to handle excess downpour and floods.

On Monday, the Disaster Management department headquarters at all the seven districts in Saurashtra — Rajkot, Junagadh, Jamnagar, Porbandar, Amreli, Surendranagar and Bhavnagar — set up 24-hour control rooms following the forecast of moderate to heavy rains accompanied by winds with velocity of over 60 kmph.

The district administration at Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Porbandar, Junagadh and Amreli, which fall on the costal belt, were put on alert after high tides created fears of sea ingress in the villages located on the shoreline.

"Barring two villages in Bhavnagar taluka, so far, the sea ingress has not been noticed. But a contingency plan, including nagarpalikas, talukas and districts, has been put in place to face any adversity," said Bhavnagar Resident Collector M C Trivedi.

The official added: "There have been some ingress reports from Kotda village, but the situation is under control. In such a situation, our major concern will remain on four talukas — Bhavnagar, Ghogha ,Tadaja and Mahuva — that are located on the coastline."

All the seven districts have been connected through (Gujarat State Wide Area NetworkGSWAN), which helps them share resources. Various districts have been sharing information on GSWAN about the available resources at a particular time and place. This aims to help the mamlatdar offices to get help from the nearest place rather than rely only on the district headquarters.

Besides, at Rajkot, a special training programme for disaster management has been going on for a fortnight to tackle the flood-like situations during the monsoons.

"Sixty men from various nagarpalikas of Saurashtra have been given rescue and relief training to handle fire and flood situations. A training programme for an SRP platoon is on," said Rajkot chief fire officer R K Maheshwari.

"These personnel can either lead operations to tackle small emergency or can be helpful in large scale disasters," he added. Equipped with one of the best and latest rescue equipment and training staff, the Rajkot Disaster Management department is considered the best in Saurashtra.

Jamnagar, which last year had to rely on Rajkot for rescue operations during floods, has done some up gradation to provide timely rescue. "The district administration from its own fund has acquired two speed boats and placed an order for two more," said Jamnagar district disaster management officer Dhananjay Goswami.

He added that last week a meeting with Jamnagar airbase officials was held to form an outline for aerial rescue, if required. Last year, speedboats from Rajkot and helicopter services from the airbase were pressed into service in various flooded parts of Jamnagar.

Gujarat dominates national Mt. Girnar climbing contest

Girnar - Junagadh(Saurastra) Mount Climbing Contest :-

The first ever national Mt. Girnar contest has participants from Gujarat emerge best. Three of the four winners are from Gujarat. The competition was the national level extension of the event that began in 1971 as a local event. Mount Girnar is Gujarat's tallest peak.

Kamlesh Baghbel, a 25-year-old athlete from Chhattisgarh was the only outside participant to win in the competition. She came first in the women senior category.

Baghbel clocked 34 minutes and 48 seconds to climb the 3,600-foot-high mountain, and topped the women's category, winning a cash prize of Rs.50,000 .

Bhiku Rathod of Talala in Junagadh won the first place in the male (senior) category took 57 minutes and 12 seconds to climb 11,000 steps from foothills to the Ambaji temple at the peak and then return at the base.

In the junior category Karashan Khadivadra of Jamjodhpur got first place in the male category and Poonam Solanki of Una got first place in the women category.

The contest was held in two categories juniors and seniors (men and women) with 89 men and 62 women at the starting line at 6 a.m. Out of them, only 102 could complete the full course.

The first place in men's category was won by Bhikhu R. Rathod, who The Gujarat government had announced total cash prizes of Rs.500,000 for the event.

The event was first started by Saurashtra-based Gujarati daily Phoolchaab in 1971. Ten years later, the state government took over its organisation.

Junagadh City Kotak Mahindra Branch Gujarat India

Junagadh(Saurastra) will have Kotak Mahindra Branch in future.

The fifth largest private sector bank Kotak Mahindra on Tueasday announced its expansion plan in Gujarat.

The Group-head of Retail Liabilities and Branch Banking, K V S Manian told reporters here that the bank would be opening more branches in the state by the end of current Financial Year.

"Looking at the response we got from customers in Gujarat we have decided to expand our network from the current 33 branches to 45 across 22 districts and 34 locations by the end of this fiscal year," said Manian, who was here to inaugurate the bank's first branch in Gandhinagar.

"Gujarat is one of the properous states in the country and a key market for us and we see immense potential for growth and expansion here. If we look at our all-India business, 15 per cent is from Gujarat," Manian added.

The places where Kotak Mahindra Bank will open its new branches in the state includes Puna, Vyara, Palsana and Sachin in Surat district, Dahod, Palanpur in Banaskantha district, Kakoshi and Siddhpur in Patan, Junagadh, Amreli and Junagadh.

Manian said the expansion is part of its nation-wide initiative to set up over 100 branches at the cost of over Rs 200 crores in the current financial year.

Junagadh Agriculture University JAU Saurashtra Gujarat India

The overy of a rare coconut tree species here has raised hopes for double yield of the fruit for cultivators in Saurashtra.

Like all palms, coconut trees have a single trunk and are without any branches. But the new species has around two to four branches, making it the rarest of its kind.

Last seen in the Ivory Coast in 2006, this di-headed palm, as it is being called by the local experts, has been cultivated by a small-time farmer, Vinja Selar, in Krisi village of Porbandar district.

“Four of the coconut trees I planted seven years back have developed multiple branches. Two of them have two branches and the other two, four branches. The yield from the multiple branched trees is also double the regular ones,” said Selar.

Porbandar district Horticulture officer M D Dhorajia said:

“A regular coconut tree gives around 20-25 nuts per season. But the di-headed variety produces nearly 40 nuts per season. In India, varieties like Dwaraf, Lotan, Bona and Hybrid are commonly found. But all the varieties known so far have only one trunk and are without any branches.”

Selar has now begun procedures to get a patent for the tree and given the nod to scientists at the Junagadh Agriculture University to conduct a research on it.

“The Horticulture department got in touch with the university, which has shown a keen interest in conducting a research. Soon, a joint research by the department and the university would begin,” said Dhorajia.

“This is the first time we have come across such a variety in India,” he said, adding they would now conduct research into all aspects of the tree like the size of the nuts, colour, the taste of water and oil content.

He said if the tests give a positive result, the department and the university would take initiative to promote the new variety among the local cultivators.

Selar and the scientists are, however, both puzzled as to how a regular seedling developed into a rare variety. “I don't know how this happened. I have been trying to grow more trees of the same variety,” said Selar.

“It's very difficult to say how a rare variety evolved from a regular seedling. We hope to learn the transition during research,” said Dhorajia.

Selar further said his 20-bigha farm has over 100 coconut trees, but these four are special.

Coconut is grown along the 1,600 km long Saurashtra coastline and covers districts like Porbandar, Junagadh, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar and Amreli.

In 2007-2008, coconut cultivation in Saurashtra covered over 560 hectares and the total production was around 42 lakh nuts.