Kesar Keri Mangoes Junagadh Saurashtra Gujarat India

Mango arrival to be late in Gujarat this summer.

The king of fruits might arrive a tad late this summer in Gujarat.

According to experts, the arrival of mango in the state could be as late as 15-20 days due to irregular winter which seems to have damaged the flowering.

As per the Junagadh Agriculture University(JAU), the winter had been erratic this year leaving damaged flowers of mango, especially of the 'Kesar' variety in Saurashtra region of Gujarat. "Weather condition during winter this year was not favourable for mango in Gujarat. Right in the middle of flowering time, the climate became erratic resulting in lot of damage. As a result mango arrival will be quite late in the market this summer", said BK Kikani, vice chancellor, Junagadh Agriculture University.

Gujarat has approximately three lakh hectares area under mango cultivation. Areas like Junagadh, Bhavnagar, Valsad, Navsari, Sasan and Talala Gir, Visavadar, Savarkundala and Kutch have gained prominence for mango cultivation in the state. Last year about 10 lakh boxes, with each box containing 10 kg, arrived in the Talala Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) which is the main market for Kesar variety of mango in India.

Talking about the variety, Harsukhbhai Zarsaniya, secretary of Talala APMC said, "Kesar mangos arrival will start from May 10-15 this year. Generally it starts from last week of March every year. However, flowering has been late on mango. In normal condition flowers blossom between end of January and middle of February. But this year it was late as winter was not in its normal flow."

"It is too early to predict about production of mango, but yes arrival this season will be definitely late. Weather should also get hotter now. Otherwise it will also affect prices as bad weather can damage the products," said Batuksinh Jadeja of Ashapura Farm & Nursery from Kutch.

Mahashivratri - Procession of Naga babas - Bhavnath Temple

Lakhs have thronged Junagadh to attend its famous five day Bhavnath fair which ends on Shivratri with the procession of Naga Babas.These saints are followers of Nag cult and live in thick forests or cave in mountains and hills.

They appear in public only once in a year.This is to attend the procession in the foot of the hill known as Mt. Girnar.The saints live completely bare and are said to possess super natural powers.

These naga babas bathe in a kund here and it is said that even the Lord Shiva comes to bath in the form of Naga baba.The festival ends with the mass bath of bare babas here.

Lots of foreigners attracted by the tales of the supernatural power visit Mt.Girnar.

This year over ten lakh people have visited the fair which is to end tonight. District administration has made special arrangements for the devotees.This place is very near Somnath temple, one of the 12 jyotirlingas of the Lord Shiva.

Though Shivratri is celebrated at Somnath at a big scale, the charm of five day fair shadows events at Somnath temple.The importance of Somnath can be realized from the fact that traditionally, the travel of 12 jyotirlingas start from Somnath Mandir.This is the first Jyotirlinga in the travel circuit.

Junagadh Samachar - Bhavnath Temple Maha Shivratri Fair

Over 10 lakh people across the country are expected to throng Gujarat's biggest Maha Shivratri' fair that began on Wednesday on a seven-acre land at the foot of Mount Girnar in Junagadh.

The six-day folk fair started with the hoisting of a religious flag at Bhavnath temple and chanting of mantras during the shashtra puja. A parade by about 2,000 sadhus of Sri Panch Dasnam Juna Akhada, Sri Panch Dasnam Ahwahan Akhahda and Sri Panch Agni Akhada too formed part of the first day ceremony. The fair looks more organized this time as many illegal constructions near the venue have been removed.

The security for the venue was planned in advance at a meeting of senior police officers of the district, sources said, adding that additional manpower has been requisitioned from Bhavnagar, Amreli and Porbandar districts.

A constant check is being kept on the fair with an eye on suspicious looking objects and persons. Many metal detectors have also been installed at different points. Besides, check-posts have also been erected on Bilkha Road, Dhararnagar, Vanthali Road, Rajkot-Dhoraji Road etc. A random checking of vehicles passing through the area was being carried out and antecedents of people staying in dharmashalas and guest houses in Junagadh verified.

Folk singers including Niranjan Pandya, Minakshi Gajjar, Devraj Gadhvi, Jitu Dwarkavala and Yogesh Goswami are expected to perform at culturual programmes at the fair. A live performance of Shiv Aradhana by artistes from Ahmedabad is slated on Thursday. The fair will conclude on February 23.

Junagadh District News - Sasan Gir National Park and Eco Club

The gen-next eco activists could be right in your home. Forest department officials are now roping in school students for conservation of sanctuaries like Nalsarovar,Thol and even Gir.

The move comes in the wake of success tasted by the forest department after setting up an eco-club for lion conservation near the Gir Sanctuary.The clubs are aimed at creating awareness about wildlife in and around their area.

Gujarat Ecological Education Research (GEER) had formed 300 eco-clubs of schoolchildren in surrounding 300 villages of the Gir National Park and Sanctuary (Junagadh, Amreli and Bhavnagar districts) for the conservation of Asiatic Lion. It also formed 300 eco-clubs under National Green Corps programme and Brihad Gir programme.The clubs are formed as a part of the NGC programme by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.

Officials said these clubs in Gir not only bring the students closer to nature but, also to wild life. The 300-odd eco-clubs around Gir not only acquainted the students to the Asiatic lion, but also got them a first-hand experience of being close to the big cats.

Recently, for the first time, these 300 clubs of Gir were taken to Gir and were shown Asiatic lions and their habitat. A quiz related to wildlife were also organized.

Director of GEER, CN Pandey said that the eco-clubs in Gir were a big hit for the conservation of the lions as once these school kids are made aware of the lions, they become more vigilant and thus more conscious towards conservation.

GEER will now move a proposal to have these clubs around other sanctuaries in the state, which will further give a boost to preserve the wildlife in the entire state.GEER has so far formed 6500 odd clubs but, these were spread all over the state and not concentrated around the sanctuaries.

Junagadh District News - Binani Cement Sutrapada

Binani Cement to increase capacity.

Project Monitor quoted Mr Vinod Juneja MD of Binani Cement as saying that Binani Cement Ltd will ramp up capacity from 6.5 million tonne per annum currently to 15 million tonne per annum by 2011.

Mr Juneja said that “Even in the current situation, the demand for cement is estimated to be 200 million tonne per annum while the total capacity of all manufacturers put together is 180 million tonne per annum and so there is enormous scope to grow.”

Mr Juneja said that “Within a span of 10 years, the capacity was raised to 6 million tonne per annum which was complemented by the installation of two additional power plants. It is all set to achieve power capability of 69.6 MW that should make it 100% self sufficient in power.”

Currently,Binani has 5.3 million tonne per annum fully integrated cement plant at Binanigram in Sirohi district of Rajasthan, with its captive limestone mines, abundant reserves of limestone and captive power plant, and subsidiaries in Dubai and China.

A 1.5 million tone per annum split grinding unit commissioned recently at Neem Ka Thana in Sikar district of the state has further increased capacity.

Recently, it signed a MoU with the Gujarat government for setting up a Greenfield cement plant.According to a company statement, the new 2.5 million tonne per annum plant is proposed to be established in Lodhva village at Sutrapada in Junagadh district.

Over the years,Binani Cement has gone beyond Indian shores.Binani Cement Factory LLC, a subsidiary operating in Dubai for the past 10 years, has a capacity of 1.2 million tonne per annum and plans for its expansion to 2 million tonne per annum in near future are already in place.

Another subsidiary, Shandong Binani Rongan Cement Company Ltd in China, got rolling just over a year ago, but already operates at close to 100% capacity.It is confident of ramping up capacity to 3 million tonne per annum with an investment of USD 100 million.

Junagadh Saurastra News – Girnar Mountaineering Competition

Bhikhu Rathod of Veraval in the men’s category and Kamlesh Baghel of Chhattisgarh in women’s category have won the All India Girnar Mountaineering Competition.The event was held on Sunday at the foot of Girnar mountain in Junagadh(Saurastra).

In the junior category, Poonam Solanki (girls) and Chandresh Solanki (boys) from Una town in Junagadh district emerged winners.

Out of 232 entries received from 17 states, 141 participants took part in the competition. While competitors in the men’s group had to climb up and down 5,000 steps en-route to Ambaji peak, the women competitors had to cover 2,200 steps from Mali Parab peak to Girnar Mountain.

The competition in junior group (men’s) turned out to be tough, as the difference between the time covered by the first and the second winner was just a second.

A large number of spectators turned out since morning at Bhavnath, the venue, at the foot of the Girnar Mountain.

Apart from medals, the three winners in each group were also given prize money of Rs 50,000, Rs 25,000 and Rs 15,000 respectively.

Junagadh Veraval Railway Station Tourism Gujarat India

Junagadh Saurastra and Veraval Railway Station will get the CCTV soon.

Alarmed by the growing security threat to its vital installations, the railway authorities have decided to equip important stations with close circuit television (CCTV) cameras.

As part of this, the Gandhigarm Station will have CCTV cameras installed by the first week of February.

Bhavnagar Divisional Railway Manager Deepak Chhabra said on Saturday that in the next one month or so,two more stations of Veraval and Junagadh will have the surveillance system installed.

“We have already installed CCTV cameras at Bhavnagar and Porbandar stations. Eleven CCTV cameras were commissioned at the Bhavnagar divisional office on the Republic Day,” Chhabra said.

He said the Bhavnagar Divisional Office had 800 employees whose movement needed to be kept under checks because the building also housed the nerve center of train movement in places like Porbandar and Pipavav to pre-empt terrorist attacks.

“We have also started training railway police personnel in tacking emergency situations,” he added.

Taking cue from the Kankaria Mini Train, the Bhavnagar division has revived the mini train service in Bhavanagar City.

Chhabra said the train was lying idle for the last five to six years in the Children's Park, and now, it was restarted for the benefit of local children.