Govt sets up panel including RSS, VHP members for research on benefits of cow
NEW DELHI: The government has set up a 19- member panel, including three members linked to the RSS and VHP, to carry out what it says will be scientifically validated research on cow-derivatives including its urine, and their benefits, according to an interdepartmental circular and members of the panel.
Headed by Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan, the committee will select projects that can help scientifically validate the benefits of panchgavya - the concoction of cow dung, cow urine, milk, curd and ghee - in various spheres such as nutrition, health and agriculture, says the circular.
Named the National Steering Committee, the panel includes secretaries of the departments of Science and Technology, Biotechnology, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, and scientists from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi. It also has three members of Vigyan Bharti and ‘Go- Vigyan Anusandhan Kendra’, outfits affiliated to RSS and VHP.
The government circular says former CSIR Director R A Mashelkar, known for vigorously campaigning against US patents on turmeric and basmati rice, is also a member of the panel. The others include Iit-delhi director Prof. V Ramgopal Rao and Prof. V K Vijay of IIT’S Centre for Rural Development and Technology.
The development comes at a time when the cow has become an emotive issue in the country with increased incidents of socalled “gau-rakshaks” lynching cattle traders and others suspected of smuggling cows. The vigilantes’ ostensible defence is that they are protecting a sacred symbol of Hinduism. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condemned such violence, saying “killing human beings in the name of gau bhakti is unacceptable”.
The government has given the project the acronym SVAROP, which stands for Scientific Validation and Research on Panchagavya, and says it is a “national programme” that’s being conducted by the Department of Science and Technology, Department of Biotechnology, and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) of the Ministry of Science and Technology in collaboration with Iit-delhi. NEW DELHI: Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati is likely to distribute around 10 lakh free of cost direct- to-home (DTH) set-top boxes in naxal-hit areas of the country, in a bid to reach out to people in “media dark” region, an official said.
According to a proposal by the public broadcaster, 5-10 lakh units of DTH set-top boxes will be given free of cost to people in areas affected by Left-wing Extremism (LWE).
“Yes, we will distribute setup boxes in naxal-hit areas,” a senior information and broadcasting ministry said.
Recently, addressing an event in Raipur, I&B Minister M Venkaiah Naidu had said that such an initiative would enable people in remote and tribal areas of naxal-affected states to connect with various development schemes of the government.
The minister had also said that the Centre would distribute 10,000 free DTH set-top boxes in remote and tribal areas of Chhattisgarh.
The initiative will enable people in naxalite-affected areas to watch about 100 television channels free of cost.
Besides a dedicated DD channel for Chhattisgarh, Naidu had also stated that a high-power transmitter would be commissioned in Jagdalpur (Bastar district headquarter) which would beam signal of AIR Jagdalpur to a radius of 200 kms.