KALAIGAON

The Government has made arrangements to establish a fully-fledged SAARC Village at Mahavilawatta estate, Ulapane in the Nawalapitiya electorate to mark the 15th SAARC Summit scheduled to be held in S

The Centre for Environment and Development (CEAD) has expressed concern over the proposed closure of Asian Development Bank-backed Sindh Rural Development Project (SRDP), and said that it is unfortuna

Says area under orchards increases to 97000 hectares, about 4000 hectares of additional land in Jammu division is being brought under fruit plantation under technology Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture during the current financial year raising the total area under horticulture to 97000 hectares. For this purpose, about 5 lakh fruit plants are being supplied to the farmers on subsidized rates. These fruit plants varieties include apple, pears, peach, apricot, walnut, citrous, peacun-nut and olive plants. This was stated by the Minister for Horticulture and PHE Mohammad Dilawar Mir while addressing a gathering of tribal Bakarwals in Charawa village near historic Mansar lake today. The Minister announced that 50 hectares of land in Majalta block will be brought under next year for which about 1250 plants would be distributed among the farmers. He also announced 5 water storage tanks in block Majalta for providing irrigation facilities to the orchardists. He also sanctioned a water reservoir in Charawa village for storage of drinking water. The Minister said that the government have launched an ambitious programme under technology mission to train farmers about latest horticulture technology. He said village women and schoolgirls are being imparted training in fruit and vegetable preservation under technology mission. The Minister said that village Charawa is proposed to be developed as model tourist village under rural tourism development programme to showcase tribal life style, rural cultures and their village life. He said necessary infrastructure in this connection would be developed in the village to make it attracting for domestic and foreign tourists. He said nomadic life style of Bakarwals in Majalta block provide them with perfect skills to become mountain trekking guides for tourists adding that this manpower potential would be exploited optimally to upgrade living standard of the people in the area. Earlier, The Minister inspected renovation works in the famous water body of Mansar lake and directed the concerned officers to make this picnic spot more attractive for tourists. He called for keeping the water body neat and pollution free. ASP asks central govt to frame farmer friendly

www.638387.org Villages for

The movement against the mega township proposed at Carmona gained momentum with local residents under the banner of Carmona Citizens Forum launching a signature campaign against the project. Expressing concern over the project, comprising of 618 apartments, the Forum has said the addition of 618 residences would alter the demographic balance of the vaddo as well as the village. "The present water and power supply is inadequate in areas like Tamdeg, resulting in frequent shortages. The proposed project will only worsen the hardships of the villagers', the Forum maintained.

Kiran Chandra combines painting and print-making techniques to comment on the transformation of landscapes by a process of development founded on a will to reduce diversity to a monochrome. Language