Roma Victims

Most estimates for numbers of Roma victims of the Holocaust fall between 200,000 and 500,000, although figures ranging between 90,000 and 4 million have been proposed. Lower estimates do not include those killed in all Axis-controlled countries. A detailed study by the late Sybil Milton, formerly senior historian at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum gave a figure of at least a minimum of 220,000, probably higher, possibly closer to 500,000 (cited in Re. Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation (Swiss Banks) Special Master's Proposals, September 11, 2000). Ian Hancock, Director of the Program of Romani Studies and the Romani Archives and Documentation Center at the University of Texas at Austin, argues in favour of a higher figure of between 500,000 and 1,500,000 in his 2004 article, Romanies and the Holocaust: A Reevaluation and an Overview as published in Stone, D. (ed.) (2004) The Historiography of the Holocaust. Palgrave, Basingstoke and New York.

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Seetla is another important festival…

Seetla is another important festival of Banjaras performed in the month of Ashada or Shravan. On the eve of Seetla festival, the Banjaras propitiate all the seven sisters' malevolent deities. Seetla being the youngest of them is propitiated first, apart from the seven sister deities.

"Lunkad" is the messenger of these seven sisters. This festival is celebrated on the outskirts of the Tanda. The Naik of the Tanda and other male members of the Tanda go to the outskirts of the Tanda and set up seven stones by the side of path through which their cattle go for grazing and called them Seetla. There will be another stone in front of them called 'Lunkad'. The Naik who acts as a priest necessarily fasts on the day of festival. Agoat is sacrificed and the blood is spilled before the seven deities. The intensive of the goat are spread on the ground and cattle are made to run over them helter shelter. Fowls are sacrificed by the Tanda people attending the ceremoney. Seetla and her seven sister deities are considered as goddesses of small pox and these rituals are performed to appease them, in order to protect themselves and cattle from all kinds of diseases. Unlike the festival of Seetla and Teej, Tulja is festival of sacrifices and offering by individual families of Banjara Tribe.

 SHY LAMBADA GIRL AT TREE SHADE PH 123

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Electricity from Rice Husk

Villages in Bihar have been lifted out of darkness with an uninterrupted, self sufficient power supply and the credit for this initiative goes to Gyanesh Pandey, the promoter of Husk Power Systems (HPS) that transforms piles of discarded rice husk to light up the villages. Partnering with his friends Ratnesh Yadav, Manoj Sinha, and Charles W Ransler, Pandey has established ‘green’ power plants in 120 villages across Bihar and 3 villages in Uttar Pradesh.

After research and experiments, the team decided that the most feasible way to provide power to the villagers who depended on agriculture would be to generate electricity from rice husk. Through this unique green technology, villages get uninterrupted power for up to 6-12 hours by setting up a plant, which burns rice husk to generate gas to run generators.

“Becoming an entrepreneur was an evolutionary process. I had a good life in America. I did not face any problems there, but I always had the feeling that I must do something for our villages. I do not feel as though I have made any sacrifice. Today, there is hardly anything I do other than work. It gives me the satisfaction no other job can ever give,” says Pandey who feels that India’s acute power crisis must be solved efficiently with renewable resources.

After resigning his job in the U.S., Pandey returned to his home state in 2007, as his idea was to provide power to villagers who depended on agriculture as their main occupation in a cost-effective and environmentally-friendly manner.

The company is set to make profits by the end of this year and plans to light up villages in other states like Maharastra, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. Providing electricity to villages across India is just the beginning of Pandey’s ambitious plan to transform rural India. The company has already taken up the initiative to educate 200 children from Tumkuha. @s1c

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VERY OLD COVERS FROM BRITISH PERIOD

OLD covers of British India

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ASIAN NUMISMATC NEWS 1999 ISSUE

ASIAN NUMISMATIC NEWS 1-3

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