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vsplusonline · 4 years

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Lockdown has made us realise the value of locally-grown food

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Lockdown has made us realise the value of locally-grown food

Spudnik Farms is a community of local farmers growing and supplying organic vegetables directly to consumers. During the lock-down, Spudnik Farms is providing pesticide free, fresh, local vegetables. A typical box would provide six to seven seasonal vegetables such as beans, carrot, brinjal, capsicum, pumpkin; staple vegetables such as tomato, potato and onion; two to three greens and herbs such as spinach, amaranthus and coriander. Free-range eggs are available as add ons.

Sumeet Kaur who founded Spudnik Farms says. “On Tuesday, we deliver to Ulsoor, Indiranagar, Domlur, a few locations in Hebbal such as Kempapura, Kamanhalli, HRBR layout, Kalyan Nagar, and Lingarajapuram. On Friday, we deliver to MG Road, Vittal Mallya Road, Koramangala, and Bellandur. We have split deliveries to Cooke Town, Frazer Town, Richmond Town, Benson Town, Langford Town, Richmond Town, Vasanthnagar, and Cox Town between Friday and Saturday. On Saturday we have started our new delivery route to Malleswaram, Sadashivnagar, Sanjay Nagar, and RMV extension.”

Orders have been pouring in and Sumeet is ensuring that she delivers to as many customers as possible. “I have been receiving distress calls. There was a husband and wife in Bellandur, who just had a baby. The husband ate potatoes so that his wife could get to eat other vegetables. We received a request to deliver there. We could make a small deviation and distribute there. We have also received requests to distribute to parents staying in Bangalore.” She ensures that her delivery personnel and the customers are both safe. “We had already begun working under lock-down restrictions three weeks before lockdown was announced. We rolled out contact-less delivery, we do temperature screenings, we focus on sanitation, providing sanitisers in bulk to wash hands, we also ask our workers to keep us informed on how they are feeling, and not to come into work if they are unwell.”

Desperate times comes with lessons. With the lock-down, we are finally asking important questions: where does our food come from? Why we should be consuming locally-grown food? Sumeet offers an insight: “In a sense, the lockdown has been a huge validation of what we believe in. You should be eating locally grown food because there is less chances of pesticides being used. With lock-down, people are now understanding the value of food. They are also seeing the connection to food, which has been lost, such as the knowledge of which vegetable to eat in which season. For example, carrots, peas, broccoli and cauliflower are winter vegetables, but they are eaten the whole year round. The downside of this is that diverse native food has been forgotten, especially native greens. They are easy to grow. For example, purslane, a cultivar from the portulaca family, which is native to the Indian sub-continent, is rich in nutrients. There is also clove beans and star fruit.”

The lock-down has led to obstacles in demand and supply. “Enough vegetables and fruits are being grown, but demand and supply has been distorted. The wholesale sellers don’t know how much quantity is to be given by the farmers, because nobody can estimate demand. Also the farmers are confused whether they should get their produce or not. Local grocers don’t know how much of the produce is going to be sold. There are also organic fruit farmers who supply their fruit inter-state or even export them, but with the lock-down that has been disrupted. I know a sapota farmer who boards passenger trains to sell sapota to Delhi and north India. So for farmers like him we are buying their fruit in as much bulk as we can and putting it in our baskets,” says Sumeet.

While these are big challenges, she even has to contend with seemingly small issues. “I have stocked packing material, which I was earlier running out of. It is difficult to source things like markers and stickers, which I use for the logo and put the names of my customers with the name of their apartments and flat numbers on the baskets.”

Sumeet is a graduate of National Law School of India University. In 2013, she left law to get into agriculture. “Between June and July of 2013, I made my first attempt at agriculture. Spudnik Farms was among the 100 start-ups by women entrepreneurs incubated at NSRCEL, IIM Bangalore. I realised that I needed to learn more on how to scale up my business and make it profitable. I am a part of Atal Incubation Centre (AIC), supported by Sangam Ventures, which is an acceleration programme, supported by NITI Aayog, for eight start-ups in the agri tech and clean energy space. I got a cold storage through contacts at the acceleration programme, which has been of great help during this time,” concludes Sumeet.

The box being delivered is available on a monthly subscription. There will be weekly contact-less delivery, currently available is Spudnik’s standard vegetable box (₹3,000 for four weeks). Whatsapp or call 9900606698 or visit: www.spudnikfarms.com or www.instagram.com/spudnikfarms.

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vsplusonline · 4 years

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Thousands turn out to mourn Kobe Bryant as Lakers return to the court in LA

New Post has been published on https://apzweb.com/thousands-turn-out-to-mourn-kobe-bryant-as-lakers-return-to-the-court-in-la/

Thousands turn out to mourn Kobe Bryant as Lakers return to the court in LA

Tens of thousands of Kobe Bryant fans flooded the grounds around Staples Center on Friday ahead of his former team’s first game since his death in a helicopter crash earlier this week that stunned basketball fans in the city and worldwide.

Fans wearing Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers jerseys laid flowers, wrote messages on temporarily erected white walls and shared stories of the 41 year old, who perished along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other people on January 26.

Mourners gather outside Staples Center before a Los Angeles Lakers home game to pay respects to Kobe Bryant after a helicopter crash killed the retired basketball star and his daughter Gianna, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., January 31, 2020. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

“Kobe Bryant meant a lot to me. I’ve been watching him for 20 years since he came into the league and I just love him,” said Lakers fan Karina Mendoza. “I want to thank him for everything he has done for us here in L.A.”

“It’s a sad and a beautiful day. You can see all the people here and all the Lakers fans. We’re like family. Love you Kobe, love you Gigi and all the families.”

Inside the arena, where tributes were expected throughout the game, Kobe and Gianna jerseys were placed on the two courtside seats where the pair sat at their last Lakers game. “I was surprised to see how much it affected me as soon as I got here and saw these makeshift memorials,” said 71-year-old Lakers fan Jim Bendat. “My kids grew up with Kobe and Kobe meant so much to all three of my children. So I sort of experienced all that along with my kids. It’s almost like losing a child in a way.”

Singer Usher performs during a memorial prior to an NBA game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday, Jan. 31, 2020, in Los Angeles. | Photo Credit: AP

Bryant and the eight others died when the helicopter they were taking to a girls’ basketball tournament crashed in foggy weather on a hillside northwest of Los Angeles, plunging fans into mourning and sending shockwaves through the sporting world.

Following Bryant’s death, the National Basketball Association (NBA) cancelled a game scheduled for Staples Center on Tuesday between the Lakers and the Los Angles Clippers, citing the need to give the team time to grieve.

Lakers coach Frank Vogel this week said the tragedy was bringing the Western Conference-leading Lakers, an already tight-knit group, even closer together and credited team leaders LeBron James and Anthony Davis with helping the players manage their emotions.

Practice on Thursday began with some flag football on an outside field near the Lakers’ practice facility in what Vogel called “therapeutic” Southern California sunshine. “We are striking a balance of trying to make us feel good,” Vogel said. “Laughter is always a good remedy for something like this when it’s appropriate.”

It was not clear if surviving members of Bryant’s family would attend Friday’s game.

View this post on Instagram

My girls and I want to thank the millions of people who’ve shown support and love during this horrific time. Thank you for all the prayers. We definitely need them. We are completely devastated by the sudden loss of my adoring husband, Kobe — the amazing father of our children; and my beautiful, sweet Gianna — a loving, thoughtful, and wonderful daughter, and amazing sister to Natalia, Bianka, and Capri. We are also devastated for the families who lost their loved ones on Sunday, and we share in their grief intimately. There aren’t enough words to describe our pain right now. I take comfort in knowing that Kobe and Gigi both knew that they were so deeply loved. We were so incredibly blessed to have them in our lives. I wish they were here with us forever. They were our beautiful blessings taken from us too soon. I’m not sure what our lives hold beyond today, and it’s impossible to imagine life without them. But we wake up each day, trying to keep pushing because Kobe, and our baby girl, Gigi, are shining on us to light the way. Our love for them is endless — and that’s to say, immeasurable. I just wish I could hug them, kiss them and bless them. Have them here with us, forever. Thank you for sharing your joy, your grief and your support with us. We ask that you grant us the respect and privacy we will need to navigate this new reality. To honor our Team Mamba family, the Mamba Sports Foundation has set up the MambaOnThree Fund to help support the other families affected by this tragedy. To donate, please go to MambaOnThree.org. To further Kobe and Gianna’s legacy in youth sports, please visit MambaSportsFoundation.org. Thank you so much for lifting us up in your prayers, and for loving Kobe, Gigi, Natalia, Bianka, Capri and me. #Mamba #Mambacita #GirlsDad #DaddysGirls #Family ❤

A post shared by Vanessa Bryant (@vanessabryant) on Jan 29, 2020 at 4:59pm PST

Although Friday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers will mark the first for the Lakers since his death, Bryant was remembered at Staples Center on Sunday night by performers at the Grammy Awards as fans gathered outside the arena in a spontaneous vigil.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said the Feb. 9 Oscars ceremony would include a salute to Bryant.

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vsplusonline · 4 years

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Live fitness sessions for school children from Wednesday

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Live fitness sessions for school children from Wednesday

Fit India, the Indian governments flagship fitness movement, is yet again set to start a new series of fitness sessions, this time for school children from across the country in partnership with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

Owing to the nation-wide lockdown due to COVID 19 up to May 3, Fit India and CBSE have taken the initiative to ensure fitness of all school children.

Besides sessions on fitness-related issues, guidelines of the Ministry of Ayush on ways to build immunity and stay healthy during this time will also be shared with students. Commencing from Wednesday at 9:30 am, students can get access to these live sessions on the Facebook and Instagram handles of Fit India Movement and CBSE. All the sessions will also be available on YouTube so that students can access it at their convenience as well.

The live sessions will cover all aspects of children’s fitness from daily workouts to yoga, nutrition to emotional well being. Fitness experts like Aliya Imran, nutritionist Puja Makhija, emotional wellness expert Dr Jitendra Nagpal, yoga professional Heena Bhimani and several others would be a part of the sessions.

Talking about this first-of-a-kind initiative, Ramesh Pokhriyal, Union Minister of HRD said, “CBSE has supported the Fit India Movement right from its initiation.13868 CBSE schools have been part of several Fit India programmes in the past and 11682 CBSE schools have already got the Fit India flag. Now, with this unique endeavour I am confident that students across the country will not just be gainfully engaged during the lockdown but will also be motivated to take up fitness and healthy living as a way of life, which is the vision of our Prime Minister.”

Kiren Rijiju, Union Sports Minister, feels that the online sessions are the need of the hour.“Children are all at home with limited physical activity. These sessions by fitness experts will ensure that children practice fitness even when at home. It is also imperative at these times to ensure that everyone, especially children remain healthy and have strong immunity,” Rijiju said. “In these sessions, besides fitness-related topics, the guidelines of the Ministry of Ayush, with regard to following simple steps to increase immunity will also be discussed. I am sure children and parents will benefit greatly from these rich sessions.”

Live streaming would also be available on the social media handles of CBSE, GOQii and Shilpa Shetty App.

—IANS

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vsplusonline · 4 years

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‘It’s the end of only the first innings. I am looking forward to the second innings,’ says Wasim Jaffer

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‘It’s the end of only the first innings. I am looking forward to the second innings,’ says Wasim Jaffer

First of all, I would like to thank The Almighty Allah, who gave me the talent to play this beautiful game. I’d like to also thank my family, my parents and brothers for encouraging me to pursue the sport as a profession and my wife, who left a cosy life of England to create a lovely home for our children and me.

A special thanks to all my coaches, right from my school days to professional cricket, for helping me polish my skills. A heartfelt thanks to the selectors who showed faith in me.

My gratitude to all the captains I played under and all my colleagues from whom I learnt so much about the game and shared some lifelong memories. I would also like to thank all the support staff who were a constant pillar of support in my long journey.

Thank you to the BCCI, Mumbai Cricket Association and Vidarbha Cricket Association for giving me the opportunity to represent them.

My corporate team Indian Oil Corporation Ltd that has looked after me for 20-odd years. My school Anjuman-e-Islam from where my journey to become a professional cricketer began. Sudhir Naik sir for giving me the opportunity to play for the National cricket club.

I’d also like to thank all the bowlers who bowled tirelessly for me to improve my game and to my well wishers, who have always prayed for me to do well.

Among moments I will cherish the most is getting my India Test cap, scoring 202 vs Pakistan, 212 vs West Indies and winning the Test series in West Indies and England 2006-07.

I am honoured to have shared the dressing room with the likes of Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, and MS Dhoni to name a few.

What can I say about Sachin? Icould go on and on about him. He was my role model. Feel really blessed to have watched him play from such close quarters. In my opinion he was one of the best players of that era along with Brian Lara.

My longest association was with the Mumbai team and it’s here that I learned about the khadoos nature of cricket that Mumbai players are known for.

Represented the 41-time Ranji champions from my under-16 days till 2014. Sanjay Manjrekar was my first captain. I feel privileged to have shared the Mumbai dressing room with Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli, Zaheer Khan, Amol Muzumdar, Nilesh Kulkarni to name a few.

After becoming the captain in 2008, I hope I passed on some legacy to Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Surya Kumar Yadav, Aditya Tare and others.

I would also like to thank Chandrakant Pandit for showing faith in me when no team showed any interest to have me as a professional for 2017-18 season. It is because of him that I got a chance to play for Vidarbha again and create history of winning a Ranji Trophy and Irani Cup twice.

My father wanted one of his sons to represent India and I feel proud to have fulfilled his dream.

After all these years in cricket, it is time to move on. But just like the red ball format which is very dear to me, it’s the end of only the first innings. I am looking forward to the second innings in any capacity, be it in coaching, commentary, etc. As long as I stay involved with the game as this game has given me so much.

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This is how it was: A peep into history for the Kohli generation

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This is how it was: A peep into history for the Kohli generation

If you are above a certain age and a fan of Indian cricket, you are probably familiar with the feeling. Where hope and despair are nicely mixed, where intense faith in one or two players is matched by the feeling that everything is about to go wrong.

Also read: It is just lack of form, Sehwag on Kohli’s failures

My mother exhibits this pessimism every time. She has been following the fortunes of the Indian team since the mid-1960s at least. I remember her keeping scores in a notebook, or if that couldn’t be immediately found, on the margins of the daily newspaper while listening to the radio commentary.

Those were the days when a draw was cause for celebration, and an individual century or a five-wicket haul restored some national pride. We didn’t expect to win anything, and when the great spinners, or later, Sunil Gavaskar, were praised in England or Australia we took it personally.

Those were the days when the middle order was shaky. The spinners prayed, “Give us 250 runs to bowl at,” but the batsmen often struggled.

Interesting read: ICC Test ranking: India retains top spot, Kohli remains second in batsmen’s list

Those were the days of unsettled opening batsmanship (till Gavaskar came along), unreliable middle orders and a dearth of bowlers who could take wickets abroad. Those were the days when the opponents’ lower order batsmen often held up the Indian bowling. Wes Hall, Tom Veivers, John Snow, Peter Lever, Geoff Miller, Michael Holding, all bowlers, all got half-centuries while Tony Mann, who had batted at number eight in the first innings came in as night watchman for Australia in the second and made 105.

The only certainty about India’s performance was its uncertainty. I realize now it must have been traumatic. My mother, an otherwise optimistic woman with a cheery worldview, continues to be less than sanguine about the cricket team. Forget the World Cup triumphs, forget the victories abroad, forget the fact that India are the No. 1 team in the world. Ignore the fact that they have done it often, but my mother still believes India will struggle to make 150 to win, or claim twenty wickets.

The generations that followed believe the reverse — that no mountain is too high to climb, no match lost on the first day itself.

Generations overlap

And then comes a tour of New Zealand, and the two generations overlap. The old fears return. Suddenly it feels as if nothing has changed.

Also read: Virat Kohli indicates ‘mini transition’ of pace unit in near future

India struggled with the opening batting, found a hole in the middle order, allowed the lower order to add crucial runs, and didn’t look like the No. 1 team they are. It has been confusing for those who love to apportion blame, for there has been no silver lining. No “take aways” as defeated captains are fond of saying at the end of a series.

Amazingly, the result has been received with great equanimity by a nation obsessed by victories on the cricket field. This may be a sign that Test cricket is losing its sheen. Perhaps the events on the streets of Delhi and elsewhere have put sport and fandom in perspective. The call for heads and banning of players from commercial activities or raising the standards of domestic cricket, which followed defeats in England and Australia at the start of the decade have not been articulated.

To beat New Zealand in New Zealand is as difficult as it is to beat India in India. India have won five matches out of 25 in New Zealand (three of them in the first series there half a century ago), while New Zealand have won just two in India (34 matches). Till Glenn Turner and especially Richard Hadlee appeared, the New Zealanders were great favourites in India because they were seen as the one team India were expected to beat. That was then, this series loss is now.

Strange series

This was a strange series from India’s point of view. Their finest batsman and best bowler were both out of form, and here was evidence — if it were needed — that Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah made up half the team. Their in-form batsman, K L Rahul was not picked for the Tests which wasn’t smart. Picking the batsman in form is hardly rocket science, even if the choice might be an admission of an earlier error.

Did India pick the right men for the final Test which they had to win? Four bowlers meant they were one short. In hindsight — and despite the poor batting — they could have played a fast bowler in place of a batsman. The BCCI’s tweet before the Test: “Spot the pitch” suggested a green top, and India, in reflex action, played the extra batsman.

Safety first is not a good tactic when there’s a match to be won, although understandable in the old India where the aim was to reduce the margin of defeat.

Skipper Kane Williamson was generous, saying the series was closer than the defeats suggested. My mother is familiar with such generosity. It was what opposition captains said in the days when India struggled to put their stamp on the world game.

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vsplusonline · 4 years

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From the soil, for the soil: Padma Shri awardee Chintala Venkat Reddy

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From the soil, for the soil: Padma Shri awardee Chintala Venkat Reddy

It is sunny in Hyderabad. Yet the breeze on your skin feels a few degrees cooler than in other parts of the city. Standing in a grape farm in Keesara, all I could wish for was a hammock and some wine; nothing that would disturb the peace and silence. Chintala Venkat Reddy, the owner of the grape farm spread over several acres and a Padma Shri awardee this year for his natural innovation techniques in farming, says, “Come in March and pluck grapes; you will witness grape harvesting.”

Born into a farmer’s family in Alwal, Secunderabad, Chintala Venkat Reddy, or CVR as he is fondly addressed in the farmer community, always knew he would take up farming after completing his studies. Even as a child, he had been inquisitive about farming, he recollects.

He is thrilled to have received the honour of course, but his excitement knows no bounds when he gets an opportunity to discuss his theories on farming. “Padma Shri award has come now, but I get awards every day in the form of messages from farmers who share their success stories after using my ideas and methods of farming. I have close to 35 farmer groups from across the country where farmers discuss and share their queries with me,” he smiles.

His theories appeal to farmers because his premise is ‘the solution of the soil is from the soil’. The 69-year-old farmer elaborates. “Don’t we all know when there is a problem in a domestic set up, the solution lies in the family itself? Similarly, when the yield from the soil is not satisfactory, it is the soil that has a problem, so that has the solution as well. Over the years, farmers fell prey to the use and subsequent overuse of pesticides in the hope of increasing crop yield, reducing crop damage by pests etc. I always say ‘look for the solution within’. That is what I did, of course, after falling prey to modern methods and failing miserably. When we introduce foreign agents to our crop in the form of chemicals, we are not just harming the environment, eventually, we also consume all those chemicals.”

Chintala Venkat Reddy at his vineyard in Keesara, the wheat cultivation with

Though his followers fondly address him as a ‘scientist’ on Whatsapp, CVR insists he is only a farmer. “I am a farmer, so I must know the soil and learn from my surroundings. Have you ever wondered why we get the distinct fragrance of earth only during the first spell of rain? I believe it is because the soil takes nutrients from the sun and the environment, and the rainwater acts as the final ingredient to make the soil richer,” he smiles.

Methods and techniques

After successfully experimenting with his methods and technique by growing wheat, paddy, maize, sugarcane, vegetables, and other variety of seeds, CVR became the key contributor to the National Seed Corporation (NSC) for almost 10 years.

What makes CVR’s methods unique is the intelligent combination of modern and indigenous practices that were born from his own ideas and experiences.

Citing an example of one of his experiments, CVR says “Insects attack plants, fruits and flowers because they can prey on them. Have we ever heard of insects attacking roots? Rarely. Also consider this: as children we ate mud. Animals too lick soil, but all of it is excreted from the body. That means there is a mechanism in our body that takes care of soil/mud when ingested. That mechanism is the liver and lungs to expel dust that we may inhale. So I turned to Google on my smartphone to see whether insects have a liver. Turns out that they don’t! From then I experimented by spraying light muddy water (made by mixing subsoil with water) on my plants. In two days, the insects died and my grape plants showed considerable growth. After I was convinced about my finding, I used it on other crops with equally good results.”

HYDERABAD, 25/02/2008: Chintala Venkat Reddy, a commercial cultivator resting under his vineyard in Alwal. He created a record by allowing weeds to grow all over the cropped area to increase productivity. He resorted to the age old practice of crop diversification. Photo: Mohammed Yousuf | Photo Credit: Mohammed_YOUSUF

Apart from spraying the muddy water, the organic farmer also sets aside the topsoil to dry in sunlight, and gradually transferred to the soil of other crops periodically, to replenish it. “I was the one to introduce drip irrigation, organic practices in growing grapes, soil and leaf petiole analysis-based nutrition, late pruning techniques and weather-based disease and pest management in grapes production,” he adds.

Now, many grape growers follow his advice to tackle diseases, pest attacks and for better management of soil health, pruning, training young grape plants etc.

CVR has many patents under his name; he has now applied for a patent on a technology that can naturally boost Vitamin D in rice and wheat. Giving me a tour of his wheat farm, CVR shows the crops that are in the milk seed state. “These are all naturally enriched with Vitamin D. If farmers can adopt my technology imagine how the future generations will benefit, without depending on Vit D medicines and fortified foods. After I get the patent, I will make it free for all to use, like all my other methods. I believe in sharing to help the country and farmers benefit.”

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