Future of Uttarakhand

Been lucky that I have spent the past few months mostly travelling in Uttarakhand.

Got to see and experience some cultures which I wasn't aware existed in my home state. Ofcourse have experienced some ugly stuff too but that would probably come sometime in future, on this blog.

Uttarakhand comprises of 13 districts and I have visited 9 so far. 4 left to visit are Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Pauri and Bageshwar.

Would visit District Rudraprayag very soon as it is where the village Ratura is located. More on Ratura and Raturis later.

Uttarakhand celebrated 9th anniversary of it's formation earlier this month. The main reason people of Uttarakhand wanted a separate state was it's tough geography and ignorance about challenges it presents among the decision makers in Lucknow.

Unfortunately, the situation has remained relatively unchanged since the formation of a separate hill state. Decision makers and skilled populace still favours plain areas of Uttarakhand. Dehradun still continues to be the capital and though infrastructure has improved in some mountain areas - the momentum isn't enough to prevent the migration of people down.

Schemes are a dime a dozen and the present Chief Minister, Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' is busy laying foundation stones all across the state. Read 3 interesting news stories recently. The first one said funds meant for development are not being utilised fully in the state. Forgot the exact quantum of unused funds but it was a few hundred crores. The second news story said the state government is facing a shortfall of Rs. 1000 crores right now and the CM has instructed the finance department to generate more income The third article aptly concluded - it is good that the various government departments are sleeping, for if they were to utilise the funds fully, the government would go bankrupt.

There is a lot more to say but not in a good mood right now. Would conclude with 3 ideas, which, if imlplemented will help propel the state forward. The first one is taking the railways to the mountains, the second one creation of two new mandals, and last but certainly not the least 'Save Himalaya, Save Water, Save Life' movement.

Related Posts :
Dr. Shiv Prasad Naithani "Uttarakhand Gathaon Ka Rehesya" : 30.07.2010
Telangana 29th Indian State : 10.12.2009
Future of Garhwali n Kumaoni Ethnicities : 17.08.2008

TCS's mKRISHI : A Mobile Agro - Advisory System

mKRISHI (Krishi = farming/agriculture) is a mobile agro-advisory system developed by TCS Innovation Labs - Mumbai.

TCS's mKRISHI allows farmers to send queries to agricultural experts in their local language through a CDMA mobile and receive personalized advice or relevant information in the local language.

Alongwith their queries, farmers can also send a photograph of the crop through a camera phone.

Lack of technical expertise in modern methods of agriculture is a major problem for Indian farmers. Various Indian states are trying to promote Precision Farming techniques and normally Precision Farming experts physically visit farm sites 1 to 4 times a month, depending upon the crop production cycle.

Some Precision Farming experts serve farmers in a radius of 500 kms. As the distance increases, the contact between the expert and the farmer reduces. mKRISHI, if properly developed and utilised, would certainly help in bridging this gap.

mKRISHI also helps literacy-challenged farmers by allowing them to send queries and receive advice and information as 'voice SMS.'

The end-to-end mKRISHI solution has been developed through the integration of technologies such as sensors, solar power, CDMA modem and CDMA network, GPS, handset with camera, binary runtime environment for wireless to develop applications on the handset, client software (on mobile phone), expert console software, and an engine to assist in displaying mobile screens in Indian languages.

At present, TCS has tied up with Tata Teleservices to use their CDMA services. The application received international recognition last year in the form of the Golden Peacock Innovation Award, the Wall Street Journal Technology Award (wireless category) and the NASSCOM Innovation Award.

An IP has been generated for mKRISHI and TCS has received a provisional patent in India; it has also been trademarked and the comapany is planning a commercial roll-out model, and trying to scale the model to other developing countries.

News Source : The Hindu
Related Reading : System for Polyhouse Farmers and Consultants

Related Posts :
Floravale Bhimtal : Spring in Autumn : 27.09.2009
! Bravo Bazira ! : 10.10.2008