11969 - Love, demonetised - The Hindu

Love, demonetised

G. Sampath

SEPTEMBER 03, 2017 00:00 IST

Ask not what demonetisation has done for you; instead, ask your inner cow what your biometrics can do for the nation

Long, long ago, so long ago it seems like another lifetime altogether, I had a girlfriend I totally adored. She dated other boys too but I didn’t mind. She didn’t always take my calls. She carried on for weeks as if I didn’t exist. But she did accept all my presents, all my exam notes, and allowed me to pay all the bills when we went out. She was quite generous that way.

Devotion song

My only mission in life was to be her most devoted slave, her most preferred servant. I loved her so much I would have transported beef to Bareilly if she’d asked me to. I would have eaten the roach-enriched food served by Indian Railways and admitted myself in Gorakhpur’s BRD hospital, if she’d asked me to. Or stood in a queue for 72 hours without food, water or alcohol, even if she hadn’t asked me to.

Now, I am aware that I am not a Deepika Padukone or a Sonakshi Sinha that you would be interested in reading about my love life. But I owe this past life regression to last week’s big revelations.

Yes, I am referring to demonetisation. Everyone has asked me the same two questions: why is no one angry? And why was it done? It is clear now that not one of its purported aims was achieved. So where is the rage? Why are there no mass protests?

Is it possible, as my father keeps reminding me, that we are a nation of ‘double-filtered’ morons? Are we the only country in the world where all the people can be fooled all of the time? Are we sadomasochists, that we love gratuitous punishment? Or, as a colleague put it, are we ‘sodomasochists’?

Well, my friends asked me similar questions all those years ago when I gave this girlfriend my bike, my helmet, my raincoat, and two cinema tickets purchased on my measly pocket money. I did so without hesitation when she informed me at the last minute that she had changed her mind, and wished to watch this romantic blockbuster not with me but with a ‘cousin’ visiting from another city.

I told my chortling friends back then that they did not understand the nature of true love. I would say the same today to all those wondering why Indians aren’t enraged at being taken for a ride.

The people of India love their Prime Minister. They love him the way I loved this girl. This is not an ordinary love based on cost-benefit calculations. It is a divine, unconditional, proto-Vedic love. It is bhakti. That’s why people who surrender to such love are called ‘bhakts’.

If tomorrow, the Prime Minister were to come on TV at 8 p.m. and announce that from October 1, everyone must donate one finger to the government in order to make Digital India a reality, I assure you there will be serpentine queues of people dying to give him their finger.

So let’s get this straight. Demonetisation is not about the economy. It never was. Nor is it some ‘political masterstroke’, as some over-enthusiastic bhakts are claiming. At its core, the demonetisation exercise was nothing but that: an exercise. It was a drill like the ones conducted in military academies and shakhas every morning. The objective was the same: the perfection of obedience.

Essence of greatness

Any nation that seeks greatness needs two things: a great leader, and a population that can be trusted to blindly obey the great leader. We already have a great leader. But an obedient populace is still a work in progress, as not everyone has the aptitude to become a bhakt. Hence the need for drills such as demonetisation. Ideally, we should have something like demonetisation every six months, so that people get used to obeying quietly instead of asking 10,000 questions.

Some might say that this is akin to slavery, and they would be right. The world’s greatest civilisations — be it the ancient Greeks, the ancient Romans, or the seven kingdoms of Westeros — were all built on slavery. That’s why Aadhaar is an absolute necessity, for the surveillance options it offers are the only way to transmute the rebellious elements in the population into reliable slaves. Actually, the term ‘slave’ doesn’t quite capture the nature of slavery that is unique to this land. The correct term is ‘cattle’.

Have you ever seen a cow protest? Or get angry? Or question the mysterious ways of its master? As you already know, to change the world, you must first change yourself. And to make India a great nation, all Indians must embrace their new unique identity as cattle.

So here’s my humble request to all my fellow Indians: ask not what demonetisation has done for you; instead, ask your inner cow what your biometrics can do for the nation.

11785 - 85 lakh milk-producing cows and buffaloes given ‘Aadhaar-like' number - Tribune

Posted at: Aug 14, 2017, 7:42 PM; 

85 lakh milk-producing cows and buffaloes given ‘Aadhaar-like' number

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 14

As many as 85 lakh milk-producing animals have been identified under the Aadhaar-like unique identification (UID) number for cows and buffaloes and their data uploaded on INAPH.

According to a statement released by the Agriculture Ministry, as many as 85 lakh milk-producing animals have been identified and their data uploaded on the Information Network on Animal Health and Productivity (INAPH) data base under the plan ‘Pashu Sanjivni’.

A component under National Mission on Bovine Productivity scheme initiated in November 2016, under ‘Pashu Sanjivni’ 88 million milk-producing animals of 300 million cattle and buffaloes are being identified using polyurethane tags with 12 digit unique identification (UID) number.

As per officials, ‘Pashu Sanjivni’ is crucial for control and spread of animal diseases, scientific management of animals, enhanced production and productivity, improvement in quality of livestock and livestock products, increase in trade of livestock and livestock products by meeting out sanitary and phytosanitary issues.

A brainchild of the Agriculture Ministry for “tamper-proof identification of cattle using polyurethene tags with a UID sequence”, every single cow and buffalo will get the tag containing the 12-digit unique identification number inside the ear.

It is mandatory for all cow/buffaloes and its progeny throughout India for all cattle that is owned.

The move has earned widespread criticism, including from opposition parties, with many left wondering whether the plan costing around Rs 148 crore to the exchequer is really required for a country where one third of the population is still below the poverty line and where even many citizens are yet to get their Aadhar cards. 

11149 - Aadhaar For Livestock: No Laughing Matter This - Swarajya

Aadhaar For Livestock: No Laughing Matter This

Swarajya Staff

- Apr 26, 2017, 12:48 pm

SNAPSHOT

Most countries of the developed world, and some of even the developing, have a unique identification system for cattle.

But sure, let’s laugh it off in India and turn away from better cattle management.

The old media and the social media alike are up in arms since news broke out that the government is fiddling with the idea of giving each cow a unique ID like Aadhaar. This was what Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar told a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar on 24 April.

The proposal was recommended by a committee last year. It suggested that cattle should be tagged with polyurethane IDs carrying details of their age, breed, sex, body colour, horn type and milk yielding status.

While the secular-liberal outrage brigade (SLOBs) may smirk or poke fun at all this fuss over a cow, the reality is that livestock wearables are the future and a unique identification number for cows is a great step forward.

While this concept is new to India (hence the smirky response from the utterly ignorant chatterati), this is a fairly common practice in developed countries. Even poor countries like Kenya are now enthusiastically implementing it. Officially called as Livestock Identification and Traceability System (Lits), Kenya has started the programme to keep track of cattle. Dr Joseph Mugachia explains, “It assigns each cow a unique identification number that the animal carries through its whole life.... When a cow changes hands, the identity remains but ownership is transferred, just like in a car log book.” This means that every change in the ownership of the cow (or its progeny) will have a paper trail.

How is it beneficial? Because there would be a proper track record of the ownership of the cow, any owner would not dare let cows roam on streets after their udders run dry because they can be easily tracked and made accountable. For this, of course, some form of electronic tagging would be needed (for instance, RFID). The owners will be forced to go through proper channels and hand over old cows to gaushalas. It will also act as a deterrent to those who sell cows to butchers. The implementation of cow slaughter laws will become easier. The life for cow smugglers will become difficult because they cannot lie that they bought the cows from the owner as such information would be readily available on the cow’s tag.

For example, to check the menace of stray cattle, the Haryana government has already started the process of tagging around three lakh cattle in all cowsheds of the state. According to this The India Express report, tagging of around 75 per cent of the cattle is complete and in the second phase, tagging of domestic cattle will be covered.

Currently the proposal for India is to not use an electronic tag or RFID but simply tags made from thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer. It won’t get damaged due to sunlight or cold temperature. Tampering would be impossible once sealed, Inderjeet Singh, director at the Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes in Hisar, told Mint. He says that this form of identification is currently the most effective one.

“Tags are placed in both ears of the animal and a unique number is given to each based on its bodily features. It usually costs Rs 10-25 per tag and is very accurate,” Singh told the financial daily.

Tags are already used by the National Dairy Development Board for cattle farms and for insuring animals. So providing a universal tagging system is only logical.

Such tags greatly help owners in better management of their livestock. Every new relevant information about the cattle, be it health related or ownership, can be added constantly. Such information comes in handy at the time of selling it to someone else and to fetch better prices. Dr Mugachia says, because of the fact that history of cattle is recorded and retrievable, “at any one point, the animal and its products can be traced back to the origin for enhanced cattle breeding, disease control, trade and food safety”.

How so? Dr Mugachia gives an example of how the US tackled the deadly disease, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), which originated at a slaughterhouse in Washington State on 23 December, 2003. Thanks to an efficient system in place, the Americans were able to identify where the cattle, which transported the disease, came from and destroyed all the cattle that had come into contact with it along with all the products that were manufactured from their produce. All this was done in four days and a major disaster was averted.

Proper identification and tracking system for cattle is a major issue in trade too. Many countries mandate that the countries they import beef from have such system in place. For example, as this article tells us, “China requires that each animal has a unique identity, so that the farm of origin (place of birth) can be traced and it can be ensured the cattle is slaughtered when they are less than 30 months of age." According to a report, Australia, Brazil, Uruguay, and New Zealand have mandatory traceability systems for their cattle and 87 per cent of China’s 2016 beef imports were from these countries. Having an identification and traceability system in place is not just a good practice but can also help us in increasing trade with countries like China. India is one of the largest exporters of beef, majority of which comes from buffaloes.

Another product that is coming into market is the GPS cow bell. These help owners track cattle on a real time basis. They also emit light and ring an alarm when a predator approaches.

Identification helps in better management of livestock, theft deterrence and convenience at the time of selling. Traceability system helps in quick containment of any deadly disease that may arise. It also provides assurance and more transparency to consumers of cattle meat.

Luddites may scoff at the idea of giving so much importance to cattle, but for the owners in the countryside, they are no less valuable to them as cars are to our urban citizens.

11145 - Tathagata Satpathy mocks Centre's 'Aadhaar' plan for cows - TNN

Tathagata Satpathy mocks Centre's 'Aadhaar' plan for cows

TNN | Updated: Apr 26, 2017, 06.43 AM IST

BHUBANESWAR: BJD MP Tathagata Satpathy on Tuesday took a dig at the Centre a day after it told the Supreme Court that it plans to introduce an Aadhaar-like unique identification number for cows to stop their smuggling.

"I support issuing Aadhaar to The Holy Cows. Don't forget Bullocks, Mosquitos & Hindi speaking Black Crows," tweeted Satpathy, who is known to be critical of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre. This is not the first time he has mocked the central government. The Dhenkanal MP, who is the party's chief whip in Lok Sabha, recently called the Centre's 'lal batti' decision a joke. 

11137 - Narendra Modi led BJP government proposes Aadhaar like identification number for cows - Economic Tmes

Narendra Modi led BJP government proposes Aadhaar like identification number for cows

By ANI | Updated: Apr 24, 2017, 07.30 PM IST

        Aadhaar-like unique identification numbers for cows?

NEW DELHI: In a bid to avail better protection of cows and prohibition of smuggling of cattle across India and Bangladesh border, the Centre today in its report to the Supreme Court said each cow and its progeny across India should get a Unique Identification Number (UID). 

The Centre told the apex court that a committee headed by Joint Secretary and Home Ministry was formed, which has given certain recommendations in the issue. 

With an aim to stop cow smuggling, the committee said the responsibility of safety and care of abandoned animals is mainly of the state government. 

"Every district should have a shelter home of the capacity of at least 500 animals for abandoned animals. This will help reduce the smuggling of abandoned animals," it added. 

The committee further said special care should be given to cattle beyond the age of milking, adding the animals which stop milking are mainly smuggled outside India. 

"Scheme should be launched for farmers in distress so that they do not sell animals that are beyond milking age. Funding of shelter homes should be done by the State Government. The existing shelter homes lack facility and human resources," it stated. 

Another recommendation by the Centre said each cow and its progeny across India should get a Unique Identification Number so that their tracking can be done. 

"The UID number should have age, breed, sex, lactation, height, body, color, horn type, tail switch and special marks details of the animal. The UID for cow and its progeny should be made mandatory across India," the Centre asserted. 

Emphasising on the prohibition of smuggling of animals across Bangladesh, the Centre said that active support and cooperation should be sought from the public. 

"People should be asked to give information related to movements of animals on roads through toll free helpline numbers," the Centre's report added. 

The recommendations come in the backdrop of various incidents of cow vigilantism being reported across the nation.

11123 - Give cows Aadhaar cards: Dalit activist - TNN

Give cows Aadhaar cards: Dalit activist

TNN | Updated: Apr 24, 2017, 10.12 AM IST

RAJKOT: At a time when the state government has made provisions of life imprisonment for cow slaughter, the dalit community in the state has demanded that every cow be now given an 'Aadhar card' and there should be fodder depot at all villages to ensure that the bovines don't feed on plastic. 

Surendranagar-based dalit rights activist Natu Parmar is preparing to host a mega sammelan on the theme of 'Jiv Matra, Karuna Ne Patra (Living creatures need compassion) on May 10. 

Dalits who have been fighting for their rights, especially after four youths skinning dead cows were brutally flogged in Una, will attend the function. A life-size prototype of cow with huge quantity of plastic in its stomach will also be unveiled at the occasion. 

"The aim of the sammelan is to tell the government that cows need to be given proper food. More cows die eating plastic than at slaughter houses in Gujarat. We are demanding that like every Indian citizen, Aadhaar cards be issued to cows and also that fodder depots on the lines of ration shops be opened at every village," said Parmar. Dalits have also raised the issue of gauchar (pasture) land in villages that is fast depleting and being given away to industries at throwaway prices. 

"We want that gauchar land be given back to villages and that it be used exclusively for cows. Postmortem should be conducted on each dead cow to ascertain the exact cause of deaths. Gauchar lands are given to industries and cows are left to eat plastics only," said Martin Macwan, another dalit rights activist. On the occasion of the 'Karuna Day', a rally will be held from Savidhan Circle to the place of the event in Surendranagar on May 10. 

Dalits have often complained of being subjected to brutality and humiliation by self-proclaimed cow protectors in the name of gau raksha. "But nobody cares when cows die after eating plastic," Parmar said.

When contacted, Vallabh Kathiria, chairman of Gujarat Gauseva and Gauchar Vikas Board, said that all the cattle in the state are registered and there is no need to consider the demand of Aadhar cards for cows. 

Top Comment

Since cows are more important than humans now, besides Aadhar card, cows should get PAN cards and BPL cards, since its a common sight to see cows feeding on plastics from Garbage, while Gau raksh... Read More

Expat Med

On fodder depots, he said, "Generally, cattle owners face shortage of fodder during summer. In such case, district collector makes the necessary arrangement and the cattle owners in scarcity-affected districts are given fodder at very nominal rates."

Kathiria also said that only 20% gauchar land was given for industrial purposes and rest of 80% are available for cattle breeding. "We have also started removing babool trees from gauchar lands since five years so that our livestock can get more grazing land," he added.

11122 - Aadhaar-like unique identification numbers for cows? .TNN

Aadhaar-like unique identification numbers for cows?

TIMESOFINDIA.COM | Apr 24, 2017, 03.15 PM IST

HIGHLIGHTS

• Government today proposed to the Supreme court for providing adhaar-like unique identification number to cows in India.
• Each cow and its progeny across India should get a Unique Identification Number for tracking, govt proposed
• The centre also highlighted the issue of cow protection and smuggling of cattle across India-Bangladesh border.

The government has also recommended special care for cattle beyond age of milking, while stressing on launching of a scheme for distressed farmers.

NEW DELHI: The central government has, amid debate over vigilantism, on Monday proposed to the Supreme court for providing adhaar-like unique identification number to cows in India, ANI reported. 

"Each cow and its progeny across India should get a Unique Identification Number for tracking," the government said in its report to the apex court. 

24 Apr

ANI

@ANI_news

Centre in its report to Supreme court says "each cow and its progeny across India should get a Unique Identification Number for tracking"

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Centre also recommends special care for cattle beyond age of milking. Also stresses on launching of a scheme for distressed farmers

5:53 PM - 24 Apr 2017

The government has also recommended special care for cattle beyond age of milking, while stressing on launching of a scheme for distressed farmers. 

The centre also highlighted the issue of cow protection and smuggling of cattle across India-Bangladesh border. 

According to a report published in The Economics Times , the animal husbandry department had assigned technicians to affix a tag with a 12-digit unique identification number inside the ear of cows. 

As per the report, nearly one lakh technicians have been armed with 50,000 tablets. Their mission is to affix a polyurethane tag on the ears of the cattle with a tag applicator. 

The yellow-colored tag is fixed in the centre of the ear lobe. 

Once the tag is fixed, the technician will use a tablet to update the number in an online database and also provide the cattle owner with an "animal health card" recording the UID number, owner's details, status of periodic deworming and vaccinations of the animal as well as breeding details.This will help track the cattle along with all relevant details.

The move will help in tagging and tracking cattle so that they are vaccinated on time and scientific intervention is made available for better breeding and increasing milk production, doubling income of dairy farmers in the process by 2022.

The Centre has set aside Rs 148 crore for procuring the tags, tag applicators, tablets and health cards, officials said.

Top Comment

BJP as government is doing great.. But due to such articles whole world will be making India's fun.. We ourselves have issues within our countries with numerous things.. 25% of Hindus eat beef across... Read More

Farhan Razzaq

It has also fixed targets for individual states to be completed within 2017.

(With agencies input) 

10189 - Holy cow! Cattle to get own Aadhaar cards - Business Standard

Holy cow! Cattle to get own Aadhaar cards

The animal husbandry department is set to launch a massive programme to tag all indigenous variety of cattle in a bid to improve progeny and milk production

Sanjeeb Mukherjee  |  New Delhi 

July 4, 2016 Last Updated at 07:28 IST

The government surely knows how to milk the Aadhaar card for ideas. The animal husbandry department is set to launch a massive programme to tag all indigenous variety of cattle in a bid to improve progeny and milk production. There are about 85 million milch cows — those that produce milk — in the country. They could all soon have their own Aadhaar-like identification cards. The ID cards will have all relevant information about the breed. This, in turn, will enable improved progeny and assist in augmenting milk yields. The government wants to double the country’s milk ...

8162 - Ear-tagging of cows begins in Haryana -NYOOOZ

Ear-tagging of cows begins in Haryana

• NYOOOZ Chandigarh Thu,18 Jun 2015

It could soon be a type of Aadhaar number with a difference for the cows of Haryana. After imposing harsh penalty to prevent cow slaughter, the State Government has now swung into action to implement its ambitious scheme of ear-tagging the high yielding cows. Under the conservation and development of indigenous cattle scheme launched by the BJP-led State Government from current fiscal year 2015-16, ear tags or a microchip that stores information and can be tracked remotely would be attached to high yielding cows in the State.

To begin with, the State Government has set a target to identify 1,000 top quality Hariana and Sahiwal breed of cattle during the current fiscal year and fasten ear tags on them. These would be radio frequency identification device (RFID) tags holding information about cows’ date of birth, breed, lactation cycle, calving details, the amount of milk they give and will assist in differentiating similar-looking cattle. The scheme aims at improving the productivity of indigenous breeds of cattle namely Hariana and Sahiwal in the State.

Under the scheme, the initial approach would include screening of the base population for their peak yield for identification of Hariana and Sahiwal cows (and their progeny) yielding more than 6 kg and 10 kg of milk respectively. All identified cows will be insured. According to the officials of Haryana Animal Husbandry Department, lack of concerted efforts towards genetic improvement of the indigenous cattle breeds have contributed to their gradual decline in the State.

The population of indigenous cattle has reached an all-time low and urgent measures are required for conservation and development of these indigenous breeds. In spite of having quality genetic resources, the productivity of indigenous cows in the State has not increased upto the desired level mainly because of indiscriminate breeding, lack of record keeping, poor management conditions and unscientific feeding practices, as per the officials. Haryana has 18.

08 lakhs cattle. Out of total cattle population, 8.12 lakhs are indigenous cattle and 9.

96 lakhs are exotic/cross bred cattle, as per the 2012 livestock census.“The Department has begun the process of ear tagging the high yielding cows in the State. An outlay of Rs100 lakh has been provided for the scheme for 2015-16,” said Dr Prem Singh, Joint Director (Planning), Haryana Animal Husbandry and Dairying Department while talking to The Pioneer.

...

News Source: http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/ear-tagging-of-cows-begins-in-haryana.html

7798 - Dairy farmers in Maharashtra want Aadhaar like ID tags for milch animals - First Post

Dairy farmers in Maharashtra want Aadhaar like ID tags for milch animals

Dairy farm, representational Image. Reuters.

State Dairy Development Minister Eknath Khadse said while the government has not received any formal proposal from dairy farmers as yet, but it will look into the demand if the proposal will help them.

"We have not got any proposal from the dairy farmers as yet. If we get a proposal, we will study it and if we find that the farmers stand to benefit, we do not mind accepting it," Khadse told PTI.

The dairy farmers want the government to consider it seriously as this has been done in most countries that practice advanced dairy farming methods.

"The most important benefit of UID number tagging is that it will enable to track the overall production pattern of cows, which is very important from business and planning point of view," Prabhat Dairy's Managing Director Vivek Nirmal said.

"We help farmers in Maharashtra to buy cows through financial assistance schemes from financial institutions. The cows are insured and therefore UID for each cow is very important. The data of each cow is also stored on a 'cloud' (data storing software). The data can be used by the lending banks too to keep track of the cows."

Nirmal said his unit has already started tagging over 3,000 cows in Shrirampur and Ahmednagar - one of the largest milk producing districts in India.

PTI