Sunday, April 18, 2010

Severe acute malnourished child recovers back


Kartar Adivasi son of Banwari & Binia of Kiranpura (Barkhadi) was admitted on 17.11.2009 with a weight of 6.342 kgs. The child was one year old at that time. He was acutely malnourished at that time. He was admitted to Nutritional Rehabilitation centre at Narwar. He was kept at NRC for 14 days and then was followed up at his house in the village. By the time he was 15 months old his weight had increased to 9.300 kg (5.3.2010). He not only recovered back but also is encouragement to service providers and hope to many other parents whose children are severely malnourished.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Crimson Rose butterfly outside Shivpuri Chattri's


Crimson Rose, a swallotail butterfly clicked outside of the sidewall of Chattri complex at Shivpuri. These two restless and fluttering butterfly have striking looking tail and white bands on the wings !

Shivpuri Chattri's

Shivpuri is famous for graceful,intricately embellishedMarble chhatries (cenotaphs) erected by Scindia Princes. Set in an elaborate Mughal Garden, are the cenotaphs, the royal Chhatries dedicated to Scindias. Facing each other across a water tank are the Chhatries of Madhav Rao Scindia and dowager queen Maharani Sakhya Raje Scindia, in a delighful fusion of Hindu and Islamic architectural styles, with their shikhara – type spires and Rajput and Mughal pavilions.

Silent demonstration in Gwalior & Shivpuri against female foeticide

Gwalior/Shivpuri : Hundreds of people gathered on the streets of Gwalior on Feb 2, 2010 to take part in a silent demonstration against female infanticide and foeticide. Holding banners with the slogans 'Save Daughters' and their mouths masked by a cloth to signify the silenced voice of the girl child, both men and women activists held hands to form a long human chain and stood in solidarity as a part of this rally. It was facilitated by Centre for Integrated Development, an non governmental organisation. Similar demonstration was held at Shivpuri district outside the collectorate. The same was facilitated by Sahyog - Support for Development. Representatives from civil society and media  participated in the same (Picture is from Shivpuri, though year in the date mentioned is 2009 due to camera settings).

Collecting wheat grains in Shivpuri


This is the season when mature wheat from the field is cut, bundled together and later on thrashed to collect the grains.

Who's their ?

Bird watches out for visitors on a tree at Lohagarh village in Bamera Panchayat, Pichore Block of Shivpuri district, Madhya Pradesh.

Sunset - clicked from highway

As we drove towards Shivpuri district headquarters from blocks after work, we saw this beautiful sunset on the highway.

Shivpuri tourist village

An MP Tourism hotel, though has now been updated, and at least rooms and outside looks great !. For natural looks it has lot of flowers and trees and off course Sakhya Sagar Lake behind it. The location is probaby the best in Shivpuri.



You never live alone in the room here, even if you are travelling alone. You will have company of spiders, lizards, fireflies in the room and off course the bioluminescence of fireflies will illuminate the room even if you close lights !! This may be okay if you have come to Shivpuri to see wildlife. They make sure that you get best of it always !.  (in picture view of the village from the lake and second one is outside view of room number 14)

Shivpuri has high infant mortality rates


In picture a child who recovered from severe malnutrition from Nutritional rehabilitation centre, sleeping on a cot in his own house in a village in Shivpuri


Admitting to the highest infant mortality rate in the country, Madhya Pradesh recently said that 130,233 children died in the state before attaining the age of five between 2005 and 2009. During the same period, the state received Rs 1601.80 crore in grants from the Centre under the National Rural Health Mission which includes the Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) programme that seeks to reduce infant and maternal mortality rates besides attempting to reduce the total fertility rate. Under RCH, the state government made a budgetary provision of Rs 65.06 crore between 2005 and 2010 but spent only Rs 37.96 crore.

Public Health Minister Anoop Mishra presented these figures while responding to questions in the Assembly. Between 2005 and 2008, the infant death toll was 122,422 but the ratio improved thereafter with the state reporting 7,811 deaths between January 2008 and December 2009. In the four critical years, Satna district reported 7,257 deaths while Chhatarpur and Balaghat lost 6,542 and 5,666 children. Shivpuri, Guna, Rewa, Shahdol and Sidhi were among the districts with high mortality rates.

Mishra said 70 children lost their lives per 1,000 live births but this was an improvement over 2001-2002 when the ratio was 86 deaths: 1000 live births. He attributed malnourishment to early marriages and early pregnancies; underweight children; absence of complete immunisation; failure of mothers to only breast-feed infants up to six months and give them nutritional food later; infection; and, poverty.

False Packaging of iodised salt

The packaging of this salt as available in housshold of pichore block in Shivpuri says that this is iodised salt, but when it was tested with iodine salt testing kit, it was found to be non iodised. So even though they bought thinking that this is iodised salt but in reality it is not !

On the way to Jhansi


This is highway road from Shivpuri to Jhansi.

George Castle, Madhav National Park, Shivpuri


George castle at Madhav National Park, Shivpuri. It was built in 1911 by the Scindia ruler Jivaji Rao Scindia within the National Park at its highest point. It was built for an overnight halt for King George V of the United Kingdom so that he can shoot tiger. He was passing that way during his visit to India. It so happened that King could shoot a tiger on the way itself and did not stop at Madhav National Park.  But Castle remain and it gives you a view of park, Shivpuri and journey of water wherein it says that one can see three interlinked lakes in the forest terrain. This point is right next to the George Castle. The lakes are Jadhav Sagar, Sakhya Sagar and Madhav Sagar. Though I could only see one lake as other were dry.

Stilt and sandpiper


Black winged stilt and sandpiper on one end of Sakhya Sagar Lake, Shivpuri

World tallest kadam tree in Shivpuri


Neolamarckia cadamba, commonly called Kadam is an evergreen, tropical tree. Though grown as an ornamental, and for low-grade timber and paper. There exist some traditional uses as a medicine. The caterpillars of the Commander (Limenitis procris), a brush-footed butterfly, utilize this species as a foodplant. The picture is from Shivpuri in the lawns of Scinida's Chattri. It is said it is the tallest one in the world.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Baronet butterfly at Shivpuri


Baronet Euthalia nais is a species of Nymphalid butterfly. The picture was taken in the Pichore block of Shivpuri near Topeshwar Temple complex.