*Representational Picture Courtesy theweekendleader.com

Every year the Republic Day is celebrated on January 26 to honour the date on which the Constitution of India came into effect in 1950.

The celebration is held in grandeur in national capital's India Gate as well as capital cities of its states.This year marks the 69th Republic Day of India and like every year, the highlight of the day is the parade that takes place at the India Gate and these state capitals.

This year, the Republic Day celebrations in the national capital will have 10 heads from Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Brunei - as chief guests.

The 69th Republic Day parade is slated to witness participants not only from the Indian Army, Air Force, Navy, but it will also showcase over 700 students across the guest countries performing at the event.

In Jharkhand too change is visible.The parade is going to be participated by the Forest Department's newly appointed guards.More,the famous journal SPAN,published by Jeffrey R. Sexton on behalf of the United Stated States of America and edited by Deepanjali Kakati has carried an article 'Saral Usna-Jharkhand' highlighting for the first time the continuity of an ancient  practice to produce 'Usna' rice.    

Rice parboiling is a traditional practice followed in the eastern,central and southern parts of India,states the article."Though the parboiling practice has immence advantages in terms of extra shelf life and nutrition-enriched food,it consumes lots of firewood in the post-harvest process and creates stress on the forests close to the villages",states the article quoting Krishna Kant belonging to an organisation called Saral Usna,founded and run by Michael Galiant who lives in New York city.

"Saral Usna's rice parboiling technology reduces fuelwood consumption by 40 percent and it can be further reduced by the use of leaf litter",says Kant.

Kant further adds:"With 330 units introduced in the market so far,Saral Usna has saved 110 tons of fuelwood,which is equivalent to (over a hectare of forest.With a modest target of 5000 units per year,we can save(more than 140 hectares) of forests within a five-year period.The use of leaf litter collected from the nearby forests also reduces the risk of forest fire."  

(For details of the Saral Usna's rice parboiling technology get connected to Saral Usna:Parboiling...made easy -www.saralusna.weebly.com).

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