International Mountain Day Celebrated in Kashmir
The Centre for Environment Education, India, celebrated this year's International Mountain Day in Kashmir. Coinciding with the Copenhagen climate change meeting, CEE identified the impacts of climate change on the Kashmir region. A summary of activities can be downloaded here.
Karakoram Knowledge Highway
Issue 3 of the Karakoram Knowledge Highway has just been published. Click here to take a look at what is happening on the other side of the LoC.
Warmer climate helping farmers at high altitude - for now
Reported on the AlertNet Reuters website this story claims that climate change is assisting farmers in Leh to grow a wider variety of vegetables. The story also documents some interesting figures on cash-cropping, and the French NGO GERES claims that the apple cultivation belt has risen from 9,000ft to 12,000ft. For the full story click here.
China objects to J&K road project, India stops work
Times of India story
China pressures India and stops villagers at Demchok working on an 8Km road project funded through the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).
Cordyceps synensis seized
Reported on the BBC South Asia website, four people have been arrested for attempting to smuggle the fungal parasite Cordyceps sinensis from Ladakh across to China. The parasite, which infects ghost moth larvae, eventually kills the caterpillar and the resulting fungal growth is highly prized in Chinese and Tibetan medicine. For more on the story click here.
Papers from the 13th IALS conference in Rome
Announcement: papers from the 13th IALS conference in Rome, July 2009.
A volume of selected papers from the history and culture panels at the Rome conference has now been published under the following title.
Mountains, Monasteries and Mosques. Recent Research on Ladakh and the Western Himalaya. Edited by John Bray & Elena De Rossi Filibeck. Supplement No. 2 to Rivista degli Studi Orientali 80 (New Series). Pisa & Rome: Sapienza, Università di Roma, Dipartimento di Studi Orientali.
ISBN: 8862271883. ISBN-13: 9788862271882
The publishers have set the price at 245 Euros and the book can be ordered online at: www.libraweb.net/. It will in any case be distributed to libraries who subscribe to the Rivista degli Studi Orientali. Please also let us know if you would like to suggest publications and institutions who might be willing to review the book.
The volume is divided into two main sections and, after the introduction, the papers are arranged as follows:
Introduction
Historical encounters
Enzo Gualtiero Bargiacchi–Ippolito Desideri’s First Remarks on Ladakh.
Christian Jahoda—Spiti and Ladakh in the 17th-19th Centuries: Views from the Periphery.
Georgios T. Halkias—“Until the Feathers of the Winged Black Raven Turn White”: Sources for the Tibet-Bashahr Treaty of 1679.
Kurt Tropper— “A Thousand Maṇis in Immutable Stone”. A Donor Inscription at Nako Village (Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh).
John Bray & Tsering D. Gongkatsang—Three 19th Century Documents from Tibet and the lo phyag Mission from Leh to Lhasa.
Arik Moran—“A Project of Imperial Importance”: Palampur Fair and the Kangra Tea Industry, 1867-79.
Abdul Ghani Sheikh—The Traditions of Sufism in Ladakh.
Shahzad Bashir— Nūrbakhshīs in the History of Kashmir, Ladakh, and Baltistan: A Critical View on Persian and Urdu Sources.
Cultural continuities and change
Pascale Dollfus – Who are ‘Those of the Black Castle’? Discussing the Past of a Nomadic Group Inhabiting the Southeastern Edge of Ladakh.
Elena De Rossi Filibeck— Wedding Songs from Wam le.
Erberto Lo Bue – Notes on Sky-burial in Indian, Chinese and Nepalese Tibet.
Poul Pedersen –Traditionalism and Cosmopolitanism in the Life of a Modern Ladakhi: Abdul Wahid Radhu and Marco Pallis.
Martin A. Mills—Charting the Shugden Interdiction in the Ladakh Himalaya.
Petra Maurer – Sa bdag and Tortoise. A Survey of the Tradition of Geomancy in Ladakh.
Sonam Wangchok – Sacred Landscapes in the Nubra valley.
Raising the profile of Ladakh's greenhouses
The work of French NGO GRERES has been recognised at the International Energy Awards earlier this month. For more details read this article on the SciDev.net website. The construction of 600 greenhouses, each costing USD 600 to build, are now providing an estimated 50,000 Ladakhis with access to vegetables in winter.
Election results
Ladakh hockey team to represent India
Ice hockey players from Ladakh are representing India in the forthcoming IIHF Challenge cup of Asia, scheduled to take place in Abu Dhabi. More on the story can be found here, and there is currently an image of the team in front of India Gate on the BBC South Asia homepage.
We wish the team the best of luck on the international stage!
Leh is targeted for agricultural funding
Reported on the REACH Ladakh site, Leh District has been awarded funding for agricultural development through India’s Comprehensive District Agricultural Plan (CDAP). With a projected annual release of 15 crore the Plan offers a lot of promise to farmers in the region. The scheme’s focus on mechanisation may well offer the growing number of labour-short households significant assistance. It will however be interesting to see how CDAP initiatives cope with limiting factors such as irrigation water, a resource that is already deficient in many areas.
Colloquium venue
14th IALS Colloquium 16th - 19th July, 2009
We are pleased to announce that the venues for the 14th IALS Colloquium will be the Central Institute of Buddhist Studies campus in Choglamsar and the Dragon Hotel, Leh. For information on presenting at the colloquium, registration and suggested accommodation please visit our Future Colloquia pages.