NASHIK, Dec 7: The Bajrang Dal will launch a statewide agitation against the use of unauthorised loudspeakers on mosques from December 15 to 31.

At a press conference, the convenor of the Maharashtra unit of the Dal, Deepak Gaikwad, said loudspeakers were being ``widely used'' on mosques all over the state to recite Azaan five times a day.

Besides causing noise pollution, the loudspeakers, he alleged, were also being used for communal propaganda against Hindus and were set up without obtaining permission from the local police.

Gaikwad said the Dal would stage dharnas before police stations all over the state between December 15 and 31 to demand immediate removal of unauthorised loudspeakers. The agitation would be intensified if the demand was not met, he added.

Woman sues son for selling house

NASHIK, DEC 7: A woman has filed a complaint against her son for selling her house without her knowledge.

Anusayabai SakharamChandramore has alleged that her elder son, Ashok, staying in the Nehru Nagar government quarters, first mortgaged her Devlali village home -- which she occupies with her younger son and his wife -- and then `sold' it another person without her approval.

She claims Ashok mortgaged the house to Y J Bhabad for Rs 30,000 and then `sold' the same house to K Jagannath for Rs 50,000.

She said Jagannath has since been pestering her to either return the amount or vacate the house.

Ashok, she alleged, obtained her thumb impressions on some papers on some pretext and is yet to inform her about the `sale' and mortgage, she added.

Agro-Forestry awards presented

NASHIK, Dec 7: Dr A F Mascarenhas and Dr Rajani S Nadgauda were presented with the Agro-Forestry awards by Dr Madhav Godbole for their pioneering work in plant tissue culture at the National Chemical Laboratory of the Central Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Pune.

They developed some of the first tissue culture processes for theclonal propagation of selected superior genotypes of many tree planting stocks like Nilgiri, teak and bamboo.

Presenting the awards, Godbole, an economist who retired as Union Secretary of Home and Finance, said agro-forestry helped maintain environmental balance. He lauded the work done by the recipients and Vinayakrao Patil, founder of the Cooperative Agro-Forestry Federation.