The revolutionary

The exploitive west and fatal Islam

2011-11-19T15:00:00.000-08:00

The western world which lived in ignorance for almost 1400 years and finally manage to stole the vast knowledge hidden in our scriptures and holy books and used them to their benefit.

Renaissance which catalyzed the industrial revolution started the journey of colonism which was nothing but an organsied form of exploitations in the name of trade. They brought the gift of economic misery with which colonial countries are even reeling today. These buggers are exploting the world even today by forming multinational organizations and big institution like WTO and others. Among the most cunning slogan “we want our world safe “they ensure that their world is safe. Life has value there in there world. While for us it’s all about the mercy on the riches who are directing our world. In last 10 years more than 10000 lives have been lost here but they have been able to save their people from such terror attacks which are largely directed by one religious group of this world in the name of Jihad. This fucking Jihad is mother fucks of all fucks cursing our nation in the last 10 years. There cannot be any other example of extreme inhuman conducted on this earth by people in the name of religion.

The Middle East and the followers of Islam are not correcting themselves and retrospecting their fundamentals of their life. Rather they are becoming so aggressive and insane. Somehow the western world has exploited them but we are becoming the soft target of these jihadis. Oil and peace was looted by the Americans but we are being hit every year. We never invaded them first but they still consider us to be invader. We have been looted for last 2400 years by Magolids, Arabs and Persian races ruthlessly in ancient time and more then 4 times in recent 50 years but we are still considered as invaders destroying the peace and sovereignty of the Islamic world. While we house the largest no of Muslims in our country living with peace and harmony for centuries we are baled to be disrespecting their religion. Their religion emerged in 610 AD and ironically they claim their religion to be the most supreme religion higher above all the religion of world. We fought the greatest battle of Mahabharata 4000 years back under the aegis of Allah sitting on the chariot of the greatest warrior Arjuna and giving the most sacred form of knowledge and preaching to the human kind which is unquestionable till date and has got answers to any kind of spiritual questions addressed in this world. No other religious epic and books till date are produced in the world which can even come at the bottom of the sacred and divine book called Gita. We still don’t proclaim ourselves to be the supreme religion of the humankind. Allah we respect you as much as Krishna but beg you to educate your followers to be rational and tolerant. Teach them the lesson of birth control and sticking to vegetarian food now. Only these 2 practice can stop the biological disaster through which the followers of Islam. The world cannot accommodate them any more now. The ecological balance has been disturbed so badly now that any time the nature can wipe out the entire mankind. If the world can’t abide by the doctrine of vegetarianism then hey Allah and Krishna please legitimate the butchering of humans. Fuck off with the reasoning that if we don’t eat animals their population will increase. There are herbivore animals like lion and tigers to keep a track on the population of animals.

We humans are ignoring the biggest challenge of the modern time. Restoring the nature and the ecological balance is the only way to keep this earth green. The humanity today battle ling with more bigger threats then religious code of conduct which has rotten over time.

The obsessed Indian Pigs

2011-11-19T14:51:00.000-08:00

The obsessed Indian pigs are so busy watching the celebrity shows and all other kind of possible craps on this earth. Thanks to a developing India blessed with the grace of the super tom lady Sonia jee , the most eligible choclatey boy ,and their life long disciples and blind followers. The country is seeing the best of best that can be showcased in a country where billions are hungry and illiterate. In last 10 years the country has seen the Internet and mobile revolution. While the rest of the world is growing at a meger rate of 1-2 %, we blessed with the spiritual babas , super economist and set of ultra qualified professional are growing at the rate 8-10%. And thanks to the ever ignited youth of this country fuelled by MTV channel and funky movies and super hot shows like big boss and many other hot soaps by the tv godess ekta kapoor, we are strong headed and ready to transform the nation. We are so broadminded and open that now we can do anything. There is no limit to life. It has become real big size. Big boss has transformed our viewing habits with its paid TRP campaigns which is not sparing any person on this earth. It’s spreading like plague.

God bless this country and the cynic people of this nation who have become so self obsessed and worthless creeps crawling like leeches. The same glorious country where legends and thinkers shaped it into the world’s most thoughtful and vibrant nation is now sucking the western world and the media blindly.

Americanism

2008-07-23T17:06:00.000-07:00

USA is just one of the nation among the 193 recognised nations worldwide. The amount of popularity which this nation has got in almost all the major areas is known to all of us. People on earth are not able to complete their sentence without including the name of USA. This is unfortunately one of the dirtiest things that have ever happened on this planet. I am not a pessimist person who is showing pessimism to USA. Rather I would catagorize myself into very few informed global citizen who knows how to appreciate the good thing and condem any bad thing belonging to any nation. I am really surprised why the nations and people have accepted USA as their MIRROR? The world was suffering from the plague of imperialism in the 18^TH century and now the world is suffering from the most destructive, extremely spread able and fatal disease named AMERICANISM. I wish some one could release a vaccine to combat AMERICANISM. Don’t laugh at me dear.. Try to understand the gravity of the issue. I always believe in facts and figure and here goes the facts to let you know about the intensity of the disease called AMERICANISM

1.Income inequality= .426 (year 1994)

Source of data: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, Series P60

Interpretation of this data: (0.0 = perfect equality, 1.0 = one person has all the income)

So a figure of .42 means almost 50% of the people have all the income. So the remaining 50% are the poor people.

India also have got economic disparity but we are rated as a poor country while USA in spite of 50% of population in disparity is the worlds most reputed country

2. Poverty = 15.1(1993  )

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, P-60 series.

While the entire world might be assuming that USA must be having least poverty.

3.Crime

Nearly 2.2 million inmates were held in state and federal prisons or country and municipal jails in the US by the end of 2005, the largest in the world. About three percent of the US adult population, or one in every 32 adults, were in the nation's prisons and jails or on probation or parole.

4.Violation of human rights:

Amnesty International: Violation of the Rights of Foreign Nationals Under Sentence of Death

AI INDEX: AMR 51/01/98 (Published in 1998)

To read the complete article on web click

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=580&scid=

More than 60 foreign citizens representing 22 nationalities are under sentence of death in the United States of America (USA). In virtually every case, the arresting authorities failed to notify detained foreigners of their right to communicate with their consular representatives. As a consequence, foreign nationals confronted by an unfamiliar legal system were tried and sentenced to death without the benefit of the crucial support from the authorities of their native countries. Since 1993, the United States has executed at least 5 foreign nationals, including citizens of the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Cuba.

In 1969, the USA ratified the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, a multilateral treaty regulating the functions of consulates in at least 144 nations. Article 36 of the Vienna Convention requires the local authorities to promptly inform arrested foreigners of their right to consular assistance. At the request of the detainee, the authorities must notify the consulate of the arrest and permit consular access to the detained national.

Guys this article is written before WTC . So please don’t argue that these steps might have taken as measure to combat terrorism. None of these 60 foreigners were terrorist.

Now lets discuss the Hegemonic Role played by the USA In the world

The below mentioned is the result of the PIPA poll conducted by organization in USA

The title of the poll

Do you agree that the USA is playing the role of world policemen more than it should?

80% OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AGREE IN 2004 AND 76% IN 2006.

The entire world whose presence and absence has been controlled by the remote of America should pledge by learning all the above facts that the old rule “mighty rules” still prevails and if at all any citizen belonging to any nation ever wants to challenge USA then they will have to strengthen their own country by actively taking part into various nation building activities. So friend lets pledge by our mother land that we will respect it and will do every bit to rise our nation to new height of excellence.

Science is a beautiful mission

2008-07-14T10:49:00.000-07:00

Adapted from President APJ Abdul Kalam’s addresses to the 14th Children’s Science Congress at Majitar, Sikkim on December 27, 2006, and the 25th convocation of the National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad on January 5, 2005

The youth of our country, which represents 50 per cent of our population, has challenging scientific missions full of opportunities to make India competitive in the globalised world. The youth should have an aim in life, acquire knowledge and sweat, and not be afraid of problems. Some of the missions are as follows.
It is said that the ozone layer, which regulates sun radiation and cosmic radiation on earth, is in the process of dilution. Atmospheric research is a big field and the mission is to lead to a livable atmosphere for sustainable quality of human life for generations to come. The human genome project has led to the discovery of about 30,000 genes amongst us. But the bigger scientific challenge for our youth in this globalised world is how to characterise every gene. This field is called Proteomics.
The next challenge is that current mainstream physics concepts require a “Theory of Everything”, to unify all fundamental interactions of nature, which are usually considered to be four in number: gravity, strong nuclear force, weak nuclear force and electromagnetic force. It is said that the results of the unified theory could lead to man knowing how he was born. It is estimated that our sun has a life of 10 billion years, half of which is already over. There are, however, many possibilities that may emerge, such as human migration to other planets in other solar systems, where life may be possible. I visualise manned missions to the moon and Mars in the near future. Therefore our astro scientists have challenges in this field too. ISRO now has plans for unmanned spacecraft exploration of the moon starting with Chandrayan-I in 2008. There is a proposal emerging for manned space missions in low earth orbit by 2014. Space technology can play a major role in realisation of the nation’s goals in education, health, natural resources survey and infrastructural planning.
The Tata Institute of Fundamental research (TIFR) has built the largest radio telescope in the world in a rural area near Pune. They have played a major role in discovering the binary millisecond pulsar. The Indian Astronomical Observatory, set up atop Mt Saraswati, 4,500 metres above mean sea level at Hanle, south eastern Ladakh, is the highest observatory in the world. The galaxy is giving plenty of opportunities for our young scientists to make discoveries and there are numerous areas of scientific research which will benefit humanity as a whole.
Healthcare is an area where our young scientists can work and contribute. Innovation and creativity should remove the pain of the people. We have to discover preventive vaccines for diseases like HIV-AIDS, malaria and cardiac diseases. Thus there are so many scientific challenges before the youth. The question is: only a prepared mind can discover. A prepared mind comes out of accumulated knowledge, possesses will power and ability to defeat problems and succeed.
Our country, at the end of 20th century, witnessed four great scientific events. In the 1950s, India was in a ship-to-mouth condition for foodgrains. The vision of political leaders like Shri C Subramanian and scientific leaders like Dr MS Swaminathan led to the First Green Revolution enabling India to produce over 200 million tonnes of foodgrain through the use of high-yield variety seeds.
Dr Varghese Kurien, through the milk co-operative movement, led India to become the largest producer of milk. Homi Bhabha established the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, leading to nuclear science and research.
Nanotubes, atoms, jatropha
Today India has 14 reactors producing nearly 4000 mw electrical power and the Department of Atomic Energy targets 50,000 mw of power by 2030.
Prof Vikram Sarabhai’s space vision has enabled India to acquire the capability to design, develop, build and launch any type of satellite from Indian soil. Similarly, Prof Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar created multiple CSIR laboratories in various disciplines for developing and transferring technology to Indian industry, including drugs for many tropical diseases. Simultaneously, Dr Kothari was on the mission of creating a chain of DRDO laboratories for promoting self-reliance in critical technologies and strategic systems. Recently, youth power has led to a revolution in ICT and pharma where industry has started producing internationally competitive drugs from new molecules. This culture must spread to other scientific and industrial tasks.
Energy Independence
On 14th August 2005, in my Independence Day eve address to the nation, I spoke about Energy Independence. What is the solution?
I have suggested a possible solution for our country for making maximum use of solar power, nuclear power and bio-fuel instead of fossil fuels and make the country energy independent by 2030. Some of the scientific and technological challenges of these areas are given below:
Carbon Nano Tube (CNT) based solar cells for higher efficiency: The low efficiency of conventional photovoltaic (PV) cells has restricted the use of solar cells for large power generation application. Recent research has shown that the alignment of the CNT with the polymer composites substrate is the key issue and this aligned CNT-based PV cells would give very high efficiency in photovoltaic conversion. In this process, researchers could achieve an efficiency of about 50% at the laboratory scale. Our scientists have to take up this challenge and come up with the development of CNT-based PV cell with an efficiency of at least 50% within the next three years so that it can go into commercial production within five years. Solar power generation using high efficiency CNT based solar power photovoltaic cells will be highly competitive, compared to other forms of energy generation systems.
Nuclear Energy: Nuclear power generation has been given a thrust by the use of uranium-based fuel. However, to meet the increased needs of nuclear power generation, it is essential to pursue the development of nuclear power using Thorium, reserves which are higher in the country. Technology development has to be accelerated for Thorium-based reactors. Thorium is a non-fissile material. For conversion of Thorium and maximising its utilisation, development of Fast Breeder Reactor has been rightly taken up.
Use of Biofuel: We have to realise production of 60 million tonnes of bio-diesel per annum by 2030 (this would be 20% of anticipated oil consumption in 2030). This has to be realised through intensive research for improving productivity of Jatropha plant seeds, mastering extraction and esterification technology and finding remunerative bi-products, which is a challenge for life science scientists.
Conclusion
Science and technology will be an important ingredient to transform India into a developed nation before 2020 as well as making it competitive in a globalised world. Our youth, numbering 300 million persons, should develop the curiosity, knowledge, core competence, determination, perseverance and the courage to invent new phenomena in science and technology leading to pathbreaking discoveries.

Interview with Sam Bahadur Manek Shaw

2008-07-14T10:39:00.000-07:00

'Jawaharlal, do you want Kashmir,or do you want to give it away?'
Sam Manekshaw, the first field marshal in the Indian army, was at the ringside of events when Independent India was being formed. Then a colonel, he was chosen to accompany V P Menon on his historic mission to Kashmir. This is his version of that journey and its aftermath, as recorded in an interview with Prem Shankar Jha.
At about 2.30 in the afternoon, General Sir Roy Bucher walked into my room and said, 'Eh, you, go and pick up your toothbrush. You are going to Srinagar with V P Menon. The flight will take off at about 4 o'clock'. I said, 'why me, sir?'
'Because we are worried about the military situation. V P Menon is going there to get the accession from the Maharaja and Mahajan.' I flew in with V P Menon in a Dakota. Wing Commander Dewan, who was then squadron leader Dewan, was also there. But his job did not have anything to with assessing the military situation. He was sent by the Air Force because it was the Air Force which was flying us in.'
Since I was in the Directorate of Military Operations, and was responsible for current operations all over India, West Frontier, the Punjab, and elsewhere, I knew what the situation in Kashmir was. I knew that the tribesmen had come in - initially only the tribesmen - supported by the Pakistanis.
Fortunately for us, and for Kashmir, they were busy raiding, raping all along. In Baramulla they killed Colonel D O T Dykes. Dykes and I were of the same seniority. We did our first year's attachment with the Royal Scots in Lahore, way back in 1934-5. Tom went to the Sikh regiment. I went to the Frontier Force regiment. We'd lost contact with each other. He'd become a lieutenant colonel. I'd become a full colonel.
Tom and his wife were holidaying in Baramulla when the tribesmen killed them.
The Maharaja's forces were 50 per cent Muslim and 50 per cent Dogra.
The Muslim elements had revolted and joined the Pakistani forces. This was the broad military situation. The tribesmen were believed to be about 7 to 9 kilometers from Srinagar. I was sent into get the precise military situation. The army knew that if we had to send soldiers, we would have to fly them in. Therefore, a few days before, we had made arrangements for aircraft and for soldiers to be ready.
But we couldn't fly them in until the state of Kashmir had acceded to India. From the political side, Sardar Patel and V P Menon had been dealing with Mahajan and the Maharaja, and the idea was that V.P Menon would get the Accession, I would bring back the military appreciation and report to the government. The troops were already at the airport, ready to be flown in. Air Chief Marshall Elmhurst was the air chief and he had made arrangements for the aircraft from civil and military sources.
Anyway, we were flown in. We went to Srinagar. We went to the palace. I have never seen such disorganisation in my life. The Maharaja was running about from one room to the other. I have never seen so much jewellery in my life --- pearl necklaces, ruby things, lying in one room; packing here, there, everywhere. There was a convoy of vehicles.
The Maharaja was coming out of one room, and going into another saying, 'Alright, if India doesn't help, I will go and join my troops and fight (it) out'.
I couldn't restrain myself, and said, 'That will raise their morale sir'. Eventually, I also got the military situation from everybody around us, asking what the hell was happening, and discovered that the tribesmen were about seven or nine kilometres from what was then that horrible little airfield.
V P Menon was in the meantime discussing with Mahajan and the Maharaja. Eventually the Maharaja signed the accession papers and we flew back in the Dakota late at night. There were no night facilities, and the people who were helping us to fly back, to light the airfield, were Sheikh Abdullah, Kasimsahib, Sadiqsahib, Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed, D P Dhar with pine torches, and we flew back to Delhi. I can't remember the exact time. It must have been 3 o'clock or 4 o'clock in the morning.
(On arriving at Delhi) the first thing I did was to go and report to Sir Roy Bucher. He said, 'Eh, you, go and shave and clean up. There is a cabinet meeting at 9 o'clock. I will pick you up and take you there.' So I went home, shaved, dressed, etc. and Roy Bucher picked me up, and we went to the cabinet meeting.
The cabinet meeting was presided by Mountbatten. There was Jawaharlal Nehru, there was Sardar Patel, there was Sardar Baldev Singh. There were other ministers whom I did not know and did not want to know, because I had nothing to do with them. Sardar Baldev Singh I knew because he was the minister for defence, and I knew Sardar Patel, because Patel would insist that V P Menon take me with him to the various states.
Almost every morning the Sardar would sent for V P, H M Patel and myself. While Maniben (Patel's daughter and de facto secretary) would sit cross-legged with a Parker fountain pen taking notes, Patel would say, 'V P, I want Baroda. Take him with you.' I was the bogeyman. So I got to know the Sardar very well.
At the morning meeting he handed over the (Accession) thing. Mountbatten turned around and said, ' come on Manekji (He called me Manekji instead of Manekshaw), what is the military situation?' I gave him the military situation, and told him that unless we flew in troops immediately, we would have lost Srinagar, because going by road would take days, and once the tribesmen got to the airport and Srinagar, we couldn't fly troops in. Everything was ready at the airport.
As usual Nehru talked about the United Nations, Russia, Africa, God almighty, everybody, until Sardar Patel lost his temper. He said, 'Jawaharlal, do you want Kashmir, or do you want to give it away'. He (Nehru) said,' Of course, I want Kashmir (emphasis in original). Then he (Patel) said 'Please give your orders'. And before he could say anything Sardar Patel turned to me and said, 'You have got your orders'.
I walked out, and we started flying in troops at about 11 o'clock or 12 o'clock. I think it was the Sikh regiment under Ranjit Rai that was the first lot to be flown in. And then we continued flying troops in. That is all I know about what happened. Then all the fighting took place. I became a brigadier, and became director of military operations and also if you will see the first signal to be signed ordering the cease-fire on 1 January (1949) had been signed by Colonel Manekshaw on behalf of C-in-C India, General Sir Roy Bucher. That must be lying in the Military Operations Directorate.
You went in on the afternoon of the 25th. When you got to Srinagar, were you actually present when the Maharaja signed the Instrument of Accession?
I was in the palace when V P Menon, Mahajan, and the Maharaja were discussing the subject. The Maharaja was running from one room to another.....I did not see the Maharaja signing it, nor did I see Mahajan. All I do know is that V P Menon turned around and said, 'Sam we've got the Accession.'
He said that to you.
Yes, yes he turned around to me, and so we flew back.
And you were actually present the next morning when V P Menon handed this over during that.....
(Interrupting) I was at the cabinet meeting presided over by Mountbatten when it was handed over....we'd got the Accession. I can't understand why anyone said that the thing was signed in Jammu, because we never went to Jammu.
Was it the cabinet meeting, or was it the defence committee of the cabinet?
No, it was a meeting with Mountbatten presiding, with Vallabhbhai Patel, Baldev Singh...
Nehru, of course.
There were other ministers too; I can't recall.....
That was the defence committee. Otherwise, there would have been a much larger group. Sir Roy Bucher was there too?
Yes, yes, Sir Roy took me there.
Was the Maharaja, in your presence, demurring from signing, was he laying down conditions. Was V P Menon saying 'look you've got to bring Abdullah into the Cabinet first....'
That I honestly can't tell you. All that I can say is that the Maharaja was ... he was not in his full senses. He was running about saying I will fight there. Unless the Indian army comes in, my own forces will fight'; that sort of rubbish was going on. All that V P Menon was telling him was that we cannot send forces in unless the accession takes place. Then he signed it. That is all I can tell you about the actual signing.
And you were present the next morning when the Instrument was handed over to Mountbatten?
Yes.
You have said that the first lot of troops were flown in around noon.
Immediately (emphasis in original) after the cabinet meeting. We went to Srinagar I think on the 25th. I can't tell you the dates. We came back on the 26th in the early morning, and the same day we started to fly troops in. And the Pakistanis only came in when we started throwing the tribesmen out. It is only then that the Pakistani regular troops came in. I think it was General Akbar Khan, who was married to Begum Shah Nawaz's daughter; can't remember her name, dammit, I used to know them so well in Lahore. I think he organised the tribesmen coming in.

What you said about the Sikhs being moved on the 26th, immediately after the Letter of Accession was given, is not known. The story is that the first Indian troops were moved on the 27th - that they left at the crack of dawn, maybe even earlier, and that they arrived in Srinagar at 9 am. General Sen, who wrote a book about it, said that they were surprised to find troops of the Patiala regiment (state forces) already there. Did you find, when you went to Srinagar that in fact at some point earlier on, perhaps even before 15 August, the Maharaja of Patiala had agreed to send a battalion of his troops to Kashmir.

If that had happened, I would have known. No. There were no soldiers of either the Indian or Patiala forces which had gone in earlier.

Then is it possible that the troops that General Sen referred to were the ones who had gone in on the 26th?

No, that was the First Sikh Light In....Sikh Battalion, that was sent with Ranjit Rai. That was sent on the 26th. The same day we'd had the cabinet committee meeting, the defence committee meeting or whatever. I remember getting out of that meeting and making arrangements. Bogey Sen went in later. Poor old Ranjit was killed. He and I were from the same batch - the first batch at the Indian Military Academy.

In his book, The Great Divide, H V Hodson, who wrote it after being given access to Mountbatten's personal papers, doesn't specifically say that the Instrument was presented to the defence committee at its morning meeting. But he does say that after you had given your appreciation of the military situation in the morning, discussion went on about, well, we should send in the troops but should we accept the Accession or not. Which implies that the letter of Accession had already been given but the cabinet (committee) was still in two minds about whether it should be accepted, or whether the Maharaja should be told, well, we are sending in troops to support you, but we are not going to accept the accession just now. In the evening, apparently, the decision was taken that we will accept the accession but with the proviso about the reference to the wishes of the people which eventually went into the letter that Mountbatten wrote.

Now is it possible that although you made the arrangement to send the troops, the actual fly in took place on the 27th.

(Thinks) No they were sent in the same day. And I think you would be able to verify that from air force records because we didn't have all that many aircraft, and had to get them from the civilian airlines. They had all been got ready.
Excerpted from Kashmir 1947, Rival Versions of History, by Prem Shankar Jha, Oxford University Press, 1996

Dichotomy between merit and social justice

2008-06-25T11:35:00.000-07:00

Dear friend I would request you all to address any social issue which has a very large impact on the Indian society only after studying the various dimension of the issue. We need to be very judicious as well while interpreting the facts. Below are my opinion on reservation.

Summary: Unless everyone in the society are given equal opportunities and every citizen of this country has not improved economically, educationally and physically we cant dream of a prosper India. Because of corruption and opportunist’s politics entire purpose of developmental policies are becoming failure. Without compromising the quality and integrity of the candidate every citizen of this country should be given equal opportunities taking into consideration the interest of the nation in mind.

Reservation was originated with good intention however this policy now is very blind and ineffective . We need to reformulate almost all our policies including the reservation policy as it has been almost 61 years old. The problem and the status of the society have drastically changed in India. With In 61 years we have moved way ahead from where we started.

So the following reservation policy needs immediate revisions in the light of the changes that Indian society has made over the years.

1. I am of the view that reservation should exist for deserving people- no doubt, but no compromise on quality of education. Unless they score percentage which shows that they are capable and prove their urge to learn things, they should be barred from reservation.

2) Once they got benefited, they should be eliminated from reservation pool in order to ensure other deserving people got the route cleared for their turn of benefits.

3) Caste alone should not alone be the criterion and economic considerations along with the caste should be taken into consideration.

4) If caste remains as the factor for deciding the reservation then those sections of the forward caste whose economic condition is at par with those backward castes then these sections of forward caste should also be extended reservation.

The facts about reservation in India

A percentage of seats are reserved in the public sector units, union and state civil services, union and state government departments and in all public and private educational institutions, except in the religious/ linguistic minority educational institutions, for the socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or the Scheduled Castes and Tribes who were inadequately represented in these services and institutions. The reservation policy is extended for the SC and STs in representing the Parliament of India & state legislative assemblies. Reservation is also offered based on other parameters like religion, state of domicile, etc. The central government of India reserves 27% of government jobs and proposes to do similarly in higher education, but certain Indian states like Tamil Nadu, which currently reserves 69% seats, have followed caste-based reservations since 1921.

In 2006, Indian education minister Arjun Singh announced extension of reservation benefits to the "Other Backward Castes" (OBCs) in central government educational institutions.

Reservation is not based on only the caste. It is based on several other factors which are listed below..

Gender (around 30% of seats are reserved for females in many institutions).
Religion based
State of domiciles
Undergraduate colleges
Sons/Daughters/Grandsons/Grand daughters of Freedom Fighters.
Physically handicapped.
Sports personalities.
Non-Resident Indians (NRIs).
Candidates sponsored by various organisations.
Those who have served in the armed forces (ex-serviceman quota).
Dependants of armed forces personnel killed in action.
Repatriates.
Those born from inter-caste marriages.
Widows and deserted women.

My question: Those who wish to abolish reservation want to abolish on which of the ABOVE factors?

Reason behind starting the reservation.

Reservations are intended to increase the social diversity in campuses and workplaces by lowering the entry criteria for certain identifiable groups that are grossly under-represented in proportion to their numbers in the general population. Caste is the most used criteria to identify under-represented groups. However there are other identifiable criteria for under-representation -- gender (women are under represented), state of domicile (North Eastern States, as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are under-represented), rural people, etc.

The underlying theory is that the under-representation of the identifiable groups is a legacy of the Indian caste system. After India gained independence, the Constitution of India listed some erstwhile groups as Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST). The framers of the Constitution believed that, due to the caste system, SCs and the STs were historically oppressed and denied respect and equal opportunity in Indian society and were thus under-represented in nation-building activities. The Constitution laid down 15% and 7.5% of vacancies to government aided educational institutes and for jobs in the government/public sector, as reserved quota for the SC and ST candidates respectively for a period of five years, after which the situation was to be reviewed. This period was routinely extended by the following governments and the Indian Parliament, and no revisions were undertaken for the fear of losing votes

Those who are panic because of the reservation should know that fact

The Supreme Court ruling that reservations cannot exceed 50% (which it judged would violate equal access guaranteed by the Constitution) has put a cap on reservations. However, there are state laws that exceed this 50% limit and these are under litigation in the Supreme Court. For example, the caste-based reservation fraction stands at 69% and is applicable to about 87% of the population in the state of Tamil Nadu

Argument by those who demand reservation

1.There remains overwhelming dominance of upper castes in higher and especially professional education. To prove the fact the data has been provided

source: National Sample Survey by GOI

Table 1 shows the percentage of graduates in the population aged 20 years or above in different castes and communities in rural and urban India. Only a little more than 1 per cent of Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, and Muslims are graduates in rural India, while the figure for Hindu upper castes is four to five times higher at over 5 per cent. The real inequalities are in urban India, where the SCs in particular, but also Muslims, OBCs, and STs are way behind the forward communities and castes with a quarter or more of their population being graduates. Another way of looking at it is that STs, SCs, Muslims, and OBCs are always below the national average while the other communities and especially Hindu upper castes are well above this average in both rural and urban India.

Table 2

Table 2 shows the share of different castes and communities in the national pool of graduates as compared to their share of the total population aged 20 years or more. In other words, the table tells us which groups have a higher than proportionate (or lower than proportionate) share of graduates. Once again, with the exception of rural Hindu OBCs and urban STs, the same groups are severely under-represented while the Hindu upper castes, Other Religions (Jains, Parsis, Buddhists, etc.), and Christians are significantly over-represented among graduates. Thus the Hindu upper castes' share of graduates is twice their share in the population aged 20 or above in rural India, and one-and-a-half times their share in the population aged 20 or above in urban India. Compare this, for example, to urban SCs and Muslims, whose share of graduates is only 30 per cent and 39 per cent respectively of their share in the 20 and above population.

2. An upper caste monopoly over higher education — still remains effective despite the apparent abolition of caste. From this perspective, the status quo is an unjust one requiring state intervention on behalf of disadvantaged sections who are unable to force entry under the current rules of the game. More extreme views of this kind may go on to assert that merit is merely an upper caste conjuring trick designed to keep out the lower castes. It is their confidence in having monopolised the educational system and its prerequisites that sustains the upper caste demand to consider only merit and not caste.

3.How is it that, roughly speaking, one quarter of our population supplies three quarters of our elite professionals?

4.If the upper caste view needs an unexamined notion of merit that ignores the social mechanisms that bring it into existence, the lower caste or pro-reservation view appears to require that merit be emptied of all its content.

5. In a situation marked by absurd levels of "hyper-selectivity" — 300,000 aspirants competing for 4000 IIT seats, for example — merit gets reduced to rank in an examination. As educationists know only too well, the examination is a blunt instrument. It is good only for making broad distinctions in levels of ability; it cannot tell us whether a person scoring 85 per cent would definitely make a better engineer or doctor than somebody scoring 80 per cent or 75 per cent or even 70 per cent. Such fetishised notions of merit have nothing to do with any genuine differences in ability. The caste composition of higher education could well be changed without any sacrifice of merit simply by instituting a lottery among all candidates of broadly similar levels of ability — say, the top 15 or 25 per cent of a large applicant pool.

Argument by those who are against reservation

1. The upper castes claim that their preponderance is due solely to their superior merit, and that there is nothing to be done about this situation since merit should indeed be the sole criterion in determining access to higher education.

2. Any attempt to change the status quo of the current data about reservation can only result in "the murder of merit."

3. It is now beyond doubt that arguments for the genetic or natural inferiority of social groups are unacceptable

Conclusion: There is apparent dichotomy between merit and social justice in higher education. How do we transcend this dilemma? Is there a way forward where both merit and social justice can be given their due?

Courtesy: http://www.hindu.com/2006/05/22/stories/2006052202261100.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reservation_in_India

People Who Influenced The World by Peter Murray

2008-05-22T10:35:00.000-07:00

Recently I came across a work which is worth reading.In this book the writer profiles sixty individuals who most influenced the past 100 years. The name of these 60 indivisuals are

Mahatma Gandhi, Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King, Frank Sinatra, Mother Teresa, Jacqueline Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Bill Gates, Walt Disney, Edwin Hubble, Henry Ford, Albert Einstein, Elvis Presley, Christiaan Barnard, Fidel Castro, Jonas E. Salk , Mao Tse Tung, Adolf Hitler, Jesse Owens, The Wright Brothers, Henry Kissinger, Bill Clinton, Harry Houdini, Steven Spielberg, Dalai Lama, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sigmund Freud, The Beatles, Pelè, Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Mikhael Gorbachev, Muammar Qaddafi, Anwar Sadat, Pope John Paul 11, Margaret Thatcher, Richard Nixon, Al Capone, Yasser Arafat, Idi Amin, Frank McNamara, Nelson Mandela, Diana Princess of Wales, Coco Chanel, Pablo Picasso, Anne Frank, Estee Lauder, F.W. de Klerk, Lord Carnarvon, Andy Warhol, Jesse Jackson, Jacques Cousteau, Edmund Hillary, Ray Kroc, William Boeing, Desmond Tutu, Richard Branson, David Suzuki and Aung San Suu Kyi.

The book is a nice read about the people who in some way, have helped create our world.

WORLD HISTORY FACTS ABOUT INDIA

2008-05-22T10:23:00.000-07:00

These facts were recently published in a German magazine, which deals with history facts about India.

1. India never invaded any country in her last 1000 years of history.

2. India invented the Number system. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.

3. The world's first University was established in Takshila in 700BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects... The University of Nalanda built in the 4 th century BC was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.

4. According to the Forbes magazine, Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software.

5. Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans.

6. Although western media portray modern images of India as poverty striken and underdeveloped through political corruption, India was once the richest empire on earth.

7. The art of navigation was born in the river Sindh 5000 years ago. The very word "Navigation" is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH. (Course of a Boat)

8. The value of pi was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is now known as the Pythagorean Theorem. British scholars have last year (1999) officially published that Budhayan's works dates to the 6th Century which is long before the European mathematicians.

9. Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India . Quadratic equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11 th Century; the largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Indians used numbers as big as 1053.

10. According to the Gemmological Institute of America, up until 1896, India was the only source of diamonds to the world.

11. USA based IEEE has proved what has been a century-old suspicion amongst academics that the pioneer of wireless communication was Professor Jagdeesh Bose and not Marconi.

12. The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra.

13. Chess was invented in India .

14. Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted surgeries like cesareans, cataract, fractures and urinary stones. Usage of anaesthesia was well known in ancient India

15. When many cultures in the world were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilisation).

16. The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in 100 BC

Calculation of the total duration of forign rule on Indian Soil

2008-05-18T14:05:00.000-07:00

Throughout its history the Indian subcontinent has been frequently subject to invasion, from all part of the world and specially forms the North-West by Central Asian nomadic tribes and the Persian Empire.

Will Durant argued in his 1935 book "The Story of Civilization: Our Oriental Heritage" (page 459):
“ The Mohammedan conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history. The Islamic historians and scholars have recorded with great glee and pride the slaughters of Hindus, forced conversions, abduction of Hindu women and children to slave markets and the destruction of temples carried out by the warriors of Islam during 800 AD to 1700 AD. Millions of Hindus were converted to Islam by sword during this period. Dear Don’t you think that the Islamic invasion was also a foreign attack on India.
So 300 years of British rule+900 year of Islamic ruler=1200 years of foreign rule.
Now consider this
518 BC: Darius I of Persia (present Iran) invades Indus Valley.
326 BC: Alexander the Great of Greece invades, but fails to conquer, Northern India. His soldier’s mutiny. He leaves India the same year. Greeks who remain in India intermarry with Indians
So don’t you think the conquest of a major part of Indian soil and then brutal rape or majority of our women by the Alexander’s Soldier, we lost our independence right from 326 BC.

So that comes to be

326+1947= 2373 if the consider the Alexander Conquest, However if I consider the Darius I of

Persia conquest then it becomes
518+1947=2465

And the details according to the race who ruled us are follows.

Rules by Central Asian nomadic tribes =2165 years

Rules by European imperialists = 300 years..

What a glorious history....

humble chronology of the world's oldest living civilization and largest modern-day democracy.

2008-05-17T00:17:00.000-07:00

Here is the humble chronology of the world's oldest living civilization and largest modern-day democracy.

Pre Harrapan age

• Rig Vedic Age - 7000-4000 BC

Early Rigvedic Age : 7000-5000 BC

Late Rigvedic Age : 5000-3750 BC

End of Rig Vedic Age : 3750 BC

• End of Ramayana-Mahabharata Period - : 3000 BC

Harrapan age

• Development of Saraswati-Indus Civilization :3000-2200 BC

• Decline of Indus and Saraswati Civilization : 2200-1900 BC

Post Harrapan Age

Period of chaos and migration : 2000-1500 BC

Period of evolution of syncretic Hindu culture : 1400-250 BC

The sages, kings, outside invaders and inside reformers who contributed during this period.

900 BC: Earliest records of the holy city of Varanasi (one of the world's oldest living cities) on the sacred river Ganga.

850 BC: The Chinese are using the 28-nakshatra zodiac called Shiu, adapted from the Hindu jyotisha system. ca -800: Later Upanishads are recorded.

800 BC: Later smriti, secondary Hindu scripture, is composed, elaborated and developed during next 1,000 years.

776 BC: First Olympic Games are held in Greece.

700 BC: Life of Zoroaster of Persia, founder of Zoroastrianism. His holy book, Zend Avesta, contains many verses from the Rig and Atharva Veda. His strong distinctions between good and evil set the dualistic tone of God and devil which distinguishes all later Western religions.

700 BC: Early Smartism emerges from the syncretic Vedic brahminical (priestly caste) tradition. It flourishes today as a liberal sect alongside Saiva, Vaishnava and Shakta sects.

623-543 BC: Life of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, born in Uttar Pradesh in a princely Shakya Saivite family. (Date by Sri Lankan Buddhists. Indian scholars say -563-483. Mahayanists of China and Japan prefer -566-486 or later.)

599-527 BC: Lifetime of Mahavira Vardhamana, 24th Tirthankara and revered renaissance Jain master. His teachings stress strict codes of vegetarianism, asceticism and nonviolence. (Some date his life 40 years later. )

518 BC: Darius I of Persia (present Iran) invades Indus Valley. This Zoroastrian king shows tolerance for local religions.

450 BC: Athenian philosopher Socrates flourishes (ca -470-400).

428-348 BC: Lifetime of Plato, Athenian disciple of Socrates. This great philosopher founds Athens Academy in -387.

326 BC: Alexander the Great of Greece invades, but fails to conquer, Northern India. His soldier’s mutiny. He leaves India the same year. Greeks who remain in India intermarry with Indians. Interchanges of philosophy influence both civilizations. Greek sculpture impacts Hindu styles. Bactria kingdoms later enhance Greek influence.

273 BC: Ashoka (-273-232 reign), greatest Mauryan Emperor, grandson of Chandragupta, is coronated. Repudiating conquest throgh violence after his brutal invasion of Kalinga, 260 bce, he converts to Buddhism. Excels at public works and sends diplomatic peace missions to Persia, Syria, Egypt, North Africa and Crete, and Buddhist missions to Sri Lanka, China and other Southeast Asian countries. Under his influence, Buddhism becomes a world power. His work and teachings are preserved in Rock and Pillar Edicts (e.g., lion capital of the pillar at Sarnath, present-day India's national emblem).

58 BC: Vikrama Samvat Era Hindu calendar begins.

10 BC: Western Calendar Begins.

4 BC: Jesus of Nazareth, founder of Christianity, is born in Bethlehem (current Biblical scholarship).

Which one you prefer.Beauty or brain?

2008-01-26T23:51:00.000-08:00

Friends this question is really very interesting. Beauty and brains are 2 most important element of our life and we cant compromise with any one of these. I am extremely optimistic person and believe that beauty and brain can exists in abundance.

While beauty is almost as subjective as love, it's something that you can explore and discover in yourself over time.There are a few broad characteristics that most people seem to agree on:

* Health is beautiful

* Character is beautiful.

All of us can be beautiful if groomed properly and by taking care for our health and hygiene.

• If we feeling particularly unattractive, try listening to a song that will get us dancing. When we get that adrenaline rush and that goofy grin on our face, people notice. Our happiness will be contagious and people will want to be around us. This opens opportunities for people to get to know us, so they will see not only our outside beauty, but also our inner beauty. And inner beauty is far more attractive than just looks alone.

The same applies with the brain. God gave the same gray material to all of us. The sharpness of the brain entirely depends upon the how much we use our head. If any one interested to know how to sharpen your mind then please read a very interesting book "use your head" by Tony Buzan. This books clearly states that we humans are not even able to use 2% of our brain.

Those who are interested to know about this book can click the link given below

http://www.happychild.org.uk/acc/tpr/bkr/0498usyh.htm

So I conclude that all those who think that there mind is not sharp don't even use 1% of the brain.

We prefer something when we are forced or want to make a choice between 2 things,one of which may not be available. But already told you that both beauty and brains are available in abundances.

I will prefer to have both beauty and brain.

The death controversy of the greatest son of mother India

2008-01-23T10:15:00.000-08:00

Today India will again forget the 111^th Birthday of greatest son of mother India. Guess Who?

He is the same man who gave the call to the nation

“Give Me Blood! I Promise You Freedom!!

There is a case for Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose that no Indian can ignore.

Even after passing 62 years of the controversy, India still has no epitaph for the man who almost brought freedom to its doorstep in 1945.

The controversy is Did Netaji die in an air crash on August 18, 1945?

The summary of the events in Netaji Subhas Chandra’s life

1897: Born on January 23 in Cuttack, Orissa, to Prabhabati and Janakinath Bose. Janakinath, an advocate, was the first non-official Chairman of the Cuttack Municipality and a government pleader and public prosecutor.

1902: Enrolls in the Baptist Mission School.

1902 - 1913: Subhas as a teenager comes under the influence of the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekanada.

1913: Passes high school examination. Comes second in examination for entrance to Calcutta University, which at that time included almost the entire north India and the eastern provinces of undivided India.

1914: Joins Presidency College, Calcutta, with philosophy as the major subject.

1916: Suspended from Presidency College for going on strike against manhandling of students by an English professor. Appeals to the university for permission to study in some other college, but is refused. Takes to social service, organises youth for physical, intellectual and moral advancement and campaigns against untouchability.

1917: Gets admission in Scottish Church College, Calcutta.

1919: Sails for England after passing the B A examination with first class honours, to appear for the Indian Civil Service (ICS) examination and also to take the Tripos in Moral Philosophy at the Cambridge University.

1920: Joins Cambridge University and appears for the ICS Examination in August. Ranks fourth among the successful candidates. Following a secret information, British authorities reduce his rank to fourth on suspicion that he might resign from the ICS. Examination result would have ranked him first but his marks are reduced in the viva.

1920-1945: Several incident happened in Netaji's life which has not been compiled properly.

1945: On August 25, 1945 the Indian newspapers broke the news that Netaji had died in a freak plane crash in Taipei (then Taihoku) on August 18th.

The crash

The aircraft that crashed was a heavy bomber (Model 97-2-Sally) belonging to the Japanese.

The plane took off from the Saigon Aerodrome around 5.30 p.m. on August 17, 1945 and had stopped over in Tourane, where Bose and his party stayed overnight at the Morim Hotel.

To take off from the Saigon Aerodrome, the plane had to taxi down the entire runway before becoming airborne; an indication that the plane was overloaded. In fact, before the takeoff from Tourane, "co-pilot Major Takizawa, Major Kono and other Indian and Japanese officers had insisted on their offloading 12 machine guns and some ammunition. This lightened the load by 600 kg".

The plane took off at 5.30 am, the following morning. Before reaching Taipeh, the crew was told that the Russians, who had declared war on Japan, were moving into Manchuria, and closing on Dairen. It became imperative for the crew to reach there as quickly as possible.

The plane arrived at the Taipei Aerodrome around noon in perfect weather. In the two hours rest there, the crew refuelled the plane and also took a light lunch of sandwiches and bananas.

Before taking off again, the pilot, Major Kono, and Capt Nakamura, who was the Maintenance Officer of the Airbase, ran a quick check on the plane. Though Major Kono found a defect with the left engine, he overlooked it and confirmed its worthiness. Thereafter, all the passengers took their seats again in the same seating order as before.

Then, the plane taxied to one end of the 890 metre long runway. (Heavy bombers usually are airborne when they are halfway down the runway. However, in this case, the plane did not leave the ground even after it had travelled three-fourth of the runway.) The plane took off and made a steep ascent when a loud explosion was heard and the plane tilted to the left. The propeller and the port engine fell out and the plane dived to the ground approximately 10 to 20 metres from the boundary of the aerodrome and caught fire on hitting the ground.

AFTER THE CRASH

In the late afternoon of August 18, 1945, twelve persons with burns were wheeled into Nanmon Military Hospital, Taihoku, Taipei, shortly after a message reached the duty doctor that a Japanese bomber carrying them had crashed at a nearby aerodrome.

One of the victims, a well-built Indian, had burns all over his body, heart and face, and he was in a critical condition. The Medical Officer at the hospital, Capt T Yoshini, was told that the man was Indian leader "Chandra Bose", who along with his adjutant Col Habibur Rehman and 11 Japanese officers were on a flight to an undisclosed destination.

Dr Yoshini had at the time Dr T Tusuruta and another doctor to assist him, besides a dozen Japanese and Formosan nurses. Dr Tusuruta bandaged the Indian leader, while Capt Yoshini gave him four shots of vita-camphor and two injections of digitamine to stabilize his heart. Capt Yoshini also gave him three intravenous injections of Ringer-solution of 500 cc each to prevent infection.

The treatment was initially given in the dressing room, and later, Bose was moved to ward No. 2 for further treatment. Bose and Col Rehman were in the same ward. Towards 5 p.m., Bose was given a blood transfusion to relieve the pressure on his heart. The blood was taken from a Japanese soldier in the Nanmon Army Hospital.

Initially, Bose seemed to respond to the treatment. He remained conscious and even asked for water occasionally. To communicate better with the hospital staff, an interpreter, Juichi Nakamura, was sent for to assist him. (Bose and Col Rehman had known Nakamura as he was their interpreter on several occasions, during their stop over in Taipei on their trips between Southeast Asia and Japan.

About 7.30 p.m., Dr Tusuruta noticed that Bose's pulse count had dropped. He hurriedly gave Bose injections of vita-camphor and digitamine but his heart and pulse beat kept falling, and he died about 2300 hrs, according to Dr Yoshini's statement recorded by the British in Hong Kong's Stanley Jail on October 19, 1946.

Capt Youshini later wrote Netaji's death certificate: "Writing his name in Japanese (kata kana) as "Chandra Bose" and giving the cause of his death as 'burns of third degree'." (According to a version, the death certificate was written on August 20, 1945, after the Japanese government retracted its decision to send Bose's body to Tokyo.)

At that time, there were seven persons in the room: Dr Yoshini, Dr T Tusuruta, two nurses, Col Habibur Rehman, J Nakamura (interpreter) and a medical orderly (Kazo Mitsui)

Crew and passengers

(According to Japanese accounts)

Pilot W/O Aoyagi ( Third Air Force)

Ass. Pilot Major Takizawa (On transfer to Mainland Japan)

Navigator Sgt Okita

Radio operator N.C.O Tominaga

Gun Operator Unidentified N.C.O

Chief of Staff, Burmese Army Command.Lt Gen Shidei

Staff Officer Lt-Col Sakai

Staff Officer, Japan Air Force Lt-Col Shiro Nonogaki

Staff Officer, Japan Air Force Major Taro Kono

Staff Officer Major Iwao Takahashi

Air Force Engineer Captain Keikichi Arai

INA Chief Subhas Chandra Bose

Adjutant Col Habibur Rehman Khan

Cause of the air crash

There were 13 passengers on board as against the maximum limit of nine, plus their personal effects.

The small size of Taipei Aerodrome made take-off difficult. The presence of tall chimneys of a brick kiln compounded the problem .

Despite what is said to have been Bose's plan to seek asylum in Russia, the Indian leader had to modify his plan after he received the News that Russia had occupied Manchuria. Therefore, he was anxious to reach the destination as quickly as possible.

Even though some engines were found defective before the take off from Saigon, officers ignored them. The mechanical check-up was inadequate.

The pilots were strangers to Taipei Aerodrome, and therefore, failed to judge the length of the runway. (The plane did not lift off until it had run approximately two-thirds down the runway. So, it had to climb steeply.)

The Formosan Army Command was in disarray, and therefore, a full investigation into the causes of the air crash was not conducted. (Moreover, no records were maintained on the engine and other mechanical systems.)

Passengers' fate

Lt Gen Shidei and Pilot Major Takizawa were killed on the spot. Netaji, Pilot W/O Aoyagi and two others died in the hospital

Seven persons named below survived the accident. Lt Col Nonogaki, who was seated in the turret, was thrown out of the plane and landed on the ground unhurt. Lt Col Sakai, Major Takahashi and Capt Arai became senseless when the plane hit the ground, but regained consciousness in time to escape with minor burns and bruises.

Major Kano, who also survived the crash, recollected that as the plane was falling to the ground, the petrol tank got dislodged and fell between Mr Bose and him. The tank blocked Major Kano's view and therefore he could not see Bose. He could, however, spot Lt Gen Shidei. He had a cut at the back of the head.

Major Takizawa hit the steering gear and cut himself on the face and forehead. Warrant Officer Aoyagi had wounds to his chest.

Col Habibur Rehman (Netaji's adjutant): "The plane crashed to the ground and the fore part of the plane split and caught fire. Netaji turned towards Col Rehman and said: "Please get out through the front. There is no way in the rear." They could not get out through the entrance door as it was all blocked and jammed by luggage and other things. So Netaji had to get out through the fire and Col Rehman followed him. Netaji's trousers were on fire and he had burns . He was wearing Khaki drill clothes. Col Rehman had burns on his hands. (He said he burnt his hands while trying to take off Netaji's clothes.) He then rolled Netaji on the ground to put out the fire. By then Netaji was severely burnt.

Navigator Okita: When the plane crashed, his spine was damaged. He had a 40-cm long cut on the back. He was in hospital for some time and was eventually repatriated in September 1947. Ironically, Gen Shidei and Netaji who were occupying the best seats in the plane died and the junior officers occupying the not so safe seats survived the accident.

The loopholes in the various statement made to prove the death of Netaji Subhash Chadra Bose

It is clear that Shah Nawaz Khan and G D Khosla had not looked hard at the testimonies of Col. Habibur Rahman and the Japanese doctor, T Youshini, who supposedly saw Netaji die.

The fact, however, is that Col Rahman, Netaji's adjutant, had made three depositions and thrice he had contradicted himself on specific details. (He was twice interrogated by the Combined Services Detailed Interrogation Centre (CSDIC) of the Allied Intelligence and he had also appeared before the Shah Nawaz Committee). Dr Youshini's version of events also varied between three depositions he made on the subject.

Furthermore, there was no documentary evidence of a plane crash having taken place at Taihoku on August 18, 1945. Neither was the flight plan and take off chart found nor was any record of the supposed air crash. Besides, the cremation certificate said to be of Netaji, is strangely in the name of Ichiro Okura, a "non-staff member of the Japanese Armed Forces". The birthday of the deceased in the certificate is given as April 9, 1900. Netaji was born on January 23, 18

The date of death in the certificate is given as August 19, 1945. However, Dr Yoshini said Netaji died on the night of August 18. Also, the cause of death is given as "heart-attack". If Dr Yoshini's statement is correct, Netaji could only have died of third degree burns.

There are two charts in the following section that bring out the discrepancies in the accounts of the two witnesses. These discrepancies, besides many other factors which emerged later, led Prime Minister Morarji Desai, on September 3, 1978, to declare: "There are reasonable doubts on the correctness in the two reports. Various important contradictions in the testimony of the witnesses have been noticed.

In the light of those doubts and contradictions and those records, Government finds it difficult to accept that the earlier conclusions are decisive."

(This story has been pieced together from accounts of "eyewitnesses, scholars, researchers and writers" who have reported on the incidents leading up to the fateful flight. That the plot has many holes, is a warning to surfers that there may be more to the Subhas Bose "death episode" than the following story indicates.)

COURTSEY:HINDUSTAN TIMES

The Year 2008 as the international year of Sanitation

2007-12-29T17:48:00.000-08:00

The UN General Assembly declared the year 2008 the International Year of Sanitation. The goal is to raise awareness and to accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target to reduce by half the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation by 2015.

Proper sanitation: It’s a seemingly mundane thing that most people in the developed world take for granted. But at least 2.6 billion people – some 41 percent of the global population - do not have access to latrines or any sort of basic sanitation facilities. As a result millions suffer from a wide range of preventable illnesses, such as diarrhoea, which claim thousands of lives each day, primarily young children. Improving access to sanitation is a good investment because:

· Sanitation is vital for human health
· Sanitation generates economic benefits
· Sanitation contributes to dignity and social development
· Sanitation helps the environment
· Improving sanitation is achievable!

Spotlight on this issue

Every year inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene contribute to the deaths of 1.5 million children. “Access to sanitation is deeply connected to virtually all the Millennium Development Goals, in particular those involving the environment, education, gender equality and the reduction of child mortality and poverty,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. “An estimated 42,000 people die every week from diseases related to low water quality and an absence of adequate sanitation. This situation is unacceptable.”

Though more than 1.2 billion people worldwide have gained access to improved sanitation between 1990 and 2004, an estimated 2.6 billion people - including 980 million children – have lagged behind. The world needs to accelerate progress in order to meet the Millennium Development Goal target to reduce by half the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation, such as simple latrines, by 2015.

If current trends continue, there will be 2.4 billion people without basic sanitation in 2015, with children continuing to pay the price in lost lives, missed schooling, in disease, malnutrition and poverty. Lack of toilets makes women and girls vulnerable to violence if they are forced to defecate only after nightfall and in secluded areas. Sanitation enhances dignity, privacy and safety, especially for women and girls. Schools with decent toilet facilities enable children, especially girls reaching puberty, to remain in the educational system.

“Clean, safe and dignified toilet and hand-washing facilities in schools help ensure that girls get the education they need and deserve,” said Ann M. Veneman, UNICEF Executive Director. “When girls get an education, the whole community benefits. The International Year of Sanitation highlights the need for investments in proper sanitation facilities around the world.” The year will include major regional conferences on sanitation as part of capacity building initiatives, including one that will focus on school sanitation. It will also encourage public and private partnerships, to help tap into the comparative strengths of each sector to accelerate progress, advocate and raise awareness on sanitation, leverage additional funding, and develop country-level road maps. It is estimated that improved sanitation facilities could reduce diarrhoea-related deaths in young children by more than one-third. If hygiene promotion is added, such as teaching proper hand washing, deaths could be reduced by two thirds. It would also help accelerate economic and social development in countries where poor sanitation is a major cause of lost work and school days because of illness. Progress requires broad cooperation through public and private partnerships, community involvement and public awareness. Investing approximately $10 billion per year can halve the proportion of people without basic sanitation by 2015. If sustained, the same investment could achieve basic sanitation for the entire world within one or two decades. This sum is less than one per cent of world military spending in 2005, one-third of the estimated global spending on bottled water, or about as much as Europeans spend on ice cream each year. While the funding needed for sanitation is not overwhelmingly large, the return on that investment is potentially great. The launch of the theme year, which runs through 2008, was organized by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) in collaboration with the UN-Water Task Force on Sanitation. The event was attended by UN Member States, NGOs, citizen groups, academics and the private sector as well as members of the Secretary-General’s Advisory Board. “Sanitation is not a dirty word; it is a critical factor in human welfare and sustainable development,” said Mr. Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs.

“We need to put the spotlight on this silent crisis.”

COURTSEY: United Nations Press Release

All about christmas

2007-12-25T11:36:00.000-08:00

History of Christmas

The middle of winter has long been a time of celebration around the world. Centuries before the arrival of the man called Jesus, early Europeans celebrated light and birth in the darkest days of winter. Many peoples rejoiced during the winter solstice, when the worst of the winter was behind them and they could look forward to longer days and extended hours of sunlight.

In Scandinavia, the Norse celebrated Yule from December 21, the winter solstice, through January. In recognition of the return of the sun, fathers and sons would bring home large logs, which they would set on fire. The people would feast until the log burned out, which could take as many as 12 days. The Norse believed that each spark from the fire represented a new pig or calf that would be born during the coming year.

The end of December was a perfect time for celebration in most areas of Europe. At that time of year, most cattle were slaughtered so they would not have to be fed during the winter. For many, it was the only time of year when they had a supply of fresh meat. In addition, most wine and beer made during the year was finally fermented and ready for drinking.

In Germany, people honored the pagan god Oden during the midwinter holiday. Germans were terrified of Oden, as they believed he made nocturnal flights through the sky to observe his people, and then decide who would prosper or perish. Because of his presence, many people chose to stay inside.

Christmas Carol.

English author Charles Dickens created the classic holiday tale, A Christmas Carol. The story messages the importance of charity and good will towards all humankind in the United States and England and showed members of Victorian society the benefits of celebrating the holiday.

The family was also becoming less disciplined and more sensitive to the emotional needs of children during the early 1800s. Christmas provided families with a day when they could lavish attention and their children without appearing to "spoil" them.

As Americans began to embrace Christmas as a perfect family holiday, old customs were unearthed. People looked toward recent immigrants and Catholic and Episcopalian churches to see how the day should be celebrated. In the next 100 years, Americans built a Christmas tradition all their own that included pieces of many other customs, including decorating trees, sending holiday cards, and gift giving.

Although most families quickly bought into the idea that they were celebrating Christmas how it had been done for centuries, Americans had really reinvented a holiday to fill the cultural needs of a growing nation.

Christmas tree

Long before the advent of Christianity, plants and trees that remained green all year had a special meaning for people in the winter. Just as people today decorate their homes during the festive season with pine, spruce, and fir trees, ancient peoples hung evergreen boughs over their doors and windows. In many countries it was believed that evergreens would keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness.

In the Northern hemisphere, the shortest day and longest night of the year falls on December 21 or December 22 and is called the winter solstice. Many ancient people believed that the sun was a god and that winter came every year because the sun god had become sick and weak. They celebrated the solstice because it meant that at last the sun god would begin to get well. Evergreen boughs reminded them of all the green plants that would grow again when the sun god was strong and summer would return.

The ancient Egyptians worshipped a god called Ra, who had the head of a hawk and wore the sun as a blazing disk in his crown. At the solstice, when Ra began to recover from the illness, the Egyptians filled their homes with green palm rushes which symbolized for them the triumph of life over death.

Early Romans marked the solstice with a feast called the Saturnalia in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture. The Romans knew that the solstice meant that soon farms and orchards would be green and fruitful. To mark the occasion, they decorated their homes and temples with evergreen boughs. In Northern Europe the mysterious Druids, the priests of the ancient Celts, also decorated their temples with evergreen boughs as a symbol of everlasting life. The fierce Vikings in Scandinavia thought that evergreens were the special plant of the sun god, Balder.

Germany is credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition as we now know it in the 16th century when devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. Some built Christmas pyramids of wood and decorated them with evergreens and candles if wood was scarce. It is a widely held belief that Martin Luther, the 16thcentury Protestant reformer, first added lighted candles to a tree. Walking toward his home one winter evening, composing a sermon, he was awed by the brilliance of stars twinkling amidst evergreens. To recapture the scene for his family, he erected a tree in the main room and wired its branches with lighted candles.

Most 19thcentury Americans found Christmas trees an oddity. The first record of one being on display was in the 1830s by the German settlers of Pennsylvania, although trees had been a tradition in many German homes much earlier. The Pennsylvania German settlements had community trees as early as 1747. But, as late as the 1840s Christmas trees were seen as pagan symbols and not accepted by most Americans.

It is not surprising that, like many other festive Christmas customs, the tree was adopted so late in America. To the New England Puritans, Christmas was sacred. The pilgrims's second governor, William Bradford, wrote that he tried hard to stamp out "pagan mockery" of the observance, penalizing any frivolity. The influential Oliver Cromwell preached against "the heathen traditions" of Christmas carols, decorated trees, and any joyful expression that desecrated "that sacred event." In 1659, the General Court of Massachusetts enacted a law making any observance of December 25 (other than a church service) a penal offense; people were fined for hanging decorations. That stern solemnity continued until the 19th century, when the influx of German and Irish immigrants undermined the Puritan legacy.

In 1846, the popular royals, Queen Victoria and her German Prince, Albert, were sketched in the Illustrated London News standing with their children around a Christmas tree. Unlike the previous royal family, Victoria was very popular with her subjects, and what was done at court immediately became fashionable—not only in Britain, but with fashion conscious East Coast American Society. The Christmas tree had arrived.

By the 1890s Christmas ornaments were arriving from Germany and Christmas tree popularity was on the rise around the U.S. It was noted that Europeans used small trees about four feet in height, while Americans liked their Christmas trees to reach from floor to ceiling.

The early 20th century saw Americans decorating their trees mainly with homemade ornaments, while the German American sect continued to use apples, nuts, and marzipan cookies. Popcorn joined in after being dyed bright colors and interlaced with berries and nuts. Electricity brought about Christmas lights, making it possible for Christmas trees to glow for days on end. With this, Christmas trees began to appear in town squares across the country and having a Christmas tree in the home became an American tradition.

Santa clause

The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back hundreds of years to a monk named St. Nicholas. It is believed that Nicholas was born sometime around 280 A.D. in Patara, near Myra in modern-day Turkey. Much admired for his piety and kindness, St. Nicholas became the subject of many legends. It is said that he gave away all of his inherited wealth and traveled the countryside helping the poor and sick. One of the best known of the St. Nicholas stories is that he saved three poor sisters from being sold into slavery or prostitution by their father by providing them with a dowry so that they could be married. Over the course of many years, Nicholas's popularity spread and he became known as the protector of children and sailors. His feast day is celebrated on the anniversary of his death, December 6. This was traditionally considered a lucky day to make large purchases or to get married. By the Renaissance, St. Nicholas was the most popular saint in Europe. Even after the Protestant Reformation, when the veneration of saints began to be discouraged, St. Nicholas maintained a positive reputation, especially in Holland.

Christmas Recipes

Rolled Christmas Cookies	Egg Nog	Holiday Chocolate Candy Bars	Hot Christmas Cider

Mom's Apple Pie	Figgy Pudding	Tom Thumb Christmas Cookies

Fast fact about Christmas:

· Each year, 3035 million real Christmas trees are sold in the United States alone. There are 21,000 Christmas tree growers in the United States, and trees usually grow for about 15 years before they are sold.

· Today, in the Greek and Russian orthodox churches, Christmas is celebrated 13 days after the 25th, which is also referred to as the Epiphany or Three Kings Day. This is the day it is believed that the three wise men finally found Jesus in the manger.

·In the Middle Ages, Christmas celebrations were rowdy and raucous—a lot like today's Mardi Gras parties.

·From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was outlawed in Boston, and lawbreakers were fined five shillings.

·Christmas wasn't a holiday in early America—in fact Congress was in session on December 25, 1789, the country's first Christmas under the new constitution.

·Christmas was declared a federal holiday in the United States on June 26, 1870.

· The first eggnog made in the United States was consumed in Captain John Smith's 1607 Jamestown settlement.

· Poinsettia plants are named after Joel R. Poinsett, an American minister to Mexico, who brought the redandgreen plant from Mexico to America in 1828.

· The Salvation Army has been sending Santa Clausclad donation collectors into the streets since the 1890s.

· Rudolph, "the most famous reindeer of all," was the product of Robert L. May's imagination in 1939. The copywriter wrote a poem about the reindeer to help lure customers into the Montgomery Ward department store.

·Construction workers started the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree tradition in 1931.

courtsey: www.history.com

Abstract of World Bank’s World Development Report, 2007

2007-12-02T04:06:00.000-08:00

Abstract of World Bank’s World Development Report, 2007

The percentage of youth (the 18-24 age group) ‘very’ or ‘rather’ interested in politics in India rose from around 35 per cent in 1990 to around 50 per cent in 2000, the study notes, after analysing data from a World Values Survey.

While interest levels are on the rise in China, India and Nigeria (grouped as low-income countries), they show a declining trend in Argentina, the Russian Federation and Turkey (middle income countries) and Finland, Slovenia and the United Kingdom (high income countries).

Pratap Bhanu Mehta, president, Centre for Policy Research, finds parallels with voting behavior within India; voter turnout increases as one goes down the income ladder. That, he says, could be because voting could be the only avenue of participation in political life for the poor.

Participation levels of India’s youth, however, were close to half of China’s, where the increase in interest was more muted than India’s perhaps because of already high interest levels. It isn’t only because of the ubiquitous presence of the Communist Party of China. Mehta notes that for a lot of functions affecting citizens, there is a lot more genuine decentralisation in China.

Participation levels also vary with age, with interest levels declining as age increases in the lower income countries. While 46.3 per cent of people in the 18-29 age group in India were interested in politics, the percentage declines to 40.5 per cent in the 65+ age group. It’s just the reverse in the higher income countries.

In the United States, for example, 58.5 per cent of the 18-29 age group were interested in politics; the percentage increased to 83.5 per cent in the 65+ age group.

It has mainly to do with the demographic profiles of societies, the report says. The large share of ageing populations in the advanced economies means concerns of older citizens dominate public policy, while issues relating to youth dominate discourses in the developing nations. Moreover, the power, prestige and legitimacy of the state have got reduced over time in the more advanced economies. Hence, the reduced interest among the youth.

The report finds that youth in the lower income countries have a higher level of confidence in the civil service than those in high-income countries, a point Mehta concedes. Despite all the disillusionment with the state machinery, it is still seen as better than market or civil society mechanisms, he says. “The space of the state in politics is seen as more open and inclusive,” he argues.

Interestingly, young people in the low-income countries are more likely to believe that businesses should be privately-owned than their counterparts in the richer countries. While 19.3 per cent of youth in the 18-29 age group in India felt private ownership of business should be increased, only 14.3 per cent in Canada, 7 per cent in South Korea and 4.9 per cent in Japan felt the same.

The Quit India speech by Mahatma Gandhi

2007-12-01T14:11:00.000-08:00

The Quit India speech by Mahatma Gandhi

Before you discuss the resolution, let me place before you one or two things, I want you to understand two things very clearly and to consider them from the same point of view from which I am placing them before you. I ask you to consider it from my point of view, because if you approve of it, you will be enjoined to carry out all I say. It will be a great responsibility. There are people who ask me whether I am the same man that I was in 1920, or whether there has been any change in me. You are right in asking that question.
Let me, however, hasten to assure that I am the same Gandhi as I was in 1920. I have not changed in any fundamental respect. I attach the same importance to non-violence that I did then. If at all, my emphasis on it has grown stronger. There is no real contradiction between the present resolution and my previous writings and utterances.
Occasions like the present do not occur in everybody’s and but rarely in anybody’s life. I want you to know and feel that there is nothing but purest Ahimsa1 in all that I am saying and doing today. The draft resolution of the Working Committee is based on Ahimsa, the contemplated struggle similarly has its roots in Ahimsa. If, therefore, there is any among you who has lost faith in Ahimsa or is wearied of it, let him not vote for this resolution.
Let me explain my position clearly. God has vouchsafed to me a priceless gift in the weapon of Ahimsa. I and my Ahimsa are on our trail today. If in the present crisis, when the earth is being scorched by the flames of Himsa2 and crying for deliverance, I failed to make use of the God given talent, God will not forgive me and I shall be judged un-wrongly of the great gift. I must act now. I may not hesitate and merely look on, when Russia and China are threatened.
Ours is not a drive for power, but purely a non-violent fight for India’s independence. In a violent struggle, a successful general has been often known to effect a military coup and to set up a dictatorship. But under the Congress scheme of things, essentially non-violent as it is, there can be no room for dictatorship. A non-violent soldier of freedom will covet nothing for himself, he fights only for the freedom of his country. The Congress is unconcerned as to who will rule, when freedom is attained. The power, when it comes, will belong to the people of India, and it will be for them to decide to whom it placed in the entrusted. May be that the reins will be placed in the hands of the Parsis, for instance-as I would love to see happen-or they may be handed to some others whose names are not heard in the Congress today. It will not be for you then to object saying, “This community is microscopic. That party did not play its due part in the freedom’s struggle; why should it have all the power?” Ever since its inception the Congress has kept itself meticulously free of the communal taint. It has thought always in terms of the whole nation and has acted accordingly. . .
I know how imperfect our Ahimsa is and how far away we are still from the ideal, but in Ahimsa there is no final failure or defeat. I have faith, therefore, that if, in spite of our shortcomings, the big thing does happen, it will be because God wanted to help us by crowning with success our silent, unremitting Sadhana1 for the last twenty-two years.
I believe that in the history of the world, there has not been a more genuinely democratic struggle for freedom than ours. I read Carlyle’s French Resolution while I was in prison, and Pandit Jawaharlal has told me something about the Russian revolution. But it is my conviction that inasmuch as these struggles were fought with the weapon of violence they failed to realize the democratic ideal. In the democracy which I have envisaged, a democracy established by non-violence, there will be equal freedom for all. Everybody will be his own master. It is to join a struggle for such democracy that I invite you today. Once you realize this you will forget the differences between the Hindus and Muslims, and think of yourselves as Indians only, engaged in the common struggle for independence.
Then, there is the question of your attitude towards the British. I have noticed that there is hatred towards the British among the people. The people say they are disgusted with their behaviour. The people make no distinction between British imperialism and the British people. To them, the two are one This hatred would even make them welcome the Japanese. It is most dangerous. It means that they will exchange one slavery for another. We must get rid of this feeling. Our quarrel is not with the British people, we fight their imperialism. The proposal for the withdrawal of British power did not come out of anger. It came to enable India to play its due part at the present critical juncture It is not a happy position for a big country like India to be merely helping with money and material obtained willy-nilly from her while the United Nations are conducting the war. We cannot evoke the true spirit of sacrifice and velour, so long as we are not free. I know the British Government will not be able to withhold freedom from us, when we have made enough self-sacrifice. We must, therefore, purge ourselves of hatred. Speaking for myself, I can say that I have never felt any hatred. As a matter of fact, I feel myself to be a greater friend of the British now than ever before. One reason is that they are today in distress. My very friendship, therefore, demands that I should try to save them from their mistakes. As I view the situation, they are on the brink of an abyss. It, therefore, becomes my duty to warn them of their danger even though it may, for the time being, anger them to the point of cutting off the friendly hand that is stretched out to help them. People may laugh, nevertheless that is my claim. At a time when I may have to launch the biggest struggle of my life, I may not harbour hatred against anybody.

Nathuram godse speech

2007-12-01T14:02:00.000-08:00

Born in a devotional Brahmin family, I instinctively came to revere Hindu religion, Hindu history and Hindu culture. I had, therefore, been intensely proud of Hinduism as a whole. As I grew up I developed a tendency to free thinking unfettered by any superstitious allegiance to any isms, political or religious. That is why I worked actively for the eradication of untouchability and the caste system based on birth alone. I openly joined anti-caste movements and maintained that all Hindus were of equal status as to rights, social and religious and should be considered high or low on merit alone and not through the accident of birth in a particular caste or profession. I used publicly to take part in organized anti-caste dinners in which thousands of Hindus, Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, Chamars and Bhangis participated. We broke the caste rules and dined in the company of each other.I have read the speeches and writings of Dadabhai Nairoji, Vivekanand, Gokhale, Tilak, along with the books of ancient and modern history of India and some prominent countries like England, France, America and’ Russia. Moreover I studied the tenets of Socialism and Marxism. But above all I studied very closely whatever Veer Savarkar and Gandhiji had written and spoken, as to my mind these two ideologies have contributed more to the moulding of the thought and action of the Indian people during the last thirty years or so, than any other single factor has done.

All this reading and thinking led me to believe it was my first duty to serve Hindudom and Hindus both as a patriot and as a world citizen. To secure the freedom and to safeguard the just interests of some thirty crores (300 million) of Hindus would automatically constitute the freedom and the well being of all India, one fifth of human race. This conviction led me naturally to devote myself to the Hindu Sanghtanist ideology and programme, which alone, I came to believe, could win and preserve the national independence of Hindustan, my Motherland, and enable her to render true service to humanity as well.

Since the year 1920, that is, after the demise of Lokamanya Tilak, Gandhiji’s influence in the Congress first increased and then became supreme. His activities for public awakening were phenomenal in their intensity and were reinforced by the slogan of truth and non-violence, which he paraded ostentatiously before the country. No sensible or enlightened person could object to those slogans. In fact there is nothing new or original in them. They are implicit in every constitutional public movement. But it is nothing but a mere dream if you imagine that the bulk of mankind is, or can ever become, capable of scrupulous adherence to these lofty principles in its normal life from day to day. In fact, honour, duty and love of one’s own kith and kin and country might often compel us to disregard non-violence and to use force. I could never conceive that an armed resistance to an aggression is unjust. I would consider it a religious and moral duty to resist and, if possible, to overpower such an enemy by use of force. [In the Ramayana] Rama killed Ravana in a tumultuous fight and relieved Sita. [In the Mahabharata], Krishna killed Kansa to end his wickedness; and Arjuna had to fight and slay quite a number of his friends and relations including the revered Bhishma because the latter was on the side of the aggressor. It is my firm belief that in dubbing Rama, Krishna and Arjuna as guilty of violence, the Mahatma betrayed a total ignorance of the springs of human action.

In more recent history, it was the heroic fight put up by Chhatrapati Shivaji that first checked and eventually destroyed the Muslim tyranny in India. It was absolutely essentially for Shivaji to overpower and kill an aggressive Afzal Khan, failing which he would have lost his own life. In condemning history’s towering warriors like Shivaji, Rana Pratap and Guru Gobind Singh as misguided patriots, Gandhiji has merely exposed his self-conceit. He was, paradoxical, as it may appear, a violent pacifist who brought untold calamities on the country in the name of truth and non-violence, while Rana Pratap, Shivaji and the Guru will remain enshrined in the hearts of their countrymen forever for the freedom they brought to them.

The accumulating provocation of thirty-two years, culminating in his last pro-Muslim fast, at last goaded me to the conclusion that the existence of Gandhi should be brought to an end immediately. Gandhi had done very well in South Africa to uphold the rights and well being of the Indian community there. But when he finally returned to India he developed a subjective mentality under which he alone was to be the final judge of what was right or wrong. If the country wanted his leadership, it had to accept his infallibility; if it did not, he would stand aloof from the Congress and carry on his own way. Against such an attitude there can be no halfway house. Either Congress had to surrender its will to his and had to be content with playing second fiddle to all his eccentricity, whimsicality, metaphysics and primitive vision, or it had to carry on without him. He alone was the Judge of everyone and everything; he was the master brain guiding the civil disobedience movement; no other could know the technique of that movement. He alone knew when to begin and when to withdraw it. The movement might succeed or fail, it might bring untold disaster and political reverses but that could make no difference to the Mahatma’s infallibility. ‘A Satyagrahi can never fail’ was his formula for declaring his own infallibility and nobody except himself knew what a Satyagrahi is.

Thus, the Mahatma became the judge and jury in his own cause. These childish insanities and obstinacies, coupled with a most severe austerity of life, ceaseless work and lofty character made Gandhi formidable and irresistible. Many people thought that his politics were irrational but they had either to withdraw from the Congress or place their intelligence at his feet to do with, as he liked. In a position of such absolute irresponsibility Gandhi was guilty of blunder after blunder, failure after failure, disaster after disaster.

Gandhi’s pro-Muslim policy is blatantly in his perverse attitude on the question of the national language of India. It is quite obvious that Hindi has the most prior claim to be accepted as the premier language. In the beginning of his career in India, Gandhi gave a great impetus to Hindi but as he found that the Muslims did not like it, he became a champion of what is called Hindustani. Everybody in India knows that there is no language called Hindustani; it has no grammar; it has no vocabulary. It is a mere dialect; it is spoken, but not written. It is a bastard tongue and crossbreed between Hindi and Urdu, and not even the Mahatma’s sophistry could make it popular. But in his desire to please the Muslims he insisted that Hindustani alone should be the national language of India. His blind followers, of course, supported him and the so-called hybrid language began to be used. The charm and purity of the Hindi language was to be prostituted to please the Muslims. All his experiments were at the expense of the Hindus.

From August 1946 onwards the private armies of the Muslim League began a massacre of the Hindus. The then Viceroy, Lord Wavell, though distressed at what was happening, would not use his powers under the Government of India Act of 1935 to prevent the rape, murder and arson. The Hindu blood began to flow from Bengal to Karachi with some retaliation by the Hindus. The Interim Government formed in September was sabotaged by its Muslim League members right from its inception, but the more they became disloyal and treasonable to the government of which they were a part, the greater was Gandhi’s infatuation for them. Lord Wavell had to resign as he could not bring about a settlement and he was succeeded by Lord Mountbatten. King Log was followed by King Stork.

The Congress, which had boasted of its nationalism and socialism, secretly accepted Pakistan literally at the point of the bayonet and abjectly surrendered to Jinnah. India was vivisected and one-third of the Indian territory became foreign land to us from August 15, 1947. Lord Mountbatten came to be described in Congress circles as the greatest Viceroy and Governor-General this country ever had. The official date for handing over power was fixed for June 30, 1948, but Mountbatten with his ruthless surgery gave us a gift of vivisected India ten months in advance. This is what Gandhi had achieved after thirty years of undisputed dictatorship and this is what Congress party calls ‘freedom’ and ‘peaceful transfer of power’. The Hindu-Muslim unity bubble was finally burst and a theocratic state was established with the consent of Nehru and his crowd and they have called ‘freedom won by them with sacrifice’ - whose sacrifice? When top leaders of Congress, with the consent of Gandhi, divided and tore the country - which we consider a deity of worship - my mind was filled with direful anger.

One of the conditions imposed by Gandhi for his breaking of the fast unto death related to the mosques in Delhi occupied by the Hindu refugees. But when Hindus in Pakistan were subjected to violent attacks he did not so much as utter a single word to protest and censure the Pakistan Government or the Muslims concerned. Gandhi was shrewd enough to know that while undertaking a fast unto death, had he imposed for its break some condition on the Muslims in Pakistan, there would have been found hardly any Muslims who could have shown some grief if the fast had ended in his death. It was for this reason that he purposely avoided imposing any condition on the Muslims. He was fully aware of from the experience that Jinnah was not at all perturbed or influenced by his fast and the Muslim League hardly attached any value to the inner voice of Gandhi.

Gandhi is being referred to as the Father of the Nation. But if that is so, he had failed his paternal duty inasmuch as he has acted very treacherously to the nation by his consenting to the partitioning of it. I stoutly maintain that Gandhi has failed in his duty. He has proved to be the Father of Pakistan. His inner-voice, his spiritual power and his doctrine of non-violence of which so much is made of, all crumbled before Jinnah’s iron will and proved to be powerless.

Briefly speaking, I thought to myself and foresaw I shall be totally ruined, and the only thing I could expect from the people would be nothing but hatred and that I shall have lost all my honour, even more valuable than my life, if I were to kill Gandhiji. But at the same time I felt that the Indian politics in the absence of Gandhiji would surely be proved practical, able to retaliate, and would be powerful with armed forces. No doubt, my own future would be totally ruined, but the nation would be saved from the inroads of Pakistan. People may even call me and dub me as devoid of any sense or foolish, but the nation would be free to follow the course founded on the reason which I consider to be necessary for sound nation-building. After having fully considered the question, I took the final decision in the matter, but I did not speak about it to anyone whatsoever. I took courage in both my hands and I did fire the shots at Gandhiji on 30th January 1948, on the prayer-grounds of Birla House.

I do say that my shots were fired at the person whose policy and action had brought rack and ruin and destruction to millions of Hindus. There was no legal machinery by which such an offender could be brought to book and for this reason I fired those fatal shots.

I bear no ill will towards anyone individually but I do say that I had no respect for the present government owing to their policy, which was unfairly favourable towards the Muslims. But at the same time I could clearly see that the policy was entirely due to the presence of Gandhi. I have to say with great regret that Prime Minister Nehru quite forgets that his preachings and deeds are at times at variances with each other when he talks about India as a secular state in season and out of season, because it is significant to note that Nehru has played a leading role in the establishment of the theocratic state of Pakistan, and his job was made easier by Gandhi’s persistent policy of appeasement towards the Muslims.

I now stand before the court to accept the full share of my responsibility for what I have done and the judge would, of course, pass against me such orders of sentence as may be considered proper. But I would like to add that I do not desire any mercy to be shown to me, nor do I wish that anyone else should beg for mercy on my behalf. My confidence about the moral side of my action has not been shaken even by the criticism levelled against it on all sides. I have no doubt that honest writers of history will weigh my act and find the true value thereof some day in future.

-NATHURAM GODSE

Disrepect to women

2007-12-01T13:22:00.000-08:00

The question which needs to be addressed first before addressing this topic is that do we really know in how many ways are women disrespected.

1.Women are disrespected when they are not given the same type of facility and privilege as compared to her own male sibling.

2.Women are disrespected when they are discriminated on the basis of their gender in every thing starting from the type of food she is offered, the type of educational courses she is allowed to peruse till the time she comes into the earning stage and then the way she is exploited in offices for being women.

3.Women are shown disrespect when in order to get married the father of the women has to offer dowry.

4) Women are disrespected when they are not offered love and comfort in her new house after marriage.

5) Women are disrespected when they are beaten in homes by men who does this after meeting failures in his life and not able to meet the bread and butter for family.

6) Women are disrespected when they are not allowed to have their own identity and always require the name of their husband and father for any official reasons.

7) Women are disrespected when they are not allowed to live alone in their life as any men.

8) Women are disrespected when they are treated by men as object for him to use, abuse and discard.

9) Women are disrespected when their modesty is outraged.

10) Women are disrespected when after her marriage very often, though highly educated, are made to give up her all other avocations and left to entirely devotes herself to the welfare of the family.

11) Women are disrespected when the violence against them is carried by male in various forms of violence i.e. Violence to body(Rape, beating, Forced prostitution, Female feticide), Violence to mind(abuse,mental torture, Matrimonial matters), Violence to property(Discriminatory succession matters) and Violence to reputation(Practicing untouchability, Allegations of illicit and adulterous relationships, Allegation of illegitimate child, pornography)

Now in this section I am going to discuss the genesis and reason behind this disrespect against women.

Since ages, women have been left on the mercy of their fellow men to keep them happy, to show them the path to walk down. In the beginning the women are blackmailed in the name of love to perform the role of women who is always kind and ready to sacrifice and they have been mistreated, abused and brainwashed into believing that they are worth nothing when all the things that make them a woman slowly but surely die away. Through the ages, women have been viewed as the weaker sex and in some countries, it's even prohibited for women to enter a supermarket without the presence of her husband or brother or other male relative. Ideals like these, or rather men like these, feel they 'have' to be dominant over their women when in fact, and they’re killing the spirit of the woman with every stupid notion of needing to rule over them.. So I am asking this from the entire male that who has given them this right to act as godfather to women. Women chosen to be at home and help men in achieving the bigger objective of life i.e contributing to the society because of their kind heart and love for men. But this was manipulated by men over centuries so that women could be exploited on every front from homemaking to child rearing to maintaining the social chord while they remained busy in enjoying all the lavish things which the nature has to offer. But the men have to wake up now and change themselves.

In today's age, women, hopefully, think differently about themselves and the role they play in a ghastly society. They may just be child bearers and care takers but things have changed dramatically now.

I appeal form every men that if we (all men) feel a woman is disrespected in any manner; it's our duty as a husband, a friend, a brother, a father to make her feel otherwise. We have to restore in her the self-dignity that is her right and to take advantage of her self-inflicting weaknesses is not right. If a man's nature is such that he feels he has to dominate a woman and 'keep her in her place' then there's no way he has an ounce of respect for himself. Because if he did, he wouldn't want to see a woman feel degraded and underestimated of her true power and potential as a species.

Things can be improved by following these steps.

1) Empowering women so that she can herself be capable to fight against any form of disrespect by men.

2) The mindset of the society has to be changed by both voluntary and involuntary measures. The voluntary measures consist of public awareness, public education, public motivation, etc and involuntary measure relies primarily upon the support of the law for its existence.

3) Thus, the government should refuse to extend the benefit of the remission to the convicts who have committed crime against women even while extending it to other convicts.

4) Every effort should be made to for representation in the "power structure" of the nation by women.

Bhagat Singh: Biographical Profile

2007-09-28T04:39:00.000-07:00

Bhagat Singh: Biographical Profile

Born as Bhaganwala on the 26th September, 1907, Bhagat Singh grew up in a petty-bourgeois family of Sandhu Jats settled in the Jullunder Doab district of the Punjab. He belonged to a generation that was to intervene between two decisive phases of the Indian national movement - the phase of the 'Extremism' of Lal-Bal-Pal and the Gandhian phase of non-violent mass action.
In the first decade of the 20th century, the Punjab had a broad spectrum of popular leaders working in the state. Two such leaders were Sardar Ajit Singh and Sardar Kishen Singh, Bhagat Singh's paternal uncle and father. Interestingly, although middle class, both leaders were in great opposition to the mainstream leadership of the Indian National Congress and particularly Lala Lajpat Rai. Both brothers were consistently radical in attempting to mobilise the masses to oppose the British at every opportunity that arose.
In an article called 'Emergence of the Punjab in the freedom movement',1 Bhagat Singh traces their inspiration to the extremist leader, Bal Gangadhar Tilak. 'Having seen their enthusiasm at the 1906 Congress Convention in Calcutta, Lokmaniya was pleased and in bidding them adieu, gave them the responsibility of strengthening the movement in the Punjab.' On returning to Lahore, both brothers 'started a monthly newspaper called Bharat Mata to propagate their ideas'. Since they had no money and no influence among the rich, says Bhagat Singh, they had to collect everything necessary for propaganda work themselves. This they did by attracting a crowd in the market by ringing a bell and giving a lecture 'on how foreigners had destroyed India's industry and commerce'. This was followed by an announcement that an important meeting would be held within the week at the Bharat Mata office. After the first two meetings held on two consecutive Sundays, a decision was taken to hold a meeting every Sunday. Many people joined the group including Lala Lalchand 'Phalak', the 'national poet' of the Punjab, Lala Pindidas, Dr. Ishwari Prasad and Sufi Amba Prasad. Sardar Ajit Singh and Mahant Nandkishore were elected the President and Secretary of the group now organised as the 'Bharat Mata Society'.
In 1887, the Punjab government created the Chenab Colony, by diverting the Chenab river into a system of perennial canals rapidly turning the barren wasteland of the central Punjab into fertile farmland.2 The colony was to be a model for the rest of Punjab, supervised by a paternalistic administration. 'Healthy agricultural communities of the "best Punjabi type" would be established... (which would) in turn demonstrate to other Punjabis how proper sanitation, careful economic planning and co-operation with the government could result in a higher standard of living'.3
In October 1906 the government introduced the Punjab Colonisation of Land Bill in the local Legislative Council. This Bill established retroactive conditions concerning sanitation, tree planting and construction in the Chenab Colony. In case of breach of the conditions, fines would be collected in the same fashion as revenue. Section 31 ruled that courts would have no jurisdiction in the Colony. In November, the government announced a drastic increase in the occupier rate (charge on canal water). In the Bari Doab canal area running through the districts of Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Lahore, rates had been lower because the government had hoped that a leniency in revenue would ensure the loyalty of the Sikh Jats who supplied recruits for the Indian Army.4 The yeomen farmers of the Colony were already discontented over the maladministration in the Colony and opposed the extra legal fees that the Bill sought to legitimise. Graft and corruption had galvanised the whole Colony into opposition to the entire system of interference and paternalism. From 1903, Sifaj-ud Din Ahmed, a retired postal officer, started the Zamindar, a newspaper, to publicise the colonists' plight. It was only a matter of time for discontent to turn into political opposition.
Bhagat Singh's grandfather, Sardar Arjan Singh, had migrated to the canal area and settled at Banga, Lyallpur. It is therefore not surprising that Sardar Ajit Singh was able to articulate so clearly the problems of the colonists and the objection to the Bill.
On 22nd and 23rd March, 1907, the Zamindar held a public meeting to protest against the bill. Although this was a platform for the rich yeomanry, Ajit Singh sent delegates from the 'Bharat Mata Society' to launch an agitation against the British. Lala Lajpat Rai was asked by the newspaper to give a speech. Bhagat Singh in his article on the national movement in the Punjab, shows how Lajpat Rai and Ajit Singh differed on this issue.
'Before leaving (for Lyallpur) Lalaji sent a message to Sardar Ajit Singh saying that the government should be thanked for (a previous) amendment and then asked to repeat the law'. To this Ajit Singh is said to have replied 'we shall prepare the masses for a no revenue campaign. Also we can never thank the government'.
The meeting itself is described by Bhagat Singh thus, 'Lalaji was received by a large rally and consequently reached the pandal two hours late... In the meanwhile, Sardar Ajit Singh gave a speech. He was an impressive speaker. His tireless style of speech made the audience enthusiastic and by the end he had a large following of people. By the time Lalaji reached the pandal, the masses were with the Bharat Mata Society;... Lalaji was Punjab's finest orator but the style, the fearlessness and determination with which he spoke was something else. He received an ovation after every line. After the meeting many people dedicated their lives to the motherland'.5 This account is also corroborated by N. Gerald Barrier, 'Lajpat Rai attempted to be moderate, but as happened frequently with his speech making, the crowds' frenzy drove him to use phrases and ideas verging on what the British termed 'sedition'. After the meeting, Lajpat Rai went on a lecture tour in the United Provinces, while Ajit Singh began to organise the farmers of Amritsar and Lahore. Under Ajit Singh's leadership the colonists passed a resolution supporting a boycott of British goods and started a campaign to ensure that nobody paid the new water rate. The price of disobedience was social ostracism by the offender's caste or a fine of Rs. 500.6 The Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab, Denzil Ibbetson believed sedition in the province to be taking two directions. First Ajit Singh was trying to spread disaffection among the troops and the students and secondly the 'fomenters of unrest' were corrupting the yeomanry. He asked the Government of India for permission to deport Ajit Singh and Lajpat Rai so as to be able to 'strike terror into the minds of those concerned'. Ajit Singh was deported to Mandalay. Sardar Kishen Singh though less prominent than his brother was also part of this agitation and was put into jail.
ln 1907 the Bill was repealed and soon Ajit Singh and Kishen Singh were released. Bhagat Singh, born in September that year, was called Bhaganwala (the child of God) by his grandmother. Bhagat Singh began his primary education at the District Board Primary School in Banga. In 1916-17, his father moved to Lahore to be able to organise relief work for the victims of a severe earthquake in Kangra. Bhagat Singh was now shifted to the D.A.V. High School, Lahore. Writing about these years, Bhagat Singh said, 'It was through his (father's) teachings that I aspired to devote my life to the cause of freedom'.7
In his first letter, written to his grandfather at the age of 12, Bhagat Singh reassures him that he has passed his school exam comfortably and the latter need not worry on that count. Two years later he wrote again to tell his grandfather that 'railway men are planning to go on strike. Hopefully they will start by the next week'. This letter is dated the 12th of November 1921 and shows that he was aware of the Non Co-operation Movement that Gandhi had launched. Both letters are in fluent Urdu.
In 1923, Bhagat Singh joined the National College, Lahore. It was affiliated to the Punjab Quami Vidya Pith and was founded and managed by Lala Lajpat Rai and Bhai Parmanand. The College was set up as an alternative to the institutions run by the Government, bringing to the field of education the idea of Swadeshi. The philosophy behind the establishment of such a College was to produce 'self reliant, aggressive (in order to be progressive) men and women that new India wants'.8
Bhagat Singh seems to have had an impressive academic record in College. The Principal of the College, Chhibil Das wrote in his memoirs, 'There were no books at hand. So it was for the teachers to select books from the libraries and give the relevant portions to the students... in our National College, we used to talk about Mazzini and Garibaldi. We used to talk about Ireland, about Sinn Fein movement of De Valera and other movements and about the Russian revolution'.9 The Russian Narodniks seem to have been discussed with the history professor, Jai Chandra Vidyalankar.
Bhagat Singh was also a member of the College dramatics society and seemed to have 'gained much prominence amongst the students and teachers, not only of his own college but other local colleges'.10 'He was particularly impressive because of his youthful physique and commanding voice', one of his biographers, S.R. Bakshi tells us. Bhagat Singh was fluent in Urdu, Hindi, Gurmukhi, English and Sanskrit. In the pamphlet, 'Why I am an Atheist' Bhagat Singh writes about his days in college. 'Though a favourite with some professors and disliked by certain others, I was never an industrious or studious boy. I could not get any chance of indulging in such feelings as vanity. I was rather a boy with a shy nature, who had certain pessimistic dispositions about (my) future career'.
By the age of 16, Bhagat Singh was completely dedicated to the cause of national liberation. Nothing illustrates this better than his attitude to marriage. In 1924, Bhagat Singh was pressurised to get married. Unable to convince his parents of his determination not to marry, Bhagat Singh left his house in Lahore and reached Kanpur armed with an introduction by Jai Chandra Vidyalankar for Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi. In the note left behind for his father Bhagat Singh said, 'my life has been dedicated to the noblest cause, that of the freedom of the country. Therefore there is no rest or worldly desire that can lure me now. If you remember, when I was small, Bapuji (Arjun Singh) declared at my thread ceremony that I had been dedicated to the service of my country. I am, thus waiting to fulfil that commitment. I hope you will forgive me'. On being asked why he did not want to get married, Bhagat Singh told Jaidev Gupta, his classmate and friend, that he had chosen a path which was full of many possibilities. His two uncles had gone that way and they had left two widows. Should he also leave another widow?11 Chhabil Das has left us an account of how when he was to get married, Bhagat Singh came and reproached him on getting married. 'Besides them being my students we had good personal relations too... when Bhagat Singh heard that I was going to be married... he insisted that I should not marry. I said, if I could get a really good life companion who, instead of retarding my activities, would invigorate them, what would be your view? In the same breadth I quoted three concrete examples of Mrs. Sun Yat Sen,... wife of Lenin and... companion of Karl Marx. (At this) Bhagat Singh replied "Guruji who can vanquish you in any argument". So he yielded.'
From 1923-24, Bhagat Singh worked with Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi in Kanpur. Vidyarthi brought out a weekly nationalist newspaper called the Pratap. Here Bhagat Singh worked under the alias, Balwant. It was here that he met people like B.K. Dutt, Shiv Venna, B.K. Sinha etc. with whom he would share a close camaraderie. Ajoy Ghosh who was fifteen at the time wrote about his first meeting with Bhagat Singh thus, 'I believe it was sometime in 1923 that I met Bhagat Singh... he was introduced to me by B.K. Dutt in Cawnpore. Tall and thin, rather shabbily dressed, very quiet, he seemed a typical village lad lacking smartness and self confidence. I did not think very highly of him and told Dutt so when he was one'.12 This was the first time that Bhagat Singh had left his house and the Punjab for a new city and new people.
Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi attempted to get Bhagat Singh a job as a headmaster of a National school near Aligarh, a post he did eventually accept.
1924 was perhaps the most important year in Bhagat Singh's life. In Kanpur he became a member of the Hindustan Republican Association, started by Sachindranath Sanyal a year earlier. The main organiser of the Association was Chandra Shekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh became very close to him. It was as a member of the HRA that Bhagat Singh began to take seriously the philosophy of the Bomb. Armed revolution was understood to be the only weapon with which to fight British imperialism. Bhagat Singh went from village to village recruiting people and to activate the villages in the United Provinces. Propaganda attracted police work but it had now become easy to escape unnoticed.
In 1925, Bhagat Singh returned to Lahore and within the next year he and his colleagues started a militant youth organisation called the Naujawan Bharat Sabha. In April 1926, Bhagat Singh established contact with Sohan Singh Josh and through him the 'Workers and Peasants Party' which brought out the monthly magazine Kirti in Punjabi. For the next year Bhagat Singh worked with Josh and joined the editorial board of Kirti. In 1927, he was first arrested on charges of association with the Kakori Case accused for an article written under the pseudonym Vidrohi (Rebel). He was also accused of being responsible for a bomb explosion at Lahore during the Dussehra fair. He was let off for good behaviour against a heavy security of Rs. 60,000.
In 1928, Bhagat Singh and Chandra Shekhar Azad were the sole absconders of the Kakori case and the other leaders being put behind bars meant that they were the leaders of the Hindustan Republican Association. 'One day in 1928 I was surprised when a young man walked into my room' Ajoy Ghosh remembers, 'and greeted me. It was Bhagat Singh but not the Bhagat Singh that I had met... before. Tall and magnificently proportioned, with a keen, intelligent face and gleaming eyes, he looked a different man altogether. And as he talked I realised that he had grown not merely in years.... All those who met Bhagat Singh then and afterwards have testified to his remarkable intelligence and to the powerful impression he made when talking. Not that he was a brilliant speaker. But he spoke with such force, passion and earnestness that one could not help being impressed. We talked the whole night and as we went out for a stroll... it seemed to me that a new era was dawning for our party. We knew what we wanted and we knew how to reach our goal'.
Organisation and strategy

The first organisation Bhagat Singh joined was the Hindustan Republican Association in 1924. As an active member of this organisation he learnt two things essential for a political organisation. First, to establish strong ties of camaraderie with like-minded individuals so that despite a small organisational base the party can function smoothly. Secondly the necessity of bringing out a newspaper, besides notices and pamphlets, so as to put across to the people the ideas and activities of the revolutionaries.
After Bhagat Singh started working with Sohan Singh Josh and the 'Workers and Peasants Party' (as a member of the editorial board of Kirti in Lahore), he realised the importance of setting up an organisation that could function as a revolutionary party in the Punjab and recruit new people to the cause of revolution. Ajoy Ghosh has written that 'Bhagat Singh was active in the Punjab and he and his comrades formed the Naujawan Bharat Sabha'.22 There is however no clear record establishing who Bhagat Singh's comrades were or what role he actually played in its foundation.23 In a statement, in the Meerut Conspiracy case trial,24 Sohan Singh Josh said, 'I was one of those who took a prominent part in building up this organisation, I went to various places to deliver lectures to form local Naujawan Bharat Sabhas'. He describes the Sabha as, 'a revolt of the petty bourgeoisie against the Congress leadership'. He emphatically denied that it was a communist party and insisted that it was 'an organisation of the middle class who are oppressed by British imperialism and who want to free themselves economically and politically from the imperialist yoke'. Abdul Majid in his statement in the Meerut conspiracy case says, 'The Naujawan Bharat Sabha emerged sometime in 1926 but remained a "debating society" until 1928.'25 It held its first conference on 12th, 13th, 14th April, 1928.
In 1928, Bhagat Singh also had the responsibility of the Hindustan Republican Association with Chandra Shekhar Azad, other leaders having been sent to the gallows or given a life sentence. The first thing he did was to change its name to the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association. The party was 'recognised with a central committee and with provincial and district committees under it. All decisions were to be taken in these committees, majority decisions were to be binding on all'.26
By 1930 when Azad was shot dead, the HSRA just collapsed. Members of the organisation turned approver, 'personal squabbles, charges and counter charges vitiated the atmosphere. Police spies and degenerate elements that had managed to sneak their way in made most of this situation... corroded from within, unable to withstand the blows from outside the party that Azad and Bhagat Singh had built up by years of selfless work and with their precious blood lay in ruins'.
The link between the 'Workers and Peasants Party' and Naujawan Bharat Sabha meant that the latter survived the collapse of the HSRA and was soon able to replace it in the Punjab.
The Naujawan Bharat Sabha was open to any man and woman between the age of 18 and 35 years old who accepted its aims and objects. These were to establish a complete independent Republic of labourers and peasants throughout India. The organisation was divided into the following: The Naujawan Bharat Sabha Conference; the Naujawan Bharat Sabha, Punjab; the NBS according to districts; according to tehsils and police stations; and the reception committee of the NBS. A central body was created in 1928. Within a year branches were opened in different parts of the Punjab and even in Peshawar.
The best indication of the organisational ability of the leadership of such a party is its strategy and the attempts to deal with a lack of funds, arms and manpower. The first prerequisite of any party that has vowed to use violence to change the existing social and political order, is to build a close-knit unit that can take leadership decisions and prevent espionage and infiltration. Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru, Bhagwaticharan Vobra, Kedarnath Sehgal and Chandra Shekhar Azad formed the nucleus of the leadership.
In October, 1928, the British government of India appointed the Simon Commission to enquire into the possibility of granting India the chance to rule itself. That this Commission had no Indian representative made it the focus of popular attack in Lahore. Lajpat Rai was at the head of a demonstration that was asking the Simon Commission to go back to England. The police in retaliation lathicharged the crowd and Lajpat Rai enfeebled by age, died subsequently. The revolutionary terrorists although great critics of Lajpat Rai and his politics, were determined to avenge his death. The Assistant Superintendent of Police, J.P. Saunders who is believed to have hit Lala Lajpat Rai directly, was assassinated by Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru and Azad, who then went underground. On the next day in Lahore, there were public notices put up in the name of the Indian Socialist Democratic Army. One such notice declared, 'We regret having killed a human being but this man was a part of that unmerciful and unjust system that must be destroyed... Sometimes it is important to shed blood for a Revolution. The Revolution we envisage is one where the exploitation of man by man will finish... Inquilab Zindabad.'27
This kind of activity made it imperative for the leaders to generate what publicity they could. In the late 1920s and early 1930s there were no television sets and the radio and newspapers were the main source for disseminating information. The 'deaf had to be made to hear'.
The earliest method of spreading information was by publishing pamphlets that were ideological, polemical and/or rhetorical. Since these would have only a limited audience, a better way of garnering popular support was by courting arrest and then carrying on propaganda daring the trial. Once inside there was also the possibility of fomenting an agitation amongst the native policemen. When Bhagat Singh was first arrested in the Dussehra bomb case, a photograph of him was taken. This photograph immortalised the image of Bhagat Singh in jail sitting on a cot, his feet crossed, handcuffed, head tilted, a smile on his face.
The nature of colonial oppression implied an infringement of the rights of prisoners, especially political prisoners, and here arose another opportunity of confrontation with the British regime. The development of the Press ensured that any confrontation would be reported to the public.
Finally, there was the ultimate sacrifice, death was a powerful symbol and it was hoped that martyrdom would inspire young people to join the revolutionary movement and prevent it from being appropriated by the mainstream national movement.
In March 1928, the government introduced the Public Safely Bill in the Legislative Assembly. The Indian members rejected the Bill and in 1929, the Viceroy attempted to pass it as an ordinance. The Naujawan Bharat Sabha passed resolutions opposing this and the Trade Dispute Bill and it finally decided to intervene directly. On 8th April, 1929, Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt threw a small explosive in the Assembly and stayed in the visitors' gallery till they were arrested. On 7th May, Bhagat Singh's trial began and in the statement made in court on 6th June, Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt, representing the HSRA declared, 'we dropped the bomb on the floor of the Assembly Chamber to register our protest on behalf of those who had no other means left to give expression to their heart-rending agony. Our sole purpose was to make the deaf hear and to give the heedless a timely warning... from under the seeming stillness of the sea of humanity, a veritable storm is about to break out'.28 On the 12th June, Bhagat Singh was sentenced to transportation in the Assembly Bomb case. On the 15th of June he launched a hunger strike for jail reforms. On 10th July, 1929 the trial of the Lahore Conspiracy Case started and ended on the 7th of October, 1930 with a death sentence. Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were hanged on the 23rd of March, 1931.

Courtesy: Niraja Rao

can you recognise who is this man?

2007-09-20T17:09:00.000-07:00

18th September - One hundred and twelve candles on the cake for the world's oldest man, who earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records back in June 2006. Tomoji Tanabe was born Sept. 18, 1895, and was named the world's oldest male after the death of a Puerto Rican man in January at the age of 115.
Tomoji Tanabe, a Japanese man born on 18 September 1895, has celebrated his record birthday at home in Miyakonojo, on the island of Kyushu, 900 kilometres south-west of the capital.

The town's Mayor paid his respects with a bunch of flowers and a cheque for 850 yen, equal to around 650 euro. And of course, the question about the secret of a long life.

Drink milk, steer clear of alcohol and eat healthily: lots of greens and a breakfast of rice soup, miso (fermented soya) and algae. Tanabe claims that he has never stopped keeping his diary, reading every daily paper of the day and going for a walk alone.

"He is in really good health", doctors assure us. "I want to live for ever, I do not want to die", he told journalists. It is a target that more and more Japanese are attaining: according to statistics, there are over 32,000 hundred-year-olds.

The women of the rising sun have held the world record in longevity for the past twenty-two years, with the men second only to Icelanders. However, with life-expectancies growing and birth-rates falling, Japan risks a demographic crisis, warn experts.

Guess who is this student after reading the conversation

2007-09-13T04:20:00.000-07:00

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem science has with God, The Almighty.
He asks one of his new students to stand and.....

Prof:
So you believe in God?
Student:
Absolutely, sir.
Prof
: Is God good?
Student:
Sure.
Prof:
Is God all-powerful?
Student
: Yes.
Prof:
My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him.
Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't. How is this God good then? Hmm?
(Student is silent.)
Prof:
You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?
Student:
Yes.
Prof:
Is Satan good?
Student
: No.
Prof:
Where does Satan come from?
Student:
From...God.. .
Prof:
That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?
Student:
Yes.
Prof:
Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct?
Student:
Yes.
Prof:
So who created evil?
(Student does not answer.)
Prof:
Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?
Student:
Yes, sir.
Prof:
So, who created them?
(Student has no answer.)
Prof:
Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you.
Tell me, son...Have you ever
seen God?
Student:
No, sir.
Prof:
Tell us if you have ever heard your God?
Student:
No, sir.
Prof:
Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?
Student:
No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.
Prof:
Yet you still believe in Him?
Student:
Yes.
Prof:
According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your GOD doesn't exist.
What do you say to that, son?
Student:
Nothing. I only have my faith.
Prof:
Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has.
Student:
Professor, is there such a thing as heat?
Prof:
Yes.
Student:
And is there such a thing as cold?
Prof:
Yes.
Student:
No sir. There isn't.
(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)
Student
: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat.
But we don't have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't go
any further after that.
There is no such thing as cold . Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of
heat
. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy . Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it ..
(There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)
Student:
What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?
Prof:
Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?
Student :
You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright
light, flashing light....But if
you have no light constantly, you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? In
reality, darkness isn't. If it were you would be able to make
darkness darker, wouldn't you?
Prof:
So what is the point you are making, young man?
Student:
Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.
Prof:
Flawed? Can you explain how?
Student:
Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one.To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it.
Now tell me, Professor.Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?
Prof:
If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.
Student:
Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?
(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.)
Student:
Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher? (The class is in uproar.)
Student:
Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's brain?
(The class breaks out into laughter.)
Student
: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain,sir.
With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?
(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face unfathomable. )
Prof:
I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.
Student:
That is it sir... The link between man & god is FAITH . That is all that keeps things moving & alive.
NB: I believe you have enjoyed the conversation. ..and if so...you'll probably want your friends/colleagues to enjoy the same...won't you?....
this is a true story, and the
student was none other than........ ..

APJ Abdul Kalam, the former president of India

Promote and Celebrate World Space Week 2007, the 50th Anniversary of the Space Age

2007-09-07T14:15:00.000-07:00

To reach mass society, we must use the mass media. One way to get mass media coverage is to hold a massive celebration on an historic anniversary. 4-10 October is UN-declared World Space Week. In 2007, it will be the 50th anniversary of the Space Age. This will be an unprecedented opportunity for the global space community to positively impact the public, government leaders, and students via a synchronized global celebration which attracts great media coverage.

You are invited to help take advantage of this opportunity in the following ways:Celebrate World Space Week (see suggested methods below)

Widely forward this message to colleagues, facilities, members, teachers, etc.

Any way to involve the public, employees, government leaders, students, teachers, or others can during World Space Week be an important part of this great celebration. For example:
Individuals can display or distribute space information, set up a telescope for public viewing, or give a talk about space to students or the public.

Teachers can use space that week to inspire students with free teacher materials.

Students can fly small rockets on October 4 to "launch" the next 50 years in space.

Organizations can leverage the global celebration by moving planned events to October 4-10 or creating events especially for the 50th anniversary. Companies can also sponsor the flight of students from around the world in zero G.

Everyone is encouraged to express their visions for the next 50 years in space during World Space Week, display the 50 Years in Space Poster designed by Pat Rawlings, and help coordinate or sponsor World Space Week at all levels. To help attract media coverage to your event and the global celebration, kindly: Use "World Space Week" and the logo in all publicity and program materials.

Submit your World Space Week event data by 1 September 2007.

We will all have the ear of humanity on October 4. Let us not be silent at that moment. Rather, let us join our voices to resonate around our planet as we begin the next 50 years in space. Indeed, please promote and celebrate World Space Week in 2007 and every year. For more information, please visit http://www.worldspaceweek.org/, contact your World Space Week National Coordinator, or email World Space Week Association admin@spaceweek.org. Thank you!

The real purpose of life

2007-08-26T05:13:00.000-07:00

Dear friend!

Life is the biggest mystery..Much more mysterious than the theories of evolution or the theory of black holes. How many among us have ever given the thoughts to these unexplained questions and answers related to life and its purpose? All the problems and solution to the problems lies within ourselves. we need to give serious thoughts to several questions which we hardly notice. I am going to write few such questions and I request all the viewer to write their own answers to these question as response. The questions are

1) Do you know what is the difference between the human being the several other living identity?

2) How a human being is connected to all the non living things around us?

3) What is the universal law of nature which applies without exception upon all of us?

4) What is the basic constituent of this universe?

5) In which direction we try to go after taking birth?

6) Where do we go after meeting death?

7) Do you agree that everything is the biological manifestation or the society also plays role in shaping the mind and personality.

our chance to choose the men and women we believe are best placed to lead India into the future

2007-08-23T14:24:00.000-07:00

Times of India has launched Lead India.

Friends this is a wonderful opportunity to find at at least few good leaders for out nation where the leader in real meaning has become the most impossible thing. People are dying out of hunger ,thirst and shelter and there are only corrupt leaders who have ruined the fate of the entire nation. So lets choose out honest leader ...may be these few will clean the entire rotten system/politics.

It is our programme, our chance to choose the men and women we believe are best placed to lead India into the future. We need to nominate someone who deserves a fair chance. We will be provided the largest platform to showcase fresh leadership talent for this country.

Lead India will run for about six months to finally elect three people's leaders — one winner, and two runners-up. It will be divided into three stages — Nominations, City-based Elimination Round, and the final National Round. Nominations can be made at any of the following: TOI website ( www.lead.timesofindia.com), email box (leadindia@times-group.com) and mobile lines (SMS LEADN with your name and email ID to 8888, or LEADO to nominate someone you know with his name and email ID or cellphone number) are open till September 7, 2007.

Nomination forms will also appear in The Times of India periodically and either post it or drop it off at the nearest Times of India office. For a detailed review of guidelines related to Lead India, and its Terms and Conditions, please visit www.lead.timesofindia.com.

These entries will be evaluated by an eminent jury to shortlist the 64 most deserving candidates for personal inter-views. This will conclude the first phase of Lead India and launch the City-based Elimination Round. In this second round, the chosen 64 candidates will compete on debates, opinion papers, projects, personal interviews and other evaluation techniques as decided by the expert panel to eliminate all but eight — one representing each city. This will lead to the third and final phase — choosing the final Leader of our Times, and two runners-up. To get there, the eight semi-finalists will have to undertake tasks that test them on the ability to conceive national goals; resilience; sense of social responsibility; capability to translate vision into pragmatic action points; ability to rally people around a cause; and the ability to execute. Our votes and the jury's decision on their performance will both determine the winners. What awaits the eventual Leader will be a handsome corpus of Rs 50 lakh for funding a public project of his choice and an entry into the Leadership Development Programme at the John F Kennedy School of Political Leadership. This is besides the once-in-a-lifetime chance to short-circuit the arduous political route and be pitched right in the arena.

The College Graduate and Public Life by Theodore Roosevelt

2007-08-22T23:53:00.000-07:00

The College Graduate and

Public Life

"It is proper to demand

more from the man with

exceptional advantages

than from the man

without them."

by Theodore Roosevelt

.....

Introduction of Theodore Roosevelt - 26th President of USA.

With the assassination of President McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, not quite 43, became the youngest President in the Nation's history. He brought new excitement and power to the Presidency, as he vigorously led Congress and the American public toward progressive reforms and a strong foreign policy.

.....

THERE are always, in our national life, certain tendencies that give us ground for alarm, and certain others that give us ground for hope. Among the latter we must put the fact that there has undoubtedly been a growing feeling among educated men that they are in honor bound to do their full share of the work of American public life.

We have in this country an equality of rights. It is the plain duty of every man to see that his rights are respected. That weak good nature which acquiesces in wrong-doing, whether from laziness, timidity, or indifference, is a very unwholesome quality. It should be second nature with every man to insist that he be given full justice. But if there is an equality of rights, there is an inequality of duties. It is proper to demand more from the man with exceptional advantages than from the man without them. A heavy moral obligation rests upon the man of means and upon the man of education to do their full duty by their country. On no class does this obligation rest more heavily than upon the men with a collegiate education, the men who are graduates of our universities. Their education gives them no right to feel the least superiority over any of their fellow citizens; but it certainly ought to make them feel that they should stand foremost in the honorable effort to serve the whole public by doing their duty as Americans in the body politic. This obligation very possibly rests even more heavily upon the men of means; but of this it is not necessary now to speak. The men of mere wealth never can have and never should have the capacity for doing good work that is possessed by the men of exceptional mental training; but that they may become both a laughing stock and a menace to the community is made unpleasantly apparent by that portion of the New York business and social world which is most in evidence in the newspapers.

To the great body of men who have had exceptional advantages in the way of educational facilities we have a right, then, to look for good service to the state. The service may be rendered in many different ways. In a reasonable number of cases, the man may himself rise to high political position. That men actually do so rise is shown by the number of graduates of Harvard, Yale, and our other universities who are now taking a prominent part in public life. These cases must necessarily, however, form but a small part of the whole. The enormous majority of our educated men have to make their own living, and are obliged to take up careers in which they must work heart and soul to succeed. Nevertheless, the man of business and the man of science, the doctor of divinity and the doctor of law, the architect, the engineer, and the writer, all alike owe a positive duty to the community, the neglect of which they cannot excuse on any plea of their private affairs. They are bound to follow understandingly the course of public events; they are bound to try to estimate and form judgment upon public men; and they are bound to act intelligently and effectively in support of the principles which they deem to be right and for the best interests of the country.

The most important thing for this class of educated men to realize is that they do not really form a class at all. I have used the word in default of another, but I have merely used it roughly to group together people who have had unusual opportunities of a certain kind. A large number of the people to whom these opportunities are offered fail to take advantage of them, and a very much larger number of those to whom they have not been offered succeed none the less in making them for themselves. An educated man must not go into politics as such; he must go in simply as an American; and when he is once in, he will speedily realize that he must work very hard indeed, or he will be upset by some other American, with no education at all, but with much natural capacity. His education ought to make him feel particularly ashamed of himself if he acts meanly or dishonorably, or in any way falls short of the ideal of good citizenship, and it ought to make him feel that he must show that he has profited by it; but it should certainly give him no feeling of superiority until by actual work he has shown that superiority. In other words, the educated man must realize that he is living in a democracy and under democratic conditions, and that he is entitled to no more respect and consideration than he can win by actual performance.

Thank You, Dr. Abdul Kalaam

2007-08-20T14:16:00.000-07:00

I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is. She replied: I want to live in a developed India. For her, you and I will have to build this developed India. You must proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation.

Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance. Got 10 minutes for your country? If yes, then read; otherwise, choice is yours.

YOU say that our government is inefficient.
YOU say that our laws are too old.
YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage.
YOU say that the phones don't work; the railways are a joke, The airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination.
YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits.
YOU say, say and say.
What do YOU do about it? Take a person on his way to Singapore.
Give him a name...YOURS. Give him a face...YOURS.

•YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. - In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores.

•YOU are as proud of their Underground Links as they are.

•You pay $5(approx. Rs.250) to drive through Orchard Road(equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM.

•YOU comeback to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over-stayed, identity.

In Singapore you don't say anything, DO YOU?

•YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public during Ramadan,in Dubai.

•YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah.

•YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds(approx. Rs.800) a month to see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else.

•YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop;Jaanta hai main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's son.

•YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand.

•Why don't YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo?

•Why don't YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston????? We are still talking of the same YOU.

YOU can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch the Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the same here in India?

Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal Commissioner of Bombay, Mr.Tinaikar, had a point to make. “Rich people's dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place” he said. And then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels?

In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan. Will the Indian citizen do that here?” He's right. We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pickup a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms.

We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity. This applies even to the staff that is known not to pass on the service to the public.When it comes to burning social issues like those related to women, dowry, girl child and others, we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? “It's the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my son's rights to dowry”.

So who's going to change the system? What does a system consist of?

Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbours,other households, other cities, other communities and The government.But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr. Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away.

Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. -When New York becomes insecure we run to England. When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. - When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money.

Dear Indians, the article is highly thought inductive, calls for a great deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too?.. I am echoing J.F. Kennedy's words to his fellow American to relate to Indians?.

“ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY”;

Let's do what India needs from us. Forward this article to each Indian for a change instead of sending Jokes or junk mails. Please forward this link to as many as you can. The link is http://rakeshroy.blogspot.com/2007/08/thank-you-dr-abdul-kalaam.html

Thank You, Dr. Abdul Kalaam

Expose corruption

2007-08-19T09:11:00.000-07:00

On my home page corruption was voted maximum number of times in an independent poll about the issue hindering the growth of India. So,I am out with a plan to fight with corruption.

Corruption has been an age-old phenomenon. The most disquieting aspect of the widespread corruption in India is the fact that it is not anymore confined to politicians or the government machinery alone. It is prevalent amongst almost every section of the society at every level.

As the practice of corruption is a dishonest act, one has to think that most of the Indians are dishonest, which could be different only in degree between the individuals. As the reason for the dishonesty is greediness and the desire to get things done at any cost one can think that most of the country men are greedy and do not anymore think that the means should justify the ends. The fact is that most of the Indians are involved in corrupt practices in one way or the other, either due to greed or due to so called compulsion. The World Bank defines corruption as use of public office for private profit.

Chanakya is supposed to have said in the Arthashastra that there are 40 different methods by which public officials can indulge in corruption. "The Mahamatras are like fish. Does one know, when the fish is drinking water?" he is supposed to have said. Indira Gandhi, when asked a question about corruption, passed it off with a comment that it was a global phenomenon.

But here is the rub. It is true that corruption is a global phenomenon, but the degree of corruption is not the same. The non-governmental organisation called Transparency International, in Berlin, publishes every year the Corruption Perception Index (CPI), and ranks the countries in their order of corruption. The least corrupt country, according to the CPI 2006, is Finland and the most corrupt is Bangladesh with India occupying the ranks 88th with a score of 2.9 among the list of 158 nations. Rajiv Gandhi remarked that only 15 paise out of every rupee meant for the anti-poverty programme reaches the beneficiaries. Nevertheless, the fact is that while corruption is a global phenomenon, we have seen countries which were corrupt, reforming them and getting the benefits of corruption-free, good governance in our own lifetime. Singapore is a classic example. The major steps which can be taken to stop corruption are as follows.

Exposing corruption so that every single occurrence stand detected so that effective punishment can be granted.

· Simplification of rules and procedures to reduce the scope of corruption;

· Transparency and empowering of public

· Very strict rules against punishment so that very rarely one can dare to be corrupt

So we have decided to expose corruption by doing 2 things at this moment.

1) Flicker account has been created where any one can post his pictures by sending the e-mail message to us on our mail ID which is corruption.exposed@yahoo.com.To access this page please click on the link.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11734120@N03/

2) We have created a community on orkut to expose corruption. Please join this community by clicking on the link below.

http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=30964890

Small things which brings cheer

2007-08-06T04:11:00.000-07:00

The list of all those moments which we love and cherish can be so many but still I have tried to list some of them.

To rise in love.

To watch a cute child playing.

To laugh until it hurts your stomach.

To find mails by the thousands when you return of the vacations.

To manage for a vacation at some pretty place.

To listen to your favorite song in the radio.

To go to bed and to listen while it rains out.

To leave the shower and find that the towel is warm.

To clear your last exam.

To receive a call from someone, you don't see a lot, but you want to.

A good conversation.

To find money in a pant that you didn't use last year.

To laugh at oneself.

Calls at the midnight that last for hours.

To laugh without reasons.

To hear accidentally that somebody says something good of you.

To wake up and realize it is still possible to sleep a couple of hours.

To hear a song that makes you remember a special reason.

To make new friends.

To be part of a team.

To feel butterflies in the stomach every time that you see that person.

To read a book which speaks your mind.

Dear reader if you have some more such moments to add then please add them by responding to this post.

Repeat appearances on the Time 100 are rare.

2007-08-03T07:50:00.000-07:00

The Time 100 list was first published in 1999, when Time magazine named the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. Based on the popularity of the installment, in 2004 Time magazine decided to make it an annual issue, listing the 100 people most influencing the world. Making the list is frequently mistaken as an honor; however, Time makes very clear that people are recognized for changing the world, for better or for worse. Those recognized fall in one of five categories: Leaders & Revolutionaries, Builders & Titans, Artists & Entertainers, Scientists & Thinkers, and Heroes & Icons. Within each category, the 20 most influential people (sometimes pairs or small groups) are selected, for a grand total of 100 each year.

Repeat appearances on the Time 100 are rare. Only the following individuals have appeared more than once.

Listed five times

Oprah Winfrey 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, & the 20th century

How lucky this man is?

Listed four times

Bill Gates 2006, 2005, 2004 & the 20th century
Condoleezza Rice 2007, 2006, 2005, & 2004

Listed three times

Pope Benedict XVI 2007, 2006 & 2005
George W. Bush 2006, 2005 & 2004
Bill Clinton 2006, 2005, & 2004
Hu Jintao 2007, 2005 & 2004
Steve Jobs 2007, 2005 & 2004
Nelson Mandela 2005, 2004 & the 20th century
Hillary Rodham Clinton 2007, 2006 & 2004

Listed twice

Peter Akinola 2007 & 2006
Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi 2005 & 2004
Tyra Banks 2007 & 2006
Bono 2006 & 2004
Sergey Brin 2005 & 2004
Warren Buffet 2007 & 2004
Hugo Chávez 2006 & 2005
George Clooney 2007 & 2006
Katie Couric 2006 & 2004
The Dalai Lama 2005 & 2004
Al Gore 2007 & 2006
Kim Jong Il 2005 & 2004
Osama Bin Laden 2007 & 2004
Pope John Paul II 2004 & 20th century
Angela Merkel 2007 & 2006
Rupert Murdoch 2005 & 2004
Barack Obama 2007 & 2005
Larry Page 2005 & 2004
John Roberts 2007 & 2006
Jeffrey Sachs 2005 & 2004
Arnold Schwarzenegger 2007 & 2004
Lee Scott 2005 & 2004
Ali Husaini Sistani 2005 & 2004
Katsuaki Watanabe 2005 & 2007
Meg Whitman 2005 & 2004
Caleb Yoon 2007 & 2005

The order of the above list is based on the number of times each person has appeared on the Time 100. Those who are tied are listed alphabetically.

courtsy: Time MAGAZINE & wikipedia

Guys world's second most populated country does not have any person who has been repeated more than once on this list. What does this mean? India did not not produce any such powerful people who could be repeated. Is this the sheer politcs or a harsh truth?

The glorious words of Swami Vivekananda

2007-08-03T03:15:00.000-07:00

1. ‘No nation is Great or Good, because Parliament enacts this or that, because its men are great and good.’

2. ‘Men, men -these is wanted; everything else will be ready.’ “So make man first.’

3. ‘When there will be such men (real men) how long it will take to drive away famines etc from the land?’

4. We must have life-building, man-making, character-making , assimilation of ideas.

5. ‘The first great thing to accomplish is to establish a character.’

6. ‘Therefore first make Character- that is the highest duty to perform.’

7. ‘Let the lotus of your character be full blown, and the results will follow.

8. ‘It is best work among youth in whom lies our hope.’

9. “Be and Make. Let this be our motto.’

10. The whole secret lies in organization, accumulation of power, Co-ordination of wills . Push on with the Organization’

So lets unite ! lets unite! lets unite ! lets unite ! lets unite ! lets unite ! lets unite ! lets unite !

The revolutionary

2007-08-02T04:34:00.000-07:00

I am the revolutionary i.e a person who either advocates or actively engages in some kind of revolution. There is one word reformist which is similar to the revolutionary. While a revolutionary is someone who supports abrupt change, a reformist is someone who supports more gradual change.

The revolutionaries can be divided in two broad groups according to the methods a revolutionary propose to use. This divides : Those who advocate a violent revolution, and those who are pacifists. Perhaps the best known examples of these two types of revolutionaries are Che Guevara , Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and Mahatma Gandhi, respectively.

In this turbulent time I have decided to use both the methods i.e the violent and the pacifists according to the nature and cause of any problem. To fight with the mafia's, terrorists and the traitor I am going to use the violent revolution while to fight with the problems of the masses I would like to use the pacifist's style.

This blog has been created to unite the revolutionists. If you are the one then I am waiting eagerly for you. Email your concerns and ideas at royrakesh@gmail.com