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Vikram Sarabhai
2008-05-30 06:02:00 The man who wrote 80- scientific papers, set up more than 40 institutions, initiated Space program of the nation, led its nuclear energy program. Yes we are discussing about Vikram Sarabhai. A boy from a prosperous Jain family of a textile mill owner from Ahmedabad. He and his seven siblings were educated in a private school established on the family?s 21 acre property. This institution was frequently visited by personalities like Rabindranath Tagore, Jawaharlal Nehru etc. which infused the sense of patriotism in them. He went to study physics at Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. There he studied under the able guidance of Nobel laureate C. V. Raman. It was here only he cultivated friendship with Homi Bhabha, who set up India?s atomic energy program. In the post independence era, Vikram set up several institutions a few independently like Physical Research Laboratory? and cofounded a few with his wife Mrinalini as well like: the Darpana Dance Academy. He also f...
By: India Blog
P C Mahalanobis
2008-05-26 16:20:00 It has often been observed, the greatest achievements of creative minds are not most widely known. So is the case of Prasanta Chandra Mahanlanobis. He was the man who is remembered for his outlining of Second Five Year Plan which he submitted to the National Development Council in 1955. He was conferred with the responsibility of Statistical advisor the cabinet. He formulated a plan the meet the nation?s primary objective of providing employment through increased industrial production. He observed that production of steel determined the differences in the incomes across countries. He recommended huge investment in heavy industry which created steel cities of central and eastern India. Though not being a trained economist, he approached to planning largely based on the prevailing views of the era. His remarkable contribution was setting up of large scale survey, application of statistical theory to the existing Indian problems and created institutions which could ...
By: India Blog
Indira Gandhi
2008-05-25 15:34:00 Life of Indira Gandhi was span which witnessed the transition between socialist India of Nehru and Liberal India of today. She ruled through a mixture of populist antipoverty thought which was in fact the major force who brought her to power and her strategic alliances internally, with the left parties and externally with other likeminded nations like former USSR. She in fact used the factor in her favors which bothered her father- the anti- imperialist tenets. She actually was not a corridor between the past and present India after independence. She witnessed the last phase of cold war as both the axis powers withdrew sharply. Back at home, explosion of corruption because of babudom expanding into the economy of the nation, banks were nationalized. There were schemes like small savings and tax avoidance were introduced to stabilize the economy and the middle class lives were subsidized. At the party level she impacted the congress to the extent that it has never re...
By: India Blog
Dhyan Chand
2008-05-24 15:31:00 Olympics 2008 would be remembered for many reasons. In the history of the game of hockey, this was for the first time that India failed to qualify for the Olympics. It is peak time to remember the golden era of the Indian Hockey when India got a medal in the Olympics from 1928-1980 except once in 1976 which includes 8 golds. It all started for a friendship between two British colonels who were part of Gallipoli Tragedy during the First World War. As a friendship gesture, an Indian Army hockey team toured for the first time to New Zealand in 1926. The hosts were shocked by the classic game showcased by the visitors and thereby established that Indians are indeed a world apart. It was Dhyan Chand who mesmerized the world with his extraordinary skills. He led the Indians thought of taking part in the Olympics. In that era, a mixed team of 16 players, this 18 year old, legend of hockey, the ?other rank? soldier from the Brahmin regiment stood out not because of the goals ...
By: India Blog
Parmod Pandit
2008-05-23 15:13:00 Gems and precious stones are worn not in India but in the world from ancient time by the Kings and nobles. It is a common belief that the gems and stones can change the destiny and bring prosperity and happiness to the man. They are permanent source of energy. They have the capabilities to increase the power of specific planet. So Gems & stones are advised to be worn for health, wealth, power and fame. The people are worn stones and gems not only to gain wealth but also to protect themselves from ill health. They have firm faith that these gems and stones not only protect them from bad evils but also increasing their longevity. The Kings and rich used to collect precious stones in their treasure. These stones and gems have different in colour, characteristics and vibrations. The different stones represent the different planets/Nakshatra and to be worn accordingly. The colour and the luster play an important role and influence the native. The planets/Nakshtras release the rays (p...
By: India Blog
THE GREAT POLITICAL DIFFUSION
2008-05-22 14:48:00 The parliament of India, a building in light Redstone is spread in the diameter of 2 kms. In the decades of 70?s and 80?s, in the outer circle of the Parliament, all those big rooms held the name plates of Congress ministers. If you go there now, you will find that there are names like Lalu Prasad Yadav, Ram Vilas Paswan, Sharad Pawar, A. Raja, Anbumani Ramadoss and Raguvansh Prasad Singh etc- people who have nothing to do with Congress. This would describe you the deep impact occurred due to the shifting of tectonic plates in politics of India. India is no longer wearing the congress variety of tricolor. Today there are more than 20 shades which includes blue, red, saffron, green and yellow. There are 37 parties which we together know as government of India. Of course majority of them are the regional parties who have presence are not more than 2 states at the maximum. This change in the political arena has also gripped the states. There are smaller parties who are t...
By: India Blog
THE CHURNING POINT
2008-05-20 14:24:00 A new generation was churned out with the largest people?s movement in the independent India which shook Indira Gandhi?s government. It also tried to instill probity in the political life. In the year 1974, ?JP Movement was started by Jayaprakash Narayan, a charming and fiery leader, part of India?s struggle for Independence, against the authoritarian rule of the Congress, led by Indira Gandhi. He spearheaded this campaign at the fag end of his long political career and it represents a maturation of his political thinking and action. He remembered and realized, during this movement, the power of the thought what Ram Manohar Lohia thought was his true potential??JP can move the nation, provided the mover does not vacillate?. His role as the leader of the movement earned him the title of Loknayak?People?s Leader. This movement provided the people an important channel through which they could express their resentment over many issues?rising prices, unemployment, food s...
By: India Blog
CALL TO ARMS
2008-05-19 14:20:00 With their capacity to accommodate social movements that they bring into the political process, India?s democratic institutions are often praised. We can include demands expressed through civil disobedience and the politics of the street. The Assam movement once seemed to be a stellar success of Indian democracy which started in 1979 and ended in 1985. But in retrospect its failures have become more apparent. The movement, led by the All Assam Students Union and the All Asom Gana Sangram Parishad, saw extraordinary mobilization against illegal immigration and the enfranchisement of non-citizens that, campaigners believed, risked turning the ?indigenous? people of Assam into a political minority. The Congress government, headed by Hiteshwar Saikia, resigned and the movement was ended with an agreement between the Indian government and the movement leaders. The Asom Gana Parishad, led by Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, in the elections that followed in 1985 was voted to power...
By: India Blog
Begum Akhtar
2008-05-18 14:16:00 If music is a powerful form of communication, Begum Akhtar was the first effective communicator. She was the one who realized the power of music and used this medium to convey a message. She zealously guarded a rare pathos in her notes as a stamp of her irreproducible style and identity. After 34 years since she passed away, today when there are only a few takers of classical music her records are still best-sellers. She added ghazals to the classical stage and approachable to the common man. She knew how to communicate with her audience. She chose the lyrics carefully and furnished them to the audience in her own style, which helped her manage to achieve personal rapport. She was born in 1914 in the Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh. Under the able guidance of Atta Ahmed Khan of Patiala, she began musical training. There she learnt the classical and semi-classical forms of singing be it ghazals, bhajans, dadra or thumri. She also has trained her students and groom...
By: India Blog
IT WAS A LOST CAUSE.
2008-05-17 14:16:00 It was early morning on January 1, 1988, when terrorists had struck at Cheema Batth, a village in Amritsar district. In the farmhouse where gun shots had rung out the night before. Through the half-open door nine blood-splattered bodies on the floor were seen. Not a soul was left to mourn as the whole family, including a four month old child, was killed by a terrorist gang on the suspicion that they were police informers. The massacres were as common as marriages during the 80s with more than 25000 lives lost including that of a prime minister. Two decades later, Cheema Batth is still haunting us. Statistics don?t do justice to the firestorm that swept Punjab in the name of the pro-secessionist Khalistan movement. What began as a non-violent political protest for greater autonomy in the mid-?70s, spiralled into a cycle of violence, fuelled by political chicanery, Sikh fundamentalism spearheaded by the preacher turned-militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, and the insidi...
By: India Blog
PRADHAN MANTRI GRAM SADAK YOJANA
2008-05-15 17:30:00 There are a few still alive, who are as old as independent India. Some of them had not even seen a Bus. These villagers drove into 21st century in 2004 when their village was connected to the rural road network under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). This is the story of many of India?s 600000 villages where modern life has changed nay, arrived at humble homes. This PMGSY is not an outcome of intellectual discussions or any policy blabber. It was in October 1999 when Nitin Gadkari, a BJP leader called up the then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. It is heard that Mr. Vajpayee asked this Maharashtra MP if there is an over bridge of flyover to connect Bharat with India. Upon this Gadkari shared his experience of connecting 16000 villages including 100 adivasi villages in Melghat in Maharashtra. Since Gadkari had an experience of the construction of India?s most modern Six-lane expressway between Mumbai and Pune, under his belt, he knew the maths. Vajpayee...
By: India Blog
ARTICLE 370: IS IT STILL IMPORTANT?
2008-05-07 17:35:00 It has been more than 60 years since independence of India; this state has been accorded a special status under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. Yes, we are talking about Jammu & Kashmir. It is this article which originally granted an unprecedented degree of autonomy to India?s only Muslim majority state. This article confines the writ of central government to defense, foreign affairs and communication only. It also has the power to permit the state to determine which feature of the Constitution of India could be extended to it. This article still remains a matter of debate to rest of India. For some it is inevitable and desirable to erode the provisions of Article 370.Since the first State assembly ratified in 1954, the accession of Kashmir to India, so there is no reason to maintain the status quo. They hold it mandatory for the integration of the country. There are some that hold government should respect the wishes of the populace there and should not ...
By: India Blog
THAT STAGNANT REVOLUTION
2008-05-06 17:04:00 In 1966, India was besieged on another front, almost an year after the war with Pakistan: daunting food insecurity, worsened by the failure of monsoons. With food grain imports, mainly from the US, spiralling to 10 million tonne, India was forced into a ship-to-mouth existence. India imported 18,000 tonne of wheat seed from Mexico, which turned self-sufficient in wheat production by the late ?50s by growing dwarf, high-yielding varieties of the grain. 2.5 lakh bags of 10 kg each were transported by road to Punjab and distributed before the Rabi season of 1967. Two Spanish varieties, Lermarojo and Sanavra-64, were sown across the state. Market arrivals leapfrogged from three lakh tonne to 16 lakh tonne in April 1968 as farmers reaped a bumper crop of wheat. The schools were being shut down so that their buildings could be used to store the produce before distribution to food grain deficit states. The green revolution marked the deliverance from food imports and Punjab?s soci...
By: India Blog
LIGHTENING IT UP
2008-04-05 06:52:00 Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss is an extremely fit and healthy man. And as is wont with fit and healthy men, they want everyone around them to be fit and healthy. Nothing wrong with that. But like Mahatma Gandhi, our Health Minister isn’t very understanding about the shortcomings of his fellow men who might not be too fit and healthy. In fact, Mr. Ramadoss downright despises people who ruin their bodies by indulging in that disgusting, leprous habit: smoking. So in a fit of extreme righteousness, the minister is now reportedly planning yet another cut and thrust in his ongoing duel with smokers in this country. Mr. Ramadoss, sensing that not enough is done to dissuade employees to give up that nicotine addiction, wants organisations to be fined for allowing their workers to smoke inside their premises. This wriggling deeper into the smoky zone cigarette smokers with the next stop perhaps being in the bathrooms of people’s houses. The dear minister obviously is doing this...
By: India Blog
Get a Regulator in Place
2008-04-01 16:17:00 The delay in commercial opening of the new Bangalore and Hyderabad airports underscores the urgent need for policy clarity and, of course, an independent regulator. Much of the debate and behind-the-scene lobbying over user charges, passenger levies, fate of existing airports in these cities is farcical. The concession agreement signed between the government and developers talks about the various levies and clearly says existing airports in these cities would cease commercial operations once the new ones start working. Should the government have agreed to such terms? In hindsight, maybe not. Most big cities have multiple airports, with some sort of specialization - corporate/leisure airports, cargo airports, city airports for smaller carriers and so on. Besides, these new airports would start operating at full capacity almost from the start. A bit of competition would also have helped check passenger levies and airport charges. Tempting as these considerations are, the governmen...
By: India Blog
Savarkar surfaces
2008-03-27 11:56:00 Once lived on this mortal earth of mother India the great revolutionary Swatantraya Veer Savarkar who not only fought the British yoke but also wrote with a pen smeared in blood and pain. And this pen now blazes once more, thanks to Chandigarh-based publishing house Abhishek Publications that has only recently published four volumes of Savarkar’s writings titled Selected Works of Veer Savarkar. Shares the publisher Bharat Bhushan: “I was recommended to browse through Savarkar’s The Indian War of Independence and could you believe it, I just couldn’t lay my hands on the book, not even in most libraries, only to find one rare copy at the library in Lala Lajpat Rai Bhawan”. As he read the book with great interest and fascination, he felt it was imperative to share it with others. So he decided to publish the same. The search led him to Savarkar’s brother’s daughter-in-Law. He sought that the copyright be granted not only for In...
By: India Blog
Indian History
2008-03-14 01:55:00 Ok... Too many scattered thoughts for the past few days! So let me come back to a serious topic...During my school days I always had a feeling that studying history was an absolute waste of time and we rather could've had 2 science classes instead of a history or a geography class! After all, everyone needs a decent score in Physics, Chemistry and Maths/Biology to get into a professional course. So why care about history? But now, I realize the mistake I made in assessing the value of History! History offers something that no other subject can offer - experience. Where else do we get to learn from the mistakes of the losers and improvise on the characters of a winner? Perhaps a better history teacher would've created better interest in the subject but unfortunately all history teachers I had in my school days were middle class home makers who had to work for their economical stability and there were so many classes to handle and too many students to attend to. So they can't be bl...
LET BYGONES BE BYGONES
2008-03-08 16:00:00 The visit to Wagah border was supposed to make me feel good as an Indian. ‘The pomp and pageantry of the Beating Retreat and the Change of Guard within handshaking distance of the Indian and Pakistani forces at the Wagah border make a charming spectacle: says the official website of Amritsar. I’d heard a lot about how the soldiers of the Border Security Force march so erect, how they raise their legs so high it’s a marvel they manage to stay on their feet without losing their balance etc, so was looking forward to Wagah as one of the high points of my visit to Amritsar last week. Then why did I come away strangely disturbed, with mixed feelings, on balance more of sorrow than of pride or joy? Was it because of the sheer bedlam that preceded the actual ceremony? The indisciplined manner in which the mass of humanity at the barricade some 50 yards ahead of the venue surged forward when it was lowered, causing a virtual stampede? Was it the chaotic clo...
By: India Blog
REASON OF AGE
2008-02-24 12:53:00 When does childhood end and adulthood begin? The International Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a child as any human being below the age of 18. But in India, a signatory to the Convention, there has always been a great deal of confusion on the age below which one is considered a child. For example, the legal age of marriage for a girl is 18 but the age of sexual consent is 15. So, in effect, the law accepts that it is possible for a girl to be married by 15, even though that is in violation of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006. The Child Labour Prohibition Act defines those below 14 as children and those between the ages of 14 to 18 are permitted to work in hazardous industries. It is with a view to clear this muddle that the Law Commission has sought to make the marriage age a uniform 18 for both boys and girls and the age of sexual consent 16. Of course, this still leaves much to be desired but is a welcome first step. . The bewildering cornucopia of laws ...
By: India Blog
THAW IN THE VALLEY
2008-02-24 12:49:00 Those who are adept at reading the tea leaves on the Kashmir issue may well find that the configuration is looking far better than it has for some years now. Even as winter tightens its grip over the volatile Valley, the militants find that they are skating on thin ice. The Hizbul Mujahedeen militants, once the undisputed overlords of Kashmir, are in tatters today after their ranks have been decimated by the security forces. Many of its cadres have surrendered and its top leadership, or what is left of it, is at loggerheads with each other. The other militant groups are also somewhat directionless today following the turmoil in Pakistan after Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence, widely credited with orchestrating militancy in the Valley, appears to be lying low in light of the renewed international scrutiny on terrorism emanating from the region. While it is odious to draw comparisons, the contrast between an economically buoyant Indi...
By: India Blog
ONE MAN IN INDIA OR INDIA IN ONE MAN
2008-02-17 04:57:00 I frequently ask myself and get asked the question, especially around Republic Day and Independence Day: which is the single most important reason for India to have remained a true, functioning democracy with a vibrant Constitution despite years of colonial rule, when the neighbouring landscape is littered with the wrecks and ruins of constitutionalism and failed democracies? I have come to the conclusion that there are obviously several structural, historical, political and fortuitous reasons for this phenomenon. But if I was forced to choose the single most important reason, I would ascribe it to the personality and character of one man - Jawaharlal Nehru. First, the validity of the premise - is India, in fact, an exception? It appears so. It is obvious that there is no other spot on earth, of comparable size, diversity and stage of economic development, which has remained a vibrant democracy after gaining independence in the last century: Going further; I can even add that there ...
By: India Blog
ATTACKING NATIONAL ICONS
2008-02-14 11:42:00 Sania Mirza has decided to boycott tournaments in India because she was tired of being dragged into controversy after controversy. The latest was her being taken to court for allegedly insulting the national flag. The man who filed the complaint against Sania is a Bhopal-based lawyer called R.K. Pandey. Interestingly, Pandey, also called the “flag advocate” has filed similar cases against a slew of other celebrities, including Sachin Tendulkar (remember the tricolor cake-cutting fracas?), Mahendra Singh Dhoni, yoga guru Ramdev, T.V. anchor Mandira Bedi, actress Sharmila Tagore, painter M.F. Hussain and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The latest to be dragged to court is Hamid Kazi, an MLA from Barhanpur in Madhya Pradesh. Asked whether he does it for the publicity, Pandey from Bhopal: “No, it’s not for cheap publicity. I have filed all these cases on behalf of my clients. I am not the complainant in these cases. What’s wrong...
By: India Blog
BHABHA?S DREAM: A REALITY
2008-02-06 15:53:00 Scientists and engineers in the Heavy Water Board (HWB), Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) have every reason to be proud. They fulfilled the dreams of Dr. Homi Bhabha whose death anniversary was on January 24. The Board exported heavy water to South Korea seven times and once to China. Last year, HWB supplied 4,400 kg of high quality, nuclear grade heavy water to Spectra Gases Inc. USA. HWB is emerging as a major exporter of this commercially important strategic material. A peep into history is in order. In a note on the organisation of atomic energy research in India, sent to Jawaharlal Nehru on April 26, 1948, Dr Homi Bhabha wanted that the government “should explore immediately the possibility of utilizing the cheap hydroelectric power in India for manufacturing heavy water on the one hand to our own requirements in a pile and on the other for sale to other countries”. He desired that the government should come to an agreement with the Governments or atomic energy ...
By: India Blog
South Indian History - Through One Perspective
2007-05-04 06:40:00 When I went home last time, I found this book lying around. It was actually a temple festival book. It was talking about the role of our community in south Indian history. I was not interested in that, what interested me was that in doing so they had actually captured the events of south Indian history. I found so much information that I never found else where. One interesting thing is that, they have given references to the stone tablets that contain that information. They attempt to describe the events based on Stone Tablets, Folk Songs etc. The events chronicled are intriguing. read more
South Indian History - Through One Perspective
2007-05-04 03:40:00 When I went home last time, I found this book lying around. It was actually a temple festival book. It was talking about the role of our community in south Indian history. I was not interested in that, what interested me was that in doing so they had actually captured the events of south Indian history. I found so much information that I never found else where. One interesting thing is that, they have given references to the stone tablets that contain that information. They attempt to describe the events based on Stone Tablets, Folk Songs etc. The events chronicled are intriguing. So I have scanned the pages that interested me and put them up here, let me know your thoughts. It loads as a book, where in you can flip the pages by clicking or dragging on the bottom right/left corners. Also wanted to note that I am no historian to verify these things and I am not preaching anything, so I leave it to you to draw your own conclusions ;-). I have been reading this book "Early India" by...
Professionals should head ASI, National Archives: Indian History Congress
2007-03-13 02:42:00 Kozhikode, March 12: The Indian History Congress Monday said professionals should head bodies like the Archaeological Survey of India and the National Archives of India instead of government officials. The tendency continues despite protests and for over a decade the ASI has had no archaeologist as its Director General and the National Archives have similarly been placed under a government official with no "professional credentials", the History Congress said. "Not only are government officials at the head of purely professional or academic organisations failing to appoint professional experts, but an attempt is now being made to control the autonomous organisations by ministries by taking over the entire process of selection and appointment of chief executives," it said. "Such measures make a mockery of the autonomy of academic institutions and immediately ought to be rescinded," it said in a resolution adopted on the concluding day of the three-day event of the 67th session of the...
By: kozhikode news
one more black day in Indian history
2006-06-09 18:59:00 Few weeks back the government of India formally announced theimplementation of 27% quota for OBC (OTHER BACKWARD CLASSES) fromsession 2007...Are these, the so called backward classes, reallybackward or is it that the Indian government is living in a world ofillusion or are the students victimized in the vote bank politics...The government is justifying the reservation by saying that it willmake "all classes of the society equally educated" and reservation isa way to bring up the underdeveloped classes in the society, but atwhat cost and whose expense? Is it at the expense of many deservingcandidate that has made India proud in the past years??To stop the nationwide agitation against reservation, our governmentproclaimed that "they will increase the number of seats in highereducational institutes so that the general student's category wouldnot be affected" but again I sometimes wonder if this statement wouldremain just another statement in the whole bunch of broken promises!!.I beli...
By: virtuously
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