Sunday, November 23, 2014

Panchaamritam 261

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PANCHAAMRITAM 261
Amavaasya / KALI YUGABDA 5116 / Jaya Karthigai 6 (November 22, 2014)
ONE
The draft resolution for an 'International Day of Yoga' was prepared by India and informal consultations were convened in October, 2014 by the Indian mission in the UN General Assembly where views on the topic were expressed by other delegations. The draft resolution was finalsed with 130 countries co-sponsoring it, an all-time record for a resolution of such kind. The draft resolution, expected to come up for adoption in the General Assembly on December 10, 2014, would recognise that "yoga provides a holistic approach to health and well-being," echoing India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks in his maiden address to the 193-member UNO in September, 2014. Modi had asked world leaders to adopt an International Yoga Day, saying that by changing lifestyle and creating consciousness, it can help us deal with climate change. "Yoga embodies unity of mind and body; thought and action; restraint and fulfillment; harmony between man and nature; a holistic approach to health and wellbeing," he had said. The resolution would also proclaim June 21 as the 'International Day of Yoga'. It would recognise that wider dissemination of information about the benefits of practising yoga would be beneficial for the health of the world population. Yoga is the 5,000-year-old Indian physical, mental and spiritual practice that aim to transform body and mind. Based on a report in THE HINDU, November 14, 2014. [Central Minister Shri Ananth Kumar, himself a staunch practitioner of Yoga, had promised, on June 21, 2014, to approach Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with the concerned Minister to request him to pressurize the United Nations Organization (UNO) to declare 21st June as the World Yoga Day, according to a report in Yoga Sudha, July, 2014.]
TWO
Cow protection activists across the country and abroad have an unexpected supporter in the form of Sunni cleric from the house of Barelvis, Maulana Tauqeer Raza. He has called for closure of meat factories and threatened to go on a fast-unto-death at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi if this is not done. Terming the meat factories as the biggest killers of cows in the country, the Maulana said, "Islam states that the milk of a cow is like 'amrit' (nector) but its meat is 'zeher' (poison); but look, the factories are exporting meat to Pakistan, Bangladesh and China. Even the calves are not spared by unscrupulous meat exporters who do not care that in their bid to meet the target of exporting meat. Pressing for closure of meat factories, Tauqeer Raza said he feels stopping the slaughtering of cows would reduce price of milk by half ". He said it is a wrong notion that Muslims in India consume cow meat; it is prohibited by Shariat, which explicitly states that it should not be consumed as it is full of diseases. When asked what made him take up the issue of cow slaughter, the cleric said, "This region (Bareilly – Rohilkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bharat) has become notorious as red meat corridor of the country with almost daily seizures of cattle for illegal slaughtering. Based on a report in news portal NEWS BHARATI, November 15, 2014.
THREE
For the third successive year, cadets from National Defence Academy (NDA) have excelled in the world arena with podium finish at an international competition on the Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC) for military academies. Held at the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in San Remo, Italy, the contest was based on Geneva Conventions and the international humanitarian law, a branch of International Law. Chief of Integrated Staff Committee of the tri-services Lt Gen H S Lidder met the NDA team and congratulated them for their outstanding performance. Cadet Harshwardan Pathak was adjudged the second best in the individual category and Cadet Ritwik Sankrit bagged the second prize in the team category, a Ministry of Defence release said. A total of 28 military academies from 18 countries including the US, South Africa, France, Israel, Ireland and Canada took part in the competition. Khadakvasla-based NDA (Maharashtra, Bharat) was adjudged the third best academy in the world. Other members of the team were Cadet Yogender Kathayat and their guide Major G Dogra. "India is also likely to field more teams from Army, Navy and Air Force academies in the coming years," the release said.                                              Based on a report in Rediff.com, June 03, 2008
FOUR
Dr. Kalyani Gomathinayagam is a young Indian doctor who volunteered to spend four weeks in Foya, Liberia (west Africa) during September-October, 2014, helping those suffering and dying of Ebola, the awful epidemic. While her family -- parents, sister, nephews -- was bringing in Dussehra, and later Diwali in Madurai (Tamilnadu, Bharat), Kalyani was one and a half continents away in Foya, a border town in central Liberia, valiantly struggling through her Ebola-affected patient load. She was one of the few doctors, and likely the only Indian, who had volunteered to work in that region treating victims At the Medecins Sans Frontieres-run makeshift tent hospital, she and her colleagues -- they were three doctors and 125 medical personnel on the team -- in their cumbersome special protective gear, horribly stifling in the west African heat, were planning the daily rounds of their 100-120 patients. Kalyani, who has seen her share of tough assignments in epidemic- and illness-prone parts of the world like Haiti (post the earthquake), Ivory Coast, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, feels that treating and aiding the Ebola affected has been her most challenging and emotionally taxing assignment till date. Kalyani is no stranger to practising medicine in rough situations. After her medical training in Madurai, and working in rural Kerala, she opted to spend a decade working as a medical officer with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police at extremely isolated regions on the border, including remote places in Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, as well as a stint, once, on the Kailas-Mansarovar yatra route at Kunji Post. “The most heartening news is that for the past one month they have not recorded any new case coming from Foya. There are some cases in the periphery -- in other districts. On the whole I think the community has really participated a lot in bringing the epidemic under control in Foya. That’s a good sign.”
From an interview to Shri Vaihayasi Pande Daniel of Rediff.com (November, 2014)
FIVE
This is the story of a group of women who decided to go in for a full clean up act in their villages. Arati Behara, Anusuya Sahoo, Rajalaxmi Sethi, and Ammbu Behara are part of a brigade called the Whistle Bahini, drawn from various Self Help Groups in different villages of Jagannath Prasad block in Ganjam district (Odisha, Bharat). They have launched an all-out offensive against open defecation. Every day, from 4 am to 6 am and then again from 4 pm to 8 pm, 30 women leave their household chores to take on a task they feel merits their urgent and undivided attention. Armed with whistles they fulfil their duty sincerely, reprimanding those who don’t listen to them. Apart from blowing the whistle, we plant the holy Tulsi plant on either side of the main block road. (Along the road they patrol, nearly 1,000 students and 500-600 people walk by every day).  Next on their agenda is to motivate families to build a toilet in their homes and also put them to good use. According to Census 2011, against a national average of 69.3 per cent, 85.9 per cent households in rural Odisha do not have a latrine. We planted nearly 1,000 saplings as we knew that people would never go for open defection near the Tulsi because we worship it,” reveals a member of the Whistle Bahini. This move finally had the desired effect. Within a span of one month – the movement began in September 2014 – the number of people coming to the main road to relieve themselves has come down drastically. However, this has led to a serious issue: if they can’t go to the main road and they don’t have a toilet in their home where would they go to answer nature’s call? To get over this hurdle, for now, the women have identified some faraway fields that people can use. At the same time, the move to push through applications for making toilets has been undertaken on a war footing. Of course, the Whistle Bahinis haven’t let down their guard yet. In fact, to do some rigorous night rounds they have asked the local police to station a couple of constables with them. The group is happy that their block road is now completely open defection free. Based on a report by Smt Rakhi Ghosh for Women’s Feature Service, republished in www.thebetterindia.com, November 19, 2014.
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Tuesday, November 11, 2014

PANCHAAMRITAM 260

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PANCHAAMRITAM 260
Poornima / Kali yugabda 5116 / Jaya Aippasi 20 (November 6, 2014)

ONE
This happened on November 3, 2014. Shri M C Abdul Rehman (51), of Koduvalli village in Kozhikode district of Kerala, who was at the wheel of the bus plying between Gudular and Sulthan Bathery, started sweating profusely as he reached Nellakottai village in Pandalur taluk in Nilgiris district (Tamilnadu, Bharat). When he felt the sharp chest pain, allowed the bus to brush against the hilly slope and applied brakes bringing the bus to a slow halt. He then collapsed and fell unconscious. Had he not pulled the vehicle to safety, it might have gone off the road and down a deep gorge. He saved the lives of the 80 bus passengers, but  died on the way to hospital. (THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS, November 4, 2014).
TWO
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi announced in his United Nations Genaral Assembly speech for an International Day of Yoga. As many as 50 countries - US, Canada and China most recently — have signed up for co-sponsorship of a draft resolution which India's UN mission is preparing for declaring June 21 as international Yoga day. The list of co-sponsors includes China, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea,  South Africa and Nigeria. Neighbours such as Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka were amongst the earliest to sign on. Latin American giants Brazil and Argentina too have committed support. With USA and Canada joining recently, the EU members are expected to also join as co-sponsors soon in what, according to official sources, is turning out to be a broad-based coalition of support that has countries as disparate as Iran and Cuba on board. The resolution, couched in terms of building better and healthier lifestyle patterns, is expected to be submitted to the UN Secretariat soon. "Yoga is an invaluable gift of our ancient tradition. Yoga embodies unity of mind and body; thought and action; restraint and fulfillment; harmony between man and nature; a holistic approach to health and well being. It is not about exercise but to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and the nature," Modi said. Based on a report by Shri Sachin Parashar in  THE TIMES OF INDIA, October 31, 2014.
THREE
Born in 1978, Major Dinesh Raghu Raman did his schooling in the Kendriya Vidyalaya, INA Colony, New Delhi, and joined the National Defence Academy in 1996. After passing out from the NDA, he was commissioned into 19 battalion of the Jat Regiment. He was awarded the Chief of Army Staff Commendation Card in Drass during the Kargil conflict. Posted to 34 Rashtriya Rifles Battalion, he conducted a successful operation “OP Narawar” in June 2007, leading to the elimination of three terrorists. On October 2, 2008, Major Raman deployed his company in a village in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir, where an encounter with terrorists had begun. While closing in on suspected houses, Major Raman heard shouts of a fellow officer (Major K.P. Vinay, awarded the Kirti Chakra posthumously) who had been seriously injured. He crawled towards the injured officer under heavy fire and shifted him and two others to safety. He then took on two terrorists who had caused heavy casualties to the troops and shot both of them dead. The other terrorists fired at Major Raman from another house, causing him injuries that proved fatal. “Major Raman displayed the most conspicuous bravery, besides camaraderie and leadership of the highest order and made the supreme sacrifice for the nation,” said an Army news release. Major Dinesh Raghu Raman was posthumously awarded the Ashok Chakra, the peacetime equivalent of the Param Vir Chakra, the country’s highest award for gallantry.  (THE HINDU, January 26, 2008).
FOUR
 Saravanan, son of Murthi of Sivaganga (Tamilnadu, Bharat), is 14 now. He is physically challenged. He cannot do anything by himself. IT IS Jeeva, a classmate of Saravanan, who attends to all needs of Saravanan. He carries Saravanan from the auto rikshaw to the classroom. Helps him to do the writing the lessons. Fetches the book from the school bag for Saravanan to read. He feed Saravanan during lunch break. Carries him to the toilet and does the cleaning. Jeeva leaves nothing to chance. Another classmate, Surya by name, has been inspired by Jeeva’s acts of help and assists him in serving Saravanan.  Says Jeeva: “All three have been classmates from sixth standard onwards. We wish we could be of help to Saravanan even in college”. This is what Saravanan had to say: “I study well just because the good friends support me. I wish to become a computer engineer”. (A report by Arvind in THENDRAL (August 2008), an online magazine (www.tamilonline.com) US based Indian diaspora).
http://www.tamilonline.com/Thendral/images/pg-tit-separeter.jpg
FIVE
 For months in 2007, Pune denizens passed by an old man, Praful Madhav Chiplunkar, who sat listlessly on a busy street near Sarashaug garden. The dishevelled and bearded man looked like a beggar, sagging under the weight of layers of torn sweaters and bundle of dirty clothes. He talked to no one and asked for nothing. Those who took pity on him offered him food, which was often snatched by street dogs. A TV channel linked the man with history and disclosed that he was the grandson of legendary freedom fighter Veer Savarkar. Soon after the telecast, BJP national spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad spoke to Maharashtra State unit president Nitin Gadkari and the party wasted no time in taking care of the Savarkar's grandson. "It is a disturbing matter and it only shows how the nation has forgotten the heroes who laid down their lives for freedom," Prasad said. "The BJP has always stood by Savarkar and we opposed the move to remove his plaque from the Cellular jail and brand him as a terrorist in the history books," Prasad said. Gadkari informed The Pioneer that the BJP cadre from Pune would look after Chiplunkar for whole of his life. "He has been fully rehabilitated and it is our responsibility to look after him," Gadkari said.  Praful is the son of Savarkar's daughter. An IIT graduate in chemical engineering from Delhi, he worked for an Indo-German company in Thailand and later with an Indian corporate. Tragedy struck him when a fire accident consumed his wife and daughter in 2002 and he spent years recovering in hospitals. Later, Praful worked as a watchman in a shop and after he lost that job, pavement became his shelter. (Based on a report by Shri Navin Upadhyay in DAILY  PIONEER  www.dailypioneer.com , January, 2007)

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