Friday, August 14, 2015

PANCHAAMRITAM 279

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PANCHAAMRITAM 279
(pancha is five in samskritam; amritam is nectar)
Amaavasya / Kali Yugabda 5117 / Manmatha Aadi 29 (August 14, 2015)
 
ONE



No pilgrimage to the hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh, Bharat), the world's richest Hindu temple is complete without the laddu. The mouth-watering sweet is the most sought after prasad after prayers to Lord Venkateswara. The Tirupati laddu, given away as 'prasad', has entered its 300th year. Temple officials say the sacred offering was introduced on August 2, 1715. According to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages the affairs of the hill shrine, about nine crore (90 million) laddus were given away to pilgrims in 2014.The normal price of a 300 gram laddu is Rs.25. As a privilege to pilgrims, two laddus are issued at a subsidized rate of Rs.10 each.TTD had projected an income of Rs.190 crore from prasad sale. Last year, about 18 lakh(1.8 million) laddus were sold in the first seven days of Brahmotsavam, breaking all previous records. The authorities make elaborate arrangements to ensure uninterrupted supply of laddus to the pilgrims. They have the capacity to produce 3,00,000 laddus a day. Nearly 620 people, including 270 cooks, work in the laddu and other prasad making units. The TTD took up modernisation of the temple kitchen last year with the installation of two escalator belts for laddus and boondi crates. The conveyor systems have the capacity to transfer up to 8,00,000 laddus every day. The Office of the Registrar of Patents, Trademarks and Geographical Indications awarded the Geographical Indication (GI) status to the Tirupati laddu in 2014. (THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS, August 6, 2015).
TWO



For a group of walkers in Anna University, Chennai, the morning of August 8 was no less than a page out of a movie script. Around 6.30 a.m., they saw a woman and a young girl asking people for directions. Curious, some of them approached the duo to offer help. “R. Swathi, had scored 1,017 marks in her Plus Two. She came with her mother Thangaponnu, a shepherd, from their hometown of Musiri in Tiruchirapally (Tamilnadu, Bharat). “They were asked to come to Anna Arangam, Tamil Nadu Agriculture University, Coimbatore, but they reached Anna University Chennai by mistake,” said M. Saravanan, a former student of College of Engineering, Guindy and a member of a walking group called Twalkers. Counselling was to start at 8.30 a.m. in Coimbatore. Both mother and daughter had lost hope. One of the walkers brought them breakfast, another went to book and print out the flight tickets, while another was speaking to TNAU staff in Coimbatore. Tickets were confirmed and Twalkers’ members decided to share the cost of Rs. 10,500. Some of the walkers, who are teaching at Anna University, spoke to TNAU registrar C.R. Ananda Kumar, explained the problem and asked for extra time. “We took off at 10.05 a.m., landed at 11.28 a.m. and in the next hour we had the admission letter on our hands,” Swathi said. She will now pursue B.Tech. Biotechnology at the Coimbatore campus. “It looks like a miracle now,” she says. The Twalkers did not stop there. They called up Thangaponnu to confirm if they had secured the admission. “It was very kind of them to do so. They came around like an angel when we had lost hope,” Swathi said. After getting the seat and back in their hometown in Musiri, the mother-daughter are now planning to visit Chennai again. “We want to return the money they spent to buy our flight tickets. How else can we say thank them?” Thangaponnu said. (Based on a report by Smt Vipasha Sinha and Shri  Karthik Madhavan in THE HINDU, August 10, 2015).
THREE


When the floods in Neel Dhara along the Ganga river downstream from Hardwar destroyed 26 lakh trees in June 2013, it made a Kerala-based priest who lives in the Himalayas decide to restoring the lost flora. Swami Samvidanandan, who is originally from Kochi (Kerala, Bharat), moved to Rishikesh to study Sanskrit in 1996. Samvidanandan started a campaign to plant and conserve trees. “The uprooted trees included species such as eucalyptus, gulmohar, debdaru, radhachura, banyan, peepal, rain, neem and several fruit-bearing trees such as jackfruit, mango, banana, coconut and cashew. How many years will it take to restore the lost forests? This thought made me venture into restoring the woods,” says Samvidanandan. Through Tree Trip, he aims to plant saplings specially grown in the nurseries of Green Vein, an NGO started by Samvidanandan in 2013 in Uttarakhand. More than six lakh trees have been planted and are maintained by the NGO. The Billion Trees project initiated by Green Vein plans to take up extensive afforestation programmes throughout India. The project will cover 30 states and one billion saplings. Under the project, nurseries will be set up in each state that will provide saplings for afforestation programmes. Active community participation is the key objective, in partnership with the government. The programme will also try to create wildlife cover for animals by ensuring sufficient forest space, provision of water facilities, and fruit orchards for fauna like monkeys. (Based on a feature story by Smt Anupama Mili in THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS, July 25, 2015).

FOUR



At village Chirdi in Udhampur district (Jammu-Kashmir, Bharat) two heavily-armed terrorists believed to be from Pakistan, had ambushed a convoy of BSF personnel and opened fire in which two constables and a militant were killed while another terrorist was caught alive in a manner identical to the nabbing of 26/11 Mumbai attacker Ajmal Kasab. Recognising the brave act of two civilians, who nabbed an armed Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist Mohammad Naved alias Mohammad Usman the Jammu & Kashmir Police recruited the duo on Tuesday. The J&K police have issued an appointment order for Rakesh Sharma as constable and recommended the government for relaxation of qualification bar in favour of Vikramjeet for his appointment as follower in the police force. Furthermore, in recognition of their rare display of courage, the state police have also recommended to the state government names of Rakesh and Vikramjeet for the prestigious Shaurya Chakra Award. Rakesh Kumar and Vikramjeet, along with three other youth, were held hostage by Pakistani terrorist while he was fleeing from the spot of terror attack. They fought with the terrorist and captured him with the help of a few VDC members. The Deputy chief minister had earlier raised the matter with Chief Minister Mufti Mohmmad Sayeed, who directed state Home Secretary to ensure that the duo are awarded. (ZEE NEWS, August 11, 2015).
FIVE


Ambassador Idriss Raoua Ouedraogo of Burkina Faso (a western African country) had finished his three-year tenure in India and was to have left. But the noted yoga teacher was asked to stay back in Delhi for the International Yoga Day (June 21, 2015), which he did happily. In recognition of his expertise, Idriss, a Muslim who has been practicing yoga for 27 long years, was invited as the chief guest at the foundation day ceremony of the Yoga University of India on June 21. For Idriss, the 35 asanas performed as part of the International Yoga Day yoga protocol at Rajpath were "simple". "The yoga protocol was simple. I do all the yoga exercises, I do pranayama (breathing exercises), I do mudras, all the asanas," Idriss said, adding that he was a yoga teacher. "I teach yoga to around 100 teachers," said the envoy, who has founded the Himalayan Yoga Meditation Centre in Burkina Faso. Idriss said there were seven yoga centres in the small landlocked nation of over 1.8 crore. He has written books on yoga, is known as Yogi Idriss in his country. The Yoga Meditation Centre of Burkina Faso now has a branch in neighbouring Benin too. Idriss was taught yoga by Swami Veda Bharati and by B.K.S. Iyengar, one of the pioneers of modern yoga.  (Based on a report by Smt Ranjana Narayan,  IANS, June 21, 2015).
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Saturday, August 1, 2015

PANCHAAMRITAM 278

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PANCHAAMRITAM 278
(pancha is five in samskritam; amritam is nectar)
Poornima / Kali Yugabda 5117 / Manmatha Aadi 15 (July 31, 2015)


ONE



Shri V. Adikesavan, the managing director of Sowbhagya wet grinders, recounts an occasion: “Once President APJ Abdul Kalam had come to Erode to attend a function sponsored by
Sowbhagya in August 2014. On that occasion, we gave him a grinder as a gift. He refused to accept it, but said he needed one for his family and wanted to pay for it. He then sent a person to our shop with a cheque for Rs 4,850 dated August 25, 2014.” Adikesavan was reluctant to receive money from Kalam and did not encash the cheque for over a month. But Kalam threatened to return the grinder till Adikesavan assured him that the cheque would be encashed. “A month later, I received a call from Kalam’s office asking why the cheque has not been deposited. Further, Kalam directed me to deposit the cheque to avoid returning the grinder,” Adikesavan continued. Trapped, Adikesavan reluctantly agreed to deposit the cheque. “I did not want to let go of the treasure on my hands and decided to keep a copy of the cheque. I got it scanned and have framed it. The very next day I deposited the cheque and received a message from Kalam’s office thanking me for doing so,” Adikesavan added. The framed copy of the cheque is displayed in the shop. (Based on a report by Shri Sankar CG in THE NEW INDIA EXPRESS, July 31, 2015).
TWO



Taking into consideration the commendable performance, courage and dedication to duty of railway employee Ashwani Kumar, Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu has approved an award of Rs. 50000 for him for his alertness and courage in detecting the bomb and saving the lives of hundreds of passengers in Punjab.Ashwani Kumar is working as Keyman of a gang on pathankot- Amritsar section of Firozpur division of Northern Railway.  On 27-07-2015 a terrorist attack was made in Gurdaspur district of Punjab in early morning hours. A suspected bomb type object was planted on bridge no 236 on Pathankot-Amritsar Railway Line (near Dinanagar). Keyman Ashwani Kumar while doing patrolling duty detected the same at around 6:00 hrs. He immediately swung into action and ran in the direction from where Train No 54612 was approaching towards the bridge. Without caring for his personal safety, he managed to stop the train before the bridge. The daring act of Ashwani Kumar, Keyman saved the lives of hundreds of passengers who were travelling in the train and saved major bridge from damaging in Pathankot- Amritsar section. On account of his attentiveness and vigilance, a major mishap was thus averted. (News Bharati, July 30, 2015).

 

THREE




People young and old join RSS and each one finds his life transformed and becomes socially oriented. This transformation of Swayamsevaks in Shakhas has been going on for 90 years due to the congenial atmosphere created in the Shakha by Sangh Guru i.e., Bhagwa Flag. A youth of Vellore Jilla (Tamilnadu, Bharat), is a case in point. He had the habit of drinking liquor; he attended the 7 - day camp (Pratamik Sikshana Vargha) in 2014.  Due to the training he had undergone and due to the Satsang in the camp, he left his drinking habit for good.  After the training, he started a Shakha and invited his friends, who were also having the habit of drinking liquor.  Due to the atmosphere in the Shakha, his friends also left the habit of drinking, within a short time. Another example of transformation is Aachiappan (60) a trainee of Vishesha Sangh Sikha Vargha, held in Salem this year (2015). He reminisced: “In 1970s when the DK took out a procession of a picture of Lord Shri Ram with a garland of slippers in Salem, slippers were thrown deridingly at the picture.  I was one among the people who threw chappals.  Now, after this 20 day training programme feel that this camp is the atonement of the sin committed by me out of ignorance that day.” (As told to team PANCHAAMRITAM by Shri Prasad of RSS).
FOUR



Nischal Narayanam, the kid who spotted the mistakes in a balance sheet of his dad’s company as a nine-year-old has become the youngest Chartered Account in the country at just 19. Smt Padmavathy, who holds a Ph.D in Sanskrit from Osmania University, was the first to recognise his talent when he was just nine. “He was passionate about numbers and I was amazed at his skills.” The curious mother then checked the Internet to find mentors from
across the world to guide his son on improving his mathematical skills. However, Nischal will have to wait for two more years to sign on the balance sheets of the company as the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) doesn’t enrol members less than 21 years. His extraordinary memory and abilities enabled him to become the youngest ‘Double Guinness World Record holder' in the category of memory, youngest World Memory Champion, one of the “7 brilliant brains of the world” as accredited by National Geographic Channel and youngest graduate in the history of Osmania University from where he completed his B.Com and M.Com. Deloitte International audit firm, where Nischal did his article ship for CA, recognised his amazing abilities and invited him as a special invitee and speaker at their Global Conference in Shanghai, attended by delegates from 190 countries. (Based on a report by Shri R. Ravikanth Reddy in THE HINDU July 23, 2015).
FIVE



“I congratulate Shri. Nana Deshmukhji, founder of DRI, and the Deendayal Research Institute for achieving self-reliant sustained development of eighty villages and my best wishes for your next target  of realizing the development of total five hundred villages much before 2009. Eighty Litigation free villages in Chitrakoot is a good example to be followed by many districts. This will substantially reduce the load in our courts. Recently, I visited Deendayal research Institute in Chitrakoot, Madhya Pradesh. There I found that the institute is facilitating a cohesive conflict free society. As a result of this, I understand that the eighty villages around Chitrakoot are almost litigation free. The villagers have unanimously decided that no dispute will find its way to the courts. The differences will be sorted out amicably in the village itself. This happened because of the inspirational leadership at Chitrakoot. This movement has to be encouraged in the rural areas by different State governments. (Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, President of India on a visit to Chitrakoot, UP, on October 6, 2005; Nanaji was an RSS Pracharak who devoted his life to rural upliftment).
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