Polio Free India

India achieved a tremendous feat by making the country Polio Free. For last one year, there has been no new case of Polio. Last detected case was on 13.01.2011. This is a historic positive achievement for India. The mass immunization programme with help from World Health Organization has been extremely successful. This has been possible with the support of people, health personnel, media mobilization, celebrity especially Amitabh's 'Do Boond Jindagi Ki' campaign. This is a great success story and we should be proud on this. We could achieve this despite several problems like feeble health infrastructure in Rural areas, problems in keeping vaccine in icebox, scepticism about the efficacy of medicine, backwardness and unawareness among people and communal suspicion about OPV. May the Government initiate such mass immunization programmes for other diseases.

विवेकानन्द के कुछ प्रेरणादायी विचार

श्री विवेकानन्द की कोई परिचय देने की आवश्यकता नहीं है। वे एक महात्मा, एक सन्यासी, वेदांत पर पकड़ रखनेवाले विद्वान थे। अपने ३९ वर्ष के छोटे जीवन में उन्होने विश्व को काफी विचारोत्तेजना दिए। १८९३ में शिकागो के धर्मं संसद में दिए गए भाषण से उन्होने बहुत प्रसिद्धि पाई। वे विभिन्न संस्कृतियों का वृहद् ज्ञान रखनेवाले व्यक्ति थे।

श्री विवेकानन्द ने मानव सेवा को अत्यधिक महत्त्व दिया। उन्होने मानव सेवा की तुलना प्रभु वंदना से की है। उन्होने हर मानव में परम आत्मा की अनुभूति की है। इसके अतिरिक्त वे एक परम देशभक्त थे और उन्हें भारतीय होने का गर्व था। उन्होने भारतीयों को मुक्त होने का आवाहन किया था।

यहाँ पाठकों के लिए उनके कुछ विचार प्रस्तुत है: -

आनंदित रहें; दूसरो की आलोचना न करें, अपना संदेश दें, आप जो सिखाना चाहते हैं वह सिखाएं, और वहीं रूक जाएँ।

हितकर को अपनाएं और रुचिकर का त्याग करें।

उन्नत्ति कर, आगे बढ़, ओ बहादुर आत्मा! उनको आजाद करने के लिए जो जकड़े हुए हैं, दुखितों का भार कम करने और अज्ञानी हृदयों के गहन अंधकार को जाज्वल्यमान करने के लिए।

आभार मिले या नहीं, सो मत, निर्बल मत बन।

बुरे का साथ छोड़ो, क्योंकि तुममें पुराने घावों का दाग है, और बुरे लोगों का साथ वह चीज़ है जो घाव कुरेदने में सक्षम है।

बहादुर और खरा बनो; तब अनुराग से किसी पथ का अनुसरण करो, और तुम अवश्य सम्पूर्ण तक पहुंच जाओगे।

मुक्त हो, और तब जितने भी चाहो व्यक्तित्व रखो, तब हम एक अभिनेता की तरह मंच पर आएंगे और एक भिखारी के पात्र का अभिनय करेंगे।

जिस व्यक्ति की तुमने मदद की है उसका आभार प्रकट करो, उसे भगवान जैसा समझो।

विश्व में रहो, लेकिन इसके मत बनो, कमल की पत्तियों की तरह जिसका जड़ कीचड़ में होते हुए भी पवित्र रहता है।

ईशा का प्रतिरूप मत बनो, ईशा बनो।

निराश मत हो, जब पवित्र सुधा पहुंच में न हो तो इसका मतलब यह नहीं की हम विष का सेवन करें।

मेरी या अपनी सफलता से हवा में मत उड़ो; काफी बड़े काम करने हैं; यह छोटी सफलता क्या है उस आनेवाले कार्य की तुलना में?

हर एक के विभिन्न मतों के साथ निर्वाह करो, धैर्य, शुचिता और धीरज की विजय होगी।

अविश्वास के साथ शुरुआत करो। विश्लेषण करो, परीक्षा लो, सिद्ध करो और फिर ग्रहण करो।

ना तो मनुष्य या ना भगवान को या न इस विश्व में किसी अन्य को दोष दो और अच्छा करने का प्रयत्न करो।

सभी अच्छी शक्तियों को इकठ्ठा करो, इसकी चिंता मत करो कि तुम किस परचम के तले कार्यरत हो, अपने वर्ण कि चिंता मत करो - हरा, नीला या लाल, परन्तु सभी रंगों को मिला दो और श्वेत तीव्र पुंजा बनाओ जो कि प्यार का रंग है।

प्रकाश लाओ; अँधेरा अपने आप छंट जाएगा।

अपने स्वयं के कमल को खिलाओ, मधुमक्खी अपने आप आएगी।

सर्वश्रेष्ठ आदर्श को चुनो और अपना जीवन इस पर न्यौछावर कर दो।

स्वयं पर विजय पाओ और सम्पूर्ण जगत तुम्हारा है।

हमेशा स्वयं पर विश्वास पैदा करो।

मुक्त होने का साहस करो, अपने स्वछन्द विचारों के साथ जाने का साहस करो और उन विचारों को जीवन में अपनाने का साहस करो।

अहर्निश अपने आप से कहो, "मैं वह (ईश्वर) हूँ"।

कुछ भी इच्छा मत रखो, लालसा छोड़ो और पूर्ण संतुष्टि पाओ।

इस भारतीय जीवन से अलग मत हो; एक पल के लिए भी ऐसा मत सोचो कि अगर भारतीय अन्य संस्कृति वाले लोगों के तरह कपड़े पहने, भोजन करें एवं व्यवहार करें तो यह भारत के लिए अच्छा होगा।

इसकी परवाह मत करो कि कोई तुम्हारी सहायता करेगा। क्या भगवान सभी मानव सहायता से अत्यधिक समर्थ नही है?

एक पल के लिए भी देर मत करो, कल के लिए कुछ भी मत छोड़ो - निर्णायक घड़ी के लिए तैयार हो जाओ, वो तत्काल आ सकता है, अभी भी।

विध्वंस मत करो। रुढियों को बदलने वाले सुधारकों से संसार का कुछ भला नहीं होता। तोड़ो मत, गिराओ मत पर निर्माण करो। अगर कर सकते हो तो सहायता करो, अगर नहीं तो हाथ जोड़कर खरे रहो और देखो। अगर तुम सहायता नहीं कर सकते हो तो कष्ट मत दो।

किसी से घृणा मत करो, क्योंकि तुमसे निकली घृणा दीर्घावधि में अवश्य ही तुम तक वापस आएगा।

दूसरो को कष्ट मत दो। सभी को अपने आप के जैसे प्यार करो क्योंकि संसार एक है। दूसरो को कष्ट देने में मैं खुद को भी नुकसान पहुँचा रहा हूँ और दूसरो को प्यार करने में मैं अपने आप को प्यार कर रहा हूँ।

किसी पर भी तरस मत खाओ, सभी को अपने बराबर समझो, अपने आपको मूलभूत पाप असमता से निर्मल करो।

ये मत कहो कि हम निर्बल हैं; हमलोग कुछ भी और सबकुछ कर सकते हैं। हम क्या नही कर सकते हैं? सब कुछ हमारे द्वारा किया जा सकता है। हम सबके पास एकसमान महान आत्मा है, हम इसमे विश्वास करें।

अपनी उर्जा बात करने में मत खर्चा करो, अपितु शांति में ध्यान करो और बाहरी शोर शराबे को स्वयं को मत परेशान करने दो।

मूर्खों की तरह सभी कहे गए बातों को अपनी सम्मति मत दो। अगर मैं भी कुछ घोषित करूं तो उसमे अपनी अंतर्निहीत विश्वास मत दो। सर्वप्रथम अच्छी तरह समझो तब स्वीकार करो।

हर विचार जो तुम्हें शक्ति देता हो उसका अनुपालन करो और जो विचार तुम्हे कमजोर करे उसका त्याग करो।

प्रत्येक व्यक्ति को शासन करने से पहले आज्ञा पालन करना सीखना चाहिऐ।

इसलिए मन को उच्च विचारों और उच्चतम आदर्शों से युक्त करो, अहर्निश उसका ध्यान करो, तब उसके द्वारा महान हाँ कार्य सिद्ध होगा। अपवित्रता पर बात मत करो, अपितु यह कहो कि हम पवित्र हैं।

प्रथम चरित्र का निर्माण करो, प्रथम अध्यात्म उपार्जित करो और परिणाम अपने आप आयेगा।

सर्वप्रथम, हमारे युवा शक्तिशाली बने, धर्म उसके बाद आएगा। वीर्यवान बने मेरे युवा मित्र; यह तुम्हे मेरी सलाह है।

ह्रदय की सुनो, एक सच्चा दिल ज्ञान से आगे तक को देखता है; ये प्रेरित होता है; ये वह जानता है जो बुद्धि कभी जान ही नहीं सकती और जब कभी भी सच्चे ह्रदय और ज्ञान में मतभेद हो, हमेशा सच्चे ह्रदय का पक्ष लो जबकि तुम्हे यह भी पता हो कि जो तुम्हारा दिल सोच रहा है वह अतर्कसंगत है।

अपने सभी कर्मों का भार ईश्वर पर छोड़ दो; सब कुछ त्याग दो, अच्छा और बुरा दोनों।

जाओ और सबको कह दो, " तुम सभी में शास्वत शक्ति है और उसे जगाने का यत्न करो"।

अपने समक्ष यह लक्ष्य रखो - " जनसाधारण का उद्धार बिना उनके धर्मं को क्षति पहुँचाये हुए"।

दूसरो की सारी अच्छाइयों को सीखो। इसे अपने में समाह्रित करो और अपने ढंग से ग्रहण करो; दुसरे मत बन जाओ।

सबको यह शिक्षा मिलनी चाहिऐ कि ईश्वर उनके अन्दर है और हर व्यक्ति को अपना मोक्ष स्वयं पाना है।

बचपन से ही आनंददायक, सशक्त और उपकारी विचार उनके (बच्चों के ) मन में प्रविष्ट हो जाये।

हम साहसी बने, सत्य को जाने और सत्य का अभ्यास करें। लक्ष्य शायद दूर है पर उठो, जागो और लक्ष्य पाने तक रुको मत।

इसे एक नियम बना लो कि योगाभ्यास के बिना भोजन ना करें; अगर तुम यह करोगे तो भूख की शक्ति तुम्हारे आलस्य को मिटा देगी।

एक बार फिर अद्वैत के शक्तिशाली ध्वज को उठाओ, क्योंकि कहीं और तुम्हे वो नैसर्गिक स्नेह नहीं मिलेगा जब तक कि तुम यह न देखो कि ईश्वर हर एक में विद्यमान है।

मानव का अध्ययन करो, वह एक जीवंत कविता है।

बोलो, " अज्ञानी भारतीय, गरीब और दरिद्र भारतीय, ब्राह्मण भारतीय और चंडाल भारतीय मेरे भाई है"।

सबकुछ देखो, सबकुछ करो किन्तु आसक्त मत हो। जिस पल परम आसक्ति होगी, मनुष्य अपने आप को खो देता है, इसमे उपरांत वह अपने आप का स्वामी नहीं होता, वह दास बन जाता है।

खड़े हो जाओ, निर्भीक रहो, शक्तिशाली रहो। अपने कन्धों पर सारे उत्तरदायित्व लो और इसे जानो कि तुम अपने नियति के सृजनहार हो। सारी शक्ति और सहायता जो तुम चाहते हो वह तुम्हारे अन्दर मौजूद है।

सब कुछ फ़ेंक दो, अपनी मुक्ति को भी, और जाओ और दूसरो की मदद करो।

हम आसमान जैसे खुले हों, समुद्र की तरह गहरे हों, हममें धर्मोंन्मत्त जैसा उत्साह हो, रहस्यवादियों जैसी गहराई और संशयवादी जैसे बृहद विचार हों।

तुम हर संप्रदाय के व्यक्तियों के साथ अपनी सहानुभूति अवश्य रखो।

तुम अवश्य अपने शरीर, मन और वाकशक्ति को संसार के भलाई में लगाओ।

तुम कभी दूसरो के पथ का अनुसरण मत करो, क्योंकि वह उसका रास्ता है, तुम्हारा नही।

नोट: यह कथन "words of inspiration" से लिया गया है और। इसका मूल अंग्रेजी कथन ईसी ब्लोग पर उपलब्ध है। अनुवाद मैंने स्वयं किया है और इसमे काफी सुधार कि गुंजाईश है। आपकी राय वांछित है।

Some inspirational thoughts of Swami Vivekanand

Shri Vivekanand does not need any introduction. He was a saint, a sanyasi, a servant of people, an authority on Vedant (Hindu Philosophy). In his short earthly abode of thirty nine years (from 1863 to 1902), he gave this world substantial stirring. He leaped to fame after his address at Parliament of Religions at Chicago in 1893. He was a man of vast understanding of different culture.

Shri Vivekanand gave huge importance to the service of human kind। He equated service to humanity with the prayers rendered to the God. He felt the presence of supreme soul in each individual. Additionally, he was a devout patriot and felt pride in being Indian. He exhorted Indians to free themselves.

Here are some of his thoughts for the benefit of readers:-

Be positive; do not criticize others. Give your message, teach what you have to teach, and there stop.
Accept the beneficial and discard the pleasant.
Advance, forward, O ye brave souls, to set free those that are in fetters, to lessen the burden of of the miserable, and to illuminate the abysmal darkness of ignorant hearts.
Appreciation or no appreciation, sleep not, slacken not.
Avoid evil company, because the scars of old wounds are in you, and evil company is just the thing that is necessary to call them out।
Be brave and sincere: then follow any path with devotion, and you must reach the whole.
Be free, and then have any number of personalities you like. Then we will play like the actor who comes upon the stage and plays the part of a beggar.
Be grateful to the man you help, think of him as God.
Be in the world, but not of it, like the lotus leaf whose roots are in the mud but which remains always pure.
Be not an imitation of Jesus, but be Jesus.
Be not disheartened. When good nectar is unattainable, it is no reason why we should eat poison.
Be not inflated with my success or yours. Great works are to be done: what is this small success in comparison with what is to come?
Bear with the various opinions of everybody, Patience, purity, and perseverance will prevail.
Begin with disbelief. Analyze, test, prove everything, and then take it.
Blame neither man, nor God, nor anyone in the world. When you find yourselves suffering, blame yourselves, and try to do better.
Bring all the forces of good together. Do not care under what banner you march. Do not care what be your colour – green, blue or red – but mix up all the colours and produce that intense glow of white, the colour of love.
Bring in the light; the darkness will vanish by itself.
Bring your own lotus to blossom; the bees will come of themselves.
Choose the highest ideal, and give your life up to that.
Conquer yourself, and the whole universe is yours.
Cultivate always, "Faith in Yourself".
Dare to be free, dare to go as far as your thought leads, and dare to carry that out in your life.
Day and Night tell yourself, “I am He, I am He.”
Desire nothing, give up all desires and be perfectly satisfied.
Do not be dragged away out of this Indian life; do not for a moment think that it would be better for India if all the Indians dressed, ate and behaved like another race.
Do not care for anybody to help you. Is not the Lord infinitely greater than all human help?
Do not delay a moment. Leave nothing for tomorrow. Get ready for the final event, which may overtake you immediately, even now.
Do not desire anything. What makes us miserable? The cause of all miseries from which we suffer is desire.
Do not destroy. Iconoclastic reformers do no good to the world. Break not, pull not anything down, but build. Help, if you can; if you cannot, fold your hands and stand by and see things go on. Do not injure, if you cannot render help. Say not a word against any man's convictions so far as they are sincere.
Do not hate anybody, because that hatred which comes out from you, must, in the long run, come back to you.
Do not injure another. Love everyone as your own self, because the whole universe is One. In injuring another, I am injuring myself, in loving another, I am loving myself.
Do not pity anyone. Look upon all as your equal, cleanse yourself of the primal sin of inequality.
Do not say we are weak; we can do anything and everything. What can we not do? Everything can be done by us; we all have the same glorious soul, let us believe in it.
Do not spend your energy in talking, but meditate in silence; and do not let the rush of the outside world disturb you.
Don't nod assent like a fool to everything said. Don't put implicit faith, even if I declare something. First clearly grasp and then accept.
Every idea that strengthens you must be taken up and every thought that weakens you must be rejected.
Everyone should learn to obey before he can command.
Fill the brain, therefore, with high thoughts, highest ideals, place them day and night before you, and out of that will come great work. Talk not about impurity, but say that we are pure.
First form character, first earn spirituality and results will come of themselves.
First of all, our young men must be strong. Religion will come afterwards. Be strong my young friends; that is my advice to you.
Follow the heart. A pure heart sees beyond the intellect; it gets inspired; it knows things that reason can never know, and whenever there is conflict between the pure heart and the intellect, always side with the pure heart even if you think what your heart is doing is unreasonable.
Give up the burden of all deeds to the Lord; give all, both good and bad.
Go and tell all, “ In every one of you lies that Eternal power”, and try to wake it up.
Keep the motto before you - “ Elevation of masses without injuring their religion.”
Learn everything that is good from others, but bring it in and in your own way absorb it; do not become others.
Let everyone is taught that the divine is within, and everyone will work out his own salvation.
Let positive, strong, helpful thought enter into their brains (children's brains) from very childhood.
Let us be brave. Know the Truth and practice the Truth. The goal may be distant, but awake, arise, and stop not till the goal is reached.
Make it a rule not to eat until you have practised (yoga); if you do this, the sheer force of hunger will break your laziness.
Raise once more that mighty banner of Advaita, for on no other ground can you have that wonderful love until you see that the same Lord is present everywhere.
Read man, he is the living poem.
Say, “ The ignorant Indian, the poor and destitute Indian, the Brahmin Indian, the Pariah Indian, is my brother.”
See everything, do everything, but be not attached. As soon as extreme attachment comes, a man loses himself, he is no more master of himself, he is a slave.
Stand up and reason out, having no blind faith. Religion is a question of being and becoming, not of believing.
Stand up, be bold, be strong. Take the whole responsibility on your own shoulders, and know that you are the creator of your own destiny. All the strength and succour you want is within yourselves.
Throw away everything, even your own salvation, and go and help others.
We must be as broad as the skies, as deep as the ocean; we must have the zeal of the fanatic, the depth of the mystic, and the width of the agnostic.
You must express your sympathy with people of all sects.
You must give your body, mind and speech to “ the welfare of the world”.
You should never try to follow another's path, for that is his way, not yours.

Source: Words of inspiration, published by Swami Lokeswarananda,

ISBN 81-85843-25-2

Incredible India

Tourism is called the smoke free industry. It generates revenue without consuming natural resources. The prime reason of tourism is the natural curiosity of human being. We want to explore and we want to know. India provides the Ideal setting to quench the thirst of explorers of adventure, knowledge, history, heritage, geology, people and much more. Tourism is growing worldwide. Increase of disposable income with the individual is helping this Industry to grow at a faster pace in recent years. India has been a very important beneficiary of Tourism boom. The number of tourists visiting India has increased from 2.12 million in 1995 to 3.92 in 2005. The rate of growth during the decade 84 percent. The number of tourist has further rose to 4.42 million in 2006. The rate of growth of this sector has been sustained from many years now. It is heartening to note that Forex earning from this sector rose from USD 5731 million in 2005 USD 6570 million in 2006 recording a growth of 14.7%. This sector is among the top foreign earners for India. Tourism sector provides both direct and indirect employment which is highly required in India. As per the NCAER survey of 2002-03, this sector gave employment to 38.8 million people and accounted for 8.3 percentage of the total employment.

The “Incredible India” campaign of Ministry of Tourism has been the most focused media campaign of the Government of India. Its audio visual advertisement on prime television channels of the world and over Internet has generated a lot of interest in India. The quality of advertisement is fabulous. The fliers and booklets are also outstanding. The focus is on rich and diverse cultural heritage of India. Enchantment has been diversified from the Triangle of Agra, Delhi and Jaipur to Rural tourism, eco-tourism, adventurous sports, religious places, cultural monuments, Indian cuisine, herbal treatment and relaxation, medical tourism, visits to royal places, Yoga and spiritualism, Indian dances and martial arts, festivals etc. India can offer three sixty five days tourism because of its diverse weather.

Government of India has made concerted efforts to reap the benefits of inflow of tourists as a result of “Incredible India” campaign. Visa rules has been simplified. Medical visa has been added as a new type of visa. Bed and breakfast scheme has been put in place to compensate the shortage of hotels. Infrastructure around tourist places is being improved. Maintenance of monuments and other tourist attractions is being given due importance. As a result of “Open Sky” policy the connectivity of tourist places has increased. Initiative has also been taken to increase the number of qualified tourist guides.

India has the potential to enhance her world share from 0.49% of the world tourists. It is very small when looked from the point of view of sheer expanse of India and its profuse cultural and historical diversity. In the year 2006 as per the data of World Tourism Organization the receipt from international tourism reached the whopping USD 733 billion. There is huge opportunity for India. The Government of India needs to provided further positive impetus to garner higher number of international tourists.

अभिव्यक्ति की स्वतंत्रता और इसका महत्व

अभिव्यक्ति की स्वतन्त्रत्ता भारतीय संविधान का एक अनुपम उपहार है। यह मौलिक अधिकार वाले खंड में अनुसूचित है। किसी भी लोकतंत्र के लिए यह स्वतंत्रता नितांत आवश्यक है। लोकतंत्र में लोगों को अपना प्रतिनिधि चुनना होता है। यह चुनाव बिना उपयुक्त जानकारी के असंभव है। तर्कसंगत और उपयोगी जानकारी बिना स्वतंत्र और निरपेक्ष मीडिया के संभव नही है। भारतीय संविधान में समाचार पत्र अथवा अन्य माध्यमों का वर्णन नही है। यह सब अभिव्यक्ति की स्वतंत्रता में ही सन्निहित है। इसी स्वंतत्रता के भरोसे हम निर्भीकता से अपनी बात कहने में सफल होते हैं। यह विचारों के आदान प्रदान में सहायता पहुंचाता है। इसके बूते बिना हिंसा के क्रांति आ सकती है। भारतीय न्यायालयों ने भी इस स्वतंत्रता को समुचित आदर कि दृष्टि से देखा है।

भारतीय लोकतंत्र एक सफल लोकतंत्र साबित हुआ है इसमे संविधान की इस धारा का महत्वपूर्ण योगदान है। अगर हम अपने पड़ोसी मुल्कों या भारत के साथ ही आजाद हुए देशों को देखें तब हमे ये अनुभव होता है कि हमारा लोकतंत्र कितना विश्वास के साथ आगे बढ़ा है और बढ़ रहा है। ये किसी भी भारतवासी के लिए गर्व कि बात है।

अभिव्यक्ति कि स्वतंत्रता हमे एक स्वर देता है। इस स्वर का इस्तेमाल हम स्वच्छ राजनीति, सुशासन एवं विकास के लिए कर सकते हैं। इस स्वर का उपयोग दमन के खिलाफ कर सकते हैं। इस स्वर से समाज की अन्य कुरीतियाँ यथा गरीबी, जातिवाद, सामंतवाद, धर्मान्धता, दहेज़ प्रथा, स्त्री भ्रूण हत्या का समूल नाश किया जा सकता है।

लेकिन प्रश्न यह उठता है कि भारत में ऐसा हो क्यों नही रहा है। इतने आदर्श विचारों के बाबजूद आदर्श समाज क्यों नही बन रहा है। इसके कई कारण हैं। सबसे प्रमुख कारण है अज्ञानता, अशिक्षा एवं रुढिवादिता। इसके अलावा अन्य कारण है स्वार्थ। स्वार्थ समाज के हर चरण और हर वर्ग में है। लोग अपने से कमजोर लोगों का अपने फायदे के लिए दोहन कर रहे हैं। सब अपना हित साधने में लगे हैं। लोगों का विचार सामाजिक या राष्ट्रीय नही है। भारतीय गाँधी जी के धरोहर्ता (trusteeship) के अवधारणा को भूल गए हैं। सब अपने अधिकार कि बात करते हैं किन्तु जब कर्तव्य कि बात अति है लोग बंगले झाँकने लगते हैं। मनुष्य एक सामाजिक प्राणी है और इसे समाज के लिए सोचना चाहिए। आज अगर हमने उन्नति कि है तो उसमे हमारे समाज का योगदान है। अगर ये समाज न होता तो हमे बोलना नही आता। जिस प्रकार हमारे शारीर को सुगठित करने में वातावरण का महत्व है उसी प्रकार हमारे मानसिकता को संवारने में हमारे समाज का महत्व है। आज व्यापारी केवल अपने लाभ का विचार कर रहे हैं। सरकारी सेवक अपने कर्तव्यों का निर्वहन नही कर रहें हैं। राजनेता अपने वोट कि व्यवस्था में लगे हैं। इस सामाजिक मानसिकता के ह्रास के वजह से ही संविधान में वर्णित अनमोल विचारों का फल नही मिल रहा है। यहाँ तक कि समाचार पत्र एवं इलेक्ट्रोनिक मीडिया भी किसी न किसी दवाब में आकर पक्षपातपूर्ण रवैया अपनाते हैं।

किन्तु इस प्रश्न का उत्तर भी अभिव्यक्ति कि स्वतंत्रता में ही है। एक सुनियोजित, शांतिपूर्ण वैचारिक क्रांति कि आवश्यकता है। अन्याय के खिलाफ खरे होने कि आवश्यकता है। अपने दिए गए कर्तव्यों का समुचित, सुरुचिपूर्ण निर्वहन की आवश्यकता है। भारत बदल रहा है, यह तेजी से प्रगति पथ पर अग्रसर है। हम कामना करते हैं कि यह बदलाव भारत को विश्व में एक विकसित एवं सामाजिक समरस राष्ट्र के रूप में स्थान दिलायेगा। यह एक ऐसा देश होगा जहाँ सही मायने में अभिव्यक्ति की स्वतंत्रता होगी।

Recognition of Gandhian values

United Nations decided to observe the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi on 2nd October as International Day of Non-violence. Gandhi was the leading light of the strenuous freedom struggle of India. He believed in simplicity and led by example. This half clad Fakir inspired the freedom struggle and other social and politicial struggle of the world. His philosophy of truth, non-violence, tolerance and trustee-ship is still very relevant in this strife torn world. He believed in hating the crime and not the criminal. His works were carried on by Nelson Mandela and Marthin Luther King Jr. in substantive way.

Today world has become very intolerant. People are not ready to listen to others' viewpoints. They force their perspective on others even with violent means. Violence can not solve any problem. It can only compound and will launch counter violence. Gandhiji said, "An eye for an eye only ends up in making the whole world blind".

In this backdrop, United Nations has taken a very positive step. It should not allow it to become another ritualistic day organization. The philosophy and ideals of Mahatma should be propagated to the every corner of the world to make this world a better place to live. Gandhi does not any introduction to the world, but his philosophy does need an introduction.

Boost to Renewable Energy

The price of the crude oil is hovering around USD100 per barrel despite the slow down of US economy. The other reason for this high rate is the domestic problems of major oil producing nations and depreciation of USD. Indian economy is developing at a rate of 9 percent per anum. For sustaining this rate of growth India requires huge amount of energy. Beside the fossil fuel is depleting at a very fast pace. We need to have sustainable energy use policy. The other big consumer among developing countries is China. Both India and China are at the basic level of development. Both of them have to develop economic lot of around 2.5 billion of people. Therefore, the requirement of energy is going to increase only.

There is a clear cut case of development of alternative and renewable energy. Earlier, the investment in research and development of alternative energy was not lucrative. But with the high crude oil price and the threat of climatic change the investment in this field is feasible. There is need of huge investment in solar, wind, geothermal, tidal, micro-hydel, biomass, hydrogen energy. Concerted efforts of both National Government and private sector players are urgently required.

In such scenario, the Indian government has allotted rupees 10,460 crores (2.6 billion USD) for the development of new and renewable sources of energy in the country during the 11th five-year plan from 2007 to 2012. This is a big positive step. Government of India has been doing incremental effort for this sector. Probably, this boost in the allocation of resources in the current five year plan may go a long way.

Indian Super Computer is fastest in Asia

The Super Computer EKA developed by Computational Research Labaratory, Pune has been adjudged 4th fastest in the world with the peak speed of 117.9 terraflop per second. The Computational Research Labaratory is a TATA subsidiary. The name EKA has been taken from the Sanskrit word meaning unity or one. EKA is a Hewlett Packard Cluster platform 3000 BL460c system. The innovation by CRL is the unique routing technology through which it has achieved this speed. The vista of super computers has traditionally been dominated by United States. But the forthcoming list of top super computers is expected to have new entrants from countries like Sweden and Germany.

The super computers have wide applications in Automative engineering, oil exploration, nanotechnology, drug synthesis, weather forecasting etc. These applications require huge amounts of mathematical computation at tremendous pace. Currently fastest super computers are:-

1. BlueGene/L System (IBM) US
2. BlueGene/P system, (IBM) Germany
3. Silicon Graphics (SGI), New Mexico
4. Eka, CRL (arm of Tata Sons) India.
5. HP Cluster Platform (Sweden

The significance of this Indian feat can be adjudged from the fact that the second fastest computer of India installed at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, is ranked 58th in the world.

Bravo India bravo!!!!! Kudos to Tatas!!!!

Right to Information Act 2005

The most important act after independence of India is probably the introduction of the Right to Information Act 2005. The independence gave India the political space in the comity of nations. Expectations were high as is usual for the newly independent nations. Able guidance of contemporary national leaders steered India on the right path. Institutions were created with a lot of foresight and thought. The foundation of strong Union was envisaged to take care of the possible separatist tendencies of such a big nation. The administration became a huge monolith. The so called License permit Raj was established. The admixture of socialism and capitalism created unforeseen and undesired results. Despite independence, the Administration continued working behind the curtains. The people were left out of governance. This gave rise to corruption, ad-hocism and other mal-practices. Theoretically people were empowered but in real sense only a handful of people started reaping undue benefits. Vicious nexus of different interests colluded to bleed the nation. Transparency and probity hid behind the red-tape creating a fertile ground for breeding of corruption. Gradually, corruption became a way of life. People in general started losing faith in the Government machinery. Middle men made merry. Everything was possible at a cost. Nothing was possible without consideration. This was a very terrible situation for a nation.
The devolution of power by the way of Panchayati Raj Institutions came as a ray of hope. Hope was genuine because of the nearness of the governance. But the election politics on Panchayati level, caste-ism, lack of political will of State Governments, rule by proxies, inability to understand modern day governance and widespread illiteracy did not allow the Panchayati Raj system to provide the intended benefits.
In this gloomy scenario, the Right to Information Act 2005 came. This is a revolutionary Act and can be panacea of all ills of meal-governance. The need is to utilise this tool in an effective way. Alliance of intellectuals, common people, media can really make a difference by the help of this Act. Fortunately all the Government machinery has somehow established the necessary infrastructure for this Act. In the modern day information is the real empowerment. The crooks thrive on the denial or lack of information. Corruption spread its tentacles because of lack of information. Availability of information is the real empowerment of people. It is all more important in Democracy. Democracy is exercising of choice. Choice has to be informed. Good decision can be only made after having correct and related information.
The provisions of the Act is very simple. The fee for seeking information is reasonable. There is no fee for Below poverty line people. It does not ask the applicant the reason for asking information. The application format is simple. Information has to be provided in a time bound manner. Except for certain activities related to the State secret, commercial secret and relation with foreign governments, all other information can be obtained without much fuss. There is provision for pecuniary penalty for deliberately non-disclosure of information. Appellate authorities are in place to listen to the grievances relating to denial of information. The act also forces voluntary disclosure by all public authorities. This Act has the potential to herald India in a corruption free society. It will, of course, take time. Dissemination of information about this Act would go a long way in this regard. The need of the hour is to make people aware about this potent weapon. Bureaucracy would be forced to change by the pressure of this Act. The way India governs itself shall become different in coming years. Long live the Right to Information Act 2005.

More information about this Act can be obtained from http://www.rti.gov.in/

Self reliance of India in Cryogenic engine & GSLV

ISRO has achieved a significant milestone through the successful test of indigenously developed Cryogenic Stage, to be employed as the upper stage of India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). The test was conducted for its full flight duration of 720 seconds today (November 15, 2007) at Liquid Propulsion test facility at Mahendragiri, in Tamil Nadu. With this test, the indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage has been fully qualified on the ground. The flight stage is getting ready for use in the next mission of GSLV (GSLV-D3) in It may be recalled that a ground test for 480 seconds of the complete stage was conducted on August 4, 2007. The indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS) is powered by a regeneratively cooled cryogenic engine, which works on staged combustion cycle developing a thrust of 69.5 kN in vacuum. The other stage systems include insulated propellant tanks, booster pumps, inter-stage structures, fill and drain systems, pressurisation systems, gas bottles, command block, igniters, pyro valves and cold gas orientation and stabilisation system. Liquid Oxygen (LOX) and Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) from the respective tanks are fed by individual booster pumps to the main turbo-pump, which rotates at 39,000 rpm to ensure a high flow rate of 16.5 kg/sec of propellants into the combustion chamber. The main turbine is driven by the hot gas produced in a pre-burner. Thrust control and mixture ratio control are achieved by two independent regulators. LOX and Gaseous Hydrogen (GH2) are ignited by pyrogen type igniters in the pre-burner as well as in the main and steering engines. Apart from the complexities in the fabrication of stage tanks, structures, engine and its sub-systems and control components, CUS employs special materials like Aluminum, Titanium, Nickel and their alloys, bi-metallic materials and polyimides. Stringent quality control and elaborate safety measures have to be ensured during assembly and integration. Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) is the lead centre for the development of Cryogenic Upper Stage with the involvement of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) and other ISRO centres as well as several industries, both in public and private sector. The successful ground test of the indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage for the full flight duration has validated the design robustness and performance adequacy for its use in GSLV.

source: http://www.pib.nic.in/