Archives August 2012

"Even if have to face death a thousand times for the sake of my Motherland, I shall not be sorry. Oh Lord! Grant me a hundred births in Bharat. But grant me this, too, that each time I may give up my life in the service of the Mother land.                                                                                                                                                                                —Bismil   Rama Prasad was born at Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh in 1897. His ancestors belonged to the Thomarghar area of Gwalior State. His village was situated adjacent to the British administered provinces on the banks of the river Chambal. People of the Chambal valley are fearless, sturdy and brave. For generations several states had tried to establish their dominance over them but failed. Ram Prasad's father Muralidhar was a simple man. He had only a little education and was employed in Shahjahanpur Municipality. He was tired of service and switched over to an independent life. He began to more...

From the dawn of history until the beginning of the 17th century the knownuniverse consisted of only 8 planets: 1. Earth, 2. Sun, 3. Moon, 4. Mercury, 5. Venus, 6. Mars, 7. Jupiter,8. Saturn and the "fixed" stars. These are the ones that can be seen easily withoutany optical instruments. In Europe, the prevailing view was the Ptolemaic system withthe Earth at the centre and the other bodies revolving around it. In 1610, Galileo first turned a telescope on the heavens and the universe wasexplored. By the end of the 17th century, 9 new planets had been discovered andCopemmican’s heliocentric theory was widely accepted. The total number of knownplanets had more than doubled to 17. In 18th Century, only 5 new planets (not counting comets) were discovered, all by William Herschel , bringing the total to 22. Thenumber of planets in the solar system increased dramatically in the 19th century more...

"It is ironic that dowry was originally designed to safeguardthe woman and the provision was made in the form of Sthreedhan”("Stree" means woman and "dhan"as wealth) consisting of money,property or gifts given solely to the woman by her parents at themarriage. The abuse of this custom eroded and aborted the originalmeaningful function where dowry was a safety net for the woman itwas forcible made as a price tag for the groom." Dowry or Dahej is served by payment in cash or/and kind by the bride's familyto the bridegroom' s family along with the bride (called Kunyadaan} in. Kanyadaanis an important part of Hindu marital rites. Kanya means daughter and dana meansgift. Dowry originated in upper caste families as the wedding gift to the bride. It waslater given to help marriage expenses and taken as a insurance in case her in-lawsmistreated her. Although the dowry was legally banned in 1961, it more...

"India has the highest number of illiterates in the world, amind-boggling 290 Millions adult illiterates—A matter of utter shame. Mahatma Gandhi Ji visualized education a basic tool for the development of consciousness and reconstruction of society. Great reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy and IsliwarChandra Vidyasagarthought that emancipation of Indians was only possible through education." After 57 years of independence, we are still too far away from the universalliteracy What is the reason 7 Why have we come to such a sorry state? Reason canbe well enumerated; Improper planning, poor implementation of policies, lack ofInfrastructure and lack of political will are the main causes responsible for such stateof affairs. If seen statistically, literacy in India has made remarkable strides sinceIndependence as seen by the recently declared provisional results of the Census 2001.The literacy rate has increased from 18.33% in 1951 to 65.38% in 2001. This isdespite the fact that during more...

"II is paradoxical that the man who needs the healthy environment most, is destroying its sanctity and purity for present monetary gains and endanger its own coming generation." Never before in the history, the environment pollution has drawn such ate of policymakers, academicians and the court, at least in India. A lot of research has done during the last few years to find out a suitable linkage between economic activities and the environment and a need for new technologies has felt in order to save the environment from the ever increasing pollution.  Because of the rapid industrial growth the most precious heritage of mankind the natural environment is in danger of becoming polluted. Earlier most (economic activities, development policies, were centered towards the motive of benefits or gain, but for the last few years it has been sincerely more...

Dr. Rajendra Prasad, son of Mahadev Sahai, was born in Zeradei, Bihar on December 3, 1884. Being the youngest in a large joint family Rajen was greatly loved. He as strongly attached to It is mother and elder brother Mahendru. In Zeradei's diverts population, people lived together  inconsiderable harmony. Rajendra Prasad's earliest memories were of playing "kabaddi" with his Hindu and Muslim friends alike. In keeping with the old customs of his village, and family, Rajen was married when he was barely 12 years old to Rajvanslii Devi. Rajen was a brilliant student: standing first in the entrance examination to the University of Calcutta, he was awarded a Rs.30/month as scholarship. He joined  the famous Calcutta Presidency College in 1902. His scholarship, ironically, would pose the first test of his patriotism. Gopal Krishna Go hale had started the Servants of India Society more...

"The Constitution of India secures justice to all its citizens apart from securing liberty, equality and promoting fraternity. In Indian democracy the Supreme Court plays important role of safe- guarding tlie fundamental rig/its of citizens which includes providing fair justice also. Justice which is the soul of a democratic society,   \ must be administered without fear or favor. Integrity, Impartiality and Intelligence are some of the important characteristics of the independent judiciary in a democratic setup." The Supreme Court of India is the highest court of law, the entire judicial system of the country is controlled by it. Article 124 of the Constitution provides the establishment and the composition of the Supreme Court. Article 131 tol40deeds with the powers of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court of India has three kinds o jurisdiction: (i) Original jurisdiction(ii) Appellate jurisdiction (iii) Advisory jurisdiction. Under Article 131 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court more...

“India is perhaps a unique country where one witnesses a bandh or strike almost every other day.” —A foreign Press reporter. Our Constitution guarantees the basic rights to every citizen of the country in the chapter on Fundamental Right. It is also a virtual fact that fundament rights of people as a whole cannot be subservient to the fundamental rights of a group or section of the people. There cannot be any right to strike which interferes in the lives of common people and also causing huge loss to national economy. In a democracy, government employees are part and parcel of the government machinery and so owe duty and responsibility towards the society. Too many strikes and bandh are very disastrous for the smooth functioning of government and cause lot of hardships to more...

"After 15 long years and much hobbling Indian Cricket team   I embarked on the historic tour to Pakistan in March 2004. A lot of hitch prevailed upon the decision offending Indian Cricket team to   ' Pakistan/or security and safety reasons, but thanks to prudency and statesmanship of Mr. Vajpayee that Indian Cricket team could visit Pakistan and not only won the cricket matches but also the soul and heart of the Pakistani people" After partition, it was the First time when thousands of Indian poured i| Pakistan by road. rail and by air to watch the India-Pak ODI and Test Series. Kudos to the people of Pakistan who welcomed every Indian with affability and geniality that had no parallel since partition. Even the long history of cricket matches between the two countries never find such a praise more...

"There are some parts of the world that once visited get into your heart and won 'I let go. For me India is such a place when I first visited, I was stunned by the richness of the land by ifs lush beauty and exotic architecture by its ability to overload the senses with the pure, concentrated intensity of its colours, smells, tastes and sounds. It was as if all my life I was seeing the world in black and while and when brought face-to-face with India, experienced everything rendered in brilliant Technicolor.. "                                                                                                    —Keith Bellows "It we were to look over the whole world to find out the country most richly endowed with all the wealth, power and beauty that nature can bestow in some parts a very paradise on earth. I should point to India."                                —Max Mueller The most valuable assets of India as more...