YSR shock deaths bogus, says senior Cong leader October 5, 2009
Posted by reader111 in Congress.Tags: Andhra Pradesh, Congress, Reddy, Sonia Gandhi, YSR
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IANS 30 September 2009, 10:02am IST
HYDERABAD: A senior Congress leader in Andhra Pradesh has termed as “bogus” the shock deaths of 600 people following the demise of chief minister
Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy in a helicopter crash early this month.
Giving a bitter twist to the war of words with the loyalists of the late chief minister, who was known as YSR, Rajya Sabha member V. Hanumantha Rao said the shock deaths were a publicity stunt.
Rao, who is opposing the campaign for making YSR’s son Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy the next chief minister, alleged that Jagan’s supporters were trying to blackmail the party’s central leadership through claims of shock deaths.
The war of words between the senior leader and Jagan’s camp came into the open during a television debate Tuesday night. “These are all bogus and a publicity stunt. They have included even routine deaths and suicides in their account,” Rao said after senior state minister and YSR loyalist N. Raghuveera Reddy claimed that 600 people either died of shock or committed suicide after hearing the news of YSR’s death.
“Was he (YSR) more popular than Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi,” asked Rao, who has already received threatening calls from alleged supporters of Jagan for stating that K. Rosaiah will continue as the chief minister till 2014.
Agriculture Minister Raghuveera Reddy reacted strongly to Rao’s comments and said he was insulting the feelings of the people.
“It is not just the majority of Congress leaders but also leaders from other parties and a majority of the eight crore people of the state who want to see Jagan as the next chief minister,” he said, clarifying that he would abide by the decision of the central leadership on the issue.
Did you know? Lord Ram was born on Jan 10 October 5, 2009
Posted by reader111 in History.Tags: Lord Ram
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Vikas Pathak, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, September 23, 2009
Lord Rama’s birthday should be celebrated a few months before Ramanavami, if an article in Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh mouthpiece Organiser is to be believed.
In the article, the writer, retired bureaucrat Pushkar Bhatnagar, says Rama was born on January 10, 5114 B.C.
Using a software called Planetarium, Bhatnagar fed planetary positions mentioned in Valmiki’s Ramayana to arrive at the date. “This software is used to predict eclipses as well as distances of other planets from earth,” he says in the article.
The argument, however, runs at variance with the conventions of history writing. Historians affix dates to ancient history by associating archaeological discoveries with texts.
For instance, a kind of pottery called painted grey-ware is associated with Vedic texts. Its origins can be traced with carbon dating. This period is placed between 1100 B.C. and 500 B.C.
In Ancient India, historian Romila Thapar places the Mahabharat war in 900 B.C., and the Ramayana later. The logic: the Aryans moved eastward with time, and Ayodhya is east of sites associated with the Mahabharat such as Hastinapur in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut district.
But scholars such as HP Ray of the Jawaharlal Nehru University say the domains of archaeology and text can’t be compared.
Symbols akin to Indus valley culture discovered in Kerala October 5, 2009
Posted by reader111 in hinduism, History, Kerala.Tags: Indus valley culture, Kerala
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PTI 29 September 2009, 10:26am IST
KOZHIKODE (KERALA): A rock engraving indicating clear remnants of Harappan culture, has been found in the Edakkal caves in neighbouring Wayanad
district, linking the Indus Valley civilisation with South India.
“There had been indications of remnants akin to the Indus Valley civilisation in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, but these new findings give credence to the fact that the Harappan civilisation had its presence in the region too and could trace the history of Kerala even beyond the Iron Age,” said historian M R Raghava Varier.
The unique symbols integral to the Indus Valley culture traced in Harappa and Mohanjedaro region that stretched up to Pakistan were found inside the caves during recent excavations by the State Archaeological Department.
Of the identified 429 signs, “a man with jar cup, a symbol unique to the Indus civilisation and other compound letters testified to remnants of the Harappan culture, spanning from 2300 BC to 1700 BC, in South India,” said Varier, who led the excavation at the caves.
The “man-with-the-jar” symbol, an integral remnant commonly traced in parts where the Indus Valley civilisation existed, has even more similarities than those traced in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, he added.
Indus Valley symbols found in Kerala October 5, 2009
Posted by reader111 in History, India, Kerala.Tags: Indus Valley, Kerala
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Ramesh Babu, Hindustan Times
Thiruvananthapuram, September 29, 2009
A rock engraving similar to the unique sign of the Indus Valley civilization — a man with a jar — has been found in Kerala for the first time.
The engraving provides a significant southern link with the 600-year-old Indus Valley civilization that flourished in the northwestern part of the Indian sub-continent between 2300 BC and 1700 BC. Harappa and Mohenjodaro, both now in Pakistan, were the principal towns of the developed urban civilization discovered in the 1920s.
The Dravidian or an equally vibrant civilization existed in southern India during this period, historians said.
The engraving seems to have been made with a stone axe in a linear style to portray a two-dimensional human figure. It was discovered at the Edakkal caves in Wayanad district, 450 km north of state capital Thiruvananthapuram, last week.
Archaeologists and historians are excited with the “unique” discovery.
“What is striking in the Edakkal sign is the presence of an Indus motif, which is rare. The jar is the same as the Indus Valley’s. But the human figure is slightly different. This is where the influence of the Edakkal style really dominates,” said historian M R Raghava Varrier, who identified the sign during the excavation.
“The occurrence of the sign, which is the most characteristic symbol of the Indus script, is very significant,” he said.
Varrier said there had been indications of remnants similar to the Indus Valley civilization in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. But this new finding clearly establishes the fact that the Indus Valley civilization had its presence in the south, he said.
Singapore Fire Walking Festival 2009 October 5, 2009
Posted by reader111 in hinduism.Tags: Singapore Fire Walking Festival
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Singapore Fire Walking Festival 2009 – Theemidhi Ritual at Sri Mariamman Temple in Singapore
The annual Fire Walking festival at the Sri Mariamman Temple in Singapore attracts thousands of Hindu devotees, especially Tamilians from Singapore, India and Malaysia. Singapore Fire Walking Festival 2009 date is October 5 (Monday early morning as per Singapore Standard Time). The Theemidhi Ritual is dedicated to queen Draupadi of Mahabharata who is worshipped as Draupadi Amman in Tamil Culture.
Devotees perform the Theemidhi ritual for their wishes and prayers fulfilled by the Mother Goddess. Thousands of devotees have had their wishes fulfilled after praying at the Sri Mariamman Temple.
The main ritual during the fire walking ceremony involves walking over a four meter pit of burning coal specially prepared at the Mariamman Temple. The chief priest of Sri Mariamman Temple after special prayers and pujas walks over the burning coal and he is followed by those devotees who wish to take part in the ritual. Devotees young and old participate in the ritual.
The main ceremony begins at midnight (0100hrs) devotees take ritual bath at the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple and walk up to Mariamman Temple. All the important rituals associated with Tamil festivals are part of the fire walking ceremony.
One of the most striking aspects during the Theemidhi – Fire Walking Festival – is that all devotees come out of the coal bed without any burns
http://www.hindu-blog.com/2009/09/singapore-fire-walking-festival-2009.html
Science behind Hindu Fire Walking Ritual
Many devotees who partake in Hindu fire walking ritual do not get burned. There is also a popular belief that those who are blessed by Amman will not suffer burns. But in normal case, if a person walks on fire he/she will suffer burns. So what saves these ardent devotees of ‘Amman’?
1.Coal from wood has less thermal capacity. This means less heat is transferred to the feet while walking on fire.
2.The period of contact between burning coal and feet is for a very short period. Many people walk briskly.
3.The bed of burning coal is different from a metal sheet and there are numerous pores or vacant areas in a bed of coal.
4.The bed of burning coal is not a hard surface like a sheet of metal or road, as a person walks the coal displaces.
5.The ash from the coal acts as an insulator. The thick layer of ash on the coal bed is often hidden as the ritual is performed at night. The same bed of burning coal when viewed at day time will clearly show a layer of ash.
6.Many people believe that the entire exercise of fire walking is in the mind. Focus and courage are the two important aspects that help a person come out of the fire ritual unscathed.
It must be noted that several people get burned during fire walking ritual and it is better not practiced.
Posted by abhilash on 30.10.07
http://www.hindu-blog.com/2007/10/science-behind-hindu-fire-walking.html
Embrace Islam, say YouTube ‘Shankaracharyas’ October 5, 2009
Posted by reader111 in Hindu Rights Register.Tags: hinduism, hindus, India, Islam
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Anuraag Singh, Hindustan Times
Varanasi, September 23, 2009
The likely successor to the Shankaracharya of northern and western India is very angry at popular web portal YouTube showing video clips of two ‘fake’ Shankaracharyas, one of who exhorts viewers to embrace Islam and the other explains why he converted to Islam.
He is so enraged that he has decided to seek the intervention of President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh “on this burning issue”.
“We’re also seeking the opinion of experts to proceed legally against the web portal for featuring these video clips which are bound to hurt Hindu sentiments across the world,” Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati of the Jyotishpeeth and Shardapeeth told HT here on Wednesday.
The clips show one of the men dressed in a red robe and the other clad in white pyjamas and sleeveless half-coat, sporting a skull cap and thin beard.
One clip (of 9.20 minutes) shows an old man holding the signature stick of the first Shankaracharya going by the name and title of ‘Devanand Saraswati, Jagatguru Shankaracharya’.
He tells a gathering in Hindi that Islam is the greatest religion in the world and that the first verse of the Quran should motivate Hindus to convert to Islam. The man calls upon the whole world to adopt Islam, adding that those against Islam are devils. “I don’t love those who don’t love Muslims,” he says in the clip.
The second clip of over four minutes shows a young man going by the name of ‘Acharya Sanjay Prasad Dwivedi-turned-Ahmed Pandit’ and bearing the title of the ‘Varanasi Shankar Acharya (sic)’.
This man says in Hindi that he was a Hindu priest in Varanasi who delved deep into the study of the Quran for three years and converted to Islam. Strangely, he is shown speaking at a gathering with a banner reading ‘Health Ministry’ behind him.
Swami Avimukteshwaranand said the two men are frauds as Hindus all over the world recognise only three Shankaracharyas who head the four peeths or religious centres established by the first or Adi Shankaracharya in 500 BC.
The four peeths were set up by him at Joshi Mutt in Uttarakhand, Puri in Orissa, Sringeri in Karnataka and Dwarka in Gujarat. The first Shankaracharya propounded the Advaita Vedanta philosophy of Sanatan Dharma, one of the main streams of Hinduism.
Swami Avimukteshwaranand is to likely to succeed Swami Swarupanand Saraswati as the the Shankaracharya of the religious centres called the Jyotishpeeth and Shardapeeth, which are located in Uttarakhand and Gujarat.
Ayudha Pooja: A unique tradition of love for weapons and machinery October 5, 2009
Posted by reader111 in hinduism.Tags: Ayudha Pooja
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By Team Mangalorean
MANGALORE September 27, 2009: The Ayudha Puja is a worship of whatever implements one may use in one’s livelihood. On the preceding evening, it is traditional to place these implements on an altar to the Divine. If one can make a conscious effort to see the divine in the tools and objects one uses each day, it will help one to see one’s work as an offering to God. It will also help one to maintain constant remembrance of the divine. In India it is customary for one to prostrate before the tools one will use before starting one’s work each day; this is an expression of gratitude to God for helping one to fulfil one’s duties. This year the Ayudha Pooja happened to be celebrated on 27th September (Sunday).
Though basically it is the pooja done by the farmers and manufacturers who use machinary it has percolated into the other stratas of life like the common people. It has become customary to worship the machinery like vehicles, lathes, earthmoving equipments, common household implements, electrical and electronic devices and computers.
The Hindu fraternity see divine power in most of the in-animate things. That is the why the world looks different to them. They revere stones, trees, rivers medicinal plants, air, space and earth, animals, insects, birds, rodents, creatures of the sea and reptiles and many more. Similarly they see divine power in the machinery also. This is how the Hindu culture is involved in saving the ecological balance of this world and save every creation of god on this earth.
Today being the Ayudha pooja the entire city was in festive mood. Inevitably all industrial concerns observed holiday even the most brutally punctual Media houses also did not work. They cleaned their machinery, oiled them well in the previous night and early in the morning performed pooja. On this occasion many owners of machinery distribute sweets and bonus to their employees and some of them do have the afternoon meal with them.
One could see vehicles bedecked with flowers, smeared with kumkum and limestone paste. They break coconut or ash gourd on this occasion symbolizing “bali” lest the vehicle or machinery does not take toll of any human life while functioning.
All the government offices were closed but their drivers did clean the vehicles and took them to the nearest temples to get the pooja done. Those departments like Police, PWD, MESCOM and Revenue department that have fleet of vehicles arranged for pooja in their own premises. It was a sight to see the clean vehicles glistening in the early morning sun.
In individual homes also families got together to do pooja to their machinery, implements and vehicles. After the pooja the families go to a temple using the vehicle, as a result the Devi temples like Kateel Durgaparameshwari, Mangaladevi, Kalikamba, Marigudi in Boloor and Bolar, Mahalasa Narayani in Konchady and many other temples around the city were flooded with vehicles and other families.
http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=broadcast&broadcastid=147574
UPA’s Bofors burial logic: we paid, so no case October 5, 2009
Posted by reader111 in Congress.Tags: Congress, Italy, Italy India, Quattrocchi, Sonia Gandhi, UPA
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Ritu Sarin Posted online: Saturday , Oct 03, 2009 at 0449 hrs
New Delhi : When the CBI files its application to close its case against Ottavio Quattrocchi today, it’s likely to introduce a new argument in the Bofors case: the 1986 contract for 200 Howitzers wasn’t cancelled, no payment was stopped, so there is no case against the Italian businessman.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam said: “The most crucial point in the debate over the tenability of the ongoing case against Quattrocchi is the fact that in the early ‘90s, the Government of the time neither cancelled the Howitzer contract nor withheld payments to the company. Though the CBI chargesheet mentioned wrongful loss to the Government, there was no condonation of the breach of contract (for payments allegedly made to Quattrocchi) subsequently. Hence, no case remains.”
Even Law Minister Veerappa Moily echoed this line: “Once the court quashed charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act and since final payments were made to the Bofors company way back in the ‘90s, the charges become untenable.”
Records show that the advance payment for the contract of SEK (Swedish Kronor) 1.68 billion was made to Bofors on May 2, 1986 while the balance payment amount of SEK 6.72 billion was paid between 1986-1990. (1 SEK is today equivalent to Rs 6.70).
In a note on June 10, 1987, then Minister of State for Defence Arun Singh had recommended that cancellation of the contract should be pursued as an option if the Swedish authorities didn’t cooperate in the probe.
Singh also said that the Prime Minister should “reconfirm with the Chief of Army Staff as to whether the Army could afford the negative impact of a cancellation of the contract”.
On July 4, 1987, the advice of then Attorney General K Parasaran was sought. Though the AG said that Bofors had “clearly breached the contract”, the contract was not annulled.
Sources in the Union Law Ministry, who were involved in drafting the CBI’s report, told The Indian Express that Government’s view that the February 2004 judgment of the Delhi High Court — that cleared the accused — didn’t deserve to be challenged will be another argument cited in favor of closure of cases.
www.indianexpress.com/…/upas–bofors–burial–logic–we–paid–so–no–case/524480
China’s Vision 2012 October 5, 2009
Posted by reader111 in China.Tags: China, communist
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As it turns 60, longevity will be the one wish China’s Communist Party will fervently hold for itself. The “perennial ruling party”, as it likes to be known as, is preparing itself for a critical transition of power. Its outcome will decide the next line-up of leaders who will govern the country in 2012. This could be a high-risk political mahjong that, not unlike the ancient gambling game, calls for skill, strategy and a good measure of luck. As the political leadership calculates its moves, the question is, will the gamble pay off?
The one constant that could underpin the process is unpredictability. Between now and 2012, China could see some of the most bitterly fought leadership battles. Last month, all attention was on the fourth plenary session of the Party’s Central Committee for indicators as to who Hu Jintao’s likely successor will be. Contrary to expectations, Vice President Xi Jinping failed to be named as vice-chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC). The fact that he is the son of a veteran communist revolutionary hero and former vice-premier was expected to ease his way. Princelings or politicians who hail from the families of high-ranking officials have flourished in China’s power matrix. The 25-member Politburo of the Party, for instance, has seven princelings while the larger Central Committee has 19. Xi’s promotion would have been a strong signal that he is en route to becoming China’s next president. But the stumble just goes to show that China’s war of succession is by no means wrapped up or guaranteed to be smooth.
Many of these pitched political contests are also a reminder that China’s policy-making process is hardly the monolithic world of straight-line decision-making that it is often romanticised to be. Internal political competition is set to get intense as Party elders seek to find a place for themselves or their protégés in the influential Politburo Standing Committee of 2012. Hu’s own embattled political position was evident from his decision to leave the G-8 summit this July and rush back to do fire-fighting. He is trying to fend off charges of being ineffectual in his handling of the security situation in Xinjiang and Tibet. He is also under increasing pressure to remove his protégé, the regional secretary of the Party in Xinjiang, Wang Lequan.
These uncertainties could be an indication that there need not be a complete transfer of power in 2012. It remains to be seen if there will be a repeat of the grudging transfer of power, as was the case from Jiang Zemin to Hu. Of his three posts, Jiang relinquished only the position of the general secretary of the Party to Hu in November 2002 and continued as president till March the next year before passing on the mantle to his successor. Most importantly, Jiang continued as chairman of the CMC till late 2004. The outcomes of many of these battles will also turn on how the rivalry between the Shanghai faction under Jiang and the Communist Youth League faction under Hu shapes up.
These mounting tensions also have the potential to make the political leadership jumpy, abrasive and in no mood to take any chances. This would then also impact state-society relations. The recent crackdown against civil society initiatives could be a signal that greater control in the name of caution might be the formulaic political response to dissent. Societal tolerance levels too appear to be fraying thin with people not in much of a mood to forgive any backsliding on social space. The primary challenge facing the Chinese leadership will be to prevent this conversation from breaking down. This will call for a delicate balancing act between the Party’s anxiety about an erosion of its political supremacy and the compelling need for a robust domain of public autonomy. Much will depend on how China’s leaders make this call.
Some of these leadership battles could also feed into a messy brew of national chauvinism, insecurity and uncertainty. Political signalling aimed at winning friends and influencing hardliners could be very much part of this power play. Where posturing ends and reality begins may, for a while, be hard to determine.
The writer is associate professor, Centre for Policy Research, Delhi
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/chinas-vision-2012/524968/3
Uneasy calm in flood-hit temple town Mantralayam in AP October 5, 2009
Posted by reader111 in Hindu Rights Register.Tags: Kurnool, Mantralayam
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PTI, Sunday, October 4, 2009
Hyderabad: An absolute silence prevails in the famous temple town of Mantralayam in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh, which was ravaged by the floods in the river Tungabhadra — a tributary of Krishna river.
The holy town, otherwise bustling with pilgrims, wore a deserted look with the town remaining under several feet of flood water for the past three days. Flood water had even surrounded the sanctum sanctorum housing the holy Brindavan of the Madhwa saint Sri Raghavendra Swamiji.
People across India throng Mantralayam, situated on the bank of the Tungabhadra, to offer their prayers at Raghavendra Swamiji’s Brindavan (where swamiji attained live samadhi).
Though, the water-level has receded today, but, not the woes of the people, particularly pilgrims who saved their lives by moving to rooftops of the buildings surrounding the Raghavendra Swamiji’s mutt, when the town was marooned.
After the water level receded today, the district administration has begun cleaning up the debris and lifting the bodies of humans and scores of cattle that were strewn in the streets, official sources said adding that relief and medical camps were set up in the temple town.
Power supply was yet to be restored, the sources said. Rescue workers recovered at least four bodies from several places in the town and search efforts were on to locate more bodies, if any in the flood-stricken areas.
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