1. FESTIVALS:
Ratha Yatra at Puri in the
state of Odisha, Bharat, the oldest, biggest and the most visited religious
journey in the world, is held on Ashad Shukla Dwitiya corresponding to July 10
this year. The idols of Lord Jagannath,
Lord Balabhadra and Subhadra are usually worshiped in the sanctum of the temple. As part of Rath Yatra, all the
three idols are taken out on three beautifully decorated wooden chariots, in a
procession to Gundicha
Temple
2.
Trutiya Varsha Sangha ShikshA Varg
Concludes: Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh Sarsanghchalak Dr Mohan Bhagwat on June 6 made a strong case for
restoring Dharma that is value system that holds society together to put the
fast declining social, political and economic situation back on rails, while addressing
the participants in the Samapan of the Trutiya Varsha Sangh Shiksha Varg at
Nagpur. Sri Nirmalanandnath Mahaswami, head priest of Chunchungiri Mutt, Bangalore
On Chinese incursions in Bharatiya
territory, he said, “Our leaders look at this ‘aggression’ as ‘localized
affair’. They do not know that by saying this they are helping the enemy of the
nation.”. Sri Sri Sri Nirmalanand Mahaswami said that immense energy of youth,
70% of the population, should be diverted towards the positive direction so
that it could be harnessed properly for development of the society.
3.
Raghav Joneja, 15, becomes youngest bharatiya to climb Everest: At the age of 15 years and seven months, Raghav
Joneja from Moradabad became the youngest Bharatiya
to scale the Mount Everest when he along with
his five schoolmates summited highest peak. Raghav broke the record set by
Manipur's Nameirakpam Chingkheinganba, at 16 years seven months and 11 days, as
recently as last month, surpassing Arjun Vajpai's feat by a week.
A student of Lawrence School Asia 's
extant boarding schools, in Kasuali, became the youngest group and the first
school team in the world to reach the top of the 8,848 metres (29,029 ft)
mountain range.
"It feels really good to
become the youngest Bharatiya to summit such a tough peak. We were trained for
around eight months for this expedition. Climbing the peak with my schoolmates
made it little easier," Raghav said of the expedition supported by Hero
Cycles.
Besides Raghav, Ajay Sohal
(17) Prithvi Chahal (17) Shubham Kaushik (16), Fateh Brar (16) Guribadat Singh
(17) climbed the peak while one of their teammate Hakikat Grewal had to retreat
from 27,600 ft after facing problems with his oxygen mask.
4. 2ND HINDU PRIESTS’ CONFERENCE IN USA was
held st Shri Surya Narayan Mandir, Jamaica ,
New York
The conference started with
the chanting of Ganesha Atharvashirsha by more than 50 priests, followed by Amrutur
Srinivasan’s presentation on the challenges facing priests in the community.
Pandit Parasram spoke about the work of the USA Pandits’ Parishad in Guyana and in the USA Arya Spiritual
Center
There were sessions on topics
such as Priests’ Role: Issues & Concerns; Community’s Issues &
Concerns: Devotees’ & Executives’ Inputs; Sharing resources, the GOTO
Group; Education & Training; The role of Priests and their Assimilation in the
North American society; Hindu Chaplaincy in the University Setting; and Continuing
Education and Skill Development Strategies. In one of the sessions, Aneesh
Bairavasundaram presented “My story: Growing up in a Priest’s family”.
Another youth Austin Ayer
spoke about the training available at universities in the Maharishi
Organization, Devi Mehrotra spoke about the Hindu Students Council at Yale University North America ; and Two to develop a Priests Training
Workshop Model that includes development of a Guide Book. Hindu Mandir Executives’
Conference is an initiative of Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America founded in 1970
and incorporated in the state of New
York
5.
Isro sets up fellowship at US
The fellowship will provide
an opportunity every year to one meritorious graduating student from the
aerospace department of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology,
Thiruvananthapuram, to pursue masters in aerospace engineering at Caltech,
according to ISRO. The programme begins with Caltech's winter session of the
academic year 2013-14.
Satish Dhawan was an alumnus
of Caltech's Graduate Aerospace Laboratories and obtained his PhD in aerospace
in 1951. He was serving as distinguished visiting professor during 1971-72 at
Caltech, preceding his ISRO chairmanship starting in 1972. Dhawan was bestowed
the Distinguished Alumni Award by Caltech in 1969, the institute's highest
alumnus honour.
6.
Hindu Americans Welcome FBI's 'Yes' to
Anti-Hindu Hate Crime: The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) welcomed the
FBI Advisory Policy Board's (APB) recommendation that the FBI collect and
report data regarding anti-Hindu, anti-Sikh, and anti-Arab hate crimes as part
of its annual national data collection program mandated by the Hate Crime
Statistics Act of 1990 (HCSA).
Over the past several months,
Hindu Americans and supporters of the community lit up their Congressional leaders'
phone lines in a nationwide campaign to encourage support for this initiative.
The final decision to add the categories was taken on June 6 by the Advisory
Policy Board, a subsidiary of the Department of Justice.
"We hope Director Robert
Mueller approves the APB recommendation quickly so that they may be implemented
without further delay," said Samir Kalra, Esq., HAF Director and Senior
Human Rights Fellow. "Law-enforcement agencies will now be better able to
track and assess trends in hate crimes against these communities and, most
importantly, provide better protection."
7.
Guru Vandana 2013 Report: Meera Shakha,
PA: Annual Guru Vandana Utsav was celebrated
on Sunday, June 2nd, in Meera Shakha ,
PA.
Mahesh-ji Kalla, HSS NE
Sambhag karyawaha, delievered bouddhik focusing on what is "guru" and
its importance in today's society and how Hindu culture brings in this
important aspect to American society and the world.
8. BHARAT TO BECOME WORLD'S MOST POPULOUS NATION
AROUND 2028: UN: Bharat will surpass China
The report 'World Population
Prospects' says the world's population will hit 7.2 billion next month and is
projected to reach 10.9 billion by 2100, with the growth mainly occurring in
developing countries, with more than half in Africa .
But, with the number of
future global dwellers linked to fertility, the number at the end of the
century could be as high 16.6 billion or even fall to 6.8 billion, it adds. After
that, Bharat's population will continue to grow and that of China
9. Muslim-majority
Indonesia gifts goddess Saraswati’s statue to America’s Washington: Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim
population in the world, has gifted an imposing 16 feet statue of Saraswati,
the Hindu goddess of education and wisdom, to the American Capital city of
Washington DC.
The statue of goddess
Saraswati on top of a lotus flower, stands tall a block away from the Bharatiya
Embassy in front of a statue of Mahatma Gandhi which was installed several
years ago.
Prior to its installing, the
structure of the statue was built in Bali and
later flown to the US Capital in early April 2013. This steel structure is divided
into three parts: upper body, lower body, and base, the later consisting a
formation of a lotus flower and a white goose. Furthermore, instead of using
bronze or stone, the sculptors opted for a mix of cement to model the body of
the statue.
10. HISTORIC FIRSTS AS HINDUS CELEBRATE A DECADE OF
ADVOCACY ON CAPITOL HILL: A Hindu
monk offered the opening prayer for the House of Representatives and the birth
sesquicentennial of Swami Vivekananda, considered Hinduism's first ambassador
to the West, was marked in the Congressional record on June 4 morning. These
two historical firsts led up to a gala celebration attended by over 300 as the
Hindu American Foundation (HAF) marked its tenth year of advocacy on Capitol
Hill. A parade of Senate and House leaders took turns at the podium of the
ornate Caucus Room of the House
Cannon Building
"The dividends of a
decade of investments in education, advocacy, and tireless interactions with
every level of our nation's government were on display throughout HAF's full
day of events," said Mihir Meghani, M.D., Co-Founder and member of the HAF
Board of Directors. "A Hindu prayer given on the floor of the House, and
the words of Swami Vivekananda offered by Congressman Ami Bera (D-CA) inspired
a remarkable day and will carry us into the next decade of tireless work."
11.
Hundreds in Fiji
take crash course in Sanskrit: Hundreds
of people in Fiji
Even as the classes are being
held now at Labasa in Macuata province on the island
of Vanua Levu , the earlier classes in Fiji 's capital Suva
“The way this course was run was easy to
understand and it captured the participants' interest and enthusiasm on the
first day and they were compelled to take time every evening for classes.”
Established in 2000, FSS is
an affiliated body of the Bharat Sevashram Sangha and operates two centres from
Lautoka , Fiji 's
second largest city on ths island of Viti Levu , and Suva
12.
Dr
Mukund Modi is no more: Dr. Mukund
Modi of Staten Island , New York , USA America USA
and UK
13.
Bharatiya-origin Australian appointed envoy to Israel: A 37-year-old Bharatiya-origin Australian diplomat
Devanand Sharma, popularly known as Dave Sharma, Australia's new envoy to
Israel is only the second Australian-Bharatiya to be appointed ambassador, the
other being Peter Varghese who was Australia's Ambassador to Bharat. Varghese
was born in Kenya
Sharma, who was born in Vancouver and moved to Sydney
in 1979, said he wants to change how Australians think of the Middle Eastern
country.Sharma's lineage can be traced to Uttar Pradesh and his grandfather
migrated to Trinidad in 1908 from Bharat.
14.
Be prepared to protect Hindu society,
Dharma: Togadia: "Though the Hindu society did not lack in
valor and courage, it has been suppressed by excessive doses of non-violence
and peace in the last 200 years. The growing insults heaped on Hindu society
are resulting out of this inaction and indifferent attitude that has crept in
the society following these overdoses of non-violence and peace. The time has
come to throw off this inertia and stand with fresh strength, vigor and valor
to protect the 100 crore Hindu society and Dharma in Bharat, appealed
Dr Pravin Togadia,
International Working President of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) speaking at the
concluding function of Shaurya Prashikshan Shivir of Bajrang Dal at Nagpur.
Baljindersingh Nair presided over the valedictory program while VHP VIdarbha
Pressident Vijayjit Valia, Vice-President Prof Hemant Jambhekar, Secretary Ajay
Nildawar, Umesh Pradhan were prominently present.
15.
bharatiya-American
kids cast a ‘spell': The German curse
has turned into a German blessing,” exclaimed 13-year-old Arvind Mahankali from
New York as he tackled a German-derived word with ease this time round and
walked away with the US's hugely-popular Scripps National Spelling Bee.
In his last two outings,
Arvind had finished third, with German-derived words tripping him up on both
occasions. But on Thursday night, he had his way as he correctly spelled
“knaidel”, a German-derived Yiddish word for a mass of leavened dough.
With that winning word,
Arvind had the better off fellow Bharatiya-American finalist, Pranav Sivakumar
from Tower Lakes , Illinois
As in recent years, Bharatiya-American
children continued their domination of this competition, claiming the top three
spots. The boy to finish third was Sriram Hathwar from New York US
16. British town Warwick ’s
first Sikh mayor sworn-in: A Sikh man
has been elected as the first Bharatiya-origin mayor of the
"historic" Warwick town in Britain 's West Midlands
region. Prabhjit Singh Dhillon, who became the 280th mayor of the town,
described his appointment as a "privilege".
After being sworn in as the
mayor at a ceremony, Dhillon said: "I am truly honoured and humbled to be
elected by my fellow councillors to become mayor for 2013-2014."
17. BHARATIYA COS
CHECKMATE CHINA ON MYANMAR'S GAS BLOCKS BID: The threat from the Chinese dragon seems to have been overwhelmed by
the Bharatiya elephant in the oil and gas sector as seven domestic companies
including ONGC and Oil India Ltd (OIL) are in the fray as potential bidders for
Myanmar's onshore gas blocks which are coming up for auction, while only one
company from China features in the list of 59 bidders which have been short
listed by the South-east Asian country.
18. MUSLIM
COMMUNITY IN MATHURA HOLD ANTI-COW SLAUGHTER
CONVENTION: In a rare gesture, Muslim
community in Mathura
"The Muslims of Mathura
are not in favour of cow slaughter. It is the handiwork of outsiders who kidnap
cows from here at night and then slaughter them," said Abdul Zabbar,
convener of the anti-cow slaughter convention held at Islamia Inter
College
"Cow slaughtering was
started by Britishers in order divide both the communities. The country got
independence owing to Hindu-Muslim unity," Sant Ramesh Baba, who was the
first to start crusade against mining in hillocks of Barsana about two decades
ago, said.
In order to protect the
culture of Brij, unity in both the communities is a must, Sant Jai Kishan Das,
National President of Yamuna Rakshak Dal said during the convention, which also
addressed issues relating to pollution of river Yamuna.
19. Kalyan
Ashram boys' hostel in Kathmandu: Akhil
Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram President, Jagdev Ram Oraon inaugurated newly
built administrative office cum boys hostel named "Aamaako Maya
Chhatrabas" run by Janjati Kalyan Ashram Nepal in Kathmandu on 2nd June
2013.
At present Kalyan Ashram is
running 5 such hostels for the Janjatis 35 Sraddha Jagaran Kendras / Bal
Sanskar Kendras and 50 Ekal Vidhyalayas throughout Nepal
Addressing the ceremony,
Madhav Acharya, Rastriya Karyavah of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh Nepal
Dr. Sundarmani Dikshit, the
special guest, said, "The indigenous people of this land have fallen prey
to the conspiracies of Christians. They need a strong support to retain their
own customs, traditions and culture. It is praiseworthy to see activists of
Kalyan Ashram working among the Janjatis of Nepal." Chief guest, Jagdev Ram Oraon on his part
ensured that Akhil Bharatiya Kalyan Ashram would always be happy to extend
cooperation required by Juniata Kalian Ashram in Nepal
20. MISSILE MAN
AVINASH CHANDER APPOINTED NEW DRDO CHIEF: Eminent scientist Avinash Chander, an IIT-Delhi graduate, who is
considered to be the key architect of the AGNI series of nuclear capable missiles,
has been named as the new chief of the Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO) and will take over with immediate effect.
The scientist will serve as
the next DRDO Chief for three years. A Padma Shri awardee, Chander has led the
design and development of the AGNI 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 series of missiles that
culminated with the latest of the series undertaking a successful test that
demonstrated a range of over 5000 km.
21. PAK'S
PROVINCE ASSEMBLY GETS ITS FIRST SIKH MEMBER: In a historic milestone for the
Sikh community in Pakistan ,
Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora has become the first person from the minority
community to enter the Punjab province
assembly, since the country's independence in 1947. Arora belongs to Narowal
district, 80 km from Lahore
22. BHARAT,
THAILAND HOPEFUL OF TRILATERAL HIGHWAY BY 2016: An ambitious project to develop a 3,200-km highway
linking Bharat, Myanmar and Thailand was an important item on the agenda of
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit here.
On Thursday, Dr. Singh and
his Thai counterpart Yingluck Shinawatra expressed the hope that the highway
would be ready by 2016. Bharat has already given Myanmar
23.
Vijnana Bharati to hold ‘Tech for Seva’
in September: Vijnana Bharati, in
collaboration with Seva Sahayog, Global Indian Scientists & Technocrats
Foundation (GIST) and Maharshi Karve Stree Shikshan Samstha (MKSSS) will be
organizing “Tech for Seva” a socio-technical conference on inclusive and
sustainable social development on September 28-29, 2013 at Cummins Engineering
College, MKSSS, Pune.
This conference Tech for Seva
provides an opportunity to scientific and technological fraternity to come
forward and use their creative ability for social good and thus pay tributes to
Swami Vivekananda who had inspired the late Jamshetji Tata to start first ever
modern scientific institute – Indian Institute of Science (IIS) Bangalore
The conference will be
deliberating on topics related to Education, Health, Livelihood and
Environment. Scholarly research papers will be presented in the conference.
Besides posters on success stories and problems to be addressed; Expo
showcasing relevant and appropriate technologies along with solutions
manifested into reality and student competition in ideas which highlight the
use of technology to solve problems will be added attraction of the conference.
Registration and other details are available on www.techforseva.org.
24.
For
18 yrs, his school for blind has been scoring 100% in Std X: While conventional schools strive hard to produce
100% pass in state board examination, a special school for visually impaired
children in Sundararajanpatti near Madurai
In the SSLC examination
results announced on May 31, all the 23 visually challenged students who
appeared for the examination passed it by securing more than 70% marks.In
fact,13 students secured more than 80% and three got more than 90% marks.
Talking about the success A
Jinnah, founder and secretary of the school, said All the required facilities
for the visually impaired students are available in the school.The students
also show keen interest in their study which results in success, he said.
25 just 8 and she kicks butt:
Eight-year-old Disha is on a mission
to create a smoke-free world. In the last two years, the class 3 student has
reportedly succeeded in persuading 200 persons to kick the butt. It was the
death of her grandfather, who was a chain smoker, a few years back that drove
her to start this campaign. Her strategy is quite novel. Disha says, "I
ask people a simple question, 'How will you feel if you are put in a closed
room.' When they say that they will die of suffocation, then I tell them 'same
is the case with your lungs when you smoke'."
Dinesh Parihar, who is making
a film on Disha called 'Ekaur Anna', says, "I was impressed by the way she
expresses things." Sharad Pandit agrees: "The appeal made by such a
small child will have a good impact." Indeed, Vikram Singh, director of an
Indore-based firm, admits that he quit smoking on Disha's persuasion. "I
was sitting in a restaurant and smoking along with my business partner.
Suddenly, a little girl appeared and started telling us about the harmful
effect of smoking. It's now more than a year since we kicked the butt."
26. TIBETAN YOUTH MOVEMENT FOR COMPLETE INDEPENDENCE GOAL: The
15th General Body Meeting of the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), the largest
exile Tibetan non-governmental organization, ended at Dharamsala June 1 with
the election of Mr Tenzing Jigme from Minnesota ,
USA Pokhara ,
Nepal
27.
Bharat now biggest source of migrants to
Australia : Report: Bharat has become the leading source of permanent
migrants to Australia for
the first time, ahead of China China
During the same time British
arrivals rose to 25,273 from 23,931 with the Philippines
and South Africa Britain
28. SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN: Pravas: Shri Ravikumar, sah samyojak Vishwa Vibhag will
return from his weeklong tour to Israel USA
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: My ideas are going to work in the West better than in India New
York
JAI SHREE RAM
Look to Aurobindo,
Tagore and the restJS
Rajput
Policy makers should revamp
their thoughts on what constitutes sound education in the Indian context. Our
greats have provided the hints
The world of education, under
the glamorous influence of the Information and Communications Technology, has
no time to recall the educational ideas of Indian thinkers who really
understood India, its history and heritage, and above all, its culture of
acceptance. It is tough to recall any serious national-level discussion
organised by the Governments at the Centre or in the States on the educational
ideas of Swami Dayanand Saraswati, Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, Zakir
Husain, Rabindranath Tagore, Sri Aurobindo, Mahatma Phule, BR Ambedkar and
several other luminaries. During the last couple of years, the West-ward
orientation of the Government of India has been total: Wisdom resides only in
the West and must be borrowed without any hesitation. Experts in education
working in national institutions are being regularly sent to the US
In 1906, Tagore in the
context of the National Education Council, set up to ‘keep an eye on the entire
education system of the country’, posed the question “as to the idea according
to which education will be conducted”. He added that the rules to be followed
or the textbooks to be prescribed are external issues”. His elaboration in that
context remains totally relevant even in current times and could guide
policy-makers and programme implementers provided they were willing to
internalise the essence. Comparing the school to a kind of machine that
delivers education, he finds the teacher as one of its part. Machines deliver
uniform products as ordered, but ‘men differ from one another.' In these days,
when practically every human activity including education is greatly influenced
by the advances in ICT, Tagore's one simple-looking sentence could pave the
path for educational regeneration: “And man can never get from a machine what
he can get from another human being.”
The CBSE has decided to ask
questions on values in its examinations. One wishes they had studied Tagore's
perceptions on moral instructions in schools: “It is futile to expect that a
few bookish words delivered between ten to four in the school can rectify the
corruption of taste that is being perpetrated every moment by thousand of lies
and perversion of our artificial life-style”. It is the societal norms and
practices and the role models and icons that inculcate and nurture values.
Teachers nurture and develop these. How prophetic were his observations that
urban schools would not allow the learner to see the soul of universe pervading
“fire, water, sea, land and the entire world”.
In these days of
ever-increasing curriculum load that deprives the child of his childhood in
prestigious public schools, Tagore's vision is very revealing: “Is it the
child's fault that he appeared at birth, without practising algebra or
memorising history texts? Is that why the poor wretch must be deprived of his
air and light, his happiness and leisure and his education made punitive in
every way? Could it not be that children come in this world without any
knowledge so that they could savour the excitement of knowing from a state of
not-knowing?”
To move ahead in the process
of knowing, the family and the teacher contribute in a big way. These days,
schools have rigid and fixed regimes; these are augmented by concerned parents
through imposition of tuitions, extra coaching in areas like tennis, dance
classes, swimming lessons and much more. In the extreme that India
Is it not the time that the
nation sits up and sets its education system in order?
– The Pioneer, 05 June 2013.
