\SAMVAD श्री विश्व निकेतन SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN
Phalgun Shukla 6, Vik. Samvat 2076 Yugabda 5121: 1March 2020
1. FESTIVALS: VARSHA PRATIPADA:
Yugadi Chaitra Shukla Pratham - Vikram Samvat 2077 –Sharvari Namsamvatsar -Yugabada
5122 starts on 25th March this year. The first day of the year according to the
National Calendar of Bharat recalls the inspiring occasion when the invading
Shakas—the barbaric hordes from Central Asia descending on Bharat like locusts
during the first century AD, were vanquished by the great emperors Shalivahana
and Vikramaditya. The day falls in the middle of spring – Vasanta Ritu – when
the Goddess of Nature gets bedecked as a divine bride. The day is celebrated as
Varsh Pratipada, Ugadi, Gudi Padwa, Navreh etc. in different parts of Bharat.
As a happy and meaningful coincidence, Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, the great
founder of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was born on this very day of
Yugadi (of 1889). RSS shakhas begin with Adya Sarasanghachalak Pranam on this
day before Dhwajarohana. -GoTop
2. MAHA SHIVARATRI CELEBRATED WITH TRADITIONAL FERVOR,
GAIETY IN SRI LANKA: In Sri Lanka, the festival of Maha Shivaratri was
celebrated by Hindus on February 21 with traditional fervor and gaiety. People
were seen queuing up outside temples to offer their prayers and rituals to Lord
Shiva. There are five Shiva temples in different parts of the country which are
associated with the Ramayana period and these temples are attractions of
thousands of devotees. Government and business offices observe the holiday on
the occasion. -GoTop
3. SRI RAM MANDIR : MAHANT NRITYA GOPAL DAS ELECTED AS
PRESIDENT AND CHAMPAT RAI AS GENERAL SECRETARY : Mahant Nritya Gopal Das was
elected President and Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s Champat Rai as General Secretary
of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirtha Kshetra Trust at its first meeting in New
Delhi on February 20. The meeting, held at the residence of senior lawyer K
Parasaran, also elected Pradhan Mantri Modi’s former principal secretary
Nripendra Misra as the head of the temple construction committee of the trust.
It was also decided to open an account in Ayodhya’s State Bank of India branch
for donations for the Ram temple construction. Swami Govind Dev Giri of Pune was
appointed as treasurer of the trust. The Trust has seven members, five nominated
members and three trustees. -GoTop
4. RADICALISM DISTURBING WORLD PEACE, ONLY BHARAT HAS
SOLUTION: SHRI MOHAN BHAGWAT: Problems such as radicalism and climate change
are disturbing peace across the world and the solution is only with Bharat as it
has got the experience to think holistically and address these issues, RSS
Sarasanghachalak Mohan Bhagwat said in Ranchi on February 20 addressing the
'Metropolitan Meeting' there. Calling upon RSS members to connect with people
irrespective of their caste, language, religion or region, Dr Bhagwat said that
Bharat's characteristic is to fasten everyone with one thread on the principle
of 'VasudhaivaKutumbakam' (the world is a family). "We believe that the world
has made us and we have to give back to it and we look at the world with
gratitude," Shri Bhagwat added. -GoTop
5. RSS ORGANISES UNIQUE ' MAHAKUMBH' IN AYODHYA : RSS
for the first time organized a unique record-breaking event in Ayodhya where 101
Shakhas were conducted at the same time on the banks of the river Sarayu.
Thousands of RSS Swayamsevaks were part of this mega event in Ayodhya. The
101-Shakha event was organized to showcase the importance of Shakha in nation
building. The shakhas were conducted for one hour where the Swayamsevaks played
traditional games, performed Yoga and exercises, and participated in
intellectual discussions. Addressing the Swayamsevaks, Mithilesh Narayan,
Bauddhik Pramukh of Eastern UP Region of RSS, said that the Swayamsevaks of the
Sangh work with a common goal which is to attend shakha every day and take
inspiration from the same Shakha and work for building a strong nation brick by
brick. -GoTop
6. IDSA RENAMED AFTER MANOHAR PARRIKAR: The Union
government has decided to rename well-known think tank Institute for Defence
Studies and Analysis (IDSA) as ‘Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies
and Analysis’.
“The decision has been taken to honour the commitment and legacy of the late
Manohar Parrikar. It will align the vision and aspiration of the premier defense
institute with the contribution of the former Defense Minister and Padma Bhushan
awardee,” the Defence Ministry said in a statement on 18th February.
-GoTop
7. PM MODI INAUGURATES ONE OF THE BIGGEST MEGA-KITCHENS IN
BHARAT : Pradhan Mantri Narendra Modi inaugurated Shri Kashi Vishwanath Anna
Kshetra alongwith multiple other projects in Varanasi on February 16. The
kitchen has joined the list of mega-kitchens of Swarna Mandir, Shirdi Sai Trust,
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, Akshay Patra, etc. To begin with, Shri Kashi
Vishwanath Anna Kshetra has a capacity to feed 5,000 devotees every day.
-GoTop
8. YOGA NOT RELIGION, BUT SCIENCE : UpaRashtrapati M
Venkaiah Naidu said that yoga is not a religion or a political activity, but a
science and should be practised for the betterment of an individual. “The world
needs more happiness and that is exactly what Lord Shiva teaches us. Adiyogi is
the one who first transmitted the yogic science to humanity,” he said on
February 21, speaking at the Mahashivaratri festival organized at Isha Yoga
Centre at Coimbatore, where the 112 feet tall statue of Adiyogi formed the
background. Adiyogi is an inspiration and representation of Yoga, which is not a
belief, but a technology to transform oneself, UpaRashtrapatiji said.
-GoTop
9. DEMOCRACY BEST FORM OF GOVT: BHAYYAJI : RSS
Sarakaryavah Suresh 'Bhayyaji' Joshi said that although democracy has its flaws,
it is the best form of government. He was speaking at the inauguration of a new
building of a co-operative bank in Nagpur on February 21. “In our democracy, the
government has huge powers and this power is created by the society. If we look
at the ruling patterns across the world, democracy has the least number of
flaws...It is not that democracy does not have flaws but it is the best system,”
he said. “If the common man is awakened, then democracy also succeeds,” he
added. “Constitution has given us rights, but the duties of the people have not
been elaborated very well in this written Constitution,” he said. Leader of
Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Devendra Fadnavis, was also
present on the occasion. -GoTop
10. OVER 90 LAKH PEOPLE IN BHARAT LEARNT SANSKRIT:
Rajata Mahotsava, a Silver jubilee event to commemorate 25 years of Samskrita
monthly Sambhashana Sandesha’ published from Bengaluru was conducted on 15th
February. Janardhan Hegde, Editor of the magazine spoke on how the idea of
Samskrita language to be spoken by common people had to be initiated not merely
by propagating that the language was easy to speak and understand but was in
effectively reaching people’s hearts and convincing the ease in learning of the
language by practice. Satyanarayana Bhat, Akhila Bharatiya Mantri of Samskrita
Bharati said over 90 lakh people in Bharat have learnt Samskrita through various
shibirs conducted by Samskrita Bharati. -GoTop
11. BHARAT CANNOT BE UNDERSTOOD THROUGH FOREIGN EYES :
A three-day discussion on media, social media and films was organized by Prerna
Media, an organization inspired by RSS ideals of Bharatiyata and its
rejuvenation, and Gautam Buddha University (GBU) at Greater NOIDA on February
7-9. About a thousand participants from print and electronic media, media
students and teachers, film personalities and writers deliberated on how best
the media can be brought closer to Bharatiya culture. Inaugurating the
discussion, RSS Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh Shri Arun Kumar asked the
audience not to read Wikipedia and other foreign sources if they wanted to
understand Bharat and its culture. These foreigners were themselves groping in
the dark about Bharat. And they even have tried to malign Bharat.
GBU Vice Chancellor Prof. Bhagwati Prakash called for retention of elements of
Bharatiya heritage in the field of mass communication. Chief editor Panchjanya
Shri Hitesh Shankar recalled many illustrious journalists who worked during
freedom movement to arouse the awareness of the nation to fearlessly face the
colonialist tormentors. A highlight of the program was a festival of short films
(of 2-10 minutes duration) on subjects like patriotism, Bharatiya culture,
swachchhata, tree plantation, national reconstruction, great personalities of
Bharatiya history etc. More than a hundred entries were received of which 3 were
awarded cash prizes and citations. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla advised the media
to realize that in the interest of democracy, a free, fair and impartial media
is indispensable. -GoTop
12. CELEBRATING ‘SHAKTI’ : Dedicated to the theme
‘Revering Womanhood’ the six-day 11th Hindu Spiritual and Service Fair (HSSF)
was organized in Chennai from January 28 to February 3. This annual service fair
is being organized for the last ten years and provides the Hindu spiritual and
voluntary organizations all across the country to showcase their activities and
exchange experience in different spheres of life. It had just 30 participants in
2009 and now more than 300 Hindu spiritual organizations and communities across
10 states participate in it. This year’s Fair was unique as it focused on the
matrishakti with the theme ‘Revering Womanhood’. It was inaugurated by Mata
Amritanandamayi. She stressed on gender equality. She said: “In Vedic and
post-Vedic times, women were viewed with great respect and reverence.”
-GoTop
13. EKAL PARIVARTAN KUMBH: With the call that ‘each one
teach five persons’ and each village make at least three surrounding villages
equally self-reliant and literate, 3 day Ekal Parivartan Kumbh-2020 began on
February 17 at Lucknow.
Over a lakh persons from across the country and also over a dozen foreign
countries including the US, Australia, New Zealand, Dubai, Nepal etc. joined the
Parivartan Kumbh. Inaugurating the Swaraj Senani Sammelan noted saint Pujya
Govinddev Giri Maharaj, Didi Maa Sadhvi Ritambhara and Pujya Balaknath Maharaj
called upon the people to be the change agents in their villages and shun the
mindset of depending upon governments agencies for everything. Founder member of
Ekal Shri Shyam ji Gupt also shared the dais.
-GoTop
14. WORLD'S FIRST YOGA UNIVERSITY OUTSIDE BHARAT TO START
CLASSES IN THE US LATER THIS YEAR : Admissions for the post graduation
course in the US along with research in the ancient Bharatiya practice will
begin in April. The Vivekananda Yoga University (VAYU) has established its
initial campus in Los Angeles with a budget of $5 million. Sree Sreenath, a
Professor from Case Western University, has been named its president and
Bharatiya yoga guru H R Nagendra as its chairman. The announcement by the
university came within three months of receiving official recognition from the
Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education, California to offer yoga-based
higher education programs in November 2019.VAYU is said to be the brain child of
Dr. Nagendra, a former scientist from NASA, who has been working on converting
yoga into a socially relevant science for the last four decades. The university
will help thousands of yoga teachers in the US whose yoga education was limited
to 200 or 500 hours of certificate programs to progress further into
university-based higher education, said Prem Bhandari, a member of the VAYU
board of directors. -GoTop
15. YOGA: THE DAWN OF A NEW AGE IN TRINIDAD : The idea
of yoga as a treatment modality is known in Trinidad & Tobago. In January, a
local social workgroup called SEWA TT – a major stakeholder in social work began
an initiative called ‘The Stop Diabetes Movement’ (SDM) in partnership with the
Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (S-VYASA) university located in
Bangalore, Bharat.
In collaboration with Shri Chinmay Supur (head of academic development and
research at VYASA NorCal) , SEWA TT conducted a 9-day yoga workshop at the NCIC
Nagar in Chaguanas. This workshop saw the training of 11 yoga instructors in the
yoga protocols for chronic disease patients. This workshop was completed at the
end of January and these very instructors will conduct a once-weekly yoga
programme that will run for three months on three sample groups. These groups
will be diabetics, pre-diabetics, and normal individuals. It is hoped that after
3 months, data would be available in a T&T population that supports yoga as an
essential modality of treatment among chronic disease patients in T&T that
yields better outcome. -GoTop
16. PIO RISHI SUNAK NAMED NEW FINANCE MINISTER OF UK :Bharatiya-origin
politician Rishi Sunak was appointed as the U.K.’s new Finance Minister on
February 13 by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a Cabinet reshuffle. Sunak joins
Home secretary Priti Patel on the top government bench as the Chancellor of the
Exchequer. The 39-year-old is set to move into No. 11 Downing Street, next door
to the Prime Minister’s Office as he takes charge of the second most important
government position as the Finance Minister. The MP for Richmond in Yorkshire,
married to Infosys Co-founder Narayana Murthy’s daughter Akshata, first entered
the U.K. Parliament in 2015 and has fast risen up the Conservative Party ranks
as a staunch Brexiteer who had backed Johnson’s strategy to leave the European
Union (EU). The U.K.-born son of a pharmacist mother and a National Health
Service (NHS) general practitioner (GP) father is an Oxford University and
Stanford graduate. -GoTop
17. TAMIL TEMPLE BEGUN IN WEST JAKARTA AFTER 60 YEARS :
Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, attended the laying of the first stone of a
house of worship for Hindus, especially ethnic Tamils, who are on Jalan Bedugul,
Kalideres, West Jakarta, on February 14. The event was attended by Bharatiya
Ambassador to Indonesia, Pradeep Kumar Rawat, and various parties from the ranks
of the DKI P rovincial Government and interfaith leaders."Our waiting is very
long, we have been fighting for almost 60 years. Today, that (house of worship)
was realized, " DPP Chairperson Gema Sadhama, AS Kobalen said with tears in his
eyes. Anies then gave the highest appreciation to the Hindu Tamil community in
Jakarta. "Earlier the speech from Kobalen told the process of waiting for the
Hindu community to have a house of worship. And today, the wait got the answer.
The next phase is to build ,” Anies said. -GoTop
18. THOUSANDS OF JAPANESE MAKING A SMOOTH TRANSITION FROM
ZEN TO JAIN : Wrapped in white loin cloth, they chant the navkar mantra,
follow dietary self-abnegation, wake up with the sun, consume only warm water,
meditate for hours in derasars (Jain temple) and dine before the sunsets.
Thousands of Japanese are turning to Jainism. Apart from living like astute
Jains, their calendars are marked for an annual pilgrimage to Bharat where they
spend weeks studying Jain script under the learned monks. The charming Naganoken
town, home to the seventh century Zenko-ji temple with a hidden Buddha, sees
hundreds of Japanese nationals travel to Palitana and Shankheswar to embrace
Jainism every year. Just a month ago, 2,500 Japanese travelled to Tharad in
Northern Gujarat and spent a week there with the disciples of Jayant
Sensuriswarji Maharaj Saheb. The Japanese follow the eight-day holy festival of
Paryushan too. -GoTop
19. FIIDS EVENT AT VIRGINIA- HOW TO COUNTER ANTI GOI
POLICIES (CAA/NRC, ARTICLE 370) : On the background of debates around
Bharat’s recently announced Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and abolition of
article 370 of Bharat’s constitution, Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora
Studies (http://FIIDS-usa.org) hosted a panel discussion on the issues and the
crucial role of Bharatiya Americans. The panel included Nissim Reuben (AJC),
Senge Sering (Gilgit Baltistan Analyst), Sant Gupta (political analyst) , and
Dr. Vijay Sazawal (ex-President of Indo American Kashmir Forum). The panel was
moderated by Nar Koppula, a founding member of the Washington DC-based US-India
Security Forum (USISF). Dr. Vijay Sazawal, a Kashmir born policy analyst
observed that the constitutional provision under which Kashmir trifurcation was
done, has been used by the Government of Bharat in past in the case of SC/ST
provision and hence there is a precedent that will stand in any judicial
scrutiny. A Gilgit-Baltistan activist Senge Sering stressed that Bharat not only
has a legitimate right on the Gilgit-Baltistan region but also should protect
the region being exploited by China under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Bharat-born Nissim Reuben mentioned that Bharat is right on actions but short on
building right perception.
In his closing comments, Khanderao Kand, the director of FIIDS, emphasized that
the CAA should have been named as Neighbour Persecuted Religious Minority
Refugee Act. -GoTop
20. JUDGE SRI SRINIVASAN BECOMES FIRST PIO TO LEAD FEDERAL
CIRCUIT COURT: Sri Srinivasan, a prominent Bharatiya-American judge, has
created history by becoming the first person of Bharatiya descent to lead a
powerful federal circuit court, considered next only to the US Supreme Court.
Judge Srinivasan, 52, became the Chief Judge of the United States Court of
Appeals for the DC Circuit. An Obama appointee who has already been considered
for a Supreme Court seat twice, donned the mantle of the chief judge of the DC
federal court circuit on February 12. Born in Chandigarh, and raised in
Lawrence, Kansas, Sri Srinivasan received a B.A. from Stanford University, a
J.D. from Stanford Law School, and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School
of Business. -GoTop
21. OBITUARY: Shri Raghoonath Deeal ji who was Ma.
Sanghachalak of HSS Mauritius passed away on 27th February morning and antim
sanskars were held the same day afternoon. He was 71.
Deeal ji was among the first few swayamsevaks when Shri Madhavda Banhatti
started sangh work in Mauritius and continued to work for a long time until a
few years back when he became ill and almost confined to home. He was also well
versed with Ramayan recitation, had given lectures and written several short
plays.
Om Shantih Shantih Shantih -GoTop
22. SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN: Pravas: Saumitra Gokhale , samyojak Vishwa Vibhag will reach Bharat for Pratinidhi Sabha baithak from Australia. Dr Ram Vaidya, sahsamyojak will reach Bharat from Mauritius and Reunion Islands.
Food for Thought: Works are not done by merely having a desire. Even the
Almighty had to take avatar and get work done through human power only. —Dr.
Keshav Baliram Hedgewar. -GoTop
JAI SHREE RAM
---
PADMA SHRI S RAMAKRISHNAN AND AMAR SEVA SANGAM
DIVINE INTERVENTION FOR DIVYANGS
Hailing from Aayakudi, Tirunelveli, Shri S
Ramakrishnan, son of Shri Sivasubramanian and Saraswathi Ammal, did his
schooling at various Government schools from his hometown. During his
engineering studies, he attended a selection interview for naval officers in
Bangalore. In a physical test, he injured his neck following a fall and incurred
cervical spine injury. He lost sensation and muscle power below his neck.
In the International Year of the Disabled, on June 15, 1981, Shri Ramakrishnan
established an organization for persons with disabilities. In memory of his
doctor late Retd. Air Marshal, Dr.Amarjit Singh Chahal, the organization was
named as ‘Amar Seva Sangam’.
With the kind heart of well-wishers and divine blessings, Amar Seva Sangam came
to public light with expansion. Famous writer Sivasankari brought the life story
of Shri Ramakrishnan to the public society through her writings in Ananda
Vikatan. In 1992, Shri Sankar Raman, a Chartered Accountant from Chennai
affected by muscular dystrophy joined hands with Shri Ramakrishnan with a dream
to build a ‘Valley for the Disabled’, where people with disabilities could be
educated and empowered.
Smt. Sulochana Srinivasan from Mumbai helped ASSA through fundraising. Gerhard
Fischer, German-India consulate general, visited ASSA and rendered his help in
setting up a full-fledged physiotherapy centre. Another pillar of strength to
Amar Seva Sangam is Mrs. Sulochana Krishnamurthy, President of Handi-Care
International, Canada, a Canadian disability charity in fundraising and
knowledge sharing.The funds are used for a wide variety of activities of the
Sangam. Starting from a donation of Rs.6 lakhs in 1992, she has been gradually
increasing her support year by year and during the year 2018-19 she raised an
amount of Rs.112.60 lakhs for ASSA. The total contributions From Handi-Care
International up to March 31, 2019 is Rs.635.03 lakhs. She also arranges
placement of volunteers from various universities of Canada to visit and render
their services to the Sangam.
S Ramakrishnan Amar Seva
Dr. Dinesh Krishna, who is based out of Canada is an assistant professor at the
University of Toronto and an award-winning educator. He is a physician in Canada
with a clinical focus on emergency medicine and rehabilitation medicine. He is
also the Director of Handi-Care Intl. Dr. Krishna who is a consultant
Rehabilitation Director at Amar Seva Sangam helped conceptualize the mobile
Village Based – Early Intervention (mVBRI-EI) program in 2014 and has been
instrumental in obtaining funding and providing support for communications,
monitoring, evaluation and research and scale-up for this program. He was
recently awarded the prestigious MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Solver Award.
Looking at the resounding success of the pilot project: “mobile based Village
Based Rehabilitation Initiative”, the Canadian donor, Grand Challenges Canada,
through the concerted efforts of Dr. Krishna, accepted to support the Sangam for
scale up of the program, which is now spread across 8 Blocks in Tirunelveli/Tenkasi
districts. Dr. Krishna is also instrumental in organizing the stupendous tasks
involved in holding an International Conference on Early Intervention for
Children with Developmental Delays in Chennai on 14th & 15th February 2020 by
bringing in the global experts in the field.
The core activities of the Sangam include: Rehabilitation centre, Spinal cord
nursing centre, indoor vocational training centre, typewriting, computer,
two-wheeler mechanism, cell-phone, domestic appliance, winding, gold assessor,
screen printing training, etc. Goshala with 40 cows was initiated; Solar pump
with 80 kilowatt, physiotherapy, nursing training centres. Early Intervention
Rehabilitation were also initiated in the campus.
Amar Seva Sangam Activity
Seva activities were conducted not only inside the premises but also outside the
campus. Census for physically challenged persons were conducted in four blocks.
Initially with reference service, tuition centres and self-help groups expanded
to 19 blocks. Sub-centres were created. Amar SevaSangam has been working in many
villages and the Tamilnadu Government encouraged the vision by giving Rs.2.36
crore for expanding the activities in 23 blocks. Japan Government helped in
constructing four buildings and a stroke patient centre.
In a milestone achievement, ASSA conducted a national seminar highlighting the
difficulties and issues faced by disabled persons. In 1995, the bill and
‘Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 was passed. This act advocates and
propagates ‘Sarva Shiksha’ for all, placement in Central-State Governments and
in society. — Vishwa Samvad Kendra Chennai, 3 Feb 2020.
-GoTop
Shri Vishwa Niketan vishwav@bol.net.in
