\Samvad

Vasant Panchami, Vik. Samvat 2077, Yugabda 5122 : 16 February, 2021:SM 2022 (For Private Circulation only)


1. FESTIVALS: HARIDWAR KUMBH MELA 2021

2. MOHAN BHAGWAT LAYS FOUNDATION OF SEWA SADAN PATNA

3. TRAVANCORE ROYAL FAMILY, JUSTICE K.T THOMAS, ALI AKBAR DONATE FOR THE RAMMANDIR CONSTRUCTION

4. YOGA FOR HEALTH, HEALTH FOR HUMANITY – BEYOND OUR IDENTITIES, WE ARE ALL ONE FAMILY

5. SURYANAMASKAR YAGNA 2021 NORWAY

6. REPUBLIC DAY CELEBRATIONS BY HSS MUNICH

7. HSS NEPAL SANCHALAN AT BIRGANJ

8. BHARATIYA AMERICAN COMMUNITY HOLDS VIGIL IN CALIFORNIA

9. HSS ORGANIZES A COVID-19 VACCINE WEBINAR

10. UTTARAKHAND RELIEF WORK BY SEWA INTERNATIONAL

11. BHARAT SENDS 22.9 MN COVID VACCINES TO 20 COUNTRIES

12. BHARAT'S FIRST GEOTHERMAL POWER PROJECT IN LADAKH

13. BHARAT HAS LAUNCHED 328 SATELLITES OF 33 COUNTRIES

14. AIR INDIA SETS WORLD RECORD FOR LONGEST, ALL-WOMEN COCKPIT CREW FLIGHT

15. NASA APPOINTS A PIO AS ACTING CHIEF OF STAFF

16. FLAG HOISTING BY DR MOHAN BHAGWAT ON 26TH JANUARY

17. OBITUARY: DARSHAN LAL JAIN

18. SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN & FOOD FOR THOGUHT

Article: DHANVANTARI SEVA YATRA : AN ALL ENCOMPASSING HEALTH CAMPAIGN FOR NORTH-EAST


 1. FESTIVALS: HARIDWAR KUMBH MELA 2021: Haridwar Kumbh Mela , the largest religious gathering of pilgrims on the earth witnesses millions of people including saints, sadhus, kalpavasis and people from all walks of life irrespective of their background, caste, creed and gender taking holy bath in the river. Generally it is held from Makar Sankranti to Chaitra Purnima ( 14 Jan – 27 April 2021 ) but the this year the period may be restricted due to Covid-19.

Kumbh Mela is held every 4 years in rotation at the four holy places namely: Haridwar, Prayagraj, Ujjain and Nasik. The last Kumbh Mela at Haridwar in 2010 had witnessed approximately 8 crores pilgrims. This year , with all Covid-19 regulations in place, about 1 million pilgrims are expected to visit Haridwar daily. Kumbh 2021 is unique due to its astrological significance and will be organized one year earlier. -GoTop

2. MOHAN BHAGWAT LAYS FOUNDATION OF SEWA SADAN PATNPATNA : RSS Sarsanghachalak Dr Mohan Bhagwat laid foundation stone of ‘Sewa Sadan' that will provide accommodation to patients visiting the premiere hospital AIIMS Patna on 11th February. The 'Sewa Sadan' will be constructed by Dr Hedgewar Smarak Samiti, Bihar.
Union minister of state for health Ashwini Choubey and Bihar health minister Mangal Pandey attended the function at Keshav Nagar on the outskirts of the city.
Speaking at the occasion, Dr Bhagwat said "doing service is purely inspired by the inner conscience. One can do service by recognizing the humanity as his/her family. The objective of service should be to make the society strong and robust, so that others can also be able to do service."
Noted saint Jeeyar Swamy also addressed the gathering while Dr Hedgewar Smarak Samiti, Bihar Secretary Mohan Singh moderated the function and president Pawan Agarwal gave vote of thanks. -GoTop

3. TRAVANCORE ROYAL FAMILY, JUSTICE K.T THOMAS, ALI AKBAR DONATE FOR THE RAMMANDIR CONSTRUCTION: People from every walk of life are donating for the construction of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya. In Kerala, the Travancore Royal Family, retired Justice K.T Thomas and film director Ali Akbar are among the noted personalities who have now become part of the Abhiyan.
Kanchi Sankara Mutt has placed a collection box in front of Mutt for donations and HH Shri Vijayendra Saraswati Swamigal had given a call to all devotees to donate liberally as a tribute to Bhagwan Ram.
A function was organized in holy town Kanchipuram for handing over the collections of Rs. 6 crore from the devotees, merchants, businessmen and others to the trustee of Ayodhya Rammandir trust Acharya Govind Giri Maharaj. -GoTop

4. YOGA FOR HEALTH, HEALTH FOR HUMANITY – BEYOND OUR IDENTITIES, WE ARE ALL ONE FAMILY: Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh HSS, USA, concluded its two-week-long, 14th annual Health for Humanity Yogathon, also known as Surya Namaskar Yajna SNY on 31st January. It was first launched in 2007 to create awareness about yoga and its advantages in fostering healthy body, mind, and spirit for any practitioner regardless of faith, gender, or ethnicity.
This event was held in different locations across 43 States and was attended by elected officials including Mayors, Congressmen, Senators and State Governors. Senator Sharrod Brown (Ohio), Congressman Scott Peter (California) lauded the event and a total of 172 elected officials offered support for this year’s Health for Humanity event with many sending citations for SNY.
HSS SNY national coordinator Ajay Joshi said that close to 10,000 school students participated, performing over 48,000 Surya Namaskars. Thousands of participants collectively performed over a million Surya Namaskars. -GoTop

5. SURYANAMASKAR YAGNA 2021 NORWAY: Suryanamaskar Yagna SNY 2021 was conducted virtually in Norway from 14th to 31st of January by HSS Norway. Daily common sessions of 30 minutes were conducted throughout this to ensure the feeling of sangh and to enable a focus on mantras, breathing and technique.
109 participants from 14 cities between the age of 1 to 67 years performed more than 46,000 suryanamaskars during these 18 days. SNY was concluded with a samarop karyakram on 31st January. SNY 2021 in Norway was successful in terms of creating awareness around yoga and its advantages in achieving a healthy body, mind and spirit. -GoTop

6. REPUBLIC DAY CELEBRATIONS BY HSS MUNICH: Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh HSS Munich shakha celebrated 72nd Republic Day and 125th Birth Anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Shri Harvinder Singh, Consul General of Bharat at Munich was the Chief Guest for the event.
Dr.Wageesh Mishra emphasized on taking ownership to spread Bharatiyata and simultaneously not forgetting the legacy of our ancient culture and identity of Bharat. Chief Guest Harvinder Singh addressed the audience and emphasized on preserving our identity as a Bharatiya. A bauddhik was dedicated to mark 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. The main attraction of this event was the enthusiastic participation of Balagokulam children adorning the role of our freedom fighters. -GoTop

7. HSS NEPAL SANCHALAN AT BIRGANJ: Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh HSS Nepal organized a convention at Birganj on 6th February with full grandeur and discipline. Nepal Rashtriya Sahsanghchalak & retired Additional Police Director General Kalyan Kumar Timilsina inaugurated the programme. In his inaugural speech, Shri Timilsina stressed upon the need to work for the Hindutva and for the Nation. He said, "The birth of a person who doesn't have patriotism, is useless. Only a patriotic person can be a true Swayamsevak."
HSS swayasmevaks had a pathasanchalan (marchpast) in purna-ganavesh (full dress) including Ghosh on the city roads of Birganj.
The programme was presided over by Parsa Jilla Sanghchalak Lalan Dwivedi and attended by many senior HSS Nepal functionaries. -GoTop

8. BHARATIYA AMERICAN COMMUNITY HOLDS VIGIL IN CALIFORNIA: A large number of Bharatiya Americans held a community vigil at a city park in California on 2nd February where unknown miscreants vandalized a statue of Mahatma Gandhi on 31st January.
Addressing the vigil at the Central Park, Gloria Partida, the Mayor of the City of Davis, deeply regretted the act of vandalism and said, “Vandalism will never be condoned. Gandhi is our inspiration and we will not allow this. Not on our watch.”
The vigil was organized by the Indian Association of Sacramento (IAS), along with other Indian-American and Hindu-American organizations.
Prior to the vigil, the groups organized a car rally in which roughly 75 vehicles participated. -GoTop

9. HSS ORGANIZES A COVID-19 VACCINE WEBINAR: The Greater Boston chapter of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh HSS USA organized an awareness webinar in preparation for the general availability of the COVID-19 vaccine on 6th February. It was a moderated session with three local area physicians – Dr Shubhada Javlekar, Dr Samiksha Meel and Dr Suresh Mamidala. The hour long session was moderated by Dr Yogesh Rathi, a volunteer with HSS, with engaging Q&A with the panelist doctors. The session started with the physicians narrating their own experiences with receiving the vaccine. The session was very engaging and left the audience satisfied with all their doubts addressed and questions answered.
The feedback received was that the session was very informative especially around vaccine distribution, side effects and symptom management. (https://www.facebook.com/hss.us.ne). -GoTop-GoTop

10. UTTARAKHAND RELIEF WORK BY SEWA INTERNATIONAL: With more than two decades of experience in disaster relief and rehabilitation operations, Sewa International Bharat (SIB) is working on ground-zero for the impacted communities in the Chamoli and Rudraprayag districts of Uttarakhand. With over 30 dead, more than 200 missing and over 300 families losing their livelihoods, the damage of the glacier burst has shocked the entire community.
SIB started the relief operations with more than 120 on-ground volunteers. The health teams worked at the rescue site of Tapovan (site of the dam/power-plant that was devastated) and Raini village (first casualty village of the glacier burst), with trained medical professionals. Other services included supply of food, water and other basic supplies to over 350 individuals across 5 locations.
SIB is also preparing strategy and plan of action for the possible long-term rehabilitation programs in the area viz long-term trauma counseling for the aggrieved, livestock support (goats, poultry etc) for livelihoods, skill training for knitting, computers etc. Sewa International has also appealed for generous donations towards this cause.
Please visit www.sewainternational.org for more details. -GoTop

11. BHARAT SENDS 22.9 MN COVID VACCINES TO 20 COUNTRIES: Bharat has rolled out nearly 23 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to 20 countries around the world, both as grants and commercial supplies, and more will be sent to countries in Africa and Latin America in future.
The supplies under the Vaccine Maitri initiative, which began on January 21, have earned Bharat considerable goodwill, especially in small countries such as the Commonwealth of Dominica. Out of the total supplies, 6.47 million doses were given as grants while 16.5 million doses were provided as commercial supplies.
Countries in Bharat’s immediate neighbourhood were among the biggest beneficiaries, in keeping with the government’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy. They included Bangladesh (2 million doses), Myanmar (1.7 million doses), Nepal (1 million doses), Bhutan (150,000 doses), Sri Lanka (500,000 doses), the Maldives (100,000 doses). Beyond Bharat’s immediate neighbourhood, vaccines have been sent as grants to countries in the Bharatiya ocean region, West Asia and the Caribbean. -GoTop

12. BHARAT'S FIRST GEOTHERMAL POWER PROJECT IN LADAKH: Bharat's first geothermal power project will be established at Puga village of Eastern Ladakh.
In the first phase of the pilot project, one megawatt (MW) power will be generated. Bharat's first ever geothermal power project, known as Geothermal Field Development Project is planned to be commissioned by the end of 2022. The tripartite MOU was signed between ONGC Energy, LAHDC, Leh and the Power Department of UT Ladakh.
In the first phase, the pilot project to be developed by ONGC energy is expected to generate and supply 24 hours free power to 10 neighbouring villages which are not connected with the northern grid for power supply. Puga is a place which has a potential of more than 100 mw of geothermal energies. -GoTop

13. BHARAT HAS LAUNCHED 328 SATELLITES OF 33 COUNTRIES: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Dr. Jitendra Singh said that the Department of Space has been involved in launching satellites of foreign countries since long. Total number of satellites launched till date is 328 from 33 different countries and the revenue earned till date is 25 million US dollars and 189 million Euros.
Indian Satellite Research Organization ISRO is striving towards achieving Atmanirbharta in the field of capacity development in launching satellites.
Dr. Jitendra Singh also said that ISRO facilities are extended to Bharatiya industries and academia for testing their space systems.
Participation of private sector in space activities in Bharat is expected to result in development of cutting edge technologies, new applications & services. Overall it will make a bigger impact on space economy, he added. -GoTop

14. AIR INDIA SETS WORLD RECORD FOR LONGEST, ALL-WOMEN COCKPIT CREW FLIGHT: In a record-breaking move, Air India’s longest direct route flight AI-176 landed at the Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru from San Francisco. The flight which covered a distance of about 16,000 kilometres, flew over the North Pole and had an all-woman cockpit crew.
Captain Zoya Aggarwal, Captain Papagari Thanmai, Captain Shivani Manhas and Captain Akansha Sonaware will now be remembered in history for the longest commercial flight to be operated by any Bharatiya airline.
Before the flight, Air India in a statement said that the total flight time would be of more than 17 hours and the flying time would also depend on the wind speed on the day. The direct distance between both the cities is about 13,993 kms with a time zone change of approximately 13.5 hours. -GoTop

15. NASA APPOINTS A PIO AS ACTING CHIEF OF STAFF: Bharatiya-American Bhavya Lal was appointed by NASA as the acting chief of staff of the US space agency. In a statement, NASA said Lal brings extensive experience in engineering and space technology, serving as a member of the research staff at the Institute for Defense Analyses Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI) from 2005 to 2020.
She earned a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in nuclear engineering, as well as a second MS degree in technology and policy, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
For her many contributions to the space sector, she was nominated and selected to be a corresponding member of the International Academy of Astronautics.
As the acting chief of staff, Lal will be responsible for the day-to-day operations at NASA’s headquarters and will work towards shaping the strategic direction of the space agency. -GoTop

16. FLAG HOISTING BY DR MOHAN BHAGWAT ON 26TH JANUARY: RSS Sarsanghchalak Dr Mohan Bhagwat celebrated 72nd Republic Day by hoisting the National Flag at Sangh karyaklay Dr Hedgewar Smarak Samiti in Ahmedabad. While speaking at the program, Dr Bhagwat underlined the importance of the national anthem and national flag, which reflects our nation’s speciality. 
“When we sing Jana Gana Mana, it makes us visualize different regions like Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat, Maratha and it paints its boundary in front of our eyes,” he said. 
RSS Sarkaryavaha Bhayya ji Joshi hoisted the national flag at Tripureshwari Vidya Mandir located at Gandhigram, Agartala, Tripura. Ma Prant Sanghachalak of Tripura, Sri Bimalkanti Rai was also present on the occasion. -GoTop

17. OBITUARY: DARSHAN LAL JAIN: Senior social worker and former prant Sanghachalak of Haryana Prant Darshan Lal Jain passed away on 8th February at Jagadahri Haryana. He was 93. 
He faced incarceration during the Quit India Movement at the age of 15 and later during the Emergency in 1975.  
The Government of Bharat awarded him the third-highest civilian honour, Padma Bhushan, in 2019 for his selfless service to the society.
River Saraswati was very close to his heart. He established the Saraswati Research Institute to make extensive research and efforts to rejuvenate the flow of the river again. -GoTop

18. SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN: Pravas: Visitors: Kshitij Pandit — Netherlands


FOOD FOR THOUGHT: The Unit of Seed finds expression in various forms -The Roots, The Trunk, The Branches, The Leaves, The Flowers, and The Fruit. All these have different forms, colors, and properties. Still, we recognize their relation of unity with each other through seed. - Pandit Deendayal Updhayay. -GoTop

JAI SHREE RAM
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DHANVANTARI SEVA YATRA
AN ALL ENCOMPASSING HEALTH CAMPAIGN FOR NORTH-EAST

Dhanvantari Seva Yatra (DSY) is a mega free health campaign which has been organised almost all over North-East India (Except Sikkim) by the National Medicos Organisation (NMO) and Seva Bharati Purvanchal (SBP) since the year 2005. 
With the sweet memories of ancient sage Dhanvantari, the founder of Ayurveda and the preceptor of health, happiness and tranquillity, the Seva Yatra was named as Dhanvatari Seva Yatra to provide health services with the free distribution of medicines, creating health awareness, hygiene and health education amongst the various backward societies of North-Eastern states by the doctors and voluntary paramedical workers. The health programme is organised annually for 7 days. Some medical camps of Dhanvatari Seva Yatra are held near China, Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh. 

Till now these two Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) had successfully organised seventeen such Seva Yatras in the remotest villages of North-East India covering 3,588 villages giving benefit to 2,65,270 patients with involvement of 767 doctors and 819 medical students. 
This year, like previous years, Dhanvatari Seva Yatra is organised from February 7 to 14, where 160 health camps are planned. About 130 doctors and medical students from outside the state and 50 doctors and medical students will participate in these health camps. 
Last year Dhanvantari Seva Yatra was conducted in the month of March with the involvement of 85 doctors and medical students, where 19,073 patients were benefited by 74 numbers of free medical camps, which carried more relevance because of the CoronaVirus Infection outbreak throughout the globe. There was much ignorance about the disease in the remote areas and villages; medical teams visiting the villages with their professional knowledge tried to educate the people about their ignorance about the Corona Virus and taught them about Do's and Don'ts about the disease. 
It started with 9 enthusiastic doctors from Banaras Hindu University and Nagaland in May 2005. They were divided into 5 teams and sent to various camps in Assam, Nagaland and Meghalaya villages. In 6 days, they treated more than 4000 patients from 128 villages. 
Doctors and medical students (both MBBS and BDS) from all over the country and abroad with specialization in different branches of medical science, participate in this noble venture voluntarily and impart their service by involving in these Seva Yatra. The seven-day Yatra starts with an inauguration programme on day 1 followed by sending medical teams with medicines to the remotest villages. Medical teams used to stay in houses of local villagers throughout their health camping where they provide free medicines and give health awareness among the people of the village in an evening meeting that is attended by most of the villagers and the village headman. 
Blessed with natural wealth and enchanting beauty, North-East India comprises mountains and hills, evergreen forests, numerous rivers, and abundant mineral resources. Ironically, most of this region's inhabitants live in remotest tribal villages, spending their days through endless poverty and struggling for existence. Many of the tribal people have no access to modern medical facilities and cannot bear the heavy expenses. Despite big plans and constant efforts, the government still needs to walk a long distance, to provide basic education, communication and medical facilities in the rural and remote villages; rather it's an arduous task. The scenario was even worse when the Seva Yatra was started in the year 2005.  To construct a beautiful and healthy society, the National Medicos Organisation and Seva Bharati, Purvanchal jointly found the Dhanvantri Seva Yatra project to arrange regular periodical free Medical Camps in the remotest tribal villages by the doctors and the paramedical volunteers. 
Volunteers from the villages informed the people of their village and the people of nearby villages so that nobody could miss this opportunity. Doctor's visit is an extremely rare event in such areas. The ordinary villagers had an extraordinary enthusiasm about these medical camps. They cooperated and made arrangements in their villages for medical camps, made temporary dispensaries, served local delicacies to the doctors, and even in one village, the village youths prepared a five-kilometre track in the forest for the Doctor's vehicle and reconstructed an old school for the medical camp. Doctors were amazed by such enthusiasm and hospitality by the villagers. Most of the doctors are young, and they came for the first time in the north-east. The simple life, rich culture, colourful folk dance and music, wonderful food, and enchanting beauty of north-east won Doctors' hearts who never been to such beautiful places and never met such wonderful people. They served the poor villagers and made a strong and intimate relationship with them; realising how much these people need them, they like to come again and again. 
There is a huge crowd gathered in almost all the medical camps for the treatment. The numbers of female patients were more than male, and mostly they were mothers. Women work here in the harsh conditions in fields during day time; dehydration and improper diet makes them weak and pale. Anaemia is common among females in the whole north-east, and malaria is feared to be a deadly outbreak. Every year, several thousands of people die due to malaria. Malnutrition and worm infestation are most common among infants.
Besides scabies, infestation is commonly found in all age groups. Without medical facilities and awareness, even a simple disease becomes severe and eventually leads to death in such areas.In many camps, a team of "Arogya Mitras" assisted the doctors in their work and they acted as interpreters in translating the local language. Equipped with emergency medicines, they are trained by professional doctors in Allopathy and Homeopathy system of medicine to ensure villagers' basic health-care related problems and provide First-Aid and in complex cases and emergencies; they made arrangements for shifting the patient to a professional doctor or nearby hospitals. Due to an inadequate number of doctors, most of the populations, mainly in rural and remote areas, are bereft with the basic medical facilities. To serve a large number of people, we need more doctors and hospitals. It is difficult to place a doctor in every village and although, most of the Doctors are unwilling to work in rural areas. Under these scenarios, the Arogya Mitras is a very noble and successful project for rural and poor areas. 
Dhanvantari Seva Yatra is supported by doctors, students, volunteers and by the people of the north-east region. Some drug companies donate free medicines and other necessary equipment for the camps' success while some give financial support to carry out the mission. A generous donation has been extended by many people all over the country to overcome any impediment. In some places, the government also sent a team of doctors and nurses to join the team of Dhanvantari Seva Yatra while in some places, the army ensured the doctors' safety.
National Medicos Organisation is a leading organisation of qualified doctors and medical students functioning throughout the country. Since its inception in 1977, NMO is working untiringly in providing dedicated voluntary health services primarily to interior villages through Seva activities and with its slogan "Swathya Seva – Rashtra Seva". The NMO intends to promote Seva, patriotism, Bharatiya culture and Sanskar among doctors and budding medical students. 
Seva Bharati Purvanchal is a free service providing voluntary organisation working in Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, and other North-East India parts. Founded in 1998 in Guwahati, Assam with some eminent social workers of the state, the organisation was established to provide guidance and assistance to the youth, women and poorer sections of the society, especially the Tribal population tea tribes. Seva Bharati Purvanchal is dedicated to the well being of the society and has been working actively in the field of rural development, vocational training, health, education and relief and rehabilitation of people during natural disasters. The organisation's primary objective is to empower the people so that they can take up constructive activities for all round development of the society and the nation as a whole. 
Immense but inadvertent lapses need to be rectified in a war-footing manner. The initiative should be taken by the enthusiastic and energetic youths of our country, newly budded Doctors in particular. Dhanvantari Seva Yatra is a humble endeavour not only to extend free transient health care services to the villagers of rural and remote areas of North-East region but also to inculcate the sense of social responsibility and commitment amongst the newly budding doctors to provide every individual of the society with sound health and mind with selfless devotion and dedication which was envisaged by our predecessors like Swami Vivekananda and shall not only be worth contributory to national integration but also in the comprehensive concept of national reconstruction. (https://www.organiser.org/Encyc/2021/2/10/Dhanvantari-Seva-Yatra-An-all-Encompassing-Health-Campaign-for-North-East.html)  -GoTop