Falgun Krishna 2, Vik. Samvat 2077, Yugabda 5122 : 1 March , 2021:SM 2023 (For Private Circulation only)
1. FESTIVALS: Holi
is a popular festival, also known as ‘festival of spring’, the ‘festival of
colours’, and the ‘festival of love’. The festival signifies the triumph of good
over evil.
Holi is celebrated throughout Bharat but has also spread to other regions of Asia and parts of the Western world through the diaspora from the Bharatiya subcontinent. It is called Phakuwa/Doul in Assamese, Phaguwa in the local Bhojpuri dialect of eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and Ukkuli or Sigmo in Konkani. Barsana, a town near Mathura in the Braj region of Uttar Pradesh, celebrates Lath mar Holi in the sprawling compound of the Radha Rani temple. Thousands gather to witness the Lath Mar Holi when women beat up men with sticks as those on the sidelines become hysterical, sing Holi songs and shout "Sri Radhey" or "Sri Krishna". -GoTop
2. DR MOHAN BHAGWAT HONOURS BB LAL: Sarsanghachalak Dr Mohan Bhagwat visited veteran archaeologist B B Lal and felicitated him on 21st February at New Delhi. Prof BB Lal served as Director General Archaeological Survey of India from 1968-72 and it was he who proclaimed that a temple existed beneath the disputed structure at Ramjanmabhoomi site at Ayodhya.
3. MADHUKAR NIKETAN INAUGURATED AT MUZAFFARPUR – BIHAR: RSS always thinks and acts for the global welfare and good of the humanity, asserted Sarsanghachalak Dr. Mohan Bhagwat on 21st February at Muzaffarpur, Bihar.
Bihar kshetra Sanghachalak Siddhinath Singh, Deputy Chief Minister Renu Devi and other prominent personalities were present at the function. -GoTop
4. ONLY BHARAT CAN GUIDE THE WORLD – DR. MOHAN BHAGWAT: The world is suffering for more than 2000 years now and only Sanatan Dharma can heal it, said RSS Sarsanghachalak Dr Mohan Bhagwat while releasing a book ‘Vishwa Bharatam’ by Dr Madugula Nagaphani Sharma on 25th February at Bhagyanagar ( Hyderabad ). He said Bharat has the endurance to overcome several challenges and the world looks towards it to overcome difficulties. While emphasizing the need for Akhand Bharat, he specifically mentioned that the concept of Akhand Bharat has nothing to do with power or imperialism.
5. HINDU SWAYASEVAK SANGH USA NEWS: HSS Dallas volunteers supported Bonham city residents after the severe impact post the snow storm in the third week of February.
6. GREATER HOUSTON HINDUS SUPPORT BLACK YOGA TEACHERS: In response to calls for racial justice last summer, ‘Hindus of Greater Houston’ donated about $8,000 to fund yoga-teacher-training for four Black students, each of whom is, in their own way, spreading the mind and body practice to marginalized communities.
Two recipients of the sponsorship, Adryn Mari and Alex Kaufmann, completed their training online in November and said that the HGH sponsorship made a tremendous difference in enabling them to participate in the program, which typically costs $2,999. -GoTop
7. SEWA USA ASSISTANCE TO YEZIDIS IN IRAQ: Sewa International USA has made available much needed oxygen cylinders to the Yezidi community in Iraq during the Covid-19 pandemic times. Yezidi human rights
8. 7TH ICCS CONFERENCE OF PEOPLE OF ANCIENT TRADITIONS: International Center for Cultural Studies ICCS organized an online conference on 20-21st February with the theme 'Ancient Cultures Championing Humanity'. More than 10 sessions spread over 3 time zones witnessed intense discussions that veered mainly around the challenges from materialism, climate change and the
9. 200 BHARATIYA -ORIGIN PEOPLE OCCUPY LEADERSHIP POSITIONS IN 15 COUNTRIES: More than 200 Bharatiya origin people occupy leadership positions in as many as 15 countries including the United States and United Kingdom. Of these, 60 hold Cabinet ranks, according to the first of its kind list released by a US-based organization Indiaspora on 15th February.
The officials on the 2021 Indiaspora Government Leaders List collectively represent more than 587 million constituents, and their countries account for an estimated USD 28 trillion in GDP, demonstrating the impact that these leaders are having globally.
While some of the officials are part of their country's first wave of immigration, arriving as refugees or for economic opportunities, others serving in their governments are part of subsequent waves of diaspora, who came for educational opportunities, or are of subsequent generations. -GoTop
10. FOR DR SWATI MOHAN—BHARAT HAND BEHIND MARS LANDING IT STARTED WITH STAR TREK: “Touchdown confirmed. Perseverance is safely on the surface of Mars, ready to begin seeking the signs of past life,” announced Dr Swati Mohan, head of guidance, navigation and control operations at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California on 18th February.
Mohan grew up in a “traditional, vegetarian family”, with roots in Tumkur in Karnataka, which was extremely supportive when it came to education. Her parents Srinivas and Jyoti Mohan, both engineers in Bengaluru, moved to the US 37 years ago.
“I must have been in grade three and it was this episode which showed these beautiful scenes of how space looked like. I thought to myself that I want to go see that place. It was curiosity that kicked off the hobby,” says Mohan.
A graduate from Cornell University in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, she finished her Masters and PhD from MIT. Mohan joined the Mars Mission in 2013, three years after she completed her PhD.
While Mohan was overwhelmed by the attention and appreciation she got after the mission’s success, she was amused by the social media reaction to her “bindi”. “Wearing a bindi for me is a part of my identity and a common occurrence. I have been wearing it since I was a child. My colleagues at JPL are comfortable and I have never felt the need to limit or downplay any aspect of myself. ” says Mohan. -GoTop
11. 1ST P. PARAMESWARAN MEMORIAL LECTURE AT THIRUVANATHAPURAM: Uparashtrapati M. Venkaiah Naidu called upon the people to follow the path shown by Sri Parameswaranji and strive to build a stronger, happier and prosperous Bharat. Delivering the first P. Parameswaran Memorial Lecture oganized by Bharatheeya Vichar Kendram on 25th February he emphasized
12. 7 PAKISTANI MIGRANTS GRANTED BHARATIYA CITIZENSHIP: Seven migrants from Pakistan, including three couples, who have been living in Rajasthan were granted Bharatiya citizenship by Jaipur's District Collector Antar Singh Nehra in his office on 19th February. Gordan Das, who has been living as a Pakistani migrant for 9 years in Mansarovar, said that he came here from Punjab province' Rahimayar Khan situated in Pakistan.
After receiving the citizenship certificate, these citizens expressed confidence of getting all the rights to their children and the benefits of all the employment and government facilities and schemes. -GoTop
13. 'JANA GANA MANA' IN NAGALAND ASSEMBLY FOR FIRST TIME: In a first, Bharatiya National Anthem was played in Nagaland Assembly session since its creation. The historical moment was witnessed before and after Nagaland Governor RN Ravi addressed the 7th Session of the 13th Nagaland Legislative Assembly on February 12.
Dr PJ Antony, assembly commissioner and secretary, confirmed that playing of Jana Gana Mana was never a part of Nagaland assembly's convention. He added that the move was well appreciated and welcomed by members of all the parties.
Earlier, on March 23, 2018, the national anthem was played for the first time in the Tripura assembly, during the first session of the newly-elected House. -GoTop
14. SRINAGAR TEMPLE OPENS AFTER 31 YEARS: The Shitalnath temple of Srinagar, located in the Habba Kadal area , that was closed due to growing militancy in the valley and outmigration of Hindus, reopened on 16th February. A special pooja was performed by the devotees for the reopening ceremony that coincided with the auspicious Basant Panchami. According to the
15. TWO SUCCESSFUL LAUNCHES OF VERTICAL LAUNCH SHORT RANGE SURFACE TO AIR MISSILE (VL-SRSAM): Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO) conducted two successful launches of Vertical Launch Short Range Surface to Air Missile (VL-SRSAM).
16. SUCCESSFUL TRIALS OF ANTI-TANK GUIDED MISSILE SYSTEMS HELINA AND DHRUVASTRA: In a major development, the helicopter -launched version of the Nag anti-tank guided missile, ‘Helina’, and its Air Force variant ‘Dhruvastra’ developed by DRDO underwent a joint user trial in the desert range on 19th February. Helina and Dhruvastra are a third-generation, Lock on Before Launch (LOBL), fire and forget class anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) system that can engage targets both in direct hit mode as well as top attack mode. The
17. KVIC BHARAT’S FIRST ECO-FRIENDLY COW DUNG PAINT: Khadi and Village industries Commission (KVIC) launched “Khadi Prakritik Paint” , Bharat’s first cow dung based eco-friendly paint. This is an innovative and first-of-its-kind product. It is non-toxic and has anti-fungal, antibacterial properties. The paint is free from heavy metals like Lead, Mercury, Chromium, Arsenic, Cadmium etc. This odourless paint is certified by the Bureau of Indian
18. SEEMANT DARSHAN YATRA 2021 IN ARUNACHAL: Arunchal Vikas Parishad (AVP) is a social organization working for all round development of Arunachal Pradesh. AVP organizes programmes to promote the indigenous faith, culture, tradition, language as well as the feelings of national integration and patriotism among the young generation.
The Yatra was flagged off by Deputy Chief Minister Shri Chowna Mein and covered 111 villages of 25 administrative circles of 12 districts of Arunachal Pradesh. The delegates of the Yatra conversed with 17 tribes residing on the border areas and visited 35 personal security camps (Army, ITBP, SSB, Assam Rifles etc.). On the occasion of Republic Day, they hoisted the National flag in 41 border villages. -GoTop
19. OBITUARY : JUSTICE RAMA JOIS: Justice (Retired) Rama Jois, eminent jurist and former Governor of Bihar and Jharkhand died on 16th February. He was 89. Rama Jois was also a writer and historian.
Later, he served as Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court. He was also a senior Supreme Court lawyer and former member of the Rajya Sabha. Rama Jois had written several books on the topic of Legal and Constitutional History of India.
He was the Sarvadhikari for Vishwa Sangh Shibir held at Vaododara in 1995.
Several prominent personalities including Pradhan Mantri Narendra Modi paid tributes to Justice Rama Jois ji. -GoTop
20. SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN: Pravas: Dr Ram Vaidya, sahsamyojak Vishwa Vibhag will tour Uganda and Kenya .Visitors: Narendra—Nebraska USA
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Sangh’s task is to create ideal individuals. These individuals then create an atmosphere in the society; they try to improve the behavior of the society. This is done through collective efforts done on our own…Sangh would do only one thing—creating good individuals, then these Swaymsevaks would go out in the society and do what needs to be done.” -Dr.Mohan Bhagwat,PP Sarsanghchalak, RSS (Yashaswi Bharat) -GoTop
JAI SHRI RAM
SEWA INTERNATIONAL USA CONTRIBUTES $50 MILLION IMPACT TO FIGHT COVID-19
Houston, TX–Hindu faith-Based Sewa
International contributes $50 million to fight COVID-19, Sewa said in a
statement.
“What a commendable effort, and what a fine example of bringing organizations
together to serve the country during the pandemic,” said US Congressman Ami Bera,
speaking as the Chief Guest at the unveiling of the Sewa International report,
showcasing the $50 million impact the Hindu faith-based organization has had,
partnering with more than 500 other organizations since the COVID-19 pandemic
began affecting life in the country from early March last year.
The report, titled “Joining Hands: A Community Effort to Fight the COVID-19
Pandemic,” was released at a virtual event on Feb. 6, 2021. Congressman Bera is
the Chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the
longest-serving Indian American Member of U.S. Congress. As a trained physician
himself, he said he understood how much of a challenge the pandemic had posed
the nation and the world. “Sewa International’s work, and especially their
ability to bring others to collaborate in tackling the pandemic, is therefore
significant,” he said.
The event began with a video summary of the work done by Sewa International and the impact it has had on communities across the country. Included in the video were commendations of Sewa’s work: Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who urged Sewa to keep up the good work and said that “Sewa International represents the best what America has to offer”; Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said the city was “thankful for Sewa’s work and charitable contributions,” and how Sewa had over the past fifteen years had grown from a small to a mid-size charity organization, and been recognized by The Houston Chronicle as “one of the top 100 charitable organizations in Houston”; Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of the Art of Living Foundation said that “this is the time we come together to serve humanity in whatever capacity to help people…”; Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji of the Avadhoota Datta Peetham offered a prayer to Lord Dattatreya to “bless Sewa International… so that it could help those in need”; Sandeep Chakravorty, Indian Consul General, New York, said that many Indian American community organizations had reached out to the Consulate and worked to ensure that those who needed help were “inconvenienced the least”; Chaitanyamurtidas Swami of BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha said that Sewa International’s work was of critical importance both to the larger American community as well as the Hindu communities across the country; and Sri Paripoornanda Swamiji of Sree Peetham urged organizations to “join hands with Sewa International… to bring both change and clarity” in this time of need.
Acting as the emcee was Prof. Anurag Mairal, Adjunct Professor of Medicine and the Director, Global Outreach Programs at Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign, Stanford University. He is also an Adjunct Professor at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and a Faculty Fellow and Lead for Technology Innovation and Impact at Center for Innovation in Global Health. Moderating the roundtable discussion, he asked the experts from FEMA, AmeriCorps, NVOAD, and OneStar International what were the main takeaways, ten months laters, for how we can be better prepared to deal with COVID-19, what they learnt about community responses to the pandemic, and what advice would they offer community organizations about what should they avoid/do less of, and what should they do more of.
The event was streamed live via Facebook, and more than 1,400 people had logged on to view the event. The Sewa International report identifies 125 of the more than 500 organizations that Sewa volunteers worked with across the country raising money, distributing food, face masks and other PPE, offering help to stranded international students and travelers, participating in food and PPE drives, offering hot meals to the hungry, and managing ten hotlines responding to calls for help from around the world.
“We did not know what would be demanded of us in this pandemic situation. It was a first-time experience in dealing with the kind of medical/health disaster that has affected the whole world. Ten months into it, and more than a million volunteer-hour commitment later, partnering with hundreds of organizations who put their trust and faith in us, we believe we have made a difference in our local communities, across our forty chapters, in 28 states, around the country,” said Arun Kankani, President, Sewa International, inaugurating the session. “This report itself, compiled with the help of young student volunteers, is an emblem of the kind of work we do and of our philosophy of serving selflessly,” he said.
Detailing the nature and content of the report, Karuna Kankani, a member of the team that compiled the report said that a number of people, organized into numerous teams, were responsible for seeking the data, collating the data, editing the report, designing the report, and organizing the event for the release of the report.
“Disbursing more than $2 million that were raised through direct donations and government and institutional grants, and distributing about $50 million worth of food, PPE, medical supplies, and groceries, serving more than 750,000 people in big cities and small towns, our 5,000 volunteers from 28 states have made a bold statement about selfless service,” said Syam Kosigi, Vice President, Organization, Sewa International.
“As we realized that other Indian and Hindu cultural and religious organizations wanted to pitch in and offer their help and support, we started an initiative titled, ‘Sankalpa Patra,’ a ‘letter of commitment,’ that these organizations signed on to committing to work together in the time of this deadly pandemic. We have been honored and blessed to work with these dharmic organizations, those who identify themselves as Indian American and follow the precepts of serving selflessly, serving everyone without discrimination, and considering the world as one family. The ‘Dharma’ communities in the US represent only about one percent of the American population, but our work this past year shows that we can and do add a large drop into the bucket of good work done in the country,” Kosigi said.
Sewa International, a leading Hindu faith-based Indian American nonprofit organization, has extensive experience in disaster rescue, relief, and rehabilitation operations having responded to 24 disasters in the US and abroad. In 2017, after Hurricane Harvey struck the Houston area, Sewa volunteers helped in the rescue of nearly 700 people and have served thousands of affected families since then through their case management service. Sewa raised over $3 million for Hurricane Harvey recovery, Sewa continues to rebuild homes and greenhouses that serve as a means of livelihood. Sewa International has also rendered relief in the wake of Hurricane Maria in 2018 and Hurricane Imelda in 2019. Sewa teams in the San Francisco Bay Area continue to build and donate tiny homes for those rendered homeless in the California Camp Fire of November 2018.
Among its other accolades, Sewa International has been recognized by Charity Navigator – the premier nonprofit rating agency – as the number five among the “10 Highly Rated Charities Relying on Private Contributions.” Sewa has for the last three years continuously scored the topmost-rated 4-star from Charity Navigator and has earned perfect scores for its Financial Health and Accountability & Transparency.— For more information on Sewa International and its activities, please visit www.sewausa.org. For more information on Sewa International’s efforts to support communities nationwide during the COVID-19 crisis, please visit https://sewausa.org/covid-19. (By India New England News -February 16, 2021) -GoTop
SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN vishwav@bol.net.in http://shrivishwaniketan.
