1.FESTIVALS: Kartik Purnima, November 20 this year, is important because on this day, God Siva killed the demon Tripura. This demon undertook severe austerities for a very long period at Prayag. Gods tried their best to interrupt his asceticism but in vain. Once he attacked Siva’s abode Kailasa. Siva gave him fight and with the help of Brahma and Vishnu killed Tripura on this day.
Women observe fast, eating meal once a day throughout the month of Kartik till the full moon day of Kartik. The benevolence of the fast and bath on the full moon day lies in the destruction of all sins and their effect.
Every year, a 10-day fair is held in Pushkar (near Ajmer). After bathing, the pilgrims offer Puja at the Brahma temple (the only one in the world). Worship is also done in Savitri temple on the hill, where image of Saraswati exists. The Baliyatra at Cuttack on the Kartik Purnima day is a memorable event in Orissa.
2. DUSSHERA ENDS IN POMP AND SPLENDOUR: Over two million people witnessed the famous 4 km-long Jumbo savari which marked the end of the grand 10-day celebration of Dusshera held in Mysore.
The 400th edition of the elephant ride drew large crowds and the elephant which carried the golden howdah drew cheers from the crowds as it does every year. Balram, the tusker walked away as the star of the event as he was the chosen one to carry the 4900 kg golden howdah this year.
Giving Balram company were 12 other elephants, camels, horses and the police contingent apart from various other tableux which depicted the various parts of Karnataka. The procession marks the victory of good over evil and also marks the end of the grand Dusshera celebrations.
3. RSS SARKARYAVAH SURESH JOSHI’s (BHAYYAJI) STATEMENT ON TERRORSM CHARGES : Jalgaon on 26.10.2010: The intentional tirade against the RSS by some political leaders and investigators after dragging the name of Sri Indresh Kumar, Member of the Kendriya Karyakarini of the RSS in the charge sheet filed by the ATS, Rajasthan indicates that the politically motivated designs against RSS and it's workers are going on along with attempts to influence investigating agencies.
In the last several months, our functionaries have extended full cooperation to the investigating agencies in the hope that they will deliver their duties fairly. In the process our activists had to endure humiliations & physical and mental torture in the hands of the overzealous investigators. All this was taken in our stride thinking that agencies were sincerely doing their job & a few indiscretions may be overlooked by us.
But the charge sheet filed by the ATS, Rajasthan a few days ago in the Ajmer blasts case & subsequent statements by investigators as well as politicians completely belie our expectations about an impartial investigation. The way the name of the RSS has been dragged in with scant respect for the facts & the way senior RSS functionary Indresh Kumar's name has been invoked without any substantiating evidence makes clear that the investigation is coloured and is no longer an honest one.
It is evident from the charge sheet that there were no formal charges against Indresh Kumar, neither was he named as an accused. We are now convinced that contrary to our expectations and hopes the investigations into the bomb blast cases at Ajmer and Hyderabad are turning political and vindictive and there are clear signs of a sinister design to defame the RSS.
I am constrained to announce that the malafide intentions of the investigators and their political masters will be challenged by the organization on all the available fora including courts. I am also obliged to inform millions of Swayamsevaks & supporters that the Sangh is committed to its mission of building a united, strong & vibrant Bharat & a disciplined , patriotic society. Our march towards the mission will continue inspite of several hurdles on the strength of the love, trust and support of our countrymen. (Excerpts)
4. RSS, AKHIL BHARATIYA KARYAKARI MANDAL (ABKM) has decided to hit the streets on the issue of saffron terror. The outfit, which has been on the backfoot after the names of some of its functionaries were linked with cases of bomb blasts, has drawn up protest plans as its top brass decided to aggressively counter the terror allegations being hurled at it. The Sangh’s top leadership had been in a huddle on 29th-31st October, 2010 in Maharastra’s Jalgaon and the overwhelming view was that the outfit should strongly come out against attempts to link it with saffron terror rather than leaving it to the BJP. The trigger, of course, was the Indresh Kumar episode and the assessment was that his name was unnecessarily dragged into the Ajmer blast case. The Sangh leadership has directed its cadre to hold street protests on November 10 to protest what it felt attempts to defame the RSS.
Concluding the three-day executive meet at Jalgaon on October 31, the ABKM also passed a very strongly-worded resolution on Jammu and Kashmir, coming down heavily on the three-member interlocutor team. “It is openly working in the interest of Pakistan and separatists and causing damage to Bharat’s interest and must be immediately disbanded,” it said.
The highlight of the day, however, was that the RSS asked Indresh Kumar to come forward to answer media’s queries. The senior RSS leader said he was being falsely implicated in the case. When specifically asked how his name and phone number found a mention in the diaries of the accused persons, Indresh Kumar said, “Does that establish that I am involved? Anybody’s name and number can be found in anybody’s diary. Does that mean there is necessarily some connection with the activities of the persons to whom the diary belongs?” He said he will fight it out in the court.
RESOLUTION ON J&K ADOPTED AT ABKM at Jalgaon on October 30, 2010:
ACCESSION OF J&K IS FULL AND FINAL – Talk of Autonomy is Treason: Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal expresses serious resentment over the way the present turbulence in the Kashmir Valley is being handled by both the State and Central governments. The mistake committed in the past of trying to pamper the separatist and secessionist leaders of the Valley is being repeated this time too. Of particular concern is the lackadaisical attitude of the Central Government in addressing the issue. Never before has the Central Government been perceived so weak and ineffective before the antics of the State Government, anti-national tirade of the secessionists and their pseudo-intellectual supporters and unwarranted internationalization of the Kashmir issue. Treacherous speeches amounting to blatant treason right under its nose go unchallenged.
The ABKM reiterates that the integration of J&K including Gilgit, Baltistan, Muzafarabad, Mirpur and Aksai Chin etc into Bharat was full and final with the signing of the Instrument of Accession by the Maharaja of J&K Hari Singh on 26 October 1947 and subsequent seal of approval by Governor General Mountbaton on 27 October 1947. Successive and successful democratic elections to the State Assembly since mid-50s have ratified the integration. Indira Gandhi - Sheikh Abdullah Accord, Nov 1974 puts full stop to any further controversy over the status of the State’s integration.
The ABKM reaffirms that J&K is an integral part of Bharat and any challenge to that issue in the name of Azadi is nothing short of treason. Azadi has become a euphemism for Islamist and pro-Pakistan secessionism.
The ABKM takes strong exception to the statement of the Chief Minister of J&K in the State Assembly that J&K has ‘only acceded but not fully merged with’ Bharat ‘like other Princely states’. Through his immaturity and inefficiency he has already brought the state into the vortex of violence. With an eye on vote banks he deliberately allowed the violence to perpetuate by not controlling it with an iron hand. Through his statements on several occasions he created an atmosphere against his own security forces. And now he openly started speaking the language of the secessionists and their Pakistani mentors. The ABKM is aghast at the way senior ministers in the Central Government, instead of condemning him, sought to support him thus exposing their own ulterior political games at the cost of nation's integrity.
The ABKM notes with grief that it is this secessionist leadership, which is always held as representative of the State although a large section of the population of the State is pro-Bharat and patriotic. This section includes pro-Bharat (nationalist) Muslims in the Valley, the Kashmiri Pandits, Sikhs, Shias , Pahadis, Buddhists of Ladakh, Gujjars and Bakrawals of the State, people of Jammu region and several lakhs of refugees and others who don’t have State Subject status even after 60 years. The ABKM urges the Government to talk to all these sections – especially the Kashmiri Pandits, refugees of the PoK and West Pakistan refugees -that have stood firmly for Bharat in spite of being the victims of the atrocities of the secessionist and terrorist elements. The experience so far has been that it is the secessionists and terrorists that are pampered by the successive governments while pro-Bharat elements are always dismissed with contempt.
The ABKM regrets that this time also during the visit of the all-party delegation to the State the separatist leaders, who should have been delegitimized by the delegation, have instead been provided big importance whereas there was no time for the leaders to listen to the pro-Bharat patriotic people.
The ABKM wishes to remind the government that the secessionists and terrorists have lost their ground in the Valley due to the valiant fight put up by our security forces in the last 2 decades. Around 5000 of our security personnel have laid down their lives fighting these forces. They continue to fight these forces in the Valley with their hands tied up and backs to the wall. Instead of supporting and strengthening them the government, some intellectuals and a section of the media are bent upon vilifying them.
The ABKM deplores this attitude of running down our security forces in the name of baseless allegations of human rights violations. We should not forget that the intefada-style terrorism deployed by the secessionists nowadays is only a strategic shift in the same terror that they have been indulging in from the beginning. Whether it was the attack of the Kabaili tribesmen in 1947-48 or the wars of ’65, ‘71 and ’99 or the terrorism and proxy war of the ‘90s or the new wave of stone-pelting agitational terrorism – all these are different forms of terrorism employed by our neighbour in J&K. The stone-pelting terrorism in a way betrays the cruel and inhuman face of the secessionist leadership in which the leaders push young boys in the forefront with stones and make them scapegoats. More than 3000 security personnel were injured, many grievously, in the recent spate of stone pelting in the Valley.
The ABKM views the demand for withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and the Disturbed Areas Act as a dangerous one fraught with serious consequences to the national security. J&K is a sensitive border state requiring continuous movement of armed forces and also infested with terrorism sponsored by our neighbor. It is important that our security forces are equipped with sufficient powers to deal with the situation and the AFSPA is one such Act that can't be dispensed with. While the Government including the Prime Minister is bent upon withdrawing the Act in their effort to bend backwards to please the secessionists the Army and the security establishment are strongly resisting any such dangerous move.
The ABKM strongly decries the statements and actions of the Group of Interlocutors, which betray their lack of depth and understanding of the issues involved. Statements emanating from the members of the group go against the stated position of our Parliament through the 1994 unanimous resolution. The Group lacks not only vision and expertise but also legitimacy, as it doesn't have the mandate of either the parliament or the country. The Group is acting overtly in support of the secessionists and Pakistan thus greatly harming our interests. The ABKM deplores the reckless attitude of the Central Government in appointing such a group of biased individuals for such an important mission and calls for its immediate disbanding.
The ABKM is of the considered opinion that the Central Government is succumbing to foreign pressures and trying to create a favourable atmosphere for secessionist forces in the Valley. Repeated statements of the ministers about finding a ‘political solution to the J&K problem’ are nothing but a euphemism for granting more autonomy. It is to create such an atmosphere that they are using all the for a like the all-Party delegation, the Group of Interlocutors and even some members of the political establishment.
The ABKM reiterates that the direction of our efforts should be towards reaffirming the status of complete integration of J&K in the true spirit of our Constitution and the 1994 unanimous Resolution of our Parliament and not towards autonomy or pre-1953 status.
The ABKM warns the Government that any move to further alienate J&K will be strongly resisted by the people of the country including the patriotic people of J&K. It calls upon all the political parties to rise above their differences to ensure that the Government doesn’t compromise on vital national interests in the context of the J&K problem. The ABKM calls upon the countrymen to understand and undo the machinations of all these forces that are bent upon destroying the unity and integrity of our nation in the name of autonomy and political solution to J&K issue. Autonomy is like a post-dated cheque for another partition, which the country shall never accept.
150TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARIES OF PANDIT MADAN MOHAN MALVIYA AND GURUDEV RAVINDRA NATH THAKUR: The Akhil Bharatiya Karykari Mandal passed two more resolutions to commemorate the 150th birth anniversaries of Mahamana Malviyaji, born on the Paush Krishna Ashtami Vikram Samvat 1918 (25 December 1861), and Gurudev Ravindra Nath Thakur born on May 7, 1861 (Bangla year 1268, Vaishakh 25).
Malviyaji was a great patriot, freedom fighter, and renowned educationist, editor of several newspapers, skillful lawyer, eloquent orator and munificent donor. The great cow-devotee, the moving force for building temple at Shri Krishna Janma Bhoomi and founder of the Banaras Hindu University, Malviyaji got established gau-shalas, pathshalas and Mumukshu Ashrams at several places.
Paying humble and heart-felt tributes to Mahamana Madan Mohan Malviya ji ABKM called upon the Swayamsevaks and the countrymen to commit to mould the new generation by drawing inspiration from the noble and intensely active life of Mahamana and follow the Hindu values as reflected in his articles, speeches and life episodes, in personal life and establish these in the social life.
The ABKM appealed to the countrymen to commemorate the occasion of Ravindranath Thakur’s sesquicentennial birth anniversary to make his nationalist thoughts exert influence in contemporary Bharat.
The movement against partition of Bengal forced by Lord Curzon had aroused a wave of patriotic fervor across the country. The Rakshabandhan festival on October 16, 1905 celebrated under the leadership of Ravindranath in Kolkata proved to be the starting point of the movement against partition. This movement also triggered the Swadeshi movement. Ravindranath's writings give a forceful exposition of the idea behind Swadeshi. He himself sang Vandemataram in the Congress session.
He was the first Bharatiya to win the illustrious Nobel Prize in 1913 for his collection of poems 'Geetanjali' published in 1912. He returned the title 'Nighthood' bestowed on him by the British government, in protest against the Jalianwala Bagh carnage.
Many national leaders of those days including Mahatma Gandhi held him as their source of inspiration owing to the unity of preaching and practice exemplified in his life and Mahatma Gandhi honoured him by the title 'Gurudev'.
5. HSS VIJAYA DASHAMI UTSAV 2010 AT CERRITOS, CALIFORNIA: More than 320 swayamsevaks and sevikas, over 200 in ganavesh attended the utsav on October 17. The program included a variety of pradarshan activities including Niyuddha , Danda, Yogasan and Yogchap by sevikas; Vyayam Yog and Geet pradarshan by bala ganas across the shakhas, and Geet Samata and Ghosh pradarshan by sevaks and sevikas across the shakhas. The shakhas were well prepared for their pradarshan items and performed skillfully. There were also programs like a presentation on Sangh activities by Madhu Hebbar; and three baudhiks by Dr. Mani Bhowmik about the connections between Hindu dharma, the notion of the “Brahman”, and science at the physical and quantum levels, by Nitin Shah about the powerful gift of giving, and by Sreevidya Radhakrishna on the significance of Vijaya Dashami. Finally Shastra Pooja was led by Babubhai Gandhi.
6. ACCEPT THE SPIRIT OF ALLAHABAD HC: RSS: Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Oct 22 made it clear that a negotiated settlement of the Ayodhya issue was possible only when Muslim groups “accept the spirit” of the Allahabad HC verdict and not challenge the title suit judgement in the Supreme Court.
This assertion comes day after section of Muslim and Hindu groups, including All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and RSS, met in New Delhi in an effort to seek ways for negotiations to settle the vexed issue.
7. VHP: NO MOSQUE AT AYODHYA SITE: Ruling out division of the disputed land in Ayodhya, the Sant Uchchadhikar Samiti, the apex body of seers and VHP leaders, has unanimously resolved to take the fight to the Supreme Court for a permanent settlement of the land's ownership.
With the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and the Nirmohi Akhara too announcing their decision to move the Supreme Court, chances of negotiated settlement are now remote.
In its first meeting held after Allahabad HC verdict in the title suit on September 30, the samiti demanded possession of 70 acres of acquired land for construction of a 'bhavya mandir' (grand temple) at the site and pledged to preserve the unique character of Ayodhya. The samiti rejected any proposal to raise a new mosque within cultural boundary of Ayodhya.
8. .DRDO TEST FLIES RUSTOM UNMANNED AIRCRAFT: “RUSTOM” the Medium altitude long endurance Unmanned Aircraft being developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment, a premier DRDO lab specializing in UAVs and flight control systems, was successfully flown in its maiden flight. The aircraft was flown in a manner exactly as planned, up to a height of 3000 ft. and remained airborne for 30 minutes and completed all mission requirements.
It taxied, took off and landed (among the most challenging maneuvers for a UAV), using a runway at an air field owned by Taneja Aerospace and Aviation (TAAL), Hosur, like a normal aircraft. Lt Col VS Thapa of Bharatiya army, an experienced External Pilot for UAVs who was situated at the edge of the runway and he controlled it without any difficulty throughout its flight which included the pilot assisted takeoff, flight in air and a copy book style landing.
The subsequent flights will test and demonstrate these capabilities such as GPS controlled Way Point Navigation, Get U Home, altitude and endurance parameters, the systems for which have been already incorporated in the aircraft.
9. BJP SWEEPS GUJARAT LOCAL BODIES POLLS: After defeating Congress in the municipal corporation polls, the BJP on Oct 23 trounced the opposition party in the panchayats and municipalities elections in Gujarat.
Out of the 24 district panchayats the BJP won clear majority in 21. Out of the 208 taluka panchayats, results of 157 were declared, in which BJP has own 122, Congress 20 and Janta Dal(U) two, while in the three taluka panchayats the verdict was hung. In the 53 municipalities' elections, the BJP has won 42 seats while the Congress and others got four seats respectively. In Porbandar both the BJP and Congress won 21 seats each out of the total 42 seats.
10. SEVA BHARATI DEDICATES NEWLY CONSTRUCTED HOUSES TO FLOOD AFFECTED PEOPLE IN KARNATAKA: It was a moment of satisfaction and joy for the villagers of Sabbalahunasi of Badami taluk, district Bagalakot, Karnataka, when Seva Bharati, a leading social service organization dedicated newly built houses to the flood affected people.
On October 18 in a simple ceremony former RSS Sarasanghachalak Sri K. S. Sudarshan handed over 77 newly built houses to flood affected people. Seva Bharati has initiated complete rehabilitation of 13 villages. The newly constructed homes are with better facilities for a village family. Shri Kashinath Swami of Guledagudda, Shri Abhinava Oppatteshwara Swamiji also blessed the occasion.
11. HINDUSTHAN SAMACHAR – A MULTILINGUAL NEWS AGENCY: Hindusthan Samachar (HS) is one of the leading multilingual news agencies in the co-operative sector dedicated to providing news in the Bharatiya languages. HS enjoyed support and blessings from highly respected intellectuals, national leaders and administrators like the first Rashtrapati of Bharat Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Rajarshi Purushottamdas Tandon, Pandit Govind Vallabh Pant and Rafi Ahmed Kidwai on the occasion of its launching.
The service is being provided in Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Nepali, Oriya, Asamiya, Kannad, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Sindhi, Sanskrit, Bangla and English languages. The service is fully based on the web internet technology and by email subscription.
A number of regional language papers along with some of the leading Hindi newspapers are its subscribers including Governments of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and some leading institutions. HS is providing news emanating from the centre as well as from the state capitals to small newspapers in rural areas and vice versa.
Since its inception HS has been subscribed by Bihar Govt in 1952 followed by Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Harayana, Bihar, Rajasthan, Odisha, Assam, Karnataka and Kerala including Akashvani, Nepal Radio,. Nepal T.V, and Doordarshan in its later days.
HS has been projecting contribution of non resident Bharatiyas and Bharatiya Diaspora in the field of culture, social, political and economic activities. To meet the professional challenges HS has set up news Bureaus at Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata and 30 other major cities with offices in countries like Nepal, Thailand and Mauritius. It intends to have offices in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and even in U.S.A., UK and many other countries of prominence.
Feature services like Navothan Lekh Seva on www.lekhseva.com; News Scan Service: Kiosk Seva: and Photo Service are provided at nominal charges. More details can be obtained at www.hindusthansamachar.com and www.hindusthansamachar.net.
12. BALGOKULAM RUNS IN FOSTER CITY AND SAN MATEO:. Many South Asian parents enroll their children in classes at Balgokulams throughout U.S. to help them appreciate their cultural roots and learn Hindu values in an enjoyable way.
The Foster City branch of the nationwide program is active every Sunday at the Foster City Recreation Center and at Monica Learning Center in San Mateo.
At the San Mateo Center, at about nine on a Sunday morning, around 20 young children and some parents sat cross-legged listening intently and participating actively about moral, historical and spiritual lessons and their relevance to current day events.
The Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), which is tasked with promoting Hindu heritage and uniting the Hindus globally, is the parent body behind the program that runs at the Foster City Recreation Center. The program in San Mateo is independent of any affiliations.
Our goal is to serve the community and provide the cultural and moral experience for the kids. "We teach truth, universal love and world peace as principles. While inculcating pride in their own culture, we also teach children to respect other religions and culture," said Venkat, coordinator of San Mateo Classes.
13. KARNA IN AN AMERICAN COMIC SERIES: He is the doomed warrior of Bharatiya mythology — royal born, lowly bred but with a fierce courage that challenged the might of Arjuna. Now, Karna the epic hero from Mahabharata joins forces with superheroes from around the world in an American comic series called War of the Independents.
War of the Independents is a venture that brings together more than 200 characters from Indie comics from across the world including popular icons like Jeff Smith's cult hero Fone Bone and Mark Ellis' The New Justice Machine and others. "There are heroes from Turkey, Chile, Australia, Canada and Russia," says David Ryan, the 45-year-old illustrator behind the concept. "Karna's first appearance in the series will be in issue number three with all of the 'supermen' to fight a foe incredibly powerful," he adds.
14. ZED EXPLAINS HINDUISM AT A CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN USA: In a remarkable interfaith gesture, Hindu statesman Rajan Zed explained in a Christian church in Nevada (USA) on October 23 and 24 what Hinduism had to offer.
Participating in a panel discussion at Summit Christian Church in Sparks, Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, talked about the concept of God, life after death, scriptures, etc., in Hinduism.
Rajan Zed quoted from ancient Hindu scripture Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord) and explained that physical death was not considered final in Hinduism and Self acquired a new body when it was worn out. Other participants in the discussion included Jewish Rabbis Anne Persin and Teri Appleby, Muslim Imam Abdulrahim Barghouthi, Rick Lund of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and theology professor Dr. David Timms.
15. HERITAGE CAMP IN NEW ZEALAND PROVES POPULAR: A distinctive two-day Hindu Heritage Camp was organised by Hindu Council of New Zealand for the Hindu community volunteers and their families at the Karanga Camp site, Waitakere ranges, Auckland from October 22-24. More than 50 members from the Hindu community attended the camp. Volunteers of Hindu Youth Foundation and Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh also participated in the camp.
“This camp provides a very good opportunity for Hindu community volunteers and their families from all over New Zealand, to come closer and interact with each other in an informal environment,” said Ms Sonali Hegde, Central Secretary of Hindu Council of New Zealand and the co-ordinator of this camp.
“The activities are aimed at team building and involve attendees from all age groups, in the midst of beautiful natural surroundings that New Zealand is known for” she added. Yoga classes, memory/intellect games, bush walks and tramps in the Waitakere ranges, Art and Craft workshops, Vedic Mathematics sessions, and group discussions and deliberations on the Hindu society’s contributions to New Zealand were highlights of the camp.
16. NEW VP OF DEVELOPMENT FOR SEWA INTERNATIONAL TO BE IN DC: Darshan Soni from Indianapolis, IN, has been appointed vice president of development for Sewa International in the US, a nonprofit, Hindu faith-based nonprofit service organization. Soni will be based in Washington D.C. and will focus on chapter and volunteer development and liaising with federal relief agencies.
About Sewa International
With its mission to help humanity in distress, and serve local communities by promoting volunteerism, Sewa International is in 15 countries including Australia, Canada, Caribbean, Malaysia, New Zealand, UK, and USA, and manages 165,000 projects worldwide in education, healthcare, environment, child welfare, women empowerment, and disaster relief and rehabilitation.
The flagship project in the US is to help resettle the recently migrated 30,000 strong Bhutanese refugee community ethnically cleansed out of Bhutan in 1990s.
Another 30,000 are expected over the next two years. Specifically, Sewa is working to integrate, acculturate and help them to become productive citizens in 42 different cities across the US including metro areas of Atlanta, GA; Bay Area, CA; Cleveland, OH; Chicago, IL; Dallas and Houston, TX; Denver, CO; New Jersey/New York; Phoenix, AZ; Tampa, FL; Seattle, WA; and, Washington D.C, among others.
17. SEEMA JAN KALYAN SAMITI TO SET UP 50 SHAKTI KENDRAS IN RAJASTHAN BORDER AREAS: With an aim to create awareness in the areas, close to international border with Pakistan, and to make the citizen vigilant, a new all Bharat organisation, Seema Jan Kalyan Smiti(SJKS), is getting ready to set up 50 Shakti Kendras. Till May this year SJKS, was only a State level organisation, active in the border districts of Rajasthan. But in the meeting of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh at Jammu, it was decided to make it a national organisation, covering states like Jammu, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat, having a long border with Pakistan. According to Shri Neem Singh, its organising secretary for Rajasthan, about two dozen such Kendras were already functioning in border districts and these would be strengthened now, as per the all Bharat plan prepared at Jammu.
About 200 youths have already become members of this organisation and they would be given training to run these Kendras. Members of SJKS would work in cooperation with local administration and Border Security Force to undertake awareness programme.
18. IIT-M ALUMNUS TO HEAD US NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: US President Barack Obama has appointed yet another Bharatiya American to a prestigious position. Subra Suresh, an IIT-Madras alumnus and Dean of the MIT School of Engineering, has been sworn in as director of the National Science Foundation, the US’s top science body with a $7-billion budget to steer scientific research.
Suresh who graduated from IIT-Madras with distinction in 1977, received his MS from Iowa State University in 1979, and his ScD from MIT in 1981. He has been with MIT ever since, working his way up as a researcher and member of the faculty to become the Dean and Vannevar Bush Professor of Engineering.
“He has been leading one of the top engineering programmes in the country, and for him now to be able to apply that to the National Science Foundation is just going to be outstanding. So we’re very grateful for your service,” Obama said.
Suresh will have a six-year-term at the NSF besides a wide span of educational programmes that reach more than 2,000 institutions across the US and involve some 200,000 educators, researchers and students.
19. GRENADE LOBBED AT TEMPLE: Suspected terrorists lobbed a grenade at a temple in Meghalaya’s East Garo Hills. The Chinese made grenade was hurled at the Durga temple at Warima market on October 29. The floor has been damaged partially and the walls blackened due to the explosion.
20. FERRY SERVICE TO LANKA FROM TUTICORIN SOON: A ferry service between Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka was likely to be started soon. A mega container terminal would be set up at a cost of Rs. 3,000 crore in the Chennai port under public private partnership (ppp) model in two phases.
21. AT ‘125’, JAMMU MAN CLAIMS TO BE OLDEST IN WORLD: Haji Jumma Khan Pathan, a resident of Surankote tehsil of Poonch district in Jammu, recently stunned mediapersons by claiming that at over 125 years of age he was one of the oldest living persons — and still going strong.
Though he could not produce any documented proof of his age but one of his 12 children and grandson, who accompanied him during the media interaction in Jammu, invited experts/doctors to scientifically test Khan’s age to back his claim.
“I am over 125 years and can proudly say that I am the grandfather of a 225-member divided family, living across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir,” Haji Jumma Khan said.
22. CHINA LAUDS BHARAT’s MOON MISSIONS: China might continue to rub Bharat the wrong way over territorial rights, but its top scientist Ouyang Ziyuan has surprised his Bharatiya counterparts by putting in a good word for Delhis lunar programmes.
Ziyuan,Chinas chief lunar scientist, praised Bharat’s space technology by saying it was superior to China in terms of computer software. As it (Bharat) is a large country, it needs lunar exploration to spur technology development and invigorate national spirit, he told Global Times, Chinas national daily, at a time when Bharat is revving up for Chandrayaan-2,a Rs 425-crore mission.It is slated for launch from Sriharikota in 2013.
23. SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN: Pravas: Dr.Shankar Tatwawadi, samyojak Vishwa Vibhag will leave for UK on Nov 12. Visitors: Subhash Sehgal, Boston USA
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: With love there is no painful reaction; love only brings a reaction of bliss; if it does not, it is not love; it is mistaking something else for love. When you have succeeded in loving your husband, your wife, your children, the whole world, the universe, in such a manner that there is no reaction of pain or jealousy, no selfish feeling, then you are in a fit state to be unattached.- Swami Vivekananda
JAI SHREE RAM
