\SAMVAD  श्री विश्व निकेतन SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN

Magh Shukla 7, Vik. Samvat 2076 Yugabda 5121: 1 February 2020


1. FESTIVALS: 40 LAKH TAKE HOLY DIP at GANGASAGR 2. THE JAGANNATH TEMPLE KITCHEN
3. RASHTRAPATI KOVIND’S GANATANTRA DIWAS ADDRESS 4. BHARAT CELEBRATED ITS 71ST GANATANTRA DIWAS
5. “THE MAHASWAMI GUIDED MANY PEOPLE THROUGH HIS LIFE”: RSS SARASANGHACHALAK DR. MOHAN BHAGWAT 6. SEWA SANGAM 2020 PUNE: Sewa with the spirit of Self Reliance
7. RSS HAS NO CONNECTION WITH POLITICS, WORKS FOR 130 CRORE BHARATIYAS : DR. MOHAN BHAGWAT 8. ISRO SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETES THREE ORBIT RAISING MANOEUVRES OF GSAT-30 ISRO
9. NEUROSCIENCE AND THE ‘SANSKRIT EFFECT’ 10. RAMAKRISHNA MISSION MONK WINS BHARAT’S HIGHEST MATHS AWARD
11. BHARAT PLAYS KEY ROLE IN WORLD’S LARGEST TELESCOPE 12. 'PARASHURAM MELA' BEGINS AT PARASHURAM KUND IN ARUNACHAL PRADESH
13. HUM WAPAS AAYENGE: KASHMIRI PANDITS PLEDGE TO RETURN TO VALLEY 14. MUSLIM BHAJAN SINGER, ‘LANGAR BABA’, SUNDARBAN DOCTOR AMONG PADMA AWARD WINNERS
15. RICKSHAW RUN 2019 - LET EVERY DEAF CHILD SPEAK (A FUNDRAISING INITIATIVE BY SEWA UK) 16. BHARAT’S FIRST GANDHI CONVENTION CENTRE IN NIGER
17. HINDU AMERICAN SUHAS SUBRAMANYAM INTO VIRGINIA STATE LEGISLATURE 18. REFUGEE, OHIOAN, FIRST NEPALI-BHUTANESE ELECTED IN US
19. PAK-BORN WOMAN WHO GOT BHARATIYA CITIZENSHIP IN SEPTEMBER, ELECTED SARPANCH IN RAJASTHAN 20. SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN & FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Article:

UNDERSTANDING THE CITIZENSHIP AMENDEMENT ACT


1. FESTIVALS: 40 LAKH TAKE HOLY DIP at GANGASAGR: More than 40 lakh pilgrims from all across the country and abroad took the holy dip in Gangasagar on the occasion of Makar Sankranti on January 15. Makar Sankranti marks the end of the month with the winter solstice and the start of longer days. Located about 150 km from Kolkata in the South 24 Parganas district Sagar Island hosts Gangasagar mela every year during Makar Sankranti.-GoTop


2. THE JAGANNATH TEMPLE KITCHEN: Considered to be the largest kitchen in the world, a variety of at least 56 meals or ‘bhoga’ are cooked in the kitchen everyday for the Deities at Jagannath Puri, over a wood-fire and in earthen pots. The sacred ‘Mahaprasad’ then feeds a staggering 1,00,000 people a day. On January 15, the Makar Sankranti day, the entire temple was devoted to prepare a special kind of bhoga, known as the "Makara Chaula," or Makara rice. Prepared from harvested rice, Makara Chaula is comprised of banana, jaggery, sesame, milk, ghee, coconut, freshly-made butter, fruits and dry fruits. -GoTop


3. RASHTRAPATI KOVIND’S GANATANTRA DIWAS ADDRESS: ‘We the People’ are the prime movers of the Republic. The central tenets of our democracy – justice, liberty, equality and fraternity are adhering to 150th birth anniversary of Gandhiji. The Government has launched a number of welfare campaigns, and what is especially noteworthy about them is the fact that citizens have voluntarily turned them into popular movements. Every policy initiative of the Government is guided by the ‘nation-first’ principle. Bharat is proud of the achievements of ISRO. They are making further progress in Mission Gaganyaan, and the nation excitedly looks forward to the Bharatiya Human Spaceflight Programme gaining further momentum this year. -GoTop
“Padmashree Jaiprakash ji”
"It is with immense pleasure we inform the news of conferment of 'Padmashree' award to Shri Jaiprakash Agarwal ji. Jaiprakash ji has a long association with Vishwa Vibhag and Sangh activities and has been instrumental in initiating various new dimensions like Vishwa Sangh Shibir. A leading industrialist, he has also worked on various social transformation projects through Surya Foundation. Shri Jaiprakash ji is also Trustee to Shri Vishwa Niketan'. Samvad team takes pride in congratulating him and wishing that he continues to guide and motivate all karyakartas." -GoTop


4. BHARAT CELEBRATED ITS 71ST GANATANTRA DIWAS: Bharat celebrated its 71th Ganatantra Diwas on 26th January with a 90-minute display of military might, cultural diversity and socio-economic progress. The armed forces took centre-stage parading an array of weapons, the Defence Research Organization put up a display of state-of-the-art technology and the 22 tableaux held a spectacular display of colours, art and lifestyle. Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro was the Chief Guest. The ceremony started with Pradhan Mantri Narendra Modi, in a first, visiting the National War Memorial instead of the Amar Jawan Jyoti, where he paid tributes to soldiers who died fighting for the country. The highlights of the parade were the Army's battle tank Bhishma, Infantry Combat Vehicle Ballway Machine Pikate and the Air Force's brand new Rafale fighter jet and Chinook and Apache helicopters.
For the second consecutive year, a woman officer led an all-male contingent. The Corps of Signals marched down the Rajpath, led by Captain Tania Sher Gill, who recently made history by becoming the first woman Parade Adjutant to lead all-men contingents during the Army Day function.
The grand finale, and one of the most keenly awaited segments of the parade, was the fly-past with the "Trishul" formation being carried out by three Advanced Light Helicopters. -GoTop


5. “THE MAHASWAMI GUIDED MANY PEOPLE THROUGH HIS LIFE”: RSS SARASANGHACHALAK DR. MOHAN BHAGWAT: Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sarasanghachalak Dr. Mohan ji Bhagwat inaugurated a collection of 56 paintings on the life and teachings of Kanchi Mahaswami and released ‘Param Vani’ Hindi version of ‘Deivathin Kural’at Kanchi Mahaswami Vidya Mandir near Tambaram on Jan 21. Shri Omkarananda Swami graced the occasion. R A Sankara Narayanan M.D & CEO, Canara Bank was the guest of honour. The paintings portray the stiff challenges faced by Kanchi Mahaswami right in his early days, his travel across length and breadth of the country by foot, contribution in kindling patriotism among the masses and spirit of service. Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Mohan Bhagwat, said: “The Mahaswami symbolized Sanatana Dharma and guided many people through his life.” Bhagwatji also felicitated Priyavrata Patil, a 16 year old lad who achieved a great feat in Vyakarna Shastra studies by clearing all 14 tests in Tenali MahaPariksha. He has completed it in two years what is usually completed in seven years. -GoTop


6. SEWA SANGAM 2020 PUNE: Sewa with the spirit of Self Reliance: “The Sewa projects run in Bharat for the upliftment of deprived people of our society are basically inspired by the spiritual thought. We regard sewa as dharma. That is why sewa has been a means to shun the ego”, said RSS Sahsarkaryavah Dr. Manmohan Vaidya while inaugurating the two day Sewa Sangam Exhibition on January 18 in Pune. Mayor of Pune Murlidhar Mohol, Cleanliness Ambassador of Pune Mahadev Jadhav and film actress YuktaMukhi were also present. About 125 voluntary organizations joined the exhibition and showcased their sewa activities that they carry out in different areas. Addressing the concluding ceremony of the exhibition on January 19, RSS national executive member and former Akhil Bharatiya Sewa Pramukh Suhasrao Hiremath stressed on inculcating the spirit among those who are being served today to serve the other needy people after they come out of poverty. -GoTop


7. RSS HAS NO CONNECTION WITH POLITICS, WORKS FOR 130 CRORE BHARATIYAS : DR. MOHAN BHAGWAT: RSS has no connection with politics, it works for 130 crore Bharatiyas and it works only to uplift the moral, cultural and human values of the country said RSS Sarasanghachalak Shri Mohan Bhagwat . Addressing a large gathering in Moradabad on January 18 Shri Bhagwat said people from all walks of life are a part of the organization while some also run political parties. He also denied that the RSS was "remote controlling" the BJP pointing out that the organization was working for all 130 crore Bharatiyas. "There are so many top class intellectuals and social reformers who are not our allies but have our ideology. This is our success," he asserted. Shri Bhagwat said that the RSS was working with very few persons when it was formed in 1925 but has grown into an organization with 1.3 lakh branches throughout the country due to continuous dedication towards nation building. -GoTop


8. ISRO SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETES THREE ORBIT RAISING MANOEUVRES OF GSAT-30 ISRO has successfully completed the three orbit-raising manoeuvres of communication satellite GSAT-30 and succeeded in placing it in an orbit close to its operational orbit. The cumulative duration of operation of the propulsion system for these manuoeuvres was 2 hours 29 minutes. The satellite was launched on January 17 onboard Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana. With a mission life of 15 years, GSAT-30 is an operational communication satellite for DTH, television uplink and VSAT services. -GoTop


9. NEUROSCIENCE AND THE ‘SANSKRIT EFFECT’: Sanskrit scholars in Bharat learn to chant ancient texts from a tender age. They chant simple mantras, Sanskrit poetry, and prose, along with memorizing and chanting the most ancient Sanskrit texts, including the Shukla Yajurveda, which takes six hours to chant. Neuroscience shows how rigorous memorizing can help the brain. The term the ‘Sanskrit Effect’ was coined by neuroscientist James Hartzell, who studied 21 professionally qualified Sanskrit pandits. He discovered that memorizing Vedic mantras increases the size of brain regions associated with cognitive function, including short and long-term memory. Dr. Hartzell, a Sanskrit devotee and postdoctoral researcher at Spain’s Basque Centre on Cognition, Brain and Language, has noticed that the more Sanskrit he studied and translated, the better his verbal memory seemed to become. -GoTop


10. RAMAKRISHNA MISSION MONK WINS BHARAT’S HIGHEST MATHS AWARD: Swami Vidyanandaji Mahan Maharaj alias Mahan Mitra is a monk with the Ramakrishna Mission order and he has been awarded this year’s Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award for mathematics, the highest academic honour for science in Bharat. The 45-year-old Swami is fluent in English, Hindi and Bengali. Mahan Mitra studied in St Xavier’s Collegiate School till Class XII and cracked IIT-JEE to enter the prestigious IIT Kanpur to study electrical engineering. After completing his MSc, he went to University of California, Berkeley. After coming back from US, he renounced the worldly affairs and became a monk. Mahan Maharaj, who teaches M Sc students and takes course work for PhD students, joined the RK Mission institution in 1998 after a PhD from the UCB. -GoTop


11. BHARAT PLAYS KEY ROLE IN WORLD’S LARGEST TELESCOPE: Bharat’s contribution to the world’s largest telescope just got bigger. Apart from producing edge sensors, mirrors, actuators and electronics for the Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT) which is in development in Hawaii, Bharat will also develop a high-resolution optical spectrometer (HROS) for it. The spectrometer — a device that collects light waves and uses them to determine what material created the light — is expected to enhance the telescope’s glimpse into formation of the first galaxies as well as Milky Way’s neighbour, Andromeda, while also mapping the elements formed during Big Bang such as hydrogen and helium.-GoTop


12. 'PARASHURAM MELA' BEGINS AT PARASHURAM KUND IN ARUNACHAL PRADESH: The famous Parashuram Kund Mela began on 14th January in Arunachal Pradesh on the eve of Makar Sankranti. Devotees from across the country and Nepal visit the sacred place to take a holy dip in the Kund.
The Puranic story mentioned in the Kalika Purana, the Srimad Bhagavata and the Mahabharata says that Bhagwan Parashuram beheads his mother and eventually performs a penance. After his penance, he atones for his sin by taking a bath in the nearby Brahma Kund at this site. Every year thousands of Hindu devotees throng the Mela and take a holy dip in the sacred Kund on the occasion of Makar Sankranti. -GoTop


13. HUM WAPAS AAYENGE: KASHMIRI PANDITS PLEDGE TO RETURN TO VALLEY: To mark the 30th anniversary of the mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley, members of the community took to social media to post videos of themselves by narrating the "Hum Aayenge Apne Watan" dialogue from an upcoming flick, 'Shikara', with the hope that they would return to their homeland one day. On January 19, the Hindu American Foundation, an advocacy organization that highlights human rights violations against Hindus around the world, held vigils across the United States to mark the 30th anniversary of the Kashmiri Pandit Exodus Day. The HAF partnered with several local organizations to hold candlelight vigils in Sacramento, San Jose, Concord, and Fresno, California; Miami, Florida; Philadelphia, PA; and Sugar Land, Texas. A number of other independently organized community events, including memorial services and local seva (service) events, also commemorated the 30th year of Kashmiri Hindu cleansing and exile. The turnout topped 200 people at several locations. -GoTop


14. MUSLIM BHAJAN SINGER, ‘LANGAR BABA’, SUNDARBAN DOCTOR AMONG PADMA AWARD WINNERS: Padma Awards 2020 continue the tradition started by the Modi government a few years ago, of honouring unsung heroes who have been silently contributing to social, cultural, educational and environmental fields.
The list of 21 such Padma Shri awardees includes a Bhopal gas leak victim who spent 35 years of his lifespan working with other survivors, a ‘divyang’ from Anantnag in J&K who runs a school for specially-abled children; a ‘langar baba’ who has been feeding patients and attendants outside a hospital in Punjab; a doctor in West Bengal who travels 6 hours each day to Sundarban villages to treat patients; an orange seller who spends his meagre earnings on educating children; a former manual scavenger lady who now heads the Sulabh International Social Service Organization; an elephant conservationist from Assam; Mysuru based husband and wife who run Sanskrit daily ’Sudharma’ and a Muslim bhajan singer from Rajasthan who has penned bhajans in praise of Lord Krishna and cows. Among the commoners honoured this year is Late Abdul Jabbar, a 1983 Bhopal gas leak victim who ran an advocacy group for other victims and survivors. He provided vocational training to 2300 widows of gas leak victims and fought for medical rehabilitation of victims in courts. -GoTop


15. RICKSHAW RUN 2019 - LET EVERY DEAF CHILD SPEAK (A FUNDRAISING INITIATIVE BY SEWA UK): Rickshaw Run 2019 organized by Sewa UK with Saksham as local partner in Bharat, was a unique event, featuring 30 auto-rickshaws carrying 94 people for 12 days around 2600 km from Kanyakumari (Tamilnadu) to Ahmedabad (Gujarat). It was organized to raise funds for Cochlea Pune for Hearing and Speech, which offers Cochlear Implant surgery for congenitally deaf children and then they offer speech therapy to these children to enable them to speak.
At Cochlea Pune for hearing and speech, the team met and interacted with kids who were undergoing process of cochlear implant and then speech therapy. This organization was started by Dr Avinash Vachasundar. With the funds raised through Rickshaw Run 2019, newer infrastructure will be built which will enable many more kids from larger surrounding area to be given the opportunity to undergo surgery as well as speech therapy and have a chance at better life. -GoTop

 

16. BHARAT’S FIRST GANDHI CONVENTION CENTRE IN NIGER: External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar and President of Niger Mahamadou Issoufou on 21st January jointly inaugurated the first convention centre established in Africa by Bharat to honour the memory of Mahatma Gandhi whose 150th Birth Anniversary was observed last year. The convention centre has been designed as a spacious, modern and eco-friendly facility, including a 2,000 capacity Plenary Hall, to witness high-level and wide-ranging participation from African Union member states and other high-level conventions. Dr. Jaishankar, the first Bharatiya Foreign Minister to visit the West African country, met PM Brigi Rafini and discussed bilateral ties. -GoTop


17. HINDU AMERICAN SUHAS SUBRAMANYAM INTO VIRGINIA STATE LEGISLATURE: Suhas Subramanyam was officially sworn in as the first Bharatiya American and Hindu-American to the Virginia state Legislature on 8th January. He took oath on Bhagvad Geeta.
Bharatiya American Usha Reddi was chosen as the new mayor of Manhattan, Kansas on 7th January. Reddi, who served as mayor pro tem before being selected as mayor, served as the mayor of Manhattan in 2016 and 2017. -GoTop


18. REFUGEE, OHIOAN, FIRST NEPALI-BHUTANESE ELECTED IN US: Moments after reciting the oath of office, a swarm of people descended upon Bhuwan Pyakurel. In between receiving congratulatory handshakes, the new Reynoldsburg councilman humbly posed for group photos and selfies as loved ones and strangers captured the historic moment. Believed to be the first Nepali-Bhutanese man to be elected into office in the U.S., Pyakurel expressed immense gratitude toward his friends, family, and everyone who helped him along the way. -GoTop


19. PAK-BORN WOMAN WHO GOT BHARATIYA CITIZENSHIP IN SEPTEMBER, ELECTED SARPANCH IN RAJASTHAN: Amid row over Citizenship Amendment Act, and proposed National Register of Citizens, a Pakistani immigrant Neeta Kanwar, who became a Bharatiya citizen in September 2019, was elected sarpanch of a gram panchayat in Rajasthan on 17th January. Born in Pakistan, Kanwar came to Bharat for higher studies. She graduated in Arts from Ajmer’s Sophia College in 2005 and got married to Punya Pratap Karan of Natwara on February 19, 2011. She applied for Bharatiya citizenship after marriage and got it in September 2019. She said she would like to work for the women by organizing them into self-help groups to ensure their financial independence. -GoTop


20. SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN: Pravas: Shri Saumitra Gokhale, samyojak Vishwa Vibhag will visit New Zealand and Australia. Dr Ram Vaidya, sahsamyojak will visit Russia, Ukraine and Japan.
Visitors: Smt Sarlaben and Ma Dhirajbhai Shah —UK.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: We must never be dejected. Our work is God’s work. We must be sure that He will definitely get it done.— RSS Founder Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar  -GoTop

JAI SHREE RAM

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UNDERSTANDING THE CITIZENSHIP AMENDEMENT ACT
RAJIV SIKRI

A widespread and unseemly controversy has broken out in India over the Citizenship Amendment Act passed by the Indian Parliament in December 2019 that fast tracks citizenship for persecuted minorities in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh belonging to the Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Jain and Parsi faiths. This brings closure to a sad and messy legacy of the Partition of India in 1947, when the new, expressly Muslim, state of Pakistan was carved out of India. There were widespread bloodshed and killings in both India and Pakistan as millions of Hindus and Sikhs migrated from, Punjab, Sindh and Northwest Frontier Province of West Pakistan (now Pakistan) to India, and Muslims, mostly from Punjab, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh in India migrated to West Pakistan. Many Hindus and Sikhs living in Afghanistan also migrated to India since there was an open, undefined border and movement of people between Afghanistan and undivided India. However, the exchange of populations was not comprehensive. Some chose not to migrate, others just could not manage to do so. On the India-East India (now Bangladesh) border, although the partition was less violent and bloody, there has been a steady inflow of Hindu refugees into India from East Pakistan/Bangladesh over the last seven decades.
Religious minorities have suffered enormously in Pakistan, and to a lesser extent in Bangladesh (till recently), as well as in Afghanistan. All three countries are today officially Islamic states where Muslims enjoy special rights and privileges, while minorities continue to be discriminated against, humiliated and persecuted. Many have been forcibly converted to Islam. Women belonging to the minority communities have been raped, kidnapped, and forced into marriage with Muslims. Hundreds of Hindu and Sikh temples have been destroyed or allowed to fall into ruin. As a result, the share of minorities in these three countries has come down, drastically. Thousands of people belonging to these persecuted minorities have sought refuge in India, and have been given, on an ad hoc basis, Indian citizenship. The new law merely formalizes this process so that the refugees languishing here can be given Indian citizenship that would enable them to secure admissions in educational institutions, get jobs, buy property, enjoy state welfare benefits and thereby have a more secure and dignified life. This is also India’s moral obligation, one that has been publicly articulated by leaders of all political parties over the decades, including former PM Manmohan Singh, himself a Sikh refugee from Pakistan.
Why then such a brouhaha? Many Indian opposition parties, frustrated at being out of power, have deliberately distorted this issue and stoked a controversy, spreading, imaginary fears among Muslims in India that they would be deprived of their citizenship, even though the new law has no impact on or relevance to those who are already Indian citizens, irrespective of their religion. These parties, with an eye on their traditional, but weakening, Muslim vote bank that relies on creating insecurity among Muslims, continue to mischievously and irresponsibly conflate the Citizenship Amendment Act with a proposed National Register of Citizens, even though Prime Minister Modi has clearly and emphatically declared publicly that the process of having a National Register of Citizens will not be initiated without widespread consultations.
Fears that India would no longer remain a pluralistic society are unwarranted. There is strong and widespread public support for an India where people belonging to all religions and communities feel secure and not discriminated against. India has special legal and constitutional provisions to protect all minorities including Muslims (whose share in India’s total population has steadily risen). It needs to be plainly and unequivocally stated: Indian Muslims are an integral part of India’s society and India is their home. India is proud that some of the biggest Bollywood stars and sports icons are Muslim, as are many successful and prosperous business and Industry leaders. We also have proud and patriotic Muslim soldiers and generals, wise and fair Muslim judges, efficient and committed Muslim officials and policemen, brilliant and respected Muslim scientists and engineers. All sects of Islam can and do peaceably follow their religious practices in India. Minorities, including Muslims, manage their own places of worship and institutions, and can have their own educational institutions where their children are taught about their religions. Whatever development work is being done – roads, water supply, gas connections, housing, toilets, education, health, etc. – is not targeted to favor any particular community.
India remains a robust democracy, where the Constitution is supreme. There is ample room for debate and opposition, and an established legal and judicial process for redressal of grievances. While peaceful protest is acceptable, violence is not. People should be held accountable if they destroy public property and attack police personnel and institutions. Everyone must respect the institution and authority of Parliament. Street mobs and political rhetoric cannot undo laws that have been duly legislated by Parliament after an open debate. Nor can State Governments and legislatures defy laws that, under the Indian Constitution, are the remit of Parliament. One hopes that all political parties will act responsibly and channelize public opinion in a constructive direction. (Rajiv Sikri is the former Bharatiya Ambassador to Kazakhstan and former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs.) January 14, 2020 https://www.indiawest.com  -GoTop


Shri Vishwa Niketan www.shrivishwaniketan.blogspot.com vishwav@bol.net.in

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