\ SAMVAD संवाद
श्री विश्व निकेतन SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN
Vaishakha Shukla 8, Vik. Samvat 2077, Yugabda 5122:1 May, 2020: SM 2003 (For Private Circulation Only)
1. FESTIVALS : MELA KHEER BHAWANI is held on Jyeshtha Shukla Ashtami corresponding to May 30 this year at Kheer Bhawani Mandir situated 14 miles to the East of Srinagar near the village of Tula Mula constructed over a sacred spring.Tula Mula and the spring of Maharagya have been considered very sacred in Rajtarangini written by Sanskrit poet Kalhan and the brahmins of Tula Mula considered notable for their spiritual prowess. Swami Rama Tirtha and Swami Vivekananda also visited here to have the darshan of the place. The term ksheer or kheer refers to rice pudding that is offered in the spring to propitiate the Goddess Maharagya or Maharagini which is the form of Shridurga Bhagwati. -GoTop
2. NEW IDOL OF SHREE HANUMAN INSTALLED AT AYODHYA TEMPLE: A new idol of Shree Hanuman has been installed at the makeshift Ram Janmabhoomi
temple site in Ayodhya.The old idol was damaged but could not be replaced till
now due to the Supreme Court directive for maintaining 'status quo' owing to the
pending case on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute."Worshipping a damaged
statue is prohibited in Hindu religion, but there was nothing we could do about
it. After shifting the idol of Ram Lalla to the new temple last month, the old
idol of Hanumanji has been immersed in the Saryu river and the 'pranapratishtha'
of the new one has been done," said temple chief priest Acharya Satyendra Das.
-GoTop
3. HSS UK DECLARED WINNER OF UK PARLIAMENTARY AWARD: Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh UK is 2020 Winner of UK Parliament Week Official Partner
of the Year Award for making outstanding contribution to the UK Parliament Week.
The judging panel which declared winners includes Speaker of the House of
Commons, MPs, Peers and independent judges. As a winner, HSS UK had been invited
to a ceremony in Parliament which was to be hosted by the Speaker to receive the
award on 24th March 2020, however because of the Corona Pandemic advice, this
event was postponed.
In November last year, 28 chapters which included Balgokulam, Parivar shakha,
Samiti shakha and Sangh shakha participated in Parliament Week event. With over
700 participants this was the biggest engagement by a Hindu organisation. David
Clark, Head of Education and Engagement at UK Parliament said that with
nationwide reach, HSS was a natural partner of UK Parliament Week and a worthy
winner of the award for staging outstanding activities. Several prominent
personalities including MPs Sir Graham Brady, Theresa Villiers, Matthew Offord
and Mike Freer, a Mayor and councillors supported the events.
-GoTop
4. MODI SURPASSES WORLD LEADERS IN APPROVAL RATING SCORING 68% : As the world battles with novel corona virus pandemic, pollster Morning Consult
released its approval ratings for every world leader from major democracies
giving Bharat’s Pradhan Mantri Narendra Modi the highest rating of 68% ahead of
any world leader. As of April 14, his net approval rating is 68, up from 62 at
the beginning of this year. Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has
the second-highest net approval over that period (36), though it fell slightly
from 39 in January. During that same stretch of time, Australian Prime Minister
Scott Morrison has seen the largest surge in domestic popularity, with his net
approval now up to 26 (from negative 26 on January 1).
Morning Consult’s data shows that among all ten countries surveyed, Japan’s
Shinzo Abe has the lowest rating (at negative 33) and the worst decline in net
approval, having fallen from negative 18 at the start of 2020.
5. HINDU PRIESTS—BODY CAMERAS & NEW TEMPLE EONOMICS: The coronavirus crisis has necessitated most of the big Hindu temples to
digitise many services. For instance, many devotees who came to Varanasi’s Kashi
Vishwanath temple from across Bharat and the world to organise special functions
like the 11-day Rudrabhishekam with their families would now be given the option
to have exclusive streaming.“Even after the temple re-opens, devotees won’t be
allowed in the sanctum sanctorum. All devotees will be thermally screened and
sanitised before entering the temple premises. ” says Vishal Singh, chief
executive officer (CEO) of the Kashi Vishwanath temple.
Tirupati, which is one of Bharat’s richest shrines, is planning to completely
discard its old system of worship. “All devotees will now have to register
online before they plan to visit the shrine. No offline visits without prior
online registration will take place once the restrictions are lifted.” says Y V
Subba Reddy, Lok Sabha MP and chairman of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams.
-GoTop
6. TAMIL NADU: TEMPLES TAKE PUJAS TO DEVOTEES WITH LIVE-STREAM: Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department of Tamilnadu has
finally agreed to allow a few temples in the state to live-stream the auspicious
occasions. "As of now, we have permitted live-streaming of pujas, rituals and
festivals at Chennai's Kapaleeswarar Temple, Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple and
Samayapuram Mariamman Temple. In the coming days, more temples will be given the
go-ahead to live-stream important events," HR&CE Commissioner Phanindra Reddy
said on April 21. -GoTop
7. NO SANGH SHIKSHA VARGAS THIS YEAR: Keeping in mind the present situation developed due to the spread of coronavirus,
RSS has cancelled more than 90 Sangh Shiksha Vargas (annual training camps) and
all other public activities to be held from April to June, across the country.
All state units of the Sangh are extending helping hand to the needy people and
over two lakh swayamsevaks are engaged in different relief activities at over
26,000 places at this hour of crisis. -GoTop
8. COVID-19: SEWA INTERNATIONAL, SOUTH ASIAN WOMEN PHYSICIANS OF N AMERICA
COLLABORATE TO HELP PEOPLE:
Sewa International and South Asian Women Physicians of North America (SAWPNA)
have collaborated to work together to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic and do as
much as they can to assist people in distress in the US. SEWA International so
far has raised USD 500,000 and seeks to raise USD 3.5 million to help facilitate
this work over the next few months.
SAWPNA, a unique group that brings together South Asian women physicians and
women physician-scientists together, will offer key information on the nature of
the virus, medical response to deal with it etc.
“We need to support the food pantries and medical centers who serve our
communities, enabling them to have the necessary resources to meet the rising
demand,” said Rajesh Sharma, Central Jersey Coordinator for Sewa International,
one of the organisations whose volunteers are involved in making masks. Sewa
Atlanta has raised $15,000 to carry out their relief efforts in the
state.Bharatiya American artists in New Jersey held a “Concert for Hope”
recently to cheer up for the healthcare workers.
-GoTop
9. BHARATIYA AMERICAN DOCTORS BATTLING U.S. CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC: "We have a proud moment, it is (also) a scary moment; it is a mixed feeling, but
this virus is a deadly virus," said Suresh Reddy, president American Association
of Physicians of Indian Origin—AAPI. 80,000 Bharatiya doctors who make up about
9 percent of the 985,000 physicians in the U.S see every sixth or seventh
patient in the country. "We are definitely in the frontline fighting this deadly
battle," against the corona virus, Reddy said."We are in a very dangerous
situation," he said, "because of this unexpected surge there is shortage of all
the PPE, personal protective equipment, shortage in almost all the hospitals in
the country," he added. AAPI is "trying to direct all the attention to all those
who are really taking care of the patients in very close proximity, and not only
doctors, but also nurses and other health care workers,” Reddy said.He said AAPI
is collecting donations and buying PPE to send them to hospitals in crisis in
Chicago, New York and New Jersey. -GoTop
10. ILLINOIS BHARATIYA AMERICAN STUDENT LEADS NGO HELPING FEED FAMILIES: “We are collecting canned and non-perishable food items, cleaning supplies,
toiletries, blankets etc. for homeless shelters, hospitals and those affected by
the shutdown,” said Bharatiya American student Anaisa Acharya, founder and CEO
of Colors4Change, a nonprofit organization in Naperville, Illinois. “So far, we
have collected more than 500 lbs. of supplies and over $1500 in monetary
donations. We have also organized a run raiser this weekend where a few teens
have signed up to run half marathon and have people from their circle of
influence pledge monetary donations.” Colors4Change is also supporting families
in the Naperville/Aurora area. For more information, visit
www.colors4change.org.
-GoTop
11. 1,00,000 FACE MASKS IN KENYA: 100,000 ( one hundred thousand) Face Mask , a joint project by Hindu council of
Kenya and Hindu Religious and service centre was launched at Deen Dayal Bhavan,
on April 25. The chief guest was Narendrabhai Raval (also known as Guru)
Chairman, Devki steel and a member of Covid - Emergency response fund team. Dr
Amit Thaker, an advisory member in the health ministry, Kamal Gupta, Chairman
Hindu Council of Kenya. Dr Minesh Shah, Chairman Hindu Religious and Service
Centre, Jayendra Malde, MCA Parklands /HighridgeWard, Paresh Shah,Chairman HSS
were also on the dias. -GoTop
12. SEWA DAY UK: SEWA UK has partnered with INSA AND FISI UK to help all those students and
people from Bharat who have been stranded in the UK and is supporting the
actions of Sewa Day.
6000 Hot Meals Served: Sewa Day has 4 key Covid-19 response campaigns; Help Your
Neighbours - Replenishing Food Banks - Caring For Our Front-liners and Spread
Some Joy to improve mental health. Sewa Day has delivered an amazing 6000 meals
already with much more to come.Sewa Day has over 1400 Volunteers with 27
Regional Teams. It has replenished 24 Foodbanks and has serviced 36
hospitals.Its volunteers encourage a simple message to be passed around their
neighbourhoods, asking residents to donate non-perishable items at a set date
and time for collection.Sewa Day is a registered charity in the UK, which
encourages individuals to volunteer and get involved with acts of community
cohesion & kindness.In the second week of April, hundreds of Sewa Day volunteers
sourced, collected and delivered 22,000+ Easter Eggs.-GoTop
13. BHARAT HANDS OVER 23 TONNES OF MEDICINE TO NEPAL:
"Bharat-Nepal relationship is special. Our bonds are not only strong but also
deep-rooted", said PM Modi on April 23 while returning the gratefulness of the
Nepal Pradhan Mantri who thanked Bharat for its generous support in the midst of
the coronavirus pandemic. Nepal Pradhan Mantri K P Sharma Oli thanked Narendra
Modi for Bharat's generous support of 23 tonnes of essential medicines to Nepal,
to fight COVID-19 Pandemic. The consignment, as a gift from the people of Bharat
to people of Nepal, includes 8.25 lakhs dosage of essential medicines including
3.2 lakhs dosage of Paracetamol and 2.5 lakhs dosages of Hydroxychloroquine.
-GoTop
14. IRISH PRIME MINISTER LEO VARADKAR
CARES FOR PEOPLE OF NATIVE VILLAGE: Pradhan Mantri of Ireland, (Dr.) Leo Varadkar issued a special message on 20th
April to the people of the Varad village in Malvan, Sindhudurg district of
Maharashtra and the people of Bharat expressing his concerns as this country
grapples with the COVID-19 epidemic. "Hello, everyone! I want to send this very
special message to the people of Varad, Malvan in Maharashtra and everyone
across India," Varadkar said in a warm greeting to the people of his ancestral
village which he visited in December 2019. Drawing comparisons, the Irish
Pradhan Mantri said that both the people of Bharat and the people of Ireland are
trying to deal with the enormous challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic.
"I want you to know that my thoughts and prayers, and those of the people of
Ireland are with the people of India as well," Dr Varadkar concluded on a note
of hope. His cousin Shubhada Varadkar said he regularly keeps enquiring after
everybody in the family, his relatives in Varad village and Mumbai. "He is
perhaps the only world leader who is also now a health worker. He consults many
patients on phone, anybody in Ireland is free to call him up anytime," she
added. -GoTop
15. FIRST HINDU UNIVERSITY IN INDONESIA NAMED AFTER SUGRIVA: Joko Vidodo, President of Indonesia has under a Presidential Regulation made
Hinduism State Institute of Denpasar, Bali the first Hindu State University in
Indonesia as I GustiBagas Sugriva State Hindu University. Sugriva is a character
in Ramayana.-GoTop
16. SUELLA BRAVERMAN APPOINTED AS UK'S ATTORNEY GENERAL: Bharatiya-origin Suella Braverman, has been appointed the UK's new Attorney
General. The 39-year-old minister, a barrister and Cambridge University law
graduate specializes in public law and judicial review. "It is a privilege to be
sworn in as attorney general and a moment I will cherish as the second woman to
be appointed to this historic role," said Ms Braverman after the ceremony.
Braverman, whose maiden name is Suella Fernandes, was born in London to migrant
parents from Kenya and Mauritius with roots in Goa and South Bharat. MP for
Fareham in south-east England since 2015, she has been a vocal supporter of
Brexit and previously served as a minister in the erstwhile Department for
Exiting the European Union.-GoTop
17. SERVING THE MOST MARGINALIZED:
When the entire country unitedly fights against the deadly coronavirus pandemic,
the volunteers of Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, the largest
organisation serving the tribals in Bharat, are helping the tribals in need. Kalyan
Ashram runs a hostel for students in Thiruvananathapuram district of Kerala.
Utilising the facilities available, the Kalyan Ashram activists have created a
relief centre there. They are distributing meals to the needy families. They are
also making sanitizer liquid to give to the people. They have also distributed
face masks to tribal villagers with the help of forest officials of the area.
Food items have been distributed to some families belonging to Irla tribe of
Tiruvallur district in Tamil Nadu.
The Kalyan Ashram activists have distributed face masks to tribals in Mallampur
district of West Bengal. Rajasthan Vanvasi Kalyan Parishad has converted its
student hostel in Kotra into a relief centre and is helping the people in need.
Quintals of green vegetables have been distributed to the villagers.
In Shahpur Tahsil of Kalyan district in Konkan region of Maharashtra, 88 needy
families of 15 villages belonging to Katkari tribe have been provided kits of
essential grocery items. Over 300 tribal families in Tharu tribal area of
Uttarakhand have been provided with food items from Sitarganj hostel run by the
Kalyan Ashram. Seva Samarpan Sansthan runs a laboratory to test COVID-19 in
far-flung tribal areas of Sonbhadra district in Uttar Pradesh. So far, 22 people
in Shish Tola and 40 people at Asandih centre have examined for the disease.
Over 1000 families of Chanchu and Beda tribes from 9 Villages have been provided
with essential grocery items in Yadgiri District of Karnataka.
-GoTop
18. HELPLINE FOR STRANDED BHARATIYA STUDENTS IN US: A group of Hindu organisations in the US has launched an exclusive helpline to
address the issues faced by thousands of Bhartiya students amidst the
unprecedented coronavirus crisis that has left a large number of them stranded
and without accommodation. The “COVID-19 Student Support Network” helpline,
802-750-YUVA (9882), is a collective initiative of Hindu Yuva, Bharatiya,
Vivekananda House and Sewa International. Around 250,000 Bharatiya students are
enrolled in various American universities and almost all of which have been shut
down. The students have been asked to vacate their hostels. Several universities
have made special provisions for accommodating international students. Still a
large number of them have to find their own accommodation. Several US
universities have started emergency funds for students and have also set up
COVID-19 relief funds that provide financial assistance to their students. Some
universities are also offering virtual counselling sessions for dealing with
emotional and psychological distress. -GoTop
19. DECISION ON AMARNATH YATRA AFTER REVIEW OF COVID-19 SITUATION: According to an official release, Lt Governor G. C. Murmu, while interacting
with the members of a delegation of Baba Amarnath and Buda Amarnath Yatri Nyas,
observed that "due to the current COVID-2019 pandemic situation, appropriate
decision on organizing the yatras can only be taken after periodic reviews of
the situation, as a comprehensive planning and execution is involved in the
conduct of the yatras". "Around 20,000 health care professionals and 30,000
police and paramilitary personnel are working towards containment of Coronavirus,
and their availability is also to be ascertained for the conduct of the yatras,"
he added. -GoTop
20. SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN: Pravaas: Visitors:
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Hinduism is the most skeptical and the most believing of all
religions. The most skeptical because it has questioned and experimented the
most and the deepest, rejecting nothing but insisting on testing and
experiencing everything. From this comes our scriptures and our beliefs: the
Vedas, the Vedanta, the Gita, the Upanishads... But the most authoritative
scripture is in the heart, where the Eternal has His dwelling. -- Sri Aurobindo
-GoTop
JAI SHREE RAM
LET’S CONVERT THIS CORONA THREAT INTO AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE BHARAT WORLD LEADER: DR. BHAGWAT
When the entire world is battling with the coronavirus pandemic, Bharat has the
capability to turn this difficulty into an opportunity to create a New Bharat
that would lead the entire world towards a new world order of peace, progress,
and prosperity with a human face. Let us work in that direction, exhorted
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sarsanghchalak Dr. Mohan Bhagwat delivering
his online ‘BouddhikVarg’, telecast on Doordarshan and many other TV channels
also, from Nagpur on April 26, the first time in the history of RSS. Bhagwat
said that the entire world is confronted with the COVID-19 threat and the only
treatment for this is to maintain physical distancing by staying inside. We must
follow the rules and regulations and instructions from the government to save
our society from this virus threat.
He said that the regular RSS shakhas may be out of sight but a new kind of
activity Sewa activity is being undertaken by lakhs of swayamsevaks to help and
reach out to those millions of countrymen suffering due to this corona calamity.
He appealed to the swayamsevaks to take all precautions as this sewa is risky
involving great risks to personal safety just like the doctors, health workers,
and police personnel are exposed to this risk. He said that consistent and
fearless work is the only solution. While following all the rules we should
maintain our own confidence without any fatigue or disillusionment, Bhagwat
added.There is no need to be afraid of this pandemic. With confidence, the
balance of mind, proper planning, and consistent efforts we can win the war
against the coronavirus, he said urging all to serve the needy and affected
people with love and charity.Those suffering from this pandemic are our own
people; all the 130-crore people of Bharat are our own and with this feeling of
oneness, love, affection, and unity we should serve them, he said underlining
the need to remain vigilant forever.
As compared to other countries of the world, Bharat took early steps to impose
lockdown and initiated other measures to contain the spread of the pandemic.
As a result, we succeeded in arresting the spread of coronavirus to a great
extent. Making an indirect reference to Tabligh Jamaat people,Shri Bhagwat
warned against labeling the entire Muslim community responsible for this. “It is
wrong to blame the entire community for the wrongs committed by a handful of
people”, Bhagwat said reiterating that all those born in Bharat are our own
people. We should shun hatred and stay away from those instigating elements
trying to use this health emergency to further their divisive agenda, he added.
Commenting on the heinous lynching of two sadhus in Maharashtra’s Palghar
district on April 16 night, Bhagwat said that the mob lynching of these sadhus
was certainly a painful incident. He further said that the coronavirus pandemic
would be over after a certain time. But it would leave some very pertinent
questions to be answered. We have experienced in this lockdown some positive
aspects of life such as living together in families, using swadeshi articles,
and so on. Families are the basic unit of our society. With this opportunity to
live together for a longer period, we are experiencing that the dialogue between
the family members is increasing positively leading to a proper understanding of
each other’s feelings and needs and requirements and it has also underlined the
need to follow certain disciplines.
What will be the shape of things in the post-corona world? How will Bharat
address those challenges? Referring to Pradhan Mantri Narendra Modi’s address to
the Sarpanchs of the nation where he underlined the developing swadeshi model,
Bhagwat asked if in the light of these experiences, and the positive effects of
lockdown on our environment can we develop a new model based on self-reliance
and swadeshi. We will have to do it, there is no other alternative, he added.
Along with the government and the administration, the people will also have to
play an important role in developing such a model that will bring economic
prosperity along with communal harmony, social discipline, mutual cooperation,
and peace. The government will also have to make the administration more
society-oriented, and political parties will have to adopt policies that will
promote people’s wellbeing and safeguard their interests rather than serve their
political agenda.
This pandemic has come with an opportunity to rebuild our nation as a world
leader, a leader of the entire humanity that would guide humanity to sustainable
development, progress with a humane face, and durable peace with mutual
cooperation. We need to accept this challenge and work consistently to realize
it in the post-coronavirus world, he said.
He appealed to Swayamsevaks to work proactively and help all those affected due
to COVID-19 pandemic. He urged them to work for the betterment of the country by
maintaining positive attitude in this situation and staying away from fear and
anger. (
https://www.organiser.org/Encyc/2020/4/26/Swavalaban-is-the-message-of-the-calamity-called-Corona.html
) -GoTop
SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN vishwav@bol.net.in http://shrivishwaniketan.blogspot.com
