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 . By T.V. Antony Raj
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The Pitch-Madison Media Advertising Outlook 2009 study of the Indian advertising industry says:

1. Total advertising market grew 17% in 2008 and is projected to increase 2% in 2009.

2. Print Media continued to dominate with 47% share. It may have lost 1% share compared to 2007 but was still strong.

3. As expected Internet spending overtook television spending globally, however, the situation in India was and will continue differently. TV had a 41% share in 2008 compared to 1.7% for internet. Thus, in the Indian advertising world TV is still a very important medium.

However, most of you, like me, who are at the receiving end will agree that Indian TV advertisements do teach us many relevant things. Here are a few:

Priyanka Chopra looking awesome in this Garnier Ad.

1. All Indians have “complexion” phobia. A dark complexion is the worst thing that could happen to an Indian woman or man. However, help is at hand. World’s #1 fairness creams with the new advanced multi-vitamins help to redefine the route to fairness.

2. A girl’s complexion is more important than her qualifications. A girl can become the Miss World or the next Indian Idol if she uses a particular fairness cream.

3. All Indian women, especially actresses, have hair or skin problems: Kareena Kapoor has dandruff, Katrina Kaif has dry hair, Shilpa Shetty has hair fall, and Priyanka Chopra has chip-chip or whatever.

4. Body deodorants are solely used by all Indian womanizers. A man does not need guts to approach a girl, he needs only a deodorant. So, even if your wife does not look hot, better lock her up in your bedroom when any male, young or old, appears at your doorstep with an unobtrusive mechanical counter in his hand and reeking awfully of strong body deodorant.

5. Any expert on TV, no matter what expertise he has, will always wear a white laboratory coat.

6. Every oral care product is #1 in India, recommended and endorsed by all TV dentists.

7. All toothpaste, soaps, detergents, disinfectants etc., kill only 99.9% of germs, bacteria and viruses.

8. Keep your bathroom door closed while brushing your teeth to keep TV reporters barging in and asking: “kya aapke toothpaste mein namak hai?”

9. No salt? Don’t worry! Augment your curries with a strip of Colgate Active Salt Toothpaste.

10. No one can ever eat Cadbury’s “Silk” chocolate without smearing it all over their face.

11. Any automobile or motorcycle or scooter is #1 according to TV satisfied customers.

12. Almost everyone in India complains about bad roads but no one ever takes any constructive action except the affluent who overcome the rugged terrain and muddy
swamps by traveling in immaculately streamlined four-wheel drive vehicles.

13. Drink colas regularly and become a Superman! Colas can cure any phobia.

14. All superstars are poor because they invariably risk their lives for a bottle of soft drink.

15. In India, men use their motorcycles mainly to pick up beautiful young girls.

16. Directors Special/Kingfisher mainly produce and sell mineral water.

17. Bacardi manufactures music CD’s.

18. An insurance policy will make your wife and children happy after you die.

19. Indian mothers and their daughters talk only about the hair oil they use.

20. If a daughter is not willing to get married, take her to a jewelry or textile shop and she will give her consent.

21. To create a mutual understanding between your wife and your mother you can try swapping their cellphones.

22. Stain is good. Your mother would really feel happy if you come home after falling in to a ditch.

23. Rajnigandha Pan Masala is “the official enforcer of gravity of planet earth.” I am not able to understand what this means. Do you?

24. Thanks to TATA tea Jaago Re, we can change our nation’s problems by keeping India awake!

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 . By T.V. Antony Raj

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On 14th of July, the era of electric telegraphy will come to an end in India.

Before the advent of electric telegraphy, the word “telegraph” had been used for semaphore signaling. People used smoke, beacons, reflected light, and flag semaphore signals for transmitting line-of-sight signal messages.

A semaphore “telegraph” signalling tower in Silwar (Bihar), 13 February 1823, thirty years before electric telegraphy was rapidly introduced into India by the East India Company.

During the period 1820–30, the East India Company’s Government in India seriously considered constructing a semaphore network – a series of hundred feet high signaling towers (“telegraph” towers), along the entire distance from Calcutta to Bombay, each tower separated from the next by eight miles. Although such towers were built in Bengal and Bihar, the India-wide semaphore network never took off. By mid-19th century, electric telegraphy had become viable making manual signaling obsolete.

Dr. W. B. O’Shaughnessy

In 1851, Dr. W. B. O’Shaughnessy, an Irish Professor of Chemistry in the Calcutta Medical College, famous for his work in pharmacology and inventions related to telegraphy, conducted a trial run for a telegraph service from Calcutta to Diamond Harbour along the river Hooghly. He used a galvanoscope of his own design manufactured in India as the telegraph receiver. Signals were transmitted using electrical telegraph which unlike pigeon post did not carry a physical object bearing the message. The pre-requisite to use of telegraphy required that both the sender and the receiver should be aware of the method of encoding the message.

Lord Dalhousie

A year later, after the experimental telegraph service was deemed to be a success, Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General of India, sought and obtained permission from the Court of Directors of the Company for the construction of telegraph lines from “Calcutta to Agra, Agra to Bombay, Agra to Peshawar, and Bombay to Madras, extending in all over 3,050 miles and including forty-one offices.”

By February 1855 after all the proposed telegraph lines had been constructed paid messages were sent using these lines.

By 1857, the telegraph network had expanded to 4,555 miles of lines and sixty two offices, and had reached as far as the hill station of Ootacamund in the Nilgiri Hills and the port of Calicut on the southwest coast of India.

Replica of Morse’s first telegraph instrument.

In early 1857, the Morse instrument supplanted Dr. O’Shaughnessy’s instrument.

During the Indian rebellion of 1857, more than seven hundred miles of telegraph lines were destroyed mainly in the North-Western Provinces by the rebel forces. Nevertheless, The East India Company used the remaining intact telegraph lines that to warn many outposts of impending civil disturbances. The political value of the new technology was, thus, driven home to the Company. In the following year, the Company not only relaid the destroyed lines, but also expanded the network further by 2,000 miles.

The first Telegraph Act for India was the British Parliament’s Act XXXIV of 1854. When the public telegram service started operating in 1855, the telegraphic charges was fixed at one rupee for every sixteen words (including the address) for every 400 miles of transmission. The charges were doubled for telegrams sent between 6 PM and 6 AM. These rates remained fixed until 1882.

In the year 1860–61, two years after the end of Company rule, India had 11,093 miles of telegraph lines and 145 telegraph offices. That year telegrams totaling Rs. 5 lakhs in value were sent by the public, the working expense of the Indian Telegraph Department was Rs. 14 lakhs, and the capital expenditure until the end of the year totaled Rs. 65 lakhs.

The advent of radio in the early 1900s brought about radiotelegraphy and other forms of wireless telegraphy.

Since telegrams can no longer compete with internet and mobile SMS and smartphones, it is not surprising to learn that India going to shut down its 163 year old ‘Telegram’ service and the last telegram will be sent on July 14, 2013. The reasons cited: It is not commercially viable, there are huge losses, and in the current scenario it is outdated.

Shamim Akhtar, general manager of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), India’s state-owned telecom company said: “We were incurring losses of over $23 million a year because SMS and smartphones have rendered this service redundant.”

In 1985, at its peak, 60 million telegrams were exchanged across 45,000 offices. Today, only 5,000 telegrams are sent every day in India by 75 telegram offices that exist, employing 998 people, down from 12,500 telegram employees in better years.

Telegraph services ended in the United States seven years ago. On July 14, 2013, 158 years after the public telegram service was first set up in 1855, the world’s final telegram will be sent in India.

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Related articles

• Telegraphy (en.wikipedia.org)
• Company rule in India (en.wikipedia.org)
• Telegrams no more. Stop. India to send world’s last message July 14 (foxnews.com)
• Telegram Era ends Stop (bbc.co.uk)
• So long, farewell (thehindu.com)
• Are telegrams dead? (economist.com)
• The End? (shopno47.wordpress.com)
• Final telegram to be sent. STOP (guardian.co.uk)

 . By T.V. Antony Raj

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In 2011, Haryana farmers suffered damage to their crops, mainly wheat, due to water logging after the heavy rains.

Waterlogged wheat fields

The state government then had ordered a special survey to assess the losses. In April this year, almost two years after the survey, several farmers received cheques as compensation from the Jhajjar district administration in Haryana.

Here is a million rupees question for you: “How much do you expect an average farmer would have received as compensation for damage to his crop?“

If you answer ₹2, then you have hit the bull’s-eye.

The Haryana government has issued cheques worth ₹2, ₹3, ₹4 and so on to farmers as compensation for crop damaged during 2011 rains. However, some farmers were lucky and received compensation in double figures of  ₹30 – ₹31.

Haryana farmer Satyanaraian, son of Hari Singh, received an Axis bank cheque of ₹2 and another farmer Tek Chand, son of Bhim Singh, received a cheque for ₹3 as compensation for crops damaged.

Image of a cheque the Haryana government sent to Jhajjar farmers as compensation.

“We were shocked. We first thought that there had been a mistake, however, we checked with the tahsildar and he confirmed that the amounts on the cheques were correct. The banks are situated in Jhajjar and the bus fare to get there is Rs 14,” said Satyanaraian.

The frustrated farmers have refused to deposit these chques in Axis Bank since they would first have to open an account in the bank that would cost them more money.

A farmer of Paharipur village, owner of 2.5 acres of land asked: “if the government claims that the compensation rate is Rs. 3,500, how did the officials calculate my loss
aa ₹6?”

When the local Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leaders wanted photocopies of the cheques, the concerned farmers gave them the cheques claiming that even photocopies would cost them.

INLD, the principal opposition party in Haryana has criticized the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government for making a mockery of flood relief compensation. On the otherhand, government officials said they deserve a pat on the back for precisely identifying every shareholder and awarding due compensation.

It is alleged that the frustrated farmers have refused to deposit these chques in Axis Bank since they would first have to open an account in the bank that would cost them more money.

A farmer of Paharipur village, owner of 2.5 acres of land asked: “if the government claims that the compensation rate is ₹3,500, how did the officials calculate my loss aa ₹6?”

Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), the principal opposition party in Haryana has criticized the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government for making a mockery of flood relief compensation. Abhay Chautala , MLA, Indian National Lok Dal said: ”Haryana’s Congress government has ridiculed the poor farmers by issuing these cheques. This is a cruel joke on farmers who lost their valuable crops.”

On the otherhand, government officials said they deserve a pat on the back for precisely identifying every shareholder and awarding due compensation. According to an official spokesperson, ₹1.14 crore has been distributed to farmers in 3,365 acres of land in Jhajjar district.

Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Chief Minister of Haryana

However, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda defended the government’s move, saying that there was no wrong doing in the compensation provided to farmers.

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Related articles

• Haryana farmers ‘stunned’ by cruel compensation cheques worth just Rs 2 (dailymail.co.uk)
• Rs 2 cheques: Crop damage compensation for famers in Haryana (ibnlive.in.com)
• Haryana govt offers compensation of Rs.2 per acre to farmers for damaged crops (indiatoday.intoday.in)

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 . By T.V. Antony Raj

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Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat.

In late 2012, it was reported that on November 26, 2012, a group of 25 Rajya Sabha MPs had written and signed a letter to US President Barack Obama urging him not to grant visa to Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat and on December 5, 2012, a group of 40 Lok Sabha MPs had signed a similar letter. Both letters were faxed to Obama last year itself.

A couple of days ago, these letters were faxed once again to the White House by Mohammed Adeeb, independent Rajya Sabha MP of Uttar Pradesh in view of president of Bharatiya Janata Party, Rajnath Singh’s on going visit to America.

Now, it has emerged that the letter could have been faked. Some critics say that these MPs having not written any letter to their party leaders, or to the Prime Minister, or to the president for the development of their own constituencies had found the time to sign a petition to President Obama, thus bringing shame to the nation.

Some newspapers carried the entire list of MPs who have signed the letter. Copies of the letters were provided by the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC).

Here are the facsimiles of the letter sent to Obama:

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Names of the 65 MP’s,  House & Party who sent petition to Obama

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The alleged signatories include Sabir Ali and Ali Anwar Ansari (Janata Dal-U), Rasheed Masood (Congress), S. Ahmed (Trinamool Congress) Asaduddin Owaisi (All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen), Thirumavalavan (Viduthalai Chiruttaigal Katchi), Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M), K.P. Ramalingam (DMK), A.A. Jinnah (DMK), S.S. Rasmasubbu (Congress), and M.P. Achuthan (CPI).

According to CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury his signature on the letter “appears to be a cut and paste” job. Some of the other MPs whose names were said to be in the list have denied doing so. On Wednesday, M.P. Achuthan (CPI) and MP K.P. Ramalingam (DMK) said they did not sign the letter.

However, Mohammed Adeeb, who took the initiative for this campaign, insisted that Yechury and Achthan had signed the letter and was surprised why they were retracting now.

There seems to be an anomaly in the lists. At first glance it looks like the lists contain signatures of 65 MPs, but actually only 64 MPs are listed. Look at the first row of the Rajya Sabha list. It is blank.

Even in this list of 64, three names are duplicated. For example, A.A. Jinnah (DMK) figures both in LS (6) and RS (11) lists; Lok Sabha MP S.D. Sharifuddin Shariq (JKNC) appears both in LS (3) and RS (13) lists; and an MP from West Bengal appears both in LS (24) and RS (5).

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Related articles

• 65 MPs write to Obama against visa for Modi (ibnlive.in.com)
• Letter to Barack Obama on Narendra Modi visa: More MPs claim signatures forged (ndtv.com)
• Modi US visa row: After Yechury, another MP denies signing letter (ibnlive.in.com)
• Will act if any DMK MP signed Narendra Modi visa letter: Karunanidhi (ndtv.com)
• Letter to Barack Obama on Narendra Modi visa: Karunanidhi warns DMK leaders (ndtv.com)
• Karunanidhi denies DMK MPs wrote letter to US govt – Hindustan Times (hindustantimes.com)
• MPs letter to Obama against Narendra Modi is Congress’ handiwork: BJP (dnaindia.com)

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 . By T.V. Antony Raj

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Gingee (Senji Junction) is a panchayat town in Villupuram district in Tamil Nadu, India. It is located between three hills. Nearby towns are Tindivanam (28 km away), Tiruvannamalai (39 km away) and Villupuram.

“Gingee Fort” by Sean Patrick Doran selected for Google Earth.

Tourists are attracted to Gingee for its historical Fort popularly known as “Gingee Fort” (Tamil: Senji Koattai). The Fort was founded in 1190 AD by the Kon dynasty. Later during the 13th century the fort was extended by the Chola dynasty. In 1638, Gingee came under the control of Bijapur Sultan of Vijayanagar; in 1677, it was under the control of Maratha king Shivaji, in 1690, it came under the Mughals, and became the headquarters of Arcot; in 1750, it went into the hands of the French; and eventually, the British took control of the Gingee Fort in 1762.

Now, near this historical town in the village called Jambodi lives a couple who are creating history. They are 123-years-old A. Rangasamy Gounder and his wife Sadachi Ammal, aged 108.

World’s oldest living man Rangasamy Gounder with his wife Sadachi Ammal

Their family members produced the ration-card issued in 2005 to prove the ages of these two elders. According to the ration card, Rangasamy Gounder was 115-years-old and his wife Sadachi was 100-years-old at that time.

Their 80-year-old son Balakrishnan, who is 80 now, said the ration card issued to his parents in 2005 was duly verified by the revenue authorities.

So, Rangasamy Gounder is now 123-years-old and could well be the oldest human known in history – surpassing Monsieur Jeanne Calment of France who died in August 1997, by almost 200 days.

Rangasamy Gounder is in good health and so is his wife Sadachi Ammal. They live in their ancestral abode in Jambodi village.

They have three sons, 39 grandchildren and two great grandchildren living in various parts of Tamil Nadu.

Their grandson B. Sekar, a farm coolie who lives close by said that his grandparents even though old, were are quite independent and manage themselves well. He further said that his grandfather has so far not gone to a doctor for any treatment and his grandmother went just once after she had a fall at home. According to Sekar, his grandfather’s teeth are all intact but disoloured due to chewing beetle leaves.

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RELATED ARTICLES

• World’s oldest man is in Gingee (deccanchronicle.com)

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 . By T.V. Antony Raj

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We have to remember that India got its freedom from the British yoke not only because of Mahatma Gandhi, but also because of numerous other visionaries who toiled for the independence of the country and thousands of martyrs’ who sacrificed their lives even before he was born.

It was a stroke of destiny that Mohandas Karam Chand Gandhi was called Bapu – the “Father of the Nation”.

The first reference to Mahatma Gandhi as Father of the Nation goes back nearly 70 years when Subhas Chandra Bose referred to Gandhi thus in a radio address from Singapore in 1944.

Erstwhile Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru too had, in his address to the nation upon Mahatma Gandhi’s death, referred to him as Father of the Nation: “Friends and comrades, the light has gone out of our lives, and there is darkness everywhere, and I do not quite know what to tell you or how to say it. Our beloved leader, Bapu as we called him, the Father of the Nation, is no more.”

Is Mahatma Gandhi, ‘Father of the Indian Nation’?

If yes, when did Mahatma Gandhi become the ‘Father of the Nation’?

Who conferred the title of Father of the Nation on Mahatma Gandhi?”

Did the above questions ever arise in your mind?

11-year old schoolgirl from Lucknow, Aishwarya Parashar, read a lesson about Mahatma Gandhi in her social studies textbook that said Mahatma Gandhi is referred to as the “‘Father of the Nation” and was curious to know the year when Mahatma Gandhi was conferred with this title.

Nothing was mentioned in the textbook. She asked her teachers, and her parents. None of them had any knowledge about it. Even Google did not have any information. Aishwarya’s parents suggested that she send a Right to Information (RTI) petition to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

The PMO sent a reply saying that they had no specific information regarding the same and forwarded her application to the Ministry of Home Affairs which too had no answer and they in turn forwarded Aishwarya’s application to the National Archives.

The National Archives too did not have any information. They told her that “there are no specific documents on the information sought” by her and if she wanted to research on this subject, then she can come there and the organisation would make available all the required documents to undertake her research.

According to media reports, the National Archives did not have public records regarding the concerned subject.

Patriotic Aishwarya then wrote to the then President Ms. Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to issue a notification declaring Mahatma Gandhi as ‘Father of the Nation’.

After sometime, Aishwarya filed an RTI petition seeking to know the action taken by the president and the Prime Minister on her plea.

The petition was referred to the Home Ministry with instructions to explain the action taken on her plea. The Home Ministry responded:

“Mahatma Gandhi cannot be accorded the ‘Father of the Nation’ title by government because Article 18 (1) of the Constitution does not permit any titles except educational and military ones.”

In a similar vein, according to reports, when a demand to confer the title of ‘Father of the Indian Constitution” on Dr. Ambedkar was made in 2004, the then Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, in a letter to Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit had written:

“It is not, however, feasible to formally confer the title of ‘Father of Indian Constitution’ on Dr. Ambedkar, since Article 18 (1) of the Constitution specifically provides that “no title, not being a military or academic distinction, shall be conferred by the state.”

Advani further said:

“I may clarify that although Mahatma Gandhi is popularly known as “Father of the Nation,” no such title was ever formally conferred on him by the government.“

RELATED ARTICLES

• 10-year-old’s RTI posers stump PMO, Government (thehindu.com)
• Constitution doesn’t permit ‘Father of the Nation’ title: Government (articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
• When did Mahatma Gandhi become “Father of the Nation” (in.news.yahoo.com)
• Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘Father of the Nation’ title unconstitutional: MHA (zeenews.india.com)

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 . By T.V. Antony Raj

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P. Chidambaram, Union Finance Minister

On July 3, 2013, Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told a press conference, after a meeting with heads of public sector banks and financial institutions, that he had asked the banks to focus on the top 30 non-performing accounts and take action against defaulters.

Earlier this year, banks, mostly public sector lenders, decided to tighten their noose on wilful loan defaulters by resorting to the tactic of ‘name and shame’. They began publishing the names and photographs of the defaulters and their guarantors in newspapers, on notice boards of bank branches and community centres, and around their residences.

The move represents a fresh crackdown to recover loans by inducing wilful defaulters to pay up and avoid further embarrassments.

In early July, 2013, Allahabad Bank published in newspapers a public notice for the sale of two properties – one in Haryana and the other in Mumbai – mortgaged to it. This notice named the borrower – a group corporate entity, that had a total outstanding amount at over Rs 365 crore, and featured photographs of its two guarantors.

UCO Bank has also gone public with the name, photograph and other details of a well- known industrialist for non-payment of loans by his company.

State Bank of India began publishing the pictures of its loan defaulters in March, 2013. It went a step ahead by displaying on a large notice board the names, photographs and other details of many defaulters of student loans along with their guarantors. This move by SBI has enraged the student population of Tamilnadu.

The notice board with pictures of students kept outside the bank branch in Bodinayakanur. — Photo: Deccan Chronicle

The above poster on display outside the SBI branch manager’s cabin in Bodinayakanur, Theni district, Tamilnadu, is now being shared by students on Facebook and has unleashed a campaign that questions the “ethics”of SBI in targeting poor defaulters but letting wilful defaulting millionaires off their noose.

According to RBI guidelines, willful defaulters are mostly borrowers who deliberately avoid payment of dues despite having an adequate cash flow and high net worth. Essentially, they have the funds to pay back the loan but refuse to do so even as they lead a lavish lifestyle and enjoy a false social status.

The Students Federation of India (SFI), MPs Tamaraiselvan (DMK) and Thol. Thirumavalavan (VCK ) have taken up the grievance of students.

Related articles

• Focus on top 30 defaulters: Chidambaram (business-standard.com)
• Banks to ‘name and shame’ guarantors for loan defaulters (thehindu.com)
• ‘Name and shame’ loan defaulters: Banks adopt new tactic to embarrass debtors by printing their names and photos in newspapers and around their homes (dailymail.co.uk)
• Bank shames student-defaulters on flex board (deccanchronicle.com)

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 . By T.V. Antony Raj

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Today, is the first Sunday of August and we in India are celebrating Friendship Day. For many years, people the world over have celebrated Friendship Day.

It has become a popular tradition for friends to exchange gifts, flowers, greeting cards and wrist bands on Friendship Day.

Friendship Day was originally promoted in 1930 by Joyce C. Hall, the founder of Hallmark cards. He intended to celebrate it on August 2nd.  Though the Friendship Day was initially promoted by the greeting card industry, the growth of the internet and proliferation of mobile phones have made it easier to greet friends than ever before. Advent of social networking sites, helps people to celebrate Friendship Day online/

Dr. Artemio Bracho

On 20 July 1958 by Dr. Artemio Bracho was the first to propose the idea of a World Friendship Day during a dinner with friends in Puerto Pinasco, Paraguay. Out of this humble meeting of friends, the World Friendship Crusade that promotes friendship and fellowship among all human beings, regardless of race, colour or religion was born. Since then, 30 July has been faithfully celebrated as Friendship Day in Paraguay every year and has also been adopted by several other countries.

Winnie-the-Pooh

In 1998, in honour of Friendship Day Nane Annan, wife of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, named Winnie the Pooh as the world’s Ambassador of Friendship at the United Nation. The event was co-sponsored by the U.N. Department of Public Information and Disney Enterprises, and was co-hosted by Kathy Lee Gifford.

On 27 April 2011 the General Assembly of the United Nations drew a draft resolution on International Day of Friendship that designated 30 July as the International Day of Friendship:

International Day of Friendship

The General Assembly,

Recalling the goals and objectives of its Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace and the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World (2001-2010), and all its relevant resolutions,

Recognizing the relevance and importance of friendship as a noble and valuable sentiment in the lives of human beings around the world,

Bearing in mind that friendship between peoples, countries, cultures and individuals can inspire peace efforts and presents an opportunity to build bridges between communities, honouring cultural diversity,

Affirming that friendship can contribute to the efforts of the international community, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, towards the promotion of dialogue among civilizations, solidarity, mutual understanding and reconciliation,

Convinced of the importance of involving youth and future leaders in community activities aimed at the inclusion of and respect between different cultures, while promoting international understanding, respect for diversity and a culture of peace, in accordance with the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace,

Noting that friendship-related activities, events and initiatives are observed each year in many countries,

1. Decides to designate 30 July as the International Day of Friendship;

2. Invites all Member States, organizations of the United Nations system and other international and regional organizations, as well as civil society, including non-governmental organizations and individuals, to observe the International Day of Friendship in an appropriate manner, in accordance with the culture and other
appropriate circumstances or customs of their local, national and regional communities, including through education and public awareness-raising activities;

3. Requests the Secretary-General to bring the present resolution to the attention of all Member States and organizations of the United Nations system.

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Though the General Assembly of the United Nations designated 30 July as the official International Day of Friendship, some countries, including India, celebrate Friendship Day on the first Sunday of August.

In Oberlin, Ohio, Friendship Day is celebrated on 8 April each year.

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RELATED ARTICLES

• International Friendship Day (en.wikipedia.org)
• United Nations General Assembly, Sixty-fifth session, Agenda item 15, Culture of peace (un.org)
• International Day of Friendship (timeanddate.com).

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 . By T.V. Antony Raj

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The National Green Tribunal (NGT) in its judgment upheld its interim order of May 31, 2013, and has allowed the Tuticorin Copper Smelter of Sterlite Industries to continue to operate.

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Sterlite’s copper-smelting unit in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu. (PTI File photo)

Based in Mumbai, India, Sterlite Industries (India) Limited, a unit of London-listed resources conglomerate Vedanta Resources is a diversified and integrated metals and mining group operating in Tuticorin, India. It has the country’s largest copper smelter which produces 30,000 tonnes of refined copper a month – or more than half of India’s total production. The company produces copper cathodes and cast copper rods for use in the transformer and the wires and cables industries. It markets its copper products directly to original equipment manufacturers and traders.

The company has diverse operations. It mines bauxite, and produces aluminum conductors and various other aluminum products; mines zinc ore, and produces zinc ingots and lead ingots. In addition to these products the Sterlite Industries produces various chemical products, such as sulphuric acids, phosphoric acids, phospho gypsum, hydrofluosilicic acids, and granulated slag.

Further, the company is involved in paper business as well as in trading gold. It markets its copper products directly to original equipment manufacturers and traders.

The Sterlite Industries’ copper smelter was commissioned in 1996. From the beginning, the plant has been mired in controversy. Originally it was planned to erect the plant in Maharashtra and Goa, but it faced severe opposition from the people there. However, the AIADMK regime under Jayalalithaa welcomed the project by allotting land at Tuticorin. Since then, Mr. V.Gopalswamy (Vaiko), the general secretary of MDMK party has protested against the project.

On March 23, 2013, massive gas leak, suspected to be Sulphur dioxide or trioxide, caused suffocation and panic around the Sterlite Copper plant between 5 am and 8 am. One Sterlite contract worker, Shailesh Mahadev, 35, reportedly succumbed to exposure to the gas. Following the alleged leakage of noxious gas, residents of Tuticorin town, New Colony, market area, Perumalpuram and SIPCOT area said they experienced sneezing and a few complained of asphyxiation.

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Following the incident, environmental activists blamed the Sterlite Industries. They staged a demonstration near Rajaji Park on Palayamkottai Road and sought the closure of the copper smelter. Officials from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), Joint Chief Inspector of Factories, Revenue Divisional Officer K. Latha, and Tuticorin Tahsildar Alwar reached the Sterlite company and inspected the copper smelter unit.

TNPCB officials said a sensor in the smelter’s smokestack showed sulphur dioxide levels were more than double the permitted concentration at the time emissions were reported and had “breached limits prescribed by the Board”. TNPCB ordered the shutdown of the smelter with immediate effect until further notice.

However, Sterlite Industries denied the smelter was the source a gas leak. The smelter’s general manager of projects said there were no emissions at the time because the plant shut down for maintenance from March 21st to March 23rd was starting up after two days of maintenance, not producing copper, and high readings in the smokestack were likely a result of workers recalibrating the sensors.

Ashish Kumar, Collector of Tuticorin, said that preliminary inquiries suggested that there was a leak of sulphur dioxide.

The TNPCB issued the order to shut down the plant with immediate effect and the power utility on Friday night disconnected the power supply to the plant. We are in the process of stopping operations

The process of shutting down the plant began on Friday (March 29) night with the disconnection of the power supply to the plant.

MDMK’s general secretary Vaiko, thanked Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa for ordering closure in the interests of the public and to protect the environment.

National Green Tribunal (NGT), a fast-track court hearing the case on allowing the plant to reopen, set up an expert committee to measure emissions and check the working condition of machinery, among other things.

On May 31st, the NGT had, in an interim order, allowed Sterlite to commence operations under the supervision of the expert committee set up by the tribunal.

The expert committee submitted its report on July 10, 2013. “The emissions from all the stacks were well within the permissible limit prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board when the plant was in normal operation. … Upon stack sampling or ambient air quality monitoring, it is not being found that the industry was emitting sulphur dioxide gas or substances when the plant was in normal operation, which were in violation to the prescribed standards,” the report states,” said the report by P.S.T. Sai and Ligy Philip.

The apex environment court said further in its order that the expert committee had made certain recommendations to improve the working of the plant. It also noted that Sterlite Industries has agreed to comply with the recommendations within a time-bound schedule.

Justice Swatanter Kumar

On August 8, 2013, the National Green Tribunal headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar suppressed the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board closure notice served to Sterlite Industries. It upheld its interim orders of May 31 and July 15, which permitted the Vedanta Group’s Sterlite copper smelter factory in Tuticorin to resume full operations on the basis of the report submitted by the expert committee appointed by the tribunal. The National Green Tribunal gave its final clean chit to the Sterlite Industries’ copper smelter plant in Tuticorin. At the same time, keeping in mind the issues raised by the state pollution control board, the tribunal has issued a host of conditions which the factory must comply with. It has also set up a committee to check the health of people around Tuticorin and Sipcot industrial area in the district.

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Related articles

• Green tribunal verdict clears the cloud over Sterlite (thehindu.com)
• Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd: NGT Judgment Allows Continued Operations for Tuticorin Copper Smelt (dailyfinance.com)
• Sterlite gets nod from National Green Tribunal to operate Tuticorin plant (thehindu.com)
• SC asks TNPCB to come out with more safety measures (thehindu.com)
• Tuticorin residents allege gas leak (sipcotcuddalore.com)
• Sterlite copper plant in TN shut down after gas leak (thehindubusinessline.com)
• Sterlite Industries’ copper smelter ignites toxic debate (sipcotcuddalore.com)
• Sterlite copper smelter’s emissions within limits – test report (in.reuters.com)

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By ttanvi

Oh thithi thara thithey, thithey thaka they they tho…

Oh thithi thara, thithey thaka they they tho…

Oh thithi thara thithey, thithey thaka they they thom…

When I woke up this morning I was extremely energised. Although I am born and brought up in Kerala, I have never gone to watch the glorious Nehru Cup snake boat race ever. I was very excited, even though I had no clue how the race was going to be or if it would be worth at all. At that moment I was more charged to use my DSLR camera which I was going to use after almost a year. Since iPhones I have been so lazy to use any other than the phone camera; instagraming pictures all the time.

The journey had begun. One hour to go till we reached the site of the event. We were four of us but none had any idea about what was going to happen there. The thrill of the whole experience lied in the ambiguity of it. Even so the entire time I was extremely skeptical to use the camera since I had lost all practice of using it. To top it all as soon as we got there it started to rain; with it washed away all my hopes of trying to click any pictures, but we thought we shall still give it a shot. And once we reached there it was so crazily crowded, noisy and slushy; I had somewhere given up hope of watching the race. There was no way in hell we would have made it inside. Just then we found a pole and got a little adventurous. Each of us took turns to climb on it to get at least one glimpse of the event. I got a little greedy, I asked one of my friend’s to hold the umbrella for me while I stood on the pole and took at least one picture of the event.

So I did manage to get one, however unprofessional looking and blurred it was. I was happy at that moment and thought that at least I had proof of being there.

We started to head back thinking we won’t get any closer so no point staying. That’s when we saw a little door, where only tourists could enter. We went through there, to finally realise we were adjacent to the finish line.

We squished, squashed, tugged through the crowd and somehow managed to get a little closer to the water.

It was an amazing sight even though I was mashed between three sweaty, tacky and alcohol breath locals.

The entire place looked spectacular. There was a thrill in the air that was so contagious. The crowd cheering, the speeches overwhelming, the boats were just getting lined up; all set to race.

I was standing on my toes to get a glimpse of the entire spectacle, trying to capture the moment each time.

The men looked geared up and packed with energy.

Related articles

• Nehru Trophy Snake Boat Race – 2013 (raxacollective.wordpress.com)
• Kerala’s Nehru Boat Race enthrals thousands (dnaindia.com)
• Kerala’s prestigious regatta (thehindu.com)

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 . By T.V. Antony Raj .

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 ”The media has created a controversy but what did I say that was wrong? One dog barked and more dogs (the media) joined in. Dogs will bark but they can’t harm an elephant’s dignity.” - Sant Shri Asharamji Bapu

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Today, the newspapers are all agog with the news of the self-proclaimed godman Asaram Bapu being booked by the Delhi Police on Wednesday after an FIR was lodged against him, accusing him of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl.

Sant Shri Asharamji Bapu (Photo credit: OneIndia News)

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Here is the ZeeNews report: “Sexual assault case: Asaram Bapu to be grilled by Jodhpur police“

New Delhi: Controversial godman Asaram Bapu will be grilled by the Jodhpur police in connection with the sexual assault case filed against him by a minor, reports said on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters, Jodhpur Police Commissioner said that the spiritual leader will be questioned by the city police as it appears prime facie that he and the victim were present in his ashram on Aug 14-15 when the girl was sexually assaulted by him.

Meanwhile, Asaram Bapu is expected to file an anticipatory bail application in the Rajasthan High Court today, as per reports.

On Tuesday evening, a 16-year-old girl submitted a complaint at the Kamala Market police station in central Delhi, alleging she was sexually assaulted by Asaram at a Jodhpur ashram where she had gone for treatment.

The ashram has now been sealed.

Read More …

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Who is this Asaram Bapu?

Asaram Bapu also known as Sant Shri Asharamji Bapu is a 72-year-old self-styled godman, a Hindu spiritual leader from India, a friend to the rich and the powerful. He was born Asumal Sirumalani on April 17, 1941, in the Berani village of the Nawabshah District in undivided India (present day Pakistan), to Menhgiba and Thaumal Sirumalani.

His father died when he was young and he pursued meditation and spirituality under his mother’s guidance who taught him the rudiments of spirituality and meditation other.

He left his family, traveled the country and eventually, reached Vrindavan, a town in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, India, where he entered the ashram of guru Lilashah Maharaj, a disciple and student of Vedic Acharya Keshavaram.

Through his wife Lakshmi Devi, Asaram Bapu has one son, Narayan Prem Sai, and a daughter named Bharti Devi.

Asaram Bapu preaches the existence of One Supreme Conscious and claims Bhakti yoga, Gnana yoga and Karma yoga as influences. His spiritual discourses have been scheduled in different Indian cities like Ahmedabad, Patna, and devotees also took diksha from him in these satsang programs. In December 2001, around 20,000 students visited his satsang in Ahmedabad.

In August 2012, while Asaram Bapu was on his way to deliver a lecture in a local college, his helicopter crashed while landing at Godhra. Asaram Bapu, his pilot, and the other passengers survived the crash unharmed.

The Dark Side of Asaram Bapu

Though he is considered a godman by his followers, there are lots of controversies surrounding him.

~ Land encroachment in Navsari district

In 2000, the Gujarat government allocated about 10 acres of land in Bhairavi village of Navsari district to the Asaram Ashram. The local villagers protested and filed complaints to the district authorities when the ashram encroached on an additional six acres of land. After notices were repeatedly ignored, the district authorities bulldozed the encroachments and took possession of the land with police assistance.

~ Land grab in Madhya Pradesh

In 2001, the Yog Vedanta Samiti of Asaram Bapu was reportedly given permission to use the premises of the Mangalya temple in Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh for 11 days for a satsang. After the satsang, the samiti failed to vacate the premises. Now, 12 later they have still not vacated the premises and continue to occupy a total of 100 acres of land, valued at over 700 crores. The land belongs to the now defunct Jayant Vitamins Limited. However, Asaram Bapu denies any involvement in the land encroachment, saying the report are baseless and untenable

~ Deaths of Ashram’s Gurukul students

Asaram and his son Narayan Sai were in the public eye after the mysterious deaths of two boys.

On July 3, 2008, two boys, Dipesh Vaghela, aged 10 years, and Abhishek Vaghela, aged 11, cousins studying at Ashram’s Gurukul (residential school) at Motera went missing. Their decomposed bodies were found on the Sabarmati river bed near Asaram Bapu’s ashram on July 5, 2008.

A commission was set up io probe the mysterious death of two boys. Praful Vaghela, the father of one of the deceased, believes that the children were killed as a result of tantric ritual. Following public outcry, the CID who took over the case after a year of probing filed a complaint of culpable homicide and booked seven sadhaks (spiritual aspirants) of the Ashram’s ashram.

The CID, in its report, stated that Dipesh and Abhishek may have died because of drowning as per their postmortem examination report. However, the report mentioned that though the CID found no direct evidence of tantra sadhna and black magic practises at the ashram, the accused had failed lie detection tests about the ashram’s activities related to such activities.

Asaram Bapu made the following a statement in the case related to the mysterious deaths of Dipesh and Abhishek. In his public address, he warned Chief Minister Narendra Modi saying, “If you will try to suppress us more, then we will throw you out… The way Gujarat Police had treated us, even Ravana’s police would not have treated anyone. Even though we took permission, we were mistreated. But I have also stated that I will do a satsang in Somnath. They can arrest whosoever they want.”

~ Attempted murder of a former member of the Asaram ashram

Raju Chandak, a former member of the Asaram ashram, in an affidavit with the police claimed that tantric rituals were being performed in the ashram, and that he had witnessed Asaram Bapu sexually exploiting women. In December 2009, Raju Chandak was attacked by two unknown persons with guns in the Ramnagar locality of Sabarmati. The Gujarat police filed an attempt to murder case against Asaram Bapu and two others.

In October, 2009 former personal assistant of Narayan Sai had told the commission that he had seen Sai performing black magic.

~ Statements on 2012 Delhi gang rape victim

Asaram Bapu came under sharp criticism after he made controversial remarks about the December 16, 2012 Delhi gang rape victim.

He blamed the 23-year-old paramedical student who was sexually assaulted by six men by saying the rape victim was equally guilty along with those responsible for the sexual assault on her. He is quoted as saying: “The victim daughter is as guilty as her rapists… The girl should have taken God’s name and could have held the hand of one of the men and said, ‘I consider you my Bhaiya (brother)‘ and to the other two, she should have said, ‘Brothers, I am helpless. You are my brothers, my religious brothers’. Then the misconduct wouldn’t have happened.”

In trying to explain the reasons why six men gang-raped and murdered the 23-year-old woman, Asaram said that no mistake could be committed just by one side, blaming the victim for what happened to her. “Can one hand clap? I don’t think so.”

The “godman” also claimed that the six accused should not face harsher punishment such as “capital punishment”.

Though Asaram Bapu’s statement on the gangrape victim enraged the countrymen, his supporters and followers tried to defend him saying that his statement was fabricated.

However, after initially denying his statement against the victim of brutal gang-rape, Asaram tendered his apology. Asaram Bapu berated the media saying, “The media
has created a controversy but what did I say that was wrong? One dog barked and more dogs (the media) joined in. Dogs will bark but they can’t harm an elephant’s dignity.”

Addressing his followers in Bhankari village on the outskirts of Delhi, Asaram Bapu cautioned that any new law on crime against women may be misused: “Women should be respected but no new law should be framed which can be misused by vested interests with the help of women of loose morals,” he said,

~ Mysterious death in Asharam’s ashram

In February this year, 24-year-old Rahul Pachouri mysteriously died at Asharam Bapu’s ashram in Jabalpur. Rahul’s father alleged that his son was poisoned in the Ashram. He told the TV channel that his son had said that he had some information about fake medicines being sold by the ashram.

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RELATED ARTICLES

• Sexual assault case: Asaram Bapu to be grilled by Jodhpur police (zeenews.india.com)
• Asaram Bapu (news.oneindia.in)
• In Pics: Top 10 controversies of Asaram Bapu (news.oneindia.in)
• Asaram Bapu (en.wikipedia.org)
• Lilashah (en.wikipedia.org)
• Vrindavan (en.wikipedia.org)
• Asaram ashram encroachment demolished in Gujarat (thaindian.com)
• Asaram Bapu’s prosecution sought for Rs 700cr land grab (articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
• The Dark Side of Asaram Bapu (openthemagazine.com)
• Attempt to murder case filed against Asaram Bapu (mumbaimirror.com)
• Asaram ashram kids’ death: Probe panel gets three months’ extension (indianexpress.com)
• Asaram Bapu, son summoned over children’s death (zeenews.india.com)
• Asaram Bapu adds to shame, says victim at fault too (hindustantimes.com)
• Gangrape: Asaram apologises for his remarks against victim (news.oneindia.in)

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 . By T.V. Antony Raj .

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The International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition is observed annually on August 23rd. The Day commemorates the uprising that took place on August 22-23, 1791, when slaves in Saint Domingue, today Haiti, launched an insurrection which ultimately led to the Haitian revolution.

Irina Bokova, UNESCO’s Director-General, in a message to mark the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition said: ““We must teach the names of the heroes of this story, because they are the heroes of all humankind.”

This year is particularly important with many key anniversaries, including:

• 220 years since France’s General Emancipation decree liberated all slaves in present-day Haiti;

• 180 years since the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 ended slavery in Canada, the British West Indies and the Cape of Good Hope;

• 170 years ago, the Indian Slavery Act of 1843 was signed.

Slavery was also abolished 165 years ago in France; 160 years ago in Argentina; 150 years ago in the Dutch colonies; and 125 years ago in Brazil.

Year 2013 is also the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation in the United States, which declared on January 1, 1863: all persons held as slaves within any States, or designated part of the State, the people whereof shall be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.

The Dutch Slave trade in Coromandel coast, India

Many would be surprised to know that the Dutch were precursors of slave trade in India.

Pulicat (Pazhaverkadu) is a historic seashore town in Thiruvallur District, of Tamil Nadu, India. It is about 60 km north of Chennai and 3 km from Elavur, on the barrier island of Sriharikota, which separates Pulicat Lake from the Bay of Bengal.

In 1502, the Portuguese established a trading post in Pulicat with the help of the Vijayanagar rulers. They built a fort there and held this fort until their defeat by the Dutch in 1609.

By 1612, the Dutch established themselves in Pulicat to the north. Till 1690 Pulicat remained the capital of Dutch Coromandel.

The slave trade is one of the oldest trades in the world. Slaves and textiles were the most profitable merchandise exported by the Dutch at Pulicat to their Indian Ocean trade headquarters at Batavia (Jakarta), in exchange for spices such as mace and nutmeg.

Between 1621 and 1665, the Dutch deployed 131 slave ships from Pulicat, to transport 38,441 Indians captured on the Coromandel coast, and sold as slaves to the Dutch plantations in Batavia and to work as domestic helps for the Dutch masters. Those in the age group of 8 to 20 were preferred as slaves for export.

To learn more about the slave trade on the Coromondel coast, I recommend you to read a very informative article titled “Baggage that weighs heavily on the mind” written by P. J. Sanjeeva Raj and published in The Hindu.

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 . By T.V. Antony Raj .

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Most of us are fools, for having nothing better to do than watch movies and soap operas, glued to the ‘idiot-box’. Here are a few things that I learned watching movies especially the American and Indian varieties.

American movies teach us:

01. More than 50% of the US population work for the US government and are invariably FBI or CIA agents.

02. The people belonging to communist or Islāmic countries are morbidly insane. Their sole purpose in life is to spy on US and kill god fearing innocent Americans.

03. The main purpose of the school system of US is to promote American Football, Basketball and Baseball.

04. All Chinese, Japanese and Koreans have nothing better to do than teach or practice Judo, Karate, or Kung Fu.

05. The Aliens from outer space either look like Steven Spielberg’s lovable serene ET or have a face with tentacles as in Schwarzenegger’s Predator and drool and
salivate like mad dogs. Their blood is never red.

06. Aliens from outer space show special interest in US than any other country in the world. The UFOs always attack the Empire State Building first and then the White House. The US president will immediately board the Air Force One to escape the wrath of the aliens.

07. It is dangerous to travel to sparsely inhabited townships in the US even during day time because they might be inhabited by zombies.

08. Never wander on lonely roads and woods in US at night because they harbor werewolves and vampires.

09. The DNA information of each US citizens is available in the National DNA database of the DNA Profile Databank.

10. All Americans are anti-racists.

Indian movies teach us:

01. The hero will have at least one main sidekick who is always given the role of a comedian.

02. If the heroine too has a sidekick then our hero’s sidekick will invariably tie the wedding knot on this woman in the last scene.

03. All heroes and heroines in Indian cinema know to sing and dance gracefully. When they decide to dance, the scene will shift to a foreign country and a group of
local or foreign guys and girls in uniform will appear from nowhere, and dance along with them, with everyone knowing the steps. After the song is over, the dancers will vanish into thin air.

04. One of the identical twins is always ill-natured.

05. In most cases if the hero is a police inspector than he is sure to arrest a college girl, pickpocket or a club dancer. He then tames the shrew, falls in love with her and
marries her with the blessing of his single mother.

06. Initially, all Indian heroes will get thrashed and flipped about like stuffed toys by the main villain, but our hero will never feel or show pain or sustain any fracture even when beaten with iron rods. The hero will profusely bleed from his mouth but will have all his teeth in tact. However, he will wince when the heroine tenderly touches or cleans the clotted blood on his mouth.

07. The main villain is ever surrounded by at least a dozen thugs who clench their fists and grimace trying to look villainous.

08. The hero will single-handedly beat dozens of thugs and finally the main antagonist. Not even his best friend, the sidekick, will come to his aid to fight the villains.

09. While defusing a bomb, the hero or the heroine or the sidekick comedian will always cut the correct wire just one second before the scheduled explosion of the bomb.

10. A detective or a police officer can solve cases only when suspended from duty.

An item common to both American and Indian cinema: While the hero kills and mauls hundreds of villains on home front or in battlefields, bullets only graze him.

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Related articles

• ‘We need an Indian film theory’ (thehindu.com)
• Indian Music Role In Indian Movies (websitesarticles.wordpress.com)

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 . By T.V. Antony Raj

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Today, while Hindus all over the world are celebrating Krishna Janmashtami, I was flipping through my vast collection of photographs harvested from the World Wide Web. I came across photographs that heartened my soul with love for my country where my Hindu and Muslim brethren coexist as a closely knit family.

THIS IS MY BELOVED INDIA!

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 . By T.V. Antony Raj .

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In many major religions and cultures, the device most used to help devotees to pray and meditate is the strand of prayer beads. Nearly two-thirds of the world’s population meditate or pray with beads.

Hindu/Buddhist 108-bead mala of jasper with turquoise howlite and red bamboo coral marker beads.

Many scholars admit that the use of prayer beads originated with the Hindus in ancient India,and the Hindu or Buddhist mala is the great mother of rosaries. From India and the Himalayan kingdoms, the prayer beads traveled east to China and Japan, and to the west to Africa and Europe, where it evolved into the Islamic Subha, the Christian rosary, the Eastern Orthodox prayer rope, and the secular worry beads used throughout Greece and the Middle East.

Roman Catholic Rosary

Traditionally, the prayer beads have consisted of strings of similarly sized beads, seeds, knots, or even rose petals and beads made from crushed roses, from which we get the word “rosary.” In Latin the term “rosarium” means ‘crown of roses’ or ‘garland of roses.’ The Roman Catholics sometimes write the word ‘rosary’ with an initial capital as ‘Rosary.’

Since counting prayers were initially so important, each religion embracing the use of prayer beads developed its own symbolic structure to follow. In addition to helping keep one’s place in structured prayers, the prayer beads also symbolize the commitment to spiritual life. With its circular form, a string of beads represents the interconnectedness of all who pray.

Common to many strands of prayer beads is the number nine. Greatest of the single-digit numerals, nine symbolizes completion. Where the numbers do not add up to nine, they are often divisible by three, symbolic of the trinity in Hinduism (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva), the three central concepts of Buddhism (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha) and the trinity in Christianity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit).

In addition to their use in the religious rituals of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity, the prayer beads find a place in the spiritual practices of cultures as diverse as the African Masai, Native Americans, Greek and Russian Orthodoxy.

Eastern-Orthodox Prayer Rope

Many similar prayer practices exist in various other Christian communities, each with its own set of prescribed prayers and its own form of prayer beads or prayer rope. These other devotions and their associated beads are usually called “chaplets”. The rosary is sometimes used by other Christians, especially in Lutheranism, the Anglican Communion and the Old Catholic Church.

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Related articles

• Prayer Beads: The Hindu Japa mala (tvaraj.com)
• Prayer Beads: The Buddhist Japa mala (tvaraj.com)
• Prayer Beads: The Islamic Subha / Masbaha / Tasbih (tvaraj.com)

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 . By T.V. Antony Raj .

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The antiquity of the Japa mala, the Hindu rosary, is confirmed by its frequent inclusion in sculpture and painting along with Hindu deities such as Agni, Agastya, Ahirbudhnya, Ardhanarisvara, Bhadrakali, Bhringin, Brhaspati, Gauri, Kamantaka, Lakulisa, Manasa, Parvati, Rati, Risi(s), Shiva, Subramanya, Surya, Uma, and Vāyu, among others. Lesser spirits are believed to dwell in rosary-bead perforations.

A female Shiva sadhu (sadhvi) in Haridwar, India, holding a Japa mala. (Photo: Brett Davies, 2010)

The Sanskrit term “Japa mala” for the strand of Hindu prayer beads means ‘muttering chaplet’ because of the prayer beads’ function to record the number of prayers uttered.

Japa mala is used as an aid to meditation, each bead counted is an individual prayer or mantra, that keeps the mind from wandering and make it concentrate, without distractions, on the meaning of the prayer being recited. Recitation is usually murmured, or silent. The repetition of a mantra or divine names through the devotional act known as japa yoga. 

This practice of praying using prayer beads to keep count while reciting, chanting, or mentally repeating a mantra or the name or names of a self-selected deity (ishtadevata) became widespread by the eighth century BC in India.

108-beads Japa mala of jasper with turquoise howlite and red bamboo coral marker beads.

The 108 beads of the Japa mala represents the cosmos derived by multiplying the twelve astrological signs by the nine planets. Hence the Japa malas are usually made from 108 beads, though other numbers, usually divisible by nine, are also used. The total number of beads may vary among different Hindu sects. A common Vaishnavite Japa mala has 108 beads. Shaivites often use 32, or 64. There are many other variants.

27- beads Japa Mala made of Rudraksha seeds.

When worn visibly by a Hindu, the material used for the Japa mala bead can indicate the Hindu deity or sect to whom the Japa mala and its wearer are dedicated.

According to Hindu tradition the correct way to use a mala is to hold it with the right hand, with the thumb flicking one bead to the next, and with the mala draped over the middle finger. Since the index finger represents the ego, the greatest impediment to self-realization, it is considered best to avoid using it when chanting on a mala.

A widely used Hindu Japa mala prayer is the Gāyatrī Japam also called Gāyatrī Mantra, repeated twice a day in the morning and in the evening. It is addressed to Savitr, the Sun before sunrise, the supreme generative force and ruler of the planets, to propitiate hostile planets or angry gods. The greater the number of repetitions, the greater the blessing. The favored number of repetitions are 27, 54, or 108 times, without any break. Through repetition, the reciter strives to accumulate an inner force originating from the Sun, to illuminate his mind, to gain knowledge, energy, and blessings in one’s undertakings.

Materials used in Hindu Japa malas are the most varied of those used among all religions. Most of them are of vegetable origin that include seeds, berries, fruit, nuts, drupes, dried plant stems, and wood. From mineral sources come glass, semiprecious or precious stones, and metals. Materials of animal origin such as bone, ivory, horn, coral, shells and pearls are also used. A Japa mala made of gold or gemstones is considered one hundred times more auspicious and efficacious than any other material. Glass, especially coloured ones simulating precious stones, has also been used for centuries. Today plastic beads that simulate natural minerals are universally used because of their low-cost.

The Hindus believe that each material embodies its own particular properties: Silver and gold fulfill wishes; coral brings wealth; crystal, good luck; pearls, glory; and shell helps one to achieve fame.

Many Hindus fear falling prey to evil eyes that could fall on them and their Japa Mala. To avoid this some members belonging to certain Hindu sects place the Japa mala and the hand holding it into a small cloth bag called gaumukhi, meaning “cow’s mouth” while reciting the prayers.

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Related articles

• Prayer Beads in Major Religions (tvaraj.com)
• Prayer Beads: The Buddhist Japa mala (tvaraj.com)
• Prayer Beads: The Islamic Subha / Masbaha / Tasbih (tvaraj.com)

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 . By T.V. Antony Raj .

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Buddhism is a religion indigenous to the Indian subcontinent that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhārtha Gautama, also known as Gautama Buddha, Shakyamuni, or simply as the Buddha. The Buddha, meaning “the awakened one” lived and taught in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent between the 6th and 4th centuries BC.

According to Dīpavaṃsa, the oldest historical record of Sri Lanka, Buddhism was introduced into the island during the reign of Sri Lanka’s King Devanampiya Tissa (307 BC to 267 BC) by Venerable Mahinda, the son of the great Indian Emperor Ashoka.

Around 228 BC, Sohn Uttar Sthavira, one of the royal monks of Emperor Ashoka came to Suvarnabhumi (or Burma, the present day Myanmar) with few other monks carrying Buddhist sacred texts.

Buddhism was introduced into China during the reign Emperor Ming (58-75 AD).

In 372 AD, about 800 years after the death of the historical Gautama Buddha, Buddhism was introduced to Korea from Former Qin, a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms in China.

Buddhism took root in Japan during the Kofun period (250 to 538 AD).

During the reign of King Thothori Nyantsen (5th century AD), a basket of Buddhist scriptures written in Sanskrit arrived in Tibet from India which were not translated into Tibetan until the reign of king Songtsän Gampo (618-649 AD) who had married a Chinese Tang Dynasty Buddhist princess and a Nepalese Buddhist princess, named Bhrikuti.

Eventually, Buddhism became the established religion in these countries.

Tibetan Buddhist 108 Ox Bone Skull Prayer Beads Mala

The Buddhists in India adopted the Hindu practice of using Japa mala for repeating mantras or counting breaths. As Buddhism spread to other eastern countries so did Japa mala for meditation. They also used the Japa mala as a divination tool.

The voices of groups of monks chanting together resonate from the Buddhist monasteries in a continual monotonous murmuring. Chanting with a string of 108 prayer beads helps the Buddhist faithful to reach an interior state of supreme reality beyond time and place.

Like the Hindu Japa mala, the Buddhist Japa mala too are usually composed of 108 beads or divisions of that number, 54 or 27. The 108 beads represent the number of worldly desires or negative emotions that must be overcome before attaining nirvana. Buddhists believe that saying a mantra for each fleshly failing will purify the supplicant.

The Buddhist Japa malas are made of sandalwood, seeds, stones, or inlaid animal bone.

Burmese Buddhist monks prefer strings of black lacquered beads.

In Tibet, Japa malas of inlaid bone originally included the skeleton parts of revered monks, to remind their users to live lives worthy of the next level of enlightenment. Today’s bone malas are made of yak bone, which is sometimes inlaid with turquoise and coral.

Buddhist 27-beads wrist malas

Smaller 27-bead wrist malas were created mainly to prevent the prayer beads from touching the ground during prostrations.

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Related articles

• Prayer Beads in Major Religions (tvaraj.com)
• Prayer Beads: The Hindu Japa mala (tvaraj.com)
• Prayer Beads: The Islamic Subha / Masbaha / Tasbih (tvaraj.com)

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 . By T.V. Antony Raj

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“Teachers like being appreciated, but they usually don’t expect recognition from students. When they get it, it does feel good,“
- Suma Padmanaban, Principal of Asan Memorial Senior Secondary School.

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During the 20th century, the concept of celebrating Teachers’ Day took root independently in many countries. Unlike many other international days, people in many countries celebrate Teachers’ Day as a unique day to appreciate the contributions made by teachers within the field of teaching or for their service to their community. They celebrate a local educator who is or was an important milestone in education in their country or region. This is the primary reason countries are celebrating this day on different dates though the World Teachers’ Day is celebrated on October 5th every year.

Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

Since 1962, India celebrates Teachers’ Day on September 5, the birthday of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, a philosopher, statesman and the second president of India from 1962 to 1967.

According to UNESCO, the teaching profession is currently losing its status in many parts of the world.

The Voice of the Teacher Survey 2013, conducted by education service provider Pearson and market intelligence firm Spire Research and Consulting represents the views of 3,262 teachers from 223 cities across 25 states, collected between July and August.

This nationwide survey reveals that three out of four teachers rated gratitude from students as a form of recognition more valuable than the salary or praise from their employers.

While the study found that a majority (72%) of teachers in the south feel students adequately acknowledge them for success, 61% teachers in northern India feel there has been a decline in gratitude over the past decade.

Among cities, Jaipur has the highest percentage (85%) of teachers who feel that students thank them enough for their success. Next comes Bangalore (82%) and Chennai (78%) is listed third.

The job satisfaction levels of teachers in TN (82%) and Chennai (80%) is higher than the national average at 66%.

Teachers can trim, shape and mould or maul the minds of their students the way they want. Ha Ha …  I know this because I was a teacher too…

RELATED ARTICLES

• Teachers’ Day (en.wikipedia.org)
• Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (en.wikipedia.org)
• Teachers’ Day: Tamil Nadu teachers give gratitude top marks (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
• Passion and burn out of a teacher  (marcusampe.wordpress.com)

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 . By T.V. Antony Raj

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Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) proclaimed: “Worship is the pillar of religion.”

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Salat, or prayer, is one of the Five Pillars, or essential rites in Islam. Recited five times a day (at dawn, noon, midafternoon, sunset and nightfall), salat intersperses the rhythms of daily life with habitual opportunities to stand before The Almighty in entranced concentration.

Islamic Prayer Beads Tesbih Subha 99 Malachite

Nowadays, many Muslims pray with prayer beads as a device to keep track of the words of dhikr (remembrance of Allah) they repeat while glorifying Allah.

Muslims probably gained the concept of prayer beads from India. When this happened, however, is uncertain. However, scholars admit that the use of prayer beads originated with the Hindus in ancient India, and the Hindu or Buddhist mala is the great mother of rosaries. From India and the Himalayan kingdoms, the prayer beads traveled west to Africa and Europe, where it evolved into the Islamic Subha, the Christian Rosary, the Eastern Orthodox prayer rope, and the secular worry beads used throughout Greece and the Middle East.

In India, a strand of Islamic prayer beads is known as Subha (Arabic: سبحا) derived from the Arabic phrase Subhan’Allāh (Arabic سبحان الله) meaning “Glory to Allah.” It is also known as Masbaha (Arabic: مسبحة) or Tasbih (تسبيح).

A Subha may vary in style or decorative embellishments ranging from cheap mass-produced prayer beads, to those made with expensive materials and high-quality workmanship.

Subha beads are most often made of spherical glass, wood, plastic, amber, or gemstone. The cord is usually cotton or silk.

A Subha may have either 33 beads, or 99 beads separated by flat disks into three groups of 33. There is often a larger, leader bead and a tassel at one end to mark the starting point of recitations.

The believers touch one bead at a time while reciting words of dhikr which are often the 99 names of Allah (Arabic: أسماء الله الحسنى‎ ʾasmāʾ allāh al-ḥusnā),  which help the believers in their communion with Allah.

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At times the believers repeat phrases which express reverence, complete submission and gratitude to Allah. Following are the most used phrases, each repeated 33 times:

Subhan’Allāh (Arabic سبحان الله) meaning “Glory to Allah“
Alhamdulillah (Arabic: الحمد لله‎) meaning “Praise be to Allah“
Allāhu Akbar (Arabic: الله أكبر) meaning “Allah is Great”

At the time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Muslims did not use prayer beads as a tool during personal prayer, but may have used date pits or pebbles. Caliph Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) used a Subha similar to modern ones. The widespread manufacture and use of Subha began about 600 years ago.

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Related articles

• Prayer Beads in Major Religions (tvaraj.com)
• Prayer Beads: The Hindu Japa mala (tvaraj.com)
• Prayer Beads: The Buddhist Japa mala (tvaraj.com)
• Names of God in Islam (en.wikipedia.org)

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 . By T.V. Antony Raj

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Edgar Thurston (1855-1935) was a superintendent at the Madras Government Museum. While holding his position at the museum, Thurston, educated in medicine,  lectured in anatomy at the Madras Medical College.

He contributed to studies in the zoology, ethnology and botany of India and published works related to his work at the museum. His early works were on numismatics and geology and followed later by his researches in anthropology and ethnography. He succeeded Frederick S. Mullaly as superintendent of ethnography for the Madras Presidency.

He was honored with the Companion of the Indian Empire (CIE), the most eminent order of chivalry of the Indian Empire founded by Queen Victoria in 1878 to reward British and “native” officials who served in India.

In 1901, Thurston while taking part in  the Ethnographic Survey of India project wrote the seven volumes of Castes and Tribes of Southern India. 

K. Rangachari, a colleague from the museum, who had previously assisted him in a 1906 ethnographic study, Ethnographic Notes in Southern India, assisted him in producing this mammoth historical work.

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The 120-year-old photographs like the above, found in the seven volume series of Castes and Tribes of Southern India depict the life, dress (like the custom of leaving the upper torso bare among women of the Tiya tribe), marriage, customs, and dances of the various castes, tribes and ethnic groups.

Nature magazine, in its September 1910 issue, described the work as

a monumental record of the varied phases of south Indian tribal life, the traditions, manners and customs of people. Though in some respects it may be corrected or
supplemented by future research it will long retain its value as an example of out-door investigation, and will remain a veritable mine of information, which will be of value.

More recently, in 1995, Crispin Bates, a historian of modern South Asia, in his work “Race, Caste and Tribe in Central India: the early origins of Indian anthropometry” has said that Thurston generally displayed “often lurid, orientalist imaginings” in his writings.

One of the most ludicrous was Thurston’s study of southern India. Thurston was the curator of the government museum in Madras, and clearly saw the study of racial
types among the Indians as an extension of his daily routine of labelling and pinning butterflies and of collecting and categorising the varieties of plants.

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RELATED ARTICLES

• Edgar Thurston (en.wikipedia.org)
• Castes and Tribes of Southern India (en.wikipedia.org)
• Mosaic of communities (hindu.com)

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