The Indian Panorama

Year: 2014

  • SYRIA: Deal struck to evacuate civilians from Homs

    SYRIA: Deal struck to evacuate civilians from Homs

    BEIRUT (TIP): The Syrian government reached an agreement with the United Nations on february 6 to secure the evacuation of hundreds of trapped civilians from besieged parts of the central city of Homs, according to Syria’s state-run TV.

    The TV did not give further details but quoted Homs Governor Talal Barrazi as saying the evacuation would take place “very soon.” Rebels who have held ancient parts of the city known as Old Homs have been besieged by government forces for more than a year. The issue was one of the negotiating points during the weeklong peace talks in Geneva last month between the Damascus government and the Western-backed main Syrian opposition group.

    The talks failed to achieve any concrete results on the evacuation of civilians and humanitarian aid convoys to the area. Homs, Syria’s thirdlargest city, has been one of the hardest hit areas since the country’s uprising against President Bashar Assad began in March 2011. The ongoing blockade has led to severe food shortages in the city.

    The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks the fighting, estimates that 1,200 women, children and elderly people are trapped in the besieged areas of the old quarter of Homs. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said at a briefing Thursday that Moscow was encouraging the Syrian government to “cooperate constructively” with international humanitarian agencies to help improve conditions for civilians and to reach agreements on local truces and prisoners releases. “The issue of delivering humanitarian aid to the old districts of Homs is now being solved,” Lukashevich said. “According to the latest information, the government and the opposition have reached such agreement. It’s quite a positive signal,” he said.

  • Spectrum auction takes off from Rs 52,689 crore

    Spectrum auction takes off from Rs 52,689 crore

    NEW DELHI (TIP):
    The third round of spectrum auction commenced for the fifth day on February 7 with Delhi witnessing an upward revision in prices for both the premium 900 Mhz and 1800 MHz band. “Auction has started. There is excess demand in circles including Assam, J&K, MP, West Bengal, UP (E) and UP (W),” a Department of Telecom (DoT) official said. At the end of fourth day, telecom companies have jointly made bids worth about Rs 52,689 crore. The government has got bids of around Rs 30,754 crore for 1800 Mhz band and Rs 21,935 crore for 900 Mhz band.

    The price of 900 Mhz in Delhi shot up by about 78 per cent to Rs 639.24 crore per megahertz as compared to the base price of Rs 360 crore fixed by the government; whereas for the 1800 MHz band, the reserve price rose by 5 per cent to Rs 230 crore a MHz. The auction for the fourth day ended with no excess demand for the first time for 900 Mhz in any of the three metros — Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. In Mumbai, the price of 900 Mhz band increased by 72 per cent to Rs 563.09 crore for a Mhz and in Kolkata by 54 per cent to Rs 192.71 crore. Government has put on auction about 385 megahertz of spectrum in the 1800 Mhz band, which started on February 3, following a February 2013 Supreme Court order.

    Government is auctioning airwaves in 900 Mhz band in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, which are held by Vodafone, Airtel and Loop Mobile through their licences which are expiring in November. The 3G auction in 2010 lasted for 34 days, while the auction in November 2012 lasted for 2 days and March auction last year lasted only one day. In November 2012, bids worth Rs 9,407 crore were received for spectrum worth Rs 28,000 on offer. In March 2013, no GSM operators bid at the auction and only CDMA operator Sistema Shyam bought spectrum of about Rs 3,600 crore in eight of the 21 service areas.

  • Britain deploys Royal Marines to help with floods

    Britain deploys Royal Marines to help with floods

    LONDON (TIP): Britain deployed Royal Marines on Thursday to help with devastating floods after what officials said was likely the worst winter rainfall in 250 years.

    Around 40 marines were helping reinforce flood defences near Taunton in Somerset in southwest England, parts of which have been under water for a month. Local police said the marines would stack nearly 1,000 sandbags along a 1-2 kilometre stretch of wall near the River Tone, which has been swelled by heavy rain — more of which was expected overnight.

    Prime Minister David Cameron’s government has faced criticism for its handling of a crisis that has left swathes of the country under water, with a key railway line washed away. Several people had to be rescued from deluged homes on February 6.. More storms are expected this weekend.

    Britain’s Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said the government would make an extra £30 million ($48 million, 36 million euros) available for emergency repairs, on top of £100 million announced by Cameron on Wednesday. Pickles said the winter was the wettest since King George III was on the throne, from 1760-1820, and the flood victims had “literally been through hell and high water”.

    The Meterological Office confirmed in a statement that for southern England, “regional statistics suggest that this is one of, if not the most, exceptional periods of winter rainfall in at least 248 years”. Parts of the region received five months of rainfall between December 12 and January 31.

    The rainy winter has set records tumbling, being the wettest combined period for December and January across the United Kingdom since 1910, the Met Office said. It was also the windiest December since 1969, based on the occurrence of winds over 111 kilometres per hour (69 miles per hour). For England alone it was the wettest December to January since 1876-1877 and the second wettest since rainfall records began in 1766.

    “Nothing happened for so long” Firefighters in Somerset and the neighbouring county of Devon rescued 14 people from homes and stranded vehicles late Wednesday and early Thursday. Rescuers in inflatable boats reached four adults and three children from one house after a river burst its banks in Stoke St Gregory, a village that Prince Charles visited on Tuesday, a fire brigade spokesman said. The heir to the throne said on his trip that the “tragedy is that nothing happened for so long”.

    Cameron personally took charge of the government’s response on Wednesday after facing a growing tide of criticism for being too slow to aid stricken communities. “The Environment Agency has ordered specialist pumping equipment to clear roads, in addition to the extra pumps we have already sent, and they will keep looking at all options for pumping and dredging,” Cameron said after chairing a meeting of the government’s emergency response committee Cobra.

    Across the English Channel, France’s western tip jutting out into the Atlantic was placed on highest alert for flooding as tides wreaked havoc. Finestere, a department of coastal Brittany, was placed on red flooding alert and braced for two of its rivers, the Morlaix and the Laita, to burst their banks as a result of heavy rain forecast. The warning was issued by Meteo- France shortly after the agency placed 29 departments from Brittany to the Paris region on a second-tier orange alert.

    Recent days have seen huge waves, gale-force winds and torrential rains combine to batter sea defences from the Basque country on France’s border with Spain. The storms sent a Spanish cargo ship crashing into a sea wall at the French port of Bayonne on Wednesday, splitting it clean in two. In Spain, roofs were torn off and planes overturned as 130km/h winds and eight-metre waves battered the northern coast, causing millions of euros worth of damage.

  • Wendi Deng’s love note for Tony Blair published

    Wendi Deng’s love note for Tony Blair published

    LONDON (TIP): An extraordinary love note has emerged exposing media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s former wife Wendi Deng’s alleged infatuation with Tony Blair’s “good body”.

    In the undated note, the Chinese-born 44-year-old Deng has written how she was “so missing” the “charming” former British prime minister who she liked because “his clothes are so good” and because of his “power on the stage”.

    She also writes of her admiration for 60-year-old Blair’s “piercing blue eyes”. Eighty-two-year-old Murdoch and Deng divorced last year after 14 years of marriage. Tongues had wagged during the time that Blair’s friendship with Deng could have been a factor. Blair, godfather to one of Murdoch’s children, was a regular at the Murdoch home.

    Deng’s passionate note, published by ‘Vanity Fair’ magazine, is written in broken English. “Oh, shit, oh, shit,” it reads. “Why I’m so missing Tony. Because he is so charming and his clothes are so good. He has such good body and he has really good legs Butt. And he is slim tall and good skin. Pierce blue eyes which I love. Love his eyes.

    Also I love his power on the stage and what else and what else and what else.” Wendi and Murdoch have two daughters, Grace, now 12, and Chloe, 10. A source has said that Blair supposedly would stay in Murdoch’s homes where Wendi would visit without her husband’s knowledge.

    It is believed that last summer Murdoch met with staff members individually and asked them to give a detailed account of his wife’s meetings with Blair. ‘Vanity Fair’ says on October 7, 2012, Wendi had told Rupert she was having a girls’ weekend at the family ranch in Carmel, California, according to the former News Corp employee. Only one girlfriend, Kathy Freston, the estranged wife of former Viacom CEO Tom Freston, joined Wendi but left soon, only for Blair to arrive the following day.

  • THE WORLD’S OLDEST COMPUTER TURNS 70

    THE WORLD’S OLDEST COMPUTER TURNS 70

    LONDON (TIP):
    The world’s first electronic computer created by the British to decrypt Adolf Hitler’s secret messages during World War II turned 70 on February 5. Some of Britain’s best known code breakers who operated the ‘Colossus’ gathered at UK’s National Museum of Computing to celebrate seven decades of it’s existence. Designed by British telephone engineer Tommy Flowers, Colossus was built to speed up code-breaking of the complex Lorenz cipher used in communications between Hitler and his generals during World War II. It is widely thought to have shortened the war and saved countless lives. On February 5, 1944 Colossus Mk I worked on its first Lorenzencrypted message.

    By the end of the war, 63 million characters of high-grade German messages had been decrypted by the 550 people working on the 10 functioning colossi during the war. Colossus occupied the size of a living room (7 feet high by 17 feet wide and 11 feet deep), weighed five tons, incorporated 2,500 valves and 10,000 resistors connected by 7 km of wiring. Its existence was kept top secret for 30 years because of the sensitivity surrounding the encryption messages it had helped to break. German teleprinter signals encrypted by Lorenz machines were first found by police looking for possible spy transmissions in 1940 in the UK.

    In August 1941, a procedural error by a German operator enabled Colonel John Tiltman – a top code-breaker decipher a German message. Mathematician Bill Tutte then began working on the case and was able to deduce the complete logical structure of the cipher machine. Code-breakers then began breaking the codes by hand but this was very time consuming. Flowers who was then a post office electronics engineer designed Colossus which helped break codes in a few hours thereby greatly shortening the process and enabling larger numbers of messages to be broken. Tim Reynolds, chair of Britain’s National Museum of Computing said, “The achievements of those who worked at Bletchley Park are humbling.

    Tutte’s ingenuity in deducing out how the Lorenz machine worked without ever having seen it, the skill of those who broke the cipher by hand and Flowers’ design of the world’s first electronic computer Colossus to speed up the code-breaking process are feats almost beyond comprehension.” In honor of the men and women who worked at Bletchley Park during World War II, Tony Sale, co-founder of The National Museum of Computing led a team to rebuild Colossus in 1994. They worked with eight photographs of Colossus taken in 1945. A few circuit diagrams kept by engineers who worked on the original computer were also obtained. On Nov 15, 2007, a rebuilt fully-functioning Colossus Mark II was unveiled to the public.

  • STUDY LINKS SUGAR TO HEART AILMENTS

    STUDY LINKS SUGAR TO HEART AILMENTS

    CHICAGO (TIP): Could too much sugar be deadly? The biggest US study of its kind suggests the answer is yes, at least when it comes to fatal heart problems. It doesn’t take all that much extra sugar, hidden in many processed foods, to substantially raise the risk, the researchers found, and most Americans eat more than the safest amount. Being in the highest risk category in the study means your chance of dying prematurely from heart problems is nearly three times greater than for people who eat only foods with little added sugar.

    For someone who normally eats 2,000 calories daily, even consuming two 340-gram cans of soda substantially increases the risk. For most American adults, sodas and other sugary drinks are the main source of added sugar. Quanhe Yang of the US Centres of Disease Control and Prevention said that it’s the first nationally representative study to examine the issue. Scientists aren’t certain how sugar may contribute to heart problems, but it has been shown to increase blood pressure and levels of unhealthy cholesterol.

  • Egyptian court orders retrial in soccer stadium disaster

    Egyptian court orders retrial in soccer stadium disaster

    CAIRO (TIP): An Egyptian court on February 6 ordered the retrial of 21 people sentenced to death in a politically charged case for involvement in deadly soccer stadium violence in 2012, judicial sources said.

    The Cassation Court accepted the appeal by the fans found guilty in January 2013 of taking part in the Port Said stadium disaster, in which 74 people died on Feb. 1 2012.

    Many of those killed were crushed when panicked fans tried to escape from the stadium after a post-match pitch invasion by supporters of the local side al-Masry. Others fell or were thrown from terraces, witnesses said. The death sentences were handed down during ousted President Mohamed Mursi’s year in office – but since then the political, and therefore judicial, landscape has reversed, with the case now being considered in a different light.

    Fans of the visiting team, Al Ahly, accused the Interior Ministry of deliberately causing the disaster in revenge for their role in toppling autocrat Hosni Mubarak in an uprising in 2011. At the time, the incident deepened frustration that a police force weakened by the revolt seemed unable to protect the population.

    But the Interior Ministry has made a comeback since the army toppled Mursi in July. Policemen and troops are lionised on state and private television channels. Security forces have cracked down hard on Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood, killing about 1,000 and arresting the Islamist movement’s top leaders. (Reporting by Maggie Fick; Editing by Michael Georgy and Alison Williams)

  • PLANET DRUNKENLY DANCING AROUND TWO ‘SUNS’ FOUND

    PLANET DRUNKENLY DANCING AROUND TWO ‘SUNS’ FOUND

    NEW DELHI (TIP):
    It doesn’t get weirder than this in the cosmic zoo: a gas planet that is going around two ‘suns’, one orange and the other red, all the time wobbling drunkenly so much that ‘seasons’ would flash past. This strange world was discovered 2300 light years away by Nasa’s planethunting Kepler space telescope. The planet, designated Kepler- 413b, precesses, or wobbles, wildly on its spin axis, much like a child’s top. The tilt of the planet’s spin axis can vary by as much as 30 degrees over 11 years, leading to rapid and erratic changes in seasons. In contrast, Earth’s rotational precession is 23.5 degrees over 26,000 years.

    Researchers are amazed that this far-off planet is precessing on a human timescale. Kepler 413-b is located in the constellation Cygnus. It circles a close pair of orange and red dwarf stars every 66 days. The planet’s orbit around the binary stars appears to wobble, too, because the plane of its orbit is tilted 2.5 degrees with respect to the plane of the star pair’s orbit. As seen from Earth, the wobbling orbit moves up and down continuously. Kepler finds planets by noticing the dimming of a star or stars when a planet transits, or travels in front of them. Normally, planets transit like clockwork.

    Astronomers using Kepler discovered the wobbling when they found an unusual pattern of transiting for Kepler-413b. “Looking at the Kepler data over the course of 1,500 days, we saw three transits in the first 180 days — one transit every 66 days — then we had 800 days with no transits at all. After that, we saw five more transits in a row,” said Veselin Kostov, the principal investigator on the observation. Kostov is affiliated with the Space Telescope Science Institute and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md. The next transit visible from Earth’s point of view is not predicted to occur until 2020.

    This is because the orbit moves up and down, a result of the wobbling, in such a great degree that it sometimes does not transit the stars as viewed from Earth. Astronomers are still trying to explain why this planet is out of alignment with its stars. There could be other planetary bodies in the system that tilted the orbit. Or, it could be that a third star nearby that is a visual companion may actually be gravitationally bound to the system and exerting an influence.

    “Presumably there are planets out there like this one that we’re not seeing because we’re in the unfavorable period,” said Peter McCullough, a team member with the Space Telescope Science Institute and Johns Hopkins University. “And that’s one of the things that Veselin is researching: Is there a silent majority of things that we’re not seeing?” Even with its changing seasons, Kepler-413b is too warm for life as we know it. Because it orbits so close to the stars, its temperatures are too high for liquid water to exist, making it inhabitable. It also is a super Neptune — a giant gas planet with a mass about 65 times that of Earth — so there is no surface on which to stand.

  • GOM SUGGESTS UT STATUS FOR HYDERABAD

    GOM SUGGESTS UT STATUS FOR HYDERABAD

    HYDERABAD (TIP): In a major concession to the Seemandhra lobby aimed at minimizing the opposition to the passage of the AP Reorganization Bill, 2013, the Group of Ministers that met here on February 6 recommended Hyderabad be made a Union Territory for the 10 years it will serve as the joint capital of the two states.

    The draft Telangana bill had placed Hyderabad in the Telangana region, but to be administered by the Telangana governor with the aid of two advisors. However, the Union Cabinet, which is slated to take up the recommendations of the GoM for consideration at its special Telangana-centred meeting will have to clear the UT model for the joint capital.

    Apart from recommending making Hyderabad a UT, the GoM is also believed to have recommended that villages in Telangana’s Khammam district that will be submerged because of the Polavaram project be merged with Seemandhra’s East and West Godavari districts so that no inter-state dispute comes in the way of the establishment of the project.

    These two recommendations were among the many submitted to the GoM by Seemandhra ministers on Wednesday night. After the meeting, Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde, also the head of GoM, and key member Jairam Ramesh briefed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi about its recommendations. The GoM is said to have been given political clearance by Sonia to forward its recommendations for the approval of the full cabinet meeting on Friday.

    The Seemandhra lobby has been insisting that if division is inevitable, Hyderabad should be made either a permanent UT or UT at least for the period it serves as the joint capital of Telangana and residuary Andhra Pradesh after the division. The decision to make Hyderabad a UT is sure to be opposed by Telangana parties such as the TRS, which is already unhappy with the idea of granting special powers to the governor with regard to law and order and land.

  • RTI hero Arvind Kejriwal won’t share information

    RTI hero Arvind Kejriwal won’t share information

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Arvind Kejriwal may have been a champion of the Right to Information Act but his government seems bent on stonewalling requests for information on several key decisions taken by it.

    It’s been more than a month since Dev Ashish Bhattacharya of Noida filed two applications under the transparency law. These have made the rounds of 22 departments — most of them with no connection to the subject matter — but he is yet to get the answers he seeks.

    In his first application, filed January 2, Bhattacharya sought the file notings of two key decisions taken by Kejriwal after becoming CM — an annual 20,000 litres of free water to each household and a 50% reduction in power tariff through subsidy.

    The second, filed January 4, pertains to the cost incurred by the government on the swearing-in ceremony at Ramlila Maidan and on the sprucing up of the Bhagwan Das Road residence allocated to the CM (which he later declined to accept). Most of the departments have responded saying the information sought does not fall within their jurisdiction.

    “The information I asked for was straight and simple, and the chief secretary’s office should have known the answers. But instead of giving the information, my applications were forwarded to a number of irrelevant departments,” Bhattacharya said. The first application was forwarded to the fire service, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board.

    The second application was also forwarded to same set of departments. Calling this a common practice by governments to harass information seekers, former central information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi said, “It is ridiculous that the chief secretary’s office is not aware of file notings related to decisions taken by the cabinet.”

    Even an official at Kejriwal’s office said, “It was a simple RTI query that should have been answered.” Kejriwal started his civil society career with Parivartan, a Delhi-based NGO that campaigned for transparency and accountability using RTI. In 2006, he won the Magsaysay award for his work in creating awareness about RTI.

  • Now, a syringe to help seal gunshot wounds in 15 second

    Now, a syringe to help seal gunshot wounds in 15 second

    WASHINGTON (TIP): A new pocket-sized syringe that can seal gunshot wounds within just 15 seconds has been developed by scientists. The syringe Called XStat, developed by Oregon-based RevMedx, injects specially coated sponges into wounds. The device could boost survival and spare injured soldiers from additional pain by plugging wounds faster and more efficiently than gauze, ‘Popular Science’ reported. “That is what we pictured as the perfect solution: something you could spray in, it would expand, and bleeding stops,” said John Steinbaugh, former US army special operations medic.

    The team used ordinary sponges and cut them into 1cm circles. They then injected the bits of sponge into an animal injury. “The bleeding stopped. Our eyes lit up. We knew we were onto something,” said Steinbaugh. Researchers settled on a sponge made from wood pulp and coated with chitosan, a blood-clotting, antimicrobial substance found in shrimp shells. They added Xshaped markers that make each sponge visible on an x-ray image in order to ensure that no sponges are left inside the body accidentally, the report said. The sponges expand to fill the entire wound cavity in just 15 seconds, creating enough pressure to stop heavy bleeding.

  • DECLASSIFY BLUESTAR DOCUMENTS, DEMAND AKALIS

    DECLASSIFY BLUESTAR DOCUMENTS, DEMAND AKALIS

    New Delhi (TIP): In the wake of steaming debate on UK’s advisory role in Operation Bluestar, the Akalis on February 6 upped the ante against the government demanding immediate declassification of correspondence between the Indian and British Governments during that period.

    The demand for making official documents public got shriller with Akali MPs in both Houses giving notices for adjournment motion to discuss the issue which they termed as one of “grave national importance.” The notices given by Bathinda MP Harsimrat Badal in the Lok Sabha and Naresh Gujral in the Rajya Sabha could not be taken up as Houses were adjourned amid ruckus on several issues.

    The Akalis, however, vowed to keep up the pressure on the Congress-led government saying the country must know whether the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sought the advice on the operation only from the UK or more nations. With the BJP throwing its weight behind the Shiromani Akali Dal, the MPs of both parties said declassification of documents was equally important to reveal the real motive behind the operation.

    Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Gujral said: “The documents declassified in the UK show the correspondence pertaining to the military offensive on the Golden Temple had been going on for at least six months before the actual attack took place. The entire operation was premeditated.

    “We are seeking immediate declassification of official correspondence to know if the operation was actually a deep-rooted conspiracy to play the anti-Sikh card to give Congress an electoral advantage,” he said. The Akali-BJP combine said it would continue to protest in Parliament. “The anti-Sikh sentiment was being fanned by the Centre from 1982 when India organised the Asian Games.

    Every Sikh entering Delhi was searched at the border. No exception was made even for top military officers. We want to know why Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was not arrested when he was at Mehta Chowk and later at Guru Nanak Niwas outside the Golden Temple in Amritsar,” said Gujral.

    All Akali MPs said it was important to know what exactly went into the planning of the operation. “The fact remains that the then PM did not even take Parliament into confidence over seeking foreign advice over an internal matter,” Gujral said.

  • SRI GURU GRANTH SAHIB

    SRI GURU GRANTH SAHIB

    GUJRI, FOURTH MEHL, SECOND HOUSE: ONE UNIVERSAL CREATOR GOD. BY THE GRACE OF THE TRUE GURU: Without the Lord, my soul cannot survive, like an infant without milk. The inaccessible and incomprehensible Lord God is obtained by the Gurmukh; I am a sacrifice to my True Guru. || 1 || O my mind, the Kirtan of the Lord’s Praise is a boat to carry you across. The Gurmukhs obtain the Ambrosial Water of the Naam, the Name of the Lord. You bless them with Your Grace. || Pause || Sanak, Sanandan and Naarad the sage serve You; night and day, they continue to chant Your Name, O Lord of the jungle. Slave Prahlaad sought Your Sanctuary, and You saved his honor. || 2 || The One unseen immaculate Lord is pervading everywhere, as is the Light of the Lord.

    All are beggars, You alone are the Great Giver. Reaching out our hands, we beg from You. || 3 || The speech of the humble devotees is sublime; they sing continually the wondrous, Unspoken Speech of the Lord. Their lives become fruitful; they save themselves, and all their generations. || 4 || The self-willed manmukhs are engrossed in duality and evil-mindedness; within them is the darkness of attachment. They do not love the sermon of the humble Saints, and they are drowned along with their families. || 5 || By slandering, the slanderer washes the filth off others; he is an eater of filth, and a worshipper of Maya. He indulges in the slander of the humble Saints; he is neither on this shore, nor the shore beyond.

    || 6 || All this worldly drama is set in motion by the Creator Lord; He has infused His almighty strength into all. The thread of the One Lord runs through the world; when He pulls out this thread, the One Creator alone remains. || 7 || With their tongues, they sing the Glorious Praises of the Lord, and savor Them. They place the sublime essence of the Lord upon their tongues, and savor it. O Nanak, other than the Lord, I ask for nothing else; I am in love with the Love of the Lord’s sublime essence. || 8 || 1 || 7 || GUJRI, FIFTH MEHL, SECOND HOUSE: ONE UNIVERSAL CREATOR GOD. BY THE GRACE OF THE TRUE GURU: Among kings, You are called the King. Among land-lords, You are the Land-lord. Among masters, You are the Master. Among tribes, Yours is the Supreme Tribe.

    || 1 || My Father is wealthy, deep and profound. What praises should I chant, O Creator Lord? Beholding You, I am wonder-struck. || 1 || Pause || Among the peaceful, You are called the Peaceful One. Among givers, You are the Greatest Giver. Among the glorious, You are said to be the Most Glorious. Among revellers, You are the Reveller. || 2 || Among warriors, You are called the Warrior. Among indulgers, You are the Indulger. Among householders, You are the Great Householder. Among yogis, You are the Yogi. || 3 || Among creators, You are called the Creator. Among the cultured, You are the Cultured One. Among bankers, You are the True Banker. Among merchants, You are the Merchant. || 4 || Among courts, Yours is the Court. Yours is the Most Sublime of Sanctuaries.

    The extent of Your wealth cannot be determined. Your Coins cannot be counted. || 5 || Among names, Your Name, God, is the most respected. Among the wise, You are the Wisest. Among ways, Yours, God, is the Best Way. Among purifying baths, Yours is the Most Purifying. || 6 || Among spiritual powers, Yours, O God, are the Spiritual Powers. Among actions, Yours are the Greatest Actions. Among wills, Your Will, God, is the Supreme Will. Of commands, Yours is the Supreme Command. || 7 || As You cause me to speak, so do I speak, O Lord Master.What other power do I have? In the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, O Nanak, sing His Praises; they are so very dear to God. || 8 || 1 || 8 || GUJRI, FIFTH MEHL, FOURTH HOUSE: ONE UNIVERSAL CREATOR GOD.

    BY THE GRACE OF THE TRUE GURU: O Lord, Man-lion Incarnate, Companion to the poor, Divine Purifier of sinners; O Destroyer of fear and dread, Merciful Lord Master, Treasure of Excellence, fruitful is Your service. || 1 || O Lord, Cherisher of the World, Guru-Lord of the Universe. I seek the Sanctuary of Your Feet, O Merciful Lord. Carry me across the terrifying worldocean. || 1 || Pause || O Dispeller of sexual desire and anger, Eliminator of intoxication and attachment, Destroyer of ego, Honey of the mind; set me free from birth and death, O Sustainer of the earth, and preserve my honor, O Embodiment of supreme bliss. || 2 || The many waves of desire for Maya are burnt away, when the Guru’s spiritual wisdom is enshrined in the heart, through the Guru’s Mantra. Destroy my egotism, O Merciful Lord; dispel my anxiety, O Infinite Primal Lord.

    || 3 || Remember in meditation the Almighty Lord, every moment and every instant; meditate on God in the celestial peace of Samaadhi. O Merciful to the meek, perfectly blissful Lord, I beg for the dust of the feet of the Holy. || 4 || Emotional attachment is false, desire is filthy, and longing is corrupt. Please, preserve my faith, dispel these doubts from my mind, and save me, O Formless Lord. || 5 || They have become wealthy, loaded with the treasures of the Lord’s riches; they were lacking even clothes. The idiotic, foolish and senseless people have become virtuous and patient, receiving the Gracious Glance of the Lord of wealth.

    || 6 || Become Jivan-Mukta, liberated while yet alive, by meditating on the Lord of the Universe, O mind, and maintaining faith in Him in your heart. Show kindness and mercy to all beings, and realize that the Lord is pervading everywhere; this is the way of life of the enlightened soul, the supreme swan. || 7 || He grants the Blessed Vision of His Darshan to those who listen to His Praises, and who, with their tongues, chant His Name. They are part and parcel, life and limb with the Lord God; O Nanak, they feel the Touch of God, the Savior of sinners.

    || 8 || 1 || 2 || 5 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 57 || GUJRI KI VAAR, THIRD MEHL, SUNG IN THE TUNE OF THE VAAR OF SIKANDAR & BIRAAHIM: ONE UNIVERSAL CREATOR GOD. BY THE GRACE OF THE TRUE GURU: SHALOK, THIRD MEHL: This world perishing in attachment and possessiveness; no one knows the way of life. One who walks in harmony with the Guru’s Will, obtains the supreme status of life. Those humble beings who focus their consciousness on the Lord’s Feet, live forever and ever. O Nanak, by His Grace, the Lord abides in the minds of the Gurmukhs, who merge in celestial bliss. || 1 || THIRD MEHL: Within the self is the pain of doubt; engrossed in worldly affairs, they are killing themselves.

    Asleep in the love of duality, they never wake up; they are in love with, and attached to Maya. They do not think of the Naam, the Name of the Lord, and they do not contemplate the Word of the Shabad. This is the conduct of the self-willed manmukhs. They do not obtain the Lord’s Name, and they waste away their lives in vain; O Nanak, the Messenger of Death punishes and dishonors them. || 2 || PAUREE: He created Himself – at that time, there was no other. He consulted Himself for advice, and what He did came to pass. At that time, there were no Akaashic Ethers, no nether regions, nor the three worlds.

    At that time, only the Formless Lord Himself existed – there was no creation. As it pleased Him, so did He act; without Him, there was no other. || 1 || SHALOK, THIRD MEHL: My Master is eternal. He is seen by practicing the Word of the Shabad. He never perishes; He does not come or go in reincarnation. So serve Him, forever and ever; He is contained in all. Why serve another who is born, and then dies? Fruitless is the life of those who do not know their Lord and Master, and who center their consciousness on others. O Nanak, it cannot be known, how much punishment the Creator shall inflict on them.

    || 1 || THIRD MEHL: Meditate on the True Name; the True Lord is pervading everywhere. O Nanak, by understanding the Hukam of the Lord’s Command, one becomes acceptable, and then obtains the fruit of Truth. He wanders around babbling and speaking, but he does not understand the Lord’s Command at all. He is blind, the falsest of the false. || 2 || PAUREE: Creating union and separation, He laid the foundations of the Universe. By His Command, the Lord of Light fashioned the Universe, and infused His Divine Light into it. From the Lord of Light, all light originates. The True Guru proclaims the Word of the Shabad. Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, under the influence of the three dispositions, were put to their tasks. He created the root of Maya, and the peace obtained in the fourth state of consciousness.

    || 2 || SHALOK, THIRD MEHL: That alone is chanting, and that alone is deep meditation, which is pleasing to the True Guru. Pleasing the True Guru, glorious greatness is obtained. O Nanak, renouncing self-conceit, one merges into the Guru. || 1 || THIRD MEHL: How rare are those who receive the Guru’s Teachings. O Nanak, he alone receives it, whom the Lord Himself blesses with glorious greatness. || 2 || PAUREE: Emotional attachment to Maya is spiritual darkness; it is very difficult and such a heavy load. Loaded with so very many stones of sin, how can the boat cross over? Those who are attuned to the Lord’s devotional worship night and day are carried across. Under the Instruction of the Guru’s Shabad, one sheds egotism and corruption, and the mind becomes immaculate. Meditate on the Name of the Lord, Har, Har; the Lord, Har, Har, is our Saving Grace.

    || 3 || SHALOK: O Kabeer, the gate of liberation is narrow, less than one-tenth of a mustard seed. The mind has become as big as an elephant; how can it pass through this gate? If one meets such a True Guru, by His Pleasure, He shows His Mercy. Then, the gate of liberation becomes wide open, and the soul easily passes through. || 1 || THIRD MEHL: O Nanak, the gate of liberation is very narrow; only the very tiny can pass through. Through egotism, the mind has become bloated. How can it pass through? Meeting the True Guru, egotism departs, and one is filled with the Divine Light.

    Then, this soul is liberated forever, and it remains absorbed in celestial bliss. || 2 || PAUREE: God created the Universe, and He keeps it under His power. God cannot be obtained by counting; the mortal wanders in doubt. Meeting the True Guru, one remains dead while yet alive; understanding Him, he is absorbed in the Truth. Through the Word of the Shabad, egotism is eradicated, and one is united in the Lord’s Union. He knows everything, and Himself does everything; beholding His Creation, He rejoices. || 4 || SHALOK, THIRD MEHL: One who has not focused his consciousness on the True Guru, and into whose mind the Naam does not come – cursed is such a life.What has he gained by coming into the world? Maya is false capital; in an instant, its false covering falls off.

  • J&K HEALTH MINISTER CHARGED WITH SEXUAL ASSAULT

    J&K HEALTH MINISTER CHARGED WITH SEXUAL ASSAULT

    SRINAGAR (TIP): Jammu & Kashmir minister of state for health department Shabir Khan has been charged for sexually assaulting a lady doctor inside the civil secretariat in Srinagar.

    The alleged assault took place on January 27. The police registered a sexual assault case against Khan after the survivor filed a complaint on Thursday. A top Kashmiri police officer on anonymity said that the minister was charged for sexual assault and he might face arrest after investigations.

    According to the complainant, she was called by Khan to civil secretariat for some query when he was deputed to stay there for seven days as per roster issued by the chief minister Omar Abdullah soon after the government shifted to Jammu for the winter. Every minister is supposed to stay for seven days in the civil secretariat during winter.

    The survivor said made her to wait inside his retiring room and after few minutes Khan entered the cabin inside his office and made objectionable remarks to her before trying sexually assault her. The survivor is the wife of a prominent separatist leader.

  • Sibal’s son moves SC against Kejriwal

    Sibal’s son moves SC against Kejriwal

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday will hear a petition by telecom minister Kapil Sibal’s son challenging a Delhi High Court order asking the trial court to consider applications by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and advocate Prashant Bhushan seeking discharge from a defamation case.

    Sibal’s advocate son Amit had filed the defamation suit against Kejriwal and Bhushan and the trial court had issued process against them in July last year. Amit had moved against Kejriwal and Bhushan for alleging that he had taken advantage of his father’s position to represent telecom companies.

    After the trial court issued process and summoned them for appearance, Kejriwal and Bhushan moved the HC seeking discharge from the case. The HC on January 16 refused to entertain their request, but permitted them to move a similar plea before the trial court. The HC had also said that if they moved an application for exemption from personal appearance, the trial court would grant it.

    Amit Sibal challenged this order in the Supreme Court alleging that it was beyond the provisions of law. In his appeal, he said no provision of law permitted discharge from a defamation suit and the HC erred in permitting Kejriwal and Bhushan to move it before the trial court, with an advice to the trial court to consider it.

  • THE BHAGAVAD GITA

    THE BHAGAVAD GITA

    Mortal beings are called Adhibhut. The expansions of Divine Personality —such as Naaraayan, Mahaa-vishnu, Ishvar, etc. — are called Divine Beings (Adhidaiv). I am the Supersoul (Adhiyajn) residing inside the body as the supreme controller (Ishvar), O Arjun. (8.04)

    Theory of reincarnation and Karma

    The one who remembers Me exclusively even while leaving the body at the time of death, attains Me; there is no doubt about it. (8.05) Remembering whatever object one leaves the body at the end of life, one attains that object, O Arjun, because of the constant thought of that object (one remembers that object at the end of life and achieves it). (8.06)

    A simple method of God-realization

    Therefore, always remember Me and do your duty. You shall certainly attain Me if your mind and intellect are ever focused on Me. (8.07) By contemplating on Me with an unwavering mind that is disciplined by the practice of meditation, one attains the Supreme Being, O Arjun. (8.08) One who meditates on the Supreme Being (ParBrahm) — as the omniscient, the oldest, the controller, smaller than the smallest (and bigger than the biggest), the sustainer of everything, the inconceivable, the self-luminous like the sun, and as transcendental or beyond the material reality — at the time of death with steadfast mind and devotion; making the flow of bioimpulses (life forces, Praan) rise up to the middle of two eye brows (or the sixth Chakr) by the power of yog and holding there; attains Krishn, the Supreme Divine Person. (See also 4.29, 5.27, 6.13) (8.09-10) I shall briefly explain the process to attain the supreme abode that the knowers of the Veda call immutable; into which the ascetics, freed from attachment, enter; and desiring which people lead a life of celibacy. (8.11)

    Attain salvation by meditating on God at the time of death

    When one leaves the physical body by controlling all the senses; focusing the mind on God, and Praan (life forces) in the cerebrum; engaged in yogic practice; meditating on Me and uttering AUM— the sacred monosyllable sound power of Eternal Being (Brahm) — one attains the supreme abode. (8.12- 13) I am easily attainable, O Arjun, by that ever steadfast yogi who always thinks of Me and whose mind does not go elsewhere.

    (8.14) After attaining Me, the great souls do not incur rebirth in this miserable transitory world, because they have attained the highest perfection. (8.15) The dwellers of all the worlds — up to and including the world of Brahmaa, the creator — are subject to the miseries of repeated birth and death. But, after attaining Me, O Arjun, one does not take birth again. (See also 9.25) (8.16)

    Everything in the creation is cyclic

    Those who know that the day of the creator (Brahmaa) lasts one thousand Yugas (or 4.32 billion years) and that his night also lasts one thousand Yugas, they are the knowers of day and night. (8.17) All manifestations come out of the primary material Nature (Aadi Prakriti or Avyakt) at the arrival of the day of Brahmaa (Creator), and they again merge into the same at the coming of Brahmaa’s night. (8.18) The same multitude of beings comes into existence again and again at the arrival of the day of the creator (Brahmaa); and is annihilated, inevitably, at the arrival of Brahmaa’s night.

    (8.19) There is another eternal transcendental existence— higher than the changeable material Nature (Prakriti) — that does not perish when all created beings perish. This is called the unmanifest Eternal Being (Avyakt Akshar Brahm). This is also said to be ParamDhaam, the supreme abode. Those who attain My supreme abode do not take birth again. (8.20-21) This supreme abode, O Arjun, is attainable by unswerving devotion to Me within which all beings exist, and by which all this universe is pervaded. (See also 9.04 and 11.55) (8.22)

    Two basic paths of departure from the world

    O Arjun, now I shall describe different paths departing by which, during death, the yogis do or do not come back. (8.23) Fire, light, daytime, the bright lunar fortnight, and the six months of the northern solstice of the sun — departing by the path of these celestial controllers (Devas), yogis who know the Eternal Being (Brahm) attain Brahm.

    (8.24) Smoke, night, the dark lunar fortnight, and the six months of southern solstice of the sun — departing by these paths, the righteous person attains heaven and comes back to earth. (8.25) The path of light (of spiritual practice and Self-knowledge) and the path of darkness (of materialism and ignorance) are thought to be the world’s two eternal paths. The former leads to salvation (Mukti, Nirvan) and the latter leads to rebirth. (8.26)

    Transcendental knowledge leads to salvation

    Knowing these two paths, O Arjun, a yogi is not bewildered at all. Therefore, O Arjun, be steadfast in yog with Me at all times. (8.27) The yogi who knows all this goes beyond getting the benefits of the study of the Vedas, performance of sacrifices, austerities, and charities, and attains My Supreme Eternal Abode (ParamDhaam). (8.28).

    9. SUPREME KNOWLEDGE AND BIG MYSTERY

    The Supreme Lord said: I shall reveal to you, who do not disbelieve, the most profound, secret, transcendental knowledge, together with transcendental experience. Knowing this you will be freed from the miseries of worldly existence. (9.01)

    Knowledge of the nature of the supreme is the biggest mystery

    This Self-knowledge is the king of all knowledge, is the most secret, is very sacred, can be perceived by instinct, conforms to righteousness (Dharm), is very easy to practice, and is timeless. (9.02) O Arjun, those who have no faith in this knowledge do not attain Me and follow the cycles of birth and death. (9.03) This entire universe is an expansion of Mine. All beings depend on Me. I do not depend on them (because I am the highest of all).

    (See also 7.12) (9.04) Look at the power of My divine mystery; in reality, I — the sustainer and creator of all beings — do not depend on them, and they also do not depend on Me. (9.05) (Like a gold chain depends on gold, and the milk products depend on milk. In fact, the gold chain does not depend on gold; the chain is nothing but gold. Similarly, matter and energy are different as well as non-different). Perceive that all beings remain in Me (without any contact or without producing any effect) as the mighty wind, moving everywhere, eternally remains in space. (9.06)

    The theory of evolution and involution

    All beings merge into My Aadi Prakriti (primary material Nature) at the end of a Kalp (or a cycle of 4.32 billion years), O Arjun, and I create them again at the beginning of the next Kalp. (9.07) I create the entire multitude of beings again and again with the help of My material Nature (Prakriti or Maya).

    These beings are under control of the modes (Gunas) of material Nature (Prakriti). (9.08) These acts of creation do not bind Me, O Arjun, because I remain indifferent and unattached to those acts. (9.09) The divine kinetic energy (Maya) — with the help of material Nature (Prakriti) — creates all animate and inanimate objects under My supervision; thus, the creation keeps on going, O Arjun. (See also 14.03) (9.10)

    The ways of the wise and of the ignorant

    Ignorant persons despise Me when I appear in human form; because, they do not know My transcendental nature as the great Lord of all beings (and take Me for an ordinary human), and they have false hopes, false actions, false knowledge, and delusive (Taamasik) qualities (See 16.04-18) of fiends and demons (and are unable to recognize Me). (9.11-12) But great souls, O Arjun, who possess divine qualities (See 16.01-03), know Me as immutable, as the material and efficient cause of creation, and worship Me single-mindedly with loving devotion.

    (9.13) Persons of firm resolve worship Me with ever steadfast devotion by always singing My glories, striving to attain Me, and prostrating before Me with devotion. (9.14) Some worship Me by acquiring and propagating Selfknowledge. Others worship the infinite as the One in all (or non-dual), as the master of all (or dual), and in various other ways. (9.15)

    Everything is a manifestation of the Absolute

    I am the ritual, I am the sacrifice, I am the offering, I am the herb, I am the mantra, I am the clarified butter, I am the fire, and I am the oblation. (See also 4.24). I am the supporter of the universe, the father, the mother, and the grandfather. I am the object of knowledge, the sacred syllable “AUM”, and also the Rig, the Yajur, and the Saam Vedas.

    I am the goal, the supporter, the Lord, the witness, the abode, the refuge, the friend, the origin, the dissolution, the foundation, the substratum, and the immutable seed. (See also 7.10 and 10.39) (9.16-18) I give heat. I send, as well as withhold, the rain. I am immortality, as well as death. I am also both the absolute (Sat or Akshar) and the temporal (Asat or Kshar), O Arjun. (The Supreme Being has become everything. See also 13.12) (9.19)

  • ’84 riots: Delhi Cabinet’s go-ahead for SIT probe

    ’84 riots: Delhi Cabinet’s go-ahead for SIT probe

    NEW DELHI (TIP): The Delhi Government on February 6 gave its nod to a proposal to set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

    The SIT will re-investigate the First Information Reports (FIR) pertaining to the riots and also file fresh cases, if necessary. “The team, which will consist of an officer from outside Delhi, will inquire into allegations of destruction of evidence, register appropriate cases and investigate the same,” said Education Minister Manish Sisodia after the Cabinet meeting.

    The recommendation has been sent to the Lieutenant Governor for approval. The probe team will finalise and file the chargesheet in the court wherever enough evidence is available. It will be given one year to complete its work from the date of it coming into existence.

    “The 1984 riots is a black mark on Delhi’s history. The actual numbers of deaths were much higher than the official records and so were the numbers of FIRs, many of which cases were closed down,” he said.

  • Angry middle-aged men form 88% of AAP ticket-seekers

    Angry middle-aged men form 88% of AAP ticket-seekers

    NEW DELHI (TIP): The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) appears to attract educated middle-aged men if snap trends are anything to go by. In a mirror of its top leadership, the average AAP ticket aspirant is a male graduate between 40 and 50 years of age.

    Top AAP leaders like Arvind Kejriwal, Yogendra Yadav, Sanjay Singh and Kumar Vishwas are in the forties with strong educational backgrounds. According to initial trends, 21.3% of the applicants seeking an AAP ticket are graduates followed by 18.4% who are post-graduates, 15.5% have a law degree, 7.5% hold a management degree while 7.5% have passed Class 12.

    An overwhelming number of aspirants (87.9%) are men. The candidates are predominantly between 40-50 years of age. About 174 applications have been analyzed so far though applications have been pouring in. Just Delhi has received over 1,000 applications for seven seats. In contrast, data analyzed by Association for Democratic Reforms reveals that 43% or 3,373 candidates who contested Lok Sabha polls in 2009 were graduates and above.

    However, only 7% or 524 candidates were women. ADR had analyzed self-sworn affidavits submitted by 7,774 candidates contesting the election. The party has already put out the list of candidates in 63 constituencies seeking feedback from the public. The first list for the Lok Sabha is likely to be out by February 12.

  • Anna Hazare may back Mamata as PM

    Anna Hazare may back Mamata as PM

    NEW DELHI (TIP): In a new partnership, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee might be endorsed by anticorruption crusader Anna Hazare as a likely prime ministerial candidate or leader of a non-Congress, non-BJP front.

    Hazare’s move is seen as a response to Trinamool Congress agreeing to support his economic agenda that the Maharashtra-based leader had written about in a letter to the Bengal CM. Hazare had highlighted a 17-point agenda that includes village centric social and economic initiatives and proposals like more vocational education and tough laws against corruption.

    In response, Trinamool leader Mukul Roy wrote to Hazare stating that many issues relating to village-based industry, transparency in land acquisition and schemes for minorities had already been taken up by Mamata. But Roy was fulsome in his praise of Hazare’s efforts to clean up public life and sought the ant-corruption crusader’s guidance in combatin g graft in public life.

    “We would like to congratulate you on your relentless efforts to bring utmost transparency in public life which our leader Mamata Banerjee had always believed in,” he said. Trinamool’s endorsement of Hazare’s agenda and his guidance is expected to see the Gandhian return the compliment by Mamata as a candidate who fits the bill as India’s future leader.

    A likely endorsement as PM by Hazare will add weight to the chief minister’s credentials as a possible leader of a non- BJP and non-Congress front, putting her on the same pedestal as other claimants to a third front leadership position. Along with regional leaders like AIADMK chief J Jayalalitha, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, BSP’s Mayawati, the Trinamool boss is seen as a likely gainer in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. She is seen to be better placed in comparison to other regional stalwarts like Mulayam Singh Yadav and Nitish Kumar. “We wish you all success in your current initiative in projecting the ideals to political parties and striving to achieve success in ensuring transparency in public life,” Roy wrote.

  • THEKKADY, A LUXURIOUS STAY IN THE WILD

    THEKKADY, A LUXURIOUS STAY IN THE WILD

    Thekkady in Kerala, offers a great opportunity to find animal sightings in the deciduous forests along with some interesting luxury resorts… Around 185 kms from the Kochi airport, a traveler itinerary to Kerala cannot be complete without visiting Thekkady – the popular destination for visiting the Periyar National Park. Only around a distance of 2 hours from Munnar, Thekkady has an array of luxurious resorts located in the small town. Carmelia Haven, is one of them. With its tea plantations, spice plantations, luxurious independent cottages overlooking the swimming pool in the centre of the resort as you go down from your cottage, the resort is an ideal destination to experience comfort, luxury and calm in the wild.

    SIGHT SEEING

    1. The Periyar Tiger Reserve

    Lying close to the plantations, in the rich jungles of Periyar in Thekkady is one of the world’s most fascinating natural wildlife reserves – the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. Covering 777 sq. kilometres, of which 360 sq. kilometres is thick evergreen forest; the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary was declared a Tiger Reserve in 1978. Noted for its geomorphology, diversity of wildlife and scenic beauty, the Reserve attracts visitors from all over the world.

    The splendid artificial lake formed by the Mullaperiyar Dam across the Periyar adds to the charm of the park. This is the only sanctuary in India where you can have the unique experience of viewing wildlife at close quarters from the safety of a boat on the lake. The greatest attraction of Periyar however are the herds of wild elephants that come down to play in the lake.

    2. Chellarkovil

    This sleepy little hamlet with its breathtaking view of the plains and cascading waterfalls is a veritable feast for the eyes. The village slopes down to the famous coconut groves of Cumbum in neighbouring Tamil Nadu. A must visit.

    3. Kumily

    This plantation town, closely associated with Thekkady, is situated on the outskirts of the Periyar Tiger Reserve. It is an important shopping centre and spice trade centre and is worth a visit.

    4. Ramakalmedu

    Undulating green hills and fresh mountain air make Ramakalmedu an enchanting retreat. The hilltop offers one a panoramic view of the picturesque villages of Bodi and Cumbum on the eastern slope of the western ghats.

    5. Pullumedu

    The meandering journey to this hill town, along the Periyar River, offers a stunning view of the rolling hills draped in lush greenery. Velvet lawns and rare flora and fauna add to the beauty of Pullumedu, which can be accessed only by jeep. The famous Sree Ayyappa Temple at Sabarimala and the Makara Jyothi illumination at the shrine are also visible from here. One needs to remember it is part of the restricted forest zone, so permission needs to be taken to visit here.

    6. Murikkady

    Washed in fresh spice-scented air, Murikkady is a panorama of cardamom, coffee and pepper plantations.

    7. Mangala Devi Temple

    This ancient temple is hidden in the dense woods at the top of a peak 1,337 metres above sea level. Built in the traditional Kerala style of architecture, this place is open to the public only once in a year during the Chitra Poornima festival. One should truly make the most of it. The peak commands a panoramic view of the eastern slopes of the Ghats and some gorgeous hill villages of Tamil Nadu.

    8. Kurisumala

    This is the place to be if adventure tourism and trekking fascinates you. You can also treat yourself to a stunning view of Kumily town and the Periyar Tiger Reserve.

    9. Vandanmedu

    One of the world’s largest auction centers for cardamom, this place really grabs ones senses. A walk through the sprawling cardamom plantations of Vandanmedu is a heady experience.

    10. Vandiperiyar

    The River Periyar flowing through the centre of this town nourishes its vast tea, coffee and pepper plantations. A major trade centre, Vandiperiyar is also home to a number of tea factories. One should make a trip to the Government Agriculture Farm and Flower Garden and delight in the array of roses, orchids and anthuria.

    11. Spice Plantations Tour

    Inhale and exhale the lovely scents on this tour, as you visit the tea, coffee, cardamom, pepper and orange plantations, along with the stunning Anayirangal Dam.

    12. Trekking

    Thekkady is a lovely place to indulge in trekking. Kurisumala, Pullumedu and Ottakathalamedu near Kumily and Grampi near Vandiperiyar are ideal trekking places. One can also take the Forest Department daily treks from the boat landing station at Thekkady to the Nellikkampetty area and Manakkavala.

    13. Idukki Dam

    One of the highest arch dams in Asia and the only arch dam in India, the Idukki Dam, at 167.68 metres, is built on the Periyar River, in the ravine between the Kuravan and Kurathi Hills. It supports a 780 MW hydroelectric power station maintained by the Kerala State Electricity Board. One can take a trip to Idukki Town, a small hill town surrounded by beautiful, wooded valleys and meandering streams.

    This small place is famous for the Wildlife Sanctuary located at Thodupuzha, about 450-748 metres above sea level and spread over 77 sq. kilometres. At this sanctuary one can meet a host of wild animals, which include elephants, bison, sambar deer, wild dogs, jungle cats, tigers, wild boars etc. and a number of birds like the Great Indian hornbill, paradise flycatcher, whistling thrush, bulbuls, laughing thrush, hill myna, jungle fowl, pigeons. A trip that is really worth it.

    14. Elephant Ride

    With a name like Tusker Trails, one can’t help but conjure up images of the beautiful beasts. One can take elephant rides through the jungle and really enjoy the beauty that is Thekkady.

  • Stormy start to parliament’s last session before election

    Stormy start to parliament’s last session before election

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Congress party hopes of pushing through new laws to tackle corruption stalled on February 5 when the parliament’s last session before a general election was adjourned amid rowdy scenes over the proposed creation of Telangana.

    The session, which will go through to February 21, is seen as a final chance for Congress, which leads the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition, to convince voters it is taking action on graft and to showcase leader Rahul Gandhi. After 10 years in power, its popularity has sagged in large part over a series of graft scandals as well as its inability to halt a slide in the economy.

    The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) calls it a lame duck government that is merely making a last-ditch attempt to shore up support. It should leave decisions to the next government, BJP leaders say. On the eve of parliament’s reopening, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appealed to all parties to help push through legislation. But Finance Minister P. Chidambaram acknowledged that might be a forlorn hope. “I doubt whether it will pass any law.

    We’ve to go through the ritual of attending parliament every day and coming back empty handed,” Chidambaram said in a speech to students. Congress will try to push through 39 bills, including six anti-corruption bills, to address public anger over graft. They address issues such as protection for whistleblowers and corruption in the judiciary. It will also try to pass an interim budget expected to contain some pre-election sops for voters.

    But shouting and protests over the creation of a new southern state derailed other matters when the session began, despite speaker Meira Kumar’s appeals for calm. The new state, Telangana, would be carved out of Andhra Pradesh and should generate vote-winning support for Congress. Members of parliament from Andhra Pradesh crowded around the rostrum of the chamber to denounce the proposed split, some carrying placards saying “Hail United Andhra Pradesh”.

    The turn of events was hardly a surprise and the same might happen again on Thursday. The Economic Times urged the opposition not to block the functioning of what it called the worst-performing House since independence from Britain in 1947. “The opposition should also agree to cooperate in passing other important pieces of economic legislation cleared by various standing committees,” it said in an editorial.

    The world’s largest democracy must hold a parliamentary election by May and the date is expected to be announced round about the close of the session. The bills due to come up for debate cover issues that Gandhi, the fourth generation member of the Nehru- Gandhi dynasty that leads Congress, has championed, including women’s empowerment and graft. It may be too little, too late. Opinion polls put the BJP, a conservative Hindu nationalist party spearheaded by Narendra Modi, ahead of Congress.

    The newly formed Aam Aadmi, or Common Man, Party (AAP), which campaigns against corruption and took power in the capital Delhi in local elections in December, could draw voters away from either one while a number of smaller parties are discussing the formation of a “Third Front”. Chandan Mitra, a BJP Rajya sabha member, said parliament should not be rushed into passing bills without due scrutiny. “There is no obligation on the part of the opposition to allow Mr Rahul Gandhi to get his agenda pushed though,” Mitra told Reuters before the session opened. “The government is trying to end this term on a high, but we don’t want to give them an easy ride.”

    UPHILL STRUGGLE
    Also on the slate is a bill on reserving a bloc of parliamentary seats for women – reflecting the growing prominence of women’s issues after a series of sexual assaults. Mitra said the interim budget was a priority. “The interim budget will be passed as no one wants a shutdown,” he said. Ajay Gudavarthy, a politics professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, said Congress hoped to use the session to present itself and Gandhi as forces that can fight corruption.

    “The party is trying to build an image for Rahul Gandhi. He is a bit of a non-symbol now and that is a big problem,” he said. Mandira Kala, head of research at PRS Legislative Research, said the corruption issue should not distract attention from the economy. Once a star performer, India’s growth has slowed in recent years and it is now weathering a storm in emerging markets. “When you look at what the economy needs there are a lot of bills that are not being looked at,” said Kala, picking out a pending higher education bill and a mining bill as examples.”

  • ISHRAT JAHAN CASE: CBI FILES CHARGESHEET AGAINST IB OFFICERS

    ISHRAT JAHAN CASE: CBI FILES CHARGESHEET AGAINST IB OFFICERS

    AHMEDABAD (TIP): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday filed a supplementary chargesheet in the alleged Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case.

    “CBI has filed a case against three IB officers, especially against Special Director Rajinder Kumar (now retired). Kumar has been charged with the arms act, section 120b and 302 as well as for abduction and kidnapping,” said a lawyer. Ishrat, Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjadali Akbarali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed in an encounter allegedly with Gujarat Police on the city outskirts on June 15, 2004.

    Police had then claimed the four were terrorists on a mission to kill Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. However, according to the CBI ‘s charge sheet filed in July, the encounter, a joint operation by Gujarat Police and Intelligence Bureau, was stage-managed. Seven Gujarat policemen, including Pandey, have been named as accused and charged with murder and criminal conspiracy, among others.

  • Indians jubilant over Satya Nadella’s appointment as Microsoft CEO

    Indians jubilant over Satya Nadella’s appointment as Microsoft CEO

    NEW YORK (TIP): Indians across the world are ecstatic over the appointment of a son of India, Satya Nadella as the third CEO of Microsoft. Here are some reports.

    Indians in Silicon Valley bursting with pride over new Microsoft CEO
    THEY VIEW MICROSOFT PICKING SATYA NADELLA AS ITS THIRD CEO AS A KIND OF CAPSTONE TO THE REMARKABLE RISE OF INDIAN AMERICANS IN THE COMMUNITY.

    LOS ANGELES: Since it became apparent last week that Satya Nadella was in line to become only the third chief executive of Microsoft, the Indian community in Silicon Valley has been bubbling over with pride. That his ascension would generate such excitement might seem surprising at first.

    Indians have become a force in Silicon Valley, where about 15% of tech start-ups have Indian founders and a handful of notable companies, such as Adobe Systems Inc., have Indian chief executives. Yet Nadella’s appointment is being hailed by Indians as something more. It’s another giant leap forward to have their own running one of the world’s most important companies. And he’ll be stepping into the shoes of Bill Gates, one of the world’s most famous names, to run a company for which Indians have a special affection.

    “This is why this is making front page news in India,” said Vivek Wadhwa, a former entrepreneur and Stanford researcher who has studied the Indian technology community. “It shows how they’ve crossed the barriers. They’ve made it to the mainstream in a big way.” On Tuesday, Microsoft confirmed that Nadella, 46, would become chief executive, replacing Steve Ballmer, who had succeeded Gates. In addition, Gates is becoming a product advisor to Nadella and stepping down as chairman, replaced by John Thompson.

    “Satya Nadella is Microsoft CEO, Bill Gates his wingman,” read the headline across the top of the Times of India website. Upon taking the helm at Microsoft, Nadella instantly becomes one of the most influential Indian business leaders in the word. He joins the ranks of such other notable names as Indra Nooyi, who is chair and chief executive of PepsiCo, and Ajaypal Singh Banga, chief executive of MasterCard. But with $78 billion in revenue last year, Microsoft had more sales than both of those companies combined.

    Across the U.S., Indian Americans have taken leadership roles in politics, finance and government. In Silicon Valley, Ro Khanna, former deputy assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Commerce, is running for the U.S. House of Representatives and has drawn strong support from local tech leaders. “I congratulate Satya on this exciting news,” Khanna said in an email.

    “His position exemplifies the incredible contributions that Indian Americans have made toward growing the economy, furthering innovation and creating good paying jobs.” Nowhere in the U.S., though, have Indians made a bigger impact than in Silicon Valley. Although Microsoft is based in Redmond, Wash., Nadella’s appointment is still seen as a kind of capstone to the remarkable rise of this community.

    “It’s just one more symbolic thing that validates that our world is becoming much more global and is crossing boundaries,” said Padmasree Warrior, chief technology officer of Cisco Systems. “It suggests that it’s execution and results that matter in the end, regardless of where you come from.” Nadella was born in Hyderabad, whose nickname is the “City of Pearls,” in southeastern India. In a biography on the Microsoft website, Nadella says playing cricket was a “passion.”

    “I think playing cricket taught me more about working in teams and leadership that has stayed with me throughout my career,” he says. India has famously invested in technology education for decades. But Nadella attended what was then Mangalore University, a strong school, but not considered on par with the nation’s elite Indian Institutes of Technology. He moved to the U.S. to briefly take a job at Sun Microsystems before taking a sales job at Microsoft in 1992.

    Sanjay Parthasarathy, another Microsoft executive, met Nadella and persuaded him to join a product team, where he would be making things instead of selling them, a move that probably set him on the course that would lead to the corporate boardroom. Parthasarathy, who retired from Microsoft several years ago and now runs a start-up called Indix, recalls that in the early 1990s the two friends were among just a handful of Indians at the company. Although they all had tremendous ambition and confidence, Nadella seemed to go a step beyond. “We were both pretty hard-driving,” he said.

    “But Nadella, he would get on a plane to Chicago every Friday for two or three years to get his MBA. I’m a pretty demanding manager. But he was putting himself through so much more.” But that kind of will, many Indians say, was necessary to prove themselves in an era in which they were initially stereotyped as good engineers but not good executives. Wadhwa recalls being told by venture capitalists in the early 1990s they would invest in his company if he found someone else to be the chief executive. Over the years, though, Indians helped one another scale those walls.

    They built extensive immigrant networks, particularly in Silicon Valley, where they invested in one another’s companies, hired friends and provided support and mentorship, Wadhwa said. The excitement over Nadella’s new role isn’t just about the title and that he has climbed another notch higher, industry observers say. It also has a lot to do with the company he will represent. Although Microsoft’s reputation has taken a hit in the U.S. in recent years as it has struggled to adapt to new technology trends, the company remains much more respected around the world.

    That’s especially true in India, where in the early 1990s Microsoft became one of the first major technology companies to make significant investments in the country in terms of products and hiring. In March 1997, Gates made his first visit to the country, and the four-day tour drew headlines across the nation. And his foundation has made India a major focus of its philanthropic work. “It’s a big deal for the community to have one of our own become the CEO of such an iconic company,” said Kamla Bhatt, an Indian blogger and podcaster in Silicon Valley.

    Mrinal Desai said he’s found fresh inspiration from Nadella’s appointment. Desai grew up in Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, and moved to the Silicon Valley in 1999 after several years of struggling to get a visa. He eventually got a job at LinkedIn, and now is chief executive and co-founder of a start-up called Addappt. Last week, as rumors swirled that Nadella was going to get the job, Desai tweeted about how “patriotic” he was feeling. “For most of us who are immigrants, America is always the promised land where there are no limits but yourself,” Desai said. “These are the kind of symbols that just remind us of that over and over again. When you see such big corporations being led by Indians, it’s just incredible.” (Source: LA Times)

  • USINPAC congratulates Satya Nadella, the new Microsoft CEO

    USINPAC congratulates Satya Nadella, the new Microsoft CEO

    WASHINGTON D.C. : US India Political Action Committee (USINPAC), a leading advocacy organization representing the over 3 million Indian Americans in the US congratulates Indian American Satya Nadella, who became the third ever CEO and the first Indian American to head the world’s largest software firm in its 38-year history.

    As Nadella takes over as CEO today, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates steps down, as Chairman and his new official title will be founder and technology advisor. Nadella is a Microsoft veteran, having joined the company over 20 years ago. Born in India in 1967, Nadella studied Electrical Engineering at the Mangalore University before moving to the US to study computer science at the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee.

    He originally worked at Microsoft rival Sun Microsystems before heading to Redmond to work on research for Microsoft’s online services division. He has held a number of roles inside the company: he’s worked in the company’s business division on with Microsoft Office but more importantly , he has been instrumental in transforming Microsoft’s cloud business. USINPAC Chairman, Sanjay Puri, congratulated Satya Nadella and said, “It is a great achievement by an Indian-American and also speaks to the openness of the United States in embracing the best and brightest.”

  • US spied on Merke’s predecessor after he opposed the Iraq war, says report

    US spied on Merke’s predecessor after he opposed the Iraq war, says report

    Snowden’s leaked documents reveal that the US spied on Schroeder for his opposition to the Iraq war.

    WASHINGTON (TIP): American intelligence services had not only spied on German Chancellor Angela Merkel, but also monitored her predecessor Gerhard Schroeder after he opposed the US plans to go to war in Iraq, suggest media reports.

    The Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper and the TV channel NDR reported that their investigations based on documents leaked by former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden showed that Social Democrat (SPD) Chancellor Schroeder was spied on by the NSA at least from 2002. Schroeder, who headed a coalition government with the Green party between 2001 and 2005, was listed under the number 388 in the “National Sigint Requirements List” of the NSA.

    The list contained the names of persons and institutions to be monitored by the spy agency, the reports said. Since a document leaked by Snowden in October revealed that the NSA had eavesdropped on Chancellor Merkel’s mobile phone for several years, there have been speculations that she may not be the only German leader spied on by the NSA.

    The Sueddeutsche Zeitung and NDR said their investigations showed that Schroeder’s phone may have been bugged by the NSA from 2002 and Merkel was spied on by the agency since she began her first term in 2005. US President Barack Obama assured the German chancellor recently that spying on her would not happen again during his presidency and he would not allow US intelligence operations to damage the close friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

    Schroeder’s strong opposition to the Iraq war in 2003 could have made him a target of surveillance by the US intelligence agencies as the US feared a split in the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO), the reports said. Commenting on the revelations, Schroeder said in a statement that when he was in power he “would not have thought about being monitored by American intelligence agencies; now I will not be surprised,” according to the reports.

    Green party parliament member Hans-Christian Stroebele, the only western politician to meet Snowden in Moscow since he was granted a one-year asylum by Russia in August, said he firmly believed that Schroeder and possibly other members of the SPD-Green government were spied on by the NSA. In a TV interview, Stroebele demanded a thorough clarification of the NSA surveillance operations at least since 2002 and an investigation by a German parliamentary inquiry committee, which he expects will be constituted shortly.