Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Acharya P C Ray NYS Conference



Date: 23-01-2012.
dVijnan Mission
(VijnanajBharati, West Bengal unit)

PC Tay National Young Scientists' conference

Vijnana Bharati welcomes you to the 3rdNational Young 
Scientists' Conference to be held at Presidency University 
and Calcutta University on 17th & 18th February 
– 2012. The first conference was held at NIT, Kurukshetra, 
Haryana followed by the second conference in Doon
 University, Dehradun, Uttarkhand.

The conference includes Plenary lectures, Technical Sessions,
 Interaction with Scientists and Scientific Expo. The focal
 theme of the conference is on "Advances in Chemical,
 Pharmaceutical and Ayurvedic Sciences". We are in receipt 
of 200 Research papers till date.
Image of Prof. Dr.A P J Abdul Kalam, former president of India.I
nauguration

The conference will be inaugurated by Hon. Former 
President of India, Prof. APJ Abdul Kalam.  He is a
 renowned Aerospace Engineer, Professor 
(of Aerospace Engineering) and first Chancellor of IIST,
 Thiruvananthapuram. He was awarded Bharat Ratna, 
India's highest civilian honour in 1997.
Prof. Samir Brahmachari (Director General, CSIR)
Keynote Address

Keynote address will be delivered by Prof.Samir 
Brahmachari (Director General, CSIR) in a separate
 session. He has discovered two genes linked
 to bipolar disorder and schizophrenia respectively
 and his most significant achievement is considered 
to be the discovery of three genes linked to SARS virus.





Interactive Session

Tathagat Avatar Tulsi (IIT,Mumbai), the youngest 
faculty member ever at an IIT, will interact with 
the delegates. He is an Indian Physicist, best 
known as a child prodigy. He completed highschool
 at the age of 9 and BSc. at the age of 10 and MSc. 
at the age of 12. He got his Ph.D from the Indian 
Institute of Science, Bangalore at the age of 22.
Experts on the concerned subjects will address the 
delegates.

Registration is available online at www.youngscientists.in   

The conference is organised by Vivekananda Vijnan 
Mission( Vijnana Bharati, WB Unit) in association with 
Presidency University and Culcutta University.

NO WORDS TO NAME IT............



A doctor entered the hospital in hurry after being called in for an urgent surgery. He answered the call asap, changed his clothes & went directly to the surgery block. He found the boy's father pacing in the hall waiting for the doctor. On seeing him, the dad yelled:

"Why did You take all this time to come? Don't You know that my son's life is in danger? Don't You have any sense of responsibility? "

Th...e doctor smiled & said:"I am sorry, I wasn't in the hospital & I came as fast as I could after receiving the call...... And now, I wish you'd calm down so that I can do my work"

"Calm down?! What if your son was in this room right now, would You calm down? If your own son dies now what will You do??" said the father angrily

The doctor smiled again & replied: "I will say what Job said in the Holy Book "From dust we came & to dust we return, blessed be the name of God". Doctors cannot prolong lives. Go & intercede for your son, we will do our best by God's grace"

"Giving advises when we're not concerned is so easy" Murmured the father.

The surgery took some hours after which the doctor went out happy,

"Thank goodness!, your son is saved!" And without waiting for the father's reply he carried on his way running. "If You have any question, ask the nurse!!"

"Why is he so arrogant? He couldn't wait some minutes so that I ask about my son's state" Commented the father when seeing the nurse minutes after the doctor left.

The nurse answered, tears coming down her face: "His son died yesterday in a road accident, he was in the burial when we called him for your son's surgery. And now that he saved your son's life, he left running to finish his son's burial."

Moral-Never judge anyone..... because You never know how their life is & what they are going through"

Regards,
Avadhi

: 21 January : Let's salute 'Rash Behari Bose' on his Death Anniversary !



Rash Behari Bose : The Greatest Indian Revolutionary

Rash Behari Bose
21st January is the Death Anniversary of Rash Behari Bose. He was one of the key organizers of the plan to assassinate Lord Charles Hardinge. He played a crucial role in the Ghadar Revolution, a conspiracy to attack British army from the inside. Rash Behari Bose was the founding father of Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauz) that Subhash Chandra Bose capitalized on later.

Index



  
                              

Chotila Dungar

19 January : 'Kashmiri Hindu Exile Day' !



19 January : 'Kashmiri Hindu Exile Day' !



India will celebrate its 63rd Republic Day on 26 January 2012, but still lakhs of Kashmiri Hindu Pandits are living as 'refugees' in their own country. These Kashmiri Hindus had to flee away from their ancestral homes on 19 January 1990 due to fear of Islamic Militants. Today lakhs of Kashmiri Hindus are living in very much pathetic conditions in different parts of India and many of them died as they were not able to cope up with the climate change and worst living conditions. 

Hindu Janajagruti Samiti has organised many exhibitions of 'Genocide of Hindus in Kashmir', prepared by PANUN KASHMIR, an organisation established by Kashmiri Hindus and 'Foundation Against Continuing Terrorism' (FACT). Some of the photos in the exhibition are : 

 8. Wailing relatives of Chattisinghpura massacre in which 36 Sikhs were brutally killed by Pak sponsered terrorists.
 1. Victims of Wandhama massacre. Twenty three Hindus were killed by Islamic terrorists.
 5. Bewildered Pandit family just after its arrival in Jammu not knowing where to go
 3. Desecrated idols
 2. Decapitated idol of Adi-Shankaracharya at Shankaracharya temple, Khojbagh, Srinagar
O Hindus, now it is high time for us to get united and establish Hindu Rashtra to avoid 'Atrocities on Hindus' !


Follow Hindu Janajagruti Samiti on : 


  Follow Hindujagrutiorg on Twitter Advt Advt
                              
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Thursday, January 19, 2012

Puja in govt offices won't hurt secularism: HC





Puja in govt offices won't hurt secularism: HC

CHENNAI: Is conducting Ayudha Puja or Saraswathi Puja in government offices a non-secular activity deserving to be banned? 'No', the Madras high court has ruled.

"Showing respect to the place of work and the objects of work will in no way offend the feelings of others or affect secularism. Ayudha Puja is referable to prayer, reverence or respect given to objects through which an individual performs his profession or occupation. Ayudha Puja in its real terms transcends all religion," a division bench of Justice R Sudhakar and Justice Aruna Jagadeesan has said.

Dismissing a public interest writ petition, which sought a direction to the government to prohibit "all sorts of religious activities within the precincts of government offices", the bench said an individual showing respect to his occupational tools cannot be said to offend the secular nature of the state.

"Irrespectvie of religion, Ayudha Puja is a reverence shown by cobblers, weavers, farmers, autorickshaw drivers, rickshaw-pullers, carpenters, shopkeepers, chartered accountants, advocates, doctors etc., to objects which they use to earn their livelihood," Justice Sudhakar, who wrote the judgment for the bench, observed.

Similarly, Saraswathi Puja is referable to showing respect to education, knowledge and the script, the judge said, adding: "The form of worship or veneration to files and records at the close of the working day preceding the Ayudhua Puja or Saraswathi Puja holidays cannot be called as religious activity by the government, affecting the secular nature of the state."

The judges pointed out that Ayudha Puja and Saraswathi Puja fall on holidays and it could not be concluded that it was the state which performed these pujas at office. "In government offices, if an individual shows respect and reverence to the materials, books, files or records which are being handled by the individual, it will be referable to his individual freedom and there is nothing to show that it affects the secular nature of the state."

The petitioner, S P Muthuraman, cited a government order issued in 1993 and a circular dated April 22, 2010 to seek a ban on religious activities in government offices. In December 1993, a government order said no construction of any new structure for religious worship or prayer within the office campus or modification of any existing structure should be permitted. This was reiterated by a division bench order of the high court in March 2010. It was following the HC order that in April 2010 the government sent the circular.

Justice Sudhakar, however, pointed out that the government order and the circular related to construction and enlargement of structures within government office complexes and had nothing to do with an individual's right to offer puja for the place of work or tools. An individual's right to freedom of conscience is permitted in Article 25 of the Constitution, he said, adding: "If the relief sought for by the petition is accepted, it is likely to cause disharmony among various groups."




Bharat ni Amar Atamao





ચિરંજીવીઓને ઓળખો


વિચાર-મંથન - ઘનશ્યામ ગોસ્વામી
એક ખૂબ સહજ અને સ્વાભાવિક પ્રશ્ન છે કે, શું મનુષ્ય અમર હોઈ શકે છે? પ્રશ્નનો જવાબ સરળ નથી, કારણ કે આજે પણ મનુષ્ય સીમાડાઓની પાર પહોંચી શક્યો નથી, જે તેને અમર બનાવી દે. હા, ક્યારેક ક્યારેક કેટલીક વિશેષ વ્યક્તિઓ માટે પ્રકૃતિએ પોતાના નિયમ જરૂર બદલ્યા છે. આવા સાત ચિરંજીવી વિશેષ મહામાનવ છે. સાત લોકો ચિરંજીવી એટલા માટે કહેવાયા, કારણ કે સાતે લોકો જીવન-મૃત્યુના ચક્રથી ઉપર ઊઠીને અમર થઈ ગયા. સાત ચિરંજીવીઓનાં નામ પરશુરામ, બલિ, વિભીષણ, હનુમાન, મહર્ષિ વેદવ્યાસ, કૃપાચાર્ય અને અશ્વત્થામા છે.
ભગવાન પરશુરામ
સાત ચિરંજીવીઓમાંથી કેટલાક વિશે ખોટી ધારણાઓ પણ પ્રચલિત છે. જેમ કે પરશુરામનું નામ સાંભળતાની સાથે આપણી આંખોની સામે એક એવા ઋષિની તસવીર તરવરે છે, જે ખૂબ ક્રોધી સ્વભાવના હતા, પરંતુ તેમણે અત્યાચારી અને અન્યાયી રાજાઓ વિરુદ્ધ શસ્ત્રો ઉગામ્યાં હતાં. એક આદર્શવાદી અને ન્યાયપ્રિય રાજા
તરીકે શ્રીરામને મળ્યા પછી તેઓ મહેન્દ્રગિરિ પર્વત પર તપસ્યા કરવા ચાલ્યા ગયા. પરશુરામ ભગવાનને વિષ્ણુના અંશાવતાર માનવામાં આવે છે. આજ્ઞાકારી પુત્રના સ્વરૂપમાં તેઓ અદ્વિતીય છે.
બલિ
રીતે રાજા બલિ દૈત્યરાજ હોવા છતાં પણ પોતાની દાનવીરતા માટે પ્રસિદ્ધ હતા. વિરોચન અને સુરુચિના પુત્ર બલિને અશના, વિંધ્યાવલી અને સુદેષ્ણા એમ ત્રણ પત્ની હતી. નર્મદાના ઉત્તર તટ પર ભૃગુકચ્છ નામના સ્થળે અશ્વમેધ યજ્ઞા કરનાર બલિએ પોતાના બાહુબળથી ત્રણે લોક જીતી લીધા હતા. વામનનો અવતાર ધારણ કરીને યજ્ઞામાં આવેલા ભગવાન વિષ્ણુને તેમણે પોતાના વચનની રક્ષા માટે, ગુરુ શુક્રાચાર્યની વિરુદ્ધ જઈને ત્રણ ભૂમિ દાનમાં આપી હતી.
વિભીષણ
વિદ્વાન વિભીષણને 'ઘર ફૂટે ઘર જાય' અથવા 'ઘર કા ભેદી લંકા ઢાયે' જેવા રૂઢિપ્રયોગો વખતે યાદ કરવામાં આવે છે, પરંતુ વિભીષણે પરિવારથી મોટું રાષ્ટ્ર હોય છે, આદર્શ લોકો સમક્ષ રજૂ કર્યો. તેમણે પોતાના દેશ લંકાના હિત માટે પોતાના ભાઈ રાવણને બહુ સમજાવ્યો કે તેઓ માતા સીતાને લઈને રામની શરણમાં ચાલ્યા જાય, પરંતુ રાવણે વિભીષણની એક વાત સાંભળી અને તેમનું અપમાન કરીને લંકામાંથી કાઢી મૂક્યા. વિભીષણે રાષ્ટ્ર હિતને ધ્યાનમાં રાખીને રાવણનો વિરોધ કર્યો તથા ભાઈના દ્રોહી હોવાનો કલંક પોતાને માથે લઈને માતૃભૂમિના હિતમાં કાર્ય કરતાં સત્યનો સાથ આપ્યો.
મહર્ષિ વેદવ્યાસ
મહર્ષિ વેદવ્યાસ પોતાનો રંગ કાળો હોવાને કારણે કૃષ્ણ કહેવાયા, તો બીજી તરફ યમુના નદી વચ્ચેના એક દ્વીપ પર જન્મ થવાને કારણે તેમને દ્વૈપાયન પણ કહેવામાં આવે છે. દ્વૈપાયન પોતાના અખૂટ જ્ઞાનની સાથે સાથે અઢાર પુરાણ, મહાભારત તથા વેદાંત સૂત્રની રચના કરવાને કારણે મહર્ષિ વેદવ્યાસ તરીકે સન્માનિત થયા. મહાભારતને પંચમ વેદ પણ કહેવામાં આવે છે. માતા સત્યવતીના કહેવા પર તેમણે વિચિત્રવીર્યના નિધન પછી તેમની પત્ની અંબિકા, અંબાલિકા અને દાસી સાથે નિયોગ દ્વારા ત્રણ પુત્રોની ઉત્પત્તિ કરી, જેને ધૃતરાષ્ટ્ર, પાંડુ અને વિદુર તરીકે લોકો ઓળખે છે.
કૃપાચાર્ય
કુરુ વંશના કુલગુરુ તરીકે વિખ્યાત કૃપાચાર્ય ઋષિ હોવાની સાથે સાથે એક મહાન યોદ્ધા પણ હતા. તેમણે કૌરવો તથા પાંડવોને અસ્ત્ર વિદ્યા શીખવી હતી. તેમની બહેન કૃપીના વિવાહ ગુરુ દ્રોણાચાર્ય સાથે થયાં હતાં. મહાભારતનું યુદ્ધ તેઓ કૌરવો તરફથી લડયા હતા. કૃપાચાર્ય પરિસ્થિતિ અનુસાર પોતાને ઢાળવા માટે જાણીતા છે, તેથી તેઓ કૌરવ પક્ષે યુદ્ધ લડવા છતાં, તેમના પરાજય પછી પાંડવોના કુલગુરુના પદ પર આસીન થયા.
અશ્વત્થામા
ગુરુ દ્રોણાચાર્ય અને ગૌતમીના પુત્ર અશ્વત્થામા પ્રચંડ યોદ્ધા હોવાની સાથે સાથે પોતાના અહંકાર માટે જાણીતા હતા. તેમણે મહાભારતનું યુદ્ધ કૌરવો તરફથી લડયું હતું. ઘટના યુદ્ધના છેલ્લા દિવસોની છે, જ્યારે અશ્વત્થામાએ રાતના અંધકારમાં યુદ્ધના નિયમોને તોડીને, પાંડવોની શિબિરમાં જઈને પાંડવો સૂતા છે એમ સમજી તેમના પાંચે પુત્રોનો વધ કર્યો હતો. અશ્વત્થામાના અપરાધ માટે ભગવાન શ્રીકૃષ્ણએ અશ્વત્થામાના મસ્તકમાંથી મણિ કાઢીને તેને તે અસહ્ય ઘા સાથે ભટકતાં ભટકતાં અમર રહેવાનો શાપ આપ્યો હતો.
હનુમાનજી
રુદ્રના અગિયારમાં અવતાર હનુમાનજીનો જન્મ ભગવાન શ્રીરામની સેવા કરવા માટે થયો હતો. સેવક અને સેવાનો જેવો આદર્શ હનુમાનજીએ પ્રસ્તુત કર્યો છે, તે દુર્લભ છે. એટલે તો ભગવાન શ્રીરામે તેમને કહ્યું હતું, 'તુમ મમ પ્રિય ભરત સમ ભાઈ.' તેમના એકનિષ્ઠ સમર્પણનું ફળ છે કે જેથી એક સેવક, જે સૌના સંકટમોચક છે. તેઓ પોતાના સ્વામીની સાથે સમગ્ર સંસારમાં પુજાય છે.


Monday, January 16, 2012

‘Hinduism is an intellectual system, not religion’



'Hinduism is an intellectual system, not religion'
Indrajit Hazra, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, January 13, 2012
First Published: January 13, 2012
Last Updated: 2012-01-14 20:12:57







http://books.hindustantimes.com/2012/01/%E2%80%98hinduism-is-an-intellectual-system-not-religion%E2%80%99/

'Hinduism is an intellectual system, not religion'
Encyclopedia of Hinduism
Editor-in-chief: Kapil Kapoor
Rupa
Rs.21,000 for 11 volumes
Over a fabulous spread of home-made vegetarian food, I was listening to Rajan Mehra, chairman, Rupa Publications Group, telling me about, what he considers to be "the most important publication" of his career. Coming from a publishing house that has made its mark — and anchors its business — by publishing best-selling 'chatpata' books by writers that most famously include Chetan Bhagat, the 11-volume, 7,086-page Encyclopedia of Hinduism, is clearly a radical departure.
In the old Rupa office in Daryaganj, old Delhi, Mehra tells me, "Sometime in 2007, I was approached by LK Advani [Rupa published the BJP leader's memoirs, My Country, My Life in 2008]. He told me about a project that the India Heritage Research Foundation, involving some 2,000 scholars based all over the world, were conducting. These were  scholarly essays and notes on various aspects of Hinduism. Advani asked me whether I would be interested in getting involved."
My hackles go up as soon as I hear about the BJP connection. Far too many 'studies' on Hinduism out there are either religious textbooks or are thinly disguised ideological propaganda. An encyclopedia of Hinduism blessed by Advani sounded anything but a rigorous work of scholarship. Wouldn't this be like Jyoti Basu encouraging a 'study' on Marxism-Leninism?
Mehra proceeds to tell me the kind of 'professionalism' in the work and workforce that went into the production of this giant compendium. "A separate team was hired and it worked from 2008 to 2011 under the editorship of Kapil Kapoor, former  Jawaharlal Nehru University professor, collating, editing and proof-reading each entry." He tells me to take a look at the volumes and realise that, the encyclopedia is as much about the various cultures and cultural offshoots of Hinduism as it is about providing scholarly explanations about its religious and ritualistic aspects that are part of our "samskar" of which most people, practising Hindus included, no little about. "This has nothing to do with any political Hindutva agenda," he adds.
Speaking to Kapil Kapoor, who took on the project before Mehra got involved, I get the same pitch. He is more forthright and tells me that "Hinduism isn't a religion, it's a powerful intellectual system". The former JNU pro-vice chancellor and professor of English who also taught comparative linguistics, says, "Hinduism has no sacred text. It is a kind of manual for living based on ethical materialism. It is also deeply and widely interpretative."
But keeping this 'make what you will of it' nature of Hinduism in mind, I ask him whether this encyclopedia, an interpretation of interpretations, is not going to open to criticisms both from those who have a very firm view of 'Hinduism' in mind and from those who see it as an exclusionary 'communal' enterprise? "Even most Brahmin scholars don't know about most of the matters that they pass off as 'Hindu'. Like nuclear science, Hinduism is essentially a system of knowledge and this encyclopedia attempts to explain various elements for both the scholar as well as the student of ideas," says Kapoor. He also points out that while the oral tradition has been a preferred system of storage, enhancement and transmission of knowledge ("Why do you think Indians take so easily and lovingly to the television medium?"), putting this knowledge down in the written/readable text makes it available to many more.
As for criticisms and counter-views, he says that in his introduction he has welcomed readers to send in criticisms. "In such a vast enterprise, there are bound to be omissions, mistakes and lapses. I only hope that other scholars point them out so that the process of knowledge collection is further filtered."
The proof of the pudding, of course, is in the eating. So it is to the encyclopedia that I, a non-practising Hindu atheist, go to. The format is straightforward and along the lines of <Encyclopedia Britannica>. Starting from 'Abadhita-Jñana' in Volume 1 ("non-contradictable knowledge…") to 'Zoroaster (Zarathustra)' ("the founder of Zoroastrianism…) ten volumes later, the entries are crisp, provide background and foreground, and come with a bibliography (the entry on Abadhita-Jñana includes JF Staal's 1961 book, <Advaita and Neoplatonism>.
The production is excellent, as is the quality of images that are scattered across the volumes. With entries that include the 'Dhammapada' (the main text of Theravada Buddhism), the 'Chipko movement' (the organised environmental movement to resist the destruction of forests in India'), as well as the 'Saura Mandala' (solar system), clearly, this is an encyclopedia that doesn't define 'Hinduism' in any narrow, proselytising way.
There are many reference books that deal in a scholarly, non-religious manner on Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Sikhism. This <Encyclopedia of Hinduism> fills a gap that was there for readers in English who wish to pursue knowing about one of the most prevalent thought and social systems. Despite the initial fears I had (of shoddy production, dodgy scholarship, a hidden agenda, and an introduction by Advani), this 11-volume encyclopedia is a startingly good treasure trunk for any one interested in the history of ideas to dip into.