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EDITOR'S CHOICE         INDIA MERI JAAN  HUMOUR BOTTOMS UP

  WHAT THEY SAID FOCUS   BOOKS  VOX POPULI LIGHTER SIDE SPOTLIGHT HOT TALK

...................................................................................................................................................

India Meri Jaan
India is so vast and varied that it is difficult to define it in few words. But, the essence of
India is the spirit of oneness that can be found in this land of diversity -- that's what 
makes it so enchanting. Whether it is food, fashion or tourism, India has so much to offer
to the world.
 
 

Erotic sculpture from ancient Indian Temples

 

Marc Faber comment on US economy

Investment analyst and entrepreneur Dr. Marc Faber concluded his monthly bulletin (June 2008) with the Following:

''The federal government is sending each of us a $600 rebate. If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, the money goes to China . If we spend it on gasoline it goes to the Arabs. If we buy a computer it will go to India . If we purchase fruit and vegetables it will go to Mexico , Honduras and Guatemala . If we purchase a good car it will go to Germany . If we purchase useless crap it will go to Taiwan and none of it will help the American economy. The only way to keep that money here at home is to spend it on prostitutes and beer, since these are the only products still produced in US."

.........................................................................................

 

A true-blood Malayalee from Pakistan pushes for friendship

By Madhusree Chatterjee | IANS – Sun, Aug 14, 2011

New Delhi, Aug 14 (IANS) In his traditional cotton mundu and khadi kurta, 80-year-old Biyyathil Mohyuddin Kutty looks every inch a sprightly Malayalee from Kerala. The political activist who chose to make Pakistan his home 60 years ago believes that one 'cannot know the Pakistanis unless you live there'.

Kutty does not let his Kerala sensibility overshadow his Pakistani soul and nationality and likes to call himself a 'dyed in the wool Pakistani national'. Kutty, the general secretary of the Pakistan Peace Coalition and former political secretary to the governor of Balochistan, believes that ties between India and Pakistan are poised for a change.

'The recent serial blasts in Mumbai on the eve of the foreign ministers' meeting was a definite attempt to undermine the meeting. But the government of India spokesperson came out clearly that unsubstantiated allegations should not be made against Pakistan - and the talks continued. It was a turning point in the India-Pakistan relationship,' Kutty told IANS in an interview here.

Kutty was in the capital to launch his book 'Sixty Years in Self-Exile: No Regret - A Political Autobiography', last week. The book has been published by the Pakistan Study Centre ( University of Karachi ) and Pakistan Labour Trust. The launch was facilitated by the Policy and Planning Group, a social forum promoting cross-border friendship.

How Japan's disaster hits Indian economy

Bangalore: the jolt of fear and shock has not passed yet the people of Japan, but the world is hoping that the people show their same power of determination in overcoming the natural calamities as they always did. The world economy has been largely affected by the Tsunami that hit the world's third largest economy and the Indian industry was no exception.

 

Although the economic analysts have predicted that earthquake-triggered Tsunami would not creat a recession, it will definitely have a long-term economic impact on the Indian economy. The government has alredy given orders to recheck the power of all our nuclear plans to see if they can withstand a natural calamity. It will also spend significant amounts in reconstruction and strenthening of such plants. At the wake of such incidents it's no surprise led the govt across the globe move more funds to the disaster management schemes.

 

Indian companies operating in Japan will incur majar losses as they have to shut down their process there. In the tsunami excavated city of Yokohama, one of Japan's major IT centers, has many majors as well as small Indian IT firms are located and they employed several hundred  employees. A large number of Indian work posses are from the IT industry. Indian IT companies like Infosys, TCS, Wipro and many other small time-IT firms have their significance presence in Japan and have to recall their employees. More over the Indian IT industries may also be affected by the recent natural calamity, allt hough not severly, as IT expose from India to Japan amongst to approximately $1 billion or 2% of the country's total IT expose.

 

At the wake of the earthquake international oil prises fell to a  2 week low feering that the fuel demand will come down. However it was certain that it's not going to live as it is expected that the demand for alternate might increase as the nuclear power plants got destroy in the region. 

 

All though the Indian market has slumped a bit on the calamity news, it came back strongly to end in a positive note. Japanese stock fells 7.5% on fears about the long-term impact on power supplies. It had a direct impact on the base metal pack prices as Nikkei fell 8% in 5 session. Aluminium, copper, led, zinc were all severly affected in the market after the disaster.

 

As Japan will focus rebuilding the country, its investment in emerging market like India would decline in the coming days. Japan has shown remarkable investment interest in sectors such as infrstructure, IT, Automobiles, steel,  power and  pharmaceuticals in India. Japan is in the 7th position interms of cumalative foreign direct investment in India, amounting for $3,714 million during the period from April 2000 to March 2010. 

 

It should be noted that the Japanese External Trade Organisation had reported that Japanese firms are increasingly prefering India as an investment destination over China. The number of Japanese companies in India has gone up from approximately 100 in 2006-07 to 300 companies in 2009-10. The analysts has predicted that the Japanes investment would go upto $20 billion by 2012. But now with heavy international pressure to gain back its lost glory, investment might be rescheduled and the financial impactof the disaster might be long term one for the Indian economy.

(By Binu Paul, SiliconIndia)

  

India's own fighter jet Tejas joins air force  

 

Bangalore , (IANS) India 's long-delayed, indigenously-developed, multi-role combat aircraft Tejas joins the Indian Air Force (IAF) for initial operational clearance (IOC) in this aerospace hub.

 

Considered to be the world's smallest military aircraft with a single seat, Tejas will form a 200-strong fleet for the IAF to replace the ageing Russian made MiG-21 fleet, a senior official said here.

 

Defence Minister A.K. Antony handed over the service certificate of Tejas to Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal P V Naik to enable IAF fighter pilots to fly the light combat aircraft (LCA) for final operational clearance and its induction as the country's potent strike force by 2012, the official told IANS, speaking on condition of anonymity.

 

The fly-by-wire supersonic fighter, which took over a generation in the making with chronic delays and cost escalations, has been developed by the state-run Aeronautical Defence Agency (ADA) and manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) in Bangalore .

 

The successive delays caused by multiple factors, including sanctions by the US over a decade ago against India for conducting the second nuclear test in May 1998, led the project cost to rise to a whopping Rs.5,778 crore from the initial estimate of Rs.3,300 crore in the mid-1980s.

 

'Initially pilots fly four aircraft to check all its parametres, including flight controls, Mach speed and weaponisation for FOC and induction into the fleet as frontline fighter jets,' the officer said.

 

Under the limited series production, HAL is manufacturing eight aircraft for clearance flights and will take up the air force's initial order to deliver 20 jets to form the first Tejas squadron. It will be based at the Sulur air base near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu.

 

The IAF has also placed an additional order in 2010 for 20 more Tejas for the second squadron to be raised at Kayathir near Tuticorin in the southern state where the air force is setting up a new base this decade.

 

'The Tejas handing over is another red letter day for the Indian aerospace industry a decade after its first prototype made a maiden flight Jan 4, 2001,' former ADA director Kota Harinarayan recalled.

 

The lean and mean flying machine is powered by the F404-GE-IN20 engine from the US-based General Electric as the indigenously developed Kaveri engine is still undergoing advance trials.

 

The last test flight of the aircraft was carried out on Dec 15 at the new aeronautical test range of DRDO at Chitradurga in central Karnataka, about 200 km from here, when its advanced prototype vehicle (PV-5) dropped a bomb successfully on target.

 

A naval version of the LCA for aircraft carriers of the Indian Navy is also under development.

 

Indian plan to deter Pakistan more myth than reality

By Sanjeev Miglani | Reuters

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A strategy developed by the Indian military to fight a lightning and limited war with Pakistan without crossing nuclear red lines has stirred concern across the border and in the United States , but the plan is years, if not decades away from battle readiness.

 

Cold Start involves the deployment of battle groups inside Pakistan within 72 hours of a Mumbai-style attack to carry out a punitive operation without threatening the survival of the Pakistani state and triggering a nuclear confrontation.

 

It flows from the Indian government's slow-footed response to an attack on parliament in 2001, which was also traced back to Pakistani militant groups, when it took months for the large, lumbering army to deploy on the borders.

 

By then, the element of surprise was long gone, and Delhi had come under intense international pressure to climb down.

 

Pakistan says the Indian battle plan is at the heart of its refusal to move forces away from the Indian border to fight militants on the Afghan borderlands, hindering the U.S. war against al Qaeda and the Taliban.

 

It has drawn concern in the Pentagon too, which worries about any disruption of its long supply line for troops in Afghanistan that runs through Pakistan .

 

But as the U.S. ambassador to Delhi said in secret cables published by Wikileaks and corroborated by independent military experts, the Indian army's Cold Start doctrine is a mixture of myth and reality.

 

The military has neither the manoeuvrability or the firepower to rapidly deploy and fight the air and land battle envisaged in the strategy, and it is not even clear whether the civilian authorities have signed off on the plan.

 

Above all, the idea that you can fight a conventional war without risking a nuclear confrontation between two neighbours with a troubled history for more than 60 years is a vast gamble, say military analysts.

 

"It has never been and may never be put to use on a battlefield because of substantial and serious resource constraints, but it is a developed operational attack plan announced in 2004 and intended to be taken off the shelf and implemented within a 72-hour period during a crisis," Ambassador Tim Roemer wrote in a February 2010 cable. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/248971?CMP=twt_gu

 

Indeed, as Roemer notes, if the Indian government really intended to implement Cold Start and thus risk "rolling the nuclear dice", the Mumbai attacks were an opportunity.

 

"First, the GOI (government of India ) refrained from implementing Cold Start even after an attack as audacious and bloody as the Mumbai attack, which calls into serious question the GOI's willingness to actually adopt the Cold Start option."

 

Roemer also questioned Pakistan 's sincerity in drumming up fears over the Indian military plan, saying it had failed to deter Pakistani mischief inside India even though they had known its existence since 2004.

 

On Tuesday, a bomb went off in Varanasi , killing a child and wounding several Hindu worshippers, an attack that reinforced concerns that India remained vulnerable, and that ties with Pakistan could quickly unravel if acts of violence were linked to militants based there.

 

Pakistan has warned that the Indian battleplan further de-stabilised regional security, and that it would take measures to counter the strategy. Retired Pakistani army general Talat Masood said it was a fallacy to think the two countries could fight a limited war without the risk of escalation.

 

"So the potential of a nuclear conflict as a result of Cold Start doctrine is very much a possibility and surely, it will result in escalation to the conventional level," he said.

 

OPERATIONAL PLAN

 

But there is no denying that the Cold Start plan exists in some form and there are proponents in the Indian security establishment who think they can fight a limited war without crossing Pakistan 's nuclear threshold.

 

"I would say that Cold Start is in the experimental state of development, having moved beyond pure speculation but more than a decade or two away from full implementation," said Walter Ladwig, a South Asia security affairs expert at Oxford University who has written a seminal paper on Cold Start.

 

Ladwig said the army had yet to organise itself into integrated battle groups envisaged under the plan and the tank corps are not fully operational.

 

Only 20 percent of armoured vehicles had night vision capabilities and the artillery had less than 10 percent of the self-propelled guns that ground forces would require for a rapid thrust across the border.

 

The army also did not have enough attack helicopters and the transport helicopters that it had could barely lift 15 percent of the troops and armour required for such an operation.

 

Pakistan was well aware of the shortcomings of the Indian army and for all its protests over the plan, it was not as concerned as made out to be, Ladwig said.

 

"What it has done is handed Islamabad and Rawalpindi a propaganda coup," Ladwig said.

 

"Although Cold Start is explicitly a response to Pakistan 's support for terrorism, leaders in Islamabad have managed to portray India 's pursuit of a limited war capability as evidence of New Delhi 's 'hostile intent' and 'hegemonic' designs that will 'destabilize the regional balance'."

 

Retired Indian army brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal who heads the Centre for Land Warfare Studies in New Delhi says the doctrine was essentially an attempt to address the problem of mobilisation of the 1.1 million-strong army. It is also aimed at taking the battle into Pakistan .

 

"It is essentially a pro-active deterrence strategy with the clear implication that the Indian armed forces will take the initiative and the next war in the plains will be fought in the adversary's territory," he said.

 

 

Indian military eyes to weaponize world's hottest chilli
                                                                     - 
by Wasbir Hussain 

GAUHATI, India (AP) The Indian military has a new weapon against terrorism: the world's hottest chili. After conducting tests, the military has decided to use the thumbsized "bhut jolokia," or "ghost chili," to make tear gas-like hand grenades to immobilize suspects, defence officials said.

The bhut jolokia was accepted by Guinness World Records in June 2007 as the world's spiciest chili. It is grown and eaten in India's northeast for its taste, as a cure for stomach troubles and a way fight the crippling summer heat.

It has more than 1,000,000 Scoville units, the scientific measurement of a chili's spiciness. Classic Tabasco sauce ranges from 2,500 to 5,000 Scoville units, while jalapeno peppers measure anywhere from 2,500 to 8,000.

"The chili grenade has been found fit for use after trials in Indian defense laboratories, a fact confirmed by scientists at Defense Research and Development Organization," Col R Kalia, a defence spokesman in the northeastern state of Assam, told The Associated Press. "This is definitely going to be an effective nontoxic weapon because its pungent smell can choke terrorists and force them out of their hide-outs," R B Srivastava, the director of the Life Sciences Department at the New Delhi  headquarters of the DRDO said.

Srivastava, who led a defense research laboratory in Assam, said trials are also on to produce bhut jolokia-based aerosol sprays to be used by women against attackers and for the police to control the disperse mobs.

 

India to induct smart 'suicide bomber' drone 

It's an aircraft described by experts as a "flying suicide bomber", except there is no pilot involved. It carries no weapons-instead, the aircraft itself is the weapon. It is built to creep into enemy airspace, "loiter" for as long as necessary hunting for targets, and the dive to decimate the chosen one. It is widely considered as one of the smartest airborne strike systems yet built.

This year, the Indian Air Force will begin receiving a batch of 10 such systems, built by Israel and called the HAROP. At a little over $10-million (about Rs 45 crore) apiece, HAROPs are essentially drones with one-way tickets. 

The Indian Army-which has followed the air force's example and initiated procedures to acquire its own loitering munitions - has classified scenario that is likely to be war-gamed jointly with the air force once the HAROPs are inducted.

The scenario ties in with the post-26/11 rhetoric of surgical strikes across enemy lines, and with home minister P Chidambaram's recent assertion that India's response to another Pakistan-supported attack would be "swift and decisive". Military analyst Lt-Gen Shankar Prasad says," These systems have a great deterrent value, whether there is war or not. Pakistan must not be allowed to think India is a weak nation."

The air force has decided to rotate HAROP drone operations from sites in Rajasthan, Punjab and Kashmir, and may choose to buy 10 more later. 

Reproduced from Mail Today

 

Sepoy Karam Chand cremated 48 years after his death

Palampur (HP), July 15 (PTI) Mortal remains of sepoy Karam Chand of 4 Dogras who died while fighting Chinese aggressors in Arunachal Pradesh in 1962 were consigned to flames with full military honours in his native village near here this morning.

Touching scenes were witnessed at the cremation ground as family members had all along been thinking that Chand had been made a Prisoner of War but little did they know that his body would come back after 48 years.

The martyr's body was spotted under a debris by a detachment of Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in Walong area on July 1 and his identity tag and papers were found along with the weapon, which were intact.

Commanding Officer of 4 Dogras Col S K Singh contacted Chand's family in Agojar, about 14 km from here, and his nephew Jaswant Singh showed eagerness to receive the body and perform the last rites in the native village.

Chand and many other soldiers went missing after the Battle of Walong in Arunachal Pradesh's Lohit district during the Sino-India war. Chinese troops had attacked the post at Walong on October 25, 1962, but the Indian troops fought them for 22 days despite meagre resources.

Hundreds of people including a large number of ex- servicemen who were part of 4 Dogras which fought the Chinese in Arunachal Pradesh in 1962 paid their homage to the departed soul.

After the customary rituals, the mortal remains draped with the national flag were taken to the village cremation grounds where senior army officers including Lt. Gen. Jasbir Singh Chief of Staff, Northen Command, who is also the Colonel Commandant of Dogra regiment, GOC of 39 Mountain Division were present.

Jaswant Singh, nephew of the deceased, lit the pyre as Chand was a bachelor and the soldier''s parents have died. Jaswant said it was a matter of great satisfaction that he was able perform the last rites of his uncle but had his body been traced earlier, his parents, who were always inquiring about him, would have got some solace
....................................................................................................
FACTS TO MAKE EVERY INDIAN PROUD

Who is the co-founder of Sun Microsystems?
Vinod Khosla

Who is the creator of Pentium chip (needs no introduction as 90% of the 
today's computers run on it)? 
Vinod Dahm 
Who is the third richest man in the world? 
According to the latest report in Fortune Magazine, it is AZIM PREMJI,
who is the CEO of Wipro Industries the Sultan of Brunei is at 6th position 
now. 
Who is the founder and creator of Hotmail (Hotmail is world's No.1 web based
email program)? 
Sabeer Bhatia 
Who is the president of AT & T-Bell Labs (AT & T-Bell Labs is the creator of 
program languages such as C, C++, Unix to name a few)? 
Arun Netravalli 
Who is the GM of Hewlett Packard? 
Rajiv Gupta 
Who is the new MTD (Microsoft Testing Director) of Windows 2000, responsible
to iron out all initial problems? 
Sanjay Tejwrika 
Who are the Chief Executives of Citibank, Mckensey & Stanchart? 
Victor Menezes, Rajat Gupta, and Rana Talwar. 

......................................................................................................................
We Indians are the wealthiest among all ethnic groups in America,
even 
faring better than the whites and the natives. There are 3.22 millions of 
Indians in USA (1.5% of population). Yet,
38% of doctors in USA are Indians. 

12% scientists in USA are Indians.
36% of NASA scientists are Indians. 

34% of Microsoft employees are Indians. 
28% of IBM employees are Indians. 

17% of INTEL scientists are Indians. 

13% of XEROX employees are Indians. 

................................................................................................................................................

You may know some of the following facts. These facts were recently 
published in a German magazine, which deals with WORLD HISTORY 
FACTS ABOUT INDIA. 
  • India never invaded any country in her last 1000 years of history. 
    
  • India invented the Number system. Aryabhatta invented 'zero.' 
    
  • The world's first University was established in Takshila in 700BC. 
    More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than                
    60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century BC was     
    one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education. 
    
  • According to the Forbes magazine, Sanskrit is the most suitable 
    language for computer software. 
    
  • Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans. 
    
  • Although western media portray modern images of India as poverty   
    striken and underdeveloped through political corruption, India was    
    once the richest empire on earth.
  • The art of navigation was born in the river Sindh 5000 years.
    The very word "Navigation" is derived from the Sanskrit word  NAVGATIH. 
    
  • The value of pi was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained 
    the concept of what is now known as the Pythagorean theorem. British 
    scholars have recently (1999) officially published that Budhayan's works
    dates to the 6th Century, which is long before the European mathematicians. 
    
  • Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India. Quadratic equations were 
    by Sridharacharya in the 11th Century; the largest numbers the Greeks and
    the Romans used were 106 whereas Indians used numbers as big as 1053. 
  • According to the Gemmological Institute of America, up until 1896
    India was the only source of diamonds to the world. 
    
  • USA based IEEE has proved what has been a century-old suspicion 
    amongst academics that the pioneer of wireless communication was 
    Professor Jagdeesh Bose and not Marconi.
     
  • The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in  Saurashtra. 
    
  • Chess was invented in India. 
    
  • Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health 
    scientists of his time conducted surgeries like cesareans, cataract,
    fractures and urinary stones. Usage of anaesthesia was well known    
    in ancient India. 
    
  • When many cultures in the world were only nomadic forest dwellers
    over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu
    Valley (Indus Valley Civilisation).
  • The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in
    100 BC.  
    
(Courtesy: Rita Rao, Abu Dhabi)
 

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Email: akn929@yahoo.com

 
 Republic Day Facts
The Constitution was passed in the Central Hall of Parliament House on 26 November 1949.
The Constitution of India was originally written in English. A Hindi translation was issued on 24 
January 1950.
The first Republic Day Parade was held at Irwin stadium (the present National stadium in Delhi)
The Republic Day Celebration are spectacular with 'Beating Retreat' at Vijay Chowk in New Delhi
3 days later on January 29.
 
...............................................................................................................................................

 Bottoms up !

                                  By Salil Naik, Dubai, UAE

 

Money

It can buy a house

But not a home

It can buy a clock

But not time

It can buy you a position

But not respect

It can buy you a bed

But not sleep

It can buy you a book

But not knowledge

It can buy you medicine

But not health

It can buy you blood

But not life

So you see money isn't everything

And it often causes pain and suffering

I tell you this because I am your friend

And as your friend I want to

Take away your pain and suffering!!

So

Send me all your money

And I will suffer for you!

Cash only please.

 

* * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

 

History of the Presidency in India

Rajendra Prasad (1884-1963)

Term of Office: January 26, 1950 to May 13, 1962

First President of Independent India. a freedom fighter, Rajendra Prasad was the only president serve two terms of office.

 

Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan (1888-1975)

Term of Office: May 13, 1962 to May 13, 1967

A prominent philosopher, writer, a Knight of Realm who held the position of vice chancellor of Andhra University and Banaras Hindu University. He was also made a knight of the Golden Army of Angels by Pope Paul VI.

 

Zakir Husain (1897-1969)

Term of Office: May 3, 1967 to May 3, 1969  

He was vice-chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University and a recipient of Padma Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna. Husain died before his term of office ended.

 

Shri Varahagiri Venkata Girl (1894-1980)

Term of Office: May 3, 1969 to July 20, 1969 and August 24, 1974

The only person to have the distinction of serving as both acting president and president of India V V Giri was a recipient of the Bharat Ratna, and his previous positions included minister of labour and high commissioner to Ceylon (Sri Lanka)

 

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (1905-1977)

Term of Office: August 24, 1974 to February 11, 1977

A veteran politician, he held various cabinet posts including food and agriculture, education, industrial development, etc. He died in 1977 before his term ended, and was the second president to have died in the office.

 

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (1913-1996)

Term of Office: July 25, 1977 to July 25, 1982

N S Reddy was the first CM of Andhra Pradesh. He was the only MP from Janata Party to get elected from Andhra. He was unanimously elected speaker of the Lok Sabha on March 26, 1977 to become the 6th President of India.

 

Giani Zail Singh (1916-1994)

Term of Office: July 25, 1982 to July 25, 1987

Zail Singh served as Punjab CM and later as Union home minister in the Indira Gandhi government.

 

R Venkataraman (1910-2009)

Term of Office: July 25, 1987 to July 25, 1992

A former freedom fighter, he first served as a minister of finance and Industry and later as minister of defence 

 

Shankar Dayal Sharma (1918-1999)

Term of Office: July 25, 1992 to July 25, 1997 

Sharma had been chief minister of MP, and then Union Minister for communications. He also served as governor of Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Maharashtra. As vice-president, broke down in the Rajya Sabha while witnessing ugly row by the members.

 

K R Narayanan (1920-2005)

Term of Office: July 25, 1997 to July 25, 2002

India's first Dalit Prsident. Served as India's ambassador to Thailand, Turkey, China and the US. Regarded as an independent president who set several precedents and enlarged the scope of the highest constitutional office.

 

A P Abdul Kalam (born 1931)

Term of Office: July 25, 2002 to July 25, 2007

Eminent scientist and visionary who played a leading role in the development of India's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programmes. Kalam also received the Bharat Ratna and has authored 4 books.

 

Pratibha Patil (born 1934)

Term of Office: July 25, 2007

Patil is the first woman to become the president of India. She was also the first woman Governor of Rajasthan. In 2009 Patil followed Kalam's precedent and flew in a fighter aircraft. 

.....................................................................................................................................................

What they said.......

“I have always found men who didn’t know how to kiss. I have always found time to teach them.”--Mae West

“You can’t go around being what  everyone expects you to be, living your life through other people’s rules and still be happy and have inner peace.”---Vivekananda 

“The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing”.---Blaise Pascal 

“If you believe that feeling bad or worrying long enough will change a past or future event, then you are residing on another planet with a different reality  system.”---Thomas Edison

“A kiss is a lovely trick devised by nature to  stop speech when words become superficial.”---Sigmund Freud

“Every problem you have, you experience in your mind. The solution to the problem lies in the same place.”---Gautam Buddha

“There is no such thing as a well-adjusted slave.” ----Martin Luther King

“No man is ever worth your tears…and the one who is won’t make you cry!” ---Unknown

"Falling in love is awfully simple, but falling out of love is simply awfu"l. ---Anonymous

"Education is what survives when what has been learnt is forgotten"----Bf Skinner  

"I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you".---Roy Croft  

"If you are all wrapped up in yourself, you are over-dressed. "---Kate Halversson  

"If you want him to fall head over heels give him something to trip over!" ---Mae West

"Every fool knows you can’t touch the stars, but it doesn’t stop a wise man from trying. "---Harry Anderson

"Love is not a matter of counting the years but making the years count. "---Michelle Amand

"Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but most times he will pick himself up and carry on." ---Winston Churchill

"To get the full value of joy, you must have someone to divide it with". ---Unknown

"Love is the child of illusion and the parent of disillusion". ---Maguel de Unamuno  

"There are no problems – only opportunities to be creative". ---Dorye Roettger

  "Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good too. "---Woody Allen 

"Love makes time pass; time makes love pass" ----French Proverb  

"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. "---Albert Schweitzer  

"I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it". ---Pablo Picasso

"It’s so easy to fall in love but hard to find someone who will catch you. "---Anonymous

"I've had enough kisses to last me a lifetime and its starting to get on my nerves ."
---Nicole Kidman on being at the receiving end of endless kisses from
people during her visit to UK.

"I am Muslim. I am an American".----Boxing Champ Muhammed Ali

"Voilence begets violence. I don't know about you but I want to live a long and happy life and I want my kids to live a long and happy life".---- Pop diva Madonna in her plea for peace to the US.

"As I see the smoke and dust, I am glad that the Statue of Liberty is still standing".
---- A world war II veteran voicing the sentiments of many Americans in the aftermath of the terrorist attack.

"There's an old poster out West that says, as I recall, 'Wanted : Dead or Alive'.----US President George W Bush

"I am a very sensitive painter. I can't work with the media watching".---- Artist Wasim Kapoor on having second thoughts about the painting Moon Moon Sen.

"If my sons choose cricket as their career, I will be proud. It will be a sense of achievement".---- Naseeruddin Shah.

"Indian Engineers are among the best in the world".----Henning Holck-Larsen.

"Stop complaining about dumping of cheap Chinese goods and focus on improving your own products."----Narayana Murthy (Infosys Technologies) to fellow industrialists.

"Leave India in God's hands ------in modern parlance to anarchy" ----Mahatma Gandhi to British

"I don’t think the human race will survive the next thousand years unless we spread out to space. There are too many accidents that can befall life on a single planet."----Stephen Hawking 

"Tibet as a nation is dying because of Chinese policies."---Dalai Lama

"As I watched the September 11 tragedy in the US, I thought of what Mahatma Gandhi would say if he were with us. He showed us the proper way during the freedom struggle. He would have shown us the way now."----Dalai Lama

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Fact and Fiction

In Babylon, around 2000 BC, for a month after the wedding, the bride’s father was supposed to constantly supply the groom with mead – a honey beer. Since their was a lunar calendar, this time was called the ‘honey month’ or what we know today as the “honeymoon”.

In 1788, at a parade in New York City, ale was proclaimed as “the proper drink for Americans”.

A beer is not just a beer. All told, there are 27 different styles of beer, with a further breakdown of 49 substyles.

After consuming a bucket or two of vibrant brew they called aul, or ale, the Vikings would head fearlessly into battle, often without armour or even shirts. In fact, “berserk” means “bare shirt” in Norse, and eventually took on the meaning of their wild battles.

In England, ale is ordered by pints and quarts..So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them to mind their own pints and quarts. The phrase “mind your P’s and Q’s is believed to come from there.

According to a diary entry from a passenger on the Mayflower, the pilgrims made their landing at Plymouth Rock, rather than continue to their destination because they had run out of beer.

IPA, or India Pale Ale, was originally so called because it was exported to India, for the British troops stationed here. The story goes that one of the ships bound for India sank off the coast of England, and the batch of ale they were carrying was salvaged, the drinkers felt that such delicious stuff should be available at home as well as overseas.

12 oz of a typical American pale lager has fewer calories than   2 per cent milk or apple juice.

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Vox Populi

A Road Map For India
By Sramana Mitra, Forbes.com

India has a critical decade ahead. Managed well, it will catapult India into a developed country with superpower status. Managed poorly, the opportunity will be squandered. I would like to believe that this time, India will manage its destiny well. And in my new book, Vision India 2020, I have outlined what I wish to see. So far India has positioned itself as a software superpower on the shoulders of outsourcing. But is that all we will ever achieve? With the right guidance, I resolutely believe that the Indian youth have the potential to built their nation's next phase of development--systematic development rather than the haphazard, helter-skelter development we have thus far seen.

Development for India, of course, will not be limited to the technology sector. Driving from Calcutta to Kharagpur last year, I experienced intimately the toll of one of India's many unforgiving bottlenecked roadways: a highway reduced to one lane because of a bridge that has stood derelict for three years. Outside Jaipur, where a thick mass of trucks constrict the flow of traffic, the scene is unchanged. And when I do finally persevere, make it home and find my bed, the noise pollution keeps sleep distant. I toss and turn in bed, listening through the walls to my family members' coughing due to the environmental disaster we have created.

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Spotlight

Genetic Heritage --- Humankind's fight for survival across continents.

Timeline
Time: 50,000-60,000 years ago
Location:Africa
Ice Age. Earth's temperature drops, locking the world's moisture into giant glaciers 
at the poles and bringing intense drought to Saharan Africa. Herds of thirsty animals 
wander northeast off the African continent in search of water, human hunters follow.

Time: 50,000 years ago
Location: Australia
Early travellers from Africa traverse the southern coastline of Central Asia until they 
are just north of Australia. Due to the Ice Age drought, sea levels are low and Australia
is connected to New Guinea-but approximately 250 km of sea separate Australia from 
the mainland. Yet our ancestors cross the water, possibly in open canoes. Isolated for 
thousands of years, the Aborigines in Australia develop distinct genetic traits different 
from the rest of the world.

Time: 45,000 years ago
Locations: the Middle East, India and China
Shortly after the first group of hunters venture to Australia, a second wave of Africans 
travels northward. Moving up into the Middle East and multiplying rapidly, one group 
quickly populates, India, erasing traces of the first settlers. Two groups then walk into 
China. There, they are bordered by oceans and mountains,, and have no interaction 
with other humans. Thus over the generations, they acquire an appearance distinctive 
from their African ancestors, becoming paler over time in the colder climate of their
new home.

Time 40,000 years ago
Location: Central Asia
As the latest Ice Age wanes, survivors experience new levels of bounty including vast 
stretches of grassland and renewed animal populations. Our ancestors follow the newly 
formed swaths of greenery up into Central Asia. Their numbers grow rapidly, effectively 
making Central Asia the 'nursery' of all humankind.

Time: 35,000 years ago
Location: Europe
The Central Asia 'nursery' spawns new groups of travellers. Ancient cave art in Europe 
shows that one such group journeys west into Europe through an ice-covered land where 
mammoths and bison roam. Once there, the erratic roller coaster of the Ice Age traps them.
In an environment much colder than they'd been used to, the European branch evolves to 
become paler and shorter, losing the characteristics of their African forefathers.

Time: Around 20,000 years ago
Location: Siberia
A second group of Central Asians wanders to Siberia and up past the Arctic Circle. Adapting
to the extreme cold, these men evolve to minimise the surface area of their skin so as not to 
lose heat: they develop stout trunks, stubby fingers and short arms and legs.

Time: 13,000 years ago
Location: North America
As another Ice Age nears its end, one small clan of Arctic dwellers-a group that could only 
have included two or three men, and perhaps 10 to 20 people in all travel over a land bridge that 
forms across the Bering Strait to Alaska. As ice caps melt and sea levels rise again, this small 
group is trapped on the American continent. The ice continues to melt for another 2,000 years, 
until a passage finally opens for humans to walk south on the east side of the Rocky Mountains 
into what is now Canada and the US. Once on the American continent, they find more bounty 
than they've ever known. They multiply and explore extensively, populating all of North and South 
America in just 800 years.

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Hot talk

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA ON ARYAN INVASION THEORY

Historical finding have raised controversies and have got rectified also thanks to continuous research. The acceptance of the theory that the numerals 1 to 9 and 0 (zero) are Indian, in origin has got one example. The theory of the Aryan invasion of India, though has become cliché to the readers of Indian history, is much in debate. Yet the truth seems to be bypassed. The following excerpts taken from the speech of Swami Vivekananda  “The Future of India” will serve as a mediator.

There is a theory that there was a race of mankind in Southern India called Dravidians, entirely differing from another race in Northern India called the Aryan, and that the Southern India Brahmins are the only Aryans that came from the North, the other men of Southern India belong to an entirely different caste and race to those of Southern Brahmins. Now I beg your pardon, Mr. Philologist, this is entirely unfounded. The only proof of it is that there is a difference of language between the North and the South. I do not see any other difference. We are so many Northern men here, and I ask my European friends to pick out the Northern and Southern men from this assembly. Where is the difference? A little difference of language. But the Brahmins are a race that came here speaking the Sanskrit language !  Well then, they took up the Dravidian language and forgot their Sanskrit. Why should not the other castes have done the same? Why should not all the other castes have come one after the other from Northern India, taken up the Dravidian language, and so forgotten their own? That is an argument working both ways. Do not believe in such silly things. There may have been a Dravidian people who vanished from here, and the few who remained lived in forests and other places. It is quite possible that the languages may have been taken up, but all these are Aryans who came from the North. The whole of the India is Aryan, nothing else.

Then there is the idea that the Shudra castes are surely the aborigines. What are they? There are slaves. They say history repeats itself. The Americans, English, Dutch and the Portuguese got hold of the poor Africans and made them work hard while they lived, and their children of mixed birth were born in slavery and kept in that condition for a long period. From that wonderful example, the mind jumps back several thousand years and fancies that the same thing happened here, and our archaeologist dreams of India being full of dark eyed aborigines, and the bright Aryan came from the Lord knows where. According to some, they came from Central Tibet, others will have it that they came from Central Asia. There are patriotic Englishmen who think that the Aryans were all red-haired. Others, according to their idea, think that they were all black-haired. If the writer happens to be a black-haired man, the Aryans were all black-haired. Of late, there was an attempt made to prove that the Aryan lived on the Swiss lakes. I should not be sorry if they had been all drowned there, theory and all.

Some say now that they lived at the North Pole. Lord bless the Aryans and their habitations! As for the truth of these theories, there is not one world in our scriptures, not one, to prove that the Aryan ever came from anywhere outside of India, and in ancient India was included Afghanistan. There it ends. And the theory that the Shudra castes were all non-Aryan and they were a multitude, is equally illogical and equally irrational. It could not have been possible in those days that a few Aryans settled and lived there with a hundred thousand slaves at their command. These slaves would have eaten them up, made “Chutney” of them in five minutes. The only explanation is to be found in the Mahabharata, which says that in the beginning of the Satya Yuga there was one caste, the Brahmins, and then by difference of occupations they went on dividing themselves into different castes, and that is the only true and rational explanation that has been given. And in the coming Satya Yuga all the other castes will have to go back to the same condition.        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited & Published by A K Naik

Lina Communications Network, Mumbai, India.
E-mail: akn929@yahoo.com
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