DATE: 08 Aug 2007, 8:27 pm / Category: Politics

Hello Friends,

Good to be back here with you all!

With all the hue and cry about Presidential elections and all that drama that happened, suddenly I feel something is missing.  There was so much media coverage on who would be the next president and all those allegations and counter alledgations.  After our new President was sworn in, the media seems to be least interested in her now.

So, I just wonder where is our new President?  Are we going to see more of Sonia Gandhi on the limelight more than our President, Prime Minister, and Home Minister?  I feel Indian democracy is at a stage of great mockery where all these three important posts are being occupied by persons loyal to a specific family.  Do you think important matters are going to get a fair trial before decisions are made under such regime?

Are we in such great dearth of young talents with fresh views and energy that we have to still rely on old loyalists of a specific family?

When we Indian can produce new Entrepreneurs and world class companies, can't we produce new breed of politicians who would come up on merits and bring about a fresh new face to Indian politics?  I am hopeful, but the thing is when?

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DATE: 26 May 2007, 1:42 pm / Category: Agriculture

Farmers in Dewas district of Madhya Pradesh have decided to bid farewell to tubewells and failing monsoons.

A dipping water table had meant that these tubewells were practically defunct. Farmers have now opted to go the natural way, digging ponds to harvest water.

''We were on the brink of destruction because the tubewells had become useless despite repeatedly deepening them. Now we are at peace after digging ponds,'' said Raghunath Tomar, farmer

Last year alone, farmers in this part of the state dug over 600 ponds. Digging a pond costs between Rs 2-10 lakh.

They took loans to meet the cost and it has paid them rich dividends as the crop yield has doubled. Farmers in the area now plan to dig around 1000 ponds without any financial aid from the government.

''The farmers have set a target of digging 1,000 ponds through public participation. According to government estimates, these works would have incurred a cost of crores,'' said Umakant Umrao, Collector, Dewas

The farmers have turned around their fortune and a good monsoon this year would only make things better.

-------- Source: NDTV

This news catch my attention.  I think the old saying "where there is a will, there is a way" is very much valid and applicable in this case.

 

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DATE: 26 May 2007, 12:49 pm / Category: Citizen

FROM:	ally101
DATE:	25 May 2007, 11:44 pm
SUBJECTS:	Hello,

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Dear CJs,

I received this message in my inbox and through my experience on the internet, I believe this was a spam mail.  Please let me know if you too received similarly worded message from this lady?

 

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DATE: 14 May 2007, 4:14 pm / Category: Society

I remember, as a child we used to celeberate Happy Birthday, Happy Diwali, Happy Holi, Happy Independence Day, Happy Republic Day.. and what else?  I don't remember any more.

All of a sudden now we hear Happy Mother's day, Happy Father's day, Valentine's day (this has been around for some time now).

I really wonder, whether in India we need to celeberate special days for mother, father, brother, sister, etc.  As far as I know, we all have the age old culture of living together and celebrating everyday these relationships.  So, why just one special day?  And if we have become so busy and self-centered that we need to find one day for mother, I think we are not fit to celebrate it at all, because we don't undertand what "mother" is then.

Relationships have to be taken care of everyday and we have to be nurturing them as we live and not just celebrate one special day and forget about it for the rest of the 364 days.  It is becoming too technical and mechanical.  At least I think this is just a gimmick of the marketing and advertising people, who try to make many occasions to sell their things.

Dear CJs, what do you think?  This is a debatable topic and people will have different opinions.  Let us share it.

 

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DATE: 06 May 2007, 3:19 pm / Category: Law

Article 15. Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.-

(1) The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.

(2) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them, be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to-

(a) access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and places of public entertainment; or

(b) the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort maintained wholly or partly out of State funds or dedicated to the use of the general public.

(3) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for women and children.

_10[(4) Nothing in this article or in clause (2) of article 29 shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.]

Article: 29. Protection of interests of minorities.-(1) Any section of the citizens residing in the territory of India or any part thereof having a distinct language, script or culture of its own shall have the right to conserve the same.

(2) No citizen shall be denied admission into any educational institution maintained by the State or receiving aid out of State funds on grounds only of religion, race, caste, language or any of them.

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Dear CJs,

Please read the red letters more carefully.  While the people who framed and wrote the consitution of India had the intensions of not discriminating the citizens of India on the basis of religion, race, caste, language etc., it left a deadly loophole allowing the parliament to do this discrimination if it wished so, in the future.  So, why did they put up a secular face at first and then allow such amendments to the constitution, which has changed the very basic objective of our constitution, which intended to see all its citizens as equals getting equal opportunities.

The present mess about reservations / quota etc. is due to this power given to the parliament to divide the society. 

My question from CJs is that when the makers of constitution wanted to see everbody as equals, why did they leave a provision giving power to the parliament to amend this equality?  And if they wanted to give this power to the parliament, then why put this article on equality at the very first place at all?  Is it not ironical and debatable?  Please post your views.

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DATE: 05 May 2007, 6:39 pm / Category: Health

Dear Friends,

Here are some simple tips which you can follow and have a flat stomach & feel very light.

1. While eating your food, chew 32 times before you swallow.  Concentrate on the chewing process in a way that you can feel that all particles have been properly crushed and softened.

2. Avoid watching TV when you eat, because this disturbs your concentration on the food chewing and eating process and tends to impair the saliva generation and you tend to chew less and eat more.

3. Do not eat too much in one sitting.  Break-down your meals and eat more number with less quantity per serving.

4. Do not drink lot of water just before or after meals.  Wait for minimum 30 minutes (ideally one hour) after having meals.  Only one or two sips of water just before and after meals is good enough.

5. Try not to eat refined food made of refined wheat, like breads, noodles etc. and avoid eating too much of old cooked food.  Try to eat freshly cooked food.

6. Do a simple exercise:  In the morning after freshing up, lie down straight, press the palms of both your hands under your buttocks, take a deep breath and lift both your legs 12-18 inches above ground level with toe pointed straight.  Hold your breath and count 25.  Bring down the legs to ground level and inhale in this process.  Do this just 5 times each morning.

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If you follow the above-mentioned simple steps you will not only reduce the waist size, but also feel very comfortable and light and have good digestion.

All these are not just from the books, but experienced practically - so I thought to share with fellow CJs.

 

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DATE: 04 May 2007, 6:53 pm / Category: Sports

New Delhi: It was a meeting that International Football Federation (FIFA) President Sepp Blatter would long remember. For 45 minutes, President A P J Kalam held forth on the sport quoting profusely from a book by French soccer star Michel Platini and his "own dream" of popularising the sport in India's 600,000 villages.

 

"I have a dream and the dream is to make football popular in the villages of India so that more and more young people play it. For this I want top football stars to visit the villages and meet the children," Kalam told Blatter when the latter called on him last month during his India visit.

 

Impressed by what Kalam said, Blatter said the federation plans to send three top footballers to India next year. They are Franz Beckenbaur, Beckham and Platini who would tour rural areas interacting with children, a senior official of All India Football Federation (AIFF) said.

 

Kalam, who is very fond of children, said Indian kids in rural areas would be "inspired" to take up this game when they are able to meet top footballers of the world.

 

"They will see them, meet them and thus get inspiration from them to take up the game," he reportedly told Blatter.

 

The FIFA President commented: "He is a man of science and he knows so much about the game."

 

Blatter also had a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and had apprised him of the plans of FIFA for development of football, the world's most popular sport.

 

Blatter, who arrived in Kolkata on April 15 on his maiden visit to India, was given a red carpet welcome in the soccer-mad city.

 

The All India Football Federation (AIFF), headed by Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmusi, spent about Rs 50 lakh on the visit of Blatter and his entourage comprising around 100 officials.

--------- Source: CNNIBN

Dear CJs, when the whole Indian community is shouting and crying about the fate of cricket in India, other sports seem to have taken a backstep.  We have other sports like Football, our National Game Hockey etc. which no one is thinking about.  Our great President has once again seen what the others are overlooking and given a timely piece of suggestion.

 

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DATE: 03 May 2007, 2:30 pm / Category: Society

Ghaziabad: She may be just six days old, but Shradha has the entire Pathak household enthralled.

 

She was abandoned near a garbage dump in Ghaziabad, where 22-year-old Kalpna found her struggling for life. And Kalpna instantly decided to adopt the child.

 

"I am unmarried so my brother and sister-in-law will give her their name," says Kalpna.

 

Kalpna might not be the legal parent, but that doesnt bother her for she has the full support of her family.

 

Says her mother, Rameshwari Pathak, "People are talking, they like to rake up issues, but inspite of everything, we have decided to keep the baby."

 

For Kalpna, who is a final year student, this has been a life-altering experience.

 

"Earlier I used to behave like the kid of the house. Now I spend all my time with the baby," says she.

 

Kalpna is the only girl in a family of four brothers and right now Shradha is more a female companion than a daughter, but she is confident that she will never regret her decision.

 

"People's support is a great source of strength for me," says she.

 

Shradha might be a bundle of joy but she's also a huge responsibility. Registration of birth, legalities of a formal adoption all have to be taken care of, but despite everything, she is a happy responsibility for the Pathak family.

------------------ Source: CNNIBN

Dear CJs,

I am compelled to think about those guys who abandoned this cute little baby, while this brave girl against all odds of the society decided to take this brave step.  If all people in the society could take some lesson from Kalpana, our society would be a much better place to live.

 

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DATE: 01 May 2007, 5:23 pm / Category: Environment

In India , deforestation began in the 19 th century with the arrival of British colonialism. In 1823, Thomas Munro, a governor of the presidency, did away with the position of forest conservator, believing that the laws of supply and demand would encourage someone to provide forestry programs privately. This grave mistake caused Indi8a four decades of rapid logging without any tree planting. Railroads and roadways built by the British exacerbated the situation.

In 1864, the German Forester Dietrich Brandis was brought to India by Governor-general Lord Dalhousie in an attempt to fix the problem. Although a forest act and heavy recruitment for spaces in a new forest department ensued, it wasn't until another decade passed that forest reserves began to be set aside under the Indian Forest Act of 1878.

These reserves however, were no sure-fire way of conquering deforestation. The livestock of villagers were herded into the reserves when village fodder was depleted. Solutions such as fencing-in grazing lands were monumental tasks that required flawlessness. Today, grazing and the gathering of firewood in reserves continue.

In some of the more arid areas of India , tree-planting programs are backed by the Drought-Prone Area Program. In many areas however, villagers overrun these projects before the trees begin to have a chance. Penalties for such things as cutting down trees are waived, never collected, or are so minor that offenders don't mind constantly paying them. Corruption outweighs incentives for adhering to land and forest acts such as increased wages.

 

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DATE: 26 Apr 2007, 1:55 pm / Category: Other



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