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Friday, November 28, 2014

Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose - Biography and Scientific Contribution

Jagadish Chandra Bose was born in Bikrampur, Bengal, (now Munshiganj District of Bangladesh) on 30 November 1858.

Bose joined the Hare School in 1869 and then St. Xavier's School at Kolkata. In 1875, he passed the Entrance Examination (equivalent to school graduation) of University of Calcutta and was admitted to St. Xavier's College, Calcutta. At St. Xavier's,  He received a bachelor's degree from University of Calcutta in 1879.

Bose wanted to go to England to compete for the Indian Civil Service. But his father sent  Bose to England to study Medicine at the University of London. However, he had to quit because of ill health. The odour in the dissection rooms is also said to have exacerbated his illness.

Then he secured admission in Christ's College, Cambridge to study Natural Science. He received the Natural Science Tripos and MA from the University of Cambridge and a BSc from the University of London in 1884. Among Bose's teachers at Cambridge were Lord Rayleigh, Michael Foster, James Dewar, Francis Darwin, Francis Balfour, and Sidney Vines. At the time when Bose was a student at Cambridge, Prafulla Chandra Roy was a student at Edinburgh. They met in London and became intimate friends.

Bose returned to India in 1885. Sir Alfred Croft, the Director of Public Instruction, appointed Bose officiating professor of physics in Presidency College. Presidency College lacked a proper laboratory. Bose had to conduct his research in a small 24-square-foot (2.2 m2) room. He devised equipment for the research with the help of one untrained tinsmith. The college routine was made as arduous as possible for him, so that he could not have the time he needed for investigation." After his daily grind, he carried out his research far into the night, in a small room in his college. The policy of the British government for its colonies was not conducive to attempts at original research. Bose spent his own money for making experimental equipment. Within a decade of his joining Presidency College, he emerged a pioneer in the incipient research field of wireless waves.


Bose's 60 GHz microwave apparatus at the Bose Institute, Kolkata, India.
His receiver used a galena crystal detector inside a horn antenna and galvanometer to detect microwaves. Bose invented the crystal radio detector, waveguide, horn antenna, and other apparatus used at microwave frequencies.


The first remarkable aspect of Bose's follow up microwave research was that he reduced the waves to the millimetre level (about 5 mm wavelength). He realised the disadvantages of long waves for studying their light-like properties.

During a  public demonstration at Town Hall of Kolkata, Bose ignited gunpowder and rang a bell at a distance using millimetre range wavelength microwaves. He said "The invisible light can easily pass through brick walls, buildings etc. Therefore, messages can be transmitted by means of it without the mediation of wires."

Bose's first scientific paper, "On polarisation of electric rays by double-refracting crystals" was communicated to the Asiatic Society of Bengal in May 1895. His second paper was communicated to the Royal Society of London by Lord Rayleigh in October 1895. In December 1895, the London journal the Electrician (Vol. 36) published Bose's paper, "On a new electro-polariscope". At that time, the word 'coherer', coined by Lodge, was used in the English-speaking world for Hertzian wave receivers or detectors. The Electrician readily commented on Bose's coherer. (December 1895). The Englishman (18 January 1896) quoted from the Electrician and commented as follows:

”Should Professor Bose succeed in perfecting and patenting his ‘Coherer’, we may in time see the whole system of coast lighting throughout the navigable world revolutionised by a Bengali scientist working single handed in our Presidency College Laboratory.”

In May 1897, two years after Bose's public demonstration in Kolkata, Guglielmo Marconi conducted his wireless signalling experiment on Salisbury Plain. Bose went to London on a lecture tour in 1896 and met Marconi, who was conducting wireless experiments for the British post office. In an interview, Bose expressed disinterest in commercial telegraphy and suggested others use his research work. In 1899, Bose announced the development of a "iron-mercury-iron coherer with telephone detector" in a paper presented at the Royal Society, London.

Bose's demonstration of remote wireless signalling has priority over Marconi.He was the first to use a semiconductor junction to detect radio waves, and he invented various now commonplace microwave components.In 1954, Pearson and Brattain gave priority to Bose for the use of a semi-conducting crystal as a detector of radio waves.Further work at millimetre wavelengths was almost non-existent for nearly 50 years. In 1897, Bose described to the Royal Institution in London his research carried out in Kolkata at millimetre wavelengths. He used waveguides, horn antennas, dielectric lenses, various polarisers and even semiconductors at frequencies as high as 60 GHz;much of his original equipment is still in existence, now at the Bose Institute in Kolkata. A 1.3 mm multi-beam receiver now in use on the NRAO 12 Metre Telescope, Arizona, US, incorporates concepts from his original 1897 papers.

Sir Nevill Mott, Nobel Laureate in 1977 for his own contributions to solid-state electronics, remarked that "J.C. Bose was at least 60 years ahead of his time. In fact, he had anticipated the existence of P-type and N-type semiconductors."


His major contribution in the field of biophysics was the demonstration of the electrical nature of the conduction of various stimuli (e.g., wounds, chemical agents) in plants, which were earlier thought to be of a chemical nature. These claims were later proven experimentally. He was also the first to study the action of microwaves in plant tissues and corresponding changes in the cell membrane potential. He researched the mechanism of the seasonal effect on plants, the effect of chemical inhibitors on plant stimuli and the effect of temperature. From the analysis of the variation of the cell membrane potential of plants under different circumstances, he hypothesised that plants can "feel pain, understand affection etc."




Bose performed a comparative study of the fatigue response of various metals and organic tissue in plants. He subjected metals to a combination of mechanical, thermal, chemical, and electrical stimuli and noted the similarities between metals and cells. Bose's experiments demonstrated a cyclical fatigue response in both stimulated cells and metals, as well as a distinctive cyclical fatigue and recovery response across multiple types of stimuli in both living cells and metals.

Bose documented a characteristic electrical response curve of plant cells to electrical stimulus, as well as the decrease and eventual absence of this response in plants treated with anaesthetics or poison. The response was also absent in zinc treated with oxalic acid. He noted a similarity in reduction of elasticity between cooled metal wires and organic cells, as well as an impact on the recovery cycle period of the metal.


On 14 September 2012, Bose's experimental work in millimetre-band radio was recognised as an IEEE Milestone in Electrical and Computer Engineering.


http://www.vigyanprasar.gov.in/scientists/JCBOSE.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagadish_Chandra_Bose

http://www.famousscientists.org/jagadish-chandra-bose/

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Puttaparti Satya Sai Baba - Thoughts and Quotations

Birthday 23 November


Help Ever, Hurt Never


 “Love All, Serve All. Help Ever, Hurt Never”.

let the glory of God be sung in all languages in a variety of tunes.

“There is only one religion; the religion of Love"

Religions were  instituted to foster the welfare of society through the promotion of love for all beings.

"Love lives by giving and forgiving; self lives by getting and forgetting.

"The Best way to Love God is to Love All and Serve All"

Whenever and wherever you put yourself in touch with GOD, that is the state of meditation.

Have constructive thoughts, consoling words, compassionate acts.

There should not be any trace of dislike or distrust on the score of nationality, language, caste, economic status, scholarship, age or sex.

The service of man is the only means by which you can serve GOD.

Do not use poisonous words against anyone, for words wound more fatally than even arrows.





http://www.srisathyasai.org.in/Pages/His_teachings/His_Teachings.htm

http://www.saibaba.ws/quotes/108quotes.htm

http://www.writingsofstefanpasti.net/2-Quotations-from-Sathya-Sai-Speaks-Vol.pdf  313 pages pdf document.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Google Doodle 2014 India Competition - Winners







http://www.google.co.in/doodle4google/winners.html




National Winner

Natural and Cultural Paradise - Assam

Vaidehi Reddy, Army Public School, Pune

"I want to go to Assam because it is rich in both, natural beauty and culture. Its music and rich folk arts are also very good."


Group 1 winner

God's own country Kerala

Sarvagjna Miriyala, DAV Public School, Panvel, Mumbai





Group 2 winner

Ooty's Beauty

V Sai Latha Rani, Sri Prakash Vidyaniketan, Vizag




Group 3 winner

Heritage Glorified - Hampi

Y Sai Greeshma, Sri Prakash Vidyaniketan, Vizag





All 12 Finalists Doodles
http://www.google.co.in/doodle4google/vote.html

Bagde Haribhau Kisanrao - Biography




Senior BJP legislator Haribhau Bagde was unanimously elected as the Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly after Shiv Sena and Congress withdrew their candidates on 12 November 2014.

Mr Bagde is MLA from  Phulambhari constituency in Aurangabad district. He was escorted to the Speaker's chair by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, NCP leader Ajit Pawar, Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde and senior-most legislator Ganpatrao Deshmukh of PWP.

Mr Fadnavis described Mr Bagde as a grass root worker and agriculturalist. He held several important posts in the BJP  and also he was a minister in  the Sena-BJP government in 1995.

Congress candidate Varsha Gaikwad withdrew her nomination for the Speaker's post after former ally NCP declined to support her. Similarly, Shiv Sena also withdrew their candidate in response to the appeal by Chief Minister.


Bagade was born in a Maratha family in Phulambri town of Aurangabad district.


Votes polled by principal candidates in Phulambri constituency in  Maharastra Assembly Election of 2014.

Candidate                                        Votes Party
BAGDE HARIBHAU KISANRAO 73294 BJP
DR. KALYAN VAIJINATHRAO KALE 69683 INC
ANURADHATAI ATUL CHAVHAN 31959 NCP

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad - Biography


Date of Birth 11 November 1888



Abul Kalam Muhiyuddin Ahmed Azad  (11 November 1888 – 22 February 1958) was a senior political leader of the Indian independence movement.

Azad was born on 11 November 1888 in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.  His forefathers had immigrated to the Mughal Empire during the 16th century from the city of Herat, Afghanistan). Azad's father  lived with his family in the Bengal region, but left India during 1857 or 58 settled in Mecca, where he married. Azad was thus born i Mecca, but the family  returned to Calcutta 1890. Azad was a serious and intelligent student. He was contributing learned articles to Makhzan (the best known literary magazine of the day) at fourteen. He completed the traditional course of study at the young age of sixteen, nine years ahead of his contemporaries.

Azad was a critic of the British forther practice racial discrimination and ignoring the needs of common people across India. He also criticised Muslim politicians for focusing on communal issues before the national interest and rejected the All India Muslim League's communal separatism. Azad opposed the partition of Bengal in 1905 and became increasingly active in revolutionary activities of Sri Aurobindo and Shyam Sundar Chakravarty.

He established an Urdu weekly newspaper in 1912 called Al-Hilal and openly attacked British policies while exploring the challenges facing common people. Espousing the ideals of Indian nationalism, Azad's publications were aimed at encouraging young Muslims into fighting for independence and Hindu-Muslim unity. His work helped improve the relationship between Hindus and Muslims in Bengal, Al-Hilal was banned in 1914 under the Press Act. Azad started a new journal, the Al-Balagh, which increased its active support for nationalist causes and communal unity. In this period Azad also became active in his support for the Khilafat agitation to protect the position of the Sultan of Ottoman Turkey,


Gandhi  supported the Khilafat struggle, helping to bridge Hindu-Muslim political divides. Azad and the Ali brothers warmly welcomed Congress support and began working together on a programme of non-co-operation by asking all Indians to boycott British-run schools, colleges, courts, public services, the civil service, police and military. Non-violence and Hindu-Muslim unity were  important themes propagated by them. Azad joined the Congress and was also elected president of the All India Khilafat Committee. Azad and other leaders were soon arrested.

Azad grew personally close to Gandhi and his philosophy. He became one of the founders of  the Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi as an institution of higher education managed entirely by Indians without any British support or control. He adopted the Prophet Muhammad's ideas by living simply, rejecting material possessions and pleasures. He began to spin his own clothes using khadi on the charkha, and began frequently living and participating in the ashrams organised by Gandhi.Azad grew close to fellow nationalists like Jawaharlal Nehru, Chittaranjan Das and Subhas Chandra Bose. He strongly criticised the opinions of the Muslim intellectuals from the Aligarh Muslim University and the Muslim League.

In 1923, Azad  became the youngest man to be elected Congress president. Azad led efforts to organise the Flag Satyagraha in Nagpur. Azad served as president of the 1924 Unity Conference in Delhi, using his position to work to re-unite the Swarajists and the Khilafat leaders under the common banner of the Congress. In the years following the movement, Azad travelled across India, working extensively to promote Gandhi's vision, education and social reform.


Azad became an inspiring personality in the field of politics. Azad became an important national leader, and served on the Congress Working Committee and in the offices of general secretary and president many times. The political environment in India re-energised in 1928 with nationalist outrage against the Simon Commission appointed to propose constitutional reforms. The commission included no Indian members and did not even consult Indian leaders and experts. In response, the Congress and other political parties appointed a commission under Motilal Nehru to propose constitutional reforms from Indian opinions. In 1928, Azad endorsed the ending of separate electorates based on religion, and called for an independent India to be committed to secularism. At the 1928 Congress session in Guwahati, Azad endorsed Gandhi's call for dominion status for India within a year. If not granted, the Congress would adopt the goal of complete political independence for India.  Azad supported  Nehru in promoting socialism as the means to fight inequality, poverty and other national challenges. When Gandhi embarked on the Dandi Salt March that inaugurated the Salt Satyagraha in 1930, Azad organised and led the nationalist raid, albeit non-violent on the Dharasana salt works to protest the salt tax and restriction of its production and sale. The biggest nationalist upheaval in a decade, Azad was imprisoned along with millions of people, and would frequently be jailed from 1930 to 1934 for long periods of time. When elections were called under the Government of India Act 1935, Azad was appointed to organise the Congress election campaign, raising funds, selecting candidates and organising volunteers and rallies across India. He did not himself contest a seat. He again declined to contest elections in 1937, and helped head the party's efforts to organise elections and preserve co-ordination and unity amongst the Congress governments elected in different provinces.

At the 1936 Congress session in Lucknow,  Azad had backed the election of Nehru as Congress president, and supported the resolution endorsing socialism. In doing so, he aligned with Congress socialists like Nehru, Subhash Bose and Jayaprakash Narayan. Azad also supported Nehru's re-election in 1937. . Azad  rejected Jinnah's demand that the League be seen exclusively as the representative of Indian Muslims.


In 1938, Azad served as an intermediary between the supporters of and the Congress faction led by Congress president Subhash Bose, who criticised Gandhi for not launching another rebellion against the British and sought to move the Congress away from Gandhi's leadership. Azad stood by Gandhi with most other Congress leaders, but reluctantly endorsed the Congress's exit from the assemblies in 1939 following the inclusion of India in World War II. Nationalists were infuriated that the viceroy had entered India into the war without consulting national leaders. Although willing to support the British effort in return for independence, Azad sided with Gandhi when the British ignored the Congress overtures.  Azad was elected Congress president in its session in Ramgarh. Speaking vehemently against Jinnah's Two-Nation Theory—the notion that Hindus and Muslims were distinct nations—Azad lambasted religious separatism and exhorted all Muslims to preserve a united India, as all Hindus and Muslims were Indians who shared deep bonds of brotherhood and nationhood. In his presidential address, Azad said:

"... Full eleven centuries have passed by since then. Islam has now as great a claim on the soil of India as Hinduism. If Hinduism has been the religion of the people here for several thousands of years Islam also has been their religion for a thousand years. Just as a Hindu can say with pride that he is an Indian and follows Hinduism, so also we can say with equal pride that we are Indians and follow Islam. I shall enlarge this orbit still further. The Indian Christian is equally entitled to say with pride that he is an Indian and is following a religion of India, namely Christianity."



On 7 August 1942 at the Gowalia Tank in Mumbai, Congress president Azad inaugurated the  Quit India struggle with a vociferous speech exhorting Indians into action. Just two days later, the British arrested Azad and the entire Congress leadership. While Gandhi was incarcerated at the Aga Khan Palace in Pune, Azad and the Congress Working Committee were imprisoned at a fort in Ahmednagar, where they would remain under isolation and intense security for nearly four years. Outside news and communication had been largely prohibited and completely censored. Although frustrated at their incarceration and isolation, Azad and his companions attested to feeling a deep satisfaction at having done their duty to their country and people.

Azad began working on his classic Urdu work, the Ghubhar-i-Khatir. Sharing daily chores, Azad also taught the Persian and Urdu languages, as well as Indian and world history to several of his companions.


With the end of the war, the British agreed to transfer power to Indian hands. All political prisoners were released in 1946 and Azad led the Congress in the elections for the new Constituent Assembly of India, which would draft India's constitution. He headed the delegation to negotiate with the British Cabinet Mission, in his sixth year as Congress president. While attacking Jinnah's demand for Pakistan and the mission's proposal of 16 June 1946 that envisaged the partition of India, Azad became a strong proponent of the mission's earlier proposal of 16 May. The proposal advocated a federation with a weak central government and great autonomy for the provinces. Additionally, the proposal called for the "grouping" of provinces on religious lines, which would informally band together the Muslim-majority provinces. While Gandhi and others were suspicious of this clause, Azad argued that the Jinnah's demand for Pakistan would be buried and the concerns of the Muslim community would be assuaged.

Under Azad and Patel's backing, the Working Committee approved the resolution against Gandhi's advice. Jawaharlal Nehru replaced Azad as Congress president and led the Congress into the interim government. Azad was appointed to head the Department of Education. However, Jinnah's Direct Action Day agitation for Pakistan, launched on 16 August sparked communal violence across India. Thousands of people were killed as Azad travelled across Bengal and Bihar to calm the tensions and heal relations between Muslims and Hindus. Despite Azad's call for Hindu-Muslim unity, Jinnah's popularity amongst Muslims soared and the League entered a coalition with the Congress in December, but continued to boycott the constituent assembly.

Azad had grown increasingly hostile to Jinnah, who had described him as the "Muslim Lord Haw-Haw" and a "Congress Showboy."Azad had been assailed by Muslim religious leaders for his commitment to nationalism and secularism, But Azad continued to proclaim his faith in Hindu-Muslim unity:[19]

"I am proud of being an Indian. I am part of the indivisible unity that is Indian nationality. I am indispensable to this noble edifice and without me this splendid structure is incomplete. I am an essential element, which has gone to build India. I can never surrender this claim."

Amidst more incidences of violence in early 1947, the Congress-League coalition struggled to function. The provinces of Bengal and Punjab were to be partitioned on religious lines, and on 3 June 1947 the British announced a proposal to partition India on religious lines, with the princely states free to choose between either dominion. The proposal was hotly debated in the All India Congress Committee, with Muslim leaders Saifuddin Kitchlew and Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan expressing fierce opposition. Azad privately discussed the proposal with Gandhi, Patel and Nehru, but despite his opposition was unable to deny the popularity of the League and the unworkability of any coalition with the League. Faced with the serious possibility of a civil war, Azad abstained from voting on the resolution, remaining silent and not speaking throughout the AICC session, which ultimately approved the plan.


India's partition and independence on 15 August 1947 brought with it a scourge of violence that swept the Punjab, Bengal, Bihar, Delhi and many other parts of India. Millions of Hindus and Sikhs fled the newly created Pakistan for India, and millions of Muslims fled for West Pakistan and East Pakistan, created out of East Bengal. Violence claimed the lives of an estimated one million people. Azad took up responsibility for the safety of Muslims in India, touring affected areas in Bengal, Bihar, Assam and the Punjab, guiding the organisation of refugee camps, supplies and security. Azad gave speeches to large crowds encouraging peace and calm in the border areas and encouraging Muslims across the country to remain in India and not fear for their safety and security. Focusing on bringing the capital of Delhi back to peace, Azad organised security and relief efforts, but was drawn into a dispute with the Deputy prime minister and Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel when he demanded the dismissal of Delhi's police commissioner, who was a Sikh accused by Muslims of overlooking attacks and neglecting their safety. Patel argued that the commissioner was not biased, and if his dismissal was forced it would provoke anger amongst Hindus and Sikhs and divide the city police. In Cabinet meetings and discussions with Gandhi, Patel and Azad clashed over security issues in Delhi and Punjab, as well as the allocation of resources for relief and rehabilitation. Patel opposed Azad and Nehru's proposal to reserve the houses vacated by Muslims who had departed for Pakistan for Muslims in India displaced by the violence. Patel argued that a secular government could not offer preferential treatment for any religious community, while Azad remained anxious to assure the rehabilitation of Muslims in India, secularism, religious freedom and equality for all Indians. He supported provisions for Muslim citizens to make avail of Muslim personal law in courts.

Azad remained a close confidante, supporter and advisor to prime minister Nehru, and played an important role in framing national policies. Azad masterminded the creation of national programmes of school and college construction and spreading the enrolment of children and young adults into schools, to promote universal primary education. Elected to the lower house of the Indian Parliament, the Lok Sabha in 1952 and again in 1957, Azad supported Nehru's socialist economic and industrial policies, as well as the advancing social rights and economic opportunities for women and underprivileged Indians. In 1956, he served as president of the UNESCO General Conference held in Delhi. Azad spent the final years of his life focusing on writing his book India Wins Freedom, an exhaustive account of India's freedom struggle and its leaders, which was published in 1957.

As India's first Minister of Education, he emphasised on educating the rural poor and girls. As Chairman of the Central Advisory Board of Education, he gave thrust to adult literacy, universal primary education, free and compulsory for all children up to the age of 14, girls education, and diversification of secondary education and vocational training.

He oversaw the setting up of the Central Institute of Education, Delhi, which later became the Department of Education of the University of Delhi as "a research centre for solving new educational problems of the country". Under his leadership, the Ministry of Education established the first Indian Institute of Technology in 1951 and the University Grants Commission in 1953., He also laid emphasis on the development of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and the Faculty of Technology of the Delhi University. He foresaw a great future in the IITs for India.

He died of a stroke on February 22, 1958. For his invaluable contribution to the nation, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was posthumously awarded India's highest civilian honour, Bharat Ratna in 1992.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abul_Kalam_Azad

http://makaias.gov.in/biography.html

Maulana Azad Education Foundation
http://www.maef.nic.in/












Following India's independence, he became the first Minister of Education in the Indian government. In 1992 he was posthumously awarded India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna. He is commonly remembered as Maulana Azad; the word Maulana is an honorific meaning 'learned man', and he had adopted Azad (Free) as his pen name. His contribution to establishing the education foundation in India is recognised by celebrating his birthday as "National Education Day" across India.

National Education Day - India - 11 November

Original URL: http://knol.google.com/k/-/-/2utb2lsm2k7a/5933


2014
CBSE Event

The Board commemorates the birth anniversary of legendary freedom fighter, eminent scholar and the  first education of minister of independent India Maulana Abul Kalam Azad by recalling his contribution to the cause of education on November 11, the National Education Day every year.


On National Education Day, the schools affiliated to board organise seminars, symposia, essay-writing,  elocution competitions, workshops and rallies on the importance of literacy and nation’s commitment to  all aspects of education.

Theme: ‘Sanitation and Inclusion in school’

 Objective: To acknowledge and honour a teacher and a student who have gone that extra mile to connect with
people and done something for socially or economically underprivileged and for the sanitation
Participants:
One teacher and one student nominated by the school that have been involved consistently and
extensively in Sanitation or Inclusive Education and are responsible for bringing about a visible
change in their area of work. The teacher should have worked for at least two years and the student
should have worked for one year continuously and should be in class VI or above.
Focus Areas: A positive impact on the society through -
 Work done for the sanitation in and around school
 Work done for the social inclusion of children with special needs
 Addressing environmental issues
 Supporting National Integration
 Creating awareness about need of hygiene or about the needs of special children
 Exemplary work for addressing on issues related to Sanitation or Inclusion
 Any other
http://www.cbseacademic.in/web_material/Circulars/2014/41_NED_2014.pdf


2013
Speech by the President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee at the National Education Day celebrations and the inauguration of 40th Jawaharlal Nehru National Science, Mathematics and Environment Exhibition for Children –2013
http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=100508


Speech of Prime Minister Dr. Man Mohan Singh on National Education Day 2011

In various languages

http://ssa.nic.in/rte/11th-november-national-education-day-prime-minister-s-message-on-rte

Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh is a role model for an India where it is effort and behavior and not birth which determines the success. It is really significant that he said "  I owe to education, everything  that I have achieved in the journey of my life." He elevated education in various processes that we undertake in our life.

Diligence : Careful or persistent work or effort


Why November 11 is celebrated as National Education Day?
http://www.htcampus.com/article/today-national-education-day-1030/

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Shri Y.S. Chowdhary - Biography










The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath as Minister of State to Shri Y.S. Chowdhary, at a Swearing-in Ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on November 09, 2014. 
CNR :61375 Photo ID :58647

http://pib.nic.in/photo//2014/Nov/l2014110958647.jpg




From Andhra Pradesh
Industrialist

Jayant Sinha - Biography










The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath as Minister of State to Shri Jayant Sinha, at a Swearing-in Ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on November 09, 2014. 
CNR :61376 Photo ID :58648
http://pib.nic.in/photo//2014/Nov/l2014110958648.jpg

Son of Shri Yashwant Sinha


Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore - Biography









The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath as Minister of State to Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, at a Swearing-in Ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on November 09, 2014.
CNR :61377 Photo ID :58649
http://pib.nic.in/photo//2014/Nov/l2014110958649.jpg

Shri Babul Supriya (Babul Supriyo) Baral - Biography









राष्‍ट्रपति श्री प्रणब मुखर्जी 09 नवम्‍बर, 2014 को नई दिल्‍ली में राष्‍ट्रपति भवन में आयोजित शपथ ग्रहण समारोह में श्री बाबुल सुप्रिया (बाबुल सुप्रियो) बराल को राज्‍य मंत्री पद की शपथ दिलाते हुए।
The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath as Minister of State to Shri Babul Supriya (Babul Supriyo) Baral, at a Swearing-in Ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on November 09, 2014.
CNR :61378 Photo ID :58650

http://pib.nic.in/photo//2014/Nov/l2014110958650.jpg

Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti - Biography









The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath as Minister of State to Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, at a Swearing-in Ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on November 09, 2014.
CNR :61379 Photo ID :58651

http://pib.nic.in/photo//2014/Nov/l2014110958651.jpg

Vijay Sampla - Biography


9 November Shri Vijay Sampla Swearing in.
Picture Source: http://pib.nic.in/photo//2014/Nov/l2014110958652.jpg




He is a first-time BJP MP from the Hoshiarpur (reserved) seat. Sampla, 53, comes from the Ravidassia Dalit community.  Sampla is a businessman. But he was once a plumber.

He is the second Lok Sabha MP from Punjab to become a Union Minister. Sampla is a matriculate and  had worked in the Gulf as a plumber  and then came back and set up his own business in Punjab.

Birendra Singh - Biography


Inducted into the Union Cabinet on 9 November 2014

Birender Singh switched to the BJP after spending four decades in the Congress.  He quit the Congress and his Rajya Sabha seat recently. Grandson of well-known farmers' rights leader, Sir Chhotu Ram, Birender Singh is a senior leader in Haryana. 

Jagat Prakash Nadda - Biography



He has roots in the RSS and its parivar organizations. He was on inducted into the union cabinet of India on 9 November 2014.

 He has been active on the national political scene since 2010 when he was picked by then Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Nitin Gadkari to join his new team. He was made the party's national general secretary.

Nadda, as a forest minister in the Himachal Pradesh government, was the brain behind opening forest police stations to check forest crimes, launching community-driven plantation, setting up forest ponds and the massive plantation of deodars to boost the depleting green cover of  Shimla.  

Suresh Pradbhu - Biography


He was former CEO of Saraswat Bank.

He was chemical and fertilizer minister and then environment minister in the first National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, Prabhu excelled in his  work  in the cabinet. Prabhu also served as chairman of task force for the inter-linking of rivers project.

He is considered close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was the  head of a high-level Advisory Group for Integrated Development of Power, Coal and Renewable Energy for reforms in the power sector, and is also working on or is a member of over a dozen major international organisations and panels.

Suresh Prabhu is also involved two doctoral projects one on Public Finance from Mumbai University and the other from Berlin University on Climate Change.

Manohar Parrikar - Biography

Former Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar was sworn-in as union cabinet minister on 9 November 2014. He is widely tipped to hold the defence portfolio.

He was three-time chief minister of Goa. He has conveyed an image of being a humble, soft-spoken, unassuming qualified metallurgist with unkempt salt and pepper hair, who wears crumpled bush-shirts and scuffed sandals to work. He led BJP in Goa to unprecedented heights

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Devendra Fadnavis Biography


                                                              From website http://www.devendrafadnavis.in/media/photos/


Devendra Gangadhar Fadnavis, son of Shri Gangadhar Rao Fadnavis was an MLC from Nagpur,  was  born 22 July 1970. . He is the current president of Maharashtra state unit of Bharatiya Janata Party and MLA of Maharashtra from Nagpur (South West Nagpur) . He is one of the contenders for CMs post as BJP is tipped to be the largest party in Maharashtra as per exit polls.


He  joined the BJP Maharashtra at an early age and became a ward President of BJYM. He  became the youngest municipal corporator of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation at the age of 21 and remained corporator for two consecutive terms, in 1992 and 1997.

He was the second youngest mayor in India. He was elected  as the Mayor of Nagpur at the age of 27, in 1997. He is also the only person to be re-elected as the Mayor in Council of the State of Maharashtra. He became a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra State, representing Nagpur, in 1999. He is representing the constituency since them.

In his childhood, Fadanavis he joined the RSS Shakha at Trikoni Park and took active part.

Devendra Fadanvis completed a 5-year law degree from Law College Nagpur. During his student days, he was active in ABVP. In the ABVP,  Devendra also acquired a Post Graduate Degree in Business Management and a diploma in Project Management from D. S. E.(German Foundation for International Development), Berlin.

As a representative of the people in Maharashtra State Assembly, he has been a part of various committees over the years like – Estimates Committee; Standing Committee on Urban development and Housing; Rules Committee; Public Undertaking Committee, Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (Water Supply).

Mr. Fadanvis has been recognised  for his legislative activities  both nationally and internationally. He was recognized by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association with  the ‘Best Parliamentarian Award‘. He has been elected as a secretary of the Global Parliamentarian on habitat.

He is an expert in government budgetin and his analysis of the annual national budget is eagerly awaited every year. He authored two books on government budgets - How To Understand & Read State Budget’ and another book explaining budgetary concepts and understanding state budget documents.


Devendra Fadnavis was sworn-in as the BJP's first and Maharashtra's 27th chief minister in a gala ceremony at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on Friday, 31 October 2014.

Oath taking ceremony
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Uploaded by Bharatiya Janata Party



Maharashtra Governor C Vidysagar Rao administered the oath of office and secrecy to Fadnavis and nine other ministers at a ceremony witnessed by over 30,000 people, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, BJP veteran LK Advani and BJP National President, Amit Shah.




Interview of Devendra Fadanvis  7 Oct 2014
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Focus News upload

Devendra Fadanvis - Vijaya Sankalpa Melawa - 5 sep 2014
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Devendra Fadanvis Channel upload

Party Posts and Responsibilities Handled

President, BJP Maharashtra
General Secretary, BJP Maharashtra Pradesh
National Vice President, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha
State Vice President, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha
Nagpur City President, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha
Office Bearer, Nagpur (West) BJP
Ward Convenor, BJP


Significant Social Contributions

Secretary, Global Parliamentarians Forum on Habitat for Asia region
Resource Person on Urban Infrastructure Financing & Political Management issues
Member of Executive Council, Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini, Mumbai (NGO recognized by United Nation)
Vice President, Central Hindu Military Education Society, Nashik (Bhonsala Military School)
President, Nagpur District Basketball Association
Senate Member, Rashtra Sant Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur University



International Activities



Participation and presentations -International Environmental Summit at Honolulu, USA (1999)
U.S. National Conference Of State Legislatures at Washington and Nashville, USA (2005)
Presentation on ‘Disaster Mitigation And Management in India’ at International summit organized by IDRC-UNESCO –WCDR at Davos, Switzerland (2006)
Presented a paper on ‘Natural Disasters Mitigation-Issues On Ecological And Social Risk’ at Global Environmental Change Congress at Beijing in China organized by WMO –ESSP (2006)
Represented India in ASEM meeting of young political leaders from Asia & Europe at Copenhagen, Denmark (2007)
Presented paper on ‘Energy Security issues’ at New Generation Seminar organized by East-West Centre of U.S. federal government (2008)
Member of High Level Delegation of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association to Australia, New Zealand and Singapore (2008)
Member of delegation of INDO RUSSIA Chamber of Commerce to Moscow, Russia (2010)
Participated at Global Parliamentarian Forum on Habitat at Croatia, Europe (2011)
Participated at GPH Asia regional meet at Malaysia (2012)
Member of delegation invited by United Nations’ Habitat at UN headquarters at Nairobi in Kenya (2012)



http://www.devendrafadnavis.in/the-man/bio/

http://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/devendra-fadnavis-is-bjp-s-maharashtra-unit-chief-113041100287_1.html

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/devendra-fadnavis-elected-bjp-chief-in-maharashtra-352796

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Major Som Nath Sharma, PVC - Biography




Major Som Nath Sharma was born on 31 January 1923 in a Brahmin family at Dadh, Kangra Himachal Pradesh India. He is from military family. His father, Major General Amar Nath Sharma, retired as Director, Medical Services (Army). His brother Lt. General Surindar Nath Sharma retired as Engineer-in-chief. His one more brother is  General Vishwa Nath Sharma (retired as Chief of Army Staff, 1988–1990). His sister Major Kamla Tewari (Medical Doctor) also served in the defence forces. He joined Prince of Wales Royal Military College in Dehra Dun and later the Royal Military Academy. He was commissioned into the 8th Battalion, 19th Hyderabad Regiment (later 4th Battalion, Kumaon Regiment) of the Indian Army on 22 February 1942.  He was involved during the second World War in the Arakan Operations.

Battle of Badgam

Somnath's company was airlifted to Srinagar on 31 October 1947. Even though, his right hand was in a plaster cast due to fracture sustained in hockey game, he insisted on being with his company in the battle area and was given permission to command his unit.

On 3 November 1947, Major Somnath Sharma's company (D Company of 4 Kumaon) was ordered to defend  Badgam Village in the Kashmir Valley. 500 raiders approached Badgam from the direction of Gulmarg and attacked the Indian army from three sides. Indian army sustained heavy casualties from the ensuing mortar bombardment. It was outnumbered by seven to one,  Sharma urged his company to fight bravely, and ran from post to post to help as well as motivate his men. Major Sharma took upon himself the task of filling the magazines and issuing them to men, operating light machine guns. His last message to Brigade HQ  was: "The enemies are only 50 yards from us. We are heavily outnumbered. We are under devastating fire. I shall not withdraw an inch but will fight to our last man and our last round."  While he was busy fighting the enemy, a mortar shell exploded on the ammunition near him.

By the time the relief company of 1st Battalion Kumaon Regiment reached Badgam, the position had been overrun. However, the attackers suffered 200 casualties due to the spirited defence by Major Sharma and his soldiers and that slowed their forward movement. There was time for more Indian troops to land in Srinagar airfield and defend all routes to Srinagar with adequate strength. In this manner, Somnath Sharma prevented the fall of Srinagar and arguably the Kashmir Valley.


The citation for the Param Vir Chakra awarded to him reads:

CITATION
Maj Somnath Sharma

4 KUMANON (IC-521)

On 3 November 1947, Major Somnath Sharma’s company was ordered on a fighting patrol to Badgam in the Kashmir Valley . He reached his objective at first light on 3 November and took up a position south of Badgam at 1100 hours. The enemy, estimated at about 500 attacked his company position from three sides; the company began to sustain heavy casualties.

Fully realizing the gravity of the situation and the direct threat that would result to both the aerodrome and Srinagar via Hum Hom, Major Somnath Sharma urged his company to fight the enemy tenaciously. With extreme bravery he kept rushing across the open ground to his sections exposing himself to heavy and accurate fire to urge them to hold on.

Keeping his nerve, he skillfully directed the fire of his sections into the ever-advancing enemy. He repeatedly exposed himself to the full fury of enemy fire and laid out cloth strips to guide our aircraft onto their targets in full view of the enemy.

Realising that casualties had affected the effectiveness of his light automatics, this officer whose left hand was in plaster, personally commenced filling magazines and issuing them to the light machine gunners. A mortar shell landed right in the middle of the ammunition resulting in an explosion that killed him.

Major Sharma’s company held on to list position and the remnants withdrew only when almost completely surrounded. His inspiring example resulted in the enemy being delayed for six hours, thus gaining time for our reinforcements to get into position at Hum Hom to stem the tide of the enemy advance.

His leadership, gallantry and tenacious defense were such that his men were inspired to fight the enemy by seven to one, six hours after this gallant officer had been killed.

He has set an example of courage and qualities seldom equaled in the history of the Indian Army. His last message to the Brigade Headquarters a few moments before he was killed was, ‘the enemy are only 50 yards from us. We are heavily outnumbered. We are under devastating fire. I shall not withdraw an inch but will fight to the last man and the last round.’


The first episode of the TV series, Param Vir Chakra (1990) was based on him.

Param Vir Chakra Episode on Major Som Nath Sharma - YouTube Video

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Uploaded by Himalaya Films

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Som_Nath_Sharma

http://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/india-s-first-param-vir-chakra-winner-major-som-nath-sharma-20267.html

Param Vir Chakra Awardee List - Indian Army Site

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Cosmology in Vedas



There is an article by Subhash Kak on Archive.org platform titled "Yajnavalkya and Puranic Cosmology." According to the article, Rigveda talks of seven continents. I have not given the link to the article as I was not clear of the copy right issue.

Brihadaranyak Upanishad contains material related to cosmology that appears in subsequently in Puranas.