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Thursday,
April 11, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Wages of mobilisation Not by POTA alone Threat to Haryana industry |
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US foreign policy dilemmas
Responding to the challenges of life
Neurologists demystify Alzheimer’s progression through brain
Excess bread eating leads to myopia
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Wages of mobilisation When the Indian troops were amassed on the border with Pakistan in the wake of brazen and continued export of cross-border terrorism by Pakistan, it had appeared as if India was either going to war or was issuing a stern warning to Islamabad that enough was enough. But the standoff has continued for nearly four months now. The practical problems that have arisen because of this long deployment were highlighted by The Tribune the other day. And they are nightmarish. Soldiers are having to stay in sub-human conditions in the blistering heat of the Rajasthan desert. Things can only worsen as the summer sets in with its full fury when the mercury will shoot up to 50 degrees C. Even when the monsoon comes, things will only worsen. Indian troops are geared up for braving the worst. But machines like tanks and guns are not. It is doubtful if the soldiers can maintain the desired state of readiness in the prevailing situation for long. The long standoff is also going to have an adverse impact on the country's preparedness as well. As the report pointed out, the Army administration has been thrown out of gear. Perhaps the mobilisation was inevitable when the Pakistani agents had become so bold as to attack even the Parliament complex on December 13. But four months down the line, it is necessary to have a fresh look at the advisability of continuing with the present state. What must be conceded is that the deployment of the Army in forward areas has not had much impact on the ingress of terrorists. There are several other routes that they are able to take with impunity. India has made its point to Islamabad in no uncertain terms. Gen Pervez Musharraf and his administration today know that India cannot be pushed too far. The military-chief-turned-President had started to see reason only after the Army mobilisation by India. Perhaps the future Indian goals can be attained even while thinning down the troops which are in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation right now. It is true that the Army remained in a high state of alert in 1971-1972 for a much longer period. But the present situation is considerably different. The threat perception has to be calibrated very carefully and dispassionately so that disengagement can be effected in an honourable and effective manner. As far as Pakistan is concerned, the mobilisation is pinching it much more severely and it would be more than eager to find a way out.
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Not by POTA alone The release on bail of Mohammed Afroze Abdul Razzak by a Mumbai special court has once again exposed the inefficient face of the country's crime investigating agencies. Afroze was supposed to be a big fish that would lead to the exposure of the terrorist networks in the country. Four months ago the entire country looked up to the Mumbai Police for nabbing a member of the dreaded Al Qaeda network. Since the global crackdown on the Taliban and Al Qaeda began at the behest of the USA it is logical to presume President George W. Bush must have himself taken notice of India's magnificent contribution in combating international terrorism. For the period Afroze was in jail as a dreaded terrorist the Mumbai Police kept up a sustained campaign that it was about to break the backbone of major underworld crime syndicates and terrorist outfits. However, it failed to submit a simple chargesheet before the special court to justify the arrest and detention of Afroze. Had India been a banana republic the court might have played ball with the inefficient set of investigators. Afroze is now out on bail, but Mumbai Police Commissioner M. N. Singh is having to pay the price for the inefficiency of his men. He has been asked to proceed on leave by an embarrassed Maharashtra government. The release on bail does not mean that Afroze's worries are now over. He should, in fact, brace himself for a furious backlash from a humiliated police force. So what even if the CBI has said, after going through the evidence collected by the Mumbai Police, that the case against Afroze was cooked up? The Afroze fiasco has left quite a few people with mud on their face. But the more worrying aspect is that India has been made to look small in the eyes of the global community. This is not the first instance of police bungling. Remember the ISRO spy case? A respected scientist was driven to insanity and two Maldivian women tortured because all of them were said to be involved in a spy ring that was passing on sensitive information to the enemy. The case turned out to be based on as flimsy evidence as the one that saw Afroze being sent to jail. Then there is the infamous Purulia arms dropping case. Where are the foreigners who had allegedly connived with local outfits for supplying arms to the enemies of India? The five Latvians were granted presidential pardon and in return India received a warm letter of appreciation from Russia. And for six years the CBI kept groping in the dark for Kim Davy, the elusive Dane, who was believed to have most answers for unravelling the Purulia arms mystery. The list is fairly endless. Maulana Masood Azhar was released in exchange for the Indian Airlines passengers. During Mr V. P. Singh's term as Prime Minister the kidnapping — some say it was stage managed — of Rubiya Sayeed, the then Union Home Minister's daughter, saw seven hardcore Pakistani militants being set free. No, the answer to combating terrorism is not POTA alone or other draconian measures. The answer lies in kicking out the present bunch of incompetent investigators and bringing in new blood who can do the job even without
POTA. |
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Threat to Haryana industry Location-wise, Haryana is better placed than Rajasthan to give a fillip to industrialisation. Many districts of Haryana are nearer the national Capital and well connected by road. It should have been the most preferred location for indusrial units, big or small. But this is not the situation if we leave aside the case of Gurgaon. The industrial transformation of Gurgaon appears to be more because of its advantageous location vis-a-vis Indira Gandhi International Airport than other factors, which include the efforts made by the successive state governments. This is, however, not to deny the truth that the Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC) has been paying considerable attention to the question of turning Gurgaon into the first preference of the investors willing to set up shop in the vicinity of Delhi. Yet, it seems, something is going wrong somewhere. There are disturbing reports of industries moving out of Haryana. Rajasthan's Bida (Bhiwadi Industrial Development Authority) area is emerging as a serious challenger to Gurgaon. This has come about as a result of the widening of the national highway passing through Bida. In the normal course, industrialists flock to an area where there is an adequate and uninterrupted power supply, a growth-friendly tax regime and a single window system for taking care of their problems. All these factors are there in the Bida area besides the incentives in the purchase of industrial plots. Haryana will have to gear itself up to provide an improved investment-oriented atmosphere not only in Gurgaon but also in areas like Faridabad, which may suffer seriously with the availability of better facilities in Rajasthan. There is much resentment among industrialists against the practice of imposing multiple taxes in Haryana without consulting their associations. This is besides the other kinds of harassment they have to face in the process of setting up a unit in the state. There is need to go into the gamut of their grievances in the interest of the state's industrial advancement. The HSIDC keeps announcing its various projects to spur industrial development but industrialists do not appear to be much enthused. Recently the organisation, a nodal agency for infrastructure development, came out with a plan to set up special economic zones (SEZs) in different areas. But what about the erratic power supply plus the ill-treatment of investors by officialdom? These two factors are enough to bring to nought all the efforts aimed at facilitating growth. According to a recent report, the state has recorded a steep rise in the export of industrial poducts. It has also great export potential so far as agriculture and related industries are concerned. The time has come for Haryana to concentrate on the farming sector too, particularly after the announcement of the new export-import policy. |
US foreign policy dilemmas As the Administration of Mr George “Dubya” Bush proceeds towards its mid-term in office, there are growing signs of intense internal debate on how to deal with essential foreign policy priorities in a manner that would enable the administration to win a second-term in office. With the economy showing welcome signs of recovery, it is obvious that the focus of American attention will shift towards attaining successes abroad before the next presidential elections in 2004. It is important for us to clearly anticipate the directions that the Bush White House will take in the second half of its first term in office. While issues like the environment may receive some public attention, there are three key areas where the Bush Administration is going to face challenges that it will have to overcome. The first is the escalating tension in West Asia following Mr Ariel Sharon’s crackdown on the Palestinians. The second would be the need for success in efforts to oust the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq. Finally, despite claims from General Tommy Franks that the USA has “dramatically damaged, dramatically degraded” Al-Qaeda in the war against terrorism in Afghanistan, virtually the entire top leadership of both Al-Qaeda and the Taliban remains intact. Both terrorist groups are showing signs of regrouping. The Bush Administration will be severely embarrassed if it is perceived to be stuck in a quagmire in Afghanistan and that it cannot eliminate terrorists who are now receiving haven and support in Pakistan. The entire focus of attention at present appears to be on the escalating violence in Israel and the West Bank. Mr Bush cannot ignore the strong domestic pro-Israeli lobby as he proceeds to deal with this issue. At their recent summit in Beirut, the Arab states have assured normal relations with Israel, once Israel withdraws from the territories occupied in 1967, agrees to the establishment of a viable Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital and to a “just solution” of the issue of Palestinian refugees. While the Bush Administration has welcomed this Saudi sponsored initiative, it knows that securing Israeli withdrawal from all territories occupied in 1967 is unrealistic. Israeli will just not agree to vacate the settlements it has created in the West Bank over the past three decades. The issue of East Jerusalem is also touchy and cannot be easily resolved. It is, therefore, obvious that the Administration’s efforts in the near future will be concentrated on ending the violence, particularly by the Palestinians, and securing Israeli withdrawal from Arab towns and villages in the West Bank and Gaza. But the wounds that have opened between the Israelis and the Palestinians will take years to heal. The primary aim of the Bush Administration will, therefore, be to cool tempers and anti-American sentiments, so as to enable it to proceed with its agenda in Iraq. The removal of Mr Saddam Hussein from power before the next presidential elections seems to have become the main focus of attention for the White House. But, here again, the Administration is groping for a viable strategy to achieve its aims. Iraq staged a diplomatic coup in Beirut by renouncing its territorial claims and foreswearing the use of force against Kuwait. Much to American embarrassment, this led to a public embrace of Iraq’s representative in Beirut by Saudi Arabia’s Prince Abdullah. In the Declaration that followed, Arab leaders rejected “the threat of aggression against some Arab countries, particularly Iraq” and added that a threat to attack Iraq would be “a threat to the national security of all Arab states”. With Saudi Arabia becoming increasingly sensitive about a continuing US military presence on its soil, America is going to find it very difficult to muster diplomatic support in attaining its objectives in Iraq. This is more so because both the European Union and Russia are not in favour of the use of military force there. Moreover, there does not appear to be any viable and acceptable alternative to Iraq’s present dispensation. But these difficulties will not deter the Bush Administration from proceeding with its attempts to bring about a regime change in Iraq. Given our substantial dependence on oil supplies from countries in the Persian Gulf, where over 3.5 million Indians currently reside, New Delhi will inevitably be affected by the directions that American policies in this region take. While Palestine and Iraq seem to be getting increasing attention, the White House doubtless realises that the success of its war against terrorism will be determined by developments in Afghanistan. The American war machine did not exactly crown itself with glory either in Tora Bora or in the Shahi Kot valley. The Afghans seem to have reached the conclusion that despite the heroics, the Americans are going to sub-contract the actual fighting to local Afghan commanders to avoid suffering heavy casualties themselves. Given the tribal loyalties in Afghanistan, this has been a sure recipe for Taliban and Al-Qaeda leaders to escape into Pakistan, or disappear into the Afghan countryside. Osama bin Laden, his principal deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri and the Uzbek terrorist leader Tohir Yuldashev are all still at large and presumed to be in Pakistan, or shuttling between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The same is true of Mullah Omar and other Taliban leaders. The extensive support that Taliban and Al-Qaeda elements receive in Pakistan was exposed during raids carried out jointly by the Punjab Police and the FBI on March 28-29 at Faislabad, Multan and Lahore. These raids on Al-Qaeda hideouts were carried out not on the basis of any information provided by the ISI, but on information obtained by the FBI. The raids resulted in the death of two Arabs and the arrest of 26 Arabs and a few Pakistanis. Some Arabs and all the Pakistanis were released and 20 Arabs, including one of the top Al-Qaeda leaders, Abu Zubaydah, were flown to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba for interrogation. What these raids clearly established was that Pakistan is now a hub for Al-Qaeda and Taliban activities and that the ISI is either unable or more likely unwilling to locate and eliminate these centres of global terrorism in the very heart of Pakistan’s Punjab province. This development and the events involving the murder of journalist Daniel Pearl have raised serious doubts about Pakistan’s claims of being a loyal and reliable ally in the global war against terrorism. General Musharraf is either unwilling or unable to fulfil the pledges he made to combat terrorism on January 12. No amount of abfuscation by Mr Colin Powell and his State Department colleagues can divert attention from this fact. After having remained totally focused on developments in Afghanistan and its war against terrorism there since September 11 the Bush Administration has now to deal with crisis situations elsewhere in the world also. In these circumstances, it has no option but to support General Musharraf as its best bet in Pakistan. Musharraf knows that he can now run with the hare and hunt with the hound in the American war against terrorism. New Delhi, in turn, must realise that while the Bush Administration is committed to giving new dimensions and strength to the Indo-US relationship, Washington will remain indulgent in dealing with General Musharraf. The Bush Administration also seems to be focusing its attention predominantly on eliminating Al-Qaeda and appears to be underestimating the damage that can still be inflicted by the Taliban-ISI combine. India will thus have to depend on its own strength, determination and internal cohesion in dealing with the situation on its borders. Sadly, the carnage in Gujarat has diminished our stature and raised queries internationally about our commitment to pluralistic and secular values that has given us a unique role in the comity of nations. The nation call ill afford this at a time when clouds of uncertainty hang over our neighbourhood. |
Kohinoor & Queen Mother The Kohinoor diamond has a very rich history. Its history is linked with the dynasties of various countries. The people of Punjab, Sikhs in particular, have a special sentimental value for the precious gem. It is said that it was the property of the 19th century Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Lord Dalhousie took it to England after the British annexation of Punjab. The Kohinoor was presented to Queen Victoria in London by the East India Company. Over the decades, it has travelled in four countries — India, Iran, Afghanistan and England. The crown of Queen Elizabeth, with the Kohinoor, was created for her when she was declared Queen Consort in 1937. The crown has over 2,800 diamonds and the main diamond set in the front is the Kohinoor. The Kohinoor is also legendary. Legend says that Guru Gobind Singh placed a curse on the Lahore Durbar jewels, of which the Kohinoor was a part, and declared that if anyone removed it from its original hiding place, he will suffer “untold miseries for generations”. It is said that as Maharaja Ranjit Singh had ignored the warning, he died in 1839. Subsequently, he lost his empire and all his eight grandchildren died without heirs. It is common knowledge that India lost jewels worth crores of rupees, valuable manuscripts, paintings, etc, during colonial rule. Successive British governments confiscated them and took them away to England. The Kohinoor diamond is unique in that it was regarded as a symbol of power and glory. Its value was beyond estimate. After India attained Independence, it has been demanding the Kohinoor and other precious properties back, but without success. Gandhi’s ashram Sabarmati Ashram near Ahmedabad, the place from where Mahatma Gandhi began to advocate his principles of truth and non-violence, was in the news very recently for wrong reasons. This ashram has a unique place in the annals of Indian Independence and the people have a sentimental attachment to it. Its image and sanctity were sought to be destroyed when some slogan-shouting people barged into a peace meeting being held inside the ashram, manhandled Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar and inflicted injuries on a number of journalists. The incident was condemned by all cutting across party lines. Such is the importance of this ashram that Gandhiji did not accept the offer of his barrister friend, Jivanlal Desai, to let his one-storied bungalow, when he wanted to found a settlement like the one in South Africa to train his co-workers. He founded the ashram on May 15, 1915, on the banks of the river Sabarmati. His friends and well- wishers had suggested several names such as “Sevashram” and “Tapovan” for the ashram. Gandhiji, however, called it “Satyagraha Ashram” to convey both his goal and method of service. There were 25 men and women in the ashram — 13 Tamilians and the rest from other parts of the country. It was considered a miniature India in that all the inmates lived as one family irrespective of their caste, religion or community and had their meals in a common kitchen. They took vows of truth, ahimsa, celibacy, non-stealing, non-possession and control of the palate, and dedicated themselves to the service of the people. How different India would have become today had everyone followed these noble values in letter and spirit. These values and ideals have greater relevance today in the context of the prevailing conditions. |
Responding to the challenges of life In a world of stress and strife, the ordinary man is left wondering as to how to respond to the challenges of life. The sight of poverty, disease, old age and death drove the young Prince Siddhartha on to the search of nirvana. The Hindu thought also suggests that lasting peace of mind can come from shedding one’s involvement with worldly cares and pursuit of material prosperity. The indestructibility of the soul makes life a continuum and death a mere stage towards another birth. In themselves, these prescriptions need not amount to a negative influence but it is a moot point whether in the absence of an intelligible communication of a comprehensive world view, these and similar messages from other religions lead to an escapism that takes individuals away from a socially responsible behaviour. A lack of clear understanding of various religious philosophies, the concept of spiritualism and the fulfilment of the human need for faith in the divine are, therefore, at the root of a wide disparity between the philosophy of religion and its practices. This disparity, therefore, has neither helped the evolution of religious thoughts nor brought about a widespread diffusion of a constructive corporate ethos oriented to a commitment to bringing about a rational and humane social order. In fact, it has led to confused social behaviour in the name of religion and spirituality. It has reduced human behaviour to an unhealthy individualism. At one end, it has brought about a mental make-up that views complete social recuperation as a misplaced ideal. The inevitability of wars, man’s inhumanity to man through the ages, the “bane” of technology and the evil use of scientific “progress” have aggravated the very problems that are sought to be “solved”. “It has always been thus” is the dispirited comment of such people who think the world is merely changing and not progressing. In turn, this leads to the rationalisation that in such a illusory world with its incurable problems, individuals have to fend for themselves in the way it is open to them in their own personal circumstances. In its extreme form, it has bred a cynical attitude that giving precedence to personal goals over social objectives is on the whole a wise and practical policy and that it is not inconsistent with conventional good behaviour, even where individualism is not as naked as that, the God fearing limit themselves to maintaining a personal ledger account with God of their sins and merits. Such people aim at a respectable balance in this account so that the life hereafter is secured. For after all the ‘karma’ of the past births have shaped our present lives and so will our future lives be determined by our deeds in this life. In the present life, the true import of the doctrine of karma ceases to govern human conduct. And so human behaviour can and may be individually good and yet not be socially useful. Private virtue, therefore, co-exists with collective ineffectiveness that results from social inaction elevated to a virtue. It is in this background that we need a philosophy and a conditioning that reinforces belief in action through organisations and institutions for concrete service to humanity so that even for a believer the service of humanity becomes the service of God. With that the ideas of personal salvation would yield place to responsible membership of society where spiritual fulfilment would be sought to be achieved by finding solutions to the miseries and afflictions that revolted the Buddha. It is, therefore, necessary to correct the distortions, which a wrong understanding of religious philosophy has created. If only our schools were to arrange moral instruction around one’s social responsibilities as a part of one’s religious ethics, a pessimistic, life negating inward looking and an essentially self-centred approach would be possible to avoid. Instead our future generation will give importance to the life here and now, develop a conviction in our capacity to usher in a really civilised order and promote a peace of mind and an optimism that would be the envy of spiritualists and the mystic saints exclusively tying themselves to emancipation through meditation. More positively, it would wean people away from godmen who sustain their lifestyle of crass materialism and even vice and crime by marketing their band of spiritualism to a gullible people that include in their ranks the poor as well as the affluent, the educated as well as the illiterate. The writer is former Chief Secretary, Punjab. |
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Neurologists demystify Alzheimer’s progression through brain Alzheimer’s is a painful and degenerative disease marked by the loss of function caused by a steady deterioration of different parts of the brain. In an effort to demystify the cruel march of the fatal disease, UK neurologists have now painted a step-by-step picture of how and where that damage begins and spreads, reports Health Scout. It’s the memory part of the brain that goes first in this mind-robbing illness, the researchers report. Then the damage spreads to the regions involved in speech, perception and other functions. In the final stages of the disease, the region of the brain concerned with memory can shrink by two-thirds. The researchers used three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology with three groups of people, some in the earliest stage of Alzheimer’s before symptoms appear; some who were only moderately affected; and some in the last stages of the disease. It’s a study that someday could be used to help treat Alzheimer’s, says Dr. Donald
L.Price, Professor, Neurology, Pathology and Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, London. Treatments for this once unstoppable condition are starting to emerge, he notes. “If a therapy has some downside, you want to be sure you are treating only Alzheimer’s patients,” Price says. “It would be critical to enhance the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease as differentiated from other forms of dementia.” Even before symptoms appear, the left hippocampus and right hippocampus, parts of the brain involved in verbal and nonverbal memory, begin to atrophy. Neurons nerve cells die. Connections wither, as tangles form in the regions that connect one part of the brain to others. And as the disease spreads, memory starts to fail. As interconnections die, more nerve cells at the end of those connections show reduced activity. Tangles appear in those regions, and the cycle of loss of connections and loss of neurons spreads to other parts of the brain. This picture “is not a therapeutic breakthrough,” Price says. “There are several lines of evidence drawn from different technologies that show structural changes in parallel with evolution of the disease. But it is perhaps another weapon in the armamentarium of early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s.” The Oxford report is part of a continuing effort in a number of medical centres to develop accurate ways to track the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, says Bill
Thies, Vice-President, Medical and Scientific Affairs, Alzhei-mer’s Association. “All the techniques are out there trying to see which is best,” Thies says.
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Excess bread eating leads to myopia A new research suggests that short-sightedness could be linked to over-consumption of starchy food like bread and cereals during childhood, rather than holding books too close, reports BBC. According to scientists, diets high in refined starches increase insulin levels in children. This may then affect development of eyeballs. The study, conducted by the researchers from Colorado State University in Fort Collins and the University of Sydney, showed that excess hormone makes eyeball abnormally long and causes short-sightedness. This theory, published in New Scientist and Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica, could help explain the dramatic increase in myopia in developed countries over the past 200 years. The condition now affects an estimated 30 per cent of people of European descent. Jennie Brand Miller, a nutrition scientist at the University of Sydney, said, “The rate of starch digestion was quicker in modern processed breads and cereals. The body reacts to the rapid digestion by the pancreas pumping out more insulin. If the eyeball grows too long, the lens can no longer flatten itself enough to focus a sharp image on the retina”. The scientists also observed that people are more likely to develop myopia if they are overweight or have adult-onset diabetes, both of which involve elevated insulin levels. But, in areas like Pacific Island, the cause of myopia has been attributed to literacy and compulsory schooling, which in turn increases reading hours. However, scientists have ruled out increase in reading hours as the cause. They said that in the islands of Vanuata even after eight hours of compulsory schooling a day, the rate of myopia in these children is only two per cent. Loren Cordain, an evolutionary biologist at Colorado State University, explaining the low rate of myopia in the islands, said, “The difference was that Vanuatuans ate fish, yam and coconut rather than white bread and cereals”.
ANI Stroke risk in 6 months of heart attack Elderly patients have a high risk of stroke within six months of a heart attack, a report published in Journal Circulation said. According to a research at Yale, 20 per cent of older patients who have suffered a heart attack have a one in 25 chance of being hospitalised for a stroke within six months of discharge from the hospital. Judith Lichtman,Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at Yale School of Medicine said, “The importance of stroke after myocardial infraction (MI) has been under appreciated, especially among older persons.” “Our results demonstrate that stroke after MI is much more common than previously reported,” she added. Lichtman’s study said that among the patients hospitalised with a stroke, 77 per cent are 65 years of age or older and half are above 75. “With improved survival after MI and an increasing number of elderly people in the population, stroke after MI will be increasingly common problem in the coming decades,” she said. Lichtman and her co-authors analysed the data from more than 111,000 elderly patients included in the Cooperative Cardiovascular Project, which is a large, geographically diverse population-based group of patients hospitalised with acute myocardial infraction (AMI).“Overall, 2.5 per cent were admitted with an ischemic stroke within six months of discharge,” Lichtman said. She further said older patients of African-American stock and patients with any frailty are at increased risk for a stroke after a heart attack. Conditions associated with higher stroke admission rates included prior stroke, hypertension, diabetes, atrial fibrillation, heart failure and peripheral vascular disease. The risk of stroke among the 20 per cent of patients who had at least four of the eight identified factors was four times higher than patients with none of these factors. Patients in this group had a one in 25 chance of being hospitalised for a stroke in the six months after discharge. History of hypertension, diabetes, and peripheral vascular disease, are generally accepted as risk factors for stroke, but have not been previously identified as predictors of stroke after a heart attack.
ANI |
O my Lord! Bless me with Thy compassion. And instruct me in such a way That I ceaselessly meditate on you. Contentment in the mind and Compassion for all beings This is how I keep my vrata He who earns grace of the Compassionate One Salvation, power and wealth all are his. — Sri Guru Granth Sahib *** Man’s thought can go anywhere Wherever he may go, however, He may find nothing dearer than himself The same is with all others. Therefore, one who loves himself Should not hurt others. — Samyutta-nikaya 3,8, Mallika
*** The Lord is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, And his compassion is over all that He has made. — Psalm
*** Be compassionate and respect all life, be it ever so small. Stifle in yourself hatred, greed and anger. Give and receive freely but do not take anything wrongly through violence, fraud or false statements. Never lie even on occasions which seem to absolve you from it. Avoid drugs and drink, which disturb the mind. Respect another’s wife and do not commit any illegitimate carnal act nor any unnatural act. These are the Five Rules of your life for each day. — The Buddha, Law of the Five Paramita *** The Mind of Buddha is none other than the Great Compassionate Mind. — The Meditation Sutra, Taisho Shinshu Daizo-kyo |
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Kohinoor & Queen Mother
All eyes were on the Kohinoor diamond during the funeral procession of Queen Elizabeth in London. As per her wishes, the crown with the Kohinoor meaning the mountain of light on the top was placed on her coffin. The Queen Mother, as she was popularly called, died at the age of 101. Even as thousands turned up at her funeral as a token of their love and affection towards her, the Kohinoor attracted the attention of one and all. More important, it revived old memories and India’s continued campaign for the return of the jewel.