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Thursday,
January 9, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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The telecom revolution Migrant menace Cricket’s black spot |
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Nuclear command & doctrine at last
New CRPF chief with innovative bent of mind
Swami Vivekananda & youth power
Researchers ‘create’ disorders for money
80 whales die in mass stranding
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The telecom revolution The Indian middle class is getting hooked to mobile phones as their prices fall temptingly low to acceptable levels. First, Reliance Infocomm shook the mobile phone market by launching its WLL services package nationwide at the uniform rate of 40 paise per minute for STD calls within its network. This was followed by a massive tariff cut for cell-to-cell calls by cellular companies led by Spice Telecom and the Bharti group. They announced a flat rate of Rs 2.99 per minute for calls made for a distance of more than 50 km at any time of the day or night. With competition hotting up, it was felt that public sector telecom giants BSNL and MTNL would face the heat and suffer huge losses, given their large overheads and governmental style of offering services. But the two government service providers seem to have taken up the challenge. Not to be left behind in grabbing new customers and retaining the existing subscribers, both BSNL and MTNL on Tuesday slashed tariffs for cell-to-cell STD calls. They also dropped the roaming charges of Rs 3 per minute for subscribers roaming within the networks of the two companies. Interestingly, their mobile-to-mobile STD calls will be cheaper than those offered by the
rivals. The price benefits offered so far are largely for business people, traders and others who make long-distance calls. The price bonanza will attract new subscribers, encourage the existing ones to make calls more often and may adversely affect the business of landline STD service providers. It is only the beginning of the price war. Competition, encouraged with the levelling of the field for all players, will deliver more to the consumer and also drive the laggards out of business. The telecommunication revolution sweeping the land for the last few years, scams of the Sukh Ram variety notwithstanding, has ushered the country in the big league. Indian entrepreneurs, scientists and engineers engaged in information technology and telecommunications have earned global praise for their skills and contribution within and outside the country. It is obvious that much of the Indian talent in other fields has remained neglected and untapped. In a liberalised world, talent can flourish despite corruption, lack of infrastructure, hassles of day-to-day life, choking government rules and red-tape. With competition, even government organisations like BSNL and MTNL are forced to shake off their sloth and deliver the goods. Indian enterprise has got a boost from the economic reforms launched in 1991 which led to the relaxing of government controls, increased inflow of foreign funds and technology and competition. Although we have miles to go before we attain the levels of the developed world, the progress is astounding for a country a large part of which still lives in the bullock-cart age and where starvation deaths and debt-driven suicides are not infrequent. There is need to think big, plan for a balanced growth and replicate the telecom and IT success story in other fields as well. Indians are, indeed, waking up to a new business culture. |
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Migrant menace Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani is very much on target when he speaks of a “serious threat” to internal security from illegal Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals staying in the country and the need to “throw them out”. But his assertion gives the impression as if the problem is of recent origin. In reality, it has been festering for decades and successive governments have done precious little to tackle it. Even though the entire blame cannot be put at the door of the present government, it cannot escape responsibility totally. By Mr Advani’s own admission, the number of Bangladeshis living in India illegally runs into millions. As he says, there is no reason why the states should be soft on them. But the fact of the matter is that the “unreasonable” thing has been happening all along. The entire demographic profile of certain states has changed because of the influx. Why, there are lakhs of them even in Delhi. Throwing them out at this stage will be easier said than done, because it will lead to indignant accusations of witch-hunt. Some of them have been here for decades. For petty electoral reasons, certain vested interests have been providing them sanctuary. It will be a surprise if they will change their tactics at this stage just because Mr Advani has requested them to do so. There are two types of illegal migrants. First are those who come here on valid documents and overstay. The others are those who enter clandestinely without any documents at all. It is they who comprise the majority. Many sections of the border resemble a sieve with exceptionally large holes. The problem is there not only because of the nature of the terrain but also because of the corruption prevalent there. As has been said earlier, it is next to impossible to detect and deport a person once he has mixed with the local populace. The main vigilance focus of the government should be on securing the borders. One is not enthused by the scheme to prepare a national register of Indian citizens and issuing to them multipurpose national identity cards (NICs). It may deter those now wanting to enter India illegally but won’t help much in detecting those who are already staying here. The migrants who have managed to obtain ration cards and other proofs of residence illegally may not find it too difficult to procure NICs as well. |
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Cricket’s black spot Black apartheid as practised in Zimbabwe was bound to cast its ugly shadow on the 2003 Cricket World Cup beginning next month. South Africa is the primary host of the event, but a few games have been allotted to Zimbabwe that is a full member of the International Cricket Council. Teams from England, Australia and New Zealand have been urged by their respective governments not to play in Zimbabwe because of the country's dismal human rights record. It is actually a very complex issue. So much so that it is impossible to spell out the correct political response in black and white to the gross violation of human rights under Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's dictatorial dispensation. When South Africa was under discriminatory white rule the global community responded by snapping economic, cultural and sporting links with it. Suspending cultural and sporting ties with white South Africa made sense because at that point of time the country did not allow the black majority even basic human rights. Isolating Zimbabwe for the same reason would prove counter-productive. It would amount to playing into the hands of Mr Mugabe, who too does not want World Cup games to be held in Zimbabwe. Most players in South Africa and Zimbabwe still come from the white minorities. That is the reason why no one wants to snap sporting ties with Harare. And that is precisely the reason why the number games allotted to Zimbabwe should not be boycotted at this juncture. Had it been an all-black team, Mr Mugabe would have been singing a different tune. The Zimbabwean strongman has given the so-called threat to his life to explain why he does not want the World Cup games to be played in his country. The death of an Australian tourist at the country's prime destination, the Victoria Falls, after he was stabbed by goons has provided justification to the stand of those who want to isolate Zimbabwe for all the wrong reasons. The present dispensation has made life impossible for the white settlers. Their properties have been vandalised, farm lands attacked and women molested and raped by black goons enjoying the patronage of President Mugabe. Participation in the World Cup by teams allotted games in Zimbabwe would actually give an opportunity to the international media and visitors to obtain direct evidence of the appalling conditions in which a majority of the people, both black and white, are living. The hosting of the World Cup would provide an ideal opportunity to various civil rights organisations to present their case before the international media. Of course, sports and politics should never be mixed. But if the participation of the teams from Australia, England and New Zealand in the World Cup games in Zimbabwe serves the double purpose of putting the spotlight on President Mugabe's blatant violation of human rights, why surrender the opportunity of turning the political heat on him? |
Nuclear command & doctrine at last If there is an audible sigh of relief in the country’s strategic community over the Vajpayee government’s announcement of its decision on the command and control of the nuclear weapons, the reason for it is not far to seek. This decision ought to have come immediately after the Shakti series of nuclear tests in May, 1998, the glacial pace of decision — making it totally incompatible with the Nuclear Age. Apart from the end to the unconscionable delay, there is another reason to welcome what the Cabinet Committee on Security has decided over the weekend after a marathon meeting. It is the final approval and clear articulation of the Indian nuclear doctrine. Here again, the delay has been both great and gnawing. The draft doctrine was submitted to the government by the National Security Advisory Board, then headed by the country’s premier strategist, Mr K Subrahmanyam, nearly three years ago and was published for discussion almost immediately. But thereafter the political leadership developed inexplicable coyness about it. So much so that Mr Jaswant Singh, then holding charge of both External Affairs and Defence, presumably under intense questioning by the United States of America, dismissed the draft doctrine as a mere “academic” exercise. Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee and his colleagues handling national security have now endorsed and reaffirmed the draft in its entirety and proclaimed it as India’s nuclear doctrine that is both comprehensive and clear. Few other countries have been so open in outlining their nuclear doctrine though some of them at least have worked out and honed it to a much greater degree. However, the greatest significance of the doctrine, as announced, might escape the laymen though sober security experts are bound to appreciate it. It is the reaffirmation of the nation’s commitment to No First Use of nuclear weapons. Of late, many within the strategic community, including retired service chiefs and others who have held high military posts, had started asking for the rejection or at least dilution of this concept. Their argument had some force. After all, hadn’t the Pakistani President and Army Chief, Gen Pervez Musharraf, only recently tried to use nuclear blackmail — or is it bluff — to make out that by threatening the use of nuclear weapons he had deterred an Indian invasion of Pakistan. Having won kudos from his people by his boast that he had thus “won the war without firing a shot” he is now tying himself into knots in order to backtrack. He is pretending that “unconventional war” of which he had warned Mr Vajpayee through “visiting western dignitaries”, did not imply a nuclear war at all. For, he adds, only a “mad man” would think of using nuclear weapons. To be provoked by such shenanigans into abandoning a sound principle that also enables India — along with China that has held fast to No First Use since 1964 — to occupy the moral high ground would have been a grievous error. As the eminent analyst, Air Commodore (retired) Jasjit Singh, asks: “What are the circumstances under which it would be necessary for India to think of making the first nuclear strike? When the adversary has defeated the Indian Army? When we have lost Kashmir? Or when the country’s very existence is threatened?” None of these contingencies is possible, leave alone probable, in the present or foreseeable context of conflict in our region. Of all other eventualities, such as a nuclear attack on India or Indian forces elsewhere, the country can take adequate care by a retaliatory strike that would be massive enough to “inflict unacceptable damage”. Throwing politeness to the winds, let me add that Pakistani Generals are realistic enough to know that by firing some nuclear missiles they can do enormous damage to us, but thereafter Pakistan would cease to exist. As for the contours of the Nuclear Control Authority — a Political Council and an Executive Council — and of the Strategic Forces Command that would include all three armed forces, these are broadly along expected lines. They also bespeak of a greater interface between the military and the civilian government than has been the case so far. In fact, what the government has decided can be best put in perspective by referring to the unpublished proceedings of a trilateral Track II meeting between India, Pakistan and the USA in Bangkok nearly two years ago. At that time New Delhi was totally silent on the subject of command and control. The draft nuclear doctrine, the only document in the public domain then merely stated that the power to “push the nuclear button” would vest in the Prime Minister. The Pakistani delegates at the Bangkok meeting referred to much of the fact that while Pakistan had put in place a clear command and control structure, India hadn’t done anything about it. They also pointed out that in Pakistan, President Musharraf alone could not push the nuclear button. He had to seek the concurrence of a committee headed by him. The Political Council is India’s answer to Pakistani jibes though it is worth noting that the reported composition of this council is the same as that of the Cabinet Committee on Security and indeed of the National Security Council. The Executive Council that would both provide the Political Council with the necessary “inputs” and carry out its decisions is an obvious innovation. Even so, it is remarkable that the National Security Adviser to the Prime Minister, Mr Brajesh Mishra, who is also the PM’s Principal Secretary, will head the Executive Council. In other words, the Prime Ministerial control over the use of nuclear weapons would be paramount. That is where the trilateral Track-II discussion at Bangkok comes in. Mr William Perry, a former Defence Secretary of the US told the assembled delegates that for a country that did not believe in No First Use, the committees could do useful planning about various options it might like to exercise even when it itself is not under attack. But a country committed to No First Use, he added, would not have much time for committees to meet if it is attacked by nuclear weapons. Its response to the adversary’s nuclear attack would have to be extremely quick. Consequently, the committees now appointed would be really useful if they can ensure early development and deployment of this country’s missile defences and keep in readiness plans for instant retaliatory strikes. As for the Strategic Forces Command that would report to the Chiefs of Staff Committee (CSC) that would, in turn, send its recommendations to the Political Council through the Executive Council, the government has done well to ask the Air Force to head it for the present. Later, presumably the post of the Command’s Commander-in-Chief would rotate. Unfortunately, the idea of having a Chief of Defence Staff still hangs fire as it did two years ago. An even more serious question about the Strategic Command relates to its location. It would be no good allotting Air Marshal T.M. Asthana a room on the defence side of South Block and leaving things at that. The USA had the good sense to locate its Strategic Command at Omaha. Some people might remember that it was to be Omaha base to which President George W. Bush was taken in the immediate wake of 9/11. At the same time, Vice-President Dick Cheney was whisked away to an “unknown destination”. In the case of imminent threat of a nuclear strike, the USA has foolproof procedures to fly out of Washington 28 members of the chain of nuclear command — all of them civilians, all elected to either House of Congress — in nine minutes flat. It is gratifying that in the latter respect at least this country has taken a leaf out of America’s book. This is implicit in Saturday’s official announcement that says, among other things, that the Cabinet Committee also approved the arrangements for “alternate chains of command for retaliatory nuclear strikes in all eventualities”. Some feel that the government should be more forthcoming on this subject in order to reassure the public. But others argue that to a country determined not to launch a first nuclear strike secrecy in this regard would do no harm. The least noticed part of Saturday’s statement is the stress New Delhi now puts on export controls on nuclear technologies and dual use equipment. This is clearly in response to America’s constant pressure. Earlier hopes that the nuclear issue would cease to be a drag on India-America relations during the Bush era are being belied. Sadly, the Ayatollahs of nonproliferation in Washington, especially in the State Department, are active again. |
New CRPF chief with innovative bent of mind A 1966 UP cadre IPS officer, Mr Chaube took over as the CRPF chief on December 31, 2002, on superannuation of Mr T.N. Mishra. Son of a teacher and a Law Graduate, he had his education in Lucknow. During his impressive career as an IPS officer, Mr Chaube has served in various capacities as Additional Director-General, Intelligence, Additional Director-General, UP-Nepal Border Police, Additional Director-General, Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC), besides Director-General, U.P Vigilance Establishment. He also had a stint in the CBI, Dehra Dun and Lucknow branches, from 1976 to 1983, supervising cases relating to bank frauds. He also served as DIG/Dy Director (Training) in the CRPF Headquarters, New Delhi, and as Inspector-General of Police, Uttar Pradesh, for about eight years. During his tenure as Director- General, ITBP, he had undertaken various innovative measures such as dedicating the Year 2001 as the “Year of Jawans”, adoption of “One Village One Unit” programme for overall development of the border villages and celebrating 2002 as “International Year of the Mountains” for promoting Himalayan culture and holding regular medical camps at remote and inaccessible border areas. Mr Chaube was DG, ITBP, from April, 2001. He is a recipient of the Police Medal for Meritorious Service (1983) and President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service (1990) in addition to the Special Duty Medal with Bar, Sangram Medal and Western Star. Of religious donations Founder-Director of the Sampradan Indian Centre for Philanthropy, Mrs Sunder feels that religious organisations have a large pool of resources which they can share with non-government organisations. She is of the opinion that the potential of diaspora philanthropy is great but has not been adequately tapped. Mrs Sunder was a Senior Fellow at the International Fellows in Philanthropy Programme of the John Hopkins University in 1995. She is on the board of several non-profit organisations including Winrock International India, Indian Institute of Health Management and Research, Sanskriti Foundation and South Asia Fund Raising Group. A postgraduate in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics, Mrs Sunder joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1963. After resigning from the service in 1966, she worked for FICCI, the Gujarat government and the Ford Foundation and consulted for the World Bank among others. She has also authored “Patrons and Philistines: Arts and the State in British India”, published by Oxford University Press in 1995. The book project on religious charity was funded out of a Ford Foundation grant to the Centre. Through a dozen case studies of leading religious organisations in India (of which eight have been conducted by Mrs Sunder), the editor of the book has inferred that amounts donated to religious organisations are far greater than charitable monies and resources contributed to social organisations. She has also mentioned that accessing information regarding the estimates of income and expenditure of religious organisations was not successful except in one or two cases. |
Swami Vivekananda & youth power Once a young man who was well educated met Swami Vivekananda in 1897, and said “I sit in meditation, shutting the door of my room, and closing my eyes as long as I can; but I cannot find peace of mind. Can you show me the way? “My boy” said the Swami in a voice full of sympathy “if you take my word, you will first of all have to open the door of your room and look around instead of closing your eyes. There are hundreds of poor and helpless people in the neighbourhood of your house; then you have to serve to the best of your ability. He who is ill and has no one to look after him, for him you will have to get medicine and diet and nurse him; he who has nothing to eat, you will have to feed him; he who is ignorant, you will have to teach him, well-educated as you are. My advice to you is that, if you want peace of mind, you have to serve others as well as you can”. This advice to an youth is relevant today. The abundant power of youth, if channelised properly and methodically for re-building our motherland, will surely bring prosperity and peace to the nation. When Swamiji spoke before the Parliament of Religions at Chicago on September 11, 1893, he was just 30 years old. When he attained Samadhi, he was not even 40 years old. Within such a short span, he shook the very foundations of the world ideas and breathed into it the spiritual wisdom of ancient rishis of our motherland to steer the world from catastrophe to new life. If we analyse the history of India from the advent of Swamiji till the present day, three phases in Swamiji’s life paved the way for the freedom and progress in every field of our motherland. This is after meeting Bhagavan Shri Ramakrishna and attainment of the highest spiritual realisation. The first phase of his life covers his mission as a wandering monk that enabled him to know at first hand the real condition of India and her people under the British rule. In the second phase, he toured foreign countries, proclaiming the greatness of India and her contributions for the development of religions of the world and its culture. After hearing Swamiji on religion, philosophy, history, science and fine arts, the westerners started appreciating India. This recognition of the Western and European thinkers, statesmen, scientists etc created a great revolution in the minds of the Indian youth, patriots, kings and statesmen. They became proud of their culture, religion and their hoary past. They ceased to be misguided by the missionaries. In the third phase, after he returned from the USA in January 1897, he gave a clarion call to the nation from Colombo to Almora to liberate India from the foreign yoke. This eventually culminated in its freedom. Still Swamiji is working in the hearts of young men and women to realise his dream of a new, peaceful and prosperous India. He wanted India to be foremost among all the nations in every field including science, technology, culture and spiritualism. The youth leaders of pre-independence were very powerfully inspired by Swami Vivekananda. Mahatma Gandhi said, “I have gone through his (Vivekananda’s) works very thoroughly and after having gone through them, the love that I had for my country has increased a thousand fold”. Netaji Subhashchandra Bose has said, “Swamiji was a full-blooded masculine personality and a fighter to the core of his being. He gave a practical interpretation to Vedanta for the uplift of his countrymen”. The present-day youth are in a dilemma. They don’t have a patriotic leader of his stature to imbibe and emulate his noble actions and sublime character. Vivekananda opined that modern education has given the youth the knowledge of the sciences, medicines, technology etc, but without the knowledge of his/her own mind, its vagaries and its control for a peaceful living based upon the values of life. The life and message of Swami Vivekananda will, certainly, spread enlightenment among the youth and save the country. This enlightenment is based on faith in one’s divinity, truth, patriotism and harmony of religions. Swami Vivekananda is the panacea for the youth problems and for all social evils. Om-Tat-Sat-Om. |
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Researchers ‘create’ disorders for money Thousands of women are said to suffer from female sexual dysfunction, (FSD), which incorporates a loss of libido or desire, difficulty reaching orgasm and sometimes painful sex. But experts last week accused pharmaceutical companies and their researchers of cynically creating the disorder to provide a multi-million dollar market for new drugs. An editorial in the British Medical Journal suggested that, far from being a serious condition afflicting up to 40 per cent of women, this ‘disorder’ was dreamed up as a way of making enormous profits from sales of tablets and creams to unhappy, mostly middle-aged women. At the heart of the controversy are seven meetings over the past five years, sponsored by drugs companies, at which the subject of FSD began to emerge as specialists — some receiving funding from the companies — tried to define it. The BMJ describes FSD as the clearest example yet of `the corporate-sponsored creation of a disease’. The allegations come as the drugs giants compete harder than ever to find the magical medicine that will provide fulfilment for women whose sex drive is no longer there. The condition’s characteristics are said to include a loss of interest in sex, less enjoyable sex, diminished sensation and inability to achieve orgasm. There is no doubt that thousands of British women suffer these problems, but evidence that it is a genuine medical condition remains scanty. The BMJ’s criticism has shocked the medical community, because it suggests that researchers are in league with the pharmaceutical giants, and creating bogus diseases. Pfizer, manufacturer of Viagra, insists that FSD really exists. Its medical director, Dr Mitra Boolell, denies any attempt to create an artificial condition to boost profits. ‘This is a complex condition, caused by emotional, psychological and hormonal factors as well as muscular disorders. We have been able to show that a proportion of women potentially may be able to benefit from the drug, but the research is at an early stage. We have a huge number of women wanting to take part in our studies, reflecting what is happening in real life.’ One undeniable aspect of this controversy is that the companies are in a billion-dollar race to develop a therapy that would give women worldwide a sexual pick-me-up. It is not simply Viagra being tested in the laboratories. Hormone patches, creams and nasal sprays, as well as other pills are all in the offing because of the enormous stakes involved. One problem for doctors is that female sexuality is still something of a mystery. The problem is not mechanical, but a more mysterious interaction of psychological, hormonal and possibly physiological factors. Because so little research has been carried out on women who have lost their libido, it has become difficult to form even a proper definition of the condition. Scientists say it is more common among menopausal women and is known to be a side-effect of diseases such as diabetes, or of cancer treatment. Emotional dissatisfaction with their partner is seen by many doctors as the real reason behind many women’s unhappiness, and some say the new diagnosis may simply reveal the scale of relationship difficulties. There is no simple, easy way of untangling sexual difficulties and GPs increasingly suggest psychosexual therapy or proper marriage guidance as the best way forward.
The Guardian
Do these illnesses exist? 1. Female sexual dysfunction YES, say some psychiatrists and drugs companies, who think it is a complex pattern of emotional, hormonal and physiological problems leading to lack of desire in sex, and sometimes pain. NO, says the British Medical Journal and other specialists, who say that relationship difficulties and psychological problems are the real cause. 2. Male menopause YES, say some specialists who point to the drop in testosterone levels as men hit their mid-40s. NO, say some psychiatrists, who argue there is no evidence for men suffering the equivalent of the female menopause. 3. Attention-deficit disorder YES, according to many child psychiatrists who believe it is a set of behavioural problems that can wreck a child’s life unless treated, sometimes with drugs. NO, say therapists who believe that talking to the family is better than a ‘chemical cosh’. 4. Advanced sleep phase disorder YES, say scientists who claim that much of the night-time insomnia in the elderly is caused by the body clock becoming out of sync. NO, say other physicians who argue that sleeplessness is simply one of the signs of ageing. |
80 whales die in mass stranding
Eighty pilot whales have died after stranding themselves on a beach on a southern New Zealand island, a wildlife official said on Wednesday. Conservation workers and residents are trying to save survivors of a pod of 159 pilot whales that swam ashore on Stewart Island, about 30 km south of the South Island, Department of Conservation spokesman Tom O’Connor said. “They’re pretty distressed... there’s no wind and swell to splash on them so they’re not in good order,” he said. An attempt will be made to refloat the whales, which look like dolphins and grow up to five metres (16 feet) long and weigh as much as three tonnes, at the next high tide. New Zealand has one of the world’s highest rates of whale strandings, which are thought to occur when the animals become disoriented or when a dominant animal leads others ashore. But the strandings are not clearly understood by scientists who believe illness or other types of trauma might also play a role.
Reuters
Obese people tend to die early Being overweight doesn’t only increase the threat of chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, it can actually rob years from your life, according to a new study. Dutch researchers, examining the medical records of 3,457 U.S. adults who were middle-aged in 1950 found that obesity may shorten life expectancy by a magnitude similar to smoking among people who became obese by the age of 40. Women who were obese at 40 lost 7.1 years of life, while obese men lost 5.8 years, compared with normal-weight people. A person is obese when he or she weighs over 20 percent more than maximum healthy body weight. Study results were worst for obese people who smoked, with obese male smokers losing 13.7 years of life and obese female smokers 13.3 years, compared with normal-weight nonsmokers. But even non-smokers who were simply overweight, and not obese, by the age of 40, lived lives that were shorter — by 3.3 years for women and by 3.1 years for men. “The smoking epidemic in the western world is waning. However, a new fear should be the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity in young adults, which heralds another potentially preventable public health disaster,” the study’s authors warned.
Reuters E-nose that can smell what’s wrong Artificial noses are big business these days. These electronic sniffers, or e-noses, are mostly cumbersome and expensive contraptions, which are employed by industries ranging from food processing to airport security to health care, sell for anywhere between 10,000 and 50,000 dollars. Enter Pampa, designed by researchers in Argentina, a high- performance e-nose that’s small enough to be portable yet less expensive than its older, larger rivals. It weighs less than two pounds, fits into a small plastic container about the size of a shoe box and sells for 5,000 to 10,000 dollars. Although the first operational model of the Pampa is still under development, several large food companies in South America are already expressing interest in the finished product. Beer manufacturers want the Pampa for monitoring the quality of hops, and producers of yerba mate (an herbal tea popular in Argentina, southern Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay) want it for sorting brands and types of plant leaves. The Pampa can be modified to identify the properties of many food products, such as coffee, tea and olive oil. It may also be used to detect substances like poisonous gases and toxic chemicals, says a report in The Wired.
ANI |
The force we waste upon our fears is all that would be necessary for the achievement of our purpose. Let us brew a wine to drown both death and life in it. Experience deals us just the blows we need to teach us. Your senses work by fits and starts, hence you see diversity. Our most precious opportunities are often those disguised in tatters. They pass us by unrecognised, because we judge life by appearances instead of principles. When the ambassador from the French Court presented to the Buddhist King of Siam the request of Louis XIV that he would embrace Christianity, he replied, "It is strange that the King of France should interest himself so much in a matter which concerns only God, while he whom it does concern seems to have left it wholly to our discretion". What bends the back, aches the head or bows the chest? Adding to the burden of today, tomorrow's load. Men read into nature what they find in themselves. Unless you feel all, you know not all. Be true to yourself and the world is true to you. — Swami Ramatirtha, In Woods of God Realisation, Vol. IV, Notebook VII *** O what is there to love? See with your eyes open. One is gone, and another is about to go. Everyone goes in his turn. — Sri Guru Granth Sahib, M5, Bilawal, page 808 *** The world is peopled by the dead; It is like a castle of sand; Its destruction, like that of a piece of paper in a rainstorm, Can be accomplished in a moment. — Sri Guru Granth Sahib, M5, Bilawal page 808
*** O Lord! Ferry us across the turbulent river of adversities, as if on a boat. — Atharva Veda 4.33.7 |
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Mr S.C. Chaube, who was instrumental in introducing several innovative projects as Director-General of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, has now been appointed Director-General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the second largest central paramilitary force in the country. 
Anybody who is inquisitive about the fate of donations made to leading religious organisations in India must pick up a copy of “For God’s Sake Religious Charity and Social Development in India” brought out recently by the Delhi-based Sampradan Indian Centre for Philanthropy. Edited by bureaucrat-turned-writer Pushpa Sunder, the book seeks answers to several questions as what prompts people to give money, time, other goods to religious organisations, in what form do donations come and what do religious organisations do with the money and other resources donated to them. 