"Dream, Dream, Dream! Conduct these dreams into thoughts, and then transform them into action."
- Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

April 2017

Lord Krishna’s teachings: solutions to crossroads of life

If you win battle in your mind, you have already won the battle in real life. When the great warrior Arjuna was about to start the battle, he summoned to inaction. He was at a crossroad as to how can he fight with his uncles and cousins and  what is the point of winning the battle when half of his family will be dead. At this point of time Lord Krishna guided Arjuna that motivated him to act and believe that his actions were righteous. His teachings, in the form of 700 verses forms the great Bhagvad Gita that is the best guide for our life. Many management and business schools have it included in the syllabus. Let’s get enlightened by some of his teachings. Believe in your actions Whatever actions you do, may it be charity or a sacrifice, it is futile if you don’t believe in your deeds. To get ready for something is to truly believe in your actions. If you perform an action without trying to justify it or draw extra conclusions, that is when you are doing it right. Act of conviction subsequently leads to right decisions. Be ready to accept change Change is the only constant. Not only do things and environment around us change, but people, relationships and commitments change with time. Also when you retrain yourself from changing your thoughts, you go into a state of inactivity. Trying new ways and methods helps us to be alert and think all possibilities making our decision simpler. Accepting the change is also important. Accept and adapt to the changes and you will see many problems of your lives dissolving. Set high standards People follow legends. When you have decided your goals and course of actions, try settings various benchmarks for yourselves. Try attaining mastery in your work and keep challenging yourself with new things that will improvise your actions. Make your own definition of success, compete with self and raise your bar so that people look upon you as a leader and a great achiever. Keep inspiring and helping others. Don’t expect rewards This is the very famous teaching of Lord Krishna. You have control over your actions but not over your results. You can’t claim good results. Don’t let the rewards of your actions motivate you. It must be immaterial to you. Focus on your work and never stop or discontinue your work despite of success or failure. Concentrate on present life The entire world is governed by the supreme power the Almighty. One must not cry for the past and worry about the future. Just focus on your present and so your part. Crying over your past and expecting a lot from future will not allow you focus on your present. Learn to let go and live with no expectations and demands. Listen to your conscience Nothing in this world is truer than your inner voice that is the voice of conscience. Our mind is very biased. It analyses what is good and bad and in case we overthink it will deduce bad out of good thins too. But our conscience is unbiased. But unfortunately we don’t listen to it as it’s very frank and sometimes very rude, and it doesn’t answer as per your mental comfort. You can hear your inner voice when you are calm and not under the influence of any greed and advantage or circumstances.

29 Apr 2017
Positive Reads

Discoveries of Indian saints: still unknown to the world

India is known for its wit for ages. It’s a land of very important discoveries, inventions and astounding knowledge. Saints of ancient India has given world so many things and inventions that the world will be grateful for eons in future as well. The great ‘Granths’, ‘Puranas’, ‘Vedas’ of theirs are marvellous with great philosophies, teachings, knowledge and meanings. Their discoveries astonished even the kings of those times. Many of their inventions are now termed as modern science. Sad part is many people in the world are still unaware of their hard work and achievements. Let’s accolade some of these great saints who gave the world modern, scientific ways of thinking and solutions. Acharya Sushruta Acharya Sushruta is considered as the father of Indian surgery and ophthalmology. He was the first to carry out cataract operation and plastic surgery that too in 2000 BC (Before Christ). Thinking of such a medical advancement at that time is no less than magic. He made use of curved needles and pushed the lens to remove the cataract. The eyes were then immersed in warm butter and covered until they healed completely. People from all over the world came to India at that time to get his treatment.In his ‘Uttar Tantrum’, he has mentioned many eye diseases in classified manner with their signs, symptoms, prognosis and medical or surgical solutions. His work in medical sciences were translated to Arabic and passed to European countries to done further advancements.  Bhaskaracharya Bhaskaracharya is a very prominent Indian mathematician and astronomer of the medieval era. He is the one who first stated the laws of gravity in the book ‘Surya Siddhanta’ which was written by Aryabhatta. He had contributed to the book with many of his thesis and findings. The laws of gravitations were discovered by Bhaskaracharya 1200 years before Sir Isaac Newton. But unfortunately, the world is unaware of this. At age of 36, he wrote the ‘Siddhānta Śiromaṇī’- Crown of Treatises which is broadly divided into four parts. It deals with the calculus, algebra and arithmetic of the planets and spheres. Saint Bharadvaja Saint Bharadvaja is considered to have given knowledge about flying machines or Vimanas. He had made an airplane from his vayushastras that would vanish. He had revealed secrets of travelling from one planet to another.The book ‘Vaimãnika Shastra or the Science of Aeronautics’ written by Subbaraya Shastry are the teachings of Saint Bharadvaja about flying machines. As per Bharadvaja, there are three types of aviation machines- those that travel from one place to another, those travel from one country to another and those that travel from one planet to another. In Ramanaya, an ancient Indian epic has mentions of deities and powerful people travelling in flying machines. The Pushpaka Vimana of the demon king Ravana is the most famous example of vimana in Ramanaya. Aryabhatta The crucial number Zero in mathematics was given to the world by great Indian mathematician and astronomer Aryabhatta. He is also known for many of his findings in astronomy about his explanations of lunar eclipse and solar eclipse, motions of solar system, rotation of Earth on its axis, reflection of light by moon and many more. He has found the sinusoidal functions, trigonometry,value of π correct to 4 decimal places and the circumference of Earth to 99.8% accuracy! His book Aryabhatiya is a Sanskrit astronomical treatise that has all his astronomical findings. India’s first satellite was named after him for his notable contribution to mathematics and astronomy. He has influenced many other saints like saint Bharadvaja, Brahmagupta and wrote many books on astronomy and mathematics with their contributions.

29 Apr 2017
Positive Reads

New Rs 5 and Rs 10 denomination coins to be put to circulation by the Reserve Bank of India

To celebrate the 125th year of National Archives of India and the 150th anniversary of Allahabad High Court, the Reserve Bank of India will soon circulate the newly minted Rs 10 coins and Rs 5 coins for each of the event respectively.The Reserve Bank of India has described the design of the coins in the press release. The design of the new minted Rs 10 coin will have the image of the National Archives Building in the center of the reverse of the coin with “125 Years” inscribed below the images marking its significance and also the logo of the 125th celebration.Years 1861 and 2016 will be written in international numerals on the left and right side of the image respectively. Years 1891 and 2016 will be minted on upper and lower periphery of the coin. Similarly, the new coin of Rs 5 denomination will have the frontage of Allahabad High Court Building as the image on the coin’s face. Year 1866-2016 will be printed at the bottom of the image. Reserve Bank of India assured that the old coins of this denomination will continue to be legal.        

29 Apr 2017
Good News

Hindus, Muslims pray under same roof at Alwar's integrated shrine

The shrine is the testimony to communal harmony. The devotees of both faiths  prey in  compound. The integrated shrine contains  Sayyed Darbar and Sankat Mochan Vir Hanuman Mandir. It is one of the rare examples peaceful coexistence of Hinduism and Islam in India. There is not single wall which separates two religious structures. The devotees from two faiths say that the scent of burning of loban at the `roshni-ki-rasm', at the dargah, and of camphor and wicks soaked in ghee from the maha aarti in temple, makes a unique divine atmosphere. Especially on Thursdays, one can hear bhajan and qawallis together. The shrine compound has flags in green and saffron with a 30-metre high Tricolour on the hill furling together. What’s more, the main entrance to the compound is through the temple's gate.  All the devotees pray here with their folded hands and also held their forehead high for tika. Further, while devotees pass towards the dargah, their heads are covered while they bend to pay respect. Remarkably, the offerings from devotees at both shrines come from a common thali. This one shrine is certainly where one feels that Almighty is indeed One!

29 Apr 2017
Good News

Cassini-Huygens Space Mission: First lone ranger from Earth to enter Saturn Rings

A manmade object has reached the frontiers where no mission could venture before. It is Cassini-Huygens mission to planet Saturn. The Mission: Cassini is the fourth spacecraft to visit planet Saturn, but first to enter orbit through Rings of the giant planet . It is unpiloted being a robotic spacecraft.  Its contains Cassini which is Saturn orbiter and Huygens which is lander for the Titan, the moon of Saturn. Both of these spacecrafts have been named to honour astronomers Giovanni Cassini and Christiaan Huygens. The mission was launched on October 15, 1997. The spacecraft entered Saturn orbit on July 1, 2004 in voyage passing through flybys of  Venus and Jupiter. On January 14, 2005,  Huygens  landed on Saturn's moon Titan and  sent valuable data to Earth, becoming  first landing in the outer Solar System.Cassini  has studied Saturn  and its various natural satellites since 2004. Accomplishments : Cassini is equipped with various  advanced space instruments, cameras, computers and radio transmitters on board. It has sent detailed images and by far accurate measurements since its arrival at Saturn. Cassini has been equipped with 12 instruments while the Huygens probe has been equipped with  six instruments. These are capable to  investigate all the unknown elements in the Saturn planet system. The power for the  instruments as well as spacecraft is provided by three Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators  (RTGs)  

29 Apr 2017
Positive Reads

Superhumans: real heroes with unprecedented powers

Superhumans are no longer a work of fiction! I was watching Stan Lee’s superhumans when I came across some extremely astonishing and unbelievably brilliant people that possess unprecedented powers. These are the one that can climb buildings quickly like a Spiderman, run faster than any of the fastest thing and even see as if they have X-ray eyes. I know it is hard for you to believe this without any proof. I will list some of these superhumans. Don’t forget to read about some more like them. Miroslaw Magola: The magnetic man Miroslaw Magola is a freelance artist now and performs in many TV shows. He has the power of sticking items to his skin. Due to this he has gained popularity in many of the television shows. He also gives lectures on psycho kinesis and is also passionate about ancient cultures, religion and philosophy. His interest in culture made him travel many parts of the world like India, China, USA, Tibet, the Middle East and Africa.

29 Apr 2017
Positive Reads

Elon Musk: Tycoon innovating the future

The one who dreams to transform the world, the one who envisions to invent the future and change the humanity; one of the most powerful businessman of the world, he is none other than Elon Musk. With amazing ventures he handles, he has the power to make people see the world that they thought could be an unrealistic dream. He aims at reducing the global warming by sustainable energy consumption and set up colonies on Mars to reduce the threat of human extinction. These are some of the ventures that he runs. Let’s have the look at the ideologies behind each one of them. SpaceX SpaceX is an amazing Aerospace and space transport service whose goal is to make space transports cheaper and enable human colonies on Mars.They have developed the Falcon launch vehicle family and the Dragon spacecraft family. SpaceX has successfully handled 10 space missions since its advent. It has become the first private company to send a liquid fuelled rocket to orbit Earth.It has also become the first private company to send spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS). In 2011, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had awarded a contract to SpaceXto develop and demonstrate the human rated Dragon for the safe transportation of the astronauts to and from the ISS. In 2016, the company came up with the initiative of the Interplanetary Transport System program that would develop spaceflight technology which would also further demand the emergence of human settlements on Mars. The company also got two private individual bookings for a free return trajectory around the moon which is planned for 2018. It will be the first ever lunar tourism. Tesla Tesla Inc. is an automaker, energy storage company that makes electric cars, lithium-ion batteries and solar panels through their SolarCity subsidiary.Tesla rose to fame when it made its first electric sports car ‘Tesla Roadster’ in 2008. Till date it has sold over 1,86,000 models of Roadster worldwide. It then has released many car models like Model S, Model X and Model 3. Model S has reported to be the best selling electric car of 2015 and 2016. Tesla has a network of Superchargers located across North America, Europe and Asia for charging of the Tesla vehicles. Tesla Powerwall and Powerpack are rechargeable lithium ion batteries that can be used for running home appliances and stores energy as backup for usage later. Hyperloop This is a novel transportation method by propelling a pod like vehicle through reduced pressure tubes that would exceed the speed of an airliner. The pod vehicles will initially accelerate using the linear electric motor and then glide over the track using the passive magnetic levitation. The concept of Hyperloop was created by Elon Musk in 2012 and the outline of the concept was publically released in August 2013, which suggested a route running from Los Angeles to San Francisco Bay Area. This concept has been open sourced by Elon Musk and SpaceX and further research and development in it is encouraged.

28 Apr 2017
Positive Reads

National highways to get high speed with fewer entry-exit points

In next four to five years, about 20,000 kilometre stretch of major national highways will have very few entry and exit points to facilitate high speed transport These major national highways will be free of any median, U-turns and side entries to allow uninterrupted high speed travelling for fast moving and heavy vehicles. The roads will also be protected from proper barricades to prevent the stray animals on coming on the highways. Along with the above said changes, the government under the Phase I of the Bharatmala scheme will expand certain stretches to four lanes which would cost around Rs 3.85 lakh crore. The slow moving vehicles like rickshaws, motor-bikes lead to many traffic crashes due to the speed. Also, where a four-lane road in Japan can carry about 40,000 vehicles, similar road in India cannot carry more than 20,000 vehicles which further breaches the traffic. To solve this issue the roads have to be converted to six lanes which would incur lots of land acquisitions and huge capital investment. Road transport and highways ministry under Nitin Gadkari proposed the concept of access controlled roads which are common abroad. These roads will have limited entry and exit points with separated service roads used to arrive onto the highways. The highways as of now for the implementation are the Mumbai-Kolkata and Mangalore-Bangalore, Ludhiana to Kandla and Porbandar to Silchar which carry most of the road transport goods and connect important financial hubs.  

28 Apr 2017
Good News

Birsa Munda: The legendary folk hero and freedom fighter

Birsa Munda belonged to the Munda tribe and was an Indian freedom fighter, religious leader and folk hero. What is remarkable is, he achieved this feat in a lifespan of only 25 years. He lived between1875–1900 and is remembered even to this day in tribal areas Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh. During the British Raj, in the late 19th century, Birsa Munda led an indigenous tribal religious millenarian movement in tribal areas of today’s Bihar and Jharkhand. Thus, he became a prominent figure in the history of the Indian independence struggle. He is the only tribal leader who is honoured in such a way that  his  portrait hangs in the Central Hall of the Indian parliament house. Birsa Munda Biography: Birsa Munda was born on 15 November 1875, at Ulihatu in colonial Bihar, now in the Khunti district of Jharkhand to Sugana Munda and Karmi Hatu. Some people believe that Birsa was born in Chalkad. His brother was Komta Munda.They were part of tribal agrarian system existing on those times. The Freedom Movement: The British Raj tried  transformation of the tribal agrarian system into a feudal type of state, which led to resentment among tribals. Due to this new system,  the tribals had lost their proprietary rights on lands, and were forced to be farm labourers. To resist this, Birsa Munda led series of revolts and uprisings against British. His struggle wanted to assert rights of the Mundas as the original proprietors of the land. He also wanted ouster of middlemen and the British Raj. The movement caught the imagination of the tribals  as never before and they resisted British tooth and nail under leadership of Birsa Munda. But Birsa was caught on 3 February 1900 due to treachery. Later, he died  mysteriously on 9 June 1900 in Ranchi Jail. The martyredome of Birsa  did not go in vain. The British realized their folly and they introduced laws so that the land of the tribals could not be taken away by the outsiders.  Also, the revolt  showed that the tribal people were capable of protesting against injustice and express their anger against British. Birsa Munda the Legend Today: Birth anniversary of Birsa Munda falls on 15 November. The official function is held at his Samadhi Sthal, at Kokar, Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand. It is marked by celebrations by tribal people of not only Bihar and Jharkhand, but also far off places including Mysore and Kodagu districts in Karnataka. Birsa Munda Legacy: There are a innumerable organizations which are named after him today. Prominent among them being  Birsa Munda Airport Ranchi, Birsa Agricultural University, Birsa Munda Vanvasi Chattravas, Sidho Kanho Birsha University, Purulia, and Birsa Institute of Technology Sindri, Kanpur. Keeping his brave spirit alive, Bihar Regiment of the Indian Army has adopted the war cry of ‘ Birsa Munda Ki Jai’ or Victory to Birsa Munda. By 15 November 2018, a 150-foot-tall statue of Birsa Munda will be built in Jharkland by stones collected from households in the region. Birsa Munda stands for modern values of freedom from oppression and rights of sons of soils. He not only  belongs to Jharkhand and Bihar but also to whole of India. He was a true son of India. Let all Indians know about him and be grateful to him for his sacrifice towards our motherland.  

28 Apr 2017
Positive Reads

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