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Opinion

United we stand, divided we...

Why the decision to welcome Telegana as India's 29th state is wrong

I, MoneyGram~

My homeland has been divided yet again on 2"d June 2014, India witnessed the formation of its 29 d, stare, I be lieve in a democratic, sec ular and tolerant India and hence, 1 be lieve rbe decis ion to form this new state is enrirely wro ng; socially, politicaU y and democratically.

Socially, a conunon dissent (amongst man y others) voiced b y the citizens of Tehmgana who aspired for a new state is diat linguistically, they spoke different languages .&om the other regions of 1\ndhra Pradesh. Exarnp le,"i\tfy Telugu accent has always been ridicul ed b y those

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Visit us on the Internet: www.north-shore.com.au need to pump in to uplift the majotity of Telangana is colossal. and to the tune of several billions. lt is a task that might not be easy to achieve in spite of getting Hyderabad which practicaU y functions like a satellite city. And the other hand, are the cost and resources required fo r setting up a new government and related governmental agencies and administrative offices. The truth is that the elected government does nor have a clear blue print to address any of the critical .issues facing Telangana today

''Democratically, as we get closer to completing 68 years of independence, it is a saddening thought that we still follow the'divide and rule' policy of the British Raj which destroyed our land from other parts as I speak a different version of the language".

Our country was divided along linguistic lines at the time of state formation postlnd ependence, bur within a state, every village or district speaks w ith a different style or accent even today and all o f us have at some point ridiculed or been ridiculed for our accent or language. But does this qualify for die demand of a new s tate , a new di visio n ?

Economically, the c itizens of celebrate as if d1e battle has been won. But the real battle is yet tO begin! The new government is faced wi ch the mammoth cask of the economics of running a new state. J\ principal reason cited for needing a new s tate was d1e fact that m ost regions of Telangana were economically backward and not g iven d1e due attention b y the former Pi:adesh government. With a total l and area of 11 4,000 sq . km and a population ove r 35 million, the only prized asset Telangana can boast of is H yderabad, rbe technology hub of which che new governme nt believes can contribute tremendo u sly

Politicall y, the r iots and struggles for a new state began in the early 1960s. Initially, it was a publ ic outcry against the landlords of undi vided Andhra who exp lo i ted d1e farmers a nd other workiiig class of the Telangana regions It didn't take long for the politic ians to discover that chis sense of inju sti ce in rhe minds of the public was a good wa)' to gain votes. Soon tli e public disdain became a po li tical outcry. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (f'RS) formed in 2001 as a result of this and rhe party chose to form an alliance w ith the Congress (which held the stronghold at that rime) in the hopes of a new statehood. But the Congress party had no su cb inclinations and hunger stri kes, riots and so cial unrest becan1e d1e o rd er of d1e d ay. \Xlheu the date for the 2014 general. el ections was set and the Co ngres s par ry realised that it could be wi ped om from power, the decis ion for the new state of Telangana was pushed in a last minute attempt to gain a couple of votes from the region. A petty political m i scalculation which co st the party dearly die general e lections.

Democraticall y, as we get closer co comp leting 68 years of independence, it i s a saddening thought that we still follow tl1e

We did not need to cut ourselves up on the basis of language and regional differences; we need less corrupt leaders who would

'''divide and rule' policy of the British Ra j which destroyed our lan d We did not need a separate state; we need ed a sensitive government to understand tbe real p light of d1e peop le We did n ot need to cut ourselves up on the basis of language and rei,>ional differences; we need less corrupt leaders who wilJ direct funds in the right manner to promote growth and development. And above all, di rect funds in the to tl1e development of the new state Though right manner to promote growth and development

''We s hmtld hm7 e learnt we need to exercise tolerance, a sense of unity and brotherhood, a trait in such short supply among Indians back home and around rhe g lobe the city of Hyderabad has t be eco n omic po tential to bring Telangana out of its financial and develop mental from our past mis cakes, the glaringl y obv ious ones like Jbar kha od. 1t is going ro be a lonely road doom, it is .important to realise tli at the rest of the sta te remains backward with poor infrastructure, far m ing or irrigation facilities Water is another issue on which the two divided states will continue to lock heads with each o ther. Oo one band, the revenue and resources that the new government ,vill for Te langana and but here's to hoping the new leaders can deliver rbe promi ses m ade. As well a s hoping diat tl1e new government does not di,1i de and cut up lnclia again into Gorkhaland , Bod oland and Vidarbha for petty political interests.

A Melbourne-based engineer develops an app that lists Hindu te mples in 50 different countries

Temple Details

Driving Directions

Face book/Twitter or the devout Hindu, god is everywhere and in every being He is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent.

:Most of us, nevertheless, also fi nd strength and solace in a peaceful dm,·bt111 at temples. Today, no matter which corner of the world the globetrort:i.ng Hindu finds him or herself in, there is bound to be a Hindu temple, offering the right spiritual direction

Through the innumerable resources of the World Wide Web and the irumvation of Indian Australia Hari Iyer, finding god is now eas ier than ever.

Leveraging on the very latest in mobile technology, lyer has come up w ith a nove.l web and mob ile phone application to service the needs of the Hindu community

Mapping over 2,000 temples in 50 major coLmtries outside India, I yer recently lamiched his free Hindu temples directory, www allhinduteruples.com, and app for iOS on www. HinduTemplesApp.com downloadable through App Store.

The temp les app is a comprehensive directory and is particularly handy for getting directions, opening hours, contact details and services offered. The information can also be saved ofAine to d1eir device.

The high ly i n teractive app is particularly unique in its \Xfiki-style customer inte r face that allows users to netwm:k, collaborate, leave feedback and provide useful advice for omer temple -goers. Users can also update information and include phocos.

"Every other religion except Hinduism has apps and directories as weU as lots of information 30 JULY 2014

Temp les on.line abou t d1eir places of worship," lyer told Indian Ut1k.

"\Vhile so many Hindus have carved a niche for themselves in information technology, we don't have many resources online".

The idea for the app arose w h en Hari and his w ife Samridha turned up at a local Sydney temple, o nl y co find it dosed

"I subsequently tried to find their openi ng hours and realised mere was not much information available," Iyer said.

"Their website was down as well and even when it was restored i t lacked adequate content in a mobile friendly website. This is the case for most temple websites"

It was the frustration of not having access to basic in formation that inspired Iyer co create his app, wim d1e intention of making temple visits easier for everyone.

"I decided to create a directory whose main purpose i s instant access to basic logistical information. ~'herever the y are in

Contact Details

[ Opening Hours]

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Sav e Favorite s Offline the world, me rech -savvy devotee can u se the app to locate a Hindu temp le near rbem," explained Iyer.

As a typ ical "Tam- bram" (Tamil Brahm.in) the Mumbai-born Iyer was a frequent visitor of local temples His marriage to Samridba also strengthened his spiritual foundations as she not only brought a furn religious grounding back inro bis life bur also actively encouraged him to create the directory.

The industrial engineer, whose expertise is sales and consulting, invesred all his spa.re time into this unique project. A year in d1e making, it initially began as an Australian temples direcrory and b log, expanding steadily to include many more countries.

"It did mke a lot of coordination, bringing together work from different locations wim data analysts in Noida, app developer in Europe and graphic designers in Ko lkata. I had a lot of support from family, si nce a

Joe of my personal time and money has gone into bringing it tO current stage," ryer explained.

Each of me temples had to be individually mapped on Google maps as weU as data sourced and cleaned, co ensure accuracy for u sers The App itself had been in development for over four months and was exrensively tested to ensure compatibility with all iOS devices and screen sizes.

"In spite of the best of our efforts, this sort of information is clynam.ic," he added

"Opening hours c hange, temples often start small and then move on to bigger, pe r manent locations, phone numbe rs change and contact details also vary So I'd call upon users to report any changes that mey notice so it can be updated to benefit me whole community".

Although the project itself was self- fu n ded, in order to cover d1e cost of sustaining it on App Store, me app bas been priced at $2.49 and has already received many five star 1·eviews.

Consumer feedback has also been overwhelmingly positive. Peak H indu organisations like VHP, Hindu Council of Australia and Overseas Friends of BJP Aust:ralia h ave offered their support, but Iye r hopes to expand the app's reach even furtl1et.

"There is still work needed to spread the word especially in countries like U K, US and Canada," he reiterated "Mapping temples all over the world is such a massive project that no one can possib ly do it all by himself, but i f everyone had to ooly look after one or two temples in their local area co keep d1em updated and correct mat's easily doable and will benefit me entire communiry"

Iyer is also keen for temple managers to claim ownership of d1eir li sting and manage it d1emselves The sire also allows temples to upload any local events or festivals to help them get m ore visibility amongst devotees In d1e future, Iyer also hopes to co n nect with temp les in India. "That will be a mammoth pro1ect and we are trying to find local organisations there that we can work with. Conservatively speaking there would be at least 10,000 large temples in India d1at we'd like to include in the directory," he stated. Spurred by me demand, he has already begun wo r k on the Android version. To reach a wider audience, d1e app will be free.

'

'.As I will soon be mapping lndian temples, I do not wish to put it a behind pay wall," Iyer indicated. "1 also don't want to run ads, as it ,;vill corrupt d1e spir itual experience. Instead I p lan to hold a fundraiser through I.ndiegogo, whe re pe()ple can contribute whatever mey wish towards app development cost"

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