Sulabh Swachh Bharat - VOL: 2 | ISSUE 20

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Sanitation In Angola

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

Vrindavan Widows

The Making Of A Legend

Angola has made significant progress in improving nationwide sanitation

Dr Pathak’s lecture on the topic of ‘Contribution to Nation Building’

Malda’s Rani finds home in Vrindavan

“Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojana” is to end practice of female foeticide

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RNI No. DELENG/2016/71561

A Good News Weekly

Vol - 2 | Issue - 20 | April 30 - May 06, 2018 | Price ` 5/-

Dr Syed Kalbe Sadiq

A Reformer With A Difference Dr Syed Kalbe Sadiq is an internationally renowned Islamic scholar, thinker, reformer, educationist and a man of principles

n Srawan Shukla

H

e is perhaps the only Muslim cleric in the world who preaches respect to all religions and faiths with a firm belief that they all lead to peaceful coexistence of human beings. Born on January 1, 1936, in ‘City of Nawabs’ Lucknow in a highly reputed Athna Shiite Muslim family, popularly known as Khandan-e-Ijtihad (family of Islamic Jurisprudence), Dr Kalbe Sadiq is an internationally acclaimed Shiite Muslim cleric, Islamic scholar, social reformer, educationist and a preacher of faith and human values.

Since his school days, Dr Sadiq was

a brilliant student who would study for 18 hours a day. He would walk down to Cantonment from Nakhas in Old City of Lucknow for tuition and discussion with Islamic scholars.

His father late Maulana Kalbe Husain and Uncle Maulana Kalbe Abid were prominent Islamic Scholars and great orators of their time. He completed his early education from a famous madarsa Sultan-ul-Madaris.

“He was a great swimmer and a

book-worm since his early student days,” shares an elder in his family.

Born in a renowned family of Islamic scholars, Dr Sadiq would always remain glued to books of Islamic teachings and hold taqreer(Preaching) with his elders in the family on subjects ranging from Islam as a religion and Quran.

He would quietly accompany his father and uncle in mourning sessions during Muharram and acquired

He did a lot of research work on Hindu philosophy, read Upanishads, Vedas, Gita and several other Hindu religious texts to gain knowledge about Hinduism

knowledge and communication skills to become a great orator since his student days.

Later, he joined the Aligarh Muslim University to complete his graduation. He did his PostGraduation in Arabic Literature and studied Islamic jurisprudence in 1971. Dr Sadiq obtained his doctoral degree from the Lucknow University.

After the death of his father and uncle, Dr Sadiq took over the family legacy. He began holding Majlis during Moharram reciting mourning sessions. His communicative skills, command over Islamic teachings and high standards of spirituality soon made him one of the most sought

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April 30 - May 06, 2018

Quick Glance He belongs to a reputed religious family of ‘Khandan-e-Ijtihad’ Peaceful coexistence has been one of his basic principles of life Among his admirers are the followers of all religions

after Shiite Muslim clerics around the globe within no time.

A widely travelled person, Dr Sadiq visited the majority of the countries in Asia, Australia, Europe, America and Africa to participate in world conferences, delivering speeches on Islam and its teachings and to promote inter-faith unity, cooperation, high standards of spirituality, moral values and understanding.

Back home, he emerged as a leading Muslim scholar and reformer to impart quality education and health care to poor Muslim students.

“It is my life-time mission. Allah has educated me to share my knowledge with all deserving ones at the grassroot level,” he often stated.

He founded Tauheedul Muslimeen Trust (TMT) in 1984 to promote education, free health care and rehabilitation of children of poor Muslim families. He single-handedly opened Unity chain of schools, colleges, institutes and charitable medical colleges and hospitals to achieve his life-time mission of educating Muslims, providing them best health care and bring them to the mainstream of the society.

A champion of human rights, 82-year-old Dr Sadiq is known for his radical and progressive views on contentious issues plaguing the Muslim community around the globe. Being Senior Vice-President of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), he always stood for Muslim women rights and strongly opposed practices of triple talaq, halala, multiple marriages and issuance of fatwas on non-issues.

He is the man behind the ‘Model Nikahnama’ introduced by the AIMPLB in 2004 to protect marital rights of Muslim women in the country. “I still remember when I met him first time in 1991, he talked about drafting a Nikahnama. He faced many challenges and opposition within the AIMPLB but finally convinced the Board to implement it in 2004. The AIMPLB is now making amendments into Model Nikahnama drafted by him to give more marital rights to

His Tryst With Hinduism O

nce Dr Kalbe Sadiq had publicly admitted the following before the Spiritual Guru and Art of Living Founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

“Till the time I did not know about Hinduism, I used to hate it. It was but natural. When a person does not know anything about something then he hates it.”

His tryst with Hinduism is quite interesting. He shared that once a high-level delegation of renowned Maulanas from Iran descended to Lucknow and they showed a keen interest in meeting prominent Hindu sadhus and saints who could teach them Hindu religion.

“I took them to one of the ancient city of the world, Varanasi. Which place would be better than Kashi to know about Hinduism and find a learned person to teach Iranian Maulanas Hindu religion,” he disclosed to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar during his meeting.

“I took the delegation to an ancient temple in Kashi.

They were amazed to find walls of temples inscribed with some letters in Sanskriti language. When I told them that they are ‘shlokas’ from Hindu religious textbook Bhagwad Gita, one of them requested me to translate one ‘shloka’ in Persian. When I translated one of the ‘shloka’ they exclaimed in jubilation….oh its Quran’s Ayaat,” said he.

That was the day when Dr Sadiq developed a quest to learn about Hindu religion. He did a lot of research work on Hindu philosophy, read Upanishads, Vedas, Gita and several other Hindu religion texts to gain

knowledge about Hinduism. “Meri dushmani pyaar mein badal gayi….my enmity in the form of ignorance towards Hinduism then turned into the love for Hindu religion, culture and its rich traditions,” he shared.

In most of his public meetings and sermons, he would often quote from Gita and Vedas to convince

Kalbe Sadiq on Hindu Dharma at Art of Living Ashram

members of his community to respect other religions and stay away from a handful people spreading hatred and social evils in the name of Islam or any other religion.

He considers Sri Sri Ravi Shankar as his ‘Spriritual Guru’. “He explains Hindu religion in most simple but philosophical and spiritual way. I am impressed by the way he conveys his strongest message about Art of Living with a smile to leave audience enthralled,” said he.

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April 30 - May 06, 2018

Muslim women in view of Modi government’s proposed Act banning triple talaq,” said S. Kumar, a local journalist.

The AIMPLB has proposed to amend his Model Nikahnama by introducing a new clause of husband not using ‘talaq-e-biddat’ to pronounce ‘talaq talaq talaq’ or tripe talaq in one go.

Despite stiff opposition from his community members, he was instrumental in making a radical beginning in Lucknow by allowing Muslim women to offer ‘namaz’ at mosque on Fridays and Eid and other occasions. Initially, doors of mosque were opened for Shiite Muslim women but later it has become a regular feature of large number of hijab-clad Sunni and women of other sects offering namaz at Idgah on Eid. His radical views on equal gender rights to Muslim women, Muslims adopting family planning, only one marriage for a devout Muslim,

methods.

The AIMPLB was opposed to polio drops being administered to Muslim kids. Lately, even Maulanas had issued appeals to community members to get the polio drops to their kids for their safety. The Board was also opposed to family planning saying that children are Allah’s blessing but now majority of Muslim families are adopting birth control methods in the country.

Despite being Senior VicePresident of the AIMPLB, he would often blame Ulamas (clerics) and the Board for the plight of Muslims in India. “They are still living in bygone era and lack vision to take the community forward,” he once candidly declared while giving a lecture on ‘Islam versus Muslims’ in Lucknow.

He is perhaps the only Muslim cleric in India who sought a ban on fatwas. “Fatwas have brought disrepute to Islamic teachings, Quran

Light on His Life • Dr Syed Kalbe Sadiq is an internationally renowned Islamic scholar, thinker, reformer, educationist and man of principles • He is seen as a big exponent of communal harmony between Hindus and Muslims and also Shias and Sunnis • He was born on June 22, 1939, in Lucknow in a highly reputed Athna Shiite Muslim family, popularly known as Khandan-eIjtihad • He did his Post-Graduation in Arabic Literature and studied Islamic jurisprudence in 1971 from Aligarh Muslim University.

Dr Sadiq obtained his doctoral degree from the Lucknow University • Besides Arabic, Dr. Kalbe Sadiq has mastery over Urdu, Persian, English and Hindi languages • On 18th April 1984, he established Tauheedul Muslimeen Trust (T.M.T) to give educational assistance and scholarships to needy and poor students.

• He is especially attached to a project-“T.M.T’s free education programme”- which provides quality education, transportation, uniforms, stationery, books, etc. absolutely free to the most deserving and underprivileged students of our society

polio drops, earned him wrath of fundamental forces within the community and annoyed the Muslim Board.

He would often go against the stand taken by the AIMPLB on issues like triple talaq, four marriages, family planning and gender rights. But if one closely follows developments in the Indian Muslim world then Dr Sadiq always emerged victorious on majority of issues through his sustained efforts and convincing

and community members. Any small-time ulama will issue fatwa on a subject they have no knowledge of and have no right under Islam to do so,” said he.

Dr Sadiq had sought government’s intervention on banning fatwa factory.

“I would be the first to support the government if it bans fatwa,” said he.

He minced no words to rap openly the AIMPLB for taking a rigid stand on issues concerning Muslims in the country. “The Board was set-up with

He founded Tauheedul Muslimeen Trust (TMT) in 1984 to promote education, free health care and rehabilitation of children of poor Muslim families

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• The educational, charitable and constructive projects running under his able guidance and supervision include: (i) Tauheedul Muslimeen Trust, Lucknow (ii) Unity College, Lucknow (iii)Unity Mission School, Lucknow (iv)Unity Technical School, Lucknow (v)Unity Public School, Allahabad (vi) M.U. College, Aligarh

(vii) Unity Computer Centre, Lucknow (viii) Unity Free Education Programme in Lucknow, Jaunpur, Jalalpur, Allahabad, Barabanki, Moradabad and Aligarh etc. (ix) Hiza Charitable Hospital, Lucknow (x)T.M.T Medical Centre, Shikarpur, U.P. (xi)T.M.T’s Widow’s Pension Scheme (xii)T.M.T’s Orphan’s Educational Sponsorship Scheme (xiii)Reconstruction and Expansion of the World Famous Imam Bargah of Ghufran Maab, Lucknow (xiv)Reconstruction and Renovation of the Tomb of World Famous Elegy Writer and Marsia Khwan Hazrat Meer Anees, Lucknow • He is also the President of Lucknow’s famous Era’s Medical College & Hospital. This medical college is known for its excellent medical facilities at very nominal rates.

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an aim to ensure implementation of Shariat Application Act, 1937, and guide Muslims in the country on issues concerning them. But, of late, it has deviated from its path and leaving community members confused and misguided,” he pointed out.

Dr Sadiq candidly asserts that Muslims in the country are facing problems as the Board and their religious heads have closed the doors on application of reasoning in religious affairs. “Change and progressive thinking is a natural law for any religion or faith. But the Board and ulamas have shut the doors on it. They still stick to practices which are redundant and have no value to human beings now,” he said.

He quoted several examples of how Hindu social reformers got banned ‘Sati Pratha’ and ‘Child Marriage’ and how other religions adopted changes as per time and need on social evils

Dr Syed Kalbe Sadiq is seen as a big exponent of communal harmony between Hindu and Muslims and also Shias and Sunnis prevailing in their society. “They (ulamas) are not allowing these changes to take place for the progress and betterment of Muslim society as their shop would close down,” he rightly said once.

From Quran, he quoted, ‘Wife beating is permissible by handkerchief. Do Muslims use a hankie to beat their wives like a devout follower of Islam and Quran?

No, they don’t, infact I have come across cases where Muslims thrashed their wives to death. Where are teachings of Quran and Islam then?’, he quipped.

Dr Sadiq always denounced terrorism and its link with so-called Islamic Jihad. He right out rejects Sangh Parivar’s allegation that ‘all bearded Muslims are terrorists’. “A Muslim who kills is not a Muslim.

Then all Muslims don’t keep beard.

How can a terrorist be a Muslim when Islam does not preach and allow violence and killings? There is no place for reactionary forces in Islam. It does not allow Muslims to kill Kafirs or non-believers in Islam.

If that was the case then several world wars would have been fought

by Islamic countries now with other nations practicing different religion,” he pointed in one of his lectures.

April 30 - May 06, 2018

Shia-Sunni Dialogue Maulana Kalbe Sadiq is an outspoken advocate of Shia-Sunni unity as well as of Hindu-Muslim dialogue

T

he crucial need to improve Shia-Sunni relations is one of the major focuses of Kalbe Sadiq’s writings and speeches. In contrast to many other Shia ‘ulama’, Kalbe Sadiq uses the traditional institution of the majlis, lectures held in the month of Muharram to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, to repeatedly stress the need for better relations between Shias and Sunnis.

Often, his majlis are attended by both Shias as well as Sunnis. His lectures are not particularly Shia in any narrow confessional sense.

He refers constantly to the Quran, and to those traditions attributed to the Prophet which both Shias and Sunnis accept, linking these two events of contemporary importance.

Kalbe Sadiq repeatedly stresses that the majlis have two basic purposes: to inform and to reform. In other words, the majlis are intended to impart knowledge about the true meaning of Islam as well as to reform people’s beliefs and practices accordingly.

Kalbe Sadiq’s majlis generally deal with issues of contemporary concern, such as Shia-Sunni strife, Hindu-Muslim conflict, modern education and women’s rights. The majlis invariably begin with a verse from the Quran related to a particular issue, which is then elaborated upon, linking the verse with the issue at hand. This discussion forms the major section of the majlis. In contrast to the majlis of many other Shia ‘ulama’, the narration of the sufferings of Imam Hussain and the

“Muslims are being used as an ‘emotional commodity’ by few antiIslamic outfits like Al Qaeda, ISIS etc.

Muslim community members should understand this and call it emotional blackmail. If it was true then no Muslim would have settled to study, work in non-Islamic countries since

family of the Prophet (ahl ul-bayt) form only a part of Kalbe Sadiq’s majlis, often taking up considerably less than half the total duration of the lecture.

Kalbe Sadiq’s case for ShiaSunni unity, as expressed in his majlis, is based principally on arguments drawn from the Quran.

He consciously avoids referring to

theological differences between Shias and Sunnis, instead repeatedly evokes the Quran to stress Muslim unity. In one majlis he claims that Shias and Sunnis ‘share 97 per cent of their beliefs in common’, and that it is these common beliefs that should be the basis of Muslim ecumenism. He argues that all those who believe in one God, the Prophet Muhammad and the Quran, and who share the same creed of confession of the faith (‘There is no God but God and Muhammad is the Prophet of God’) must be considered Muslims, irrespective of their other differences. He does not deny the differences between the Shias and Sunnis and between the different sects within each of these two major groups, but insists that

they don’t believe in Islam and are kafirs,” he reasons out.

He further said that today Muslims are divided between Shias, Sunnis, Wahabis, Barelvis, Deobandis and other sects instead of drawing Islamic teachings from Mecca, Medina, Najaf and Karbala. It is really unfortunate

these are relatively inconsequential.

Hence, despite their differences, he says, they must identify themselves and each other simply as Muslims.

He reminds his listeners that the terms ‘Sunni’, ‘Shia’, ‘Deobandi’, ‘Barelwi’, ‘Ahl-i Hadith’, names of various contemporary Muslim sects, are not mentioned in the Quran, where ‘true believers’ are identified simply as ‘Muslims’.

Hence, he says, Muslims, irrespective of the sects they belong to, must consider themselves as Muslims alone.

A central feature of Kalbe Sadiq’s discourse, including his case for Shia-Sunni unity, is the notion of adl or insaf (justice). He quotes the Quran as saying that God’s purpose in sending a succession of prophets, heavenly books and laws (shari‘at) was simply one: to eliminate injustice (zulm) and ensure the rights of all creatures of God. The purpose of religion is not simply to instruct people to worship God, but, equally importantly, to inspire them to promote love and justice in society. Islam, he says, teaches that the ‘rights of God’s creatures’ (huquq ul-‘ibad) are as important as the ‘rights of God’ (huquq allah).

He goes so far as to say that if one is confronted with the choice between the two, one should choose the former, for ‘creatures of God need to have their rights respected’, while God is in need of nothing. God will not forgive one’s sins, he says, if one violates the huquq ul-‘ibad. On the Day of Judgment, one’s prayers and ritual worship will not be of any help to a person who tramples on the rights of others.

and will take the Muslim community nowhere,” pointed he.

Dr Sadiq further said that Zionism was wiped out from Iran but Jews all over the world flourished due to their progressive approach and community feeling. “Any religion or faith will be wiped out from earth if it did not

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April 30 - May 06, 2018

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He is an orator par excellence and has travelled across the globe to deliver speeches and lectures on Islamic theology adopt changes as per the requirement of the time and need of people who follow it,” he predicts.

He would often quote Quran saying that a criminal can’t be a Muslim and a Muslim can’t be a criminal. “Anyone who takes lives of another person of any religion or faith through terror attacks or by any means, accepts bribe, commits atrocities, grabs someone’s property…cannot be a Muslim,” he always maintained asking Muslims to ostracize such people from the community.

His final verdict on terrorism: “Terrorism has nothing to do with Muslims or Islamic jihad, as being projected by these outfits through emotional blackmailing of Muslims.

They were there during the time of Prophet Mohammed too. They created a rift which continues till now as Shias and Sunnis have forgotten teachings of Prophet Mohammed and Imam Ali for peace and co-existence.

The world would be divided further if we allowed these small numbers of

people to succeed in their acts.”

Soft spoken, suave and living a simple life, Dr Sadiq enjoys good command over Urdu, Hindi, English, Arabic and Persian. He delivers his lectures and sermons all over the world in these five languages.

He always maintained good relations with political leaders, religious heads of different communities and people of different religions and faiths. He shared platform with then RSS chief KC Sudershan to spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and leaders from Islamic states to world leaders from the USA and other nations across globe. Modest in thoughts and living, but Dr Sadiq always stood to defend the community when under attack from the saffron brigade or any other corner without any logic or reason. He always spoke against RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat justifying ‘gharwapasi’ (reconversion) of Hindus converting to Islam and his dream of making ‘India a Hindu Rashtra’. “I thank people

His views on Ayodhya Imbroglio

D

r Sadiq is often criticised by members of the AllIndia Muslim Personal Law Board for his radical views on Ayodhya dispute. He always maintained that Muslims should surrender the disputed piece of land in Ayodhya to Hindus for the construction of Ram temple there. “We must respect their belief that their God (Lord

Rama) was born there simply that they also believe in our faith associated with our religious sites,” he argues.

He would always advise Muslims for a peaceful solution to the vexed issue, preferably out of court. Now since the matter is for final adjudication in the Supreme Court, his advice to Muslim: If the Babri Mosque verdict by the Supreme Court is against Muslims then they should accept it peacefully with no reaction. And if the verdict goes in their favour then they should hand over the land to Hindus as a goodwill gesture to win their hearts and for a peaceful co-existence of both communities in India.”

of this country who gave us shelter many centuries ago. We chose to stay back even after partition in 1947.

Being citizen of this country and our ancestors living here for centuries, it is our motherland too. We Muslims of India will defend our motherland from any separatist forces, whether internal (read RSS) or external (Pakistan),” he had declared when RSS and few BJP leaders had suggested Muslims, opposing their Hindu Rashtra move, to settle in Pakistan or elsewhere.

“I dare Mohan Bhagwat and other RSS outfits to convert terrorists of IS, ISIS, Al Qaeda, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Indian Mujahideen and other terror organisations before trying their hands on devout Indian Muslims,” he fumed over ghar wapasi or reconversion. While India faced a lot of bloodshed in the name of cow protection, Dr Sadiq issued fervent appeals to Muslims in the country not to consume cow meat. An ardent supporter of protection to cows, he quoted from Hadith saying that Prophet Mohammad had proclaimed cow meat was a source of many diseases and had prohibited Muslims from eating beef (cow meat).

“Cow milk is elixir but its meat is a source of many diseases,” he maintained defending Hindu outfit’s outrage over cow slaughter. During his majlis, he would always advise Muslims to stay away from cow slaughter and eating its meat.

But at the same time, he would come down heavily on saffron rage doubting the patriotism of Muslim community. “India is our motherland

and Muslims love their motherland as much as anyone who is part of this country. Those doubting our patriotism should understand that no Muslim can hate his mother and motherland where he is born and brought up,” he said.

Recently, Dr Sadiq was rushed to Medanta Hospital in Delhi in an Air Ambulance when he fell unconscious after complaining acute stomach pain.

He underwent surgery of a growth in his intestine.

While he was recuperating at Medanta, back home prayers were offered by not only his large number of followers but by members of all communities, senior leaders of different political parties.

The Deputy Chief of Mission Embassy of Islamic Republic of Iran Masood Rezvanian visited Medanta to inquire about his health. He carried a personal message from Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader and the most revered Shiite Muslim religious head. “In today’s world, Dr Kalbe Sadiq is a top religious leader of the community and the most admired social worker and reformer. He is not only Messiah of Muslims but of communities in the world. We all pray for his speedy recovery,” read the message from Ayatollah Khamenei who is also sending his personal envoy to call on Dr Sadiq. “Besides personal attention by eminent doctors in the hospital, it is prayers and ‘dua’ pouring in from the world over which has helped my father to recover from his serious condition,” says his son Kalbe Hussein.

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Sanitation: Angola

April 30 - May 06, 2018

Angola

Sanitation in Africa’s Oil Giant Angola has made significant progress in improving nationwide sanitation despite the years of protracted civil conflict

Quick Glance 80 per cent of people have access to water sources Modern medical system was set in 1818 Sanitary reforms in Ghana began in 1910

communities in the management of their water scheme.

The programme’s specific goals were to:

• Establish an institutional framework guided by a rights-based approach; • Set up a regulatory framework to ensure equity and an inciting environment to private providers; • Reinforce the capacity of local administrations to monitor the network, mobilize resources and fund community water projects; and • Put in place an accountability system.

Main achievements: Mihir Paul

A

ngola is emerging from a protracted civil conflict, confronting significant challenges in the water and sanitation sector such as a need to: rebuild damaged or decrepit infrastructure; establish an appropriate institutional framework; update policies and approaches; The civil war that Angola went through sparked unparalleled growth in the urban population as people migrated to the relative safety of the larger cities to avoid unpredictable violence in the countryside. Working in its favor is an abundance of financial resources in striking counterpoint to many of its regional neighbors.

Today, Angola is one of the few countries in the African continent with more than 50% sanitation access for its population. As to whether or not Angola is on-track to meet the MDG targets, Angola is well on its way with a plethora of NGOs, new investments, and ingenious solutions which are improving sanitation access nationwide. The scale and scope of recent investments is nonetheless impressive, and if efficiently and effectively utilized is likely to result in meeting the Millennium Development Goal target for water supply, though progress in rural areas is less certain

than in urban. The same applies to sanitation, with likely success in urban areas.

Sanitation Access In Angola

Reaching the targets has been a remarkable achievement considering the fact that Angola’s decades-long conflict ended only recently in 2002.

Improving access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation is one of the greatest development goals for Angola. The government’s objective is to increase the proportion of people having access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation from 33% to 81% and from 48% to 74% , respectively, in the period 2003-2016.

The Joint Programme supported this aim with infrastructure improvements and by enhancing the governance of the sector.

The model of governance proposed entailed promoting a network of autonomous units of small utilities, with the local government at the ‘centre’ confining its role to monitoring the network, regulating the sector and pushing for the autonomy of

• As a result of the programme, approximately 258,000 people, 100,844 of them women, were benefited with new or rehabilitated water systems. Some 68,216 people were trained in Community Led Total Sanitation, which is an approach to sanitation considered as strategic by the Executivo Angolano and included in its “Estratégia de Combate a Pobreza” (Poverty Reduction Strategy).

• More than 100,000 individuals now benefit from better access to drinking water within walking distance from their home, thanks to water ponds that were renovated or built by the Joint Programme in the 6 participating municipalities. The most vulnerable population groups were supported to create income-generating activities, which will in turn allow them to contribute to the efforts to maintain the ponds.

• The programme made significant contributions to the development of the water and sanitation public policy frameworks that are in the process of institutionalization, namely: (1) three studies that will facilitate the effective implementation of the Lei

The programme covered a broad range of contexts, using two main implementation models

de Águas; (2) Plano Nacional de Saneamento Ambiental; (3) Plano Estratégico Nacional de Gestão de Resíduos Sólidos, which was partially sponsored by the programme.

• In addition, the Modelo de Gestão Comunitária de Água, developed by the Angolan nongovernmental organization Development Workshop in partnership with UNICEF and the European Union, was widely applied

by UNICEF during the programme implementation and has been officially endorsed by the Ministéro de Energia e Águas.

Community-Led Total Sanitation in Angola

UNICEF introduced the CommunityLed Total Sanitation (CLTS) approach in Angola in 2008. The Ministry of Environment, with funding from the European Union (EU) and the Spanish Agency of International Development Cooperation (AECID), has since then been expanding the CLTS initiative to cover up to 11 provinces. A pilot project started in Huila province and then extended to Bié, Cunene and Moxico provinces, which are also areas benefiting from the Government’s Program for Improvement of the Health Services.

Learning from this initial experience, and with additional funding from the EU, the approach and the program was extended to six other provinces (Benguela, Kwanza Norte, Kwanza Sul, Malange, Uíje and Namibe).

The program covered a broad range of contexts, using two main implementation models, either through government structures or support from NGOs, and with special contributions progress on data monitoring, suggesting diverse outcomes across the target municipalities and provinces.

To date, the CLTS initative in Angola has targeted 44 municipalities within ten provinces (as illustrated in the map), where (until July 2015) 229 villages, out of 1,252, were officially declared Open-Defecation Free (ODF), reaching a total population of 1,242,856 people with this program.

Sanitation Governance in Angola Urban Sanitation

The lead agency for urban sanitation is the Ministry of the Environment (MINAMB) with operational matters the responsibility of the National Technical Unit for Sanitation (UTNSA). The Ministries of Health and Education undertake sanitation and hygiene promotion using local

Sanitation: Angola

April 30 - May 06, 2018

Rural Sanitation

As with urban areas, the lead agency for rural sanitation is the Ministry of the Environment (MINAMB) with operational matters the responsibility of the National Technical Unit for Sanitation (UTNSA).The Ministry of Health (MINSA) undertakes sanitation and hygiene promotion using local staff and the Ministry of Education (MED) is responsible for sanitation in schools. Local Government also plays a role in both rural sanitation and hygiene promotion.2 Of the WASH

Progress in coverage Water Supply

100% 80% 60% 40% 20%0%-

1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 jmp estimates

MDG target Source: JMP 2010 report

staff in communities and schools respectively. The Sanitation and Water Company of Luanda (ELISAL) has responsibility for service provision in the capital city, while municipal or provincial utilities are responsible for sanitation in smaller cities and towns. Per capita costs for both urban sanitation and water supply are high, in part due to compensation payments for land reclaimed for installation of sanitary works. This is particularly the case in Luanda where settlement has occurred rapidly and haphazardly leading to unplanned and often overcrowded urban environments. High costs are also due to choice of infrastructure, with the government preferring expensive networked sewerage over lower cost alternatives such as on‐ site or modular systems. Although the government appears willing to provide operational subsidies, the technical and financial challenges associated with maintaining networked sewerage pose a risk for sustainability and equity. The poorest areas are likely to be excluded and functioning wastewater treatment systems are expected to be partial at best. Reflecting this, priority actions identified by the AMCOW Country Sector Overview include design of new implementation and management models for urban sanitation in order to ensure sustainable service provision in the medium term, as well as development of a national sanitation policy and strategic plan.

Given the challenges associated with the delivery of networked sewerage systems in growing and unplanned urban centres, the AMCOW report also emphasises the importance of investing in software activities that encourage householders to invest in, use and maintain onsite sanitation systems.

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Sanitation 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% -

0% -

1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 jmp estimates

subsectors, rural sanitation and hygiene are the weakest in terms of policy framework and institutional arrangements. There is no national sanitation policy or national program guiding the sector and no needs‐based plan or investment program. In contrast to the rural water and urban water and sanitation subsectors where finance is ample, rural sanitation suffers from a lack of funding with an estimated annual gap of $US12M. In the absence of clear direction from government, the burden of service provision for rural sanitation remains with households.

Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) was recently piloted,2 but results of this and the extent to which this will inform national policy and programming is not yet clear. The AMCOW Country Sector Overview identifies the key priority for the rural sanitation subsector as development and implementation of a national sanitation policy and strategic plan, including development of a national investment program.

Local Government also plays a role in both rural sanitation and hygiene promotion

MDG target

UNICEF Angola – Involvement and Reforms

In 2015, UNICEF Angola maintained numerous formal and informal partnerships with governmental and non-governmental institutions in Angola.

UNICEF, the EU, the World Bank and the Government of Angola continued a partnership for the creation of a training centre to address the shortage of qualified water and sanitation technicians.

UNICEF facilitated participation of partners in the third International Global Water Operators Partnerships Congress, resulting in a cooperation agreement between Angola and the Spanish Association of Public Water and Sanitation Utilities. The agreement establishes a peer support arrangement between Angola and the association to strengthen capacity to improve service delivery to vulnerable urban and peri-urban populations.

In WASH, UNICEF facilitated Angola’s participation in the global Water Operators’ Partnerships (WOPs) Congress and, as a result, the National Water Directorate has established contacts with water and sanitation utilities in Latin America,

the Caribbean, Asia and sub-Saharan Africa for potential peer cooperation agreements during 2016. UNICEF may partner with other donors to provide financial support for cooperation agreements with peer utilities to improve the performance of Angolan water and sanitation service providers.

As part of the drought emergency and preparedness response in Namibe Province, UNICEF helped to ensure that 24,500 families received basic family sanitation.

08

Sulabh

April 30 - May 06, 2018

SWACHH BHARAT ABHIYAN

Sulabh has changed lives of millions

Dr Bindeshwar Pathak’s lecture on the topic of ‘Contribution to Nation Building’ under ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ organised by Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML) n Ayodhaya P SIngh

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ill the time every Indian will not bring cleanliness in one’s conduct, Swachh Bharat Mission cannot be successful.

It is a known fact that the nation which accepts the importance of cleanliness, develops rapidly and becomes a prosperous nation. Sulabh has always understood and taught the importance of hygiene. Without the initiatives and inventions of Sulabh, perhaps India would not look like it looks today, but we have to go a long way, to which the contribution of all the people of the nation are necessary.

Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh International was speaking, in a discussion on ‘Contribution to Nation Building’ under ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ organised by Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML), New Delhi. Dr Ravi K Mishra, Deputy Director, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library presided over the discussion. Dr Pathak talked the about the contribution of Sulabh in Swachh Bharat Abhiyan during this discussion. Dr Pathak was questioned about his contributions to nation building which he answered with great solidity.

without sulabh India would not have been same

Talking about the contribution of ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ in the nation building, Dr Pathak said that without acquiring the standards of cleanliness, you cannot make a better nation.

He said that his organisation Sulabh International has been working in this field for the past 50 years. ‘In 1970, I established the Sulabh Toilet Institute, which is now known as the Sulabh International Social Service Organization, as a non-profit

Dr Pathak showing the ‘Two-pit’ pour flush toilet model to Ravi K Mishra, Deputy Director, NMML

voluntary organization. Since then, this institution has been working on social issues which were not discussed in society.

While highlighting the beginning of the journey of Sulabh, he said, “In Patna, there was an office related to the Bihar Gandhi Birth Centenary Celebration Committee at Gandhi Museum Bhawan. This committee was formed in 1969 to celebrate Mahatma Gandhi’s birth centenary. This is where I worked as a social worker. I was asked to work for the dignity and restoration of human rights of the people who clean the dry toilets and scavengers carrying human waste on their head. That was when, for the first time, I saw the plight of this section of the society. While working here, I

India loses 6.4% of its GDP every year because of lack of toilets. With the lack of cleanliness, 1000 children die every day in India

went to the colony of scavengers and stayed there for three months. During this period, I came to know about their births, culture, values, ethics etc.

I lived with them, used to talk and teach them in the evening. Only then was I able to understand their pain in a better way.

Their Lives were worse off

Dr Pathak said that Gandhiji was the first person whose attention was drawn towards the plight of the scavengers. He wanted the scavengers to be free from this inhuman act and hoped that with the restoration of

A group photograph with erstwhile women scavengers from Alwar (Rajasthan) and women from open defecation free village Hirmathla

Sulabh

April 30 - May 06, 2018

people free from scavenging. This is a contribution to our nation building.

Sulabh Is World Widely Accepted

Dr Pathak sharing his story of ordeal and struggle with the distinguished gathering

their dignity and prestige, they should be brought to the level of other people in the society. Gandhiji once said that cleanliness of the country was more important than the political freedom of the country. He even once said that India can take a shot of the British, but will not eat the food touched by untouchables. It can be assumed from this fact that the scavengers, were living difficult lives. He said that people did not save the injured child because he was untouchable. It was very difficult to give these people a better life, and on the other hand it was necessary that there would be some work that allowed untouchables to find new pathways for livelihood and society could accept them. For this to happen, there has to be a new sense of awakening or a cultural revolution towards cleanliness must dawn in the minds of people.

of scavengers started, because Sulabh toilets were cheap and affordable by all, especially the poor and can empower the people more. He resonated with what Gandhi always said. So, when I designed this technology, I made sure nothing was imported from outside and that a toilet could be constructed using the locally available materials and that it’s affordable, and culturally acceptable. The beauty of Sulabh two-pit toilet is that it satisfies the principles of both Gandhi said and what Schumacher echoed.

The special thing about these toilets were that there was no need to clean them with hands. Here the excreta is converted into manure which is used for farming later.

Subsequently, Sulabh started helping scavengers families in other works so that they could get other means of earning their livelihood.

Sulabh Showed The Way

Sulabh has changed lives of millions

Dr Pathak said that with the establishment of Sulabh in the year 1970, work started in this direction to uplift the lower section of the society. In 1970, I invented ‘Two-pit’ pour flush toilet. The Sulabh flush toilet technology, which I invented to replace the bucket toilets cleaned by the untouchables or by anybody, became a great tool in helping stop open defecation in the villages and to end the practice of manual scavenging.

From here, the end of the problem

Dr Pathak further said that under the Sulabh sanitation movement today, we have built more than 15 lakh domestic Sulabh toilets. More than 60 lakh government toilets have been built on the Sulabh design.

While there are more than 8500 public toilets available, 640 towns have been made free from the work of manual scavenging. More than 20 million people are using Sulabh toilets daily. We have provided the means of employment by making millions of

The BBC placed inventions of Sulabh in the world’s best inventory list. The BBC had said that this inventions of Sulabh would get rid of the practice of dirty and open defecation

Dr Pathak said we always created the limitation limit ahead of what society has kept, and started working to improve the society. This is accepted nationally as well as internationally.

The BBC placed inventions of Sulabh in the world’s best invention list. The BBC had said that this invention of Sulabh is to get rid of the practice of dirty and open defecation. Apart from this, from time to time, the UN and other big organisations of the world have praised the Sulabh and described their work as indispensable for human values, as well as many great awards have been awarded.

Live the dreams of Ambedkar and Gandhi

According to Dr Pathak, Sulabh is fulfilling the dream of both Ambedkar and Gandhi. Ambedkar had said that there should be no discrimination in society, all should eat together, take water from the same well, stay together, only then can the nation be better. That is why Sulabh started the ‘Caste By Choice’ initiative for the interaction, under which efforts have been made to end discrimination.

At the same time, Gandhi’s dream of living in India, which was envisaged as a free from manual scavenging and ODF, is happening too.

World Bank Report

Referring to a report by the World Bank, Dr Pathak said that India loses 6.4% of its GDP per year due to the absence of toilets. Due to lack of hygiene, in India 1000 children die every day. It is clear from all these facts that the loss is due to the lack of toilets and problems of public health related to it is more than the money which will be spent in fixing these problems.

That’s why we are constantly working on this problem and are looking for ways to solve them. The objective behind the ‘Clean India Campaign’ is clearly to overcome such problems and Sulabh is completely with this campaign.

Poverty ends with toilets and clean water

Dr Pathak said that he has always been convinced with Gandhi’s ideas and that is why he is working for the lower classes of society. After Gandhi, Prime Minister Modi has given so much attention to cleanliness, that

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Quick Glance Since the establishment, Sulabh is contributing in nation-building

Sulabh brought changes in the lives of the scavengers

For the clean India, Sulabh is working from the last 50 Years

is why he supports Swachh Bharat Abhiyan at every step. They agreed with a report of the UN that more than 1.3 billion people are below the poverty line, if they are provided with toilet and clean water, poverty can be abolished soon. In India, more than 300 million people are below the poverty line, poverty can be eliminated if they are provided with toilet and clean water. Sulabh is also working in this direction.

Our Hon’ble Prime Minister has resolved to end the practice of outdoor defecation by 2019, so that the nation can pay a fitting tribute to the Mahatma on his 150th birth anniversary.

To attain this objective, it is imperative to train one person to play the role of motivator from each of our 6.46 lakh villages. The motivator will have the responsibility of visiting each and every house and motivating people to get the household toilet built. He will ensure that the toilets are actually built, and he will also see their maintenance for one year, and get the improper functioning or flaws, if any, promptly and properly fixed.

He will also encourage the villagers to use the toilet, and also assist them in its maintenance and cleanliness.

If this plan is put into practice, one motivator can build 20 toilets in a month and thus 240 toilets in one year. These 6.46 lakh motivators will be able to build 15 crore (6.46x240) toilets. Thus the dream of an opendefecation-free India can be achieved within a year.

The Government alone or any one organization cannot accomplish this mammoth task. The responsibility of organizing and executing this task must be given to a creditable NonGovernmental Organisation which has a wide and deep experience in this field.

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Gender

April 30 - May 06, 2018 enabling measures

Childline And POCSO e-Box Information At hand For 26 Crore School Children WCD Minister Maneka Gandhi had requested her Cabinet colleague to popularise POCSO e-box and Childline 1098 through NCERT publications n Chandrani Banerjee

Minister for Women and Child Development, Maneka Gandhi

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ational Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has published information regarding Childline (1098) – 24x7 Helpline for children and POCSO e-box on the back side of the front cover of all the course books from class 6 to class 12. To equip the children with information regarding possible modes of protection and complaints, the Ministry of Women and Child Development had requested Ministry of Human Resource Development and NCERT to publish this information.

In a telephonic discussion last year, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Sanjay Gandhi had requested Prakash Javadekar to popularize POCSO e-Box and Childline 1098 through NCERT publications, screening of educational films on child sexual abuse in the schools and having strict norms for employing the support staff.

The Minister of Women and Child Development expressed gratitude that the HRD Minister and NCERT is implementing her suggestion and stated that the parents, guardians and teachers should remain vigilant about children as well as their behaviour and any suspected situation should be reported immediately on the Childline No.1098 and the POCSO e-Box. Speaking to Sulabh, Tania Ameer, In-charge of Media and Communication said, “The Minister was keen that everyone should be aware of the fact that these are the facilities available. And teacher students, everyone if in need could reach help for a child or fellow students by just dialling a simple number”.

Through these course books, the information is expected to reach approximately 26 crores school students in 15 lakh schools. NCERT was also advised that there may be a

Quick Glance The books will have information on CHILDLINE-1098

It is to equip the children with the information regarding the possible modes of protection/complaints The information is expected to reach approximately 26 crore students in 15 lakh schools

chapter in social science regarding the issues mentioned above. The narrative may continue till class 12 for having a reasonable impact on young minds. The information will not just reach these children but is about to stay with them on daily basis. As a result, it is expected that children will be more aware and they may use the Child Helpline or POCSO E-box, in case of any

Minister for Human Resource Development, Prakash Javadekar

distress. The easy accessibility of this information in the hands of children themselves may also deter prospective abusers, at least to a reasonable extent.

The information in the form of these books will also be available to 10 lakh teachers through NCERT books along with family members and to caregivers of these children.

The dissemination of such useful

The information via these books will also be

available to 10 lakh teachers along with the family members and care givers of these children

information directly is expected to create an environment of child safety and empowerment in the country.

“The Minister thought of the idea and wanted to actualize it as soon as possible. She went ahead and organised things in a short time to make it happen. The back covers will have information about child helpline and other important things that will make the child safe” added Ameer. The books will have information on CHILDLINE-1098.

This is a national 24-hour tollfree emergency phone service for children in distress. The Helpline for Children is currently operational in 412 locations across the country.

Childline received 1.45 crore calls during April 2016-March 2017 and more than 78 lakh calls during April -November 2017.The Childline provides assistance to children in distress either by way of telecounselling or physical rescue.

Another important information that will be shared with students and teachers would be POCSO e-Box, an online complaint management system for easy and direct reporting of sexual offences against children and timely action against the offenders under POCSO Act 2012.

POCSO e-Box was launched by Maneka Gandhi in New Delhi on August 26, 2016. Link of the POCSO e-Box is: http://www.ncpcr.gov.in/ user_complaints.php The ministry is also working on other aspects of day-to-day life of students to make them feel safe and secure. “This is one of the steps among other initiatives that the minister is planning. The Minister is of the view that every day if the children would look at the numbers and other important information, it would register in their mind and in the long run it would help. Imparting this information at the school level will help make generations aware” claimed Tania Ameer.

Gender

April 30 - May 06, 2018

11 07

Stree, self-help group

From ‘Sui-dhaaga’ To Sustainable Fashion

Consumer durables company Usha International Ltd, in collaboration with IMG Reliance, has launched ‘Usha Silai’

Designer Amit and Prichard with artisans from Rajasthan

n IANS

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hat happens when women from “silai schools” in rural India up the ante under the expert guidance of fashion designers? They not only hone their skills and amplify their earning potential but also learn about fashion, gain confidence and respect and the permission to move out of their homes.

Consumer durables company Usha International Ltd, in collaboration with IMG Reliance, has launched ‘Usha Silai’, an ethical and sustainable fashion label which has clothes sewn by women from Usha Silai School and mentored by designers.

The label is a movement to eliminate gender disparity and bring rural women into the world of high street fashion garment construction.

Four clusters were identified for this initiative -- Kaladhera in Rajasthan, Mastikari in Bengal, Dholka in Gujarat, and Puducherry -and select women from these clusters were mentored by designers Amit Vijaya and Richard Pandav, Sayantan Sarkar, Soham Dave and Sreejith Jeevan.

The initiative aims to reverse the migration of skilled workers by empowering them with skills and resources to create clothes and accessories that can be retailed in the

urban fashion market as well as create the go-to-market strategy for them.

Rinku Mandal and Devdasi Mondal from the Kolkata cluster feel that their standing in their community has grown manifold after working on this venture. “We got to know about new skills and we have learned how to work as a team,” Rinku told.

Devdasi said that in addition to the usual silhouettes, they have learned texturing hand-embroidery and how to dye products, which have helped them create high-end fashion garments.

Irudhayamary and Metildamary from the Puducherry cluster feel their confidence has grown immensely ever since they began working on the

label, and that they now take pride in showing their work around.

“There is an increase in confidence, increase in respect from the customers at Silai School since we have begun making quality garments,” Irudhayamary said, adding that they feel proud that the dresses made by them are used at fashion events.

The first collection from each cluster under the Usha Silai label was showcased at the Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) in February this year.

Metildamary said they have got “more exposure to the fashion world”.

“We are now able to make any new design by seeing the garments. We are making garments that reflect our Puducherry culture -- with waves, window, pintucks and glass panels,”

when I underwent the fashion label assessment in Kaladhera.

“I had never seen fashion clothes in my life. I have only seen clothes which are sold in the local market,” Sunita told.

The same is the case with Rekha Ben from Dholka cluster in Gujarat.

“I have felt a lot of change in my life. I got a new identity after working on this fashion label. People (in my community) did not know about me before the training, but now many people know me as a good member of society. I am getting good work orders from local markets because my skills have improved,” she said.

Priya Somaiya, Executive Director, Usha Social Services, says the idea behind Usha Silai was to facilitate the

Usha Silai was to facilitate the manifestation and

expression of the creative potential in rural women

Quick Glance The initiative aims to reverse the migration of skilled workers by empowering them Rural women weavers find new identity with this initiative

Sustainable fashion label is a movement to eliminate gender

said Metildamary.

Sunita Devi from the Kaladhera cluster in Rajasthan is proud she has her “own identity outside my home and in the home”.

“Now my family does not stop me from going outside my home.

My decision also has value in my home. Before being associated with this fashion label, I didn’t know about fashion. In fact, the first time I heard the term fashion was

manifestation and expression of the creative potential in rural women.

“To recognise their ability to learn and hone their skills to sew and stitch, and later cut, draft, and pattern-make to a level that could cater to the demands of the fashion industry. By empowering them with the skills to tailor high fashion garments, Usha Silai has grown their earning potential manifold while ensuring continuity of work,” Somaiya told.

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Culture

April 30 - May 06, 2018 Dolls Museum

Shankar’s International Dolls Museum Soldiers On In Internet Era The museum began in 1965 with 1,000 dolls. Now there are more than 7,500 from over 85 countries

Dolls from different culture and country at the Museum

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n Nivedita Singh

t a time when younger people are privileging smartphones, television and video games over other sources of entertainment, a nearly 55-year-old museum housing thousands of dolls from across the globe is still maintaining its old-world charm and attracting not only children and teenagers, but also visitors of all age groups, it is not surprising, as it actually transports you into a world where you can forget the woes of the present.

With over 7,500 dolls on display, Shankar’s International Dolls Museum in the capital not only entertains children but also teaches them about art, culture and costumes of different countries of the world. It is also one of the best places to learn about the diversity of Indian culture.

The footfalls in the museum may not have increased over the years but they have not declined either, according to Shanta Srinivasan, Advisor, Shankar’s International Dolls Museum and Dolls Designing Centre and Workshop.

“On some days we get 500-600 children. The number varies. During the exam season, there are fewer people, but the number goes up during the holidays,” Srinivasan told IANS. The idea of a dolls collection was born when eminent political cartoonist and journalist K. Shankar Pillai, better known simply as Shankar, received one as a gift from the Hungarian Ambassador in the early 1950s.

“Shankar fell so much in love with the doll that he began to collect costume dolls whenever he visited any

country. Soon, he was able to collect a good number of dolls as his visits to foreign nations were frequent. He was part of the media delegation that accompanied Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister,” Srinivasan explained.

He began to exhibit the dolls across the country after he was able to collect a good number, but the frequent packing and unpacking was damaging the dolls. “Packing of dolls should be done in an expert way,” Srinivasan said.

“Nehru, who was also a good friend of Shankar’s, visited one such exhibition when Shankar told him about the damage to the dolls due to frequent packing and unpacking,” she said. “He suggested the idea of a permanent space for the dolls and that is how the museum was set up,” she added.

The museum is located in Nehru House on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg in the building that houses the Children’s Book Trust, also set up by Shankar.

The museum began in 1965 with 1,000 dolls. Now there are more than 7,500 from over 85 countries. The museum has the largest number of costume dolls anywhere in the world.

The latest addition to the collection is dolls from Korea, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Divided into two equal halves, one section of the museum is dedicated to

Western countries like the UK, the US, Australia and New Zealand, as also the Commonwealth of Independent States -- and the other half to Asian, African and Middle East countries, as also India.

“When Madame Tito of Yugoslavia visited the museum, she felt her country was not properly represented.

So, she went back and gifted a set of dolls, of which some were exclusively made for the museum. And like this, several other countries also gifted dolls to the museum,” Srinivasan said.

Apart from those gifted, and dolls received in exchange, there are a good number of dolls made at the workshop

With over 7,500 dolls on display, Shankar’s International Dolls Museum in the capital not only entertains children but also teaches them about art, culture and costumes

attached to the museum, including authentic Indian dolls in traditional attire.

The dolls are sent as “return gifts” for the dolls gifted by various countries.

“In the workshop, we take care of the detailing of the dolls. Each doll is different and a lot of research is done before adding details. No two dolls will have same features, although the frame we use is the same to maintain a standard size. We put a lot of effort into minute details -- including physical attributes, dress, features and jewellery. We also make dolls on special order,” Srinivasan said.

Some of the prominent people who visited the museum are: U Thant, the then Secretary General of United Nations, Madame Tito of Yugoslavia, Queen Frederika of Greece, the Queen of Thailand, the sister of

the Shah of Iran, the wives of the Presidents of Mexico and Indonesia, of the Prime Ministers of Poland and South Korea and the UN Secretary General and cultural delegations from many countries. Although the footfalls in the museum has remained unchanged, the number of children coming to the Dr. B.C. Roy Children’s Reading Room and Library -- dedicated exclusively to children -- has gone down drastically.

“The footfall in the library has gone down. Earlier, children used to come here for reference work for different projects during their holidays. Now, all the information is available online,” Srinivasan said.

The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m with Monday as a holiday.

“The tickets to the museum are very low. Shankar never wanted to have tickets, but we need money to run the place,” Srinivasan said.

Vrindavan Widows

April 30 - May 06, 2018

Rani Das

Malda’s Rani Finds Home In Vrindavan Rani Das came to Vrindavan for someone said bhajans provide food.

Now she is comfortable nowhere but here

Quick Glance Rani Das was widowed within three years of her marriage

She was told Vrindavan sustains those who sing ‘bhajans’

Spending 15 years here, Rani now feels at home

n Swastika Tripathi

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here were unfulfilled desires, of course, but that is way back in the past. People change, you see.” This is the story of Rani.

Rani, meaning thereby ‘Queen’. A queen has everything and it is hard to imagine for her to have unfulfilled desires. But what’s in the name, they say. Must be true because Bengal’s Rani Das’ life was nowhere near that of a queen.

Though she now prefers living in Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh, but Rani Das originally comes from a place called English Bazaar in Malda district of West Bengal. She was married ages back but never had any children. She did have a husband and many relatives to count as family. The wealth was not much but enough to sustain the couple.

But Rani’s life was about to take a turn within mere three years of marriage. In course of time, her husband died and Rani turned a widow. Life was nothing like before, as is common with a widow. Plus, her husband was the only source of income, so poverty days were ahead, which Rani could clearly foresee.

She did have her relatives to count on, but for how long can you depend on extended family? Also, as days passed by, her count of relatives too kept on decreasing with age, which was an added horror for the now dependent Rani.

One fine day, a group of people from Vrindavan visited her village.

Little did Rani know that she would soon be en route the holy land of Krishna, let alone spend the remaining major chunk of her life there itself.

The group that had visited her village was telling the villagers about how if you can sing ‘bhajans’ (devotional songs) then Vrindavan is the place for you. They went on telling that how a huge ‘bhajan mandali’ (group of devotional singers) is sustained by the temples

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of Vrindavan. They are provided with free food in forms of ‘prasads’ as well as some amount of money for their medicinal needs.

Rani, too, lent her ear and the idea of sourcing enough meal for a day, on the top of money for medicines, in exchange of singing bhajans was something quite pleasing and that got her thinking. That was it. Rani packed up and with a bunch of other villagers, bid adieu to her homeland and travelled all the way from Malda to Vrindavan.

Rani says ever since she has been living in Vrindavan. Here in Sharda Ashram, she and her fellow in-mates

(who are also widows) work in the ashram through the day and in evening they all go together to sing bhajans in a temple nearby. There they then get the ‘prasad’, which they see as the blessings of Lord Krishna and Radha Rani.

“I came to Vrindavan three years after my marriage. It’s been 15 years since I first set foot in this ashram.

15 years is a long time for anyone to get accustomed to a place.”

Now all days cannot be bright and sunny. Rani tells that living here, they too sometimes have their share of worries. Sometimes they fall short of money, or sometimes it

“I would rather spend my time here, for I’m comfortable here,” Rani Das would reply whenever anyone asks her to return to Malda

is the health that troubles.

Whenever such days knock on her door, Rani always reminds herself that comfort and desires are a youngster’s play. It’s not like Rani never had the desires of living a life of luxuries, or at least married woman dreams off. There were dreams and desires, but those are long gone for her now.

“There were unfulfilled desires, of course, but that is way back in the past. People change, you see. Those desires are buried in the past. It is one thing when a person is fifteen or sixteen years old. But things change when one gets to 35 or 40 years of age. There is no point in nurturing desires, you need money to achieve them, so a poor person cannot desire much,” she said while reminiscing her youthful days.

She says that she is now much convinced with the life of simplicity that Vrindavan has given her on the back of ‘Lal Baba’ (Dr Bindeshwar Pathak – the founder of Sulabh International Social Service Organisation – who has taken up the responsibility of looking after the welfare of widows of Vrindavan).

“As of now, it is fine. Lal Baba gives us food and money, so it is okay with us. We work in the ashram. They give us rice, pulses, vegetables and some money too, so we pull along with some effort,” she adds.

Rani has no relative of her left alive, but she tells that she does have nieces and nephews whom she visits from time to time. But somehow, after some 10 days stay with them, she traces her way back to Vrindavan. “I would rather spend my time here, for I’m comfortable here,” she would tell anyone who asks her to return to her homeland.

Vrindavan is where she has her peace now, Vrindavan is what she now calls ‘home’!

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North East

April 30 - May 06, 2018

Nagaland

HIV/AIDS Training Modules For Security Forces Begins At Kohima “The issue of HIV & AIDS is more about creating awareness, sensitising and non-stigmatization”

imphal Quick Glance Church has now opened its doors towards creating awareness It is to empower the state’s police force and chruch workers

Several states in the Northeast have been afflicted by the deadly disease

Rajeev

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he Nagaland government has launched training modules on HIV and AIDS for law enforcement agency and faithbased organisations (FBOs). The package has been prepared by Kripa Foundation Nagaland in partnership with the Family Health International (FHI) 360 and Nagaland State AIDS Control Society (NSACS).

The goal of the module is to empower the state’s police force and church workers for a collective response to HIV and AIDS and ensure universal access, protection of human rights, and removal of stigma and discrimination associated with the disease.

Speaking at the launch programme in Kohima, chief secretary Temjen Toy said that the approach towards HIV and AIDS was different fifteen years ago when he was serving in the state health department. He observed that the general attitude towards the issue has turned around, particularly of the church.

Pointing out that the church initially used to look upon HIV and AIDS as something to do with a person’s sins, Toy said that the church has now opened its doors towards creating awareness. He reminded that the issue of HIV and AIDS was still

a major challenge and focused upon the need to change the strategies for combating the disease as new challenges have emerged. Toy advised the Kripa Foundation and other agencies to focus on the vulnerable groups and explained that the bigger fear was the spread of the virus among vulnerable groups, particularly the college and high school students.

Director General of Police Rupin Sharma was of the view that while discrimination against people with HIV and AIDS has reduced to some extent because of various educational programmes, yet they were still discriminated in certain pockets.

This is where he felt the job of the law enforcement agencies came in.

He outlined two roles for the police in tackling HIV and AIDS - as the consumer of the training module and playing the role of the facilitator. The police chief also suggested a basic structure of lessons for students, particularly for Nagaland Police schools, towards teaching children to learn caring and supportive attitude towards PLHIV. Rev. Dr. Mechiehol Savi from Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) admitted that the church has, for a long time, viewed HIV and AIDS as the “malady of God’s judgment upon sinful humankind” and therefore detached itself from

addressing the issue. He said the church cannot detach itself from the community and must always commit to address the issues.

The director of Kripa Foundation Nagaland, Abou Mere highlighted that Kripa was partnering with FHI 360 and US-based Centre for Disease Control (CDC) to implement ‘Project Sunrise’, under which, sensitizing Faith Based Organisations (FBOs) and law enforcement agency on HIV and AIDS and developing training modules for them were some of the tasks being taken up.

He added that improved access to HIV services including universal access to treatment, protection of human rights and overcoming stigma and discrimination were crucial ingredients elements to reach the universal goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat.

Nagaland has a prevalence rate of 0.76% among adults, third highest in the country. In Nagaland, which has a population of around 20 lakhs, 10,16,700 blood samples were screened between 1999 to 2018. Of that 22,878 have reported positive.

In 91% of the cases in Nagaland, the route of virus transmission is unsafe sex, especially between the age group of 25 to 34 years. The prevalence rate of HIV among children below 14 years is 6%, while for youths aged between 15 and 24 years, it is 15%.

Several states in the Northeast have been afflicted by the deadly disease. A study, conducted between early 1999 and 2018, has found that Manipur has the highest HIV prevalence rate among adults in the country at 1.06%, followed by Mizoram at 0.79%. The country, as a whole, has 21.1 lakh PLHIV cases and nine states - Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Rajasthan account for 82% of those cases.

Manipur Can Have Fishery Projects: Vice President The projects could be extended through the entire northeast SSB Bureau

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ice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on April 18 said that there could be various fishery and aquarium projects in Manipur to increase income of farmers since the state has sufficient rainfall round the year.

The projects could be extended through the entire northeast, he said at a function at the City Convention Centre organised to discuss ways to help increase income of farmers.

Noting that Manipur produces, among others, a tasty fish, pengba, ginger, medicinal plants and world-famous black rice, he said that farmers stand to gain considerably since the climatic condition is favourable.

Naidu, who arrived here by special plane for the event and left for New Delhi soon after his speech, also called for tribals, who are practising shifting cultivation, to be imparted modern knowledge in cultivation.

North East

April 30 - May 06, 2018

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Manipur

Chopper Service In Manipur From May 15, Assures Biren Helicopter service in Manipur assumes importance given the poor condition of roads in the state Rajeev

M

anipur is all set to introduce helicopter services from next month in a development expected to boost connectivity in the landlocked state. The scheme will be implemented on the pattern of 75:25 with the major financial share being borne by the Centre.

The decision for the helicopter service comes two years after the state government had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Union Ministry of Civil Aviation under Centre’s Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) in the state.

Phase–I will cover ImphalMoreh and Imphal-TamenglongJiribam sector while Phase-II will

cover Imphal-Tipaimukh, ImphalHenglep, Imphal-Thanlon and Imphal-Parbung sector.

Chief Minister N Biren Singh had recently informed the state assembly that remote hill regions

will be the focus in the programme with the goal to bridge the connectivity gap in the border state. He stated that though the fare for the service is yet to be worked out, the possible fare could be around Rs 7000 per seat. However, the actual cost of availing the service would be around Rs 2500 since the Centre would bear 75 per cent of the fare.

With a total area of 22,347 sq km, Manipur is bound by Nagaland in the North, Mizoram in the South, Assam in the West and Myanmar in the East. It is a landlocked state

with poor road and rail connectivity.

The limited lines of communication are susceptible to blockades by local groups which often create shortages of essential commodities in the state.

Helicopter service in Manipur assumes importance given the poor condition of roads in the state. The total length of roads in the state is about 4770 kms which include 1769 kms of black topped roads, 1782 metalled and 1160 kms of kutcha roads. The road density in the state is 27.18 kms per 100 sq kms of areas as compared to the country’s average of 60.80 kms.

The scheme to link remote areas in Manipur by helicopter is part of a larger plan under Rural Connectivity Scheme to provide similar services in other states of the region. The state-owned Pawan Hans Limited (PHL) has deployed helicopters in the Northeast for passenger services, medical evacuation and VIP transportation in states such as Sikkim, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland.

Guwahati

Need Health Schemes With Widest Coverage : Venkaiah Naidu

Efforts are needed to arrest the growing incidence of non communicable diseases; Launches Atal Amrit Abhiyan Naidu was addressing a gathering after launching Atal Amrit Abhiyan by the Assam government here.

The unique health scheme seeks to provide access to quality medical care to 3.2 crore people.

The Vice President called M. Venkaih Naidu, Vice President of India on the private sector to supplement the efforts SSB Bureau of the government in a big way in reaching out medical care to the ice President M. Venkaiah people in rural areas.

Naidu said there is need to He further said that quality of create health schemes that health services should be good provide widest coverage to the enough to improve the health of young, aged and infirm, and those those receiving services. suffering from both critical acute and “People should be protected chronic ailments. against financial-risk, ensuring that

V

the cost of using services does not put people at risk of financial harm,” he added.

Naidu said modern day lifestyle is leading to various non-communicable diseases and said that efforts are needed to arrest the growing incidence of such diseases which is affecting even the young.

“There has to be concerted effort from all stakeholders in healthcare to raise awareness among the people on the dangers of leading sedentary lifestyles, eating junk food, harmful use of alcohol and tobacco,” he added.

Naidu who was on a three-day visit to northeast also stressed to the need to change school curriculum include lessons on NCDs and physical exercises should be made mandatory for school and college students.

“Wherever possible, ‘yoga asanas’ should also be taught to children,” he added.

The Vice President said northeastern states, like the rest of

India, are facing shortage of medical manpower and medical facilities in rural areas.

“This shortage has to be bridged by opening more medical colleges and setting up more number of healthcare facilities in the rural places,” he added. “ I am extremely pleased to launch Assam Government’s Atal Amrit Abhiyan, one of the largest health cover schemes, which seeks to provide access to quality medical care to 3.2 crore people.

I would like to compliment the Assam government for initiating this scheme with the objective of providing health cover to 92 per cent of the State’s population by including BPL and APL ( above poverty line with an annual income up to Rs. 5 lakh) families. I am told that those covered by the scheme will get quality tertiary medical care for six specialties requiring hospitalization for surgeries and therapies. They will be getting the medical care through an empanelled network of hospitals— public and private hospitals within and outside the State.

India is embarking on an ambitious target of achieving Universal Health Coverage by ensuring equitable access for all Indian citizens, regardless of income level, social status, gender, caste or religion.

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April 30 - May 06, 2018

All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts William Shakespeare

Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr Parsa is a Delhi-based journalist, who’s worked for many media houses like Indian Express, DNA in Delhi. He has also written for Deccan Herald, Times of India, Gulf News

VIEWPOINT

India’s vibrant free press On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, India’s publication figures overwhelm

Asthma! When Every Breath Matters You will never know just how much you value your breath until you can’t breathe

W

orld Asthma Day is a big event celebrated all over the world by the people to increase the awareness among public worldwide about the precautions and preventions of the asthma. This event is annually organized on an international level by the GINA (Global Initiative for Asthma) in order to increase the asthma awareness all around the world. It is celebrated on annually on 1st Tuesday of month May. World Asthma Day celebration was first celebrated in 1998 by the GINA in more than 35 countries after its first “World Asthma Meeting” in the Barcelona, Spain.

Controlling the current status of asthma all around the world is very necessary and it has become the responsibility of all the medical professionals and not only of the patients.

Asthma management requires collaborative efforts of the patients, asthma carers, health professionals, community health groups and other health care systems globally.

People are used to make many types of medicines to cure the Asthma patients to make them achieve their target by getting active in their work. It is very important for the people to fulfill their tasks in a better way to achieve lot of success in a right way. Patients suffer many of the diseases by which they are not able to do their tasks properly with great dedication and concentration.

Editor-in-Chief

Kumar Dilip Edited, Printed and Published by: Monika Jain on behalf of Sulabh Sanitation Mission Foundation, owned by Sulabh Sanitation Mission Foundation Printed at: The Indian Express Limited A - 8, Sector -7, NOIDA (UP) Published at: RZ - 83, Mahavir Enclave, Palam - Dabri Road, New Delhi - 110045 (India) Corporate Office: 819, Wave Silver Tower, Sector - 18, NOIDA (UP) Phone: +91-120-2970819 Email: editor@sulabhswachhbharat.com, ssbweekly@gmail.com

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orld Press Freedom Day is celebrated May 3 every year. It was first observed in 1993 and 2018 marks the 25th anniversary. In 1993 the United Nations General Assembly had passed a resolution to mark the World Press Freedom Day, which was based on the recommendation made the United Nations Scientific, Educational and Cultural organization (UNESCO). This is in trun derived from what has come to be known as the Windhoek declaration, which was the statement issued by African journalists proclaiming the need and the right to freedom of the press. The keystone of press freedom is the freedom to expression as stated in Article 19 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, which states, “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes the right to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

This is of course the ideal. It is not reality.

In the real world, many governments, especially in countries where democracy is weak, seek to control the press, either through inducements or through intimidation. The reason is not far to seek.

Incompetent governments want to keep the people in darkness so that they will not be exposed. It is not surprising then that in most countries, press freedom is not there.

That is why celebrating the World Press Freedom Day on every May 3 is a reminder

that this basic freedom is not to be taken for granted. United Nations Secretary-General Antony Guterres said, “On World Press Freedom Day 2018, I call on governments to strengthen press freedom, and to protect journalists. Promoting a free press is standing up for our right to truth.”

One of the fundamental aspects of a modern democracy is free press. India has been fortunate that it has a free press which is reflected in the hundreds of newspapers and television news channels.

It is not always the case that press freedom like other freedoms is used with a sense of responsibility, but it is recognised by everyone, including politicians, that press freedom is invaluable even if some people misuse it. There are legal remedies in the form of laws of defamation.

People who feel aggrieved that the press has been unfair to them can file a defamation, or approach the Press Council of India. Except for the sort period of 19 months during the Emergency from June 25, 1975 to January 18, 1977, when press censorship was enforced and fundamental rights were suspended, India has enjoyed the freedom of the press. Many people, including politicians, do feel that there is misuse of the freedom of press, but everyone recognises that nothing should be done to take away this freedom.

In the last few years, the danger to freedom of press has come from the press itself in the form of fake news. It was found that some people and organizations

One of the fundamental aspects of a modern democracy is free press. India has been fortunate that it has a free press

April 30 - May 06, 2018

are involved in spreading false news about their rivals. But no one is saying that the freedom of press should be taken or that there should be censorship. Governments are afraid to impose restrictions because they know that people will get angry and the politicians would be punished for this transgression. That is why, the government in India, as well as those in the media, talk about self-regulation.

The debate in the media has become loud and quarrelsome about the issue of fake news, but there is general unanimity that freedom of the press is too precious, and that it has to be protected and defended.

Interestingly, freedom of the press is linked to the basic individual right to freedom of expression and belief.

In India, there is no separate law for freedom of the press. It is part of the fundamental right to freedom of expression. Article 19 (1) (a) of the Indian Constitution reads: “ All citizens shall have the right – (a) To freedom of speech and expression;” But Article 19 (2) spells out the limitations of that freedom. It says, “Nothing in sub-clause (a) of clause (1) shall affect the operation of any existing law, or prevent the State from making any law, in so far as such law imposes reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the right conferred by said sub-clause in the interests of [the sovereignty and integrity of India], the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence.”

The government has lot of discretion to impose restrictions on the freedom of the press, or on the individual right to freedom of speech and expression, but it rarely intervenes because it is understood all round that everyone, individuals as well as the press, will observe restraint. As a matter of fact, democracy functions because of the tacit understanding among all the players that everyone has to play by the rules of the game.

Journalists doing their job are often threatened by the powerful people in society as well as in state, and sometimes journalists are even killed.

It is not very different in India. But the Indian record with regard to freedom of the press remains creditable despite the many flaws. The vibrant Indian press is reflected in the fact that there are 1,14,820 registered newspapers / periodicals, of which 16,993 are dailies, and the total claimed circulation of all the publications was 48,80,89,490. It is an awesome number.

OpEd

17

Notice What You Resist

Paula Horan One of the world’s leading experts in Energy Medicine and Psychology, credited with helping introduce Reiki in a number of countries

We gain direct access to the psychosomatic and karmic causes of our distress

upfront

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critical step towards healing oneself from physical, mental or emotional pain is to notice what one has been resisting all our lives and what one still maybe resisting. When we adopt a willingness to notice our denial patterns even if they are unconscious, by simply making ourselves open, these patterns begin to be. Once we acknowledge our previously hidden resistance, we also are in a much stronger position to identify all the issues in our lives that essentially keep us stuck in emotional misery or physical discomfort.

We gain direct access to the psychosomatic and karmic causes of our distress. Such understanding affords us the opportunity to take complete responsibility and later explore these causes by directly feeling into them. Until we feel into whatever we have resisted completely we will continue to manifest it in our reality.

We know we are out of balance when we begin to feel dissatisfied. This dissatisfaction when unaddressed, turns into either physical illness

or depression.

Dissatisfaction is a wakeup call that should be acknowledged for the gift it really is, because it tells us immediately that we are not following our Heart.

I have seen time and again with my own body as well as in the people that I have treated over the years, that illness is a temperature gauge of sorts, which shows us where our individual consciousness is out of synchronization with reality.

The karma or causal factor from an action in the past life was complete.

In other words, the intense grief, rage, anger and pain that I had not processed before my death carried onto this life and manifested as a physical disability, which literally

forced me to throw off with held feelings. As I learned to directly address my feelings in this lifetime, the epilepsy disappeared.

Each action (karma) from any lifetime can attract us towards certain events. We all have both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ karma. Although there is truly no thing as good and bad, the circumstances that seem bad to us are simply rehashes of previous situations we have resisted.

Everything is energy, including our thoughts, our emotional reactions to our thoughts, as well as our capacity to feel the ground of our Being-our intrinsic awareness.

Whenever we resist either a thought or an emotion we are resisting energy which has to go somewhere. Our own natural tendency to resist negative or dense energy thoughts and emotions such as grief, anger, rage ,sadness ,ambivalence and hate causes them to congeal energetically in the mindstream and thus in the body/mind.

These emotions always get stuck and cause disease in the area of the body where that particular type of emotion or thought is felt.

letters to the editor Vrindavan Widows

The Making Of A Legend

Honour Of Services

PM releasing the s operational guideline of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana

Dr Pathak has been awarded with Bihar Gaurav Samman by SEVA

Ghana has been actively working to provide its proper sanitation to population

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09

06 Sanitation In Ghana

Accident tried to break her down but Dr Pathak came to her relief

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WEE KLY

SWAMI CHIDANAND

CONNECTING THE INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL WORLDS uality with He combines spirit s and a keen awarenes ng commitment to solvi society’s problems

said that we must s States, in 2015, he just for ourselve ESHWAR RAO seek peace not The alternative is for everyone. fall to pieces and nd Saraswati, but WAMI Chidana Niketan in that the world will discord. But he h would only be head of Parmart spiritual man there zed that there should be peace Rishikesh, is a be spread world. emphasi can the it with before who is deeply engaged give sermons within oneself the Parliament of to others. He told He does not merely to get education, Religions that if there was no peace but helps people futile ion, it would be satisfaction. In one jobs and spiritual says that it is not at the convent peace can be ushered of his speeches he live in caves to to expect that He implied the rest of the world. necessar y to go and ity, but that in and religions in the gain peace and tranquil cave should that all the faiths followers of all the the world, and all a peaceful and tranquil peace in themselves r man stays. He be created wherevethat spiritual life faiths must attain does not believe turn your back on means you have to is that you must the world. His credoin the world, and practice spirituality being active in the that it also means affairs of the world. Parliament of Speaking at the in Utah, United Religions at Salt Lake n PARSA VENTAK

S

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peace to the before they can preach world. saffron-robed The soft-spoken things. He runs an h monk does many festival at Parmart international yoga was established Niketan, which he spent his in 1947 and where and winning teenage years studying and Swami hips, national scholars was heading the Shashwatanand who initiated him into centre and who and christened him the saffron order named him the Swami Chidanand, centre in 1986. But president of the before he came to for about six years

Quick Glance

at the age of He took to spirituality rup the guru eight; found in Brahmswa of Parmarth He was named head in 1986 Niketan in Rishikesh international He conducts an annual Niketan yoga festival in Parmarth

in ions in Salt Lake for Parliament of Relig Speaking at thethat we must seek peace not just 2015, he said everyone for but s elve ours

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Path to Meditation In this busy world where we daily hear people dying from brain hemorrhage and cardiac arrest or committing crimes and attempting suicides. We are in real need to follow

yog to refresh the inner souls and relax for some time. After reading the article ‘Connecting The Internal and External Worlds’ on Swami Chidanand we could feel the need and necessity of diverting the mind to yog and meditation.

The part Yogic Healing Of Mind, Body And Spirit made an impact on myself and made me feel it’s importance in life. The way parents don’t neglect a minor scratch on their young ones the same way we need to nourish your body and soul for its longevity. this might lead to the well being of the society and may change the nature of the people and the masses.

Need more of such articles to read in future.

Robin David, Kerala

Need to raise voice After reading and getting to know more about the difficulties faced by women regarding marriage in India the Indian government took many steps to help the women in these matters but instead of been helped they feel harassed by the helpers . It was proud to know that there was a group to women taking this matter in their hands and helping their fellow sisters’ fights back the odds of their society. After reading the article ‘Vidya, Voice For The Voiceless’ we men’s should we ashamed of ourselves that in 21st century were we should be there to support our women some of our fellow men have forced these ladies to fight legal battles against them.

Gagan Deep Singh, Jalandhar

Please mail your opinion to - ssbweekly@gmail.com or Whatsapp at 9868807712

18

Photo Feature

April 30 - May 06, 2018

Kerala’s playful tuskers Elephants are an integral part of the religions and cultural life of Kerala. The famous temples in Kerala are home to elephants. They take part in the annual celebrations of the temples, especially the processions.

The elephants taking part in the temple festivities are a great attraction for tourists, who flock to Kerala Photo: sIPRA dAS

April 30 - May 06, 2018

The elephants are the most playful lot. They have a special bonding with the mahouts, who bathe them, groom them and feed them. There are the traditional mahout families who have tended elephants for generations

Photo Feature

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Science & Technology

April 30 - May 06, 2018

Anti-cancer Drugs

Magnetic Nanoparticles Can Deliver Anti-cancer Drugs With Precision IIT Guwahati research has used magnetite, a metal which is readily accepted by human body and incorporated it into metal organic frameworks for delivering anti-cancer drug n Monika Kundu Srivastava

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ffective delivery of anti-cancer drugs is a major challenge so as to avoid toxic side effects. Indian scientists have developed a new way for precise delivery of anti-cancer drugs using adual-purpose magneticmetal-organic framework of nanoparticles.

A team of researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, led by Prof S. Gumma and Prof MK Purkait has used magnetite and incorporated it into metal-organic frameworks for delivering anticancer drugs. Unlike other metals, magnetite is readily accepted by human body

and it breaks down easily. Magnetite nanoparticles are already approved for clinical practice by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Due to magnetic properties, nanoparticles can also be used to convert their electromagnetic energy to heat thereby destroying the

cancer causing cells. Metal-organic frameworks have a large surface area and many pores that can be effectively used to control the rate and the location of drug delivery.

The diameter of the pores can also be adjusted to allow only as much drug to be released as is required to destroy the cancer cells. This reduces the risk of the strong drugs killing the normal cells.

The process of accurate targeting of only cancer-causing cells requires fine-tuning and that’s why magnetiteloaded metal-organic frameworks have an edge over traditional drugdelivery methods, according to the researchers. The existing drug carriers

glycogen

Glycogen In Neurons Of Degenerating Brains Is Beneficial Glycogen synthetic machinery in healthy neurons usually remains in an inactive state

Dr. S. Ganesh and his team members

n Ratneshwar Thakur

H

ealthy neurons do not store glycogen - main source of energy storage for cells - while they do possess the machinery for glycogen synthesis in an inactive state. At the same time,

neurons in degenerating brains are known to accumulate glycogen. A team of Indian scientists has figured out that glycogen in neurons actually has a protective role in patients with neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s.

For long, scientists have been

trying to find specific role of glycogen in neurons, especially in brain diseases like Huntington’s, Lafora, Alzheimer’s etc. with some believing it be neurotoxic. The new study led by Prof. Subramaniam Ganesh of Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K) suggests that glycogen has a protective role in neurons of patients suffering with neurodegenerative disorders.

Glycogen synthetic machinery in healthy neurons usually remains in an inactive state.

In this machinery, an enzyme called glycogen synthase catalyzes the formation of glycogen. Using cellular and animal models of Huntington’s disease, the researchers have shown that high level of cytotoxic mutant Huntingtin protein triggers more glycogen synthesis in neurons by activating glycogen synthase. They observed that increased level of glycogen synthase protects neurons from the cytotoxicity of the mutant Huntingtin protein. “Our findings establish that glycogen synthase is

are unable to carry a large amount of medicine to cancer cells or tend to release the drug from external surface before they can reach the cancer cells which decreases their effectiveness and efficiency.

The study, published in journal Microporous and Mesoporous Materials, analyzed various combinations of the framework with varying amounts of magnetite to determine which one was most suitable for being used a carrier for the anti-cancer drug, doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) commonly available as adriamycin, caelyx and myocet. According to researchers, “the drug release patterns of all composites are well-controlled and are sustained in the body for over 20 days without premature release of DOX. Thus patients may get the benefit of the medicine without making frequent visits to the doctor.”Incorporation of magnetite not only helps to tune the speed with which the drug is released into the body, but the total amount of the drug released increases due to their higher loading capacity.

required for neurons to survive during stress. We also show that glycogen thus synthesized prevents aggregation of abnormal proteins, and helps in their clearance. These findings might open up new avenues of therapeutic interventions,” explained Dr. Ganesh.

The activation of glycogen synthase is harmful to healthy and happy neurons, and this may explain why glycogen granules are not seen in normal neurons. This means glycogen accumulation in degenerating brain could possibly represent a failed attempt of neurons to survive during the stress. “Our work establishes neuro protective role of glycogen synthase in Huntington’s disease models and thus discovers a previously unknown function of glycogen synthase in neuronal physiology”, he added.

“It is an important finding on protective role of glycogen synthase in neurodegenerative diseases which may have translational relevance,” commented Prof. Sathees C. Raghavan from Indian Institute of Science, who is not connected with this study.

“These findings may open exciting possibilities for developing new therapeutic approaches for the neurodegenerative diseases which are becoming serious health issues in human populations in recent times,” said Prof. S. C. Lakhotia from Banaras Hindu University, who is not a part of this study.

April 30 - May 06, 2018

Science & Technology Tech-Pack

Digital India

Mobile Gamers Propel PC Gaming Market In India Gaming has broken the social tolerance barrier and new parents look at this piece of technology quite liberally

I

f you belong to the generation that played platform games like “Mario”, “Street Fighter” and “Pacman” in the nineties -- bunking classes and hiding from parents who fumed at your late arrivals -- you will probably be more tolerant of today’s kids playing games on smartphones, laptops or consoles.

Of late, gaming has broken the social tolerance barrier and new parents look at this piece of technology quite liberally willing to spend hard-earned money on buying high-end gaming devices for their kids.

The fact is that those who have played strategy games on mobiles are striving for a better immersive experience which has given a thrust to high-end PC gaming in the country.

According to a recent joint report by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and TechSci Research, the Indian gaming industry that was valued at $543.08 million in 2016 is projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.61 per cent, in value terms, over the next five years. Valued at $84.40 million, the computer gaming segment accounted for a share of 15.54 per cent in the gaming market in 2016. Core gamers who do not intend to move to console gaming and make additional investments are today driving the PC gaming industry in the country.

In this scenario, global PC and printer major HP Inc is trying to anticipate consumer needs and upcoming trends to introduce PC gaming technology that has the potential to disrupt the industry.

Targeted at entry-level gamers, the company introduced its gaming range in India over a year ago.

“With the proliferation of smartphones, gaming as a concept was picking up and we felt that the market was ready for PC gaming. Millennials are using their devices not only for gaming but leveraging the powerful machines for other purposes as well,” Vickram Bedi, Senior DirectorPersonal Systems, HP Inc India, told IANS. Gaming in the country has seen widespread adoption by various

Quick Glance Games offer an improved immersive experience now

n Nishant Arora

The Indian gaming industry is currently valued at $543.08 million

World’s First Wearable VR PC In India American tech giant, Hewlett Packard introduced the world’s first wearable mobile VR PC in India

Smartphone gamers are propelling the gaming culture in India streams, especially for learning and development. “The gamification has seen a lot of traction in the past year or so and is likely to pick up with more and more organisations using it for training, education and skill development, etc,” Bedi noted.

HP Inc, with its “Omen” series, has become one of the leading PC gaming brands in India. Buoyed by the response, HP last month introduced a reinvented “Omen X” gaming PC portfolio that offers best design, formfactor, engineering and performance for the gamers.

There has been an increase in popularity for online PC gaming owing to the increasing interest of gamers towards eSports and other competitive electronic games. e-Sports drew 258 million unique viewers globally last year, says global research firm SuperData, adding that the esports industry will top $2 billion in revenue by 2021. Sensing the opportunities, another key player, Dell, has strengthened its PC gaming portfolio. “We have seen tremendous growth in the gaming industry. Dell has led this space with the most comprehensive and diverse product portfolio encompassing ‘Alienware’ and ‘Inspiron’ gaming. Additionally, as eSports graduates as a trend in many global markets, it is also catching up in India,” Ritu Gupta, Marketing Director (India and ANZ), Dell Consumer & Small Business, told IANS. “At Dell, we aim to separate the

21 07

regular notebook user from the gamers, or rather create a user who is a gamer,” she added.

To provide seamless, lag-free gaming, hardware has also taken a giant leap. Newer hardware technology developments are engaging consumers with more interactive and cinematic experience. “We see a huge potential for gaming laptops in India as the hardware components are becoming more compact and powerful day-byday, making laptops lighter, sleeker and more compact,” Chandrahas Panigrahi, CMO and Consumer Business Head, Acer India, told IANS. With hardware playing a prime role, the performance gap between desktops and laptops is fast narrowing.

“A couple of factors like weight, size and noise that were a major challenge earlier are now being steamed out,” Panigrahi added. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), Acer emerged as the leading brand in India in the fourth quarter of 2017, with 25.4 per cent market share in the gaming laptops segment and 41.9 per cent share in gaming monitors. Acer’s “Predator” and “Nitro” gaming series are very popular among Indian youth.

As the social milieu changes in favour of gaming, PC gaming players now need to introduce better, realistic games along with bringing down the cost of gaming desktops and laptops to tap mobile gamers who currently generate 50 per cent in revenue for the industry.

There has been an increase in popularity for online PC gaming owing to the increasing interest of gamers towards eSports and other competitive electronic games

n SSB BUREAU

H

P India debuted its commercial Virtual Reality (VR) solutions and services including the worlds first professional wearable VR PC -- for businesses in the country.

The PC and printing major launched HP “ZBook 17” mobile workstation at a starting price of Rs 165,000, HP “EliteDesk 800” G3 Tower at Rs 72,000 and the professional wearable HP “Z VR” backpack at Rs 325,000.

“Making the most of VR technology requires a collaborative relationship between customers and partners. HP is uniting powerful commercial VR solutions to reinvent the future and create a unified portfolio of commercial VR devices,” Vickram Bedi, Senior Director, Personal Systems, HP Inc India, said in a statement. The commercial VR solutions and services offer businesses help in product design, architecture, healthcare, first responder training, automotive and entertainment.

HP “Z VR Backpack” solution lets users move and maintain total immersion with high-octane visual performance and docking capabilities that transform it into a manageable, powerful desktop PC experience.

“Businesses can use VR to deliver safe and effective simulated training in dangerous environments, in medical training or for heavy/large equipment operations,” HP Inc said.

HP “ZBook 17” mobile workstation promises power and performance and can be configured with the optimal horsepower and graphics solutions to bring VR content to-life in an ultrasmooth 90-FPS VR experience.

HP “EliteDesk 800” G3 Tower a VR-certified PC has a redesigned 26 per cent smaller chassis for the modern workplace.

22

Health

April 30 - May 06, 2018 Vitamin D

Lack Of Vitamin D May Up Diabetes Risk By 5 Times Most of us are aware the role vitamin D plays in stronger bones, teeth and faster recovery from injury, however according to a latest study lack of Vitamin D may put you at greater risk of diabetes n SSB Bureau

H

ere’s another reason to load up on the sunshine vitamin. Most of us are aware the role vitamin D plays in stronger bones, teeth and faster recovery from injury. However according to a latest study lack of Vitamin D may put you at greater risk of diabetes.

The report was published in the online issue of PLOS One, vitamin D deficiency. For the study, the researchers examined a cohort of 903 healthy adults (mean age: 74) who had no indications of either pre-diabetes or diabetes during clinic visits from 1997 to 1999, and then followed the participants through 2009.

The vitamin D levels of the participants were measured during these visits. The researchers also measured the fasting plasma glucose

Here are some foods you must load up on to increase your vitamin D intake naturally Cheese: Cheese is one of the richest sources of vitamin D. Ricotta is said to have the highest levels of vitamin D. Cheese is also considered as a rich source of good fat and calcium

Fatty Fish:

Mushrooms: Mushrooms are packed with decent quantum of vitamin D. Make sure you clean the mushrooms well before using. You can have them in broths, stews or salads.

Egg yolk:

and oral glucose tolerance.

It was found that there were 47 new cases of diabetes and 337 new cases of pre-diabetes, in which blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be

Fatty fish like mackerel, tuna, salmon are loaded with high quality vitamin D. Include them in sandwiches, have them grilled or in salads.

Since the vitamin D in an egg comes from its yolk, it’s important to use the whole egg--not just the whites. Don’t toss away the yolk, unless you have a cholesterol problem.

categorized as type 2 diabetes.

“We found that participants with blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D that were above 30 ng/ml had one-third of the risk of diabetes and those with levels above 50 ng/ml

had one-fifth of the risk of developing diabetes,” said first author Sue K. Park.

People with 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels below 30 ng/ml were considered vitamin D deficient. The researchers claimed that these people were up to five times at greater risk for developing diabetes than people with levels above 50 ng/ml.

The scientists revealed, that to reach 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels of 30 ng/ml, the participants would require dietary supplements of 3,000 to 5,000 international units (IU) per day, less with the addition of moderate daily sun exposure with minimal clothing (approximately 10-15 minutes per day outdoors at noon).

There are many signs to tell if you are vitamin D deficient. If you are perpetually fatigued or are facing chronic pain in your muscles and joints despite medication, you may be vitamin D deficient. Lower back pain and low immunity are also signs of vitamin D deficiency. While the best source of the sunshine vitamin remains the sunlight, your diet too can help increase vitamin D consumption.

exercise

n IANS

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ebunking the ‘myth’ that strenuous exercise increases infection risk by suppressing the immune system, a new study says that competing in endurance sports like marathon running may actually be beneficial for upping immunity.

“It is increasingly clear that changes happening to your immune system after a strenuous bout of exercise do not leave your body immunesuppressed,” said study co-author John Campbell from University

of Bath in Britain. “In fact, evidence now suggests that your immune system is boosted after exercise for example we know that exercise can improve your immune response to a flu jab,” Campbell added.

Research from the 1980s, which focused on events such as the Los Angeles Marathon, asked competitors if they had symptoms of infections in the days and weeks after their race.

Many did, leading to a widespread belief that endurance sports increase infection risk by suppressing our immune system.

In a detailed analysis of research articles that have been published since the 1980s, this new review study, published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology, has reinterpreted the findings. The researchers explained that for competitors taking part in endurance sports, exercise causes immune cells to change in two ways.

Initially, during exercise, the number of some immune cells in the

Running Marathon Boosts Immunity: Study Evidence now suggests that your immune system is boosted after exercise

bloodstream can increase dramatically by up to 10 times, especially “natural killer cells” which deal with infections.

After exercise, some cells in the bloodstream decrease substantially -sometimes falling to levels lower than before exercise started, and this can last for several hours.

Many scientists previously interpreted this fall in immune cells after exercise to be immunesuppression. However strong evidence suggests that this does not mean that cells have been ‘lost’ or ‘destroyed’, but rather that they move to other sites in the body that are more likely to become infected, such as the lungs, according to the study.

The researchers, therefore, suggested that low numbers of immune cells in the bloodstream in the hours after exercise, far from being a sign of immune-suppression, are in fact a signal that these cells, primed by exercise, are working in other parts of the body.

“The findings from our analysis emphasise that people should not put off exercise for fear that it will dampen their immune system.

Clearly, the benefits of exercise, including endurance sports, outweigh any negative effects which people may perceive,” study co-author James Turner from University of Bath said.

Health

April 30 - May 06, 2018

23 07

immunology

microbiology

Graphene Can Kill Bacteria

According to researchers, a tiny layer of graphene flake can act as a deadly weapon in the fight against bacterial infection n SSB BUREAU

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tiny layer of graphene flake can act as a deadly weapon in the fight against bacterial infection, particularly during implant surgery, according to researchers, including one of Indian-origin.

Bacteria travel around in fluids, such as blood, looking for a surface to cling on to. Once in place, they start to grow and propagate, forming a protective layer, known as a biofilm.

Operations for surgical implants, such as hip and knee replacements or dental implants, always have an increased risk of bacterial infection.

This can also cause the implant to not attach to the skeleton, meaning it must be removed.

The research showed that a layer of vertical graphene flakes forms a protective surface that makes it impossible for bacteria to attach.

Instead, bacteria are sliced apart by the sharp graphene flakes and

killed.

“We want to prevent bacteria from creating an infection. Otherwise, you may need antibiotics, which could disrupt the balance of normal bacteria and also enhance the risk of antimicrobial resistance by pathogens,” said Santosh Pandit, a postdoctoral student at the Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden.

Graphene, made up of carbon

atoms, is only a single atomic layer thick, and therefore the world’s thinnest material. It is made of flakes or films and is 200 times stronger than steel. Coating implants with a layer of graphene flakes can, therefore, help protect the patient against infection, eliminate the need for antibiotic treatment, and reduce the risk of implant rejection, the researchers said, in a paper published in the journal Advanced Materials Interfaces.

However, previous studies showed that graphene damaged the bacteria, others that they were not affected.

But, “we discovered that the key parameter is to orient the graphene vertically. If it is horizontal, the bacteria are not harmed,” explained Ivan Mijakovic, Professor at the Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden. Moreover, graphene was also shown to benefit the bone cells and the sharp flakes do not damage human cells..

biomimesis

Treat Dental Cavities Naturally

The new biogenic dental product uses the body’s own natural tooth-forming proteins to rebuild tooth enamel and treat dental cavities n SSB BUREAU

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f you dread paying a visit to the dentist, here’s some good news. Researchers have designed a convenient and natural product that could rebuild teeth and cure cavities without today’s costly and uncomfortable treatments.

The new biogenic dental product uses the body’s own natural toothforming proteins to rebuild tooth enamel and treat dental cavities, according to the study published in the journal ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering.

“Remineralisation guided by peptides is a healthy alternative to current dental health care,” said lead author Mehmet Sarikaya, Professor at the University of Washington, Seattle.

“Peptide-enabled formulations will be simple and would be implemented in over-the-counter or clinical products,” Sarikaya added.

Although tooth decay is relatively harmless in its earliest stages, once the cavity progresses through the tooth’s enamel, serious health concerns arise.

If left untreated, it may result in severe tooth loss and cause adverse consequences on the remaining teeth, which also includes life-threatening conditions. According to the World Health Organisation, dental cavities affect nearly every age group and they are accompanied by serious health concerns. To find a way to repair the tooth enamel, the researchers captured the essence of amelogenin

-- a protein crucial to forming the hard crown enamel -- and designed amelogenin-derived peptides that help in restoring the mineral structure found in native tooth enamel.

The bio-inspired repair process restores the mineral structure found in native tooth enamel, the study said. “These peptides are proven to bind onto tooth surfaces and recruit calcium and phosphate ions,” said Deniz Yucesoy, a co-author and a doctoral student at the University of Washington. The peptide-enabled technology allows the deposition of 10 to 50 micrometers of new enamel on the teeth after each use.

Once fully developed, the researchers believe that the technology can be used in both private and public health settings, in biomimetic toothpaste, gels, solutions and composites as a safe alternative to existing dental procedures and treatments. .

Novel tool may combat HIV transmission in women A new tool – vaginal implant has been developed that decreases the number of cells that the HIV virus can target in women n IANS

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cientists have developed a new tool that can potentially help protect women from being infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

The tool -- a vaginal implant -decreases the number of cells that the HIV virus can target in a woman’s genital tract. Unlike conventional methods of HIV prevention such as condoms or anti-HIV drugs, the novel implant takes advantage of some people’s natural immunity to the virus. HIV infects the body by corrupting T-cells that are mobilised by the immune system when the virus enters a person’s body.

“We know that some drugs taken orally never make it to the vaginal tract, so this implant could provide a more reliable way to encourage T-cells not to respond to infection and therefore more reliably and cheaply prevent transmission,” said Emmanuel Ho, professor at the University of Waterloo in Canada.

When the T-cells stay resting and do not attempt to fight the virus they are not infected and the HIV virus is not transmitted between people.

When the T-cells stay resting, it is referred to as being immune quiescent. However, “what we don’t know yet is if this can be a standalone option for preventing HIV transmission or if it might be best used in conjunction with other prevention strategies”, Ho added, in a paper appearing in the Journal of Controlled Release.The implant is composed of a hollow tube and two pliable arms to hold it in place.

24

excerpts from the book: “NARENDRA DAMODAR MODI: the making of a legend”

April 30 - May 06, 2018

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana

Only development of the women is not the total development. Today, we have to move from the women development towards the women led development.

Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi presenting a Sukanya Samriddhi account pass book to a girl during the launch at Beti Bachao Beti Padhao programme in Panipat. Haryana

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aunched on January 22, 2015 from Panipat, Haryana, the “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojana” (Save Girl Child, Educate Girl Child initiative) is aimed at ending the abhorrent practice of female foeticide which is rampant in most parts of rural India, to generate awareness about women-oriented welfare services and to ensure that these services are applied efficiently.

I am proud that in their first year in office, the government has started this initiative. I have immense expectations from this. Have you ever thought of a situation where you come back home after a tiring day in office and do not have a smiling mother or a wife to greet you? Would it be natural or desirable if schools, colleges, buses and work places are dominated by males only.

We have reached the Moon and Mars, but sadly, some still view the daughter as a burden. It is not enough

to have a girl child, she needs to be given proper education also. The first lesson that a child learns is from the mother. If the mother is educated, the upbringing of the child will be better. If we are looking for a progressive enlightened Bharat, then men and women will have to move forward together.

Madhuri Dixit Nene Actor

April 30 - May 06, 2018

excerpts from the book: “NARENDRA DAMODAR MODI: the making of a legend”

25

SUKANYA SAMRIDDHI ACCOUNT

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aunched on January 22, 2015, this scheme involves the opening of a savings account in a post office or authorised bank branch for a girl child who is less than ten years

The country must realise the crisis brought by female foeticide or else, the coming generations will face a major problem.

People want educated daughters-in-law, but think several times before educating their daughters.

How can this go on?

a son will take care of parents during your old age is incorrect.

Let’s not look back and shift blame, let's wake up and work together to get rid of this scourge.

Nobody has the right to kill the girl child.

A society can that does not respect girls can never develop. Our mantra is “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao.

Doctors should not carry out sex determination tests.

Prime Minster Narendra Modi

The thought that only

during the launch of the programme

The birth of a girl child must be celebrated. I thank PM Modi that he took up this issue with seriousness and talked about the importance of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao.

Maneka Gandhi

Union Minister for Women and Child Development

of age, by her parents or legal guardians with a minimum deposit of Rs. 1000. It is primarily aimed at safeguarding females and improving their living standards.

26

Sports

April 30 - May 06, 2018

boxing player

table tennis player

Will continue boxing till my body allows Mary Kom I took the CWG as a challenge and emerged successful since I have always prioritised my training n SSB Bureau

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fter clinching her maiden Commonwealth Games medal, five-time world champion MC Mary Kom says she took the Gold Coast Games as a challenge and has urged other athletes to “flush out” the age factor.

Mary, 35, clinched the gold in Light Flyweight (48kg) category in Gold Coast, defeating Kristina O’Hara of Northern Ireland in the final.

“I never spoke about retirement, these are all rumours. My focus is now solely on that elusive Olympic gold.

Whether I win or not is a separate thing but I am working hard to achieve that goal,” Mary said putting a lid on talk of her retirement, reiterating that she will continue boxing till her body allows her.

“Age has never been a factor for me; let’s flush this ‘age factor’ out of our minds. I will continue boxing till my body allows me,” she said.

Kom conceded she had a busy schedule as a professional athlete, parent, gym owner and lawmaker but sounded a warning to her opponents against assuming she had too much on her plate.

“I took the CWG as a challenge and emerged successful since I have always prioritised my training. With this medal I believe I have succeeded in silencing many of my critics. I can challenge anyone when I am on top of my training,” she added.

Asked about her chances in the upcoming Asian Games in Jakarta in August, the London Olympics bronze medallist conceded that the Asiad is a tougher tournament, considering the fact that she will have to compete in a

higher weight category.

“The Asian Games will be a bigger challenge, where I will have to compete in a higher weight category. So whatever the category is, I have to be fully ready and focussed on my training,” she said.

Mary, who has been competing nonstop for the past five months, starting with the Asian Championships gold in November, has no plans of taking a break.

Ahead of the CWG, Mary won a gold medal in the India Open in January before settling for a silver in the Strandja Memorial in Bulgaria in February.

When asked about the quality of India’s coaching staff, Mary was quick to pick women’s High-Performance manager Raffaele Bergamasco and her personal coach Chhote Lal Yadav as a great combination.

Asked about India’s bench strength in women’s boxing, Mary sounded positive, and also credited the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) for the gradual rise of Indian boxers.

“India has a rich bench strength in women’s boxing. I have seen a lot of young boxers coming up, thanks to BFI’s efforts of introducing new tournaments like the India Open boxing and also raising their hands in hosting international tournaments like the women’s Youth World Championships,” she said.

Commenting on the upcoming national camp, Mary said: “It’s an 18-day camp, a very good idea by the BFI and the coaches. In boxing it is very important to maintain fitness and strengthening.”

I Need To Work More On My Fitness Manika Batra Despite earning accolades for her recent feats in Gold Coast, Manika still feels she has room for improvement, especially on her fitness n SSB Bureau

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ill recently an emerging table-tennis star, Manika Batra has turned into an overnight sensation after her impressive run in the just-concluded Commonwealth Games, where she bagged medals in all four events on offer, including an unprecedented gold in the women’s singles and team championship.

Despite earning accolades for her recent feats in Gold Coast, Manika still feels she has room for improvement, especially on her fitness.

“Well I would need to work more on my fitness as the sport is very fast and it is required to beat the top players. I need to be little more fitter and need to be faster than what I am right now,” Manika said in an interview on return from the Gold Coast, echoing her coach Sandeep Gupta, who had stressed on the importance of adding the ‘X-factor’ to her game.

The 22-year-old upset triple Olympic medallist and World No.4 Feng Tianwei of Singapore to lead the Indian women’s team to a historic gold before beating Singapore’s second highest ranked Mengyu Yu in the women’s singles semifinals, on her way to another gold. When asked about her mindset before taking on higher-ranked opponents, Manika said she doesn’t focus too much on her rivals’ rankings. “I do not think much about the opponent’s ranking when I face them as I believe I have my techniques in right place. But having said that I am really

happy and satisfied to have beaten her (Feng) twice,” she said.

“I had to change my game in both the matches and made little adjustments which helped me beat her. I knew I could win and stayed focused and stuck to my strategy,” the world No. 48 added.

Manika also hoped that with her recent feat, she can replicate the success of the likes of shuttle queens SainaNehwal and P.V.Sindhu in popularising table tennis in the country.

She said that because of many good players in the country, TT can become as popular as badminton in the country, she said.

“It is a wonderful feeling to have won so many medals in such a huge event and to have made the country proud.

I was confident about my chances but never thought that I would win so many medals so, yeah, I am very happy about my achievements”, she said adding that it was “surreal feeling and I hope to continue my good work.”

Manika also credited the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) tournament for the exposure and for helping her shape her career.

“The league obviously has helped a lot, especially the Indian players. We got the chance to play and train with the higherranked players which has helped us to learn a thing or two,” she said. “Personally speaking, I had played and beaten higher ranked players last year which obviously gave me a lot of confidence. I am happy that it is happening again and I am really looking forward to it,” she added.

Entertenment

April 30 - May 06, 2018

27 07

dilip kumar

Tragedy King Of Bollywood Aka Dilip Kumar He “single-handedly refined histrionics” and refined acting “to an art form of exalted brilliance”, says his wife Saira Banu

n Urooj Fatima

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ebuting on screen in British India, appearing in some of Indian cinema’s greatest classics and still present over eight decades later in the hearts of a vast multitude of fans with whom he remains connected over social media, Dilip Kumar is not just Bollywood’s oldest living star but also an Indian institution.

The “Tragedy King” who excelled at broad comedy, too could play a prince or a peasant with equal ease, display profound intensity or a jaunty nonchalance with the same skill. Dilip Kumar is someone who repeatedly reinvented himself as both an actor and a person.

“Taqdeeren badal jaati hai, zamana badal jata hai, mulkon ki tareekh badal jaati hai, Shahenshah badal jaate hai, magar is badalti huyi duniya mein mohabbat jis insaan ka daman thaam leti hai, wohi insaan nahi badalta,” he said as a Prince Salim in one of his most memorable roles. And this might describe Dilip Kumar’s own long, inspiring life but not his acting.

For, over two decades after masterfully playing the rebellious son facing off a stern and dutiful father in “Mughal-e-Azam” (1960), he could take up the latter role in “Shakti” (1980) with the same intensity, though not the bombast of Prithviraj Kapoor.

That was the calibre of Mohammed Yusuf Khan, alias Dilip Kumar, a natural actor using the “method system” before it was even named, in a career lasting over half a century.

A Pathan boy who got personally picked by then reigning Bollywood diva Devika Rani to debut opposite her in “Jwar Bhata” (1944), he went on to become the “tragedy king” of Bollywood’s first trinity. All subsequent superstars from Amitabh Bachchan to Shah Rukh Khan owe him a debt.

Amitabh Bachchan, a great performer himself, says: “He is a milestone for every upcoming actor.

We have all been influenced by his dedication and versatility.”

Devika Rani and Yousuf had met for the first time in Nainital. He has gone there in connection with his fruits business while Devika was there to check out a film location. Devika was on the lookout for a new hero and she found one in Yusuf Khan.

Yusuf Khan, she felt, was not a name to go well with a romantic hero. Of the three names suggested to him – Jehangir, Vasudev and Dilip Kumar – he chose the last. This, he thought, was also appropriate for it would hide his new occupation from his conservative father, who loathed all ‘nautankiwalas’, as he used to call those associated with the cinema.

The chance meeting with Devika Rani altered the course of Dilip Kumar’s

scenes.

Dilip Kumar may have started his career as a doomed lover, who more often than not died in the end, but the great tragedian, later showed his immense flair for comedy. Not even once in Azad, Kohinoor, Leader and Ram Aur Shyam did he overdo a scene. In fact, half of the eight Filmfare Awards trophies for the Best Actor that he won were in this genre.

If he did so in films, so did he in his personal life. Saira Banu informs that her husband could give a mellifluous azaan or quote from the Quran, but also from the Bhagvad Gita and the Bible, celebrates Diwali with the same fervour as Eid; he had also, as Sheriff of Bombay in the 1980s, presided over

Devdaas, and many others became big hits and the producers kept making similar movies with him as the tragic hero.

As a result of playing tragic roles, again and again, Dilip Kumar started getting depression in real life, as reel life caught up with him.

He went to a psychiatrist who advised him to act in some comedy movies.

Dilip took the advice. Some great comedy movies like Kohinoor and Azaad resulted and Dilip Kumar found that he had outgrown his depression.

His last film was Qila in 1998.

Dilip Kumar Social Conscience

His films (like Gunga Jamuna and Naya Daur) often focused on important issues because he believed that an actor had a social responsibility to fulfill. He thought that he should be careful in selecting projects that had a social purpose, but at the same time possessed all the qualities that would draw audiences to the cinema.

Dilip Kumar, outside the movies

life but more than that it changed the trend in acting from loud and theatrical to a natural style both in action and in speech. To quote a critic, “He lent a meditative resonance to film acting.”

But there was more to his career than we know.

He “single-handedly refined histrionics” and refined acting “to an art form of exalted brilliance”, says his wife Saira Banu in her introduction to his memoirs “Dilip Kumar: The Substance and the Shadow”.

He was ghost director for two movies, the box-office hit Gunga Jumna and a commercial disaster Dil Diya Dard Liya. For some reason, Kalinga, the movie he was directing officially, didn’t go beyond the shooting of a few

the breaking of the arduous 30-day fast of Jain children.

The Pakistan Government awarded him Nishan-e-Imtiaz, the highest civilian award. Morarji Desai was the only other Indian to have been similarly honoured.

Dilip Kumar’s fans are legion. He was the first actor to receive the Filmfare Best Actor Award in 1954 and shares the record for the most number of Filmfare awards won for that category with the present Shahrukh Khan.

Tragedy King faced depression in real life

Dilip Kumar started getting typecast as a ‘Tragedy King’. Many of his movies in which he played tragic roles like Daag,

He has always been a great conversationalist because of his extensive reading. He can speak on any topic and has a wonderful sense of humour. Yusuf Khan is also a people person. He is fond of food and particularly partial to egg bhurjis, chicken sandwiches and chaat. He used to be an avid traveller.

Dilip Kumar few favourite things

He likes his tea service to be elegant and perfect. He loves to read any kind of gripping fiction, listen to classical music and share Urdu poetry with likeminded, close friends. At one point in his life, he really enjoyed flying kites.

He has a trunk full of kites, which he had collected from all over the country.

He loves to watch sports, go for sunset drives and talk to all his sisters and brothers. In the movies, his favourite performers are James Stewart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Muni.

It has been a “Suhana Safar” for Dilip Kumar and we pray for many more happy and healthy years for him.

28

Environment

April 30 - May 06, 2018

climate

Agri-app To Answer Farmers’ Queries Through Live Scientist The app stores information related to what kind of soil, weather, climate, and time of the year, would be suitable for a certain crop

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n IANS

sing a new mobile application, soon to hit the market, farmers can now have their crop-related queries answered through a ‘chatbot’ and if this does not work, by a live scientist.

‘Aham’ was built by a six-student team from Mumbai’s Vivekanand Education Society’s Institute of Technology in a software hackathon held over March 30-31.

The competition, organised by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) at 28 nodal centres, required students to build apps around topics allocated to them within 36 hours.

“Our app is basically a portal to give information of aromatic and medicinal plants. People have knowledge about the cash crops like cotton, pulses, etc. but there is not much information regarding these crops. So, we built this app keeping this consideration,” Deepa

Narayanan, a member of the team, which built the app to win the hackathon for Pune centre, told IANS. The app stores information related to what kind of soil, weather, climate, and time of the year, would be suitable for a certain crop.

“The app has a geo-coded system which informs the farmers at which place which plant can be optimally raised. Since the farmers do not know about medicinal crops much, we have an ‘advisory board’ in the app, having two sections. It has got a chat app which is more like robotic answering sessions. So, if a farmer speaks his query into the mic of the phone, the chatbot will answer.

“It may so happen that chatbot may not be able to answer a certain query, in such cases, the question will be diverted to a scientist. The scientist will answer the query in a real-time chatting session,” said the third year computer science student.

The app also has a tab for ‘markettrend’ which will let farmers know past and future demand for crops through pictorial graphs.

For the prototype, the team was

asked to prepare an app for mint, a herb with medicinal qualities, by the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR). Similar proposals for several other topics were made by 27 central and 17 state ministries.

One of the important things about the competition is that the apps may be adopted by these ministries or other governmental bodies, for use in their field of work.

Narayanan said the team is in talks with CSIR to adopt the app for its Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), but things are yet to take shape.

“We are taking exams now and haven’t spoken to the government in 15 days. We will take it up after the exams,” she said.

Even after last year’s hackathon, organised by the AICTE, about 30 innovations were adopted by several ministries and departments.

“About 60 innovations were longlisted, out of which 30 had been finally adopted by the ministries.

A total of 250 apps or portals were invented by the participants in that competition,” an AICTE official told IANS.

Plastic pollution

Shun Plastics, Plant More Trees, Create Behavioural Changes The environment is the core for any country and its degradation would affect the health of the economy

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n Ved Krishna

arth - our home - is a truly magnificent place. Around 8.7 million species have lived and evolved on this planet over and across time immemorial. It is a purely vibrant place we inhabit- and it is in grave danger.

The environment is the core for any country and its degradation would affect the health of the economy. Plastic usage in India has grown inexorably from humble beginnings to a stage where the country has been rated as the 12th biggest plastic polluter in the world.

As this year’s Earth Day theme focused on “Ending Plastic Pollution” which was on April 22, it’s high time we take a step forward and replace plastic and styrofoam usage with biodegradable products.

Here are five suggestions to

achieve a sustainable environment in the years to come:

Stop using plastic

While there are regular stories and reports on the harm caused to the soil, environment, water, marine and human life due to the use of plastic, the decline in its use is not as much as it should have been. With micro-plastic being ingested by marine life and human beings, the situation is alarming. Plastics take more than 500 years to decompose.

As per reports, 79 per cent of the plastic produced over the last 70 years has been thrown away, either into landfill sites or into the general environment. Just nine per cent is recycled. Hence, it is high time the world stops using plastic.

Create behavioural change While governments in some states

have banned plastic usage, the steps taken are not enough to eliminate plastic usage from the country.

There is a pressing need to educate and sensitise the masses about the harmful effects of plastic and styrofoam. While plastic usage not only affects the environment, the carcinogens emitted from styrofoams can also cause cancer.

Proper awareness can play an instrumental role in creating an environment movement among the masses on the use of non-plastic and non styrofoam products.

Shift

to

biodegradables

While plastic takes years to decompose, biodegradable products can decompose within months of their disposal. These products are fully compostable and turn into manure for the soil. It is important to provide the world with “good

garbage” by using compostable products instead of plastic. Plastic bags can be substituted with paper bags, plastic covers can be replaced with cloth or paper covers. And most importantly, the use of plastic and styrofoam tableware products, which is dominating the India food consumer market, needs to be replaced by biodegradable tableware.

Switch to carpools

One of the biggest factors for the increase in our carbon footprint is pollution by automobiles. The rising number of cars is not only a nuisance but a major source of harmful green house gases. Using carpools and local transportation services automatically limits the number of automobiles on the road.

Plant more trees

While it requires making just a small effort, the thought behind the effort is the most difficult task for people today. From lowering air temperature to absorbing carbon dioxide -- the benefits of trees are innumerable. The net cooling effect of a tree is equivalent to 10 roomsize air conditioners that operate 20 hours a day. Trees also help save energy.

Environment

April 30 - May 06, 2018 Fauna

Indian Yaks Facing Threat Of Climate Change

The increasing trend of environmental temperature at high altitudes is resulting in heat stress in yak during warmer months of the year

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n Dinesh C Sharma

ak – the lifeline of pastoral nomads in high altitudes of the Indian Himalayan region – is facing the threat of gradually rising temperatures in the region.

The increasing trend of environmental temperature at high altitudes is resulting in heat stress in yak during warmer months of the year. This, in turn, is affecting the rhythms of physiological responses of the animal. Studies have shown that the average environmental temperature in the region has increased 1.5 percent in the past 25 years, with yearly incremental increase of 0.06 degree.

Yak is accustomed to very cold temperatures and can survive up to minus 40 degrees but finds is difficult when the temperature crosses 13 degrees. “Yak can efficiently conserve its body heat during cold weather conditions and has minimal body mechanism to dissipate heat by way of sweating.

This makes yak more susceptible to heat stress,” explained Dr Vijay Paul, principal scientist at the ICARNational Research Centre on Yak (NRCY), Dirang, while addressing a media workshop on climate adaptation here.

The animal alters its respiration rate not only in response to a changing need for oxygen but for regulating body temperature.

Therefore, increased respiration acts as a predictor of heat stress,

along with other symptoms like panting, reduced feed intake and higher intake of water.

Noticing these indicators of heat stress, nomads have started own adaptation measures for their animals.

Climatic variables such as rainfall, cold waves and temperature change has been studied for the two yak rearing districts of Arunachal Pradesh – Tawang and West Kameng. Since past meteorological data is lacking in this region, researchers from NRCY have collated information from Brokpa namads who are engaged in yak husbandry in Arunachal Pradesh.

Two other prominent nomadic communities engaged in yak rearing are Changpas and Dokpas in Ladakh, Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh. The total yak population in six states in the Indian Himalayan region is estimated to be over 76,000.

Globally, China – mainly Tibet region – has the highest numbers of yak.

“Yak rearing is an eco-friendly livelihood for nomads who migrate to higher altitudes during summer and return to lower altitudes at about 3000 meters above sea level during winters. This ensures that their animals remain in almost same ambient temperature all through the

Quick Glance The temperature in the region has increased 1.5 percent The increase has occurred in the past 25 years The incremental increase has been 0.06 degrees

29 07

mineralogy year. It helps minimize heat stress.

This traditional migratory pattern is getting disturbed with changing weather patterns,” noted Dr Paul.

Besides heat stress in animals, fluctuating temperature also affects growth and availability of fodder in alpine pasturelands. This, in turn, lowers productivity of the animals.

Yaks provide nomads milk, fibre and meat. Milk production depends directly on the quantity and quality of forage in pasturelands. The long hair of yak have water-resistant properties and can be a good packing material. Nomads use yak hair to weave material for making tents. In addition to climate-related factors, there is a reduction in grazing areas and degradation of pasturelands due to various developmental activities as well.

Dr Paul said nomadic communities were taking several adaptive steps as duration and timing of migration was changing. There is proliferation of yak-cattle hybridization as well as diversification of herds. Yak rearing needs to be preserved as this is the only source of livelihood for nomads.

This can be done by rejuvenating degraded pastures, improving livestock healthcare practices and providing feed supplements for yaks.

“We also need to develop stains that are less sensitive to heat stress,” he added.

Arunachal Pradesh had prepared the state action plan on climate change in 2013. The five year plan period has come to an end but no adaptation projects have been taken up in the state. The plan had components on adaptation measures for agriculture and animal husbandry sectors but there was no specific mention of protecting yak populations.

“The plan was approved for Rs 6500 crore but no funds were received for its implementation,” said Omkar Singh, principal secretary, department of environment and forests, Arunachal Pradesh.

“We are in the process of reviewing the state plan based on new inputs such as high resolution vegetation maps which have since become available,” added D. Dohu Robin, deputy director (environment) and programme coordinator.

The three-day workshop has been jointly organised by the Indian Himalayas Climate Adaptation Programme (IHCAP), Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Centre for Media Studies (CMS), along with the state climate change cell.

Japanese Island’s Mud Could Alter Global Economy According to the study, a huge patch of mineral-rich deep sea mud lies near Minamitori Island, 1,200 km off the coast of Japan n IANS

A

n estimated 16 million tonnes of mud containing massive, “semi-infinite” stores of valuable rare earth minerals, found in a small Japanese island in the Pacific Ocean could alter global economy, a new study has revealed.

According to the study published by a team of Japanese researchers, this huge patch of mineral-rich deep sea mud lies near Minamitori Island, 1,200 km off the coast of Japan, reports CNN. Rare earth minerals contain rare earth elements that are used in high-tech devices like smartphones, missile systems, radar devices and hybrid vehicles. For instance, yttrium, one of the metals included in this recent discovery, can be used to make camera lenses, superconductors and cell phone screens. The 16 million tonnes of materials could contain 780 years worth of yttrium, 620 years worth of europium, 420 years worth of terbium and 730 years worth of dysprosium. In other words, it “has the potential to supply these materials on a semi-infinite basis to the world”, the study said. According to the US Geological Survey, while the minerals are relatively abundant, they have “much less tendency to become concentrated in exploitable ore deposits”, making a find of this scale even more important.

“Most of the world’s supply of (rare earth elements) comes from only a handful of sources,” CNN quoted a USGS report as saying.

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Literature

April 30 - May 06, 2018

scripture

How Srimad Bhagavatam Was Written

S

huka, son of Vyasa was a born sage, even at the tender age of 5-6 he was spiritually inclined while rest of the kids his age were nature bound to indulge in games and stuff children do.

Shuka studied all the scriptures in youth and came to a decision, “Father You have been too attached to me, I won’t be able to progress spiritually under you, I must part my way with you in quest of higher knowledge, it will be good for you as well.” he said to his father and started walking away in fast pace.

Overcome by emotion, Vyasa followed him, “Listen my son, there is still plenty I can teach you, stop there, come back to me.”

Young Shuka wasn’t going to listen to any excuse from his father, his mind was set, he kept walking away in brisk

pace, while his father walked behind him with a painful heart.

At a distance a few celestial nymphs were bathing in the pond, they saw Shuka, a young radiant little clad man walking, they rejoiced at the sight of his glowing face. Soon the old Vyasa walked the same path, the nymphs who were almost nude started to cover their bodies in shyness.

Vyasa who observed this went back to them and asked, “Pardon me O celestial ladies, you saw my young son walking this path but you didn’t cover your bodies, but when you saw me, an old man you covered yourselves, why is that?”

The celestial ladies replied “When we saw him, it did not make us conscious that he was a man, but when we saw you, we felt we were seeing a man, that made us shy.” Vyasa

realized his son was spiritually soaring, he had even crossed nature born limitations we have as humans, Shuka was neither a man nor a woman, for he had realized himself to be beyond such limitations, which still troubled the great sage Vyasa.

Vyasa sat there thinking why he could not attain such higher state, what mistake he had done. His Guru Sage Narada appeared to him and said “My dear Vyasa, you have done great things, you have written entire Mahabharata, you have segregated the Vedas, yet the higher states elude you. You have done great intellectual works, you need devotion. Write about the life of Lord Vishnu & his devotess, it will help the whole world and you as well.”And that is how Srimad Bhagavatam came into being.

Moral lesson

Mythological Stories With Moral Lesson The Courage of Abhimanyu

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bhimanyu was one of the greatest warriors in the Kurukshetra war. While his mother Uttara was pregnant with him, his father Arjuna narrated the Chakravyuha battle formation technique to her.

Abhimanyu learnt the entire technique but fell asleep right before Arjuna revealed how to escape the formation.

During the war, Abhimanyu is trapped inside the Chakravyuha created by the Kaurava army.

Even though he didn’t learn how to escape, he gave up his life fighting for his parents and family.

The moral lesson

Abhimanyu’s sacrifice will teach your child about loyalty to family, bravery, dignity and love.

The Patience of Mandodari

M

andodari was the wife of Ravana. While he performed misdeeds and cruelties, she spent her days trying her best to convince him to be just and honourable. She even asked him to free Sita, although her advice fell on deaf ears. Till the end, she stayed loyal to her husband.

The moral lesson

This lesson teaches your children to be patient with loved ones, even if they are committing mistakes, without giving up on them. Loving someone means supporting them even if not supporting their actions.

Indian mythological stories are an intricate tapestry with interwoven threads involving politics, morality, philosophy, parenting, love, war and religion. These inspirational stories have lasted for hundreds of years and will teach your child the many virtues and ethics required to live life as a compassionate and just person.

Events

April 30 - May 06, 2018

events & more...

ACROSS 2. Ezhuthachan Puraskaram is the highest literary award of which among the following Governments?

5. The Basava Sagar Dam is located in which state?

6. Which among the following was first humanmade plastic?

9. The exhaustive codification of Islamic laws in the name of ‘Fatwa-i-Alamgiri’ was done at the behest of which among the following rulers of Medieval India?

10. Which state is observing Khongjom Day to pay tributes to the great warriors of their state?

11. Which city hosted the 16th Federation Cup Junior National athletics championship 2018?

12. Which company has become the first listed Indian IT firm to hit $100 billion market capitalisation (m-cap)?

15. Amalgam’ is a term used for an alloy of a metal with : 17. The World Creativity and Innovation Day (WCID) is observed on which date?

18. Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is a drug used as a : 19. The doctrine of ‘Vyuhavada’ is associated with which among the following Sects (or) cults of India?

Jawaharlal Nehru Marg, Raj Ghat, Feroze Shah Kotla, Vikram Nagar, New Delhi

10 May 2018 | 8:00 PM

SSB crossword no. 20

events

VIVO IPL 2018 - Match 42DD vs. Sunrisers Hyderabad Venue: Feroz Shah Kotla Ground, Delhi

DOWN

SOLUTION of crossword no.19

Milkman Presents: Venue: DJ Stingray India Tour – New Delhi, Auro Kitchen & Bar, Delhi 31, 2nd Floor, DDA Shopping Complex, Aurobindo Place Market, Hauz Khas, New Delhi

6 May 2018| 9:00 PM

YOGA at LODHI Garden Venue: LODHI COLONY Lodhi Estate, New Delhi

7 Apr 2018 12:30 AM - 28 May 20181:30 AM

1.France 2.Gujarat 3.UK 4.48 5.Jharkhand 6.Tamil Nadu 7.Google 8.7 9.ICMR 10.Nepal

solution of sudoku-19

Almost There, A Standup Solo by Sonali Thakker Venue: Playground Comedy Studio

C-2, Basement, SDA Market, New Delhi 110016, Block C 5, Hauz Khas Enclave, Hauz Khas, New Delhi

12 May 2018 | 8:00 PM

31

11.ISRO 12.Madrid 13.Paris 14.SBI 15.Bronze 16.Bihar 17.UAE 18.China 19.India 20.Silver

1. “Hopman cup” is related to which sports?

3. Balantrapu Rajanikantha Rao, the noted Telugu poet-composer has passed away. He belonged to which state?

4. What is the 2018 Common Wealth mascot?

7. The silver coin which was introduced by Sher Shah and continued by the Mughals was : 8. The first astronomical observatory of Harappan Civilization has been found at which among the following ancient Indian sites?

13. Which country has officially changed its name to the ‘Kingdom of eSwatini’?

14. Which among the following Viceroys was associated with the ‘Ilbert Bill Controversy’?

16. Both the processes of transfer of power and the partition of India were hurried through in ____ days.

sudoku-20

Ek Mamooli Aadmi Venue: Amphitheatre, Indian Habitat Centre, Delhi Lodhi Road, Near Airforce Bal Bharati School, New Delhi

6 May 2018| 7:30 PM

on the lighter side by DHIR

Please mail your solution to - ssbweekly@gmail.com or Whatsapp at 9868807712, One Lucky Winner will win Cash Prize of Rs 500/-. Look for the Solution in the Next Issue of SSB

32

POSTAL REGISTRATION NO. DL(W)10/2240/2017-19

Newsmakers

April 30 - May 06, 2018

unsung hero

Young Sarpanch, who changed the outlook of her village

lks a w a l a r e K n i This man se u a c a r o f m k 6,000

She Gives Us Reasons To Leave Cities For Village Life

Bhakti Sharma

B

hakti Sharma, who returned from the United States to successfully contest sarpanch election in Barkhedi Abdulla village on the outskirts of Bhopal, was included in the list of top 100 most influential women in India. A post graduate in political science, Bhakti had shifted to the US with her uncle’s family in Texas after completing studies.

However, Bhakti realised that she wanted to serve society and returned to her native village in India, refusing jobs with hefty packages in the US. Having decided to pursue full-time social work, in November 2014, she decided to take the electoral plunge and was elected the sarpanch of Barkhedi. By ensuring the effective implementation of government schemes on ground, the hard-working 27-year-old hopes to make Barkhedi a model panchayat “I don’t want to tell my story to people so that I become famous and everyone will know my name. I want to share my story so I can become an inspiration for other girls, and they say, “Bhakti Sharma did this and didn’t give up, so I, too, can do it. I won’t give up!”, she said in an interview.

Bhakti’s most noted initiative has been ‘Sarpanch

After he lost his mother to cancer, the 33-year-old man decided to take upon himself to create awareness on blood donation

Honorarium’ under which, for every girl child born, a monetary amount is given to the family and a tree is planted in the village after her.

Beautiful, isn’t it?

She wants students studying in cities to understand success and growth that they can get while working for rural development. There are so many innovations you can do in this area. They should make these small communities their lab for innovation, invention, and creative ideas. Also, they must be assured by the Government that their success is guaranteed as it will serve as motivation for them.

DM Inderjeet Singh raised Rs 10 crore for the future of daughters Inderjeet Singh

A

campaign to send girls to school by the administration and local residents has borne fruit a year after it was launched in Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh district, with female enrollment skyrocketing to over 90 percent.

With the drive, the administration also ended up collecting about Rs 10 crore for the improving education infrastructure in schools. The special drive, named Udaan, brought a paradigm shift in girls’ education in Chittorgarh.

Inderjeet Singh, District Collector, Chittorgarh, said.

“The campaign, launched in January last year, was aimed at breaking people’s cynicism that

The DM of Chittorgarh district of Rajasthan started the campaign called ‘Udaan’ for girl child education

a girl was a liability”. Inspired by the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign, Udaan aimed at ensuring all girls in the district were enrolled in schools by June 2018. For this, a special survey of 3 lakh households was conducted, in which nearly 25,724 students of 5-14 years of age, including 13,816 girls, were found to have dropped out of schools, Singh said. “By December 2017, as many as 23,242 students out of the total 25,724 had been enrolled in schools, which is 90.35 per cent,” he said. “For ensuring retention, we organised Shiksha Chaupal at the Panchayat level where we interacted with parents and motivated them to keep their daughters in schools,” Singh said.

He said that people have so far donated approximately Rs 10 crore in cash and kind to improve the educational infrastructure in the district. “Under the campaign, we have announced that the title of Udta Vidyalaya will be given to a school which has high scores on the four parameters of physical infrastructure, enrolment, retention and quality education,” Singh said.

Singh said support for the campaign came from all sections of society. “It includes retired teachers who are taking out time to take classes in schools and a group of young boys who collected Rs 2.5 lakh and got constructed a toilet for girls in a school in just two months last year,” he said.

Kiran Verma

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33-year-old man left his job and travelled over 6,000 km on foot, from Srinagar to Trivandrum, to spread awareness about the importance of blood donation.

Starting his journey from Srinagar, he travelled to Udaipur, Vadodara, Chennai and Bengaluru.

Kiran Verma, founder of Simply Blood world’s first virtual blood donation platform, realised the importance of a life after losing his mother to cancer.

Since then, his life mission has been to save at least one million potential lives through blood donation, by 2020.

“I started my Journey on January 26, 2018 from Lal Chowk, Srinagar and have travelled more than 6500kms till Trivandrum in two months. I have met more than 600,000 people across the country. I have shared my vision with students in colleges, universities and public places like malls, restaurants, railway stations, bus stands etc,” Kiran told media.

He added, “Everyday more than 12,000 people die in India due to lack of blood. Our mission is to encourage at least 10 people every kilometre to take a pledge to donate blood once in their life.”

On that note, Kiran Verma has been walking on a completely voluntary basis to encourage blood donation across India, Nepal and Bhutan. 2,000 potential lives were saved in 11 countries through the cost-free Simply Blood app last year.

RNI No. DELENG/2016/71561, Joint Commissioner of Police (Licensing) Delhi No. F. 2 (S-45) Press/ 2016 Volume - 2, Issue - 20 Printed by Monika Jain, Published by Monika Jain on behalf of SULABH SANITATION MISSION FOUNDATION and Printed at The Indian Express Ltd., A-8, Sector-7, NOIDA (U.P.) and Published from RZ 83, Mahavir Enclave, Palam-Dabri Road, New Delhi – 110 045. Editor Monika Jain