My Time, My World

MY TIME , MYWORLD

PRATHEEK PRAVEEN KUMAR

© 2009 PRATHEEK PRAVEEN KUMAR

Lovingly Dedicated To My Mother

Smt. Jayashree

PUBLISHED WORKS OF PRATHEEK PRAVEEN KUMAR

CALM REFLECTIONS INCLUSIVE GROWTH MY TIME, MY WORLD INCLUSIVE GROWTH Enlarged 2 ED Co-authored UNDERWATER CHANNEL SIMULATION STEGANOGRAPHY USING VISUAL CRYPTOGRAPHY

PREFACE Time and world in the current global village concern everybody and everyone, whether young or old must pay at least some attention to correctly gauge the ‘prevailing winds’ blowing in and around the world at that time. The complex nature of the time and the world is very difficult to untangle and hopelessly mired in depths we may not know or things of which we have got no comprehension. In this book, I have tried to summarize events, situations, personalities, and at occasions, a few stories that bring deeper comprehension of the world and its affairs in the larger canvas of the political and cultural dynamics of the time and their interplays as I see them in moving the world forward. The topics on which I wrote were all topics on which I felt rather strongly about or topics that I felt important. I hope they are enjoyed and appreciated by all those who read them. While writing the book, I was often tempted to add my own comments about what I felt about the issue at hand, but in the end I successfully resisted such temptations and restricted myself to the truth as I saw it. So this book is a publication on world affairs with just occasional comments of universal nature here and there. Another problem I encountered while writing this book was the abundance of materials to select from. Several events of recent origin raced through my mind for space, but I had to be choosy to limit myself to the planned format of my book. Further, recent developments are too recent and hot to gauge dispassionately and earn space for objective analyses. Therefore, I avoided suchmaterials as much as possible in this volume. This holds true about India also. Though this book is India-centric in world affairs, I avoided all opinions and comments on India related matters for the fear of being partisan. This

volume is not planned as a platform for such contents. Nec Dextrorsum, Nec Sinistrorsum is the theme here and I tried my best to maintain it. Often, I had been tempted to stray into topics quite unrelated to the theme of the book. Managing it and keeping my course on the track was the toughest part of my work. “My Time, My World” opened up limitless vista for entry. Again, I succeeded in confining myself to my Lakshmana Rekha. Many unsaid thanks threaten to over-flood my senses. I would like to thank my parents for all the support they have given me while I was writing this book. They have been pillars of strength on which I could rest my wearied back whenever I was tired or down.

CONTENTS

1. INDIA - UNITY IN DIVERSITY…………………..1 2. INDIAN ECONOMY…………………..16 3. INDIA IN WORLD AFFAIRS…………………..23 4. USA AND THE WORLD AROUND…………………..34 5. THE ROLE OF RUSSIA IN THE PRESENT WORLD……………39 6. CHINA – THE RISING POWER………………..43 7. NORTH KOREA AND ITS NUCLEAR AMBITIONS……………..48 8. IRAN AND THE WORLD…………………..51 9. IRAQ WARS…………………..55 10. JAPAN AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR…………………..58 11. THE THIRD REICH AND ITS PLACE IN THE WORLD HISTORY…………60 12. WORLD POLITICAL DYNAMICS…………………..62 13. SCIENCE FRONTIERS…………………..74 14. ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH…………………..84 15. INDIAN VALUES…………………..103 16. ISSUES OF MODERN LIFE…………………..110 17. MEN AND WOMEN WHO MADE HISTORY…………………..124 18. THE WORLD IN THE 21ST CENTURY…………………..137 19. WORLD LITERATURE…………………..4

20. C H I L D R E N ’ S STORIES ………………...148 SMITH BROTHERS 148 GOPAL’S FRIENDS 151 DINNER IN A FOREST 153 THE FISHERMAN 154 KING SHIBI 155 STORY OF KIRTISENA 156 THE JACKAL AND THE WAR DRUM 157 THE CRAB THAT KILLED THE STORK 158 THE HARE WHICH TRICKED THE LION 158 THE MISTAKE OF THE BEDBUG 159 THE FLUTE OF ENTA 160 MANITOR 161

21. LIFE AND POETRY…………………..162

MY TIME, MY WORLD

INDIA - UNITY IN DIVERSITY

India is a major country of South Asia and geographically the seventh largest in the world with the dubious distinction of being the most populated country in the world after China with a population of more than 1.1 billion by the end of 2010. It is also a nuclear power. India is a very large country with diverse history, culture, religions, castes, languages, practices and ethnicities. It is said that India is the home to about eight hundred languages. It also has different castes and religions, some home grown while some others assimilated from outside and different life styles and geographical features through the length and breadth of the country. States and Union Territories as provided in the Indian Constitution are regional administrative tools for the governance of the country. Division of the country in to States and Union Territories makes governance of the country viable through compact administrative regions. The largest state of India is Rajasthan and the most populated one is Uttar Pradesh. Goa is the smallest state of India as well as the least populated. Among the Union territories, the largest is Andaman and Nicobar Islands while the most populated one is Delhi. The smallest Union Territory is Daman and Diu and it is also the least populated Union Territory of India. In spite of the diversities, certain basic similarities mostly derived from Dravidian and Aryan ethnic groups from the pre-historic age are basic to the Indian soul and bring a kind of inexplicable sense of oneness among the people of India.

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INDIAN CONSTITUTION

Indian Constitution is the largest, most bulky constitution in the whole world. No other country has got a constitution as large as India’s. It has got 396 Articles and 7 schedules. The Constitution of India provides Fundamental Rights to its citizens and imposes specific responsibilities as the citizens of the country. It provides that Fundamental Rights cannot be taken away from the citizens except in a crisis. There are also Directive Principles provided in the Indian Constitution, which suggests to the Government about its obligations to the people and how to discharge them. It has become a farce in India that politicians and political parties during the election propaganda use the provisions of the Directive Principles to lure votes as promises and their agenda for the governance if they win the election and forget the promises all together once they are secure in the saddle of power. Directive Principles are not imperatives of the constitution to follow unlike the Fundamental Rights and thus are followed only at the convenience and benefits to the political party and its leading lights holding the reigns of the power. The Constitution provides for a Central Government for the country and provincial governments in charge of regions formed on the basis of historic, linguistic, cultural, ethnic or administrative divisions called as States or Union Territories. The Prime Minister with his council of ministers leads the Central Government where as States and Union Territories by the respective Chief Ministers with their councils of ministers. INDIA AND SECULARISM

Secularism means exclusion of religion in policy and governance. Secularism respects all religions as equal outside the scope of the governance. It is not antireligious by any stretch of imagination.

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The Constitution of India declares that India is a secular country. Though India is historically, culturally and by majority of the population is a Hindu country, it is also the root and birthplace of many other religions like Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, and more than 20% of its people are Muslims. Historically also, India was ruled by Buddhist, Jain, Sikh, Muslim and Christian rulers as much as by Hindu rulers. Hinduism is often called as a way of life far beyond the concept of religion and always championed spirituality as the core of human life. Vedic hymns and scriptures declare God as beyond all religions. Hinduism as a religion is a new phenomenon originated as a reaction to the threats of alien elements that attacked India and its way of life from the tenth century. Religion even now is not the main stay of the Indian life save for a few deviant elements for political and other related reasons. If there is any genuine concern in this direction among thoughtful people, it is concerning the identity and protection of the Indian way of life. This is truer regarding modernisation and globalisation trends than the threat from other religions. Most of the countries in the world are secular save for a few exceptions in West Asia and surrounding regions where countries proud themselves to declare themselves as Islamic Republics. India always lived up to its expectations of being a secular country in accordance with the spirit of its Constitution. Secularism is a very honourable policy that sees all human kind as one and abjures the evil of division and groups among people.

POLITICAL PARTIES IN INDIA

India as defined in the Constitution is a socialist, secular, sovereign democratic republic. It is a country that was under British rule up to the end of 1940s and gained independence after centuries of alien hegemony that began from the tenth century. It has risen to greater heights since independence and aspiring to be a global power. Being a democracy, and the largest democracy at that, India naturally

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elects its leaders by the process of election through political representations. India’s is a multi-party political system that naturally led to alliances coming to power in recent days and rendering formation of the government a very complex and unclean political manoeuvres, thereby rubbing off the sheen from its otherwise serious and noble process. The adage that politics is the last resort of a scoundrel comes to play in this context and political powers are often found cornered by proven criminals and other anti-social elements by their sheer muscle and money power that can buy votes. Indian political parties can be divided into two main groups: national parties and regional parties. National parties are those that have an all-India base and presence in most of the States and Union Territories. Regional parties are those that have their base and presence limited only to a few States and Union Territories and generally has local or regional interests in their agenda.

The two national parties

that really count in elections at present are the Congress Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Other political parties that can be counted in national arena in spite of their regional slants in terms of electoral presence or interests are Communist Party of India (Marxist), Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Dravida Munnetra Kazagam, Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagam, Trinamool Congress and a host of other smaller political parties. The Congress Party is an off-shoot of the former Indian National Congress that fought for the independence of the country under stalwarts like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, M.K. Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru and has its origin in fight for the national independence with a history of more than a century while Bharatiya Janata Party as a new avatar of Bharatiya Jana Sangha is steeped in the ideology of the national identity with a history of more than five decades. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) as an offshoot of the Communist Movement of India has considerable base in States like West Bengal and Kerala and in Union Territory of Tripura with a history of more than seven decades in the Indian political scene. Most of the other political parties of India are offshoots of the good old Congress Party. Both DMK and

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AIADMK are the political offshoots of the ethnic Dravidian movement in southern India. The United Progressive Alliance or UPA led by Congress Party is an alliance of political parties that assumed power and formed government for the next five years in India in the general election held in 2009. It is the second successive win for the alliance after it came to power in the general election of 2004 by edging out another alliance called National Democratic Alliance or NDA led by the right-wing nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. 2009 general election was a tense battle for both the alliances as the election was to decide the future of both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party in the national political scene and the political life of their Prime Ministerial contenders, Dr. Manmohan Singh and Mr. Lal Krishna Advani. The world watched the general election and its outcome with interest as the general election served as a plebiscite on UPA’s decision and moves to go with the Nuclear Cooperation Agreement with the USA and other member countries of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which was opposed by both the right-wing BJP and its allies and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and its left-wing allies that withdrew its support to the UPA a few months before the general election for going with the deal. DECLINE OF BJP

Over the last few years in the first decade of the 21st century, BJP has declined in power and popularity from a position it had steadily gained from a long time. The 2009 General Election showed the depths to which it has fallen. Reasons are many. Leader who led the party along the ladder of rise are now either tired or retired. Atal Behari Vajpayee is now retired and distant from the political scene. Age is taking the toll of leaders like L.K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi. Down the line in the second wrung, there is shortage of the real talents of political genius, and a few available are busy pulling the legs of each other for supremacy in the party which once carved a niche for discipline, patriotism and service. Its leaders in their forties and fifties want to lead the party by bypassing

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those of the older generation who formed the second-rung during the premiership of Atal Behari Vajpayee. The latter are fighting back or resigning. This is how infighting is growing in BJP. The demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992 is also haunting it. BJP’s public image as a party of wealthy businessmen and its closeness to rich industrialists is doing tremendous damage to its reputation. The true relief provided to the party in the public imagination by its patriotism and discipline is increasingly eclipsed by the character and conduct of its cadres and leaders these days. It is now unequivocal that BJP and its cadres and leaders no way stand out from other political parties of India in patriotism and discipline save for lip service for political advantage. This removed the greatest advantage of the BJP in the public imagination. Its leadership’s impatience to adopt modern life-styles and liberalization raised doubts about their love for Indian values and culture. Actually Congress showed better circumspection when circumstances warranted such adoptions and showed better respect to Indian values. Though Indians do not express these things in so many words, they intuitively understand it. BJP’s natural human concerns, as proved in their neglect of poor and minorities, are also in doubt. Love and pride for India and Hinduism and their values are praiseworthy. But, hate to anybody is not. It is against Indian and Hindu tenets also. Congress in contrast has done well by its Aam Admi slogan unlike BJP’s 2004 slogan of India Shining meant for rich and wealthy. BJP basically needs strong leadership of the kind of Smt. Sonia Gandhi to steer it ahead with confidence and maturity to reach its former glory. JUDICIAL ACTIVISM

In India, the judiciary plays a very important role as to decide all controversial matters and disputes. The judiciary has been in the forefront of problem solving in India as provided by the Indian Constitution since it became a Republic around sixty years back in1950. Over this time, the judiciary has usually confined itself to give decisions on matters that were brought to its attention as the relevant provisions of the Indian Constitution were interpreted then.

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Judicial Activism was not some thing that had been very common then. However, of late this has changed. In India like in South Africa, Judicial Activism of late is playing a very important role in the day-to-day affairs of the judiciary. This is a change to be seen and noticed. This is because it has been seen that judicial activism when trumpeted aloud and hard is having an effect on the society and thus it has become a part of the judicial system of India from the middle of 1990s. It has been more and more apparent over the last few years. The judiciary is now interfering in matters of public interests even while they are not brought to its adjudication by the interested parties unlike the practice and precedence of the first forty years of the Indian Constitution. Courts these days are taking up matters of public interests on the basis of letters or telegrams received by them, many a time anonymous letters, on the basis of newspaper reports or even suo moto. It tremendously helped the public interests and the cause of justice in most cases. But, there is raging controversy now regarding this judicial activism or pro-active judicial moves of the Indian judicial system, some passionately supporting it while others including government bodies openly expressing dissent on such judicial initiatives by the Indian Courts. Opponents say that those pro-active measures amount to judiciary over-stepping on the Executive responsibilities. An example they give is of the Judiciary directing the Central Government to take measures to protect Indian students in Australia in the circumstance of the latter’s persecution there. Even though Judiciary has no powers and jurisdiction over foreign affairs, issuing such directions is seen as Courts over-stepping their limits. Also, the judiciary’s direction to pull down all statues of her and others’ raised by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mayawati is seen with concern. Here, the issue is not whether the directions are just and in public interests, but how judiciary can out-step its limits and over-step on executive powers and responsibilities and crush the fine balance provided in the Indian Constitution between the Parliament, Executive and the Judiciary, to the detriment of the peace and balance of the public life of the country. Judiciary cannot violate the Constitution. Here, pro-active move in public interest and in the interest of justice per se is not to blame. What is required is

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discreetness and maturity to remain within one’s limits rather than trespassing to other’s fields. CASTE SYSTEM

Caste system is prevalent in Indian society from a very long time. It still prevails though invisibly for the fear of law. The caste system classifies people as high and low and some highest and some others lowest on the basis of their birth and parentage for life without reference to their merits or demerits. This is a grossly unjust system, more so in a country of India’s spiritual heritage. This is a case of highest spiritual values being misconceived and misinterpreted by the second rate sociologists of the ancient India while codifying social laws. Faith being the heart of Indian epistemology, ancient Indian mass followed the codes with vengeance without a second thought and brought India to the present state if guilt. People of the lower castes in India are cruelly treated for centuries and forced to live in inhuman conditions as untouchables. They are treated, distanced and exploited like dirt all their life generation after generation for centuries. In spite of all the calls for human rights and equality, India cannot be called as completely wiped out the curse of caste system and untouchability from its face. DIGNITY OF THE BISEXUALS

The bisexuals have been discriminated against for a very long time. People have looked down upon them in disgust for a very long time. They have been discriminated against even in the Constitution of India. This is because even the founders of the Constitution of India did not feel that they must be given equal rights as if that these kinds of people are not fit for basic rights. They have lived so for a very long time till now. The founders of our Constitution felt that these people were disgusting and that they must not be encouraged to live this kind of life. Leading a life like this was considered to be ‘verboten’.

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Indian judiciary has finally decided in favour of the bisexuals. It decided that these people must not be discriminated against in future. People all over India have all celebrated this and have felt that this law was long overdue. People are celebrating this new change. However, the fight has been a very long and weary one and many people have fought very long and hard for this. Demonstrations were held over the last few days in order to put the last few nails in the coffin of the earlier discrimination. Over the last few days, many people of this kind were very vocal and showed a large amount of energy in their actions and also worked very hard for this judgment and it looks as if this is a very big victory for them. EDUCATION SYSTEM

India was under the British Raj for nearly a century in which India learnt and acquired endless modern customs and systems from the British and their thoughts, methods and practices. Solid administrative system, powerful military set-up, excellent railway network, export and import regimen, diplomacy niceties, sound public health system, flawless public distribution system and effective education system are only a few to name such adoptions.

Most important of them is the

Education System for the reason that it laid foundation for the future of the country. British infused best education system to the country relevant to the time and circumstances that ultimately led to overthrow of the British Raj from India under the leadership of the enlightened products of the Education System like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose to name only a few. It is more than a century since India adopted the good old British Education System and more than six decades since India became an independent country and a republic. Yet, we have not changed the Education System from that time to meet the fast changing needs of the time and requirements of the country. It is in a very pathetic state of affairs indeed. Indian Education System is not keeping pace with the progresses in other fields in the country and the consequence is felt in the fields of

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other developments. It is like rotten apple spoiling other sweet apples in a basket. Education System in India is a neglected area. The number of new Universities and Centres of Higher Education in India is not on par with the increase in the population of the country. Japan, a country with almost one-tenth of the population of India, has almost three times the number of Universities as India. Also, the percentage of the people who go to Universities and Centres of Higher Education at right age is less than seven percent in India even after six decades of the self-rule. In the United States of America, the percentage is close to eighty percent while in Finland, it is close to seventy six percent. The story is similar in other parts of the Indian subcontinent namely Pakistan and Bangladesh where outdated education is the staple for the hoi polloi. England from which India borrowed the Education System knew the importance of the right Education System and diligently updated it from time to time. In India, basic education that forms the heart of any Education System is the most neglected area with classes often held in dilapidated single rooms or even under trees and teachers under-paid or irregularly paid. The profession of teachers at all levels is least accomplished in terms of returns and social standing and therefore attracts only the mediocre and leftovers from other fields. This deeply affects the process of educating and moulding the future generation of the country. The educational system in India is far from satisfactory. Main problem is the standard of teachers in schools and colleges being not up to the mark. Though IITs and IIMs have exceptional students and teachers, situation is very bleak in other institutions. India must have many more centers of higher education to make its mark in the world stage. The first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, said that it would be primary in his manifesto to improve the educational system in India. Unfortunately, this sacred goal ended with IITs and IIMs and a handful of other institutions of excellence. For a country to improve, it has to have a good education system. The gradual decline noticed in the standards of excellence in existing institutions of higher

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education in India like IITs of late is depressing. The fall is mainly because of the pay system of the professors there in contrast to those in China, Korea and Singapore and in western countries where a three-tier pay system is followed to attract the best to the fold. The pay system in most of these countries include a pay package covering the pay pack from the government based on the pay scale to cover basic needs, and other pay packs dependent on the track record of the individual and the institute concerned in the stipulated year. Individual performance forms the pillars in all these pay schemes, thus promoting excellence and rewarding performance. Singapore moved to the performance based pay scale of three components about two decades back, covering basic pay based on the pay scale, another based on the reputation and market demand of the individual teacher, and the third based on his or her performances for the stipulated period. China followed the performance based scheme from 1990s wherein the pay packet based on the pay scale from the government is followed by one given by the university allowing better institutes to compensate better, and the third based on the performance of the individual in projects and research works. China saw tremendous boost in its research projects and research papers in international journals since then. Pakistan is ahead of India in this progressive step by linking the pay scale to the number of research papers published in international journals. Pay scales and annual increments in USA from many years are based on individual performances. Britain and other European countries like Germany and Italy from which India borrowed its fixed pay package have also moved forward in adopting the performance based package of pay scales for its University faculties. Australia has also moved in this direction. Not that performance based pay package is new to India. All corporate houses and private companies follow this model by instinct as the foundations of their survival. Indian Government unfortunately is yet to awaken to this cardinal need to promote excellence and reward performance to take India ahead to its dream of the world leadership. It still adheres to the age-old fixed pay scales in the name of job security, forgetting that the basic component of the pay package adequately

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covers this aspect, and continuing with the old system is tantamount to utterly ignoring merit, excellence and performance, and promoting mediocrity and casual attitude. This is the bane of academic governance, giving absolutely no elbowroom to promote excellence or reward performance. Added to this, the interference of the Government in the academic governance and selection and appointment of the faculty are causing tremendous damage to the institutions of higher education of excellence in India. If institutes like IITs, which are the pinnacles of higher education in India, are in this situation, then one can imagine what condition the other centers of education in India are in. This must be changed as soon as possible. INDIA’S NUCLEAR AMBITIONS

India has not signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT). All nuclear countries except Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea are signatories to this treaty. India feels that NPT is discriminatory and confirms that it is already complying with all the provisions of the NPT without signing it. It is believed that India has been put under severe pressure from other countries (read ‘The United States of America’) to sign this treaty. But, India held on stubborn for quite some time now. The United States of America and India signed a nuclear deal by which India is provided an exception from the nuclear sanctions of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) for acquiring nuclear reactors, components and fuel from the USA and by corollary from other Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) countries in spite of it being not a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in exchange to allowing its earmarked civil nuclear facilities for international scrutiny and other safeguards. But, India’s ambition was stopped at its track in the summit of G8 and G5 countries held at L’Aquila in Italy in 2009. American President Barack Obama’s administration does not seem to be keen about this agreement with India and its lobbying for pressure on G8 countries to withhold reprocessed fuel from any

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country that has not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty, meaning India alone, is proving an irritant to India. This is quite a blow to India. THE POSTAL SYSTEM

India is one of the largest countries in the world. Defence service is the largest government organization of India. Railways come next. The third largest position goes to the postal service. India’s postal service is the largest postal service in the world, being larger than that of the United States of America and China in many respects. People interact with other people in one way or the other and developed many means to do so. One of the most common ways of interacting with each other is by sending mails or messages and this in short is the beginning of the postal system. A competent postal system is one of the strong points of India’s capable governance. NORTHEASTERN INDIA

There are thirty tribes in North East India and they all want to have the special status of a state and are thus causing unnecessary bloodshed and destruction by resorting to agitations. The tribes are also fighting with each other and buying weapons illegally and killing each other and the police. This has reached to a point that even the central government is having serious problem tackling the situation. The tribes in big groups fight for their cause of a new and independent state. They are being drawn into fighting each other because of the severe tensions that usually pervade each tribe and its uneasiness with respect to the other tribes that live near it. The tribe members are indulging in destroying communication and transport systems and bringing down houses. The states in North East India are taking serious steps to bring peace to the region. The police and army are kept ever alert in the region. They have resorted to

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increasing the number of the policemen and are using tighter and tougher measures in order to combat and win against this ever changing and versatile enemy, that is, the tribes and their outfits. However, whether they will be able to do something to tackle this homegrown problem successfully is anybody’s guess. LAW AND ORDER

BMP refers to the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike. It is the local government organisation in charge of the Bangalore City, the Silicon Valley of India, and a hub of India’s computer industries. BMP looks after and manages the city of Bangalore through elected representatives of the people and bureaucracy. But, often rules and procedures promulgated by the BMP for the administration of the city are ignored and violated creating administrative problems and public inconvenience. This entails enforcing strict measures against the law-breakers. Bangalore Mahanagara Palike resorted to such enforcements concerning construction of buildings in Bangalore in violation of rules laid for the purpose. Rules regarding specific heights and distances from the road in construction of buildings are being violated. This is a common feature in Bangalore as in all other cities of India. The violations are so wide spread and the involvement of their own officers is so deep that Bangalore Mahanagara Palike as a rule ignored the violations. It added to the problem. Builders as a rule bought safety from the BMP by bribing the BMP officials. However, public outcry against such complicities in part of the BMP forced the latter to act. This led to demolition drives by the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike against illegal constructions and their extensions wherein all buildings and constructions that did not follow required specifications were demolished and stricter vigil is followed in licensing new constructions and compliance of the specifications in doing so. This is great news for the people of Bangalore. Belgaum, a border city and also a district in North Karnataka and famous for its history, is dipped in controversy because of its Marathi majority population in a

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Kannada majority State. The neighboring State of Maharashtra wants Belgaum to be included in that State on the basis of its Marathi-speaking population. There is an ongoing conflict and enmity between the two States for Belgaum. India’s responses to emergencies need a lot to be desired. Whether it is natural disasters like Tsunami and earthquakes or terrorist attacks in Mumbai, the responses are marred by slowness and uncertainties of the reaction by those in authorities and in charge of the rescue operations and suitable responses. Often the Government of India was found unprepared for suitable responses and pathetically caught on the wrong foot. India must improve its response time and the quality of the response by proper planning, training, intelligence collection, and institution of right organisations with right people at the helm to minimize the losses and impact of the disaster in issue. It is a paramount need of India to become a great world power.

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INDIAN ECONOMY

Indian

economic

development largely

depends

on

rural

economy.

Infrastructure development is an aspect of the Indian economy that is crying for immediate attention. Indian economic programmes call for balance between socialism and capitalism as defined in Mixed Economy by the first Prime Minister of India, Shree Jawaharlal Nehru. Mixed Economy is a contribution of India to the world as was Neutrality or Non-Aligned Movement in world politics. Schemes like free mid-day meals to students in Government Schools that was first introduced in India for the benefit of the children of the lower income groups of the society by popular film-star turned politician and former Chief Minister of the southern state of Tamil Nadu, Shree M.G. Ramachandran, are gaining popularity throughout India and are being adopted by increasing number of states through the length and breadth of India with the active financial support and encouragement of the Central Government. The scheme is gradually expanded with the passage of time to higher age groups of the students to cover more students under the scheme. India of late is also resorting to reduction in custom and excise duties to encourage trade and industry while increase in taxes on undesirable items like tobacco products and alcohol is the ruling trend. Rationalisation of taxes including income tax and customs and excise duties covering reduction in their rates is injecting new life to the Indian economy. The Indian government budgeted to spend about ten trillion rupees in 20092010, about three trillion more than the previous year amounting to an annual rise of about 43% in expenditure in contrast to the rise in revenue only at about 2%, thus giving way for deficit financing that inevitably leads to fiscal deficit. Allotment of liberal funds to the National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) scheme in the budget is a laudable effort to improve the lot of the rural poor of India. Even though

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children make up to 40% of the population of India, they are given 11% allotment in the budget of 2009-2010. They should have been given better attention. Privatization of the public sector industries is the theme of the Indian Government from some years after it ventured into liberalization in economy. This resulted in a large number of its stakes in different public sector companies being sold out. This massive privatization was though questioned in the court of law, the Supreme Court did not stop it as it decided that it does not have jurisdiction in this sphere. While the oil requirement of the United States of America will increase by 46% in the next ten years and of China by about 96%, India’s requirements will go up by about 132%. This is certainly a mammoth increase. India must find additional sources for oil within and outside the country apart from discovering other sources of energy as alternative to the oil. India will find itself in great problems in coming days unless it does not act fast. Further, increase in oil prices world over may find India in deep quicksand. India has only two options: either it will go down by inaction or it will claw its way up by a concerted action plan. Value Added Tax is a new phenomenon introduced in India’s economic scene and commercial field a few years back to replace the sale tax. Though most States and Union Territories accepted the regimen, a few are yet to come round to the novel taxing system. Employment in India is certainly in a very dismal situation. This is because nearly a quarter of a million jobs have been lost in India over the last few months due to the economic crisis that has struck the world. This is not at all a healthy development for India and this is some thing that the Government of India has been trying to overcome.

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CONSOLIDATION OF BANKS

Bank consolidation is something that has become common now in the vocabulary of many financial experts. Experts in India believe that consolidation is the ‘in’ thing right now in the wake of the severe economic crisis that has hit the world rather hard right now. People believe that if banks merge and form bigger banks, then the whole system will be able to face the economic uncertainties better. In India, the UPA government was all for it in its previous term. It was loudly thinking about this from the beginning. However, all in all, it did not do much about the whole affair then as its hands were tied by its close links with and support of the Left wing parties. However, it looks as if it will do something about this time, as it is free of constraints of the first innings in the second term. Since the monkey is truly off the UPA’s back this time and it is thus capable of following its own policies, things may turn really well this time around. Its previous term saw only one event with respect to banks namely the takeover of the Bank of Saurashtra by the State Bank of India. This was seen as the first step at the time in the catalogue of the UPA to do something big in the banking sector. However, the Government did not follow this up with other acts and thus no great changes were affected in the Indian economic sector last time. Protests by the staff of the subsidiary banks against merger with the SBI were also responsible for this inaction at the time. However, it looks as if some changes may take place this time around and the UPA Government will bring some concrete changes this time in the economic front of India. DISINVESTMENT

Disinvestments is something that Indians have been looking up to with interest right. It looks to be the right thing to do right now with the economic recession that is on the rampage right now in the world. This is something that

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almost all investors have looked at and are trying to benefit out of it. However, many economic experts believe that economic recession is not the right time for disinvestment. Disinvestment, say experts, is something that must absolutely not be carried out at this time. While investors are busy selling their shares, disinvestment will burden the economy and the market and that may lead to slump in demand and bearish tendencies. Disinvestment on a large scale will result in the whole system falling down rather heavily. To avoid such consequences, investors need to practice monetary discipline involving restraint, foresight and assessment of the market before borrowing for investment. They must accumulate debts with foresight. But, this is not the case with most of the investors and borrowers. Their greed lead to their own interests at the cost of others and this attitude leads to the fall of the whole economic system for nobody’s gain. An alternative option is issuance of bonds by the companies rather than resorting to the disinvestment. But, this is too costly a method to be viable. There have been other proposals that the government will have to lessen its holdings in various companies from 51% to 33.3%.

However, it is doubtful whether the

government would even consider this, as it would weaken its stake in the respective companies. AIR INDIA’S CURRENT PROBLEMS

Air India has got itself into quite a big mess by the economic recession. With the economic crisis that has shaken the world from head to toe over the last few years, it has been quite a roller coaster ride for Air India. Air India faces what has been called as the biggest crisis in its history. Whether it will survive the crisis is a big question mark. In order to some how improve the situation, Air India merged with

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the Indian Airlines, the domestic carrier, to decrease the overhead expenditures. But, to no avail. There is concern that many employees of Air India may be thrown over board and that the salaries of others may also be reduced. This is causing concern among the employees, as it is not easy to find and ferret out jobs in the wake of the economic crisis. However, the Government feels that this economic crisis can be ridden through to its end and advice employees not to panic and agitate as strikes and demonstration only keep passengers further away from the airlines and further deteriorate the situation. The government of India is trying to keep the situation stable so that Air India will be able to fly high in the sky in the end. MONSOON

Rain is needed in India. India is a country of farmers. These farmers need water for their crops. The main source of water for the farmers in India is rain. The rain comes mainly in the Monsoon season and the farmers’ crop patterns are designed according to the monsoon patterns of a region. The life of farmers depends on the yearly incidence of the monsoon rains. Monsoon is the deciding season of the farmers as their livelihood till the next monsoon depends on it. Farmers looking up at the skies to gauge when the rain would pour are a symbol of India’s economic uncertainties as well as the pathetic dependence of India’s farmers on the uncertainties of the monsoon. Indian Meteorological Department has a history of predicting normal monsoon with adequate rain year after year.

But, as a rule it

proves right only as exceptions. This throws a huge question mark on the credibility of the Meteorological Department. Monsoon plays a very important role in the Indian agriculture. As the monsoon plays a very important role in Indian agriculture, it looks as if the monsoon plays a very important role in the Indian economy. India, an up-and-coming country depending upon a variable event like inconsistent monsoon is not a healthy development.

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Indian economy suffering by the irregularity of the monsoon is a common feature of the Indian life. Shortage of food and farm production while monsoon is thin or late and destruction while comes with a vengeance or when it is not needed create havoc to Indian farmers. Sixty percent of the Indian economy is comprised of agriculture. Now almost Sixty percent of the Indian agriculture depends upon the monsoon. Thus, the Indian government faces a very huge problem every time that the monsoon does not come or is late. Scientists have laid out a four-pronged scheme to attack the problem. The first is that the Indian government must encourage the growth of drought-resistant crops or crops that are genetically modified so as to survive harsher climates. Another thing is to replace the existing crops with these new types of crops. Another very important measure is to conserve the environment and the natural resources, which are of course very important for crops and without which crops will be in a real stew. The last prong in this pitchfork is that the farmers must use new forms of harvesting and also new types of fertilizers or manure. This is of utmost important. Another important thing will be to decrease the pollution levels. FOOD SECURITY

For centuries people in India have suffered from lack of food. Even though the huge famines, which killed a very large number of individuals and caused a large amount of suffering now belongs to the past, there is still hunger in India. This hunger is omnipresent and looks to be irremovable from the country. Even now because of lack of food, children are born malformed or are mentally challenged. This is mainly seen among the poorest of the poor, the people who form the lowest strata of India’s society. These people are mostly seen in tribes. Some of these whole tribes suffer from lack of food. This is not some thing new in India. In India throughout the ages, one can see great famines, which killed a very large amount of people and have thus reduced the population of India quite a lot.

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These famines were all very horrendous. However, the Indian government has taken it upon itself that it must somehow end this. It has decided that it will some how make sure that every person in India will be able to avail him or herself to some food. This is a big undertaking and challenge and people have to work hard to make this come true. This will require the whole government’s concerted efforts and involve all the arms of the government it can muster. This will be following the footsteps of the Lula de Silva government of Brazil, which did something very similar and christened it ‘Zero Hunger’. The Indian government hopes to do some thing of this sort, as this ‘Zero Hunger’ scheme was successful in Brazil. The government has already put forward a scheme in which the ‘poor people’, who by its rather astonishing definition encompasses an extremely low percentage of the population, will be sold 25 kilograms of wheat at three rupees each, every month. In the circumstances of many millions of people in India under the poverty line, actually one-fifth of them, are already under the scheme of receiving 35 kgs of rice at Rs. 2 each, these people will thereafter receive only 25 kgs at Rs. 2. Therefore, the new scheme appears inadequate and retrograde in some respect.

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INDIA IN WORLD AFFAIRS

India, Russia and China are the three most populated countries of the world, and three powerful nuclear powers. Russia with its 5000 to 7000 nuclear warheads is on par with the USA in nuclear supremacy; China and Russia are sound economy powers. There are attempts by these Asian powers to form a regional axis to counterpoise the world supremacy of the United States of America. However, the ambitions of China to be the sole super power of the region are retarding the progress in this direction. Also its border disputes with both India and Russia are other thorns on the path of progress. A bipolar world is indeed is in the interest of all including the USA considering the time proven adage that power corrupts and absolute power absolutely. INDIA-BRAZIL-SOUTH AFRICA

India, Brazil and South Africa are considered as countries that have the same strength and stature in the world and therefore same interests. Birds of the same feathers flock together. Therefore, it is natural to expect them to flock together as an axis to safeguard their common interests in this complex world of competitions and ruthless manoeuvres. All the three are strong countries in their own right, and if they join hands, they can transform to be a power centre in world affairs and face challenges in every sphere to their best interests. All three are large populous regional powers, undeveloped farming countries, potential economic powers and non-aligned in world politics. While India is the second most populated country in the world and geographically the seventh largest in the world, Brazil is the largest grower of coffee and sixth largest country in the

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world, and South Africa is the largest producer of diamonds in the world. Thus each of them needs the support of the other in facing the world. The proposed axis can lead to balance of power in the world and bring an end to competitions of a few countries like China, Russia and the USA for the world hegemony. Such an alliance is sorely needed by the world to bring balance to the world politics. BANGLADESH

There were two Pakistani territories on different sides to India that constituted Pakistan: West Pakistan and East Pakistan. East Pakistan decided to separate from the union and become an independent country. It fought for its independence and got independence with the help of India. East Pakistan then came to be known as Bangladesh. India helped the Bangladesh freedom fighters after East Pakistan refugees poured in to India while Pakistan forces began to suppress them by force and Pakistan refused to take the refugees back creating a humanitarian problem to India. A truncated Pakistan saved India from the need of concentration of active forces against recalcitrant Pakistan in both western and eastern borders. Bangladesh on its eastern border certainly is a lesser evil to India than the former East Pakistan. Present Bangladesh is divided on its relation with India. While one of the two major political parties of the country is a close ally of India, the other with connections with the Pakistan military shows signs of unfriendly attitude towards India. Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world. It can prove to be dangerous to India if it sides with Pakistan in crucial junctures of political or military sensitivities. Pakistan naturally wants this to happen and considerably succeeded in its efforts in this direction. Pakistan militants and ISI operators repeatedly use Bangladesh these days as safe houses for terrorist activities in India. If India

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succeeds in luring the country to its side by right diplomacy, Bangladesh may prove to be a useful and strategic friend of India. NEPAL

Nepal is a Himalayan Kingdom and shares border with two Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The culture of India and Nepal is similar and enjoy friendly relationship. Nepal is dependant on India for funds and developmental efforts. India has considerable influence over Nepal and generously contributes for the poor neighbour’s welfare activities. Nepal works as a buffer between India and China. Nepalese known as Gorkhas are world-renowned as valiant and fearless soldiers for their do-or die spirit and Indian army has special contingents of these valiant soldiers from its British vintage. Both China and Pakistan have also developed interests in Nepal and try to checkmate India’s influences in the region. Pakistan often used the common border between Nepal and India to infiltrate terrorists to India. The rise of Maoists in Nepal is actively supported by China. The rising influence of China in Nepal is a matter of grave concern to India. Nepal on the border of India and China is in deep trouble from some years. First, the King of Nepal was murdered and a family member wiped out his whole family. Next surfaced the Maoist violence that threatened the very existence of the small Himalayan country. Nepal leaders and army were proved incapable of containing and crushing the spread of Maoist rebellion and violence. India was found unequal in their task of helping the Nepal Government in containing the rapid spread of the Maoist movement and its violence. Attempts to lure Maoists to the democratic system succeeded and elections were held. No party succeeded in getting majority while the Maoists came out with

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maximum seats won in the election. There was a long deadlock and ultimately, a Maoist-led coalition came to power with the primary task of drafting a Constitution for Nepal. The first thing after coming to power was removing the monarchy and declaring Nepal as a Republic. Soon, differences developed between the Maoist Prime Minister and the non-Maoist President and the differences came open while the Prime Minister removed the army chief for disobedience and the President as the Supreme Commander of the Nepal defence forces resisted the move. The rift in the alliance led to the fall of the Maoist Government and the possible revival of the Maoist violence again in Nepal. After concerted political moves, another alliance with the support of non-Maoist left parties formed the Government while the single largest party namely Maoists remained outside the Government causing concern about the possibility of the Maoists reverting to their non-democratic methods of popular uprise and violence. If Maoists return to their largely successful uprise and violence, there will be breakdown of democracy again in Nepal and situation may turn worse than before and the country may go down the drain a la Iraq and Afghanistan though for different reasons. India did try to bring peace to Nepal by bringing Maoists and the Nepal Congress together, but miserably failed in the efforts. Nepal is in a sticky wicket now. Truth is that Nepal has become a political playground of the shadow boxing of its southern and northern neighbours namely India and China with India represented by the Nepal Congress and China by the Maoists. All the political manoeuvres in Nepal are remote controlled by these two countries and in the process Nepal and its people’s interests are completely ignored. JAPAN

A remark by China that there are rather immense differences between India and China in their border disputes, that have been the theme of India-Chinese negotiations and talks for a long time now, deeply offended India. India and Japan leaders met subsequent to the Chinese remarks in Japan and most political analysts

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connected the sudden interests of these countries with each other to the Chinese remarks. However, India and Japan both have denied this connection. India and Japan are close neighbours of China. India’s nuclear tests had drawn the ire of Japan and it joined other developed countries in imposing sanctions against India at that time. However, they have been trying to improve their relationship for quite some time now. The political situation around the world also has compelled these two countries to come closer together over the last few years. American certificate to India that it is a responsible country and its initiative for nuclear deal with India along with the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) waiver to India in nuclear deals further mellowed Japan. These two countries can help each other a lot if they want and it looks as if they certainly want it. Both countries have the strong umbilical chord of the Buddhist religion and culture. In a meeting that the external affairs ministers of these two countries had in mid-2009, they discussed several important issues. Earlier India and Japan along with the United States of America had a few sessions of naval war games. This may be some thing to remember in connection with the recent events concerning Chinese remarks. PEACE IN SRI LANKA

Sri Lanka had been finally able to throw the yoke of the LTTE from its back. It led to Sri Lanka being able to run administration without the dark shadows of the LTTE clouding its decisions and actions. This is something, which Sri Lanka has to be very happy about. On May 18 of 2009, the Sri Lankan army killed the LTTE leader, Verupillai Prabhakaran. Till the end, the LTTE supremo hoped that the international community would do something in order to save him. However, what he hoped for did not come true. His death had come nearly twenty-five years too late for the people of Sri Lanka who had suffered a lot during the period. Thus, this is now a good time for Sri Lanka.

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However, many countries have not taken kindly to the Sri Lankan conduct in this war. They condemned the aggressive pursuit of the LTTE cadres and fighters by the Sri Lankan Army and blamed Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapakshe of human rights violations. India showed concern regarding resettlement of the displaced Tamil population of Sri Lanka. International Red Cross did exceptionally good work during the war in rescuing and tendering civilians caught between the warring forces. According to eye witnesses who visited Tamil refugee camps in Sri Lanka, the Government provides for the refugees better than adequate and that those refugees are looked after better than Sri Lankan refugees in Indian refugee camps. Countries mostly from the West see a large number of slip-ups by the Sri Lankan Government in its approach to the Tamil problem. They say that the Sri Lankan government should have ensured lesser mortalities especially of the civilians held by the Tamil Tigers as protective shield against the onslaught of the Sri Lankan army. It is easier said than done in a war situation of the nature of the intermittent wars between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan army for more than three decades that brought all developmental activities of Sri Lanka to a grinding halt and threatened the very existence of the nation. They have also condemned the Sri Lankan government for triumphantly trumpeting its victory. Sri Lanka indeed deserves to be congratulated for bringing halt to terrorism and bringing peace and security to the island nation after three decades of civil war. INDIA AND PAKISTAN

India and Pakistan are neighbours. Pakistan has had a history similar to that of India. The only factor that stands different between India and Pakistan is their attitudes to religion. While India is a secular republic, Pakistan is an Islamic republic. It was because of religion that Pakistan separated from the united India that existed prior to the creation of Pakistan in 1947. If Mohammed Ali Jinnah had not insisted for a different country for Muslims, Pakistan would never have been carved out of the united India.

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However, after the partition, India and Pakistan have become bitter enemies. Neighbours are usually enemies and it is the same here. There were many wars fought between India and Pakistan. India has won all of them. However, now, there are many moves towards permanent peace between India and Pakistan. India and Pakistan are in conflict since their independence. They fought many wars with decisive win for India in all. But, war is war and a severe drain on the resources of the country apart from the huge amount of destruction and loss of precious life on both sides.

Keeping soldiers active along borders and providing

supplies both strategic and war related as well as daily needs of the soldiers and officers like food, clothing and fuel drain the national resources that would have been better utilised for the betterment of the people otherwise. Further, the soldiers work in hostile conditions while manning the borders. A huge army is a priority in the present world for the defence of the country.

But, a huge army means huge

expenditure; a bottomless drain to the exchequer. Each soldier manning the border needs sixty thousand rupees worth of supplies every month and that amounts to four crores of rupees for maintaining a brigade for one month. Naturally, all countries want to avoid this kind of wastages. India and Pakistan are not exceptions to this. Both countries desire to strike a deal regarding their border disputes. But, Kashmir continues to be a stumbling block, and none of them can relent on Kashmir issue for the fear of losing popular support back in respective countries and the national pride. Siachin is a glacier between India and Pakistan. It has always been a point of conflict between these two countries and fought wars to gain control of that wasteland where not even a grass grows and climate and conditions unfit for living. Only its strategic position between the border of India and Pakistan overlooking the strategic highway conjoining Indian mainland with its northern region of Ladakh gained it the importance it has now. Pakistan while carved out of India had two wings - East Pakistan on the eastern side of India and West Pakistan on the western side of India. The hegemony of the West Pakistan combined with the neglect of the East Pakistan by the Federal

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Government of Pakistan populated by West Pakistan leaders, military and bureaucracy compelled East Pakistan to separate from West Pakistan and become an independent country. India naturally supported this cause for its own reasons. This ultimately led to another war between India and Pakistan in 1971 with East Pakistan volunteers for independence as the Bangla Bahini outfit supporting Indian defence forces. Pakistan on a losing spree appealed for help from the United States of America, which just that year under its Secretary of State, Mr. Henry Kissinger, had started the process of improving and expanding its ties with the China and Pakistan axis even at the cost of its already lukewarm relations with India.

The

United States of America applied tremendous pressure on India, and China began massive troop movements on Indian borders to deter India from moving against Pakistan. The unequivocal support of the then Soviet Union and determined leadership of Smt. Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India at the time, saved the days for India in the war and India won the war hands down with Pakistan being truncated with East Pakistan becoming an independent country as Bangladesh. Till now in almost all the wars fought by India and Pakistan, western countries supported Pakistan, as the latter was their ally till the end of the 20th century. However, in the last war namely the Kargil War fought between India and Pakistan, the western countries remained neutral. Terrorism is some thing that Pakistan has been facing from quite some time now and it looks as if it will not be able to shake off the yoke of terrorism. These problems of Pakistan are mainly due to lack of powerful leadership and splintering of the power structure. Pakistan is suffering from diverse power centers like Government, army, ISI, jehadis, extremists, militant religious organisations and so on, each hostile to the other and pulling in opposite directions. It is a problem of the lack of unity of command with which Pakistan suffers after the departure of President Pervez Musharaff from the Pakistan political scene. Naturally, situation is not at all as stable as it should be. The talks between India and Pakistan on improving relationship that

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made considerable headway during the period of former Pakistan President, Pervez Musharaff with agreements on three issues of Kashmir, Siachin and Sir Creek on the final stages of signature with the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reached its nadir after 26/11 Mumbai attack in 2008. Pakistan’s solution to Kashmir revolves around three issues - demilitarization, self-governance and a joint mechanism. Demilitarization involves withdrawal of defence forces from Kashmir by sides, self governance includes self rule of Kashmiri to the maximum by its people and the joint mechanism involves a mechanism involving representatives of Pakistan, India and representatives of both parts of Kashmir to over-see, over-watch and decide on self governance and all other matters arising regarding Kashmir from time to time. Pakistan considers the Line of Control or LOC in Kashmir between Pakistan held and India held regions as disputed issue while India wants to convert it to a settled permanent border. The response of Pakistan to this Indian position is to treat the LOC as irrelevant in their discussions to leave the matter to the future generations to settle. Terrorism is becoming an increasingly complicated issue to Pakistan. All the same, the aggressive stance of the Indian leaders and media against Pakistan like ‘punish Pakistan’ naturally hurts its sovereign pride and its threat perceptions arising from India gets sensitized. This is the true reason why Pakistan in spite of the fatal threat from Taliban and other extremist groups within the country to the unity and stability of Pakistan as a nation and destabilizing pressures from USA and the Alliance forces against, considers India as the first and foremost threat to the security and integrity of Pakistan. Pakistan strongly believes that India has not yet reconciled to Pakistan’s existence. India and Pakistan must try to peacefully resolve their differences and leave their enmities behind.

Any further wars between these two countries have the

potentiality of turning to be a nuclear war as both are nuclear powers and may lead to mutual destructions.

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The worst enemy of Pakistan is not its neighbour, India. Rather, it is its poverty. Pakistan is one of the poorest countries in the world with a high birth rate that renders its economy failing to catch up with the population growth rate. Further, its unfortunate focus against India and war preparations for the purpose diverted its resources from development activities. It is only because of the financial and other backings of the United States of America that Pakistan has not yet disintegrated in spite of large-scale economic failings and wars against Al-Qaeda and Taliban along its borders with Afghanistan in support of the United States of America. Kashmir lies at the foot of the tallest mountains in the world, the Himalayas. The Himalayas came into existence in prehistoric age when Indian region as part of the African continent moved northeast to conjoin with the southern edge of the Asian mainland. In the process, tall sets of mountains due to the force of collision between the huge landmasses rose upwards as the Himalayan Mountains. An earthquake hit Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, about 80 kms north of Islamabad, a few years back causing immense loss of life. The quake measured 7.6 in the Richter scale and was very devastating. Its tremors were felt even in regions as far away as places like Karachi and New Delhi. India and Pakistan joined hands in rescue operations in Kashmir. This is a noble gesture by both countries. An 86year-old Kashmiri said that this earthquake was the most destructive event he ever saw in his life. There has not been a worse earthquake in Pakistan since 1935. It was the second most devastating natural disaster in Asia in a decade after the Tsunami that hit South Asia a few years back. The Pakistanis have been claiming victories against the Taliban. However, they have really not been able to do positive things against the Taliban. The Taliban has not been defeated by the Pakistanis, but has just gone away and melted. The Pakistanis have however claimed this to be a big victory. The Pakistan armed forces on the pressure of the United States of America just rolled into the Taliban occupied regions of Pakistan without much resistance and that they claim is a huge victory. However, it is presumed that the Taliban will be able to gain back these places from

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where it has been driven out, when the American pressure subsides or when Pakistan government or army weakens. Taliban will be able to gain back the areas they lost as most of its fighters just shaved off their beards to camouflage and continue to live with their families in the area only to raise when the Taliban needs them again.

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USA AND THE WORLD AROUND

The United States of America is one of the richest countries in the world. It played a prominent part in the Second World War and brought an end to the war by joining the Allies against the Axis in 1941. Since then, it has assumed the role of an arbitrator in the world to bring peace and order to the unruly world. It time and again succeeded in stopping imminent wars between rival countries in the last seven decades by timely interventions and often by show of strength. Till the 1990’s, the world saw cold war between the blocs belonging to the United States of America and the then Soviet Union, another super power aspiring for the world leadership. However, the disintegration of the USSR and its ambition of world Communism made the USA the unrivalled sole super power of the world in the last two decades. World saw several attempts since then to create a bloc that can stand up to the supremacy of the USA. While Russia is doing its best to recover its glory of the days of the USSR as another super power, China is rapidly forging ahead because of its rising financial strength and industrial base supported by its huge consumer base and committed political leadership. European Union is an attempt of friendly challenge to the USA. Also, there are attempts of forming blocs of regional or like-minded countries to form viable bases of political or financial powers in the world. JAPAN AND AUSTRALIA

Japan and Australia are close allies of the USA. Their strategic geographical positions as well as their financial and industrial might are a great source of strength to the ambitions of the USA for the world leadership. The South Eastern region of Asia is strategic to the interests of the United States of America in its power game because of the presence of China in close

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proximity to this region. A powerful presence of the United States of America in this region consolidates its position to lessen China’s challenge. Australia and Japan are keys to the United States of America in this region in this sense. They help consolidate the United States of America interests in this region against China. They being developed countries, regional powers and economic giants help the process. United States of America wants India as an alternate ally in this region against the ambitions of China. Both Japan and Australia are proven allies of the USA. The war in Iraq proved the fact sine dubio. Chinese continued claim on the Indian border state of Arunachal Pradesh and Chinese aggression on India in 1962 for this reason render China and its rise as a world or regional power a potential military threat to India’s interests. This is the bedrock at which India welcomes the political and military interests of the USA in this region. Joint military exercises of the defence forces of India and the USA are products of this mutual interest. WEST ASIA

Oil is going to hold the future of the world. The countries that control oil interests will rule the world. Saudi Arabia has vast oil fields and tops the list of oil producing countries. USA shares an honour among the top ten oil producing countries. However, the amount of oil produced by America is not enough to keep its industries afloat for long. That is the reason why America wants to control more oil. Most of the Arab countries have vast resources of oil. This is why most of the developed countries including the USA want Arab countries as allies. The riches of oil brought prestige, wealth and political manoeuvrability to most of the oil rich Arabian countries. It converted West Asia to an intense political hotbed. Only its Jewish lobby and commitment to Israel checkmate aggressive policies of the USA in this region to befriend Arab countries. It is because of the Israel policy of the USA that the relations between the Arab countries and United States of America

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have been deteriorating very swiftly. Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism as a world phenomenon as represented by Al-Qaeda are the direct outcome of this turn of events in the world politics. CHINA

China and the United States of America are two most powerful countries in the world at present and naturally rivals for the world hegemony. Yet they need each other economically; both depend on the consumer base and the economic strength of the other for their own economic prosperity. There may be a long race ahead between these countries for the economic leadership of the world. NORTH KOREA

A few countries including Iraq, Iran, Syria and North Korea are marked by the USA as rogue countries needed to be disciplined for their acts against the world order and peace. The present focus of the USA is on Iran and North Korea for their nuclear ambitions in violation of the world opinion. Both countries have made considerable progress in producing nuclear bombs and North Korea has already declared to the world that it is in possession of nuclear weapons and necessary missile technology to use it and does not hesitate to use it if any country attacks it. This is a direct challenge to the USA considering these two countries being neighbours across the Pacific Ocean and their consistently inimical relationship since the Korea War of 1950s. North Korea traded off missile technology to Pakistan to acquire nuclear technology from the latter in late 1990s. The mastery of North Korea in both nuclear and missile technologies is a potential

security threat to the

USA across the Pacific Ocean and its assets in the Pacific Ocean a la Japan in 1941 in the Second World War. It is unrealistic to presume that the USA would be a mute spectator to the potential danger to its interests and security without proactive measures either of political or military kind.

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AL-QAEDA

The United States of America has been fighting against Al-Qaeda from September 2001 since the 9/11 attacks on WTC and this war against an invisible enemy is looking as if it will go on forever. The Al-Qaeda supremo namely Osama bin Laden continues to inspire and guide his followers and terrorists from unknown territories somewhere deep in Pakistan-Afghanistan border. He is hiding and guiding his army of terrorists from unknown mountainous regions populated and surrounded by sympathizers. The only way out is to infiltrate the organisation of Osama bin Laden. All efforts of the CIA and the USA in this regard failed to produce desired results till now. CIA & FBI

The strength of the United States of America is the way they run their agencies to solve, control and prevent crimes in and against the country. The two agencies worth naming are the CIA and the FBI. They are both very powerful organisations and well known all over the world for their efficiency and workmanship. However, these organisations also inadvertently get involved in scandals that cast dirt on their names and reputations. The CIA or the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States of America is the most powerful detective agency in the world. Recently, a CIA agent by name Mrs. Plame, wife of a senator, was accidentally unhooded by Karl Rove, a prominent government servant. This is a black spot on the annals of the history of the CIA. It is surmised that political rivalry at the top leaderships of the country brought about this serious let down of an important CIA agent, which was a great loss to both the CIA and the United States of America.

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ROBOTIC WARFARE

There are wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The United States of America is the country that is fighting against both is resorting to robotic warfare of late wherein robot-aircraft are used to bombard enemy territories in inaccessible mountainous terrains like the borders of Pakistan and Afghanistan. These robot-aircrafts are known as Predators and proved to be successful in spite of civilian casualties in eliminating dangerous enemies, who otherwise would have successfully avoided the military attacks of the USA and NATO forces. PEOPLE OF THE USA

Perhaps people of no other country in the world match the people of the USA in their sense of decency, fairness, justice, generosity, charity, love of scholarship and entrepreneurship. They believe in helping people all over the world. They fought against their own government against inhuman acts of their army in Vietnam War, and again in Iraq War. They stood against Guotanamo tortures. People of which other country would have deified Afro-American stars like Michael Johnson and Serena and Venus and many more in cultural and sports field and elected a descendent of Muslim forefathers from Africa as their president? They generously contributed for the relief of the tsunami-hit people and other natural disasters all over the world. People like Bill Gates and the Fords always helped unfortunate people all over the world. They are the harbingers of the think-tank phenomena to give intellectual slant to world affairs and matters of public interest. No other countries in the world have so many professors and scholars as political leaders heading various organs of the Government.

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THE ROLE OF RUSSIA IN THE PRESENT WORLD

Russia was the central and strongest part of the former USSR. USSR continued as the second superpower of the world till it disintegrated by the liberal policies of its General Secretary, Gorbachev in 1990. Though the disintegration of USSR weakened Russia, it is certainly not out of reckoning in world politics. Recent political developments like the total response of Russia in Georgia in 2008, its aggressive policies in Central Asia, counter measures to stop expansion of NATO alliance further east, new military bases, attempts to move closer to China and similar manoeuvres prove the rising confidence and importance of Russia in the world politics. GEORGIA ARMED CONFLICT

Georgia as a Caucasus country of Eurasia, situated at the juncture of Western Asia and Eastern Europe with Russia in the north was a part of the Soviet Union till it declared independence on April 9, 1991, shortly before the collapse of the USSR. Georgia is keen to join NATO and the European Union. Two regions of Georgia, namely Abkhazia and South Ossetia, after simmering disputes and widespread inter-ethnic violence and wars with Georgia, supported by Russia, declared independence from Georgia in 1995. Hostilities escalated between Georgia and its breakaway state of South Ossetia escalated in July 2008. After the Georgian bombing of the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali in the late evening of August, Georgian armed forces began pushing into South Ossetia. Russia sent troops into South Ossetia to help the latter. The conflict between Georgia on the one side and Russia, Ossetian, and Abkhazian separatists on the other quickly escalated into a full-scale war in which Georgian forces were decimated.

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Russian military troops invaded Abkhazia, and seized additional territories of Western Georgia. Russia recognized the Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states. US-RUSSIA RELATIONS

Both Russia and the United States of America are very important countries in today’s world politics. The relationship between the United States of America and Russia is at its lowest ebb since the last twenty-five years. This is some thing that both of these two countries would like to change. Russia has been hoping that with Obama at the helm, things would change quickly. With George Bush at the helm, things were a disaster and things kept on going from worse to worse. Obama says that he will try his best to improve relationships with Russia; however, there are many people who are very skeptical about this because of the precedence and the state of the world politics at this juncture Even after the end of the Cold War, Russia and the United States of America have not enjoyed cordial and friendly relations with each other. This is some thing that both of these two countries are anxious to change now. They had a deterioration of their relationship during the time of George Bush as the President of the United States of America. However, it looks as if the United States of America under Barack Obama as President will change this. As Obama looks to visit Dimity Medvedev and then Putin in 2009, it looks as if Obama attaches importance to Russia as he has visited Russia before he visited China and Japan. This is how it is seen in Russia and also all over the world. The visit is of course good for Russia-US relationships in future. It looks as if Russia and the US who actually almost came into conflict a few days during the Georgia war of 2008 are intent on improving their relationship. The United States of America and Russia are trying for a new treaty to replace the START treaty that the

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United States and Russia had signed a few years back in order to decrease their respective nuclear weapons in contrast to the reluctance of George Bush for signing such a new treaty of arms reduction with Russia. Barack Obama is treating Russia more as a friend since he came to the helm in USA. Russia feels this is a very good sign. Thus signing a nuclear weapons reduction treaty is some thing that Russia and the United States are hoping to do as soon as possible. President Barack Obama visited Russia in 2009 to sign a new treaty with Russia to replace the START-I treaty which had run out a few months back and which had not been renewed by the former President, George Bush. President Obama began the tour with a wrong move. He tried to play off Putin and Medvedev against each other and failed miserably. Obama had been overconfident in trying out a move like that at this crucial time, especially in a place where even the slightest move is scrutinized in detail under a microscope. Obama’s meeting with Medvedev was not as successful as it was hoped and they still have a large number of differences still and it will require a lot of time and efforts to resolve them. It looks as if Russia wants USA to treat it more as a friend now that the Cold War is a distant memory. The United States of America till Barack Obama took over as the President of the United States of America had been secretly allying and supportive of the enemies of Russia through its clandestine intelligence outfit, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and busy also building bases near and around Russia in Central Asia and has embarked on a missile defense system in the region apart from being aggressive in expanding NATO network up to the western border of Russia. These measures made Russia suspicious of the intentions of the United States of America. Russia has also seen this as signs of the distrust of the United States towards it. President Barack Obama’s policy towards Russia may change all this. Russia will most certainly ask the United States to show more trust towards it and take concrete steps towards confidence building measures for the over all

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benefit of the world. Russia’s decision to allow the transit of the arms and weapons and other war supplies and defence forces meant for Afghan by rail road through its territory is a significant move forward by Russia towards the confidence building measures in response to the friendly gestures of the United States of America.

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CHINA – THE RISING POWER

The Japanese are the most determined people in the world. After the Second World War, the United States of America thought it better that they have the friendship of the Japanese rather than risk fighting them. The United States of America decided to help the Japanese to recover from the devastations of the Second World War and the nuclear attacks on its cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima and offered its friendship to Japan. Indeed dissuading Japan from acquiring nuclear weapons and technology was the prime part of the deal in exchange to defence umbrella provided by the United States of America. China is a communist country. It has got cheap labour because of low salary and wages and vast market because of its huge population. So many foreign investments have come its way leading it to become an economic power. Its efficient leadership and dreams of world power made it a military power also. China is a nuclear country and now proving its might in space technology. There has always been enmity between Japan and China as both want to control the region they are in. Communist China saw Japan with suspicion as it was the friend and close ally of the USA from the days of Cold War while Japan similarly reciprocated as China was a Communist country. Further, both are contenders for regional superiority from the 1950s. The last six decades found Japan giving way to South Korea as a regional economic power while China is making rapid moves towards its goal of becoming a super power. China’s rise in the fields of Economy has been staggering. It is fast becoming an industrial power with huge demand for its goods all over the world because of their lower prices without compromise in quality. Also, it is noted that if a new technology were developed, China would be the first to adopt it. It is this initiative of its leaders that brought this dream transformation in China’s economic prowess in a

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matter of a few decades from a developing country to its present compulsion of being counted as a super power. There is an adage that a wounded tiger is more ferocious when it is wounded and fallen. It was what happened to China in 1949 immediately after Communists took the reigns of the country. The world community except for those countries that belonged to the Communist bloc distanced the Communist country. Most countries of the world including the United States of America refused to recognise the new Government and preferred to continue their diplomatic relations with Taiwan than with the mainland of China. China had to struggle hard for years to gain admission to the United Nations Organisation to replace Taiwan in spite of it being the most populated country in the world with a vast geographical area. India’s well intended efforts through its gentlemanly Prime Minister, Shree Jawaharlal Nehru to accommodate Communist China by introducing its leaders like Mr. Chou-En-Lai and others to world leaders in international meetings like the Bandung Conference and moves for the admission of the mainland of China to the United Nations Organisation further infuriated the wounded proud tiger as it saw the smaller neighbour’s and its world stature leaders’ patronage as national humiliation of China and its Communist regime. The result was the 1962 October Chinese aggression on Indian northern borders on the pretext of border disputes and Chinese claims on the present state of Arunachal Pradesh, and India’s humiliating defeat. China, if anything, has risen on the ladder of Economics as well as Military prowess by the sheer dint of patriotism, large dreams, commitment, competence and hard work of its leadership. This is a very great rise for a poor and developing country beyond wildest dreams to achieve within a span of half a century. China could stalk this far because of its outstanding leadership. China is already recognised informally as one of the world leaders and an indisputable regional power in Asia head and shoulder above former giants like Japan and South Korea and perhaps stands on par with Russia in its economic and military stature. The true rise of China started from late 1990s after the transfer of Hong Kong from the British lease to the mainland of China. Chinese leaders by all possibility learnt and picked

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the ropes of development and progress from the westernised and developed city of Hong Kong and intelligently adapted the tricks to their needs and system to produce a rare hybrid of unprecedented success. The kind of growth and progress seen in China in a short span of time fades the otherwise stunning stories of progress witnessed in countries like the City State of Singapore, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan in the Asian continent.

Its rapid rise in the ranks of the world made it a

respectable country in spite of its Communist system and its disputes with both the United States of America and Russia, and its opinions and actions on world affairs are countenanced with seriousness and alarm as for no other countries, and no days pass without the world press, televisions and Internet news referring to China and activities pertaining to it. China with about one-sixth of the world population accounts for the highest number of rich people of the Asian continent and accounted for eleven billionaires in 2003 against seven in India. In spite of all this advancement, the people of China continue to be poor by world standards and they may remain so for some time considering their number. China, to be a great world power, has to attend this weakness of it. The Government of China is doing its best to improve the lots of its rural folks and city poor through novel schemes. But, raising the standards of a billion people overnight is beyond any human dream, lest China’s leadership is trying in that direction. Italy and China are two countries situated far from each other. They were hardly aware of each other in ancient times and came to know about each other only after Marco Polo came to China from Italy and wrote about China in his memoirs. Italy and China are competitors these days in world trade in identical goods and both have identical interests in most fields. Both countries claim noodles as part of their culinary expertise and enjoy cultural similarities.

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THE XINJIANG TROUBLE

China has had huge trouble in Urumqi in 2009 in which ethnic tensions erupted between the local Uighar Muslims and Han Chinese damaging China’s image. Both groups are antagonistic towards each other after Han Chinese has been found migrating to that region and feared to be taking away the job opportunities of the locals. The Chinese Government tried to diffuse the tensions and ultimately succeeded. China internally had relatively peaceful life for decades free of tensions and internal conflicts under the Communist regime save for the occasional Tibetan uprise and the students protest at the Tianamen Square in 1989. The migration of Han Chinese to the Uighar Muslims majority Urumqi from the different parts of China that affected the demography of the region is at the root of the problem. There are now almost as many Han Chinese in Urumqi as there are the Uighar Muslims. This has caused tensions between the locals and the Han Chinese. In a toy manufacturing company a few days back, a group of Han Chinese killed two of the local Uighar Muslims and this led to commotions in the area and locals went on a rampage killing Han Chinese. That led to serious clashes between the two ethnic groups at Xinjiang, the capital of Urumqi leading to heavy casualties of life and properties forcing the Chinese President Hu Jintao to return home halfway from the G5, G8 summit and dispatch the army to control the situation at Xinjiang. When one thinks of China, he used to think of it as a smaller version of the former Soviet Union of the Stalin vintage with Communism, one party rule, spies and secret agents, suspicion, oppression and suppression of the opponents and ruthless administration, and as a satellite of the latter. No more of that now. China of present days stands up to Russia as much as it stands up to the United States of America or any other developed countries in spite of the brethren feelings for the former out of the Communist ideology. It has long-standing border disputes with Russia and adopts its own policies in foreign as well as economic fields. Under no stretch of

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imagination, it can be called as a satellite of any other super power. On the other hand, most developed countries are competing to befriend China and develop economic and trade relations with the country. China’s economic growth has been strong for quite some time now. For the last few years it has recorded an economic growth of excess of ten percent. This however had been forecast to decrease over the course of the past year, because of the economic crisis that has struck the world. However, it has been seen that this has not happened and China has done rather well for itself in the economic front over the last one year. This has been attributed to the massive stimulus plan that China has drawn up last year. This massive trillion-dollar plan has shored up China to a very good extent. The United States has on the other hand not been doing well, like other developed countries and also India. China has recorded an economic growth of 7.9% for 2008-2009, which is much better than previously expected. This is thus a rather good thing for the Chinese and this is something that the Chinese will be hoping to build on over the next few months and years. After half of last year, China had seen a small slump in their economy amounting to about five or six percent to 6.4% growth. However, they have recovered rather well to post the overall growth over the last one year. The Chinese government is hoping to do better than that in 2009-2010 and this is some thing that China will try to accomplish. However, expert opinion is that it is just not be possible because of the decreasing export demands from the United States and other countries in the crunch of the world economic recession. Thus, China may have a bad year in economics next year.

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NORTH KOREA AND ITS NUCLEAR AMBITIONS

North Korea recently declared its possession of the capabilities of the nuclear weapons and announced its readiness to resume broken talks that were meant to dissuade North Korea from the nuclear path. As the very purpose of the talks being rendered useless, the talks were naturally called off as now. The United States of America and other countries are naturally deeply upset with the crossing of the Rubicon by North Korea. In addition, North Korea is issuing serious warnings of retaliation including nuclear war against any aggressive actions against it by any country, the warnings primarily meant to South Korea, Japan and the United States of America, and issuing photos of its supremo, Kim Jong II leading his Generals in provocative manner. North Korea’s present stature as a de facto nuclear power with its missile capabilities pose real danger to the United States of America across the Pacific Ocean apart from posing mortal danger to the existence to South Korea and working as a constant irritant to Japan. North Korea is an enemy of the United States of America since the days of the Korean War of the 1950s during the height of the Cold War.

It is now natural to

expect some kind of pro-active action by the United States of America to neutralise North Korea to re-establish a kind of power balance and safeguard its interests in this part of Asia apart from making its own security foolproof from across the Pacific Ocean. Removal of the Kim Jong II regime may be a soft option. The North Korean supreme is already in extremely bad health. It is surmised that North Korea possesses at least eight nuclear bombs. Apart from it being a direct threat to the United States of America, nuclear weapons or its technology being transferred to any of the numerous terrorist groups like the AlQaeda operating against the civilized world pose greater threat to the security of the world. North Korea openly claimed that it was a potential fear if North Korea is harmed in any way.

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Neither Russia nor China is comfortable with the nuclear North Korea though all three belong to the Communist bloc and both are parts of the international efforts and talks held with the North Korea to dissuade it from the nuclear path.

Indeed

these countries are less aggressive against North Korean nuclear ambitions and do not favour the fall of the Kim Jong II regime there. North Korea separated from South Korea after a quite violent history of war that threatened to become the harbinger of the Third World War in 1950s. South Korea with the help of the United States of America became a respected industrial power of Asia on par with Japan and Taiwan while North Korea under the Communist regime languished in this respect. It now wants to make up the loss of time and come back in the international arena by becoming a nuclear power. Blockade of North Korea is an option open for the world to force the country to fall in line with the world opinion, as shortage of food and other essential commodities is acute there. Communist countries naturally will resist any such measures against their brethren that hurt the interests of the common man there. World is watching how President Obama with all his well intended peace protestations would tackle this grave issue of nuclear threat while duty bound to protect the interests of the United States of America at any costs. The average North Korean following the ethnic features of the Koreans and other people of the region is well below the average height and weight for his age. The height and weight of a North Korean child is also less than average for its age. North Korean entrepreneurs as well as common men as those in most other Communist countries prefer to migrate to neighbouring countries like China, Japan and South Korea or other western countries to work and earn money. South Korea facilitated mass employment to North Korean workers in industries at its border with North Korea by providing easy transit facilities across the border daily. South Korea is trying to make friends with North Korea and offered to provide two million megawatts of electricity to nearly double its output if it stops its efforts at nuclear

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weapons. The United States of America backed this plan. North Korea is in dire need of this electricity, as its present production hardly suffices to provide three to four hours of electricity every day. But, North Korea was not willing to barter its nuclear option for the electricity. Defence forces of the United States of America man the South Korean borders with the North Korea since the Korean War of the 1950s and it is a big irritant to North Korea. The Korean peninsula was formerly one nation in early 1950s. The threat of Korea going Communist inspired internal conflict in the country in early 1950s and led to the Korean War with the United States of America and its western allies militarily supporting the resistance while the Communist bloc with the then USSR and China in lead solidly backing the Communist take-over of the peninsula. This was while the Cold War was at its height at its nascent stage and the war ended with Korea being divided to two halves as North Korea in possession of the Communist Koreans and South Korea in possession of those Koreans who championed the cause of democracy in Korea.

However, hostile feelings between the countries

continued unabated.

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IRAN AND THE WORLD

Iran is an important country of the Persian Gulf region, a non-Arab Islamic Republic with huge deposit of oil. It is a Shiite dominated Islamic Republic in the midst of Sunni populated Muslim countries like Iraq and Pakistan. While its oil riches made it a prosperous country, the oil deposits rendered it a politically sensitive and dangerous field of super power rivalry and manoeuvres. Iran is now ruled by a cliché of Islamic Shia clerics under the constitutionally instituted Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khomeini, who has the last word on the state matters and advised by the constitutionally instituted “Expediency Council”, a powerful clerical body that arbitrates disputes between the legislature and the government. The electoral process monitored by “the Guardian Council”, an oversight body constituted to oversee elections in Iran, elects the President of Iran as head of the Government. NUCLEAR PATH

Iran’s nuclear ambitions are posing a serious problem to the United States of America, Britain and other western countries in the background of increasing differences between them concerning Palestine, Israel, Lebanon and such political issues of West Asia. Though Iranian need of electric power is genuine, the difference between the peaceful use of nuclear energy and its use for producing nuclear weapons is rather thin, and the United States of America and other western countries fear that nuclear weapons and technology in the hands of Iran is a sure passport for its proliferation to other Islamic countries in West Asia and subsequently to Islamic militants. USA named Iran along with North Korea and Syria as an “Axis of Evil” and calls them as rogue countries. But, world opinion against has not deterred Iran from its nuclear path like North Korea though made Iran circumspect and somewhat retarded its progress in this direction. Russia supports and collaborates with Iran in the latter’s nuclear ambitions.

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2009 ELECTION DISPUTE

The Iranian Elections have got a very important significance for all the countries in the world. The United States of America under President Barack Obama is planning to become friends with Iran and this election that was held in 2009 hold utmost significance when it comes to the future of the world. President Ahmedenijad won the elections again in 2009 with huge eleven million votes. However, his main opponent in the election, Mousavi and his followers and supporters mainly constituted of students refused to accept the defeat and claimed that elections were rigged and that Mousavi would have won the election if it was held fairly. A very large number of followers and supporters of Mousavi came on streets against the election results and there were wide spread protests and violence in Tehran and other Iranian cities for many days. Iran also saw counter protests from the supporters of Ahmedenijad and factional fights ensued on Iranian streets. Iranian Government crushed the rebellion with firm hand and brought peace again to the streets of Iran. Iranian Government argued that the huge swing of eleven million votes itself disprove the theory of rigging and unequivocally proves the popularity and majority of Ahmedenijad in the election. The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khomeini, after due deliberations announced that he was satisfied with the election results and expressed his suspicion about outside conspiracies to destabilize Iran. He called protestors to stop agitation. Only after strong-arm methods by the Iranian security forces, Mousavi reluctantly agreed to distance from the agitation and peace slowly returned to Iran. The people of Iran are caught in the middle in this event. Iran went aggressively against Britain blaming it for conspiring and inspiring the agitation and arrested Iranian staff of the British Embassy in Iran for involvement in inspiring the agitation. It was for the first time ever that Iran blamed a western country other than USA for mischief in the country though it blamed President Barack Obama of following the policy of President Bush in the incident. It also means that the President Barack Obama magic is working on Iran. It is a good sign. China and Russia supported the Election results while western countries generally supported Mousavi. Most of the World Press commented on these elections with

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different opinions and judgments. Germany’s newspapers have all been on the side of Mousavi. The United States of America under President Barack Obama showed commendable restraint by calling the whole affair as unfortunate and remained unnaturally quiet and rather bland on the whole on this topic. RELATIONSHIP WITH BRITAIN

The leaders of Iran say that the post-election agitation in Iran is due to external conspiracies that amounted to interference with its internal affairs and caused lots of harm to Iranian interests. They primarily blamed Britain. They have not blamed the United States of America and this can be because of the ‘Obama effect’. Iranian leaders called Britain as the most evil country in the western hemisphere of the world. This blame game infuriated Britain and united them in condemning Iran for the accusation. The Opposition MPs of Britain who usually boo the Prime Minister of Britain, Gordon Brown in Parliament, applauded him for a break when he took on Iran for those accusations. Then Iran threw two British diplomats and a BBC journalist out of the country and arrested a British journalist for involvement in the unrest. Britain in response threw out two Iranian diplomats. Iran arrested a few Iranian officials of the British embassy for instigating the unrest and announced trying them in Iran. Britain has been talking about closing down its mission in Iran. Britain has a history of bad relationship with Iran and its misadventures in the Iranian election independent of the United States of America further added to the embitterment. Iranians already see Britain as the “small Satan”.

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OBAMA MAGIC

Mousavi has not shown any form of grace at all during the agitation. Massive demonstrations from both sides on the streets of Tehran and other places in Iran resulted in other countries taking sides in the election, though it is purely an internal matter of I ran and a dispute between its people and the Government. The Mousavi party has said that these elections were sabotaged, even though, elections just cannot be sabotaged in such a way that five million votes can swing. Mousavi has not taken his defeat in good grace. This much is obvious. Neighboring countries as well as Russia and China have accepted the results of the Iranian election in a fair sense. However, Britain and the United States were openly vague in their responses. President Obama has been criticized quite a bit because of his vague and rather wrong stance in support of Britain in the matter. The United States of America has expressed sympathy for the protesters and was criticized for this and for the indecisive manner of handling of this whole issue. It has already corroded the Obama Magic in Iran and he will have to do some thing to redeem it. The famous Cairo speech of Obama has somewhat smoothened Iran’s hurt feelings towards the United States. How Obama will handle Iran and its nuclear ambitions is a trillion dollar question and decide the future of the world and mankind.

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IRAQ WARS

Iran and Iraq are traditional rivals. While Iran is a non-Arab Shiite dominated Islamic Republic, Iraq is an ethnically Arabian country with its Shiite majority long dominated by the Sunni regime of Saddam Hussain. The Iran-Iraq culminated in the long Iran-Iraq War from 1980 to 1988. The suspicion of the Shiite leadership of Iran helping the long suppressed Shiite majority of Iraq to rebel against the Saddam Hussain regime apart from the long standing border disputes between the countries prompted Iraq President Saddam Hussain to attack Iran in 1980. Iraq invaded Iran on September 22, 1980. The mess and turmoil then existed in Iran after the Islamic Revolution helped Saddam Hussain’s decision to invade Iran. The political situation in the Persian Gulf after the Iranian Revolution prompted the United States of America and other western allies to side with Iraq against radically Islamist Iran to counter-balance the rise of the post-Revolution Iran. But, the Iranian forces forced Iraq to retreat in June 1982 and Iran took the mantle of aggression thereafter till the war ended on August 20, 1988.

Kuwait, the neighboring Arab country, was a close ally of Iraq and provided tactical and financial support to Iraq during the Iraq-Iran war. But the relationship soured after the war culminating in invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in 1990.

The Kuwait demand of repayment of 40 billion dollars it provided to Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War deeply strained the relationship between Iraq and Kuwait. Iraq after the Iran-Iraq War was not in position to repay the amount. It maneuvered in the meetings of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to increase the world oil price to enable it to repay the borrowings from Kuwait. Kuwait on the other hand increased the quantum of its oil production causing severe damage to the Iraq efforts to increase the world oil price. Fall of world oil price by one dollar a barrel caused a loss of one billion dollars to the annual revenue of Iraq and it

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was estimated that Iraq lost 14 billion dollars a year due to Kuwait's oil price strategy. The Iraq Government called this attitude of non-cooperation by Kuwait Government as a kind of Economic Warfare. Iraq accused Kuwait of stealing its oil and claimed that Kuwait historically belonged to Iraq up to 1913 until the United Kingdom carved out Kuwait as a separate state from Iraq. It was in this background that Iraq invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990.

Within two days of the invasion, the Iraqi Republican Guards vanquished Kuwait and Kuwait ruling elite escaped to neighboring Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Iraq President, Saddam Hussain declared Kuwait as the 19th province of Iraq and Kuwait remained in Iraq’s possession for seven months till “Operation Desert Storm” of the United States of America snatched back Kuwait from Iraq in February 1991 and restored to its former rulers.

The United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Canada met Iraq’s military action on Kuwait with economic sanctions against Iraq on the call of the UN Security Council and with preparations for war. Forces of these countries joined the regional troops of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates in powerful show of strength against Iraq for a decisive victory for the coalition forces within a month in February 1991.

Iraq War of 2003 was forced on Iraq by the governments of the U.S. and the UK on the unfounded claim that Iraq is producing and is in possession of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and therefore posed an imminent threat to the security of the world. They also claimed Iraq President Saddam Hussein of harboring and supporting the Al-Qaeda Islamic militant outfit that was responsible for the World Trade Centre attack of September 11, 2001. These countries employed all their diplomatic skills and political muscles to forge an alliance of friendly countries to invade Iraq. Most possibly, Iraq's oil reserves and personal distastes between the then President of the United States of America, George Bush and the then Iraq

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President, Saddam Hussain were strong reasons in the decision to invade Iraq. Anyway, Saddam Hussain and Iraq were cleared of all blames and accusations by the later investigations and probes.

The invasion of Iraq led to an occupation and the eventual capture of Saddam Hussein, who was later executed by the Iraqi Government. Violence against coalition forces soon led to uncontrolled Iraqi insurgency and low-intensity civil war between Sunni and Shiite sects throughout Iraq. The invasion and the insurgency ensued provided a foothold to Al-Qaeda in Iraq and rapidly grew in strength there. The uncalled war led to the death of more than a million civilians and uprooting of more than five million people or 16% of the Iraq population.

Coalition that was formed to invade Iraq slowly disintegrated as public opinion went against the invasion of Iraq and Iraqi forces began to take responsibility for its security. President Barack Obama on assuming power as the President of the United States of America announced withdrawal of the United States forces in 18-months, leaving back about 30,000 to 50,000 troops to advice and train Iraqi security forces. Britain withdrew its operations in Iraq April 30, 2009. Yet, Iraq War is not a closed chapter and insurgency and retaliatory violence are continuing unabated.

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JAPAN AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR

Hiroshima is the unfortunate city of Japan where the United States of America dropped its first nuclear bomb at the fag end of the Second World War. An entire city with its teeming innocent population was cruelly exterminated. People that survived the tragedy with injuries lived the rest of their life with tragic sufferings and transmitted the grievous defects of the nuclear radiation to the next generations. The United States of America resorted to this deadly weapon for the first time in the history of the mankind at the end of the Second World after being convinced that Japan would not go down and accept defeat unless it resorts to such a dramatic measure. Indeed, the effect was lightening and Japan surrendered soon thereafter. The event opened the eyes of the world to the destructive potentialities of the nuclear bomb and the vulnerabilities of the man before its destructive powers. This single event is the harbinger of all later efforts at the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons on the face of the Earth. Sadly, the proliferation is continuing though in a slower pace with more and more countries becoming nuclear powers with North Korea being the latest entry to the dubious club and perhaps Iran, the next. The United States of America and Russia have nuclear warheads sufficient to destroy the world many times over and the United States of America is surmised to have stockpiled about ten thousand nuclear warheads. Japan is a nation of committed and diligent people. It was a powerful and prosperous country under its monarch and on a winning spree in South East Asia and Burma in the Second World War till it was humbled by the combined forces of the Allies at the fag end of the war. Nuclear bombs of the United States of America on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki finally brought Japan to its knees. The people of Japan are known to be a very ambitious set of people. The United States of America decided to help Japan to rebuild from the damage they

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wrought on it and offered nuclear protection on the assurance that Japan would desist from the nuclear path. It liberally helped for its recovery and restoration as an industrial giant. It was a worth spending for the United States of America as Japan became an enduring and loyal friend and ally of the United States of America to protect the latter’s interests in Eastern Asia and on the Pacific Ocean and actively partook in the Iraq War in favour of its patron. Also, Japan is the key of the United States of America in its manoeuvres against the rising power of China in Asia. Japanese are known for hard work and very intelligent. However, brain drain is causing problems in the best utilisation of its manpower and its potentialities. Japan lies on an earthquake-prone region of Asia. It rivals even Sumatra in this respect. Sans building proper constructions for dwelling and other purposes, life is unsafe in Japan. The ministry in charge of architecture of buildings is helping people in the construction of robust buildings that can withstand the repeat onslaught of the tectonic plates from deep beneath the surface of the Earth.

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THE THIRD REICH AND ITS PLACE IN THE WORLD HISTORY

Hitler’s German government was one of the most destructive and cruel regimes that ever ruled on this planet. During his time, he controlled every aspect of Germany. The lives of the people of Germany were in his hands. He held the power of life and death over every one in Germany. This was a power that was not given to anyone, anytime in Teutonic memory. Hitler however, did not use this unlimited power in his own land for good. He wanted to expand the frontiers of his country at the expense of others and committed barbaric deeds on the Jews, telling that the Jews were responsible for the defeat of Germany in the First World War. He was responsible for killing large numbers of Jews and was also able to conquer a very large amount of territory of Europe. Born in Austria, he was a soldier of Germany in the First World War. He then came to Germany at the end of the First World War. He was an eloquent speaker and was able to move the crowds with his patriotic speech. He condemned Jews as vicious anti-Semitism was in vogue at that time in Germany. He was the leader and inspiration of a powerful political party called as the National Socialist German Workers’ Party or the Nazi Party. The Beer Hall Putsch or Munich Putsch of November 9, 1923 was a failure, but he then converted the following media coverage of his trial into a success. He then entered back into active politics and was finally able to get his party, the Nazi Party, become the second largest party in the Reichstag and with President Hindenburg’s help was able to make himself Chancellor of Germany. Hitler then conquered areas outside Germany. He first annexed Alsace of France without France retaliating. He then was able to annex Austria by browbeating the Austrian chancellor. He then turned his sights onto Czechoslovakia. He then with

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the Munich agreement was able to annex a small part of Czechoslovakia and was then able to send his soldiers into Czechoslovakia. Hitler then tried to get the corridor of Danzig and Danzig itself from Poland. With this, he would be able to join East Prussia too and also would be able to get Poland. This was however opposed by the British and the French. They said that if Hitler did anything against Poland, they would attack Germany. However, Germany attacked Poland and the Second World War started. This was the beginning of the end for Hitler. Hitler first signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union and invited The Soviet Union to take a part of Poland. He then with his allies, Japan and Italy declared war against Britain too. Hitler was able to annex Poland very easily. He then attacked France. France fell in one month. Hitler used a new form of warfare known as Blitzkrieg or a swift and violent military offensive with intensive aerial bombardment. He was able to win very easily at all frontiers he was in war with. Then he turned his sights to an aerial war against Britain. This was however not at all successful. He then turned to the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union did not expect this attack from Germany at all and was ill prepared for this assault. It was pushed back and back very easily. However, in the end it was able to hold back Germany. As early winter chill helped the Soviet Union forces, Germany started to suffer very heavy defeats in the Eastern front. Then the Japanese attacked the Americans at Pearl Harbour and the USA joined the war and declared war on Germany too. The Normandy beach landings then took place. These beach landings spelt the doom for the Germans. The Americans and the Soviet Union troops marched to Germany without much resistance and Germany was defeated. Hitler committed suicide marking the end of the European theatre of the war and the Third Reich, but not the end of the world war. That came when the Japanese too surrendered after the twin nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

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WORLD POLITICAL DYNAMICS

The United Nations Organisation was formed to bring about peace in the world. It is increasingly failing to fulfil the objective in the present complex world. It is an organisation without a voice to support its will, and a voice without power to support it like its predecessor, the League of Nations that had been set up after the First World War. The League of Nations then functioned akin to the present-day United Nations Organisation and badly failed to prevent the Second World War. The first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru respected the UNO and honoured its call for ceasefire while Indian army was successfully pushing Pakistan soldiers back from Kashmir in 1947 and in the process, lost half of Kashmir to Pakistan by declaring ceasefire and kept the irritating Kashmir issue alive to this day. No doubt, by listening to the United Nations Organisation, he had increased the prestige of India but it resulted in the main cause of the dispute between India and Pakistan. But the calls and resolutions of the UNO and its Resolutions are ignored as a rule by other countries. Absence of its own armed forces to force its resolutions and its complete dependence on other countries, particularly the United States of America, rendered it weak. Increasing the number of members of the Security Council to include rising powers of the world in deciding the world affairs may bring some initiatives and energy to the world body. MILITARY ALLIANCES

Military alliances are very common these days. Many wars have been fought in the world in recent past. Countries in war need to team up with other countries to win the war. Military alliances are important for two reasons: political and moral support, and military and tactical support. Even in the Mahabharata, the sides that

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fought the war, that is, the Kauravas and the Pandavas, fought it with the support of allies, who enhanced their power. The need of allies is acute in conflicts in modern days. The shrinking world with the explosion of communication and transport facilities makes symbiosis foundation of the modern living. The famous declaration of a renowned mathematician turned philosopher of the 19th century that “Everything is everywhere at all times” holds more true for the material world of the present day. Everything everywhere in this world is interlinked. The world is developing into a huge net of inter-connections. Nothing occurring in one part of the world escapes the other part of the world. Wars and peace, constructions and destructions, successes and failures, falls and rises, riches and poverty, progress and new findings, all have a cascading effect throughout the world. Interests of nations are becoming inter-related. First and Second World Wars are World Wars because of this phenomenon. Both Allies and Axis Powers fought the wars as conglomerates of nations almost dividing the world to two opposing blocs. Later wars like the Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf War, Iraq War and Afghan War prove this need of alliance between warring nations of the present world. Even the Cold War of the two superpowers from 1950s to 1990 was not an exception to this compulsion. The world was almost divided to two blocs supporting the United States of America representing developed capitalist countries and the Soviet Union representing the Communist alliance. The only distracting influence against the trend at the time came through the institution of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) by the triumvirates of India, United Arab Republic and Yugoslavia by the initiatives of their leaders, Jawaharlal Nehru, Nasser and Marshal Tito. The very fact that NAM had only partial success in world affairs and at its death throes now proves the futility of the non-alignment in the present world. No country is a friend or foe permanently in politics and diplomacy. It is all a matter of self-interests and security of a country. India played close to the USSR till

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the latter disintegrated in 1990. Soviet Union was really a loyal friend of India in those decades with liberal political, diplomatic, military, scientific and economic helps to India. India survived all international pressures for decades in Kashmir issue and recurring Indo-Pak wars only because of the dependable support of the Soviet Union. The perceived stance of the United States of America regarding Indo-Pak issue and its readiness to treat India with an exception with a nuclear deal are moving India closer to the United States of America. It is always the national interests that guide a country to decide with whom to ally and against whom. India is not an exception to this. The status of the United States of America as the only super power of the world added to this slant. Not that India is totally allied with any one country. Such a stance is against all annals of wise diplomacy. It is keeping its options open. It is conducting joint military exercises with the United States of America as well as with China. It is seeking special relations with various countries in the name of axis like India-Brazil-South Africa Axis and India-Russia-China Axis et cetera apart from being member of various world bodies and groups to strengthen its standing. India has got a powerful enemy in China and a headache in Pakistan. India is in need of powerful military alliances with the United States of America against the ambitions of China in Indian border state of Arunachal Pradesh, and with Russia against the ambitions of Pakistan over Kashmir to fight it politically. A balanced move between is the diplomatic need of India.

THE EUROPEAN UNION

European Union is a Union of select European nations, admitted only on majority consent of the existing members of the Union. L’ union fait la force. This is the principle that brought most developed nations of Europe together to form the Union. Its Initial purpose was economic and trade cooperation and open boundaries

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among the member nations. In spite of rivalries and conflicts of interests among the member nations, the European Union made considerable progress not only in economic and trade cooperation, but also in showing common front in important world issues, thereby extending their cooperation to the political front also. Consent for a common currency, Euro, for the member nations is a great step in consolidating their position as the member states of the European Union. European Union as a bloc has grown as a powerful economic force in the world in the span of a few decades, a force to reckon with and poses serious challenge to the dominance of the American economy in the world. It now forms the main pillars of the world economy with that of the United States of America and China.

The common cause of the European Union in favour of the Kyoto Protocol is an example of the unity of purpose developed in the Union in a span of a few decades. It produces around 22% of global greenhouse gas emissions and agreed to a cut of 8% 1990 emission levels. The European Commission announced plans for a European Union energy policy in January 2007 for a unilateral 20% reduction in GHG emissions by 2020. The EU has consistently been one of the major nominal supporters of the Kyoto Protocol, negotiating hard to get wavering countries on board.

The success of the European Union has led to other nations of the Europe aspiring for the membership of the European Union.

Turkey even though is a

Muslim country is trying to become a member of the EU. But there is resistance to this move. East European countries are also eager to make common cause with the European Union. But, admission to the European Union is proved to be not easy involving circuitous processes and majority consent of the existing members. European Union believes in certain identity for itself based on history and culture. This bars open admission to the European Union.

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Most notable members of the European Union are England, France, Germany and Italy. All these four nations are historically rivals of each other. England and France, France and Germany, Germany and France, Germany and England, Italy and France, so goes on the list. The rivalries show up even now in their political differences to the world issues. England was a reluctant member of the European Union in the beginning. France and Germany repeatedly clash on economic and political issues. Yet, European Union has succeeded in retaining its unity and common front to the world with its unique identity all these decades. It is not an ordinary accomplishment in the complex political world of today. The spirit of accommodation shown by these countries for the commune

bonum of Europe and its people and their economic prosperity needs emulation by all other countries of the world. Because, L’ union fait la force. Joining together is the only road and means of prosperity

inconceivable by individual efforts of

nations. Joining together leads to the shedding of enmity and rivalry and forges friendship and cooperation for the common good of the all mankind. The European Union has shown a rather firm and good response to the different crises that have struck the world over the last few years. Climate change has become a very important topic and it has also been found that the EU has been tackling this crisis rather well. Another rather important crisis that the EU has tackled rather well has been the economic crisis. Thus, the EU must take a rather important role in world politics in order to rid us of this trouble that it is striking and irritating our world. The EU is very big geographically and economically and thus must take the leader’s role in eradicating these crises from this world. However, this will not prove to be an easy task and the EU must work hard in order to take the initiative and maintain it. Under the Presidency of Sweden over the next few years, the EU will try its best to resolve the problems that are facing it and the world. The Swedish Prime Minister is very determined to make a very strong message and stand during this

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time in which Sweden has the Presidency of the EU. The EU will have to take the steps needed to resolve the economic crisis. The member countries will have to work with each other and must set up an administering body and must also not dabble in protecting their own economies at the expense of others, as this will only in the end make the situation in the world worse than it already is. The other crisis is that of climate change is also something that all the countries will have to work together on. The EU must some how co ordinate attempts made at resolving this crisis too. The European Union has not taken much initiative in this regard till now and thus, it will not at all be an easy task to push forward now, but Sweden is determined to make its Presidency a memorable one. ISLAM IN WORLD POLITICS

Islam is a religion that was founded about fifteen centuries back by the holy prophet, Mohammed. Now, Islam is the second largest religion in the world after Christianity in the number of people who follow it. Islam is an aggressive religion. It believes in global brotherhood of Islam and spreading the teachings of holy Prophet Mohammed for enduring peace in the world. Islam does not differentiate between the concepts of nationhood and religion. It is the reason why Muslim majority countries tend to declare themselves as Islamic countries as opposed to the global trend of calling themselves as secular countries. The concept of Islamic Brotherhood and the aggressive nature of Islam as a religion are at the back of the rising militancy and unrest in the present world. Rabid militancy in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq, problems in Kosovo, Chechen militants fighting for the liberation of Chechnya in Russia, problems at Xinjiang in China are all symptoms of this. The United States is at the crosshairs of the Islamic militancy. By the popular doctrine known as the Eisenhower Doctrine of 1950s, the United States decided to befriend and use Islamic countries for oil and to neutralize the Communist USSR. It

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relentlessly continued with the policy and generously poured money and weapons to Pakistan to create Taliban to checkmate Soviet Union and gain control over the resources rich Central Asia. The present troubles in Xinjiang are an extension of this policy in the circumstances of the gas pipe project passing through Russia and Xinjiang in China. If the theory is true and the Special Forces of the United States of America succeed in its Machiavellian maneuvers, the focus of Islamic militancy and Taliban may soon shift to Central Asia from Afghanistan. Talks of accommodating Taliban in Afghanistan are the harbinger of this shift in the focus of the United States of America from Afghanistan to Central Asia. THE RISE OF TERRORISM

Terrorism is violence to terrorise the government to submit it to the objectives of the people who employ it. Terrorism is an immoral political tool and anti-human activity as it is targets innocent and peace-loving people for political gains. It involves mass killing and wide destruction. The common forms of terrorism are hijacking and use of bombs. There are many causes for terrorism. They include the high-handedness of the powerful, helplessness of the weak, unemployment, and the indifference of those in power to just demands by peaceful and non-violent methods Terrorism is not new to mankind. History all over the world is replete with instances of terrorism by individuals or groups against the established power. There are instances wherein terrorists or terror groups succeeding in their efforts and establishing their own rule. Most of the powerful dynasties of the world have small terrorist groups as their origin. Terrorism in this sense is nothing more than asymmetric violence against the state power to bend it to the group’s will. It be Rana Prathap or Shivaji or Bhagat Singh of India, or the violent freedom struggle of Irish people against the British rule, or the wars of LTTE with Sri Lanka Government, or violent designs of Al-Qaeda for Islamic hegemony of the world, basically they are all terrorism. Mass destructions involved in present days because of sophisticated

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weapons and bombs and support of outside elements including enemy states in inspiring, designing and executing terrorism make terrorism of present days different from that of yore and more reprehensible. Causes for the rise in terrorism in present days are umpteen. They include successes of terrorist means, militant Islam, birth of Israel by less than just means leading to Palestine problem, hegemony of the developed countries in world politics, poverty and unemployment. The terrorism in India has also risen considerably and covers all regions of the country. ISI operators in North India, ULFA in N-E India, Naxalism in Central India, radical Muslims in West India and all of them in South India. India is one of the worst affected countries of the world in terrorism. TALIBAN

Taliban was ruling Afghanistan after the departure of the Soviet Union from the field till the fall of the World Trade Centre in 2001. The United States of America brought Taliban to power in Afghanistan by militarily helping Taliban through its creator and sustainers, Pakistan to pull down the Government of Afghanistan supported by the Soviet Union. But, Taliban being what it is, a militant Islamic outfit to the core, rebelled against its makers, the “Kaffirs” or “Infidels” from the United States of America.

It harboured and provided hideouts Al-Qaeda outfit and its

leaders, and provided infrastructure for the training of the Islamic militants to operate all over the world. Afghanistan under Taliban became the paradise of the Islamic militants from all over the world. It was from this state support that Islamic militancy spread like wild fire all over the world. The assets and interests of the United States itself repeatedly became targets of these terrorists culminating in the World Trade Centre incident on September 11, 2001. This act of Al-Qaeda leadership conceived and executed from Afghanistan brought curtains down on Taliban as the United States of America along with its allies acted promptly to remove Taliban from power, and the Taliban and Al-Qaeda leaders fled the scene to hiding.

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However, neither Taliban nor Al-Qaeda was fully crushed and they soon resurfaced along the rugged borders between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Powerful tribals of the area supported them to the heels. Taliban continued its asymmetric war against the allied forces from the border areas of Pakistan with the active support of the Army and all-powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan. All strategies of the United States of America including billions of dollars of economic help to recover Pakistan from its economic crisis failed to win over Pakistan to its side from supporting Taliban. United States is aware that no solution is possible in Afghanistan till Taliban problem is solved, and no solution to Taliban problem is possible until Pakistan’s unstinted support for the cause is available. The recent thoughts of the United States of America are to involve the Taliban in solving the problems of Afghanistan by accommodating the Taliban in the governance by a mechanism of power sharing by using Pakistan’s channels with the Taliban. So, the United States of America is coming full circle in its policy towards the Taliban. THE NUCLEAR THREAT

Man for millenniums inhabits the Earth now. Survival is his basic instinct and survival in uncivilised world means fighting others and surviving. In the process, he invented weapons for both defence and aggression in his fight for survival. And continually he improved upon the weapons making it more and more destructive and deadly. Mass and immediate destructions were what he sought in these new weapons. He moved from sticks and stones to knives and axes and swords, to bows and arrows and maces, to guns, tanks, missiles and bombs now. He rapidly improved on his recent weapon technologies with the help of science to produce weapons of mass destruction as rivalry and wars became common between nations of the present world and survival demanded and depended on the efficiency and destructive capabilities of the weapons a country possesses.

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Nuclear bombs were produced in this backdrop. Competition to produce the nuclear bomb was intense in 1940s during the Second World War after scientists discovered the weapons capabilities of the nuclear energy in the previous decade. The United States succeeded in producing the nuclear bombs first and did not wait long in using it against Japan at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 to bring curtain down on the Second World War. The devastations and deaths the twin nuclear bombs caused shocked the sensibilities of the world and helped consensus to save the humanity from nuclear arms. Present attempts to contain the spread of the nuclear weapons and the significance of Non-Proliferation Treaty should be read in this context. Nuclear bomb is based on Uranium-235, which is a stable form of Uranium. When a nuclear bomb is released, a neutron strikes Uranium-235 and that transforms the Uranium-235 to Uranium-236, a very unstable form of Uranium, releasing tremendous energy and a cluster of neutrons. The released neutrons strike other atoms of the Uranium-235 again releasing more energy and neutrons, thus initiating a chain reaction that exponentially release energy, heat and fire that cause total destructions and loss of life. Attempts to contain the spread pf nuclear weapons and the Non-Proliferation Treaty can only delay or suppress the global spread of the nuclear weapons and nothing more. More and more countries producing and possessing these deadly weapons these days in spite of global opposition and threats of the United States prove this. India and Pakistan produced and possess them in the concluding years of the 20th century; North Korea declared itself as a nuclear power in 2009 and Iran is on that path. Once a country becomes a nuclear power, nothing else can be done about the matter by anybody. The most chilling prospect of the nuclear weapons is it falling to wrong hands of the terrorists and destroying the world order. None can rule out such a possibility. This is the price humanity pay for its thoughtless progress in the field of science.

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THE ECONOMIC RECESSION

Economic recession struck the world in 2008. This is the worst economic recession the world encountered since the Great Depression 1929 and affected almost all countries of the world. Many countries have rolled out plans to minimize the effect of the horrible crisis on their respective economies. Inter-dependence of countries in the modern global village primarily in world trade rendered independent efforts of countries to solve the crisis impossible. Coordinated action to attack the problem at the global level became inevitable and leaders of the major economic powers of the world along with China and India are meeting and discussing at various world forums about how to tackle the problem and save he world from the crisis. The United States of America, Japan and other economically powerful industrialized countries witnessed their exports rapidly decreasing to affect their trade balance and foreign reserve positions. The solution lies in boosting the economy by increasing or at least maintaining demand all over the world. Maintaining world trade at present level is the key to tide over this crisis. Fall in world trade in any part of the world would lead to a cascading effect to the ruin of the world economic structure. All nations as responsible partners of the world economic structure are cooperating to save the situation, but it is easier said than done.

ENERGY SOURCES

Energy is defined as the capacity of a body to do work. It is life-giver in the world and life revolves around it. Energy runs the whole world. Appliances in the kitchen, refrigerators, televisions, cars, fans, lighting or heating appliance or anything in the world for that matter run with the help of Energy. Energy is the fuel of life.

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Fuel is basically classified into two groups based on the kind of sources they are derived from - as Conventional and Unconventional Energy. Conventional Energy is the source of energy that has been traditionally used by the world for a long time, say since the Industrial Revolution. Unconventional Energy is the source of Energy that is newly discovered and naturally needs lots of further research and propaganda to make it fit for mass and popular use. Conventional Energy is though important, fast depletion is its Achilles’ heel. Unconventional Energy is renewable and there is no problem of depletion in this source of energy and it takes a very short time to be renewed. A few examples of the Unconventional Energy are Solar Energy, Wind Energy,

Tidal Energy,

Hydroelectric Energy

and Biomass Energy.

Conventional Energy primarily includes Petroleum Products like Petrol, Diesel, Natural Gas and Coal that are present on the Earth in limited amount and fast depleted because of the constant and constantly increased use for centuries by the technology hungry life style of the mankind.

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SCIENCE FRONTIERS

Man last walked on the moon was in 1972. The United States of America and the Soviet Union at that time were embroiled in a very bitter and vicious cold war. Both super powers in their spirit of surpassing the other had gone on in a space race that had expanded the frontiers of the space technology and astronomy. This had thus turned out to be an advantage to the scientific world. This fight for superiority between the United States and the Soviet Union in the field of space research like in many other fields helped man in the conquest of the space and outer space. Russian space ship, Sputnik took man to the outer space around the Earth. Soon, the United States of America proved its might by landing on the Moon. Later, the interest in the space research died down and both the super powers cooled down in their enthusiasm for funding the space race. Soon, other countries took initiative in space research. European countries combined their efforts for joint space research. Once developing countries like China and India are now beginning to show interest in space research and indulging in a mini space race reminiscent of the USA-USSR space race of the 1950s and 1960s. Both countries are now looking to land on the Moon. China sent a man to space in 2003. The United States of America is planning to send a manned probe to the moon by 2020 and a manned probe to Mars by 2030. The Soviet Union sent a man, Yuri Gargarin, to the space in 1961, capping its lead of sending of dog Laika to space in 1957 in succession to launching of the world’s first artificial satellite, Sputnik-1 in the same year. The world was deeply impressed by the technological superiority of the Soviet Union over that of the United States of America. The President of the United States at that time, John F. Kennedy, was determined to do some thing in time and in the famous speech in May 1961 before a special joint session of the United States Congress promised that the United States would land a man on the moon and return him safely within a decade.

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It was able to accomplish this within eight years in 1969. A few days before the United States sent the astronauts, Neil Armstrong and “Buzz” Aldrin to the moon by Apollo 11, the Soviet Union sent a spacecraft Luna-15 to the moon on a failed mission. That was the last heard of attempt of the Soviet Union to challenge the superiority of the United States of America. Why the Soviet Union that had a clear lead in the space race in 1961 over the United States of America, surrendered to the latter so easily and completely? The answer as NASA revealed is that the Soviet Union was never on space race, and whatever stupendous accomplishments it had till 1961 were part and extensions of its passion for missiles researches in support of its war industry. The indifference of the Soviet authorities to the space race in contrast to the interest and genuine progress made by the Soviet Union scientists dulled the edge of the Soviet Union superiority in space technology over time. On the other hand, the United States took the 1961 accomplishments of the Soviet Union as a challenge and spared no attempts to excel in the area to prove its mettle and world leadership. NASA was formed and all financial constraints were waived for advancement in the area. The United States made great strides since then. In contrast, the space scientists of the Soviet Union faced hurdles of all kinds including financial constraints and lack of political backing. The beginning of the 21st century marks the start of the second Space race in the world. This time around, this space race is likely to be between the United States and China as Russia is yet to wake up from its space slumber, and drawing large amount of attention throughout the world. China, as the United States of America has got quite a big buffer between thinking and acting in the form of democratic governance and Congress, has an edge in moving with the requisite space programmes. Perhaps, China may successfully land a man on the moon before the United States plans for the 2020 landing. India too is not far behind. It has however got to

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speed up its space programmes. India needs to pull up its socks to do quite an impressive job in the race. SPACE SHUTTLE PROBES

Since the beginning of mankind, man has always wanted to find out the truth of the world around. As he discovered more and more truths, the horizons of his activities expanded exponentially and he encountered more problems and riddles along the path.

He tried to solve them and has always succeeded in doing so. His

unquenchable curiosity was his forte. Not that those truths were revealed to him all of sudden. He discovered them in stages, often running for centuries or millenniums to arrive at the final truth. For example, his first perception about the world he lives in was that the Sun, moon and stars revolved around the Earth and the Earth was the centre of the Universe. He continued with this belief for centuries till he discovered that the Earth revolves around the Sun. In the process of his endeavours to discover the truth of the world, he invented umpteen tools like telescopes and spacecrafts to help him in his probes. Spacecrafts take him to outer space to collect data. Space Shuttles are the latest version of the spacecrafts devised by the United States. They apart from carrying astronauts and scientists to the outer space engage them in difficult manoeuvres there and bring them back to the Earth. Another important feature of these space shuttles is that they can be reused once they returns to the Earth like any other transport facility. Not that mankind has reached perfection in this wonderful technology. Sometimes back, the United States of America launched a Space Shuttle to the outer space with astronauts on scientific assignments. The Space Shuttle disintegrated on the way down while entering the Earth’s atmosphere and all the astronauts were killed. Such terrible losses are parts of the progress and man has lots to cover in the process of discovering the truths around him.

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COSMIC COLLISION

On the fourth of July in 2005, while the United States of America was celebrating its National Day, Deep in space, the comet, NASA targeted a comet known asTempel-1 with a man made object as part of its Deep Impact Space Mission to study the composition and origin of comets as well as of the Universe. The impact was photographed from the spacecraft that was on the mission and observed through space telescopes as well as from the observatories on the Earth, and revealed bright spray of fine dusts from the site of the impact on the comet. The crater formed by the impact was around 200 meters in diameter and 40 meters deep and contained fine dust particles of carbonates, silicates, sulfides and hydrocarbons.

The comet, Tempel-1, which was discovered on April 3, 1867 by Wilhelm Tempel, an astronomer working in Marseille was found orbiting around the Sun once every five and a half years. This collision was designed to study the composition of comets and how the world came into existence. Also in issue in the objectives of the Deep Impact Probe was whether the Big Bang theory really holds good or not. The Probe sends back readings and other data back to the Earth for the analysis of scientists. Tempel 1 will come to view again in 2011. NASA plans to visit and impact the comet again then by its Stardust spacecraft as an extended mission of the Deep Impact Probe to study changes in the crater created in 2005 and make further detailed and deeper studies of the crater for better understanding of the Universe. PLANETS IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM

Mankind has been on this earth for a very long time and has always been curious. People have died exploring new areas and ideas. The result is the presence of man in all continents and in all corners on the surface of the Earth. No area on the

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Earth remains unknown or unfamiliar any more. Naturally, curious as he is always, he started looking beyond the Earth towards the space. Planets and stars attracted his attention. He traveled in the space in 1950s and landed on the Moon in 1960s. Planets of the Solar system that he observed with naked eyes and by telescopes from centuries are primed as the next target of man and his unabated curiosity. He wants to land there and colonize them for his benefits if he can. The effort warrants detailed information the planets and the space he is to cover reach there and the hurdles and problems to be encountered during the endeavor. In spite of tremendous progress made by the community of scientists in this direction, lots need to be done and require time, funds and synergy among top scientists and experts in various fields of science. They must further study and analyze and learn about various environment features of the outer space that yet remain incomprehensible to them. This will take a very long time. The Solar System was traditionally held to contain nine planets namely Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Many more bodies in the Solar System were discovered and classified as non-planets and a traditional planet of the Solar System namely Pluto was removed from the planetary honour and relegated to the group of non-planet land masses since then as many of the newly discovered land masses that were classified as non-planets were found to be larger than Pluto, the smallest traditional planet of the Solar System. There is tremendous confusion among astronomers about the concept and definition of planets as different from non-planets and Pluto was always in the eye of the storm for a long time. SOLAR ENERGY FROM SPACE

The world faces a very large energy problem. This is some thing that India especially faces. The solution lies in unconventional sources of energy, particularly harnessing energy from the sun. This is a renewable form of energy, is nearly

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limitless and also is not polluting at all and is the cause of all forms of energy on the earth apart from the nuclear energy. Solar Energy is taken for granted by man because of its abundance and easy availability. The world uses it in the form of solar cells popularly used in traffic lights, for home uses for heating purposes, and in satellites as sources of energy. In this, man is harnessing only a minute fraction of the endless solar energy at his disposal. Reasons are many. Day and night cycles, seasons, geographical areas and clouds make the availability of the solar energy a time dependent phenomenon. It cannot be harnessed steadily and uniformly at all hours at all places at the will of the user. This leads to the problems of storage of the solar energy. Combined with the low-intensity energy patterns of the solar energy, the problems of the storage render solar energy economically inconvenient enterprise. It is in this situation scientists thought of harnessing solar energy from the outer space. Continuous and uninterrupted availability of the solar energy in the outer space makes it ideal location for harnessing the solar energy. Already, the benefits of the solar energy in the outer space are derived for the energy requirements of the space ships and satellites. However, the problem here is regarding transmission of the energy so collected to the surface of the Earth for the human use. Right technologies are yet to be devised for the purpose and scientists are on the job to bring a revolution in meeting the ever-increasing energy requirements of man. A NEW COUSIN

The world was created with the Big Bang about fourteen billions of years back. After billions of years of cooling from the Big Bang, the Sun of our solar system came into being leading to the birth of the Earth and other planets of the solar system. For approximately four billion years, the Earth remained without life on the planet. The Earth was too hot and cooled down very slowly. Life started on the Earth with the single cell creatures and over billions of years evolved to complicated patterns of life culminating in the birth of human beings in their present form.

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The first lives on the Earth were water-born and aquatic in nature. Gradually, as the cells evolved to complicated patterns on the compulsions of the survival instincts and the needs of the adaptation to the environment, lives capable of living on land came into existence leading ultimately to the birth of Homo sapiens. Home Sapiens is proved to be a very curious species, eager to discover and know everything around it. Curiosity is its hallmark. This nature led it to discover everything about the Earth it lives on, the space around it and even about the outer space and planets and stars and the worlds beyond it. He became curious to know whether life like his own exists anywhere else outside in worlds invisible to him. He was curious to know about his human cousins and how they live if they exist anywhere in any corner of the endless Universe.

Though theories surmise the

possibility of life and humanlike species somewhere in this endless Universe beyond human comprehension, no empirical evidences are available to prove or disprove it, and no such evidences can be accessed in near future with the limits of the present scientific advancements in the perspective of the human limits. While man is looking to the Outer Space to trace his cousins on the illusion that he has already conquered the Earth he lives on in his thirst for knowing it fully, he was in for a shock while he discovered the existence of a new species, Homo Floresiences, a cousin of Home Sapiens, in the island of Rampasasa in Indonesia, until a few years back. Locals of Rampasasa recall the Homo Floresiences as short in height. However, the attention of the world is yet to focus on this interesting discovery and scientists and archaeologists are yet to pursue this matter to know better about their cousins on this very Earth on which they live on. STEM CELLS

Stem cells are the basic cells. They are the cells from what every part of the body develops after going through several stages. They are present in almost all living bodies in the stage of the initial growth. They form all cells of the body

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including the muscle cells, the nerve cells, and the bone cells. These stem cells if properly manipulated are potential of curing all genetic diseases and changing personal traits and character in living beings including man. There are differences of opinions regarding further experiments in the field of the stem cells that have the potential to change the very nature of man. Because, such potentialities involve moral questions. Many countries like North Korea and England have made considerable progress in the field of stem cells. Mr. George Bush, as the President of the United States of America strongly opposed stem cell experiments and even threatened that he would veto any bill on this field if the Congress passed it. The present President of the United States of America has different view in this issue and the world may witness stem cell revolution for the betterment of the human kind. CLONING OF ANIMALS

These days, human kind has advanced so much that many things that he does would certainly surprises the creator himself if he comes down to visit the human kind he created. Human kind has been able to work wonders wherever he has gone to work in. He is now trying to copy the work of the creator himself. The endeavour is progressing without the barriers of the national borders. The present efforts are towards cloning of animals through the DNA technique to create sturdy and stronger species. Scientists created Dolly, a sheep that died of disease. Thereafter, the scientists produced a cloned cat that turned out to be a carbon copy of the cat from which the DNA was extracted and used. It was a major step for the science and mankind in their progress towards replicating the works of the creator in creating living species. Then, the next successful endeavour was in creating a mule, which was a cross between a donkey and a horse. Later, they succeeded in producing a cloned dog called as Snuppy. Attempts will continue in the cloning techniques till scientists create healthy and strong cloned human species. Already they have succeeded in producing human semen in laboratory conditions and this itself is a revolutionary step forward to the field of the creator.

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NEWTONIAN LAWS

Newton was a great physicist, mathematician, astronomer and natural philosopher that lived about three hundred years back from 1643 to 1727. He was a person who is well known throughout the world today for his path breaking influence on the history of science. His full name is Isaac Newton. Isaac Newton was a physicist and a mathematician with a flair for astronomy and natural philosophy. He is easily the greatest physicist in the world till Albert Einstein postulated the Theory of Relativity that revolutionized the field of science. In an opinion poll held at Britain’s Royal Society in 2005, he was voted as having larger influence on the history of science than Albert Einstein. Isaac Newton was born and lived in England that has produced gems like William Shakespeare, and John Keats. Sir Isaac Newton is the father of the three Newton’s Laws. Newton’s first law says that if a body is at rest, it will continue to be at rest and a body, which is in motion, will continue to be in motion and will continue moving in the same direction with the same velocity until an external force is applied on it. Newton’s second law says that the rate of change of momentum of a body is equal to the product between the mass and the acceleration of the body and the change of momentum is in the direction of the force. Newton’s third law says that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. These three laws revolutionized the concepts of science of the time and laid foundations for rapid growth of science in the next centuries. All later revolutions in Physics and classical mechanics like the Theory of Relativity and the Quantum Theory owe their origin to the concepts conceived and the paths laid by Sir Isaac Newton in his Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, published in 1687.

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CONGRUENCY OF TRIANGLES

Triangles are three sided figures that are present in the world of Geometry They are said to be one of the most complex figures in geometry. Triangles can be of three types: Equilateral, Isosceles and Scalene. Congruency of triangles means that the triangles are equal and same in all respects. There are many kinds of triangles in Geometry. Congruency is one of them. There are some conditions for a triangle to be a congruent triangle. The triangle must be equal to the triangle in all respects - that is in three angles and in three sides. However, creating a congruent triangle being a difficult and tedious work, four options are available to perform the job: the S.S.S congruency, the S.A.S congruency, the A.S.A congruency and the R.H.S congruency. The S.S.S congruency refers to the congruency which can be determined if the three sides of the triangles are given and both are equal. The S.A.S congruency refers to the congruency which can be determined if the two sides and one angle of the triangles are given and both are equal. The A.S.A congruency refers to the congruency which can be determined if the two angles and one side of the triangles are given and both are equal. The R.H.S congruency refers to the congruency which can be determined if the hypotenuse, the right angle and one of the triangles are given and all are equal. The R.H.S congruency can be used only in a right-angle triangle.

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ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH

The Earth is a very nice place to live in. However, modern developments have disfigured many healthy and beautiful facets of the Earth. One of the most important of them is the Greenhouse Effect. The Earth is heating up continuously because of the carbon dioxide that is left into the air by different sources such as industries, cars and many more other sources. Industrialized developed countries account for major portion of the carbon emission to the environment. It will also take a lot of time to find alternate methods to stop that outflow of carbon into the atmosphere. England fears that the carbon emissions from the United States in the present rate affect the lives of people living in the western coast of England. USA expressed its helplessness in doing anything in this regard owing to the all out dependence of the modern world on petrol and related fuels that contribute the maximum to the carbon emissions and the Green House effect .Due to the carbon emissions to the atmosphere, the world is heating up leading to many undesirable results like melting of the polar snow and rise in ocean and sea levels to submerge land masses apart from an unpleasant atmosphere. There are attempts now on in the international level to find a solution to this grave danger to the Earth.

THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT

Self-interest is the basic rule of all individuals as well as of nations. Whether it is an issue of health or wealth or food or safety, this trend is obvious. People or nations, they tend to escape and protect themselves from dangers. Growing realization of the dangers of the carbon emission and the Green House effect by the nations is leading to concerted efforts to save the Earth from its undesirable effects. The Kyoto Protocol being already ratified by 183 countries of the world and the unanimous ratification of the protocol by the European Union prove the concern of the world in this matter.

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MELTING GLACIERS

Glaciers are ice masses, mostly found in the Polar Regions. Global warming is the warming of the Earth due to the reflection of the heat from the layer of Carbon dioxide, and causes glaciers in the Polar Regions to melt and flow to oceans and seas all over the world, causing their levels increase. Increase in levels of ocean and seas leads to flooding and submerge of low-lying lands creating havocs to human life all over. This is one of the consequences of the excessive carbon emission to the atmosphere, Greenhouse Effect and the global warming that is most feared. CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate change is occurring at such a rapid rate that some thing will have to be done so that things are all set aright. However, with countries fighting on the issue

inter alia, it looks as if things are going to take a very long time to settle. One very important consequence of climate change is the rising of the sea level. This is a very dangerous matter as this may lead to the people who live in coastal areas forced to leave the place to settle elsewhere. This is not some thing that is an easy thing for a whole population to do and will cause a large amount of trouble in the future. This is some thing that almost all countries have to keep in mind in the near future. This is some thing that Bangladesh and Vietnam will suffer a lot of as their land is mostly just above the sea level. A very small change in the temperature will change the whole structure of the country. The refugees that will come from these events of the future cannot technically pass for refugees, as the definition of refugees is some thing quite different from the one given by the United Nations charter. Thus they will not be eligible for monetary help also. Even though this may be some thing very trivial problem according to most people, such a rule just cannot be broken to help these people for many reasons. One is their large number, and

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second is the need of resettlement at a short time. Third is the pressure on other lands created by such sudden influxes and its consequences at those places. Thus, these people are in a rather sticky situation indeed. These people have to be saved somehow. Construction of dykes and dams as has been done in the Netherlands may not help them as it is too costly and is not foolproof and in other cases simply cannot be built. So this is a sticky situation that needs to be prevented by avoiding the climate change and global warming. KYOTO PROTOCOL

Kyoto Protocol is a United Nations initiative for international environmental treaty at climate change for achieving stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a

level that shall

prevent dangerous anthropogenic

interference with the climate system. The Kyoto Protocol establishes legally binding commitment for the reduction of four greenhouse gases namely, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and sulphur hexafluoride and two other gases namely hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons) let out to the environment mostly by the industrialized nations. The objective of the Kyoto climate change conference was to establish a legally binding international agreement, whereby all the participating nations commit themselves to tackling the issue of global warming and greenhouse gas emissions. The target agreed upon was an average reduction of 5.2% from 1990 levels by the year 2012. Kyoto Protocol sets national quantum for the reduction: 8% for the European Union, 7% to the United States, 6% for Japan, and 0% for Russia. The treaty permitted the emission increases of 8% for Australia and 10% for Iceland. The objective is the stabilization and reconstruction of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.

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This protocol will limit the release of pollutants in the Earth and thus help in saving our planet. However, this will not help the developed countries that depend on petrol that release smoke containing carbon dioxide to the atmosphere that cause the green house effect. The

Kyoto

protocol

was

first

conceived

on

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1997

in Kyoto, Japan. The agreement came into force on 16 February 2005 following ratification by Russia on 18 November 2004. Under Kyoto, industrialized countries agreed to reduce their collective green house gas emissions by 5.2% from the level in 1990. Not many countries ratified it then, but now over the years, many counties have ratified it including India in 2002 and this has raised the number of countries to 183 in January 2009. However, the two most important countries concerning this protocol, America and China have not signed. The Kyoto Protocol has already come into effect from the last few years. CLIMATE CHANGE REFORMS IN THE G8, G5 SUMMIT

In the G8, G5 summit that was held in Italy in 2009, developed and emerging economies came together and discussed problems facing the world in detail for the first time, and several breakthroughs were accomplished. Climate Change and right human responses to prevent it and save man from annihilation from the surface of the Earth found prominence in the deliberations of the world leaders in the summit. Climate Change reforms have taken a very important part in this summit and found consensus in the finished charter of the summit. A policy of stick and carrot for adopting climate change reforms by countries was considered and adopted in the summit. Higher the pollutants released to the atmosphere, countries must have more stringent measures to fight to bring it down were the general tenor of the deliberations in the summit. The summit marks the about turn of the United States of America in its policy towards the Climate Change under the stewardship of President Barack Obama by championing the cause of saving the Earth from the atmospheric pollutants.

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India and other emerging economies though fully supported the cause of reducing the release of the pollutants to the Earth’s atmosphere and pledged support to the cause, showed resistance for fixing any limits to them and signing any agreement to that effect as, it claimed, such restrictions would retard their growing economy from further growth. Developed countries including the United States of America are on to bring these countries around for an agreement. EXTINCTION OF ANIMALS

There are thousands of species of animals in the world. The continents, which have the most number of species of animals, are Asia and Africa. Species of animals are essential ingredients in bringing about balance in the nature and in human survival. Symbiosis is an essential rule of the animal world covering human beings. Protection of all species from extinction is a basic need for maintaining the balance in the nature and a responsibility of man as the most evolved and enlightened species of the animal world.

They must be protected from destruction.

Fortunately, there are many people all over the world who have taken up this cause with passion as their life mission. Most of them live in thick forests ignoring their safety and comforts, study rare species of animals, their habits, befriend them and interact with governments and related organisations for the protection of those species of animals. Such missionary involvements with the animal world are mostly seen in the thick forests of Africa. Unfortunately, the people who indulge in killing animals for food or commercial use are more in the world than those who are for its preservation. Poachers and hunters are the worst enemies of the animal world.

As a result, the number of

species of animals in the forests of Asia and Africa are steadily decreasing over time.

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Human food habit is a major contributor for the extinction of a large number of species of animals from the surface of the Earth. Species like the dodo are already extinct and lost forever for this world except as a part of the natural history. The principle of the survival of the fittest in nature works in the mechanism of the selection of the species for extinction. Weakest and those least fit for survival go first. With the rise of man in strength and knacks for survival with his rapid scientific and technological progress, chances of other species without his conscious endeavours to save and protect them surviving have become naught. It is in this circumstance that man must consciously decide and go for protection of his cousin species from extinction. Slaughtering animals for food is common all over the world. Man finds the flesh of almost all animals edible. Rarer, the species, tastier are their flesh. This is why rare species are sought and hunted. Hunting is a favourite pastime of rich and famous all over the world from the dawn of the human history. It has never lost its charm in the human psyche since he started killing animals for food and survival in the beginning of his history. Modern man indulges in hunting even as a game. Poaching animals lucri causa is the latest trend in the present commercial world. Animals are wantonly killed for their organs that have high commercial value and sold often in black markets for high prices as such trades are illegal in many countries. Rare species like Pangolin, the common bear and even the Great White Shark are extensively killed and slowly disappearing from the surface of the Earth.

THE DANGERS POSED TO GRIZZLY BEARS

Bears are four-legged creatures that inhabit this world along with a host of other creatures. The bears are very strong and are also very short-tempered and will certainly kill people if the people irritate them. Among the bears, which are very dangerous are the Polar bears and the Grizzly or Brown bears. Polar bears are very strong and very long and they also weigh a lot. These Polar bears are found in the North Pole and kill humans for food unlike other bears that leave human beings

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alone. The other bear of interest is the Brown bear, another very dangerous bear. Brown bears also kill humans, but only if they are found irritating or if it is feeling very hungry unlike the Polar bear. These days, the bear population has considerably come down. Governments all over the world are trying to protect bears and the bear population from extinction and the efforts are showing results and the bear population is picking up now steadily though slowly. It is the aggressive and attacking nature of humans that force bears and other wild animals to adopt hostile attitude to man. Bears are magnificent animals and should be protected from extinction. DECLINE OF THE TIGER

The tiger is the national animal of India. It is the largest member of the cat family and even bigger than the lion. It is a very ferocious animal and is well known for its ferocious hunting skills. It has been hunted for centuries. The tiger once used to occupy the whole of India, Pakistan, Russia and also Africa. In Pakistan and Russia, the tiger is now extinct, which is a terrible loss, as the largest species of the Tiger family called as the Siberian tiger lived in Russia. Sadly, it is now disappearing from India and Africa also. The cause of this is poaching and hunting. So is has been for centuries. Hunting and killing tigers were a symbol of strength and valour all over the world from the time immemorial and were the favourite pastime of valiant kings and British rulers in India. The poachers and hunters do not easily give up this adventure and the tribals who live near the forests are unhelpful in protecting tigers. The tigers are being poached for many reasons apart from the adventure involved. Their skin is just one of the many reasons that they are being hunted for. They are also hunted for their skull, bones, and teeth and for many other things. Poachers find these a gold mine. Each tiger is worth almost sixty lakh rupees. Every year, hundred and fifty tigers are killed. At this rate, the already scarce population of the tiger in India will reach its nil point at around 2020.

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RETURN OF THE DINOSAUR

Dinosaurs were one of the most terrifying of all the species that walked on this Earth. It was the ruler of the Earth during its day and roamed fearlessly wherever it wanted. However, after some time, it died out. How it died out is still a mystery and not adequately explained till now save for diverse unconfirmed theories, but what is known is that the dinosaurs died out very quickly approximately sixty five million years back, and never appeared on the face of this earth again. Dinosaurs are reptiles that lived millions of years back. Many people think that all dinosaurs were very huge. But, it is wrong. There were dinosaurs, which were several times the height of elephants, and yet, there were some, who were smaller than a domestic cat. The age of the dinosaurs was from about 140 million years to about 40 million years ago. Then something happened which killed all the dinosaurs. Nobody knows what it was. There were six families of dinosaurs. They were Sauropods, Theropods, Ornithopods, Ceratopsia, armoured dinosaurs and plated dinosaurs. The Sauropods were the biggest of all the dinosaurs. All of these dinosaurs were giants and had long necks and tails. Theropods were meat-eaters that walked on two feet. The king of dinosaurs, Tyrannosaurus Rex, was one of those. Ornithopods were mostly plant eaters that moved on two legs. Most of them were large. The Ceratopsians were the last dinosaurs to appear. They were large plant eaters with a few horns on their face. They moved on all feet. Both the armored dinosaurs and plated dinosaurs were very much like each other. They had bumpy and bone-covered skin and were plant eaters. Most of all the dinosaurs walked on four feet but actually their bodies were biped. Biped animals are animals that walk on two legs. All the first dinosaurs were biped. But then, a few animals started walking on all four feet. Thus came quadrupeds came into existence. This is the story of dinosaurs.

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There are several theories about the sudden disappearance of the dinosaurs from the surface of the Earth. However, they all have some faults or the other in their explanations and it is not known what really happened to these truly terrifying creatures that roamed the face of the earth. Human kind is always curious and always wants to know what the truth is about things around him. Dinosaurs are not an exception to this. Many facts about the dinosaurs are extracted by studying the fossils that are dug up and analysed. The fossils helped in classifying dinosaurs that lived at its peak time into various kinds of species like the Tyrannosaurus Rex, a truly fearful species of dinosaurs that roamed the Earth. BACTERIA

Bacteria are microorganisms that are present in the world. Anton von Leeuvenhoek first discovered them in 1676. He called Bacteria as animalcules. Bacteria are some of the most fascinating organisms that are present in the world. All the people in the world have considered Bacteria to be dangerous. However, only some Bacteria are really dangerous. Some Bacteria are very useful also. Bacteria are responsible for cholera, tetanus, typhoid and many other diseases in humans and are dangerous to animals also. It causes cholera to chickens and anthrax to sheep. It is said that if 10 mg of anthrax is let loose in a big metropolitan city, more than one lakh people will get killed by contracting the disease. That is the way in which Bacteria affect humans and other animals. Bacteria fix nitrogen in the soil without which man and other animals cannot survive. Plants absorb the nitrogen from the soil and man and animals take it to their system by consuming the plants. Thus, bacteria are at the source of the survival of man and other animals. Bacteria are small unicellular organisms that are present everywhere in the world. They are present in the soil, they are present in the air, and they are present in water. In short, Bacteria are cosmopolitan. They are the nearest things to what we

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call God. Bacteria are used in many industries like tobacco industry, cheese industry, curds industry and many more. They are in this way very important. Indeed, there are some bacteria that affect human beings by infecting them with diseases like clostridium botulinum, which causes food poisoning. It is one of the most deadly of all organisms. Bacteria also help man in saving and killing one of their own kinds as they help in producing antibiotics, which can be used both as healing and life saving drug as well as dangerous poisons.

EUROPE’S DECLINING POPULATION

Europe is one of the foremost continents in the world. It is one of the most densely populated continents in the world and the second most populated continent in the world after Asia. However, this may change in a few years because of the declining population of Europe. The majority of the population in Europe at present is in its old age without children. This is particularly visible in countries like Italy, Germany and many more. In Germany, the population is getting so low that the wolfs who were driven out of the habitable regions of the country to forests a long time back by the people are now returning, because lands are less populated and spare lands are available to them to occupy. This may seem good news to environmentalists and wild life enthusiasts, but if this continues, by 2040, there will be about forty-one people less living in Europe for every one thousand. For about a thousand people in a city in Greece in an extreme case, now, the number has dwindled to a dozen and they all are in their sixties and seventies and in about thirty years, there may not be a city with that name again in Greece. This is a very sad case and it may also happen to other cities of Europe and all over the world in course of time. However, there is no need of getting overly scared, as it will take a very long time to find the Earth without mankind.

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THE KILLER TSUNAMI

December 26, 2004 turned out to be one of the most tragic single days in the living memory of the human history. The killer tsunami that triggered on that day in Asia recorded the death of more than 150 thousand innocent children, women and men and devastation of millions in South and South-east Asia in the course of just three hours. This tsunami turned out to be the fourth worst natural disaster since the end of the nineteenth century after the quakes in China in 1976, 1927 and 1920, which claimed 255, 200 and 200 thousand lives respectively.

Devastation

The countries worst hit by the Killer Tsunami of Asia are Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand in that order. Other countries that saw the fury of the tsunami include Malaysia, Burma, and Bangladesh and far away East African countries like Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania and Seychelles. Indonesia, which was closest to the epicentre of the earthquake that caused the tsunami accounted for about one-lakh deaths while India’s toll exceeded ten thousand. The Aceh province of Indonesia was the first and worst affected region. The worst affected regions in India were the state of Tamil Nadu and the islands of Andaman and Nicobar. The Indian naval base in Andaman and Nicobar was washed away by the killer waves. The southern tips of India and the Indian mainland namely Indira Point in Andaman and Nicobar islands and Kanyakumari in the mainland were badly hit by the Tsunami. Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa were also hit by the Tsunami.

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What is a Tsunami?

Tsunami in Japanese means ‘harbour wave’. It is triggered by a vertical disturbance in the oceans caused by an earthquake, landslide or volcanic eruption. The result is mammoth waves several meters high crashing into coastal areas. The present tsunami was triggered by an earthquake of the magnitude of nine in the Richter scale near Sumatra of Indonesia. The earthquake was caused while about 1,200 km of the edge of the Burma plate of the Earth’s crust suddenly slid fifteen meters high above the Indian plate on the fateful day morning around 6.29IST near Sumatra. This was the result of the pressure built up by the two giant tectonic plates while grind against each other causing the India plate slip six centimetres northeast a year below the Burma Plate. Such geological phenomena causing earthquakes and such major earthquakes on the ocean floor causing tsunami are natural processes. However, India was caught by surprise by this tsunami, as it was the first of its kind to hit India in its living memory. Relief Efforts

The relief efforts India saw for the tsunami victims has been as never before. TV telecast and media coverage helped sensitize people to the disaster. Both Indian government and private agencies provided mammoth relief efforts. India refused USA offer of help and showed that it can handle such disasters by its own resources. India even helped Sri Lanka in its relief operations. Newspapers, film actors, cricketers, all contributed to the relief efforts. India’s response to the tsunami was slow in the beginning. However, as time passed, it picked up life. The Indian government has decided to build a Tsunami Warning System on the ocean basin and has kept aside twenty seven million US dollars to build it. A Disaster Management Authority has also been set up to deal with natural disasters like tsunamis in future. These are the positive outcomes of the horrific tragedy India underwent in the last week of the year 2004.

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THE AFTERMATH OF THE TSUNAMI

Tsunami that struck Southeast and South Asia in 2004 killed and seriously injured thousands of people. Many countries of the world generously provided help for the relief of the Tsunami-struck people and regions. The place that was nearest to the epicentre of the tsunami and thus suffered the most was the province of Aceh in Indonesia. In this place, thousands of people died and almost all buildings were destroyed. In short, nearly all the people in this province died. People in the region are sad about this calamity of theirs. They are unhappy and angry and complained about their helplessness. Their anger is well founded. Their question is why of all the people in the world, they had to be the ones who were struck by the tsunami. They are angry because of this and demand justice from the God. Various militant groups in the region had already ravaged them and they are very angry that the nature itself also conspired against them through the Tsunami and all the bad things happen to them only. This is not a question that one can easily ward off or answer. They have already seen murder and death aplenty though not on such a huge scale as the tsunami. They are lamenting the fact that they have had a bad history till then. Anyway, they have one good thing because of this tsunami. That is that the militant groups have given up their campaign after Tsunami to give the people peace. This shows that militants also have hearts. THE AFTER EFFECTS OF THE TSUNAMI IN SRI LANKA

In the Tsunami that hit the coast of South East Asia in 2004, many people died and many more were injured, displaced and lost everything. Sri Lanka saw a salubrious turn during the Tsunami devastation in both the Government of Sri Lanka and its archenemy, the Tamil Tigers of the LTTE on a mission of common cause in extending relief services in the Tsunami-hit areas.

However, this was proved a

short-lived comradery when a minister of Sri Lanka was killed in a terrorist attack. It was widely believed that it was a Tamil Tiger Attack. But, the Tamil Tigers staunchly denied this charge. The then President of Sri Lanka, Mrs. Chandrika Kumaratunga

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had two choices: resume the battle against the LTTE or to befriend the LTTE. Mrs. Chandrika Kumaratunga chose the latter option following the popular will of the country at that time. It is history now that that move also short-lived. EARTH-QUAKE-PRONE SUMATRA

Sumatra is an island that is present in Indonesia. It is one of the most dangerous spots in the world to live in. This is because of its earthquake-prone nature and the concomitant tsunamis that strike the small island. It is therefore considered as one of the most dangerous regions of the world. Earthquakes per se do not cause fear in the people of Sumatra. It is the tsunami that strikes the island that brings terror to the island of Sumatra. The earthquakes also cause volcanoes to burst The Krakatau volcano that erupted in 1883 was so ferocious that it completely destroyed the whole mountain from which it erupted and was so ferocious that its tremors were heard in the islands near Africa! However, the Krakatau volcano eruption comparatively is peanuts compared to the Toba earthquake that shook Sumatra thousands of years back and is still remembered in the region. This took place in North Sumatra and its volcanic eruption created a crater more than 80km wide and debris more than 1.5 meter thick was thrown to places hundreds of kilometres away. The people of Sumatra can never be sure that such devastations would not recur as history and earthquakes have a pattern and known to recur. GLOBAL HEALTH CARE

These days, man has reduced the dangers that are haunting him. In earlier days when man was still learning the various secrets of the Earth, many diseases surrounded him. He still ate raw food and knew nothing about diseases that stalked on him. Diseases killed him as viciously as the various animals that he hunted such as deer, moose and so on. At least the animals that were hunted down knew who hunted them and knew how to hide from the human beings. However, the then

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human beings did not know what killed them often en mass. Bacteria and virus were unknown to him. Often, he attributed such sudden deaths to curses, witchcrafts and such supernatural causes. Aborigines in Australia, and Bushmen and the Tutsi in Africa, and many other tribes still believe in these things even though they have come in contact with the world in large. They still believe in witch doctors. The most important thing to a person is his own survival. He will try his very best to survive at whatever cost. But, roads to death are umpteen like natural deaths, homicides, accidents and deaths by diseases. Natural death has no remedy; homicide occurs unawares most of the times like accidents. Death by disease can be avoided by preventive and remedial measure. Of these, disease apportions maximum deaths and covers all ranks of people of all ages and stature. Diseases are of two kinds, communicable and non-communicable diseases. Cardiac arrest and cancer account for the major share of deaths by the non-communicable diseases. While communicable diseases bring mass deaths on its break on predictable lines, right medical cares and preventive measures at right time can control and completely stop the menace. But, non-communicable diseases are different. They are slow, steady and unpredictable. Any money spent on world health care is well spent and a great service to the mankind. All enlightened rich people of the world well spent their wealth for this noble cause. The Gates, Bill and Melinda, of the Microsoft fame are the recent example of this noble cause. Melinda and Bill Gates have generously donated their wealth for the cause of the world health and health care of the poor. PANDEMICS

The thing that is most important in any person’s life is his health. Pandemic is an epidemic that is geographically widespread, occurring throughout a region or even throughout the world. Pandemic like wildfire rapidly spread all round causing uncontrolled sufferings and deaths in a short span of time and may even endanger human existence if the pandemic is in global level.

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Naturally, common efforts are called for to fight the pandemic and all countries of the world join hands to prevent the epidemic from spreading in this global village. Pandemic does not respect national boundaries and geographical distances. Swine flue which was first noticed in Mexico and the United States of America took no time in gripping countries all over the world in spite of the best efforts by the respective countries to prevent it from spreading in their respective countries. Pandemics are not different from economic impacts in this regard as shown by the worldwide down trend of the economy, which originated from the United States of America and spread like wildfire all over the world. Allowing pandemics to take a toll on human life unchecked is a blight on human history and thus the need of concerted efforts. Swine flue and avian influenza before it are the point of focus here. The United States of America, China and Hong Kong did commendable job to prevent the outbreak and spread of the avian influenza. Pandemics like the Black Plague in the beginning of the 20th century killed more than a million people in Europe. People still remember about this plague. Timely interventions and preventive measures by the World Health Organisation and countries all over the world prevented such devastations in modern times by the outbreak of the avian influenza and the swine flue. The Avian Flu spread from China to all other parts of Asia while the swine flue spread from Mexico and the United States of America all over the world. The world saw the outbreak of plague in 1918 and 1976. While the former outbreak is remembered for deaths because of the lack of concerted efforts to prevent it, the latter outbreak saw deaths by the over zeal in the injection of the dangerous antibiotics against the pandemic. Overdoing is the bane of the modern world. This is a lesson to keep the via media in dealing with the pandemics.

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SWINE FLU

Swine Flu has caused a large amount of panic all around the world. The World Health Organisation says that it poses the threat of a pandemic that may cause a large number of fatalities all around the world. This disease has spread to many countries and it has shown fatalities at a rate of two for every thousand infected. One does not know whether it will be able to morph to a deadlier version of the swine flu. Thus, this swine flu is causing a large amount of terror through out the globe especially in the areas where it has been found. People remember and compare the influenza flu epidemic that killed a large number of people just after the First World War and are getting panicky. There is no reason to get so much panicky about swine flue as it is increasingly proved to be not aggressively fatal. Comparison with the influenza flu epidemic of the 1910s is a mute point here for the simple reason of the living conditions there. Epidemics cannot spread as did then for umpteen reasons: suitable drugs, preventive measures, international efforts against, World Health Organisation (WHO) to oversee and so on. However, some scientists say that as the world has heated up in the intervening years, this swine flu will be able to reproduce and mutate to a more virile form more quickly. However, it looks as if the best option for India is to sit tight. The disease has not yet struck India with its full strength. India reported its first H1N1 virus casualty on August 4, 2009 in Pune, the seat of the National Institute of Virology for India, by the death of a 14-year old girl and immediately the government notified the affected areas under the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897 enabling stringent preventive measures. India has got several low-cost anti-flu drugs that have shown a measure of resistance towards the Swine Flu. Developed countries are making rapid progress in finding drugs for swine flu and controlling the pandemic may not be far away.

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NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES

Non-communicable diseases are responsible for the death of a large number of people. It is believed that as many people die from incommunicable diseases as from communicable diseases. In Africa and other countries that are still developing, this number is very high. It is believed that in Africa and Asia, the fatalities of the incommunicable diseases this will increase in the days to come. The United Nations is taking steps to counter it. Incommunicable diseases account for large number of fatalities in countries such as Europe also. Heart problems account for the highest number of deaths in the incommunicable diseases category closely followed by cancer. FITNESS PROBLEM

One of the most acute problems of the present world is the fitness problem: the problem of becoming more and more fat and obese day by day. There was a time when people were dying of starvation and there are people all over the world even now who starve for the lack of availability of food. But, excessive eating leading to uncontrolled obesity has become a chronic disease in many parts of the world now: the problem of eating more than what is needed. This is a sin more than a problem when one considers that in other parts of the world, people are struggling to get even a square meal a day. Need based consumption of the food is a solution for both the problems of obesity and starvation. Need based consumption of the food is easier said than done since people who have accustomed to eating in excess cannot that easily shed the habit. The next option for a fit body is burning away the excess food by exercising every day. Though this is also not an easy option to people accustomed to easy life, there is no option but to cultivate it.

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A daily regimen of exercise does help good health and good look. The problem of obesity is acute in rich countries like the United States that has some of the fattest people of the world. There was a man there who weighed more than a thousand pound. He ate more in one sitting than a person normally does in a week. He was to be carried to hospital while fell sick by breaking walls of his house to come outside. However, recent researches have shown that people with a little more than average weight is healthier and livelonger than those less than the average weight. But key here is that there are limits for everything. Excesses are always incongruent with the nature and therefore always dangerous. FLOWERS

Flower is something that everyone admires every day. The ethereal beauty of some magnificent flowers has astounded people. They admired them for centuries and still do, notwithstanding the rapid advancement of mankind in technology. When people look upon flowers, they see only the petals of the flowers and admire only that and think that the flower is a simple thing. Many poets have quoted about flowers and even used it as a simile, a metaphor and even in personification. In all these poetic ventures, flowers are described vividly as simple beautiful creations. Still waters run deep. This is the case of flowers. They are held in the view of the public as simple things and are said to be there only for beauty. No person in ancient times ever thought that flowers could be complex structures. The flower is made up of four whorls or layers. They are the calyx, the corolla, the androecium and the gynoecium. The calyx is made up of sepals, the corolla is made up of petals, the androecium is made up of anthers and gynoecium is made up of carpel. The androecium and the gynoecium are the main parts of the flower and the calyx and the corolla are the secondary parts of the flower, as they do not play an important role in reproduction.

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INDIAN VALUES

Humility, which is the greatest among all virtues known to mankind. Humility in Latin is humilis, means low. Humility is being low outside while high inside. It is selfeffacing and the denial of self-importance. Humility is the antithesis of arrogance and false pride. It is the law of the nature that people who are strong and virtuous inside always remain low outside. We have examples of Jesus Christ, Gauthama Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi, and Basaveshwara nearer in our own state. They are all called as great souls because of their humility.

Humility is the antithesis of arrogance and false pride. Arrogance and false pride are the worst evils of the mankind and sure ways of destruction. Ravana in the Ramayana saw his end because of his arrogance. Duryodhana in the Mahabharatha carved out his destruction due to his false pride. Nearer in time, unlimited arrogance destroyed both Hitler and Saddam Hussain. Humility is a rare and the greatest virtue mankind has ever known. People with this great virtue in abundance stand out and shine like the Sun. All likes them. Everybody hates arrogance and the arrogant people. Mythology and History are full of stories that show how the forces of humility triumphed over the forces of arrogance. Only a pure soul can have humility. And the humility brings about all other virtues including simplicity, honesty, patience, love, kindness and above all selfconfidence. Humility sprouts from the heart. It is never practised for effect or benefit. Therefore, everybody trusts people who are filled with humility. Humility saves the world from all evils like deception, greed, hatred, anger, competition, suspicion and discontentment. It spreads simplicity, peace, harmony and contentment in humankind.

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Jesus Christ spread the doctrine of showing the right cheek as well, when somebody slaps you on the left cheek. He also said that if anybody sues you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well. He died on the cross for the sins of the humanity at large. Ramayana is the story of the clash between the forces of humility represented by Rama and the forces of arrogance represented by Ravana, and the ultimate triumph of humility over arrogance. Mahabharatha is the story of the clash between the forces of humility represented by the Pandavas and the forces of arrogance represented by the Kauravas, and the ultimate triumph of humility over arrogance. Mahatma Gandhi vowed not to wear a shirt or travel first class in train until all the people in India could afford it. He discarded all the luxuries of the life and willingly lived the poorest of the poor life. This is humility. Basaveshwara, the Prime Minister of the king of Bijjala of Kalyana called himself a servant of the servants of the noble people. It is humility. Humility is not easy to come. It needs cleansing of the soul from the evils of arrogance and false pride. And the Satan of the arrogance and false pride has strong hold on our life and cannot be shed easily. Only great souls with extraordinary strength inside can reach the higher levels. They are called as great souls. We can only try towards that end. If we succeed to any degree, we can be called as great. Humility is the true path towards peace, harmony and advancement to the divine end.

Humility is civility. Humility is utility. Humility is humanity. Humility is divinity.

The best are those who live in humility, That brings to life greatness, easy felicity; Those who have this aplenty are blessed, And always stand out as the very best.

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HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY

Honesty is the best policy; so it was, is and will be. Dishonesty always leads to the doom of the person who practices it. On the other hand, honesty leads to greatness. Many great people were honest. People who are notorious are usually dishonest. We must be honest if we want to prosper. So, friends, we must be honest. What is honesty? Honesty is truthfulness, honesty is integrity, and honesty is fairness. Honesty basically is openness. It is being truthful to oneself. Honesty is honour. The word honesty is derived from the French root “honeste” and the Latin root “honestus”, meaning honour. Honesty makes people great. Gandhiji is called Mahatma or Great Soul because he was an honest person. Gandhiji fought for truth and became an apostle of honesty and peace. He refused to copy the spelling of the word “kettle” even on the suggestion of his teacher during an inspection of his class and this shows that Gandhiji was honest from his childhood. Dishonesty may bring temporary relief. But, it certainly harms in the long run. It darkens our soul and breeds fear in our hearts. It shakes our confidence and hurts our self-respect. On the other hand, honesty breeds confidence and nourishes selfrespect. It makes us upright and honorable. Honesty brings its own glory and joy. Honesty begets honesty. Others trust honest people. Even cruel animals behave differently with honest people. Honesty implies pure and simple heart and a great soul. Honest people are nearer to the nature and to the God. Some may wonder when it is said that honesty sometimes may involve lies also. But it is true. A lie said with a good intention like saving an innocent life from a gang of thieves as in a story of Mahabharata epic amounts to honesty. The test of honesty is doing well to others. Such acts endear us to all. Simplicity and kindness

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are the life-blood of honesty. Only honesty with its simplicity and kindness makes us true human beings.

Honesty means being true to one’s conscience. While following the path of honesty, one must not tell lies and must not be false in any respect. Dishonesty may help for the time being but it harms our interests in the long term. For example, if one tells lies now, he may save himself from being in trouble. But then, if his lie in uncovered, than, he is in double trouble for doing the wrong and then on top of it telling the lie to cover the wrong. So one must not tell lies. Honesty makes all the people to like him and thus gives him a good name in the society. It is nice to tell the truth as our conscience will not be affected and it will also give people a favourable impression and thus lessen our heavenly punishment. All great people including Mahatma Gandhi, George Washington and many others have followed it. All great people have followed honesty as they have the desire not to tell lies. Only good people follow honesty, as other people do not have the self-control to resist the evil temptation to tell lies. Honesty makes the world a happier place to live in as everyone trusts each other and there is goodwill everywhere. WILL AND DETERMINATION

Will and determination is the spice of life. Without this quality, none can become great. Will and determination is the power behind talent and intelligence. Without will and determination, the talent and intelligence just wither.

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There are umpteen examples of will and determination pushing a person to greatness. Helen Keller Sudhachandran and Louis Braille are just a few instances of such persons. Helen Keller who was born in America was blind, deaf and dumb. But, she learnt to talk and write in a very short time. She also wrote books. Sudhachandran is a dancer who lost her legs in an accident. She used artificial legs and continued with her dance career. Louis Braille was not born blind. He became blind because of an awl he was playing with in his father’s workshop when he was just four years old. Later, he devised the Braille system of language for the benefit of blind people. There are many such examples as these wherein sheer will and determination took far ahead in life for great accomplishments. Will and determination do raise a person to greater heights. Humans in themselves must develop such a quality.

Will and determination, truly crowning passion, Built and pulled down crowns and nations; The inward strength, truly unparallel’d wealth, Hoisted zealots to life’s unsurpassed zenith.

LEADERSHIP

A leader is endowed with certain extra powers and this brings additional responsibilities to him. This with time changes the character of the boss. A leader must be one in his group while different all the same. It is easily said than done. Often, the needs of a leader to be different from the group while one remaining as one in the group is seen and abhorred as arrogance A good leader relentlessly tries to inspire those under him towards goals set for them.

He encourages them to live up to his expectations out of them. For

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success to be gained by the leader and the people who work for him, all of them must work as a team and must go through each barrier with resolution and selfconfidence to succeed and accomplish. A leader inspires risk-taking and also leads by setting an example for those who work for him. Then only can a leader be a true leader.

WAR IS DESTRUCTIVE

“War is a dreadful thing, Death and destruction, it does bring; Be it for land or riches, war is wrong, A swell of wastes, war is a devil’s song.” War with its lieutenants, disease and death, tries to destroy human kind when there is disagreement between countries. War has proven its strength in the first and second World Wars. In these World Wars, altogether seventy million people died. Forty-five percent of them were soldiers and the remaining fifty-five percent were civilians. In that century, altogether one hundred million people died in wars and seventy percent of them in World Wars alone. Another interesting fact is that 150 wars were fought since 1945. So it is important to stop another World War as, if another World War is fought, all the people on the face of the Earth will be wiped out due to the advanced technology. If peace gets a chance, all nations and all countries prosper. But, if war befalls on the world, I foresee that by the next century, there may be almost no one living on the watery planet, the Earth. During the Kargil war, Afghanistan war and Iraq wars, people in thousands died due to the use of advanced technology. We must take these examples to our mind and ask ourselves whether we want people to die.

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Nobody understood the evils of war and the blessings of peace more than the Mauryan Emperor, Asoka, the Great. How Kalinga war transformed him to an apostle of peace is a legend now.

“Peace builds bridges and trust And leads there, where all is right.”

GANDHIAN THOUGHTS

Gandhiji led India to freedom. He was a great man of principles and high goals in life. He practised what he preached and that made him a great leader and Mahatma, or Great Soul. He was a very simple man of minimum needs. His thoughts, ideals and principles are codified as Gandhian thoughts. The principle that he valued the most was truth. He fought for truth. He believed that truth always prevails. He tried out some experiments with truth. They generally turned out to be successful. He supported non-violence. He with this method defeated the mighty British. He wanted no one to hate another person. He wanted everyone to forgive and forget. And he diligently practised it in his life. He had no enemies He propagated the importance of cottage industry in a rural economy like India. He wanted the people of India to be self-sufficient. He valued simplicity in life. Gandhiji strived for the upliftment of all. He strived for the upliftment all sections of people. Harijan upliftment, women’s emancipation, respect to all religions were his priorities. He was the messenger from God to this world.

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ISSUES OF MODERN LIFE

The IITs, and IIMs, the AlEEEs; these three acronyms evoke fear, determination and tears among our peers. Pressure finds its way through the bones and veins of the youth of today. The Ills and the IIMs have become the present day Holy Grail of the youth. Samuel Skinner once said, "Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains." This signifies the present-day troubles of man. He feels as if without doing something extraordinary in his life, his life is a waste. Parents tell their siblings to reach great heights in their lives. They pressurize them by trying to cram things into their minds. Some plucky and string-hearted ones rise and fly away into the sky to reach great ranks and heights. However, the majority are not eagles. They come crashing back to the ground.

Present day youth feel that their lives are nothing if they do not get into a good university or college. They struggle hard, go to tuitions, ignore sport activities and bury their heads in huge books. Children merely into their 5th Grade read books and try to understand concepts of college science in order to make their future easy. However, when there are more than 5 lakh children doing the same thing to get one of approximately six thousand seats as in this time's IIT-JEE, there are only going to be a few smiles when the results come out.

Out of every suicide case, one is a youth between 15 and 24. This statistics includes all those aged people who have a terminal illness and thus commit suicide. One in 5 teens thinks of suicide. This shows just how much press ure teens have. To get a good job and consequently good life, one has to study in a good college or university. However, especially in India, good higher education is a rare thing. Also, India being the second most populated country in the world and an amazing 40% of the people being below the age of 20, the competition in our country is cutting edge.

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One will also have to participate competitively in extra-curricular activities to be a success in life. There are several causes for suicide and self-harm in our country. But the most important among them all is pressure put on the youth by their parents to do well in their exams. In the turbulent times of youth, people magnify even small ups and downs horrendously. Teens are famously known to be emotionally insecure. A rather bad experience like failure in examinations or inability to get into a university may just put them over the edge. The chances of not getting into universities have increased these days with more competition. If one scans the newspaper, one can see several cases of suicide instantly. The pressure that students go through has been going up and if one is not able to cope one feels despondent and unhappy and feels that life is not worth living. One in every twelve teens attempts affected

suicide. Some especially sensitive children get

inordinately by bullying by rather overly boisterous

children and get so

depressed that they commit suicide. The easy availability of firearms also helps youth who want to commit suicide. Some youth also have undiagnosed mental illness such as severe bouts of manic depression. It has been found by surveys that 20% of all youth have severe bouts of depression. If unfortunate events happen to them, they may get the desire to commit suicide.

Another reason why youth commit suicide is excess loneliness. The social attitude of youths these days is not what it once was. Peers do not easily accept a lonely person searching for friendly company these days. Introverts are rarely accepted into gangs of extroverts and even if accepted are neglected, teased or bullied to the point of tears.

Another cause of suicide and self-harm is addiction to drugs or alcohol which increases the bouts and magnitude of depression which again induces people to commit suicide. Also, if a dearly loved one passes away, it may drive youth to depression. There have been cases of people committing suicide

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because of severe depression because of the death of hero-figure. Also, there have been cases of people committing suicide due to an unfortunate national event taking place. Examples include people committing suicide because of India losing out in the first round of the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

To prevent suicide among youth, cases of depression among youths must be found out as soon as possible. Also youth help programs must be set up in the country for youth who require help. Treatment must not be avoided by depressed youth. Several youth pull out of treatment at the slightest chance. They should be prevented or dissuaded from doing so. Also, parents should try to get an inkling of what thoughts are going through their charge's minds. Parents often do not talk to their children about their failures as they feel that it would be like applying salt to the wounds of the children. However, they should comfort their children who at that time are undergoing a period of guilt and self-blaming. Parents should get the idea to their minds that their children can commit suicide. Several parents of youth who committed suicide had no inkling that their children were unhappy. The irritable manner of youth must be taken seriously as it may be one of the symptoms of suicide. Suicide attempts by youth must be taken seriously as youths who have tried to commit suicide once will try to commit suicide again.

Several youth have very low self-esteem and feel that they are just not up to their peers and feel that life is not worth living. They should be made to realize that each person is special and they are worth something. An example is Dr. A. P. J Abdul Kalam; he had a desire to become a pilot in his youth. He was unable to pass his exam. He then went to visit a saint. This saint told him that Cod would put him in a better position in his life. Later, as we know, Dr. Kalam became the President of India after a sparkling scientific career.

Life is something that is short. To make it even shorter is something that must not be called for. Cod's gift should not be taken lightly. Whatever happens, one

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should have the courage to face untoward events in our lives with a brave heart and straight face. IMPORTANCE OF READING NEWSPAPERS

“Nulla nuova, buona nuova” meaning no news is good news is a famous Italian usage. It may be true in the ambience of too much news of disturbing nature pouring in from all directions all the time nolens volens. But, news is

sine qua non for active life. None can ignore the milieu in which he lives. Only news keeps us in touch with the milieu in which we live. It gives us the insight to the dynamics regional

that form the environment around us, it

or national or international level.

be in

local or

Keeping doors shut from news

renders us dead and leads to isolation from the world around us and ultimately to atrophy.

The main conveyors of news are newspapers. Though there are many other sources of news like magazines and books in print media, radio and television channels and Internet connections in electronic media, words of mouth and telephone and wireless communications etc, no other source ever could come near the newspaper in importance. It is true of the past and the present and it is true of the future also. Neither the advent of the television nor that of the Internet could affect the importance of the newspaper. The reason for this is the width, breadth and the depth of the news provided by the newspaper, its low cost and the ease of providing the news at our leisure and comfort as many times as we desire.

Newspapers are very important in many ways.

They give us lots of

information about various matters at various levels that are not available anywhere. Though magazines and books also give lots of information, the scope of the news there is limited to a few selected topics.

Televisions and internet

connections while provide news faster than the newspapers, it cannot have the width, breadth and depth of the newspapers and do not provide the comfort of the

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repeated references at our leisure and comfort apart from harming our eyes because of the glare and being the source of health hazards because of radiations.

People of all profession need newspapers.

Engineers, doctors, scientists,

professors and other professionals need them to know the day-to-day developments in their respective fields. Businessmen need newspapers to keep in touch with the economic and commercial trends in the country and see the current share prices. Politicians need them to read recent political events in the country. Others read newspapers to know how changes around them affect their life. Students read newspapers to broaden their knowledge and keep abreast of the recent developments in various fields, be it in politics, economics, science, sports or art and culture. Newspaper is an important tool of the learning process for students.

Advertisements in newspapers are also very informative and give lots of information about the world around and recent trends apart from being very entertaining.

The editorials and the articles in the editorial page of the

newspapers are always very analytical and give insight to the news and their background. Reading newspapers is incomplete sans a glance to the editorials and the articles.

Reading newspapers everyday is must for both students and adults for growth and enlightenment irrespective of the class or field of their life.

For, reading

newspaper everyday is highly educational, and an important informal education in that. One can ignore this important function of the life at own peril.

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ROLE OF STUDENTS IN ROAD SAFETY

Roads are the arteries of a country; they are the networks of the lifelines that keep the country healthy and intact. Stoppages in the arteries damage the heart and lead to the death of the body. It is the same with the country. Unsafe roads lead to the damage of the nation. Safe roads are as important to the national life as are safe arteries to a healthy body. Roads are a public utility networks. The Government builds and maintains roads for the public good. Safe roads are its responsibility. It meets the responsibility through its Engineering, Transport and Traffic Police wings. But, this does not prevent the public from its responsibility towards safe roads. Actually, the role of the public in the matter as the ultimate beneficiary of the road-network is the key of safe roads in any country. Students are the future of a country. Some day, they are going to be in the helm. Safe roads are their responsibility also. They are the builders of the future of the country and their ideas constitute its direction. As citizens and the hopes of the future, they have their own responsibilities towards the country that strives to better the future for their benefit. Their responsibilities towards safe roads are one of them. They must try to raise road safety awareness in the public and help the traffic police in controlling the traffic during the rush hours. They can also be the model road users. What they need is a determination to try and provide safety in roads. Rudyard Kipling in “Diversity Of creatures” says, “Transportation is civilization”. This is a very profound truth. Without transport and the movement of goods and people, there can be no civilization and culture. The increase in the standard of living in many countries in the world in recent years has been almost entirely due to the strides made in transport especially by the introduction of the motor vehicle with its flexibility and ability to get into places otherwise inaccessible even by railways. Danger is unavoidable in the world of transportation. There has never been a time when travel was not dangerous. L. G. Norman in his Public Health Paper for the World Health Organisation in 1962 says, “The problem of road traffic accidents on a large scale has arisen for the

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first time in the present century. All other epidemics throughout history have been due to the onslaught of agencies external to man, principally the protozoa, bacteria and viruses; but road accidents are because of man himself. A terrible penalty of mortality has already been paid as the cost of integrating the motor vehicle into modern life.” The three E’s, Engineering, Education and Enforcement that are the heart of the accident problem constitutes the answer to the traffic safety problem while three P’s namely Pressure, Prejudice and Politics cause the road safety measures go haywire. A good approach to the problem of the road safety must take all these three positive E’s and negative P’s into account for a solution. While Engineering is the job of the engineering department and enforcement of the police and the transport departments, the students certainly as a segment of the general public can help Education as a part of the three E’s. Students can also partake in rendering ineffective the negative influences of the three P’s on the road safety. The role of the students in the road safety measures is limited to three functions namely model road-users, road safety educators and pressure groups for safe roads. They act as model road users in the first while as educators of the same measures to the larger public, especially the unenlightened and the uneducated in the second, and pressure groups for the same measures through powerful parents and self-efforts in the third. They can be a great source of advantage in stopping the normal pressures of life, prejudices and self-interested political maneuvers that work against the needs of safe roads. Students as the interest groups of the safe roads certainly turnout to be great assets of the future of the country by virtue of their knowledge, experience and passion for safe road efforts. This is why introduction of safe road measures as a subject in the secondary education system of the country will prove a great advantage for the advancement of the country. Safe roads of the modern world involve road dividers, zebra crossings, speed limits, parking slots, one-way traffics, road signboards, traffic signals, traffic booths, road safety literature, and above all safe road educational and awareness programmes. Violation of traffic rules like wrong parking, joy riding, over-speeding, crossing the roads

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at wrong spots are the major causes of traffic snarl-ups. Students can be of immense help in traffic management in preventing these road nuisances that can lead to serious consequences by being model road users, educators to the unenlightened public and pressure groups towards the end. Pressures of money and power and political influences always played adverse role against the interests of the safe road by stalling the process of the enforcement of traffic rules. Students as a model group can play an important role in creating healthy public opinion against such holes in the due process of the law-enforcement and make roads safe for all. Safe roads assure a safe return home and ensure a happy and more confident life back home. This means happier life and less tense outside activities. Safe roads certainly enhance the quality of life. Students who constitute the future of the country and for whose benefits all efforts of the present world are streamlined must actively partake in performing their role towards the maintenance of the safe roads and improving the quality of the life.

TREATMENT OF WOMEN THROUGHOUT THE WORLD

For a very long time, women have been discriminated against. All religions suffer from this weakness of rendering woman subordinate to man. According to Christianity Eve came second and led Adam to evil and women are barred from the positions of pastor. So also Hinduism or any other religion. Islam leads in this discrimination. But, ancient history anywhere in the world is replete with cases where women held high positions, leaders and respected without discrimination. In the past they could become what they wanted in life and were given education. This changed during the fifth century A.D. and continued till now. Women are awakened to their

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rights now and are fighting for that. Time is not far away to see the sex discrimination being completely wiped out of the human race. LAW AND JUSTICE

Greed breeds greed, and leads to ruinous deeds. People by nature always want some thing or the other. Often what people want for them may turn out to be harmful for others individually or for the combined good of the people. Therefore protection from other’s greed is an essential need of the human society. It is here that the process of law and justice come into play. Laws, law courts and legal systems were set up to see that the combined interests of the people are protected. Civilised society is obliged to obey the laws, law courts and legal systems for symbiotic existence. However, outlaws are the common feature of any society, those who live at the expense of others. It has been believed that justice is absolute. People since ancient times have wrongly believed that justice can be made to measure to the crime committed or the good deed done. People believe that justice is very simple. They however are completely wrong as justice is not at all an easy task to do about and is a very difficult task indeed to decide and judge. Amartya Sen, the Nobel Prize laureate economist of the Indian origin and former Master of the Trinity College at Cambridge University in a book on justice talks about what justice is all about in his book, “The Idea of Justice” published in July 2009. This book along its length sets out to explain Amartya Sen’s view of justice and how he feels about justice in general. This is a very complicated book and he talks about things in great detail. He talks about justice as some thing that must be separated from other things in general. He talks about justice being relative. To illustrate this, he gives an example. He asks to consider three people who want a flute: one is who prepared it, another is who alone can play it and the other one is who has got no other source of

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pleasure except from the flute. Each of them has his claim for the flute on different grounds. It is a very tough thing to judge who should get the flute. Justice is like this in the real world. It is not at all absolute and relative to the issue and the circumstances in hand. This is a novel concept in the administration of justice and warrants close look from experts.

GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONS

Government looks after the people. It has some functions to perform as it takes all the major decisions on the people’s life. Government performs two types of functions. They are Regulatory functions and Developmental functions. Regulatory functions are the functions that are administrative. They are about maintaining the stability of a country. Developmental functions refer to the functions of the government; that is about developing the lot of the people. Developmental measures are key for the welfare of the people and the prosperity of a country, and concomitantly for the peace and stability of the nation, for peace and stability of a nation are found closely related to employment opportunities and the economic wellbeing of the people live there. The basic needs of a citizen are food, water, clothes and shelter. They are very important as no one can live without them. All other things come thereafter. They are the things of first priority to the government. In governance, developmental and regulatory functions go hand in hand and they are inter-dependent. Lack of development leads to dissatisfaction and unrest, causing serious regulatory problems. On the other hand, efficient regulatory functions lead to balanced and secure life style leading to optimum prosperity in the country. Developmental and regulatory functions being inter-complimentary, government intent upon the prosperity of the country gives equal focus to both.

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INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT

Infrastructure is the network of supporting facilities for life and development. Without it, no nation can possibly survive. It develops the nation and develops the style of living of a country. The national economy is extremely important. Infrastructure plays a very important role in the economy of a country. Lack of Infrastructure means essential ingredients needed for the economic growth being absent, leading to economic retardation. Infrastructure is the very soul of the economy. Roads, communication systems, electricity, availability of housing, education, health care are all parts of the infrastructure. Without them, people, industry and economy cannot survive and grow. Whether it is industry, agriculture, commerce or ordinary life of the citizens, they all depend upon the common facilities available around and the quality of the process closely depends on the infrastructure available. Therefore the infrastructure available decides the style and standard of life and activities around. Infrastructure being the common facilities, it is the responsibility of the government in public domains. It is for this reason it is said that the Government decides the style and standards of life and activities in a country. Creating adequate infrastructure is the basic function of any government, and it is sine qua non for national economy, growth and development.

RESEARCH IN CONSUMER PRODUCTS

In these days, many new things are making their appearance. There are new styles of Mobile phones, Walkman, Internet mobile phones, cars, and computers and so on. The list seems endless. The producers of these new gadgets get excellent returns on their investments, as people do not mind in investing on gadgets of new

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and latest features. Availability of excess money in common man is causing this boom. Most of these gadgets are just the same products with new attractive features like the Internet facility in mobile phones. As there is lots of money involved in this business, there is heavy competition for creating products of new additional features. A few companies like Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo with huge outlay on their own research units continuously improve upon their products and introduce new products to the market every now and then to keep their consumer base intact, lest competitors knock-off their share. Sony as the leader in electronics goods and Microsoft in computer business are known for periodical update of their products to the fast changing needs of the consumers worldwide. How Microsoft forces its consumers to buy its goods every now and then by periodically introducing new versions of its Operating System from Windows 95 to Windows 98 to Windows Millennium to Windows XP to Windows Vista and updating its Office Suite almost every year is a legendary tactic now that made both Microsoft and Bill Gates richest in the world. No doubt, technology and the world also benefited by this.

EFFECT OF MOVIES ON PEOPLE

These days, large numbers of movies are produced all over the world. They include all sort of new movies such as Star Wars, Harry Potter movies and so on. These films make deep impacts on the people and often bring large-scale attitudinal changes in them and affect values and opinions. The changes can be for good or bad depending on the nature of the film. For example, there is a character called Yoda in the Star Wars series, which is an alien. He always talks in passive voice. His courage and determination made the character popular with the filmgoers making them to copy him by using words such as ‘Win I do not think you will’. Other movie stars have also inspired people to change something in them by copying them. This is not a healthy development, as the copying process is not inspired by inherent quality, but by blind copying instinct.

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There are instances of children trying to copy Superman and jumping from high places to death. Films are meant to enjoy and it should strictly remain at that place. Following the antics of the heroes or other characters of films is overstepping the scope of the films with which those films were produced. Strangely, this foolhardy copying instinct is not restricted to adolescent youths. Instances are aplenty of fully grownup men and women suffering with this childish crush. Developing super human images of their film heroes is another form of this crush. Both India and United States have instances of popular film heroes rising to the highest executive positions of the country by popular vote. South India saw at least three popular regional film stars becoming popular Chief Ministers of their respective States in Mr. M.G.Ramachandran and Ms. Jayalalitha in Tamilnadu and Mr. N.T.Ramarao in Andhra Pradesh while the United States of America has Mr. Reagan as its President. The crushes people develop for their favourite film stars of the opposite sex are a matter of total madness of another dimension altogether. It is common to see people of all ages developing deep crushes to their favourite actors and going mad after them purely on the basis of the screen images they represented in films or on their screen histrionics though they never gad a chance to meet those heroes and know anything about their personal traits and character except those fanciful stories presented through film magazines. They develop illusions that they deeply love those film stars and resort to all kinds of nonsense. Though such madness is not restricted only to film stars, it is more visible for film stars and inspires disgust.

SANSKRIT AND LATIN

There are many languages in the world like English, French and Chinese, which are spoken by large numbers of people. The most widely used language in the world is Mandarin, which is used by more than one billion people all over the world. Next comes English.

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There are also languages that have faded into oblivion and disappeared from the surface of the Earth for lack of use. Some are on the anvil of disappearance. Sanskrit and Latin come under this category. Both are classical languages and were in their zenith of their glory for long period in ancient time. All languages have their own circles of rise and fall and both Sanskrit and Latin have come full circle. Both are almost dead as spoken languages and survive because of their great classics of the yore and as expressions of scholarships in serious writings. The classic nature of the languages and the purity warranted in using them gradually rendered the languages unpopular as the stress of life style shifted to easy and comfortable life. As the world has become a global village because of communication and transport revolutions of the last two centuries, world needed a common language for its people. English has easily filled the slot without anybody asking for it. The global spread of English no doubt created several versions of English like American English, Indian English, Australian English et cetera. But English remains English in all these versions at the soul. Popularity of mass media like television channels and print media, and computer and Internet revolutions helped in acceptance of English as the common language all over the world. There are attempts in India and Europe to revive both Sanskrit and Latin as spoken languages to their ancient glory. Also individual attempts are seen to infuse life to these languages by launching magazines, newspapers and television channels though commercially they are unviable. But, none of them have succeeded except for minor growths till now. They have a Herculean task before them to succeed in the present easy life style.

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MEN AND WOMEN WHO MADE HISTORY

Once, the British Empire stretched all around the world. It was said that the Sun never sets in the British Empire. It was true. The British Empire had England itself in the west; it had United States of America to its east and undivided India in the West with East Asian countries and Australia further west. All large empires must come to an end one day. The Byzantine Empire lasted for a very long time, but disintegrated in course of time. The British Empire also disintegrated in course of time and there remains nothing except the mainland England now with its former colonies constituting honorary Commonwealth of countries. The United States of America was a part of the larger British Empire. The United States of America got its freedom from the British Empire under Mr. George Washington, a very brave and noble leader, who led his country to victory over the British. A gentle man to the core, he was known for his firm decisions. A very determined man as he was, “Freedom or Death” was his life motto, and he was ready to sacrifice his life for the freedom of the people of his country. Such was the man who brought freedom to the sole superpower of the present world. MOTHER TERESA

Very few people show pity for poor, weak and sickly people. Mother Teresa is one of the few people who showed it to the unfortunate lot of the humanity. She even helped and cared for the people who had dangerous and highly contagious diseases. She really is love and kindness personified in human form. A Catholic nun named Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was born in 1910 in Skopje, now in Yugoslavia. She studied in Ireland and went to teach in Kolkata in India. When she was travelling on a train one night, she heard a soft voice telling her to

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leave the convent and help the poor people who have no one to help them. This entirely changed her life. She wore a sari and went barefoot to the poorest slums of Kolkata to serve the poorest of the poor. In 1948, the Church let her set up a new order of Nuns, called the Missionaries of Charity. Since then, Mother Teresa and her nuns of the Missionaries of Charity have saved babies left on the wastages on the roadsides, looked after lepers and cared for the old, sick and dying. Her Order had more than 300 branches throughout the world by the time of her death in 1998. She was awarded the Nobel Peace prize for her great service for the humanity and the greatest Indian award, the Bharata Ratna, in recognition of her service to India. The angel of the human kind died in 1998 just before she reached the age of eighty-nine. It is because of her love, kindness and service that many suffering people found hope and light in their life. Her simple love and service for humanity raises her to the level of godliness. Yes, her death gave a lot of grief to the poor people and the entire humanity, but they still have hope because of her.

THE LEGACY OF LEE KUAN YEW

Lee Kuan Yew or Harry Lee Kuan Yew was the first Prime Minister of the sovereign Republic of Singapore for twenty-five years from 1965 to 1990 and the first Prime Minister of the state of Singapore under the Federation of Malaysia for six years from 1959 to 1965. He is a fourth generation Chinese Singaporean and an ardent champion of merger of Singapore with the federation of Malaysia till its Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rehman following riots between Muslim majority Malay and Chinese majority Singapore unceremoniously threw Singapore out of the Federation in 1965. Lee Kuan Yew as the first Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore is credited to transform a volatile, underdeveloped colonial outpost with no natural resources into a stable, First World Asian Tiger Singapore from a very weak and poor, volatile, underdeveloped colony of severe shortage of natural resources and

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water to one of the World Asian Tigers along with Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan and one of the most stable and richest countries of the world. Lee Kuan Yew has climbed very great heights in his quest to transform Singapore to an economic power of Asia and became a leader the world adores as a capable administrator and respected statesman. He raised Singapore from the lowest depths of instability and resources to the heights of an economic power. In recognition of his great contribution to the Republic of Singapore, he was honoured by retaining him in the Cabinet as Senior Minister in advisory capacity after he stepped down from the post of Prime Minister in 1990 with the distinction of being the longest serving Prime Minister of the world after holding it to then unprecedented long tenure of twenty-five years. The next Government of Singapore that came to power under his son in 2004 honoured him by retaining in the Cabinet as the Minister Mentor.

HELEN KELLER

Helen Keller was born in 1880 in Tuscumbia in America. Severe brain fever rendered her blind, dumb and deaf before she was even two years old.

But, the

handicap did not take away her determination to lead a successful life. Actually, it added to her inner strength and resolves to reach higher and accomplish great things. She learnt to talk and write by herself and mastered Braille language meant for blind. A lady by name Anmam Field Salivan who was dedicated to the service of blind found Helen Keller and helped her to read and write. She used to keep a doll in Helen’s hand and lead Helen’s fingers to write the word doll on a sheet of paper. Thus, the first word learnt by Helen was doll. Later, Helen learnt to talk in a school for the deaf. Soon, she developed a sense for recognizing everything. She also wrote many books and became very famous.

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Helen Keller lived for 88 years and died in 1968.

CAPTAIN B.M.BHATRA

This is from the memoir of Captain B.M Bathra when he was an officer of the Indian forces during the Second World War when he was stationed in Tehran in Iran. At that time, Iran was divided into two parts. They were the partly controlled by Britain and partly by Soviet Union. Mr. B.M. Bathra was the second ranking officer of the Indian army present at British Iran at that time. The United States of America at that time did not have any influence in Iran and was not at all in the scene in Iran. The big three of the Allies of that time i.e. Churchill of Britain, Stalin of Russia and Theodore Roosevelt of the United States of America came to Iran to overview the security arrangements there and also to brief officers about their part on the D-Day. Mr. B.M. Bathra was in charge of a birthday party for Churchill. However, he had to take a lot of precautions to ensure that the Germans would not know of the event for security reasons. In the party, Mr. B.M. Bathra noted that Churchill was all rosy and happy. But, Roosevelt looked pale and withdrawn. Mr. B.M. Bathra thought that Roosevelt may not live long and actually, Roosevelt died the following year. However, unlike those two, Stalin was the model of quietness and Mr. B.M. Bathra notes that when Stalin saw him, his look was so cold that he felt shivers run down his spine. GENERAL DYER

Over fifty years ago, the British ruled India. The British ruled India very badly and people complained about the British. However, the British did not hear the complaints of the people. Even when the Indian representatives complained about the British, they were not heard. The people were very unhappy, but they could not do a thing as the British were ruling India and the representatives were not ruling India. They tried to improve the life of the Indian people, but the people were disappointed, as the British did not hear their pleadings. They did not do of course. Finally, India got its independence. It was a long fight and many things spurred the

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people of India. The ignorance of the British towards Indian affairs was one. Many other things also affected India’s independence. The British did many bad things to India. The bad things included the Amritsar massacre among other things. The Amritsar Massacre was the result of the British firing about a thousand rounds of bullets to an Indian crowd. The regiment who did this was under General Dyer. General Dyer will always be notorious because of this in India at least. Many people were killed in this Massacre and it brought worldwide condemnation upon the British. This was finally to spur the Indians to their independence. General Dyer’s deeds were very bad indeed and as a result, the British Empire finally crumbled away. The people always looked and craved for independence after this. Brigadier-General Reginald Edward Harry Dyer CB (October 9, 1864 – July 23, 1927) was a British Indian Army officer responsible for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Dyer was born in Murree, in British India, now in Pakistan. He spent his childhood in Shimla and received his early education at the Bishop Cotton School in Shimla. He attended Midleton College, Co. Cork between 1875 and 1881. In 1885, following attendance at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst he was commissioned into the Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) as a Lieutenant, and served in riot control duties in Belfast (1886) and the Third Burmese War (1886–87). He was then transferred to the Indian Army, initially joining the Bengal Staff Corps as a Lieutenant in 1887 and being attached to the 39th Bengal Infantry, later transferring to 29th Punjabis. He served in the latter in the Black Mountain campaign (1888), the relief of Chitral (1895) (being promoted Captain in 1896) and the Mahsud blockade (1901– 02). In 1901 he was appointed a Deputy Assistant Adjutant General. He was then transferred to 25th Punjabis where he served in the Zakha Khel Expedition (1908). He commanded the 25th Punjabis in India and Hong Kong and was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in 1910. During World War I (1914–18), he commanded the Seistan Force, for which he was Mentioned in Despatches and made a Companion of the Bath (CB). He was promoted Colonel in 1915, and was made a temporary Brigadier-General in 1916. In 1919, about a month after the Amritsar incident, in the

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Third Anglo-Afghan War, his Brigade relieved the garrison of Thal, for which he was again mentioned in dispatches. 5th Brigade at Jamrud was his last command posting for a few months in 1919. He retired on 17 July 1920, retaining the rank of Colonel. The white population in Punjab in 1919 feared a plot to overthrow British rule. There was talk of mutiny and of death threats to Europeans. Sir Michael O'Dwyer, the Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab, decided to deport leading agitators from the province. One person who was targeted was Dr. Satyapal, who was in the Army Medical Services during World War I. He advocated non-violent civil disobedience and was prevented from speaking in public. Another person was Dr. Kitchlew, a Muslim barrister who wanted political change and was non-violent. The Deputy Commissioner, Miles Irving, did not know the background of these two people and suspected some deeper conspiracy resulting in the arrest of the two men. This event led to a burst of events in Punjab. Crowds gathered in all public places demanding a release of the two men. The troops panicked and opened fire on a bridge across a railway line, causing several deaths. This resulted in a mob which returned to the city centre. Reinforcements were brought in for the army. The mobs sought out Europeans in the city. On April 9, 1919, Miss Marcella Sherwood, who supervised the Mission Day School for Girls was bicycling round the city to close her schools when she was assaulted by the mob in a narrow street, the Kucha Kurrichhan, was beaten and left wounded. She was rescued by local Indians who hid her from the mob and moved her to the fort. This attack on a lady incensed Dyer, who was the commandant of the infantry brigade in Jullundur, who instructed the troops of the garrison regarding reprisals against Indians. Brigadier Dyer is infamous for the orders which he gave on April 13, 1919 in Amritsar. It was under his command that 90 troops, including 25 Gurkhas of 1st/9th Gurkha Rifles, 25 Pathans and Baluch of 54th Sikhs and 59th Sindh Rifles, all armed with .303 Lee-Enfield rifles (and the Gurkhas additionally armed with khukris) opened fire on a gathering of unarmed civilians, including women and children gathered at the Jallianwalla Bagh in what came to be later known as the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

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The civilians had assembled at Jallianwala Bagh to participate in the annual Baisakhi celebrations which are both a religious as well as a cultural festival of the Punjabis. The Bagh-space was comprised of 6 to 7 acres (28,000 m2) and was walled on all sides except for five entrances. Four of these entrances were very narrow, admitting only a few people at a time. The fifth entrance was blocked by the armed soldiers, as well as by two armoured cars armed with machine guns. (These vehicles were unable to pass through the entrance.) Upon entering the park, the General ordered the troops to fire directly into the assembled gathering. Firing continued until his troops' supply of 1650 rounds of ammunition was exhausted. The firing continued unabated for about 10 minutes. From time to time, Dyer "checked his fire and directed it upon places where the crowd was thickest"; he did this not because the crowd was slow to disperse, but because he (the General) "had made up his mind to punish them for having assembled there." Some of the soldiers initially fired in the air, at which General Dyer shouted: "Fire low. What have you been brought here for?" Later, Dyer's own testimony revealed that the crowd was not given any warning to disperse and he felt no remorse for having ordered his troops to fire. On the day following the massacre, Mr. Kitchin, the Commissioner of Lahore as well as General Dyer, both used threatening language. The following is the English translation of Dyer's Urdu Statement directed at the local residents of Amritsar on the afternoon of April 14, 1919, a day after the Amritsar massacre: "You people know well that I am a Sepoy and soldier. Do you want war or peace? If you wish for a war, the Government is prepared for it, and if you want peace, then obey my orders and open all your shops; else I will shoot. For me the battle-field of France or Amritsar is the same. I am a military man and I will go straight. Neither shall I move to the right nor to the left. Speak up, if you want war? In case there is to be peace, my order is to open all shops at once. You people talk against the Government and persons educated in Germany and Bengal talk sedition. I shall report all these. Obey my orders. I do not wish to have anything else. I have served in the military for over 30 years. I understand the Indian Sepoy and Sikh

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people very well. You will have to obey my orders and observe peace. Otherwise the shops will be opened by force and Rifles. You will have to report to me of the Badmash. I will shoot them. Obey my orders and open shops. Speak up if you want war? You have committed a bad act in killing the English. The revenge will be taken upon you and upon your children." Brigadier Dyer designated the spot where Miss Marcella Sherwood was assaulted sacred and daytime pickets were placed at either end of the street. Anyone wishing to proceed in the street between 6am and 8pm was made to crawl the 150 yards (140 m) on all fours, lying flat on their bellies. The order was not required at night due to a curfew. The humiliation of the order struck the Indians deeply. Most importantly, the order effectively closed the street. The houses had no back doors and the inhabitants could not go out without climbing down from their roofs. This order was in effect from April 19 until April 25, 1919. No doctor or supplier was allowed in, resulting in the sick being untended. After the Amritsar massacre, Dyer's health failed and in 1921 he was stricken with paralysis. He never recovered. He died at Long Ashton, near Bristol, on July 23, 1927 of Atherosclerosis and cerebral haemorrhage. In the final moments of his life, he is reported to have murmured: "but I don’t want to get better. Some say I did right, while others say I did wrong. I only want to die... and know of my maker whether I did right or wrong." The Morning Post remembered him in articles titled, "The Man Who Saved India" and "He did his Duty". The Westminster Gazette wrote a contrary opinion, "No British action, during the whole course of our history in India, has struck a severer blow to Indian faith in British justice than the massacre at Amritsar, and the attitude of official Anglo-India to it."

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NANDAN NILEKANI

Nandan Nilekani is an Indian software entrepreneur. He is currently the CoChairman of Infosys Technologies Ltd, of which he is also a co-founder, along with N. R. Narayana Murthy and others. Nilekani is the second-youngest son of Durga and Mohan Rao Nilekani, a manager in Minerva Mills. He was born in Sirsi, a small town in Karnataka, and spent his first 12 years in Bangalore. Nilekani moved in with his uncle's family in Dharwad for his education, studying at Bishop Cotton Boys School, Bangalore, and attending the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay from 1973. In 1978, Nilekani joined Patni Computer Systems where his colleague was N. R. Narayana Murthy. Three years later in 1981, Nilekani and six other enthusiasts, led by Murthy, decided to start their own company, InfoSys (later renamed Infosys). Nilekani became the Chief Executive Officer of Infosys in March 2002, taking over from Murthy. Nilekani served as CEO and MD of the company from March 2002 to April 2007,

when he relinquished his position to his colleague Kris

Gopalakrishnan, becoming Co-Chairman. He has since mentioned that he will still function in an executive capacity within the company by "focussing on key client relationships, being a brand ambassador for the company, and working on transformational initiatives". Nilekani has an estimated net worth of US$1.3billion. In 2004, Nilekani was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest Indian civilian decoration. In January 2006, he became one of the youngest entrepreneurs to join 20 global leaders on the World Economic Forum (WEF) Foundation Board. Nilekani was named one of "Asia's Power 25 – The Most Powerful People in Business in Asia" by Fortune magazine, 2004. He was regarded by TIME magazine as one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World" in May 2006, and by Forbes Asia as "Business Leader of the Year" 2006.

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Nilekani is a co-founder of India's National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM). He is also the chairperson of the Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF). His book, Imagining India: Ideas for the New Century was launched on November 24, 2008.In the book, Nandan discusses a host of ideas ranging from the impact ideas such as democracy, globalization and demography have had on India's growth and development, to its slow progress in the areas of infrastructure and the provision of primary education to all, to the ideological deadlock when it comes to politics, higher education and labor reforms. He also addresses a few ideas that are vital to cementing India's position as a global power that of its social security provisions, its policies on clean energy and the environment, as well as its ability to deal with lifestyle-related diseases and ailments. In this book, Nandan discusses on topics such as the future of India, its recent history,the ideas and attitudes that evolved with the times and contributed to the country’s progress,India’s early socialist policies,its young population,Information Technology, caste politics, labour reform, infrastructure, higher education, the English language in India among others. Nandan Nilekani was appointed as the chairperson of the newly created Unique Identification Authority of India by the central government in 2009 in the rank of a cabinet minister. He accepted the challenge and assumed the responsibility after resigning to the Infosys. MOHAMMED ALI JINNAH

British ruled India till 1947. Independence cost India the division of the subcontinent into two nations – India and Pakistan. The division of the country was caused because of the religious divide in the country between the majority Hindus and the minority Muslims. Mohammed Ali Jinnah led Muslims to agitation for a separate homeland for Muslims in the Indian subcontinent. Mahatma Gandhi, who was leading the struggle for independence foresaw that such a partition would certainly lead to a lot of bloodshed. But, Mohammed Ali Jinnah was adamant in his

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demand for the partition. He called Jawaharlal Nehru as an impetuous pundit. He is also believed to have condemned many of the mainstream freedom fighters. Distaste for Mohammed Ali Jinnah in India is so wide spread that the praise of Mohammed Ali Jinnah by BJP supremo, L.K.Advani, during his Pakistan raised such a storm in India that he fell into the bad books of his own party. PERVEZ MUSHARAFF

Pervez Musharaff is the former President of Pakistan. He is one of the strongest personalities in the world politics and well known in India for two reasons, that he was born and spent his childhood in India till his father with his family migrated to newly formed Pakistan during the Great Partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, and that the Kargil War was his making while he was the Commander in Chief of the Pakistan armed Forces. Pakistan army overthrew the Government of Prime Minister Nawab Sheriff after its defeat in Kargil War and Musharaff became the head of the Government as well as the head of the State later. Post-9/11 American aggressive policy brought President Musharaff to the knees to reluctantly submit to the American needs to ally with the NATO forces against his Taliban friends in Afghanistan. He had no option but to militarily support the NATO forces to overthrow the Taliban Government and later pursue both Taliban and Al-Qaeda terrorists from Pakistan-Afghanistan border. He lost power after elected government came to power in Pakistan. JACK SLIPPER AND THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY

Jack Slipper was a renowned and efficient detective of the Scotland Yard. In the Great Train Robbery in Britain of 1963 wherein a train carrying mail from Glasgow to London was robbed of two million pound worth of goods, perhaps the most well known and the biggest robbery in the world, Jack Slipper was invested

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with the investigation of the case on behalf of the Scotland Yard as its most efficient and capable investigator. He successfully detected the case and arrested all those involved in the case except for one known as Ronnie Biggs who evaded Jack Slipper’s attempts to catch him, the only black spot in the otherwise illustrious career of this detective. As a splendid detective, he was compared as an equal to legendary and fictional Sherlock Holmes. Ronnie Biggs was at large till 2001 when he gave himself up. Actually, Jack Slipper traced Ronnie at Brazil in 1974, but Brazil denied extradition of Ronnie Biggs, as there was no extradition treaty between Brazil and Britain. THE END OF AZAHARI

Azahari bin Husin was a terrorist who lived in Indonesia. He lived a charmed life hiding from the police and other security personnel of Indonesia after committing terrorist crimes and escaped all attempts of the police and security forces to catch him. He was a very lucky person as often he was leaving his hiding place barely minutes before the police reached there. At last, his time ran out as for all outlaws. He came face to face with the police and security forces searching for him and fought till the end of his life. He was found on an assignment to burst a bomb-vest at a populated area when police shot him and thus avoided more casualties. The events that led to the deadly encounter make interesting reading. The police of Indonesia were trying to trace the bombers of the 30th August Bali bomb attack. They started finding the people whom the terrorists had met just before they set off their bombs in Bali. One of the persons was found to be a suspected terrorist. Police followed him for some time trying to find out his move and activities. When they were trying to do so, the man found out that he was being followed and tried to set-off his bomb-vest. But, before he succeeded in his efforts, police captured him and interrogated. They found out from him through interrogation that he was a sort of messenger between Azahari bin Husin and his assistant who was till then unknown. The ‘messenger’ then told the police that Azahari bin Husin was hiding in a particular

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hotel room. The police went there and shot him dead while he resisted capture and tried to blow his bomb-vest. RATAN TATA

The economics of India has got only a few well-known names. They include Ratan Tata, the Ambani brothers and also many more people. However, the most important of these names is Ratan Tata. He is a very famous person in India and is responsible for the meteoric rise of the Tata group to fame. He is a very shy person and is often underestimated by his opponents. The Tata group is now gone International and is trying to catch up with its main rivals. They include the United States of America based General Electric and Wal-Mart. However, it will be a long time before it catches up with these companies as these companies are established firmly in the International scene.

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THE WORLD IN THE 21ST CENTURY

We may be wondering what arsenals are in store for the remaining nine decades of the 21st century after the momentous and suspenseful events along the passage of the 20th century and later that mangled the quiet facade of the Earth. Life as a stream of endless processes, catenated by the cardinal rule of cause and effect, may open up a vista for us to infer what the world will be in the 21st century. Taking clues from the loose ends of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21 century, and realizing that everything moves in circle and ipso facto every practice and every idea has its own ups and downs in circular motion along the course of time, helps to deduce the possible structure of the 21st century on and around certain fixed pillar posts vacated by the 20th century in its haste to give way to the 21st century. As the dusk of the 20th century and the nascent ness of the first decade of the 21 century give way to the maturity of the 21st century, new political alignments may emerge to replace senescent superpowers that ruled the roost

in

international politics. The trend in world politics would be the coalescence of regional powers to harness maximum financial strength. The politics of the ideological conflicts of the 20th century may give way to the politics of pragmatic dispensation. National affiliations may lose their fervor and each regional alliance of nations may develop into a loose, federal government as the century draws to its end. A more liberal and universal outlook with the progressive intermingling of cultures would be the hallmark of the 21st century. The world probably may awake to a world-culture with all divergent nuances of the current world being absorbed into a mainstream culture in the new century.

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The 21st century shall be known by future generations for the growth and universal acceptance of an open market economy and a combative economic spirit. The last decade of the 21st century may find the laissez-aller in economy touching its ultima thule and concomitantly its breaking point except for a few scattered pockets still clinging to a controlled economy as remnants of yore, which will work as a springboard in subsequent centuries to move the world back to a modified guided economy. Another significant development of the new era would be the upsurge of economics in the new order of things to mark the century as "The Economic Age'. The present national and ideological divide would be replaced with a new economic divide leading to a regrouping of regions by economic convenience. The concept of the European Economic Community of the 20th century will lead to similar economic groupings in East Europe allied with Germany, Central Asia, South-East Asia, South Asia, West Asia, South America, North Africa, South and Central Africa and finally North America to create distinct economic zones along the passage of the 21st century with more and more power and authority transferred to these new units to control and govern the social life of the people. National identities would be relegated to oblivion as a thing of the past by the end of the 21st century with the world divided into a handful of distinct and well-defined economic units, each of which will strive towards the telos of economic prosperity and increased self-sufficiency. However, increased concours between the new economic units could bring tension back to the world in the later part of the century, leading to the failure of this new concept of living on this Earth and return to good old nationhood in later centuries. Germany, as the leader of a power in the region consisting mostly of the present Warsaw Pact countries may provide a real challenge to the financial strength of China and its neighboring allies in the first half of the 21 century and grow to be a financial giant of the world in the second half of the century by pushing the latter to second place. A close run for supremacy as a financial power of the world between regional powers led by Germany and China would be the

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main political drama of the new era. Both USA and Russia would be decimated to minor parts in the battle-royale. The 21st century may see impressive breakthroughs in unconventional energy sources like nuclear energy, solar energy and oceanic energy, which may cheaply meet the major share of the world's energy needs by the end of the 21st century. This may reduce the importance of oil-rich countries in world politics and add to the relative peace of the coming century. The new century may see nuclear energy becoming the staple energy source for motor transport and aviation. There would be major breakthroughs in harnessing and using solar energy. All anxieties about depletion of energy sources would b laid to rest in the 21st century. The new era may find people going for artificial nutritious foods produced from cheap edible plastic chemicals. This would lessen the dependence on agricultural produce and provide a permanent solution to the problem of hunger. Major breakthroughs in recycling of waste may provide the solution to shortages and ecological contamination. The 21st century is unlikely to make any tangible headway in space and interplanetary research due to the factors involving time and distance and the changing circumstances that may localize issues to the world we live in and ipso facto control the passion to explore outer space. The real scientific leap of the 21st century would be the discovery of normal temperature superconductors and their universal applications to the fields of mobility, communication and energy that could revolutionize life on this Earth by obliterating the notion of distance from its face. Man may travel at speeds very close to that of light by the end of the century. He would then be able to control things anywhere on this Earth by sitting in his place and monitoring audio-visual feedbacks. Some advancement by the end of the century in the ability to penetrate to the past cannot be ruled out either.

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A positive outcome of the new concept of living in regional economic groupings would be the increased realization of the futility of wars and military expenditure. The new age may spawn hope for sempiternal peace and prosperity, with the aggressive side of the human psyche being increasingly engaged by the ceaseless demands of the free market economy. The 21st century may witness a spurt in the general standard of living, brought about by the deployment of resources hitherto utilized only for military research and expenditure. The greatest blessing of the 21st century would be the conspicuous reduction in international strife and concomitant military expenditure while the worst feature would be the reduction of man and his environment to an average profile deprived of all interests and curiosities. He and his environment may become more fragile inside and outside as unending technological advancements increasingly take over the fields of his exclusive skills and competence and ipso facto condemn them to wither away by desuetude. The 21st century may be the beginning of this withering process of human skills in a telling way. Life would be less interesting – though more convenient - in the 21st century, which could cause more and more people to turn to religion and occult practice for solace and adventure. Computers may become integral to all human activity thus leading to decline in human skill and intellectual ability as the century advances. The menaces of terrorism and drug-addiction may further grow to be the major challenges of the 21st century. The increasing complexity of day-to-day living traversed with poverty and an unabated population explosion may encourage new, unheard-of forms of crime. New complex diseases may surface on the Earth to attack the populace from time to time and keep the medical research establishment continuously engaged to meet the challenges. Life's concomitant stress may spawn agitated, nervous frustrated and directionless minds. Family units would be in disarray with the institution of marriage in red and a new concept of an open society with guaranteed institutional security coming into vogue.

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The new century may witness more and more people turning to religion for inner peace. As both Christianity and Islam fail to meet the growing spiritual needs of the plebeians of the 21st century, the world may look for solace to a nebulous international religion of a mixed kind with a common spiritual interpretation of life and this religion may sweep the Earth of the 21st century to become its major religion. The new age may also find proliferation of scientific research in parapsychology and the universal application of its findings to control crime and improve labour relations in industry and commercial enterprises. The new century may see the concepts of family and marriage losing their relevance to life. Each to himself would be the new dispensation, and state security to newborns, the old and infirm would become the basic responsibility of the state machinery. With the increased demand on limited land, due to the progressive rise in the population, the 21st century may find all lands becoming government property, leased out to private parties on contract for a definite period for use: though laissez-faire with private ownerships in other enterprises would be the tendency in the 21st century economy. Public undertakings may become a rarity in the

new

age. Private firms on contract would be permitted to

manage selected jobs in the

governance of the country. Such sensitive

areas as development activities, recruitment, crime investigation, collection of taxes etc would be handled by specialized private firms on a

time-bound

contract as the century draws to an end. The turn of the 21st century may see only the legislature and judiciary remaining the government's direct responsibility with executive jobs being increasingly handled on its behalf by private agencies. The new century may witness an upsurge of romanticism in literature and life fuelled by a new ferocity that spurns any constraint on natural conduct; free sex may well become the rule. This new popular movement would spread across the world in the new century, adding spice to growingly insipid lifestyles. New philosophies and religions may spring out of it to alter intellectual and spiritual perceptions.

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While the new world will have advanced amenities at its beck and call, simple natural needs like adequate space, clean water and fresh air will become rarities. Piped water supply would be a matter of the past and clean water would be sold in bottles in markets. The new age may also see special fresh-air sessions everyday for half-an-hour: a luxury of breathing fresh air, produced by special treatments in a costly process affordable only to the rich. The selling of small fresh-air packets for use in private may become a lucrative business throughout the world and multi-national corporations may make huge investments in both fresh-air packet and clean water bottle industries. Life would be a more complex and costly affair in the 21st century in spite of man's increasing success in bringing the world to his heels through inventions and discoveries. Birth control on demand would be a normal practice. Speed and detached impatience would become the spirit and trend of the age, with passions, emotions, moods, tastes, arts and pleasures becoming rare luxuries, known to a few isolated deviates. Living would be reduced to a cutthroat competition with the conflict between man and his poisoned environment compounded with that between him and his fellow men turning extra modum in his fight and flight for survival. The simple innocent side of his nature would become a further casualty in the process with increased manifestations of criminal tendency at all levels in all fields. Life would thus become less secure and more risky in the new dispensation. The world would be less worth for living in the 21st century in spite of its technical and material advancements. Though the threat of war would recede in the new age, life's acceleration to the highly competitive tempo, necessary to ensure survival, may render living a sick and uneasy affair. As man bends nature to his convenience, nature's failures to meet his basic needs may balloon up to gigantic proportions by the increased tax on her fragile attributions. Yet, it should be remembered that the 21st century is just a minute phase in the huge evolution process that takes the world to higher levels of existence through restless and difficile passage.

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We should know that this world is a great self-sustaining system, built to survive all ecological, nuclear or population disasters. The life system of this Earth is a wonderful self-regulating workhouse with a skill for survival. We must rest assured that the Earth will certainly survive all contingencies of the 21st century by its wonderful self-regulating and self-sustaining mechanism that was at work in the 20th century.

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WORLD LITERATURE

There are many famous children’s books like ‘Secret Seven’ and ‘Famous Five’ are around. They are read and greatly admired by children. One of such books widely read and liked by children all over the world is the Harry Potter series of four books that include ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’, ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’, ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’ and ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’. Its author is J.K.Rowling. The series is about the adventures of Harry Potter and his friends Ron and Hermione in Hogwarts, which is a wizarding school. I consider the fourth book of the series namely ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’, which runs to voluminous 636 pages in the popular paperback edition as the

magnum opus of the author among the lot. The series is about a young wizard called Harry Potter who lost his parents during Halloween when he was one year old and brought up by his aunt and uncle and sent to Hogwarts, a wizarding school. The four books concern about his adventures in Hogwarts. The books are full of funny and awful incidents that make the books interesting to children and capture their imagination. The main characters of the Harry Potter series are Harry Potter himself as the hero of the story, Hagrid who rescued Harry Potter from the Dursleys, the uncle and aunt of Harry Potter, Dumbledore who is the headmaster of Hogwarts, Ron and Hermione as the best friends of Harry, Draco Malfoy as his enemy, Lord Voldemort as his bete noire and the villain of the piece, and Professors of Hogwarts like Snape of Slytherin House, McGonagall of Gryffindor House, Sprout of Hufflepuff House and Flitwick of Ravenclaw House. All these characters make interesting reading by their variegated oddities and antic. The characters are well knit to the story. Some of the incidents in the series make lasting impressions on the readers. A funny incident I fondly recall from ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ relates to

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Professor Moody transforming Draco Malfoy into a ferret and bouncing him up and down. Another incident from the same book that caught my imagination is the fight between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort. The hilarious combat involves Harry Potter after being hit by Cruciatus and Imperius curses of Lord Voldemort, stopping his Avada Kedavra curse and escaping from the latter in a tight moment while he really had no place to go. A funny incident I recollect is from ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ wherein Hagrid makes a pig’s curly tail come out of Dudley Dursley’s pant for Dursleys being rude to him. ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’ portray the death day party of a ghost, Nearly Headless Nick, with piles of rotten food to be eaten by ghosts attending from all over the wizarding England. An interesting incident from ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’ concerns the unfriendliness of Ron and Hermione. Ron accuses Hermione’s cat of killing his pet rat called Scabbers. Hermione says sorry and both make up their differences. The incident of Hagrid meeting Harry Potter on a rock way out on sea in ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ also makes interesting reading. The incident that touched me most in the extravaganza of the four volumes of more than 1300 pages of J.K.Rowling is from ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’ concerns the meeting of Sirius Black and Harry Potter wherein the latter learns that Sirius Black was really his godfather and had nothing to do with the death of Harry’s parents, James and Lily Potter. He found out in the meeting that it was his parents’ another friend, Peter Pettigrew, who was responsible for the tragedy. Both of them meet Peter Pettigrew and find out the truth about what happened in the fateful night. It is really a touching event in the life of Harry Potter. I hope that J.K.Rowling will continue to write many more books like Harry Potter and continue to enthrall children all over the world by her imaginative and colourful stories. It is interesting to know that J.K.Rowling is presently working on three more books on the Harry Potter series, and children from all over the world are

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eagerly waiting for them. I hope that the books will be as interesting as the first four of the series. THUNDERPOINT

“Thunderpoint” is a fiction authored by Jack Higgins. It is an interesting work on a fictional character called Sean Dillon, a former IRA soldier caught by Yugoslavians but bailed out by Charles Ferguson, the leader of Group 4 of Britain, an institution that investigates terrorists. He is faced with two options for his release. One of them is to die at the hands of the Yugoslavians and the second is to join Charles Ferguson. He chooses the second option. Ferguson was working on a case of utmost importance. He chooses Sean Dillon to undertake it. Martin Bormann, the Reichsleiter of Germany under Adolph Hitler is said to have escaped in a submarine carrying some papers of utmost importance in a briefcase, which if revealed would destroy the careers of many Cabinet Ministers of England. One of the Ministers, Pamer, asks the help of one of his friends, Santiago, to get the briefcase to him to safeguard his personal interests. The fight ensued between Sean Dillon and Santiago for the briefcase ends with the briefcase coming to the possession of Sean Dillon and the papers therein reveals the involvement of Mr Palmer in anti-national activities. Sean Dillon kills both Santiago and Pamer in the process and the briefcase reaches the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister finds his own uncle’s name also figuring in the secret papers and gets the secret papers destroyed on the plea that wrongs committed by parents should not transfer to sons. The fiction sheds light on corruption at highest political levels in contrast to the commitment of the professionals down the line to safeguard the interests of the country.

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CLOSING TIME

“Closing Time” is an interesting fiction authored by world-renowned writer, Joseph Heller of “Catch-22” fame. It is a story of a man called as John Yossarian, an old man always suspecting that he is under surveillance. He has got a friend called as Chaplain Albert T. Tappman, a chaplain who had served in the World War II, who is biologically producing heavy water, which in turn was producing the gas, Tritium. They have to see what else is coming out of Tappman. If it is Plutonium, it was very bad. If Lithium comes out of him, it could be catastrophic as it may cause the end of life on Earth as Lithium Deuteride is used to make the legendary H-Bomb. This would indeed be a big blow for the dubious M&M Enterprises who are trying to patent him and spending a lot of money to get it done. Then of course, is the President of the United States of America who has a tutor called as Noodles Cook and who loves to play video games. One day, he presses the button near his desk several times, which is popularly called in the United States of America as the Football. It launches all the Ballistic missiles and bombers and fighter planes into the air towards the Soviet Union. He does so without knowing what it is supposed to do. Yossarian and all his friends go underground to escape the onslaught of the Russians.

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CHIELRREN’S STORIES SMITH BROTHERS The Second World War caused the death of millions of young, brave people with promising futures. Even though the Allies won the war, it can be said that this war had no winners, only losers. Altogether, it is estimated that fifty million people lost their lives. Among these fifty million people, two brothers, Captain Bill Smith and Oberstadtfuhrer Roy Smith stand out. The father and mother of these two exceptionally good pilots had divorced at the time of the Great Depression. The mother had migrated to Germany and had taken the younger son, Roy Smith. The father stayed on in England with William Smith in his custody. William grew up to be a striking young man. Exceptionally intelligent and physically strong, he was one of a kind. His brother in Germany, Roy was made up of the same mould as his brother. When war broke out, both these men turned out to be prime examples of what their respective countries wanted to have in their armed forces. Roy and Bill had stayed in contact with each other for some time, but had later lost contact. Both of them were drafted to the air force of their respective countries. When the Battle of Britain started in 1941, both these two young men fought valiantly for their respective countries. They both grew up to be ace pilots and rose up the ranks very quickly. In a fight for life and death, the weak get cut down quickly. In 1944, when the Second World War was nearing its end, the Germans became more and more desperate. They often sent their soldiers and pilots to suicide missions hoping for miracles that just did not happen. Both these brothers had become legendary by that time. A mere sighting of these two youth’s aircrafts would result in the opposing sides not sending their pilots out.

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Bill Smith had by that time become a Group Captain and his brother Roy, an Oberstadtfuhrer, roughly equivalent to the rank of a Group Captain in the British Air force. The Germans were cutting off the vital supplies needed by the rapidly advancing British Army. Without these supplies, the British troops would be stranded without fuel and hampered with no food, water and other necessities. This would result in the Germans having more time to regroup and world result in the war being prolonged which would in turn result in more deaths, something which the British High Command was anxious to avoid. The man who was in command of the German fighter-bomber squadrons affecting such damage on the British was Roy Smith. He had become a talisman for the Germans. With him, they could not lose. The British High Command realized this. They sent squadrons upon squadrons of planes, but they all were annihilated. In the end, they entrusted this mission to their best pilot, Bill Smith. So, on a fateful evening in the winter of 1944, Captain Bill Smith took off from one of the dilapidated old airfields in Alsace, in France with a mission, to kill his own brother. However, he did not know that his opponent that evening was his brother. He only knows that his adversary that day was called as “Terror in the Air”. Roy, on the other hand had no inkling that anything special was going to happen that day. “Just another day killing Tommies”, he thought as he sat inside the cockpit. That evening, fourteen German Nighthawk bomber-fighters fought against twenty Lancaster fighter-bombers led by Bill Smith. Turmoil and carnage followed. The Germans and Britishers fought with equal enthusiasm and patriotism. In the end, only two planed were lest. One German and one British. Roy and Bill.

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Bill recognized his adversary and was determined to kill him. In an epic dogfight, they circled and traded shots only to see their opponent evade them. Their respect for their adversary grew. In the end, Roy saw a new squadron of British bombers approaching. While fleeing, he heard over the plane radio the words, “Well done, Captain Bill Smith”. He was so shocked that he was not able to complete the turn properly and while he was off-balance, his brother shot the engine away. However, they were so close to each other that the explosion that followed a split-second later took both of their lives. Just before they died, they were thinking of each other, one with sad irony and the other with anguish that he would never see his brother again.

GOPAL’S FRIENDS Gopal was a young man in king Krishnadevaraya’s court. He was a friend of a minister in the king’s court. He was a poor and foolish man. As he was foolish, he was practically a servant of the minister. The minister was very rich and owned lots of land. One day, the minister asked him to cut weeds of one of his fields. Gopal went to the field and attempted to pull off the weeds. While he was doing so, he was so busy that he did not see where he was going and slipped on a banana peel and fell down. When he was trying to get up, he again stepped on another banana peel and again fell down. Gopal was convinced that the banana peel was angry with him. So he went crawling forward for some distance and got up. He walked a few more steps and tripped on a grapevine; but this time, he fell on a patch of leaves and due to his weight, it gave way. When he got up, his jaw sagged open in astonishment. It was gold, lots and lots of gold!

Gopal took a few gold pieces and went

home. When he was going home, he bumped straight to the minister.

The gold

pieces fell out of his hand. The minister asked Gopal from where he got the gold.

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Gopal blabbered on about how he had got the gold. The minister was very happy, as all the gold in the field was his as the field belonged to him. He, as happy as he was, gave Gopal lots of money and also some land. Gopal was very happy. When the king heard of this, he honoured both Gopal as well as the minister and gave to Gopal all the gold Gopal had found in the field.

The

minister became red with anger; but his anger soon cooled down. Gopal became one of the richest men in the kingdom with all the gifts of the minister and the gold he had found. Soon, however, Gopal made worthless friends.

These useless friends

introduced him to a kind of alcoholic drink called as madhupana. They also introduced Gopal to gambling and other vices. Gopal, now used to go early in the morning to the city’s market place, and go to a pub and drink and gamble. started losing the wealth he had gained by luck.

He

His wife and mother tried to

dissuade him from going to the pub; but habits do not wear off easily.

Soon, like

many other rich people fallen to bad ways, Gopal became a poor person. His friend, the minister, tried to help the family; but all the money he gave them finally came to Gopal’s hands and he inevitably used it on gambling and alcoholic beverages. The family’s condition was deteriorating. However, it was soon to change.

Felicitas multos habet amicos. Gopal had lost almost all of his friends. Only one friend remained with him. He was a man called Raj. Raj had been a soldier in the army of king Krishnadevaraya; but he had lost his hands in one of the numerous battles fought by king Krishnadevaraya.

He had retired from the army

after being awarded a huge booty as reward. However, he too had squandered his money like Gopal on vices. He understood the position Gopal was in, as he too had been in the same state. He advised Gopal to give up drinking; but it fell on deaf ears. Gopal even though lost a lot of wealth, he had not shed his stupidity. He was a very stupid person and everyone he met took advantage of this fact. His mother

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tried to grind some sense to Gopal’s head, but always failed. Soon their condition was as it was before Gopal got the gold. They became very poor. His mother and wife soon started begging on the roadside. But, all the money they got was spent by Gopal on madhupana. Soon, Gopal’s mother died. Gopal had loved his mother a lot and the loss of his mother struck him hard. He resolved to give up his vices and start to work to earn some money. However, old habits die-hard. He got a job of cutting wood. The job earned him an amount of ten bronze coins every day. However, he spent the coins on alcohol as soon as he got it. He tried his level best to try and stop drinking. He started using different route for going home, so that he could not smell alcohol from the roadside pub. Soon, he stopped going to pub daily.

He then started going to pub only weekly and then

succeeded not go to the pub at all. His wife, who was a sensible woman, had taken over the charge of the finance of the house and had done her work superbly. Gopal also had got a new job in the king’s army with a little help from Raj and had risen to a high rank because of his hard work. Even though Gopal was a brave and foregoing warrior, he was only foolishly so. His wife, who was the daughter of a rich man, had some education while young and started teaching Gopal some of the things she had learnt. There was also an adult literacy programme and Gopal became a student there. So, Gopal became a learned man. He, soon, with the help of his wife, became a rich man. Gopal had learnt his lesson. He learnt not to entertain worthless friends who squandered his many. Gopal soon became known in his society as a man who was scholarly, generous and good to people. However, Gopal had one thing to tell all the people he met and that was to be wary of one’s friends and that one should study people for a long time before making friends, who if good, can become blessings whereas wrong people as friends are always curses and ruin one’s life.

Friendship is the beginning of many a relationship, That never fails in the turbulence of jerks and slips; Friendship is a sweet commitment, a true fairyland,

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Where people meet and play with sweet magic wand.

DINNER IN A FOREST

There was a dense forest. Singha, a lion was its King. An elephant, Gaja was his best friend. Singha lived in a cave in the middle of the forest. Gaja lived on the bank of a river in the forest. The friends met each other every day evening when the lion went to the river to drink water. One day, Singha invited Gaja for a dinner at his cave. It said to his friend, "My dear friend, you must attend the grand dinner in your honour”. Gaja happily accepted the invitation. The dinner was on a full-moon night. All the animals and birds of the forest were invited for the dinner. Singha beautifully decorated his cave with flowers and colours. A huge dining table was set in the middle of the cave. Fresh fruits, deliciously cooked vegetables and other tasty foods were laid on the dining table. A huge chair was placed at the head 01 the dining table for the chief guest. Singha waited outside the cave for his friend. Gaja wore its best suit and set out in time for the dinner. Singha saw his friend coming. It ran to receive his friend and said, "Welcome my friend. Everything is ready. Please, come inside". The elephant was very pleased by the welcome of its friend. It majestically walked towards the cave. It followed the lion to enter the cave. But, alas, the cave was too small for the giant body of the elephant. Gaja could not enter the cave.

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Singha was terribly upset. His grand dinner for his best friend had become a waste. All foods were carried outside from the cave for the elephant. Gaja ate them. But, it was not like a grand dinner. Later in the night, the king Singha called an assembly of its ministers. The assembly constituted a committee of a jackal and an owl to find out why the grand dinner of their king went wrong. The committee submitted a brief report of its finding in a day. The report stated that the grand dinner went wrong because the king failed to "think before act".

THE FISHERMAN It is a story from a European folklore about a fisherman whose greed destroyed him. There was an old fisherman. He was so old and sick that he could not go to sea for fishing. He caught a few fish in nearby rivers everyday and sold it in market for a living. He was very poor. One day he saw a huge divine bird with silvery feathers called "Kaha" alight near his hut. The bird felt kind to the old fisherman and said that it would bring a big fish every evening so that the fisherman need not go to fishing everyday. True to its words, the bird brought a big fish every evening to the fisherman. The fisherman sold the fish in market for huge money and became very rich in a short time with his own cottage and many servants. The king of the country lost his eyes and wanted blood of divine bird "Kaha" to wash his eyes to get his sight back. The king offered half of his kingdom and treasures for those who help him to catch the divine bird "Kaha". The fisherman heard this and decided to become richer. He told the king about Kaha and asked for soldiers to help him to catch the bird. The soldiers hid in the

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cottage of the fisherman. When Kaha arrived with a big fish next evening, the fisherman caught its one leg, called the hidden soldiers to help him. But Kaha was too smart for the fisherman and it flew to the sky with the ungrateful fisherman clutching to its leg. Nobody knew what happened to the fisherman later. There are two morals in this story.

1) Greed breeds greed, and leads to ruinous deeds. 2) Bad company makes life a sad symphony.

KING SHIBI One upon a time, there lived a king in Northern India. His name was King Shibi. He was a very pious man and looked after his people well. He was the best man in the whole world. Indra, the God of the Devatas began to feel jealous of him. He decided to test King Shibi with the help of Agni, the God of Fire. Indra transformed into a dove and Agni, the God of fire transformed into an eagle. The dove, Indra, went to Shibi’s palace and asked him to protect him from the eagle that pursued the dove wherever the dove flew. King Shibi asked the eagle what it wanted to leave off the dove. The eagle told the king that the king must give it his own flesh in equal measure to the flesh of the dove to leave the dove alone. King Shibi smiled and told one of his attendants to bring a pair of scales. He then cut off more and more flesh from his body and placed it on one of the scales after keeping the dove on the other. But, the scales did not balance and it went on for a long time. Agni and Indra pleased with the sacrifice of King Shibi blessed him and went to their abodes satisfied with his devotion for his subjects.

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STORY OF KIRTISENA There lived a very rich merchant. He had a daughter called as Kirtisena. She was a very nice woman and her father loved her more than anybody else. All loved her. She married a person from another country. He was called as Devasena. He was also a very nice person and he loved his wife. He was also a merchant. He used to go frequently on business trips. His stepmother did not like the choice of her son and did not like Kirtisena. She used to pull a brave face when her son was home for his sake but when he went on business trips, she used to give Kirtisena a lot of trouble. Kirtisena complained to her husband about it. Even though loved his wife, he kept quiet. In the next trip that the son went on, the stepmother bet Kirtisena and imprisoned her. She was given very little food. Kirtisena escaped the clutches of her stepmother and joined a group of travellers. The travellers while passing through a jungle, they were robbed and killed. Luckily, Kirtisena escaped by hiding in the hollow of a tree there. She wandered for some time there until she met a sadhu and then became his disciple. Kirtisena used to get up early in the morning and then used to go to the river to take bath. One day, as she stood on a cliff, she saw the Sun and saw that it was very grand. She then saw a rakshasi (demon) coming along with her children. Kirtisena ran away from the place and climbed a tree. The demon, unaware of Kirtisena’s presence, was talking to her children. She told them that she had gone to get them food but had not found any food. She described how she had gone to Lord Shiva and asked him to assist her to get food and that Shiva had asked her to go to a particular city, where the king of the city was suffering from a disease and would die soon and then they could eat the body of the king. The children asked her whether there was any way in which the king could be cured. The rakshasi told them that the king could be cured if his ears were tied to a

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bamboo stick with one end of the bamboo stick tied to a bowl. Kirtisena heard this and went to the city with a shepherd after the rakshasi left the place. Kirtisena reached the city and was very tired because of the long journey. She asked the palace guard to let her through as she had come to cure the king. She was let in through. The King writhing in pain informed Kirtisena that if she succeeded in curing him, he would give her half the Kingdom as reward. Kirtisena then did what she had heard from the rakshasi at the foot of a tree. The King was healed. As promised, Kirtisena was given half the Kingdom, heaps of gold coins and many elephants and horses. However, Kirtisena was waiting only for her husband and told the king to keep them with himself for the time being. One day, Kirtisena got the information that her husband, Devasena was passing through the Kingdom. She was very happy and met him. Devasena was surprised and immensely happy to see her there. It was a happy reunion. Kirtisena told her husband that she was thrown out of the house and asked the King to give half the Kingdom and the wealth to her husband. They lived happily ever thereafter.

THE JACKAL AND THE WAR DRUM Once upon a time, there lived a jackal in a forest. It had become very old. It had to catch food for living but this was impossible now because of its age. One day, while searching for some food, it came to a battlefield. There it was searching for food when it suddenly heard a loud noise. It tried to locate the source of the loud noise and saw a drum nearby. It was quite a foolish jackal and thought that the drum was strong and provides food matching its loudness and size. It went near the drum and banged it. A loud noise came. It tried to slash it open. But the drum was very tough and the jackal found it difficult to slash it open. He tried for some time. After some time, the drum opened.

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The jackal was very happy at this feat. It then peered inside the drum and saw nothing there except some leather that he certainly could not eat. It could not believe its own foolishness and walked away from the scene cursing its foolishness.

THE CRAB THAT KILLED THE STORK Once upon a time, there lived a stork in a pond. It was a very cunning stork. It killed the fishes that were abundant in the pond and ate them. However, as time passed, the stork became old and could not catch any more food. It thought hard for a way to catch the fishes present in the pond. After some time, it struck upon an idea. It walked along the bank of the pond and looked very sad. It told the fishes that it was very unhappy that some fishermen had seen them aplenty there and were planning to come there to catch them. It then told them that it knew a pond where they could go to live safely. The stork took the fishes one on each day, took it to a rock that was far away and killed it to eat in relish. One day, its victim was a young and strong crab. When the crab was put on the rock, it twisted the neck of the stork and killed it. It then returned to the pond and told the other fishes of this event. They all thanked the crab and the God for saving them from the evil designs of the stork. THE HARE WHICH TRICKED THE LION Once upon a time in a jungle, there lived a lion. It was a very bad lion and it used to kill lots of animals everyday. To survive the onslaught of the lion, the other animals told the lion that they would send one animal every day to the lion. The lion was very happy with this arrangement, as it would not have to hunt for its food everyday. It agreed to this arrangement. The animals used to choose the day’s animal by drawing lots.

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One day, it was the turn of a clever rabbit. The rabbit was brooding near a well on this bad turn of event. It saw its reflection on the water of the well and this gave it an idea. It went to the lion late and told it that it was late only because another lion had chased it and claimed to be the king of the forest and not him and challenged it to a battle. This made the lion very angry and it told the rabbit not to feel afraid and asked to lead it to the place where the other lion was present. The lion on seeing its reflection on the water of the well roared loudly three times and jumped to the well to attack the other lion and met a watery end there.

THE MISTAKE OF THE BEDBUG Once upon a time, there lived a king. In the bed of the king lived a bedbug. The bedbug was the head of a very big family and was very proud of it. It used to wait everyday till the king came to sleep and was fully asleep and only then used to attack him, and all its family used to follow only after the head finished sucking the blood. One day, the head saw an insect. The insect was also a bloodsucking insect. The insect told the bedbug its very sad story. The insect it seemed was living in a servant’s camp. There, it could only suck the blood of the servants and their blood was very salty. It did not like the blood but it had to be contented with the blood to survive and so it did so. One day, it heard the comments of the servants on the king that he ate delicious food. It was then filled with a sense of longing for the king’s blood and had thus come there to suck the blood of the king. The bedbug felt very sad on hearing this story and gave permission to the insect to suck the blood of the king. However, the insect sucked too early and the king awakened became very angry. The insect was able to escape but the furious king killed the bedbug with its family.

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THE FLUTE OF ENGTA “The Flute of Engta” is a story written by a writer called Poornachandra Tejaswi. Poornachandra Tejaswi lived in the state of Karnataka in India and son of Kuvenpu, renowned poet and Kannada scholar of the 20th century.

It is a story

about a person called Engta, a snake charmer, who lived by charming snakes and earned his livelihood. Flute was a musical instrument he used to charm and catch snakes. The story is in first person as the interactions of the writer with the snake charmer. Engta was always after money. The first time Poornachandra Tejaswi saw him was while Engta was lying close to the dead body of his wife. He claimed that somebody had killed his wife. Nobody there believed him. They thought that scores of snakes Engta had collected in his house should have killed his wife or he would have killed her for reasons unknown. They however gave him money to bury the dead body all the same. Poornachandra Tejaswi also gave him some money. After a few days of the incident, Engta game to the house of the author and told him that he would catch snakes in and around the author’s house. The author was sceptical about this and thought that Engta was a fake as seeds of doubt had crept to the mind of the author after he had seen Engta lying by the side of his dead wife. However, the author was wrong and Engta caught many snakes that day. The astonished author told this incident to his friends. The author thought of various ways by which Engta might have faked the capture of the snakes. He decided that he along with his servants, Mara and Pyara would watch Engta while he was catching snakes next time and see whether he was playing any tricks. The author found no such tricks played by Engta and paid him five rupees for his services. After a few days, the author met Engta again. The author had still not learnt by his mistakes and told Engta to catch snakes while he would be taking pictures. Engta refused the offer and told the author a story of how he had nearly died while someone had taken a picture of him catching snakes. Actually, Engta feared that his tricks would be out if he catches snakes while the author was taking photos and evaded the offer.

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MANITOR This is a small story providing a serene slice of the rural life of India. One day, an author was resting in his estate. The sky was dark and the author was reading a book in the light of a lamp. Somewhere deep in his estate, his dog, Kiwi was barking. He did not know why Kiwi was barking. However, he wanted to know why Kiwi was barking, as by experience, he had learnt never to ignore dogs. He went to the edge of his estate. He quickly weighed his options. His torch was not working well and he had to hit it on something every time it went out so that the light would come again. His wife came out of the house and asked him what he was doing. He told her that he wanted to see why Kiwi was barking and tie it inside the house. He took a stick with him so that he could hit Kiwi for being a bad dog. He went to the forest with his torch and stick. He also followed Kiwi’s barking so that he might find it. Finally, he came near to the noise. Suddenly, he heard a loud hiss. He was very scared as he thought that Kiwi was fighting with a snake. He wished that he had brought his gun. He however, went bravely nearby and saw Kiwi dragging some thing. He found out that it was a lizard. He saw the battle between the dog and the lizard for some time. The dog was trying to pull the lizard with its teeth. The lizard was looking back and was hissing. The author thinking that the lizard can be useful for him captured it and brought is to his house where he tied it with a rope in his house, and named it as Manitor. It became his good friend in course of time.

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LIFE AND POETRY

Life and poetry aemule each other: they are different forms of the same process with sensibilities functioning as the umbilical chord between them. The realities of life intenerate to incony imageries and pleasing expressions when pass through the creative being of a poet and spawn a new world of delightful experience. In this sense, poetry is life: poetry is poetic experience of the life, and poetry is the spirit of life in its transcendent form. It reflects life not only in form, but also in spirit and soul. A good poetry soars with lurking nuances of suggestive meanings beneath the outer form, opens up new worlds of meaning every time it is read. Only a sensitive, imaginative and resourceful mind can fully comprehend all the finer aspects of poetry. A great reader, in this sense, makes poetry, great. Poetry sans a good reader is as dumb as a wild flower. This is why poetry needs good readership. The great poet Robert Frost while talking about poetry said that poetry ‘takes life by the throat’. Poetry is the art of capturing life in words. It is not just the ken of life, but also a direct realization of the life.

It is an exercise of subconscious, concinnous

interpretations of the life that intensely surface through the conscious awareness. Ergo, readers must experience poems through subconscious exercises to capture the intensity of the life, warming up in poetry. No conscious nisus and analyses can lead one anywhere in fully realizing the inner arcane treasure of beauty and meanings hidden in the poetry. Nor any other person can do the work for a reader of poetry. Appreciation of poetry involves the reader tuning his subconscious perceptions to receive the poet’s subconscious signals through the juste-milieu of the poetry.

A poet can transmit his

experience of shock of pleasure or grief directly to his reader sans its conscious awareness in both. The incantation is cast through the selection and articulation of words, not only in their word meanings, but also in the synergy of word rhythms, word music, word pictures, word forms and oblique word hues and shades in the poetry. No conscious efforts can do the magic either in writing poetry or in appreciating it to the level of a well-

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trained subconscious exercise in the unknown horizons of the mind. conscious exercises of poetic criticism are for this reason, badly limited. Though poetry is about what affected the poet most intensely, it is possible that he may not algate be consciously aware of all meanings and their oblique hues in his poem although his subconscious mind exercised on all aspects of the poetry in its parts and in its entirety. The poet, T.S. Eliot was once asked by a student to explain the meaning of one of his poems. The great poet responded to the student by reading the poem and said no more. The same student made the request encore to which T.S. Eliot read the poem encore and fell silent, ipso facto delivering the vital message of a true poetry that poetry cannot be restated in a form other than more suo without poetic distortions. The raison d’etre of poetry is the pleasure of the shocks of discovery about the life.

It is the fraicheur of thoughts in poetry that

endears it to its readers; it is the intensity, the undivided attention with which the poet experiences the deja vu that warms up the poetry to its readers; it is the concentration of thought and feelings which brood to beauty and rich shades of meaning in poetry. The art of writing poetry is the process of gradual release of the shocks of coalesced thought and feelings in relaxed contemplative leisure of a reflective mood.

Those who attempt the release through

the carefully chosen language are poets and their expressions, poetry. The development of poetic impulses helps such releases to be streamlined to carefully chosen language as an assuetude to prevent wastes by dissipation. The true pleasure of reading poetry is in having an arcane peek to the subtle unknown horizons of the poet’s mind, thought and personality.

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INDEX

A AAM 6 Abdul 112, 125 Abkhazia 39, 40 Aborigines 98 Adam 117 Administration 12, 14, 27, 46, 119 Advani 5, 134 Afghan 42, 63 Afghanistan 26, 32, 38, 67, 68, 69, 70, 108, 134 Africa 7, 23, 24, 38, 64, 88, 90, 97, 98, 101, 138 African 32, 94 Afro-american 38 Agni 155 Agriculture 20, 21, 120 Ahmedenijad 52 Aiadmk 5 Al-qaeda 32, 36, 37, 56, 57, 68, 69, 70, 134 Albert 82, 147 Aldrin 75 Alsace 60, 149 Ambani 136 America 10, 12, 13, 17, 23, 27, 30, 32, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 62, 63, 64, 65, 68, 69, 70, 72, 74, 75, 76, 77, 81, 87, 88, 99, 107, 122, 124, 126, 127, 136, 138, 147 American 12, 27, 33, 65, 123, 134 Americans 61 Ammunition 130 Amritsar 128, 129, 130, 131 Andaman 1, 94 Andhra 94, 122 Androecium 102 Anglo-India 131 Animalcules 92 Anmam 126 Anthers 102

Anthrax 92 Anthropogenic 86 Anti-flu 100 Anti-national 146 Anti-semitism 60 Anti-social 4 Antibiotics 93, 99 Apollo 75 Apostle 105, 109 Arab 35, 55, 56, 63 Arabia 35, 56 Arabian 35, 55 Arbitrates 51 Archaeologists 80 Architecture 59 Arunachal 35, 44, 64 Ashton 131 Asia 1, 3, 32, 34, 35, 39, 41, 44, 48, 49, 51, 58, 59, 68, 88, 93, 94, 96, 99, 101, 126, 132, 138 Asian 23, 32, 45, 124, 125, 126 Astronomer 77, 82 Astronomers 78 Astronomy 74, 82 Atherosclerosis 131 Atmosphere 76, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88 Atmospheric 87 Atoms 71 Attitude 12, 19, 24, 56, 90, 111, 131 Australia 7, 11, 34, 35, 86, 98, 124 Australian 123 Austria 60 Austrian 60 Avada 145 Avatar 4 Aviation 139 Ayatollah 51, 52 Azahari 135 Azkaban 144, 145

B Babri 6 Bacteria 92, 93, 98, 116 Bahini 30 Bahrain 56

Baisakhi 130 Bali 135 Ballistic 147 Baluch 129 Bangalore 14, 132, 133 Bangla 30 Bangladesh 10, 24, 25, 30, 85, 94 Basaveshwara 103, 104 Batf 133 Bathra 127 Battle-royale 139 Bbc 53 Belgaum 14, 15 Bengal 4, 128, 130 Bhagat 68 Bharata 125 Bhatra 127 Bhushan 132 Bijjala 104 Biomass 73 Biped 91 Bipolar 23 Bisexuals 8, 9 Bishop 128, 132 BJP 5, 6, 134 Blitzkrieg 61 Blockade 49, 128 Bloodshed 13, 133 Bloodsucking 159 Bojaxhiu 124 Bomb 58, 71, 135 Bombardment 61 Bombay 132 Bombs 36, 48, 58, 68, 69, 70, 71, 135 Bormann 146 Botulinum 93 Braille 107, 126 Bristol 131 Britain 11, 51, 52, 53, 54, 57, 61, 127, 134, 135, 146, 148 British 3, 9, 25, 44, 52, 53, 61, 68, 90, 109, 124, 127, 128, 129, 131, 133, 149, 150 Bronze 152 Brotherhood 67 Buddha 103 Buddhism 3 Buddhist 3, 27 Budget 16, 17

Bureaucracy 14, 30 Burma 58, 94, 95 Burmese 128 Byzantine 124

C Cabinet 126, 133, 146 Cadres 6, 28 Cairo 54 Calamity 96 Calyx 102 Cambridge 118 Canada 56 Cancer 98, 101 Capitalism 16 Capitalist 63 Captain 127, 128, 148, 149, 150 Carbon 81, 84, 85, 86, 87 Carbonates 77 Caste 8, 133 Castes 1, 8 Catholic 124 Caucasus 39 Ceasefire 62 Ceratopsia 91 Ceratopsians 91 Chandra 9 Chandrika 96, 97 Chaplain 147 Chechen 67 Chechnya 67 China 1, 11, 13, 17, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, 34, 35, 36, 39, 40, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 49, 50, 52, 54, 59, 64, 65, 67, 68, 72, 74, 75, 87, 94, 99, 138 Chinese 26, 27, 35, 44, 46, 47, 122, 125 Chitral 128 Chou-en-lai 44 Christ 103, 104 Church 125 Churchill 127 Civilization 115 Climate 29, 66, 67, 85, 86, 87 Climates 21

Cloning 81 Clostridium 93 Coalition 26, 56, 57 Commonwealth 124 Communism 34, 46 Communist 4, 5, 43, 44, 45, 46, 49, 50, 63, 67 Constitution 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 26 Constitutionally 51 Consumption 101 Corolla 102 Cultural 2, 38, 45, 130 Culture 1, 6, 25, 27, 65, 114, 115, 137 Cultures 137 Czechoslovakia 60, 61

D Danzig 61 Defence 13, 26, 29, 30, 31, 35, 42, 43, 50, 70 Definition 22, 78, 85 Delhi 1, 32 Demilitarization 31 Democracy 3, 26, 50, 133 Democratic 3, 5, 25, 75 Demography 46, 133 Demonstration 20 Demonstrations 9, 54 Dharwad 132 Diesel 73 Dinosaur 91 Dinosaurs 91, 92 Dioxide 84, 85, 86, 87 Diplomacy 9, 25, 63, 64 Diplomats 53 Discipline 5, 6, 19 Diu 1 DMK 4 DNA 81 Doctrine 67, 104 Draco 144, 145 Dravida 4 Dravidian 1, 5 Drought-resistant 21 Drug-addiction 140

Dumbledore 144 Dykes 86 Dynasties 68

E Earthquake 32, 94, 95, 97 Earthquakes 15, 95, 97 Eastern 24, 29, 34, 39, 59, 61 Ecological 139, 143 Economic 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23, 32, 35, 36, 43, 44, 46, 47, 56, 64, 65, 66, 67, 70, 72, 99, 114, 119, 120, 126, 132, 138, 140 Economics 44, 47, 114, 136, 138 Economies 67, 72, 87, 88 Economy 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 23, 32, 43, 47, 65, 72, 88, 99, 109, 120, 138, 140, 141 Einstein 82 Eisenhower 67 Election 2, 4, 5, 26, 52, 53, 54 Elections 4, 25, 51, 52, 54 Electoral 4, 51 Electricity 49, 50, 120 Electronic 113 Electronics 121 Emergencies 15 Empire 124, 128 Empires 124 England 10, 66, 81, 82, 84, 124, 145, 146, 148 English 122, 123, 130, 131, 133 Environment 21, 78, 80, 84, 86, 113, 133, 140, 142 Environmental 86 Epic 105, 150 Epicentre 94, 96 Epidemic 98, 99, 100 Ethnic 1, 2, 5, 46, 49 Ethnicities 1 Eurasia 39 Euro 65 Europe 39, 60, 64, 65, 66, 93, 99, 101, 123, 138 European 11, 34, 39, 61, 64, 65, 66,

67, 74, 84, 86, 138, 154 Europeans 129 Explosion 63, 140, 150 Extinction 88, 89, 90 Extradition 135

F Farmers 20, 21 Federation 125 Ferguson 146 Fertilizers 21 Fighter-bomber 149 Financial 16, 18, 32, 34, 55, 75, 137, 138 Finland 10 Fiscal 16 Floresiences 80 Folklore 154 Forbes 132 Fossils 92 Foundations 11, 82 France 60, 61, 66, 130, 149 Freedom 24, 68, 109, 124, 134 French 61, 105, 122 Fundamentalism 36

G Gaja 153, 154 Gandhi 4, 6, 9, 30, 103, 104, 106, 133 Gandhian 109 Gandhiji 105, 109 Gangadhar 4 Gauthama 103 Geological 95 Geometry 83 Georgia 39, 40 Georgian 39, 40 German 60, 149 Germany 11, 60, 61, 66, 93, 130, 138, 146, 148 GHG 65

Glasgow 134 Globalisation 3 Globalization 133 Goa 1 Gonxha 124 Gopalakrishnan 132 Gorbachev 39 Gordon 53 Gorkhas 25 Greenhouse 65, 84, 85, 86 Gryffindor 144 Guotanamo 38 Gurkha 129 Gurkhas 129 Gynoecium 102

H H-bomb 147 Haemorrhage 131 Hagrid 144, 145 Halloween 144 Harijan 109 Harry 121, 125, 128, 144, 145 Hegemony 3, 24, 29, 36, 68, 69 Helen 107, 126, 127 Heller 147 Hemisphere 53 Herculean 123 Hermione 144, 145 Hexafluoride 86 Himalayan 25, 32 Himalayas 32 Hinduism 3, 6, 117 Hindus 133 Hiroshima 43, 58, 61, 71 Hitler 60, 61, 103, 146 Hitler’s 60 Hogwarts 144 Holmes 135 Homeland 133 Hufflepuff 144 Humanity 71, 104, 124, 125 Hussain 55, 56, 57, 103 Hussein 56, 57 Hydrocarbons 77

Hydroelectric 73 Hydrofluorocarbons 86 Hypotenuse 83

I Iceland 86 Ideological 133, 137, 138 Ideology 4, 46 IIMs 10, 110 IIT-JEE 110 IITs 10, 11, 12, 110 ILL 61 India 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35, 45, 47, 62, 63, 64, 68, 69, 71, 72, 74, 75, 76, 78, 87, 88, 90, 94, 95, 100, 104, 109, 110, 112, 122, 123, 124, 125, 127, 128, 131, 133, 134, 136, 148, 155, 160, 161 India-Brazil-South Africa 23, 64 India-Chinese 26 Indian 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35, 44, 62, 64, 94, 95, 103, 118, 123, 125, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134 Indians 6, 18, 128, 129, 131 Indira 30, 94 Indo-pak 64 Indonesia 80, 94, 95, 96, 97, 135 Indra 155 Industries 14, 17, 35, 49, 84, 93, 142 Industry 16, 75, 93, 109, 120, 141 Influenza 99, 100 Infrastructure 16, 69, 120, 133 Institution 15, 63, 140, 146 Insurgency 57 Integrity 31, 105 Intelligence 15, 37, 41, 70, 106 International 11, 12, 27, 28, 44, 49, 64, 84, 86, 100, 113, 136, 137, 140, 141 Iran 36, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 58, 71, 127 Iran-Iraq 55

Iranian 51, 52, 53, 54, 55 Iraq 26, 35, 36, 38, 51, 55, 56, 57, 59, 63, 67, 108 Iraq-iran 55 Iraqi 56, 57 Ireland 124 Irish 68 Isaac 82 ISI 24, 30, 69, 70 Islam 67, 69, 117, 141 Islamabad 32 Islamic 3, 28, 36, 51, 55, 56, 67, 68, 69 Islamist 55 Israel 12, 35, 51, 69 Italian 113 Italy 11, 12, 45, 61, 66, 87, 93

J Jackal 154, 157, 158 Jain 3 Jainism 3 Jallianwala 128, 129, 130 Jallianwalla 129 James 145 Jamrud 129 Japan 10, 26, 27, 34, 35, 36, 40, 43, 44, 45, 48, 49, 58, 59, 61, 71, 72, 86, 87 Japanese 43, 59, 61, 95 Jawaharlal 4, 9, 10, 16, 44, 62, 63, 134 Jayalalitha 122 Jehadis 30 Jesus 103, 104 Jewish 35 Jews 60 Jinnah 28, 133, 134 Jintao 46 John 74, 82, 147 Johnson 38 Joseph 147 Joshi 5 Jupiter 78 Justice 7, 38, 96, 118, 119, 131

K Kaffirs 69 Kaha 154, 155 Kalam 112 Kalinga 109 Kalyana 104 Kannada 15, 160 Kanyakumari 94 Karachi 32 Kargil 30, 108, 134 Karl 37 Karnataka 14, 132, 160 Kashmir 29, 31, 32, 62, 64 Kashmiri 31, 32 Kauravas 63, 104 Kazagam 4 Kedavra 145 Keller 107, 126, 127 Kennedy 74 Kenya 94 Kerala 4, 94 Khomeini 51, 52 Khukris 129 Kipling 115 Kirtisena 156, 157 Kissinger 30 Kitchlew 129 Kiwi 161 Kolkata 124, 125 Korea 11, 12, 36, 43, 44, 45, 48, 49, 50, 51, 58, 71, 81, 126 Korean 48, 49, 50, 63 Koreans 49, 50 Kosovo 67 Krakatau 97 Kris 132 Krishna 5 Krishnadevaraya 151 Kuan 125, 126 Kucha 129 Kumaratunga 96, 97 Kurrichhan 129 Kuvenpu 160 Kuwait 55, 56 Kyoto 65, 84, 86, 87

L Laboratory 81 Labour 43, 133, 141 Ladakh 29 Lahore 130 Laika 74 Laissez-aller 138 Laissez-faire 141 Lancaster 149 Lanka 27, 28, 68, 94, 95, 96 Lankan 27, 28 Law-breakers 14 Law-enforcement 117 Laws 8, 82, 118 Leeuvenhoek 92 Left-wing 5 Legendary 121, 135, 147, 148 Liberalization 6, 17 Licensing 14 Life-styles 6 Lifelines 115 Lifestyles 141 Literature 116, 141, 144 Lithium 147 Lizard 161 London 134 Lula 22 L’aquila 12

M Machiavellian 68 Machine 130 Machinery 141 Madhupana 151, 152 Mahabharata 62, 105 Mahabharatha 103, 104 Maharashtra 15 Mahatma 9, 103, 104, 105, 106, 109, 133 Mahinda 28 Mahsud 128

Majority 3, 14, 15, 25, 46, 52, 55, 64, 65, 67, 93, 110, 125, 133 Malay 125 Malaysia 94, 125 Management 95, 117 Manitor 161 Manmohan 5, 31 Manohar 5 Maoist 25, 26 Maoist-led 26 Maoists 25, 26 Mara 160 Marathi 14 Marathi-speaking 15 Marcella 129, 131 Marco 45 Mars 74, 78 Marseille 77 Marshal 63 Martin 146 Marxist 4, 5 Masjid 6 Massacre 128, 129, 130, 131 Mayawati 7 Mcgonagall 144 Mechanism 31, 70, 89, 143 Medvedev 40, 41 Megawatts 49 Melinda 98 Mercury 78 Meteorological 20 Methane 86 Metropolitan 92 Mexico 99 Michael 38, 129 Microorganisms 92 Microsoft 98, 121 Midleton 128 Minerva 132 Missionaries 125 Modernisation 3 Mohammed 28, 67, 133, 134 Mohan 132 Monarchy 26 Monsoon 20, 21 Mortalities 28 Mortality 116 Mousavi 52, 53, 54 Multi-national 142

Mumbai 15, 31 Munich 60, 61 Munnetra 4 Murthy 132 Musharaff 30, 31, 134 Muslim 3, 38, 51, 65, 67, 125, 129 Muslims 3, 28, 46, 69, 133 Mutiny 129 Mythology 103

N Nagasaki 43, 58, 61, 71 Nandan 132, 133 Narayana 132 NASA 75, 77 Nasser 63 National 4, 5, 16, 29, 44, 60, 64, 77, 81, 86, 90, 99, 100, 112, 113, 115, 120, 133, 137, 138 Nationhood 67, 138 Naval 27, 94 Nawab 134 Naxalism 69 NDA 5 Nehru 4, 9, 10, 16, 44, 62, 63, 134 Nepal 25, 26 Nepalese 25 Neptune 78 Netherlands 86 Network 9, 41, 120 Networks 115 Neutral 30 Neutrality 16 Neutron 71 Neutrons 71 Newtonian 82 Nighthawk 149 Nilekani 132, 133 Nintendo 121 Nitrogen 92 Nitrous 86 Nobel 118, 125 Non-aggression 61 Non-aligned 16, 23, 63 Non-alignment 63

Non-arab 51, 55 Non-cooperation 56 Non-democratic 26 Non-maoist 26 Non-proliferation 12, 13, 58, 71 Non-violence 109 Non-violent 68, 129 Norman 115 Normandy 61 North 12, 13, 14, 32, 36, 39, 48, 49, 50, 51, 58, 69, 71, 81, 89, 97, 138 Northeast 32, 95 Northeastern 13 Northern 26, 29, 44, 155 NPT 12 NREG 16 NSG 12, 27 Nuclear 1, 5, 12, 23, 27, 31, 36, 41, 43, 48, 49, 50, 51, 54, 58, 59, 61, 64, 70, 71, 79, 139, 143 Nutritious 139

O Obama 40, 41, 49, 52, 53, 54, 57, 87 Oberstadtfuhrer 148, 149 Oceans 85, 95 Oil-rich 139 Oman 56 Oppression 46 Ornithopods 91 Osama 37 Ossetia 39, 40 Ossetian 39 Oxide 86

P Pacific 36, 48, 59 Padma 132 Pakistan 10, 11, 12, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 36, 38, 51, 62, 64, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 90, 128, 133, 134

Pakistan-afghanistan 37, 134 Pakistani 24 Pakistanis 32 Palestine 51, 69 Palmer 146 Pamer 146 Pandavas 63, 104 Pangolin 89 Parapsychology 141 Parliament 7, 53 Particles 77 Pastor 117 Pathans 129 Patriotism 5, 6, 44, 149 Peace 7, 13, 26, 27, 28, 29, 34, 36, 49, 52, 62, 63, 67, 96, 103, 104, 105, 108, 109, 119, 125, 130, 131, 139, 140, 141 Perfluorocarbons 86 Persecution 7 Persian 51, 55 Pervez 30, 31, 134 Petroleum 55, 73 Pettigrew 145 Plague 99 Plame 37 Plutonium 147 Poet 160, 162, 163 Poetry 162, 163 Poets 102, 163 Polar 84, 85, 89, 90 Police 13, 115, 116, 135, 136 Policemen 14 Policies 18, 35, 39, 46, 133 Policy 2, 3, 35, 41, 52, 65, 68, 70, 87, 105, 134 Political 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 24, 26, 27, 30, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 51, 55, 56, 60, 62, 64, 65, 66, 68, 75, 114, 116, 117, 129, 137, 139, 146 Politician 16 Politicians 2, 114 Politics 4, 16, 23, 24, 36, 39, 40, 60, 63, 66, 67, 69, 114, 116, 133, 134, 137, 139 Poll 82 Pollutants 87, 88 Polluting 79 Pollution 21

Poornachandra 160 Population 1, 3, 10, 14, 15, 17, 21, 22, 28, 32, 43, 45, 57, 58, 85, 90, 93, 129, 133, 140, 141, 143 Post-election 53 Post-revolution 55 Postal 13 Posts 137 Poverty 22, 32, 63, 69, 140 Prabhakaran 27 Prathap 68 Pratheek 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47, 49, 51, 53, 55, 57, 59, 61, 63, 65, 67, 69, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, 83, 85, 87, 89, 91, 93, 95, 97, 99, 101, 103, 105, 107, 109, 111, 113, 115, 117, 119, 121, 123, 125, 127, 129, 131, 133, 135, 137, 139, 141, 143, 145, 147, 149, 151, 153, 155, 157, 159, 161, 163 Praveen 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47, 49, 51, 53, 55, 57, 59, 61, 63, 65, 67, 69, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, 83, 85, 87, 89, 91, 93, 95, 97, 99, 101, 103, 105, 107, 109, 111, 113, 115, 117, 119, 121, 123, 125, 127, 129, 131, 133, 135, 137, 139, 141, 143, 145, 147, 149, 151, 153, 155, 157, 159, 161, 163 Prehistoric 32 Principle 64, 89, 109 Principles 2, 109 Privatization 17 Proactive 36 Professionals 114, 146 Proliferation 51, 58, 141 Propaganda 2, 73 Prosperity 36, 66, 119, 138, 140 Protest 46 Protests 18, 52 Protocol 65, 84, 86, 87 Protozoa 116 Provincial 2 Prussia 61 Punjab 129 Punjabis 128, 130 Putin 40, 41

Putsch 60 Pyara 160

Q Qaeda 48 Qatar 56 Quadrupeds 91 Quake 32 Quakes 94

R Radiation 58 Radiations 114 Radical 69 Rajapakshe 28 Rajasthan 1 Rakshasi 156, 157 Rama 104 Ramachandran 16, 122 Ramarao 122 Ramayana 103, 104 Rampasasa 80 Rana 68 Ratan 136 Ravana 103, 104 Reactors 12 Reagan 122 Rebellion 25, 52 Recession 18, 19, 47, 72 Refugee 28 Refugees 24, 28, 85 Rehman 125 Reichsleiter 146 Reichstag 60 Reptiles 91 Republic 3, 6, 9, 26, 28, 51, 55, 63, 125, 126 Republican 56 Republics 3 Research 11, 73, 74, 120, 121, 139, 140, 141

Researches 75, 102 Resettlement 28, 86 Resources 21, 29, 32, 35, 68, 95, 125, 126, 140 Restoration 59 Reunion 157 Revolution 55, 73, 79, 81 Revolutions 82, 123 Right-wing 5 Rivalries 65, 66 Road-network 115 Robot-aircraft 38 Robot-aircrafts 38 Romanticism 141 Roosevelt 127 Rudyard 115 Russia 23, 24, 34, 39, 40, 41, 42, 44, 45, 46, 49, 51, 52, 54, 58, 64, 67, 68, 75, 86, 87, 90, 127, 139 Russia-us 40 Russian 40, 74

S Sabotaged 54 Saddam 55, 56, 57, 103 Sadhu 156 Salivan 126 Samajwadi 4 Samuel 110 Sandhurst 128 Sanskrit 122, 123 Santiago 146 Satan 53, 104 Satellite 46, 47, 74 Satellites 79 Satyapal 129 Saudi 35, 56 Saurashtra 18 Sauropods 91 SBI 18 Science 70, 71, 74, 78, 81, 82, 110, 114 Scientific 64, 74, 76, 80, 89, 112, 139, 141 Scientists 21, 71, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79,

80, 81, 100, 114 Scotland 134, 135 Scriptures 3 Sean 146 Secularism 2, 3 Security 11, 21, 28, 31, 36, 48, 52, 56, 57, 62, 63, 127, 133, 135, 140, 141 Sedition 130 Self-governance 31 Self-regulating 143 Self-sufficiency 138 Self-sufficient 109 Self-sustaining 143 Sensibilities 71, 162 Sensitized 31 Shakespeare 82 Sheriff 134 Sherwood 129, 131 Shia 51 Shibi 155 Shibi’s 155 Shiite 51, 55, 57 Shimla 128 Shiva 156 Siachin 29, 31 Siberian 90 Sikh 3, 130 Sikhism 3 Sikhs 129 Silicates 77 Silicon 14 Silva 22 Sindh 129 Singapore 11, 45, 125, 126 Singaporean 125 Singh 5, 31, 68 Singha 153, 154 Sirius 145 Slytherin 144 Socialism 16 Socialist 3, 60, 133 Sociologists 8 Somalia 94 Sonia 6 South-east 94, 138 Southeast 96 Southern 5, 16, 26, 32, 94 Sovereign 3, 31, 125 Soviet 30, 34, 39, 46, 61, 63, 64, 68,

69, 74, 75, 127, 147 Spacecraft 75, 77 Spacecrafts 76 Sputnik 74 Stardust 77 Starvation 101 Statesman 126 Strategic 25, 29, 34 Strategies 70 Strategy 56 Structure 30, 72, 85, 137 Structures 102 Subcontinent 10, 133, 134 Sudhachandran 107 Sulfides 77 Sulphur 86 Sumatra 59, 95, 97 Superconductors 139 Superpower 39, 124 Superpowers 63, 137 Supremacy 5, 23, 34, 138 Surveillance 147 Sweden 66, 67 Symphony 155 Symptoms 67, 112 Synergy 78, 162 Syria 36, 51

T Tactic 121 Tactical 55, 62 Taiwan 44, 45, 49, 126 Talent 106 Taliban 31, 32, 33, 68, 69, 70, 134 Tamil 16, 28, 94, 96 Tamilnadu 122 Tanzania 94 Tappman 147 Tax 16, 17, 142 Taxes 16, 141 Taxing 17 Technique 81 Technological 74, 89, 140 Technologies 36, 70, 79, 132 Technology 36, 43, 48, 51, 73, 74, 75,

76, 102, 108, 121, 132, 133 Tectonic 59, 95 Tehran 52, 54, 127 Tejaswi 160 Telecast 95 Temperature 85, 139 Tendencies 19 Tendency 141, 142 Teresa 124, 125 Terrains 38 Territories 1, 2, 4, 17, 24, 37, 38, 40 Territory 1, 4, 42, 60 Terrorise 68 Terrorism 28, 30, 31, 36, 68, 69, 140 Terrorist 15, 24, 48, 68, 69, 96, 135 Terrorists 25, 37, 68, 69, 71, 134, 135, 146 Tetanus 92 Teutonic 60 Thailand 94 Thal 129 Theodore 127 Theropods 91 Think-tank 38 Tianamen 46 Tibetan 46 Tidal 73 Tide 72 Tilak 4 Tito 63 Tommies 149 Tortures 38 Traditional 55, 78 Traffic 79, 115, 116, 117 Traffics 116 Transcendent 162 Transformation 43 Tremors 32, 97 Tribals 70, 90 Tribe 13 Tribes 13, 14, 21, 98 Trinamool 4 Tripura 4 Tritium 147 Triumvirates 63 Tskhinvali 39 Tsunami 15, 32, 94, 95, 96, 97 Tsunami-hit 38, 96 Tsunami-struck 96

Tsunamis 95, 97 Tunku 125 Tuscumbia 126 Tutsi 98 Tyrannosaurus 91, 92 Uighar 46

U UK 56 ULFA 69 Uncivilised 70 Unconventional 73, 78, 139 Underdeveloped 125 Undeveloped 23 Unemployment 68, 69 Universal 137, 138, 139, 141 Universities 10, 111 University 11, 110, 111, 118 Untouchability 8 Untouchables 8 UPA 5, 18 Uranus 78 Urdu 130 Urumqi 46 Us 40, 66, 95, 105, 106, 113, 132, 137 Us-russia 40 USA 5, 11, 12, 23, 24, 31, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 41, 43, 51, 52, 61, 84, 95, 139 USA-USSR 74 USSR 34, 39, 50, 63, 67 Utilisation 59 Utility 104, 115

V Vajpayee 5, 6 Valour 90 Value 17, 89 Values 6, 8, 103, 121 Vedic 3 Vengeance 8, 21

Verboten 8 Versatile 14 Version 46, 76, 100 Verupillai 27 Victories 32 Victory 9, 28, 32, 56, 124 Vietnam 38, 63, 85 Vigil 14 Village 72, 99, 123 Violation 14, 36, 116 Virology 100 Virtue 103, 116 Virtues 103 Virus 98, 100 Viruses 116 Volcanic 95, 97 Volcano 97 Volcanoes 97 Voldemort 144, 145 Vulnerabilities 58

W Wages 43 Waiver 27 Wal-mart 136 Walkman 120 War 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 48, 49, 50, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 70, 71, 74, 75, 100, 108, 109, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 134, 142, 147, 148, 149, 157 Warfare 38, 56, 61 Warheads 23, 58 Warming 85, 86, 162 Warning 95, 130 Warnings 48 Warring 28, 63 Wars 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 38, 39, 55, 62, 63, 64, 68, 70, 108, 121, 140 Warsaw 138 Washington 106, 124 Wasteland 29 Water-born 80 Weapon 58, 70

Weapons 13, 36, 41, 42, 43, 48, 50, 51, 56, 58, 68, 69, 70, 71 Welfare 25, 119 Western 11, 24, 29, 30, 39, 40, 41, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 55, 84 Westernised 45 Westminster 131 Wheat 22 Whorls 102 Wilhelm 77 William 82, 148 Wireless 113 Withdrawal 31, 57 Withering 140 Wolfs 93 Workhouse 143 Workmanship 37 Workshop 107 World-culture 137 WTC 37

X Xinjiang 46, 67, 68 XP 121

Y Yoda 121 Yossarian 147 Youngest 132 Youth 110, 111, 112 Youths 111, 112, 122 Yugoslavia 63, 124 Yugoslavians 146 Yuri 74

Z Zakha 128

Zeal 99 Zealots 107 Zebra 116 Zenith 107, 123 Zero 22 Zones 138