Vol. LVII, No. 32, New Delhi, February 19, 2006

M.F. Husain's vulgar stunt on Bharat Mata By Sandhya Jain IN its second secular overture to Hindu opinion after CPM MP Brinda Karat publicly targeted Ayurveda and yoga guru Swami Ramdev, the Maharashtra coalition has booked the controversial artist, M.F. Husain, for hurting the sentiments of the people. The NCP action comes in the wake of pressure from activists of the Vishwa Hindu Prarishad, who managed to get Maharashtra Governor S.M. Krishna to back out of a function on February 2, 2006, where he was slated to be chief guest, in which Husain was to be honoured for his oeuvre. Though the organisers hastily dis-invited the artist in a bid to salvage the function, the Governor refused to change his mind, resulting in its cancellation. more > Sensex and the Fll bull run By Geeta "I am concerned because the bullish sentiment is running at a very high level and portfolio managers for every asset class-be it stocks, bonds, commodities, gold and art-are bullish.One of them has to give up," investment guru and author of Gloom, Boom and Doom Mark Faber said in Mumbai recently. No one, including Finance Minister P. Chidambaram knows, when one of those portfolio managers which Faber talked about, is going to give up. So everyone is partying at the Sensex touching the 10,000 mark. more > Supreme Court refuses to stay Shabri Kumbh The Supreme Court on February 8 rejected on intervention Application seeking to grant a stay on the Shabri Kumbh being held in Dangs district of Gujarat on February 11, 12 and 13. This PIL-IA was filed by one Rohit Prajapati(Vadodara) of PUCL, it was alleged in the application that more than 500,000 people from across the country are gathering for the Shabri Kumbh in the reserve forests of Dangs, which allegedly is a threat to the environment. more > Doctor, where has the foodstuff gone? From Anil Nair in Mumbai It is not just the Sensex that is touching record highs during the UPA regime, even staple food of the aam aadmi? wheat?is seeing its prices going through the roof. The wheat prices shot up to a never-before level of Rs 1012.50 a quintal in Hapur, while in Delhi markets wheat was quoted at a record Rs 966-978 per quintal. The UPA government has now decided, after a lot of characteristic dilly-dallying that it would ... more > Bookmark The insider story By M.V. Kamath Through the Corridors of Power: An Insider?s Story: P.C. Alexander; Harper Collins; p.p 480; Rs 500.00 In an article in Asian Age (September 1) Dr P.C. Alexander who was Principal Secretary to Smt. Indira Gandhi at the time of her assassination discusses the Nanavati Commission Report of which 100 out of 185 pages are devoted to a police station-wise account of the mayhem and murder perpetrated against the Sikhs in Delhi and the ?dismal failure of the police to handle the situation?. more > Quest for a nationalist education plan By Manju Gupta Educating to Confuse and Disrupt by Makkhan Lal with Rajendra Dixit; India First Foundation; pp 415; Rs 600.00 Written by an archaeologist and historian in collaboration with Rajendra Dixit, who is a professor of English, the book throws light on the educational system in our country, particularly with reference to the subject of history. more > Statescan HC quashes proceedings against S. Gurumurthy   FOC J&K village refuses burial to LeT commander   FOC Infiltration continues but Centre claims improvement   From Our Special Correspondent At Random Conservation agriculture Asia's onward march in GERD Improve gender statistics Growing church activities in Hindu Kingdom Sangh Samachar Eleventh Dharma Sansad in Prayag Call to identify and remedy social malaise    - FOC 45th state convention of ABVP in Lucknow Rid the society of casteism ?Kalyan Singh RSS Pratinidhi Sabha meeting in Nagpur from February 24 - FOC Vice President releases Shri Guruji special issue of Devputra Self discipline is the mark of a Swayamsevak?Mohan Bhagwat - Ravindra Saini Talented students honoured - FOC Manohar Rao Dongre passes away - FOC Navin Chawla, a Congress stooge? By Shyam Khosla The Shah Commission that produced a voluminous report on the excesses committed by the Indira Gandhi government during the hated Emergency (1975-77) had passed severe strictures against certain officers, including Navin Chawla, who was appointed Election Commissioner last year because of his proximity to 10, Janpath. more > Strike, at the drop of a hat By Joginder Singh The flavour of the season is to go on strike. Government is the largest employer, with a total of 18.7 million employees of the state and central governments. more > Missionaries and Naxals inflaming passions in Kalinga Nagar By Debasis Tripathy in Bhubaneswar While the anti-industrial fire among the locals at the trouble-torn Kalinga Nagar is still burning, Christian missionaries, leftist ultras and different so-called secular political parties are busy fishing in troubled water of Orissa. more > India urbanised By Daya Krishna Mahatma Gandhi had declared Pt. Nehru as his political heir, but he found that he had serious differences with him in regard to the role of rural population in the economic development of India. more > Salutations to Shri Guruji By V. Sundaram, IAS (Retd.) Right from the dawn of history, Bharat has produced great saints and sages, great beings who made the supreme discovery that the God they sought for many years was no different from their ownselves. more > The farce of an inter-faith dialogue From Arun Kumar in Bangalore The event was organised by the Islamic Research Foundation, which was widely publicised through hoardings and newspapers in Bangalore. The place was heavily crowded and majority of the crowd (95 per cent) was Muslim. more > Christians object to Dalai Lama?s inter-faith service in Belfast From Prasun Sonwalkar London: The Dalai Lama attended an inter-faith service in Northern Ireland during his recent visit to Britain. But his presence in the Church of Ireland Cathedral has since sparked off a row within the church community. more >

Cover Page North-east Newsletter The great integrationist, freedom fighter Rani Gaidinliu?A victim of slander By Prof Gongmumei Kamei Rani Gaidinliu was a political, social, religious and cultural awakener?all rolled into one. All the top-ranking leaders of the country hold her in very high esteem. She became a legend in her lifetime and innumerable people?young and old?draw inspiration from her. Rani Ma was born on January 26, 1915. This date is celebrated throughout Zeliangrong areas in all the three adjoining states of Assam, Nagaland and Manipur. more > London Post Asian rationalists in Britain challenge tantriks By Prasun Sonwalkar A group of rationalists of Indian origin here has offered ?10,000 to any tantrik or spiritual healer who can scientifically prove the ability to deliver the promise to cure people of any disease or solve any problem. more > India That is Bharat Man to basics Satiricus Satiricus is tired of hearing that the world is going to the dogs. Still he was shocked to learn from recent reports from America (where else?) that the world is not only going to the dogs but to mad dogs at that?well, not exactly mad, but dogs suffering from mental disorders and requiring psychiatric treatment. more > Youth Folio An agenda for young India By Varun Gandhi Michelangelo depicts God as an old man with flowing beard in the Sistine chapel. But the debate continues whether God is old, or is He in a state of perpetual youth? The Vedic scriptures espouse that divinity never ages, remaining ever youthful, and energetic. more > The Moving Finger Writes United States and India: Time to think By M.V. Kamath By now it is a cliche to say that the United States is the only super power in the world and everybody knows it. But it is behaving like one with India in a manner that can only be described as crude. If India does not bare its teeth now, it may find itself paying a heavy price for it in years to come. more > Media Watch Sting and run Narad There is a great deal of thought given these days to what goes for investigative journalism. This is invariably linked to sting operations which is wholly incorrect. Sting operations are in a class by themselves. Investigative journalism at its best involves a lot of hard work and research. more > Kids Org. When an enemy is a friend By Manju Gupta The king of the Avantipura has a son who was a philanderer and spent his time in the company of his friends. He was not at all interested in the affairs of the state. The prince as his two friends ? one, a merchant?s son spent their time over idle pursuits. The king was visibly disturbed but he had no way of controlling his son. One day, he decided to give him a dressing down. After rebuking him for his idle lifestyle, the king entrusted specific duties and responsibilities for fulfillment within a specific period of time. more > Debate Emerging Internet Civilisation By Dr Moorthy Muthuswamy, PhD Many sociologists and internet pioneers have begun to realise?societies for the first time across continents and on large scale are becoming part of a new civilisation?an internet civilisation. Will America continue to its science and technology dominance in this era or will it be upstaged by a resurging China or any other nation? more >

Think it Over Christian fans of the Buddha By M.S.N. Menon Do you know, dear Reader, that our country was the centre of a worldwide obsession for more than 1,500 years? But, why? Because India was known for its fabulous wealth, for its golden palaces, its milk and honey, its beautiful amazons, its gymnosophists, its philosophies and its spices and incense. more >

In Focus Sanskrit in English By Sudhakar Raje In South-East Asia the influence of Sanskrit was so strong that it can be seen not only in old inscriptions but also in Sanskrit names for people and places that are still in use, such as in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Burma. In the Middle-East, the present homeland of fundamentalist Islam Sanskrit had an undeniable presence. more >

Readers? Forum Wave of destruction: The cave where Prophet Mohammad took rest during the battle of Uhud has become the subject of heated debate among Islamic scholars, many arguing for its destruction. A committee was formed recently to discuss the matter after years of complaints over visitors that come to the cave to worship. more >

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