Vol. LXI, No. 36, New Delhi, March 14, 2010

Pranab’s puzzle Poor gets promises galore, rich gets real money By Naresh Minocha THE UPA’s Union budget for 2010-11 is a classical example of a Finance Minister fooling the public several times over. And this time, the inflation-ravaged aam adami has been rubbed with excise duty-exempted toy balloons made of natural rubber.    more > Leaders pay rich tributes to Nanaji Nanaji: A man of class, conviction and commitment A life dedicated to the glory of the motherland VETERAN Sangh Pracharak, former Rajya Sabha MP and founder of Deendayal Research Institute (DRI) Chandikadas Amritrao Deshmukh, popularly known as Nanaji Deshmukh, passed away at a private hospital in Chitrakoot on February 27. He was 94. He was unwell due to age-related ailments for some time.    more > Thinking Aloud A visit to Ratnagiri where Tilak was born By Dr Jay Dubashi IT is five in the afternoon in Ratnagiri, a bustling little town about 400 kilometres south of Mumbai, and I am standing outside the little room where Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak was born 154 years ago.    more > Editorial The pressure is showing The PM cannot take criticism IT was both interesting and agonising to watch the spat between the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and the Chairman of the BJP Parliamentary Party L K Advani in the Lok Sabha, in the course of the debate on the President’s address to Parliament.    more > The man and his mission Life sketch of Nanaji A life totally dedicated to the Sangh and the nation NANAJI DESHMUKH needs no introduction. His sharp intellect and extraordinary organising skill puts an indelible mark in Indian politics. Born on October 11, 1916 in a modest Maharashtrian family at Kadoli, a small town in Parbhani district, Nanaji had little money to pay for his tuition fees and books.    more > Nanaji: Some reminiscences By P Parameswaran SHRI Nanaji Deshmukh is no more. A mighty banyan tree has fallen leaving a huge void difficult to fill. But the strong and solid foundation he laid and the model role that he played, I am confident, will ensure the continuity and healthy growth of his great visionary projects.    more > Hindu Samagam in Bhopal and Bhagyanagar, Hyderabad When Hindus become strong, the nation will become stronger—Mohan Bhagwat From Sangeet Verma in Bhopal and Mallikarjun Rao in Hyderabad THE Bhopal division of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh celebrated its annual day on February 28, 2010, by organising “Hindu Samagam” where more than 3,000 swayamsevaks and 30,000 spectators gathered to salute the saffron flag, and to listen to the Sarsanghachalak, Shri Mohan Bhagwat.    more > Sangh Samachar IIT Delhi and Kalyan Ashram join hands for rural development - FOC Bringing North-east and rest of the country closer - FOC Dr Sripati Shastri passes away - FOC National Executive meeting of Shaikshik Mahasangh demands Fill the vacancies of teachers to ensure quality of education - FOC National Executive Meeting of Sevika Samiti in Surat - FOC Sikh Sangat meeting in Haridwar - FOC Budget for the rich, jobless growth and price rise By Shivaji Sarkar LACK of vision and imagination marks the railway and general budget. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee does not know how to tackle the critical price situation that has now started bothering the Prime Minister’s Economic advisory council and put lakhs of people out of job.    more > The breast-beating over a blasphemous artist By Shachi Rairikar SINCE M.F. Hussein has accepted the citizenship of Qatar, the lobbyists are out again making sure not to miss this opportunity to promote their anti-Hindu agenda. Much is being said about the “Freedom of Expression” or the lack of it in India and the blame is being put on the Hindu right.    more > Foraminifera as tool in Marine Archaeology By Rajiv Nigam FORAMINIFERA are preferentially marine micro-organisms and very sensitive to the slightest changes in environment. Because of this property, they have been used extensively in pollution monitoring and because of their fossilisation potential, in paleoclimatic reconstructions.    more > Gujarat built world's first naval dockyard Courtesy: The Times of India, February 25, 2010 AHMEDABAD: About 75 km from here lies a landmark of Indian maritime history. Archaeologists believe the first tidal dockyard in the world was built in Lothal. A port city, Lothal was the focal point of Harappan civilisation in Gujarat.    more > Gujarat built mosques to draw Arab ships Courtesy: The Times of India, February 17, 2010 AHMEDABAD: Can you imagine a non-Muslim building a mosque in 21st century India? May sound impossible today. But, two far-sighted Jains built one of the earliest mosques in Gujarat, a state that has seen some of the worst post-Independence communal riots.    more > EVMs being used illegally for a decade http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ CHANDIGARH: The Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) are being used in violation of the Information Technology Act 2000, a research paper has revealed.    more > Vanvasis killed, temple burnt down by Bangladesh armed forces By Nava Thakuria BANGLADESH is in media once again for the wrong reason. The poverty stricken South Asian country has witnessed the killing of six tribal people in Chittagong Hill tracts during the third week of February. Authentic sources confirmed that the Bangladesh armed forces had also burnt down a Buddhist temple in the locality.    more > Wakf Minister asks Muslims to back Anti-cow Slaughter Bill Courtesy:The Hindu HASSAN: Minister for Wakf and Minorities Welfare Mumtaz Ali Khan has called upon Muslims in the State not to oppose the Bill banning cow slaughter.    more > Nepal Valley bandh in demand for the revival of Hindu state Courtesy : The Himalayan Times, The Telegraph Kolkata, Reuters, AFP & Agencies. Hindu Existence Flash : It is reported that the cadres of Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N) have started a sit-in protest at the Singha Durbar Durbar in Kathmandu from February 23, 2010,    more > Bharat Gaurav Award to Professor MG Prasad MG Prasad, a professor at Stevens Institute of Technology, NJ was recently awarded the Bharat Gaurav Award by the Indian International Friendship Society in New Delhi during a Conference on Global Participation in India’s Economic Development. The award translates into English as “The Pride of India Award”.    more > Hindu Samhati organises a grand Hindu rally in Kolkata By Narain Kataria HINDU Samhati is trying its best to restore Hindu faith, Hindu dignity and Hindu confidence in Hindus in Bengal and India.    more >

Cover Page The Moving Figer Writes Don’t be soft with Naxalites By MV Kamath WHEN will all these Maoist killings stop? Is there no end to their brutality? Of course, the blame lies entirely on the far-Left radical communists supportive of Maoist political sentiment and ideology.    more > Opinion It’s a shame Pakistan is hoodwinking India Take the battle to its logical end or let the enemy pay By Joginder Singh THERE is a justifiable frustration, disappointment and rage over the repeated terrorist attacks sponsored by Pakistan on Indian soft targets. In its efforts, it is aided and abetted by the motley Indian groups, who are known by various names, like Indian Mujahdeen, Lashkar or students organisations of Muslim communities.    more > Kids Org A Change of Heart By Manju Gupta IT was a chilly winter morning when Chand Bhai of Dhoopkhede village near Aurangabad lost his horse. He searched for it everywhere but could not find it. Thoroughly dejected, he decided to look in the nearby forest.    more > PRAVASI BHARATIYA Hindu Council of New Zealand Rotorua Holi festival gives new meaning to race relations FOC ROTORUA public and international visitors to Rotorua experienced a unique festival on February 28. It was celebrated with much fanfare by putting coloured powder and water on each other, and dancing on folk music and songs.    more > Bookmark A pilgrim’s progress on the holy footsteps By M V Kamath Nine Lives : In Search of the Sacred in Modern India, William Dalrymple, A gripping tale of human bondage By Manju Gupta Right Fit, Wrong Shoe, Varsha Dixit, Rupa & Co., Pp 234, Rs 95.00 A learner’s passage to America By Jayant Patel Roadrunner: An Indian Quest in America, Dilip D’Souza, HarperCollins Publishers India, Pp 331, Rs 399.00 A delightful Indian journey with a western perspective By MV Kamath The Rediscovery of India, Meghnad Desai, Allen Lane, Penguin , Pp 498, Rs 699.00 An engaging sci-fi Enders in Exile Orson Scott Card, Pp 391, Orbit, Rs 295.00 (PB) A fascinating mystery series By Manju Gupta Inspector Singh Investigates: A Bali Conspiracy Most Foul, Hachette, Pp 294, Rs 295.00 A self-help book By Nidhi Mathur Be Rich & Happy, Robert T. Kiyosaki, Jaico Books, Pp 269, Rs 195.00(PB) Comment IDSA comment US arms sales are propping up Pakistan as a regional challenger By Gurmeet Kanwal THE American ambassador in Islamabad has said that the US Defence Department is considering the sale of 12 unarmed drones to Pakistan to encourage it to cooperate in the war on terror.    more > TogadiaSpeak A political budget that cheats the commoner By Dr Pravin Togadia IN the history of post-British Bharat past 63 years nobody had slapped on Bharat such an anti-Bharat, anti-Hindu, anti-poor, anti-farmer, anti-women, anti-youth, anti-lower middle class, anti-middle class budget ever!    more > Media Watch Media cannot be neutral when unity is at stake THE best criticism of the recent events in Mumbai concerning the Shiv Sena and MNS comes from the Nagpur-based The Hitavada (February7).    more >

Interview of The Week A resolve to protect Indian education system— Atul Kothari Apart from successfully fighting against distortion in education under the UPA regime, the Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti and Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas have taken some concrete initiatives to enrich the Indian education system.    more >

Open Forum What is India? : An eye-opener By Prof Narayan Joshi I am penning a few lines to express my sense of gratefulness after having gone through a recently published book entitled What is India?, compiled by Salil Gewali. To be frank, I experienced a short of divine sensation and instant enlightenment from the quotes in the book, probably the compilation is uniquely one of its kind in the country.    more >

Readers’ Forum Fake ‘secularism’ is destroying Hindus and Bharat (Organiser, 31-1-2010); —RAM GOPAL, A-2B/94-A, MIG Flats, Paschim Vihar, New Delhi Shri JG Arora has very rightly stated that for chorus singers of secularism in India, anything that is anti-Hindu, pro-Muslim, divisive, sectarian, and even anti-national, is ‘secularism’.    more >

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