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Cyclone Phailin Cyclone Phailin, categorised as "very severe" by weather forecasters, is expected to hit Orissa and Andhra Pradesh states on today evening. The Meteorological Department has predicted the storm will bring winds up to 220 km/h (136mph). The storm is not only intense but covers a wide area. Odissa Government issued a high alert to the districts of  Balasore ,  Bhadrak ,  Mayurbhanj ,  Keonjhar ,  Dhenkanal ,  Jajpur ,  Cuttack , Jagatsinghpur ,  Kendrapara ,  Puri ,  Khurda ,  Nayagarh ,  Ganjam  and  Gajapati ; and cancelled the  Dusshera  holidays of employees of all 30 districts of the state, asking them to ensure safety of people. Food and relief materials were stocked-up at storm shelters across the state. Phailin is the last of the first set of 32 names for tropical cyclones in the North Indian Ocean. The names have been suggested by Asian countries since 2004. Phailin, was named ...

Spreading Happiness By Dr Arvind Kumar Many people regard happiness not only something that would be nice to have, but something that we really ought to have—and, moreover, something that’s within our power to bring about, if only we set our minds to it. We can be happy, we should be happy. We will be happy. Prior to the late 17th century in the West, it was thought that happiness was a matter of luck or virtue or divine favour. In today’s Western societies, people think of happiness as a right and a skill that can be developed. People strive to improve their lots in life, individually and collectively. But there have been downsides as well. It seems that when people want to be happy all of the time, they can forget that the pursuit of happiness can entail struggle, sacrifice, and even pain. Today, science is rediscovering the validity of ancient perspectives on happiness—that there are important connections between hope and happiness, for example, or between gratitude and fo...

World Habitat Day 2013 By Dr Arvind Kumar Today (7 th October 2013) is World Habitat Day. The first Monday of October every year has been designated by the United Nations as World Habitat Day. The underlying idea is to reflect on the state of towns and cities and the basic right of all, to adequate shelter. It is also intended to remind the world of its collective responsibility for the future of the human habitat. This year, the United Nations chose the theme Urban Mobility because mobility and access to goods and services is essential to the efficient functioning of our cities and towns as they expand. Accessible cities encourage a shift towards more sustainable modes of transportation and draw more and more travellers out of cars and onto trains, buses, bike paths, and sidewalks. But mobility is about more than just the mode of transport we use. Urban planning and design should focus on how to bring people and places together, by creating cities that focus on accessib...

Remembering Gandhiji & Shastriji By Dr Arvind Kumar A grateful nation celebrates today the birth anniversary of Gandhji, Father of the Nation. It has become a ritual with the powers that be either at the Centre or States to pay courtesy call at Raj Ghat and offer garlands as a token of tribute to the departed noble soul. Gandhiji did not lay down his life for earning these rituals. He never clamoured for any coveted office and rather led a life of an ordinary Indian peasant or a hermit. He experimented with nonviolence, truth, Satyagraha and found these ideals as worth putting into practice. He strove hard to eliminate the curse of untouchability from the India society. Today is the solemn occasion for all of us to emulate the ideals cherished by Gandhiji and putting even a single ideal into our practice will be real tribute to the Father of the Nation. Our dalit brethern have to be brought into the national mainstream and this task cannot be left to the Government alone ...

Relief for Flood Victims The unprecedented rains and floods have wreaked havoc in terms of causing heavy loss of lives and property in many states of North India, particularly Uttarakhand, UP, and Bihar. The nation has yet to recover from the damage caused by cloud burst in Uttarakhand area when these calamities have visited some parts of the country to add salt to wound. Government help alone is not sufficient to mitigate the sufferings of the victims of these calamities. It is our bounden duty to help those who are in distress. Government relief measures take time to reach the affected persons because of bureaucratization and procedural wranglings. The Private Sector can play vital role in this regard by arranging food, medicines and other relief items through civil societies or of their own arrangements. Apart from shouldering their Corporate Social Responsibility, the Private Sector enterprises will earn people’s good will for their humanitarian and philanthropic assistan...

Happy Janmashtami by Dr Arvind Kumar Krishna Janmashtami is the birth (Janma) anniversary of Lord Krishna. According to the legend of the birth of Krishna, Vishnu incarnated himself as Krishna to destroy the evil Kansa who was harassing mankind. During Janmashtami, The main celebrations are held at the Dwarkadhish temple, Mathura in the form of Jhulanotsava and the Ghatas during the entire month of Shravan. The ghatas are a unique feature of the month long celebrations. The temples and the Lord Krishna`s statue are decorated in the same colour as the colour of the ghatas. The twin cities of Mathura and Vrindavan wear a festive look and spirit of devotion runs high among the people. There are about 400 temples dedicated to Lord Krishna in this sacred city and the major festivities are held at the Banke Bihari, Rangaji, Shri Krishna Balram temple and Gopinath temple. The Raslila of Braj is thematically the basis of many performing arts. Professional drama troupes or even young ch...

Late Shri Rajiv Gandhi 69th Birth Anniversary A grateful nation celebrates 69th birth anniversary of our beloved Prime Minister late Sh Rajiv Gandhi who had a vision of a strong, prosperous, vibrant and self-sufficient India. In thinking and planning for the nation, Rajiv Ji was ahead of his times as he thought of Information Technology, science and technology and revamping of education system as fundamentals essential to transform the India society and the nation as a front-ranking country in the comity of nations. We are fortunate today that by implementing some of his ideas like Information Technology, India has emerged as a giant in this sector giving even developed countries a run for their money. There are fields where his ideas are direly required to be implemented so that we are able to alleviate poverty, tackle unemployment, and raise the living standards of the people, particularly of the dalits. The present education system is partially based on the New Education Pol...