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Gen. Musharraf’s
fatal end predicted From B L Kak NEW DELHI, Jan 15: The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, is going to face a difficult......more Scientists shatter
doomsday predictions From B L Kak NEW DELHI, Jan 15: Dr Kota Harinarayana, Programme Director of the Light Combat.. ...more Kumbh discipline KUMBH NAGAR, Jan 15: "They are the most special people and are above this planet," said....more Bill for setting up IIP to
be RAIPUR, Jan 15: A bill for setting up an institute of national-Indian Institute of Polymers....more |
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Financing
of films MUMBAI, Jan 15: Financing of films in the country, a sector which witnesses a turnover of more than Rs 6000 crore and employs........more
Naidu not aspiring to DUBAI, Jan 15: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has categorically stated that he was not aspiring to become the Prime Minister........more Is there a NEW DELHI, Jan 15: Veerappan poses for ‘Nakkeeran’ photographer. Chotta Rajan faxes to news agencies and talks to TV channels. His alleged assailants ......more ‘Kumbh is where the KUMBHNAGAR, Jan 15: For the Hindus who are dispersed in various erstwhile colonies of British and other countries like Mauritius, Fiji, Trinidad and Tobago.....more |
Gen.
Musharraf’s fatal end predicted From B L Kak NEW DELHI, Jan 15: The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, is going to face a difficult period between June and December this year, according to Mr R Narayanan, the Chenai-based septuagenarian astrologer. Mr Narayanan, who was christened Numbungal (one who can be believed) by Tamil Nadu’s former Chief Minister, Mr MG Ramachandran, has, while making a pointed reference to "uncertainty in the air", hinted at the possibility of a hung Parliament in 2001. Even as Mr Narayanan has admitted that it is too early to say who will by the new Prime Minister at the end of the mid-term poll, he has briefly been quoted by The Week newsmagazine as saying: "Stars foretell that the Congress will fare well. The period between June and December will be difficult for Mr Vajpayee". Mr Narayanan, though an astrologer, has chosen to act as a medical practitioner by advising Mr Vajpayee to be "careful" about his health in April this year. While Mr SK Jain, a popular face in Karnataka, has gone on record to say that there will be a change at the Centre with the possibility of fresh elections, Ms Prem Usha, a tarot card reader for over 15 years, has been quoted by the newsmagazine as asserting: "Despite political problems, Mr Vajpayee will have a strong hold over the country in the coming year and there will not by any change in leadership". If Mr Daivajna KN Somayaji, who writes astrology columns in several newspapers and is the editor of Rashtriya Panchanga, a Government publication, has predicted another "major revolt" against Ms Sonia Gandhi within the Congress, Ms Prem Usha has let it be known that the Congress will fare better in 2001 and leave its mark in certain aspects and regions. They party, she has forecast, will undergo a revamp with new faces and new policies. Mr Somayaji, who established the Kalpatharu Research Academy in Bangalore in 1981 as a division of the Sri Sringeri Sharada Peetam to promote the study of the Vedas and the sastras, has predicted that while political uncertainty at the Centre will loom large, Mr Vajpayee will face trouble from his NDA allies in the south and north-east in the first quarter of 2001. On the other hand, Mr Bhojraj Devedi, president of the All-India Astrological Board of journalists, who was said to have predicted in 1990 that Mr Rajiv Gandhi would be assassinated the same year, is reported by the publication to have drawn the conclusion: "The political scene will be stable and Mr Vajpayee will complete his five years in office without any significant threat from the opposition". But Mr KN Rao, who has 24 books on astrology to his credit, has anticipated a different scenario altogether: The BJP-led coalition will face discomfort with controversies arising from communal tensions. The Government will be put through the grind and witness a shaky year. It will manage to avert a poll. Prediction from yet another astrologer, Mr Chanthiroor Vijayan: While the BJP will remain in power, Mr Vajpayee will come under fire from three ‘single’ women in politics. Based in Alappuzha district in Kerala, Mr Vijayan, to make predictions, consults the Brighu Samhida, a discourse between Narada and Brighu Maharashi, believed to carry details of the life of every man born on this earth. The Kerala publication has divulged that Mr Vijayan is consulted by Ms Sonia Gandhi and former Chief Election Commissioner, Mr TN Seshan. Mr Bhojraj Divedi has come forward with a sensational prediction: Gen. Parvez Musharraf of Pakistan may be assassinated in the near future. Yet another prediction: Pakistan will disintegrate by 2003. Mr Divedi has also forecast that problems in Kashmir will persist and could lead to a war with Pakistan. His assessment based on astrological calculations has also revealed that while economy in Pakistan and Bangladesh will witness a bad patch, India and Nepal will do comparatively well. While Mr Daivajan KN Somayaji says that the Indo-Pak relations will remain tense, Mr SK Jain has forecast that Kashmir, Israel and Palestine will bring the world close to a war. Mr Jain has also predicted that relative peace and calm in April and May will be followed by political turmoil, a war-like situation an d natural disasters towards the end of the year. Mr Bojraj Divedi has also been quoted as having predicted (1) Two prominent leaders are likely to die between February and April and July and September, (2) the stars do not indicate a Premiership for Mr LK Advani or Ms Sonia Gandhi, (3) the future shines bright for Ms Sonia’s daughter, Ms Priyanka Vadra. According to Mr Divedi, the ‘Raajyog’ in Ms Priyanka’s horoscope spells success in national politics. |
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Scientists shatter
doomsday predictions From B L Kak NEW DELHI, Jan 15: Dr Kota Harinarayana, Programme Director of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), has made it clear that while India with a one-billion-strong population cannot be buying things from abroad, strategic aircraft have to be developed within the country. "And that has been our challenge and mission", he said in an interview. His assertion: "We do not want to make an aircraft by buying everything from abroad". And his vehement argument: "The LCA project is not about building an aircraft. It is about creating wealth for the country. If everything is bought from abroad, how will you create job?" Was the LCA project required at all? Dr Kota Harinarayana’s reply: "The LCA project was not about building an aircraft. We have developed a series of technologies and the cascading effect and spin-off effect is much more. For instance, several companies that developed technologies for the LCA have already started exporting them. There has been plenty of tears, tribulations and hard work. Any country that has taken up such projects, has done it the hard way". When asked for his view on the project in the making for 15 years, Dr Harinarayana stated: "Building of the F22 aircraft began in 1980 and it flew first in 1997-after 17 years. The Eurofighter was to make its maiden flight in 1990, but it flew in 1994. The UK, Germany, Italy and Spain have been involved with the EFA. Why is the media mum on this aspect? Western nations are continually working on proto-types and have more time, considering their technology". Dr Harinarayana has pointed out that as for the joint strike fighter (of the US)-it is only being test-flown and it is estimated that it will be ready in 2004.They still have to work on it. The joint strike fighter has been discussed for more than a decade-since 1982. In a complex programme, such as one involving aircraft, so many technologies are being developed. And 15 years, Dr Harinarayana says, "is not a long time". But moving ahead, he has emphasised, should be faster. On reports that the delay in the LCA’s completion has been blamed on the involvement of too many organisations, Dr Harinarayana explained: "For a project like this, we need a lot of people, but it took longer because we did not have the experience. We had to pump in a lot of information and support and create facilities for them. You will not see any facilities in ADA (Aeronautical Development Agency). It is a virtual corporation. We were a core group that worked with everybody, putting people together in an integrated way". Asked to comment on the talk that the technology will become obsolete by the time the LCA is in operation, Dr Harinarayana observed: "We are being unnecessarily critical about ourselves and playing squarely into the Western lobby’s hands by saying the technology will become obsolete. We have more advanced technology than the JAS 39 (Gripen) and as much advanced technology as EFA’s (Eurofighter) Typhoon. We have pumped in so much advanced technology-the reason we have taken more time". Dr Harinarayana has revealed that as far as information technology is concerned, India has a better understanding of it. The LCA is the smallest supersonic fighter in the world. According to him, it has performed beautifully. "We may have taken our time, but we have perfected it. We tested out control laws and flight control systems for almost two-and-a-half years. I believe we have tested it thrice as intensively as any European country or the US. There were no failures in the first flight", he said and insisted: "Credit must be handed to the design, evaluation, flight testing and air-worthiness teams". According to Dr Harinarayana, Rs 2,000 crores have been spent. Two prototypes were originally planned but four were made. He stated: "We also absorbed the foreign exchange escalation. Initially, Rs 500 crores were sanctioned, a rough estimate. In 1990, we gave a projection of Rs 2,188 crores, but this was sanctioned only in 1993, but we did not increase the costs". He added in reply to another question: "I doubt any other nation, and for that matter Europe or the US, would be able to undertake such a project within this budget. They would require twice or thrice as much. In 1991-92, we faced a cash crunch, but since 1993 money has not been a problem". |
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Kumbh discipline amazes foreign tourists KUMBH NAGAR, Jan 15: "They are the most special people and are above this planet," said a mesmerised American tourist as she looked on at the Naga Sanyasis in the royal procession of Sadhus as the Sangam. Sarah Slacker was further amazed as she learned that these naked ascetics were supposed to have won over their desires, including sex. Inclined to Yoga and Tantra, she is presently in India for study and research in Hindu philosophy. When she took a dip in the Ganga yesterday, she said she felt "some divine spirit’ entering her body which for a moment freed her from all worries of the world. Sarah, in fact, wants to settle permanently in Hardwar or Rishikesh saying she would try to get Indian citizenship. Watching the multitude of pilgrims which descended on the Sangam area on ‘Makar Sankranti’, Max from Australia shouted: "It is amazing. People would have been violent if this had taken place in my country." Max said he had never seen such a big crowd or a royal procession in his life. He would like to see the ‘Shahi Snan’ of ‘Manui Amavasya’ and ‘Basant Panchmi’ on January 24 and 29. "Such a self-disciplined crowed would be a matter of surprise all over the world. I’ll take the memories of all three royal processions back home," he said. He would like to propagate the concept of self-discipline and Indian philosophy in his country. Danish tourist Anderson has traversed 35,000 km on his bycycle to see the ‘Shahi Snan’ at Sangam on the ‘Makar Sankranti’. Having a special interest in Indian festivals and places of pilgrimage, he said the people twice the population of Australia converge at the Sangam during the Maha Kumbh. "I would like to have a ‘Darshan’ of all pilgrim centres and tourist places in India. I want to take this message of religious harmony and tolerance to my country," he said. Robert Spangping of Italy could not believe his eyes as he watched the spectacle of Kumbh. "Oh it’s unbelievable... I am literally thrilled," he uttered. With tears of happiness in his eyes he told his campanion, "it is my lifetime scene and achievement also." He felt that Indian life style is rooted in faith, devotion and trust and Kumbh is a unique example of unity in diversity. (UNI) |
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Bill for setting up IIP to be presented in budget session RAIPUR, Jan 15: A bill for setting up an institute of national-Indian Institute of Polymers—in Chhattisgarh is likely to be presented by the Chemicals and Fertilisers Ministry in the budget session of the Parliament. The bill is likely to be piloted by noted scientist Rajan Ramanna, whose help has been sought by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi in establishing the institute near Raipur, official sources said today. The sources said the Ajit Jogi Government had agreed to associate itself with the Rs 100 crore project, which will be set up by the Chemicals and Fertilisers Ministetry as the nodal agency. Mr Jogi has also requested Dr Raja Ramanna to impress upon various ministries to associate with the institute through different projects.Both academic and industrial research would be done at the proposed institute. The Chhattisgarh Government had already identified about 210 acres of land for this institute at Thamnod village adjoining the Mana airport in Raipur district. Mr Jogi had written letters to different central ministers, including Defence Minister George Fernandes and Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers S S Dhindsa informing the Chhattisgarh Government’s intention to associate with the ambitious project. The idea of setting up the Indian Institute of Polymers near Raipur was mooted by noted polymer scientist Dr Sanjay Palsule and recommended by prominent scientists Dr A P J Abdul Kalam and Dr Vasant Gowariker. The Department of Science and Technology, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Department of Industries and various industrial houses associated with polymers would support the institute by providing scientific projects. According to the project report prepared by the core group of the institute, the initial expenditure would be around Rs 100 crores. This includes Rs 30 crores for the buildings, Rs 40 crores for the equipments and the remaining as recuring cost. During the forthcoming ‘polymer day’ on February 21 this year, a seminar on "emphasis on polymer education"will be held at New Delhi. On that occasion, Mr Jogi is likely to discuss the entire gamut of the project with the Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister and prominent scientists associated with other institutes of national importance. (UNI) |
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‘Kumbh is where the Ganga of Indian spiritualism flows’ KUMBHNAGAR, Jan 15: For the Hindus who are dispersed in various erstwhile colonies of British and other countries like Mauritius, Fiji, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, the millennium’s first Mahakumbh brings back nostalgic memories. United by their religion, these people, whose parents or grandparents migrated more than a 100 years ago to work on the plantation farms, consider the Kumbh a place where the "Ganga of Indian spiritualism flows". "It seems we are among our own people," says Dr Suchita Ramdin, head, Department of Folk Studies and Oral Traditions at Mahatma Gandhi Institute in Mauritius. Suchita and several others from these countries were here to attend a seminar and utilised the opportunity to visit the Kumbh village. "This place is out of the world and you have to see it to believe," Suchita, who originally hails from Arah in Bihar, says. She had not heard about the Kumbh though her family back in Mauritius celebrate ‘Makar Sankranti’ and eat ‘Khichri’ on that day. She says Hindus in Mauritius have made an artificial lake and filled it with waters brought from the Ganga in Varanasi. "Thousands of Hindus assemble by the side of the lake, called `Ganga Talab’, on the Shivratri Day, says Suchita. A South Indian festival ‘Kavadi’ is also celebrated in a similar way by the Mauritian Hindus, she adds. S Ramnath, a practicing chartered accountant in the Netherlands, says "it is a dream of every Hindu to be a part of the Kumbh". Having roots in the Hamirpur district of Uttar Pradesh, Ramnath’s grandparents had migrated in 1890 to Surinam from where he shifted to Netherlands. He finds the Kumbh "very impressive and feels like taking bath at the Sangam every morning". Ramnath’s wife, having origin in Kashmir, says the Hindus in that country are a religious lot. "Every Hindu house has an idol of Hanuman and there about 60 temples there," she adds. (PTI) |
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