Sunday, May 31, 2015

EVERY DAY NO TOBACCO DAY WHY ONLY 31ST MAY

 EVERY DAY NO TOBACCO DAY WHY ONLY 31ST MAY


World No Tobacco Day (WNTD)  was created in 1987  by World Health Organization & 31st May is observed all over the world as No Tobacco Day. The day is intended to draw attention to negative health effects due to widespread prevalence of tobacco use. Nearly sixty lakhs (Six million) people die due to tobacco use each year world wide  including six lakhs of which are the result of passive smoking. 

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More than 4000 harmful chemicals are found in tobacco. In cigarettes there are 40 cancer causing chemicals.



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Courtesy : coolgraphic.org


According to National Institute of Drug Abuse, one third of cancer cases are related to smoking.


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Courtesy:timesofindia.indiatim


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Courtesy:kemmannu.com

In comparison to non-smokers, lifespan of smokers decreases almost by 14 years in relation to average life span.


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Courtesy:google.com

Narendra Modi , Prime Minister of India has got all traditional virtues of an Indian man. He is a teetotaler. He does not drink, does not smoke & is a complete vegetarian.

Film star Akshay Kumar also neither smokes nor drinks.


So Quit Smoking Now.


 


Saturday, May 30, 2015

WILD LIFE CONSERVATIONIST THE LITTLE KNOWN LALIT KUMAR BORA & SALMAN'S INFAMOUS BLACKBUCK CASE

WILD LIFE CONSERVATIONIST THE LITTLE KNOWN LALIT KUMAR BORA &  SALMAN'S INFAMOUS BLACKBUCK CASE



It is quite astonishing & agonizing too, when we find that high profile personalities hit the headlines even if they commit big crime and get away with it with the support of money power, muscle power & battery of lawyers.They employ all sorts of excuses, apply  all sorts of tricks, use all nuances of law. They pretend to be "Being Human" where as in all their practical behaviour and actions they are " Becoming Inhuman".You are great only when you practice what you preach, at least the gap between the two should be minimum as far as possible. They claim to be "Robinhood" on the  stage or screen but in their practical life after committing serious crime  they do not have temerity or courage to accept their mistake and beg for apology.





On the contrary the person who is fighting for a cause, for a mission,  for  a pious objective  has to sacrifice his life, his career  even suffer humiliation, embarrassment, ignominy, disgrace and what not. Such persons are not highlighted  not appreciated not encouraged  because they  are not commercially viable. That is the reason why the society is on decline, vices are on increase so is the immorality, wrong-doing, evil-doing, wickedness, corruption, misconduct. 

 Blackbuck's protected status has got popularity through a widely reported court case. In this case one of India's film stars, Salman Khan, was sentenced to imprisonment for killing two blackbucks and many endangered chinkaras or Indian Gazelles the state animal of Rajasthan on 2nd October 1998. [2nd October  is being observed as International Day of Non-Violence since 2007]. In another poaching incident, Mansoor Ali Khan  Pataudi also killed a blackbuck and then  avoided arrest as fugitive. He finally surrendered only when the case was transferred to a special environment court from the criminal court so that he could face lighter sentencing. Incidentally Saif Ali Khan son of Mansoor ali Khan Pataudi was also in the vehicle alongwith Salman Khan. These are the people who come under first category - category of high profile personalities. 




Screen Shot of Salman during Interrogation
Image (C) Dr Ajay Kumar Ojha
   



Image result for Blackbuck & Bishnoi
Courtesy: oneindia.com

 Lalit Kumar Bora, as I gathered information from the  news reports & internet, comes under second category who sacrificed his  fledgling career for a noble cause, for a virtuous mission , for a pious objective that is protecting blackbucks & chinkaras the endangered species.The blackbuck case was handed over to Mr Bora who was then Assistant Conservator of Forests. He took Salman into custody on the basis of three eyewitnesses, two of them being Bishnoi villagers  and made video. According to Section 50 Subsection 8 of Wildlife Protection Act,  if  a statement of a witness is recorded in the presence of the accused then it can be admissible in court. Blackbuck  killings led to the chinkara poaching. Further investigation disclosed that Salman carried a gun whose licence got expired. 



Image result for Blackbuck & Bishnoi
Courtesy:indiaspend.com
Here one fact is very interesting & the most suitable to be elaborated. Bishnois are the great lover of wild animals. They themselves can be hungry & thirsty but they will not allow any animal or bird to die due to food/fodder or water. Bishnoi women are known to breastfeed orphaned deer calf to save its life. That is why there exists a strong & unique emotional bond between Bishnoi & blackbuck an animal, rarely to be found anywhere on earth. Herds of deer, blackbuck, chinkara (state animal of Rajasthan) & neel gai can be seen moving in Bishnoi village without fear.




A Wild Animal Being Shown by Lalit Kumar Bora
Image (C) Dr Ajay Kumar Ojha


Lalit Kumar Bora successfully gathered crucial evidence but hounded, harassed, tormented & traumatized for obvious reasons as the case involved high profiles . He was regularly being transferred and had to work under duress & immense pressure. Consequently  he left  the forest service in 2003 but does not leave the courage & determination  to pursue his mission & objective. Gudha Bishnoi village, the village where this infamous incident took place is only 23 kms away from Jodhpur wherefrom Lalit Kumar Bora comes. Lalit Kumar Bora has been & is a genuine wild life conservationist, it seems. He sacrificed his career  & golden period of life  for the wild life conservation & for protecting the sacred & pious mother-child bond between Bishnoi women and blackbuck an endangered species. Blackbuck has also been classified as near threatened by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). 

Will these high profile people ever have the sensitivity to respect such a rare bond? For them, laws are to be broken, sensitivities are to be killed, sensibilities are to be bulldozed and virtues are to be crushed. But what about the unknown, little known selfless crusader, fighter, battler  for virtues - like Civil Engineer Lalit Bora of Rajasthan Forest Service(RFS).

When I glanced through various articles on internet & in newspapers on this case hardly do I find any mention of the person who  risked his career, faced threats, embraced adversities but continued consistently with his objective of  wild life conservation and performed his duties sincerely amidst all odds. Neither police nor administration nor political system nor even media, which claim to highlight such issues, cared a fig for Lalit Kumar Bora who fought and even is fighting for  the noble cause.The hard truth is that  Lalit Kumar Bora, though he is treading on the right path, cannot attract advertisements or increase TRP but Salman and his friends from glamour world  even after committing multiple unpardonable crimes hit the headlines, gain sympathy of his supporters and garner support of powerful elite. 

I am not against anyone but definitely against such people who manipulate & manage situations in  their own favour or advantage even after committing heinous crimes and get away with it.

Are we not still living in the "Jungle Raj"? Is not it shocking & painful?




















Friday, May 29, 2015

"COLONIAL COCKTAIL" ROW IN OXFORD UNIVERSITY



"COLONIAL COCKTAIL" ROW 
IN OXFORD UNIVERSITY




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A debating society at Oxford University has been accused of racism after a student complained about a "highly offensive" cocktail advertised at a debate about the British empire. 

The 200-year-old Oxford Union debating society at the world famous university advertised "The Colonial Comeback" cocktail on a poster featuring a picture of black hands in chains as part of a debate on the British empire. 

The debate, titled "This House Believes Britain Owes Reparations to her Former Colonies", involved Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and British historian Professor John Mackenzie. 

It was, however, marred by the 2.50 pound drink made up of brandy, peach schnapps and lemonade. 

The University Student Union's black and minority ethnic and anti-racism officer Nikhil Venkatesh told the newspaper "Oxford Student" that the drink's name was "highly offensive"
"Reducing imperial violence to a cocktail with a punning name is obviously highly offensive. Sadly the Oxford Union doesn't have a great track record on being sensitive to people of colour, and this is symptomatic of a poisonous culture that affects many parts of that institution," he told the newspaper. 

PhD student Adam Cooper, who lodged the official complaint after which the poster was removed, added: "I really wasn't expecting something that celebrated enslavement and colonialism in such a crass way. It was something I really didn't expect and it was really shocking. 

"I'm Afro-Caribbean. Oxford still has a problem with racism. I think racism is widespread at Oxford and I think this kind of poster is a crass example of how unashamed that racism is. I can't think of anything worse than a cocktail that celebrates enslavement." 

The cocktail was also condemned on social media and one comment on the anti-racism Facebook group "Skin Deep" said: "This is disgraceful." 

Oxford Union treasurer Zuleyka Shahin has apologized for any offence caused.
[Courtesy : The Times of India 29th May 2015]



















































Sunday, May 24, 2015

STAUNCH ENVIRONMENTALISTS & DEDICATED WILD LIFE CONSERVATIONISTS - BISHNOI THE UNIQUE

STAUNCH ENVIRONMENTALISTS & DEDICATED WILD LIFE CONSERVATIONISTS - 
 BISHNOI THE UNIQUE



Bishnoi is a  wonderful social group  which lives in the Western Thar Desert (Rajasthan) of India. The desert overlaps areas of Punjab & Sindh in Pakistan. For centuries they have been living in the desert  in complete harmony with tress and wild life, and most importantly survived the harshest condition of the arid desert. Bishnoi villages are like oasis in the desert.

The Bishnoi name is derived from bis (twenty) and nai (nine) that is followers of 29 principles given by Guru Jambheshwar. Bishnois are perhaps the first environmentalist of India and also world because they have been following the rules of environment  and wild life protection & conservation since 1485. Environmentalist Saint Guru Jambheshwar Ji made it religiously compulsory for them in the form of  two principles (of 29)
One: " Not to cut green trees"
Two: "Be compassionate to all living beings"

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Courtesy:ourindiatours.com

29 Rules or Commandments of Bishnoi Community
Sr. No
Rule
Explanation
Remarks
 1
To observe segregation of the mother and newborn for 30 days after delivery
To prevent infection to the mother and the baby during a stage when both are highly susceptible to outside infections
Also to provide forced rest to the woman when she is very weak
For woman
 2
To keep woman away from all activities for 5 days during her menstrual periods
To provide compulsory rest to the woman
(also, considering the poor hygiene levels in those days or even today in rural India)
For woman
 3
To take early morning bath daily

Personal hygiene
 4
To maintain both external and internal cleanliness and remaining content
Internal cleanliness means a good intentions, humble behaviour, character without envious feelings, etc.

 5
To meditate twice a day i.e. morning and evening (times when night is being separated from the day)
Morning meditation to ponder over the proposed activities of day, whether my actions are right, moral or am I going to do something against my life values. Also, to pray the lord for directions and power to move ahead in the life path.
Evening meditation to take a stock of day’s activities, whether I made any mistake? Did I hurt somebody? Whether I spent the day in constructive activities or just wasted this valuable time?
Some authors say thrice a day
 6
To sing the Lord’s glory and reciting His virtues every evening


7
To offer daily oblation to the holy fire with a heart filled with feelings of welfare, love and devotion
Daily (preferably morning) oblations with:
  1. Feelings of welfare of all living being
  2. Love for nature and whole world
  3. Devotion to the Lord

 8
Use filtered water, milk and carefully cleaned fuel/ firewood
To make the water and milk bacteria free! In case of firewood to see that some insects etc. don’t get burned with the fuel and pollute the environment

 9
Filter your speech!
Think before you speak.

 10
To be forgiving in nature
Forgiveness is a parameter of greatness. This one virtue could uplift a normal person to the standards of great souls of the world. Guru said further, " if somebody come to you shouting, become cool like water!"

 11
To be compassionate
Compassion helps in purifying the heart. It is opposite** to the forgiveness (Refer rule 10 and end note) in a sense that in forgiving, we keep our heart and mind cool against some external stimuli, whereas in compassion, we imbibe the feelings of the helpless. We put ourselves in the shoes of victim (of some other external circumstance, assault, stimuli) and acting accordingly.

 12
Not to steal
Trying to own someone else’s things through cheating, or stealing is theft. Theft is the dirt of the character. It pinches the soul.

 13
Not to revile/ condemn someone
Reviling means insulting stealthily or disparaging behind the back. This is different from open criticism. Criticism is done openly with an objective of the improvement, whereas the objective of reviling/condemning someone is only to malign the victim’s image/position in the eyes of listener or the community. Condemning is an act of cowards and done out of envy and/or hatred.

 14
Not to tell lies
A liar can never attain respect of others. It is insult to the gift of speech. There was a time, when even the court used to accept the testimony of Bishnoi men as hard evidence

 15
Not to indulge in opprobrium
One should not indulge in any unnecessary/ wasteful debates. All such discussions/ deliberations, which are anti-social, anti-human fall under this category. It is to be noted that the Guru has not proscribed / banned a healthy debate on issues concerning the welfare of all.

 16
To observe fast and meditate on no-moon night (and the same day i.e. Amavsya)
To provide rest to the body and its internal systems. This day of the month has a special significance from astronomical and planetary science point of view. In addition, the regular fading of the moon’s appearance is also symbolic of the perishable nature of life. So in this context, one should not waste his/her energy in the daily routine work but should ‘charge’ his /her energy level and introspect & ponder over the collective welfare

 17
To recite the holy name of Vishnu


 18
To be compassionate towards all living beings


 19
Not to fell green trees


 20
To kill the non-perishables!
To overcome the non-perishable enemies of human beings viz. lust, anger, envy, greed and attachment.

 21
To partake food cooked by self/ other religious person or one who is pure by heart and work


 22
To provide a common shelter (Thhat) for goat/sheep to avoid them being slaughtered in abattoirs
No Bishnoi should sell a male goat/sheep because these could be used for slaughtering purposes. Hence, he should send them to Thhats where the whole community provides feed and shelter for them.
In later years, most Bishnoi’s got out of the business of rearing goats/ sheep, etc.

 23
Not to have bulls castrated
In rural India, bulls are castrated before they are used as bullocks for agricultural purposes. Guru prohibited this activity for his disciples. The underlining feeling behind this commandment is that Bishnois rear the bovines like their son/daughters and getting them castrated through a painful procedure portray nothing but cruelty.

 24
Not to partake of opium
Or any product made out of opium

 25
Not to use tobacco and its products


 26
Not to partake of cannabis


 27
Not to drink liquor


 28
Not to eat meat or non-vegetarian dishes
The underlying rationale of this commandment are two pronged
1.
To protect the animals/birds from being slaughtered by creating a market barrier!
2.
To protect the man, the best creation of the nature, from stooping to such low standards as eating meat of dead animals/birds. Scientifically also the structure of man’s teeth, jaws etc. is of not a carnivorous animal but is that of a herbivorous creature. Interestingly, if the meat eating would have been that superior, why even the non-vegetarian people eat meat/ eggs of the herbivorous animals/birds and not that of carnivorous animals/birds?

 29
Not to use blue colored clothes
In ancient India, the blue color used to be obtained from indigo. Thus it is possible that the Guru wanted to stop destruction of this wild shrub or promote its cultivation in lieu of other life supporting crops.
Blue is the color of death, poison (Indian Mythology- Lord Shiva). It is also thought that the blue color does not reflect the harmful ultraviolet rays but absorbs them, which is a major health hazard.

Courtesy: bishnoivillagesafari.com


Bishnois are great lover of  wild animals. They themselves  can be hungry & thirsty but they will not allow any animal or bird to die due to food/fodder or water. Bishnoi women are known to breastfeed  orphaned deer calf to save its life. That is a why there exists a strong & unique  emotional bond between Bishnoi and Black Buck an animal  rarely to be found anywhere on earth.  Herds of  deer, black buck, chinkara & neel gai can be seen moving  in Bishnoi village without fear. 



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Courtesy:permaculturenews.org





There are many instances where the Bishnois have sacrificed their lives for protecting the trees & saving wild life. They are also known to be very violent and aggressive in protecting trees and wild life. It is said that if you are a hunter the worst thing that could happen to  you is to be caught hunting by a Bishnoi as is the case with Salman Khan who alongwith his friends was caught hunting and killing two black bucks by Bishnois on 2nd October 1998 and facing sentence in the court following investigation by the then Assistant Conservator of Forests Lalit Bora in the presence of Poonaram Bishnoi & Chaugaram Bishnoi of GudhaBishnoi village near Jodhpur  as witnesses.

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Courtesy : indebo.com



Unlike most Hindu communities, Bishnoi do not cremate their dead but bury them because of the strict prohibition on the felling of trees,  the wood of which is required for cremation.

In October 1996 , Nihal Chand Bishnoi sacrificed his life while protecting wild animals. A film, Willing to Sacrifice, based on his story won International Award. 


Really Staunch Environmentalists, really Dedicated Wild Life Conservationists, really a great example of Man-Nature-Animal bonding. Is not it? 

The wonderful  Bishnoi community is indeed worth emulating.




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Courtesy: bishnoisafari.com