Wherever and whenever smoking bans are imposed, they are accompanied by innumerable protests and difficulties on their implementation. Many argue that the smoking bans go a bit too far and adversely affect the business prospects of many organizations. In many places, the depiction of smoking is also banned in artistic fields like films, theaters, music videos etc. India is one of those countries where a lot of hue and cry has been raised as smoking and altogether drinking is banned in films and television. The authorities responsible for implementing these bans maintain that the youth brigade imitates a lot from television and film stars. Many instances have also been presented by the authorities showing how children in their early teens take to smoking addiction after watching their idols doing the same on screen.

It is indeed an irony that in India, most of the anti-smoking measures are nothing but sham. They are just in the papers. The proper implementation of the anti-smoking measures is still a far-fetched dream in India. These requirements are to be met first and only then one can opt for higher things. In India, it seems to be the other way round. Measures have been undertaken to stop the depiction of smoking instances on screen but barring a few measures, sufficient effective has not been taken to curb smoking in public places. The Indian leaders have gone a step further by asking the film stars who are addicted to smoking to give up the bad habit and also refrain from smoking in front of the press and the media. These actions have given rise to tremendous anger and protest in the film fraternity. They are of the opinion that the government is going a bit too far by trying to stop the depiction of smoking in films and also by asking film starts to quit nicotine addiction.

Films and television are a part of media that depicts reality and as such, the ban on smoking is making it impossible for the film industry to utilize creative freedom and highlight the real happenings in the society. Not only the Indian film fraternity, but most of the creative fields all over the world are against any form of restriction that hinders creativity. However, restrictions are welcome if they are absolutely necessary and to consider such restrictions, the censor board is available in almost all countries.

A very funny incident occurred at the Cannes film festival when legendary film star and jury member Sean Penn puffed in an enclosed area, protesting against the French government’s decision to ban smoking in enclosed areas. The star was also joined by other jury members and they all started smoking in a press conference. Whatever be the argument, there is no denying the fact that smoking is bad and should be given up at all costs. Quit smoking has become easier nowadays, thanks to the quit smoking drugs like chantix. For quit smoking, a price is to be paid and hence if you are going to buy chantix to give up smoking addiction, you should carry the amount of money that is required to purchase the drug. Chantix is not a cheap medicine until and unless you get hold of chantix coupons. As soon as you procure a chantix coupon, you can move ahead to buy chantix online at a discounted price.

 

Blessed with modernity and nature in the form of towers of concrete, amusement parks, fantastic islands and ancient heritages, Singapore is one of the fantastic destinations. Diversity is imparted by cosmopolitan population of Malays, Indians and Chineses. The hospitability shown to visitors by inhabitants is fascinating. The entire land of Singapore is adorned colorfully to make the place livelier. The most beneficial to visitors is the location of Singapore hotels in proximity to these attractions. Some of the common attractions for visitors are:-

Arab St- Arab Street is the traditional textile district developed by Muslim population. Sarongs, batiks, shirts and silks from Indonesia are easily available here and have earned the name from all over the world. There are some more trademarked products like rattan goods, flower essence and hats that are easily seen on this street. The top most attraction on this street is the Grand Sultan Mosque, which is Singapore’s liveliest and biggest mosque. Singapore hotels around it have attracted fashion conscious and people and much of the Muslim community.

Change village- Change village, lying on the east coast, offers relief from town’s hustle and bustle. The beautiful beach offers excellent avenues to spend good time. There are some cheap hotels in Singapore that are located around the beach. The discount offered by them is the mode to attract visitors to the beach and gain popularity. The cheap hotels in no way are lagging behind in providing basic room facilities like private bathroom, hair dryer, television, telephone, room keeping services etc…

Little India- little India presents the Indian establishment in the city. It takes you towards the Indian culture, Indian stuff, and Hindi movies. Famous prints of Indian god Krishna can be found around the area. There are many discount hotels in Singapore around it to attract people towards Indian ambience and culture in foreign land. Almost every kind of Indian food specialty dishes are served in such hotels. They offer discounts to people on extended stay, senior citizen offers and children offers to attract travelers towards them.

Modern facilities, personalized guest services and warm hospitality are provided to visitor in cheap hotels in Singapore in such a way that they never get disappointed for unaffordable expensive hotels. Many Singapore hotels provide the added advantage in accommodation for the visitors exploring bustling markets, scenic beauty, modern architecture and theme parks. They provide several facilities for business travelers in their well equipped conference rooms. These are highly recommended accommodations in the country as they have pleasing lodgings, commendable services and modern facilities.

 

                            DWARKA AND THE MAHABHARATA

 

Every Indian, either living in India or living outside India, knows about the two epics that dominates the Indian psyche and the psyche of the terra firma. These epics are the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. The Mahabharata has exercised a continuous and pervasive influence on the Indian mind for millennia. The Mahabharata, originally written by Sage Ved Vyas in Sanskrit, has been translated and adapted into numerous languages and has been set to a variety of interpretations. Dating back to “remote antiquity”, it is still a living force in the life of the Indian masses.   With more than 74,000 verses, long prose passages, and about 1.8 million words in total, the Mahabharata is one of the longest epic poems in the world. The Mahabharata has a total length of more than 90,000 verses.

Everything about the Mahabharata is huge, from its sprawling length, to the enormous breadth of its vision. The longest of all epics is like an encyclopedia, a world all on its own. At its core is the powerful and moving story of the Pandava and Kaurava cousins who ultimately fight the greatest war of all, Kurukshetra. But that is not all, the Mahabharata is full of mythic stories, vast time spans of history, detailed geography and a massive body of spiritual teachings.

The author of the massive epic is Rishi Vyas, who, according to the text itself, spent three years creating it, rising every morning, and working on it every day. His abode was Vyas Gufa, a cave high in the Himalayas, which is still visited today by travelers on their way to Mansarovar.

In Mahabharata’s Musal Parva, the Dwarka is mentioned as being gradually swallowed by the ocean. Krishna had forewarned the residents of Dwaraka to vacate the city before the sea submerged it. The Sabha Parva gives a detailed account of Krishna’s flight from Mathura with his followers to Dwaraka to escape continuous attacks of Jarasandh’s on Mathura and save the lives of its subjects. For this reason, Krishna is also known as RANCHHOR (one who runs away from the battle-field). Dr. SR Rao and his team in 1984-88 (Marine Archaeology Unit) undertook an extensive search of this city along the coast of Gujarat where the Dwarikadeesh temple stands now, and finally they succeeded in unearthing the ruins of this submerged city off the Gujarat coast.

The first archaeological excavations at Dwaraka were done by the Deccan College, Pune and the Department of Archaeology, Government of Gujarat, in 1963 under the direction of H.D. Sankalia. It revealed artifacts many centuries old.

Marine Archaeology Unit (MAU) jointly by the National Institute of Oceanography and the Archaeological Survey of India. Under the guidance of Dr. Rao, a great marine archaeologist, a team consisting of expert underwater explorers, trained diver-photographers and archaeologists was formed. The technique of geophysical survey was combined with the use of echo-sounders, mud-penetrators, sub-bottom profilers and underwater metal detectors. This team carried out 12 marine archaeological expeditions between 1983 to 1992 and articles and antiquities recovered were sent to Physical Research Laboratory for dating. By using thermo-luminescence, carbon dating and other modern scientific techniques, the artifacts were found to belong to the period between 15th to 18th century B.C. In his great work, The Lost City of Dwaraka, Dr. Rao has given scientific details of these discoveries and artifacts.

 

Between 1983 to 1990, the well-fortified township of Dwaraka was discovered, extending more than half mile from the shore. The township was built in six sectors along the banks of a river. The foundation of boulders on which the city’s walls were erected proves that the land was reclaimed from the sea. The general layout of the city of Dwaraka described in ancient texts agrees with that of the submerged city discovered by the MAU.

The ASI conducted a second round of excavations in 1979 under S.R. Rao’s direction. He found a distinct pottery known as lustrous red ware, which could be more than 3,000 years old. Based on the results of these excavations, the search for the sunken city in the Arabian Sea began in 1981. Scientists and archaeologists have continually worked on the site for 20 years.

The UAW began excavations at Dwaraka again from January 2007. Dr. Tripathi said: “To study the antiquity of the site in a holistic manner, excavations are being conducted simultaneously both on land [close to the Dwarakadhish temple] and undersea so that finds from both the places can be co-related and analyzed scientifically.”

The objective of the excavation is to know the antiquity of the site, based on material evidence. In the offshore excavation, the ASI’s trained underwater archaeologists and the divers of the Navy searched the sunken structural remains. The finds were studied and  documented.   

On land, the excavation is being done in the forecourt of the Dwarakadhish temple. Students from Gwalior, Lucknow, Pune, Vadodara, Varanasi and Bikaner are helping ASI archaeologists. In the forecourt, old structures including a circular one have been found. A small cache of 30 copper coins was discovered.

“Within the past few months, the engineers began some dredging operations there and they pulled up human fossil bones, fossil wood, stone tools, pieces of pottery and many other things that indicated that it indeed was a human habitation site that they had. And they were able to do more intensive sonar work there and were able to identify more structures. They appeared to have been laid out on the bank of a river that had been flowing from the Indian subcontinent out into that area. ( That river was the legendary saraswati river ) According to the news releases, they have done a radiocarbon testing on a piece of wood from the underwater site that is now yielding an age of 9,500 years which would place it near the end of the last Ice Age. There were actually two radiocarbon dates: one about 7500 years old and another about 9500 years old. The 9500 year old one seems to be the strongest one. That’s the one they are going with. This was announced by Minister Joshi ( Murli Manohar Joshi was the Indian Minister for Ocean Technology then ). Mahabharata was then a reality and it was not a cock and bull story concocted by Ved Vyas.

Ved Vyas also described the city of Dwarka in great details. The poets described Dwarka as a city so golden that it cast its radiance on the ocean for miles around it. Dwar means door, and Dwarka is a city of many doors or a gateway. It was an island, connected to the mainland by many bridges, and legend says that Krishna asked Vishwakarman, the architect of the gods to build him a city more beautiful than any before it.

Krishna chose a remote location, far beyond the reach of Jarasandh. He picked distant Dwarka on the western coast of India, far from Mathura, and spent a year putting his plans into action. He built on the sunken remains of a previous kingdom, Kushasthali, which itself was built on older ruins, all underwater. Krishna reclaimed a hundred miles of land from the sea and called in Vishwakarman, the architect of the gods to give him a city that was the envy of the world.

 

The Mahabharat and the Bhagwat Puran and other texts, describe the wonders of Dwarka. The most expensive and luxurious materials were used. In those days of unbelievable riches, it was quite common to use precious stones, gold and silver as construction material. Royalty and rich nobles invariably used gold, those who could not afford it used silver or metal.

 

Dwarka was a city of rose and gold. The palaces and many of the mansions were built of gold, over which pink lotus domes towered, topped by soaring golden spires. The floors were made of emeralds. Precious stones studded the walls and crystal arches curved overhead, inlaid with gold. The houses were beautifully decorated and sculptures adorned the walls. Even the cowsheds were made of silver, brass and iron.

Seen in this beautiful picture is lord Krishna coming to the island city of dwarka

Dwarka was a very well planned city, following the highly developed science of town planning. The architect, Vishwakarman, first mapping out the highways, lanes, gates and parks. He sectioned off plots and divided the city into six zones, residential and commercial. He planned out the port and created the bridges and gateways and the fortifications. Everything was laid out in detail before the construction began.

Like many kingdoms of the time Dwarka had a passport system. Its citizens were issued with a clay seal which had to be presented when they entered or left the massive gates. The seal of Dwarka was a mythical three headed dog and seals matching the description have been found in the undersea ruins today.

In the Newspaper The Hindu dated 23 Feb 2007 an article was published which I reproduce here vervatim.” CHENNAI: Ancient structural remains of some significance have been discovered at Dwaraka, under water and on land, by the Underwater Archaeology Wing (UAW) of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Alok Tripathi, Superintending Archaeologist, UAW, said the ancient underwater structures found in the Arabian Sea were yet to be identified. “We have to find out what they are. They are fragments. I would not like to call them a wall or a temple. They are part of some structure,” said Dr. Tripathi, himself a trained diver.

Thirty copper coins were also found in the excavation area. The structures found on land belonged to the medieval period. “We have also found 30 copper coins. We are cleaning them. After we finish cleaning them, we can give their date,” he said.

Dwaraka is a coastal town in Jamnagar district of Gujarat. Traditionally, modern Dwaraka is identified with Dvaraka or Dvaravati, mentioned in the Mahabharata as Krishna’s city. Dwaraka was a port, and some scholars have identified it with the island of Barka mentioned in the Periplus of Erythrean Sea. Ancient Dwaraka sank in sea and hence is an important archaeological site.” My idea is not to go in the discussion of how the city went under the sea but the fact is that this city is now approximately under water of the Arabian sea some 135 feet below water. This city has been mentioned in the Mahabharata and that this city has been found, dated, and mapped. The probable date of this city is between 9500 to 7500 years before present which will put it as 7500 to 5500 years BC.

Mahabharata was not a fictional epic but a reality is also evident from the works of many scholars who have done extensive work in this area, and by getting all the facts together what comes out of the whole is the fact that the near about exact dates of the major happenings in the epic has also been identified. This at least proves that the Vedic civilization is a much older phenomenon than perceived by many western scholars till date.

 There is a striking inscription which has been found  in  the  Jain Temple  at  Aihole prepared by  one Chalukya King Pulakeshi.  It says, according  to  scholars,  that  the  temple   was     constructed   in 30+3000+700+5  = 3735 years, after the Bharat War and 50+6+500 =   556 years of Shaka era in Kali era. Today Shaka era is 1910.  Hence  1910- 556  =  1354  years  ago the temple was constructed.  Thus the year of inscribing this note is 634 AD.  At this time 3735  years  had  passed from the Bharat War. So the date of the War comes to 3101 BC.  This is also the date of Kali Yuga Commencement. Naturally, it is evident that relying on the beginning of Kaliyuga Era and holding that the War took place just before the commencement of Kaliyuga,

 

 

The verse inscribed is :

 

Trinshatsu Trisahasreshu Bhaaratdahavaditaha | Saptabda  Shatayukteshu

Gateshwabdeshu Panchasu | Panchashatasu Kalaukale Shatasu Panchashatsu

cha | Samatsu Samatitasu Shakaanamapi Bhoobhujaam ||

 

The verses has been interpreted by considering the  clauses  of  the verse.  It  says “3030 years from the Bharat War” in the first line, ( Trinshatsu Trisahasreshu Bhaaratdahavaaditaha) where the first  clause of  the  sentence  ends.  in the second line, the second clause starts and   runs   up to   the   middle   of   the   third   line   thus ( Saptabda…..Kalaukale) This means 700+5+50 = 755 years passed in the Kali Era. It is clear from the former portion of the verse that 3030 years passed from the Bharat War and 755 years  passed  from Kali  Era.   Kali  Era started from 3101 BC.  755 years have passed so 3101-755 = 2346 BC is the year when 3030 years  had  passed  from  the Bharat  War.   So 2346+3030 = 5376 BC appears to be the date of Bharat War.

The Greek Ambassador Magasthenis has recorded that 138 generations have  passed  between  Krishna  and Chandragupta Maurya. Many scholars have taken this evidence, but taking only 20 years per generation they fixed  the date of Krishna as 2760 years before Chandragupta. But this is wrong because the record is not of ordinary people to take 20 years per  generation. In the matter of general public, one says that when a son is born a new generation starts. But in the  case  of  kings,  the name  is  included in the list of Royal Dynasty only after his coronation to the throne. Hence, one cannot allot 20 years to one  king.  We have  to  find  out  the average per king  by  calculating on  various INDIAn Dynasties. I have considered 60 kings  from  various  dynasties and calculated the average of each king as 35 years. Here is a list of some of important kings with the no. of years ruling.

 

      Chandragupta Mourya      330-298 B.C.     32 years.

      Bindusar                         298-273 B.C.     25 years.

      Ashok                            273-232 B.C.     41 years.

      Pushyamitra Shunga       190-149 B.C.     41 years.

      Chandragupta Gupta       308-330 A.D.     22 years.

      Samudragupta                330-375 A.D.     45 years.

      Vikramaditya                  375-414 A.D.     39 years.

      Kumargupta                   414-455 A.D.     41 years.

      Harsha                          606-647 A.D.     41 years.

                                                ———

                                                327 years.

 

      The average is 327/9 = 36.3 years.

 

Multiplying 138 generations by 35 years we get 4830 years before Chandragupta  Mourya.  Adding  Chandrgupta’s  date 320 B.C. to 4830 we get 5150 B.C. as the date of Lord Krishna.

Megasthenis, according to Arian, has written that  between  Sandrocotus  to  Dianisaum  153 generations and 6042 years passed. From this data, we get the average of 39.5 years per king. From this we can calculate  5451  years  for  138  generations.  So Krishna must have been around 5771 B.C.

Pliny gives 154 generations and  6451  years  between  Bacchus  and Alexander.  This  Bacchus may be the famous Bakasura who was killed by Bhimasena. This period comes to about 6771 years B.C.

Thus Mahabharata period ranges from 5000 B.C. to 6000 B.C. and Dwarka fits into this scenario perfectly.

Mahabharata   mentions   the   ancient   tradition   as   ‘Shravanadini Nakshatrani’, i.e.,  Shravan Nakshatra was given the first place in the Nakshatra- cycle (Adi-71/34 and Ashvamedh  44/2)  Vishwamitra  started

counting  the Nakshatras from Shravan when he created ‘Prati Srushti’. He was angry with the old customs.  So he started  some  new  customs. Before  Vishvamitra’s  time Nakshatras were counted from the one which was occupied by the sun on the Vernal  Equinox.   Vishvamitra  changed this fashion and used diagonally opposite point i.e.  Autumnal Equinox to list the Nakshtras. He gave first place to Shravan which was at the Autumnal  Equinox  then.   The period of Shravan Nakshatra on autumnal equinox is from 6920 to 7880 years B.C.  This was Vishvamitra’s period at  the  end  of  Treta yuga.  Mahabharat War took place at the end of Dwapar yuga.   Subtracting  the  span  of Dwapar  Yuga  of  2400 years we get 7880 – 2400 = 5480 B.C. as the date of Mahabharat War.

 

Recently Dr. S.B. Rao, Emeritus Scientist of the National Institute of Oceanography,  Dona  Paula, Goa, 403004, has discovered under the sea, Dwaraka and dated it as between  5000  to  6000  BC.   This  news  has been  published by all  the  leading newspapers on 22nd October 1988.

 Many works of the Vedic and Puranic tradition contain a sufficient number of clues in the form of astronomical observations which can be used to determine the approximate date of Mahabharata and thus establish the historical authenticity of the events described in this great epic. Notable among these works are the Parashar Sanghita, the Bhagvat Puran, Shakalya Sanghita, and the Mahabharat itself. Aryabhatta, one of the greatest mathematicians and astronomers of India in the fifth century AD, examined the astronomical evidence described in the Mahabharata in his great work known as the “Aryabhattiya”. According to the positions of the planets recorded in the Mahabharata, its approximate date was calculated by Aryabhatta to be 3100 BC implying that the great war described in the Mahabharata was fought approximately 5000 years ago, as most Hindus have always believed.

 

A number of British scholars of the 19th century, especially Friedrich Max Muller, tried to interpret this astronomical evidence to prove that the observations recorded in Hindu scriptures are imaginary. As an amateur astronomer, I propose to examine the astronomical evidence presented in the Bhagvat Puran and Max Muller’s criticism of this evidence in light of the advances made in astronomy in the past fifty years. Max Muller, in the preface to his translation of the Rig Veda, examines the astronomical observations described in the Bhagvat Puran and concludes that these observations are “imaginary”, apparently because they did not agree with the prevalent views of the European, primarily British, Indologists of the nineteenth century about the time of the Mahabharata.

Carl Segan, a renowned astronomer at Cornell University, who hosted the public television series “Cosmos” in 1985, pointed out that Hindus were the only ones who came anywhere close to correctly estimating the real age of the universe. Unlike many cultural traditions which treat science and religion as antithetical to each other, the Hindu tradition encourages the study of physics and metaphysics both for a comparative understanding of the true nature of the cosmic mystery surrounding and pervading the universe.

Everything about the Mahabharat is huge, from its sprawling length, to the enormous breadth of its vision. The longest of all epics is like an encyclopaedia, a world all on its own. At its core is the powerful and moving story of the Pandava and Kaurava cousins who ultimately fight the greatest war of all, Kurukshetra. But that is not all, the Mahabharata is full of mythic stories, vast time spans of history, detailed geography and a massive body of spiritual teachings.

 In the end I would like to invite my readers to a 9.35 minutes video on www.disclose.tv which will precisely show case the antiquity of this great civilization. The link is given below. Copy and paste on the address bar of your browser and press enter.

http://www.disclose.tv/action/viewvideo/1134/Dvaraka_Giant_Underwater_City_found_in_India/

 

Bibliography:

http://www.tginvents.com/tushar/MahabharatDating2.htm

http://www.hindunet.org/hindu_history/ancient/mahabharat/mahab_sarasvat.html

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=1a6vMAGTUhI

.Hinduunity.org

http://www.hinduism.co.za/oldest.htm

Michael Cremo, Researcher of Ancient Archaeology

and Author, Forbidden Archaeology

http://www.epicindia.com/magazine/Culture/the-lost-city-of-dwarka

http://www.hindu.com/2007/02/23/stories/2007022301242200.htm

http://www.disclose.tv/action/viewvideo/1134/Dvaraka_Giant_Underwater_City_found_in_India/

 

 

 

The unusual steep rise in the demand for LCD TVs in recent times evidently points to the growing faith in the LCD technology. However, the most puzzling question for many of us who are still unfamiliar with this new age techno-mania is : what is this techno -manic notion of the LCD and why is there so much frantic fervour for the numerous LCD technology-driven products in today’s market.

To begin with, the digitally-rich LCD technology functions smoothly by utilising the properties of polarised light. The reason behind the increasing dependence on this digital-mantra is its flawless performance. Hence, the LCD technology is increasingly being optimised in a vast number of electronic gadget items for instance, laptops and computer monitors and touchscreen devices like smart mobile phone handsets and digitally loaded gaming consoles.

In fact, a recently concluded survey interestingly enough, revealed the sharp shift in the choices and dispositions of today’s customers. The LCD TVs in India are increasingly being preferred by the customer’s as these are replacing their yesteryears’ favourite CRT television sets. A lot of factors such as:creation of a strong market base, a change in customer’s preferences, rise in the prospective customer’s income, healthy competition between rival firms, positively influencing market trends and favourably disposed government policies – have given the required push to the market of LCD TVs.

Just in case you are wishing to strike a deal for one of these high-class yet cheap LCD TVs in the Indian market then a few criteria should be borne in mind by all discerning customers such as the prospective users should critically study a product on the yardsticks of quality, functionality, performance, availability of substitute products in the market.

As a matter of fact, Samsung LCD TVs are currently in hot demand. Samsung, the giant company that deals in digitally- rich cheap LCD TV has recently launched a new series of LCD television sets to suit the requirements of their Indian clientèle. Some of these LCD TVs in Indian market include the Samsung LA26R71 (Bordeaux), Samsung LA32S8 (Sonoma Trenz) and the Samsung LA19R71(Bordeaux). These Samsung LCD TV come with the promise of offering world class entertainment at very affordable price. So, without having to worry about the expenses one can strike a “safe” deal for these sophisticatedly designed high-end home entrainment electronic gadgets.

How often do we sit and question our gender or sexual identity? Is it always the same as the biological sex that we are born in? Can it be independent entity, irrespective of our biological sex? Most of us assume, for lack of further information that our overall sexuality that includes our sex, gender, sexual orientation and sexual behavior are all determined at some point through some ‘natural’ genetic intervention during our birth and there is nothing one can do about it. We are taught to believe in strict binaries of male and female and the separate social roles associated with both. Today when we see a television advertisement, where our hero denies a young pretty woman’s courtship, just as he realized that this attractive woman used to be a man. Oh! And everyone chuckles. Well, it’s not that funny. Transsexuality as a phenomenon has gained very little visibility or knowledge in our society – precisely why is it so easy for us to distance ourselves and laugh at it. Our society in fact contains one of the most visible transgender cultures in the world – the ‘Eunuch’ (Hijra) Community. Eunuchs might have an accepted place in Indian society, but it is a place pretty much at the bottom of the social heap – making them not just a sexual but also a highly deprived social minority.

 

Transgender communities have existed in most parts of the world with their own local identities, customs and rituals. They are called baklas in the Philippines, berdaches among American Indian tribes, serrers in Africa and hijras, jogappas, jogtas, shiv-shaktis and aravanis in South Asia. The hijra community in India, which has a recorded history of more than 4,000 years, was considered to have special powers because of its third-gender status. It was part of a well-established `eunuch culture’ in many societies, especially in West Asia, and its members held sanctioned positions in royal courts. Hijras trace their origins to myths in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Rama, while leaving for the forest upon being banished from the kingdom for 14 years, turns around to his followers and asks all the `men and women’ to return to the city. Among his followers the hijras alone do not feel bound by this direction and decide to stay with him. Impressed with their devotion, Rama sanctions them the power to confer blessings on people on auspicious occasions like childbirth and marriage, and also at inaugural functions. This set the stage for the custom of badhai in which hijras sing, dance and confer blessings. But today, keeping in mind the pathetic condition of them one can say that this community actually needs the blessings of Lord Rama more than anyone so that at least they can subsist in the society with proper dignity, respect and most of the most important identity.

 

Hijras (Eunuchs) in India have virtually no safe spaces, not even in their families, where they are protected from prejudice and abuse. The PUCL(K) Report on Human Rights Violations against the Transgender Community has documented the kind of prejudice that hijras face in Bangalore. The report shows that this prejudice is translated into violence, often of a brutal nature, in public spaces, police stations, prisons and even in their homes. The main factor behind the violence is that society is not able to come to terms with the fact that hijras do not conform to the accepted gender divisions. In addition to this, most hijras have a lower middle-class background, which makes them susceptible to harassment by the police. The discrimination based on their class and gender makes the hijra community one of the most disempowered groups in Indian society. The systematic violence that hijras face is reinforced by the institutions such as the family, media and the medical establishments and is given legitimacy by the legal system. The hijras face many sorts of state and societal harassments such as

 

• Harassment by the police in public places
• Harassment at home
• Police entrapment
• Abuse/harassment at police stations
• Rape in jails

 

 

 

The roots of contemporary violence against the hijra community can in fact be traced back to the historical form that modern law in colonial India has taken. It took the form of the enactment of the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871 which was an extraordinary legislation that even departed from the principles on which the Indian Penal Code was based. To establish an offence under the India Penal Code, the accusations against the accused has to be proved beyond reasonable doubt in court of law. But certain tribes and communities were perceived to be criminals by birth, with criminality being passed on from generation to generation. It fitted in well with the hierarchical Indian social order, in which some communities were perceived as unclean and polluted from birth. The link between criminality and sexual non-conformity was made more explicit in the 1897 amendment to the Criminal Tribes Act on 1871, which was sub-titled, ‘An act for the Registration of Criminal Tribes and Eunuchs’. Under this law, the local government was required to keep a register of the names and residences of all eunuchs who were “reasonably suspected of kidnapping or castrating children or committing offences under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code”. Any eunuch so registered could be arrested without warrant and punished with imprisonment of up to two years or with a fine or both. The law also decreed eunuchs as incapable of acting as a guardian, making a gift, drawing up a will or adopting a son.

 

Regarding Civil law they are also not spared here. The hijra community is deprived of several rights under civil law because Indian law recognizes only two sexes. This means that hijras do not have the rights to vote, marry and own a ration card, a passport or a driving license or claim employment and health benefits. In north and central India, hijras, who have contested and won elections to local and State bodies, are now facing legal challenges. In February 2003, the Madhya Pradesh High Court struck down the election of Kamala Jaan as the Mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Katni. The court’s logic was that since Kamala Jaan was not a woman, she could not contest the seat, which was reserved for women. Lawyer Pratul Shandilya, who is arguing Kamala Jaan’s case, said: “I have already filed the Special Leave Petition (SLP) before the Supreme Court, and the court has also granted leave in the petition.” The High Court verdict came despite a direction from the Election Commission (E.C.) in September 1994 that hijras can be registered in the electoral roles either as male or female depending on their statement at the time of enrolment. This direction was given by the E.C. after Shabnam, a hijra candidate from the Sihagpur Assembly constituency in Madhya Pradesh, wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner enquiring about which category hijras were classified under.

 

The law that is used most to threaten the hijra and kothi communities, as well as the homosexual community in India, is Section 377 of the IPC, which criminalizes “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal” even if it is voluntary. In effect, it criminalizes certain kinds of sexual acts that are perceived to be `unnatural’. The law, which has its origin in colonial ideas of morality, in effect presumes that a hijra or a homosexual person is engaging in `carnal intercourse against the order of nature”, thus making this entire lot of marginalized communities vulnerable to police harassment and arrest. The Immoral Traffic Prevention Act (ITPA) of 1956 (amended in 1986), whose stated objective is to criminalize brothel-keeping, trafficking, pimping and soliciting, in reality targets the visible figure of the sex worker and enables the police to arrest and intimidate the transgender sex-worker population.

 

According to the two main diagnostic systems used in the Indian medical establishment, transsexualism is defined as a `gender identity disorder’. The doctors usually prescribe a sexual reassignment surgery (SRS), which currently resorts to hormone therapy and surgical reconstruction and may include electrolysis, speech therapy and counseling. Surgical construction could include the removal of male sex organs and the construction of female ones. Since government hospitals and qualified private practitioners do not usually perform SRS, many hijras go to quacks, thus placing themselves at serious risk. Neither the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) nor the Medical Council of India (MCI) has formulated any guidelines to be followed in SRS. The attitude of the medical establishment has only reinforced the low sense of self-worth that many hijras have at various moments in their lives.

 

With every single thing going against the Eunuchs; a notable amount of awareness has also been seen all over the world. Around the world, countries are beginning to recognize the rights of transgender people. In a landmark judgment (Christine Goodwin vs. the United Kingdom, 2002) the European Court of Human Rights declared that the U.K. government’s failure to alter the birth certificates of transsexual people or to allow them to marry in their new gender role was a breach of the European Convention on Human Rights. It said that a test of biological factors could no longer be used to deny recognition legally to the change of gender that a transsexual had undergone. In New Zealand, in New Zealand Attorney General vs. the Family Court at Otahuhu (1994), the court upheld the principle that for purposes of marriage, transsexual people should be legally recognized in their re-assigned sex.

OF late the Indian hijra community has begun to mobilize themselves through the formation of a collective. Sangama, an organization working with hijras, kothis and sex workers in Bangalore, has played an important role by helping them organize and fight for their rights. Its services include organizing a drop-in centre for hijras and kothis, conducting a series of public rallies and marches, using legal assistance in case of police harassment, and establishing links with other social movements.

 

The organizations of the hijra community can be seen as constituting a larger movement of sexual minority groups in India. They are challenging the constitutional validity of Section 377 and are organizing a campaign questioning the government’s stand that the law should remain. The discrimination and violence that hijras face show that it is high time that both the government and the human rights movement in the country begin to take this issue with the seriousness it deserves.

I am an Indian and I am living in a globalised environment. I start my day with a tooth paste and brush the brands of which were established either in USA or European countries. The brands of shirts and trousers we wear, the cars most of the Indians drive, brands of televisions we watch, the music systems we listen to, the movies we watch, the provisions we buy from malls, the coca cola or Pepsi I drink with my friends almost everyday, an occasional dinner I will have at KFC, (these examples are only a few) and nearly 50% of the money we, the Indians, spent have been going to either USA or European countries for their products or services.

Indians living in India open their bank accounts in the Bank of America or Standard Chartered or some other bank. AIG and other insurance companies insure the lives of Indian people.

We live in an intensely interdependent world in which all the earth’s people with their immense differences of culture and historical experience are compressed together in instant communication. We accept this phenomenon as globalization or the free trade between countries.

I still can’t understand why some people are against outsourcing to India. When India is a good market for their products and services, why can’t, some of the services be outsourced to India when they are providing them at lower cost. Why can’t a win-win situation be applied here?

I am an online bookkeeper having expertise in QuickBooks, Peachtree, MS accounting soft wares. When I contact some of my bookkeeping colleagues from USA or EU, they will complain like this,” People from Indian call centers call us and tell us that they are calling from Melbourne or Sydney or California”. There is a perception that Indians are hardworking, professional but dishonest. This perception is wrong. People from call center tell lies because the call center head who earn a fat check and who lives in USA tell them to do so. So, one can’t rule out that Indians are dishonest or they lack integrity.

In its 5000 years of written history India never invaded another country. It got Independence from British Colonialism not by force or war but through non-violence preached by Mahatma Gandhi. From the day it got independence from the British, its democracy never failed. It is the cradle of world religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. It has followers of all religions including Christianity and Islam.

In today’s competitive world scenario ‘work gets done where it can be done most efficiently and effectively’. Indian Online Bookkeepers take away the routine work, and lets you focus on more strategic work like customer relations, and other creative accounting work like tax shielding. Now with the advent of SME accounting outsourcing, you have the same advantages as of Fortune 500 companies.

India is known for its cultural heritage all over the world. It has a for a long while cultural history that stretches back to 5000 years. Indian culture is deeply established in various religion, practices and norms. India is a religious land with major surviving religions as Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, Christianity, Jainism, and Buddhism. Indian people are associated a lot to the religion and have adopted the culture from the religion to that they belong. India is an ancient country that was the hub of ancient activities and cultural practices. From the time of Harappan civilization India is rich in culture amid continue to ongoing practices to promote cultural heritage.

India is a land of diversification whether it is geography, history, culture, religion or people. This diversification over the ages has led to the transformation and strengthening of the modern culture. Indian culture involves celebration of festivals, art, drama and theater, literature, music, philosophy, television, monuments, architecture and that much more.

Ancient India has been invaded by various international rulers and properties all hold brought up their culture in on them. As a result of this Indian culture has been amended most any time but this addition was always positive and has strengthen up the culture. Initially mughal emperors who came to India added up to the culture and then consequently in the ages British, Portuguese, France and Spain invaded India and added to the Indian culture. But more just now after the free India when authorities policies changed and after 1991 various foreign companies entered India and properties have formed Indian culture a new and dynamic one.

Indian culture is a big collection of heritage, art, architecture, social norms, customs, tradition etc that India is following from the ancient ages. One must find out somewhat up Indian culture. Indian culture has various things overly can make heart and mind blissful.

Money plays the role of blood in this modern life, without it, normal life cannot be spent. People face the problems when they need to meet personal or family’s needs but have insufficient money to fulfil them. But in those situations, life cannot be stopped or fulfilment of those desires cannot be left alone.

Because in a country like India, getting loans for fulfilling those desires cannot be a subject to worry about. Apart from the personal requirements, in this developing country, there are thousands of people who possess desires to build up their own businesses. The Indian banks are also spread their helping hands to fulfil these desires by providing affordable and cheap business start up loans.

In India, there are hundreds of financial institutions which offer loans for fulfilment of personal desires. These types of loans are known as personal loans. India is standing on one of the supreme positions in terms of financial services in the world. Here one will find several Indian as well as foreign banks and other financial organisation which are always ready to spread their helping hands to the people to fulfil all sorts of needs.

The requirements of personal loans are increasing every year, as with the introduction of innovative strategies of Indian banks, more and more people have started expressing beliefs on the Indian financial institutions and do not feel hesitated while making a decision of going for a loan.

Indian financial institutions usually provide personal loans under five major categories. The categories lists include festival loans, marriage loans, consumer durable loans, pension loans and personal computer loans. All these loans are provided for different purposes and come with different terms and conditions.

Festival loans – On the occasion of any festival, expenditure comes to the Indian families. To help financially weak people at that time, there are a few Indian banks which offers these types of loans. Under this category of loan, one can get an amount ranging from Rs.5,000 to Rs.50,000 and repayment is done through Equated Monthly Instalments.

Marriage loans – The popularity of these types of loans is increasing day by day in both urban and rural areas. The amount of these loans depend on few factors which include repayment capacity of the borrower, age of the borrower, security offered by the borrower and so on.

Consumer durable loans : – One can avail these loans for purchasing of consumer durable products like television, refrigerator, washing machine and so on. It has been noticed that the demands of these loans primarily went to sky heights in the festival seasons. These types of loans are available from the nationalised banks and the loan amount differs from bank to bank. Different banks also charge different interest rate on these loans. Usually Indian banks do provide an amount ranging from Rs.10,000 to Rs.1 lakhs under this category of personal loan.

Pension loans – There are several Indian banks which take care of the old-aged people after their retirement from jobs. These types of loans are available till the age of 70. Under this category of loan, the maximum amount is provided by the financial organisations is usually 7 to 10 times of the last pension received by the applicant. The loan amount also varies from borrower to borrower, depending on his repayment capacity.

Personal computer loans – The 21st century is witnessing technological booms with the advancement of Information technology. For that reason, the needs of personal computer have much more increased nowadays. To fulfil that desire, Indian financial organisations are spreading their helping hands by providing personal computer loans. Under these types of loans, banks provide an amount up to Rs.1 lakh. There are some banks which also provide separate loans for purchasing software and that is paid to a maximum amount of Rs. 20,000.

So, from the above discussion one thing is quite clear that one can get the most flexible types of personal loans in India according to their requirements. There are several Indian and foreign banks that provide these types of loans at a very reasonable rate of interest and with flexible terms and conditions. Among those some of the mostly preferable banks are the State Bank of India, ICICI, Bank of Baroda, Standard Chartered, HSBC, United Bank of India, HDFC etc.

 

 

We all are aware of the wars India and Pakistan have fought and the resulted destruction especially precious human lives. In the current information age, some battles are not only fought with guns and tanks but also through media, internet and pen. Since the advent of Information Technology among the masses of South Asia in mid 1990s, the pace of cyber wars between Pakistan and India have also been increased.

Cyberwars between the two countries started in May 1998, when India conducted its nuclear tests. Soon after India officially announced the test, a group of Pakistan-based hackers called milw0rm broke into the Bhabha Atomic Research Center web site and posted anti-India and anti-nuclear messages. The cyberwars usually have been limited to defacements of each others’ sites. Defacement is a low level damage, in which only the home page of a site is replaced with hacker’s own page, usually with some message for the victim. Such defacements started in May 1998 and continued during Kargil War in 1999 and then during that era when the tension between India and Pakistan was at its peak from Dec 2001 to 2002. Therefore, the period between 1999 to 2002 was very crucial, when the troops were busy across the LOC exchanging gunshots and the hackers busy in defacing sites of each others.

According to attrition.org, a web site that tracks computer security related developments on the Internet, show that attacks on Indian websites increased from 4 in 1999 to 72 in 2000 where as the Pakistani websites were hacked 7 times in 1999 and 18 times in 2000. During the first half of 2001, 150 Indian websites were defaced.

During Kargil war, the first Indian site reported to be hacked was http://www.armyinkashmir.com, established by the Indian government to provide factual information about daily events in the Kashmir Valley. The hackers posted photographs showing Indian military forces allegedly killing Kashmiri militants. The pictures sported captions like ‘Massacre,’ Torture,’ ‘Extrajudicial execution’ and ‘The agony of crackdown’ and blamed the Indian government for its alleged atrocities in Kashmir. That was followed by defacement of numerous Indian governmental sites and reciprocal attacks on Pakistani sites.

Two prominent Pakistani hacker groups are PHC (Pakistan Hackers Club) and G-Force. The founder of PHC is Dr. Nuker. The US Department of Justice has identified “Doctor Nuker” as Misbah Khan of Karachi. Misbah Khan was involved in defacement of the official site of AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee). Doctor Nuker struck back with an interview to a magazine Newsbytes where he claimed that the ‘federal grand jury made a mistake in indicting Misbah Khan of Karachi’ and that ‘he merely uses insecure servers in Pakistan to get online anonymously’. Doctor Nuker has been featured in international publications including Time and Newsweek.

G-Force is based in Lahore and it consists of eight members. Both Pakistan Hackers Club and G-Force are professional hackers with a specific aim: to work for the cause of Kashmir and Palestine. It is still to be seen how their hackings are helping the cause of Palestine or Kashmir! Pakistan Hackers Club has been around since quite long and apart from Indian site, they have defaced many USA and Israeli sites including US Department of Energy’s site. G-Force was founded in May 1999 after the nuclear tests and their initial target was Indian sites but after 9/11, their concentration has been shifted to US-based sites. According to zone-h.org, G-Force has successfully defaced 212 sites. G-Force’s “achievements” includes National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency and three military sites associated with the US Defence Test and Evaluation Professional Institute.

During this cyberwar, in December 2000, a wired.com news story created waves that claimed that an Indian hacker’s group “Patriotic Indians” has defaced the official site of Pakistani government pakgov.org. Later, it was revealed that the actual site of Pakistani government is pak.gov.pk, not pakgov.org and pakgov.org was in fact registered by the alleged hacker himself with fake information.

On the Indian side, there are various hackers groups that have defaced Pakistani sites. Among them, the most famous one is H2O or the Hindustan Hackers Organization. However, the independent as well as Indian analysts admit that at this cyber-front, Pakistan has always been winning this war. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, Pakistani hackers are organized in groups where as most of the Indian hackers are working as solo. Secondly and the most important reason is the religious motivation of the hackers based in Pakistan, to do something for the cause of Muslim brothers & sisters in Palestine and Kashmir.

At the government level, both the countries are doing their best to curb hacktivism. NIC (National Informatics Centre) of India and Cybercrime division of FIA (Federal Investigation Authority) in Pakistan are taking necessary steps to eliminate all forms of cybercrime, including hacking.

A few of the Indian sites defaced by Pakistani hackers are:

1. Indian Science Congress

2. National Informatics Centre

3. Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (State-run international voice carrier)

4. External Affairs Mnistry

5. UP government site

6. Ministry of Information Technology

7. Mahindra & Mahindra

8. Rediff Chat

9. Asian Age newspaper

10. Aptech India

11. University of Mumbai

12. Official site of Gujarat Government

13. GlaxoWellcome India

14. The Parliament home page

15. SetIndia.com

16. Department of Electronics

17. Engineering Export Promotion Council, Ministry of Commerce

18. Center for Advanced Technology

A few of the Pakistani sites defaced by Indian hackers are:

1. The Nation (newspaper)

2. Pakistan Television

3. Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation

4. Official site of Punjab Government

5. Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology

6. Prime bank

7. Hamdard University

If fighting with our neighbours is in our genes, we can fight through the internet, media, newspapers and books but let us not fight with guns and missiles. There may be humiliation if a website is defaced but at least no human life is lost.

Please visit India-Pakistan Friendship Club (IPFC) to access more articles related to India and Pakistan.

India has an increasingly affluent middle class population that, on the back of rapid economic growth, has made the country’s consumer electronics industry highly dynamic. The industry has been witnessing significant growth in recent years due to several factors, such as retail boom, growing disposable income and availability of easy finance schemes. But still, the consumer electronics goods, like refrigerators, microwave and washing machines, have low penetration in the country, representing vast room for future growth. This is attracting many foreign majors to the country, according to the new report “Booming Consumer Electronics Market in India”.

The report finds that since the penetration of several products like TVs and refrigerators are reaching saturation in the urban areas, the markets for these products are shifting to the semi-urban and rural areas.

This analytical research thoroughly evaluates the Indian consumer electronics industry. It briefly discusses about the current and emerging trends in the industry, underlining the future potential areas and key issues crucial for the industry development.

“Booming Consumer Electronics Market in India” offers extensive research on various consumer electronics products that are broadly classified as home appliances, audio/video appliances, mobile handsets, and PC market. It provides an insight into the emerging and potential future trend in all the categories and highlights the key strategies that need to be worked upon to get success in the highly competitive industry.

The report thoroughly analyzes the historic performance and future prospects, offering 4-year industry forecast, of following consumer electronics products:

§ Washing Machines (Semi-automatic & Fully Automatic)
§ Television
§ Set-top Box
§ Refrigerator (Frost-free & Direct Cool)
§ Air Conditioner
§ Microwave Oven
§ MP3 Players
§ Digital Camera & Camcorder
§ Mobile Handsets
§ PCs (Desktop & Notebook)

Key Research Findings:

§ Propelled by growing middle class population, changing lifestyle and rapid urbanization, the Indian consumer electronics industry is forecasted to grow at a rapid rate of 10% to 12% in the coming few years.
§ Volume sales of washing machine will be driven by growth in fully automatic category during 2008-09 to 2011-12.
§ The market for televisions in India is changing rapidly from the conventional CRT technology to Flat Panel Display Televisions (FPTV). Currently, the split between CRT and FPTV is around 97% and 3% respectively, and the share of FPTV is projected to increase at robust rate in near future.
§ Frost-free refrigerator sales, certainly growing at a much faster pace than the direct-cool category, are anticipated to drive the Indian refrigerators market over the forecast period.
§ The AC market in India is projected to grow at 30% to 35% for the coming few years.
§ Driven by young population, demand for MP3 players and digital video appliances are anticipated to surge at double-digit rate in near future.
§ The low penetration level of consumer electronics goods coupled with increasing preference for comfort and luxurious goods are widely attracting the foreign as well as domestic players to the industry.

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