Vol. LVII, No. 53, New Delhi, July 16, 2006

A govt in freeze: Dogged by recalcitrant allies By Geeta A DAY after Finance Minister P Chidambaram sold dreams to the industry leaders in terms of achieving 12 per cent industrial growth, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh put an abrupt end to the UPA Government?s disinvestment policy. more > Faith under UPA siege From Our Special Correspondent SRI Vishwesha Teertha Swamiji of the Pejawar Mutt in response to startling disclosures of the planned evangelist activities in the holy Tirupathi temple premises announced that the leaders of Hindu mutts would meet in the temple complex on July 15 to discuss the activities of Christian missionaries, including attempts to convert Hindus in Tirumala and Tirupathi. more > London Post Hindu centre granted affiliation to Oxford University By Prasun Sonwalkar LONDON: The Oxford University has granted the status of ?Recognised Independent Centre? to the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies (OCHS)?a leading centre for the study of Hindu traditions. more > Editorial UPA regression in crisis ONLY the highly incorrigible optimist would have expected the UPA to come out with a coherent policy to check the spiralling price rise in all essential commodities. The meeting of Congress Chief Ministers that discussed the price rise has proved more farcical... more > Barrage across Parichu river in Tibet Safety of hydel projects at stake By Arabinda Ghose A report in a national daily said a barrage-like structure is coming up across the Parichu river in Tibet, known in local language as the Langchen Khambab river. The river originates from the Rakas lake in the vicinity of the Mansarovar lake in Tibet, considered holy by the Hindus, and flows westwards towards Himachal Pradesh in India. Entering India through the Shipki La Pass, the river takes the name of the Satluj (ancient name Shatadru), one of the five rivers of Punjab. more > Memoirs of VP Singh and Bofors By Joginder Singh THE former PM Vishwanath Pratap Singh has released his memoirs ?Manzil Se Zyada Safar (Beyond Destination)?. The book has been lapped up and has received a totally undeserved coverage, due to some stray remarks here and there, on the dead and alive politicians. more > Sangh Samachar Hindu padpadshahi of Shivaji is relevant today?Mohan Bhagwat - Kashi Samvad Manthan Statue of Prithviraj Chauhan unveiled in Byawar Identify the enemies?Ashok Singhal - FOC Essay-writing competition on Shri Guruji - FOC Sewa Bharati adopts 100 child labourers - Samachar Bharati, AP Shagun money for sewa - Hindu Vishwa Nyaya kendras by Adhivakta Parishad - Nyayapravah Shraddha yatra on 400th martyr day of Guru Arjun Dev - FOC Training camp of BMS women activists - FOC The plight of refugee Hindus in Jammu Victims of Kashmir genocide THIS is a bitter reality of ethnic cleansing of the Hindus from Jammu and Kashmir. Eleven-year old Sanju is a witness to brutal killing of his father, grandparents and uncle by a group of terrorists in 1999. He has seen all with his naked eyes as a three-year old boy.    more > A Kannada folk song selected for UNESCO Govina Haadu in UNESCO syllabus From VSK, Karnataka AMONG the popular rhymes of Kannada, Govina Haadu is very appealing. This simple and moving folk song is about the triumph of truth-telling. Arbhuda, a hungry tiger, catch the gentle cow ?Punyakoti? as its prey. more > Second Annual Report on Hindu Human Rights released at Capitol Hill. Atrocities on Hindus in Muslim countries exposed FOC WASHINGTON, D.C.: The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) held a press conference at Capitol Hill, on June 27, 2006 to release its much anticipated second annual report on the status of human rights of the Hindus in South Asia, Afghanistan and Fiji. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, senior ranking member of the House of International Relations Committee, co-hosted the press conference held in the Rayburn House Building. Ros-Lehtinen expressed serious concern over the facts presented in the Human Rights Report and welcomed the document.    more > Face the truth about Pak & Kashmir By Arvind Lavakare IS the UPA government?s peace process with Pakistan becoming frozen? The signs are tell-tale enough.    more > Terror with state patronage By Amitabh Tripathi IT is difficult to believe as Islamic terrorists are getting state patron in our country but unfortunately it is true. Last month when Mumbai police recovered huge cache of arms and ammunitions from some small towns and cities of Maharashtra like Aurangabad and Malegaon, anti terrorist squad also disclosed premises of three MLA?s were used by these terrorists to hide and stay.    more > Over 300 Indian students to receive EU scholarships India News in Europe Programme (INEP) BRUSSELS: The European Union recently announced the selection of 319 students from India to pursue Masters courses in Europe for the year 2006-2007 as part of its Erasmus Mundus programme. Launched in 2004, Erasmus Mundus is an EU initiative dedicated to students from third countries who come to study in the EU to pursue Masters courses at various European universities over two years.    more > Muslim politics is not back to square one Satiricus HOW time flies. And how we progressives progress with the times. Take the Congress and the Muslim League, two sides of the same secular coin. In the good old simple days we had the Congress and we had the Muslim League, and that was that.    more > Vanvasis denied property rights An unending wait By Debasis Tripathy in Bhubaneswar HAVE you ever heard of any region where the landed properties are left unsettled for years, even since 18th century? If not, here is an example of those people, who have hectares of landed properties, but remain landless.    more > SHRI GURUJI CENTENARY YEAR REMINISCENCES First Ban in 1948 and the Sangh?II Unequal encounter By M.G. Vaidya AND from then on started an encounter with the Government. It was the most unequal encounter in our country?s history.On one side were stalwarts like Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel, who were at the peak of their popularity, ably assisted by the famous steel frame of the Indian Civil Service (ICS) that conducted and managed the administration of the British Empire, and on the other was Shri Guruji, with no or little experience of the wily ways of politics, and mostly alone, interned in a jail.    more > The good things in Manu Smriti By K.V. Paliwal Context: ?The Vishwa Hindu Parishad totally rejects the Manu Smriti as it has no place in a civilised society.? (Hindu Voice, May, 2006, p. 43). more > Shakti for Prosperity An action plan for women empowerment SHAKTI, the women?s wing of Vijnana Bharati, conducted a national conference of women scientists and technocrats in Kochi, Kerala. A report by Dr S. Ashaletha "IN your opinion, what is needed for empowering our women?? one person asked Swami Vivekananda. ?Who am I to tell that? Neither you nor me should tell it. Let the women decide what they need.? This was the response of Swamiji.    more >

COVER PAGE Uttaranchal Newsletter BJP is making a comeback ?Rajnath Singh By Ravindra Saini WITH Assembly elections just six months away in Uttaranchal, the political atmosphere is turning hot in the state. People in large number are expressing their ire against the ruling Congress government led by N.D. Tewari. more > Mumbai Newsletter Mumbai dead on monsoon arrival Essential infrastructure crumbles as govt fights charges of ineptness By Aditya Pradhan SOME call centres in Mumbai chose to tell their overseas customers about the torrential rains that lashed the city for over four days since July 2 ?which have caused a complete breakdown of communication and transport services in Mumbai??. more > First Person UPA?s nexus with big business creates scarcity By Dr Jagdish Mukhi Exclusive to Organiser This column is about state and political stagecraft. Leaders who shape the social environment by their grassroot personal touch discuss their experience. more > Consumer Interest Investors conned by fake housing ads By Nitin Saxena THE beleaguered consumer who has coughed up a huge amount for purchasing an item is ready to pay more money for maintenance of the same under the maintenance contract, but the innocent consumer is not getting a good bargain. more > Statescan No defence to Kashmir sleaze accused From Prakriiti Gupta in Talwara (migrant camp) and Jammu THE infamous Kashmir sex racket had led to division between the lawyers of Srinagar and Jammu regions. more > Kid?s org A walk with the Lord By Aniket Raja COME Asadha (June-July), a Hindu month, people from all over the world throng to Puri in Orissa to see one of the most spectacular events, i.e. the Jagannath Rath Yatra. It marks the annual visit of Lord Jagannath (by which name Lord Krishna is known in Orissa) to his birth place, Gundicha Mandir. more > TITBIT ?HOLD steadfast to truth,? say our shastras. By Padmaj ?HOLD steadfast to truth,? say our shastras. Mahatma Gandhi was one of the greatest votaries of truth so much so that for him, his whole life was a process of experimenting with truth. more > Bookmark Fernandes: Politics of exceptional integrity By M.V. Kamath George Fernandes Speaks: edited by George Mathew; Introduction by Rajni Kothari; Ajanta Publications, Delhi; pp 453; Rs 250.00 WHOEVER would have thought that some day a collection of the speeches and writings of the fire-brand politician, George Fernandes would see the light of day? more > Masters' guide to meditation By Manju Gupta Paramahamsa Sri Nithyananda: Meditation is for You, Nithyananda Publishers, pp 229, price not given WRITTEN by a revolutionary spiritual master of this millennium, the book tells that meditation has the power to transform a person physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. more > Feedback Is Uniform Civil Code anti-Islam? By N. Kunju WHEN the NDA Government was formed in 1998 with the help of smaller so-called secular parties, the BJP had to omit three items from its agenda as desired by its partners. more > Destiny - Cartoon Story

India That is Bharat United Nations and India By M.V. Kamath SO the Government of India has formally nominated Shashi Tharoor, Under Secretary General for Communications and Public Information as its official candidate for the post of the UN Secretary General which will be vacated by the current holder of the post, Kofi Annan towards the end of the year. more >

Media Watch Do readers have a choice? Narad "WHY are our newspapers so pre-occupied with issues they consider important?and not what the readers consider important?? Recently asked a reader of The Indian Express (June 18, 2006). In an article that ran half a page, he further said: ?It is amazing how little our newspapers have changed. more >

Readers? Forum The politics and conspiracy behind UPA?s distorted education policy (Organiser, 2-7-2006); Yours truly was targeted for the curricular changes in school education and the preparation of the new generation of textbooks. Personally, I am yet to discover what could be termed injurious to the next generations of the Indians in the textbooks prepared during the period concerned. more >

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