The political ploy over Bt Brinjal

If a public debate ended in a near-ban on Bt brinjal, the next review could well end up the other way, says A K Bhattacharya.

Non-governmental organisations have been celebrating ever since Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh  announced a moratorium on the commercial use of Bt brinjal in India .

Bt brinjal, a genetically modified vegetable, had been developed to make it resistant to attacks by the most common variety of pests, thereby raising prospects of its increased output without any associated costs usually incurred on pesticides.

While most government scientists endorsed the genetically modified variety of the vegetable and even the Genetic Engineering and Appraisal Committee (GEAC), a government body, approved its use, several NGOs had voiced their concern over safety.

In a remarkable display of strength and well-orchestrated campaigns, NGOs staged protest rallies across the country and made their views known to Ramesh at the many public hearings the minister held to review, the GEAC decision to allow commercial use of Bt brinjal.

Views of most scientists from the Department of Biotechnology and the Indian Council of Agriculture Research were set aside. Also ignored were the views of the agriculture minister, the science and technology minister and the human resources development minister.

Not surprisingly, therefore, NGOs are celebrating their victory in their battle against Bt brinjal. Ramesh's decision to place a moratorium on commercialisation of Bt brinjal, they point out, is nothing but a step away from a ban on its use.

That is significant. Mind you, the moratorium is only a step away from a ban. It is not yet a ban. NGOs may not have fully realised the implications of what Ramesh has achieved in the last six weeks of public hearings and consultation with a host of civil society groups, activists, scientists and NGO representatives.

This is what a democratic government ought to do! A government body had cleared the use of Bt brinjal. If a minister had to reject that finding, he was required to hold public consultation and use his conclusions from those public hearings to put the use of that technology on hold. This is exactly what Ramesh did.

If NGOs are celebrating today, they should recognise that Ramesh can use the same instrument of public consultation to take another decision a few months later that may not necessarily agree with their viewpoint on Bt brinjal.

If Ramesh is now a paragon of correct behaviour and NGOs are complimenting him for his transparent and democratic style of functioning, they should not sulk when Ramesh revises his and the government's stance on Bt brinjal after subjecting the technology to another review.

Indeed, the minister has stated that there would be further tests in more reliable laboratories and the regulatory system would be strengthened. Moreover, there are indications that the Bt brinjal issue might be discussed either in Parliament or at a meeting of the National Development Council. Who knows, the government's final stand on Bt brinjal may undergo a change after this exercise.

NGOs should note that subscribing to the idea of a democratic decision-making process can be a double-edged sword. Participants in the debate should be prepared to welcome whatever be the final decision. It is like taking part in an election. If you win, celebrations are in order. But if you lose, accept the verdict and cannot cry foul.

This is precisely how the United Progressive Alliance  (UPA) government under Manmohan Singh  has been trying to tackle knotty policy issues. Bt brinjal is one such example.

The other example is the question of removing subsidies on petroleum products. Last year, the UPA leadership had asked Kirit Parikh, who was then a member of the Planning Commission, to recommend what measures needed to be taken to relieve the government of its subsidies burden on account of the oil sector.

About a fortnight ago, the Parikh Committee submitted its recommendations on how the government could link its petroleum product prices to the market. If the government were to accept these recommendations, prices of petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas would go up by varying margins.

Petroleum product prices have always been a political issue in India. Even as the Union Cabinet examined the recommendations of the Parikh Committee, opposition political parties, including the Left, decided to oppose any move to raise prices.

Even the Trinamool Congress , a partner of the UPA, threatened the government with protest rallies against any move to increase petroleum product prices.

Last Sunday, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora was closeted with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee  and examined the implications of the Parikh Committee's recommendations.

The administrative issues with regard to the proposal for an increase in petroleum product prices have been resolved by now. What remains to be tackled now is to bring round the political leadership both within the UPA and outside.

Opposition political parties and even UPA partners may feel good that their voices are being heard. But this is a classic case of political management of a tricky issue of raising prices.

By involving different stakeholders in the decision- making process and prolonging the discussion with political parties on the imperatives of an increase in petroleum product prices, the UPA government is only ensuring a safe and secure implementation of its decision.

Like in the Bt brinjal case, there may be a moratorium on a petroleum product price hike for a few days or a few weeks. But at the end of reviews and consultation, the government will take a decision that it wants to take.

Sourced from http://www.business-standard.com/

Why we need Bt Brinjal (Baingan Tadka)

“One step for man; one giant leap for mankind”.

Great quote which creatively resonates with the expansion of human adventures. We are great explorers thanks to our never ending quest for exploration – craving for unknown.

Starting from being the chimps who wanted to explore their surroundings, we have come to the extent of being present on every inch of this lovely planet. We have explored the outer universe and still trying to figure out what lies beneath us. We just know the depth we need to explore, but not its extent. We are even exploring the avenues and the methods to bring into us the qualities of living beings surrounding us. First we experimented with “Life After Death” for our beloved sheep – Dolly was the new name. Next we thought to get into experimenting bringing cross cultivation, by mixing genes of two different species. The only hindrance to this was the objection by governments against human trials. But now we have taken the detour to do this with plants. We are slowly progressing in imbibing qualities of other living organisms into us. We are bringing ONENESS to its truth.

All the living beings require staying together for mutual benefit. Now we have started exploring this option. We wanted to bring in the “Bacillus thuringiensis”, so we developed the Bt Brinjal. Actually the word Bt stands for “Bacillus thuringiensis”, which is a soil bacteria, and hence the BT Brinjal is actually the normal Brinjal, with an additional gene from the Bt bacteria, which produces Bt protein. This new Brinjal was researched on by Mahyco (Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company) and is promoted by University of Agriculture Sciences, Dharwad, and Tamil Nadu Agriculture University, Coimbatore. Now the genes of this little bacterium can freely integrate with our body. Totally unrestricted and unaffected by our immune system. This is true bio-diversity integration.

We can definitely neglect the reports of soil infertility due to using Bt Cotton, animals dying by eating the Bt crops, fauna extinction. We the Indians are the super powers of the next generation. We need to prove to the whole world that we can be the best “guinea pigs” available on earth. Why go anywhere else, Indian soil and its inhabitants are the best test objects. We have the out of the world immunity power which can thwart off any bacterial or viral attack from inside our body.

Why stop at “Bacillus thuringiensis”, check the mutation with the hepatitis virus, or AIDS virus, with these viruses as part of our body, we will enhance our capabilities against these diseases. Then India will be the only AIDS free nation in the world. Even tough the western companies initially will conduct extensive trials with their proven medications and procedures; they won’t succeed in selling those drugs in Indian markets as we will be the AIDS resistant human species. All their money will be lost at treating the guinea pigs of India.

On the future developments front, we have very bright prospects for the Indian companies. We should stop at nothing and start integrating the genes which will build up our antennae like cockroaches, create highly sensitive nose like dog, eating machine like pigs which can survive on any shit.

HAIL, INDIA!!!

HAIL, OUR POLITICIANS!!!

You can read the following articles to get the latest update

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/not-so-scientific-bt-brinjal-report-full-of-errors/109519-11.html

One more news, we can have genetically modified forests too. And this time USA doesn’t want to stay behind, so they will experiment with forests.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=eucalyptus-genetically-modified-pine-tree-southwest-forest

asato ma sadgamaya

asato ma sadgamaya
tamaso ma jyotirgamaya
mrtyorma amrtam gamaya

Lead me from the asat to the sat.
Lead me from darkness to light.
Lead me from death to immortality.

(Brhadaranyaka Upanishad — I.iii.28)

This is true prayer—the seeker’s admission of his sense of limitedness and his heartfelt cry for assistance in transcendence. It is not a prayer for the things of the world. It is not a pray for food, shelter, health, partnership, riches, success, fame, glory or even for heaven1. One who recites these three mantras has realized that such things are full of holes, soaked in pain and, even in abundance, will forever leave him wanting. It is in this full understanding that one turns to this prayer. The essence of each of these three mantras is the same: "O, Guru, help me free myself from my sundry misunderstandings regarding myself, the universe and God and bless me with true knowledge."

The first mantra—asato ma sadgamaya—means, "Lead me from the asat to the sat." In fact, it is best to not translate sat (nor its negative counterpart asat) for, as with many Sanskrit words, sat has many meanings and not only are most of them applicable here, their deliberate combined import provides a depth that no one of them could hold independently. These co-applicable meanings include: existence, reality and truth. (Co-applicable meanings for asat being: non-existence, non-reality and untruth.)

We often speak of religion or philosophy as a search for Truth. But only in India’s philosophy of Advaita Vedanta has the concept of "truth" been so meticulously and successfully dissected. According to Advaita, for something to be considered true in the ultimate sense, it must be true not just at one given moment, but always be true—true in all three periods of time: the past, present and future. In fact, Advaita goes one step further. It says if something does not exist in all three periods of time that it does not truly exist, it is not ultimately real. Thus, truth, existence and reality are one and the same. That reality, Vedanta says, is what we call God.

The universe and its things are in a constant state of change. The planets are in constant motion, their positions in relation to each other and the other astral bodies are in continuous flux. The seasons similarly are ever-shifting. Scientifically, we can easily understand that our bodies (and the cells within them) come into existence, are born and then go through periods of growth, sustenance, deterioration and death. In fact these six modifications are part-and-parcel of everything in creation. On the level of emotions, we move back and forth between happiness, sorrow and anger. Even our intellectual convictions rarely stay fixed for very long. So, according to Vedanta, we cannot call this world ultimately real. It is not ultimately true. Ultimately, it does not exist. It seems real etc. but it is not. Such a thing is called asat.

The second mantra—tamaso ma jyotirgamaya—means "Lead me from darkness to light." When the Vedas refer to darkness and light, they mean ignorance and knowledge, respectfully. This is so because ignorance, like darkness, obscures true understanding. And in the same way that the only remedy for darkness is light, the only remedy for ignorance is knowledge. The knowledge spoken of here is again the knowledge of one’s true nature.

Currently, in the darkness of our ignorance, we believe ourselves to be bound and limited (otherwise we would not be reciting these mantras in the first place). But the Guru and the scriptures are telling us that, in truth, we are not, never will be and never have been bound. Eternally we sat-cit-ananda. The only thing that can remove our ignorance regarding our true nature is a spiritual education at the hands of a True Master like Amma. At the culmination of such an education, light floods the room, as it were; darkness vanishes.

The final mantra—mrtyorma amrtam gamaya—means: "Lead me from death to immortality." This should not be taken as a prayer to live endless years in heaven or on earth. It is a prayer to the Guru for assistance in realizing the truth that "I was never born, nor can ever die, as I am not the body, mind and intellect, but the eternal, blissful consciousness that serves as the substratum of all creation."

It is important to remember that, with all these mantras, the leading is not a physical leading. The Atma is not something far away that we have to make a pilgrimage to, nor is it something we need to transform ourselves into. Atma means "self." We don’t need to transform our self into our self. Nor do we need to travel to it. We are it. The journey is a journey of knowledge. It is journey from what we misunderstand to be our self to what truly is our self. What the mantras really means is "Lead me to the understanding that I am not the limited body, mind and intellect, but am, was and always will be that eternal, absolute, blissful consciousness that serves as their substratum."

Once, when discussing these mantras, Amma said the first step in attaining the knowledge for which one is praying when they chant these mantras is satsang: listening to spiritual talks, reading spiritual books and being in the company of spiritual seekers and, of most importantly, spiritual masters. "We need to continuously be fed the knowledge that our true nature is the Atma and not the body mind and intellect," Amma said. Through satsang, our attachment to the asat gradually lessens. "Slowly as you understand that everything in the world—all worldly relationship, all worldly things—are ever-changing an impermanent, your attitude towards the world changes. We gain detachment." As we become more and more detached, our desires also naturally decrease, because we know that the things of the world are impermanent and cannot bring us lasting happiness. As the desires decrease, the mind becomes less and less agitated. It obtains serenity, stillness, peace. Then, with this stilled, subtle, penetrating mind we can finally come to realize our true nature.

Caste System in Historical India

Sourced from here and here

An elaborate detailed talk by the historian Sri D. K. Hari, was an eye opener on the knowledge of Caste system, its true intention and form, and its current situation. The brief of talk is present here.

In the modern political view of India, the very word Caste is looked at as controversial. The word Caste was brought on India by the Portuguese with their term"Casta". The term "caste system" is of British colonial creation and was first used in 1871 census in India.

Varna and Jathi:

From time immemorial we have been having the societal division concept through Varna and Jathi. This concept of Varna and Jathi were combined and transformed into caste system by the colonial British administrators for their administrative nomenclature and classification.

What do you understand by Varna? Many people think of it as color of the skin. Though it does mean color, it was not used for what is the division of people in the society based on color.

The word Varna is etymologically from Var meaning "to choose". There are four Varna in India. They being:

Brahmana, Vaishya, Kshatriya, Sudra

As the word Varna suggests it is to choose ones way of life among these 4 primary streams.

Under or inside the Varna is the concept of Jathi. Jathi stands for trade guilds, stock, variety. It also refers to species or nation. These two concepts of division of labour in society based on choice attitude and aptitude of the individuals practiced from ancient and medieval India was summarily clubbed as caste by British colonial administrators.

The Four Varnas were not by birth, but by choice. A parson from any Jathi was allowed to take the task in one of the four Varnas. There are ample examples of Rishis who were initially fishermen, robbers and so on, thus from any Jathi a person could become Brahmana, based on his skills and knowledge.

There have been many kings who were from various Jathi, based on their valour.

There have been many businessmen based on their negotiation skills, not based on the birth.

Sudra doesn't refer to the lowest, it refers to the tasks which are logistics oriented. People choosing Sudra varna could manage irrigation system, for example. And an irrigation system was by no means less important than defence or army, and India being farmers' country the irrigation system was its backbone.

The importance of various varnas, and the power in the society the people following certain varna has always been fluctuating, and not given to one Varna. E.g. the Kshatriyas would be very important in war time, where as Vaishyas would be important in peace time, for bringing prosperity to the country by good trade. Brahmanas would be very important when everything is prosperous, as the human beings would seek the knowledge of divine, and Sudras would be important when festivities are to be organized, huge crop harvesting and transport is to be managed.

Migration:

The caste system of India was not tightly bound but had the concept of migration from one caste to another in built based on the occasion of the individual person. Most of the great Rishi, the Vedic scholars and the other great scholars of the Indian civilisation were born in the Sudra varna and because of their abilities and realisation migrated to become Brahmana.

Kings of Bharath:

Most of the kings of India also belong to the Sudra Varna and because of their kingship became Kshatriya. This migration was a recognised aspect of the IndianVarna system.

Caste Stratification:

It is in the medieval period during the onslaught and later in the colonial period the caste stratification took place which led to the debacle and down slide of India.

Caste – a pan religious reality:

The horrors of caste are not limited to the Hindus alone . The Indian Christians also the practice of caste system very rigidly. They have segregated churches, segregated cemeteries, segregated services, segregated processions.

The Muslims also have practiced the caste system in India with Azraf being the noble and the Arzal being the degraded. The Mayazur are the low caste bonded labour in Pakistan.

Even among the Sikhs the caste does exist in reality as the Jat Sikh and the Chamar Sikh.

From this it is clear that the concept of caste is not just in the Hindu religion but it is a pan religious reality of India.

Social leaders:

Various social leaders of India whose names are noble and endless have worked tiredlessly to abolish or mitigate the horrors and stratification of caste whenever it has reared its ugly head in the society.

Colonial wreak:

The colonial rule in India wreaked the economy of the land. Probably the most affected by the colonial rule were the Sudra whose property, education, vocation and stature were snatched away from them by the British administrators.

Change adapt:

Today, as India is progressing we see a cycle of changes happening. With these changes, the Jathi Varna concept of India needs to adapt itself. This concept held the fabric of the Indian society in its progress for many thousand years.

Realisation:

The realisation that should come now in us, is that the 3 upper castes namely Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaisya should realise that they all belong to the common stock of people and due to opportunities and historical reasons they are better off socially now. The above 3 castes are of the same genetic stock as the Sudra. They belong to the same land, same society, and have all been one through the ages. This realisation should enthuse these three castes to take a concrete effort by themselves in uplifting the Sudra brotheren through positive effort.

Wherever the Chaturvarna system started, there may have been some reason for its introduction. This article investigates such possible reason and usefulness of Varna in the light of division of labor for complete progress of society.

In any work there are two types of activities involved – Physical Activity and Mental Activity. In society, there are people who preferably opt for a high or low of either type of activity. Let's look at the Varna system from the requirements of the activity in each:-

Varna	Physical Activity (in terms of outdoor work)	Mental Activity (in terms of thinking planning Analysis)	Skills needed
Khatriya – Defense	High	High	Agility of body and constant analysis of politics
Vaisya – Trade	Low	High	Skillful decisions and good negotiation skills needed
Sudra – Logistics ss	High	Low	High Physical robustne
Brahmin – Teachers	Low	Low	Steadiness of mind

This table shows that according to the body – mind type of a person, only certain activities can be suitable to that person. E.g., if someone is highly involved in physical activities, he or she may not be interested to sit at one place and perform chantings and give teachings. Someone who is not physically fit, cannot take up challenge of defending the nation.

If you look at the tasks required to run a nation, it will also broadly fall in the four categories:-

Defense from enemies – internal or external;

Trade for prosperity and exchange of products- again internal and to the other nations;

Logistics management in the entire country;

Teaching of values, learning from past experiences.

Other way to see its importance is, if either of any of these categories fails, the country cannot survive – A security breach can be dangerous to the country. Lack of proper trade brings down the economy. In any war hit area, the opposing nation first hits the logistics, like roads, water channels, modes of transport and so on. The moment Teachers are not skilled, the knowledge transfer from one generation to the next generation doesn't happen.



Antariksh Vijayvargiya

it comes back....

If you love something, set it free.
 If it comes back, it was, and always will be yours.
 If it never returns, it was never yours to begin with.
 If it just sits in your room, messes up your stuff, eats your food, uses your phone, takes your money, and never behaves as if you actually set it free in the first place, you either married it or gave birth to it.

Hast Mudra for HEALTH

Health in Your Hand: Seven Mudras for Amazing Health Benefits

Mudras are very powerful. If you practice these Mudras regularly you can see the wonderful health benefits.

1. Gyan Mudra (Mudra of Knowledge): Method: Touch the tip of the thumb to the tip of the index finger, with the other three fingers stretched out. Specialty: As it is a Mudra of knowledge, it enhances the knowledge. The tip of thumb has centers of pituitary and endocrine glands. When we press these centers by index finger the two glands work actively. Time duration: There is no particular time duration for this Mudra. You can practice by sitting, standing or lying on bed whenever and wherever you have time. Benefits: o Increases memory power and sharpens the brain o Enhances concentration and prevents Insomnia o If we practice it regularly, it will cure all psychological disorders like Mental, Hysteria, Anger and Depression 2. Prithvi Mudra (Mudra of Earth): Method: Tip of the ring finger touches the tip of the thumb, with the other three fingers stretched out. Specialty: It reduces all physical weaknesses. Time Duration: It has no particular time duration. You can practice it any time you want. Benefits: o It helps to increase the weight for weak people o It improves the complexion of skin and makes the skin to glow o It makes the body active by keeping it healthy 3. Varuna Mudra (Mudra of Water): Method: Tip of little finger touches the tip of thumb, with the other three fingers stretched out. Specialty: It balances the water content and prevents all diseases which come due to lack of water. Time Duration: It has no specific time duration and one can practice it according to their time. Benefits: o It retains clarity in blood by balancing water content in the body o Prevents the pains of Gastroenteritis and Muscle Shrinkage 4. Vayu Mudra (Mudra of Air): Method: Keep the index finger on the base of the thumb and press with thumb keeping the other three fingers straight. Specialty: It prevents all the diseases that occur due to the imbalance of the air. Time Duration: The practice of this mudra for 45 minutes reduces the severity of the disease in 12 to 24 hours. For better results practice it for two months. Benefits: o It cures Rheumatism, Arthritis, Gout, Parkinson's disease and paralysis without any medicine o It is useful for Cervical Spondilytis, paralysis to face and catching of nerve in neck o It corrects the disorder of gas in the stomach 5. Shunya Mudra (Mudra of Emptiness): Method: Keep the middle finger at the mount of Venus and press it with thumb. Specialty: It reduces the dullness in our body. Time Duration: One can practice it for 40 to 60 minutes daily until to be cured from the disease. Benefits: o It relieves an earache within 4 or 5 minutes o It is useful for the deaf and mentally challenged, but not for inborn ones. 6. Surya Mudra (Mudra of Sun): Method: Bend the ring finger and press it with thumb. Specialty: It sharpens the center in thyroid gland. Time Duration: Practice it daily twice for 5 to 15 minutes. Benefits: o It reduces cholesterol in body and helps in reducing weight o It reduces anxiety o It corrects indigestion problems 7. Prana Mudra (Mudra of Life): Method: Bend ring finger and little finger and touch the tip of thumb with their tips keeping the remaining two fingers stretched. Specialty: As it is the Mudra of life, it improves the power of life. Weak people become strong. It reduces the clamps in blood vessels. If we practice it regularly, we will become active. Time Duration: No specific time duration. One can practice it any time. Benefits: o It improves immunity o Improves the power of eyes and reduces eye related diseases o It removes the vitamin deficiency and fatigue 8. Apana Mudra (Mudra of Digestion): Method: The tips of middle finger and ring finger touch the tip of thumb while the other two fingers are stretched out. Specialty: It plays an important role in our health as it regulates the excretory system. Time Duration: Practice it daily for 45 minutes, but practice for longer time yields more benefits. Benefits: o It regulates diabetes o It cures constipation and piles o It helps excreting the normal waste regularly 9. Apana Vayu Mudra (Mudra of Heart): Method: The tips of the middle finger and ring finger touch the tip of thumb, while the index finger touches the base of thumb and little finger stretched out. Specialty: It benefits the heart. It works like injection in the reduction of heart attack. It is as powerful as sorbitate tablet. It reduces the gas content in body. Time Duration: Practice it as many times as you can. Heart patients and BP patients can practice it for 15 minutes daily twice for better results. Benefits: o It strengthens the heart and regularizes palpitation o It regulates excretory system o It redeems gastric trouble 10. Linga Mudra (Mudra of Heat): Method: Interlock the fingers of both the hands and keep the thumb of the left hand vertically straight and encircle it with the thumb and the index finger of the right hand.. Specialty: It generates heat in our body. Take milk, ghee, more water and fruit juices in addition to practice of this mudra for much benefits. Time Duration: Practice it any time you want. But don't practice it a lot as it produces heat in the body.. It can cause sweating even in winter if you practice it longer. Benefits: o It stops production of phlegm and gives power to lungs o It cures severe cold and bronchial infection o It invigorates the body It is amazing but true. If you want to see the results, start today!