Catholic Bishop Council's PIL Against Bhagavad Geetha in Schools Rejected by MP HC

The petition filed by Catholic Bishop’s Council against introduction of ‘Geeta Sar’ or Essence of Bhagavad Geetha in school curriculum, has been dismissed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Friday. The petition was filed in August 2011. The petition was filed by the Council spokesman Fr Anand Muttungal.

The court upheld the fact that Bhagavad Geeta contained no religious teachings, but contained only the philosophy of life. Earlier, the court had given the petitioner’s counsel a time limit of 2 months to study the holy text in entirety and then come to any decision. According to Additional Advocate General Prashant Singh, the Division Bench comprising of Justice Ajit Singh and Justice Sanjay Yadav asked the petitioner a few questions. Not satisfied with the answers given, the court declared that the Bhagavad Geeta was Indian Philosophy and not a religious text. The petition was dismissed thereafter.

Without directly opposing the teaching of Bhagavad Geeta, the petition said that the state government of Madhya Pradesh should include teaching of an outline of all religions, without focusing on one particular religion alone. The petitioner stated that the council was to take a resolution on challenging the court order after they read the complete order.

Another matter cited in the PIL were the names used by the state government of Madhya Pradesh for their various schemes. According to the petitioner, names like Ladli Laxmi, Balram Tal, Kapil Dhara etc and practices like ‘Bhoomi Pujan’ at government functions promoted a single religion. The names, which were drawn from Hindu mythology, did not convey a secular image.

Hubli: North Karnataka Januray 27: Hindu Shakti Sangam-2012 jointly inaugurated by RSS General Secretary Bhaiyyaji Joshi and Sri Rajayogeendra Swamiji.

Hubli: North Karnataka Januray 27: The 3 day mammoth convention of RSS Swayamsevaks, Hindu Shakti Sangama-2012 was jointly inaugurated by RSS General Secretary Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi and Sri Rajayogeendra Swamiji of 3-thousand Mutt -Hubli, this morning.

Delivering his inaugural address RSS General Secretary Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi said ‘Whenever our society witnessed attacks from foreign invaders and imbroglio within the country, the Hindu society has shown its potentiality to digest such challenges. The Hindu Shakti Sangama reminds us the potentiality of Hindu Society.’

‘The sangh has grown facing all challenges, now has reached across the country from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and deserts of  Rajasthan to the hills Manipur. The society has accepted Sangh work and supported us whenever the situation demanded. The swayamsevaks are building a strong nation through the basic Sangh ideology’ said Bhaiyyaji Joshi.

Dressed in full RSS uniform, around 25,000 swayamsevaks from 13 districts of North Karnataka are participating in this mega convention.

The 3 day convention will be concluded on Sunday with the valedictory of RSS Sarasanghachalak Mohan Bhagwat.

During the ceremony D V Sadananda Gowda, Chief Minister of Karnataka, Sri Rajayogeendra Swamiji of 3-thousand Mutt -Hubli, RSS Joint General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale, Akhila Bharatiya Boudhik Pramukh Bhagayyaiah, Akhil Bharatiya Karyakarini members Mai Cha Jayadev, Senior RSS Pracharaks N Krishnappa, S Ramanna, Mangesh Bhende, DM Raveendra, RSS Ideologue V Nagaraj, Dr Prabhakar Bhat, Kajampady Subramanya Bhat, Tippeswamy, Aravinda Deshapande,  Dr Khagesshan Pattana Shetty and several other socio-religious leaders were present.

The convention of this kind is organised for the first time in Karnataka North Pranth. Over 2000 swayamsevaks are working dan and night for the success of the mega event.

A exhibition “Yugadrushti”, is arranged for the public which symbolises achievements of India, Culture and growth of Sangh in Karnataka, India.

The 3 day RSS convention is being held at Hubli outskirts in an articficailly built area, near Tarihar bypass off Gokul Road named ‘Vijayanagar’, remembering the glorious legacy of Vijayanagar Dynasty Kingdom of Hampi.

HUBLI HINDU SHAKTI SANGAM

Hindu society has shown its potential to face challenges : Bhaiyyaji Joshi

Hubli(Karnataka), January 27 : The sangh has grown facing all challenges, now has reached across the country from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and deserts of  Rajasthan to the hills of Manipur. The society has accepted Sangh work and supported us whenever the situation demanded. The swayamsevaks are building a strong nation through the basic Sangh ideology. Delivering his inaugural address RSS General Secretary Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi said, Whenever our society witnessed attacks from foreign invaders and imbroglio within the country, the Hindu society has shown its potentiality to digest such challenges. The Hindu Shakti Sangama reminds us the potentiality of Hindu Society.’ The 3 day mammoth convention of RSS Swayamsevaks, Hindu Shakti Sangama-2012 was jointly inaugurated here by RSS General Secretary Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi and Sri Rajayogeendra Swamiji this morning. Dressed in full RSS uniform, around 25,000 swayamsevaks from 13 districts of North Karnataka are participating in this mega convention. The 3 day convention will be concluded on Sunday with the valedictory of RSS Sarasanghachalak Mohan Bhagwat. During the ceremony D V Sadananda Gowda, Chief Minister of Karnataka, Sri Rajayogeendra Swamiji of 3-thousand Mutt -Hubli, RSS Joint General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale, Dr Satish Jagajinni, Justice Parvat Rao, Sri Khageshan Pattanashetti, Akhila Bharatiya Boudhik Pramukh Bhagayyaiah, Akhil Bharatiya Karyakarini members Mai Cha Jayadev, Senior RSS Pracharaks N Krishnappa, S Ramanna, Mangesh Bhende, DM Raveendra, RSS Ideologue V Nagaraj, Dr. Prabhakar Bhat, Kajampady Subramanya Bhat, Tippeswamy, Aravinda Deshapande,  Dr Khagesshan Pattana Shetty and several other socio-religious leaders were present. The convention of this kind is organised for the first time in Karnataka North Pranth. Over 2000 swayamsevaks are working day and night for the success of the mega event. An exhibition “Yugadrushti”, is arranged for the public which symbolises achievements of India, Culture and growth of Sangh in Karnataka, India. The convention is being held at Hubli outskirts in an articficailly built area, near Tarihar bypass off Gokul Road named ‘Vijayanagar’, remembering the glorious legacy of Vijayanagar Dynasty Kingdom of Hampi.

Society should now lead the National life : Dr. Mohan Bhagvat

Hubali, January 29 : This is the time that the society should lead the National Life, to make the nation a real ‘Vishwa Guru’,Dr. Mohan Bhagvat said while addressing the concluding function of mammoth Hindu Shakti Sangam here. He put emphasis on the strength (of the society), saying that the moral character should be accompanied by the strength, to bring about the positive change to the world.

Taking a shot at UPA Govt’s handling of the sensitive issues, Dr. Bhagvat said, “Government is demolishing and demoralising the esteemed personalities and established institutions of the nation such as Saints, the army and the scientific community. Everyone is being insulted. This behavior is harming the National interests.”

The Sar Sangh-chalak (Chief) of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Dr.Mohan Bhagvat called upon the audience to make continuous ‘Sadhana’ to make the Nation more strong. “Only strong people and societies win & live in this world. It’s not only true, but western world uses the philosophy to rule the world. The western philosophy of selfishness is ruining the world. It is creating the various problems in the world. To counter it & the problems, we should gather strength to support our morality. Cause India has the solutions to all the problems & challenges of the modern world. But we need to gain strength as a Nation & hold to our cultural identity,” Dr.Bhagvat added.
Reminding how ‘Ravan’s Bhagavati Shakti changed over to Rama’s side after seeing the strength Hanuman’s moral character, and helped Ram to win, Dr.Bhagvat compared today’s situation with the scene.

“We belong to a Hindu nation, known as Hindu Rashtra. Hindutva is the only ideology which unites this nation, which has all solutions for national challenges”, said RSS Sarasanghachalak Mohan Bhagvat
“We have a great diversity in terms of food, culture, language and lifestyle. But by a basic inherited ideology of Hindutva we are united as a Hindu nation. It is a permanent theory and is never reactive to anyone. By Hindutva ideology our ancestors reached different part of the worlds from Mexico to Indonesia. Wherever they went, they contributed the enhancement of their lives by teaching Yoga etc to those and seeded the eternal values of life” he added.
“As said by Dr Kalam we forgot the worship of power (‘हम शक्ती की उपासना भुले हैं।’), due to which, we were under slavery for thousand years. We need to regain the power, make our society stable. RSS has doing this job of making the countrymen stronger to regain the power to make a strong and prosperous Bharat (India).” Citing some quotes from the autobiography of Dr.Vergese Kurien, which criticise the mindset of people for entirely remain dependant on the Governnment, he said that this attitude still persists and is harmfull for the nation building.
“The power should be used for a better social cause. This power should be coupled with character (sheela / शील). Then only this power will serve the society. Though Bharat (India) was a victim for foreign invasion several times, they could not destroy this nation. We have a potentiality to resist all such attacks and to survive ourselves. The power should be utilised for join the society and should not divide”

“Men with character and social commitment are the need of the hour. In India we need such an awakened society to face challenges. This is the requirement for the world, as violence is growing globally; India has the potentiality to solve it. RSS is involved in making ‘these countrymen to think and work for the nation’…” said Dr. Bhagvat.
“This country is not just a piece of land for us. It is worshipped as motherland since time immemorial. Our ancestors called it Mrunmayi. The society should remember 3 things, first - the concept of Mathrubhoomi, Second - proud of our Culture and third - respect towards our ancestors. The one who always respects his ancestors and their contributions and values is a Hindu” opined the RSS Chief.
In his presidential speech veteran scientist L.G. Dr V J Sundaram said “India got political freedom in 1947, but it was not economical. We had problem in several sectors, later we successfully achieved green revolution, white revolution and technological revolution. India has proved its potentiality in technology; our missile technology is one of the best on the world. In construction of Pruthvi Missile, i realised the strength of India being its project director”.
“India has made many missiles, army weapons indigenously. We proved our strength capacity in each sector in LAC. Dr Kalam was one of key man in this regard. ” said Dr V J Sundaram.
“I admire the discipline of RSS Swayamsevaks. The need of the hour is a social or public discipline to make our country prosperous. The 3 years working plan of RSS in organising this Hindu Shakti Sangama is executed well here” he added.
The event was presided by scientist L.G. Dr V J Sundaram. Sri Rajayogeendra Mahaswamy, RSS Sar- Karyavah (General Secretary) Suresh alias Bhaiyyaji Joshi, Kshethreeya Sanghachalak Justice Parvat Rao, Pranth Sanghachalak Dr Khageshan Pattana Shetty, President of Working Committee Sathish Jagajinni were present on the dais.
Prior to the speech of Sarasanghachalak, spectacular demonstrations of various Sangh physical exercises by swayamseavaks, attracted the gathering.
21,554 swayamsevaks from 1894 villages of 13 districts of North Karnataka participated in this 3 day residential camp. Around 2000 swayamsevaks were working as Prabandhaks (volunteers in organising team).
The Hindu Shakti Sangama was held to commemorate 75^thanniversary of visit of RSS founder Dr Keshava Baliram Hedgewar to Chikkodi of North Karnataka on January 16, 1937 from where RSS activities began in Karnataka.
The live webcasting of the programme was arranged for global viewers in www.samvada.org which is the official website of Vishwa Samvada Kendra, Bengaluru, a media centre of RSS.
Earlier to this there was meeting of Saints (Sant Sammelan) and get-together of selected Intellectuals of north Karnataka was organised in which RSS Sarasanghachalak shared his thoughts and social concerns.

New Zealand missionary school uses Sanskrit to teach English better, adapts Gurukul system

Wellington / Mumbai, January 28 :  A situation which may glad Nationalist forces in India a bit & which endorses a Indian ‘school of thought’ that "the Sanskrit is the mother of all languages", has unfolded way far in south globe. A mainstream school in New Zealand is teaching Sanskrit to it pupils to build their foundation for the English language, news agencies reported today. Sanskrit is India’s ancient language, but ironically, India’s leftist dominatedEducation System totally ignores the treasure ofSanskrit.  The irony continues throughout the post-Independence era.
According to the media reports, Ficino School based in Auckland’s Mt Eden area (New Zealand) is the lone mainstream school which teaches the Sanskrit language. The school is thought to be strongly influenced by Indian cultural and philosophical thinking too.
The school principal, Peter Crompton, says, “It is my view, that the Sanskrit is the source language of Latin, Greek, German, French and of course English. Through teaching Sanskrit, we give our children access to the very essence of language: An insider’s guide to the workings of language.”

The School claims that learning Sanskrit accelerates a child's reading ability. Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed has applauded Ficino School for fostering universal virtues and encouraging Sanskrit studies. According to a Times of India report, Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, pointed out that Sanskrit should be restored to its rightful place. It needed to be brought to the mainstream and hidden scientific truths in ancient Sanskrit literature should be brought to light, he said. Rajan Zed strongly criticized India Government for not doing enough for Sanskrit language. He asked India Government to do much more for the development, propagation, encouragement and promotion of Sanskrit in India and the world, which was essential for the development of India and preservation of its cultural heritage. Sanskrit also provided the theoretical foundation of ancient sciences. Besides Hindu scriptures, a vast amount of Buddhist and Jain scriptures were also written in Sanskrit, which is known as "the language of the gods". According to tradition, self-born God created Sanskrit, which is everlasting and divine. The oldest scripture of mankind still in common use, Rig-Veda, was written in Sanskrit, Zed added. Mahatma Gandhi said, "Without the study of Sanskrit, one cannot become a true learned man." German philologist Max Muller added, "Sanskrit is the greatest language of the world."

“Sanskrit with its almost perfect grammatical system provides children with a roadmap for understanding English,” says Crompton. “We all agree that English is definitely not the easiest of languages to get to grips with. To learn English, grammar is extremely useful. It helps pupils write and read with increased precision and clarity. Certainly, this is something of use to students when they progress to secondary and tertiary study.”
Crompton adds, “Sanskrit not only gives young learners a clear understanding of the structure of language, it also heightens their awareness of the process of speech, creating a greater understanding of and ability to, enunciate words clearly.”
According to the Principal, ‘back to basics’ is not a new approach for Ficino. It is a practice they’ve followed since the school was founded in 1997 and is based on the curriculum developed by their sister school, the St James School in London.
“I am very proud of the success we’ve had with our own reading scheme. We’ve seen first-hand the value of teaching Sanskrit, coupled with the use of the St James Reading Scheme in their first 2-3 years has had on accelerating a child’s reading ability. By age 8, many of our students are reading between 2-4 years above their chronological age, demonstrating significant added value,” continues Crompton.
However, it’s not just the language that makes this school different. Taking a cue from India’s ancient Gurukul system, here, the teachers move up year by year with their class. The school website says, this helps support the child with a good balance of love and discipline. The long term relationship forms a close and caring bond between teacher and pupil is beneficial to learning.
As time goes by, families tend to find that the teacher becomes a steady professional friend of the family. It is also more efficient as teachers do not need to spend the first few months of the year familiarising themselves with the children’s abilities and needs.
Embracing the Indian cultural values, the school also offers meditation teachings to students. Short periods of quiet time are offered daily in which youngsters over the age of 10 may meditate, contemplate, pray or quietly reflect accordingly.
However, the school is not affiliated to a specific religion, though it enjoys the support of the local community parishand also holds services at St Barnabas Church.
“The Christian religion is given particular prominence because Christianity is recognised as the basis of the culture of the nation we find ourselves in,” admits the school.
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(You may visit :
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/New-Zealand-school-teaches-Sanskrit-and-claims-it-helps-children-understand-English/articleshow/11665118.cms
http://in.news.yahoo.com/kiwi-school-teaches-sanskrit-and-mridangam.html
http://www.ficino.school.nz/  )

Limba Ram, a product of Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram gets Padmashri

New Delhi, January 25: Ahead of Republic day, govt of India declared list of Padma Awards, in which World popular archer, 3 times Olympian, Limba Ram named for Padmashri.
Limba Ram, the archer who earned laurels in archery at the international level are a product of the Akhil Bharatiya Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram (ABVKA), reports Vishwa Samvad Kendra. ABVKA is working for the socio-economic up-liftmen and development of India’s indigenous tribes in the remote tribal areas of India.
Limba Ram is an Indian archer who represented India in international competitions including three Olympics. He equaled an archery world record in 1992 at the Asian Championships in Beijing.
Limba Ram was born in Saradeet Village, Udaipur district of Rajasthan state on January 30, 1972. His family belongs to Ahari tribe and because of poverty; Limba Ram was used to hunt birds like sparrow, partridge and animals in jungle with his indigenous Bow (made of Bamboo wood) and reed Arrows.
In 1987 one of his Uncles brought news that government is conducting trials in nearby village Makradeo to train good archers. In this trial 15 year old Limba Ram and three other boys (which include Arjuna award winner Archer Shyam Lal) were spotted by selectors of Sports Authority of India. Thereafter all these four boys were sent to New Delhi for four month training camp (Special Area Games Programme) under coaching of R. S. Sodhi.
Limba Ram was spotted and trained by Sports Authority of India in 1987. In the same year, 1987, he became overall Champion in National junior level Archery tournaments held at Bangalore. In the following year 1988 he became overall champion in senior level national tournaments and selected to represent India in Seoul Olympics. In 1989 he reached to Quarterfinal in World Championship held in Switzerland. In the same year, 1989, he was at second rank in Asian Cup in Individuals and India got team Gold. In 1990 he helped India finish fourth in Beijing Asian Games. He represented India in three Olympics.
In 1992 he equaled the world record of Takayoshi Matsushita in the Beijing Asian Championship in 30 meters event with score 357/360 to bag a gold medal. After receiving this news Parliament of India congratulated Limba Ram. In 1993 at Barcelona Olympics he missed the Bronze medal by one point in the 70-meter segment and finished with 10th rank. In 1995 he stood with second rank and team won Gold medal in Commonwealth Games held at New Delhi. In 1996 he was National Champion with Asian Record.
Presently, after remaining unemployed for a few years, on January 10, 2009 Archery Association of India signed one year contract and appointed Limba Ram as National Archery Coach for 2010 Commonwealth Games.