A modern building for Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. A magnificiant landmark to Chennai. A great achivement to the Tamil Nadu PWD Buildings organisation. A dream project of the Chief Minister M.Karunanithi

The new building for Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly was inaugurated by Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh at Chennai on March 13. The grand function was attended by Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, Chair person of ruling UPA and Dr.M.Karunanithi the Chief Minster of Tamil Nadu

The building is located in Chennai Omandurar Government Estate with Anna Road in the west, Kamaraj Road in the east. Wallajah Road in the south and Sivananda road in the north. There is Anna statue facing the front entrance and Periyar Statue facing the rear entrance of the building.This campus is very close to Marina beach in Bay of Bengal.

Model of Front elevation showing Public Plaza in the first Circle

Model of Back elevation showing the fourth and the smallest circle

The concepts of Plan and design

The design of this building was conceived by German architect GMP selected based on global tender. The building is a seven story structure raised to 198 feet with a plinth area of 9,30,000 Sq.ft The cost of the project is Rs.426 Crore . The geometry of the structure reflects circles and isosceles triangles. Four circular buildings of increasing diameter are interconnected and are wrapped in a great isosceles triangle finished to a shape of oval if seen from outside.

The plan inspired and copied from Nature

There is a concept of democracy which is represented in the four circles of the plan of this building. The first biggest circle is called Public Plaza, where public is allowed freely indicating people constitute the largest and first component of democracy. The next biggest circle shall accommodate the Legislative assembly indicating that they are second only to the people. The third biggest circular structure is meant for Law department with library symbolising the importance of Judiciary next only to legislature .The smallest and the last circular building shall be occupied by the office of the Chief Minister and that means the Executive in a democracy should be a modest wing and should obey the people, the Legislature and Judiciary in that order.

The Cultural features in the building

Kolam , the domestic art of Tamil woman

The Kolam designs, the traditional curvy drawings are displayed in Façade of the building and in columns. Kolams are intricate geometric patterns of dots and lines drawn by Tamil women every morning at the entrance yard of the homes.

The Dome

Model of Assembly Hall in the second circle

Model of The Dome

The dome over the Circular assembly shall resemble the temple car that can be seen in important temples of Tamil nadu. The dome is a grander replication of the one existing in Valluvar kottam, Chennai.The occupants of assembly hall in the ground floor can see direct sunlight from the dome in the seventh floor. The 800 ton dome shall be mounted at 100 feet height atop the seventh floor ceiling. The dome will have eight steel structures with granite cladding. Each of the eight arms, weighing 100 tones, will have aluminium fins (totally 33 of them) or gold-colored anodized aluminium sheets designed to withstand wind force and corrosion.

The first Green Assembly building in the world

On the environmental aspect this building is constructed to cause least disturbance to environment adopting the concepts of Green buildings by engaging a consultant. When compared to conventional buildings this building save 20% reduction in energy consumption by using energy saving electrical appliances including light fixtures. Occupancy sensors can automatically switch off the Air condition and lights. The natural lighting is harvested on all sides through panel façade and through the big dome at the top. The adhesives, sealants, paints and coatings used in the building have less volatile organic compounds and are less harmful to humans. The thermal comfort to the occupants shall be as per international standards and the internal air quality shall be pleasant since the whole area is declared as non smoking zone.

TNLA building a Gold rated Green Building

The construction debris are recycled for leveling and filling in the site. Local plant species are given preference to beautify the complex. All the old trees at the site of the building are replanted in the same campus.

The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) has certified this as Gold rated Green Building and herefore the Tamil Nadu assembly building is getting the honour of the first Green assembly / parliament building in the world. This has also become the largest certified Green government building in India.

The Construction Technology

During the construction many challenges have been met and solved with the help of non conventional and modern methods. Foundation is laid using rotary piling. The methodology of post-tensioning has been used extensively for slabs and beams in place of the conventional method of reinforced cement concrete. Mr.S. Ramasundaram, Principal Secretary to Government (Public Works) claims that time was reduced to seven to 10 days for a floor instead of 21 days. The RCC walls around the structure carry 20000 sq m of structural glazing and 10000 sq m of blue granite cladding

The Labour Material and the Project Management

People of Tamil Nadu should thank the immigrant labours from North Indian states of Bihar, Jharkand and West Bengal. 3000 of them worked hard night and day to see the building to be erected in a record time These migrant labours may extend their stay in Tamil Nadu and even become voters here since the next mega project to construct secretariat block adjacent to Assembly Building has begun. More projects such as Financial city in the southern part of Chennai may employ them.

Engaging labour from northern states shows a deviation from the pattern of labour employment since in the past few centuries mostly Tamil coolie labours migrated from India to many countries. Now skilled tamil labours are in short supply. The New assembly building has been constructed by efficiently engaging the unskilled labours from the north. The Chief Minister is arranging for Big Feast ( Bada Gana) to those poor migrants on the eve of the inauguration of the building

This building has so far consumed 5300 cu m of river sand, 24000 MT of cement14000 MT of steel, 50,00,000 numbers of bricks, 48000 sq m of granite slab and 18000 sq m of Marble slab. About 1.12 crore man hours are spent.

Chief Minister inspects the works during construction

The Chief Minister of Tamil nadu, Dr.M.Karunanidhi took personal interest in monitoring this project almost everyday. Other notable persons in the project administration Mr.S. Ramasundaram, Principal Secretary PWD and Mr. S. Karunagaran the Chief Engineer Buildings, Public Works Department, Buildings Organisation deserve to be honored and remembered for dedicating this building to the people. East Coast Construction and Industries Ltd( ECCI) are the main contractors entrusted with the execution of this project who hold the reputation of constructing the existing landmarks in Chennai such as Light house, Anna Flyover, Valluvar Kottam.

The building has been inaugurated on the scheduled date with some of the interior and exterior works still pending to be finished. This building has been constructed to this level in 15 months and as per contract three more months are available to completely finish this project. This has been criticized in some quarters. Some experts say that the building has to be loaded slowly and the construction activities should not be rushed for inauguration. But this all happen in such big projects and it could not be a reason to under estimate this prestigious building. The Indian conditions are not yet favorable to manage construction of such a building in any other way.

An ambitious target was set and the inauguration is on time. Buidlings organisation of the Tamil nadu public works Department with 150 years of expertise in construction field have enough skill and care to safely bring this building to effective use.

The experience gained in the construction of this Bloak A , Legislative assembly complex is going to help immensely in the construction of Block B, a Rs.210 crore project to construct 7 buildings each having seven stories for a total plinth area of 7,90,000 sq feet for housing various Government departments. Block B shall also be a green building equipped with sophisticated computer controlled building management system. Another futuristic building in making that will take Tamil Nadu to lead in such infrastructure projects.

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The argument that Hussein should now try and paint Muslim Icons in the nude is a silly , provocative, adversarial statement and a completely political point of view. Nothing to do with Art.

So I amazed at the stand that Shree Shree Ravi Shankar has taken. I have never visited his Ashram , but I always imagined that the words “Art of Living” would be more encompassing and compassionate. I would imagine his movement, called Art of Living, embodies a wider and more artistic creative and holistic way of life. What prompted him then, I wonder, to condemn Hussein and challenge him to paint Muslim icons in the nude ?

Christianity has forever painted Christ in the nude and indeed at crucification often naked too. As have the Greeks and their Gods and Goddesses forever. Nudity has been a tradition in Indian and Hindu art, but never in Islamic art. So why the comparison. As if Hussein went out to create a political statement ? No, it was an artists exploration.

Hussein, on the other hand is alive and well. And very Rich. Rich as never before, painting as never before, and at 95 who could ask for more ? especially from someone that started as a street artist painting film posters. Most of us at 95, if not dead, would be happy to not be in a wheel chair and be able to speak coherently. Hussein paints, has become a genius at marketing himself. As all successful artists (and Guru’s) are. There is much to be said for creativity and ageing here.

So lets not feel sorry for M F Hussein. More sorry for ourselves really.

Followup: MF Hussein again

After I criticized Shree Shree Ravi Shankar’s remarks on MF Hussein, I was perhaps not surprised by the how many aggressive responses I got back. What confused me though is many people responded with the painting being both anti Hindu and anti Nationalist. Are are they now the same thing for many people ?

I think Shree Shree Ravi Shankar’s force does amazing work. Which is why I was surprised at his remarks. For I thought Universal Compassion was at the centre of Hinduism and the Art of Living. If this was a remark from an ordinary person I would not have given it a second thought.

So the question does arise, is “what is Hinduism” and does it need protection from what people are terming as ‘obscene’ art ? (Which I will say again, I do not believe it is).

What is the Hinduism that needs protection ? How do we see Hinduism now. It seems it now has become an ‘identity’ which it was never supposed to be. Not in the Hinduism that I have understood. Hinduism is about the concept of experiencing the ultimate unity of all that is space, time and matter. It is about experiencing the illusion of the ‘Self’.

If anything Hinduism is about the loss of Identity. And yet more and more people are calling these ideas ‘liberal and therefore “pseudo- intellectual’. Is there a new Hinduism that is emerging that has tones of Nationalism in them ?

I wonder how many people who wrote to me would have supported the Islamic Fatwa against Salman Rushdie for writing Satanic Verses ?

Written by Shekhar Kapur

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Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaya (VTV)…

“First time Goutham and ARR joining together… First Tamil music scored by ARR after his Oscars… First time Simbu acts under a big director…” all these created hype and hoopla to this movie… Being a big fan of ARR and Trisha I wanted to watch the movie in the first week-end… Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to catch it during first although I got it in the second…

Film started with Karthik (simbu) narrating why and how he fell in love with Jessie (trisha)… An aspiring director falling for a mallu Christian girl forms the crux of the film… The movie revolves around only these two characters from start to end… No nonsense comedy track or any masala elements that usually drags a film away from its central theme… But after interval the film loses its pace and becomes a bit slow and boring… Goutham should make sure he gets the best out of his editor to make his film a block buster from a average grosser… His last film Varanam Aayiram too had the same issue… Once the film started moving towards the climax there was a different treatment which made it better than Varanam Aayiram… A good paced first half with humor blended in it followed by a dragging and not-too-impressive second half, except for the brilliant climax, amalgamated with marvelous music score will be my one-liner about VTV…

The character ‘Karthik’ required subtle, soft, suave expressions, which was not simbu’s forte… Though he scored well in some places there was something lacking in his performance which failed to take the character to greater height… In some parts of the movie his face was not able to bring out the delicate romantic emotion which was always a part of Goutham’s film hero… There was no question about Simbu’s talent here and neither was he a wrong choice… But it was a bit too soft for simbu’s to handle… An area which he may have to concentrate…

Jessie – A neat and excellent characterization complemented by perfect performance from Trisha… There has been two ways of portraying heroines in Tamil Film industry ‘Homely’ or ‘Glamorous’… But Goutham introduced a third dimension in making his lead lady as elegant, stylish and attractive too… From Reema Sen in Minnale to Jo in Kakha Kakha to Trisha in VTV his female artists were lucky as they wouldn’t have seen themselves more beautiful than they were in the film… By far the best film for Trisha in looks as well as character wise and she has been absolutely ravishing… She is the life-line of this movie taking into account the below-par performance by her co-star…

When an Icon of Indian film music (ARR) and a talented director with great skill to extract best out of his music directors join together to give a film expectations will always be huge… ARR has proved why he is the best in the business… Being first Tamil music after Oscars, the album and background score turned out to be refreshing… It’s really amazing how Year after year, film after film, he was able exceed the expectation of all his fans and imprints his stamp on all his songs… All songs were amazing with ‘Aaromale’ standing tall from the rest…

Most of the songs were shot well (in Goutham’s film it’s expected one) except for couple, which I thought could have been taken even better… But as a director Goutham did disappoint a bit with the screen play in the second half with some needless portions…

Q: Why Karthik chose Jessie as his lover of all the girls in the world
Answer to the above question was a convincing one with some needless explanation…

Overall – A practical love story with a realistic climax and out-of-the world background score…

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Most of the best men the world has ever produced were religious philosophers and most of the worst men that the world has ever produced were religious fanatics. Jesus Christ preached non violence and the crusaders had nothing to do with the teachings of jesus. Advaitha philosophy is all about love and compassion not only towards the fellow human beings but also towards every form of living beings. However the saivites in tamilnadu killed the jains and vaishnavites. The Vaishnava philosopher Shri Ramanujar was targeted by the saivite king and his disciple Periya Nambi was tortured to death in the name of saivism. Its very easy to say that those crusaders, saivite kings were just religious fanatics and the murders carried out in the name of religion were contradictory to the teachings of religious philosophy.

Why is it difficult to call the perpetrators of mass murder in Gujarath as religious fanatics? Nearly 2000 innocent civilians were brutally killed and thousands were displaced purely because they happen to follow a different faith system.  State functionaries of Gujarat were abetting and facilitating atrocities on the minority in the wake of Godhara violence in february 2002.

How different are these murders from those carried out by the religious fanatic kings? Is it not time to introspect and come to a conclusion that the organizations that carry out these “holy killings” are producing the worst men in the world and are against the religious philosophy? Should Sangh Parivar be allowed to hijack the Hinduism and spread the venom of hatred against other religions  rather than preaching the rich  philosophies that talk about love and compassion towards the world and the fellow human beings?

Click here to view the embedded video.

However, the brutal hindutva organizations with the help of state machinery killed more than 2000 innocent civilians and gang raped the women, at the end of february 2002.  Even the pregnant women were not spared. All these barbaric atrocities were carried out by shouting the slogan “Jai Shree Ram”. Is this what Lord Ram stands for? Are these Ram Bhaktha’s preaching Hinduism? Is there any correlation between what they do and what is said in hindu literatures? Why should the hindus put up with these barbarians?

The AIADMK cadres attacked the Coimbatore Agricultural university bus in Dharmapuri and burnt three girls alive, would any of us be willing to support those murders just because they are hindus? When the Dinakaran office was attacked and the journalists there were burnt alive, would any of us be willing to support those murderers? Isnt the entire country happy to see Ruchika’s case being digged out after 18 years and Rathore being questioned/punished? Why are the murderers being applauded in Gujarath and all over the country by hindu fundamentalists? Don’t we see a moral failure here?

The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crises maintain their neutrality - Dante Alighieri

Let us be bold enough to reject the religious fanatics and bring justice to the victims of state sponsored terrorism. Those who were accused of carrying out the Godhra train attack, which killed 58 lives, have been detained and are in jail without bail for 8 years. However, even after 8 years the perpetrators of mass murder are not brought to book. In the Best Bakery case all those who were accused of killing 14 people were acquitted by the fast track court. The supreme court then transferred the case to Maharashtra. The rest of the cases are all being handled in Gujarath. The Human Rights Watch has said the following.

The Supreme Court order affirms what victims and their lawyers have been saying all along. Gujarat’s police and justice system are protecting the guilty and are undermining activists, lawyers and even the National Human Rights Commission. For justice to be done for victims of the Gujarat riots, impartial investigations have to be conducted and witnesses have to be protected so they can testify without fear. - Brad Adams executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division

The issue is not only about the religion being hijacked by fanatics and innocent people being killed but also about upholding the constitution. Irrespective of ones faith system, it is the duty of a responsible citizen to demand that the criminals be punished according to the law.

Video recording of the confessions of some persons who implicated themselves and also many state functionaries of Gujarat in the unleashing of violence on the muslims were telecasted by the TV Channel Aaj Tak. In april 2009, Supreme court ordered probe in to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s role in Gujarat riots. Citizens for justice and peace (CJP), an NGO, that works towards the communal harmony and for development of Peace, Justice and reconciliation have pointed out the grave failures of the Special Investigation Team’s (SIT) investigation set up by the Supreme Court. The application made by Teesta Setalvad, CJP will be heard on 15th march 2010. The major issue highlighted in her application is that the special investigations team has not re-investigated significant issues including the state complicity and involvement revealed by Tehelka. It also accuses the SIT members  of trying to shield the higher ranking officials among the Gujarat police, administration and state executive. Let us show our solidarity to the victim survivors in their struggle for dignity, justice, reparation and against the impunity enjoyed by perpetrators of mass crimes in India.

Here, i quote part of the Upanishads that says “Sathyameva jayathe”, not hoping that God will solve this problem but to alert the believers that they should stand with justice and NOT with the sangh parivar outfits which has vowed to carry out this Gujarath experiment all over the country.

Truth alone triumphs; not falsehood.
Through truth the divine path is spread out by which
the sages whose desires have been completely fulfilled,
reach where that supreme treasure of Truth resides.

Let us not tolerate the criminals, liars and murderers anymore and Let the Justice prevail.

- Ram Prasad is a  researcher by profession, a citizen journalist and a human rights activist working towards peace and to create global awareness on gender based violence.

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Why ? Watching a Guru having sex with with an overweight actress who’s face you cannot see is pleasurable ? What drives us ?

It is not possible to have a Guru unless YOU worship him or her. So in effect YOU create the Guru, YOU set the rules, YOU decide what the Guru practices in his or her daily life. And then when the Guru does not conform to YOUR expectations, and finally having created him, YOU destroy him.

We need to know that there is something beyond the mundane existence of our lines. We are scared of death. We are desperately afraid of that which we cannot comprehend of course, but mostly that which we can. Like failure or self loathing. Like disease and loss. We can comprehend these things, but are so mortally afraid of OURSELVES that we look for people who can take responsibility for our lives. And the first person that is willing to come out and say ” That’s my problem, and I will look after it” becomes your Guru. Unfortunately that is what more and more people are understanding ‘Faith’ as.

So a Guru has had sex. Who decided that he/she must not ? The Guru or you ? The Guru said it of course, but almost certainly in response to a need in you that if someone had to be ‘PURE’, then they must not have ‘SEX”. Why is Purity and SEX so closely related ? Why are we so afraid of sex, so filled with guilt about it that at the slightest provocation we are willing to destroy and revile other people over it on the one hand, and use it as tools of humiliation, conquest and rape on the other hand. I know a lot of people are going to be upset when I equate puritanical attitudes on sex with rape, but the provocations are fundamentally the same.

Some will say that a Guru must be above the 5 senses realm. But hey, it’s like saying that if he suffers pain and feels it, and dies of a heart attack or has cavities and has to have a tooth extracted, then he is a mere mortal and cannot be a Guru either. Why just sex and not hunger ? Why does no one object to the sheer luxury and wealth that surround our most successful Guru’s? A Guru is a realized soul, they will say without the slightest understanding of that actually meaning. I am not sure I do, but I can certainly say that merely changing your clothes into expensive designer ‘Guru Fashion”, being able to give long lectures that appease and assuage your guilt and fears, and not having sex does not mean realization.

I do not deny the existence and possibility of beings that have come to experience their Universal Selves. Who are now existing constantly in a full experience of their lack of individuality. But what’s sex got to or not got do with that? What do we know about that state to be able to say it is sex less ?

As I said, more often than not, we create the Guru, we make the rules, we ask for behaviour patterns based on our own sense of guilt and morality. And finally we Crucify the Guru for being Mortal. I am sorry, but they were always mortal in any case, but immortal only in our creation. So much so that while everyone else just dies, a Guru ‘decides to leave his/her earthly body/

So do I, mate !

About the writer: Shekhar Kapur is a noted film maker with international repute. One of the few Indian movie directors to make a career in the U.S., Shekhar Kapur has proved his filmmaking worth in both countries.

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Swami Nithyananda who climbed the top of international fame was suddenly thrown overnight by a television media which showed video clips of Swami Nithyananda indulging in sexual activity with a popular actress. The video clip sent shockwaves across the states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Many of his devotees were not able to comprehend what they saw in the video clips. Since the video were broadcast, there have been mass agitations by Hindu outfits who ransacked several of Nithyananda’s ashrams. Few of the outfits called for immediate arrest of Nithyananda and insisted the Government to freeze the Multi-Million dollar assets of Nithyananda. 

Nithyananda runs ashrams not just in India, but across the globe. His assets are worth several Million US Dollars. His network spreads across continents and he managed more than thousand ashrams. There are more than thousand videos of the Swami posted in internet sites including Youtube. His presentations were recorded and sold as DVD’s which drew thousands of devotees all over the western world. He is also known for his intellectual discourses that have gained him popularity not only among ordinary people but also among top notch professionals from global corporations such as Microsoft and research foundations such as NASA. His television interviews in the US channels captured the interests of many Americans and NRI’s. NASA and Microsoft professionals were dumbstruck and mystified when they attended his highly elevated lectures with strong scientific backing. His knowledge of Tamil, Sanskrit and English gave him an added advantage for articulating his thoughts to deliver mesmerising speech. He showed the way towards enlightenment. This keyword ‘enlightenment’ was enough to capture millions of people and also for making millions of dollars.

Now I would like to examine what made the rise and fall of Nithyananda. What is the background of Nithyananda?

Nithyananda’s real name is Rajasekaran  (age 33) and he was born to a farmer in the temple town of Thiruvanamalai in northern Tamil Nadu. From early childhood Nithyananda was spiritually inclined and frequently visited temples and had a strong desire for becoming a “Sanyasi” which literally  means an ascetic. He completed his schooling and college education in Thiruvanamalai.

He was often sighted near by the caves and hillside of Thiruvanamalai practicing meditation. This created a small group of followers who constructed an ashram for him. This was the first ashram founded by Nithyananda which started to attracted not just Indians but also foreigners. Nithyananda now moved to next level by narrating his experiences of Samadhi to the visiting foreigners who were curious to know about this mythical and super natural state. As Nithyananda was very articulate to explain about his Samadhi experience, devotees and spiritual aspirants multiplied in hundreds. Soon he started to spread his wings across the USA and India by starting ‘Dhyanapeetam’ or meditation centres. Many locations for such centers were donated by his devotees and several were purchased by his management trust. This accumulation of wealth was running to the tune of Multi Million dollars. Very soon he rose to prominence among many God-men or ‘sat Grus’ and he was seen in par with Swami Vivekananda in inspiring the younger generation.

Nithyananda’s posters were common in the streets of the cities and towns of Tamilnadu and Karnataka. His seminars, lectures and practical classes attracted many youth and spiritual aspirants. His devotees were no ordinary people. Many were powerful politicians, popular movie actors and business tycoons. He organised mega spiritual tours and events which made people to follow him in blind faith. His words were powerful enough to move mountains. His lectures were based on Vedanta and scientific findings. The Hindu spiritual elite approved and recognised his lectures and thoughts which was a milestone for Nithyananda’s journey to name and fame.

As some sections of Hinduism believes in the supreme authority of Vedas and Vedic beliefs, it was quite easy for Nithyananda to capture the mindset of such spiritual followers who firmly believed Vedas word to word. Blind following of Veda amounted to firm belief that what Veda says are truth and nothing but truth. Similar to cult following , No one is encouraged or entertained to question the authority and authenticity of the sacred Vedas. If someone challenges Vedas, they will be considered as anti-Hindu and unintelligent amongst the spiritual circles. This section of the spiritual followers are brainwashed to firmly believe some of the versus in the vedas such as

“Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Devo Maheshwarah! Guru Sakshat Param Brahma Tasmai Sri Guruve Namah”.

Meaning the guru is the embodiment of the creator, operator and the destroyer. Guru is exactly the supreme God himself and therefore hail the guru.

Belief and affirmation on the “Guru” made life very simple for Nithyananda as he was able to portray himself as a perfect guru. His ability to discuss on Bhagavad-Gita and Vedas clearly found a permanent place in the hearts of a section of the Hindu faith. Such an endorsement from the elite spiritual groups made the other sections of Hindu’s to blindly follow their footsteps. This phenomenon of approval and following has been the trend in the Indian society since ancient times. One thing Nithyananda was careful about all the time was that he never preached Thirukkural, Naladiyar or Avvai Kural though he was a Tamil. He knew the pulse of the people who controlled the Hindu spiritualism. Sections of the Hindu religious structure do not advocate Tamil treatises to stand at par with Vedas or Upanishads. With the help of his followers, Nithyananda climbed to the pinnacle of name, fame, wealth, spiritual and social authority. He wanted to become the next Vivekananda by shaping the minds of youth to follow the Vedanta path.

It was also alleged that Nithyananda was posing a great threat to Saibaba and Ravi Shankar Swamiji in terms of stealing their devotees mainly from the western world. Many of the devotees in USA started flocking Nithyananda retreat instead of Saibaba or Ravi Shankar’s gatherings. Nithyananda became a strong rival and alternative for other spiritual giants of India. In a surprisingly short span of time Nithyananda reached great heights which his rivals had accompioshed in a long time. He almost achieved the supreme state of fame and was just few hundred yards away from his goal of becoming the undisputed spiritual master.

Only at this juncture, Nithayananda has been caught red handed in the sex scandal when his video was released by a television network. It is also widely suspected that this incident took place because of business rivalry among the spiritual gurus. His spiritual kingdom crumbled overnight. As a former spiritual aspirant, I could understand Nithyananda more than anybody else. In my opinion, he should have been extra careful in hiding his secrets. If his scandal wouldn’t have leaked out, he could have continued as a torch bearer for the nation. He would have done wonders in directing many youths towards spiritual path. He was quite unlucky that his secrets came out too early.

Many politicians manage very well in maintaining their secrets. Be it any Indian Chief Minister, deputy Chief Minister or MP, all of them are invariably clever enough to hide their secrets. Spiritual guru Puttaparthi Saibaba has managed to come out of scandals few times in the past. Though BBC reported with established evidence about Saibaba and his homosexual affairs, Saibaba cleverly planned and walked out of those traps. Saibaba is doing very well today among his followers and millions of Hindus. God-man Kalki Bhagwan has several charges, but every time he has managed to come out of those allegations. The greatest of all techniques is simply hiding one’s own fault perfectly. However it is evident now that Nithyananda did not master this technique well enough and has taken this sudden and steep fall.

A scholar quoted that every one in this world is a culprit, but what makes the difference is one who is caught and one who is not.

Would anybody follow Swami Vivekananda, if they knew that he was a chain smoker? Would anybody follow Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, if they knew that he was a tobacco addict? Thank god that there were no hidden cameras those days, otherwise these spiritual leaders would have been caught on the tape and India would have lost great spiritual leaders.

This is a fine lesson to all the social and spiritual reformers that they should be careful in public life and protect themselves from the candid cameras. Otherwise India will lose many more Swamijis like Nithyananda in the coming years. The rise and fall of Nithyananda cannot be attributed to his personal behaviour but has to be attributed to the social system which promotes and then and ditches them for some reasons.

People want an all-perfect leader which they imagine with selected qualities and when these gurus fail to deliver this all-perfect image, the same people trash them.  This is not only with the case of Nithyananda, but also with all the eminent swamiji’s and guruji’s of India. Therefore the mistake lies with the people and not with the Gurus. I hope that Nithyananda will come out of this scandal and continue his journey to spread spirituality among innocent Indians.

The Indian society accepts spiritual knowledge only if it is sugar coated with Veda, and the individual projects a Brahmin like lifestyle. Our society believes that true spiritual knowledge can come only from people who practice religion in a particular format. In essense, we do not seek true spiritual knowledge but a fake one. Nityananda rode well on the path set by the group that markets spiritualism. Had he not chosen to project a fake lifestyle and lived true to his heart, he could have had the freedom to live his life the way he wanted and at the same time spread his knowledge.  As long as we let a small group of our society dictate who an intellectual is, we may not see real intellectuals come to light.

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Parliament was dissolved on 9 February in order to conduct General Elections next month (April) but President Mahinda Rajapaksa is to convene a special session of the house next week to extend the State of emergency. The president on Monday night signed a proclamation extending the tough laws by a further month, an official said on Tuesday.

Opposition parties have complained the government is using the emergency law to suppress them politically, but the administration of President Mahinda Rajapaksa says it is needed to mop up remnants of the Tamil rebel network.

Earlier, On Feb 15th, the European Union decided to withdraw the preferential tariff benefits given to Sri Lanka under the Generalized System of Preferences plus (GSP+) following an investigation by the European Commission that says the country fell short in implementing three UN human rights conventions relevant for benefits under the scheme.

Renewed calls for International War Crimes investigation were being made by some UN representatives. Will Sri Lanka cooperate for an International Investigation? Channel 4 Investigates with new video footage evidences.

SBS Dateline from Australia captures more information from IDP’s who confirm intentional Hospital shelling and targeting of civilians during the war by the Sri Lankan Army:

http://www.sbs.com.au/dateline/story/watch/id/600331/n/War-Stories

Sri Lanka will also miss for the second year in a row budget deficit targets set by the International Monetary Fund as a condition for a $2.6 billion loan, data from the finance ministry showed on Tuesday.

The loan was approved last July to avert a balance of payments crisis, but the IMF said on Thursday it would delay a third tranche of the financing until it sees the budget after April 8 parliamentary elections.

Sirimal Abeyratne, a senior economics lecturer at the University of Colombo, said the government will have to take serious steps to continue the IMF loan, which boosted foreign investor confidence after the end of a 25-year war in May. He futher stated -

“I haven’t seen any serious government efforts to reduce the deficit last year in line with IMF target. If it continues without reforms in expenditure and revenue sides, I don’t think we could achieve 7.5 percent target this year.”

In the political front, General Sarath Fonseka, who was arrested after his defeat in the presidential election, is all set for the parliamentary elections of 8 April, as leader of an opposition alliance. The campaign will be led by his wife Anoma Fonseka the only person who can visit the Navy headquarters in Colombo, where he is in custody. Sarath Fonseka was arrested immediately after the elections on charges of preparing a coup. His candidacy was declared on 26 February, the day after the government announced that he will face fresh charges ahead of the civil court in the coming weeks, as well as a court marshal, the date of which has yet to be established.

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Do these poor people need Tax Exemption from us?

Well it does not surprise that Film Industry got the special gift as TN CM is also a writer in the Film Industry. Too bad he was not a software Engineer, else all Software Engineers would have also got free homes. The party was not a small party at your friend’s home, when his parents went out-of-station. It was an all out party where Amitabh, Kamal and Rajini shamelessly eulogized the TN CM. Prabhu Deva did the dancing, so did a bevy of Film actresses. And it is said to be relayed in Tamil Channels with much advertising. This is only part of the news. Tamil Film actor Ajith spoke boldly in the celebration that actors were being forcibly invited to functions/events in the name of sudden Tamil causes. Well his angst is totally understandable. He was invited to watch someone else’s birthday party. And he did not get any free home, as has a home of his own. Ajith’s speech was appreciated by a few, notably amongst them Film Actor Rajini Kanth.

Rajini Kanth knows the pain because he was forced to talk about Kaveri water dispute, Srilankan Tamil issue and other minor local street issues(ok, I made the last one up!). Rajini is usually a quiet person who stays away from politics. He even tried to escape abroad when there was a major pressure on him to speak out against the atrocities in old TN CM Jayalitha regime. Unfortunately he was stopped in the Airport by a Sadhu and advised to save the people. He skipped the flight and came back to save the world, err Tamil people. He openly supported DMK and TMC and helped defeat ADMK in 1996. He made a movie about the episode later, called ‘Baba’. TN CM Karunanidhi defended the celebration party saying it was a thankful gesture for all his service to the Film industry. Earlier the TN CM  had withdrawn Entertainment tax for movies made with Tamil names.

Biggest party in Town(Courtesy: Vikatan.com)

Overall the issue raises some important questions. One, How can the CM  gift tax payer’s money freely to someone else? Agreed that the Tamil film Industry is a fragile niche industry, which faces marketing onslaught from English and Hindi movies. The plight of the film workers is not bright since they don’t have medical insurance or retirement benefit or continuous work.  Ideally, every such worker in all industries should have the right to an own home before retirement. But the Tamil Movie makers are like American car companies, they don’t seem to stop making huge gas-guzzling dinosaurs for 30 years waiting to be eaten by the better made efficient Japanese cars. They have been making costly masalas with 5 songs, 3 fights with some overpaid actor and the same story for 30 years. Do movies like those of the Rajini, Vijayakanth, Vijay and Ajith really require tax payers support. A rough estimate states that the top actors draw more than 50% of the cost in salary and distribution rights. Do any of this people look like poor people. Why don’t they reduce their salaries to support their poor co-workers rather than asking for Tax payers money. Shouldn’t they structure the industry efficiently themselves before seeking Tax Payer’s money.  Also shouldn’t Film investors be responsible for the their financial decisions and the risk taken just like other businesses.

The second question is, why don’t you have your parties in your own home. Do we post our home videos of our kid’s birthday parties in Youtube. if you have to record your celebrations why don’t you post it in Youtube with password so that your fans can watch it privately! I understand that politics is a thankless job and an occasional appreciation can do the morale some good. But don’t you think the eras of Kings and open eulogies are over. At least this need not be done under public glare.

Third question is to the Tamil people, why do you expect Filmstars to come on stage and support your cause. Ajith does have a point. They are paid to do a job. They chose acting because of their personal aspiration just like we want to become a lawyer or doctor or businessman. If they wanted to be social leaders they would have become one. Aren’t there enough social leaders to take up social causes. Aren’t they entitled to their own opinions? You can choose to support a cause of your liking, while they can support a cause of their liking. If you are so concerned that they are not loyal to your cause, watch another Tamil movie. I swear you would not have missed much!

Fourth question again to the TN people: Don’t you ever get tired of making political heroes out of your Film stars? As old Tamil actor MR Radha spoke about his profession, “We are  just entertainers. We will dance and sing if you pay us. We are not better people than you are. Stop coming behind us!”. If Clint Eastwood movies were dubbed in Tamil, he would be voted chief minister in Tamil Nadu. After all he is the original guru of style..

Overall it is disgusting to see men with inflated egos fighting for their importance. Well, I am not talking about Shahrukh Khan and Bal Thackeray. But you are open to draw any similarities. And the Tamil film industry better know that there is no such thing as a free lunch!

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According to the same report, 40% of the world’s child marriages take place in India. What are the consequences? According to Karin Hulshof of the UNICEF, “Child brides become mothers long before their bodies are physically mature for pregnancy. The younger a girl is when she gets pregnant, the greater the health risk to her and her child.” She believes child marriage prevents many girls from continuing their education, leaving them unaware of the risks and responsibilities of pregnancy and that they would be less likely to seek medical attention and immunise their babies. Girls who give birth before the age of 15 are also five times more likely to die in childbirth than women in their 20s.

The stats prove the validity of her statements. India’s maternal mortality rate (in 2005) was an outrageous 450 per 100,000 live births, compared to just 8 per 100,000 in the developed world. The neonatal mortality rate was 39 per 1,000 live births, more than ten times the rate in the developed countries. Clearly, child marriages are extremely detrimental to the physical and mental health of women, children and society as a whole. The very fact that such a primitive social practice is so widely prevalent in the 21st century is a shame.

Mediæval Indian societies were plagued by several despicable social practices. Thanks to the efforts of many social reformers who were influenced to a great extent by the modern, progressive, secular education introduced by the British, laws were enacted by the colonial government to prevent some of these regressive practices. Child marriage was one of them. The Child Marriage Restraint Act, that was passed in 1929 by the British Indian government, fixed the minimum age of marriage as 14 for girls. This Act, and a few subsequent modifications to it, were replaced by the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006, which set the minimum age as 18 for females and 21 for males.

Child Bride Cartoon

This Act is now facing its acid test in a case being heard by the Bombay High Court. A 14-year old Muslim girl was to get married in December. However, her uncle filed a complaint with the police, citing a violation of the Child Marriage Restraint Act. The police who produced her before the Child Welfare Committee, then placed her in a children’s welfare home.

The girl’s mother, a woman called Zakia from Aurangabad, moved the Bombay High Court, challenging the action of the police as Muslim Personal Law allowed the marriage of girls who had attained puberty. After the government lawyer argued that the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 applied to all citizens irrespective of religion, Zakia’s lawyer has challenged the validity of the Act, arguing that it violates the freedom of religion. The Court is still hearing arguments in the case.

It’s a disgrace that a mediæval practice like child marriage exists in any society in the 21st century. What’s more disgraceful is that regressive forces are seeking to justify and seek legal sanction for such a practice under one pretext or another. When efforts are being made to drag societies back into the Stone Age, it’s upto all progressive minded people to oppose such a move. The High Court in Mumbai has a delicate task at hand, trying to balance what seems to be contradicting ideals - preventing a regressive social practice and guaranteeing the freedom of religion at the same time.

Written by An alien Earthling

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Dr. K.R.Sridhar,Bachelor Degree in Mechanical Engineering, University of Madras Tamil Nadu ,India, M.S. in Nuclear Engineering and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois, Professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering at the University of Arizona. Advisor to NASA in nanotechnology and planetary missions

In a press conference in USA to officially launch Bloom box, Mr.Schwarzenegger, the Governor of California rightly compared this event by saying that 160 years ago people flocked to California for the gold rush and that same spirit is alive in Bloom Energy’s Bloom Box. Colin Powel( Former secretary of state USA) Brian Kelly (Coca-Cola) Larry Page( Google) , John Donahoe( eBay) and Bill Simon( Walmart) attended the Bloom Box launch.

Dr. K.R.Sridhar already had said “We believe that we can have the same kind of impact on energy that the mobile phone had on communications. Just as cell phones circumvented landlines to proliferate telephony, Bloom Energy will enable the adoption of distributed power as a smarter, localized energy source… It will allow customers to lower their energy costs, reduce their carbon footprint, improve their energy security.”

This fuel cell is expected to quench the thirst for future energy needs in homes, business houses and Industries where energy shall be produced in situ. What better dream can come true if ourselves can produce cheap and emission free electricity at our backyard replacing the conventional power we get from hydel, thermal and atomic power plants transmitted from far away lands?

This invention has kindled the scientific temper all over the world unprecedented in this century. In the history of science at the time of industrial revolution many tried to invent a perpetual machine using the gravitational force. But friction always retarded or stopped the objects from continuous movement. Later turbines and internal combustion engines were invented to tap the energy. In this century more information on the matter from nano to cosmic level are openly available and the thoughts of innovators stray into less traveled areas with a thrust on Environment.

The bloom box of Sridhar contains ceramic disks coated with a special type of green and black inks. The disks are separated by metal plates. The input hydrocarbons are pumped from adjacent tank. This hydrocarbon may be of any fuel such as natural gas or diesel. The oxygen combines with fuels to trigger a chemical reaction to produce electricity. There is no combustion. Each wafer of ceramic can produce 25 watts.From a bread loaf sized unit of fuel cell one kilowatt of electricity can be produced. More units of power boxes can be putgother to build a big box to power a campus.The secret in this innovation is the methods of coating green and black dyes on the ceramic.

The ceramic wafers with dye

Sridhar explains “For the same amount of electricity, you need half the fuel…If you use a renewable fuel you are carbon neutral. Use all the electricity you want and don’t feel guilty about polluting the environment.”

How Dr. Sridhar got this idea is another story. Mr. Sridhar was asked by NASA to find a way to make life sustainable in Mars where there is no oxygen. Initially Sridhar invented one reactor driven by solar power combined with Martian water to generate oxygen required for breathing , at the same time producing hydrogen to power vehicles. That was meant for Mars not for the earth. Later in the Bloom energy venture Sridhar reversed the same idea to feed oxygen and hydrogen into a cell to generate electricity.

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According to a report in The Hindu last Sunday, the government plans to supply about hundred free sanitary napkins to an estimated 200 million rural women annually to boost female health and hygiene in rural India. At the rate of Re one per napkin, the project cost is evaluated at Rs.2000 crores annually.

Many may not be aware that the lion’s share of the Indian sanitary napkin market is controlled by two MNCs, Procter and Gamble (makers of Whisper) and Johnson and Johnson (makers of Stayfree and Carefree). It is likely that the government may strike a deal with one of the two companies for the napkin project. A distant third player in this market is Kimberly Clark Lever, a joint venture between Kimberly Clark and Hindustan Lever Limited.

The government’s motives in mooting this project are questionable, especially at a time when Coimbatore based social entrepreneur A Muruganantham’s low cost sanitary napkin manufacturing machine is creating a quiet revolution in rural India.

Costing around Rs.1 lakh per unit, it is within the reach of rural women’s self-help groups, who avail of bank loans to buy the machine. The project is being implemented in about 200 places across India. In Maharashtra, the State government is associated with the project. Apart from providing employment to hundreds of rural women, it has brought hygiene to the doorsteps of rural households.

Tehelka reported his work in August last year. In November last year, Muruganantham received the National Innovation Foundation’s Fifth National Grassroots Technological Innovations and Traditional Knowledge Award from President Pratibha Patil.

A class ten dropout, Muruganantham developed the machine after nearly four years of painstaking research. It took him nearly two years to realise that the padding used in sanitary napkins was made of pine wood pulp and not ordinary cotton.

Reacting to the government’s proposed project, Muruganantham told this writer over phone from Coimbatore: “For half the cost of the annual expenditure of the proposed project (that is, Rs.1000 crores), it is possible to set up one lakh units of my machines all over the country. Mine is proven technology, and low cost at that. The napkins that are made from these machines are as good as any other available in the market,” he points out. In 2006, IIT (Madras) awarded him the first prize in a contest for innovating for betterment of society.

Muruganantham has refused to sell the patent for his machine and even turned down a blank cheque offer from a private company. “I want my technology to benefit people. I am working on the social-entrepreneurship model, selling the technology directly to the people and cutting costs,” he says.

The 47 year old inventor says that banks would be keen on giving loans to self-help groups for purchasing the machine if the government gives an undertaking that it would buy back the napkins from them.

“It could earmark Rs.2000 crores - the same amount it has proposed to spend on the project - for the buyback scheme. It doesn’t have to spend a single paisa on buying the machines. The banks will take care of that cost. If the government is willing to consider my proposal it can generate employment for one million women, while achieving its goal of promoting hygiene among rural women,” he says.

Will his voice be heard or would the government and the MNCs have their way? We need to wait and watch.

P C Vinoj Kumar is a journalist based in Chennai. A former reporter with Tehelka, he is currently involved in launching an online magazine.

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