My Incredible India

Vinod Dham

2011-12-19T23:35:00.002-08:00

Biography of Vinod Dham

Here is brief information regarding the prominent inventor, entrepreneur and venture capitalist who was born in India but Settled in United States. Read the article to know about the biography of Vinod Dham.

Vinod Dham is well-known venture capitalist, entrepreneur and inventor and universally known as the “Father of the Pentium chip” as he has contributed himself in the development of vastly successful Pentium Processors from Intel. Vinod has been a hard working candidate through out his life and his hard work and dedication has helped him to make his way into this world. Read further to acknowledge about the Indian born American settled, Vinod Dham.

Vinod was born in 1950, and has recently entered into the decade of sixty years. He was born in Delhi whereas as his father moved to India from Rawalpindi during India-Pakistan Partition. By profession his father was a civilian in the army. Dham was born and brought up in New Delhi; he attained his Primary as well as his Secondary education from Delhi itself and later pursued his graduation in Electrical Engineering from the Delhi College of Engineering in 1971. Dham was blessed with three brothers and a sister and has spent his childhood in the warmth of his family members. By the age of twenty-one, he completed his graduation in Electrical Engineering and after that at the age of twenty-five he left India and moved to United Studies to obtain his further education.

After completing his graduation in Electrical Engineering in 1971 from Delhi College of Engineering, Delhi University, Dham started working with a Delhi-based semiconductor company called Continental Devices. But no one could predict that what will be the future horizon of this graduate. Well after four years in 1975, he left his job and left for United States and there he joined University of Cincinnati, in Cincinnati, Ohio –

USA

, to pursue Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, where he specialized in Solid State Science, with just $ 8 in his pouch. After completing his Master’s degree in 1977, Dham worked with NCR Corporation at Dayton, Ohio, where he carried out the task of cutting edge in developing advanced Non-Volatile Memories. Vinod was fortunate enough to join Intel and there he led the development of the world famous Pentium Processor and was titled as the "Father of Pentium Chip" for his functioning in the development of the Pentium processor. He is also one of the co-inventors of Intel’s first Flash Memory Technology (ETOX). He left Intel in 1995 as the Vice-president of Micro processor Group at Intel and joined NexGen which was consequently acquired by AMD. Dham played an influential role in the launch of K6 – the "Pentium killer" processor at rival AMD and held a place of Vice president position of AMD's Computation Products Group. In 1998, Vinod tried his luck in a blossoming set up, Silicon Spice, where he transmit to build a VOIP Chip and later in 2000 he sold it to Broadcom in 2000. Later he commenced an incubator NewPath Ventures, where he co–funded companies with an objective of using

India

’s emerging talent in chip design for Research & Development. Apart from this Dham have been a Board member and an advisor to dozens of private and public companies. At present Dham is the Managing Director and founder of Indo US Venture Partners.

“Father of Pentium Chip”, Vinod Dham has tied knots with Sadhana and is fully enjoying with his lady. The couple is blessed with two sons. Sadhana is a great homemaker and has been a supportive wife and friendly mother. She has been actively participating in the social activities with her husband.

Dham is very kind and helpful by heart as he has not only made the pavement of success for himself but has also formed the platform for other’s who are needy and cannot afford there daily basic needs in life. Dham along with his wife have been donating for many noble causes in the US and

India

. From past ten years he has been serving as a trustee of American India Foundation. Dham has not only donated but he is actively involved with TeachAIDS, where a team of researchers from various fields like of education, public health, communications and medicine have been working together for the development. Has also shed his costly time to promote HIV/AIDS prevention despite numerous social and cultural barriers. Dham and Sadhana have been a long time supporters of Home of Hope, a charity with a mission to provide the basic necessities of life to underprivileged and orphan children in

India

. These missionaries have been working with full dedication and trust. No unfaithful deeds are being carried out under these banners and they have devoted their lives for the noble cause to bring up the financial and basic requirements of the common man.

Vinod Dham has been recognized and also honored for his contribution in the field of science and technology. He has identified as the Father of Pentium Chip” for his commendable contribution for the development of highly successful Pentium Processors from Intel. Some of the awards which Vinao has bagged are as follows:

1993 – He was named as one of the top 25 executive in the

computer industry.

2007 – Dham was profiled at the Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas.

2009 – Awarded NRI Achievement Award at the NRI Global Summit.

2011 – Earned “People Choice Award” and “Special Jury Award”.

Vinod Khosla

2011-12-19T23:35:00.000-08:00

Triumph Of Vinod Khosla

Here is an editorial piece on the Indian Born American based venture capitalist, Vinod Khosla. Read further to know about the achievements of Vinod Khosla.

Vinod Khosla is one the renowned personality of the science and technology industry. Vinod is an Indian-born American based venture capitalist and an influential celebrity in Silicon Valley. Khosla is popularly known as one of the co-founders of Sun Microsystems and has served as its first CEO and Chairman in the early 1980s. Very soon as the time passed in 1986, Vinod became a general partner of the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers and continued working for more than fifteen years till early 2000’s. As the time passed Vinod Khosla formed his own firm and named it Khosla Ventures in 2004. The firms focused on the venture investments in various technology sectors, most notably clean technology. He is very straightforward in his approach and because of his this quality he has found himself surrounded with controversies as one of statement landed him into a controversy, "If it doesn't scale, it doesn't matter. Most of what we talk about today—hybrid, biodiesel, ethanol, solar photovoltaics, geothermal—I believe are irrelevant to the scale of the problem."

Vinod Khosla celebrates his birthday on 28^th of January every year with family and friends with great pomp and show. Vinod was born in New Delhi in 1955 into a well of family. Vinod was born and brought up in New Delhi as his father was serving in Indian Army therefore he was posted in New Delhi. He completed his education from Delhi and later on took admission in Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi and studied Bachelor’s Of technology in Electrical Engineering from there. After completing his graduation in Electrical Engineering he went to Carnegie Mellon University to pursue his Master’s in Biomedical Engineering and later went to Stanford Graduate School Of Management to study management studies. Vinod Khosla was an intelligent student through out his life and has been recognized for his efforts and performances in school times as well as in college days. Khosla got inspired for his profession of Technology when he read about the founding of Intel in Electronic Engineering Times at a very young age of fourteen.

In 1980, Vinod Khosla completed his Management studies from Stanford University and later started working for electronic design automation company, Daisy Systems. After two years in 1982, Khosla along with his Stanford classmates Scott McNealy, Andy Bechtolsheim and UC Berkeley computer science graduate student Bill Joy co-founded Sun Microsystems (SUN is the contraction for the Stanford University Network). For two years from 1982 to 1984, Khosla served as the first Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Sun Microsystems. In 1984 he left the Sun Microsystems to try his luck in the field of venture capital and after two years in 1986, Khosla joined the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers as a general partner. At Kleiner, Khosla turn out to be a renowned venture capitalist, with abundant successful early stage investments. Khosla also played a significant role with several of the tech industry's most spectacular failures, including BroadBand Office, Asera, Dynabook, Excit@Home, and many more. Khosla has not only tried his luck in Western countries but has also challenged himself in India and has invested in an Indian Microfinance NGO, SKS Microfinance, which have focused on below poverty line people and lends small loans to poor women in rural areas in India. Khosla is also one of the founders of TiE, The Indus Entrepreneurs. Apart from business he has also been proved as an Editor as he guest-edited a special issue of The Economic Times (ET), a leading business newspaper in

India

In one of his interviews on Dateline NBC in May 2006 where Khosla discussed the sensibleness of ethanol as a gasoline substitute and has been well-known for his heavy investments in ethanol companies, in hopes of extensive adoption and also mentioned Brazil as an example of a country that has ended its dependence on foreign oil. Apart from business benefits Khosla was a chief promoter of the "Yes on 87" campaign to pass California's Proposition 87, “The Clean Energy Initiative”, which failed to surpass in November, 2006. In the same year, Khosla's wife Neeru co-founded the CK-12 Foundation that intend to develop open source textbooks and lower the cost of education in America and the rest of the world. Khosla and his wife have also donated the amount of $500’000 to the Wikimedia Foundation.

After struggling for other companies in venture capitalist Khosla took a risk in forming his own venture capital firm, Khosla Ventures in 2004. The firm is doing extremely well and has managed about $1 billion of investor capital as well as investments funded by Khosla himself. After five years in September 2009, he concluded with the fundraising for two new funds, to invest in cleantech and information technology start-ups. Khosla Ventures III protected $750 million of investor commitments to invest in traditional early stage and growth stage companies. Khosla also raised $250 million for Khosla Seed, which was invested in higher-risk opportunities. Some months later in May 2010, it was publicized that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair will be join Khosla Ventures to provide strategic advice regarding investments in technologies focused on the environment.

Vinod Khosla, the Indian born American based venture capitalist got married to Neeru and the couple is blessed with four children, named Vani, Neal, Nina and Anu. Neeru and Vinod is a happy couple and is the resident of

America

. Neeru has been actively participating in the philanthropy works individually as well as with Vinod.

After reading the article you must have come to know the working strategy of Vinod Khosla and his achievements in his business. Khosla has earned several awards in his lifetime; he has been honored with “World Technology Award” in 1999 and served as the Honorary Chair of the Donors Choose San Francisco Bay Area Advisory Board. He has been the Member of the Board of Trustees of the Blum Center for Developing Economies at the University of California, Berkeley. Blum Centre focused on finding solutions to address the crisis of extreme poverty and disease in the developing world. Mr. Khosla said at the NASSCOM that "Being an Entrepreneur was hot”. When asked whether he ever feared failure, Khosla said only those who dare to fail can succeed. “Freedom to fail is a key ingredient in success. Try and fail, but do not fail to try. Every disadvantage in

India

is an opportunity to do something big,” he said. His these said lines gives us a clear picture of Vinod Khosla that he is an optimistic at his approach and can achieve whatever he demanded in life.

Vikram Seth

2011-12-19T23:33:00.000-08:00

Vikram Seth – Life History Of Vikram Seth.

Read the below written article to know about the renowned novelist, Vikram Seth.

Vikram Seth is an Indian Novelist who is famous amongst all the age-groups, be it a child, youth, middle aged or an old aged persons, everyone enjoy his writing. He was the man who led the campaign against

India

’s section 377, a law against homosexuality.

Seth celebrates his birthday on 20^th June every year. His was born in 1952 in Calcutta (now Kolkata) to Prem Seth and Leila. The family traveled in different parts of the India like Batanagar, Danapur and London. He is the eldest son of his parents and has two siblings called Shantum and Aradhana. Shantum guides Buddhist meditation tours whereas his younger sister, Aradhana, is a film-maker and has worked on Deepa Mehta's movies Earth and Fire and married to an Austrian diplomat.

Seth returned to his homeland in 1957 did his schooling from The Doon School, the school is in Doon valley which is famous for its weather and schooling and is also called Dehradun. After completing his schooling, he returned to England and studied philosophy, politics and economics in Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he developed an interest in poetry and learned Chinese. Later Seth left Oxford and moved to California to complete his graduate degree in economics at Stanford University.

It was quite astonishing to some readers of Seth’s A Suitable Boy (1993) that the author of the longest novel in English ever written, has also written six volumes of poetry. In fact he started his career from poetry itself. The most shocking for the readers was that, one who has such broad aspect of writing talent can also try writing poetry. Seth has completed his literary works in many genres like; novels, poetry, libretto, travel writing, children's literature and biography/memoir.

Mappings (1980) was Seth’s first volume of poetry, it was the translations of work by Hindi, Chinese and German poets. Mapping was written by Seth during his apprentice with European and Chinese cultural production. After completing his first volume of poetry he tried writing a non-fiction work “From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and

Tibet

(1983); which was admired by the readers as soon as it entered the market. Travel also gave way for Seth’s next two collections, The Humble Administrator’s Garden (1985) and All you who Sleep Tonight (1990). The Humble Administrator’s Garden, is a humorous collection of nature poems structured around plants/places: Neem (India), Wutong (China) and Live-Oak (California). All you who Sleep Tonight is an elegant book of poetry that combine the sharp humor that characterizes so much of Seth’s writing with darker subjects such as Hiroshima and Auschwitz. In a period of one he completed one more collection of poetry, “Beastly Tales from Here and There” (1991). As the title reflects this is another narrative of journeys and journeying that takes it readers through Greece, China, India and

Ukraine

. Verses are structured around the classic tension between good and evil and punctuated by outstanding illustrations, these tales in verse will appeal as much to children as to adults. His other work was the translation of the original ideograms of T’ang dynasty poets Wang Wei, Li Bai and Du Fu, in the “Three Chinese Poets”.

Seth’s first ‘novel’ – The Golden Gate (1986), the novel is a satirical romance centered on the relationship of two professionals in San Francisco. It is composed of around 690 rhyming tetrameter sonnets and Gore Vidal has called it ‘the Great California novel’.

His next novel, “A Suitable Boy” was one of the most popular epic of the late twentieth century; in this literary work he combined satire and romance to even superior effect. One of the critics described it as a ‘three and a half pounds of perfection’ which Seth has earned in comparison with Leo Tolstoy, Charles Dickens and George Eliot. This novel was a welcome break from magical realism of that other heavy weight author from the subcontinent, Salman Rushdie. Indeed Seth described his preferred prose style in a manner that seems to implicitly contrast him with that of Rushdie: ‘the kind of books I like reading are books where the authorial voice doesn’t intrude … [or] … pull you up with the brilliance of their sentences’. Of course, such comparisons ultimately conceal more than they reveal: if Seth’s novel represents a move away from self-conscious modernist experimentation then how are we to read the self-conscious epigraph with which it opens: ‘The secret of being a bore is to say everything’ (Voltaire)?

An Equal Music (1999), is another romantic novel, book centers on two gifted musicians: Michael Holme and Julia McNicholl. As Michael works on a Beethoven piece for the Maggiore Quartet, he grows with recollections of his student days in Vienna where he met Julia, and later the two are re-united by chance in London, their relationship is re-kindled. One of the most remarkable features of this novel is the way in which it manages to communicate music through language. Though Seth is meek about his musical abilities, the fact that he was specially made to write a libretto (later published as Arion and the Dolphin) for the English National Opera in 1994 suggests he is not a beginner.

Vikram Seth has etched his name with golden letters in the history of Literature of India, by contributing proficient novels, poetry, nonfiction, libretto etc. He has written two non-fiction novels; From Heaven Lake in 1983, it was his first editorial piece of work and Two Lives in 2005. Currently he is working on one of the novels, “A Suitable Girl” which will be published by 2013 and his other novels are The Golden Gate (1986); A Suitable Boy (1993) and An Equal Music (1999). His contribution to poetry has been immense and has written Mapping in 1980, The Humble Administrator’s Garden in 1985, All You Who Sleep Tonight in 1990, Beastly Tales in 1991, Three Chinese Poets in 1992 and The Frog and the Nightingale in 1994. His poetries have been introduced by various boards. He has also written librettos; Arion and the Dolphin in 1994 for the English National Opera; The Traveller in 2008 with composer Alec Roth. He has also written a book for children in 1991; Beastly Tales.

Awards & Recognition

1983 - Thomas Cook Travel Book Award for From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and

Tibet

1985 - Commonwealth Poetry Prize (Asia) The Humble Administrator's Garden

1993 - Irish Times International Fiction Prize (shortlist) A Suitable Boy

1994 - Commonwealth Writers Prize (Overall Winner, Best Book) A Suitable Boy

1994 - WH Smith Literary Award A Suitable Boy

1999 - Crossword Book Award "An Equal Music"

2001 - EMMA (BT Ethnic and Multicultural Media Award) for Best Book/Novel An Equal Music

2005 - Pravasi Bharatiya Samman

2007 - Padma Shri in Literature & Education

Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali khan

2011-12-19T23:31:00.000-08:00

Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali khan – Life History Of Bade Ghulam

Only one name can be substituted as the epitome of 20^th century Hindustani classical music and that is of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. Read further to know about the life history of Bade Ghulam.

Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan was the most famous Hindustani classical vocalist who performed from Patiala Gharana. He has been the most proficient singer of

his times, and had a great fan following. He was not inclined to work in bollywood but in his later years of his career he was convinced by K. Asif to sing two songs of his own styles, at that time he charged twenty-five thousand rupees per song whereas, Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammad Rafi charged less than five hundred rupees per song.

Ghulam Ali was born on 2^nd April, 1902 in Kasur, in West Punjab now in Pakistan. His father was a famous singer, Ali Baksh Khan, in a Born into a West Punjabi family of musical heritage; his father was an eminent singer called, Ali Baksh Khan. Bade Ghulam showed his keen interest in music at an early age of seven, as he learned sarangi and vocal from his paternal uncle Kale Khan. Kale Khan was also a singer and a composer who had maintained a standard of the Gharana to which he belonged. Ghulam’s mother died at her early years of age and therefore, his father brought a new mother for him. In sometime his uncle who taught him sarangi and vocal also passed away. He worked hard and improvised the musical instrument "Kanoon" to the present "Swaramandal" later which became his trademark. At the age of twenty – one he shifted to Banaras, where he accompanied a courtesan named Zarabai on the sarangi and started giving public performances. He was greatly influenced by Baba Shende Khan, Ustad Akhtar Hussain Khan and Ustad Ashiq Ali Khan. He was renowned for his versatile performances and gained fame and recognition for the same. He himself was a pot of wisdom, which had an extensive idea of music and continued practicing it without bringing changes in its concept.

In his late twenties he married Allah Jiwai and was blessed with a son, Munawar Ali Khan; but his conjugal life could not walk smooth as he lost his wife in 1932. After many years of the death of Allah Jiwai, Ghulam got married to an issueless widow, Allah Rakhi, who took care of him and his son. In 1947, when India and Pakistan were divided, Bade Ghulam Khan also went back to his native city but returned back to India very soon and acquired a citizenship of India in 1957.

Khan started his career at music by playing sarangi and also sung compositions of Kale Khan. Ustad Bade Ghulam was a painstaking artist; he was trained under the supervision of Kale Khan, his paternal uncle for ten years and practiced from early morning till late night. He was also a follower and devotee of both Ustad Akhtar Hussain Khan and Ustad Ashiq Ali Khan, two scions of the Patiala Gharana because he uses to worship his Guru’s like common man worship his God. After performing in his debut concert in Kolkata he became popular and renowned. Khan was an expert in merging the best of four traditions: his own Patiala-Kasur style, the Behram Khani elements of Dhrupad, the gyrations of Jaipur, and the behlavas (embellishments) of Gwalior. His voice was blessed with God’s choicest blessings with spanning three octaves, effortless rendition, wide range, sweetness, flexibility and ease of movement in all tempi. For his super performances he was given a title of ‘King’ of the Hindustani classical music.

Khan’s main aim was to promote the folk songs of different Gharanas and this ambition kept him away from bollywood films. For a long time he denied the top

directors and producers from working in films. However, his determination was swayed away by K. Asif and was ready to sing two songs based on ragas for the

1960 film Mughal-e-Azam, and in this film his voice was represented as Tansen by music director Naushad. Directors were ready to pay him whatever he demanded at that time. Where Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammad Rafi were paid less than rupees five hundred, there Ustad demanded for rupees twenty – five thousand for per song.

Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan was awarded Padma Bhushan by the Government of India; it is the third highest civilian award of the Republic of India and was also embraced with Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.

Ustad Bade Khan, the famous personality of Hindustani classical music did not live a long life. Khan closed his eyes on 25^th April, 1968 at Basheerbagh Palace in Hyderabad, and left his family members, relatives and fans in great shock. Though he was partially paralyzed in his last years of life yet he performed with the help of his son Munawar Ali Khan.

Malti Gilani disciple of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan formed a Sabha and named

it ‘Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Yaadgar Sabha’, to keeps his music and memory alive. The main aim of the Sabha is to promote Hindustani classical music and to maintain it; it organizes many concerts to this end. Sabha organises a Sabrang Utsav annually in the memory of the maestro and also provides medical aid to ailing musicians.

Vinoba Bhave

2011-12-19T23:29:00.001-08:00

Peep Into The Life Of Vinoba Bhave

Read the below written article to know about Vinoba Bhave, the Indian advocate of non violence and human rights.

Vinoba was an enormous Indian advocate of non violence and human rights. He stood as an icon for the struggle of the good against the evil during the war of independence. He was a spiritual visionary, whose spirituality had a pragmatic stance with intense concern for the deprived. He was a radiant scholar who could knowledge accessible to ordinary people. He was Gandhi's passionate follower, who could retain originality in thinking. According to S. Radhakrishnan, "Indeed his life represents harmonious blend of learning, spiritual perception and compassion for the lowly and the lost." The movements launched by him have been famous in the Indian history.

Vinoba bloomed on 11^th September, 1895 into a religious family of the Chitpavan Brahmin clan in Gagode Village in Colaba District of Mumbai State, Maharashtra. Reading of the Bhagavad Gita, the Mahabharat and the Ramayan inspired him at a very early age. Vinoba’s parents played a significant role in his life, his father Naraharishumbhurao Bhave was a spiritual Hindu and his mother Rukmini Devi inspired him a lot, though he lost her at an early age. Bhave stated that, "there is nothing to equal the part my mother played in shaping my mind". He had two brothers in Balkoba Bhave and Shivaji Bhave, who were also bachelors and dedicated their life to social work.

Vinoba Bhave fully devoted his life in helping others through various ways. He played a significant role in the freedom struggle, did not leave his family background behind as he was involved in religious and social activities, other than this he had his interest in writing too.

As Vinoba was an activist during the freedom struggle in 1932 he was sent to jail by the British colonial government because of his activism against British rule. He was chosen by Gandhi ji to be the first Individual Satyagrahi (an Individual standing up for Truth) against the British rule in Satyagrah movement. He also participated in the Quit India Movement.

Vinoba pragmatically analyzed the life of the Indian living in a village and tried to find solutions for the problems he faced with a firm spiritual foundation. This practice gave formation to Sarvodaya (Awakening of all potentials) movement and Bhoodan (land gift) movement started at Pochampally after interacting with 40 Harijan families. He wandered across

India

asking people to give him land and consider him as one of their sons so that they give him a one seventh of their land which he then distributed to landless poor. He was a passionate follower of Non-violence and fought against the evil act of slaughtering of cows.

Vinoba said, "I have walked all over

India

for 13 years. In the backdrop of enuring perpetuity of my life’s work, I have established 6 Ashrams. Although I have accomplished a lot, one of the achievements “Baba” would like to be remembered, is for establishing these Ashrams. Hence, 6 geographical sites were chosen out of 6, 3 in the three corners of

India

and three in the middle, on the lines of Adi Shankara. 1) Samanvay Ashram Bodhgaya Bihar 2) Bramh Vidya Mandir Paunar Sewagram, Maharashtra 3) Prasthan Ashram Pathankot Punjab 4) Visarjan Ashram Indore Madhya Pradesh 5) Maitri Ashram Sino-India border Assam 6) Vallabh Niketan Bangalore Karnataka.

Vinoba Bhave expanded his talent in number of fields as he was a great thinker, scholar and writer with an outstanding command on numerous languages like Hindi, Marathi, English, Urdu, Kannada and Sanskrit has written produced many books. He called "Kannada" script as "Queen of World Scripts" - "Vishwa Lipigala Raani". As he was deeply inspired by Bhagavad Gita’s teachings from his childhood days, he translated it into Marathi. Vinoba has written a brief introduction and criticism of several religious and philosophical works like the Bible, the Quran the Bhagavad Gita and works of Adi Shankaracharya and has also criticized poetry written by Dnyaneshwar. Vinoba Bhave has established seven Ashrams and the seventh Ashram is Vinobaniketan in Kerala.

There is University named after him in Hazaribagh district in the state of Jharkhand, the name of the University is Vinoba Bhave University, which is spreading knowledge to many. Some of his written works are Swarajya Sastra, Thoughts on education, The essence of Quran and The essence of Christian teachings.

Bhave led two movements in his life they were Sarvodaya movement and Bhoodan movement also known as Land Donation Movement. The movement started in 1955; he took donated land from rich Indians and gave to poor free of cost for making houses and living. He got more than 1000 villages in the form of donation for poor Indians. Out of these, he obtained 175 donated villages just in Tamil Nadu.

Vinoba spent last years of his life at his ashram in Paunar, Maharashtra. His health did not support him in his last days, from November, 1982 he fell ill and resolute to end his life. After deciding death he left food and medicine and very soon the doomsday arrived and this spiritual personality passed away on November 15, 1982.

Vinoba’s collection of essays citing his lack of connection with rationality and excessive imitation of Gandhi has been criticized by V. S. Naipaul. His support to Congress Party from a secret to an unclosed path was a controversial issue in those days.

Awards & Achievements

1958 – Received International Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership.

1983 – Awarded Bharat Ratna from the Government of

India

Vinod Khosla

2011-12-19T23:28:00.000-08:00

Achievements Of Vinod Khosla

Here is an editorial piece on the Indian Born American based venture capitalist, Vinod Khosla. Read further to know about the achievements of Vinod Khosla.

India

America

. Neeru has been actively participating in the philanthropy works individually as well as with Vinod.

India

is an opportunity to do something big,” he said. His these said lines gives us a clear picture of Vinod Khosla that he is an optimistic at his approach and can achieve whatever he demanded in life.

Baba Amte

2011-12-19T23:26:00.000-08:00

Baba Amte – Life History Of Baba Amte

Murlidhar Devidas Amte, universally known as Baba Amte was a legendary social worker and social activist known principally for his work for the rehabilitation and empowerment of poor people suffering from leprosy. Gandhi, the “Father of Nation” had conferred on Amte the title Abhayasadhak ("A Fearless Aspirant") for his fight against leprosy. This man was born with all kind of comforts but decided to give comforts to those who genuinely needed. Amte was deeply inspired by the principles of Mahatma Gandhi and was the strong follower of him. He was a lawyer by profession and left his profession just for the sake of his country’s freedom just like Gandhi ji. Like Gandhi left his practice of law just like that Baba Amte dedicated his life for the country.

Baba Amte was born on 29^th December 1914 to Devidas and Laxmibai Amte in the town of Hinganghat in Wardha District of Maharashtra in

India

. He was born into the family of a wealthy jagirdar Brahmin family. His father was a British official and responsible for district administration and revenue collection. Baba is not the title given to him in his honor but was his nickname. He was eldest son of a wealthy Brahmin landowner and had a pleasant childhood. At the age of fourteen he possessed his own gun and hunted boar and deer and had a particular interest in cinema, he use to write reviews for the film magazine The Picture Goer and even corresponded with Greta Garbo and Norma Shearer. When he knew driving he was presented a Singer sport scar which had cushions covered with panther skin. His belongingness to the royal family could be depicted by his attitude as he was friendly with all strata people. Once remarked

"There is certain callousness in families like mine." Baba said. "They put up strong barriers so as not to see the misery in the world outside and I rebelled against it."

Baba Amte studied law and served a successful legal practice of law at Wardha district in Maharashtra. But the feeling of patriotism could not resist him from joining the Indian struggle against British for freedom. Therefore, he started acting as a defense lawyer for leaders of the Indian freedom movement and spent some time at ashram of Mahatma Gandhi, called Sevagram and there he became the disciple of Gandhi for the rest of his life and practiced various aspects of Gandhism, including yarn spinning using a charkha and started wearing khadi clothes. All these activities were conducted in his own ashrams at Anandwan and Hemalkasa villages.

After attaining freedom he founded three ashrams for treatment and rehabilitation of disabled people, leprosy patients, and people from trivial sections of the society in Maharashtra, India. Amte dedicated his life to much other communal cause, the most notable among which were Narmada Bachao Andolan, making public awareness of importance of ecological balance and wildlife preservation. He could etch his name popularly as “Baba Amte” just because his family supported him in his every revolt. His wife Shantatai, energetically participated in his social work with identical enthusiasm. Not only Shantatai but also their sons and daughter-in-laws have laid their studious efforts to social work. His younger son, Dr. Prakash Amte and his wife Dr. Mandakini run a hospital, school and an orphanage for injured wild animals, including a lion and some leopards at Hemalkasa village in the underprivileged district of Gadchiroli in Maharashtra. The couples sons, Digant and Aniket are doctor and engineer respectively, have also dedicated their lives to the same causes as their parents. Their parents were awarded with Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in 2008. Whereas, Baba Amte’s elder son and daughter-in-law, Vikas and Bharati run a hospital at Anandwan and synchronize operations between Anandwan and satellite projects.

The contribution of the three generations has been proved fruitful. At present, his two villages, Anandwan and Hemalkasa village have one hospital each. Currently, the self-sufficient Anandwan ashram has over 5,000 residents and has a university, an orphanage, and schools for the blind and the deaf. Anandwan’s community development project has been recognized around the world. Amte has also established "Somnath" and "Ashokwan" ashrams for treating leprosy patients.

Baba Amte joined Medha Patkar's Narmada Bachao Andolan ("Save Narmada" Movement), which fought against both unjust dislocation of local population and harm to the environment on account of the construction of the Sardar Sarovar dam on the Narmada river. In 1990, Amte left Anandwan and supported Medha along with Arundhati Roy.

A year before his death that is in 2007, he was diagnosed with leukemia and was restricted to bed as he was suffering from severe spondolytis. Baba Amte’s holy soul left the world on 9^th February, 2008. According to his desire, he was buried instead of being cremated. On his death,14th Dalai Lama, said,

“Amte's demise is a great loss to all of us. I am an admirer of Baba Amte. I vividly remember my visit to his thriving community of handicapped people at Anandwan in 1990".

Awards & Achievements

1971 – Recipient of Padma Shree.

1978 - Rashtriya Bhushan (Pride of the Nation) by FIE Foundation Ichalkaranji (

INDIA

)

1979 – Bagged Jamnalal Bajaj Award.

1980 - D.Litt. by Nagpur University, Nagpur, India.

1980 – Earned N.D. Diwan Award by National Society for Equal Opportunities for the 'Handicapped' (NASEOH), Bombay.

1981 - Krishi Ratna by Hon. Doctorate, PKV Agricultural University, Akola, Maharashtra, India.

1983 - Ramshastri Award by Ramshastri Prabhune Foundation, Maharashtra, India.

1985 - D.Litt. by Pune University, Pune, India.

1985 – Earned Indira Gandhi Memorial Award by Government of Madhya Pradesh for outstanding social service.

1986 – Received Padma Vibhushan by Government of

India

1986 – Won Raja Ram Mohan Roy Award, 1986.

1987 - Fr. Maschio Platinum Jubilee Award.

1988 - Desikottama by Hon. Doctorate, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan, West Bengal, India.

1988 - G.D. Birla International Award for outstanding contribution to humanism

1991 - Mahdeo Balwant Natu Puraskar; Adivasi Sewak Award by Government of Maharashtra and Kusumagraj Puraskar.

1992 - Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Dalit Mitra Award by Government of Maharashtra

1994 - Shri Nemichand Shrishrimal Award.

1995 - Fr. Tong Memorial Award by Voluntary Health Association of

India

1995 - Kushta Mitra Puraskar by Vidarbha Maharogi Sewa Mandal, Amravati, Maharashtra

1997 - Bhai Kanhaiya Award by Sri Guru Harkrishan Education Trust, Bhatinda, Punjab; Manav Sewa Award by Young Men's Gandhian Association, Rajkot, Gujarat; Sarthi Award; Mahatma Gandhi Charitable Trust Award and Gruhini Sakhi Sachiv Puraskar by Gadima Pratishthan.

1998 - Kumar Gandharva Puraskar; Apang Mitra Puraskar by Helpers of the Handicapped, Kolhapur, Maharashtra; Bhagwan Mahaveer Award; Diwaliben Mohanlal Mehta Award; Justice K. S. Hegde Award; Baya Karve Award Pune, Maharashtra; Savitribai Phule Award by Government of Maharashtra; Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry Award for outstanding achievements in training and placement of disabled persons; Satpaul Mittal Award by Nehru Sidhant Kendra Trust, Ludhiana, Punjab and Adivasi Sevak Puraskar.

1999 – Won Gandhi Peace Prize; Dr. Ambedkar International Award for Social Change.

2004 - Maharashtra Bhushan Award by Government of Maharashtra.

2008 - Bharathvasa award.

Indra Nooyi.

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Indra Nooyi – Achievements Of Indra Nooyi.

Like every Indian girl Indra also had the same aspect of life, but no body knew that this average student will achieve insurmountable hierarchy. Read the article to know about achievements of Indra Nooyi.

Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi is the full name of Indra Nooyi; she is of Indian origin but settled in

United States of America

and is also famous as Indian-born American business executive. Indra has worked with numerous brands; she started her career from ABB and then Johnsons & Johnsons in Mumbai. In her second company she was closely associated with the launch of sanitary napkins for females. Currently she is working as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo, is the second largest food and beverage business in the world. She contributed in this company by introducing health drinks in the beverage industry. Indra Nooyi is the Alma Mater of Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata and Yale School of Management. When Indra Nooyi became the Chairman and Chief Executive officer of PepsiCo, it was very shocking for every one as she replaced Steve Reinemund, the Chief Executive Officer of the PepsiCo. It was a triumph for Indra Nooyi as she faced some problems such as she was a female, immigrant and complexion but she did not sway away her dedication and hard work. Read further to know about the achievements of Indra Nooyi.

Indra Nooyi was born and brought up in Chennai, Tamil Nadu,

India

. She celebrates her birthday on 28^th October every year and has recently completed happy fifty-six years of her life. Her father was an employee in State Bank Of Hyderabad in Chennai whereas her grandfather was a district judge.

Indra went to Holy Angels AIHSS, Chennai and there she completed her schooling. After completing her schooling she acquired her Bachelors degree in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics from Madras Christian College in 1974. Being a science student she obtained a Post Graduate Diploma in Management (MBA) from Indian Institute of Management Kolkata in 1976. Nooyi was an average student at school and college, in fact her teacher’s were shocked when they came to know Indra Nooyi is the Chairman and CEO of the PepsiCo, second largest food and beverage business in the world Later in 1978, she took admission in Yale School of Management and completed her Master’s in Public and Private Management and completed her summer internship with Booz & Company.

After taking a diploma from Indian Institute Of Management Indra began her career in

India

as a product manager positions at Johnson & Johnson and textile firm Mettur Beardsell. In between she took admission in Yale School Of Management and finished her Masters in Public and Private Management. After accomplishing her Master’s degree Nooyi joined the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and then held strategy positions at Motorola and Asea Brown Boveri. Year 1994, is marked as the turning point in the life of Indra Nooyi as she joined PepsiCo. After her seeing her dedication and consistency towards her work she very soon became the President and the Chief Finance Officer, this was a small achievement in the life of this mediocre student at school, as she knew her horizon of success.

Indra Nooyi has been working for the company's global strategy and reformed PepsiCo reformation. Nooyi has taken company to its heights with her innovative ideas and perception of the market. She shook hands with restaurants chains like Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell into Tricon, now acknowledged as Yum! Brands. In 1998, Nooyi was the woman behind the acquisition of Tropicana and also unified with Quaker Oats Company, which brought Gatorade to PepsiCo. All this hard work brought good results in her pocket as she became the fifth Chief Executive Officer in history of forty-four years of PepsiCo. Her spirit of dedication and hard work made her etch her name with golden letters in the history of food and beverage industry.

According to the Business Week survey, it was observed that the company’s annual revenue has risen to 72% whereas the net profit has just doubled to $ 5.6 billion in a span of five, when she was promoted as a President and Chief Finance Officer in 2001. Nooyi was listed among 100 Most Influential People in The World in 2007 and 2008 by Times. Forbes magazine has ranked Nooyi fourth on the 2008 and 2009. From past five years that is 2005 onwards Fortune magazine has named Nooyi number one on its annual ranking of Most Powerful Women in business In 2008, Nooyi was named one of America's Best Leaders by U.S. News & World Report and in the same year she was elected to the Fellowship of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

In January 2008, Nooyi has been elected as the Chairwoman of the US-India Business Council (USIBC), US-India Business Council Board of Directors is headed by Nooyi, it is an assembly of more than 60 senior executives representing a cross-section of American industry.

Indra Nooyi has been named 2009 CEO of the Year by Global Supply Chain Leaders Group and was considered as one of "The Top Gun CEOs" by Brendan Wood International, an advisory agency. In 2010 she was named #1 on Fortune's list of the "50 Most Powerful Women" and #6 on Forbes' list of the "World's 100 Most Powerful Women". Recently her top place has been taken by Kraft’s Chief Executive Officer, Irene Rosenfeld as she has been on top from past five years.

In 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011, Nooyi was named to Institutional Investor's Best CEOs list in the All-America Executive Team Survey.

Indra Nooyi has been portrayed as the chirpy girl with a great humor. She was not very sharp and was an average student in studies in her school as well as in her college days. But she was very hard working and completed her tasks with dedication as it reflects in her achievements of career. Apart from playing the role of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the PepsiCo Indra Nooyi is also a good homemaker. Indra got married to Rajkantilal Nooyi and the couple is blessed with two daughters. She enjoys her professional as well as her social life too.

Awards & Achievements

Indra Nooyi has been recognized by several publications and agencies. She has also been awarded for her achievements in the food and beverage industry. Here are some of the awards which were bagged by her:

2004 – Honorary Doctor of Laws by Babs on College.

2007 – Padma Bhushan by Government Of

India

2008 – Honorary Degree by New York University.

2009 – Barnard Medal of Honor by Barnard College.

2009 – Honorary Degree by New York University.

2010 – Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by Pennsylvania State University.

2011 – Honorary Doctorate of Law by Miami University.

2011 - Honorary Doctorate of Law by University of Warwick.

2011 - Honorary Doctorate of Law by Wake Forest University.

Ustad Amjad Ali Khan

2011-12-19T22:54:00.000-08:00

Ustad Amjad Ali Khan

Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, a renowned maestro in the field of playing Sarod and also known as “Sarod Samrat”. Read the article to get some information on Ustad Amjad Ali Khan.

The name of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan is enough to make the audience aware that now they are going to see a mind blowing performance in some concerts. He has been successful in making his own key innovations in his own style on vocal music and has the ability to play the highly complex tans. He is an eminent personality of the music world. He was very hard working and very ambitious as he learnt music at an early age from his father, Hafiz Ali Khan; Gwalior court musician. At the of twelve he gave his first solo recital and in 1963 performed in US. Ustad Amjad Ali khan is a satisfied and dutiful individual; he is a good father, a good husband and a good son. He looked after his father at his old age and stood like a pillar by his side. He has been awarded with numerous awards from

India

as well as from abroad.

Ustad Amjad Ali Khan was born as Masoom Ali Khan on 9^th October, 1945 in Gwalior. He was born into the family of Gwalior court musician, Hafiz Ali Khan and Rahat Jahan and was the youngest amongst the six siblings in the family. It is said that his family is a part of Bangash ancestry, which invented the instrument Sarod and Ustad Amjad Ali Khan is the sixth generation of musicians. He has been a good learner through out his life and learnt music under his father’s guidance from his childhood days. At the age of twelve he gave his first solo recital and gained appreciation at that time.

Ustad Amjad Ali Khan attained his basic education at home from the home tutor services and side by side learnt music from his father Hafiz Ali khan, Gwalior court musician. It was bliss for him that he belonged to such a family of musicians and he himself is the sixth generation of the family indulged in music. Ustad with his hard work has developed an exceptional style of playing the sarod. The innovations which he has brought in his style are compositions based on vocal music, the technical capability to play extremely complex phrases (ekhara taans) on the sarod straddling three octaves and stressed on simple and elegant compositions. Ustad Amjad Ali Khan has made the instrument very simple by removing some of the strings (his sarod has only two jod and chikari strings and 11 tarab stings) and has also removed the resonant gourd (tumba) which is in use by other sarod schools.

It is said that Amjad was a sincere lad from his early days and was

ambitious too. Therefore, when he was learning music from his childhood days from his father at the time of learning he gave his first solo recital. He was a hard working musician and always entertained his audience with his unique style if performance. He has brought changes in his own Sarod, musical instrument. His Sarod consists of two jod and chikari strings, eleven tarab strings and has removed tumba (resonant gourd). He has been a marvellous performer through out his life and has kept up the spirit of good performance in every concert. Khan has also performed with international bands like Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and as a visiting professor at the University of New Mexico. His Foreign performances are not only enjoyed by the Indians settled there but also by the natives as music has no language. He has performed in various festivals in abroad and has been adored for his contribution.

Ustad Amjad Ali was an obedient child of his parents and he looked after his father who was suffering from diabetes and was with him till he left the world in 1972. Ustad married twice in his life, his first marriage was an arrange marriage and did not work that well. Therefore, in 1976, he tied knots with a Bharatnatayam dancer, Subhalakshmi Barua from

Assam

. Though both of them are from different backgrounds one is Muslim and the other is Hindu. The couple is still together and are sharing the wows of their wedding with each other with full respect. Ustad and his wife are blessed with two sons Amaan and Ayaan, both of them have learnt music from their father and also accompanied him in his concerts.

Ustad has been eminent personality amongst the instrument players. This expert

has been recognized from his early days of his life. Here are some awards by which he has been honoured.

Padma Shri by Government Of

India

(1975)

U.S.

state of Massachusetts proclaimed April 20 as Amjad Ali Khan Day (1984)

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1989)

Padma Bhushan by Government Of

India

(1991)

Made an honorary citizen of Houston, Texas, and Nashville, Tennessee, (1997)

Padme Vibhushan by Government Of

India

(2001)

Awarded Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize (2004)

Made an honorary citizen of Tulsa, Oklahoma (2007)

Recipient of Banga-Vibhushan (2011)

Char Dham

2011-12-19T06:53:00.001-08:00

Char Dham

Char Dham is the title given to four pilgrimage places in

India

that are broadly holy by most of the "Hindus". The names of such pilgrimage are: Badrinath, Dwarka, Jagannath Puri, and Rameshwaram.

According to Adi Shankaracharya Char Dham consists of two Vaishnavite, one Shaivite, and one mixed site. From ages the term "Char Dham" has lent itself to the all-denomination Char Dham pilgrimages in the Garhwal Himalayas, where he attained freedom from embodiment. Earlier known as Chota Char Dham or 'Little' Char Dham to differentiate them from the bigger circuit of Char Dham sites, after the mid-20th century they themselves started being called the Char Dham. Today, the term "Char Dham" usually refers to the all-denomination Himalayan Char Dham. The Char Dham is often considered the most sacred sites for Hindus that have to be visited in one's lifetime.

History:

Shankracharya, great 8th century reformer and philosopher was notably involved in reviving the Hindu Dharma in India. For the revival of the Hindu Dharma he travelled throughout the country and grouped the four sacred places Badrinath, Rameshwaram, Puri and Dwarka as the Char Dham which are committed to the Vishnu Avatars (incarnations). Geographically speaking the char dham make a perfect square with Badrinath and Rameswaram falling on the same longitude and Dwarka (old) and Puri on the same latitude, representing the farthest north, east, west, and south points of India.

Pilgrimage Centres:

Badrinath

Badrinath temple is located in the North Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is situated in the Garhwal hills, on the banks of the Alaknanda River. The town lies between the Nar and Narayana mountain ranges and in the shadow of Nilkantha peak. “Badri” refers to a berry that grows in abundance in the area, and “nath” means Lord. It is said that Shankaracharya discovered a black stone image of Lord Badrinarayan made of Saligram stone in the Alaknanda River and enshrined it in a cave near the Tapt Kund hot springs. Later in the sixteenth century, the King of Garhwal moved the murti to the present temple.

Dwarka

Dwarakadheesh temple is located in Dwarka in the West in the state of Gujarat, India. The city derives its name from word “dvar” meaning door or gate in the Sanskrit language. It is located close to where the Gomti River merges into the Gulf of Kutch. The city lies in the westernmost part of India. The legendary city was the dwelling place of Lord Krishna and is believed that due to damage and destruction by the sea, Dwaraka has flooded six times and modern day Dwarka is the 7th such city to be built in the area.

Jagannath Puri

Jagannath Temple in Puri is located in the East is located in the state of Orissa, India. Puri is one of the oldest cities in the eastern part of the country and is situated on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. The main deity is Shri Krishna, celebrated as Lord Jagannatha. It is the only shrine in India, where goddess, Subhadra, sister of Lord Krishna is worshipped along with her brothers, Lord Jagannatha and Lord Balabhadra. The main temple here is about 1000 years old and constructed by Raja Choda Ganga Deva and Raja Tritiya Ananga Bhima Deva. Puri is the site of the Govardhana Matha, one of the four cardinal institutions or Mathas established by Adi Shankaracharya.

Rameshwaram

Ramanathaswamy Temple is in Rameswaram located in the South in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is situated in the Gulf of Mannar at the very tip of the Indian peninsula. According to tradition, this is the place from where Lord Rama, built a bridge “Ram Setu” to Lanka. The Ramanatha Swamy Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva occupies a major area of Rameshwaram. The temple is believed to have been blessed by Shri Rama. Rameshwaram is momentous for the Hindus as a pilgrimage to Benaras is incomplete without a pilgrimage to Rameswaram. The presiding deity here is in the form of a Linga with the name Sri Ramanatha Swamy, it also is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas.

So friends this is the story of Char Dam, for which people of Hindu religion believed that before attaining death they should ones travel to these pilgrimages of Char Dham.

History of Uttarakhand

2011-12-16T09:38:00.001-08:00

Uttarakhand is the combination of two different regions, Garhwal (Tehri and Pauri) and Kumaon. You can trace the footprints of Uttarakhand from the prehistoric days when Sanskrit was the language. At that time, the name of Uttarakhand was mentioned in the early Hindu scriptures as the combined region of Kedarkhand (present day Garhwal) and Manaskhand (present day Kumaon). Uttarakhand was also the primeval Puranic term for the central stretch of the Indian Himalayas. It was a famous spot for Hindu pilgrimage. The Pauravas, Kushanas, Kunindas, Guptas, Katyuris, Raikas, Palas, the Chands, and Parmaras or Panwars, Sikhs and the British have ruled Uttarakhand in their respective periods in history.

Uttarakhand was originally settled as a region by Kols, an aboriginal people of the Austro- Asiatic physical type who were later joined by Indo-Aryan Khas clans that arrived from the northwest by the Vedic era. At that time, current Uttarakhand also served as a trouble for Rishis and Sadhus. It is believed that Pandavas stayed at Doon Valley, the capital of Uttarakhand during their exile for some time and Sage Vyasa scripted the Mahabharata. Among the first major dynasties of Garhwal and Kumaon were the Kunindas in the 2nd century B.C. who practiced an early form of Shaivism; at that time salt was traded with Western Tibet. It is evident from the Ashokan proclamation at Kalsi in Western Garhwal that Buddhism made inroads in this region. Folk shamanic training deviating from Hindu orthodoxy also carried out in this region. However, Garhwal and Kumaon were re-established to nominal Brahmanical rule due to the travails of Shankaracharya and the arrival of nomads from the plains. Katyuri dynasty of Khas origin dominated lands of varying extent from the Katyur (modern day Baijnath) valley in Kumaon for a decade of centuries from 4^th century to 14^th century. The dynasty rule contributed a historically momentous temples at Jageshwar are believed to have been built by the Katyuris and later remodelled by the Chands. Other peoples of the Tibeto-Burman group known as Kiratas are thought to have been settled in the northern highlands as well as in pockets throughout the region, and believed to be the ancestors to the modern day Bhotiya, Raji, Buksha, and Tharu peoples.

By the medieval period, the region was consolidated under two sects one was west sect and the other was east sect; the Garhwal Kingdom in the west and the Kumaon Kingdom in the east. Kumaon prospered under the Chand Rajas from 13^th century to 18^th century, were the origins of plains in India. During this period, the region diverted its interest into art, painting and other things related to art and architecture. New forms of painting were developed as they were taught in the Pahari school of art. Modern-day Garhwal was likewise unified under the rule of Parmar/Panwar Rajas, who along with a mass migration of Brahmins and Rajputs, also arrived from the plains like Chands. In 1791, the expanding Gurkha Empire of Nepal, overran Almora, the seat of the Kumaon Kingdom. After twelve years in 1803, the Garhwal Kingdom also fell to the Gurkhas and resulted the Anglo-Nepalese War in 1816, a rump portion of the Garhwal Kingdom was re-established from Tehri, and eastern British Garhwal and Kumaon surrendered to the British as part of the Treaty of Sugauli.

After attaining freedom from British, Garhwal Kingdom was merged into Uttar Pradesh state, where Uttarakhand composed the Garhwal and Kumaon Divisions. The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (Uttarakhand Revolutionary Party established in 1979), began a revolt for separate statehood under its banner. Although the previous hill kingdoms of Garhwal and Kumaon were traditional rivals with diverse lingual and cultural influences due to the proximity of different neighbouring ethnic groups, the inseparable and complementary nature of their geography, economy, culture, language, and traditions created strong bonds between the two regions. These bonds formed the basis of the new political identity of Uttarakhand, which gained significant momentum in 1994, when demand for separate statehood (within the Union of India) achieved almost common acceptance among the local general public as well as political parties at the national level. Most notable incident during this period was the Rampur Tiraha firing case on the night of 1 October 1994, which led to public chaos. After four years on 24 September 1998 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly passed the 'Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Bill', which ultimately led to the creation of the new state and finally the Parliament passed the Indian Federal Legislation - Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2000, and thus on 9 November 2000, Uttarakhand became the 27th state in the Republic of India along with two other states Jharkhand (Bihar) and Chhattisgarh (Madhya Pradesh). The new state was served by Nityanand Swami, as its first chief minister. The state was formed with thirteen districts but recently new four districts have been added to it. So now on the whole Uttarakhand has seventeen districts. When the state came into existence it was named as Uttaranchal but later it was named as Uttarakhand which means Uttara as North and Khand as country, together Northern country. It is also called Land Of Gods.

"Paradise Unexplored”

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The Seven Sister States of

India

are also known as "Paradise Unexplored". The ‘Seven Sisters’ consists of seven different states of north-east region of India, the states are Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland & Tripura with the capitals Itanagar, Dispur, Shillong, Imphal, Aizwal, Kohima and Agartala which covers around 250,000 sq. km. or about 7 percent of India's total area.

These states have a history, which has not been explored by people. At the time of Independence in 1947 there were only three states Manipur, Tripura and

Assam

. Four new states were later carved out of the original territory of Assam. Hence, in 1963 Nagaland became a separate state; in 1972 Meghalaya. Whereas, Mizoram became a Union Territory in 1972, and achieved statehood - along with Arunachal Pradesh in 1987.

The language which is spoken is Tibeto-Burman and Austro Asiatic languages. In

Assam

the major languages is Assamese and Tripura, where the major language is Bengali. Meitei, the third most spoken language in this region is a Tibeto-Burman language. Hinduism and Christianity are the leading religions in this region. Assam, Tripura and Manipur remain predominantly Hindu, with a large Muslim minority in

Assam

. Christianity has become the chief religion in the states of Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya through the activities conducted by the Christian Missionaries.

This region is blessed numerous industries like tea-based, crude oil and natural gas, silk, bamboo and handicrafts. The states have dense forests and have plentiful rainfall. There are beautiful wildlife sanctuaries, tea-estates and mighty rivers like Brahmaputra. The region is home to one-horned rhinoceros, elephants and other endangered wildlife.

Though the states of North-eastern region of the country are locked and therefore, isolated from the rest of India except through the Siliguri passage, a slight and helpless corridor, edged by alien territories. Here Assam acts as the gateway through which the sister states are connected to the mainland. Tripura, a virtual enclave almost surrounded by Bangladesh, strongly depends on

Assam

. Nagaland, Meghalaya and Arunachal depend on

Assam

for their internal communications. Manipur and Mizoram's contacts with the main body of India are through Assam's Barak Valley. Raw material requirements also make the states mutually dependent. Most of the rivers originate in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and western Meghalaya. Manipur's rivers have their sources in Nagaland and Mizoram; the hills also have prosperous mineral and forest resources. Petroleum is found in the plains.

These seven states; Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim shares a boundary line with China, Tibet, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. It attracts great tourism as people get attracted to the natural and physical features of the states as the region is blessed with worth watching wildlife sanctuaries, hills & valleys, beautiful flowers, enormous tea states.

Legends of India : Dr. C.V Raman

2011-12-09T21:24:00.000-08:00

Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman Popularly Known as Dr. C.V Raman

The first Indian scholar who acquired his complete education completely in India was no other than Dr. CV Raman. He was born on 7^th November, 1988. As he was an intelligent lad he completed his education from India and did not go to foreign countries for further studies like other scientists went. Being the science student he appeared for a civil examination and stood first. His first posting was at Calcutta; he along with his wife left for Calcutta and started working. One day he saw hoarding of Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science at Calcutta and after office he carried out his experiments in the laboratory. After sometime he was transferred to some other places and returned to Calcutta after two years. During the span of two years he continued his experiments at his home. But once he returned to Calcutta he joined Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science at Calcutta and started with his experiments in acoustics and optics. After sometime he left his job and contributed his life in teaching.

At the young age of twenty-nine he was offered the position of Sir Taraknath Palit Professorship of Physics at Calcutta University. He stayed there for the next fifteen years and received worldwide recognition for his work in optics and scattering of light. Later he was elected to the Royal Society of London and the British made him a knight of the British Empire. At the age of forty-two in 1930, Sir C.V. Raman was honored with the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on scattering of light. The discovery was later named as "Raman Effect".

C.V. Raman became the director of the newly established Indian Institute of Sciences in Bangalore in 1934 where he served as a Professor of physics. Other investigations carried out by Raman were: his experimental and theoretical studies on the diffraction of light by acoustic waves of ultrasonic and hypersonic frequencies (published 1934-1942), and those on the effects produced by X-rays on infrared vibrations in crystals exposed to ordinary light. With the freedom of India his stars of destiny also sparkled as he was appointed as the first National Professor by the new government of Independent India. He retired from the Indian Institute in 1948 and a year later he established the Raman Research Institute in Bangalore, where he worked till his death. Sir C.V. Raman died on November 21, 1970.

When Is Kumbh Mela Celebrated

2011-12-09T11:07:00.000-08:00

When Is Kumbh Mela Celebrated

Kumbh mela is one of the most auspicious occasions for Indians. Peep here to know when Kumbh mela is celebrated?

Kumbh Mela is celebrated at four different places at different time. Haridwar, Nashik, Ujjain and Prayag are those sacred places where the nectar was dropped by Lord Vishnu when he flew away with the pot of nectar, when Gods and demons were fighting on it. That time is celebrated as Kumbh mela; therefore, devotees from various places come and wash away their sins by dipping into the holy water. It is celebrated with great enthusiasm amongst the devotees.

Kumbh Mela is celebrated in four ways; normally Kumbh is celebrated in every three years; the Ardh (half) kumbh is celebrated in every six years at Haridwar and Prayag; and Purna (complete) Kumbh is celebrated in every twelve years at four places Haridwar, Prayag, Ujjain and Nashik. The Maha Kumbh Mela Comes after 12 Purna Kumbh Mela or 144 years is held at Prayag.

The celebration of kumbh mela depends on the location of the universal bodies; planet Jupiter (brhaspati) and the Sun. When Jupiter and the Sun are in Zodiac

Sign Leo (Singh Rashi) it is held in Trimbakeshwar, Nashik. When the Sun is in Aries (Mesh Rashi) it is celebrated in Haridwar. When Jupiter is in Taurus (Vrishabha Rashi) and the Sun is in Capricorn (Makar Rashi), then kumbh is celebrated at Prayag. Mela is celebrated in Ujjain when Jupiter and the Sun are in Scorpio (Vrishchik Rashi). Each sites celebration dates are calculated in advance according to a special combination of zodiac positions of Sun, Moon and Jupiter. The following are the future venues of Kumbh Mela:

Ø Purna Kumbh Mela will be celebrated at Prayag in 2013 from January 27^th to February 25^th.

Ø Kumbh Mela will be celebrated at Nasik in 2015 from August 15^th to September 13^th.

Ø Another Purna Kumbh Mela will take place at Ujjain in 2016 from April 22^nd to May 21^st.