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Friday 16 March 2012

Universe - Nasadiya Sukta of Rig Veda - Life cycle of universe


The Big bang theory and life cycle of stellar universe, as interpreted in Rig Veda - it talks how all of a sudden the universe formed and eventually how it ends after everything every matter is vaporised in to a vast sea of photons.
The formation of Star,galaxies ( milky way, andromeda etc ) Sun and its planet, evolution of life on earth and its extinction, Stars life cycle and its phases such as white dwarf, red dwarf, black dwarf, pulsars, super novae and black holes.
 
Nasadiya Sukta (after the incipit ná ásat "not the non-existent") is the 129th hymn of the 10th Mandala of the Rigveda. It is concerned with cosmology and the origin of the universe.The hymn is made with so much of creative mode of thinking and is logical to understand it.

Interpretations

The hymn has attracted a large body of literature of commentaries both in Indian theology and in Western philology.
It begins by paradoxically stating "not the non-existent existed, nor did the existent exist then" (ná ásat āsīt ná u sát āsīt tadânīm), paralleled in verse 2 by "then not death existed, nor the immortal" (ná mṛtyúḥ āsīt amŕtam ná tárhi). But already in verse 2 mention is made that there was "breathing without breath, of its own nature, that one" ânīt avātám svadháyā tát ékam). In verse 3, being unfolds, "from great heat (tapas) was born that one" (tápasaḥ tát mahinâ ajāyata ékam). Verse 4 mentions desire (kāma) as the primal seed, and the first poet-seers (kavayas) who "found the bond of being within non-being with their heart's thought".
Brereton (1999) argues that the reference to the sages searching for being in their spirit is central, and that the hymn's gradual procession from non-being to being in fact re-enacts creation within the listener (see sphoṭa), equating poetic utterance and creation (see śabda).
The hymn has been interpreted as one of the earliest accounts of skeptical inquiry and agnosticism.
नासदासींनॊसदासीत्तदानीं नासीद्रजॊ नॊ व्यॊमापरॊ यत् ।
किमावरीव: कुहकस्यशर्मन्नभ: किमासीद्गहनं गभीरम् ॥१॥

न मृत्युरासीदमृतं न तर्हि न रात्र्या।आन्ह।आसीत् प्रकॆत: ।
आनीदवातं स्वधया तदॆकं तस्माद्धान्यन्नपर: किंचनास ॥२॥

तम।आअसीत्तमसा गूह्ळमग्रॆ प्रकॆतं सलिलं सर्वमा।इदम् ।
तुच्छॆनाभ्वपिहितं यदासीत्तपसस्तन्महिना जायतैकम् ॥३॥

कामस्तदग्रॆ समवर्तताधि मनसॊ रॆत: प्रथमं यदासीत् ।
सतॊबन्धुमसति निरविन्दन्हृदि प्रतीष्या कवयॊ मनीषा ॥४॥

तिरश्चीनॊ विततॊ रश्मीरॆषामध: स्विदासी ३ दुपरिस्विदासीत् ।
रॆतॊधा।आसन्महिमान् ।आसन्त्स्वधा ।आवस्तात् प्रयति: परस्तात् ॥५॥

कॊ ।आद्धा वॆद क‌।इह प्रवॊचत् कुत ।आअजाता कुत ।इयं विसृष्टि: ।
अर्वाग्दॆवा ।आस्य विसर्जनॆनाथाकॊ वॆद यत ।आबभूव ॥६॥

इयं विसृष्टिर्यत ।आबभूव यदि वा दधॆ यदि वा न ।
यॊ ।आस्याध्यक्ष: परमॆ व्यॊमन्त्सॊ आंग वॆद यदि वा न वॆद ॥७॥


Rig Veda 10.130

The hymn that immediately follows (10.130) deals with the origin of sacrifice and similarly refers to a creator figure, puṃs "the Man", identified with Prajāpati by Sāyana.
The hymn contemplates the first sacrifice performed by human worshippers who by the act were elevated to rishis, alluding to the mythical first sacrifice performed by the gods described in the Purusha Sukta (RV 10.90) Verse 6 (trans. Griffith):

So by this knowledge men were raised to Rsis, when ancient sacrifice sprang up, our Fathers.
With the mind's eye I think that I behold them who first performed this sacrificial worship.
The questions in verse 3, "What were the rule, the order and the model? What were the wooden fender and the butter?" refer back to the questions in 10.129 (5b "what was above it then, and what below it?" etc

For the answer i believe is change is constant and irreversible - continously moving from order to disorder - Entropy factor of second law of thermodynamics as a physicist understands about universe.
sun and relative size of planets

white dwarf our sun's fate

Black dwarf fate of proxima centauri

supernovae

Wednesday 15 February 2012

Classification of snakes.docx

Classification of snakes.docx:

'via Blog this'

Prez for looking at out-of-box solutions for dryland farming

Wednesday 15 February, 2012.

President Pratibha Patil on Wednesday emphasised on "out-of-the-box" solutions for enhancing productivity in rainfed and dryland farming (RFDF) areas that form majority of the agriculture land and called for greater thrust on these regions in the 12th Five-Year plan.

Dwelling on the importance of RFDF areas, she said 60 per cent of India's cultivated area come under RFDF which provides 44 per cent of food production in the country and includes 87 per cent of coarse cereals and pulses, 80 per cent oil seeds and 65 per cent cotton.
These areas support about 40 per cent of the population, mostly belonging to the poorer sections of the society.
Besides, it also helps nearly 60 per cent of the livestock population.
The President expressed concern over "very low investment" in RFDF areas as compared to integrated areas and called for paying urgent attention towards it.
"A willingness to look at out-of-the-box solutions is necessary to usher in noticeable change in handling the subject," she said at a workshop at the Rashtrapati Bhawan which was also attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The workshop is the part of the initiative of the President for enhancing farm productivity, especially in rainfed areas.
It was attended by over 20 governors, eight union ministers, five chief ministers and 37 vice-chancellors of agricultural universities.
"In the 12th Five-Year Plan, it is necessary to give a thrust to RFDF areas that will generate a sense of urgency at the government level to promote partnership between various stakeholders to revitalise Indian agriculture," she said.
Pranab asks states to promote investment in farm supply chain
In order to effectively deal with food inflation, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday asked the states to encourage organised sector in supply management pending a decision on allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail.
"There are no policy impediments for the presence of organised retail in food and other items of daily consumption that have exhibited inflationary spikes in the past several months," FM said.
"Even as we build a consensus on FDI in multi-brand retail, it is important for the State governments to encourage the presence of organised sector in strengthening the food supply chain. There is ample space for the organised sector to co-exist with the family retail shops," Mukherjee said in New Delhi.
He was speaking at the workshop on agriculture, a path-breaking initiative by President Pratibha Patil.
Besides Patil, the workshop was attended by over 20 governors, eight union ministers and five chief ministers.
Mukherjee said that efforts are needed to make the farm the sector more competitive and sustainable to support the growing needs of a rapidly-expanding Indian economy.
Food inflation remained a major problem for the Indian economy during most of 2010 and 2011 with the rate of price rise of kitchen staples remaining in double-digit for most of the period.
According to a background paper for the workshop, "leveraging foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail could be one way of addressing the issues related to wide gap between farm gate and consumer prices."
Mukherjee said that with the impending implementation of National Food Security Act, covering the priority and general households, the level of production and procurement of foodgrains will have to be increased.
(SP-15/2)
India set to harvest record 250mn tons foodgrains: PM
Exceeding target, the country is set to harvest a record 250 million tonnes of foodgrains this year, as efforts to push farm growth seem to be paying off, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday.
"Our farmers have done us proud again this year. ... but we still have a long way to go. ... we cannot afford to be complacent since demand of horticulture and animal products is increasing very rapidly and this will require some shift of area away from production of foodgrains.
"Therefore productivity in foodgrains has to go up handsomely," he said at a workshop at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
The workshop is the part of the initiative of President Pratibha Patil for enhancing farm productivity, especially in rainfed areas. A Committee of Governors constituted by the President has already met twice.
Besides Patil, today's meeting was attended by over 20 governors, eight union ministers, five chief ministers and 37 vice chancellors of agricultural universities.
The Prime Minister said foodgrains production will exceed the target by five million tonnes and cotton output at 34 million bales is a new record as per the latest estimates.
However, there was only one per cent growth rate in food production in the country, against two per cent required to meet India's grain requirement by 2020-21, he said.
The Prime Minister also pointed out distortions arising from pricing and subsidy regimes resulting into soil degradation.
He expressed concern over volatility in prices of farm products.
"There is a big gap between farm gate and retail prices that the consumers pay. There is also volatility with prices being low after harvest. We need to address all this by reforming agricultural marketing systems and investing in supply chains," he said.
(RBY-15/02)

Tuesday 7 February 2012

UN appeals India to ratify global nuclear test ban treaty

Tuesday 07 February, 2012.



UN chief Ban Ki-moon has appealed to eight countries, including India, to ratify the CTBT to bring the global nuclear test ban into force.
The UN secretary general made the appeal after Indonesiabecame the 157th country to adopt the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).

Besides IndiaChinaNorth KoreaEgyptIranIsraelPakistanand the US are the other nations in a core group of 44 nuclear countries which did not ratify the treaty.

The 44 nations which must ratify the CTBT to bring it into force all have nuclear weapons or atomic programmes.

This would accelerate the entry of CTBT into force, Ban said after his meeting with Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa at the UN headquarters.

During their meeting, Ban stressed the importance ofIndonesia's ratification of the CTBT given that the country is one of the so-called Annex 2 States, whose endorsement is required for the treaty to enter into force, a UN release said.

Tuesday 31 January 2012

'Lakshya' successfully test flown

Tuesday 31 January, 2012.



Indigenously developed micro-light and pilot-less target aircraft Lakshya-1 was successfully test flown from the Integrated TestRange at Chandipur near Balasore on Tuesday.
'Lakshya-1, fitted with an advanced digitally controlled engine was successfully test flown at about 11.40 AM to check the validity of its engine and duration enhancement, defence sources said.

"It is a routine trial by the users," the sources said.

Lakshya is a sub-sonic, re-usable aerial target system remote controlled from the ground and designed to impart training to both air borne and air defence pilots. The flight duration of the micro light air-craft is usually 30-35 minutes.

The aircraft has been developed by Indias aeronautic development establishment (ADE), Bangalore to perform discreet aerial reconnaissance of battle field and target acquisition.

Lakshya has been inducted in to the Indian Air Force (IAF) since 2000. The trial was significant as Lakshya-11 PTA was successfully flight tested from the same ground on 25th and 27th January.

Thursday 12 January 2012

Counter-Terrorism Centre gets Govt nod

Thursday 12 January, 2012.



Formation of a NCTC, a single window organisation that will gather and disseminate intelligence to central and state security organisations, finally got the Govt's nod two years after it made the announcement.

The clearance was given by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the country's highest decision making on security issues, at its meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday after it considered a proposal by the Union Home Ministry.

With the CCS approval coming, the Ministry of Home Affairs will now announce its new Director and its core-member team which will build a nucleus for the new anti-terror body, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram told reporters in New Delhi on Thursday.

The National Counter- Terrorism Centre (NCTC) will be under Intelligence Bureau and report to its Director, Union Home Secretary and the Home Minister, he said without elaborating further about its functioning.

Chidambaram while addressing the Directors General and Inspectors General of Police on 23rd December 2009, had announced that Government will soon form an NCTC with plans to merge agencies like National Investigating Agency (NIA), National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and the National Security Guard (NSG).

The Union Home Ministry earlier wanted to set up an independent anti-terror body which, however, did not see a positive response from the finance ministry.

Asked whether the proposed set up for NCTC reflected a dilution of his earlier plans, Chidambaram said "it's not a comedown. This is a beginning.

"Eventually based on our experience, based on what we find our shortcomings, deficiencies or the safeguard that has to be built, it will eventually grow into a kind of organisation that I envisaged in my lecture".

"That was a lecture. This is a concrete propsoal. There is a difference between idea and proposal. It is my hope that the proposal will eventually will grow and fill the kind of space that I created in my lecture," the Home Minister said.

Asked whether NCTC would have been be helpful in preventing terror attacks if it was set up earlier, the Home Minister said it was purely a speculative question.

"It may be and may be not. US has an NCTC but that did not help them stop three actual terror attacks and three potential terror attacks after 9/11.

"There have been six attacks in US after 9/11 but the same report says that US has been able to foil 18 potential terror attacks. We have been able to bust 58 or 59 modules in last two to three years. May be we could have, may be we could not have, as I said we may say that there is something that is called luck."

On the NCTC, he said the core team will be the nucleus around which the full NCTC will be built.

After obtaining the necessary approvals from department of expenditure and DoPT and finally the CCS, we will begin the work of appointing the core team of NCTC.

NCTC functions will include drawing up of plans and coordinating all actions particularly counter terrorism and integrating all the intelligence pertaining to counter terrorism.

The NCTC will also coordinate with relevant probe and intelligence agencies to ensure that the perpetrators of terror are brought to justice besides maintaining comprehensive data base of terrorists, their associates and supporters, Chidambaram said.

It will ensure that all agencies have access and receive all intelligence support and a Multi-Agency Centre will form a part NCTC, he said.

Rejecting suggestions that the NCTC will add to the mutiplicity of agencies, he said there were specialised functions and in every country such functions were performed by specialised agencies.

"Counter terrorism in today's day and age is a specialised functioning. There must be an organisation that devotes its complete time and energy to anticipate and counter terrorists. Every country I know off -- US, UK, France, Israel, Germany, Russia, Japan, China have all got an organisation which is devoted to counter-terrorism.

"I am surprised whether you should have asked whether India needs an NCTC. India needed an organisation three years ago or five years ago," Chidambaram said.


Govt unveils policy to curb illicit narcotics

The government on Thursday announced a national policy to control and regulate narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances to stop the menace of trafficking, considered to be a major source of black money.

The National Policy on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) was approved by the Union Cabinet which met under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The private sector may also allowed for production of alkaloids from opium and products from poppy straw.

Alkaloids are chemical substances used in pharmaceutical industry.

"The policy attempts to curb the menace of drug abuse and contains provisions for treatment, rehabilitation and social re-integration of victims of drug abuse," an official release said after the Cabinet meeting.

It said implementation of the policy "will lead to reduction of crime, improvement in public health and uplifting of the social milieu".

To check the illicit cultivation of poppy and cannabis, government will use satellite imageries for detection and eradication of such crops. It emphasises on developing alternate means of livelihood for growers in traditional illicit cultivation areas.

The policy follows Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's intention in his last Budget speech to strengthen control over trafficking of narcotic material.

"Trafficking in narcotic drugs is also a contributor to the generation of black money," he had said.

The Revenue Department will set a time bound action plan for different government agencies in sync with the recommendations with the International Narcotics Control Board.

(DD/SP-12.1)

Tuesday 3 January 2012

Is Iran still defiant? - Inside Story - Al Jazeera English

Is Iran still defiant? - Inside Story - Al Jazeera English

It was a show of might that could serve to test the West's patience. Iran said it has successfully test-fired two long-range missiles during military exercises in the Arabian Gulf.

"The beneficiary of any direct military campaign against Iran will be Israel. Iran might pose a threat technically and theoretically to Israel, but this is a very distant scenario. I don't see a war taking place against the 'west' but I see it [tensions] escalating."

- Mohammad Marandi, professor of American Studies, Tehran University

Just a day earlier, Barack Obama, the US president, signed a law imposing tougher financial sanctions to penalise Iran for its nuclear research programme.

Iran responded by threatening to halt oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz – a narrow shipping passage through which one-sixth of the world's oil supply passes – a move the US has made clear it will "not tolerate".

So, is this more sabre rattling? And what chance has diplomacy in diffusing the tension?

Inside Story, with presenter Hazem Sika, discusses with guests: Mohammad Marandi, a professor of American Studies at Tehran University and a Visiting Fellow at the American University of Beirut; Hussein Shobokshi, a columnist with the Saudi-owned Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper; and David Roberts, the deputy director of the Royal United Services Institute.

"I think the Iranians don't believe that the Americans are looking for war but at the same time the Americans are being forced into a position, probably by the Israelis and the Israeli lobby in the US, where we could in the future face some sort of military confrontation."

- Hussein Shobokshi, columnist, Saudi-owned Asharq Al-Awsat newspaperr

Source:
Al Jazeera