Current Affairs Essays

"Bose, (Sir) Jagdish Chandra (1858-193 7), pioneer in the field of physical, electro-physiological and plant-physiological research ill India, was a great physicist, a great biologist and a unique personality of his time. " Jagadish Chandra Bose was born on November 30,1858 in Myemsingh in Bangladesh). His early education was in a village Pathshala in the Bengali medium, till the age of 11. In 1869, he was sent to Calcutta to learn English and was educable at St. Xavier's School and College. Here he came into contact with Fr. Eugene Lafont,  S.J. who inspired him. He passed the B. A. in physical sciences in 1879. In 1880 Bose went to London, where he joined a medical school. Due toil health he had to give up the study of medicine. He then joined Christ's College, Cambridge. In 1884 he obtained the B.A. degree of the Cambridge University. On returning home, he was appointed in 1885 as Assistant Professor of Physics in the Presidency College which could come through only by the intervention of Lord Rippon, then the Viceroy of India. Bose accepted the job but refused to draw his salary, which was fixed at half than that of an Englishman for the next three years. His demand was conceded by a special order from the Government. The long trial of British contempt for Indians doing science stung Bose. Ht resolved in 1894, at 36, to become a scientist rather than remain a science teacher. He saw embarking on scientific research as a means to confound the British critics for his country to recover her ancient glory. Bose made waves in Calcutta as Hertz had done in Karlsruhe. Reproduced some thirteen papers : seven in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, one Philosophical Magazine and the others in The Electrician. The ordeal of scientific solitude was temporarily broken in 1896 when Bose made the voyage to England. At the meeting of the British Association of Advancement of Science, Liverpool, he demonstrated his apparatus for the study of the properties of electric waves. History was being made, his wife recorded, as Bose stood in from of the world, prepared to wage the battle in the realm of science. Among those present she saw Oliver Lodge, Lord Kelvin and J.J. Thomson. The ageing Kelvin limped to the gallery and congratulated her on her husband's work. On Friday 29 January 1897, Bose delivered at the Royal Institution the fan 'Evening Discourse' on "The Electromagnetic Radiation and the Polarisation off Electric Ray.' .The University of London conferred on him the D.Sc. degree for work on electric waves. Bose's discourse gave a clear indication that his was the town was the one belonging to a cultural tradition which was not rooted in Europe. It«« also, as much, the realization of Sir car’s vision of scientific research in India. The origin of radio telegraphy has a convoluted history which historians are still trying to unravel. Bose has a definite place in this history. It is true that Bose's article more...

"Sri Ramkrishna Paramhansa was a great saint , a great devotee of Goddess Kali, said to have had long con variations with (he Goddess Kali, like son and mother". Sri Ramkrishna was bom on February 18, 1936 in Kamarpukur, Hoogli of Khudiram Chattopadhay and Chandramom Devi. He was the fourth child of his parents, after Ramkumar, Katyayam and Rameswar and a sister, Sarbamangala. Nicknamed as Gadadhar he was a very reckless but god fearing boy since childhood and was deeply devoted to serve the mother goddess Kali from a young age. He was greatly inspired by the of Lord Krishna and tried to imitate his feats. As a child he was matured for his age and earned the love of all. He had an unusual memory interested in Hindu mythology. Once while playing the part of Shiva in the plays performed during Shivaratri, he attained Vhava Samadhi. His elder brother Ramkumar took him to Dakhineswar to assist him in his works as a priest in the temple. In 1855 Rani Rashmoni of Janbajar offered him the job of the priest of the Goddess Kali at Dakhineswar Temple. Onlookers would crowd to see Ramkrishna performing puja as they wanted to see the love and devotion with which it was performed. At the age of 23, in May 1859, he married Saradamoni of Jairambati whom he thought would be his ideal life companion. Soon after the urge of finding the truth of life made him take sanyasi under the sage Totapuri who gave him the sobriquet, Paramhansa. His quest for truth continued with Bhairavi Ma and sages in other religion. Though he attained Bhava Samadhi very often, he was inclined to know the truth about human existence. He started Adyilya Sadhana and realised god exists in every form of life. On Jan 17,1868, he started for a Tirthayatra along with Mathur Babu and his nephew Hridoy. He visited places like Deoghar, Varanasi and Vrindavan. He even worshipped Saradamoni in the same way he worshipped the mother goddess which was known as Shorshi puja.. He preached universal brotherhood, and soon stalwarts like Kesab Sen, Shibnath Sastri, Girish Ghosh and Narendranath Datta (later Swami Vivekananda) became his disciples. He developed a strange theological relation with Narendranath and soon molded him in his own way. He taught Naren the truth of life by letting him see a glimpse of the holy spirit. He taught Naren the truth of life by letting him see aglimpse of the Holy Spirit. It was Vivekananda in later days—who held high the teachings of Sri Ramakishna to the world by forming the Belur Math. On Jan 1st, 1886 in Kashipur Garden an ailing Ramkrishna touched some of his disciples. Those who were touched felt an unearthly feeling never felt before. While some went speechless for a short while, others moved into a state of Samadhi. This incident is remembered by his disciples as Thakur taking the form of a Kalpalaru. The great preacher passed away on 16th August, 1886.   more...

"Rooted in past and full of pride in India's heritage^ Vivekanand was yet modern in his approach to the problems and was a kind of bridge between the past of India and her present." The most notable thing about Vivekanand was his flaming zeal for reviving the greatness of Hinduism and the Motherland.  We must go out and conquer the world through our spirituality and philosophy—this was the noble idea he stood for. In the words of Sir Valentile Chirol, "Vivekanand was the First Hindu whose personality won demonstrative recognition abroad for India's ancient civilization and for her new born claim to nationhood." Swami Vivekananda was bom Narendranath Dutta, son of a well-known lawyer in Calcutta, Biswanath Dutta, and a very intelligent and pious lady, Bhuvaneswari Deviin the year 1863. Biswanath often had scholarly discussions with his clients and friends on politics, religion and society. He used to invite Narendranath to join the discussions. Narendra, never embarrassed, would say whatever he thought was right, advancing his arguments, in support of his stand. Naren learnt the Epics and Puranas from his mother. He also inherited her memory among other qualities. He, in fact, owed much other as he used to say later. He was a natural leader. He was much sought after by the people because of his various accomplishments. Naren passed Entrance Examination from the Metropolitan Institute and F.A. and B.A. Examinations from the General Assembly's Institution (now Scottish Church College). Hastie, Principal of the College, was highly impressed by Naren's philosophical insight. It was from Hastie that he first heard of Sri Ramakrishna. As a student of Philosophy, the question of God very much attracted his mind. Was there a God ? If there was a God, what was He like ? What were man's relations with Him ? Did He create this world which was so full of anomalies ? He discussed these questions with many, but no one could give him satisfactory answers. He looked to persons who could say they had seen God, but found none. Meanwhile, Keshab Sen had become the head of the Brahmo Movement. He was a great orator and many young people, attracted by his speeches, enrolled as members of the Brahmo Samaj. Naren also did the same. For some time he was satisfied with what the Brahmo Samaj taught him, but soon he began to feel it did not quite touch the core of the matter, so far as religion was concerned. A relation of this question used to advise him to visit Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar, who he said, would be able to remove all his doubts about religion. He happened to meet Ramakrishna at the house of a neighbor but there is nothing on record about the impression that he created on Naren's mind. He, however, invited Naren to visit him at Dakshineswar someday. He went to Ramakrishna one day and asked him straightaway if he had seen God. He said he had, and if' Naren so wished, he could more...

Florence Nightingale is most remembered as a pioneer of nursing and a reformer of hospital sanitation methods. For most of her ninety years Nightingale pushed for reform of the British military health-care system and with that the profession of nursing started to gain the respect it deserved. Unknown to many, however, was her use of new techniques of statistical analysis, such as during the Crimean War when she plotted the incidence of preventable deaths in the military. She developed the "polar-area diagram " to dramatize the needless deaths caused by unsanitary conditions and the need for reform.  Florence Nightingale was born in Italy on May 12, 1820 and was named Florence after the city where she was born. Her parents, William Edward and Frances Nightingale were a wealthy couple who had toured Europe for two years on their honeymoon. During their travels their first daughter, Parthenope, was bom in Naples (Parthenope being the Greek name for the ancient city), followed one year later by Florence. On returning to England the Nightingales divided their time between two homes. In the summer months they lived at Lea Hurst in Derbyshire, moving to Emblem in Hampshire for the winter. Lea Hurst is now a retirement home and Emblem as a school. Florence and Parthenope were taught at home by their Cambridge University educated father. Florence was an academic child while her sister excelled at painting and needlework. Florence grew up to be a lively and attractive young woman, admired in the family's social circle and she was expected to make a good marriage, but Florence had other concerns, hi 1837, whilst in the gardens at Embley, Florence had what she described as her 'calling'. Florence heard the voice of God calling her to do his work but at this time she had no idea what that work would be. Florence developed an interest in the social questions of the day, made visits to the homes of the sick in the local villages and began to investigate hospitals and nursing. Her parents refused to allow her to become a nurse as in the mid-nineteenth century it was not considered a suitable profession for a well educated woman. While the family conflicts over Florence’s future remained unresolved it was decided that Florence would tour Europe with some family friends, Charles and Selina Brace bridge. The three travelled to Italy, Egypt and Greece, returning in July 1850 through Germany where they visited Pastor Theodor Flexner’s hospital and school for deaconesses at Kaiser’s worth, near Dusseldorf. The following year Florence Nightingale returned to Kaisers worth and undertook three months nursing training which enabled her to take a vacancy as Superintendent of the Establishment for Gentlewomen during illness at No, 1 Harley Street, London in 1853. In March 1854 Britain, France and Turkey declared war on Russia- The allies defeated the Russians at the battle of the Alma in September but reports in The Times criticized the British medical facilities for the wounded. In response, Sidney Herbert, the more...

"The brutal, unabashed aggression on Iraq by the USA and l Britain, the co founding members of United Nations, has thrown to  ' wind the basic principles on which the United Nations was forwcd and rendered these organization monuments of no relevance."   The preamble of United Nations Charter says, "We, the people of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.«' I twice in our life time has brought untold sorrow to mankind and..." "To reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the  humans in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small  and.. Not to talk of human rights of men and women, the basic reason for which the formation of United Nation's necessity was felt, that is to save the mankind from the scourge of war, was torn to pieces, by the aggression of USA and U.K., on the people.   'Might is Right': Who can challenge or stop the wrong actions or doing superpower, the USA. Some calls USA ,the 'United States of Arrogance', but who cares' The USA and Britain very systematically used the various resolutions of United Nations to cripple the Iraq's military power, economic and social structural within covert aim to change the regime of Saddam Hussain.  When Saddam Hussain captured and annexed Kuwait, the USA calyx blessed with the several UN's resolutions, liberated Kuwait with its military mix But after the Gulf war I, the USA's planning to change the regime of Saddam Hussain started taking shapes. There is no place for any provision to change the regime in a country in the charter of the United Nations. Who could stop the USA and Britain doing so? An ultimatum was served by Mr. Bush on Mr. Saddam and his sons to Iraq or face war within 4S hours. This ultimatum had no sanction of United Nation. All the appeal of the Secretary General were laid on deaf ears even the protest rnarol denouncing USA action by various countries were all in vain. Every country was silvery cautious words, as milldams possible words to lodge their protest against the action of the 'Superpower'. USA first tried to get a resolution passed from the Security Council again Iraq. The other permanent and non permanent members of the Security Comic refused to oblige USA even this couldn't deter the USA and the U.K. from wage war against Iraq. USA and Britain had already made all out preparation for the aggression, started sending troops and aircraft carriers, bomber planes and bath ships to the strategic points. Even the reports of U.N. inspectors mentioned that the Iraqi officials were fully cooperating in their inspection work and asked for more tin to complete their inspection work, acted against the wishes of Mr. Bush to launch quick assault on Iraq. When USA and Britain failed to muster support of Security Council to get a resolution passed, (lie USA and Britain resorted to the subterfuge that more...

"Proper infrastructure is the base/or rapid development of an economy. The development of infrastructure is calling for expansion, technological modernization, scientific tuning." Our country needs good roads, better transport facilities, better railway are liable air travel, more telecommunication linkage, better facilities at ports, better and sufficient power supply, planned urbanization, housing and particularly in respect to rural area, basic infrastructure of road, power supply, education and water etc.   India is a country of one billion people out of which 70% people live in rural area. It is strange that even after fifty six years of independence the shape and form of the rural sector have not changed prospectively. Lot of many problems of metro cities Is the result of lack of infrastructural facilities and job opportunities in rural area.The increasing number of slum areas in metros is the result of no unemployment for the rural mass. Despite progress made by the country in various fields like communication, manufacturing, industrial segment, space technology, information technology and the rural sector has not made any significant progress. The planning as since been oriented towards the development of infrastructure industrial areas, even then the rural segment remain far behind in growth parameters. Things are not so pessimistic and bleak. Slowly and steadily improvements are taking place. Infrastructure facilities are being developed. The newly laid down expressway between Mumbai and Pune that has narrowed the distance and reduced the travelling time from seven hours to just two and a half hour. We are proud of the sleek and modem international airport at Nedum bassery near Kochi. The various flyovers being constructed inDelhiwill positively reduce the problem of transportation in the metro. With strong political will and determination, everything can be achieved. Prime I Minister Mr. Vajpayee announced on Oct. 14, 1998, the construction of North-South, East West corridors. The task force set up by the Vajpayee government decided on the National Highways Development Project (NHDP). The Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) is approximately 6000 km National Highways, connecting New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai, if completed as per schedule that will solve the long felt problem of easy and fast approach between the Metros. The North-South and East-West corridors are approximately 7500 kms long. Kashmir to Kanyakumari approximately 4000 km with a spur to Kochi; Silchar to Porbander- 3500 km schedule to complete by Dec 31,2007. In April 2000, the government approved several other projects along with NHDP with total outlay of Rs. 4000 crore, if completed in schedule timing without further cost escalation shall facilitate the export/ import cargo from the hinterland. The total cost of NHDP is Rs. 54,000/- crore at 1999 price level . The government is trying that all projects under NHDP are completed well in time. All time high profile road infrastructure helps not only in saving time but also reduces cost of fuel and maintenance cost of vehicles. According to world bank study at 1999 prices, there would be a saving of Rs. 8000/- crore per annum on the Golden more...

"Even after 57 years of independence and passing through many Five Years Plans, the vagaries of drought and floods could not be tackled by nation effectively, thereby causing lot of destruction to the already poverty stricken community of our country."   Drought has become a recurring natural calamity faced by many States in India, costing a huge amount to the exchequer, but never taken among the priorities in national planning seriously. Slogans of India Shining, Feel Good factor may look good while sitting in Delhi but meaningless to the common people whose all properties comprise of cattle, mud houses etc. lost in wake of flood and drought every alternate year. Thousands of marginal farmers and landless labourers in Jawhar in Thana district near Mumbai were reportedly on the verge of starvation, when several droughts gripped the area during 2001. Their small farms yielded only 25% of the normal crops and the drought lost the EGS jobs too. To earn two times meal these tribal had no option but to work very hard under the EGS (Employment Guarantee Scheme). According to the officials, the water levels in reservoirs has lowered from an average of 28 percent to merely 6%. Water was supplied by tankers in 35 villages and crop loans were also given through banks to save these villagers from the severity of the drought. Likewise Gujrat was hit by drinking water scarcity during the drought in the year 2000, which resulted in an estimated loss of agricultural production to the tune of Rs. 4500 crore. But the government of Gujrat didn't learn any lesson, and no suitable and positive action was taken to manage the scarce water resources. To solve the periodical drought in the state, UNICEF has recommended many programmes like watershed management. Rain water harvesting, well water recharging, Rehabi lactating he traditional systems of water management and shifting to less water consuming crops. The State of Rajasthan also faced a grave situation of drought last year which cost to the state exchequer to the tune of approximately Rs. 5000 crore in terms of loss of agriculture output and loss of cattle lives. Last year approximately 100 million people got affected by drought. The worst affected States are Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh. In India the drought prone area accounts for 19 percent of its total population. The reckless exploitation of ground water and its overuse without any plans for replenishment are some of the reasons for recurring droughts. Indian agriculture mainly depends on rains i f rainfall is less than normal the area faces drought. One of the important reason of recurrence of drought is the mismanagement of scarce water resources, or over use of available water resources etc. The sarcasm of reality is "Everyone loves a drought". Every politician, and every administrator except the real sufferer loves occurrence of drought is a bitter fact for the bonanza it offers them. So drought is here to stay because none is serious to keep it away. If more...

"Ever since the dawn of civilization there have been much debate on worth and dignity of science and religion; the intellectuals, philosophers, thinkers tire divided even today on the conflicting belief in the matter of supremacy of one over the other'.  With the rapid progress made by science and technology in the recent past, the conflict between the two widen further. Science on the one hand, concludes the theories on the basis of experiments and analytical logics, while religious theories are based on experience, meditation and blind faith. Science deals with the things objectively. while religion is a subjective matter. In the present age of rapid growth in scientific advancements in all walks of life, the future history wounded end on the way of livening  of the new generation to reconcile the conflict between Science and Religion. Religion is mainly a phenomenon of faith, a purely subjective topic while  science is based totally on reasoning and analytically proving the concepts based on laboratory or mechanical experiments. Science always speaks the truth in crude language and in absolute terms, while religion speaks in poetic and touching sentiment. Science has the credit of all the material progress made in the world. religion enjoy the credit of providing mental peace and solace in the world, where everyone is mortal. Through science one can amass uncountable wealth, unimaginable luxuries, all material and physical things, that he needs to make him more efficient, more quick, more important in the eyes of others, but the mental solace, the self- respect. the internal peace, he can secure only through the religion. Science gives ; luxuries and materialistic living to a man. while religion gives him peace of mind.   ' Bernard Shaw once said, "life will lose its charm, when faith is replaced by cold scientific reason." Many great scientists, scholars, political leaders, writers have given credit of their achievements to the Almighty, a supernatural being, it shows that religion is not an unimportant concept to throw away. There is no weight age for moral and ethical values in the materialistic world created by scientific inventions and discoveries, but without moral and ethical values, the world becomes a self-destructive entity. By pushing a button of nuclear warhead the whole world or the whole civilization may face destruction; science is not going to tell you the consequence of the act of pushing a button but it is the moral and ethical values imbibed in a man because of his faith in a religion, which prevent him to push such a button as it can destroy the beautiful creature of living being created by the will of Almighty. The approach of science towards life is crude, monotonous, lifeless, devoid of feelings of love, emotions, while on the other hand the religion approaches the life with animation, with feelings of faith, love towards all human beings, faith in self and faith in the Omnipotent, Omnipresent Super being. According to religion the existence of man is by the will of' God', more...

"Although everyone has heard of SARS and its rapid spread around the globe, few understand what SARS is, how it is spread and the magnitude of the threat it poses to the world. In addition, this constant focus on disease and war has created a sense of fear that is causing many people to wonder if the end of the world had finally arrived. Increased focus on SARS has done more to alarm people than to give awareness about the disease."  Lack of information about SARS has added greatly to people's fear of the disease. When the first cases of SARS were reported back in mid-March, not only were scientists unsure where SARS came from, they also knew very little about what has caused it, how it was spread or what differentiated those who are able to resist the disease from those who succumbed to it. This brought many people into a panic, such that surgical masks—thought to help prevent the spread of SARS—was quickly vanished out of Asia and other places where SARS has been most prevalent.  But over the past month, scientists from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and other health organizations have been quite successful to give answers to the questions related to the disease.  Scientists suspect that SARS originated in China's Guangdong province, where the highest concentration of SARS cases continues to occur. However, efforts are still underway to determine whether the outbreak of a typical pneumonia that began there in November 2002 is linked to other cases of SARS worldwide. The first widely reported case of SARS involved the death of an American businessman who died on March 16 after travelling to China and Vietnam. On April 16, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that SARS is caused by a new virus, called a "corona virus, " previously not found in humans. Scientists at the University of Hong Kong are seeking to determine whether this virus is a mutated form of a similar virus found amongst poultry and swine.  According to WHO, as on April 17, 2003, 3,389 cases of SARS have been reported worldwide. Approximately five per cent of those cases have been fatal, with 165 people succumbing to the disease. This death rate is higher than that of most other influenza-like diseases but still well below that of other recent epidemics, such as the flu pandemic that killed an estimated 40 million people in 1918. In Canada, 126 cases of SARS have been reported, twelve of which have proved fatal.  Symptoms: SARS usually begins with a high fever (over 3 8 degrees Celsius/100.4 degrees Fahrenheit), headache, body aches and sore throat. Other symptoms include a loss of appetite, rash and diarrhea. Respiratory symptoms, such as a dry cough, shortness of  breath, and difficulty in breathing, appear two to seven days after exposure. Anyone experiencing a combination of these symptoms and who has also travelled to a high- risk area or been in contact with a SARS victim more...

This line which has since taken the shape of a proverb really occurs in the famous poem 'my heart leaps when I behold 'of Wordsworth, the great poet. It implies that the qualities and characteristics shown by a child often indicate what the child is going to be as a grown up man. The childhood is the reflection of future personality. The habits, traits, qualities of a man are usually the development of the habits, traits, Qualities he had as a child. A careful study of the characteristic and qualities in a child can help us to foretell his future prospectus. The childhood shows the man. As morning shows the day.   The child is the father of man is proved true in many cases. See the example of ShivaJi who during his childhood, loved so much to hear the stories of famous heroes of Ramayana and Mahabharat, became later a great warrior himself. Michael, the famous sculptor and painter, during his childhood used to make drawings on the pots, easels, stools and other things belonging to an old painter. The old painter said, One day this boy will beat me." A Young Italian lad, Titian, was very fond of painting pictures, but had no paints to color with. He was so genius, he made his own paints. Nelson, the daring Naval Commander of British Navy, showed his traits of courage and fearlessness during his childhood.  See the example of Neta ji Subhash Chandra Bose, a great freedom fighter, was a brilliant student during his childhood and as grown up man, he became the great organizer. It was Subhash Chandra Bose who organised an army of 40,000 soldiers and given it the name of Indian National Army. Dr. C.V. Raman the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize, was one of the most brilliant students in his childhood. He turned out to be the great scientist evolved many theories, the theory of radiation, the theory of molecular diffraction of light etc. Ram Prasad Bismil, Chandra Shekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh showed their zeal to fight against any injustice in their childhood. They had revolutionary ideals and when grown up sacrificed their lives fighting the British despots. Many more examples like that of Florence Nightingale, Macaulay, can be quoted to prove the veracity of the proverb that 'The Child is the father of man', but we can find hundreds and thousands other examples, where childhood of a man did not reflect anything about the grown up personality of a man. Sonia Gandhi, never thought to entangle in the political arena . In her childhood, none could imagine that one day she would be in a position to become the Prime Minister of India, the world's largest democracy. Though she did not accept the position of Prime Minister. Lal Bahadur Shashtri, never showed any such trait in his childhood. He was an average student from a poor and simple family. George Bernard Shaw was known as a hopeless dullard. Mahatma Ghandhi was inclined more...