Panchamritam 99
PANCHAAMRITAM 99
Pancha is five in Samskritam, Amritam is nectar
Bharat carried out the first test of a cryogenic rocket engine at Mahendragiri (near Kanyakumari) in Tamilnadu on Saturday, October 28, 2006. That put the country in a select club of 6 nations possessing such a capability. The test lasting 50 seconds was conducted at the Indian Space Research Organisation`s liquid propulsion systems center. It was "very successful", said ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair. This cryogenic rocket engine will enable India to launch heavier satellites. India need not rely on other countries for this purpose hereafter. This is another proof of the capability of Indian scientific community to accept challenges. Earlier, Russia had signed an agreement with India to transfer this high-energy knowhow. But the US thwarted this attempt and made Russia to pull back. But Indian space scientists built this Cryogenic Rocket Engine indigenously after ceaseless efforts. In an earlier episode, Indian computer scientists had accepted a similar challenge and built a supercomputer indigenously.
Based on an editorial in
VIJAYABHARATAM, November 10, 2006.
TWO
Meet Smt. Shakuntala, 69, a housewife residing in KK Nagar, Chennai, Tamilnadu, Bharat. She has visited 2,50,000 Hanumans in 14 years. She read a news item in a 1992 issue of DINAMALAR VARAMALAR, a Tamil weekly that spoke of one Auto Pandi who regularly fed monkeys but always referred to them as Hanuman. That inspired Shakuntala to take a vow to visit 1lakh Hanuman temples. The highlight is that she always prays at those temples for others, not for herself. One prayer by her to bestow a child to an issueless woman flower vendor met with success. Now Shakuntalamma welcomes anyone with any grievance to contact her at phone number: 044-32520770. She offers to pray.
Based on a report by Shri. L.Murugaraj in DINAMALAR VARAMALAR of October 29, 2006. Idea: Smt. Vasantha.
THREE
Sri Lankan refugees, under the banner of the Organisation for Eelam Refugee Rehabilitation (OfERR), have set up 25 livelihood training centres for the tsunami-affected people in Cuddalore, Nagapattinam and Kanyakumari districts. The OfERR has planned to provide 504 women with skills that offered alternative sustenance avenues. In Cuddalore district, 204 women underwent training in tailoring and handicrafts. At a function organised at Chinnur near Parangipettai on November 2, 2006, Tamilnadu State Fisheries Minister Shri. K.P.P.Sami gave away certificates to those women who had successfully completed the training. Shri. S.C.Chandrahasan, OfERR treasurer, said the refugees had taken up this service to express their gratitude to the host country (Tamil Nadu in India) that provided them with shelter, food and education when they landed here in a destitute condition. A total of 75,737 refugees (most of them Tamil speaking Hindus) are living in 131 camps in the State, and of them, 2,500 obtained degrees he informed.
Based on a report by Shri. A.V.Raghunathan
in THE HINDU, November 3, 2006.
FOUR
Shri Selvakumar (now Shri. Raamaandi) runs a roadside idly shop on Ellis Road, off Walajah Road in Chennai, Tamilnadu, Bharat. Late night every day, he serves idlies and dosas free to about 60 old persons and children below 6 years of age. This annadaanam is going on for the past 25 years without break. He had suffered a lot in his childhood for want of food. So he feeds children. He feeds the aged as they are too weak to toil and eke out a livelihood. "Work hard. If you are unable to feed yourself even after that, come to me"-- reads a board displayed at Selvakumar's idly shop.
Based on report in ANANDAVIKATAN, October 25, 2006. Idea: Shri. Krishnaraj.
FIVE
Vedapuri is the ancient name of Puducherry (formerly Pondicherry) on account of the presiding deity Shri Vedapreeshwara. Last week, a film company making a Tamil film `Sabari' held a shooting inside the holy precincts of Shri Vedapureeswara temple, causing much inconvenience to devotees. Many complaints were made to the authorities. On November 2, the company again tried to shoot the film this time with its lead actor Shri Vijayakant present on the site. The news spread and activists of Hindu organizations including Hindu Munnai and RSS, as well as workers of BJP staged a demonstration in protest. They said that such irreligious activities harm the sanctity of the temple. An altercation between the Hindu activists and the film company functionaries followed. Vijayakant hurriedly left the spot. The shooting was cancelled; the film unit packed up and left, complaining that it had obtained prior permission.
(DINAMANI, November 3, 2006)
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