shahid divas-23 March

शहीदों की चिताओं पर ( Shaheedon Ki Chitaon Par) - जगदंबा प्रसाद मिश्र ‘हितैषी’ ( Jagdamba Prasad Mishra 'Hitaishi')

उरूजे कामयाबी पर कभी हिन्दोस्ताँ होगा
रिहा सैयाद के हाथों से अपना आशियाँ होगा

चखाएँगे मज़ा बर्बादिए गुलशन का गुलचीं को
बहार आ जाएगी उस दम जब अपना बाग़बाँ होगा

ये आए दिन की छेड़ अच्छी नहीं ऐ ख़ंजरे क़ातिल
पता कब फ़ैसला उनके हमारे दरमियाँ होगा

जुदा मत हो मेरे पहलू से ऐ दर्दे वतन हरगिज़
न जाने बाद मुर्दन मैं कहाँ औ तू कहाँ होगा

वतन की आबरू का पास देखें कौन करता है
सुना है आज मक़तल में हमारा इम्तिहाँ होगा

शहीदों की चिताओं पर जुड़ेंगे हर बरस मेले
वतन पर मरनेवालों का यही बाक़ी निशाँ होगा

कभी वह दिन भी आएगा जब अपना राज देखेंगे
जब अपनी ही ज़मीं होगी और अपना आसमाँ होगा

Earth hour

PARIS: From Sydney Harbour Bridge, Buckingham Palace and the Brandenburg Gate to the Burj Khalifa tower, the Empire State Building, the Taj Mahal and Table Mountain, some of the world’s greatest landmarks will briefly darken on Saturday night for Earth Hour, a campaign now becoming a broader vehicle for green activism.

Earth Hour originated in Sydney in 2007 with an appeal to people and businesses to turn off their lights for an hour to heighten awareness about climate change, driven by carbon-emitting fossil fuels.

The annual switch-off is now being followed in locations in three-quarters of the world’s nations and has the potential to touch hundreds of millions of lives, say its organisers.

Promoted through social media, Earth Hour has also mutated in some countries into a potent tool to lobby on local issues unconnected with global warming, they add.

Switch-off events this Saturday at the local time of 8:30 pm are planned in more than 150 countries, including for the first time the Palestinian territories, Tunisia, Galapagos, Suriname, French Guiana, St. Helena and Rwanda.

Newcomers to the campaign include Copenhagen’s Little Mermaid, the Statue of David in Florence and Cape Town’s Table Mountain, which in 2011 joined a list of the “New Seven Wonders of Nature”.

“Last year, Earth Hour was followed in 7,000 communities, an increase of about 30 per cent over 2011,” said Andy Ridley, co-founder of the project launched by WWF.

“The biggest area of growth has been the Asia-Pacific, the economic engine of the planet, where wherever you go now, people are living with the problems of environmental damage,” Ridley said in a phone interview from Singapore.

“If you’re in a big city in China, you may well be going to work wearing a face mask (against air pollution), or if you are in the Philippines, you and your family may well have been affected by a super-typhoon.”

Ridley added, “What we are finding is that environment issues may be perceived differently in the big cities of Asia compared with how they are perceived in Europe or the States. They may not be perceived as exclusively green issues. They are seen as issues that are damaging your lifestyle and potentially threatening your family.”

In Japan, where floodlights will be turned off on Saturday at the capital’s signature Tokyo Tower, campaigners are intertwining Earth Hour with remembrance of the March 2011 mega-quake and tsunami, which unleashed a nuclear disaster at Fukushima.

In Russia, activists last year harnessed the success of Earth Hour to secure 100,000 signatures for a petition for a law to protect sea areas around oil exploration sites, says WWF.

Uganda created the first “Earth Hour forest” of 2,700 hectares (10.4 square miles) of cleared land, which they plan to fill with half a million trees.

Campaigners in Argentina are hoping that this year’s event will provide traction to protect a 3.4-million-hectare (13,100-square mile) marine zone.

As it grows in visibility, Earth Hour is also becoming a target, with critics saying it is little more than token, encourages smugness about combating climate change and ignores the needs of development.

“India observes on average eight Earth hours a day,” tweeted VictorTango@airkatana, a reference to the country’s notorious power outages. More than 400 million Indians still lack access to mains electricity, according to the World Bank.

Ridley said no figures existed for the overall amount of energy saved by Earth Hour. But the brief switch-off, he argued, encouraged many people to do more to curb waste and think of the environment.

Leading French climate scientist Jean Jouzel said Earth Hour at least reminded people of the crisis posed by carbon emissions, which each year scale new peaks while UN talks about curbing them mark time.

“Does Earth Hour encourage self-satisfaction? Are its results limited? I would say ‘yes’ to both,” Jouzel said.

“But if it’s a toss-up between doing nothing and doing something that is not perfect but is still something very visible, I think the answer is: do something. In fact, we need more action of this kind.”

indian sweets

 kheer




rasgulla

 sandesh

 ladoo

falooda

havisha

pumsavanam

kulfi

jalebi

barfi

save marine life

Almost 100 million sharks are killed every year! shocking but true. Many species of fish and aquatic plants are threatened with extinction. Oceans,seas,rivers and waterfalls are getting polluted due dumping of toxic wastes,oil spills and underwater nuclear explosions. Rogue corporations like Dow Chemicals,Mobil and BP are responsible for extermination of marine life on a horrific scale.
Our entire eco-system is extremely fragile and is susceptible to any change in temperature,pollution and excessive misuse. This has global implications and is responsible for the present freak weather patterns being observed all over the world! The water table is falling all over the world leading to droughts,famines and pestilence.

Australia has recently taken an initiative to set up a Marine Park roughly the size of India. Such initiatives will go a long way in restoring the badly battered and bruised eco-system!
Save marine life!

‘Be ye ever so high, still the law is above you’.

I heartily congratulate the Supreme Court for its outstanding judgment in The Bombay blast case! The Court has blended compassion with the letter of the law. In giving a reprieve to the illiterate accused,the Court held that they were mere instruments and the real master-minds are elsewhere. The Bombay blasts were the first of their kind-to strike terror in the minds and hearts of the people. Due to several reasons the trial was delayed and the final judgment was delivered exactly 20 years after the incident.
The Supreme Court has sent a strong message to all and sundry- ‘Be ye ever so high, still the law is above you’. It should serve as a reminder to everyone that irrespective of your position, you will have to face the consequences of your actions!

This judgment will go a long way in restoring the faith of the masses in the Judiciary!

World Forestry Day

World Forestry Day is celebrated around the world to ring a bell among the society about the importance of forests and the scores of benefits which are gained from them. The concept of celebrating a day every year as World Forestry Day originated at the 23rd General Assembly of the European Confederation of Agriculture in 1971.

The event also venerates the contribution of the forests. Every year, 21 March is distinguished as World Forestry Day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H364St5v0Zs

A forest just doesn’t mean trees but it’s an entire complex, a living community.

Many interdependent species of plants and animals dwell beneath the forest canopy; the forest soil is a home to large variety of invertebrates, bacteria and fungi which play an essential role in cycling nutrients in the soil and the forest.

The reckless felling of trees is creating many problems in the surroundings so the need of the hour says that everybody should ponder seriously over this issue and stop activities that are against the welfare of forests.

Everybody should actively involve themselves in prevention and creation of new forests. And situations of deforestation and over-gazing should be avoided. 



According to rules of Forest Department, 10 trees should be planted in exchange of cutting down one tree. Though, in last two decades only 1% trees have been planted.

The survival of the rich generation of flora and fauna in the country is in danger due to exploitation of forests. Chopping down forests in hilly areas results in loosening of soil, thus the upper layer of fertile earth is eroding which is leading to uncontrolled rain and flood. And India is a country which is highly dependable on its agriculture, hence. it becomes even more important for us to protect our forests and prevent them from any ill practices.

The President of India

The Indian Constitution holds the President to be the head of state. He has plenary powers under the Constitution-summoning Parliament,appointing PM,Chief Justice,Governors,COAS,CAG ,CECand other constitutional functionaries. In the event of a crisis he can impose emergency and assume supreme authority. In the day to day functioning of the state he is aided by the PM and other constitutional functionaries.
When it becomes evident that the Government has lost the confidence of the people,he can ask the Prime Minister to prove his majority in Parliament failing which he can dissolve Parliament and direct fresh elections at the earliest. In the era of coalition politics,it is his duty to ensure that the will of the people is not subverted due to the machinations of political parties.

Let the President of India rise to the occasion!