Now hate campaign against Christians: In Middle East Christians are being crushed by Muslims !

Christianity and Islamic religions are at loggerhead throughout the COSMOS nations. Both Christians and Islams are not eye-to-eye, mainly after 9\11 Al Qaeda attacks against United States in 2001. And both the religions and their followers are after their blood against each other ! Main reasons appear for supremacy in the globe. Muslims are being targeted by Christians by brandishing the formers being terrorists and they are being tortured and atrocity are being perpetrated in the areas of influences throughout the world led by the leadership in the United States of America. On the other hand, Christians are facing major threat in the areas of influences of Muslim countries , mainly in the Middle East countries where unnecessary military interventions by America have created problems. Apart from that, the natural resources like 'oil' is also one of the main factors of enmity because Gulf regions, dominated by Muslims, are the major oil producers, which once upon a time USA had harnessed and wanted its control by installing military bases in the region.

Nevertheless, the animosity between two-Christians and Muslims- has been taking definite shape since long despite contradictions in their own respective religions, While Christianity is marred by differences among Protestant and Catholic, Muslims are also poles apart from the divide between Shias and Sunnis throughout the globe. In my opinion , the secularism is gradually going down to the drains for co-existence on the earth.? My two blog-  www.kksingh1.blogspot.com -essays-"Why this hate campaign against Muslims of the world  (October 16, 2012) and Muslims in the Globe vis-a-vis in India ( July 17, 2012)- have depicted in detail the atrocity on Muslims and  their  Islam religion, by calling them 'terrorists'. In the current topic, Just I want to narrate the retaliatory instances and measures against Christianity and their followers mainly throughout Middle East , Gulf, Arab and part of Europe by Islamics followers. Richard L Russel, Professor of the National Security Affairs at the Near East and South Asia Centre of for Strategic Studies has authored of books-Sharpening Strategic Intelligence, Weapons Proliferation and War in the Greater Middle East and George F. Kennan's Strategic Thoughts, and has detailed the sorry state of affairs among Christian Community in different parts of the world, mainly in the Middle East ! The Washington Post and the New york Times have also carried various reports of atrocity on Christians in the globe.

Russel has said, " Americans of all political stripes have embraced the promotion of democracy as a centrepiece of U S foreign policy. But this American democracy crusade has caused huge and largely overlooked, collateral damage since 9\11 Al Qaeda attacks against United States in 2001. The fall of the authoritarian regimes throughout the  greater Middle East has fuelled growing persecution of minority Christian communities."

More over, the Pew Research Centre has charted extensive government restrictions on non-Muslim religions in number of countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Iran , Tunisia, Syria, Yemen and Algeria, The centre has found high social hostilities in Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen and Palestinian territories, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Government of all these countries have imposed restrictions and social hostilities directed against Christians. Huge number of  Christians  are fleeing the region. Interestingly, in the beginning of the early twentieth century, Christians account for about 20 percent of the Middle East  population, but  now the figure is down to only five percent. In the aftermath of 9\11 and the 'Arab Springs', the Christians communities throughout the greater Middle East find themselves increasing under threat. Sadly United States administration is silent spectators of such naked drama against Christians by Muslims ! Interestingly, the sieges against Christians community have increased in the so called 'liberated' regions by the American Military in the recent years.

Reports suggest that a democracy enthusiasts would anticipate that Christian community would be thriving now that a 'democratic' Afghan government was installed by the American Military power after the ouster in 2001 of the Taliban regime. Not only that Afghan Constitution, adopted in 2004, guarantees freedom of religion. But Afghan Christians are today  deprived of worship and compelled to worship in secret lest they be accused of apostasy for converting to Christianity from Islam, a charge  punishable by death, In neighbouring Pakistan, blasphemy laws are wielded more and more aggressively against Christians, who make up only about two percent of Pakistan's 180 million people. These Christians are living under tremendous mental agonies and economic discrimination. Barbarian attitude against Christian surpassed all cannons in Pakistan in March 2011 when only Christian minister in Pakistan, who bravely criticised harsh blasphemy laws that impose the death penalty for insulting Islam, was assassinated, exposing the so called secular and liberal Pakistan's approaches.

Iraq has, since starting open warfare from 2003 against Christian community, been forcing mass exodus of Christians although even the ousted Saddam Hussain was relatively hospitable to Christians. Iraqi Christians are severely embattled by Sunni extremists linked to Al Qaeda and are discriminated against by Iraq's Shiya majority, largely in control of the government. Incidents such as 2010 suicide bombing Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad, which killed fifty  Christians and two priests, have terrified Iraq's Christian population, which has dwindled to less than 5000,000 from 8000,000 and 1.4 million in the time of Saddam.

Situation in Egypt, dominated by Muslim Brotherhood, has posed far greater threat to large number of Coptic Christian community in comparison to its authoritarian predecessors under  Hosni Mubarak . A Coptic church in Cairo was set ablaze by Islamists in 2011 and many Copts-an estimated ten percent of Egypt's 85 million people-live in fear that Egypt is on the path to being governed by Islamic laws or Sharia. Egypt police sided with an angry crowd of young Muslims in April 2013 throwing rocks and firebombs in a siege of Egypt's major Coptic Cathedral.  Egyptian Copts, who have sought work in in neighbouring Libya, fared well in the chaos that has rained in that country since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi. Not only that Christians were shocked in December 2012 by bombing of a church in Misrata, Libiya. That attack has stoked fears that Libyans Islamists are growing in power and more such attacks against Christians are in store. Islamists also emerged powerful in Syria, generating fear that in the case they get power, they would persecute Syrian's Christian community. Over three hundred thousand Christians in Syrians have already fled the country and are refugees. Thus fate of Christian community in Syria is threatened by Muslims with the infiltration of uncontrollable fanatic fundamentalists groups of Muslims.

Syria's violence against Christian community have spread into neighbouring Lebnan.The Shia Islamists group Hazbollah is flexing military strength and lending support to embattled Syrian forces. Hundreds of Lebanese Christians  have fled over the years due to civil wars and more recently, in fear that Hazbollah eventfully will control the country and turn it into an Islamic state. Christians were about 52  percent in 1932 in Lebanon and during the last  national census, but now by some estimates suggest only 34 percent of the Christian population. A similar trend has long been under way in the Christian Palestinian community, caught in the middle of the conflict between Israelis on one side and secular and Islamist Palestinian on the other. The Catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem has lamented that the Holy Land is fast becoming a 'spiritual Disneyland' with holy sites as theme park attraction bereft of worshipping Christians.

In the rich Arab gulf states, Christian communities formed primarily by Asian immigrate workers, quietly practise their faith but that is now happening in the regions powerhouse Saudi Arabia. Qatar for example, has allowed the construction of a catholic church in Doha for one hundred and fifty thousands Catholics. Churches in Kuwait, Bahrain, and United Arab Emirates are seen as a way to lure expatriate labour to those countries. These Gulf states have survived the political torrents of the Arab Springs but should they fall to street protests, successors regimes likely would resemble Saudi Arabia today, which forbids Christian worship by the estimated eight hundred thousand Catholics in the kingdom. The Saudi government publicly laud inter-faith dialogue , but Saudi-sponsored conferences take place outside the kingdom to avoid  domestic religious-political backlashes from Saudi Arabia's Wahhabi religious establishment.

The tightening of nooses around Christian community in the Arab Middle East is running parallel to sieges laid against Christians by non-Arab Muslims elsewhere in the region. The Assyrian Christian population in Iran has plummeted from about one hundred thousand in the mid-1970s to about fifteen thousand today. More than 300 Christians have been arrested by Islamic regime since mid-2010. Churches operate in fear. And Christian converts safe persecution. In the meantime, Turkey is praised in the west as a democratic success story in the Muslim world and the government in Ankara often characterised in the media as 'mildly Islamic'. But the steady erosion of free speech rights in Turkey, as evinced by the increasing imprisonment of journalists and the government's aggressive purging of the secular Turkish military, raises doubts about future prospects for Turkish political and religious tolerance. Attacks against Christians living in a country of 71 million Muslims. A Catholic bishop was stabbed to death in southern Turkey in 2010 and several years earlier a Catholic priests was murdered in a Turkish town along the Black Sea.

All these hate campaign against Christians Muslims against each other have been initially started by United States of America and the then Soviet Russia now Russia. Initially both these big powers used Muslims and later threw them in waste paper baskets in the globe nations, calling them (Muslims) terrorists. Both USA and Russia used Osama bin Laden as well 'Taliban 'for their enlightened self-interest of hegemony in the world.After 9\11, the USA administration started vigorous campaign against Muslims in the name of eliminating terrorists, the so called Muslims. In between Muslims, to great extend, supported 'jehadi movement' under bin Laden and created tremor in the world solely to save their prestige and honour g;globally . Now the Muslim-dominated Middle East and Arab world have also started retaliations and creating reign of terror against Christians  in their areas of dominance.

Will such action and reactions not destroy the secular fabrics in the democratic set-ups in the globe ? Good sense must prevail both sides, specially America to diplomatically lessen the tension in the world specially among  Christians and Muslims communities for everlasting peace globally by ending hate campaign !

3,09,000 lakh children die every day in India on the first day of their birth !

It is sad and tragic ! We cannot save our children and mothers. In India, babies die on the first day of their birth more and more than in many under-developed  or developed countries on the globe. There are appalling condition of the Indian health care exists in India. Over three lakh children in India do not see the  light of the day and do not survive the first 24 hours. Thus India tops in children mortality rate in the world , thanks to our health care system, envisaged by the successive union and state governments !

Sadly India is far ahead of Nigeria, Pakistan, China on this score. According to a report " State of world mothers", released by the "Save  The Children" ;; India accounts for 29 percent of the deaths of the children on the first day they are born, globally. Each and every year 3,09,000 children die in India on the first day of their birth. Nearly, 4,20,000 babies die on the first day of their birth across South Asia. It indicates almost one in every one minute. It is all because chronic malnutrition among expectant mothers.One million children who die each year on the day they are born, almost 40 percent of these are from India, Pakistan and Bangaladesh.

In India  one out of every 170 mothers face risk of their life  while in Nepal the risk is one in 190. In Nigeria, 89,700 deaths take place every day  followed by Pakistan-59,800, China-50,600 Congo-48,400, Tanzania-17000. Loss of children in India is more rampant in rural areas. Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh top the list of children death on the first day of their birth.Expectant mothers' delivery is not done properly. Delivery of expectant mothers are done by untrained rural dais instead of trained midwives or nurses. It is only because there is no network of health system in rural region of India. However there is some solace in Tamil Nadu where health care system are under the hand of well trained nurses-hence Tamil Nadu has no such deaths because of safe delivery.

By and large the entire India, specially rural areas, are poverty -ridden where  persons do not have two-square of meals. Over 78 percent of population do not have access to proper food, drinking water and health care system, Such scarcity results into malnutrition. In many cases , it has been found that if the children or mothers are escaped deaths during pregnancy or delivery time, they subsequently die of many diseases or many of them never remain or lead life of abnormal human beings because of diseases,

INDIA IS PASSING THROUGH CRISIS AFTER CRISIS, Thanks to Manmohan Singh's silence !

What are happenings in India ? Everyday, one listens a new thing, worse from the earlier one ! Apart from deteriorating relations with our neighbouring countries like China,Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Burma, the country is  sick of present political dis pension at home fronts. Scams, corruptions, failure of governance etc have become order of the day. Still the people of India are tolerating all these non-senses. It seems that we have entered  into a decadent society where nobody appears concerned about the ills in the country. Such deteriorating situation has camouflaged to camouflet the entire system in India by political classes of all hues ! Poverty is growing fast. Education and health have gone down to the drains despite huge expenditures since independence. Simmering discords in eastern states like Mizoram, Nagaland, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura etc are posing threat to the unity and integrity of the country. Southern states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Puduchery, Goa have altogether different ways in running the affairs. In Tamil Nadu, atrocity on dalits is rampantly on the higher sides ! With regards to central ,north and western states in India like Madhya Pradesh, Chhatishgarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh , Gujarat,  are working on altogether on different tunes as if all these above mentioned states do not appear parts of the Indian Union. Bihar and West Bengal are on different wave-length where politics is taking driver's seat instead of development.

India has one of  the weakest leadership as Manmohan Singh in the last nine years. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seldom speaks on the burning issues affecting adversely the country. An indecisive Prime Minister quitely watch uncertainty at almost every level.His ruling United Progressive (UPA-two)  led by Congress has become silent spectators of all these naked drama. Opposition political classes, specially the National Democatic Alliance (NDA), led by Hindu front BJP  are fishing in troubled waters. Instead of showing off and embracing the ruling UPA combine for messing up the situation, these opposition political classes appear more interested in grabbing power by any means. Fruitful discussions in Parliament never happen like earlier occasions. The current parliament has notoriety of minimum working days in the history of parliamentary democracy in India  because of walk-outs and boycott of the session by the opposition leaders. in the last four years. Of all countrymen are watching the melodrama with keen interest but helplessly.

Almost, all organs of the government-legislature, executive and judiciary  seem to have dithered away and crippled. These organs have no coordination among each other. Such signal is giving eminent threat of anarchy and chaos in India. Strangely, if any thing serious happens, only thereafter, a solution is found in jet-set speed on pressure from various quarters. There are many cancers in all the organs of the government.

Recent killing of the Indian RAW personnel in Pakistan jail Saranjit Singh is recent example of dithering approaches of the Manmohan Singh government. Except "jaan ka badal jaan", an Pakistani national Sanaullah Ranjay, languishing in Jammu  jail , was injured by irate inmates and Ranjay is in critical condition in the hospital. Is it not be called anarchy in India ? Eminent journalist M J Akbar has rightly said in the Times of India, " India has become a joke in Maldives , a foe in Sri Lanka ,, a doubt in Bangladesh, a shrug in Nepal, a snigger in Pakistan and a taunt in China. Every neighbour has tested India and discovered that this government walks on its knees, India has never seemed as helplessly weak as now Foreign Minister Salman Khursid  thinks China's incursions into Despang is acne which will disappear-perhaps after an application of a multinational creams."

Few ministerial colleagues of Manmohan Singh and their close relatives  are involved  in neck-deep corruption as well as misdemeanour. Every day there is one story of corruption. The latest one is involving the Railway Minister Pawan Bansal. Bansal's nephew and son have been raided by the CBI for giving favour in prize and moneyed postings in the Railway Board. Specific evidences have been found against Pawan Bansal for propping up such scandal in the railways ! It all started in UPA-2 of Manmohan Singh with TWO-G scams by the then telecommunication minister Raja, gobbeling up over Rs 1.75 lakh crore. Thereafter, Commonwealth game scam was surfaced. Subsequently AUDITOR and Comptroller General also examined various flagship programmes i like MANREGA and detected huge bungling of funds And finally selling off coal blocks, worth Rs 1.85 lakh crore was detected.  All these cases are being investigated by the CBI and being monitored by the Supreme Court . Union government's interferences in the affairs of the CBI has also come to light. Union Law minister  Ashawani Kumar reportedly poked his nose over the status report of the CBI to the Supreme Court. Kumar was caught napping by the court but politicking is going to bail him out Huge uproar were witnessed in the country over all these issues but our Prime Minister is maintaining golden silence over the issue.

Thanks to the outside support of the left parties to UPA-ONE government, the first term of Manmohan Singh government made some remarkable achievements. People's angers are growing. Next Lok Sabha elections is due early next year. People will have the last laugh. But the way , development is going on in the NDA over prime ministerial nominee of much-maligned Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and NDA is on the verge of split with JD(U) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar opposing Modi's candidature, Citizens of India have been left on tenterhook without any alternative !

One quotable quote , the writer Chetan Bhagat has written in The Times of India about "the so called empowering of slaves" and has compared the CBI as slave of successive union governments in India. Bhagat sarcastically writes, " Once upon a time. a king committed a grave mistake. He stole the state's money and destroyed national wealth. Angry citizens clamoured for justice. The King agreed. He appointed his pet slave to investigate the matter. The pet slave felt the King had done nothing wrong. The case was closed. Life went back to normal." This is what is happening in the Indian system, likening CBI as 'pet slave'!.

Our executive branch is said to be one of the corrupts organs in the world. Nothing moves without bribe in the government offices. Not only the senior officials succumb to the political pressure for tailored-made opinion and decision  of course on money considerations in connivance with their political masters.

The Judiciary in India has different story. Although , the Supreme court of India has largely escaped systematic criticism, beneath the surface one finds an institution that many court -watchers believe has strayed from the mission and may even unintentionally be undermining the rest of judicial system. There are many examples of intellectual and corruptions by the judges of the  high courts and the Supreme courts. Least said is better about the worse scenario of corruption in lower judicial organs at the district and sub-divisional levels.The  high courts and the Supreme Court disproportionately spends thousands of hours hearing the cases of wealthier litigants situated in and around Delhi and from more affluent states. non the other hands, dozen of vital pending Constitution Benches matters have waiting to be heard for decades. For instance, for many years the court has failed to hear a pending Constitution Bench case to examine the definition of 'industry' in the key piece of labour legislation, creating uncertainty for employers and millions of workers. There is no question that the courts continue to be the last resort of the poor in their quest for justice. But courts are not as forthcoming or responsive as they used to be in defending the causes of the poor.

Like much of the rest of the judiciary, it is overwhelmingly Hindu upper caste (roughly 60 percent of the Supreme Court judges today; but the average representation of Hindu upper caste tends to be higher-closer to 70 percent) with currently no member  of the scheduled caste, only two women and very little representation of the Other Backward Classes (hardly ten percent).

Are we Indian are impotent in this decadent society ?

JAMMU AND KASHMIR CONFLICT: WHY INDIA AND PAKISTAN FAILED TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE ?

Now enough is enough ! The Jammu and Kashmir issue has been hanging fire for over 67 years. Both India and Pakistan are claiming the territory of the J&K. Over half a dozen war between India and Pakistan have been fought, entailing huge expenditures to both the countries. Indo-Pak borders always remain tense. People of the Jammu and Kashmir have been marginalised in the process of resolution of the conflict. They always remain in agonising moments. No sincere efforts have been  initiated to resolve the conflict. Both India and Pakistan seem to have reconciled to keep their domination in retaining their respective "portions"-Jammu and Kashmir and Azad Kashmir. Terror activities in the Jammu and Kashmir have become focal points of conflict for both the India \and Pakistan.

Much water have flown under Sutlej since the ruler of Kashmir Maharaja Hari Singh was forced to Kashmir's accession to India. But the million dollar question still arises why and how  Maharaja Hari Singh acceded the Kashmir to India in 1947 ? Historical facts have different opinions. One of them is that the Maharaja temporarily acceded to India on October 22, 1947 because Pakhtoon tribal population from Pakistan raided Kashmir. And the Maharaja sought help from  India and acceded to India "temporarily". Another version was that the  Maharaja never wanted Kashmir to  accede with India or Pakistan, but after independence of the Indian sub-continent, wished an "independent and sovereign Jammu and Kashmir" It is also said that tallest leader Sheikh Mohhammad Abdullah's liking for acceding the Kashmir to India, rather, forced Maharaja for request of military help from India from the clutches of Pakhtoon raiders. New Delhi always legitimised the accession by projecting such theory.

A recent book-KASHMIR: THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY- by the Australian politico-strategic analyst, author and academician Christopher Snedden has added one more of many  books on this ticklish issue! But Sneeden's book appears a different one because the book gives vivid descriptions of the causes of division of Kashmir in 1947 and throws light on the solution of the problem! In the opinion of Snnedden; three important factors that instigating the division of the state that ultimately were responsible for the present status of Jammu and Kashmir ( FRIONTLINE FORNIGHTLY REVIEW OF THE BOOK). Many political scientists feel that Pakistan was  responsible for pushing the tribal people to annex Kashmir. But Snedden  highlights the three major actions including the Muslim uprising in Poonch in western Jammu, serious inter-religious violence throughout the Jammu region and the creation of 'Azad Kashmir' government on October 24, 1947, which the author believes was the final blow to the unity of the state.

While speaking to tales of woes of Jammu and Kashmir people, the book has called the residents of the state "J&K-ites". Therefore, "let the people decide" is the peg of his proposal to resolve the dispute, although he adds a caveat that the "biggest challenge will be forcing India and Pakistan to agree on the process." According to the Frontline review of the book; Snedden also blames the disunity, as they constituted 77 percent of the princely domain. Snedden has also disclosed that the Mahraja was quite unpopular with the "muslim  subjects" and his armed forces had lost control of the large parts of the state. "Had Muslims been united, it would have been difficult for the Maharaja to take a such decision.

Snedden also suggests that the people of the state were desperate to decide their fate. He cites two further actions to strengthen this argument. "In late October-November, Kashmiris formed a people's militia to defend themselves against the invading Pukhtoons which intended, after looting, raping ad pillaging Kashmiris to capture Jammu and Kashmir for Pakistan and in early November pro-Pakistan Gilgitis rebelled to sought to join Pakistan." Such action was enough hint for determining the region's international status that time.

The author is also of the opinion that people of the Jammu and Kashmir are the main stake-holders in the unresolved  Kashmir dispute. Such factors, in the opinion of the author, suggest the need for people of the state in confidence to resolve the dispute. One another important aspect in the book is about "Azad Kashmir". He is of the opinion that "Azad Kashmir" has virtually become an" integral part" of Pakistan and is completely dependent on Islamabad. Thus the book emphasises a greater role of the people of Jammu and Kashmir (on both sides) and calls them the 'third party' in the dispute since India and Pakistan have failed to resolve the conflict.. The author argues that the people of  Jammu and Kashmir are at the centre of dispute in every way and they need to be taken on board and not marginalised.

BEUTIFUL MOUNT EVEREST FIRST CONQUERED FROM AIR IN APRIL 4 1933 !

The times has changed. Now it is easier for men-kind to go at as much height in sky like journey on Moon, Mars etc. But there was time even the best quality of aeroplanes could achieve as much as height as it could. But here is adventurous story of April 04, 1933 from the  Achieves of The Guardian when the world's highest mountain has surrendered to aeroplanes, circling 100 feet above the summit. Before I put the essay of the Guardian as written and reported, I must mention some of the backgrounds of beautiful Himalaya mountain range including  the MOUNT EVEREST in Asia.

In SANSKRIT language and literature, HIMALAYA has been called-HIMA (snow) + ALAYA (dwelling). means 'dwelling of snow' . This HIMALAYA, with some of the highest peaks including the height of the MOUNT EVEREST, in Asia is the youngest, highest and the longest mountain range in the world. It criss-crises five countries of the PLANET-Bhutan, Nepal,, India, China and Pakistan. Significantly, the Himalayan mountain range  is youngest mountain range in the globe because rick are yet to be formed. Still there are lot of sand and soils mounds in the mountain range. Because of large scale of forest denunciation , recurring threats of floods have made life miserable in parts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in India . Soil and sands are flowing during flood period from various rivers, originating from Nepal, mainly because of large -scale forest  cuttings of trees in forest range , specially in Nepal areas. It spreads plans of the Indian sub-continent from Tibetan plateau. The range runs west-north ward to the east-south east., about 24 km long. Not only that Himalaya mountain rage incorporates 100 mountains exceeding 7200 meters or over 23600 ft. height.  Several places in the Himalaya mountain range have religious significances in Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Sikhism and Buddhism. In Hinduism, the Himalaya has been personified as the GOD-HEMANT, the god of snow, who is mentioned in the Hindu mythological books and  scriptures like GEETA. HEMAN, the god of snow, was father of GANGA and  SARSWATI , the most pious and well-known rivers in India !

NO doubt many mountaineers have succeeded in conquering Himalaya's MOUNT EVEREST, in the last 25 to 30 years, the journey of HIMALAYA including mount-Everest by the Houston Everest Expedition on April 03, 1933 was wonderful historically as reported in the issue of the Guardian- "From Archive , 4 April 1933: EVEREST conquered from the air." The story of The Guardian, apart from mentioning many significant aspects of the conquering of Himalaya's Everest, has pin-pointed one of the oldest airbases -PURNIA in BIhar and FORBESGANJ in BIHAR for meticulating planning and taking off the related planes to conquer the MOUNT EVEREST. The mission was "full of thrills  and passive dangers". Lord Clydesdale, Colonel Blacker and the Flight Lieutenant Mcintyre had been team members of the Westland planes expedition .The Guardian has also referred the  wonderful and experienced role Indian meteorological officer of Purnea S N Gupta, whose information and advice about  weather on April 03, 1933 had been of great value.

Just I a reproducing below The Guardian report about Everest Conquering :-

From the archive, 4 April 1933: Everest conquered from the air

The world's highest mountain has surrendered to aeroplanes circling 100 feet above its summit

• guardian.co.uk, Thursday 4 April 2013 07.30 BST

• 
  

Mount Everest. Photograph: Image Source/Corbis

"Mount Everest has been flown over." The laconic message, received last night, announces that the Houston Everest expedition has met with complete success and that the world's highest mountain has surrendered to the all-conquering aeroplane.
Lord Clydesdale, Colonel Blacker, and Flight Lieutenant McIntyre set off early yesterday in the Westland planes on what was intended to be a trial flight. But the wind conditions turned out to be so favourable that they went on to Everest, circled the summit at a hundred feet above it, and were safely back again at Purnea soon after eleven. It is a splendid achievement, and hearty congratulations must go out to the airmen and to all who have made it possible. It is a splendid achievement - not for any material gains, any additions to aeronautical knowledge that it brings, for it brings few or none, but simply because it was one of the few last great spectacular flights in aviation which remained to be done.
No one would attempt to compare these three brief hours of adventure, full of thrills and passive dangers, with the long months of arduous physical toil which those must endure who attempt to conquer Everest by land, in the old way of the mountaineer. But to assert man's mastery of the air by flying over the roof of the world must make its strong appeal to everyone's imagination, none the less. What strange account will the adventurers have brought back of Everest and its great south face as no living eye has seen it? What strange photographs and film record may they have obtained - obtained for the rest of us to share - of the unknown Himalayas, looked at from a height higher than bird has ever gone?
One of the two aeroplanes which have flown over Everest, photographed at Karachi. The summit of Everest was flown over to-day by both machines of the Houston Everest Expedition. The following official report has been drawn up by Squadron Leader Lord Clydesdale:
"This morning (April 3) the Indian meteorological officer at Purnea, Mr. S. N. Gupta, whose information and advice has been of very great value to the expedition, reported from balloon observations that the wind, which previously had been unsuitable, had dropped to a velocity of 57 m.p.h. at 33,000 feet which altitude we had decided would be the most suitable working height for a photographic survey. Our two machines took off at 8 25 from Lalbalu Aerodrome in still air. The Houston-Westland plane contained Colonel Blacker and myself, and the Westland-Wallace, piloted by Flight Lieutenant McIntyre, with Mr. S. R. Bonnett, who is the aerial photographer, as observer.
"Our direct route to the summit meant flying on track 342 degrees. This necessitated changing the compass course at intervals more to the west on account of increased wind velocity with height according to our weather report. We had relied on overcoming to some extent the difficulty of accurate compass navigation caused by this frequent change of wind speed by the good landmarks near and along our track.
"A heavy dust haze rising to a considerable height almost completely obscured the ground from Forbesganj to the higher mountain ranges. This made aerial survey work impossible. We climbed slowly at low engine revolutions to a height of 10,000 feet. By this height the crews of both machines had tested their respective electrical heating sets, and McIntyre and I signalled to each other that everything was satisfactory. After 30 minutes' flying we passed over Forbesganj, our forward emergency landing ground forty miles from Purnea, and at a height of 19,000 feet Everest first became visible above the haze."
Click here for the full report.

INDIA SQUANDERING TO GALVANISE YOUTHS !

 
INDIA is squandering , one of the best opportunity, to galvanise its youths for nation building and emerging one of the best global power because of indifferent approaches of successive union governments and state governments towards health, education, employment etc India is expected to witness one of the best youth power in the cosmos by 2040 !. The average age of Indian population will be 29 years by the end of the decade. By comparing other developed and  developing power, such scenario in China and United States of America will be youths under age of average  37 years,  Japan- 48 years and western European countries-45 years. According to a report of the International Monetary Fund (IMF); India's youth power has the potentiality to produce additional two percent per capita GDP growth each year for the next two decades. Reacting to a detailed report, headlined, " Has India lost the 21st Century? " in TEHELKA, the Editor of the OUTLOOK INDIA UTTAM SENGUPTA, comments on the FACEBOOK , " Political discourse and debate in the Parliament and on TV channels focus on the subjects ? What need to be done ? Political bloodletting and campaigns of oneupmanship do not address bread and butter issues. Time people demand answers from all political parties, not just the government."

But what is exactly happening in India? Indian youths are being misguided due to lack of proper education, human approaches etc. Large number of youths are being misguided in recent years and they are being trained and being utilised by non-ideological forces , mainly for extortion in the name of Naxal activities and other social activities. Their 'non-ideological mentors' pay them a small share of what they extort from businessmen and industrialists. Such practises have become attractive for unemployed youths in naxal-infested villages  and crime-prone areas of the country. Another instances are unemployed and directionless youths, indulging in crimes besides, we see, million of angry youths and women taking to streets for some reasons or others to vent their frustration as Indian's growth story is gradually slipping away. They have their right perceptions that they have been let down by the government. In this game of venting their anger and frustration, they are again being misguided by many organisations , particularly political parties-whether they may be Swami Ramdev or Anna Hazare or anybody-they are not being trained to change the society and its system  through ballot papers but by arson, loots and invasion on sheets of power like, Parliament !Bubbling youth power and its emerging trend in India must be utilised for the reconstruction and development of the country right from the days of being them in their mothers' womb to their health and education.

Ravi Venkatesan , former chairman of the Microsoft India ,who has written a book  " Conquering the Chaos:Win in India, Win Everywhere" to be published in mid-June in the United States by Harvard Business Review Press, has said in a recent interview  to India Ink , "  India is important  not just because it is a big market. India is important because it is litmus test for the companies' success in emerging market. Most emerging markets look like India-they have uncertainty, corruption, poor infrastructures and chaos. It could be Brazil, Indonesia or Nigeria. But few have the same potential, so India is  in many ways a lead case for emerging markets. Right now, multinational companies or corporations have two choices. They can either not grow, or they can embrace the chaos of emerging markets. Europe is not going to sort itself out anytime soon-they need to learn to deal with these situations. If you think you can escape chaos, you are sadly mistaken."

But the ground realities of India are multi-dimensional. India and its young men  are" growing mass of largely undernourished, undereducated, unemployable, who aspire for a better life but do not have means to get their because they are not qualified for job market and even if they are, jobs do not exist," says Tehelka essay. India's present workforce (the  15-64 age group) comprises 430 million people. Of them, only a few have received formal vocational training. Our organised sector, home to the jobs connected to aspiration, money and  India's growth story, employs only 30 million people. This leaves 400 million people in the unorganised sector, feeding for themselves. Over 60 percent of our work force is engaged in agriculture, which contributes only 18 percent of GDP, indicative of the widespread disguised unemployment and low productivity.

As I have earlier said problem story of Indian people start in mothers' womb ! Forty percent of children in India are malnourished. Forty-three percent in the age group of 12-23 months receive full immunisation, forty-eight percent are underweight. Fifty percent of all deaths under age of five are related to malnutrition. Forty-five percent children are stunted. Seventy percent of children under age five are anaemic. Thirty percent of adults have chronic nutrition deficiency. Fifty -five percent women are anaemic. (Source: Cry Foundation).  While detailing the impact of all these things, the World Bank (WB) has said the effect of undernourishment during first eight years after birth can be devastating and enduring. Its impact the individual health as well as the ability to learn, communicate, think analytically, socialise effectively and adapt a new environment and people. While more than half the deaths before the age of five are caused by malnutrition, for those who do survive past five and find their way into schools, shouldering the hopes of their parents, life does not get much better and the system sets them up for failure."

Thee are many strange things in India despite the tall claims of the successive union and state governments. According to the recent Annual Status of Education Report (ASER); 60 percent of the children in Class fifth cannot read at a Class second level and 75 percent cannot complete simple division sums. The government claims success on " Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan" by 96 enrolment in primary education, there is in fact an eighty percent dropout by Class twelve. Thus 27 million children who annually enrol in primary schools across the country, only 5.4 million make it to Class twelve. Shockingly, the quality of education is worse throughout the country. There are seldom quality teachers.

Ninety percent gross enrolment ratio in primary education with 27 million children entering primary education; two-one ratio of primary  schools to senior primary schools; forty percent the dropout rates by class eight; eighty percent dropout rate by class twelve, 15 percent in college; fifty percent of children in rural India will go to private schools, i.e pay for education by 2020; main reasons of female dropouts is lack of toilets and seventy-five percent, proportion of all children enrolled in class fifth who could not do simple divisions (Sourse:- ASER).. India needs a huge number of teachers, numbering over 6.3 million to cater the need of children in the 6-14 age group. Not only that there are need of  brightest teachers from brightest five percent to ten percent of graduates like Singapore and Finland !

More over,  another burning problem in India is employment. India needs to create  20 million jobs yearly. In the next 20 years, India will add 480 million people to labour market. India's formal sector comprises only 30 million jobs, which is only seven percent of total labour forces of 430 million. In the meantime, based on the figures provided in the Annual Survey of Industry report of 2010-11, there were 1,61,458 factories operating in the manufacturing sector, which employed around 12.3 million people and had a total investment capital of about 22 lakh crore.. There is urgent need to create 20 million  jobs a year. If emerging economy of India do not take concerns of these factors, social unrest is bound to loom large over the country !

Pakistan Elections: IS IT 'DEMOCRACY' OR 'RELIGIOCRACY' ?

It is commonly said that democracy is the best form of government ! This form of government has peoples' participation and ultimately power remains in the hand of people. But least said is better about this democratic form of government in various nations of the planet ! One such glaring example is forthcoming elections, scheduled on May 10, in Pakistan. In the name of democracy, Pakistan ,an Islamic country where Islam orthodox only prevails. People of the world are startled to find that under democratic system in Pakistan, politicians of that country are being tested on whether they are pious enough to face the elections. Only 'devout' Muslims' politicians are eligible to contest the elections, Judges from the lower courts, who are overseeing the elections, quizzed them on whether they could recite particular Koranic verses from memory or knew how to perform various Islamic rituals.

 Interestingly one candidate was asked to pledge that from now on he would 'pray five times' And if participant-contestants are found lacking all these things, they are out rightly debarred from the contesting elections ! The judges are drawing on vaguely worded clauses in Pakistan's Constitution that insist all members of the Parliament must be 'devout Muslims' it may be mentioned that clauses were imposed by General Mohammad Zia-ul- Haq, a former military ruler and religious hard-liner, as part of his sweeping "Islamization" programme during 1980s. In the past, election officials turned blind eye to the exacting religious standards set out by clauses. As many observers have quipped over the years, the stipulated demands that lawmakers be "sagacious" 'nonprofligate' observe all mandatory religious duties and abstain from 'major sins' would likely to lead an empty Parliament.

More over, the judges, conducting the Pakistan elections, won applause for standing up to lying politicians. But  some question the wisdom of the move. "It is illegal, but there is a political context  to it" says Ai Dayan Hasan, Director of the Pakistan Human Right Watch. A recent report in The Times World has said ,"when it comes to Pakistan's elections, many derive comfort from the fact that the religious right never wins more than 10 percent of the vote. But the political parties that neatly evade both laws imposed by Zia and Musharraf are from religious right. After being chastened at the last elections, they are back on the ascendants. When it came to degree requirement for contesting elections, as imposed by Musharraf, they madrasas education was mostly deemed equivalent to an advanced degree. And ,of course,they breezed through the piety tests." In 2002, Musharraf imposed a condition that all parliamentarian should be graduates.

The scrutiny process, critics say. could end up tilting the electoral field. " They are using a controversial overboard law imposed on the constitution by a dictator for precisely the purpose of arbitrary political screening". says Hasan and adds ," rather than allowing the voters to decided who's fit to sit in Parliament, the judges are arrogating that right to themselves. This is a form of pre-poll rigging against those who do not meet approval of these authorities on extremely flimsy grounds."

A leading lawyer Babar Sattar says, " it is impossible to decided who is and who is not a good Muslim-the language of Article-62 of the Pakistan Constitution, referring to the relevant clauses in the Constitution is not just enforceable. Are we saying someone who does not pray five times a day cannot be a member of Parliament "? The wording is so misty as to be open to widely divergent interpretations. Part of problem is that judges can read into these words their own anxieties."

Many  of the members of lower judiciary, who are scrutinising the candidates have inherited their religious views from the austere readings offered in standard Pakistani textbooks, says Raja, another lawyer.The attitudes on display also appear to reflect a growing  sense of religiosity in Pakistan and disenchantment with the political class. A report issued this week by N British Council found that 38 percent of young voters between the age of 18 to 29 think Sharia law is the best political system of Pakistan. Nearly a third said they would like military rule. And a paltry 29 percent said they wanted a continuation of democracy.

However,  one factor that along with failing to persuade the youth of the merits of democracy, the politicians have also been unsuccessful in rolling back Zia's legacy. "These provisions should not be in the Constitution, the Parliament has clearly failed to take them out", says Sattar. Despite passing three constitutional amendments, the parliamentarians left the  Islamic  provisions untouched. Some ascribe the reluctance to fear of a religious backlash. In 2011, two major politicians were killed after speaking out against the country's notorious blasphemy laws.

Strangely, a well-known politician and long-standing newspaper columnist has even been disqualified to contest elections by Scrutiny judge because judges frowned him on a reference to alcohols in one of his weekly articles.. No doubt alcohol is banned in Pakistan, though bootleggers discreetly do a brisk trade.. Intense scrutiny being enforced for the first time in Pakistan. Much of it is focused on ethics and civil law. Recently for  military ruler Pavez Mushrraf's nomination were rejected because judges said he subverted the Constitution when he mounted the 1999 coup that overthrow a civilian government. Strangely , nominations of many politicians have been rejected on the ground of variety of offences including defaulting in bank loans and failing to pay water bills.

However, right  advocates and legal experts say judges are also reaching past questions of financial probity to arbitrarily decide who is a pious Muslim to sit in next Pakistan's Parliament.