Love und

Animals and humans frequently bond with unconditional love. Read on to find out more.

A pink heart-shaped balloon floats in the blue sky. An advertisement promises us a kiss if our clothes are brighter. A parent and child exchange a quick hug before alighting a school bus. Two best friends in a heated argument break out into spontaneous laughter. A blood-red hibiscus grows its way through a pile of concrete rubble.

The images of love and its various manifestations greet us on a daily basis. Without exaggeration, there is not a single day when we are not touched by its power. Just like its nature, love can be vast or minuscule depending on how one defines it. Living with a dog is a daily reminder of the power of this force that makes the world goes around.

Dogs show us, in countless ways, the simplicity behind the complex phenomenon known as love.

Jurra’s story

Jurra is an eight-month-old golden Labrador dog and one might suspect that she has never contemplated love and its definitions. (It is, of course, a human obsession!)

Jurra is love — meaning that her whole way of looking at the world is from a very different point of view. There are no expectations of what love is, how it should be and how one must behave when expressing it. Her love is rooted in what is happening at present — she carries no past history and no sense of future expectations.

Everything that comes into her field of vision is met with certain clarity, and she responds to what comes her way with a natural ease. A butterfly sunning itself is tickled by her nose, and her tail wagging in great momentum means she has seen her favourite people. Biologists call this instinct. We call it love undefined!

Expectations

One of the characteristics of human love in various relationships is that it is based on expectations.

If we observe the countless ways in which our love manifests, there is always an undercurrent of wanting something. While in some relationships, this is glaringly obvious; in others it is more subtle. When a relationship collapses or is in conflict, it is normally that either person is unwilling to let go of a need that they seek in the other. In fact, when students often come and tell me that they “hate” someone, we have a discussion and they inevitably realise that what they hate is something that they are totally in love with.

Very few beings can love unconditionally, but Jurra’s expression of love is just that. She is totally immune to what you are wearing, how you are looking, body shape and size or whether you have had a bad hair day! The joy with which she greets you can make the surliest among us break into an inner smile. Jurra, in that moment of expressing her love, is not thinking of herself. It is very difficult to understand the nature of unconditional love unless one has really experienced it. A student of mine had a severe reading difficulty, and this often clouded her sense of confidence. One summer holiday, she visited her grandparents who had a dog. Through the course of the month, a friendship developed and both would spend a lot of time together.

One afternoon, the family was surprised to hear her reading aloud to the dog. Her reading still had errors but there was a new-found confidence in the reading. When asked about it, she said candidly, “Oh, Juno does not judge me, she just listens.” There are countless stories of how animals and humans have bonded over this kind of unconditional love. How and why it transpires will remain a mystery in the nature of things.

Dimensions

One of the common misconceptions about the nature of love is that it excludes any discomfort. We expect love to be always pleasant and wrap us in a bubble of coziness.But love has other dimensions to it. Sometimes, love can be tough and seem unfair as it challenges us to face pain and step out of our comfort zone.

A friend who was caught up in a hectic life, found herself in a situation where she had to be home bound to nurse her ailing dog. The dog had developed a cancerous growth and needed a lot of nursing and healing. For someone who had never faced such an unpleasant task that demanded her time and courage, she said it was a lesson in understanding the depths of her own reservoir of love. Something inside her had transformed, and just caring for one who had no voice changed the way she viewed people and life. Each day, Jurra shows us a part of ourselves that we did not know existed. She, of course, is blissfully unaware, and at the time of writing this, has just brought a coconut from the garden as a gift offering.

Maybe we need to talk less about love and live it a little more. Something my best friend teaches me every moment, an ever expanding curriculum on the nature of love!efined

270 on death row in India, 64 sentenced last year: Amnesty

But no executions took place in 2014; globally, executions fell by a fifth, and two-thirds of the world has abolished the death penalty

Indian courts handed down at least 64 death sentences last year, but no executions took place, largely as a result of court rulings, new data from Amnesty International shows. Globally, executions fell by a fifth, and two-thirds of the world has abolished the death penalty.

China continues to execute the most people globally — thousands every year, the human rights group said in a new report published early on Wednesday — but does not publish any data. Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia accounted for nearly three-quarters of the rest of the world’s executions in 2014.

The United States of America executed 35 people, its fewest in 20 years.

In India, which saw the execution of Ajmal Kasab in late 2012 and Afzal Guru in early 2013 after a gap of eight years, several executions scheduled for 2014 were put on hold.

In January, a landmark Supreme Court ruling laid down guidelines for death sentences, including classifying delay in the disposal of mercy petitions as grounds for commutation, as also mental disability. Information reported by the Death Penalty Research Project of the National Law University in Delhi indicated that 270 people were on death row in various Indian prisons, and eight mercy petitions were rejected in 2014.

Pakistan lifted a six-year moratorium on executions after the Peshawar school massacre. Seven people were executed in 2014. As of Tuesday, 66 people have been hanged since the lifting of the moratorium, and Amnesty estimated that 8,000 more persons were on death row.

“Governments using the death penalty to tackle crime are deluding themselves. There is no evidence that shows the threat of execution is more of a deterrent than any other punishment,” said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, said in a statement.

Keywords: India death sentences, Amnesty International

Food security Act: Centre to share half the burden of states in food transportation and handling

The Centre has decided to share up to 50 per cent of the intra-state transportation and handling costs of foodgrains with states under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013. NFSA guarantees cheap foodgrains to two-thirds of the Indian population.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the expenditure and sharing pattern between the Centre and states.

“Earlier, the transportation and handling cost was transferred to the consumers. But now because of NFSA, the cost would be borne by the government,” a government official told Down To Earth.

It has also been decided to pay incentives to fair price shop (FPS) dealers to encourage the use of point of sale (PoS) devices. These are machines that enable cashless transfers by swiping cards.

Under the Act, the fixed price of rice, wheat and coarse grains stands at Rs 3, Rs 2 and Re 1 respectively. Before NFSA came into existence, Below Poverty Line (BPL) families used to get rice, wheat and coarse grains at Rs 5.65, Rs 4.15 and Rs 3 respectively. For Above Poverty Line (APL) households, the rates were Rs 8.30, Rs 6.10, and Rs 4.50 respectively.

Implementation of NFSA
The Act should have been implemented within six months since its enactment in September, 2013. However, so far, NFSA has been implemented in only 11 states and Union Territories (UTs) across the country.

The implementation of NFSA in 25 other states had to be extended twice because of the non-compliance in identification of beneficiaries on time. At first, it was extended to April 4, 2015 and now it has been extended to September 30, 2015.

“Because of the nitty-gritty, many states have not rolled out this Act. They are showing unwillingness,” the official added.

Sharing the burden
The estimated financial assistance likely to flow to states and UTs would annually stand at Rs 4,341 crore after the Centre shares the costs. At present, the estimated burden on the states’ exchequers is around Rs 8,500 crore.

According to the decision, the Union government will share the expenditure up to 50 per cent in case of general states and 75 per cent in case of 13 special category states and UTs.

The latter includes seven north-eastern states, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and the UTs of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.

The Centre has not taken any decision regarding cash transfer as yet. However, it has decided to pay incentives to FPS dealers worth Rs 17 per quintal of grains for using PoS devices.

The decision would pave the way for documentation of the Public Distribution System (PDS), which will help the government to reduce leakages and curb corruption. 

New National Education Policy by December”

Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani recently announced that her ministry is working on a new National Education Policy (NEP) which would be formed by December 2015.

Furthermore, suggestions in this regard have been invited from the education ministers of all the states. “They have been asked to send their suggestions by November so that a universal education policy could be made for the whole country,” Irani said.

Meanwhile, the HRD Minister refuted claims that as a result of her differences with the Bharatiya Janta Party chief Amit Shah, she was dropped from BJP’s national executive committee. “No. I have no differences with him. He is like an elder brother to me. And the government has already entrusted me with a big responsibility,” she said

Dr. Jitendra Singh announces 'Brahmaputra Study Center' for Guwahati University 

Report by India Education bureau, Guwahati: The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of Northeastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh has announced the setting up of "Center for Brahmaputra studies" in the university and said, he dreams of the day when students and scholars from far and wide would come all the way to Guwahati in pursuit of specialised learning and research. He was addressing the 25th convocation of Guwahati University, in Guwahati today. 

Dr. Jitendra Singh complimented the brilliance and diligence of the scholars from this part of the country that after overcoming the constraints of inaccessibility and distance, some of them are today leaders in academic and scientific research in their respective fields. 

Citing Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi’s vision for Northeast, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, the years to come may witness the region developing as an organic capital of India and when that stage is achieved, we will find scholars from far and wide coming to Northeast for research in organic science, organic flora and organic growth. In this context, he also referred to the work undertaken by DoNER Ministry as a follow-up to Prime Minister’s announcement for setting up six Agricultural colleges in the region and Rs.100 crore allocated exclusively for organic farming in the year 2014-15. 

Referring to some of the recent initiatives of DoNER Ministry, he spoke of “Ishaan Uday” - special scholarship scheme for students of the region and “Ishaan Vikas” - a scheme to provide apprenticeship facility to students of the region in IITs, NIITs and NIFTs of other parts of the country. In this regard, he assured that DoNER Ministry will make every possible effort for comfortable and safe hostel accommodation for such students in other cities of India. 

Dr. Jitendra Singh called upon the Vice Chancellor and the senior faculty members to prepare a list of potential students capable of pursuing specialist course or higher studies and the DoNER Ministry will try to facilitate their entry into such universities. However, he appealed to the students that after pursuing their higher studies in leading universities in other parts of the country, they should come back to their respective States. 

Expressing concern over the exodus of students and youth in search of jobs and higher studies outside Northeast, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, he proposes to work in close tandem with the HRD Ministry and requested to depute renowned faculty for universities in the Northeast by providing them extra incentives and perks. Similarly, he said, he has a plan to arrange Job Fairs and campus interviews by renowned Multi National Companies in the capital cities of eight States because this experiment he had even tried in his own constituency and the results were amazingly encouraging as more and more youth found employment at their doorstep and also placement in their respective native zones. 

As a DoNER Minister, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, he would try to work out the feasibility of student exchange programmes with some of the leading foreign universities and referred to his meeting with the Vice Chancellor of Cambridge University who also happens to be a medical professional. 

The Governor Assam, Shri P.B. Acharya and the Chief Minister of Assam, Shri Tarun Gagoi are also present on the occasion. 

GLOBAL PACT ON CLIMATE CHANGE - India Wants Climate Talks to Focus on Efforts Prior to 2020

Urmi Goswami

New Delhi:





Emphasises that onus to deal with global warming is more on developed countries

India wants a global agreement that will address intensified efforts to tackle climate change between 2015 and 2020 and has questioned the single-minded focus on finalising a global compact for the post-2020 period, which is to be inked in Paris in December.With barely nine months left for the crucial climate change meeting in Paris, the pressure on countries to draw plans to reduce the amount of carbon produced after 2020 has increased. New Delhi has told the UN climate change body that there needs to be equal focus on the pre-2020 period, arguing that without active efforts to tackle climate change between 2015 and 2020, slowing down the rate of global warming will be different. Sources said India has submitted a written request to the chairs of the negotiations being held under the aegis of the United Nations to consider an agreement that will spell out the efforts to reduce the amount of carbon being produced and to adjust to the impacts of climate change.
At the talks in Geneva in February, Indian negotiators had raised the issue that countries, especially the industrialised nations, need to do much more to address rising emissions and the impact of unchecked climate change between 2015 and 2020.
“We have given it in writing to the chairmen of the ad hoc working group on the Durban Platform.
In 2011, when countries decided to craft a new agreement to address climate change, it was also decided to accelerate efforts to tackle global warming in the period up to 2020.But now the discussions are solely focused on the post-2020 agree ment. The Durban Platform is both about the pre-2020 period and the post-2020 period,“ a senior member of the government said.
The Durban Platform agreed to in 2011 at the annual UN-sponsored climate change negotiations has two planks of action -accelerating and intensifying efforts to address climate change in the pre-2020 period and finalising the new global agreement by 2015, which would be implemented after 2020.
In the pre-2020 period, the onus of reducing the amount of carbon produced is on the industrialised countries, with developing countries taking steps on a voluntary basis. Industrialised countries are required to provide financial support, which was agreed in 2009 and 2010 to be to the tune of $100 billion a year, and were also committed to provide technology to developing countries to address climate change.India's demand has the broad support of developing countries. At Geneva, where negotiators from 193 countries met for a week to finalise a draft of the post-2020 global compact, representatives of countries including China, South Africa and other African countries and small islands consistently stressed on the need to focus on increasing the efforts being made to tackle climate change before 2020.
Developing countries have argued that the lack of attention to the pre-2020 efforts only serve to transfer the burden of action to poor countries.
The new agreement that comes into effect in 2020 is applicable to all countries, unlike the current regime, where the onus of action rests with the industrialised countries.
Scientists and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change maintain that delayed action will prove to be more expensive and many of the efforts that can be taken to slow global warming will be ineffective if not implemented as soon as possible.

Vedanta - Silence! Mind at Work

YOGI ASHWINI





The mind and brain control the human body and they , in turn, are controlled by the desire of the soul. Just close your eyes and see what is going on inside the brain.... You will find so many thoughts related to children, family , spouse, business, emotions.... All the thoughts indicate desire of the soul. And it is because of these thoughts or desires that you are unable to go beyond human existence. All that is physical is temporary and what is temporary is painful.... The pain that you experience day in and day out, is in the pursuit of these desires.When the mind is engaged in worldly thoughts, you cannot think of anything beyond,... because the mind can only think of one thing at a time.
Thoughts of the physical world tie you to the physical world, your thoughts are dissipated and the force of your consciousness is unable to perform.
So, when we talk about going beyond, it is nice to read books, but it is completely redundant as far as your spiritual journey goes because the book is somebody else's thought, somebody else's experience.Then you will get carried away in somebody else's thought process, not yours.
Only when you will silence your mind will you be able to go beyond.
When you silence your mind, higher centres of the brain get activated. When you still your mind, you are able to access those higher energies and then revelations come to you.Then you are called a jnani, not a knowledgeable person.