Hindu Sadhu Pragya Singh denied bail even when her father is dead

Press Council Chairman Justice Markandey Katju  recently created sensation by stating that  he would continue to seek pardon for Sanjay Duttdespite the actor's decision to surrender. "I will continue to appeal to both the President and the Governor (of Maharashtra) because I think he (Sanjay Dutt) deserves to be pardoned," the Press Council of India chairman said.  On his defence, Justice Katju said, "Dutte has been socially boycotted for five years, it took five to six years for him to restore his career. "No producer offered him film. (There were) no bank loans for him and every time he needed to seek court's permission before going on foreign trips," he said.

Somebody holding AK47, having tea with terrorists sure needs to be pardoned.

Two Indian fishermen were murdered cold blooded and a benevolent Indian judiciary permitted Italian marines Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone to fly home for Christmas  and then again for voting in Italian elections….. that their Govt further created sensation by telling that they would not come back is another matter altogether.

if you ever thought, Indian judiciary is not strict – here is its other face… a female sadhu has been languishing in prison without any of the charges established but …. she is a hindu and hence denied even fundamental rights….. not allowed proper treatment for cancer and denied bail.

Amidst a veil of secrecy and tight security, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur attended her father’s funeral on Monday and promptly set off for jail in Bhopal. The Special Judge (NIA) Bhopal, Vijay Kumar Pandey, on March 3, 2013, gave special permission to Sadhvi Pragya to attend her father’s funeral on March 4, and ordered her to return to jail on March 5.

Ayurvedic doctor Chandrapal Singh died on March 2, 2013, in Etawah, Uttar Pradesh. His family immediately declared that the funeral would not be held until the Sadhvi gets bail. They took the body to their native village, Lahar, Bhind district, Madhya Pradesh, for the last rites. Bail is normally granted to undertrials and even convicts to attend family funerals and weddings. In fact, on October 19, 2012, Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir headed the Bench that granted bail to journalist Syed Mohammad Ahmed Kazmi who was arrested on March 6, 2012 for alleged involvement in the Israeli diplomat car attack case, on grounds that bail is a right.

But when it comes to a Hindu Sadhu, things are different ~ for Hindus are united and there is none to raise their voice for the Sadhu……………..  Sad indeed….

But different standards have always been applied in the case of Sadhvi Pragya, who has been denied bail persistently for five years despite suffering from cancer. More pertinently, Sadhvi Pragya has been languishing in jail despite the police or intelligence agencies failing to frame charges against her in the 2008 Malegaon blasts. When she developed cancer in jail and experienced ill-treatment in custody, she informed the Registrar (Judicial), Mumbai High Court, in January 2013 that she would not take medical treatment for her malady unless released on bail. Despite the poignancy of the situation, the National Investigation Agency again opposed Sadhvi Pragya’s bail application in February 2013; it offered to get her admitted to Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, which she declined.

Despite the complete absence of any evidence – primary, circumstantial, corroborative, forensic, or even contrived through facilities like brain-mapping and lie detector tests during prolonged police custody – the myth was assiduously maintained with help from an obliging media which reported all leaks as gospel truth and a judiciary that refused bail and gave the Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad excessive leeway in its fishing expedition.

How rich is the Lord [only depends on its Administrators !!!]

To those of us who have great faith in Lord and frequent Temples regularly………… first read the News that has appeared in Times of India – Chennai Edition of date – 13^th March 2013.

How rich is the Lord? Boards at temples will tell devotees

Govt-Controlled Shrines Told To Display Property Details

B Sivakumar TNN

Chennai: Next time you visit a temple in Tamil Nadu, besides a darshan, you can also learn how rich the presiding deity is. A circular issued by the state government’s Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department has directed all the 38,000 temples under its control to display details of properties held by them, the occupants of properties and the names of rent defaulters.

    “We have instructed temple authorities to put up big boards with all the property information along with puja timings, available sevas, names of donors and their contributions. This is to help tourists visiting a temple for the first time to get all the information about it,” HR&CE commissioner P Dhanapal told TOI.

    On April 23 last year, the Madras high court directed the government to collect details about the properties owned by various temples under its control and create a database. This follows a petition filed by Swamy Govinda Ramanujadasa, president of the Chennai-based International Sri Vaishnava Dharma Sumraksahna Society. Ramanujadasa informed the court that temples in Tamil Nadu own about 4.78 lakh acres of land worth thousands of crores of rupees. Though temples are endowed with such valuable assets, most are unable to conduct even one puja daily because they don’t get much revenue out of these properties, he said. The revenue department, which is in possession of the land records, must pass on the details to the HR&CE department so that for necessary action can be taken to get back lands under illegal occupation.

    The HR&CE began collecting information about the properties owned by each temple and in the process, it also instructed authorities to display the property details along with the daily puja routine on the premises, said Dhanapal. Right now, temples under the Salem division of the HR&CE have begun putting up boards with all the information. Others are likely to follow suit soon.

    The department, which was recently attached to the tourism department, has also instructed major temples to put up signboards in public places like bus stands, police stations, railway stations and other prominent places giving directions and details like distance from important locations.

    Recently, some boards that contained directions to the Meenakshi Amman temple in English, Hindi and Tamil in Madurai were vandalised and the authorities were made to remove them.      “Such incidents are rare and boards are being installed with information about the temple in prominent towns,” said Dhanapal.

So there will be Boards that will explain the temple’s history and also the extent of property under its control

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/How-rich-is-the-Lord-Board-will-tell/articleshow/18942363.cms

After reading the news, one cannot but ask….  

The website of ‘The Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department’ states that : The management and control of the temples and the administration of their endowments is one of the primary responsibilities of the State . A number of measures have been undertaken prior to the year 1925 for efficient control and supervision of the administratin of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments.HRCE.  In the Act 1 of 1925, the Government constituted "the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Board"

Now there are highly paid Officers and Staff – administering the temple…… but unfortunately, they still do not know the property owned by the temples, leave alone the correct way of administration – the simple step of collecting proper revenue.  Recently, in some temples the list of defaulters were displayed….. the rents are measly absolutely not in tune with the present day property rates…… No body on earth would rent out property for such small measly amounts and yet lakhs of rupees remain unpaid or rather uncollected.  It is common knowledge that even those Temples for which vast landed property had been donated in the past by various donors do not get proper revenue……… are all these the basic responsibility – the very purpose of existence of administrators in such temple…… and when such arrears exist, why no action is being taken against those Officers who are failing in their basic duty.

Only Gold alone can save the Temples !!

With regret – Allikkeni Mainthan.

Sethu Samudram ~ does not make nautical sense too......

In this great land of Bharatha Varsha,  often the sentiments are ridiculed ~ while they would dare not when it comes to other religions…

Ram Sethu is in news again…… Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project (சேதுக்கால்வாய் திட்டம்)  proposing to link  the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar between India and Sri Lanka is  ill-conceived, totally unviable project.   The project involves digging a 44.9 nautical mile (83 km) long deepwater channel linking the shallow water of the Palk Strait with the Gulf of Mannar.

Those who support this have other interests but for Hindus, this is a sacred place associated with Lord Rama Himself.   After years of lull, the Centre has tried to spark off a fresh political row, BJP has reiterated its stand against any tampering of the Ram Sethu saying it is a symbol of cultural and spiritual heritage.  The UPA government had recently rejected the Pachauri panel report that says the project, which will cut through Ram Sethu, was not feasible on economic and ecological grounds.

Maintaining that it concerned Hindu sentiments, BJP’s spokesperson said "the story of India is incomplete without Ram and the story of Ram is incomplete without the Ram Sethu".  Recall your memory that Six years ago, the Centre created a flutter by filing an affidavit doubting the existence of Ram Sethu and Lord Rama in its response to the petition challenging the dredging of the geographical feature, now referred scientifically as Adam's Bridge. But, it  hurriedly withdrew the affidavit from the apex court to quell a raging controversy over its stand.

Janata Party leader Shri  Subramanian Swamy  the most intelligent person has fought for this singularly and has done yeoman service protecting the cause of Hindus of the Nation.  He wrote to the PM  exposing the ‘Himalayan fraud and monumental folly of Sethusamudram project’.

Away from the political side, here is an article reproduced from Rediff.com,  of  an Indian Naval Officer who clearly exposes the wrongly conceived plan

With regards – Allikkeni Mainthan..

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The Sethu Samudram does not make nautical sense'

October 01, 2007 18:24 IST

Continuing our series on the Sethu Samudram Shipping Canal Project, Shobha Warrier speaks to Captain (retired) H Balakrishnan of the Indian Navy to know a mariner's view of the project. Captain Balakrishnan has been associated with the navy for 32 years.

He was one of the first batch of three Indian naval officers to do specialisation in anti-submarine warfare in the erstwhile USSR Naval War College. Out of interest, he did a study on the Sethu Samudram Shipping Canal Project from a mariner's point of view. Ever since the series appeared in the Indian Express, the captain has been much sought after for his interesting calculations.

Why did you get interested in the Sethu Samudram Shipping Canal Project?

I don't belong to any political party. It was purely a mariner's interest that made me research the project. There were many reports and statements in the media but I found that the mariner's point of view was not talked about at all. It is sad that even today the entire discourse on the project has got completely side tracked from the main issue; that is, the project is for ships and the shipping industry.

As a mariner, how do you describe the Sethu Samudram project?

The Sethu Samudram project, if I can put it simply from a mariner's stand point, does not make any nautical sense.

Why do you say so?

I have worked on the project from three different perspectives, all concerning the nautical world. I analysed the project in the backdrop of the environmental factors that would impinge the safety of the ship and also the safety of lives at sea. Number two was the security aspects which is maritime terrorism as it stands today. And the third was certain aspects of general navigation.

What does your research on the environmental factors say?

We mariners call the coast between Rameswaram and Cuddalore the cyclone coast. The India Meteorological Department has assigned this coastline as a high risk probability. To site one example, in 1964, the Pamban Bridge was washed away by a severe cyclonic storm.

A ship is safe when she is moving at the onset of a cyclone. Imagine a ship waiting to pick up its pilot as it approaches the Palk Straits to enter Sethu Samudram. No captain will wait for the pilot; his safety lies in heading south, towards Sri Lanka. 

The wind and waves bring in a large amount of silt and wash it ashore. The same thing is going to happen to the Sethu Samudram Canal. This brings me to another point. Marine scientists have identified five areas on the Indian coastline they call high-sinkage pits, and one of them happens to be the Palk Straits.

What is left unsaid by the Sethu Samudram authorities is that maintaining the 12 metre depth (of the channel) will entail round the year dredging. Once you establish the channel, you have to maintain it.

You mean other than the capital expenditure, there will be maintenance expenditure too. Will that be expensive?

Naturally. But this cost is not mentioned anywhere. This is the hidden cost which the authorities will have to pay to the dredging company. It is a high siltation and sedimentation area. So, what you pick up today is going to get filled up the next day.

What is the security threat you spoke about?

The Sea Tigers of the LTTE have control of that area off the Jaffna coast. What the Sea Tigers may do is difficult to say. Piracy exists even today.

Those who are against the project say the 12 metre depth of the Canal is not enough for big ships to pass through the canal. As a mariner, what is your opinion on this?

It is quite true. If you take global shipping trends today, to reduce operating cost, they go in for larger ships of the order of 60,000 deadweight tonnes and above. A 60,000 deadweight tonne carrier will need anything in excess of 17 metres of draft.

And as far as tankers go, the days of the super tanker are gone and you see only very large crude carriers of the type of 150,000 and 185,000 tonnes. It makes more sense to have such big tankers as in one voyage, you are bringing in more cargo and reduce your operating cost.

None of these big ships will ever be able to use the Sethu Samudram. So, the question is, for whom are you building the canal? 30,000 tonnes was alright when Sethu Samudram was conceived in the early fifties and the sixties.

That leaves you with only the coastal bulk carriers that carry coal from Kolkata, Paradeep and Visakhapatanam to Chennai or Tuticorin.

How much time and money are saved if the ships go through the Sethu Samudram Canal instead of going round Sri Lanka?

I plotted physically on a chart what we call 'passage planning' for a bulk carrier on passage as it happens today from Kolkata to Tuticorin; one of them circumnavigating Sri Lanka as is happening today and the other one going through the canal.

The voyage distance from Kolkata to Tuticorin around Sri Lanka works out to 1227 nautical miles. If you went through the canal, it is 1098 nm. So, you are saving just 120 odd nm.

The story doesn't end there. The majority of our bulk carriers go at a speed between 12 and 13 knots. That is the average speed at sea. I have checked with my friends who currently sail. They all said they do 12 knots. However, I worked in a bracket of 12-15 knots. So, if you are going around Sri Lanka at 12 knots at constant speed at sea, the time taken to reach outer anchorage at Tuticorin is 102 hours and 15 minutes.

When you go through Sethu Samudram, the point to be remembered is, you cannot proceed at the speed at which you are sailing at sea. The reason is the shallow water effect or what we call the 'Squat Effect'. So, the moment you enter Sethu Samudram, you have to reduce the sped by 50 per cent or more depending on the conditions prevailing at that particular time. So, I worked on a speed bracket of 6-8 knots. But many of my friends tell me 8 knots is too high for a 30,000 tonne bulk carrier. In all my calculations, I gave the benefit of doubt to the Sethu Samudram project.

The second aspect is, it is not an open seaway; it is like entering a port. A pilot boards the ship, who is a local mariner with greater knowledge of the marine environment. The same thing has to be done at Sethu Samudram also. I have given one hour delay for the ship to reduce speed for the pilot to climb aboard. You repeat the process at the other end too for him to disembark.

With this 6 knots speed and 2 hours pilotage delay, my time to Tuticorin via Sethu Samudram works out to 100 hours 30 minutes. If you went around Sri Lanka, it is 102 hours 15 minutes! So, your net savings in time by going through Sethu Samudram is 1 hour 45 minutes! Is it worth spending Rs 2,400 crore to save 1 hour 45 minutes?

You spoke of travel time. What about the cost?

The Sethu Samudram project from the media reports and the statement given by the finance minister will cost at Rs 2,400 crore, of which Rs 971 crore is through a special purpose vehicle. The debt portion has been pegged at Rs 1,465 crore. Assuming an interest burden of 10 per cent, the interest payment on Rs 1,465 crore is Rs 146 crore per annum. Twenty to 25 years is the time given for repayment.

Assuming 25 years for Rs 1,465 crore, capital repayment works out about 56 crore per annum. So, Rs 146 crore for interest burden and Rs 56 crore as repayment works out to roughly Rs 204 crore per annum which is what the authorities will have to repay to any financial institution. This is only to break-even. But the web site says it is a profitable industry and it is going to make 'mammoth profit'.

As the earning is going to come only from ships, I asked, how many ships are going to transit in a year through the canal? Ships that can use the canal will be coal carrying bulk carriers as long as the Tuticorin thermal power plant exists.

Having made the calculation, I feel they are rather optimistic in their figures. They have given a mean value of about 3,055 ships meant to use the canal in the year 2008 and by the year 2025, they expect it to go to in excess of 7,000 ships. Mind you, for 12 metres of depth! But I can't see more than 1,000 ships using the Sethu Samudram canal in a year.

If you take Rs 204 crore as annual repayment, and 1,000 ships use it, your per ship cost works out to Rs 22 lakhs pilotage charge to break even. There is an interesting comparison done by K S Ramakrishnan, former deputy chairman, Chennai Port Trust. He pegs around Rs 50 lakh as pilotage rate per ship if you have to make a  profit.

Then I calculated the fuel consumed. These ships consume 1 metric tonne of fuel per hour, which costs Rs 24,000. For the Sethu Samudram canal, you have to add the pilotage cost too. In effect, if a ship goes through the canal, a shipping company loses Rs 19 lakh per voyage. It is more cost effective to circumnavigate Sri Lanka from the point of view of the shipping industry.

Therefore, neither are you saving time nor is it viable economically. These are the two aspects that need to be highlighted. So, there is absolutely no advantage to the ships and the shipping industry. So, what are we gaining by spending Rs 2,400 crore of tax payers' money? It is a white elephant in the making.

So, you must be against realignment which some political parties are talking about…

Any course, any realignment, is going to prove uneconomical to the shipping industry. If it is of no use to the shipping industry, why build it? You can bring about better economic progress to the southern districts of Tamil Nadu by building expressways. That is why I say the Sethu Samudram shipping canal project makes no nautical sense. That is the tragedy of the project.

Those who support the Sethu Samudram Canal compare it to the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal and say the Sethu Samudram is the Suez of the East.

In the case of the Suez and the Panama canals, ships save thousands of nautical miles in sailing distance and hundreds of hours in sailing time vis-à-vis the Sethu Samudram where a ship will probably save a few hundred miles and at the most twohours in sailing time. This is the difference.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/oct/01inter.htm?sc_cid=emailshare&invitekey=8115128bea8f40b6c8f062cd11ade693&err_accptd=1

Masi Magam - Divine Gods at Marina Beach..

God is everywhere………

On the day of Masi Magam [25th Feb 2013], there was the congregation of so many Gods at Vanga kadal [Marina beach].  On this holy occasion, Presiding deities of various Temples visit the water bodies – Rivers and Seas.

The sands of Marina was a virtual congregation of so many Lords.  There was Sri  Parthasarathi on Garuda; Mylapore Madhavaperumal; Srinivasa Perumal from Egmore on Garuda vahanam.

Devotees were so blessed to have darshan of so many Gods at the same place.  There were:

v     Arulmigu Ellai Amman from Triplicane nearer Ice House

v     Arulmigu Ellai Amman [Renuka Parameswari Thirukovil at Zam Bazar]

v     Arulmigu Thiruvatteeswarar

v     Arulmigu Kamakala Kameshwarar

v     Arulmigu Veerabadreswarar from Mylai

v     Arulmigu Amman from Komaleeswaranpettai

………….. and more….

Thousands of devotees were there on the shores of Marina seeking divine blessings accompanying the Lord  and taking holy dip in the Sea which also seemingly was happy on seeing large crowds and Gods and Goddesses.

A holy congregation at the beach.

Love all; be religious and follow your religious practices without fail.  When God is there, there is nothing to fear and God will guide us in all our endeavours.

Allikkeni Mainthan

  Arulmigu Ellai Amman from Triplicane nearer Ice House

  Arulmigu Kamakala Kameshwarar

 Arulmigu Renuka Parameswari Amman

 Arulmigu Veerabadreswarar

Don't collect fees for darshan in Temples ~ says Devotees

This happens only in Hindu Temples ~ on Special days, thousands of devotees throng to Temples to have darshan with unshaken belief and faith…. There they are made to stand in long queues..  the HR&CE which administers Temples in Tamilnadu never cares to make any facility for the devotees even in Temples where the income is in Crores. But instead fix rates for Special darshan.

There are long Queues which are known as ‘Sarva darshan’ ~ then there are Special darshan which are as high as Rs.100/- per person or more.  Think of the poor devotee coming with his family including parents – if there are 15, they can ill-afford Rs.1500/- and are made to wait long hours – while those with money are provided faster darshan.  Worser still,  the Queues are often by-passed by those mighty and powerful taken in by touts and others who make fast buck…

Temples are religious places ~ not places for making some rich ~ definitely not the place where there would be inequalities ~ should not be disparity in treatment on the basis of their wealth…..

Hindu Munnani has been opposing this system of ‘Paid darshan’ and have been protesting in many forms, most of their appeals are falling in deaf ears. Now  more than 13 lakhs devotees have joined the signature campaign.

Hope sanity prevails and Sanctum Sanctorums are kept open for all ~ no disparity between rich and poor.

Let us all support Thiru Rama Gopalan who has been relentlessly fighting the cause of  Hindus and support Hindu Munnani in all their endeavours.

Thiruvallikkeni Mainthan

Special thanks to Dinamalar of date [17^th Jan 2013] for this report.  

கோவில்களில், தரிசனத்திற்காக கட்டணம் வசூலிப்பதற்கு எதிராக, நடத்தப்பட்ட கையெழுத்து இயக்கத்தில், 13 லட்சம் பக்தர்கள் கையெழுத்திட்டு, எதிர்ப்பு தெரிவித்துள்ளனர்.தமிழகத்தில், இந்து சமய அறநிலையத்துறையின் கட்டுப்பாட்டில், மூன்று லட்சத்திற்கும் மேற்பட்ட கோவில்கள் உள்ளன. இதில், முக்கிய நாட்களின் போது, தரிசனத்திற்கு கட்டணம் வசூலிப்பது வழக்கம்.குறிப்பாக, வைகுண்ட ஏகாதசி, தை பூசம், சிவராத்திரி போன்ற முக்கிய நாட்களில், பக்தர்கள் லட்சக்கணக்கில் கூடுவர். இந்நாட்களில், கோவில்களில் கட்டண அடிப்படையில், தனித்தனி வரிசைகளை, இந்து சமய அறநிலையத்துறை ஏற்படுத்தும்.இதன் மூலமாக, ஒவ்வொரு சிறப்பு நாட்களிலும், பல கோடி ரூபாய் அரசுக்கு 

வருவாய் கிடைக்கிறது. பல ஆண்டுகளாக நடந்து வரும், கட்டண வ‹லிப்பிற்கு பக்தர்கள் மத்தியில், எதிர்ப்பு கிளம்பியுள்ளது.இதுகுறித்து, பக்தர்கள் கூறுகையில், "சிறப்பு தரிசனம் என்ற பெயரில், பல ஆயிரங்கள் கொட்டிக் கொடுக்கும், பணக்காரர்களுக்கு சிறப்பு வரிசை ஏற்படுத்தப்படுகிறது.இறைவனின் முன்னால் அனைவரும் சமம். எனவே, இந்த பாகுபாட்டை அரசே கடைபிடிப்பது, மக்களுக்கு மட்டுமல்ல; மதத்திற்கும் எதிரானது' என்றனர்.கட்டண முறை தரிŒனத்துக்கு, பக்தர்களின் எதிர்ப்பை அரசுக்கு தெரிவிக்க, இந்து முன்னணியின் சார்பில், கையெழுத்து இயக்கம் நடத்தப்பட்டது. இதுவரை, 13 லட்சம் பக்தர்கள், கோவில்களில் தரிசனத்திற்கும்,  கட்டணம் வாங்குவதற்கும் எதிர்ப்பு தெரிவித்து, கையெழுத்திட்டு, தங்களின் எதிர்ப்பை பதிவு செய்துள்ளனர்.இதுகுறித்து, இந்து முன்னணி நிர்வாகிகள் கூறியதாவது:இந்து சமய அறநிலையத்துறையின் மூலம் வரும் வருவாயை, கோவில்செயல்பாடுகளுக்கு செலவிட வேண்டும். 

ஆனால், அரசு கோடி கோடியாய் வ‹லித்துவிட்டு, பக்தர்களுக்கு எதுவும் செய்யவில்லை.பக்தர்களின் மொத்த எதிர்ப்பையும், அரசின் கவனத்திற்கு கொண்டு செல்வதற்காக, நடத்தப்பட்ட கையெழுத்து இயக்கத்தில், 13 லட்சம் பக்தர்கள் கையெழுத்திட்டுள்ளனர். ஒரு கோடி பக்தர்களிடம் கையெழுத்து பெற்று, அரசிடம் சமர்ப்பிப்போம்.இவ்வாறு, அவர்கள் தெரிவித்தனர்.
- நமது நிருபர் -