The Narendra Modi thread

[BeautifulGame]

In Hindi medium school in UP and UK' date=' we still study Sanskrit till 10+2. It becomes one of the three papers of Hindi from 9th to 12th.[/quote'] Compulsory paper?

[Number]

Oh god. First that Ganga aarti followed by Kashi Vishvanath pooja and now this. Communists ko aisi aag lagi hogi ki 5 saal paani ki baalti mein duboke baithenge.

[surajmal]

An entire ecosystem has to be created for Sanskrit to gain traction. So we are fair ways away. But since, it is the only true pan Indian (or as pan Indian as one gets) indic language, it needs to be backed.

[Sachin=GOD]

The news that Modi will take oath in Sanskrit came on just one news channel a few hours ago - since then there's been nothing about it anywhere. So its probably a rumor.....no need to have such a looooong discussion :headshake:

[Yoda-esque]

Even if he did,there's no issue

[Tiger80]

I am grateful to Modi that he has accepted me as his wife, Jashodaben says

AHMEDABAD: As Narendra Modi gets ready to take oath as Prime Minister, his wife Jashodaben said she is extremely happy over his ascent to the top post and that he accepted her for the first time as his spouse. "It is a matter of extreme happiness for me. I am so proud being his wife. I will pray to the God that he keeps surging ahead," Jashodaben said in an interview to Gujarati Channel 'TV9', aired on Wednesday. She also expressed gratitude to Modi as he "accepted" her as his wife in the nomination papers filed for Lok Sabha election this time. "He (Modi) for the first time accepted me as his wife when he filed the form in Vadodara in 2014. As after so many years, he accepted me as his wife, I feel good. He remembers me even after so many years," she said. Modi's first-time acknowledgement of his married status had sparked off a row during the campaign. READ ALSO: Jashodaben is my wife, Modi admits under oath "Earlier, he did not put my name (in election forms) but he never denied (that they were married). He never spoke bad things about me. I have respect for him. I am his wife and will always remain his wife," she said. "What he did after becoming chief minister was impeccable. This is his 'karma' which helps him surge ahead. He surged ahead through his intelligence. Both his work and intelligence made him a big leader," she added. To a question about their living separately, she said "we have not divorced, we are not separated in that way. We are together. He left the family to serve the country and so we are separated." "When the time will come, I will go," she said in a curt reply when asked when she would meet him. Asked if she would attend the swearing-in ceremony, she said, "I will attend if I am invited, why should not I." READ ALSO: Jashodaben 'on pilgrimage' as media looks for her Jashodaben is a retired schoolteacher. Modi, who was married to her when both were minor, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/I-am-grateful-to-Modi-that-he-has-accepted-me-as-his-wife-Jashodaben-says/articleshow/35527075.cmsleft home and the family when he was a youngster and later joined RSS.

[Texan]

Modi donates 21 lakhs of personal savings for educating Gujarat staff's daughters

Narendra Modi's Parting Gift: Rs. 21 Lakh for Educating Gujarat Staff's Daughters As a parting gift to the cause of girl education in his home state, Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi has donated Rs. 21 lakh from his personal savings to create a corpus fund for educating daughters of drivers and peons working with the Gujarat government. A foundation would be set up for the administration of the corpus fund under Chief Minister Anandiben Patel and the Chief Secretary. "Before leaving Gujarat, I gave Rs. 21 lakh from my personal savings to educate daughters of drivers & peons working with Guj Govt, (sic)" Mr Modi tweeted. In another tweet, he said, "An issue very close to me is educating the girl child. As CM, I always looked forward to Kanya Kelavani Abhiyan across Gujarat." He said the corpus fund will "hopefully grow in future and empower our daughters". Mr Modi had initiated the Kanya Kelavani campaign in Gujarat for ensuring girl child education. He had raised Rs. 89.96 crore by auctioning all gifts he received as chief minister and donated this to the Kanya Kelavani Fund.

http://www.ndtv.com/elections/article/election-2014/narendra-modi-s-parting-gift-rs-21-lakh-for-educating-gujarat-staff-s-daughters-529877?pfrom=home-topstories

[adi B]

Good initiative taken by modi. Paisa to hath ka mail hai,Khaali hath aaye hai,Khaali hath Jana hai.

[gattaca]

:hatsoff: did the fake Gandhis ever donate anything ?

[Desi Cartman]

:hatsoff: did the fake Gandhis ever donate anything ?

they are themselves poor and have very few assets :orderorder:

[gattaca]

An Israeli's view on Modi

The world needs more leaders like India's incoming PM, not because of his checkered past, but because we need to not fear national, linguistic and religious pride and nation-states that respect their origins. Narendra Modi Indian leader Narendra Modi, the prime ministerial candidate for India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Photo: REUTERS As it became clear that Narendra Modi of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was going to win big in India’s massive national elections commentators began to read the tea leaves. Some looked to Israel. “Israel’s best friend in South Asia,†Palash Ghosh at International Business Times declared. Noting that the countries only established relations in 1991, he argued that the BJP had been an architect of warmer Israel ties in the early 2000s and pointed to Israeli business relationships that Modi had cultivated in Gujarat, where he was state governor since 2001. But outside of the realm of practical economic and political ties, the real reason Modi matters, in terms of Israel and other countries, are shared affinities for preserving uniqueness in a globalized multi-cultural world. Both India and Israel are nation states emphasizing a national and ancient religion. The BJP and Modi are often derided in the media as “hardline.†The BBC, for instance, claimed that “the Hindu hardline party’s poster boy is often called the BJPS’s brightest star.†The party is described as “Hindu nationalist†and “right wing.†This is in order to separate it from the party the media, in India and abroad, has adored; the Congress party that has been run by the Nehru-Gandhi (no relation to Mahatma Gandhi) family since independence. In essence this royal dynasty of Nehru Gandhi (prime minister 1947-64), his daughter Indira Gandhi (prime minister 1966-77, 1980-84), her son Rajiv Gandhi (prime minister 1984-87), his Italian wife Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi have sought to turn India into a personal fiefdom. Indira Gandhi was not averse to using all the powers of the state to enforce her rule through a “state of emergency†declared from 1975-77 in which India basically became a one-party dictatorship; tossing opposition politicians into prison through “administrative detention.†During that time the government rolled out a “family planning†sterilization program that affected millions and was criticized as semi-compulsory for how it targeted the poor. Under Congress India pursued ill-thought-out “five year plans,†along the lines of typical socialist experiments, that led to economic failure, chronic corruption and economic stagnation. Mass unrest also plagued the country; Indira Gandhi ordered the military to raid the Sikh Golden Temple at Amritsar in Operation Blue Star in 1984, in revenge for which her Sikh bodyguards murdered her. Rajiv Gandhi’s involvement in the Sri Lankan civil war also resulted in his assassination by Tamil extremists. In comparison the BJP party, which was founded in 1980, sought to provide India a mooring in its ancient and gloried Hindu history. In an article in The Nation, the author, Bob Dreyfus, claims we should “worry about the election of Modi†because he was once a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a massive volunteer society, sometimes called “paramilitary,†which claims five million active members and runs 27,000 schools. The organization claims that, “the RSS is a pro-Hindu organization, and being pro-Hindu doesn’t mean it is anti-Muslim or anti-Christian. In fact the basic founding principle of the RSS is ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ – the vision of the whole world as one family. The guiding principles towards this vision are voluntary service to the nation for socio-economic welfare and development.†The BBC has a different take: “t was founded in the 1920s with a clear objective to make India a Hindu nation, [and] functions as an ideological fountainhead to a host of hardline Hindu groups.†The ideological underpinning of Modi’s origins and the RSS are the concept of Hinduvta (“Hindunessâ€). When Modi went to Varanasi, a Hindu holy city, in April, he placed a garland around a statue of Swami Vivekananda, a Hindu monk who led a national awakening in the late 19th century. One author writes that he “sought to place Hinduism within the context of resurgent nationalism’ and emerged ‘as a proponent of a strong, virile and militant ideal of the Hindu nation.†Alongside Vivekananda’s more humanistic nationalism, there emerged thinkers who articulated a tougher stance. Madhav Sadashiv Golwalker claimed: “We were the good, the enlightened people. We were the people who knew about the laws of nature and the laws of the spirit. We built a great civilization, a great culture and a unique social order.†Another leader of Hindutva was Syama Prasad Mookerjee, one-time minister of industry; he died in a prison cell in Kashmir, having been arrested while protesting for the rights of Hindus to live in the disputed province. ONE HAS to understand Hindutva against the backdrop of its struggles. It began as a movement to revive the gloried history of Hindu rule in India against the backdrop of British colonial rule, which many Hindus saw as eroding their status and harming their religion and culture. During the independence struggle these activists objected to Gandhi’s seeming appeasement of Muslim nationalists. In the period before independence many Muslims demanded not only autonomy but also requested the Indian National Congress support various Muslim causes, such as the resurrection of the caliphate after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in 1918. Mookerjee, for instance, witnessed the mass slaughter of Hindus in Bengal in 1946 during the Noakhali massacres, when Muslim mobs, fed by rumors at the end of Eid al Fitr, attacked Hindus in the lead-up to the partition of Bengal into what became Bangladesh. Gandhi’s response was to tour the area and speak about peace, but those like Mookerjee understood that when partition came, mass violence would result and fasting and talk of peace would not help. What the Hindutva activists demanded, especially after India was partitioned and seven million Hindus and Sikhs were ethnically cleansed from Pakistan and Bangladesh, was that India represent its Hindu past. In essence they could not understand why Pakistan became a Muslim state, full of Muslim nationalist and Islamist parties and suppression of minorities, while the one Hindu majority state in the world had to be a fully multi-cultural and secular state. While advocating for the primacy of Hindi as a language and greater reverence to the country’s Hindu past; they were active against the slaughter of cows, and other issues. They also demanded that the country stop providing special status for Muslim personal law (such as the right of a man to divorce his wife by saying “I divorce you†three times). They demanded a uniform civil code so that minority groups would not have special personal and marriage laws while the majority Hindus had to live under a secular legal system. In 1992 many Hindutva activists participated in the attempt to reclaim the Ayodha Babri Masjid, a mosque built over a Hindu temple in 1528. The resulting riots led to the destruction of the mosque; but not the rebuilding of the Temple, which has been caught up in archeological debates and legal tangles. Modi has not stressed this controversial past in his election campaign. He has always lived under the shadow of the Gujarat massacres of 2002 where Hindus and Muslims rioted and many Muslims were killed in the state he governed. Accusations that he was responsible through negligence, as Ariel Sharon had been accused with regard to Sabra and Shatilla, led to him being denied a visa to the US in 2006. He has talked more about “integral humanism†and his party’s dedication to “create a strong, self-reliant and prosperous India,†while using tame words such as “drawing inspiration from our ancient culture and ethos.†He focused on his humble origins, as a poor tea-seller at a railway station, and how he turned Gujarat into an economic miracle. Voters agreed: “Congress has been in power since independence, they say all the right things, but look at the condition of the country,†one told The New York Times. The Congress party talked about the “right to food†for the poor and more subsidies, but Modi talked about an India where people don’t need subsidies and bread handouts because they will be living a better life free from the shackles of socialism. Congress romanticized rural India, while its elites live ensconsed in wealth, while Modi was from urban India and is seen as understanding the burgeoning urban classes. In many ways the demonization of Modi and Hindutva is similar to that which Israel’s Right, national-religious sectors and Zionism have been subjected to. Both Israel and India were born the same year, and while Jews and Hindus were expelled from Muslim states, they saw demands that their countries function as liberal multi-cultural states next to a mass of Muslim nations that are unabashedly religious and nationalist. The insinuation is that it is somehow wrong or “hardline right wing†to have an avowedly Jewish or Hindu state. For instance, commentators claim that Modi will antagonize relations with Pakistan – without asking why Pakistan bankrolled the terrorists who murdered 164 people in Mumbai. No one blamed Pakistan’s “moderate†leaders for antagonizing India. The world needs more leaders like Modi, not because of his checkered past, but because we need to not fear national, linguistic and religious pride and nation-states that respect their origins. And minorities need Modi too; because for all the talk of the secular and socialist elites; they did nothing for India’s Muslims except keep them in poverty and reliant always on government.

dont know why western media is so against modi. Israeli seems to understand more about india than them. http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Terra-Incognita-Why-Modi-matters-352638

[Muloghonto]

sanskrit still has 14000 speakers at least, not to mention it is taught very widely across India. So what makes it different from pali ardhanagri is that the latter is totally extinct. Of course there is the little matter of body of work existing in both languages, please correct me if am wrong.

Actually the body of works that exist from ancient times is far, far greater in ardhamagadhi than in any other ancient indian language. The reason being, ardhamagadhi was the transitional language between Sanskrit and magadhi (which later became bhojpuri hindi) existing around 700s BCE to 200s CE, prevalent around bihar/bengal, the seat of ancient Indian learning & politics, as such, many many ancient Indian scientific stuff is actually in ardhamagadhi or its close relatives. Sanskrit does not have that much literature attached to it, except for the hindu body of literature, which are the vedas, gita(mahabharata), puranas, etc.There are some scientific treateses in sanskrit-surya siddhanta/ aryabhatiya for eg, but not that many. IMO, Sanskrit language competency is relevant only to the extremely religious or the academics. Its existence as a post secondary language course, is perhaps justifiable. But in school systems, it is not. Our kids have to learn too much already in Indian schooling system, so much so that it comes at the frightful cost of having any extracurricular life if 90% of us want to do well in academics. There is no need to encumber them further with a language that strictly speaking, serves no practical purpose to their life or their careers. Even if one wanted to be good at it for personal reasons or future academics, they can make-do with post secondary courses, but seriously, how dumb is it to want kids to learn a language that there is no purpose for, except for reading religious texts or researching ancient history ?

Now coming to learning: Let me ask you as far as practicality is concerned, we study algebra, trigonometry, integral calculus etc at school - how many of us use it on a day-to-day basis after finishing education? Does anybody even bother about it these days other than a small minority of mathematicians or scientists? But would it make sense if someone comes and say well its not used by anybody so lets scrap it altogether?

I do not like this analogy. While math may not be used by most of us, math is a type of knowledge. Sanskrit is not a type of knowledge, it is a type of language. Sanskrit in itself offers nothing, just a medium of communication. Math in itself offers something as far as concepts go. So while one can argue that learning concepts that are not used by 99% of us is redundant, it is still a bunch of concepts learnt that can come in handy. With sanskrit, its a matter of learning a medium of instruction/communication that has very little practical use because so few speak it. Its like saying lets learn math in samoyedic, not english. To do so would be totally redundant.

I would not use the word "abandon" - it was not abandoned but evolved, and mixed with other languages forming totally new languages. For example - malayalam is a direct mix between tamil and sanskrit - there are many terms common to both malayalam and sanskrit.

Most of sanskrits descendant languages, such as north indian languages, are not evolutions of sanskrit but debasement of it, simply because sanskrit grammar is a bit cumbersome and totally doesnt lend itself to colloqualism, which is how a language survives/changes through time. Even at the height of sanskritic age, namely the pre-empire Indian scene of Buddha, Mahavira and all, the prakrit languages were the spoken form, while sanskrit existed from a ritual and strictly official decree form. So you see, sanskrit is not a language that lends itself to easy everyday use which is why our ancestors went away from it in the first place.

Now why should I learn sanskrit? In short: a. It is my mother tongue's mother tongue - Understanding that language vastly improves comprehension and understand of my own language

If your idea is to improve understanding of your language, you'd be far better served with learning linguistics than a language. linguistics explores the language families, the reason behind their groupings, the syntax of a language, etc.

b. Body of knowledge - There is a tremendous body of language - of literature and others in sanskrit - bhagavad geethe for example is still practised world around in Sanskrit - but I doubt how many of them really are able to appreciate without knowing its meaning? Understanding sanskrit alleviates the need of translators and helps one to read and comprehend and make one's own interpretation - Now please don't tell me readers of bhagavad geetha are in a micro minority. Add to that various other works and its a literal treasure out there waiting to be explored and publicised. I can only laugh at your presumption that there is only 100 books or so in sanskrit that it need not be learnt at all. So do what? Burn all these?

Who said burn all these ? I am no destroyer of knowledge. let those books be, but the purpose of those books are served through translations that already exist. True, sanskrit improves your understanding of the hindu body of literature.but beyond it, there is little for sanskrit to offer IMO.

c. Sentimental reasons - Yeah, one's parents when they get older, say over 60 yrs old, become inefficient from an economic viewpoint. What if someone comes and argues, well chuck them, put them into an old age home - they are after all not contributing anything, and you are clinging on to them just for sentimental reasons, so let's do it shall we? Or would you? ;)

You have a direct link to your parents, sanskrit does not have a direct link to you- you didnt grow up speaking it, learning it or communicating it. Its a bit like would you go maintain the samadhi of your ancestors 20 generations ago ? Well, some of us might, but for most of us, ancestors in such distant past mean nothing.

[Yoda-esque]

1. Salary Rs. 20,000/- per month 2. Constituency Allowance Rs. 18,000/- per month 3. Sumpatuary Allowance Rs. 4,000/- per month 4. Daily Allowance Rs. 1,000/- per day during the whole of his/her term. 5. Reimbursement o Electricity charges at residences Chief Minister-maximum upto 5000 electric units consumed per month. Ministers-Maximum upto 3000 electric units consumed per month. 6. Traveling Facilities Reimbursement of actual expenditure annually upto a maximum of Rs. 50,000 on travel within India for self and members of the family. 7. Residence Facility Rent free furnished residence of Rs. 20,000/- p.m. or ratable value of his/her own house or the rent or the Rent paid by his/her whichever is the least. 8. Conveyance Free use of a Motor Car with services of a Chauffeur and petrol for the car upto a maximum of 700 ltrs. Per month. In case of use of his own motor car is opted, will be entitled to conveyance allowance of Rs. 2,000/- per month. 9. Medical Facilities Free medical treatment and/or reimbursement and free accommodation in all hospitals run by the Government and all other panel or referral hospitals empanelled or declared as such by the government in accordance with the Medical Attendance Rules and the DGEHS as amended from time to time on priority basis as available to Group –A officers of the highest grade of the Government, provided that a compulsory monthly contribution shall be levied from every MLA at the same rate as would be payable by a Group-A officer of the highest grade of the Government which shall be recoverable from the monthly salary bill of the Minister. 10. Reimbursement of Data Entry Operator Salary Rs. 30,000/- per mensem (Reimbursable for two Data Entry Operators @ Rs. 15,000/- p.m. to each). So let's say 30lakhs approximately. :hmmm: can manufacture half a doctor :two_thumbs_up: Unless allowances are included too in what he is donating.....aap fans :shout:

Close,it is 21 lakhs

[SLICKR392]

No knowledge is a waste.

++ The reasons to have a swing at Modi here is hilarious.

[rkt.india]

Compulsory paper?

Yeah. 3 papers of Hindi of 32, 32, 36 marks. First is Third one is Sanskrit.

[surajmal]

Mr Modi had initiated the Kanya Kelavani campaign in Gujarat for ensuring girl child education. He had raised Rs. 89.96 crore by auctioning all gifts he received as chief minister and donated this to the Kanya Kelavani Fund.

...

[SLICKR392]

:hatsoff:

[gattaca]

++ The reasons to have a swing at Modi here is hilarious.

So true.

[Number]

dont know why western media is so against modi. Israeli seems to understand more about india than them. http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Terra-Incognita-Why-Modi-matters-352638

Their views are mostly taken from Indian English MSM, where 99% of writers/journalists have termed him as second coming of Hitler.

[asterix]

PM Sharif will be attending the Modi swearing in ceremony... He'll be accompanied by his Foreign Minister... :nice: