Pluto out, mickey mouse in

Recently the scientific community decided to drop Pluto out of the our solar system. Interestingly Indian school of Astronomy and Astrology never considered Pluto as one of the Grahas, not even Neptune or Uranus. We always considered 7 Grahas (hence 7 days a week), 2 shadows (Rahu and Ketu) - a total of 9 Grahas or NavaGraha.

Here is a nice article on the Shrinking of the Solar System and Vedic Astrology - from sify.com.

----------------------------
E K Dhilip Kumar

Author of DIPA Astro Diary
Tuesday, 29 August , 2006, 13:09

Pluto is out. Most people I meet these days are asking me this 1-
dollar question, "Now what does this mean to you and astrology".
First of all, who said we included Pluto? We never gave a place in
your horoscope for even Uranus and Neptune, leave alone the tiny
Pluto which is smaller than the Moon.
Thousands of years ago, unknown to most of the gold medalist MBAs
and MBBSs, in the land of Astrology, the Indian Astronomers were far
ahead of the best Astronomers of today. The ancient seers had listed
1000s of comets in Brihat Samhita along with their names, when
comets were a puzzle to western Astronomers even 400 years ago and
they just saw the "light at the tail" of the comets. The formula by
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) is a duplicate of what our Astrologers
knew 5000 years ago or perhaps much before. Due to the absence of
proper documentation, the credit went to others who came in late but
had the advantage of the print media and European domination. In the
Rig Veda there are statements such as "Oh Sun, you are the centre of
our worlds, you are fixed and unmoving". Sun refers to our Soul, the
unchanging factor in our life.

A child once asked me "Uncle, are you telling the Sun is a planet?"
I replied, "We never call them planets my dear child, we call
them "Grahas". So the Moon is also a Graha and neither a planet nor
a satellite, according to Ancient Astrology. Rahu and Ketu are also
called Grahas, though they are only shadows in the solar system,
which eclipse the Moon and Sun. So there is no confusion. Vedic
Astrology just believes in the seven grahas (loosely referred to as
Planets) and the two shadows called Rahu and Ketu.

Grahaparam Kotayahah Mukya Saptah meaning "We acknowledge the
existence of crores of heavenly bodies but consider only seven" is
linked to Karma and Astrology. How can we know which are the seven
important grahas? If you don't known them, don't worry. You already
know them as the seven days of the week - SUNday, MOONday, TUESday,
WEDNESday, THURSday, FRIday and SATURday.

RAHU and KETU are shadows so they decided to keep them in the
shadows with no corresponding weekdays. In Vedic Astrology, RAHU co-
rules Saturdays, while KETU co-rules Tuesdays.

Sun (Sunday) is the brightest and most important and therefore
listed first in all panchangas even from Lord Rama's time. That is
the 1st day of the week (though a holiday). Next graha in the
panchang is the Moon (Monday), as it is the second most prominent
luminary in the sky. Saturday is linked to Saturn, the farthest
graha in Astrology and hence the last weekday.

My question is simple. Why are the weekdays named after such grahas?
What is the origin of weekdays? Do they not correspond to grahas? If
yes, whenever more planets are discovered do we increase the number
of weekdays in a week? There are 12 months in a year because there
are 12 Janma Rasi as per Vedic Astrology. They discovered the 13th
sign 'Ophiuchus' but did they make it 13 months a year?

Ancient astrology called an Hour as Hora. Please note the close
resemblance. A day is divided into 60 Ghatis and each Ghati is sub
divided into 60 Vighatis. Currently, our clocks have a 60 minutes
and 60 seconds division. One Vighati is 24 seconds, so the ancient
astrologers used the 24-hour clock. What I am trying to tell is that
timings and dates are all based on astrological findings of ancient
India (the oldest civilization).

The planets in your horoscope are not the cause of your destiny as
much as the needles of a clock are not responsible for time. Suppose
a new watch company decides to increase the number of needles in the
clock, what effect will it have on time? If you break your watch,
even then time does not change or cease to exist. If you change the
time by simply turning the needles, does time change?

The seven grahas along with two shadow grahas are used to measure
your Karmic balance brought forward into your current life. Let
Pluto get out or Mickey Mouse come in – there is no effect on Vedic
Astrology because there are only nine grahas in your horoscope and
Vedic Astrology will remain unchanged forever.
----------------------------

Dr Singh better than Vajpayee, says Pakistan

1. Because he is weak :)
2. He didn't have the mandate of the people to become the PM (much like their President) Never won even a municipal election (courtesy Natwar Singh )
3. Quickly cave in to the Internation pressure (see his statements just after the Mumbai blasts and after a few days)
4. The big shift in India's stand vis cross-border terrorism as reflected in the joint statement between Dr Singh and Musharraf from that of Vajpayee and Musharraf.
Vajpayee: Peace process can't continue amidst cross border terrorism
Dr Singh: Peace process will not be affected by terrorist activities

Massive demolition of temples in Bangla: Why is our Govt mum?

By M.V. Kamath in samachar.com

Just think of this: Reports from Dhaka that the Khaleda Zia Government is considering relocating the Dhakeshwari Kali Temple the millennium-old shrine in the heart of the Bangladesh capital that gives the city its very name, has been conveniently suppressed by the English media. The Pioneer (June 9) alone had the courage to write an editorial on the subject.

According to this paper which was a tradition of over 120 years “Islamist parties that are partners in Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s coalition government have demanded that the temple be brought down and shifted to another area”.

“Appropriately” wrote the paper, it will establish Bangladesh’s gradual but certain decline into Islamic extremism and fulfil the ghoulish desire of the Islamists to make it a successor state to Mullah Omar’s Emirate of Afghanistan”, where, it will be remembered, the Islamic fundamentalists disfigured the beautiful mountain statues of the Buddha which had stood the ravages of time, until they became victims of the Islamic whateverone- may-like-to-call-them. But the forthcoming demolition of the Dhakheshwari Temple could not be an isolated event.

According to Taslima Nasrin, quoted by the columnist Praful Goradia, 69 not five, ten, or twenty but sixty nine-temples have been desecrated in Bangladesh in 1990, a clear two years before the Babri episode. Did our liberal, secular English media ever report this massive and deliberate crime? Not on your life. Thereafter, reports Goradia, “over 200 (temples) were martyred”. There is no record of our secular government ever once raising its feeble voice.

On 14 June The Times of India (and some other papers) reported that “the only Hindu temple” in Lahore has been demolished to pave the way for construction of a multi-storied commercial building.

The story was attributed to “agencies”. But within two days the report was contradicted. “The Krishna Temple is in perfect condition. I invite L. K. Advani to visit Lahore and pray at the temple”, Pakistan’s Daily Times quoted Minister for Religious Affairs Ejazul Haq as saying.

Indeed, said Mr Haq, seven lakh rupees had been spent on the temple renovation a few months ago. This report has been sent by UNI. But what are the so-called “agencies”, The Times of India quoted, doing? Is the Krishna Temple still standing? But the demolition of the Krishna Temple presuming that it is in the works, should not surprise anybody.

According to records available since 1947, as many as 244 mandirs, across eleven Pakistani districts have been destroyed and there has not been a squeal from our secular governments in Delhi. The message that Delhi has been sending out is clear:

Hindus do not care about the demolition or their temples and the desecration of their holy sites and the disfigurement of their idols. They had lived under such circumstances for one thousand years and what if a couple of hundred are presently desecrated?

After all, Islamic rulers had demolished over 3,000 odd temples over the centuries during their long and tyrannous rule so what if a few temples are desecrated now?

Our secularism has reached such glorious heights that our liberal, intellectual, secular Hindu `leaders’ get red under their collars if an inconsequential dargah which is not the same as a masjid is sought to be demolished in Vadodara to broaden a road, the dargah being not the only one to suffer that fate since some nineteen other Hindu mandirs also were similarly to be demolished.

But judging from the reaction of our English media it was as if a Hindu army was out to destroy the Jumma Masjid. And Narendra Modi become an instant target for our secularists’ fury.

India maintained an undignified silence when the Bamiyan monuments to Budha were disfigured by Islamic barbarians. What the Bamiyan Buddha is to Afghanistan, the Dhakhaeshwari Temple is to Bangladesh and yet all that one hears from Delhi is a deafening silence. But let some stupid Danish cartoonist dishonour the Prophet, our leaders jump into the fray.

We are secular, aren’t we? We should defend the honour of our minorities, shouldn’t we? This raises and important question: Shouldn’t we raise the question of constructing a temple on the Babri Masjid site and show our respect for Muslim sentiments by building a separate and even more beautiful Masjid for Muslims elsewhere?

The Babri site is holy for Hindus? In what way is the Babri site holy for Muslims? Praful Goradia (who is incidentally an authority on Islamic history) says that Janab A. A. Mansoorie of the Jamaat-e- IslamiHind had written to him as follows: “Islam forbids its believers to usurp the place/structure of worship of the people of other faiths. There is a strong and permanent fatwa in this regard, that no namaz is acceptable to Allah unless the mosque has been built by acquiring the piece of land legally.

Otherwise, Muslims should shun offering prayers. If, for some mosque it is proved that it was built violating Islamic injunctions, we Muslims have to withdraw....” It is a well-known fact that several thousand temples were demolished by Muslim invaders and masjids built over the sites.

Even Romilla Thapar will have to agree that Hindu temples were desecrated in Mathura and Varanasi as well. Is it too much to ask of our fellow Indians professing Islamic faith to be sensitive to Hindu feelings and to start with, at least agree to let the temple to Ram be built on the Babri site in Ayodhya?

Do they realise what a tremendous sense of gratitude will sweep among Hindus throughout the length and breadth of India? The worst enemiesof India are not our minorities but our misguided secularist Hindus who will not stand up for their faith if they have any.

There is very little or nothing that we can do to stop the demolition of the Dhakheshwari Kali Temple in Dhaka, just as we could do nothing to stop the disfigurement of the Bamiyan statues of the Buddha. We still have to be reassured that the Krishna Temple in Lahore stays. But no such guarantee is available.

Hatred of Hindus and of India is the ruling passion in Pakistani government circles and there is little that we can do to educate barbarians. Much the same can be said of the rulers in Bangladesh.

Sadly, we have a government in Delhi which is unresponsive to majority feelings in India for electoral reasons. If only Congress leaders would find time to read the collected works of Mahatma Gandhi they may rediscover their Indianness and think afresh.

Gandhi used to speak about politics without principles. He must have had the Congress of circa 2006 in mind.

Congress against anti-conversion laws: Sonia - Contd

Let's give the benefit of doubt to this Congress leader that she might not be well versed with the history of her own party (let alone about this great nation)

Let's go back in time:
1. Neyogi committee was formed in 1954 by Madhya Pradesh state Govt.
2. A Bill was passed in Orissa in 1967
3. A Bill was passed in Madhya Pradesh in 1968
4. A Bill was passed in Arunachal Pradesh in 1977

2,3, and 4 were passed following the recommendations of Rege and Niyogi Committees. And which party was in power in the above mentioned states that passed these bills ? It was none other than the Congress Party.

And who appointed the Niyogi Committee whose report was only to be shelved later ? You guessed it right, it was the Congress Govt in the state of Madhya Pradesh.

Congress against anti-conversion laws: Sonia

Because you're ? Or because the leader of Vatican is against it ? Does Congress have a choice in this matter ? Probably Congress must take a look at the views of the original Mr M.K. Gandhi on the conversions especially against the christian missionaries if they really respect the father of the nation and its true leader.

http://www.stephen-knapp.com/mahatma_gandhi_on_conversion.htm

The princely states existed in this part of the country had passed such a law as early as 1930's even under the grip of the colonial rule. So don't think that it's simply something the State Govt has come up with some vested interests or with the next elections in mind.

Volcker panel indicts Natwar Singh

What is the gentleman PM going to do ? Be soft or take action or just sweep it under the carpet ? Will the report ever reach the parliament let alone to the public ?

Natwar Singh must be stripped off all the benefits from the Govt including the possible pension for being an MP or minister. He must be put behind the bars for the next thousand years along with all the others who have received the payoffs, for cheating the country, lying and a noble UN cause.

Declare Netaji ''national martyr'': Left

Though I second this, just can't imagine that it comes from the left. Since when they've become citizens of India and consider the nation's freedom struggle as freedom struggle ? These are the people who opposed the Independence of our nation and who were opposed to Indian Govt and army in the war against China.

Or is it because Bose is a Bengali or any elections around the corner ? or are they really trying hard to shed their anti-nationalists image everywhere except the cursed states of Kerala and WB ?

Srinagar: Militants kill 2 BSF troopers

Will there be an end to this violence in our life time ? Do we really have the will to solve the problem ?

Fyi - Kashmir is named after Kashyap Rishi. It is the Sharadha Peet; It's the place Great Poet Kalidasa chose to write some of his literature.