AWAKENINGS

This budget was the 6th union budget for Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and  by this, she had set a record by presenting six Budgets in a row — five annual Budgets and one interim — a feat achieved so far only by former Prime Minister Morarji Desai. The interim budget – a short-term financial plan – seeks Parliament’s nod for a grant in advance to meet the government’s essential expenditure for the first four months of the new financial year. With confidence, Nirmala Sitharaman said that the full-fledged budget will be presented by the Modi Government after getting the people’s mandate for the third term in succession. The goal was already set by the Modi Government to make India ‘Viksit Bharat’ (meaning developed India’ by 2047 and hence the next 23 years with 23 full-fledged budgets the Modi Sarkar is confident of achieving “Prosperous Bharat in harmony with nature, with modern infrastructure, and providing opportunities for all citizens and all regions to reach their potent...

  Thai Pusam are two Tamil Words.   The first word Thai means month and the second one Poosammeans star and hence the words denote Pusamin the month of Thai.   Thai Pusamis the festival, which is mainly celebrated in Tamil Nadu.  Thaipusam festival is celebrated to honourLord Murugan, the Hindu god of war, for his victory over Surapadman with a vel, a heavenly spear bestowed by Parvati.   Yellow is Lord Murugan'sfavouritecolour and Panchamirthamis his favouriteone for Abhisheka and Neivedya.     Thaipusam is observed by Tamil speaking Indians in Sri Lanka, South East Asia notably in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia, other countries with significant people of Tamil origin like Fiji, Mauritius, South Africa and Canada, Caribbean countries including Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Suriname, countries with significant Indian migrants including United States and Australia.   It is a holiday in Mauritius, many states in...

  In this Brahdaranya Upanishad’s series, the present article deals with the Vital Force in the body which needs to control three factors – name, form and action. Some liberties have been taken with a view to make the concepts clear, though the core thoughts have been kept intact.    -   The Editor. As per Brahdaranya Upanishad, this Universe consists of three things. They are name, form and action.   Let us examine each one by one.   Let us take the case of Name. The actual source of name is speech. The source of speech is sound and the source of sound is tongue, an organ in the body.   The next thing is form. The source of form is sight. The source of sight is eyes, which are the organs of the body.   The last one is action. The source of action is body. The source of body is its organs including mind and intellect.   The man should realize that these three factors viz. name, form and action need to be abandoned to reali...

  Innovate to Succeed by   Dr. Nikhil Agarwal, Director, Europe Asia Business School (EABS) Two fascinating words are: Innovation and Collaboration. In the present recessionary times, these two words have become buzzwords for most organization. To treat Innovation as Invention is a great myth. Invention is creating absolutely a new product by individual research or idea, whereas innovation is commercialization of the invented product. There are various aspects of innovation, like disruptive, operational and incremental innovation, which are common in the business world. I was reading the Garfield cartoon strip in the Pune Mirror recently. The scene was set at a location where one person is diffusing a bomb whereas his partner is giving him instructions on phone. The person diffusing the bomb says, ‘Hurry up tell me the way out; only five seconds are left’. The person on phone say, ‘Can you see two wires one red and other green? Please cut the red now.’ The person w...

The goddesses of poverty and wealth once had an argument about who was more beautiful. As they were arguing, they saw a merchant coming towards them and decided to ask him to settle the matter. The merchant was filled with awe whey they told him who they were, but he turned pale whey they told him what they wanted him to do. It was plain to him that Goddess of Wealth was the more beautiful of the two, but how could he tell Goddess of Poverty that? She would be furious and would probably reduce him to poverty.   But he was a clever man and quickly gathering his wits, said: “O Goddess of Wealth, you are more beautiful than any other woman on earth or in heaven when you are entering a house, but you, O Goddess of Poverty, words fail to describe your grace and elegance, when you are leaving. There is non to compare with you in beautify” It was a judgement that pleased both the contestants because each thought she had been adjudged as the winner. But the real winner, of course, was the ...

Shri Ram Janambhoomi Trust Champat Rai confirmed that the idol of Lord Ram will be installed at the temple on January 22, and PM Modi has accepted their invitation.The Ayodhya Ram mandir will be inaugurated on January 22. Over 7,000 people have been invited by the temple trust, including cricket legends Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan, and billionaire industrialists Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani. MODI SPOKE IN HIS MAAN KI BAAT:  There is excitement and enthusiasm in the entire country in connection with the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.   People are expressing their feelings in a multitude of ways. You must have noticed that during the last few days, many new songs and new bhajans have been composed on Shri Ram and Ayodhya. Many people are also writing new poems. There are many experienced artists in it and new emerging young artists have also composed heart-warming bhajans.   I have also shared some songs and bhajans on my social medi...

THUS PRAISES MODI JAGDISH TRIVEDI, A COMMEDIAN PHILANTHROPIST …   There is a tradition of Dairo in Gujarat. Throughout the night, thousands of people join Dairo and acquire knowledge along with entertainment. In this Dairo, the trinity of folk music, folk literature and humour fills everyone’s mind with joy. Bhai Jagdish Trivedi ji is a famous artist of this Dairo.   As a comedian, Bhai Jagdish Trivedi ji has maintained his influence for more than 30 years. Bhai Jagdish Trivedi ji had a book titled – Social Audit of Social Service. This book is very unique. With accounts in it, this book is a kind of balance sheet. The complete account of how much income Bhai Jagdish Trivedi ji received from particular programs in the last 6 years and where it was spent is given in the book. This Balance Sheet is unique because he spent his entire income, every single rupee, for the society – School, Hospital, Library, institutions related to disabled people, social service – the entire 6 year...