Friday, August 17, 2012

August 15 Indian Independence Day: Real India Today

August 15 Indian Independence Day : Every Indian must see this Video... Most watched Indian viral!
The Independence Day of India, celebrated on 15 August, is a holiday commemorating India's independence from the British rule and its birth as a sovereign nation on 15 August 1947. India achieved independence following the Indian independence movement noted for largely peaceful nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience led by the Indian National Congress. The independence coincided with the partition of India wherein the British Indian Empire was divided along religious lines into two new nations—Dominion of India (later Republic of India) and Dominion of Pakistan (later Islamic Republic of Pakistan); the partition was stricken with violent communal riots.
The Independence Day is a national holiday in India. The flagship event takes place in Delhi where the Prime Minister hoists the national flag at the Red Fort, followed by a nationally broadcast speech from its ramparts. The day is observed all over India with flag-hoisting ceremonies, parades and cultural events. Citizens rejoice the day by displaying the national flag on their attire, household accessories, vehicles; varied activities such as kite flying, bonding with family and friends, and enjoying patriotic songs and films are seen.
Security concerns over militant attacks and sporadic calls for boycotting the celebration by separatist outfits occasionally limit the celebration in some places. Some organisations have carried out terrorist attacks on and around 15 August, and others have declared bandh and used black flags to boycott the celebration. Several books and films feature the independence and partition as pivotal events in their narrative.
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.
Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history. Four of the world's major religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism—originated here. Judaism arrived in the 6th century B.C. Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and also helped shape the region's diverse culture. Gradually annexed by and brought under the administration of the British East India Company from the early 18th century and administered directly by the United Kingdom from the mid-19th century, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent resistance and led by Mahatma Gandhi.
The Indian economy is the world's tenth-largest by nominal GDP and third-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the fastest-growing major economies; it is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, illiteracy, corruption, and inadequate public healthcare. A nuclear weapons state and a regional power, it has the third-largest standing army in the world and ranks ninth in military expenditure among nations. India is a federal constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system consisting of 28 states and 7 union territories. India is a pluralistic, multilingual, and multiethnic society. It is also home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Fake certificate scam has hit the Armed Forces

After the Adarsh, Sukna and and NDA scam, the fake certificate scam has hit the Armed Forces. TIMES NOW has details of eight non-commissioned officers caught buying fake certificates for promotion. TIMES NOW also has details of how fake certificates are being sold by officials in Services Sports Control Board for Rs 2000 each. Meanwhile, for the first time, Army Chief Bikram Singh confirmed the fake certificate scam and infact promised stern action against those involved.

We are ruled by dacoits… the British were better!

‘We are ruled by dacoits… the British were better’
Sunitha Rao R, TNN Aug 15, 2012, 06.17AM IST
BANGALORE: They have seen India extricate herself from the clutches of the British to turn into a progressive republic. They have lived the freedom struggle and every moment of the nation's 65 years of Independence. For GenNext, their struggle would seem like a fairy tale. On the eve of Independence Day, TOI sought their views on freedom and India.

Pandit Sudhakar Chaturvedi, 118
Ask him who got us freedom, and he answers quizzically: " MK Gandhi, Nehru, Subhash Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh? Veer Savarkar? British themselves? Extremism or ahimsa? None of them, India got freedom because of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, who created fear in the British empire." Pandit Sudhakar Chaturvedi, an enigmatic freedom fighter and living legend of the city, was known as the 'critical insider' within the Congress. Despite being associated closely with the Mahatma, he questioned Gandhi's principle of ahimsa.
On August 15, 1947, Chaturvedi was in Delhi with Gandhi, Nehru and others. "It was an eventful and exciting day. However bad the politics is now, it is good we got freedom then. It was good for both Indians and British," he recalls.
At 118, Chaturvedi is glad he is fit. "I can hear, read and walk," he chuckles. He has not accepted the pension given to freedom fighters, happy in his Jayanagar residence.

NV Krishnamachari, 96
"We might term the British 'firangis' or 'white men', but they ruled us based on laws. They did their job on the directions of the East India Company. But what principles do today's politicians have? Hardly any. We fought to get a nation to be ruled by Indians based on truth, ahimsa, human values. Sometimes, I feel we should not have got freedom at all. The British did not trouble the public as much as our elected politicians do now. I cry to myself when I look at our pathetic world," says NV Krishnamachari.
He was in Bangalore central jail the day India got independence. "We were sent out saying we were released. We had no clue we'd got Independence," he recalls. Krishnamachari has named his sons Jayaprakash Narayan, Babu Rajendra Prasad, Balagangadhar Tilak, Lokamanya, and his daughters Jhansi Rani and Lakshmi Bai. He is fit, he has no BP or diabetes, though his hearing capability is diminishing. He lives in KG Nagar, South Bangalore.

Annadanaiah Puranika, 85
When the entire country rejoiced on August 15, 1947, a 19-year-old freedom fighter and his friends were in tears at Osmania University in Hyderabad. "Hyderabad hadn't got freedom and we had no security under the Nizams. Those who hoisted the Indian flag in Hyderabad were arrested. We fled to Gadag and Hubli, and fought the Razaks and Nizams from here. I discontinued my studies. Thanks to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Hyderabad won freedom on September 17, 1948," recollects Annadanaiah Puranika. "I had written to the governor two years ago on how the government can make use of our experience. I have not got any response," he told TOI. Puranika, who worked as an advocate for 30 years in the Karnataka high court, says corrupt politicians should be socially boycotted. He lives in Jayanagar with his daughter. Barring occasional knee pain, he is fit as a fiddle.

HS Doreswamy, 94
This veteran freedom fighter is an active participant in social activism even today. Be it the protest for the appointment of the Lokayukta or implementation of the Lokpal bill, Doreswamy is at Freedom Park with his firm notions. He has termed the anti-corruption protests of Anna Hazare as the "second freedom struggle" of the nation and actively participated in India Against Corruption movements.
We are ruled by dacoits… the British were better

Disclaimer

The contents posted on these Blogs are personal reflections of the Bloggers and do not reflect the views of the "Report My Signal- Blog" Team.
Neither the "Report my Signal -Blogs" nor the individual authors of any material on these Blogs accept responsibility for any loss or damage caused (including through negligence), which anyone may directly or indirectly suffer arising out of use of or reliance on information contained in or accessed through these Blogs.
This is not an official Blog site. This forum is run by team of ex- Corps of Signals, Indian Army, Veterans for social networking of Indian Defence Veterans. It is not affiliated to or officially recognized by the MoD or the AHQ, Director General of Signals or Government/ State.
The Report My Signal Forum will endeavor to edit/ delete any material which is considered offensive, undesirable and or impinging on national security. The Blog Team is very conscious of potentially questionable content. However, where a content is posted and between posting and removal from the blog in such cases, the act does not reflect either the condoning or endorsing of said material by the Team.
Blog Moderator: Lt Col James Kanagaraj (Retd)

Resources