being emote is a very good reason for heart burn! So chuck those sentiments away...

Being mechanical sure helps these days! Thanks to so much of advancement in technology, one can do away with emotions and let the keypads talk for us.... We don't really feel much when using a technology platform to commute thoughts...So why bother? Lets keep moving where it leads to! Noone's complaining and I too don't need to...

For the love of PARAMORE....

One of the most talented pop-punk bands, Paramore has carved it's own niche! Starting off early, these guys hit the right notes....winning quite a few awards, Hayley Williams got a mesmerising tone complimented by Josh Farro as the lead guitarist...These guys rock and mindyou, they are just beginning! My favourite pick is "You r the only exception" besides "decode".

Terrorism...What exactly is it?

Well, no such standard defintion for this thing but as it is, the first thought that springs up would be 'using fear to attain the objective'....However there is one that is compatible:

"Intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians/non-combatants with the purpose of intimidating a population or compelling a Govt. or an International Org. to do or abstain from doing an act."

The UN Security Council Resolution, No. 1373 against Terrorism was adopted on 28th Sept. 2001 and it is one of the rarest resolutions that was passed in 3 minutes flat! In this resolution, the resolve was taken to check the movement of terrorists, the funding routes, regulate the losses w.r.t. immigration and refugees and also aimed to defined the word, terrorism but found no such unanimity. This resolution being adopted in Chapter 7 of The U.N. Security Council means that everybody has to adopt it!

Pointers>

- Vilolence is the most common tool of the terrorists

- Psychological impact

- Affecting or destroying National Symbols

- Media attention

- Coercing the system to come to terms

Types:

1. Political Terrorism: where the terrorist org. is aimed at acquiring political authority

2. Non-political Terrorism: Ex: taking responsibility for terror caused etc.

3. Civil Disorder: affecting peace and security for making the Govt. accept demands

4. Quasi Terrorism: Contextual. Ex: fugitives, felon, those people evading arrests and taking shelter elsewhere by threats

5. Limited Political Terrorism: basic aim is to act against the system and create distrust in the minds of the people for the system

6. State Terrorism/Official Terrorism: sponsored by the State system. Ex: ISI, dictators etc.

Characteristics:

1. Random

2. Surprise

3. Against the State and the Community

4. Unlawful

5. Both political and apolitical purposes

6. targets primarily people in position and helpless masses.

Objectives:

1. To make their demands accepted

2. Mobilise mass support

3. Show of strength

4. Elimination of opponents

5. Instablity and creating chaos

6. Moral building of the cadres

Causes of terrorism cannot be pre-defined, i.e., there is no stereotypic explaination since the roots are extremely mobile.

Islamic Terrorism:

Comes from 'Salema', which means 'Peace' (Also, Purity). Another meaning is 'submission to the will of God.'

- By this simple explaination, 'Islamic Terrorism' is self-contradictory.

- It is a term used by the proponents of 'clash of civilisation' - for dividing the society.

- It is also used by the terrorists to ensure mass support.

- The most common word used is, 'Jihad', basically a term which is by all means 'reactive in nature.' It can be used for explaination of pro-active measures. In fact, in all religions of the world, there are similar words but only in the case of Islam, the term has been made popular by a select few in search of support.

- AN-NISA: 4:28 verse of The Quran says that You cannot destroy yourself. This in itself contradicts 'suicide bombing', one of the tools used by the proponents of Islamic terrorism.

Saffron terrorism:

- A relatively newly coined term but it's essence has been there since quite sometime now! Some Hindu Organisations like VHP, Bajrang Dal, Abhinav Bharat, Shiv Sena, Ram Sena have been criticised widely now regarding their aggressive Hindu fundamentalism. There have been allegations against these orgs. regarding funds supply from illegal sources abroad. Known to mobilise the youth by imparting ploitical ideas and spreading communal tension, they are no different from the banned SIMI. Some of these have been indicted with accusations of bombing and spreading violence in various parts of India like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa.

Consequences of terrorism include loss of life, property, peace, development and migration.

Measures to check terrorism:

Short term:

1. Modernisation of the forces

2. Better Intelligence

3. Prompt punishment

4. Protection of the whistle-blowers

Long term:

1. Check communal riots

2. Promotion of family bonds

3. Check on child trafficking and giving a home to the homeless orphans so that they don't fall in the wrong hands

4. Promotion of patriotism

5. Use of media for national integration

6. Promotion of national identity

7. Better rehabilitation fot the surrendered terrorists

8. Economic equality and balanced regional development backed by effective policies

Efforts taken in India:

-Many Preventive Detention Acts under Article 22 like POTA, TADA, COFFEEPOSA, UAPA

- National Intelligence Agency set up in 2008.

- India is also a signatory to various international agreements for control of terrorism. Ex: Tokyo Treaty, 1963, Convention for the suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft, The Hague, 1973 and various other Security Council Resolutions.

Drug Abuse

It implies the illicit use or misuse of drugs - people who use drugs not recommended for them or use in quantities greater than what is recommended for purposes other than medicinal.
The whole drug business of the world is worth $400 billion! An official estimate of drug users ropes in 185 million people. According to a U.N. estimate, India itself is home to about 1 million heroin users. A recent estimate shows that female drug addicts are on a rise compared to their male counterparts!

Cannabies is the most common substance in drug abuse. In fact, 'Bhang', one of the few legally available preparations in India comes from the dried leaves or flowering shoots of the hemp plant, the source of charas and marijuana as well.

Drug abuse substances can be divided into two categories:
1. Legal drugs: medicainal use. Ex: Alcohol, tobacco, psycho-stimulants
2. Illegal drugs: banned. Ex: Heroin, cocaine, Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD or LSD-25)

3 levels of dependencies:
1. Psychological
2. Physiological
3. Peer groups
Causes of drug abuse in India:
1. India's geographical location with respect to the golden crescent (Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan) and the golden triangle (Myanmar, Laos, Thailand) - the two major hubs of drugs!
2. Decline in moral values/ethics
3. Glamourisation of drugs - in movies etc.
4. False sense of modernity
5. Low self-esteem
6. Emotional distress
7. Poverty - Cannabies are taken to fight hunger! Such pathetic is the situation..
8. Gateway drug factor - substance transition where an user starts off with a small variant and gradually begins to explore the more powerful drugs out of curiosity!
9. Social winking - many a time the society lets off as in marriages or festivals like Shivratri, it's turning out to be a ritual sort of!
10. Exposure
11. Medical causes
12. For better performance

Impact of drugs:
1. Domestic violence
2. Money laundering
3. Juvenile deliquency
4. Suicide bombers
5. Terrorism

Some common substances with their effects:
1. Alcohol: It has the effect of releasing tension, resulting in delayed reaction time and impaired judgement
2. Sedatives: Has a depressing effect on the CNS (Central Nervous System); acts as a tranquilizer and affects immediate reaction, memory etc. Ex: Goofballs
3. Stimulants: Activates the CNS and quite often used to treat mild depressions. Ex: coffee-caffeine
4. Narcotics: Acts on the CNs and has same effect as that of sedatives. Ex: heroin, morphine
5. Hallucinogens: Psychedelic substances; work on the CNS & produce hallucinations - false images
6. Nicotine: Fights boredom, affect bodyaches
7. Analgesics: An imporatant group but often ignored; relieve body pain, anxiety but has serious impacts.

*Fact: 50% of crimes in the U.K. is under the effect of drugs! So stay away while you still can....

Ancient Indian history:

This is an attempt to summarise the important events and dynasties throughout indian history. hope it's useful

Indus valley civilization/Harappa (2500-1750 bc)


vedic age
Early (1500-1000 bc)–rig veda

later (1000-600 bc)
- Sam veda – on musical hymns
- Yajur veda – on rituals of sacrifices
- Atharva veda – on charms and spells
- Brahmanas – commentaries on the Vedas
- Aranyakas – jungle book; theme : romanticsm
- Upanishadas or vedantas (108 in number) – theme : metaphysics. Most important – chandokya.
-aryans life : discovery of iron (1000 bc ±100 years), agriculture, settled life, yajnas
- gods: Prajapati, Vishnu



The mahajanapadas ( 600 bc) – 16 in number. After a prolonged struggle, 5 of them emerged as the most powerful ones –
1. Vajji
2.Magadha
3.Kashi
4.Koshala
5.Avanti
Magadha and Avanti emerged as the most powerful; they fought for about 100 years and the Magadha empire became the first established empire in india!

Magadha dynasties:



Haryankas (500 bc)
Bimbisara They were the first to

Ajatashatru introduce metallic
Punchmarked coins in india



Shishunag – founder : shishunaga


Nanda – founder: mahapadmananda

Events:

- Alexander (326-324 bc) invaded india through Khyber pass. The first king to oppose him was Porus (Punjab).
- Alexander brought two historians with him:
Aristoblus and anasecrates
- Alexander returned through Gujarat without attacking northern india. At that time, dhananand was the king of magadh dynasty.



Maurya – founder: Chandragupta maurya (321 – 298 bc)

Landmarks:

- c. maurya was helped by vishnugupta/kautilya/chanakya
- c. maurya defeated seleucas nicotar (alexander’s successor)
(c. maurya performed ‘sallekhan’? - a Buddhist ritual of giving up food & water forever)
- megasthenes (writer of indica) was the ambassador of seleucas.

Bindusara/ Amitraghata

Ashoka (273-232 bc)
-after the kalinga war, he took up the policy of ‘dharmaghosa’ replacing ‘bherighosa’
-ashokan edicts: 14 in number found in 8 different places, written in prakrit.



Shunga – founder: pushyamitra shunga



Kanva – founder: vasudev




Arrival of foreigners


-Indo-greeks/bactrians (200 bc)
-they introduced gold coins, dates and images of kings on coins, yawanika (curtain or purdah), all for the first time

Gandhar school of art/hellenisti art:
-Mostly of Buddha in standing position.
[note: the statues found in bamiyan, begram, hadda, heart, kandhar, (afg), taxila (pak) are of this style]




Sakas/saythians (central asian tribe)
-Greatest king: rudradaman (proof: junagarh inscription)



Parthians/pahalvas (from iran)
- first Christian missionary: Saint Thomas settled In kerala.





Kushans (yutchi tribe of central asia)

-kanishka (1st & 2nd Ad) introduced the saka era
-charak: kanishka’s great physician, wrote the book, ‘kerala samhita’ ( known as encyclopedia of Indian medicine)



Vatsa




Satvahanas/andhras (100 – 300 ad)

-minted coins in lead
They were the first to give land grants
Patronized Amravati school of art: statues made in narrative form.
-mathura school of art ( origin: 200 bc): buddha ( shaveless with a lock) statues made of red sandstone



Sangam age/literature: assembly of tamil poets
-tolkappiyam: book on tamil grammar
-depict the life of three kingdoms, mainly: pandyan, chola and cheras

Indo roman trade: silk route ( china to rome via afg)



Guptas (320 – 520 ad): golden era

- ramayana & mahabharat finally compiled in this period
Manusmriti written in post-mauryan period
-samudragupta: Indian napoleon, kaviraj. Info about him from ‘prayag prasati’ (on ashokan pillar) written in Sanskrit by harisena, his court poet
-coins with image of lakshmi
-chandragupta ii/vikramaditya
Great scientific and cultural development took place during his time
Great scholars and poets during his reign: kalidas, aryabhatta (wrote aryalshittika)-the first scientist in india who separated mathematics and astronomy), amar singh (wrote amarkosh: dictionary in Sanskrit), vishakhadutta (wrote mudrarakshasha & devienandraguptam), fa-hien.
Puranas (stories of gods & goddesses) written in future tense: 18 in number
Smritis (law book)
Temple art flourished:
Bhitalgaon temple:the first to be made of bricks, ajanta
Fresco painting style: paintings done on wet plaster; theme: jataka tales

Kumaragupta I
Largest inscription about him found
Nalanda Buddhist monastery built

Skandagupta
His famous inscription: junagarh
Defeated the hunas (cen asian tribe)

Vardhans/pushyabhuti dynasty:

Harshavardhana (606 – 647 ad)
-his dramas: ratnavali, priyadarshika and nagananda, kadambari
-harsha charita: first biography of any king in india
- hiuen tsang visited india during his time; studied at nalanda


[note: Mesopotamian (Iran) civilization (5300 BC) – THE OLDEST CIVILIZATION KNOWN!]

Lookin good now....make it better

Things look brighter with the sun scorchin back on Delhi! Let's only hope things become normal for us as well as the tourists comin in for the commonwealth games.... We should try to salvage our pride by showing them the best hospitability we got; after all that is something we Indians are known for! The need of the hour is to get our act together, not passing the buck. Hoping for a good show. Indeed, hope is sometimes a good thing if not the best....

Water water everywhere....

Can you help me out?

Can you let me a hand?

It's safe to say thatI'm stuck again

Trapped between this life and the light

I just can't figure out

How to make it right

A thousand times before

I've wondered if there's something more

Something more...

I feel it's gonna rain like this for days

So let it rain down and wash everything away

I hope that tomorrow the sun will shine

With every tomorrow comes another life

I feel it's gonna rain

For days and days

I feel it's gonna rain

I tried to figure out

I can understand

What it means to live on again

Trapped between the truth and the consequence

Nothings real

Nothings making sense

A thousand times before

I've wondered if there's something more

Something more...

I feel it's gonna rain like this for days

So let it rain down and wash everything away

I hope that tomorrow the sun will shine

I feel it's gonna rain like this

Rain like this

Rain like this

Fall down

Wash away my yesterdays

Fall down

So let the rain fall down on me

I feel it's gonna rain like this for days

Let it rain down and wash everything away

I hope that tomorrow the sun will shine
I feel it's gonna rain like this
Rain like this

Rain like this

I feel it's gonna rain like this

Rain like this

I feel it's gonna rain like this

I feel it's gonna rain...

Well, couldn't find anythin more appropriate for the current situation up here in North Delhi! The lyrics were as meant for this! Cool song though; new one from the comeback band - creed!With the Commonwealth Games already in messy mess, I don't have to dwell on it. Adding to its woes are the rains! And guess what, there is more comin with hardly 10 days to0 go before the Games start. The Yamuna is comin alive after long and parts of Delhi are gettin submerged what with water being released from the Hathinikund Barrage in Haryana. THis is something my place looked like when I woke up in the morning!