Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose vs Mahatma Gandhi, who do we owe our freedom

         While popular opinion says that the freedom that we enjoy today is the result of the efforts of the Father of the Nation, would it be a delirious thought if Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had more to do with ousting the British than Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi?

Let’s have a look at what Netaji did for us.

         Even ahead of Gandhiji’s Quit India Movement, Bose had pressed that the Congress serve a six month ultimatum to the British during the Second World War. It was an apt opportunity that Bose thought could be taken advantage of in 1939. But the party spearheaded by Gandhiji refused to act.

Notably, the gearing of the Indian National Army to combat with the British Indian Army coincided with the start of Gandhiji’s Quit India Movement in 1942. The movement fizzled out a few months after it was crushed in three weeks time.

         While the argument still remains whether either were effective in affecting the retreat of the British, what needs primacy here, is Babasaheb Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar’s interview with BBC’s Francis Watson in February 1955.

         Ambedkar pondered as he recalled the then British Prime Minister’s move to retreat from India in 1947 , “I don’t know how Mr Attlee suddenly agreed to give India independence,” and he went on to say, “That is a secret that he will disclose in his autobiography. None expected that he would do that,” he added.

         In the BBC interview he also affirmed that from his “own analysis” he had come to understand that “two things led the Labour party to take this decision” [to free India].

         Ambedkar  explained: “The national army that was raised by Subhas Chandra Bose. The British had been ruling the country in the firm belief that whatever may happen in the country or whatever the politicians do, they will never be able to change the loyalty of soldiers. That was one prop on which they were carrying on the administration. And that was completely dashed to pieces. They found that soldiers could be seduced to form a party — a battalion to blow off the British.”

A year after his interview in October 1956, two months before Ambedkar passed away, the very secret was disclosed by Clement Attlee  in a confidential talk. This talk came out in the open only after two decades.

         What Ambedkar had foreseen only became more consolidated from records and data from credible authorities such as Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor and Major General GD Bakshi.

Excerpts of an observation in a secret report (Nov 1945) by Sir Norman Smith, Director, Intelligence Bureau, only reinforces the impact of the INA on British move to transfer power: “The situation in respect of the Indian National Army is one which warrants disquiet. There has seldom been a matter which has attracted so much Indian public interest and, it is safe to say, sympathy… the threat to the security of the Indian Army is one which it would be unwise to ignore.”

         In 1976, an interesting observation made by Lt General SK Sinha, former Governor of Jammu & Kashmir and Assam, one of the only three Indian officers posted in the Directorate of Military Operations in New Delhi in 1946, is worth a mention: “There was considerable sympathy for the INA within the Army… It is true that fears of another 1857 had begun to haunt the British in 1946.”

To add to it all British MPs met Atlee in 1946 and warned him that, “There are two alternative ways of meeting this common desire (a) that we should arrange to get out, (b) that we should wait to be driven out. In regard to (b), the loyalty of the Indian Army is open to question; the INA have become national heroes…”

         So while it is true that Netaji was sidelined and eventually ousted from the Congress, it cannot be denied that he did erect an army that made the colonialists question their power over India.

Much buzz circulates in the country of his disappearance but little is acknowledged of his crucial role in delivering a powerful blow to the British Raj.

Bose, Not Gandhi, Ended British Rule In India: Ambedkar

           In an interview to BBC in February 1955, Babasaheb elucidated the reason why the British left India in 1947. Subsequently, Attlee agreed Netaji was the toughest challenge the Empire faced. Several defence and intelligence experts agreed, too.

           Why even after 70 years of his disappearance the people of India are so keen on finding out the truth about Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose? A part of the answer has to do with what Netaji did for us.

           Declassified records, testimonies of those who had a ringside view of events coupled with sheer commonsense make it quite evident that Netaji dealt a body blow to the British Raj. As such, for us to brush under the carpet the poignant issue of his fate — how and where he actually died — would constitute a gross affront to his memory and all those associated with him.

           For reasons political, the authorities in India will never acknowledge the paramount role of Netaji in forcing the colonial British to transfer the power in 1947. Perhaps one has heard about it from someone in the family already. In a nutshell, there was not much freedom “fight” going on in India in when the Second World War started in 1939. While Bose saw in it the opportunity of a lifetime and he wanted the Congress to serve a six-month ultimatum on the British to leave India, the party under Mahatma Gandhi’s lead would not do anything to increase pressure on the colonial authorities.

           Ousted from the Congress, Bose left India and became the head of the Indian National Army. Many in India still scoff at the INA, contrasting it with the professional well-trained, much bigger Indian Army, ignoring the odds Bose had overcome to organise it in such a short time.

As the INA geared up to take on the British Indian Army in battlefields, the Mahatma launched the Quit India movement in 1942, which was similar to what Bose had demanded in 1939. The movement was launched in right earnest. But, unfortunately, it was crushed within three weeks and, in a few months, it was all over.

           That Gandhi did wonders for India is true. But to say that the Quit India movement led to Independence would be stretching it too far. So what really clicked? A most logical explanation was given by Babasaheb Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, whose birth anniversary we are observing today.

In a no-holds-barred interview with BBC’s Francis Watson in February 1955, Babasaheb elucidated the reason why the British left India in 1947.

           “I don’t know how Mr Attlee suddenly agreed to give India independence,” wondered Ambedkar, recalling then British Prime Minister’s decision to agree to the transfer of power in 1947. “That is a secret that he will disclose in his autobiography. None expected that he would do that,” he added.

           In October 1956, two months before Ambedkar passed away, Clement Attlee disclosed in a confidential private talk that very secret. It would take two decades before the secret would trickle into the public domain.

           Babasaheb would not have been surprised with Sir Attlee’s admission, for he had foreseen it. He told the BBC in 1955 that from his “own analysis” he had concluded that “two things led the Labour party to take this decision” [to free India].

           Ambedkar continued: “The national army that was raised by Subhas Chandra Bose. The British had been ruling the country in the firm belief that whatever may happen in the country or whatever the politicians do, they will never be able to change the loyalty of soldiers. That was one prop on which they were carrying on the administration. And that was completely dashed to pieces. They found that soldiers could be seduced to form a party — a battalion to blow off the British.”

Today, as we assess the other data on record and factor in the views of experts ranging from National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Major General GD Bakshi, Babasaheb’s words ring nothing but true.

Sir Norman Smith, Director, Intelligence Bureau, noted in a secret report of November 1945: “The situation in respect of the Indian National Army is one which warrants disquiet. There has seldom been a matter which has attracted so much Indian public interest and, it is safe to say, sympathy… the threat to the security of the Indian Army is one which it would be unwise to ignore.”

Lt General SK Sinha, former Governor of Jammu & Kashmir and Assam, one of the only three Indian officers posted in the Directorate of Military Operations in New Delhi in 1946, made this observation in 1976. “There was considerable sympathy for the INA within the Army… It is true that fears of another 1857 had begun to haunt the British in 1946.”

Agreeing with this contention were a number of British MPs who met British Prime Minister Clement Attlee in February 1946. “There are two alternative ways of meeting this common desire (a) that we should arrange to get out, (b) that we should wait to be driven out. In regard to (b), the loyalty of the Indian Army is open to question; the INA have become national heroes…”

Even in his ‘defeat’, Netaji delivered a massive blow to the British rule in India. And then when India needed him most, he ‘disappeared’.

           Don’t we owe it to Subhas Bose to know what became of him, now that we know so much that the previous generations did not?

Gandhi Not Formally Conferred Father of The Nation Title: Govt

     
         Mahatma Gandhi was never formally conferred the title of Father of the Nation by the government.This was stated by the Home Ministry in reply to an RTI query. ‘Although Mahatma Gandhi is popularly known as Father of the Nation, no such title was ever formally conferred upon him by the government,’Shyamala Mohan, Director and Central Public Information Officer ( CPIO), said in a reply dated June 18 this year.

          The query was filed by social activist Abhishek Kadyan with the Home Ministry on May 21, 2012 seeking information about declaration of  Mahatma Gandhi as Father of the Nation. Abhishek Kadyan is an advisor to Italy based animal rights NGO OIPA.

Earlier, Aishwarya Parashar, a Class- VI student from Lucknow, had filed a similar query through the Right to Information ( RTI) Act seeking a photocopy of the order through which Mahatma Gandhi was declared as Father of the Nation and was informed that there were no specific documents on the information sought. In February, she had sent the RTI application to the central public information officer of Prime Ministers Office. From the PMO, the applicationwas forwarded to Ministry of Home

Affairs. The MHA, however, stating that it does not comes under its purview forwarded the application tothe National Archives of India. The NAI in its reply sent to Aishwarya had said:‘As per the search among the public records in the NAI there is no specific documents on the information being sought by you.’PTI 

Science and Technology in Ancient and Medieval India

            Science and technology in ancient and medieval India covered all the major branches of human knowledge and activities, including mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, medical science and surgery, fine arts, mechanical and production technology, civil engineering and architecture, shipbuilding and navigation, sports and games. Ancient India was a land of sages, saints and seers as well as a land of scholars and scientists.

Ancient India's contribution to science and technology include :-

• Mathematics - Vedic literature is replete with concepts of zero, the techniques of algebra and algorithm, square root and cube root. Arguably, the origins of Calculus lie in India 300 years before Leibnitz and Newton.

• Astronomy - Rig Veda (2000 BC) refers to astronomy.

• Physics - Concepts of atom and theory of relativity were explicitly stated by an Indian Philosopher around 600 BC.

• Chemistry - Principles of chemistry did not remain abstract but also found expression in distillation of perfumes, aromatic liquids, manufacturing of dyes and pigments, and extraction of sugar.

• Medical science & surgery - Around 800 BC, first compendium on medicine and surgery was complied in ancient India.

• Fine Arts - Vedas were recited and recitation has to be correct, which gave rise to a finer study of sound and phonetics. The natural corollary were emergence of music and other forms of performing arts.

• Mechanical & production technology - Greek historians have testified to smelting of certain metals in India in the 4th century BC. Civil engineering & architecture - The discovery of urban settlements of Mohenjodaro and Harappa indicate existence of civil engineering & architecture, which blossomed to a highly precise science of civil engineering and architecture and found expression in innumerable monuments of ancient India.

• Shipbuilding & navigation - Sanskrit and Pali texts have several references to maritime activity by ancient Indians.

• Sports & games - Ancient India is the birth place of chess, ludo, snakes and ladders and playing cards.

1. Mathematics:-

            Mathematics represents a very high level of abstraction attained by human brain. In ancient India, roots to mathematics can be traced to Vedic literature, which are around 4000 years old. Between 1000 BC and 1000 AD, a number of mathematical treatises were authored in India.
Will Durant, American historian (1885-1981) said that India was the mother of our philosophy of much of our mathematics.

            It is now generally accepted that India is the birth place of several mathematical concepts, including zero, the decimal system, algebra and algorithm, square root and cube root. Zero is a numeral as well as a concept. It owes its origin to the Indian philosophy which had a concept of 'sunya', literal translation of which is 'void' and zero emerged as a derivative symbol to represent this philosophical
concept. Geometrical theories were known to ancient Indians and find display in motifs on temple walls, which are in many cases replete with mix of floral and geometric patterns. The method of graduated calculation was documented in a book named "Five Principles" (Panch-
Siddhantika) which dates to 5th Century AD.A. L. Basham, an Australian Indologist, writes in his book, The Wonder That was India that "... the world owes most to India in the realm of mathematics, which was developed in the Gupta period to a stage more advanced than that reached by any other nation ofantiquity.

            The success of Indian mathematics was mainly due to the fact that Indians had a clear conception of the abstract number as distinct from the numerical quantity of objects or spatial extension. Algebraic theories, as also other mathematical concepts, which were in circulation in ancient India, were collected and further developed by Aryabhatta, an Indian mathematician, who lived in the 5th century, in the city of Patna, then called Pataliputra. He has referred to Algebra (as Bijaganitam) in his treatise on mathematics named Aryabhattiya. Another mathematician of the 12th century, Bhaskaracharya also authored several treatises on the subject - one of them, named Siddantha Shiromani has a chapter on algebra. He is known to have given a basic idea of the Rolle's theorum and was the first to conceive of differential calculus. In 1816, James Taylor translated Bhaskaracharya's Leelavati into English. Another translation of the same work by English astronomer Henry Thomas Colebruke appeared next year in 1817. The credit for fine-tuning and internationalizing these mathematical concepts - which had originated in India - goes to the Arabs and Persians. Al- Khawarizmi, a Persian mathematician, developed a technique of calculation that became known as "algorism." This was the seed from which modern arithmetic
algorithms have developed. Al- Khwarizmi's work was translated into Latin under the title Algoritmi de numero Indorum, meaning The System of IndianNumerals.

            A mathematician in Arabic is called Hindsa which means from India. The 14th century Indian mathematician Madhava of Sangamagrama, along with other mathematicians of the Kerala school, studied infinite series, convergence, differentiation, and iterative methods for solution of non-linear
equations. Jyestadeva of the Kerala school wrote the first calculus text, the Yuktibhasa, which explores methods and ideas of calculus repeated only in seventeenth century Europe.

2. Astronomy :-

            Ancient India's contributions in the field
of astronomy are well known and well
documented. The earliest references to
astronomy are found in the Rig Veda,
which are dated 2000 BC. During next
2500 years, by 500 AD, ancient Indian
astronomy has emerged as an important
part of Indian studies and its affect is also seen in several treatises of that period. In some instances, astronomical principles were borrowed to explain matters, pertaining to astrology, like casting of a horoscope. Apart from this linkage of
astronomy with astrology in ancient
India, science of astronomy continued to
develop independently, and culminated
into original findings, like: The calculation of occurrences of eclipses
Determination of Earth's circumference
Theorizing about the theory of gravitation Determining that sun was a star and determination of number of planets under our solar system.
The Pleiades hold a prominent place as
the mothers or wet nurses of the
newborn infant in one of the most
ancient and central Hindu myths, that of
the birth of the war-god Rudra/Skanda,
who evidently represents, among other
things, the victorious rising sun (and as
vernal sun the new year). The Pleiades
are said to have been the wives of the
seven sages, who are identified with the
seven stars of the Great Bear.
The Great Bear's Old Tamil name elu-
meen 'seven-star' corresponds to the
combination of the pictograms '7' + 'fish',
which alone constitutes the entire text of
one finely carved Indus seal. The
Satapatha-Brahmana states that the six
Pleiades were separated from their
husbands on account of their infidelity;
other texts specify that only one of the
seven wives, Arundhati, remained
faithful and was allowed to stay with her
husband: she is the small star Alcor in the Great Bear, pointed out as a paradigm of
marital virtue to the bride in the Vedic
marriage ceremonies.
Evidence for the Harappan origin of this
myth is provided, among other things, by
Indus seals which show a row of six or
seven human figures; their female
character is suggested by the one long
plait of hair, which to the present day has
remained characteristic of the Indian
ladies.

3. Physics :-
            The root to the concept of atom in ancient India is derived from the classification of
material world in five basic elements by
ancient Indian philosophers. These five
'elements' and such a classification
existed since the Vedic times, around
3000 BC before. These five elements were the earth (prithvi), fire (agni), air (vayu), water (jaal) and ether or space (aksha). These elements were also associated with human sensory perceptions: earth with
smell, air with feeling, fire with vision,
water with taste and ether/space with
sound. Later on, Buddhist philosophers
replaced ether/space with life, joy and
sorrow.
From ancient times, Indian philosophers
believed that except ether or space, all
other elements were physically palpable
and hence comprised of small and
minuscule particles of matter. They
believed that the smallest particle which
could not be subdivided further was
paramanu (can be shortened to
parmanu), a Sanskrit word. Paramanu is
made of two Sanskrit words, param
meaning ultimate or beyond and anu
meaning atom. Thus, the term
"paramanu" literally means 'beyond
atom' and this was a concept at an
abstract level which indicated the
possibility of splitting atom, which is now
the source of atomic energy. The term
"atom" however should not be conflated
with the concept of atom as it is
understood today.
Kanada, a 6th century, Indian
philosopher was the first person who
went deep systematically in such
theorization. Another Indian, philosopher
Pakudha Katyayana, who was a
contemporary of Buddha, also
propounded the ideas about the atomic
constitution of the material world. All
these were based on logic and philosophy
and lacked any empirical basis for want
of commensurate technology. Similarly,
the principle of relativity (not to be
confused with Einstein's theory of
relativity) was available in an embryonic
form in the Indian philosophical concept
of 'sapekshavad', the literal translation of
this Sanskrit word is theory of relativity.
These theories have attracted attention of
the Indologists, and veteran Australian
Indologist A. L. Basham has concluded
that they were brilliant imaginative
explanations of the physical structure of
the world, and in a large measure, agreed
with the discoveries of modern physics.

4. Chemistry :-

            Ancient India's development in chemistry
was not confined at an abstract level like
physics, but found development in a
variety of practical activities. In any early
civilization, metallurgy has remained an
activity central to all civilizations from
the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, to all
other civilizations that followed. It is
believed that the basic idea of smelting
reached ancient India from Mesopotamia
and the Near East. Coinage dating from
the 8th Century B.C. to the 17th Century
A.D. Numismatic evidence of the
advances made by smelting technology in
ancient India.
Nataraja the God of Dance is made of five metals Pancha-Dhatu.
In the 5th century BC, the Greek historian Herodotus has observed that Indian and
the Persian army used arrows tipped with
iron. Ancient Romans were using armor
and cutlery made of Indian iron.
In India itself, certain objects testify to
the higher level of metallurgy achieved by the ancient Indians. By the side of Qutub Minar, a World heritage site, in Delhi,
stands an Iron Pillar. The pillar is
believed to be cast in the Gupta period
around circa 500 AD. The pillar is 7.32
meters tall, tapering from a diameter of
40 cm at the base to 30 cm at the top and is estimated to weigh 6 tonnes. It has
been standing in the open for last 1500
years, withstanding the wind, heat and
weather, but still has not rusted, except
very minor natural erosion. This kind of
rust proof iron was not possible till iron
and steel was discovered few decades
before.

            The advance nature of ancient India's
chemical science also finds expression in
other fields, like distillation of perfumes
and fragment ointments, manufacturing
of dyes and chemicals, polishing of
mirrors, preparation of pigments and
colours. Paintings found on walls of
Ajanta and Ellora (both World heritage
sites) which look fresh even after 1000
years, also testify to the high level of
chemical science achieved in ancient
India.

5. Medicine & Surgery :-

            Ayurveda as a science of medicine owes
its origins in ancient India. Ayurveda
consists of two Sanskrit words - 'ayur'
meaning age or life, and 'veda' which
means knowledge. Thus, the literal
meaning of Ayurveda is the science of life
or longevity. Ayurveda constitutes ideas
about ailments and diseases, their
symptoms, diagnosis and cure, and relies
heavily on herbal medicines, including
extracts of several plants of medicinal
values. This reliance on herbs
differentiates Ayurveda from systems like
Allopathy and Homeopathy. Ayurveda has
also always disassociated itself with witch
doctors and voodoo.
Ancient scholars of India like Atreya, and
Agnivesa have dealt with principles of
Ayurveda as long back as 800 BC. Their
works and other developments were
consolidated by Charaka who compiled a
compendium of Ayurvedic principles and
practices in his treatise Charaka-
Samahita, which remained like a
standard textbook almost for 2000 years
and was translated into many languages,
including Arabic and Latin. 'Charaka-
Samahita' deals with a variety of matters
covering physiology, etiology and
embryology, concepts of digestion,
metabolism, and immunity. Preliminary
concepts of genetics also find a mention,
for example, Charaka has theorized
blindness from the birth is not due to any
defect in the mother or the father, but
owes its origin in the ovum and the
sperm.

            In ancient India, several advances were
also made in the field of medical surgery.
Specifically these advances icluded areas
like plastic surgery, extraction of catracts,
and even dental surgery. Roots to the
ancient Indian surgery go back to at least
circa 800 BC. Shushruta, a medical
theoretician and practitioner, lived 2000
years bebore, in the ancient Indian city of
Kasi, now called Varanasi. He wrote a
medical compendium called 'Shushruta-
Samahita. This ancient medical
compendium describes at least seven
branches of surgery: Excision,
Scarification, Puncturing, Exploration,
Extraction, Evacuation, and Suturing. The
compendium also deals with matters like
rhinoplasty (plastic surgery) and
ophthalmology (ejection of cataracts). The
compendium also focuses on the study
the human anatomy by using a dead
body.

            In ancient India Medical Science `supposedly made many advances.
Specifically these advances were in the areas of plastic surgery, extraction of cataracts, and dental surgery. There is documentary evidence to prove the existence of these practices.
An artist's impression of an operation being performed in ancient India. In spite of the absence of anesthesia, complex operations were performed. The practice of surgery has been recorded in India around 800 B.C. This need not come as a surprise because surgery (Shastrakarma) is one ofthe eight branches of Ayurveda the ancient Indian system of medicine. The oldest treatise dealing with surgery is the Shushruta Samahita (Shushruta's compendium). Shusruta who lived in Kasi was one of them any Indian medical practitioners who included Atraya and Charaka. He was one of the first to study the human anatomy. In the Shusruta, Samahita he has described in detail the study of anatomy with the aid of a dead body. Shusruta's forte was rhinoplasty (Plastic surgery)and ophthalmialogy (ejection of cataracts). Shushruta has described surgery under eight heads Chedya (excision), Lekhya
(scarification),Vedhya (puncturing), Esya (exploration), Ahrya (extraction), Vsraya (evacuation) and Sivya (Suturing). Yoga is a system of exercise for physical and mental nourishment. The origins of yoga are shrouded in antiquity and mystery. Since Vedic times, thousand ofyears before, the principles and practice of yoga have crystallized. But, it was only around 200 BC that all the fundamentals of yoga were collected by Patanjali in his treatise, named Yogasutra, that is, Yoga- Aphorisms.

            In short, Patanjali surmised that through the practice of yoga, the energy latent within the human body may be made live and released, which has a salubrious affect on the body and the mind. Now, in modern times, clinical practices have established that several ailments, including hypertension, clinical depression, amnesia, acidity, can be controlled and managed by yogic practices. The application of yoga in physiotherapy is also gaining recognition.

6. Civil Engineering & Architecture :-

            India's urban civilization is traceable to Mohenjodaro and Harappa, now in Pakistan, where planned urban townships existed 5000 years before. From then onwards, the ancient Indian architecture and civil engineering continued to develop and grow. It found manifestation in construction of temples, palaces and forts across the Indian peninsula and the neighbouring regions. In ancient India, architecture and civil engineering was known as sthapatya-kala, literal translation of which means the art of constructing (something).

            During the periods of Kushan Empire and Maurya empires, the Indian architecture and civil engineering reached to regions like Baluchistan and Afghanistan. Statues of Buddha were cut out, covering entire mountain faces and cliffs, like Buddhas of Bamiyan, Afghanistan. Over a period of time, ancient Indian art of construction blended with Greek styles and spread to Central Asia.

            On the other side, Buddhism took Indian style of architecture and civil engineering to countries like Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, China, Korea and Japan. Angkor Wat is a living testimony to the contribution of Indian civil engineering and architecture to the Cambodian Khmer heritage in the field of architecture and civil engineering.

            In mainland India of today, there are several marvels of ancient India's architectural heritage, including World heritage sites like Ajanta, Ellora, Khajuraho, Mahabodhi Temple, Sanchi, Brihadisvara Temple and Mahabalipuram. Production Technology Mechanical and production technology of ancient India ensured processing of natural produce and their conversion into merchandise of trade, commerce and export. A number of travelers and historians (including Megasthanes, Ptolemy, Faxian, Xuanzang, Marco Polo, Al Baruni and Ibn Batuta) have indicated a variety of items, which were produced, consumed and exported around that society's "known world" by the ancient Indians.

7. Shipbuilding & Navigation :-

            A panel found in Mohenjodaro depicts a sailing craft, and thousands of years later Ajanta murals also depict a sea-faring ship. The science of shipbuilding and navigation was well known to ancient Indians. Sanskrit and Pali texts are replete with maritime references, and ancient Indians, particularly from the coastal regions, were having commercial relations with several countries of across the Bay of Bengal like Cambodia, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, and even up to China.

            Similar maritime and trade relations existed with countries across the Arabian Sea like Arabia, Egypt and Persia. Even around circa 500 AD, sextants and mariner's compass were not unknown to ancient Indian shipbuilders and navigators. J.L. Reid, a member of the Institute of Naval Architects and Shipbuilders, England, at around the beginning of the 20th century has got published in the Bombay Gazetteer that "The early Hindu astrologers are said to have used the magnet, in fixing the North and East, in laying foundations, and other religious ceremonies. The Hindu compass was an iron fish that floated in a vessel of oil and pointed to the North. The fact of this older Hindu compass seems placed beyond doubt by the Sanskrit word 'Maccha-Yantra', or 'fish-machine', which Molesworth gives as a name for the mariner's compass".

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Indian Education System: What needs to change?

INDIAN EDUCATION SYSTEM:
WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE....?

   Education has been a problem in our
country and lack of it has been blamed
for all sorts of evil for hundreds of years.
Even Rabindranath Tagore wrote lengthy
articles about how Indian education
system needs to change. Funny thing is
that from the colonial times, few things
have changed. We have established IITs,
IIMs, law schools and other institutions of
excellence; students now routinely score
90% marks so that even students with 90+
percentage find it difficult to get into the
colleges of their choice; but we do more
of the same old stuff.
         
          Creating a few more schools or allowing
hundreds of colleges and private
universities to mushroom is not going to
solve the crisis of education in India. And
a crisis it is – we are in a country where
people are spending their parent’s life
savings and borrowed money on
education – and even then not getting
standard education, and struggling to find
employment of their choice. In this
country, millions of students are victim of
an unrealistic, pointless, mindless rat
race. The mind numbing competition and
rote learning do not only crush the
creativity and originality of millions of
Indian students every year, it also drives
brilliant students to commit suicide.
 
      What should change in India education
system? What needs to be fixed at the
earliest? Here is my wish list:
    

1. Focus on skill based
education
   
    Our education system is geared towards
teaching and testing knowledge at every
level as opposed to teaching skills. “Give a
man a fish and you feed him one day,
teach him how to catch fishes and you
feed him for a lifetime.” I believe that if
you teach a man a skill, you enable him
for a lifetime. Knowledge is largely
forgotten after the semester exam is over.
Still, year after year Indian students focus
on cramming information. The best
crammers are rewarded by the system.
This is one of the fundamental flaws of
our education system.

2. Reward creativity, original
thinking, research and
innovation
   
     Our education system rarely rewards
what deserves highest academic
accolades. Deviance is discouraged. Risk
taking is mocked. Our testing and
marking systems need to be built to
recognize original contributions, in form
of creativity, problem solving, valuable
original research and innovation. If we
could do this successfully Indian
education system would have changed
overnight.
Memorising is no learning; the biggest
flaw in our education system is perhaps
that it incentivizes memorizing above
originality.

3. Get smarter people to teach

      For way too long teaching became the
sanctuary of the incompetent. Teaching
jobs are until today widely regarded as
safe, well-paying, risk-free and low-
pressure jobs. Once a teacher told me in
high school “Well, if you guys don’t study
it is entirely your loss – I will get my
salary at the end of the month anyway.”
He could not put across the lack of
incentive for being good at teaching any
better. Thousands of terrible teachers all
over India are wasting valuable time of
young children every day all over India.

4. Education for all possibility

  The performance of a teacher
now need not be restricted to a small
classroom. Now the performance of a
teacher can be opened up for the world
to see. The better teacher will be more
popular, and acquire more students.
That’s the way of the future.We need leaders, entrepreneurs in teaching positions, not salaried people trying to hold on to their mantle.
 
5. Implement massive
technology infrastructure
for education

    India needs to embrace internet and
technology if it has to teach all of its huge population, the majority of which is
located in remote villages. Now that we
have computers and internet, it makes
sense to invest in technological
infrastructure that will make access to
knowledge easier than ever. Instead of
focussing on outdated models of brick and mortar colleges and universities, we need to create educational delivery
mechanisms that can actually take the
wealth of human knowledge to the
masses. The tools for this dissemination
will be cheap smartphones, tablets and
computers with high speed internet
connection. While all these are becoming
more possible than ever before, there is
lot of innovation yet to take place in this
space.

6. Re-define the purpose of the
education system
    
     Our education system is still a colonial
education system geared towards
generating babus and pen-pushers under
the newly acquired skin of modernity. We
may have the most number of
engineering graduates in the world, but
that certainly has not translated into
much technological innovation here.
Rather, we are busy running the call
centres of the rest of the world – that is
where our engineering skills end.
The goal of our new education system
should be to create entrepreneurs,
innovators, artists, scientists, thinkers
and writers who can establish the
foundation of a knowledge based
economy rather than the low-quality
service provider nation that we are
turning into.

7. Personalize education – one
size does not fit all
  
     Assembly line education prepares
assembly line workers. However, the drift of economic world is away from assembly line production. Indian education system is built on the presumption that if something is good for one kid, it is good for all kids.
Some kids learn faster, some are
comparatively slow. Some people are
visual learners, others are auditory
learners, and still some others learn
faster from experience. If one massive monolithic education system has to provide education to everyone, then there is no option but to assume that one size fits all.

8. Make reservation irrelevant

  We have reservation in education today
because education is not available
universally. Education has to be rationed.
This is not a long –term solution. If we
want to emerge as a country build on a
knowledge economy, driven by highly
educated people – we need to make goodeducation so universally available thatreservation will lose its meaning.
There is noreservation
in online education– because it scales. Today top universities worldwide are taking various courses online, and today you can easily attend a live class taught by a top professor of Harvard University online if you want, no matter which country is belong to. This is the future, this is the easy way to beat reservation and make it inconsequential. What are the most important changes
you want to see in the India education
system? Share your ideas....@ vijithvndd@gmail.com.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)

Neuro-Linguistic Programming™ (NLP™) is
defined as the study of the structure of
subjective experience and what can be
calculated from that and is predicated upon
the belief that all behaviour has structure. Richard Bandler built formal
models of NLP. He then applied these models to
his work.
Because these models are formal they also
allow for prediction and calculation.
Patterns that may not have been available in
any of these people's work could be
calculated from the formal representations
he had created. New techniques and models
were (and still are being) developed.
Since the models that constitute NLP™
describe how the human brain functions
they are used in order to teach them.

            NLP™is not a diagnostic tool. It can only be
applied and can therefore only be taught
experientially.
Well trained Neuro-Linguistic
Programmers™ will always teach by
installation, not by teaching technique after
technique. Techniques outdate themselves
too quickly to base the field of NLP™ on a
set of techniques. It is based upon the
attitude, the models and the skills which
allow for constant generation of new
techniques which are more effective and
work faster.
Although many providers make certain
courses prerequisite to the attendance of
other courses, Dr. Bandler has no such
prerequisites for any of his seminars.
Learning does not come in levels. Once the
underlying pattern, by which something can
be learned has been taught, the material
becomes not only easily accessible but a
logical extension. For example, once
somebody has learned how to read it no
longer matters whether a book is five pages
or two-hundred pages long. Similarly, once
someone has been taught the spelling
strategy it does not matter whether the
word is two or five letters long, you just
have to look at the picture. Each seminar is
based upon different sets of knowledge.
Therefore, it is not necessary to do them in
any specific order.

         Each seminar that Dr. Bandler teaches is
different. Once someone has attended one
practitioner course it does not mean that
the practitioner material has been learned
and that person should therefore go to a
different course. You have to remember that
the names and certificates are only names
and certificates not the material nor the
knowledge!

        Neuro-Linguistic Programming™ was
specifically created in order to allow us to
do magic by creating new ways of
understanding how verbal and non-verbal
communication affect the human brain. As
such it presents us all with the opportunity
to not only communicate better with others,
but also learn how to gain more control over
what we considered to be automatic
functions of our own neurology.

Ashoka Chakra - The Tale Of Twenty Four Spokes

The Ashoka Chakra means the 'wheel of
the law'. It is derived from the Sanskrit
word Dharma Chakra, which means wheel.
It has 24 spokes.
The most prominent Indian Mauryan
emperor, called Ashoka the Great, built
the Ashoka Chakra during the 3rd century
BC. The Ashoka Chakra is inscribed widely
among the Lion Capital of Sarnath and the
Ashoka Pillar. The Ashoka Chakra is placed
in the center of the National Flag of the
Republic of India. It was adopted on 22
July, 1947. It is rendered in a navy blue
colour on a white background. In order to
add historical 'depth' and separate the
National Flag from that of the Indian
National Congress(INC) Gandhian spinning
wheel is replaced with the Spokes of
Ashoka Chakra in the center of the Flag.
Ashoka Chakra can also be seen on the
base of Lion Capital of Ashoka which has
been adopted as the National Emblem of
India. The Chakra signifies that there is a
life in 'Movement' and 'Death' in
stagnation. The process of the wheel
stands for cycle or the self repeating
process with the changing of time in our
life. The horse on the Right hand
symbolizing accuracy and speed. The Bull
on the Left hand stands for hard work .
Wonderful Qualities of Twenty Four
Spokes :
1. Love
2.Courage
3.Patience
4.Peacefulness
5.Magnanimity
6.Goodness
7.Faithfulness
8.Gentleness
9.Selflessness
10.Self-control
11.Self sacrifice
12.Truthfulness
13.Righteousness
14.Justice
15.Mercy
16.Gracefulness
17.Humility
18.Empathy
19.Sympathy
20.Spiritual knowledge
21.Moral Values
22.Spiritual Wisdom
23.The fear of God
24.Faith or Believe or Hope
Ashoka Chakra represent the 24 hours of
the nation. Thus it governs all.

Important Banking Terms

Dear Readers,
Here we are providing you, 50 important banking terms useful for upcoming bank exam interview in an easy way. It will be easy for you to prepare for upcoming bank exams interviews. Download the PDF to read banking awareness terms.

1. Repo Rate

• When RBI provides a loan to the bank for short-term between 1 to 90, RBI takes some interest from the bank which is termed as Repo Rate. 

2. Reverse Repo Rate

• When bank deposit it's excess money in RBI then RBI provides some interest to that bank. This interest is known as Reverse Repo Rate. 

3. SLR –(Statutory Liquidity Ratio)

• Every bank has to maintain a certain % of their total deposits in the form of (Gold + Cash + bonds + Securities) with themselves at the end of every business days. Current SLR is 20.75%. 

4. Retail banking

• Retail banking is a type of banking in which direct dealing with retail customers is done. 
• This type of banking is also popularly known as consumer banking or personal banking. 
• It is the visible face of banking to the general public. 

5. Bitcoin

• Bitcoin is a virtual currency/ cryptocurrency and a payment system. 
• It can be defined as decentralized means of tracking and assigning wealth or economy, it is a software protocol. 
• Bitcoin uses two cryptographic keys, one public (username) and one private (password) are generated. 
• 1Bitcoin= 108 Satoshi. 

6. Call money

• Call/Notice money is the money borrowed on demand for a very short period. When money is lent for a day it is known as Call Money. 

7. Notice money

• When the money is borrowed or lent for more than a day up to 14 days it is called Notice Money. 

8. Difference between Capital market and Money market

• A capital market is an organised market which provides long-term finance for business. 
• Whereas Money market provides short-term finance for business 

9. Scheduled bank

Banks which are included in the 2nd Schedule of RBI Act 1934 are known as a scheduled commercial bank. These banks should fulfill two conditions:

• Paid up capital and collected funds should not be less than Rs.5 Lacs. 
• Any activity of the Bank should not adversely affect the interests of the customers. 

10. Non Performing Assets

• NPA is an asset of a bank which is not producing any income.
• Bank Usually classify as nonperforming assets any commercial loans which are more than 90 days overdue and any consumer loans which are more than 180 days overdue.

11. Money Inflation

• Money Inflation is a State in which the Value of Money is Falling and the Prices are rising, over a period of time. 

12. Negative interest rate

• When there is less demand for loans the banks park their excess fund with the central bank by which they get interest. 
• Negative interest rate policy (NIRP) means that central banks will deduct money from commercial banks for depositing their money with the central bank. Commercial banks, in turn, will do the same to common people. 
• So the end effect is that people will have to pay money to banks to hold their cash. 

13. Green Banking

• Green banking means promoting environmentally friendly practices and reducing your carbon footprints from your banking activities. 
• Green banking aims at improving the operations and technology along with making the clients habits environment-friendly in the banking business. 
• It is like normal banking along with the consideration for social as well as environmental factors for protecting the environment. 

14. Blockchain system

• These days the transactions in the banking sector are becoming a very tedious task and so as to ensure that this tedious task to be removed, our banking sector is trying to emerge towards blockchain technology. 
• To simplify the transactions without the help of any third party in a secure manner is really a great challenge, but to overcome this challenge an anonymous online ledger (collection of financial accounts) which uses the data structure to simplify it is called blockchain technology. 

15. Balloon mortgage

• A mortgage is a transfer of a right to stable property for the security purpose of a loan amount. 
• Balloon mortgages are just for short term and it has a fixed rate mortgage. 
• In balloon mortgage, a monthly payment is lower because of large payment at the end of a term. 
• A balloon payment is for honest and qualified borrowers who have a good credit history. 

16. Retail credit operations

• Retail Credit Operations means the sequential process which involves screening, evaluation of risk(s), and ensuring that the bank lends to a creditworthy client from the asset products applications sourced. 

17. Skimming

• Skimming is a method used by fraudsters to capture customer's personal or account information of credit card. 
• Customer's card is swiped through the skimmer and the information contained in the magnetic strip on the card is then read into and stored on the skimmer or an attached computer. 
• Skimming is a tactic used predominantly for credit-card fraud, but it is also a tactic that is gaining in popularity among identity thieves. 

18. Money laundering

• Money laundering is a process of conversion of illegal money from various sources to appear to have originated from legitimated (Legal) source. 
• The major sources of illegal money are tax evasion, bribe, Smuggling etc. 

19. Cheque

• A cheque is an unconditional order addressed to a banker, signed by the person who has deposited money with a banker, requesting him to pay on demand a certain sum of money only to the order of the certain person or to the bearer of the instrument. 

20. Direct Debit

• Direct Debit is a financial activity in which one person withdraws funds from another person's bank account. 
• It is a facility in which the payee withdraws the amount from the payer's account, the payer has instructed the bank to allow the payee directly withdraw the amount from the account. 

21. Cash Credit

• Cash Credit is a proper limit sanctioned by the bank to the borrowing manufacturing/trading unit against the value of the raw materials, semi-finished goods and finished goods including stores. 

22. Bill of Exchange

• A bill of exchange is a non- interest bearing written order which is used primarily in foreign trade which binds one party to pay a fixed amount of money to another party at a decided future date. 
• A bill of exchange is signed by the creditor and accepted by a debtor. 

23. Cash Reserves Ratio

• Every bank Maintain certain % of their total deposits with RBI in the form of Cash and Net demand & Time Liabilities. 
• Current CRR is 4%. Every Bank has to pay the amount to RBI on every 15 Days. 

24. Bank Rate

• Bank rate is also termed as “Discount Rate” 
• The rate through which RBI charges certain % for providing money to other banks without any security for a Long period of time for 90 Days & Current Bank Rate is 6.75%. 

25. Marginal standing facility

• MSF is the rate through which bank can borrow funds for Short time – Overnight basis. 
• Current MSF is 6.75%. 

26. Minimum Reserve system of RBI

• The current system of the Indian government to issue notes is “Minimum Reserve System”. 
• Under this policy, the minimum reserves to be maintained in the form of gold and foreign exchange should consist of rupees 200 crores. 
• Out this reserve, the value of gold to be maintained is rupees 115 crores. 
• This system was introduced in 1956 replacing the proportional reserve system. 

27. Clean note policy of RBI

• Lots of people in our country have a bad habit of writing something on the currency note, folding currency note, also somebody staple it which spoils the Note and reduces notes durability. 
• So to avoid such occurrences RBI introduced the Clean Note Policy in 2001 in an order to increase the life of currency notes. 
• The main objective of this Clean Note Policy is to provide good quality currency notes and coins to the citizens of our country. 

28. CAMELS rating system

• CAMELS is a rating system developed in the US that is used by supervisory authorities to rate banks and other financial institutions. 
• It applies to every bank in the U.S and is also used by various financial institutions outside the U.S. 

         Each factor is assigned a weight as follows: 

• Capital adequacy 20 % 
• Asset quality 20% 
• Management 25% 
• Earnings 15% 
• Liquidity 10% 
• Sensitivity 10% 

29. Masala Bonds

• The bonds listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) is termed as Masala Bonds. 
• These bonds are offered and settled in US dollar to hike Indian Rupee in International market . 
• These bonds help to raise Indian rupees from International investors for infrastructural development in India. 
• International Financial Corporation (IFC) converts bond from dollars into rupees and uses the rupees to finance private sector investment in India. 

30. Core Banking Solutions

• Core Banking Solution (CBS) is the networking of branches, which enables customers to operate their accounts, and avail banking services from any branch of the Bank on CBS network, regardless of where he maintains his account. 
• The customer is no more the customer of a Branch. 
• He becomes the Bank’s Customer. 

31. Unified Payment Interface

• This interface will integrate the entire payment systems in India. 
• It uses a single application programme interface with a series of Application Programme interface (API’S). 
• The mobile devices are the primary object for all the payments. 

32. Micro ATMs

• Micro ATMs are not any special type of ATMs 
• It is the advanced version of Point of Sale (PoS) having an additional feature of Biometric scanning. 
• It is also known as a mini version of ATMs. 
• These machines are connected with the GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) mobile internet and it uses the Core Banking Solution (CBS) platform to perform the different types of services. 

33. Letter of Credit

• The letter of credit is one of the negotiable instrument. 
• It is given by the bank, that guarantee’s buyer’s payment to the seller shall be received on time along with the proposed amount to be paid. 
• In this instinct, if the buyer is unable to make the agreed payment to the seller, then the bank will cover the full or remaining amount of purchase. 

34. Bancassurance

• Bancassurance is the concept of selling insurance products of insurance companies by banks. 
• The bank acts as an agent and promotes Banca (bancassurance) products under section 6(1)(o) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. 
• It was originated in Europe in the 1980s and was successful. 
• The bancassurance business model is a globally accepted profitable business. 

35. Banking Ombudsmen

• Banking Ombudsman is a senior official appointed by RBI. 
• He handles and redresses customer complaints against deficiency in certain banking services. 
• The Banking Ombudsman Scheme was introduced under Section 35 A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 by RBI with effect from 1995. 

36. The Balance of Trade

• The difference between the country’s exports and the value of its imports are known as the Balance of Trade. 
• It normally incorporates trade in services unless mentioned as the balance of merchandise trade. 
• It includes earnings (interest, dividends, etc.) on financial assets. 

37. A Balance of Payments

• A list that states a country’s transactions with other countries for a certain time period (generally 1 year). 
• Payments into the country (receipts) are entered as positive numbers, called credits. 
• Payments out of the country (payments) are entered as negative numbers called debts. 
• A single number summarises the country’s international transactions: the balance of payments surplus. 

38. NOSTRO Account

• A NOSTRO account is one which is maintained by an Indian Bank in the foreign countries. 

39. VOSTRO Account

• A VOSTRO account is one which is maintained in India by a foreign bank with their corresponding bank. 

40. LIBOR

• The full form of LIBOR is the London Interbank Offered Rate. 
• It is the interest rate at which funds are borrowed by banks in marketable size, from other banks in the London interbank market. 

41. MIBOR

• The full form of MIBOR is Mumbai Interbank Offered Rate. 
• It is the interest rate at which funds are borrowed by banks in marketable size, from other banks in the Mumbai interbank market. 

42. CASA Account

• CASA stands for Current Account Savings Account. 
• The CASA ratio displays the value of deposits maintained in a bank in the form of current and savings account deposits in the total deposit. 
• A higher CASA ratio means the better operating efficiency of the bank. 

43. RAFA Account

• RAFA stands for Recurring Deposit Account Fixed Deposit Account. 
• The RAFA ratio shows how much deposit a bank has in the form of Recurring and fixed deposits. 

44. DEMAT account

• The full form of Demat Account is Dematerialized account. 
• This is a type of bank account for citizens in India so that they can trade in stocks or debentures which are listed in the stock market. 
• Just as a savings account contains money saved, a demat account has stocks saved. 

45. Legal Tender

• As per provisions of coinage Act 1996, bank notes, currency notes and coins (Re. 1 and above) are legal tender for the unlimited amount. 
• The subsidiary coins (below Re. 1) are legal tenders for the sum not exceeding Re 1. 
• Issue of 1, 2 and 3 paisa coins discontinued wef Sep 16, 1981. 

46. Currency Chest

• Currency chests are operated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) so that they can provide good quality currency notes to the public. 
• However, RBI has appointed commercial banks to open and monitor currency chests on behalf of RBI. 
• The money kept in currency chests in the commercial banks is considered to be kept in RBI. 

47. Insolvency

• An organization, a family, person, or company is declared as insolvent when they are unable to pay their debts back on time. 
• One of the most common solutions for insolvency is bankruptcy. 

48. Bankruptcy

• Bankruptcy is a legal declaration of a person who is unable to pay off debts. 
• In generally, Bankruptcy is of two types- Reorganization and Liquidation bankruptcy. 
• Under the bankruptcy of reorganization, debtors should restructure their bill plans to make them more easily met. 
• Whereas under liquidation bankruptcy, Debtors has to sell its assets to make money so that they can pay off their creditors. 

49. Amortisation

• Amortization is a periodic payment of debt like a loan or a mortgage. 
• Amortization is the arrangement of a lump sum cash flow into many periodic instalments over a span of time, which is also called amortization agenda. 

50. Credit Crunch

• A credit crunch is also known as a Credit squeeze or credit crisis. 
• A credit crunch is a condition in which there is an immediate decline in the availability of a loan or the credit. 
• A situation in which suddenly the credit becomes difficult to get. 
• Sometimes it can be done by reverse actions like by strict rules and regulations to avail the fund from the financial institutions like banks, NBFCs, and many other lenders.