Modi’s Visit to Japan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi 5-day visit to Japan spanning two cities is closely watched internationally for its larger geopolitical and strategic implications on the Asian continent. Japan, the trusted ally of the US is keen to forge closer ties with the third largest economy of purchasing power parity India to stall the territorial ambitions of China. Besides their strategic interests, the leaders of both the nations, Modi and Shinzo Abe share a good chemistry and analysts expect the meeting to be a resounding success. Both have the reputation of conservative nationalists and confronted with formidable task of ushering their grappling economies into new horizons.

Indo- Japan friendship is rooted in strong spiritual affinity, cultural and civilization ties. India’s contact with Japan is dated back to 725 AD when an Indian monk BodhiSena performed the consecration of Lord Buddha statue at Todaiji temple in Nara, Japan. Over a period of times both nations share a unique relationship. Mutual respect towards each other has been manifested in the form of generous exchanges of sentiments and they stood for each other during times of need. As a testimony to its friendship Japan helped to bail out India during the financial crisis in 1991. The beginning of 21^st century witnessed a major boost in bilateral engagement when Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on his path breaking visit to India initiated Global Japan- Indo Partnership. It gave the much needed impetus to the bilateral engagement. Further, with the signing of Joint agreement in 2006, Global Partnership has graduated into a Global and Strategic Partnership with provision for annual Prime Ministerial summits. India is the only country; Japan holds regular summits alternatively in Delhi and Tokyo. The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) of 2011 registered an unprecedented progress on the issues of economic and strategic engagement which included the vast swathes of defence and security.

Enhanced military ties, deeper strategic engagement, business investments, assistance in developing smart cities and nuclear issues are big on Modi’s agenda. Modi’s visit to Japan is closely monitored in light of his scheduled meeting with other big leaders, Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping in the later part of September. The interaction assumes greater significance due to the emboldened expansionist streak of China, its repeated incursions across the LAC and territorial claims over the uninhabited Senkaku Islands in Japan.

Japan is the fourth largest FDI investor in India and its investment has increased six fold over a period of 7 years. Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) has been instrumental in conceptualising and executing the Delhi Metro Project. Other major projects on anvil are the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC), Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor with 8 new industrial townships and the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor. Japan accounts for 2.3% share of India’s global trade India doesn’t account for more than 1.1% of Japan’s global trade.

Indian policy makers are concerned about the dubious aspirations of China to expand its presence in Indian Ocean region and in fostering ties with our neighbours. In pursuit for better defence cooperation, India and Japan held series of joint naval exercises. During the current visit, India is keen on obtaining amphibious US-2 aircrafts from Japan to halt the assertive China. Modi’s electoral promise of bullet trains for India is also high on agenda.

In the context of rapidly changing geopolitical architecture of emerging Asia Indo-Japan relationship is crucial. Besides the attempts to lure Japanese investments into the $85 billion market, India has been pushing for a civil nuclear agreement as lines 2008 pact with US to import nuclear fuel and technology without forgoing its military nuclear program. Japan having been nuked vouched for disarmament and non proliferation. Hence it has strong reservations about signing any nuclear deal with India. Japan signed nuclear pacts with Vietnam, Jordan and Turkey. But India is in possession of nuclear weapons and hasn’t signed NPT. Japan wants explicit guarantees on no nuclear tests and intrusive inspections of the nuclear units to be sure that spent fuel is not being diverted for military purposes.

Currently the capacity of nuclear power plants in India is 4780 Mega Watts or 2% of total power capacity. Due to its burgeoning energy needs India aims to increase nuclear capacity to 63,000 MW by 2030.  Though Japan may be reluctant to ink a nuclear pact with India, it has its own share of reasons to comply with the nuclear agreement. Firstly-enhanced bilateral ties between these nations can help in confronting the resurgent China. Second, this deal can kick-start the Japanese nuclear business shut down following the anti-nuclear backlash of Fukushima disaster. Third, with Chinese entering the nuclear market with their own range of 1000 KW turbines opportunities for Japan have declined. Indian nuclear program may not receive major setback if Japan declines since South Korea, US, France and Russia are very keen to work with India. An agreement on civil nuclear deal can take the relationship to a new high.

Indeed both nations can gain significantly from economic complementarities like the Japan’s surplus capital can finds its way into the 1.2billion strong Indian markets. While Japan is master of hardware India has upper hand in software. India’s energy needs and infrastructure can be meted by Japanese expertise. Apart from strengthening defence and strategic ties, the bilateral engagement on long term can be a monumental amalgamation of two rich heritages.

 

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Business Start-Ups Boost Innovative Medical Technology In India

India, signatory of Millennium Development Goals (MDG) has huge commitment towards accomplishment of health care related issues.  Under MDG, three out of eight goals, six out of 21 targets, 18 out of 60 indicators pertain to medical care. Medical technology is the way forward for effective delivery of health services. The burgeoning need for innovation, in particular in medical technology has become indispensable for emerging economies. Frugal innovations promising better clinical outcomes with less invasive procedures and quicker recovery are essential for emerging economies like India. India suffers from the burden of diseases and Harvard School of Public Health estimates that country’s economic losses due to non-communicable diseases like diabetes and heart diseases and stroke between 2012 and 2030 will be $6.2 trillion. This colossal loss to the exchequer is unprecedented.

Innovative solutions in medical technology can improve access to health care, reduce medical errors, provide effective therapies with shorter duration of hospitalisation, monitor therapies to ensure compliance and perform diagnosis early thus effectively bringing down expenses in health care sector. Nearly 730 million living in rural areas still denied of affordable medical care can benefit from these innovative solutions. As per the medical technology innovation score card developed by PWC, for the nine countries- US, UK, Germany, France, Japan, quasi-developed economies Israel, China, India and Brazil. India is ranked 8^th in innovation higher than Brazil but lower than China and has highest commercialisation opportunity. This clearly indicates a compelling need for medical technology innovation to meet demands of the local market.

To meet the growing demand for affordable medical services emerging countries must make greater investments in R&D for building the necessary infrastructure for future. They are endowed with human capital needed for multi-disciplinary research and need more support from the investment community. The Medical sector demands in India fall into three categories – Medical equipment constituting 55% of market share, medical implants, 25%  Medical disposables and furniture 20%. The Indian medical technology industry is set to grow form $US billion 2.75 in 2008 to US $14 billion by 2015.

Unfortunately, seeds of self-reliance in the field of medical technology weren’t sown in India post independence. With the result, innovation in medical technology has taken a back seat. In spite of high excise duties, India continues to import nearly 80% of its medical equipment. Although 65% of indigenous products are exported India is unable to supplant the need for medical technology as newer technologies are being launched in advanced countries at a much quicker pace.

A silent medical technology revolution aimed at transforming the quality of medical services and its reach is underway. Currently Indian companies are developing state-of-the-art medical devices that require substantial innovation. Innovative, elegantly designed, affordable devices are adding value to the existing medical systems and making them simpler, cheaper and more accessible to common man. Several mobile apps that can quickly reference the dosages, brand names, and availability in India are the results of the avant-garde work carried out in medical device innovation.

It is heartening that newer tie ups and initiatives in the field of biomedical research is offering a new ray of hope. Portable, scalable, authentic medical devices are making inroads in India. Innovative technologies aimed for Indian markets should take into consideration the encumbrances in Indian scenario. Firstly, the disease profile of India is different. Second, high temperatures together with high humidity and dust laden conditions propel the need for an innovation tailored for Indian conditions. Third, lack of reliable and stable power supply spurs for technology that is Indianized with reliable deliverance for Indian conditions.   Since the penetration of health insurance is very poor all costs are borne out of pocket. Further, frugal innovation and sustained performance under constrained conditions is needed for cost- conscious Indian patients. An Indian start-ups Indio labs, have come up with low-cost, portable liver biopsy device. It is an affordable alternative for the expensive liver biopsies, a gold standard for diagnosing liver diseases. SKL Medtech, earlier, a textile manufacturing company emboldened by rapid growth in Indian health care market ventured into medical technology to develop new devices. It developed an advanced antibiotic wound dressing that can kill microbes and provide good healing environment as well. Sizeable numbers of Indian players are in fray and making leads in the medical technology market.

Indian Health care market presently valued $79 billion is projected to increase to $158.2 billion by 2017. Augured by rapid growth projectile, Government is promoting  investments in medical innovation in the form of Technopreneur Promotion Programme of Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Besides, two centres for developing medical devices were set up in Chennai and Delhi. IIT Madras in collaboration with Department of Biotechnology jointly developed a Centre, Health Care Technology Innovation Centre (HTIC) at Chennai. Apart from offering help to companies in designing new products it  develops its own products. It developed a cardiac imaging system which measures arterial stiffness, an important diagnostic procedure of cardiovascular diseases non-invasively. Other contributions include a mobile eye surgical unit and a software platform Eye-Pac which can diagnose five major eye diseases. At the centre in Delhi, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and IIT Delhi work in collaboration Stanford University. Since its existence of four years, it transferred seven technologies. Under the Stanford-India Bio Design Programme (SIB), four persons are funded every year – a doctor, en engineer, a designer and a business man for training programme at Stanford University. Nearly all SIB fellows have started their own business ventures and so far they developed 22 devices. Some of them are very novel ideas and such products don’t exist anywhere in the world.

Realising the growing potential for medical devices in Indian market, major international players have set up their research wings in India. GE’s John F Welch Technology Centre in Bangalore set up in 2002 launched its first portable ECG machine suited for Indian rural setup. Others include Stryker Corporation’s R&D in Gurgaon, Philips Innovation Campus in Bangalore, Johnson & Johnson Centre for Medical Devices at Mumbai.

Success in medical innovation is dependent on five pillars-powerful financial incentives, creating capacity for quality research, supportive regulatory system, demand and supply of health services, supportive investment community. It is reassuring that Indian start-up and small companies backed by multi-disciplinary scientific think-tanks are building up a sturdy research ecosystem. They are eventually delivering sterling innovations in the form of devices which are portable, cheaper and user-friendly ideal for the rural areas. Fledging Indian health care market, having realised the importance of all the needed pre-requisites is striving hard to create an atmosphere for launch of more innovative technologies in future.

 

 

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Adventurous Road Trip to Lansdowne, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Dehradun and Mussoorie from Delhi : Part-4

Day 4:

With a promise of visiting Mussoorie once again we packed off our bags for our return journey reluctantly as it is last day of our vacation. Having suffered the snarls of traffic jams during the past three days, we wanted to avoid the same predicament again. Hence were very concerned about the road route for our return journey. We hit the Mussoorie-Dehradun road by 8am and there was moderate rush on the roads. We briefly stopped at the Prakasheshwar Mahadev temple dedicated to Lord Shiva and perhaps the only place where monetary donations are strictly unaccepted. The place offers a bird’s eye view of the Dehradun city. After serious contemplation we decided to drive to Delhi via Dehradun - Poanta Sahib - Yamuna Nagar- Karnal – Panipat - Sonepat- Delhi to avoid traffic and bad roads.

Prakasheshwar Mahadev Temple

Drive by road from Mussoorie and Delhi is 285 km but our route was little longer but it was tension-free drive back home. We actually drove through three states to reach Delhi, Dehradun of Uttarakhand, Poanta Sahib is in Himachal Pradesh and Yamunanagar, Karnal, Panipat, Sonepat in Haryana. 

Assan Barrage

Distance from Mussoorie to Dehradun is 35km and Dehradun to Poanta Sahib is 44km. As we were closing towards Poanta Sahib, we stopped near Assan Barrage at the Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh border. Barrage is located at the confluence of Yamuna and Assan River. The dam creates the Assan reservoir also referred as Dhalipur Lake. The Lake is a famous among Ornithologists as it is a natural habitat for various birds including migratory birds of the Himalayan ranges. The drive across the barrage was beautiful as it was very pleasant with exotic aquatic vegetation and lush green trees. The road leading to the Poanta Sahib offers an excellent view with canal flowing on one side and Assan Barrage Bird Sanctuary on other side. Poanta Sahib is a small town bustling with activity and known for the Gurudwara located on the banks of Yamuna River.

Dhalipur Lake

Poanta Sahib

The drive from Poanta Sahib to Yamuna Nagar was undeniably the best stretch we have ever travelled by road as we pass through Kalesar National Park consisting of Sal trees. The only designated national forest in Haryana.  We spotted several troops of monkeys on the road and certainly a dream place for nature lovers and traveller enthusiasts. The road from Yamunanagar to Karnal can be classified as a six lane road since it was very broad and absence of heavy traffic has propelled us to drive much faster. The lush green carpet of fields on the way to Karnal is heavenly and holds the promise of satisfying hunger pangs of millions of starved Indians. As we enter the AH-1, Delhi- Chandigarh highway, the speed limit for four wheelers after the Panipat toll is 90 kmph. This gorgeous highway charters a hope that Indian roads can be World class. Finally we reached home safely after a not so tedious drive, thanks to the good roads and our prudent decision.

Kalesar National Park

Travelling enriches mind and soul with new experiences. More often, spontaneous trips have their own rich treasure troves of joy to offer.

 Highway to Delhi

Few Observations:

During the course of our long tour we visited various places where pristine rivers are brimming with water. Nature has been so generous in gifting our precious drinking water. But we in India have miserably failed in utilising these water resources. Poor water management practices coupled with lack of vision and commitment in interlinking river basins across the country is a scourge on Indian agriculture. It is bizarre that while a part of the country is battling with floods and inundation, other part is parched. In this era of technology and innovation, India should adopt a more aggressive approach towards water sharing and river linking issue to have bountiful supply of food grains.

Indian tourism is bound to reap rich dividends if the concerned department make substantial investments in developing the infrastructure and take aggressive measures in the up keep & maintenance of the monuments, temples and other hall marks of Indian heritage intact.

 

Photography: T. L. S. Bhaskar & Ramaharitha

 

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Adventurous Road Trip to Lansdowne, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Dehradun and Mussoorie from Delhi : Part-3

Day 3:

We started early in the day for Sahastradhara waterfalls, 11 km from Dehradun to avoid the maddening crowd and to enjoy the splendour of the nature. As the name suggests it a thousand fold spring. The natural sulphur spring is most popular among locals and tourists for its ameliorative medicinal properties. Unlike the regular waterfalls bustling water with rapid force, it is a natural spring and the water drips from the limestone stalactites, thousand in number and has lower temperature than its surroundings. The aesthetic beauty of the place is enhanced by the gushing waters of Baldi River flowing at the foot of the hill. Though we wanted to take a shower under the spring, it was quite slippery and we weren’t ready to take any risk since the river below is also overflowing. The place is complete package for entertainment, relaxation and mythological significance. An old Shiva temple along with Guru Dronacharya caves is also present at the location. The proactive tourism department has developed a manmade amusement park with several water games at the location making it an ideal picnic location. The newly constructed ropeway, a latest addition to the place is attracting scores of tourists to view the steppe farming on hills which is marvellous to watch. Hill top has other attractions like a children’s park and a Shirdi Sai Temple too. After relishing the fantastic view of the steppe farming we longed for good food and the numerous restaurants offered a variety of food. Having delicious food besides the nature made our breakfast most memorable.

Sahastradhara Waterfalls

Guru Dronacharya Caves

 View from the Ropeway

We checked out of our room and drove towards Mussoorie in the Garhwal Himalayan ranges, also referred to as Queen of the Hills. It is 6100ft above sea level and it green hills have wide variety of flora and fauna. Though rumours were rife that heavy traffic of the extended weekend had forced authorities to close down the road towards Mussoorie we disregarded them as several vehicles are moving towards the hill. It was 20 km drive from the resort. Since our earlier plan of staying at Lansdowne was foiled due to bad weather, we were determined to make it to Mussoorie. The first 15 km of drive uphill was quite comfortable but the massive traffic blockade in the last lap of 5 km to the hill made it an arduous journey. During the drive we passed through several streams and passionate tourists taking a shower under them was a common sight. Roads were crammed with vehicles till to the out skirts of Mussoorie. Hence instead of venturing into the city we directly drove to Kempty waterfalls, 15 km from Mussoorie on the Chakrata Road.

Mussoorie

Kempty waterfalls is regarded as one of the most beautiful waterfalls in India. The road to Kempty was very windy so great caution must be exercised while cruising through sharp turns. It is at a lower elevation than Mussoorie at about 4500ft above sea level. The green vegetation looked bright and fresh in this monsoon season. Enveloped by the majestic mountain cliffs, the sparkling waters tumbling down from a high altitude is a breath taking view. It then splits into five streams which appear to make a somersault before finally hitting the bottom.  Being monsoon season the intensity of the waterfalls was at its zenith. One could walk down the terrain to reach the bottom of the falls else cabin cars are available for round the trip journey. We preferred the ropeway which offered a fantastic view of the falls and a children water park. Tourism department did a commendable job of constructing an enclosure similar to the swimming pool so that people of all age groups could take a plunge in the natural waters of the Garhwal ranges. The excitement of tourists near the falls was palpable and the joy was too infectious.  The peals of laughter and joy of people in the pool was in air. Though we resisted the temptation of drenching under several water streams we encountered on our way to Mussoorie these falls were irresistible. We were contemplating about another set of clothes to plunge into the pool. But thankfully, there were several stores near the waterfalls that lent swimming costumes and floating tubes for kids. They had lockers and changing rooms too. Within few minutes we were ready in the new ensemble and jumped into the pool containing chilling mountain waters. We had loads of fun and bathing in the chilly water revitalised our fatigued bodies and energised our souls. The laborious experience of wading through the blocked roads was obliterated by this shower. We briskly walked through the market and stepped into an eatery serving piping hot tea, rotis and aloo subji. After satisfying our hunger pangs, we started our return journey to Mussoorie, little jittery, as we have no reservation for accommodation. On the way back, in the happy valley we saw an old Tibetan temple close to the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration.

Kempty Waterfalls

We reached the Gandhi Chowk in Mussoorie and parked car in paid parking and began our hunt for a decent room. Luckily, we could find a decent hotel where we dumped our luggage and walked towards the Mall Road. Being pre-occupied with thoughts of accommodation, we failed to notice but the temperatures have dropped suddenly. By 7:30 temperature it was 16C reminding of ensuing winter. We leisurely walked on the Mall Road which is clean as per Indian standards. Mall road is full of small stores selling colourful woollen clothes, wooden articles, sandals at modest prices. The quality of the products is good too. We spotted a small stall serving hot jalebis and gulab jamun, and without a moment of hesitation we gobbled down the sweets. One cannot ask for anything more, having hot jalebi’s in a chilly weather was just divine. We strolled on the road for some time, made some quick purchases and enjoyed rides in the children park. While walking back to our room, we visited Lakshmi Narayan Mandir and stopped at the Mussoorie Library for a brief photo session. Mall road is almost 3 km long with numerous hotels, restaurants, a Tibetan Market, aquarium and hub of all commercial activity. City was bustling with fun and frolic till 11pm. 

Lakshmi Narayan Mandir

Mussoorie Library

 

Photography : T. L. S. Bhaskar and Samanvit Teegela.

 

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Adventurous road trip to Lansdowne, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Dehradun and Mussoorie from Delhi : Part-2

Day 2:

We woke up at 4:40 am to attend the most hallowed Ganga Aarti on Har Ki Pauri @ 5:30 am.  Amidst the divine intonations and rhythmic ringing of bells sacred vibes permeated as aarti was offered on the serene ghats under the rising Sun. Several small diyas and flowers are floated down in the river during the ceremony. This sacred ritual leaves an immortal impact on all the devotees. Due to heavy rains, Ganga waters were flowing at a very high speed and even the water level was high. Though it was endearing to watch, taking a bath can be dangerous.

Ganga Aarti

Later we planned to visit the most famous Mansa Devi temple atop of Bilwa Parvat on the Shivalik hills, the southernmost part of the Himalayan Ranges. As we entered the ticket counters, we saw serpentine queues of tourists impatiently waiting for their turns to get buy tickets for the Udan khatola or the rope way. As the wait for the cable cars seemed indefinite, we thought of trekking the hill to reach the temple. Upon enquiry we found out that by walk it would be approximately 1.5 km trek. The initial walking stretch had roughly hundred steps followed by a well laid out road. Walking up the steep slope was a true test to our stamina and body clearly signalled its frailty and begged for a better stringent exercise regime to become fitter. With every steep climb, our weariness was nullified by the panoramic view of the holy town.  River Ganga waters added the extra touch of beauty to the vast green expanse around Haridwar. All along the climb, we enjoyed watching several troops of monkeys, the rightful habitants of the hills. The temple was thronged by several thousands of devotees and is packed to the fullest. The principal deity, Mansa Devi is a form of Shakti and believed to be emerged from the mind of Lord Shiva. She is regarded as sister of Vasuki and Naga and believed to fulfil wishes of sincere devotee. The inner shrine has two deities- one with eight arms and other with three heads and five arms. We completed the darshan and trekking by foot in one and half hours. Haridwar is literally floating with tourists and it would be impossible task to visit Chandi Devi temple atop Neel hill before 12 noon. Temples here are closed between 12 to 2 noon for lunch. We wanted to reach Mussoorie by evening en route Rishikesh, so dropped the idea of visiting other ashrams as well. We checked out of room and hired a rickshaw to reach the parking lot. Ride in the rickshaw through the narrow market lanes of Haridwar was too good.

Mansa Devi Temple

Haridwar

Rishikesh is 20 km away from Haridwar hence most people visit both these places. As we moved on to the Haridwar-Rishikesh road it is packed with vehicles. Bad roads and frequent breakdown of the vehicles on the road made manoeuvring on the road impossible. Several police were stationed all along the way to ease the traffic movement, but traffic was just crawling. The situation was worsened as vehicles could go in a single lane at the railway crossing as a result we could manage to traverse a path of 18 km in 90 min. It was the most  tiring and strenuous part of the journey so far. Nearly almost all the Babas, Swamiji’s or Sadguru’s had their ashrams in either of the two places and all along the way we travelled we saw several temples. It was so distressing that the two most famous pilgrimage centres with huge tourism potential were replete with poor infrastructure. Indian tourism industry and particularly religious tourism is making steady progress. But it is disappointing that government has miserably failed in proper upkeep and maintenance of the religious places and in building the infrastructure to encourage tourism. Tourism as an industry has huge potential to generate assured revenues and provide employment to millions of youngsters. Although the drive from Haridwar to Rishikesh is supposed to be extremely beautiful as the road passes through Chila elephant corridor, choked roads and crammed vehicles obliterated the real fun.

Tirupati Balaji Temple on Haridwar - Rishikesh Road

 

Rishikesh is more beautiful than Haridwar, even the Ganga waters are much cleaner. Located at the foot of Himalayas it has acclaimed International Fame as Rock Group Beetles landed in the Maharshi Mahesh Ashram in Rishikesh. Rishikesh is gateway to the Chardham yatra and widely famous as the World Capital of Yoga. There are numerous ashrams and yoga centres across the town and the place is frequented by foreigners.  Though there are so many places to visit, due to paucity of time and the jammed roads we decided to visit Lakshman Jhula which is 5 km from the city.  The drive to Lakshman Jhula was through winding roads with steep ascent at several places. In short it was like a miniature roller coaster ride at some places. But all through the drive we could look at the pristine Ganga streaming through the hillocks. It was very pleasant place and positive vibes seem to emanate from the vibrant streams. Again as we were closing to Lakshman Jhula, crammed roads made the passage through the hills difficult. There was huge commotion on the road leading to Badrinath as the road ahead was blocked due to landslides. There was hectic aerial activity as helicopters were ferrying men and food supplies to people stuck in the hills. Massive relief operations were underway.

Lakshman Jhula

Lakshman Jhula is an iron suspension bridge and believed to be used by Lakshman, to cross the river Ganga on a jute rope. Later a hanging rope bridge without a pillar was built in his honour which existed till 1889. It was 284 f long, but was washed way during floods in 1924. The present bridge is 450 ft long and 70 ft above the river was constructed by Public works department during 1927-29. The place is famous not only for its religious sanctity and ancient origin but also for the market which sells wooden articles, rudrakshas, holy books, gems and local jewellery. A thirteen storied Trayambakeshwar temple is located on the other side of the jhula and houses various deities. The top floor of the temple offers an excellent view of the surroundings. Other important temples around the jhula are the Saccha Akhileswar Mahadev Temple with 11 ft tall Shivling and has two spatika lingas also. Sri Raghunathji Mandir, it has the idol of Lord Badrinath, Lakshman Mandir the only temple where idol of Lakshman alone is worshipped. The entire area of Lakshman jhula is a different entity engrossed in enchanting mantras and holy recitations from the temples all around.

Saccha Akhileswar Mahadev Temple

Lakshman Mandir

Rishikesh located at the confluence of Chandrabhagha river and Ganga is now developing into an adventure capital of India offering scope for wide variety of adventure sports like white water rafting, trekking expeditions to Himalayan Ranges. It is also strictly vegetarian city, alcohol-free by law and completely bans plastic bags. After the brief stint at land of sages, we moved onto Dehradun, 42km away. As we moved away from Rishikesh towards west roads were less crowded and the drive was more relaxing. Road is in very good condition but one has to be very careful with the 6-seater autos. Drive on Rishikesh –Dehradun road was great fun and mesmerizingly beautiful as it passes next to the elephant corridor. After every 2-3km on road, sign boards with warning about the attacks of wild elephants were planted. Though we couldn’t spot any elephant a troop of monkeys crossed our path. Dense vegetation, a rarity in the concrete jungles of metros is a visual delight here. We passed through several villages and since the road was well maintained, we could traverse the distance very fast with the speedometer often kissing 100kmph mark. But the speed had to be curtailed as we approached Dehradun Railway crossing, where traffic was passing through in a single lane. Our intention in travelling to Dehradun was not to explore the city but to go to Mussoorie. Perturbed by the volume of traffic moving towards Mussoorie, we were doubtful about finding accommodation in the hill station hence we planned to stay back in Dehradun at night. But luckily we managed to get a beautiful room in Bharat resorts @ Rajpur on Old Mussorie road, 19 km from Dehradun. The resort is ideally located to savour the scenic grandeur and beauty of the Gharwal hills and provided desired refreshment and relaxation after the tedious journey. After a quick shower and sumptuous dinner we discarded all our plans of visiting some nearby places and retired to bed.

Rishikesh

 

Rishikesh –Dehradun Road

 

Photography:  T. L. S. Bhaskar, Ramaharitha and Samanvit Teegela

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Adventurous road trip to Lansdowne, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Dehradun and Mussoorie from Delhi - Part 1

Day 1:

India, with its vast expanse and enchanting beauty is a travel paradise for enthusiastic  and adventure loving travellers.  Certainly no place in this world can be a better platform than India to understand and experience the diversity in its fullest. Journeying along the arterial connections of the country, the highways can nourish the travel squadron with the wholesome experience of imbibing the sanctity and virtues of this oldest civilisation.

We packed bags, impromptu and set on a road trip most inadvertently with a vague idea of exploring the hinterlands of North India. During the long weekend, equipped with a GPS, out of sheer love of exploring the land we revere, without prior bookings or reservations for accommodation, we flagged off our journey from Delhi. It might sound crazy, but the real thrill of the journey lies in its obscurity. Delhi is ideally located to travel to different tourist destinations in the northern part of the country. Stocking fruit juices and fresh fruits, we hit the Delhi-Ghaziabad road. We intended to visit enchanting hilly terrain of a cantonment and remote hill station, Lansdowne in Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand. Located at an altitude of 1700 metres from sea level it now houses the command office of the Garhwal Rifles. It is 242 km from Delhi and serves as a good weekend destination.

We had a faint idea of the road route, so simply followed the route shown by GPS. It being Independence Day, we waited for the restrictions on the movement of vehicles across Delhi borders to be completely lifted and started by 1pm. Even though it was a holiday, roads were quite active and it took 40 min to cross Ghaziabad. As we manoeuvred through a narrow stretch of road to avoid the traffic of the city, we were awe stuck by the colossal real estate activity. Small makeshift tents have shot up on either side of road, actively promoting their business ventures. Several thousands of apartments are in making and the scale of constructions is humongous.

On the outskirts of Ghaziabad, we hopped onto a two lane road that ran through Muradnagar, Modinagar, Mohiuddinpur, Khazmabad to exit to the NH-119, Delhi-Meerut road. NH-119 is also a two lane road and it meanders through the Meerut city which is bustling with activity. Loudspeakers on the high way playing the patriotic songs were keeping the fervour of the Independence Day alive on the roads. We took a left turn at the roundabout after the Begum Pul in the Meerut city, to enter the Mavana-Khatauli Road. Mavana road goes through the cantonment and farm houses. It is an excellent road and a rare treat for Indian four wheel drivers who regularly struggle through the pot holes of city roads. As road is devoid of heavy traffic, we were hitting 80-100kmph speed. As we moved further on the road through Rajpur and Balarpur, the vast stretches of green fields with Sugarcane and Rice completely mesmerised us. Along the highway, dense vegetation in certain patches had partially shut out the sunlight. For a while we felt like travelling through thickly spread out forests as certain patches had huge trees whose branches intertwined with those on the other side of road.

Meerut City

 

The beauty and the delight of travelling through this part of the country side is indescribable. Further well maintained roads enhanced comfort and joy to our exhilarating journey. Halfway through our journey at about 125 km, after Mirapur, we took a right turn to enter Bijnore-Nazibabad road. Just on to the left side of the turning, we took a brief halt at Monty Millions restaurant, a decent place with neat rest rooms, another rare privilege in India. After quick snacking, we resumed our journey, the green fields continued to allure us all the way. Along the way, we drove over the Choudary Charan Singh Ganga Barrage where gushing waters of River Ganga in its full force was a visual delight. We took a silent bow at the mother Ganges, whose waters are feeding millions of Indians and continued our journey towards Najibabad.

Mavana-Khatauli Road

Choudary Charan Singh Ganga Barrage

This monsoon season Delhi was parched, as we had scanty rainfall, so the rainfall en route Kiratpur to Nijababad was refreshing. The cool breeze and the lush green fields offered us much needed relaxation from overcrowded and polluted climates of the urban setup. Towards Najibabad, roads bore the brunt of lashing rains and meandering through the meteor sized craters near the railway crossing was a gruelling task. The roads within the town of Najibabad were in big mess due to massive constructions and continuous rainfall. As we moving closer to Kotdwar, the gateway to Lansdowne and 32 Km away, weather has become extremely pleasant and the view of the hills was awesome. We briefly halted on a bridge constructed over a narrow water channel, to have an all-encompassing view of the place.

Rainfall on Kiratpur to Nijababad Road

Kotdwar Road

As we entered Kotdwar, 210 km from Delhi we were cautioned by a policeman to quickly look for a place for night stay since the road to Lansdowne was closed due to a landslide. To review the veracity of the information, we moved ahead but it was a prudent caution. Our hearts sank when we learnt that road was really shutdown for regular general traffic. Then we frantically made attempts to search for accommodation in that modest town. It was 6pm, encouraged by the growing demand of the hapless tourists all the hotels have already doubled their room rents. Though we were ready to shell out extra money nearly every possible place was occupied. As we stood in the market place, a noble soul offered a generous advice. He suggested that we drive to Haridwar the nearest place where we can be assured of an accommodation and opined that incessant rains will play havoc in clearing road to Lansdowne. We profusely thanked him for his timely advice. Since the prospect of clearing the landslide the next day seemed to be a rare possibility we relinquished the decision of searching for accommodation in Kotdwar and decided to drive to our new destination, Haridwar 54km away.

Beautiful Landscape

 As we decided to drive to Haridwar various thoughts began to hem our brains- a feeling of excitement at the prospect of visiting one of the sacred places of Hindu pilgrimage and   little despondent as our desire to explore Lansdowne had fizzled out.  We also had apprehensions about driving at night through a less frequented path. But the spirit of adventure and thrill overpowered all these emotions.

We soon began driving in South east direction towards Najibabad for 8 km and then took a right turn to enter a less frequented and a deserted road running parallel to the a river stream. It was the shortest route to Haridwar suggested by locals. It was 7pm and slowly night began to step in engulfing as a thick dark blanket. There were no street lights and most of the locals were heading back to their houses as it became dark. With no trace of moon in cloudy skies the journey entered into a phase of real adventure. The narrow road with huge bushes and imposing trees on either side created the feeling of travelling through a dense forest. In fact, we later discovered that the road was passing through the Pathari Forest Range. We had brief tense moments on this road as some parts of the road were badly damaged and rain water filled the potholes making the path more dangerous under the dark cloudy night skies. We travelled for nearly 40 km on this road and hit NH-74 that took us to our destination. As we neared Haridwar, highway was heavily guarded and enormously crowded with vehicles. So we had to slog through the crawling traffic to reach the parking lot of Haridwar. All outside vehicles are denied entry into the sacred town and are allotted designated safe parking on the outskirts. We picked up our luggage, hired a rickshaw and proceeded towards the Ganga Ghat or Hari Ki Pauri and began frantically searching for accommodation on the Ganga Ghat. Perhaps we were too naive in underestimating the tourist flow to the temple town during the extended weekend and had to mete huge disappointment. But that didn’t waiver our spirit as we succeeded in finding a decent accommodation at Hotel Manasasarovar in the market area, nearer to the Mansa Devi temple. Finally we refreshed in the room and hunted for a place to have dinner in the market around 10pm. We managed to find a simple food outlet serving decent food.

Photography: Ramaharitha & TLS Bhaskar

 

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Indian Political System Needs An Overhaul

Senior politicians and bureaucrats of the country enumerate that it is hard to change a system in India until it completely breaks down. In the past 67 year of successful journey India lapped up bountiful gains. But the huge nation with billion plus population critically falls short of a deliverance of goods for public. It is rather disturbing that things move at an unimaginably slower pace. The political system, a system of politics and government has a huge influence over the country, its people and on the economy. An incompetent political system leads to poor governance where institutions are not strengthened. Weak institutions fail to deliver and with the result even well conceived policies fail to yield desired results.

In India, the political system is eroded and needs immediate resurrection. The firm foundations of nationhood, the basic pillar of political system has crumbled. Independent India has now more than 1000 political parties catering to various ideologies and philosophies. The basic goal of all of these affiliations is a resurgent India. But over period of time, the basic objective was trounced and personal gain, glory and ambition has taken precedence. Countries which attained independence during late 1940’s are set to create history by catapulting themselves for nation building, the disgruntled political class of our country has pushed nation into doldrums. The well being and prosperity of the country largely depends on the enthusiasm of the political class, who staked claims to work for the welfare of the people. Serving public should be the basic motto.

Unfortunately, there is hardly any consensus on issues of development within our political class. Serious talk on development and nation building is on back seat in their agenda. Come elections and Indian public are assured of fanatical theatrics of political parties that unabashedly hurling abuses at other. Aspiring people’s representatives are divided on party lines. After elections they continue to remain in their default mode of mutual incongruence and the division further deepens on the basis of numbers into ruling party or an opposition party. Irrespective of the issue, be it a matter of serious deliberation or internal threat, parties are at war of words and refuse to arrive at any consensus. This results in fragmentation, absence of vision on shared goals. The political system must mature to deliver public goods.

Our political system is infested with hatred and mistrust leading to lack of coherence on issues of development. Graceful acceptance of public mandate and mutual respect are forlorn in political circles of late. Concrete steps for building and strengthening public institutions is missing. Constructive debates and discussion on various bills have become fewer with every new session of Parliament. The list of the uncanny adventures of the people’s representatives seems to be endless right from replicating thug culture in the temples of democracy to deliberate misuse of the floor time and calling for needless adjournment motions.

Unless the foundations of the political system is deeply grounded with the sole aspiration of nation building progress is nightmare. Indian political evolution is largely hounded by lackadaisical objectives of multiple political parties that are antithetical to inclusive development. Political parties with sectarian, divisive or authoritarian ideologies tend to weaken the spirit of nationhood.

Even in this internet generation, the wider section of political class still harbour an old feudal mind set and winning people’s mandate evokes an authoritarian instinct. Hence the age-old sketchy and vicious politics still rule the roost. Callous sycophants of political parties shower encomiums and patronise complacent ideologies even now. Democracy within party cadres is still oblivious to old political parties encumbering the flow of new energy, enthusiasm. Recently a new political trend evolved wherein a theatrical performance or rhetoric directed against a person or rival parties aided in riding the wave of populism. But soon it ebbed out now glaring at the imminent threat of vertical split of the parties. It is appalling that India with 65% of the population under the age of 35 years suffers from the lack of commendable representation of young leaders in political parties. While some political parties have shown great promise of breaking the vicious system, grave mishandling of authority lead to their tumultuous fall. Some parties for their dubious gains have blatantly fractured Indian society on the basis of religion, caste, creed, region etc, nailing down the unique attribute of India- Unity in Diversity.

Universally, every old and deprecated system is substituted or replaced by a ravishingly new and beneficial. When gadgets/ instruments are damaged we rather repair them instead of mercilessly discarding or throwing into bins then isn’t it the duty of citizens of the country to reinvigorate the political system that failed us? Instead of ignoring the distress signals and waiting for complete breakdown of the system efforts should be directed to restore sheen and dynamism to the hackneyed political system.

The legacy of independent India has been bequeathed on us by several thousands of patriotic sons of the land who laid their lives in the pursuit for freedom. It is incumbent to refurbish the political system with grounded vision, robust ideology with pragmatic policy-making.

 

 

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One Life Is Not Enough : Book Review

In the era of promotion and publicity, where writers and authors are struggling to keep their works on the book stands for a longer time, Kunwar Natwar Singh’s autobiography “One life is not enough” was proffered with widest possible advertisement, in every possible media. The unending criticisms and wide disapprovals from the sycophants of the dynasty rendered a great service by keeping the work alive in public memory for little longer. An unanticipated and melodramatic informal visit of the Sonia Gandhi, along with her daughter to Natwar Singh’s house days before the official release of the book created the needed brouhaha.

Undoubtedly the book has invoked mixed reactions among baiters of the oldest political party but unlike an autobiography it failed to instil inspiration in the readers. Instead of cataloguing it as an autobiography it should more aptly be called a memoir as the emphasis was on couple of issues. Though the chronology of all the important events has been maintained, the book fails to furnish the details of the historical consequence of chronicled events in his life. But it has been a bold attempt by an insider of the party to give a glimpse of the towering personalities of the Nehru- Gandhi family. Parts of the book emanate the gusts of deep and entrenched Gandhian affiliation and hence dispassionate account of most important issues like emergency or other bilateral issues is missing.  Apart from being a successful diplomat in the post independent era for nearly three decades, reader will be acquainted with the little know literary life of the author. Having served the nation in the role of Indian representative for the UN, China, Pakistan and Poland, opted for a premature retirement from the illustrious Indian Foreign Services and took a plunge into political waters under the leadership of Indira Gandhi. His subservience was duly rewarded when Indira Gandhi assigned him the task of organising two international summits in a year overlooking deserving seniors of his cadre. He was later conferred the honour of Padma Bhushan in 1984 for successfully organising two colossal International Summits- Common Wealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) and the Non-Aligned Summit (NAM) at New Delhi. This ensured his rapid elevation in the International circles and his stint as a seasoned diplomat put him in a good stead in India’s foreign policy issues.

Being an adept diplomat with a crass of politician he often accompanied the Gandhi family in most their bilateral visits. For over twenty five years, he has been with the party through the ebbs and churnings of the party’s fortunes, hence an acknowledged authoritarian to convey about the little known darker side of the party. He served in the cabinet of Rajiv Gandhi as a minister and was privy to the worst Indo-Sri Lanka crisis. Following the harrowing assassination of the Late Mr. Gandhi, he chaperoned Sonia through her early political life and was instrumental in grooming her. Being a close aide of Mrs. Gandhi, he knew the chain of events that lead to denial of the highest echelon of power by Sonia Gandhi. His audacious and characteristic remark of “unIndian” nature of Sonia comes at a time when speculations are rife about the palace coup. Assumed to be a closest confidant of Mrs. Gandhi, the relationship turned vicious when he was vehemently necked out when Volcker report named him as one of the beneficiary in the Food-for-Oil Scam.

Matters turned worse, when he was ejected from the party without giving a chance of hearing.  Serious investigations by enforcement directorate were instituted later leaving him and his family blemished and guilty. He severely condemned the deliberate insinuations and felt vindicated for implicating his son who accompanied him on his official trip to Iraq.

Enraged debates triggered off due to the startling revelations of Natwar Singh which blew away the mask of inner conscious guise of Sonia Gandhi following 2004 election victory. Hadn’t it been for the embitterment faced by Mr. Natwar Singh, the shrouded inner corridors of the Gandhi clan would have remained veiled even now.

The preface of the book is a testimony to his literary prowess and speaks volumes of his long eventful innings. He is a voracious reader and contributed several literary & scholarly articles, book reviews to prestigious newspapers. It may not be an useful read for youth interested in deciphering India’s foreign policy during the early 60’s to 80’s, since elaborate description of historical events has been characteristically avoided. Brief snippets of several different random events were succinctly written; hence the flow is significant by its absence. As an iconic diplomat and rugged politician, he doesn’t wish to skirt the truth that politics is a bloody sport and ruthless.

 

 

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European Satellite Rosetta Begins Its Rendezvous With Comet 67P

Perhaps nothing can quench boundless human curiosity and enthusiasm other than the amazing feats of science that enamour inquisitive mind. The incredible power of science bestowed wings to power of imagination and creativity of mankind ushering them into a new world of exciting innovations and discoveries. As a matter of fact the exhilarating and imagination defying feats space explorations send shudders of excitement that enthral science enthusiasts and researchers as well.

European Space Agency’s (ESA) space craft Rosetta added a new chapter in the illustrious human space explorations. It created a buzz in the scientific community by waking up to a preset alarm after 31 months of hibernation to begin its rendezvous in space with the comet 67P/ Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The comet is named after its discoverers Klim Churyumov and Svetlana Gerasimenko who first indentified it in September 1969. After 10 years five months and four days and orbiting around Sun for five times traversing a distance of 6.4 billion kilometres Rosetta is now orbiting its destination.

Rosetta is a robotic spacecraft launched on March 2004 by the Ariane 5 rocket. It has two main elements: the Rosetta Space probe orbiter which harbours 12 instruments and Philae, a robotic lander with additional 5 instruments.  It is designed to both orbit and land on the comet to have the most detailed study of comet. During its 10 year long voyage it made three flybys of earth and one flyby of Mars in 2007. It has passed by two asteroids: 2867 Steins in 2008 and 21 Lutetia in 2010. The spacecraft entered deep space hibernation mode when instruments have been powered down to conserve energy in June 2011. It was programmed to remain in that state till 20^th Jan 2014 when the hibernation exit was initiated. All the operations are controlled from the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) Darmstadt, Germany.

For the past two months the speed of the space craft has been scaled down so that it can fly beside the comet at a slow walking pace of 1mt/sec. Comet 67P as visualised from Rosetta, resembles a black duck shaped rock of 3.5km width and 4 km length. Rosetta would fire thrusters every few days to remain in a triangular orbit 100 km from the Comet. It would travel alongside the Comet for 15 months and would study the Comet with the instruments on board. The mission would take an interesting turn in November when attempts for harpooning would begin to put the lander Philae on the surface of the comet. Philae is then assigned with the task of anchoring itself on the surface and drill through the comet.

Comets are the small icy bodies which originate either in the Oort Cloud that exist far beyond the orbit of the Pluto or from the Kuiper Belt located beyond the orbit of Neptune and releases gas or dust. When comets pass close to the sun they get heated up and begin to outgas thus displaying visible atmosphere or Coma and sometimes a tail. Usually the dust consists of ice, carbon dioxide, ammonia, methane and more. Scientists believe that comets might have brought water and other organic molecules to earth which led to initiation of life on earth. Comet 67 P are believed to have originated from Kuiper belt and is controlled by Jupiter’s gravity and belongs to Jupiter Family Comets.

The enticing analysis of the comet dust brought by the Stardust mission of NASA in 2006 revealed presence of several interesting molecules and an amino acid Glycine, an important component of many enzymes, receptors and DNA. Amino acids can be right-handed or left-handed. But left-handed amino acids are alone used in life on earth. Hence analysing the composition of comets can provide an answer or give a hint about the origin of life on earth and the ingredients of life which might have been brought to earth from extra-terrestrial space. Thus, this mission is extraordinary for its miraculous adventures in space and for overwhelming exhilaration it is set to generate.

 

 

 

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