Existe muita confusão sobre o fato de adotarmos o acento na palavra Yôga. Então vamos tentar esclarecer de uma vez por todas. A palavra Yôga tem acento?

1) Resposta curta e grossa: Tem. =D

2) Resposta ideal: No sânscrito, a vogal O é uma crase (formada pela junção das vogais A + U) e todas as crases são acentuadas.

3) Resposta longa e erudita: Transliteração é o nome do processo que transforma a palavra योग em Yôga. Trata-se de escrever um vocábulo em um outro alfabeto de forma tal que, caso seja necessário reverter o processo sem o texto original, isso seja feito sem erros. Na transliteração adotada pelo nosso Método, as crases de vogais iguais (A + A = Á; I + I = Í; U + U = Ú) são indicadas com acento agudo. As crases de vogais diferentes (A + I = Ê; A + U = Ô) são indicadas com acento circunflexo. Sem os acentos, ocorreriam erros na hora de reescrever as palavras em dêvanágarí.

अब आप इंटरनेट वेब साइटों (अंतरजाल स्थलों?) के पतों को लैटिन/रोमन लिपि के बदले विश्व की तमाम अन्य मान्य लिपियों में चुन सकते हैं । इस आशय का एक समाचार (क्लिक करें) मुझे इंग्लैंड से छपने वाली पत्रिका ‘न्यू साइंटिस्ट’ (http://www.newscientist.com/) से मिला है ।

यहां पर मैं पत्रिका में छपे पूरे पाठ्य का उल्लेख नहीं कर रहा हूं, केवल कुछ बिंदुओं का सार लिख रहा हूं । उसके पश्चात् अपनी कुछएक टिप्पणियां । पत्रिका का आरंभिक अनुच्छेद इन शब्दों से आरंभ होता है:

आज इंटरनेट का भविष्य कुछ अधिक ही स्पष्ट हो गया है, जब इसकी नियामक संस्था, ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers – http://www.icann.org/en/general/background.htm), ने लैटिन से भिन्न लिपि-चिह्नों में वेब पतों को लिखने को मान्यता प्रदान कर दी । संस्था के अध्यक्ष, पीटर डेन्गेट थ्रश (Peter Dengate Thrush), समझाते हैं, “अभी तक इंटरनेट पतों का अंतिम अंश लैटिन कैरेक्टरों, A to Z, तक सीमित था ।” उनका आशय था कि अभी तक चीनी वेब नामों का आंरभिक अंश भले ही चीनी कैरेक्टरों में लिखा जा सकता था, उनका अंतिम अंश अनिवार्यतः ‘.cn‘ आदि ही हो सकता था । लेकिन अब …

लेख में लिखा है कि 16 नवंबर से सभी देश अब अपना ‘कैरेक्टर’ समुच्चय पंजीकृत कराकर ‘इंटर्नैशनल डोमेन नेम’ (IDNs) चुन सकेंगे । आगे यह भी कि चीनी भाषा-लिपि की वेब साइट Sun0769 में प्रस्तुत पाठ्य का ‘गूगल’ अनुवाद दावा करता है कि अब ‘लैटिन’ का एकछत्र सामाज्य समाप्त हुआ । जो लोग अंग्रेजी तो दूर उसकी लिपि तक से अपरिचित हैं उनके लिए यह खबर राहत पहुंचाने वाली है यह कहना है चीन की सबसे बड़ी इंटरनेट सेवा प्रदाता कंपनी HiChina के वरिष्ठ परियोजना प्रबंधक वांग पेंग (Wang Peng) का । वेब पते का आरंभिक अंश http:// यथावत् बना रहेगा, यद्यपि आजकल इसका लिखा होना आवश्यक नहीं । इंटरनेट की मूल कार्यप्रणाली इस सब से बदलेगी नहीं, कुछ तकनीकी फेरबदल शायद कहीं करना पड़े ।

उक्त लेख में इस रोचक एवं अहम बात का जिक्र है कि आज के समय में चीन में इंटरनेट उपयोक्ताओं की संख्या विश्व में सर्वाधिक है – 33 करोड़ (अमेरिका की जनसंख्या, करीब 31 करोड़, से अधिक !)

वेब नामों में लैटिन लिपि की अनिवार्यता की समाप्ति की जानकारी मुझे गूगल के एक समूह (गूगल ग्रूप) के रास्ते श्री लोचन मखीजा महोदय से भी 4-5 दिन पहले मिली थी ।

चीन की भूमिका

लिपि संबंधी अनिवार्यता समाप्त करने की मांग चल रही है और देर-सबेर लैटिन का वर्चस्व समाप्त हो जायेगा इसका अंदाजा मुझे काफी पहले से था । वस्तुतः करीब तीन साल पहले मेरी नजर में एक लेख (http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/idn-tld-cdnc.pdf) आया था, जिसमें चीन के तत्संबंधी प्रयासों का जिक्र था ।

इसमें दो राय नहीं है कि लैटिन की अनिवार्यता समाप्त करने में चीन की भूमिका सर्वोपरि रही है । जैसा पहले कहा गया है चीन में इंटरनेट उपयोक्ताओं की संख्या सर्वाधिक ही नहीं है बल्कि एक प्रकार से आश्चर्यजनक भी है – 33 करोड़, पूरी जनसंख्या का लगभग 25 प्रतिशत । चीन में अंग्रेजी नहीं चलती है, कम से कम उस तरीके से और उस सीमा तक नहीं जैसे अपने देश तथा पूर्व में ब्रिटिश उपनिवेश रह चुके कई अन्य देशों में । यह बात अधिकांश हिंदुस्तानियों के गले नहीं उतर पाएगी कि वहां अंग्रेजी वास्तव में नहीं चलती । अंग्रेजी जानने वाले चीनियों की संख्या बहुत कम है; इंटरनेट पर उपलब्ध जानकारी के अनुसार करोड़ भर भी नहीं । जो जानते भी हैं उनकी अंग्रेजी कामचलाऊ ही कही जायेगी, अच्छी एवं प्रभावित करने वाली तो शायद ही देखने को मिले । 33 करोड़ की जनता तो अंग्रेजी अल्फाबेट से भी ठीक से परिचित नहीं । फिर इंटरनेट का उपयोग वे भला कैसे कर सकते हैं ? साफ जाहिर है कि वहां के लोग अंग्रेजी नहीं, बल्कि अपनी चीनी – असल में मैंडरिन – के माध्यम से ही इंटरनेट का प्रयोग कर रहे हैं । चीन ने इस बात को महत्त्व दिया कि उसके अधिकाधिक लोग इंटरनेट का भरपूर प्रयोग करें और इस कार्य में अंग्रेजी उनके लिए रोड़ा न बने । यहां तक कि वेब साइटों के नाम लैटिन में लिखने की बाध्यता से भी उसकी जनता मुक्त रहे यह चीन का लक्ष्य रहा है । कुछ भी हो यह मानता पड़ेगा कि आईसीएएनएन के प्रसंगगत निर्णय के पीछे चीन की भूमिका प्रमुख रही है । भारत या इंडिया का भी कुछ योगदान रहा होगा इसमें मुझे शंका है ।

इंडिया बनाम भारत बनाम चीन

बात जब भाषा और लिपि की हो रही हो तो इस बात का उल्लेख करना अनुचित नहीं होगा कि हम भारतीयों, या बेहतर होगा कहना इंडियन्ज, और चीनियों में गंभीर अंतर हैं । चीन के लोग कमोबेश अपनी भाषा/लिपि के प्रति गौरव रखते हैं और कोशिश करते हैं कि उनका कार्य यथासंभव अपनी भाषा/लिपि के माध्यम से हो । इसके विपरीत हममें भाषाई गौरव का अभाव है । अपनी भाषाओं के प्रयोग से यथासंभव बचें इसकी कोशिश हम अधिक करते हैं और अंग्रेजी के पक्ष में तमाम तर्क खोज लाते हैं । चीनी सरकार तथा वहां के तकनीकी विशेषज्ञ यह अच्छी तरह से समझते आये हैं कि वहां के लोग पहले अंग्रेजी सीखें और तत्पश्चात् वे कंप्यूटर पर बैठें ऐसा विचार करके चलना मूर्खतापूर्ण होगा । चीन की सोच यह रही है कि उसकी जनता को अंग्रेजी सीखने की जहमत ही न उठानी पड़े, बल्कि उन्हें कंप्यूटर तथा इंटरनेट सुविधा उनकी भाषा – मैंडरिन – में उपलब्ध कराई जाए । आज कंप्यूटरों के क्षेत्र में जो प्रगति हो चुकी है उसके कारण भाषाएं तथा उनकी लिपियां कोई समस्या नहीं रह गयी हैं । इस तथ्य के मद्देनजर चीन ने इंफर्मेशन टेक्नालॉजी का प्रयोग अपने लोगों के लिए अधिक किया है । अपने लोगों की जरूरतों को नजरअंदाज करके केवल पाश्चात्य देशों को निर्यात हेतु अंग्रेजी के माध्यम से सॉफ्टवेयर के क्षेत्र में कार्य होवे यह चीन को स्वीकार्य नहीं रहा ऐसा मानना है मेरा । सॉफ्टवेयर के क्षेत्र में वे हमसे पीछे दिखते हैं, पर मैं समझता हूं कि वस्तुतः ऐसा है नहीं । उनकी प्राथमिकता में उसके अपने लोग शामिल रहे हैं, जिसे अपनी भाषा/लिपि में इंटरनेट सेवा चाहिए । मेरा सोचना है कि इस नीति के कारण सॉफ्टवेयर के माध्यम से अंतरराष्ट्रीय बाजार से लाभ कमाने में चीन हमारे देश से पीछे रहा है । लेकिन उस कमी की भरपाई उसने हार्डवेयर के क्षेत्र में अतुलनीय प्रगति करके की है । हमारे यहां तो हार्डवेयर क्षेत्र प्रायः गायब-सा है, और साफ्टवेयर अधिकांशतः निर्यात के लिए, देशवासियों और स्वदेशी भाषाओं के लिए बहुत कम । बहरहाल मैं तो ऐसा ही मानता हूं ।

वास्तव में हमारी स्थिति चीन के ठीक उल्टी है । अपने यहां सॉफ्टवेयर के क्षेत्र में हो रहा कार्य प्रमुखतया निर्यात के लिए रहा है और अंग्रेजी पर अपने यहां अत्यधिक जोर रहा है । यहां तक कहा जाता है कि अंग्रेजी के बल पर ही तो हम सूचना-क्षेत्र में अग्रणी और ‘धुरंधर’ होंगे । हमारी प्रथमिकता यह कभी नहीं रही कि हम स्वयं अपने देशवासियों के लिए ऐसे सॉफ्टवेयर विकसित करें कि हमारी अधिकांश जनता, जो अंग्रेजी नहीं जानती है, इंटरनेट का प्रयोग कारगर तरीके से कर सके । हमारे विशेषज्ञों का शायद ही कभी यह गंभीर प्रयास रहा हो कि अंग्रेजी में उपलब्ध जानकारी को वे अपने देशवासियों के समक्ष उनकी भाषा – जनभाषा – में प्रस्तुत करें, जैसा कि विश्व के सभी प्रमुख देशों में होता रहा है । सच पूछिए तो अपने नीति-निर्धारकों की भाषाई नीति ही दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण और खेदजनक रही है । वे इस बात पर जोर डालते रहे हैं कि समस्त ज्ञान अंग्रेजी में है, उसे पाना है तो हर व्यक्ति स्वयं अंग्रेजी सीखे । इसे वे ‘अंग्रेजी थोपना’ नहीं मानते हैं । इसके विपरीत चीन की नीति रही है कि हर चीनी को अंग्रेजी की जरूरत नहीं । जो ज्ञान अंग्रेजी में उपलब्ध है उसे अंग्रेजी जानने वाले विशषज्ञों द्वारा उनकी भाषा – मैंडरिन – में उनके सामने रखी जाएगी । अंग्रेजी सीखने का समय- तथा श्रम-साध्य कार्य हर व्यक्ति को करना पड़े ऐसी नीति चीन की नहीं रही है । इसी सिद्धांत को लेकर चीन चला है, और उसके प्रयास रहे हैं कि किसी चीनी को लैटिन लिपि का भी ज्ञान न हो तो भी वह बखूबी इंटरनेट का उपयोग कर सके । चीन उन देशों में अग्रणी रहा है जिन्होंने लैटिन लिपि की अनिवार्यता से मुक्त होने की पुरजोर कोशिश की और अंत में सफल भी हो गया । मेरा अनुमान है कि भारत या इंडिया का इस प्रयास में कोई योगदान नहीं रहा ।

वेब साइट नाम और भारतीय लिपियां

इंटरनेट वेब साइटों के नाम और उन पर प्रस्तुत पाठ्य सामग्री का लैटिनेतर लिपियों में उपलब्ध होना अवश्य ही उन उपयोक्ताओं के लिए लाभप्रद है जो उक्त लिपि और अंग्रेजी से सुपरिचित नहीं हैं । अब सवाल उठता है कि आईसीएएनएन का निर्णय अपने देश के संदर्भ में कोई अहमियत रखता है क्या ? इस तथ्य को नहीं झुठलाया जा सकता है कि अपने देश में समाज का अपेक्षया संपन्न वर्ग ही कंप्यूटरों और इंटरनेट तक पहुंच रखता है, और अपवादों को छोड़ दें तो, यह वह वर्ग है जो अंग्रेजी भाषा में अधिक दिलचस्पी रखता है और उसी को प्राथमिकता के साथ प्रयोग में लेने का आदी है । इस वर्ग के जो लोग अपनी नेमप्लेट (नामपट्ट) तक देवनागरी या अन्य भारतीय लिपियों में लिखने से परहेज रखते हैं वे क्या लैटिनेतर लिपि में वेेब नाम चुनना चाहेंगे ? अपने शहरों में दुकानों/कार्यालयों के नामपट्ट तक चयनित तौर पर अंग्रेजी में रहते हैं; ऐसे में भारतीय लिपियों की बात कौन करेगा ? उपभोक्ता वस्तुओं के नाम और उनके साथ संलग्न जानकारी तक भारतीय लिपियों में कम ही देखने को मिलती है । देवनागरी की स्थिति तो और भी दयनीय है । बाजार में हिंदी संगीत/गानों का कैसेट खरीदें, क्या उस पर देवनागरी में लिखा दिखता है कभी ? हिंदी फिल्मों की ‘कास्टिंग’ आदि का विवरण तक देवनागरी में देखने को नहीं मिलता, तब भला उसका प्रयोग इंटरनेट वेब नामों में कौन करेगा ।

अपने देश की प्रायः सभी, विशेषकर सरकारी, वेब साइटें मूलतः अंग्रेजी में बनी हैं। कम ही स्थल हैं जिनमें हिंदी/देवनागरी में जानकारी मिलेगी । उन साइटों का ढांचा भी अक्सर अंग्रेजी में ही रहता है, केवल पाठ्य हिंदी में देखने को मिलेगा । प्रयोग में लिए जा रहे ‘आइकॉन’ और ‘बटन’ पर लैटिन वर्ण ही झलकते हैं । चाहे बैंकीय लेन-देन हो या रेलवे आरक्षण, अथवा इंटरनेट पर सरकारी-गैरसरकारी फार्म भरना, सभी कुछ अंग्रेजी में रहता है । तब आईसीएएनएन का उक्त निर्णय भारत के संदर्भ में क्या कोई माने रखता है । शायद नहीं !

और बात खत्म करते-करते आंरभ में उल्लिखित वेब साइट Sun0769 के एक पेज की तस्वीर पेश कर दूं, यह दर्शाने के लिए कि लैटिनेतर लिपि के प्रयोग का क्या मतलब है ।

आगे है ‘गूगल अनुवादक’ से प्राप्त वही पृष्ठ । मुझे लगता है कि गूगल अनुवादक हिंदी की तुलना में चीनी भाषा के लिए अधिक सफल है । इस मामले में भी वे हमसे आगे हैं ।

और अंत में यह देखिए तोक्यो विश्वविद्यालय का एक वेब पेज

क्या अपने देश में कोई विश्वविद्यालय है जिसकी वेब साइट पर भारतीय लिपि भी दिखती हो ? मेरी जानकारी में नहीं ! – योगेन्द्र जोशी

A couple of days ago, I managed to upload the transliterated version of Rushabha Sukta. You can download the Kannada and Devanagari texts of the same from the mantras page.

Rushabha is the sukta that Lord Bhimasena chanted immediately after the slaying of Duryodhana. According to a beautiful article written by Sri Bannanje Govindacharya (in his book Pancha Suktagalu), Rushabha Sukta is also known as Sapatnaghna Sukta. The main rishi of the Sukta is Lord Bhimasena himself and the devata is Lord Narasimha.

In addition, I have also uploaded the Kannada, Devanagari and English texts of Sri Ramaa (Lakshmi) Stotra and the beautiful Grantha Malika Stotra. The Granta Malika Stotra is a beautiful composition by Sri Vyasaraja Swamy and highlights the 37 works of Sri Madhvacharya.

अगले वर्ष इसी माह (3 से 14 अक्टूबर, 2010) अपने देश, ‘इंडिया’, में ‘कॉमनवेल्थ गेम्ज’ (जिन्हें हिंदी में शायद राष्ट्रकुल खेल कहा जाता है) का ‘भव्य’ आयोजन होना है । मेरी शुभकामनाएं आयोजकों के प्रति कि उन्हें इस आयोजन में पूर्ण सफलता मिले तथा वे देश की ‘दांव पर लगी प्रतिष्ठा’ को बचाने में कामयाब रहें । उक्त खेल उत्कंठित देशवासियों तथा उत्सुक खेलप्रेमियों की आकांक्षाओं एवं अपेक्षाओं के अनुकूल संपन्न होवें यह मेरी दैवी शक्तियों से प्रार्थना है । (आयोजकों की वेबसाइटः http://www.cwgdelhi2010.org/home.aspx)

समाचार माध्यमों में छपी खबरों से ऐसा लगता है कि उक्त आयोजन की तैयारियां संतोषजनक नहीं चल रही हैं । खैर तैयारी के बारे में कुछ कह पाना शायद आम नागरिक के लिए संभव नहीं । लेकिन एक बात पर टिप्पणी करने का मेरा भी मन हो आया, जब मेरी नजर संबंधित ‘लोगो’ (क्या कहते हैं इसे, प्रतीकचिह्न ?) पर पड़ी, जिसे यहां इन शब्दों के साथ छाप रहा हूं । मेरी जानकारी में ‘हिंदी’ राजभाषा है, और देवनागरी, न कि रोमन, उसकी लिपि है । मेरे अनुमान से अपने देश की सरकार इस राजभाषा को स्थान देती है, कम से कम मुद्रित सामग्री में । अगर सरकार से पूछा जाय तो यही सुनने को मिलेगा कि राजभाषा का प्रयोग अधिकाधिक हो रहा है और उसे बढ़ावा देने के लिए तमाम कोशिशें जारी हैं । अगर स्थान नहीं देगी तो राजभाषा किस काम की रह जायेगी भला ? किंतु ‘कॉमनवेल्थ गेम्ज’ के लिए जो ‘लोगो’ (logo) प्रयोग में लिया जा रहा है उसमें कहीं एक भी अक्षर देवनागरी का नहीं है, जैसा पहले चित्र से जाहिर है | क्या इस लोगो में अंग्रेजी के साथ देवनागरी में भी वांछित शब्दों का उल्लेख नहीं होना चाहिए था ? लोगो क्या वैसा नहीं हो सकता था जैसा मेरे द्वारा संशोधित दूसरे चित्र में दिखाया गया है ? ऐसा ही कुछ संभव था और है । क्या वजह है कि आयोजकों को राजभाषा से इतना परहेज है ? क्या वजह है कि सरकार राजभाषा के प्रति इतना उदासीन है, लेकिन फिर भी उसे ‘राजभाषा’ खिताब से वंचित करने पर विचार नहीं करती ?

लोगो में अंकित शब्द वास्तव में प्रथमतः राजभाषा में और तत्पश्चात् उसके साथ अंग्रेजी में होने चाहिए थे, क्योंकि संविधान के अनुसार हिंदी (देवनागरी लिपि में) प्रमुख राजभाषा है और अंग्रेजी उसकी सहायक राजभाषा । सरकारी तंत्र ने घोषित सांविधानिक नीति के विरुद्ध अंग्रेजी को प्रमुख राजभाषा का दर्जा दे रखा है । फिर भी घोषित राजभाषा अंग्रेजी की सहायक राजभाषा के तौर पर तो प्रयुक्त हो ही सकती है । राजभाषा हिंदी के प्रति इतना भी सम्मान अथवा सदाशयता नीतिनिर्धारकों के मन में क्यों नहीं है कि थोड़ा बहुत रस्मअदायगी ही निभा लें ?

एक और बात मेरे जेहन में उठती है । विश्व के अन्य प्रमुख देश खेल और तत्सदृश कोई और आयोजन करते हैं तो पूरी कार्यवाही अंग्रेजी के अतिरिक्त अपनी भाषा में भी प्रस्तुत करते हैं । याद किजिए जब चीन में ओलंपिक खेल संपन्न हुए थे । अपने देश में क्या होगा ? क्या उक्त खेलों के अवसर पर कहीं देवनागरी लिखी देखने को मिलेगी ? कहीं हिंदी लफ़्ज़ सुनने को मिलेंगे ? मुझे शंका है कि उस मौके पर भी अपनी राजभाषा सदा की तरह तिरस्कृत ही रहेगी ।

मुझे अंग्रेजी के प्रयोग पर आपत्ति नहीं है । विश्व में अन्य देश भी इसको महत्त्व दे रहे हैं, लेकिन इतना नहीं कि अपनी मौलिक भाषाओं को ही भूल जाएं । प्रमुख देशों में कोई ऐसा नहीं होगा जहां अपने देश की भाषा को शासित प्रजा की भाषा के तौर पर देखा जाता हो और अंग्रेजी को शासकों की भाषा बने रहने दिया जा रहा हो । देश में दो प्रकार की भाषाएं हैं, एक आम जन की देसी भाषाएं और दूसरे अंग्रेजी जो आज भी देश पर राज करने वालों की भाषा है, ठीक वैसे ही जैसे विदेशी राज में था । राजनीतिक तौर पर स्वतंत्र होने के बावजूद इस देश का शासक वर्ग स्वयं को आम जनता से ऊपर मानता है और अपने को उनसे अलग रखने के लिए अंग्रेजी का हथियार इस्तेमाल करता आ रहा है । क्या ऐसी मानसिकता वाले शासकों से यह देश कभी मुक्त हो सकेगा ? शायद कभी नहीं ! - योगेन्द्र जोशी

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आज हिंदी दिवस है, 14 सितंबर ।

सर्वप्रथम मैं हिंदी-प्रमियों के प्रति अपनी शुभकामना व्यक्त करता हूं कि उनका भारतीय भाषाओं के प्रति लगाव बना रहे और यह भी कि वे अपने भाषाई प्रयासों में सफल होवें ।

तारीख के हिसाब से कोई 60 साल पहले आज ही के दिन देश में सर्वाधिक बोली/समझी जाने वाली भाषा हिंदी को राजभाषा की उपाधि दी गयी थी । रस्मअदायगी के तौर पर इस दिन उच्चपदस्थ लोग, चाहे वे राजनीति में हों या प्रशासन में अथवा अन्य व्यावसायिक क्षेत्रों में, यह कहते हुए सुने जाएंगे कि हमें राजभाषा हिन्दी अपनानी चाहिए । किसको अपनानी चाहिए हिंदी और किस क्षेत्र में और किस रूप में यह वह स्पष्ट नहीं कहते हैं । ऐसा लगता है कि वे आम आदमी को नसीहत देना चाहते हैं कि वह हिंदी को यथासंभव अधिकाधिक इस्तेमाल में ले । लेकिन वे स्वयं इसके इस्तेमाल की जिम्मेदारी से मुक्त रहना चाहते हैं और अंगरेजी के सापेक्ष वस्तुस्थिति को यथावत् बनाये रखने के पक्षधर हैं ।

हिंदी के राजभाषा बनाए जाने के औचित्य पर मुझे सदा ही शंका रही है । सैद्धांतिक तौर पर हिंदी के पक्ष में आरंभ में जो तर्क दिये गये थे वे निराधार तथा असत्य थे यह मैं नहीं कहता । किंतु तथ्यात्मक तर्क ही पर्याप्त नहीं माने जा सकते हैं । वास्तविकता के धरातल पर वे तर्क स्वीकार किये जा रहे हैं या नहीं, हामी भर लेने के बावजूद उनके अनुरूप कार्य हो रहा है कि नहीं, नीति-निर्धारण और कार्यान्वयन के लिए जिम्मेदार लोग रुचि लेते हैं या नहीं जैसी बातें अधिक महत्त्व रखते हैं । अपनी बात मैं यूं स्पष्ट करता हूं: आप सिगरेट के किसी लती को सलाह दें कि उसका धूम्रपान करना नुकसानदेह है और वह आपकी बात मानते हुए कहे कि ‘लेकिन मैं फिर भी सिगरेट पीना नहीं छोड़ सकता’ तो आप क्या करेंगे ? आप कहेंगे कि कोई न कोई रास्ता तो खोजा ही जाना चाहिए । एक व्यक्ति को रास्ते पर लाने के लिए तरह-तरह के नुस्खे अपनाये जा सकते हैं, समझाया-बुझाया जा सकता है, जोर-जबरदस्ती की जा सकती है, डराया-धमकाया जा सकता है, इत्यादि, और अंततः सफलता मिल भी सकती है । किंतु ऐसा कोई रास्ता समूचे देश के लिए संभव नहीं है । किसी दिशा में अग्रसर होने की सन्मति यदि लोगों में आ जाये तो ठीक, अन्यथा सब भगवान् भरोसे । राजभाषा हिंदी के मामले में स्थिति कुछ ऐसी ही है ।

यदि अपने देशवासी किसी न किसी बहाने अंगरेजी का प्रयोग यथावत् बनाये रखना चाहें तो फिर इस राजभाषा का अर्थ ही क्या है ? जब मैं अपने देश की तुलना विश्व के अन्य प्रमुख देशों से करता हूं तो पाता हूं कि अपना देश है ही विचित्र, सबसे अजूबा, विरोधाभासों और विसंगतियों से परिपूर्ण । यह विचित्रता सर्वत्र व्याप्त है, किंतु यहा पर इसका उल्लेख अपनी देसी भाषाओं के संदर्भ में ही कर रहा हूं । हम यह मानते है कि हमारी भाषाएं सुसंपन्न हैं, किंतु उन्हें लिखित रूप में प्रयोग में न लेकर केवल बोले जाने तक सीमित रखना चाहते हैं । क्यों ? इसका संतोषप्रद उत्तर किसी के पास नहीं, कदाचित् एक प्रकार का जड़त्व हमें घेरे हुए है कि सार्थक परिवर्तन करने को हम उत्सुक और प्रयत्नशील नहीं हैं, न ऐसा होना चाहते हैं ।

इसमें दो राय नहीं है कि हमारे रोजमर्रा के जीवन में प्रायः सर्वत्र हिंदी अथवा अन्य क्षेत्रीय भाषाएं ही बोली जाती हैं, चाहे बाजार में खरीद-फरोख्त का काम हो या पड़ोसी के हालचाल पूछने का या फोन पर किसी नाते-रिस्तेदार से बात करने का । यहां तक कि अंगरेजी स्कूलों में पढ़ रहे बच्चे भी स्कूल आते-जाते परस्पर अपनी देसी भाषा में ही बोलते दिखते हैं । कार्यालयों में अधिकांशतः सभी स्थानीय भाषा में ही सामान्य वार्तालाप करते हुए पाये जायेंगे । अपवादों को छोड़ दें । राजनीतिक क्षेत्र में तो जनता के सामने बातें क्षेत्रीय भाषाओं में ही रखी जाती हैं । किंतु जैसे ही कहीं कोई औपचारिक बात हो, हम तुरंत ही अंगरेजी में उतर आते हैं । अपनी बात स्थानीय भाषा में कहेंगे जरूर, किंतु उसी को जब लिखित रूप में व्यक्त करना हो तो अंगरेजी हमारी प्राथमिकता बन जाती है । तब हिंदी या अन्य देसी भाषा का प्रयोग समाज के निम्नतम वर्ग या अंगरेजी न पढ़े-लिखे लोगों तक रह जाता है । जिसको थोड़ी भी अंगरेजी आती है वह अपनी भाषाओं में लिखकर कुछ कहने को तैयार नहीं । चाहे रेलयात्रा का आरक्षण हो या बैंकों में कारोबार करने का या अपने ही क्षेत्र का पता चिट्ठी पर लिखने का, सर्वत्र अंगरेजी ही देखने को मिलेती है, कुछ अपवादों को छोड़कर ।

निःसंदेह बोलचाल में हिंदी का प्रयोग देश भर में बढ़ा है । देश के किसी कोने में जाइये रिक्शा-ऑटों वालों से, चाय वालों से, सामान्य दर्जे के होटल वालों से हिंदी में बात करना अधिक सुविधाजनक सिद्ध होता है ऐसा मैंने देशाटन में अनुभव किया है । किंतु इतना सब कुछ होते हुए भी लिखित रूप में हिंदी शायद ही कहीं दिखाई देती है । सभी सार्थक जानकारी अंगरेजी में ही लिखित आपको मिलेगी भले ही जनसामान्य के उस जानकारी का हिंदी अथवा क्षेत्रीय भाषा में उपलब्ध होना अधिक लाभप्रद क्यों न हो । मैं उदाहरण पेश करता हूं । मेरी बातें मुख्यतः हिंदीभाषी क्षेत्रों पर लागू होती हैं ।

(1) हिंदीभाषी क्षेत्रों के प्रमुख शहरों के नामपट्टों को देखिए, अंगरेजी में मिलेंगे भले ही वहां आने-जाने वाले लोगों में अंगरेजी जानने वाले कम और हिंदी जानने वाले अधिक हों । होटलों, ‘मॉलों’ ने तो जैसे कसम खा रखी है हिंदी में न लिखने की । हिंदीभाषी क्षेत्र फिर भी हिंदी में नामोल्लेख नहीं, किस मानसिकता का द्योतक है यह ?

(2) दुकानों पर जाइए खरीद की रसीद आपको आम तौर पर अंगरेजी में ही मिलेगी । हिंदी में या हिंदी-अंगरेजी में क्यों नहीं रहती ?

(3) उपभोक्ता सामान पर नजर डालें तो उस पर लिखित सूचना आपको अंगरेजी में ही मिलेगी । बिस्कुट पैकेट हो या खाद्य तेल की बोतल या क्रीम-पेस्ट की डिबिया, कहीं हिंदी में भी लिखा मिलता है ? यह सब तब जब कि अंगरेजी के बदले हिंदी ठीक से समझने वालों की संख्या कहीं अधिक रहती है । मुझे तो इस देश के लोगों पर तब तरस आता है जब में देखता हूं कि अंगरेजी के ज्ञान से वंचित श्रमिक वर्गों के लोगों के लिए भी जानकारी अंगरेजी में ही रहती है । आप पेंट उद्योग का उदाहरण ले लें । पेंट कहां, कितना और कैसे इस्तेमाल करना है, उसके साथ क्या सावधानियां बरतनी है, आदि की बातें अंगरेजी में ही मुद्रित रहती हंै । प्रयोग में लेने वाला व्यक्ति साधारण पुताईकर्मी होता है जो आम तौर पर उसे पढ़-समझ नहीं सकता । वांछित जानकारी हिंदी या क्षेत्रीय भाषा में हो तो अधिक उपयोगी नहीं होगी क्या ? उद्योग-जगत् भूल जाता है कि ऐसे श्रमिक अंगरेजी स्कूलों में पढ़कर नहीं आते हैं; उन्हें क्षेत्रीय भाषा का ज्ञान होता है बस । लेकिन कोई समझे तब न ! पर यह देश ही विचित्र है !

(4) आधुनिक जीवन की सुख-सुविधाओं के आधार रूप में उपलब्ध उपस्करों/उपकरणों, यथा टेलीविजन, फ्रिज, ऐसी, वाशिंग मशीन या कार-स्कुटर, के साथ उपलब्ध दिशा-निर्देश पुस्तिकाओं पर अगर गौर करें तो पाएंगे कि वे सामान्यतः अंगरेजी में ही लिखे रहते हैं । व्यापारिक संस्थाओं के लिए इस तथ्य का कोई अर्थ नहीं है कि अंगरेजी तो इस देश की 10 प्रतिशत जनता को भी नहीं आती । क्या उन्हें हिंदी तथा अन्य भाषाओं में जानकारी नहीं देनी चाहिए ?

(5) आप चिकित्सक से परामर्श लें तो वह दवा और हिदायतें अंगरेजी में लिखेगा, बिना यह सोचे-समझे कि मरीज अंगरेजी जानता भी है कि नहीं । सब बातचीत हिंदी या स्थानीय भाषा में होगी, पर लिखित निर्देश ? हिंदी या अन्य भाषा स्वीकार्य नहीं ! और दवा की दुकान में जायें तो दवा की जानकारी किसी भी भारतीय भाषा में नहीं । दिलचस्प तो यह है कि तीनएक वर्ष पूर्व तत्कालीन केंद्रीय रसायन/उर्वरक मंत्री ने दवा कंपनियों के लिए आदेश पारित किया था कि वे दवा के रैपर पर नाम, निर्माण तिथि आदि की जानकारी हिंदी में भी मुद्रित करें । उस आदेश का जिक्र मैंने अन्यत्र (क्लिक करें) किया है । वह आज तक कागजी ही बना हुआ है । राजभाषा के प्रति यह रवैया ? तो राजभाषा का औचित्य क्या रहा ?

(6) हमारी सरकारों की दोहरी शिक्षा नीति भी अंगरेजी के पक्ष में खड़ी है । समाज में जो संपन्न है उसके लिए अंगरेजी स्कूल और समाज के विपन्न वर्ग के लिए क्षेत्रीय भाषा के स्कूल । यह खुलकर कहा जाता है कि अंगरेजी-विहीन स्कूली शिक्षा निरर्थक है । रोजी-रोटी सब अंगरेजी ज्ञान पर आधारित । आज हालात यह हैं कि हर व्यक्ति अपने बच्चों के लिए अंगरेजी स्कूलों की ओर दौड़ रहा है । गली-कूचों में नये-नये ‘अंगरेजी मीडियम’ स्कूल खुल रहे हैं और देसी भाषाओं वाले स्कूल बेकार सिद्ध हो रहे हैं । हालात यह हैं कि वहां के बच्चे प्राथमिक शिक्षा के बाद भी अपना नाम नहीं लिख-पढ़ सकते । ऐसे में अपनी राजभाषा की अहमियत ही क्या रह जाती है । और मुद्देे का सबसे दुःखद पहलू तो यह है कि गैर-अंगरेजी स्कूली के बच्चे भाषाई कुंठा के शिकार हो रहे हैं । जब राजभाषा की हालत ऐसी हो तो उसकी सार्थकता क्या रह जाती है ?

(7) हिंदी की लिपि देवनागरी है न कि रोमन । हिंदी और देवनागरी के बीच का संबंध बहुत पुराना है और यह लिपि मूलतः संस्कृत और तदनुसार हिंदी की ध्वनियों के अनुरूप ढली हुई है । रोमन लिपि उसका स्थान नहीं ले सकती है । फिर भी आजकल हिंदी को रोमन लिपि में लिखने का चलन देखने में आ रहा है । लिपि के मामले में तो हिंदी की स्थिति अन्य भारतीय भाषाओं से भी बदतर हो चली है । आप बाजार में हिंदी संगीत के कैसेट/सीडी खरीदने चलिए, कैसेट पर लिखित जानकारी विशुद्ध अंगरेजी में मिलेगी । पता नहीं क्यों संबंधित औद्योगिक संस्थानों को देवनागरी से इतनी नफरत है ?

(8) और यही हाल सिने-जगत् के चलचित्रों तथा टेलीविजन चैनलों के कार्यक्रमों का है । फिल्में/धारावाहिक हिंदी के होते हैं लेकिन निर्माता-निर्देशक-कलाकारों आदि की जानकारी रोमन/अंगरेजी में मिलेगी । इतना अनर्थ तो तमिल, तेलुगू, बांग्ला आदि के साथ भी नहीं होता । विज्ञापनों में तो रोमन में लिखित हिंदी आम बात हो गयी है । ऐसा प्रतीत होता है कि विभिन्न मीडिया के लोग हिंदी के शब्दों को अंगरेजी शब्दों और उसकी लिपि को रोमन से विस्थापित करने का संकल्प ले चुके हैं । हिंदी के साथ हर प्रकार की छेड़छाड़ करने की पूरी छूट मानों उनको मिली हुई है । लिपि के साथ कितनी ज्यादती हो रही है इस पर एक वार्ता कल (13 सितंबर) के ‘याहू-जागरण अंतरजाल-समाचार’ (क्लिक करें) पर मुझे पढ़ने को मिला था ।

(9) यह सभी स्वीकारते हैं हिंदी विश्व में सर्वाधिक बोली-समझी जाने वाली 3-4 भाषाओं में से एक है । कुछ लोग इसे संयुक्त राष्ट्र संगठन (यू एन ओ) की सातवीं आधिकारिक भाषा का दर्जा दिलाने की बात करते हैं । वे यह भूल जाते हैं कि अपने ही घर में वह राजभाषा की उपाधि के बावजूद अप्रयुक्त चल रही है । व्यावसायिक लाभ की संभावनाओं के मद्देनजर गूगल, याहू जैसी संस्थाएं हिंदी को स्थान दे रही हैं, किंतु हकीकत यह है कि व्यावसायिक संस्थान इसे वह सम्मान नहीं देते हैं जो वे अन्य कई भाषाओं को देते हैं जिनके बोलने-जानने वाले मुश्किल से एक-दो करोड़ या उससे भी कम है । अंतरराष्ट्रीय बाजार में कंप्यूटर, प्रिंटर, कैमरा आदि के साथ यूनानी, तुर्की, अरबी, हेब्रू, आदि भाषाओं में मुद्रित निर्देश-पुस्तिका की उम्मीद की जा सकती है, किंतु हिंदी में नहीं । वे जानते हैं कि देश में निर्मित उपभोक्ता वस्तुओं के संदर्भ में ही जब हिंदी का महत्त्व नहीं तो वे क्यों हिंदी प्रयोग में लें ।

(10) जमाना अंतरजाल का है और वेबसाइटें जानकारी के स्रोत बनते जा रहे हैं । हर देश में अपनी भाषाओं में बेवसाइटें विकसित की जा रही हैं । अपने देश में भी सरकारी स्तर पर हिंदी में भी वेबसाइटों की औपचारिकता निभाई जा रही है, किंतु वे अंगरेजी में विकसित मूल वेबसाइटों की बराबरी पर नहीं हैं । लिहाजा घूमफिर कर अंगरेजी की ही शरण में जाना पड़ता है । देश के किसी विश्वविद्यालय की वेबसाइट में हिंदी को स्थान मिला भी होगा इसमें मुझे शंका है ।

इस प्रकार के अनेकों उदाहरण हैं जो स्पष्ट करते हैं कि इस देश के प्रबंधकों को हिंदी में कोई रुचि नहीं है । ऐसे में हिंदी के राजभाषा होने का अर्थ ही क्या रह जाता है ? और तब किस उद्येश्य से हिंदी दिवस मनाया जाये ? अंगरेजी का वर्चस्व आज तो है ही, कल भी बना रहेगा, अंतर पड़ना नहीं है, तब यह रस्मअदायगी ही क्यों ? – योगेन्द्र

One of the more frequent means by which customers are defrauded is by cheque interception. On average, a cheque is handled by up to 20 people from the time you make it out to the time your branch pays it. This means that there are numerous opportunities for the cheque to be intercepted. Most commonly this happens when cheques are posted.

Another common way in which customers are defrauded is in accepting a cheque or bank deposit when selling goods. Often the cheque or the deposit turns out to be fraudulent and the seller is out of pocket. Sellers are advised never to release goods until they are certain that the payment is valid.

Always wait for the funds to be cleared before releasing goods, even if it seems to be a bank issued cheque. While the cheque may appear to be genuine, fraudsters have even gone so far as to print their own cheques. The cheque could also be stolen. Even if the cheque is genuine, there are certain circumstances when bank issued cheques will not be honoured.

A fake cheques scam estimated to the tune of Rs.52 crore has been unearthed in the State Bank of India’s (SBI) main branch in kanpur. Seven bank officers have been suspended, According to the official, the fraud, which was detected Tuesday evening, was being carried on with the active connivance of the branch officials. Most of the fake cheques were credited into the account of an influential petrol pump owner and one of his associates, who have reportedly fled the country.

“The suspended officials include an assistant general manager, two chief managers and some senior managers, who were suspected to be directly involved in pilfering the bank by crediting fake cheques into select accounts,” he said.

The Kanpur branch head and deputy general manager have been divested of the charge with immediate effect.

The scam was detected by SBI’s audit team in Hyderabad from which a special team had been sent here to this city, 80 km from state capital Lucknow.

A vigilance team from the Lucknow-based state head office was also sent to Kanpur.

While describing the case as the “biggest fraud in the Lucknow-Kanpur region in recent decades”, the bank official did not rule out the possibility of “more heads rolling” over the next few days.

Significantly, barely a few months back, a fake note racket involving SBI officials was discovered in a small SBI branch in Domariyaganj town on the India-Nepal border, about 200 km from Lucknow.

ATM fraud issues in the most part involve credit card fraud and debit card fraud. The ATM machine may be the ‘common purchase point’ (CPP) where analysis shows that a significant number of credit cards or debit cards were used genuinely in one specific location prior to detection of subsequent fraudulent transactions. Even when not the CPP, automated teller machines may be the mechanism used to convert compromised credit cards and debit cards into hard cash, so long as the credit card fraud or debit card fraud included compromise of the personal identification number (PIN).

ATM skimming is now common in most parts of the world that have a mature network of ATMs, self-service terminals and point of sale (POS) terminals that accept magnetic stripe based credit cards and debit cards. Most bank ATM security issues and ATM fraud issues involving ATM skimming are the result of criminals attaching an ATM skimmer to the ATM card reader slot. Europe has historically been one of the most targeted geographies for ATM skimming attacks, although the world-wide spread of such ATM skimming fraud has been, and continues to be significant.

ATM deposit fraud which includes both cash deposit fraud and cheque fraud (check fraud) at automated teller machines is one type of ATM fraud that is particularly common in the US where many banks have a culture of crediting and allowing drawings against the deposit prior to manual reconciliation and verification.

ATM hacking should really only be used to describe attacks against the internals of the ATMs software or the ATMs systems security but is commonly used to describe attacks against card processors and other components of the transaction processing network. The US  have experienced a number of high profile ‘ATM hack’ attacks against well known credit card and debit card processors. Some of the systems security breaches have included compromise of the PIN in addition to the card data, with subsequent fraudulent spend using cloned credit cards and cloned debit cards at ATMs.

Another ATM fraud issue is ATM card theft which includes credit card trapping and debit card trapping at ATMs. Originating in South America this type of ATM fraud has spread globally. Although somewhat replaced in terms of volume by ATM skimming incidents, a re-emergence of card trapping has been noticed in regions such as Europe where EMV Chip and PIN cards have increased in circulation.

ATM funds transfer fraud is prevalent in Asia. This ATM scam involves criminals tricking victims into using the automated teller machine to transfer money into the criminals account.

ATM security attacks involving physical attacks against the ATM security enclosure are widely spread. ATM explosive attacks although originating and not uncommon in Europe are more prevalent in Australia and South Africa.

ATM ram raid incidents also occur globally but are most prevalent in the US, perhaps partly due to the large number of ATMs deployed in soft-target locations such as convenience stores.

ATM security incidents involving a high degree of precision to gain access to the ATM security enclosure occur globally. The UK and Canada have experienced many such precision ATM security attacks in recent years.Never accept a faxed bank deposit slip as proof of payment. Amounts and details can easily be changed to reflect a higher value or that it is a cash deposit. Check with your bank first that the correct amount has been deposited and whether the deposit is cash or cheque. If it is a cheque deposit, wait until the cheque has been paid (usually this will take seven days) before you release goods.

What is card skimming?

‘Card skimming’ is the illegal copying of information from the magnetic strip of a credit or ATM card. It is a more direct version of a phishing scam.

The scammers try to steal your details so they can access your accounts. Once scammers have skimmed your card, they can create a fake or ‘cloned’ card with your details on it. The scammer is then able to run up charges on your account.

Card skimming is also a way for scammers to steal your identity (your personal details) and use it to commit identity fraud. By stealing your personal details and account numbers the scammer may be able to borrow money or take out loans in your name.
Warning signs

* A shop assistant takes your card out of your sight in order to process your transaction.
* You are asked to swipe your card through more than one machine.
* You see a shop assistant swipe the card through a different machine to the one you used.
* You notice something suspicious about the card slot on an ATM (e.g. an attached device).
* You notice unusual or unauthorized transactions on your account or credit card statement.
Protect yourself from card skimming
* Keep your credit card and ATM cards safe. Do not share your personal identity number (PIN) with anyone. Do not keep any written copy of your PIN with the card.
* Check your bank account and credit card statements when you get them. If you see a transaction you cannot explain, report it to your credit union or bank.
* Choose passwords that would be difficult for anyone else to guess.

As well as following these specific tips, find out how to protect yourself from all sorts of other scams.
Do your homework

If you are using an ATM, take the time to check that there is nothing suspicious about the machine.

Ask yourself if you trust the person or trader who you are handing your card over to. If a shop assistant looks like they are going to take your card out of your sight, ask if it is really necessary.

If an ATM looks suspicious, do not use it and alert the ATM owner.

If you are in a shop and the assistant wants to swipe your card out of your sight, or in a second machine, you should ask for your card back straight away and either pay with a cheque or cash, or not make the purchase.

Now how to use ATM in Secure Way. Check it out

#1

First of all locate an ATM which you wan to use. They can commonly be found either on the outside walls of banks (inbuilt ATMs) or in convenience and department stores (freestanding ATMs). In terms of security they are similar because of the fact that freestanding machines are more closely watched and are in more public places. Bank ATMs are more difficult to tamper with and are regularly checked by the bank, however they are more often in secluded areas where thieves can take their time to work on them.
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Step 2

Look around the immediate area where the ATM is located for security cameras. Thieves are much less likely to try to target an ATM if it is being watched by a camera. similarly if the machine is in a place with constant attention, such as a busy shopping mall, thieves are less likely to strike.
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Step 3

When approaching the machine, look closely at the front of the card slot. If this has been burned and melted somewhat, of if the slot protrudes more than it usually would then a cloning device may have been fitted. Many devices for cloning cards fit over the existing slot, so if the colors of these parts are slightly different in color to the rest of the machine, this is also something to look out for.
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Step 4

If the ATM look different to the last time that you used it, then look at the new pieces, as they might contain a cameras used to recording pin numbers, These cameras are often hidden in either plastic panels which are fitted over the original or in ordinary looking pamphlet holders on the side of the ATM. Real ranks pamphlet holders are always located to the side of the machine altogether rather than in a position that could be used for recording pin numbers.
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Step 5

Contact your card provider if you suspect any ATM which you have seen has been tampered with. As an extra precaution, using a smart card is also a good idea These cards have a chip built into them and so are much harder for thieves to read. Because of this they are often impervious to most kinds of fraudulent card reader as the technology needed to read this chip is fairly large and bulky, and cannot easily be hidden on the outside of an ATM.

ATM skimmers are devices that thieves install on ATM machines to steal the financial information of others. Sometimes there is also a tiny camera installed that will record the user’s pin number. The criminals that use these devices are also called skimmers. Here are some Tips you can do to protect yourself from ATM skimmers.
#1

Learn to recognize a skimmer when you see one. If you see wires poking out, a scanner that does not seem secure, multiple scanning devices, or a sticker that says scan here first, do not use the machine.
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Step 2

Do not use a machine if someone offers to help you with it. Often the criminals who install skimmers stay nearby and “assist” users with their transaction. They may pose as another customer, or a technician working on the machine.
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Step 3

Be secretive when entering your pin number. Cover the keys with one hand in case someone is looking over your shoulder, or there is a hidden camera nearby.
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Step 4

Make it a habit of using the same ATM machine as often as possible. If you do this you will be familiar with the ATM machine and will be able to spot if someone has installed a device or tampered with the ATM machine.
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Step 5

Use ATM machines where video cameras are installed so that criminals will have a harder time installing skimmers.
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Step 6

Check the balance on your ATM card often so that if someone steals your information, you can minimize the damage. The faster you respond to ATM card theft, the better your chance is that the bank will fully reimburse you.

Some sensible safety tips:

* The person writing out a cheque should always attempt to use a ballpoint pen instead of making use of pens with more erasable inks like fountain pens or felt tip pens.
* To prevent unauthorised additions and/or alterations, commence all writing as close as possible to the left-hand margin, leaving no gaps and drawing a line through unused spaces.
* Any cheques that the account holder does not wish to be cashed should be crossed and, to ensure that a cheque is paid into the intended beneficiary’s account, the cheque should be marked with the words “Not Transferable” between two transverse lines.
* The customer should take responsibility for keeping his/her chequebook in a safe place to prevent unauthorised use.
* The customer should always keep his chequebook separate from his credit cards, ATM cards or any other document that bears his signature. If a thief gets hold of your chequebook, but does not have a sample of your signature, a forged signature will probably not resemble yours.
* All paid cheques that are returned with your bank statements should be kept in a safe place because they contain your signature. Fraudsters may even try to re-use these cheques.
* The customer should make a habit of doing monthly reconciliations on the cheques that were issued on his/her account.
* Regular recons should be done on all unused cheques in a chequebook against counterfoil or carbon copy records.
* The customer should report a stolen chequebook to his/her account holding or nearest FNB branch as soon as he/she detects that the chequebook is missing. There is also the ability to stop a cheque online via FNB Internet Banking.
* The posting of cheques should be avoided and, should it be necessary, cheques should be placed in non-transparent or dark envelopes without any staples / paper clips, which can be felt through the envelope.
* Never have any cheques lying around that have not been completed or fully signed.
* Many alternative payment methods exist that are safe and convenient and can even save on bank charges. These alternatives include Visa Cheque Cards, Visa Electron debit cards, Internet, Telephone and Cellphone Banking, ATM payments, debit orders and future dated payments.

Ashish Ravindranathan the 18-year-old IIT-Bombay first-year student has allegedly duped 25 credit card-holders and made a whopping Rs 6.5 lakh in just six months. Ashish completed studies at Delhi Public School in Ahmedabad in 2008, with 90% marks and went on to IIT-Bombay.

Ashish Ravindranathan modus operandi

Ashish used to pose as a bank executive, Ashish got credit card details from customers. He then used the data to book air tickets and buy laptops. He had tied up with a travel agent to cancel the tickets and share the booty, while the laptops he sold across the country at a discount. Every day, Ashish would call 50-100 credit card holders, offering to issue credit cards. He would then get details of credit cards that they already had. Some gullible customers fell for his ploy and even parted with the critical CVV number.

Ashish Ravindranathan was operating since October last year, said crime branch officers. It was like a movie the way he was trapped – disguised as gardeners and security guards, police trailed him to some of his favourite haunts in Ahmedabad to catch him red-handed as he made calls to credit card holders, posing as a representative of Barclays Bank.

A resident of Hyderabad – his father works in the US. Ashish lives with his mother and younger sister and the family is very comfortable financially. Ashish allegedly told the cops that he had got used to lavish spending and wanted to make quick money on the sly.

how all this Techniques used ,we start with a credit card cloning technique used by conmens.

Credit card cloning, or “skimming” as it is sometimes called, is a new technique whereby someone obtains your credit card details, copies them onto a bogus card and begins using the credit card. While credit card theft itself is not new, the manner in which the information is stolen is.

The first step is to recruit an individual willing to participate in the scheme. Bartenders, wait staff or shop assistants are often prime targets because of the sheer volume of credit cards they handle.

Recruits are given a pocketsize device with a scanning slot, something that resembles a pager and can be worn on a belt. They are instructed to swipe customers’ credit cards through the device. Because the process takes only a few seconds it can be done easily and inconspicuously without the customer or another employee noticing.

Swiping the credit card through the device copies the information held on the magnetic strip into memory. That information can subsequently be copied to a counterfeit card, complete with security holograms.

Alternatively, the information can be used to overwrite a stolen credit card which has become too hot to handle.

Do not underestimate the size of this problem. In the U.K. alone an astonishing $200m was spent with cloned credit cards in 2000. That’s over $500,000 every single day!

Finally Tips & Warnings
DO NOT REVEAL YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION OR ANY RELEVANT INFORMATION TO ANY KNOWN OR UNKNOWN PERSON.
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If you suspect any problems with the ATM machines, do not use it and report it to the bank or establishment where it is installed.
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If you see suspicious looking people around the ATM machine, do not use it.

GUARD YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION.
Be careful with giving out your personal information. Never give anyone your information for a reason you don’t understand or are not comfortable with. Whenever possible, request to use other types of identification.

**Additionally, never carry around your social security card,Passport,Voters Id card,. Always keep it in a secure, private place.
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Step 2

PROTECT YOUR E- MAIL,Post mailers,Telephone bills,Electricity bills,credit card recipts,credit card bills.
To keep a thief from stealing personal information about you by snooping through your trash or recycling bin, protect your all bills: Always tear or shred your charge receipts, credit applications, insurance forms, bank statements, expired charge cards, and preapproved credit offers. Additionally, put all outgoing mail in mailboxes or at your local post office and promptly take your mail from your mailbox after it’s delivered. If you’re going on vacation, call your post office to request a vacation hold.
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Step 3

PROTECT YOUR CREDIT CARDS.
Keep the number of cards you carry in your wallet to a minimum. If you lose a card, contact the fraud division of your credit card company. If you apply for a new card and it doesn’t come in a reasonable amount of time, contact the card issuer. Watch cashiers whenever you give them your card for a purchase. Whenever you receive a new card, sign it in permanent ink and activate it immediately.
In addition, pay attention to your credit card billing cycles. Contact creditors if your bills arrive late or not at all. Missing bills could mean an identity thief has taken over your credit card account and changed the billing address.
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Step 4

PROTECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION AT HOME.
Make sure you keep all personal information about you in a secure place in your home especially if you are having work done, employ outside help, or live with a roommate.
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Step 5

PROTECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION AT WORK.
Verify that your personal information is kept in a secure location and is only accessible to employees with a legitimate reason to review it.
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Step 6

BE CAREFUL WITH PASSWORDS AND PINS.
In general, it’s best to memorize passwords and personal identification numbers instead of carrying them with you. Avoid using obvious or easily available information such as: your name or birth date, your mother’s maiden name, the last 4 digits of your SSN or phone number, or a series of consecutive numbers or letters.
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Step 7

MONITOR YOUR CREDIT REPORT.
To guard against identity theft, check your credit report regularly to ensure that the information it contains is true and accurate. Report any suspicious looking information to the credit agency.
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Step 8

BE VIGILANT!
But if you ever suspect that you might be the victim of possible identity theft, you can place an Initial 90 day Fraud Alert by calling any of the 3 national credit reporting agencies: Equifax, TransUnion, or Experian. The agency that accepts your request will notify the other 2 agencies, and will add the alert to your file or request additional information. You will receive a confirmation when the alert is added to your file.

Protect yourself from credit card scams

* NEVER send money, or give credit card or online account details to anyone you do not know and trust.
* Check your bank account and credit card statements when you get them. If you see a transaction you cannot explain, report it to your credit union or bank.
* Keep your credit card and ATM cards safe. Do not share your personal identity number (PIN) with anyone. Do not keep any written copy of your PIN with the card.
* Choose passwords that would be difficult for anyone else to guess.
* Try to avoid using public computers (at libraries or internet cafes) to do your internet banking.
* Do not use software on your computer that auto-completes online forms. This can give internet scammers easy access to your personal and credit card details.
* Do not give out your personal, credit card or online account details over the phone unless you made the call and the phone number came from a trusted source.
* Never send your personal, credit card or online account details through an email.
If you are buying something over the telephone or internet and want to use your credit card, make sure you know and trust the other party. If you want to provide your credit card details to a telemarketer, take their name and call them back on a phone number you find independently (i.e., not a number they give to you).

Check over your credit card and bank account statements as soon as you get them so that if anybody is using your account without your permission you can tell your bank.

Whenever you want to give out your credit card details, ask yourself if it is safe to do so. If you are very careful with your credit card and PIN, you can greatly reduce the chances of your credit card details ending up with a scammer.

So how do you protect yourself? You know the answer.

by Rohit Sharma for Gyandotcom

]]> http://gyandotcom.wordpress.com/2009/08/31/the-original-photgraph-of-jhansi-ki-rani-1850-gyandotcom-exclusive/ Sun, 30 Aug 2009 20:34:30 +0000 gyandotcom by Rohit Sharma http://gyandotcom.wordpress.com/2009/08/31/the-original-photgraph-of-jhansi-ki-rani-1850-gyandotcom-exclusive/

जी हां ये है झांसी की रानी की 1850 मैं खींची गई मूल तस्वीर, जिसे सन 1850 में अंग्रेज फोटोग्राफर हॉफमैन ने लिया था। पिछले दिनों विश्व फोटोग्राफी दिवस यानि 19 अगस्त को पद्मश्री वामन ठाकरे द्वारा खींचे गए छायाचित्रों, कैनवास पे उकेरे चित्रों, लेखन कार्य और अन्य कलाकृतियों की प्रदर्शनी का आयोजन भोपाल में किया गया था। इस प्रदर्शनी में उनके विशेष आग्रह पे अहमदाबाद के एक एंटिक संग्रहकर्ता ने यह छायाचित्र भेजा था।

Here comes another post on linguistics! The context here is another argument on the “superiority” (in terms of ease of learning for a new learner) of the Devanagari vs the Roman script.

Before we get into deciding on the script/language phonetic issues, we need to get a few definitions clear. So here we go:

Language: System for encoding and decoding information. Could be in written or speech form.

Script or writing system: The set of basic elements or symbols used to express one or more languages in textual form.

The mapping between the two is called as orthography (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthography) and is language-specific (as long as only one script is used for that language).

The phoneme and the grapheme are the smallest segmental units in the spoken and written forms of a language. When the writtten units or graphemes correspond to the spoken sounds of the language or phonemes, the orthography is referred to as phonemic orthography. Several Eastern European languages as well as Indian languages have a good grapheme-to-phoneme correspondence. However, the Roman or Latin script which is primarily shared by the Germanic and Romance languages has little correspondence between graphemes and phonemes.

The Roman script has an alphabetic writing system (each grapheme is either a consonant or vowel) whereas the Devanagari script is an abugida writing system (each grapheme is based on a consonant or a zero consonant letter but the vowel notation is obligatory).  The advantage of the fomer system is having a limited number of graphemes to learn which keeps the writing system simple. However, the downside being that the lesser degree of correspondence between graphemes and phonemes may introduce a certain degree of ambiguity in understanding the transition from written to spoken form of the language (and vice versa).

Since both writing systems (and there are more as well) have evolved naturally in the case of natural languages, there is no reason to believe that one writing system is necessary superior to another in terms of ease of learning for a new learner. Of course, if a person is exposed to only one form of writing system throughout his or her childhood, it will be difficult to understand and make sense of another type of writing system because of the predisposition of the brain to attach a correspondence between graphemes and phonemes in one way only. In fact, it seems likely that people exposed to the alphabetic writing system will find it easier to grasp the one-to-one correspondence in abugida writing systems, though they may require more time to internalize the significantly larger set of graphemes.

Communication link with Chandrayaan-1 broke on Saturday 29-8-2009

India’s moon mission, Chandrayaan-1, came to an abrupt end today after communication link with the spacecraft snapped. The spacecraft, which has 11 instruments on board including six from overseas, will now continue to orbit the moon and may eventually taste the lunar dust. Launched on October 22 last year, it was expected to orbit the moon for two years.

“We lost communication link with the spacecraft for the first time in the wee hours of Saturday. Attempts to re-establish contact have been futile. The mission is as good as lost,” Indian Space Research Organisation Director S Satish said. “We may have to abandon the spacecraft if we are not able to establish radio contact with it again,” he added. “The mission is definitely over. We have lost contact with the spacecraft,” Chandrayaan-1 Project Director M Annadurai told to gyandotcom.

The problem surfaced at 0130 hrs when ISRO suddenly lost radio contact with the spacecraft. Since then it has neither been able to receive nor send any data to the spacecraft. The Deep Space Network at Byalalu near Bangalore received data from Chandrayaan-1 up to 0025 hrs. A detailed review of the telemetry data received from the spacecraft is in progress and health of the spacecraft subsystems is being analysed, said a statement from ISRO.

The Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. The project cost was around Rs 390 crore. The 1,380 kg spacecraft has completed 312 days in space and has made over 3,400 orbits around the moon. It has provided large volume of data from sophisticated sensors, and has met most of the scientific objectives of the mission.

ISRO had said last month that Chandrayaan-1 had sent more than 70,000 images of the lunar surface which provide breathtaking views of lunar mountains and craters, especially craters in the permanently shadowed areas of the moon’s polar region. It was also collecting valuable data pertaining to the chemical and mineral content of earth’s satellite. “It ( Chandrayaan-1) has done its job technically…100 per cent. Scientifically also, it has done 90-95 percent of its job,” PTI quoted Annadurai as saying.

However, in July, Chandrayaan-1 had developed a malfunction that put some experiments in jeopardy – it had lost a vital sensor. ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair had said that scientists had worked around the problem and patched two other instruments to help the spacecraft to the desired locations.

It was then that he had indicated that the life of Chandrayaan-1 may be reduced.

Still, on August 21, ISRO and NASA performed a unique joint experiment that the Indian space agency said could yield additional information on the possible existence of ice in a permanently shadowed crater near the North pole of the moon.

The idea of undertaking an Indian scientific mission to Moon was first mooted in a meeting of the Indian Academy of Sciences in 1999 that was followed up by discussions in the Astronautical Society of India in 2000.

But it was only in November 2003 that the government approved ISRO’s proposal for the first Indian Moon Mission called Chandrayaan-1.

The government had also announced its plans to launch Chandrayaan-2, the second unmanned lunar exploration mission proposed by ISRO, at a cost of around Rs 450 crore.

The mission will include a lunar orbiter as well as a lander/rover.

However, the abrupt end of Chandrayyan-1 may now raise doubts about its proposed launch in 2012.

“Radio contact with Chandrayaan-I spacecraft was abruptly lost at 1.30 a.m. (IST) on August 29, 2009. The Deep Space Network at Byalalu near Bangalore received data from [it] during the previous orbit up to 12.25 a.m. (IST),” the agency said in a short statement.

Senior officials connected with the Rs 380-crore lunar orbiter mission were not immediately available to say what had gone wrong. The statement said telemetry data received from the spacecraft were being reviewed and the health of the spacecraft subsystems was being assessed.

Mr S. Satish, Director, Publicity and Public Relations, said: “We are able to neither send commands nor receive any data from the spacecraft.” He said the spacecraft did not show any recent sign of deterioration.

Asked if this was the end of the mission and about the fate of the spacecraft, he said: “As we have lost contact with the spacecraft, we do not know what has happened to it.”

The timing of the announcement of Chandrayaan-1 is ironical. ISRO, along with the Astronautical Society of India, is hosting a five-day international conference on low-cost planetary mission in Goa, where 40 overseas participants are expected. ISRO’s Chairman and Secretary of the Department of Space, Mr G. Madhavan Nair, is also the President of ASI.

EARLY PROBLEMS

Chandrayaan-I was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, on October 22, 2008. It was built for a life of two years and was to circle Moon pole to pole from a distance of 100 km to map its surface and look for water and vital minerals. The first signs of trouble started showing within months, although ISRO acknowledged it only three months later.

On May 19, ISRO doubled the orbiting distance to 200 km, explaining that this was to save the instruments from the intense heat of radiation from Moon’s surface. Again, on July 17, Mr Nair told newspersons that the two onboard star-tracking sensors had failed in April and the lunar craft was facing an orientation problem.

It had been stabilised by an alternative mode with gyroscopes. This did not mean the craft was crippled or dying, he said.

Mr Nair had also said all other instruments were functioning well but there was concern about the High Energy X-ray Spectrometer or HEX, which may have been hit by radiation. HEX is meant to detect water, uranium and thorium. “A complex mission like this can encounter unexpected problems,” was the refrain of senior officials.

On the plus side, it had achieved most of the scientific objectives, including dropping the Tricolour on to lunar surface on November 14 last and the 3D lunar surface mapping, he had said.

Until Saturday, the spacecraft completed 312 days in orbit, made over 3,400 orbits around Moon and provided a large volume of data.

It carried 11 sophisticated sensors from ISRO and five agencies – including the Terrain Mapping Camera, Hyper-spectral Imager and the Moon Mineralogy Mapper. ISRO has at least one more lunar mission in the pipeline for 2012-13 and has teamed up with Russia for Chandrayaan-2.

however On Aug. 20, 2009 last week NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)  attempt a novel joint experiment that could yield more information on whether ice exists in a permanently shadowed crater near the north pole of the moon. Currently the ISRO’s Chandrayaan-1 and NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft are orbiting the moon.  While LRO is in its commissioning phase the two spacecraft pass close enough to each other when they are over the lunar north pole to attempt a unique experiment.  Both spacecraft are equipped with a NASA Miniature Radio Frequency (RF) instrument that functions as a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), known as Mini-SAR on Chandrayaan-1 and Mini-RF on LRO.  The experiment uses both radars to point at Erlanger Crater at the same time.

Normally the Mini-RF Instrument sends radio pulses to the moon and precisely records the radio echoes that bounce straight back from the surface, along with their timing and frequency.  From these data scientists can build images of the moon that not only show areas they otherwise couldn’t see, such as the permanently-shadowed areas near the lunar poles, but also contain information on the physical nature of the surface.

For the Bi-Static experiment the Mini-SAR on Chandrayaan-1 performs its normal SAR imaging (transmitting and receiving) while the Mini-RF is set to receive only.  The two instruments look at the same location from different angles.  Comparing the signal that bounces straight back to Chandrayaan with the signal that bounces at a slight angle to LRO provides unique information about the surface.

Arecibo Radiotelescope Puerto Rico – Low resolution Earth-based radar image of the North Pole of the Moon, showing the position of the crater Erlanger (arrow). Radar image (70 cm wavelength).

Stewart Nozette, Mini-RF principal investigator from the Universities Space Research Association’s Lunar and Planetary Institute, said, “An extraordinary effort was made by the whole NASA team working with ISRO to make this happen”

While this coordination sounds easy, this experiment is extremely challenging because both spacecraft are traveling at about 1.6 km per second and will be looking at an area on the ground about 18 km across.  Due to the extreme speeds and the small point of interest, NASA and ISRO need to obtain and share information about the location and pointing of both spacecraft.  The Bi-Static experiment requires extensive tracking by ground stations of NASA’s Deep Space Network, the Applied Physics Laboratory, and ISRO.

Even with the considerable planning and coordination between the U.S. and India the two instrument beams may not overlap, or may miss the desired location.  Even without hitting the exact location Scientists may still be able to use the Bi-Static information to further knowledge already received from both instruments.

“The international coordination and cooperation between the two agencies for this experiment is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate future cooperation between NASA and ISRO, “says Jason Crusan, program executive for the Mini-RF program, from NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C.

ISRO/NASA/JHUAPL/LPI – Mosaic of Mini-SAR image strips of the north polar area, showing the crater Erlanger, just south of the crater Peary. North Pole is in the direction of left top, out of frame. Mini-SAR radar image, Chandrayaan-1 mission.

“In the last few years we have seen a renaissance in international interest and cooperation in the study of the moon” says Gordon Johnson, program executive for the LRO, from NASA’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C.  “As LRO completes its commissioning phase, we look forward to LRO’s contribution to this international effort.”

LRO was launched June 18, 2009. Its objectives are to scout for safe landing sites, locate potential resources, characterize the radiation environment, and demonstrate new technology. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. built and manages the mission for NASA’S Exploration Systems Mission Directorate in Washington. LRO is a NASA mission with international participation from the Institute for Space Research in Moscow. Russia provides the neutron detector aboard the spacecraft.

Instrument principal investigators Stewart Nozette (LRO) and Paul Spudis (Chandrayaan-1) are from the Universities Space Research Association’s Lunar and Planetary Institute. NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, manages the Mini-RF program.  NASA’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, manages the LRO.

In addition to Mini-SAR the Chandryaan-1 spacecraft, which was launched in October 2008 from India’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre, also carries NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper for assessing the moon’s mineral resources.

In the next six months the team will wrestle with the details of launching such a mission, including its cost-effectiveness and the areas in which Indian scientists can significantly add to the mountain of knowledge that has already been collected about the moon. It will form the basis of a project report that ISRO will submit to the Central Government for approval. The objective: to have an Indian lunar mission sent up by  October 2008. “As a motivator, it will electrify the nation,” Kasturirangan explained  last week. “If we go ahead, it will demonstrate to the world that India is capable of taking up a complex mission that is at the cutting edge of space. The spins-offs for us are going to be many.”first planetary mission, Chandrayaan-1, has now been rescheduled to take place in the first week of July as the mission personnel work overtime to sort out payload integration and launch-related issues. “We are targeting the end of June. We will try to make it in the first week of July,” a senior scientist associated with the Rs 386 crore moon mission told here on Monday on condition of anonymity.
The lunar mission was originally scheduled for April this year, a time-frame targeted four years ago to get all the payloads well ahead of time and to galvanise the scientists into mission mode with a target to work on.

Indian Space Research Organisation officials insisted that there are no hardware problems and that the space agency is moving more cautiously to ensure that all systems are well tested before and after integration at each stage.

The 525-kg lunar orbiter will carry as many as 11 instruments (payloads), including six from overseas — two from the US and one each from Britain, Sweden, Germany and Bulgaria.

“Normally we have 2-3 instruments (on board satellite). For the first time, we have 11 instruments from different institutions. We have to ensure that the integration work takes place to our satisfaction
Project Director of Chandrayaan-1.

Stressing on inter-compatibility of various instruments on board, Annadurai said ISRO is working on ensuring that “all the systems (one system) does not disturb other systems’ performance”. “Any system of this volume will have its own issues that need to be solved before proceeding to the next step,” he said.

“The issue gets compounded as the organisations are many. When we do this, it will add to taking away schedule cushions. Just to keep the launch target, we don’t want to overlook any issue that will compromise the unqualified success of the mission”.

ISRO had earlier proposed to launch the lunar probe on April 9 and if not on that day, then on April 23.

“If systems (once integrated and with propellants loaded) are kept for 14 days, then there could be some deterioration”, he said, adding, ISRO is now working on a strategy that would allow it to have more number of launch opportunities. “We have almost arrived at a strategy”.

ISRO would keep a half-an-hour launch window on a given day, and if it is not in a position for the mission during that period, it could be done in the subsequent two days as well, Annadurai explained.While the spacecraft itself will not land on the Moon, it will act as an orbiter and land a rover on the surface. The spacecraft is being launched next month sometime between October 22 and October 26 2008. The spacecraft payload includes 11 payloads (including one from NASA) and will perform remote sensing and studies of the lunar surface. The mission is estimated to cost Rs 386 crore (~ 84.3 million USD).”

The Working Model of Chandrayaan-1

Chandrayaan-1

How it Works?

The primary objectives of the Chandrayaan-1 mission are simultaneous chemical, mineralogicaland topographic mapping of the lunar surface at high spatial resolution. These data should enableus to understand compositional variation of major elements, which in turn, should lead to a betterunderstanding of the stratigraphic relationships between various litho units occurring on the lunarsurface. The major element distribution will be determined using an X-ray fluorescence spectro-meter (LEX), sensitive in the energy range of 1–10 keV where Mg, Al, Si, Ca and Fe give their Kαlines. A solar X-ray monitor (SXM) to measure the energy spectrum of solar X-rays, which areresponsible for the fluorescent X-rays, is included. Radioactive elements like Th will be measured byits 238.6 keV line using a low energy gamma-ray spectrometer (HEX) operating in the 20–250 keVregion. The mineral composition will be determined by a hyper-spectral imaging spectrometer(HySI) sensitive in the 400–920 nm range. The wavelength range is further extended to 2600 nmwhere some spectral features of the abundant lunar minerals and water occur, by using a near-infrared spectrometer (SIR-2), similar to that used on the Smart-1 mission, in collaboration withESA. A terrain mapping camera (TMC) in the panchromatic band will provide a three-dimensionalmap of the lunar surface with a spatial resolution of about 5m. Aided by a laser altimeter (LLRI)to determine the altitude of the lunar craft, to correct for spatial coverage by various instruments,TMC should enable us to prepare an elevation map with an accuracy of about 10m.Four additional instruments under international collaboration are being considered. These are:a Miniature Imaging Radar Instrument (mini-SAR), Sub Atomic Reflecting Analyser (SARA),the Moon Mineral Mapper (M3) and a Radiation Monitor (RADOM). Apart from these scientificpayloads, certain technology experiments have been proposed, which may include an impactorwhich will be released to land on the Moon during the mission.Salient features of the mission are described here. The ensemble of instruments onboardChandrayaan-1 should enable us to accomplish the science goals defined for this mission.Chandrayaan-1 is a remote sensing mission pro-posed to be launched from the Satish DhawanLaunch Station at Sriharikota in 2007 by theIndian Space Research Organization using thePolar Satellite Launch Vehicle. It will be injectedinto 240×36,000 km Elliptic Transfer Orbit (ETO)around the Earth and will be inserted in a circum-lunar orbit (LOI) via Lunar Transfer Trajectory(LTT). The launch profile is discussed in detail inan accompanying paper (Adimurthy et al 2005). Itwill enter the lunar orbit at about 1000 km altitudeand brought down to 100 km polar circular orbitin one or two stages. The lunar craft is designedto orbit the moon for a period of two years duringwhich it will carry out chemical, mineralogical andtopographic study of the lunar surface.There are several questions which are critical forunderstanding the formation and early evolution-ary history of the Moon, and the Chandrayaan-1mission objectives have been formulated keepingthis in mind.The main objective of the mission is simultane-ous chemical, mineral and topographic mappingwith the specific goal of understanding the earlyevolution of the Moon. Chemical stratigraphy canprovide better estimation of the average lunar com-position and processes responsible for chemical dif-ferentiation of the Moon. Transport of volatiles,specifically water, and their deposition in thecolder regions of the Moon and degassing of theMoon can be understood by using radon and itsdaughter nuclide210Pb as tracers.

When
Chandrayaan-1 planned to be launched in 2008 using spacecraft and launch vehicle of ISRO. The mission is expected to have an operational life of about 2 years.

The idea of undertaking an Indian scientific mission to Moon was initially mooted in a meeting of the Indian Academy of Sciences in 1999 that was followed up by discussions in the Astronautical Society of India in 2000. Based on the recommendations made by the learned members of these forums, a National Lunar Mission Task Force was constituted by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Leading Indian scientists and technologists participated in the deliberations of the Task Force that provided an assessment on the feasibility of an Indian Mission to the Moon as well as dwelt on the focus of such a mission and its possible configuration.

Government of India approved ISRO’s proposal for Chandrayaan-1 in November 2003.

Chandrayaan will be ready to launch in between October 19 and October 28.

chandrayaan 1 is now in lunar orbit. the scientific objective of the mission is

The Chandrayaan-1 mission is aimed at high-resolution remote sensing of the moon in visible, near infrared (NIR), low energy X-rays and high-energy X-ray regions. Specifically the objectives are

To prepare a three-dimensional atlas (with high spatial and altitude resolution of 5-10 m) of both near and far side of the moon. To conduct chemical and mineralogical mapping of the entire lunar surface for distribution of mineral and chemical elements such as Magnesium, Aluminum, Silicon, Calcium, Iron and Titanium as well as high atomic number elements such as Radon, Uranium & Thorium with high spatial resolution.

The Simultaneous photo geological, mineralogical and chemical mapping through Chandrayaan-1 mission will enable identification of different geological units to infer the early evolutionary history of the Moon. The chemical mapping will enable to determine the stratigraphy and nature of the Moon’s crust and thereby test certain aspects of magma ocean hypothesis. This may allow to determine the compositions of impactors that bombarded the Moon during its early evolution which is also relevant to the formation of the Earth. Scientific Objectives The Chandrayaan-1 mission is aimed at high-resolution remote sensing of the moon in visible, near infrared (NIR), low energy X-rays and high-energy X-ray regions. Specifically the objectives are To prepare a three-dimensional atlas (with high spatial and altitude resolution of 5-10 m) of both near and far side of the moon. To conduct chemical and mineralogical mapping of the entire lunar surface for distribution of mineral and chemical elements such as Magnesium, Aluminum, Silicon, Calcium, Iron and Titanium as well as high atomic number elements such as Radon, Uranium & Thorium with high spatial resolution. The Simultaneous photo geological, mineralogical and chemical mapping through Chandrayaan-1 mission will enable identification of different geological units to infer the early evolutionary history of the Moon. The chemical mapping will enable to determine the stratigraphy and nature of the Moon’s crust and thereby test certain aspects of magma ocean hypothesis. This may allow to determine the compositions of impactors that bombarded the Moon during its early evolution which is also relevant to the formation of the Earth. Click here to enlarge Radiation Environment of the Moon Radiation environment of the Moon produced by solar radiation and solar and galactic cosmic rays: The reflectance spectrum is useful for mineral identification, the fluorescent X-ray spectrum and solar and galactic cosmic-ray produced gamma radiation for chemical mapping, and radiogenic gamma and alpha particle spectrum for mapping of radioactive nuclides (U, Th, K, etc.) and in understanding the leakage of radon from the lunar interior and its transport on the lunar surface. The uranium decay chain, which produces 222Rn and its daughters, forming a thin ‘paint’ on the lunar surface, are shown on the right. The temperature regimes on the sunlit and night side of the Moon and the permanently shadowed cold Polar Regions are shown schematically Mission Objectives To realise the mission goal of harnessing the science payloads, lunar craft and the launch vehicle with suitable ground support systems including Deep Space Network (DSN) station. To realise the integration and testing, launching and achieving lunar polar orbit of about 100 km, in-orbit operation of experiments, communication/ telecommand, telemetry data reception, quick look data and archival for scientific utilisation by scientists.

by Gyandotcom

Every day, Indian consumers receive offers that just sound too good to be true. In the past, these offers came through the mail or by telephone. Now the con artists and swindlers have found a new avenue to pitch their frauds — the Internet. The on-line scams know no national borders or boundaries; they respect no investigative jurisdictions. But, as with all scammers, they have one objective — to separate you from your money! An interesting point about fraud is that it is a crime in which you decide on whether to participate. Hanging up the phone or not responding to shady mailings or emails makes it difficult for the scammer to commit fraud. But con artists are very persuasive, using all types of excuses, explanations, and offers to lead you — and your money — away from common sense.

Gyandotcom was developed to arm you with information so you don’t fall victim to these Internet scam artists. Education, good judgment, and a healthy dose of skepticism are the best defenses against becoming a victim. Remember, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is!.

The Microsoft Windows Xp Antivirus 2009 SCAM

To some of the people that are reading this, it may sound familiar.  To others, perhaps not so much.  Either way, what follows is a description of what happens when you get infected with the XP Antivirus 2009 or the other programs of its ilk.

So, you’re browsing the internet, minding your own business, when suddenly a window pops up when you hit a page you don’t normally go to.  This window tells you that you’ve been infected with viruses, and shows a running tally of how many viruses you’ve been infected with.  It also says that to buy the upgrade for your Antivirus program to get rid of these viruses click here.

It would almost seem natural to click on the link and buy the upgrade.  That’s when the real fun begins.  That will be discussed later.  The first thing to notice is why did this window pop up in the first place?

It is a common feature of viruses to let the user know that they’ve been infected.  It originally started as a point of arrogance for the creator of the virus.  Later, some virus makers decided to start using it to swindle the people they’ve infected out of money.  That was the phase where “SpySheriff” and its clones were the predominant viruses.  Now, the criminal programmers have taken this a step further, and decided to make it look like a Windows program.  It should be known that no version of Windows ever had a feature that let the user know that they were infected with a virus.

The second thing to notice at this point is the file names and locations that are being called “viruses.”  More often than not, they are just temporary files or cookies that the user has picked up on his internet browsing.  Not a one of them are viruses.  This should relieve that state of panic that they try to instill in you at this point.

The last thing to notice before the link to this “upgrade” is clicked is that they are asking for money.  No program that is part of the Windows Operating Systems will ever, EVER ask for money to upgrade.  It really is as simple as that.

Let’s say that you click the upgrade, another dead giveaway has been revealed.  Instead of being linked to the Windows Update page, you are linked to another.  It may take a little observation, since sometimes the linked pages are clones of the Windows Update page.  The ultimate true way to tell is by the address box at the top of your browser screen.  Dimes to donuts, it will not show the same address as the Windows Update page, which is: http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/. Even better, you can set your Windows to be automatically updated.  This way, if any program that claims to be from Windows says it needs updating, you know it’s wrong, because it would just do it without any effort on your part.

Lastly, you should have a powerful antivirus program installed on your computer.  If you already have a good antivirus program, there will be no need to get another one.  For the security of your system, get one before this happens to you.  It will save you a lot of headaches.

Con artists make money through deception. They lie, cheat and fool people into thinking they’ve happened onto a great deal or some easy money, when they’re the ones who’ll be making money. If that doesn’t work, they’ll take advantage of our weaknesses — loneliness, insecurity, poor health or simple ignorance. The only thing more important to a con artist than perfecting a con is perfecting a total lack of conscience.

What does the average con artist look like? Despite what you may think, he isn’t always a shady-looking character. A con artist is an expert at looking however he needs to look. If the con involves banking or investments, the con artist will wear a snappy suit. If it involves home improvement scams, he’ll show up wearing well-worn work clothes. Even the basic assumption You might think you can spot a con artist because he’s someone you instinctively “don’t trust.” But the term con artist is short for confidence artist — they gain your confidence just long enough to get their hands on your money. They can be very charming and persuasive. A good con artist can even make you believe he is really an old friend you haven’t seen in years.

Con artists do share certain characteristics, however. Even the best con can only go on for so long before people start getting suspicious. For that reason, con artists tend to move frequently. They may have a job that allows this, or they might claim to have such a job. Railroad worker, carnival worker and traveling salesman are all parts con artists play to cover up their constant relocations.that the contact would be impossible to catalogue every con, because con artists are inventive. While many cons are simply variations on ones that are hundreds of years old, new technologies and laws give con artists the opportunity to create original scams. Many cons tend to fall into a few general categories, however: street cons, business cons, Internet cons, loan cons and home improvement cons.on is a “he” is incorrect: there are plenty of con women too.t would be impo ssible to catalogue every con, because con artists are inventive. While many cons are simply variations on ones that are hundreds of years old, new technologies and laws give con artists the opportunity to create original scams.

The Pigeon Drop

There are several variations of this con, but they all start with the victim and the con artist both spotting something of value lying around. It’s usually an envelope or bag full of money, but it could be a diamond ring. The con artist tries to get the victim to notice the envelope first, making him less likely to suspect that the con artist planted it. A second con artist may get involved as the victim and the first con artist decide to split up the found money, demanding a fair share since he saw it too. At this point, the cons will suggest that everyone put some of their own money into the envelope as “good faith money,” to show that they’re financially responsible people. Once all of the money is in the envelope, it is divided into thirds and returned to the victim and the two con artists. However, through sleight of hand and a distraction, the victim gets an envelope full of paper scraps.

In the ring variation, the con artist claims to have some expertise in jewelry assessment, and proclaims the ring to be worth several hundred dollars or more. However, not having time to sell or pawn the ring, the con artist offers to let the victim buy out his half. So the victim pays what he can to the con artist and keeps the “valuable” ring, which is actually a cheap fake. The victim, or “pigeon,” is “dropped” and left with nothing.

It’s impossible to come to India and not encounter at least one scam or someone trying to rip you off. You shouldn’t be paranoid, but it’s wise to be very aware and cautious.

Here are the details of the most common scams that you’re likely to find in India.

The Nigerian Advance Fee Scam had been existed around for quite a while, but despite many warnings it continues to draw in many victims. In fact, the Financial Crimes Division of the Secret Service receives about 100 telephone calls from victims/potential victims and 300-500 letter pieces of related correspondence per day about this 419 scam! Indications are that the advance fee fraud grabs hundreds of millions of dollars yearly and the losses are continuing to escalate.

The Nigerian Advance Fee Scheme also known as “4-1-9″ (scam) fraud after the section of the Nigerian penal code which addresses fraud schemes is usually targeted at small and the medium sized businesses, plus charities. This global scam (lately it is seen in Russia, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, also in the US), which involves the receipt of an unwelcome letter claiming to come from somebody who claims to work for the Nigerian Central Bank or from the Nigerian government. The Central Bank of Nigeria actually denies all connection to those who promote this spam scheme.

In the letter, a Nigerian claiming to be a senior civil servant would inform the recipient that he is seeking a honest foreign company into whose account he could deposit funds ranging from $10-$60 million which the Nigerian government actually overpaid on some procurement contract.

The goal of the 419 scammers is to delude the victim into thinking that he or she has been singled out to take part in a very lucrative, although questionable, arrangement. The intended victim is reassured of the genuineness of the arrangement by fake or false documents manner in fact official Nigerian government letterhead, seals, with false letters of credit, payments schedules and the bank drafts. The 419 Scam mail senders might even establish the credibility of his contacts, and thereby his influence, by arranging a meeting between the victim and “government officials” in real or may be with fake government offices.

Once the victim becomes confident of the ultimate success of the deal and something goes wrong. The victim who trusted this 419 scam mail is then pressured or even threatened to provide one or more large sums of money to save the existing venture. For example, an official would demand a frank bribe or with an unforeseen tax or fee to the Nigerian government would have to be paid before the money could actually be transferred. Each fee paid is been described as the very last fee required. The scheme might be prolonged out over many months.

Be careful. These 419 scammers could be physically dangerous as well as dangerous to your finances. Victims are roughly always requested to travel to Nigeria or to the border country to total a transaction. Victims are often told that a visa would not be necessary to enter the country. The 419 Nigerian scam artists could then try bribing airport officials to pass the victims through Immigration and Customs. Because it is a very serious offense in Nigeria to enter without a valid visa, the victim’s illegal entry might be used by the 419 Scam mailers as leverage to coerce the victims into releasing funds. Violence and threats of physical harm might be employed for further pressure to victims. In June of 1995, an American was also murdered in Lagos, Nigeria, while pursuing a 419 scam, and numerous other foreign nationals have been reported as missing.

Avoid these 419 scams like the disease! Don’t let promises of huge amounts of money impair your judgment?

Tips for Safely Buy Air Tickets Online

The Internet has certainly made things easier to shop at all hours of the night and buy from stores you normally wouldn’t have access to. However, online shoppers should learn to distinguish between the legitimate shops and the fraudulent sellers.

Know who you are purchasing from: Verify the seller with your local consumer protection agency and the Better Business Bureau. Surf the web for feedback forums to read up on people’s experience with the seller. Make sure you have the seller’s contact information in case you have to locate them later.

Understand how the seller handles complaints: Read up on the seller’s website and learn how they handle their complaints. Check to see if they are obliged to meet certain standards within their respective country.

Be wary if there are no complaints:Deceptive sellers can open and close shop overnight. If you don’t find complaints on the seller, it doesn’t mean that they are genuine.

Be on guard for super low prices or rebates that are too good to be true:The seller may in fact not have any merchandise at all to send or may not fulfill the promised rebate.

Get the low down on the offer:A legitimate shop provides all the details on the product, price, delivery time and refund policies, along with the terms of the warranty.

Don’t get pressured:You should be given the time to make a decision. If you are demanded to make the purchase quickly or the seller refuses to accept your “no” for an answer, then it could be a scam.

Watch out for an unsolicited email, it could be fraudulent:If you know the company that sent you the email and you don’t want to receive any more emails, you may simply ask to be removed from the list. However, if you respond to an unknown sender, your email address may be validated by the sender and you might receive even more unsolicited emails. The best way to deal with unsolicited emails is to simply delete them.

Spot the impostors:You might receive an email that seems as if it is connected to a legitimate business or has a Web site that looks genuine. If you have doubts, search for the company yourself and verify the email with the business.

Protect your private information:Never provide your credit card or bank information unless you are paying for something. Social security numbers are not needed unless you are applying for credit.

Buy safely:Using credit cards are the best way to assure your online purchases since you may dispute the charges if you never received the item or the offer was misrepresented.

Consumer Tips for Avoiding Phishing Scams

Identity thieves are targeting the personal information stored on your computer. Here are some basic tips on how to use the Internet safely.

Fishing Out the Phishing Scams: Recognize the phishing scams which typically involve phony emails and web sites that mimic companies in order to swindle citizens of their personal information. Legitimate companies never request user names, passwords, credit card numbers or social security by email. If you are troubled by your account, get in touch with the company directly.

Install all-inclusive security software and update it frequently: Deceitful emails can contain malicious software which can harm your computer or track your web activities, unbeknownst to you. Make sure an Internet security suite* is installed on your computer and is kept up to date.

Don’t Click the Link, It Could be a Trick: Do not click links or even cut and paste links from emails into your browser. Phishers are able to make links look like trustworthy site, but in fact send you to a different site. Instead, type in personally the company’s correct Web address.**

Never Enter Personal Info on Pop-up Screens: Phishers sometimes guide computer users to seemingly legitimate sites, but then an illicit pop-up screen appears with a form and fill-in blanks for personal information. Install pop-up blocking software to help avoid this type of phishing attack.

Verify the Web Site’s Security Status: When entering personal information on a company’s web site, check that the site is secure: a padlock icon appears on the browser’s status bar, or the URL (web address) reads “https:”. The “s” in https signifies “secure.” Be aware that these indications are not fail-safe since security icons may be forged. Computer users can also look for a seal such as the BBB Accredited Business seal on home pages, which notifies users if the company is accredited and meets certain standards.

Use Nonsensical, Long Passwords: Create passwords that use upper and lower case letters, numbers, special characters and are longer than six characters. It’s also wise to create nonsensical, random passwords that do not relate to your life such as a favorite baseball team. Instead of “123456,” a better case for a password would be “w39!BTu82.” Last, but not least, use different passwords for separate accounts and change them regularly.

5 Tips To Avoid E-card Scams

E-greeting cards have become a popular way to reach out to friends and family at holiday time and on special occasions. Regrettably, cybercriminals also take advantage of the growing popularity of e-cards by duping consumers into downloading malware. You can safeguard yourself, your friends, and your family against e-card scams by following the tips below.

Don’t open attachments: Most legitimate e-cards are links to the company’s website that allow you to go directly to your card. Avoid attachments and don’t download anything from a source you don’t recognize.

When in doubt, delete: If something looks a little strange or “phishy,” such as the name of the sender or vague subject lines, just delete the card. It’s better to do that than run the risk of getting a virus.

Know where you’re going online: Use security software* that detects sites that push online scams, adware installations, attachments filled with viruses and other downloads that could harm your system.

Know what to look for: While most e-card scams actually look legitimate, there are usually some telltale signs to look for. Watch out for misspelled words or names, not knowing who sent you the card, a disguised name (such as Your Friend, A Secret Admirer, etc.), or an odd URL.

Always read the fine print before accepting any terms: Make sure you actually read the fine print before agreeing to anything. Some e-card scams list in their terms that they can send e-mail to everyone in your address book. Make sure you know what you are agreeing to.

Malicious Ads on Bing: Online crooks have found a way to exploit Bing’s advertising program by posting malicious pharmaceutical ads. A recent report by KnujOn and LegitScript shows that 90% of Bing’s pharmacy ads were malicious. If an online user clicks on the ad, he or she may be directed to a phishing site to steal their personal and financial information. To avoid online ad scams, always make sure to investigate the company beforehand.

ISSUED IN PUBLIC INTEREST BY GYANDOTCOM

Credit and special Thanks to Sherall Cook

Contents  Curtesy: Top 5 common Scams in india by Sherall Cook

]]> http://postalheritage.wordpress.com/2009/08/14/mahatma-gandhi%e2%80%99s-centenary/ Fri, 14 Aug 2009 09:20:21 +0000 postalheritage http://postalheritage.wordpress.com/2009/08/14/mahatma-gandhi%e2%80%99s-centenary/

Forty years ago today the General Post Office released the first British stamp to commemorate an overseas leader and the first to be designed by an overseas artist. The stamp in question celebrated the birth centenary of Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, although it was released to coincide with Indian Independence Day (15th August), rather than Gandhi’s birthday (2nd October).

Gandhi Centenary Year 1969 stamp

The designer of the stamp was Biman Mullick an Indian-born graphic designer and illustrator then teaching at the Folkestone School of Arts and Crafts. Mullick’s design was simple but effective, showing Gandhi in front of the Indian flag. “The design brief gave complete freedom to the designers,” Mullick said. “Mahatma Gandhi maintained an extremely simple life style. This was a lead for me. I set out to achieve stark simplicity in this design.”

Scans of newspaper articles and other material related to the stamp issue can be seen on Mullick’s website. One interesting item is a Post Office press release from 14th May 1970 stating that the Indian Philatelic Society gave the Gandhi stamp a Gold Medal at the international Gandhi stamp exhibition in Calcutta that year. Mullick’s website also contains information about Bangladesh’s first stamps, which he designed following that country’s independence from Pakistan in 1971.

The British Postal Museum & Archive holds a great deal of material about the Gandhi stamp, including essays and unadopted designs. Six other artists submitted designs for the stamp – Bradbury Wilkinson, Rosalind Dease, Harrison & Sons, Philip Sharland, R. Stribley and Martin Stringer – and many of the un-adopted designs included the Chakra or spinning wheel.

“The spinning wheel eventually became the symbol not only of Gandhi, but also the symbol of the Indian Congress Party,” noted a caption for one rejected design. “Ashoka’s Wheel, on the Indian National Flag of today, has a clear link with Gandhi’s spinning-wheel” it continued.

While the Chakra did not appear on the Gandhi stamp, it was used in poster advertising for the issue.

Gandhi Centenary Year 1969 poster

A rejected design by Mullick also featured Gandhi’s honourary title Mahatma (“Great Soul”) in devanagari, the script used for many South Asian languages.

Gandhi Centenary Year 1969 unadopted stamp design with Chakra and Mahatma in devanagari

Apart from Benjamin Franklin, Gandhi is the only overseas leader to have been honoured with a British stamp.

हम हिंदुस्तानियों का अंग्रेजी-मोह अद्वितीय और तारीफे-काबिल है । आम पढ़े-लिखे हिंदुस्तानी की दिली चाहत रहती है वह इतनी अंगरेजी सीख ले कि उसमें बिला रुकावट गिटिर-पिटिर कर सके और दूसरों को प्रभावित कर सके । अंगरेजी की खातिर विरासत में मिली अपनी मातृभाषा की अनदेखी करना भी उसे मंजूर रहता है । लेकिन सब कुछ करने के बावजूद कोई न कोई कमी रह ही जाती है । यह कमी कभी-कभी उच्चारण के स्तर पर साफ नजर आ जाती है । पत्रकारिता से जुड़े लोगों के मामले में यह कमी तब नजर में आ जाती है जब उन्हें अंगरेजी में उपलब्ध समाचार की हिन्दी अनुवाद करते हुए कुछ अंगरेजी शब्दों को देवनागरी में लिखना पड़ता है । आगे के चित्र में ऐसे दो दृष्टांत पेश हैं:

गौर करें कि ऊपर दिये चित्र में अंगरेजी के दो शब्दों, ‘याचिंग’ एवं ‘वोग्यू’, को त्रुटिपूर्ण उच्चारण के अनुरूप देवनागरी में लिखा गया है । माथापच्ची करने पर मुझे एहसास हुआ कि ‘याचिंग’ वस्तुतः ‘यौटिंग (या यॉटिंग?)’ के लिए लिखा गया है जिसकी वर्तनी (स्पेलिंङ्) YACHTING होती हैं । YACHT वस्तुतः ‘पालदार या ऐसी ही शौकिया खेने के लिए बनी नाव को कहा जाता है । तदनुसार YACHTING संबंधित नौकादौड़ में भाग लेने का खेल होता है । जिस व्यक्ति ने इस शब्द का सही उच्चारण न सुना हो (रोजमर्रा की बातचीत में इसका प्रयोग ही कितना होगा भला!) और शब्दकोश की मदद न ली हो, वह इसे यदि ‘याचिंग’ उच्चारित करे तो आश्चर्य नहीं है । यह उच्चारण बड़ा स्वाभाविक लगता है । पर क्या करें, अंगरेजी कभी-कभी इस मामले में बड़ा धोखा दे जाती है ।

और दूसरा शब्द है ‘वोग्यू’ । समाचार से संबंधित चित्र में जो पत्रिका दृष्टिगोचर होती है उसका नाम है VOGUE नजर आता है । यह अंगरेजी शब्द है जिसका उच्चारण है ‘वोग’ और अर्थ है ‘आम प्रचलन में’, ‘व्यवहार में सामान्यतः प्रयुक्त’, ‘जिसका चलन अक्सर देखने में आता है’, इत्यादि । अपने स्वयं के अर्थ के विपरीत VOGUE प्रचलन में अधिक नहीं दिखता और कदाचित् अधिक जन इससे परिचित नहीं हैं । मैंने अपने मस्तिष्क पर जोर डालते हुए उन शब्दों का स्मरण करने का प्रयास किया जो वर्तनी के मामले में मिलते-जुलते हैं । मेरे ध्यान में ये शब्द आ रहे हैं (और भी कई होंगे):
argue, dengue, demagogue, epilogue, intrigue, league, prologue, rogue, synagogue, The Hague (नीदरलैंड का एक नगर), tongue.

इनमें से पहला, argue (बहस करना), एवं अंतिम, tongue (जीभ), सर्वाधिक परिचित शब्द हैं ऐसा मेरा अनुमान है । और दोनों के उच्चारण में पर्याप्त असमानता है । पहला ‘आर्ग्यू’ है तो दूसरा ‘टङ्’ । अतः बहुत संभव है कि मिलते-जुलते वर्तनी वाले अपरिचित नये शब्द का उच्चारण कोई पहले तो कोई अन्य दूसरे के अनुसार करे । उक्त उदाहरण में संभव है कि संवाददाता ‘आर्ग्यू’ से प्रेरित हुआ हो । समता के आधार पर उच्चारण का अनुमान अंगरेजी में अ संयोग से स्वीकार्य हो सकता है । सच कहूं तो argue की तरह का कोई शब्द मेरी स्मृति में नहीं आ रहा है । ध्यान दें कि सूची में दिये गये शब्द dengue (मच्छरों द्वारा फैलने वाला एक संक्रमण) का भी उच्चारण शब्दकोश ‘डेंगे’ बताते हैं, न कि ‘डेंग्यू’ या ‘डेंङ्’ । सूची के अन्य सभी के उच्चारण में परस्पर समानता है और वे इन दो शब्दों से भिन्न हैं ।

‘याचिंग’ तथा ‘वोग्यू’ टाइपिंग जैसी किसी त्रुटि के कारण गलती से लिख गये हों ऐसा मैं नहीं मानता । वास्तव में इस प्रकार के कई वाकये मेरे नजर में आते रहे हैं । हिंदी अखबारों में मैंने आर्चीव (archive आर्काइव के लिए), च्यू (chew चो), कूप (coup कू), डेब्रिस (debris डेब्री), घोस्ट (ghost गोस्ट), हैप्पी (happy हैपी), हेल्दी (healthy हेल्थी), आइरन (iron आयर्न), जिओपार्डाइज (jeopardize ज्येपार्डाइज ), ज्वैल (jewel ज्यूल), लाइसेस्टर (Leicester लेस्टर शहर), लियोपार्ड (leopard लेपर्ड), ओवन (oven अवन), सैलिस्बरी (Salisbury सॉल्सबरी शहर), सीजोफ्रीनिआ (schizophrenia स्कित्सफ्रीनिअ), आदि ।

दोषपूर्ण उच्चारण के अनुसार देवनागरी में लिखित शब्दों के पीछे क्या कारण हैं इस पर विचार किया जााना चाहिए । मेरा अनुमान है कि हिंदी पत्रकारिता में कार्यरत लोगों की हिंदी तथा अंगरेजी, दोनों ही, अव्वल दर्जे की हो ऐसा कम ही होता है । अपने देश में बहुत से समाचार तथा उन्नत दर्जे की अन्य जानकारी मूल रूप में अंगरेजी में ही उपलब्ध रहते हैं । मौखिक तौर पर बातें भले ही हिंदी में भी कही जाती हों, किंतु दस्तावेजी तौर पर तो प्रायः सभी कुछ अंगरेजी में रहता है । ऐसे में हिंदी पत्रकार अनुवाद के माध्यम से ही संबंधित जानकारी हिंदी माध्यमों पर उपलब्ध कराते हैं । व्याकरण के स्तर पर अच्छी अंगरेजी जानने वाले का उच्चारण ज्ञान भी अच्छा हो यह आवश्यक नहीं है, क्योंकि अंगरेजी में उच्चारण सीखना अपने आप में अतिरिक्त प्रयास की बात होती है । अतः समुचित अध्ययन के अभाव में त्रुटि की संभावना अंगरेजी में कम नहीं होती । तब अंगरेजी शब्द VOGUE एवं YACHTING का देवनागरी में क्रमशः ‘वोग्यू’ तथा ‘याचिंग’ लिखा जाना असामान्य बात नहीं रह जाती है ।

मेरी बातें किस हद तक सही हैं यह तो हिंदी पत्रकारिता में संलग्न जन ही ठीक-ठीक बता सकते हैं, अगर इस प्रयोजन से उन्होंने कभी अपने व्यवसाय पर दृष्टि डाली हो तो । अंगरेजी में उच्चारण सीखना कठिन कार्य है इसकी चर्चा मुझे करनी है । इस बात पर मैं जोर डालना चाहता हूं कि वर्तनी-साम्य देखकर उच्चारण का अनुमान लगाना अंगरेजी में असफल हो सकता है । अपने मत की सोदाहरण चर्चा अगली पोस्टों में मैं जारी रखूंगा । – योगेन्द्र

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http://buddhaonthewall.wordpress.com/files/2009/06/thousand-armed-avalokitesvara-hrih-1280.jpg

It has been a while, since I designed by own wallpaper.  I learned a few tricks in photoshop, so I kinda over did them here .

The Wallapaper has the Eleven Headed Thousand Armed Thousand Eyed Avalokiteshvara (ekādaśamukha sahasrabhuja sahasranetra avalokiteśvara – एकादशमुख सहस्रभुज सहस्रनेत्र अवलोकितेश्वर ).  I think this term doesn’t mean He has exactly Thousand Eyes and Arms, it means more or less like “Thousands of” Arms, and “Thousands of Eyes”.

In the Karandavyuha Sutra, Avalokiteshvara enters the Avici hells, to save the beings there. He converts the fire pits into cool refreshing pools, and makes the Avici Naraka – The most Painful and lowliest Hell -  a very nice place !!.  The Guardians report this to Yama. Yama wonders whether the being who had done such a transformation, was “Shiva”, “Vishnu”, a “Rakshasa” or some other supernatural being. When seen through his divine eyes, he finds Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva Mahasattva there.

He then appears before Avalokiteshvara, he places his head at the feet of avalokiteesvara and worships Him. He utters the following praises on Avalokitesvara:

namo’stvavalokiteśvarāya, maheśvarāya, padmaśriye, varadāya, vaśaṁkarāya, pṛthivīvaralocanakarāya, jagadāśvāsanakarāya, śatasahasrabhujāya, koṭīśatasahasranetrāya, ekādaśaśīrṣāya, vaḍavāmukhaparyantāya,[...]

नमोऽस्त्ववलोकितेश्वराय, महेश्वराय, पद्मश्रिये, वरदाय, वशंकराय, पृथिवीवरलोचनकराय, जगदाश्वासनकराय, शतसहस्रभुजाय, कोटीशतसहस्रनेत्राय, एकादशशीर्षाय, वडवामुखपर्यन्ताय [...]

http://www.uwest.edu/sanskritcanon/dp/index.php?q=node%2F35&textID=c809c77369754ae553

The words in bold reads “Hundred-Thousand-Armed” , “Ten_Million-Hundred-Thousand-Eyed“, “Eleven-Headed“

The God of Death, Yama praises Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara as having hundred-thousand-arms and Ten-millions times that amount of Eyes !!! But his heads seems to be constant – always counting to Eleven

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Surrounding the Vishvarupa (विश्वरूप – Great Form) of Avalokitesvara, his seed syllable hrīḥ – ह्रीः  is placed around the four corners, in four different scripts.  All those play a very important role in Mahayana Buddhism.

BTW, I have written more abou the Seed Syllable hrIH here: Seed  Syllable of Great Compassion in Lotus .

Top Left – hrīḥ in Siddham Script

Siddham script is a very important script in Sino-Japanese Buddhism. It is  used to write Sanskrit Mantra/Dharanis and Mandalas.

Top Right – hrīḥ in Tibetan Script

Mantras/Mandalas/Yantras/Chakaras in Tibetan Buddhism are all inscribed in Tibetan Script

Bottom Left – hrīḥ in Ranjana/Lantsa Script.

Ranjana or Lantsa is an ornamental script, used in Tibet and Nepal regions. It is also used to inscribe Mantras. Tibet once had original sanskrit sutras written in Ranjana, but they were desotroyed during the cultural Revolution

It was quite difficult to find the hrIH in Ranjana, as there is no proper ranjana font. It was also difficult to find out the shape of hrIH in Ranjana.  Visible Mantra had one form of hrIH in Ranjana, but I couldn’t make this form using the incomplete Ranjana font, that I had.  A bit of googling, I got this – Unicode Proposal for Ranjana Script. This had a form of <<hra>>, from which I could create using the font. From <<hra>> adding vowel markers to create <<hrii.h>> was relatively easy.

Bottom Left – hrīḥ in Devanagari Script.

I have nothing more to add about Devanagari Script. It has become a standard script for Sanskrit these days. For its connection with Mahayana Buddhism, I guess it is used to write Sutra/Mantras/Dharanis in Newari Buddhism in Nepal.

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The Image credits go here: http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/qianshoufomu/

Direct Image link: http://hk.geocities.com/qianshoufomu/qianshoufomu.gif

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Hope to learn a few more Photoshop tricks and come up with better Wallpapers

Beware the Mars Hoax.

Update: Even nasa approve the mars hoax http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/07jul_marshoax.htm

Yes Its a Hoax every year this email spread on internet claming that red planet is coming near to earth and visible as big as moon.. this hoax email started in 2004.Yesterday  This lady ask me do you know in coming august something gonna happned on 27th august 2009.  i said i dont know. respected  lady  said you must know that mars is coming near to earth and its as big as moon. i got some doubt regarding the red planet, how planet mars break the orbital belt and come closer to earth.this question landed up in a investigation of the hoax email. and after talking to my friends in the nasa Research labs i got some useful right information.

lets talk about the truth behind Red planet comeing near to earth.

Mars as big as the moon on August 27? Email hoax claims August 27 will bring the closest encounter between Mars and Earth in recorded history. Unfortunately, this ‘once in a lifetime event’ already came and went in 6 years ago in August 2003.

Disappointed? Don’t be. If Mars did come close enough to rival the Moon, its gravity would alter Earth’s orbit and raise terrible tides.

Sixty-nine million km is good. At that distance, Mars shines brighter than anything else in the sky except the Sun, the Moon and Venus. The visual magnitude of Mars on Oct. 30, 2005, will be -2.3. Even inattentive sky watchers will notice it, rising at sundown and soaring overhead at midnight.

You might remember another encounter with Mars, about Seven years ago, on August 27, 2003. That was the closest in recorded history, by a whisker, and millions of people watched as the distance between Mars and Earth shrunk to 56 million km. This October’s encounter, at 69 million km, is similar. To casual observers, Mars will seem about as bright and beautiful in 2005 as it was in 2003.

Although closest approach is still months away, Mars is already conspicuous in the early morning. Before the sun comes up, it’s the brightest object in the eastern sky, really eye-catching. If you have a telescope, even a small one, point it at Mars. You can see the bright icy South Polar Cap and strange dark markings on the planet’s surface.
Above: Painted green by a flashlight, astronomer Dennis Mammana of California points out Mars to onlookers on Aug. 26, 2003, the last time Mars was so close to Earth. One day people will walk among those dark markings, exploring and prospecting, possibly mining ice from the polar caps to supply their settlements. It’s a key goal of NASA’s Vision for Space Exploration: to return to the Moon, to visit Mars and to go beyond.

Every day the view improves. Mars is coming–and that’s no hoax.

June 6, 2005: By the time you finish reading this sentence, you’ll be 25 miles closer to the planet Mars.

Earth is racing toward Mars at a speed of 23,500 mph, which means the red planet is getting bigger and brighter by the minute. In October, when the two planets are closest together, Mars will outshine everything in the night sky except Venus and the Moon. (You’re another 50 miles closer: keep reading!)

It’s only June, now, but Mars is already eye-catching. You can see it early in the morning, rising before the sun in the eastern sky, shining almost twice as bright as a 1st-magnitude star. A sky map, below, shows where to find Mars on Wednesday morning, June 29th, when it appears pleasingly close to the crescent Moon.

Why are we rushing toward Mars? It’s simple orbital mechanics. Think of Earth and Mars as two runners on a circular race track, with lanes corresponding to planetary orbits. Earth, running fast on the inside lane, circles the course in 12 months. Mars, plodding along an outside lane, takes twice as long to go around. Every two years, approximately, Earth catches Mars from behind and laps it.

That’s where we are now, approaching Mars from behind. Relative speed: 23,500 mph.

We won’t actually lap Mars until autumn, October 30th at 0319 Universal Time, to be exact. Only 43 million miles (69 million km) will separate us from Mars, then, compared to an average distance of about 140 million miles (225 million kilometers). It’s a great time to send spacecraft there.

Mindful of that, NASA Already launch the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) on August 10th, 2005. Because it takes 6+ months to reach Mars, the best time to start the trip is a month or so before closest approach–thus, August. MRO will arrive in March 2006, enter orbit, and begin a 2-year mission to map the red planet in greater detail than ever before.

The spacecraft’s high-resolution cameras will be able to discern objects, such as rocks and rovers and crashed Mars landers, less than 1 meter across. A radar sounder will probe for underground water while spectrometers map the distribution of surface minerals. Other instruments will monitor the atmosphere, teaching researchers back on Earth how to forecast martian weather. These are key elements in NASA’s plan to eventually send humans to Mars
Above: The HiRISE camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has 5-times better resolution than cameras on other Mars orbiters and might be able to take pictures of the lost Mars Polar Lander.
The Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity are already there. They arrived in January 2004 on the heels of another Earth-Mars close encounter in 2003. (Remember, this happens every two years.) The two robots were supposed to stop working months after they landed, worn down by wind, stuck in sand, or exhausted by too little solar power. Spirit and Opportunity are still rolling and, if they hold true to form, they’ll be “alive” to see Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter when it gets there, a tiny point of light in the martian night sky, mapping the red planet for explorers of the future.
Back on Earth people are going to enjoy watching Mars swell and brighten in the months ahead. By mid-summer, amateur astronomers with backyard telescopes will be able to spot polar ice caps and dust storms and strange dark markings. By autumn, even the least attentive of your neighbors will be remarking on “that bright red thing in the sky.”

Mark October 30th as the best day of all: Mars will rise at sunset, hang overhead at midnight, and “blaze forth against the dark background of space with a splendor that outshines Sirius and rivals the giant Jupiter himself.” That’s how astronomer Percival Lowell described a similar close encounter in the 19th century.

Can’t wait? Don’t. You can see Mars any clear morning this summer. We recommend Wednesday morning, June 29th. Mars and the fat crescent Moon are going to have a pleasing close encounter in the dawn sky. Look for them rising in the east around 4:30 AM; the sight will absolutely wake you up.

More good news: you’re now 1000 miles closer to the planet Mars.

The Truth of Mars

The Red Planet is Not a Dead Planet

Mars today is a world of cold and lonely deserts, apparently without life of any kind, at least on the surface. Indeed it looks like Mars has been cold and dry for billions of years, with an atmosphere so thin, any liquid water on the surface quickly boils away while the sun’s ultraviolet radiation scorches the ground.

The situation sounds bleak, but research published today in Science Express reveals new hope for the Red Planet. The first definitive detection of methane in the atmosphere of Mars indicates that Mars is still alive, in either a biologic or geologic sense, according to a team of NASA and university scientists.

“Methane is quickly destroyed in the Martian atmosphere in a variety of ways, so our discovery of substantial plumes of methane in the northern hemisphere of Mars in 2003 indicates some ongoing process is releasing the gas,” says lead author Michael Mumma of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “At northern mid-summer, methane is released at a rate comparable to that of the massive hydrocarbon seep at Coal Oil Point in Santa Barbara, Calif.”

Right: An artist’s concept of a possible geological source of Martian methane: subsurface water, carbon dioxide and the planet’s internal heat combine to release the gas.

Methane — four atoms of hydrogen bound to a carbon atom — is the main component of natural gas on Earth. It is of interest to astrobiologists because much of Earth’s methane come from living organisms digesting their nutrients. However, life is not required to produce the gas. Other purely geological processes, like oxidation of iron, also release methane. “Right now, we don’t have enough information to tell if biology or geology — or both — is producing the methane on Mars,” said Mumma. “But it does tell us that the planet is still alive, at least in a geologic sense. It’s as if Mars is challenging us, saying, hey, find out what this means.”

If microscopic Martian life is producing the methane, it likely resides far below the surface, where it’s still warm enough for liquid water to exist. Liquid water, as well as energy sources and a supply of carbon, are necessary for all known forms of life.

“On Earth, microorganisms thrive 2 to 3 kilometers (about 1.2 to 1.9 miles) beneath the Witwatersrand basin of South Africa, where natural radioactivity splits water molecules into molecular hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O). The organisms use the hydrogen for energy. It might be possible for similar organisms to survive for billions of years below the permafrost layer on Mars, where water is liquid, radiation supplies energy, and carbon dioxide provides carbon,” says Mumma.

“Gases, like methane, accumulated in such underground zones might be released into the atmosphere if pores or fissures open during the warm seasons, connecting the deep zones to the atmosphere at crater walls or canyons,” he says.

“Microbes that produced methane from hydrogen and carbon dioxide were one of the earliest forms of life on Earth,” notes Carl Pilcher, Director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute which partially supported the research. “If life ever existed on Mars, it’s reasonable to think that its metabolism might have involved making methane from Martian atmospheric carbon dioxide.”

Above: one way methane is destroyed in the Martian atmosphere: the molecules are rapidly broken apart by solar ultraviolet radiation. Because methane doesn’t last long in the martian environment, any methane found there must be recently produced. [animation]

However, it is possible a geologic process produced the Martian methane, either now or eons ago. On Earth, the conversion of iron oxide (rust) into the serpentine group of minerals creates methane, and on Mars this process could proceed using water, carbon dioxide, and the planet’s internal heat. Another possibility is vulcanism: Although there is no evidence of currently active Martian volcanoes, ancient methane trapped in ice “cages” called clathrates might now be released.

The team found methane in the atmosphere of Mars by carefully observing the planet over several Mars years (and all Martian seasons) using spectrometers attached to telescopes at NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility, run by the University of Hawaii, and the W. M. Keck telescope, both at Mauna Kea, Hawaii.

“We observed and mapped multiple plumes of methane on Mars, one of which released about 19,000 metric tons of methane,” says Geronimo Villanueva of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Villanueva is stationed at NASA Goddard and is co-author of the paper. “The plumes were emitted during the warmer seasons — spring and summer — perhaps because the permafrost blocking cracks and fissures vaporized, allowing methane to seep into the Martian air. Curiously, some plumes had water vapor while others did not,” he says.

Above: Methane plumes found in Mars’ atmosphere during the northern summer season. According to the team, the plumes were seen over areas that show evidence of ancient ground ice or flowing water. For example, plumes appeared over northern hemisphere regions such as east of Arabia Terra, the Nili Fossae region, and the south-east quadrant of Syrtis Major, an ancient volcano 1,200 kilometers (about 745 miles) across.

It will take future missions, like NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory, to discover the origin of the Martian methane. One way to tell if life is the source of the gas is by measuring isotope ratios. Isotopes are heavier versions of an element; for example, deuterium is a heavier version of hydrogen. In molecules that contain hydrogen, like water and methane, the rare deuterium occasionally replaces a hydrogen atom. Since life prefers to use the lighter isotopes, if the methane has less deuterium than the water released with it on Mars, it’s a sign that life is producing the methane.

Whatever future research reveals–biology or geology–one thing is already clear: Mars is not so dead, after all.

by Rohit Sharma

Before we move on to  what is swine flu and how it effects, i suppose now as its a Pandemic and effecting almost each and every major part of our country (India). here we would like to provide the right information how to prevent from swine flu. kindly read care fully and try to prevent your self from this deadly pandemic disease.

By now you’ve probably seen the frightening pictures from Pune .the death of 14 year  old girl and till now almost more then 4 people died by the swine infection, people trying to avoid catching the swine flu infection. Unfortunately swine flu has now been confirmed in multiple locations within the India. the death of reda in pune is because of less awareness and no precautions taken by the medical authorities.

So what precautions can you easily take to prevent being infected by swine flu?

#1

Always cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing; ideally use something disposable like a tissue. Avoid touching your face, nose or mouth too frequently with your hands since swine flu appears to be transmitted through respiratory droplets in the same fashion as the common cold.
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Step 2

Wash your hands frequently with soap and water since swine flu like other viruses can be contracted by touching objects contaminated by the virus. It’s unsure how long the swine flu virus can survive on surrounding surfaces.
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Step 3

Though alcohol based hand sanitizers don’t routinely kill viruses they probably do offer some limited protection in preventing swine flu infections.
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Step 4

If swine flu infections have been medically confirmed in your area consider avoiding large public gatherings. Individuals can be contagious with the swine flu virus for several day before demonstrating any signs or symptoms of infection. Be particularly careful about indoor gatherings where air circulates poorly.
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Step 5

If you’re really paranoid and don’t mind looking odd then consider wearing a respiratory mask. This barrier method does offer some basic protection against infection though not all masks are created equally. Higher quality masks capable of filtering out some respiratory infections are more expensive.
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Step 6

If you start feeling ill with cold or flu-like symptoms do not go to work. Stay home and begin the usual home remedies for colds and flu. Contact your health care provider, local health department or hospital emergency room if your symptoms worsen or fail to improve for information about where to go to be screened for possible swine flu infection.

Beware of swine flu its your next door neighbour.  issued in public interest by gyandotcom

What is swine flu?
Like people, pigs can get influenza (flu), but swine flu viruses aren’t the same as human flu viruses. Swine flu doesn’t often infect people, and the rare human cases that have occurred in the past have mainly affected people who had direct contact with pigs. But the current swine flu outbreak is different. It’s caused by a new swine flu virus that has spread from person to person — and it’s happening among people who haven’t had any contact with pigs.

What are swine flu symptoms?
Symptoms of swine flu are like regular flu symptoms and include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills, and fatigue. Some people have reported diarrhea and vomiting associated with swine flu. Those symptoms can also be caused by many other conditions, and that means that you and your doctor can’t know, just based on your symptoms, if you’ve got swine flu. It takes a lab test to tell whether it’s swine flu or some other condition.

If I think I have swine flu, what should I do? When should I see my doctor?
If you have flu symptoms, stay home, and when you cough or sneeze, cover your mouth and nose with a tissue. Afterward, throw the tissue in the trash and wash your hands. That will help prevent your flu from spreading.

If you’ve got flu symptoms, and you’ve recently been to a high-risk area like Mexico, officials recommend that you see your doctor. If you have flu symptoms but you haven’t been in a high-risk area, you can still see a doctor — that’s your call.

Keep in mind that your doctor will not be able to determine whether you have swine flu, but he or she would take a sample from you and send it to a state health department lab for testing to see if it’s swine flu. If your doctor suspects swine flu, he or she would be able to write you a prescription for Tamiflu or Relenza. Those drugs may not be required; U.S. swine flu patients have made a full recovery without

How does swine flu spread? Is it airborne?
The new swine flu virus apparently spreads just like regular flu. You could pick up germs directly from an infected person, or by touching an object they recently touched, and then touching your eyes, mouth, or nose, delivering their germs for your own infection. That’s why you should make washing your hands a habit, even when you’re not ill. Infected people can start spreading flu germs up to a day before symptoms start, and for up to seven days after getting sick, according to the CDC.

The swine flu virus can become airborne if you cough or sneeze without covering your nose and mouth, sending germs into the air.

The U.S. residents infected with swine flu virus had no direct contact with pigs. it’s likely that the infections represent widely separated cycles of human-to-human infections.

How is swine flu treated?
The new swine flu virus is sensitive to the antiviral drugs Tamiflu and Relenza. We  recommends those drugs to prevent or treat swine flu; the drugs are most effective when taken within 48 hours of the start of flu symptoms. But not everyone needs those drugs; many of the first people in the U.S. with lab-confirmed swine flu recovered without treatment. The Department of Homeland Security has released 25% of its stockpile of Tamiflu and Relenza to states. Health officials have asked people not to hoard Tamiflu or Relenza.

Is there a vaccine against the new swine flu virus?
No. But the CDC and the World Health Organization are already taking the first steps toward making such a vaccine. That’s a lengthy process — it takes months.

I had a flu vaccine this season. Am I protected against swine flu?
No. This season’s flu vaccine wasn’t made with the new swine flu virus in mind; no one saw this virus coming ahead of time.

If you were vaccinated against flu last fall or winter, that vaccination will go a long way toward protecting you against certain human flu virus strains. But the new swine flu virus is a whole other problem.

How can I prevent swine flu infection?
Gyandotcom  recommends taking these major steps:

Wash your hands regularly with soap and water, especially after coughing or sneezing. Or use an alcohol-based hand cleaner.
Avoid close contact with sick people.
Avoid touching your mouth, nose, or eyes.

Can I still eat pork?
Yes. You can’t get swine flu by eating pork, bacon, or other foods that come from pigs.

What else should I be doing?
Keep informed of what’s going on in your community. Your state and local health departments may have important information if swine flu develops in your area. For instance, parents might want to consider what they would do if their child’s school temporarily closed because of flu. That happened in New York City, where St. Francis Preparatory School in Queens closed for a couple of days after eight students were found to have swine flu.  Don’t panic, but a little planning wouldn’t hurt.

How severe is swine flu?
The severity of cases in the current swine flu outbreak has varied widely. In Mexico, there have been deaths and other severe cases. Early cases in the U.S. have been mild. But that could change. The virus itself could change, either becoming more or less dangerous. Scientists are watching closely to see which way the new swine flu virus is heading — but health experts warn that flu viruses are notoriously hard to predict, as far as how and when they’ll change.

Why has the swine flu infection been deadlier in Mexico than in Global areas.?
It is unclear why U.S. cases have been milder compared to those in Mexico. Among the first 20 reported cases in the U.S., only one patient required hospitalization and that person has fully recovered. Medical researchers are actively investigating to learn more about the differences between the cases in Mexico and those in the U.S.

Have there been previous swine flu oubtreaks?
Yes. There was a swine flu outbreak at Fort Dix, N.J., in 1918 and in 1976 among military recruits. It lasted about a month and then went away as mysteriously as it appeared. As many as 240 people were infected; one died.

The swine flu that spread at Fort Dix was the H1N1 strain. That’s the same flu strain that caused the disastrous flu pandemic of 1918-1919, resulting in tens of millions of deaths.

Concern that a new H1N1 pandemic might return in winter 1976 led to a crash program to create a vaccine and vaccinate all Americans against swine flu. That vaccine program ran into all kinds of problems — not the least of which was public perception that the vaccine caused excessive rates of dangerous reactions. After more than 40 million people were vaccinated, the effort was abandoned.

As it turned out, there was no swine flu epidemic.

I was vaccinated against the 1976 swine flu virus. Am I still protected?
Probably not. The new swine flu virus is different from the 1976 virus. And it’s not clear whether a vaccine given more than 30 years ago would still be effective.

How many people have swine flu?
That’s a hard question to answer, because the figure is changing so quickly. If you want to keep track of U.S. cases that have been confirmed by lab tests and reported to the WHO,  If you’re looking for cases in other countries, visit the World Health Organization’s web site. And when you hear about large numbers of people who are ill, remember that lab tests may not yet have been done to confirm that they have swine flu. And there may be a little lag time before confirmed cases make it into the official tally.
The World Health Organization has not declared swine flu to be a pandemic. The WHO wants to learn more about the virus first and see how severe it is and how deeply it takes root.

But it takes more than a new virus spreading among humans to make a pandemic. The virus has to be able to spread efficiently from one person to another, and transmission has to be sustained over time. In addition, the virus has to spread geographically. but take more n more precautions. kindly read step by step precautions above.

CDC Advisors Make Recommendations for Use of Vaccine Against Novel H1N1

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) met today to make recommendations for use of vaccine against novel influenza A (H1N1). 

The committee met to develop recommendations on who should receive vaccine against novel influenza A (H1N1) when it becomes available, and to determine which groups of the population should be prioritized if the vaccine is initially available in extremely limited quantities.

The committee recommended the vaccination efforts focus on five key populations.  Vaccination efforts are designed to help reduce the impact and spread of novel H1N1. The key populations include those who are at higher risk of disease or complications, those who are likely to come in contact with novel H1N1, and those who could infect young infants. When vaccine is first available, the committee recommended that programs and providers try to vaccinate:

• pregnant women,
• people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age,
• health care and emergency medical services personnel,
• persons between the ages of 6 months through 24 years of age, and
• people from ages 25 through 64 years who are at higher risk for novel H1N1 because of chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems.

The groups listed above total approximately 159 million people in the United States.

The committee does not expect that there will be a shortage of novel H1N1 vaccine, but availability and demand can be unpredictable. There is some possibility that initially the vaccine will be available in limited quantities. In this setting, the committee recommended that the following groups receive the vaccine before others:

• pregnant women,
• people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age,
• health care and emergency medical services personnel with direct patient contact,
• children 6 months through 4 years of age, and
• children 5 through 18 years of age who have chronic medical conditions.

The committee recognized the need to assess supply and demand issues at the local level. The committee further recommended that once the demand for vaccine for these prioritized groups has been met at the local level, programs and providers should begin vaccinating everyone from ages 25 through 64 years. Current studies indicate the risk for infection among persons age 65 or older is less than the risk for younger age groups. Therefore, as vaccine supply and demand for vaccine among younger age groups is being met, programs and providers should offer vaccination to people over the age of 65.

The committee also stressed that people over the age of 65 receive the seasonal vaccine as soon as it is available. Even if novel H1N1 vaccine is initially only available in limited quantities, supply and availability will continue, so the committee stressed that programs and providers continue to vaccinate unimmunized patients and not keep vaccine in reserve for later administration of the second dose.

The novel H1N1 vaccine is not intended to replace the seasonal flu vaccine. It is intended to be used alongside seasonal flu vaccine to protect people.  Seasonal flu and novel H1N1 vaccines may be administered on the same day.

Issue in public Intrest by

by Rohit Sharma for Gyandotcom

A Primer of Sanskrit Conversation authored by Swami Dayananda Saraswati (1824-’83), the founder of Aryasamaj, with a view to popularise Sanskrit.

The author has provided simple sentences in Sanskrit which can be used by the students in various situations in life. For instance, there are sets of sentences meant to be used at home, school, market, temple, gurukul, etc, etc. Though the author has given Hindi translation of these sentences, the Sanskrit sentences are so simple that a person who is familiar with any Indian language can easily understand them and improve his skill in Sanskrit speaking.

Altogether, this primer comprising of nearly 1000 sentences in chaste Sanskrit and their Hindi translation is a boon to those who are desirous of speaking Sanskrit.

DOWNLOAD Samskrita Vakya Prabodh

Some search engines don’t pick up edit changes to “Pages” on blogs. They only seem to notice changes to “Posts”. So, in order that new additions to the Mantras page become visible, I make periodic posts with a list of the things added. Some recent additions are

1. Dadhi Vamana Stotra
2. Hayavadana Ashtakam
3. Vishnu Ashta Nama Stotra
4. Vishnu Shata Nama Stotra
5. Lakshmyaaryavruttam
6. Anu Vayu Stuti
7. Madhva Muni Prataapaashtakam
8. Medha Suktam

These can be downloaded from the mantras page. Kannada and Devanagari versions are available.

Assista a aula  O SwáSthya Yôga, com o Mestre DeRose (em vídeo ou na web) e participe das aulas, ao vivo, com a Profª Márcia Cordoni.

http://www.uni-yoga.org/web_classes.php?video=51&categoria=&data=&titulo=&pagina=&pag=1

http://www.uni-yoga.org/web_classes.php?video=59&categoria=&data=&titulo=&pagina=&pag=2

Mantra:

Hara, Hara, Shankara, jaya.

Hara, Hara, Shankara, jaya.

Leitura:

Quando é Preciso Ser Forte, capítulos O que o SwáSthya Yôga tem de tão especial  e  O que é o SwáSthya Yôga. 

Meditação:

Yantra dhyána: visualizar a chama de uma vela dentro do seu coração, na cor violeta.

Você saberia responder:

Quem foi o criador do SwáSthya Yôga?