Scintillating Gujarat

Narendra Modi inaugurating Vibrant Gujarat summit

Convening global investors’ meets had become a fad of state governments in India during the last decade, to leverage the potential of globalization most of them had to adapt however half-heartedly. Virtually all of them embraced the new financial concepts, with practically their backs to the wall. Even now some states, particularly Kerala under the communist party is still reluctant to openly espouse the concept. The meets, being a venue of many foreign delegates are usually convened in five-star hotels with lavish food and liquour. Because of these ‘incentives’, the bureaucracy is only too eager to make them annual affairs without any thought to take follow-up actions or take stock of the promises which are yet to materialize.

It is in this context that the ‘Vibrant Gujarat’ summit convened by the Gujarat state government failed to attract public interest in the beginning. We thought it to be just another such drama we come to see annually. But this one has opened up tremendous potential and even if half of the proposals get to see the light of day, Gujarat would have advanced much much further in the industrial map of Asia (yes, surpassing all other Indian states). We will not briefly consider what the summit is and the gains the people of Gujarat has gained from it.

This is the 5^th Vibrant Gujarat meet which commenced in 2003 and convened biennially. So far, the total investment proposals total Rs. 16,65,000 crores (US$ 370 bn). The assembly of prominent businessmen were conducted on Jan 12-13 this year at the newly constructed Mahatma Mandir, which is dedicated to the Father of the nation and illustrates his ideals in sculptures strewn around the main building. The convention centre spreads over 60,000 sq. metres in area and boasts of a seating capacity of 5,000. Representatives from nearly 30 MNCs, 16 countries and 19 Indian states participated in the two-day affair. Noted among them were 15 enterpreneurs from Pakistan, proving that business interests transcends rivalry among nations, religions and cultures.

7,936 MOUs were signed during the meet, totalling a commitment of Rs. 20,83,000 crores (US$ 450 bn) which would generate jobs to the tune of 5.2 million. Power, manufacturing, urban development and infrastructure were the prominent sectors which attracted investors. Proposals for 42 power projects in the state were laid down. Dedicating the 5^th summit to youth and women, Chief Minister Narendra Modi said the state would soon lead India’s economic development and also compete with developed nations. Huge ambition, from a shrewd politician! The secular press still vilify Modi for his alleged role in the communal riots which rocked Gujarat in 2002 in the aftermath of Godhra train carnage, even though as recently as last year, an inquiry commission set up under a Supreme court order had acquitted him of all charges. It is high time we should rise above sectarian interests and see the material progress pouring into Gujarat under the leadership of Narendra Modi, which should be a model to all chief ministers.

A curious comparison with Kerala’s Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan is not beside the point. The veteran communist stalwart had proved to be a big zero in administration and development, being famous only for outdated communist rhetoric. He himself is not corrupt, but the administrative machinery over which he presides over is neck-deep in it with himself impotent to do anything about it! I wonder whether these people can even correctly count the number of zeroes in the huge number of Rs. 20.83 lakh crores which is pledged for Gujarat!

A pilgrimage to death

Sabarimala is a renowned Hindu temple in Kerala which attracts millions of pilgrims annually during the two months starting from mid-November to mid-January. Most of them are from the four southern states, and the majority among them from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, where it is said that preparations for the annual journey runs all the year round. People often take pride in counting the number of times they have set foot on the holy hills. Being a rich, but quaint little temple tucked away in the middle of lush green rainforest, the pilgrimage is doubly attractive on the sightseeing and adventurous potential too, with chance encounters with wild animals. At least, that was the way things were until a few decades ago. Now the forest pathways are choked with the huge numbers of pilgrims and the infrastructural facilities are woefully inadequate. Some times, it takes 20 hours to have ‘darshan’ (sighting of the idol for offering prayers) which you have to spend in long queues often in blistering heat.

Sabarimala is marketed in a quite unique way by the Kerala Government which owns the temple. On the Makara Sankranti day (mid-January, this time on Jan 14^th), hundreds of thousands of devotees flock to the hills to witness the ‘supernatural’ phenomenon occurring regularly on the dark, steep hills opposite to the shrine. Every year, when evening poojas are consecrated in the temple on Sankranti day, a beam of mysterious light will appear thrice, each time for a very brief interval. The frenzy of the pilgrims upon seeing this out-of-the-world experience is ming boggling. The hills would vibrate with chants of the sea of humanity uttered in unison for praising the deity.

This time, things were a little more serious. In the stampede which followed the appearance of the divine ‘jyoti’ (light) at Pullumedu, 103 people were brutally killed, most of them with grievous damage to internal organs in the melee. Hundreds were injured and at the time of writing this, search is still on for the tens of people missing. Stampedes are nothing strange at Sabarimala as 53 people were killed in another jyoti stampede in 1999 at Pampa base camp. As happened then, this time also, almost all of the deceased were from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. So, what prompts these people to walk to their deaths in an isolated place far away from their homes? The appeal of the supernatural is a potent one, capable of upsetting the mental balance of the gullible. Isn’t it worthwhile to lay down one’s life on the altar of the ‘all-powerful’ god, while witnessing one of his wonders in this miracle-hungry world?

To answer the question, we have to look a bit more closely at this special event called Makara Jyoti.  Even though the Travancore Devaswom Board, a semi-autonomous body which administers the temple maintains it to be manifestation of the supreme power of the deity, Lord Ayyappa, clandestine investigations made under the aegis of Kerala Yuktivadi Sanghom (Rationalists’ Association) paint a different picture. Atheists in Kerala took a determined effort in the 70s and 80s to bring out the truth behind the Jyoti and came out with a chilling announcement that it was nothing but a trick performed by officials of the devaswom board in collusion with several other government departments under heavy police protection. The officials would light a plate stacked with camphor with a shield of carpets to protect against the heavy winds. When this curtain is suddenly removed upon hearing through radio that the pooja is over at the shrine, a monstrous cheating plot is set in motion as the annual act of god! Blood-curdling torture from police awaited the atheists who tried to barge in to the area. The excessive repressive measures undertaken by the state dampened the enthusiasm of the rationalists in later years, but it had its effect. Now, every sane person in Kerala admits, at least privately, that the Jyoti is a trick!

So, what do the devaswom board and the government of Kerala has in their store to console the hapless wives, sons and daughters of the 100-odd people killed in stampede this year? Their divine (hence inhuman?) marketing ploy has claimed the lives of so many innocent people and are to be held responsible, at least to pay compensation. Most of the pilgrims are very poor people, unlike the devotees of Lord Venkateshwara at Tirupati, and it is highly probable that those families had lost their sold bread winners. The government and devaswom board officials should hang their heads in shame for this carnage. Every year, these parties collect nearly 100 crores (1 billion) rupees from the pilgrims and reparation is only a just demand. Also, the public should be aware of the ploys in the guise of religion to cheat the unsuspecting masses. Otherwise, how can you explain away the irony of a god powerful enough to light a bonfire on the top of steep, inaccessible hill is incompetent to save the lives of his own pilgrims?

There is an appeal to the devotees too. If you are religious and feel that a trip to Sabarimala can bring you solace, do it, by all means! But, you should apply your intellect, your commonsense (if you have any) and judge a supernatural occurrence against the balance of probability of it being a fake, before flocking to the place like a herd of cattle. You are to gain from this self-examination, as it is your own life which is at stake!

India in the Solar System!

India is now one of the handful of nations with the capability to launch a geo-stationary satellite from its own soil. Even though we appear not to have perfected the art, as seen from the sad demonstrations of the last two GSLV launches, nobody questions the nation’s prowess in space exploration. Ours is a developing nation, with scant resources for allocation in scientific or space research. After freely giving away money for corruptions, scams, klickbacks and such, what is remaining for space? Those criticising or ridiculing us should note this point. Whatever meagre allocation there is for space, ISRO utilizes for projects which ensure a handsome payback, naturally! They employ communication satellites (transponders for lease), remote sensing satellites (data for profit), satellite launching services (lowest fee per kg in the world) and it was only two years back they launched Chandrayaan 1, a true science project with no apparent commercial interests to fly by the moon, eject a probe on to the surface and collect data. This was a huge success and the world is indebted to it for the valuable confirmation it provided to the idea that moon contains water.

Apart from Chandrayaan 1, which may be accounted for the country’s rising prosperity, there are practically very few space science and exploration projects in the country. We have no good telescopes to watch the sky, only vague plans for an exploration probe to Mars or Moon and it is no wonder we are far far behind NASA and ESA. These agencies continuously watch the skies, stars, sun, moon and other planets. They locate structures on them like impact craters, mountains, plains, coronae and name them. The International Astronomical Union is entrusted with the task of naming them, and since most of them are identified with American or European funding, it is no wonder the names are those of Greek classical, mythological or people in those countries. Out of compassion or magnanimity, sometimes a few names are thrown to us like crumbs and are given Indian names. Recently, I made search to find Indian names for such structures in various planets or moons in the solar system and the following table lists the results I have obtained. With a very fine sieve, I went through the lists and ended up with 94 objects out of tens of thousands of items in the collection! Rather than being proud of these 94, every Indian should be aware of hundreds of deserving entries which are still awaiting attention of the international community.

Name	Type	Location	Named after
244 Sita	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Sita, character in Ramayana
770 Bali	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Bali, King of Kishkindha in Ramayana
1166 Sakuntala	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Shakuntala, character in ancient Sanskrit drama
1170 Siva	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Hindu deity Shiva or Siva
1958 Chandra	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1910-1995), Astrophysicist
2211 Hanuman	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Hanuman, monkey-god in mythology
2307 Garuda	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Garuda, son of Kasyapa and Vinata in mythology
2313 Aruna	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Represents the red glow of dawn in mythology of India
2347 Vinata	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Mythological daughter of Prajapati and wife of Kasyapa
2415 Ganesa	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Hindu deity
2491 Tvashtri	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Maker of divine implements in vedas
2596 Vainubappu	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Manali Kallat Vainu Bappu (1927-1982), Astrophysicist
2629 Rudra	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Rudra, destroyer aspect of the Siva
2847 Parvati	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Parvati, goddess, consort of Siva
2986 Mrinalini	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Mrinalini Sarabhai (1918-), Classical dancer and choreographer
2987 Sarabhai	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai (1919-1971), Space scientist
3811 Karma	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Karma, Hindu philosophy
4130 Ramanujan	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920), Mathematician
5178 Pattazhy	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Sainudeen Pattazhy, Environmentalist
7855 Tagore	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), Writer
8348 Bhattacharya	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Jagadish Chandra Bhattacharyya (1930-), Astronomer, director of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics in Bangalore
8356 Wadhwa	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Meenakshi Wadhwa, meteorite analyst
9141 Kapur	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Shekhar Kapur (1945-), Actor
12072 Anupamakotha	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Anupama Kotha, Indian-born American finalist, 2002 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) and 2002-2003 Intel Science Talent Search (ISTS)
12472 Samadhi	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Samadhi Hindu/Buddhist concept
12599 Singhal	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Akshat Singhal, Indian finalist, 2002 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair
13117 Pondicherry	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Indian territory of Pondicherry
20000 Varuna		Kuiper Belt Object	Hindu deity of waters of the heaven and of the ocean and as the guardian of immortality
21575 Padmanabhan	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Hamsa Padmanabhan, Indian finalist in the 2006 Intel ISEF
23133 Rishinbehl	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Rishin Behl, Indian finalist in the 2007 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF)
24944 Harish-Chandra	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Harish-Chandra (1923-1983), Mathematician
26214 Kalinga	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	UNESCO's Kalinga Prize (bearing the old name of the Indian state of Orissa)
51826 Kalpanachawla	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Kalpana Chawla (1961-2003), Astronaut, mission specialist on board the space shuttle Columbia (STS-107)
55753 Raman	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (1888-1970), Physicist
78118 Bharat	Asteroid	Asteroid Belt	Bhārat Ganarājya, native name of the Republic of India (derived from the wise and pious king Bharata of ancient Hindu mythology), the discoverer's motherland
Anala	Mountain	Venus	Anala (Hindu), Hindu fertility goddess. Name changed from Anala Corona.
Andal	Crater	Mercury	Aandaal (8th cen), Tamil writer
Annapurna	Corona	Venus	Indian goddess of wealth
Aryabhata	Crater	Moon	Aryabhata (476-circa 550)
Asvaghosa	Crater	Mercury	Asvaghosa (80-150), Sanskrit poet
Avviyar	Crater	Venus	Avviyar (2nd cen), Tamil poet
Bhor	Crater	Mars	Bhor, a municipal town in Pune district of Maharshtra, erstwhile principality
Bhumidevi	Corona	Venus	Hindu earth goddess
Bhumiya	Corona	Venus	Hindu earth goddess
Bose	Crater	Moon	Jagadish Chandra Bose (1858–1937), Physicist and Biologist
Broach	Crater	Mars	Broach, city in Gujarat
Budh	Plains	Mercury	Hindu word for Mercury
Chawla	Crater	Moon	Kalpana Chawla (1961–2003), Astronaut
Das	Crater	Moon	Amil Kumar Das (1902–1961), Astronomer
Dheepa	Crater	Venus	Indian female name
Dhisana	Corona	Venus	Vedic goddess of plenty
Dilip	Mountain	Moon	Indian male name
Ganesa	Macula	Titan	Hindu deity
Ganges	Catena	Mars	Ganga, Indian sacred river
Gauri	Mountain	Venus	Gauri (Hindu), Indian mountain goddess
Indira	Crater	Venus	Indian first name
Indrani	Corona	Venus	Hindu fertility goddess
Jhirad	Crater	Venus	Jerusha Jhirad (1890-1984) Physician
Joshee	Crater	Venus	Anandibai Joshee (1865-1887); Pioneer physician
Kakori	Crater	Mars	Kakori, a town in Lucknow dist of U.P.
Kali	Mountain	Venus	Kali (Hindu), Hindu goddess, mother of death.
Kalidasa	Crater	Mercury	Kālidāsa (5th cen), Sanskrit writer
Kamadhenu	Corona	Venus	Hindu goddess of plenty
Logtak	Lake	Titan	Loktak lake in Manipur
Lonar	Crater	Mars	Lonar, saltwater lake in Buldana dist of Maharashtra
Maya	Corona	Venus	Hindu mother earth goddess
Medhavi	Crater	Venus	Ramabai Medhavi (1858–1922); Author, humanitarian
Mitra	Crater	Moon	Sisir Kumar Mitra (1890-1963), Physicist
Nishtigri	Corona	Venus	Hindu earth mother
Poona	Crater	Mars	Pune, city in Maharashtra
Prthvi	Corona	Venus	Hindu mother earth goddess.
Purandhi	Corona	Venus	Hindu goddess of plenty
Radhika	Crater	Venus	Indian first name
Raman	Crater	Moon	Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (1888-1970), Physicist
Rampyari	Crater	Venus	Indian first name
Rani	Crater	Venus	Indian first name
Ravi	Crater	Moon	Indian male name
Rayadurg	Crater	Mars	Rayadurg, a town in Anantapur dist of Andhra Pradesh
Saha	Crater	Moon	Meghnad Saha (1893-1956), Astrophysicist
Sandila	Crater	Mars	Sandila, a town in Hardoi dist of U.P.
Sarabhai	Crater	Moon	Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai (1919-1971), Space scientist
Sarasvati	Mountain	Venus	Saraswati, Hindu river goddess
Sher-Gil	Crater	Mercury	Amrita Sher-Gil (1913-1941), Indian painter
Sita	Crater	Moon	Indian female name
Sunrta	Corona	Venus	Hindu fertility goddess
Sur Das	Crater	Mercury	Surdas (1478-1581), Poet
Tadaka	Corona	Venus	Indian mythical character
Tansen	Crater	Mercury	Tansen (1506-1589), Hindustani music composer
Thakur	Crater	Mercury	Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), Writer
Tyagaraja	Crater	Mercury	Tyāgarāja (1767-1847), Carnatic music Composer
Ushas	Mountain	Venus	Indian goddess of dawn.
Valmiki	Crater	Mercury	Valmiki, Indian poet
Vasudhara	Corona	Venus	Buddhist female Bodhisattva of abundance
Vyasa	Crater	Mercury	Vyasa, Indian poet

Of course, this list will burgeon rapidly in the coming years. But still, there are some names which should be there even in present conditions. Politicians, please excuse. So, what’s the procedure to name an asteroid to honour a person we admire? The easiest way is to discover one. The discoverer has the right to name it, but if it remains unnamed for 10 years, there’s a chance for the public. All proposed names will be scrutinized by a 15-person working group for Small Body Nomenclature (http://www.ss.astro.umd.edu/IAU/csbn/) of the IAU. Proposed names should be

• 16 characters or less in length
• preferably one word
• pronounceable
• non-offensive
• not too similar to an existing name

A complete list of all available names can be downloaded here. So, why wait? Start pressurising them!