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Renowned mathematician from Chennai C S Seshadri passes away

By
Preetika Parashuraman
-

Renowned mathematician and founder of Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI) passed away in Chennai on 17 July, 2020 at the age of 88.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief via a tweet.

Even the President of India condoled via a tweet. 

He was passionate about mathematics and had special interest in algebraic geometry and algebraic groups.

He founded CMI to widen the scope of mathematics and devoted himself to bringing in the practice of research in teaching mathematics to undergraduate students back in the 80s.

He did not miss an opportunity to emphasise to science students to keep their eyes open to other courses such as humanities.

His mission for CMI was to be a top quality institution that offers teaching in mathematics and computer science and create a new stream of students by training them from undergraduate level to the highest level. 

He completed his schooling in St Joseph’s Elementary School, Shri Ramakrishna School, and St Joseph High School in Chengalpet and did B A Honours in Mathematics at Loyola College in Chennai.

He did his PhD. in mathematics in Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bombay University and started his career in Tata Institute.

His accolades were recognized when he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1988 and a Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S in 2010. He was also awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2009.

He was an advent lover of carnatic music.

Principal Scientific Adviser (Government of India) said that he was deeply connected to our art and culture, while being a true internationalist.

Find out how you could win a free Netflix subscription for 83 years

By
Preetika Parashuraman
-

The streaming giant, Netflix has brought a fresh offer to the table where you will be able to win the opportunity to gain a Netflix subscription for a period of 83 years without having to pay for it. It will be absolutely free.

To do so, all one has to do is play a video game – “The Old Guard” and manage to get the highest score.

This is a part of the promotional campaign for the film – The Old Guard and the video game mirrors the incidents that occur in the film.

Those seeking to win the offer will have to play the video game as the lead character and kill maximum number of enemies using a huge, double-bladed axe – the Labrys.

An interesting feature is that the player never gets killed, but only gets slowed down.

The aim is to not get hit by your enemies.

The game went live on 17 July, 2020 and will stay till 19 July, 2020

Pakistani workers destroy ancient Buddha statue because it was ‘unIslamic’

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
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An ancient life-size statue of Gautama Buddha was destroyed in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan by construction workers as soon as they had discovered it, as reported by Hindustan Times.

The local construction workers on Saturday (18 July) had discovered the ancient statues in Takht Bhai area in the Mardan district of the province. The native cleric of the region allegedly ordered the workers to smash the idol into pieces, who can be seen using a sledgehammer.

Apparently, this was a part of the Gandhara kingdom that was existing in this part of the world in the 200 BC era. This is just one of the many excavations that have been carried out since 1860s.

The contractor reportedly broke it into pieces before the archaeology department was even informed about the discovery. He allegedly did it as “the local maulvi warned him that he would lose his imaam and his nikkah will also not remain valid anymore if he doesn’t destroy it,” tweeted a user Ahsan Hamid Durrani, who also uploaded a video of the incident. This was reported by East Mojo.

NASA warns of a gigantic asteroid passing in late July

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
-

NASA has warned of a potential asteroid passing on July 24. It has said that this massive asteroid will be bigger than the London Eye. It has also specified that this will be ‘potentially hazardous’ and has been named 2020ND. It is speculated to be at least as gigantic as 170 metres.

The space agency said: “Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) are currently defined based on parameters that measure the asteroid’s potential to make threatening close approaches to the Earth.”

NASA added on its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) website: “NEOs are comets and asteroids that have been nudged by the gravitational attraction of nearby planets into orbits that allow them to enter the Earth’s neighbourhood. The scientific interest in comets and asteroids is due largely to their status as the relatively unchanged remnant debris from the solar system formation process some 4.6 billion years ago. The giant outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) formed from an agglomeration of billions of comets, and the leftover bits and pieces from this formation process are the comets we see today. Likewise, today’s asteroids are the bits and pieces left over from the initial agglomeration of the inner planets that include Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.”

Source: Mirror UK, Birmingham Live

Hindu Makkal Katchi’s leader Arjun Sampath expresses contempt over temple vandalism

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
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Two temples have been vandalized in Coimbatore by unknown perpetrators on Friday night. This act has been strongly condemned by Hindu Makkal Katchi’s leader Arjun Sampath. The temples of Hindu gods Ganesha and Amman, which are situated near the railway station and in Ukkadam respectively, have been desecrated. This incident has caused widespread unrest in the region.

The walls of the temple have been broken into and a lot of the temple property has been damaged. Furthermore, the Trishul that is an important religious symbol present in Amman temples has been damaged by the perpetrators, which is particularly met with contempt.

Expressing contempt over this, Hindu Makkal Katchi’s leader Arjun Sampath has come out and said that the criminals who are responsible for this should be strongly taken action against. He also questioned why the parties who had been widely agitated about the tarnishing of Periyar’s statue were maintaining silence over this.  He added that Coimbatore was a relatively peaceful city and that people who were threatening the peace of those who lived there are to be strongly reprimanded.

The Hindu Makkal Katchi has also filed an official complaint with regard to this incident to the corporation and the Coimbatore police, asking them to take immediate action against the perpetrators.

 

ISIS threatens Janam TV: Asks employees to convert to Islam or die facing Allah’s wrath

By
The Commune
-

Terrorists belonging to the Islamic State (ISIS) has reportedly threatened to attack the offices of Janam TV, a Kerala based TV Channelin Kerala and has also issued threats to its employees asking them to convert to Islam or get killed facing the wrath of Allah.

The IS has threatened to deface all the offices of Janam TV and also sent a terrorizing message that they will kill all the employees.

The Islamic State Kerala unit on their Instagram page had threatened Janam TV and its employees. The message read “Mujahideen’s Message to Janam TV! We invite you to convert to Islam or else get ready to say goodbye to the world and face Allah’s wrath and punishment.

Janam TV is supposedly a channel that offers nationalistic perspectives.

Kerala has been seeing a spurt in IS related incidents. Rising number of Muslims from Kerala have escaped India to join ISIS in Syria and its Khorasan unit in Afghanistan.

Some history lessons for Rahul Gandhi on EVR’s views about Congress and Mahatma Gandhi

By
S Kaushik
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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday heaped praises on E.V. Ramasamy Naicker (known as Periyar by his followers), while expressing his displeasure over the issue of saffron paint being thrown at E.V.Ramasamy statue in Coimbatore.

In his tweet he said “No amount of hate can ever deface a giant.”

On Friday, a member alleged to be from Bharat Sena was said to have thrown saffron paint (red oxide) at the EVR statue in Sundarapuram. The person identified as Arun Krishnan (21) along with other members of the said organization turned up at Podanur police station and took responsibility for the act. He had said that he committed the act in response to the disparaging comments made by Karuppar Koottam gang about Hindu God Murugan and Kandha Sashti Kavasam.

While none of the leaders from the DMK, Congress, MDMK, VCK condemned Karuppar Koottam for their abusive videos on Hindu Gods and Hindus, they pounced immediately on Friday to express condemnation over the EVR statue row. Except for the natural outrage by BJP and other Hindu organizations, only Dairy Development Minister K.T. Rajendra Balaji of the AIADMK had come down against the Karuppar Koottam.

In light of this Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on July 18 tweeted with a picture of The Hindu article about the attack on EVR statue. Rahul Gandhi in his attempt to placate the DMK and other opposition parties now finds himself adoring the man who opposed Congress and Gandhi tooth and nail.

Unlike Rahul Gandhi, E.V. Ramasamy was not so sweet to the Congress. There has not been a single leader who has criticized Gandhi rabidly and unjustly as EVR did. He had even called for the ‘annihilation of Gandhi’ and ‘annihilation of Congress’ along with the ‘annihilation of Brahmins’.

EVR in 1927 had said “My friend Rama­nathan and I told the Mahatma (when we met him) that three tasks had to be completed for India attaining ­independence and self-respect. The first would be the destruction of the Congress party, the second the destruction of Hindu religion and the third the destruction of the domination of Brahmins. The third would automatically happen when the first two tasks were completed. Gandhi’s response was not to our satisfaction.”

EVR was someone who opposed the very idea of India and was dead against Mahatma Gandhi. He had called for a Dravidistan along the lines of Pakistan and also tried to collude with Muhammad Ali Jinnah for the same. However, Jinnah saw him as a threat to his own plans and showed EVR the finger.

In 1957, he had called for the burning of pictures of Mahatma Gandhi. He said

We were cheated by Gandhi. Our land (the Tamil land) has been ­enslaved to the Northerners and Brahmins by Gandhi. It is because of Gandhi that people lost all great qualities they had…(and) it is now impossible to live without being ­immoral, dishonest, deceitful and traitorous

This is what he had to say about Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination. In a speech made in December 1973, he said

These are our five principles—annihilation of God, annihilation of religion, annihilation of Gandhi, annihilation of Congress and annihilation of Brahmins…Before we could annihilate Gandhi, the Brahmins did the task for us”

Though he expressed his condolences when Mahatma Gandhi died, he resorted to calling Gandhi names again.

In a rally held on 4-11-1973, Periyar said

Watch out for the people who are saying ‘Jai congress’&’Jai Gandhi’ they are implicitly accepting they are bastard sons of paarpans (brahmins). They are accepting that they are lowborn.

Today, Congress and its leaders find themselves in a position praising the same man who had been unkind to them, just to cater to the sentiments of their alliance partners.

Lakshmi returns to her home in Manakula Vinayagar Temple, receives a jubilant welcome

By
Pranesh Rangan
-

Lakshmi, the elephant who was displaced from Manakula Vinayagar temple by PETA, has returned to her home in Manakula Vinyagar Temple in Puducherry.

Lakshmi had become synonymous with Puducherry and is considered as an integral part of the Puducherry people.

Lakshmi was taken away from her home by PETA and the Animal Welfare Board, following accusations of mistreating her. They also booked the temple board under The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Maneka Gandhi was also involved in this and had requested a safe or location for Lakshmi. This resulted in her forcible removal to the Krishi Vigyan Kendra, where her health had started deteriorating. Following this, the Forest department was ordered by Puducherry Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy to return Lakshmi to the temple.

Attempt to oust the temple elephant Lakshmi

Last month there was a massive conspiracy to oust the temple elephant Lakshmi from the temple. The forest department had decided to keep the temple elephant at the Kamaraj Agricultural Science Center in Kurumbapet for 15 days. But the BJP and other Hindu organizations jumped into protest, claiming that PETA and other dubious elements are behind the act. BJP leader from Puducherry PS. Ganeshan had alleged that PETA was behind targeting the elephant to be taken from the temple. He also alleged that there is a massive conspiracy to remove temple elephants from temples across South India. He even went on a hunger strike to save Lakshmi from PETA.

Lakshmi was taken away unethically and illegally

Ajit Datta, co-founder of Republic Lit Fest, Editor of TFI Post and a resident of Puducherry said that the manner in which Lakshmi was taken away seemed completely unethical and illegal. He said that the Forest Department picked her up on the grounds that the temple failed to furnish the health records of Lakshmi. However, it is the Animal Husbandry Department’s job to maintain the records. He went on to say in his Twitter post that nobody from Animal Husbandry Department was consulted and that the Forest Department failed to take the opinions of veterinarians. It seems that the mahouts were also threatened with consequences if they didn’t let Lakshmi go.

Despite PETA’s claim of ill treatment and the elephant carrying injuries in foot, Lakshmi was made to walk 10 kms to the Krishi Vigyan Kendra campus on tar road. In the centre she has been facing much more agony with scanty food and water and no proper shelter. A fishnet is being used to protect her. On her first night at the temporary shelter, she was almost bitten by a snake.

On June 25, it was reported in a Tamil newspaper that Lakshmi was struggling for life at the Krishi Vigyan Kendra. She hasn’t slept for days due to the physical and mental trauma she has been put through at the Krishi Vigyan Kendra.

United Protests

Lakshmi’s plight invited people from different sections to put a united front to save Lakshmi. Prominent personalities, activities and leader continued to speak out and campaigned for saving Lakshmi from PETA. Hindu Makkal Katchi’s leader Arjun Sampath was also instrumental in this campaign.

https://twitter.com/rawincare1/status/1281252483696701441

 

Congress’ help

Realizing PETA’s involvement to separate Lakshmi from the temple permanently, the Congress party extended a helping hand in the process of bringing Lakshmi back to the temple. Americai V. Narayanan of Tamil Nadu Congress Committee made efforts to save Lakshmi from PETA.

Puducherry Chief Minister Narayanasamy apprised of the matter issued an order to send the temple elephant Lakshmi back to the temple. He also ordered the temple administration to take care of the temple elephant.

Lakshmi’s return home

Following this, Lakshmi was brought back to the Puducherry Manakkula Vinayagar Temple from the Kamaraj Agricultural Science Center in Kurumbapet.

She was accorded a jubilant welcome with people rejoicing her return. Lakshmi upon entering the temple can be trumpeting with joy.

https://twitter.com/rawincare1/status/1284401707795939333

Puducherry BJP functionary P.S. Ganesh bowed to Lakshmi and received Lakshmi’s blessings and welcomed her to Puducherry. Large crowd of Hindus gathered and welcomed Lakshmi.

https://www.facebook.com/ganesh.pss.1/videos/993286937798232/

Puducherry Chief Minister Narayanasamy also welcomed the temple elephant Lakshmi and received blessings from her.

Once again, PETA was sent running helter-skelter.

14-year old hit and made to clear his faeces by owner of the land

By
Preetika Parashuraman
-

A 14-year old boy of the Dalit community was made to clean up his faeces after he was found by the owner of the land defecating behind the bushes of the field in Pennagaram.

The boy’s father filed a complaint at the Pennagaram Police Station.

A case was registered after outrage and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) doomed this type of behaviour against the boy.

The boy was made to clear his faeces by his bare hands and was beaten up by the owner of the land, says the complaint.

The complaint also stated that the boy steeped into a nearby area under an umbrella to defecate amidst heavy rains on 15 July, 2020.

On 17 July, 2020, Rajashekar (owner) was registered under Section 323 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 3 (1) of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2015.

Rajashekar is not yet arrested.

 

Image source: Indian Express

China responds to “kowtowing” accusations from the United States

By
Preetika Parashuraman
-

Recent events have caused the ties between China and the United States to reach extreme lows, be it the ongoing pandemic or the National Security Law implemented by Hong Kong. 

Attorney General William Barr said in his speech that China has been putting pressure on American companies to please and promote pro-China policies in the United States of America.

He accused American companies who did so of “kowtowing” for the sake of gaining profits and alleged that China’s Communist Party has been pushing US companies to advocate their agendas.

He also said that corporations such as  Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Apple have “shown themselves all too willing to collaborate with the Chinese Communist Party,” Barr said.

He added that Hollywood has regularly fallen into pressure and censored their films “to appease the Chinese Communist Party.”

In response to these accusations, China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said that China is not seeking to replace the United States and will fight back against “malicious slanders” and accusations from the United States government.

Image source: Industryweek

 

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