VR1
MEDIA
FREE
ONLINE TRAINING ON PRECEPTS AND TRADE-23
The
way of home life
Ethics
A husband should show
respect for his wife in five ways:
1) by treating her with
respect and love,
2) by being dignified and
decent,
3) by aptly providing
daily necessities,
4) by being serious when
appropriate, and
5) by entrusting her with
household matters.
A wife should show
respect for her husband in five ways:
1) by
showing him consideration, respect , and love,
2) by
being neat and tidy,
3) by
being warm and affectionate,
4) by
being sincere and honest, and
5) by
praising and complimenting him.
GREAT NEWS
My final words of advice to
you are educate, agitate and organize; have faith in yourself. With justice on
our side I do not see how we can loose our battle. The battle to me is a matter
of joy. The battle is in the fullest sense spiritual. There is nothing material
or social in it. For ours is a battle not for wealth or for power. It is battle
for freedom. It is the battle of reclamation of human personality? .
Dr. B.R.Ambedkar
On Fri, Jun 5, 2009
at 2:37 PM, <uk4in@yahoo. co.in> wrote:
Dear Friends
Namo Buddhay and Jai
Bhim!
It is a great news
and and I take this opportunity to share with you all. Our Prabuddha Bharatha Matha Honourable Ms.
Mayawati has set up an International Buddhist Institute (Antarrashtriya Baudh
Sansthan) at
Uttar Pradesh (U.P.). The U.P Government led by our Honourable leader has set
this Antarrashtriya Baudh Sansthan to spread Buddhist culture and ideology.
The newly set up Antarrashtriya Baudh Sansthan is headed
by Venerable Bhante Nand Ratan, the
head monk at Kushinagar. He has also been accorded the status of a
Minister of State in Uttar Pradesh. The name of other honourable member of this
Sansthan are as follows:
1. Venerable Bhante Sheel Ratan
2. Venerable Bhante Gyan Vansh
3. Venerable Bhante Sheel Prakash Khairo
4. Venerable Bhante Deepankar
5. Venerable Bhante Dhamma Priya
6. Venerable Bhante Sharan Pal
7. Venerable Bhante Gyan Aditya
8. Venerable Bhante Gyan Sagar
Mr. Y.P. Singh would be the Director of
this Sansthan. The construction work of the new
building for this newly set up Baudh Sansthan has already started at
Gomati Nagar, near Reserve Bank of
(News Courtesy: Amar
Ujala (A Hindi Newspaper),
03.06.2009).
Freinds, this is perhaps for the first time
that a democratically elected Government in India has taken such an important
initiative to spread Buddhist culture and ideology, though we do not know much
if any such kind of initiative has been taken up in
But in the heartland of Jambudipa, that
is, the Great POrabuddha Bharath and Buddhism after the great Buddhist Kings
Asoka, Kaniska and Harsa, a state patronage has been provided by our honourable
leader Ms. Mayawati to propagate Buddhism.
Please circulate this news as widely as
possible in all your circles/networks.
With Regards & In
Solidarity
Umakant, Ph.D
Uttar Pradesh
politics is unpredictable, with the four major players in the field - BSP, SP,
BJP, Congress - each sharing the votes polled and seats won, as in
the 2009 elections, not vastly different from one another. It is this fact that
came up in my mind, holding back my applause for the project just launched by
Mayawati for an International Buddhist Institute at
greetings, and pray for long, healthy life for the project.
I want to assure
myself that Mayawati would continue to be the Chief Minister of U.P. beyond
2012, and that the Director of the proposed Institute, Mr Y.P.Singh, is a
dedicated Buddhist, and Mayawati herself would become an
unerring practising Buddhist as a triumphant ruling monarch once became
like Emperor Asoka.
Best wishes,
Lakshman
June 7,
‘09
“P.P.
Lakshman” pplakshman08@gmail.com
NOW Prabuddha Bharath Matha Mayawati
is not just Honourable Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, but heading
toward ARAHAT which is many times higher the TITLES such as PRIME
MINISTER or PRESIDENT of any Country.
Jagatheesan
Chandrasekharan
Chandrasekharan.tipitaka.jagat@gmail.com
Always Kindly visit:
and
www.buddhismandbusiness.webs.com
for your favourite positive NEWS
Buddhist Teachings: Acquisition of Wealth and Maintaining
an Unperturbed Socio-spiritual Life
Bhikkhu
Nyanabodhi
nyanabodhi@gmail.com
It has been often incriminated that
Buddhism is more concerned about spirituality more than its concern about
worldly matters. Against this criticism, over the recent centuries scholars
have contributed greatly unearthing the social dimensions of Buddha’s
teachings. In this article, we shall look into some economic principles of the
Buddhadhamma by drawing some references from the Pāli canon.
The teaching of Gotama Buddha
as we know is centred upon the four noble truths (cattāri ariyasaccāni),
of which the first is dukkha (suffering or unsatisfactoriness). In
spite of the high spiritual application of the concept in other texts, in the
Dhammapada verse 203, Gotama Buddha addresses the issue of Suffering
in two fundamental aspects:
1. Hunger (jigacchā) – the primary source of human
suffering which needs to be coped with every day, and
2. Conditioned things (saṃkhāra) - the primary source suffering
to be realized as it is (yathābhūtaṃ) and overcome by the wise.
From this aforementioned primary
issues of suffering, we see Buddhism stresses liberation (vimutti)
from both these two aspect of anguish or vexation in the same urgent spirit.
Elsewhere we learn from the Buddha who says ‘all living beings are
dependent upon food’ – (sabbe sattā āharaṭṭhiṭikā) which generated his idea of the Middle
Path in the pursuit of a more conducive spiritual life.
In fact, the spiritual life of Gotama
Buddha itself had awakened him to the importance of leading a life of
moderation – the Middle Path. We see that ascetic Siddhattha’s attainment
of perfect Enlightenment (sammā sambodhi) was possible only after he
was disillusioned with the idea of ‘austere practices’ and resorted to ‘middle
way’. Thus, this noble discovery of the Middle Path of the Blessed One
motivated him to avert the extremity of self-indulgence (kāmesukhallikānuyogo)
and self-mortification (attakilamatānuyogo). The Middle path is to
maintain the moderation in attainment of both worldly and spiritual success.
The fact that poverty is woeful (dāliddiyaṃbhikkhave
dukkhaṃ lokasmiṃ) accentuates the importance of wealth in the life of a worldly person.
Therefore, the Buddha advocates rightful means in acquiring wealth. By
‘material wealth’ (dhana), Buddhism recognises the four fundamental
needs (catu paccaya): food (āhāra), cloths (vattha),
shelter (geha) and medicine (bhesajja) before one undertakes
the education (spiritual training) for the attainment of noble wealth (ariyadhana).
Of the four, food is distinguished as the foremost as ‘this body survives
depended upon food, without food it cannot survive’ – (ayaṃ
kāyo āharaṭṭhitiko āhāraṃ
paṭicca tiṭṭhati anāharo na tiṭṭhati).
Yet, it is a pathetic sight that
around the world millions of people are very poor . Many have died due to
hunger. Owing to the severity of hunger, some were compelled
even to feed on the flesh of other humans.
The Buddha evidently mentioned in the
Cakkavattisīhanāda Sutta of Dīgha-Nikāya that owing to the
imbalanced distribution of wealth, there arises poverty which in turn leads to
immorality and crimes such as thefts, falsehood, violences, hatred and cruelty
and so forth. The sutta emphasizes the state responsibility to judge
the divergent individual capacities of his citizens and distribute resources accordingly.
Thus, those with agricultural talents should be provided with seeds and fields;
those talented in business with capital; and those who can serve in various
government sectors with such opportunities. In this way, people being busy with
their duties will not develop harmful tendencies.
Besides relying on the economic
support from King, Gotama Buddha also educated his lay devotees on the
righteous means to gain wealth. The Exalted One elucidated how the
righteous life first leads to rebirth in this terrestrial world and
eventually will lead to a happy life in the next world (Dhammacāri sukhaṃ
seti asmiṃ loke paraṃ hi ca).
In the
Dīghajānu Sutta, when the Buddha was asked by householder Dīghajānu about the
way to get happiness in this life and the life after, the Exalted Master
expounded four factors conducive to attaining happiness in this life thus:
1. Diligent acquisition(uṭṭhānasampada)
2. Careful conservation(ārakkhasampada)
3. Having virtuous friends(kalyānamittatā)and
4. Living within your means(Samājīvikatā)
Buddhism
always emphasizes right livelihood striving righteously (dhammena)
and diligently (appamādena) to be successful in material, social, or
even spiritual gains. It is mentioned in the scriptures that like a bee
accumulating honey or an ant building its anthill, a person must exercise his
energy and effort to accumulate his wealth. There is a saying in Sanskrit
stressing the effort of a man in both earning wealth and practicing a religious
life. It says that in earning wealth and in education, one must not think of
decay or death. But in his everyday life, he should think that the death is
extremely near to him (ajarāmaravat prajño/vidyamarthaṃ
ca sādhayet/gŗhita iva kesesu/mŗtyunā dharmamācaret).
The way to earn wealth is precisely
explicated in the Aṅguttara Nikāya thus : “for a good person
wealth is or should be earned not by violent means, but by energetic striving,
amassed by strength of arm, won by sweat, and received with the righteous means”
– (Bhogā honti asāhasena uṭṭhānavīriyādhigatehi bhogehi
bāhābalaparicitehi sedāvakkhittehi dhammikehi dhammaladdhehi). The golden rule governing right
livelihood or Buddhist economics is thus : to do jobs that harm neither oneself
nor another person or other beings (morally or even materially). Thus, five
kinds of businesses are declared by Gotama Buddha as not righteous:
1. The trade of weapons (sattha vānijja)
2. The trade of poison (visa vānijja)
3. The trade of alcohol and dangerous drugs (majja vānijja)
4. The trade of flesh and (maṃsa vānijja)
5. The trade of people (satta vānijja).
This reminds
us of the social obligations that must be cogitated by manufacturers and tradespersons;
not only by seeking self centric ends but by truly serving the society.
According to Buddhism, cheating is an unskilful action that should be
abandoned. It has been often misapprehended that succeeding in business without
cheating is impossible. But one should also think that he himself does not like
to be cheated. There is a muscular saying of George Washington; ‘Honesty is the
best policy’ which is one of the five basic ethical principles (pañcasīla)
of Buddhism and which should attentively be applied in the business matters.
Buddhism also highlights the
careful observation and protection of wealth acquired by the individual with
his hard work. It recommends that a person should take a good care of his
wealth, not allowing it to be eroded away by unjust taxation, theft, natural
disaster or undeserving successors. Furthermore, when saving up one’s wealth,
one should not allow such doing to bring oneself into conflict with those
around him. The reason why Buddhism advises one to protect one’s wealth
is that in case of emergency such as repairing the consequences of fire,
flood, excess taxation, and so forth, he can make use of his wealth and
overcome the difficulties in life. Of course the best way to conserve one’s
wealth is by way of acquiring transcendental wealth or merit. In such a
form, it is beyond the touch of any evil force. Furthermore, it will be
appreciated with the passing of the years, thus saving in the form of transcendental
wealth is really the most skilful way of conserving one’s wealth.
Along with the economic activities or
even day to day life, an individual should also keep companionship with
virtuous friends having faith (saddhā), self-discipline (sīla),
self-sacrifice (cāga) and wisdom (paññā). The Buddha teaches
that worldly wealth may be exhausted in a moment, but the value of training
other people to be virtuous never knows an end. In many of the sutta-s
such as Maṅgala sutta, Sigālovāda sutta etc., the Buddha gave a detailed account
on how the behaviour of a friend should actually be. And he also advises
us to associate with the wise and virtuous friends and to avoid
associating with the unskilful and bad ones (asevanā ca bālānaṃ
panditānaṃ ca sevanā).
And finally, we are advised to
live within our means (samajīvikatā). One should live a life not being
a luxury-seeker and also not being too spendthrift either. There is a very
simple yet extremely significant statement which in a nutshell contains the
essential features of the Buddhist economics. The statement runs thus: – an
individual should divide his wealth in four portions, of these the first
portion will be used for his own expense, a half of the total wealth i.e. the
second and the third portions should be used in reinvestments. And the
best approach to the investment as mentioned in Buddhism is – development of
skills, training experience, fulfilling the basic needs of others and so on.
And with regard to the hospitality there is a mention of five bali-s
(offerings or treatments) namely;treating relatives[ñāti bali],
guests[atithi bali], the government[rāja bali], departed
relatives[peta bali], and samanas and brāhmanas [devatā
bali]. And the last portion should be kept for the future needs such as –
floods, calamities and drought and so on.
Thus, while one is practicing the
above mentioned four qualities, one develops four more spiritual qualities
namely saddhā (faith), sīla (morality or virtue), cāga
(generosity), and paññā (wisdom). Having these qualities developed,
one then obtains four kinds of happiness namely:
1. One becomes happy thinking that he acquires
his wealth in a righteous way (atthi sukha)
2. He becomes happy in using the wealth earned
in the blameless way (bhoga sukha)
3. He becomes happy being able to say ‘I
have no debts’ which is the bliss of debtlessness (anaṇa sukha), and
4. Finally, he enjoys the bliss of
blamelessness (anavajja
sukha).
The Buddha praised the fourth type of
happiness because this person does not do any unskilful action either through
his body or speech or mind. And hence he is freed from harming others in any
way; therefore he leads a blameless life.
The economic theory in Buddhism is
rather a holistic one. Buddhism begins primarily talking with individual
economy and then it goes on to social economy and then to state economy. With
the development of wealth, an individual is expected to be developed in the
dharma. He does everything for the benefit and wellbeing of the both oneself and
others as the Buddhist saying goes; “May all livings be well and happy” – (sabbe
sattā bhavantu sukhitattā). An individual trained in such a way is
related to the family; a family to a group, a group to a state or a nation; and
a state to other states. In such a state even the animals, birds, fish as well
as trees and plants are protected. Thus happiness prevails in such a country.
Therefore, Buddhism appreciates such
economic activities which do not exploit others; do not increase additional
wants depriving the basic needs; do not fall within the five areas of trade and
do not use material resources without maintaining the ecological balance.
Buddhism always stresses on right livelihood . Right livelihood
means that a man should not just accumulate wealth for the sake of
enjoying life, rather taking the economic activities as a mean to achieve
the end and which is to be known as the socio-spiritual life. In respect of
this way of livelihood, a modern economist, Glen Alexandrian, says that ethical
consideration should be given a prominent place in production and distribution
of wealth. Therefore, it should be said that Buddhism does not see any fault in
the wealth itself. Its emphasis is mostly the ethical acquisition and
usage of the wealth. It recommends that in the acquisition of wealth, one
must not exercise greed, stinginess, grasping, attachment, and hoarding. In
other words, the economic activities should not be done with competition or
contest, but with co-operation and zeal. In so doing one, would then be able to
lead an unperturbed socio-spiritual life.
Editor’s Note:
Most of the important early Buddhist
Economics promulgated by Gotama Buddha is incorporated in this essay. We can
learn Buddhadhamma as well as
Way
Earning and utility of economic wealth is a conditioned phenomenon.
Non-violation of Buddhist principle of Dependent Co-arising is the Principle.
The wisdom of Anattā integrates the phenomenon with the Principle harmoniously.
Live in Anattā and you are perfectly protected in any sphere of activity
including economic activities. To live in Anattā : Annihilate your
self-identity in the Totality of any collective work.
World Bank okays Rs.1,332 crore loan for Uttar Pradesh
Lucknow, June 7 (IANS) The World Bank has given its
nod to a whopping Rs.1,332 crore (Rs.13.32 billion) soft loan for
reclamation of sodic land in Uttar Pradesh - a move that will help an
estimated 250,000 farmers.
Making the announcement at a press conference here Sunday, Uttar
Pradesh Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh said, “The scheme
would help reclaim a huge chunk of about 130,000 hectares of sodic land
in the state.”
The scheme, an extension of two previous phases of a similar
exercise undertaken in the state, will benefit an estimated 250,000
farmers, he said.
“At least 43 percent of the beneficiaries would be marginal farmers, of which a larger chunk would be SC/STs.”
The state government has also finalised a large-scale afforestation programme aiming to plant 55 million trees.
UP police to seek ‘godman’ Ashok Jadeja’s custody
LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh police willseek custody of inter-state conman Ashok Jadeja in connection with an FIR lodged
against him for duping
officials said here on Sunday.
A case was lodged against Jadeja and
nine others, including his wife Neetu, yesterday for duping 22 members of Bhaatu
and Sansi tribes in Mathura district.
A warrant is being issued and
will be served on Jadeja, who is currently lodged in Ahmedabad jail, Additional
Director General of Police (Law and Order) Brij Lal said.
Jadeja, who
had duped many people by posing as a godman, was arrested by Ahmedabad police on
June 3.
The officials said that following Jadeja’s arrest a circular
was issued by the ADG directing the district level officers to register a case
against the conman and investigate cases of fraud by him.
After the
circular was issued, some people contacted Senior Superintendent of Police
Mathura Satish Ganesh and lodged a complaint that they were duped by Jadeja and
his associates.
The complainants alleged that on March 14 Jadeja
visited tribal dominated localities and claimed that he had blessings of the
goddess, police said, adding that he and his associates collected around 40-50
lakh from 22 tribals and assured them that they would prosper.
Uttar Pradesh to go head hunting in colleges for doctors
Lucknow, June 7: The Uttar Pradesh government isplanning campus recruitment of doctors to fill nearly 5,000 vacancies
in the state’s provincial medical services, an official has said.
“The move will enable us deliver better health facilities across the
state, particularly in the rural areas, where people rely on community
and primary health centres for medical treatment,'’ Director General
(Medical and Health) I.S. Srivastava told IANS.
A proposal to hold campus interviews in different medical colleges
of the state for recruitment of government doctors has already been
prepared and the order will come within two months, he added.
According to officials, the strength of the provincial medical services is 12,000, of which nearly half are vacant.
Delay in recruitment of doctors and lethargic response of medical
graduates to the vacancies advertised by the state public service
commission has prompted the government to opt for campus recruitment,
the official added.
The state’s Provincial and Medical Services Association (PMSA) has hailed the government’s move.
“The move will surely help to upgrade the health management system
in the state. It’s good that the government will now recruit doctors
through campus
Mayawati leaves her ministers ‘powerless’
| Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has stripped her ministers of the powers to directly appoint, promote, suspend or transfer any official in their respective departments. |
|
|
Henceforth, the ministers can only make recommendations for effecting transfers of officials of their departments to the chief minister, whose decision would be final. The ministers cannot directly appoint, promote, suspend or terminate the services of the officials without obtaining consent of the chief minister. The decision to strip the ministers of the authority was taken in a meeting of the Uttar Pradesh cabinet held on Friday evening. As A senior minister, Incidentally, During She The They reportedly told the BSP chief that the ministers failed to take action against the guilty officials despite their demands. “By |
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Maya govt initiates privatisation of power transmission
Lucknow:
The
Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) has initiated the
process for privatisation of power transmission in the state. In this
connection, it has invited bids from consultant companies who will
formulate the financial and technical model for the project.
Seven companies —
Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Ernst & Young, CRISIL (Credit Rating
Information Services of India Limited), SBI Capital, Feedback Ventures,
ICRA and Srei Infrastructure Finance Limited — have shown their
willingness to assist the state government in its project through the
public-private partnership (PPP) model.
“The corporation
is evaluating their technical bids, which will be complete by Saturday.
The financial bids, which qualify, will be opened on Monday,” said
Navneet Sahgal, Chairman and Managing Director of UPPCL.
The corporation is
working on a Rs 8,000-crore proposal for power transmission in the
state. “Since we plan to add 10,000 MW of electricity generation in the
next three to five years, there will be a need to strengthen and
upgrade transmission as well. Therefore, this exercise,” a senior UPPCL
official said.
Sri Lankan Monk leaves Meditation Retreat to help Refugees
A Special Report by Ven Y. Wimala, The Buddhist Channel, June 8, 2009
Ven
Y. Wimala, a recipient of the “Global Peace Award” in 2007, has
returned to Sri Lanka to help “internally displaced people” - mostly
victims of the island’s civil war
Vavuniya, Sri Lanka — When I arrived in Sri Lanka
just days ago, the national flag was flying everywhere. Everyone I
spoke with was happy that the war has finally ended. Incredibly, I
noticed fewer road blocks and less military presence on the streets
than before. It took a while for me to begin to believe that the past
30 years of war had really, really ended and people were celebrating
this return to normalcy.
Venerable Wimala distributing school materials to the children in the IDP camps
The Sri Lankan government has being fighting for the past 30 years a
group known as “the worlds most dangerous terrorist organization”, the
LTTE or Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam” During this period of 30
years, over one hundred thousand people have died including the Tigers,
civilians and about 22,000 government soldiers. Hundreds of thousands
have been injured, displaced and disabled.
Although the guns have become silent, the victims of war continue to
suffer. The day after my arrival we drove to Vavuniya, a town in
northern Sri Lanka, to visit the refugees now called IDPs (internally
displaced people). Since the end of the fighting more than three
hundred thousand people have become IDPs .
When we arrived in the area known as Manik Farm where most of the IDPs
were settled, there were so many temporary and makeshift buildings.
Some areas looked like an endless sea of tents. It is hard to describe
the instant feelings of pain, sadness and concern you feel for these
innocent people. Those who escaped the war arrived here with nothing
but few of their belongings. Obviously there are many problems
providing food, clothing and the most basic human needs.
Although it is sad to see so many displaced people I felt the
opportunity to be there to help them in some small ways. The following
are some of the relief projects we have conducted so far.
School Supplies for 2000 Displaced Students
As you might know from the history of Triple Gem Society, we are
always interested in getting involved with projects related to the
education of children, especially those who are affected by war or
natural disasters. The Manik Farm area has been divided into four
zones. Brigadier Wikramasinhe, who is in charge of Zone 1, informed us
of the need for school supplies for students in grades 8, 9 and 10.
These children have missed school for past few months due to the heavy
fighting in the area. Arrangements are now being made to start schools
immediately in temporary huts. When I arrived in Sri Lanka, Ven.
Subuthi who invited me to serve the IDPs, had already organized the
purchase and transportation of the school supplies. I simply had to pay
the bills and take the materials to the IDP camps. We were happy to
help these two thousand students with notebooks, pens, mathematics
equipment boxes and other essential school items.
Clean Water in 25 Giant Plastic Tanks.
When I was touring the IDP camps for the first time, I noticed long
lines of people. Some of them were waiting in patiently with individual
buckets to get fresh water. When I inquired as to the situation from
Brigadier Wikramasinhe, he told us that many more holding tanks were
needed to supply water to such large number of people. The next day we
arranged for 25 huge plastic water tanks, most of them 1000 Liter
capacity, to be delivered. I was happy to participate in distributing
them throughout the IDP camps.
Hindu Temple
Day by day, people are still pouring in and settling into temporary
shelters or tents. To help implement a sense of normalcy as quickly as
possible, the government is busy preparing and planning for schools and
places of worship. The Hindu temple in Zone 1 is a temporary hut with a
thatched roof and no walls or floor. People were sitting on a plastic
cover on the sand to attend worship and religious ceremonies. We worked
with a local contractor to lay bricks, build a cement floor for the
temple and build a shrine. We also donated statues of gods to create a
proper temple atmosphere.
Robes for 75 Hindu Priests
The government hves created a separate section for Hindu Priests in
Manik Farm, where thousands of families have moved into temporary
shelters. There are currently about one hundred Hindu priests in this
special section. When they left the war zone few weeks ago they left
all of their prior belongings behind. Most of them came with only the
clothes they were wearing. We provided seventy five priests with the
robes that they wear to perform Puja or religious ceremonies. Some
times it is these small simple deeds that bring the smiles of
gratitude.
Bicycles for Village Heads
The houses in this special IDP region are spread out over a large
geographic area. The civil servants who were working in the former
villages at the time of the war have now been reemployed in the IDP
camps as head of separate zones. When meetings are called it takes them
a long time to come together from their various locations. When I was
informed of this transportation problem by the camp manager, we were
happy to donate bicycles to the heads of separate camp zones.
Semi-Permanent Housing for 250 Tamil Families
We have competed preparations for building 250 units of semi
permanent housing for displaced families. The land, contractors, design
all are ready. This project will be completed with Triple Gem Society
funds. As the first phase, housing for 100 families will be competed
within six weeks. We will sign the contract within the next day.
At the moment, housing is the most urgent need for these displaced
victims of war. We can not yet know how long people may have to stay in
these camps; current government estimates are 6 to 12 months. Decent
living conditions will make a world of difference in improving normalcy
and aiding in disease prevention.
I know that this is a big undertaking. Triple Gem Society is a small
organization and humanitarian projects are not our primary focus.
Even so, I feel compelled to do everything I can to help the IDPs after
seeing the conditions in the camps and hearing what these people have
gone through to simply survive these past six months.
Since the buildings will be semi permanent, the final cost per unit
will be about $2000 US. I know it is a lot of money to think of
building 250 units. Please do not get concerned. If we think of just
one family at a time, we all can do this together.
————————
Donations can be made to the Triple Gem Society by bank draft, TT, credit card, etc or visit the website www.bhantewimala.com
Triple Gem Society
P.O. Box 713, Princeton,
NJ 08542
USA
Mayawati: nothing new in Pratibha’s address
Special Correspondent
LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Friday said the
Centre should pay greater attention to implementing the schemes for
the welfare of Dalits and other weaker sections of society.
Reacting to President Pratibha Patil’s address to Parliament, Ms.
Mayawati said in a statement that there was nothing new in the
programmes announced for Dalits and other weaker sections. The welfare
programmes should be implemented without discrimination.
Schemes for SCs, STs
The UPA government was silent on the schemes it had announced for the
Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and deprived sections. One such
issue was giving reservation to SCs/STs in the private sector.
Ms. Mayawati said she had written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh, seeking quota for SCs/STs in the private sector, judiciary and
legislature.
Sachar panel
The Chief Minister wanted an action plan formulated for implementing
the Sachar panel recommendations on the welfare of Muslims. She
alleged that the loan waiver scheme benefited only rich farmers, who
had taken loans from banks. She wanted steps taken for waiving the
loans taken by SC/STs.
Instead of 100-day employment, jobs for the whole year should be
provided under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme.
The Chief Minister’s statement was released by Cabinet Secretary
Shashank Shekhar Singh here.
Talking to journalists, Mr. Singh claimed that contrary to the
Opposition propaganda on the law and order situation, there was a fall
in the number of incidents of crime.
http://e-pao. net/GP.asp? src=14..070609. jun09
Post matric scholarship for SC/ST
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, June 06 2009: Post matric scholarship for scheduled tribe and
scheduled caste students (2008-09) of DM College of Arts will be
distributed from June 9 onwards in between 11 am to 3 pm at the 2nd
Battalion Manipur Rifles for which eligible students are required to
produce identity cards (valid) at the time of collecting their
scholarship amount, said a DMC Arts release issued by its Principal.
ST students of BA III year may avail the scholarship amount on june 9
whereas BA II and I year students are informed to collect the same on
June 10 and 11 respectively.
For SC students the scholarships would be disbursed on June 12, the
release added.