Modi flags off BJP poll campaign with ‘India first’ slogan

Font size:  

morungexpress

Hyderabad, August 11 (IANS): Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Thursday flagged off Bharatiya Janata Party’s campaign for 2014 elections with a call to rid the country of the Congress and the slogan of ‘India first’. Addressing a mammoth public meeting, the first after he took over as chairman of BJP’s campaign committee, Modi said development was the foundation of his vision of India.

Unveiling his vision of the government, he said its only religion should be ‘India first’, its mantra should be the Constitution, its belief should be ‘Bharat Bhakti’, its power should be people’s power and its worship should be the welfare of 125 crore people. Modi ended his 45-minute long address by repeating Barack Obama’s famous words ‘Yes we can’. He asked the audience to repeat with him “Yes we can. Yes we will do”, “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and “Vande Mataram”.

Thousands of people, mostly youth, attended the meeting at L. B. Stadium. It was the first of 100 such meetings planned by BJP in the run-up to polls. The Gujarat chief minister said the path of development alone can change India’s destiny. “Solution to all our problem lies in development and in the welfare of all sections of people but Congress is not ready to tread on this path,” he said. Modi slammed Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for what he called its all-round failure, corruption and vote bank politics.

Targeting the government for its foreign policy, he came down heavily on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his silence over the killing of Indian soldiers by Pakistani army. “When five Indian soldiers were beheaded the prime minister had said if such an incident takes place again, we will give fitting reply to Pakistan. This week Pakistani soldiers gun down our men. People are asking the government why Pakistan is continuing the excesses and why this country of 125 crore is silently tolerating,” he said.

On the violence in Kishtwar, Modi said this could be a conspiracy to repeat in Jammu what is happening in Kashmir Valley for last three decades. He said the Jammu and Kashmir government stopped BJP leader Arun Jaitley from visiting Kishtwar to suppress the facts. Modi had a dig at food security bill, saying the Congress had to bring it as it impoverished the people. He said the party was now using the word inclusive growth because it always excluded people from development.

Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh USA

At the Art Institute of Chicago, children speaking in American accents with matching orange T-shirts posed for photos and stood where the man they'd spent months studying, called for interfaith tolerance and understanding, said a recent article in the Chicago Tribune.

The occasion was a field trip. The event was National Dharma Bee contest. The contest was part of SV 150 celebrations, marking the 120th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s trail blazing speech at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago and the 150th birth anniversary of the famous Indian monk.
Dharma Bee, the first national contest of its kind in the U.S., which drew well over 3,000 children from around the country, concluded in Chicago on June 15.

The Dharma Bee tested students' knowledge about Vivekananda and other Hindu leaders in a written test, oral presentation and team project. It included speech contest, poster presentation, written test and team activity in four age groups between grades K-8th grade.
More than 130 children, short-listed from regional competitions, were invited to participate in the final round held in Chicago on June 15.
Distinguished panel of judges from Chicago area as well as from around the US evaluated the contestants.
Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh in collaboration with the Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago successfully organized this final round that was broadcast worldwide at www.dharmabee.org.

The first Hindu Congresswoman, Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, and Swami Ishatmananda ji of Vedanta Society Chicago were chief guests for the prize distribution ceremony held at Hindu Temple Of Greater Chicago on June 16.

 Following are winners in four categories: 
Group 1 Winners (KG-1st grade):  First Place - Dhruti Kulkarni (CA), Second Place - Abhiram Kapaganty (GA)  Third Place - Haindavi Veldanda (CA)

Group 2 Winners (2nd-3rd): First Place - Nikitha Kota(TX), Second Place - Balan Selva(NJ), Third Place -Shashwat Srivatsan(NH)

Group 3 Winners (4th-5th): First Place - Anuj Kothari(CA), Second Place - Medha Boddu(VA), Third Place - Bhavna  Ravichandran(NC)


Group 4 Winners (6th-8th):
First Place - Natasha Patel(TX), Second Place - Harshavardhan Nalam(IL), Third Place - Anshul Kale(CA)

Congresswoman  Gabbard in her remarks said the Dharma Bee was not just a competition to win a medal or title as the children have taken to their hearts the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita and have found a way to understand the message.  They did not do it because mom and dad asked them to do so, but they have realized and learned the lessons of the Bhagavad Gita themselves, she said.  Early on in their life, the children have found the wisdom in the words of Lord Krishna and that the key for perfection and happiness in life lies in the Gita, Gabbard said.

“By dovetailing the message of Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita  in whatever we do, we are trying to do service in the name of Sri Krishna, and thus spiritualize it,” Gabbard said.

Pujya Swami Ishatmananda ji of Vivekananda Vedanta Society said, “Dharma” has a profound meaning namely, “that which holds.”  According to Swami Vivekananda, Dharma or religion is a process that makes a brute into a man and man into god. He described the three phases of dharma which begins with rituals, then turns into morality and finally, becoming spirituality.
Dharma Bee goes to good things like honey bee goes to the choicest of flowers and pick the best, the Swami ji said while praising the apt name given to the competition.

“My daughter learned a lot by participating in Dharma Bee. She wanted to visit Parliament of World Religions at Chicago regardless she was selected in finale or not,” said Bhuvanesh ji, father of one of the participants.

Another father from Austin, whose six-year-old participated in the Bee said that not only his daughter learned about the greatness of Swami Vivekananda, but both he and his wife learned a lot about Swamiji’s life during this process.

Shreya Venkatesh, a contestant (13) from Phoenix, AZ said that she enjoyed learning (Hindu) culture and about Swami Vivekananda. 
Another contestant, Suhas Subramaniam (13) from San Diego felt that this was an opportunity to learn about great personalities from the national and cultural past. Subramaniam said, “I knew about Shri Krishna, but because of Dharma Bee, I got to know a lot about Swami Vivekananda.”“We wanted to provide an exciting avenue for children to learn about Swami Vivekananda and Shri Krishna. This enabled them to read stories and pursue a “Sewa” (service) activity in the local community. We are extremely happy to report that more than 1000 Sewa (service) projects were executed by children all across the USA. Parents and children are already requesting similar future events,” said Sreevidya Radhakrishna, National Coordinator of Dharma Bee.

HSS conducts a structured values education program through its 150 chapters nationwide to develop strong character and teamwork and leadership skills and to organize a dynamic and flourishing Hindu-American community. For more information, please visit www.hssus.org/sv150 and www.hssus.org


Dharma Bee competition - Level 2 round concluded successfully in the last week of April, in 35 places across the United States.  Total 1108 students between grades K-8 participated in this round.  3,308 kids spread across 37 states are taking part in this unique competition organized by the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh USA (HSS) as a part of the yearlong celebrations of the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, a 19th century Hindu monk who brought the concepts of Dharma and Yoga to the West.   

For level 2, each participant was asked questions based on life of Swami Vivekananda and Shri Krishna. External judges and audience were amazed to see quick and accurate responses on many tough questions by this young Hindu generation in the US. To inculcate the Swami’s message “service to humanity is the service to the divinity”, participants at level 2 were encouraged to undertake a sewa project in their respective communities and were offered five points for performing sewa project of five hours. Collectively, during level 2, children performed approximately 3300 hours of sewa projects all across the nation. These projects included but not limited to social service work at local temples, libraries, schools, food pantries, animal shelters, and local environmental cleanup projects.  

Prior to the finale, each finalist is expected to visit some place where Swami Vivekanandavisited or local Vedanta Society. If there is no such location nearby participant’s home then he/she can do a phone interview with one of the Swamis about his views or visit a location that is chosen by the Sponsor in its sole discretion.

Grand finale of Dharma Bee contest will be held at Chicago, IL on June 15^th and 16^th where 130+ finalists will participate. Hon. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and Chicago Vedanta Society’s Swami Ishatmananadji will be chief guests for prize distribution ceremony on June 16^th.   All the participants have shown great enthusiasm in preparing for this contest throughout its course beginning January. Many parents said they are happy to see such a competition being organized, as they always wanted to teach their kids about Swami Vivekananda, but could not find a way that is both educating and fun.

Samskritam संस्कृतम्‌) जम्मू अभियानम् – अनुभव कथनम्

हरिः ॐ ।

संस्कृतकार्यम् ईश्वरीयकार्यमिति चिन्तयन्तः संस्कृतभारत्याः बहवो कार्यकर्तारः जम्मू अभियाने भागं वोडुं भाग्यशालीनः आसन्निति वयं सर्वे जानीमः खलु?  यद्यपि अयं च अभिमानः प्रतिमानवं दृश्यते सति तथापि बहवो संस्कृतशिक्षकाः यत्किमपिकार्यवशात् तत्र गन्तुं आसक्ताः तूष्णीं स्वनिन्दां कृतवन्तः । क्लेषानिमान् वारयितुं परामर्शात्मक विशेषदर्शनरूपाया संस्मरणरूपाया जम्मूसंभागे आसमाप्ति मासत्रयं यावत् उषित्वा तमिल्नाडुराज्यतः भागं स्वीकृतवन्तः मोहन्महोदयस्य अनुभवकथनं ज्ञानकल्पनात्मक संनिकर्षणसाधनीभूतं भवितुमर्हति । सर्वेषां परिज्ञानाय इयं प्रस्तावना – अधोनिर्दिष्ट जालबन्धनं उपयुज्यताम् ।

RSS at WestBengal (08.08.2013)