US varsity to exhibit MF Husain`s early masterpieces

• US varsity to exhibit MF Husain`s early masterpieces

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  • Washington:
  • Brown University, a member of the prestigious Ivy League, will hold an exhibition of early masterpieces of Maqbool Fida Husain, one of India`s most famous living painters, from February 5 through March 26.
    The exhibit, part of Providence, Rhode Island based Brown`s Year of India initiative, will be hosted by the Cogut Centre for the Humanities, in collaboration with the David Winton Bell Gallery.
    
    "Early Masterpieces, 1950s-70s" is drawn from the collection of Amrita Jhaveri, a 1991 Brown graduate, and a specialist in 20th-century Indian art and the author of "A Guide to 101 Modern and Contemporary Indian Artists".
  • Focusing on Husain`s early works, the exhibition features 12 paintings created between 1954 and 1971, providing a view into the artist`s first manifestations of his many favorite subjects: life on the streets, woman and horse (together and apart), and mythological and religious personages.
    
    Husain`s interest in mythology is represented in the exhibition by Draupadi, which portrays the heroine of the epic Mahabharata. The painting is one of 29 that were created for the S?Paulo Biennale in 1971.

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No permanent aman - dnaindia.com

• No permanent aman - dnaindia.com

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  • R Jagannathan
  

  • We are told that peace will be facilitated by increased people-to-people interactions. The argument is beguiling. Look, they are simple ghazal-loving, pan-chewing people like us. Indians are always treated like royalty when we visit friends in Pakistan. So let’s ignore the warmongers in our two countries who want us to remain in a permanent state of tension and talk peace.

    The truth is different. The constituency for peace has always been larger in India than in Pakistan. We just want to forget about Pakistan and get on with life. This is exactly what Pakistan’s mullahs and powers-that-be are counting on. And this is why we should be wary of falling into the trap. We refuse to learn from history.

  • We should by now have understood that Pakistan will do anything to gain Kashmir, and so peace talks are just a ruse. This does not mean we shouldn’t hold talks — the atmospherics of peace are important to cater to world opinion — but we should always be prepared for the next round of Pakistani perfidy. Strategically, our goal should be to keep Pakistan off-balance permanently to have at least half-peace.

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Untouchability is still practised in Swarnim Gujarat: Report - dnaindia.com

• Untouchability is still practised in Swarnim Gujarat: Report - dnaindia.com

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  • For Dalit communities in Gujarat and in the country, even after 60 years of India becoming a republic and 50 years of Gujarat becoming independent, nothing has changed much. A study conducted by Navsarjan and Robert F Kennedy Centre for Justice and Human Rights, revealed that nearly 98% untouchability is practiced by Non Dalits (ND) on Dalits for serving tea and more than 97% in matters such as touching articles of worship, during Katha, religious services by ND priests, temple entry etc.
  • Ahmedabad:

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Court questions rail surcharge on Kumbh pilgrims

• Court questions rail surcharge on Kumbh pilgrims

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  • Citing the subsidy given to Haj pilgrims, a recently floated Hindu Personal Law Board has moved the Allahabad High Court seeking its intervention in getting free rail passes for poor pilgrims and a 50 percent concession to all others going to attend the Maha Kumbh Mela that is on in Haridwar now.

    'The present policy of the government is discriminatory and in violation of the provisions of the Indian Constitution which disallows any discrimination on religious lines,' the board's counsel Ashok Pandey said.

  • According to the pubic interest litigation (PIL) moved Wednesday: 'The railway administration are charging a surcharge ranging from Rs.3 to Rs.15 per ticket from every rail traveller going to Haridwar during the Kumbh Mela period.'
  • The Court has fixed Feb 3 for the next hearing.

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Greatness is exclusively a family thing

• Greatness is exclusively a family thing

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  • A Surya Prakash
  • The Nehru-Gandhis have always been parsimonious in acknowledging the contributions of national leaders other than those who belong to their family. This is a trait that is obvious from the days of Jawaharlal Nehru, when everything was done to suppress the contribution of Sardar Patel, who successfully integrated 564 princely states and gave us a united India and B R Ambedkar, who presided over the Constitution Committee. The same trend continued when Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi were at the helm. Sonia is obviously carrying forward the family tradition.
  • But suppression of Rao’s achievements is not the only thing. The bigger crime is the spurious attempt by her to credit Rao’s signal achievements on the economic front to her late husband, Rajiv Gandhi. There is another family trait it appears, namely, to appropriate the achievements of others, be it that of Sardar Patel, Ambedkar or Narasimha Rao. She makes the extraordinary claim that Rajiv Gandhi ushered in the information revolution and that the party’s manifesto of 1991 became the basis for economic policies over the next five years, ‘which imparted new strength and direction to our economy and society’, meaning thereby that Rao deserved no credit at all for what he achieved as prime minister.

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The Swadeshi Don Quixote: Rise of Jainism & Buddhism & fissures in Pataliputra: Lessons for impending evangelism?

• The Swadeshi Don Quixote: Rise of Jainism & Buddhism & fissures in Pataliputra: Lessons for impending evangelism?

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  • Chanakya converses with an ex-colleague about what is the current state of Pataliputra.
  • Ajay: Vishnu, I've never seen a teacher as helpless as today in Pataliputra. From youth, I have remained witness to the changes in Magadh. And when I've observed those changes, I've felt that the society needs a renaissance. This was provided by Buddha's and Mahavira's teachings. The people of Magadha accepted these teachings. And a sector of the society believing in these teachings calling themselves 'upasak' came up. With the new communal divisions and the 'upasak' sect, there have been a setback to those customs which the society had followed until now. With new philosophies emerging on the Dharmic horizon, the society began feeling that they are now free from the 'varnashrama' system. It is difficult to say how many people joined these faiths based on their teachings, but it is true that this has happened to get free from the existing elite and scholars. And this class has started to rebuke the ancient customs. And those believing in the customs started boycotting the upasaks. The resulting fissures started the breakdown of the society. Besides, there were fissures among the upasaks as well. People started hating each other. Moreover, the noble families of Magadha for their power started taking sides. And in Nanda rule, this rose to its zenith. The Nanda rule started supporting those against the customs for their protection against the conservatives when they realized that they would not accept their rule. Unable to prevent these changes in the society, the conservatives became defeatist.
    
    Chanakya: But don't you think Ajay that on the basis of principle and ideology, a person should be free to accept any faith?
    
    Ajay: I agree. But the conflict between the old and the new is not limited to questions of beliefs. The changes in the Dharmic horizon started bringing new changes in the society,

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अवैध रूप से गायों से भरा ट्रक पलटा

• अवैध रूप से गायों से भरा ट्रक पलटा

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  • चीमां मंडी (संगरूर)
  • पुलिस चौकी के समक्ष अवैध तौर पर गायों को भरकर जा रहा एक ट्रक पलट गया। जिसका गौ रक्षकों की ओर से पीछा किया जा रहा था। हालांकि ट्रक चालक मौके से फरार हो गया है। गौशाला दल के वर्करों व हिंदु वेलफेयर बोर्ड के प्रदेश चेयरमैन रवि कांत, संजीव कुमार, गुरमीत सिंह, नरेश पंडित, संजू आदि ने बताया कि उन्हें गायों को भरकर जा रहे ट्रक की सूचना प्राप्त हुई थी। जिसका वह पीछा कर रहे थे और यह ट्रक नियंत्रण खोकर यहां पुलिस चौकी के समक्ष आकर पलट गया, परंतु वह ट्रक चालक को काबू नहीं कर पाए। आसपास के लोगों ने पलटे हुए ट्रक में से गायों को बाहर निकाला। पुलिस ने रवि कांत की शिकायत पर ट्रक चालक पर मामला दर्ज कर लिया है।

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Deshbandhu : राजनीति, श्रीलंका से राहत नेपाल बना आफत

• Deshbandhu : news,wrold,politics,nepal,shrilanka,राजनीति, श्रीलंका से राहत नेपाल बना आफत

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  • श्री राजपक्षे पुन: राष्ट्रपति चुन लिये गये। इससे तमिलों को लेकर भारत को परेशान होने की जरूरत नहीं है और श्री राजपक्षे बेघर हुए तमिलों को पुन: बसाने का प्रयास कर रहे हैं। इसी के साथ हमारे देश के एक अन्य पड़ोसी देश नेपाल ने हमारे लिए समस्या खड़ी कर  रखी है। वहां पर राजशाही के खात्मे के बाद माओवादियों के नेता और पूर्व प्रधानमंत्री पुण्य कमल दहल प्रचण्ड तो खुलेआम आरोप लगा रहे हैं। इससे हमारे देश की छवि खराब होती है।
  • श्रीलंका  की जनता ने श्री राजपक्षे के पक्ष में 58फीसदी वोट दिये जबकि फोंसेका को 40 फीसदी वोट ही मिल पाये। श्री फोेंसेका ने चुनाव में गड़बड़ी का आरोप भी लगाया है और अपनी सुरक्षा की गुहार भी एक पड़ोसी देश से की है। स्पष्ट तो नहीं कहा गया लेकिन वह देश कोई और नहीं बल्कि भारत ही है। भारत इस मामले में कोई हस्तक्षेप नहीं करने वाला है। श्री लंका के तेवर ठीक  नहीं है। इसीलिए उनके सुरक्षा प्रहरियों में से10 को गिरफ्तार भी किया गया है। चुनाव को एक स्वस्थ्य प्रतिद्वंद्विता के रूप में लेना चाहिए लेकिन सैन्याधिकारी अपनी पराजय बर्दाश्त नहीं कर पाते। पाकिस्तान इसका उदाहरण हैं।

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