Message for the Day…” Cultivate Faith in Righteousness as the core of Your Personality…”

No other person can bind you; you do it yourself! You choose to become bound, straying away from the righteous (dharmic) path. If faith in God’s omnipresence is deep-rooted, you would become aware that He is within you and you will choose to be free. For that faith to grow, you must grasp the Divine (Atmic) bliss firmly. The reality of the Divinity (Atma) is the bedrock, that is the incontrovertible wisdom (nishchitha-jnana). Without that foundation, you will easily become the target of doubt, despair, and delusion. Therefore, first endeavour to be free. That is to say, as a prerequisite to successful living, cultivate faith in righteousness (dharma) as the core of your personality, and then learn and practise the discipline necessary to reach down to that core. When you acquire that qualification, you can engage fully in worldly activities, following the prescribed right conduct (dharma). Thus you transform yourself to be a moral individual (dharma-purusha).

Sathya Sai Baba

Image of the Day…Nile at Night

The Nile river and Red Sea at night photographed from the International Space Station.

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, recently past the halfway mark of his one-year mission to the International Space Station, photographed the Nile River during a nighttime flyover on Sept. 22, 2015. Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) wrote, “Day 179. The #Nile at night is a beautiful sight for these sore eyes. Good night from@space_station! #YearInSpace.”

Image Credit: NASA

Source……www.nasa.gov

This 104 Year-Old Grandma, Adorned her Town with Crochet…….

 

Grace Brett, a 104-year-old great grandmother might just be the oldest street artist in the world. The grandmother of six is a member of a knitting club known as the ‘Souter Stormers’ – a group that has recently taken over the towns of Selkirk, Ettrickbridge and Yarrow in Scotland, with their impressive knitting skills. Members of Stormers have spent a year secretly planning a project to conduct this street art installation. And this month, the mischievous knitters took to the streets, sewing up fences, benches and lamp poles all across the town in elaborate knitted art. The images below showcase her impressive knitting skills.

Oldest Street Artist

Oldest Street Artist

Oldest Street Artist

 

Oldest Street Artist

“I thought that it was a really good idea to decorate the town and enjoyed having my crochet included,” Grace Brett said.

Oldest Street Artist

“I liked seeing my work showing with everyone elses and thought the town looked lovely.”

Oldest Street Artist

Her daughter Daphne says that “she always knitted and crocheted all through her life.”

Oldest Street Artist

“She has always done all the knitting for the babies and made shawls.”

Oldest Street Artist

Oldest Street Artist

Residents have been enjoying their new yarn exhibitions too!

Oldest Street Artist

 

Source……www.ba-bamail.com and  www.youtube.com

Natarajan

This 12 Year Old Wrote His Exams Blindfolded to Create Awareness About an Important Cause …

12-year-old R Madheswaran says that he can read even when he is blindfolded. The class 7 student decided to put these skills to better use and appeared blindfolded for his English exam. He did this to spread awareness about a very important cause.

Sri Ramakrishna Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Coimbatore, witnessed an unusual scenario during the recently held quarterly examinations at school. Among all the students who were writing their papers on Friday, there was one who attracted everyone’s attention.

R Madheswaran, a Class 7 student, sat for the exam blindfolded. And he even managed to finish the paper within the prescribed two hours.-

exam1

Photo: blog.onlinerti.com

No, Madheswaran did not have an eye injury, nor is he visually impaired. The 12-year-old boy took this unusual step to spread awareness about eye donation. He wanted to feel how visually impaired people experience the world, and at the same time, wanted to spread awareness about the various talents that they possess.

Madheswaran claims to have some unusual skills which enable him to read phone messages, question papers and text books while he is blindfolded. .

The young boy decided to put his unique skills to use when writing his English exam paper. The questions paper was not in Braille, and neither were the alphabets embossed.

So how did this young fellow complete this unusual task? Madheswaran says that every word and number has a different smell, and this smell helps him read them in his mind. He also wrote perfectly, right between the lines, using the same technique of smelling the words and the sheet.

His parents claim that Madheswaran acquired these special skills after attending a brain fold activation programme which improved his concentration and enabled him to sense many things without seeing them. Confident of his skills, Madheswaran and his family approached the school authorities to seek permission for this special act and they happily agreed.

Though these skills look unrealistic, we can’t help praising the young boy who took this step to spread awareness for a cause. After all, it is the thought that counts.

Source………www.the better india .com

Natarajan

Dr Uma Rajan, 75-Year-Old Indian-Singaporean Doctor, Honoured for Her Community Service ….

This doctor has been working relentlessly and has contributed immensely to the field of healthcare and community service. And now, the 75-year-old has been honoured for her inspiring work.

Dr. Uma Rajan, an Indian-Singaporean doctor, dedicated 38 years of her life to healthcare and community service. And for this, the 75-year-old doctor has been honoured by the Indian community in Singapore.

She has now become the first woman to receive the tabla! Community Champion Award.

umarajan

Source: Facebook

Singapore Press Holdings’ publication – tabla! is a weekly English language newspaper, which launched the Community Champion Award in 2011. The award, in its fifth year, was given by Minister of State for Law and Education, Indranee Rajah, yesterday at the Singapore International Indian Shopping Festival.

Dr. Rajan, who is currently the vice-chairman of the Siglap South Community Centre, won USD 10,000 and she donated the entire amount to two voluntary welfare organizations – Singapore Children’s Society and Asian Women’s Welfare Association in Singapore.

The doctor has been a part of many philanthropic activities, and has many achievements in her name. She was the director of the elder care department at the Ministry of Health from 1996 to 2000. In this time, she started about 10 elderly care centres with voluntary welfare organisations. She also created the blue booklet which is still being used by students in Singapore for their annual health check-ups. She had come up with this idea in early 1980s, when she was the Director at the School Health Service. She felt that booklets should be introduced for school children so they do not have to carry their medical cards. The booklet helps parents remain updated about their children’s medical conditions. She also participated in extensive research into problems such as obesity, myopia and scoliosis

Dr. Rajan lost her husband 38 years ago, after which she started giving her time to the community. She is also known for her contribution to the field of arts, and was one of the founding members of the Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society. She received the title of Natyakala Bushanam (ornament of dance) from the Indian Institute of Fine Arts in Chennai in 1954.

Source………www.the better india.com

Natarajan

 

The healthy foods you’re not eating…….

Purple carrots contain vitamin E and beta carotene like their orange counterparts but are also full of other goodies.

You may be all over quinoa and love kale, but there are some less common health foods that you need to start incorporating into your diet.

These foods are jam-packed with nutrients and are a great way to mix up your diet.

Red cabbage

Go for this vibrant-hued cabbage the next time you’re in the mood to mix things up in the vegie department. Red cabbage is low in calories, high in fibre, plus it’s rich in vitamin A, vitamin C and vitamin K.

Sardines

They may be tiny but sardines pack a punch in the nutrition department. They’re high in omega-3 fats which are great for the heart, along with vitamin D, iron, magnesium, zinc, potassium and B vitamins. If you’re looking for a fish alternative consider adding sardines to your food repertoire.

Pumpkin seeds

You may occasionally come across these tiny bite-sized bits of goodness in a protein ball recipe or as a topping on salads but consider adding them to your diet as a snack alternative. The seeds are actually the most nutritious part of a pumpkin! They’re high in magnesium, full of copper, protein and zinc and are also a great source of antioxidants.

Radishes

Radishes are a great detoxifier and help eliminate toxins and free radicals from the body. They’re also jam packed with vitamin C and are a great source of folate, fibre, vitamin B6, magnesium and potassium.

Purple carrots

Orange carrots? Been there, done that. So how about the purple variety? They’re equally as healthy, if not more so. Purple carrots contain vitamin E and beta carotene like their orange counterparts but are also full of anthocyanins, the antioxidant compound that can help improve memory, protect against heart attacks and enhance vision. Plus who doesn’t love the novelty of a purple carrot?

Swiss chard

You may know this green leafy vegetable by its other name silverbeet. Just one cup of Swiss chard can provide you with 300 per cent of your required daily intake of vitamin K. It’s also a great source of vitamin C and vitamin A and is full of magnesium, potassium, iron and fibre.

Turnips

Along with broccoli, brussels sprouts and kale, turnips are part of the nutritious cruciferous family. Turnips are full of vitamin C, B vitamins, calcium and potassium. They’re a great low-calorie alternative to potatoes and are packed full of fibre which will help you stay full for longer.

For more articles on nutrition, head to Body + Soul.

Source……..Tania Gomez ….www.news.com.au

Natarajan

It Was Mangalyaan’s First Birthday, and ISRO Celebrated It with a Mars Atlas….

To celebrate the completion of Mangalyaan’s first year in the orbit around Mars, ISRO has released a Mars Atlas which is a compilation of all the amazing pictures and data collected from the red planet so far.

The Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft, which entered the Martian orbit on September 24, 2014, has completed one year of its life around the red planet.

Marking the first anniversary – the day on which India created history by successfully placing Mangalyaan in the orbit around Mars, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has released a commemorative Mars Atlas.

mars atlas

Source: isro.gov.in

“With the launch of Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) on 5th November 2013, India has ushered a new era of planetary exploration of Mars and its environment,” says the introduction in the atlas.

It is a compilation of many spectacular images obtained by the Mars Colour Camera (MCC).

mars atlas1

In this past year, all five payloads of MOM have collected a large set of data, and all of it is a part of this scientific atlas.

“The images from MCC have provided unique information about Mars at varying spatial resolutions. It has obtained Mars Global data showing clouds, dust in atmosphere and surface albedo variations, when acquired from apoapsis at around 72000 km. On the other hand high resolution images acquired from periapsis show details of various morphological features on the surface of Mars. Some of these images have been showcased in this atlas. The images have been categorized depending upon the Martian surface and atmospheric processes,” said the official ISRO release informing about the atlas.

The atlas has been released by the Space Applications Centre of ISRO in Ahmedabad. It provides a lot of information in vivid detail, explaining the different features of the red planet such as its craters, moons, volcanic features, tectonic features and more. And all of it is accompanied by Mars’s brilliant pictures.

The MOM spacecraft, which was designed, built and launched in just two years, has five scientific instruments to record five different aspects of the planet. These include the geology, morphology, atmospheric processes, surface temperature and atmospheric escape process.

While the Mars mission was initially planned for just six months, it is now expected to last longer. The ISRO chairman, AS Kiran Kumar, recently informed that the mission can last many years because they have not seen any failures so far, and about 35kg of fuel is still left in the spacecraft.

Happy first birthday in space, MOM!

You can download the atlas here.

Source…. Tanaya Singh ….www.the betterindia.com

Natarajan

From America to Australia in Under 6 Hours…!!!

JustJ100 years ago, getting from America to Europe was a voyage that took several days by ocean liners. With the invention of airplanes, that travel time was significantly shortened to under 24 hours. At the apex of the era of transatlantic flight, the Concorde was able to fly 100 passengers at Mach 2.0 speeds from New York to London in just over 3.5 hours.
Sources: 1 | 2
Now, the European Space Agency (ESA) just greenlighted the next stage of modern transportation – the hypersonic flight. The ESA has approved a new round of funding to project LAPCAT (Long-Term Advanced Propulsion Concepts and Technologies).

Hypersonic Plane

Ignoring its funny name, the new plane will fly at Mach 5.0 speed (that’s five times the speed of sound!), using liquid hydrogen engines. The planes will be able to travel from England to Australia in four hours, carry 300 passengers and even fly to space in just 15 minutes.

The new kind of engine is being developed by the British company Reaction Engines, who are said to invest over 60 million GBP in the development, and are going to start builing a full-scale prototype engine.

Hypersonic Plane
Current jet engines require that airplanes carry liquid oxygen as a coolant because in speeds beyond Mach 3.0 the engines cannot use external oxygen for cooling. The new type of engine can use external oxygen freely, allowing it to cool down its engines from over 1,000°c (1,832°f) to -150°c (-328°f) in a fraction of a second.

Hypersonic Plane

Experts are hailing this development as the biggest advancement in aviation since the invention of the jet engine. The cost of a single plane is estimated to be a whopping $1.1 Billion and will have no windows.

All LATAP images: Source
This interesting video explains the LAPCAT’s abilities:

 

So would you be willing to fly in a windowless super-fast rocket?

Source…www.ba-bamail.com and http://www.youtube.com

Natarajan

 

Watch Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s Message For PM Modi, Before His Visit To Silicon Valley…

Sundar Pichai is a name known to most Indians these days. Ever since he took a prestigious position in Google, Indians have been proud of him for inspiring so many ambitious children to dream big.

As per a report by Reuters, on September 27, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting the Silicon Valley. He will also pay a visit to the Google campus and Facebook headquarters and discuss the pressing issues that can lead to further technological development in India.

As a result, Sundar Pichai in his present capabilities as CEO of Google has extended a warm welcome to Mr. Modi. In this video shared by Google India, we see him inviting the prime minister. He also expressed that the team is very excited to meet him.

He strongly feels that PM’s visit will energize people in the Silicon Valley as well as people in India. He highlights Google’s upcoming plans and illustrates how they will help India.

Even we are looking forward to Mr. Modi’s visit to Google and we hope that it leads to many productive results!

 

Source….Shubhi  Dixit  in http://www.storypick.com and http://www.youtube.com

Natarajan

Tiny Toddler Gives Impromptu TED Talk on World Peace, Being Nice….

 

Six-year-old Tiana Sherry is the latest lifestyle guru to launch her platform via viral video. Are you seeking guidance on matters of the heart? You’ve come to the right place; the guru will see you now.

Sherry, dressed modestly in a T-shirt and leggings, begins with a simple question: “Are you ready to be his friend?” It doesn’t matter who the friend is. It just matters if you are ready.

The tiny leader continues to issue challenges: “Do you think that all of us can be nice to each other?” Are you, like the Tiny Relationship Guru, “trying to do best in [your] heart”? One must desire for everyone to be friends in order for everyone to be friends. She foresees a terrible outcome if niceness is in short supply. “If we live in a world where everyone is being mean, then everyone is going to be a monster in their future.”

The endgame for our teacher is peace for all. It starts with you. “Can you smile? Can we stop being mean to each other?” she pleads. She is in this with us. “I think if I can be nice, then I think all of us can be nice, too.”

Please keep this in mind as you go about your day. The TRG must rest now, for it is her bedtime. Her book, website, and speaking tour will launch in the morning.

 

Source…..By …in http://www.stumbleupon.com and video clip credit http://www.youtube.com

Natarajan