Nirmalya's Blog » India

Jetstar Will Fly To Kolkata

nirmalya.ghosh — Mon, 11 Jul 2005 20:10:30 +0000

Its been confirmed what has been in the news since January this year.

Starting August 18 2005, Jetstar will fly to Kolkata 3 times a week (on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays), for around Rs 9,000 (approximately S$350) for a return ticket.

This is good news considering that a Singapore-Kolkata round trip costs about S$1000 on Singapore Airlines, S$900 on Indian Airlines and S$800 on Thai Airways.

[Update: July 19, 2005]
Jetstar flight 3K571 will fly from Singapore to Kolkata, departing Singapore at 430pm (Singapore time), arriving at Kolkata at 6pm (Indian time). The return flight from Kolkata to Singapore (flight 3K572) will be departing Kolkatta at 7pm (Indian time), arriving at Singapore at 135am, the next day. Regular airfares will start from S$218 [Source: Yahoo Finance]

India’s Prime Minister and President are both doctorates!

nirmalya.ghosh — Sat, 07 Aug 2004 04:51:09 +0000

Now which other country can boast that? That’s exactly the question my friend Vineet asked me over dinner a few hours ago..

India’s current Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, is by far India’s most highly qualified Prime Minister, having a PhD in Economics from the University of Oxford.

India’s current President, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, an engineer turned rocket scientist by profession, is the undisputed father of India’s missile program. He has been awarded honorary doctorates from 30 universities and institutions, which include prestigious schools such as IIT-Roorkee.

He has held several key posts in his career. Some of which include, Chief Economic Advisor in the Ministry of Finance (1972), Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, etc.It was his five year tenure (1991-1996) as India’s Finance Mnister, during which he ushered in comprehensive policy of economic reforms, that earned him worldwide reputation.In 1987, he was awarded India’s second highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan.

He made significant contribution as Project Director to develop India’s first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle which successfully injected the Rohini satellite in the near earth orbit in July 1980 and made India an exclusive member of Space Club. He was responsible for the evolution of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle programme.After working for nearly 20 years in ISRO, he took up the responsibility of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme(IGMDP), India’s most successful military research task to date. The program involved developing the Nag, Prithvi, Akash, Trishul & Agni missiles.In 1981, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan. Then the Padma Vibhushan in 1990; and in 1997, the Bharat Ratna (India’s highest civilian award). He is a recipient of several other awards and Fellow of many professional institutionsHe may be easily perceived as a “bomb maker” (or variants of it), there have been several instances where he has used technology developed for rockets (used for launching satellites) to help benefit people. Once such instance involves, using a very light material called carbon-carbon (developed for the Agni a re-entry structure), to build much lighter callipers for children affected by polio. In a rare interview, he notes

“.. In three weeks, we made these Floor Reaction Orthosis 300 gram callipers and took them to the orthopaedic centre. The children could not believe their eyes! From dragging around a 3 kg load on their legs, they could now move around freely with these 300 gram callipers. They began running around! Their parents had tears in their eyes. That was my fourth bliss..“

Although, a Muslim, he not only studies the Qur’an, but also the Bhagavad Gita as well!

And now for some trivia.. The second president of the Czech Republic, Dr. Vaclav Klaus, who has a doctorate in Economics, had previously also been the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic (from 1992-97). He is also an Adjunct Professor in the University of Adelaide‘s School of Economics. For further reference

Dr. Manmohan Singh – Quick facts – Academic qualifications comparison with predecessors – The Prime Minister of India’s official site

DR. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam – Summary, from Wikipedia – Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Indian Missiles – The President of India’s official site – Speech in Hyderabad – Dr Abdul Kalam Interview (by Pritish Nandy) – The President of India’s official site

- Former Presidents of India

Taj Mahal : Tomb or Ancient Hindu Temple?

nirmalya.ghosh — Mon, 26 Jul 2004 18:40:54 +0000

History books, tour guides, etc. have always said that the Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. However, according to “Taj Mahal: The True Story” (written by Professor P.N. Oak) the Taj Mahal is not Queen Mumtaz Mahal’s tomb, but an ancient Shiva Temple known as Tejo Mahalaya which Shah Jahan commandeered from the then Maharaja of Jaipur.

At first, I didn’t buy in this story so easily. But after some Googling, I came across several links supporting this claim :
- Was the Taj Mahal a Vedic Temple? The Photographic Evidence
- The Taj’s Other Story [Source: BBC]

109 reasons to prove that the Taj Mahal is Tejo Mahalaya
For those who wish to dig deeper, here is a compiled list of 109 reasons to prove that the Taj Mahal is Tejo Mahalaya.

I found the follwoing points quite convincing:

#1 “The term Taj Mahal itself never occurs in any Mughal court paper or chronicle even in Aurangzeb’s time.” — Now why would Aurangzeb, (Shah Jahan’s third son), who had created a mausoleum for his first wife (‘Bibi Ka Maqbara‘, also known as the Mini Taj of the Deccan) in Aurangabad, not make any mention of the original Taj?

#34 “A wooden piece from the riverside doorway of the Taj subjected to the carbon 14 test by an American Laboratory and initiated by Professors at Pratt School of Architecture, New York, has revealed that the door to be 300 years older than Shahjahan, since the doors of the Taj, broken open by Muslim invaders repeatedly from the 11th century onwards, had to be replaced from time to time. The Taj edifice is much more older. It belongs to 1155 A.D, i.e., almost 500 years anterior to Shahjahan.“

#39 “The Tajmahal has a trident pinnacle over the dome. A full scale of the trident pinnacle is inlaid in the red stone courtyard to the east of the Taj. The central shaft of the trident depicts a Kalash (sacred pot) holding two bent mango leaves and a coconut.” — the coconut, the bent mango leaves under it and the supporting water pot are very Hindu motifs. Click here for closeup photo of the pinnacle.

#55 “The designer of the Tajmahal is also variously mentioned as Essa Effendy, a Persian or Turk, or Ahmed Mehendis or a Frenchman, Austin deBordeaux, or Geronimo Veroneo, an Italian, or Shahjahan himself.

#13, 69, 88 mention about thick walled sealed red stone rooms, which had apparently been originally sealed by Shahjahan and have been since unsealed and again walled up several times [#68]. — why the cover up by the Archaeological Survey of India? Why are these rooms sealed if the allegations of sealed up idols are not true?