Union-Minister-Jairam-Ramesh

It is not conviction that has made Modi say this."Ramesh, while holding the portfolio of Sanitation, had last year said "there are more temples in the country than toilets"."He added, "But this particular incarnation of a man who gives more priority to toilets than the places of worship is something that I think should be welcomed by everybody.

"Where is Rajiv Pratap Rudy who accused me of destroying the fine fabric of faith and religion Where is Prakash Javadekar who waxed eloquent on how I had defame religion All these people are quiet," he asked. Ramesh said his own statement about preferring toilets over temple was out of conviction while that of Modi was out of compulsion. Referring to that episode, the Minister asked why are the Sangh outfits silent.. Going further to attack Modi, the Union Minister pointed out deficiencies in Gujarat in terms of toilets. It is compulsion," he said."I am very happy that the Gujarat Chief Minister has finally found enlightenment and recognised the importance of toilets.

"The census of 2011 revealed only 34 per cent of Gujarat was covered by sanitation..Accusing the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate of changing his approach towards various issues including temples and toilets, Ramesh said Modi would "rewrite (Lord Vishnu's mythological) Dashavatar before Lok Sabha polls and we will need a new serial mythology called shatavatar with the 100 incarnation of Modi. The Rural Development Minister was reacting to Modi's remarks that toilets were the priority over temples.

This had triggered protests by Sangh parivar outfits like VHP and Bajrang Dal, whose activists even urinated outside his official residence here. "I am glad that the Gujarat Chief Minister has got enlightenment even if it is an enlightenment borne out of compulsion, even if it is enlightenment borne out of the blind desire for the Prime Minister's post," he said.The Minister asked Modi whether he agrees with late BSP leader Kanshi Ram who had said during the BJP's Ayodhya movement that the solution to the Ayodhya controversy is to build a giant sanitation complex. Ramesh said it was not Modi's 'conviction' but 'compulsion' that made him say so yesterday White dyed fox fur faux fur fabric and that his 'enlightenment' should have come before Ayodhya demolition in 1992. The so-called Gujarat model is a model based on half truths, falsehoods and gross exaggerations," he said.

Union Minister Jairam Ramesh, who had come under attack from Sangh outfits months back for favouring toilets over temples, targeted Narendra Modi for speaking on the same lines, saying it was borne out of his "blind desire for Prime Ministers post".He added, "I wish if he (Modi) had got this enlightenment 22 years ago, India would have been spared the Babri Masjid tragedy, India would have been spared the communal riots in diferrent parts of the country, India would have been spared the Bombay blasts and indeed India may have been spared Godhra and what happened afterwards. This is the story of Gujarat.." Referring to the urination by Sangh activists in front of his house last year, Ramesh said it shows that toilets are less important than temples for them

While-there-are-those-who-claim

It needs to be instilled in them from the time that they are young. However, a topic like domestic violence is very delicate and is a cause for much trauma for many women.Dr Nair says that the only solution to this problem can be to educate students from a very early age.” He then went on to make several other sexist comments in jest, including the age-old dialogue, “The attendance at co-ed colleges is better because the boys want to watch girls. Whatever her impact in class, her post about the same on Facebook has gone viral.

Columnist and writer Anil Dharker says while a joke needs to be taken as such, an immediate clarification of how serious the issue of domestic violence is a must. So, while everyone is taking a guess at who the professor could be, they are also surprised that someone from this college would say this. It happens because, in an argument, the man decides to use physical violence instead of using his words, as he should do.. Teachers are culpable for the things that they say in class and must act as role models for students,” she says. So, it’s all right if the professor made a joke about this if an explanation immediately followed that joke as to what the issue is all about. “If what the professor said was in jest, then one must learn to take a White dyed fox fur faux fur fabric joke as a joke. It is a problem that persists across the globe.

A PhD scholar at TISS also expressed her surprise that a professor in her college would make such comments. So, an accounts professor would only be needed to know numbers, and not be socially aware. Otherwise, it is deplorable,” he explains. That is the only solution,” she concludes. “Our system is fundamentally flawed because when someone teaches a subject, they are not required to know anything beyond that subject.She further adds that she’s shocked to learn that it was a teacher of Social Sciences who did this. TISS, in general, is not very gender biased. This is something that badly needs to change. “Most of the classes I went to for my MPhil course were taken by teachers who were sensitive to such issues. “While one’s college experience can turn one’s life around, it is essential to educate students about gender equality from a much earlier age.

As teachers, you are expected to not only teach but also to practice what you taught. For instance, there’s a lot of mobility on campus at all hours for both men and women, which is not something that one finds in many other colleges,” she says. So, when a student at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) saw her professor trivialising and cracking sexist jokes on topics like domestic violence and rape, she called him out.

While there are those who claim that a joke should be taken as a joke, most are shocked that a senior professor in an elite institution like TISS could have made such comments.“It is shocking that something like this could have happened in TISS. You can’t expect someone who has lived in a society that thrives on sexist views to suddenly gain an understanding about equal rights. In the post, she gave an account of how the professor joked about domestic violence and said, “Because women are argumentative is why men beat them up. One expects better from an institute which is essentially known for its open culture and focuses on social sciences,” says Dr Neena Nair, assistant professor at Valia College.” The class in question was the Foundation Course, which is one that all students of the Masters programme take when they first join the college

The-move-to-avoid-joining-IMAFT

While it is still in the formative stages, but as it is headquartering in Riyadh and its principal sponsorship is from Saudi Arabia, there is very little doubt about its definitions on “terror”. Sharif as head of IMAFT, to his concurrent responsibility as Pakistani COAS.However, Saudi Arabia has a “special” relationship with Pakistan, it routinely doles out the invaluable petro-dollars for sustenance, hosts over two million Pakistani expatriates who remit hard currency and shelters its politicos from turmoil (PM Sharif is personally indebted to the kingdom for granting a lifeline following the military coup in 1999). Besides, Pakistan has the largest standing Army in the Muslim world (0. The American thawing of relationship with the Iranians further riled the Saudi establishment as it saw the move as a further enabler of its historical nemesis, Iran, in its bid to establish its alternative supremacy. But Pakistan’s presence in the proxy war in Yemen was thought to exacerbate Shia fears internally, besides risking having a disgruntled Iran. Sharif would be naïve — it is a sectarian choice that is sanctified by the Pakistani establishment and its strategic calculus.

The possible reason for the seamless “hanging up of boots” perhaps lay in the supposed Pakistani quid pro quo where the Saudi Arabia-grateful government of Nawaz Sharif bought peace with the general in return for sovereign acquiescence to the Saudi kingdom’s earlier request soliciting Gen..In the background of the bitter slugfest between the politicos and military men in Pakistan, the ease with which former Chief of Pakistani Army Staff Gen. True to the divisions in the Islamic world, the “Shia-ruled” Iran, Iraq and the official government of Syria are not signatories to IMAFT. Sharif’s services in heading the 39-country Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism (IMAFT).

IMAFT is sectarian in spirit and the responsibility accorded to Gen.Gen.Pursuant to this obvious sectarian denomination of IMAFT, Pakistan had earlier not agreed to join Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen against the Shia Houthi rebels. Raheel Sharif demitted office raised many eyebrows. Contrary to the usual ire and angst against the traditional Zionist enemy, that is Israel, or the Western world — it is the implosive sectarian Shia versus Sunni war that is blooding West Asia. Fearing sectarian reprisals, Islamabad chose to ignore Saudi Arabia’s initial request to contribute soldiers and weaponry, as it could potentially stoke anti-Shia sentiments in Pakistan’s fragile fabric of Islamic diversity (Shias contribute approximately 15 per cent of the population and are subjected to frequent clashes). Sharif will not go unnoticed in Iran. From spearheading Operation Zarb-e-Azb in the lawless North Waziristan to his Atlas-like persona playing out on the mean streets of urban Karachi, to controlling rural banditry in the dustbowls of Sindh — the superhero of Pakistan’s fight against terror makes him a logical candidate to head such a coalition to fight international terror.This divide and vitriol got formalised by the open rift between Tehran and Riyadh, when the Saudi Arabian embassy in Tehran was ransacked Black sheared fur faux fur fabric by irate protesters (following the controversial hanging of the Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr in Saudi Arabia) and the reciprocal disallowance of Iranians to do the annual Haj in the holy city of Mecca by the Saudi kingdom.IMAFT’s composition is of either the “Sunni-majority” nations or “Sunni-ruled” (Bahrain and Lebanon are not “Sunni-majority”). This appointment has strategic import for both Pakistan and Iran, and any official Pakistani allusion to the independent decision by Gen. Earlier, rumour mills were rife from a possible extension, “field marshalship” to even popular support for a military takeover for the then COAS.

In Yemen, Shia Houthi rebels supported by Iran are fighting a violent battle against the Saudi-supported troops, in Syria and Iraq the governmental forces, Shia militias and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards are locked in a free-for-all bloodlust with the Gulf sheikhdom-sponsored rebels (Sunni grouping), in Lebanon the Iran-supported Shia group Hezbollah retains its independent presence and weaponry in defiance of the national Army — the sectarian cleavage is commonly alluded to as the “Shia-Moon” with prospects of Shia-inspired rule running from the shores of Iran, Iraq to swathes of Syria and Lebanon (including the pockets of Bahrain, Yemen and South Saudi Arabia, hosting the Shia enclaves).

This was earlier turned down by Prime Minister Sharif owing to the impracticalities of managing dual responsibilities and the initial scepticism of Pakistan towards the obvious “sectarian” construct of IMAFT. Today, international opprobrium on Pakistani duplicitousness on terror has subtly edged Islamabad towards China and it seeks to deepen its Saudi moorings, given the lack of Western benefactors.

The move to avoid joining IMAFT initially was purely driven by internal considerations — however, as it runs out of options, the spectre of a Pakistani general heading the “Muslim-Nato” is indicative of throwing caution to the winds. Pakistani parliamentarians unanimously voted against the expansive military intervention in West Asia (even though the Pakistanis have a military presence within Saudi Arabia, ostensibly to protect the kingdom itself). Sharif stepped down in a civil, unhurried and confident manner on November 29. Defying the widespread public sentiments and the precedents of “extension” set in motion for the last 18 years with the previous two COAS extending their terms beyond the stipulated timelines — Gen.6 million, sixth largest in the world), arguably the most professional within the ummah, and nuclear to boot — not surprisingly, Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud, Saudi defence minister and founder of IMAFT, had sought the additional coronation of Gen. Sharif has impressive credentials in handling terrorism — he was leading the Pakistani establishment’s counter-fightback with its own Frankenstein monster, the Pakistani Taliban (Tehrik-e-Taliban), while on the other hand as the overall head of the infamous ISI he was privy to machinations of its nefarious terror networks

The-suits-visor-displays-maps

Two scientists in spacesuits, stark white against the auburn terrain of desolate plains and dunes, test a geo-radar built to map Mars by dragging the flat box across the rocky sand. While cosmonauts and astronauts are learning valuable spacefaring skills on the International Space Station — and the US is using virtual reality to train scientists — the majority of work to prepare for interplanetary expeditions is being done on Earth. There are no airlocks.“No matter who is going to this grandest voyage of our society yet to come, I think a few things we learn here will be actually implemented in those missions,” Groemer said.

“These are things I think can’t be underestimated,” Kumar said. But before the US got there first, astronauts like Neil Armstrong trained suspended on pulleys to simulate one-sixth of Earth’s gravity. When the geo-radar stops working, the two walk back to their all-terrain vehicles and radio colleagues at their nearby base camp for guidance. Scientists from across the world sent ideas for experiments and the mission, named AMADEE-18, quickly grew to 16 scientific experiments, such as testing a “tumbleweed” whip-fast robot rover and a new spacesuit called Aouda.But this isn’t the red planet — it’s the Arabian Peninsula.“You can test systems on those locations and see where the breaking points are, and you can see where things start to fail and which design option you need to take in order to assure that it does not fail on Mars,” said João Lousada, one of the Oman simulation’s deputy field commanders who is a flight controller for the space station. They can’t turn to their mission command, far off in the Alps, because communications from there are delayed 10 minutes.

Few animals or plants survive in the desert expanses of the Arabian Peninsula, where temperatures can top 125 degrees Fahrenheit, or 51 degrees Celsius. The desolate desert in southern Oman, near the borders of Yemen and Saudi Arabia, resembles Mars so much that more than 200 scientists from 25 nations chose it as their location for the next four weeks, to field-test technology for a manned mission to Mars. The successful launch of SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket this week “puts us in a completely different realm of what we can put into deep space, what we can send to Mars,” said analog astronaut Kartik Kumar. A blue piece of foam in front of the chin can be used to wipe your nose and mouth. Aerospace corporations such as Blue Origin have published schematics of future bases, ships and suits.Gernot Groemer, a commander of the Oman Mars simulation and a veteran of 11 science missions on Earth, said the forum quickly accepted.“Terrestrial analogs are a tool in the toolkit of space exploration, but they are not a panacea,” said Scott Hubbard, known as “Mars czar” back when he lead the US space agency’s Mars program.The European Space Agency’s list of “planetary analogues” includes projects in Chile, Peru, South Africa, Namibia, Morocco, Italy, Spain, Canada, Antarctica, Russia, China, Australia, India, Germany, Norway, Iceland, and nine US states. And where best to field-test equipment and people for the journey to Mars but on some of the planet’s most forbidding spots?Seen from space, the Dhofar Desert is a flat, brown expanse.“The first person to walk on Mars has in fact already been born, and might be going to elementary school now in Oman, or back in Europe, in the US or China,” Lousada said. “Human’s adaptability in an unstructured environment is still far, far better than any robot we can send to space,” Hubbard said, adding that people, not just robots, are the key to exploring Mars. On the eastern edge of a seemingly endless dune is the Oman Mars Base: a giant 2.

Faux space stations have been built underwater off the coast of Florida, on frigid dark deserts of Antarctica, and in volcanic craters in Hawaii, according to “Packing For Mars,” a favourite book among many Mars scientists, written by Mary Roach.New challengers such as China are joining the United States and Russia in space with an ambitious, if vague, Mars program. Public and private ventures are racing toward Mars — both former President Barack Obama and SpaceX founder Elon Beige rabbit fur faux fur fabric Musk declared humans would walk on the red planet in a few decades.The desert’s surface resembles Mars so much, it’s hard to tell the difference, Kumar said, his spacesuit caked in dust. Space agencies call them “analogues” because they resemble extraterrestrial extremes of cold and remoteness. The cutting-edge spacesuit, weighing about 50 kilograms (110 pounds), is called a “personal spaceship” because one can breathe, eat and do hard science inside it.

The Soviet Union’s 1957 launch of Sputnik ignited a space race between Moscow and Washington to land a crew on the Moon. However, there remain so many unknowns that simulations “are not in any way a replacement for being there,” Hubbard said.The next step to Mars, he says, is to tackle non-engineering problems like medical emergency responses and isolation.. “But it goes deeper than that: the types of geomorphology, all the structures, the salt domes, the riverbeds, the wadis, it parallels a lot of what we see on Mars. Some simulations have helped developed cameras, rovers, suits and closed-loop life-support systems, he said. The Oman team’s optimism is unflinching.NASA used the Mojave Desert to test rovers destined for the red planet but they also discovered much about how humans can adapt. Hostile environments from Arizona to Siberia were used to fine-tune capsules, landers, rovers and suits — simulating otherworldly dangers to be found beyond Earth.

The suit’s visor displays maps, communications and sensor data. Next Thursday, Israeli scientists are to run a shorter simulation in a nature preserve called D Mars.” The Omani government offered to host the Austrian Space Forum’s next Mars simulation during a meeting of the United Nation’s Committee On the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.4-ton inflated habitat surrounded by shipping containers turned into labs and crew quarters