Madras HC rejects PIL challenging usage of Sri Villiputhur Rajagopuram as State Emblem

Be it our Ration card, or the Text book – we are proud of the symbol – the tall and brilliant structure of the Gopuram depicted. 

In Tamil Nadu, most Temples have beautiful and majestic Gopurams and at Sri Villiputhur in Virudhunagar district  is it a 11 tiered structure of about 192 feet high. The famous Gopuram by legend dates back to  Sri Periyazhwaar.  Srivilliputhur, with its twin temples, dedicated to the deities Vatabadrasayee and Andal-Rangamannar, is a place of high religious importance. The tall towers, massive car, huge tank, sculpted pillars, ancient Ramayana frescoes and modern wall paintings depicting the Lords of 108 Divyadesams, numerous inscriptions dating back to the rule of Pandya kings, fine rectangular hall with a wooden roof and above all its unique "Thiruppavai Vimanam" speak volumes of their rich architectural heritage.

Sri Andal and  Ranga Mannar

The majestic Gopuram of the West tower of the Sri Villiputhur divyadesam is the emblem of State of Tamil Nadu.  The Temple Gopyram is at the centre  in yellow colour. The base consists of the Indian emblem (Sarnath Lion Capital) at the center in red colour with the Indian flagon both sides. The emblem also has two inscriptions in Tamil script, one at the top தமிழ்நாடு அரசு ("Thamizh Naadu Arasu" -  "Government of Tamil Nadu") and other at the bottom வாய்மையே வெல்லும் ("Vaaymayae Vellum" which translates to "Truth Alone Triumphs" ~ commonly "Satyameva Jayate" in Sanskrit).

This Gopuram is in news because of a PIL filed on the State emblem on the grounds that it tantamounts to disrespect of National flag. 

TOI reports that the Madras High Court has ruled that the usage of the emblem was not violative of secular values nor showing any disrespect to the National flag. Rejecting a public interest petition which said that by having a temple tower in its emblem the State government was violating the  secular values enshrined in the Constitution,the first bench said: “It cannot be said that since the emblem of the government of TN is having a temple tower,itis giving preference or encouraging a particular religion.”

The bench comprising acting Chief Justice R K Agrawal and Justice M Sathyanarayanan was passing orders on a PILfiledby ex-serviceman R Kannan Govindarajulu of Kancheepuram. Kannan cited two ‘flaws’ in the state emblem. One, it had a religious symbol – a temple tower. Two, the national flag image in the emblem was not in accordance with the proportion laid down in the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act,1971.

The bench rejected both the arguments saying there was neither disrespect to the tricolour nor anything favouring any religious group. So far no accusing finger had been pointed towards the TN government with regard to preference for a particular religion, it said. As for the national flag, the judges said the provisions of the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use),Act,1950 and the Flag Code of India,2002were regulatory in nature and impose only reasonable restrictions. Agreeing that the Flag Code should be followed, the judges said: “In the state emblem, the national flag finds a prominent place. This court is of the view that the length –to breadth ratio is applicable only if the flag is displayed. This court is also of the view that respect and dignity of the flag has been preserved in the emblem and therefore it cannot be said that the said display is against the provisions of the Act and the Flag Code.”

R. Krishna Rao born in 1915, a distinguished artist is credited with the design of the monogram for Tamil Nadu state in the year 1949. This symbol replaced the colonial symbol that was used even after India’s Independence. Sri Villiputhur gopuram is no the tallest though !  The artist retired as the Principal of College of Arts and Crafts and a few years later  became the Director of the Art Department at Kalakshetra, founded by Padma Bhushan Rukmini Devi Arundale.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

20^th Sept. 2013.

Unimaginable... 'Sampspeak' as source in Wikipedia.... !

I am excited……….. you will understand the reason  when you read the last line of this post… !!

Life has moved on the fast lane and for modern day youngsters – technology provides great help. For every doubt, they no longer ask their Teachers or search their dictionaries – but mostly ‘google’ – make a goggle search !

Equally popular is ‘Wikipedia’ – which provides great information and has millions of articles…………  Wikipedia  is a collaboratively edited, multilingual, free Internet encyclopedia supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Wikipedia's 30 million articles in 287 languages, including over 4.3 million in the English Wikipedia, are written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone having access to the site.[

It is the largest and most popular general reference work on the Internet, ranking seventh globally among all websites on Alexa as of July 2013, and having an estimated 365 million readers worldwide.

Wikipedia was launched on January 15, 2001, by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger. Sanger coined the name Wikipedia, which is a portmanteau of wiki (a type of collaborative website, from the Hawaiian word wiki, meaning "quick")and encyclopedia.

Wikipedia  is praised as a news source due to articles related to breaking news often being rapidly updated; the open nature of Wikipedia has led to various concerns, such as the quality of writing, the amount of vandalism,and the accuracy of information. Some articles contain unverified or inconsistent information.  In a departure from the style of traditional encyclopedias, Wikipedia is open to outside editing.

The information on Wikipedia and it being the source for millions more article is no news at all……… today, was pleasantly surprised to find that an article in blog was cited as reference in Wikipedia… it is on Srilankan cricketer : Thisara Perera and here is a snapshot of Wikipedia page of date.  :  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thisara_Perera

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

20^th Sept. 2o13.

Karnataka Minister Kimmane Rathnakar displays great valour

Valour is Courage / Bravery……….. we were brought up and live in an age, where we have seen valour – more on screen rather than in real life…  the hero can do nothing wrong ~ he will have the moral anger to fight the evil – he will display – power, courage, action all in adversity and will fight for the poor and downtrodden………… is that what heroism is all about…

Read somewhere that the elements of heroism are : voluntary action, involves taking some risk; act made not with any particular benefit or material gain but for others.  It is the concern for those in need, the righteous anger to defend the moral cause taking personal risks and accomplishing it enduring great risk………………

Thirthahalli, a remote town in Shimoga district located on the banks of river Tunga can feel happy; it residents can take reasonable pride in electing a person who is presently the Minister for Primary and Secondary education in the present Govt of Karnataka.  There are administrators and Ministers and what makes their representative miles apart….. the man is - Kimmane Rathnakar, an advocate by profession……….. it is heroic act that is worth mention in all National media – in the top news.   

The Minister has just saved the life of five persons in a car that had slipped into a roadside tank near Beguvalli village in Tirthahalli taluk on Tuesday. Newspaper reports state that Uday Kumar, who runs an electrical shop in Bhadravathi had been to his in-laws’ house in Karkala in his four-wheeler. While returning to Bhadravathi, he failed to negotiate a bend near Beguvalli and the car fell into the water tank. Mr. Kumar and five other members of his family had thrust their hands out of the sinking car for help.

Mr. Rathnakar was travelling to Bangalore from his hometown Tirthahalli on the route. On noticing the car sinking in the water tank, minister ordered his driver to stop. Drivers Chandrashekhar, Krishnamurthy and gunman Halaswamy jumped into the tank and rescued Mr. Kumar, his wife Suma, mother Geetha, his eight-year-old son and his three-year-old nephew.

The Minister and his accompaniment cared to stop, reach for those in distress, pulled them out, called for medical attention, provided clothes – virtually did everything that we can only dream of doing.  On top of that, he did not boast, gave due credit to his team as also the locals who cooperated in the grand rescue.

Naturally, it is sort of rebirth to the family of those who were in the car.  The owner is quoted as stating that after the car fell in to the tank, water began to gush in and they were unable to open the doors too.  On seeing them drowning, Kimmane, his gunman Halswamy, driver Chandrashekar and his escort vehicle driver Krishnamurthy jumped into the water immediately for rescue. All the inmates of the car were rescued.

One newspaper suggests that the incident started around 7 AM when a Maruti Swift overtook Ratnakar’s car at about 20 kms away from Thirthahalli. After 15 minutes later Ratnakar found the same Maruti Swift sinking in Beguvalli lake……….. somebody driving faster than bigger car driven by professionals………… probably this Minister was not instructing his driver to hurry ~ more importantly had the care and concern to stop on the way upon noticing a distress……….. really humane and good. 

Mr. Ratnakar belongs  to Indian National Congress and beat RM Manjunatha Gowda (KJP) by 1343 Votes in 2013 assembly elections from Thirthahalli Constituency in Shimoga.

Hats off to you Sir

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

19^th Sept. 2013.

Car photo courtesy : dainikbhaskar

Lifting the spirit - moving Scotch whisky by train

Lifting oneself up or lifting one’s spirit means remaining cheerful, enthusiastic, optimistic and happy…. There are many modern theories which provide words of wisdom for inspiration and for keeping oneself in a cheerful mood with positive attitude ~ but the roads may no longer flow with spirits though……!!

Can you imagine that a wholly Govt owned Company started with a paid up capital of Rs.15 crores controls one industry which has so much of movement that Insurers would make a beeline for insurance, though it could be loss-making for them.  Tee-totallers in my list have no say on that … it is TASMAC – the  Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited  which is vested with the exclusive privilege of wholesale supply of IMFL for the whole State of Tamil Nadu. TASMAC was established in 1983 by then Chief Minister M. G. Ramachandran (MGR) for wholesale vending of alcohol in Tamil Nadu. The state has a long history of prohibition, first implemented in 1937 by the Indian National Congress government of C. Rajagopalachari; now it being a great revenue earner, perhaps no Govt would venture to think of prohibition.   

Miles away, Scotland  is a country that is part of the United Kingdom sharing its border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east. Edinburgh, the country's capital and second-largest city, is one of Europe's largest financial centres. Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland has  the title of Europe's oil capital.  Scotch is an adjective meaning "of Scotland" ~~ the word "Scotch" is only applied to specific products, mostly food or drink, such as Scotch whisky, Scotch pie, Scotch broth, and Scotch eggs. "Scotch" applied to people is widely considered pejorative, reflecting old Anglo-Scottish antagonisms.

Strathspey is the area around the strath of the River Spey, Scotland; it is one of the main centres of the Scotch whisky industry, with a high concentration of single malt distilleries in the region. Scotch whisky, often simply called "Scotch", is malt whisky or grain whisky made in Scotland. Scotch whisky must be made in a manner specified by law. All Scotch whisky must be aged in oak barrels for at least three years. Any age statement on a bottle of Scotch whisky, expressed in numerical form, must reflect the age of the youngest whisky used to produce that product. A whisky with an age statement is known as guaranteed-age whisky.

The term ‘lifting spirit’ is in news albeit with different connotation…  it is stated that Scotch Whisky producers are trialing a system to deliver Scotch Whisky by train from Speyside to central Scotland in a bid to cut emissions and trucks on roadways. The area covered by the trial is home to 77 distilleries, which produce 85 percent of all of Scotch malt whisky, according to Richard Lochhead, the Scottish government’s cabinet secretary for rural affairs and the environment.

Currently all bulk Scotch Whisky and spirit is moved by road from Speyside to warehouses and bottling halls across central Scotland. The “Lifting the Spirit” project is designed to reduce trucks on busy roads, test an alternative transport option for the expanding Scotch Whisky industry and assess the benefit to the environment, the Scotch Whisky Association says.  Reports suggest that the first  0f the trains transporting Scotch Whisky will leave the Elgin goods yard in Speyside this week. The association says it’s the first time there has been any substantial volume of goods, including Scotch Whisky, transported by train from Elgin since the mid-1980s. Work completed by the Network Rail, with some Scottish Government funding, to improve the train route and facilities around Elgin has made the project possible. So barrels of scotch will not flow by rail rather than by road.  

The "whisky train" will make its first winding 200-mile journey this week from a goods yard in Elgin to Grangemouth, where it will be distributed to bottling halls and warehouses across the central belt. For every journey, it is calculated 29 lorry trips will be saved, with the A9 among roads to benefit from a reduction in traffic. Trains will run twice a week with plans to use the return journey for deliveries of other goods such as malt, barley and empty bourbon casks to hold the next batch of spirit. The trains are being brought on track by the Lifting the Spirit project which, over two months, will be analysed by an academic to determine its long-term potential.

Is it really a spirited news lifting you up !!

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

19^th Sept. 2013.