Courtesy http://pancha- amritam.blogspot .com Vishwa Samvad Kendra, Chennai PANCHAAMRITAM 205 Pancha is five in Samskritam, Amritam is nectar Poornima/ Kali Yugaabda 5112 / Vikruti Maasi 6 (February 18, 2011) ONE
Meet Smt R.S Lalitha, 63. A science teacher who took voluntary retirement from the Government High School in Cantonment Pallavaram in the suburb of Chennai (Tamilnadu, Bharat) 11 years ago after 29 years of service. Lalitha saved her retirement benefits till they accumulated to Rs 3.5 lakh. She then donated the money to build the noon-meal centre at the school. Spread over 354 sq.ft, the centre has a kitchen and a store room. "I don't have children. These are my children," Lalitha said about the students at the school. Lalitha was moved by the pathetic condition of the noon-meal centre when she visited the school last November. She sought permission from headmaster M Nainan to build the centre. "It is in remembrance of my husband, who died in 2009 after years of battling Parkinson's disease," she said. The school has around 1,400 students including 500 girls. As per norms, the state government is supposed to allot funds to build a noon-meal centre based on the number of students. Of the 1,400 students, about 400 students are beneficiaries of the scheme. However, due to lack of proper infrastructure, the school authorities were forced to cook the meals in the open. "We were overwhelmed by her request and immediately agreed," said the chief executive officer of the Cantonment Board, Shri G Vijayabhaskar. Based on a report by Shri D Madhavan in THE TIMES OF INDIA of February 16, 2011. (Idea: Shri Sambamurthy, Saha Prant Karyawah, RSS, Uttar Tamilnadu)
TWO
Handloom weavers, Shri Mani and Smt Indrani, of Sirumugai village near Mettupalayam, Coimbatore district (Tamilnadu, Bharat), have performed an exemplary act of courage. The couple came forward to donate the organs of their 11-year-old son, Sowdesh, who was declared brain dead by the hospital authorities. Broken, but still forthcoming even in the hour of their distress, they asked the ICU doctors for organ donation. The kidneys, liver, heart valves, and corneas of their son have been harvested to be given to hospitals in Chennai and Coimbatore. For his parents, Sowdesh was the baby of the house, born 10 years after the birth of their first son. He was playing outside the house with his friend, when he was mowed down by a two-wheeler. Sowdesh sustained severe injuries and was rushed to the Mettupalayam GH, from where he was referred to the Ramakrishna Hospital in Coimbatore. On Monday, February 14, 2011, after all the confirmatory brain dead tests were done, Sowdesh was declared brain dead. On Tuesday, his organs were harvested. Mani said that he was a regular blood donor, and organ donation was something he had always on his mind. "My son's organs should give life to as many as possible. He has not died. He will live always as his death report by Smt Nalini Ravichandran in THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS, February 16, 2011.
THREE
Village Dewala, Udaipur district (Rajasthan, Bharat). On December 28, 2010, functionaries of Rajasthan Vanavasi Kalyan Parishad of RSS were seen distributing dividends to 250 Vanavasis (tribals) who gather seethaphal fruits (Annona squamosa or custard apple). It is obviously their share in profit for having supplied the fruits to the Forest & Agricultural Produce Cooperative Society launched by the Parishad in 2009. In spite of the severe cold and failure of rains, the Society paid the Vanavasis Rs 4 a kilo for seethaphal (the Vanavasis were getting just Rs 2 from touts) and supplied to its buyers in Gujarat. Even then, at the end of the past year, the Society could earn a clear profit of Rs 80,000. That was promptly distributed among the Vanavasis. That is how the poor Vanavasi brethren were liberated from the clutches of 1, 2011.
FOUR
Bihar Chief Minister Shri Nitish Kumar on January 25, 2011 released the `Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2010' prepared and submitted by an NGO, 'Pratham' (established by UNICEF and Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai). The report highlighted 96.6 % enrolment of children (age group 6-14) in schools in Bihar giving a clear message that the state has bettered national average (96.5%). Midday meal improved the children's surge towards education, the CM said and solicited support of all for raising the quality of education. Last year India as a whole took a step towards universal elementary education, as Pratham's report revealed. The proportion of girls in the age group of 11-14 too increased to 94.1%. It was Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee who gave the vision `Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan' (education for all) when he was Prime Minister. Based on a report in FLASH LIGHT, Fortnightly, Patna, February 1, 2011 & THE TIMES OF INDIA, January 26, 2011
FIVE
Passengers travelling on bus number M 70 A which runs between Koyambedu and Avadi in Chennai found a two-day baby girl abandoned under a seat. They alerted the conductor and driver of the bus. The baby was then handed over to the Thirumullaivoyal police. As news spread in the locality, residents gathered at the police station seeking to adopt the baby. At least three families, including that of an electricity board employee, approached the police to take the baby home. They even took turns feeding the baby. "I asked if I could take the girl home as I have only two sons. But the police inspector there said that a lot of procedures were involved and that they had already alerted the helpline," said Murugadoss, an EB staff. The Child Helpline (1098) alerted the Indian Council for Child Welfare, which later rescued the baby. I am told that I could take the baby home only after she completed two years," added Murugadoss. Based on a report in THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS, February 14, 2011.