Aruna Rodrigues of Mhow - Fighting Against GM Foods
Aruna Rodrigues of Mhow is the chief petitioner in a PIL on Genetically Modified crops filed in the Supreme Court of India in 2005.
On Feb 13 2008 there was a hearing in New Delhi in the Supreme Court of India.
In an article titled Dancing With Frankenstein in the section Engaged Circle in the weekly Tehelka (Vol 5, Issue 12, Dated Mar 29, 2008) Aruna gives us detailed information about her campaign against GM Foods. As mentioned at the end of the article: "This article is based on the evidence submitted in Court, which includes statements of leading world scientists prepared for the Court."
Click here to read this well researched article on an issue of utmost importance.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
A Report in Priya Pathak - the Hindi Weekly from Mhow
April 14 2008 was a big day for Mhow. The birthday of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was celebrated here in a big way. Thousands of Dalits, especially Mahars, visited Mhow on that day. Not to mention politicians from all the leading political parties.
I had taken spot interviews of a few of the visitors that day. And some of these were published in the Hindi Weekly Priya Pathak (April 19-25, 2008) which is published from Mhow by Dinesh Solanki. The title of the article was 'Ambedkar Jayanti Par Daliton Se Sakshatkar - Report Dev Kumar Vasudevan duara'.
April 14 2008 was a big day for Mhow. The birthday of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was celebrated here in a big way. Thousands of Dalits, especially Mahars, visited Mhow on that day. Not to mention politicians from all the leading political parties.
I had taken spot interviews of a few of the visitors that day. And some of these were published in the Hindi Weekly Priya Pathak (April 19-25, 2008) which is published from Mhow by Dinesh Solanki. The title of the article was 'Ambedkar Jayanti Par Daliton Se Sakshatkar - Report Dev Kumar Vasudevan duara'.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
Visiting a Plants Nursery
Prince Nursery Mhow.
13 March 2008. About 2 pm
Camera Used: SONY DSC H9
More images in a blogpost in my sulekha weblog: Click here.
Prince Nursery Mhow.
13 March 2008. About 2 pm
Camera Used: SONY DSC H9
More images in a blogpost in my sulekha weblog: Click here.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
'Bat watching' at St. Mary's Convent Mhow
Thursday Feb 28 2008
St. Mary's Convent Mhow, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
Detailed report with photographs and embedded video in my sulekha weblog. Click here
Thursday Feb 28 2008
St. Mary's Convent Mhow, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
Detailed report with photographs and embedded video in my sulekha weblog. Click here
Monday, February 18, 2008
Ramesh Kher... An Artist From Mhow...
It was by accident that I discovered the work of artist Ramesh Kher who was born in Mhow and is based in Indore. I was doing a google for another artist based in Indore...
Some of his work is shown in the online Reflections Art Gallery. Please click here to see his page in the same gallery.
According to this website:
Ramesh Kher 1950- Born in Mhow. He did his Diploma in Fine Arts from Indore. He has held solo shows in indore, Mumbai, Bhopal and New Delhi. He is a recipient of several awards, has come out with an untitled work done in oil on canvas for the ongoing exhibition. He has shown his paintings across the country and the US through a number of group shows, has come out with a marvelous piece of work for the exhibition. He works in Indore.
It was by accident that I discovered the work of artist Ramesh Kher who was born in Mhow and is based in Indore. I was doing a google for another artist based in Indore...
Some of his work is shown in the online Reflections Art Gallery. Please click here to see his page in the same gallery.
According to this website:
Ramesh Kher 1950- Born in Mhow. He did his Diploma in Fine Arts from Indore. He has held solo shows in indore, Mumbai, Bhopal and New Delhi. He is a recipient of several awards, has come out with an untitled work done in oil on canvas for the ongoing exhibition. He has shown his paintings across the country and the US through a number of group shows, has come out with a marvelous piece of work for the exhibition. He works in Indore.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Down Memory Lane
St. Mary's Convent Mhow, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India.
Session: 1968-69.
The boys of Class II with their class teacher Mrs. Dubey.
I am third from right in the second row. I had come on transfer from Mount St. Mary's Delhi Cantt where I had studied Class I and four months of Class II. But the sessions in Delhi used to be from January to December. And in Mhow they were from July to April. I have been told that boys were admitted to St. Mary's till the early eighties. They studied here till Class III. Those senior to me tell me that there was a time when boys studied here till Class VII.
My younger brothers have also studied in the same school. I studied here for two sessions. Class II (1968-69) and Class III (1969-70). For Class IV the boys shifted to Rajeshwar Vidyalaya (Sacred Hearts Convent). And I studied there for two sessions - Class IV (1970-71) and Class V (1971-72). We left Mhow after that as my father was transferred to Alwar (Rajasthan) and I shifted to Kendriya Vidyalaya (Central School) Alwar.
St. Mary's Convent Mhow, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India.
Session: 1968-69.
The boys of Class II with their class teacher Mrs. Dubey.
I am third from right in the second row. I had come on transfer from Mount St. Mary's Delhi Cantt where I had studied Class I and four months of Class II. But the sessions in Delhi used to be from January to December. And in Mhow they were from July to April. I have been told that boys were admitted to St. Mary's till the early eighties. They studied here till Class III. Those senior to me tell me that there was a time when boys studied here till Class VII.
My younger brothers have also studied in the same school. I studied here for two sessions. Class II (1968-69) and Class III (1969-70). For Class IV the boys shifted to Rajeshwar Vidyalaya (Sacred Hearts Convent). And I studied there for two sessions - Class IV (1970-71) and Class V (1971-72). We left Mhow after that as my father was transferred to Alwar (Rajasthan) and I shifted to Kendriya Vidyalaya (Central School) Alwar.
Monday, February 04, 2008
THE PUNCHED CARD (HOLLERITH CARD)
Ever seen a punched card? These were used as input media for first, second and third generation computers. I did my first computer programming course in 1980 at the Computer Society of India's Mhow Chapter which was housed in the Computer Wing of the Military College of Telecommunication Engineering Mhow. The computer we used was TDC - 316. The language I learnt was COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language). The programs we wrote were punched onto cards. There was one card per line of the program. Each line on a coding sheet could accomodate eighty characters. We would write our programs on coding sheets using a pencil. These sheets were then given to a punch operator to be converted into a deck of cards, one card per line of code. Each card could also hold eighty characters. If you peer at the fine print in the cards below (just below the first row of zeros) you can see a serial number list from 1 to 80.
When the programs were compiled by the computer they were checked for correct syntax. The error list was printed using the printer. If we found an error on, say, line 20 then that line was rewritten and a fresh card was punched for that line and inserted in the deck at the correct place. This process was repeated till all serious errors were removed and then the output was obtained. As the classes were held on alternate days it would often take upto a week to remove the errors and obtain the outputs.
In 1981 I used such cards again while learning another programming language named FORTRAN (Formula Translation). That was the last I used them. The code used to punch characters onto these cards is known as Hollerith code and I had memorised it. So I could 'read' a card fairly comfortably. In fact it was useful to show off in front of the girls who were doing the course with us.
It is mind boggling when I think of how computers have evolved in these twenty five years. In those days a select few could use these costly machines. Today almost everyone can thanks to the mouse and user friendly software.
I found these cards while sorting out old books. I have a few 'decks' of these cards lying in the garage. COBOL programs were long. So, if there were a hundred and twenty lines in a program the deck of cards which were punched would have an equal number of cards....
Let us see. It is possible that a few decades from today my nieces can sell these cards at some auction site and earn a few million dollars. That is one way of ensuring that they do not forget their crazy uncle...
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Ever seen a punched card? These were used as input media for first, second and third generation computers. I did my first computer programming course in 1980 at the Computer Society of India's Mhow Chapter which was housed in the Computer Wing of the Military College of Telecommunication Engineering Mhow. The computer we used was TDC - 316. The language I learnt was COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language). The programs we wrote were punched onto cards. There was one card per line of the program. Each line on a coding sheet could accomodate eighty characters. We would write our programs on coding sheets using a pencil. These sheets were then given to a punch operator to be converted into a deck of cards, one card per line of code. Each card could also hold eighty characters. If you peer at the fine print in the cards below (just below the first row of zeros) you can see a serial number list from 1 to 80.
When the programs were compiled by the computer they were checked for correct syntax. The error list was printed using the printer. If we found an error on, say, line 20 then that line was rewritten and a fresh card was punched for that line and inserted in the deck at the correct place. This process was repeated till all serious errors were removed and then the output was obtained. As the classes were held on alternate days it would often take upto a week to remove the errors and obtain the outputs.
In 1981 I used such cards again while learning another programming language named FORTRAN (Formula Translation). That was the last I used them. The code used to punch characters onto these cards is known as Hollerith code and I had memorised it. So I could 'read' a card fairly comfortably. In fact it was useful to show off in front of the girls who were doing the course with us.
It is mind boggling when I think of how computers have evolved in these twenty five years. In those days a select few could use these costly machines. Today almost everyone can thanks to the mouse and user friendly software.
I found these cards while sorting out old books. I have a few 'decks' of these cards lying in the garage. COBOL programs were long. So, if there were a hundred and twenty lines in a program the deck of cards which were punched would have an equal number of cards....
Let us see. It is possible that a few decades from today my nieces can sell these cards at some auction site and earn a few million dollars. That is one way of ensuring that they do not forget their crazy uncle...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, January 28, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
A cricket match in Indore
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Sunday January 6, 2008.
The Ranji Trophy semi-final between Delhi and Baroda played at Indore at the Usha Raje Stadium. Some images from the second day's play. The match was eventually won by Delhi which moved on to the finals where it will be meeting Uttar Pradesh. This was also the day that India lost the infamous second Test Match to Australia and there was a lot of bad blood between both the teams.
Click here to see more images from a blog post in my Sulekha weblog.
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Sunday January 6, 2008.
The Ranji Trophy semi-final between Delhi and Baroda played at Indore at the Usha Raje Stadium. Some images from the second day's play. The match was eventually won by Delhi which moved on to the finals where it will be meeting Uttar Pradesh. This was also the day that India lost the infamous second Test Match to Australia and there was a lot of bad blood between both the teams.
Click here to see more images from a blog post in my Sulekha weblog.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Wednesday 9 January 2008.
A dangal (wrestling tournament) in village Kodariya. Tehsil Mhow, District Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
I spent around an hour there. Savouring the atmosphere. The noise, the drums, the excitement. Local wrestlers as well as others from Gwalior, Delhi and Haryana were participating. Women were also present among the spectators. And there were female wrestlers too. These included girls who had represented India at the national level. Unfortunately the pressure of work prevented me from staying on and enjoying the full dangal. Enjoy the pictures:
A dangal (wrestling tournament) in village Kodariya. Tehsil Mhow, District Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
I spent around an hour there. Savouring the atmosphere. The noise, the drums, the excitement. Local wrestlers as well as others from Gwalior, Delhi and Haryana were participating. Women were also present among the spectators. And there were female wrestlers too. These included girls who had represented India at the national level. Unfortunately the pressure of work prevented me from staying on and enjoying the full dangal. Enjoy the pictures:
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