It was not so long ago that the most revered member of Rajasthan's aristocracy late Rajmata Gayatri Devi left her mansion to sit on a stretch of pavement to protest against the real estate developers who are aiming to change the skyline of this historic pink city Jaipur.
Her actions were only symbolic, but they clearly echoed the increasing anger amongst the conservationists at the damage being caused by rapid construction in one of the most popular tourist destinations of the country.
With the economic boom, the new explosion in building construction has altered the city's character. Pink city is losing its distinction from other cities, as new Jaipur looks like any other city in India with similar architecture with malls and multistorey buildings covering its skyline.
Founded in 1727, Jaipur is known for its richness of palaces, forts and its walled city, a medieval maze of bazaars. Although, major monuments have been benefited from restoration work, conservation experts are concerned that the rest of the historic city is drowning beneath new, often illegal, construction work.
The famous walled city of Jaipur has also not been left behind with this entire construction spree. Radical alterations are being made to the ancient buildings of old Jaipur without realizing the loss of its original architecture.
With each passing year, Jaipur is in less of gain and more of loss from urban modernization. The question of the peak hour is whether constructions done in a wide scale will leave Jaipur with its own identity which makes it memorable and known as the Royal City.
After Operation Bluestar ended and the complex was still in a state of chaos and disorder, then president Zail Singh visited the place June 8, 1984. Given the impact the incident had on the psyche of people in Punjab and elsewhere, the authorities were in a hurry to clean up the place, withdraw the army and hand over the Golden Temple complex to the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC).
Consequently, over 1,200 workers from the municipal corporation were engaged in sprucing up the place. It was amidst this exercise that prime minister Indira Gandhi visited the Golden Temple on the morning of June 23. Local media persons were not allowed access to the complex. In fact the media was not permitted to cover the visit of even Zail Singh.
The walled city was under tight security cover and even the movement of pedestrians was restricted. Deciding not to let the occasion be given a miss, my colleague, Gurdip Singh and I walked towards the walled city and reached near the footbridge when we saw a cavalcade of vehicles heading towards the army cantonment.
Indira Gandhi was returning from the complex and was seated in the front seat of a white Ambassador car, wearing a white-bordered sari and goggles. We waved to her and she reciprocated.
Minutes later, we were with Giani Sahib Singh, head priest of the Golden Temple, who had briefed Gandhi exhaustively. After paying obeisance inside the sanctum sanctorum, she had sat down to listen to 'kirtan' (religious hymns). The Giani showed her the extensive damage to certain buildings, particularly the Akal Takht (the highest temporal seat of Sikh religion). The priest told us that he had made some demands, including allowing devotees to pay obeisance daily even if it was only for a fixed time period.
That was the last I saw of Indira Gandhi.
She was assassinated on the morning of Oct 31, 1984. As the day advanced, the news cast shock, anguish, confusion and fear in the city. The confusion was all the more prevalent in the Shiromani Akali Dal, among the head priests and the SGPC who took vacillating stands on the killing.
Nevertheless, in the intervening period between her visit to the Golden Temple in June and her assassination, Gandhi launched what came to be known as 'healing touch' aimed at assuaging the hurt religious sensibilities of the devotees and the devout especially the Sikhs.
The direct broadcast of gurbani from 'Harmandar Sahib' (popularly known as Golden Temple) at dawn and dusk was one such step. The other 'healing touch' was to repair and restore the buildings, particularly the Akal Takht, damaged because of army operations in as short a period of time as possible.
In this decision fault-lines were visible sooner than later as neither the Sikh political nor religious leadership accepted the entrusting of this task to Nihang chief, Baba Santa Singh, who was drafted into this kar sewa by the then union home minister Buta Singh, with the centre providing the finances and the army engineers tactical support.
With the passage of time, the government-repaired Akal Takht was demolished. The rest is history.
The morning after Gandhi's assassination, some local journalists went to Agwan, a non-descript village, barely 20 km from the border with Pakistan. It is about eight km from Dera Baba Nanak. This was the village of Satwant Singh, one of the assassins of Indira Gandhi.
When we reached the village, we found that some people had not heard about her assassination. The sarpanch (village headman) and others heard the news in disbelief and could not believe that their own 'munda' (boy) could do such a thing.
The house of Satwant Singh was deserted. The police had taken away Tarlok Singh, his father, in the wee hours of November 1. Other family members had fled.
Looking back, one observes that Amritsar and its people have shown resilience and are back in business-as-usual mode. This is evident from a revisit to the place this month after a prolonged gap.
The chaotic traffic inside the walled city has become more pronounced. The disorder is on account of the construction of flyovers, particularly on roads leading to the Golden Temple from the bus terminus. Vehicle entry is restricted beyond Jallianwala Bagh.
Devotees now walk to the complex from beyond Jallianwala Bagh. Inside the complex, it takes over half-an-hour from the main 'Darshni Deori' to the sanctum sanctorum to pay obeisance. Some repair and construction work is still underway in the 'Parikrama' (symbol of prayer). The physical marks of Operation Bluestar may, over a period of time blur. But will the scars embossed and embedded in the psyche ever get erased?
Milestones in Indira Gandhi's life:
Nov 19, 1917: Indira is born
1938: Joins Indian National Congress
1942: Marries Feroze Gandhi
Sep 11, 1942: Couple is imprisoned at Naini Central jail, Allahabad, on charges of subversion
1947-1964: Remains with her father Jawaharlal Nehru as hostess and close supporter
1947: Under Mahatma Gandhi's instructions, Indira Gandhi works in riot-affected areas of Delhi.
1953-57: Serves as chairman of the Central Social Welfare Board
1955: Becomes member of Congress Working Committee and Central Election Committee
1956: Becomes member of Central Parliamentary Board
1956-60: Becomes president of Youth Congress
1960: Feroze Gandhi, her husband, dies
1964: Nehru, her father, dies
1964: Elected to parliament in his place
1964-66: Serves as minister of information and broadcasting
1966: Becomes prime minister after death of Lal Bahadur Shastri
1971: Calls for general election and wins by an enormous margin
- Declares war with Pakistan over Bangladesh
- India's first satellite launched into space
1973: Demonstrations in country over soaring prices and corruption
1974: India tests nuclear device.
June 1975: High Court of Allahabad finds her guilty of illegal practices during election campaign; ordered to vacate her Lok Sabha seat.
- Declares state of emergency. Thousands jailed.
1977: Calls for early elections but loses.
- Faces charges of corruption and authoritarianism, is expelled from parliament and is imprisoned.
1978: Released from prison
- Resigns from Congress
- Becomes leader of Indian National Congress
- Wins seat through by-election
1980: Re-elected as prime minister
- Sanjay Gandhi, her youngest son, dies in plane crash
June 1984: To crush secessionist movement in Punjab, she launches Operation Blue Star. Sends troops into the Golden Temple of Amritsar.
Oct 31, 1984: Indira Gandhi is assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards.
Anxiety in government and Congress circles is growing even as seven helicopters, including four from the Indian Air Force, are on
desperate search and rescue mission for the helicopter carrying Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, which has been missing since 9.27am on Wednesday.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy remained untraced Wedneday evening, nearly seven hours after his helicopter went missing amid bad weather in a densely forested Maoist stronghold, triggering a desperate search by the military and police.
TV9 News Channel Website
The government said at least five Indian Air Force and one private helicopter had joined the hunt for the missing chopper that carried YSR, as the 60-year-old chief minister is known, and his special secretary besides two pilots from Hyderabad to Chittoor, 588 km away and closer to Tamil Nadu.
Flanked by Finance Minister K. Rosiah, Chief Secretary Ramakanth Reddy urged people in the Nallamalla forest area that covers Kurnool and adjoining districts to alert the police if they learnt anything about the helicopter.
YSR's fate caused tremors in New Delhi, where the office of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi were in touch with the state government, Reddy told reporters here.
The state government had also alerted both the home and defence ministries in New Delhi.
The chief secretary said two air force helicopters from Secunderabad and three from Bangalore were looking for the chief minister's helicopter along with a private chopper from Andhra Pradesh.
Andhra Pradesh has also urged New Delhi to send an unmanned aircraft to the area.
The state government had lost touch with the chief minister at around 9.45 a.m.
"So far we have not been able to get any confirmation (about the chief minister). It is possible that because of the strong winds and heavy rains, it may have landed in some unfamiliar area," Reddy said. "If you land in an unfamiliar forested area, getting out will be very difficult."
He urged people living in the forested region to "kindly help us. If you get any signal, any reliable information, contact the nearest police station".
YSR had taken off from Hyderabad to attend a function in Chittoor Wednesday morning. The helicopter went off the radar amid inclement weather, causing panic in Hyderabad.
Shortly before before the finance minister and chief secretary spoke, there were conflicting versions about YSR's fate.
Social Welfare Minister P. Subhash Chandra Bose said the chief minister was safe after the helicopter landed in Kurnool district, but police both in Hyderabad and Kurnool declined to back the minister's claim.
"We have information that the chief minister is safe," said Chandra Bose. He did reveal any details.
Congress MP from Nandyal S.P.Y. Reddy, however, told a television channel that he was yet to receive any information about YSR's whereabouts from the police.
A high-level meeting was held at the state secretariat here after the helicopter went missing.
It was attended by Home Minister P. Sabita Indra Reddy, Chief Secretary Ramakant Reddy, Director General of Police S.S.P. Yadav, the chief minister's close aide and Rajya Sabha MP K.V.P. Ramchandra Rao and senior state ministers.
A doctor by training, YSR is presently one of the most influential leaders in the Congress after leading the party again to a spectacular win in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections in April-May this year.
Elected to the state assembly for the fifth time, YSR is also a four-time Lok Sabha member and holds the record of never losing an election.
Missing Andhra Pradesh CM Y S Rajasekhara Reddy still not found?
With panic and anxiety writ large on their faces, hundreds of Congress party workers gathered at the state secretariat here waiting to hear some news about the whereabouts and safety of Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who remained untraced since his chopper went missing Wednesday morning.
State ministers, top bureaucrats, a large number of state employees, ruling party leaders and workers descended at the secretariat, the seat of government, as the word spread that the chief minister remained untraced even eight hours after his chopper lost contact with the air traffic control.
With prayers on their lips, the Congress leaders and admirers of YSR, as the chief minister is popularly known, stood outside the D block in the secretariat, which houses the Chief Minister's Office.
They were raising slogans "Long live YSR" as the security personnel had a tough time controlling the crowd.
There was some relief when state ministers told reporters that the chief minister was safe and his chopper had landed somewhere.
There were also reports on Sakshi television channel owned by the chief minister's son Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy that YSR was safe and spoke to his close aide K.V.P. Ramchandra Rao.
The channel also claimed that the chief minister would be reaching Hyderabad in an army helicopter any moment.
However, minutes later Finance Minister K.Rosaiah told reporters at the secretariat that the chief minister remained untraced.
He only hoped that the chopper had landed in some forest area and appealed to people to help trace it.
"We are worried after what Rosaiah said. We were earlier happy that the chief minister is safe. We are now praying to god," said Sudhakar Reddy, a Youth Congress leader.
Another Congress supporter said: "I am confident that he is safe. He is people's man. He did a lot for the welfare of people. Nothing will happen to him."
At Gandhi Bhavan, the headquarters of the ruling Congress, a large number of women workers were seen praying for the safety of their leader.
Hundreds of others gathered outside the chief minister's camp office in Begumpet bringing the traffic to a halt in the busy area.
Four other along with Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in the missing helicopter
Hopes for the safety of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy were fading along with daylight Wednesday evening, eight hours after his helicopter went missing amid bad weather in a densely forested Maoist stronghold, triggering a desperate search by the military and police.
There were fears that the falling darkness would impede rescue operations by the five Indian Air Force and one private helicopter that had joined the hunt for the missing chopper. It was carrying YSR, as the 60-year-old chief minister is known, and his special secretary, his security officer besides two pilots from Hyderabad to Chittoor, 588 km away and closer to Tamil Nadu.
Flanked by Finance Minister K. Rosiah, Chief Secretary Ramakanth Reddy urged people in the Nallamalla forest area that covers Kurnool and adjoining districts to alert the police if they learnt anything about the helicopter.
YSR's fate caused tremors in New Delhi, where the office of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi were in touch with the state government, Reddy told reporters here.
The state government had also alerted both the home and defence ministries in New Delhi.
The chief secretary said two air force helicopters from Secunderabad and three from Bangalore were looking for the chief minister's helicopter along with a private chopper from Andhra Pradesh.
Andhra Pradesh also urged New Delhi to send an unmanned aircraft to the area.
The state government had lost touch with the chief minister at around 9.35 a.m.
"So far we have not been able to get any confirmation (about the chief minister). It is possible that because of the strong winds and heavy rains, it may have landed in some unfamiliar area," Reddy said. "If you land in an unfamiliar forested area, getting out will be very difficult."
He urged people living in the forested region to "kindly help us. If you get any signal, any reliable information, contact the nearest police station".
YSR had taken off from Hyderabad to attend a function in Chittoor Wednesday morning. The helicopter went off the radar amid inclement weather, causing panic in Hyderabad.
Shortly before before the finance minister and chief secretary spoke, there were conflicting versions about YSR's fate.
Social Welfare Minister P. Subhash Chandra Bose said the chief minister was safe after the helicopter landed in Kurnool district, but police both in Hyderabad and Kurnool declined to back the minister's claim.
"We have information that the chief minister is safe," said Chandra Bose. He did reveal any details.
Congress MP from Nandyal S.P.Y. Reddy, however, told a television channel that he was yet to receive any information about YSR's whereabouts from the police.
A high-level meeting was held at the state secretariat here after the helicopter went missing.
It was attended by Home Minister P. Sabita Indra Reddy, Chief Secretary Ramakant Reddy, Director General of Police S.S.P. Yadav, the chief minister's close aide and Rajya Sabha MP K.V.P. Ramchandra Rao and senior state ministers.
A doctor by training, YSR is presently one of the most influential leaders in the Congress after leading the party again to a spectacular win in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections in April-May this year.
Elected to the state assembly for the fifth time, YSR is also a four-time Lok Sabha member and holds the record of never losing an election.
Four-year-old Sanjay Balakrishnan died of influenza A (H1N1) infection at a private hospital here Monday, becoming the sixth swine flu victim in the country.
Sources at Neta Hospital, where the boy was admitted, said he had been hospitalised with fever and diarrhoea last week. Later, he was diagnosed with kidney failure and chest congestion.
On Saturday, Balakrishnan tested positive for swine flu. The next day, he suffered multiple organ failure and was put on ventilator. He died Monday morning.
B. 1908, D. 2004
Chanteloup, Seine-et-Marne, France
Henri Cartier Bresson is considered to be the father of modern photojournalism, an early adopter of 35mm format, and the master of candid photography.
He helped develop the “street photography” style that has influenced generations of photographers that followed.
His sharp-shooter’s ability to catch “the decisive moment,” his precise eye for design, his self-effacing methods of work, and his literate comments about the theory and practice of photography made him a legendary figure among contemporary photojournalists.
His approaches to photography and works have exercised a profound and far-reaching influence. His pictures and picture essays have been published in most of the world’s major magazines during three decades, and Cartier-Bresson prints have hung in the leading art museums of the United States and Europe (his monumental ‘The Decisive Moment’ show being the first photographic exhibit ever to be displayed in the halls of the Louvre).
In the practical world of picture marketing, Cartier-Bresson left his imprint as well: he was one of the founders and a former president of Magnum, a cooperative picture agency of New York and Paris.
Taken prisoner of war in 1940, he escaped on his third attempt in 1943 and subsequently joined an underground organization to assist prisoners and escapees. In 1945 he photographed the liberation of Paris with a group of professional journalists and then filmed the documentary Le Retour (The Return).
From 1968 he began to curtail his photographic activities, preferring to concentrate on drawing and painting. In 2003, with his wife and daughter, he created the “Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson” in Paris for the preservation of his work. Cartier-Bresson received an extraordinary number of prizes, awards and honorary doctorates. He died at his home in Provence on 3 August 2004, a few weeks short of his 96th birthday.
Awards
1986 Novecento Premio
1981 Grand Prix National de la Photographie
1975 Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie
1975 Culture Prize
1964 Overseas Press Club of America Award
1960 Overseas Press Club of America Award
1959 Prix de la Société Française de Photographie
1954 Overseas Press Club of America Award
1953 A.S.M.P. Award
1948 Overseas Press Club of America Award
Credits/Sources: http://www.photo-seminars.com/Fame/bresson.htm
http://www.magnumphotos.com/archive/C.aspx?VP=XSpecific_MAG.Biography_VPage&AID=2K7O3R14T50B
Decisive Moment: This term became associated with Henri Cartier Bresson after his book “Images à la sauvette” was released in 1952 and its English edition was titled “The Decisive Moment.”
Henri said, “There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative.”
“Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever.”
Decisive Moment is the moment in an event which makes the instant and the image ever-lasting. It is the photographer’s ability to intuit that moment and click the camera at the perfect time.
Henri Cartier-Bresson’s ability to catch the moment in which an event is about to take place, made him a legendary figure in photojournalism.
At least 49 new swine flu cases were reported Saturday in this Maharashtra city, as a doctor and a pharmacist, both influenza A(H1N1) patients, continued to be critical for the second day, health authorities said.
A swine flu patient in Mumbai has also turned critical, according to the officials.
The authorities shut down four more colleges and a school in Pune for a week after some students tested positive for influenza A(H1N1).
The educational institutions that were ordered to be shut Saturday are S.P. College, ILS College, VIT College, Dehu Road College and Bishops School, said S.R. Pardeshi, head of Pune Municipal Corporation's health department.
These are in addition to the Symbiosis Campus Senapati Bapat Marg that was ordered shut Friday after an 18-year old female student tested positive, Pardeshi said.
The condition of the Symbiosis student is stable and improving, according to Faculty of Health Science Dean Rajiv Yeravdekar.
In the past few weeks, nearly 40 schools in Pune and one in Pancghani, a hill station in adjacent Satara district, have been hit by the flu cases.
Among the 116 patients in different Pune hospitals, a medico and a pharmacist have been put on ventilators as they continued to be critical, the official said.
Maharashtra has reported over 260 cases and 160 are from Pune, the city that has been declared pandemic.
In Mumbai, 28-year-old businessman Sandeep Gaikwad, who was admitted to the Hiranandani Hospital after developing swine flue symptoms last week, turned critical yesterday and was put on a ventilator.
As a precautionary measure, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) has opened five new swine flue screening centres, a health official said.
They include: M.T. Agarwal Hospital, Mulund, Rajawadi Hospital, Ghatkopar; Bhabha Hospital, Bandra; Siddharth Hospital, Goregaon; and Bhagwati Hospital, Borivli, even as Kasturba Hospital continues to be the main centre for treatment.
In Pune, the government opened two more cenrtres for swine flu treatment.
"Apart from the regular Naidu Hospital, we have started treating swine flu patients at Sassoon Hospital and the Aundh Hospital, too," Swine Flu Control Room head Pradeep Awate told IANS.
Five people, including a five-year old girl, have been admitted to the intensive care unit of the Sassoon Hospital. The girl's condition is "stable", according to Awate and besides swine flu symptoms, she is also suffering from pneumonia.
A 53-year-old woman died of swine flu here Saturday evening, as the influenza A(H1N1) virus claimed its second victim in India in less than a week, officials said.
The woman, identified as Fehmida Panwala, a Mumbai resident, died at Kasturba hospital here, Maharashtra's Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Sharvari Gokhale told IANS.
A resident of Jogeshwari suburb in northwest Mumbai, Fehmida was Tuesday admitted to a hospital near her residence for diabetes and hypertension problems.
On Friday, she was admitteed in the Lilavati Hospital for a few hours. Her condition worsened and she was rushed to the Kasturba Hospital in the evening. Her sample was taken Saturday morning and she was diagnosed with influenza A(H1N1) in the afternoon.
"She tested positive for swine flu and passed away this (Saturday) evening," Gokhale said.
This is India's second swine flu death after 14-year-old Reeda Shaikh succumbed to the disease in Pune Monday.
Accodring to official figures, over 720 people in India have tested positive for swine flu so far, though over 500 of them have been discharged after being treated.
Maharashtra has reported over 260 cases and 160 are from Pune, the city that has been declared pandemic-hit. A doctor and a pharmacist, both influenza A(H1N1) patients, continued to be critical for the second day Saturday.
In Mumbai, 28-year-old businessman Sandeep Gaikwad, who was admitted to the Hiranandani Hospital after developing swine flue symptoms last week, turned critical Friday and was put on a ventilator.
Following Reeda's death, the state and central governments have announced strict guidelines to deal with suspected swine flu cases.
A team of international astrophysicists has found a new explanation for the early composition of our solar system.
The team has found that radioactive nuclei found in the earliest meteorites, dating back billions of years, could have been delivered by a nearby dying giant star, six times the mass of the sun.
Maria Lugaro from Monash University said the findings could change our current ideas on the origin of the solar system.
"We have known about the early presence of these radioactive nuclei in meteorites since the 1960s, but we do not know where they originated from. The presence of the radioactive nuclei has been previously linked to a nearby supernova explosion, but we are showing now that these nuclei are more compatible with an origin from the winds coming from a large dying star," Lugaro said.
The conclusion was reached by combining stellar observations from telescopes with recently developed theoretical models reproduced on powerful computers of how stars evolve and which nuclear reaction occurs within their interiors.
"Within one million years of the formation of the solar system the radioactive nuclei decayed inside the rocks where they were trapped, releasing high-energy photons, which caused the rocks to heat."
"Since much of earth's water is believed to have originated from these first rocks, the possibility of life on earth depends on their heating history and, in turn, on the presence of radioactive nuclei." Lugaro said.
"What we need to do now is investigate the probability that a dying giant star could have actually been nearby our then young solar system and polluted it with radioactive nuclei," he said.
The findings have been published in Meteoritic and Planetary Science.
For an Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter pilot chasing a target at Mach 2.5 or more than twice the speed of sound and yet not managing to play catch seems like something out of a sci-fi film. But for Air Marshal S. Mukerji, chasing the sun's shadow during the total solar eclipse on Oct 24, 1995, that's exactly what happened.
Heralding the IAF's participation in scientific study of total solar eclipse, Mukerji, presently the Air Officer-in-Charge Personnel at Air Headquarters and the then commanding officer of IAF's only MiG-25 reconnaissance squadron based at Bareilly, undertook a sortie in the giant plane to record the celestial event. He got the rare opportunity to film the Sun's corona from an astounding altitude of 80,000 feet.
"We flew at Mach 2.5 in the path of the eclipse at 80,000 feet along the planned central axis of the eclipse over Neem ka Thana (in Rajasthan's Sikar district)," recalled Mukerji of his historic sortie.
The sortie finds a mention in his flying log book simply as "Supersonic Profile".
"The weather and visibility were not any constraints as clarity at stratospheric levels is far better than that nearer the ground," he said.
After the total solar eclipse of 1898 over India, the next occurrence took place in 1980. And in the subsequent total solar eclipse in 1995, the IAF assisted the Department of Science and Technology (DST) in their quest to film this celestial alignment. This was possible with aviation speeds streaking way past the supersonic barrier.
With a manual camera mounted above the instrument panel, a special lead and button provided to the other pilot, Wing Commander Y.S. Babu, seated in the front cockpit, the duo, with special solar filters on their visors flew straight towards the Sun for a minute and 24 seconds, photographing never-before seen images of the spectacle during the total solar eclipse.
"A lot of preparation went into the sortie. It had to be charted and axis programmed on the inertial navigation system, with briefings by scientists armed with NASA charts. The aircraft was first jacked up and the angle-of-attack simulated on the ground to harmonize the camera along the axis.
"In addition, the aircraft's belly camera could capture the shadow beneath that was 85 km in width," Mukerji explained.
During Wednesday's eclipse, a 10-member team of scientists and a camera team will be flying in an AN-32 transport aircraft from the Agra airbase in an endeavour to film the event. The aircraft will fly along the central axis on a north-westerly direction at an approximate altitude of 25,000 feet, turn around at Khajuraho and land back at Agra.
This apart, a Mirage-2000 trainer will also take off from the Gwalior airbase and the pilot in the rear seat will take photographs as the fighter flies on an angular track to the central axis of the Sun's shadow.
Did you know animals and birds often prepare for sleep or behave confusedly during total solar eclipse? Well, here are some other little known facts about solar eclipse.
- The longest recorded duration for a total solar eclipse is 7.5 minutes.
- A total solar eclipse will not be visible until the sun is more than 90 percent covered by the moon.
- When the sun is covered 99 percent, day becomes night in the areas where the eclipse is visible.
- In the 5,000-year period - between 2000 BC and 3000 AD - the earth is supposed to witness 11,898 solar eclipses.
- There can be a maximum total five solar eclipses, partial, annular or total in any year, and there are at least two solar eclipses every year somewhere on the earth.
- Total solar eclipses occur once every year or two years and only during a new moon.
- Every eclipse begins at sunrise at some point in its track and ends at sunset about half way around the globe from the starting point. Wednesday's total solar eclipse will start at sunrise in India and end at sunset in the eastern hemisphere.
- Nearly identical eclipses (total, annular or partial) occur after every 18 years and 11 days, called the Saros Cycle.
- During a solar eclipse, moon shadow travels at a speed of 1770.28 km per hour at the equator and up to 8,046.73 kmph at the north and south poles.
- During an eclipse, the moon's shadow is at the most 273.59 km wide, and in the path of totality, local temperatures can drop by as much as 20 degrees Celsius during a total solar eclipse.
- Prior to the advent of modern atomic clocks, studies of ancient records of solar eclipses enabled astronomers to detect a 0.001 second per century slowing down in earth's rotation.
Major Hindu temples across India will shut their doors for a day July 22 to ward off the negative energy said to be generated by the total solar eclipse, which, priests and spiritual gurus say, weaken the natural "positive aura" of idols in shrines.
While the Venkateswara temple in Tirumala will close its gates at 9 p.m. July 21 to 8 a.m. July 22, the Lakshmi-Narayan temple in the capital, also known as the Birla Temple, will remain closed during the period of the eclipse .
"The temple usually opens at 4.30 a.m. But on Wednesday, it will open at 7.30 a.m. During the eclipse, we will keep tulsi leaves, holy water from the Ganges, kusha (grass) and rudraksha inside the sanctum as a shield. After the eclipse, we will sprinkle water from the Ganges to purify the temple before getting on with the morning rituals. The scriptures day it is inauspicious to invoke the deities during eclipse because the shadow on the sun depletes psychological strength," Ravindra Nagar, the head priest of the Birla Temple, told IANS.
All Birla temples across the country will remain shut during the eclipse.
A statement by the Tirumala Turupati Devasthanam, which manages the famous temple at Tirupati, said 'ekantham' or service to the lord, performed in the morning, will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday.
The famous Sri Kanakdurga temple at Indrakeeladri hill in Vijaywada, Brahmarambika Mallikarjuna Swamyvari Devasthanam at Srisailam, Sitaramachandra Swamy temple at Bhadrachalam and Satyanarayana Swamy temple at Annavaram in Andhra Pradesh and almost all temples in Kerala will remain closed.
"However, the dhyanalinga shrines remain open. As all temples in India are energy centres, the extreme pull exerted by the combined energies of the sun, moon and the planets during solar eclipse makes it a good time for devotees to visit Dhayanlinga temples and make use of the energy. Dhyanalinga temples are usually meditation space," spiritual guru Jaggi Vasudev, head of the spiritual organisation, Isha Foundation, told IANS from Coimbatore.
As the core of the Dhyanalinga deity, usually Lord Shiva, is solidified mercury, eclipse activates the energy centre and makes it more easily avilable to people, he explained.
In most temples across south India which will remain shut druing the eclipse, the idols and sanctums will be covered by organic material like "grass, leaves of the neem or vila trees or raw silk shroud to prevent the natural aura from being destroyed", the seer from Coimbatore said.
Usually, deities in temples which have been consecrated by mantras and rituals have an external energy field around the form which combined pull of the sun and moon during the can weaken during the eclipse.
-Indo-Asian News Service
Credits: Julie Demboski’s Astrology
Of the two Lunar eclipses and one Solar eclipse occurring in this set, the upcoming Solar one is the one to watch. Not literally, of course, as that will burn your eyes out (no wonder people were frightened of eclipses–there must have been plenty of village idiots who did just that–and who wouldn’t think it was God, or gods, or Baal, or Apollo, or Ra punishing those hubristic enough to stare into what in many cultures amounts to the face of God?) No, watch this Solar eclipse, promised in the Pacific time zone of North America at 7:33 PM the 21st of July, for the figurative burn it may bring.partial solar eclipse
The transiting Sun and Moon meet at 29 Cancer 26, an anaretic degree, and that signals the energies involved are both in a state of high stress. Why? Placement of any energy at an anaretic degree (the very earliest and latest of a sign) suggests that the body has traveled through the experience cycle of all preceding degrees of the sign–now the body is pressured to symbolically ‘finish up’ with the energy spectrum of the sign. This means that any facets of the sign not experienced during the course of the transit now come forward, needing to be expressed in order to complete the experience cycle. In this case, the energies are Cancerian: of nurture, care, involved with others, nourishing, intrusive, emotional, intuitive, maternal, enveloping, sensitive, changeable or monthly. For all of us, the place in the natal chart where 29 degrees of Cancer falls (if this does not fall on a natal placement) will designate by House where we may be facing a crisis energy that blends the Cancer experience spectrum with the matters of the House.
Solar eclipseFor those with a natal placement at this degree (or within 2 degrees of it, either side), the crisis energy is much stronger, and specific to the manifestation of the natal body or point. By ‘crisis,’ however, I mean ‘need to face’ as it applies to the matters brought forward. If one is willing to be responsible, literally willing to respond, one need not suffer crisis or upset of any kind–in fact the impetus offered by the Solar eclipse energy can bring great leaps forward, particularly at the personal level, in illuminating all facets of a matter or issue, and endowing one with the energy and ’sight’ to resolve it.
Other natal placements to which the eclipse is in hard aspect may share in the crisis energy (though to a lesser intensity or extent), with the aspect itself suggesting the way toward resolution. For instance, a square says that the eclipse will present an energy situation (related to both the 29 Cancer placement and the House in which this occurs) that is in conflict with the natal energy as it exists, and requires one to weigh, consider, and negotiate as one would with any square. Again, keep the aspect orb to 2 degrees or less, and as with the conjunction, a willingness to face the energy and deal with it can minimize or eliminate problems, and even turn them to your advantage.
Soft contacts to natal placements (sextiles, trines) offer to bolster the manifestation of the natal energy with the eclipse energy. We musn’t assume that this is uniformly positive, however, as ease in blending the two energies can bring forward a ‘path of least resistance’ manifestation that may effectively undermine our best interests. Control is the key with soft aspects, channeling them productively into assisting expression of the natal energy while remaining attentive to implications and ramifications of the interaction.
The eclipse itself makes a few aspects: a quincunx to Pluto, and a conjunction to the South Node in Leo (with complementary opposition to the North Node). Whenever we have an eclipse, it’s important to look at the pattern it forms with other transiting bodies, as this tells us something about the effects we can expect; the contacts the eclipse makes are essentially part and parcel of the ‘eclipse package’ we experience. A quincunx to Pluto suggests that the crisis energy of the eclipse will run deep, be intense, transformative, and perhaps a little dangerous or disturbing, unearthing secrets or things we’d rather leave buried. This aspect may make us feel that the eclipse itself is dangerous or disruptive, but this is the energy of the eclipse feeding through and adjusting (the quincunx) to the active energy of transiting Pluto, and to our senses there may be no distinction.orbital view solar eclipse
The Solar eclipse conjunct the South Node in Leo brings in elements of the past and our place in it. Identity issues are ‘lit up’ by the eclipse, and the South Node itself is at an anaretic degree (but this time in the opposite situation to the eclipse–here the South Node is back at the seminal moment of our past that helped form our identity, our creative sense of Self–00 Leo).
We can expect matters of the Self, our origins in the past, and secrets or change, to be the eclipse effect for all of us, with reference to the House where the eclipse occurs; those with a natal hook must figure in the natal effect, as well, using common sense and positioning oneself mentally to make the most of available energies. And remember, Dark of the Moon precedes the eclipse, meaning that we may all be feeling a little more ‘in the dark’ than we’d like beginning about evening PDT of the 18th, with illumination coming on the New Moon, as it always does.
lightningAn eclipse is really an opportunity to put lightning in a bottle; let’s do our best to use the energy wisely.
बुधवार सुबह जब इस सदी का सबसे लंबा और पूर्ण सूर्यग्रहण होगा तो भारत में कुछ लोग हवाई जहाज़ में सवार होकर इसका नज़ारा देख रहे होंगे और कुछ ज़मीन पर इसके नकारात्मक प्रभाव से बचने की कोशिश में होंगे.
इतना लंबा सूर्यग्रहण दोबारा 123 साल बाद होगा. पूर्ण ग्रहण भारतीय समय के मुताबिक सुबह छह बज कर 23 मिनट से देखा जा सकेगा और इसे देखने के लिए बेहतरीन जगह है पटना के पास का तरेगना गाँव जहाँ यह ग्रहण तीन मिनट 48 सेकेंड के लिए नज़र आएगा.
लेकिन बरसात का मौसम है और घटा का ख़तरा, लिहाज़ा खगोलीय शिक्षा के क्षेत्र में काम करने वाले संगठन स्पेस ने इस मौके पर एक हवाई जहाज़ किराए पर लिया है.
संगठन से संबंध रखने वाले अमित वर्मा कहते हैं कि ज़्यादातर सीटें बुक हो चुकी हैं.
इस जहाज़ पर ऐसे बहुत कम लोग हैं जिन्हें पहले से खगोलीय ज्ञान का शौक है. बहुत से फोटोग्राफ़र हैं और ऐसे लोग भी जिन्हें नई चीज़ें आज़माने का शौक है.
अमित वर्मा
वो कहते हैं, "इस जहाज़ पर ऐसे बहुत कम लोग हैं जिन्हें पहले से खगोलीय ज्ञान का शौक है. बहुत से फोटोग्राफ़र हैं और ऐसे लोग भी जिन्हें नई चीज़ें आज़माने का शौक है."
इस जहाज़ पर अगर आप खिड़की के पास बैठना चाहें तो टिकट 81 हज़ार रूपए का है लेकिन बाक़ी सीटें 29 हज़ार से शुरु होती हैं.
ये जहाज़ दिल्ली से उड़ान भरने के बाद गया के ऊपर सैलानियों को सूर्य ग्रहण का नज़ारा दिखाएगा.
अमित कहते हैं, "41 हज़ार फुट की ऊंचाई का मतलब ये है कि आप बादलों से ऊपर उड़ान भर रहे होंगे और जब सूरज अंधेरे में डूबेगा तो बदली छाने की कोई बाधा आड़े नहीं आएगी."
ज़मीन पर तैयारी
ये तो हुई आसमान की बात. ज़मीन पर क्या हो रहा है? सूर्यग्रहण के दौरान बहुत से मंदिरों के दरवाज़े श्रद्धालुओं के लिए बंद कर दिए जाएंगे.
दिल्ली के प्राचीन हनुमान मंदिर के पुजारी पंडित श्रीरामनंदन झा कहते हैं, "ग्रहण के वक्त देवी देवताओं की शक्ति कम हो जाती है. ग्रहण के बाद उन्हें दोबारा स्नान करा कर भोग कराया जाएगा जिसके बाद ही मंदिरों के पट फिर खोले जाएंगे."
सूर्यग्रहण
दिल्ली के अधिकतर मंदिर ग्रहण के दौरान बंद रहेंगे
ज्योतिषियों का भी ख़याल है कि सूर्यग्रहण अच्छी ख़बर नहीं है. दिल्ली में ज्योतिषियों के संगठन के अध्यक्ष अरुण बंसल के मुताबिक जहां कहीं भी ग्रहण नज़र आएगा वहां नुकसान होगा.
वो कहते हैं, "इस बार भारत में ग्रहण ज़्यादा नज़र आ रहा है. इसलिए यहां प्राकृतिक विपदाओं और दुर्घटनाओं की आशंका रहेगी और इसमें किसी बड़े नेता का निधन भी हो सकता है. इसके अलावा सूर्य ग्रहण के पंद्रह दिनों बाद भूकंप आने का ख़तरा भी होगा."
ज्योतिषियों की भविष्यवाणी कहां तक सच साबित होगी ये तो कोई नहीं जानता लेकिन अगर आपने सूर्यग्रहण देखते समय पर्याप्त एहतियात नहीं बरती तो आँखों को काफी नुकसान पहुँच सकता है.
अंतरिक्ष अनुसंधान के अमरीकी संगठन नासा के अनुसार ग्रहण देखने का सबसे सस्ता और सुरक्षित तरीका ये है कि इसे सीधे देखने की बज़ाए इसका प्रतिबिंब देखा जाए.
सीधे देखने के लिए स्पेशल फिल्टर का इस्तेमाल करना ज़रूरी है ताकि सूरज की हानिकारक किरणों के प्रभाव से बचा जा सके.
पूर्ण सूर्य ग्रहण २००९ और भारत
भारत, पाकिस्तान, चीन, जापान समेत अनेक देशों में 22 जुलाई का सूर्य ग्रहण दिखाई देगा। विज्ञानिकों का कहना है कि ये इस शताब्दी के लंबे सूर्य ग्रहण में से एक होगा।
भारत में पूर्ण सूर्यग्रहण के मौक़े पर पर्यटकों को लुभाने की कोशिश जोर शोर से की जा रही है.
हालांकि भारत में पूर्ण सूर्यग्रहण केवल कुछ मिनट के लिए ही दिखाई देगा लेकिन पर्यटन कंपनियों ने इस मौक़े को भुनाने के लिए विशेष अभियान शुरू किया है.
गुजरात सरकार ने 22 जुलाई को पड़ने वाले पूर्ण सूर्य ग्रहण को पर्यटन के एक बड़े उत्सव के तौर पर मनाने का फ़ैसला किया है.
इसी तरह बिहार के पटना के पास तरेगना गाँव में सूर्यग्रहण पर पर्यटकों का जमावड़ा होगा.
टूर आपरेटर्स ने सूर्यग्रहण को दिखाने के लिए विशेष उड़ानों की व्यवस्था की है जो इस दौरान एक शहर से दूसरे शहर उड़ान भरेंगी.
इसमें खिड़की वाली सीटों के लिए विशेष क़ीमत वसूली जा रही है.
दरअसल नासा के अनुसार भारत में ये सूर्य ग्रहण सुबह 5 बजकर 28 मिनट से शुरू होकर 7 बजकर 40 मिनट तक देखा जा सकेगा.
लेकिन पूर्ण सूर्यग्रहण सुबह 6.26 से 6.30 तक चलेगा जिसमें सूर्य पूरी तरह छुप जाएगा.
भारत में पूर्ण सूर्यग्रहण भोपाल, सूरत, दार्जलिंग, वाराणसी और पटना के आसपास देखा जा सकेगा.
लेकिन दिल्ली, मुंबई, हैदराबाद, बंगलौर, अहमदाबाद, कोलकाता और चेन्नई में आंशिक सूर्यग्रहण ही देखा जा सकेगा.
गुजरात के पर्यटन सचिव किशोर राव ने पत्रकारों से बातचीत में कहा कि गुजरात सरकार 22 जुलाई को सूरत में एक विशेष कार्यक्रम आयोजित कर रही है.
उन्होंने उम्मीद जताई कि सूर्यग्रहण को देखने के लिए लगभग पाँच हज़ार पर्यटक सूरत में जुटेंगे.
सूर्यग्रहण भारत के पश्चिमी क्षेत्र से शुरू होगा और फिर पूर्वी भारत, बर्मा, जापान और चीन के छोटे द्वीपों की तरफ बढ़ेगा.
The total solar eclipse will be of longest duration during this century. It will be visible in India, some of the Japanese islands, China and Pacific Ocean. The eclipse begins with the sunrise in the western part of India, travels to eastern part of India, crosses to Myna-mar (Burma), small islands of Japan and China. In India Surat, Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Varanasi and Patna are some of the cities lie close to the central part of the totality. In China duration of the totality will be about 5 minutes. In India altitude of the sun will be about 15 degrees in the eastern part at the time of total eclipse and this period is full of rains due to South West monsoon.
Imaging of the solar corona has the advantages of providing the information over two dimensional region of the solar corona but it may have the small uncertainty of in the data due to variations in the sky transparency. On the other hand spectroscopy provides data only on the small portion of the solar corona but with spectral purity and is possible to account for the variations in the sky transparency. Line profiles can also yield information about the temperature and non-thermal structure of the solar corona.