Hindi Academy plans to promote Hindi language in West Bengal 

         

Soma Mookherjee

City Editor, The Statesman  

KOLKATA, 24 OCT: West Bengal Hindi Academy today discussed various steps to promote Hindi language, literature and culture in West Bengal.

It was decided on the first meeting of reconstituted West Bengal Hindi Academy as directed by the chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

In this meeting, various discussions held to promote Hindi language, literature and culture in West Bengal. 

Mr Vivek Gupta, former Trinamul Rajya Sabha MP stated, “Four points - language, literature, culture and arts – were mainly discussed in the meeting. The members praised chief minister for taking initiative to set up first Hindi University in the state. It was also decided that in near future West Bengal Hindi Academy will stage one act play, organise poetry sessions, conferences on various topics across the state. The Hindi Academy will also focus on Hindi translations of famous Bengali writers and poets.”

Mr Gupta also said important initiatives will be taken to attract and encourage the new generation towards Hindi language.

“A move was also taken to set up a library and a large number of general and public interest books in it,” he said.

“With the co-operation of all the members, the academy will try to reach Hindi-speaking students and intellectuals not only in Kolkata and nearby areas but all over Bengal,” Mr Gupta said. 

Apart from this, the academy will organize discussions on other current topics of literature, language and culture, he said.

Earlier, the chief minister donated Rs five crore for the Hindi Academy.

Mr Dinesh Trivedi, Trinamul Congress Rajya Sabha MP is the chairman of the reconstituted West Bengal Hindi Academy.

IAF gets night flying capability at Leh for MiG-29s, force sees it as a 'game-changer'

The MiG-29s are carrying out extensive, round-the-clock flying from Leh, which will also help the force validate geospatial data to enhance its capabilities in night operations.

Biswabrata Goswami

 

Hummingbird News

This article is written by Soma Mookherjee, City Editor at The Statesman

With Indo-China faceoff in the last days of August and 1 September night, Indian Air Force has intensified the process of night flying. This would be a “game-changer” because training by night will strengthen its capability to conduct full-spectrum operations at the Line of Actual Control on short notice, given Leh’s proximity to the LAC. 

The new capability is fuelled by upgrades to the MiG-29, including advanced avionics, faster and more extensive training of IAF pilots among other factors, said Group Captain(retd) R K Das.

  

Leh is not a permanent fighter base, but detachments of aircraft are sent there on a regular basis. The MiG-29s are carrying out extensive, round-the-clock flying from Leh, which will also help the force validate geospatial data to enhance its capabilities in night operations, he said.

"For fighters to undertake night flying up in the mountains is an arduous task mainly due to lack of visibility of ground features that can be seen in the day. The threats encountered whilst contour flying in mountainous terrain are numerous. The terrain in most mountainous areas is highly variable," Grp Captain said.

He said valleys can be wide with gentle sweeping turns or very narrow with abrupt changes in direction. Ridge heights can often exceed 18,000' and the rate of change in terrain elevation can vary from gentle slopes to near vertical cliffs several thousand feet in height. Terrain awareness is a critical component of flight safety in mountainous areas. Wind is almost always a factor when operating in mountainous  terrain, Grp Captain said.

Mountains are associated with strong winds blowing perpendicular to the mountain range and are generally considered a mid to high altitude risk. Aircraft performance decreases with an increase in density altitude. In mountainous terrain, a momentary loss of situation awareness could result in a navigation error such as turning into a blind valley. Day flying by itself is a challenging task, therefore to undertake missions at night is a daunting task said Grp Captain R K Das

Fighters such as the Sukhoi Su-30s are conducting night operations in the Leh and Ladakh regions, but they are operating from  bases that have night capabilities. Apache and Chinook helicopters are also carrying out night-time operations.

Gp Capt said that India’s newly-acquired Rafale aircraft are practising night flying in the mountainous terrain of Himachal Pradesh so that the Golden Arrows squadron with its "Meteor 'beyond visual range air-to-air missile and SCALP air-to-ground stand-off weapon will be ready if the situation deteriorates on the 1,597 km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Ladakh sector.

 

Swami Vivekananda met his first disciple at Hathras Junction

The monk was none other than Narendranath Dutta who later became Swami Vivekananda. And the ASM of Hathras Jn was Sharat Chandra Gupta, a Bengali gentleman, who, after getting his sanyas vows, was called Swami Sadananda of the Ramakrishna Mission.

Biswabrata Goswami

Hummingbird News

This article is written by Soma Mookherjee, City Editor at The Statesman

Swami Sadananda

Hathras town in Western UP is in news presently for all the wrong reasons. It is also a town which has four railway stations with the word Hathras in it. (City, Jn, Kila, Road)

But Hathras is remembered for another reason.

More than 130 years back, a wandering penniless monk was sitting on a bench of Hathras Junction station. He was travelling partly on foot, partly by train, partly by bullock cart, as Providence would provide. 

Suddenly, the Assistant Station Master of the station spotted this sanyasi "with striking features, a sharp nose and wide eyes”, sitting on the bench.

He went up to the monk and struck up a conversation. Impressed by his knowledge, the ASM requested the monk to be his guest that night and took him to his quarters behind the station. 

After spending a day or two, the monk wished to bid goodbye but the ASM told him to wait he rushed to the station, submit his resignation and leave with the monk as his disciple which he did and became the monk's first disciple.

The monk was none other than Narendranath Dutta who later became Swami Vivekananda. And the ASM of Hathras Jn was Sharat Chandra Gupta, a Bengali gentleman, who, after getting his sanyas vows, was called Swami Sadananda of the Ramakrishna Mission.

It's a fascinating story of a monk and his disciple. "The Life of Swami Vivekananda, by his Eastern and Western Disciples", Advaita Ashrama (1989 edition), pages 220-224. 

Swami Vivekananda and Swami Sadananda (seated in the ground)

The story states, before accepting him as his disciple, Vivekananda gave his begging bowl to Sharat and asked him to beg food from the porters and khalasis of the station. This was his way of testing his disciple's earnestness. 

“Without waiting for a moment, Sharat went to the station and begged for food from those very people who were his subordinates till just the previous day. He came back to Swamiji with the alms collected and partook of them along with his Guru."

That proved that his ego was after his renunciation. Incidentally, he was a good friend of Dr. Boshi Sen who later became a world renowned plant/agricultural scientist and lived in Almora. Sharat Chandra Gupta or Swami Sadananda, the erstwhile Asst. Station Master of Hathras Jn., though a Bengali, belonged to Jaunpur. He died in 1911.