UN condemns collapse of truce between Israel, Palestinians

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has strongly condemned the collapse of a humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, asking Israel and

the Palestinians factions to reach an immediate understanding on a durable truce.

A statement issued by Ban's spokesman said he is "gravely disappointed" by the return to hostilities by both sides and condemns "in the strongest terms" the breach of the Egyptian brokered humanitarian ceasefire which was to expire at midnight local time.

The Secretary-General reminds both sides of their responsibility not to let the situation escalate.

(Courtessy:Deccan Herald dt. 20 Aug 2014)

 
    A Thousand Splendid Sunsns


A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once an incredible chronicle of thirty years of Afghan history and a deeply moving story of family, friendship, faith, and the salvation to be found in love.
A Thousand Splendid Suns is a haunting, heartbreaking, compelling story of an unforgiving time, an unlikely friendship, and an indestructible love.

Khaled Hosseini is an Afghan-born American novelist .After graduating from college, he worked as a doctor in California. He has published three novels, most notably his 2003 debut The Kite Runner, all of which are at least partially set in Afghanistan and feature an Afghan as the protagonist. Following the success of The Kite Runner, he decided to stop practicing medicine and became a full-time writer.
A Thousand Splendid Suns, was published in 2007, and is also set in Afghanistan. The story addresses many of the same issues as Hosseini's first, but takes a more feminine perspective. It follows the story of two women, Mariam and Laila, whose lives become entwined. The story is set during Afghanistan's tumultuous thirty-year transition from Soviet occupation to Taliban control and post-Taliban rebuilding. 

EBOLA

 With over 1,700 people suspected to have been infected so far, nations across the globe are  witnessing the spread of the serious disease Ebola

 Since its outbreak in Guinea last December, the Ebola virus has spread to adjoining West African countries — Liberia, Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone.

The disease referred to as  Ebola hemorrhagic fever  is caused by Ebola virus. 

Fruit bats and monkeys are believed to be the original carriers of the virus; however, the carriers are supposedly unaffected by the organism. The virus spreads through the blood or body fluids of the carrier. It can also spread to any human who comes into contact with the blood or body fluids of the infected person.

 One can contract the virus by just wearing the clothes worn by an infected person.

But Ebola is not a wholly unknown quantity; it was first identified in Sudan as early as 1976. In 2007, there was a minor outbreak of Ebola in Congo and Uganda.

Its symptoms are quite similar to that of other flu— fatigue, fever, headaches, joint, muscle and abdominal pain. From the time one contracts the virus, it may take eight to 10 days on an average for the symptoms to become apparent. Until such time, though the infected person may not show symptoms, he still carries a very high risk of transmitting it to others.

At present there is neither a drug to cure Ebola nor vaccines to prevent contraction of the disease. Antibiotics to treat the symptoms have been the only life-line for infected patients till date. Patients are also being administered anti-coagulants to avert blood-clotting and given adequate fluids and electrolytes to prevent dehydration.

PM

Independence Day Announcements

  Prime Minister Narendra  Modi on Tuesday invited suggestions on the new institution that would replace Planning Commission through a special “Open Forum” that has been created by the government.

“Inviting you to share your ideas on what shape the new institution to replace the Planning Commission can take. A special Open Forum has been created on my government for suggestions on the new Institution.

Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech announced that the 64-year-old Planning Commission would be replaced by a new institution.

BEAUTIFUL
TALAKAVERI

Talacauvery, from where the Kaveri River originates in the Brahmagiri hills, is considered among the most sacred places in Karnataka. It is at a height of around 1276 m above sea level. This is a sacred pilgrim center. This place is marked by a tirtha kundike or Brahma kundike (small spring/pond) from where the river emerges as a small perennial spring, but flows underground again to emerge a short distance away. 








A small water tank has been constructed at the point of origin. There is also a temple build at the spot where regular puja rituals are done. The temple is dedicated to Lord Agastheeswara, who is considered to be the link between great Sage Agasthya and river Cauvery. 

An important day here at Talacauvery is the first day of Tula month according to Hindu calendar. The day is called Tulasankramana. Thousands of devotees come to Talacauvery on this day to witness the rise of fountainhead sprouting water at a specific time. It is considered auspicious by devotees to take a dip in the holy waters. 
The day is celebrated on various places along the banks of river Cauvery where devotees take a holy dip in River Cauvery. 

Delhi

Delhi: A Novel (published 1990) is a historical novel 

The book moves backwards and forwards in time through the history of Delhi. It has as its backdrop the story of a journalist fallen on bad times (possibly an autobiographical figure) and his relationship with a hijra (eunuch) named Bhagmati.

This vast, erotic, irreverent magnum opus on the city of Delhi starts with the narrator, suggestively Khushwant Singh himself, just returning from England after ‘having his fill of whoring in foreign lands’, a bawdy, aging reprobate who loves the city of Delhi, as much as he loves the ugly but energetic hermaphrodite whore Bhagmati, whom he literally picks up from a deserted road on a hot Delhi summer noon. Having no place to go after completing her jail sentence in the dreaded Tihar Jail (probably for selling sex), she begs to be taken under his wing. The kind sardar obliges, and thus begins a wonderful relationship of ups and downs in the narrator’s life. Bhagmati, neither male nor female but possessive of great exotic sex appeal, vitalizes his life amidst the majestic remains of Delhi in its heyday, and even saves the narrator's life from the mad mobs of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Displaying his trademark gift of literal humour and a professional historian’s control over narration, the writer takes turn, chapter by chapter, on the history of the great city and his own sexual exploits and misadventures with vilaity mems and lonely army wives whom he is supposed to ‘show Delhi’, other eccentric journalists, editors and bureaucrats, a half-mad Sikh ex-army driver, a fanatic gurudwara bhaiji, among many other colourful characters. All the while the narrator travels through times Delhi has seen, telling us in a most interesting manner, as the first person, all that Delhi has been to Nadir Shah,Taimur and Aurangzeb etc. who plundered and destroyed her, and to Meer Taqi Meer and Bahadur Shah Zafar whom Delhidestroyed; he looks through the eyes of semi-historical characters like Musaddi Lal Kayasth, a Hindu convert working under the hostile Ghiyas ud din Balban in the fourteenth century—the dawn of the Mughal Empire, right up to Nihal Singh, a Sikhmercenary who settles his historical score with the Mughals 

Khushwant Singh (February 2, 1915 – March 20, 2014) was an Indian novelist, lawyer, politician and journalist. An Indo-Anglian writer, Singh was best known for his trenchant secularism,^[1] his humor, and an abiding love of poetry. His comparisons of social and behavioral characteristics of Westerners and Indians are laced with acid wit. He served as the editor of several literary and news magazines, as well as two newspapers, through the 1970s and 1980s. He was the recipient of Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award in India.

SBI launches six digital banking branches

The State Bank of India on Tuesday launched six digital branches across the country as part of its programme to offer next generation banking solutions to the growing mobile phone and internet savvy customer base.

These branches, named sbiINTOUCH, will facilitate services such as instant account opening with personalised debit cards, instant loan approval for car and home, remote expert advisors available via video links, along with interactive walls and table displays.

Besides Delhi, where sbiINTOUCH branch was inaugurated by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the other such branches are located in Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Ahmedabad.