SC refuses to defer civil services prelims examination

  
  SC refuses to defer civil services prelims        examination.

The Supreme Court today refused to postpone civil services preliminary examination scheduled for tomorrow, saying the objections raised by students on comprehension part have been addressed and the exam can’t be stayed at the last hour when nine lakh students are ready to appear.

In a special hearing, a bench of justices J S Khehar and Arun Mishra, which assembled today on a non-working day, dismissed the plea for a stay on the examination.  The bench granted a patient hearing for around half-an-hour but did not agree with the contention of the petitioner that the examination procedure favours students of science background.

“You have pointed out only one point that is on comprehension and it has been removed. Defect has been remedied,” the bench said.

It was referring to UPSC’s decision asking candidates not to answer questions in English Comprehensive section of the preliminary exam following protest over its inclusion.  Advocate Ravindra S Garia and Vishal Sinha, appearing for the petitioner Angesh Kumar, submitted that the present pattern of examination is already skewed against the students from non-urban background and from Humanities and non Engineering/ Science/ Management streams.  

“Your difficulty has been removed so you are in better position. Your grievance has been decided in your favour.  Merit cannot be assessed in your way,” it said, adding that these are academic issues which should be left to the government and expert bodies to decide.  

The bench, however, observed that the bright students opt for science and medicine stream and that may be reason why people from such stream do well in exams.  “Where do the most intelligent students go? The cream goes to science and medicine. So students from those stream score marks higher than the students from humanities background,” the bench said, adding, “No system is perfect”.  It also asked the petitioner why he approached the court so late.

“Everything is same. Syllabus is same. Why do you need more time? Nine lakh students are ready to appear in the exam.  What to do if one is not ready. All students applied in May and they have prepared for the exam,” it said, adding, “We find no merit in this petition and the same is accordingly dismissed”.

Read More

Congress can boycott Modi’s dais but not his mantra of good governance, says BJP

Congress can boycott Modi’s dais but not his mantra of good governance, says BJP.

 

Narendra Modi.

 Taking strong exception to the boycott of Narendra Modi’s function by Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan Thursday, the ruling BJP asked Congress not to play dirty politics and told the party that it’s easy to boycott Modi’s dais but difficult to ignore his mantra of good governance and development.

"Congress can ignore Modi's dais but they cannot ignore his mantra of good governance and development. 

The Congress even after its humiliating defeat at the hustings is not ready to see the ground reality. Instead of cleaning their face of the dust that has stuck to them in these polls, the Congressmen are cleaning the mirror," BJP Vice President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.

"This type of negative politics will not help the Congress," added Naqvi.

The BJP said the Prime Minister cannot stop people from speaking out their mind publicly and asked Congress not to play politics on the issue while noting that this type of negative politics will not help the party which suffered a humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha polls.

Taking potshots at the opposition party, BJP said its Chief Ministers should not suffer from "complex" due to the "popularity" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi among the masses and said the Congress may decide to ignore Modi's dais but they cannot ignore his mantra of good governance and development.

"He is not the PM of BJP... He is the PM of the country. If people take his name with enthusiasm, I think it is a matter of pride. It is a matter of self-introspection for the leaders (who were hooted) rather than blaming the Prime Minister," BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said.

The BJP said Congress must recognise that public sentiment has turned against its leaders and it called for introspection on the part of its CMs.

"The Prime Minister cannot stop people from talking. No one can stop the public from speaking out their minds. They should not fall prey such complex arising out of the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi among the masses," said Shahnawaz Hussain

The comments came in the wake of Chavan boycotting the bhoomi-pujan of Metro Rail project at Nagpur done by Prime Minister Modi, following incidents of heckling of Chief Ministers at functions attended by Modi in Congress-ruled states.

Read More

Krishna Janmashtami

Krishna Janmashtami.

                                                  
The festival is celebrated on the eighth day (Ashtami) of the Krishna Paksha (dark fortnight) of the month of Bhadrapada (August–September) in the Hindu calendar. Rasa lila, dramatic enactments of the life of Krishna, are a special feature in regions of Mathuraand Vrindavan, and regions following Vaishnavism in Manipur.^[5] While the Rasa lila re-creates the flirtatious aspects of Krishna's youthful days, the Dahi Handi celebrate God's playful and mischievous side, where teams of young men form human towers to reach a high-hanging pot of butter and break it. This tradition, also known as uriadi, is a major event in Tamil Nadu on Gokulashtami. Krishna Janmashtami is followed by the festival Nandotsav, which celebrates the occasion when Nanda Baba distributed gifts to the community in honour of the birth.

Legend

Krishna was the eighth son of Devaki and Vasudeva. Based on scriptural details and astrological calculations, the date of Krishna's birth, known as Janmashtami,^[7] is 19 July 3228 BCE and he lived until 3102 BCE. Krishna belonged to the Vrishni clan of Yadavasfrom Mathura,^[8] and was the eighth son born to the princess Devaki and her husband Vasudeva.

Mathura (in present day Mathura district, Uttar Pradesh) was the capital of the Yadavas, to which Krishna's parents Vasudeva and Devaki belonged. King Kansa, Devaki's brother,^[9] had ascended the throne by imprisoning his father, King Ugrasena. Afraid of aprophecy that predicted his death at the hands of Devaki's eighth son, Kansa had the couple locked in a prison cell. After Kansa killed the first six children, and Devaki's apparent miscarriage of the seventh (which was actually a secret transfer of the infant to Rohini asBalarama), Krishna was born.

Following the birth, Vishnu ordered Vasudeva to take Krishna to Gokul to Nanda and Yashoda,^[10] where he could live safely, away from his Uncle Kansa. Vasudeva took Krishna with him and crossed the Yamuna to reach Gokul. There, everyone was asleep; so he quietly kept him there and returned with Yashoda's daughter. Kansa, thinking her to be Devki's eight child, threw her on a stone. But she rose into the air and transformed into Yogmaya (who is Vishnu's helper) and warned Kansa about his death. Then, she disappeared.^[10] Krishna grew up in Gokul with his brother, Balram. He then returned to Mathura and killed Kansa with the help of Balram

Celebrations

Hindus celebrate Janmashtami by fasting and staying up until midnight, the time when Krishna is believed to have been born. Images of Krishna's infancy are placed in swings and cradles in temples and homes. At midnight, devotees gather around for devotional songs, dance and exchange gifts. Some temples also conduct readings of the Hindu religious scripture Bhagavad Gita.^[

Read More