Sravasti
Sravasti
Capital of ancient Kosala kingdom, Sravasti is located on the banks of Rapti river in Uttar Pradesh. It is one of the sacred Buddhist places and popular for its association with Gautam Buddha.
According to Mahabharata, legendary king Shravasta founded the city.
However, Buddhists believe the city was called as Savatthi as the sage
Savatthi lived in the city.
Gautam Buddha spent most of his monastic life in Sravasti. His first
visit to the city was at the invitation of Anthapindika. As per legend,
Buddha spent 25 seasons in the city, among them 19 seasons he spent in
Jetavana monastery and six years in Pubbarama monastery.
It is also the place where Gautam Buddha performed miracles to
silence his critics. These miracles include Buddha creating multiple
images of himself. One of the popular miracle include Buddha seated on a
thousand-petalled lotus, as fire and water emanated from his body.
Sravasti was also the place where Buddha gave the largest amount of
discourse and instructions. Renowned Chinese pilgrim and traveler
Xuanzang found the city in ruins, but recorded the sites of various
structures.
During Buddha years in Sravasti, several monasteries, stupas and
shrines were built. However, only a few have survived the vagaries of
nature.
The Jetavana monastery located in Saheth is one of the prime tourist
attractions. One gets to see remains of Gautam Buddha’s hut Anandakuti
and Gandhakuti in the monastery. Other attractions of the city are the
Anathapindika's (Sudatta), Angulimala’s stupa and Shobnath temple,
dedicated to the Jain Tirthankar Sambhavnath.
Buddhist monasteries constructed by Thailand, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and China at Sravasti are also worth a visit.
Buddha Purnima is celebrated on a grand scale in Sravasti.
Bahai Temple
Bahai Temple
The temple has become a landmark of Delhi and must visit for tourists to the national capital. With its distinctive design, the temple invites peoples of all religions and races to worship the creator of the universe. The temple serves as the Bahai House of Worship in the Indian subcontinent.
Visited by four million people annually; the temple is one of the major attractions in New Delhi. It is one of the most visited buildings in the world, surpassing even the Eiffel Tower and Taj Mahal.
The spectacle had been beautifully designed in 1986 by an Iranian architect Fariborz Sahba. The building was designed as a lotus as it is common to several religions including Hinduism and Buddhism. The building is considered one of the wonders of the 20th century and the architect has been honoured with several awards for his feat.
The temple represents the Bahai faith which is broad in its outlook and emphasizes the unity of all humankind. It signifies equality of all religions and emphasizes on elimination of prejudices.
One of the most remarkable things about the temple is that although it’s been made by the Bahai community, the temple is open to worshippers from all over the world irrespective of their religion, nationality, ethnicity or colour.
An exceptional feature about the temple is that it does not have any idols of any God. It just consists
of a prayer hall for meditation. Unique prayer sessions are held in the hall which recites teachings from all the religions.
The temple design is composed of 27 freestanding marble clad petals arranged in clusters of three to form nine sides. The prayer hall holds up to 2500 people. The surface of the House of Worship is made from white marble from Greece, which was also used for the other houses of worship of Bahai faith. Nine ponds surround the temple and it is set among lush green gardens and the whole property covers an expanse of 26 acres.
Sanjay Dutt is shooting with a calm heart
Dutt was asked to surrender in four weeks to serve his remaining term of about three-and-half years as he has already spent 18 months in jail.
"It's a very good thing and even today he is shooting with a calm heart and like a pure professional. He is not using any duplicate, he is doing fantastic action. I have not seen any person as professional as Sanjay.
Mediterranean diet
People who eat a Mediterranean-like diet have healthier hearts, but those studies couldn't rule out that other health or lifestyle differences had made the difference.
For the new trial, researchers randomly assigned study volunteers at risk of heart disease to a Mediterranean or standard low-fat diet for five years, allowing the team to single out the effect of diet, in particular.
Across Spain assigned almost 7,500 older adults with diabetes or other heart risks to one of three groups.
Two groups were instructed to eat a Mediterranean diet - one supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil and the other with nuts, both donated for the study - with help from personalized advice and group meetings. The third study group ate a "control" diet, which emphasized low-fat dairy products, grains and fruits and vegetables.
Over the next five years, 288 study participants had a heart attack or stroke or died of any type of cardiovascular disease.
People on both Mediterranean diets were 28 to 30 percent less likely to develop cardiovascular disease than those on the general low-fat diet.
NOT DUE TO SINGLE INGREDIENT
It's the blend of Mediterranean diet components - not one particular ingredient - that promotes heart health,
"The quality of fat in the Mediterranean diet is very good," he told Reuters Health. "This good source of calories is replacing other bad sources of calories.
"Things that are discouraged are refined breads and sweets, sodas and red meats and processed meats," "The combination of more of the good things and less of the bad things is important."
Replacing a high-carbohydrate or high-saturated fat snack with a handful of nuts is also a helpful change.
"All of these steps are making, at the end of the day, a big difference.
Fung pointed out many people in the new trial were already on medications, such as statins and diabetes drugs.
That's likely the case for people without heart risks - including high blood pressure or cholesterol.
Need to look into dimensions on diesel deregulation
"The government has to take into account several dimensions of issue before decision can be taken," is their ant possibility of deregulating diesel prices.
The issues concerning diesel are not unidimensional, adding while some argue for deregulation, few say that it would fuel inflation.
"On one column (of a newspaper) deregulate diesel price and on another column you will say inflation (will rise). These are not unidimensional issues, cannot approach a issue from one dimension,"
Overall inflation in November stood at 7.24 per cent, much above the Reserve Bank's comfort level of 5-6 per cent.
The government had in 2010 taken an "in-principle" decision to deregulate diesel prices, but could not implement it because of political pressure. The decision was based on the recommendations made by Kirit Parikh committee.
Price of diesel, which currently costs Rs 47.15 per litre in Delhi, was last revised on September 14 when it was hiked by a steep Rs 5.63 per litre.
The government has promised a cash support of Rs 30,000 crore to the oil marketing companies to cover a part of the Rs 85,586 crore revenue loss on fuel sales during April- September.
Slow and slim by eating slow
It’s a known fact that eating slowly has many health benefits. Digestion
begins in the mouth and when you eat slowly food is chewed properly
into tiny bits for an easy passage through the digestive system. It
gives your stomach a head start and sufficient warning to gear itself up
for its functions and better chances of absorbing the food. These are
some of the basic facts which though we know, we don’t usually follow
for reasons best known to us.
When you wolf down your meal, say in five minutes, then discomforts like
flatulence, heartburn, burps and belches overpower you quickly. Instead
take twenty minutes to eat the same food and your stomach shall have an
easier time.
Besides these there are more important reasons to eat slowly which many
maybe unaware of. The most important of them all is that slow eating can
result in weight loss. Eat slowly and lose weight. In today’s health
conscious world this bit of weight loss wisdom if widely known and
understood can surely be the biggest motivation and impetus to eat
leisurely.
But how does eating unhurriedly result in shedding fat? Do we consume
far less calories if we eat slowly? “Eating slowly can surely make you lose weight. One should make it a
habit. For it has been observed that it takes around fifteen to twenty
minutes for your belly to tell your brain, ‘I am full’. When we eat fast
and gulp down the food by the time our brain finally gets a chance to
tell us it’s enough we are not just full but stuffed and bloated. If we
eat slowly we have time to realize that our tummy is full and stop on
time.”
An unhealthy practice eating fast is not just common but also considered
normal by a vast majority. For many eat fast more out of habit than
hurry. Others who eat fast when tense or upset also eat up their
emotions adding to their stress. But beware, for it is said our stomach
is like a balloon. It can expand to fill a meal fit for a regiment.
Dieticians, who recommend twenty minutes a meal, advise one to take a
few deep breaths before a meal to instil a better sense of awareness to
control rushed eating. Time honoured traditions, now extinct, of saying
grace or offering a silent prayer of gratitude before eating, sure had
its significance.
Chewing with your mouth closed is not just a matter of etiquette. It
also prevents sucking in air that may trigger embarrassing wind during
unexpected moments.
For all you fast eaters, eating slowly and chewing thoroughly can take
some time getting used to. But practise it to make it a habit, for it is
one of the best nutrition tips. Remember there is no emergency. Relax,
eat slowly. It’s not your last supper.
Internet celebrates its 30th birthday
The computer network officially began its technological revolution when
it fully substituted previous networking systems on January 1 1983.
“flag day”, it was the first time the US Department of Defence
(DoD)-commissioned Arpanet network fully switched to use of the Internet
protocol suite (IPS) communications system.
Using data “packet-switching”, the new method of linking computers paved the way for the arrival of the World Wide Web.
“ without the internet and the World Wide Web the day may not begin or the day may not end ".
Based on designs by Welsh scientist Donald Davies, the Arpanet network began as a military project in the late 1960s.
It was developed at prestigious American universities and research
laboratories, such as the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
and the Stanford Research Institute.
Starting in 1973, work on the powerful and flexible IPS and Transmission
Control Protocol (TCP) technology which would change mass
communications got under way.
The new systems were designed to replace the more vulnerable Network
Control Program (NCP) used previously, making sure the network was not
exposed to a single point of failure.
This meant a single attack could not bring it down, making it safer and more reliable.
By January 1 1983, the substitution of the older system for the new
Internet protocol had been completed and the Internet was born.
British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee was then able to use it to
host the system of interlinked hypertext documents he invented in 1989,
known as the World Wide Web.
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