Anand Mahindra

Anand Mahindra (born 1 May 1955) is the Chairman and Managing Director of Mahindra & Mahindra. His grandfather KC Mahindra co-founded the company from his hometown Ludhiana, Punjab. Keshub Mahindra is the uncle of Anand Mahindra.

Early life

Anand Mahindra graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1977  and completed his MBA from Harvard Business School, Boston, Massachusetts in 1981. According to October 26, 2011 rankings of Forbes, his net worth is US $825 million and is ranked #68 in India's rich list.

Career

In 1991, he was appointed Deputy Managing Director of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. He became the Managing Director in 1997 and took charge from Keshub 14 years ago in 1997. Mahindra was a co-promoter of Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd, which was converted into a bank in 2003.

Under Anand Mahindra's leadership, the Mahindra group has grown rapidly through both acquisitions and greenfield business development with several high-profile mergers in the past few years, including the acquisition of Satyam Computer Services in 2009, Reva Electric Vehicles in 2010, and Ssangyong Motor Company in 2010. In 2002, the company launched an indigenous developed SUV, the Scorpio, which today has gone global.

Tirthankara Mahavira

Vardhamāna Mahāvīra (599–527 BCE) is the name most commonly used to refer to one of the tirthankara of Jainism. Mahavira who was one of the major propagators of Jainism. According to Jain tradition, he was the 24th and the last tirthankara.

Life

The ancient texts refer to Mahavira as Nayaputta (son of Nayas). This referred his clan of origin,

which is translated in sanskrit as jnatra. The acharanga sutra of svetambara describes Mahavira as all-seeing not all-knowing. Sutrakritanga however elaborates the concept as all knowing and provides details of other qualities of Mahavira.

Birth

Mahavira was born in a place called Kuṇḍagrama. It is a place said to be near Vaishali. However, historians cannot yet pinpoint where exactly this place Kundagrama was. He was the son of Siddartha and Trishala. He was born on the 13th day under the rising moon of Chaitra (12 April according to the Gregorian calendar). While still in his mother's womb it is believed he brought wealth and prosperity to the entire kingdom, which is why he was named Vardhaman. An increase of good things, like the abundant bloom of beautiful flowers, was noticed in the kingdom after his conception. Trishala had a number of auspicious dreams before giving birth to Vardhaman (14 according to the Svetambaras and 16 according to the Digambaras), signs foretelling the advent of a great soul. Vardhaman's birthday is celebrated as Mahavir Janma Kalyanak, the most important religious holiday of Jains around the world.

Transfer of embryo

Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) is a government-owned corporation of India based in Mumbai. One of the public sector undertakings, it is wholly owned by the Union Government and is responsible for the generation of nuclear power for electricity. NPCIL is administered by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), part of the Ministry of Science and Technology. NPCIL is the only power utility company in India which uses nuclear fuel sources.

NPCIL was created in September 1987 as public limited company under the Companies Act 1956, "with the objective of undertaking the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the atomic power stations for generation of electricity in pursuance of the schemes and programmes of the Government of India under the provision of the Atomic Energy Act 1962." All nuclear power plants operated by the company are certified for ISO-14001 (Environment Management System).

NPCIL is the sole body responsible for constructing and operating India's commercial nuclear power plants. As of November 27, 2010 the company had 20 nuclear reactors in operation at six locations, a total installed capacity of 4780 MWe. Subsequent to the government's decision to allow private companies to provide nuclear power, the company has experienced problems with private enterprises "poaching" its employees.

NPCIL Plants

Arvind Kejriwal

Arvind Kejriwal was born in Hissar, Haryana in 1968, and graduated from IIT Kharagpur as a Mechanical engineer in 1989. Later, he joined the Indian Revenue Service (IRS), a part of the Indian Civil Services in 1992, and was posted at the Income-tax Commissioner's Office in Delhi. Soon, he realized that much of the corruption prevalent in government is owing to lack of transparency in the process. Even while in his official position, he started crusading against the corrupt practices. Initially, Arvind was instrumental in bringing in a number of changes to increase transparency in the Income Tax office.

In January 2000, he took a sabbatical from work and founded Parivartan - a Delhi based citizens’ movement which works on ensuring a just, transparent and accountable governance. Thereafter, in February 2006, he resigned from the job, to work full-time at 'Parivartan'.

Together with Aruna Roy and others, he campaigned for the Right to Information Act, which soon became a silent social movement, Delhi Right to Information Act was passed in 2001 and eventually at the national-level Act the Indian Parliament passed the Right to Information Act (RTI) in 2005. Thereafter, in July 2006, he spearheaded an awareness campaign for RTI across India. To motivate others Arvind has now instituted an RTI Award through his organisation.

The right to information holds as much importance in the lives of the poor as it does for the general public and professionals. Yet, many Indians remain passive spectators in the process of electing governments. Arvind uses the Right to Information Act to equip individual citizens with the power to question their government. Through his organization Parivartan he promotes participation in governance by people.

On February 6, 2007, Arvind was named CNN-IBN 'Indian of the Year' in Public Service for the year 2006.

Awards

• 2004: Ashoka Fellow, Civic Engagement.
• 2005: 'Satyendra Dubey Memorial Award', IIT Kanpur for his campaign for bringing transparency in Government.
• 2006: Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership.
• 2006: CNN-IBN, 'Indian of the Year' in Public Service 
• 2009: Distinguished Alumnus Award, IIT Kharagpur for Emergent Leadership.
• 2010: Policy Change Agent of the Year, Economic Times Corporate Excellence Award along with Aruna Roy.

Homi Jehangir Bhabha

Homi Jehangir Bhabha, FRS (30 October 1909 – 24 January 1966) was an Indian nuclear physicist and the chief architect of the Indian atomic energy program. He was also responsible for the establishment of two well-known research institutions, namely the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), and the Atomic Energy Establishment at Trombay (which after Bhabha's death was renamed as the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC)). As a scientist, he is remembered for deriving a correct expression for the probability of scattering positrons by electrons, a process now known as Bhabha scattering.

Early life

Bhabha was born into a wealthy and prominent Parsi family, through which he was related to Dinshaw Maneckji Petit, Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Dorab Tata. He received his early education at Bombay's Cathedral Grammar School and entered Elphinstone College at age 15 after passing his Senior Cambridge Examination with Honors. He then attended the Royal Institute of Science until 1927 before joining Caius College of Cambridge University. This was due to the insistence of his father and his uncle Dorab Tata, who planned for Bhabha to obtain an engineering degree from Cambridge and then return to India, where he would join the Tata Iron and Steel Company in Jamshedpur.

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre

The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) is India's primary nuclear research facility based in Mumbai. It has a number of nuclear reactors, all of which are used for India's nuclear power and research programme.

BARC was started in 1954, as the Atomic Energy Establishment, the Trombay (AEET), and became India's primary nuclear research centre, taking over charge of most nuclear scientists that were at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. After Homi J. Bhabha's death in 1966, the centre was renamed as the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.

The first reactors at BARC and its affiliated power generation centres were imported from the west. India's first power reactors, installed at the Tarapur Atomic Power Plant (TAPP) were from the United States.

The primary importance of BARC is as a research centre. The BARC and the Indian government has consistently maintained that the reactors are used for this purpose only: Apsara (1956; named by the then Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru when he likened the blue Cerenkov radiation to the beauty of the Apsaras (Indra's court dancers), CIRUS (1960; the "Canada-India Reactor" with assistance from Canada), the now-defunct ZERLINA (1961; Zero Energy Reactor for Lattice Investigations and Neutron Assay), Purnima I (1972), Purnima II (1984), Dhruva(1985), Purnima III (1990), and Kamini.

The plutonium used in India's 1974 nuclear test carried out in Pokhran in the Thar desert of Rajasthan (Peaceful Nuclear Explosion) came from CIRUS. The 1974 test (and the 1998 tests that followed) gave Indian scientists the technological know-how and confidence not only to develop nuclear fuel for future reactors to be used in power generation and research, but also the capacity to refine the same fuel into weapons-grade fuel to be used in the development of nuclear weapons.

BARC is also responsible for India's first PWR at Kalpakkam, a 80Mw land based prototype of INS Arihant's nuclear power unit, as well as the Arihant's power pack itself.

Chhota Imambara

Chhota Imambara (छोटा इमामबाड़ा), also known as Hussainabad Imambara is an imposing monument located in the city of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. Built by Muhammad Ali Shah, The third Nawab of Avadh in 1838, it was to serve as his own mausoleum. It is also known as the Palace of Lights because of its decorations during special festivals.

The chandeliers used to decorate the interior of this building was brought from Belgium. Thousands of labourers worked on the project to gain famine relief.

It has a gilded white dome and several turrets and minarets. The tombs of Muhammad Ali Shah and other members of his family are inside the imambara. The walls are decorated with Arabic calligraphy.

Outside the imambara is the watch tower called Satkhanda or tower of seven storeys. Though it is called satkhanda, it has only four storeys, as the construction of the tower was abandoned when Ali Shah died. satkhanda is built between 1837-1842 in the time of mohammad ali shah. mohammad ali shah wanted to made it same as kutubmeenaar of delhi and leaning tower of pisa.the main purpose of this construction is moon watching.

Bara Imambara

Bara Imambara

Bara Imambara (बड़ा इमामबाड़ा) is an imambara complex in Lucknow, India, built by Asaf-ud-daulah, Nawab of Lucknow, in 1784. It is also called the Asafi Imambara.

Bara means big, and an imambara is a shrine built by Shia Muslims for the purpose of Azadari. The Bara Imambara is among the grandest buildings of Lucknow.

The complex also includes the large Asfi mosque, the bhulbhulayah (the labyrinth), and bowli, a step well with running water. Two imposing gateways lead to the main hall.

The Bara Imambara was built in 1783, a year of a devastating famine, and one of Asaf-ud-Daula's objectives in embarking on this grandiose project was to provide employment for people in the region. According to reports, the famine continued for over a decade and the construction of the building continued for this time. It is said that ordinary people used to work in the day building up the edifice, while noblemen and other elite were called at night to break down all the structure raised, as they were incapable of doing anything else, according to a chronicle of the period. This see-saw efforts continued till the famine period was over. It was a project that preceded a Keynesian like intervention for employment generation.

Prithvi Missile

Prithvi is a tactical surface-to-surface, short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) developed by DRDO of India under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program.

Development and History

The Government of India launched the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program in 1983 to achieve self sufficiency in the development and production of wide range of Ballistic Missiles, Surface to Air Missiles etc.

Prithvi was the first missile to be developed under the Program. DRDO attempted to build Surface-to-air Missile under Project devil.

Variants make use of either liquid or both liquid and solid fuels. Developed as a battlefield missile, it could carry a nuclear warhead in its role as a tactical nuclear weapon.

Variants

The Prithvi missile project encompassed developing 3 variants for use by the Indian Army, Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy. The initial project framework of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program outlines the variants in the following manner.

• Prithvi I (SS-150) - Army Version (150 km range with a payload of 1,000 kg)
• Prithvi II (SS-250) - Air Force Version (250 km range with a payload of 500 kg)
• Prithvi III (SS-350) - Naval Version (350 km range with a payload of 500 kg)
• Dhanush- Dhanush is reportedly a naval version of Prithvi which can be launched from Ships. Some sources claim that Dhanush is a System consisting of stabilization platform and missiles, which has the capability to launch both Prithvi II and Prithvi III from Ships while others report that Dhanush is a variant of Prithvi-II Ballistic Missile.

India Gate

India Gate

The India Gate is the national monument of India. Situated in the heart of New Delhi, India Gate was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. Originally known as All India War Memorial, it is a prominent landmark in Delhi and commemorates the 90,000 soldiers of the British Indian Army who lost their lives while fighting for the British Indian Empire, or more correctly the British Raj in World War I and the Third Anglo-Afghan War. It is composed of red sand stone and granite.

Originally, a Statue of King George V had stood under the now-vacant canopy in front of the India Gate, and was removed to Coronation Park with other statues. Following India's independence, India Gate became the site of the Indian Army's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, known as the Amar Jawan Jyoti (The flame of the immortal soldier).

The 42-metre tall India Gate is situated such that many important roads spread out from it. Traffic passing around India Gate used to be continuous until the roads were closed to the public due to terrorist threats.

The lawns around Rajpath throng with people during the evening, when the India Gate is lit up. Ice cream and street food vendors come out during this time and it becomes a popular picnic venue for families.

Agra Fort

Agra Fort (आगरा का लाल किला) is a UNESCO World Heritage site located in Agra, India. It is about 2.5 km northwest of its more famous sister monument, the Taj Mahal. The fort can be more accurately described as a walled city.

After Panipat, Mughals captured the fort and a vast treasure - which included a diamond that was later named as the Koh-i-Noor diamond - was seized. Babur stayed in the fort in the palace of Ibrahim. He built a baoli (step well) in it. Humayun was crowned here in 1530.Humayun was defeated in Bilgram in 1540. Sher Shah held the fort for five years. The Mughals defeated the Afghans finally at Panipat in 1556.

Realizing the importance of its central situation, Akbar made it his capital and arrived in Agra in 1558. His historian, Abdul Fazal, recorded that this was a brick fort known as 'Badalgarh' . It was in a ruined condition and Akbar had it rebuilt with red sandstone from Barauli area in Rajasthan. Architects laid the foundation and it was built with bricks in the inner core with sandstone on external surfaces. Builders worked on it for eight years, completing it in 1573.

Red Fort, Delhi

The Red Fort (लाल किला) is a 17th century fort complex constructed by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the walled city of Old Delhi (in present day Delhi, India) that served as the residence of the Imperial Family of India. It also served as the capital of the Mughals until 1857, when Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar was exiled by the British Indian government. The British used it as a military camp until India became independent in 1947. It is now a popular tourist site, as well as a powerful symbol of India's sovereignty: the Prime Minister of India raises the flag of India on the ramparts of the Lahori Gate of the fort complex every year on Independence Day. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007

Mughal Emperor Shahjahan, started construction of the massive fort in 1638 and work was completed in 1648 (10 years). The Red Fort was originally referred to as "Qila-i-Mubarak" (the blessed fort), because it was the residence of the royal family. The layout of the Red Fort was organised to retain and integrate this site with the Salimgarh Fort. The fortress palace was an important focal point of the medieval city of Shahjahanabad. The planning and aesthetics of the Red Fort represent the zenith of Mughal creativity which prevailed during the reign of Emperor Shah Jahan. This Fort has had many developments added on after its construction by Emperor Shahjahan. The significant phases of development were under Aurangzeb and later Mughal rulers. Important physical changes were carried out in the overall settings of the site after the Indian Mutiny in 1857. After Independence, the site experienced a few changes in terms of addition/alteration to the structures. During the British period the Fort was mainly used as a cantonment and even after Independence, a significant part of the Fort remained under the control of the Indian Army until the year 2003. The Red Fort is an attraction for tourists from around the world.

Vikram Samvat (विक्रम संवत्)

Vikram Samvat  is the calendar established by Indian emperor Vikramaditya. It is a popularly used calendar in India and the official calendar of Nepal.

The Vikrama Samvat was founded by the emperor Vikramaditya of Ujjain following his victory over the Sakas in 56 BCE, although it is popularly (and incorrectly) associated with the subsequent king Chandragupta Vikramaditya. It is a lunar calendar based on ancient Hindu tradition. The Vikram Samvat calendar is 56.7 years ahead (in count) of the solar Gregorian calendar. For example, the year 2056 BS began in CE 1999 and ended in CE 2000. In Northern India the calendar starts with the first day after the new moon in the month Chaitra, which usually falls in March/April in the Gregorian calendar. Again in Western India the same era begins with the first day after the new moon in the month of Kartika which usually falls in October and November in the Gregorian calendar. In Nepal, it begins in mid-April and marks the start of the solar new year.

In India, Saka Calendar is officially used but interestingly in the Hindi version of Preamble of The Constitution of India, the date of adoption of constitution 26 Nov 1950 is presented in Vikram Samvat (Margsheersh Shukla Saptami Samvat 2006 ).

BrahMos

Brahmos is a supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land. It is a joint venture between Republic of India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO-Bangalore) and Russian Federation's NPO Mashinostroeyenia who have together formed BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited. It is the world's fastest cruise missile in operation.

The name BrahMos is a portmanteau formed from the names of two rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia. The missile travels at speeds of Mach 2.8 to 3.0. It is about three-and-a-half times faster than the USA's subsonic Harpoon cruise missile. An Air launched variant is also planned which is expected to come out in 2012 and will make India the only country with supersonic missiles in all the defence forces. A hypersonic version of the missile is also presently under development (Lab Tested with 5.26 Mach Speed).

Though India had wanted the BrahMos to be based on a mid range cruise missile, namely P-700 Granit, instead Russia opted for the shorter range sister of the missile, P-800 Oniks, in order to comply with MTCR restrictions, to which Russia is a signatory. Its propulsion is based on the Russian missile, and guidance has been developed by BrahMos Corp. The missile is expected to reach a total order worth of US$13 billion

Bibi Ka Maqbara

Bibi Ka Maqbara is a maqbara built by Prince Azam Shah, son of Emperor Aurangzeb,one of the Mughal Emperors, in the late 17th century as a loving tribute to his mother, Rabia Durrani alias Dilras Banu Begum. The comparison to the Taj Mahal has resulted in a general ignorance of the monument. This monument is also called the Dakkhani Taj or the Taj of the Deccan.

Etymology

The monument's name translates literally to 'Tomb of the Lady', but has earned the nickname 'poor man’s Taj' because it was originally planned to rival the Taj Mahal (but was prevented from doing so due to budgetary constraints--Aurangzeb gave Azam Shah Rs. 7,00,000 only for the construction, where Taj Mahal's cost was 32 million Rupees approximately).

Location

It is situated in Aurangabad, Maharashtra. The tomb in itself represents the transition from the ostentatious architecture of Akbar and Shah Jahan to the simple architecture of the later Mughals.

Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum located in Agra, India. It is one of the most recognizable structures in the world. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It is widely considered as one of the most beautiful buildings in the world and stands as a symbol of eternal love.

Taj Mahal is the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Islamic and Indian architectural styles.

In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. While the white domed marble mausoleum is the most familiar component of the Taj Mahal, it is actually an integrated complex of structures. The construction began around 1632 and was completed around 1653, employing thousands of artisans and craftsmen. The construction of the Taj Mahal was entrusted to a board of architects under imperial supervision, including Abd ul-Karim Ma'mur Khan, Makramat Khan, and Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. Lahauri is generally considered to be the principal designer.