Next Stage in the Project of Google Print

Google should not be cowed down by the fear of lawsuits and negative verdicts.

I do not have any idea about the American laws, American Judiciary and the Intellectual Property Right. One thing is sure that those books which have come into the public domain can be brought online. Whatever may be the verdicts, one thing is there, the Google Print will have enough books to bring online and this Project will not be shelved.

There is need to envisage a next future course of the Goolge Print. The very idea which prompted the Google Print to bring the books online is to provide the right content matter on the net. They want a "Counter to Nonsense" as Miland Brown had said.

It is a logical progress of the google Print project that they shall bring the unpublished doctoral thesis and research papers which lie dumped in universities libraries, department libraries and faculty stores. Those unpublished theses are storehouse of information which can prove decisive in this age of fast communication and exchange of information unhindered by geographical distances.

However, if the Google Print undertakes such a project of bringing the unpublished but approved thesis and dissertations on online, then again they will face strong opposition.

They will be opposed by Research Laboratories and university faculties. They will be again countered with argument of propriety, intellectual property rights and undue misuse of research funds at the expense of their efforts.

However, they may oppose Google print due to many other fears which many of them will never like to speak out but they know it will seal their fate and very existence. They will oppose them because their pseudo-intellectual hollowness will be exposed. They will fear that their act of plagiarism will be exposed and then they will be sued for infringing on the intellectual property rights of other scholars. They will fear that the emptiness and hollow research and claims to high intellectual achievements will be exposed. Many universities and research laboratories would cry hoarse shouting against bringing out the truths and secrets of their efficiency.

On the other hand, many publishers will join in as regular visitors to Google Print to find probable manuscript for their press and sale counter. They do not care to check and find the material worthy for printing. They expect that the writers should come to them and seek their kindness to get their work published. When such a work become business success then they can boost of promoting the author who had been pestering them sometime back and they had been behaving as imperious czars. However, soon they would visit the Google Print to find material to print in order to earn their bread and butter. The day will come when any good writer or researcher will directly publish on net and then where will these publisher go.

Google Print should definitely consider this proposal and send their scanning teams to Theses section of every university and Research Institute. It will also bring before the respective governments the need, the viability and significance of funding different research projects and different universities.

Letter in Support of Google Print

Dear Google,

First of all, be sure, you are doing the right thing. Continue with your activity with full conviction.

I, being a student of history can tell you, that you are getting freedom for the world by bringing the old books on line. Gutenberg.org has been doing this job and they were the only people doing it. However, during the course of my browsing, I have been able to locate similar sources on web which I am regularly posting on sumir-history.blogspot.com.

I will like to attract your attention to one of my post which was mainly a response to a comment on a statement by Miland Brown on World-history-blog.blogspot.com which is at following link. The link is http://sumir-history.blogspot.com/2005/10/counter-to-nonsense.html

In that post, I have just commented on the attitude of the publishers of the books who are now opposing your activity (at the time of commenting I did not know that you were facing the law suits against you from them.). The poor people (publishers) who claim themselves to be big businessmen are unable to foresee that what benefit will this activity bring for them in terms of sale. I will rather suggest that you should put fees on putting anything on google print for publishers if they want their book to be there. No doubt, there are portals that are promoting their books. But they did they fail? It is only because an interested person who can be their buyer just do not get opportunity to see what is there in the book. How can one buy a book without knowing the actual position of content of the book?

I can tell you my experience. If I like a book, I read it for two to three times. But If I have to borrow it again and again from the library, then only I go to buy book. On the other hand, while visiting a bookstore, if I just buy a book because it has just attracted my interest, most of the time, I am not able to read it for many months. For nearly two to three years, I have only bought such books which I have first read it in the library. I suggest you that just show this comment to the publishers who disturbing you by taking you to court.

I have a hunch. Very soon, these people who are taking you to court, will line up and seek personal favour in getting their books on line. They do not know that some of the books which are out of print can again become saleable commodity if they are brought before the readers. There are many such books which did not get the attention of the buyers but they are definitely needed by many readers which include research scholars, educators, students and even those who start trends in the field of business.

If you believe me, then kindly continue with Google Print project. It is going to be a big success. It will be beneficial for the google, the publishers and writers in terms of money and revenue and benefit the readers who are ready to pay for it.

Good wishes.

________

Post Script:

This is an email directed to google blog in response to Google Print Debate

It has reference to a previous post content A Counter to Nonsense and Google Print .

Tehri Dam

The site of the Tehri Dam was chosen in 1961. It was an urban center on the banks of the river Bhaghirthi, one of the three rivers which join at Deoprayaga to form Ganga. The plan also envisages another dam named Koteshwari Dam. The project is being looked after by Tehri Hydro Development Corporation. The Government of India and Government of Uttranchal are the joint partners of this corporation. The Planning Commission had sanctioned the Tehri Dam in 1972. The work on the dam started in 1978. The land was acquired in 1976. The Koteshwari Dam will be started only when Tehri Dam will be completed. Hence, there will be two reservoirs on Bhagirithi River before it joins Alaknanda River at Deoprayaga.

In 1980, the then prime minister of India, Indra Gandhi, again got it reviewed. At that time, the committee under Dr. S. K. Roy strongly ruled against the project and the project was abandoned. It is on record that there is a comment by Prime Minister Indra Gandhi on the file that the project would benefit only the contractors.

In 1987-88, this project was reviewed by the government of the time. At that time, the Soviet Union showed interest in it. The standing committee of Ministry of Environment and Forest of Government of India again ruled against it. However, the Government of India overruled the recommendation of the ministry and sanctioned the project.

Even before that, this site was chosen for making a dam by the British Indian Government. However, due to strong opposition by the people and under the leadership of Madan Mohan Malvia, it was abandoned.

The site stands on seismic activity which when come into play may create a earthquake of the magnitude of 8 to 9 on the Richter scale of 12.


The dam will impound 700 billions gallon of water. The height of the dam will be 260.5 m. The dam will produce nearly 2400 MW of power. It will also facilitate irrigation of nearly 2.6 lakh hectares of agricultural land. It will provide the 270 million gallons of drinking water to Uttranchal, Uttar Pardesh and Delhi. The life span of dam is estimated at 30 years from 2015 onwards. After that, it has to be abandoned due to siltation.

The electricity generation machinery is being provided by Voith Siemens. The construction work is being carried out by JP Industries.

On December 5, 2001, the impounding of the water has started.


The Controversies and Issues:
Since the day of inception of this plan the project has been embroiled in controversies.

The first issue came in form of concern for the environment and preservation of flora and fauna. There was strong demand for environment studies that should be carried out and also need for the clearance from the environment ministry. However, the clearance of environment ministry came in 1990.

The second major issue was the location of the project and the design of the dam. It is still strongly contended that the dam stands in a seismic sensitive area and will cause great damage in case of earthquake. Related to this issue is the design of the dam which is made to withstand Peak Ground Acceleration of 0.25 g. It is argued at in case of a earthquake of the magnitude of 8, the PGC will be 1.0 g. In addition to that, there are regular landslides which will be cause of increased siltation reducing the total life span of the dam before the estimated age of the dam. Further, the cost of generation of electricity will be more than what is being generated from other hydroelectric units. It is argued on the basis that the cost of raising the dam has already increased to a level that it will be not profitable at all for the Uttranchal government. It is further argued that beneficiary states in case of irrigation and electricity will only be Uttar Pardesh and Delhi.

The third issue is the rehabilitation of the displaced people. It is strongly protested in the press media that the government is not keeping its promise in rehabilitating nearly one lakh people displaced in and around Tihari. However, the rebahilitation is being carried out as per the recommendation of Hanumantha Rao Committee. Hanumantha Rao Committee was established in 1996 after environmentalist Shri Sundar Lal Bahuguna went on hunger strike. The recommendations of Hanumantha Rao Committee was accepted in 1997. However, the dam has displaced a large number of people and created a major social problem for the area which requires compensation more than what the committee has recommended. The Janmanch has given an extensive report on the Resettlement and Rehabilitation.

The fourth issue is the emotional and religious issue which comes again and again in form of headlines. It is belief of Hindus that the three streams which join to form Ganga are vital for the present characteristics of the water of Ganga. When the dams will be raised on Bhagirithi and Alaknanda (Which is the second project after Tehri), the water will be entrapped for a longer period. That will destroy the original purity of the water of Ganga. They argue that only the flowing water will ensure the purity of the water of Ganga. The second issue is that Bhagirith had brought down the river Ganga for the salvation of his ancestors. It is a matter of belief that the same credit is gained by all the followers of Vedic religion (Hindu Religion). As per mythology, any obstruction or stopping of Ganga at any stage will bring catastrophe for the region. There are some stories in Puranic literature which tells that in case Ganga disappears, it brings great hardship for the people of the region.

The fifth controversy is that there is a section of experts who say that there is not need of raising huge dams. They claim that it is there expeerience that such huge dams are not profitable in long run as they cause more environmental harm. Ramaswamy Iyer of the Center for Policy Research in New Delhi is strongly against such big dams. He believes that water harvesting is the better answer. (Quoted from a report of Don Oko given on the website of www.grist.org)

The sixth controversy is the corruption and embezzlement while undertaking the rehabilitation and resettlement.



Sources:
Sanctuary Asia

Rehabilitation of the uprooted people from Tehri Dam area (PUCL Bulletin). It contains statistical data on rehabilitation.

A Dam Shame

A Saffron Twist by T. K. Rajalakshmi, Frontline, Volume 18, April 14-17, 2001. Discusses the Religious Issue and the role of VHP.

Janmanch A people’s Forum. Detailed report on Rehabilitation and Resettlement.

A Counter to the Nonsense

Miland Brown has made the following comment on his post The Napoleonic Revolution and I quote, "I always like it when professors put there (their) lectures online. It is such a great counter to much of the nonsense which passes as history online."


The comment has a bigger meaning and may materialize sometime in future. It may not be surprising that many pundits in the field of communication and education may read this comment but care little about the actual import of this comment and move on with their activity without getting hooked to this comment.


The internet and its future modification in form of availability of text, audio messages, video messages, graphics, simulation and animations on hand held devices like cell phones, or a futuristic device which may become more interactive by becoming sensitive to input commands like touch, voice, or even just a look at a thing on a screen just in order to activate the commands hidden behind them, is already taking into a world wherein new beyond-imagination activities would take place.


However, before that, the situation at present is that one has to put it on the web the information which can be sought by someone on the other side.


There is general mythical belief that everything is available on Internet. How far is it true that everything or all the information and thing available on Internet? No, it is not like that. For anything information to become available to the user of Internet, the most important thing is that someone should first put it on the Internet. Now this factor, "someone", is the most crucial factor at present.


This "someone" is not some thing new. It has been there since long, dominating all the media which somewhere I feel is decisive in outlining the perspective and opinion of the common man. The general held perspective and opinion about ones own surrounding decides you consciousness about yourself and your surroundings. This collective consciousness is your history, but in your present, it becomes the vital core of your being alive in present and actions which you take that effects your future.


The need is that the actual pundits for their corresponding epistemology should come forward to put their paradigm on the Internet. But they are not coming. No doubt, lot of nonsense is available on Internet. There is no counter that. The people, who can counter them, they do not do that. May be, putting information and paradigm on Internet is still a futuristic thing to happen. May be, they are too busy. May be a new set of ethics are required in the field of knowledge and more effective activity. May be, there is need to attach some monetary value to the activity which can become an incentive for the required pundits to bring their knowledge on the internet and everybody can access it without paying directly to the pundit.


An issue, which does not seem to have attracted the attention is that what type of information generally available on the Internet. The information is given by the political authorities or the government. The information is given with an idea to make some deal or result into monetary gain. Now these factor of monetary gain are based on ones own perspective of making a business and deal out of a general activity. However, there is no information of a category which is gained only by spending much on research and development. There are addresses of such organisations which give such information but they remain short of providing you information about the latest findings and future implications of those findings.


However, there are many pundits or professors, who can tell so much to the people. There is need that they may also come and play this role.

________

Note:

It is a double copy of already published post at sumir-history.blogspot.com. However, the administrator has found the contents of this post equally relevant to basic core of the blog.

Hindi Granth Karyalay: Munshi Premchand : A brief life sketch

The essay is by Hindi Granth Karyalaya and Publisher of Mumbai. It is about the life sketch of Munshi Prem Chand. However, the essay covers all the works of Munshi Prem Chand and there are further links on which the information on Munshi Prem Chand can accessed.

Civil Services Prelims: Sanskrit Literature: Books and Authors Bank

On the link, there is an article from the Banglapedia on Sanskrit literature. It is a very detailed article on the history of Sanskrit as a language in India and different literature and research on it from the earliest time, that is from the Vedic times to present day. It is written from the perspective of Bangladesh scholars. However, the chronological evaluation of the development of the Sanskrit is quite prefect. Different written works in Sanskrit are discussed as per the chronological manner. Hence, it turns up a very good article on the history of Sanskrit literature. My study of history of Sanskrit literature is based on Wonder That Was of India by A. L. Basham. I have not found even a single fact in conflict with the presentation given by A. L. Bhasam, the Australian Sanskrit Scholar who had spent his time Calcutta before compeleting his work.

In addition to that, the essay includes number of such books and authors which are not found mentioned in Wonder That Was India.

Sitemeter Talks

Yes, the sitemeter talks.

I am not a marketing expert or an advertising expert. But I feel that I have been able to work like a true marketer and an advertiser.

My experiment with blogs started somewhere in February 2005. I got the idea, vision, motive and confidence from the discussions on educationforum.ipbhost.com. I knew about the blogs before that. As I do not have knowledge about computers and working of internet, I did not give much attention to the concept of blogging. However, the people of education forum in their e-help and e-learning section were aggressively talking about using web sites and blogs for teaching purpose. It was there that I was made to think seriously and try my hand at putting up on the web my professional achievements. Finally, in the month of February, I was able to locate the Blogger.com and pressed their three step buttons. I learned that I could do that. However, they immediately asked me to make some entries, and I developed sumir-history and I got my first address on the web as www.sumir-history.blogspot.com. If I remember it right, it was February 14 or February 18, 2005 when this thing happened. (Well, it can be checked from the records on blogger.com itself.)

After that I stopped for two days. I thought and thought over my new discovery. I was really excited and wanted to use it as a teaching tool in my job. I did not have any idea how I would reach my students and what would I put in to use it as a tool for my teaching. Gradually I developed a picture about what actually I would do. In the meantime, I just posted one posting. I added some of my already written and published views. I borrowed them from my Email enrollment with H-Asia of H-Net. Somewhere, I thought that my readings and writings could be useful for civil services aspirants and UGC NET applicants. Therefore, before I had made my blogs for teaching purpose, I created three more accounts after browsing through the contents of Blog Knowledge links on the blogger.com. I had written manuscripts for TATA McGrow Hill which they had refused to accept after having encouraged me for sometime. I knew that I had a good idea behind that manuscript and I posted already written some material on civil services blog.

In the meantime, all my attention was diverted to the working of blogs. It was summer holidays in the university. Earlier I used to read some books in those days or write some material for my lectures or visit places. But I spent those days on blogging. I started visiting other blogs and looked into the contents. I was definitely impressed by the appearances of many blogs and envied those who had developed their blogs nicely. One thing which always increased my jealousy was sighting a meter wherein it was showed that how many hits that blog had received. Some how, I learned from the Blog Knowledge of Blogger.com that it was an add-on feature which I could also use. By that time, I had also developed my undergraduate and postgraduate blogs with a plan how to use them as my teaching tools. I got the site meters in all my blogs. It also gave me some confidence in fiddling with the template and HTML. Here again, education forum became handy. They had the suggestions and lessons for learning HTML. I did not learn whole of HTML. However, I had learned how to check the HTML page, what was css and what does HTML and body code or tags do.

I had desired that my first blog should have become popular. But, I soon learned that it was my civil services blog which was receiving hits. It was during those days that I also managed to register for the Adsense feature in my blogs. I had learned about the HTML codes and I had become confident and I was able to implant them nicely because I could read and locate the tags. The Adsense account also gave me reports that where the people were visiting me.

In those days, that was in the month of April and May 2005, the sitemeter was not all that elaborate as it is today. I think the person who is looking after it, is David. He is a true professional because if you email him, be sure, that you will get back a reply. However, the site meter contents showed me about the referring URLs and also the search terms which were used in search engines which had directed the net surfing people to my site.

It was May 13, 2005, when the civil services result was announced. Suddenly, the rush to my civil services blog increased. I checked into my site meter for civil services. I found that most of the visitor had visited me to check the result. I immediately visited the UPSC site and implanted the desired link on my site. On May 15, 2005, the prelim test took place. From May 16, 2005, the hits on my site suddenly increased. I checked into the site meter. I found that most of the visitors who visited me were seeking the answers to civil services prelims paper. As my address was civilservices-prelims.blogspot.com, the search engines were locating my site for the search query.

One of my relatives had cleared the civil services in the already announced result of the Civil services. I phoned him and asked me to procure the papers of Civil services especially of history and also of general studies. I was able to procure general studies papers for me. The paper reached me on May 23, 2005 and I started posting the questions from May 25, 2005 onwards. On May 25, 2005, the total hits to my generalstudiesupsc.blogspot.com were hardly 10. All those visits were made by me. By June 4, 2005, I had solved whole of the paper and posted it on the blog. I had posted some wrong answers. But the demand of the question and answer to them was so great that people joined in to correct the answers. Here, one engineer, Tripathi really played a big role. By June 10, 2005 the total hit to my General Studies blog had crossed three hundred.

Now after seven months, the total hits on civil service blog and general studies blog have crossed 1000 hits for each blog. On the other hand, the visits to other blogs which I cherished that they should have become more popular, have not crossed even 500 hits each. I was highly disappointed when I found that my students, who are so eager to show off their latest and costly gadgets, did not visit the blogs whereas I have given enough useful material on them. It was only when I posted their lecture statement on my blog that they started visiting the blog. But, that was not my aim. I wanted to use the blog as a teaching tool and to improve my own learning by exploring the net for information and then using that information on my blog to increase my knowledge and that of my students.

In between, I have stopped looking into the sitemeters. But, the onsite meter on civil services is showing that it is still receiving rush. I have stopped posting new material on it. But it has enough content on it that it is attracting the visitors. Now when the total count has suddenly crossed 1100 on civil services, I visited the site meter reports. I was astonished to see the people and their queries with which they had visited me. It really amused me. They were not only from India but from virtually all the continents except Africa. The maximum numbers are from America and Canada. Some of the details even fascinate me. There are many people in America who are interested in Civil services examination of India. Who are they? Secondly, many of them are interested in Ancient India. I have made a list of the query phrases. It has given me a great boost to work further on blogs.

Now two things come out of my experience of blogging for the last seven months.

First, if the contents of your blogs have some stuff in it, then you will definitely get the hits.

Secondly, You must know what actually is in demand. In case of general studies blog, the answers to the latest question paper was in demand. I learned about it from the site meter. I provided the material. My material was not correct. Even then I received the visitors and gradually appreciation also. Some of the people prefer to email you instead of placing the comments. Or they do not get the idea that they can reach the blogger by placing comment below the post. But they are prompted enough to search for the email address or email icon and send a message to you.

The second observation is more important. In order to remain popular, you must know what actually the seeker wants to know. If you have the right material and knowledge then provide it. You will start getting the visits. But, before that, you must know that what they want to know. You must know what is being sought out there. Here, site meter has really become very handy.

Why Was Gandhi Not Given Nobel Prize?

"He is undoubtedly a good, noble and ascetic person - a prominent man who is deservedly honoured and loved by the masses of India...(But) sharp turns in his policies, which can hardly be satisfactorily explained by his followers. He is a freedom fighter and a dictator, an idealist and a nationalist. He is frequently a Christ, but then, suddenly, an ordinary politician," Professor Jacob Worm-Müller, 1937.

The above quotation is of a committee's advisor of Nobel Prize Norwegian committee, Professor Jacob Worm-Müller, who wrote a report on Gandhi in 1937 when his name was nominated for the Nobel peace prize. This is a quotation taken from a report which has appeared in Times of India dated October 8, 2005 at 12.10. It may appear in Print on October 9, 2005.

My main motive to bring this post here is not to discuss Gandhi and his contribution or the working of the Norwegian committee for deciding Nobel prize. It is one of the aim of this blog to collect the quotations of historic personalities and similar judgements on Historic personalities and historic events.

I have not brought any such post as yet and this turns out be the first one. Why have I picked up this quotation? Why have this very words attracted my attention?

Well this is another question. I have not studied Gandhi in detail. However, being a student of history and teacher, I have been studying Indian history. It is the result of the study of history, that I have spoken a number of times during my lectures that Gandhi has been presented out of proportion in the history of India. I have been studying about Surender Nath Banerjee, Gopal Krishan Gohkle, Bal Ganghadhar Tilak, Feroze Shah Mehta, Subash Chander Bose, the activities of Hindustan Revolutionary Party and many others. I have studied the role of different people and felt that they were the people with a vision and personality and Gandhi was one among them. However, there is so much talk about Gandhi and he is being studied as an institution. I have been giving a justification for that. I say that as it was the Congress party which came to power after the independence and therefore, the party in power projected the history overshadowing the achievements of other people in order to leave impression about its own achievements in making and raising of India. It was in course of such an attempt, the party in power had a mascot which it could project. Therefore, Gandhi became so important. Definitely, it had given rise to the controversry between Tara Chand and his work "Freedom Struggle" versus R. C. Majumdar and his writings with Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan series work.

Did the same government not present an apology when they bestowed upon Subash Chander Bose the Bharat Ratna? Who were the people who denied him such recognition for such long time and why?

I am not speaking against Gandhi. I have read only one book by Gandhi and that was My Experiment with Truth. When I read that book, (I have never completed its reading), I had also read "The Discovery of India" by Jwahar Lal Nehru. I have read the whole book. I am so much impressed by the writing ability of Nehru that he infatuates me. However, my study has remained confined to 1947. I have not studied beyond 1947. On the other hand, I have fully read the book by Sumit Sarkar, "Modern India 1885-1947". I have read with great attention and interest those pages in which Sumit Sarkar had studied the issue that Gandhi was a myth or what was the cause of the popularity of Gandhi. He had discussed this issue that how far it was true that the general public had a true perception of Gandhi. Somewhere he was accepted as a representative of Viceroy and on the other hand a special officer directly appointed by Queen of England who was even over and above the Viceroy. I have also studied the STS strategy of Gandhi as presented by Bipin Chandar. From those reading, I have acquired this confidence to say what I have been saying in my lectures. Now, here, I have found another quotation which was given somewhere in 1937. This quotation also gives the impression which Sumit Sarkar had tried to elaborate.

It is not an issue here that Gandhi could not be praised over and above all. I believe that he was the only person among Indians, who had the charisma and influence, and only he could have negotiated with person in authority at that time. No body had acquired the stature and vision that Gandhi possessed at that time. The country needed a leader and he was the person who could fulfill their need.

Why was then, Gandhi killed? Without going into different interpretations and generalizations, if we take the historic causes, then it was that, at that time of partition and after the partition had materialized, he was towing a liberal line towards Pakistan. He was creating an opinion about dealing with Pakistan on softer lines. He was in favour of giving the compensation which was being demanded by Pakistan but refused by the authorities which had taken over the responsibilities of the governance. The general public was pained by the massacre and communal riots that had created an environment, in which, the fundamentalists did not like his soft approach to Pakistan. They were not ready to accept the division. Gandhi, a politician and apostle of peace knew better than they did. The fundamentalists were not ready to accept a reality that Pakistan had become a reality. They were not against Islam or the Muslim population that has remained in India because their heart is in India and they are true Indians. The fundamentalists were against the political stance which Gandhi had taken on the issue of divisions of assets when the rest of nation was watching with dismay the sufferings of the refugees and riot effect Indians which included both Muslims and Hindus.

This had raised the question that why did Gandhi not taken this stand during the All Party Conference of 1928? Does this mean that it was only during the course of time, he evolved his doctrine of peace and modified his philosophy of Ahimsa after 1928? Did the Poona Pact frame his doctrine of peace? But that is not true. His doctrine and philosophy of Ahimsa might have undergone a variation but it was there well in place when he first visited Champaran in 1915. No doubt, the fundamentalists were wrong and Gandhi approach was right. Now if we go by the argument of the fundamentalist of that time, then they should also treat Atal Bihari Vajpayee playing Gandhi while dealing with Nawaz Sarif with their stiff dealings. In the recent days, the fundamentalists were again infuriated when L. K. Advani, playing a politician, called Jinnah a secularist. However, the issue of presenting and interpretation in history still demands some different approach. India needs a history written for the Indian nation. In that, a large number of people had also played a role which has not been rightly highlighted but the image of Gandhi is being created to such a proportion that their existence is being overshadowed and overlooked, should be brought before the country. The above mentioned quotation directs the attention to that fact, that the perception about Gandhi at that time, that is during 1930s was not such that he was the only leader. There were doubts about his overall role. When such doubts are expressed then it also suggests that a person, who has tried to doubt, knows something else also. He, here Professor Jacob Worm-Müller, who might had at that time, read some reports about other Indian leaders, had felt that if Gandhi was to be praised and recognised for his peace role, then there were other people also who were giving meaning to the struggle for peace. However, who were they? Well, this again a question of debate. But it seems that an impression was carried that he was one of the freedom struggle fighter. The politics of those time, that was Gandhi versus Bose, might have been read and reflected upon the judgement of Jacob Worm-Müller. Gandhi for him was a politician fighting for his nation in the country of Buddha and Mahavira (Jacob Worm-Mülle might not have studied about Mahavira).

Factor of Eight and India

Today, in the morning, India was shaken by an earthquake. The epicentre of the quake was in Muzzafrabad in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. The date is October 8, 2005 or 8-10-2005. The total of the numerals in the date is 7. It is 8+10+2005; that is 8+1+7 and that is 16 and finally 7. They are two numbers i.e. 8 and 7 in that order.

On December 26, 2004, the southern shores of India was hit by Tsunami. Again the date was 2+6 equal to 8. In this case also that the date was 26+12+2004. It makes 8+3+6 and which adds up in the order to the total of 17 and finally 8.


On another date, that is January 26, 2002, Bhuj was visited by an earthquake. Again the total of the date was 8. The total of the numerals in the date was 26-01-2002. It adds to 8+1+4 and it makes 13 and finally 4.

In the coming days, the dates 17 October, 2005 and 26 October, 2005 will make the same total.


Another date, that was August 17, 1988 was another important date when Zia-ul-Haq, the then Military President of Pakistan died in an air crash.

Well there is no scientific basis to predict the natural calamities or historic events. However, such patterns do emerge. The numerologists may stand up and give justifications and patterns behind it. The astrologers may also join in. However, there are no ascertainable basis for such numbers and their correlation with events. You can not predict that when an earthquake emerge.

On the other hand, August 8, 1942 is considered as an important date in the freedom struggle of India when Quit India was announced. There are many scientists who were born on a date which added to the total of eight or the date was eight.

The issue of date eight had emerged when Tsunami visited. But if we take this argument further in the year 2006, eight will emerge number of times. In that case, 2006 would see many startling events. It is difficult to say whether they would be natural calamities or the historic events. But the factor of eight continues to reappear.

UGC Aspirants and Search Engines

UGC NET HISTORY has remained a neglected blog.
For some days I had watched that the visits to this site had increased. I had not placed any major posting on this blog. It has remained neglected because I have plans to develop it on a later date. Secondly, I am working on a plan to first attract my students to my blogs and then to use blog as one of tool in teaching. While writing for undergraduate students, I may be writing on such topics which will cover the Indian history as well as World History. As far the Philosophy of History is concerned, I want to write some original essays on this topic on Sumir-history Blog and Review View Analysis blogs. Any how, I found that my UGC blog was receiving regular hits.

I have not checked the reports of sitemeters for some time. When I had placed the sitemeters on the blogs, I was always eager to know who visited my blogs. I spent lot of time on reading the sitemeters reports.

I have learned many things from reading the sitemeters. I learnt that what were the main search phrases of the visitors. That had given me many ideas to write the posts. I also learned about many search Engines. However, lately, I have discontinued watching the reports. The rush to some of my site had increased and I was hard pressed for time. There is a perennial problem of electricity cuts. I do not know how India Today has declared the Punjab as the most progressive state. I have not read the magazine at all because I can not relate it with the suffering which I am experiencing while living in Punjab.

I checked the site meter of the UGC blog. A very fascinating thing was observed. Nearly twenty recent visits to this site was reached through MSN search. Is MSN search becoming popular?


However, when I checked the referral url which took me to msn search engine, I did not find any major change in the research results of the MSN. It is same old type set up. Secondly, I am not able to use its preview section at all. I have found my visitors coming to my blogs from MSN preview.

It is my general observation that most of the users use google search or yahoo search. Yahoo search has tremendously improved in recent months. It seems that it is trying to give competition to googles. Even I have now shifted to yahoo. Just a day back, while getting Acrobat, the yahoo tool bar had been embed on my browser. First I thought of removing it but then I decided to maintain it for the time being.

On the other hand, I am getting infatuated by the search results of beta.previewseek.com. It is really a different material. I have started using its left hand side classification. It is more helpful then to check whole of the list as the search engines dish it out before you. It is definitely a more intelligent device.

The other important thing which I found about visitors to my UGC site is that they are from technical field and more concerned about clearing ugc cisr. I can understand why they are doing it. But their preference only for one particular engine really attracts and fascinate me. The visitors from Hyderabad were all MSN users.

Another visitor amused me more. He visited my site while seeking information for Rahon sword. The searcher, as per the sitemeter, is placed in America. He was also using msn search engine.


Somehow, I am made to conclude that the people who are in research field and students (because they have yet to clear ugc/csir eligibility in order to pursue their higher studies), they prefer MSN search engine. However, I have found google, yahoo and beta.previewseek.com as more effective tools. May they just place their desired term in IE address and the inbuild MSN search option find it for them.

Now, in coming breaks, I will check the reports of civil service blog as the visitors has suddenly increased and crossed 1000 mark.