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RSS Chief Mohan
Bhagwat and Former Chairman of ISRO K Radhakrishna during the
valedictory ceremony of RSS Akhil Bhartiya Shrung Ghosh
Shibir”Swaranajali” at Yelhanka in Bengaluru on Sunday. (Source:
PTI)
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“The values of the
world do not speak of a sustainable world. The word ‘sustainable’
has come from Indian culture. It has become a part of the global
vocabulary out of necessity, " Bhagwat said.
The concept of
sustainable development has origins in Indian culture and did not
exist in the value system of the rest of the world, Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat said here on Sunday. He was
speaking at the valedictory ceremony of the RSS brass band training
camp.
“The values of the
world do not speak of a sustainable world. The word ‘sustainable’
has come from Indian culture. It has become a part of the global
vocabulary out of necessity…Now the world is hoping that India will
set an example and show the way…’’ said the RSS chief.
Bhagwat addressed
over 2,000 attendees at the four-day brass band camp, the RSS Shrung
Ghosh Shibir — Swaranjali 2016.
At the camp, 2,185
RSS members fine-tuned their skills in playing four new instruments —
the saxophone, the clarinet, the euphonium and the trumpet called
naganga, swarad, gomuka and turya by the RSS, respectively.
The Indian names for
the instruments, the RSS chief said, will gradually become a part of
the music culture.
In the past, the
instruments used by the RSS band were restricted to the side drums
(anaka), bass drums (panava), bugle (shankha), flute (vamshi),
triangle (tribhuja) and cymbals (jhallari).
In the four-day camp
at Bengaluru this year, the RSS band developed compositions based on
Carnatic and Hindustani ragas.
The RSS band played
compositions like Shivaranjini, based on Shivaranjani raga, at the
valedictory on Sunday using the newly inducted instruments.
One of the aims of
the RSS in organising the brass band camp is “to enhance the
quality of the band set, learn new instruments and compositions and
understand the overall implementation of compositions.’’
The focus is also on
using the large brass band set up “for inculcating qualities of a
swayamsevak and strengthening shakhas,’’ the RSS said.
Ex-ISRO chiefs
disagreed on many things — except RSS
On Sunday,
Radhakrishnan, who served as ISRO chief from November 2009 to
December 2014, was the chief guest at an RSS event, Swaranjali, in
Bengaluru.
Former Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO) chief G Madhavan Nair and his successor
K Radhakrishnan may have had public spats over the ISRO-Devas deal,
but both seem to be on the same page when it comes to the RSS.
On Sunday,
Radhakrishnan, who served as ISRO chief from November 2009 to
December 2014, was the chief guest at an RSS event, Swaranjali, in
Bengaluru. Earlier this month, Nair, a regular at RSS events for the
last one year, was the chief guest at another RSS event, Vishwa Sangh
Shivir, in Indore.
For both, the
association with the RSS started post-retirement, and in times of
trouble. In 2012, the UPA government had barred Nair, a Padma
Vibhushan awardee, and a few other space scientists for their alleged
role in the ISRO-Devas controversy.
That same ISRO-Devas
case has now come to haunt Radhakrishnan. In October last year, he
was questioned by the CBI, which began a probe in May last year,
alleging wrongful gain of Rs 578 crore to the Bangalore-based Devas
Multimedia which wanted to start satellite-based multimedia services
in the country.
Devas had entered
into an agreement with ISRO’s marketing arm, Antrix Corporation, in
2005 for lease of 90 per cent of transponder capacity on two
satellites that ISRO was yet to launch. The agreement was cancelled
by Antrix in 2011, citing security concerns. Devas had contested the
decision and taken the matter to an arbitration panel which, in
September last year, slapped a fine of about Rs 4,400 crore (USD 672
million) on Antrix for unilaterally terminating the contract.
Nair is also likely
to be questioned by the CBI at a later stage. He was the ISRO
chairman when the agreement was finalised, while Radhakrishnan was at
its helm when it was cancelled.
Once considered
close — Nair is said to have handpicked and groomed Radhakrishnan
to become his successor — the two scientists had a public falling
out in the wake of the controversy. Radhakrishnan blamed the previous
dispensation for getting into an agreement that seemed to favour a
private company, while Nair accused Radhakrishnan of personal
vendetta and misleading the government.
Last week, former
National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon told The Indian Express
that action against Nair was “proportionate” to what had been
found against him, and dismissed suggestions that subsequent inquiry
committees had only found procedural lapses against him. “If you
look at what was actually done, it was proportionate to what was
found… (the lapses) were a bit more than procedural… I am glad
that what we did at that time was to protect the (space) programme…
I think we dealt with it well,” Menon said at the Idea Exchange
programme.
Menon also said he
did not see anything wrong with the CBI inquiry against celebrated
scientists. “I think if there was wrongdoing, it deserves an
inquiry. There is nothing wrong with it. They (the investigating
agency) need to look into it,” Menon said.
On his association
with the RSS, Nair said he appreciates the work the Sangh is doing in
uniting the country and popularising ancient Indian science. “They
are trying to make Indians proud of their past achievements. They are
doing a lot of work in uniting the country. I get invited sometimes
to speak at their functions. I particularly like to speak to children
about science, spread awareness about what we have achieved in
science — in ancient times as well as now,” he told The Indian
Express. Nair also serves as a patron to Vijnana (read as Vigyan)
Bharati, an RSS-backed body to promote science.
Radhakrishnan could
not be reached for a comment.
Manmohan Vaidya, All
India Prachar Pramukh of the RSS, said both Nair and Radhakrishnan
had done great work for the country, and welcomed their association
with the RSS. “Those who think of the country’s interest are
connected with the RSS. A P J Abdul Kalam also attended RSS events,”
Vaidya told The Indian Express.
Vaidya said neither
Nair nor Radhakrishnan were swayamsevaks. “The Sampark Vibhag of
RSS runs an outreach programme, Sajjan Shakti, in which swayamsevaks
meet prominent personalities from various fields. Both these
scientists have been invited to deliver lectures,” he said.
Though Radhakrishnan
does not hold any position in Vijnana Bharati, its secretary general
A Jayakumar said he was “part and parcel” of the organisation.
“An ideology of Indianness is flowing through RSS philosophy in the
scientific community,” Jayakumar said.
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