Prof. Srikumar Banerjee : Scientist and Administrator Par Excellence - A Tribute.

This morning I woke up to a tragic message that was posted by Dr Jayaraman, Retired Nuclear Scientist BARC, in the National Centre for Science Communicators WhatsApp group. He posted the news of the sudden demise of Dr Sreekumar Banerjee, former Chairman Department of Atomic Energy and Secretary Atomic Energy Commission, Government of India. Dr Banerjee was an outstanding material science scientist and an equally outstanding administrator with an unparalleled simplicity, who headed the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and so also the Department of Atomic Energy. He was a pillar of strength for the NCSC, more particularly because he had majorly supported the Nehru Science Centre and NCSC in organising two recent mega conferences - a conference on recent trends in Nuclear Energy to commemorate the 80th birth anniversary of Dr R Chidambaram and another mega conference - Centenary Tribute conference to the father of space programs in India - Dr Vikram Sarabhai. These two conferences were organised jointly by the NCSC with the Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai and the later one day conference was successfully organised at our Centre - Nehru Science Centre in 2019. Dr Sreekumar Banerjee, not only helped us with the financial support for the conference but he also delivered an outstanding lecture on the occasion. 

Just before this conference, the Nehru Science Centre was the venue for the mega opening of the Vigyan Samagam Exhibition, which was jointly organised by the DAE, DST and NCSM. Dr Banerjee was among several distinguished dignitaries who were present for the inaugural function of this extraordinary exhibition, which show cased seven frontiers of science and technology mega science projects in which India is a partner and most of these projects are supported and funded by DAE, of which Dr Sreekumar Banerjee was the head

The death of Dr Srikumar Banerjee, in a way is a travesty of justice. Dr Banerjee and his wife were affected by the Covid pandemic and were both admitted to the hospital in March this year. Just last month, my friend Pallav Bagla had conducted an interview with Dr Srikumar Banerjee and his wife on their experience of Covid and how they recovered from the Covid infection, which had forced them to be admitted in the hospital. Dr Banerji spoke in his inimitable style and credited the medical doctors and all other health workers at the hospital for his recovery and his interview was so motivational to most people who were so afraid of the Covid pandemic and so also it’s fear and the unending worries of fatalities. His personal experience of how, helped by Indian health workers, one can win over Covid was truly inspirational particularly in times of dime a dozen fear mongering information that has flooded the social media. Dr Banerjee and his wife had completely recovered from Covid and suddenly this news of his untimely death came as a shock to most people. Dr Banerjee suffered a massive heart attack early this morning at 3 AM on 23rd May, 2021, at the Fortis Hospital, where he was admitted. Unfortunately, he could not survive the heart attack and this news spread thick and fast and reached us around 7 AM.

The Nehru science Centre has been very fortunate to have hosted the lectures and interactions of most of the top notch nuclear scientists of the country including Dr Banerjee, particularly in the recent past. I am reminded of at least three recent programs at our Centre where Dr Banerjee not only supported our Centre but also delivered lectures and interacted with students. As recently as October 2019, Dr Banerjee was a pillar of strength and support for the Nehru science Centre and the NCSC who joined hands to organise the centenary conference in memory of Vikram Sarabhai. Such a massive conference and that too involving the best of scientists and administrators of the country and so also the famed daughter of Dr Sarabhai - Mallika Sarabhai, could never have been made possible without the patronage, mentoring and financial support of Dr Srikumar Banerjee, for whom we remain eternally grateful. 

Dr. Srikumar Banerjee, was born on April 25, 1946 and a precocious student that he was, Prof Banerjee joined the prestigious IIT Kharagpur for his BTech in Metallurgical Engineering, which he completed in 1967. In the same year he was selected for the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai, which he joined in August 1967, as a Scientific Officer in the Metallurgy Division. Dr Banerjee subsequently completed his PhD from IIT, Kharagpur. Dr Banerjee has made significant contribution to phase transformation and structure-property correlations in titanium, zirconium and shape-memory alloys. His contributions to devitrification in zirconium base glasses have been highly creative. His work on irradiation-induced order-disorder transformation and phase separation in nickel-molybdenum alloys is considered to be highly original at BARC. Dr Banerjee went onto hold several important positions of research at the BARC with which he continued to be associated until his last. He became Head, Metallurgy Division, and the Associate Director, Materials Group. Dr Banerjee was recognised for his contributions and made the Director, BARC in 2004. During his tenure as the Director of BARC, he established an internationally recognized research group on Phase Transformation at BARC. As Director, BARC, he organised research in Nuclear Fuel Cycle, Design of Innovative Reactors, Applications of Radiation and Isotope Technology in Agriculture, Health Care, and Food Preservation and Industry. Dr Banerjee went on to become the Chairman, DAE and Secretary to the Atomic Energy Commission, Government of India. He was involved in both the nuclear programs of the DAE in 1974 and 1998. He was also a very passionate teacher, who has taught Physical Metallurgy, Materials Characterization and Mechanical Behaviour of Materials in the BARC Training School, and has supervised 10 scientists for the Ph D degree. 

His interest in education resulted in the development of the CBS, a DAE and Mumbai University joint project, which was founded among others by Prof Shrikumar Banerjee, Prof SM Chitre and others. Prof Banerjee has also held visiting positions at University of Sussex, Brighton, UK (1978-79), Max-Planck Institut for Metallforschung-Institute fur Physik, Stuttgart, Germany (1979-80), and University of Cincinnati, USA (1992), The Ohio State University, and Forschungszentrum, Juelich, Germany. True to his outstanding contributions, Dr Banerjee has won several coveted awards and recognitions and some of the important awards and recognition that he was won include ; INSA Young Scientist Medal (1976); National Metallurgists' Day award (1981); SS Bhatnagar Prize in Engg. Sciences (1989); Materials Research Society of India (MRSI) Medal (1990); GD Birla Gold Medal of the Indian Institute of Metals (1997); INSA Prize for Materials Science (2001); MRSI Superconductivity and Materials Science Prize (2003); Indian Nuclear Society Award (2003); MRSI Distinguished Materials Scientist of the Year Award (2008); Distinguished Alumnus Award of IIT, Kharagpur (2005), and Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) by the Burdwan University (2005). Dr Banerjee was also conferred with the Padma Shri award by the Government of India in the year 2005. He has also been recognised globally and some such recognitions which he received include Acta Metallurgica Outstanding Paper Award (1984) and Humboldt Research Prize (2004). 

Dr Banerjee is a Fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences, Banglaore, National Academy of Sciences (India), Allahabad, Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE), Maharashtra Academy of Sciences (MASc) and the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS).

Last year the Covid Pandemic also took away another great Nuclear Scientist, Dr Sekhar Basu, who succumbed to the Covid Pandemic in September 2020 and now we have lost Dr Sreekumar Banerjee. In his demise India has lost a great son who along with his colleague scientists at BARC and DAE have helped the nation to pride itself in technological excellence including the nuclear deterrence that we now posses that has made the world to look at us in equal measures with those of the developed nations. 

I join the grieving scientific community in expressing our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family of Dr Banerjee and praying for his noble soul to rest in eternal peace in the heavenly abode, which will now be home to Prof. Banerjee.

Om Shanti.

 Tribute to Soli Sorabjee - Quintessential Parsee and a Legal Luminary with Diverse interests.

Images : courtesy Wiki and Dr Pheroza Godrej.

The Covid 19 infection  has taken away  life of the nonagenarian legal luminary - Padma Vibhushan, Soli Sorabjee, who has left behind a constitutional legal legacy that will be remembered for generations to come. Providentially he died in a private hospital in south Delhi, on Friday, 30th April, the International Day of Jazz, a western music of which, Sorabjee was a great connoisseur. The tragic news of the demise of Soli Sorabjee was soon followed by a series of flowing tributes that came in thick and fast on tweeter and other social media platforms and so also in the main stream media. The Honourable President of India - Shri Ram Nath Kovind Ji tweeted ‘In passing of Soli Sorabjee, we lost an icon of India’s legal system. He was among select few who deeply influenced the evolution of the constitutional law and justice system. Awarded with Padma Vibhushan, he was among most eminent jurists. Condolences to his family and associates”. The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi Ji, joined the President and wrote his tribute on Twitter: “Shri Soli Sorabjee was an outstanding lawyer and intellectual. Through law, he was at the forefront of helping the poor and downtrodden. He will be remembered for his noteworthy tenures as India’s Attorney General. Saddened by his demise. Condolences to his family and admirers.” The Chief Justice of India - Shri NV Ramana, was joined by his fellow Judges of the Supreme Court - Justices Surya Kant and AS Bopanna, in paying their homage to Sorabjee just before the start of the day’s court proceedings via video conference, where they said, “It’s a very sad news that human rights fighter Soli has passed away this morning. We pray for the gentle soul.” Political leaders - cutting across party lines, legal luminaries, businessmen and innumerable others joined in to pay their homage to Soli Sorabjee. I join them all in paying my humble respect and tribute to Soli Sorabjee. 

Soli Sorabjee was one among many Parsi community leaders who have continued that great tradition of contributing to the city of Mumbai, which is known for its vibrant economic and cultural richness and even more vibrancy in its diversity. Sorabjee’s contributions to the legal fraternity in India is quintessentially as profound as other major contributions and the legacy of the Parsee community to India in general and Mumbai in particular. The contributions of Parsee community have been beautifully evidenced and succinctly summed up in the words of the father of the nation - Mahatma Gandhi ji, who said ; “It is one of the supreme wonders of God that, though the Parsee community does not number more than a hundred thousand in the whole world, it has made a name for itself everywhere by virtue of its many illustrious qualities. It can be said that it is this community, which holds power in India. Bombay is the real capital of India, it owes its prosperity mainly to the Parsees.” Soli Sorabjee embodied the saying of the Mahatma and his legacy will be ever remembered. 

As pointed out by the Mahatma, it is the contributions of the Parsees, among others, that makes the city of Mumbai very special. One such institution among many others, which embody the artistic and cultural vibrancy of the city of Mumbai that also owes its genesis to a great Parsee - Cowasjee Jehangir,  is the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA, Mumbai) an institution of international repute that functions under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. I was quite fortunate to have headed this institution - NGMA, Mumbai, from February 2013-October 2018. During this tenure, I also had an honour to  share the platform with Soli Sorabjee on one occasion when he along with Dr Farukh Udwadia and Cyrus Poonawala were invited for the opening of two exhibitions ‘ACROSS OCEANS & FLOWING SILKS: FROM CANTON TO BOMBAY 18th – 20th CENTURIES” and ‘NO PARSI IS AN ISLAND’ at NGMA, Mumbai. The former exhibition was curated by Dr Pheroza Godrej, who incidentally was also the Chairperson of NGMA, Mumbai and the later by Ranjit Hoskote and Nancy Adajania. These exhibitions were inaugurated on 26th December, 2013 at NGMA Mumbai and I had the honour to be holding the additional charge as the Director of NGMA Mumbai  when these two monumental exhibitions were presented. These two exhibitions coincided with the 10th World Zoroastrian Congress, which opened in Mumbai on 27th December, 2013.

It was therefore no wonder that both the two exhibitions at NGMA Mumbai, received an overwhelming response from visitors - particularly Parsees, who thronged every nook and corner of the NGMA premises during the opening ceremony, which was addressed by Soli Sorabjee, and so also all through the Zoroastrian Congress meet in Mumbai. The inaugural address by the two distinguished Parsee luminaries - Dr Farukh Udwadia and Soli Sorabjee, in a way not only paved the way for the success of the NGMA exhibition but also set the ball rolling for the 27th World Zoroastrian Congress, which brought together Parsis from across the world to Mumbai to discuss culture and the issues that Parsee community faces. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the two exhibitions at NGMA, Dr Farukh Udwadia articulated his thoughts on the historical circumstances under which the Parsee community had to endear religious persecution from the Islamic invasion that led to the Parsees fleeing from their Persian land to the unknown territory in the Gujrat coast in India and how the community has, ever since, mixed and mingled so very well with the Indian community. Dr Udwadia also spoke on the genesis of how the pastoral city of Bombay (Mumbai now) was converted into the modern vibrant city, courtesy the Parsees and other leaders who helped build ships and crossed seas to trade with the Chinese, primarily the Opium trade. It was the reference to the Opium trade and so also the theme of the exhibition that enticed Soli Sorabjee to regale his audience with unending episodes of laughter during his inaugural speech. Soli Sorabjee said that Farookh Udwadia’s romanticism of the Opium trade and how it helped the Parsee community to grow wealthy has tempted him to kind of a try tasting Opium and that if he gets addicted to it, like the Chineses, who better to bring him out of the Opium addiction than his fellow Parsee Doctor, Farukh Udwadia - the best Doctor in Mumbai. 

Soli Sorabjee opened his speech by saying that the Parsees as a community in India are ‘contemptible in their low numbers, magnificent in their achievement’. He cited reference of some of the greatest Parsees who contributed to India and to the city of Mumbai. It was a pleasant surprise for me that he first took the name of Homi Bhabha - the scientist, and narrated his monumental contributions in starting the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, which laid the foundations for the Atomic Research in India. He cited several other examples of the multitudes of Parsees and their contributions in diverse fields from shipping ( the Wadias ), business - Tata’s, Godrej and others, Judiciary, Jurist - Dinshah Fardunji Mulla and Karl Khandelwal, Aviation - Aspy Engineer, who won the Aga Khan Cup defeating another Parsi Aviation aficionado - JRD Tata. He highlighted that all the three Engineer brothers - Minor, Aspy and Ronnie,  served the Indian Airforce. Aspy Engineer went on to be the Chief of the IAF and then during his term as MD of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited - HAL, the indigenously designed Marut aircraft took to air. He spoke about other Parsees namely ; Admiral Jal Cursetji, who is remembered as the Chief of Naval Staff in whose tenure the Coast Guard was formed and the Navy took over the responsibility of maritime air reconnaissance. Sorabjee also spoke about the sense of humour that the Parsees have which he embodies. He spoke about Field Marshal Manekshah and the great musician Zubin Mehta. He did not forget to mention the names of the Parsee couple known for their Jazz - Chris Perry and Lorna Cordeiro. Speaking of Jazz, he turned to the lady who introduced him and said ‘ you have told many good things about me while introducing me for which I am very happy and grateful but you missed one of the  most important thing - I am the President of the Capital Jazz, The Jazz India Delhi Chapter. The glow on his face when he spoke about Jazz was emblematic of his love for this western music. It is therefore definitely a providential coincidence that he died on the International Day of Jazz. Sorabjee’s speech was laced with unending humour, which meant that there were spells of laughter all around in the audience all through his inaugural speech. This made the opening ceremony of the exhibition one of the most memorable that I have been a part of and this will remain etched in my memory. Sorabjee even said that Napoleons Cook was a Parsee. He added - tongue in cheek,  May be the British intelligence planted him in the Napoleons army.

Soli Sorabjee was born on 9th March 1930,  in the city of Bombay (Mumbai now) and did his schooling and subsequently joined for his college at St Xavier College, Mumbai. He then completed his Law at the Government Law college in Mumbai in 1952 and was then admitted to the Bar at the Bombay High Court in 1953. Among the several cases for which Sorabjee will be remembered one of them is his association with Nani Palkhivala, who he assisted, in the landmark Keshavananda Bharati case, which was adjudicated by a 13 member bench. In 1971, Sorabjee was designated a senior advocate in the Supreme Court. He subsequently served as the Solicitor General of India from 1977 to 1980

In his seven decades long innings at the Bar, Sorabjee has appeared in several cases, particularly the civil liberties cases. He is famously known for the S R Bommai, former Chief Minister of Karnataka, case which sets out the primacy of the federal structure of our democracy. It was in the year 1994 that Sorabjee argued for SR Bommai against the Union of India against the proclamation of President’s rule. Until then it was generally believed that the office of the Governor of the state - Karnataka, enjoys special protection under the Constitution. This meant that there will be likelihood of the misuse of the office of the Governor of a state by the Centre for proclamation of the Governors rule. This is exactly what had happened with Mr Bommai and Sorabjee won this historic case for his client and thus began a new era of the office of the Governor coming under the subject of judicial review, despite the protection that the office of the Governor enjoys under the constitution. The Bommai case continues to be the guiding factor and is still the operative law for scrutinising actions of Governors. In the Bhopal Gas Tragedy case, which resulted in the loss of many innocent lives, Sorabjee represented the victims, leading the criminal prosecution against Union Carbide which had engaged a battery of stalwart legal,luminaries which included Nani Palkhiwala, Fali Nariman, Anil Divan. Sorabjee successfully defended the gas victims before the 1989 settlement was reached under the Supreme Court’s supervision, clinching a substantial compensation of $470 million.  It must be remembered that Sorabjee too was approached by the Union Carbide Corporation Company to appear on their behalf, which he rejected out rightly. 

Sorabjee’s conviction for protection of the human rights were visible in most cases, which he passionately fought in the courts of law. He also represented the 1984 Sikh riots victims in the Court and that too for free. However, as Attorney General, Sorabjee came in for huge criticism for advising the NDA government not to pursue the extradition of Warren Anderson, which he firmly believed would be a long and arduous protracted legal problem, which the Government would find it too difficult to follow. In another case involving Ms. Maneka Gandhi against the Union of India — known as the passport impounding case — Sorabjee, despite appearing for the government, defended the petitioner’s right to be heard. The court in this case held that ‘due process is substantive and not merely procedural when it comes to personal liberty’.

There is one case which Sorabjee fought and won for the Government, which I have personally referred while dealing with a similar case in our office. This case relates to one of our employee who was a probationer and was completely found to be wanting and therefore his continuance would serve no purpose to the office. However our administration was of the opinion that the probationer must be served with warnings and memorandum, bringing to his notice his drawbacks. Having read a similar case which Sorabjee defended for the Government, I was convinced that Sorabjee’s argument that a probationer has no right of hearing and principles of natural justice do not apply to his termination unless there is some allegation of inefficiency or laziness, I was not inclined to take the advice of our administration much to the consternation of my head quarters. The argument of Sorabjee had appealed to the judge who came down on the probationer’s advocate and asked him if the authorities had called his client a ‘lazy fellow’.

Sorabjee will be remembered for his work on human rights globally. In recognition of his achievements to fight for the civil liberties and human rights, in the year 1997, Sorabjee was appointed by the United Nations as a Special Rapporteur for Nigeria to report on the human rights conditions in that country. Sorabjee also served as the chairman of the UN sub-committee on the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights during the period 1998-2004. Soli Sorabjee has the distinction of serving as the Attorney General for India on two occasions – first for a brief period from 1989 to 1990 and again from 1998 to 2004. 

Sorabjee was very found of Atalji, and said that his personality and popularity transcended borders. In one of his innumerable news paper articles that Sorabjee wrote, he recalls that he had several interactions with Atal Ji the Prime Minister. One such occasion was when Atal Ji wanted Sorabjee’s view on J Jayalalithaa’s persistent pressure on him to impose President’s Rule in Tamil Nadu or issue directions against M  Karunanidhi. Sorabjee advised Atal Ji that such action would be legally untenable. Sorabjee came to the rescue of the government as a gallant attorney general on several occasions. The famous BALCO case is another example of Sorabjee’s legal brilliance, where he was pitted against some of the best legal luminaries in the country, yet he won the case for the government. The case involved an important question of judicial intervention in executive decisions or action. The case was argued for about two weeks and there was a battery of senior counsel challenging the government’s action. Sorabjee represented the Government of India in the Supreme Court and successfully repelled the legal challenge. So pleased was the Prime Minister - Atal Vajpayee Ji, who was actually on an official tour to Japan, that he called up from Japan to congratulate and thank Sorabjee for winning the case for the government. In one of his articles Sorabjee speaks of this incident and says “ I am not aware of any prime minister phoning his law officer from abroad to congratulate him for winning a case for the government”. Sorabjee has shared several such anecdotal experiences that he had in his legal career and one such incident is his experience of getting counselled by Shri Morarji Desai - the Prime Minister, to quit his alcohol habits, which unfortunately Sorabjee could not abide.

Sorabjee continued to be a member of the United Nations Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities since 1998. He also served as member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague from 2000 to 2006. Sorabjee will ever be remembered as a champion of freedom of speech and expression. Whenever there were cases, which pertained to defending of the freedom of press, Sorabjee was always there to fight for such cases and he had been involved in many landmark cases in the Supreme Court of India and has also been successful in revoking censorship orders and bans on publications. It is for his extraordinary service for his defense of freedom of speech and the protection of human rights that Sorabjee was honored with the second most prominent civilian award of the country - Padma Vibhushan award, which was conferred on him in March, 2002.

Sorabjee was also known for his plain speak, even if that was at divergence with the thoughts of his close friends. One such incident is his forthright support to the CJI and other Supreme Court Judges during a time when it had become quite fashionable to level baseless allegations against the CJI. He said “ If we do not trust judges of the Supreme Court, then God save the country. We must put a lid upon the unfortunate controversy and save the institution, the office of the Chief Justice of India, from further damage”. He added in one of his articles “It is unfortunate that some, at lavish dinner parties, are raising fingers for untenable reasons against the three judges of the Supreme Court who gave the report, without understanding the genesis and purpose of the in-house procedure. More unfortunate is my good friend Karan Thapar’s conclusion that it is a sad day for the judiciary. Let me remind him that the in-house procedure is published on the website of the Supreme Court has stood the test of time”.

Sorabjee had other interests too and prime among them was his unending love for Jazz. He was truly a great aficionado of Jazz and played the Clarinet quite well. His vast collections of the Jazz in various formats were a treat for all Jazz lovers, which his neighbour in Delhi, Shri Abhishek Singhvi has written in his obituary note that was published in the Times of India yesterday. Sorabjee recalls that when he met the US President in the Rashtrapati Bhavan - when he was the attorney general of India, Sorabjee spoke to Bill Clinton about jazz musician, Lester Young, who was nicknamed the “President”. Clinton was pleasantly surprised that an Indian attorney general was familiar with an American musician, whose nickname was President. Sorabjee has mentioned that Jazz was his first love and that he loved playing his Clarinet, which he stopped playing because of his breathing problems. Sorabjee was one of the prime organisers of the annual Jazz Yatra, a week-long music festival, which was held every year from 1978 to 2003. Sorabjee believed that jazz deeply influenced the way he practised the law. Sorabjee has said that Jazz helped him improvise, as the situation demanded in court. He was very found of Rudy Cotton and Chic Choclate, exponents of Jazz and he firmly believed that there should be a memorial concert for them which he organised. 

With the passing away of Soli Sorabjee a legal era has ended. However his legacy of freedom will live on in India and Sorabjee will ever be remembered.

Rest in peace Soli Sorabjee.

 Super Pink Moon - 27th April, 2021 : A Celestial Spectacle, a Repeat from Last Year.

The second wave of the Covid 19 pandemic has once again impacted our science centre, which is now closed for the visitors. Last year too we had faced a similar situation in April 2020. But then taking advantage of our stay in the office quarters, we had organised a live Facebook telecast of the Super Pink Moon, which occurred last year on 7th April 2020. One year has passed but unfortunately the Covid situation continues to be quite grim with rapidly increasing numbers adding more than 300,000 numbers each day for the past couple of days. Our Centre is once again closed to the public and we now have another occurrence of the Super Pink Moon, which will appear tomorrow 27th April, 2021. We plan to go live on our Facebook page to telecast the Super Pink moon tomorrow. Therefore four of us - Jhuma, Sheetal,  Rajesh and I tried the test run this evening and I took a couple of photographs from my new Samsung Mobile phone, which my wife gifted me. The accompanying images are taken from my new camera, which was attached to the eye piece of our 8 inch Celestron Telescope through a quintessential Indian Jugad. Last year I had written a blog on the Super Pink moon which I am slightly modifying with information that also pertains to this years Super Pink Moon celestial spectacle, which we will witness tomorrow. 

Like in the previous year this years Super Pink Moon too has come come in pairs of three and back to back. The Super Pink Moon, which I photographed yesterday will be at its peak tomorrow - 27th April, 2021, night and this will be the second in the trilogy of the super moons this year, the first of which appeared on 28th March and was called the Worm Moon and the third in this series again will be a super moon that is called as the Flower Moon, which will be appearing on the the 26th May. Tomorrow’s Super Pink Moon has a special significance for the Hindus since this Super Moon is celebrated as the Hanuman Jayanti - the celebration of the birth of Lord Hanuman, which is celebrated mostly on the full Moon day of the Hindu lunar month of Chaitra, which (in India's time zone) occurs on Tuesday, April 27, 2021. It is well known that Hanuman was an ardent devotee of Lord Ram and he like his Lord Sri Ram, continues to be worshipped across India. In that sense tomorrow’s Super Pink Moon is quite special for Indians. 

The Super Pink Full Moon, which we will be seeing tomorrow, on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti, will be the first of the two supermoons which will be visible during this year - 2021. Moon, the only natural satellite of our planet Earth, orbits around the Earth in an elliptical orbit and therefore the Moon sometimes comes closest to our Earth and at times remains farthest from the Earth. The closest point when the Moon comes closest to the Earth it is called the perigee, while the furthest point that the moon remains away from Earth is called the apogee. When a full moon falls on the perigee, the moon appears far bigger and brighter in the sky in comparison with other full Moons and therefore such a full moon is called as a ‘supermoon’ This phenomenon is not actually that rare as made out to be by the media. We will have another Super Moon next month on the 28th May.

Like in the previous year, tomorrow’s super moon too is occurring in the month of April and therefore this super moon is once again called ‘Super Pink Moon’. But what then is a Pink Moon? The genesis of the Pink Moon comes from the Native American names for full moons, the almanac of which was first published in the 1930s. According to the Maine Farmer's Almanac, the Pink Moon name is derived from one of the first flowers to bloom in spring; the Wild Ground Phlox, which also went by the name “moss pink.” The colour of these  flowers was given to the full moon, which occurred during the blooming season of these flowers and therefore the full moon falling in the month of April came to be known as the Pink Moon. However, it must be noted that the Pink Moon does not have anything to do with the colour of the Moon, rather in reality the Moon which you will be seeing tomorrow in no way will appear as mystical and awe inspiring as the pink colour that has been associated with the Super Pink Moon with which tomorrow’s moon is known. Since tomorrow’s full moon is happening when the moon is at its perigee it is called as the super moon and since this super moon is happening in the month of April, it is called as the ‘Super Pink Moon’, as it corresponds with the early springtime blooms of a certain wildflower native to eastern North America - Phlox Subulata - commonly called creeping phlox or moss phlox and these flowers are pink in colour and are also called “moss pink.”  Thanks to this seasonal association of the pink colours of the flowers - moss phlox flowers, the full Moon that occurs in the month of April has come to be known as the Super Pink Moon, making the name  trendy and quite appealing to youngsters and all those sky watchers and astronomy enthusiasts. 

The global Covid pandemic, which is now in its second year and so also in its second wave, has compelled us to have a diminishing attention span for any other events other than concentrating on nothing but its perceived monstrous effects, which is getting played out on every media non stop 24x7, seven days a week. Therefore it is no wonder that the ‘Super Pink Moon’ spectacle, which will occur tonight 27th April, 2021, has been hyped up by the skywatchers and planetary scientists to divert our attention from Covid 19 pandemic to the night sky so that we can observe this relatively rare celestial event, forgetting momentarily the Covid pandemic. Owing to the decreasing carbon emissions - the only silver lining among the worst things that Covid 19 Pandemic has caused, the night sky has become that much more clear and this will enable every one of us to have an excellent view of the Super Pink Moon tomorrow evening.

The term Super Moon has come into prominence since March 2011. Back in March 2011, NASA published an article describing a “ Super Full Moon” and the precise time when this ‘Full Moon in March 2011’ occurred was 59 minutes before the perigee - the Moon’s closest approach to Earth as it travels along its elliptical orbit - a near perfect coincidence that happens only every 18 years or so. This was a worthwhile observation to report in 2011. But then even today, ten years later, the ‘Super Moon’ craze has not yet died down. Tonight 27th April, 2021, the Super Pink Moon will arrive at its closest point at a distance of 3,57, 615 kilometres from Earth. Although this distance is closer than the last years Super Pink Moon, it will however not be as close as the next full Moon—the “Super Flower Moon Eclipse”—which will be the biggest and best “supermoon” of 2021, that will be seen next month on 28th May. 

Most of you must have been completely tired and fatigued watching Covid news across the media 24x7. Unfortunately most of the news are only showing gory stories of Covid impact and predicting nothing short of dooms days for us. Therefore I wish to appeal to you all  to please take time out tonight to come to your balconies or such other places, which will give you a clear site, while maintaining that physical distancing and taking all possible precautions like wearing face mask, as are advised by the Ministry of Health and WHO for the Covid conditions, for sighting the relatively rare celestial phenomenon, called the Super Pink Moon, which is also the day when Lord Hanuman was born and therefore it is also called as the Hanuman Jayanti Day.

Wishing you all a very happy Hanuman Jayanthi and a very happy moon sighting with all possible Covid precautions that are mandated. Together we can help our health workers and the local administration to combat the Covid pandemic and win over the SARS COV2 virus, which has brought us to our knees for the past more than a year. Stay Safe Stay Home. 

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 British & their ‘Pervasive Racism’ - A Historical Omissions of WW I, by the British. 

Images - Courtesy Wiki Commons.

Just two days ago - Thursday, 22nd April, a Report of the ‘Special Committee to Review Historical Inequalities in Commonwealth’,  submitted by the  Common Wealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) has been made public. The report unambiguously provides an account of the admission of the British to their atrocious practice of ‘pervasive racism’, against Indian and other coloured soldiers, particularly, during the the First World War (WWI ). This report provides a clinching evidence of racial discrimination practised by the British against their subjects including Indians, who were fighting shoulder to shoulder on their side in the World War that was thrust on us. This disgusting act of the British is very well known to Indians as an absolute truth, which unfortunately has not been very well documented. It is perhaps this pervasive racism coupled with the Britishers disdain for coloured Indians that led to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre which was perpetrated by the British Brigadier General, Reginald Dyer, on that fateful day - 19th April, 1919. The report has brought to focus a hard reality, which the Indians were experiencing all through the colonial rule. The report has therefore compelled the British government  and CWGC to render their apology to the Indians, Africans and Egyptians, their subjects who were at the receiving end of their racism. The report says that the  Indians, Africans and Egyptians soldiers who died fighting for the British Empire during World War I ( WWI) were not appropriately honoured, due to ‘pervasive racism‘. 

This Report, produced by the CWGC ,has found that ‘1,16,000 and potentially as many as 3,50,000 of those who died while serving the forces,  of the then British Empire during World War I, have remained ‘unmemorialised’. The report further adds that nearly 45,000 to 54,000 individuals - including Indians, were deliberately ‘commemorated differently’ from their European combatants. This act of the discrimination of the soldiers who died in service of the British Empire,  based on their colour was in direct contravention of the core principle of equality of treatment in death. Therefore, the CWGC, on Thursday 22nd April 2021, ‘apologised unreservedly’ for treating Black and Indian war dead differently. UK Defence  Secretary,  Ben Wallace,  made a formal apology on behalf of the Government of UK  by stating ‘while we can’t change the past, we can make amends and take action’. The report also makes more shocking revelations that 38,696 Indian soldiers who died during the war and whose memorials have been prepared in UK do not even make a mention of the soldiers on their memorials. Instead, Indian soldiers who died  fighting the British war, thrust on them by the colonial rulers, have been commemorated without any of their names on the memorials, except a numerical number on memorials. The names of these soldiers  have been separately inserted in the registers. Such was the ill treatment that the Britishers perpetrated on Indians during their colonial rule. This report is symptomatic of the ‘pervasive racism’ behaviour, which the British rulers practiced against Indians all through their rule, which unfortunately as been brushed under the carpet by most historians. Yet, there were an estimated over 1.2 million Indian soldiers who took part in World War I with a hope that their support to the British during their hour crisis will be rewarded by the British post the war with some kind of an independence, which was not to be. There were even more soldiers who took part in the Second World War (WWII) to fight for the British cause. 

Speaking of the Indian soldiers participation in the WWI and how they have been racially discriminated, I am reminded of one of deadliest War that was fought during the WWI by the Indian soldiers under the banner of ANZAC in the famous battle of Gallipoli. It was on the 25th April, 1915,  that the ANZACs landed at the Gallipoli peninsula battle site to commence one of the most heralded battles of the WWI at the deadliest of trenches and the worst of conditions at Gallipoli. The Indians fought shoulder to shoulder with their brothers in arm the white Australians and New Zealanders under the banner of the ANZACs directly under the command of the British soldiers. April 25, 2021, marks the 106th  anniversary of the historic landing of the allied troops - the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand), on the Gallipoli Peninsula, for one of the most treacherous military campaign in the worst of battle conditions in the trenches of death, during WW1. This battle is now legendary and several heroic stories, books, documentaries and films have been told about the Gallipoli battle. Most unfortunately the role of the Indian soldiers in this war was again conspicuously missing from the military records of British. Thus battle lasted for nearly eight months and claimed at least 125,000 lives. 

As stated above, unfortunately for nearly 100 years since this battle, not much was known about the participation of Indian soldiers in the Gallipoli battle, let alone heralding their heroic contributions to the battle. The Indian soldiers participation in the battle was mostly swept under the carpet or at best found some foot note references in most military history books and articles. Fortunately, when the world was preparing to commemorate the centennial of the Gallipoli battle, the vital contributions of Indian soldiers in this battle caught the attention of a well known Australian historian and researcher - Prof Peter Stanley, University of New South Wales, Australia. Prof Stanley, through his intensive research, has written and documented, with extraordinary details, the contributions of Indian soldiers in the Battle of Gallipoli in his book “Die in Battle, Do not Despair, The Indians on Gallipoli 1915”.  While curating an exhibition ‘Cricket Connects : India - Australia Cricket Relations’, as a part of the  ‘Confluence : Festival of India in Australia’, which was presented at the historic Sydney Cricket Grounds, in October 2016, I had an opportunity to read this book, which I used to connect this historicity of relation between the two countries - India and Australia, in one of the sections in the exhibition. It was  heartening to note that of all the ten sections of the exhibition, the ANZAC connect part of the exhibition evoked an extraordinary emotional feeling for most Australian visitors to the exhibition.

The Indian troops were part of the ANZAC - an armed core unit under the command of the British, which consisted of soldiers from Australia, Great Britain, Ireland, France, India, and Newfoundland. The Indian troupes comprised of Gurkha and Sikh battalions and other mule drivers, who literally transported most war materials of the British forces and their allies during this battle. The ANZACs landed on the Gallipoli peninsula on the 25th April 1915 and fought in the deadliest of trenches and on the frontline and that too positioned at a completely disadvantageous position with respect to their enemy - the Turks. Thousands perished in this battle and several thousand more were either wounded or scarred for life. The Australians, New Zealanders and Indian soldiers united fight during this epic battle is something that would not have been countenanced in a “White Australia” during that period. 

The Gallipoli Campaign, also known as the Dardanelles Campaign, the Battle of Gallipoli or the Battle of Çanakkale (Turkish: Çanakkale Savaşı), was a British campaign of World War I fought with the aim of capturing the Ottoman capital of Constantinople (modern day Istanbul). This battle may have been a defeat for the ANZAC, if one looks prismatically with the objectives with which this battle was fought - to push out the Ottoman Empire and to create a new front for the allied forces. However a look at the historical war records and casualty data from World War, reveals  and clearly demonstrates  the Gallipolis campaign value to the Allied cause. The New Zealand government’s historical record documents that the Allies (which included Australians, British, Canadians from Newfoundland, French, Irish, Indians and New Zealanders) sustained 1,41,547 casualties (dead, wounded and missing) at Gallipoli – among those numbers were 44,150 dead. The Ottoman Empire forces sustained a far higher casualties - 2,51,309 including an astonishing 86,692 dead. The casualties on the enemy side almost doubled the ANZACs numbers including the dead and what is more revealing is that the Ottoman forces were strategically at a more vantage position than the ANZAC forces. Looking at the ratio – dividing the impact on the Ottoman side by the input of Allied force casualties – one can notice that the Allied soldiers were relentless in their heroic gallantry and displayed incredible valour, courage and endurance in the most hostile environment in which this battle was fought. 

The  valour with which the Allied forces fought this dreaded Gallipoli battle has led to the ANZAC legend that continues to live on to be celebrated and revered both in Australia and New Zealand, every year.  The ANZAC legend is celebrated as the Anzac Day on April 25, marking the landing of Anzac at Gallipoli in 1915.  Every year, there are ceremonial marches and parades in most Australian and New Zealand cities to mark the sacrifice of those who lost their lives in the line of duty. The Sikh community, who fought alongside the Australians, has proudly joined in this tradition of paying homage to their forefathers  and since 2005, there has been a Sikh contingent in the Anzac Day march in Perth, Australia, comprised of direct descendants of those who fell in Gallipoli and other campaigns.

The Gallipoli battle records have revealed the respect that the Australian soldiers had for the Indian soldiers, which is evidenced in one of the statement; “The [Indians] batteries did so well and gallantly that the Australians have metaphorically taken them to their hearts. All are the greatest pals imaginable, and the political effect of this cordial friendship should be good for both India and Australia.”  Most unfortunately, Indians have forgotten to respect our battle warriors who perished in this epic battle. Through this post, on behalf of my countrymen ( women included) I wish to pay our respect and reverence to those British Indian soldiers who perished not only in this battle but also in both the WWI and WWII.

Incidentally the Battle of Gallipoli is also known for the death of one of the greatest of scientists who died in the battle of Gallipoli. One of those hundreds of thousands of soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice by laying down their life in service of their motherland, during the World War 1, was the genetically gifted genius scientist, Henry Moseley. In the words of Issac Asimov, ‘Moseley’s death is the single most costly death of the war’. Periodic Table is invariably associated with the Russian chemist - Mendeleev, who discovered it in 1869. However, it must be noted that the modern day Periodic Table, which is omnipresent in all schools and colleges and science labs, owes its genesis to the contributions of Henry Moseley, the British Scientist. His findings - rightly called the Moseley’s Law - was primarily responsible for the modern day periodic tables. Moseley was one of those millions of soldiers who volunteered to participate in the WWI and tragically died in the Gallipoli battle on the 10th of August 1915, at a very young age - 27 years. In his untimely death, the whole of humanity was robbed of Moseley’s genius scientific contributions. His death is all the more poignant for what he might have achieved, had it not been for the senseless battle of Gallipoli, which took away his life along with innumerable other Indian soldiers during WWI. 

The best tribute for Henry Moseley, Indian soldiers and other battle heroes, who were martyred during the WWI at Gallipoli, can be witnessed in the words of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938), an army officer who was part of this battle and who founded an independent Republic of Turkey out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire. He served as Turkey's first president from 1923 until his death in 1938. Mustafa Ataturk Says ; 

 “Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives; you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours. You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well”  - Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

Today as we commemorate the 105th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli, it is heartening to note that the Britishers have finally owned up their ‘ pervasive racism ‘ behaviour and have rendered an apology for their inhuman behaviour. May the revered souls of valiant soldiers  rest in eternal peace and may they continue to remain in our hearts and minds.

Jai Hind.

 22nd April 2021:  51st Earth Day - International Mother Earth Day

Every year the world collectively celebrates this day - 22nd April, as the Earth Day, which the United Nations calls it as the “International Mother Earth Day”.  Each Earth Day is assigned a different theme and this year’s theme is “Restore Our Earth.”

In its inimitable style, the Google Doodle highlights ‘how everyone can plant the seed to a brighter future—one sapling at a time’, to help restore our Earth. In the unending cosmos in which our planet earth is an infinitesimally small dot, yet, it is perhaps the only place in the universe, which harbours life in all its diverse and beautiful forms that inspire wonder. Our Mother Earth and its environment - a nature’s miracle, works very hard to sustain us and this mandates that we play our constructive part to sustain a fine balance that our planet  has to play in providing for the needs of the people as against our unending greed, which is majorly impacting our very survival. A time comes when even the Mother Earth has to take a call for how long she can sustain the unending greeds of human beings. Today’s video Doodle shows how we can collectively help restore our earth by planting a variety of trees within our natural habitats. This is one of the many ways we can help our Earth and play our constructive part to keep our Earth healthy for future generations. 

We are also passing through the worst of times when the whole world is plagued by the Covid pandemic and we in India are passing through the deadly second phase of this pandemic. While continuing to be a responsible citizen in contributing to the efforts of the highly stressed, yet more determined, health workers to help us all tide over this pandemic situation, let us all pledge that we will individually be fully and completely responsible in following all the mandated Covid appropriate behaviour and so also to motivate and encourage everyone to find one small act each of us can do to combat the Covid pandemic and so also to help our Earth. This one small step of our individual commitment is definitely bound to take a firm root, which can blossom as a collective mass movement, which will ensure that Covid becomes a thing of the past. This being a Earth Day, we must also commit ourselves to caring for nature, plants, and our environment, which are integral to our own health and that individual responsibility lies with each of us. Each of us collectively can help Earth blossoms into a more beautiful place for all of us to be proud of. 

This year's theme -  Restore Our Earth, takes me back by few years when we celebrated the World Environment day at our centre with tens of hundreds of children taking part in a series of events and programmes which we organised at our centre. The start attraction for the children and the media of course was our chief guest for the day  Mr. Shyam Sunder Paliwal, social campaigner and ex-sarpanch of Piplantri. The Piplantri village in the Rajsamand district of Rajasthan, India, has been a proud advocate and ambassador of eco-feminism. The villagers of Piplantri plant 111 trees every time a girl child is born. The community ensures these trees survive and grow as do the girls. This extraordinary social movement with an even more extraordinary benefit for the planet earth, was initiated by Shri. Shyam Sunder Paliwal ji. He was kind enough to accept our invitation to be with us and to lead a movement of massive plantation in our campus which was graciously supported by many stake holders including the Rotary Clubs. 

One of the best ways to ‘Restore our Earth’ is to plant trees and we planted a very large number of trees on that day and we are so proud that most of them have survived and are so very healthily growing taller and taller. Plantation of trees is among the most effective strategies for climate change mitigation. A recent study in Science has shown that ‘there is room for an extra 0.9 billion hectares of canopy cover, which could store 205 gigatonnes of carbon in areas that would naturally support woodlands and forests’. This highlights global tree restoration as one of the most effective carbon drawdown solutions to date. The study has shown results, which highlight the ‘opportunity of climate change mitigation through global tree restoration and also the urgent need for action’.

So let us love our trees, which capture carbon that we majorly emit, they cool overheated places, benefit agriculture, support pollinators, reduce the risk of disease transmission, and boost local economies. Let us pledge to ‘Restore our Earth’.

 Last year, on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of Earth Day, I had written a blog on the significance and history of the Earth Day. For those who may be interested, here is a link to that blog. 

https://khened.blogspot.com/2020/04/22nd-april-2020-golden-jubilee-of-world.html