Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King, Jr., (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American pastor, activist, humanitarian, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs.

He was born Michael King, but his father changed his name in honor of the German reformer Martin Luther. A Baptist minister, King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957, serving as its first president. With the SCLC, King led an unsuccessful struggle against segregation in Albany, Georgia, in 1962, and organized nonviolent protests in Birmingham, Alabama, that attracted national attention following television news coverage of the brutal police response. King also helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. There, he established his reputation as one of the greatest orators in American history.

On October 14, 1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolence. In 1965, he and the SCLC helped to organize the Selma to Montgomery marches and the following year, he took the movement north to Chicago to work on segregated housing. In the final years of his life, King expanded his focus to include poverty and speak against the Vietnam War, alienating many of his liberal allies with a 1967 speech titled "Beyond Vietnam".

In 1968, King was planning a national occupation of Washington, D.C., to be called the Poor People's Campaign, when he was assassinated on April 4 in Memphis, Tennessee. His death was followed by riots in many U.S. cities. Allegations that James Earl Ray, the man convicted of killing King, had been framed or acted in concert with government agents persisted for decades after the shooting. The jury of a 1999 civil trial found Loyd Jowers to be complicit in a conspiracy against King. The ruling has since been discredited and a sister of Jowers admitted that he had fabricated the story so he could make $300,000 from selling the story, and she in turn corroborated his story in order to get some money to pay her income tax.King was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. Martin Luther King,  Daywas established as a holiday in numerous cities and states beginning in 1971, and as a U.S. federal holiday in 1986. Hundreds of streets in the U.S. have been renamed in his honor. In addition, a county was rededicated in his honor. A memorial statue on the National Mall was opened to the public in 2011.

Kalakshetra

Rukmini Devi Arundale, founder of Kalakshetra

The Founder

Main article: Rukmini Devi Arundale

Rukmini Devi Arundale, founder of Kalakshetra

Kalakshetra, later known as the Kalakshetra Foundation was established by Smt. Rukmini Devi Arundale, along with her husband, Dr. George Arundale, a known theosophist, in Adyar, Chennai in 1936. She not only invited the best of students, but also noted teachers, musicians and artists to be a part of this institution.

Yearlong celebrations, including lectures, seminars and festivals marked her 100th birth anniversary, on February 29, in 2004 at Kalakshetra and elsewhere in many parts of the world, also on February 29, a photo exhibition on her life opened at the Lalit Kala Gallery in New Delhi, and on the same day, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam released a photo-biography, written and compiled by Dr. Sunil Kothari with a foreword by former president R. Venkataraman.

 Kalakshetra style

Having studied the Pandanallur style for three years, in 1936 Rukmini Devi Arundale started working on developing her own, Kalakshetra, style of Bharatanatyam. She introduced group performances and staged various Bharatanatyam-based ballets.

The Kalakshetra style is noted for its angular, straight, ballet-like kinestetics, and its avoidance of Recakas and of the uninhibited throw (Ksepa) of the limbs.

According to Shri Sankara Menon (1907–2007), who was her associate from Kalakshetra’s beginnings, Rukmini Devi raised Bharatanatyam to a puritan art form, divorced from its recently controversial past by "removing objectionable elements" (mostly, the Sringara, certain emotional elements evocative of the erotic, such as hip, neck, lip and chest movements) from the Pandanallur style, which was publicly criticized by Balasaraswati and other representatives of the traditional Isai Vellalar culture. Not all love was portrayed, at least outside parameters considered "chaste".

Balasaraswati said that "the effort to purify Bharatanatyam through the introduction of novel ideas is like putting a gloss on burnished gold or painting the lotus". E.Krishna Iyer said about Rukmini Devi, “There is no need to say that before she entered the field, the art was dead and gone or that it saw a renaissance only when she started to dance or that she created anything new that was not there before”

Location
Besant Nagar, Chennai, India,
Coordinates	12.9881°N 80.26500°E
Information
Established	January 1936
Founder	Rukmini Devi Arundale
Director	Priyadarshini Govind
Chairman	N Gopalaswami

The World Bank

The World Bank is a United Nations international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programs. The World Bank is a component of the World Bank Group, and a member of the United Nations Development Group.
The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty. According to its Articles of Agreement, all its decisions must be guided by a commitment to the promotion of foreign investment and international trade and to the facilitation of capital investment.

History

Lord Keynes  and Harry Dexter White, the "founding fathers" of both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The World Bank was created at the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference, along with three other institutions, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The World Bank and the IMF are both based in Washington, D.C., and work closely with each other.

riteria

Many achievements have brought the Millennium Development Goals targets for 2015 within reach in some cases. For the goals to be realized, six criteria must be met: stronger and more inclusive growth in Africa and fragile states, more effort in health and education, integration of the development and environment agendas, more and better aid, movement on trade negotiations, and stronger and more focused support from multilateral institutions like the World Bank.

1. Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger: From 1990 through 2004, the proportion of people living in extreme poverty fell from almost a third to less than a fifth. Although results vary widely within regions and countries, the trend indicates that the world as a whole can meet the goal of halving the percentage of people living in poverty. Africa's poverty, however, is expected to rise, and most of the 36 countries where 90% of the world's undernourished children live are in Africa. Less than a quarter of countries are on track for achieving the goal of halving under-nutrition.
2. Achieve Universal Primary Education: The percentage of children in school in developing countries increased from 80% in 1991 to 88% in 2005. Still, about 72 million children of primary school age, 57% of them girls, were not being educated as of 2005
3. Promote Gender Equality: The tide is turning slowly for women in the labor market, yet far more women than men- worldwide more than 60% – are contributing but unpaid family workers. The World Bank Group Gender Action Plan was created to advance women's economic empowerment and promote shared growth.
4. Reduce Child Mortality: There is some what improvement in survival rates globally; accelerated improvements are needed most urgently in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. An estimated 10 million-plus children under five died in 2005; most of their deaths were from preventable causes.
5. Improve Maternal Health: Almost all of the half million women who die during pregnancy or childbirth every year live in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. There are numerous causes of maternal death that require a variety of health care interventions to be made widely accessible.
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Other Diseases: Annual numbers of new HIV infections and AIDS deaths have fallen, but the number of people living with HIV continues to grow. In the eight worst-hit southern African countries, prevalence is above 15 percent. Treatment has increased globally, but still meets only 30 percent of needs (with wide variations across countries). AIDS remains the leading cause of death in Sub-Saharan Africa (1.6 million deaths in 2007). There are 300 to 500 million cases of malaria each year, leading to more than 1 million deaths. Nearly all the cases and more than 95 percent of the deaths occur in Sub-Saharan Africa.
7. Ensure Environmental Sustainability: Deforestation remains a critical problem, particularly in regions of biological diversity, which continues to decline. Greenhouse gas emissions are increasing faster than energy technology advancement.
8. Develop a Global Partnership for Development: Donor countries have renewed their commitment. Donors have to fulfill their pledges to match the current rate of core program development. Emphasis is being placed on the Bank Group's collaboration with multilateral and local partners to quicken progress toward the MDGs' realization.

To make sure that World Bank-financed operations do not compromise these goals but instead add to their realization, environmental, social and legal Safeguards were defined. However, these Safeguards have not been implemented entirely yet. At the World Bank's annual meeting in Tokyo 2012 a review of these Safeguards has been initiated which was welcomed by several civil society organizations.

Leadership

Jim Yong Kim, the current President of the World Bank Group

The President of the Bank is the president of the entire World Bank Group. The president, currently Jim Yong Kim, is responsible for chairing the meetings of the Boards of Directors and for overall management of the Bank. Traditionally, the President of the Bank has always been a US citizen nominated by the United States, the largest shareholder in the bank (the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund having always been a European). The nominee is subject to confirmation by the Board of Executive Directors, to serve for a five-year, renewable term. While most World Bank presidents have had banking experience, some have not.
The vice presidents of the Bank are its principal managers, in charge of regions, sectors, networks and functions. There are two Executive Vice Presidents, three Senior Vice Presidents, and 24 Vice Presidents.
The Boards of Directors consist of the World Bank Group President and 25 Executive Directors. The President is the presiding officer, and ordinarily has no vote except a deciding vote in case of an equal division. The Executive Directors as individuals cannot exercise any power nor commit or represent the Bank unless specifically authorized by the Boards to do so. With the

term beginning 1 November 2010, the number of Executive Directors increased by one, to 25

வேட்டி அணியாத பக்தர்கள் வெளியேற்றம்: திருப்பதியில் அதிரடி

 

திருமலை: திருப்பதி ஏழுமலையான் கோயிலில் இதுவரை ஆர்ஜித சேவைகளான சுப்ரபாதம், அர்ச்சனை, தோமாலை, கல்யாண உற்சவம், வசந்த உற்சவம் என  அனைத்து ஆர்ஜித சேவைகளுக்கும் இந்துக்களின் சம்பிரதாய உடைகளான வேட்டி, சட்டையை ஆண்களும், பெண்கள் சேலை அணிந்து வரவேண்டும் என  கட்டாயமாக இருந்து வருகிறது. கடந்த மாதம் 27ம் தேதி முதல் ரூ.300க்கான சிறப்பு நுழைவு தரிசன டிக்கெட்டுகள் ஆன்லைனில் இ-தரிசன கவுன்டர்கள்  மூலமாகவும், இணைய தளம் மூலமாகவும் முன்பதிவு செய்யப்பட்டு வருகிறது. இந்த டிக்கெட் பெற்று தரிசனம் செய்ய வரும் பக்தர்கள் கட்டாயமாக சம்பிரதாய உடை  அணிந்து வர வேண்டும் என தேவஸ்தானம் அறிவித்தது.இதேபோல் 60 நாட்களுக்கு முன்பு முன்பதிவு செய்யக்கூடிய ரூ.50 சுதர்சன டிக்கெட் பெற்றுவரும்  பக்தர்களும் சம்பிரதாய உடை அணிந்து வர வேண்டும் என கட்டாயமாக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.
இந்நிலையில், ஆன்லைனில் டிக்கெட் பெற்று வந்த பக்தர்கள் தரிசனத்துக்கு காத்திருந்த வரிசையில், இணை செயல் அலுவலர் சீனிவாசராஜு நேற்று திடீர் ஆய்வு  செய்தார். இதில் 40 சதவீதம் பக்தர்கள் சம்பிரதாய உடை அணியாமல் பேன்ட், சட்டை அணிந்து வந்திருந்தது தெரிந்தது. அவர்கள் அனைவரையும் வேட்டி அணிந்து  வரும்படி கூறி வரிசையில் இருந்து வெளியேற்றினர். இதனால் பக்தர்கள் அதிர்ச்சியடைந்தனர். வேட்டி கொண்டு வராத பக்தர்கள் என்ன செய்வது என்று தெரியாமல்  தவித்தனர். இந்நிலையில் தேவஸ்தானத்தின் இந்த அதிரடி நடவடிக்கை காரணமாக அப்பகுதியில் கடை வைத்திருந்த வியாபாரிகள் சிலர் வேட்டிகளை எடுத்து வந்து  வரிசையில் நின்றிருந்தவர்களிடம் விற்பனைசெய்து, அவர்கள் தொடர்ந்து சுவாமி தரிசனத்துக்கு செல்ல ஏற்பாடு செய்தனர். இதுகுறித்து இணை செயல் அலுவலர்  கூறுகையில், திருப்பதியில் தரிசனத்துக்கு முன்பதிவு செய்த பக்தர்கள் அனை வரும் கட்டாயமாக சம்பிரதாய உடைகள் அணிந்து வரவேண்டும். இது கட்டாயம்  நடைமுறைப்படுத்தப்படும் என்றார்.