Thought for the day

The happiest of people

Don't necessarily have the best of everything;

They just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

Happiness lies for

Those who cry,

Those who hurt,

Those who have searched,

And those who have tried,

For only they can appreciate the importance of people

Who have touched their lives.

When you were born, you were crying

And everyone around you was smiling.

Live your life so that when you die,

You're the one who is smiling

And everyone around you is crying.

Please send this message

To those people who mean something to you,

To those who have touched your life in one way or another,

To those who make you smile when you really need it,

To those that make you see the brighter side of things When you are really down,

To those who you want to know

That you appreciate their friendship.

Civil Services Club Members

Reflection

A Public Servant Par Excellence

United Nations comes to Kerala in a different style. Kerala Chief Minister Mr. Oommen Chandy has been selected to receive its prestigious Public Service Award 2013  for his Mass Contact Program. Secretary General Ban Ki - Moon will present the award today (June 27)  at a special function arranged at Bahrain National Centre, Manama. Mr. Chandy becomes the first Chief Minister in India to receive this honor. Kerala was adjudged for this glorious tribute from among 50 countries in the Asia – Pacific region.  Mass Contact Program (MCP) was an invention of the Chief Minister which won the attention of the world. It saw the CM receiving 5.45 lakhs (5,45,000) petitions by visiting 14 Districts of Kerala and resolving 2.97 lakhs on the spot. In some Districts he stood beyond 19 hours without a break to redress grievances.

This is the best example of peace building and prevention of terrorism. It is the discontent and disappointed group that is usually drawn to terrorism. They feel there is no one to listen to them. This is how you can deal with the aspirations of the people of any State.

Dr. Abraham Karickam

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

The historian Herodotus (484 – ca. 425 BCE), and the scholar Callimachus of Cyrene (ca. 305 – 240 BCE) at the Museum of Alexandria, made early lists of seven wonders. Their writings have not survived, except as references.

The classic seven wonders were:

• Great Pyramid of Giza

                                  The Great Pyramid of Giza, the only wonder of the ancient world still in existence

• Hanging Gardens of Babylon

A 16th-century hand-coloured engraving of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon by Dutch artist Maarten van Heemskerck, with the Tower of Babel in the background

• Statue of Zeus at Olympia

A fanciful reconstruction of Phidias'statue of Zeus, in an engraving made byPhilippe Galle in 1572, from a drawing byMaarten van Heemskerck

• Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

Model of Temple of Artemis, Miniatürk Park, Istanbul, Turkey

• Mausoleum at Halicarnassus

                                                         The site of the Mausoleum lies in ruins today

• Colossus of Rhodes

                                 An artist's impression of the Colossus of Rhodes from the Grolier Society's 1911 Book of Knowledge.

• Lighthouse of Alexandria

                                                      Drawing by archaeologist Hermann Thiersch (1909).

Seven Wonders of the World (New)

New7Wonders Foundation

In 2001 an initiative was started by the Swiss corporation New7Wonders Foundation to choose theNew7Wonders of the World from a selection of 200 existing monuments.Twenty-one finalistswere announced January 1, 2006.Egyptians were not happy that the only surviving original wonder, the Great Pyramid of Giza, would have to compete with the likes of the Statue of Liberty, the Sydney Opera House, and other landmarks, calling the project absurd. In response, Giza was named an honorary Candidate.The results were announced on July 7, 2007, in Lisbon, Portugal.

Chichen Itza (Mexico)

                       Christ the Redeemer (Brazil)

                          Colosseum (Italy)

                                     Machu Picchu (Peru)

                                  Petra (Jordan)

                               Taj Mahal (India)

                        Great Wall of China (China)

Thought for the day

 May you have

Enough happiness to make you sweet,

Enough trials to make you strong,

Enough sorrow to keep you human,

And enough hope to make you happy

Always put yourself in others' shoes.

If you feel that it hurts you,

It probably hurts the other person, too.

The World Heritage Committee of UNESCO in its 37th Session has approved for inscribing 6 hill forts of Rajasthan on the World Heritage List.  The 6 forts are:

1.    Chittaurgarh Fort          Chittaurgarh          
2.    Kumbhalgarh Fort         Rajsamand            
3.    Ranthambhore Fort      Sawai Madhopur    
4.    Jaisalmer Fort              Jaisalmer              
5.    Amber Fort                  Jaipur                  
6.    Gagron Fort                 Jhalawar            

The Hill Forts of Rajasthan is a serial nomination consisting of six sites located on rocky outcrops of the Aravalli mountain range. They represent Rajput military hill architecture, which are exceptional examples of centres of Rajput power and control, are reflections of courtly culture and patronage of arts and music, their mercantile business, etc. The structural remains/ruins range from 8th to 19th century A.D. and comprises multi-gated approaches through massive and high fortification walls, palaces, temples, memorials and water reservoirs.  The extensive fortifications – up to 20 kilometres in circumference – exploit the contours of the hills, and specifically the river at Gagron, the dense forest at Ranthambhore, and the desert at Jaisalmer. 

www.newsandviewsonline

International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking
26 June

"On this International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, I call on governments, the media and civil society to do everything possible to raise awareness of the harm caused by illicit drugs and to help prevent people profiting from their use."

                        Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Theme for 2013: Make health your 'new high' in life, not drugs

By resolution 42/112 of 7 December 1987, the General Assembly decided to observe 26 June as the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking as an expression of its determination to strengthen action and cooperation to achieve the goal of an international society free of drug abuse. This resolution recommended further action with regard to the report and conclusions of the 1987 International Conference on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking

Thought for the day

Don't go for looks; they can deceive.

Don't go for wealth; even that fades away.

Go for someone who makes you smile,

Because it takes only a smile to

Make a dark day seem bright.

Find the one that makes your heart smile!

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone,

An hour to like someone,

And a day to love someone,

But it takes a lifetime to forget someone.

Reflection

The Himalayas is reverberating with the cries of millions. This is a scene from Uttarakhand, India where thousands are affected by the recent floods. The blow of nature was fatal and we are not sure about the casualties so far. The heart of the Himalayas is broken. So many pilgrim centres affected. Thousand of devotees are still missing.

There is much hue and cry about protection of environment now. It is too late. There has to be a thorough reversal of  the concept of so called ‘development’. There is a limit to what nature can take. When we go beyond that point, there is no come back.

Let us all pray for the bereaved families. Hope things will brighten in the coming days.

Dr. Abraham Karickam

Reading week from June 19

Puthuvayil Narayana Panicker is known as the Father of 

the Library Movement in Kerala. The activities of the 

Kerala Grandhasala Sanghom which was initiated by P. 

N. Panicker ignited a popular cultural movement in 

Kerala at the end of which the state acquired total 

literacy in the 1990s.

Reading Day

He died on 19 June 1995, at the age of 86. At last the Government of Kerala stepped in at accept the contributions of P.N. Panicker and ordered to observe 19 June annually as Vayanadinam (Day of Reading) with a week-long series of activities at schools and public institutions to honour the contributions of P.N. Panicker to the cause of literacy, education and library movement.

The Department of Posts honoured Panicker by issuing a commemorative postage stamp on 21 June 2004.

His birth centenary is celebrated under the auspices of P. N. Panicker Foundation in 2010

Contributions

Panicker took leadership in forming Thiruvithaamkoor Granthasala Sangham (Travancore Library Association) in 1945 with 47 rural libraries. The slogan of the Sangham was “Read and Grow”. Later, with the formation of Kerala State in 1956, it became Kerala Granthasala Sangham (KGS). He traveled across the villages of Kerala propagating the message of reading and inviting active involvement of people. He succeeded in bringing about 6000 libraries into this network. Grandhasala Sangham won the prestigious ‘Krupsakaya Award’ from UNESCO in 1975. He was the General Secretary of Sangham for 32 years, until 1977, when the Sanghom was taken over by the Kerala State Government. Now it is called the Kerala State Library Council, with an in-built democratic structure and funding from the State Government.

Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they'll love you back!

Don't expect love in return;

Just wait for it to grow in their heart,

But if it doesn't, be content it grew in yours.

Thought for the day

It's true that we don't know

What we've got until it's gone,

But it's also true that we don't know

What we've been missing until it arrives.

What joy GOD must have had the day He designed these SUPER Birds !

1.Himalayan Monal


2. Formosan Magpie

3. Flamecrest

 4. Golden Pheasant

 5. Green Jay

 6. Kingfisher

7. Lady Amherst's Pheasant

8. Bleeding Heart Pigeons

9. Nicobar Pigeon

 10. Quetzal

11. Winson's Bird Of Paradise

12.Bird of Paradise

13. Peacock
14. Sup, Polish Chicken

I Can see how it might be possible for a man
to look down upon the earth
and be an atheist,
but I cannot conceive how
he could look up into the heavens
and say there is no God
Abraham Lincoln

Thought for the day

The best kind of friends,

Is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with,

Never say a word,

And then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had.

This is how we care for fellow beings

Thought for the Day

We never get what we want,

We never want what we get,

We never have what we like,

We never like what we have.

And still we live & love.

That's life...

Robin Mathew-Head Boy

Mary Roy- Head Girl