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“During my service in the United States Congress I took the initiative in creating the internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country’s economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our educational system.”

This  above statement made by Al Gore, then Vice-president of USA during a 1999 CNN interview on Wolf Blitzer’s show was twisted by a journalist (any surprises) to mean that he claimed to have “invented” the Internet.

This is what two of the pioneers of the Internet Vint Cerf and Bob kahn had to say on the controversy.

[A]s the two people who designed the basic architecture and the core protocols that make the Internet work, we would like to acknowledge VP Gore’s contributions as a Congressman, Senator and as Vice President. No other elected official, to our knowledge, has made a greater contribution over a longer period of time. Last year the Vice President made a straightforward statement on his role. He said: “During my service in the United States Congress I took the initiative in creating the Internet.” We don’t think, as some people have argued, that Gore intended to claim he “invented” the Internet. Moreover, there is no question in our minds that while serving as Senator, Gore’s initiatives had a significant and beneficial effect on the still-evolving Internet. The fact of the matter is that Gore was talking about and promoting the Internet long before most people were listening. We feel it is timely to offer our perspective. As far back as the 1970s Congressman Gore promoted the idea of high speed telecommunications as an engine for both economic growth and the improvement of our educational system. He was the first elected official to grasp the potential of computer communications to have a broader impact than just improving the conduct of science and scholarship. Though easily forgotten, now, at the time this was an unproven and controversial concept.[source]

And yet again at a time when few people were concerned about the issue of Global Warming. It was again Al Gore who took the lead in raising awareness on the issue. He may be right or he might be wrong.only time and more research will tell. But one great contribution of his is raising AWARENESS on a pressing issue- Environmental degradation and its consequences.

The Catapult congratulates Al Gore on his much deserved Nobel Prize Win.

Now that the ASI and the “eminent historians” brigade has declared that Lord Rama and all the characters in the Ramayana are but figment of some poet’s imagination. What about the other great epic Mahabharata and all the characters in them?

If the Ramayana is a chronicle of Lord Rama, then Mahabharata is a chronicle of Emperor Bharata and his successors.Now we can safely bet that the ASI and the “eminent historians” have a similar opinion about the other great Indian epic the Mahabharata- The chronicle of the saga of Emperor Bharata and his successors. Which means that according to them it could be just a figment of another poet’s imagination who even inserted himself into the middle of the whole plot !!??

But it is a fallacy to think that this is a mere religious matter concerning a particular religious flavor/ community and get into an irrelevant Myth vs Science debate. Even otherwise non-religious, and so called rational Indians have a huge stake in this issue as we shall now see.

The significance of Emperor Bharata is that it is from his name that the name of this country is derived. Deny him as fiction especially with zero research like the ASI and our “eminent historians” or even other supposedly rational Indians are wont to do and you have some serious issues at hand. Not the least about the very validity of this nation as a civilization construct. We need to keep in mind that since the time of Emperor Bharata the people of this country have regarded this inverted triangular piece of real estate bounded by the Himalayas and central Asian steppes to the north and the great seas to the south, the extent and bounds of his ancient empire as Bharatavarsha.

Read the rest…

India is planning to test fire the Agni-III missile next week after correcting the problems that led to its failure in the previous round of testing back in July, 2006.

BALASORE (ORISSA): India may test its homegrown nuclear capable ballistic missile Agni-III from a military base in Orissa next week, official sources said on Saturday.

Hectic preparations are on for the test launch of the missile at the Integrated Test Range of Chandipur in Balasore district, about 230 km from Bhubaneswar, the sources said.

The missile, having a range of over 3,000 km, is expected to be test-fired from launching complex No. 4 of Inner Wheeler Island, a new launch site of the integrated test range (ITR) at the Chandipur defence base.

Agni-III, one of the Agni series of missiles, is capable of carrying warheads weighing up to 1.5 tonnes, it is 16 metres tall and weighs 48 tonnes and has a range of 3,500 Km which is crucial for India’s nuclear deterrent capability against China. The other missiles in the Agni family are Agni-I, which is a short-range missile of 750-800 km, and Agni-II, which has a range of more than 1,500 km.

Update:Â Agni-III testfired successfully.