Diwali for our soldiers

It is always worth looking up in reverence and remembering our armed forces that are guarding our country when the entire nation is celebrating a festival. Defending our country from the highest altitudes, Separated from their families for elongated periods of time even at the time of festivities for the nation, making supreme sacrifices when the need arises makes the jawans our heroes.

Can we Gift our Jawans something this Diwali as a token of gratitude? And how can we gift something however small which would benefit them and their families easily?

The answer is “Yes” and it can be done easily through the National Defence Fund.

This fund will be used for the welfare of the armed forces and their dependents and it accepts voluntary contributions.

All the donations made towards NDF will be exempted from taxes under section 80(G).

Rather than burning money on Crackers and polluting the atmosphere, if we make a small contribution towards this fund, this would be beneficial for our Jawans.

More details on NDF can be found at (www.Pmindia.gov.in)

Direct contribution can be made at (https://ndf.gov.in/)

Would Careless Industrialization stop People from celebrating Diwali with Crackers?

 Diwali the festival of lights has tremendous significance for Hindus. It is believed that Lord Ram, Laxman and Goddess Sita returned to Ayodhya on this day after Lord Ram defeated Ravana on the day of Dussehra. Indians all over the world irrespective of caste, creed and religion celebrate this festival with great brotherhood and camaraderie.

In this Year too, when people are looking forward to celebrate with great vigor, there has been news that Chinese made crackers are being smuggled in to India. The ministry of commerce in 2014 Listed that Possession and sale of crackers from foreign origin attracts punishment under law. The main reason for the Ban as spelled out is, these Chinese crackers emanate poisonous gases and contain a chemical called potassium chlorate. The chemical is cheaper and brighter but it can trigger skin diseases and allergies. It is also said that the Indian Crackers use sodium and potassium nitrate which are safer and inert in nature.

Although everyone would agree that Diwali without crackers would not have been so popular that it is today, the question that is intriguing is “In today’s day and age are crackers polluting the already polluted environment?”

Isn’t it alarming that Delhi reported an AQI (Air quality index) of 321 micro grams per cubic meter (which is termed as poor), when 60 mcg/cubic meters is the permissible limit. If the AQI goes beyond a few notches shutting down schools or colleges would be the next thing after Diwali if certain responsible actions are not undertaken.

It is very difficult for a country which is developing, needs to set up more factories, needs to set up infrastructure at any cost, needs to sometimes cut down its own forests and maintain the quality of air needed for the well being of the people (which is their basic right).Cities like shanghai which are part of the developing and the export driven economies have already witnessed high pollution levels (AQIs). The challenge is “Can we shut down our factories for some days for the sake of quality air hurting our economy?” “Can we penalize companies which are not maintaining the emission standards?””Can we as a responsible citizens use more of Public transport?”“Can we root out the corruption which protects such factories with higher emission?”

If the answer is “NO” then we would be stopping to celebrate Diwali in a few years or else we can’t breathe in this vitiated environment.