Can a 4 year boy be a murderer?

A four-year-old boy, resident of a village located 60 km away from Bihar's capital Patna, has been accused of murder.

Alok Pandey, who is yet to join a primary school, has been charged by the police in Bhojpur district for assaulting and seriously injuring his neighbour, who died on his way to the hospital.

The case has been registered despite the fact that as per Section 82 of the Indian Penal Code, the police cannot file a criminal case against a child below the age of seven.

The boy belongs to Gyanpur Semariya village, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Barhara police. He has been named as one of the nine accused in the murder case. The other accused are his family members and the complaint was filed by their neighbour Romi Pandey.

Romi has alleged in her FIR that on May 11, a close relative of hers disconnected the electric connection of her house. When her husband Achyutanand Pandey went out to find out what was wrong, the accused, including the boy, assaulted him with lathis and iron rods, she said.


She alleged that her husband died on his way to the Ara Sadar Hospital. Romi has complained she too was assaulted when she tried to save her husband.

Incidentally, though the police have mentioned the age of the eight other accused in the case, Alok's age has not been mentioned in the FIR.

Bhojpur Superintendent of Police Rajesh Tripathy told rediff.com over the telephone that he learnt about the case from local media reports. 

"I was not aware of this case earlier, but I have now asked police officials associated with the case to inquire about it," Tripathy said. 

He added that if the media reports turned out to be true, "I will look into the matter and clear charges against the boy soon".

Bihar police have become notorious for their practice of charging children for serious crimes.

In April, a five-year-old school-going boy was declared a "goonda" by the Aurangabad district police during panchayat elections in the state. 

The police claimed that allowing the boy to move around freely during the polls could cause rioting and lead to law and order problems for the state administration!

The boy was a resident of Kadwa village in Aurangabad district. His name was removed from police reports after the intervention of the top brass of the state police.

A few years ago, Bimal Kumari, 6, and Kamal Kumari, 8, were charged by the Bhojpur district police with assault, loot and abuse after two years of investigations.

They have been granted bail by a court that also rapped the police about its insensitivity in naming minors for criminal cases.

A court in Patna expressed shock over the case of Raj Kumar, 5, who was accused of not only assaulting a woman but also attempting to molest her. The court quashed the charges against him.

Policemen in Sasaram in Rohtas district had also booked a five-year-old boy on charges of pick-pocketing. When it was revealed that the boy was not a pickpocket, the court ordered the police official responsible for his custody to pay him compensation and apologise to him.
 
Rani Pandey, 6, was charged by the Bhojpur district police for attacking them and helping her father escape from police custody. Later, her name was removed from the case at the behest of the state's director general of police.

ANYTHING ON EARTH!!!!!!!!!: 'Zombie Apocalypse' : campaign crashes website

A blog post by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention that mentions a "zombie apocalypse" as a lighthearted way to get Americans to read about preparing for hurricanes drove so much traffic that it crashed the website, the agency said on Thursday.

From: http://ping.fm/bkAGy

'Zombie Apocalypse' : campaign crashes website

A blog post by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention that mentions a "zombie apocalypse" as a lighthearted way to get Americans to read about preparing for hurricanes drove so much traffic that it crashed the website, the agency said on Thursday.

The Zombie Apocalypse campaign......

Doomsday 21st may 2011: Zombie Apocalypse

We're now less than 24 hours away from Doomsday 2011: Get Judged Or Get Out! Everybody has heard the prophecy of Family Radio preacher Harold Camping  heralding the end of the world come May 21st—but have you actually started preparing for the Rapture? 

According to some people in USA,a few true believers will be sucked up into the heavens, while everyone else is going to be stuck in Armageddon: “Industrial wastes will be released, radioactive wastes will be released, it’s going to be Hell on Earth...It’s very upsetting but that is what the Bible is telling us,”  

Some are still skeptical of Camping's incredibly precise predictions: "In 1994, I remember some radio host predicting Christ's return that September. That individual was Harold Camping. This will not be the first time he has been wrong, and that has wronged many," said the Rev. Dave Watson, pastor of Calvary Chapel in Mariners Harbor and instructor at New York School of the Bible. He added that, "teaching about the return of Christ has often been used to abuse and confuse." But what if the Rapturists happen to be correct?

Shouldn't we decide upon places to watch the end of the world, just in case? 

Well, the Centre of Disease Control & Prevention certainly thinks so: yesterday, Assistant Surgeon General Ali Khan published a post giving tips on how to survive a Zombie Apocalypse. Titled "Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse," it's quite straightforward about its goals: "You may laugh now, but when it happens you'll be happy you read this, and hey, maybe you'll even learn a thing or two about how to prepare for a real emergency." They recommend you stock up on food, water and first aid supplies for an emergency kit, and come up with an emergency plan: "This includes where you would go and who you would call if zombies started appearing outside your doorstep. You can also implement this plan if there is a flood, earthquake or other emergency." Other emergencies like, say, the end of the world??

And if you don't have time for that level of preparation in one day, there is the other alternative: turn straight to looting! But unfortunately, you'll have to prepare for even that, because people are already calling dibs on the charred remains of the post-Apocalyptic world in a new Facebook group, "Post Rapture Looting." Their motto: "When everyone is gone and god's not looking, we need to pick up some sweet stereo equipment and maybe some new furniture for the mansion we're going to squat in." If looting isn't quite your style, there's always one other option: merchandising. Because nothing is truly human like making a pretty penny off of other people's sick delusions.

Rajanikant: IN ICU

The tamil Superstar rajanikant or Anna as he is polularly called has been hospitalised fro the third time now. He is in ICU , undergoing Dialysis & facing kidney problems.

Rajini was a chain smoker and had a drinking habit. The doctors have identified some problems in his lungs and liver.

He has a god like fan following after the phenomenal success of Robot (Endhiran), which was dubbed in Hindi as well, has started working on his new film Rana with Deepika Padukone in Chennai.

He plays three roles in the film on the Mahurat sets of which he fell sick on April 29 and had to be hospitalized first.

ANYTHING ON EARTH!!!!!!!!!: Osama Bin laden: The face of terrorism - A Biography

In a late-night statement from the East Room of the White House on Sunday, President Barack Obama announced that U.S. forces captured and killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

From: http://ping.fm/4DrsP

Osama Bin laden: The face of terrorism - A Biography

In a late-night statement from the East Room of the White House on Sunday, President Barack Obama announced that U.S. forces captured and killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

In an 8-month plan enacted by President Obama, CIA director Leon Panetta and American special forces tracked bin Laden to a terrorist compound deep within Abbottabad, Pakistan. The al Qaeda leader was shot and killed Sunday, following an attack on the compound. According to the president, there were no American military or civilian casualties.

Bin Laden's death comes almost 10 years after the infamous events of 9/11, in which nearly 3,000 people were killed.

 Born Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden on March 10, 1957, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to construction billionaire Mohammed Awad bin Laden and Mohammed's 10th wife, Syrian-born Alia Ghanem. Osama was the seventh of 50 children born to Muhammad bin Laden, but the only child from his father's marriage to Alia Ghanem.

Osama's father started his professional life in the 1930s in relative poverty, working as a porter in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. During his time as a young laborer, Mohammed impressed the royal family with his work on their palaces, which he built at a much lower cost than any of his competitors could, and with a much greater attention to detail. By the 1960s, he had managed to land several large government contracts to build extensions on the Mecca, Medina and Al-Aqsa mosques. He became a highly influential figure in Jeddah; when the city fell on hard financial times, Mohammed used his wealth to pay all civil servants' wages for the entire kingdom for a six-month period. As a result, Mohammed bin Laden became well respected in his community.

As a father, he was very strict, insisting that all his children live under one roof and observe a rigid religious and moral code. He dealt with his children, especially his sons, as if they were adults, and demanded they become confident and self-sufficient at an early age.

Osama, however, barely came to know his father before his parents divorced. After his family split, Osama's mother took him to live with her new husband, Muhammad al-Attas. The couple had four children together, and Osama spent most of his childhood living with his step-siblings, and attending Al Thagher Model School at the time the most prestigious high school in Jedda. His biological father would go on to marry two more times, until his death in a charter plane crash in September 1967.

At the age of 14, Osama was recognized as an outstanding, if somewhat shy, student at Al Thagher. As a result, he received a personal invitation to join a small Islamic study group with the promise of earning extra credit. Osama, along with the sons of several prominent Jedda families, were told the group would memorize the entire Koran, a prestigious accomplishment, by the time they graduated from the institution. But the group soon lost its original focus, and during this time Osama received the beginnings of an education in some of the principles of violent jihad.

The teacher who educated the children, influenced in part by a sect of Islam called The Brotherhood, began instructing his pupils in the importance of instituting a pure, Islamic law around the Arab world. Using parables with often-violent endings, their teacher explained that the most loyal observers of Islam would institute the holy word even if it meant supporting death and destruction. By the second year of their studies, Osama and his friends had openly adopted the attitude and styles of teen Islamic activists. They preached the importance of instituting a pure Islamic law at Al Thagher; grew untrimmed beards; and wore shorter pants and wrinkled shirts in imitation of the Prophet's dress.

Osama was pushed to grow up rather quickly during his time at Al Thagher. At the age of 18 he married his first cousin, 14-year-old Najwa Ghanem, who had been promised to him. Osama graduated from Al Thager in 1976, the same year his first child, a son named Abdullah, was born. He then headed to King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, where some say he received a degree in public administration in 1981. Others claim he received a degree in civil engineering, in an effort to join the family business.
But Osama would have little chance to use his degree. When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, Osama joined the Afghan resistance, believing it was his duty as a Muslim to fight the occupation. He relocated to Peshawar, Afghanistan, and using aid from the United States under the CIA program Operation Cyclone, he began training a mujahideen, a group of Islamic jihadists. After the Soviets withdrew from the country in 1989, Osama returned to Saudi Arabia as a hero, and the United States referred to him and his soldiers as "Freedom Fighters."
Yet Osama was quickly disappointed with what he believed was a corrupt Saudi government, and his frustration with the U.S. occupation of Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf War led to a growing rift between Osama and his country's leaders. Bin Laden spoke publicly against the Saudi government's reliance on American troops, believing their presence profaned sacred soil. After several attempts to silence Osama, the Saudis banished the former hero. He lived in exile in Sudan beginning in 1992.
By 1993, Osama had formed a secret network known as al-Qaeda (Arabic for "the Base"), comprised of militant Muslims he had met while serving in Afghanistan. Soldiers were recruited for their ability to listen, their good manners, obedience, and their pledge to follow their superiors. Their goal was to take up the jihadist cause around the world, righting perceived wrongs under the accordance of pure, Islamic law. Under Osama's leadership, the group funded and began organizing global attacks worldwide. By 1994, after continued advocacy of extremist jihad, the Saudi government forced Osama to relinquish his Saudi citizenship, and confiscated his passport. His family also disowned him, cutting off his $7 million yearly stipend.
Undeterred, Osama began executing his violent plans, with the goal of drawing the United States into war. His hope was that Muslims, unified by the battle, would create a single, true Islamic state. In 1996, to forward his goal, al Qaeda detonated truck bombs against U.S. occupied forces in Saudi Arabia. The next year, they claimed responsibility for killing tourists in Egypt, and in 1998 they bombed the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Tanzania, killing nearly 300 people in the process.
Osama's actions abroad did not go unnoticed by the Sudanese government, and he was exiled from their country in 1996. Not able to return to Saudi Arabia, Osama took refuge in Afghanistan, where he received protection from the country's ruling Taliban militia. While under the protection of the Taliban, Osama issued a series of fatwas, religious statements, which declared a holy war against the United States. Among the accusations reared at the offending country were the pillaging of natural resources in the Muslim world, and assisting the enemies of Islam.

ANYTHING ON EARTH!!!!!!!!!: CAR FIT FOR THE FUTURE KING http://ping.fm/ghcl8

CAR FIT FOR THE FUTURE KING

All eyes were on Prince William as he arrived at the Westminster Abbey, resplendent in a red tunic of the Irish Guards and accompanied by Prince Harry. But certainly there were a lot of eyes that were stuck on the Bentley State Limousine that carried the groom, one of the most exclusive cars by virtue of being the only one ever made.

Designed with inputs from the Queen herself, Prince Phillip and the head chauffeur, this bespoke limo ensures it's perfect for the Royal family's exacting standards.
Understandably, details of this one-off limo are scant. Three feet longer, 10 inches taller, and six inches wider than a standard Bentley Arnage, it is powered by a twin-turbocharged, 6.75-litre V8 Engine that has been modified from Bentley's Arnage R version to produce 400 hp (300 kW) and 616 lb•ft (835 N•m) of torque. Maximum speed is 130 mph (210 km/h). It is equipped with broad coach doors that open to the rear almost 90 degrees.
The car has been given armoured bodywork and glass, a mine-resistant floor, a cabin that can be sealed against a gas attack, and kevlar enforced tires. These security and safety measures raise the car's weight to almost 4,000 kg.
The only seat in the car that's leather is the driver's because the Queen and Prince Phillip prefer  lamb's wool covering on their seats. British textile manufacturer Hield Brothers produced the Lambswool Sateen cloth used for the upholstery of the rear seats.
Only two such cars were made, making it even rarer than the Rolls-Royce Phantom IV, of which just 18 were built for royalty and heads of state. You could have all the money in the world and Bentley wouldn't be swayed to build another.

ANYTHING ON EARTH!!!!!!!!!: Anna Hazare: Another protest if bill not passed

Gandhian Anna Hazare on Thursday asked the people for repeat of a sit-in protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar if the government does not pass the Jan Lokpal Bill within the stipulated time.

From: http://ping.fm/svNLg

Anna Hazare: Another protest if bill not passed

Gandhian Anna Hazare on Thursday asked the people for repeat of a sit-in protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar if the government does not pass the Jan Lokpal Bill within the stipulated time.

Addressing an 'India Against Corruption' rally in Varanasi over phone from Pune, he said, "The country has not attained freedom in its true sense yet and we have to fight a second freedom struggle. We are prepared to go to jail for that."

Hazare said elimination of corruption in the country would start from the day the Jan Lokpal Bill is made into law.

"We have to fight another battle for a corruption-free India and our youth power has to rise up for it."
The social activist said youth power is the power of the country and once they become aware no one can stop them.

Owing to health grounds, Hazare has said that he will not be able to attend the Uttar Pradesh leg of the nation-wide 'India Against Corruption' rallies and would address the people over the phone.

ANYTHING ON EARTH!!!!!!!!!: Sathya Sai baba: Faith/ Blind Faith/ Superstition?

There is a thin line which separates faith from faith. Why do people have blind faith?

Superstitions and blind faith are two of the most weakest mental quality of any human being on earth- not only with Indian Society.



From: http://ping.fm/SLNnb

ANYTHING ON EARTH!!!!!!!!!: Faith/ Blind Faith/ Superstition: Sathya Sai baba

There is a thin line which separates faith from faith. Why do people have blind faith?

Superstitions and blind faith are two of the most weakest mental quality of any human being on earth- not only with Indian Society.

From: http://ping.fm/3D38p

Sathya Sai baba: Faith/ Blind Faith/ Superstition?

There is a thin line which separates faith from faith. Why do people have blind faith?

Superstitions and blind faith are two of the most weakest mental quality of any human being on earth- not only with Indian Society.

Why do people believe in superstitions. ? Why do they blindly follow godmen? Why is there is huge majority of people, not only Indian, but followers of Sathya Sai Baba in 135 countries across the globe, who believe firmly that He was an incarnation of Sai Baba & will be born again as a reincarnation in the name of Premasai?

The recent demise of Sathya Sai Baba has brought all these questions again to limelight. Is it the mental mnecessity of people to have a God figure whom they will follow blindly, so that they will forget their daily problems or is it the Godmen themselves who brainwash them to forget their problems & increse their following. this ia a topic of debate.

Readers are requested to come forward with their ides & help shed light on these issues in the society.

Sathya Sai baba: laid to Rest

Godman Sathya Sai Baba, whose message of universal love and brotherhood attracted millions of followers across the globe, was on Wednesday interred at the very spot from where he used to meet and address his disciples for years.

The mortal remains of the 85-year-old spiritual leader, whose clout spread far and wide among both the commoners and the high mighty, were buried after the last rites were performed by his nephew RJ Ratnakar in accordance with vedic customs following full police honours.

Watched by a galaxy of political personalities including Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka chief ministers N Kiran Kumar Reddy and BS Yeddyurappa, governors ESL Narasimhan and Shivraj V Patil, BJP leaders LK Advani, M Venkiah Naidu, Bandaru Dattatreya, former AP chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan and hundreds of his followers, Sai Baba's body was buried amidst chanting of "Sai" mantras.

Once the last rites were performed by vedic pandits, red curtains were drawn around 9:45 am and the process started for laying the body in a pit created at the spot in Sai Kulwant where the spiritual leader used to make his preachings for his followers for a number of years. It lasted about 25 minutes.

The spot where he was buried is now expected to become an eternal memorial for Sai Baba, who at the age of 14 announced himself as a reincarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba. He made his mark initially with miracles but later founded institutions of excellence in education and medical facilities besides undertaking development work and philanthropy.

Sai Baba died on Sunday morning after fighting illness for nearly a month caused by multi-organ failure.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, political leaders from various parties, chief ministers and personalities from various fields including cricket and films had visited Puttaparthi in the last two days to pay their homage.

An estimated five lakh people from various parts of the country and abroad had filed past the body to have a final glimpse of their spiritual guru.

The curtains were removed after 40 minutes for the people to have a glimpse of the 'samadhi' where the body was laid to rest in line with the practice adopted for Hindu spirital leaders. Normally, Hindus cremate their bodies.

Governor Narasimhan, chief minister Reddy, Advani, Chandra Babu Naidu and other leaders went to the samadhi had a word with Ratnakar and sprinkled sacred ash at the spot.

Earlier, a little before 9 am, the glass casket in which Sai Baba's body was lying in state from Sunday night was removed and the body was wrapped in national tri colour for a brief while.

Men of the Andhra Pradesh Armed Police sounded the last post and fired 21 shots in the air as a mark of respect.

Then the tri colour was removed and verses from Hindu, Christian, Islamic, Sikh, Judaism and Buddhist scriptures were read out by leaders from these sects. Later, they joined in sprinkling the sacred ash at the samadhi spot as 'mangal aarti' was performed.

With Sai Baba's body draped in his favourite saffron robe, the last rites were performed by Ratnakar, who wept inconsolably, while priests recited vedic chants.

Ratnakar is a member of the powerful Sathya Sai Central Trust, estimated to be possession of wealth to the tune of Rs.40,000 crore, and is believed to be a contender in the race to head the trust.

Water from sacred rivers from all over the country were sprinkled on Sai Baba's body along with cow urine. Cow, honey, ghee and silk were given as gifts to priests.

After the ceremony was over, people gathered at the hall rushed to have a look at the samadhi, which was open for public viewing after 11.45 am.

ANYTHING ON EARTH!!!!!!!!!: Sathya Sai baba: Master of Faith http://ping.fm/1jmS4

ANYTHING ON EARTH!!!!!!!!!: Sathya Sai baba: Master of Faith

Sathya Sai Baba was the unquestionable master of their faith, a belief that no controversy or rational disquisition could shake. While rationalists were obsessed with his miracles, his followers saw beyond them and adopted him as the guiding light of their life

From: http://ping.fm/02369

Sathya Sai baba: Master of Faith

Sathya Sai Baba was the unquestionable master of their faith, a belief that no controversy or rational disquisition could shake. While rationalists were obsessed with his miracles, his followers saw beyond them and adopted him as the guiding light of their life.Born on Nov 23, 1926 to Eswaramma and Peddavenkama Raju Ratnakaram in a family of humble means, Sai Baba rose to command the devotion of millions of common devotees. As happens with men of the spirit, he following included prime ministers, presidents, statemen, generals, business captains. The protocol of potentates falling at his feet was often questioned, but such is faith.From his childhood, Baba was keenly involved in divine pursuits. In 1936, At 10, he started organising a group of children to sing hymns, at which he was very good. His spiritual inclination and contemplative nature set him apart from the other children. Sai lore has it that the boy with a soulful voice was transformed into a veritable spiritual guru as the result of a scorpion sting. The boy lost consciousness for several hours and woke up reciting slokas in Sanskrit, a language he had never learned. Moreover, he declared himself an incarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba, the 19th century seer venerated by Hindus and Muslims alike.The boy wonder’s popularity began to spread and a small temple was built to him. He began to reign from a seat he called Prashanthi Nilayam, which today is the centrepiece of a spiritual empire. But even in those early days, Sai Baba’s vision had a secular dimension. In 1954, he began to get his flock involved in service activities by building a humble free general hospital, which today has grown into the Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, where he died on Sunday.A soft-spoken man, always dressed in flowing robes of saffron or white, his popularity extended to the poorest of the poor. He often declared, “I have not come to disturb or destroy any faith, but to confirm each in his own faith, so that a Christian becomes a better Christian, a Muslim a better Muslim and a Hindu a better Hindu.”His formula to lead a meaningful life was a five-fold path of satya (truth), dharma (righteousness), shanti (peace), prema (love) and ahimsa (non-violence). Love for god, fear of sin and morality in society were his prescriptions for the world at large. But controversy has always dogged the Sai Baba, the most startling of them happening in June 1993. The stillness of Prashanthi Nilayam was shattered when an attempt on his life was made by associates, six of whom were killed.Observers say Satya Sai Baba’s following, especially foreign devotees, dwindled in recent years as a result of such controversies. But at the same time, the focus of discourse ceased to be centred around his miracles, which left him to do his work unhindered.  His followers have stayed unflinching in their devotion, gaze fixed on his message rather than his miracles.

Adolf Hitler: Most hated Man in History

Yesterday, 20th April was the birthday of great dictator.On this occasion a lets have a brief biography of this most hated man in history.

Adolf Hitler was leader of Germany during the Third Reich (1933 – 1945) and the primary instigator of both the Second World War in Europe and the mass execution of millions of people deemed to be "enemies" or inferior to the Aryan ideal. Born: April 20, 1889, died: April 30, 1945.

Adolf Hitler’s Childhood:

Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn, Austria, on April 20th 1889 to Alois Hitler (who, as an illegitimate child, had previously used his mother’s name of Schickelgruber) and Klara Poelzl. A moody child, he grew hostile towards his father, especially once the latter had retired and the family had moved to Linz. Alois died in 1903 but left money to take care of the family. Hitler was close to his mother, who was highly indulgent of Hitler, and he was deeply affected when she died in 1908. He left school at 16 in 1905, intending to become a painter.

Adolf Hitler in Vienna:

Hitler moved to Vienna in 1907 where he applied to the Viennese Academy of Fine arts, but was twice turned down. This experience further embittered the increasingly angry Hitler, and he remained in Vienna living off his small family inheritance and what he could make from selling his art, moving from hostel to hostel, a lonely, vagabond figure. During this period Hitler appears to have developed the world view that would characterise his whole life: a hatred for Jews and Marxists. Hitler was well placed to be influenced by the demagogy of Karl Lueger, Vienna’s deeply anti-Semitic mayor.

Adolf Hitler and the First World War:

Hitler moved to Munich in 1913 and avoided Austrian military service in early 1914 by virtue of being unfit. However, when the First World War broke out in 1914 he joined the 16th Bavarian Infantry Regiment, serving throughout the war. He proved to be an able and brave soldier as a dispatch runner, winning the Iron Cross (First Class) on two occasions. He was also wounded twice, and four weeks before the war ended suffered a gas attack which temporarily blinded and hospitalised him. It was here he learnt of Germany’s surrender, which he took as a betrayal. He especially hated the Treaty of Versailles.

Adolf Hitler Enters Politics:

After WW1 Hitler became convinced he was destined to save Germany. In 1919, working for an army unit, he was assigned to spy on a political party of roughly 40 idealists called the German Workers Party. Instead he joined it, swiftly rose to a position of dominance (he was chairman by 1921) and renamed it the Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP). He gave the party the Swastika as a symbol and organised a personal army of ‘storm troopers’ (the SA or Brownshirts) and a bodyguard of black shirted men, the SS, to attack opponents. He also discovered, and used, his powerful ability for public speaking.

The Beer Hall Putsch:

In November 1923 Hitler organised Bavarian nationalists under a figurehead of General Ludendorff into a coup (or 'putsch'). They declared their new government in a beer hall in Munich and then 3000 marched through the streets, but they were met by police, who opened fire, killing 16. Hitler was arrested and tried in 1924, but was sentenced to only five years in prison, a sentence often taken as a sign of tacit agreement with his views. Hitler served only nine months in prison, during which he wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle), a book outlining his theories on race, Germany and Jews. It sold five million copies by 1939.

Adolf Hitler as Politician:

After the Beer-Hall Putsch Hitler resolved to seek power through subverting the Weimar government system, and he carefully rebuilt the NSDAP, or Nazi, party, allying with future key figures like Goering and propaganda mastermind Goebbels. Over time he expanded the party’s support, partly by exploiting fears of socialists and partly by appealing to everyone who felt their economic livelihood threatened by the depression of the 1930s, until he had the ears of big business, the press and the middle classes. Nazi votes jumped to 107 seats in the Reichstag in 1930.

Adolf Hitler as President and Führer:

In 1932 Hitler acquired German citizenship and ran for president, coming second to von Hindenburg. Later that year the Nazi party acquired 230 seats in the Reichstag, making them the largest party in Germany. Helped by support from conservative politicians believing they could control Hitler, he was appointed Chancellor of Germany on January 30th 1933. Hitler moved with great speed to isolate and expel opponents from power, shutting trade unions, removing communists, conservatives and Jews.

Later that year Hitler perfectly exploited an act of arson on the Reichstag (which some believe the Nazis helped cause) to begin the creation of a totalitarian state, dominating the March 5th elections thanks to support from nationalist groups. Hitler soon took over the role of president when Hindenburg died and merged the role with that of Chancellor to become Führer (‘Leader’) of Germany.

Adolf Hitler in Power:

Hitler continued to move with speed in radically changing Germany, consolidating power, locking up “enemies” in camps, bending culture to his will, rebuilding the army and breaking the constraints of the Treaty of Versailles. He tried to change the social fabric of Germany by encouraging women to breed more and bringing in laws to secure racial purity; Jews were particularly targeted. Employment, high elsewhere in a time of depression, fell to zero in Germany. Hitler also made himself head of the army.

World War Two and the Failure of the Third Reich

Hitler engineered territorial expansion, uniting with Austria in an anschluss, and dismembering Czechoslovakia. It was in September 1939, when German forces invaded Poland, that other nations took a stand, declaring war. This was not unappealing to Hitler who believed Germany should make itself great through war, and invasions in 1940 went well. However, arguably his fatal mistake occurred in 1941 with the invasion of Russia, through which he wished to create lebensraum, or ‘living room’. After initial success, German forces were pushed back by Russia, and defeats in Africa and West Europe followed as Germany was slowly beaten. During this time Hitler became gradually more paranoid and divorced from the world, retreating to a bunker. As armies approached Berlin from two directions, Hitler married his mistress, Eva Braun, and on April 30th 1945 killed himself.

Hitler and History

Hitler will forever be remembered for starting the Second World War, the most costly conflict in world history, thanks to his desire to expand Germany’s borders through force. He will equally be remembered for his dreams of racial purity, which prompted him to order the execution of millions of people, perhaps as high as eleven million. Although every arm of German bureaucracy was turned to pursuing the executions, Hitler was the chief driving force.

Adolf Hitler: Mentally Ill?

In the decades since Hitler’s death many commentators have concluded that he must have been mentally ill, and that if he wasn’t when he started his rule the pressures of his failed wars must have driven him mad. Given that he ordered genocide and ranted and raved it is easy to see why people have come to this conclusion, but it’s important to state that there is no consensus among historians that he was insane, or what psychological problems he may have had.

Sathya Sai baba:Health Deteriorates.

Sathya Sai Baba's condition has deteriorated further and his liver has stopped responding to medication. Baba's liver and low blood pressure is also causing his doctors anxiety. Breathing is still dependent on ventilators, haemodialysis was started on Thursday morning to assist the kidneys. But his body is not responding to any treatment.

The 86-year-old religious leader was hospitalised on March 28. Meanwhile, security has been tightened at his ashram in Puttaparthi, as lakhs of devotees poured in upon hearing the news.

The Andhra Pradesh Police has been taking all precautionary measures towards maintaining security at Puttaparthi town.

On April 4, people tried to gatecrash into the super specialty hospital. Besides, the Collector's car was stoned by an angry mob when he was entering the hospital.