The National Anthem of India

The National Anthem of India consists of the first stanza of the song "Jana Gana Mana", the music and words of which were composed by the Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore. The National Anthem is one of National Identity Elements of India.

The Constituent Assembly of India adopted Jana Gana Mana as the National Anthem of India on 24 January 1950. Its full version takes a formal playing time of approximately 52 seconds.

The officially recognised version reads as follows:

Jana-gana-mana-adhinayaka jaya he
Bharata-bhagya-vidhata
Punjaba-Sindhu-Gujarata-Maratha
Dravida-Utkala-Banga
Vindhya-Himachala-Yamuna-Ganga
uchchala-jaladhi-taranga
Tava shubha name jage, tava shubha asisa mage,
gahe tava jaya-gatha.
Jana-gana-mangala-dayaka jaya he
Bharata-bhagya-vidhata.
Jaya he, Jaya he, Jaya he,
jaya jaya jaya, jaya he.

A shortened version consists of the first and last lines and takes about 20 seconds to play. It reads as follows:

Jana-gana-mana-adhinayaka jaya he
Bharata-bhagya-vidhata.
Jaya he, Jaya he, Jaya he,
jaya jaya jaya, jaya he.

Tagore's English rendering of the anthem is as follows:

Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people,
Dispenser of India's destiny.
Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sind,
Gujarat and Maratha,
Of the Dravida and Odisha and Bengal;
It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas,
mingles in the music of Jamuna and Ganges and is
chanted by the waves of the Indian Sea.
They pray for thy blessings and sing thy praise.
The saving of all people waits in thy hand,
Thou dispenser of India's destiny.
Victory, victory, victory to thee.

The National Anthem in Devanagari script is as follows:

जन-गण-मन अधिनायक जय हे
भारत भाग्य विधाता ।
पंजाब-सिंधु-गुजरात-मराठा
द्राविड़-उत्कल-बंग
विंध्य हिमाचल यमुना गंगा
उच्छल जलधि तरंग
तव शुभ नामे जागे, तव शुभ आशिष मांगे
गाहे तव जय-गाथा ।
जन-गण-मंगलदायक जय हे भारत भाग्य विधाता ।
जय हे, जय हे, जय हे, जय जय जय जय हे ।

The Government of India issues instructions about the correct versions of the anthem, occasions when the anthem is to be sung or played and the need to observe proper decorum when the anthem is performed.

The official instructions, information and guidance are here: http://knowindia.gov.in/knowindia/national_symbols.php?id=6

The correct rendering of the National Anthem can be heard here: http://knowindia.gov.in/myindia/images/jan.mp3

Smog in Delhi, India

Smog has enveloped Delhi in the first week of November 2016. Nothing is visible beyond a few meters in the mornings.

The word smog was coined from smoke and fog to refer to smoky fog. It is highly toxic and can cause serious diseases and even death. It contains oxides of nitrogen, sulphur and carbon, besides ozone, dust, etc. These react with sunlight, moisture, methane, ammonia, etc. to form harmful vapors, and fine particles to form smog.

As the wind speed in Delhi is almost negligent as witnessed in the first week of November 2016, and as the sky is covered by a thick blanket of smog that also hovers over the ground, visibility is reduced to about 100 meters.

The air quality in the city has been become the worst in two decades, taking it to the severe zone. The government of Delhi blames it on crop stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana, road dust and vehicular pollution.

It is estimated that over 600 million tons of agricultural wastes are burnt by farmers during the months of autumn and winter.

Various scientific research reports show that Delhi is the most polluted city in the world and air pollution alone causes about 10,500 deaths annually.

In recent years levels of fine particulate matter (PM) in Delhi increased alarmingly. The city has the highest level of airborne particulate matter, PM2.5, considered the most harmful to health. It has hugely increased the risks of lung cancer and asthma among the residents of Delhi.

The dense smog during winter causes major air and rail traffic disruptions too.

Since the 1990s, Delhi has undertaken several measures to reduce air pollution and smog. The city has the third highest number of trees among all Indian cities. The DTC runs largest fleet of environment-friendly CNG buses in the world. The Supreme Court of India ordered the conversion of the city’s buses and taxis to run on CNG and banned leaded petrol since 1998. The Delhi Metro Rail has helped significantly to reduce air pollutants.

But these gains have become insignificant due to large scale crop stubble burning, rise in the number of diesel automobiles, and similar harmful factors.

Delhi’s population is now estimated to be about 25 million, second only to Tokyo with about 38 million. That means the government has to enact strict rules immediately and implement them with an iron fist.