M S Swaminathan- A Global Leader of the Green Revolution.

M S Swaminathan

Today, on 28th September 2023, we lost the great son of India . One of the best scientists who was the global leader of the Green Revolution.

" I strongly believe Indians need to move from food security to nutrition security, where not only calories & proteins but also micronutrients are taken care of. All that needs to be done is to bring agriculture, health & nutrition together in a triangular relationship". These are the words of such a personality who is being called as Father of Green Revolution for his success in developing high-yielding varieties of wheat in India. He is nothing but Dr M S Swaminathan who is also acclaimed one of the most influential Asians of the 20th Century after Mahatma Gandhi & Rabindranath Tagore.

After becoming Prime Minister, Lalbahadur Shastri, increased the budget allocation to agriculture to remove shortages in food production & he appointed Mr. C Subramanian as Minister for food & Agriculture. Subramanian appointed two scholars one Mr. B Shivraman & another Dr.M S Swaminathan. M. S Swaminathan who was a Philanthropic by Nature. He was born on 7th August 1925 in Kumbakokam. His father was surgeon & admirer of Mahatma Gandhi & led freedom movement in Tamilnadu. Swaminathan was educated in India & London. He started his education in Medicine but shifted to Agricultural field & he received 73 honorary Doctorate degrees in agriculture from universities around the world.

In 1966 , he took the leading role in India's Green Revolution programme under which high-yield varieties of wheat & rice seeds were planted in the fields of poor farmers and he got great success in it. Indian states like UP, Punjab and Haryana were more beneficial states of his plan. He worked as director general of Indian Council of Agricultural Research from 1972 to 1978 & Principal Secretary, Minister of Agriculture from 1979 to 1980.

Swaminathan made a standard process of transferring genes from wild species of Solanum to the cultivated potato. He has worked in so many institutions & universities to set up potato research centres. He has been honoured by many awards. He is recipient of Padma Shree in 1967 , Padma Bhushan in 1972 & Padma Vibhushan in 1989.

We cannot forget his contributions in the agricultural field which helped India to attain self-sufficiency within a decade i.e. from late 1960s. till the end of 1970s. He died at 98. This Great son of India will always be remembered as Father of Green Revolution in India.

Thank you

Yogesh Gogwekar

28/09/2023

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The Unheard Architects of a Golden Era: Contribution of Goan Christians to Hindi Film Music

Subject: The Unheard Architects of a Golden Era: Contribution of Goan Christians to Hindi Film Music Written by: Yogesh Gogwekar Address: Mahim, Mumbai While reading Hindi Film Songs: Music Beyond Boundaries , the seminal work of Dr. Ashok D. Ranade, an ethnomusicologist and pioneer of cultural musicology, encounters a striking idea: though cinema is a visual medium, Indian cinema has for decades functioned as a dream factory where the song is its chief currency. According to Dr. Ranade, the Hindi film song is both deeply embedded in the cinematic narrative and yet capable of living a life entirely beyond it. As a cultural-musical unit, it transcends the film, the language, and even the region that produced it. Hindi film music, he observes, flows “here, there, and everywhere”—a truth every Indian instinctively recognizes. These songs are not merely entertainment; they are collective memory, cultural identity, and a shared national soundtrack. This is especially evide...

मी कशाला बंधनात राहू?

शुभंकरोती साहित्य परिवार सप्ताह क्रमांक .: १९८ विषय क्रमांक .: ३ विषय : * ' मी कशाला बंधनात राहू ?'* शब्दांकन : योगेश गोगवेकर परीक्षक : मा . राधिकाताई भांडारकर संकेतस्थळ : जेव्हा एखादी स्त्री ठामपणे म्हणते , “ मी स्वतंत्र आहे ”, तेव्हा ते वाक्य केवळ आत्मविश्वासाचे नाही , तर संपूर्ण व्यवस्थेला दिलेले आव्हान असते . मात्र आपल्या समाजाने या वाक्याचा अर्थ नेहमीच सोयीस्करपणे लावला आहे . स्वतंत्र स्त्री म्हणजे पुरुषद्वेषी , कुटुंबविरोधी , बंडखोर किंवा ‘ मर्यादा न पाळणारी ’ अशी लेबले तिच्यावर पटकन चिकटवली जातात . प्र त्यक्षात स्त्रीचे स्वातंत्र्य म्हणजे पुरुषांचे अस्तित्व नाकारणे नव्हे , तर पुरुषप्रधान सत्ताकेंद्रांना प्रश्न विचारण्याचे धैर्य आहे . स्वतंत्र स्त्री असणे म्हणजे सूड नव्हे ; तो स्वतःच्या आयुष्यावर हक्क आहे . स्वातंत्र्य म्हणजे काय ? आपल्या विचारांना शब्द देण्याचे स्वातंत्र्य , निर्णय स्वतः घेण्याची मुभा , आयुष्य स्वतःच्या अटींवर जगण्याचा आत्मविश्वास हेच खरे स्वातंत्र्य . त्यासाठी केवळ आर्थिक आत्मनिर्भरता पुरेशी नसते ; तर मतभिन्नता मांडण्याचे धैर्य आणि ‘ नाही ’ ...

इंग्रजीच्या सावलीतली मला समजलेली मराठी भाषा आणि आजची वास्तवता

विषय : इंग्रजीच्या सावलीतली मला समजलेली मराठी भाषा आणि आजची वास्तवता शब्दांकन : योगेश गोगवेकर आज २७ फेब्रुवारी २०२६. मराठी भाषेचे आधुनिक कवी, नाटककार आणि कादंबरीकार वि. वा. शिरवाडकर यांचा आज जन्मदिन; आणि हाच दिवस आपण मराठी भाषा दिन म्हणून साजरा करतो. दरवर्षी हा दिवस साजरा करताना मला एक प्रश्न नेहमी पडतो, आज मराठीचे मराठी माणसांमध्ये नेमके स्थान काय आहे? आजची मराठी पिढी कितपत शुद्ध आणि आत्मीयतेने मराठी बोलते किंवा मराठी साहित्य किती वाचते? आजच्या पिढीला कवी कुसुमाग्रज कोण आहेत हे तरी माहिती आहे का? असे अनेक प्रश्न मनात उभे राहतात. हल्लीच आमच्या परिसरातील एका विशीतल्या तरुणीने पु. ल. देशपांडे यांच्याबद्दल बोलताना, “ते आमच्या वडिलांच्या काळातील विनोद करणारे गृहस्थ होते,” असे म्हटले. पण पु. ल. देशपांड्यांनी मराठीत अत्यंत दर्जेदार साहित्य निर्माण केले आहे, हे तिला माहिती नव्हते; कारण तिच्या आई-वडिलांनीसुद्धा त्यांची पुस्तके वाचलेली नव्हती. मग कुसुमाग्रजांच्या कवितांची ओळख असण्याचा प्रश्नच दूर राहतो. माझ्या एका नातेवाईकाच्या मुलाने तर “सोपे मराठी समजते, पण वाचता येत नाही,” ...

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