Hurricane Sandy in the US in October 2012

The Hurricane Sandy has so far claimed at least 40 lives in the US, while most of the casualties have occurred by falling of trees. However, an unconfirmed report suggests that the Sandy has so far killed 69 people in the Caribbean before making its way up the Eastern Seaboard.

Photo Coursey - NYDailyNews.com

IHS Global Insight, a forecasting firm has suggested that the Sandy will end up causing about $20 billion in property damage and $10 billion to $30 billion more in lost business, making it one of the costliest natural disasters on record in the U.S.

New Yorkers found themselves cut off from the modern world Tuesday. Perhaps the hurricane has caused maximum damage in New Jersey, where the storm roared ashore Monday night with hurricane-force winds of 80 mph. Several houses knocked off their foundations there. Of course Lower Manhattan, which includes Wall Street, was the hardest-hit area.

The Sandy also brought snowstorm conditions to parts of West Virginia and neighboring Appalachian states, with more than 2 feet of snow in some places.

Till yesterday, more than 8.2 million people across the East (in US) were without power. Airlines canceled more than 15,000 flights around the world.  

Photo Courtesy - abc News 

Hurricane Sandy has also affected political arena in the country. The presidential campaign has been affected. While President Barack Obama canceled a third straight day of campaigning in Ohio, Republican Mitt Romney resumed his campaign, but just to start a political rally in Ohio into a "storm relief event."

The storm has also affected the stock market. The New York Stock Exchange was closed for a second day on Tuesday, the first time that has happened because of weather since the snowstorm of 1888.

Not only wind, but fire also played havoc to destroy as many as 100 houses in a flooded beachfront neighborhood in Queens on Tuesday.

The hurricane also affected the Hospital services. New York University's Tisch Hospital evacuated 200 patients after its backup generator failed.

Joseph Lhota, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said the damage was the worst in the 108-year history of the New York subway – reported ME TV.

But thanks to smart Police and fire officials’ attempt, which used boats and trucks to reach the trapped, normal life condition is expected to return soon.

Photo Courtesy - Yahoo News

Rig Veda on origin of the Universe

Written by - Mahesh Prasad Mishra

The Nasadiya Sukta (after the ná ásat "not the non-existent") also known as the Hymn of Creation is the 129th hymn of the 10th Mandala of the Rigveda (10:129). It is concerned with cosmology and the origin of the universe. The hymn has attracted a large body of literature of commentaries both in Indian theology and in Western philology. It begins by paradoxically

stating "not the non-existent existed, nor did the existent exist then" (ná ásat āsīt ná u sát āsīt tadânīm), paralleled in verse 2 by "then not death existed, nor the immortal" (ná mṛtyúḥ āsīt amŕtam ná tárhi).

But already in verse 2 mention is made that there was "breathing without breath, of its own nature, that one" ânīt avātám svadháyā tát ékam). In verse 3, being unfolds, "from meditation (tapas) was born that one" (tápasaḥ tát mahinâ ajāyata ékam). Verse 4 mentions desire (kāma) as the primal seed, and the first poet-seers (kavayas) who "found the bond of being within non-being with their heart's thought".

Brereton (1999) argues that the reference to the sages searching for being in their spirit is central, and that the hymn's gradual procession from non-being to being in fact re-enacts creation within the listener, equating poetic utterance and creation. The hymn is undoubtedly late within the Rigveda, and expresses thought more typical of later Indian philosophy. The hymn has been interpreted as one of the earliest accounts of skeptical inquiry and agnosticism. "The One" repeatedly discussed in the Rigveda has been suggested to have originally referred to the axis mundi, and "The One who dwells beyond the seven sages" (1.164) as the polar star (at the time perhaps Thuban).

The hymn that immediately follows (10.130) deals with the origin of sacrifice and refers to purus "a Man", identified with Prajāpati by Sāyana.The hymn contemplates that the first sacrifice was performed by humans who by that act were elevated to rishis, alluding to the mythical first sacrifice performed by the gods described in the Purusha Sukta (RV 10.90) verse 6:

So by this knowledge men were raised to rishis, when ancient sacrifice sprang up, our fathers. With the mind's eye I think that I behold them who first performed this sacrificial worship. The questions in verse 3, "What were the rule, the order and the model? What were the wooden fender and the butter?" refer back to the questions in 10.129 ("what was above it then, and what below it?" etc.)

( The writer is a researcher and resource person and a propagator of Hindu mythological doctrines, I have taken necessary permission to publish it here - Himanshu Guru, blogger)