Swami Vivekananda: Swami Vivekananda (1863 – 1902), born Narendranath Datta, was a Hindu monk and one of the most celebrated spiritual leaders of India. He was the foremost disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and a world spokesperson for Vedanta. He was hailed as a Dhyana Siddha, a meditation expert, by his guru Ramakrishna Paramhansa. He attempted to combine Indian spirituality with Western material progress, maintaining that the two supplemented and complemented one another. He believed that the path to self-purification is through helping others. He encouraged people to engage in selfless service and to work towards the betterment of society. Through his teachings on the four Yogas, the harmony of religions, divinity of the soul, and serving humanity as God, Vivekananda gave spiritual aspirants paths to that realization. Vivekananda represented Hinduism at the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions convened during the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. After his first visit to the West, Swami Vivekananda went back to India and founded the Ramakrishna Order at Belur outside of Kolkata in 1897.
Sagar Nidhi: Ocean Research Vessel (ORV) Sagar Nidhi is a multidisciplinary vessel operated by the National Institute of Ocean Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences. It was built in 2007 by Fincantieri, Italy. It is India’s third research vessel after Sagar Purvi and Sagar Paschimi.
It is 104 metres long and 18 metres wide.
It is powered by fully automatic diesel-electric propulsion. It is designed with blue-water capability with ranges of up to 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km) for voyages lasting up to 45 days. It is equipped to launch submersible capsules capable of taking scientists to a depth of six km below sea level.
The vessel is capable of carrying out geo-scientific, meteorological and oceanographic research. The vessel would be used for launching tsunami monitoring systems and remotely operable vehicles, for identifying mines and gas hydrates. It would provide a cutting-edge reference point for the study of marine theatres of operation, including tropical and polar environments.
Colombo Security Conclave: The Colombo Security Conclave was formed in 2011 as a trilateral maritime security grouping of India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. The roadmap of activities was later expanded, with Mauritius joining as the fourth member and Bangladesh & Seychelles participating as observer countries. The Conclave underlines regional cooperation and shared security objectives concerning all littoral nations in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). It aims to make maritime security, marine pollution response and maritime search & rescue priorities for the region.
Ashadha Purnima: The day is also celebrated as Guru Purnima and it falls every year on the full moon day of the month of Ashadha as per the Indian lunar calendar. The day is also celebrated as Esala Poya in Sri Lanka and Asanha Bucha in Thailand. The day is remembered for the first teaching of Gautam Budha after attaining Enlightenment to the first five ascetic disciples (pancavargiya) at ‘Deer Park’, Risipatana Mrigadaya in the present day Sarnath, near Varanasi. This day is also aptly observed as Guru Purnima by both Buddhists and Hindus as a day to mark reverence to their gurus. This day also marks the beginning of the rainy season retreat for the Monks and Nuns also starts with this day.
