Rashid's Blog: A Place for Inquisitive Souls

The semi-desert region of Shekhawati ( in the western state of Rajasthan) is a colourful fantasy having a fascination of its own. An open air museum famous for its plethora of painted “haveli” ( urban mansion). Shekhawati means “the land of Shekha’s clan”. It derives its name from the king Rao Shekha ( 1433-1488), a scion of the ruling family of Jaipur ( then the capital of a powerful kingdom, now the capital of Rajasthan), the Kachhwaha.

The first frescoes were painted at the beginning of the 18° century but most of them have been painted between 1750 and 1930 especially on the walls of “haveli”, but also on the walls of forts, temples and cenotaphs ( the golden age being between 1830 and 1900).That’s the way the rich merchants used to display their wealth. ( Indeed, Shekhawati was one of the routes used by the caravans carrying merchandises between Europe, Africa, the Middle-East  and…

Those concerned about “The New World Order” speak as if the United States is coming under the control of an outside conspiratorial force. In fact, it is the US that is the New World Order. That is what the American unipolar world, about which China, Russia, and Iran complain, is all about.

Washington has demonstrated that it has no respect for its own laws and Constitution, much less any respect for international law and the law and sovereignty of other countries. All that counts is Washington’s will as the pursuit of hegemony moves Washington closer to becoming a world dictator.

The examples are so numerous someone should compile them into a book. During the Reagan administration the long established bank secrecy laws of Switzerland had to bend to Washington’s will. The Clinton administration attacked Serbia, murdered civilians and sent Serbia’s president to be…

Astronomers have probably found the oldest star of the universe, i.e. nearly 13.2 billion years old, and interestingly it is located near to our Solar System.

“We believe this star is the oldest known in the Universe with a well determined age,” Howard Bond, an astronomer at Pennsylvania State University in University Park, who presented the finding on 10^th of January at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Long Beach, California, said in a statement.

This proposed oldest star is referred to as HD 140283 and is located at a distance of approximately 190 light years from us. It is known by the astronomers for more than a century. Researchers already knew that the object is almost entirely made up of hydrogen and helium showing that the star was from the early universe but the exact age of the star was not known.

(Artist’s rendering – HD…