BHARAT SCOUTS & GUIDES FLAG

The Bharat Scouts and Guides Flag shall be in dark blue color, the emblem in yellow colour shall be in the center of the flag with Ashoka Chakra in blue color. The size of the flag shall be 180 cms. In length and 120 cms. in width, the emblem will be 45 cms by 39 cms. The size of the Group Flag, which is the same as above, shall be 180 cms X 120 cms. with proportionate emblem. The name of the group shall be written in a yellow color below the emblem in straight line. The Fleur-de-lis the International emblem of Scouting and Ashoka Chakra is meant to emphasize the all-India character of the Movement. The super imposed trefoil represents the guide wing of the B.S.&G.

HISTORY OF SCOUTING IN INDIA

History of Scouting

Genesis of scouting in the world: 
The Boy Scout Movement took a start in the United Kingdom when Lord Baden Powell (Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden Powell) organised a Scout Camp at Brown sea Island on 1907 and the ‘Scouting for Boys’ was published in 1908. The movement spread quickly in United Kingdom and other countries of the world.

Scouting / Guiding in India before 1950:
The first Scout Troop in India, consisting of Indian Boys, was formed by a Scottish Missionary, in the Central Provinces (present Madhya Pradesh) in 1908. However, the troop was disbanded in 1910. The common confirmed date, however, for the start of Scouting in India is 1909, when three troops for British boys were started at Bangalore, Kirkee and Jabalpur.

This list of three Scout Troops increased to nine different Boy Scout Organisations in early 1911 in Shimla, Calcutta (present Kolkata), Jabalpur, Allahabad, Bangalore, Poona, Kirkee, Saidpur and Madras (present Chennai).

Efforts were made to merge all the Boy Scouts Organisations with the help and assistance of Lord Baden Powell in 1921. These efforts were partly successful. An endeavor was again made in 1937.

The Girl Guide movement got a start in India at Jabalpur (M.P.) In 1911. It expanded enormously. There were about 50 girl guide companies with a membership of over 1200 by 1915. There companies were directly registered with imperial scout headquarters, London, like other Scout organisation. But an All India Girl Guides Association was formed in 1916. Girl Guiding was restricted to British Girls till 1916.

Unification of Scouting and Guiding
There were scattered organisations during the pre-independence era. However, serious efforts made by leaders like Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru, first Prime Minister of India, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the then Education Minister, Govt. of India, Mr. Mangal Das Pakwasa, the then Governor of C.P. and Scout Leaders like Dr. H. N. Kunzru, Pt. Sri Ram Bajpai, Justice Vivian Bose. Final merger took place on 7th November 1950 under the name of the Bharat Scouts & Guides. The Girl Guides Association joined the Bharat Scouts & Guides a year later in 15th August 1951.

The Bharat Scouts & Guides was housed in small rooms in Regal Building, Connaught Place, New Delhi. It shifted to its new building at 16, Mahatma Gandhi Marg, New Delhi in the year 1963 – 64.

The Bharat Scouts & Guides has extended since 1950 enormously in quantitative and qualitative terms.

THE STORY OF GOOD TURN

In 1909, an American businessman became disoriented in a dense London fog. As he stood under a street light trying to find his way, a boy emerged out of the mist and asked if he could be of help.

“You certainly can,” replied the American. He shared the business he was trying to find and the boy promptly offered to lead him to the address himself. When they arrived at his destination, the businessman reached into his pocket for a tip – but the boy stopped him.

“No thank you, sir. I am a Scout. I won’t take anything for helping.”

“A Scout? And what might that be?” asked the man.

The boy told the American about himself and the movement that Lord Baden-Powell had begun a few years earlier. The businessman was so intrigued that he asked for directions to the British Scouting Office. There he learned more about the organization Baden-Powell founded to train boys in outdoor skills, mental acuity, and leadership.

That American businessman was Chicago publisher William D. Boyce and he was so impressed with Baden-Powell’s Boy Scouts, that he brought the idea home with him. On February 8, 1910 – exactly 100 years ago today – Boyce founded the Boy Scouts of America.

What ever happened to the boy who came to Boyce’s aid in the London fog? No one knows. He neither asked for money nor gave his name, but his good turn that day brought scouting to America.

Since its inception over 110 million Americans have been Boy Scouts and over 2 million have earned their Eagle Scout rank. Some notable Eagle Scouts include Neil Armstrong, Michael Bloomberg, Ross Perot, and Steven Spielberg.

To this day, some of my fondest childhood memories are from Boy Scout campouts and earning my Eagle was one of the highlights of my young life. It was as a young Scout that I had my first opportunities to follow, to serve, and to lead…

…all because a hundred years ago some unknown kid helped out a stranger.

The slogan of the Boy Scouts is “Do a Good Turn Daily.” What will your good turn be today?

History of Wood Badge

What is the Scout Wood Badge? Early in the history of the Scout Movement, the founder, Robert BadenPowell, developed and ran the first practical Advanced Adult Leader Training Course, in 1919 at Gilwell Park, England for Scouters. BP designed the course so that Scouters could learn, in as practical way as possible, the skills and methods of Scouting. It was first and foremost, learning by doing. The course participants were formed into Patrols and these again into a Troop. The entire Troop then lived in the out-ofdoors, camping, cooking their own meals and practical Scout skills. The Wood Badge was later adapted to accommodate other sections, like Cubs and Rovers, but the basic concept of learning by doing has remained the same. Before the completion of the 1919 course, the participants asked B-P if he could give them some token to indicate that they had now been trained. He had not given this any thought, but on receiving the request, improvised by taking two little wooden beads from a string of beads he had, threaded them onto a leather thong, and hung these around the neck of each Scouter. Thus the course name also became known as the Wood Badge, for its symbol was literally a badge of wood. Ever since then, every Scouter who has successfully completed this advanced training course, receives two similar beads on a leather thong. Scouters around the world who have gone through Wood Badge training proudly wear the Gilwell scarf, woggle and beads. Wood Badge holders are our ‘cream of the crop’ adults who stand out and lead merely by example. The Origin of THE WOOD BADGE A Worldwide symbol of a trained Scouter The conferring of wooden beads as a sign of recognition, is actually an old Zulu tradition. John Ross, shipwrecked off the Zululand coast in 1825 writes; ‘The most curious part of a Zulu warrior’s decoration consisted of several rows of small pieces of wood... strung together and made into necklaces and bracelets. On enquiry we found that the Zulu warriors set great value on these apparently useless trifles, and that they were orders of merit conferred by the Zulu King Shaka. Each row was the distinguishing mark of some great heroic deed’. Then 63 years later, in 1888, a British war expedition was sent to Zululand (KwaZuluNatal), South Africa, to defeat Dinizulu, King of the Zulus and the grandnephew of Shaka - a clever, well built man, 1,97m in height. On state occasions, Dinizulu wore a necklace about 4m in length. It consisted of 1 000 or more wood beads strung on a rawhide lace. They were made of South African Yellowwood which has a soft pith (centre) – that when the beads were shaped, this pith made a natural little nick at the end of each bead. The necklace was a distinction conferred on royalty and outstanding warriors. The British eventually defeated the Zulu nation at war and annexed Zululand as a British Colony. Captain Baden-Powell, the man who was to later become the founder of the Scout Movement, gained possession of Dinizulu's necklace, which he had left behind during his hasty escape from the final attack, and placed it amongst his many war souvenirs. There can be no doubt that the beads of Dinizulu were identical to those which Ross saw Shaka wearing. It is most extraordinary that Baden-Powell should have later chosen those beads as an award, without knowing that Shaka had used them in much the same way. Scouter training at Gilcape Diep River 1938 Much later (1899-1900), during the Siege of Mafeking, Baden-Powell met an elderly African, who queried his unusual depression during the siege. The man took from his neck a leather thong, placed it on BP's hand, and said: "Wear this. My mother gave it to me for luck. Now it will bring you luck." Many years on, after Baden-Powell had founded Scouting in 1907, he instituted Wood Badge Training for Scouters in 1919 at Gilwell Park in England, and that Training got its name and emblem in the following way; Seeking a badge that successfully trained Scouters could wear, Baden-Powell remembered Dinizulu's Necklace, and the lucky leather thong the elderly African had given him. Taking two small wood beads from Dinizulu’s necklace, and knotting them on a thong, he created the now world famous Wood Badge - to be worn around the neck and the only proficiency badge worn by Scouters. Of course, the supply eventually ran out, and replicas were then made of Beech Wood at Gilwell Park. These are now worn by tens of thousands of men and women around the world, who, through taking Wood Badge Training, have equipped themselves to confidently serve young people through Scouting. The specially woven grey and red scarf may also be worn by a Scouter who has qualified for membership of the 1st Gilwell Group by completing the Wood Badge Training Course (Practical and Theory) and a period of application. The Tartan patch on the scarf is of interest, because it perpetuates the Movement's thanks to Mr. W. de Bois MacLaren who bought Gilwell Park and then gave it to the Scout Association. The scarf is proudly worn by a trained Scouter, with a leather two strand Turks Head Woggle and of course draped with the now famous Wood Badge beads. Dinizulu’s Replica Necklaces To mark the 12th World Jamboree and the 60th Anniversary of Scouting, the Boy Scouts of South Africa decided to make four authentic replicas of Dinizulu's Necklace. After much research and months of hard work by European Rover Scouts in Natal, and Zulu Scouts from Natal Troops, four reproductions of the original necklace were completed. Three of them were taken to the 12th World Jamboree in Farragut State Park, Idaho, U.S.A., in August, 1967. This was the first World Jamboree in North America with 12 011 participants from 105 countries – ironically as well, the theme was ‘For Friendship’. The necklaces were for museum purposes, one was presented to the Chief Scout Executive of the host country, Boy Scouts of America; one to the Acting Director of the Boy Scouts World Bureau and one to the Camp Chief, International Training Centre, Gilwell Park, London. The fourth necklace remains in South Africa as an historic memento of the land of origin of the original Wood Badge. The Beads symbolic return to the Zulu’s Today thousands of Zulu boys and girls are Scouts. In 1987 Chief Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi of KwaZulu was the guest of honour at a huge Scout rally. Chief Buthelezi's mother, Princess Mahoho, was a daughter of Dinizulu. At the rally, the Chief Scout of South Africa, Garnet de la Hunt, took from around his neck a thong on which four Wood Badge beads were hung, and handed it to Chief Buthelezi, in a symbolic act of returning the beads to their rightful heir – making history complete a full circle.

Dengue Awareness at GHSS ANDIPATTIKOTTAI,KARUR DT

Dengue awareness program at Govt Hr Sec School ANDIPATTIKOTTAI Karur dt on 04.10.2017 by 3.00pm.

std participated and discussed more on the Dengu fever.

HISTORY OF LEFT HAND SHAKE

The History of the Scout Left Handshake

Our scout left handshake is an ancient sign of bravery, peace, unity, trust and respect. The left handshake comes to us from the Ashanti Warrior king Otumfuo Nana Prempeh I.  "WHEN COLONEL BADEN-POWELL entered the capital city of the Ashanti Empire Kumasi in 1896, Baden Powell saluted the king with the right hand and stretched fought his hand…., the Ashanti King offered his left hand instead, When asked why Baden Powell was told that by offering his left hand which traditionally was used to hold a shield for protection the king was showing his trust to his enemy or friend.

The king further explained that “In our land only the bravest with the brave shake hands with the left, because to do so, we must first drop our shields and our protection”.
For without the shield for protection he was open to attack.

So began the "left handshake" of the world-wide brotherhood of Scouts. Whenever you use the Scout left handshake, remember that it is a sign of bravery, respect, friendship and trust.

The Ashanti king knew the bravery of Baden Powell because they fought against him therefore they acknowledged his bravery with the left handshake.

The left hand is also closer to the human heart.

The Anglo-Ashanti Wars were a series of wars and conflicts between the Ashanti Empire, in the Gold Coast (now Ghana), and the invading British Empire and British-allied African
Colonel Sir Francis Scott left Cape Coast with the main expeditionary force of British and West Indian troops, Maxim guns and 75mm artillery in December 1895, and travelling along the remnants of the 1874 road arrived in Kumasi In January 1896. Major Robert Baden-Powell led a native levy of several local tribes in the campaign.

This time around, the Asantehene directed the Ashanti warriors not to resist, but casualties from sickness among the British troops were high. Soon, Governor William Maxwell arrived in Kumasi as well. Asantehene Agyeman Prempeh was unable or unwilling to pay the 50,000 ounces of gold so he was arrested and deposed. He was forced to sign a treaty of protection, and with other Ashanti chiefs and warriors was sent into exile in the Seychelles.

Baden-Powell published a diary of life, giving the reasons, as he saw them, for the war: To put a stop to slave-trading and raiding. To ensure peace and security for the neighbouring tribes. To settle the country and protect the development of trade. To get paid up the balance of the war indemnity. He also believed that if a smaller force had been sent, there would have been bloodshed.

Gandhi Jayanthi

Our karur BSG cubs & Bulbuls of PUMS velliyanai scl conducted ALL FAITH PRAYER along with LIONS CLUB members planted saplings to
GO GREEN nation...