VEDIC MATHEMATICS NEWSLETTER
ISSUE No. 54
A warm welcome to our new subscribers.
Vedic Mathematics is becoming increasingly popular as more and more people are introduced to the beautifully unified and delightfully easy Vedic methods. The purpose of this Newsletter is to provide information about developments in education and research and books, articles, courses, talks etc., and also to bring together those working with Vedic Mathematics. If you are working with Vedic Mathematics - teaching it or doing research - please contact us and let us include you and some description of your work in the Newsletter. Perhaps you would like to submit an article for inclusion in a later issue or tell us about a course or talk you will be giving or have given.
If you are learning Vedic Maths, let us know how you are getting on and what you think of this system.
This issue's article is written by Brian McEnery in Ireland. It discusses the expanding use of calculators in schools, the harm that this may be doing to our children and the problems this may create for the future. If you would like to add to this debate please send your email to and/or put your reply onto Brian's website.
A GLOBAL DEBATE ON CREATIVE COMPUTATION
Within the field of education decisions are being made today which will have far reaching implications, not alone within teaching but also in other areas of society. One of these decisions which has been taken in Ireland, and in many other countries worldwide, with very little commentary or discussion, is the introduction of calculators into state exams. This then necessitates the training of pupils in the use of calculators, and the consequent degradation in their mental mathematical skills.
There has been some concerns expressed about the usage of calculators, but there has in our opinion been little debate or discussion on the nature of creative computation, it's significance within the field of education especially today with the emergence of a knowledge based society. This debate is crucial as it should also include a comprehensive discussion on the vedic computational techniques, without which any discussion on calculators or computation is superfluous.
So we are asking for comments, challenges, critique, support or agreement with our point of view, which is that the chronic dependence on calculators is unnecessary and will impede rather than enhance education. Most likely we would not promote this thesis, were it not for our detailed understanding and experience of the vedic computational techniques and the simplicity and integrity which they will bring to the educational system, when they are introduced. We have been endeavouring to do this for ten years in Ireland, but so far the formal educational system has refused to engage in any form of discussion.
In order to provoke an informed discussion we have decided to launch a series of information seminars and workshops, aimed at discussing creative computation and how it may be enlivened using the techniques of vedic computation. This series of seminars/workshops will be open to adults, parents in particular, who are concerned at the current degradation in our educational system.
http://simplesums.blog.com/1298147/
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NEWS
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FROM DR BRIAN MCENERY, IRELAND: AMBASSADORS REQUIRED
recently we have begun to nominate individuals to act as Ambassadors on behalf of the Simple Sums Project. Currently we have a number here in Ireland, in various institutions, including the Government, and we have nominated a number overseas. We would be very interested in hearing from any individuals who could spare a few moments every day, to perform a small little bit of promotion for us, in whatever capacity they feel able.
For further information please contact Brian McEnery at (tel. 086-8160314). www.simplesums.org
FROM RICHARD KAHN: SANATANA DHARMA BY SWAMI BHARATI KRISHNA TIRTHAJI
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in Mumbai indicated to me in a letter in August that they will be reprinting this book -- it may take around 5 months. They sent me a xerox copy. It's along the lines of Vedic Metaphysics in many ways but has new material too. Has scant reference to VM as such but gives a good perspective on how it fits in with his overall
philosophy.
FROM SUJARITHA RAGHAVAN IN CHENNAI, INDIA: VM TRAINING
I had an enquiry about vedic maths from Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. He is Mr. Manoj who is running a play School of Bachpan at Hyderabad. He wanted to start the Vedic maths class there at his place and also in some schools. He contacted me after seeing my name in the tutor s list in your web-site. He wanted me to give training in Vedic maths (elementary level). So he and his friend Mr. Srinivasa Reddy have come here to Chennai to have training in this subject. The training went for 3 days .
They are supposed to start the VM class by Dec '06.I feel happy that Vedic Maths is fastly spreading around the country and also abroad. Mr. Manoj who is already worked as a Maths professor in a college will promote VM at Hyderabad in forthcoming year.
VEDIC MATHS BLOGS
A number of VM blogs have been starting up. Here are some we know of:
http://www.mathmonkeyblog.com/
Math Monkey, the new supplemental math education initiative, based in Miami, Florida. You can see what's going on at Math Monkey.
http://vedicmathsindia.blogspot.com/
The Vedic Maths Forum India Blog (by Gaurav Tekriwal in Calcutta, India)
This has some videos and slide shows on learning vedic math. You can subscribe to the blog by entering your email and be told of new posts which you can read as they are posted.
http://simplesums.blog.com/
Simple Sums (Brian McEnery in Cork, Ireland)
This is a new website. Currently has two articles on Creative Computation.
http://vedic-maths.blogspot.com/
Sujaritha Raghavan, VM Tutor (Chennai, India)
A new site with examples and explaining about Vedic Maths.
NEW VM WEB SITE WITH VIDEOS
A new Vedic Maths web site has been started at Vedic maths Squidoo lens. It has videos you can watch. It is run by Rebecca Newburn who is a maths teacher in California, and she would be interested in hearing your comments, especially about how 9 and 0 can be equivalent on the 9-point circle.
FROM BRIAN MCENERY, IRELAND: INTERNATIONAL TRENDS IN POST-PRIMARY MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
The NCCA (National Council for Curriculum and Assessment), have recently published a report, "International Trends in Post-Primary Mathematics Education," available at http://www.ncca.ie/uploadedfiles/mathsreview/intpaperoct.pdf, which may be of interest. One of the reports authors is from UCC, so I am hoping to have an opportunity to discuss it's contents with him. The second author is associated with Arizona State University, and the National Science Foundation in Washington.
FROM RTN. ASHUTOSH AGARWAL, CALCUTTA, INDIA: REVIEW OF COURSES GIVEN OVER 3 DAYS
North East Smiles………the Vedic Way
Overview by Rtn. Ashutosh Agarwal (Faculty-WAVM)
On the 3rd, 4th and 5th day of September 2006, eight introductory workshops for students of various schools of Guwahati, (Guwahati is the capital city of the state of Assam) were arranged jointly by "Sanskriti-The Gurukul"-a renowned city based school and the Academy. The media partners for the said event were "Dainik Purvodoy" a popular Hindi daily published from the state capital.
The workshop was conducted by Debmalya Banerjee, a popular and young faculty on the said subject from Kolkata.
On 3rd September 2006 each of the three workshops spanned about two hours and were attended by students of Sarala Birla High School, Delhi Public School, Kaziranga English Academy etc. The next day, ie. 4th day of September the board members of Sansktriti had arranged a gala pre workshop program at Kalakshtra Auditorium. The workshop, which was inaugurated by Mr.Nipon Bora, the honorable Minister of Education, Govt. of Assam who witnessed a jam-packed auditorium with host of dignitaries of the city dropping in to taste the "taste of mental mathematics". The workshop was also attended by around 150-200 students of South Point School, Assam Valley School, Tezpur. It was amazing to see the enthusism, response of the students of Assam Valley School, who had travelled 150 kms to participate in the workshop. The Minister who was visibly impressed with the Vedic Methods of Calculations spontaneously declared to include Vedic Math's in Curriculum. The second session was specially planned for students who are CAT/IIT aspirants.
The third session for the day was reserved for students of Don Bosco School exclusively, and took place at their gigantic auditorium. The workshop was attended by not only students of the said institution (Around five hundred in numbers) but also by their parents and teachers too. The response of the crowd was absolutely amazing and overwhelming. The students shouted, cheered and spontaneously participated.
On the last day two workshops were held at "HAPPY CHILD HIGH SCHOOL", one of the best schools of the State affiliated to the State Education Board. A warm welcome followed by felicitation was given by the school authorities here too, to the expert and the Vice President of the academy. Around six hundred students attended the session.
In each of the workshops the faculty gave a detailed idea about what exactly is Vedic Mathematics and how it can be useful. He also briefed the audience vividly about WAVM, its key members, panel of faculties and the kind of activities the Academy is involved in. The audiences were told about the kind of activities that are taking place globally, and the kind of books and the courses that are available.
The expert explained the Base concept, Nikhilam Methods of Calculation with emphasis on Multiplication, Multiplication above a base, multiplication by 11, 9, 99,999,digital roots, Ekadhikena Purvena and the Urdhava Method in all the eight sessions. He even showed that with the help of Vedic Method a single mathematical calculation could be done in five different ways. He also showed how a Vedic and a Western System of Mathematics could be integrated.
A series of interviews of the expert has been published by Dainik Purvodoy group in Dainik Purvodoy newspaper, a renowned newspaper in Assam.
FROM DEBMALYA BANNERJEE, CALCUTTA, INDIA: VM WORKSHOP
Corporate`s eye towards Vedic Math's
JUSCO (Jamshedpur Utilities and Supply Co.), a subsidiary of TATA STEEL arranged a workshop on Vedic Mathematics on 23rd October 2006. Rtn Ashutosh Agarwal conducted the session. The workshop, spanned nearly seven hours and was attended by around 45 Mathematics teachers. The event was kick started by a small introduction of the faculty given by the present CEO of JUSCO, Dr. Anil Kumar.
The first session from 10Am to 11:30Am was introduction to vedic maths ending with the nikhilam sutra explanation, and simple multiplication, addition, subtraction from left to right with taking the flag and digit sums. The second session started with nikhilam multiplication, three numbers multiplication, multiplication by 99, 999, 11. The third session started with squares of numbers ending in 5, multiplication of two numbers (2 digits) starting with the same digit and the last digits having a sum of 10, square root of perfect squares, general squares, multiplication vertical and crosswise. The last session started with the cubes of two digit numbers, introduction of the solution of Quadratic Equation with first derivative and discriminant, and revision of the work done the whole day.
The participants were thrilled, overjoyed as they witnessed the uniqueness of Vedic Methods of calculation. The academy plans to have more events at Jamshedpur, as there is a growing demand for the same.
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WORLD ACADEMY FOR VEDIC MATHEMATICS - contact details
Registered Address: Vishwa Punarnirman Sangh, Raval Bhawan, Near Telankhedi Garden, Nagpur-440 001, India.
Contacts in other Cities in India :
Delhi R.P. Jain, MLBD bookstore
91(011) 2385-2747 / 2385-4826 / 2385-8335 / 2385-1985.
&
Varanasi 91 (0542) 2352331
Kolkata MLBD bookstore 91 (033) 22824872
Mumbai MLBD bookstore 91 (022) 2351-6583 / 3092-2105
Nagpur Alka Sahani 91 (0712) 2531363 / 2550906 / 2545637
/
Pune MLBD bookstore 91 (020) 24486190
Dr. Bhavsar 91 (020) 25899509 / 21115901
Bangalore School of Ancient Wisdom - Devanahalli, 91 (080) 768-2181 / 7682182 / 558-6837
/
MLBD bookstore 91 (080) 6533729 / 6542591
Chennai 91 (044) 24982315
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Editor: Kenneth Williams
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6th December 2006
