Dr. Subramanian Swamy writes to His Excellency, Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka, Colombo:
October 31, 2014
I expect to arrive in Colombo on the night of November 24th to address on the 26th the Lalith Athulathmudali Memorial Lecture on 'SAARC Reforms and Globalization'.
During my stay from November 25 to 27th, I wish to meet you to raise some pending bilateral issues.
One issue is the recently convicted narcotics drug Tamils from India. You may recall that Sri Lanka, during your visit to India, had concluded a bilateral treaty in New Delhi on June 9, 2010 called 'Treaty on Transfer of Sentenced Prisoners' with the Government of India.
Invoking this Treaty, Sri Lanka obtained the transfer of a Tamil Sri Lankan citizen who had been convicted for drug peddling in Tamil Nadu and sentenced to death.
Hence, I have written to our Government to take up this issue with your Government, if possible and get custody of the five Indians of Tamil Nadu convicted recently by your Court, then lodged them in Tihar Jail in Delhi pending their appeal, if any, to our Supreme Court.
Washington University Medical Center welcomes unusual patients for unconventional screening
October 24, 2014 Under the wraps: Modern medicine meets Egyptian mummies. Video by Clark Bowen and Tom Malkowicz/WUSTL Video Services. For photos of the mummies’ journey to and scanning at Washington University Medical Center, follow this link.
The scanning took place Sunday, Oct. 12, at the Center for Advanced Medicine on the Medical Campus. The mummies, two of which are on long-term loan to the Saint Louis Art Museum from the Kemper Art Museum, were carefully transported across Forest Park and scanned one by one in a state-of-the-art computerized tomography (CT) scanner.
Among the early findings: One of the mummies already was known to have a brain, but scans revealed she also still has lungs. In many mummies, lungs typically were removed prior to burial.
The scientists — radiologists with the university’s Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology — discovered that the same mummy also has an array of small objects around her head. It appears to be a headdress or embellished shroud, but other possibilities include packing material or debris.
The scientists were surprised to find that a second mummy appeared to be significantly shorter than his sarcophagus. Further scanning revealed that his head had been dislodged from his body, perhaps when grave robbers ransacked his tomb. They found an item on his chest that may have been a burial amulet missed by grave robbers. They hope to use the scanning data to reconstruct the item with a 3-D printer.
The researchers expect to have more detailed results ready to share in December.
Lisa Çakmak, PhD, assistant curator for ancient art at the Saint Louis Art Museum, initiated the project. The museum is preparing for an upcoming reinstallation of the mummies, and Çakmak thought scans might provide valuable information about the mummies and their societies that could be incorporated into the new exhibit.
The mummies’ burial containers and wrappings identify each by name. The Saint Louis Art Museum’s mummy is Amen-Nestawy-Nakht, a male; the Kemper Art Museum mummies are Pet-Menekh, also a male, and Henut-Wedjebu, a female.
Karen K. Butler, PhD, associate curator of the Kemper Art Museum, said Pet-Menekh and Henut-Wedjebu were donated to the university in 1896 by Charles Parsons, a St. Louis banker and prominent art collector. Working with a curator from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Parsons acquired them shortly after excavation through the Antiquities Service of Egypt.
“The mummies have been part of Washington University for more than 100 years,” Butler said. “Faculty from anthropology, classics, art history and archaeology all take students to see them. They are very much part of university life.”
Mummy history
Henut-Wedjebu, the oldest of the mummies, was discovered in a cave-like tomb near the ruins of the Egyptian city of Thebes. Her name means “singer of Amun and lady of the house,” and her elaborately gilded coffin, decorated with texts from the Book of the Dead, is one of only eight such objects to survive from the reign of Amenhotep III (1390-1353 B.C.).
Pet-Menekh — or “he whom the excellent one has given” — is thought to have been a priest of the god Chem during the Ptolemaic period (c. 300 B.C.). He died in his 30s or 40s, possibly of sudden trauma or acute disease. His coffin — likely found at the Necropolis of El-Hawawish in Akhmim — is richly decorated with hundreds of hieroglyphics as well as images of the goddesses Isis and Nut.
Amen-Nakht — or “Amun (Lord) of the Thrones of the Two Lands is Strong” — acquired by the Saint Louis Art Museum in 1980, was a priest of Amun during the 22nd Dynasty (945–712 B.C.). His coffin is thought to have been discovered in the Necropolis of Thebes. A painted cartonnage — a kind of funerary case made of linen and plaster — covers the body and illustrates the panoply of deities charged with escorting him into the afterlife.
This CT scan of Amen-Nestawy-Nakht shows that the mummy’s skeletal remains are significantly shorter than the sarcophagus. For more images from the CT scans and from the mummies’ journey to the medical center,follow this link.
“The technical sophistication of all three mummies suggests that these were well-off individuals,” said Çakmak. “We would expect to see that reflected in the condition of their teeth and skeletons. The CT scan helps us to better understand their lifestyles.”
Added Butler: “As a university museum, we’re always looking for new ways to understand and research our collection. This collaboration has allowed us to bring together two different aspects of the university community: art historical scholarship and scientific research. It’s really thrilling.”
Mummies present art experts and scientists with a formidable challenge: They are incredible time capsules from human societies that vanished thousands of years ago, but opening the capsules would desecrate human remains and possibly destroy unique cultural treasures.
Modern medical imaging techniques offer ways to peer into these time capsules without physically opening them. Scientists scanned Amen-Nestaway-Nakht two decades ago, but imaging technology has advanced significantly since then.
Çakmak, Butler and others approached Gil Jost, MD, then director of the Mallinckrodt Institute, about the possibility of getting the mummies scanned. Jost enlisted Sanjeev Bhalla, MD, professor of radiology and chief of cardiothoracic imaging, to lead the research team.
Other investigators for the project included Pamela Woodard, MD, professor of radiology and director of the Center for Clinical Imaging Research; Vincent Mellnick, MD, assistant professor of radiology; and Michelle Miller-Thomas, MD, assistant professor of radiology. The team represented expertise in imaging of the brain, abdomen and coronary arteries.
“This has been Dr. Jost’s specialty: bringing together the best technological resources and expertise necessary to do fascinating research, and then stepping away and letting them go to work,” said Bhalla. “His attitude always is, ‘Let’s make it happen.’”
The researchers and other medical center staff volunteered their time, and the School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital donated time on the scanner and the computing resources necessary to process the results. The Saint Louis Art Museum paid for transporting the mummies.
How best to scan a mummy
The scientists considered scanning the mummies with a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) unit, but it was impossible to guarantee that the mummies were free of any metals. Metal is prohibited in MRIs because the strong magnets in the scanners can damage the equipment and the subject being scanned. More importantly, though, mummies are free of water as a result of the mummification process, and the images created with MRI scanning are dependent on the water content of tissue.
The researchers instead brought the mummies to a powerful and recently installed computerized tomography (CT) scanner. The unit uses X-rays to virtually slice a solid object, producing detailed 3-D images of its interior.
“This new CT scanner has higher spatial resolution and quickly can assemble slices in a variety of ways, providing more medical details about the mummies,” Bhalla said.
In living patients, Bhalla and his colleagues often inject contrast agents that help make different types of cells and tissues stand out. This was not an option for the mummies, but researchers scanned them at two different energy levels to enhance details.
Among other goals, the researchers are analyzing the data for signs of artery hardening in the mummies. Indicators of heart disease have been detected in prior mummy scans, but it’s not clear yet if this is reflective of the elite lifestyle of anyone rich enough to be mummified or if heart disease was a common problem in ancient Egyptian society.
The researchers also will take a close look at the mummies’ teeth. The degree of wear on the teeth helps scientists more precisely estimate a mummy’s age at the time of death. They also will search for evidence of what caused the mummies’ deaths.
Logistically, the scans were complicated. The mummies had to be carefully removed from their display cases, packed and prepared for transport in custom-built boxes. The team took precise measurements to be sure each mummy would it into the scanner.
But Bhalla viewed another aspect of the scans as the greatest challenge of the project.
“It was very important for us to remember that these were human beings we were scanning,” he said. “We had to do the scanning in an atmosphere of spiritual and physical respect, and with the help of museum staff who acted as a kind of surrogate family for the mummies, we did that.”
Added Çakmak: “Mummification was a difficult and expensive process. It’s really very poignant. Each of these people was beloved by someone.”
ROBERT BOSTON
Curators and radiologists examine the mummy of Pet-Menekh on Sunday, Oct. 12, at Washington University Medical Center. From left are Lisa Çakmak, PhD, assistant curator of ancient art at Saint Louis Art Museum; Karen K. Butler, PhD, associate curator of Washington University’s Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum; Sanjeev Bhalla, MD, professor of radiology and chief of cardiothoracic imaging at the School of Medicine; and Vincent Mellnick, MD, a Washington University radiologist. Pet-Menekh was scanned in a computerized tomography (CT) scanner at the medical center. For more photos, follow this link.
Washington University School of Medicine recently teamed up with the Saint Louis Art Museum and the university’s Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum to scan some very unusual patients: three Egyptian mummies.
Mummies at the Medical Center
Photos: Ancient Egyptian mummies arrive on campus for state-of-the-art CT scans.
October 24, 2014 | Washington University School of Medicine
Washington University radiologists welcomed a trio of special guests to the Center for Advanced Medicine this month when three Egyptian mummies arrived for computerized tomography (CT) scans, also called CAT scans. Follow their journey below, or read more in the Record.
The mummy of Henut-Wedjebu was one of three taken to Washington University Medical Center to be examined in a CT scanner.
Henut-Wedjebu, the “mistress of the house and songstress of Amun,” was an upper-class woman who lived in the 14th century B.C. Lauded for its realism, her coffin is gilded in gold foil. Photo: Joe Angeles
Henut-Wedjebu’s mummy and that of Pet-Menekh belong to Washington University’s Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum but are on long-term loan to the Saint Louis Art Museum. The third mummy scanned – that of Amen-Nestawy-Nakht, a male priest believed to have lived in the 9th or 10th century B.C. – is owned by the Saint Louis Art Museum. Lifting the lid of Henut-Wedjebu’s sarcophagus is John Woodworth of US Art. Jan Hessel of Kemper Art Museum is on the right. Photo: Joe Angeles
The mummies were prepared for transport at the Saint Louis Art Museum by a team of expert art handlers and museum staff. Clockwise from left are John Woodworth, art handler, US Art; Paul Haner, paintings conservator, Saint Louis Art Museum; Emilio Maldonado, art handler, US Art; Alice Boccia Paterakis, objects conservator; Ron Weaver, exhibition preparator, Kemper Art Museum; Jan Hessel, facilities manager and preparator, Kemper Art Museum; and Diane Mallow, assistant registrar, Saint Louis Art Museum.Photo: Joe Angeles
The Kemper Art Museum mummies were first X-rayed at the medical center in the 1960s. However, imaging technology has improved significantly, leading researchers to seek more detailed scans.
Pet-Menekh is thought to have been a priest who lived in the 4th or 3rd century B.C. His coffin is decorated with hundreds of hieroglyphics as well as images of the goddesses Isis and Nut. Photo: Robert Boston
Examining Pet-Menekh’s mummy, from left, are curators Lisa Çakmak, PhD, of Saint Louis Art Museum, Karen Butler, PhD, of Kemper Art Museum, and School of Medicine radiologists Sanjeev Bhalla, MD, and Vincent Mellnick, MD. Photo: Robert Boston
Today’s CT scans allow researchers detailed examination of the mummies in 3-D, without harming their remains.
CT scanners use special equipment that emits a narrow X-ray beam to obtain images from different angles around the body, generating 3-D images that can show the skeleton, tissues and organs. Photo of scan: Robert Boston
The computer adds color to the 3-D images to exaggerate differences in tissue. Photo of scan: Robert Boston
School of Medicine radiologists and museum staff hope the scans will teach them more about the mummies and the societies in which they lived.
Michelle Miller-Thomas, MD, assistant professor of radiology (seated), studies the CT scans as Lisa Çakmak, PhD, of Saint Louis Art Museum leans in for a closer look. Photo: Robert Boston
Each mummy’s sarcophagus was guided safely into the scanner, thanks to careful work by the art handlers and medical team.
Positioning Pet-Menekh’s mummy from the left are Ron Weaver, exhibition preparator at Kemper Art Museum; Diane Mallow, assistant registrar at Saint Louis Art Museum; John Woodruff, an art handler with US Art; and Jan Hessel, facilities manager and preparator for the Kemper Art Museum. Photo: Robert Boston
Jan Hessel (left) of Kemper Art Museum helps position Pet-Menekh’s mummy for a CT scan. Photo: Robert Boston
Staff from Kemper Art Museum, the Saint Louis Art Museum and US Art position Pet-Menekh’s mummy before it is examined. Photo: Robert Boston
More than 2,000 years after his body was wrapped in bandages, the mummy of Pet-Menekh is eased into a state-of-the-art CT scanner at Washington University Medical Center. Photo: Robert Boston
Researchers expect to share detailed results of the scans in December.
It was already known that Henut-Wedjbu was buried with her brain intact. Early findings of the scans show she still has her heart and lungs as well. In many mummies these organs were removed prior to burial. Image: Washington University
Radiologists also discovered that Henut-Wedjebu’s mummy has a collection of objects around her head. It appears to be a headdress or embellished shroud, but it could be packing material or debris. Image: Washington University
Images of the CT scans themselves may be incorporated into a reinstallation of the Egyptian mummies opening at Saint Louis Art Museum in 2016.Image: Washington University
Sushruta Samhita
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Sushruta Samhita (सुश्रुतसंहिता) is an important Classical Sanskrit text on surgery. Written by, Sushruta, it is dated a period of 6th century BC.[1][2][3][4][5]
The Sushruta Samhita, in its extant form, in 184 chapters contains descriptions of 1,120 illnesses, 700 medicinal plants, 64 preparations from mineral sources and 57 preparations based on animal sources.[3] The text discusses surgical techniques of making incisions, probing, extraction of foreign bodies, alkali and thermal cauterization, tooth extraction, excisions, and trocars for draining abscess draining hydrocele and ascitic fluid, the removal of the prostate gland, urethral stricture dilatation, vesiculolithotomy, hernia surgery, caesarian section, management of haemorrhoids, fistulae, laparotomy and management of intestinal obstruction, perforated intestines, and accidental perforation of the abdomen with protrusion of omentum and the principles of fracture management, viz., traction, manipulation, appositions and stabilization including some measures of rehabilitation and fitting of prosthetics. It enumerates six types of dislocations, twelve varieties of fractures, and classification of the bones and their reaction to the injuries, and gives a classification of eye diseases including cataract surgery.
The Sushruta Samhita is divided into two parts, the 'Purva-tantra' and the 'Uttara-tantra'. Together, the Purva-tantra and Uttara-tantra (apart from Salyya and Salakya) describe the sciences and practices of medicine, pediatrics, geriatrics, diseases of the ear, nose, throat and eye,toxicology, aphrodisiacs and psychiatry.
The Purva-tantra is dedicated to the four branches of Ayurveda. It is divided into five books and 120 chapters (It is noteworthy that theAgnivesa-tantra, better known as the Charaka Samhita and the Ashtanga Hridayam of Vagbhata, is also divided into 120 chapters). These five books are:
The Sutra-sthana.
The Nidana-sthana, dedicated to aetiology, the signs and symptoms of important surgical diseases and those ailments which have a bearing on surgery.
The Sarira-sthana covers the rudiments of embryology and human anatomy, along with instructions for venesection, the positioning of the patient for each vein, and the protection of vital structures (marma). It also includes the essentials of obstetrics.
The Kalpa-sthana is mainly Visa-tantra, dealing with the nature of poisons and their management.
The Chikitsa-sthana describes the principles of management of surgical conditions, including obstetrical emergencies and chapters on geriatrics and aphrodisiacs.
The Uttara-tantra contains the remaining four specialities, namely Salakya, Kaumarabhfefefrtya, Kayacikitsa and Bhutavidya. The entire Uttara-tantra has been called Aupadravika, since many of the complications of surgical procedures as well as fever, dysentery, cough, hiccough, krmi-roga, pandu, kamala, etc., are briefly described here. The Salakya-tantra portion of the Uttara-tantra describes various diseases of the eye, the ear, the nose and the head.
The Samhita is dedicated to other disciplines as well. Sushruta emphasizes that unless students possess enough knowledge of relevant sister branches of learning, they cannot attain proficiency in their own subject of study. The Samhita represents an encyclopedic approach to medical learning, with special emphasis on Salya and Salakya, and can be thought of as a comprehensive treatise on the entire medical discipline.
Sushruta has pointed out that haemorrhage can be arrested by apposition of the cut edges with stitches, application of styptic decoctions, by cauterisation with chemicals or heat. That the progress of surgery and its development is closely associated with the great wars of the past is well known. The vrana or injury, says Sushruta, involves breakdown of body-components and may have one or more of the following seats for occurrence, viz., skin, flesh, blood-vessels, sinews, bones, joints, internal organs of chest and abdomen and vital structures. Classicallyvrana, the wound, is the ultimate explosion of the underlying pathological structure. It is, in Sushruta's words, the sixth stage of a continuous process, which starts with sotha (inflammation). Sushruta says that in the first stage, the ulcer is unclean and hence called a dusta-vrana. By proper management it becomes a clean wound, a suddha-vrana. Then there is an attempt at healing and is called ruhyamana-vrana and when the ulcer is completely healed, it is a rudha-vrana. Sushruta has advocated the use of wine with incense of cannabis for anaesthesia.[6]Although the use of henbane and of Sammohini and Sanjivani are reported at a later period, Sushruta was the pioneer of anaesthesia.
Sushruta describes eight types of surgical procedures: Excision (chedana) is a procedure whereby a part or whole of the limb is cut off from the parent. Incision (bhedana) is made to achieve effective drainage or exposure of underlying structures to let the content out. Scraping (lekhana) or scooping is carried out to remove a growth or flesh of an ulcer, tartar of teeth, etc. the veins, hydrocele and ascitic fluid in the abdomen are drained by puncturing with special instrument (vyadhana). The sinuses and cavities with foreign bodies are probed (esana) for establishing their size, site, number, shape, position, situation, etc. Sravana (blood-letting) is to be carried out in skin diseases, vidradhis, localised swelling, etc. in case of accidental injuries and in intentional incisions, the lips of the wound are apposed and united by stitching (svana).
To obtain proficiency and acquiring skill and speed in these different types of surgical manipulations, Sushruta had devised various experimental modules for trying each procedure. For example, incision and excision are to be practised on vegetables and leather bags filled with mud of different densities; scraping on hairy skin of animals; puncturing on the vein of dead animals and lotus stalks; probing on moth-eaten wood or bamboo; scarification on wooden planks smeared with beeswax, etc. On the subject of trauma, Sushruta speaks of six varieties of accidental injuries encompassing almost all parts of the body.
Sushruta also gives classification of the bones and their reaction to injuries. varieties of dislocation of joints (sandhimukta) and fractures of the shaft (kanda-bhagna) are given systematically. He classifies and gives the details of the six types of dislocations and twelve varieties of fractures. He gives the principles of fracture treatment, viz., traction, manipulation, appositions and stabilisation. Sushruta has described the entire orthopaedic surgery, including some measures of rehabilitation, in his work.
As war was a major cause of injury, the name Salya-tantra for this branch of medical learning is derived from Salya, the arrow of the enemy, which in fights used to be lodged in the body of the soldiers. He emphasises that removal of foreign bodies is fraught with certain complications if the seat of the Salya be a marma.
Sushruta also discusses certain surgical conditions of ano-rectal region, he has given all the methods of management of both haemorrhoids and fistulae. Different types of incision to remove the fistulous tract as langalaka, ardhalangalaka, sarvabhadra, candraadha (curved) andkharjurapatraka (serrated) are described for adoption according to the type of fistula.
Sushruta was well aware of the urinary stones, their varieties; the anatomy of urinary bladder along with its relations is well recorded in the chapter on urinary stones. Varieties of stones, their signs and symptoms, the method of extraction and operative complication are given in detail. Apart from the above, surgery of intestinal obstruction (baddha-gudodara), perforated intestines (chidrodara), accidental injuries to abdomen (assaya-bhinna) in which protrusion of omentum occurs are also described along with their management.
The samahita lays down the basic principles of plastic surgery by advocating a proper physiotherapy before the operation and describes various methods or different types of defects, viz.
release of the skin for covering small defects,
rotation of the flaps to make up for the partial loss and
pedicle flaps for covering complete loss of skin from an area.
He has mentioned various methods including sliding graft, rotation graft and pedicle graft. Reconstruction of a nose (rhinoplasty) which has been cut-off, using a flap of skin from the cheek has been described. Labioplasty too has received attention in the samahita.
A statue dedicated to Sushruta at the Patanjali Yogpeeth institute in Haridwar. In the sign next to the statue, Patanjali Yogpeeth attributes the title of Maharishito Sushruta, claims a floruit of 1500 BC for him, and dubs him the "founding father of surgery", and identifies theSushrut Samhita as "the best and outstanding commentary on Medical Science of Surgery".
Suśruta (Devanagari सुश्रुत, an adjective meaning "very famous"[9]) is the supposed author of the treatise. He is said to have been a physician originally of Kerala[10] active in Varanasi during the 6th century BC.[11] The earliest known mention of the name is from the Bower Manuscript (4th or 5th century), where Sushruta is listed as one of the ten sages residing in the Himalayas.[12][12] Later Ayurvedic texts present him as a fully mythologized figure, as a son of Vishvamitra or a descendant of Dhanvantari, the physician of the gods in Hindu mythology.[13]
Rao (2005) speculated that there may be an original "layer" to the text which might indeed date to the "elder Sushruta" (Vrddha Sushruta) which was redacted "by another Sushruta in the first century A.D.", with still later additions and redactions byNagarjuna leading to the extant text; a redaction by one Nagarjuna is explicitly mentioned by Dalhana, the author of the primary commentary on the Sushruta Samhita.[14]
Both the Sushruta and the Charaka Samhita were translated into Arabic during in the 8th century. The translator of the Sushruta Samhita was one Ibn Abillsaibial. The work was known as Kitab Shah Shun al-Hindi in Arabic, or alternatively as Kitab i-Susurud. The 9th-century Persian physician Rhazes was familiar with the text.[14]
In India, a major commentary on the text, known as Nibandha-samgraha, was written by Dalhana in ca. 1200 CE.
The Arabic translation was received in Europe by the end of the medieval period. In Renaissance Italy, the Branca family of Sicily andGasparo Tagliacozzi (Bologna) became familiar with the techniques mentioned in the Sushruta Samahita.[15]
The editio princeps of the text was prepared by Madhusudan Datta (Calcutta 1835). A partial English translation by U. C. Datta appeared in 1883. English translations of the full text were published by A. M. Kunte (Bombay 1876) and Kunja-lal Bhishagratna (1907-1911; reprinted 1963, 2006).[14] An English translation of both the Sushruta Samhita and Dalhana's commentary was published in three volumes by P. V. Sharma in 1999.[16]
Jump up^Susruta-Samhita: With English Translation of Text and Dalhana's Commentary Along with Critical Notes, 3 Vols. Vol. I: Sutrasthana, Vol. II: Kalpasthana and Uttaratantra, Vol. III: Nidana, Sarira and Cikitsasthana; Chowkhamba Visvabharati; Varanasi, India; 1999; First Edition; 1983 pages.
Aufderheide, A. C.; Rodriguez-Martin, C. & Langsjoen, O. (1998). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Paleopathology. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-55203-6.
In its first report submitted to the Supreme Court, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money has sought an investigation unit, with the Enforcement Directorate as the nodal co-ordinating agency.
The court-appointed SIT, headed by retired Supreme Court judges M B Shah and Arijit Pasayat, has made several recommendations like redrafting the Double Tax Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), audit by Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on suspicious exports and appointing officers to complete pending investigation in top 15 tax evasion cases.
In the HSBC Geneva account holders’ case, the SIT summoned all investigation-related information from the Income-Tax Department as well as the inspection report of the Reserve Bank of India on the bank’s activities in the financial year 2012.
As first reported by The Indian Express, the SIT has also suggested sweeping changes in various laws in connection with the money laundering.
Most significant of all, the SIT wants DTAA, under which the Indian government receives information, to be rewritten. After the SIT recommendation, the Finance Ministry has asked Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi’s opinion on the matter.
The SIT also wants the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) amended to introduce seizure of value equivalent to the assets or funds stashed abroad. It has recommended including tax evasion as a predicate offence under the definition of PMLA, which attracts stringent punishment.
The report also recommends redefining “Beneficial Ownership”, which guides the ownership of trusts and corporate vehicles.
While critical of the lack of co-ordination between various enforcement agencies, the SIT has directed the Income-Tax Department to give access to 360 degree data profiling facility to Customs and Central Excise to detect tax evasion cases.
It has also put a time frame on both Income Tax and Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) for completing cases. The CBEC has been asked to put three officers on job to complete top 15 cases pending with them, while Income-Tax Department has been asked to place officers to look at 8,080 pending cases and not transfer officers until they complete their assignments.
The Income-Tax Department has been directed to introduce a new column in its return forms for disclosing foreign bank accounts in past eight years and scrutiny of those years.
As the Modi government deliberates on reframing the norms of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural EmploymentGuarantee Act (NREGA) scheme, one the largest job creation programmes in the world, a sharp cut in funding manifests its intentions to squeeze the scheme.
Compared to last financial year, till September, there has been nearly 45 per cent reduction in funds released by the Centre to states for NREGA-the sharpest since the inception of the scheme.
In the financial year 2014-15, the Central government released Rs 13,618 crore to states, against Rs 24,676 crore in the same period last year (FY 2013-14 till September 2013).
Launched in 2005, the NREGA overhauled the labour market by promising 100 days of work a year to each rural household at a pre-determined minimum wage rate. The daily wages under the scheme, as par revision in April 2012, was between Rs 122-189 per day. In addition, the earlier UPA government further increased wages in states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. In contrast, the wages for casual labourers across sectors varies between Rs 80-220 per day, with agriculture sector accounting for one of the lowest wages.
State wise allocation of funds in some major states show, in Maharsahtra the fund allocation came down to Rs 136 crore in the FY 14-15, till September, against Rs 1152 crore in the same period last year. In West Bengal, the fund release came down to Rs 1782 crore, against Rs 2214 crore in the same period last year. In Karnataka the fund allocation came down to 439 crore from Rs 774 crore.
A fund crunch in the district level is apparent. "The fund allocations have substantially reduced under NREGA ever since the new government has come," said a district official in West Bengal.
Higher prevailing wages in NREGA had affected the wages in sectors like real estate and agriculture. According to Pradeep Sureka, a real estate developer based in Kolkata, the average daily wages of casual labourer has increased at the rate of 15-20 per cent annually over the last few years. At present, an unskilled labourer in the real estate sector earns Rs 200 per day, while the wages of semi-skilled or skilled laboueres is between Rs 500-600 per day in West Bengal.
"Getting labourers in the agriculture sector had been very difficult over the last few years, as the wages are much lower than that in the job guarantee scheme," said Pranab Chatterjee, professor at Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya.
According to the proposals by the Central government, it plans to link the scheme to agriculture linkages. According to a government note, if at least 60 per cent of the works to be taken up in a district in terms of cost shall is for creation of productive assets linked to agriculture and allied activities through development of land, water and trees, it will bring at least Rs 25,000 crore of investment into agriculture. This apart, other changes would lead to deploying of an approximate Rs 8,000 crore for creating infrastructure like minor irrigation structures, according to the note.
The Central government has also been considering an amendment aimed at restricting the NREGA to the country's poorest 200 districts.
Meet the new ICCR chief: Modi avatar of god, bigger than Gandhi
‘Has affected the poor more than Karl Marx’. (Express photo by Shubhajit Roy)
Written by Shubhajit Roy | New Delhi | Posted: November 1, 2014 4:14 am| Updated: November 1, 2014 8:17 am
He is fluent in 16 languages, has over 596 publications to his name, and was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2006 for “his contributions to academic life and public discourse”, but when Lokesh Chandra was appointed as India’s cultural czar Thursday, quite a few eyebrows were raised.
Why would the BJP government choose an 87-year-old Indira Gandhi loyalist, with links to leaders of the erstwhile Soviet Union, for its first big-ticket appointment in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) — as president of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), the country’s cultural interface with the world?
The answer becomes clearer when Chandra begins to list the qualities that he admires in Prime Minister Narendra Modi. For Chandra, Modi is a “man of ideas, not of ideology”; who from a practical point of view “supercedes” Mahatma Gandhi; who has made “a much more meaningful impact” on the lives of the poor than Karl Marx; and who is virtually an incarnation of God (“woh bhagwan ke avatar hain”).
Dressed in a white khadi kurta and dhoti, Chandra — who will head ICCR for the next three years — explains the reason for this big swing from a Congressman to a self-avowed Modi fan, in an interview with The Indian Express. “I have been a Congressman all my life. I was close to Indira Gandhi, I had personal relationships with several top leaders of the erstwhile Soviet Union. But for Modi, politics is only till the elections. After the polls, he is only thinking of the country.”
And that’s not all. “He (Modi) is very open in approach. He has never been vindictive. He rises above all political affiliations, and for him, national concerns are important. For the poor, he is like God. Unke liye, woh bhagwan ke avtaar hain (for the poor, he is an incarnation of God)… Look at his Jan Dhan scheme. Karl Marx wrote so many volumes on poverty, but what was his real contribution? Modi has made a much more meaningful impact to the lives of these poor.”
“Modiji”, says Chandra, “in some aspects, supercedes Gandhi when it comes to (a) practical approach.”
”He (Modi) kept a fast for nine days (during Navratra), and kept working, woh bhagwan ke avtar hain (he is an incarnation of the God). This shows he has great attachment to values, and India is based on a value system. He doesn’t have any foreign back accounts and black money. He doesn’t have a son or a son-in-law. For him, the country is his son and son-in-law. India needs such a PM.”
Chandra’s reply to another question – on some of his plans as the new ICCR chief – also provides enough clues to his appointment. He wants to connect India to south-east Asian countries through programmes based on the Mahabharata and Ramayana. He also wants to help “many South Koreans” trace their ancestry back to India.
”We can organise Ramayana and Mahabharata-based programmes with the south-east Asian countries like Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos. They have living traditions drawn from these epics,” says Chandra.
According to him, many South Koreans trace their lineage back to a princess from Ayodhya. “There are many South Koreans who have an Indian ancestry, we need to explore these areas,” he says, referring to the popular tale of Princess Suriratna who married King Kim Suro in 48AD.
According to him, at present 6 million Koreans with the surnames Kim and Huh from Gimhae, and Lee from Incheon, trace their ancestry back to this royal couple. He adds that the tomb of Princess Suriratna has a pagoda built with stones believed to have been brought from Ayodhya.
Chandra says he also plans to meet External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj after her forthcoming trip to Mauritius and Maldives.
Chandra is a well-known figure in academic circles and, as the MEA states on its website, his “major life-work is the study of cultural interflow between India and the countries of the world.”
Meet the ICCR chief
* Born in 1927 in Ambala, Chandra’s father Prof Raghu Vira was a scholar who wrote on Asian culture and its contribution to India’s linguistic development.
* In 1950, Chandra was awarded a doctorate in Literature and Philosophy by the State University of Utrecht (Netherlands) in recognition of his contribution to the editing of the Gavamayana portion of the Vedic work “Jaiminiya Brahmana”.
* The languages he knows include Sanskrit, Pali, Avesta, Old Persian, Japanese, Chinese, Tibetan, Mongolian, Indonesian, Greek, Latin, German, French, and Russian.
* Apart from the “Tibetan-Sanskrit Dictionary” and “Dictionary of Buddhist Art”, he has authored works such as “Materials for a History of Tibetan Literature” and “Buddhist Iconography of Tibet”.
* He has headed the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) and was earlier Vice President of ICCR
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/meet-the-new-iccr-chief-modi-avatar-of-god-bigger-than-gandhi/99/#sthash.PGAYD5ai.dpuf
The eminent lawyer writes another open letter to the finance minister: 'I want to show to the nation that you are determined to see that Prime Minister Modi can never fulfil his pledge to the unfortunate people of India to get back the black money'
I am not using your name because I am concerned only with your acts and omissions as Finance Minister in the Modi government and earlier as Leader of Opposition. The contents of this letter are meant primarily for the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman of the SIT and only secondarily for the education and enlightenment of your Ministry and the people of India in general.
India being a democracy, transparency of governmental operations is a fundamental obligation. Secrecy, and what you call confidentiality, have become very attractive to your ministry and they need to be put in proper prospective. Usually the two are associated with criminal activity, though I am conscious of some exceptional situations in which there may be a moral and legal compulsion.
I must confess that I have carefully watched your conduct as Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. Never once did you raise the issue of black money stashed abroad by persons who are no better than dacoits, and the enormous mindboggling volume of the loot. If I am wrong in this view of mine, kindly do enlighten the nation as to what you have done after you became the Leader of Opposition in the upper house in the matter of recovery of black money.
Now I want you to answer the following questions as honestly as you can.
(1) Are you aware that the German government in February 2008 made a public statement in newspapers circulating throughout the world that it will provide tax authorities in other countries, details of relevant clients from the DVD obtained by them from an ex employee of the bank on payment of roughly 475 million US dollars. The DVD contained names of 1400 clients of the Liechtenstein Bank. The German finance ministry spokesman Thorsten Albig said they will willingly share this information at no cost and condition to any requesting country. How did you react to this offer? Did you raise this issue in Parliament?
(2) Did you advise the BJP to do something about this grand offer which certainly made me excited and must have likewise brought some hope in the life of the forsaken and forlorn, who could well be the victims of the loot? Did you advise the party immediately to dispatch some emissary to Germany and secure this information?
(3) Did you come to know—if yes, when?—that the prestigious Swiss magazine called theSwiss Illustrierte had announced in 1991 the names, the photographs, the account numbers and the concealed loot in their accounts of 14 international crooks amongst whom the late, then recently killed, Prime Minister of India was one? Did you as an educated Indian citizen react to this news and if so, how?
(4) During the last election campaign for Parliament when our Prime Minister went around the country and spoke about repatriation of this black money, did you speak about it anywhere or write about it anywhere? Do tell me what and where?
(5) Do you know that in March, 2014 in the midst of the campaign I personally went to Germany and on my return recorded my discussions with the highest in the German ministry and the promise which I received from them about sharing this information with us. This letter was sent to your party leaders and I wanted some little help. Was that help of signing a letter of request to the Germans complied with? Did you do anything about it yourself? Have you done anything about it after you have become minister of finance?
(6) Is it correct that even before the election results were announced you had managed to secure an assurance from the party leaders that you would be made the minister of finance? Is it true that the party leaders carried out the pre-election promise by putting you in this ministry?
(7) When you were ultimately sworn in as India’s minister of finance, did you even once seek my cooperation and some education in techniques of recovery?
(8) Is it true that in the sitting of the Rajya Sabha of 8th July, 2014, you answered a question of a Member of Parliament relating to black money? Do you confirm the question asked and the reply that you gave which is reproduced here to refresh your memory.
“* 32. SHRI SHANTARAM NAIK:
Will the Minister of Finance be pleased to state:
(a) whether Government has made any request regarding black money held by Indian nationals in Swiss bank;
(b) when the request was sent and what was the information sought;
(c) whether it is a fact that parliament of Swiss Government has passed a law called, ‘The Swiss tax Administrative Assistance Act’;
(d) If so, when this Act was passed.
(e) whether the changes to be brought in under the law have to be approved through a referendum; and
(f) the details of response given by the Swiss Government in this regard, so far?”
Finance Ministry’s Answer to this question
“(a) Yes, Sir.
(b) and (f) : After the amendments to the Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC) with Switzerland came into force on 7th October, 2011, several requests seeking information in respect of Indian Nationals holding bank accounts in Swiss Banks in specific cases have been made. There has been a positive response to some requests, where information has been provided subject to the confidentiality clause in the said DTAC. In other cases, the Swiss Government has not been providing the information requested citing restrictions imposed by their domestic laws. Recently, reports appearing in the media on 22nd and 23rd June, 2014 indicated that during an ongoing exercise to identify the real beneficiaries or owners of funds held in various banks operating in Switzerland, the names of some Indian individuals and entities had been identified by the Swiss Government, who may have held untaxed money in Swiss banks through structures like trusts, domiciliary companies and other legal entities based out of countries other than India. A letter was accordingly written to Swiss Authorities on 23rd June, 2014 under the provisions of Article 26 of the DTAC between India and Switzerland, requesting them to provide the information in this regard that has been complied by Switzerland. The Swiss authorities in their reply dated 4th July, 2014 have stated that there is no list of Indian Tax residents holding assets in Swiss financial institutions in their own names or through structures.
(c), (d) and (e) : As per the information available on the website of the Federal authorities of the Swiss Federation (http://www.admin.ch), the Tax Administrative Assistance Act (TAAA) passed by the Swiss parliament came into force on 1st February, 2013. The Swiss Parliament approved the revision of the TAAA on 21st March, 2014. As per the information available on the said website, any proposed enactment, which includes changes in the existing law, may be subject to referendum in Switzerland. The referendum deadline will expire on 10th July, 2014 and if no referendum is called for by that date, the amended TAAA will come into force on 1st August, 2014.”
(9) Is it true that so far as your ministry is concerned you never invoked the provisions of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) for securing this information from any country of the world. In no correspondence with any country have you invoked this document?
(10) Is this because your Ministry was not aware of this document as well as its ratification by Germany, Switzerland and India or knowing about this document you made no use of it? Have you or officers in the ministry read this document till today? Do tell the nation when you read it for the first time.
(11) Are you aware of the ‘Second report of the Task Force of the BJP on the steps to be taken by India’ in the matter of Indian Black Money Abroad in Secret Banks and Tax Havens running into 95 pages. I am sure this must have been read by you. Did you read “XIII. The Double Taxation Treaty with Switzerland” at page 26 of this document which described the Double Taxation treaty as an impotent instrument. Of course when this report was written in January 2011, the ratification of UNCAC by India had not taken place, though many other countries had ratified it long before. Did you read at the foot of page 23 -24 the warning of Admiral (retd.) R.H Tahiliani, the head of Transparency International India chapter?
(12) Do you know that before you took office, India did ratify this when the Manmohan Singh government was still in power. Yet you did not use it at all. You continued to use the DTAA because it was the favourite device of the previous government.
(13) Are you aware that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, our President now had recommended the use of this useless document in his otherwise useless white paper on Black money. Ofcourse you would not know that his white paper was itself called a Black Paper.
For lack of space I am stopping this and it will be continued in the next issue of the Sunday Guardian. By now you must have discovered that I want to show to the nation that you are determined to see that Prime Minister Modi can never fulfil his pledge to the unfortunate people of India to get back the black money.
You, Mr Finance Minister, are the biggest obstacle.
Emboldened voice of lower court Advice for action on cops
OUR BUREAU | Saturday , November 1 , 2014 |
Oct. 31: Bengal’s seat of power today heard words that evoked disbelief not because of their content but because of their origin.
“It is crystal clear that IO (investigating officer) Dhrubajyoti Dutta picked up Ali Jinnah from the police lock-up and made papers to the effect that he was arrested from his home. It is a misconduct and false statement.”
“This court strictly recommends direct suspension of the IO from his present post of sub-inspector at Parui police station….”
“At this stage, it is not possible to find out whether the OC was sleeping at the time or not. So, the SP is recommended to conduct an in-depth inquiry into the role of the OC by someone not below the rank of a DSP.”
“The SP is also recommended to remove the OC from Parui police station at once.”
The merciless hammer was being wielded not by a judge in the high court —where the Mamata Banerjee administration has been nursing one bloody nose after another of late.
The chief judicial magistrate at Suri in Birbhum, a district that has emerged as a political battlefield, delivered the recommendations today.
The judge was dealing with apparent deceit by the police which produced Ali Jinnah, believed to be a Trinamul supporter and already arrested in a murder case, as a suspect in another case of attack on cops after claiming that he was arrested on Wednesday night when he was actually in police custody. The same court had sent Jinnah to police custody on Tuesday and to judicial custody on Thursday when the police “mistake” was discovered.
The judge had yesterday demolished the police’s attempt to pass off subterfuge as a “mistake” by telling the law-enforcers: “If you add two and two and get six, then it is a mistake. But in this case, you are saying that two plus two is equal to Shakespeare.”
The judge, Indranil Chatterjee, was as unsparing today (see chart). He recommended that the police misconduct be referred to the high court.
Such recommendations — and withering observations —are not common in lower courts. Probably because of the decades-old record of political interference in almost every institution in most of Bengal, an impression had gathered ground that the government of the day need not lose sleep over possible outcomes in lower courts.
The administration’s cocoon of cockiness — articulated by the audacious police attempt to lie to the court about Jinnah’s arrest — was ripped apart in the Suri courtroom over the last two days.
The court’s recommendations surprised both the state administration and the legal fraternity. “In my professional career spanning over 50 years, I cannot recollect another instance of a lower court judge passing such an order. The CJM should be complimented for using the provisions of law,” said Gitanath Ganguli, a senior lawyer in Calcutta.
The question that was doing the rounds among administrative circles was whether the developments in the court reflect a perceived widespread disquiet at the drift in governance.
The morale among officials is already said to be low and some senior officers have been trying to get around political obstacles by asking the police to uphold the law. But such nudges have so far been confined to a handful of instances.
Some of the officials had been emboldened by the orders given by Calcutta High Court in the recent past. Several high court judges had criticised the role of the administration in cases against Birbhum Trinamul chief Anubrata Mondal and Trinamul MP Tapas Paul.
The blow from the Birbhum court was unexpected and caught the legal team unawares, admitted a government-empanelled lawyer.
“Senior government lawyers have opined that the CJM’s order should be challenged in a higher court. But we are yet to take the final call,” said the lawyer.
The inability of the police to act on their own was in evidence today when Zafarul Islam, a Trinamul leader who figures in the FIR related to the same murder case in which Jinnah is an accused, turned up at the circuit house in Bolpur to attend a meeting with the party’s all-India general secretary Mukul Roy.
The 15-odd policemen on duty at the circuit house did not make any attempt to arrest Zafarul. Besides Mukul, Anubrata and Manirul Islam, a controversial MLA, were also at the circuit house.
A police officer said: “We saw Zafarul and we knew he was an accused in a murder case in Makhra. But how can we arrest him? No such instruction was issued to us.”
In Search of Ancient Seafarers in the Persian Gulf
Date: 2014/03/09 11:15:02 ق.ظ
In Search of Ancient Seafarers in the Persian Gulf ________________________________________
The Persian Gulf and the adjacent regions of the Makran Sea (today known as sea of Oman) and Indian Ocean is an area of the world with a seafaring tradition of over 5,000 years in age, yet which has gone essentially unexplored beneath the waves. In fact, the South and Southwest Asian regions, and the Persian Gulf area in particular, have perhaps the richest and longest running seafaring tradition of any world region.
From before and through the Bronze Age, Iron Age, Arab conquest, medieval period, on down into the 20th century, ships in this region have played a vital and pivotal role in commerce, communication, and exploration.
The discovery, excavation, and documentation of a Bronze Age (c.5,000 - 3,500 years ago) ship involved in the elaborate trading activity between Sumer, Meluhha (Pakistan), Mishmâhig islands (what is today known as Bahrain), and the regions between and beyond would be one of the greatest achievements in the field of archaeology. To that end a search has been inaugurated for submerged shipwrecks of any period in the coastal and territorial waters of today UAE, a fascinating ancient Iranian land located on the Lower Persian Gulf, adjacent to the Straits of Hormoz.
The Lower Persian Gulf at the confluence of trading routes extending from Mainland Iran, China, Sri Lanka, and India in the east, to Ethiopia, Egypt, and Europe in the west, as well as the country's rich cultural heritage before Arab conquest and their migrations to the area, make this an ideal region in which to search for ancient seafarers.
The original and reproduction of Babylonian map of about 2500 B.C. the Babylonians believed the earth to be a flat disk encircle by a salt water river (Persian gulf).from the Armenia atlas, Armenian text. and the children & youths encyclopedia, Russian ed. Download
The rest of the world are entitled other regions in the map and this is a demonstration of the time limited knowledge about outside territories. Download
An ancient Babylonian clay craft work , in front face the Babylonian world is mapped. In rear face related explanations are recorded. Babylonian and Assyria are shown surrounded by Persian gulf.(2500 B.C.)Original : British museum Download
Fig. 5. Red granite stela of Darius the great commemorating the digging of the Darius the great canal from Tell el Maskhutab , Egypt . 518-515 B.C. Height 10 ft 4 in , width 6 ft 10 in .71 , 167 cm
The world map of Anaximander in 7th century B.C. (New English Encyclopedia)Download
The first world map performed by Anaximander Greece mathematican , Geographist and Thales’s Apprentice. Persian gulf is shown with a arrow sign Download
Persian gulf in the hecataeus’s world map, French text ,Geographia September 1958 Download
Persian gulf in the hecataeus’s world map, French text , Alpha Encyclopedia No. 48 Download
Persian gulf in the hecataeus’s world map, English text space design ,Japanese Ed. Download
Persian gulf in hecataeus’s world map, german text, from ocean, published by paul Hamlyn, London, printed in Yugoslavia. Downlaod
Persian gulf in the hecataeus’s world map, English text, every mans classical atlas, by j.oliver Thomson. Download
Arabian gulf(red sea) in the Herodotus world map, eng text. every mans classical atlas, by j.oliver Thomson. Download
Arabian gulf(red sea) in the Herodotus world map . picture story world exploration , by francis odle. Download
Arabian gulf(red sea) in the Herodotus world map, Russian text. General Russian encyclopedia , st. Petersburg . 1896 Download
Arabian gulf(red sea) in the Herodotus world map, English text, space design , Japanese edition. Download
Arabian gulf(red sea) the map of Africa by Herodotus, of the Enigma of the oceans and the seas Russian text by uzi , Moscow Download
Herodotus world map, English text from the book of “how the world, lives & works” published by American book co. 1935. Download
Persian gulf & Arabian gulf(red sea) In the dicaearchus world map. French text (magazine of geographic 1958, Paris) Download
Sinus persicus , sinus arabicus in the Eratosthenes world map, English text from “asia adventures of exploration” , London 1948. Download
Persian gulf in the Eratosthenes world map, English text , civil aviation . by Michael young , the pilot press Ltd.
Persian gulf & Arabian gulf(red sea) in the Eratosthenes world map, English text, from the story of map by lioyd Abzan, bonanza book New York. Download
Persian gulf in the Eratosthenes world map, French text, from geographia , September 1958. Download
Persian gulf in the Eratosthenes world map, from atlas universal des sciences , by henri duval, Paris , 1837 Download
Persian gulf in the Eratosthenes world map, from alpha encyclopedia 1969. Download
Al-khalij-al-farsi (Persian gulf) in the world map by Eratosthenes, Arabic text . cartography by Dr. mohammad abdol karim sobhi , the university of cairo, 1966. Download
Persian gulf in the Eratosthenes world map Spanish text, from “atlas universal aguilar” Madrid , 1960 Download
Persian gulf in the Eratosthenes world map, French text from “geographie general” . by L. perent classique Hachette Paris 1965. Download
Persian gulf in the Hipparchus world map French text, (geographia 1958) Download
Persian gulf as appeared in 4 maps of Hipparchus (150 B.C.) Eratosthenes (220 B.C.) Strabo (20 A.D.) and Ptolemy (140-170 A.D.) delmarech atlas , paris 1880 Download
Persian gulf in the globe of crates of mallus (145 B.C.) , Latin text from encyclopedia Britannica , volume XVII, 1911 Download
The globe of crates of mallus (145 B.C. ) from history of humanity Russian edition , printed in St. Petersburg , 1896 Download
Roman world map (first century B.C.) put the orient at the top, from “National Geographic atlas of the world” , Washington D.C. Download
Persian gulf in the pomponius melas world map, Russian text, from “the enigma of the oceans & the seas” by : uzi , Moscow 1958 Download
Sinus persicus in the world map of pomponius mela, Latin text , from “story of map” by Lloyd Abzan , bonanza books , New York , 1949 Download
Persian gulf in two world maps of pomponius mela, Latin text , from “history of Humanity” Russian Edition , St. Petersburg 1896 Download
Persian gulf in the Strabo’s world map , English text from “Story of map”. By Lloyd Abzan , bonanza books , 1949 Download
Al-khalij-al-farsi (Persian gulf) in the strabo’s world map, Arabian text , from “Elm-al-kharaet” (cartography) , by : Dr.M.A.K.Sobhi , university of cario 1966 Download
Persian gulf in the strabo’s world map, English text . from “southern neighbors, geography for the Air age” by F.K.Branom, W.H.Sadlier Inc. U.S.A , 1951 Download
Persian gulf in the Strabo’s world map, Latin text, from “Map and Culture” essay in “Space Design” , No.20 Japanese Edition, 1966 Download
The imaginary portrait of Ptolemy (father of geography) from “the history of humanity” german text, Leipzig , 1896 Download
Ptolemy’s world map, and the index guide of his twenty six other maps, the sections showing Iran, Persian gulf , and Arabian Peninsula , is reproduced under plates No. “geography for the air age, the catholic geography series” by : Fredrick k.branom, W.H.Sadlier , inc.chicago , 1951 Download
Relief picture of Ptolemy’s on the campanile of duomo Florence, by : Giotto & Andrea Pisano Download
Persian gulf in the Ptolemy’s world map , Russian text , from “the Enigma of the Oceans & the seas” by : Uzi , Moscow 1958 Download
Persian gulf in the Ptolemy’s world map , from “general encyclopedia” Russian Edition St. Petersburg , 1898 Download
Persian gulf in the Ptolemy’s world map , of Africa, Russian text , from “the enigma of the Oceans and the Seas” by Uzi, Moscow 1958 Download
“Al-khalij-al-farsi” (Persian gulf) in the Ptolemy’s world map, Arabic text (cartography by Dr. M.abdol karim sobhi , the university of Cairo , 1966 Download
Persian gulf in the Ptolemy’s world map, French text. (Alpha encyclopedia) , 1969 Download
Persian gulf in the Ptolemy’s world map, Persian text, tohfat-al-afagh by mehdigholi hedayat Download
Persian gulf in the Ptolemy’s world map “typvs orbis a ptol. Descriptvs” , Latin text, from “History of Humanity”, Russian Edition , St. Petersburg 1899 Download
Persian gulf in the world map of Ptolemy’s, Latin text , from “Pergamum world atlas” , polish & English Edition , Warsaw , 1968 Download
Persian gulf in the Ptolemy’s world map, Latin text , from “meners konoer-fations lexicon” (a general german encyclopedia) , Leipzig 1895 Download
Persian gulf in the Ptolemy’s world map, latin text (decorative printed map of the 15th to 18th centuries by R.A. skelton) , spring book , London , 1967 Download
Persian gulf in the Ptolemy’s world map, latin text (the story of maps and map – making by james A. Hathway , golden press – New York) 1960 Download
Persian gulf in the Ptolemy’s world map, Latin text , from “the Wide World , A geography” by : preston E. james , Maxwell Professor of geography and the chairman of geography Dept. at Syracuse university 1962 Download
Persian gulf in the Ptolemy’s world map, English text , from “Maps & their Makers” by G.R.Crone , librarian and map curator , royal geographical society , London , 1966 Download
Sinus Persicus in the Ptolemy’s world map , Latin text from “Principals of cartography” by Erwin Raisz , professor of cartography of the Harvard university , and one of the greatest authorizes in geography 1962 Mc Graw-Hill book Co. New York Download
Persian gulf in the Ptolemy’s world map, French text - text geographia , September 1958 Download
Persian gulf and Arabian gulf , in the world maps of Ptolemy’s & Eratosthenes , French text , from “atlas university d’Histoire et de Geographie” by : M.N. Bouillet , Second Ed. Hachette , 1872 Download
Persian gulf in the Ptolemy’s world map, Latin text , from “Hout in Alle tijden” by Door W. Boerhave Beekman , published by N.V.Uitgevers – Maatschappij E.Kluwer , Gravenhage 1949 Download
Persian gulf in the Ptolemy’s world map , English text “Atlas of world History” by R. R. Palmer , published by Rand Mcnally & Company , Chicago 1957 Download
Persian gulf in the Ptolemy’s world map , French text , from “La geographie , pour connaitre” by Andre Merlier , published by Libraries larousse , Paris 1963 Download
Persian gulf in the Ptolemy’s world map , English text from “New Geography” book 2 , by Wallace W. Atwood , Ginn & Co. Boston , 1921 Download
Persian gulf in the Ptolemy’s world map , Latin text , from “Every man’s Classical Atlas” by J. Oliver Thomson , published by J. M. dent & Son Ltd. London , 1961 Download
Persian gulf in the Ptolemy’s world map , Latin text , from “geography in world Society” by Alfred H. Meyer , published by J.B.Lippincott Co.Philadelphia 1963 Download
Persian gulf in the Ptolemy’s world map , French text , from “ geographie generale” by A. perpillpu , professor at Sorbonne , classiques Hachette , Paris , 1956 Download
Persian gulf in the Ptolemy’s world map , Latin text from “history of cartography” by leo Bagraw , published by C.A.Watts , London , 1964 Download
Persian gulf in the Ptolemy’s world map , Latin text , from “Age of Exploration” by John R. Hale, published by time – life international , Nederland N.V. 1966 Download
Persian gulf in the Ptolemy’s world map , Latin text , from “Bordas Encyclopedia” by Michel Legrain , published by Bordas – Editeur 1969 Download
Persian gulf in the Ptolemy’s world map , Latin text , from “Encyclopedia Americana” New York , 1963 Download
Persian gulf in the Ptolemy’s world map , English text , from “Neighbors in Eurasia” by sister Marion George H.Mcvey , W. H. sadlier , Inc. New York , 1959 Download
Persian gulf in the Ptolemy’s world map , Latin text , from “encyclopedia Britannica” Vol. XVI , London , 1929 Download
Persian gulf in the Ptolemy’s world map , Latin text , from “the New International encyclopedia” , Volume XV, Published by Dodd , Mead & Co. New York , 1916 Download
Persian gulf in the Ptolemy’s world map , English text , from “Geographical Magazine”, June 1946 Download
Persian gulf in the Ptolemy’s world map , Latin text , from “Tout l’ Univers , Encyclopedie” , Hachett No.69 , Feb. 1963 , Paris
Under your leadership DD/AIR will emerge as world's top-class TV/Radio media.
Start with Indian Ocean Community, the Rashtram. Satellite weather channel should reach out to all the nations of the Community cherishing the Dharma-Dhamma continuum, exemplified by the largest Vishnu mandiram of the globe: Angkor Wat and Siva temples of Vietnam, Bauddha vihara of Thailand, Brahmavana (Parambanan) of Indonesia, Subrahmanya of Malaysia who are all proud of their Indian connections, batik of Indonesia comes from Gujarat. The worship at Angkor Wat is based on Pancharatra Agama. Geoge Coedes, the Frenh savant, epigraphist par excellence wrote a book in French titled: Histoire ancienne des États hindouisés d’Extrême-Orient (History of ancient Hinduised states of Greater Orient), 1944. This will be an extraordinary pilgrims' journey into Dharma-Dhamma along the Indian Ocean Rim. DD/AIR can be catalytic agents to make this Community happen as a counterpoise to European Community to take the region to the share of world GDP which it had in 1 CE (Pace Angus Maddison).
Harnessing satellite technological leadership of Bharatam and actively promoting the Trans_Asian Railway and Trans_Asian Highway Projects, Himalayan river projects (e.g. Mekong River which is one of the greatest rivers of the globe emanating from the Himalayas), the Indian Ocean Community can become the engine of growth and cope with the global financial crisis, providing unprecedented employment opportunities to the youth of the region and create the Trans_Asian initiatives with phenomenal multiplier economic effects. DD/AIR have a pivotal role to play in this historic, civilizational enterprise.
Kalyanaraman
Viewers are running to DD from noise on private news channels: A. Surya Prakash
The Prasar Bharati chairman on autonomy for Doordarshan and turning DD News into a top-class news channel
Prakash says out of a budget of approximately `4,000 crore for Prasar Bharati, 50% comes from the government. Photo: Ramesh Pathania/Mint
New Delhi: A. Surya Prakash, consulting editor at the English dailyPioneer and a fellow at the Vivekananda International Foundation, was appointed the chairman of Prasar Bharati earlier this week. In an interview at the Prasar Bharati office in New Delhi, he spoke of autonomy for Doordarshan and turning DD News into a top-class news channel.
Edited excerpts:
What is your agenda as chairman of Prasar Bharati, considering Doordarshan seems to be under government control?
Since the idea is to have an autonomous corporation, I think everyone should strive towards that whether one is in the government or in Prasar Bharati. As far as my agenda is concerned, whether it’s digitization or other new technologies that we need to adopt, we have to get the volumes and look at their commercial viability. These are ideas that we need to pursue.
Would you push for autonomy of Prasar Bharati during your term?
I was looking at the budget of Prasar Bharati. The budgetary support was `1,400 crore about four-five years ago. In the current financial year, it is `1,950 crore. Out of a budget of approximately `4,000 crore, 50% is coming from the Union of India. I don’t think this is a good idea. We need to look at that. These are my preliminary views on the matter. I need to sit with colleagues and ideate on some of these things.
I’m very troubled that public money of `2,000 crore is going to Prasar Bharati on an annual basis. Do we really need that kind of budgetary support from the government?
The corporation must, therefore, look at its assets. We must objectively bring about an improvement in the commercial viability of the organization. There needs to be a 10-year plan where Prasar Bharati can stand on its own feet. We need to look at some recommendations made by the Sam Pitroda committee or anything that is good and will take us towards strengthening Prasar Bharati as an autonomous institution.
So far, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has used both Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR) to communicate with the people. What will be the role of the state broadcaster in the new political philosophy of this government?
Today we have a Prime Minister who is so strong on social media and it’s a very big advantage compared with the past where the priorities of the Prime Minister were something else. His (Modi’s) whole idea of communicating and reaching out is pretty good.
My media instinct tells me that his show, Man Ki Baat (on AIR), will be very popular. Don’t look at it purely in political terms. Look at it as a national leader who wants to communicate with citizens on a weekly or fortnightly basis. He is speaking on radio and 100 television channels are taking the feed and broadcasting it. This is also totally unprecedented. I think every Man ki Baat episode will have lots of news value. I also think people will go back to radio sets to listen in rather than watch it on a news channel.
How do you plan to differentiate your brands from private news channels?
When all the private players came in, I thought these guys (DD) are going to have a tough time. How will DD survive? But look at DD over the last four-five years, it’s no longer a “sarkari” channel like it used to be in old times. If you look at its news coverage and programmes, the environment has enabled it to have a decent run order of stories which can match up to all the other channels.
I thought private competition from all sides would finish the viewership of Doordarshan. But that hasn’t happened, because, luckily for the public service broadcaster, there is a lot more noise during prime time on the private news channel. There are lots of citizens who are troubled by it and who are running away from the private channels for this reason. And they are going to Doordarshan. I’ve heard this from friends for some months now. So let them (private channels) fight it out. We need to be a top-class news channel. I think we can get there and we must get there.
Even for AIR, nobody can say it’s a “sarkari” channel. In democratic terms, we have come some distance in this country. The democratic environment is such that people in power are far more tolerant today of the other point of view than they were 40-50 years ago. You can see that in the way people conduct themselves. So the environment itself is conducive to a more independent news environment.
Barely a few months back, the Sunni Muslim world, particularly Saudi Arabia, was going hammer and tongs against US-led coalition’s imminent war on Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terming it a pro-Shia intervention since only Iraq then was at the receiving end of ruthless Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s mercenaries.
As ISIS cast its net wide threatening even Turkey, which is slowly shedding its image as a “secular” Muslim country, the scene is fast changing in West Asia. However, going by the instances of Sunni countries brazenly overlooking ISIS means of terror to preach majority Shias “true” Islam, new seeds of sectarian schism have been sown. Hordes for Muslims from around the world, including the West, are either making a beeline for ISIS cadreship or are emotionally supporting the “religious” cause.
Seen in this context, it is interesting to note where Indian Muslims stand. Is there any impact the “Islamic Caliphate” will have on Shia-Sunni brotherhood?
The sectarian schism in Islam is not new. It had started soon after the death of Prophet Muhammad over his legacy and succession. The main points of rift between Shias and Sunnis are their religious beliefs, norms and jurisprudence. Sunnis believe in Ijmah (community consensus) of the companions, while Shias believe in primacy of succession through Ahl al-Bait. The former resulted in the institution of Caliphate (Khilafat), the latter in the evolution of Imamat and Wilayat. The feud has continued even as the two institutions have ceased to have relevance in the contemporary world.
However, with the birth of ISIS and its proclaimed Caliphate, Sunnis’ belief of Ijmah has revived. But the brutal and barbaric tactics of ISIS have failed to unite Shias and Sunnis. The contemporary schism is not related to religious dominance, but is the end result of conflicting political, economic and geostrategic factors. Ray Takeyh, author of Hidden Iran: Paradox and Power in the Islamic Republic, claims that the escalating enmity between Sunni and Shia sects “has to do with political power.”
Here, an important point to note is that fight for political dominance among the two sects in India is illusive because of multiple reasons. Unlike Pakistan — a nation created solely for Muslims but which has developed various sectarian faultlines — where Shias are mostly massacred by Sunni extremists and Sunni mosques are bombed by Shia fanatics, India is less likely to see the ugly head of fundamentalism of that scale.
First, the roots of democracy in India are so deep that there is no possibility of choosing violent means to achieve political dominance.
Second, Muslims are in minority in India, so there is a strong cohesion among the two warring sects in front of the majority Hindus.
Third, the idea of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, though having its genesis in ancient Hinduism, is not exclusive to a particular religion but has been in the DNA of all those born and brought up on Indian soil. The unique diversity of this country, which embraces everyone in its fold, is its real strength.
Indian Sunnis taking part in the procession of Muharram along with their Shia brethren is a common sight in India, but an incredible truth to the “rest”. Moreover, when the Sunni world was bewildered at the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, both Sunnis and Shias of India celebrated the development.
Fourth, Sufism, though a Shia culture, has had followers among Indian Sunnis as well. Even the Barelvis of the Sunni sect are diehard followers of Sufi culture. This exceptional example is nowhere to be seen in the Muslim world.
No matter whether there were ISIS flags in some Kashmiri hands during a recent protest or some Indian youngster’s evanescent idiocy to join ISIS, Indian Muslims will never become cannon fodder for the bestial goons of ISIS.
(The writer is a research scholar having special interest in West Asian political and cultural affairs)
Officials confident PM Modi will prevail over ‘Swiss Club’
Corrupt officials, businesspersons, some lawyers and politicians are working overtime to ensure the failure of the Prime Minister’s mission to bring back black money.
MADHAV NALAPAT New Delhi | 1st Nov 2014
Officials eager to actualise Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vow of the return to legal channels of an estimated $500 billion-plus held illegally by Indian nationals and their nominees abroad warn that a secretive "Swiss Club" comprising corrupt officials, businesspersons, as well as some lawyers and politicians, is working behind the scenes to try and ensure the failure of the PM's mission. This group comprises influential individuals in India, across different spheres of authority, who possess undeclared bank accounts in Switzerland and other tax havens, and are consequently eager to ensure that information on such accounts never reaches India, lest their guilt get exposed. In view of the immense clout wielded by the Club's members — many in high positions — officials in the relevant departments prefer to remain unnamed. However, they appear confident of the Prime Minister overcoming such sabotage to bring to book those guilty of the loot of the nation on a scale not seen since Robert Clive was active in his piracy of the subcontinent two centuries ago.
Officials eager to implement the Prime Minister's promise say that the UPA's exclusive reliance on Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAA) to seek information from foreign governments on undeclared moneys held abroad "participated in the fiction that such deposits were the consequence of lawful work, when in reality such deposits stemmed from income earned through unlawful means" and hence did not require any assurance of secrecy.
A mid-level official revealed that "almost all such funds have been generated from criminal activity, such as participation in scams such as 2G, Commonwealth and others, or from banned trades such as narcotics or the under-invoicing of exports and the over-invoicing of exports. Even the method of transmission of such funds to overseas locations, in cases where rupees get converted into other currencies, is illegal, in that it is done through hawala channels, most of which are controlled by the same syndicates that operate narcotics and terror hubs." Such funds would not be bound by the secrecy codes prevailing in matters of routine tax compliance.
His senior added that "what needs to be done is to pass an ordinance declaring that all funds held abroad by Indian nationals and their nominees, which is not reported to the RBI, be made a criminal act, rather than be treated as a simple concealment of income". He claims that such a move would enable the speedy transmission of information even from established tax havens, "as secrecy is not necessary for moneys made illegally, such as from bribes or through fudging of export or import figures".
The officials were unanimous in the view that the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FACTA) with the US should get signed immediately, "as otherwise those with US accounts — many to take care of the expenses of their college-going children — will clear such accounts and escape detection". They were also in favour of "immediate signing" of the OECD Global Tax Information Pact, in view of the fact that 51 countries, including several tax havens, have signed on to the protocol, which facilitates exchange of information about funds parked in different locations. "Delay will only give time to those with such accounts to cover their tracks", a senior official said, adding that "the confidentiality condition would apply to only a very few of such accounts" and hence need not be a ground for delay of signature.
Official sources pointed out that there were basic differences between unaccounted-for money held abroad and black money hidden away within the country, as the latter had a complex of laws and procedures designed to facilitate discovery. In contrast, they say that the legal and administrative structure for dealing with funds illegally held abroad is close to zero. An official was confident that "Prime Minister Modi will take expeditious steps to ensure success despite the attempted sabotage by the 'Swiss Club' of the BJP's 2014 poll promise of return of such funds". Politically, "a significant chunk of Prime Minister Modi's support came from the belief among voters that he would succeed in ending corruption and in getting back money salted away abroad, and should the results of such a policy prove disappointing, the political repercussions would be immediate, including a fresh dose of oxygen to the Aam Aadmi Party", an official pointed out, adding that "what is needed is to fast-track criminal prosecutions against all those known to have clandestine bank accounts abroad", something that the UPA failed to do, and which the newly-constituted SIT also does not seem to have done.
An official familiar with tracking illicit financial flows pointed out that "disclosure (of names) is beneficial in that members of the public would then come forward to give additional information". He said that "the UPA's policy of keeping such names secret only assisted the perpetrators to clear out their accounts and escape accountability". According to him, "in databases in different departments, there are over 6,000 individuals known to be having a foreign account that has yet to be declared to the RBI". This is nearly ten times the number disclosed to the Supreme Court by the government a few days ago.
It was pointed out that "existing laws are sufficient to identify criminal proceeds, and once an offence gets registered (under IPC, PCA, UAPA, etc), the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) can get activated to attach properties". A senior official asked "Why Hassan Ali is being proceeded against only for a passport violation and not more serious offences?" He said that "during the past 15 years, there have been several cases of perpetrators who have had action taken under statutes which dilute the offences and enable them to escape".
He added that there was immediate need for an ordinance to facilitate the seizing by the government of illegal black money held overseas by Indian nationals and their nominees. In this context, he warned that "excluding close family members from disclosure of assets and scrutiny would enable the guilty to escape", as spouses and children are usually the preferred nominees of those holding black money abroad and within the country.
Stating that the Supreme Court-mandated SIT was not enough, and that the government could not surrender its executive prerogatives to any other branch of government, it was desirable that the entire matter not get outsourced to the Shah-Pasayat SIT, but that a new agency get created. They called for a Unified Black Money Retrieval Authority (UBMRA), which would be comprised of dedicated officers of the Enforcement Directorate, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Central Board of Direct Taxes, Central Bureau of Investigation, Intelligence Bureau, Research and Analysis Wing, Reserve Bank of India and other agencies involved in tracking financial flows. Their suggestion was that each of the proposed authority's task forces operate around separate round tables, with the officer of each agency having in front of him a computer screen with data from his agency, so that "quick and complete exchange of information on suspects can get done" within the room. The task forces, which should be located in the same building to facilitate exchange of information and coordination of investigation, would each look into matters such as (a) money laundering, (b) non-tax paid black money through genuine business; (c) terror financing; (d) narcotics, and so on. After leads have been discovered, each could be assigned to a particular agency (such as ED or CBI) for follow-up and prosecution.
According to the officers queried, within six months, "several thousand" prosecutions could get launched should the UBMRA get set up, a number which could accelerate rapidly in subsequent months. The officers spoken to were confident that any perception of slowness or disarray in the battle against black money, especially that held abroad, would soon get dispelled by decisive action on this front by Prime Minister Modi.
Is Nitin Gadkari reconsidering Mr. Townshend’s Proposal- 1861? He should scrap the Sethusamudram Kaarasthan Project, declare Ramasetu National Monument.
A proposal was by made by Mr. Townshend in 1861. He proposed siting the canal through the Pamban Pass. His proposal was to deepen the existing tortuous Pamban Channel to enable the passage of large vessels. However, the objections to its adoption, with a curved channel, and subject to the strong currents through the Pamban Pass were so obvious that it put the Scheme outside the pale of practical consideration.
From a brief overview of the Sethusamudram hey kaarasthan is presented by the following accounts of studies/proposals made since 1861.
This Gulf of Mannar appears to be the most-studied navigational route in maritime history -- for over 163 years and now there is a news report that indicates that Nitin Gadkari is considering studying it further.
It is surprising that the principal objective of all these project proposals/studies seems to be overlooked in all initiatives. It is a transportation project to move freight from west coast to east coast of Indian southern shoreline. Aren't there transportation alternatives available to achieve the freight movement?
Some alternatives are: 1. Laying pipeline connecting the western ports into the hinterland to supply oil and gas products; 2. Improved container ports on the west coast and east coast and high-speed freight corridors between the west and east coast container ports; 3. Providing rail-road links between Talaimannar and Dhanushkodi networking into the Trans-Asian Railway and Highway systems to provide opportunities for improved Sri Lanka-India bilateral trade and commerce.
What should Nitin Gadkari do? He should tell the Hon'ble Supreme Court that the Sethusamudram Project under arbitration in the Court is shelved, that Rama Setu is declared National Heritage Monument, that pilgrim site facilities, tourism facilities will be improved in this Sacred Monument zone and the Sacred Marine Bio-Reserve of Gulf of Mannar.
It is time to bring closure to this Sethusamudram hey kaarasthan (which means, a conspiratorial place in Marathi).
Between 1860 and 1922, as many as nine proposals were made for cutting a Ship Channel across the narrow strip of land to connect the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Bay with the object of providing a short-cut for ocean-going ships plying between the West Coast of India and the East Coast. These were:
1. 1860 Commander Taylor’s Proposal
2. 1861 Mr. Townshend’s Proposal
3. 1862 Parliamentary Committee’s Proposal
4. 1863 His Excellency Sir William dennison’s R.E. (Governor of Madras) Proposal
5. 1871 Mr. Stoddart’s Proposal
6. 1872 Mr. Robertson’s (Harbour Engineer for India) Proposal
7. 1884 Sir John Code’s Proposal for South India Ship Canal, Port & Coaling Station, Limited
8. 1903 S.I. Railway Engineer’s Proposal based on their Survey
9. 1922 Sir Robert Bristow’s (Harbour Engineer to the Government of Madras) Proposal
A brief survey of these various proposals extracted from Sir Bristow’s Report is given hereunder:
1.1. Commander Taylor’s Proposal - 1860
The earliest proposal for cutting a link canal was made in 1860 by Commander Taylor of the Indian Marine. In his paper, he advocated cutting a canal across the Tonitorai Peninsula at a place about 12 miles west of the Pamban Pass. He stated “The southern end would start from ‘Port Lorne’, a natural harbour, a few miles down the coast from Mandapam, about seven miles in length and four-and-a-half miles in breadth, the greater part of which had a depth of 24 feet, and for some considerable extent up to 30 feet, the deepest parts being 36 feet. It was well sheltered by the Musal and Muli Islands and reefs. Its entrance had only a depth of less than 15 feet, but if this were depend, it would make the harbour a safe one for the anchorage of all vessels during the South-West Monsoon”.
The Scheme involved the excavation of a deep cutting nearly three miles in length through the dry land and deepening to five fathoms for at least three miles on each side to connect it with the harbour on the south, and the deep water on the north. It would also involve cutting a channel across the reef barrier at the southern entrance to the harbour. It was at first stated to cost only about £ 90,000, but further inquiries brought the estimate up to £ 1,500,000. The Northern approach would be exposed to the North-East monsoon and would require special protective works. Owing to the great expense involved and the extra work to be done in comparison with a canal across the Island of Rameswaram (please see proposals 3 to 9), the Scheme was not seriously considered.
1.2. Mr. Townshend’s Proposal- 1861
The next proposal was by Mr. Townshend. He proposed siting the canal through the Pamban Pass. His proposal was to deepen the existing tortuous Pamban Channel to enable the passage of large vessels. However, the objections to its adoption, with a curved channel, and subject to the strong currents through the Pamban Pass were so obvious that it put the Scheme outside the pale of practical consideration.
1.3. Parliamentary Committee’s Proposal- 1862
In 1862, a Parliamentary Committee of Her Majesty’s Government was appointed to report on the site for a canal across the Island of Rameswaram, and they recommended an alignment situated about two miles East of Pamban, crossing the Island in a straight Northerly direction.
1.4. His Excellency Sir William Dennison's Proposal (Governor of
Madras)- 1863
In 1863, His Excellency Sir William Dennison, R.E., Acting Governor of Madras, visited Pamban and selected a site which he considered the most advantageous. This was about a mile further East from that recommended by the Parliamentary Committee. Probably he visited the Island during the North-East monsoon, as he chose the best position for a sheltered Northern approach at a time when the Northern seas were rough and the Southern seas were calm. In the South-West monsoon, the Southern side will be rough and the Northern side calm. This alignment was unsuitable, as its Southern entrance would be very much exposed during the South-West monsoon.
1.5. Mr. Stoddart's Proposal- 1871
Subsequently in 1871, Mr. Stoddart recommended a site about one mile West of Dennison’s alignment and parallel to it. This was practically the same as the one suggested by the Parliamentary Committee. This alignment was protected by the reefs and small islands on the Southern side from the South-West monsoon; its Northern approach was, however, exposed to the North-East monsoon.
1.6. Mr. Robertson's (Harbour Engineer to the Govt. of India)
Proposal - 1872
In March, 1872, Sir Elphinstone, M.P., wrote to the Under Secretary of State for India, requesting that “Mr. Robertson, Harbour Engineer for India, should be directed to proceed to Pamban and examine the locality closely and minutely and give his opinion as to the best mode of proceeding in the matter, which is every month becoming of greater importance to the commerce and trade of the East”.
Mr. Robertson accordingly visited Pamban and selected a new site about a mile from Pamban with its Southern entrance well within the protection of Kurisadi and Shingle Islands leaving the Northern entrance quite unprotected from the North-East Monsoon as he was of the opinion “that the point of paramount importance was the protection of the Southern entrance from the swell of the South-West monsoon”. He did not evidently make a close examination of the channel leading to the Southern entrance which would be narrow and would require an enormous amount of dredging to fit it for the passage of vessels.
1.7. Sir John Code's Proposal - 1884
After a lapse of 12 years in the year 1884, “The South India Ship Canal Port and Coaling Station, Limited,” U.K., considered the project for the construction of a canal across the Rameswaram Island and instructed Sir John Code, Consulting Engineer, to prepare a report and estimate. His report discussed the previous schemes and decided on the best alignment for the canal. The southern entrance was just near that recommended by Mr. Stoddart in 1871, but the placed his line of canal obliquely on land so that the northern entrance would “derive considerable shelter from the northerly stretch of the coast immediately to the eastward”. He states “there will be a further advantage than the improved sheltering of the entrances, viz., the bringing of the course of vessels passing through it more directly in the line of the winds both in the North-East and South-West Monsoons. This I regard as a material consideration seeing that vessels of the largest class which have their sides so high above the water will be much less liable to be deflected from their true course while passing through the canal, owing to the wind being almost invariably either ahead or astern, whichever monsoon might be blowing”.
The Secretary of State for India granted the South India Ship Canal Port and Coaling Station, Limited, a perpetual concession, reserving the right to purchase the canal under certain conditions. Correspondence between the Home and the Indian Governments was carried on for some years. The Madras Government in their proceeding, dated the 14thOctober 1890, however, advised the Government of India to reject the scheme on the ground that the shoals at the Palk Straits between Pt. Calimere and Pt. Pedro would prevent the projected canal being made use of by vessels of a deep-sea draft. Apparently, the Madras Government Adviser had not studied the Ceylon Government chart of the channel north of Ceylon, which showed ample waterway. The present Drawing No. 2, in which soundings taken from the Admiralty Chart Nos. 68-A and 2197 are plotted would also show that there is a minimum depth of 33 to 34 feet by the route via the Pedro Channel. In this drawing, this channel route is also marked for easy reference.
Another point worth mentioning here is that in those days dredging and deepening a channel in the open sea conditions in the Palk Straits where they may get fiver or six feet waves in fair weather, could not be thought of, as dredgers could work only in two or three feet waves. Now Dredger design has advanced considerably and swell-compensating arrangements are provided in Trailer Suction Dredgers, so that it is possible to dredge in 7 ft. or 8 ft. waves without any difficulty. In this connection, mention may be made of the new estuarian dredger “Mohana” acquired for Calcutta Port to dredge in the estuary in the exposed open sea conditions.
1.8. S.I Railway Engineers Proposal -1903
In 1902, the South Indian Railway Company carried out a fresh survey by their Engineers and decided upon an alignment in Rameswaram about which they stated as follows :
The final alignment of the canal has been determined after a careful survey was made of the seas on each side, and due consideration was given to its protection at both ends during the monsoons. A glance at the maps which accompany the project report will show that the minimum amount of dredging at the approaches will be required to enable a depth of 30 ft. to be dredged. The southern entrance is well under the protection of the Kallaru reef with the Shingle Islets and also of the Kurisadi, Pulli-Vausel and Pulli Islands and their surrounding reefs which form a natural breakwater during the South-West monsoon.
The line of canal is oblique (and in the direction of the prevailing winds) and has the same advantage as advocated by Sir John Code in his alignment, which has already been referred to.
No other alignment can be made for a canal which would offer the same advantages having reference to the eligibility of the approaches and shelter which the present one affords.
1.9. Sir Robert Bristo's (Harbour Engineer to the Govt. of India)
Proposal - 1922
After another two decades, Sir Robert Bristow, Harbour Engineer to the Government of Madras, made a thorough study of all the previous proposals and carried out detailed investigations and put up his proposal for an alignment somewhat similar to the previous one adopted by the S.I. Railway across the Rameswaram Island, as being the best line for the canal crossing. He, however,. The question was, therefore, raised as to the advisability of cutting a canal through the Island of Rameswaram, in order to remove this disability. A good shifted the southern extremity of the land canal by about 500 yards west in order to get still better protection for the southern approach.
Sir Robert Bristow in his report has stated that the reason for reopening the matter at this date (1922) was that One of the reasons which was acting adversely to the development of the ports of the South-East India was the fact that there was no deep-sea passage northward of Cape Comorin and that nearly all traffic had to pass round the Island of Ceylon deal of discussion was aroused by this proposal, especially among the people of Tuticorin, who, whilst in entire agreement with the idea of making a canal ‘qual canal’, were apprehensive that, as it would cross the main line of railway from Dhanushkodi to Madras, a port might grow up there, which would attract the trade from Tuticorin to Rameswaram.
Again to quote from the Report of the Tuticorin Ad hoc Committee which considered the Canal Scheme drawn up by Sir Robert Bristow :
There has been very little of divergence of opinion during the discussions as to the advantage of the canal in the abstract. Indeed, its obvious usefulness and the desirability in the constructing it, if only on the broad ground of reducing ocean distances, has made anything like serious discussion impossible. For example, it reduces the distance from off Cape Comorin (a common point for all traffic from the West) to Madras, Calcutta and Rangoon by 333, 240 and 109 miles, respectively and from Trincomalee to Cape Comorin by 125 miles.
Further the actual saving in mileage and money is enhanced by the less tangible, but, perhaps, more important savings consequent upon avoiding the stormy journey round the Island of Ceylon particularly in monsoon weather. The increased wear on all parts of the ship, and the anxiety and risk which are thus eliminated in the case of all vessels render the construction of the canal a very desirable object on the general grounds.
This proposal, however, was not pursued then, apparently because of dearth of finance.
The proposals considered after independence are as under :-
2.1. Sethusamudram Project Committee - 1956
The committee was headed by Sir A. Ramaswamy Mudaliyar and the committee contemplated a 26 feet draft land canal crossing the main land at Mandapam estimated to cost Rs.1.8 crores. Capt. H.R. Davis carried out further survey in the year 1959 and suggested certain modifications, regarding alternative alignment across the main land maintaining the same draft.
The Government of Madras under the guidance of State Port Officer explored the possibility of increasing the draft from 26 feet to 36 feet in the year 1963 at an estimated cost of Rs.21 crores.
2.2. Nagendra Singh Committee Report - 1967
Government of India constituted a committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. Nagendra Singh, Secretary Ministry of Shipping and Transport in the year 1964. Shri C.V. Venkateshwaran, Retd. Development Advisor, (Ports) was appointed as the Chief Engineer to take up the investigation work. Shri R. Natarajan was appointed as the Project Officer to collect the statistics of shipping and to determine the economic viability of the project. The committee completed its report in 1967 and the draft contemplated was 30 feet at an estimated cost of Rs.37.46 crores. The committee examined both the alignments suggested earlier and due to the presence of layers of sand stone in the Madapam alignment, suggested an alternative alignment in the Rameswaram Island Crossing called the DE alignment near Thankachimadam. The main components of the project involved were
- Excavation and dredging of the canal
- Construction of a lock
- Construction of a bridge
- Construction of breakwaters
- Procurement of a dredger and
- Land acquisition and procurement of harbour crafts, construction of buildings, model studies etc.
2.3. Lakshminarayan Committee Report - 1981
The committee under the Chairmanship of Shri H.R. Lakshminarayan Development Advisor (Ports) was constituted in the year 1981. The committee collected the opinions and representations of the leading public, industrialists and Government officials of the State. All of them unanimously urged the Government to take up the scheme immediately. The prominent citizens of the Rameswaram island represented that the canal would serve better if located to the east of Rameswaram town as far as possible, as it would otherwise affect the movement of the pilgrims of the temple town. After detailed investigations a new alignment was proposed across Dhanushkodi, 1km. west of Kodandaramasamy Temple across the narrow land strip known as the ‘K’ alignment. The committee also appointed a Navigational Expert Group to finalize the bottom width of the channel and the under keel clearance. The committee recommended construction of two channels called the south and north channels and also construction of a lock in the land portion connecting both the channels.
The salient features of the scheme were as under :-
Section of the Channel
Length in nautical miles
Bottom width in meters
Dredging depth in meters chart datum
Bay of Bengal channel
33.5
305
12.2
North approach
8.05
244
11.6
Lock in land canal
300m.
45
12.2
South approach
2.4
244
11.6
A side slope of 1:6 was considered.
The estimated cost of the project was Rs. 282 crores with a foreign exchange component of Rs. 3 crores.
2.4. Pallavan Transport Consultance Services Report - 1996
During 1994, the State Government of Tamil Nadu felt that Sri. H.R. Laxminarayan Committee Report of 1983 has to be up dated and directed M/s. Pallavan Transport Consultancy Services Ltd.(PTCS), a Govt. Tamil Nadu undertaking, to reappraise and revalidate the 1983 report. Fresh particulars of cost and traffic were collected and incorporated in the report.
PTCS Report Considered Following Project Components :
Apart from the construction of the proposed canal, which constitutes the major component of the project, a number of infrastructural facilities as listed below are envisaged to be created under the project :
Construction of a "lock"
Construction of rubble mound type breakwaters on either side of the land canal
Navigational aids
Lighted beacons/buoys
Racons
Satellite based differential global system
Improvements to Pamban light house
Flotilla
Harbour tugs
Pilot, mooring, survey-cum-lighting launches
Despatch vessels
Shore facilities
Two service jetties
Slipways
Buoy yard
Repair workshop
Staff and administration buildings
2.5. Tuticorin Port Trust as Nodal Agency
In February, 1997, the Ministry of Surface Transport made Tuticorin Port Trust as Nodal Agency for the Project, and subsequently the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur was appointed by Ministry of Surface Transport in July 1997 to prepare the Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) of the Project The IEE study report indicated that the Project is environmentally safe with negligible effect on the eco system and the Marine National Park of the Gulf of Mannar. The report also recommended a particular alignment of the canal cutting the Pamban Island, east of Kothandaramasamy temple, which will cause least damage to the biota and the environment . As per instructions of the Ministry in February, 2002, NEERI was entrusted to conduct the following studies:-
(i) Techno-economic viability, and
(ii) Environmental Impact Assessment.
Tuticorin Port Trust later engaged M/s. L & T-Ramboll Consulting Engineers, Chennai in 2004 for preparation of a Detailed Project Report, which has clearly established the financial viability of the Project and has also prescribed a stringent Environmental Management Plan for preserving and conserving the rich bio-diversity in the project region.
Nitin Gadkari to study Pamban channel next week for Sethusamudram project
Dipak K Dash,TNN | Oct 29, 2014, 06.15 AM IST NEW DELHI: After taking the decision not to damage the Ram Sethu for Sethusamudram project, shipping minister Nitin Gadkari is scheduled to visit Tamil Nadu next week for an aerial view of the Pamban channel, which lies between the mainland and Rameswaram Island.
Government officials said earlier there was a proposal to increase the depth of the sea channel by one meter so that vessels carrying 3,000 tonnes of load could ply, but now there is a fresh plan to dredge the channel further to 11 meters. TOI has learnt this will enable vessels carrying 30,000 tonnes to pass through this route. Once the Cabinet approves the proposal, there will be a detailed study and the project will be prepared.
Sources said an agency engaged by the shipping ministry has suggested the use of new technology that can be used to swivel the Pamban bridge to reduce the time for its opening and closing so that loaded vessels can pass at frequent intervals.
At present, the channel is used for carrying vessels with only 1,000 tonnes of cargo. On an average, 15 vessels pass through the "open bridge" every month and it is usually opened twice a month for such movement. The bridge across Palk Strait connecting Rameswaram Island with the mainland was first opened for traffic in 1914. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Nitin-Gadkari-to-study-Pamban-channel-next-week-for-Sethusamudram-project/articleshow/44966450.cms
Note: Mt Road Mahavishnu aka The Hindu has not yet reported on this. Hence, unofficial :)--
Kalyanaraman
Infighting Adds Fuel to CPM Struggle to Stay Relevant
By Santwana Bhattacharya and U Anand Kumar
Published: 02nd November 2014 06:00 AM
Last Updated: 02nd November 2014 08:06 AM
NEW DELHI: Prakash Karat was a high school boy of 16 in Madras when the Communist Party of India split in 1964, half a century ago. The thorny dilemma then was the degree of proximity to the Congress -- more or less the same question, though dressed up in ideological/tactical language, now underlies a bitter factional fight for control of the party and its line, as it prepares for a back-to-the-wall struggle to retain its relevance in the Narendra Modi era.
Karat is fighting a grim personal battle at this delicate juncture for the party. His decade-long stint as CPM general secretary winds down next year, and he is trying to hold off a stern challenge from fellow comrade and contemporary Sitaram Yechury, the proponent of a pragmatic line in tune with the need of the hour. Karat’s more theoretically solid, but inflexible tactics have seen the party tumble from its best showing in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections in which the combined Left won 62 seats, to a bleak scenario where it has been reduced to an also-ran in its old citadel West Bengal, and is struggling in Kerala where factionalism rules the roost.
The severity of the challenge was brought out at the party’s recent Central Committee meeting -- the general secretary’s official draft resolution on the tactical consensus had to be withdrawn for “revision”.
Similar circumstances have seen CPM general secretaries step down as P Sundarayya did after the Emergency, or offer to do so as Harkishen Singh Surjeet did when his proposal to have Jyoti Basu lead a combined Opposition government in 1996 floundered against a more puritan line, commandeered by then young Karat. But in a similar situation, Karat himself has stopped short of doing so, preferring to try and ride over it by accommodating dissent, mainly because of the crucial handing over of the baton next year that might well decide the party’s survival chances at a time of extreme political attrition. The Party Congress is scheduled to be held in Vishakhapatnam in April. An acceptance of Yechury’s proposal, which amounts to an admission of gross leadership failure in the last decade, would automatically put the Andhra-born comrade in line for the top responsibility.
For Yechury’s challenge to bear fruit, he needs to be able to carry the crucial Kerala unit with him, which is under the powerful pro-Karat state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan.
Only if there is a parallel voice of dissent in Kerala, can he hope to mop up support from the Tamil Nadu and Andhra units. Lonely veteran V S Achuthanandan’s contrarian note at the Central Committee meeting is not enough.
What the Karat camp might attempt to do as a halfway house is to get a sympathetic and pliable figure installed. The options are old stalwart from Kerala, 77-year-old S Ramachandran Pillai, CPM Andhra secretary B V Raghavulu or, as a dark horse, four-time Tripura CM Manik Sarkar.
Why Sethusamudram is kaarasthan (a Marathi word which means: 'a conspiratorial place').
The Gulf of Mannar is called Sethusamudram. The Gulf lies between Dhanushkodi (India) and Talaimannar (Sri Lanka).
The waters of the Indian Ocean are most turbulent in this maritime zone. Tamil Nadu Maritime Board issues daily weather warnings about the Pamban Channel which lies north of Gulf of Mannar between Rameshwaram and Mandapam in Ramanathapuram district.
In addition to regular high tides, frequent storms and cyclones, the zone is also prone to tsunamis as evidenced by the tsunami of December 26, 2006 which recorded a death toll of 230,000 people in the Indian Ocean. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_and_tsunami Thanks to the presence of Ramasetu, the bridge made by Sri Rama connecting Dhanushkodi and Talaimannar, the southern coastline of India was saved from utter devastation by the tsunami. Some damage was caused in Kollam (Kerala) as the tsunami waves travelled around Sri Lanka and hit the west coast of Bharatam near Kollam. Any navigational channel in the ocean zone should be designed in such a way as to deflect any future tsunamis, particularly emanating from the Aceh islands of Indonesia which is a plate-tectonically active zone. This is important to prevent devastation of the coastline port facilities and lives as was witnessed during a tsunami emanating from Alaska destroying a Canadian channel of a Canadia port. On March 28, 1964 Port Alberni was hit by a tsunamitriggered by the 9.2 earthquake coming out of Alaska because the channel acted as a funneled conduit of the energy of the tsunami.
So, Government of India should make a categorical announcement that Ramasetu will NOT be touched by any maritime navigational projects including the Sethusamudram channel project which should be shelved in its entirety, cancelling all activities related to the project. GOI should submit an affidavit to Hon'ble Supreme Court declaring Ramasetu as a National Monument and affirming that any channel in the maritime zone will be subject to most rigorous environmental impact assessments consistent with the Environmental Protection Laws and ensuring that the livelihood of the people of the coastline are in no way affected. On the contrary, any projects taken up should be to augment the employment opportunities and earnings of the coastal people by creating Maritime Zone cooperatives with improved fishing harbors, protection of thorium reserves in the coastline, air-conditioned storage facilities to be used by the fisherfolk declaring the zone as a Special Economic Maritime Zone to be developed by peoples' initiatives with the support of GOI and Tamil nadu authorities and in coordination with the Govt of Sri Lanka which shares the waters of the Indian Ocean under the Law of the Sea. This is a vital requirement to ensure the safety of navigation in the Indian Ocean and protection of the lives of coastal people and fisherfolk dependent for their livelihoods on aquaculture including acquisition of s'ankha shells and other sea-based artifacts such as algae which have medicinal value.
Given the extreme weather conditions of high winds, high waves and frequent storms and given the fact that the zone is on a fault-line with evidences of Mannar volcanics, extreme care should be taken to warn the coastal people on a daily basis through weather reports, using satellite imaging technologies of the nation.
A clear distinction should be made between the facilities needed for the navigation of fishermens' boats through the Pamban Channel and use of the channel for freight traffic using barges, trawlers, catamarans or small sized vessels with capacity of about 10,000 tonnes given the shallow waters of the channel -- only about 2.5 metres. Any attempts to deepen the channel to 11 metres for navigation of vessels of 30,000 tonne capacity should be evaluated with great care. Such deepening will result in the need to reconstruct the present Pamban Rail and Road Bridges. The possibility of enhanced movement through the cantilever bridge on the Pamban Rail Bridge should be explored before attemptint to replace the cantilever bridge with other technological import options such as turn-table rail holders.
Further, protective arrangements are needed on both the left and right banks of the Pamban Channel to rescue any vessels which get stranded in sandbanks. The late PA Ramakrishnan had indicated the details of facilities made available in Suez Canal for such safety and rescue operations. See the embedded article: Nightmare ship salvage operation if Sethusamudram is aligned as a mid-ocean channel passage by PA Ramakrishnan.
“The diagram illustrates a salvage method in Suez Canal to retrieve a grounded vessel in the canal. A heavy wire rope is led from the vessel right across the canal and secured to a bollard located on the other bank. Such bollards with holding power of upto 100 to 200 tons are buried in strong foundation every 200 feet on either side of the canal throughout its length. The wire is then tightened with very little sag, tow wire from a tug stationed in the middle of the channel is of sufficient length for maneuverability. Resulting Pull P from varying angles alpha on diagonal rope, one side exerting a pull on the bollard, and the other side on the ship, while tug Position of Span line while pulling providing a tworope pull of 50 tons…Ship winch is used to tighten the rope and remove the slackness.”
Without such salvage operational facilities, any large-scale freight movement along the Pamban channel will be a risky navigational enterprise.
The Ramasetu Protection Movement urges the Govt. of India led by PM Narendra Modi to:
1. Announce Ramasetu as a National Monument and declare enhanced pilgrim tour arrangements in the maritime zone together with improvements in fishery berths, air-conditioned storage facilities, enhanced employment opportunities for conch-shell and other aquaculture activities including setting up Special maritime Economic Zones with Marine Cooperatives to improve the livelihood and earning opportunities for coastal people.
2. Anounce scrapping of the Sethusamudram channel project while exploring transportation alternatives between east and west coasts of India with enhanced container port facilities, transportation of oil and gas using pipelines, high-speed freight corridors between container ports and the hinterland of Bharat.
3. Announce environmental protection steps recommended by the Pachauri and earlier Committees for the Marine Bio Reserve of Gulf of Mannar in consultation and coordination with Govt. of Sri Lanka which shares the waters of the ocean under the Law of the Sea.
4. Enhance coast guard facilities to protect navigation and to protect thorium and other rare earth placer sand reserves in the maritime zone.
5. Enhance protection of atomic minerals and rare earth placer sands. Amend the DOE notification of January 26, 2006 declaring some atomic minerals under Open General Licence and restore the pre-eminent role assigned to Indian Rare Earths Limited to protect and conserve the rare earth placer sands and placer-sand mining operations along the coastline near Manavalakurichi in Tamil nadu, Aluva-chavara in Kerala, Bhimunipatnam in Andhra Pradesh, Puri sands in Orissa, coastline of Konkan and other parts of the nation with monazite and other atomic mineral reserves. Scrap private mining operations in place sand mining.
S. Kalyanaraman
President, Rameshwaram Ramasetu Protection Movement
Here are the outlines of the Pamban channel provided by Tamil Nadu Maritime Board about Pamban Port:
Ancient Port in Ramanathapuram district, which connects East and West Coast of India via Pamban Channel (Pamban Pass).
Port Limit Coordinates And G.O :
1
Latitude
09°
17 '
04 "
N
Longitude
79 °
09'
16"
E
2
Latitude
09°
21 '
30"
N
Longitude
79°
13'
13"
E
3
Latitude
09°
21'
30 "
N
Longitude
79°
09'
16 "
E
4
Latitude
09 °
17 '
13"
N
Longitude
79°
13 '
13"
E
5
Latitude
09 °
15 '
31"
N
Longitude
79°
15 '
43"
E
6
Latitude
09 °
13 '
30"
N
Longitude
79°
15 '
43"
E
7
Latitude
09 °
11 '
45"
N
Longitude
79°
08 '
54"
E
8
Latitude
09 °
16 '
30"
N
Longitude
79°
08 '
54"
E
G.O.Ms.No.110, Highways and Minor Ports Department, dated 18.06.2009. Activities at the Port:- Small size vessels, barges, fishing vessels are piloted through Pamban channel (Palk Bay to Gulf of Mannar and viceversa) on opening the Scherzer Span (Rail Bridge) by Railway Authorities.
The Pamban channel lies between the mainland India and Rameswaram Island, over which a 2.3 km long Pamban Bridge is constructed.
The bridge refers to both the cantilever railway bridge and two-lane Road Bridge which is the longest sea bridge in India .The Railway Bridge is 6,776 ft (2,065m) which is functioning double-leaf Bascule Bridge. Until recently, the two leaves of the bridge were opened manually using levers by workers.
More than 10 ships – cargo carriers, coast guard ships, fishing vessels and oil tankers – pass through the bridge every month.
Pamban Port Regulations
It is a strict rule and regulation that the Vessels/Tugs/Barges Must get an approvel from the port office before they start their voyage. This is done by sending their proper documents threw Email. Once the documents are checked and verified by the Port officer, he/she will issue the permission to pass the pamban channel.Without getting the approval, its not advisable to start your voyage. In this way you can reduce the unnecessary circumstances of waiting at the pamban waters for clearance. In worst situations, you may be asked to go around Sri Lanka.
Crossing the channel is not as simple as it may seem to appear. There are many technical constraints that need to be considered before getting into action.
The channel is a very complicated one with a depth of merely around 2.5 meters.
It is a very narrow channel and has a very crooked passage.
Both the sides of the channel have very shallow waters making it difficult for someone new to pilot the ship through it.
No Vessel / Barge can pass the channel without opening the Pamban Railway Bridge.
Port clearance and Immigration Clearance has to be received to open the Pamban Bridge.
Pamban Bridge is not opened on Saturdays & Sundays.
Pamban Bridge is not opened if there is a weather warning.
Depending on the vessel’s draft, the passage might have to be scheduled on a high tide
Financial Expense
Due to such factors, there are certain financial implications at hand as well. In order to get Port / Immigration clearance, an executive from the concerned company would ordinarily rush to Pamban. He/she may have to stay for more than a day and may face difficulty getting things done. http://madhuboats.com/pamban-channel.html
Pamban bdrige rameshwaram
Pamban Bridge :- The Pamban Bridge is a cantilever bridge on the Palk Strait connects Rameswaram on Pamban Island to mainland India. It refers to both the road bridge and the cantilever railway bridge, though primarily it means the latter. It was India’s first sea bridge. It is the second longest sea bridge in India (after Bandra-Worli Sea Link) at a length of about 2.3 km.
Populated Place;
a city, town, village, or other agglomeration of buildings where people live and work.
Reef(S);
a surface-navigation hazard composed of consolidated material.
Here is what a boat company reports about navigating the Pamban Channel:
Pamban Bridge
Cantilever bridge in India
The Pamban Bridge is a cantilever bridge on the Palk Strait which connects the town of Rameswaram on Pamban Island to mainland India. The bridge refers to both the road bridge and the cantilever railway bridge, though primarily it means the latter. Wikipedia
Location :- Pamban Bridge Train :- Trichy - Rameshwaram Passenger DETAILS ABOUT THE PAMBAN BRIDGE The Pamban Bridge (Tamil: பாம்பன் பாலம்) is a cantilever bridge on the Palk Strait connects Rameswaram on Pamban Island to mainland India. It refers to both the road bridge and the cantilever railway bridge, though primarily it means the latter. It was India's first sea bridge. It is the second longestsea bridge in India (after Bandra-Worli Sea Link) at a length of about 2.3 km. The railway bridge is 6,776 ft (2,065 m)[1] and was opened for traffic in 1914. The railroad bridge is a still-functioning double-leaf bascule bridge section that can be raised to let ships pass under the bridge. The railway bridge historically carried metre-gauge trains on it, but Indian Railways upgraded the bridge to carry broad-gauge trains in a project that finished Aug. 12, 2007. Until recently, the two leaves of the bridge were opened manually using levers by workers.[1] About 10 ships — cargo carriers, coast guard ships, fishing vessels and oil tankers — pass through the bridge every month. From the elevated two-lane road bridge, adjoining islands and the parallel rail bridge below can be viewed. As per chronicles of Kutch Gurjar Kshatriya community, mentioned in their book - Nanji Bapa Ni Nondh Pothi. The erection and construction of Pamban Bridge was done by Mistri Manji Daya Wegad with Lakhu Devji Vegad both of Anjar, Varjang Hirji of Nagalpar and Gangji Narayan of Khedoi. Together built the Railway lines and Pamban Bridge over creek of Rameshwaram to Pamban construction of which they started in year 1887 and completed sometime in 1912 for South Indian Railway. While working on Pamban Bridge the Mistris Lakhu Devji Vegad of Anjar and Gangji Narayan of Khedoi also built famous Temple of Neel-Mandir having seven domes atRameshwaram, construction which, they started in 1899 and completed in about five years by 1905. After completion of bridge metre-gauge lines were laid by them from Mandapam up to Pamban Station, from here the railway lines bifurcated into two directions one towardsRameshwaram about 6.25 miles (10.06 km) up and another branch line of 15 miles (24 km) terminating at Dhanushkodi. The section was opened to traffic in 1914.[2] According to Dr Narayanan, the bridge is located at the "world's second highly corrosive environment", next to Miami, US, making the construction a challenging job. The location is also a cyclone-prone high wind velocity zone.[1] This Bridge consist of 143 pilers and the centre span is called swichers bridge. It's 220 ft (67 m) long and each of 100 tonnes. RAMESHWARAM Rameswaram (Tamil: இராமேஸ்வரம், is a town in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on Pamban Island separated from mainland India by the Pamban channel and is about 50 kilometres from Mannar Island, Sri Lanka. Pamban Island, also known as Rameswaram Island, is connected to mainland India by the Pamban Bridge. Rameswaram is the terminus of the railway line from Chennai and Madurai. Together with Kashi, it is considered to be one of the holiest places in India to Hindus, and part of the Char Dham pilgrimages. Hence, it is a bustling pilgrim centre. It is situated in the Gulf of Mannar at the very tip of the Indian peninsula. According to legend, this is the place from where Lord Rama built a bridge Ram Setu (also known as Adam's Bridge) across the sea to Lanka to rescue his consort Sita from her abductor Ravana. Both the Vaishnavites and Shaivites visit this pilgrimage centre which is known as the Varanasi of the south. Ex-president of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, hails from a fishing hamlet called Dhanushkodi situated on this island. Rameswaram is located at 9.28°N 79.3°E.[1] It has an average elevation of 10 metres (32 feet). The religious island is spread in an area of 61.8 square kilometres and happens to be in the shape of a conch. The Ramanatha Swamy Temple occupies major area of Rameshwaram. The beach of Rameswaram is famous for its beautiful sea featured with no waves at all. The sea waves rise to a maximum height of 3 cm and the view looks like a very big river. Legend has it that Lord Ram of Ramayana prayed to the sea god to pave the way for Lanka. The sea god granted a boon saying that he will make the sea waves less to aid him in building a rock bridge.
Tide Chart: high tides and low tides in Pamban Channel (Gulf of Mannar)
Today Sunday, 2nd of November of 2014, the sun rose in Pamban Channel (Gulf of Mannar) at 6:03h and sunset will be at 17:50h. The moon set at 1:35h at 263º west. Eventually, the moon will rise again in the east (95º) at 14:11h.
In the high tide and low tide chart, we can see that the first low tide was at 4:15hand the next low tide will be at 16:50h. The only high tide of the day will be at10:30h.
The lunar phase is a Waxing Gibbous. Today we have 11 hours and 47 minutesof sun. The solar transit is at 11:57h and the length of time the moon will be visible will be 11 hours and 24 minutes.
Congratulations to Shri R. Ananthanarayanan for the service he has rendered to the nation by highlighting the contributions made by his late father, Shri PA Ramakrishnan; requesting Govt. of India to save Ramasetu and abandon the Sethu Channel project which makes no nautical sense. Hope Govt of India under NaMo sees reason and declares Ramasetu a national monument, while scrapping the Sethu Channel Project. Kalyanaraman President, Rameshwaram Ramasetu Protection Movement Copy of the letter has also been sent to Shri Narendra Modi ji, Prime Minister of India. August 23, 2014 Shri Nitin Gadkariji
Hon'ble Union Minister (Road Transport and Highways, Shipping, Rural Development
Panchayati Raj, Drinking Water and Sanitation)
Govt. of India
New Delhi
Respected Sir,
Namaskaar,
I introduce myself as the Hon. Secretary of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Puthucode Kendra in Palakkad district of Kerala and based in Chennai. I have had the opportunity to work with nationalistic organisations and with a team of nationalists organised the First National Reconstruction Conference on Dec 25th and 26th 2008 at Chennai. It gives great pleasure in attaching the program details which looked at various issues confronting our nation including National Security, Illegal Immigration, Secularism, Law and Educational Reforms etc. Many eminent personalities including Gen. S.K. Sinha, Former Governor of J&K and Assam, Shri Michel Danino, Indologist, Shri R.K. Ohri, Former I.G. of Police and Shri Prakash Singh, Former D.G., B.S.F. participated in the conference and was chaired by Late Prof. Indiresan, Former Director of IIT, Madras.
My Late Father Shri P.A. Ramakrishnanji who passed away in Mar 2008 was the Executive Vice Chairman of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Puthucode Kendra and Director of Bhavan's Sydney Centre. He was involved in the construction of the Vivekananda Rock Memorial at Kanyakumari working with Late Shri Eknath Ranadeji in 1960's and his last assignment in defence of Dharma was being involved in the Save Ram Setu Movement working with Dr. S. Kalyanaramanji who had carried out extensive research on the origins of Rama Sethu.
It gives us great pleasure in enclosing copy of letter and photo of the Boat donated by my Late Father for construction of the Vivekananda Rock Memorial and the Full Page Colour Supplement on the importance of Saving Rama Sethu published by my Late Father in the The Hindu and Pioneer, New Delhi editions in July and Aug 2007. The Supplement contains his own technical article "Nightmare Ship Salvage Operation if Setu Samudram is aligned as a Mid Ocean Channel Passage" in which He conclusively established its non-viability and feasibly while comparing it with the Suez Canal Shipping Canal Project which He had the opportunity to visit in the 1950's and due to his vast experience in Shipping spanning more than six decades.
We take this opportunity to thank your goodself on your assurance recently to protect "Rama Sethu" while considering alternative routes to implement the project. However our earnest appeal to your goodself is to kindly consider scrapping the Setu Samudram Shipping Canal Project as it is completely detrimental to national interest as can be seen from the articles in the Supplement on Saving Rama Sethu and also suggested by Dr. R.K. Pachauriji in the report given to Govt. of India on the above.
Our main concerns on the Shipping Project is as follows ;
1. Loss of livelihood of fisherman.
2. Destruction of our valued flora and fauna in the fragile Gulf of Mannar due to high level of pollution and constant dredging.
3. National Security will be in peril as jurisdiction of our coastline will be confined to only 12 Nautical Miles and huge reserves of thorium available for our future energy security will be at risk.
4. Only small ships using the proposed canal due to limitations of draught and absolutely no time saving as highlighted by Capt Balakrishan, Ex. Mariner, Indian Navy resulting in negative cost benefit ration making the project economically unviable.
We appeal to your goodself to kindly consider the above earnestly and look forward to your receiving your favourable reply at the earliest convenience.
SAN FRANCISCO — Eleanor Hammer, 92, executes a tightly choreographed, slow-motion pas de deux with her walker during meal times at The Sequoias, a retirement community here. She makes her way to the buffet, places her food on the walker’s built-in tray and returns to her table.
Her small act of independence has not come easily. To eliminate trips that could lead to falls, management at The Sequoias required residents to have walkers valet parked once they reached their table, then remain seated while staff served the meal.
That lasted until a woman sued to stop the policy, infuriated that it infringed on her freedom of movement. A compromise was reached: Residents are now allowed to take their walkers to the buffet at less busy times.
“I do like to pick out my own food,” said Mrs. Hammer, a retired music teacher. “I can tell you, as a child of the Depression, they always bring me too much.”
As the population ages and people live longer in bad shape, the number of older Americans who fall and suffer serious, even fatal, injuries is soaring. So the retirement communities, assisted living facilities and nursing homes where millions of Americans live are trying to balance safety and their residents’ desire to live as they choose.
Those who study and manage retirement facilities and nursing homes say there is heightened attention to preventing falls. Trying to anticipate hazardous conditions, retirement facilities like The Sequoias hire architects and interior designers, some of whom wear special glasses that show the building as an old person would see it.
The dangers are real. The number of people over 65 who died after a fall reached nearly 24,000 in 2012, the most recent year for which fatality numbers are available — almost double the number 10 years earlier, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Rising Rates of Injury From Falls
The rate of severe falls has been increasing for Americans over the age of 65. Researchers say that there has also been a rise in diseases linked to falls: diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis and Parkinson’s disease. In some cases, the medication to treat the disease can increase the risk of falling.
3
4
5
6
7+
Falls that required an ER visit
per 100 people
’01
’03
’05
’07
’09
’11
’13
65
AGE
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85+
And more than 2.4 million people over 65 were treated in emergency departments for injuries from falls in 2012 alone, an increase of 50 percent over a decade. All told, in the decade from 2002-2012, more than 200,000 Americans over 65 died after falls. Falls are the leading cause of injury-related death in that age group.
Some facilities have begun to install floor lighting, much like that on airplanes, that automatically turns on when a resident gets out of bed, illuminating a pathway to the bathroom, said Dr. Lewis A. Lipsitz, a professor of medicine at Harvard who is also vice president of academic medicine at Hebrew SeniorLife, a retirement community in Roslindale, Mass. Others are installing energy-absorbing flooring in bathrooms, to reduce the impact of a fall.
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, a nonprofit organization, and the National Institute on Aging recently embarked on a five-year, $30-million study of fall prevention among seniors living independently, the largest such study to date.
But many residents do not, or refuse to, recognize their own gradual deterioration, leaving them vulnerable despite efforts to protect them. Institutions offer sessions on avoiding falls and improving balance and fitness. But some residents will not go near them – until after they have fallen.
“As the saying goes in the Army,” Mrs. Hammer said, “they can’t make you do anything, but they can make you wish you had.”
Building Safety Into Their Lives
Photo
As the American population lives longer, fall-related injuries and deaths are rising quickly. More than 2.4 million people over 65 were treated at emergency rooms for injuries related to falls in 2012. The Sequoias, a retirement community in California, is trying the balance the residents' safety with the freedom to move independently.CreditRamin Rahimian for The New York Times
Mrs. Hammer likes to tell a joke about a stingy Texas millionaire who was told “You can’t take it with you.” Her eyes display a hint of mischief as she recalls the punch line: “He said, ‘Well, I ain’t a-goin’.' “
A feisty independence characterizes many residents of The Sequoias. Former professors, physicians and executives, they are accustomed to telling others what to do, not the other way around.
Andrea Dapper, administrator of The Sequoias, is responsible for the health and safety of its more than 300 residents. She watches them shuffle past her street-level office window, with and without walkers and canes, on their way to nearby Japantown, or the opera, symphony or ballet. And she worries. The population at The Sequoias is aging, as people live longer in general, and the older the residents get, the higher their risk for falling.
Stairs are a particular hazard. The carpeting on the stairs at The Sequoias used to be a uniform color. Then a wide white accent stripe was installed at the top and bottom so residents could see the line clearly, even with blurry, yellowed vision and limited depth perception. The hue of the stripe was chosen by a committee of residents.
How stairs look to people with aging vision
At The Sequoias’ San Francisco facility, the vast majority of residents, 265, are living in their own apartments, and 14 are in assisted living. There is also a 50-bed skilled-nursing section and a smaller one for residents with dementia.
Keeping an eye on everyone living independently is impossible, Ms. Dapper said. But a group of Sequoias staff members who refer to themselves as “the iffy committee” meet monthly to evaluate residents who seem to be growing less steady on their feet. If a cane or walker seems advisable, a staff member will suggest it to the resident, ever so gently.
Housekeepers at The Sequoias are trained not merely to clean an apartment but to inspect it for quiet hazards – scatter rugs that seem easy to trip on, or furniture that could topple if grabbed for support.
Evaluations of residents’ living quarters are regular. “We measure bed height, toilet height and the need for grab bars,” Ms. Dapper said.
In many apartments, the lip on the shower edge is black against the white tile because the contrast with the rest of the bathroom makes it more visible, said Ray Boudewyn, director of engineering for Northern California Presbyterian Homes and Services, the nonprofit company that owns and operates The Sequoias and two other facilities like it in the San Francisco area.
When finishing an apartment with trim, paint and thresholds, architects and designers put on tinted glasses to see as an older person might. The glasses cast a darkened, yellow hue. Mr. Boudewyn said he sometimes uses Vaseline to blur his glasses in order to see the rooms as patients who have cataracts would.
How a shower looks to people with aging vision
Carpeting is fine, and softer for absorbing a fall if it happens. But it needs to be able to accommodate an elderly person’s shuffle. As for the evenness of surfaces, Mr. Boudewyn said, “an eighth of an inch is our threshold” for tripping danger.
The Sequoias also sets standards for its residents. Everyone who applies to live there must pass a health assessment, which includes tests of cognition, gait and balance. (Depending on the type of care and apartment size, the entrance fee ranges from $142,000 to $686,000, and the monthly fee from $3,300 to $6,300.)
Yet it can be difficult to predict an individual’s risk of a fall. One of the most vigorous residents at The Sequoias, who hikes regularly and leads museum tours as a docent, recently “went down right on his face,” Ms. Dapper said.
The Sequoias has an extensive “falls education” program and an annual safety fair. But falls continue, with vexing persistence. Earlier this year, the fall rate declined slightly in both the independent-living and skilled-nursing units, according to Jill Dicus, the nurse manager at the assisted-living and memory units, but increased in the assisted-living unit.
People often resist the transition to a cane or walker, as it can feel stigmatizing. Mrs. Hammer’s own resistance ended last year after an embarrassing fall “in front of God and everybody” at her exercise class.
“When you’re using a walker, really use it and stop pretending you don’t need it,” she said. “It took the fall to destroy my confidence in walking without my walker.”
When someone does fall, residents often stay quiet about it.
Sequoias staff members encourage residents to report their falls to the nursing staff, as it indicates a risk for a subsequent fall. Yet “residents have a fear that they’ll be whisked away and put somewhere else,” said Donna Alexander, the director of nursing. She said that if a nurse observes a bruise or a cut, a fall is the prime suspect. And “the minute a resident doesn’t show up for a meal or doesn’t come to an activity, the nursing staff knows about it.”
Some residents become vigilantes. “People don’t like to say they’re turning someone in,” Mrs. Hammer said, “but I’ve heard people say, ‘You should keep an eye on so and so.'”
Yet The Sequoias can protect residents only as far as its property line – and slightly beyond, Mr. Boudewyn said. The facility spends about $30,000 a year just to maintain the sidewalks around the building. “This is a safe zone,” he said, “and the minute you leave our shell, you’re in the wild.”
A Delicate Balance
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In 2012, Mrs. Hammer's husband, David, fell and fractured his femur while she was away. He had to lay on the floor until the next morning when a staff member found him.CreditRamin Rahimian for The New York Times
Geriatricians often refer to the gradual narrowing in an elderly person’s life. Travel tapers off, so that trips out of town grow rare and, sequentially, so do trips beyond the neighborhood, house, bedroom and bed.
A similar progression occurs in the domains over which older adults assert their independence. Until recently, David Hammer, Eleanor’s husband, was among the most outspoken residents at The Sequoias, and the challenges he presents for Ms. Dapper typify those of many millions of elderly people.
The Hammers moved to The Sequoias in 2004, when they were both 81. The move took place over the strenuous objections of Mr. Hammer, a retired furniture and interior designer deeply wedded to his independence.
From the day they moved into their two-bedroom apartment, Mr. Hammer made his strong opinions known, especially when it came to the chairs used in exercises classes.
Mr. Hammer has fallen several times in recent years, at first escaping serious injury. But, like many residents, he refused to wear an electronic pendant for summoning aid in an emergency.
One night in September 2012, while his wife was out of town, he fell in the bedroom and fractured his femur. With no way of calling for help, he lay on the floor until the next morning, when a member of the housekeeping staff found him.
This is a problem that repeats itself elsewhere. People sometimes lie in their bathrooms, doorways, kitchens or gardens for hours, even days. Still, many people resist wearing the emergency pendants. Terrence Murphy, an assistant professor at the Yale School of Medicine who studies falls, said he bought his mother a pendant to wear but she refused.
“I think most of us with aging parents go through this,” he said. “You try to reason with them, and they just don’t want to accept that they are in mortal danger if they have an injurious fall when they’re on their own. They don’t realize that deep inside their bodies, they are aging, and that when they fall alone in their house, it’s likely to be catastrophic if they don’t get help in a timely manner.”
Sometimes the adult children do not grasp the many common risks for the elderly. When Mr. Boudewyn introduced black toilet seats at The Sequoias, some of the residents’ families complained, saying they looked ugly and institutional. Then he showed them how the contrast of the black seat against the white toilet helped residents see it far better than a white seat.
How a toilet seat looks to people with aging vision
Mr. Hammer’s accident changed him dramatically. He became easily agitated, and frustrated by his hampered mobility. Within a few months, he moved to the facility’s assisted-living floor and was put in a program that pinpoints residents at high risk of falling. But in a fit of aesthetic righteousness, he insisted that his furniture be placed farther apart than the staff considered safe. A few weeks later, he fell and, with nothing to grab on to, broke his wrist.
Late last spring, a neurologist gave Mr. Hammer a tentative diagnosis of Lewy body dementia, a particularly brutal form of dementia. Immediately after meeting with the Hammers, Ms. Dicus said, she started thinking about what to do next. But she wasn’t quick enough.
A week later, Mr. Hammer fell again, while walking unsupervised in the hallway of the assisted-living unit, fracturing his femur a second time. He is now in the skilled-nursing unit in a wheelchair and is not likely to leave.
A rough rule of thumb for nurses and physicians is that for every day an elderly patient spends in bed, 1 percent of muscle mass is lost. “You’d be surprised how quickly it can go below the point where you can safely stand up and move,” said Nancy K. Latham, an assistant professor at the Boston University School of Public Health who studies disability.
Had Mr. Hammer been more closely supervised, he might not have fallen, and his decline might not have accelerated. But 24-hour supervision in the assisted-living unit is unrealistic, Ms. Dicus said.
For a while, the 50-bed skilled-nursing unit of The Sequoias was like other such facilities in its use of restraints, including seatbelts for wheelchairs. But obvious physical restraints have been deemed inhumane and are associated with increased rates of complications, such as delirium, agitation and pressure sores.
Restraints have even been found to be dangerous: People belted into their wheelchairs who tried to get up would take the chair with them and both would tip over. Patients have strangled themselves on bedside rails. Hospitals continue to use restraints but are required to re-evaluate each patient’s need every 24 hours.
In the skilled-nursing unit at The Sequoias, alarms are attached to residents, including Mr. Hammer, who are at high risk for falling, triggering an alert if someone attempts to get out of bed without help.
Dr. Lipsitz of Harvard and others are not in favor of alarms like the ones used at The Sequoias. He said they often signal danger only when it is too late – after someone has already fallen down. Alarms also give rise to “alert fatigue” – they go off so often, they end up being ignored.
Hebrew SeniorLife has gradually phased out alarms altogether, after finding no difference in the fall rate between those who wore alarms and those who did not. Alarms have been replaced with more frequent and more targeted rounds by nurses.
According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, nearly 17 percent of nursing home residents in the United States, or 220,000 people, experience a fall. Of those, 70,000 are injured. Medicare currently will not pay to treat an injury resulting from a fall in a hospital, and many health policy experts believe the agency should institute the same policy for nursing homes.
“Medicare needs to focus more on preventing falls in nursing homes, including not paying to treat injuries that arise from these events,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, a professor of health policy at the Harvard School of Public Health.
In many states, if a nursing facility is found negligent, a fine is levied. Last year, for example, the state fined The Sequoias $20,000 after a resident in the skilled-nursing unit died from head trauma following a fall. In its report, the state cited The Sequoias’ failure “to provide a safe environment,” as well as improper supervision.
Asked about the fine, Ms. Dapper, the administrator, said in an email that “despite our best efforts, at times skilled nursing residents are non-compliant with their therapy precautions due to multiple diagnoses and can act in an impulsive manner that may lead to harm before anyone can reach them.”
A Personal Responsibility?
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Mrs. Hammer remains independent after her fall, and is now more understanding of the need to use a walker. “As the saying goes in the Army,” she said, “they can’t make you do anything, but they can make you wish you had.”CreditRamin Rahimian for The New York Times
Though the risk of a fall increases significantly once people reach their 80s, researchers have found that people 85 and older in excellent health have no greater risk than someone 20 years younger. For places like The Sequoias, the challenge is to encourage people to work at keeping themselves strong.
The Sequoias offers exercise classes, which help with balance. But they are optional and only a small percentage of residents attend them.
It is not so much laziness that accounts for the limited attendance, but denial. A sluggish foot, eyesight that fails to catch a step down, slowed reflexes – these creep up slowly, often imperceptibly. This helps explain why people tend to pay scant attention to their risk for a fall until it happens.
Indeed, many of the people who attend the class are in rehabilitation for an injury, and it is evident. In a recent session with a dozen attendees, only a few could easily do multiple sets of lateral kicks or push up from a chair without using their arms. Others could barely bend their knees while holding onto a chair.
One morning a week before the fall that landed him in the skilled-nursing unit, Mr. Hammer was at the balance class as part of a regimen prescribed by his physical therapist. He dozed off periodically, only to awaken and, with all the strength he could muster, join in with the group.
Mr. Hammer’s every small attempt at rising from his seat seemed an attempt to resist the forces of decline, set too swiftly in motion by his fall.
Confidentiality clauses and the battle for tracing black money outside India
Arun Jaitley
The world is increasingly moving towards a more structured and organized struggle against illegal money parked in tax havens or even otherwise transacted at foreign soil. Originally the tax havens were completely non-cooperative. However, international pressure has compelled some of them to relax the rigidity against non-disclosure.
Almost all countries which entered into Double Taxation Avoidance Treaties or have a domestic legislation, as in the case of US, that has an extra-territorial application insist that information parted to the receiving State would be subjected to confidentiality clauses. The confidentiality clauses make it incumbent that disclosure would be made only after prosecution is filed before a charging court. Thus the issue is not whether but when disclosure can be made.The debate is not between disclosure and non-disclosure of confidential information. It is between unauthorized disclosure in violation of tax treaties and disclosure as per tax treaties. An unauthorised disclosure in violation of tax treaties entails that the disclosure is made for collateral purposes. It is usually not accompanied by any evidence or proof. But when a disclosure is made in pursuance of a charge sheet in a court of law where a criminal prosecution is filed, it would certainly be a disclosure substantiated by adequate proof and evidence.
A disclosure in violation of tax treaties helps the account holder. The reciprocating state would treat this as a violation of a tax treaty and refuse to provide any evidence in support of the unauthorized account. The holder of the unauthorised account in the absence of any proof and confirmation from the reciprocating State would get the benefit in any investigation or prosecution and then claim that “I stand vindicated”. In fact, a pre-mature disclosure would additionally alert the account holder to prepare some documentation or a sham defence. It may even enable him to destroy evidence.
India has to take a conscious call. Does it want to be a part of the global coalition which is moving in the direction of automatic sharing of information or not? Does it ensure all information is supported by substantial evidence and proof or only wishes to remain restricted to sloganeering? In the recent meeting of about 50 countries in Berlin which proposed automatic sharing of information, India could not participate since a prevalent view is that confidentiality clauses are unconstitutional in Indian law. This view requires reconsideration. An automatic exchange of information would relate both to authorized and unauthorised movement of money. Why should any information with regard to authorized movement of money be made public? Why should information even in relation of unauthorized movement of money be made public only for political or collateral purposes? Why should the account holder be alerted in advance? It should be put to an authorized use with collection of evidence and filing of prosecution.
The United States has legislated the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, 2010 (FATCA). The FATCA contains a confidentiality clause. It makes it mandatory for foreign financial institutions (FFIs) to register with the appropriate authority and exchange information. The foreign financial institutions are required to enter into agreement with the US Internal Revenue Service. Alternatively foreign governments can sign agreements with US government. Mandatory exchange of information subject to confidentiality clause being necessary. FATCA mandates the deduction and withholding of tax equal to 30% on a US source payment to recalcitrant FIIs or FFIs in non compliant countries which do not meet with the requirements of FATCA. Such 30% withholding will also be imposed by other FATCA compliant countries against non compliant countries.The consequences of not signing the the agreement with US under FATCA would be disastrous.It will negate the efforts being undertaken by our government to revive the Indian economy.
The Reserve Bank of India has already informed the Government of India about the serious and adverse consequences of non-compliance of FATCA by India. Several countries have already subscribed to FATCA.
An unauthorised disclosure of information is fraught with both investigation and economic consequences. They can sabotage the investigation. They can attract sanctions in the form of withholding taxes. It is obvious that in a choice between unauthorised disclosure and disclosure as per treaties, the latter is both a fair and beneficial proposition. It will help in collection of evidence and exposure of a wrong doing in accordance with law and fair procedure. A disclosure without evidence would ensure that evidence is never available.
Notwithstanding its clarity, why should someone with adequate understanding of the subject, demand a disclosure in violation of the treaty. The Congress Party’s stand is understandable. It does not want evidence to be forthcoming in support of the names available with SIT. Are some others ill informed, just indulging in bravado or are they Trojan horses? I am sure the SIT which has been entrusted by the Supreme Court with the investigation, will succeed in bringing out the truth while realising the full implications of the subject matter.
The NDA Government has had an exemplary record in this matter. The first decision of its Cabinet Meeting was to accept the Supreme Court direction in constituting the SIT. It has complied with every decision of the SIT. It made available all the names in its possession to the SIT on 27th June, 2014 itself. It will continue to support the SIT fully and unequivocally in search of truth.
Written by Shaju Philip | Kochi | Posted: November 2, 2014 6:01 pm| Updated: November 2, 2014 10:04 pm
Chaos and tension prevailed in Kochi for two hours on Sunday evening after police took into custody 50-odd men and women who came to participate in ‘kiss of love’ in a protest against moral policing.
The agitators managed a few kisses in public, but a celebration of lips and cheeks was spoiled by right-wing Hindu and Muslim organizations, whose activists turned violent against the protest. Police had chased away the people _ comprising aspiring kiss groups, conservative protesters and curious onlookers_ as the situation took a violent turn.
Although arrested and removed, a section of participants in the kiss carnival managed to engage their lips inside the police van and later at the police station. They were arrested on charges of unlawful assembly and disturbing peace at public place, but were released on bail.
The kiss of love was floated in social media by a group of youngsters known as free thinkers, in protest against Bharathiya Yuva Morcha attack on a hotel in Kozhikode last week, alleging immoral activities. The attack followed after Congress-run TV channel telecast news about the immoral activities, showing kissing incidents. This video and attack triggered protest in social media in a manner evolving into a protest by organizing kiss of love.
Police had earlier denied permission for conducting the kiss of love, a public kissing spree, and warned that they would act tough if the incident created any law and problem. Several Hindu and Muslim organizations had come out against the kiss of love.
Shiva Sena activists came in large numbers, and raised slogans that the event was part of love jihad. In several parts of Kochi, Shiva Sena erected postures saying that kiss of love agitation was a new form of love jihad. Besides, it would create sexual anarchy in Kerala.
Others on the Hindu side were activists of Yuva Morcha, ABVP and Bajrang Dal, while Muslim side had activists of conservative Sunni youth outfit SYS and rightwing Muslim political party Social Democratic Party of India. Activists of Hindu and Muslim organizations were moving at marine drive protesting in small groups, howling at young men and women who looked as participants of the kiss of love.
Although the event was planned in the Marine Drive at 5 pm, thousands of people had occupied the ground expecting to witness the kissing festival. As the anti-kiss event groups moved to the ground raising slogans, organisers moved to a nearby college ground to conduct the programme. A few of them kissed each other, but soon they were taken into police custody.
In the meantime, Shiva Sena men attacked the youths who came to pledge support for the programme. After 50-odd organisers were taken into custody, another small group came to the ground and kissed publically, inviting the wrath of Shiva Sena /Yova Morcha activists. At this stage, police resorted to lathi-charge the crowd to avoid clashes.
The event had invited an avalanche of reactions in facebook, pro-and anti, in the last few days.
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/kerala-at-least-50-taken-into-custody-for-organising-kiss-of-love/99/#sthash.oyi7C1Om.dpuf
Why give so much importance to these idiotic things let them do this if no one gives any importance that will die a natural death. These guys think they are aping west but people who traveled to west would laugh at them as they ape only things that are convenient to them but not other really good things like keeping up time standing in Q throwing garbage in its place not to pee in public places etc let them paractice these thing if they have really interested in copying west. Jaihind
Nitin Gadkari to inspect Sethusamudram project route
Sunday, 2 November 2014 - 11:35pm IST | Place: Ramanathapuram (TN) | Agency: PTI
Union Surface Transport and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari would undertake an aerial inspection of the controversial Sethusamudram Shipping Channel route on November 4, officials said on Sunday. He would inspect the entire Palk Strait onboard a Coast Guard aircraft and discuss about the work so far completed on the multi-crore project, district and Coast Guard officials said. Convenor of Ram Sethu Movement Kupuuram said Gadkari would discuss about possible alternative route.
The project, which envisages dredging of a ship channel across the Palk Strait providing a shorter navigational route for ships from east and west coasts of the country instead of cirumventing Sri Lanka, has hit a block after protests over the proposed demolition of Ram Sethu, mythical bridge built by Lord Rama to reach Lanka. After the NDA Government came to power, Gadkari has asserted that Ram Sethu structure will not be demolished.
The Tamil Nadu Government has opposed the project on the ground that it would affect fishermen's livelihood. Gadkari had stated in Parliament that the government would consider implementing the project by choosing an alternate route. It is against this background that the minister proposed to inspect the Palk Strait.
Published: November 3, 2014 00:00 IST | Updated: November 3, 2014 08:31 IST
Gadkari to conduct aerial inspection of Sethusamudram project area
D.J.Walter Scott
Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari will make an aerial inspection of the Sethusamudram ship channel area at Rameswaram on Tuesday.
Official sources said Mr. Gadkari, after visiting the Indian Maritime University at Uthandi near Chennai, would fly down to Madurai in a special aircraft and conduct an aerial inspection in the Coast Guard’s Dornier aircraft around 11.40 a.m. Thereafter, he would review the controversial project with officials at Rameswaram.
Rs. 25,000-cr. project
The Rs. 25,000-crore project, launched in February 1997, involves digging an 84 km-long deep water channel cutting through ‘Ram Sethu,’ linking the Palk Strait with the Gulf of Mannar. It envisages sailing of ships in Indian waters between the east and west coasts without having to circumvent Sri Lanka.
However, the project ran into rough weather after some Hindu outfits objected to the dismantling of Ram Sethu.
If the Union Government has the will, it can undertake a slew of measures to bring back illicit funds stashed in tax havens abroad. For example, it can nationalise black money
Thanks to the constant prodding of the Supreme Court, the Union Government submitted a list of 627 Indians with foreign bank accounts on October 29. This was to show that the Government was serious about recovering black money stashed abroad. The Attorney General of India said that roughly half of the listed individuals were Indian residents who could be prosecuted in this country. The rest did not live in India and could not be prosecuted against under Indian tax laws.
On October 28, the Supreme Court had asked the Government to submit the names of those who have been parking black money in foreign bank accounts within 24 hours. The Court had said: “Don’t give us two or three names but all the names. Give us the entire list… whatever you have got from Germany, France, Switzerland and other countries. What you have disclosed could be a tip of the iceberg. This is going to be the first step — now, disclose everything. We can’t leave the issue completely to you. It may never happen during our time.”
On October 29, the Supreme Court did not make public the list submitted to it in a sealed cover by the Centre. The court left it to the Special Investigation Team to carry out the necessary investigation and ensure that a proper probe is done.
A Supreme Court bench, led by Chief Justice HL Dattu, also asked the SIT to verify the list given by the Government and submit a status report by the end of November. The bench will take up the matter on December 3.
The Government also did not press its application that sought restrictions over the disclosure of the names, due to confidentiality clauses in international treaties. It obtained a permission to raise all its arguments in this regard before the SIT.
There are no official estimates of India’s black economy. In 2011, the Government had commissioned a joint study by three think-tanks — the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, National Institute of Financial Management and National Council of Applied Economic Research — to estimate the unaccounted wealth of Indian entities, at home and abroad. The final report is yet to be submitted.
Between 2002 and 2011, India was reportedly the fifth largest exporter of illicit money with a total of $343.04 billion. In 2011, it was placed third when $84.93 billion was sent abroad.
According to a 2013 report titled Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries: 2002-2011, produced by Global Financial Integrity, a Washington, DC-based non-profit, research and advocacy organisation, Indians salted away $462 billion in overseas tax havens between 1948 and 2008. According to the Central Bureau of Investigation, Indians stashed away $500 billion in tax havens across the world. In 2011, a BJP task force, however, pegged the amount much higher at $1.4 trillion.
It is no surprise that the Government has been sitting on information it has received from foreign countries in this regard. For instance, in 2009, Germany handed over a list of Indian account-holders in LGT Bank, Liechtenstein, a European principality. In 2011, France handed over a list of 782 Indian citizens who supposedly hold HSBC accounts in Geneva.
On May 27, days after being sworn into office, the BJP-led NDA Government set up a high-powered Special Investigative Team, headed by retired Supreme Court judge MB Shah, to look into the issue. On October 16, it told the apex court that disclosing the names of those who have deposited money in banks abroad jeopardises India’s tax agreements with other nations who have provided the information in the first place.
The moot question here is: What can be done to remedy the situation? The Government has two laws which it is using to deal with black money — the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, and the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999. Most of the punitive action is taken in the monetary form. In a few cases only have people been arrested.
A huge amount of black money that goes out of India through hawala operators is re-routed into the country in the form of foreign direct investment. This was reported in a White Paper on black money, published in 2012 by the Union Ministry of Finance. As per data released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, between April 2000 and March 2011, FDI from Mauritius was 41.80 per cent of the entire FDI received by India, whereas Singapore contributed about 9.17 per cent.
This situation can be fixed and the SIT has made some good recommendations. The Government can start making changes by implementing the MC Josh Committee report, which advocated rigorous imprisonment for those convicted under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. This will deter black money holders. The Government should also set up a National Tax Tribunal and report bulky global financial transactions to the law enforcement agencies, much like it is done in America under the USA Patriot Act.
Date bound Amnesty schemes, backed by the provision of incarceration, seizure of property, cancellation of foreign passports and black-listing of business should be considered. Another option is to pass a domestic law like the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act introduced by the US. Indian citizens living outside India should report their foreign bank accounts to the Indian Revenue Service, and foreign financial institutions should be required to report to Indian authorities about their Indian clients.
Another major recommendation of the SIT is to amend the money laundering Act so that the Enforcement Directorate can attach properties of defaulters who do not bring back black money. These are some effective suggestions, worth consideration
For repatriation of black money stashed in foreign banks, the Union Government can also consider promulgating an ordinance to nationalise black money held by Indian citizens in tax havens abroad and bring the money back into the Indian financial system. The proposed ordinance will be in consonance with the Swiss Federal Act on the Restitution of Assets illicitly obtained by Politically Exposed Persons. Most importantly, the Government should have the will to deal with the menace of black money stashed abroad. http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/edit/a-way-out-of-the-black-hole-of-black-money.html
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MADHAV NALAPAT
by Biplab Kumar Pal
