Data mining of Indus Script Corpora ranku 'antelope' rebus 'tin'करडूं karaḍū 'kid' rebus karaḍā 'hard alloy'

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Antelope is a hieroglyph pictorial motif. The pictorial depiction also highlights the short tail with three short strokes. Orthographic styles used in the corpora seem to indicate that a distinction is made between an antelope and a kid (young antelope or goat). It is suggested that the two are distinct signifiers of two distinct rebus readings to signify specific advances in archaeo-metallurgy, related to the hardening of copper mineral by adding other minerals (such as tin) to produce metal alloys.

Hieroglyph: Kur. xolā tail. Malt. qoli id. (DEDR 2135) Rebus: kol 'working in iron' kolhe 'smelters' kolle 'blacksmith'

This pictorial representation also is recognized as a 'sign' on some concordance lists of the Indus Script Corpora.

Antelope hieroglyph occurs in the context of smithy-forge implement cluster from out of 240 copper tablets:

Smithy-forge Implements cluster associated with typical hieroglyphs (both pictorial motifs and signs):

A11

Hieroglyph:

krammara 'look back' (Telugu) rebus: kamar 'blacksmith' mlekh 'goat' rebus: milakkhu, mlecchAs'a 'copper'

kaṇḍa kanka ‘rim of jar’ Rebus: karṇīka ‘account (scribe)’karṇī‘supercargo’.

kaṇḍa ‘fire-altar’. Alternative: kanka 'rim of jar' rebus: kanga 'brazier'.

khaNDA 'dividion' rebus: khANDa 'implements'

Hieroglyph: Ta. meṭṭu mound, heap of earth; mēṭu height, eminence, hillock; muṭṭu rising ground, high ground, heap. Ma. mēṭu rising ground, hillock; māṭu hillock, raised ground; miṭṭāl rising ground, an alluvial bank; (Tiyya) maṭṭa hill. Ka. mēḍu height, rising ground, hillock; miṭṭu rising or high ground, hill; miṭṭe state of being high, rising ground, hill, mass, a large number; (Hav.) muṭṭe heap (as of straw). Tu. miṭṭè prominent, protruding; muṭṭe heap. Te. meṭṭa raised or high ground, hill; (K.) meṭṭu mound; miṭṭa high ground, hillock, mound; high, elevated, raised, projecting; (VPK) mēṭu, mēṭa, mēṭi stack of hay; (Inscr.) meṇṭa-cēnu dry field (cf. meṭṭu-nēla, meṭṭu-vari). Kol. (SR.) meṭṭā hill; (Kin.) meṭṭ, (Hislop) met mountain. Nk. meṭṭ hill, mountain. Ga. (S.3, LSB 20.3) meṭṭa high land. Go. (Tr. W. Ph.) maṭṭā, (Mu.) maṭṭa mountain; (M. L.) meṭā id., hill; (A. D. Ko.) meṭṭa, (Y. Ma. M.) meṭa hill; (SR.) meṭṭā hillock (Voc. 2949). Konḍa meṭa id. Kuwi (S.)metta hill; (Isr.) meṭa sand hill. (DEDR 5058) Rebus: mē̃d, mēd 'iron'

Link to B5: Hieroglyph: kANDA ‘rhinoceros’ rebus: khANDA ‘implements PLUS pattar 'trough' rebus: pattar 'guild'

kaṇḍa kanka ‘rim of jar’ Rebus: karṇīka ‘account (scribe)’karṇī‘supercargo’.
kaṇḍa ‘fire-altar’. Alternative: kanka 'rim of jar' rebus: kanga 'brazier'.

khaNDA 'dividion' rebus: khANDa 'implements'

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2016/01/data-mining-of-indus-script-corpora_17.html

Signs 182, 183, 184 Mahadevan Concordance

m516B Copper tablet

117 antelope; sun motif. Dholavira seal impression. arka 'sun' Rebus: araka, eraka 'copper, moltencast' PLUS करडूं karaḍū 'kid' Rebus: karaḍā 'hard alloy'. Thus, together, the rebus message: hard alloy of copper.

On arka in compound expressions: அருக்கம்¹ arukkam, n. < arka. (நாநார்த்த.) 1. Copper; செம்பு (Tamil) అగసాలి (p. 0023) [ agasāli ] or అగసాలెవాడు agasāli. [Tel.] n. A goldsmith. కంసాలివాడు.(Telugu) Kannada (Kittel lexicon):

Bet Dwaraka turbinella pyrum seal. करडूं karaḍū 'kid' Rebus: karaḍā 'hard alloy'. barad 'ox' Rebus: bharata 'alloy of copper, pewter, tin' khond 'young bull' koD 'horn' Rebus: khond 'turner' koD 'workshop'. Thus workshop of hard alloys of copper, pewter, tin.

Bhirrrna seal. ASI karNika 'rim of jar' rebus: karNI 'supercargo'; karNaka 'account'; Alternative: kanka 'rim of jar' rebus: kanga 'brazier'. A variant of Signs is seen on the Bhirrana seal:

karaṁḍa -- m.n. ʻ bone shaped like a bamboo ʼ, karaṁḍuya -- n. ʻ backbone ʼ (Prakrit) Rebus: करडा [karaḍā] Hard from alloy--iron, silver &c. (Marathi)

40 Three-headed animal, plant; sun motifDholavira. Seal. Readings as above. PLUS kolmo 'rice plant' Rebus: kolami 'smithy, forge'. Thus, the message of the hieroglyph-multiplex is: smithy/forge for moltencast coper and hard alloys of copper, pewter, tin.

Hieroglyph: करडूं or करडें (p. 137) [ karaḍū or karaḍēṃ ] n A kid. कराडूं (p. 137) [ karāḍūṃ ] n (Commonly करडूं) A kid. (Marathi) Rebus: करडा (p. 137) [ karaḍā ] Hard from alloy--iron, silver &c. (Marathi. Molesworth).

Glyph: svastika; rebus: jasta ‘zinc’ (Kashmiri). Svastika: sathiyā (H.), sāthiyo (G.); satthia, sotthia (Pkt.) Rebus: svastika pewter (Kannada)

Circular seal, of steatite, from Bahrein, found at Lothal.

A Stamp seal and its impression from the Harappan site of Lothal north of Bombay, of the type also found in the contemporary cultures of southern Iraq and the Persian Gulf Area. http://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/archaeology-in-india/

http://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/shipping-and-maritime-trade-of-the-indus-people/

ranku 'antelope' Rebus: ranku 'tin'

m417 Glyph: ‘ladder’: H. sainī, senī f. ʻ ladder ʼ Rebus: Pa. sēṇi -- f. ʻ guild, division of army ʼ; Pk. sēṇi -- f. ʻ row, collection ʼ; śrḗṇi (metr. often śrayaṇi -- ) f. ʻ line, row, troop ʼ RV. The lexeme in Tamil means: Limit, boundary; எல்லை. நளியிரு முந்நீரேணி யாக (புறநா. 35, 1). Country, territory.

The glyphics are:
Semantics: ‘group of animals/quadrupeds’: paśu ‘animal’ (RV), pasaramu, pasalamu = an animal, a beast, a brute, quadruped (Te.) Rebus: pasra ‘smithy’ (Santali)

Glyph: ‘six’: bhaṭa ‘six’. Rebus: bhaṭa ‘furnace’.
Glyph (the only inscription on the Mohenjo-daro seal m417): ‘warrior’: bhaṭa. Rebus: bhaṭa ‘furnace’. Thus, this glyph is a semantic determinant of the message: ‘furnace’. It appears that the six heads of ‘animal’ glyphs are related to ‘furnace’ work.

This guild, community of smiths and masons evolves into Harosheth Hagoyim, ‘a smithy of nations’.
It appears that the Meluhhans were in contact with many interaction areas, Dilmun and Susa (elam) in particular. There is evidence for Meluhhan settlements outside of Meluhha. It is a reasonable inference that the Meluhhans with bronze-age expertise of creating arsenical and bronze alloys and working with other metals constituted the ‘smithy of nations’, Harosheth Hagoyim.

Dilmun seal from Barbar; six heads of antelope radiating from a circle; similar to animal protomes in Failaka, Anatolia and Indus. Obverse of the seal shows four dotted circles. [Poul Kjaerum, The Dilmun Seals as evidence of long distance relations in the early second millennium BC, pp. 269-277.] A tree is shown on this Dilmun seal.

Glyph: ‘tree’: kuṭi ‘tree’. Rebus: kuṭhi ‘smelter furnace’ (Santali).

baTa 'six' Rebus: bhaTa 'furnace' ranku 'antelope' Rebus: ranku 'tin'

Izzat Allah Nigahban, 1991, Excavations at Haft Tepe, Iran, The University Museum, UPenn, p. 97. furnace’ Fig.96a.

There is a possibility that this seal impression from Haft Tepe had some connections with Indian hieroglyphs. This requires further investigation. “From Haft Tepe (Middle Elamite period, ca. 13th century) in Ḵūzestān an unusual pyrotechnological installation was associated with a craft workroom containing such materials as mosaics of colored stones framed in bronze, a dismembered elephant skeleton used in manufacture of bone tools, and several hundred bronze arrowpoints and small tools. “Situated in a courtyard directly in front of this workroom is a most unusual kiln. This kiln is very large, about 8 m long and 2 and one half m wide, and contains two long compartments with chimneys at each end, separated by a fuel chamber in the middle. Although the roof of the kiln had collapsed, it is evident from the slight inturning of the walls which remain in situ that it was barrel vaulted like the roofs of the tombs. Each of the two long heating chambers is divided into eight sections by partition walls. The southern heating chamber contained metallic slag, and was apparently used for making bronze objects. The northern heating chamber contained pieces of broken pottery and other material, and thus was apparently used for baking clay objects including tablets . . .” (loc.cit. Bronze in pre-Islamic Iran, Encyclopaedia Iranica, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bronze-i Negahban, 1977; and forthcoming).

Many of the bronze-age manufactured or industrial goods were surplus to the needs of the producing community and had to be traded, together with a record of types of goods and types of processes such as native metal or minerals, smelting of minerals, alloying of metals using two or more minerals, casting ingots, forging and turning metal into shapes such as plates or vessels, using anvils, cire perdue technique for creating bronze statues – in addition to the production of artifacts such as bangles and ornaments made of śankha or shell (turbinella pyrum), semi-precious stones, gold or silver beads. Thus writing was invented to maintain production-cum-trade accounts, to cope with the economic imperative of bronze age technological advances to take the artisans of guilds into the stage of an industrial production-cum-trading community.

Tablets and seals inscribed with hieroglyphs, together with the process of creating seal impressions took inventory lists to the next stage of trading property items using bills of lading of trade loads of industrial goods. Such bills of lading describing trade loads were created using tablets and seals with the invention of writing based on phonetics and semantics of language – the hallmark of Indian hieroglyphs.

Indus Script Hieroglyph-multiplex hypertext on al-Sabah Kuwait gold disc Meluhha brassworker's artisanal repertoire
Thanks to Benoy Behl for disseminating the photograph of an exquisite gold disc now in al-Sabah collection of Kuwait National Museum. This gold disc is a veritable metalwork catalogue, consistent with the entire Indus Script Corpora as catalogus catalogorum of metalwork. The uniqueness of the collection of hieroglyph-multiplexs on this gold disc is that a large number of metalwork catalogue items (more than 12) have been presented on a circular space with 9.6 cm diameter validating the Maritime Tin Route which linked Hanoi to Haifa through the Persian Gulf.

"Gold disc. al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait National Museum. 9.6 cm diameter, which was obviously from the Indus Valley period in India. Typical of that period, it depicts zebu, bulls, human attendants, ibex, fish, partridges, bees, pipal free an animal-headed standard." Benoy K. Behl https://www.facebook.com/BenoyKBehlArtCulture

Source: http://tinyurl.com/nom5kkv
In the context of the bronze-age, the hieroglyphs are read rebus in Meluhha (mleccha) speech as metalware catalogs.
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/05/indus-writing-as-metalware-catalogs-and_21.html
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/05/tokens-and-bullae-evolve-into-indus.html

See examples of Dilmun seal readings at http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/05/see-httpbharatkalyan97.html
See examples of Sumer Samarra bowls: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/04/bronze-age-writing-in-ancient-near-east.html

In this perspective, the hieroglyphs on the Kuwait Museum gold disc can be read rebus:

1. A pair of tabernae montana flowers tagara 'tabernae montana' flower; rebus: tagara 'tin'

2. A pair of rams tagara 'ram'; rebus: damgar 'merchant' (Akkadian) Next to one ram: kuTi 'tree' Rebus: kuThi 'smelter' Alternative: kolmo 'rice plant' Rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge'.

3. Ficus religiosa leaves on a tree branch (5) loa 'ficus leaf'; rebus: loh 'metal'. kol in Tamil means pancaloha'alloy of five metals'. PLUS flanking pair of lotus flowers: tAmarasa 'lotus' Rebus: tAmra 'copper' dula 'pair' Rebus: dul 'cast metal' thus, denoting copper castings.

4. A pair of bulls tethered to the tree branch: barad, barat 'ox' Rebus: bharata 'alloy of copper, pewter, tin' (Marathi) PLUS kola 'man' Rebus: kolhe 'smelter' kur.i 'woman' Rebus: kol 'working in iron' Alternative: ḍhangar 'bull'; rebus ḍhangar 'blacksmith' poLa 'zebu' Rebus: poLa 'magnetite'.

Two persons touch the two bulls: meḍ ‘body’ (Mu.) Rebus: meḍ ‘iron’ (Ho.) Thus, the hieroglyph composition denotes ironsmiths.

5. A pair of antelopes looking back: krammara 'look back'; rebus: kamar 'smith' (Santali); tagara 'antelope'; rebus: damgar 'merchant' (Akkadian) Alternative: melh, mr..eka 'goat' (Brahui. Telugu) Rebus: milakkhu 'copper' (Pali), mleccha-mukha 'copper' (Samskritam)

6. A pair of antelopes mē̃ḍh 'antelope, ram'; rebus: mē̃ḍ 'iron' (Mu.)

7. A pair of combs kāṅga 'comb' Rebus: kanga 'brazier, fireplace'

Phal. kāṅga ʻ combing ʼ in ṣiṣ k° dūm ʻI comb my hairʼ khyḗṅgia, kēṅgī f.;
kaṅghā m. ʻ large comb (Punjabi) káṅkata m. ʻ comb ʼ AV., n. lex., °tī -- , °tikã -- f. lex. 2. kaṅkaṭa -- 2. 3. kaṅkaśa -- . [Of doubtful IE. origin WP i 335, EWA i 137: aberrant -- uta -- as well as -- aśa -- replacing -- ata -- in MIA. and NIA.]1. Pk. kaṁkaya -- m. ʻ comb ʼ, kaṁkaya -- , °kaï -- m. ʻ name of a tree ʼ; Gy. eur. kangli f.; Wg. kuṇi -- přũ ʻ man's comb ʼ (for kuṇi -- cf. kuṇälík beside kuṅälíks.v. kr̥muka -- ; -- přũ see prapavaṇa -- ); Bshk. kēṅg ʻ comb ʼ, Gaw. khēṅgīˊ, Sv. khḗṅgiā, Tor. kyäṅg ʻ comb ʼ (Dard. forms, esp. Gaw., Sv., Phal. but not Sh., prob. ← L. P. type < **kaṅgahiā* -- , see 3 below); Sh. kōṅyi̯ f. (→ Ḍ. klṅi f.), gil. (Lor.) kōĩ* f. ʻ man's comb ʼ, kōũ m. ʻ woman's comb ʼ, pales. kōgō m. ʻ comb ʼ; K. kanguwu m. ʻ man's comb ʼ, kangañ f. ʻ woman's ʼ; WPah. bhad. kãˊkei ʻ a comb -- like fern ʼ, bhal. kãkei f. ʻ comb, plant with comb -- like leaves ʼ; N. kāṅiyo, kāĩyo ʻ comb ʼ, A. kã̄kai, B. kã̄kui; Or. kaṅkāi, kaṅkuā ʻ comb ʼ, kakuā ʻ ladder -- like bier for carrying corpse to the burning -- ghat ʼ; Bi. kakwā ʻ comb ʼ, kakahā, °hī, Mth. kakwā, Aw. lakh. kakawā, Bhoj. kakahī f.; H. kakaiyā ʻ shaped like a comb (of a brick) ʼ; G. (non -- Aryan tribes of Dharampur)kākhāī f. ʻ comb ʼ; M. kaṅkvā m. ʻ comb ʼ, kã̄kaī f. ʻ a partic. shell fish and its shell ʼ; -- S. kaṅgu m. ʻ a partic. kind of small fish ʼ < **kaṅkuta* -- ? -- Ext. with --l -- in Ku. kã̄gilo, kāĩlo ʻ comb ʼ.2. G. (Soraṭh) kã̄gaṛ m. ʻ a weaver's instrument ʼ?3. L. kaṅghī f. ʻ comb, a fish of the perch family ʼ, awāṇ. kaghī ʻ comb ʼ; P. kaṅghā m. ʻ large comb ʼ, °ghī f. ʻ small comb for men, large one for women ʼ (→ H. kaṅghā m. ʻ man's comb ʼ, °gahī, °ghī f. ʻ woman's ʼ, kaṅghuā m. ʻ rake or harrow ʼ; Bi. kãgahī ʻ comb ʼ, Or. kaṅgei, M. kaṅgvā); -- G. kã̄gsī f. ʻ comb ʼ, with metath. kã̄sko m., °kī f.; WPah. khaś. kāgśī, śeu. kāśkī ʻ a comblike fern ʼ or < **kaṅkataśikha* -- .WPah.kṭg. kaṅgi f. ʻ comb ʼ; J. kāṅgṛu m. ʻ small comb ʼ.(CDIAL 2598)

Rebus: large furnace, fireplace: kang कंग् । आवसथ्यो &1;ग्निः m. the fire-receptacle or fire-place, kept burning in former times in the courtyard of a Kāshmīrī house for the benefit of guests, etc., and distinct from the three religious domestic fires of a Hindū; (at the present day) a fire-place or brazier lit in the open air on mountain sides, etc., for the sake of warmth or for keeping off wild beasts. nāra-kang, a fire-receptacle; hence, met. a shower of sparks (falling on a person) (Rām. 182). kan:gar `portable furnace' (Kashmiri)Cf. kã̄gürü, which is the fem. of this word in a dim. sense (Gr.Gr. 33, 7). kã̄gürü काँग्् or
kã̄gürü काँग or kã̄gar काँग््र्् । हसब्तिका f. (sg. dat. kã̄grĕ काँग्र्य or kã̄garĕ काँगर्य, abl. kã̄gri काँग्रि), the portable brazier, or kāngrī, much used in Kashmīr (K.Pr. kángár, 129, 131, 178; káṅgrí, 5, 128, 129). For particulars see El. s.v. kángri; L. 7, 25, kangar;and K.Pr. 129. The word is a fem. dim. of kang, q.v. (Gr.Gr. 37). kã̄gri-khŏphürükã̄gri-khŏphürü काँग्रि-ख्वफ््&above;रू&below; । भग्ना काष्ठाङ्गारिका f. a worn-out brazier. -khôru -खोरु&below; । काष्ठाङ्गारिका<-> र्धभागः m. the outer half (made of woven twigs) of a brazier, remaining after the inner earthenware bowl has been broken or removed; see khôru. -kŏnḍolu -क्वंड । हसन्तिकापात्रम् m. the circular earthenware bowl of a brazier, which contains the burning fuel. -köñü -का&above;ञू&below; । हसन्तिकालता f. the covering of woven twigs outside the earthenware bowl of a brazier.

It is an archaeometallurgical challenge to trace the Maritime Tin Route from the tin belt of the world on Mekong River delta in the Far East and trace the contributions made by seafaring merchants of Meluhha in reaching the tin mineral resource to sustain the Tin-Bronze Age which was a revolution unleashed ca. 5th millennium BCE. See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/08/indus-script-corpora-as-catalogus.html

8. A pair of fishes ayo 'fish' (Mu.); rebus: ayo 'metal, iron' (Gujarati); ayas 'metal' (Sanskrit)

9.A pair of buffaloes tethered to a post-standard kāṛā ‘buffalo’ கண்டி kaṇṭi buffalo bull (Tamil); rebus: kaṇḍ 'stone ore'; kāṇḍa ‘tools, pots and pans and metal-ware’; kaṇḍ ‘furnace, fire-altar, consecrated fire’.

10. A pair of birds Rebus 1: kōḍi. [Tel.] n. A fowl, a bird. (Telugu) Rebus: khōṭ ‘alloyed ingots’. Rebus 2: kol ‘the name of a bird, the Indian cuckoo’ (Santali) kol 'iron, smithy, forge'. Rebus 3: baṭa = quail (Santali) Rebus: baṭa = furnace, kiln (Santali) bhrāṣṭra = furnace (Skt.) baṭa = a kind of iron (G.) bhaṭa ‘furnace’ (Gujarati)

11. The buffaloes, birds flank a post-standard with curved horns on top of a stylized 'eye' PLUS 'eyebrows' with one-horn on either side of two faces

mũh ‘face’; rebus: mũh ‘ingot’ (Mu.)

ṭhaṭera ‘buffalo horns’. ṭhaṭerā ‘brass worker’ (Punjabi)

Pe. kaṇga (pl. -ŋ, kaṇku) eye. Rebus: kanga ' large portable brazier, fire-place' (Kashmiri).
Thus the stylized standard is read rebus: Hieroglyph components:kanga + ṭhaṭerā 'one eye + buffalo horn' Rebus: kanga 'large portable barzier' (Kashmiri) + ṭhaṭerā ‘brass worker’ (Punjabi)

Ta. kaṇ eye, aperture, orifice, star of a peacock's tail. Ma. kaṇ, kaṇṇu eye, nipple, star in peacock's tail, bud. Ko. kaṇ eye. To. koṇ eye, loop in string.Ka. kaṇ eye, small hole, orifice. Koḍ. kaṇṇï id. Tu. kaṇṇů eye, nipple, star in peacock's feather, rent, tear. Te. kanu, kannu eye, small hole, orifice, mesh of net, eye in peacock's feather. Kol. kan (pl. kanḍl) eye, small hole in ground, cave. Nk. kan (pl. kanḍḷ) eye, spot in peacock's tail. Nk. (Ch.) kan (pl. -l) eye. Pa.(S. only) kan (pl. kanul) eye. Ga. (Oll.) kaṇ (pl. kaṇkul) id.; kaṇul maṭṭa eyebrow; kaṇa (pl. kaṇul) hole; (S.) kanu (pl. kankul) eye. Go. (Tr.) kan (pl.kank) id.; (A.) kaṛ (pl. kaṛk) id. Konḍa kaṇ id. Pe. kaṇga (pl. -ŋ, kaṇku) id. Manḍ. kan (pl. -ke) id. Kui kanu (pl. kan-ga), (K.) kanu (pl. kaṛka) id. Kuwi(F.) kannū (pl. kar&nangle;ka), (S.) kannu (pl. kanka), (Su. P. Isr.) kanu (pl. kaṇka) id. Kur. xann eye, eye of tuber; xannērnā (of newly born babies or animals) to begin to see, have the use of one's eyesight (for ērnā, see 903). Malt. qanu eye. Br. xan id., bud. (DEDR 1159) kāṇá ʻ one -- eyed ʼ RV. Pa. Pk. kāṇa -- ʻ blind of one eye, blind ʼ; Ash. kã̄ṛa, °ṛī f. ʻ blind ʼ, Kt. kãŕ, Wg. kŕãmacrdotdot;, Pr. k&schwatildemacr;, Tir. kāˊna, Kho. kāṇu NTS ii 260,kánu BelvalkarVol 91; K. kônu ʻ one -- eyed ʼ, S. kāṇo, L. P. kāṇã̄; WPah. rudh. śeu. kāṇā ʻ blind ʼ; Ku. kāṇo, gng. kã̄&rtodtilde; ʻ blind of one eye ʼ, N. kānu;A. kanā ʻ blind ʼ; B. kāṇā ʻ one -- eyed, blind ʼ; Or. kaṇā, f. kāṇī ʻ one -- eyed ʼ, Mth. kān, °nā, kanahā, Bhoj. kān, f. °ni, kanwā m. ʻ one -- eyed man ʼ, H. kān,°nā, G. kāṇũ; M. kāṇā ʻ one -- eyed, squint -- eyed ʼ; Si. kaṇa ʻ one -- eyed, blind ʼ. -- Pk. kāṇa -- ʻ full of holes ʼ, G. kāṇũ ʻ full of holes ʼ, n. ʻ hole ʼ (< ʻ empty eyehole ʼ? Cf. ã̄dhḷũ n. ʻ hole ʼ < andhala -- ).S.kcch. kāṇī f.adj. ʻ one -- eyed ʼ; WPah.kṭg. kaṇɔ ʻ blind in one eye ʼ, J. kāṇā; Md. kanu ʻ blind ʼ.(CDIAL 3019) Ko. kāṇso ʻ squint -- eyed ʼ.(Konkani)

Paš. ainċ -- gánik ʻ eyelid ʼ(CDIAL 3999) Phonetic reinforcement of the gloss: Pe. kaṇga (pl. -ŋ, kaṇku) eye.

See also: nimišta kanag 'to write' (SBal): nipēśayati ʻ writes ʼ. [√piś] Very doubtful: Kal.rumb. Kho. nivḗš -- ʻ to write ʼ more prob. ← EPers. Morgenstierne BSOS viii 659. <-> Ir. pres. st. nipaiš -- (for nipais -- after past nipišta -- ) in Yid. nuviš -- , Mj. nuvuš -- , Sang. Wkh. nəviš -- ; -- Aś. nipista<-> ← Ir. nipista -- (for nipišta -- after pres. *nipais -- ) in SBal. novīsta or nimišta kanag ʻ to write ʼ.(CDIAL 7220)

Alternative: dol ‘eye’; Rebus: dul ‘to cast metal in a mould’ (Santali)Alternative: kandi ‘hole, opening’ (Ka.)[Note the eye shown as a dotted circle on many Dilmun seals.]; kan ‘eye’ (Ka.); rebus: kandi (pl. –l) necklace, beads (Pa.);kaṇḍ 'stone ore' Alternative: kã̄gsī f. ʻcombʼ (Gujarati); rebus 1: kangar ‘portable furnace’ (Kashmiri); rebus 2: kamsa 'bronze'.

khuṇḍ ʻtethering peg or post' (Western Pahari) Rebus: kūṭa ‘workshop’; kuṭi= smelter furnace (Santali); Rebus 2: kuṇḍ 'fire-altar'

Why are animals shown in pairs?

dula ‘pair’ (Kashmiri); rebus: dul ‘cast metal’ (Mu.)

Thus, all the hieroglyphs on the gold disc can be read as Indus writing related to one bronze-age artifact category: metalware catalog entries.

S. Kalyanaraman
Sarasvati Research Center
January 28, 2016

↧

Mithun, cow 'endangered species' was slaughtered in front of Raj Bhavan -- Gov. informs President on law&order breakdown in Arunachal Pradesh

January 27, 2016, 4:18 pm

≫ Next: Mithun state animal of Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland. Slaughtering such an animal is to deny Bharatiya heritage, culture.

≪ Previous: Data mining of Indus Script Corpora ranku 'antelope' rebus 'tin'करडूं karaḍū 'kid' rebus karaḍā 'hard alloy'

Mithun or Gayal; Mithun: a bovine of Indian origin.
Authors: Gupta, S. C.; Gupta, N.; Nivsarkar, A. E.
Editors: Gupta, S. C.;Gupta, N.;Nivsarkar, A. E.
Book: Mithun: a bovine of Indian origin 1999 pp. xv + 328 pp.
Record Number: 20043005785

Abstract

The mithun or gayal (Bos frontalis) is to be found in the woodlands of the north-eastern Himalayas and plays an important part in the economy and culture (including mythology) of the aboriginal tribes of that region. As it is used as holy sacrificial animal it is often called the 'ceremonial ox'. The 18 chapters cover: origin and domestication; habitat and ecology; distribution; wild relatives; types and features (morphology, breeds, genetic diversity); genetics; breeding; hybrids (mithun-cattle hybrids); ethology and behaviour; nutrition; tribes that keep mithuns (in India, Burma, and Bangladesh); husbandry practices (including keeping mithuns in zoos); health and disease; meat production (including slaughter, ritual slaughter, and carcass yield); milk and its composition; reproduction; and future plans (breeding plans, programmes and constraints). The text is supported by colour pictures of these magnificent animals and of their habitat. There are 25 pages of references and a subject index.
http://www.cabdirect.org/abstracts/20043005785.html;jsessionid=0D940C2FA6B3015032662351A4C79DCA

The Mithun (Bos frontalis) potential animal of Manipur

Paisho Keishing - Mithun Researcher *

Paisho Keishing wrote this article as part of the Hueiyen Lanpao [English Edition]
This article was posted on August 12, 2013.

The Mithun (Bos frontali), the "Gavaya" in Shanskrit, "Gavi" or "Gayal" in hindi, " Gvaya Goru' in Bangali, " Mithun or mithan" in Assamese apart from above synonyms every tribe in north east uses their own name in Arunachal Adi tribe call it as "Eso" or Hoho while Nyishi call as "Sebe" , Apatani tribe cal it as "Seobo'; the Mizos call it as "Shinl" and Naga tribe call "Wei" and Tangkhul tribe call it as "Seizang", Manipuri it call as "Sandung" and "Sia' in Myanmars so on.

Mithun animal is most importance and essential ingredient of tribal indigenous people of Manipur; it associates with the folklore and culture. Mithun or Gayal (Bos or Bibos frontalis) is a magnificent bovine species which originated at Indo- Myanmar border somewhere 8000 years ago. This animal distributed in four north eastern states of Arunachal, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, bedsides India this animal found in Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Western Yunan of China and Malaysia in less numbers.

Mithun (Bos frontalis) is often referred to as - "The cattle of mountains""Forest asset of Manipur", "Pride of the north east", "Pride of the hill people of Manipur", "ceremonial ox of the north east" forest loving animals', "The ship of highland", and is a good example of integration of agro-ecology, sustenance livelihood, culture and livestock rearing; it is known to be a symbols of status and prosperity, peace and harmony among the tribal people of North East India. This animal is well adapted with humid climate and hilly terrain at an altitude of 300 to 3000m above mean sea level. Mithun owners keep this animal in the jungle through the year and allow breeding naturally by using the bull of their own herd.

Description: Mithun is strong built magnificent ruminant in the size of medium to large. The overall shape of this animal is comparable with domesticated cattle or buffalo. Mithun is similar in appearance to gaur except in size and horn. The size is smaller and the horns are more or less straight unlike gaur. The animal has a huge head, deep massive body and sturdy limbs. The forehead is broad and concave. Breadth between the eyes ranges approximate in between 9-10 inches in adults.

The animal has no hump above the dorsal ridge but the ball has an exuberance of flesh immediately over the shoulder. It has broad ears and small dewlap. The length of ears ranges approx. from 9" to 10 "inches adults. The legs and tails are shorter than those of cows. The horns are straight more or less and are either black and white. The horns of young ones are smooth and polished but in adults, the horns are rugged and indented at the base. The length of the horns in adults ranges from 14- 15 cm.

The neck is short and length varies from 20 – 21 cm in adults. Its average body weight ranging from 400 – 500kg in 4 to 5 years, it has different colors mostly black and white and mixes maximum life span about 15 years. It is semi wild type produce calf one in a year. Mithun is herbivorous animal eating 188 kinds grasses, tree leaves, herbs and shrubs in the forest. Currently, farmers rear this animal under free-grazing system in forests.

Mithun is an extremely efficient grazer on steep hilly slopes compared to other animals. Mithun are essentially hilly animals and they come down to lower altitudes except in quest of pasture because they never prefer plain areas. They come out for grazing in the morning and graze till the evening. During hot hours, extreme cold or cloudy day, they retire in their shelter and seclusion of the forest.

Mithuns have the habit of liking salt that why easy for domesticated, Mithuns are shy and timid animals by nature. The colors of adults Mithun is black white the shank and forehead are white in colour. White colored Mithun are found rarely. Animals with white parches in an around the ridge and belly are also commonly encountered. A newly born calf is generally light golden yellow which soon changes to fawn, then to light brown and ultimately to coffee or jet black in adults. Mithuns are semi-wild in nature. They are well adapted to the hilly terrains at varying degree of slopes.

The Mithun are sure footed animals in the hilly region. They can climb easily in sloppy, steep terrain unlike domestic animals such as buffalo, cattle, etc. The animals roam in forest for moths together and sometimes, the owner goes to locate them. They are found to thrive well on fodder available in the hills in the form of tree leaves, shrubs and grasses. They are known to utilize the coarse fodders which are left unconsumed by other ruminants. Mithun are not close grazers like cattle but browsing in nature like goat. The peculiar characteristic of this rare animal is its ability of grazing on the steep slopes of hilly areas of the state.

Mithun has an important role in the socio-economic, cultural and religious life of the tribal people of Manipur. It is one of the underutilized animals but has got tremendous potential especially meat production. This animal is basically raised as ceremonial animal and used to be sacrifice for meat during festival and social ceremonies by tribal people. Tribal people also use for bridal gift and in barter trade. The animal is reared by the tribal only in the hilly regions mainly for meat purposes and is considered as a sign of prosperity and superiority of an individual in the tribal society of the state.

The animals are sacrificed in the marriage ceremonies, religious function or big feast. The animals are also offered as the prices of bride by the bridegroom's family to the bride's family however due to the unavailability of mithun bridegroom family paid in term of money which is contrary and threaten tribal beautiful culture. The currency value of mithun varies from one region to other, it spoken as currency because of their being present in the value system and being used in exchange of land. Mithun are also employ in payment for ransom, tribute, fine or bride price.

Having Mithun was and is regarded prosperous family in the tribal societies. Mithun meat his highly preferred and well relished as traditional delicacy among the tribal people, people considered mithun meet as more tender and superior over the meat of any other species. Higher growth rate (450-600) gram/day) and high adult body weight (400- 600 kg) with high dressing percentage of 58 – 62 compare to those of cattle and buffalo make mithun a better meat producing animal in north east. They can attain body weight of 400-550 Kg by the age of 3-5 years.

The livelihood of the people in Manipur is mainly on livestock based; development of an organized system for production and marketing mithun meat may change the socio economic scenario of Manipur. Earlier mithun milk was not considered as a part of food habit of the tribal people but it is normal milking of mithun milk, it milk is highly nutritious, it produces approximately 1 to 1.5 kg of milk per day. Mithun milk is very rich in fat, protein; one kg of mithun milk has nutrients and energy value which is almost equivalent to two kg of cow milk. Mithun milk is rich in nutrients and therefore for human consumption. Mithun milk is highly suitable for making different diary product like lassi, curd, ghee, barfi, rasgulla, etc. One litre of mithun milk yields about 400 to 450 gram of high panner.

There exists further scope for technological interventions to produce certain other diary product like cheese as mithun milk is rich in protein. Mithun hide can be processed and converted into valued added excellent quality leather. NRC on mithun in collaboration with Government College of Engineering and Leather Technology, Kolkata has produced superior quality of leather from mithun hide. Mithun hide processed with intact hair is an excellent stuff for sofa outer cover.

The Bag leather process from mithun hide is much superior compared to that of cattle. NRC has produce different leather product like executive bag, ladies purse, wallet, shoes etc. Therefore mithun hide is potential raw material in the crisis riddled hide market. It is very potential source of meat and can also be used as a draught and pack animal due to its sure – footedness on the steep slopes. Mithun animal is not like wild carnivorous type and nor religious animal like cow its meat consumption may not be effect to the belief of non tribal in India, it meat may replace the present meat varieties which are easily effected by various flu's.

Its meat is high demand due to its high quality and delicacy but due to its less population the demand from the local market is yet to be fulfilled. When it will be possible to increase the population of mithun through scientific rearing and community farming, the demand of market may be fulfilled with more availability of meat and meat product from this animal. This will help the farmers to get more income from high quality hides the mithun possessed.

Upliftment of socio – economic status of the farmer can be attained through mithun farming. Looking at the diversity of this animal in terms of utility among tribal farmers, adaptability, quality of meat, thrive on coarse fodders, grazing on steep hills, there is ample scope for the improvement and utilization of this species of animal for the benefit of human beings Intensive plantation programme of nutritious fodder and edible trees will be taken up for generous feeding of the mithuns. The animals will be encouraged to live in the green forages and fodders as they have been doing under natural grazing system.

Mithun rearing alternative for jhuming cultivation- The main occupation of tribal's is jhuming cultivation, shifting cultivation is thought to be one of the major contributing factors for reduced available forest area in Manipur. Jhum is generally practiced by all tribal population that accounts 80% in the mithun rearing state. In this system of cultivation there is rotation in land use between long fallow periods with forest, followed by short cropping phase. With the increase of human population the fallow period of 1- 3 years jhuming may not survive in long term due to increasing population thereby less availability of forests that bound to shorten the jhum cycle, hence bringing about continuous deterioration of soil fertilities and ecological balances.

To maintain biodiversity, forest conservation is an important steps and mithun being a component of forest base production system, it needs to strengthened by incorporating some other component with it to make it a viable and sustainable forest based integrated farming. For this we need to develop water bodies for fish culture. The forest area can be explored for orchid and other valuable timber and fodder trees for supporting the poor farmers with sustainable income. This will also to help in conserve the forest by discouraging destruction.

Therefore conservation of biodiversity will largely depend on creating condition to revert to traditional long fallow jhuming through finding suitable alternative to jhuming, or a combination of both. For example, the Government of Nagaland is presently discouraging jhum cultivation and has identified the unique economic contribution of mithun as alternative to jhuming cultivation which would also directly or indirectly prevent global warming. Mithun also help to conserve some rare plant species having medicinal plant species only in mithun rearing areas.

Mithun was reared in semi domesticated condition in the jungle. They keep them under free grazing conditions in the jungles with zero expenditure on feeding and management. No housing and feeding of concentrate are required because they can fully depend on natural forages and green vegetation which are abundantly available in the jungles. So far, nothing was done for large scale development of mithun in hill areas of Manipur. If attention is given towards the development of this massive neglected animal, it can become income generative and alternative to the jhuming cultivation, now the hill tribal who are primarily jhuming cultivators could not produce crops sufficient for sustenance for their families due to decreased soil fertility following deforestation, erosion of soil and increased population etc.

The average annual income of jhumea is Rs, 10,000/- - 20,000/- approximately. As they could not depend on jhuming cultivation, they are now looking for an alternative means for earning their livelihood. Meanwhile, many farmers look for animal husbandry like pig rearing, cattle rearing and mithun rearing for self employment and for earning their livelihood. The cost of grown up mithun under prevailing rate is Rs. 40,000/- to Rs, 45,000/- only per animal which is more than the average annual income of the jhumea.

One female mithun can produce 14 mithuns in 13 to 14 years amounting of 4 lakhs and if 10 mithun rear then it may reach to 40,00,000/- in ten years and if we reared 20 mithuns then amount will double ie, 80,00,000/- As such, many farmers come to realized profitability and feasibility of mithun rearing, and it will be the right time for the government to intervene for the exploration and popularization of a mithun rearing among the inhabitant of Manipur hill areas for our pride, security, economic, nutritional and food security.

In spite of the wide scope for Mithun rearing and its economic viability, Mithun rearing was not popularized as it could be and it is rather on its declining trend for the following reasons:

Lack of proper planning and development programme which hindered production of better germplasm for propagation and improvement of indigenous Mithuns.
Lack of awareness on the part of the farmers regarding the profitability of Mithun rearing and over emphasizing on jhuming cultivation which, however, is no more productive and profitable than Mithun rearing.
Lack of purchasing powers and capital fund by the poor villagers for purchase of breeding Mithuns.
Massive deforestation which has been going on over the years due to population pressure.

The concern Departments, NGOs, mithun farmers, activist need to seriously think -

To conserve and promote the germplasm of semi domesticated mithun in their natural habitat with the maximum participation of village based farmers for socio-economic development of the hill people of Manipur.
To tame semi wild natured mithun by grooming, patting, salt feeding, milking etc. and making it economic animal for production of milk and meat.
To produce maximum numbers of improved breeding stock of mithun for distribution to increased farmers for rearing.
To motivate the farmers for taking up large scale mithun rearing for replacement of jhuming cultivation which is unprofitable and destructive to the forest? It will help in a big way to maintain ecological balance as well.
To organize awareness campaigns and impart training to the farmers on economic rearing and management of mithuns.
To establish as many as possible mithun shelter cantre in the jungle adjacent to the village where mithuns are on free range conditions.

As the mithun is one of the best meat purpose breeds, its large scale production/multiplication may be an alternative means to boost the meat production in the country despite of banning of cow slaughter. It may take the place of cows in terms of meat production in the country. Some of the action plan and strategy for mithun improvement:

Identification of actual numbers of mithun population and village based mithun reader's problems and formation of action plan for their remedial measures.
Plantation of nutritious grasses, herbs, shrubs and edible trees for onwards feeding to the animals.
Formation of village based mithun reader's co-operative society which will be linked up with district and state level mithun readers federation.
Improvement of marketing facilities and maintenance of uniform selling rate of mithun and its products.
Routine vaccination of mithun against common diseases like F.M.D., H.S.&B.Q. etc. And proper risk coverage under livestock insurance policy.
Holding of awareness campaigns for scientific rearing of mithun and organization of local farmers training and if need be deputation of batches of farmers to
National Research Centers of Mithun outside Manipur to acquire more practical knowledge for economic and scientific rearing of mithun.

Due to various biotic and abiotic factors such as deforestation, shifting cultivation the population of this animal dwindling thereby causing serious concern for protection of this beautiful species. There is a urgent need to rear this animal under scientific input as well need to conserve the valuable germplasm keeping their traditional system as far as possible intact, it will enhance environment protection, generating income, self employment, better replacement of jhuming cultivation in Manipur.

http://e-pao.net/epSubPageExtractor.asp?src=education.Scientific_Papers.The_Mithun_Bos_frontalis_potential_animal_of_Manipur

15 people held for killing gayal in park

TUOI TRE

UPDATED : 10/09/2012 13:07 GMT + 7

Police are investigating to identify the instigator of the killing and hunting for others who were involved.

Police in Lam Dong Province have arrested 15 people for killing and selling the meat of a gayal in an area belonging to the Cat Tien National Park last Friday.

The arrests were made yesterday evening after evidence showed that these people had killed a Vietnam Red Book animal, police in the province’s Cat Tien District said.

The case occurred in the district’s Phuoc Cat 2 Commune, where the killers stabbed the 360 kg gayal to death with knives and then sliced it into pieces, police said.

Most of the arrested confessed to police that they had chased the animal, forced it into a stream and then killed it.

The meat of the animal was sold to local traders for VND100,000 (US$4.8) per kilogram.

Meanwhile, the gayal’s head and bile was sold to another trader in another commune, but police said they have recovered these items from the buyer.

Doan Ngoc Nam, chairman of the Phuoc Cat 2 Commune People’s Committee, said that after the receiving news that the gayal had been killed, forest rangers and staff of Cat Tien National Park immediately rushed to the scene, but the only remaining item they were able to find was the animal’s fur.

Nguyen Van Dien, director of the national park, confirmed that the slaughtered gayal was among the herd of about 120 gayals in the park.

Listed as an endangered species in the Vietnam Red Book, these gayals are at high risk of extinction because of illegal hunting and poaching, Dien said.

http://tuoitrenews.vn/society/2536/15-people-held-for-killing-gayal-in-park

“Life miserable under Tuki govt”

January 4, 2016
ITANAGAR, Jan 3: A group of public leaders from the state alleged that life of common people under Nabam Tuki led Government have become miserable while law and order has deteriorated and development have came to a complete halt.
“Tuki is leading the general public and the state machineries to a path of complete destruction. The race for the Chief Minister’s chair had an adverse impact on the state, its people and development,” said a joint press statement by former chairman of APB& OCWWB Jalley Sonam, former ANYA general secretary Kumar Tajo and two other former panchayat.
Jalley, Kumar and others, who held a joint conference in Guwahati today, also accused the Chief Minister of creating a lawlessness with his alleged dictatorial activities and involvement of youths in questionable activities.
They also condemned the slaughtering of Mithun in front of the Raj Bhawan during a demonstration. By doing so the ‘incompetent’ Tuki-led Govt. is displaying muscles and their dominant attitude to suppress their failure to run the state, they said.
“Government servants are not being paid their salaries on time while the genuine contractors have been deprived from their due payments,” the press statement said while highlighting the state government’s alleged misrule and mis-governance.
The public leaders also claimed that the freedom of speech too have been curtailed in the state, and those who raise voice against its interest are taken to task.
http://www.arunachaltimes.in/life-miserable-under-tuki-govt/

Published: January 28, 2016 02:56 IST | Updated: January 28, 2016 03:01 IST New Delhi, January 28, 2016

Nabam Tuki in touch with terror outfit, says Governor’s report

Vijaita Singh

The Hindu
Arunachal Pradesh Governor J.P. Rajkhowa, in a four-page report to President, says law and order situation has been deteriorating every day.

The four-page report reveals that Arunachal Governor requested for invoking Article 365 on December 17, 2015.

Arunachal Pradesh Governor J.P. Rajkhowa said in a four-page report to President Pranab Mukherjee on January 15 that three dissident MLAs had accused the former Chief Minister, Nabam Tuki, of “engaging with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang [a terrorist outfit].”

He also accused Mr. Tuki of “encouraging indiscipline, lawlessness and politicking by government officials by inciting, provoking and funding Nyishi Elite Society, an apex communal organisation of Nyishis, mainly comprising government officials.”

The report, contents of which were accessed by The Hindu, says the first request for invoking Article 356 of the Constitution was made on December 17 by the Governor when demonstrators, led by Mr. Tuki and Speaker Nabam Rebia, “slaughtered a ‘Mithun’ [bovine] in front of Raj Bhavan.” The bovine is considered holy for Hindus. Mr. Rajkhowa also said Mr. Tuki was inciting Nyishi student bodies and other communal organisations against the Governor, referring to his “Assamese roots.” Mr. Tuki also belongs to the Nyishi tribe.

15 earlier reports

It was on the basis of this report, which follows 15 similar reports from the Governor since September 2015, that the Union Cabinet decided to recommend President’s rule on Sunday.

In the report, the Governor made 12 points advocating President’s rule.

The report titled “Failure of constitutional machinery in the State of Arunachal Pradesh” said: “The State is virtually being run by a minority government for the past several months.

“The Chief Minister and Ministers are publicly assailing and condemning the Governor by issuing press statements…”

I was abused and restrained: Governor

Mr. Rajkhowa, in the report to President Pranab Mukherjee, said: “The law and order situation has been deteriorating every passing day, and there was a total collapse of the law and order machinery on December 15, 16 and 17 in particular when no semblance of State government was seen. Only anarchical situation prevailed.”

“I was abused, scolded by threatening words, even attempted to be physically assaulted and Ministers tried to physically restrain me. I was rescued by my alert staff on December 15,” said the report.

Printable version | Jan 28, 2016 6:07:04 AM | http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/presidents-rule-in-arunachal-pradesh-tuki-in-touch-with-nscnk-governors-report/article8159465.ece

Governor J P Rajkhowa cited ‘cow slaughter’ protest as one sign of law and order collapse in state

Written by Utkarsh Anand | New Delhi | Published:January 28, 2016 2:56 am

Governor Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa

“Cow slaughter” was cited by Governor Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa as a sign of complete collapse of law and order in Arunachal Pradesh while recommending imposition of President’s Rule in the state. Claiming breakdown of the constitutional machinery, the Governor also attached photographs of a “cow” — a Mithun — being slaughtered outside Raj Bhavan as a material justifying the proclamation of emergency.

This was disclosed Wednesday by the Governor’s counsel Satya Pal Jain in the Supreme Court which asked the central government and Rajkhowa to adduce all relevant materials showing good reasons for imposition of President’s Rule in the state, and observed that the “matter is too serious”.

Jain, who had been asked by a Constitution Bench led by Justice J S Khehar to place the Governor’s report before it, said a series of reports had been sent by the Governor to the President and the Union Home Ministry, but he would not want to share them with the Congress and its leaders who are petitioners in the matter.

“We will show everything to the court though. We will show you (judges) the photographs of cow slaughter too… it is there in one of the reports,” said Jain, an Additional Solicitor General and a former BJP MP.

On December 17, after the High Court kept in abeyance the Governor’s decisions to advance the assembly session which led to the toppling of the Congress government in the state, several Congress leaders, according to the Governor’s letter to the President, sacrificed a Mithun outside Raj Bhavan.

Mithun, also known as the cattle of the mountains, is a bovine species of the north-eastern region, recognised as the state animal in Arunachal Pradesh.

Asking Jain to place in a sealed cover all the reports forwarded by the Governor for its scrutiny on Monday, the five-judge bench issued notices to the Centre and Rajkhowa, and asked them to file their replies by Friday to the petitions challenging the Governor’s recommendation.

“It is a matter of priority for us… file your replies by Friday and we will take it up on Monday… also, we will make it clear that we will not pass any order until we have heard all the parties. It is a constitutional issue and we will not pass order just like that… this proclamation has to be defended by the Attorney General,” the bench told Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi who represented the Centre.

Rohatgi, however, said the petitions by the Congress leaders were “misconceived” and should not be entertained since they had challenged the Governor’s recommendation but not the President’s notification, the substantial cause of action.

“They filed this petition on January 24 whereas the President’s notification came on January 26. Where is the challenge to the notification by them? Further, they cannot be allowed to challenge the Governor’s recommendation since it is immune. How can such a petition be entertained? Everyone has to comply with procedural requirements and this court is also bound by the rules. They must file a fresh petition. There cannot be any super-injunction by this court on a petition like this,” he said.

But the bench asked the Attorney General not to delve into technicalities and accept the notice for filing a response. “We are not thinking about super-injunction. We have issued notice to you and whatever may be the worth of their petition, you file your reply,” the bench told Rohatgi.

The bench also accepted a plea by senior advocates Fali S Nariman and Kapil Sibal, who appeared for the Arunachal Pradesh speaker and chief whip of the Congress legislature party, to amend the petitions to counter the Governor’s report as well as the President’s notification.
It directed Jain, the Governor’s counsel, to share with the petitioners the date of his report recommending proclamation of emergency.

Nariman and Sibal pressed for the exact date of the Governor’s recommendation as they reminded the bench that he had assured the court that “nothing untoward or precipitative” would be done without informing the bench during the pendency of the matter.

“You were here… you should have updated us. It was your duty to apprise us if there was any movement,” the bench told Jain. It said it would decide on February 1 whether the petitioners should also be given the Governor’s reports. It also expressed “doubts” regarding secrecy of the Governor’s report.

During the proceedings, Sibal requested the bench to ensure their plea is not rendered infructuous by swearing-in a new Chief Minister followed by a floor test. The bench said it acknowledged there are “alive” issues and that it would examine his requests on the next date of hearing.

The bench has been hearing a batch of petitions since last week, challenging various decisions of the Governor and other actions which led to the Opposition BJP and rebel Congress MLAs getting together to “vote out” Chief Minister Nabam Tuki.

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/governor-j-p-rajkhowa-cited-cow-slaughter-protest-as-one-sign-of-law-and-order-collapse-in-state/

State animal of Arunachal Pradesh – complete detail – updated

Vijay Choudhary January 9, 2016Leave a comment

State animal of Arunachal Pradesh – complete detail – updated. Description of State animal of Arunachal Pradesh – Gayal – Mithun – Bos frontalis. What is the name of State animal of Arunachal Pradesh.

Distinctive Identification

Gayal has been classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN. The weight of adult is between 600 kg to 1000 kg. Size between 240 cm to 330 cm. and the length of tail is between 70 cm to 105 cm. They are about 165 cm to 225 cm high at the shoulder.

The skin color of the head and body is blackish-brown in both sexes, and the lower portion of the limbs are white or yellowish, the shank and forehead are creamy white or yellowish in color.

Gayal has no hump above the dorsal ridge but the ball has an exuberance of flesh immediately over the shoulder.

The animal has a huge head, deep massive body and sturdy limbs. The neck is short. The forehead is broad and concave. It has broad ears and small dewlap.

Horns are 1.5 to 4.0 feet long and grow from the sides of the head, curving upwards. Yellow at the base, they gradually darken along their length until turning black at the tips. The horns of young ones are smooth and polished but in adults, the horns are rugged and indented at the base.

The short hair is dark reddish brown to blackish brown in color, while the lower legs are white.

Males are larger than females.

Classification

Common Name – Gayal

Local Name – Mithun

Zoological Name – Bos frontalis

Kingdom – Animalia

Phylum – Chordata

Class – Mammalia

Order – Artiodactyla

Family – Bovidae

Subfamily – Bovinae

Genus – Bos

Conservational Status – Vulnerable (by the IUCN)

Distribution

Gayal are found in Nepal, India to Indochina, and the Malay Peninsula. They live in forested hills and nearby grassy clearings at elevations of up to 5,900 feet.

In Indian, they found in the hills of Tripura, Mizoram, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.

Habit and habitat

Gayal is a social animal, they found in small groups and usually contain one adult male and several females and juveniles.

Vocalizations include an alarm call, which consists of a high-pitched snort, and a growling “moo”. Bulls also have a “herd call”, which halts the herd and brings it together, and a roaring that can last for hours during mating periods.

Gayals typically feed in the morning and evening, but can become entirely nocturnal in areas greatly disturbed by humans. They prefers green grass, but also consume coarse, dry grasses, forbs, and leaves.

The average age of sexual or reproductive maturity for female is between 19 to 21 months and for male is between 18 to 20 month.

Breeding can take place at any time throughout the year, though there is a peak between December and June. Females have an interval of 12 to 16 months between births. The estrous cycle is three weeks long, and estrus lasts one to four days.

Usually one young is born. The gestation period is between 9 to 10 month. Calves are nursed for up to nine months.

Average lifespan of Gayal is between 18 to 26 years.

http://natureconservation.in/state-animal-of-arunachal-pradesh-complete-detail-updated/

http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd26/1/mond26006.html

Livestock Research for Rural Development 26 (1) 2014

Mithun: An Animal of Indian Pride

Mohan Mondal, K K Baruah* and C Rajkhowa*

National Dairy Research Institute, Eastern Regional Station,
A-12 Block, Kalyani, West Bengal-741 235, India
drmmondal@gmail.com
* National Research Centre on Mithun, Indian Council of Agricultural Research,
Jharnapani, Medziphema, Nagaland-797 106, India

Abstract

Mithun, also known as ‘Cattle of Mountain” is an important bovine species of north-eastern hill region of India and also of China, Myanmar, Bhutan and Bangladesh. This magnificent massive bovine is presently reared under free-range condition in the hill forests at an altitude of 1000 to 3000 m above mean sea level. Mithun plays an important role in the socio-economic and cultural life of the local tribal population. Presently, this animal is mainly reared for meat, which is considered to be more tender and superior over the meat of any other species. Mithun milk, though produced less in quantity, is of high quality and can be used for preparation of various milk products. Leather obtained from this species has been found to be superior to cattle.
With the dwindling population of Mithun over the years and gradual denudation of free range area along with the biotic and abiotic stress, there is urgent need of scientific intervention for proper management as well as conservation of this beautiful hill animal through implementing an effective conservation program.
Key words: conservation, meat, milk, propagation, rare ruminant

Introduction

India at large and specifically the North-East India is the hotspot of floral and faunal biodiversity and the habitat of a number endemic species. Of these species, Mithun (Bos frontalis) is an important one which needs support for healthy propagation. However, due to denudation of free range along with the biotic and abiotic stress, there is urgent need of scientific intervention for proper management as well as conservation of this beautiful hill animal through implementing an effective conservation programme. Biotechnologies such as cryopreservation of semen and embryos, coupled with artificial insemination and embryo transfer are important potential tools for the preservation of animal biodiversity. Frozen semen technology offers a very potent means of in vitroconservation of male germplasm.
Mithun is a massive semi-domesticated rare ruminant species mainly reared for meat. This strongly built hill animal of Southeast Asia plays an important role in the socio-economic and cultural life of the local population (Simoons 1984, Mondal and Pal 1999, Mondal et al 2004, 2005a-e, 2006a-f, 2008, 2010). In India, Mithun meat is considered to be more tender and superior over the meat of any other species. At present, Mithun farmers rear this animal at an altitude of 1000 to 3000 meters above mean sea level under free grazing condition in its natural habitat. Due to gradual denudation of forests (natural habitat of Mithun) and tremendous socio-economic and cultural importance of Mithun in the life of the local tribal population, very recently initiatives are being taken to popularise economic Mithun farming under semi-intensive condition with controlled breeding. While wild Indian Gaur, the ancestor of Mithun, is in a vulnerable position (Baillie and Groombridge 1996), Mithuns are subject to non-cyclical population decrease and local-regional contractions, indicative of this species or its population that are not yet endangered, but may become so in the near future. With a decline in population size, inbreeding can occur which, in turn, can reduce reproductive fitness (Nei et al 1975), including fecundity and survivability (Ralls and Ballon 1986). Furthermore, the present free ranging Mithun rearing system permits grazing of limited number of these animals in a particular hill pocket without any migration to other locations and vice versa that results in considerable inbreeding in this species. When genetic variation is maintained or increased, population vigour and the ability to adapt to environmental change are enhanced. Grazing of local cattle together with Mithun in the same forest area increased the chance of crossbreeding with the local cattle that may result in a loss of species uniqueness and specialized adaptive and fitness traits, and failure to response in captivity owing to behavioural problems associated with confinement (Hediger 1965). In addition, very recently slaughtering of Mithun on regular basis for meat imposed further threat on the future population size of this species.

Origin and distribution of Mithun

Mithun is believed to have originated more than 8000 years ago and considered to be descendent from wild Indian gaur (Simoons 1984, Mondal and Pal 1999). Mithuns are found over a large area of Southeast Asia. Beside meat, Mithuns are reared for sacrificial purposes and/or for barter trade. Their natural habitat is the forests of highlands. In some folklore, Mithun has been said to be the descendent of the Sun. Different interesting and divergent legends are available on the origin of Mithun among different tribes. Even today, Mithun is used as a holy sacrificial animal to appease the Gods by the tribesman. Mithun, a unique bovine species has a limited geographical distribution. It is mainly found in the tropical rain forests of North Eastern hilly states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram of India (Diagram 1).

Diagram 1. Mithun inhabited areas of the world (not in Scale)

Besides, it is also available in small numbers in Myanmar, China, Bangladesh and Bhutan (Diagram 1). At present, the population of Mithun in India is approximately 0.26 million. In the North Eastern Hill Region (NEHR) of India, Mithuns are distributed in four different States namely Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram. As per the quinquennial All India Livestock Census (1997), India had a total population of 1,76,893 Mithuns. Of the total population, the Arunachal State alone had 70.25% (1,24,194 heads). The Nagaland State had 18.86% (33,445 heads) followed by Manipur (9.42%; 16,660 heads) and Mizoram States (1.47%; 2,594 heads). It was seen from the census of the year 2003 that the country possessed 2,46,315 numbers of Mithun, which registered a growth rate of only 6.5% per year over the population reported in 1997 census and this growth rate is far below than those recorded during last census in 1997 over 1991 (growth rate: 24.56%) indicating declining trend of population of Mithun growth rates over the decades. In the recent census (2007), it has been noted that except Arunachal Pradesh, in all other three Mithun-inhabited States, percent contribution declined very drastically, particularly in Mizoram State, where the total number of Mithuns are less than 2000 heads (Table 1). These data suggest an immediate developmental and research attention to this species of animal through proper scientific rearing.

Table 1. Recent trends in Mithun population in India
State	1997	2003	2007
Arunachal	124,194	184,343	218,931
Nagaland	33,445	40,452	33,385
Manipur	16,660	19,737	10,024
Mizoram	2,594	1,783	1,939
Total	176,893	246,315	264,279

This animal prefers cold and mild climate. They are browsers like goats and can utilize coarse fodders, which are generally not consumed by other livestock. This is a very fertile animal, which can produce one calf in a year with age at puberty varying from 22 to 30 months. Their productive life ranges from 16 to 18 years. This is an underutilized animal and has a great potential for quality meat, milk and leather production. The quality of meat, milk as well as leather of this animal is very good and there is a great scope to promote this animal as an organic meat and milk producer. This animal is also used as bridal gift as well as in barter trade and the milk producing capacity of this animal also needs to be explored.

Strains of Mithun

As described by Verma (1996), two distinct types of Mithuns are available in India and they were named after the name of the State where they belong (Nagami and Arunachali). These two distinctive types have also been reported by Arora (1998). However, Bhusan et al (2000) have identified four distinct strains of Mithun and named them as Arunachalee, Mizorami, Nagami and Manipuri strain. The names indicate their home tract in northeastern States of India. As per the survey conducted by the National Research Centre on Mithun to identify different strains of Mithun in North Eastern Hills of India, four different strains have been identified (Figure 1). Characterization of these four different strains has been done based on 37 phenotypic characters and genetic characterization was done through RAPD. Results were suggestive of genotypic difference among four different strains.

Figure 1. Four different strains of Mithun (Bos frontalis)

Socioeconomic importance of Mithun

Mithun is considered as the pride of North Eastern Hilly region of India. This animal plays an important role in the social, cultural and economic life of the local tribal population. The ownership of Mithun is considered to be the sign of prosperity and superiority of an individual in the society. Farmers mainly rear Mithun for meat purpose. Besides, this animal is also used as marriage gift and sacrificial animal for different social and cultural ceremonies. Though at present farmers do not consume its milk, this animal produces highly nutritious milk.
Being a meat animal the growth rate of Mithun is the prime concern of farmers. With adequate feeding the growth rate of this animal varies from 300 to 600 g/ day, which is comparable with cattle and buffalo. However, the plasma growth hormone concentration (30-90 ng/ ml) (Mondal et el 2004, 2005d, 2006a,c,d) is much higher in Mithun than in any other domesticated animals. The consumption of Mithun meat is not a regular practice in tribal society. These animals are sacrificed for meat only during important social ceremonies and festivals. However, there is a great demand for Mithun meat and consumers consider this meat as more tender and superior over the meat of any other species except pork. The dressing percentage in Mithun varies from 48 to 54 % in different age groups. However, to achieve an optimum dressing percentage, it is suggested to slaughter Mithuns at 4 to 5 years of age. There is a great scope to utilize this meat to make some value added meat products. The National Research Centre on Mithun has already standardised the process of making some value added products of meat like meat nuggets, meat powder, meat Patties as well as meat block. The organoleptic test conducted by the institute on these products revealed high scoring of 6-7 in the scale of 1-8.
Presently, the consumption of Mithun milk is not an accepted practice among its rearers. Mithun produces around 1 to 1.5 kg milk per day. However, Mithun milk is nutritionally superior to any other domesticated species as it contains high fat (8 to 13%), solid-not-fat (18 to 24%) and protein (5 to 7%). Hence, Mithun has a scope to be promoted as moderately good milk animal for home consumption in these hilly areas. Due to high fat and protein content in Mithun milk, it may be used for the preparation of different value added milk products such as paneer, various sweet products, ghee, cream, curd and cheese. The National Research Center on Mithun, the premier Institute of Indian Council of Agricultural Research, has successfully standardized the process of making paneer, barfi, rasgulla, curd and lassi from Mithun milk.
The quality of Mithun hide is found to be superior in comparison to the traditional cow hide (Das et al 2011). The National Research Centre on Mithun has successfully processed different varieties of leather from Mithun hide. Mithun hide has been found to be very good for the production of upper shoe leather, bag leather and garment leather. Bag leather has been found to be much superior to cow leather. Besides, Mithun hide with hairs could be an excellent exotic outer cover for a sofa.

Scientific rearing system

Currently farmers rear Mithun under free-grazing condition in the forest area without any additional housing or feeding facilities. Occasionally, farmers bring back the female Mithun just before parturition and send it back to the forest following parturition. However, it is suggested that even under a free-range system, a temporary housing structure using locally available materials can be constructed in some strategic locations in the Mithun rearing area. Mithun can also be trained to come to the shed at a particular time every day by providing little bit of concentrate and salt. This will be helpful for farmers to supervise, provide additional feeding and medication to their animals. Besides, farmers will also get an opportunity to look after the individual animal regularly for any kind of discrepancy or disorder. If farmers opt for semi-intensive system of rearing they should go for housing structures with feeding and watering provisions and they can also tie the animals at night once they come back from the forest after grazing. The supervision of individual animals, additional feeding, watering and medication can be done there in late evening or early morning.

Feeding management

Mithun thrives on the jungle forages, tree fodders, shrubs, herbs and other natural vegetations (Das et al 2010). Farmers do not provide any additional feeding. Though the animals are owned by the farmers, they are kept under natural forest in a semi-wild condition. However, farmers occasionally provide common salt, especially at the time of restraining for some purposes. Each individual owner can identify his Mithuns even though they do not bear any identification marks and similarly each Mithun knows his owner which is reflected in the fact that the Mithun approaches the owner periodically for salt. In other words, the owner does not have to invest anything in his Mithun as they are simply let loose in the forest which constitutes around 50 percent of total land area of the region. Owners generally keep Mithuns in community herd in fenced hilly jungle area and village councils assign Mithun grazers to take care of their animals.
As Mithun entirely depends on the locally available jungle fodders, special care should be taken in terms of mineral supplementation for better performances (Das et al 2010). In steep hilly slope, the leaching of mineral elements is a common phenomenon especially during rainy season. Therefore, in a particular hilly grazing gradient the soil will be deficient in some important mineral elements. In that case the vegetation of that particular area will also be deficient in some of the mineral elements, which may induce mineral deficiency. The only option to correct this situation is mineral supplementation. However, the salt licking behaviour as well as drinking of mineral water sources in the hills is the natural way to meet the requirement of minerals in these animals (Prakash et al 2013).
During the lean season, when availability of jungle fodders goes down, additional concentrate supplementation may be required. It is advisable that during the flush season when abundant fodders are available in the jungle, the salt and mineral mixture together may be fed additionally to the animals to avoid mineral deficiency. Whereas, during lean season additional concentrate feed (15% CP and 70% TDN) fortified with salt and mineral mixture (1 to 2 kg per animal daily up to 2 years and 2 to 4 kg per animal daily above 2 years) may be offered to maintain optimum performances (Das et al 2010). For lactating Mithun, as it produces less quantity of milk, no additional feeding is required. In free-range Mithun, these feed supplements may be provided to the animals in the shed constructed in strategic location in the grazing area. Whereas, for animals under semi intensive system the feed supplements may be provided in the shed in late evening or early morning whenever the animals are tied. It has been found that the drinking water requirement for Mithun is approximately 9% and 12% of body weight, during winter and summer respectively. Therefore, the provision of adequate drinking water according to this specification is highly essential.

Breeding management

Like cattle, Mithun is a poly-estrus animal. The healthy adult female Mithun show repeated estrus cycles at an interval of 19 to 24 days unless it is pregnant. The Mithun breeds throughout the year and no definite breeding season is observed in this species. The length of gestation period, service period and calving interval in Mithun varies from 270 to 290 days, 50 to 100 days and 350 to 400 days, respectively. The age at puberty and age at first calving varies from 27 to 36 months and 40 to 48 months, respectively. The Mithun bulls become mature to breed at 3 to 4 years of age. Under free-range system, a practical approach for selective breeding in Mithun is the introduction of superior and tested bulls (1 bull for 10 breedable females) in the herd and simultaneous culling of the unwanted bulls from the herd. Efforts should be made to replace breeding bulls preferably once in five years to avoid inbreeding depression. Under semi intensive system, the female can be detected in heat to be bred with superior bulls either through natural service or artificial insemination.
The expression of estrus behaviour is silent in Mithun (Mondal et al 2008). Unlike cattle, it is difficult to detect heat in Mithun through visual observations. Among all the behavioral signs of estrus, the mounting of Mithun bull over estrus cow is the best indicator of estrus followed by standing of estrus cow to be mounted by Mithun bull. Congestion of vulval mucous membrane and swelling of vulva are also important signs of estrus in Mithun cows. In contrast, other signs like mucous discharge, restlessness and alertness, tail raising, frequent urination and loss of appetite were found to be less prominent estrus signs in Mithun cows (Mondal et al 2008). Bellowing is not generally observed in Mithuns during estrus. The genital organ of Mithun cows during estrus reveals relaxed and open os externa of cervix, turgid uterus and ovaries having palpable follicles. However, it is suggested to use healthy Mithun bulls to detect heat. In Mithun, ovulation occurs between 20 to 31 hour after the onset of estrus (Mondal et al 2006b,e,f).

Conservation of Mithun

Keeping in view the dwindling population of Mithun over the years, it is of great priority for the Mithun inhabited states to conserve and propagate quality Mithun germplasm at faster rate to stabilize its population. There are three ways for the conservation of Mithun genetic resources: i) through cryopreservation of genetic material like living ova, embryos or semen; ii) preservation of genetic information as DNA; and iii) conservation of live population (in situ conservation).
The need for parallel conservation of Mithun genetic resources along with live animal conservation, as raw material for future breeding programmes, should be recognized and has become an important issue in planning of Mithun husbandry. Conservation is of particular concern in the Mithun inhibited regions where there is effort for agricultural change, thereby the risk of gradual replacement of indigenous stocks and farming methods by new techniques. These areas, where climatic extremes and particular parasitic conditions may result in genetically modified and unique local stocks which are able to survive under extreme conditions, need to be given proper attention. Such conservation efforts are particularly important in the light of predicted global climate change, and the ability of microbial and insect parasites to evolve and adapt to modern chemical control methods.

Need for conservation

“The management for human use of the biosphere so that it may yield the greatest sustainable benefit to present generations while maintaining its potential to meet the needs and aspirations of future generations. Thus conservation is positive, embracing preservation, maintenance, sustainable utilization, restoration and enhancement of the natural environment.” (International Union for the Conservation of Nature 1980). The FAO definition of animal genetic resources includes sheep, goats, cattle, pigs, buffalo and poultry. Horses, donkeys, camels, elephants, reindeer and other domesticated animals are given less attention and are often considered to be of marginal interest. In fact the FAO definition includes all these domesticated species and those species on the fringe of domestication or with potential for domestication. It incorporates, for example, a number of Asian ungulates including the Banteng, Mithun, Yak and Gaur (Veitmeyer 1983).

Reason for conservation

The FAO definition of animal genetic resources eligible for conservation includes animal populations with economic potential, scientific use and cultural interest. Mithun fulfills all of these criteria. Populations like Mithun need conservation for their potential economic use in the future. Their economic potential is the production of meat and milk. This potential production may be in diverse climatic and environmental conditions. These adaptations may be beneficial in other areas of the world where similar or complementary conditions exist. From the cultural point of view, Mithuns are of great importance, being used for marriage gift and also serving as a prestigious asset of the owner.
Economic potential cannot be measured by looking simply at performance. Mithun are highly adaptedto their environment and their performance should be measured comparatively, within their own environmental conditions. They should not be compared with other breeds of animals in improved or modified conditions or under intensive management. Furthermore, they should be examined with respect to the products for which they were selected and valued in the conditions under which they evolved.
Mithun should be conserved for their possible scientific use. This may include the use of conservation stocks as control populations, in order to monitor and identify advances and changes in the genetic makeup and production characteristics of selected stocks. The studies in National Research Centre on Mithun include physiology, nutrition and reproduction. Studies are also essential for climatic tolerance at the physiological and genetic level. Genetically distinct breeds are also needed for research into disease resistance and susceptibility which could help in the development of better medication or management of disease. It could also help with the identification of specific genes involved in natural disease or parasite control. Some populations may also be used as research models in other species, including man. This is already the case in the use of Ossabaw Island Hogs in the USA. These feral pigs from an isolated island off the east coast of the USA have been shown to have a natural insulin disorder making them a useful research model for human diabetes (Brisbin 1985).
Many populations have played an important role in specific periods of national or regional history. Mithun plays an important role in cultural ethos of tribal population of these North Eastern hill states of the country.

Objectives for conservation

The idea of conserving Mithun genetic resources may be focused on two separate but interlinked concepts. The first is the conservation of ‘genes’ and the second, the conservation of ‘breeds’ or populations. The conservation of ‘genes’ refers to action to ensure the survival of individual genetically controlled characteristics inherent within a population or group of populations. Such programmes require that a specific characteristic to be conserved is clearly recognized and identified. A characteristic can be identified in the appearance or function of the animals that exhibit it, and a programme can be developed to conserve it as a gene within the population.
The conservation of populations or breeds refers to actions to ensure the survival of a population of animals as defined by the range of genetically controlled characteristics that it exhibits. This form of conservation is applied to ensure the conservation of all the characteristics inherent with a given population, including many which may not have been recognized, defined, identified or monitored. The differences between breeds may often be due to differences in the frequency of quantitative genes rather than the presence or absence of unique genes. Such a difference in gene frequency may result in dramatically different populations with respect to appearance and production in a given environment. For conservation of this species, efforts have been made to collect and preserve Mithun semen in the National Research Centre on Mithun.

Ex situ versus in situ methods of conservation for Mithun

Ex situ preservation involves the conservation of Mithun in a situation removed from their normal habitat. It is used to refer to the collection and freezing in liquid nitrogen of animal genetic resources in the form of living semen, ova or embryos. It may also be the preservation of DNA segments in frozen blood or other tissues. Finally it may refer to captive breeding or other situations far removed from their indigenous environment.
In situ conservation is the maintenance of live populations of animals in their adaptive environment or as close to it as is practically possible. For domestic species the conservation of live animals is normally taken to be synonymous with in situ conservation

Ex situ conservation

In effect, this is the storage of animal genetic resources, which farmers are currently not interested in using. It includes cryogenic preservation and the maintenance of breeds from domesticated species as live-animal populations in parks, zoos and other locations away from the environment in which they are being developed. The global programmes on ex situ conservation strategy is still being developed, but it is based on the use of live-animal populations wherever practicable, supported by cryopreservation where technology exists or can be developed, combining within-country gene banks with global repositories of last resort. This strategy is in keeping with the Convention on Biological Diversity. A range of animal health issues must be overcome, however, before much international storage of and access to such material can be effective for the domestic animal species. The technology required for storing both male and female gametes of all species of interest is not yet developed. Of course, interested governments, non-governmental organizations, research institutions and private enterprises will be encouraged to maintain in vivo samples of breeds at risk, with national inventories being established and kept up to date so that the genetic resources are readily available for use and study.

Conclusions

Mithun husbandry in North Eastern hill region of India is an important component of the livestock production system. Scientific rearing of this species will not only support the need of protein but also help to generate extra income to the poor Mithun rearers for their livelihood. The need of the hour is, therefore, to popularize scientific farming in the states where Mithun rearing is an age-old practice. The recent success in the field of artificial insemination, estrus synchronization coupled with timed AI and embryo transfer technology will definitely help to go a long way to achieve the target of propagating quality germplasm in the farmers’ field.

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Mondal M, Rajkhowa C and Prakash B S 2005e Relationship of blood growth hormone and temperament in Mithun (Bos frontalis). Hormones and Behavior 49 (2):190-196.
Mondal M, Rajkhowa C and Prakash B S 2006a Exogenous GH-releasing hormone increases GH and LH secretion in growing Mithuns (Bos frontalis). General and Comparative Endocrinology 149: 197-204.
Mondal M, Rajkhowa C and Prakash B S 2006b Behavioral estrous signs can predict the time of ovulation in Mithun (Bos frontalis). Theriogenology 66: 1391-1396.
Mondal M, Rajkhowa C and Prakash B S 2006c Determination of effective dosage of GH-releasing factor for blood GH responses in Mithun (Bos frontalis). Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition 90: 453-458.
Mondal M, Rajkhowa C and Prakash B S 2006d Plasma growth hormone concentration in Mithun (Bos frontalis) of different ages : relation to age and body weight. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition 91:68-74.
Mondal M, Rajkhowa C and Prakash B S 2006e Relationship of plasma estradiol-17β, total estrogen and progesterone to estrous behavior in Mithun (Bos frontalis) cows. Hormones and Behavior 49:626-633.
Mondal M, Rajkhowa C and Prakash B S 2006f Timing of Ovulation in Relation to Onset of Estrus and LH Peak in Mithun (Bos frontalis) Cows. Reproduction in Domestic Animals 41: 479-484.
Mondal S K and Pal D T 1999 Mithun: Historical perspective. Asian Agri-History 3(4) 245-260.
Nei M, Maruyama T and Chakraborty R 1975 The bottleneck effect and genetic variability in populations. Evolution 29: 1–10.
Prakash B, Rathore S S, Khate K and Rajkhowa C 2013 Nutrient composition of forest based foliages consumed by Mithun (Bos frontalis) under Imphal district of Manipur. Livestock Research for Rural Development. Volume 25, Article #187. http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd25/10/prak25187.htm
Ralls K and Ballon J D 1986 Preface to the proceedings of the workshop on genetic management of captive populations. Zoo Biology 5: 81–86.
Simoons F J 1984 Gayal or Mithun. In Evolution of domesticated animals. pp 34. Editor: Mason. I L. Longman, London, UK
Verma N D 1996 Mithun- a magnificent Bos species. In Dairy India(Ed) Gupta PR, A 25 Priyadarshini Vihar, Delhi, pp. 180-181.
Vietmeyer N D 1983 Little Known Asian Animals with a Promising Economic Future. National Academy Press, Washington DC, USA.

Mithun state animal of Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland. Slaughtering such an animal is to deny Bharatiya heritage, culture.

The gayal or Mithun is the state animal of Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland. Gayals play an important role in the social life of the people in Arunachal Pradesh. Marriages are not fixed until the bridegroom's family gives at least one gayal to the bride's household.

The gayal (Bos frontalis), also known as mithun, is a large semi-domesticated bovine distributed in Northeast India,Bangladesh, northern Burma and in Yunnan, China. The gayal differs in several important particulars from the gaur. It is somewhat smaller, with proportionately shorter limbs, and stands much lower at the withers. The ridge on the back is less developed, and bulls have a larger dewlap on the throat. The head is shorter and broader, with a perfectly flat forehead and a straight line between the bases of the horns. The thick and massive horns are less flattened and much less curved than in the gaur, extending almost directly outwards from the sides of the head, and curving somewhat upwards at the tips, but without any inward inclination. Their extremities are thus much farther apart than in the gaur. The female gayal is much smaller than the bull, and has scarcely any dewlap on the throat. The skin colour of the head and body is blackish-brown in both sexes, and the lower portion of the limbs are white or yellowish. The horns are of uniform blackish tint from base to tip. Some domesticated gayals are parti-coloured, while others are completely white...The role of the mithun is central to the lives of many residents of these areas, including transhumant ones who pair mithun management with sago palm harvesting:Although livestock is highly characteristic of the high Himalayan way of life in general, with yaks and sheep being predominant species until recently, the mithun, or gayal (Bos frontalis) is the most prominent animal exploited by Eastern Himalayan groups (Figure 4). The mithun is a semi-domesticate, managed in fenced tracts of forests rather than being kept in or near villages. Outside North East India, mithun are primarily imported for the purpose of cross- breeding with other bovids, for example in Bhutan. It is very common among Eastern Himalayan languages to find lexical sets denoting fauna in which the mithun is lexicalized as a “prototypical” meat animal, with all other terms being derived. [...] Terms for ‘mithun’ in other languages of Arunachal Pradesh are typically cognate with Aka fu (e.g. Miji ʃu, Koro sù, Puroik ʧa and Proto-Tani *ɕo), suggesting that this is probably not a case of semantic shift from a wild species. The implication is that the semi-wild mithun was seen as the core species, and the true domesticates such as cattle, which arrived subsequently, as marginal to the system. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gayal

Mithun in Thrissur zoo
B4 darjeling para-5.jpg

Gayal near Darjeeling Para in Bandarban, Bangladesh
Such an animal was slaughtered in Arunachal Pradesh in front of Raj Bhavan.
S. Kalyanaraman
Sarasvati Research Center
January 28, 2016

Protest after protest! BJP accuses Congress of destroying sanctity of Raj Bhawan

ITANAGAR, Dec 18: The Arunachal Pradesh BJP, in its strongest terms, has condemned the brutal slaughtering of Mithun at the entry gate of Raj Bhawan here late evening of Dec 17 (Thursday) allegedly by the Congress workers and leaders in presence of senior Ministers including the Home Minister and senior officers of State Police.
The BJP claimed that the scandalous act occurred at the full knowledge of State administration is a matter of serious concern and termed it as barbaric for meting out brutality to the State animal.
This has broken the very sanctity of the Raj Bhawan of the State as well as breached the customs and conventions of the tribal rites and rituals, remarked BJP spokesperson Techi Necha in a press release here today.
He said the BJP also vehemently condemned the unbecoming and animistic behaviour exposed before the Governor by Council of the Ministers during an official appointment by Chief Minister Nabam Tuki, breaking ethics, protocol and decency at Raj Bhawan on Dec 15.
The unruly behaviour committed by the persons in such stature on the constitutional head of state, and that also where the Chief Minister himself was present at the spot certainly reflected what type of persons are in the responsible public offices, which also exposed immunity enjoyed by Tuki govt&hellipin the fight for political supremacy between two factions in the ruling Congress, Necha alleged.
The BJP also expressed its anguish at last evening's protests on the National Highway-415 that led to halting of traffic movement between Naharlagun and Itanagar and burning down of vehicles allegedly by the Congress workers. Such acts and indulgence of the ruling Congress is against the democratic spirit, principles and values as they themselves took the law in their hand, the BJP spokesperson added.

http://www.echoofarunachal.in/newsdetails.php?nid=ECHO20151219043617

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHhzNrd-PWM

Mighty Mithun Under Threat
Uploaded on Jul 26, 2010
'Mithun' (Bos Frontails) exists both in wild and semi-domesticated form. Although it is also found in Nagaland and in other states of North East in small number, Mithun is especially seen as an important animal of Arunachal Pradesh. The reason is, unlike other states, this animal has religious significance and intimate relation with socio-cultural life of the people in Arunachal Pradesh. In addition to social and traditional values, the economic values of mithun is also very high. The cost of mithun at present, ranges from Rs 25,000� 40,000 per head. This, despite the fact that Mithuns are physically weak animal and are not fit for draught purpose. Adult female mithun can produce 1-1.5 litres of milk in a day and therefore cannot be considered for milch purpose. A Mithun usually has alife span of 25-30 years To generate awareness about the Mithun and the threat of extinction that it is facing, a two-day festival called 'Bos Frontalis' Festival 2010 was organised in Itanagar in the month of May by the Mascot Network Society and the Centre for Cultural Research and Documentation (CCRD). The event tried to generate awareness about the Mithun, its cultural significance, conservation as well as its importance as a folk icon. Indian Council of Agricultural Research or ICAR also has a special National Reearch Centre on Mithun (NRCM) in Nagaland's Medziphema. Here studies are on to find new facts about mithun husbandary, including safe rearing, enhancing the quality of meat and hides. Apak Gadi, our correspondent belongs to Galo tribal community. As a community member, Apak wants the traditions to be preserved, but not at the cost of the extinction of an animal. So Apak feels, the research findings at institutes like NMRC, must be shared with the farmers and communities, so they learnt the technique of cross breeding and rearing well, instead of being dependent on the government-employed veterinarians who can not reach every village in the state.

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Mithun state animal of Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland. Slaughtering such an animal is to deny Bharatiya heritage, culture.

January 27, 2016, 4:45 pm

≫ Next: Radical Islam is the problem, moderate Islam is the solution -- Daniel Pipes

≪ Previous: Mithun, cow 'endangered species' was slaughtered in front of Raj Bhavan -- Gov. informs President on law&order breakdown in Arunachal Pradesh

Mithun in Thrissur zoo
B4 darjeling para-5.jpg

Gayal near Darjeeling Para in Bandarban, Bangladesh
Such an animal was slaughtered in Arunachal Pradesh in front of Raj Bhavan.
S. Kalyanaraman
Sarasvati Research Center
January 28, 2016

Protest after protest! BJP accuses Congress of destroying sanctity of Raj Bhawan

http://www.echoofarunachal.in/newsdetails.php?nid=ECHO20151219043617

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Radical Islam is the problem, moderate Islam is the solution -- Daniel Pipes

January 27, 2016, 5:03 pm

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Daniel Pipes on Radical Islam

Kickass Politics
January 21, 2016

http://www.meforum.org/5810/daniel-pipes-on-radical-islam

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Audio Recording

Middle East Forum President Daniel Pipes appeared on Kickass Politics with Ben Mathis on January 21 to discuss the threat of radical Islam.

Excerpt

In an article that you wrote last week, you said that [Donald Trump] needs to be blaming Islamists, not Muslims. Now, there are probably a lot of people who would say that's a distinction without a difference. For those people, how would you explain the difference?

It is a distinction with a difference. Clearly, everyone would agree that not all Muslims are Islamists. Take ISIS as the most extreme Islamist phenomenon. Clearly there are plenty of Muslims who are fighting it, who don't like it, are appalled by it. So we can't lump all Muslims together in this particular ideology.

Middle East Forum President Daniel Pipes: "Radical Islam is the problem and moderate Islam is the solution."

My slogan is that radical Islam is the problem and moderate Islam is the solution. In other words, it's a battle between Muslims. And right now the Islamist, or radical Islamic, ideology is rampant, is dominant. But if it's going to be challenged, it's going to be challenged by some other form of Islam.

Surely no one is going to claim that all forms of Islam are the same. There's quietist Islam, there's jihadi Islam – there are many different forms. And we should be supporting, helping, funding, applauding those Muslims who would like an alternative, who reject Islamism and would like a moderate, good-neighborly form of Islam.
...

I have a number of people I've talked to about this, and some have said the peaceful Muslims are the ones who don't actually understand or believe the Quran. As someone who's studied it, would you agree, or is that a false choice?

It's a false choice. What you're pointing to is an odd symbiosis between the Islamists on the one hand, and the anti-Islamic types on the other hand. They both agree that the only form of Islam is Islamism – that you have to want to apply the legal form of Islamic law to be a true Muslim, otherwise you're not serious.

No. Islam is a huge phenomenon. There are many different ways of interpreting it. Just as there are in other major religions. There's not one doctrinal way.

Related Topics: Moderate Muslims

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Annotated edition of Hitler's Mein Kampf -- Thomas Vordermayer

January 27, 2016, 6:58 pm

≫ Next: Midnight AAP hawala: Dr. Subramanian Swamy seeks sanction of LG Delhi to prosecute CM Arvind Kejriwal and DyCM Manish Sisodia under Sec 13 (1)(d) Prevention of Corruption Act. NaMo, nationalise kaalaadhan.

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Adolf Hitler annotated

Annotated edition of Hitler's Mein Kemph

Written by Thomas Vordermayer | Published:January 28, 2016 12:09 am

Just in Germany alone, more than 12 million copies of Mein Kampf were published between 1933 and 1945, the period of National Socialist rule. In addition, the book was translated into at least 17 other languages. After the collapse of the Third Reich, all new publications of the book were banned in the Federal Republic of Germany; only its sale on the used book market was permitted.

In view of the singular catastrophe that Adolf Hitler and the National Socialists had inflicted upon Europe and across the globe, that decision was politically understandable. However, in the subsequent decades, it encouraged a growing tendency to mythologise the book. Its restricted public availability and the lure of what was (supposedly) forbidden led to a situation where Mein Kampf became ever more a symbol of “Absolute Evil”. Yet, there was no rational, public debate on this book, in a sense the primal conceptual core of Hitler’s inhuman and murderous ideology. Rather, after 1945, only a small number of scholarly experts chose to deal in detail with the content of this work of more than 700 pages.

Political nervousness mounted as the end of 2015 approached, 70 years after Hitler’s death and thus a juncture marking the end of the legal copyright on Mein Kampf. From January 2016, new printings of the book in German are theoretically possible. Faced with this eventuality, the Institute of Contemporary History, Munich-Berlin, under its own direction and responsibility, prepared a scholarly edition of Mein Kampf. The edition, comprising some 3,700 annotations, was presented to the public at the beginning of January this year.

Why is it useful, indeed necessary, to fully reprint Hitler’s book anew in an annotated edition? First of all, Mein Kampf is one of the central sources of National Socialism and Hitler’s singlemost important programmatic piece of writing. Nowhere else did the later dictator reveal so much about himself and his criminal political aims. This circumstance alone legitimises an intensive and critical encounter with the book. Moreover, nowhere else did Hitler present his own biography as a private individual and a party politician in such a systematically stylised and falsified way. However, many of the corresponding lies and distortions cannot be properly recognised as such without detailed knowledge of the extant source materials and the historical scientific literature. Without a grounded critical explanation, the danger could arise that Hitler’s propagandistic statements, sometimes purely fictional, might enjoy renewed dissemination, as was the case 90 years ago when Mein Kampf was first published.

That danger looms all the more when it comes to Hitler’s account of his political and ideological adversaries — in particular the Jewish minority in Germany and the political elite in the Weimar Republic that arose in 1918 from the ruins of World War I. They were the prime target of Hitler’s rancour. He blasted them with a veritable barrage of defamatory accusations and offensive insults, in keeping with his characteristic perception of the world in a simplistic, black-and-white, friend-foe schema. Respect for the victims who no longer can defend themselves calls for repudiating those obnoxious slurs and reproaches.

Consequently, the objective rectification of Hitler’s countless ideologically motivated assertions is one of the central tasks of the new edition. But that is not its sole aim. A key function of the annotations is, at the same time, to place Hitler’s book within its historical context: How and when did his theories arise? Who can be identified as conceptual precursors? What texts did Hitler rely on while he was working on Mein Kampf? What social backing did Hitler’s statements enjoy among his contemporaries? And importantly: What are the internal contradictions that characterise Mein Kampf?

In essence, these are the questions that have shaped and determined work on this critical edition over the past three years. In addition, the annotations are designed to provide concrete assistance to the reader: Hitler makes mention in Mein Kampf of a multitude of persons and events that he was able to presuppose contemporary readers were familiar with, but which today are largely forgotten.

As a result, the original text often remains at points simply incomprehensible without the corresponding background information. A genuine critical encounter with Hitler’s text only becomes possible here through proper relevant annotation and commentary. Finally, the edition points out the disastrous consequences that Hitler’s proclamations had in the Third Reich — extending to his unconditional will to war for “living space in the East” and the millions of ultimate victims of that boundless and ruthless pretension. Here it becomes evident, if not before, just to what extent Mein Kampf must continue to be taken seriously as a programmatic diatribe against civilisation.

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/adolf-hitler-annotated/99/print/

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Midnight AAP hawala: Dr. Subramanian Swamy seeks sanction of LG Delhi to prosecute CM Arvind Kejriwal and DyCM Manish Sisodia under Sec 13 (1)(d) Prevention of Corruption Act. NaMo, nationalise kaalaadhan.

January 27, 2016, 10:28 pm

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Midnight AAP hawala: Dr. Subramanian Swamy seeks sanction of Lt. Gov., Govt. of NCT, Delhi to prosecute CM Arvind Kejriwal and DyCM Manish Sisodia under Sec 13 (1)(d) Prevention of Corruption Act

Background

AAP’S ‘HAWALA AT MIDNIGHT’

Tuesday, 03 February 2015 | Staff Reporter | New Delhi

Hours after some of its former members alleged Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of gathering donations from the fake companies, BJP launched fresh attack on the Arvind Kejriwal on Monday. While addressing a Press conference, a team of BJP leaders came down heavily on AAP and demanded a detailed investigation into the allegations. “It is election time... this is a party which is talking about other parties... later we will decide what to do... today we have worked on the work done by AVAM... what happened tomorrow is for tomorrow,” said Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. “We have heard of freedom at midnight, we can call this hawala at midnight or ghotala at midnight”, said Shazia Ilmi.

Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal who was also present at the Press conference said that the AAP’s donations are illegal. “Black money is being routed via shell companies to the party,” he said.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/city/aaps-hawala-at-midnight.html

HYPE & DRAMA CARRY THE DAY

Tuesday, 03 February 2015 | Staff Reporter | New Delhi
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The slog over campaigning for the high-stake Delhi Assembly polls saw a high-pitched drama on Monday as rivals pulled no punches in attacking each other with whatever they could grab on to, and then knocked at the door of the Election Commission to ensure fair play. While AAP used a reference to Arvind Kejriwal’s “gotra” in the BJP’s “advertisement” in leading publications to attack the rival and make an emotional appeal on caste lines, the BJP hit back by levelling grave charges of accepting black money against the “so-called” anti-corruption crusaders.
In the mist of all these bitter exchanges that made for minute-to-minute breaking news on TV channels, Narendra Tandon, the election in-charge of BJP’s chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi, first resigned from the party over Bedi’s “dictatorial” attitude and then quickly did a ‘ghar wapsi’ after meeting party chief Amit Shah. Bedi was also in the news for an attack on her Krishna Nagar election office allegedly by a group of lawyers.
With opinion polls forecasting a keen contest, both major contenders for power seem desperate to win the battle of perception and influence over floating voters before the February 7 polls. Besides launching a major advertisement blitzkrieg, the BJP has roped in a huge number of MPs, MLAs and senior leaders to mobilise voters by holding roadshows, small and big rallies and establishing personal contact. The AAP has also brought hordes of volunteers from across the country and is using TV actors and social activists to send across their message of “alternative” politics.
Reduced to ‘also ran’ in this election, the Congress is targeting both these front runners. Though the party can draw consolation from impressive attendance at Sonia Gandhi’s rally on Sunday and Rahul Gandhi’s roadshow last week, how much of it will translate into votes is a matter of conjecture. The day began with the AAP fuming over the BJP’s advertisement published on Monday describing Kejriwal as belonging to a “upadravi gotra.” The AAP chief accused the ruling party of creating a caste divide, playing dirty politics, and targeting the entire Agarwal community. The former Chief Minister even filed a complaint with the Election Commission, saying: “The BJP in the past few days has been giving advertisements personally attacking me.
They attacked me and my children; I kept quiet because Anna used to say that if someone personally attacks you, you should have the strength to bear it. But today they have crossed their limit.” The BJP in turn said that AAP was the one violating the Model Code of Conduct by imputing meanings to the words used in an advertisement for political gains. “They are doing this so that they can benefit. The BJP treats all the castes as equal and does not believe in caste politics. The word ‘gotra’ used in the advertisement is as a metaphor, alluding to Kejriwal’s personal claim of being an anarchist,” said State BJP chief Satish Upadhyay.
The BJP also approached the EC on Monday alleging that the AAP was trying to give a ‘casteist and religious’ tone to a ‘political statement’ made by it in the advertisement. As leaders of both the parties went into overdrive to tackle the sensitive issue, the BJP faced an embarrassment when Kiran Bedi’s campaign in-charge Narendra Tandon resigned from the party stating that he “could no longer bear her dictatorial attitude.” However, hours later he withdrew his resignation by apologizing to BJP president Amit Shah and saying he “got carried away by emotions.”
Tandon, a former secretary of the party’ city unit and a permanent invitee to Delhi BJP’s executive committee, had sent his resignation in the morning to Shah, which was accepted. Tandon was general secretary of Delhi University Students’ Union in the late 1990s during his stint with the BJP’s ABVP. He rose through the party ranks and later became secretary of Delhi BJP when OP Kohli was made the city unit chief.
After the Tandon fiasco, it was the AAP’s turn to do some intense firefighting after a break-away volunteer group of the party dropped a bombshell by accusing it of receiving Rs 2 crores last year from four “dubious” companies. The AAP strongly refuted the charges and challenged the Centre to order a probe by any Central investigation agency including the CBI, but the BJP leadership held a detailed Press conference to question the fundraising.
The group, AAP Volunteer Action Manch (AVAM) claimed that the money was donated to AAP on the midnight of April 15 last year. Karan Singh and Gopal Goel of AVAM alleged that four donations worth Rs 50 lakh each were remitted to the account of AAP from four different “dubious companies”. BJP swiftly attacked AAP by calling it midnight money laundering through hawala. “We can safely call it ‘hawala at midnight’,” Shazia Ilmi said. Ilmi quit AAP and recently joined the BJP. “The party has been talking a lot about transparency in political funding. The revelations show how this party used illegal and wrong route and indulged in money laundering through hawala and pumped in money into AAP’s political funding,” Union Minister and BJP leader Piyush Goyal said.
Calling the charges a conspiracy to tarnish its image, senior party leader Yogendra Yadav told a Press conference that, “We invite the Government to order an investigation before the February 7 polls itself by any of its agencies, be it CBI, ED, IB, Police, Army and subsequently arrest us if we have done anything wrong.” Late at night at a Press conference, Yadav said that they will write to the Supreme Court to set up a Special Investigation Team to probe the funding of not just AAP but also the BJP and Congress.
Yadav said that the AAP has taken all its donations through cheques to ensure transparency and also insists on PAN card details for the transactions.“We’ve taken all donations by cheque.. We have a BJP Government (at the Centre). Let it investigate. Please punish me if anything wrong is found,” AAP chief Kejriwal said when asked about the allegations.
Capping the day of drama was a clash between lawyers and BJP workers at the Krishna Nagar office of BJP’s chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi. Reports said that three persons were injured in the incident. Joint Commissioner of Police Sanjay Beniwal said the clash was between a group of BJP workers and a number of lawyers who were raising slogans against Bedi outside her campaign office. Learning of the clash Bedi who was out for campaigning tweeted: “My BJP constituency office in Krishna Nagar, am informed has been attacked. Informed some injured too. Cutting short rallies, rushing back.”

http://www.dailypioneer.com/print.php?printFOR=storydetail&story_url_key=hype-and-drama-carry-the-day&section_url_key=todays-newspaper

BLACK MONEY HAS BLACKENED AAP: MODI

Wednesday, 04 February 2015 | Sweta Goswami | New Delhi

The BJP kept up its offensive against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over money laundering allegations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading the charge on Tuesday and accusing the AAP leadership of crossing all limits of “shamelessness.” Other BJP leaders, including Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, also confronted the AAP with serious questions about the source of the Rs2-crore donation that it received eight months ago from four fictitious companies.

In one of his most aggressive speeches ahead of the February 7 Assembly polls, the Prime Minister slammed the AAP over the money laundering charge, saying the AAP had crossed all limits of “shamelessness” and that this was the basic character of the outfit. Questioning AAP’s transparency claims, Modi lambasted AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal saying the very people who used to keep lists of Swiss Bank account holders now have no clue about the funds being transferred into their own accounts.

Referring to the exposé about transfer of Rs2 crore at the stroke of midnight on a single day into the AAP’s accounts, Modi called it “kaali raat mein kale dhan ke kaarnaame (misdeeds of black money at midnight).” The statement drew thunderous applause and cheers from thousands of BJP supporters gathered at the Japanese Park in Rohini. Without naming Kejriwal, he said: “The temporary party and its dramebaaz leader leveled all sorts of corruption charges against the BJP and Congress, but now the truth has come out.”

With opinion polls carried out by various channels predicting an AAP upsurge in the last leg of the polls, the BJP leadership sees the money laundering charges as a last weapon to turn the tide in its favour. The party fielded its senior leaders to raise this issue throughout the day in a bid to puncture AAP’s claim of transparency and honesty.

Launching a fierce attack on the AAP, Jaitley said the party was caught “red-handed” receiving funds through “round-tripping” from companies which did not have any business and accused it of adopting “diversionary tactics” to deflect attention. Jaitley called the Rs 2 crore donation through cheques of Rs.50 lakh each by four companies to AAP a clear case of “round-tripping of black money” and indicated that a probe will be initiated into it by the authorities concerned.

“It is obvious that this is a round-tripping of black money into the system of a political party. Now, if you are perhaps trapped in an incident of this kind, this is no position that you should start blaming other political parties and try and deflect the agenda,” he said. On AAP seeking a Supreme Court-monitored probe into funding of the three major parties in Delhi polls, Jaitley said: “These are all diversionary tactics. AAP and its leadership is caught red-handed in this case. I’m sure the statutory authorities will do their job as and when their returns are filed and as and when the facts are brought to their notice.”

Rejecting the AAP’s argument that it received the donations through cheques, Jaitley said: “The elementary question is when you give your money by cheque, who is the controlling interest behind that company, the party is supposed to know that.” He further said it was “obvious that these companies have been used as pass-through entities, transacted through hawala means or through companies which convert that money and give entries in white money to others.”

As the war of words intensified, commerce minister nirmala sitharaman even called kejriwal a thief. “a chor (thief) cannot decide who will investigate him,” she said, responding to aap’s demand for a sit probe into the funding of political parties. Sitharaman’s thief remark evoked a strong response from the aap. “not surprised if nirmala sitharaman is calling kejriwal a thief. That is the political culture they have been born into,” aap leader ashutosh said.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/todays-newspaper/black-money-has-blackened-aap-modi.html

'Hawala at Midnight' is just the latest example of irresponsible media coverage of corruption

India is witnessing an era of fact-free accusations.
Keshava Guha · Feb 03, 2015 · 09:12 pm

Photo Credit: Sam Panthaky/AFP

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With four days to go until the Delhi elections, the top two Twitter trends in India are #HawalaAtMidnight and #AAPFundingScam, the former a hashtag popularised by Times Now and the Times of India. The timing of the allegations – the donations in question were made 10 months ago – suggest that they are a desperate attempt to check an Aam Aadmi Party surge that has been acknowledged even by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh mouthpiece Organiser. Whether or not this attempt is successful, both print and television media have covered the so-called scam with shameful inaccuracy. The reporting on claims that AAP received large donations from dubious companies that were fronts for money laundering is only the latest example of irresponsible media coverage of political corruption.

The mere use of the words “hawala” and “money laundering” in this case borders on yellow journalism. Even the Bharatiya Janata Party – which compelled three senior ministers, Arun Jaitley, Piyush Goyal and Nirmala Sitharaman, to recuse themselves from the affairs of state in favour of attacking Arvind Kejriwal – has not accused the politician or his party of committing any illegality. Neither the BJP nor the Congress dispute Kejriwal’s assertion that the donations in question were received by cheque.

Any suggestion of illegality is restricted to the four companies that made the donations. Nirmala Sitharaman may have rhetorically referred to Keriwal as achor, but she has declined either to accuse him of a specific crime or to call for an investigation (only AAP itself has done the latter). No evidence has been offered either by AVAM, the group that made the allegations, or by the BJP to support their claims that AAP is guilty of hawala transactions or money laundering.

Grave incident

None of this is to downplay the seriousness of AAP receiving large donations of highly dubious provenance. From its inception, the party has employed a tone of relentless sanctimony, and it is not enough to say that the BJP and Congress have no credibility on the question of political funding. AAP deserves to be held to a higher standard of probity. But its failings in this case appear to be moral, not legal. It is guilty of negligence and perhaps of hypocrisy, but not – at least on all the evidence presented – of hawala or money laundering.

Contrary to the allegation made by some AAP supporters, the sensationalist media coverage does not reflect an anti-AAP bias. Network 18 aside, there is no such systematic bias in the English-language media. Indeed, AAP owes its rise more than any other party to the quantity and nature of its media coverage, testament to the media’s fixation with Delhi. It is, rather, sadly representative of the way in which allegations of corruption have been reported in recent years.

The classic case of dangerously misleading media coverage is the 2G scam. The mere fact that this was almost universally reported, especially in headlines, as the “1.76 lakh crore 2G scam” gave the impression that A Raja and the United Progressive Alliance government had pocketed that sum of money. The alleged loss was notional and the method of allocation was a policy endorsed by both the National Democratic Alliance and the UPA. But these facts were presented as the flimsy defence of criminals whose guilt was beyond question.

Serious consequences

The media’s promotion of the 1.76 lakh crore figure gave rise to the popular image of the UPA as a government not merely corrupt but uniquely corrupt. The 2G scam had a direct influence on the 2011 assembly elections in Tamil Nadu and, more indirectly, on the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into the allocation did raise serious questions of crony capitalism. But coupled with its veneration of former Comptroller and Attorney General Vinod Rai, a man who exposed no criminality, as the voice of honesty, the media’s use of the 1.76 lakh crore figure seriously misconstrued the nature and scope of the so-called scam with far-reaching political consequences.

There are at least three factors driving inaccurate or exaggerated coverage of corruption. The first is the rise of he-said she-said journalism at the expense of reporting and, in particular, of genuine investigative journalism. In both the 2G and AAP cases, the media were guilty of uncritically reporting allegations made by groups that lacked credibility, and in particular of adopting language and figures – “hawala”, “1.76 lakh crore” – that made for good headlines but were unsupported by fact. This in keeping with a wider trend, particularly prevalent in television news, of allowing politicians to throw mud at opponents without having their accusations fact-checked or even questioned by journalists. The return from political obscurity of Subramanian Swamy – who not coincidentally is currently fighting to decriminalise libel in India – embodies this new climate of fact-free accusation.

Scams are good news

The second factor is simply that scams are good for circulation and TV ratings, not to mention Twitter trends. No political issue unites the English-language audience as much as political corruption, and if allegations of corruption are simultaneously exaggerated and reported as fact, they circulate all the quicker. As the British Prime Minister James Callaghan once ruefully remarked, “A lie can be halfway around the world before the truth has got its boots on.” Nowhere is this truer than in India.

Finally, the media reports allegations of corruption in much the same way as it reports other kinds of crime, most notably rape and murder – reserving for itself the role of both prosecution and judge, and operating under the principle of guilty until proven innocent. This is, in part, a response to the perception that the CBI is no more than a tool of the government of the day, and the failure of the courts to speedily or effectively punish corruption. The two prominent politicians jailed for corruption in recent years, Jayalithaa and Laloo Prasad Yadav, were convicted after 18 and 17 years respectively. In this climate, the public are more than happy to allow the press and television to determine matters of guilt or innocence.

We thus have a tragic situation in which the area in which the media is most capable of serving the public interest – by exposing the wrongdoings of elected representatives – is an area where journalists are actually causing sustained harm to Indian democracy. Manchester Guardian editor C.P. Scott’s dictum that “comment is free, but facts are sacred” was once the most famous expression of journalistic ethics. When it comes to the coverage of corruption, however, comment is free, but facts are boring.

http://scroll.in/article/704052/hawala-at-midnight-is-just-the-latest-example-of-irresponsible-media-coverage-of-corruption

Row over 'dubious' funding hits AAP, BJP smells 'hawala at midnight'

HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
|
Updated: Feb 03, 2015 01:59 IST

Aam-Aadmi-Party-chief-Arvind-Kejriwal-with-party-members-in-Delhi-HT-Photo

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A breakaway volunteer group of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday accused the Arvind Kejriwal-led party of receiving Rs 2 crore last year through four "dubious" companies, a charge strongly rejected by the rookie party that challenged the Centre to order a probe by any central investigation agency including CBI.

The group -- AAP Volunteer Action Manch (AVAM) -- claimed that the money was donated to the AAP on the midnight of April 15 last year.

Karan Singh and Gopal Goel of AVAM alleged that four donations worth Rs 50 lakh each were remitted to the account of the AAP from four different "dubious companies".

The AAP called it a conspiracy to tarnish its image ahead of the February 7 Delhi assembly elections.

"This is a conspiracy. We invite the government to order an investigation before the February 7 polls itself by any of its agencies -- be it CBI, ED, IB, police, army... and subsequently arrest us if we have done anything wrong," senior party leader Yogendra Yadav told a press conference.

Yadav said that the AAP had taken all its donations through cheques to ensure transparency and also insists on PAN card details for the transactions.

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal said, "We've taken all donations by cheque.. We have a BJP government (at the Centre). Let it investigate. Please punish me if anything wrong is found,"
"The BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and some mysterious fronts created by it close to the Delhi assembly elections have unleashed a malicious and false propaganda on the funding of the AAP," said a statement from the party.
The BJP, meanwhile, hit out at the rookie party over the controversy.
"We have heard of freedom at midnight, we can call this hawala at midnight or ghotala at midnight," said Shazia Ilmi, who had recently joined the BJP after parting ways with the AAP.
AAP gets Rs 15 lakh from UK
AAP supporters from across the UK donated Rs 15 lakh to the party for the Delhi elections during a programme ‘Flame of Hope’ that began in Scotland and ended in London last week.
Flame Of Hope is a symbolic torch that will be travelling hundreds of miles in different cities of UK along with a message board. AAP sources told HT on Monday that there was growing enthusiasm for the party during the flame journey from December 21 to January 25.

(With inputs from Prasun Sonwalkar in London and agencies)
http://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi/row-over-dubious-funding-hits-aap-bjp-smells-hawala-at-midnight/story-crCJyZ57pOafUbQDUaaCcO.html

HAWALA AT MIDNIGHT: AVAM HAS A BONE TO PICK WITH AAP AS MORE SKELETONS TUMBLE OUT

Wednesday, 04 February 2015 | Rajesh Kumar | New Delhi

More skeleton are likely to tumble out in the alleged “hawala at midnight” as some of the stakeholders are directors of multiple companies, which the Delhi Government had put in the ‘defaulters’ list of 2013’. As per document available with The Pioneer, the directors of four unknown non-operating companies — Goldmine Buildcon Private Limited, Skyline Metals & Alloy Private Limited, Infolance Software Solutions Limited, Sunvision Agencies Private Limited — who gave funds to AAP of Rs50 lakh each on the same day of April 5, 2014 midnight, are also directors of SKN Associates Limited, which has been declared a defaulter company by Department of Trade & Taxes of Delhi Government on December 18, 2013, 10 days prior to the formation of AAP Government in Delhi.

According to the document, Hem Prakash Sharma, Mukesh Kumar and Dharmendra Kumar are not only the directors of four unknown non-operating companies — Goldmine Buildcon Private Limited, Skyline Metals & Alloy Private Limited, Infolance Software Solutions Limited, Sunvision Agencies Private Limited but also of SKN Associates Limited.

Investigation revealed that SKN Associates Limited is registered with Delhi Government’s VAT Department and its address is E-71 South Extension Part I, New Delhi. The company is the supplier of electrical contracts and equipments, LPG/CNG converter, cooler tower. The company is engaged in several contracts with Delhi Government in supplying of electrical equipment like ceiling fans, gas heaters, switches, table/pedestal fans and air coolers. It is also engaged in electrical contracts with the Government.

Delhi Government had issued notices to this company on December 18, 2013 stating that registration of dealer needs to be cancelled with effect from January 1, 2014 as they have filed returns showing nil gross turnover for at least last one year, which shows they have ceased to carry out any economic activity, which would entitle them to be registered as a dealer under DVAT Act, 2004.

The allegations of financial misdemeanour against AAP by the BJP, partly hiding behind an eponymous vigilante group, unequivocally exposes the national party’s anxiety over its fate in Delhi and its own immorality when it comes to political donations. According to AAP Volunteer Action Manch (AVAM), AAP received four donations of Rs50 lakh each from bogus companies. Showcasing what they claimed were screenshots from AAP’s website, AVAM said, “All these four donations of Rs50 lakh each were received on April 5, 2014 at 12.00 am. All the four companies mentioned on the AAP website are bogus,” while questioning AAP’s funding routes. “AAP made dummy entries to evade tax,” AVAM went on to accuse. “AAP is indulging in money laundering,” AVAM alleged.

The Pioneer had carried a story of bogus dealers registered with Delhi Government’s VAT in 2014, causing huge loss to the Government exchequer.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/city/avam-has-a-bone-to-pick-with-aap-as-more-skeletons-tumble-out.html

https://www.scribd.com/doc/296925243/Appln-for-swanction-under-Sec-13-1-d-of-Prev-of-Corruption-Act-for-prosecution-of-CM-Arvind-Kejriwal-and-Dy-CM-Manish-Sisodia-Appln-Made-by-Dr-S

Appln for swanction under Sec 13(1)(d) of Prev of Corruption Act, for prosecution of CM Arvind Kejriwal and...

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On Chennai deluge -- MG Devasahayam

January 27, 2016, 11:09 pm

≫ Next: Revolution on wheels, Make in India, tribute to GD Naidu -- Kumar Chellappan

≪ Previous: Midnight AAP hawala: Dr. Subramanian Swamy seeks sanction of LG Delhi to prosecute CM Arvind Kejriwal and DyCM Manish Sisodia under Sec 13 (1)(d) Prevention of Corruption Act. NaMo, nationalise kaalaadhan.

‘Development’ Destroys, Governance Fails-A Metropolis in Deluge M.G.Devasahayam

For once Prakash Javadekar has spoken as true Union environment minister. Though couched in diplomatic language, he has made one point clear-the recent deluge that devastated India’s fourth largest metropolis with a population of 10 million plus was neither caused by nature, nor was it a ‘climate-change event’ as being touted by the Government of Tamil Nadu and its cohorts.

Javadekar said in the Rajya Sabha that Chennai floods were due to the rain and the excess water released from the reservoir at Chembarambakkam which inundated the floodplains of River Adyar. He went on to say: “In this case, three days advance warnings were issued for placing emergency planning response action by the local authorities.” According to him the “non-climatic reasons” for flooding in cities and industries located in high risk locations include lack of proper urban planning, demographic pressures, improper sewage disposal and drainage systems, and encroachment of land. What he implied is that the deluge was the cumulative outcome of failure in all the above and lack of emergency planning response action worth the name. In sum it is a case of failure of governance-civil and environmental.

Yet, Government of Tamil Nadu has brazenly chosen to call this deluge as “a rarest of rare natural calamity.” Merriam-Webster dictionary defines calamity as a disastrous event marked by great loss and lasting distress and suffering.‘Disaster’ is something that happens suddenly and causes much suffering or loss to many people. While the second part of the definition is true to the recent deluge in the Chennai Metropolis, the first part is not applicable. While it caused much suffering and loss to many people resulting in great loss and lasting distress and suffering, it neither happened suddenly nor was it caused by nature.

Chennai did have some excessive monsoon in November and December 2015-rainfall of 1608 mm-but this was less than the 2005 downpour of 1984.5 mm. Yet the inundation was much more severe, widespread and devastating. There are three reasons for this. One, the delayed, excessive and unannounced water release from the Chembarambakkam reservoir and two, the near-absence of any disaster management or emergency planning response action. These are due to the style of administration in Tamil Nadu wherein there is extreme concentration of power, authority and decision making at one centre, which has drained out suo moto actions and initiatives from officials across the board.

Three, this time around Chennai had to bear the brunt of excessive rains in the neighbouring districts of Kancheepuram (1815 mm) and Thiruvallur (1466.4 mm). This is due to the marauding urban sprawl-the unplanned, uncontrolled spreading of urban development into the rural areas-of these two districts which are on the periphery of the Chennai City brought out by greedy land grabbers and real estate mafia facilitated by collusive and corrupt government machinery. This had near totally chocked and blocked nature’s ‘Right-of-Way’ and storage for the rain water-lakes, ponds, rivers, rivulets, marsh, wetlands.

First thing first-the complete mess-up of the release of overflowing surplus water from the Chembarambakkam reservoir, the city’s main water storage tank, into the Adyar River which runs to the Bay of Bengal almost through the centre of the city. On the evening of 1st December 2015 Adyar River was already in spate due to incessant rains in the catchment areas. As against the warning issued around 5.00 pm that 7,500 cusecs of water would be released from the lake, around midnight four times of that (29,000 cusecs) gushed out. All hell broke loose and flood levels rose to 12 feet in some areas as the river unleashed its fury.

Why this happened? There was specific advance warning from the Meteorological Department about very heavy rainfall in the week beginning 29 November. Even the quantum of rain was forecast. The Chembarambakkam reservoir was filling up fast and the Public Works Department engineers were agitated. They dare not open the sluice gates without the green signal from the Chief Minister. So they wrote to the PWD Secretary who in turn sought instructions from the Chief Secretary. In Tamil Nadu under the present dispensation even the Chief Secretary cannot approach the Chief Minister directly. By the time the maze of bureaucratic red tape was cut, it was past midnight of 1 December and the water level had crossed the threshold. The released surplus waters rushed into the swollen Adyar without any warning to the people living downstream and most of Chennai city was deluged, resulting in huge destruction and killing 280 people that night. Even now water-turned-sewage is stagnating at several places in the city spreading disease.

Faced with severe criticism, Chief Secretary admitted that the Controlling Officer of the Chembarambakkam Reservoir is the competent authority under the Rules for Flood Regulation to regulate flood discharge. Chief Secretary states that as heavy rain was forecast, senior Supervisory Officers of PWD were also present at site personally monitoring the situation. True indeed, but the Engineers will not dare to use their authority because in Tamil Nadu government every activity should be carried out only under the orders of the “Honourable Chief Minister”. Ministers ‘worshipfully’ invoke her name multiple times in every sentence they speak. Even under disaster conditions this holds true. Officers coordinating relief work publicly stated that they are doing so not as their duty but only under CM’s orders. Even the directly elected Mayor of the City distributes food packets only on the orders of the CM.

‘War-footing’ is the word used when major disasters are to be managed. This term describes “the condition or status of a military force or other organization when operating under a state of war or as if a state of war existed”. This was not so in Chennai. Firstly, the organisations responsible were not in a state of readiness to act. During the initial hours critically affecting the safety of the citizens, there was no systematic operation or emergency mobilisation for rescuing the marooned victims. There were only patchy and disjointed efforts put in mostly by volunteers and some officials. Even the limited relief efforts were only targeted at the physical side of the victims like moving them to ‘relief centres’, providing food packets, old clothings etc. No attention was given to the emotional and psychological side of the victims most of whom were traumatised by the devastation and humiliated by the ‘alms-giving’ attitude of the officials.

Untrained government officials found it difficult to seek out the victims and offer spontaneous relief/assistance. To make things worse ‘party-cadres’ and politicians of all shapes and sizes descended on the scene indulging in blatant ‘rent-seeking’ from the tragedy. These worthies and busybodies having no knowledge of relief management, elbowed out the Government agencies and voluntary groups to display that they were the only people to stand by the masses! No wonder that none of the international and national NGOs trained and equipped to deal with such ‘disasters’ made their appearance though many of them had rushed in within days of the Tsunami that struck Tamil Nadu coast on 26 December, 2004. NGO-hounding indulged in by Central Government also contributed to this indifference!

Ignoring these realities, government sources talked of mega-operations by central and armed forces including war-ships, army boats and helicopters. Such interventions have only limited impact unless the political leadership and civil administration remains nimble-footed capable of taking quick decisions and acting upon them. Rescue, Relief and Rehabilitation involve nuts-and- bolts jobs, requiring local knowledge and an awareness of the local topography/demography. In the Chennai context the Mayor, Corporation Commissioner, District Collector and Police Commissioner are the ideal sources of information, requirements and solutions. But all were waiting for “orders from above”. This led to lack of coordination between the local authorities and the National Disaster Management Force as well as the Army rescue team. This was so because Tamil Nadu government has not set up functional state district/city Disaster Management Agencies mandated by the Disaster Management Act-2005. In the event, Madras High Court had to step in suo moto and seek explanation from the state government.

Now to the urban sprawl. This is due to the predatory ‘development’ model and two catastrophic decisions of UPA I government in 2004-one to extremely liberalise the Special Economic Zone Rules and the other allowing 100% FDI in real estate business. With the pumping in of massive quantum of black money property market boomed and land prices within city limits hit the sky. Unscrupulous elements and real estate sharks moved to the outskirts of the city and grabbed agricultural and low lying land of all shapes and sizes which constituted the natural rainwater storage and drains that are ‘ecologically sensitive areas’

Chennai Master Plan cum Development Regulations was notified in 2008 which prohibited construction in these places. Following-up the Master Plan, at the request of the Corporation of Chennai a group of experts- including the humble undersigned-submitted the “Revised Chennai City Development Plan-2009,” (CDP) suggesting rehabilitation of the city’s waterways to ward off threat of floods to the city of Chennai. The purpose of the plan was to guide development of the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) through the year 2026 and to make Chennai a prime metropolis “which will become more livable, economically vibrant, environmentally sustainable and with better assets for the future generations”.

CDP mapped and identified the ‘ecologically sensitive’ areas of CMA and suggested a macro-level growth strategy with “strongest steps to maintain critical environmental assets in the CMA by further discouraging sprawling Town and Village growth and continuing a high level of development support to priority Peri-Urban areas.” It recommended nil construction in waterways, water bodies, rivers and marshes, low-rise-low density construction in adjacent lands and medium to high-rise-high-density construction at other places. As solution to ‘demographic pressures’ CDP suggested sustainable ‘neighbourhood development’ and satellite townships with well designed transport corridors to the city.

In the battle between the planners and the real estate mafia, the latter won hands down. What is worse, Governments-both state and centre-chipped in with large infrastructure and other constructions in these very eco-sensitive areas. Elevated Expressway from Madras Port to Maduravoil is being constructed over the Cooum river, a natural drain; Mass Rapid Transport System, a concrete monster, runs above the Buckingham Canal, the longest man-made drain; a wide highway with IT sky-scrappers split the vast marshland of Pallikaranai. As to private development, Phoenix Mall, the largest in the metropolis, sits right on the Velachery lake bed. World class, multi-specialty MIOT Hospital is perched on the banks of River Adyar. Global Hospital of the same class is deep in the low-lying paddy fields. Large engineering colleges and private Universities have come up on marshes, water bodies or floodplains, mostly on encroached orpuramboke land. The posh high-rise MRC Nagar, described as the Manhattan of Chennai, has blossomed on the prohibited Coastal Regulation Zone near the high tide line and the estuary of the Adyar. All these constitute a recipe for disaster.

We need to have a look at the growth pattern of CMA to understand where the Metropolis is heading. Population density has gone up from 769 persons per sq km in 1971 to 2109 in 2011. During the same period built-up area has gone up from 1.46% to 18.6%. Since 1991 areas under vegetation has gone down by 22% and open spaces, marshy land and floodplains reduced by 18.14%. At this rate by 2016 built-up area would increase to 36.6% of the total city mass while open spaces and eco-sensitive areas will shrink to just 33%!

Chennai deluge is a combination of greed, corruption and disaster leading to destruction and death. No estimation has been made so far, since the central fact-finding team that made a brief appearance after the first bout of rains has not re-appeared even three weeks after the real deluge. Undaunted, Chief Minister Tamil Nadu has made a pitch for about Rs. 26,000 cores and wants the central government to bankroll the entire amount because: “The costs are very large and it is very difficult for the State to meet the cost, particularly after the huge loss of Central tax devolution and transfers suffered by it consequent on the 14th Finance Commission’s recommendations.”

Despite tall talks of ‘development’ and ‘governance’, we are back to square zero. Deluge leading to devastation and death was caused due to ‘destructive development’ and governance failure and the tax payers, who are the victims, have to foot the entire bill. What a travesty?

\http://www.gfilesindia.com/frmArticleDetails.aspx?id=1368&Name=GOVERNANCE

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Revolution on wheels, Make in India, tribute to GD Naidu -- Kumar Chellappan

January 30, 2016, 5:33 pm

≫ Next: Campus convulsion -- Kumar Chellappan. NaMo, nationalise kaalaadhan.

≪ Previous: On Chennai deluge -- MG Devasahayam

REVOLUTION ON WHEELS

Sunday, 31 January 2016 | Kumar Chellappan | in Agenda

Unknown to the outside world, a silent revolution is happening at Coimbatore in South India. A cluster of engineering companies are designing and developing machines and motors which power automobiles and aircraft manufactured by global industrial giants, and these exhibits could be used to promote the ‘Make in India’ concept, writes KUMAR CHELLAPPAN

Unknown to the outside world, a silent revolution is happening in Coimbatore, one of the very few beautiful cities in South India. A cluster of engineering companies spread across the length and breadth of the district are designing and developing machines and motors which power automobiles and aircraft manufactured by global industrial giants. Titans of industry which include Ratan Tata, Cyrus Mistry and other global entrepreneurs are regular visitors to Coimbatore, the city with dreamy eyes.

Coimbatore (Kovai in Tamil) has the potential to be the capital of India’s engineering industry. The transformation of the city has nothing to do with Jawaharlal Nehru, who is credited with all progress made by the country in various sectors including the field of Information Technology!

The pioneer of this revolution is Gopalaswamy Doraiswamy Naidu (1893-1974) whom modern day world describes as the one and only Karma Yogi and a person who lived, thought and acted ahead of his times. Born as a son of an ordinary farmer, GD Naidu is a school dropout. “Though a school dropout, education , information and intelligence did not drop out of him. He was the one and only Karma Yogi of our times,” describes S Kalyanaraman, a former banker with Asian Development Bank and presently, director, Saraswati Research Centre, Chennai, about Naidu.

When UMS Technologies, a company founded by him recently came out with replicas of the 1886 Benz Motorwagen and the 1896 Ford quadricycles, which put the products made by the original manufacturers way behind them, people who have heard about Naidu were not at all surprised. Last heard in Coimbatore business circles is that automobile makers Rolls Royce and Bugatti have approached UMS Technologies for replicas of some of the vintage cars made by them.

Please don’t be under the impression that UMS and its engineers are specialists in carving out replicas. The company is the sole manufacturer of hi-tech aircraft engines which power drones and unmanned aerial vehicles flown by many developed countries. The motto of UMS seems to be silent work and superb achievements. Naidu never left any books or speeches for the posterity. He did not have time to write books. Till the last moment of his life, he was busy, inventing and innovating.

Who is this man G D Naidu? His expeditions and explorations in the world of technology began in 1913 when as a 16-year-old farm labourer he saw the British revenue officer of the locality Lancashire riding a 1912 model Rudge motor cycle. Naidu left his farm job and came to Coimbatore and started working as a helper in a hotel so that he could be near the bike for three or four hours a day. Seeing his interest in the bike, Lancashire entrusted him with its upkeep. When Naidu had sufficient money, he bought the machine from Lancashire for `300, a princely amount those days. The Rudge is still preserved in the GeDee Car Museum in immaculate condition.

The Rudge turned out to be Naidu’s University. He dismantled and re-assembled the machine many times over. By 1920 he launched a bus service between Pollachi and Palani, the first ever transport company in Coimbatore. The United Motor Service owned by Naidu emerged as the biggest fleet owners of that time. Meanwhile, his interest in machines led to the development of the country’s first indigenous motor. This was the “foundation stone” of the engineering industry in Coimbatore. In 1937 Naidu went to Britain to visit the Rolls Royce company. So enamoured was he with the workmanship of the people in the company, he purchased a brand new Rolls Royce and imported it to Coimbatore. It was not for driving around in the city to show off his opulence to the people. Naidu called all his engineers and workers and showed them the craftsmanship behind the assemble of a car. “When he became too weak to stand for hours and explain things, he broke open the car, took the engine out so that he could explain the magic behind the car without overstraining himself,” said son G D Gopal (76) who heads the industrial empire and charity works left behind by Naidu.

In 1950, Naidu developed an indigenous car which could be sold for `1,000. “It was a low cost utility car designed and made with the Indian roads in mind. But the Government of the day refused to give him license and permission to manufacture the car,” said Gopal. Naidu was a victim of the license-permit raj and crony capitalism, trademarks of the Nehruvian socialism!

“Had Naidu opted for some kind of lobbying with the powers that be of the day, he would have become the top industrialist of the country. Naidu was a person who lived , thought and acted ahead of his times,” said veteran scribe Sam Rajappa who had followed Naidu’s antecedents with curiosity.

If you think Naidu’s interest is confined to automobiles, you are wide off the mark. He manufactured UMS brand of radios, tape recorders and music systems in the 1950s which stood against multi national brand names like Murphy, Ekco, GEC and Bush. He developed modern cameras in an era when Indians had to content with the Click-III brand for decades. When the Government denied him permission to manufacture the indigenous cars which he had developed, Naidu brought in Mercedez Benz to India as a collaborator for making the Mercedes in India. The Germans agreed to come on one condition. Naidu should be the chairman of the joint venture. But the Government of India thought otherwise. Naidu was waging a legal battle against the Income Tax department for slapping him with taxes for a motor mechanic training school launched by him. “The school was to train mechanics and drivers of the UMS and other companies owned by him. His argument was that why should tax be paid for the school since the intention was to train and educate people. It was not an institution set up with the motive of making money,” reminiscenceS Gopal. He said the Mercedes Benz headquarters in Germany has preserved the original documents the company had signed with his late father.

The Ge Dee Naidu industrial museum is a repository of the innovative products developed by Naidu. This range from shaving razors to paper clips and it is certain that even a mediocre person will get a big jolt from the exhibits.

Whatever Naidu had told his son Gopal as his messages have been prominently displayed in the museum. “No person or institution can give complete knowledge to become an engineer or scientist. You must learn and do it yourself,” Naidu had told Gopal.

Naidu had another message to the world which he too had practised in his life. “Learn for 25 years, though not in school alone. Earn for 25 years. Spend what I have learnt and earned after these 50 years for the welfare of others,” was the doyen’s message.

Of all the institutions set up by his father, Gopal rates the Ge Dee Institute of Technology as the standing monument of Naidu’s greatness. “Every year 100 students pass out from this institute after four years of intense training. All of them are absorbed by global auto giants in India and abroad. That’s a tradition we continue even today. Train youngsters in skill development,” explained Gopal. The Institute has a curriculum followed in Germany’s technology institutes. “We award the diploma issued by the Government of Germany,” said N Ramaraj, assistant general manager (operations) UMS Technologies.

The replicas of Benz Motorwagen and Ford Quadracycle were designed and developed by the students of the institute as part of their project work. “It’s the kind of training we impart,” said Gopal. He said the challenge is not in designing or developing modern cars: “The best of the cars have been already designed and made. The challenge lies in providing the best of the machines to the students to get the best out of them.

It may sound strange that GD Naidu, a nationalist to the core passed away unsung and unrecognised. “He surely deserved a Bharat Ratna. We have to celebrate his life as that was the great message he left behind…to be emulated by the Gen Next,” said Kalyanaraman. A trip to Coimbatore will never be complete without a visit to Ge Dee Museums. One is taken for a trip which explains the evolution of not only automobiles but everything connected with engineering. Some of the exotic models of car as well as the history of paper clips; you ask for anything, it is there in this museum. It is a treasure house of knowledge and information. And people like GD Naidu are born once in a million years.

And that’s the reason why these exhibits could be used to promote the “Make in India” concept in a big way. Some kind of mobile exhibition to showcase to the world the quality of the stuff made in India by a real action hero of yesteryears.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/sunday-edition/agenda/automobile/revolution-on-wheels.html

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Campus convulsion -- Kumar Chellappan. NaMo, nationalise kaalaadhan.

January 30, 2016, 5:37 pm

≫ Next: Ideological political bankruptcy axis: Left-Congi combine in vote share game. Bamboo Mamata can be beaten at the polls by BJP

≪ Previous: Revolution on wheels, Make in India, tribute to GD Naidu -- Kumar Chellappan

CAMPUS CONVULSION

Sunday, 31 January 2016 | Kumar Chellappan | in Sunday Pioneer

The recent spurt in student suicides shows up India with one of the world’s highest suicide rates in the age of 16-18. Kumar Chellappantalks to educationists & psychologists to bring you a lowdown on what’s happening in our educational institutes

A study conducted by Nimhans, Bangalore, in 2014 found that 11 per cent of college students and seven-eight per cent of High School students have attempted suicide. In the survey, 1,500 school and college students were studied. The number of students who committed suicide increased 26.58 per cent between 2012 and 2013, from 6,654 to 8,423, says the National Crime Records Bureau. The report also shows that Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka have had a consistently higher number of suicidal deaths in the last few years.

Last year, in June, five students from Kota committed suicide in a month. While what happened in Chennai and Hyderabad may be different, there’s no denying the fact that there is a lot of stress and depression among students.

Rohith Vemula aka Mallik Chakravarthy was found dead in a friend’s hostel room in University of Hyderabad on the evening of January 17, 2016. Though this is not the first time that a student had committed suicide, the reason why Vemula’s suicide news spread like wildfire was because stories suggesting the involvement of a Union Minister from Telengana and the role of university authorities in pressurising Vemula to take the extreme step took root.

On January 23, 2016, three girl students (all 19) — V Priyanka, T Monisha and E Saranya, second-year students of SVS College of Yoga and Naturopathy at Villupuram in Tamil Nadu, committed suicide by jumping into a nearby farm well. Their suicide note says that they were resorting to the extreme step sue to the cruelty of college authorities.

Two students, Nagendra Reddy and Rahul J Prasad, had committed suicide in Indian Institute of Technology (Madras) in September and October 2015, respectively. The same year, three young college students Aathira, Arya and Raji of Konni in Kerala also committed suicide. The three girls were friends and colleagues. The news made headlines for a week in local newspapers and TV channels. By October, they were forgotten by all except their parents.

This is because in Tamil Nadu, students committing suicides in engineering colleges and private universities is almost routine. But these suicides or deaths do not find place in newspapers or TV channels as these institutions spend crores of rupees every year to buy the much needed silence from all concerned.

But deaths in Government-run universities, engineering colleges and IITs is definitely something that will find its way to the front pages as well primetime discussions on news channels. The SVS College of Yoga and Naturopathy claims to have an affiliation to the Government run Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University, is reported to have charged exorbitant fees from the students and did not provide any infrastructure for their studies. But a probe proves that the college does not have any affiliation with the said Government-run university. But the website of Dr MGR Medical University still says it is affiliated to it. Vasuki Subramanian, the college owner, herself a former student, has been blamed for their deaths. Parents of the dead girls have accused the administration of charging ‘excess fees’ and resorted to ‘torture’.

Vemula’s suicide is said to be the result of depression caused by his suspension from the university on disciplinary grounds. But his suicide note says something different — in the alleged suicide note written by Vemula, he struck off a few lines in which he has blamed the Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) and the Students Federation Of India (SFI) for being power-hungry. It has no reference to the discrimination or witch hunting as alleged by the ASA, the organisation of which he was a leader.

Raju Gosala, a Dalit research scholar at the University of Hyderabad (UoH), says he has never encountered any discrimination because of his background. “I am doing my PhD in Management Studies here. I am yet to come across any kind of discrimination. What happened to Vemula is strange. A thorough probe should be ordered into the whole issue,” Gosala says.

An investigation should be ordered into the affairs of Ambedkar Students Association and Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle which has its head-quarters in IIT Madras, say many students in Chennai and Kochi. “These are all off-shoots sponsored by the extreme leftist organisations and Islamic terrorist organisations to spread anarchy in the campuses and to fight the Modi Government,” another Dalit student in UoH tells you. Interestingly, all these organisations made an appearance at the campuses after the Lok Sabha elections of 2014.

There were reports of students (including Dalits) committing suicides from campuses all over the country much before Modi was sworn in Prime Minister. Prior to 2014, these reports were confined to inside pages of the news papers as single column reports. There was no uproar when Rajani S Anand, a third-year engineering college student at the Institute of Human Resource Development, Adoor in Kerala jumped to death from the seventh floor of the building that housed the Commissioner of Entrance Examination in June 2004 in Chennai. The reason for her suicide — she had no money to pay the fees and nationalised banks refused her application for an education loan.

The launching of ASA and Ambedkar-Periyar Study Circle (APSC) is a pre-planned move to create chaos and confusion among the campuses in the country, if one is to go by history. In 1959 Kerala’s EMS Namboodirippadu Ministry, world’s first democratically elected Communist Government was dismissed by the Centre under Article 352 of the Constitution.

The events which led to the dismiss of this ministry included an agitation by Kerala Students Union (KSU), the student wing of the Congress. The KSU, which was led by AK Antony at that time launched an agitation against the EMS Government demanding the reduction of bus fare and this gathered momentum. Meanwhile, the educational institutions managed by various Christian sects too joined the agitation which was known as the Liberation Struggle and the Centre intervened citing law and order and got the EMS Government dismissed. Later it was revealed that the Liberation Struggle was funded by the CIA and the Vatican. Those were the days of Cold War and the term Communism was anathema to both the US and the Catholic Church. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a former US ambassador to India has revealed all details about the liberation struggle in his book A Dangerous Place.

Students committing suicides is nothing new. There are many reasons behind this phenomenon. When the SSC results come out, there is an increase in the spate of suicides. Today’s highly competitive world has put pressure on the student community while they are not conditioned enough to face the new challenges, feel many clinical psychologists.

Prof BM Hegde, a Padma Bhushan and educationist par excellence, who elevates students and listeners to a world of wisdom through his mesmerising speeches, didn’t want to the quoted. “It is too politicised now and I am not fit enough to talk about it. Don’t quote me,” was his comment. What he said is enough for the nation to understand how upset eminent academicians are over this issue because of the kind of games that are being played by politicians today.

Prof SP Thyagarajan, former VC, Madras University who is a highly revered educationist, is of the view that there has been an increase in the number of suicides reported from institutes of higher learning over the last two decades. Keeping politics aside, Prof Thyagrajan tells you that there is lack of dedicated, round the year mechanism in higher education institutions for integrated students’ counselling services through professionals, on campus and off campus mentoring service along with a career guidance and placement services. Today, these are only on paper and white washed during inspections and accreditation visits,” he says.

Dr Mridula B Nair, former principal, MG College, Thiruvananthapuram, also a reputed clinical psychologist, is quite blunt in her comments. “The reason lies with us, the parents and the teaching community. We do not teach our children how to accept even small failures in life. Getting admission in medical and engineering colleges is a status symbol for the students as well as the parents. The parents do not bother about the aptitude of their children while doling out crores to get admission for the MBBs course,” Prof Nair says.

She points out that when the students find themselves in a position inferior to the intelligent students, they lose hope. “Add to this, the parental pressure and they are left with no option other than suicide as they do not have the mental strength to face failures and setbacks,” she tells you.

Another reason is lack of true friends in one’s life. “When we had no Internet or mobiles, there were true and sincere friends. But modern day friends are not real in nature, they are virtual. The present generation is controlled by Facebook friends and in most cases they are fake and dubious,” she says.

Most of the students who join engineering and medical courses under the management quota are not as intelligent as the ones who made it through qualification marks and entrance tests. “This will be reflected in their studies as they are competing against the best brains. They develop a kind of hatred for their parents who pressurised them to join the course in which they are not comfortable. As an act of revenge they take the extreme step. This could be prevented only through counselling which I am sure will make the students see the writing on the wall,” Prof Nair who after retirement, is now the principal of a college run by a Dalit organisation. “Here I am working with Dalit students, encouraging and inspiring them,” she says.

MK Kunhol, a well-known Dalit leader, who was an MBBS student of Kozhokode Medical College during 1960 to 1962, gave up studying medicine since he could not clear the examinations in the stipulated time. “I was not that good in my studies. In fact, I joined the course after the first term,” Kunhol says stressing on the point that no one but he alone was responsible for this decision. “When I saw that my colleagues and juniors graduated to senior classes, I opted out. At no point of time, I had encounter discrimination for being a Dalit,” he tells you rubbishing talk of discrimination against the Dalits in institutions of higher learning. “We are living in an era of instant communications and real-time news transmission with media houses vying to get top ratings. I do not believe such allegations,” he tells you. Even back when Kunhol was in college there was no discrimination.

“In 1959 when I contested as a student councillor in Maharajas College, Ernakulam, then considered as a fortress of the Varmas, Nairs and Menons, I polled 75 per cent of the total votes and defeated my nearest rival who was a Nair. I did not face any discrimination in my life,” Kunhol says.

Dr Lakshmi Vijayakumar, a medical doctor who runs Sneha, a suicide prevention centre says that the present generation is incapable of controlling anger and emotions and this is the reason for suicides. “We have to train them to handle negative emotions. My request to the media is to not sensationalise any news on suicides. It will create ripples which lead to more suicides,” Dr Vijayakumar says, adding that the root cause of all suicides is depression, grief, shock, peer pressure and disappointment. “We have to make the youth resistant to all these factors,” she says.

Prof Thygarajan has been suggesting to the authorities for developing an “aptitude-based flexible models of higher education curricula and model”, which would help students and their parents in selecting professional courses in which the students have a natural flavour. To take care of students who are not as intelligent as those who score ranks and higher grades, Prof Thygarajan proposes special parallel courses. “We need well-structured slow-learners remedial programmes as parallel courses to the needy students without stigmatising that they are only for Dalit(SC/ST) students. Book banks for SC/ST earmarked in libraries should be re-designated as book bank for economically weaker sections,” suggests Prof Thyagarajan.

In addition to these measures, he points out that the Dalit students themselves should have the self-esteem and self-respect. “All Dalits should demonstrate their power of self-esteem by feeling proud that they are Dalits and contributing towards the country’s development,” Prof Thyagarajan says.

How seeds of unrest were sown among students

Education is the foundation of any nation. If we have a good education system, then half the battle is won as far as the country’s development is concerned. Unfortunately, in India, the education system has many ills that need to be addressed at the earliest. India has had a lot of student leaders like Jaiprakash Narayan. In the 60s and the 70s, idealism prevailed but from late 70s, the quality of student politics has declined.

Many opine that the recent spurt of suicides by students in Chennai and Hyderabad is due to the involvement of certain political parties in using the student community to make political gains. It all began with the Congress making use of students in Kerala during the 1957-59 Liberation Struggle to bring down the EMS Namboodirippadu Government, the world’s first democratically elected Communist Government.

The 1967 elections in Kerala resulted in the CPI(M) forming a Government for the second time in alliance with Muslim League, CPI and some other smaller parties. The Congress-led students under the banner of Kerala Students Union, launched agitations which turned violent at many places. An agitation at Ernakulam was the game changer.

A group of violent Kerala Students Union (KSU) activists belonging to Sacred Church College were charged by the police and some students got injured. In the list of the injured was a Gujarati student Mulgee. Mathrubhumi, one of the leading Malayalam papers, misreported that a student named Murali has been injured in the melee. Unfortunately there was a student by name Murali in the same college who had a congenital heart problem. He passed away the following day and the entire student community came out on the streets demanding EMS Government’s dismissal.

There were not many newspapers those days and satellite TV channels were unheard of. By the time an enquiry commission which could come out with its findings that Murali was nowhere near the place where the lathicharge took place, the EMS Government had fallen.

The anti-Hindi agitation launched by the Dravidian parties in early 1960s too had students as the main protagonists. Hundreds died in the agitation resulting in the ouster of Congress from power in 1967. The party has not tasted power in the State since then and acts as second fiddle to one of the Dravidian giants.

The present Dalit agitation, according to Dr S Kalyanaraman of Saraswathi Research Centre, Chennai, is promoted by a powerful axis. “The Marxist-Missionary-Mulla axis has devastated the educational system of post-colonial India sowing confusion in the young minds about their identity and heritage. Dharma education should be included in the school curricula at all levels to undo the damage done to the psyche of the youth who are our treasure and the future of the nation,” the Indologist tells you. There is some truth in what Dr Kalyanaraman says.

The Ambedkar Periyar Study Centre in IIT Madras makes it a point to screen anti-India documentaries like India Untouched -Stories of a People Apart which shows priest Batuprasad Sharma Shastri justifying Chaaturvarnya. Stalin K, who directed the documentary, is silent on other details about Shastri. An enquiry at Varanasi revealed that Shastri has gone senile. His son has said that his father is mentally unstable and the maker was cheating the family by taking the interview. It is these kinds of documentaries which antagonise the students against the Indian culture and the system.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/sunday-edition/sunday-pioneer/special/campus-convulsion.html

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Ideological political bankruptcy axis: Left-Congi combine in vote share game. Bamboo Mamata can be beaten at the polls by BJP

January 31, 2016, 7:15 pm

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To Rahul, with alliance 'urge'

Devadeep Purohit

Calcutta, Jan. 31: Leaders of the Bengal Congress were busy this evening brushing up their arguments at Banga Bhavan in Delhi for a meeting with Rahul Gandhi at 10.30am tomorrow.
On the agenda is the question whether the Congress should strike an alliance or understanding for the approaching Assembly elections and, if so, with whom.
"I was going to Basirhat this morning.... My car had stopped because of traffic. People holding party flags told me that there should be an alliance with the Left. There is desperation at the grassroots to ally against Trinamul. My job is to inform the leaders about this urge. The rest, the high command will decide," said Bengal party president Adhir Chowdhury, who reached the capital late this evening.

CPM leaders like Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Surjya Kanta Mishra have publicly prodded the Congress to take a decision. Trinamul leaders have ridiculed in public any such alliance but, in private, they have not entirely ruled out the possibility of a truck with the Congress.
Although the Congress has remained a marginal player in the state, the last Lok Sabha poll numbers suggest it can spice up matters in a closely fought election. (See chart)
"I am not expecting any announcement tomorrow.... But we hope to get some clues to the mood of the central leadership on the possibility of an alliance with the Left," said a Congress leader camping at Banga Bhavan, the state government's guesthouse in the capital.
Most state leaders of the Congress are in favour of some understanding with the Left but the high command has not yet given any indication on which way it is tilting.
Several factors - both national and state-specific - will be considered but the number of seats that will be set aside for the Congress in the event of a deal with either the Left or Trinamul will also be an important factor in the decision-making process.

Adhir, Rahul

But Monday won't be a day for a PowerPoint presentation with bars and charts on vote shares. The focus would be on how "Mamata Banerjee's politics of elimination" has cost the Congress in Bengal, several state leaders said.
Around 15 leaders from Bengal, including the state unit president, past presidents, MPs, heads of frontal organisations and some senior office bearers, will meet Rahul and share their views. The party's central minder for Bengal, C.P. Joshi, will be present.
Besides Chowdhury, several state Congress leaders told this newspaper that their primary focus would be on conveying to the leadership the "mood of the party workers who have been at the receiving end of a Trinamul onslaught".
"We have had to deal with the CPM's politics of domination for years, but Trinamul's politics is all about elimination of the Congress. That we will highlight. Besides, we will also explain why Mamata should not be allowed to grow in strength before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls," said a source.
If statistics are cited, the figures will revolve around the 2014 Lok Sabha election results.
Some pro-alliance Congress leaders are trying to underscore that the Left and the Congress were cumulatively ahead in around 100 Assembly seats or segments in the last Lok Sabha elections.
"The situation has changed since then as the BJP has lost ground.... If a percentage of those votes come to the alliance, our prospect will be better," said a source.
But some Congress leaders are expected to ask whether a last-minute understanding would result in transfer of votes as the CPM-Congress divide has a history stretching back to decades. Besides, questions on what the Congress would gain by reviving the beleaguered Left may also be raised.
Late tonight, the leaders met at Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pradip Bhattacharya's house to discuss the talking points.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160201/jsp/frontpage/story_66894.jsp#.Vq7Mtu197q8

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Cultural history of Bhāratam Janam

February 1, 2016, 1:58 am

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≪ Previous: Ideological political bankruptcy axis: Left-Congi combine in vote share game. Bamboo Mamata can be beaten at the polls by BJP

http://tinyurl.com/hootadw

Potr̥ ‘purifier priest’ (Rigveda) पोतदार village silversmith (Prakritam), Priest on Mohenjo-daro statue

See slide 6. पोतदार An officer under the native governments. His business was to assay all money paid into the treasury. He was also the village-silversmith.18 slide ppt attached.

போத்தரசர் pōttaracar, n. prob. போத்து¹ +. A title of the Pallava kings; பல்லவர் பட்டப்பெயர்களி லொன்று. மயேந்திரப் போத்தரசர் (S. I. I. ii, 341.)

https://www.scribd.com/doc/297451945/Cultural-History-of-Bharatam-Janam-S-Kalyanaraman-Feb-1-2016

S. Kalyanaraman
Sarasvati Research Center
February 1, 2016

Cultural History of Bharatam Janam (S. Kalyanaraman, Feb. 1, 2016)

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NaMo has only Rs. 4,700 cash in hand. NaMo, nationalise kaalaadhan

February 1, 2016, 6:57 am

≫ Next: Swamy to SC: No relief to Sonia, Rahul, let the trial court render justice

≪ Previous: Cultural history of Bhāratam Janam

PM Modi has only Rs 4,700 cash in hand, no bank account in Delhi

PTI | Feb 1, 2016, 06.22 PM IST
Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (File photo)

HIGHLIGHTS

PM Modi does not own any 'motor vehicles/aircraft/yachts/ships', while he still retains his bank accounts in Gujarat. He has no bank account in Delhi.
According to the latest details of his assets disclosed by the Prime Minister's Office, Modi had total 'cash in hand' of just Rs 4,700 at the end of the last fiscal.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not seem to keep much cash in hand even as his total assets have gone up to Rs. 1.41 crore — largely due to a residential property that has appreciated by more than 25 times since purchase over 13 years ago.

According to the latest details of his assets disclosed by the Prime Minister’s Office, Mr. Modi had total ‘cash in hand’ of just Rs. 4,700 at the end of the last fiscal, down from Rs. 38,700 disclosed mid-fiscal as on August 18, 2014.

However, the total value of Mr. Modi’s movable and immovable assets during this period has grown from Rs. 1,26,12,288 to Rs. 1,41,14,893 as on March 31, 2015.

Mr. Modi assumed office as Prime Minister on May 26, 2014.

As per the disclosure, Mr. Modi does not own any ‘motor vehicles/aircraft/yachts/ships’, while he still retains his bank accounts in Gujarat. He has no bank account in Delhi.

While he has no loans, his jewellery holdings include “four pieces of gold rings” weighing approximately 45 grams with a value of about Rs. 1.19 lakh as on March 31, 2015. The value of these rings has come down slightly from Rs. 1.21 lakh since last disclosure as on August 18, 2014.

The latest disclosures are updated till January 30, 2016, as per the PMO website.

Mr. Modi’s investments include L&T Infra Bonds (Tax Saving) worth Rs. 20,000, as also National Savings Certificates worth about Rs. 5.45 lakh and life insurance policies worth Rs. 1.99 lakh, taking the total value of his movable assets to Rs. 41.15 lakh.

The immovable assets include one-fourth part in a residential property in Gandhinagar and his share is 3,531.45 square feet with a built-up area of 169.81 square feet.

Stating that this was not an “inherited property”, the disclosure mentions the date of purchase as October 25, 2002.

The cost of purchase has been disclosed as Rs. 1,30,488 while the “investment on the land by way of development construction, etc” has been shown as Rs. 2,47,208.

The “approximate current market value” of the property has been disclosed as Rs. 1 crore. This puts the total appreciation at over 25-times over the cost of the property and the investment made thereon in over 13 years since the purchase.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/narendra-modis-has-assets-over-rs-1-crore/article8179236.ece?homepage=true

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Swamy to SC: No relief to Sonia, Rahul, let the trial court render justice

February 3, 2016, 6:41 am

≫ Next: Mogoj dholai? (Brainwashing?) -- Pranesh Sarkar. Young IAS officers kept in drier by Bamboo Mamata

≪ Previous: NaMo has only Rs. 4,700 cash in hand. NaMo, nationalise kaalaadhan

Posted at: Feb 3 2016 6:37PMNATIONAL HERALD ASSETS CASE

Swamy reaches SC pleading against relief to Sonia, Rahul

Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, February 3

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy approached the Supreme Court on Wednesday pleading against granting any relief to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald assets misappropriation case.

Swamy, who is the complainant in the case, filed a caveat in the Supreme Court pleading that the court should hear him before passing any order in the appeal being filed by the Gandhis against the Delhi High Court’s December 7, 2015, judgment refusing to quash the trial court proceedings against them.

Swamy’s move comes in the wake of reports that the two Congress leaders were going to approach the court expunction of high court’s remarks that were perceived to be prejudicial to them and had the potential to influence the trial court against them.

According to the Bharatiya Janata Party leader, the alleged fraud amounts to Rs 5,000 crore at current prices. He had said the Gandhis had formed Young India Ltd (YIL) in 2010 with 38 per cent share each to take control of the assets of the Associated Journal Ltd (AJL), the holding company of Herald publications, including Navjivan in Hindi and Quami Awaz in Urdu.

The Gandhis had pleaded that they had in no way benefited from YIL acquiring majority shareholdings of AJL. YIL, in which the Gandhis and other Congress leaders were directors, was a Section 25 company, akin to a society, and as such its shareholders did not get any dividend, salary or other benefits, including a share in the profit, their advocates had contended.

Further, AJL’s properties in Delhi, Mumbai, Patna and Panchkula were under government leases and could not be disposed of.

The high court had also remarked that it was of the view that the gravity of the allegations “has a fraudulent flavour involving a national political party and so serious imputations smacking of criminality levelled against the petitioners need to be properly looked into.”

The objections raised by the Gandhis could be considered by the trial court at the stage of framing charges, the high court had said. The court had also rejected similar pleas by Motilal Vora, Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/swamy-reaches-sc-pleading-against-relief-to-sonia-rahul/191415.html

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Mogoj dholai? (Brainwashing?) -- Pranesh Sarkar. Young IAS officers kept in drier by Bamboo Mamata

February 3, 2016, 5:05 pm

≫ Next: Smelling a big skunk in oil pricing -- William Engdahl. “If you control the oil, you control entire nations” -- Henry Kissinger

≪ Previous: Swamy to SC: No relief to Sonia, Rahul, let the trial court render justice

| Thursday , February 4 , 2016 |

'Brainwashed', IAS officers in drier

Pranesh Sarkar

Hirak Raja keeps rebellion at bay by using only one form of punishment: brainwashing.
When his scientist announces he has discovered Jantarmantar - the machine that will brainwash the recalcitrant - a thrilled Hirak Raja asks: Mogoj dholai? (Brainwashing?)
Gobeshok (scientist):Thik tai

E emon kol
Jate raj karjyo hoye jaye jol.... (Indeed. This is a machine that makes governance simple.)
Hirak Raja: ... Eto obishassho! (It's unbelievable!)
From the 1980 film, Hirak Rajar Deshe, by Satyajit Ray

Calcutta, Feb. 3: Unbelievable but mogoj dholai (brainwashing) appears to have leaped from the silver screen to the steel frame of Bengal.
Twelve young IAS officers who were recently trained for three months in Delhi have been kept away from the usual posts in the districts apparently because of suspicion that they might have been brainwashed in the capital by the BJP-led government.
Usually, the first full-fledged postings of IAS rookies who have completed their probation and training are as sub-divisional officers or SDOs who head the civil administration in the sub-divisions.
The SDOs play a key role as they are in constant contact with elected representatives and targeted welfare recipients. More important, each SDO acts as the returning officer of two Assembly segments on average - a role that makes them invaluable at a time the elections are knocking on the doors of Bengal.
But the 12 IAS officers from the 2013 batch have been administratively quarantined, so to speak, in a safe-zone post called officer on special duty (OSD), a sterile designation without any specific role. OSDs cannot become returning officers either.
Officially, government sources cited lack of experience in handling elections as the reason for keeping the young IAS officers away from the SDO post for the time being.
"The officers' lack of administrative knowledge could cause problems in the run-up to the polls," a senior Bengal government official said, adding that they would be posted as SDOs once the elections were over.
Some other bureaucrats, however, said this could not be the sole reason as "a period of 15 days" was "good enough" for IAS officers to familiarise themselves with the election assignment. "Perhaps, the ruling establishment is not sure how the new officers will work during the elections after the three-month stint under the BJP-led central government," an official said.
Sources in Nabanna, the secretariat, pointed out that chief minister Mamata Banerjee had opposed the Centre's decision to call these 12 officers to Delhi for the training. The sources said the leadership felt that the officers were taken to Delhi as part of the Centre's " mogoj dholai (brainwashing)" plan.
The young officers had reached Bengal in August 2015 after the mandatory two-year training, mostly in Mussoourie. All 2013-batch IAS officers, including from other states, then went to New Delhi to be trained as assistant secretaries in various ministries.
The officers returned to their respective states in mid-December. On January 28, the 12 officers in Bengal were posted as OSDs.
Now that the officers are back, the chief minister is apparently hesitant to place them as SDOs, especially because of their prospective role as returning officers in the Assembly segments.
As returning officers, the SDOs will have the authority to receive and dispose of complaints on violation of the model code of conduct and law and order.
"I am not surprised that the ruling party would not place an officer who is yet to earn its faith in crucial posts ahead of the elections," said a retired bureaucrat.
Another serving official insisted administrative experience was the sole reason but unwittingly drew attention to another factor.
"Many district magistrates have said a new SDO will not be able to discharge poll-related duties as they have to deal with local political leaders with whom they are not familiar," the official said.
Veteran officials pointed out that the contact with local leaders was an important issue. Young officers, brimming with brio and pumped up with idealism, usually refuse to kowtow before satraps and are known to have enforced rules without fear or favour. The zeal may dim later but when they start out the officers cannot be taken for granted.
In fact, officers are not expected to be familiar with political figures when they take decisions related to the conduct of elections. "This is the reason observers from other states are placed to oversee the elections," an official said.
Others picked holes in the contention that lack of experience would be a handicap. They pointed out that at least 40 new block development officers (BDOs) were posted just before the panchayat polls in 2013.
"The BDOs are the returning officers for panchayat polls.... If they can manage, why can't IAS officers?" asked an official.
The young IAS officers will also lose precious months from the two-year stint as SDOs during which they were supposed to pick up lessons that will stand them - as well as the state - in good stead throughout their career.
In fiction and in the shadowy world of espionage, undercover operatives are supposed to be kept in isolation until debriefing establishes that close contact with the enemy has not made them double agents.
Bengal can now be proud that its young officers are being put through the paces associated with James Bond and his ilk.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160204/jsp/frontpage/story_67409.jsp#.VrKiQO196xk

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Smelling a big skunk in oil pricing -- William Engdahl. “If you control the oil, you control entire nations” -- Henry Kissinger

February 3, 2016, 5:32 pm

≫ Next: P Chidambaram and Money-laundering associates, machinations: Dr. Subramanian Swamy writes to NaMo

≪ Previous: Mogoj dholai? (Brainwashing?) -- Pranesh Sarkar. Young IAS officers kept in drier by Bamboo Mamata

What’s Really Going on With Oil?

by F William Engdahl

on 04 Feb 2016

If there is any single price of any commodity that determines the growth or slowdown of our economy, it is the price of crude oil. Too many things don’t calculate today in regard to the dramatic fall in the world oil price. In June 2014 major oil traded at $103 a barrel. With some experience following the geopolitics of oil and oil markets, I smell a big skunk. Let me share some things that for me don’t add up.

On January 15 the US benchmark oil price, WTI (West Texas Intermediate), closed trading at $29, the lowest since 2004. True, there’s a glut of at least some 1 million barrels a day overproduction in the world and that’s been the case for over a year.

True, the lifting of Iran sanctions will bring new oil on to a glutted market, adding to the downward price pressure of the present market.

However, days before US and EU sanctions were lifted on Iran on January 17, Seyyid Mohsen Ghamsari, the head of international affairs at National Iranian Oil Company stated that Iran, “…will try to enter the market in a way to make sure the boosted production will not cause a further drop in prices…We will be producing as much as the market can absorb.” So the new entry of Iran post-sanctions onto world oil markets is not the cause for the sharp oil fall since January 1.

Also not true is that oil import demand from China has collapsed with a supposed collapse of China’s economy. In the year to November 2015 China imported more, significantly more, 8.9% more, year on year, to 6.6 million barrels a day to become the world’s largest oil importer.

Add to the boiling cauldron that constitutes today’s world oil market the political risk that has been building dramatically since September, 2015 and the Russian decision to come to the call of Syria’s legitimately elected President, Bashar al Assad with formidable airstrikes against terrorist infrastructure. Add as well the dramatic break in relations between Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Turkey and Moscow since Turkey, a NATO member, committed a brazen act of war by shooting down a Russian fighter jet over Syrian airspace. All of this would suggest prices of oil should be going up, not down.

Saudi’s Strategic Eastern Province

Then, for good measure, throw in the insanely provocative decision by Saudi Defense Minister and de facto king, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to execute Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a Saudi citizen. Al-Nimr, a respected Shi’ite religious leader was charged with terrorism for calling in 2011 for more rights for Saudi Shi’ites. There are approximately 8 million Saudi Muslims loyal to Shi’ite teachings rather that the ultra-strict Wahhabi Sunni strain. His crime was to support protests calling for more rights for the oppressed Shia minority, perhaps some 25% of the Saudi population. The Shi’ite population of Saudis is overwhelmingly concentrated in the Kingdom’s Eastern Province.

The Eastern Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is perhaps the most valuable piece of real estate on the planet, double the area of the Federal Republic of Germany but with a mere 4 million people. Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil company is based in Dhahran in the Eastern Province.

The main Saudi oil and gas fields are mostly in the Eastern Province, onshore and offshore, including the world’s largest oil field, Ghawar. Petroleum from the Saudi fields, including Ghawar, is shipped to dozens of countries from the oil port terminal of the Ras Tanura complex, the world’s biggest crude oil terminal. Some 80% of the near 10 million barrels of oil a day pumped out by Saudi goes to Ras Tanura in the Persian Gulf where it is loaded on to supertankers bound for the west.

The Eastern Province is also home to Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq Plants facility, their biggest oil processing and crude stabilization facility with a capacity of 7 million barrels per day. It’s the primary oil processing site for Arabian extra light and Arabian light crude oils, and handles crude oil pumped from Ghawar field.

And it also happens that the majority of oil field and refinery blue collar workers in the Eastern Province are…Shi’ite. They are said also to be sympathetic to the just-executed Shia cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. In the late 1980’s the Saudi Hezbollah Al-Hejaz, led several attacks on oil infrastructure and also murdered Saudi diplomats. They were allegedly trained in Iran.

And now there is a new destabilizing element to add to the political tensions building between Saudi Arabia and Erdogan’s Turkey on the one side, flanked by servile Arab Gulf Cooperation Council states, and on the other Assad’s Syria, Iraq with a 60% Shi’ite population and neighboring Iran, aided presently militarily by Russia. Reports are that the instable 30-year old Prince bin Salman is about to be named King.

On January 13, the Gulf Institute, a Middle East think tank, in an exclusive report, wrote that 80-year old Saudi King Salman Al-Saud plans to abdicate his throne and install his son Mohammed as king. They report that the present King “has been making the rounds visiting his brothers seeking support for the move that will also remove the current crown prince and American favorite, the hardline Mohammed bin Naif, from his positions as the crown prince and the minister of interior. According to sources familiar with the proceedings, Salman told his brothers that the stability of the Saudi monarchy requires a change of the succession from lateral or diagonal lines to a vertical order under which the king hands power to his most eligible son.”

On December 3, 2015, the German BND intelligence service leaked a memo to the press warning of the increasing power being acquired by Prince Salman, someone they characterized as unpredictable and emotional. Citing the kingdom’s involvement in Syria, Lebanon, Bahrain, Iraq and Yemen, the BND stated, referring to Prince Salman, “The previous cautious diplomatic stance of older leaders within the royal family is being replaced by a new impulsive policy of intervention.”

Yet oil prices fall?

The ominous element in this more than ominous situation revolving around the center of world petroleum and natural gas reserves, the Middle East, is the fact that in the recent weeks oil prices, which had temporarily stabilized at an already low $40 range in December, now have plunged another 25% to around $29, outlook grim. Citigroup has forecast $20 oil is possible. Goldman Sachs recently came out saying that it may take lows of $20 a barrel to restabilize world oil markets and get rid of the glut of supply.

Now I have a strong gut feeling that there is something very big, very dramatic building in world oil markets over the coming several months, something most of the world doesn’t expect.

The last time Goldman Sachs and their Wall Street cronies made a dramatic prediction in oil prices was in summer 2008. At that time, amid the growing pressures on Wall Street banks of the spreading US sub-prime real estate meltdown, just before the Lehman Brothers collapse of September that year, Goldman Sachs wrote that oil was headed for $200 a barrel. It had just hit a high of $147. At that time I wrote an analysis saying just the opposite was likely, based on the fact that there was a huge oversupply in world oil markets that curiously, was only being identified by Lehman Brothers. I was told by an informed Chinese source that Wall Street banks like JP Morgan Chase were hyping the $200 price to convince Air China and other big China state oil buyers to buy every drop of oil at $147 it could before it hit $200, an advice that fed the rising price.

Then by December, 2008 the Brent benchmark oil price was down to $47 a barrel. The Lehman Crisis, a deliberate political decision of US Treasury Secretary a former Goldman Sachs chairman, Henry Paulsen, in September 2008, plunged the world into financial crisis and deep recession in the meantime. Did Paulsen’s cronies at Goldman Sachs and other key Wall Street mega-banks such as Citigroup or JP Morgan Chase know in advance that Paulsen was planning the Lehman crisis to force Congress to give him carte blanche bailout powers with the unprecedented TARP funds of $700 billion? In the event, Goldman Sachs and friends reportedly made a gigantic profit betting against their own $200 predictions using leveraged derivatives in oil futures.

Killing the shale oil ‘cowboys’ first

Today the US shale oil industry, the largest source of rising US oil output since 2009 or so, is hanging by its fingernails on the edge of a cliff of massive bankruptcies. In recent months shale oil production has barely begun to decline, some 93,000 barrels in November, 2015.

The Big Oil cartel – ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP and Shell – began dumping their shale leases onto the market two years ago. The shale oil industry in the US today is dominated by what BP or Exxon refer to as “the cowboys,” mid-sized aggressive oil companies, not the majors. Wall Street banks like JP Morgan Chase or Citigroup who historically finance Big Oil, as well as Big Oil itself, clearly would shed no tears at this point were the shale boom to bust, leaving them again in control of the world’s most important market. The financial institutions who lent hundreds of billions of dollars to the shale “cowboys” in the past five years have their next semi-annual loan review in April. With prices hovering at or near the $20 range, we can expect a new, far more serious wave of actual shale oil company bankruptcies. Unconventional oil, including Canada’s huge Alberta Tar Sands oil will soon be a thing of the past, if so.

That alone will not restore oil to the $70-90 levels that the big oil industry players and their Wall Street banks would find comfortable. The glut coming out of the Middle East from Saudi Arabia and her Gulf Arab allies has to be dramatically cut. Yet Saudis show no sign of doing so. This is what disturbs me about the entire picture.

Is something very ugly brewing in the Persian Gulf that will dramatically push oil prices up later this year? Is a real shooting war between Shi’ite and Saudi Wahhabi oil states brewing? Until now it has been a proxy war in Syria primarily. Since the execution of the Shi’ite cleric and Iranian storming of the Saudi Embassy in Teheran, leading to a break in diplomatic ties by Saudi and other Sunni Gulf Arab states, the confrontation has become far more direct. Dr. Hossein Askari, former adviser to the Saudi Finance Ministry, stated, “If there is a war confronting Iran and Saudi Arabia, oil could overnight go to above $250, but decline back down to the $100 level. If they attack each other’s loading facilities, then we could see oil spike to over $500 and stay around there for some time depending on the extent of the damage.”

Everything tells me that the world is in for another big oil shock. It seems it’s almost always about oil. As Henry Kissinger reportedly said back during another oil shock in the mid-1970’s when Europe and the US faced an OPEC oil embargo and long lines at the gas pumps, “If you control the oil, you control entire nations.” That obsession with control is rapidly destroying our civilization. It’s time to focus on peace and development, not on competing to be the biggest oil mogul on the planet.

F. William Engdahl is strategic risk consultant and lecturer, he holds a degree in politics from Princeton University and is a best-selling author on oil and geopolitics, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”

http://journal-neo.org/2016/01/24/whats-really-going-on-with-oil/

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P Chidambaram and Money-laundering associates, machinations: Dr. Subramanian Swamy writes to NaMo

February 3, 2016, 6:44 pm

≫ Next: 'Left historians misled Muslims' -- Kavita Nair-Fondekar interviews KK Muhammed on Njan Enna Bharatiyan (I am Bharatiya)

≪ Previous: Smelling a big skunk in oil pricing -- William Engdahl. “If you control the oil, you control entire nations” -- Henry Kissinger

Subramanian Swamy writes to the Prime Minister on P Chidambaram’s alleged machinations

By Team PerformanceGurus -

February 4, 2016

Subramanian Swamy writes to the Prime Minister on P Chidambaram's alleged machinations

New Delhi

Dr. Subramanian Swamy wrote to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to draw his attention to certain developments in the Government which he alleged were being schemed by the former Finance Minister P Chidambaram. A copy of this letter is shown below:
Page 1 of Swamy's letter to the PM

https://performancegurus.net/subramanian-swamy-writes-to-the-prime-minister-on-p-chidambarams-alleged-machinations/

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'Left historians misled Muslims' -- Kavita Nair-Fondekar interviews KK Muhammed on Njan Enna Bharatiyan (I am Bharatiya)

February 3, 2016, 8:54 pm

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‘LEFT HISTORIANS MISLED MUSLIMS’

Thursday, 04 February 2016 | Kavita Nair-Fondekar | in Oped

Many Marxist academics who swear by freedom of speech and tolerance to contrary viewpoints, have been most rigid and contemptuous when it comes to solid archaeological proof of a Ram temple’s existence at the disputed site in Ayodhya

Well-known archaeologist and former Regional Director of the Archaeological Survey of India, KK Muhammed, recently released his autobiography, Njan Enna Bharatiyan (I an Indian) in Kerala. The initial revelations, which appeared in the media, proved to be controversial and thought-churning.

What prompted the autobiography at this stage of your life? Isn’t the early 60s too early?

Do you think so (laughs)? Actually, there was a lot of demand from diverse quarters and I wanted to highlight my varied experiences in my line of work in different parts of the country, especially in the Chambal valley with the dacoits and the Maoist groups in Chhattisgarh.

What would you consider a couple of highlights in your career that you felt compelled to write about?

One of them is about a place called Samlur in Jagdalpur, which is infested with Maoist groups. I formed a lot of impressions as I worked very closely with them there. One may not agree with their way of working, but if you go to those areas and see the situation in which they are operating, you will understand the prevalent pathetic conditions and exploitation there.

The biggest experience, of course, was working at Ayodhya. I was part of the excavation under the supervision of Prof BB Lal there in 1976-77. I spoke about the evidence of the existence of a temple and the 14 pillars at the site way back in 1990. My statement was published by The Indian Express in the letters to the editor column. The subverting of data took place when many of the Leftist historians said there were no remains of temples and that the comments were merely the creation of some Hindu groups of people. It was on that basis, as per a court order, that the site was again taken up for excavation in 2002-2003. But then on, I was not part of the excavations.The pillars were dismantled during the December 6 episode, but they may still exist somewhere. My book is a kind of crusade against the suppression of all these historical facts despite evidence.

You have come out strongly against historians like Irfan Habib. Do you hold them responsible for the subversion of history in the above case?

There are two different types of approaches: The historical approach and the archaeological approach. If an archaeologist wants to write something, he has to get some basic data, and that is what I wanted to emphasise. He would use historical data but his main basis would be archaeology itself. Historians use their historical data, but if archaeological data is available, they will use that also.

As far as Irfan Habib is concerned, even as a student I have had a lot of disagreements with him. He wouldn’t allow any kind of free thinking, and the catchphrases that he uses and talks about like ‘liberty, equality and fraternity’ are merely slogans. Though there are many people like him, I agree that this is not the case with all Leftist historians. I had very good relations with Prof RS Sharma, a leading Left historian, who would sometimes drop into my office in Patna unannounced.

Can you throw light on remarks ascribed to you regarding the Taj Mahal and Qutub Minar being built on the debris of Hindu temples?

That was a case of absolutely ludicrous reporting. The reporter who stated it had not even gone through my book where I have ridiculed these kinds of strange allegations made by people like P N Oak, who came out with claims about the Qutub Minar being a Vishnu tower and the Taj Mahal being a Tejomahalaya Shiva temple. They claim that the Taj was built in the 13th and 14th centuries. If you look at the history of the Taj and observe its architecture, you will see that it is a kind of an architectural evolution. The dome, the minarets, the arches and the tomb are part of an evolution that could come about only during the time of Shahjahan. This couldn’t have come about even during the time of Jahangir or Akbar. An individual who understands history, archaeology and architectural evolution, can easily segregate Mughal structures on the basis of architectural and archaeological features and data. If you take the dome of Humayun’s tomb (68 years before the Taj Mahal), the minaret of Akbar’s tomb in Sikandra, the inlay work of the Itimad ñud-Daulah’s tomb (Jahangir’s father-in-law) and the jaali work of Salim Chisti, and place them all together, you have the Taj Mahal. This evolution could not have come in the 13th or the 14th century.

In our Hindu treatises regarding temple construction, there are no mentions of arches, minarets or domes too.These people also say that they have secretly taken a part of the doorway and sent it for historical dating and that has given them 14th century. What they forget is that the original doorways of the Taj Mahal had been looted way back and the present ones are from the period of Lord Curzon. To claim this gives them the 13th and 14th centuries, does make these people a laughing stock.

What is your response to your detractors like Leftist historians like KN Pannikar, who question the timing of your book’s release and seek to find connect with the BJP’s campaign in the upcoming poll in Kerala?

It would have made sense had I been a part of the Hindutva’s political thinking. There have been instances where I have opposed extreme Hindu groups in their attempts of illegal encroachments. I don’t think there is any other archaeologist or historian who has taken such bold steps against political parties, be it the BJP or the Congress. There were occasions for archaeologists before me too, but I don’t think anyone took such steps to counter the VHP even when the BJP was in power at the Centre.

During my tenure in 2000, I discovered that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad wanted to extend an illegally constructed temple in Sasaram near the tomb of Sher Shah Suri. After failing to reason with them, I eventually had to secure a court order to stop the construction.

Another instance was regarding a 20th century temple beside the Taj Mahal. During 2003, the VHP wanted to construct an illegal extension to that temple despite knowing that no further extensions were allowed in the vicinity up to 500 metres of the Taj. I took the help of the State administration to demolish the extension. VHP people burnt my effigy at Purani Mandi in Agra. A few months before that, I had a providential escape when my office was attacked.

I recollect a comment by a Muslim League leader GM Banatwala when he said nobody would have been able to take such a bold step in Agra like I did. Coming from a man like him, that statement mattered a lot to me.

Those who accuse me of being party to any political ideology know very well that, whatever I have said about the Ayodhya temple, or anything else for that matter, are all factual statements.

Are you in any way concerned about people fanning communal flames for scoring political points by using your material?

I never thought about that. I just wanted to provide certain historical facts, which are also useful to the Muslim community. I believe that they have been misled by the Marxists all this while.

My impression is that the Muslims wanted an amicable settlement to the Babri mosque issue, but the Leftist historians misled them by stating that there was no temple below the ruins. These historians were blissfully unaware of the potential of archaeological data and they gave a very wrong information to the Muslim community. These falsehoods were widely reported by many newspapers. This deadly combination the Marxist historians and some of the newspapers led the Muslims to a point of no return. But for this, I feel that the Muslims would have willingly accepted an amicable settlement of the issue. If that had happened, many other issues which the country is now struggling with, would have been settled too. It was a kind of historical blunder which was committed.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/oped/left-historians-misled-muslims.html

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Great press enclave robbery: Sonia moves SC in NH case, says HC wants a 'roving enquiry'

February 4, 2016, 3:00 am

≫ Next: Book announcement: Cultural history of Bharatam Janam -- S. Kalyanaraman (2016)

≪ Previous: 'Left historians misled Muslims' -- Kavita Nair-Fondekar interviews KK Muhammed on Njan Enna Bharatiyan (I am Bharatiya)

‏@Swamy39

I have signed today the notice of TDK to file her SLP. When it is listed in SC I will be present to oppose her SLP and seek its dismissal.

‏@Ish_Bhandari

National Herald- PT need not worry, @Swamy39 has filed caveat & now as per law without serving copy on him SLP can't be filed in SC.

‏@Swamy39

Congi wants to go SC against the NH case Order of the Delhi HC. But since I have filed a Caveat they will have to take my signature first.

Published: February 4, 2016 11:59 IST | Updated: February 4, 2016 14:27 IST NEW DELHI, February 4, 2016

Sonia moves SC in National Herald case, says HC wants a "roving enquiry"

Krishnadas Rajagopal

Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi at the Patiala House Courts in New Delhi on December 19, 2015. Photo: Sushil Kumar Verma

The Delhi High Court had dismissed appeals filed by her, and others to quash summons issued to them by a trial court in the case.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday moved the Supreme Court against a December 7, 2015 order of the Delhi High Court dismissing appeals filed by her, son and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, and others to stay summons issued to them by a trial court in the National Herald case.

In her petition, Ms. Gandhi contended that the Single Judge of the High Court "conducted a roving enquiry into allegations of a general nature without examining the questions as to what offences are alleged to be prima facie made out".

Ms. Gandhi said the complaint in the case was filed with the objective of defaming her. She said she has deep roots in the society and had been at the helm of national politics for years. She said the complaint and summons, if not quashed, would cause irreparable damage to her reputation.

The summons were issued on a complaint by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy of alleged cheating and breach of trust in the acquisition of the now-defunct National Herald by Young Indian Limited (YIL). The Congress leaders own a stake as directors in YIL, registered as a charitable company.

The petition, filed by advocate Devadutt Kamat, before the apex court said the HC order lacked "objectivity, judicial restraint and adherence to the settled principles of law".

It argued that "unwanted assumptions" were made in the HC order of a vague general nature based on unstated and unproved facts without considering if the ingredients of criminal breach of trust has been made out in the complaint.

The complaint alleged corruption in the assigning of loan worth Rs. 90.25 crore owed to the Congress by Associated Journals Limited (AJL), publisher of the National Herald, to YIL for Rs. 50 lakh.

It asked how donations to political parties do not amount to entrustments.

As far as the offence of cheating is concerned, Ms. Gandhi said no avermens or materials have been placed on record to prove the allegd nature of dishonest intentions from the very inception.

The High Court had observed that the gravity of the allegations had a “fraudulent flavour” involving a national political party. Therefore, serious imputations smacking of criminality levelled against the petitioners needed to be properly looked into. Justice Sunil Gaur of the High Court made scathing remarks on the “questionable conduct” in the acquisition of the publication and said the criminal proceedings could not be thwarted at the initial stage.

“After having considered the entire case in its proper perspective, this court finds no hesitation in putting it on record that the modus operandi adopted by petitioners in taking control of AJL via the special purpose vehicle (YIL), particularly when the main persons in Congress, AJL and YI are the same, evidences a criminal intent,” the court said in its 27-page judgment.

Besides Ms. Sonia Gandhi and Mr. Rahul Gandhi, the five others — Motilal Vohra, Oscar Fernandez, Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda and Young Indian Limited — had challenged the summons.

Printable version | Feb 4, 2016 4:25:04 PM | http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/sonia-moves-sc-in-national-herald-case/article8192827.ece

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Book announcement: Cultural history of Bharatam Janam -- S. Kalyanaraman (2016)

February 4, 2016, 7:04 am

≫ Next: Subversion of CBI-ED probes, Aircel Maxis scam: Swamy writes to NaMo. NaMo, nationalise kaalaadhan.

≪ Previous: Great press enclave robbery: Sonia moves SC in NH case, says HC wants a 'roving enquiry'

Cultural history of Bharatam Janam: Indus Script Metalwork Catalogs

by Srinivasan Kalyanaraman (Author)

Sarasvati Research Center(Publisher)

Amazon.com

Data mining.to identify profiles of culture, civilization with particular reference to technological advances during the Bronze Age.

Ancient data mining systems of Indus writing techniques by metalworkers, Bharatam Janam include free-hand writing on metal surfaces with ferric oxide pigment.

Data mining techniques of computer science widely used in Information Technology and Wi-Fi cellular/mobile communication system of the present day can be paralleled by the techniques demonstrated by artisans who created and used the Indus Script writing system on over 7000 inscriptions of ca. 3rd millennium BCE (5000 years ago).

The techniques used on Indus Script could be of value to enhance data security through advanced cipher systems in cryptology.

Resources of the earth which yield products of utilitarian and exchange value provided new forms of recording life activities of ancient Meluhha artisans of Bharatam. Products made such as s’ankha bangles, s’ankha libation vessels, s’ankha trumpets and cakra or vajra (wheel or Vajra adorning the Soma Yaga Yupa as a ring) are sacred and become divine attributes in temples. Nataraja the cosmic dancer is adorned with a damaru drum and flames of fire, Somaskanda form of S’iva is adorned with antelope [mlekh ‘goat’ rebus: milakkhu ‘copper’, meluhha (Bharatam Janam)] and paras’u ‘metal axe’. These are abiding cultural markers of a civilization which reinforce the divinity in everyone of the worshippers in a temple which is kole.l ‘temple’ rebus: kole.l ‘smithy, forge’ (Kota)..

Sarasvati River Basin is the epicenter of culture and civilization of Bharatam Janam from Vedic times.

Bharatam Janam is the story of a civilization, of Sarasvati’s children.

This is validation of the presence of Vedic culture in Sarasvati River Basin from recent findings of a yajnakunda at Binjor (near Anupgarh). The Yajnakunda yielded an octagonal yupa which has been mentioned in Rigveda (RV 1.162.6) and described in Satapatha Brahmana, a vedic text as aSTAs'ri ‘having eight corners’, an emphatic cultural marker to evidence the performance of a Soma Yaga at the site. Details of the Yupa and caSAla are presented from Indus Script corpora and evidences of punch-marked and cast coins from ancient mints.

The Indus Script seal found in Binjor has been deciphered and is seen to be a documentation of mintwork. This decipherment is consistent with thousands of seals of. Indus Script Corpora deciphered as documentation, catalogus catalogorum, of gold, yellow brass, lead’ and other metalwork.
The overall total number of inscriptions of Indus Script Corpora may be over 7,000 from all sites (if cognate hieroglyphs are identified in ‘Persian Gulf type’ circular seals and many pictorial motifs of cylinder seals of Ancient Mesopotamia (Near East), of Dong Son Bronze Drum cire perdue hieroglyphs on tympanum (Far East) and artifacts such as Gold disk of Kuwait Museum, Warka vase, Samarra plaques (pace Denise Schmandt-Besserat), Tukulti Ninurta fire-altar and Assur tin-road from Assur to Kultepe, tin ingots of Haifa, Nahal Mishmar cire perdue artifacts dated to ca. 5th millennium BCE – all signifying metalwork deploying Indus Script hieroglyphs. Hieroglyphs are also presented as objects in the round as exemplified by trefoils on Sivalinga base, on shawl of ‘priest-kjing’ (Mohenjo-daro), standard (lathe PLUS brazier), a hieroglyph-multiplex ubiquitously signified on over one thousand seals in front of a one-horned young bull with a pannier. Such hieroglyphs are also shown carried in processions as proclamations of stellar inventions of the Bronze Age. The greatest of these inventions was the invention of the cipher for a writing system (mlecchita vikalpa).

Significance of the archaeological finds at Binjor (Anupgarh) on Sarasvati River Basin

The objective of this note presented as a draft for further discussions is to suggest further deliberations by scholars, researchers and students of Bharatiya Sabhyata and Samskriti and wide dissemination of the issues of public interest to all Bharatiyas.

Rediscovery of Vedic River Sarasvati and ongoing projects which will lead to the rebirth of River Sarasvati in Northwerstern Bharat are historic landmark events in Bharatiya Itihaas. This is a tribute to many savants who have contributed to a better understanding of Sarasvati heritage.

That 80% of sites or over 2,000 of the ancient Bharatiya Civilization (so-called Harappan culture or Indus Valley civilization) are on the bank of Vedic River Sarasvati evidence that the epicenter of the Civiization was the Sarasvati River Basin. Action is ongoing to explore and excavate the archaeological sites in the basin. The contributions of the ongoing projects will significantly improve the water supply systems of Haryana and other states of Northwestern Bharat for irrigation and for drinking water. The Rajasthan Nahar project is already supplying drinking water and irrigation water to areas on the Basin – halting the march of the desert Marusthali – in regions such as Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Barmer and as the works progress, the regions of Rann of Kutch and Gujarat will also be benefited by integrated schemes for recharging groundwater aquifers and cost-effective use of surface irrigation, drainage and water supply systems..

From the perspective of Bharatiya Samskriti संस्कृति celebration of the heritage of the Sarasvati River which has nurtured the Bharatiyas from ancient times dating back several indeterminate millennia is a celebration remembering the identity given to Bharatam Janam by the Pitr-s, ancient Rishis who performed सोम संस्था and other Vedic Yagas. It will be an error to translate a Yaga as a 'sacrifice'. It is a multi-layered metaphor, divination, transformation from Being to Becoming.

Anupgarh (Bijnor). Fork of Vedic River Sarasvati

Yajna Kunda. Bijnor with octagonal yupa

Indus Script seal. Bijnor.

Terracotta cake. Kalibangan. With Indus Script hieroglyphs

Yagna Kunda. Kalibangan. Quadrangular yupa

Sites dating Bharatiya civilization from ca 8^thmillennium BCE

Cluster of 80% of sites on Sarasvati River Basin ca. 3500 to 1900 BCE

A reconstructed drawing of Vedic River Sarasvati.

Indian Remote Sensing IRS Wide-Field Senso (WiFS) image showing palaeochannel signature -- From Himalayas to Rann of Kutch, Gujarat

King Purushottama (Porus) presents Indian ukku (wootz) steel sword to Alexander in the battle on River Hydaspes (Jhelum, Vitasta) Painting in Steel Authority of India Ltd. Institute, Ranchi

A remarkable discovery was made by students of Institute of Archaeology, National Museum, Janpath, Delhi and the discovery was reported in April 2015. The discovery relates to an archaeological site called Bijnor (4MSR) near Anupgarh on the Vedic Sarasvati River basin. Close to this site, the river forks into two wide channels (as seen in LANDSAT and Indian Remore Sensing Satellite System). One fork flows southwards to Jaisalmer and another flows westward to Ganweriwala, Bahawalpur Province, Pakistan. At this Bijnor site, discovery of a Vedic Yajna Kunda was reported. The remarkable finds also included an octagonal Yupa (also called yaSTi) and a seal with Indus Script inscription including a one-horned young bull in front of a standard device. This discovery reinforces similar discoveries in many sites of the civilization where fire-altars with embedded steles were found. A quadrangular yupa was found in Kalibangan (another site on the Sarasvati River Basin) together with an inscribed terracotta cake and many Indus Script seals.

The most remarkable features and importance of the Bijnor discoveries relate to the fact that Vedic texts Taittiriya Samhita and Satapatha Brahmana describe the presence of an octagonal Yupa (called अष्टाश्रि in Samskritam meaning ‘with eight-angles’). Thus the octagonal Yupa of Binjor on Yajna Kunda is a signifier documenting the performance of a Soma Yaga (Vaajapeya वाजपेय याग) called सोम संस्था.

This explanation has profound implications emphatically attesting the continuum of Vedic culture in the Sarasvati River Basin into historical times. As many as 19 Yupa inscriptions have been reported by scholars and Archaeoogical Survey of India from Rajasthan, Allahabad and even from East Borneo (Yupa inscriptions of Mulavarman). All the Yupa inscriptions record the performance of a Soma Yaga (Vaajapeya and other specified Yaga of सोम संस्था). All the Yupa inscriptions are in Samskritam. The Indus script inscriptions found in sites such as Bijnor or Kalibangan and scores of other sites are all comparable as documentations/ records of performance of Yaga or metalwork or mintwork using Yajna Kunda. Further researches are ongoing to relate these insights into the evolution of Bronze Age in ancient Bharatam. In one significant expression, Rishi Visvamitra refers to Bharatam Janam as an identifier of a large group of people on Sarasvati Basin. The word Bharatam is relatable to a metalwork word called bharat or baran in Marathi-Gujarati-Punjabi as Prakritam words which refer to a metal alloy of copper, pewter and tin metals. (This points to the need for linguistic researches into what is called Indian sprachbund (or language union) which united language streams of Aryan-Dravidian-Munda-Tibeto-Burman streams of the language kaleidoscope). This leads to a possible derivation and meaning of Bharatam Janam as ‘metalcaster people’ consistent with the historical evidences recording the excellence achieved by ancient Bharatiyas in metallurgy and other technological activities. The highpoint of metallurgical excellence achieved is evidenced by a painting in Steel Authority of India Limited Institute in Ranchi. It shows Purushottama gifting a steel sword to Alexander on the banks of Jhelum (Vitasta) river which was part of the Panchanadi or Saptasindhu references in ancient texts and traditional narratives.

Thus, the significance of the Bijnor finds goes beyond glaciological, hydrological, geological, archaeo-metallurgical, archaeological, linguistic, literary researchers but to a documentation of the continuity of culture and civilizational markers of Bharatam Janam across time and space for millennia from a period earlier than ca. 8^th millennium BCE.

Efforts at coordinating and promoting such researches to document the heritage of Sarasvati (called Vakdevi, divinity of speech) should find support from institutions with priorities assigned to augment the water conservation and water management systems and Himalayan glacial melts yielding perennial river systems.

Dr. S. Kalyanaraman

February 4, 2016

Mirror: http://tinyurl.com/gvj5vuh

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Subversion of CBI-ED probes, Aircel Maxis scam: Swamy writes to NaMo. NaMo, nationalise kaalaadhan.

February 4, 2016, 3:34 pm

≫ Next: Rigveda Parameshti Prajapati's enquiry on creation: "Who then knows from what material cause it has arisen?" RV, 10:129-6

≪ Previous: Book announcement: Cultural history of Bharatam Janam -- S. Kalyanaraman (2016)

AIRCEL-MAXIS SCAM : PC MOBILISING FRIENDLY POLITICIANS TO SUBVERT CBI PROBE: SWAMY

Friday, 05 February 2016 | Pioneer News Service | New Delhi

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Thursday alleged that former Finance Minister P Chidambaram is influencing the CBI and Finance Ministry officials to avoid being chargesheeted in the Aircel-Maxis scam. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Swamy said Chidambaram is “mobilising some friendly Government officers and politicians” to subvert the probe of CBI and ED.

“The present CBI Director Anil Sinha also seems to be overawed by the support that Chidambaram has been able to mobilize in this regard,” said Swamy. He also criticized the silence of the Finance Ministry when Chidambaram denounced an officer of ED, soon after raids were conducted at son Karti’s companies. “Finance Ministry should have replied to Chidambaram and rebuked him, but did not,” said Swamy.

The BJP leader alleged Chidamabram is actively involved in lobbying for “friendly official Ramesh Abhishek” as new head of SEBI. “Chidambaram is using his influence to promote his well-known money laundering associate Ramesh Abhishek as Chairman of SEBI so that he can be protected in the investigation of financial scandals that he is involved in and in the share market manipulation by his son,” said Swamy.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/pc-mobilising-friendly-politicians-to-subvert-cbi-probe-swamy.html

See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2016/02/p-chidambaram-and-money-laundering.html

FEB

P Chidambaram and Money-laundering associates, machinations: Dr. Subramanian Swamy writes to NaMo

Subramanian Swamy writes to the Prime Minister on P Chidambaram’s alleged machinations

By Team PerformanceGurus -

February 4, 2016

Subramanian Swamy writes to the Prime Minister on P Chidambaram's alleged machinations

New Delhi

https://performancegurus.net/subramanian-swamy-writes-to-the-prime-minister-on-p-chidambarams-alleged-machinations/

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In this perspective, the hieroglyphs on the Kuwait Museum gold disc can be read rebus:

1. A pair of tabernae montana flowers tagara 'tabernae montana' flower; rebus: tagara 'tin'

2. A pair of rams tagara 'ram'; rebus: damgar 'merchant' (Akkadian) Next to one ram: kuTi 'tree' Rebus: kuThi 'smelter' Alternative: kolmo 'rice plant' Rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge'.

3. Ficus religiosa leaves on a tree branch (5) loa 'ficus leaf'; rebus: loh 'metal'. kol in Tamil means pancaloha'alloy of five metals'. PLUS flanking pair of lotus flowers: tAmarasa 'lotus' Rebus: tAmra 'copper' dula 'pair' Rebus: dul 'cast metal' thus, denoting copper castings.

Two persons touch the two bulls: meḍ ‘body’ (Mu.) Rebus: meḍ ‘iron’ (Ho.) Thus, the hieroglyph composition denotes ironsmiths.

5. A pair of antelopes looking back: krammara 'look back'; rebus: kamar 'smith' (Santali); tagara 'antelope'; rebus: damgar 'merchant' (Akkadian) Alternative: melh, mr..eka 'goat' (Brahui. Telugu) Rebus: milakkhu 'copper' (Pali), mleccha-mukha 'copper' (Samskritam)

6. A pair of antelopes mē̃ḍh 'antelope, ram'; rebus: mē̃ḍ 'iron' (Mu.)

7. A pair of combs kāṅga 'comb' Rebus: kanga 'brazier, fireplace'

8. A pair of fishes ayo 'fish' (Mu.); rebus: ayo 'metal, iron' (Gujarati); ayas 'metal' (Sanskrit)

9.A pair of buffaloes tethered to a post-standard kāṛā ‘buffalo’ கண்டி kaṇṭi buffalo bull (Tamil); rebus: kaṇḍ 'stone ore'; kāṇḍa ‘tools, pots and pans and metal-ware’; kaṇḍ ‘furnace, fire-altar, consecrated fire’.

11. The buffaloes, birds flank a post-standard with curved horns on top of a stylized 'eye' PLUS 'eyebrows' with one-horn on either side of two faces

mũh ‘face’; rebus: mũh ‘ingot’ (Mu.)

ṭhaṭera ‘buffalo horns’. ṭhaṭerā ‘brass worker’ (Punjabi)

khuṇḍ ʻtethering peg or post' (Western Pahari) Rebus: kūṭa ‘workshop’; kuṭi= smelter furnace (Santali); Rebus 2: kuṇḍ 'fire-altar'Why are animals shown in pairs?dula ‘pair’ (Kashmiri); rebus: dul ‘cast metal’ (Mu.)

Thus, all the hieroglyphs on the gold disc can be read as Indus writing related to one bronze-age artifact category: metalware catalog entries.

Abstract

Police are investigating to identify the instigator of the killing and hunting for others who were involved.

“Life miserable under Tuki govt”

Nabam Tuki in touch with terror outfit, says Governor’s report

The four-page report reveals that Arunachal Governor requested for invoking Article 365 on December 17, 2015.

Printable version | Jan 28, 2016 6:07:04 AM | http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/presidents-rule-in-arunachal-pradesh-tuki-in-touch-with-nscnk-governors-report/article8159465.ece

Governor J P Rajkhowa cited ‘cow slaughter’ protest as one sign of law and order collapse in state

State animal of Arunachal Pradesh – complete detail – updated

State animal of Arunachal Pradesh – complete detail – updated. Description of State animal of Arunachal Pradesh – Gayal – Mithun – Bos frontalis. What is the name of State animal of Arunachal Pradesh.

Distinctive Identification

Classification

Distribution

Habit and habitat

Mithun: An Animal of Indian Pride

Mohan Mondal, K K Baruah* and C Rajkhowa*

National Dairy Research Institute, Eastern Regional Station,A-12 Block, Kalyani, West Bengal-741 235, Indiadrmmondal@gmail.com* National Research Centre on Mithun, Indian Council of Agricultural Research,Jharnapani, Medziphema, Nagaland-797 106, India

Abstract

Introduction

Origin and distribution of Mithun

Strains of Mithun

Socioeconomic importance of Mithun

Scientific rearing system

Feeding management

Breeding management

Conservation of Mithun

Need for conservation

Reason for conservation

Objectives for conservation

Ex situ versus in situ methods of conservation for Mithun

Ex situ conservation

Conclusions

References

Daniel Pipes on Radical Islam

Multimedia for this item

Excerpt

Adolf Hitler annotated

AAP’S ‘HAWALA AT MIDNIGHT’

HYPE & DRAMA CARRY THE DAY

BLACK MONEY HAS BLACKENED AAP: MODI

'Hawala at Midnight' is just the latest example of irresponsible media coverage of corruption

India is witnessing an era of fact-free accusations.Keshava Guha · Feb 03, 2015 · 09:12 pm

Photo Credit: Sam Panthaky/AFP

Row over 'dubious' funding hits AAP, BJP smells 'hawala at midnight'

HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times, New Delhi | Updated: Feb 03, 2015 01:59 IST

Aam-Aadmi-Party-chief-Arvind-Kejriwal-with-party-members-in-Delhi-HT-Photo

HAWALA AT MIDNIGHT: AVAM HAS A BONE TO PICK WITH AAP AS MORE SKELETONS TUMBLE OUT

REVOLUTION ON WHEELS

CAMPUS CONVULSION

To Rahul, with alliance 'urge'

PM Modi has only Rs 4,700 cash in hand, no bank account in Delhi

HIGHLIGHTS

Swamy reaches SC pleading against relief to Sonia, Rahul

'Brainwashed', IAS officers in drier

Subramanian Swamy writes to the Prime Minister on P Chidambaram’s alleged machinations

New Delhi

‘LEFT HISTORIANS MISLED MUSLIMS’

Sonia moves SC in National Herald case, says HC wants a "roving enquiry"

The Delhi High Court had dismissed appeals filed by her, and others to quash summons issued to them by a trial court in the case.

AIRCEL-MAXIS SCAM : PC MOBILISING FRIENDLY POLITICIANS TO SUBVERT CBI PROBE: SWAMY

Subramanian Swamy writes to the Prime Minister on P Chidambaram’s alleged machinations

New Delhi

khuṇḍ ʻtethering peg or post' (Western Pahari) Rebus: kūṭa ‘workshop’; kuṭi= smelter furnace (Santali); Rebus 2: kuṇḍ 'fire-altar'

Why are animals shown in pairs?

dula ‘pair’ (Kashmiri); rebus: dul ‘cast metal’ (Mu.)

National Dairy Research Institute, Eastern Regional Station,
A-12 Block, Kalyani, West Bengal-741 235, India
drmmondal@gmail.com
* National Research Centre on Mithun, Indian Council of Agricultural Research,
Jharnapani, Medziphema, Nagaland-797 106, India

India is witnessing an era of fact-free accusations.
Keshava Guha · Feb 03, 2015 · 09:12 pm

HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
|
Updated: Feb 03, 2015 01:59 IST