History writing in India has become a sensitive initiative, carrying ideological leanings and authors’ personal views rather than integrating new findings into an ever-growing perspective. In fact, available archaeological evidence places Indian civilization as a manifestation different from how it is familiar in the rest of the world. Indian history so far available is squeezed into a western-centric framework through artificial and alien terminology: barbarism, feudalism, Aryanisation and class war.

It is in this background that Rabindranath Tagore affirmed that the present brand of Indian history is a nightmarish account of India. On reading it and looking at the archaeological material, one feels that historians are rather commanded by the comforts of conforming. The book under review analytically brings out recent trends in historical research and puts forth perspectives through a collection of seven articles by the author and eight reviews of books published on related subjects.

It begins with an introduction that there is no sense of national pride in the intellectual horizon of the Indian historians, who blindly follow the colonial version of Indian history. They projected Ancient India as virtual utopia, starting with the Vedic Age where the people were cattle-herders looking for good pastures, without familiarity with agriculture and grains like rice. Besides Vedic references on ploughmen and agriculture, many archaeological sites including Jhusi near Allahabad have yielded proof of rice cultivation in the region during the Neolithic phase, possibly as far as back as 9000 BCE., much earlier than the dates fixed by these historians for the Vedic period.

In the next phase, the author projects Indus Valley civilisation as the origin of many cultures of India. Archaeological sites have yielded many artefacts that evidence a cultural continuity with later Indian civilization. The discovery of ornaments, gaming materials, use of conch for libations as well as trumpeting, the ritual use of water for purification, important mode of worship such as the mother goddess and linga indicate the long connection between these cultures. In all respects the author tries to show that Indus civilisation is so characteristically Indian and all later cultures owe something to it. In fact, many of them reflect that there was no significant break or hiatus.

On the notion of Aryanisation of India on the basis of introduction of iron, the use of horses, and knowledge of spoked wheels, ample material is provided by him to shatter the theory. The beginning of the use of iron was previously dated to 1000-1200 BCE and attributed to the contribution and eastward migration of the imaginary Aryans. Now, recent archaeological excavations push back the use of iron to 1800 BCE (type site Malharin, U.P.). This fact corroborates the early use of iron in India and attests that India was indeed an independent centre for the development of the working of iron. According to Rakesh Tiwari, the present Director General, ASI, it overlaps the late Harappan stage, bridging the bronze-iron ages.

Among the faunal remains of the Mature Indus civilisation levels of Harappa, Lothal, Surkotada and Kalibangan horse bones have been identified by a number of scholars and attested by the Zoological Survey of India. Equally revealing discovery is the presence of spoked wheels in the mature Indus civilisation levels in Rakhigardi and Banawali (Haryana). The Aryan myth was introduced to demonstrate that the present cultural assemblage of India is not an inherent product of Indian soil, but brought by Indo-Aryans. Such scholars/historians are unaware of the socio-political implication of the premise as it divided the population into two major groups Aryans and Dravidians. On another issue raised by J.M. Kenoyer and Kimbly Heuston over the human occupation of the Yamuna-Ganga river valley by Aryans only during 2000BCE, he points out the earliest level of Alamgirpur as datable to the middle of third millennium BCE and hence rules out settlement by new communities.

Focussing on India’s cultural unity, the author takes up the distribution of Northern Black Polished Pottery (NBP), a distinctive Ganga plain pottery of 800 BCE, as an important chronological marker and calibrates the date of Korkkai and Alankulam in Tamil Nadu around 500 BCE almost contemporary with that in Ganga plain. He corroborates this date with the sherds with Tamil - Brahmi unearthed in Porunthal near Palani and accepts the early date for Tamil-Brahmi. In fact, this can be considered as the turning point in accepting early date for Tamil-Brahmi script.

One clear unity that India possessed throughout history has been geographical and with the help of pottery, he traces various ancient Indian dense routes giving material expression to the inter-connection between different areas and the growth of a shared culture. Reviewing Dr. Upender Singh’s book Rethinking Early Medieval India — A Reader , he refutes the theory of ancient Indian governance as a feudal set-up on the grounds of increased number of land grant inscriptions to the privileged select few. Numerically such inscriptions constitute only a very small percentage and other archaeological evidence of material remains of life on agriculture, settlements, technology, art and trade of the period bring out a different scenario.

Evaluating the present trend in the functioning of various institutions under the Union Department of Culture, the CAG’s report is analysed critically; and, on the functioning of the ASI, the author laments the non-publication of many archaeological excavation reports and points out that Indian archaeology lacks scientific support for academic interpretations. Nevertheless, the author is silent on the fact that ASI was headed by non-technical bureaucrats for more than a decade.

One central focus throughout the volume is the role of Indian archaeologists hankering after so-called international recognition and accepting their lesser role without demur and unfailing in their praise of the work done by their Euro-American colleagues. Their devotion to the western world’s recognition paves the way for an unholy conglomeration of various interest groups to exploit Indian archaeological materials for misinterpretations. On the same grounds the Pattinam excavation in Kerala was hijacked by the western world while Indian archaeologists were mere spectators. He concludes that the Government of India should resort to remedial measures.

Besides its critical approach, the volume provides updated archaeological material on climate in Indus valley, on the trail of Sarasvati, the lost river, urbanisation in the Ancient Indus Valley, decline of Buddhism in India, the status of State religion in Ancient India, all of which would be useful for research scholars in Archaeology and History. In fine it is a welcome addition.

The author projects Indus Valley civilisation as the origin of many cultures of India. Archaeological sites have yielded many artefacts that evidence a cultural continuity with later Indian civilization

-The Hindu, January 6, 2015

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday announced laying of a national highway that would connect Char Dham — Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri — in Uttarakhand. For the 890-km long highway, the Centre would soon sanction Rs 13,000 crore, Gadkari said.

He was speaking at the 20th foundation ceremony of Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust here. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and wrestler Sushil Kumar were also present at the event. Gadkari said eight consultants are currently working on it, and they would submit their proposal for the new alignment of the road to the ministry by the end of January after which the land acquisition process for the project will begin.

The project would come as a great relief for Uttarakhand as the state’s main source of income comes from the tourists visiting the four religious sites. A major part of the road connecting the Char Dham had suffered extensive damage in the 2013 flash flood. Last year, the Char Dhama Yatra resumed after the state government restored the road connectivity to the four places.

-The Indian Express, January 6, 2015

Conservation work on Sher Shah Gate may start soon. According to sources, senior officials from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) visited the site on Monday morning to assess the condition of the 16th century monument. Highly-placed sources also confirmed that the culture ministry will monitor the restoration work, which was supposed to begin in 2012.

TOI had reported on Monday that almost two-and-a-half years after a substantial portion of Sher Shah Gate collapsed, ASI was yet to start conservation work on the 500-year-old monument. "The materials required have been procured. Work on repairing the monument's wall is in progress," ASI director general Dr BR Mani said. However, when TOI went to the site on Monday afternoon, it found that entry for visitors had been restricted. The gates were closed and a guard on duty said, "Visitors are not allowed inside since conservation work is going on. Parts of the monument have been damaged and allowing people in may prove to be dangerous".

Though some visitors managed to enter the complex to a certain point, accompanied by a security guard, experts said restricting entry to any centrally-protected monument is not allowed till an official notification is passed. ASI officials, however, denied that entry was restricted. "The site is open for visitors. Anyone denied entry to an ASI monument can file a complaint with the Delhi Circle office," said a senior official. A large chunk of Sher Shah Gate collapsed in August 2012 due to heavy rainfall. While conservation work was supposed to begin at the earliest, the wall is still lying damaged. Recently, scaffoldings were erected to help carry out restoration. Experts feared that delay in conserving the gateway had led to new cracks on the facade. Located opposite Purana Qila, Lal Darwaaza was constructed by Sher Shah Suri who conquered Delhi after defeating Humayun. Inspections revealed that stone blocks in the lower portion of the monument also got displaced due to the rain.

Delayed conservation work at 16th century Sher Shah Gate is likely to start soon. According to sources, senior officials from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) visited the site on Monday morning to assess the condition of the monument and are working to ensure that work begins at the earliest. Highly-placed sources also confirmed that the Ministry of Culture would be monitoring the progress and take regular updates on the site. TOI had reported on Monday that almost two-and-a-half years after a substantial portion of Sher Shah Gate collapsed, ASI was slacking in beginning conservation work at the site. ASI director-general Dr B R Mani said: The materials for the work have been procured and are at the site. The work to repair the damage to the monument wall is in progress.''

However, it has been revealed that entry to Sher Shah Gate has become restricted for visitors. The gates were closed to the monument when TOI visited the site on Monday afternoon. A guard posted there said: Visitors are not allowed entry here since conservation work is in progress. Parts of the monument have been damaged and could be dangerous.'' Though some visitors managed to go inside Sher Shah gate complex till a short distance for taking photographs accompanied by the guard, experts said that restricting entry to any centrally-protected monument is not allowed till an official notification passed. ASI officials denied that entry was restricted. The site is open for visitors, but a guard is posted for security. If anyone is barred entry to an ASI monument, they can lodge a complaint with the Delhi circle office,'' said a senior official.

In August 2012, a large chunk of Sher Shah Gate, a monument located in central Delhi, collapsed due to heavy rainfall. While conservation work at the site was supposed to begin at the earliest, over two years have passed and visitors to Sher Shah Gate can still see the damaged wall. Recently, scaffoldings were erected to start work which is yet to begin. Experts feared that delay in conserving the gateway had led to new cracks on the facade. Located opposite Purana Qila, Lal Darwaza was constructed by Sher Shah Suri, who had conquered Delhi after defeating Mughal emperor Humayun. The collapse occurred on August 21 when the city had the highest rainfall of that season. Inspections revealed that stone blocks in the lower portion had also got displaced.

- The Times of India, January 6, 2015

Baliram Gogoi is a busy man. The 78-year-old wakes up around 4.30 am despite the cold, takes a stick and his mobile phone, and makes a round of Satajan, a 270-bigha wetland on the banks of the Ranganadi here, checking if any poacher had got closer to trap a bird. Satajan is one of the few surviving wetlands — under severe threat — in Lakhimpur district in eastern Assam, which can boast of birds, both migratory and local. Although the government is sitting on a proposal for the past one year to declare Satajan, about 390 km from Guwahati, a bird sanctuary, Baliram and fellow villagers are already on the job, protecting the birds — some of them rare species — from poachers.

“Satajan is not only home to so many species of birds but is also a destination for several migratory species,” said Baliram, a farmer who was earlier associated with the district unit of the Village Defence Organisation, a body formed during the Chinese aggression of 1962 to help villagers. “But the problem is that the government does not seem interested in saving this wetland. We have submitted several memorandums, including to our Lok Sabha member who is a central minister. But there has been no response,” he said, referring to Sarbananda Sonowal. At Satajan, Baliram slowly gets down from his bicycle, and first begins to whisper the do’s and don’ts in a bird sanctuary, and then takes you away from the wetland to tell you about the different species of birds. “We have at least 25 species of birds here right now. This year at least three new species have arrived, but we have not been able to identify them as we lack the required scientific knowledge,” he said.

The people of Pahumora, Ujani Mirigaon, Bamundoloni, Khonajan-Ahomgaon, Ujani Khamti, Khagorigaon, Deobeel, Potabeel, Na-bamunia, Dikhowmukhia, Madhabpur and few more villages around Satajan wetland formed the Ranganadi Prakriti Suraksha Samiti a few years ago. And Baliram is the all-important secretary of the Samiti. “He is our moving force. Suppose you hear a bird calling out loudly even at the dead of night, Baliram will take only a few seconds to rush out and find out if there was an intruder.

It is because of him that our boys have taken to a night-vigil of the wetland in order to protect the birds,” said Debaranjan Morang, who was recently elected chairman of the Ranganadi Panchayat. Baliram knows most of the species by their local and English names. “It is difficult to remember the scientific names, so I have bought several books to refer to whenever I need to find out or tell visitors about the different birds,” he said. Bird species that have been listed here include common teal, purple moorhen, lesser adjutant stork, gadwall, lesser whistling teal, night heron, ferruginous duck, darter or snake-bird, and spotted bill among others. With Satajan slowly becoming known, the wetland is beginning to get a number of visitors every winter.

“College and school students come here for educational purpose. We also get visitors from outside, especially professors and bird-watchers. Since the road to the Apatani Plateau in Arunachal Pradesh passes through our village, we occasionally get foreign tourists too,” said Lakhidhar Gogoi, another villager. The area has got the attention of poachers too. “Last year, we caught a person with one of the two bar-headed geese that came here for the first time.

The man is still in jail. The credit goes to Baliram for catching him,” said Kandarpa Bori, a local schoolteacher. “Satajan needs to be declared a bird sanctuary. Some birds that come here are listed as near-threatened by IUCN,” said Anwaruddin Choudhury, an IAS officer and ornithologist who has documented birds across the Northeast.

- The Indian Express, January 7, 2015

All Air India flights these days are showing an in-flight film about the Qutub Complex, the monument around the area, its importance, the building materials used and its comparison with today’s architectural wonders. This film, a new initiative by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), has been made by the Delhi circle experts at the ASI.

The 10-minute film talks about Delhi, how the Qutub Complex was the central seat of power for a long time, the Indo-Islamic architecture, how the plan of each is different inside the Qutub Minar, the design of the Quranic verses in calligraphy, interesting facts about the Quwwat ul-Islam mosque, the famous Iron pillar, the floor plan of Alai Darwaza, which was supposed to be double the size of the Qutub Darwaza, among the grandest plans of Illututmish, but couldn’t materialise as he died, and so on. Some other important features in the film include the history and basic information on Imam Zamin maqbara and the craft of jali work, the water bodies or baolis inside the complex like Gandak ki Baoli and Zafar Mahal, Adam Khan stone, Al Khalji ka Madrasa, etc.

Every film imparts brief information to tourists/visitors about to enter the complex. They can watch the film in a 50-seater audio-visual room on a 75-inch LCD screen. Two more audio-visual rooms, 50-seater each, are proposed to be set up soon. Basant Savalkar of ASI Delhi Circle said: “We launched the film recently to help visitors get information about the complex and its importance, so they don’t miss on seeing the complex from an education point of view. Visitors miss out on significant information while visiting historical spaces. The film will help them see the complex in a more informed way and understand the rich cultural heritage of the country.”

The ASI has also mounted an exhibition of approximately 1,800 photographs and sketches from its archival photography section. A new information board has also been erected outside the complex, showing the site plan of the Qutub along with the route maps. Next on the cards are films on Red Fort and Humyaun’s Tomb. “In case of the film on Red Fort, the whole of Shahjahanabad area, monuments and other historical sites on it will be covered. For Humayun’s Tomb, the entire Nizamuddin area will be covered. Following these will be a film on Purana Qila, in which the whole of Safdarjung area will be included,” said Mr. Savalkar.

- The Hindu, January 7, 2015

A new roadmap has been prescribed for the introduction of higher emission standards with the Centre proposing to implement the Euro IV norms across all north Indian states by April this year.

At present the Euro IV norms are applicable in 13 major cities including Delhi and the NCR. By April 1, 2015 all private cars in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan would have to be Euro IV compliant. In an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court, the ministry of environment and forest referred to a communication by the ministry of petroleum and natural gas (MoP&NG) stating Euro IV emission norms would be extended to the entire country by April 1, 2017.

Within a year of northern states adopting Euro IV, the same shall be made mandatory in Goa, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, Odisha, Daman & Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Parts of Maharashtra and Gujarat would also be covered by April 1, 2016 and by April 2017, Euro IV would be made mandatory in the entire country.

Emission standards are instituted to regulate the output of air pollutants from vehicles. The standards, based on European regulations, were first introduced in 2000 and Euro IV norms have been in place since April 2010. The affidavit, filed in response to a court direction, further informed the SC that the government is also considering switching over directly to Euro VI by April 2020 instead of a step-wise upgradation.

The special forest bench headed by Chief Justice HL Dattu had in November 2014 sought the Centre’s response on senior advocate Harish Salve’s submission that the government must act urgently on “second generation reforms” to curb pollution. Salve is assisting the bench.

- The Hindustan Times, January 7, 2015

The major source of pollution in the capital is dust particles and not vehicular emissions, the ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) submitted before Supreme Court on Wednesday.

While dust contributed 52% of particulate matter in the air, pollutions from vehicles, including trucks and light commercial vehicles, accounted for just 6.6%, the ministry said. "In Delhi, vehicles contribute only 6.6% particulate matter (PM) emission, 18.3% oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and 0.3% of noxious sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions whereas dust particles from paved/unpaved roads contributed 52% of particulate matter pollution," the ministry said, quoting a Source Apportionment Studies conducted in Delhi, Kanpur, Pune, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru.

"The source apportionment study carried out in Delhi reveals that re-suspension of the dust is also the major source of particulates in the ambient air. There is a need to focus on initiation of steps to reduce re-suspension of dust and management/regulation of construction activities," MoEF said. Of the total particulate matter and NOx pollution caused by vehicles, private cars were responsible for 22% while trucks caused 45.8% and light commercial vehicles 27%, it said.

"Industry/power plants contribute 78% of NOx and 95.4% of SO2 content in the ambient air," the ministry said. It also responded to several suggestions made by senior advocate Harish Salve, who as amicus curiae had personally filed an application drawing the court's attention to the deteriorating ambient air quality of the capital, which squandered the advantage of converting its entire city passenger transport fleet to cleaner fuel CNG on court's orders more than a decade back. Clarifying that the National Green Tribunal headed by former SC judge, Swatanter Kumar, was already seized of the issues raised by Salve, the ministry said Salve's suggestion to restrict plying of private cars on alternative days might not be feasible.

"It may not be an effective and feasible option as people using personal cars are not likely to shift the mode of travel. Persons using two-wheelers are likely to shift to public transport, which may lead to excessive pressure on services without yielding much benefit," it said and informed the court that it has sought views of public transport providers on this issue.

Salve had also said schoolchildren were the worst sufferers of the deterioration in ambient air quality and suggested closure of schools on 'red alert days', when the air quality nosedives. "Exposure of school going children to higher level of pollution occurs only for limited period during travel, while Air Quality Index (AQI) is based on 24-hourly average standard and prolonged exposures. Moreover, most schools are closed for winter breaks (when the air quality becomes worse)," it said.

The ministry of road transport and highways said that "it is high time that the pollution control authorities conduct studies for apportionment of causes of pollution in habitations including Delhi. All increase of pollution is always ascribed to automobiles based on studies done overseas".

- The Times of India, January 8, 2015

In a series of moves aimed at stemming the yellowing of the Taj Mahal, the Agra district administration on Thursday ordered almost 4,000 diesel-run mini pick-up trucks operating in the city to convert to CNG by July this year. It has also banned with immediate effect the burning of cow dung cakes within city limits. Further, the Agra Municipal Corporation has been instructed to impose a fine of Rs 500 on those found burning garbage in the open. "Initially, the focus area for implementing the ban on burning of cow dung cakes will be in the localities surrounding the monument. Officials from the district food and supplies department will inspect these areas and conduct camps for providing LPG connections, while the civic agency will ensure that these cakes are not used for cooking purpose," Pradeep Bhatnagar, divisional commissioner (Agra range) and chairman, Taj Trapezium Zone, told TOI.

The order comes shortly after a study conducted by IIT Kanpur in collaboration with two American universities, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the University of Wisconsin, revealed that carbon particles from diesel vehicles along with burning biomass were causing the Taj, famous for its pristine white marble, to slowly turn yellow. "The particles which are depositing on the marble surface and causing discolouration are dust, organic carbon (brown carbon) and elemental carbon (black carbon). Percentage-wise, 59% of discolouration is due to dust, 38% from brown carbon and 3% from black carbon," states the study, which analyzed particulate matter in the air around the Taj from November 2011 to June 2012.

The parliament committee on environment, too, has taken cognizance of the increasing effect of pollution on the Taj and has sought a reply from the district administration on the actions being taken in this regard. Bhatnagar will be apprising the Centre on the issue on January 10. Bhatnagar said that coal-based petha units and bangle making factories were under the radar as well and they would also be closed shortly. "As per a Supreme Court order, only natural gas-based industries are allowed to run in the Taj Trapezium Zone," he said.

Professor SN Tripathi of the Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur, who had conducted the study, welcomed the steps taken by the administration. "Although such an order should have been implemented a long time back, it will surely have a positive impact if it is properly executed."

- The Times of India, January 9, 2015

The Supreme Court on Thursday warned the Centre and West Bengal government to put in order Victoria Memorial Hall and Indian Museum in Kolkata by streamlining verification ofartefacts and antiquities within or face contempt of court proceedings.

A bench of justices T S Thakur and A K Goel directed the governments to file status report within two weeks reporting compliance of its two-year-old orders so that PIL pending for the last eleven years could be disposed of. "This issue cannot keep taking our time. Now there will be only contempt proceedings. If you do not comply with our orders then you will be hauled up for contempt," the bench warned.

"We propose to finally dispose of the matter. We don't want to keep this matter pending or we would be sent to the museum," it said in a lighter vein. The court had passed a slew of directions for verification of all the materials and to make security arrangements in museums after many precious antiquities were found missing. It had directed that adequate number of CISF personnel be deployed in museums and also to provide residential accommodation to them near the museum.

The ministry of culture in its affidavit filed in the case of missing official of Indian museum had submitted that physical verification of antiquities has been completed in Victoria Memorial Hall but the process was going on in Indian Museum. It had said that the Centre has cleared induction of more CISF personnel but they have not been deployed as both the institutions have not provided barrack accommodation on their campus.

- The Times of India, January 9, 2015

Central Pollution Control Board on Thursday told the Supreme Court why the Yamuna in its 22-km course through Delhi mostly stinks like a sewer drain - as against the norm of 5,000 MPN coliform per 100 ml of water, Yamuna water in Delhi had between 4 lakh to 16 crore coliform per 100 ml.

The norm of 5,000 MPN/100 ml of water is the quality prescribed for 'C' category of water, which is fit for drinking after treatment. But, on January 7, 2014, the total coliform in Yamuna water at Nizamuddin was 54000000 (5.4 crore) and at Kalindi Kunj it was 160000000 (16 crore). But, at Palla the river water is relatively clean. On January 7 last year the total coliform detected at Palla was 43,000.

After 21 years of intense monitoring of government efforts by the Supreme Court to clean the Yamuna, the CPCB, through advocate Vijay Panjwani, submitted to the court a detailed report on the state of pollution of river water at Palla, Nizamuddin, Kalindi Kunj, Okhla and Madanpur Khadar in the 22-km stretch it flows through Delhi.

Despite the SC monitoring, Delhi appeared to be the biggest culprit in polluting the river. The water quality of Yamuna at Palla when it enters Delhi met the standard of "A" grade water, which is fit for drinking without conventional treatment but after disinfection, in respect of pH level, dissolved oxygen, bio-chemical oxygen demand as well as coliform on most days except on five of the 12 testing days between November 19, 2013 and October 8, 2014. But at the rest of the places through the city, the water did not even qualify to the standard of "C" grade water and was declared unfit for even bathing. The CPCB also submitted the quality of water in 22 drains that joins Yamuna during its course through Delhi.

A year ago in December 2013, the Supreme Court had sought expert help from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) after being told by CPCB that despite Rs 5,000 crore spent for reducing pollution, the river was staring at a catastrophe as over 2,400 million litres of untreated sewage flows into it every day. Since 1994, when the apex court took up monitoring of steps to reduce pollution in Yamuna, Uttar Pradesh has spent Rs 2,052 crore, Delhi government and its civic bodies Rs 2,387 crore and Haryana Rs 549 crore to clean the river, taking the total to Rs 4,988 crore.

A joint report by CPCB and DJB had informed the court a year ago that the situation would get worse as "waste water generation due to growth of urban population will be substantial and may be in the range of about 5,000 to 6,000 MLD respectively for the corresponding years 2021 and 2031".

- The Times of India, January 9, 2015

Located next to Kashmere Gate, a century-old heritage building that houses the iconic Bengali Club had been awaiting restoration for almost seven years. During this time, a supporting pillar of its balcony had collapsed, new cracks had appeared, seepage had worsened and the terrace had been in danger of crashing. The much-delayed conservation of the building has now finally begun with emergency repairs to the terrace and balcony being done as a priority. The conservation work for Bengali Club is being executed by Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage. Funding has arrived from Delhi Urban Heritage Foundation, cleared by the lieutenant governor's office last year.

Though dating back to 1925, the club is housed in a heritage building which was built in 1894 and is privately owned. According to sources, the Bengali Club committee is currently engaged in a court battle with the owners who want the club out of their premises. The rent for the space occupied by Bengali Club was raised from Rs 60 per month to Rs 6,000 a few months ago. Conservation of the building is, however, being undertaken with the cooperation of the owners, who also had to obtain a go-ahead from National Monuments Authority as it's located in prohibited zone.

While the intention is to conserve the whole building, certain works have been prioritized. "The condition of the building is extremely poor... age and neglect have taken their toll. Matters worsened after one of the balcony pillars collapsed last year causing a tilt in the balcony, which made the structure unstable. We had to address those issues first," said an official. It was decided to divide work for the building in phases-emergency conservation in the terrace and balcony being the first, followed by conservation of the rest of the building.

Officials had to overhaul the whole mail hall terrace by removing its plaster and iron girders because the damage was worse than they imagined. "The terrace was literally collapsing. Over time, several additional layers of plaster had been cemented onto the terrace which just added to its weight. We had to remove all those extra layers to get to the iron girders. Once we saw the condition of the iron girders-they were all rusted and had obviously lived out their life, these had to be replaced with new iron girders," said an official. Now, their attention has shifted to the library terrace which has wooden beams in place of iron girders. "These beams have decayed completely. We will have to replace most of them. After that, we will put a brick-sandstone and brick-lime aggregate," said the official.

The other important job was addressing the balcony pillar which had collapsed. A new cast iron pillar has been ordered which will be erected at the earliest. President of the club committee S P Mitra said it has been a long wait for restoration. "We have been pursuing the matter for many years. It is a huge relief to us that work has finally begun."

- The Times of India, January 10, 2015

‘A lot of disquiet over recommendations’

Environmental NGOs voiced opposition to the report of the high-level committee (HLC) on environmental laws during a hearing of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests here on Friday. The Standing Committee earlier invited responses on the HLC after it was submitted last year and seemed determined to hear as many representations as it could on the report. Committee chairperson Ashwani Kumar said there was a lot of disquiet in the media over the report and one criticism was that it was done in a hurry.

A number of NGOs made representations before the Committee on Friday. The representatives included the former Environment Secretary Dr. Prodipto Ghosh, Sunita Narain from the Centre for Science and Environment; Belinda Wright from the Wildlife Protection Society of India; Dr. K. Ullas Karanth, Centre for Wildlife Studies; Dr. Asad Rahmani, Bombay Natural History Society; and Ritwick Dutta, Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment.

While the report of the HLC chaired by former Cabinet Secretary T.S.R. Subramanian was not tabled in Parliament, Mr. Kumar said there were a number of requests for hearing opinions on the report and there was a feeling that it would weaken environmental laws. He declined to express his own view on the report and clarified that he didn’t think a review of the report was outside the scope of the Standing Committee. He said this issue was very much in the public domain and the report had gone to the government and there were apprehensions about some of the recommendations. The Standing Committee discussed various issues of national importance and since there was so much disquiet among environmentalists, it was only fair that MPs were apprised of the report, he said.

However, he said there was no time frame to come up with a review after hearing all the stakeholders concerned and since the environmental laws had to be considered, it could not be done in haste. Union Minister of State for Environment Prakash Javadekar had said amendments to environmental laws would be brought about in the budget session based on the recommendations of the HLC.

- The Hindu, January 10, 2015

Exactly 240 years before Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis took oath of office, another Fadnavis had sworn to protect a 40-day old Peshwa, thereby becoming one of the most powerful men in India. He was Nana Fadnavis. For over 20 years, he called the shots in the Maratha Empire, but also made a great deal of money, earning him the nickname, 'Navkot Nana' (Nana of nine crores'). But many over the years have doubted if there is any truth to this legend. Now there's historical proof that Nana indeed was indeed a very rich man. A document of 1796-1800 vintage in Nana's own handwriting has been found in England in which he makes a note of his assets of over five crores nineteen lakhs. This would be worth several thousand crores in today's money.

The letter is part of a large collection of over 200 documents pertaining to the history of the Maratha Empire, lying unseen and unused at the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland in London. Sir Charles Malet, the British resident at Poona, took his own collection to England in 1797 when he resigned from the Honourable East India Company and his successors handed it over to the RAS. Lieutenant Colonel (later General) John Briggs was given (so he had claimed) these documents when he was resident at Satara and later published two articles based on them around 1830, before handing them over to the RAS in his old age.

The credit of this discovery goes to Dr Uday S Kulkarni, the author of Solstice at Panipat: 14 January 1761. "But I owe this discovery to the efforts of the RAS' recently retired librarian, Kathy Lazenbatt, after I explained the importance of finding these documents to her. The RAS archival system of the time didn't have these," Dr Kulkarni says humbly, who visited the RAS in London in 2013 to obtain scanned copies of all the documents.

The earliest dated item in the collection is a letter written in 1757 by Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao to Dattaji Scindia, asking him to recruit Ibrahim Khan Gardi out of Nizam's army and into the Maratha army. Gardi later commanded the Maratha artillery and infantry at the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761 in which he perished. These details are also found in another important document in the collection—a fully intact 80-page bakhar (historical narrative) of Panipat written in 1761 by Raghunath Yadav Chitragupt. Dr Kulkarni had mentioned to this correspondent about the discovery in 2013, making us only the third source to know of it after him and eminent Maratha historian Ninad Bedekar, who transliterated many of the papers written in the old Modi script. The first part Dr Kulkarni has published is the bakhar on Panipat translated into English for the first time, and will be launched next Sunday at Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal in Pune.

"Many documents are copies of the originals that have been lost now, but the papers of Nana Fadnavis are original and in his own hand. These were handed over to Briggs by Nana's widow during the turmoil that followed the Third Anglo-Maratha War. Among them was an autobiography of Nana in which he very candidly talked about his early attraction for women in his youth, ending with a first-hand description of the Battle of Panipat and his escape. In the documents one finds a treaty between Peshwa Madhav Rao I and his uncle Raghunath Rao that was drafted by Nana Fadnavis.

Nana also had a history of the Marathas prepared for the young Peshwa Sawai Madhavrao so that he could know the great legacy he had inherited. In fact, one of the papers sourced from India Office is a letter by Malet to Governor General Earl of Cornwallis, briefing him about the history of the Marathas for the British to understand this Indian power better," Dr Kulkarni said. There are some other interesting papers, too, such as one talking about the assassination of Peshwa Narayan Rao. "I come from Sardar Raste's family who was the maternal uncle of the Peshwa. Narayan Rao had lunch in his uncle's house opposite the Shaniwar Wada that fateful day and was asked to stay back since there were reports that there was some trouble among the Gardis.

He paid no heed to that. What surprises me is that Nana Fadnavis did nothing to prevent it, considering the fact that he had an elaborate network of spies," said Bedekar, adding that the collection would shed new light on the history of India once all the papers are translated. Some of the papers, including a biography of Imad-ul-Mulk, are in Persian shikasta script and there aren't too many people who can read it now. "It will take us a while to get these translated," Dr Kulkarni said.

- The Times of India, January 11, 2015

Several hundreds of ancient murals at Kuttralanatha Swamy temple, at Kuttralam, Tamil Nadu, have been ravaged using gaudy colours by local artists engaged by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), New Delhi, allege art historians. The temple in Tirunelveli district comes under the Tamil Nadu Government’s Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments’ (HR &CE) Department. The latter handed over the project of restoration of these murals to INTACH’s Indian Council of Conservation Institutes (ICCI), New Delhi.

The 400-year old murals, belonging to the Nayaka period, are located in a mantapa called Chithra Sabhai, in the temple. They were originally painted using plant pigments and natural dyes. Art historians allege that most of these murals have now been repainted between 2010 and 2013, using modern garish colours, violating conservation norms. Electric blue has been especially used as a favourite background colour for many of these totally repainted murals.

G. Chandrasekaran, former Principal, Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai, alleged that “local sign-board artists from Shencottah” repainted these murals, using “enamel” paint. “They had no empathy with the original murals. They have killed all the paintings. The murals cannot be restored now,” he said. Mr. Chandrasekaran blamed the executive officers of temples, where such murals are located, for their “destruction.”

The murals at Chithra Sabhai dealt with episodes from the lives of 63 Saivite saints, Nayanmars, based on the Tamil work called “Periya Puranam” sung by Sekkizhar. There were also big panels of Nataraja, Ganesha, Siva and Parvati seated on Rishabha, the wedding of Siva and Parvati, Ananthasayana Vishnu etc.. The murals were repainted with enamel in the 1960s. The enamel was removed in 1978 and the original murals exposed.

But the murals started deteriorating in the 1990s and 2000s So a three-member committee, comprising Professor Chandrasekaran, an art historian himself, gave a report to the Tamil Nadu government in 2008, suggesting the procedures on how to conserve these paintings, using traditional methods. The report said traditional artists, art historians and those conversant with Tamil epics should be involved in the restoration of the murals at Chithra Sabhai. “But all these were thrown into dust-heap” when the murals were “repainted” and ravaged from 2010 to 2013, Professor Chandrasekaran said. For instance, when a mural showing an arrow lodged in a warrior’s chest was repainted now using modern colours, the arrow has disappeared.

K.T. Gandhirajan, who specialises in art history, said many murals had been repainted by introducing new colours and even 3-D techniques! The faded portions of some murals had been re-touched, Mr Gandhirajan added. A mural buff alleged that “atrocious colours” had been used in “repainting” the murals.

- The Hindu, January 11, 2015

A grand plan to reassert the Hindu roots of the Northeast states is afoot as the government is preparing to map a new Hindu pilgrimage circuit by linking ancient temples and other places in the region that are mentioned in mythology. According to the plan, the temples in the Northeast related to the mythology of Krishna will be linked with the established pilgrimage circuit in Mathura, Vrindavan and Gujarat.

The Vaishnav tradition of Manipur, Shaiva tradition of Tripura and the three Shakti peeths — Kamakhya in Assam, Jayanti in Meghalaya and Tripura Sundari in Tripura — will also be linked with the overall pilgrimage circuit. Sources said the Shiva temple at Umananda, the world’s smallest river island in Assam, would also be showcased. According to mythology, Krishna’s consort Rukmini was from a local tribe in Arunachal Pradesh. The state’s pilgrimage site of Parasuram Kund and its old tribes which worship Krishna are also expected to find a place in the new circuit.

Following instructions from the PMO, Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma is set to visit the Northeast for 15 days over the next three months. According to sources, he has been instructed to spend at least 48 hours at each stop. “I will be going to all the Northeast states. There is huge potential for pilgrimage tourism which needs to be explored and brought to the fore,” Sharma told The Indian Express.

The BJP-led government, which has earmarked Rs 500 crore for its newly-launched National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation and the creation of new circuits, reportedly wants to showcase the Northeast link when it completes one year in office in May.

- The Indian Express, January 11, 2015

At least 47 migratory birds, 36 of them coots and 9 common moorhen, were found dead at Sultanpur National Park near Gurgaon on Saturday morning. The forest and wild life department has shut down the park for one week and put up a notice at the main gate to inform tourists. Coots and common moorhen are birds from Europe and are among the 40,000 migratory birds of 35 different varieties that have flocked to Sultanpur this winter.

In preliminary investigation, the deaths have not been attributed to bird flu. “Prima facie, the deaths could have happened after the birds ate some pesticide-laced crop in a nearby field. Since these birds move in flocks, it is possible the entire group died at once,” said Kulwinder Singh, the district forest officer of Gurgaon. “In the case of bird flu, the legs of birds develop red spots. But none of the 47 which died had these spots,” he explained.

Three teams from the animal husbandry department collected samples from the dead birds and sent them to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal to test for any possibility of bird flu. The report is expected in three-to-five days,” said a forest official.

A senior official at the national park said, “In recent past, we have never encountered deaths in such high numbers.” According to the sanctuary officials, employees have been directed to keep a close eye on birds — especially the species that were found dead at Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh — to monitor their activities. The forest department has also installed four CCTV cameras at Sultanpur Lake to monitor the movement of these migratory birds.

- The Indian Express, January 11, 2015

The history of taxi service in the Capital is replete with some interesting incidents and personalities

Curbs on some cabs is a pointer to the fact that the indiscriminate number of taxis in Delhi and elsewhere has led to an increase in abduction and rape cases. Tracing the advent of taxis it is worth noting that cabs began to ply in the Capital on a limited scale until Connaught Circus came up in the late 1930s. Interestingly enough the first motor car in Delhi was the one bought by Lala Chunna Mal in 1902 or thereabouts. After that some rajas and nawabs too began using cars (instead of buggies and phaetons) but public ownership was not there as horse-driven carriages were still the popular mode of transport, with a large number of hackney carriage stands at various transit points.

The scene changed after World War II broke out and the coming of American GIs. Some enterprising individuals started plying taxis not only in the city but also to destinations like Agra, Jaipur, Dehradun, Mussoorie, later extending to Shimla and Nainital. In the 1940s a number of taxis were plying under the patronage of hotels like Imperial, Maidens, Cecil and Swiss and hackney carriage stands near them gradually began to turn into taxi stands. By the time the war ended there was a taxi service worth mentioning. Came Partition and the wealthier refugees showed great enterprise in entering the taxi business. The tongas that plied from Connaught Place to Old Delhi and to Karol Bagh on the other side, began to give way to taxis. By the 1950s Delhi had a good enough taxi service though not as extensive as the one in Bombay and Calcutta. It has been about 75 years since the first taxis started operating and are still popular despite the cheaper autos, e-rickshaws and the metro.

The hackney carriage stand on the erstwhile Ludlow Castle Road (now Raj Niwas Marg) continues to be a taxi stand but the ones at Regharpura and outside New Delhi Station are no more. Incidentally the few taxis which plied on Rouse Avenue were quite popular with loving couples and the avenue came to be known as Lover’s Lane but surprisingly enough there were no kidnapping cases. O. P. Jain of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage was one of those who frequented the avenue and, as an octogenarian now, has nostalgic memories of those times.

One name that stands out among the old taxi drivers is that of Madan Lal, who learned to drive a car under the stern guidance of a British sahib in pre-Partition Lahore, where the taxi service from Anarkali was in full swing. Later Madan Lal started driving a taxi in Delhi and became just as popular as Kale Khan, the tonga driver who was educated enough to type out petitions on behalf of other tongawallahs. Kale Khan died as a nonagenarian while Madan Lal passed away in his 80s some years ago. Both are still remembered by old-timers. A. E. Finamore, a school principal, was very fond of Kale Khan as he went in his tonga to meet his girlfriend in younger days. Kale Khan’s father had bought the horses and stables of Col. Salvadore Smith of the Gwalior Army after the colonel (1783-1871) died, never seeing a car in his life-time.

Haji Faiyazuddin recalls that private taxis were the first to make their appearance in Delhi. Besides them, there was motor transport in the form of Rama Bus Service, Capital Bus Service and Delhi-Dehat Bus Service. The Gwalior-Scindia Transport Company came later. The fare was just Rs.Two to Nizamuddin by taxi while buses charged just an anna. That was the time when one paid Rs.2.50 as taxi fare to go from the Walled City to the Qutub and back and Rs.2 for both ways to Okhla and Nizamuddin. Besides the trams, introduced in the first decade of the 20th Century, there was an electric bus service from Lahore Gate to Sadar Bazar and beyond.

Madan Lal, wearing his khaki uniform and bemoaning the rise in land prices, used to recall that once he took a sahib to the Gole Dakhana church, who gave him a ten-rupee note and when he ran after him to return the change the gora waved his walking stick at him thinking that he wanted more. His son, Sohan Lal, who lived in Beriwalah Bagh, recounted how an English lady hired his taxi up to her club and after paying the fare took him inside for lunch as she wanted someone to speak to her in Hindustani, which she was trying to learn. Such were the innocent pleasures of those times when human values counted for a lot and taxis were the safest conveyance for both foreigners and locals with no incidents of rape, robbery or abduction. What a sad contrast to present times!

- The Hindu, January 11, 2015

On the steps of the historic Asiatic Library in Mumbai, two consummate artistes invoke the god of love.

‘Love and nature’ is binding and this eternal theme makes it possible to string together two classical dance forms Bharatnatyam and Odissi. Vaibhav Arekar with his evocative choreography and intense energy expounds Bharatnatyam, while Sujata Mohapatra is a picture of ethereal Odissi grace. Together, their presentation Madana Rati on the king of love and his consort aptly represents Samavaya (coming together) or the confluence of art forms. “We wanted to show various forms of love in human being, nature, and the creatures and how it can be spread,” says Mohapatra, a disciple and daughter-in-law of the late Guru Padmavibhushan Kelucharan Mohapatra.

Clearly, love was a dominant theme be it the Ashtapadis of Gita Govinda that was performed by Mohaptra and her two Russian disciples or the Hasya Rasa that depicts the fraternal fracas between Lord Ganesha and Lord Karthikeyan, presented in Bharatnatyam style by Arekar. The songs in Gita Govinda symbolise the eternal love of Lord Krishna and his beloved Radha. A treat for aesthetes, the Mumbai Sanskriti festival was held on January 10 and 11, the second day of which featured the dance duet by Arekar and Mohapatra. “The organisers have given lot of thought to the festival, the ambience was great. I have performed in a number of festivals in Mumbai, but dancing with an artiste of the calibre of Vaibhav (Arekar) and the reciprocity from the audience is heartening. We should support this kind of festivals. Artistes should perform their art and show and share their love,” says Mohapatra.

Promoting conservation sense among Indians through art forms is worthy of mention, but when foreigners participate in the process it becomes incredible. Keeping pace with Mohapatra in her Odissi recital were two of her students who happened to be from Russia. “They had come all the way from Russia to learn classical dance and I thought it would be fitting if they were given an opportunity to participate in the festival. When non-Indians show so much love for our classical dance, I think it has to respected. As a Guru, it was challenge for me to teach them and make them proficient for stage. However, here’s where real sharing takes place. We have to respect those who respect our art,” says Mohapatra. The festival, an initiative of the Indian Heritage Society, aims to promote heritage through living arts. “The Asiatic library was a beautiful venue.

I had seen a couple of performances during the Kalaghoda festival, and was keen to perform here. We need to have more such festivals in India. I remember seeing a musical festival in Paris against the backdrop of the Opera House. Surrounded by beautiful architecture, you get to enjoy music and dance under the open sky,”says Arekar, who feels classical dances being a living heritage it’s only apt that they are used to create a connect with the people. Arekar says it’s only now that dances are performed in closed auditoriums. “Auditorium is a quiet, serene place and you have your own space. On the other hand, open spaces can be liberating. The audience was huge, yet there was a sense of intimacy, as we could actually see and feel their response. Yes, you have to contend with the external sounds. Yet you get the feeling of dancing for nature, being one with it.

I look up and I can see the sky and the stars, not the ceiling or artificial lights. There is different connect which finally goes beyond the audience,” says Arekar. He says the audience for such performances are plenty. “As people graduate to the high income groups, art becomes important. People want to do something that’s is appreciated rather than just earn. The discerning are coming in, and they do value it if something unique is presented to them; at the same time they reject the run of the mill and the mediocre,” says Arekar. Arekar, who along with Mohapatra, presented a singular interpretation of the Madana Rati says conceptually change was important, but more than that the way a theme is projected can hold audience interest.

“Myths are being reinterpreted, but how much do you invest in them. How you incorporate them in your repertoire is important. Doing something just for the sake of selling it won’t work. I have seen lot of contemporary work that is treated shoddily. However, if you have something to tell in a unique way it will be lapped up.” he says. “Take the case of Nirbhaya case, which is a contemporary issue. Are we willing to invest in knowing what Draupadi would have felt in the same situation? There should be deep thought and understanding of the art, music, traditions, if you want to change something,” adds Arekar.

- The Asian Age, January 13, 2015

Imagine if monuments inside Lodi Garden were enclosed within iron fences, affecting your access and experience. But this is exactly what Archaeological Survey of India has decided to do to monuments inside Mehrauli Archeological Park. This vast 200-acre park—in the buffer zone of world heritage site Qutub Minar—houses several protected monuments. The costly iron fencing around these buildings has invited criticism from experts, who have questioned the need to install it inside a protected park.

While Jamali Kamali and Rajon ki Baoli already have the fence, it is also being erected around Balban Tomb. Iron fencing is expensive, and can cost several lakhs. For a cash-strapped ASI which has an annual budget of approximately Rs 10 crore for conservation an upkeep of 174 monuments in Delhi, spending Rs 70-80 lakh on fencing makes no real sense, according to experts. "It's a matter of great concern that a major part of funds allocated for conservation is used for fencing and flooring by the Delhi Circle—even when these are not required. When ASI was formed, such responsibilities were with PWD and should be restored to PWD. In Mehrauli Archaeological Park, the fencing often overshadows the monuments themselves," said a conservationist.

The fencing, say experts, is a visual loss to the monuments. "Just by erecting boundary walls, are we protecting the monuments inside it, or restricting access to visitors? Nobody denies the need for conservation but there are other ways to stop vandalism. A sensitively-designed fencing can provide protection and, at the same time, not destroy the monuments' aesthetic value," said Ajay Kumar, senior project manager with Intach, which is working on conservation of some unprotected monuments within the park.

There are over a hundred monuments in Mehrauli park, including ruins of Lal Kot built by Tomar Rajputs in AD 1060, making it the oldest extant fort of Delhi, and architectural relics of Khiljis, Tughlaqs, Lodhis, Mughals and the British Raj. According to historian O P Jain, clarity on maintenance of the park must be achieved. "I'm not in favour of fencing around monuments within the park, but the whole area needs better upkeep. It's the only park with monuments of all dynasties. Either ASI should look after the whole park, instead of just select monuments within it, or DDA should assume responsibility," he said. A senior DDA official said that erecting fencing around the monuments amounts to wastage of funds. "We will take it up with ASI. It's a protected park and the fencing is unnecessary. We want to understand their rationale," said a top DDA official.

Despite attempts, ASI officials did not respond to queries. Sources in ASI, however, said the decision was taken to ensure protection which DDA could not offer. "Fencing was done at Jamali Kamali after prayers started taking place there forcibly in 2009. In Rajon ki Baoli, it was a security issue and we are now doing it at Balban's tomb to preserve the ruins there. We had to do what we could to protect these monuments," the source said.

- The Times of India, January 13, 2015

As soon as Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis spoke of the need to have an empowered committee headed by the prime minister to fast-track infrastructural projects relating to Mumbai, many raised the concern that such a move would alienate Mumbai from Maharashtra. The absurdity of such a concern prompted me to push for increased Union government involvement in the development of my city, Mumbai.

Mumbai accounts for nearly 46 per cent of the country’s economy, contributing 30 per cent to income tax collections, 60 per cent to customs duty collections and 40 per cent to foreign trade. The city’s annual GDP, at $209 billion, is higher than that of any other state, except Maharashtra, (and accounts for nearly 85 per cent of the state’s GDP).

In such a scenario, where Mumbai’s contributions to the nation and to Maharashtra are immense, improving the city through Union government intervention will only benefit the country and the state, and not take away from the identity the city shares with the state. Mumbai holds the distinction of being the wealthiest city in India. However, the city is full of contradictions. While it is the wealthiest city, it is yet to build its infrastructure to world-class levels. Skyscraper-filled skies are marred by a sea of slums. Mumbai is neither healthy nor wealthy in its infrastructure. Mumbai’s infrastructural capabilities need to be enhanced to match the growing economic demands of its population. In order to make Mumbai a leading financial centre of the world, we need a long-term plan that focuses solely on the city’s development.

According to the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) 16, Mumbai (61) lags behind cities like Taipei (27), Busan (28), Sao Paulo (34), Tel Aviv (36), Mexico City (44), Rio de Janeiro (45), Bangkok (46), Panama (49) and Casablanca (51). I have, since the beginning of my term as MP from Mumbai North Central, advocated the need for increased Union government support and presence in Mumbai’s development.

Indeed, the importance of Mumbai to the health of the whole nation mandates that the betterment of the city be taken up as an exclusive project — “Project Mumbai”. Project Mumbai would act as a mechanism for a concentrated focus on the city’s development and provide a timebound plan for the same. The coming together of various agencies and ministries under the state and Central governments would augment the project’s effectiveness. The starting point is to perfect the coordination between the state and Centre, and specifically among various ministries of the Union government. Mumbai suffered greatly in the past decade due to the lack of coordination between the Union and state governments. In particular, many projects are yet to see the light of day due to the lack of clearance from Central ministries.

The Coastal Road Project, one of the most important projects to decongest western Mumbai, has been held up for years and is currently pending approval from the environment ministry. The Sewri-Nhava Sheva Trans-Harbour Link is a critical link between south and north Mumbai — it will play a major role in boosting trade and commerce and will attract investments because it eases the commute to and from central business locations.

The trans-harbour project has been pending for a record 30 years now and is currently awaiting clearance from the environment and shipping ministries. Of the pending projects, transport infrastructure projects such as new metro lines and the revamp of the suburban railway system are of primary concern to Project Mumbai, for it includes the development of not just the city of Mumbai, where most people work, but also the suburban areas, where working Mumbai lives.

Apart from this, there is a need to revamp railway infrastructure between Mumbai and the five surrounding municipal corporations of Thane, Navi Mumbai, Bhiwandi, Kalyan-Dombivali and Mira-Bhayandar. It is in this context that the Maharashtra chief minister proposed setting up an empowered group of ministers, headed by the prime minister, to fast-track infrastructure projects in the city.

I believe the same is necessary, keeping in mind the number of pending infrastructure projects and the relevance of Mumbai’s infrastructure development to the city’s growth and that of the nation as a whole.

But is it just the big infrastructure projects that will enable Mumbai to become world-class? Of course not. Project Mumbai needs to be comprehensive in nature and has to focus on a variety of issues, including the conservation of heritage, protection of mangroves, rejuvenation of the Mithi river that flows across the city, preservation of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park and the creation of a top-class global business hub at the Bandra Kurla Complex. Two issues are crucial to Mumbai’s development: the provision of affordable housing and planned open spaces within the city. While these two could be hard to achieve, given that the existing per capita open space ratio (area of open space a citizen has access to) is a mere 0.99 square metre, it is the need of the hour.

In this context, I am happy to note that the chief minister has announced the increase in the floor space index of up to four for the construction of houses for police and public sector employees. The development of Mumbai as a world-class city requires multiple structures to come together and a nodal agency with a well-thought-out plan to make Project Mumbai a reality. Moreover, urban management demands the increasingly active participation of all stakeholders, including the public and private sectors, as well as the people of Mumbai.

The empowered committee can facilitate such active participation. Indeed, if Mumbai has to come close to competing with leading global financial centres, such as New York, London, Tokyo and Seoul, and with cities that are likely to become more significant world financial centres in future, like Casablanca, Shanghai and Singapore, the Union government has to play a substantial and coordinated role along with the state government and other authorities. The Maharashtra chief minister’s leap of faith in transforming Mumbai through the empowered group of ministers led by the prime minister is laudable and a step in the right direction. If this mechanism materialises,

Mumbai can be an embodiment of reinvention that leads to the broad participation of all stakeholders in deciding its future, along with sustainable living and a harmonious relationship of the city’s past with the present, thereby serving as an inspiration for other cities in India to undergo a transformation. As renowned urban planner, architect and former mayor of the Brazilian city of Curitiba Jaime Lerner said, “Cities are not the problem. They are the solution.” The writer is a Lok Sabha MP from the BJP.

- The Indian Express, January 13, 2015

The Centre has identified five areas for the Kyoto-Varanasi partnership, based on which the Japanese will extend their expertise to help rejuvenate the holy city.

These include solid-liquid waste management, transport management, developing the Buddhist tourist circuit in and around Varanasi, industry-university interface and setting up of a convention centre on public-private partnership basis for giving a fillip to the cultural activities in the city. Earlier, an agreement on Sister City Cooperation was signed between India and Japan during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Japan. Varanasi is Mr. Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency.

“There are many similarities between the two cities, but just as Kyoto has been able to retain its individuality, we are also looking at maintaining the heritage of Varanasi. The Prime Minister was impressed with the Kyoto Mayor’s comments about how Kyoto has not become Tokyo,” a senior official said.

Officials from Varanasi, including the Mayor, will visit Kyoto to study the as pects of the five identified areas, which can then be adapted for implementation in Varanasi. A sum of Rs. 80 crore was recently sanctioned for Varanasi under the Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (Hriday).

- The Hindu, January 14, 2015

With the country observing 'Water Week' to create awareness about the best use of water resources, the government on Tuesday pitched for inter-linking of rivers and made it clear that it would take up linking projects on a priority basis "come what may" and any "obstacles" which may come in the way would be addressed or removed.

"Some of our environmentalist friends are raising voices. There will be voices in democracy, let there be. But, they have answers also ... We have to take up river linking on a priority basis come what may," urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu said. "Whatever obstacles come, that has to be addressed and they have to be removed," he said at a function to mark 'India Water Week' (January 13-17) which is being observed throughout the country. His strong remarks in favour of inter-linking of river (ILR) came a day after his Cabinet colleague and Union water resources and river development minister Uma Bharti announced new projects to benefit people in water scarce areas.

Bharti on Monday announced her government's decision to implement the Damanganga-Pinjal project which will take care of Mumbai's water needs till 2060 and the Centre's plan to have an additional link from Sharda river in Nepal to Yamuna near Delhi to benefit the Capital. Environmentalists have raised concerns over inter-linking of rivers, claiming that it would threaten the aquatic life and has no hydrological and ecological soundness. Speaking about water conservation, Naidu said, "I am proposing in the coming days that all urban bodies should make it mandatory to have water harvesting system within their houses and farms. That is also going to be the priority".

Bharti on this occasion gave details of various measures which are being taken by her government for ILR projects, Ganga rejuvenation and water conservation. She also stressed on dissemination of data in the public domain which may constitute an important aspect of water resource management.

Inaugurating the India Water Week - 2015, she said, "to fulfill this objective, the Central Water Commission in collaboration with National Remote Sensing Centre of ISRO has already launched the project Generation of database".

- The Times of India, January 14, 2015

Amid concerns over Taj Mahal turning yellow due to increasing pollution, the district administration has banned burning of cow dung cakes in the city while use of coal by small units will also be prohibited soon.

“A recent study published in an American journal says that due to brown and black carbon particles, the white marble of the Taj Mahal is turning yellow. Taking note of this, we have banned burning of cow dung cakes, used for cooking purposes in the city,” said Pradeep Bhatnagar, Agra Divisional Commissioner, who is also Taj Trapezium Zone Chairman.

While cow dung cakes are being used as fuel by poor people, coal is being used in large quantity mainly by manufacturers of bangles and “petha” sweet. A large number of small units making “petha” operate in Agra, while bangle-making factories thrive in the outskirts of Agra and also neighbouring Firozabad.

Vehicular pollution The other major concern is use of over 4,000 diesel-run trucks and tempos that have been told to switch to CNG by mid-2015. Black carbon soot generated by use of cow dung, coal and vehicular pollution is said to be the main cause behind major pollution in Agra that has started showing its impact on the “monument of love” – Taj Mahal – that is visited by lakhs of domestic and foreign tourists round the year.

“Carbon particles that get deposited on Taj Mahal do not easily get washed away in rain... It is difficult to erect scaffolds around the Taj Mahal to treat the monument chemically. Therefore, there is no other option but to take these important initiatives,” Mr. Bhatnagar noted. The Agra Nagar Nigam has been asked to severely penalise those who flout the ban aimed at protecting the UNESCO World Heritage site. The government is also planning a special drive to distribute LPG connections to the poor who will be affected by the ban.

In its recent report, experts from two U.S. institutions – Georgia Institute of Technology and University of Wisconsin – besides the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur and the Archaeological Survey of India have raised concerns over pollution affecting the Taj Mahal. Even the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests took cognisance of the report last week and decided to take up damage-control work on priority basis.

- The Hindu, January 14, 2015

The Ganga in Varanasi may take some years before it flows clean, but the river is all set to brim with activity in the coming months. A floating school and a floating hospital will soon be visible on the Ganga in Varanasi.

The Sankatmochan Foundation has joined hands with Samudra Shipyard of Kerala to turn this dream into reality. The director of Samudra Shipyard, Dr S. Jivan, has already prepared and presented the model of the floating school and hospital. According to the mahant of the famous Sankatmochan temple, Prof. Vishambharnath Misra, the floating school will cater to children who live along the river bank and do not have easy access to schools. ‘For children who cannot come to school, the school will go to them,” he said.

The floating school will have room for four classes and a bio-toilet for the children which has been designed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation. The children will be charged a nominal fee for primary education in the floating school which will also have special arrangements for physically challenged children.

“Children who belong to very poor families will be given free education and we are making arrangements for this,” the mahant of the Sankatmochan temple said. The floating hospital, meanwhile, will be funded by the National Rural Health Mission and will have a ten-bed hospital, apart from medical specialists and para- medical staff. The floating hospital will have its own jetty to enable easy access for patients.

“The hospital will be particularly useful for the elderly who cannot travel to hospitals. The doctors on duty will also take care of emergencies and will also make arrangements if the patient has to be transferred to a specialty hospital,” he said. The hospital will be a major advantage for cases of accident that take place in the river. “Many people lose their lives while being transported to a hospital in case of accidents in the river. The floating hospital will be equipped to tackle cases of such accidents and we hope to save many lives because of this.”

- The Asian age, January 14, 2015

Ganga will be totally cleaned by 2018, the Centre on Wednesday told the Supreme Court, which had sought to know whether the government was serious about completing the clean-up exercise during its current tenure or wanted to keep it alive as a poll issue for the next general elections. “Absolutely not. We don’t want to keep it alive. We want to do it by 2018,” Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar submitted before a bench led by Justice T S Thakur, which was hearing a PIL pending since 1985.

The PIL, filed by activist M C Mehta around three decades ago, was being heard by the apex court regularly but it picked up pace recently when the Justice Thakur-led bench began hearing it. Incidentally, the government led by Narendra Modi came to power at the Centre around the same time when this bench started hearing the petition. On Wednesday, the court said the government should be “more worried” about the pollution in the river since this government had pledged its commitment to the issue. “The net effect as on today is that Rs 2,000 crore has already been spent and the river is still polluted. Fortunately money is not a problem with the government but we want to see the results on ground. Show us the output that can be objectively verified,” the bench told the Solicitor General.

Kumar drew the court’s attention to the government’s last affidavit wherein it had highlighted creation of a new ministry — the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation — and submitted that cleaning the river remained a top priority. He also read out the progress made in the relevant projects. The court, however, said: “These are all bureaucratic jargon. We don’t want to be dragged into this jumble. You may call it Ganga mission or rejuvenation or conservation or whatever you may like but we would only want to understand it in terms of verifiable projects. You tell us in simple terms what are you going to do. Tell us what do we get when we lift a sample of water from the river.”

It said the court would be satisfied even if the government comes up with a categorical answer that a particular stretch will be totally cleaned in one year and likewise but there had to be verifiable plans. “Don’t treat this as adversarial. Treat it as something that would benefit you and your plans. Fortunately, there is no shortage of funds for this project so you should go ahead and execute it in a time-bound manner. If there is a problem, come to us and we will help you in removing such bottlenecks,” the bench told Kumar.

At this, Kumar said the river will be cleaned by 2018 and that the government will not make Ganga a poll issue when it goes for the general elections in 2019. He also informed the bench about the status of 70 sewage treatment plants and said the government would file a detailed affidavit to demonstrate the progress. The court asked him to also place on record the final report by the IIT consortium, which has been asked to formulate the Ganga basin management plan. It will hear the case next after six weeks.

- The Indian Express, January 15, 2015

In a significant move, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has prohibited cultivation of edible crop on the floodplains of Yamuna here, saying the vegetables grown there were “highly contaminated” and their consumption could lead to cancer. A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar, in a recent judgement, said the vegetables and crops grown on the floodplains were highly contaminated and their consumption may lead to serious ailments like cancer.

“It is an established fact that presently, vegetables, fodder grown and allied projects at the floodplains of River Yamuna are highly contaminated. Besides containing ingredients of high pollutants, such produce is even found to contain metallic pollutants. Therefore, we direct that no authority shall permit and no person shall carry out any edible crops/fodder cultivation on the floodplains. This direction shall strictly be adhered to till Yamuna is made pollution-free and is restored to its natural wholesomeness,” the bench said.

The tribunal, however, has allowed restricted activities of floriculture and silviculture subject to specific permissions and restrictions. A 2012 study carried out by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) had indicated the presence of heavy metals in vegetables that were grown with water from the Yamuna. The tribunal’s verdict came while hearing a petition filed by Manoj Kumar Mishra of the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan, seeking a ban on dumping of rubble into Yamuna and ensuring cleaning up of the river.

- The Pioneer, January 16, 2015

In a bid to promote tourism in the Northeast, the government plans to start more helicopter services to take travellers to the unexplored terrains of the area. “We plan to start new helicopter services for barren and unexplored areas of the Northeast. The central base camp could be at Lilabri airport or Manipur. Once results from the helicopters become visible, we can even start new flights in these areas. The objective is to boost tourism in the Northeast and this can be done by strengthening connectivity,” culture and tourism minister Mahesh Sharma told Hindustan Times.

He met Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Nabam Tuki on Wednesday and had a detailed discussion on plans to develop the pilgrimage centres of the Northeast. The first Steering Committee of the ministry, which met on Wednesday, also deliberated steps to bolster tourism in the region. A decision was taken to increase number of heritage cities across the country from 7 to 12.

On Benaras, Sharma said, “We will soon a have sound and light show on the Ram-Kevat spiritual dialogue. Their samvad (communication) is flavoured with deep spiritual meaning which the public should understand and imbibe”. There are also plans to start a river cruise from Allahabad to Benaras. Sharma acknowledged that several important posts in the culture ministry had been lying vacant for a long time and said they would be filled soon.

The minister said: “All of them will definitely be filled in the shortest possible time. The process has started.” On visa on arrival he said, “We got over 32,000 VOAs since it kicked off on November 27. We sent a proposal to include five more countries including China, UK, Spain, France and Italy under the VOA”.

- The Hindustan Times, January 16, 2015

After a long gap, the Union Culture Ministry has revived its village-to-village survey scheme aiming to relocate antiquarian remains and archeological sites across the country. The massive survey was kicked-off in October last year and will be undertaken in 5,000 villages in five years with 1,000 villages to be covered annually, said a senior official from the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) which is a supervising body of the programme. The survey is to be conducted with the help of ASI staff and assistant archeologists who will identify and mark the important antiquarian remains such as monuments, mounds, tombs, graves, forts and places of historical importance which are unattended and need protection in the villages.

Besides, pillars, caves, gardens, pottery, coins, seals and sealings, fossils, glass objects, beads, wooden objects or ivory or bone objects among many others found during the survey will also be included in the database to be compiled by the ASI. “It will also provide a huge opportunity to a large number of archeology students to participate in our programme. They will have an opportunity to explore the new sites and artifacts during the survey. Concerned universities will be roped in and students will be given scholarships or offered stipend to conduct the survey,” the official said.

The survey had to be stopped in the past because of the shortage of staff. “But just last year, 56 out of total 170 posts of assistant archeologists have been filled in the ASI’s 27 circle. It is mainly the assistant archeologists who conduct the survey on behalf of the ASI,” the official added. Now the survey will be practiced vigorously. It is an important initiative as the survey has helped us explore many important sites and recovery of antiquities in the past. For instance, the official said, Dithwara a small village in Katni district of Madhya Pradesh which is famous for ruins of a large brick temple which is dated to the Gupta period was explored during the survey.

So far 800 villages across the country have been explored from October last till date. “We are yet to study the details of the remains explored. But we expect good results to come. This would not only help through light on the available artifacts and antiquarian remains but also help us create a database for comparison in the years to come,” said the official. The entire operation is being monitored at the circles headquarters by superintendent archeologists, he added.

- The Pioneer, January 16, 2015

Guided by its self-imposed deadline to clean the Ganga by 2018, the government is planning to involve private sector in a big way by introducing a 'revenue model' for sewage treatment in all 118 towns along the banks of the national river. The suggestion to consider sewage treatment as an industry is part of an interim report of the consortium of seven IITs which is set to submit its final recommendations to the ministry of water resources and Ganga rejuvenation this month.

Though the government has already started its groundwork and held several rounds of inter-ministerial consultations to implement the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet project to clean the river, it is largely banking on the consortium's final report to settle on the roadmap. Sources privy to the contents of draft report said that IIT experts would also come out with many other path-breaking recommendations on how to maintain the river's uninterrupted flow - an important prerequisite to clean the Ganga.

"It will in its final report tell the government to consider sewage treatment as an industry and involve private sector in such a way that they also get benefits from setting up and operating sewage treatment plants (STPs)", said an official who has been coordinating with the consortium. He said IIT experts felt that only policing, monitoring and regulations were not enough to clean the river. They felt that all these actions should be assisted by introducing a price-based mechanism where industry may not only recover the cost of setting up STPs but also earn revenue by treating sewage. The government can also give them a guarantee to buy the entire treated water and distribute it for reuse among different industries and local municipal bodies in towns\cities, the official added.

The group of experts also pointed out that since the government in the past had spoiled the river by constructing Tehri Dam which obstructed the river's natural flow, it would now have to go for a technical solution to create a passage so the river can pass through a reservoir. They felt that this is the only way to maintain the uninterrupted flow of the river downstream.

This and complete ban of any such structure on Ganga and its tributaries in future, mobilization of religious leaders for creating awareness on proper disposal of 'puja' materials, setting up of a Ganga river basin management commission through a Parliament act so it can be the custodian of the entire river and strictly following a 'zero discharge' policy by existing industries are some of the suggestions which will be the highlights of the forthcoming IIT consortium final report.

- The Times of India, January 17, 2015

Politicians often find themselves in the news for acquiring high value properties. But Odisha Chief Minister and ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president Naveen Patnaik is in the limelight now for donating his ancestral home to the state.

The bungalow, Anand Bhavan, located in Tulsipur area of Cuttack, the erstwhile capital city of Odisha where Patnaik and his late father, the former chief minister Biju Patnaik were born would be turned into a museum and a library. The present value of the single storey building is around Rs 1.62 crore.

“My brother and I have donated our ancestral home to the state government. The house would now be developed into a place of learning— a museum and a library for people in the state”, Patnaik said after inking the official documents to transfer the property. His elder brother Prem Patnaik, a businessman based outside the state and his son Arun Patnaik were by the chief minister’s side when the official documentation was done.

The more than 5000 square ft building which stands on half an acre of prime land in Cuttack was built by Biju Patnaik’s father, the late Laxmi Narayan Patnaik, a lawyer and social worker, more than a century ago. Naveen and his two older siblings — Prem and writer sister Geeta Mehta who is based abroad — had inherited the property after Biju Patnaik’s demise in 1997. However, last year, Geeta had transferred her shares in the property in favour of Naveen.

For last five decades now, the bungalow was in the hands of a caretaker employed by the family as the late Biju Patnaik had shifted base to Bhubaneswar after constructing a house, Naveen Niwas, in the new capital. Naveen Patnaik currently lives in this house. Biju Patnaik had also constructed a house in posh Aurangzeb Road in New Delhi which still remains in possession of the family.

- The Deccan Herald, January 17, 2015

It has been a year that Sunanda Pushkar was murdered in a hotel room in the capital, but Delhi Police is far from aware as to who killed her or even what killed her for that matter. The case had been lying under wraps till January 1 this year when Delhi Police registered an FIR of murder in the case. However, instead of talking about a breakthrough, sources in the top echelons of Delhi Police told TOI on Saturday that it was heading towards a closure.

This is surprising given that the SIT formed to probe the case has been "extremely secretive" in carrying out so-called interrogations of "crucial" people in the case. Those quizzed include all friends of the couple, hotel staff and people who had had any connection with those who occupied suite number 345 on January 17, 2014. Officers privy to the investigation refused to elaborate, saying they had been instructed by JCP Vivek Gogia not to talk to the press, but they did say that an announcement in this regard was going to be made very soon.

Police commissioner B S Bassi has been talking of sharing a development "soon and within 3-4 days". Officers refused to divulge if a decision has already been taken. Till May last year, police were not even bothered to collect exhibits like broken glass pieces and other samples from the hotel room despite being pulled up by the medical board. By July, the inquest proceedings were heading for a closure when matters began to gather pace. Suddenly, investigators were seen interacting with the forensic officials regularly. The twist came in September when the DCP handling the probe was mysteriously transferred to the traffic department, a significantly lesser important assignment.

ACP Surender Sharma, who had been Gogia's aide in the Jessica Lall murder case, was the key investigator in this case. He also retired by September-end. The SHO, Atul Sood was shunted out to security wing. The probe team was virtually dismantled with Gogia remaining at the helm.

However, in November, Shashi Tharoor, dropped a bombshell by saying that Delhi Police officers had assaulted his help Narain Singh and were trying to extract a confession from him that he and Tharoor had murdered Sunanda. It came to fore that the investigators had secretly shifted base to RK Puram police station and were interrogating people involved in the case.

On December 29, police received the final medical report, which did not have anything new, and registered a murder FIR in the case. However, sources said this was just a face-saver and that nothing was going to emerge from the investigation.

- The Times of India, January 18, 2015

Kashmiris remember the Mughal rulers for abducting their last indigenous ruler, Yusuf Shah Chack, by deception, thereby opening the gates to centuries of foreign rule. Kashmiris also remember them for the exotic gardens that thousands of tourists still throng every year. But there is one Mughal innovation that every Kashmiri wants to retreat to in these harsh winter days. It's called the hamam. The word hamam is associated with exotic public Turkish baths, and, of course, a popular brand of soap. In Kashmir, it means much more.

A hamam is a room in which thick, hand-hewn rectangular slabs of limestone are laid over a hollowed-out floor. Columns of brick support the slabs at the joints, which are sealed with cement. Each slab, sculpted from blocks of rock extracted from a quarry on the outskirts of Srinagar, stands on a single pillar of rough-hewn stone especially quarried in Baramulla district. The inside walls of the hamam are lined with bricks sealed with lime mortar. The floor is strewn with sand, bits of glass and boulders, to absorb and retain heat. Firewood is placed in the hamam through a small iron door. The smoke escapes through a chimney that goes right up to the roof, through all levels of the house.

Traditional houses in Kashmir, made of timber, mud plaster and mud or baked brick, could do without a hamam. But most new houses are made of brick and concrete, a disastrous mismatch with the local weather. In December and January, when temperature dips to several degrees below zero, hamams or central heating become a necessity. Even more than homes, a hamam is central to mosques in the Valley. Every mosque has one. In fact the hamam is the first space one steps into. It is like an atrium that traditionally leads to the main prayer hall to one side, the entry to the mosque on the other, and rows of small bathrooms on the remaining two sides. The hamam is not a firewood guzzler. It can be warmed up with a few logs, discarded wood or even cardboard packaging. A huge copper tank - 200 litres to 300 litres for a home hamam and above 1,000 litres for a mosque - is installed directly above the spot where the firewood is burnt. Hence a hamam also generates a plentiful supply of hot water. It can be used to dry clothes too, since wet clothes just freeze in the open.

Another use of the hamam is as a source of the burning embers that fire kangris to keep people warm outdoors. For the arthritic elderly, a hamam is a substitute for the warm places they are told to escape to by their doctors. That is why the hottest spots in both mosque and residential hamams are taken by the elderly as a right. The hamam is an essential and unique aspect of the Kashmiri mosque-going culture. People, most of them poor, would wait outside mosque bathrooms at dawn until a few decades ago, since this was the only place that offered affordable hot-water baths.

The hamam is so central to the mosque, in fact, that full-time caretakers are employed to run the mosque hamam; they are called hamamis. There is still no substitute for its social function. It is where community members gather to discuss politics and local mohalla issues. Discussions sometimes get so, well, heated, that mosque managements even have a firefighting technique - they fire up the hamam only twice a day; letting it cool down is an indirect means of breaking up arguments and sending the arguers their separate ways.

ALL SMOKE, NO FIRE The hamam has advantages over other forms of heating. Civil engineer Muzaffar Ahmad Posh estimates that a 10 ft x 14 ft hamam costs Rs 1.20 lakh to 1.40 lakh to build; firewood for three months of harsh cold would cost another Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000. In contrast, a homeowner would have to shell out up to ? 10 lakh to install central heating, depending on the number of rooms. Gas heaters and coal bukharis are polluting, electricity is scarce, and the kangri only warms up an individual. The only disadvantage, particularly from an environmental standpoint, is the toll hamams take on forests and orchards. All mosques in the valley are still provided firewood at subsidised rates at government firewood depots. A Kashmiri hamam is an improvisation of the Turkish bath. "The hamam has Turkish origins but Kashmir was never ruled by Turks. Since the Afghans who ruled Kashmir took pride in their Turkic origins, we can say that the hamam's origins lie in Central Asia," says Saleem Beg, convener of the Jammu & Kashmir chapter of INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage).

Mughal rulers made hamams, like their elaborate gardens, part of their residential and other buildings in Kashmir. Hence, besides the mosque, public and residential varieties, the hamam also had a royal cousin that, according to Beg, was meant not just for baths but also for exercise and leisure. The remains of one such hamam are found at Pari Mahal (Abode of the Fairies), a seven-tiered garden complex built during the 17th-century reign of Dara Shikoh. The palace sits on a hillock overlooking the Dal lake in Srinagar. Civil engineer Posh says the hamam was the most decorated room in the complex and remains of pipes that probably supplied hot water to it can still be seen. Shalimar Garden has a similar hamam, complete with an elaborate piping system that supplied hot water to it, says columnist Zahid Ghulam Mohammad.

Although, the residential and mosque varieties have remained, Mohammad, also a retired bureaucrat, recalls seeing in his childhood a Turkish bath built in the Kashmiri architectural tradition in Gada Kocha, a bustling spice and cloth market in Srinagar. "Places in Srinagar named Aga Hamam and Ranga Hamam became synonymous with their widely popular public baths. Sadly, they faded into oblivion and didn't become part of social life, as they have in Turkey," Mohammad says. Today, it's not hard to guess the subject being discussed most passionately in Kashmir's hamams.

As political uncertainty holds the state hostage, there are endless analyses of the situation - who will form the government, the Bharatiya Janata Party and People's Democratic Party (PDP) or the PDP and National Conference (NC); what will that mean for the present and future of the state; how long will the needless grandstanding of the politicians continue. In such exasperating times, one is reminded of a Kashmiri proverb associated with the hamam. Roughly translated, it says 'No one has ever fired up a hamam by breaking wind'. Hilal Mir is a journalist with the Kashmir Reader and is based in Srinagar

- The Hindustan Times , January 18, 2015

Mandvi offers a unique combination of the ancient skill of handcrafted shipbuilding, cultural history and pristine beaches

Everyone loves a beach holiday. And what about when you can afford a private pristine white sand beach for yourself. And if you think it’s incredible, make a trip to Mandvi beach in Western Kutch and book for yourself a private beach owned by the royal family of Kutch in the Vijay Vilas Palace. Now, we know what ‘happy holidays’ can really mean!

Thanks to the good roads in Bhuj, you can cover this entire leg of Mandvi in just a half a day. Mandvi is just one and a half hours (including a recommended halt at the 72 Jinalay) from the city of Bhuj and is indeed a lazy day break during your trip to Kutch. The silent sea and its pristine, less visited beaches are perfect for long walks; a minor delight and a treasure trove all cuffed for you.

And if you feel ready to embark on a sea-bound voyage, this historical town brings you closer to the ages, when large wooden ships used to move around the globe. To travel across times, one can go to the Tower of Wagers, where ship owners and traders used to gather and scan the horizon, waiting for their ships returning from Africa, betting on whose ship would return first.

Stand there and be a part of the conversations that happened between traders, the stories of voyages, of unseen lands and riches, of sea pirates, spices, gold, emeralds, gambling, betting and beauties. Once the region’s leading port of entry, Mandvi still boasts a 400 year-old shipbuilding yard, where even today ships are manufactured. Large wooden blocks still float on the silent waters, like a fairytale woven on frozen times.

This is Mandvi, Gujarat’s well-kept secret. The first sights of Mandvi, as you enter it through the wooden Rukmavati Bridge — which is one of its kind in India — are probably of a forgotten shipbuilding yard, reminding you of that forlorn era when it used to be a trade city. Move another 5 kms into the city to the royal Vijay Vilas Palace, where the royal family moved in after the 2001 earthquake. The palace exemplifies an eclectic mix of cultures, an amazing fusion of depictions. It stands as an eclectic blend of umbrella shaped domes as seen in palaces of Bengal, cupolas coming from Mughal architecture, cenotaphs, jharokhas from Rajput architecture and columns and arches signifying the Victorian Gothic style.

Nestled in an area of 450 acres, with 2 kms of private beach and a well-maintained sanctuary, Vijay Vilas Palace was built as a summer retreat for the king. It is said that craftsmen from every corner of the country were invited by Maharao Shri Khengarji III, the Maharao of Kutch, to build this summer palace, and hence the splendid mix of different architectural designs. The Maharao’s love for riches is also evident in the fact that the first Mercedez Benz in India rode on these very streets.

The palace rose to fame when Bollywood movies “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam” and “Lagaan” were shot here. An imposing red sandstone structure with beautifully carved stone meshes, the graceful curves of the Bengal domes boasting exquisite artwork with coloured glass and rich stone work on the walls, Vijay Vilas Palace has every element to keep you hooked. The sheer grandeur of the palace can be taken in with an uninterrupted 360 degree view of the surroundings from the roof-top. At the horizon, you can see the Arabian Sea merging with the green of the surroundings.

Mandvi was always known for its sailing prowess. Centuries ago it used to be a trading centre between India and West Asia and Zanzibar in Africa. It is said that even Vasco da Gama took help from Mandvi sailors in his voyage to Zanzibar (archipelago off the coast of Tanzania). Today, the ships manufactured here are used as fishing boats. The usual carrying capacity of these ships ranges from 250 tons to 1000 tons. When you are there, try climbing one of the ships to be a part of centuries-old history that still stands. The environmentalist and traveller in me found Mandvi to be good for birding. Travelling across Gujarat, I got some of my best birding shots in Mandvi. The quiet beaches provide an excellent spot for birders and photographers to camp for the perfect shots. The delta area of river Rukmavati is also a lesser known halting grounds of lesser flamingos.

But the finest jewel in the kitty of Mandvi is undoubtedly the pristine white sand beach, an empty place where you can walk for miles without getting tired, catch the golden hues of the setting sun in the clear waters and get mesmerised by the fine silhouettes created on the white sands. Mandvi offers a unique tryst with the ancient skill of handcrafted shipbuilding, cultural history and pristine beaches. All made for a perfect day-break.

To stay One can choose to stay in the Vijay Vilas Heritage rooms or include Mandvi as an extended part of the Bhuj trip where options are more. To eat and shop Try Osho, probably the best place to eat in Mandvi. This small restaurant serves Kutchi cuisine and Gujarati snacks. Also try Mandvi’s famous local double rotis, also known as dabeli (similar to vada pao). Mandvi is also a known shopping halt for Kutch handicraft, especially the famous bandhni (tie and dye) craft.

- The Hindu, January 19, 2015

"Four to five pairs of common mooorhen and 15-20 ducks have arrived here after ages"

The Archaeological Survey of India-protected historical reservoir Hauz-e-Shamsi at the Qutub Complex in Mehrauli is seeing a pleasant arrival of Himalayan water bird common moorhen, popularly known as Jal Murgi, and local ducks are swimming in its waters these days.

An ASI representative of the Delhi (Mehrauli) Circle said, “Four to five pairs of common mooorhen and 15-20 ducks have arrived here after ages. Though a couple of moorhen was seen here last year, this time they are swarming one portion of the Hauz-e-Shamsi, which has been cleaned in the past one-and-a-half months. We cleaned the algae and silt (vegetation growth) from the edges, which was deposited here for over 25-30 years.”

Distinctly, the arrival of these water birds have to do with Hauz-e-Shamsi’s cleanliness since these birds flock only in clean water. Their presence has also resulted in a continuous flow of visitors. Earlier, the hauz was a filthy sight; the locals would throw their garbage in it. The 35,000-sq m Hauz-e-Shamsi was built by Illtutmish in 1230 CE. According to legend, he saw a vision of the Prophet Muhammad asking him build a reservoir in the area.

The hauz is slanted, therefore, as the representative says, is dangerous to clean unless done manually. People living in slums close by throw glass bottles due to which the workers have been wounded and they were given gum boots, plastic wears, etc. After one part was cleaned, the representative also requested for some boats from Purana Qila officials as an experiment to woo visitors. But the locals started using the boat without seeking permission from ASI officials. So, “for the time being, we have kept the boats at Jahaz Mahal (located at Hauz-e-Shami’s eastern edge, built for the pilgrims as a lodge in the 16{+t}{+h}Century during the Lodi Dynasty). We will facilitate boating here soon after seeking official permission,” the official said.

Interestingly, the staff of the ASI led by Sumat Dogra at the Qutub Complex, had visited the Residential Welfare Association of the area to garner support to keep the hauz clean. It bore results. The residents of the societies have joined hands in guarding the reservoir by taking turns. “Even women have come forward to guard the area on Saturdays and Sundays for the whole day. A police check post has also been erected to avoid anti-social elements.

The representatives of complex claim that the local people show more interest than the police personnel deployed for the job. The boats now read a caution note that anyone seen dirtying the hauz would be fined Rs. 5000. “Ït has resulted in thinning of garbage-spilling incidents by 90 per cent – a trick that worked instantly than any punishment so far,” the caretakers claim gleefully.

- The Hindu, January 19, 2015

Taking first steps towards making areas around Taj Mahal in Agra a pollution-free zone, four electric vans have been introduced that will replace polluting autos to ferry tourists to the iconic monument.

As part of a Union government-sponsored pilot project, the Agra Development Authority plans to introduce more electric vehicles in the Taj Mahal zero emission corridor. While first set of electric vans have been given by automaker Mahindra and Mahindra, the green initiative is being implemented under the Centre's National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) that aims at promoting electric vehicle sales across the country, particularly in eco-sensitive zones.

Chetan Maini, CEO of Mahindra Reva, the electric vehicle arm of Mahindra which has developed Maxximo electric van, handed over the vehicle to Agra Development Authority officials. These first-of-its-kind eight-seater electric vans will ferry tourists from Shilpgram to East Gate of Taj Mahal. Powered by lithium ion battery pack, the van can run 100 km on a single charge with a top speed of 65 km per hour.

- The Hindu, January 19, 2015

Jonathan Gil Harris’ book relates fascinating anecdotes about three ‘firangis’ named Bibi Juliana and other nuggets of fact and conjecture

Bahadur Shah I fought several battles on behalf of his father Aurangzeb, later with his brothers and then with the rebellious chieftains around Delhi and Agra. And guess who fought alongside him? A woman of Portuguese or Armenian descent who was a firangi in local parlance. A devout Catholic, she suffered imprisonment along with the emperor when as Prince Muaazam he incurred the wrath of his father. He had to eat the bread of prisoners “moistened with tears” in Salimgarh, where his mother, Nawab Begum, aka Rehmat-un-Nisa, was also held captive as she too had displeased Aurangzeb.

It was in Salimgarh, adjacent to the Red Fort, that Muaazam’s uncle, Murad, had also been imprisoned by Aurangzeb after the war of succession among the sons of Shah Jahan and later killed. Seven years, like the “Prisoner of Chillon” in Byron’s famous poem, somehow passed and the heir apparent was finally released. After that his liking for Juliana da Costa, known as Bibi Juliana, increased, more so as she crowned the prince with a wreath on the feast day of John the Baptist and presented a palm on Palm Sunday, a week before Easter, besides making dal-chawal for him. The firangi mem has not found much mention in historical records as such but in oral history researched by a New Zealand scholar, Jonathan Gil Harris.

According to him, firangi is an allusion coined during the Mughal period, actually in Akbar’s time, for Armenians who had come to his kingdom as merchants primarily but also as administrators and religious personalities. The name Firangi was appended to their names, otherwise how would one have known that Abdul Hai was a native of Armenia though he served as Akbar’s Minister of Justice, or that Mirza Zulqarnain, Master of the salt mines in Sambar (now in Rajasthan) was not a Mughal prince but the son of Iskandar Firangi, who was close to the emperor!After his father’s death, the still young Zulqarnain was adopted by Akbar and later raised to a high rank.

Harris, now domiciled in Delhi with his Indian wife and their children, in his treatise, “The First Firangis” (Aleph Publications), gives a deep insight into medieval matters, punctuated with some modern history and Bollywood comparisons. Initially affected by Delhi Belly, to which he jokingly alludes, he has woven out a wonderful mixture of fact and conjecture. It is due to his painstaking research that we learn of three Julianas –– Bibi Juliana Firangi, who graced Akbar’s court, Bibi Juliana Bourbon and Bibi Juliana Dias da Costa.

Reading the account one is given to understand that the notion of Bibi Juliana Bourbon marrying a fugitive French prince, Jeane Phillipe de Bourbon, and her sister Maria wedding Akbar may be myths. According to Harris, Juliana Bourbon was actually married to Iskandar the Faujdar of Sambar and bore him two sons, one of whom was Zulqarnain. This Bibi died in 1598 and is believed to have been buried in Akbar’s church. We are told that Juliana Bourbon, Juliana Firangi and Juliana Dias da Costa, variously believed to be of Portuguese, Dutch or Armenian descent, were actually two persons and not three — Juliana Firangi and Juliana Bourbon being one and Juliana Dias da Costa the other.

Born 100 years later, Juliana da Costa served in the harem of Aurangzeb and then as a close friend of Muaazam, who ascended the throne as Shah Alam I or Bahadur Shah I. This Juliana, also known as Jullena, was given a jagir of 97 bighas near Delhi city, on which DDA’s Serai Jullena flats have come up and part of which is the Masigarh church complex. She came to be known to the villagers as Jodbai, and a school of that name is still there in Okhla. The Bibi died in 1734, having been born in 1688. Another interesting story is about Sarmad Shaheed, the Omar Khayyam of Delhi, who came from Thatta, in Sindh, visited Hyderabad with his gay friend Abhai Chand and finally settled down in the Capital. Abhai Chand translated the Tohra (Sarmad was initially a Jew) into Hindi and also wrote somerubais like his mentor. Sarmad was executed by Aurangzeb as a heretic.

Some of the details traced by Harris are amazing, as also his surmise about Akbar’s Rajput wife, mistakenly associated with Joda Bai but actually Harka Bai. He also writes about the 17th Century European traveller Niccolao Manucci who was looted at Hodal, 68 km from Delhi, before joining the Mughal court; Thomas Coryat, Jester of the court of James I who came on foot from England and begged at the shrine of Hazrat Moinuddin Chisti at Ajmer when short of money; and John Mildenhall, the only Englishman to see Akbar face to face. There are more such revelations in the treatise which throw new light on our medieval past. (The author is a veteran chronicler of Delhi)

- The Hindu, January 19, 2015

Skyscanner has recorded an increase of 833 per cent in searches for flights to Pink City

Skyscanner, the leading global travel search engine, has recorded an astounding increase of 833 per cent in searches for flights to Jaipur during January this year, compared with the same period last year. A key driver appears to be the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival, which is taking place from January 21 to 25.

The festival has gone international this year, a hot spot destination for travellers, literary enthusiasts and authors from India and across the globe. The highest search volumes, according to Skyscanner data for January, come from the U.S. (1,520 per cent year-on-year), the UAE (810 per cent), Australia (554 per cent), the U.K. (516 per cent), Germany (323 per cent), France (314 per cent), Russia (195 per cent) and Italy (175 per cent).

India, too, has given a collective cheer for Jaipur this year, with searches increasing considerably for the Pink City compared with the same period last year. This year, the historic Diggi Palace, the venue of the festival, will boast a royal theme celebrating India's rich and diverse culture through patterns such as the paisleys, the peacock from Rajasthan and the geometrical pattern of Punjab. For the sixth year, Royale Treasures has returned to the festival as the décor support partners.

- The Hindu, January 20, 2015

After remaining closed for nearly a month due to bird fly scare, the famous Sukhna Lake opened to the public on Monday. People were accorded a musical welcome by a police band which had been specially called in. Posters had also been put up by the Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation.

- The Hindu, January 20, 2015

Taking the first initiative to clean Ganga, the Centre has put in place special technology to keep the river clean during the ongoing Magh Mela at Allahabad and to arrest tons of filth during the month-long fair. The equipment had earlier been successfully deployed in the River Sabarmati in Ahmedabad and had helped in the cleaning of the waterfront area.

"With its proven ability to clean up large surface areas of water bodies, the equipment is ideally suited for the Ganga cleaning operations during the auspicious Magh Mela when lakhs of pilgrims converge at Allahabad," said an official of the National Mission on Clean Ganga. The deployment of this special technology has been done by Cleantec Infra which provides equipment and services for cleaning water bodies across India such as aquatic weed removal, floating trash skimming, desilting and dredging which is part of the Prime Minister's ambitious Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission (IGCM) called Namami Gange programme.

The machine collects floating waste through conveyors, stores it on board and then travels to the shore to discharge the waste so that it can be transported to the dumping ground. Two hydraulically operated gates are fitted in the front to guide the trash on to the first conveyor and also to prevent the collected material from falling back into the water. The machine is fitted with paddle wheels that allow it to travel in the water and these also help to aerate the water by churning it.

Officials of Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation said that the long-term vision for Namami Gange will emanate from the Ganga River Basin Management Plan being prepared by the Consortium of seven IITs, first version of which is likely to be available by the end of this year. "We have deployed two Floating Trash Skimmers for cleaning the river of all kinds of floating materials like plastic bags, bottles, cans, food packets, coconuts etc.

dumped into the river by humans. These become a visual eye sore and also have a negative impact on water quality," said Gaurav Chopra, Executive Director, Cleantec Infra, a private entity which has joined hands with the Government in its efforts to clean the rivers.

- The Pioneer, January 21, 2015

Noting that the 700 tanneries in Kanpur on the banks of Ganga were "one of the highest sources of pollution" in the river, the National Green Tribunal Tuesday (NGT) warned that it will be "compelled" to order the closure of each one of these units if all concerned do not act urgently to prevent the pollution of the river.

"We make it clear in unambiguous terms that if the industry, the government, the pollution control board and the nigam (municipality) do not act with complete sense of responsibility and take effective steps to prevent and control the pollution of river Ganga in all respects at least from this industrial cluster, we will be compelled to order complete closure of all the 700 tannery industries operating in Kanpur on the banks of river Ganga," an NGT bench headed by chairman Swatanter Kumar said.

Pointing out that the issue of pollution in Ganga needed to be resolved "whatever be the cause", the bench said, "The life of millions cannot be put at stake for carrying on of a commercial activity for a group of individuals. Balance has to be struck and we would not hesitate in striking off that balance between development and environment."

The bench took note of a response filed by the UP Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) in which it had given the details of more than 100 such industries which have been asked to shut down because they do not have provisions for treating industrial effluents. The NGT said officials of the Central Pollution Control Board and the UPPCB should carry out a surprise inspection to ensure that industries which have been asked to close down have indeed shut operations.

"…it shall be confirmed before the Tribunal as to whether all these closed industries are actually closed and non-operational for all purposes. The electricity supply and water supply to all these industries shall be directed to be disconnected forthwith," it said. The bench, while fixing the next date of hearing on January 29, directed the state government to decide the kind of solution it was looking at.

"…shifting the entire 700 tannery industries from the bank of river Ganga can be one solution. The other would be making the CETP (effluent treatment plant) already in existence fully effective by upgrading its technology and ensuring its optimum performance. Further, even additional CETP could be installed while ensuring that no effluent discharged by these seriously polluting industries is permitted to enter into the drain and tributaries of river Ganga," the bench said.

- The Indian Express, January 21, 2015

A true blue artist's holy grail is his groundbreaking, seminal creation in the works. Step into his studio-space and you are sure to get boggled with the quaint art world he conjures up for his aficionados. To the curious visitors, it is always a crucible of delightful discovery as it opens up their searching eyes to a window of unknown horizons. One such fascinating art-corner is laid out on the premises of Chemould Art Gallery at Kolkata's bustling Park Street.

Artist Sharmistha Roy Chowdhury's unique unveiling of Mou Qalam is a rare sight to marvel at. The title of this solo show according to the self-taught painter has been "selected with a lot of care and a well-studied backdrop" to boot. "The term literally means paintbrush in Urdu, which has its refined, poetic roots deeply embedded in Arabic, Turkish and Persian origin," she explains the nomenclature.

Thus the synthesis of mou (paint) and qalam (brush) is integrated into a painter's tool, used either on the canvas or on paper. Heavily influenced by the period miniature paintings of age-old palatial edifices, aristocratic households and of Persian origin, the specimens however come in life-size dimensions of 36x24 to 36x36 as part of Sharmistha's aesthetic oeuvre. The bedazzling collection of 14 pieces is mounted up on the walls for public display at the moderately sprawling art-centre with a price-range pegged between Rs 15,000 to Rs 80,000.

It is true that people have been practising Mughal art since time immemorial, but the artist claims to bring in a little twist to her tale of works wherein she slightly converts the medium to spell out her own signature trait. "The royal artists of regal Mughal durbars would paint the portraits with opaque water colours ut I use glass paints on acrylic sheets," she differentiates.

Her art stands out at an advantageous point as glass shades offer a translucent look to the paintings and acrylic sheets also have a retentive power and strength to sustain the glass chromes with long durability.

"Glass as a medium is brittle and breakable, but acrylic sheets can hold on to the colour with the same shimmer and glaze for years to come as was seen on the first day of its application. The sheets also appear pellucid and freshly burnished on the surface and can last intact over 10 years or so. One has to just dust it clean from time to time," she elaborates.

Talking more about her specialised paints, she says they are "fluid with a transparent texture and enables light to pass through it." Procuring most of her precious raw materials from a line of high-end city shops, the artist informs that the commodities and equipment are usually imported from Europe (mainly France) by these plush stores on order basis.

Albeit not formally trained in her craft, Sharmistha significantly insists that rather it has been quite a blessing in disguise in her life as she is not bound by any theoretical barriers and has full freedom to explore novelties with no strings attached. "I have honestly never felt the absence of any systematic guidance on this front, though technical support is undeniably imperative in one's creative evolution. Often excess knowledge and didactic courses make things mechanical instead of artistic. And there I'd always prefer to differ with my mood swings and caprices," concedes the painter candidly, who has easily shifted mediums from charcoal, oil, acrylic to water colours for her tasteful repertoire.

Having continuously dabbled in the current series for the past three years to put up an impressive exposition, the artist unfolds a catalogue of rare eye-teasing gems captioned as Krishnapriya, Abstract Ganesha, Krishna with his consort, Abhisarika, Lady playing the veena, Lady holding the veil, A game of dice, among others.

The beautiful specimens chiefly depict the bowers or andarmahal of Mughal women and their daily lifestyles; their gorgeous costumes and finery bedecked with ornaments and gaudy accessories; their leisurely hours and pleasurable amusements. The grand magnificent mansions of kings and princes; their occupations and sporty events, and their valiant art of warfare are not alienated from the common subjects of Mughal paintings but Sharmistha's art has deliberately walked a distinct path to lend her focus on the realm of zenana (women) exclusively. "I have delineated the women as in, they are following their favourite pastimes like playing a game of dice or listening to music and strumming stringed instruments like the veena," she adds.

Strikingly enough, the palette emits a 3-D effect with its iridescent hues being neatly layered to avoid merging with one another. "The colours are solvent-based and induces a time-consuming affair to dry up," she summarises the overall tedious and intricate process of her chosen vocation. While Mughal art is prominently synonymous with its quality of richness and vibrancy, because of the wide usage of water-tones in those days, the painter however feels that "the colours would gradually dim into dullness after a stretch of time". Hence she opted for this alternative method.

Having earlier participated in group exhibitions as part of the Goti guild of painters at the prestigious ICCR in Kolkata, the artist confirms the present showcase to be her debut solo outing. "While browsing the internet and reading about a galaxy of other contemporary artists' works, I could scarcely find any experimentation being done in the area of art that I have personally decided to pitch in. Hence, I would certainly love to carry on with my pursuit and take it to another, individualistic plane," she conveys. She also emphasises the obvious fact that this particular kind of paintings has a natural semblance with the classical Rajasthani and Tanjore gharana (style) of works.

While art camps and workshops to teach and introduce this unorthodox medium for raising awareness across the board are not ruled out from her future agenda, she only stresses that her ongoing show is keeping her on her toes at the moment. The show is open to public view till January 24 from 2 pm to 7 pm.

- The Asian Age, January 22, 2015

IPS officer and photographer Somesh Goyal traces architectural connections between Angkor Wat and South India temples through his images

You need a different eye to see things differently. That's how perceptive and creative minds of writers, painters, musicians, photographers find an extraordinary story in even an ordinary affair. Angkor Wat, a magnificent UNESCO world heritage site in Cambodia, has forever been a subject of interest to several photographers but that hasn't deterred Somesh Goyal from looking at the temple complex afresh.

Somesh Goyal, ADG, Sashatra Seema Bal, has been pursuing his love for photography for about 30 years and nature and heritage have been recurrent themes in his work. In 2013, Goyal released his ninth book "Stripes in the Wild" along with an exhibition of images from the book and two years later, he is ready with yet another body of work. This time he has zoomed his lens on Angkor Wat, which he visited in 2012 and 2014. "There is so much similarity between Angkor Wat and the temples in South India. There are clear influences from the Pallava and Chola dynasties. These temples take architectural inspiration from India and I want to traces these connections through my work," says the IPS officer and an avid photographer who is exhibiting his collection titled "Mystique of Angkor Wat" at Visual Arts Gallery in India Habitat Centre.

In the 60 frames on showcase, the lensman takes the viewer to different temples in the seminal temple complex of Angkor Wat like the Bayon, Ta Prohm, Tasom, Banteay Srei and others giving a peek into the exemplary Khmer architecture. "What really fascinates me is how harmoniously have different streams of religion co-existed here? Even though the presiding deity is Buddha, on the walls you find murals depicting scenes from the Ramayan like Sita svayamvar. Khmer Kings practiced Shaivism but Suryavarman II who constructed Angkor Wat took to Vaishavism but he never desecrated Shiva temples and people practiced both Vaishnavism and Shaivism with peace. Finally, Buddhism took over but that also co-existed so well."

In this melting pot though, Goyal does bring out the variations that exist in the architectural designs and forms on display at these different venues. "At Banteay Srei you find the pleats of the skirts of women carved on to the walls, much sleeker as compared to other temples in the complex. At Bayon you find not only the gods faces carved onto the temple façade but also the king's. King Jayavarman got his face made on the temple as Lokiteshwara. Tasom and Ta Prohm are dilapidated temples."

Goyal wants to familiarize more and more Indians with this historical and architectural wonder through this exhibition. "Our ties with the country are very old. Cambodia was in fact on our trading route and it is believed that the system of governance there was started by Indian trading communities. We are so similar and closer. These are the people who still paint scenes from the Ramayan and Mahabharat on the walls of their monasteries. It is incumbent upon all of us to revive those ties."

(The exhibition "Mystique of Angkor Wat" is on display at Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, till January 24)

- The Hindu, January 22, 2015

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to submit its action plan to deal with waterlogging in the city, particularly near Kushak Nalla in South Extension, by February 25.

The bench of Justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva directed the DJB to examine an expert panel report on the capital's drainage system and file its action plan. The drainage report had been submitted to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) earlier this month. "In the particular case, we are more concerned with waterlogging in South Extension. The counsel for the DJB should have a look at the report on drainage system and submit a plan of action with respect to it," the bench said.

During the brief hearing, advocate Suresh Tripathi, who appeared for the DJB, submitted that earlier this month, the NGT had passed an order after accepting a report regarding restoration and preservation of the banks of the Yamuna. The tribunal had also accepted the report of the expert committee, he said. The DJB counsel also said the action plan for the entire city was ready and would be implemented in phases. South Extension RWA, however, told the court that the issue was of the actual implementation of the report.

"Reports are made all the time but nothing is ever implemented," a representative of the residents' welfare association claimed. The court has also asked the DJB to submit a copy of the expert panel report along with the action plan. In 2002, the court had taken up the issue suo motu after newspapers reported waterlogging in Kushak Nalla in South Extension-I.

- The Indian Express, January 22, 2015

Many licensed units are allegedly extracting groundwater

There are nearly 64 water packaging units operating in Delhi, many of them allegedly extracting groundwater, even as the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has no statistics of such units.

The list of water packaging units across India with BIS licence in 2014 shows 64 such units in Delhi. However, an RTI response from DPCC revealed that the Committee does not have the data on such units even as it goes on to claim in another response that it is the agency that acts against units operating without consent under the Air and the Water Act.

Environmental activist Vikrant Tongad had filed an RTI application with the DPCC seeking information on the total number of water packaging units in Delhi and how many of them were using groundwater. He had also sought information on units operating without proper consent under the environmental laws.

The DPCC then replied that the data is not available. Not satisfied with the reply, Mr. Tongad checked the BIS website which clearly showed 64 such units in Delhi. Thereafter, he wrote to the Lieutenant-Governor complaining about how the DPCC did not have any data on the matter. He also sought inquiry against various small mineral water supplying agencies and packaged water units running without consent and extracting groundwater even as many areas in Delhi have been notified as over-exploited.

"The DPCC's attitude is extremely disappointing. Its officials should be acted against," Mr. Tongad had said in the complaint. After the complaint, the DPCC supplied information about five water packaging units against which it has acted on public complaints for operating in non-conforming areas, while citing a Supreme Court order. It is to be noted that the units under DPCC's scanner hold a BIS licence, said Mr. Tongad.

"It is shocking to learn that DPCC does not have any data or statistics on such water packaging units. Who knows they are extracting groundwater or using tankers. And how is DPCC expected to act against any unit flouting the norms when it does not have the relevant data," he added.

"The irony is that the DPCC, on the one hand says it does not have statistics on the total number of water packaging units in the city. On the other hand it claims authority for acting against units operating without consent. Is it relying on public complaints?" said Mr. Tongad. DPCC could not be reached for comments.

- The Hindu, January 23, 2015

The Sutlej and the Beas in Punjab have been included in a project to develop 99 rivers nationwide as water highways, Union Minister for Road, Transport and Shipping Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday. He made the announcement at Bathinda, where he launched the construction of Rs. 18,000 crore worth of road projects to make Punjab the first State to have all major cities linked through four-or six-lane highways.

He laid the foundation for seven projects. Among them was the four-laning of the national highway from Bathinda to Chandigarh. The Rs. 3,342-crore project will connect Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. He said that by December, the four-laning of the Amritsar-Bathinda highway would begin at a cost of Rs. 3,800 crore, Jalandhar-Moga (Rs. 1,500 crore) and Moga-Barnala (Rs. 500 crore).

The Jalandhar-Hoshiarpur highway would be extended to the Himachal Pradesh border at a cost of Rs. 1,000 crore. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said things had changed for the State after the BJP came to power at the Centre. In the past five years, the UPA government had not sanctioned a single project for the State.

- The Hindu, January 23, 2015

With just three days left for US President Barack Obama to visit Taj Mahal on Tuesday, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is yet to receive any formal intimation of the visit. ASI Additional Director General B R Mani confirmed that the agency hasn't received any information yet from either the Ministry of Culture or the Ministry of External Affairs, regarding Obama's visit to the World Heritage Monument in Agra.

Senior officials at ASI believe that the agency is being kept out of the loop in view of the tight-security arrangements around Obama's visit. Even ASI Director General Rakesh Tiwari has not received an invite to receive and accompany the guests on their tour. "We may get intimation later from the Ministry, as there are still a few days to go," Tiwari told The Indian Express.

Agra Circle Superintending Archaeologist N K Pathak said that though he had not received any official information from the headquarters, he has begun preparations. "I will be there to receive the US President and other guests at the monument on Tuesday, as Taj Mahal falls under my jurisdiction. I am also assisting the police and security agencies in all possible ways," he said. Usually, when foreign dignitaries visit, archaeologists from the local ASI Circle Office host them — taking them around the important monuments, explaining the history, culture and architecture of each site.

"We do not know if we will be asked to take him around Taj Mahal. In case they do, Agra Circle is fully prepared for it. However, it is possible that the US department hires its own guides… Language is not an issue in the present case, but it is all very unclear," Pathak added.

Describing the situation as "very serious", a senior ASI official, on condition of anonymity, said that this is the first time ASI is being "sidelined" in view of the security apparatus. "Agencies responsible for his (Obama) security are very apprehensive, the drill is much harder this time," the officer said.

Former Delhi Circle Superintending Archaeologist, K K Mohammad, who showed Obama and Michelle around Humayun's Tomb when he visited Delhi four years ago, recalled how "curious" the couple had been. "There was absolutely no difficulty. Everything went smoothly. In fact, it was Michelle who asked me most questions on the architecture and construction materials used in Mughal times."

- The Indian Express, January 24, 2015

The additional tax will hopefully help bring in greater public involvement, and improved accountability of implementing agencies

MANOJ MISRA, environmentalist

Delhi's residents and industries may have to contribute to a ` 4,000-crore project to revive the Yamuna in 30 months by building cleanup centres and restoring rainwater drains that are currently carrying sewage.

The National Green Tribunal has sought an action plan in three months to build 32 new sewage treatment plants. In case of fund shortage, property and house taxes will include a "Yamuna cess" based on plot size, activity being done, water consumption and sewage discharge.

The project has been prepared to revive the river's 50-km stretch in the Capital by top experts hired by the National Green Tribunal (NGT). "Authorities and citizens have failed to perform their duty. Any delay in taking stern and serious steps to revive the river is bound to expose Delhi and its residents to grave environmental disasters," the NGT said in a recent order. The city's 23 sewage treatment plants (STPs) can, at best, deal with only 40% of 3,800 MLD (million litres per day) of sewage because of blocked trunk sewer lines and half the city lacking a sewer system. The rest of the discharge flows directly into the Yamuna through rainwater drains, killing the river that still caters to 70% of Delhi's | water needs.

The NGT has sought an action plan in three months to build 32 new STPs. The existing ones have to become fully functional within two months. The NGT has referred to substantial budgetary provisions made by the Delhi gover nment for sewerage overhaul, but directed that authorities could ask the public to pay on the 'polluter pays' principle.

All industrial clusters in Delhi should have common effluent treatment plants and share the cost, the NGT said. Environmentalist Manoj Misra on whose petitions the NGT directions came, said, "The additional taxes that Delhiites might be required to cough up is a ' payment for ecolo gical services', a standard practice in many countries.

This will hopefully help bring in greater public involvement, and improved accountability of implementing agencies." Sewerage shortfall also results in pollution and stuffing of storm water drains that causes urban flooding during monsoon and inhibits groundwater recharge.

The tribunal ordered that none of the 157 rainwater drains should be covered or used to carry sewage. These drains take rain water to the river and dilute pollution.

- The Indian Express, January 24, 2015

Described eloquently in various fora as one of country's busiest trade centre, the busiest market or a heritage site, Chandni Chowk is nowhere close to the moonlit square it once was and is rather a telltale of filth and abject negligence.

With Delhi gearing up for the polls, traders of Chandni Chowk, be it the cloth merchants or jewellers, feel let down by the previous governments which in the name of beautification added filth, killing their businesses. All the traders want are basic amenities like urinals and legal parking.

Most shell out Rs.50 daily for each car parked. "The governments and the corporation both have cheated us for years. All we want is cleanliness, removal of encroachment and lower VAT," says a member of the Delhi Glass & Paints Merchants' Association.

"There are piles of garbage, layers of muck, and encroachment on whatever is there in the name of footpath. Customers are not willing to enter this filthy market," says Association's president Ashoka Arora, pointing to a water tank at Fatehpuri lying in disuse for years now. While business suffers due to poor upkeep, he says: "VAT is under the Delhi government and traders are being harassed due to it. We want GST."

Surender Sharma, a tobacco wholesaler, shares similar sentiments. Born and raised here, he says "councillors don't work despite many representations by traders, while two-time former Congress MLA Kapil Sibal was a man of just tall promises, AAP is all about dharnas." Hari Gidwani, a former cricketer who now runs a famous sweet shop in Old Delhi, says: "Our expectation from whichever government comes to power is removal of congestion. The party that comes to power should work for development."

"Also, I feel the VAT of 12.5 per cent they levy on us is too much. It should be 5 per cent," adds Mr. Gidwani. Members of bullion association want the government to make Chandni Chowk safe. "We deal in gold and silver. There is congestion, mess all around. How are our customers or we safe?" asks jeweller Surender Narayan.

His shops are adjacent to the dug up stretch for tramway as part of the Chandni Chowk redevelopment plan, which he says is moving at a snail's pace. Traders at Bhagirath Palace, Asia's largest electronic markets which has braved many fires, want overhead wires to be taken care of. Be that as it may, traders of Chandni Chowk are unanimous that they are always exploited by the governments.

Traders complain of vendors all around, haphazard traffic and too many cycle-rickshaws. Some are sceptical if the tram is the answer to end the chaos. "Elsewhere traffic gets jammed. In Chandni Chowk people get jammed," remarked a trader.

Disgusted traders want the new government to clean the mess in this busy business hub

- The Hindu, January 25, 2015

The strains of living a modern, progressive life have annihilated all reflections of history, as visibly evident in the ruins of Old Delhi. It is high time the Government and public conscience woke to the hapless shrieks of Indian history, says ANANYA BORGOHAIN

A realisation of decay often evokes nostalgic memories of a happy and glorious past. There is an inescapably passionate brooding sense one finds in pain and destruction, in what remains incomplete; it is nostalgic and often even picturesque. In fact, in the classical or medieval times, the idea of ruins inspired many enthusiasts. From Petrarch to JRR Tolkien, ruins were pre-eminent for their poetry and fantasy both.

Extending the same to the context of Delhi, one might however beg to differ. Ancient buildings are not only historical documents to trigger intellectual discourses among the elite, they are establishments of rich heritage and architectural notice. The city of Delhi, in its own right, is a world heritage city irrespective of whether it is officially called so or not. Unfortunately today, all past triumph and aesthetic inheritance lie in decay, almost literally so.

The restoration of ruined historical buildings could trigger the debate between 'modern' and 'traditional' methods of conservation, but it also directs us to a crucial question: will the past cease to be so if it is reconfigured into the present? Art critics like John Ruskin and William Morris may have famously exhorted that ancient buildings must not be restored, but then James Patterson too had as famously said, "What are we but our stories?"

Storytelling is an inherently Indian attribute; we have all grown up within the culture of weaving and telling stories. With the influx of modern fads, storytelling in the common parlance may have faded into oblivion, but one will still be enamoured and inspired by the narratives when one encounters the tradition of storytelling still practised through religious sermons in the traditional places of worship in the country. The sense of transfer of one generation to the other creates a sense of belonging towards a past we call our own. Which is why it is pertinent that the time Indian history has traversed be conserved and celebrated.

Delhi, in spite of regular renovations at multiple historical sites, disappoints in its attempt to safeguard its own historical interests. Team Agenda visited a number of lesser known and explored heritage sites and examined how they have been maintained over the years, only to be disappointed by the collective indifference and apathy encountered in the process.

There are more than a thousand sites in Delhi which have historical relevance. One would be surprised at the number of locations that have crossed over from the triumphant times of yore to land up in our negligent generations. The first glimpse of most of the sites we visited was that of gutter, betel leaf stains, undergarments drying on clothes racks, and the likes. An enquiry about a dustbin was met with an absolutely serious,"Dustbin toh nahin, par yahaan road hai."

For instance, former President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf had spent a significant phase of his childhood in the hustle and bustle of the bylanes of Daryaganj. He had lived in the Naharwali Haveli behind Golcha cinema in the pre-Partition era. Golcha Cinema, one of the oldest cinema halls in Delhi, is 60 years old and was constructed seven years after Independence. The area is now known as Gola Market and is named after Prem Chand Gola who had purchased the haveli from the late Qazi Mushamuddin Musharraf, grandfather of General Musharraf. Apparently, back in 1946, it was sold for Rs562.50!

Today, the expansive haveli that once covered an area of 24,800 sq ft has been totally changed. In fact, it has been demolished bit by bit and reduced to a sordid and shanty housing cluster with commercial shops around in the already heavily congested area. When current occupants were asked about the haveli, most of them did not have even minimal clue about it, and instead sensed that we were interrogating them under the pretext of an architectural research.

A lady, who refused to identify herself, said: "I swear I had no idea that this house was a part of Musharraf's haveli once. It was only when he had visited that we discovered the fact." We tried to prod her further, repeatedly assuring that we are not investigating her ownership of the property, but she maintained that she does not have an iota of knowledge about the haveli and its past. One MS Khan, a local resident, added: "This area became popular after Musharraf visited some years ago. There is hardly anybody here today who would have been around when he lived here, but he did meet his nanny and refreshed his childhood memories during his brief visit. The nanny too passed away a few years ago."

Musharraf's haveli is only one of the many historical remnants which are on the verge of vanishing. The meandering lanes of Daryaganj and Chandni Chowk are exuberant with memories of the pre-partition days. Most of these havelis belonged to members of the royal families and the nobles who served them. While not many know that the first woman ruler of the Delhi Sultanate, Razia Sultan, is buried near Turkman Gate, Ghalib ki Haveli at Gali Qasim Jan is the 19th century haveli of one of the most revered poets of all time, Mirza Ghalib.

The haveli has arched corridors on three sides and encloses a courtyard. It is also open for tourists to visit (except on Mondays). Ghalib is said to have spent his last days there from 1860 to 1869. Surprisingly, this haveli — which is more than 200 years old — was only recently attended to by the Government and restored in 2000. It is miraculous that the ruins have successfully preserved a few belongings of the great poet, such as a chessboard and chausar board.

Ghalib's tomb in Mirza's Nizamuddin Basti too is in a despondent condition. Guard Rishi Pal at Ghalib ki Haveli says, "It may not be a crowd-pulling hangout zone for young Delhiites but this place still manages to fetch tourists, both foreigners and locals." Contractor Fahimuddin Saifi adds, "Barring Mondays, when it is closed, it's buzzing with visitors on most days. I have been working in this area for only three days now and I have already seen how crowded it can get."

Chandni Chowk was once the largest market in India and Mughal processions would pass through it. From Meena Bazaar to Jama Masjid to the Red Fort, this place is resplendent with historical locations. At the same time, it is also one of the most secular regions in Delhi. Sri Digambar Jain Lal Mandir (1656), Gauri Shankar Temple (1761), Central Baptist Church (1890), Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib (1783), Jama Masjid (1650) etc are all at a stone's throw from one another.

Victor Massey, a member of the Baptist Church, says: "A large part of the church roof has not been redone and is as it was in the 19th century. A school was built on the premises 50 years ago. All students come from the Delhi 6 area. This church enjoys a heritage status officially." With their beautiful archway, courtyards and underground chambers, these sites are buildings of supreme pertinence. Sadly, nobody seems to share the sentiment, not even the Government. The capital city of Mughals is today more identified by its crime ratio, ghastly traffic congestion, unhygienic alleys and lifestyle, illegal constructions and lack of infrastructure. But these vintage mansions still bear traces of history, which are heartbreakingly on the verge of decay.

One of the most striking examples of the same is Khazanchi ki Haveli in Dariba. It belonged to the treasurers orkhazanchis of the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. Sadly, it is quite ironic to call it a haveli because it has been reduced to ruins and that is the first thing one notices on entering the premises. There is also a hint of a fountain in the courtyard and it is said that the mansion had an underground tunnel which connected it to the Red Fort.

It was used to keep accounts books of the treasury and transfer money safely to the royal coffers back in the Mughal era, but it was blocked by the Government in the 1960s. A direct descendant of the treasurer's family is the current owner of the haveli. It is indeed demoralising to see that archaeologists, historians and social organisations alike have failed to restore this absolutely beautiful artifact.

There are innumerable such structures which lie exposed to public access but all that they receive are Government apathy and collective social ignorance. Nicholson Cemetery at Kashmere Gate is located very close to the Metro station. But it is as dead to the Delhiites as its graveyards genuinely are.

Most of the graves on this cemetery are from the 1857 revolt. The cemetery is named after Brigadier John Nicholson, who is also buried there. Nicholson had planned and led the British capture of Delhi during the war. He succumbed to the wounds he had received during the war. Very close to the Nicholson Cemetery is Qudsia Bagh. Qudsia Begum was the mother of Mughal emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur and a consort to his father Emperor Muhammad Shah. It belonged to the heir apparent but eventually fell to disarray. It was ruined to a large extent during the revolt of 1857.

Today only an entrance gate, the Shahi (Emperor's) mosque and the stables remain. Qudsia Bagh, the garden, which was created for Begum Qudsia, has been recorded as a protected monument by the Archaeological Survey of India. Reports suggested that there were plans by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to rename Qudsia Bagh as MM Aggarwal Park, after the city commissioner, but expectedly, it raised protests.

Feroz Shah Kotla, on the other hand, is a huge, spacious and fascinating fortress built by Emperor Feroz Shah Tughlaq. The sandstone Ashoka Pillar there dates back to the 3rd century BC. It is one of the pillars which Emperor Ashoka had left after his reign in the 3rd century BC. Tughlaq transported the pillar from its original location at Ambala. Another pillar is at the ridge in the Delhi University's north campus. That one was brought from Meerut. Today, this fortress is seldom visited by anyone. Worse, the stillness and absence of human interest have created an eerie aura. For the lack of a better word, it's scary to be alone on the premises for even a few minutes.

Ancient architecture in Delhi is a crucial link to the past, and merits an honest appraisal of whether or not these historical ruins need to be conserved. The strains of living a modern, progressive life have annihilated all reflections of history. It is high time both the Government and public conscience woke to the hapless shrieks of Indian history.

- The Pioneer, January 25, 2015

A crocodile project in Sunderbans, aimed at increasing the number of salt water crocodiles in the delta, has got a fresh start with the help of renowned experts in herpetology who introduced global best practices in crocodile conservation.

The Bhagabatpur Crocodile Project started in the mid 1970's, was aimed at increasing the number of salt-water crocodiles, a Schedule-I species under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. A few years later, the eggs to hatchling ratio declined, and of the 100 eggs collected on an average — less than 40 would hatch, posing questions over the fate of the project.

"I was going through the data over the past few years and noticed the decrease in eggs to hatchling ratio. It is then we felt the need to involve experts to assist us," Lipika Roy, Divisional Forest Officer, South 24 Parganas told The Hindu .

The State Forest Department involved experts like Shailendra Singh from Turtle Survival Alliance, Lonnie McCaskill from the Disney Animal Kingdom and Anirban Chaudhuri, wildlife consultant, Herpetology from Kolkata-based Nature Mates-Nature Club.

"The crocodile project located at Bhagbatpur is next to the uninhabited Lothian Island, far from the mainland in the Sunderbans archipelago. The place does not have electricity and it was particularly difficult to create an ideal situation and use modern techniques to improve hatching of crocodile eggs there," Mr Chaudhuri told The Hindu .

The experts provided inputs to forest officials on how to collect crocodile eggs, to distinguish between fertile and infertile eggs, to create the ideal hatching environment using mother nest substrate and artificial substrate. The training, which also included on field training, started in December 2013 and continued for a year. "The eggs to hatching ratio has vastly improved and it is now over 70. In the last one year, we have released nearly 75 sub-adult crocodiles in the Sunderbans," Ms Roy said.

Pointing out that salt-water crocodiles are facing habitat loss, habitat shrinkage and over-exploitation of their prey base, mainly fish, Mr Chaudhuri said that the temperature during hatching of eggs is crucial for the male- female ratio of crocodiles. Since global warming is resulting in increase of temperature, maintaining the sex ratio of crocodiles is a challenge for us, he added.

At least 50 crocodiles, which were released in the wild recently, have been tagged to keep a check on their condition in the wild. Experts believe that the project needs to be sustained and more research is required as it is one of the few such unique crocodile breeding projects in India.

The project is aimed at increasing the number of salt-water crocodiles

- The Hindu, January 25, 2015

Though insignificant in the scheme of things history reveals several stories about those connected with child birth and childhood

Macduff, the Thane of Fife was pulled out of his dead mother's womb and lived to kill Macbeth. Akbar the Great was born in the desert of Umarkot after his mother, the teenaged Hamida Banu Begum was helped in the difficult delivery by a faithful midwife. Jahangir had 300 women to share his bed and so a lot of conceptions took place in the harem with subsequent demand for midwives. During Akbar's reign the seraglio had as its chief matron and nurse, the Portuguese Juliana.

The midwife who delivered Salim (Jahangir) is believed to have been the mother of his later sweetheart, Anarkali. Mumtaz Mahal gave birth to 14 children, eight sons and six daughters of whom only four sons and two daughters survived. As a matter of fact, Mumtaz died in her last pregnancy despite the best efforts of the old dai in Burhanpur. During Gardi-ka-Waqt, when the twilight of the Mughals began, licentiousness increased (as per Dr R. Nath) and with it a large number of pregnancies. No wonder dais, wet nurses and lori or lullaby singers were greatly sought after.

In the early 1950s, 88-year-old Rabbo Dai, who lived in Jama Masjid's fish market of Macchliwalan, used to say that her great-grandmother and grandmother were frequently called to the Salatan or poor quarters of the harem in the fort to deliver babies, treat women after a miscarriage or to carry out abortions, as a result of incestuous liaisons. Jahandar Shah and Mohammad Shah were known for their promiscuity. But the latter was not lax in enforcing rules of propriety for the Salatan.

Hence the hush-hush visits of midwives to the fort. Rabbo used to say that an illegitimate child, especially if it was a girl, was suffocated at birth by the midwife on the orders of the family elders to save the mother's honour and keep the possibility of a decent marriage alive. She claimed that the portion of the fort near the Yamuna, to which a gate leads from below the Rang Mahal and Dewan-e-Khas, was used to either bury the bodies of new-borns in the sand or to throw them into the river.

Such happenings during the time of the puppet emperors were an unfortunate reflection on the problems faced by young men and women who, born of concubines, were a neglected lot. Unable to get married because of poverty, they had to take recourse to either unnatural sex or illicit cohabitation. Midwives usually got a pittance for their labours but there were rich and influential women too in thezenana who paid some handsomely. If Rabbo dai was to be believed, prosperous dais were able to buy houses in the Walled City and become landladies. Their detractors called these properties "haram bacchon ki jaidad" or the property of illegitimate children.

Wet-nurses were in demand for the inmates of the harem as many of them were anaemic and could not produce enough milk for their babies. However, there were also cases of princes preventing their wives from breast-feeding the infants as they thought it would mar their beauty. As Raboo Dai put it, "Which prince would like a woman with sagging breasts?" Talking of wet-nurses, even Akbar had two –– Maham Anga and Jiji Anga. There was intense rivalry between them. Maham Anga's son Adham Khan was provoked to murder Jiji Anga's husband, Shamsuddin Atgah Khan, whose mausoleum in situated near Humayun's Tomb while Adham Khan, who had to pay with his life on the orders of Akbar, is buried in Mehrauli.

Along with wet-nurses, lori singers were also welcomed to sing lullabies to royal babies. They were hired from the city but some were housed in the fort as they had to sing both in the afternoon and night. One popular lullaby was: "Chandan ka hai palna/resham ki hai dor/Aur Kabul se Mughlanian/khadi hilawein dor" (a reference to Pathan women lulling the infants to sleep in gilded cradles). Lories even find mention in Saros Cowasjee's Anthology of the Raj.

- The Hindu, January 26, 2015

The decision to set up task forces to push plans for the three smart cities was taken at a meeting on Tuesday between Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu and visiting U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker.

On Sunday, India and the U.S. had signed three memoranda of understanding (MoUs) for developing Ajmer, Allahabad and Visakhapatnam. Mr. Naidu said Ajmer and Allahabad were chosen because they were centres of religious significance and drew tourists in large numbers. He said these mid-sized cities had the potential to develop into major hubs for religious tourism. “They need development on various fronts and can be models for the development of other cities.” Vizag, a coastal city

Visakhapatnam was picked because being a coastal city it had the potential to develop into a tourist destination. The Minister said Andhra Pradesh (after the bifurcation) was trying to develop itself, and the government was keen to offer aid and logistical support to it. “Through the MoU, we are trying to quicken the pace of development of Visakhapatnam with its large coast and naval significance,” Mr. Naidu said.

Each of the three task forces would formulate concrete action plans in the next three months. Each team would have three representatives each from the Centre and respective State governments and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA). These task forces would discuss city-specific features, requirements of the project and how to raise funds. High hopes

Ms. Pritzker described Tuesday’s meeting as a “pursuance of the directive of President Barack Obama to work on the economic dimension of strategic and commercial dialogue between him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.” She also referred to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje as ‘go getters’ and said U.S. companies would be asked to seize the opportunities in India.

Mr. Venkaiah Naidu said it was time for both sides to walk the talk by acting quickly and concretising the agreements reached. “The joint statement and the MoUs have raised high hopes about smart cities becoming a reality. President Obama’s visit to India has even furthered these expectations.”

- The Hindu, January 28, 2015

By coincidence, on the eve of the Urban Age global conference on governing cities in Delhi recently, this newspaper reported how the railways minister, Suresh Prabhu, plans to build the world's second-longest high-speed rail track. Running at 300 km an hour, it will cover the distance between Delhi and Chennai in six hours, part of the prime minister's "diamond quadrilateral" project which will similarly link the four major metros. It is a progression of the golden quadrilateral highway project championed by former PM AB Vajpayee.

At the conference, sparks flew when Amitabh Kant, chairman of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) Development Corporation, took exception to the criticism levelled by the audience who referred to protests against this gargantuan industrial belt, the biggest infrastructure project in India's history. He also dismissed questions raised by foreign fellow panelists as being characteristic of prejudice on the part of westerners who could not stomach India going it on its own. It escaped everybody's attention that Japan has partly provided funds and know-how for this project.

The corridor, which traverses nearly 1,500 km and will cost $90 billion, was the brainchild of the UPA, which set it in motion in 2007 but has been enthusiastically adopted by the NDA. It begins with Tughlakabad and Dadri on the outskirts of Delhi and ends at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port at Mumbai. It covers four other states, while 77% of the total length falls in Rajasthan and Gujarat. It envisages setting up some nine new industrial clusters along the route, extending 150-200 km on either side of the dedicated freight corridor.

As in many instances of huge industrial projects throughout the country, the biggest concern is the land that will be earmarked for this unprecedented scheme. Last March, the Centre signed an agreement with the Maharashtra government for developing an 84 sq km industrial complex project in Aurangabad district in the backward Marathwada region as part of DMIC. By way of equity, Maharashtra has contributed land, having acquired 3,200 acres at a high cost of Rs 23 lakh per acre. Similarly, the Gujarat government has leased 800 acres for Re 1 a year to the promoters of the Gujarat International Finance Tec-city or GIFT.

The Aurangabad region is in the arid rain shadow area of the state and prone to perennial droughts. Special care needs to be taken to ensure that those land-owning families are also trained to find jobs in the new townships that will emerge. Since most engaged in dryland agriculture will be illiterate, the authorities must take steps to provide vocational training so that they do not end up as displaced families, however highly they have been compensated. Otherwise, one will witness DMIC being responsible for mass joblessness, with trained workers from elsewhere migrating to such townships to find employment.

The curved swathe from Delhi to Mumbai also raises the fear of lopsided development in the country. This belt is already where many of the country's biggest industrial complexes are based, as for example in Vadodara. DMIC includes the port town of Dholera in Ahmedabad district, where development is planned to cover six times the area of Shanghai and twice the area of Delhi. DMIC also incorporates Faridabad-Palwal industrial area in Haryana as an engineering and manufacturing hub and Jaipur-Dausa in Rajasthan for marble, textiles and leather.

The DMIC will connect with the Mumbai-Bangalore economic corridor, which is being developed with British support. It is expected to generate an investment of over $2.5 billion. In this manner, the nation's capital will link with the commercial capital and onwards to the IT and manufacturing hubs of Bangalore and Chennai. With such a huge proportion of physical and financial resources, government and private, pouring into this gigantic infrastructure, there is reason to fear that this swathe, from north to west and across the peninsula southwards to Chennai, will witness probably the biggest urbanisation in the world. However, it will exclude large regions of central and eastern India, which are already starved of development. It does not augur well for the containment of Naxalite rebellions in these regions, which are rich in natural resources, but whose people are hopelessly poor.

At the conference, it was inevitable that talk would revolve around smart cities, for a hundred of which Rs 7,060 crore have been budgeted. The concluding session was titled, provocatively, "Are cities getting smarter?" Dholera is being planned as one, as will many others. In theory, no one would complain about smart cities, if information and communication technologies are employed to improve city governance and delivery of services. As we have seen in states like Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, the digitisation of land records and online services like in education and health make a world of difference.

However, making a city smart is not an end in itself but a means to an end. The end is to make cities liveable and inclusive for all citizens. It is problematic to refer to western concepts of smartness in a country with a deep digital divide, where one in four Indians do not even have electricity.

The double burden of losing one's land and finding out that one is not employable in the new industries and services that are contemplated in smart cities along DMIC will be difficult to bear. In the concluding session, Harsh Mander cited another instance of smart thinking when he proposed that schools in any city could be converted into street children's homes during the 18 hours when they are not in use. This is in sharp contrast to the "edifice complex" manifested particularly by the present government, with its preoccupation with building physical infrastructure, ignoring the human dilemmas facing the country.

Darryl D’Monte is chairperson, Forum of Environmental Journalists of India (FEJI) The views expressed by the author are personal

- The Hindustan Times, January 28, 2015

In an exclusive preview for Indian art lovers and coinciding with the India Art Fair, Sotheby's New York brings together major works by Vasudeo S Gaitonde, Jehangir Sabavala, M F Husain, Jagdish Swaminathan and Ram Kumar at The Imperial hotel in the capital from January 29 to 31.

While the highlight of the collection is a rare self-portrait by India's leading female modernist—Amrita Sher-Gil (estimated $1.2/1.8 million) and due to appear at the Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art sale in New York on March 18—the same won't be available at the three-day Delhi preview.

Sher-Gil, considered a national treasure and one of the legally protected artists whose work cannot be exported from India, is rarely offered on the international market due to scarcity of her work. This time the exception is being made as this is Sher-Gil's first self portrait to be offered at an auction.

However, art lovers in the city need not lose heart as many fresh-to-the-market artworks from private collections across the US, Europe, Germany, Switzerland and Hungary will be showcased in the preview. These include Gaitonde's sublime untitled painting from 1963—his abstract expressionism—and unearthed from a private German collection.

"We are seeing keen interest developing among Indian collectors who have been pursuing prime works by key Indian modernists. What is fascinating now is that these works appeal to the same international base of collectors," said Yamini Mehta, Sotheby's International Head of Indian and South Asian Art.

Also, on preview will be Jagdish Swaminathan's untitled work from 1960 (estimated $180/220,000) and untitled (Kumaon Hills) by Jehangir Sabavala depicting the mountain range in northern India (estimated $150/200,000). Other paintings by leading modernists include Rabindranath Tagore, Krishen Khanna, Ram Kumar, Francis Newton Souza and M F Husain.

- The Times of India, January 28, 2015

The proposal, mooted at a review meeting on Namami Ganga, will take six States on board before installation.

The Centre has proposed the setting up and maintenance of Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) in all the 118 cities and towns located along the Ganga in a time-bound manner to check pollution of the river. To be built and maintained through a special purpose vehicle, these STPs will be paid for by the Centre and help plug the gaps in the system and prevent untreated effluents from flowing into the Ganga.

The proposal was mooted at a review meeting on Namami Ganga on Wednesday. Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said all the six States (along the Ganga) would be consulted and taken on board before going ahead with setting up of the STPs. In the first phase, the focus will be on the 56 cities and towns that account for about 80 per cent of sewage generation. He said the STP capacity would be augmented to meet the 2030 demand.

Also discussed were action plans for treatment of sewage with timelines, rehabilitation of dysfunctional and sub-optimal STPs, plans for bridging mismatch between existing treatment capacity and the demand, capacity building of urban local bodies, modernisation of existing crematoria, and adoption of innovative technologies developed by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

According to the government, as against the sewage treatment requirement of 3,847 million litres a day (MLD) in all the 118 cities and towns in 2015 and the estimated demand of 4,773 MLD in 2030, the present available capacity is only 879 MLD while another 1,263 MLD capacity is under construction. The gap in demand and supply is 1,852 MLD at current demand and 2,664 MLD at 2030 demand.

As a part of stakeholder consultations, a meeting of representatives of all 195 industrial units located alongside the Ganga will be held next month by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change followed by a meeting of municipal commissioners of all the 118 cities and towns on February 17.

- The Hindu, January 29, 2015

India will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Oman to strengthen cooperation in tourism sector, while promoting safe, honourable and sustainable two-way tourism. The Union Cabinet,

chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the MoU proposal, in order to expand cooperation in the tourism sector, exchange information and data related to tourism and invest in the tourism and hospitality sectors.

- The Hindustan Times, January 29, 2015

Visiting German Minister offers assistance

Soon after India and the U.S. agreed to develop Ajmer, Allahabad and Visakhapatnam as smart cities, the Modi government’s “Smart City” initiative got a shot in the arm with Germany too offering its assistance in developing three more smart cities.

The decision was taken when Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu met the visiting German Minister of Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, Barbara Hendricks, here on Wednesday.

A six-member joint committee will be set up in three months to identify these cities and draw up a plan. The committee will have two representatives of the Urban Development Ministry, one from the Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Ministry and three from the Government of Germany, sources said.

Dr. Hendricks has invited a delegation from India to the Urban Development Conference in Germany in April. After a discussion on the smart cities initiative, the Minister said the German government was keen on associating with it.

Swachh Bharat, Digital India dovetailed Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's brief, the Centre has decided to dovetail the scheme with the Swachh Bharat Mission and Digital India. Priorities that have been flagged include the need to have clean air, move towards zero waste zones, involve citizens in policy-making and execution, generation of jobs and expanding economic activities.

“The Ministry has already specified that cities will be selected through a competition -- we are yet to decide the format of it -- but among the criteria will be the city's capacity and potential to implement the policy,” said an official of the UD Ministry.

There will also be an evaluation of how the cities propose to undertake urban projects through retrofitting, refurbishment and new developmentThe details of support and hand-holding to help in the transformation will be discussed as well as the role of private players and citizens.

The Centre will also examine the possibility of executing works through a Special Purpose Vehicle through PPP. “We have to also look at how to integrate the Smart City project with the National Urban Development Mission for 500 cities ,” pointed out the official.

- The Hindu, January 29, 2015

A new coins gallery will open at the famed Salar Jung Museum next month, displaying for the first time a rare collection ranging from the 3rd Century BC to the present times. Interestingly, the coins do not form part of Salarjung’s one-man collection but are donations received during 1962, 1979 and 1981. They fill the missing link in the museum’s rich repository.

The new gallery, being readied on the first floor of the central block, will showcase 600-odd coins of various dynasties in the past 2,300 years. Most of the coins are cast in copper while a few are in silver and lead. There are two tiny gold coins belonging to the Vijayanagar Empire, while a silver one bears the iconic Charminar symbol. A good number has Arabic inscriptions.

- The Hindu, January 30, 2015

ASSERTING that animals have a first right on forests, the Supreme Court Friday declined a plea by the Kerala government to lift the night ban on vehicles plying through Bandipur Tiger Reserve. “Forests belong to animals and tribals who live there. But you have carved a road inside that and then want to use it,” observed a bench led by Chief Justice of India H L Dattu.

The application was filed by the Kerala government, seeking a direction from the court to allow vehicles to move in a convoy through the reserve forest thrice during night time. It said the night ban, operative from 6 pm to 9 am, caused major inconvenience to the passengers travelling by road between Karnataka and Kerala since they had to wait at the borders overnight.

Senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, appearing for Kerala, also produced an RTI reply to counter the allegation that a large number of animals had lost their lives because of the night traffic. He referred to the RTI response and said only 14 wild animals died between 2000 and 2012. The bench however remained unimpressed and refused to lift the ban. At this, Subramanium informed that some alternative routes were also proposed and that the Kerala government has also decided to approach the central government for their approval.

The court adjourned the case by eight weeks after Subramanium asked for more time for deliberation between the state governments and the Centre. The ban was imposed in June 2009 by the district administration as a protective measure to prevent killing of animals on road through the reserve. The Karnataka government had later withdrawn this order but the High Court restored it.

- The Indian Express, January 31, 2015