The cluttered shops in Asia’s biggest air cooler market — Kamla Market will soon give way to swanky multi-storeyed commercial complexes.

Located right opposite the New Delhi Railway Station in the city, the market will undergo first-ever renovation since it came into existence in 1951. The renovation plan has been mooted by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NMC) and the work is likely to begin in a couple of months. The civic body plans to convert the existing shops into commercial complexes with adequate parking space in the basement.

According to the Corporation, the redevelopment plan aims at giving a facelift to the market where most of the shops are in a dilapidated state. Besides, the new shops will also generate revenue for the civic body. “A number of markets at prime locations, including Kamla Market, are lying under-utilised. “The Corporation has decided to refurbish the market and redevelop them into commercial complexes. This will allow maximum exploitation of the resources, besides giving a facelift to the city,” said Mohan Prasad Bhardwaj, chairman of the Standing Committee in North Delhi Municipal Corporation. The renovation of Kamla Market has also been mentioned in the Budget for the year 2014-15.

The civic body officials have been asked to prepare a detail report on the renovation plan by March-end. “Most of these markets are in an abysmal state. We have asked the Municipal Commissioner officials of the engineering department to bring a proposal for the renovation plan. Expenditure on maintenance and repair of these markets is a sheer waste of money. The detail plan will be submitted by March 31 and by May 31 the Corporation plans to begin with the actual work,” Bhardwaj added.

According to the civic body, additional space would be created in these shopping complexes that would generate extra revenue for the Corporation. The upcoming shopping complexes will have underground parking lots to make the area congestion-free. As per the proposal being prepared by the Corporation, while the existing owners of shops would get a shop at the newly developed market complexes, the new ones would be auctioned.“The final blueprint of the kind of shopping complex, the number of shops and the capacity of creating parking spaces at the markets is being worked out. The final draft would be prepared by March end,” officials said.

The proposal will be then presented before the Standing Committee of the North Delhi Corporation and subsequently before the House for necessary approvals. To ensure that the work does not get delayed, weekly meetings are being held to assess the progress report.

Chinese ‘invasion’ did not dull Kamla Market lustre Situated next to Ajmeri Gate in Central Delhi, Kamla Market is one of the oldest markets in the national Capital. The market came up in the year 1951 and since then it is awaiting renovation. Initially, it was Asia’s biggest market for air coolers but gradually several other commercial units and transporters made their way into the market that houses close to 300 shops. The market was constructed to provide livelihood to the refugees of Partition who came from what is now Pakistan. The market was inaugurated by the first President of India, Dr Rajendra Prasad, and named after Kamla Nehru, the wife of first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Within a few years, it became Asia’s biggest bazaar for air coolers. Various body parts and components of air coolers came to the market from various manufacturing units in the Capital and were assembled here. Later it also turned into a base for the city’s goods transporters who set up little cabins at the market’s periphery. Even as Chinese goods invaded the Indian markets in later decades, the market continued functioning without any hindrance. However, since several years the market has been facing apathy of the civic body as no restoration or modernisation of the shops was ever planned.

Three dozen bazaars crying for attention While the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NMC) has mooted a redevelopment plan for Kamla Market, over three dozen markets under its jurisdiction are also crying for immediate attention. This includes popular markets like Karol Bagh, Paharganj, Kamla Nagar Market, Azad Market, Roshanara Road, Patel Nagar, Old and New Rajendra Nagar, Rani Jhansi Market, Desbandhu Gupta Market and Ramesh Nagar, among others. These markets were under the possession of the Land and Development Office and Directorate of Estates of the Government of India but were transferred to the erstwhile unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi in 2006. A total of 79 markets were transferred to the MCD but after its trifurcation, 38 markets came under the jurisdiction of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation. These markets have 2,920 shops which are on leasehold basis and 1,104 shops which are on licence fee basis. In previous Budgets, provisions were made for redeveloping these markets into commercial complexes but the plan never materialised.

-The Pioneer, 1st March 2014

Delhi government's poor documentation and conservation of water bodies is well-known. But when new water bodies are identified, even those are not preserved because nobody seems to know which agency is responsible for its upkeep.

Two water bodies in Dhulsiras village near Dwarka, that are not on government's records because they were recently identified, are awaiting rejuvenation work because authorities are not sure whether they are under purview of Delhi Development Authority or the forest department.

A committee constituted by the LG on June 7, 2013, was given the task of identifying new water bodies in Dwarka so that the water-starved sub-city's water table could be raised. Activist Diwan Singh and water expert Vikram Soni, who are part of the committee, had submitted to LG an assessment that about 2 million gallons daily (MGD) can be added to the current water supply of 2MGD after these water bodies are revived. DDA has observed that the two water bodies are with forest department. But chief conservator of forests AK Shukla says they are not. "After I got complaints that these two water bodies were drying up, because the owning agency couldn't be identified, I checked our records. But these are surely not with the forest department nor is the forest patch surrounding it," he said.

"During the last two meetings of the committee I have been asking about revival of these two water bodies. They do not figure in any records but have possibly the best chances for revival than any other I have come across in Dwarka. But DDA has claimed they are with the forest department," Singh said.

More than 20 new water bodies have been identified by the committee in Dwarka Phase I but work has not started on any because of a variety of hurdles. About eight water bodies do not have a "green land use". These are located on land that will be used either for commercial or residential purposes. But the committee has been asked to ignore such water bodies because their land use will not be changed.

"Dwarka is water-starved and we cannot afford to lose even a single water body. For instance, in Sector 12 there is a historical baoli that is not being revived because its land use is not green. No wonder, a so called well-planned sub-city is parched," Singh added.

-Times of India, 2nd March 2014

The rich legacies of the imperial splendour, the huge marble rocks and the magnificence of River Narmada has always fascinated tourists from across the world. Over the years, Jabalpur has preserved the spirit of bygone days.

In the 12th century, Jabalpur was the capital of Gond rulers and thereafter, this place was ruled by the Kalchuri kingdom. They worked meticulously to dress Jabalpur with religious, historical and secular edifices of incomparable excellence. The surviving monuments of this alluring town mark the evolution of an interesting style of architecture. The ancient temples belonging to 12th century are known for their historical splendour, as they are for their sacredness. The Pisan Hari Jain Temple, situated on top of the hill, is estimated to be 150 years old.

The name ‘Jabalpur’ is derived from the word jabal, which is the synonym for rock. What soothes one’s eyes on reaching this splendid destination are scenic views from vantage points. A half-an-hour drive will take you to Dhuadhar waterfall at Bheraghat. It is an exhilarating tourist attraction situated around 20 km away from the main town. The main cascade is formed by several streams about 200 metres high. The depth of the gushing Narmada river, flowing amidst these rocks, is around 1,000 ft. And on one side of the river, there are statues of 64 sages believed to be 1,000 years old.

Next on our schedule was the Madan Mahal. Known for its simplicity of style and proportion, it is a magnificent edifice recalling the glory of Raja Madan Singh. It was built in the year 1116 and was the residence of Queen Durgawati. There is a fine massive gateway at the western edge of the palace and on both sides of the gate are pretty ornamental designs.

The palace beautifully depicts a melange of architecture.We moved on to the city bazaar. Jabalpur is a land of enduring heritage. Bazaars overflow with precious and semi-precious stones and exquisitely delicate carved objects in marble. The age-old crafts of the city have been well-preserved in their variegated and distinct forms from generation to generation.

The city’s best known landmark is Queen Durgawati’s museum, which showcases the queen’s private collection. The halls are filled with rare paintings, statues, jewellery, armour, precious stones and manuscripts. Remarkable among these are miniature inscriptions, priceless collection of jade, ivory, bronze and coins and textiles belonging to pre-historic times.

Apart from this, one can also go for a swim or hire a boat in Lamhaghat, Gaurighat and Tilwaraghat. These locales present nature in its gorgeous colour with calm atmosphere and exhilarating morning breeze that welcomes everyone. The best season to visit Jabalpur is between October and March.

-The Deccan Herald, 2nd March 2014

An array of projects pending for months for approval

The National Board of Wildlife is ready to be notified after the government revised the names of non-government officials and organisations on board the apex body which is chaired by the Prime Minister.

The board (NBWL), a statutory body under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, is supposed to oversee implementation of the law and the wildlife policy. A sub-set of the board, the standing committee, chaired by the environment minister and comprising of several non-government members and officers, is required under Supreme Court orders to appraise all projects falling within protected wildlife areas or within 10 kilometres distance of any such zones.

The non-government members are nominated on to the board and it has always been considered a coveted position by some conservationists and naturalists.

The tenure of the last board had lapsed in September 2013 and it had been pending renomination while an array of projects got queued up for clearance for the board's standing committee, including some coal projects. The PMO has been pushing hard since 2012 that the standing committee meet at least once a month to appraise projects regularly.

Even as the board's creation remained stuck, the ministry moved to reduce the size of the legally protected area around wildlife zones to avoid seeking clearance for the board's standing committee for hydroelectric projects in Sikkim.

Several projects in wildlife areas had been objected to by the last wildlife board which also asked for serious reforms in the way the board and the standing committee functioned. With the standing committee's views being recommendatory and not the final word the non-government members several times were over-ruled or their agenda not followed upon by the ministry.

After Mr Veerrapa Moily took over, the setting up of the new board ran in to rough weather when the first list was recommended by the ministry and approved by the PMO, sources in the government told The Hindu. A demand arose for revising it.

Out of those nominated in the first PMO-approved list, Kalpvriksh, Ravi Chellam, P R Sinha, Sanjay Gubbi, Erach Barucha and Vivek Menon, Centre for Ecological Studies and Asad Rehmani have now been dropped. The names of Valmik Thapar, B K Talukdar, Koustubh Sharma, Biswajit Mohanty,Shekar Dattatri and Bittu Sehgal have found place on the new list along with that of Green Life Society, Raman Sukumar and Bombay Natural History Society.

M K Ranjitsinh, K Ullas Karanth, WWF, Brijendra Singh and the Nature Conservation Foundation continue to be on the revised approved list as well. The Parliament Members on board the revised approved list includes Jyoti Mirdha, Dushyant Singh and M S Gill. Sources in the government said the PMO had approved the revised list too and sent it to the environment ministry for notification. When asked for the reasons behind revision of the approved list of members on board the NBWL, the minister's office informed The Hindu, that it “Was not competent to comment on the matter and that the minister was not in Delhi till March 4.”

The formal notification of the board and its standing committee is likely to be soon followed up by an early meeting of the latter to clear the pending projects.

-The Hindu, 2nd March 2014

The country’s second largest brackish water ecosystem in the country, Pulicat Bird Sanctuary, spread across Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh faces a serious challenge after a draft notification issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests called for reduction of the mandatory Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) around the sanctuary from 10 km to 2 km to facilitate construction of a world-class port and ship building centre in its vicinity.

The experts have called for immediate action against such move of Ministry, which has solicited public comments by March 3. The lake attracts large number of migratory waterfowl and is flocked by Greater and Lesser Flamingos from October to April. Efforts are underway by Bombay Natural History Society and Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural history to declare it as a wetland of international importance. The MoEF recently issued a draft notification to reduce ESZ from the proposed 10 km to 2 km. On September 16, 2013, the Government notified for the creation of a major shipping port with an extent of 5,028 acres at Dugarajupatnam of Pulicat Bird Sanctuary besides earmarking another 9,700 acres for future requirements.

However, the Ministry after a Supreme Court order in 2004, had issued guidelines on declaration of Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZ) around all Wildlife Sanctuaries to act as “shock absorbers” by regulating and managing activities around them. All activities in the ESZ shall henceforth be governed by the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and carefully regulated.

As per this guideline, the ESZ of Pulicat Bird Sanctuary was accordingly earmarked by the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department as 10 km. Dr Asad Rahmani, noted ornithologist expressing concern said, “The proposed port at Durgarajapatnam is at the mouth of the lagoon, and is likely to impede the flow of water into it. The suggestion of Andhra forest department must be followed to prevent further damage to this important site that gets lakhs of migratory birds each season. It needs to be conserved as cultural and natural heritage.”

Further, there 46 villages (16 island villages and 30 adjoining villages) who depend on the lake directly or indirectly for their livelihood. Such a move will also affect the livelihood of the fishermen in the area.

Dr K Mrutyumjaya Rao from the The Indian Bird Conservation Network in a letter to MoEF has pointed out that the sanctuary fulfils the ecological and natural criteria as notified by the Wildlife Protection Act. Hence, implementation of the major port either within the Eco-sensitive zone or at its periphery will be a potential threat.

“It is rather paradoxical for a country that has pledged support as a contracting party and key signatory to IUCN, Worldwide Fund for Nature, Bonn Convention (Convention on Migratory Species) under the aegis of UN and the Ramsar Convention, is now rescinding on its commitment to the international bodies.

-The Hindu, 3rd March 2014

Once an important factor in running the city, the Barafkhana stands forgotten.

The Barafkhana between Pul Bangash and the old Subzi Mandi, has long ceased to function. But you may still find some dealers selling ice round about the place, now littered with junk but no manufacturers. The last nail in the coffin of this landmark ice-factory was driven when the licence to local butchers for the export of mutton to West Asia was withdrawn by the Government.

There was a slaughter house near-by once for which lots of ice was needed and when it was moved to Qasabpura, the same practice of ice supply continued. Then the slaughter house shifted to Ghazipur, across the Yamuna and ice-making in the city ended altogether. The small supply in demand is brought from there and, in any case, many don’t need it because of widespread use of refrigerators. No one really knows when the Barafkhana came up. The guess is after the Revolt of 1857, towards the end of the 19th Century or at the beginning of the 20th. The ice was needed by the British to cool their water and dinner drinks. The ice-pits of the Mughal period had stopped making ice during the Revolt and, since the ice-makers did not resume manufacture, the Sahibs were badly hit, along with the local population. As a matter of fact, the evening meal in the hot months could not be relished without iced water.

Ice-sellers like Nadir and his brothers, big burly men who had been wrestlers, chiselled ice from huge blocks till late at night and kept many awake, including children who got over their fear of the dark and the discomfort of the sweaty night by just listening to the reassuring “tick-ting, tick-ting of the chisel and the cool thoughts it brought. How important ice was for a city like Delhi can be gauged from this quotation from Percival Spear’s “Twilight of the Mughals”.

“The last solace of the English in the hot weather was ice. Down country none was available until 1833, when it was imported by ships from America as ballast. The captain of the first ship received a letter of gratitude from the Governor-General. In Delhi the old Mughul custom of bringing ice from Srinagar in Garwhal by relays of runners (or in bullock carts) was too expensive for revival. It continued in Lahore for the supply of Ranjit Singh’s Court. But the method of making ice in the cold weather by running water into shallow pans in the season of the cold winds and storing the ice in pits against the hot weather, was continued.

Companies were formed whose members received ice regularly during the hot weather in proportion to the number of shares they held. The cutting off of the supply from the ice-pits was one of the hardships suffered by the garrison (British) during the siege of 1857.

The ice-bed was divided into six-foot squares each about 18 inches deep. In these were strewn straw of various kinds. Water-pots were provided for each square, and should the weather promise a cold clear night, water was poured into cloth-bottomed pans which were then fitted into the earthen squares or hollows. On a good night ice would form to the depth of one and a half inches on the pans. This was gathered by shivering coolies in the chill morning and stored in ice-pits. The pits were covered with a low mud house thickly thatched, drained by a well, and further protected from the air by layers of straw. The highest temperature at which ice could be made was about forty-three degrees (F); the pits were opened at the beginning of the hot weather and the supply lasted as late as August. Each night in December and January the old “abdar” would keep his watch. If the winds were fresh and likely to increase, he wrapped his blanket around him and retired to his bed, but if the air was clear and frosty, a drum was beaten and from the nearest bazaar came lines of muffled figures to fill the pans and fix them in the beds. The ice-beds were between the Delhi and Turkman Gates of the city and the ice-makers lived in the village of Banskauli.”

The Barafkhana took over from where the old ice-makers had left – with machinery that could freeze water even in summer.

Incidentally, the spot where the Barafkhana came up was once occupied by an Armenian church that was destroyed during Nadir Shah’s invasion in 1739. Old habits die hard and even now boys from nearby areas come to the place with bags to buy ice from retailers for cooling the Capital’s turbid water, especially during the breaking of the Ramzan fast. In summer the sellers spend the afternoon lying on the rag-covered ice blocks kept under shady trees, perhaps dreaming of the times when their forefathers made ice in winter.

Believe it or not, one of them nearly married an amorous Englishwoman who was his favourite customer. Butcher Irshad Qureshi swears it’s true because his grandfather told him so. That old-timer in turn had heard the yarn from his grandfather. What’s more, he disclosed that little pieces of ice were discreetly put in the “kurtis” (short shirts) of Red Fort harem inmates by fun-loving princes out to tickle them into a romance. Can you imagine ice being made at Turkman Gate now and people falling in love in the process, not necessarily only on Valentine’s Day?

-The Hindu, 3rd March 2014

Visiting the Heritage Transport Museum in Gurgaon is a moving experience

Museums are fascinating. Sure. As a museum that is also exciting and entertaining, the Heritage Transport Museum (HTM) has been a surprisingly refreshing exception to the general perception of the people that they cannot be so. It is not often, however, that one hears of a museum that it is moving. In the words of Martin Bellamy, head of research and curatorial team at Glasgow Museums, Tarun Thakral’s four-level collection at Taoru in Gurgaon acquired this new adjective and one couldn’t help but wonder at it. “The displays speak to me. There is a personal element in them. The combination of the collection and contemporary art in particular is a stroke of genius. It makes you think twice about what you’re looking at and provides a whole new level of experience,” he said. After concluding a lecture and presentation in the HTM conference room on Riverside Museum of transport and travel in Scotland, Dr. Bellamy was so impressed with the art installations at HTM that he admitted to being inspired to consider something along similar lines for the museums back home. “This is the most inspiring museum I’ve seen in India and one of the most innovative transport museums I’ve seen in general, in the way that it approaches displays and interprets them with creativity.”

Thakral, founder and managing trustee at Heritage Transport Museum pointed out that the main challenge facing any museum in India is the mindset most Indians share about museums in general: that they are boring. “Our museum has been created and curated to be a fun space,” he said. While the journey hasn’t been easy with limited support and funds from the Government, the space is still being developed and the attempt is clearly to make it as creative and interactive as possible.

“We are also making sure that nothing is stationary, you might come back here three months later and find different displays and different arrangements. That’s the beauty of a museum like ours, we don’t let anything be static,” Thakral added with a smile. Dr. Bellamy also commended the conciseness of the text labels next to the exhibits with special emphasis: “The labels are nice and short, easy to read and in some cases I don’t even need to read the label to understand what I’m looking at. This, I feel, is extremely important in any museum. Presenting an average onlooker with an intimidating monolith and a tediously long historical note next to it makes the object difficult to relate with. Here, I come in and immediately see as well as understand. The art is a wonderful addition to my experience as a whole and complements the displays rather than fighting them. The choices and the integration are very intelligent and very moving,” he said.

-The Hindu, 3rd March 2014

The Centre is expanding its vulture conservation programme across eight centres to save the endangered species and arrest the steady decline of their population.

The move to emulate successful vulture breeding and rescue centre in Pinjore comes ahead of the ambitious plan to release these birds, bred in captivity, into the wild by 2016-17.

Six hundred pairs of each of the three critically endangered species — white backed, long billed and slender billed — will be released. For this purpose, 25 pairs of the three species will be needed to breed in each of the eight centres.

At a meeting last month, officials from Central Zoo Authority, zoo directors, chief wildlife wardens and forests officers involved in the Vulture Conservation Breeding Programme agreed to send captive-bred vultures to Rani in Assam; Rajabhatkhawa in West Bengal; Nehru Zoological Park, Hyderabad; Van Vihar National Park & Zoo; Bhopal; Sakkarbaug Zoo, Junagarh; Muta Zoo, Ranchi; and Nandankanan Zoo, Bhubaneswar.

In fact, vultures, in 19 other zoos in India, will also be soon shifted out to these centres, officials said.

-The Indian Express, 3rd March 2014

Scientists at Aravali Biodiversity Park have recently documented the diversity of avian species here, soon to be published in a birding journal. The list is long; it also has several species that are rarely seen in Delhi. Scientists claim that manmade forests in the park with their own micro-climates may have led to revival of these species. Some birders are pleasantly surprised with the list.

According to M Shah Hussain, scientist-in-charge at the park, the number of species has gone up from 60-70 in 2005 to 190 now. "There could be many reasons for this rise. One of them is that we have insects for insectivorous birds and lots of fruiting trees for frugivores. The park now has micro-habitats like grasslands, there is some moist vegetation in the depressions which earlier used to be mining pits and there are many native trees," Hussain said. Before 2005, the area had almost a monoculture of Prospis juliflora (vilayati keekar), an invasive weed.

Park authorities claim that not just birds that had long disappeared from Delhi are being seen again, some belonging to other climate zones like moist deciduous forests have also been spotted here. Indian Pitta for instance, a bird usually found in Western Ghats andHimalayas was seen here recently. "Passage migrants" like red-throated flycatcher, orange-headed thrush, canary flycatcher, and some warblers migrate annually from the Himalayas in winters and white-eyed buzzard, common hawk cuckoo, pied-crested cuckoo, and blue-cheeked bee-eater visit the park in summers.

Among birds that have surprised birders and scientists at the park is the oriental pied hornbill that is usually seen in moist deciduous and evergreen forests of southeast Asia. "I don't think the oriental pied hornbill has been seen in Delhi any time recently. If the park authorities have really spotted it, it's surprising. I think it's a lovely park and their list of sightings is impressive. But the park is not open to birders or general public. I think they should let in interested people. The fact that the park is secure and undisturbed by other urban pressures is great for the birds," said author and birder Bikram Grewal.

Hussain said, "It's not easy to open the park for public because we need certain infrastructure. We do get students regularly. We have also proposed guided nature trails so that people understand how the area has been revived."

The list of birds is likely to be published in a couple of months.

-The Times of India, 4th March 2014

We need better research and management in areas where people and animals live side by side.

The little Amur falcons made international headlines recently, when radio-tagged birds flew from Nagaland to South Africa in less than a month. Rivers, seas, countries, continents meant nothing to these birds. Our man-made boundaries are meaningless to most other species, especially large animals like elephants, leopards, wolves and tigers. A single elephant ranges across a few hundred kilometres and a wolf pack about 200 sq km. Large cats can walk hundreds of kilometres. This implies that functional populations and families of these animals will span over thousands of kilometres. But India today has an average human population density of 300 people per sq km.

Historical evidence shows that wild animals have always been present across our landscape. The people of the land traditionally incorporated wild (and domestic) animals into their traditions and lores. For instance, there is waghoba, an ancient large cat deity, which provides these animals social and cultural space in the shared landscapes. It also allows people a way to better understand these animals, accept them in their space and minimise damage to themselves. It is known that it is not just ecological carrying capacity that determines a species distribution range, but also the social carrying capacity (simplistically termed tolerance), which, if high, allows these animals to persist alongside humans.

Crop damage and livestock loss to wild animals is an old phenomena, with societies having devised traditional and effective measures to deal with this. Unfortunately, the methods we use today do not build on these traditions but are based almost only on the philosophy of exclusion. For instance, although old and new evidence suggests that leopards can reside in and around settlements and with low levels of conflict, the current method to deal with this has been their removal from their territories and release into forested landscapes. This is done even though studies have shown they come back, and that vacant territories are filled by other individuals. More disturbing is the fact that these captured and stressed animals can attack humans near the site of release. Thus, our intervention, based neither on the biology of the species nor the way Indians have traditionally viewed wildlife, is only worsening the problem. Elephants are chased in drives that use fire. Recent research by Prithviraj Fernando in Sri Lanka finds that chasing elephants makes them more aggressive.

Unless we want to kill all wildlife outside of protected areas, we have no choice but to share land with the multitude of wild animals that considers India its home.

-The Indian Express, 4th March 2014

As a young student travelling through India during the ’50s, architectural historian Andreas Volwahsen was “overwhelmed by the immense wealth of forms, decorative ornaments and sculpture” in Indian architecture. Armed with his Hasselblad camera, his efforts in documenting various monuments culminated in two bodies of academic work – Living Architecture: Islamic India (1968) and Living Architecture: India (1971). Now a photo exhibition organised by Tasveer called “Andreas Volwahsen – Living Architecture”, will display the 73-year-old’s pictures of historic sites across the country for the first time. Volwahsen’s images offer an insight into the laws and principles behind Mughal architecture, rather than just being an aesthetic appreciation of monuments

How did you build an association with Indian architecture?
When I was young, I was interested in technical assistance that led me to Afghanistan, where as a student, I worked with a German building company. When it was time to return home, I thought why simply take a straight flight out. Having already seen one image of the Maharaja’s (Maharaja Jai Singh II) observatory (Jantar Mantar) in Delhi, I felt it would be much more pleasant to look at India first. I took a bus via Khybar Pass to enter the country as there was nothing more interesting in the world than Indian architecture.

You’ve dedicated two volumes to the monuments. What intrigued you about these?
One is overwhelmed by the immense wealth of forms, decorative ornament and sculpture. It makes it all the more delightful to penetrate through these externals and to inquire what canons or laws governed the work of architects, especially the medieval Indian architecture with its numerous Hindu temples.

There is a strong presence of Maharaja Jai Singh II’s Jaipur observatory in your works. What drew you to that monument and others in India?
I had seen the structure’s image before I visited India and that sparked my interest in Indian architecture. Through my research I also realised that there had been few attempts to study it, academically or architecturally. I’m also fond of Mount Abu, Cupola of the Tejapala temple and the stone wheels in the Surya temple in Konark.

How was it for you to be able to study these monuments without getting influenced by Western architecture?
Once one has grasped the geometric principles underlying Indian architecture, one is bound to draw comparisons with corresponding epochs of European architecture. Parallels with modern architecture also manifest. Modern architecture is sometimes reproached for being poorer than that of earlier years since most buildings are constructed on a grid plan today. Yet by contrast, Indian architecture does not seem to have suffered any kind of limitation on its wealth of forms by using such grids, even figures as rigid and unyielding as squares.

As someone from another culture, what were you aiming to capture through these images?
However strange Indian architecture may seem from a Western perspective, the designs of Indian architects were based on a strict grid plan. This central fact adds fascination to one of the most important architectural periods in history. The grandeur and mystery behind these buildings, with their teeming sculptural forms and immense detail were just some of the aspects I wanted to convey, through the photographs.

Your pictures have a strange symmetry and geometrical pattern in them. Was it a conscious decision?
I was simply conveying the essence of the architectural elements because for the Mughal architect the square was the mystical, absolute, basic form that did not permit any variation in construction. It could also be more easily embellished with abundant decoration.

-The Indian Express, 4th March 2014

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) says it has found a way to control the growth of aquatic weeds, the wild plants which pose a big challenge to revival of the City’s vanishing lakes.

In this regard, it is planning a tie-up with the Directorate of Weed Science Research (DWSR), Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. The idea took shape recently when Mayor B S Satyanarayana and Palike officers attended a presentation by the DWSR Principal Scientist, Sushil Kumar, on ‘Management of Aquatic Weeds.’

The presentation suggested measures such as chemical management, biocontrol and chemical control integration for the control of the aquatic weed menace. Kumar maintained that the manual removal of weeds would not help much in reviving the lakes as they grow back at a fast pace. “Controlling their growth is the only viable solution,” he added.

Satyanarayana described the measures as “good and cost-effective” and said they would be implemented after discussions were held with Commissioner M Lakshminarayana and the BBMP gave its approval. “The Palike spends lakhs of rupees on manually removing the weeds from lakes but has not adopted any measures to check their growth,” he told Deccan Herald, recalling the presentation. The mayor, however, said the estimated cost of adopting such measures in each lakes had not been looked into yet. The BBMP maintains almost 55 lakes.

According to Palike sources, Rs 50,000 to Rs one lakh is spent on one-time removal of weeds. The cost includes payment to workers. Kumar, who has surveyed Allalasandra, Puttenahalli, Ramagondanahalli, Sampigehalli and Yelahanka lakes — all in northern parts of Bangalore — said: “While Ramagondanahalli lake is infested with water hyacinth and Ipomoea, Puttenahalli lake is full of alligator weeds called ‘Typha angusta weeds’. Allalasandra lake is infested with alligator weeds and water hyacinth.”

Former president of Indian Society of Weed Science and Board Member of Horticulture Department, T V Muniyappa, who also attended the presentation, said weeds were dangerous as they lead to mosquito accumulation in lakes, fish vegetation among others.

To begin with, the aquatic weed control solutions will be adopted in lakes under the Palike limits and extended later to water bodies maintained by the Bangalore Development Authority, the Lake Development Authority and the forest and minor irrigation departments.

-The Deccan Herald, 4th March 2014

Groundwater is the only source of water in Gurgaon. More reason for the residents to be concerned as the district has already been notified as a ‘dark zone’ when it came to extraction of groundwater.

Gurgaon is a concrete jungle with little ground left uncovered to let water seep into the ground. In 2006, the groundwater level in Gurgaon had fallen to 51 metres below ground level (mbgl). The Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) had projected that if the water table hit the 200-metre mark, Gurgaon would be left with nothing but dry rocks.

By 2011, Gurgaon had over 30,000 tubewells sucking out an estimated 70-230 million litres of groundwater per day. By 2021, Gurgaon, with an estimated population of 3.7 million, will have a water demand of 666 million litres per day.

Despite a CGWB ban on groundwater extraction in 2000, the water table continues to fall at alarming rate. A recent study showed that the water table depleted by approximately four metres between June and October 2012. Gurgaon’s only hope is recharging the water table by extensive rainwater harvesting, reviving dry water bodies and strict action against those using groundwater for construction.

The Punjab and Haryana HC in August 2012 asked Haryana to ban groundwater extraction for construction work.

Delhi’s future affects each one of us.

-The Hindustan Times, 5th March 2014

In a bid to revive the lost heritage of the National Capital, lieutenant-governor Najeeb Jung has approved a proposal which will pave the way for trams to ply on the streets of Delhi.

First introduced in Delhi on March 6, 1908, at the behest of Viceroy Lord Hardinge, the heritage joyride faded into oblivion in 1960 outdone by growing modern means of transport and the vehicular traffic.

As a part of the redevelopment plan, trams will be introduced on a 2.5-km-long stretch to connect Subash Marg with Fatehpuri Masjid. “Apart from trams, the proposal involves introducing lanes for non-motorised vehicles and 50 per cent of the area will be reserved for pedestrain pathways. Vehicular traffic will be restricted in the area”, said a senior Delhi government official, adding the proposal was approved last week.

The tram service will connect the stretch linking Red Fort with Fatehpuri Masjid and will run alongside wide footpaths.

According to sources, techincal partners like Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (DMRC) would be roped in for implementation of the trams project.

The details and designs of the proposal will be submitted to the Unified traffic & Transportation Infrastr-ucture Centre to be chaired by lieutenant governor himself next week.

-The Asian Age, 5th March 2014

The National Green Tribunal on Monday formed a panel of experts to examine unauthorized construction activities on a Sahibabad drain and over a green belt in Ghaziabad. The panel, which comprises officials of various government departments and agencies, has been directed to begin its inspection in a week.

The directions were issued by a NGT bench headed by Justice P Jyothimani, based on a petition filed by Ghaziabad-based environmental activist Hazi Arif. The petitioner complained of release of untreated industrial effluents into the drain and alleged that illegal construction on a green belt near Kaushambi Metro station has been leading to the depletion of groundwater, apart from affecting the green cover.

The panel formed by the tribunal comprises officials from UP forest department and UP Pollution Control Board ( UPPCB), among other agencies, and is headed by advocate Parul Gupta. The Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation has been directed to bear the expenses of the survey. The committee has been asked to survey the entire green belt in Zone 5 in Vaishali, Ghaziabad to check illegal constructions on the green belt. The panel has been further directed to check into the issue of discharge of untreated industrial effluents into Sahibabad drain No. 1 which ultimately empties into the Yamuna near Kalindi Kunj in Delhi.

-The Times of India, 5th March 2014

Real estate major DLF’s proposed high-rise residential project, barely a kilometre from Rashtrapati Bhavan, is on hold, caught in the middle of conflicting security assessments by government agencies, and now the subject of a CBI inquiry as well.

Last November, the CBI registered a preliminary enquiry (PE) against officials of the urban development (UD) ministry for allegedly favouring DLF, giving it permission to construct the building. The PE was registered following a reference from the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), which received a complaint.

In June 2012, the DLF project, on 23 acres on Sardar Patel Marg in Delhi, got the go-ahead from the UD ministry for a four-storey construction. Last October, DLF asked for sanction to add four more storeys — in effect, doubling the height of the building from 15 m to 30 m.

The Intelligence Bureau found nothing irregular about this. In an assessment of that request in November last year, it said that “the proposed building would not pose any threat additional to what is presented by other tall buildings in the vicinity of Rashtrapati Bhavan complex”.

But in February 2013, the security wing of Delhi Police and the President’s Secretariat disagreed and sought a review of the original permission.

For its part, DLF argued, in an internal document, that the security concerns were “imaginary”. After all, it said, an eight-storey building is to come up near Talkatora Stadium for accommodation for Members of Parliament and a new construction, has been planned at Hotel Ashok. Next to Hotel Ashok is Hotel Samrat, of similar height, which overlooks the official residence of the Prime Minister. “Security norms need to be applied uniformly and not selectively to block legitimate construction activities,” it said. The project has a history of twists and turns.

In 1992, the erstwhile Edward Keventer (Successors) Private Ltd (EKSPL), holding perpetual lease for dairy farming since 1942, sought land use conversion (for the project). The request was turned down in 2002. In the meantime, DLF took over management of EKSPL.

In October 2010, a Joint Security Survey conducted by Delhi Police, the Intelligence Bureau and the President’s Secretariat opposed the proposal citing security reasons.

In June 2011, the Delhi High Court granted EKSPL permission for residential construction, subject to security clearances. The court noted that use of land for residential purpose was permitted in the area and many residential premises existed there.

In 2012, a second JSS raised security issues but gave conditional clearance for construction up to a height of 15 m. This time, the JSS said that the DLF building would give “clear view of the Mughal Garden and the proposed auditorium within the complex.”

-The Indian Express, 5th March 2014

Delhi Wakf Board will soon get 123 properties including many in prime localities such as Janpath, Babar Road, Mathura Road, Pandara Road, Ashoka Road and Parliament Street following a decision by the Union cabinet. The properties include mosques, dargahs and graveyards.

At present, about 60 of these properties are owned by the land and development office (L&DO) of Union urban development ministry. The rest are with the Delhi Development Authority (DDA). The minority affairs ministry had set up a committee of experts under the Central Wakf Council to evaluate the proposal. The expert committee backed the proposal.

But after Sunday's cabinet decision, all these properties spread across Delhi will now come under the control of the Delhi Wakf Board. However, it cannot sell them as Wakf Act forbids sales or transfers of the Wakf land to anyone. While presiding over 60th meeting of the Central Wakf Council in September 2012, then minority affairs minister Salman Khurshid had said the issue related to the handing over of these 123 properties in Delhi would soon be resolved.

-The Times of India, 6th March 2014

In a rare intervention, the Prime Minister's Office has asked the Union urban development ministry not to approve Haryana's sub-regional plan — which allows construction beyond 0.5% in conservation areas such as theAravalis and tourism activities in these zones — before environmental concerns are addressed. The missive came a day before the NCR Planning Board was scheduled to hold a special meeting to approve the plan.

Referring to news reports on the haste to clear Haryana's plan - something TOI has been highlighting - PMO said the board must get feedback from the environment and forest ministry and address its concerns before clearing the sub-regional plan. It has also asked the UD ministry and the board to ensure protection of forest areas, including the sacred grove of Mangar near Gurgaon, sources said.

Representatives from the ministry sit in the NCRPB, including the minister who chairs the board. The board was scheduled to meet on Thursday. But after the poll dates were announced in the morning, the NCRPB postponed the meeting. "We will seek permission of the Election Commission to hold the meeting," a source said.

Sources said that before the board secretariat had decided on cancelling the meeting; UP government shot a letter to the NCRPB saying that their representative won't attend since poll code of conduct had come into force. Another strong letter from Delhi government reached the planning board, raising questions on the hurry to clear both the regional plan for NCR and Haryana's sub-regional plan, sources said.

Delhi government is believed to have pointed out that many of the issues it had raised had not been incorporated while clearing the regional plan. While the views of Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung had been incorporated in the minutes of the last board meeting, this was not reflected in the policy decision. The approved minutes mostly favour Haryana's case.

TOI has learnt that on Wednesday, MoEF sent its observations to NCRPB on the plan forNCR. On Haryana's sub-regional plan, the NCR secretariat has asked the state government to incorporate about a dozen green provisions.

"Protecting green areas and all consideration zones is crucial for the entire NCR. They must not see these regions as mere properties or land for development," said Tykee Malhotra, an environment activist.

Meanwhile, there is no clarity on whether the revised NCR regional plan, with its controversial provisions on enhanced construction and allowing tourism activities in nature conservation zones, will be notified. NCRPB had forwarded the note to UD ministry for notification. But it was sent back to NCRPB since the board itself is empowered to notify it.

"Whatever has been approved in the board will be notified," said an NCRPB source.

-The Times of India, 6th March 2014

In a rare intervention, the Prime Minister's Office has asked the Union urban development ministry not to approve Haryana's sub-regional plan — which allows construction beyond 0.5% in conservation areas such as theAravalis and tourism activities in these zones — before environmental concerns are addressed. The missive came a day before the NCR Planning Board was scheduled to hold a special meeting to approve the plan.

It's an attempt to bring art closer to the aam janta, and has been organised to celebrate the centenary year of Indian cinema. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, NDMC, and the Embassy of France have together initiated this project, called Fete de la photo (photography festival). Also, as part of this initiative, similar exhibitions are taking place at various locations across eight major cities of the country. This event will be the first pan-India photography festivaldepicting art in public spaces. The first day in Delhi saw astrophotography in Jantar Mantar. Visitors coming to this 18th century observatory can get a bit closer to the celestial beings, thanks to photography by Laurent Laveder, Thierry Legault and Ajay Talwar that have been placed amid the ancient sun dial.

The photo exhibition on the evolution of Indian Cinema is at the Rajiv Chowk Metro station. One of the busiest Metro junctions of the NCR Metro network, it will now, for over a week, boast large prints of photos of the Kapoor khandaan (Raj Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor and Rajiv Kapoor); also on the walls opposite the tracks are life-size photos of cine stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Tabu, Madhuri Dixit and Shabana Azmi. These are part of the exhibit titled 'Film Industry: Then and Now' by photographer Pablo Bartholomew, who is part of this project. This was inaugurated recently by Mangu Singh, managing director of the DMRC, and Francois Richier, the ambassador of France to India.

Singh said that such an initiative will be a value addition to the Metro station, and that such exhibitions should reach the common man. Richier added, "Usually, people come to see art, but here we are bringing art to people. This will help in making the environment attractive and beautiful."

Pablo Bartholomew, a Padma Shri awardee, said, "I have a total of 18 installations here. I hope they showcase such exhibitions at other Metro stations also and not restrict it to this one. Even if one percent of the traffic sees and reacts to these photos, it will be useful." Apart from Metro stations, the whole of Connaught Place is also part of this public art project, and the white walls of the colonial structures at CP have now been installed with life-size prints of various cine scenes and stars at the top structures. The rooftop of the Palika Parking, for example, features a projection of the documentary When A Woman Speaks, Listen! by Cecile Planti and Gaei Rene.

The DMRC and NDMC are also helping in providing and managing spaces to celebrate the Franco-Indian collaboration in creative practices to reach out to new audiences, focusing on topics like macro photography, a series on Paris, women's issues, cinema in India and fashion photography, among others.

Mangu Singh said that the Metro stations were places frequented by crowds daily. "To showcase the art here is the best possible way to bring art closer to the public," he said. NDMC chairperson Jalaj Srivastava was also present here and he said he looks forward to more areas in the city becoming alive and happening, like CP has, thanks to this initiative. Over 22 photographers are displaying over 200 photographs in the exhibition.

-The Times of India, 7th March 2014

In its revised conservation policy,Archaeological Survey of India has remained true to its first principles, favouring in situ 'conservation' of built heritage to 'restoration' through reconstruction. The principal was laid down in the agency's John Marshall guide prepared in the 1920s.

The National Policy for Conservation of Ancient Monuments, Archaeological Sites and Remains, which was finalized last year and has recently received the culture ministry's approval, will govern the upkeep of 3,600-plus centrally-protected monuments. It outlines new conservation principles, role of building craftsmanship in conservation, illumination guidelines and rules for public-private partnership in heritage management.

"Structural conservation will be carried out where needed, but ASI's basic policy remains the same," said an official. The agency's few attempts to restore missing or damaged portions of monuments by rebuilding have been controversial.

The policy states a monument should be subject to minimum, and only necessary, intervention to maintain its authenticity and integrity. "Conservation should, under no circumstances, be based on any conjecture or artistic imagination and should be based on reliable documentary evidences and/or in situ archaeological evidences.'' Restoration, consolidation, reproduction and retrofitting should, as far as possible, be clearly discernible as a later alteration/repair/restoration to clearly identify them from the original fabric of the monument, the policy states.

The policy also stresses on safeguarding monuments through regular monitoring, documentation, conservation and site management plans.

The policy stresses on ornamentation work in ancient structures. "Highest attention should be paid to conservation of fragile ornamentations embellishing a monument. All efforts should be made to protect and preserve them in situ," it states. And if such efforts fail, "an assessment should be made to remove and place them in a safe environment while replacing them with reproductions of the same profile to maintain architectural integrity. This has to be done in the rarest of rare cases''.

The policy also states "It is important to respect various additions/alterations in time or 'layers of history' that have contributed to the development or evolution of a monument'. In terms of visitors and tourism management, the policy says the carrying capacity of a monument, especially popular ones, should be determined. "To better protect and preserve such monuments, the number of people visiting them should be managed, and if needed, these may have to be limited temporarily, especially in such areas or parts that are highly vulnerable to decay or deterioration.''

ASI looks after 174 monuments, including three World Heritage sites, in Delhi.

-The Times of India, 7th March 2014

In its revised conservation policy,Archaeological Survey of India has remained true to its first principles, favouring in situ 'conservation' of built heritage to 'restoration' through reconstruction. The principal was laid down in the agency's John Marshall guide prepared in the 1920s.

History is replete with biases, often siding with the victors. But, if it is the history of ancient Indian art, it took much more to get into the books than a mere victory. While Taj Mahal, Humayun’s tomb, and Red Fort — all from medieval times — are well known and appreciated by the people today, ancient structures like Sittanavasal Cave, Gol Gumbaz, Talagirishvara temple remain obscure to so many of us. So, why is it that the medieval history is much celebrated whereas the ancient period remains rather unsung? “Well, it is because of the British (colonial rulers),” says art historian Benoy K Behl, who recently conducted a two-day intensive course on ancient Indian art at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in New Delhi.

The course highlighting the tradition of painting and sculpture in ancient India drew attention to several photographs and films on Indian art. Starting with the Ajanta paintings, Behl stressed on the constant inward look and the sense of humility that the artists possessed. For it was a time when artists didn’t write their names on the paintings. Further expressing his strong disappointment with the colonial rulers, the historian said, “Somehow we have not been able to break away from the points of view established by the British rulers. They focused on the Mughals and the culture of North India not giving much attention to the art and history of southern India. And, that is how it is today.” So, in an effort to undo the injustices of history, Behl highlighted the paintings of Mattancherry Palace in Kochi, the 10th Century paintings at Brihadisvara temple, and the Shiva rock-cut reliefs from Tripura.

“It is in the ancient times that the art and culture were graceful. There was beauty and gentleness in the works. Peninsular India, in those days, was truly cosmopolitan as there were many Greeks and Romans visiting,” explained Behl. Moving on with the romantics of the ancient period he swiftly touched upon spirituality, theology, ethics and philosophy, all of which he related to the art of that period. Addressing a mixed group of some retired bureaucrats and government officials, executives from the travel industry, and research scholars, he pointed out the importance of “Chitra Sutra”, a treatise which not only categorised the paintings but also laid out instructions to the artists.

But isn’t the South Indian art all about Hindu temples as is the general perception? “No, in fact the term ‘Hindu’ also came from North-West of India. It is only as late as the 19th Century, that is, under colonial rule, that it gained much weight. So, what we generally don’t learn is that almost all Buddhist sites were made under Hindu rulers. In fact, there is a Buddhist heritage in Andhra Pradesh. Also, not many know that Gol Gumbaz in Bijapur is the largest dome in the entire Islamic world, or for that matter Kodungallur mosque in Kerala is one of the oldest mosques of the world. The only earlier one is at Medina. So, there was unity and oneness. There were no religious divisions around that time.”

Mesmerised by the glories of Indic art traditions and its marvels? Then this summer, explore the ancient in modern times. Visit Thanjavur, Mamallapuram, Bharhut, and Sanchi, splendid creations by unknown artists lost in history. For, if history hasn’t been kind to them, you can be.

-The Hindu, 7th March 2014

All the ramps and loops that form the approach roads to the ambitious Signature Bridge project here will become functional over the next few months, even as work on the main bridge across the Yamuna is likely to be completed by June next year.

The flyover and ground level rotary at Khajuri Khas intersection – catering to densely populated areas of Bhajanpura, Shastri Park, Loni Sonia Vihar and Yamuna Vihar etc. apart from being a crucial link for inter-state traffic – was opened last week.

Main bridge

Delhi Tourism officials said once the other components of the project are ready, the focus would be on completing the main bridge which would be a steel structure that was prefabricated in China.

“Nine ramps and loops are also a part of the project, apart from the two flyovers on either side of the river. The ramps and loops are nearing completion. They are likely to be opened by June. Work on the main bridge has also started. Almost three-fourth of the components of the steel bridge are already at the site and installation of the bridge has begun. June 2015 has been fixed as the next deadline for the main bridge on the Yamuna,” said Jose Kurian, Chief Engineer, Delhi Tourism.

The project was initially planned to be completed in August 2008, but was later rescheduled to be completed in December 2013. The Comptroller and Auditor General had in the past also raised objection to the escalation in the cost of the project and the decision of getting the steel bridge fabricated in China.

The report had noted that the delay in taking decisions by the Delhi Government escalated the cost of the bridge by Rs. 672 crore. “Failure of the DTTDC to manage the events increased the estimated cost of the project from Rs. 459 crore in March 2006 to Rs.1,131 crore in February 2010,” it pointed out.

The CAG report further pointed out violations of the terms and conditions of the contract of the project, with the contractor getting the fabrication job done in China when the contract specified that work should be done in only three Indian fabrication shops specified in the agreement.

-The Hindu, 7th March 2014

It will take long for things to be a perfect but National Museum is getting its act together

Things held out promise as I glanced through the email confirming my guided tour programme to the National Museum on February 25, 2014. Just a day earlier, I had booked online for the programme, launched by Union Minister of Culture Chandresh Kumari Katoch in April, 2013. One of the several means to reach out to the public, the cultural institution — which has managed to function in an isolated manner so far — Volunteer Guide Programme (VGP) has been devised to enable people to appreciate the treasures of the museum. A first time visitor to the museum gets a brief description of the galleries and objects on display in 90 minutes.

For the 2:30 p.m. tour, I reached 15 minutes in advance and waited at the spot where the visitors are supposed to gather for the guided tour. That day, the tour was to start at 3 p.m. because some Ministry officials had placed a request to join it. I was informed of it only when I enquired at the reception. A group of five-six young students too was there but the students were wiser because they didn’t choose to wait, bought a Rs.10 ticket instead and left. I waited because I believed that the tour would take place. During the wait, the only thing I derived solace was from the large groups of people, although mostly foreigners, visiting the premier institution for preservation and conservation of the country’s art and cultural heritage. At 3 again, I enquired at the reception counter and was told to wait for some more time. At 3:10, I decided to go around on my own. The tour, according to me didn’t happen but Anita Sachdeva, the tour guide claims, she did conduct the tour at 2:30. How on earth could I have missed a group of six-seven people led by a tour guide right in front of me, continues to puzzle me.

But one thing without doubt is that there exist several loopholes in the programmes our cultural institutions mount amidst such fanfare and sustenance is the biggest of them all. Did the guide announce the start of the tour? She didn’t. Did the person at the reception counter give me correct information? No, he didn’t. In all likelihood, he didn’t have the information himself. Disappointed, I was angry too, but once inside, I forgot about the bitter start. The National Museum truly is a treasure trove of heritage. From Harappan to Maurya to Gupta terracotta and early medieval art to Buddhist art to miniature to coins to decorative arts, gallery after gallery, one is just mesmerized.

Mrs. Ramesh, a retired banker-turned- tour-guide, who met me on my subsequent visit to the museum while researching for her tours, said Harappan and Mauryan galleries are her favourite galleries. I couldn’t agree with her less.

The dancing girl of Mohenjo-daro, a dark bronze statue, we all grow up seeing in our history books, is all of 10 cms but the 4500 year-old beckoned me every time I visited the gallery. While she is the star for me, you may discover your favourites. At Maurya gallery, I realised why stone sculptures of that period remain unparallel works in stone. Though I was following the ‘Museum in 90 minutes’ booklet, I often strayed to look at other pieces. ‘Woman in grief’ (Sarnath, U.P. 2nd Century B.C.) is another masterpiece. In late medieval art gallery, the recently acquired 1100 year-old Yogini sculpture in stone (It was stolen from a temple in U.P and returned to India after years) sits pretty.

But I forgot to tell the tour guide about my favourites — Buddhist art, miniatures and decorative arts too to an extent. I love the fact how I marvel every time I find a Buddhist monk walking barefoot in the gallery or meditating near the sacred relics of Buddha, displayed in a beautiful case in the gallery. Recently revamped Decorative Arts — I and Tanjore and Mysore galleries also have much to offer but the latter was closed the day I went owing to the preparations for their blockbuster show “The Body in Indian Art” which is coming straight from Europalia Festival in Brussels.

But before that, I would like to attend a guided tour programme by Mrs. Ramesh and listen to many little known stories — like the one she related to me about Gupta coins.

THUMBS UP — The concept of Museum in 90 minutes and a well-stocked museum shop housing lot of innovative items like mouse pads, trendy watches bearing traditional motifs and stunning jewellery.

SUGGESTION — Since every phone has camera in it, why only those who carry a camera or an iPad/tablet like me, pay Rs.20 extra for taking pictures?

-The Hindu, 8th March 2014

The lieutenant governor on Friday informed Delhi high court that 20 acres of land in Millennium Park and another 20 acres in Rohini will be utilized to relocate the ill-fated DTC Millennium Depot.

Conveying decisions taken at a recent meeting with officials of DDA and DTC, LG Najeeb Jung told the court that DTC will also shift Institute of Driving and Traffic Research (IDTR) adjoining ISBT Sarai Kale Khan to Narela. This will free up to 10 acres which will also be used for the new depot.

DDA has decided to allocate land in Narela for the institute and has agreed to provide 20 acres from Millennium Park and 20 acres in Rohini Phase 4. After going through LG's reply, Justice Sudershan Kumar Mishra directed DDA to file a status report on the allocation of land at the new sites. The court gave DDA four weeks to specify the progress made in the allotment process.

In its submission, the LG office informed the high court that three new sites were identified for the relocation of the depot. One of the first decisions taken at the meeting was to immediately wind up the committee formed for relocation of the depot. At the meeting it was also decided that "DTC will shift the Institute of Driving and Traffic Research (IDTR) (approximately 10 acres) adjoining Sarai Kale Khan ISBT to a vacant site at Narela to be allotted by DDA, thereby making available another 10 acres for relocation of Millenium Depot at Sarai Kale Khan ISBT", said the response filed on behalf of the LG.

The LG's response further explained that "creation of infrastructure, requirement of statutory approval, requirement of financial resources, apportionment of such resources and to realistically assess the time required for relocation of the bus depot after completing due process, chairman-cum-MD of DTC will coordinate with officials of DDA, transport department of Delhi, and divisional commissioner of Delhi in a time-bound manner".

After the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government took the decision to shift the depot, all the agencies have been questioned by the high court on how much time they will take to complete the process and the cost that the taxpayer will incur.

Earlier, DTC had told the high court that shifting the depot to another place will take around two years and will cost Rs 300 crore while it was built for Rs 60 crore on 50 acres of land. It had said there were some "practical difficulties" in shifting it.

-The Times of India, 8th March 2014

For the aam Dilliwalla, the diplomatic enclave is a lovely, unapproachable island of foreignness. He or she can gaze at the tree-lined avenues, the fiercely guarded structures and the exotic flags from a distance but no more. About the only time one gets anywhere close to this self-contained world is when there one has a visa crisis.

But Delhi's diplomatic enclave, stretching from Lutyens zone to Chanakyapuri — and now Vasant Vihar and soon Dwarka — has a remarkable story to tell. And it is chronicled in Delhi's Diplomatic Domains, a book by Gladys Abankwa-Meier-Klodt, wife of a senior German diplomat and the daughter of Ghanaian career diplomats. A life spent among missions has given her an insider's view of this rarefied world, and she says Delhi's case is really unique.

"It is an exclusive domain and all the missions are purpose built. They are all built to express their national identity. Then the properties are really extensive — the average allotment size is five acres. And very importantly, most of them fit the complete embassy paradigm — they have a chancery, a residence and diplomatic staff accommodation," says Abankwa. The Nepalese embassy is the oldest in Delhi — it was set up in 1936, an original lease — at Barakhamba Road. A striking red-and-white structure, it doesn't seem to have aged too well. But the story of Delhi's exclusive diplomatic domains goes back to the years just before and after Independence when Chanakyapuri was a wild, unkempt scrubland infested with snakes and hyenas. The new capital was being laid out and the flood of refugees from Pakistan had to be accommodated. Civil Lines with its clutch of fancy hotels like Maidens and Swiss Hotel were the preferred anchors for diplomats. Even the Aurangzeb, Prithviraj Road or Ratendone Road (now Amrita Sher-Gil Marg) bungalows of the city's old rich were preferred. Chanakyapuri seemed like a distant frontier in those days.

But fortunately, it all came together beautifully. "Connaught Place was close, so was Rashtrapati Bhawan and the prime minister's office. It was virgin land, underdeveloped, so, when the grand vision was realized by Nehru it was unparalleled. You don't see this expanse in any other city, not even in new capitals like Canberra," she says.

Today, Chanakyapuri and Lutyens' zone are no longer enough to hold the new nations and the needs of the old ones. Then Delhi had to accommodate 60 nations on its avenues; today the number is 198. So the diplomatic domain has been stretching further south. Vasant Vihar now hosts over 50 missions. The next big diplomatic block is Dwarka where 39 units are being allotted. Some of the old leases are expiring. The landmark residence of the Mexican envoy at Prithviraj Road — where celebrated poet Octavio Paz lived, wrote and even got married — had to be given up. The ambassador now lives in the farm house enclave of Rajokri. But what Abankwa finds fascinating is how nations choose to project their cultural and political identities on the interiors and exteriors of their embassies. Every embassy has dealt with the dilemma — should it incorporate design influences of the host nation or strictly reiterate its own cultural identity? Many nations have chosen to do a bit of both.

As an insider, Abankwa had fairly easy access to most structures and their innards and was able to study them at close quarters (though many did turn her down). The Bhutanese embassy at Chandragupta Marg for example has gone in for a "completely national idiom", she says. Every single structure here is distinctly Bhutanese. "The US embassy interiors, on the other hand, use Indian design elements — the jaali, the idea of a Mughal garden layout," she says.

The Belgian embassy, of course, took the biggest risk roping in Satish Gujral. "It was a daring idea and it turned out to be a fabulous PR tool for what it represented," she says. The north European embassies are typically austere structures because, as Abankwa points out, post-World War II, it was important not to be ostentatious. The Nordic nations, of course, are minimalistic and neat.

There are varied slices of global landscapes in this city — the Italian embassy with its cypress trees and Tuscan olive in its verandahs or the Pak chancery with blue Multan tiles. It is just that most remain hidden delights.

Embassies with elan

The design of the Finnish embassy is inspired by the iceage incised landscape of northern Finland and the natural snow sculptures along its gulf The Holy See's Embassy houses some exceptional works, among them, objects from the Vatican Museums' collection, such as the 17th century Madonna with Child The embassies of Hungary, Czech and Slovak republics have features of Brutalist architecture typical of socialist government sponsored projects — massive buildings, lots of exposed concrete In the early days of the American embassy, families could picnic on the premises and view its artwork.

-The Times of India, 9th March 2014

The recent Hollywood film Monuments Men depicts the exploits of an army unit which protected and recovered Nazi-looted art. But buried in the pages of history is the story of an Indian Army battalion that discovered and rescued over 200 exquisite pieces of Florentine art at the height of World War II in Italy.

In July 1944, the 8th Indian Division, part of the British Eighth Army, was advancing to Florence after the final Battle of Monte Cassino, where the Allies made inroads into German strongholds. They stopped at Tuscany on the south bank of Arno river, where the 1/5 Maratha Light Infantry set up battalion headquarters at the Castello di Montegufoni, a 12th-century palatial property owned by the Sitwells, an English family. (Today it is a heritage hotel.)

According to the official regimental history, titled A Saga of Service (A History of 1st Battalion The Maratha Light Infantry, Jangi Paltan 1768 to 1993) authored by late Major General Eustace D'Souza in 1994, it was late July when the Marathas occupied the castle and D'Souza, a second lieutenant, was asked by commanding officer Lt Col DWH Leeming to inspect the castle's sentry posts. While on inspection, D'Souza overheard a soldier giggling and asked him, in Marathi, "Kai zala?" (What's the matter?) The seemingly embarrassed soldier led him down the basement, where the source of his amusement was revealed to be The Birth of Venus, the original 15th century masterpiece by Italian Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli. The iconic painting was one among 261 priceless artworks packed into the room. D'Souza recalls alerting the CO, who ordered that the room be heavily guarded. An elderly Italian, present in the castle, revealed that the canvases had been stored there by the Germans, who had occupied the castle until their retreat. The works belonged to the Uffizi Gallery and Palazzo Pitti in Florence, Italy.

Word was sent to the divisional headquarters south of the Arno and the next day, reputed Scottish writer Eric Linklater and BBC war correspondent Wynford Vaughan Thomas arrived to take a look, accompanied by Indian Army officers and two regimental historians including Captain Unni Nayar (killed in the Korean War). Linklater and Thomas identified most of the artworks, including Botticelli's La Primavera and Coronation of the Virgin, and others by Renaissance masters Giotto di Bondone and Paolo Uccello.

In the official history, D'Souza wrote that both Linklater and Thomas profusely thanked the Marathas and that Linklater, who was an assistant editor in The Times of India's Bombay office between 1925 and 1927, even wrote a commendation note in the official visitors' book of the castle and gifted the book to the unit. Stored in the officers' mess of the regimental centre of Maratha Light Infantry in Belgaum, Karnataka, the book is a war trophy of great importance to the regiment even today. "You will find my signatures in the book too, apart from those of Karl Marx, DH Lawrence and Stalin," says Lieutenant General (retd) Vijay Oberoi, former colonel of the regiment who was also vice-chief of staff and director-general of military operations.

In Thomas's version of the episode, which came out in the March 4, 1950 issue of the now defunct UK magazine, Everybody's Weekly, he wrote, "...invaluable art treasures of Florence which were discovered in the Castle of Montegufoni, the home of the famous Sitwell family. Among the many priceless paintings saved by the Mahrattas were the great Madonnas of Duccio, Giotto and Cimabue, (works by) Uccello, Lippi, Massacio and Andreas del Sarto, and Botticelli's Coronation of the Virgin." According to D'Souza's account, Thomas and Linklater even suggested that when the artworks were restored to the Uffizi Gallery, they be displayed in a room dedicated to their saviours, titled the 'Maratha Room'.

But that never happened. In fact the role the Indian Army played in this rescue work was almost wiped out of the official narrative of the event. While the official history of the three Indian divisions published by His Majesty's Stationery Office in 1946 clearly mentions the Marathas' mission — "...nearing the river (Arno) the Mahrattas turned southeast on a non-military mission to secure the castle of the Chesterfield Sitwells at Montegufoni. Here the priceless art treasures of the Florentine galleries were stored, including Botticelli's Primavera and other of the world's most famous paintings..." — it is Linklater and Thomas who got credit for finding these works.

Linklater, whose book The Art of Adventure published in 1947 is acknowledged as the official history of this operation, states they arrived on the scene first and informed the Maratha CO of their discovery. Subsequent versions of that incident, including the 2013 book Saving Italy: The Race to Rescue a Nation's Treasures from the Nazis by Robert M Edsel, the same author who wrote The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History in 2009, credits American Frederick Hartt, one of the Monuments Men, for the rescue and restoration of the artworks. According to Edsel's book, days after the Indian Army had moved out of Tuscany on their march forward to Florence, Hartt arrived at the castle and discovered the artworks. He reportedly maintained vigil over the collection until Florence was liberated by 21st Indian Infantry Brigade in mid-August, 1944.

Magnus, eldest son of Eric Linklater and former Scotland editor of The Times, recalls being surprised by the photocopy of the Sitwell visitors' book he was presented with on a visit to the castle. "The inscription on the first page caught my eye: 'Officers present serving with the 1st Bn 5th Mahratta L.I. on 30th July 1944, upon which day this book, the property of the late Sir George Sitwell, was presented as a trophy to the Bn by Major Eric Linklater R.E. — Castle of Montegufoni, Florence.' My father had taken it upon himself to acquire the book as a spoil of war and had presented it to the Indians," says Magnus. While he chose not to comment on who discovered the treasure, he scoffed at Edsel's claim. "Remember, he (Eric Linklater) was there, Robert Edsel wasn't. And Major General Eustace D'Souza of the Indian Army was undoubtedly there!" he says, dismissing the 2013 book as "Typical American!"

-The Times of India, 9th March 2014

Four years after the amended ASI Act was enforced, Delhiites living near monuments still have a hard time getting done even the most basic repairs to their homes. National Monuments Authority had been taking its own time to frame heritage bylaws, but is now trying to expedite the process by identifying key monuments located in midst of heavily-populated residential colonies where bylaws will be prepared as a priority.

So far, only bylaws for Sher Shah Gate and Khairul Manzil have been notified by NMA while those for Begumpuri Masjid are in the pipeline. Apart from Intach's Delhi Chapter, the culture ministry has notified SPA and IIT Delhi as expert heritage bodies to be involved in the process for preparing bylaws. "The competent authority in various circles has asked these bodies to prepare draft bylaws and invite expressions of interest for 10 monuments in each circle. These bylaws will then be examined by NMA and the most feasible proposal processed," said a top official.

In Delhi, the 10 monuments identified for priority bylaws are all located in residential colonies like South Extension I and II, Hauz Khas, and Green Park which are densely populated. The location of centrally protected monuments in the middle of these colonies has affected the lives of residents who cannot undertake repairs in their homes. Monuments in these areas include Darya Khan Tomb, Dadi Poti, Kale Khan ka Gumbad, Moth ki Masjid, and Neeli Masjid. In many instances, houses are located a stone's throw away from the monument. Even if homes are in the regulated zone, one has to wait till this is authenticated by ASI before the rules for repairs and restoration are relaxed for them.

"These are the places from where we get most applications for an NOC. If bylaws are in place for the monuments in these areas, then their applications can be processed much faster and this will save residents a lot of inconvenience," an official said. Delhi has hundreds of monuments located in the midst of residential colonies, mostly in south and central Delhi. In areas like Gulmohar Park, Safdarjung Enclave, Hauz Khas, South Extension, Mehrauli, Saket, Malviya Nagar, Rana Pratap Bagh and Nizamuddin, the amended law has hit locals hard.

People who built homes or bought plots much before the ASI Act came into force in 1992 say the curbs are a travesty of justice. Residents of South Extension I and II say the law has lowered property rates as the area is dotted with protected monuments like Masjid Moth, Kale Khan ka Gumbad, and tombs of Bade Khan and Chhote Khan. Empty and unsecured plots near these densely populated colonies have become slums.

-The Times of India, 9th March 2014

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has found a 12th-century Vishnu idol among several other interesting artefacts during its ongoing excavation at the Purana Qila.

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The 18-cm-tall stone idol dates back to the Rajput period. The idol, which has conch and a chakra (wheel) — symbols associated with Lord Vishnu — was found at the southeastern corner of the Purana Qila excavation site.

The ASI started excavating the site last month after almost four decades. The fort saw excavation for the first time in 1955 by famed archaeologist BB Lal. Later, the ASI had carried out excavation during 1969-73 too. The earlier excavations had brought to light artefacts from as far back as 3rd century BC.

The current excavation has also yielded Kushan-era (1st century BC) pottery and toys along with a medieval-era copper coin, terracotta figurines of animals and humans from both the Rajput and Kushan era, said Vasant Swarnakar, ASI’s Delhi circle chief.

The excavation is being carried out to verify and establish if there was a presence of PGW (painted grey ware).

“The Purana Qila mound contains remains of a continuous cultural habitation starting from Mauryan period (3rd century BC) to the Mughal period. This is believed to be the site of Indraprastha related to the Mahabharat. We wanted to dig deeper to verify and establish, if we get any PGW to link it to that time,” Swarnakar said.

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Along with the ASI team, also working on the site are 18 students of the Institute of Archaeology, an ASI-run educational institution. Excited about being part of such an important excavation, Satarupa Bal, one of the students, said: “This is a good chance for us to learn hands-on. We get to identify the layers of each period of history, examine objects found during excavation and learn to identify from the rim its period.”

Another reason why the ASI is re-digging the site is, unlike previous times, the agency also plans to leave the excavation trenches open - albeit covered with sheds - to turn it into an on-site museum to showcase the different cultural habitations.

Considering that Delhi is vying for a space on the list of UNESCO’s ‘World Heritage City’, the museum will be a valuable addition to Delhi’s pitch for the coveted spot.

-The Hindustan Times, 10th March 2014

The proposed network cities model for Andhra Pradesh can ensure balanced development and its success is important to all States grappling with rapid urbanisation

In another three months, the residual State of Andhra Pradesh will not have a capital of its own. The location of the new capital city is yet to be settled and the search is on. If the reports to develop about ten cities as “specialised mini capitals” rather than investing only in one mega capital city are anything to go by, it appears that a good solution is in sight.

The proposal is to develop multiple urban nodes such as Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Chittoor on an equal footing and make one of them an administrative headquarters. This might be a political necessity in order to placate the people of the region angry at the loss of Hyderabad, but it is a sensible move. This network cities model can ensure balanced and dispersed development, and its successful implementation is not only important for the residual State of Andhra Pradesh but also to other States, which are grappling with the issue of rapid urbanisation.

Over the past few years, urban policy in Andhra Pradesh and other places had gone wayward. Resources and attention were bestowed only on one alpha city — usually the capital — creating a humongous urban agglomeration at the expense of other potential urban centres. For instance, Hyderabad had grown to become the largest urban centre in the State with a population of about 7.75 million while the next big city, Visakhapatnam, has a population of only 1.73 million. Though historic reasons and location advantage contributed to the differences in growth, myopic policies have exacerbated it and skewed the urban pattern.

Policies that failed

Since the 1980s, various policies have been insisting on developing small and medium towns. The plan was to improve infrastructural facilities and employment opportunities in these towns and make them centres of growth. The reasoning was that developing carefully chosen places would fairly disperse urbanisation. State and central governments together spent about Rs. 1,600 crore on improving 1,854 towns, but it did not yield the desired result. In 2005, the governments concluded that big cities continued to dominate the spatial pattern of urbanisation. They gave up the policy to develop small and medium towns and started to fund only urban services projects in these places.

They blamed the lack of availability of land, inadequate funds and inability of local bodies to execute the schemes for the failure, but never admitted that their own ad hoc actions undermined the project. Since the 1990s, after economic liberalisation set in, the policies and programmes clearly shifted in favour of promoting metropolitan cities as destinations of global and domestic capital. Policymakers overlooked the rich urban diversity and gravitated towards mega cities. Consequently, as a study by Eric Denis et al (2012) showed, though substantial urban growth remained outside large cities, the state paid less attention to them. The economic potential of these smaller centres remained inadequately harnessed.

This approach continues, and the mega city model has not yet changed. For instance, the steering committee on urbanisation for the Twelfth Five Year Plan has recommended that the government develop satellite towns and twin cities near existing metropolises to manage growth. It is silent on dispersing urbanisation. In this context, the proposal to develop medium-sized towns in the residual State of Andhra Pradesh assumes significance and could mark the beginning of the much-needed course correction.

The residual State has a better distribution of urban centres than Telangana. There are about 32 towns with a population of more than one lakh compared to the 14 towns in Telangana. More importantly, if one leaves Hyderabad aside, eight of the nine large cities, which have a population of more than 4 lakh, are in the residual State. Most of these towns have registered more than 20 per cent growth in their population between 2001 and 2011, and possess great potential to emerge as important urban centres in future.

The way forward

Developing them is critical to ensuring that the benefits of economic growth reach vast rural hinterlands. Drawing from evidence across the world, scholars of urbanisation such as Cecilia Tacoli have emphasised that the growth of intermediate urban centres is particularly important at times when the process of globalisation is justifying “concentration of activities in the large cities, increasing the already significant regional differences in living conditions and productivity.”

The way forward is to carefully select cities to network and plan them well to provide good quality of life; emphasise public transport, social housing and environmental protection; put in place a good governance structure; and empower local bodies. [email protected]

-The Hindu, 11th March 2014

If the ASI is successful in finding painted grey wares from the Mahabharata period, it will prove the existence of the city of Pandavas

The Archaeological Survey of India is on an expedition to discover painted grey wares of the Mahabharat period, which will conclusively prove the existence of Indraprastha.

The ongoing excavation at the Purana Quila site might lead to discovery of concrete evidence that will help in studying the culture and art patronised by the Pandavas. It is also expected to give a fillip to tourism.

In the first excavation in 1954, mounted under the supervision of renowned archaeologist B.B. Lal, who retired as ASI Director General, painted grey wares were discovered.

“However, the wares were not found in stratified deposit. If they were found in stratified deposit, we could support that there were traces of the Mahabharat period,” said Vasant Swarnkar, superintending archaeologist of ASI’s Delhi Circle. Under his supervision, around 60 labourers have been working six days a week at the project site.

To make things easier for Dr. Swarnkar, nearly 20 post-graduate diploma students of archaeology from the Institute of Archaeology have been assisting him. They have been guiding the labour force where exactly to dig, how to unearth crucial discoveries without damaging them and how to carefully hand them over to the authorities to preserve the artefacts for posterity.

Emphasising the site’s significance, Dr. Swarnkar said: “ This site has had continuous cultural deposit from the Mauryan to the Mughal period. The discoveries over the past month have reiterated the fact that there has always been habitation here during the Gupta and Kushan period.”

On Monday, a couple of enterprising students from the Institute of Archaeology discovered a terracotta miniature bull. “This bull is of the Gupta period, which was a glorious period as it saw patronisation of art,” said Dr. Swarnkar as he cleaned the mud-filled artefact with a brush.

Pottery of the Gupta and Kushan period, semi-precious stones, ear-stud made of terracotta, bowls, miniature pots and sprinklers were also discovered.

According to Neelima Vasudevan, one of the students working at the site, the excavation is part of her field training and it gives her satisfaction if after a hard day’s work some artefacts are discovered.

Hage Sonia, another student, was delicately arranging bones on a plate. “These bones certainly are not of animals but indicate left over meals. I have also discovered iron pieces. This exercise is teaching us the art of supervising digging and identifying the discoveries,” she said.

-The Hindu, 11th March 2014

Flats, shopping complexes to destroy Delhi’s last 20-acre marshland Delhi’s last remnant of marshland is under threat from urbanisation. The Capital’s pollution watchdog has cleared a proposal to build a residential complex over 60 acres, 20 acres of which is marshland — shallow wetland with abundant grass cover.

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The site is located at Dheerpur in north Delhi, close to the Yamuna, where the government has proposed to build 5,000 houses, shopping complexes, besides other facilities for Delhi Police personnel.

Environmentalists have raised the red flag since the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), which granted clearance to the public-private partnership project on February 4, has allowed discharge of 12,200 litres of treated sewage into the ecologically-sensitive 20-acre part every day.

“This will change the complexion of the marshland,” said Manoj Misra of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan. Experts say it is critical to save marshland and wetland as they are home to flora and fauna and a natural waste water treatment system.

Pollution-control activist Mahendra Pandey said, “The project would harm aquatic plants and scare away birds, especially Delhi’s state bird sparrow. Dheerpur is the only place in Delhi where Sparrow can be seen in large groups at any time.”

“The whole area will turn into a pond, leading to flooding,” he said.

-The Hindustan Times, 11th March 2014

Archaeologists have unearthed a human skeleton from the Chalcolithic Age at Asurabandha, under Harirajpur gram panchayat, on the outskirts of Orissa’s capital city Bhubaneswar.

Believed to be 3,500 years to 4,000 years old, the skeleton was discovered in a dig 25 sq ft in area and 2.4 metres deep at the excavation site. The skeleton was sent to the anthropology department of Utkal University for post-excavation tests. According to Dr Kishore Basa of Utkal University, the excavation at the site was started on February 15 this year by a 15-member team of archaeologists from Deccan College, Pune, Centre for Heritage Studies, department of Anthropology, Utkal University, and Odisha Institute of Maritime and Southeast Asian Studies.

Dr Kishore Basa, who teaches anthropology, said the exact age, sex, height and reason of death of the person would be ascertained after paleopathology tests on the skeleton.

Dr Basa said the semi-circular floor with 16 postholes found underground would provide more information about the history of the region as well as other details of the lifestyle, food habits and other features of life in that era. In February last year, archaeologists had stumbled upon a human skeleton belonging to the same age at Bantal Mundia, part of the same excavation site.

“The Chalcolithic Age denotes a period in the 4th and 3rd millenniums BC, chiefly in the Near East and S-E Europe, during which some weapons and tools were made of copper. This period was still largely Neolithic in character. However, the Chalcolithic or Eneolithic era occurred at different stages of history at different locations. The era was followed by what is known as the Bronze Age,” the professor said.

-The Asian Age, 12th March 2014

The former ASI Director General launched the first excavation at the Purana Quila site in 1954-55 in which he found structures ascribable to the Gupta, Kushana and Sunga periods.

As the Delhi Chapter of the Archaeological Survey of India seeks to establish the existence of Indraprastha and show evidence of the Mahabharat period at the ongoing excavation at the Purana Quila site, its team members have a lot to learn from eminent archaeologist Prof. B. B. Lal.

The former ASI Director General launched the first excavation at the Purana Quila site in 1954-55 in which he found structures ascribable to the Gupta, Kushana and Sunga periods.

“The trial excavation was alongside the passage leading down to water gate in the eastern fortification wall of Purana Quila. The trial trench revealed that below the northern black polished ware levels lay the remains of the painted grey ware culture. Between the south of the Purana Quila and Humayun’s Tomb, there is an open area from where a number of painted grey ware were discovered. It was here that the oldest settlement began.”

Prof. Lal said the polished grey ware is the earliest common pottery connecting all the Mahabharat sites such as Hastinapur, Mathura, Kurukshetra and Kampilya.

“The evidence clearly establishes that the Purana Quila and its southern neighbourhood represent Indraprastha of the Mahabharat times. In fact, right up to 1947, a village named Indrapat existed inside the Purana Quila. This name was derived from ancient Indraprastha.”

Prof. Lal was invited by the ASI to inaugurate the excavation at Purana Quila which began a month ago. But the nonagenarian politely declined as he rarely steps out of his second floor flat in South Delhi.

“But I wished best of luck to the team and am hopeful that the ASI will be successful in discovering polished grey ware.” In 1951-52, Prof. Lal carried out excavations at Hastinapura, situated in Meerut district. Interestingly, the excavation at Hastinapura revealed that around 800 B.C. a heavy flood in the Ganga destroyed a considerable portion of polished grey ware settlement.

Pointing out that the combined evidence of archaeology and literature establishes the historicity of Mahabharat, Prof. Lal said to the faithful everything mentioned in the epic is true to its letters.

“However, sceptics insist that Mahabharat is nothing more than a figment of someone’s imagination. All the sites associated with the mythological epic continue to have the same nomenclature even till this day.”

-The Hindu, 12th March 2014

The cloud called Delhi comes with a silver lining called lakes

Too often do we criticise Delhi as a concrete jungle – just a series of sky-scrapers for offices, match-box apartments and glitzy malls. Too often do we talk of pollution – Yamuna is just reduced to filth at many places, water is often not fit for consumption, air at many traffic intersections is unfit for breathing. So many complaints! Justified as many of the laments might be, some day, let’s try to count our blessings and we will be surprised to see what the Lord has bestowed upon us.

Lakes, for instance. Not many even take note of it, but Delhi is in many ways the city of lakes.

For proof, take out your car and drive across the city. Approach the city from the east and you come across the good old Sanjay Jheel; the water is tranquil, the greenery better than elementary. Drive further down to Purana Quila and its waters; it is the place to find couples in love enjoying a boat-ride. Or go to the south. Hauz Khas, the part of the city dating back to the Khalji rulers, has an enviable lake. The story is the same in north Delhi where the Capital boasts of its own Naini lake.

Not satisfied with these water bodies? Go to Bhalswa. Many know it as a dumping ground, few treasure the lake initially shaped as horse shoe. Or the innumerable smaller bodies in Mehrauli-Tughlakabad belt. Not to forget the much-ignored Ugrasen ki Baoli located at just a kilometre from Connaught Place.

Now, didn’t I tell you we are guilty of ignoring our blessings? The cloud called Delhi comes with a silver lining called lakes.

-The Hindu, 13th March 2014

Areas surrounding Sikkim’s three sanctuaries, which are home to carnivores, herbivores, birds and magnificent rhododendron forests, will soon be declared as Eco-Sensitive Zones by the Centre.

The Environment Ministry on Wednesday issued draft notifications inviting suggestions on the proposals to declare environmentally-fragile areas surrounding the Maenam Wildlife Sanctuary, Kitam Bird Sanctuary and Barsey Rhododendron Sanctuary as Eco-Sensitive Zones.

The move is aimed at conserving and protecting the ecologically-fragile areas bordering these sanctuaries from developmental activities like mining.

Barsey Rhododendron Sanctuary is a trans-boundary protected area in the west district of Sikkim bordering Nepal. The sanctuary, spread over 104 sq.km, is a rich storehouse of flora.

Kitam Bird Sanctuary in south Sikkim harbours a unique association of Sal and Chir Pine forests which nestle a large number of peafowl, the national bird. It also houses the common leopard, Assamese macaque, Rhesus Macaque, barking deer, wild boar, Himalayan Palm Civet and Indian rock python.

Maenam Wildlife Sanctuary, lying over 35.34 sq. km is home to wildlife, dwarf bamboo thickets, rhododendron forests, patches of chestnut and oak and undiscovered epiphytes.

-The Hindu, 13th March 2014

In a significant discovery, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has excavated rare pieces in Uttar Pradesh of Gupta Art belonging to the Sarnath School depicting Lord Buddha.

Interestingly, ASI carried out the excavation after a gap of 80 years which has led to the unearthing of the Buddha sculptures in various postures from one of the trenches at Sarnath, the place which is hailed as the birthplace of Buddhism.

According to a press release, one important sculpture depicts the scene of the Buddha’s descent from Tusita heaven, where he is believed to have given a sermon to his mother Mayadevi.

The place where he descended from heaven is famous as Sankassa in Pali literature and identified with the fortified city of Sankisa in Farukhabad district.

The main objective behind the excavation that had begun on February 19 this year was to collect samples for dating in the labs through the C-14 method to find out if there were remains from the pre-Mauryan era present there.

The site has in the past yielded remains from the time of King Asoka. Buddha had visited the place more than 200 years before the Mauryan king.

A well-established monastic system existed afterwards, which is also mentioned in the pillar edict of Asoka from the site, the release added.

ASI Additional Director General Dr BR Mani, the director of the excavation, said that the second objective of the search was to define the different strata from the earliest times up to 12th century AD, when the site was abandoned after medieval-period attacks.

-The India TV, 13th March 2014

Transportation of rare Indian artefacts to foreign countries for exhibitions is not a simple procedure but a complex brainstorming job in which multiple agencies are involved. And the cost incurred on insurance, packaging and transportation is astronomical.

At the recently concluded Europalia festival held at Brussels, India displayed its national treasure. The total value of the 250 works in terracotta, ivory, bronze and early bronzes came to a staggering Rs.1,000 crore. National Museum, which was designated as the nodal agency by the Union Culture Ministry, did not have to pay the premium. “The Indian Council for Cultural Relations had to pay it because it was the Indian representative at the Europalia,” said National Museum Director General Venu Vasudevan.

Now these artefacts have returned to India and will be displayed at an exhibition which opens at the National Museum here on Friday.

The exhibition titled “The Body in Indian Art” is the brainchild of Dr. Venu who decided to make use of the artefacts displayed at Europalia for the New Delhi exhibition.

Dr. Venu said: “For the Europalia exhibition, we chose Naman Ahuja as the curator. Based on his narrative, his team members looked around various museums, private collections and ASI sights like the Red Fort and Purana Qila. After identifying various artefacts, a list of objects was made. Then, letters were despatched to all the parties explaining why the objects were required for the Europalia exhibition.”

Once lenders agreed, all the 350 artefacts, including anthropomorphic figures, large engraved stone of the Mughal era and Harappan artefacts, reached the National Museum’s premises.

According to Dr. Venu, there is an insurance cover for all artefacts which are to be transported for exhibitions overseas. “It is the responsibility of the borrowing organisation to ensure the upkeep of artefacts. We tell the value of the products and the borrowing organisation gives us the insurance policy,” he said.

Luckily, none of the transported masterpieces from the National Museum have ever been damaged. “About 25 years ago, a page in a book got a bit rough edged,” said Dr. Venu.

-The Hindu, 14th March 2014

The minutes of an NCR Planning Board committee meeting to consider changes in the regional plan reveal how hard Haryana pushed for opening up the state's fragile conservation zones, such as the Aravalis, for tourism.

Out of the nine references made in the meeting by the Haryana town and country planning secretary T C Gupta, seven were filed by real estate developers — all presenting arguments for opening up the zones of tourist activities and giving a free hand to the state governments in these areas.

Haryana has the largest share of the ecologically fragile Aravalis in the National Capital Region (NCR). Environmentalists have raised alarm over the proposals to open up these areas for commercial activities and raising the limit of constructions beyond the current 0.5%.

The minutes of the 62 planning committee meeting of NCRPB, held on December 20, 2013, were obtained through RTI by Colonel S S Oberoi of NGO, Mission Gurgaon Development.

Not once did the Haryana official mention any of the concerns raised by environment activists, who had suggested that there should be no dilution in the old provisions.

The original regional plan-2021 capped construction at 0.5% of the nature conservation zones(NCZ) and only regional recreational activities were allowed.

The minutes reveal that the planning committee in its previous meeting in June 2013 had discussed reconsidering the proposal to retain the limits of construction up to a maximum of 0.5% in NCZs for regional recreational activities. It was then decided that the modification would allow "regional recreational activities after obtaining environmental clearance from the competent authority".

In the December meeting, after the chief regional planner said there were several objections and media reports on the likely dilution of norms in the NCZs, the member secretary asked members to deliberate the issue. Haryana's town and country planning secretary T C Gupta suggested that 0.5% restriction on construction in NCZ be made applicable outside notified urbanizable areas.

However, the chief regional planner proposed that 0.5% restriction on construction in NCZ be incorporated in order to safeguard the environmentally sensitive areas from urbanization.After deliberations, planning committee decided that the section would be modified as "regional recreational activities with no construction exceeding 0.5% of the area except with specific permission of the competent authority under applicable environment and forest laws".

But then came the twist. Gupta referred to nine specific suggestions, seven of which were filed by real estate players to push for allowing tourism activities in the NCZs. On December 30, TOI had highlighted how all the real estate players had made similar suggestions, which were replications of each other. All these players sought that the provision for allowing regional recreational activities "after obtaining environmental clearance from competent authority" be changed to "regional recreational activities as per state government tourism policies after obtaining environmental clearance from competent authority".

Despite contrasting views recorded in the minutes, the planning committee recommended allowing tourism in these sensitive zones. However, it did excluded the clause "as per state policy". Finally, in the last board meeting, Haryana pushed for the inclusion of this provision as well and Union urban development minister Kamal Nath approved the proposal.

Meanwhile, citizens' groups have written to the Election Commission to review its decision to allow the NCR board to hold a meeting where the proposal to clear Haryana's sub-regional plan will come up.

"There are serious concerns of citizens regarding preserving forests and green covers in Aravali ranges...Let the objections of all concerned stakeholders be settled, otherwise in the garb of tourism the Aravali range will turn into concrete jungles and commercial hubs," says a letter issued by Confederation of NCR RWAs.

-The Times of India, 14th March 2014

Cultural performances are an important part of Holi celebrations by the Jodhpur royal family. Some rituals and traditions have remained unchanged since ages but ceremonies are more lavish now

After Mathura and Vrindavan, it is Rajasthan that’s a must-include destination on every traveller’s itinerary for Holi.

Celebrations, customs and traditions change with every kilometre you travel. But the binding thread is hospitality. We bet, you will find a home in every region of the state. In most of the towns, the tradition of celebration hasn’t changed. Most royal families in Rajasthan are known for their lavish but traditional Holi. Maharaja Gaj Singh of Jodhpur maintains that each year festival celebrations spread joy in the entire city.

It is said that in earlier years, Holi gave an opportunity to the people of the city to meet and greet the maharaja. Since time immemorial, Holi celebrations by the Jodhpur royal gharana are famous across the world. Some references to celebrations during the time of Maharaja Takht Singh are found in Khyat.

Faag bhi aswari hathi re haude viraj sire bazaar hoy padhari,Jaga jaga rang ka kadaav bharijiya.

Gulal ri ne Gulab re fulan ri dadiyan bawta thaka ne munda aage rang ka band chut-ta mahamandir dakhal huwa, Uthe pan rang ra haud bharijia tha so baag me khushi huwi Takht Singh used to take his seat on gold lion-faced throne at Daulat Khana Chauk in the fort on Holi.Dupattas from various temples used to arrive as a token of respect. After tilak aarti was performed byrajvyas, rajpurohit, the ceremony nazar nichrawal by jagirdaar, mutsadi, khawas paaswano used to take place. This darbar continued till late night. Dandiya was performed to mark the festivity at Daulat Khana Chowk. Takht Singh watched the performance from Fateh Mahal’s window.

In 1913, Takht Singh went to Baodi of Gaayan Magrayji (Pardayat) through Balsamand and sat at the Pol’s upper room. All maharaj kumars, bhabha, umrav, mutsadi khwas paaswano also went with the maharaja. They played Holi with colours and flower garlands were gifted to the maharaja. After lunch maharaja wore the traditional jewels and cloak and sat on the elephant seat and entered the fort through Fateh pol.

On every Holi Pushkarna Bhahmin engaged themselves in swang and were given Rs100 by the maharaja as goth. During the time of Maharaja Vijay Singh, the festival was elebrated at Kishanlal Temple.The festival had literary significance for Maharaja Man Singh. He wrote many faag and horiyan.

During the reign of Takht Singh Holi was celebrated at Moti Mhaal Chowk. Colours were distributed on maharaja’s behalf. Brass syringes were especially made available for ranis and maharanis. Holi was played separately by men and women.Naazar used to guard the janana deodi. On one side of the courtyard dholaniyan used to sing songs to mark the arrival of spring. Other ladies used to sing and dance too.

Dholaniyan (traditional maand female singer) and patriyan (dancers) used to play colours with the royal family. They would put colours on the toe-nails as a symbolic gesture. They were given gifts and money after that. When maharaja used to enter the janana deodi with janana sardars, everyone used to bow down to greet him. Ranis and maharanis offered liquor to maharaja and they were gifted mohars.

Special privilege was given to the maids of the royal family. They used to lock up the door of the royal room and would not open the door until they were given goth by maharaja and maharani.The poshaqsranis wore while playing colours were given to nayan (barber’s wife) and neg (cash award) was given tokumhars (potters) for filling water.Many cultural performances were organised on Holi. Maharaja’s fag ki sawari was welcomed by the people.State level Holi festival celebration was arranged in Rai Ka Bagh Palace and Ratanada Palace. The festival was celebrated there by the members of the royal family.

Holi pujan

Earlier Holi manglan (Holika dahan) was performed at Suraj Pol. Later it was done at Dhana-Bheeyan Chhatri. In present times the venue is Jai Pol. A thaal containing coconut, supari, moli, rice, kumkum, gud, chana, fulia and flower garland ishanded over to raj joshi to perform the rituals. Holi dahan is performed and the jwala (flame) of Holi dahan is worshipped. The ceremony is attended by the maharaja.

Rana’s sawari from the fort

As mentioned in the Hakikat Bahi of Vijay Singh, sawari of rana used to start from Shringar Chowk and travelled to Suraj Pol, Loha Pol, Imarti Pol, ending at Fateh Pol.

This sawari ofrana was been of historical relevance. Rao Ridmal was killed as a result of a conspiracy in Marwar. Due to this the people of Marwar were angry with Mewar and were dissatisfied with them, hence a tradition began of taking out the sawari of rana to depict the anger. people used to throw seven stones or pebbles on the rana. This was symbolic of removal of sadness, illness. But this tradition has not been followed in the last 300 years.

To lower down the stature of maharana, Marwar’s dholis were termed as rana. Even today the bheels of village are called maji rana.The custom of throwing stones continued later. People visited the site of Rawan dahan to throw seven stones in the flame. This was also symbolic of removal of sadness. People used to say Raavanji Raavanji maan ja to that effigy and then they used to reply Ni manuga rajaji and threw stones equal to the number of their family members at the effigy.

It is said that in Jaipur people used to throw stones at each other’s houses on Ganesh Chaturthi. But because stones were injuring people, fruits were opted to be thrown as replacement. At present this is not followed.

Even in present times the Holi is celebrated with all the traditions and customs by the royal family. Maharaja wears faguniya feta. Big tubs are filled with colours and kept in the backyard of Umaid Bhawan. At present, male and feamles play Holi together.

Thandayi is offered during the colour play. Dandiya and other cultural performances are a part of celebrations.

-The Pioneer, 15th March 2014

Dheerpur marshes seem to be on their deathbed. Construction debris and swift reclamation of land for real estate projects are choking what's likely to be the capital's last marshland. A Delhi Police residential complex, which was given an environmental clearance recently from the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority, is one of many such projects that have ruined Dheerpur's unique ecosystem.

The project, though located on reclaimed marshland, also has about 20 acres of existing marshland inside its campus. As per the project proposal, these 20 acres will be maintained in their current shape and there will be no construction on it. But treated waste water from the housing complex is likely to be discharged into the marshland.

While SEIAA has directed an environment cell and one wetland ecologist be deputed to look after the marshes and that only "treated waste water" be discharged into them, huge concerns remain. How can marshland ecology be maintained if treated waste water is released into it everyday? "It may turn into a pond or a reservoir. The uniqueness cannot be retained. Most of the Dheerpur marshland is already destroyed by various projects dumping debris. The DMRC project, especially, has done a lot of damage," Manoj Misra, convener of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan, said. Dheerpur marshes play an important role in filtering pollutants and keeping Yamuna clean. Despite the potential such a project has to change the marshland ecology, environmentalists are shocked at how SEIAA gave the construction its nod. Several commercial projects and unauthorized constructions are already wreaking havoc in Dheerpur. "Projects less than 20,000 square metres do not need any environmental clearance. DMRC doesn't require an EC. Hence these projects are coming up unabated. But a marsh has a special ecology. The groundwater level is very high in these areas and they remain shallow wetlands throughout the year," said Misra. Most ecologists feel that marshes need special protection in Delhi because authorities often fail to understand what they are about.

According to Manu Bhatnagar, head of natural heritage division at Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, maps dated 1936 show several marshy areas to the west of Yamuna.

"Most of it used to be a marshland. Even Dheerpur marshes were a part of Jahangirpuri marshland. But most of it has disappeared now. We had suggested the marshes be protected because they could play an important role in the water supply to the city but the government did not consider it," he said.

The 2008 Wetland Atlas of India states there are 301 hectares of marshes in Delhi. Between 1998 and 2008, marshland area in Delhi almost halved, Intach scientist Ritu Singh said.

-The Times of India, 15th March 2014

The book finds Saraswati river and her divine message using links between ancient India and Southeast Asia. Excerpts

I am like a spark from Sagan’s anvil in his brass foundry. Many sparks fly and vanish within fractions of a second, spark-time like the subatomic particles or like the molecules of DNA chains of life with specific functions to perform to make life form meaningful. I am onlynimittamãtram. Nimittam means ‘instrumental or effective cause, ground reason’. There is a reason why I am given this life form. Krishna conveys the same message in his song,Bhagavad Gita nimittamãtram bhava savyasãcin: “Arjuna, just become to be the cause for this discourse about atman.”

I was born in Kidaram Kondan in Tamil Nadu but all my education was in Telugu because my father was employed as Minor Irrigation Overseer in Penukonda, Anantapuram District, the summer capital of King Krishnadevaraya. His job was to maintain the flow of water in the canals feeding the ground-nut crops of the surrounding villages. Rains were the only source of water in this district.

There was no river Sarasvati nearby to assure perennial supply of water. Even for drinking water, I had to walk every morning five km to the small lake at the foothill to fetch drinking water for the family because the water from the well was brackish, not potable and could be used only for cleaning and bathing.

As I started working in Manila, I realised that Kidaram Kondan which is recorded in my passport as my place of birth was so named to commemorate sea-faring cultural contacts of ancient times. King Karikala Chola had established friendship ties with Kidäram, the Tamil form for the kingdom of Bujang valley. Kidaram was the Tamil name of Kedah ‘abode of peace’ located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The people of Kedah know the bounties brought by River Mekong flowing from Manasarovar glacier of Himalaya.

In the village called Piñjai, adjacent to Kidaram Kondan, there is a 1,000-year-old temple inscription which refers to the gifts given by the king to the artisans of the region. In the Singapore Kalachakra Museum, there is a model of a golden chariot which a Khmer king had given to King Karikala to celebrate the Chola-Khmer alliance. Khmer influence in Thai-Malay peninsula during 12th century CE is recorded by the French epigraphist George Coedes. Some historians interpret that the gift of the Khmer chariot was from Suryavarman to Rajendra Chola.

Karikala built a temple replica of the Brihadisvara temple in a place called Gangaikondacolapuram. This Gangaikonda commemorates Karikala bringing pots of water from river Ganga-Sarasvati to sanctify the waters of the temple tank. Hence, that tank is called Cholaganga.

Not far from the place where Khmer chariot could have been made, I visited the Vishnu temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, on the banks of River Mekong, to understand the significance of the Indian Ocean community that existed along the 63,000 mile long rim of the ocean from Cape of Good Hope, South Africa to Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.

I am only nimittamãtram as Gitãcãrya noted in another context of ancient times.Time seems to ring the bell of memories, even as the clock keeps ticking inexorably. It is ticking, tick tick tick, of immortality.

I feel so proud that my place of birth brings back the reminiscences of these contacts among people established through water-bodies, be the water the salty water of the ocean or the water flowing from glacial melts irrigating fields to produce grains to feed and quench the hunger and thirst of the people.

In Karikala’s time, something remarkable was achieved by the engineers of yore. They created a stone anicut called kallanai and diverted the surplus waters of river Kaveri through a channel called Kollidam to add another 500,000 acres of fertile land for production of rice. This kallanai model also occurs in South Africa and has led to the marvel of reborn Sarasvati using the waters of River Sutudri and River Vitastã dammed at Bhakra-Nangal and Pong, gathering the waters in Harike Reservoir to make River Sarasvati flow again as a 40 ft wide, 12 ft deep canal into Gedra Road, Bikaner district, Rajasthan, covering a distance of over 1,000 km. This model should be replicated for all rivers flowing from the Himalayas into the Indian Ocean Community to make all the rivers of this community perennial, in a water-grid for Rastram, assuring abhyudayam, social welfare for 2 billion people of the globe.

I told Sagan, ‘1 hope together with this watergrid, I will see the formation of Indian Ocean Community as a Rästram, a united community of nations along the ocean rim. With the blessings of Devi Sarasvati, everything is possible.’ Sagan agreed and went about his work in the brass foundry making his trade mark Jagadhri brass vessels I realise that 1 am still a student. So, I am brought back to my religious life.

-The Pioneer, 16th March 2014

Rani-ki-Vav & Himalayan Park nominated for heritage status

India has nominated Rani-ki-Vav, a 11th-century step well located in Patan, Gujarat, and the Great Himalayan National Park in Himachal Pradesh as candidates for UNESCO’s World Heritage Site status this year. The World Heritage Committee, which will convene in Doha, Qatar, in June, will review the nomination and take a final decision.

Rani-ki-Vav, one of the finest examples of step wells in Gujarat, was constructed by Queen Udayamati of the Solanki Dynasty. This subterranean structure with a series of steps, broad landings, pavilions and sculpted walls, provides access to water in a deep well. This is a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India. Of the original seven storeys, five exist and only half of the more than 800 pieces of fine sculpture survive.

The Great Himalayan National Park is a natural site spread over an area of 754 square kilometres. It is located on the western part of the Himalayan Mountains in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh, and is known for its biodiversity. The park has more than 25 forest types, 800 kinds of plants and is home to more than 180 bird species.

Conferring the World Heritage status is a three-step process. Countries first create an inventory of potential monuments and natural sites and include them in the Tentative List. From this, they select a few sites and nominate them for final inscription, every year. UNESCO appoints advisory committees to evaluate the nominations.

As early as 1998, the Indian government had proposed Rani-ki-Vav as a potential candidate for the World Heritage status and included it in the tentative list. However, it did not significantly pursue the case after that.

It was not the same with the Himalayan national park. This site, included in the tentative list in 2009, was submitted for UNESCO’s consideration last year. But the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which evaluated it for UNESCO, did not recommend the park for World Heritage status. It appears that the government has incorporated the suggestions made by IUCN and resubmitted the nomination.

-The Hindu, 16th March 2014

The Union Government initiated the process of amending the Indian Forest Act, 1927, around 20 years ago. Unfortunately, due to political interventions, the amendment in the IFA, 1927, could not see the light of the day

The National Forest Policy, 1988, acknowledged the importance and primacy of the forest-dependent communities, particularly tribals and provided for a sustainable forest management approach with maintenance of environmental stability as prime objective. The commitment to conservation is highlighted by setting the targets of achieving one-third land mass under forest and tree cover. The social concerns have been targeted through increasing productivity to meet the subsistence and livelihood needs of forest-dependent communities and creating people’s movements for massive afforestation. The industries have been advised to network with farmers for the supply of raw material.

Any policy needs legislation, schemes and plans and programmes to be translated into actions. The Union Government initiated two resolutions for Joint Forest Management and regularisation of eligible encroachments in 1990. There are more than one lakh JFM Committees which are supposed to manage more than 22 million hectare forests but people’s participation is largely on paper. Since many forestry schemes and externally aided projects are linked with JFMCs, so States have adopted a so-called participatory approach of forest management. There is no monitoring mechanism to assess the quality of the participatory approach.

The productivity and livelihood aspect is very poor. The poorest of the poor live in and around forests and derive substantial income from the forests. Since the productivity is low, the forest-dependent community is deriving their income largely through unsustainable harvest which is leads to high level of forest degradation and loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. In most of the States, there is a benefit sharing mechanism for forest-dependent communities under the JFM institution, but mostly these have not been implemented. The Forest Department is neither able to check the degradation nor able to involve people in checking the degradation.

No amendment has been done to the Indian Forest Act, 1927, to implement the social element of the National Forest Policy, 1988. The preamble of the Indian Forest Act, 1927, is to regulate the transport of timber. This does not provide primacy to the right of the forest-dependent communities. The Indian Forest Act, 1927, does not protect the livelihood need of the local community. The responsibility of the National Forest Policy is with the human resource employed in the State Forest Departments. They are trained to implement the people-oriented policy with the regulatory approach to which they are doing from the colonial period.

The Government has enacted the Forest Right Act, 2006, to translate the social and conservation aspect of the National Forest Policy, 1988, into action. But it is not possible to check forest degradation by alleviating poverty of the people in and around the forests. There is empowerment of the people even if it is through the ownership of minor forest produce. This is a key for improving livelihood but it is largely on paper. The status report of the implementation of the Forest Right Act, 2006, indicates that out of 14 lakh rights, only 21,000 are community rights which are crucial for improving livelihood of the forest-dependent communities. As per the monitoring report prepared under the chairmanship of Mr NC Saxena, most of the States have treated implementation of the Forest Right Act, 2006, as a land distributing Act, not for improving livelihood, particularly in Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.

The policy mandate is to bring one-third of the land mass under forest and tree cover so as to maintain the ecosystem services and biodiversity. India has 23 per cent forest area having 21 per cent forest cover. The tree cover outside the forest area is 2.76 per cent, and forest and tree cover in India is 23.81 per cent of land mass. We need 100 million hectares under forest and tree cover while we have around 78 million hectares of forest and tree cover. We need to have another 27 million hectare under tree cover. The availability of the land is with the agriculture sector. But food security of the nation is also important. Keeping this in mind, there is no scope for transferring land for tree cover. Or else, we will not be able to achieve the goal of one-third land mass under forest and tree cover.

The scope of enhancing forest and tree cover largely depends on agroforestry. This is the mandate of the Union Ministry of Agriculture, not the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. Yet, the activities related to agro-forestry have to be implemented by the State Forest Departments. Agro-forestry should be with the Ministry of Environment and Forests. We should keep the target of 25 per cent forest and tree cover, and concentrate on the productivity and quality of forests. The Forest Department is also not focussing enough on improving productivity. The posts of scientists are lying vacant in State forest research institutes. Funds are not available for the institutes to carry out research. The Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education spends a large portion of the budget on establishment costs. Very little is left for research.

The Union Government framed the ambitious National Forest Policy, 1988, four years before the Earth Summit which included all elements of sustainable forest management, but could not implement even 10 per cent of it. Amendment in the Indian Forest Act, 1927, is needed to implement the social and ecological elements of the policy. The Union Government initiated the process of amending the IFA, 1927, around 20 years ago, but due to political interventions, the amendment is yet to see the light of the day. There is a lack of political commitment to implement the NFP, 1988, in its spirit. The Forest Right Act, 2006, has many provisions to implement the social and ecological elements of the NFP, 1988, but the State Governments are only interested in implementing individual rights for cultivation and habitation which are attractive to vote-banks directly.

The livelihood and ecological elements of the FRA have been ignored. The State Governments are hardly interested in empowering gram sabhas for forest governance. The Supreme Court has ordered the Government to appoint a policy regulator who can monitor the implementation of the National forest Policy and other allied policies. The appointment is still awaited.

(The writer is a senior fellow, The Energy and Resources Institute. Views expressed in this article are personal)

-The Pioneer, 17th March 2014

The epitaphs on some of the tombstones in Delhi are not without humour and poetry.

James Cummins was a Telegraph master in Delhi who died after he was struck by lightning in the 19th Century. He is buried in the cemetery named after Gen. Nicholson and his tombstone says that he “left behind a wife and child bewailing his loss”. If one wanders further one comes across this epitaph: “Passing Stranger call this not/ A place of dreary gloom/ I love to linger near this spot/ It is my beloved mother’s tomb”. Just at the entrance of the cemetery is a small marble tablet mourning a six-month-old child whose death had devastated its parents. Nicholson, who lies buried nearby, has been eulogized both in English and Urdu. In the St. James’ churchyard are buried the wife and five daughters of George Beresford, Manager of the Delhi Bank, who were killed on 11 May, 1857 in Chandni Chowk. The rebel sepoys had attacked the bank building and though Beresford put up a stout resistance, it was his wife who proved more heroic, killing two of her attackers with a seized spear before falling down fatally injured. In Lothian Road Cemetery is the grave of a merchant who married four times and “buried three wives, but the fourth did for him!” There are some pithy epitaphs in the Paharganj, Prithviraj Road and Rajpur Road cemeteries too. In Paharganj is a tomb which was in the news some time ago as it vibrated for five minutes when the priest blessed it on All Souls’ Day. There is, or used to be, one tombstone that had the words “Damn You” written on it. Whether it was meant to damn the visitor or the ones who had buried the person is not known.

The oldest British-time tombs are, of course, in Kolkata, including that of Rose Alymer, who died young and on whom Walter Savage Landor (1775-1864), wrote these lines: “Ah, what avails the sceptred race! / Ah, what the form divine! / What every virtue, every grace! Rosy Aylmer, all were thine”. Some of the epitaphs in Delhi are about just as old and no less memorable because of the poetic strain in them. The new graves in Burhari and Dwarka however are “kutcha” with no epitaphs.

According to E.A.H. Blunt, ICS, writing in 1911, the old epitaphs were not without some unconscious humour, like a man who died “Craving a large widow and family to mourn his loss”. Another one proclaims, “Good attendance was applied, Physicians were in vain”. Blunt goes on to say, “If pigmies must squabble about a dead giant, they should at least have the decency not to do so over a giant’s grave” (this was said in connection with a hero of 1857). Incidentally, an unlikely hero was “a gallant French circus master who went out to fight with Anglo-Indian volunteers that year for the “honour of the alliance”. Capt (later Lt-Col) W. R. Pogan, author of the “History of the Bundelas” (1787-1843), was noted for both his learning and eccentricity. As per his wish, he was buried on a roadside within sound of bugles” (on the far side of the infantry parade ground) where young buglers came for practice every day.

Col Skinner, who is buried in the church built by him at Kashmere Gate, has this epitaph: “Here rest the/Remains of the late/Colonel James Skinner G.B./Who departed this life/ At Hansi/ 4th December 1841 / The body was disinterred / Removed from Hansi and buried under / This on the 19th January, 1842”. Sixty-three gun salutes were fired, “denoting the number of years of the deceased”. It was further stated that “None of the emperors was ever brought into Delhee in such state as Secunder Sahib” (as he was known). Earlier, the Colonel had a beautiful marble tomb constructed for William Fraser, assassinated British Resident, with this tribute: “So you see by the blessing of God, I have served Him and my friend too, whose memory and love remain firm in my old heart. In him I have lost the best friend I had in the world …. and my friendship with the world ends with him.”

More poignant is this Urdu epitaph on a young wife: “Na aiye raas chaman ko/Woh naubahar hoon main/ Kisi ke aish do-roza/ ki yaadgar hoon main” (I’m the blossom which did not suit the garden, a reminder of someone’s two days of happiness)! The Muse similarly wept for John Drake, an indigo merchant killed in a Holi riot in 1637.

-The Hindu, 17th March 2014

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday laid the foundation stone of a project to build a 70-storey temple in Vrindavan — Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir — which, when finished, is billed to be the tallest shrine in the world.

While the concept of the grand temple was conceived by in-house devotees of ISCKON Bangalore, the structural design has been outsourced to a US-based company, TEC Engineering. The temple, with a traditional Nagra architecture at the entrance, will have elements of a glass façade stretching to the 70th floor.

“The temple will change the skyline of Vrindavan. After entering the temple, there will be a capsule lift that will take visitors to the 70th floor. During their journey to the topmost floor, there will be a cosmology exhibit with 3D effects. It will be a whole new immersion experience. People would travel through the planets to reach the top. There will be telescopes placed on the top floor from where people can see entire Vrindavan,” Chanchalapathi Dasa, vice-chairman of the Akshaya Patra Foundation said.

The temple premises will also have a theme park for visitors. Around the temple, the twelve forests of Braj will be recreated. Specific vegetation of each forest will be artificially grown.

The team is also going to recreate the Yamuna across the temple and visitors will be taken around in a boat. For those who wish to walk, there will be a path build for a skywalk.

A night safari will also be organised.

-The Indian Express, 17th March 2014

The Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) Tuesday issued a draft notification earmarking 56,825 sq km of the Western Ghats as Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA), keeping it out of bounds for mining, quarrying and major construction and thermal projects. Giving in to demands from Kerala it, however, left out over 3,000 sq km from ESA demarcated by the Kasturirangan-led High Level Working Group.

The Working Group had identified approximately 37 per cent of Western Ghats, 59,940 sq km of natural landscape of the hills, as ecologically sensitive.

“Taking into account ESA demarcated by Kerala government for Kerala instead of Ecologically Sensitive Area recommended by High Level Working Group for the state, the total works out to 56,825 sq km,” the draft notification says.

As per the notification, the ESA in Kerala is spread over of 9,993.7 sq km, 9,107 sq km of forest area and 886.7 sq km of non-forest area.

The notification says that in exercise of powers conferred by section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (29 of 1986) and sub-rule (3) of rule 5 of the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986, the Central Government notifies the identified area of 56,825 sq km across six states Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, as Western Ghats Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA).

The Election Commission had last week permitted the Centre to issue a draft notification. With stakeholder states particularly Kerala witnessing protests, the Veerappa Moily led MoEF had before the elections were announced said it would seek and allow changes in ESA boundaries based on recommendations of state governments. The Environment Ministry had added that it had accepted the Kerala government’s expert committee report on the issue and agreed with its recommendation to keep agricultural lands, plantations, orchards and habitations out of the ESA.

The BJP had opposed the decision of the MoEF to come out with the draft notification as the model code was in force and approached the EC. The EC permitted the Centre to issue the notification, adding the final notification could be issued only after elections.

K Kasturirangan report was submitted to MoEF in 2013 recommending that 37 per cent of Western Ghats be declared ecologically sensitive. The Ministry had at the time, conveyed in principle” acceptance of the report.

-The Indian Express, 19th March 2014

The Delhi forest department suspects that “a large number” of “foreign nationals” are living illegally in Sanjay Colony, a 128-acre illegal settlement in Asola-Bhatti wildlife sanctuary.

The department has informed Delhi Police, “There are unconfirmed reports of the presence of citizens of other countries living in the colony without legal permission to live in India. This is an urgent matter. Offenders need to be booked.”

“There is a Pakisatni mohalla which needs to be kept under surveillance. Land mafia is active particularly there,” the letter reads.

Most of those who migrated to what came to be known as Sanjay Colony from Pakistan via Rajasthan were artisans in stone-cutting and quarrying.

“There are cases of visa overstay. We wrote to the police in December last year. It’s a matter of national security. We haven’t heard from them so far,” a senior forest department official told HT on Tuesday.

A senior police officer said, “We’re not aware of any such letter. We will check if there’s one and act accordingly.”

The forest department woke up only after a senior officer of the Indian Army, whose wing ‘eco task force’ is working to revitalise the Bhatti mines area in south Delhi through plantation, wrote to Delhi government in March 2013 that “initially such migrants comprised 10 to 15 families, now the number has increased to 40.”

“Uninterrupted new construction is going on in the name of repairs. If this encroachment is not stopped, this will lead to many other problems,” the Army officer had cautioned.

There were three colonies in the 6,814-acre sanctuary. After a Supreme Court order in 1996, two shifted out in 2006, but not Sanjay Colony.

“Occupants who had moved when eviction was ordered have started coming back along with many more relatives. When officials requested them to move out, they did so initially but came back after some time. In the last 8 to 9 months, this game has happened 15 times,” the Army official’s letter reads.

Residents refuted there was no foreign national in the colony. “Congress leader Sanjay Gandhi settled us in the mid-1970. These allegations are just to evict us,” said a resident.

Sanjay Colony --- where population has gone up from 4,000 to 40,000 in recent years --- has managed to avoid eviction because of political reasons.

-The Hindustan Times, 20th March 2014

After Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan, on his TV show Satyamev Jayate aired on Sunday, highlighted the ill-effects of a south Delhi waste-burning plant on public health, environmentalists and institutions have renewed their campaign for better waste management techniques in the capital. Activists under the banner of NGO Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan (YJA) on Thursday wrote to Delhi's lieutenant governor (L-G) Najeeb Jung, urging him to review all waste disposal plans in the city and explore alternatives to landfills and waste-burning plants. With the Capital under President's rule, Jung is in charge of state administration.

Referring to the TV show, YJA's Manoj Misra has requested Jung to save the city from getting littered with man-made garbage hills "not only on land but also in the skies in form of toxic fumes emanating from waste-to-energy plants".

Despite local residents repeatedly seeking closure of the south Delhi plant, the Delhi government has allowed building of two more such plants in east (Ghazipur) and north (Bawana) Delhi.

"There is enough waste management expertise available, as highlighted by in the tv show. The idea must be to segregate waste at home, reuse, recycle and treat the rest," said Misra.

Holy Family Hospital, which is within 500 metres of the South Delhi waste-burning plant, has in an open letter to the prime minister's office also demanded its closure.

The hospital on Thursday held a meeting where its director, Father PA George expressed concern over "the deteriorating air quality" around the campus. "We are anxious to maintain the quality of service to our patients," he said.

"Patients have been coming to us with severe respiratory ailments such as asthma and bronchitis. Such complications are attributable to the high levels of toxic emissions from the plant. There is also a biomedical incinerator operating in the area," he said.

"The National Green Tribunal is currently hearing a petition that has sought closure of the plant. The tribunal has on occasions found fault with the way it has been functioning. We have also served a notice, asking why it should not be shut for causing pollution," said a Delhi pollution control committee official.

-The Hindustan Times, 21st March 2014

With increased pollution levels in lakes and waste management issues comes the percolation of pollutants into the underground water table, which eventually reaches the end-consumer.

Despite the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) claiming that much of the City’s waters are potable, complaints continue to arise from different areas of the City. On the occasion of ‘World Water Day’, officials and citizens speak about the water contamination in the City.

At the BWSSB Central Water Testing Laboratory, chemists Prakash and Nalini say that the main culprit for the impurity is cross-contamination from sanitary lines. “The Cauvery water is supplied from Thorekadanahalli while the treatment happens here. But the contamination happens because of sanitary leakages and drain water entering the groundwater, which we monitor by routine sampling,” says Prakash.

Nalini adds, “There are certain parameters that have to be met in the water samples. For instance, we monitor the Total Dissolved Solids levels (measure of purity) and turbidity (measure of clarity) in the distribution network. We also ensure that there are no bacterial components like Coliform or Escherichia Coli, which render the ,water undrinkable.”

Kemparamaiah, BWSSB chief engineer (Quality Assurance), says that the chlorination process disinfects the water. “The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that for every 10,000 people, we have to test one sample of water. According to that, we’re supposed to collect 900 samples a month for the 90 lakh people here. But on an average, we collect close to 1500 samples monthly.

The BWSSB checks the quality at source (Cauvery), after which it is treated in one of our plants. It’s then pumped to the City through steel pipes, which have been installed over time and are all intact,” he informs, adding that the tertiary level treatment plants treat waste water, which is used in factories, construction sites and parks like Cubbon Park and Lalbagh.

He notes that if any impurity is identified or the authorities receive any complaint, they inform the concerned sub-division and have the problem rectified immediately. “The impurities enter the water when it’s being pumped from the Ground Level Reservoirs to local lines. If someone tampers with the connections, pollution may occur,” explains the engineer, adding that in the case of borewell lines, the BWSSB only looks at repair and maintenance, not treatment. “It isn’t under our scope unless we receive complaints. Even when a borewell’s water is unfit for consumption and we put signs not to drink it, they remove the signs and go ahead. How do we prevent that?” questions Kemparamaiah.

Despite these claims, the water in areas like Banashankari, Yelahanka, KR Puram, Kengeri, Hebbal, Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Koramangala, etc can easily be viewed as ‘murky’. “For the last few years, there’s been a real estate boom in Rajarajeshwari Nagar because of which the water isn’t as fresh as it used to be. This is possibly because the rainwater supply is depleting, leaving behind the muddy components,” opines Abijith, a resident of the area. Manchala, who stays in Shastri Nagar, adds, “With the rapid rate of construction in the City, what is being forgotten is the basic need for clean water. The water this side is often brown and I can’t imagine what it’ll look like when the monsoons arrive.”

-The Deccan Herald, 22nd March 2014

Woodblock printing is the earliest and simplest form of printing patterns on textile by hand. Yet, in its simplicity, a highly complex art form emerges.

Its versatility allows it to be used for embellishing all manner of cloth: from those that we wear to those that we use, such as quilt, bed and pillow covers, wall hangings and floor coverings. This art is believed to have originated in China towards the early 3rd century. Records of its presence in Egypt and some Asian countries were found around the 4th century, from where it spread to Europe. Apart from wood, blocks are also made of metals and porcelain. But wooden blocks, made of seasoned teak or sheesham wood, remain the most sought after.

In hand block printing, the design drawn on wood using a sharp needle is carved using a chisel, hammer, file, nails etc. The cloth is washed, bleached and dyed and then stretched over the surface where printing takes place.

In case of resist dyeing, impression of an impermeable material (clay, resin, wax) is made on the fabric, which is then dyed. The block image remains unprinted and appears in reverse. The once-used natural dyes are now replaced with synthetic dyes which are easily available. Different dyes are used for silk and cotton.

The block-maker is no less a craftsman than the printer or skilled dyer. His workplace is like an atelier where artists chisel and carve on wood to perfect blocks with most delicate of designs. Most designs are traditional, such as flowers, vines, mangomotifs, but an artist could add to his repertoire by bringing in variations on familiar themes.

In Rajasthan, Sanganer and Bagru are well-known printing centres. The block print in Bagru is done mainly in beige, red and black. Shades of blue with much use of indigo blue dyeing process is a characteristic. Vegetable dye is used — green from banana leaves, orange from saffron, black from iron rust.

The highly skilled and patterned Ajrak block-printing came to Kutch from Sind 400 years ago when the Muslim Khatris (artisans who ‘apply colour to cloth’) settled in a village of this region. Bright indigo, green and mustard are dominant colours used. This art has been passed on from father to son.

The prints of Barmer in Rajasthan are inspired from the Sindh region. Printing in Barmer is done on turbans, sarees and traditionally worn lungis, head gear and shoulder cloth. The designs are bold, the popular one being the flaming red chilli with a blue-black outline surrounded by flower-laden trees.

Jaipur is famous for the jahota hand block printing. It is believed that Maharaja Jai Singh and his wife were patrons of this art.

Kalamkari of Andhra Pradesh is the earliest and more complex technique of block-printing on cloth using vegetable dyes, which flourished in Machilipatnam.

-The Deccan Herald, 23rd March 2014

Problems arising out of over-extraction of groundwater, encroachment of water bodies and contamination of clean water supplies were raised during a meet organised on the occasion of World Water Day here on Saturday.

Some of the speakers spoke about the neglect of water sources and improved disposal of dirty water. “The Capital has 60 per cent of untreated sewage and 40 per cent sewage remains unutilised. The official government list also shows 700 ponds but their condition is not known. If these ponds were to be filled with enough water, we would not need to harvest water on rooftops.

Harvesting water from these ponds would solve much of our problem,” said Suresh Babu, director River Basins and Water Policy, WWF.

WWF-India CEO Ravi Singh spoke about how “in Delhi maximum water is extracted from the ground with pumps which has resulted in sinking of the water table. This is resulting in high amount of pollution level in river waters which in turn is adversely affecting the bio-diversity.”

Mr. Singh said that in the absence of fresh water, polluted water is being used for irrigation. He cautioned about its effects and said: “Such water contains high amount of metallic/chemical content. So everything we eat or drink – be it fruit, milk, vegetable – all contain high levels of toxins.”

Noting that “tomatoes, red chilli and pomegranate have the highest amount of chemical elements”, he cautioned that “in future consuming polluted water and food material will lead to low mental health in children and youth. It will affect their success rate and hence, directly affect the GDP of the country.”

To address the problem of water sanitation and conservation, WWF-India has also partnered with HSBC and environment NGOs Water Aid and Earth Watch. Speaking on the occasion, Naina Lal Kidwai, director HSBC Asia-Pacific and Country Head, India, said: “Access to safe water and sanitation is the first step out of poverty for individuals; managing water resources effectively sustains ecosystems, industries and communities by protecting the vital water resources they depend upon. We have prioritised the need to develop awareness and create change towards water sanitation, conservation and management and look forward to seeing its compounded positive impact on society.”

-The Hindu, 23rd March 2014

ASHIS DUTTA returns from his trip with saucy tales of the days gone by

“Mussoorie, you know, was created by the British for their pleasure,” said Suri, pronouncing the last word - pleasure - lingeringly, smeared with a sauce of decadence.

Retired Colonel Suri is an old timer of Mussoorie and the hills around. His place, the ‘Nest’ as he has fondly christened it, is up a steep climb from Camel Back Road, overlooking the mighty Himalayan ranges to the north. Our car groaned up his porch. Suri, as he insisted on being called, loves the mountains, his pet German Shepherd, Blimey, and his scotch. Not sure in which order though. And Suri has stories. Stories of the underbelly of Mussoorie’s colourful past.

But it took two pegs and umpteenth caressing of Blimey’s hairy shoulder before he began to steam up. One Captain Young of the British Army from the cantonment in Dehradun erected a shooting box for hunting — the first structure on these hills, way back in 1823. He then decided to leave the dusty plains for good and move up. Other sahibs followed suit.

Soon, Mussoorie became a goulash of all British varieties — Scottish and Irish, the Welsh and the English. Army men and contractors, disreputables and do-gooders, they came trudging up the hill, built their bungalows and named them nostalgically after their homeland. So, the mushrooming of names such as Tipperary and Shamrock, Scottsburn and Wolfsburn, and Connaught Castle and Hampton Court. There was a smattering of others too. Like the Australian journalist John Lang, among the earliest chroniclers of Mussoorie, or the German Bohles, whose brewery gave tough competition to that of the MacKinnon’s’. The competition was not without its side effects. Gentlemen and the ladies would gather for drinks after attending church service. And as far back as in 1884, in one such drinking session, so wrote a leading newspaper, a lady stood up on her chair and offered her kisses to gentlemen at Rs. 5 each. Such pluckiness would raise its intrepid head now and then in those edgy years of the Raj. As recounted by Mussoorie’s most famous story-teller, Ruskin Bond, this time in a charity show in 1932. A lady stood up and auctioned a single kiss and the bid was won by a gentleman for Rs. 300. Bond recollects with his characteristic chuckle of those days in Mussoorie when beer was cheap and only kisses were expensive.

“Mussoorie became a playground for the Brits and Indian Maharajas,” said Suri. Much as the travel writer Lowell Thomas who visited Mussoourie in 1926 wrote about a certain hotel where, ‘they ring a bell just before dawn so that the pious may say their prayers and the impious, get back to their own beds.’

The Savoy played host to young Jawaharlal Nehru who was warned by the British to refrain from engaging with the Royal delegation from Afghanistan staying at the same hotel. The effect was, however, the opposite. Then again, there was the clairvoyant crystal-gazer Lady Ormes by Gore. She was in demand in Mussoorie ‘circle’ as much for her soothsaying faculty as for the title she carried on her shoulder. But then, for once her psychic enlightenment let her down. She couldn’t predict her own murder in her suite at The Savoy. The police were out of their depth. Not to give up, Rudyard Kipling wrote a detailed account of the crime to his good friend in London, Arthur Conan Doyle.

Suri took a long sip at his scotch, threw back his head with a chortle and said, “The murder was never solved, but then there was never a dull moment in Mussoorie.”

Suri was now in full steam and I was all ears. Stories of yore came slithering down the mountain slopes smoothened by vintage scotch. Of a dowager who had no patience with married women who flirt. Of a Lieutenant whose afternoon visitations to a particularly beautiful lady, whose husband was serving in the cantonment down below in Dehradun, did not go altogether unnoticed. After all, the Lieutenant’s pony had to be tied to something nearby. Of men who went broke over gambling at the billiard table at the Himalaya Club. “Take for instance the heritage hotel you are staying in,” said Suri. “Before its present owner, a maharaja bought this bungalow from a British for a lady, who later went on to become his third wife, the youngest maharani.” I couldn’t stop a wow escaping from me. Suri nodded and went on, “And the story goes, that when the maharaja used to go down to his estate in the plains leaving the maharani in Mussoorie for long periods, a certain Englishman used to meet her on secret rendezvous.” Then suddenly added, “Did you say you’re staying in room number 15, the one overlooking the Doon Valley?” I sheepishly nodded a yes.

“Ah,” he said, “the wooded slope below your bay window. Rendezvous.” I came out of Suri’s Nest, and got to where the Mall Road has morphed into Kulri Bazar. I was still in a warp, expecting the Maharaja of Kapurthala promenading with his entourage. Instead, the cloth merchants of Jalandhar and factory owners from Ludhiana were having a ball of a time with their colourful family.

-The Hindu, 24th March 2014

Recent excavations at the historic Purana Qila unearthed relics of different periods, making the author wonder if a deeper probe could lead to tracing of Indraprastha, the city of the Pandavas

The Purana Qila is more mysterious than the Red Fort for the simple reason that it is not only older but built upon an ancient site, presumed to be of the Mahabharata times. So whenever excavations take place, interesting finds are sure to surface. Recently relics of the 1st Century AD, of the Kushan period, the Gupta era and the Rajput times have been unearthed. A 12th Century Vishnu sculpture and a seal of Gupta times are the prized finds by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The round face of Vishnu is in accordance with the ancient artistic conception of a noble face. This changed during the course of the centuries, with the oval face becoming popular and then the elongated one. In the Sultanate and Mughal times the round face was the high mark of beauty in women. No wonder medieval paintings depict moon-faced begums; but as perceptions changed the round face came to be associated with obesity. Present-day models tend to have leaner faces in keeping with the slim look.

Besides the Vishnu sculpture, pottery of the Kushan and Gupta periods, undeciphered copper coins, terracotta figurines, micro-beads of semi-precious stones and glass, ear-studs and charred wheat and rice grains have also been found. According to Vasant K. Swarankar, Superintendent Archaeologist of Delhi, the pottery products unearthed include knife-edged rimmed bowls, sprinklers and fragments of stamped pottery from the Gupta period. Also discovered are structures of the Kushan and Rajput periods. It all goes to show that the Kushans, imperial Guptas and Rajputs also occupied the site at different times.

This is the third excavation in the Old Fort after the ones in the 1950s and 1970s. The area being explored is the south-eastern side of the Sher Mandal of Sher Shah. The Afghan ruler was not intolerant towards Hindus and did not interfere much with their religious practices, something that Emperor Akbar inherited and which led to his more secular policies. The Emperor’s Hindu wives also influenced his thinking but he had to be cautious because of the powerful ulema lobby in the court. Nevertheless the story of Akbar having got some idols transported from the fort to the Bhairon temple close by is not improbable. He did not stay long enough to probe the mysteries of the Purana Qila as it was to Sikandar Lodi’s Agra that he turned to build his own fort. His attraction to that town, associated with both Babar and Humayun, was natural.

The Talaqi Darwaza in the Purana Qila was regarded as a forbidden gate through which everybody could not pass. It has a panel showing a man fighting a lion, something unusual in a monument of that period. It however makes one wonder why the gate was regarded as forbidden, through which only royal family members, including women of the harem and children could pass.

Paradoxically enough, Talaqi Darwaza means meeting gate. It is conjectured by some that the gate led to the heritage of the Pandavas and their Indraprastha. After Humayun’s ouster, Sher Shah added his own constructions to the Dinpanah of his adversary.

The man-fighting-lion panel is said to have been his creation. Both Humayun and Sher Shah were not iconoclasts like Mahmud of Ghazni but rulers curious about the past. Could it be that they had found evidence of a ruined ancient fort and were carrying out excavations of their own and discovering the mysteries of the Mahabharata period? May be a far-fetched conjecture!

Incidentally, to pass through the nearby Sher Shah Gate is like passing through the portals of time. In front is the Purana Qila and beside it the zoo. Also known as the Lal Darwaza, it is one of the many gates built by Sher Shah during his short reign. Like Shah Jahan, he also adorned Delhi with impressive buildings. By the side of the Sher Shah Gate stands the Khairul Manazil Masjid, with a prayer hall, dome and double-storied corridors. The masjid was constructed by Maham Anga, Akbar’s wet-nurse, with the help of her son Adam Khan and kinsman Shahabuddin Khan. So the Purana Qila, the Sher Shah Gate and the masjid make up a spectrum of history that echoes with the past. The excavations merge their own echo with it. If the site of the 3000-year-old Troy can be traced, why not that of Indraprastha? But for this the excavations (now to a depth of 1.5 metres) will probably have to be deeper than 12 metres to solve a long suspended mystery.

-The Hindu, 24th March 2014

To ensure that it doesn’t have to wait for long when it comes to determining the antiquity of the artefacts excavated from ancient sites, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is shelling out funds for setting up of a lab for carbon-dating at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Gandhinagar.

To be established in a joint collaboration with the premier engineering college, the proposed laboratory will use modern chemical analysis and carbon dating tools to determine the antiquity of the relics recovered during digging.

Radiocarbon dating (or simply carbon-dating) is a radiometric dating technique that uses the decay of carbon-14 to estimate the age of organic materials, such as wood and leather, up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years, said a senior archaeologist from the ASI. The determination of the dates of the relics determine its importance as well as give clues on the history of the sites from where it is excavated, said a senior official in the Culture Ministry. He said that as the ASI is funding the setting up of the lab, it will enjoy availing its facilities “free of cost” though other organisations will have to shell out the fees for the job.

The budget for the establishment of proposed laboratory is still being finalised. The premier conservation agency decided to fork out money to ensure availing of such facility as in the absence of a few facilities in the country it had to wait for years to get the scientific results for its relics.

Presently, the ASI sends the samples for determination of date to Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad and Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow. However, as these are catering to the needs of many other institutes we thought that we should have a dedicated laboratory, said the official. The official said that determination of dates costs about Rs 50-60 thousand per sample in India.

-The Pioneer, 24th March 2014

More than 7,000 years ago, the people of India knew the importance of water harvesting. Do you think we can adopt such methods to conserve this precious resource?

Water is essential for our survival. It is important to remember that water is not a permanent resource available through the year. However, it can be recycled. Today, overhead or underground tanks store water in our homes in cities. However in ancient India, many traditional practices existed to harvest or collect water from rain, streams and rivers.

A water harvesting system is one that collects and stores water for later use, especially in summer when water is scarce. India’s use of traditional water harvesting systems dates back 7,000 years.

Storehouses

Wetlands are areas where water controls or regulates the environment, and any animal or plant life. They occur where the water table is at or near the surface of the land, or where land is covered by water.

Wetlands are cradles of biological diversity and are among the world’s most productive environments. They provide water upon which countless species of plants and animals depend for survival. Wetlands support high concentrations of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrate species. They are also important storehouses of plant genetic material. Rice, for example, which is a common wetland plant, is the staple diet for more than half of humanity.

There are six kinds of wetlands:

- Marine or coastal wetlands which include coastal lagoons, rocky shores, and coral reefs

- Estuarine wetlands including deltas, tidal marshes and mangrove swamps

- Lacustrine wetlands associated with lakes

- Riverine wetlands along rivers and streams

- Palustrine wetlands, essentially marshes, swamps and bogs

- Man-made wetlands like fish, shrimp and farm ponds, irrigated agricultural land, salt pans, reservoirs, gravel pits and canals. Source: www.ramsar.org, National Wetland Conservation Programme Guidelines for Conservation and Management of Wetlands in India Here are some traditional water harvesting structures and systems in use in different parts of India:

Kere: These are large tanks with boundaries built from mud, earth, stones and cement around a stream. A kere has a provision for overflow of excess water, and outlets for irrigation and feeding channels. Water from a kere is used for drinking, irrigation, livestock and groundwater recharge. Keres are used in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Phad: This system has earthen embankments built on a river that divert water for agricultural use. They are used in Dhule and Nashik districts, Maharashtra.

Kund: A large saucer-shaped deep pit covered by a dome. The size of a kund can range from a few meters to 100 square kilometres in diameter. It has a gradual slope which allows water to flow into the deep pit. This pit is lined with limestone and ash which naturally purify the collected water of dust, dirt and silt. Kunds are used to store drinking water in dry climates like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

Naula: A stone-lined tank which catches dripping water from springs and streams. Naulas are surrounded by shady trees to prevent evaporation of water. This water is used for drinking in the hilly areas of Kumaon, Garhwal and Uttarakhand regions.

Zing: Channels are built to divert glacial water into a storage tank called a zing. This water is mainly used for irrigation in mountain regions like Ladakh and Leh in Jammu and Kashmir.

Bamboo drip system: A network of bamboo pipes of varying diameter, length and positioning is used to harvest water from hill springs or streams. Bamboo drip systems are used for irrigation of black pepper and betel leaf crops, and are also sometimes used for drinking. This system is widely used in the tribal pockets of the Khasi and Jaintia hills of Cherrapunji, and in the Mawsynram belt of Meghalaya.

Surangas: These are vertical man-made excavations in hill slopes that act as a tunnel network, where water from the top to the bottom of the hill is captured in the porous soil. This water is then channelled into large tanks, collecting enough water for agriculture and livelihood. Surangas are used in the Dakshin Kannada region of Karnataka and in Kerala.

Source: Traditional water harvesting systems, Centre for Environment Education, Bangalore.

-The Hindu, 25th March 2014

Sculpture expert Nagaswamy denies Gallery consulted him on purchase

India’s case for getting back the stolen Nataraja idol strengthened further when Australian Minister for Arts George Brandis criticised the national art museum of the country for its slack practices in purchasing the 1000-year-old sculpture, allegedly stolen from Tamil Nadu.

Mr. Brandis, who is also the Attorney-General, told Four Corners, the current affairs programme of Australia Broadcasting Corporation, that the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) did not “sufficiently comply” with due diligence standards while purchasing the idol. “When there was a sufficient level of doubt about the provenance of the object,” the gallery’s decision to recommend the purchase “was incautious.”

Mr. Brandis said he had raised with the Foreign Affairs Minister the issue of return of the idol.

The NGA has been claiming that it followed proper procedures before purchasing the idol from Subhash Kapoor, U.S.-based antiquities dealer now lodged in a Chennai prison for his alleged role in the theft.

The ABC programme has unearthed more evidence that further dismantles the NGA’s claims.

In his interview to Four Corners, Allan Myers, Chairman of the NGA’s council, said the gallery had consulted R. Nagaswamy, renowned expert on South Indian sculptures based in Chennai and, on his advice, bought the idol. But in June 2013, when The Hindu emailed the NGA asking whether it had consulted Dr. Nagaswamy, the gallery refused to answer the question.

When The Hindu contacted Mr. Nagaswamy, he said he did not recall any phone conversation with the NGA, and denied advising it to acquire the idol. He said he never opened or responded to any email sent by the NGA in 2008 as he was not in Chennai then. He never heard anything from it subsequently, nor did he receive any consultation fee. Mr. Nagaswamy conveyed the same message to Four Corners.

The ABC programme also accessed documents that show, Shane Simpson, heritage lawyer with Simpsons Solicitors, Australia, in 2008, cautioning the NGA against the proposed purchase of Nataraja idol. In his written note, he mentioned that “the available evidence is minimal and inadequate investigations have been carried out.”

Mr. Simpson warned that the NGA must be aware, “there is an inherent risk in the purchase” and “there is no evidence that provides any clue as to the origin of the object.” He even mentioned a possibility that “it was stolen from the original source [for example, a temple].”

However, the NGA overlooked the lawyer’s note and bought the idol from Mr. Kapoor for $ 5 million.

-The Hindu, 25th March 2014

The next time you want to visit a protected monument and need directions, just turn to your smartphone. Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has launched the country's first mobile app to get details of all 174 monuments in the capital.

The app, which was launched recently, is expected to increase footfall at several monuments. "While roaming around the city, people usually just carry their mobile phones. Visitors will now have information on all protected monuments in Delhi available on their smartphones—how to get there, the significance of the monument and the nearest Metro station, etc," said an official.

The app is currently available on android, windows and Apple phones but will soon be made available for BlackBerry phones as well. Several people are believed to be trading in their tourist maps and guide books for the app.

The app is divided into four sections—monuments, photo gallery, 'plan your itinerary' and 'about ASI'. The monuments section is divided into 'popular monuments' which holds details of Red Fort, Qutab Minar, Safdarjung's Tomb, Humayun's Tomb, etc and 'other monuments'. Besides providing a picture and description of each site, the section also contains historical data, significance and references of sites which users can turn to for additional information about the structure. "Based on a person's interest and location, the itinerary section helps them plan trips to various monuments," said an official.

-The Times of India, 25th March 2014

The rampant use of palm oil for our daily needs is a good example of how we contribute to the extinction of our wildlife even by the use of ‘vegetarian’ edibles. Jungles are being cut across the world to harvest oil from palm fruits

When you eat meat, you kill the animal directly. But some foods that appear ‘vegetarian’ are responsible for the killing of thousands of animals, and you need to avoid these. One case in point is palm oil.

Palm oil is a form of edible vegetable oil obtained from the fruit of the oil palm tree. Made by crushing fresh fruit, the reddish-brown oil is used in cookies, toothpaste, ice cream and breads and its demand is rising and is expected to climb further, particularly for use in bio-diesel.

Indonesia, the largest producer of palm oil in the world, has the third largest cover of rainforests after Amazon and Congo basin. These rainforests are home to amazingly diverse nature of species. Consider just one per cent of the total land area of Earth being host to 17 per cent of known birds and 12 per cent of known mammals. Unfortunately, these forests are being destroyed to expand palm oil plantations putting some of the most adored species such as orang-utans and Sumatran tigers on the verge of extinction.

Take the case of orang-utans. Yes, the same concave-faced, bearded, fruit-eating apes that stole Catherine Zeta-Jones’ luggage in the Visa ad and traded it back for bananas! The orangutans are the most charming of our primate relatives. Known for their intelligence and red hair, they were once found all over Indo-China but are now limited to the jungles of Borneo and Sumatra. Even this last remaining habitat of them is being destroyed at a very fast rate. Result? Orangutans come under endangered to critically endangered category of International Union for Conservation of Nature. It is feared that all of them might be gone in next few years.

The case of Sumatran Tigers is even worse. They too come under ‘critically endangered’ category of the IUCN. There are just about 400 of them are left down from estimated population of about 1,000 in 1978. For them too, loss and fragmentation of the habitat because of expansion of palm plantations are the main reasons for the declining population. The reported loss of their habitat in recent decades has been between 3.2 and 5.9 per cent per year.

The population density of tigers in a particular area is generally much lower than other mammals. Also, comparatively lesser number of mature tigers take care of their offspring while growing up. It means tigers need much bigger habitat size and population compared to other species to sustain and grow. The case today is exactly opposite. According to the IUCN, the number of adult tigers expected to reproduce may be much less than the estimated population. Many of the tiger habitats are too small to be sustainable in longer run.

Palm oil can be grown perfectly well on degraded land, already cleared of forest — of which there are millions of hectares available in Southeast Asia. This is not happening. Palm oil companies are deliberately destroying pristine forest areas for plantation conversion, as this provides them with an immediate and extremely profitable source of income from logging before a single palm tree is planted.

In fact, some companies get permits to clear rainforest to make way for oil palm plantations but as soon as they have logged the forest, they disappear without planting oil palms. “It is the total clearance of forests, ultimately for the planting of oil palm that has reaped by far the most havoc”, says Ian Singleton, Director of the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme. Forest fires need a mention here. There have been repetitive incidences of forest fires in Indonesia, the most recent being in Sumatra in June, last year. These fires have been time and again linked with palm oil companies. In fact, burning is one of the most common methods to clear forests. Burning forests for plantation is though illegal; it is not easy to trace back the actual cause of these fires making life easier for the companies despite wrong practices.

And we are the main culprits behind all this! In last few years India has surpassed China and European Union to become the largest importer of palm oil. Between November 2012 and October 2013, we imported 8.3 million tonnes of palm oil up eight per cent from the preceding year. This is about 19 per cent of the total global palm oil trade.

The buyer is always responsible for the damage done. It is not always the countries of origin that are to blame. It is us because we fuel the demand. Thus, it is our responsibility to see whether we need to use this much palm oil and to weigh the losses of entire forests and thousands of species. To begin with, create pressure on companies to come clean on their palm oil sourcing. Certification must be imposed so that we ensure that the palm oil we are using, either directly or indirectly, is not linked with deforestation. Palm oil, in its current state needs a Red Dot on it — to show it is non-vegetarian in its effect.

-The Pioneer, 26th March 2014

A long-drawn dispute over the ownership of a plot — considered a buffer for the World Heritage monument Humayun’s Tomb complex — between the Land & Development Office (L&DO) and a private bus company has resulted in a local court handing possession rights to the bus company.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which is responsible for the Humayun’s Tomb complex, however distanced itself from the dispute saying it had not have any ownership rights on the plot.

Located on Mathura Road — metres away from the 16th century monument Arab ki Sarai in the Humayun’s Tomb complex — the plot of land, according to conservation architects, acts as a buffer for the protected monument.

The recent development, they said, comes as a major blow to conservation efforts in the area. “The Arab ki Sarai is an integral part of the world heritage site and the land acts as a buffer Humayun’s Tomb complex from the busy Mathura Road. It is critical that every effort be made to ensure this land remains in the ownership of the ASI,” conservation architect Ratish Nanda of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture said.

ASI officials, on the other hand, said the land was never owned by the ASI. They said it was handed over to them for maintenance and care in April last year. “The ASI was given the land only last year for maintenance. Following this, we spent nearly Rs 9 lakh to build a wall around the property to save it from encroachment. We had started landscaping work in the area. However, owing to the court order, the land has now been given to the bus company. We demolished the wall last week,” Vasant Kumar Swarankar, Superintending Archaeologist, ASI (Delhi Circle), said.

In 2008, bus company owner I S Goel had filed a civil suit claiming that the plot was owned by his company. According to ASI sources, the L&DO department failed to substantiate its ownership with documentary proof and so the case was decided in favour of the bus company.

Following this, an execution application was filed in the Tis Hazari court by the bus company to restore possession of the disputed property to it.

The order issued by Civil Judge of West Delhi Sushant Changotra on January 31 said the Judgement Debtor No. 2 (JD No. 2) “is willing to offer the ownership of the wall to the Decree Holder” (I.S. Goel bus company) “and if the said proposal is not acceptable then the JD no. 2 is also willing to demolish the wall.”

The ASI officials said they would not be appealing the order in a higher court. Swarankar said, “We do not have ownership on the plot. On what basis do we take up the issue to a higher court?”

-The Indian Express, 26th March 2014

Mizoram has made an entry into India’s archaeological map. In a first, the Ministry of Culture has declared a 9,000 sq m area dotted with several caves, and more than a hundred menhirs embossed with figures of humans, animals and weapons as an ancient site of national importance.

Some 170 menhirs, each at least as tall as a man, stand at the site at Champhai district’s Vangchhia village, which lies on the bank of the Tiau river that separates India and Myanmar.

Villagers call the site “Kawtchhuah Ropui” (The Great Gateway) and have protected these monuments for years in spite of not being sure what they represent or how they came to be there.

The Mizoram chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) along with the state’s Art & Culture Separtment has been studying the menhirs, seeking help from the Archaelogical Survey of India (ASI) in interpreting the embossing.

There has been no significant breakthrough yet, either in reading the carvings or in understanding why the menhirs are there.

The ministry’s notification declares the menhirs, as well as the ground on which they stand, the surrounding caves and forest as protected.

INTACH is hopeful that studies on the menhirs and the figures on them will shed more light on the history of the Mizos, much of which was never documented. The community followed an unwritten, oral tradition until a script was developed a little over a century ago.

Menhirs with similar images have also been found in parts of eastern Mizoram including at Chawngtlai village near Khawzawl town and, according to Mizo historian B Lalthangliana, in the Chin Hills of Myanmar.

-The Indian Express, 27th March 2014

The Earth Hour drive is losing its sparkle. A global campaign where lakhs of homes, shops and markets turn off lights, power connections for an hour is probably seeing fewer people participating now.

The declining trend is evident from the power savings data maintained by power utilities every Earth Hour. For instance, Delhi saved about 300 MW in 2010, but it came down to 250 MW in 2013. According to data with New Delhi Power Limited in North and North West Delhi, the power savings had almost halved since 2011 during Earth Hour.

Even though Earth Hour is a symbolic effort to create awareness about climate change and inspire energy conservation in everyday life, the data suggests that Delhites are losing interest in the drive. BSES has appealed to its customers to support the event and voluntarily switch off their non-essential electricity for an hour staring 8:30pm on Saturday. BRPL and BYPL have also committed to switch off all lights at their over 400 offices. Most five-star hotels try to engage with guests during the Earth Hour by serving candle light dinners. Hotels like Le Meridian are planning to turn off exterior signage, dim interior lighting, and use candlelights in restaurants and bars.

Traders agree that the campaign is losing steam. "There should be more reminders and events to keep people engaged. I will send a circular to traders in CP asking them to turn off lights. But we can not force them. A lot of people think that turning off lights will affect their business," said Atul Bhargava, president of New Delhi Traders Association.

World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), which organizes the Earth Hour in India in partnership with other organizations, is upbeat about participation in Delhi. "Delhi is at the heart of the movement in India. It has the highest participation and also switches off lights at iconic monuments. I don't think people are losing interest," said Rituparna Sengupta, communications head at WWF, adding they will launch a campaign in CBSE schools on Saturday to promote renewable energy.

WWF will also launch interesting mobile apps to promote energy conservation. "One of the apps we are launching will help the user find ways of reducing energy consumption. Other app will help them get information on renewable market places so that he is updated on the renewable energy products to buy," said Sengupta.

Last year, many monuments like India Gate, Qutab Minar, Humayun's Tomb, Red Fort and buildings had switched off lights. The first Earth Hour was observed in 2009 in 56 cities. In 2013, about 150 cities and 10 million people participate in India according to WWF.

-The Times of India, 28th March 2014

Australia is preparing to return two centuries-old statues to India, officials said on Thursday, following allegations they were stolen from ancient sites and sold as part of an audacious art fraud.

The National Gallery of Australia's bronze sculpture of a dancing Shiva, purchased in 2008 from New York art and antiquities dealer Subhash Kapoor, was pulled from display in Canberra on Monday.

A lesser work also linked to Kapoor, the Ardhanariswara idol held by the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, has also been removed, the Attorney-General's Department said in a statement.

India requested the works' return on Friday and Australia, as a signatory to a UNESCO convention on the illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property, will implement its obligations under its Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act, it said.

The request from India follows a decision by the National Gallery of Australia to sue Kapoor, his firm Art of the Past, and former manager Aaron Freedman in New York's Supreme Court over the purchase.

The NGA has claimed that Kapoor and his company "fraudulently induced" the Canberra-based gallery to buy the statue for US$5 million through forged certifications about its provenance and history.

Kapoor, who is in prison in India where he also faces charges, claimed the statue had been sold to him by the wife of a diplomat, the gallery said. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

-The Hindu, 28th March 2014

With nimble fingers and immense concentration, Neelima Vasudevan from Kerala, Hage Sonia from Arunachal Pradesh and Shubhobrata from West Bengal are unravelling antiquities from the all-important excavation site at Purana Quila.

It has been an extraordinary experience for them and 15 other final year students of the Institute of Archaeology, who have been visiting this ancient site from March 1 to put their textbook-acquired knowledge to practical use.

For the uninitiated it may seem all fun and games but the students have a different perspective.

For them working with a dedicated team of labourers at the excavation site, part of their two-year course, means that they have an important mandate from the Archaeological Survey of India to fulfil by this month end.

“On the first day I was clueless about how I would handle such a complex world because the ASI’s mandate was to locate the Mahabharata site,” said Neelima Vasudevan.

The students have till now excavated a series of potteries, coins and other artefacts which are of immense archaeological significance as they shed light into the history, cultural heritage of the bygone era and the economic wealth of that period. “As the ASI seeks to establish the existence of Indraprastha and show evidence of the Mahabharat period at the ongoing excavation site at Purana Qila, this excavation is not only a learning process but also an act of responsibility,” she said.

“So far, we have not been able to discover painted grey ware and our training is concluding on March 31. We have evidence of Mauryan artefacts in the area and till now, we have discovered pottery relating to the Kushan period.”

But Neelima and other students are confident that if they dig deeper they would certainly stumble upon painted grey ware and prove the existence of Indraprastha, the kingdom of the Pandavas.

Gleaming with delight, Hage Sonia, who was bid a tearful farewell by her family at Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh, said her discovery of 18 coins has given her the necessary confidence to pursue Archaeology as a career.

“Only a few students from Arunachal or the North East take up archaeology. The reason being that in our region there is demand for engineers and doctors. I know that every day spent here would help me when I become a professional archaeologist,” she adds.

-The Hindu, 28th March 2014

A 13th-century monument in the congested lanes of Mehrauli has attracted the attention of the Delhi high court. Protected by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Gandhak ki Baoli is an ancient stepwell dated to the reign of Sultan Iltutmish (1211-1236 AD). However, new construction around the monument is not only blocking its view but also endangering the structure.

Earlier this week, the high court pulled up the South Delhi Municipal Corporation and Delhi Police for rampant illegal construction around the baoli, one of ASI's prized protected monuments. Justice Manmohan was shocked to learn that unauthorized constructions have mushroomed in the area despite ASI's repeated requests to seal and demolish them. "Someone is pulling wool over our eyes. How can there be further unauthorized construction despite there being a sealing and demolition order?" Justice Manmohan said, summoning the local SHO and the municipal officer concerned for an explanation.

The amended ASI Act prohibits construction within 100m of a protected monument and restricts construction within 101-300 m. However, TOI found a lot of construction work in full swing. There's a half-built two-storey building adjoining the baoli. Across the road, a new floor is being built on a residential building. Further away, in the regulated zone, construction work is rampant. The monument itself is in a dismal condition. There's a garbage dump behind it amid a large number of jhuggis. There's new construction almost on top of the baoli's boundary wall. TOI found no guard at the site.

The HC lashed out at the civic agency, saying it should have taken "special care" to prevent unauthorized construction, more so when the court is monitoring the menace of illegal construction in that area. The court was taken aback by the pictures shown by petitioner Ashok Kumar Soni, who alleged that police and the corporation had refused to act even after he drew their attention to the problem.

The court had earlier directed ASI to take appropriate action on Soni's petition, and the authority had ordered the corporation to seal and demolish the unauthorized constructions.

"This is a massive construction. There are over 100 people here. You can't mobilize so many people overnight...this material must have come in trucks. What is the SHO of the area doing?" the court said, asking the SHO to file an affidavit. It warned the municipal engineer concerned, who was present in court: "If this is beyond your control, we will get another AE to do it" and directed him to be present again on July 7.

-The Times of India, 30th March 2014

In 1967, three artistes started collecting representative objects of tribal and rural life for a seminar in Mumbai. They were Bhupen Khakhar, Ghulam Mohammed Sheikh and Baroda-based photographer Jyoti Bhatt. As he framed the objects into images, Bhatt felt that finding the objects was not enough. “Placing them in their original locations, alongside people who make them was equally important,” he says. He also realised that a number of art and craft traditions in the remotest corners of India were quickly becoming extinct. “Forms of visual expressions that I had seen at several places before Independence did not even exist,” he says.

In an effort to preserve these art forms, Bhatt continued his travels to the interiors of Gujarat, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh for 25 years, seeking out dying art forms and photographing them. Accompanying Bhatt was his artist friend Bhupendra Karia. “We visited some places repeatedly to observe and record changes to those forms,” he says. Now, an exhibition at Institute of Contemporary Indian Art, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai, chronicles some of these efforts through 46 black-and-white photographs. “Jyoti Bhatt: Photographs from Rural India” will travel to Delhi in April after the Mumbai show ends on March 29.

One image shows women in Rajasthan creating white mandana designs on mud-caked walls and floors of their house. The art form is passed on from mother to daughter, and is never taught but learnt. Other photographs — of young girls at prayer in a school in Gujarat, or standing against a village wall in Orissa — also highlight the intricacy of the embroidery-like white work on the walls. Among the most striking images is the one showing two tribal women from Gujarat, carefully painting a man’s face for a local festival. In another, a woman from Rajawar, her whole body inked with elaborate designs, smiles at the camera.

-The Indian Express, 31st March 2014

With PM10 concentration, the Capital tops the pollution charts

Air pollution is known to cause shorter and sicker lives and Delhiites never seem to have had it so bad. The Capital has been listed as the worst performer across the country with respect to the presence of alarmingly high level of Particulate Matter up to 10 micrometer in size (PM10) concentration, thus exposing the residents here to a host of diseases including respiratory disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder and lung cancer.

A position paper (2014) on “Ambient Air Pollution and Public Health – A Call to Action” by non-government organisation Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) noted: “The worst performers with respect to PM10 were the Northern States including Delhi (highest PM10 concentration), Jharkhand (maximum sulphur dioxide level), West Bengal (highest nitrogen dioxide level).”

Giving details of the deteriorating air quality in the Capital, PHFI researcher Bhargav Krishna said: “Introduction of the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in early 2003 was the last major intervention to deal with poor air quality in the Capital. Since then the regulation and policy mechanism have been unable to keep up with the growth in vehicular population and construction activity in the city. These are the primary causes of poor air quality.”

“The poor air quality is affecting even children. For those born in the city sustained exposure to high levels of PM10 exposes them to high risk of contracting bronchitis and asthma in addition to reduced lung capacity/function,” said Mr. Krishna. Understanding the co-relation between poor air quality and diseases the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare recently took the first step towards tackling the issue. “The Ministry convened a steering committee on health issues relating to air pollution trying to take a multi-sectoral approach to addressing the problem. Sadly so far no work has happened on the committee for variety of reasons,” Mr. Krishna said.

Meanwhile according to a recent Environmental Performance Index study, India officially has the worst air pollution beating China, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. It ranks last on ambient air quality of all 170 plus countries surveyed.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Professor of Environmental Economics, Michael Greenstone speaking on ‘Shorter lives due to air pollution and some potential solutions for India’ at a lecture organised by PHFI earlier this week noted: “There is new evidence on people’s exposure to ambient concentrations of airborne Particulate Matter the most dangerous form of air pollution in India, China, and other countries. For much of India’s population, these concentrations greatly exceed India's National Ambient Air Quality Standards and levels that the World Health Organisation consider safe.”

-The Hindu, March 31, 2014 ASI seeks extra funds to finish ongoing projects in Delhi The Archaeological Survey of India has sought additional funds to the tune of Rs 3 crore from the ministry of culture to finish ongoing conservation and excavation projects.

According to officials, of the Rs 9.25 crore budget for FY 2013-14, ASI spent around Rs 3 crore only on power and water bills of protected monuments. A monument like Red Fort incurs an electricity bill of approximately Rs 8-10 lakh every month.

ASI is currently involved in a number of conservation projects at places like Qila Rai Pithora, Adilabad Fort and Safdarjung Enclave. The excavation project in Purana Qila began this January. "A major expense this financial year has been on power and water bills. The bill for Red Fort alone amounted to Rs 1.20 crore, of which we still have to pay BSES Yamuna Rs 50 lakh. Electricity bills of other protected monuments come out to be close to a crore. We pay DJB around Rs 1.30 crore per year for water," said an ASI official. The monument body is billed as a commercial consumer by power companies.

According to sources, with a large chunk of their annual budget being used up in paying power and water bills, ASI was not left with sufficient funds for conservation purposes. "We cannot line up new projects till the new financial year starts. To even finish ongoing projects, we need additional funds," said a source.

To cut power bills, ASI has installed solar panels at some sites like Jantar Mantar and Safdarjung's Tomb. At Jantar Mantar and Safdarjung Tomb, solar panels were installed following an initiative of ASI and the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE). This has allowed the monument body to save 20-30% on each bill.

The daytime load at all heritage sites includes indoor lighting, fans, ventilation, solar photovoltaic pumps for irrigation, information kiosks and supply at the ticketing counters. The night load includes LED-based flood lights and garden and outdoor lights.

Eleven more sites have been identified for installing solar panels. These include Purana Qila, Salimgarh Fort, Hauz Khas, Adilabad Fort, Kotla Feroz Shah, Ghiyasuddin's Tomb, Wazirpur Mosque, Children's Museum, Kashmere Gate, Sheesh Mahal and ASI's Conservation Centre. These sites are also to get a rainwater harvesting project.

-The Times of India, 31st March 2014