Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Som’s right: Foreigners built the Taj

Rediff.com:
How much do you know about Shah Jahan, Mumtaz Mahal and the Taj Mahal?
Setting off a controversy comes naturally to Sangeet Som, the Bharatiya Janata Party legislator from Sardhana, Uttar Pradesh.
On Monday, October 16, Som targeted the Taj Mahal, the 17th century monument which is the stellar attraction for tourists visiting India.
‘Is this history that the person who built the Taj Mahal imprisoned his father? Do you call it history when the one who built the Taj targeted many Hindus in Uttar Pradesh and Hindustan?’ Som thundered at a political rally.
‘The blots which are in our books, be it of Akbar, Aurangzeb, Babur… The government is working to remove them from history,’ Som added.
After a predictable controversy erupted, Som clarified: ‘I don’t oppose the Taj Mahal. It’s a beautiful heritage. I oppose the Mughals who built it and how they’ve been portrayed in history.’
But what is the truth about the Taj Mahal?
Who built it?
What was Shah Jahan like as an emperor? Did he really jail his father, as Som says?
Rediff.com‘s Syed Firdaus Ashraf revisits an era from India’s history to locate the truth.
So, who was Shah Jahan?
Shah Jahan was Mughal emperor Jehangir’s son and Akbar’s grandson.
He was born on January 15, 1592 in Lahore to the Rajput princess Jagat Gossain, also called Jodh Bai, whose father was Uday Singh Rathor of Marwar.
On the sixth day of his birth, the child was named Khurram (Joyous) by Akbar, and was handed over to Ruqaiya Begum — Akbar’s childless wife — who became his foster mother when the little prince was four years, four months and four days old.
When did he marry Mumtaz Mahal?
In 1607, when Shah Jahan was 16, he married Arjumand Banu Begum aka Mumtaz Mahal.
Mumtaz was a Persian, like Hamida Banu Begum, one of Akbar’s wives, and Nur Jahan, Jehangir’s best-known wife.
Was Mumtaz Mahal his only wife?
No. Shah Jahan had two other wives. However, their children did not survive. Only Mumtaz Mahal gave him an heir.
Seven of the royal couple’s children survived, four boys and three girls: Jahanara Begum, Dara Shikoh, Shah Shuja, Raushanara Begum, Aurangzeb, Murad Bakhsh and Goharara Begum.
When did he become emperor?
On February 6, 1628, Shah Jahan was crowned emperor. He ruled till 1658.
Gold and silver were given away to charity during his coronation.
Mumtaz Mahal was presented with 2 lakh ashrafis. Her annual allowance was 1 million rupees.
Did he imprison his father Jehangir, as Sangeet Som claims?
Shah Jahan went to war against Jehangir, was defeated and was imprisoned.
Jehangir later took pity on his son and released him from prison.
After Jehangir’s death his wife Nur Jahan passed on the baton briefly to Jehangir’s other son, Shahryar, and not Shah Jahan.
Shah Jahan took Shahryar on in battle and killed him. He also killed his other brothers, Dawar Bakhsh and Garshasp.
Shah Jahan took ill in 1657 and shortly thereafter declared his eldest son, Dara Shikoh, as his successor.
This was contested by his other sons and a battle broke out with the emperor too unwell to prevent it.
At the end of the bloody campaign, Aurangzeb triumphed. His brothers were dead.
After he declared himself emperor, Aurangzeb kept Shah Jahan under house arrest till his father’s death in 1666.
In what language did Shah Jahan conduct court business?
Shah Jahan conducted his business in Persian. He was the first Mughal emperor who did not learn Turkish like his predecessors had done.
Unlike his father Jehangir and grandfather Akbar, Shah Jahan did not encourage a biography to be written about him.
When did Mumtaz Mahal die?
Mumtaz Mahal died on June 17, 1631 while giving birth to her 14th child, Goharara Begum.
Devastated by his wife’s death, the emperor withdrew from public life for a week.
‘Nobody’s face can delight me now,’ Shah Jahan is reported to have said.
Was Mumtaz Mahal buried in Agra where the Taj Mahal is situated?
No. Mumtaz Mahal was buried at Burhanpur on the banks of the Tapti river.
Six months later, her body was exhumed and she was re-interred on January 8, 1632, on the banks of the Yamuna where the Taj Mahal was built.
Initially, Shah Jahan called her tomb the Rauza-i-Munavvara (the illumined tomb).
It was later called Mumtaz Mahal, then the Taj Mahal.
Is the Taj Mahal the only monument Shah Jahan built?
The emperor built the Jama Masjid in Delhi, commissioned the Peacock Throne, the most opulent throne of its time.
The Red Fort of Delhi, the Pearl mosque in Agra, the Tatta mosque in Sind, the Shalimar Bagh in Lahore were all built in his time.
Who was the architect of the Taj Mahal?
37 creative minds worked on the design on the Taj Mahal.
20,000 labourers toiled day and night from 1631 to 1654.
Ustad Isa — a Turk who either came from Constantinople (today’s Istanbul) or from Shiraz or Isfahan in Persia — is usually credited as the Taj’s architect.
Some say the actual architect was a Persian named Ahmed. Again, there is no proof of this.
So, yes, Sangeet Som is right — the men behind the Taj’s design were foreigners.
And what about the other artisans involved?
From Turkey came Ismail Afandi, a designer of hemispheres and a builder of domes.
To oversee the finances and the daily supervision of work on the site, the emperor chose Abdul Kari and Mukarrimat Khan, seasoned administrators from Shiraz, Persia.
Master calligrapher Amanat Khan — whose name is located at the base of the Taj’s interior dome near the lines from the Quran — was also a native of Shiraz.
The lines, by the way, read, ‘Written by the insignificant being, Amanat Khan Shirazi.’
Was any Hindu involved in the Taj’s construction or design?
Chiranji Lal, a resident of Delhi, was chosen for his ability to cut gems. He was the Taj’s chief mosaicist, the man who created the mosaic for the monument.
Was Shah Jahan cruel towards Hindus?
Though he did not impose jiziya on the Hindus — the practice was abolished by Akbar — Shah Jahan, an orthodox Sunni Muslim, was harsh towards Hindus.
Did Shah Jahan demolish Hindu temples?
According to Abraham Eraly’s book, Emperors of the Peacock Throne, ’76 temples were destroyed in Benares and so were many churches in Agra.’
‘Shah Jahan also prohibited Muslims from changing their religion but encouraged conversions to Islam by offering stipends and other favours to converts,’ Eraly writes.
Early quotes Abdul Hamid Lahori, who wrote Padshanama during Shah Jahan’s time and notes, ‘Shah Jahan also issued an order that if a Hindu had a Muslim wife he could keep her only if he became a Muslim, otherwise he was to be fined and his wife separated.’
‘He also directed that Hindus should keep to their own style of dress, tying their tunics on the left, unlike Muslims, who tied it on the right. Further Hindus were asked to discontinue practices which were offensive to Islam, such as the sale of alcohol, the cremation of the dead of the performance of sati near a Muslim cemetery.’
‘He only mellowed down in final years of his reign and that too under the influence of his son, Dara Shikoh, and he presented a stone railing to the great temple built in Mathura by Bir Singh.’
Has anyone wanted to demolish the Taj Mahal?
Lord William Bentinck, a governor general of India, planned to demolish the Taj Mahal and remove its marble.
According to David Carroll in the book The Taj Mahal, ‘Bentick intended to ship to London the broken up marble pieces of the Taj Mahal to British aristocrats.’
Why didn’t he do it?
Before demolishing the Taj, Bentinck had stripped the marble on the Red Fort and shipped it to England; part of the shipment included pieces of marble for King George IV.
Luckily for India, when the marble from the Red Fort was auctioned in London, the auction was an utter failure.
News of this financial disaster traveled from England to Agra just as Bentinck’s men were lurking around in the gardens around the Taj.
Bentinck abandoned his plan as unlucrative and the Taj lived on, enthralling millions of awestruck visitors over the past century and a half.
How did the Taj get its glory back?
Gratitude is due to the unlikely persona of George Nathaniel Curzon, viceroy of India from 1899 to 1905.
Much pilloried for partioning Bengal before he left India in 1905, the famously pompous Curzon (‘My name is George Nathaniel Curzon,’ went a Balliol rhyme of that time,’I am a most superior person/My cheeks are pink, my hair is sleek/I dine at Blenheim twice a week)’ adored the Taj and had it restored to what we see today.
The viceroy ordered that the Taj’s dingy marble walls be polished till they glistened.
The stone channels were dug out, flower beds and avenues of trees were replanted, water from the Yamuna was circulated through the fountains.
In Curzon’s words: ‘No longer approached through dust wastes and squalid bazaars. A beautiful park takes their place; and the group of mosques and tombs, the arcaded streets and the grassy courts that precede the main buildings, are once more as nearly as possible what they were when completed by the masons of Shah Jahan.’
‘Every building in the garden enclosure of the Taj has been scrupulously repaired and the discovery of old plans has enabled us to restore the water channels and flower beds in the garden more exactly to their original state.’
Photograph: Reuters
Syed Firdaus Ashraf / Rediff.com

adidas returns with Uprising 3.0


~Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Nikhat Zareen, Saiyami Kher & Anusha Dandekar come together to encourage India to step out to play their favourite sport ~

Multiple sporting events planned over 47venues in three cities across India~

~ adidas Uprising 3.0 to include a sport for differently abled participants~
Mumbai, India (16 October, 2017)
Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Nikhat Zareen, Saiyami Kher and Anusha Dandekar today announced the launch of the third edition of adidas Uprising 3.0 – a unique initiative by adidas to inspire sports enthusiasts in India to exercise the birthright to take to sport, not just as a spectator but as a player.adidas Uprising 3.0 will kick off in Mumbai followed by Bangalore and New Delhi. In the third edition, adidas is also introducing Bocce, agame with skill and strategy, inviting athletes with special needs to compete. The first two editions of adidas Uprising saw over 75,000participants step up to play their favourite sports.

adidas Uprising is a promise, a plegde, a journey, an endeavour to inspire and motivate people to take to sport and never stop. It is aimed at igniting and fuelling a revolution to awaken people to the spirit of competition, bring out the champion within us&experience the joy of victory.

Speaking on adidas Uprising 3.0, Sean Van Wyk, Senior Marketing Director, adidas India said, “With the Uprising, we want to give people the opportunity to celebrate the spirit of sports. We aim to get people to rise up and realise that the real joy of sports is on the field and not on the television screen! Our aim is to create the right environment for people to embrace sport and to make it a regular part of their lives. This year, we bring forth our philosophy of “No Athlete Left Behind”, by including a sport for differently abled athletes.”

This year adidas invites residents of Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR to participate, compete and enjoy their passion for different sports across various venues in their city. Over the weekend at a venue near by, one can play Cricket, Tennis, Badminton, Football, Basketball, Table Tennis, Running, Zumba and Bocce.

adidas Uprising 3.0 will host sporting events across three cities on the dates given below:

November 4-5, 2017
Mumbai
November 18-19, 2017
Bengaluru
December 2-3, 2017
Delhi NCR




Join the Uprising
Taking part is simple. Log on to: http://adidasuprising.co.in/toselect the city, pick the sport you want to play, find the event, or competition, being held closest to you, and register.

GO-GO-GOLMAAL Again this Diwali because it is bigger and better this time!

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 Golmal again directed and co-produced by Rohit Shetty stars Ajay Devgn, Parineeti Chopra, Tabu, Arshad Warsi, Tusshar Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade, Kunal Khemu, Prakash Raj and Niel Nitin Mukesh. Golmaal Again is the fourth installment of the   Golmaal film franchise and marks Devgn’s tenth film collaboration with Rohit Shetty.  Recently the whole star-cast did the media interactions in Le Meridien, Delhi.
Parineeti on being asked about her experience said, “It felt amazing it was like entering a new gang but they were so friendly and we enjoyed a lot working together. I was very nervous first day but it didn’t take long to gel up with them.” Ajay on being asked about the uniqueness of the film said, “Rohit has worked for 3.5 years on this script and the situations of comedy changes with changing script and there is no situation in this film that is similar to previous films. It has a totally different genre and is unique in its own way as it a horror comedy.”
Tushar on being asked about the importance of the film said, “I can’t express it really because Golmaal 1 was a big film for me and the franchise has been proved as a turning point in my film as I am known because of the Golmaal series and it has proved to be a milestone in my career.” Tabu on being asked about the difficulty in doing a comedy role said, “It depends on how you personally feel about it. But it comes naturally once you are on the set and depends upon the synergy with the co-actors. Moreover, my role was the easiest as I didn’t play the comic part and it was great to watch them do what they do it best.”
Kunal on the experience during the film said, “It’s been amazing to be the part of the franchise but every character stands out in this film with their own importance because every role is equally essential so you don’t have any tension regarding how your character will look. All you need to do is just enjoy and bring life to the well written scenes and lines.” Shreyas on the same said, “On the sets of Golmaal we get the chance to be a kid again because we know that all are friends and no one will judge and can freely work. Because there are very few people from the industry with who you can work with that carefree attitude and the cast of Golmaal comes under that category.” Even Arshad looked super excited for the film.
Golmaal Again is yet another fun filled ride about two gangs who are unable to stand each other since their childhood and how they repulse each other even after they grow up. It is yet another hilarious adventure with its fair share of thrills that are sure to surprise the audience and fill their hearts with laughter and joy. It is a film that will surely make everyone laugh, cry and realize the importance of how beautiful life is.
The movie is slated to hit the screens on 20 October 2017.

Madrid HC: NBW to Jordi Sanchez,Jordi Cuixart,

Spanish court in its  ordered the detention of two key members of the Catalan independence movement as the rift between central government and separatist campaigners widens.
Leaders of two key Catalan separatist groups allegedly obstructed police investigations into this month’s referendum on Catalonia’s independence from Spain.
The referendum took place in the northeastern region on October 1st despite a suspension order from Spain’s Constitutional Court. Catalan authorities say voters overwhelmingly supported secession.
Madrid’s High Court ordered on Monday the detention without bail of Jordi Sanchez, head of the Catalan National Assembly, and Omnium leader Jordi Cuixart, while under investigation for alleged sedition.
Spanish authorities are investigating the roles of the 2 men in organizing pro-independence protests in Barcelona last month. Reuters says police officers investigating the referendum were trapped inside a Catalan regional government building during the protest.
Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont expressed his opposition to the detentions, tweeting that Spain jails Catalonia’s civil society leaders for organizing peaceful demonstrations.
Last week, Puigdemont delayed a formal declaration of independence and sought talks with Spain. The Spanish government ruled out such talks and gave Puigdemont until Thursday to back down.

Two car bombs in SW Afghanistan

A suicide and gun attack on a police training centre in southeast Afghanistan on Tuesday has killed at least 15 people and wounded more than 40, a hospital official said.
The victims include “women, students and police”, Hedayatullah Hamidi, public health director in Gardez, the capital of Paktia province, told AFP.
The Taliban claimed responsibility in a tweet for the attack at the centre in Gardiz, capital of Paktia province, which borders Pakistan.
“At first a suicide bomber detonated a car filled with explosives near the training centre, making way for a number of attackers to start their assault”, the interior ministry said in a statement.
A battle between the attackers, armed with guns and suicide vests, and security forces was under way inside the centre which is located near the Paktia police headquarters, according to the interior ministry statement.
A local official said two car bombs blew up near the compound that also houses the provincial headquarters of the national police, border police and Afghan National Army.
“A group of gunmen have entered the compound and fighting is ongoing,” Allah Mir Bahram, a member of the Paktia provincial council, told media

Ophelia, the largest hurricane hit Ireland to hit UK next

Britain’s Met Office issued amber severe weather warnings for Northern Ireland, Wales, and southern Scotland, saying power cuts, transport disruption, flying debris and large waves were likely.
“This leads to the potential for injuries and danger to life,” the national weather service said.
The fringes of the storm turned the hitherto sunny afternoon skies over London a murky shade of brown-orange, due to the southerly warm winds bringing dust from the Sahara Desert.
Ireland was hit by an “unprecedented storm” on Monday that left three people dead, more than 300,000 customers without power and shut down schools and government offices.
A police spokesman said one woman in her 50s was killed outside the village of Aglish, near the south coast, by a tree falling on her car. A female passenger in her 70s suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
One man died in an accident while he was clearing a fallen tree with a chainsaw near the town of Cahir, about 35 kilometres further inland.
And a second man was killed on the roads by a falling tree north of Dundalk in the northeast, close to the border with Northern Ireland, police said in a statement.
Ophelia, the largest hurricane ever recorded so far east in the Atlantic Ocean and the furthest north since 1939, was downgraded to a storm before it hit the Irish coast but nonetheless wrought havoc.
“It will bring further violent and destructive winds for a time,” Met Eireann, the Irish National Meteorological Service, said.
Flooding was also expected “due to either heavy thundery downpours or storm surges in coastal areas,” the service said after issuing a red alert for the whole country.
Winds reached 191 kilometres per hour at Fastnet Rock, Ireland’s southernmost point, while the strongest winds recorded onshore were 156 kph at the entrance to Cork Harbour in the southwest.
Seventeen millimetres of rain fell at Valentia on the southwest coast, including nine millimetres in one hour.
The Electricity Supply Board said 360,000 customers were without power, due to more than 3,200 individual faults on the network.
“All customers impacted by outages should prepare to be without electricity for a number of days,” it said. “Five to 10 percent of this number will be without power for up to 10 days.”
Dublin Airport scrapped 180 flights while Cork Airport cancelled most flights in what it said was the worst storm seen in its 56-year history. Meanwhile several services to and from Shannon, the third-biggest airport, were also grounded.
“Stay indoors wherever you are until the storm has passed,” Prime Minister Leo Varadkar told reporters.
“I don’t want anyone to think that this is anything other than a national emergency and a red alert.”
The Department of Education closed all schools, colleges and other educational institutions on Monday due to the “unprecedented storm”, with minister Richard Burton saying schools would remain closed on Tuesday.
Government offices were also shut. Ireland’s top football team Cork City were hit when their stadium roof collapsed, the day before they hoped to seal the league title at their Turners Cross ground.
The eye of the storm is forecast to track across Northern Ireland and then Scotland.Though it will weaken as it goes, gusts are expected to reach 80 mph in the UK.

U.S. and DPRK no nuclear war

North Korea’s deputy UN ambassador has warned the UN General Assembly that the crisis on the Korean Peninsula “has reached the touch-and-go point and a nuclear war may break out any moment.”
Kim In-ryong said North Korea is the only country in the world subjected to “such an extreme and direct nuclear threat” by the US, AP reports.
He accused Washington of hatching a “secret operation aimed at the removal of our supreme leadership” and defended his country’s nuclear arsenal, at the heart of the crisis, as being for self-defense.
Speaking to the UN General Assembly’s disarmament committee, he insisted that nukes are Pyongyang’s “precious strategic asset that cannot be reversed or bartered for anything,” a line that other North Korean officials have voiced almost word-for-word before.
North Korea has been enhanced both its technical capabilities and its anti-American rhetoric and is not going to have any iota of negotiations with US.
KNCA website, The Trump administration of the U.S. is reported to mull introducing smaller tactical nuclear weapons in a bid to destroy the nuclear facilities of the DPRK.
What matters is that such scheme is under consideration when the U.S. is going to stage a high-intensity joint drill in the East Sea of Korea with mobilization of a strike group involving nuclear carrier Ronald Reagan, Aegis destroyer, missile cruiser and Ohio-class strategic nuclear submarine carrying nuclear missiles.
This sheds light on the sinister scenario to provoke a nuclear war by all means so as to totally destroy the DPRK and exterminate the population of the north.
Now, the Korean Peninsula is on the threshold of a nuclear disaster and no one knows at what time a thermonuclear war will break out.
The Trump group should think twice about what terrible consequences the U.S. will face due to its scheme for a nuclear attack on the DPRK.
The status of force between the DPRK and U.S. at present is fundamentally different from what was in the past Korean War in the 1950s.
The U.S. reckless military gambling against the DPRK may lead to its total destruction.As the U.S. denies even the existence of the DPRK and tries to topple it by force, the latter’s counteractions will be inevitable.
The DPRK is ready to counter the war of aggression with a war of justice and cope with the enemy’s dagger with a sword and his rifle with an artillery piece. It is the invariable stand of the Korean army and people and their permanent mode of counteraction.
Despite intensifying gestures and remarks between the US, North Korea and the countries’ leaders, US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan told reporters on Tuesday, “We eventually don’t rule out the possibility of direct talks,” media reported. Sullivan had just wrapped up a meeting in Tokyo with Japanese Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Shinsuke Sugiyama.
US diplomat will travel next to Seoul where he will also visit the demilitarized zone, or DMZ, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.
US President Donald Trump’s first trip to South Korea is scheduled for next month, when he will meet with President Moon Jae-in. Diplomatic channels an imperative to get  the countries to resorts to deliberations, talks, to avoid any nuke blasts exchange in any manner.

Putin to meet Frank Walter Steinmeier

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov invited the President of Germany’sSteinmeier to visit Russia, while addressing at the opening of the 14th Conference of the partner cities of Russia and Germany. Minister said, that Russia will invariably build relations with Germany on the basis of mutual interests and equality. As per Lavrov, history shows that a departure from these principles seriously damages “both our countries and the progressive development of the European continent as a whole.”
He further added, Lavrov added that Moscow is open to cooperation with international partners to strengthen European security.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov invited FRG President Frank Walter Steinmeier to visit Russia, RIA Novosti reported .
He said this, speaking at the opening of the 14th Conference of the partner cities of Russia and Germany.
“We will be happy to welcome the President of the FRG, Mr. Frank Walter Steinmeier, to Russia. He has an appropriate invitation, “Lavrov said.
On October 25, Vladimir Putin will meet with Federal President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who will be in Moscow on a working visit at the invitation of the Russian President.

US:Venezuelan elections,neither free nor fair


Nicolas Maduro’s government has won a majority of governorship in Venezuela’s regional election on Sunday. Electoral board president Tibisay Lucena said the ruling Socialist Party took 17 governorship, versus five for the opposition Democratic Unity coalition.
But the Washington refuses to recognize the outcome of Venezuela’s gubernatorial elections, accusing the of President Nicolas Maduro of acting like an “authoritarian dictatorship.”
“We condemn the lack of free and fair elections yesterday in Venezuela. The voice of the Venezuelan people was not heard,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement on Monday, adding that the US will “bring the full weight of American economic and diplomatic power to bear in support of the Venezuelan people as they seek to restore their democracy.”
Though the opposition expected to win the Sunday vote, the government swept 17 out of 23 state governorships.

THE WORLD FOOD INDIA 2017

No Participation Fee however pre-registration is must
TO PARTICIPATE AT THE WORLD FOOD INDIA 2017
A gateway to the Indian food economy and an opportunity to showcase, connect, and collaborate

Dear Sir / Madam,

INVITATION TO ATTEND BUSINESS CONFERENCES
AT
WORLD FOOD INDIA
3-5 November 2017 : New Delhi

We are pleased to inform you that Ministry of Food Processing and Industries, Government of India jointly with Confederation of Indian (CII) is organizing ‘World Food India’ from 3-5 November 2017 at New Delhi.

Shri Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India has kindly consented to be the Chief Guest and Inaugurate the World Food India on 3rd November.

World Food India is an International Event comprising series of Sectoral Conferences along with Exhibition and vibrant Food Street. The Exhibition will have a large component of Digital and Multimedia display where Food Street would be showcasing the Indian Cuisines and Ingredients amenable for processing and exports. It will also provide a platform to Foreign Cuisines to be tasted on the Indian palate before they could be manufactured in India.

Key Highlights of World Food India:

40,000
sq. mt. Exhibition Space
3Days Event9Sectoral Conferences2000+Participants400+Exhibitors20+Countries Participating26Indian States Participating50+Global CEOs Participants

We are writing to cordially invite you and your colleagues to attend the Business Conferences at the World Food India from 3-5 November 2017 as per your interest.

May we kindly request you to Register to attend the Business Conferences by using the link https://www.worldfoodindia.in/conference#regconferences

All Business Conferences of World Food India are being organised at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi while the Exhibition will be held at C-Hexagon, India Gate, New Delhi.

For any query related to Business Conferences at the World Food India, your office may contact Ms Anjali Chauhan at anjali.chauhan@cii.in

Below for your reference is also an e-flyer giving details about Business Conferences at World Food India. For more details about World Food India, please visit www.worldfoodindia.in

We look forward to receiving your confirmation.

Regards,

Conference Team – World Food India
New Delhi
T: +91-11-49816411 / 49816423 / 49816418 / 49816414 / 49816421

CSE, WRI LATE, Incompetent Response – DMRC Fare Increase

CSE, WRI LATE, Incompetent Response – DMRC Fare Increase
October16, 2017 (C) Ravinder Singh progressindia2015@gmail.com
CSE & WRI NGOs are pack of Extreme Dullards – it was horrendous of them to report average DMRC Commute is 15.7 km when 99% of times I don’t go beyond 10 km.

NGOs led by Incompetent Sunita Narayan made MEGA Blunders in this DELAYED & CORRUPTED study i.e. 51% Cycle Rickshaws at Metros. I had last week reported –

[For same population & income levels Delhi Has FOUR TIMES More Vehicles than Mumbai, Burn 4 Times More Imported PETROLEUM Emitting 4 Times More GHG.

Public Transport for Local Area up to 8 km should be Cheaper to Attract Local Population – DMRC Fare Rs.30 for 5-12 km is Lunatic. For 1-5 km Running Cost of 2-Wheeler is Rs.10, small Cars Rs.20 for DMRC Slab.]

1.   Average Commute by Delhi resident ought to be the BASE of the study. Average
commute could be just 1-5 kilometer. [Schools, Shops & Grocery Stores, Public Offices, Food Outlets, Clubs-Playground, Theaters etc]

2.   SUSTRANS reported India spend Rs.960 Cr MORE/Day [Rs.3,50,000 Cr Per
Year] on Fuels Due to Bad Roads & Slow Traffic. But didn’t report 1,50,000 Deaths, 0.5m Major Accidents, 9-10m Minor accidents, GDP loss of 8%, Life Lost in Commuting, and Delhi Automobiles Contaminating air.

3.   It reported SUV Fuel consumption on Expressway is 40gm/km, Congested
Expressway 95gm/km, Highway 137gm/km.

4.   SUSTRANS didn’t report Roadway Buses consume just 4 gm/P/Km. DTC
Marcopolo Buses – 10gm of CNG per km in city conditions.

5.    Delhi need well designed Electric Vehicles like in THAILAND which are open
from Three Sides carry 6-10 Passengers for sub 2 km commute.

6.   DMRC Parking should be used for Parking-Charging of Electric Vehicles.

7.   DMRC PARTIALLY serve DELHI POPULATION – Fare for 0-2 km commute is
Rs.10 when Mumbai Suburban fare Rs.5 for 60 km for monthly pass.

8.   PUBLIC SERVICES ARE POPULAR WHEN STARTING SLAB IS SUBSIDISED
BASED ON AFFORDABILITY – like Mumbai Locals, Electricity, Water, PDS FOODS, TAXES etc. A Person Traveling from Rajiv Chowk to HUDA Center could pay Rs.50 than Rs.30, but DMRC charging Rs.20 for 4 km is LUNATIC.

9.   SUSTRANS didn’t recommend – Shift in Commute Profile – Admitting
Children to Local Schools, Evenly Distribute Call Centers, Wholesale Markets through NCR, Abolish Rent Laws for Quick relocation.
Ravinder Singh, Inventor & Consultant, INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES AND PROJECTS
Y-77, Hauz Khas, ND -110016, India. Ph: 091- 8826415770 [4G]9871056471, 9718280435,
Ravinder Singh* is a WIPO awarded inventor specializing in Power, Transportation,
Smart Cities, Water, Energy Saving, Agriculture, Manufacturing, Technologies and Projects

The Milk Crises in India: The Story Behind the Numbers 

This past two years has witnessed farmers across India demonstrating for their livelihoods: a hike in milk procurement prices has featured as a key demand. Their demand reflects  a grave crisis underway in the Indian milk market , which is threatening to undermine the multifunctional role of livestock and the way of life of entire communities. 

Small and marginal farmers, the backbone of the Indian milk market, have been hardest hit by a price war waged by dairy processors (companies), beginning January 2015. Faced with mounting stocks of unexportable milk powder, brought on by a slump in global milk powder prices, some of the big domestic dairy players began to flood the domestic market with cheaply priced milk for  consumers. At the same time they were lowering the prices at which they were procuring milk from  farmers. This was severely affecting small farmers and has also impacted the peoples’ milk market, commonly referred to as the “informal” or “unorganised” milk market. 

Building on research in the Indian States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the Food Sovereignty Alliance (FSA) shows how this crisis extends well beyond the small farmers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh State in South India. It affects  small farmers nationally as well as globally. This book tells the story of how global trends including the onging threats of multilateral trade agreements such as the EU-India Free Trade Agreement and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Pact (RCEP)are driving countless small dairy farmers into debt and ultimately out of farming. It calls for a solution, based on nurturing the resilience of the small, localised networks of milk producers, cooperatives and consumers. 

The authors provide clear evidence that the only hope for the future lies in localised peoples’ milk markets based on agro-ecological livestock cultures: cultures where livestock are reared, not as machines to produce single commodities, but as sentient beings playing a multifaceted role in food farming production systems.

This report authored by the Dairy Working Group of the Food Sovereignty Alliance, will be of interest to farmers’ movements, Dairy Cooperatives, Students, Researchers, Policy framers and anybody who is interested in understanding what it takes to bring them their daily glass of milk! 

The Dairy Working Group, Food Sovereignty Alliance, India
Adinarayana N, Apparao.S, Charanya R, Murugamma V, Dr. Radha Gopalan, Dr. Sagari R Ramdas, Srikrupa R, and Yadgiri G. 

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