Hermann Gundert Award presented
K. Jayakumar, former Chief Secretary and former Vice-Chancellor of Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University, said German missionary and linguist Hermann Gundert did not reject local beliefs, but rather explained the scientific principles behind them.
Speaking about Gundert's social contributions at a seminar organised by the Hermann Gundert Educational Foundation at the Chavara Cultural Centre in Kozhikode on Friday (June 13, 2025), Mr. Jayakumar said the linguist had been a bridge between Eastern and Western knowledge systems. 'Be like Gundert; be intellectually free; be curious,' he added.
Mr. Jayakumar also presented the Hermann Gundert Award, instituted by the foundation, to writer Vallikavu Mohandas for his book Missionaries' Kerala (Missionarykalude Keralam). The foundation's vice-chairman Chacko Kalamparambil presided over the session.
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Time of India
10 hours ago
- Time of India
Father's Day 2025 date in US, wishes, quotes, messages, WhatsApp status and Instagram captions
Father's Day 2025 date in USA: In 2025, Father's Day in the United States will be celebrated on Sunday, 15 June. Unlike holidays with a fixed date, Father's Day in the US always falls on the third Sunday of June. This tradition is followed by many countries around the world, including India and the UK. The idea behind choosing the third Sunday in June was simply to mirror the success of Mother's Day, which is celebrated in May. There's no specific event linked to the date—it's a heartfelt occasion created to honour the love, support, and guidance that fathers provide. Why is Father's Day celebrated? While many consider Father's Day to be a Western tradition, it has grown into a global celebration of fatherhood, love, and parental bonds. Whether it's a dad, grandfather, uncle, stepfather, or someone who plays a father figure role, this day is a perfect chance to say thank you. From teaching life's first lessons like riding a bike to silently standing behind us during hard times, a father's support is often quiet, yet incredibly powerful. Father's Day gives us the chance to pause, reflect, and show gratitude for everything our dads have done for us. Heartwarming Father's Day 2025 Wishes and Messages If you're looking for the perfect words to share this Father's Day, here are some touching messages and wishes you can use for WhatsApp, Instagram, or a handwritten card: Happy Father's Day to the man who taught me to be strong and kind. Dad, you're my superhero without a cape. Happy Father's Day! You've always had my back, Dad. I'm forever grateful. You were always my anchor in stormy seas. Thanks for being my safe haven, dear Dad. Happy Father's day! Thank you for being my strength and support. Happy Father's Day! Dad, you are my superhero without a cape. Happy Father's Day! Thank you for being my guiding light. Love you always. 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Whether you're sharing these wishes on social media or writing them in a card, they're sure to bring a smile to your dad's face. Best Father's Day Quotes for Instagram Captions If you want a powerful or emotional caption to go with a picture of your dad, these Father's Day quotes are perfect for your Instagram post or status: 'Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad." —Wade Boggs 'There's no pillow quite so soft as a father's strong shoulder.' — Richard L. Evans 'Fatherhood is not a matter of station or wealth. 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Hindustan Times
10 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
A gift of spices: New details are emerging of Indian WW1 troops amid the Christmas Truce of 1914
On December 24, 1914, amid the bloodshed and chaos of the Great War, peace unexpectedly broke out along the Western Front. Spontaneously and without official sanction, troops on both sides observed a series of ceasefires, setting aside their weapons and exchanging gifts and souvenirs in no man's land. Joint burials and unsanctioned prisoner swaps were carried out. There was carolling, and even some impromptu football. The spontaneous reaching out was named the Christmas Truce and celebrated in newspaper reports of the time as a sign of our enduring humanity. It would not be repeated, as the war tore on, but it would become one of the most storied events of World War 1. Now, new evidence is uncovering how that great force within the Allied forces — the mass of Indian soldiers — participated in the truce too. The key piece of evidence has turned out to be spice tins handed out to Indians on the front, as part of Princess Mary's Christmas Gift initiative, found later in the possession of German soldiers. Some of this tale was retold in an exhibition held at the Great War Huts Museum in Suffolk, England, where one such tin was also placed on display. We know these tins were from Indian soldiers fighting in the British army because of their contents. Most British troops received a Christmas box that contained cigarettes, a pipe, other smoking supplies and a signed card. The boxes made up for Indians avoided most of these items, since smoking is taboo among several communities. Instead, these boxes held candy, cigarettes (except for the Sikh troops), a signed card, and, rather ironically, spices. (In a greater irony, while the soldiers did receive the boxes, it is worth mentioning that they received little else. There was little recognition of their service during the war, or in the decades that followed. Indians were also steadily discriminated against while they served, in a trend that would continue through World War 2.) Back to the Christmas Truce, 'it is fascinating because it reflects a sense of humanity in the depth of this really horrific time,' says Peter Doyle, a military historian with Goldsmiths, University of London, who curated the exhibition in Suffolk. 'To have Indian troops also take part in the truce has huge implications. We have evidence of these men from different continents, German and Indian, in no man's land, sharing experiences, and sharing whatever they had.' The Tata connection The story of how the boxes came about has become a bit of history in itself. A total of 2.5 million were dispatched (incidentally, about 5 million British soldiers went into battle, across the four years). It took immense fundraising and organisation to make the gift a reality, particularly in the midst of the war, Doyle says. He traces some of that effort in his 2021 book, For Every Sailor Afloat, Every Soldier at the Front. The effort began with a letter from the then-17-year-old princess published across Britain's major newspapers, announcing her intention to send a Christmas present 'from the whole nation to every sailor afloat and every soldier at the front'. As donations poured in, a high-ranking committee was set up, to decide on the nature of the gift, and, with trademark British efficiency, dispatch enough that no soldier was left wanting. There was reportedly plenty of deliberation on what to give the Indian men. At one point, records show that the Parsi industrialist and philanthropist Ratanji Tata (1871-1918; son of Tata Industries founder Jamsetji Tata) was consulted. A quiet retelling Determined to learn more about this story within the story, Doyle began digging into the history of the Indian soldiers' Christmas exchange. He knew, for instance, that the 39th Garhwal Rifles was stationed in Givenchy, France, in December 1914, and wondered whether there was any further evidence lurking there. He approached a friend, the German historian Robin Schafer, who dug into archives in Germany and found references in newspapers of the time that confirmed what Doyle had suspected. 'The Garhwal Rifles met in no man's land with members of Germany's 16th Westphalian regiment and exchanged gifts,' he says. 'It was recorded in German newspapers at the time that one of the things exchanged was a shiny tin full of Indian spices.' It is strange to think of the young Garhwals, feared for their skill in battle, stepping across to extend a hand in peace, on a festival not even their own. 'There was a general sense of respect and fear that went with meeting Indian soldiers,' says Doyle. 'So the opportunity to do that in no man's land and see what they were like, see the warmth of engagement during that truce, must have been something spectacular.' Doyle says he hopes this discovery will add to the growing discourse and serve as a further reminder of the 'intense engagement' of Indian troops on the Western Front. Records indicate that over 74,000 Indians died in battle during World War 1. In all, undivided India sent over 1 million troops to fight in the war.
Time of India
16 hours ago
- Time of India
Who pays the price?
When the MSC ELSA-3 sank off the Kerala coast, identifying a clear line of liability or even a coherent chain of operational command proved almost impossible. The flag state, Liberia, refused to participate in the investigation. The Classification Society that had certified the ship as seaworthy only months earlier bore no accountability for oversight lapses. The German owner company maintained distance through limited liability. The Cyprus-based manager handled operations but carried no ultimate legal responsibility. Meanwhile, MSC—one of the world's largest shipping conglomerates—claimed only a commercial interest through charter. This tangled structure is no anomaly. It is the result of a deliberately opaque system designed to prioritize legal insulation over accountability. The MSC ELSA-3 had changed names and flags at least 10 times in under two decades—moving from CSAV Barcelona to TMM Hidalgo to Delmas Tourville to MSC ELSA-3—each change coinciding with opportunities to limit legal exposure, avoid scrutiny, or benefit from lenient regulation. While not illegal, this practice of shifting ownership, registry, and management undermines transparency and accountability. It stands at odds with the spirit of the international maritime framework set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which promotes safety and environmental responsibility. At the time of the incident, MSC ELSA-3 flew the Liberian flag—a classic example of a Flag of Convenience (FoC), often chosen for minimal regulatory scrutiny. But the vessel's operational complexity ran far deeper. It was owned by a German company, managed from Cyprus, chartered by MSC—a Swiss-based conglomerate—and certified by French classification society Bureau Veritas. Its crew was multinational, comprising seafarers from countries including Russia, the Philippines, and Ukraine. This spiderweb of ownership, management, registry, and operation illustrates how modern commercial shipping is designed to disperse responsibility across jurisdictions. In such setups, legal obligations are diluted across national borders, making it extraordinarily difficult for coastal states like India to enforce accountability or secure timely cooperation. The issue is compounded by the lack of mandatory public disclosure on beneficial ownership, the actual role of commercial operators in daily navigation decisions, and the operational influence of ship managers. Even in cases where insurers such as P&I Clubs are involved, jurisdictional complications and multi-layered contracting structures delay compensation, investigation, and resolution. For India, the lesson is urgent and clear. It must challenge this structural opacity. Ships calling at Indian ports must be subject to stricter requirements on transparency in ownership, crew composition, and management accountability. India must also push at the IMO for reforms mandating full disclosure of beneficial ownership, enhanced flag state obligations, and clearer delineation of managerial vs. operational control responsibilities. The MSC ELSA-3 wasn't merely lost to rough seas or human error. It was a victim of a system that fragments responsibility until it disappears. Unless this system is challenged, similar disasters will keep playing out in coastal waters, with little hope for justice or meaningful accountability. At the same time, such tragedies test not only our systems of rescue and recovery but also our sense of fairness, proportion, and justice. The contrast in societal, legal, and media response to such events reveals a disquieting inconsistency in how accountability is perceived—and demanded—depending on the domain of disaster. In the MSC ELSA-3 case, India's directorate general of shipping (DGS) promptly invoked provisions under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958, launching a statutory investigation aligned with IMO's Casualty Investigation Code. Pollution control and salvage efforts began swiftly. Nonetheless, public anger surged. Kerala Police filed criminal cases under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The high court questioned why arrests hadn't been made. Demands arose to apply international oil pollution laws—even though such conventions don't govern container vessels. Now contrast this with the Air India Dreamliner crash. No FIRs were filed. No pilot's family was harassed. The ministry of civil aviation launched an ICAO-compliant probe. Public debate remained within the bounds of regulatory procedure. The US handling of the Baltimore bridge collapse offers a further contrast. Despite major loss and global media coverage, there was no rush to criminalise the incident. A factual investigation was led by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), consistent with IMO protocols. Only after evidence emerged did the US department of justice weigh criminal action. India, too, is a party to multiple international conventions. The law is clear. The Merchant Shipping Act outlines a well-established process for marine casualty investigations. Internationally, the IMO framework is built on objectivity, fairness, and due process. Short-circuiting that process to satisfy public sentiment erodes global confidence in India's maritime administration. Investigations must be about finding facts—not scapegoats. The writer is a senior official with the shipping ministry. The views expressed are personal. Identity has been withheld on request Follow more information on Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad here . Get real-time live updates on rescue operations and check full list of passengers onboard AI 171 .
