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Time of India
5 days ago
- General
- Time of India
Soon, scan QR codes to get a peek into history of blue-plaque properties in Kolkata
1 2 Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is planning to install QR codes next to blue plaques installed on grade I heritage buildings. People will be able to learn about the building's historical or architectural importance upon scanning the code. KMC MMiC (heritage and environment) Swapan Samaddar announced this on Friday while responding to councillor Biswarup Dey's proposal that the civic body should publish a guidebook on the heritage buildings to increase awareness among citizens and draw tourists. Kolkata served as the capital of British-ruled India from 1772 to 1911. A senior official from the KMC's heritage and environment department told TOI that blue plaques had been installed on 540 grade I heritage buildings over the past two years. "We roped in private agencies to get the blue plaques installed. The work is over," he said, adding that the civic body's would now focus on putting up the QR codes."We will discuss it with the heritage conservation committee," he said. You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata According to KMC records, 717 structures have been identified as grade I heritage by the civic body. Of these, 540 heritage buildings have the blue plaques. "The rest of the structures include Howrah Bridge and statues where it is not possible to put up the blue plaque, which is only meant for heritage buildings," the official stated. Some of the prominent buildings with the Kolkata heritage blue plaques include Jorasanko Thakurbari, Swami Vivekananda's ancestral house, Indian Museum, Sovabazar Rajbari, Metcalfe Hall, Presidency University, Minerva Theatre, Thapar House, Tripura House, and Patthar Kothi, among others. During the KMC House discussion, Dey asked about the measures taken by the civic body to save the heritage buildings of the city from promoters. He also referred to the 19th-century poet Michael Madhusudan Dutt's Kidderpore house that has been hanging in balance owing to a legal dispute. The MMIC asserted that the civic body was keeping tabs on the heritage buildings and no work, even if it was repairing, could be done without the nod of the heritage conservation committee. Mayor Firhad Hakim told reporters that no hoarding would be allowed to be hung on any heritage building .
Saudi Gazette
23-07-2025
- Politics
- Saudi Gazette
Thousands pay tribute to veteran Indian communist leader
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM — Thousands are paying their respects to veteran Indian communist leader VS Achuthanandan whose funeral will be held on Wednesday. VS, as he was popularly known, died on Monday at the age of 101. He was a founding member of India's largest communist party and a former chief minister of the southern state of Kerala. Tens of thousands of people have thronged the streets to pay tribute to the politician, widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in Kerala's political history. Forced to drop out of school as a child, Achuthanandan overcame grinding poverty and torture in police custody to become one of the state's most beloved leaders. He was being treated at a hospital in Thiruvananathapuram after suffering a cardiac arrest last month. His funeral will be held near his hometown in Alappuzha district with full state honours. "Fighting for the rights of the oppressed and the exploited was the guiding principle of his life," MA Baby, general secretary of Achuthanandan's party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M), wrote in tribute. He described the leader as "the epitome of struggle". Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, also from the CPI(M), called Achuthanandan a "limitless repository of inspiration and lessons". Apart from being Kerala's chief minister, Achuthanandan was the state's leader of opposition three times and a member of the CPI(M)'s Politburo for 23 years. Achuthanandan's popularity among Indian communists rivals only that of Jyoti Basu, the long-serving West Bengal chief minister and CPI(M) co-founder. But unlike the London-educated Basu, Achuthanandan came from humble roots and didn't finish school. While Basu shaped his legacy in power, Achuthanandan did so from the streets, championing people's issues as an opposition leader. Achuthanandan started working young after losing his mother at four and father at 11. As a teen in a coir factory, he joined the undivided Communist Party at 17 and began organising agricultural workers in Travancore in then British-ruled India. AK Antony, a former Kerala chief minister from the Congress party, said that as a school student in the 1960s, he would wait beside paddy fields to listen to Achuthanandan's speeches. "Achuthanandan's life and struggles and the torture and beatings he endured in the vanguard of the communist agitations for bonded agriculture workers in Kuttanad are unequalled and historical," he was quoted as saying by The Hindu newspaper. Achuthanandan led a 1946 revolt against the state authorities, in which hundreds of communists were reportedly killed. He went underground, was later arrested, tortured in custody, and spent five years in jail. His work spanned labour rights, land rights, education, women's right, anti-corruption measures and environmental protection. A staunch communist, Achuthanandan wasn't afraid to defy his party - most notably when he met the widow of TP Chandrasekharan, murdered in 2012 by a gang that included former CPI(M) colleagues after he broke away to form his own party. After public outcry forced the CPI(M) to reverse its attempts to sideline him in 2006 and 2011, Achuthanandan served as Kerala's chief minister (2006–2011) before retiring from public life following a 2019 stroke and living with his son in Thiruvananthapuram. — BBC
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First Post
10-07-2025
- Politics
- First Post
Mahathir Mohamad turns 100 and continues to influence Malaysia politics. Here's how
Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who turns 100 today, is one of the most important and influential figures in Malaysia's history. Mohamad served as prime minister from 1981 to 2003 when he transformed the country into a hi-tech exporter and then again from 2018 to 2020 when Malaysia was reeling from the 1MBD corruption scandal. Let's take a look at Mahathir's life and times read more Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is considered the 'Father of Malaysian Modernisation'. Reuters Malaysia's former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad turns 100 today. Mahathir is one of the most important and influential figures in Malaysia's history. The country's longest-serving Prime Minister only demitted office in 2020. But who is he? What do we know about him? How does he continue to influence Malaysia politics? Let us take a closer look Who is he? Mahathir was born on July 10, 1925 in the town of Alor Setar in what was then British-ruled Malaysia. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD His father, Mohamad Iskandar, was a schoolteacher of Indian descent. His mother, Wan Tempawan Wan Hanapi, was a Malay. Mahathir has described his mother as the most important person in his life. 'She brought me up, she taught me the way I should behave, the things I should do,' Mohamad said in an interview years ago. Mahathir in the interview said he led a very simple life growing up in his multiracial village. However, he remembered being bothered by the way things were even then. 'I wanted to be proud of the achievement of the Malays, but I couldn't find anything to be proud of as far as the position of the Malays was concerned under British rule,' Mohamad added. Mahathir attended the Sultan Abdul Hamid College. He then studied medicine at the University of Malaya in Singapore on a scholarship. Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's father was a schoolteacher of Indian descent. This is where he met his future wife Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali. He would open up a Klinik Maha in Alor Setar's Kedah – the first Malay-owned private clinic in the city – and practise as a doctor for the next two decades. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Mahathir first became a member of Malaysia's Parliament in 1964 as a member of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO). In 1981, he took charge as Malaysia's fourth prime minister. He was the first commoner to hold that office. He would hold the reins of power for 22 long years. Many credit Mahathir's policies for turning Malaysia into an economic powerhouse – ' the fifth Tiger of Asia' – in the 1980s and 1990s. Malaysia turned from a nation that exported tin, rubber and palm oil into a country that made and exported hi-tech material. He is known as the 'Father of Malaysian Modernisation'. Mahathir resigned from the top job in 2003 and retired from public life in 2008. However, another dramatic act was to follow. Mahathir had been a massive critic of prime minister Najib Razak, who became embroiled in the 1MBD corruption scandal. Razak was accused of embezzling $700 million from 1MBD. In 2018, Mahathir in a stunning move announced he was running for prime minister yet again. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD He pulled out the victory and was appointed prime minister for the second time. Mahathir, who became Malaysia's seventh prime minister, was 92-years-old. How does he continue to influence Malaysia's politics? Mahathir's sway within Malaysia has somewhat declined since 2020, when he stepped down as prime minister. He lost his own seat in 2022 with a mere 7 per cent of the vote and he has fallen out of favour with his party. However, he remains a highly visible and influential critic of the government. In an op-ed on Friday, Mahathir took aim at Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's announcement that billions of dollars had poured into the country via in foreign direct investments (FDI). Mahathir, slamming them as 'invisible', wrote, 'We want more visits to foreign countries so that more invisible FDI will come'. Anwar is a former protégé turned rival of Mahathir. In 1997, he was deputy prime minister under Mahathir Mahathir sacked Anwar on charges of corruption and sodomy. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The two men later reconciled in 2018 to get rid of Najib, who has since been jailed in the 1MDB corruption scandal. 'Najib thought that it doesn't matter if people know he's corrupt, because … with the money, he will remain as Prime Minister, nobody can touch him.' Mahathir told Time Magazine. 'But it didn't work.' Mahathir and Anwar eventually had a falling out and are now bitter rivals yet again. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim s a friend-turned-rival. Reuters Mahathir has accused Anwar of corruption. 'Anwar is a smart operator,' Mahathir told Time Magazine. 'Obviously, you don't see him taking money, but we know that lots of people are corrupt under his government.' Anwar, of course, has denied such allegations. Yet even Anwar took to social media to wish Mahathir on his 100th birthday. 'Azizah and I pray that [Mahathir] is blessed with well-being, peace of mind and strength of body to face a life full of meaning. His healthy and charitable lifestyle sets the example for a nation that is ageing yet filled with high hopes', Anwar wrote. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Though many have called on Mahathir to remain quiet in retirement, he refuses. 'People come to me telling me about their problems and ask me to say something, so I cannot remain silent,' he earlier told This Week in Asia. Though he has a history of health issues including heart trouble, Mahathir insists that he is fit in body and mind. He has attributed his consistent weight of 62 kilos across four decades to eating moderately. His aides say he remains as sharp as ever. Mahathir has cited Nelson Mandela and Peter the Great of Russia as his influences. Mandela, of course, fought apartheid in South Africa, while Peter the Great is widely regarded as a great Russian leader. Mahathir said Peter the Great 'changed a disorganised Russia into a world power.' Still, some have raised questions about Mahathir's legacy – particularly his anti-Jewish comments. Mahathir had referred to the Jews as hooked-nosed and claimed they 'rule the world by proxy'. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD He blamed Jews for the 1997 financial crisis and took aim at George Soros – a figure constantly reviled by the far-right. 'When I criticise the Jews for doing wrong things, bad things and oppressive things, they label me as an anti-Jew,' he said in an interview. 'I'm pointing out that what they were doing is wrong; that is all.' Experts also point to a falling out with his successors. Former prime minister Najib Razak, who became embroiled in the 1MBD corruption scandal, is currently in jail. 'What does this say about the system that Mahathir left behind him?' Francis Hutchinson, coordinator of the Malaysia Studies Program at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore, asked Time Magazine. 'If you don't think you have worthy successors, should you not have a system with more checks and balances?' Still, Mahathir is determined to give as much as he can before he passes. 'Before I die, for as much as I can function,' Mahathir told The New York Times, 'I would like to continue my work in trying to contribute to the growth of Malaysia.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD With inputs from agencies
Indian Express
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
The Census of 1931
The Centre on Wednesday announced that the much delayed Census 2021 will be held in two phases beginning October 1, 2026 and March 1, 2027. This will be the first Census since 1931 to capture granular caste data, beyond the broader classifications of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) that have been enumerated in every post-Independence Census. Some of the debates that took place around the exercise in 1931 continue to be relevant even today. As are questions of methodology, which were discussed in detail in the 518-page report compiled by Census Commissioner John Henry Hutton. Here's a brief history. Context of the Census In 1931, British-ruled India stretched from Baluchistan (Balochistan) in the west to Burma (Myanmar) in the east. Hutton, an ICS officer and an anthropologist by training, wrote about the logistical challenges in his report: 'The taking of the decennial census in India involves the cooperation of more than one-sixth of the world's population over an area of nearly two million square miles [around 50 lakh sq km]… Enumerators' duties were often as onerous physically… [For instance] in Baluchistan the average enumerator had a block of 836 square miles [2,165 sq km]…'. The Raj also faced political challenges. The 1931 Census and preparations for it took place as civil disobedience swept across much of the country. '… [This] census like that of 1921 had the misfortune to coincide with a wave of non-cooperation, and the march of Mr Gandhi and his contrabandistas to invest the salt-pans of Dharasana synchronized with the opening of census operations,' Hutton complained. The Gandhi-Irwin Pact of March 5, 1931, which effectively ended the Civil Disobedience Movement, was signed a week after the date of enumeration on February 27. The Congress boycotted the Census, observing January 11, 1931 as 'Census Boycott Sunday'. Hutton's report, however, claimed that the boycott 'was not taken up with any real enthusiasm' on the ground except for in some cities in Gujarat like 'Ahmadabad (Ahmedabad), Broach (Bharuch) and Surat ' and a few Mumbai suburbs like 'Ghatkopar and and Villaparle (Vile Parle)'. The Congress' boycott, Hutton wrote, 'had very little ultimate effect on the taking of the census'. What did have an effect, however, was the Great Depression and the economic distress it brought. 'It was another of the misfortunes of the 1931 census that it coincided with a fall in revenue and a period of economic depression which…left me no choice but to cut expenditure as fine as possible and to goad my Census Superintendents unremittingly in an attempt to finish sooner and spend less,' Hutton wrote. The 1931 Census cost the exchequer Rs 48.76 lakh compared to roughly Rs 40 lakh spent on the Census a decade previously. Even in absolute terms — not taking inflation into account — the 1931 Census was cheaper per capita than a decade earlier, costing Rs 12.8 per thousand population compared to Rs 14 per thousand population in 1921. One way in which the Census depressed costs was by not paying the nearly 20 lakh enumerators who collected the data. These enumerators, often teachers or low-level government servants, had to collect and collate Census data in addition to other quotidian tasks. Hutton also mentioned other challenges such as the Bhils refusing to have their houses numbered on 'superstitious grounds', and of enumerators in 'less law-abiding places' getting beaten up by locals. At places, enumerators were attacked by wild animals. 'Here and there wild beasts interfered instead of wild men, and the Administrator of Bastar State when inspecting census work on the night itself, was attacked by a tiger, which sprang onto the bonnet of his car, but finding the pace and the radiator too hot for him failed to make an end either of the inspector or his inspection,' Hutton wrote. Key findings of Census The 1931 Census captured crucial demographic data about (undivided) India and its people. 🔴 It found the total population of British India (including Burma and various princely states) to be 35.05 crore, up from 31.89 crores a decade ago. This equated to a decadal population growth rate of 10.6%, much higher than in the last three cycles. (It was 2.2% in 1891-1901, 7.4% in 1901-11, and 1.2% in 1911-21.) Hutton cited significant improvements in public health (particularly a reduction of deaths from the bubonic plague, cholera, and smallpox), an absence of major epidemics and, interestingly, the 'universality of marriage' as the reason for the population growth. '… [It] is enough to point out that in India the birth rate is much higher than in Europe, largely on account of the universality of marriage, the Parsis being perhaps the only Indian community in which late marriage and small families are the rule instead of the exception,' the report noted. 🔴 The distribution of this population, however, was far from uniform. While the overall population density was 85 persons/sq km, Chagai, Baluchistan, had a density of less than 1 person/sq km, the lowest in India. All of Baluchistan had a population density of only 2.5 persons/sq km. On the other hand, Cochin State on the southwestern coast had a population density of 800 persons/sq km, the highest in the country. One particular village in the princely state had a population density 1,635 persons/sq km. Also populous was the Dhaka Division of the province of Bengal, with a population density of 375 persons/sq km. '[The] variation of density of population in India depends not on industry, as in the United Kingdom, but on agriculture, and is greatest of course in the most fertile areas,' Hutton's report said. However, 'the actual rate of increase in population [was] the greatest in the less populated and less fertile areas', it noted. This, Hutton reasoned, was due to dynamics of internal migration. 'Where, therefore, there is a population already dense, there is a clearly perceptible spread towards the less profitable land,' the report said. 🔴 Calcutta (now Kolkata), with a population of 14.85 lakh, was the most populous city in British India, followed by Bombay (Mumbai) with 11.61 lakh, Madras (Chennai) with 6.47 lakh, Hyderabad (4.66 lakh) and Delhi (4.47 lakh). Besides these, Lahore, now in Pakistan, and Rangoon (Yangon) in Burma, were the only other cities that had a population of more than 4 lakh at the time. The enumeration of castes Like in earlier censuses, the 1931 Census enumerated individual castes among the Hindu population. This exercise faced strong opposition in Punjab; even in the previous Census of 1921, a total of 20,993 Hindus — about half of them from Bahawalpur State — had declared their caste as 'unspecified' due to the influence of Arya Samaj. Hutton wrote in his report: '[It is] difficult to see why the record of a fact that actually exists should tend to stabilize that existence. It is just as easy to argue and with at least as much truth, that it is impossible to get rid of any institution by ignoring its existence like the proverbial ostrich, and indeed facts themselves demonstrate that in spite of the recognition of caste in previous decades the in institution is of itself undergoing considerable modification. Indeed the treatment of caste at the 1931 census may claim to make a definite, if minute, contribution to Indian unity.' The 1931 Census put 18 questions to respondents, the eighth of which was on 'Race, Tribe or Caste'. This question had appeared in every Census from 1872 — when the first Census was conducted — onward. Thus, in the questionnaire of 1872, the fifth of 17 questions was on 'Caste or Class'; in 1882, the last of 13 questions asked for 'Caste, if Hindu, sect, if of other religion'; in 1891, the fourth of 14 questions was on 'Caste or race-Main caste', and the fifth was on 'Sub-division of caste or race'. In the 20th century, the 1901 and 1911 censuses (16 questions each) had a question on 'Caste of Hindus & Jains, Tribe, or race of others'. In 1921, the eighth of 16 questions was 'Caste, Tribe or Race'. In the 1931 Census, 18.83 lakh people, including 60,715 Hindus, gave the response 'caste nil'; 98% of them were from Bengal. The report said that no return of caste was insisted on from Arya or Brahmo Hindus. Given challenges such as the use of different surnames for the same caste, the Census report noted 'the difficulty of getting a correct return of caste and likewise the difficulty of interpreting it for census purposes'. The Census Superintendent for Madras wrote: 'Had caste terminology the stability of religious returns, caste sorting might be worthwhile. With the fluidity of present appellations it is certainly not… Individual fancy apparently has some part in caste nomenclature.'
Montreal Gazette
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Montreal Gazette
Opinion: King Charles may help Canada escape the worst of Trump
Op Eds By Last week's two-day visit by King Charles III and Queen Camilla to open the 45th parliament of his Canadian domain. was purely symbolic, but pundits far and wide pontificated about the profound significance of the event. That's their job, poor souls. Later this year, probably in September, U.S. President Donald Trump will travel to the United Kingdom for his second state visit, and King Charles will swallow his distaste and welcome him to the U.K. with a clenched smile. Another symbolic event bereft of visible consequences, it would seem, but there is a real and viable strategy behind these events. The whole show is designed to exploit Trump's fascination with the British monarchy. Charles's sole purpose in Canada was to emphasize the sovereignty and separateness of Canada in the face of Trump's insistent claims it should become part of the United States, the 51st state. But why bring in the King of Canada, a title even Charles himself rarely uses? Indeed, why does Canada even have a king? Every country needs a head of state, and most democracies prefer not to have a practising politician in the role. Whether president or monarch, the head of state needs to be above the day-to-day political struggle. Kings, emperors and tyrants used to rule everywhere. They came into vogue when mass societies emerged some 5,000 years ago, and continued in most places until the 18th century or later because democracy was impossible until the advent of mass communications (initially in the form of printing and mass literacy). Countries that won their democracies by revolution, like the United States, replaced their monarch with a president who served as both head of state and executive head of government. Some presidents in other republics were later tempted to use this dual position to seek absolute power, although the U.S. has avoided that problem until recently. Countries that achieved their democracy later and more peacefully, however, often found it simpler just to transform their former monarchs into non-political and impartial heads of state. Kings and queens fill that role in former British-ruled democracies like Canada and Australia and in many other countries from Spain and Sweden to Thailand and Japan. Many people in countries that swapped their kings for presidents long ago still feel a strange attraction to the mystique of the monarchies. The French popular media, for example, follow the doings of the British Royal Family at least as closely as the British do. The mystique of monarchy is as false and deliberately fabricated as an advertising campaign for beauty products. Charles is an intelligent and well-intentioned man working hard for Canada even while under treatment for cancer, but he is not the incarnation of an ancient and sacred past. In fact, when it comes to heredity, I am probably more closely related to King Charles I than King Charles III is. (My ancestors were mostly English and Irish; his, at least on the male line, are mostly German.) Yet the phoney mystique of the British royal family has captivated Trump, so it made perfectly good sense for Prime Minister Mark Carney and the King to conspire in reminding Trump that Canada has a strong royal connection (even if most Canadians don't feel it). It will make equally good sense for Charles to welcome Trump to the United Kingdom in the autumn for an unprecedented second state visit. Trump is a sucker for real power (thus his fanboy admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin), but he is also a sucker for the ceremonies, rituals and trappings of fake power (Charles). Playing the monarchy card might protect both countries from worse treatment at the hands of Trump. After all, this is a man who loves parades in his own honour.
