Declaration of assets

It was only very recently that the Govt. of India made it mandatory for candidates to declare their assets for standing in elections. It seems in 10th century AD in some villages in Tamil Nadu, such a system already existed.

The newly-discovered Tamil inscriptions of Parantaka Chola and Parthivendrathipathi Varman, dating back to the 10th century A.D., in a village called Pazhaiya Seevaram, show that those elected to the local assembly (called variyam in the inscriptions) had to take the oath of office and disclose their assets every year to the assembly. Besides, the accountant of the local assembly had to give a list of his assets to the assembly.
This system of local self-government in the villages is an important feature of the 10th century Chola administration. Uttiramerur, about 25 km. from in Kancheepuram, is famous for the inscriptions found there about its self-government, the election system based on ballots, qualifications for candidates and the subsequent relaxation of qualifications. The inscriptions at Uttiremerur of Parantaka Chola I (907-955 A.D.) were dated 917 A.D. and 921 A.D.
According to Dr. Rajavelu, the inscriptions belonging to the 15th regnal year of Parantaka Chola-I (922 A.D.) reveal that the assembly waselected through wards (kudumpu) of the village and through the Brahminical assembly (sabha). The members of the variyam received an annual payment of two kalanju of gold for their work as variya perumakkal. They were not to receive any other payments or concessions. They had to perform their variyam work and list their assets every year.The inscriptions at both Uttiramerur and Pazhaiya Seevram showed that there was an excellent system of self-government at the village level in Tamil Nadu in the 10th century A.D., the epigraphist said. [Declaration of assets dates back to the Cholas]

Related Link: India – Democracy and Identity

The trouble makers in Balochistan

When something goes wrong in Balochistan, the trend in Pakistan is to blame it on external forces. Nitin notes that all the usual suspects have alibis. More suspicion is on India due to the great relations between the two nations and the RAW has been blamed for formenting trouble. So who are these people fighting against the Pakistanis ?

‘The Baloch Liberation Army is an amorphous, underground organisation which was born in the Balochistan university many years ago during the cold war era. Extremists, left-leaning students of the Baloch Students Organization were its most important component.’
‘To establish the BLA as a countervailing force in a region perceived to be the weakest link in the US chain, that is, Pakistan, the former USSR funded BLA with money and arms and logistics. After the Soviets were removed from power in Russia, nothing was heard about the BLA.’
‘However, after the collapse of the Taliban in Afghanistan but with their presence near the Pak-Afghan border areas, sources said the US thought it prudent to establish its own spy network to counter-check the information made available to them by the ISI. The anti-Taliban nationalist elements, whether they are Pakhtuns or Balochs, were thought to be the best available resource that could be used to keep track of Taliban activities. In these circumstances, when Sardar Attaullah Khan Mengal returned from London to Pakistan after a long exile, it was not surprising for many suspicious people.’
‘Sources in the Pakistan army went on to say that soon after the Sardar returned, the youth were reorganised under the banner of the Baloch Liberation Army. Kohlu was the place where a recruitment and training camp was established.’
‘Sources in the Pakistan army maintained that about 200 people were armed and trained in Kohlu in which the Afghan and Indian government officials came deep into Pakistan and played a major role. These same sources said that apart from the 200 people, the main propelling force are tribal chiefs like Nawab Akbar Bugti, Sardar Attaullah Khan Mengal and Nawab Khair Bux Marri who are instigating their tribes to revolt against the Pakistan army. It is their perceptions, whether real or imaginary, which have created grounds in the military minds for an operation in Balochistan.’ [Is Balochistan burning?]

Along Huen Tsang's path

I have found travelogues to be more interesting when they have an angle to it. For example Walking the Bible is a journey from Egypt to Jerusalem along the path followed by Moses. Chasing Che is a motorcycle trip along the route that Che Guevera took. Jaya Ganga: In Search of the River Goddess is travel from the origins to the end of river Ganga and Chasing the monsoon is a journey of a man following the path of monsoons in India. All those are books I have enjoyed reading and now along similar lines there is a new book Ten Thousand Miles Without a Cloud by Shuyun Sun which follows the path taken by Huen Tsang, the Chinese pilgrim who toured India during in the 7th century.

Instead of trekking in the neighbourhood, however, she had a grander idea. As a history student, she had been fascinated by Huien Tsang, not because he is one of the most popular figures in Chinese folklore, but because so little is known about him.
The monk who travelled to India in the 7th century is generally regarded as a foolish man in China, as his more popular fictional self, the Monkey King, protagonist of one of China

Poompuhar

The shore temple at Mahabalipuram survived the tsunami this time. Apparently there were six other temples and they were all swallowed by the sea. It seems the ancient Tamil city of Poompuhar was also taken by the sea about 1500 years back.

Poompuhar was the capital of the Chola rulers, a Tamil dynasty with a recorded history going back to the second century B.C. It was a place where silk merchants and grain traders set sail for the Far East, Greece and Egypt, archaeologists say.
The town had special enclaves for foreign visitors and the king’s soldiers. In the streets, languages could be heard from around the world. It was dotted with temples, a sign of a prosperous Hindu kingdom.
But the ancient city now lies under water about three kilometers (two miles) offshore. All that remains are a few temples and the modern town, which consists of about 2,000 fishing families.
Undersea excavations and studies by historians show that Poompuhar grew into a big town during the reign of Karikal Cholan, the second-century Chola king who established trade ties with China, Arabia and the Roman Empire.
Remnants of brick buildings, water reservoirs, a boat jetty and Roman coins have been found during undersea excavations. [Was ancient Indian town swallowed by tsunami?]

Some marine archaeology was done at Poompuhar or more correctly at Kaveripoompattinam as the ancient city was known. Evidence was found that it was a big port during 3rd century BC. Due to lack to funds archaeology in this area was stopped.
Related Link: More on Dwaraka

Opening the skies

For people like us living in the West Coast of United States, there is no Air India service to India. Air India does code sharing with Malaysian and Singapore Airlines due to the lack of aircraft and some geriatric agreements which restrict the number of flights. But now India and US have started negotiations which will increase the number of flights and carriers operating between the two countries.

The new agreement will enable US airlines, many of them on the verge of bankruptcy, to fly unhindered from any city in the US to any in India, while also giving an equal chance to India’s fledgling airlines that have long been squashed by the monopolist Air India. There will be no restrictions on how often carriers fly, the kind of aircraft they use and the prices they charge.
A top Indian official involved in the talks said India would protect its national carrier interest, but “you can’t allow corporate interests of one airline to undermine India’s overall trade interests” –

Pipeline Politics

2005 seems to be the year of pipelines. India has signed an agreement with Iran, but the transport protocol has not been decided yet. On the Eastern border of India, Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed to build a gas pipeline.
Land based gas pipelines are much cheaper than transporting it via tankers or deep sea pipeline and hence all this enthusiasm for building it even though it is through a country like Pakistan. Other than economics, the gas pipelines also give the countries involved an opportunity to indulge in some image improvement exercise as well as build relations.

For Iran, India

The World in 2020

The National Intelligence Council, a group of senior intelligence analysts who report to the CIA Director have a new report on future global trends.

China and India are likely to be among the leading beneficiaries of globalization, in part because of their low-cost labor and high technology capabilities. Many of their people, however, will remain poor.
“A combination of sustained high economic growth, expanding military capabilities and large populations will be at the root of the expected rapid rise in economic and political power for both countries,” the report said.
By 2020, China’s gross domestic product, the total value of goods and services, will be greater than that of any Western country except the United States, and India’s GDP will have overtaken or will be about to overtake European economies.
Led by China and India, Asia “looks set to displace Western countries as the focus of international economic dynamism – provided Asia’s rapid economic growth continues,” it said.[Report: India, China will be major powers in 2020 (requires bugmenot)]

The full report is available online.

Infiltration in Pakistani Army

This infiltration has the potential to severely hamper America’s efforts in the War on Terror. Authorities in Pakistan, a key U.S. ally that also is an Al Qaeda hotbed, acknowledge that their army has been infiltrated by radicals. Recently, Willie Brigitte, a French convert involved in an Al Qaeda plan to attack Australia, revealed how elements from the Pakistani army worked hand in hand with the Lashkar e Taiba (LET) terrorist group. Brigitte told French interrogators that there was “complete complicity between the Pakistani Army and LET” and that the army was providing weapons and ammunition to LET.
Moreover, Brigitte also claimed that he had met Pakistani soldiers who vowed to sabotage efforts to capture Osama Bin Laden. This revelation should come as no surprise to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who last June ordered a review of the files of all army officers in the rank of colonel or above to identify potential Al Qaeda sympathizers. Musharraf issued this directive after a number of army officials participated in two Al Qaeda plots to kill him. [The enemy within]

Lashkar, one of the terrorist groups operating in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir have changed their focus to Iraq.

Dual Citizenship answer

Now that India is extending dual citizenship to all citizens living overseas, L K Advani asked if gangsters who live in Pakistan and illegal immigrants from Bangladesh will be given dual citizenship.
Dual citizenship is given to citizens of those countries which allow dual citizenship. Since Pakistan and Bangladesh both allow this, this becomes a possibility.
But then Para 7 of the Citizenship Amendment Act 2003 has the following line

(ii), but does not include a person who is or had been at any time a citizen of Pakistan, Bangladesh or such other country as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify.

I guess that rules out citizenship for all the people Advani is concerned about.

Economic Freedom

The Heritage Foundation came up with its 2005 Index of Economic Freedom and India was ranked 118 in a list of 155 nations. India’s neighbours did not perform well either, except Sri Lanka which was ranked 79. The New Nation has an article analyzing the situation in South Asia regarding economic freedom.

The five nations from South Asia have not fared well in the IEF ranking with the exception of Sri Lanka. One reason for the poor showing of South Asian nations could be the governmental tweaking of the economy. The high tariff imposed on luxury goods by the South Asian nations is also another detriment to climb up the list. Another factor could be the high borrowing by these nations from IMF and World Bank to undertake many developmental projects, which helps the poor but not liked by the Heritage Foundation