A month for the Ghosts

The traditional Chinese calender is lunisolar. Like the traditional Hindu calender followed in India, an ordinary Chinese year year has 12 months and a leap year, that comes after every three years, has 13 months. Out of the 12 months in an year, the 7^th Lunar month is considered something special. Chinese believe that the gate of the Chinese Hell, opens on the first day of this Lunar month at early midnight every year. The suffering spirits from the Hell, are able to return to their homes to see their descendants and enjoy grand feasts. But they have only one month as a vacation and have to return to the Hell on the last day of this month. Since the suffering spirits from hell return to earth in this, 7th lunar month. The month is commonly called as the Ghost Month.

I have never been to China. But I have stayed long enough in Singapore to observe the way in which Chinese people living in that country, celebrate this month. Chinese Singaporeans usually observe a large-scale tradition of paying respects to the dead. One can see tents sets up all over Singapore, where people congregate to burn incense sticks and present their offerings in the form of prayer, fruit such as Mandarin oranges, food such as roasted suckling pig, bowls of rice and occasionally a local Chinese cake made especially for the occasion.

However, Singaporeans probably believe that just offering food is not enough to comfort the hungry suffering spirits and they should have some entertainment. So it is time for some Chinese Operas popularly known as “Wayyang” and musical shows known as “Getai.” Both are really boisterous live performances not only depicting tales of the divine gods and goddesses, but also bawdy stand-up comedies with a local twang, song and dance numbers in the various Chinese dialects and even sensually acrobatic pole dancing by dancers. Everyone is invited to to watch the show but you can not sit in the front row, which is reserved for the hungry ghosts.

Not everyone has time to go to these tents to pay respects to hungry ghosts. Singapore authorities set up special joss paper bins for people to burn their paper money and pictures of various luxuries of modern life like cars, televisions, houses, clothes and even food. It is believed that it would get translated into great fortune in the afterlife. Small altars can also be seen outside many homes, both on private property and in public housing areas.

I am reminded of these Singapore rituals, because Indians also follow similar kind of tradition in the second fortnight of the Hindu month of “Bhadrapada,” which they dedicate to their forefathers. People generally arrange special feasts and prepare dishes, which were favourites of their departed parents or grand parents and invite a Brahmin for the feast. They believe that when the Brahmin eats the food, it reaches their forefathers. During the so called religious rituals, known as “Shraddha,” which are carried out before this feast, it is a common practice to prepare balls of rice as symbolic representations of departed ancestors.

I would not like to comment on these beliefs, because it is really in the personal domain of an individual. No amount of arguing, even when based on perfect logic, would usually make any difference to such moribund thinking of an individual deeply stuck in traditions.

Indians also think this fortnight to be the most inauspicious period of the year. No new projects are ever taken up and it is believed that anything started during this fortnight is doomed to be a non starter or failure. People would not even buy new gadgets, cars. They will book these things but ask the delivery after the fortnight is over.

Next month, we would be having general elections to elect the state Government, which shall rule our state for next five years. The election process has been already initiated by the election commission 10 days before. Surprisingly, no party would declare their candidates in this fortnight. Similarly no hopeful candidate has dared to file his nomination in this period because it is believed to be inauspicious. I find it just amazing to see how tradition bound the Indians really are.

29^th September 2014

Singapore museum reveals a list of 30 stolen Indian artefacts in its possession

I have covered previously in a number of blog posts, the criminal acts of the hard core crook, Subhash Chandra Kapoor, who stole priceless ancient idols and bronzes from temples in India and sold them to museums all over the world as legitimate imports through his New York gallery, “ Art of the past.” Subhash Chandra Kapoor, now in a Chennai jail, is the the mastermind behind many thefts of ancient idols and bronzes from temples of India. From the information collected from informants and email correspondences between Kapoor and his co-conspirators and gallery owners, it is becoming increasingly clear that many museums across the world, who accepted false provenance certificates produced by Kapoor and have hitherto kept claiming that they followed due diligence before purchasing them and their transactions were legitimate are finding that they have been cheated by Kapoor. This list of museums now includes National Gallery of Australia, Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore, Peabbody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, USA and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia. In February 2014, The National Gallery of Australia (NGA)in Canberra, publicly acknowledged that it was cheated by Kapoor when they  bought a stolen 1,000-year-old bronze Nataraja idol from Kapoor for US $5 million. Between 2006 and 2008, about 18 ancient bronze sculptures were stolen by Kapoor from temples in Tamil Nadu state of India. Among them were two of Nataraja and two of goddess Uma, all shipped to the U.S.

Out of these 18 stolen idols, whereabouts of only a few were found so far. Besides the “Nataraja’ idols, one more  idol was confirmed by Singapore’s “The Asian Civilizations Museum’ in December 2013, to be in its possession-that of Hindu Goddess Uma Parmeshwari-an 11^th century bronze sculpture stolen from the Sivan Temple in India’s Ariyalur District in 2005 or 2006,. So far it was thought that Kapoor had stolen idols from Hindu temples only. 

However, Singapore museum’s announcement that it also had in its possession a late 18^th century gilded virgin Mary and Christ altar originally located in a church in Goa, India, proved that kapoor’s activities were not limited to Hindu temples but were spread much wider.

“CHASING APHRODITE” is a blog, written by former Los Angeles Times reporter Jason Felch and dedicated to tracking illicit antiquities in museums around the world. In a major revelation this blog published for the first time, details  of 10 antiquities sold by Kapoor to Singapore museum as follows and I quote:

“1.Jina Rishabhanatha, M5378 South India, late 18th – early 19th century,US$ 25,000.00, 2. Guru Garanth Sahib, M5831 Manuscript Punjab, Lahore, 19th century US$15,000.00, 3.Folio from a Mahabharata Series, P2458 South India, Seringpatnam, circa 1670-Gouache and gold on paper US$ 25,000.00, 4. Adulation of Shri Nath-ji P2727 Rajasthan, Nathdawara, circa 1870 US$ 12,000.00, 5. The Siege of Lanka P3009 Kangra, ca. 1820 Gouache and gold on paper US$ 75,000.00, 6. Rama and His Army Crossing to Lanka P3014 Kangra, ca. 1820 Gouache and gold on paper, US$ 75,000.00, 7. Guru Nanak Dev with Bala and Mardana P0811 Deccan, circa 1700-1720 Gouache and gold on paper US$ 9,000.00, 8. Ram,Lakshman, Sita in River P3010, Kangra, ca. 1820 Gouache and gold on paper US$ 50,000.00, 9. Ram Lskshman Leaving P3012,Kangra, ca. 1820 Gouache and gold on paper US$ 60,000.00, 10. Mica Muharram Procession P1847 Delhi or Jaipur 19th century, US$ 3,500.00.”

According to this blog Total value of the stolen artefacts listed above, as paid by Singapore museum was US$ 240,000.00 after discounts. The blog also claimed that Singapore museum probably has even more artefacts in its possession and The total value of the museum’s acquisitions from Kapoor in the period 1997 and 2010, works out to be US$1,192,881.

Rattled by accusations of trafficking in Millions of Dollars’ worth of stolen artefacts, Singapore’s “Asian Civilizations Museum” has now come out and published the full list of 30 works of art it has acquired from Kapoor, over the years. 

The museum says that actually the total value of acquisitions between 1997 and 2010 from Kapoor works out to US$ 1,328,250.00. The 30 artefacts dating from 3^rd to 19^th century include sculptures, paintings, architectural fragments, ancient rattles and manuscripts. They range in price from US$ 3500 to US$ 650,000 each.

Some of the items were previously exhibited and a stone sculpture of Nandi the Bull, bought for US$ 55,250 is on display at the museum. The museum also has accepted the details given on his blog by Jason Felch as more or less correct with only one error.

The museum says that at the point of purchase, the museum believed that the objects were legally and ethically acquired and its purchases followed its acquisition procedures strictly and all possible checks were made on the origin and legitimacy of the artefacts.

A museum spokesman says that the museum is ready to take all necessary steps in accordance with international laws and practices to return any objects proven to be stolen or looted, though American and Indian authorities have not approached the museum as yet with any request for information or assistance.

Readers may also like to read my earlier blog posts on this subject.

1.    Australian museum accepts having bought a stolen idol from India: Part I

2.    Would this ever end?

3.    Tip of an iceberg

4.    Sisterly love or partners in crime

5.    How to steal history?

6.    Suthamalli Nataraja

3^rd June 2014

Who cares for a five star luxury in a hospital?

About an year ago, I went through a nerve wreaking experience, when I had to get my wife admitted to a hospital in Singapore, under an emergency. After examinations, it was decided by the Doctors to let her stay in the hospital for a couple of days for observation and necessary treatment. This also meant that I would have to accompany her and stay there for next two days. This was a totally new experience for me as I had never stayed in an hospital before except for a day, when I had to undergo an eye surgery. I had also spent few nights in hospitals in my home town Pune many decades before, when my grand father was admitted to that hospital, but all those places were ordinary hospitals in India with bare necessities only available.

When I entered the hospital room, I looked around with awe. Central to the entire room was a huge patient bed on the background of latest electronic controllers to monitor BP, pulse. The bed was provided with full touch controls. This meant that just by touching some blue circular dots appearing on an video panel, my wife could adjust her bed in any position, could spread the day or night curtains, set the temperature of the room, slide the day and window curtains and control the big TV screen in the front. On the side was a narrow bed for the accompanying person, a midget refrigerator, few chairs and table. The room had number of lights which could be fully controlled remotely.

The attached bathroom was something similar to that is found in a five star hotel with some added patient friendly features such as height adjustable commode seat, a water jet with controls for temperature, flow and angle of attack. Even the shower bath was such that the shower head could be adjusted easily and a shower seat with adjustable height.

The readers are likely to conclude that my wife, who was the patient and myself, who accompanied her, must have had a pleasant stay. As far as my wife was concerned, initially she was under sedatives and was in no position to appreciate the luxury around her and next day, when her pain had subsided, she wanted to get out of the hospital and was in no mood to enjoy anything. For myself, I can vouch that those two days were perhaps worst two days of my life. I was under terrible anxiety, worry and tension and was in absolutely no mood to enjoy any of the niceties around me. Both of us felt far better when we left the hospital after two days, as Doctors found nothing seriously wrong with my wife.

I remembered my horrific two day experience of last year, when I came to know about a new trend in India; of building new hospitals that give five star treatment to the patients. Besides the super comfort beds and other furniture, the new hospital rooms provide latest electronic gadgets such as Wi-Fi, extra-large LED TV sets and ultramodern gadgets. For top of the line suites, hospitals provide interpreters, personal attendants and a well-stocked pantry. Some hospitals provide pick up and drop patients in luxury cars. For overly fussy patients, hospitals even provide a gourmet fare. Hospitals even let a patient run his office from the superlative comfort of his hospital room. Some hospitals are even going to the ridiculous extent of providing movie theaters, food courts, spas, gyms and even a glitzy shopping arcade to take care of the needs of the patient's family.

All this comes with an exorbitantly high price tag; naturally. This means that these five star facilities are meant for super rich or CEO's of corporations and their brethren. Be it as it may, but do these physical comfort really help the patient? Let us take example of a busy company CEO, who might have developed a stroke or an attack of high BP and gets admitted to one such hospital. Most probably, he would be under sedatives and his relatives under tension. Who would have time and mood to enjoy the physical comforts, when there is a life and death situation lurking around the corner. Under such conditions how could a patient's family even think of visiting movie theaters, food courts, spas, gyms or shopping arcade. I find this whole concept ridiculously foolish. All that is needed really is a comfortable waiting area.

Lately, medical profession in India is changing towards gross commercialism. Gone are the family Doctors, who considered that keeping the health of their patient families was their prime responsibility. Now-a-days, we only have super specialists, who would advice you for a specific reference. In case of emergency, we no longer call our family Doctor because there is none. We have to simply rush and get the patient into a hospital, whether he needs hospitalization or not. This new trend of hospital care is a just a further step in this commercialization process. A patient who gets into a hospital, comes there necessarily because he is ailing. He needs quick and efficient medical advice, efficient nursing and a comfortable bed. All these super luxuries are of no avail.

7^th May 2014

Trouble brews up again in Malacca Straits

Everything appeared peaceful and normal at midnight, aboard Naninwa Maru-1, a Japanese tanker ship as it cruised along the Malaysian coast on the night of 16^th April 2014, carrying Diesel oil to Myanmar from Singapore. Most of the crew members, who were of Indonesian, Thai, Myanmar and Indian nationalities, were fast asleep except for the ones, who were on duty. Around 1 AM one of the crew members could not believe his own eyes as he saw about five or six men armed men with a pistol and a (machete) suddenly appear aboard the ship. Before the surprised crew could offer any resistance, pirates subdued and tied up the crew, robbed the vessel and took control.

The pirates then must have signaled their accomplices because suddenly from no where, two tanker ships appeared on the horizon. The pirates briskly started pumping the Diesel from the tanks on Naninwa Maru-1 to these two tankers. The pirates after pumping out more than half of the 5 million liters of diesel, made off. Several hours later after the attackers had fled, the crew discovered three shipmates were also missing, presumably taken as hostage. Malaysian domestic media report that the abducted men were Indonesians. The possibility of these men being accomplices of the pirates can not be denied. Only further investigation would bring out the truth. The ship is now berthed off Port Klang, Malaysia’s main port, for investigations.

The incident took place when Naninwa Maru-1 was just 16 Nautical miles away from the Malaysian coastline. No great imagination is required to guess that the tanker was in the waters of the Malacca Straits. A place that has a long history of pirates hijacking ships passing through the channel. Malacca is located some two hundred kilometers north of Singapore. The city is the capital of State of Malacca within federal Malaysia. What makes Malacca so special is the narrow patch of sea along its shoreline. This funnel shaped narrow strip of Sea, called straits of Malacca, is sandwiched between Malaysian coast line on the eastern side and Indonesian island of Sumatra on the western side. In fact, at the narrowest part, which happens to be located near the city of Malacca, the straits are just a few kilometers wide. What makes the Malacca straits important as well as most crucial for the world’s shipping is the fact that this is the shortest practical opening for any sea faring ship sailing from South China Sea to the Indian Ocean or vice versa. (The other sea lane is through Sunda strait, between islands of Java and Sumatra in Indonesia. This route is much longer compared to Malacca straits sea lane.)

About 50000 ships cross this narrow strip of Sea every year. I read somewhere, that each and every day 15 million barrels of crude oil is transported through the straits. 70% of the oil that China consumes every year passes through here. If due to some reasons, the straits are closed to shipping, half of world’s shipping fleet would be forced to divert their sea faring routes. Straits of Malacca actually connect the Andaman Sea on the west to the South China Sea near Singapore. It is a true bottle-Neck of the world.

The US Energy Information Administration identifies the Malacca Strait, which connects the Indian Ocean with the South China Sea and Pacific Ocean, as one of the world’s two “most strategic choke points” for oil trade along with the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. It is the shortest sea route between the Middle East and Asia with about 15.2 million barrels of oil a day transported along the waterway in 2011, according to the EIA. About 90 percent of that was crude.

Speaking historically, Malacca straits was always considered as one of the most dangerous places on Sea, as with such heavy cargo traffic, sea pirates found it extremely lucrative for their criminal activities. Even in recent history, there have been case of piracy in Malacca straits. In the year 1999, a 9000 ton freighter named as MV Alondra Rainbow had disappeared from here, when on way to Japan with a cargo of Aluminum ingots. This ship with a crew of 17 was abducted by some 15 armed gangsters. After a week, the crew was found floating helplessly in a rubber life boat near Thailand coast with no trace of their ship. After a month, Indian Navy and the Coast guard, discovered a ship of similar description near the Indian coast. The ship was chased and fired upon by the Indian Coast guard, when the pirates surrendered. It was found on inspection, that half of the ship’s cargo was gone, the name of the ship was changed, it was showing a different flag and the pirates were trying to flood the ship to sink it. In the year 2002 alone, 36 ships were attacked here. In 2003, 60 ships were attacked. When the situation reached such alarming proportions, the insurance companies started declaring the Malacca straits area as war zone and refused to insure the ships or the cargo. US government indicated that unless littoral states take effective action, US navy would have to patrol this area. After this, Governments of Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore realized the gravity of the situation and started joint patrolling. There was a realization soon that the naval resources of these countries were not adequate for the task This lead to an agreement between as many as 16 nations including India, from the surrounding areas, to provide protection to shipping in the straits.. This agreement is known as ‘Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia’. After this agreement, the piracy in the straits has reduced almost to nil. Indian Navy participates in this security environment as per this agreement and Indian Naval ships are seen patrolling frequently in the Straits of Malacca.

The situation in Malacca straits then improved dramatically. Perhaps because of the measures taken by various Governments, only one fishing vessel was the only ship that was hijacked in the Strait of Malacca in all of 2012 according to the statistics available on International Maritime Bureau web site. Unfortunately, pirating seems to be picking up again in the Malacca straits and nearby areas, this year. On 10th October 2013, an oil-products tanker was hijacked off Malaysia’s Pulau Aur in the South China Sea on Oct. 10, about 67 miles northeast of Singapore. Pirates stole the ship’s cargo before abandoning it on Oct. 15, the IMB’s website shows. This vessel is believed to be Danai 4, carrying marine gasoil from Singapore to Vietnam.

Within just a month from this act of piracy, the pirates struck again on 7th November 2013, five pirates armed with guns and knives boarded 3,254 deadweight tonne (dwt) GPT-21 tanker operated by Singapore firm Global Unique Petroleum about 7.3 nautical miles (13.5 kilometers) west of Malaysia’s Pulau Kukup in the Strait of Malacca, about 34 miles west of Singapore. The armed hijackers tied up all the crew members and held them hostage in one cabin. Later they ordered the Master to steer the ship to a pre-designated position where another unknown orange hull tanker came alongside. The C/O and the bosun were forced to operate the mooring winches and then the cargo pumps and valves to transfer oil into the unknown tanker. The pirates, prior to leaving the hijacked tanker, also stole personal belongings of the crew. The gasoil cargo on ship could be worth more than $2.7 million according to some Singapore sources.

Singapore headquarters of the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) says that as things stand, attacks by gangs armed with guns and knives on shipping in the Malacca Strait have ranged from 12 to 20 incidents a year over the last three years. According to Regional security officials, armed gangs prowling the Malacca Strait may be part of a syndicate that can either have links to the crew on board the hijacking target or inside knowledge about the ship and cargo. Such hijacks lead to seizing tankers so that gasoil cargoes can be transferred and sold on the black market.

Malacca straits waters remain a hotbed for pirate attacks and petty theft and unless strong measures are taken by the regional Governments, such incidences shall continue to take place.

24^th April 2014

Alarm bells ring in Singapore

Many US cities have popular nick names. New York is known as Big Apple and Chicago is called as Windy City. Similarly, Seattle in northwest is often known as rain city. In fact, I heard in private conversations, that going outside in Seattle without an umbrella is tantamount to committing suicide? I can not give you any first hand impressions because I have never been to Seattle. But a little research on net tells me that Seattle has a relatively high amount of days per year with precipitation (158), compared to such places as New York (119), Boston (127), and Nashville (119). But these other cities get an average of about 16% more rain per year than Seattle. Which means that it rains a lot less in Seattle, but is spread out over many more days. This is why almost no native Seattle-ite carries an umbrella generally. When it does rain, it tends to be a very light drizzle that isn’t bothersome. The point I am trying to make is even if some people are calling Seattle as a rain city, it's a misnomer and no one would probably miss the rain there because it does not affect the life of residents.

There are other cities in South east Asia where it rains much more, almost on three or four days, every week round the year. Yet people are not bored with so much rain, they actually want it, as their living and well being depends upon it. Take the case of Singapore. An unusual dearth of rainfall in the month of February 2014, has raised alarm bells there. Last month has turned out to be driest month on record even when it is the shortest calender month of the year. Rain fell for just seven days during last month. Singapore's environment and water agencies announced last week in a joint statement that the city measured just 0.2 millimeters of rainfall last month, the lowest reading since rainfall records began in 1869, and well below the historical average of 161 mm. The previous record low was in February 2010, when 6.3 mm of rainfall was recorded.

Why reduced rainfall in just one calender month is raising alarm bells in Singapore? There are reasons for that. It is an island state with total land area measuring just 714 Sq. Km. It is highly urbanised state with 5.3 million inhabitants But has only about 400 Sq. Km left vacant as rain catchment area. Being a small island without any major natural aquifers and lakes and a limited land area to collect rainwater, Singapore has been forced to make serious efforts for rainwater harvesting. Rainwater is collected through a comprehensive network of drains, canals, rivers and storm water collection ponds before it is channelled to Singapore's 17 reservoirs for storage. This makes Singapore one of the few countries in the world to harvest urban storm water on a large scale for its water supply.

In spite of all this careful management of catchment areas and rain harvesting, Singapore manages only to get about 200-300 million gallons per day, depending on rainfall, from natural rain. It manages to get about 165 million gallons more from reclamation and desalination plants, though at much higher cost. It still leaves a big gap as water from these resources can meet only half it's requirements. To meet the shortfall, Singapore imports about 250 million gallons of water per day from neighbouring Malaysia. This water is available at present at a low cost. However, when the validity of the international agreement ends in 2061, Singapore is likely to face a major challenge as Malaysia has been demanding a much higher price for the water.

Singapore's PUB (public Utilities Board) says: “ Water demand in Singapore is currently about 400 million gallons a day, with homes consuming 45% and the non-domestic sector taking up the rest. By 2060, total demand could almost double, with the non-domestic sector accounting for about 70%. On the supply side, we are on track to more than triple our NEWater capacity and ramp up desalination. Together, these will be able to meet up to 80% of water demand in 2060.”

This is all fine but the crucial factor in all this planning is that there is enough rainfall in the first place, which can be harvested. The alarm bells, ringing in Singapore, just because there was no rain in last February, have to be seen in this light. Singapore weather always has a dry phase of the northeast monsoon season, around February-March. This year it has been much harsher with the parched conditions already turning the lush island-nation, brown. Even neighbouring Malaysia is facing a similar dry spell. Authorities in Selangor, the country’s most populous province, have started rationing water after levels in rivers and reservoirs there reached critical lows.

PUB Officials do not see any need for rationing water as yet in spite of the dry spell but are advising companies, building managers and residents to save water, and are discouraging residents from washing their cars and watering plants. The matter is serious though, as Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has advised Singaporeans through his Facebook page: “Do try your best to conserve water, and use only what you really needed.”

7^th March 2014

Ganga river, pilgrimages and super bugs

The latest addition to Singapore's tourist attractions is a river themed wildlife park for river dwelling animals, aptly named as 'River Safari.' The 'U' shaped theme park has been created on both sides of a bay of water, fed from Upper Seletar Reservoir. As visitors enter the park and walk along a well laid path, they can see the tranquil bay water on one side and number of water ponds with glass walled sides. Each of these ponds is named after a major river system of the world such as Mississippi, Congo, Nile, Mekong, Amazon and so on. Each of the ponds houses marine animals exclusively found in that river system. Because of the clear glass wall on one side, visitors can observe animals like crocodiles, tortoises and off course, various fishes.

One of the pond exhibits is dedicated to river Ganga, India's most sacred and revered river. A visitor can see here, critically endangered Indian Gharial- a fish eating crocodile and the goonch catfish- a reputed man eater. In the background of the pond is a structure, which looks like an Indian temple with series of steps, which are known in India as temple 'Ghats.' Visitors are likely to feel initially, that there is a problem with this particular exhibit, because unlike other exhibits, where visitors can clearly see the marine life through clear glass and crystal clear waters, in the Ganga exhibit, the marine life looks unclear and foggy. A visitor may think first that the glass side wall has not been cleaned properly. But that is not the case. Glass is cleaned every day. The problem lies with the water itself, being murky and highly polluted. A sign nearby explains, that the park authorities have taken care to keep the waters in the pond truly like that of the original river- highly polluted - and that is why the visibility is so poor. This perhaps is the best way to tell the world, how polluted the waters of the Ganga river actually are.

Ganga is one of the largest river systems of the world. This river rises in the western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand and flows for 2525 Km to south and east through the Gangetic Plain of North India into Bangladesh, where it empties into the Bay of Bengal. It is the longest river of India and is the second greatest river in the world by water discharge. The Ganga basin is world's most heavily populated river basin with more than 400 Million inhabitants. The population density in this basin is a staggering number of 390 inhabitants per square Kilometers.

Hindu mythology considers the river Ganga as a divine mother and is worshiped as a Goddess that purifies the soul and brings new hope to the worshiper. Hindus would put few drops of Ganga water in the mouth of a dying person to absolve him of all the sins. Yet the same river, considered as ultimate form of purity, is almost dead and is now struggling to survive and breathe freely as unimaginable quantities of garbage and filth flow into it.

The main factors responsible for polluting the river are, industrial effluents, run-off from chemical fertilisers and pesticides used in agriculture, huge quantities of solid wastes released in the river, drainage from cities and towns discharged in the water, a large number of animal carcasses and hundreds of human corpses thrown into the river everyday and finally the faecal matter or human waste, that gets thrown in the river. Most of the people living in the Ganga river basin, have no sanitary facilities. They are forced to use the river for their ablution because there is no other way. This keeps fouling the river water and turning it into a source for spreading diseases. 2011 census has found out that there are about 131 million households in India that have no toilets on their premises, with eight million using public facilities and 123 million just defecating in the open. These numbers indicate the gravity of the situation.

There is more bad news for the people, who believe that the Ganga water is the purest and cures all the ills. Experts from UK’s Newcastle University and the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, led by professor David Graham , an environmental engineer based at Newcastle University, sampled water and sediments at seven sites along the upper Ganges in the months of May-June 2013, when millions of pilgrims travel to towns like Rishikesh and Haridwar to worship the Ganga as a mother Goddess.

The teams findings show that besides high levels of other contaminants in the water, the levels of the most deadly form of superbugs that are resistant to drugs are about 60 times higher,when millions of pilgrims travel to the river than other times of the year. The multi-drug resistant superbugs, found in Ganga waters, include the deadly NDM-1 virus also.

The NDM-1 virus was first identified in New Delhi and coded by the resistant gene blaNDM-1 . Until recently, strains that carry blaNDM-1 were only found in clinical settings or hospitals but in 2008, blaNDM-1 positive strains were found in surface waters in Delhi. Since then, blaNDM-1 has been found elsewhere in the world, including new variants.

Professor David Graham says that the temporary visitors from outside the region, overload local waste handling systems, which seasonally reduces water quality at the normally pristine sites. The study found overloading of waste treatment facilities as a factor to blame along with many cases, where untreated sewage was going straight into the river, where the pilgrims bathe. He adds:

"The bugs and their genes are carried in people's guts.If untreated wastes get into the water supply, resistance potential in the wastes can pass to the next person and spiraling increases in resistance can occur. This isn't a local problem - it's a global one. We studied pilgrimage areas because we suspected such locations would provide new information about resistance transmission via the environment . And it has - temporary visitors from outside the region overload local waste handling systems, which seasonally reduces water quality at the normally pristine sites." He blames excessive use of antibiotics as the principal cause for this and adds:

"What humans have done by excess use of antibiotics is accelerate the rate of evolution , creating a world of resistant strains that never existed before. Through the overuse of antibiotics, contamination of drinking water and other factors, we have exponentially speeded-up the rate at which superbugs might develop. For example, when a new drug is developed , natural bacteria can rapidly adapt and become resistant ; therefore very few new drugs are in the pipeline because it simply isn't cost-effective to make them."

What needs to be done then? How to protect the people visiting and living at these sites so that we make sure that the spread of resistance genes that promote life-threatening bacteria is achieved without any interference with important religious practices that are carried out by the people. Professor David Graham suggests that this can be done simply by improving waste management at key pilgrimage sites.

What is needed is a silent sanitation revolution to be undertaken on the banks of river Ganga, to improve waste management and to make her pure and free again. It is as simple as that!

19^th February 2013

A fit and proper response

The year was 1977. For the first time in history of India as an independent nation, a non-Congress party controlled Government, headed by Mr. Morarji Desai was in power in Delhi. Loss of power had unsettled the Congress party and forced to be in opposition, they were availing every possible opportunity to create ruckus and trouble for the ruling party everywhere. On a fateful day in August, when Prime Minister Morarji Desai was on an official visit to my home town Pune, the opposition parties had decided to have a black flag demonstration against the prime minister.

Just five weeks prior to that fateful day, I had purchased a brand new Fiat car. I had driven that car on that day to Chinchwad ( one of Pune's suburbs), because I had an appointment in a factory situated there. I had parked my car near the factory gate and was in a meeting, when a mob of demonstrators hit the road in front of the factory. Initially they were walking in a peaceful procession, but as Police stopped them, in an instant, the participants became unruly and hostile and the procession disintegrated in to a mob on rampage. Someone told me about the ruckus outside and I came out of the meeting and looked outside. By this time my car that was parked outside, was over turned by the mob and someone had then started the fire. It was the worst daytime nightmare of my life for me as I saw my brand new car burning outside. Afterwords, police managed to control the violence and fire brigade managed to douse the fire, that had burnt down my brand new car.

I can never forget that terrible incidence for my life time. It was a demonstration of how mob violence escalates on the roads, in an instant. The incident was no doubt tragic for me and eventually I got over it, yet what pained me most was that in the aftermath, no action was ever taken by the police against anyone, who were rioting for damaging the car. The matter was just forgotten and I was left fighting my own battle with the insurance company to see if I can get any compensation against my losses. This is what happens in India unfortunately.

With this mental background, I was really astonished to see how fast and quickly the Police have responded to an incidence of street violence in Singapore in matter of days. The prompt action would no doubt be appreciated by law abiding and discipline loving Singaporeans but I feel that for Indians it is a lesson about how to do things?

On 8^th December2013, at about 9:23 PM local time, a private bus driven by a Singaporean, hit and killed an unnamed 33-year-old Indian man. Instantly a large crowd gathered at the accident spot. When rescue workers were trying to reach the body, which was trapped under the bus, angry bystanders smashed the windscreen of the bus, and the mob turned on police officers arriving at the scene. Soon the scene turned into a major outbreak of law and order as large groups of South Asian workers gathered to attack the bus with sticks and garbage bins. Angry bystanders smashed the windscreen of the bus, and the mob turned on police officers arriving at the scene. A mob of about 400 people took to the streets and went on a rioting spree then, hurling street railings at police and torching police cars and an ambulance. They damaged five police vehicles, one ambulance and several private vehicles. After this, to quell the violence authorities deployed about 300 police officers, wearing Kevlar helmets and carrying riot shields, who cordoned off the area. An elite contingent of Gurkha troops was also brought in. Authorities managed to quell the violence only after 11 PM and arrested 27 people, who are all of south Asian origins. Official communique says that no fire arms were used. Singapore's Civil Defense Force said that at least 18 people were sent to hospital, including four of its first responders. 10 Police officials also were hurt, but none of them seriously. The bus driver involved in the fatal accident was hospitalized.

Now just after 10 days, Singapore police have wound up their probe, completing their investigations. They say that they have taken necessary action and no more arrests or repatriations would be carried out. Singapore plans to deport 53 Indian citizens and issue warnings to about 200 more for their involvement in the riot. It also proposes to charge 28 foreign workers (all Indians again) for rioting. These 28, could face up to 7 years in prison and caning. Deported workers will be barred from returning to Singapore, once they are sent back.

Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean issued a statement that says: "They (foreign workers) come here to earn a living and support their families in their home countries. In the process they contribute to Singapore by supplementing our need for workers.” Further the Government has confirmed that it would stick to its present policy on foreign labour.

There is no question that incidence of December 8^th had hurt the pride of this nation that is so proud of its safety and orderliness record of last 40 years. But I have no doubt that the firm way in which investigation was carried out by the police and the decisions taken would act as a firm deterrent against lawlessness and rioting. Singapore has clearly shown that safety and protection of citizens and their properties is very much a state responsibility and how culprits should be brought to the book.

19^th December 2013

Piracy on the rise in Malacca straits again

Malacca is located some two hundred kilometers north of Singapore. The city is the capital of State of Malacca within federal Malaysia. What makes Malacca so special is the narrow patch of sea along its shoreline. This funnel shaped narrow strip of Sea, called straits of Malacca, is sandwiched between Malaysian coast line on the eastern side and Indonesian island of Sumatra on the western side. In fact, at the narrowest part, which happens to be located near the city of Malacca, the straits are just a few kilometers wide. What makes the Malacca straits important as well as most crucial for the world’s shipping is the fact that this is the shortest practical opening for any sea faring ship sailing from South China Sea to the Indian Ocean or vice versa. (The other sea lane is through Sunda strait, between islands of Java and Sumatra in Indonesia. This route is much longer compared to Malacca straits sea lane.)

About 50000 ships cross this narrow strip of Sea every year. I read somewhere, that each and every day 15 million barrels of crude oil is transported through the straits. 70% of the oil that China consumes every year passes through here. If due to some reasons, the straits are closed to shipping, half of world’s shipping fleet would be forced to divert their sea faring routes. Straits of Malacca actually connect the Andaman Sea on the west to the South China Sea near Singapore. It is a true bottle-Neck of the world.

The US Energy Information Administration identifies the Malacca Strait, which connects the Indian Ocean with the South China Sea and Pacific Ocean, as one of the world’s two “most strategic choke points” for oil trade along with the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. It is the shortest sea route between the Middle East and Asia with about 15.2 million barrels of oil a day transported along the waterway in 2011, according to the EIA. About 90 percent of that was crude.

Speaking historically, Malacca straits was always considered as one of the most dangerous places on Sea, as with such heavy cargo traffic, sea pirates found it extremely lucrative for their criminal activities. Even in recent history, there have been case of piracy in Malacca straits. In the year 1999, a 9000 ton freighter named as MV Alondra Rainbow had disappeared from here, when on way to Japan with a cargo of Aluminum ingots. This ship with a crew of 17 was abducted by some 15 armed gangsters. After a week, the crew was found floating helplessly in a rubber life boat near Thailand coast with no trace of their ship. After a month, Indian Navy and the Coast guard, discovered a ship of similar description near the Indian coast. The ship was chased and fired upon by the Indian Coast guard, when the pirates surrendered. It was found on inspection, that half of the ship’s cargo was gone, the name of the ship was changed, it was showing a different flag and the pirates were trying to flood the ship to sink it. In the year 2002 alone, 36 ships were attacked here. In 2003, 60 ships were attacked. When the situation reached such alarming proportions, the insurance companies started declaring the Malacca straits area as war zone and refused to insure the ships or the cargo. US government indicated that unless littoral states take effective action, US navy would have to patrol this area. After this, Governments of Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore realized the gravity of the situation and started joint patrolling. There was a realization soon that the naval resources of these countries were not adequate for the task This lead to an agreement between as many as 16 nations including India, from the surrounding areas, to provide protection to shipping in the straits.. This agreement is known as ‘Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia’. After this agreement, the piracy in the straits has reduced almost to nil. Indian Navy participates in this security environment as per this agreement and Indian Naval ships are seen patrolling frequently in the Straits of Malacca.

The situation in Malacca straits then improved dramatically. Perhaps because of the measures taken by various Governments, only one fishing vessel was the only ship that was hijacked in the Strait of Malacca in all of 2012 according to the statistics available on International Maritime Bureau web site. Unfortunately, pirating seems to be picking up again in the Malacca straits and nearby areas, this year. On 10^th October 2013, an oil-products tanker was hijacked off Malaysia’s Pulau Aur in the South China Sea on Oct. 10, about 67 miles northeast of Singapore. Pirates stole the ship’s cargo before abandoning it on Oct. 15, the IMB’s website shows. This vessel is believed to be Danai 4, carrying marine gasoil from Singapore to Vietnam.

Within just a month from this act of piracy, the pirates struck again last week. On 7^th November 2013, five pirates armed with guns and knives boarded 3,254 deadweight tonne (dwt) GPT-21 tanker operated by Singapore firm Global Unique Petroleum about 7.3 nautical miles (13.5 kilometers) west of Malaysia’s Pulau Kukup in the Strait of Malacca, about 34 miles west of Singapore. The armed hijackers tied up all the crew members and held them hostage in one cabin. Later they ordered the Master to steer the ship to a pre-designated position where another unknown orange hull tanker came alongside. The C/O and the bosun were forced to operate the mooring winches and then the cargo pumps and valves to transfer oil into the unknown tanker. The pirates, prior to leaving the hijacked tanker, also stole personal belongings of the crew. The gasoil cargo on ship could be worth more than $2.7 million according to some Singapore sources.

International maritime Bureau has now put up this warning on its web site.

Malacca Straits: Although the number of attacks has dropped substantially due to the increase and aggressive patrols by the littoral states authorities since July 2005, ships are advised to continue maintaining strict anti piracy watches when transiting the straits. Currently, there are no indications as to how long these patrols will continue or reduce.

Singapore Straits: Vessels are advised to remain vigilant and to continue maintaining adequate anti piracy watch and measures. Pirates/robbers attack ships while underway or while anchored at the Straits.

Malacca straits waters remain a hotbed for pirate attacks and petty theft and it would be necessary for all the regional Governments to step up monitoring to see that such incidences are not repeated.

13^th November 2013

Shutting down a city, for dummies

Most of the readers must have seen 'For dummies' books in a book shop. 'For Dummies' is an extensive series of instructional/reference books, which are intended to present non-intimidating guides for readers new to the various topics covered. Despite the title, their publisher has taken great pains to emphasize that the For Dummies books are not literally for dummies. The series has been a worldwide success with editions in numerous languages.

I have a feeling that I am well qualified to write a book, which can be most appropriately named as: “Shutting down a city; for Dummies,” having successfully survived spells of “Haze” that engulf island city of Singapore once in a while. Those of the readers, who still do not believe in my qualifications may as well read my previous blogposts on the subject: 'Hazed out in Singapore' and 'A smoke screen.'

The situation in Singapore was particularly bad in the month of June 2013. Haze is just air pollution and is also measured by Pollutant Standard Index or PSI. If PSI remains below 50, the air is considered normal and healthy. For PSI values around 100, one starts noticing it and above 300 it is called hazardous with any outdoor activity considered risky. On 17th June 2013, PSI crossed 100 in Singapore. Since this happens every year, people were not much worried. But this year it turned out to be exceptionally bad. PSI went within two days to 350 level and then above 400. At this value of PSI, the advice is to stay indoors.

I still remember those hopeless stuffy days when I was forced to stay indoors for 3 or 4 days with PSI hitting 400. The general feeling was as if someone is choking you all the time. Surgical masks sold at a premium in Singapore on those days. The usually bustling city just shut down. The roads became devoid of traffic and pedestrians, with everyone preferring to stay indoors.

The Singapore haze and city shut down was caused by Indonesian palm growers across Malacca straits, trying to light fires to burn foliage growing on their lands. Since the land on which they grow their palm trees have peat layers just below surface, the fires when lighted, continue to burn till rains can extinguish it. Though Singapore people had no hand in this calamity brought over to them by winds, there are other cities in the world, which bring upon a smog on themselves with resultant shutdowns.

In the city of Harbin, , the gritty capital of northeastern Heilongjiang province and home to some 11 million people, heavy smog with a PM 2.5 index (used to measure the amount of particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometres in the air,) exceeding 500 micrograms per cubic meter, descended on the downtown area on morning of October 21, 2013, with Cars and buildings barely visible in the smog that had shrouded Harbin. This Choking smog all but shut down Harbin, one of northeastern China’s largest cities on Monday, forcing schools to suspend classes, snarling traffic and closing the airport, in the country’s first major air pollution crisis of the winter. By afternoon on same day, the PM2.5 index reached a reading of 1,000 in some parts of Harbin. Visibility was reportedly reduced to 10 meters.

According to Xinhua News Agency, the highest red alert was issued for heavy smog in several cities in Heilongjiang province on this day as it was the second day of heavy smog. Local media say that this alarming pollution level has been caused by the city switching on its public heating system for winter. All of Heilongjiang province's highways, bus services and the Taiping International Airport in Harbin were forced to close.

China's capital Beijing is ill famous for its smog and pollution. Last winter, Beijing suffered its own worst smog emergency, when the PM2.5 surpassed 900 on one particularly bad day in January. Remembering that, one micro blogger, Backpacker Xiao, described Harbin as "today's dead city" and twitted on Sina Weibo:

"Beijing, you're no longer alone. You have us too now,"

Another micro blogger says:

“After years of effort, the wise and hard-working people of Harbin have finally managed to skip both the middle-class society and the communist society stages, and have now entered a fairyland society!”

Meanwhile, a student in Changchun, netizen Pen and Ink Silent, from Jilin district, posted the following tongue-in-cheek message:

"My mother called... and asked how the air in Changchun was, and if I was coughing. I feel ok, I should be able to live to see my graduation."

Another micro blogger from the same district, MaltzZz says:

"We were all late for class today because we couldn't find the academic building,"

For China’s stability-obsessed leadership, Air quality in Chinese cities is an issue of increasing concern as it just boosts the popular resentment over political privilege and rising inequality in China.

Domestic media have already run stories how Government officials enjoy in their homes expensive air purifiers and how special organic farms supply vegetables to communist party cadres so that they need not risk suffering from recurring food safety scandals. The government has announced plans over the years to tackle the pollution problem but has made little apparent progress.

In Singapore, the haze was caused by Indonesian palm tree growers, in China the smog is caused by fuel burning to heat the city. In both cases the reasons behind the pollution are different yet both are man made. The reasons may be differing but the result is precisely the same. Nevertheless, you can see how easy it is, to shut down a city, even dummies can do it.

23^rd October 2013