Monday, September 29, 2008
1 - 15 centuries before Vasco da Gama, West knew of sea route to India
While most educated people today know about the overland medieval Silk Route linking China with Italy, few are aware of the ancient Incense Route that connected India with Rome.
Shipping along the Incense Route was the most important carrier of world trade in classical times. From the Mediterranean Sea the route extended overland across Palestine, where cities and caravanserai lined it. And then, on reaching the Suez, it embarked on ships that hugged the coast of Arabia to reach India.
This trade was so important and so expensive having to be paid for in gold that Roman elders decried it. The situation was similar to the U.S. today in that imports far exceeded exports. Rome was being bankrupted in the pursuits of trinkets - said the wise heads - to the benefit of the Kushanas, the Cholas, the Pandyans and the Cheras of India.
Many of us must have read - without being able to identify the city of Ophir - the much quoted poem' Cargoes' by a former Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, John Masefield.
To read the full article, click here..
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
Shipping along the Incense Route was the most important carrier of world trade in classical times. From the Mediterranean Sea the route extended overland across Palestine, where cities and caravanserai lined it. And then, on reaching the Suez, it embarked on ships that hugged the coast of Arabia to reach India.
This trade was so important and so expensive having to be paid for in gold that Roman elders decried it. The situation was similar to the U.S. today in that imports far exceeded exports. Rome was being bankrupted in the pursuits of trinkets - said the wise heads - to the benefit of the Kushanas, the Cholas, the Pandyans and the Cheras of India.
Many of us must have read - without being able to identify the city of Ophir - the much quoted poem' Cargoes' by a former Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, John Masefield.
To read the full article, click here..
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
Labels: ancient, China, Incense Route, india, Italy, Mediterranean Sea, Palestine, Rome, route, Saudi Arabia, Silk Route linking, Vasco da Gama
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
India's external ‘conquests' of dharma left art monuments in their wake
It may have been just an accident or it may be reflective of the unique character of Indian civilization. But it is a fact that India has never sent out military expeditions to conquer distant lands.
Since the time of Ashoka the Great (304 BC 232 BC), its conquests have been the conquests of dharma. What an image -- almost comic -- that the armies of the dharma presented to the people they set out to ‘conquer‘!.
Think of the Spanish conquistadores in their shining breastplates, plumed helmets, slit visors, gauntlets, rapiers, matchlock guns! Conquerors are expected to strike terror and awe in the breasts of the natives. Instead, the Buddhist monks must have seemed a ridiculous lot to the civilized Achaemenids of Persia, the neo-Hellenes of Gandhara, or the sophisticated Chinese of the Han times.
Mahatma Gandhi was not the first Indian to face the world in a loincloth. In an illuminating review of an exhibition of Chinese art in the New York Times (Nov. 2, 2007) the art critic Holland Cotter wrote: "What an outlandish sight Buddhist monks must have been when they first turned up more than a millennium ago in China, a land where only criminals - the disgraced and the dangerous - had shaved heads, wore patched-together clothes and begged for food.
"Traveling the Silk Road alone or in pairs, monks had neither homes nor families. This too must have disturbed a Confucian culture that was based on the idea that where you came from was who you were, and that the meaning of life lay in family, in placating ancestors and in producing heirs.
To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
Since the time of Ashoka the Great (304 BC 232 BC), its conquests have been the conquests of dharma. What an image -- almost comic -- that the armies of the dharma presented to the people they set out to ‘conquer‘!.
Think of the Spanish conquistadores in their shining breastplates, plumed helmets, slit visors, gauntlets, rapiers, matchlock guns! Conquerors are expected to strike terror and awe in the breasts of the natives. Instead, the Buddhist monks must have seemed a ridiculous lot to the civilized Achaemenids of Persia, the neo-Hellenes of Gandhara, or the sophisticated Chinese of the Han times.
Mahatma Gandhi was not the first Indian to face the world in a loincloth. In an illuminating review of an exhibition of Chinese art in the New York Times (Nov. 2, 2007) the art critic Holland Cotter wrote: "What an outlandish sight Buddhist monks must have been when they first turned up more than a millennium ago in China, a land where only criminals - the disgraced and the dangerous - had shaved heads, wore patched-together clothes and begged for food.
"Traveling the Silk Road alone or in pairs, monks had neither homes nor families. This too must have disturbed a Confucian culture that was based on the idea that where you came from was who you were, and that the meaning of life lay in family, in placating ancestors and in producing heirs.
To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
Labels: China, Chinese art, dharma, Han Times, india, Indian civilization, Mahatma Gandhi, monuments, New York Times, Persia, Silk Road, Spanish
Friday, June 6, 2008
For much of the world, Obama's victory was a moment to admire United States
For much of the world, Sen. Barack Obama's victory in the Democratic primaries was a moment to admire the United States, at a time when the nation's image abroad is in tatters.
From hundreds of supporters crowded around televisions in rural Kenya, Obama's ancestral homeland, to jubilant Britons writing "WE DID IT!" on the "Brits for Barack" site on Face book, people celebrated what they called an important racial and generational milestone for the United States.
"This is close to a miracle. I was certain that some things will not happen in my lifetime," said Sunila Patel, 62, encountered on the streets of New Delhi. "A black president of the U.S. will mean that there will be more American tolerance for people around the world who are different."
The primary elections generated unprecedented interest around the world, as people in distant parliament buildings and that ched roof huts followed the political ups and downs as if they were watching a Hollywood thriller.
Much of the interest simply reflects hunger for change from President Bush, who is deeply unpopular in much of the world.
At the same time, many people abroad seemed impressed - sometimes even shocked - by the wide-open nature of U.S. democracy and the history-making race between a woman and a black man.
"The primaries showed that the U.S. is actually the nation we had believed it to be, a place that is open-minded enough to have a woman or an African-American as its president," said Minoru Morita, a Tokyo political analyst.
"I think it will be put down as a shining, historical moment in the history of America," said Fumiaki Kubo, a professor at Tokyo University.
While Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has admirers around the world, especially from her days as first lady, interviews on four continents suggested that Obama's candidacy has most captured the world's imagination.
"Obama is the exciting image of what we always hoped America was," said Robin Niblett, director of Chatham House, a London think tank. "We have immensely enjoyed the ride and can't wait for the next phase."
The presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain, who has extensive overseas experience, is known and respected in much of the world. In interviews, McCain seemed more popular than Obama in countries such as Israel, where he is particularly admired for his hard line against Iran.
To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
From hundreds of supporters crowded around televisions in rural Kenya, Obama's ancestral homeland, to jubilant Britons writing "WE DID IT!" on the "Brits for Barack" site on Face book, people celebrated what they called an important racial and generational milestone for the United States.
"This is close to a miracle. I was certain that some things will not happen in my lifetime," said Sunila Patel, 62, encountered on the streets of New Delhi. "A black president of the U.S. will mean that there will be more American tolerance for people around the world who are different."
The primary elections generated unprecedented interest around the world, as people in distant parliament buildings and that ched roof huts followed the political ups and downs as if they were watching a Hollywood thriller.
Much of the interest simply reflects hunger for change from President Bush, who is deeply unpopular in much of the world.
At the same time, many people abroad seemed impressed - sometimes even shocked - by the wide-open nature of U.S. democracy and the history-making race between a woman and a black man.
"The primaries showed that the U.S. is actually the nation we had believed it to be, a place that is open-minded enough to have a woman or an African-American as its president," said Minoru Morita, a Tokyo political analyst.
"I think it will be put down as a shining, historical moment in the history of America," said Fumiaki Kubo, a professor at Tokyo University.
While Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has admirers around the world, especially from her days as first lady, interviews on four continents suggested that Obama's candidacy has most captured the world's imagination.
"Obama is the exciting image of what we always hoped America was," said Robin Niblett, director of Chatham House, a London think tank. "We have immensely enjoyed the ride and can't wait for the next phase."
The presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain, who has extensive overseas experience, is known and respected in much of the world. In interviews, McCain seemed more popular than Obama in countries such as Israel, where he is particularly admired for his hard line against Iran.
To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
Labels: America, Barack Obama, Black President, China, Democratic administration, Hillary Rodham Clinton, historical moment, John McCain, President Bush, Republican nominee, United states, Victory
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Tuberculosis killed 1.7 million globally in 2006, World Health Organization says
The rate of tuberculosis incidence fell slightly worldwide for a second straight year in 2006, but there were still 9.2 million new cases and the disease killed 1.7 million people, the UN health agency said a few months back.
The rate decline of 0.6 percent in 2006 compared to 2005 was so modest that the increase in the world's population meant there were actually more TB cases globally, the World Health Organization said in its annual report on tuberculosis.
And WHO officials cited worrisome trends suggesting that recent progress was stalling, while saying more money is needed to fight TB, which trails only AIDS as the world's leading killer among infectious diseases.
By region, Africa had the highest TB rates while Asia had the most cases. By nation, India had the most cases, followed by China, Indonesia, South Africa and Nigeria, according to the report based on data from 202 countries and territories.
"We're really in a very uncertain situation, so I don't feel happy at all, actually, that it is really getting controlled," Dr. Mario Raviglione, who heads WHO efforts against TB, told reporters in a conference call.
"The major concern is that there is a slowdown here, rather than an acceleration, in TB control efforts," Raviglione said.
To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
The rate decline of 0.6 percent in 2006 compared to 2005 was so modest that the increase in the world's population meant there were actually more TB cases globally, the World Health Organization said in its annual report on tuberculosis.
And WHO officials cited worrisome trends suggesting that recent progress was stalling, while saying more money is needed to fight TB, which trails only AIDS as the world's leading killer among infectious diseases.
By region, Africa had the highest TB rates while Asia had the most cases. By nation, India had the most cases, followed by China, Indonesia, South Africa and Nigeria, according to the report based on data from 202 countries and territories.
"We're really in a very uncertain situation, so I don't feel happy at all, actually, that it is really getting controlled," Dr. Mario Raviglione, who heads WHO efforts against TB, told reporters in a conference call.
"The major concern is that there is a slowdown here, rather than an acceleration, in TB control efforts," Raviglione said.
To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
Labels: Asia, China, efforts, highest TB rates, Indonesia, infectious diseases, people, ple, South Africa, tuberculosis, WHO
Thursday, May 8, 2008
12,000 respondents said, India will have most billionaires by 2017
I ndia will have more billionaires than any other country in the world in a decade, according to an online poll by Forbes magazine.
More than half of nearly 12,000 respondents said India will have the maximum number of billionaires in 2017, according to the poll initiated by the U.S. business magazine in November last.
In the world's billionaires list released by the magazine last month, India had the fourth largest number in the world, while the United States had the most. However, only 17 percent believed that the United States would have the most billionaires in 10 years, while 20 percent the second highest after India - thought China would top the list. Incidentally, the Ambani brothers, Mukesh and Anil, together have been rated by the Sunday Times of London as the richest in the world at a combined worth of £43 billion ($85 billion), ahead of America's Walton family, owners of WalMart (£38.4 billion) and Microsoft chief Bill Gates (£29 billion).
To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
More than half of nearly 12,000 respondents said India will have the maximum number of billionaires in 2017, according to the poll initiated by the U.S. business magazine in November last.
In the world's billionaires list released by the magazine last month, India had the fourth largest number in the world, while the United States had the most. However, only 17 percent believed that the United States would have the most billionaires in 10 years, while 20 percent the second highest after India - thought China would top the list. Incidentally, the Ambani brothers, Mukesh and Anil, together have been rated by the Sunday Times of London as the richest in the world at a combined worth of £43 billion ($85 billion), ahead of America's Walton family, owners of WalMart (£38.4 billion) and Microsoft chief Bill Gates (£29 billion).
To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
Labels: Ambani brothers, Bill Gates, billionaires, China, Forbes magazine, india, london, Sunday Times, United states, world's billionaires list
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