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Best Beaches of Andaman

INDIA: Outrage at call to remove Andaman tribe’s children

An Indian MP's call for the children of a recently-contacted Andaman Island tribe to be removed from their parents and sent to residential schools has sparked worldwide outrage.

Indigenous people around the world have reacted furiously to the move, which echoes the much-criticised policy of the 'Stolen Generation' in Australia, and similar policies in North America.

Michael Cachagee, Executive Director of the National Residential School Survivors’ Society (NRSSS) in Canada, said, ‘The NRSSS cannot comprehend or fathom that any nation in today’s world would consider interning any of their citizens, especially children, in a ‘residential school’, given the horrific history associated with these types of schools in Canada and other parts of the world.’

From Brazil, Yanomami leader Davi Kopenawa Yanomami said, ‘This plan is very bad. The forest is the Jarawa’s home. They are in their own land. They have their own traditions and their own culture. If the government takes their children away and puts them in a school, they will lose their culture. If they are made to leave and live in a town, in a school, it would be a crime.’

MP (Member of Parliament) Bishnu Pada Ray wants to ‘wean’ Jarawa children away from the tribe in order to ‘drastically mainstream’ them.

He will propose to India’s Island Development Authority in July that ‘quick and drastic steps be taken to bring the Jarawa up to the basic mainstream characteristics’. He describes the Jarawa as being ‘in a primitive stage of development’ and ‘stuck in time somewhere between the stone and iron age’.

Similar schemes in the US, Canada and Australia are now acknowledged to have been disastrous, and to have left hundreds of thousands of indigenous people traumatized.

Mr Ray is also demanding that restrictions on developments in the Jarawa reserve be lifted, so that a highway running through the reserve can be upgraded, and a railway built. India’s Supreme Court ordered in 2002 that the existing Andaman Trunk Road must be closed to protect the Jarawa, but it remains open.

Survival’s director Stephen Corry said today, ‘These scandalous proposals are contemptuous both of indigenous peoples’ rights and the UN’s standards for their protection. Attempts to force the Jarawa to abandon their way of life will simply destroy them.’

source: CHILD RIGHTS INFORMATION NETWORK

Read in full the Andamans MP’s proposals regarding the Jarawa

ROSS ISLAND-then&now

Prices of essential commodities fixed

Prices of essential commodities fixed

Port Blair, Apr 13

The Directorate of Civil Supply has fixed the retail selling prices of essential commodities prevailing in the market as on Apr 13, 2010. Accordingly, the prices of branded packed atta is Rs.28-33/-, sugar Rs.39/-, Andhra Ponni Rs.25/-, Ponni R. Rice sun brand Rs.38/-, Ponni B. Rice sun brand Rs.38/-, Raw Rice ordinary Rs.22/-, Urad dal Rs.75/-, Moong dal Rs.94/-, White mutter Rs.24/- Gram dal Rs.37/-, Toordal Rs.77/-, Masoor dal Rs.57/-, Mutter (yellow peas) Rs.24/-, Gram whole Rs.34/-,G.N.oil (loose) Rs.83/-, Mustard oil (loose) Rs.70/-, Onion Rs.16/- and Potato (Kolkata) Rs.10/-, (Chennai) Rs.12/-, the Asst. Director (W&M) said here today.

Source:The Daily Telegrams

Jail: Past & Present

Andaman(Kaalapaani ) is famous for its Cellular jail built by the British to imprison and torture the freedom fighters.The only jail in the world built by the prisoners themselves with the bricks from Burma.Now it is a National Memorial and visited by tourists for its historical importance .

Sikkim opens up towards Prison Tourism.The State Rongnyek Jail will soon find its place in the tourist broachers as a must see spot.

One is surrounded by water another by mountains.

"There are only two places in the world where time takes precedence over the job to be done. School and prison."

William Glasser

cat-astrophe or catch 22

puffer fish..<.click to know more...

Holidays 2009-10

SOME PHOTOS

THE BRICK SMOKERS
LIFE CYCLE
HOME ALONE

LIFEBOAT
Home schooling for Samanta.
Light and Shadow
Fishermen's Ordeal
British Legacy

Kids

my creations

Defence Personnel Register As General Voters In The Islands

Port Blair, Feb 27: A long standing issue of voting rights of defence personnel has been addressed with the Government permitting defence personnel to register themselves as general voters at the place of their posting, irrespective of their native place.

 

This welcome move will finally allow defence personnel to become an active and integral part of the democratic process and have a say in shaping the future of the place they are posted at.

 

The ANC has taken up registration of all defence personnel posted at the Unified Command in right earnest. As a result a total of 4037 uniformed personnel of the three services have already registered themselves with the local Electoral Registration Officer of the A&N Islands Parliamentary constituency. The sizeable number of defence voters will have a significant effect on the political setup of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and also end the electoral isolation of defence personnel and their families.

source: Andaman Chronicle

Vernal Hanging Parrot

The Vernal Hanging Parrot (Loriculus vernalis) is a small parrot which is a resident breeder from India eastwards to Andaman Islands..Southeast Asia. In Sri Lanka, it is replaced by the very similar endemic Sri Lanka Hanging Parrot, (L. beryllinus). It undergoes local movements, driven mainly by the availability of the fruit, seeds, buds and blossoms that make up its diet.

Vernal Hanging Parrot is a bird of dry jungle and cultivation. It nests in holes in trees, laying 2-4 white eggs.

This is a small, mainly green hanging parrot, only 14 cm long with a short tail. The adult has a red rump and bill, and blue throat patch.

Immature birds have a duller rump, and lack the throat patch.

Vernal Hanging Parrot is less gregarious than some of its relatives, and is usually in small groups outside the breeding season. Its flight is swift and direct, and the call is a raucous chattering.

For his home:Fisherman

Four fishes for his family...three tunas and a kokaari!!!

Wallpaper

Wallpaper for your PC....double click the photo and save.

Turtle visit

This turtle came to lay eggs at Panchavati coast.

From the Ship M.V.Nancowry 14.12.2008

as it happens ..... andamansikkim  ..EXCLUSIVE

PIRATES OF THE HOOGLY-India

PIRATES OF THE HOOGLY......

Tug boat GAJ as seen from the porthole of M.V.Akbar

M.V.Harshavardan in the international water of the Bay of Bengal

A cargo vessel sailing towards the Sea in the hoogly waters

Sea Pirates often target merchant vessels.When I boarded a passenger ship M.V.Harshavardan for PortBlair few  years back,the ship was anchored on the Hoogly River waiting for the tide.Suddenly in the wee hours of the night sirens and announcements inside the ship woke me up.Crew members were running here and there.After a while the sounds subdued..I mustered courage and went to the deck,where a crew member was sitting and smoking..I enquired about the sounds, he told me that some armed men entered the ship  using ropes and threatening with swords and broken bottles ,they broke open the store room and fled with the bundles of new big sized ropes valued more than one and half lakhs of  rupees.Security and safety measures for the passenger ships plying from the mainland to the islands also should be considered at this point of time.

Read  more....... about sea Pirates....  

BELEIVE IT OR NOT !

Beleieve it or not,there are about 30% of children in Andaman islands  who have never seen the sea  ,and children in sikkim who have never seen the snow mountains .

Do's & Don'ts for the Visitors to the Islands-Andamans

Do’s & Don'ts for the Visitors to the Islands

Do’s

Foreigners, especially to ensure to and from confirmed air tickets and accommodation in advance before proceeding to the Andaman Island to avoid immigration problems.

Foreign nationals should obtain the required permit from the immigration authorities soon after landing on the island at Airport/Harbour.

Visit the permitted areas in the Islands only.

Make use of the services of authorized tourist guides.

While driving, follow the traffic rules, keep left. Carry legal documents like driving license, permit passport etc.

Consult life guards before entering sea.

Swim in safe area only.

Keep the beaches and the environment clean.

Dispose of the garbage at proper places/dustbins and avoid plastic.

Observe decency and decorum in dress.

Avail the service of Scuba Dive instructors having certification of international/professional organizations like PADI, CMAS, NAUI, BSAC and SSI for safe diving experience.

Drive the vehicles in accordance to convoy system. Same day return by ATR is not permissible accordingly to Jarawa Policy.

On beach, parents are requested to keep an eye on your kids at all times.

Please drink sufficient water to avoid dehydration.

Please inform your location to the life guard.

Please pick up your bags and bottle while leaving the visiting spot.

Dont’s

Foreign nationals should not enter the islands without required permit.

Do not enter into restricted/tribal areas.

Do not take video, film or photographs inside Tribal Reserve areas of the indigenous tribes.

Do not carry sea fans and seashells unless specific permits are obtained from Fisheries Department.

Do not light fire in forest areas.

Do not stay on the beaches or forest during nights by putting up down tents/hammocks.

Nudity on beaches and public places is forbidden.

Do not enter the National Parks without permission.