#the importance of vasco in international politics

[dubiousdisco]

THEY GOT PAYET FROM VASCO TO HAND THESE VASCO JERSEYS TO LULA AND MACRON

[hpcaatcop28]

HPCA Hosts COP 28 Side Event on the Challenges and Opportunities of Reducing Global Methane Emissions

The Harvard Project on Climate Agreements (HPCA) assembled a panel of leading academics and government officials to discuss strategies for achieving significant methane emissions reductions at relatively low costs at an official COP 28 Side Event last Wednesday (Dec. 6).  The event, titled “Reducing Global Methane Emissions: Imperatives, Opportunities, and Challenges,” was moderated by HPCA Director Robert Stavins.

The panelists, in addition to Stavins, were:

Claire Henly, Senior Advisor for Non-CO2 GHGs, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate;

Daniel Jacob, Vasco McCoy Family Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Harvard University; and

Helena Varkkey, Associate Professor of Environmental Politics and Governance, Universiti Malaya.

HPCA Side Event panelists (from L-to-R): Claire Henly, Helena Varkkey, Robert Stavins, Daniel Jacob, and James Stock

James Stock, the Harold Hitching Burbank Professor of Political Economy, Vice Provost for Climate and Sustainability, and Director of the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability at Harvard University, framed the context of the discussion with opening remarks.

“This audience needs no words of introduction to why methane provides immediate challenges, urgent opportunities, but also the possibility of driving quick emissions reductions that could ease our transition path as we deal with more challenging carbon dioxide emissions down the road,” he said.

Stavins provided an overview of the new Harvard Initiative on Reducing Global Methane Emissions, one of five research clusters anchored within the Salata Institute. He explained to attendees that the initiative is designed to engage stakeholders in government, business, NGOs, and international organizations in research and policy solutions to address the methane challenge.

“Focusing on methane can give the world time to bend the curve on CO₂ emissions, conduct research on carbon mitigation and on carbon removal, and then begin to implement longer term strategies to mitigate and adapt to climate change,” he remarked. “This is not an either or. This is not methane instead of CO₂. This is methane and CO₂, and for that matter, other greenhouse gases.”

Jacob discussed the research that he and his team are doing to monitor methane emissions from their sources using sophisticated satellite technology.

“Quantifying methane emissions is essential for climate action, but it is a very difficult task,” he explained. Yet the task is becoming more achievable, he said, by mapping so-called “global hot spots” of emissions, many of which are located in the global south, and can be attributed to oil and gas, coal, livestock, rice, wetlands, and landfills.

Henly spoke of the Biden Administration’s efforts to address the methane challenge, including the Methane Finance Sprint, launched in April with the goal of raising $200 million to assist low- and middle-income nations to fund emissions reduction programs across all sectors. The Sprint has now raised more than $1 billion from governments, the European Commission, philanthropies, and the private sector. This is part of the Global Methane Pledge.

It was also announced during COP 28, Henly explained, that six of the world’s largest private sector companies have launched the “Dairy Methane Alliance,” in which participants, including Nestle, pledge to begin reporting methane emissions by mid-2024, and develop action plans to reduce their methane emissions before the end of the year.

In her presentation, Varkkey discussed the progress Malaysia is making in climate policy. Methane, she said, represents approximately 15 percent of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the country, a number that is expected to decline after the government signed onto the Global Methane Pledge two years ago.

“It is really important for Malaysia to have decisive methane action even while we are planning for CO₂ and other reductions as well,” she said. While the government hasn’t yet developed a national methane reduction action plan, Varkkey remarked, there are indications that emissions are already dropping due to positive actions by the private sector.

The panel discussion was followed by a lively Q-and-A during which panelists responded to questions ranging from how landfill emissions are measured, the importance of public awareness of methane emissions, links between methane and nitric oxide in the agriculture sector, potential new technologies that can be used to abate methane emissions, the prospects for a binding international agreement to impose costs on methane emissions, and the ways in which Harvard University is leveraging its platform to deepen collaboration with the Chinese government, academic institutions, and companies around climate change issues.

The side event was co-sponsored by the Foundation Environment - Law Society (FURG).

[believersiasacademy]

Important Treaties in World History

Treaty of Tordesillas (1494):

The 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas neatly divided the “New World” into land, resources, and people claimed by Spain and Portugal.

It was signed between Portugal and Spain (technically its component Kingdom of Castile) under the mediation of the papacy.

This resulted in Spanish control over much of Central and South America while the as of yet undiscovered Brazil fell to Portugal.

This treaty led to exploration by Portugal to the east resulting in Vasco da Gama’s discovery of sea route to India in 1498.

The Peace of Westphalia (1648):

The Peace of Westphalia consisted of two related treaties, the Treaty of Münster and the Treaty of Osnabrück, signed at the end of the Thirty Years’ War and the Eighty Years’ War.

This conflict which started out as a war between various Protestant and Catholic states in the fragmented Holy Roman Empire evolved into a major conflict between all the then major powers of Europe.

According to the Peace of Westphalia, all parties would recognize the Peace of Augsburg of 1555 which had the following provisions;

Christians of non-dominant denominations were guaranteed the right to practice their faith; and

the exclusive sovereignty of each party over its lands, people, and agents abroad was recognized.

The Peace of Westphalia established the precedent of peace reached by diplomatic congress and a new system of political order in Europe based upon the concept of co-existing sovereign states.

The Westphalian principle of the recognition of another state’s sovereignty and right to decide its own fate rests at the foundations of international law today.

The Treaty of Paris (1783):

This treaty, signed on September 3, 1783, between the American colonies and Great Britain, ended the American Revolution and formally recognized the United States as an independent nation.

The peace process brought a nascent United States into the arena of international diplomacy, playing against the largest and most established powers on earth.

It also established peace between Great Britain and the allied nations of France, Spain, and the Netherlands.

Treaty of Versailles (1919):

Treaty of Versailles, peace document signed at the end of World War I by the Allied and associated powers and by Germany in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles, France, on June 28, 1919; it took force on January 10, 1920.

The other Central Powers on the German side signed separate treaties.

One of the most important and controversial was: “The Allied and Associated Governments affirm, and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies.”

This article, Article 231, became known as the War Guilt clause which put the responsibility of the entire war on Germany and the other central powers.

Prominent economists such as John Maynard Keynes declared the treaty too harsh, a “Carthaginian peace”, and said the reparations were excessive and counter-productive.

The harsh measures given in Treaty of Versailles is often regarded as the reason for the rise of Hitler and Nazism in Germany and is a major reason which led to Second World War.

Read more : https://believersias.com/important-treaties-in-world-history

[xtruss]

The Wacky Story of How China's Navy Got Aircraft Carriers

China was proud to launch its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, in 2012. This vessel was a refit of an incomplete Soviet Kuznetsov-class cruiser carrier. However, the story of how China got that ship in the first place may as well be a comedy—because the carrier was actually a rogue acquisition for the Chinese military against the wishes of the government in Beijing.

— by Sebastien Roblin | September 16, 2019 | Nationalinterest.Org

Key Point: So if there’s a moral to the story of the Varyag, it’s not to expect too much gratitude for your good deeds . . . and always keep the receipt.

China was proud to launch its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, in 2012. This vessel was a refit of an incomplete Soviet Kuznetsov-class cruiser carrier. However, the story of how China got that ship in the first place may as well be a comedy—because the carrier was actually a rogue acquisition for the Chinese military against the wishes of the government in Beijing. And it was undertaken by a basketball player who claimed he wanted to build a floating casino.

The People's Liberation Army Navy first became interested in acquiring an aircraft carrier in 1970, when China was still on bad terms with both the Soviet Union and the United States. However few concrete steps were taken, because the cost and complexity of such an endeavor far exceeded the PLAN’s limited capabilities during the Cold War.

The Soviet Navy did deploy its first carriers in the 1970s: Kiev-class vessels that could launch Yak-38 Forger jump jets of limited effectiveness. By the 1980s, the Soviets began construction of two more promising Kuznetsov-class carriers. These had a “ski jump” ramp, allowing more conventional—and much higher-performing—Su-33 Flanker fighters to take off from it. Like the earlier Kiev class, the Kuznetsov was technically an “aircraft-carrying cruiser” due its powerful armament of twelve P-700 Granit antiship missile systems. This technicality was important, as “aircraft carriers” proper weighing more than fifteen thousand tons (which is to say, virtually all aircraft carriers today) were not legally permitted by the Montreux Convention to transit from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean via the Bosporus Straits.

However, the fall of the Soviet Union left the second vessel in its class, the Varyag, only two-thirds complete in Ukraine, lacking its armament and electrical systems. Construction ceased in 1992, and the cash-strapped Ukrainian government did its best to pawn off the fifty-five thousand tons of inoperable metal rusting in its Mykolaiv shipyard. Russia, India and China all passed.

A two-part series in the South China Morning Post in 2015 revealed the machinations behind how the carrier ended up in Chinese service anyway, two decades later. It turns out the PLA Navy did want the Varyag—the team sent to inspect it recommended purchasing it! But the government in Beijing was worried that acquiring a carrier might increase tensions at a time when it was seeking to further open itself to Western investors.

Instead, in 1996 a group of PLA officers including intelligence chief Gen. Ji Shengde approached Xu Zengping, a former PLA basketball star who had become a successful businessman arranging international events. The cabal’s proposal: to have Xu purchase the carrier as a private citizen, ostensibly to serve as a casino so as to avoid undesirable scrutiny. Then the PLAN could collect it for its own use once the political winds were more favorable.

This cover story is not as ridiculous as it sounds. Remember those Kiev-class carriers mentioned earlier? Two of them are now moored in China, serving as amusement parks. The Minsk was actually purchased by a consortium of video-game arcade owners in Shenzhen for $4.4 million, and has since been moved to Nantong, north of Shanghai. And the original Kiev? Now a floating hotel in Tianjin. However, the more modern Kuznetsov-class Varyag was undoubtedly of much greater practical interest for the PLAN than either of those ships.

Xu was down with the scheme and borrowed the equivalent of $30 million in Hong Kong dollars from a friend to help fund the venture—the first expense of which was to create a $6 million shell company in Macau called Agência Turística e Diversões Chong Lot Limitada, in order to maintain the fiction. (Macau was still in its last years as a Portuguese colony at the time.)

In January 1998, Xu arrived in Ukraine and met with the shipyard owners. After four days of negotiations, in which enormous bribes were offered and fifty bottles of 124-proof baijiu liquor were consumed, he reached an agreement to purchase the carrier for $20 million—well below the cost of a single jet fighter today. He wasn’t able to make the payment until a year later, with a $10 million extra late fee tacked on.

Some international observers smelled something fishy in the arrangement—Xu’s company did not actually have a gambling permit in Macau, nor a listed phone number or address. Ironically, however, a Jane’s analyst interviewed by the Washington Post at the time stated it was “farfetched” that the PLA Navy would try to operate the Varyag due to its decrepit and incomplete condition.

By June 2000, everything was ready to go. The carrier’s four engines were packed in grease seals (they had yet to be installed), several tons of blueprints were sent overland to China by truck, and a Dutch towing company was ready to tug the 306-meter-long vessel all the way back to China. What could go wrong?

Ever been stunned by the towing fee after your car breaks down far from home? Imagine that, but around five hundred times worse. Why five hundred? Because that equals the roughly five hundred days the Liaoning was stuck being towed in circles off Istanbul, after the Turkish government denied it passage to the Mediterranean via the Bosporus Straits.

The Turkish maritime minister argued that should there be a mishap towing the 306-meter-long carrier—which could not maneuver or move on its own power—it might spin around and block the Bosporus straits to all shipping, or run into one of the bridges connecting the two halves of Istanbul. The straits are only seven hundred meters wide at their narrowest point and require at least six major course corrections to navigate. Hundreds of ships had suffered accidents there in the past. Curiously, the Chinese appear to have perceived the Turkish refusal to be in retaliation for China’s opposition to the NATO air campaign in Yugoslavia the previous year.

The Liaoning spent sixteen months racking up $8,500 a day in towing fees. Finally, Beijing had a change of heart on the matter, and stepped in on August 2001, promising major concessions on tourism to persuade the Turks to let the Varyag pass.

Finally on November 1, in an operation involving more than two dozens tug and emergency vessels, the Varyag was towed through the Bosporus without incident, and traversed the Dardanelles the next day. The hard part was over.

Except for the sea storm with sixty-mile-per-hour winds that struck the rudderless vessel off the island of Skyros two days later, causing it to snap its tow lines. It took two more days to recover the runaway carrier. Tragically, a Portuguese sailor fell to his death while helping reconnect it to its tugs.

Once under power, a normal vessel could have taken the shortcut through the Suez Canal and straight on back to China via the Indian Ocean. But the canal would not accept powerless vessels such as the Varyag, so it had to cruise all the way around Africa, Vasco de Gama–style, chugging along at a brisk jog of seven miles per hour.

In March 2002, the carrier finally arrived at the port of Dalian in Liaoning province, which would lend the carrier its name in Chinese service. Three years later, it was put into a dry dock to allow for an extensive refit process, including sandblasting away all the rust and restoring and installing the engines in 2011.

The PLAN intended to operate the vessel as a pure carrier, rather than as a cruiser-carrier hybrid, so the shipbuilders didn’t bother with the enormous antiship missile systems. They instead confined its armament to a trio of short-range HQ-10 air-defense missile launchers and a few close-defense guns. The vessel’s primary weapon, of course, would be its complement of twenty-four J-15 Flying Shark fighters. The Flying Sharks are domestic copies of the Russian Su-33 fighter, a prototype of which was also acquired from Ukraine in 2001. The Liaoning also flies six Z-12F antisubmarine helicopters, four airborne early-warning variants and two Z-9 rescue choppers.

The Liaoning was commissioned on September 25, 2012, and the first J-15 landed on it a month later. A home-built carrier based upon the Liaoning will soon put to sea this year; those blueprints must have proved useful.

The Liaoning is hardly equal to a U.S. supercarrier—in addition to its smaller air wing and lack of a nuclear power plant, its steam turbines are prone to breaking down and the ski-jump deck limits the fuel and weapons load its fighters can carry. However, it afforded China a leap forward in its naval construction program—which now includes five more carriers in the coming decade of increasing planned capability. According to Xu Zengping, a naval officer told him that the Varyag saved China fifteen years of research and development.

So was Xu richly rewarded for his initiative? He was rewarded with bills: $120 million in all in Xu’s estimation, forcing him to sell his decadent home in Hong Kong and spend all of the intervening years paying his lenders back. You see, General Ji was jailed in 2001 for his involvement in a massive smuggling ring in the city of Xiamen—so the cabal of officers that set Xu up for the task was no longer around to see that he was compensated.

Beijing did pay for the $20 million value of the carrier—but argued that it couldn’t cover other costs because he lacked receipts. Apparently, invoices—or fapiao in Mandarin—don’t come standard with bribes paid to Ukrainian businessmen. And, as one quickly learns in China, you always need the official fapiao.

So if there’s a moral to the story of the Varyag, it’s not to expect too much gratitude for your good deeds . . . and always keep the receipt.

— Sébastien Roblin holds a master’s degree in conflict resolution from Georgetown University and served as a university instructor for the Peace Corps in China. He has also worked in education, editing and refugee resettlement in France and the United States. He currently writes on security and military history for War Is Boring. This first appeared several years ago.

[lukeskywaker4ever]

15th King of Portugal (6th of the Aviz Dynasty): King João III of Portugal, “The Pious/ The Colonizer”

Reign: 13 December 1521 – 11 June 1557 Acclamation: 19 December 1521 Predecessor: Manuel I

John III (7 June 1502 in Lisbon – 11 June 1557 in Lisbon) nicknamed The Colonizer ("o Colonizador") was the King of Portugal and the Algarves from 13 December 1521 to 11 June 1557. He was the son of King Manuel I and Maria of Aragon, the third daughter of King Fernando II of Aragon and Queen Isabel I of Castile. João succeeded his father in 1521, at the age of nineteen.

During his rule, Portuguese possessions were extended in Asia and in the New World through the Portuguese colonization of Brazil. João III's policy of reinforcing Portugal's bases in India (such as Goa) secured Portugal's monopoly over the spice trade of cloves and nutmeg from the Maluku Islands, as a result of which João III has been called the "Grocer King". On the eve of his death in 1557, the Portuguese empire had a global dimension and spanned almost 1 billion acres (about 4 million square kilometers).

During his reign, the Portuguese became the first Europeans to make contact with both China, under the Ming dynasty, and Japan, during the Muromachi period. He abandoned Muslim territories in North Africa in favor of trade with India and investment in Brazil. In Europe, he improved relations with the Baltic region and the Rhineland, hoping that this would bolster Portuguese trade.

João, the eldest son of King Manuel I to his second wife Maria of Aragon, was born in Lisbon on 7 June 1502. The event was marked by the presentation of Gil Vicente's Visitation Play or the Monologue of the Cowherd (Auto da Visitação ou Monólogo do Vaqueiro) in the queen's chamber.

The young prince was sworn heir to the throne in 1503, the year his youngest sister, Isabel of Portugal, Empress Consort of the Holy Roman Empire between 1527 and 1538, was born.

João was educated by notable scholars of the time, including the astrologer Tomás de Torres, Diogo de Ortiz, Bishop of Viseu, and Luís Teixeira Lobo, one of the first Portuguese Renaissance humanists, rector of the University of Siena (1476) and Professor of Law at Ferrara (1502).

João's chronicler António de Castilho said that, "Dom João III faced problems easily, complementing his lack of culture with a practice formation that he always showed during his reign" (Elogio d'el rei D. João de Portugal, terceiro, do nome). In 1514, he was given his own house, and a few years later began to help his father in administrative duties.

At the age of sixteen, João was chosen to marry his first cousin, the 20-year-old Leonor of Austria, 

eldest daughter of Philip the Handsome of Austria-Burgundy 

and Queen Joana of Castile, 

but instead she married his widowed father Manuel. João took deep offence at this: his chroniclers say he became melancholic and was never quite the same. Some historians also argue this was one of the main reasons that João later became fervently religious, giving him name the Pious (o Piedoso).

On 19 December 1521, João was crowned king in the Church of São Domingos in Lisbon, beginning a thirty-six-year reign characterized by extensive activity in internal and overseas politics, especially in relations with other major European states. João III continued the absolutist politics of his predecessors. He called the Portuguese Cortes only three times and at great intervals: 1525 in Torres Novas, 1535 in Évora and 1544 in Almeirim. During the early part of his reign, he also tried to restructure administrative and judicial life in his realm.

The marriage of João's sister Isabel of Portugal to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, 

enabled the Portuguese king to forge a stronger alliance with Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. To strengthen his ties with Austria, he married his maternal first cousin Catherine of Austria, younger sister of Charles V and his erstwhile fiancée Leonor, in the town of Crato. João III had nine children from that marriage, but most of them died young. By the time of João's death, only his grandson Sebastião was alive to inherit the crown.

The large and far-flung Portuguese Empire was difficult and expensive to administer and was burdened with huge external debt and trade deficits. Portugal's Indian and Far Eastern interests grew increasingly chaotic under the poor administration of ambitious governors. João III responded with new appointments that proved troubled and short-lived: in some cases, the new governors even had to fight their predecessors to take up their appointments. The resulting failures in administration brought on a gradual decline of the Portuguese trade monopoly. In consideration of the challenging military situation faced by Portuguese forces worldwide, João III declared every male subject between 20 and 65 years old recruitable for military service on 7 August 1549.

Among João III's many colonial governors in Asia were Vasco da Gama, 

Pedro Mascarenhas, 

Lopo Vaz de Sampaio, 

Nuno da Cunha, 

Estêvão da Gama, 

Martim Afonso de Sousa, 

João de Castro 

and Henrique de Meneses. Overseas, the Empire was threatened by the Ottoman Empire in both the Indian Ocean and North Africa, causing Portugal to increase spending on defense and fortifications. Meanwhile, in the Atlantic, where Portuguese ships already had to withstand constant attacks of Privateers, an initial settlement of French colonists in Brazil created yet another "front". The French made alliances with native South Americans against the Portuguese and military and political interventions were used. Eventually they were forced out, but not until 1565.

In the first years of João III's reign, explorations in the Far East continued, and the Portuguese reached China and Japan; however, these accomplishments were offset by pressure from a strengthening Ottoman Empire under Suleiman the Magnificent, 

especially in India, where attacks became more frequent. The expense of defending Indian interests was huge. To pay for it, João III abandoned a number of strongholds in North Africa: Safim, Azamor, Alcácer Ceguer and Arzila.

João III achieved an important political victory in securing the control of the Maluku Islands, the "Spice Islands" claimed by Spain since the Magellan-Elcano circumnavigation. After almost a decade of skirmishes in Southeast Asia, he signed the Treaty of Zaragoza with Emperor Charles V on 22 April 1529. It defined the areas of Spanish and Portuguese influence in Asia and established the anti-meridian to the Treaty of Tordesillas.

The reign of João III was marked by active diplomacy. With Spain, he made alliances through marriage that ensured peace in the Iberian Peninsula for a number of years. He himself married Catherine of Austria, the daughter of Philip I of Castile. His sister Isabel of Portugal married Charles V, the king of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor. His daughter Maria Manuela 

married King Felipe II of Spain 

– and there were others. However, the intermarriage of these closely related royal families may have been one of the factors that contributed to the poor health of João's children and of future King Sebastião of Portugal.

João III remained neutral during the war between France and Spain but stood firm in fighting the attacks of French privateers.

He strengthened relations with the Papal States by introducing the Inquisition in Portugal and the adhesion of the Portuguese clergy to the Counter-Reformation. This relationship with the Catholic Church made it possible for João to name whomever he desired to important religious positions in Portugal: his brothers Henrique and Afonso 

were made Cardinals, and his biological son, Duarte; was made Archbishop of Braga.

Commercial relations were intensified with England, the countries of the Baltic regions and Flanders during João III's reign. Meanwhile, at the other end of the world, Portugal was the first European nation to make contact with Japan. In China, Macau was offered to the Portuguese, and soon Portugal controlled major trade routes in the area. In South Asia, the Portuguese continued its hostile stance against their Muslim rivals and insurgent Indian leaders.

João III's support for the humanist cause was significant. In literature, his active support of Gil Vicente, 

Garcia de Resende, 

Sá de Miranda, 

Bernardim Ribeiro, 

Fernão Mendes Pinto, 

João de Barros

and Luís de Camões 

was notable. In the sciences, João III supported the mathematician Pedro Nunes 

and the physician Garcia de Orta. 

Through his links to Portuguese humanists such as Luís Teixeira Lobo, Erasmus dedicated his Chrysostomi Lucubrationes to João III of Portugal in 1527.

The monarch awarded many scholarships to universities abroad, mainly in the University of Paris, where fifty Portuguese students were sent to the Collège Sainte-Barbe headed by Diogo de Gouveia. He definitively transferred the Portuguese university from Lisbon to Coimbra in 1537. 

In 1542 João III created in Coimbra a College of Arts (Liberal arts) for which he quickly recalled the many prominent Portuguese and European teachers headed by André de Gouveia at the College of Guienne in Bordeaux. Those included George Buchanan, 

Diogo de Teive, Jerónimo Osório, Nicolas de Grouchy, Guillaume Guérante and Élie Vinet, who were decisive for the dissemination of the contemporary research of Pedro Nunes. The king provided the university with excellent resources. However, the importance of the College was shadowed by rivalry between the orthodox views of the "Parisians" group headed by Diogo de Gouveia and the more secular views of the "Bordeaux" school headed by his nephew André de Gouveia, within the advent of the Counter-Reformation and the influence of the Society of Jesus. The Society of Jesus founded colleges and made education more widely available.

Another noteworthy aspect of João III's rule was the support he gave to missionaries in the New World, Asia and Africa. In 1540, after successive appeals to Pope Paul III asking for missionaries for the Portuguese East Indies under the "Padroado" agreement, João III appointed Francis Xavier to take charge as Apostolic Nuncio. He had been enthusiastically endorsed by Diogo de Gouveia, his teacher at the Collège Sainte-Barbe, and advised the king to draw the youngsters of the newly formed Society of Jesus.The Jesuits were particularly important for mediating Portuguese relations with native peoples.

The Inquisition was introduced into Portugal in 1536. As in Spain, the Inquisition was placed under the authority of the king.

The Grand Inquisitor, or General Inquisitor, was named by the Pope after being nominated by the king, and he always came from within the royal family. The Grand Inquisitor would later nominate other inquisitors. In Portugal, the first Grand Inquisitor was Cardinal Henrique the king's brother (who would later himself become king).

There were Courts of the Inquisition in Lisbon, Coimbra and Évora and, from 1560 onwards, in Goa. The Goa Inquisition changed the demographics of Goa considerably. Goa was called the "Lisbon of the Far East" and trade reached a new level.

The Portuguese did not leave Goa undeveloped, rather they introduced modern architecture and built strong roads and bridges that have stood the test of time even till today.

The activities of the Inquisition extended to book censorship, repression and trial for divination, witchcraft and bigamy, as well as the prosecution of sexual crimes, especially sodomy.

Originally created to punish religious deviance, the Inquisition came to have influence in almost every aspect of Portuguese society: politics, culture and social customs. It did serve to spare Portugal the civil upheavals of religious warfare of the sort that occurred in France and elsewhere in Europe during the 16th century.

In João III's time, trade between the Portuguese and Africans was extremely intense in feitorias such Arguim, Mina, Mombasa, Sofala or Mozambique. Under João III, several expeditions started in coastal Africa and advanced to the interior of the continent. These expeditions were formed by groups of navigators, merchants, adventurers and missionaries. Missions in Africa were established by the College of Arts of Coimbra. The objective was to increase the king's dominion, develop peaceful relations and to Christianize the indigenous peoples. Relations with local rulers were often complicated by trade in slaves, as shown by João's correspondence with them.

João III refused to abandon all of the Portuguese North African strongholds, but he had to make choices based on the economic or strategic value of each possession. João III decided to abandon Safim and Azamor in 1541, followed by Arzila and Alcácer Ceguer in 1549. The fortresses of Ceuta, Tangiers and Mazagan were strengthened "to face the new military techniques, imposed by the generalization of heavy artillery, combined with light fire weapons and blades".

João III's court jester was João de Sá Panasco, a black African, who was eventually admitted to the prestigious Order of Saint James based on his service in the Conquest of Tunis (1535).

Before the reign of João III, the Portuguese had already reached Siam (1511), the Maluku Islands (1512), the Chinese littoral (1513), Canton (1517) and Timor (1515). During João's rule, the Portuguese reached Japan, and at the end of João's reign, Macau was offered to Portugal by China. From India, João III imported an amazing variety of spices, herbs, minerals, and fabrics; from Malacca, exotic woods and spice; from Bengala, fabrics and exotic foodstuffs; from Alexandria and Cairo, exotic woods, metals, minerals, fabrics, and boullion; and from China, musk, rhubarb, & silk in exchange for gromwells, pearls, horses from Arabia and Persia, non-worked silk, silk embroidery threads, fruits of the date palm, raisins, salt, sulphur and many other goods.

As Muslims and other peoples constantly attacked Portuguese fleets in India, and because India was so far from mainland Portugal, it was extremely difficult for João III to secure Portuguese dominion in this area. A viceroy (or Governor-General with extensive powers) was nominated, but this was not enough to defend the Portuguese possessions in India. The Portuguese started by creating feitorias – commercial strongholds in Cochin, Cannanore, Coulão, Cranganore and Tanor – with the initial objective of establishing just a commercial dominion in the region.

The hostility of many Indian kingdoms and alliances between sultans and zamorins to expel the Portuguese made it necessary for the Europeans to establish a sovereign state. Portugal thus militarily occupied some key cities on the Indian coast, and Goa became the headquarters of the Portuguese Empire in the East as of 1512. Goa became a starting point for the introduction of European cultural and religious values in India, and churches, schools and hospitals were built. Goa remained an overseas possession of Portugal until India reclaimed it in 1961.

The Portuguese arrived in Japan in 1543. Japan had been known in Portugal since the time of Marco Polo, 

who called it "Cipango". Whether Portuguese nationals were the first Europeans to arrive in Japan is debatable. Some say the first Portuguese arrival was the writer Fernão Mendes Pinto, and others say it was the navigators António Peixoto, António da Mota and Francisco Zeimoto.

Portuguese traders started negotiating with Japan earlier than 1550 and established a base there at Nagasaki. By then, trade with Japan was a Portuguese monopoly under the rule of a Captain. Because the Portuguese established themselves in Macau, Chinese commercial relations, mainly the silver trade with Japan, were improved under João III's rule.

After the voyage of Fernão de Magalhães 

the Crown of Castile claimed the recently discovered Maluku Islands. In 1524, a conference of experts (cartographers, cosmographers, pilots, etc.) was held to solve the dispute caused by the difficulty of determining the meridian agreed to in the Treaty of Tordesillas. The Portuguese delegation sent by João III included names such as António de Azevedo Coutinho, Diogo Lopes de Sequeira, Lopo Homem and Simão Fernandes. The dispute was settled in 1529 by the Treaty of Zaragoza, signed by João III and Carlos I of Spain. The Portuguese paid 350,000 gold ducados to Spain and secured their presence in the islands, which not have been a necessity, as Portugal was actually entitled to the islands according to the Treaty of Tordesillas.

In 1553, Leonel de Sousa obtained authorization for the Portuguese to establish themselves in Canton and Macau. Macau was later offered to João III as a reward for Portuguese assistance against maritime piracy in the period between 1557 and 1564. Malacca, which controlled the eponymous Strait of Malacca, was vital to Portuguese interests in the Far East. After an unsuccessful expedition in 1509, Malacca was finally conquered by Afonso de Albuquerque, the Portuguese viceroy of India, on 24 August 1511. Malacca was later taken by the Dutch in 1641.

In order to follow its trade routes to the Far East, Portugal depended on the seasonal monsoon winds in the Indian Ocean. In winter, the prevailing northeasterly monsoon impeded travel to India; in summer, the southwest monsoon made departure from India difficult. As a result, Portugal determined that it needed permanent bases in India, in addition to its ports of call in Africa, to pass the time while the wind changed. In addition to Goa, they established themselves in Ceylon (in what is now Sri Lanka) through the conquest of several Ceylonese kingdoms in the sixteenth century. Portuguese Ceylon remained in Portuguese hands until 1658, when it was seized by the Dutch after an epic siege.

During the reign of King João III, the Portuguese Empire established itself in South America with the foundation of the twelve Captaincy Colonies of Brazil (from 1534 onwards). Each with its own donatary captain, the twelve colonies struggled independently. In 1549, João III established the Governorate General of Brazil, and the twelve captaincy colonies became subordinate to it. The first Governor-General appointed by João III, Tomé de Sousa, founded the city of Salvador, Bahia (São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos) in 1549.

Immediately following the discovery of Brazil in 1500, the Portuguese imported brazilwood, Indian slaves and exotic birds from there. Brazilwood was a much appreciated product in Europe, because it could be used to produce a red dye. During João III's rule, after the initial colonization, Portuguese explorers intensified the search for brazilwood and began the cultivation of sugarcane, which was well suited to the climate of Brazil, especially around Recife and Bahía.

In the final years of João's reign, Portugal's colony of Brazil was just beginning its rapid development as a producer of sugar that compensated for the gradual decline of revenues from Asia, a development that would continue during the reign of his grandson and successor, Sebastião (1557–1578). Since Brazil lacked a large native population, and the Indians did not make good plantation workers, the Portuguese colonists began to import African slaves to work their plantations. The first slaves, from the region of Guinea, arrived in Brazil in 1539. Most of them worked in the sugarcane fields or served as house servants.

From 1539, the heir to the throne was João Manuel, Prince of Portugal, 

who married Joana of Austria, Princess of Portugal, 

daughter of Charles V. The sole son of João III to survive childhood, Prince João, was sickly and died young (of juvenile diabetes), eighteen days before his wife gave birth to Prince Sebastião on 20 January 1554. When João III died of apoplexy in 1557, his only heir was his three-year-old grandson, Sebastião. João III's body rests in the Monastery of Jerónimos in Lisbon, next to his wife.

With his wife Catarina of Austria (married 10 February 1525) he had 9 nine children:

Prince Afonso (24 February 1526 - March 1526) Prince of Portugal (1526).

Princess Maria Manuela (15 October 1527 - 12 August 1545) Princess of Portugal (1527–1531). Princess consort of Asturias by marriage to King Philip II of Spain, then Prince of Asturias. She had one deformed child, Prince Carlos, and she died a few days after his birth.

Infanta Isabel (28 April 1529 - 28 April 1529)

Infanta Beatriz (15 February 1530 - 15 February 1530)

Prince Manuel (1 November 1531 - 14 April 1537) Prince of Portugal (1531–1537). Declared heir in 1535.

Prince Filipe (25 March 1533 - 29 April 1539) Prince of Portugal (1537–1539). Declared heir in 1537.

Infante Dinis (6 April 1535 - 1 January 1537)

Prince João Manuel (3 June 1537 - 2 January 1554) Prince of Portugal (1537–1554). Declared heir in 1539. Married Joana of Spain. Their son became King Sebastião I.

Infante António (9 March 1539 - 20 January 1540)

[orbemnews]

Lula da Silva, Brazil's former President, urges Biden to call an emergency Covid-19 summit Speaking from Sao Paulo, Brazil, da Silva said the US has a surplus of vaccines and suggested the excess could be donated to countries in need. “One suggestion that I would like to make to President Biden through your program is: it’s very important to call a G20 meeting urgently,” da Silva told Amanpour. “It’s important to call the main leaders of the world and put around the table just one thing, one issue. Vaccine, vaccine and vaccine!” He added, “The responsibility to international leaders is tremendous so I’m asking President Biden to do that because I can’t … I don’t believe in my government. And so, I couldn’t ask for that for Trump, but Biden is a breath for democracy in the world.” “When it comes the moment to run for the elections, and if my party and the other allied parties understand that I could be the candidate, and if I’m well and my health with the energy and power that I have today, I can reassure you that I will not deny that invitation, but I don’t want to talk about that. That’s not my main priority. My main priority now is to save this country,” da Silva said. The South American nation has been setting record daily virus deaths repeatedly in recent days as another brutal wave of Covid-19 sweeps the country. The resurgence has overwhelmed medics fighting on the pandemic’s frontline with an increasing number of hospitals across the country reaching capacity. On Tuesday, Brazilian Health Ministry research institution Oswaldo Cruz Foundation called the current emergency in the country “the greatest health and hospital collapse in the history of Brazil.” Da Silva, 75, was convicted on corruption and money laundering charges three years ago stemming from a wide-ranging investigation into the state-run oil company Petrobras, dubbed “Operation Car Wash.” But in a surprise move last Monday, a Brazilian Supreme Court judge annulled his convictions and ordered that the cases be processed again at the Federal Court of Brasilia. If the ruling is upheld — and if Lula is not re-convicted before the candidacy filing deadline — he would technically be able to stand for office again and challenge current President Jair Bolsonaro in 2022 . Political clash on the horizon? Da Silva, who helped found the left-wing Workers Party, has largely refused to be drawn on running for office, saying last Wednesday that he “doesn’t have time to think about candidacy in 2022.” However, the former President — better known as Lula — has launched a scathing attack on Bolsonaro, telling Brazilians last week not to “follow any stupid decision by the President and the Minister of Health” and urging people to get vaccinated. He also condemned the current administration’s handling of the pandemic, saying many deaths from the virus “could have been avoided.” “If we had a president who respected the population, he would have created a crisis committee to guide the Brazilian society on what to do every week,” the ex-president added. Bolsonaro defended his handling of the healthcare crisis in the face of da Silva’s remarks, telling CNN Brasil last week that his government empowered local officials and arguing that imposing lockdown measures — which he has refused to do — would only “lead the citizen to a situation of poverty.” Bolsonaro has previously said he hoped Brazil’s Supreme Court would restore da Silva’s convictions, and accused his predecessor of 2022 ambitions. “Former President Lula is now starting his campaign. Because he has nothing good to show and this is the [Workers Party] rule, their campaign is based on criticizing, lying and misinforming,” he said. While the elections are still 18 months away, Brazil’s coronavirus outbreak will likely play into voter’s sentiments. Bolsonaro’s disapproval ratings reached their highest level to date at 54%, according to the Datafolha polling institute’s latest survey results issued on Wednesday. Brazil has the second-highest numbers of Covid-19 in the world with 11,603,535 cases and 282,127 coronavirus-related deaths as of Tuesday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Hospitals are swamped with cases across the country. The latest analysis from CNN shows that ICU occupancy rates in 25 out of Brazil’s 26 states plus its federal district are at or above 80%. Of those, 14 states have ICU occupancy rates at or above 90% which puts them at imminent risk of collapse. On Tuesday, the governor of Brazil’s second most populous state, Minas Gerais, said the health system simply could not support new patients. “I don’t want Minas Gerais to become a horror movie,” Romeu Zema said in a press conference to announce the implementation of the “purple phase” across the state, the most restrictive of the Minas Gerais plan to handle the pandemic. “Any new infected (person) can mean one more death because the state does not have the capacity to take in new patients,” said Zema. Bolsonaro’s crisis management under fire Since the beginning of Brazil’s vaccination campaign on January 17, the country has administered more than 12.5 million vaccine doses across its population of over 211 million. More than 9 million people have received at least one dose while just over 3 million people have been given a second dose, according to the latest data from the country’s health ministry. As the country’s coronavirus spread outpaces its vaccination rollout, criticism is mounting. According to the same Datafolha institute’s poll, which interviewed 2,023 people by telephone on March 15 and 16, 54% of Brazilians found Bolsonaro´s performance bad or awful — up from 48% in late January. The poll report also said 43% of Brazilians blame Bolsonaro while 20% blame their state governors for the current state of the pandemic in Brazil. Regarding Bolsonaro´s presidency, 44% of those polled think it is bad or awful, four points higher than in the last poll, and the highest since he took office in January of 2019. Thirty percent of the respondents judge Bolsonaro´s rule as good or great and another 26% see it as regular. Bolsonaro this week appointed a new health minister — the fourth in a year — as ICU and mortality rates skyrocketed. The new minister, cardiologist Marcelo Queiroga, replaces army general Eduardo Pazuello, but there is little sign of any change in the administration’s approach to the crisis. On Tuesday, Queiroga in an interview with CNN Brasil echoed the President in saying that lockdowns only apply in “extreme situations” and would not be imposed by the federal government. Journalists Rodrigo Pedroso and Marcia Reverdosa contributed to this report from Sao Paulo, Brazil. CNN’s Caitlin Hu also contributed from New York, Matt Rivers from Rio De Janeiro and Vasco Cotovio from London. CNN’s Lauren Said-Moorhouse wrote from London. Source link Orbem News #Biden #Brazils #call #Covid19 #emergency #Lula #President #Silva #summit #urges

[siva3155]

300+ TOP MCQs on SUB INSPECTOR of Police Exam

SUB INSPECTOR of police Objective Questions:-

1. Rana Kumbha constructed the 'Kirtistambha' at Chittor to commemorate his victory against– (A) Ahmadshah of Gujarat (B) Mahmud Khilji of Malwa (C) Khan of Nagpur (D) Rao Jodha of Marwar (Ans : B) 2. The First War of Panipat was fought in A.D. 1526 between– (A) Ibrahim Lodi and Rana sanga (B) Mahmud Lodi and Babur (C) Babur and Rana Sanga (D) Babur and Ibrahim Lodi (Ans : D) 3. Which Moghul emperor first granted the English the licence to trade and to establish factories in India ? (A) Akbar (B) Jahangir (C) Shahjahan (D) Aurangzeb (Ans : B) 4. The 'swadeshi Movement' and 'Boycott of Foreign Things' were started by the Congress in 1905 to protest– (A) Curtailment of the rights of representation granted under the Indian Councils Act, 1892 (B) Partition of Bengal (C) Restrictions imposed on the entry of Indians into Canada (D) Lord Curzon's efforts to establish control over the universities (Ans : B) 5. The Lucknow Congress of 1916 was important, because at this session the party– (A) Repudiated political militancy of the 'garam dal' (B) Signed a pact with the Muslim League (C) Opposed participation of India in the First World War (D) Rejected separate electorates for Muslims and Dalits (Ans : B) 6. In 1932, a compromise, known as the 'Poona Pact', was worked out on the question of separate electorates. Who were the two main leaders involved ? (A) Gandhiji and Lord Irwin (B) Gandhiji and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar (C) Gandhiji and Muhammad Ali Jinnah (D) Gandhiji and Aga Khan (Ans : B) 7. What is the time taken by the Earth to complete one rotation on its imaginary axis ? (A) 24 hr 37 min 23 sec (B) 24 hr (C) 23 hr 56 min 4 sec (D) 23 hr 52 min (Ans : C) 8. In which atmospheric layer is the ozone layer situated ? (A) Troposphere (B) Stratosphere (C) Mesosphere (D) Ionosphere (Ans : C) 9. The Finance Commission makes its recommendations to– (A) The Finance Minister (B) The Planning Commission (C) The Parliament (D) The President (Ans : D) 10. The Chief Minister of Maharashtra is– (A) Ashok Chauhan (B) Sushil Kumar Shinde (C) Sanjay Nirupam (D) Devendra Fadnavis (Ans : D)

SUB INSPECTOR of Police Exam Questions 11. The author of the book, Gulliver's Travels is– (A) Jonathan Swift (B) Charles Dickens (C) Charles Lamb (D) T. S. Eliot (Ans : A) 12. Red soil is commonly found in the States of– (A) Punjab and Rajasthan (B) Himachal Pradesh and Haryana (C) Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh (D) Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh (Ans : D) 13. When did the Reserve Bank of India become a State-owned institution ? (A) 1956 (B) 1952 (C) 1950 (D) 1949 (Ans : D) 14. Who was the President of the Constituent Assembly which was constituted to frame the Constitution of India ? (A) Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru (B) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (C) Dr. Rajendra Prasad (D) Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar (Ans : C) 15. Which part of our Constitution primarily reflects Mahatma Gandhi's principles ? (A) The Preamble (B) Part III-Fundamental Rights (C) Part IV-Directive Principles of State Policy (D) Part IV A-Fundamental Duties (Ans : C) 16. Which of the following is a Fundamental Right as provided under Part III of the Constitution ? (A) Promotion of educational and economic interests of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other weaker sections (B) Right to reside and settle in any part of India (C) Right of workers to participate in the management of industries (D) None of the above (Ans : B) 17. 1n case of conflict between the Central and State law on a subject in the Concurrent List– (A) The law which was passed first prevails (B) The law of State prevails (C) The law of Centre prevails (D) Both laws stand nullified (Ans : C) 18. Part IV A of the Constitution lays down the Fundamental Duties of the citizens. Which of the following is not a duty included among Fundamental Duties ? (A) To profess and propagate one's own religion (B) To develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of enquiry and reform (C) To safeguard public property and to abjure violence (D) To value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture (Ans : A) 19. Taxes on income, other than on agricultural income, are– (A) Levied and collected by the Central Government and appropriated by it (B) Levied and collected by the Central Government but assigned to States within which they are leviable (C) Levied and collected by the Central Government but distributed between the States and the Centre (D) Levied by the Central Government but collected and appropriated by the State Governments (Ans : C) 20. A, 5-point formula was proposed by India to define relations between sovereign States, which was known as 'Panchsheel' formula. India signed the first 'Panchsheel Agreement' in 1954. Which was the country with which this agreement was signed ? (A) China (B) Pakistan (C) Bhutan (D) Sri Lanka (Ans : A) 21. Which one of the following Amendments has been described as Mini Constitution ? (A) 42nd (B) 43rd (C) 52nd (D) 59th (Ans : A) 22. Which of the following organs of the United Nations Organization elects / elect judges of the International Court of Justice ? (A) The Economic and Social Council (B) The Security Council and the General Assembly (C) The Trusteeship Council and the Economic and Social Council (D) The Security Council (Ans : B) 23. In blogging, the blogger, with the help of his computer and the Internet– (A) Puts out his ideas, information, photos, etc., on the Internet, which can be accessed by any other person (B) Visits the Web site of another person and makes changes in the information posted thereon (C) Accesses another person's computer and steals secret information stored therein (D) Accesses another computer and continuously exchanges information with it Ans : (A) 24. Power from powerhouses is often transmitted as alternating current at 33000 volts or more. Why is power transmitted as such high voltage ? (A) Transmission is faster at high voltages (B) Transmission loss is lower at high voltages (C) It is difficult to generate electricity at lower voltage (D) None of the above (Ans : B) 25. When a patient's blood pressure is taken, the pressure exerted by blood on the walls of the blood vessels is measured. At what stage is this pressure measured ? (A) When the heart sends out oxygenated blood to the body parts (B) When deoxygenated blood goes into the heart (C) At both the stages (D) At the in-between stage (Ans : C) 26. The winner of Indian Premier League, 2012 is– (A) Chennai Super Kings (B) Delhi Daredevils (C) Kolkata Knight Riders (D) Mumbai Indians (Ans : C) 27. Which of the following is a tribal group of Africa ? (A) Eskimos (B) Ainu (C) Fula (D) None of these (Ans : D) 28. The Chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission is– (A) Prof. P. K. Dubey (B) Prof. P. K. Joshi (C) A. K. Pandey (D) P. K. Pandey (Ans : C) 29. The words 'satyameva Jayate' in the National Emblem are taken from– (A) Mahabharata (B) Mundaka Upanishad (C) Kautilya's Arthashastra (D) Samaveda (Ans : B) 30. The Tropic of Cancer does not pass through– (A) India (B) Egypt (C) Mexico (D) Iran (Ans : B) 31. Which country in Europe is called the 'Land of Midnight Sun' ? (A) Norway (B) Finland (C) Iceland (D) Sweden (Ans : A) 32. Swami Vivekananda gained fame and recognition in the Western World after his address to the World Congress of Major Religions in 1893. In which city was this congress held ? (A) London (B) Paris (C) Berlin (D) Chicago (Ans : D) 33. Where was Mother Teresa born ? (A) India (B) Albania (C) Hungary (D) Poland (Ans : B) 34. Who was the first navigator to circumnavigate the Earth by the sea route ? (A) Ferdinand Magellan (B) Marco Polo (C) Vasco da Gama (D) Christopher Columbus (Ans : A) 35. Which of the following countries was discovered by the famous Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama? (A) India (B) China (C) Australia (D) New Zealand (Ans : A) 36. What is an ecosystem ? (A) The unit of man and all living beings which interact with each other (B) The unit comprised of man, other living beings and the plant kingdom (C) The unit comprised of all living beings and their environment (D) That part of the Earth and the atmosphere where living beings are found (Ans : B) 37. Malaria affects lakhs of Indians every year. Which part of the body is damaged by this disease ? (A) Heart (B) Lungs (C) Spleen (D) Liver (Ans : C) 38. How does the Sun get its energy ? (A) From gravitational pressure (B) From nuclear fission (C) From nuclear fusion (D) None of the above (Ans : C) 39. The Shahnama, written by Firdausi, tells the tale of kings of one country .Which is this country ? (A) Egypt (B) India (C) Turkey (D) Persia (Ans : D) 40. Which of the following statements is correct ? (A) The entropy of the world keeps on increasing (B) The entropy of the world keeps on decreasing (C) The entropy of the world is constant (D) The entropy of the world increases and decreases in a cyclic manner (Ans : A) 41. The frequency range of FM radio broadcast in India is– (A) 102 MHz -132 MHz (B) 80 MHz -102 MHz (C) 88 MHz -108MHz (D) 78 MHz -102 MHz (Ans : C) 42. Who among the following has not been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature ? (A) Derek Walcott (B) Dario Fo (C) Toni Morrison (D) Robert Richardson (Ans : D) 43. Two large temple complexes have been found in Angkorwat, Cambodia. Which religion are they associated with? (A) Hinduism (B) Buddhism (C) Shintoism (D) None of these (Ans : A) 44. Fidel Castro ousted a dictator from Cuba in 1959. Who was this dictator ? (A) Duvalier (B) Batista (C) Pinochet (D) None of these (Ans : B) 45. Wheels of passenger vehicles are fitted with tyres and tubes which are filled with air. What is the main reason for not filling up the tubes with water ? (A) Filling them with water will increase the weight (B) If they are filled with water, the force of shocks on passengers, generated by uneven surface of the road, will increase very considerably (C) Air is cheaper than water (D) It would not be convenient to fill up the tubes with water (Ans : B) 46. As mother is B's sister and C's daughter. B's daughter is P who is Q's sister. If C is not Q's grandmother, how is C related to Q? (A) Father (B) Mother (C) Grandfather (D) Aunt (Ans : C) 47. Four boys are wearing clothes of different colours. Ravi is not wearing white and Ajay is not wearing blue. If Sohan is wearing red, what is the colour of Sachin's clothes ? (A) Blue (B) White (C) Yellow (D) Cannot be determined (Ans : D) 48. A factory makes shoes of two types, A-type and B-type. Both require the same amount of leather which is available in such quantity that 80 pairs of shoes can be made per day. It takes twice as long to make A-type shoes as B-type. The capacity of the factory is such that if only B-type shoes were to be made, 100 pairs could be produced in one day. A-type shoes require some special material which is available in quantities sufficient for 40 pairs per day. The special material required for B-type shoes is available in quantities sufficient for 70 pairs per day. If the factory makes a profit of Rs. 200 per pair on A-type shoes and Rs. 150 per pair on 8-type shoes how many pairs of shoes of each type should it produce every day for maximum profit ? (A) A-type 40 and B-type 20 (B) A-type 10 and B-type 70 (C) A-type 20 and B-type 60 (D) None of the above (Ans : D) 49. A leap year is chosen at random. What is the probability that this year would have 53 Mondays ? (A) 1/7 (B) 2/7 (C) 3/7 (D) None of these (Ans : B) 50. Three horses, A, B and C, are participating in a race. If the probability of A winning the race is twice the probability of B winning it and the probability of B winning the race is twice the probability of C winning it, what is the probability that either B or C will win the race ? (A) 1/7 (B) 2/7 (C) 3/7 (D) None of these (Ans : C) 51. Some men are travelling with their horses. At one point of time, half the men are riding their horses while the rest are walking along leading their horses. If the number of legs on the ground at that time is 40, what is the number of horses in the party ? (A) 8 (B) 10 (C) 12 (D) None of these Ans : (A) 52. A family is comprised of father, mother, son and daughter. The father's age is 3 times the age of the daughter. The son is half as old as his mother and is 7 years older than his sister. If the father is 9 years older than his wife, what is the mother's age ? (A) 45 years (B) 50 years (C) 60 years (D) None of these Ans : (C) 53. Six friends went for a vacation and stayed in a resort where nine cottages in a row were available for them. They all stayed in separate cottages. Mohan, Rani and Chitra did not stay in the cottages at the two ends. Nobody stayed next to Mohan and Salman. There was only one empty cottage between Mohan and Chitra. Jayant's cottage was adjacent to both Chitra and Anil. Rani stayed next to the cottage at the beginning. Which cottages remain empty after they are accommodated ? (A) Nos. 1, 6, 8 (B) Nos. 4, 6, 8 (C) Nos. 3, 5, 9 (D) Nos. 2, 5, 7 Ans : (A) 54. A plane mirror is kept in front of a clock. If the actual time is 3 : 25, what time would the reflection show (if we notice only the positions of the two hands of the clock and do not pay attention to the numerals on the dial) ? (A) 9 : 55 (B) 8 : 35 (C) 3 : 25 (D) None of these Ans : (B) 55. A person has five coins. If he knows for certain that– 1. Coin no.1 is genuine; 2. One of the remaining four coins is counterfeit and its weight is different from the others. then what is the minimum number of weighings which will enable him to find out which coin is counterfeit and whether it is heavier or lighter than the others ? (A) 1 (B) 2 (C) 3 (D) 4 Ans : (B) 56. Six students are taking coffee in the coffeehouse. A and Bare from Delhi while the others C, D, P and Q are from Bhopal. D and Q are tall while the others are short. A, C and D are girls while the others are boys. Who is the tall girl from Bhopal ? (A) C (B) D (C) P (D) Q Ans : (C) 57. What is the missing number ? 0 1 2 3 1 3 4 16 2 5 6 ? (A) 22 (B) 106 (C) 39 (D) None of these Ans : (C) 58. The remnants of one of the most ancient civilizations of the world, 'Indus Valley Civilization', were first discovered in Harappa. Where is this Harappa situated ? (A) Sind, Pakistan (B) Punjab, India (C) Punjab, Pakistan (D) Haryana, India Ans : (A) 59. In 1950s, the Archaeological Survey of India found several sites in one part of India which yielded evidence that the Mohenjodaro-Harappa Civilization was centred, not in Indus Valley, but in this part of India. In which present State are these sites situated ? (A) Maharashtra (B) Gujarat (C) Rajasthan (D) Punjab Ans : (B) 60. River Narmada flows down from Amarkantak Hills to the sea. What is the name of the area where it meets the sea ? (A) Gulf of Kutch (B) Gulf of Khambat (C) Gulf of Mannar (D) Bay of Bengal Ans : (B) 61. Commonwealth Games, 2010 were held at– (A) Colombo (B) London (C) NewDelhi (D) Seoul Ans : (C) 62. Karera Sanctuary is situated at– (A) shivpuri (B) Mandsaur (C) Damoh (D) Tikamgarh Ans : (A) 63. Barman Fair is held at– (A) Sodalpur (B) Porsa (C) Pipaliya Khurd (D) Gadarwara Ans : (D) 64. Who is the 'Man of the Tournament' of World Cup Cricket, 2011 ? (A) Yuvraj Singh (B) Kumar Sangakara (C) Ricky Ponting (D) Jacques Kallis Ans : (A) 65. Which of the following National Highways does not pass through Madhya Pradesh ? (A) NH27 (B) NH28 (C) NH 78 (D) NH 79 Ans : (B) 66. How many tiers of administration are there in Panchayati Raj in Madhya Pradesh ? (A) A single tier-at village level (B) Two tiers-at village and district levels (C) Three tiers-at village, block and district levels (D) Four tiers-at village, block district and State levels Ans : (C) 67. In the Bhopal Gas Tragedy of 1984, which was the gas that had leaked out ? (A) Carbon monoxide (B) Hydrogen sulphide (C) Ethyl cyanide (D) Methyl isocyanate Ans : (D) 68. Who founded the Ramakrishna Mission ? (A) Ramakrishna Paramhans (B) Swami Dayananda Saraswati (C) Swami Vivekananda (D) Shankaracharya Ans : (C) 69. Which architect has prepared the plan for Chandigarh city ? (A) Edwin Lutyens (B) Le Corbusier (C) Charles Correa (D) None of these Ans : (B) 70. Who got the Khajuraho temples constructed ? (A) Chhatrasal (B) Kings of Parmar dynasty (C) Kings of Chandel dynasty (D) King Bhoja Ans : (C) 71. Who was the founder of the Chola dynasty in South India ? (A) Karikala (B) Parantaka (C) Rajaraja (D) None of these Ans : (D) 72. Which was the most famous festival of the Vijayanagar empire ? (A) Ramnavami (B) Brahmotsava (C) Mahanavami (D) Vasantotsava Ans : (C) 73. The famous caves at Ajanta-Ellora contain statues and murals associated with– (A) Hinduism (B) Buddhism (C) Jainism (D) All of these Ans : (D) 74. Which 'pir' lies in the famous 'mazar' at Ajmer ? (A) Muin-ud-din Chishti (B) Nizam-ud-din Auliya (C) Baba Farid (D) Sheikh salim Chishti Ans : (A) 75. Where was the Jain Seer Lord Mahavira born ? (A) Lumbini (Nepal) (B) Kunda (Bihar) (C) Shravanbelgola (Karnataka) (D) None of these Ans : (B) 76. Who was the first 'Guru' of the Sikhs? (A) Guru Amardas (B) Guru Nanakdev (C) Guru Arjundev (D) Guru Tegh Bahadur (Ans : B) 77. Gaya district of Bihar is associated with the name of Mahatma Buddha. In this district– (A) Mahatma Buddha was born (B) Mahatma Buddha gained enlightenment (C) Mahatma Buddha delivered his first sermon (D) Mahatma Buddha expired (Ans : B) 78. The ambitious road development project of India, known as the 'Golden Quadrangle Project', will join four important places. Which are these places? (A) srinagar, Kannyakumari, Porbandar and silchar (B) Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Guwahati (C) Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai (D) Jalandhar, Pune, Hyderabad and Dibrugarh (Ans : C) 79. The first Indian satellite was launched into space in 1975. What was it called ? (A) Aryabhatta (B) Rohini (C) Insat-1A (D) IRS-1A (Ans : A) 80. Ashok Chakra is awarded for– (A) Bravery in the face of enemy, during a war (B) Bravery during anti-terrorist operations (C) Life-saving (D) All of the above (Ans : A) 81.The Defence Research and Development Organization of India has developed a missile which can be launched from a submarine. What is it named ? (A) BrahMos (B) Astra (C) Prithvi-4 (D) K-15 (Ans : D) 82. The 'Param' series of super-computers was developed in India by which of the following institutions ? (A) Indian Institute of Sciences (B) Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C) Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (D) Electronic Corporation of India (Ans : B) 83. Quite often, deltas are formed at river mouths. What is the reason for formation of delta ? (A) The flow of the river slows down considerably by the time it meets the sea. Hence, the sand and pieces of rocks carried by the river fall off at its mouth and collect in the form of a delta (B) The tide in the sea stops the river from flowing into the sea the sand and pieces of rocks carried along by the river current fall off and form a delta (C) Salts are present in seawater. When the river meets the sea, the sand and rock particles suspended in the river water get precipitated and they settle down at the bottom to form a delta (D) None of the above Ans : (A) 84. Food is cooked more quickly in pressure cooker, because– (A) The boiling point of water is lowered in it (B) The boiling point of water is raised in it (C) It absorbs heat quickly (D) It retains heat for a longer time (Ans : B) 85. Optical fibers are hair-thin tubes of special glass and light can pass through them from end to end. Their special property is that light continues to travel through them even when they are bent. Which property of light underlies this phenomenon ? (A) Total internal reflection (B) Refraction (C) Diffraction (D) Polarization (Ans : A) 86. Why are Polaroids used in sunglasses ? (A) For the sake of fashion (B) To reduce the glare (C) To improve resolving power of the eyes (D) None of the above (Ans : B) 87. When an aeroplane is flying at a great height, the sky appears black to its passengers. Why ? (A) The dust particles and droplets of water present in the atmosphere absorb the light and do not allow it to reach the eyes of the passengers (B) The atmosphere is very rare at great heights and so the scattering of light is negligible (C) The light is so polarized that no part of it is able to reach the eye of the passengers (D) None of the above (Ans : B) 88. The image formed by an object on the retina of the human eye is– (A) Real and inverted (B) Real and upright (C) Virtual and inverted (D) Virtual and upright (Ans : A) 89. A heater running on 220 volt takes 5 minute to boil a quantity of water. If the heater is run on 110 volt instead of 220 volt, how much time will it take to boil the same quantity of water ? (A) 10 minute (B) 15 minute (C) 20 minute (D) 25 minute (Ans : C) 90. A GM counter is used for detecting– (A) Underground oil (B) Coal (C) Radioactivity (D) Methane gas (Ans : C) 91. In which organ of the body is the red blood corpuscle made ? (A) Liver (B) Bone marrow (C) Kidneys (D) Heart (Ans : B) 92. The edible potato is the modified form of which part of the plant ? (A) Roots (B) Stem (C) Flower (D) None of these (Ans : B) 93. What is the main constituent of 'Gobar Gas' (biogas) ? (A) Hydrogen (B) Carbon monoxide (C) Acetylene (D) Methane (Ans : D) 94. What is the 'non-stick' substance used in cookwares ? (A) Polymonochlorotrifluoroethylene (B) Polymethyl methacrylate (C) Polyacrylonitrile (D) Polytetrafluoroethylene (Ans : D) 95. The gas used for cooking (LPG) is chiefly a mixture of– (A) Methane and carbon monoxide (B) Hydrogen and nitrogen (C) Butane and propane (D) Propane and nitrogen (Ans : C) 96. One card is pulled out at random from a well-shuffled deck of playing cards (52 cards). This is seen to be a card of hearts. It is put back and the deck is shuffled again. Another card is now pulled out of the deck. What is the probability of the second card being a black king ? (A) 1/104 (B) l/52 (C) 1/26 (D) None of these (Ans : C) 97. Why does a foul smell emanate from some ponds, tanks, etc. ? (A) Pesticides and other organic chemicals reach the water body and kill off fishes, etc., living therein, causing the foul smell (B) Fertilizers used in farming reach the water body and give rise to excessive growth of aqueous plants. When these plants die, excessive quantities of organic matter are collected, depleting dissolved oxygen and causing foul smell (C) Household wastes contain small quantities of mercury, cadmium, copper, zinc, etc., which pollute the water bodies, causing the death of fishes and other aquatic organisms and leading to foul smell (D) None of the above (Ans : B) 98. Government of India calendars show dates both in Christian era (AD) and Saka era. In which year did the Saka era start ? (A) 150 BC (B) 130 BC (C) 56 BC (D) AD 78 (Ans : D) 99. Who was the first woman ruler of India ? (A) Nurjahan (B) Razia Sultan (C) Chandbibi (D) Durgavati (Ans : B) 100. Who founded the Chalukya dynasty in South India ? (A) Harihara (B) Pulakesin (C) Parantaka (D) Bukka (Ans : B) SUB INSPECTOR Question Papers and Answers pdf Download Read the full article

[wiremagazine]

SPOTLIGHT FILMS: PREVIEW 15 OF THE EXCEPTIONAL SELECTIONS FOR MIAMI FILM FESTIVAL GEMS 2019

Photos provided by Miami Film Festival GEMS 2019

BY THE GRACE OF GOD (Belgium, France, 2019) Director: François Ozon In French, with English subtitles

GEMS Synopsis: In By the Grace of God, acclaimed filmmaker François Ozon dramatizes the story of three Preynat victims – Alexandre Guérin (Melvil Poupaud), a lawyer and devoted Catholic family man, François Debord (Denis Ménochet), a declared atheist who wants to bring media attention to the case, and Emmanuel Thomassin, an emotionally damaged younger man who carries the heaviest burden and the effects of prolonged trauma.

CLEMENCY (U.S., 2019) Director: Chinonye Chukwu In English

GEMS Synopsis: Clemency is an indelible character study and a searing look at the toll of capital punishment on the lives of all it touches – including the families of victims seeking justice. Filmmaker Chinonye Chukwu, the first African-American woman to win Sundance's highest prize, is observant to the disproportionate toll death row reaps on black men, but also alive to the possibility of hope, and humanity finding its way back from even the darkest emotional places.

HONEY BOY (U.S., 2019) Director: Alma Har'el In English

GEMS Synopsis: Artists often draw from real-life experience, but few approach this practice quite like actor Shia LaBeouf. Having received court-ordered therapy writing while in rehab, LaBeouf – who over the years has been the subject of numerous public misbehavior headlines – took the mandated writing and turned it into something tremendous: the screenplay for Honey Boy.

LES MISÉRABLES (France, 2019) Director: Ladj Ly In French, with English subtitles

GEMS Synopsis: Victor Hugo's 1862 classic novel Les Misérables unforgettably depicted the abject poverty and state violence endured by residents in the Paris suburb Montfermeil, a setting symbolically representing a greater view of French society. Taking Hugo's title for his fiction feature debut, director Ladj Ly returns to modern-day Montfermeil and finds that the tensions between the racially diversified, impoverished community and the police enforcing the status quo are remarkably similar to the world of Jean Valjean and Hugo's characters, even more than 150 years later.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR (U.S., 2019) Director: Alan Berliner In English

GEMS Synopsis: For 40 years, filmmaker Alan Berliner has clipped out from the pages of The New York Times photos that caught his eye, keeping them meticulously filed and cross-indexed as a self-appointed archivist and librarian. Driven by his obsession, Berliner has completed the work of nearly a lifetime, transforming and reinterpreting his collection of images into a statement about the nature of humankind. Letter to the Editor is a film essay with multiple themes and a stunning array of thousands of photographs from Alan Berliner's collection. This film delivers poignant reflections on the power of photography, the importance of print publications, and what it means when technology brings a dramatic change to century-old traditions.

LITUS (Spain, 2019) Director: Dani de la Orden In Spanish, with English subtitles

GEMS Synopsis: A big chill has descended upon a group of Barcelona thirtysomething friends. Six months before, their cherished friend Litus inexplicably took his own life. His loving friends gather to celebrate his memory, but a bombshell secret awaits them: Litus left behind a goodbye letter for each of them. A moving drama with impeccably timed moments of humor, Litus is an invitation to reflect on life, relationships and our connections to those we hold most dear in life.

MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN (U.S., 2019) Director: Edward Norton In English

GEMS Synopsis: Twenty years in the making, Edward Norton's passion project Motherless Brooklyn finds the famed actor working quadruple duty as writer, director, producer and star of this inventive adaptation of Jonathan Lethem's novel of the same name. Growing up an orphan with Tourette syndrome, Lionel (Norton) spent his early years trying to find his place in the world. Then private detective Frank Minna (Bruce Willis) took him under his wing. Now a full-fledged employee of Frank's agency, Lionel finds his world turned upside down when Frank is murdered. Determined to solve the mystery of who killed his mentor, Lionel sets off on a quest that takes him from Brooklyn to Harlem, where he discovers a trail of shocking political corruption in the process.

PAIN AND GLORY (Spain, 2019) Director: Pedro Almodóvar In Spanish, with English subtitles

GEMS Synopsis: Pain and Glory is legendary Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar's most personal, semi-autobiographical film to date. The film centers on Salvador Mallo (played by Antonio Banderas, who won Best Actor at Cannes Film Festival for this role), a Spanish film director in his 60s. Salvador receives an invitation by the Madrid Cinematheque for a retrospective screening of Sabor, a film that he made more than 30 years ago. The invitation triggers a comical, edgy reunion with Alberto Crespo (Asier Etxeandia), the actor who starred in Sabor, and then later a reunion with Federico Delgado (Leonardo Sbaraglia), the Argentinian man who was Salvador's first adult love just as many years ago. Floating in and out of Salvador's memories is his unresolved relationship with his deceased mother (played in her younger years by Penélope Cruz, and later years by Julieta Serrano).

PARASITE (South Korea, 2019) Director: Bong Joon-ho In Korean, with English subtitles

GEMS Synopsis: At once hilariously funny and nail-bitingly tense, Bong Joon-ho's class satire Parasite is quite possibly the most unique and unforgettable film of the year, and has had international critics swooning since it won the Palme D'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Defying convention and predictability at every step, the film centers on two families whose paths become inexorably linked and the wild events that result: the affluent Park family and the street smart but poor Kim family. The Kim's children, led by college-aged Ki-woo, manage to forge their way into the Park family's lives as tutors and art therapists. In exchange for their services, the Kim family finally has a path out of poverty, but this fragile balance built on lies will quickly unravel.

PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE (France, 2019) Director: Céline Sciamma In French, with English subtitles

GEMS Synopsis: Following the unexpected death of her sister, Héloïse (Adèle Haenel) is brought back from a convent and betrothed to an unknown man from Milan. Héloïse's mother, La Comtesse (Valeria Golina), is set on having Héloïse's portrait painted, but she refuses to pose, in rebellion against the arranged marriage into which she is being forced. So La Comtesse slyly hires Marianne, a rare female professional artist in the period, to secretly paint Héloïse's portrait, all the while posing as her ostensible companion. Through walks, profound conversations, and long-held, tantalizing looks, the relationship between Héloïse and Marianne evolves with delicacy and intimacy.

STAFF ONLY (France, Spain, 2019) Director: Neus Ballus In Catalan, French, with English subtitles

GEMS Synopsis: In a time where new generations are often aggressively pursuing some stark definitions of political correctness, Staff Only hits a zeitgeist nerve with a young protagonist who is as intelligent as she is inexperienced. Catalan director Neus Ballús turns an honest and critical eye to a rich cast of characters, all of them compassionate, flawed human beings trying to live their best lives – yet often at unforeseen costs. Embracing the rich Senegalese landscape, Staff Only is as charming as it is poignant, while asking fundamental questions about how we grow individually, and in relation to others.

TAXI TO TREASURE ROCK (Spain, 2019) Director: Alejo Flah In Spanish, with English subtitles

GEMS Synopsis: Freshly released from a Madrid prison, Argentinian con artist and professional charmer Diego has one idea to rebuild his life: finding a lost stash of gold hidden inside the legendary Rock of Gibraltar. Diego puts his snake charmer ways to convince León (Dani Rovira of the Ocho appellidos vascos films), a misanthropic, miserly taxi driver flooded with debt and rage against the system, to drive him from Madrid to Gibraltar. On their chaotic road trip they meet Sandra (Ingrid García-Jonsson), a runaway bride-to-be who is just enough of a misfit to connect with Diego and León, and join their eccentric, life-changing adventure.

THE TRUTH (France, Japan, 2019) Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda In French, with English subtitles

GEMS Synopsis: To iconic actress Fabienne (Deneuve), nothing is more important than giving the perfect performance. Her commitment to her work has long put a strain on her personal life, and when her new memoir comes out, those closest to her find it harder and harder to stay by her side. When her longtime assistant suddenly quits, her estranged daughter Lumir (Binoche) – who's in town visiting along with her actor husband, Hank (Ethan Hawke) – steps into the role of assisting Fabienne while on the set of her new sci-fi film Memories of My Mother. With a mother and daughter so unable to communicate their complicated feelings to one another, Fabienne's new film (based on the Ken Liu short story of the same name) is a resonant, meta example of life imitating art.

THE TWO POPES (Argentina, Italy, UK, U.S., 2019) Director: Fernando Meirelles In English, French, Italian, Spanish, with English subtitles

GEMS Synopsis: When Pope Benedict XVI (Hopkins) breaks with tradition and decides to retire from the papacy, he invites his soon-to-be successor Cardinal Bergoglio (Pryce) – who will become the future Pope Francis – for a meeting. At first, it seems like an ideal opportunity for the two men to exchange pleasantries and put their differences aside. As one of Pope Benedict's harshest critics, Cardinal Bergoglio is a progressive, forward-thinking leader, one who feels strongly that the Church should listen to its followers instead of blindly adhering to the ways of old. It's an outlook that leads to a fierce debate between the two men – a debate on sticking to tradition vs. growing with the times, and about what it means to pave a religious path for more than a billion followers around the world.

TOP END WEDDING (Australia, 2019) Director: Wayne Blair In English

GEMS Synopsis: Lauren's demanding boss has given her just ten days of leave to get married to her doting fiancé, Ned, before she makes partner. But when Lauren's mother disappears in the midst of a major midlife crisis, leaving her father in shambles, all wedding plans are off until they can find her. Lauren and Ned set off on a breathtaking road trip through northern Australia (the "top end" of the country) in which multiple generations of the family must come to terms with the past in order for Lauren and Ned to be able to forge their future together.

This was originally published in Wire Magazine Issue 19.2019

[detroittoaccra]

Last week I traveled to Lisbon for the 2nd International Conference on African Urban Planning, held at the Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning at the University of Lisbon.  I felt like I missed out when I didn’t attend the first conference two years ago.  So, despite its inconvenient timing, I seized on the opportunity to attend and learn more about the politics of urban planning and the New Urban Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals of the UN-Habitat project.  More on that to come as I continue to think about the very interesting conversations from that conference.  In the evenings, after the conference closed and in the day and a half I had before my flight, however, I took the opportunity to explore as much of Lisbon as I could.  I went with fellow conference attendees to eat in central Lisbon at night, which often involved wandering around until we stumbled on something that looked good.  In the process, we passed beautiful architecture.  But after the conference ended, I seized my 36 free hours and set off to see the sights.

I’m teaching the second half of the African history survey this semester, which technically begins in 1800, but which I normally begin with a review of the age of exploration – a sort of “how did we get here” lesson to connect African History and the history of colonialism with what are probably more familiar narratives about European exploration to find new routes to the gold and spices of the East.  Since I missed that day in class, I told students that I would see the sights themselves in Lisbon and report back.  In many ways, this is where it started in the late 15th century – where Vasco da Gama set sail on his trip around the Cape of Good Hope and into the Indian Ocean, where Columbus visited on his way to the Americas, where Prince Henry the Navigator funded the development of new sailing technologies and seemingly far-fetched expeditions.  The narratives we get of those histories are romantic.  Only more recently have people raised questions about the appropriateness of celebrating Columbus Day.  Most people could repeat to you that Columbus’s voyage was extraordinary because he traveled West in defiance of conventional wisdom of the time that said that the world was flat.  They could not really tell you much about what happened once he arrived or what and who he found when he got there.  They could tell you that he was looking for gold and spices.  They probably couldn’t tell you anything about the threat posed by the encroaching Islamic Empire and the wealth it obtained through control over the Silk Road and Trans-Saharan trading routes.  I was curious about whether anything was different in Portugal.

On the very first day that I arrived, I was already primed by my Airbnb host, who said that the old quarter of Belem was a sort of shrine to the explorers, built from the profits of colonialism without of a lot of thought about its negative consequences.  Some of that is less obvious.  The monks at Jeronimos Monastery, for example, provided assistance to seafarers passing through Lisbon.  Vasco da Gama and his sailors famously spent the night and prayed in the monastery the night before setting off on their famous voyage around the southern tip of Africa and on to India.  The building was completed with money obtained through a tax of trade from Africa and Asia – trade that Portugal increasingly controlled as “explorers” established new sea-based routes, allowing them access to foreign markets that had previously only be accessible through long-distance, land-based trade that was under the control of the Islamic Empire.  In the process, they effectively reshaped global trade and enriched themselves.

#gallery-0-21 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-21 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 25%; } #gallery-0-21 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-21 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Nearby the Tower of Belem protected the enclave from potential attack.

While these sites have been preserved as part of a national historical narrative, they sit near a huge monument that makes clear how that narrative is remembered and its significance in the national imaginary.  The giant Monument to the Discoveries sits in between Jeronomos Monastery and Belem Tower, jutting out into the sea, towering over the people below, standing on top of a stone map set into the ground, marked by distinguished Portuguese discovery and conquest.  Built in 1960, this monument reflects a final effort by the dictator Salazar to boost the confidence of the struggling country, which steadfastly refused to give up its empire until the mid-1970s (and then only through significant struggle on the part of African resistance fighters in armed conflict) despite widespread international condemnation.  Read within this clearly political and imperialist context, one reads the symbolism of the monument in different ways.  In turning the “discoverers” into larger-than-life heroes, Salazar makes a moral claim to Portugal’s right to imperialism – an experience and a culture that unites all parts of Portuguese society.  On the monument itself, the explorers are aided by aristocrats and religious leaders, who literally push the explorers up the incline around the monument’s base, symbolizing the critical financial, moral, and political backing that made these voyages possible.

#gallery-0-23 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-23 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-0-23 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-23 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

On the ground around the monument, a giant map marks the sites of Portuguese conquest, symbolically fueled by the winds, risking the dangers of the open ocean, and empowered by the gods of the natural world.

#gallery-0-24 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-24 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-0-24 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-24 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

It’s hard not to feel a little taken aback at the explicit self-congratulatory celebration if one questions at all the narrative of “discovery” and imperialism.  Today, in the aftermath of Portugal’s near-economic collapse, these kinds of statements about historical greatness feel desperate.  In another time, we might easily fall into a sort of self-congratulatory critique.  But very similar questions are being raised about history and memory in this country right now, particularly around monuments.  As these public conversations and some of the excellent public writing by professional historians make clear, monuments often reflect attempts to enshrine particular interpretations of historical narrative and shape historical memory to suit political purposes and to support political claims to power.  Particularly when one is as large as the Monument to the Discoveries, you’re kind of stuck with it.  But how do we recontextualize it after that historical moment, as our understanding of power and the past changes?  How do we address present inequalities and discrimination when monuments to the very people and processes who created the systems and structures of inequality sit in our cities and public squares?

I’m curious to learn more about how this process is unfolding in Portugal, particularly as people pour into the country from former colonies like Angola and Mozambique and the kleptocratic leadership of those countries use their wealth to buy stakes in important Portuguese telecommunications and financial firms.  No one seemed to be talking about it and the permanent exhibits in spaces within the Jeronimos Monastery or the National Tile Museum don’t do much to complicate the narrative, but I likely missed a lot as a tourist who speaks no Portuguese and some of the visiting artists are at least thinking through the relationship between Portugal and its sites of discovery, like the interesting tile work of Japanese artist Haru Ishii found in the National Tile Museum.  And there’s certainly lots of engagement with the history of Moorish occupation in the city.

#gallery-0-25 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-25 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-0-25 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-25 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

The connection to a Portuguese history of colonialism in Africa, however, is a little harder to find – in the winding streets of Mouraria, for example, where many Angolan and Mozambican residents live or in the tours of “African Lisbon” which take visitors through major sites of the city’s contemporary African community.

I walked away from the Monument of Discoveries, and Lisbon more broadly, struck by the incredibly beauty of the city and its connection to its history – I can’t wait to go back.  But I was also reminded once again of how pervasive and insidious the narrative about “discovery” and “civilization” really are and how much we live unthinkingly in the shadow of imperialism and neocolonialism and relive its worst attributes in language, assumption, politics, and perception.  That’s yet another reason why it’s important to learn to grapple with the complexities and contradictions of history rather than sit comfortably with the romanticized memories and monuments of our supposed “heroes”.  People are complicated; so is the past.  And isn’t there a saying about not putting someone on a pedestal unless you want to get them knocked off?

Tourism, Colonialism, Monuments, and Memory Last week I traveled to Lisbon for the 2nd International Conference on African Urban Planning, held at the Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning at the University of Lisbon. 

[theowlpress]

Beautiful Lisbon is the capital of glorious Portugal, which played a leading role at the time of the colonies. The second most important region of the Iberian Peninsula is the economic, cultural and political center of the country. Unlike most capitals, there is no official document or any official report that makes it capital but details … Its historic center is located on seven hills, along the north bank of the Tagus River, while the commercial department of the city is located between the old town of Alphama and the upper town of Bairro Alto. To the west is the port and suburbs of Alcandara and Belene. To the west, you will also find one of the largest urban parks in Europe, the Monsanto Forest Park, about ten square kilometers.

In our modern history, we learn that during the Second World War it was one of the few neutral and open European ports, an exodus for immigrants and a crossroads of spies … The most important historical moment 25 April 1974  when a military movement of left-wing officers, restored democracy after 48 years … The well-known, almost bloodless revolution of the Garyphallos took its name from the fact that many government soldiers had placed it in the gun barrels cloves. How did it then take place in our country? No connection … Since then, other important events have been a great fire in 1988 (it took a decade for the region to come back), the city as a cultural capital of Europe in 1994 and the successful international exhibition EXPO ’98, with the extra celebration for the five hundred years since the voyage of Vasco de Gama in India. Moreover, every March the internationally renowned (half) Marathon, the Lisbon Treaty of March 2000, regarding the strengthening of the European economy, Euro 2004 of course, the launch of the Dakar Rally in January 2006 and 2007 and various cultural festival.

If you intend to go, you will find yourself in the center of Baixa, what was left of, after the great earthquake of 1755, which leveled a large part of the medieval city. The new form consists of uphill and helical streets, which means not to take a car but a cable car and climb to the castle of Sao Jorge, where the city’s cathedral is also located. Close to the river you will find the Alfama, which has suffered earthquakes and droughts as the oldest one, and you can walk to the various squares, such as Praca do Comercio, Praca Rossio, Praca des Restauradores as well as the Jeronimos Monastery, the Belem Tower, the Elevador Gothic Elevador de Santa Justa and the Monument to the Discoveries Padrao dos Descobrimentos. You will enjoy baroque, gothic, traditional Portuguese rhythms, but also modern constructions. Museums of Art include the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, the Portuguese-style Tile Museum, the Museum of Royal Carriages (the largest in the world), the Museum of Design, and an Aquarium, which is considered the largest in Europe …

  Where to eat:

A Tasca: For a romantic atmosphere at affordable prices. Bica do Sapato: John Malkovich is one of the owners and not accidental. Glass walls, space effects in a special restaurant for special tastes. La Brasserie de l’Entrecôte: beautiful atmosphere with Parisian style, ideal for families as well. Lautasco: For those who want local cuisine, in a nice location. Prefer salmon in the grill. Café Mise en Scène: a French coffee to enjoy accompanied by a chocolate fondue in the afternoon. A Carvoaria: a secret of the inhabitants that you will find full of friendly service and great food. Spicy sausages, fillets with garlic are some suggestions. A Económica: Another suggestion for those who want to taste local cuisine in fish and meat. Adega do Gonçalves: Another favorite choice of residents with Portuguese cuisine. Like the Jardim dos Frangos and the Esplanada Santa Marta. Dom Pedro I: For seafood lovers in a family atmosphere and at good prices.

Fun

For live music in A Baîuca For fanta (portugal music) in Adega do Ribatejo, Adega Machado, Adega Mesquita For the most fashionable, there are Art, Bar do Rio, Lux, Belém Bar Café, Capela

Shopping

Do not hesitate because Lisbon is considered the most economic capital of Europe. In the center you will find many shops, while others are worth just visiting because of their special decorations such as Luvaria Ulises, Ourivesaria Aliança and Casas das Velas do Loreto. Chiado is the fashion mood of the region. Finally, you will find and mock leather all kinds of handmade items and gold at least 19.2 carats at the best prices.

Lisbon, the gate of the ocean Beautiful Lisbon is the capital of glorious Portugal, which played a leading role at the time of the colonies.

[hannahwayward-blog]

Four Days in Kochi: The End of India

The flight from Bangalore to Kochi on Monday afternoon was easy - just a little under an hour - but I’ve never been on a plane that smelled so strongly of body odor, so it was a bit brutal. The airport in Kochi is kind of adorable, much like the town of Fort Kochi itself. Rather than the crumbling palaces of Kolkata or the modern, angular buildings in Bangalore, Kochi has an almost Mediterranean feel. During my hour and a half bus ride from the airport into town, I saw plenty of the red tiled roofs and bright green palm trees that give Kochi its quaint, beachy vibe.

This is the problem with getting so behind on blogging - I have only a vague idea of what I did on Monday afternoon, but I’m fairly certain it involved a long nap after Bangalore’s back-to-back late nights. I settled into my bed and breakfast, which was conveniently located right in the middle of Fort Kochi’s modest downtown area, then I don’t think I did much of anything except sleep. The reasoning behind my visit to Fort Kochi, which is a bit off the beaten path, especially during the brutal summer months of monsoon, is that my sister is interning there this summer through a DukeEngage program, similar to what I did in Kolkata. After my three hour snooze, I walked down to her homestay, to which she had invited me for dinner.

Monday was Eid, so the family that runs her homestay was in full celebration mode. Over a delicious, vegetarian meal involving some sort of tortilla-like bread and a saucey potato paste, I got to know Sajir, the host, as well as the site coordinators and the other 11 students with whom my sister is living this summer. While we waited for dinner to be ready, we played a rollicking game of cards that I think was called “Mao,” and I taught them “Do You Want to Buy a Duck.” After dinner, we played “Contact” for a bit before I walked back to my hotel and slept even more. This trip has really been extreme in terms of alternating between lots of sleep and very, very little, and I definitely don’t bounce back from the late nights like I used to.

Kochi was a stark change from Kolkata: the streets were narrow and empty after dark and without the constant thrum of street salesmen and food stalls. The stores were all actual stores - no garage-door holes in the wall - and the few areas with stalls had large tables full of their goods as opposed to the sidewalk displays of the big cities. Fort Kochi had much more of a small town feel that was appreciated after so many days in big cities. The weather, however, was reminiscent of Kolkata’s insane heat that I’d briefly escaped in Bangalore. Each day the forecasts promised rain, but instead, the heat index climbed well above 100. Once again, I was a sweaty mess, but the ocean air made me feel less grimy at the end of the day than Kolkata’s smog.

On Tuesday, I slept until almost noon, then wandered around the small downtown to get my bearings. I visited St. Francis church, which is where Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama was originally buried before his remains were brought home, and marveled at the grave stones from the 1600s when Kochi was still a Dutch colony. I also walked along the beach for a bit, but was getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, and tried to go to a church that was closed. A little frustrated, I decided that hey, this is my vacation, and ended up spending the rest of the afternoon reading and writing from the comfort of my hotel’s second floor terrace. Curled up on the divan (a cursory Google search could not confirm the spelling of that but you get the idea), I wrote my final Kolkata blog post and my Bangalore post and read on my Kindle while the blessed rain finally poured down outside, cooling the day off significantly.

 I wanted to get dinner with my sister, but my breakfast of small biscuits and snack of a candy bar somehow didn’t tide me over, so I ended up having a delicious, local fish dinner at a restaurant downtown. The dish is called meen moily, and involves fresh fish and rice in a sauce of zestily spiced yellow curry with plenty of veggies. After clearing my plate, I met my sister at her homestay and accompanied her and her housemates to dinner at a Thai place. Too full from my Keralan cuisine, I watched with a bit of disgust as they gorged themselves on every variety of momo and then walked with them to an art cafe near my hotel, where they all ate huge brownies and I felt slightly nauseous. I went home and, after reading all afternoon and all through dinner, I stayed up past midnight to finish the fifth Game of Thrones book.

Maybe because I stayed up so late, or maybe because of the deluge earlier that day, I had to deal with some uninvited guests that arrived shortly after midnight. At the risk of giving too much information, I was on the toilet when I heard a loud rustling above me, and turned only to see a HUMONGOUS cockroach fly toward me. I contemplated killing him myself, but he seemed bent on attacking me and wouldn’t stay still long enough to be smushed, so I went down and asked for help from the front desk attendant. Of course, when he came back up, we couldn’t find the rascal, so he armed me with a large bottle of spray and left me to fend for myself. Shortly after, the rustling started up again in the bathroom, but I had sprayed an offensive barrier around the door frame to dissuade the enemy from crossing into my bedroom. It seemed to have worked, and he was already in bad shape as he staggered through the doorway. A couple quick sprays finished the job, and I used the large paintbrush and dustpan the attendant had given me to put the corpse into the garbage can. Relieved, I got back in bed and continued to read.

Fifteen or twenty minutes later, I heard the telltale rustling again - but this time from right beside my bed! I looked down and saw another huge cockroach walking toward my nightstand. A chase ensued, and he ran under my nightstand, under my bed, then under my dresser, where I finally got him with the spray. I put his body in the trash can with his fallen comrade, but by then my room smelled so strongly of toxic spray that I was sneezing and coughing. I couldn’t open the door, though, because I was afraid more roaches would get in, and the windows didn’t open either. I decided that, if I died, I was at least going to die without the unwelcome company of the creepy crawlies, and finished my book (finally!) in peace before falling asleep.

After such a relaxing day on Tuesday (not including the chemical warfare I raged at night), I decided to be a good tourist on Wednesday and see as much of Kochi as I could. After a “quick” breakfast of toast downtown (India time), I decided to walk along the perimeter of the peninsula to Bazaar Road and Jew Town, two of the historic areas of the city. Although it involved a lot of fending off autorick drivers downtown who assured me they had the “best price, madam, fifty rupees only, two hour tour,” I was able to walk relatively peacefully. My first stop was Fort Hotel, where I booked a massage for the following morning at my sister’s recommendation, and chatted for a bit with a high school girl and her friend’s mom, who was Indian and chaperoning a group’s post-graduation vacation.

From there, I made my first cultural stop of the day at the Mattancherry Palace, which was built by the Portuguese, sometime in the early 17th century I believe, to appease the local Indian ruler. Different from Kolkata’s large concrete palaces, this building had long, low-ceilinged rooms with dark wood beams spanning the ceilings and seemed to be built of some more natural material. While the exhibit inside was a little underwhelming, I did see some interesting artifacts from the early colonization of Kochi (then Cochin) and from the ruling family’s daily life, including elaborate gowns, a palanquin, and a number of swords and daggers.

I left the palace and walked along Bazaar road, passing all the shops and doing my best to politely ignore (that phrase still feels oxymoronic) the hawkers, until I got to Jew Town. I learned while I was in Kochi that the area was home to one of the very early Jewish settlements, with the community’s history tracing back to something like 550 AD. Jew Town was cute, and I made my way through the small, shop-lined streets to the synagogue. Of course, I had arrived just after 1:00, and like most things in the warmer areas, the temple was closed between 1:00 and 3:00 PM. With almost two hours to kill, I sat in a nearby bookshop and enjoyed a fresh ginger lime soda while reading my next book, “The Girls.” Once I felt I’d overstayed my welcome, I walked back to Bazaar Road and had a bizarre snack of “chips and salsa,” which consisted of Dorito-esque chips and a very Indian-tasting version of salsa, and some more chips. This still left me with an hour until 3:00, so I walked to an antique shop and got a tour from one of the staff, a sweet lady named Dini who told me all about her daughter Didi and her husband, who had passed away a few years back. After getting the full tour of the antique store, which boasted all sorts of imports and also had an altar at which the staff prayed (it was odd), I had almost passed the full two hours. I walked for, like, a mile in search of a public restroom, convinced a guy at a flooring store to let me use theirs, and then was granted entry to the synagogue right at 3:00.

The synagogue was a little surreal, and not just because of its age. The floor was set with something like 11,000 tiles, each of which had been hand painted. Although they all had generally the same blue floral pattern, no two were identical. The ceiling of the modest room was hung with mismatched chandeliers, and there was an altar in the middle of the room. Wooden benches lined two sides of the room, with the Torah at the back and an entrance and foyer, full of commemorative plaques, at the front.

I was glad I’d waited and had gotten to see it, but I was getting pretty tired and my feet were hurting, so I headed back East toward downtown.After stopping at an ATM for some cash, I visited one last cultural site, the Santa Cruz Basilica, which was right behind my hotel. This place was also surreal, and reminded me of the church in Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet film, full of neon and LED lights and gaudy decorations. Pictures will follow, but the ceiling was elaborately muraled and every column had a glass-encased statue of some saint or Jesus at varying ages. There was also a small grotto-type thing outside dedicated to the patron saint of Portugal or something, which was also full of busy fabrics and loud colors and centered around a brightly painted statue.

In Kochi, I largely avoided much attention, aside from the autorick drivers competing for my business, but was approached in the Basilica by a group of Indian men, probably in their 40s, asking if I’d take a picture for them, then asking if I’d take a picture with them. Ugh. I tried to politely decline (not sure if better or worse than politly ignoring) but then felt like I had to leave. I was mostly ready to be home anyhow, so I schlepped back to the hostel to read for a bit. The power was out, so I walked down the street to what became my new favorite coffee shop (more on Oy’s later) and had a smoothie before walking to my sister’s house to pay her another visit. She had a birthday dinner that evening, so I just hung out while she worked on some visa paperwork before heading to dinner solo.

I ate at a rooftop place downtown, Rasa, that was a bit ritzy, but most of the local places, at which I would’ve preferred to eat, were closed because it was after 9:00. I had a weird, but good, green-sauced biryani, and once again ate to the point of nausea. Indian food is such a blessing and a curse - I love it, but I eat too much, and then feel sick for hours afterward. Clearly self-control is not my forte when it comes to eating all of the local cuisine. I stayed up reading for a bit but called it a fairly early night.

Thursday was my last day in Kochi, but my flight to Bangalore, through which I was flying to get to Doha then Paris, wasn’t until 10:30 PM, so I had a full day to explore. I had another quick breakfast of toast, and then went to Fort Hochi Hotel for my ayurvedic Keralan massage. While it was well-executed, I’ve decided that I’m more of a Swedish massage girl. The strokes were far too light and quick for my tastes, but I appreciate that I got the real Keralan experience. Of note is the fact that the type of massage requires complete nudity, which was a first for me. The masseuse was a young girl and very professional, so it didn’t feel the slightest bit odd, but it was definitely weird when she asked me to fully disrobe. The massage was a relaxing 60 minutes, at the end of which I showered and headed back downtown.

At this point, I’m not gonna lie, I was feeling a bit worn down. Being in India, as I’ve said in almost every post so far, is exhausting. Less so in Kochi, but the constant attention that comes with being a petite, Caucasian woman quickly gets old. I felt that I’d done all of the touristy things that Fort Kochi offered and didn’t have time to take a day trip anywhere. I also had checked out of my hotel, so after a brisk beach walk and a quick, very local (read: no utensils) meal of fish and rice at a little shop called Uncle’s, I ended up spending a large part of the afternoon at Oy’s Cafe. Oy’s is owned by a British lady and an Indian man, who met when she visited Kochi last year, and, in her words, “the rest is history.” It’s no secret that I love local coffee shops (I practically lived at Francesca’s in Durham and frequented Tryst in DC), and this place had what I’m sure the local beach bums would call a “killer vibe.” With handmade bamboo furniture, boldly patterned pillows, and eccentric photos and quotes on the walls, Oy’s street sign correctly describes it as the perfect backdrop for an Instagram photo. I’d had a mango and ginger smoothie the day before, so this time I got a blended coffee and set to work on finishing “The Girls.”

Oy’s seems to be kind of a hub for young travelers, and I saw the same group of French kids that I’d seen the previous afternoon. This time, two of them came over to ask me about a place to stay, and we ended up chatting for a while. I recommended the hotel that I’d just checked out of, and then we talked about travel and Kochi and India in general. After reading for a while and finishing my coffee, I went back to my hotel to charge my laptop for a bit on the terrace, and it the girls had checked in and were sitting there as well. It turns out their original hotel smelled of mildew, so I spent the next hour or so with Jeanne, Orvine (I think… she said her American friends just call her “O”), and Sarah. They’re all classmates studying business in Paris, but only Sarah is actually from the city. One of the other girls is from Bordeaux, and one is from a suburb of Paris. They had come to India to work with a business in Tamil Nadu, which marked Jeanne and O’s second visit to that area, and were now spending a few weeks traveling after the conclusion of their project. Despite my shame that their English was so good and my French is so bad, I really enjoyed getting to know them.

Each of the French girls had bought an anklet in Kochi, which seemed to be a local trend, so I went out in search of one in the couple hours I had left before my bus. After buying an anklet and some postcards, I went back to Oy’s (yes, again), and had a chocolate peanut butter banana smoothie, which was amazing, and finished up my book. Sad to leave Kochi, but also admittedly ready to leave India, I caught the 7:00 PM bus to the airport and arrived around 8:45, with plenty of time to spare before my flight.

Although we were supposed to leave at 10:30, the flight didn’t depart until after 11:00 PM, which was fine, since I had a four hour cushion in Bangalore. Upon my Bangalore arrival, however, I was greeted by a surprisingly long customs line. After changing into a fresh set of clothes and rechecking my pack, I waited at customs for almost an hour before a quick exit interview. With the hour I had before my flight, I had one last spicy Indian take on chicken soup. I had put myself on liquid restriction and had a window seat for the 3:40 AM four hour flight, and don’t even think I got a glimpse of India fading away before I fell asleep on the plane.

This is already a long post, and I’ve said most of what I can say about India. It’s rich and loud and mouth-watering and exhausting. I can also say with confidence that I’ll be back, and am almost certain that I’ll spend time living there as an expat someday. But until then, India will live in my dreams as a hazy, half-imagined country where nature and industry both collide and collude. India, ami tomake bhalobhashi, accha?

[aneddoticamagazinestuff]

Vasco Gargalo: Rankings

New Post has been published on https://www.aneddoticamagazine.com/vasco-gargalo-rankings/

Vasco Gargalo: Rankings

Vasco Gargalo is a portuguese cartoonist, born in 1977 in Vila Franca de Xira, a friendly town in Portugal. He became a father for the first time in 2011. Being a freelance press Cartoonist and Illustrator, his work has been publish in several national and international media – some of his best illustrations can be seen in newspapers and magazines such as “Sábado Magazine”; “Newspaper I”; “Daily News” (portuguese press); “Courrier International”; “Groene Amsterdammer Magazine”; Spotsatire Magazine” (international press). He is a regular collaborator with the Cartoon Movement and has participated in several exhibitions and festivals throughout Portugal, taking part in major European Cartoon Contests. In 2016, Gargalo received four Honorable Mentions: -The United Nations / Ranan Lurie Political Cartoon Award 2016. -The 1st Kuwait cartoon festival 2016. -The 9th Edition of D. Quichotte International Cartoon Contest/Quo Vadis Europe/Journey of Hope. -The “18th World Festival PortoCartoon”. In 2014, he was awarded with a special prize at the “Bienal de Humor Luis d`Oliveira Guimarães Competition”. In 2009, he won the Stuart Award, in the category “cartoon press”. In 2005, he won the Illustration Youth Award, at the “National Hall Press Humor” and received a Honorable Mention at the “Portuguese-Galician Hall of Caricature”. “Drawing for the freedom of speech is his higher purpose!”

Related Post

Rapporti ILO e FAO

“Raised Without Gender”: Swedish kids ...

HERO ROBOTS

Dall’abolizione di Equitalia al prelievo for...

Hacked Sex Robots

A polish Bill Gates: Jacek Karpiński

Aristo Multilog Nr. 970 Simulator

Storia della guerra – 23: La Seconda Guerra ...

L’ARBRE À VENT

“European football championship: who won and...

Amstrad CPC

SODIS Solar water disinfection

.yuzo_related_post imgwidth:155px !important; height:145px !important; .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumbline-height:15px;background: !important;color:!important; .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hoverbackground:#fcfcf4 !important; -webkit-transition: background 0.2s linear; -moz-transition: background 0.2s linear; -o-transition: background 0.2s linear; transition: background 0.2s linear;;color:!important; .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb acolor:!important; .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb a:hover color:!important;} .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover a color:!important; .yuzo_related_post .yuzo_text color:!important; .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb:hover .yuzo_text color:!important; .yuzo_related_post .relatedthumb margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding: 5px 5px 5px 5px; jQuery(document).ready(function( $ ) //jQuery('.yuzo_related_post').equalizer( overflow : 'relatedthumb' ); jQuery('.yuzo_related_post .yuzo_wraps').equalizer( columns : '> div' ); )

[afishtrap]

According to conventional understandings of the Military Revolution, the introduction of firearms in early modern European warfare yielded wide-ranging consequences that were by no means confined to the realm of military affairs. This essay examines the earliest known introduction of firearms technology in India, with a view to evaluating how its consequences there compared or contrasted with those claimed to have occurred in early modern Europe. We further ask: Why did cannon appear in the dry, upland plateau of peninsular India, Known as the Deccan, before anywhere else in India? Within the Deccan, how can we explain the different responses to the advent of gunpowder technologies? What effects did new military technologies have on the Deccan’s architectural landscape, and on its society at large?

Eaton, R. M.  & Wagoner, P. B. "Warfare on the Deccan Plateau, 1450–1600: A Military Revolution in Early Modern India?" Journal of World History, vol. 25 no. 1, 2014, pp. 5-50.

Around the turn of the sixteenth century there appeared three new players whose actions would govern subsequent struggles over the Raichur Doab. First, in 1490, amid the Bahmani kingdom’s growing internal decay, the governor of that kingdom’s important provincial town of Bijapur, Yusuf ‘Adil Khan, declared his independence, at the same time claiming the Raichur Doab as part of his domain. He would become known as the founder of the ‘Adil Shahi sultanate of Bijapur (1490– 1686). Second, from 1498 the Portuguese Estado da India, determined to monopolize control over Arabian Sea commerce, emerged as a powerful naval and land power in western India. Its commercial and political influence would soon extend from several coastal enclaves to the Deccan’s interior. And third, in 1505 there appeared in Vijayanagara a vigorous new dynasty of kings under whom the balance of power in the Doab would tilt toward the south for the first time in a century and a half. In 1509 the throne passed to the renowned Krishna Raya (r. 1509–1529), whose twenty years of rule are widely acclaimed as the acme of Vijayanagara’s power and glory. As heir to Vijayanagara’s long-standing quest to possess the Raichur Doab, Krishna Raya would find support for his cause in the Portuguese, whose general hostility toward Muslim states like Bijapur had been shaped by the previous century’s anti-Muslim reconquista movement in Spain and Portugal. Thus, in 1510 the Estado’s viceroy and master strategist from 1509 to 1515, Afonso de Albuquerque, assisted by a coastal warlord loyal to Vijayanagara, seized the port of Goa from Yusuf ‘Adil Khan’s fledgling kingdom of Bijapur. The Raichur Doab now became the object of a three-cornered struggle involving Bijapur, Vijayanagara, and, supporting the latter from their base in Goa, the Portuguese Estado da India.

[...]

Notwithstanding Gommans’s reservations, there is considerable evidence, both literary and archaeological, that firearms were indeed being used in peninsular India prior to the rise of Portuguese power in the region. The most conclusive archaeological evidence of this is the gun ports that Bahmani rulers built into the walls at three of their principal forts: Bidar, Kalyana, and Raichur. They were circular or arched at Bidar and Kalyana, and square at Raichur8 (Fig. 1). At Kalyana the construction of walls bearing such ports appears to date to 1461–1463,9 those of Raichur to 1468–1470,10 and those of Bidar to the reign of Muhammad III (1463–1482).11 These nearly simultaneous construction activities thus point to the 1460s as the earliest horizon for the use of cannon in the Deccan—indeed, in India. Literary evidence for the advent of gunpowder technology in the region appears at about the same time. The famous Bahmani vazir Mahmud Gawan (fl. 1453–1481) wrote that in January 1471 troops under his command besieged and demolished the fort of Machal (in the Sahyadri range inland from the Arabian Sea port of Ratnagiri) by deploying “roaring thunder [r‘ad], which having the effect of a thunderbolt, showered [on the fort] like rain”—a passage that suggests the use of siege cannon.12 This report would seem to support a statement of the Persian chronicler Firishta that in the very next year, Bahmani forces used cannon (tup and zarbuzan) during their siege of Belgaum, an ally of Vijayanagara. 13 Firishta adds that on that occasion engineers under Gawan’s command called atish-bazan (“fire-workers”) deployed explosive mines that peoples of the Deccan had never seen before.14

European sources dating to the period shortly after the advent of the Portuguese also refer to the use of firearms among local powers in the region. Gaspar Correia, Albuquerque’s secretary and an early chronicler of the Estado da India, records that in 1502 Portuguese naval squadrons were bombarded from the hilltop overlooking the port of Bhatkal.15 Several years later the Italian traveler Ludovico di Varthema recorded seeing artillery at the port of Chaul, then controlled by Bijapur’s neighbor, the sultanate of Ahmadnagar.16 Albuquerque’s own son recalled that when his father took Goa in 1510, Bijapuri defenders greeted the invaders with artillery fire.17 Later that same year, after first losing and then recapturing the city, Albuquerque seized from Bijapur’s defenders a hundred large guns (bombardas) and a “large quantity” of smaller artillery.18

The presence of cannon technology in the Deccan prior to European maritime contact, then, seems beyond dispute. More challenging is reconstructing the vectors by which such technology reached the Deccan in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. It is theoretically possible that the ordnance used at Bhatkal in 1502, or seen at Chaul several years later, had been captured from the Portuguese in some naval engagement and then subsequently turned against the same Europeans. But this is unlikely, given the very short time that had elapsed since Vasco da Gama’s 1498 voyage to Calicut—the dawn of Portuguese presence in the Indian Ocean—and especially given the Bahmanis’ known offensive and defensive use of cannon in the Deccan interior since the 1460s. In our view, the most likely source of this technology was the Mamluk sultans of Egypt, who possessed both cannon technology and a vested interest in the lucrative spice trade from India to Europe during the latter half of the fifteenth century.19 We also know that the Bahmani vazir Mahmud Gawan, the same figure who wrote of besieging the fort of Machal in 1471 with “roaring thunder [r‘ad],” maintained close commercial and diplomatic relations with both Mamluk Egypt and the Ottomans.20 Having captured the strategic seaport of Goa (then a protectorate of Vijayanagara) in 1472,21 Gawan for the next ten years sent Bahmani agents through Mamluk Egypt to Bursa, in western Anatolia, and from there into the Ottoman Balkans to market Indian textiles.22

It is thus very likely that the Mamluks furnished the Bahmanis with ordnance in exchange for textiles, spices, and other commodities destined for Western markets. The best material evidence for this inference is the wrought iron tube cannons that still lie on the ramparts of former Bahmani forts at Bidar, Medak, Yadgir, and Devarakonda (Fig. 2). Made in two parts with separable barrels and powder chambers, these early cannons appear typologically identical to those that the Ottomans reportedly captured from the Mamluks in the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century, which are preserved in Istanbul’s Military Museum.23 Inasmuch as walls with gun ports were being built in at least three major Bahmani forts in or soon after the 1460s, as noted above, we may infer that the tube cannons presently standing on the four above-mentioned forts were either introduced to the Deccan from across the Arabian Sea or, still more likely, produced in the Deccan from Mamluk prototypes.

[kyreniacommentator]

In response to the article we published with entertainer Andy Reay click here on the subject of what do you do during Self Isolation, we have started to receive messages from many happy people as you will see.

We have had an interesting email from Jo Coghlan in Western Australia telling us how the island of Australia has now been divided by the threat of COVID-19 and how people are coping in an Island within an Island 

For those readers who would also like to share their experiences please email  kyreniacommentator@cyprusscene.com and we will try to publish them on our website and in our weekly online e-newspaper. Let’s try to make the world happy again by sharing good news.

For those people who are wanting to return from the UK to the TRNC or go from the TRNC to the UK please go to Facebook page “TRNC Residents trying to get home” click here and register your details as directed.

******

Readers Mail…. From Jo Coghlan…. Western Australia….

 At 11.59 pm on 5th April 2020, Western Australia closed its borders to the rest of Australia and the term ‘an island within an island’ was coined. This was the WA state government’s response to slowing the spread of COVID-19. While allowing many exemptions, this hard border prevents anybody (even West Australians) from entering WA from other states by land, air or sea. It appears to be working.

An international travel ban is in place for all Australians but many are still returning from overseas and must complete 14 days’ quarantine in a hotel in the city of arrival. West Australian’s arriving in Sydney, for example, are obliged to spend 14 days in quarantine there and then another 14 days after flying home to Perth, WA’s capital.

Passengers on cruise ships have had a unique experience. The vessel Vasco da Gama was at Phuket on course for London when plans changed due to the pandemic. It returned to Perth’s port, Fremantle, at the end of March with 950 passengers and 550 crew on board. Fortunately there were no reports of coronavirus and overseas travellers were immediately flown back to their countries of origin and 600 eastern states passengers accommodated in Perth hotels for their 14 days of quarantine.

The 200 Western Australians on board were lucky. They were ferried to Rottnest Island, a holiday destination about 20 kilometres off the coast and spent their quarantine in chalets, units and hostel rooms. Although confined, with tantalising beaches off limits, they were treated to quality food, the fresh breezes of the Indian Ocean and, no doubt, the occasional visit from an inquisitive quokka, the friendly marsupials endemic to the island. This was the ultimate experience: quarantine on a tiny island, off ‘an island within an island’!

Passengers on another cruise ship, the Artania, were not so fortunate. With no Australians on board, it was originally turned away from Fremantle when it sought refuge but then reported sickness on board. Keen not to have a repeat of the disastrous consequences when the Ruby Princess allowed passengers who had been exposed to coronavirus to disembark in Sydney several weeks ago, the WA premier, Mark McGowan, finally allowed the Artania to dock and 50 people were taken to hospital with COVID-19 symptoms. Most of the remaining passengers were flown home to Europe. Currently the ship is still in port but is due to leave next week.

Western Australia has nine regional areas and we are not permitted to travel outside our designated region without an exemption. Most people are observing the ruling, avoiding a hefty fine, and common sense is prevailing. But this was problematic at Easter when many West Australians traditionally flock to the south west of the state and coastal areas. It was a very different Easter for many. The intrastate travel restrictions appear to be working and have been particularly important to protect vulnerable Aboriginal communities in the north of the state.

Within our local community restrictions are in place but we go about our lives, albeit warily. The mantra is “stay at home” but we’re allowed to leave our house to shop for essentials (we’re getting our groceries delivered when we can), exercise, go to work (many people are working from home), attend medical appointments and the pharmacy, and give care and support to others in their homes. With winter months ahead, there’s a real threat of other viruses exacerbating the crisis so we’ve had our flu vaccinations and we’re far more vigilant about washing our hands than ever before.

Closure of playgrounds                         My Husband Peter ‘isolating’ at a local beach

Children are on school holidays and parents have had to find creative ways to occupy them since all usual attractions are closed.  Even playgrounds are off limits. The weather was unusually warm over Easter (Perth reached 40 degrees Celsius, the hottest on record) and naturally people sought relief at police-patrolled beaches. There was a real threat of beach closure if social distancing was ignored but most people were sensible.

We’ve been walking in the cool of the evening in bushland or parks away from people. But we’ve been warned not to be complacent and our local council has installed electronic boards at the entrance to all park areas reminding us to adhere to social distancing and ‘exercise then leave’.

Electronic signs near local parks

Just about everything’s closed, of course, but restaurants and cafes have reinvented themselves, serving take-a-way food and doing home delivery. And we’re all learning how to survive under the new regime.  Online teaching and learning has taken off and suddenly the conferencing platform, Zoom, has lived up to its name. If we didn’t know about podcasts, we do now, and what about all those creative people out there entertaining us with their YouTube videos of their antics while isolating? And we’re learning a whole new vocabulary. Terms like ‘flattening the curve’, ‘contact tracing’, ‘patient zero’, ‘asymptomatic’ and ‘epidemiology’ punctuate our conversations with ease. And ‘panic buying’ will be forever synonymous with toilet paper.  Laughter may not be the best medicine for curing COVID-19 but it certainly helps.

We’re fortunate to be living in a country with strong, considered leadership and, in particular, the ‘island’ state of Western Australia. Our federal and state governments are working together and the usual political sniping from opposition parties has been temporarily shelved. The potential for economic crisis and hardship as a result of job and income losses was recognised early in the pandemic and financial support for families, businesses, renters and vulnerable people was formally legislated and implemented very quickly.

As of 13 April, Australia has suffered 61 deaths and 6322 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the majority of which were acquired overseas including onboard cruise ships.  Western Australia has 6 deaths and 517 cases, 68 of these from overseas passengers and crew from the cruise ship Artania. But with the measures in place to slow the spread of the virus, the number of new cases has trickled and the curve is indeed flattening. Modeling shows we could have had 30,000 cases in WA by now had strict measures not been taken. But the biggest threat is still Australians returning from overseas and restrictions may continue for at least the next six months in WA.

Meanwhile, we sit tight and wait for a vaccine, knowing how fortunate we are to live on ‘an island within an island’ and hope that the world has learnt some lessons.

  …

Isolation Challenge for Island Life Down Under in Australia In response to the article we published with entertainer Andy Reay click here on the subject of what do you do during…

[shmosnet2]

What Is Colonization: Are There Still Colonized Countries?

What Is Colonization: Are There Still Colonized Countries?

Colonialism refers to the domination of one group over another using power. However, there are still 16 territories around the world that are under colonial rule.

Ever wonder why English and Spanish are considered some of the most important languages to learn? Or why they’re the most commonly used languages across the world? The answer is colonialism. To understand what colonialism is and how deeply it has impacted human history, imagine that you’re back in high school. There is always one cool group in class and everything they do is considered important; the rest simply try to follow in their footsteps in order to become ‘cool’. If a geek has something important to offer, it won’t be considered important by the rest of the class unless the ‘cool’ group likes it. Colonialism is like a global high school. Here, the cool group is Europe. The group or nation that dominates others is known as the colonist or the imperial power, while the nation being subjugated becomes the colony. This power game that colonial nations use to exploit other nations for their personal gain, impose their culture, religion and education, use their resources and maybe even physically settle there is colonization. How did countries colonize other countries in the first place? By 1914, most of the countries in the world had been colonized by Europe. The primary motive was to become a planetary superpower and dominate the world. Thus, many European countries, such as Italy, Portugal, Greece, Spain, England and Germany, began acquiring colonies, leading to the colonial division of the world. Thus, most of the countries in Asia and Africa were now colonies. Australia had become a settlement colony where British officials could settle and use as a prison, since no one could escape the island country. This all started during the Age of Discovery, when European nations began seeking new trade routes; new lands were discovered by Christopher Columbus and Vasco Da Gama. These Europeans were able to acquire those lands, since the indigenous tribes did not believe in owning lands like the Europeans. The Europeans considered the indigenous tribes to be savages, cannibalistic and barbaric; under the guise of trade, the Europeans started invading these new lands and claiming ownership over them. Colonialism began when new lands were being discovered for trade (Photo Credit : DEmax/ Shutterstock) Their conquests were cleverly disguised with the religious justification of civilizing the savages, as though it was the moral responsibility or Europe to do so, which led to the spread of Christianity. After worshipping the elements of nature for thousands of years, the indigenous tribes of America and Africa were forcefully converted and forced to adopt Christianity, which is why it’s one of the major religions around the world. Was colonialism a blessing or a curse? Let’s start with the blessings, since there aren’t many, given the ironically barbaric behavior of the colonists. The colonists invested in infrastructure, trade, medical facilities and technological advancements in their colonies. They helped establish democratic systems of government and spread literacy. Under the coat of religion, a great deal of military action was taken against the indigenous tribes. The Hispaniola people was reduced to 15,000 from 250,000 under Spanish rule. Similar acts of warfare were seen in Africa and other colonies who tried to revolt against colonization. We’re all aware of Black Slavery, and the years of racism, slavery and dehumanization that those people endured. Indigenous people were sold off as slaves to the ‘whites’ or taken as soldiers to fight battles, especially in the World Wars. White culture, education and religion were imposed on the people of color, against their liking or wishes. Colonization also had a deep psychological impact, not only were their lands being taken away, but also their minds. The colonists began feeling like an inferior race compared to the ‘whites’, shattering their self-esteem and poisoning their culture. Slavery in Africa (Photo Credit : Morphart Creation/ Shutterstock) Are some territories still colonized? After countless wars fought between colonists and colonies, a wave of decolonization swept across the world in the 20th century, liberating the majority of nations from colonial rule and establishing their independent identity. There was a political revolution after the formation of the United Nations in 1945 that safeguarded the territories of all nations and maintained international peace. However, there are still 16 territories that are under the colonial rule of the UK, the USA and France. These relationships are known as Residual Colonialism. These areas haven’t attained self-government yet and are labelled as NSGTs (Non Self-Governing Territories) that together account for 2 million people under colonial rule. The territories include Western Sahara, the Falkland Islands, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the United States Virgin Islands, Gibraltar, French Polynesia, Guam and others. 16 territories are still colonized, according to the list of the UN (Photo Credit : nexus/ Shutterstock) These territories are not just small marks on the world map, but actually have significant economic importance for the colonists. The Cayman Islands and Bermuda are on the top ten list based on GDP per capita, and Guam provides important regional security. Gibraltar and the Falklands are diplomatically disputed, so it is becoming difficult to decolonize them. Colonialism is nothing but an evil and greedy game of power that needs to be completely eradicated like the rampant disease it is. Apart from physically decolonizing, decolonizing the minds of the colonies is also important, since colonialism still impacts the memory and attitudes of the victims, many of whom find it difficult to move on from those horrors. References Stanford University EGO Shoes National Geographic United Nations University United Nations Help us make this article better

https://ift.tt/2LHjgBr . Foreign Articles October 03, 2019 at 10:17PM

[gogopimohan-blog]

The Colachel International Seaport

  , also known as Enayam port, is proposed and located in Colachel, Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, India into a major port transforming it into India’s southern trans-shipment gateway. The project costs Rs 28000 crore.  500 acres of land will be reclaimed from the sea. This will be taken up in three phases

.

Colachel is already a natural harbour with water that is about 20 metres deep. The proposed port is less than four nautical miles away from the international shipping channel. The Colachel port would have the ability to handle around two million metric tonnes of cargo initially, which would gradually be enhanced to eight million metric tone

History

It is an ancient port town. Vasco da Gama called it ‘Colachi’. Tamil Nadu, as early as the 3rd century BCE, had more than 16 such ports — between Chennai and Tirunelveli — that helped it maintain direct maritime links with China and Southeast Asian countries. Before the State re-organisation in 1956, it was part of the Travancore State. After the defeat of the Dutch by King Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma in 1741, a victory pillar had been erected near the beach in commemoration of the victory. The town is bounded on the south by the Arabian Sea.

Battle of Colachel Colachel was the location of the battle between the Travancore (Anglicised form of Thiruvithaamkoor) forces led by King Marthanda Varma (1729–1758) and the Dutch East India Company forces led by Admiral Eustachius De Lannoy on 10 August 1741. It was the first time in Indian history that a small kingdom defeated a European naval force.The Dutch marines landed in Colachel with artillery and captured the land up to Padmanabhapuram, the then capital of Travancore. The arrival of Marthanda Varma’s army led by his General Anandha Padmanaba Nadar from the north forced the Dutch to take up defensive positions in Colachel, where they were attacked and defeated by the Travancore forces. Twenty-eight high level Dutch officers, including Admiral D’lennoy, were captured. The defeat of the Dutch in Colachel was the turning point of the Travancore-Dutch War. D’lennoy went on to serve Marthanda Varma for the next two decades and was promoted to the post of the Valiya kappithan (Senior Admiral) of the Thiruvithancorr kingdom ..

Importance

The port is proposed at Colachel, 19 km away from Nagercoil, capital of Kanyakumari District. The proposed Colachel International Seaport is just four nautical miles from the International Shipping Lane. Large container ships called mother vessels need about 18 metres of water depth. Colachel is already a natural harbour with water that is about 20 metres deep.

Estimated project coste

Phase-I ₹ 6,628 Phase-II ₹ 6,000 Phase-III ₹ 7,000 Total ₹ 21,000

on this national devolepment project some fishermen are being misguided by christian missionories and local politiciens, However, Mr. Pon Radhakrishnan  [central minister of india] had earlier allayed the fears of fishermen saying if the port came up, many educated youths will get direct and indirect employment opportunities. The State government gave its nod for the project recently and the Ministry of Shipping has accelerated the process to execute the project.

Enayam is in the global East-West International trade route. India does not have a transshipment port even after falling on the strategic route. Now with the Cabinet nod, the major port there, work on which will begin next year,

25% of Indian container cargo is transshipped at foreign ports and Tamil Nadu alone accounts for more than 50% of transshipped cargo.  developing the port will arrest any attempt by neighbouring nations eying the transshipment opportunities in the region.

Countries like Sri Lanka and Maldives have been eying the opportunity by adding capacity. the port will maintain 20 metre draft and will boost fisheries and trade in the region and farmers and fishermen will benefit immensely from it. also a 10km double track railway connectivity has been planned there besides a four lane road of 12km to ensure connectivity.

A special purpose vehicle (SPV) will be formed with initial equity investment from the three major Ports in Tamil Nadu—V.O. Chidambaranar Port Trust, Chennai Port Trust, and Kamarajar Port Ltd, the statement added. The SPV will develop the port infrastructure including dredging and reclamation, construction of breakwater, ensuring connectivity links etc.,

At present, there are only a few ports in India that have sufficient draft and can match global cargo handling efficiencies. Currently, all of India’s trans-shipment traffic gets handled in Colombo, Singapore and other international ports. Indian port industry loses out up to Rs 1,500 crore of revenue each year,

Establishing this major port at Enayam will not only act as a major gateway container port for Indian cargo that is transshipped outside the country, but also become a transshipment hub for the global East-West trade route,

  Enayam will reduce logistics cost for exporters and importers in South India who depend on trans-shipment in Colombo or other ports thus incurring additional port handling charges. The project has been pending for so long 25 years,and dream of devolepment loving people of kanniya kumari district  and was opposed by local fishermen and christian missionories and some opposition political leaders. Last month accusing Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Congress MLAs of instigating innocent fishermen against the Colachel Commercial Port project, minister of state for road transport and highways Pon Radhakrishnan had said he would even resign and launch an agitation for its implementation.

“Colachel project is a dream project of the Kanyakumari people. The Centre has allocated Rs 25,000 crore for the project. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keen on successful implementation of the project,” he has said in Kanyakumari.”If this type of politics continue, I will not mind resigning my ministership, with the blessings of the party leaders and launch an agitation,” Radhakrishnan, who represents Kanyakumari in Lok Sabha had added

however most people of kanniyakumari are very eagerly awaiting for this project to devolep their district.

also see mandaikkadu sri bagavathi amman temple,ancient temple,very near to colachel port.

  mandaikkadu temple near colachel

sri.bagavathi amman,mandikkadu

millions of people participating in the festival of mandaikkadu temple,near colachel port

Colachel Seaport The Colachel International Seaport , also known as Enayam port, is proposed and located in Colachel…