Serendipity : Musings of an Islander

Are we waiting for the Jarawas to re-invent the wheel? Debkumar Bhadra   |          Musings of an Islander                   |          South Andaman The Andaman & Nicobar Islands which made headlines after the 2004 Great Sumatra Andaman Earthquake is once again featured in the national as well as international media following release of a video clip featuring Andaman’s Jarawa tribe by a section of British media. Immediately other y other NGO’s, media houses, activists and their likes switched to campaign mode releasing reports, reviews, comments, commentaries and updates almost on a day-to-day basis, many of which are drifted miles away from truth. What it emerges out of the campaign launched by some NGO’s at the internat...

Implementation of High Security Registration Plates (HSRP) for motor vehicles in India could be traced to the Hon’ble Supreme Court order wherein the Secretary, Transport and the Commissioner, State Transport Authority of the State of Haryana had been held guilty of willful disobedience/non-compliance of court orders particularly the orders dated 30th November 2004, 7th April 2011 and 30th August 2011. Having found guilty the court punished the erring officials to pay fines and in default, undergo simple imprisonment for 15 days; Exemplary cost was also imposed on the particular State. The apex court further set 31st March, 2012 as the deadline to implement the scheme, pan-India. Consequently the RTO/Directorate of Transport, A&N Administration had drawn up a detailed schedule according to which fixing of HSRP started on 11th Jan and would be completed by 30th March ie., a day before actual expiry of the deadline set by the hon’ble apex court. A look at the schedule issued by ...

CONFUSION, CLASH OF INDIVIDUAL EGO MAR 2012 REPUBLIC DAY CELEBRATION AT RANGAT GROUND The 63rd Republic Day celebration at Rangat had been under the cloud of confusion, which later took the shape of “an ego clash” over who would hoist the national flag at the official function at Rangat ground - the Adhyaksh N&M Andamans (Congress candidate) or the Pramukh Rangat (BJP candidate). As per the prevailing practice Pramukh, Rangat Samiti had been hoisting national flag at the official function at Rangat ground. But this time, it was speculated that Adyaksh N&M Andamans would take the honour. The speculation turned out to be true as the Adhyaksh N&M Andamans emerged on the dais and hoisted the flag at the Rangat ground on the appointed day. Thus shattered the honor and privilege, bestowed upon the Pramukh Rangat samity 16 year ago when PRI system was implemented (1995). The dejected BJP functionaries surprisingly kept their nerves under control and watched the pr...

The islanders, especially those from N&M Andaman were surprised by heightened presence of Govt Officials fortified with Police in their area, on Dec 8th 2010. The jinx soon broke when the officials zeroed into individual shops serving GO informing that since their shop falls within the Buffer Zone , they need to close their shops in compliance with Hon’ble Supreme Court Order dated 03/12/2010. It is really a nightmare for them because the GO says they need to close their shops by tomorrow ie., 9th or face action. Everybody is shell shocked. None of the affected parties has been given time, not even to seek redress in the court of law; Anger started brewing, there is large scale dissent among the islanders who were settled in this part of the country by Govt of India under various colonization schemes. Being a democratic country, its citizens are free to exercise their right to life and livelihood. But the GO served upon them violated such legitimate right guaranteed by Constituti...

All motorised vehicles are fitted with a registration plate (commonly called Number Plate) bearing registration mark, at the front and back, in specific size and colour combination depending upon the class of the vehicle. In India until June 30, 1989, the registration plate system adopted a scheme where the first 2 or 3 alphabets were the state code, followed by unique registration number (numeral upto 4 digits). Some of the older vehicles still carry this valid numbering scheme. In the early 2000, the number plate colour scheme was changed from white over black to black over white for private non-commercial vehicles, and from black over white to black over yellow for all other class of vehicles. Also in the revised system, first two letters of the registration mark represent the state in which the vehicle is registered and the next two digit (numerals) indicate the sequential number of the district. Third part is a 4 digit number unique to each plate. Once the 4 digit number reach...

The article in the Light of Andamans , V ol 35, I ssue 22 , dated 16 D ec 2011, titled “The Administration : A collective portrait” traces the predicament faced by A&N A dministration (called family) bare and nude. It is ironic that though part of Indian democracy, governance in these islands is “one way” affair; as if those outside the family neither have brains capable of analysing things nor have a heart which could bleed when hurt. Consequently the head of the family castled in the make believe world put up by the subordinate members of the family is unable to take a view considerate to the needs, expectations and aspirations of the islanders. I still remember the days when the head of the family had to tour N orth and M iddle A ndamans only to assure the islanders that their concerns on ATR and  Buffer Zone will be taken care of. He said “… B uffer Z one will not cause inconvenience…there will be no displacement in this count…” The promise was repeated in the cov...

Recently there has been a flurry of instances wherein innocent peoples lost their life under the wheels of misfortune, either because of ignorance or due to fault committed not by the self, but by fellow road users. With newer members added every day to the already oversized population of vehicles, the problem is getting compounded.  Pedestrians, the elderly, ladies, children and the physically challenged are the worst affected. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands have seen rapid increase in the number of vehicles of all classes, especially personal cars have more than doubled since 2004. Courtesy aggressive marketing by enterprising car dealers fortified with equally enthusiastic loan providers, almost all the roads in and around Port Blair town now stands occupied by one or the other kind of 2, 3, 4, 6 or 10 wheelers! Almost every model, variant, brand, genre of vehicles could be seen rushing from one end of the city to the other. The consequences of such increased population ...