The Da Vinci Code is a novel written by American author Dan Brown. It is a worldwide bestseller with 36 million copies in print and has been translated into 44 languages. Combining the detective, thriller and conspiracy theory genres, the book is part two of a trilogy that started with Brown's 2000 novel Angels and Demons, which introduced the character Robert Langdon.
The plot of the novel involves a conspiracy by the Catholic Church to cover up the true story of Jesus. This implies that the Vatican consciously knows it is living a lie, but does so to keep itself in power. The novel has helped generate popular interest in speculation concerning the Holy Grail legend and the role of Mary Magdalene in the history of Christianity. Fans have lauded the book as creative, action-packed and thought-provoking. Critics have attacked it as inaccurate and poorly written, and decry the many negative implications about the Christian Church.
The book opens with the claim by Dan Brown that "all descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate"; but this claim is disputed by academic scholars in the fields the book discusses. As widely noted in the media, there has been substantial confusion among readers about whether the book is factual.
The book concerns the attempts of Robert Langdon, Professor of "Religious Symbology" at Harvard University, to solve the murder of renowned curator Jacques Saunière of the Louvre Museum in Paris. The title of the novel refers, among other things, to the fact that Saunière's body is found inside the Louvre naked and posed like Leonardo da Vinci's famous drawing, the Vitruvian Man, with a cryptic message written beside his body and a Pentagram drawn on his stomach in his own blood. The interpretation of hidden messages inside Leonardo's famous works, including the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, figure prominently in the solution to the mystery.
The main conflict in the novel revolves around the solution to two mysteries:
* What secret was Saunière protecting that led to his murder?
* Who is the mastermind behind his murder?
The novel has several concurrent storylines that follow different characters. Eventually all the storylines are brought together and resolved at the end of the book.
The unraveling of the mystery requires the solution to a series of brain-teasers, including anagrams and number puzzles. The solution itself is found to be intimately connected with the possible location of the Holy Grail and to a mysterious society called the Priory of Sion, as well as to the Knights Templar. The Catholic organization Opus Dei also figures prominently in the plot.
The novel is the second book by Brown in which Robert Langdon is the main character. The previous book, Angels and Demons, took place in Rome and concerned the Illuminati.
Characters:
These are the principal characters that drive the plot of the story. It seems to be Dan Brown's style that many have names that are puns, anagrams or hidden clues:
* Robert Langdon – A well-respected professor of Religious Symbology at Harvard University. At the beginning of the story, he is in Paris to give a lecture on his work. Having made an appointment to meet Jacques Saunière, the curator of the Louvre, he is startled to find the French police at his hotel room door. They inform him that Saunière has been murdered and they would like his immediate assistance at the Louvre to help them solve the crime. Unbeknownst to Langdon, he is in fact the prime suspect in the murder and has been summoned to the scene of the crime in order that the police may extract a confession from him.
* Jacques Saunière – the curator of the Louvre, head of the secret Priory of Sion, and grandfather of Sophie Neveu. Before being murdered by Silas (an albino monk) in the museum, he reveals false information to Silas about the Priory's keystone, which contains information about the true location of the Holy Grail. After being shot in the stomach, he uses the last minutes of his life to arrange a series of clues for his estranged granddaughter, Sophie, to unravel the mystery of his death and preserve the secret kept by the Priory of Sion. Saunière's name may be based on Bérenger Saunière, a real person who was extensively mentioned in Holy Blood, Holy Grail.
* Sophie Neveu – the granddaughter of Jacques Saunière. She is a French government cryptographer, who studied at the elite Royal Holloway, University of London Information Security Group. She was raised by her grandfather after her parents were killed in an automobile accident when she was a girl. Her grandfather used to call her "Princesse Sophie" and trained her to solve complicated word puzzles. As a girl, she accidentally discovered a strange key in her grandfather's room inscribed with the initials "P.S.". Later, as a college student, she made a surprise visit to her grandfather's house in Normandy and observed him participating in the Hieros Gamos, a sex ritual. The incident led to her estrangement with her grandfather for ten years until the night of his murder.
* Bezu Fache – a captain in the Direction Centrale Police Judiciaire (DCPJ), the French criminal investigation police. Tough, canny, persistent, he is in charge of the investigation of Saunière's murder. From the message left by the dying curator, he is convinced the murderer is Robert Langdon, whom he summons to the Louvre in order to extract a confession. He is thwarted in his early attempt by Sophie Neveu, who knows Langdon to be innocent and surreptitiously notifies Langdon that he is in fact the prime suspect. He pursues Langdon doggedly throughout the book in the belief that letting him get away would be career suicide. "Bezu" is not a common French personal name, but "le Bezu" is the name of a castle in Rennes-le-Château with Cathar associations. When we first encounter Fache, he is compared to an ox; note that "Bezu" is an anagram of zebu, a type of ox. Fâché is French for "angry", but "Fache" is also a reasonably common French surname, although it is pronounced differently from fâché.
* Silas – an albino devotee of Opus Dei who practices severe corporal mortification. He was orphaned in Marseille as a young man, fell into a life of crime, and was imprisoned in Andorra in the Pyrenees until freed by an earthquake. He finds refuge with a young Spanish priest named Aringarosa, who gives him the name Silas and who eventually becomes the head of Opus Dei. Before the beginning of the events in the novel, Aringarosa puts him in contact with the Teacher and tells him that the mission he will be given is of utmost importance in saving the true Word of God. Under the orders of the Teacher, he murders Jacques Saunière and the other three leaders of the Priory of Sion in order to extract the location of the Priory's clef de voûte or "keystone". Discovering later that he has been duped with false information, he chases Langdon and Neveu in order to obtain the actual keystone. He does not know the true identity of the Teacher. He is reluctant to commit murder, knowing that it is a sin, and does so only because he is assured his actions will save the Catholic Church.
* Bishop Manuel Aringarosa – the worldwide head of Opus Dei and the patron of the albino monk Silas. Five months before the start of the narrative, he is summoned by the Vatican to a meeting at an astronomical observatory in the Italian Alps and told, to his great surprise, that in six months the Pope will withdraw his support of Opus Dei. Since he believes that Opus Dei is the force keeping the Church from disintegrating into what he sees as the corruption of the modern era, he believes his faith demands that he take action to save Opus Dei. Shortly after the meeting with the Vatican officials, he is contacted by a shadowy figure calling himself "The Teacher", who has learned somehow of the secret meeting. The Teacher informs him that he can deliver an artifact to Aringarosa so valuable to the Church that it will give Opus Dei extreme leverage over the Vatican. The name "Aringarosa" seems to be the literal Italian translation of "red herring", although this is not the expression used in Italian for "red herring" in its figurative sense. It could have a loose relation to "A Ring Around The Rosies" where Rosa could refer to the rose line, or the various other rose symblogy in the novel.
* The Teacher – a shadowy figure who drives the plot of the story. He has learned not only about the plight of Opus Dei, but also the identities of the four leaders of the Priory of Sion, who in turn know the location of the keystone. He contacts Aringarosa and agrees to supply him with a fantastic artifact that will give Opus Dei great power, namely documents that, if released, would destroy the Church. Aringarosa, acting out of self interest and piety, agrees to his offer in order to save both Opus Dei and the Church. The Teacher uses Silas, Aringarosa's protectee, to carry out his plans.
* André Vernet – president of the Paris branch of the Depository Bank of Zurich. He is informed of Neveu and Langdon being wanted by the Direction Centrale Police Judiciaire by a security guard who recognized them from a television news report he had been watching before they had entered the bank. When Neveu and Langdon arrive Vernet met with them, his only plan in mind to get rid of them before the police arrive. They inform him that Jacques Saunière, a longtime account holder at the bank, has died and that Neveu now possesses the depository key, a Gold Key, to the account but did not know the account number. He is incapable of helping with the account information and leaves Neveu and Langdon alone to buy time from the police. Neveu and Langdon access the bank account with the key and figure out the account number after examining one of Saunière's clues he left behind, and retrieved a rosewood box from Saunière's safety deposit. When Vernet returns he is shocked to learn Neveu and Langdon figured out the account number. He is motivated to help them escape undetected for two reasons: he doesn't want the bank to get bad publicity and Saunière was a close friend of his. Acting as a bank driver, he bluffs his way past the police in one of the bank's trucks with Langdon and Neveu concealed in the cargo-hold. He later attempts to retrieve the rosewood box he believes they had stolen from Saunière after he hears on the radio Langdon is wanted for the murder of three others, the three other high ranking members of the Priory of Sion, the sènèchaux, and turn them in but he is thwarted by Langdon, who steals the truck and escapes with Neveu to the nearby château of his friend, Sir Leigh Teabing.
* Sir Leigh Teabing – British Royal Historian, a Knight of the Realm, Grail scholar, and friend of Robert Langdon. Independently wealthy, he lives outside Paris in a château, where Langdon and Neveu take refuge after escaping from the Depository Bank of Zurich with the rosewood box containing the keystone. He reveals the "real" interpretation of the Grail to Neveu. After they are discovered at his home simultaneously by Silas and the French police, the three of them flee with his chauffeur Rémy, flying to England in his private jet. They take Silas with them bound and gagged. After Neveu solves the combination lock of the keystone, he interprets the enclosed riddle as meaning they should go to the Temple Church in London to find the next hidden clue that will let them unlock the second combination lock of the keystone. Note that Sir Leigh's name is an anagram of the surnames of Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh — authors of Holy Blood, Holy Grail, a book which espouses very similar beliefs to Sir Leigh's.
* Rémy Legaludec – manservant and chauffeur to Leigh Teabing. After flying with Teabing, Langdon, and Neveu to England, he drives them to the Temple Church in London. Unbeknownst to the others, he is in fact working for the Teacher. While they are inside the Temple Church, he rescues Silas, who was tied up by the other three. Armed with a pistol, he enters the church before the others can locate and solve the riddle supposedly hidden there. He takes Teabing hostage and demands the keystone from Langdon. When Langdon gives him the keystone, he and Silas flee in his car with Teabing as hostage. Rémy Martin is a famous brand of cognac, and cognac plays a role in Rémy's fate.
* Lieutenant Collet – a lieutenant in the Direction Centrale Police Judiciaire (DCPJ). He is Fache's second-in-command in the case. Mostly a disappointment to Fache, Collet tries to redeem himself throughout the novel, but is also motivated by his own craving for glory and fear of risking his career by ignoring Fache's orders. By the end of the investigation Collet manages to share in the spotlight and to save Fache undue embarrassment by crediting him for the arrest of the Teacher while also claiming that his misguided intent to arrest Neveu and Langdon was a ruse to draw out the real killer. By the end of the book Fache says of him, "A good man, that Collet."
* The docent at Rosslyn Chapel – he is giving a guided tour of Rosslyn Chapel to Langdon and Neveu when he sees the rosewood box they are carrying and realizes that it seems to be an exact duplicate of a box owned by his grandmother, who is the head of the trust that oversees the chapel. He is revealed to be Sophie's brother.
* Guardian of the Rosslyn Trust – she is, in fact, Marie Chauvel, the wife of Jacques Saunière and Sophie Neveu's grandmother. The docent is Sophie's brother. Believing that they had been targeted for assassination by the Church for knowing the powerful secret of the Priory of Sion, she and Saunière agreed that she and Sophie's brother should live secretly in Scotland. Only Sophie's parents were in the car at the time even though the whole family was supposed to be there. Saunière told the authorities that Sophie's grandmother and her brother were in the car. She tells Neveu and Langdon that although the Holy Grail and the secret documents were once buried in the vault of Rosslyn Chapel, they were removed to France by the Priory of Sion only several years ago. Reading the parchment inside the second keystone, she realizes where the Grail is now hidden, but refuses to tell Langdon, saying he will figure it out eventually on his own. According to her, the Priory of Sion never intended to reveal the secret of the Grail according to any set timetable. She believes that such a revelation is unnecessary anyway, since the true nature and spiritual power of the Grail is emerging into the world without the location of the actual artifact being revealed. She also informs Sophie Neveu of her true identity through her bloodline.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Friday, February 10, 2006
USA and HYPOCRISY
While going through the papers I began to wonder if the USA really thinks it can police the world? Does it believe that it has the rights to do so in every sphere of other countries? What powers does it possess to be the watch dog of other governments?
On the matter of security of world peace, it can with the views of rest of the UN member countries take united action against the erring country. And it did not do that in two cases which involved matters related to Afghanistan and that of Iraq, where it went ahead and plundered these countries over riding the decision of the Security Council! And all this in the guise of eradication of global terrorism!
But it did not utter a single word against its ally, which is known to promote terrorism for more than 2 decades. Neither could it take action against N. Korea nor Iran for possessing nuclear war heads because they were threatened with dire consequences. But Iraq had no such WMDs and could not counterattack so they were plundered!
Now India needs Fast Breeder nuclear reactors to overcome its future power shortage problems, USA states that India is its strategic partner in the South Asian region hence it will help in transfer of this technology abet India opens its military reactors for UN weapons inspections. I don’t justify such transfer because will USA open its arsenal for inspections or will it disarm itself for the betterment of the future? I guess the answer will be no, because it is facing the terrorist problems but not India?
It could not apprehend A.K.Q Khan, nor reduce the mounting insurgency in the Indo-Pak border that has existed over 2 decades. And now it wants to inspect the nuclear facilities of the world’s largest democracy but can’t keep a tab on Pakistan’s military rule and cannot overrule a nuclear threat by the despotic ruler. The basic thing is that we as a nation should take a stance at USA’s hypocrisy and show them that they cannot take us for granted. We to are developing at a fast rate and will soon be a force to recon with. It’s also about time that we be entitled permanent UNSC membership.
Time for USA to leave its double standards and work to make this world a better place though on a lighter sense it would be better if Bushand his whole family be condemned to death for their stupidity and despotic behaviour!
On the matter of security of world peace, it can with the views of rest of the UN member countries take united action against the erring country. And it did not do that in two cases which involved matters related to Afghanistan and that of Iraq, where it went ahead and plundered these countries over riding the decision of the Security Council! And all this in the guise of eradication of global terrorism!
But it did not utter a single word against its ally, which is known to promote terrorism for more than 2 decades. Neither could it take action against N. Korea nor Iran for possessing nuclear war heads because they were threatened with dire consequences. But Iraq had no such WMDs and could not counterattack so they were plundered!
Now India needs Fast Breeder nuclear reactors to overcome its future power shortage problems, USA states that India is its strategic partner in the South Asian region hence it will help in transfer of this technology abet India opens its military reactors for UN weapons inspections. I don’t justify such transfer because will USA open its arsenal for inspections or will it disarm itself for the betterment of the future? I guess the answer will be no, because it is facing the terrorist problems but not India?
It could not apprehend A.K.Q Khan, nor reduce the mounting insurgency in the Indo-Pak border that has existed over 2 decades. And now it wants to inspect the nuclear facilities of the world’s largest democracy but can’t keep a tab on Pakistan’s military rule and cannot overrule a nuclear threat by the despotic ruler. The basic thing is that we as a nation should take a stance at USA’s hypocrisy and show them that they cannot take us for granted. We to are developing at a fast rate and will soon be a force to recon with. It’s also about time that we be entitled permanent UNSC membership.
Time for USA to leave its double standards and work to make this world a better place though on a lighter sense it would be better if Bushand his whole family be condemned to death for their stupidity and despotic behaviour!
A Cartoon Trouble!!!
So what’s the deal about the cartoon that has been in news for the past 2-3 days and some countries are burning? Hey guys what happened to the Freedom of Expression? Can’t you guys just take a gag as gag rather than take it with a pinch of salt, and that to from illiterate clergies with the sole aim of creating discord?
Well I do understand that Freedom of Expression should never hurt the sentiments of other people or community, but I guess that the problem should have ended after the Dutch newspaper carried an apology! Well I know that some of you may comment that, “Can the same work after you stab some one to death and then apologize?” Well there are different problems and each have a different solution? But is violence the answer for a gag or cartoon? Is killing justified as a solution?
After witnessing the news of the past one week I can say that the Muslims are having pretty orthodox outlook? They can’t understand a joke and burn up the embassies and another after playing international cricket for 16 years and being the captain of the country says he can’t understand the laws and calls the opposition captain for causing discord between the two countries? Do they think that they are the smart ass and rest of the world’s just a bunch of idiots?
Such senseless ideology, that causes more harm than good of the people? As far as the game of cricket is considered it would be a lot better if the Gentleman’s game is played excluding the team whose captain has the lack of knowledge of the laws? What good would happen in the interest of the game, if the opposite team calls all the dismissals as wrong decisions, and says this is against the sportsman spirit?
And then the Muslims in the country are asked by some clergy to oppose the UPA government just because it did not comment on the cartoon concerning the prophet? Thank heavens that the Muslims in this country have not taken the streets and have greater understanding and uphold the constitution!
As a parting statement or thought for the day: Just give a second thought if all the Sikh community and the Blondes across the world react to all the gags and jabs made on them then what would have happened? If they are taking all these in a lighter vein why can’t the Muslims so the same? Are these guys going to be the cause of the Third World War?
Well I do understand that Freedom of Expression should never hurt the sentiments of other people or community, but I guess that the problem should have ended after the Dutch newspaper carried an apology! Well I know that some of you may comment that, “Can the same work after you stab some one to death and then apologize?” Well there are different problems and each have a different solution? But is violence the answer for a gag or cartoon? Is killing justified as a solution?
After witnessing the news of the past one week I can say that the Muslims are having pretty orthodox outlook? They can’t understand a joke and burn up the embassies and another after playing international cricket for 16 years and being the captain of the country says he can’t understand the laws and calls the opposition captain for causing discord between the two countries? Do they think that they are the smart ass and rest of the world’s just a bunch of idiots?
Such senseless ideology, that causes more harm than good of the people? As far as the game of cricket is considered it would be a lot better if the Gentleman’s game is played excluding the team whose captain has the lack of knowledge of the laws? What good would happen in the interest of the game, if the opposite team calls all the dismissals as wrong decisions, and says this is against the sportsman spirit?
And then the Muslims in the country are asked by some clergy to oppose the UPA government just because it did not comment on the cartoon concerning the prophet? Thank heavens that the Muslims in this country have not taken the streets and have greater understanding and uphold the constitution!
As a parting statement or thought for the day: Just give a second thought if all the Sikh community and the Blondes across the world react to all the gags and jabs made on them then what would have happened? If they are taking all these in a lighter vein why can’t the Muslims so the same? Are these guys going to be the cause of the Third World War?
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
THE CATACOMBS OF PARIS
The Catacombs of Paris are a network of tunnels and caves that run for more than 300 kilometers under the city. To build a city, you need materials. The Romans were the first to quarry the limestone in the area in 60 B.C.E.; however, those quarries were the open-air kind -- the Romans just dug out the rock that was exposed. As the city grew and covered the landscape, tunneling would be required to get more building materials. In 1180 C.E., Philippe-Auguste became King. He was a major proponent of tunneling to quarry in order to build ramparts to protect the city, and it was under his rule that this tunnel network would truly be born.The quarries grew in size and complexity and produced building materials for centuries to come. Quarrying continued with reckless abandon until problems began to arise. In the eighteenth century, the city of Paris (and the weight of its buildings) continued to grow as the ground became more hollow underneath. Some buildings began to collapse and fall into the earth that was opening up below them. On April 4, 1777, the Inspection Générale des Carrières was formed to manage, fill in, or close sections of the tunnels deemed dangerous.It was during the eighteenth century that a second problem arose for Parisians -- the graveyards were getting full... very full. The Cimetière des Innocents (Cemetery of the Innocent) alone held more than thirty generations of human remains. Taara, as she is known in the Paris underground, is the author of a Web site on the Catacombs. She said, "Families used to pay the parish priest to bury their dead in
here [the cemetery near the church]. The priest didn't want to refuse money, so after a while, of course, there's no more place [to put the bodies]. So many priests decided to build a sort of house for dead people, which is called a 'charnier' [mass grave]. The dead accumulated there."As the emerging city enclosed around the cemeteries, there was no place to go but up. Near the end of the life of the Cemetery of the Innocent, as well as several other cemeteries, the ground swelled more than ten feet above the road. The smell was tormenting those who lived in close proximity to the graveyard. Some of the cemetery walls actually broke open, spilling rotting bodies onto the street. Soon after, disease took hold of those living in the vicinity, and people began dying from the pestilence spread by the corpses.The decision was made to start emptying the cemetery and to place the bones into the network of tunnels under the city. In 1785, when the bones were moved to the underground network en masse, the quarries became the Catacombs. The first quarry that received the bones is called 'Carrière de la Tombe Issoire.' Disturbing the dead is a bit of a universal taboo. It's understood across many cultures that one should leave the dead alone, and many go through great care to perform rituals and ceremonies to see their departed loved ones off to the afterlife. However, the living will usually take precedence.
ENTER @ UR OWN RISK
Five of the scariest spaces from the sinister skull of author Jeff Belanger, “The World’s Most Haunted Places”.
The Tower of London:
The beef eaters live there with their families, and all have had experiences with ghosts. One beef eater saw a teddy bear float up in the air.
The Catacombs (Paris):
It’s humbling to see endless skulls and bones for 1.6 km (300 km are off-limits). You get a sense of living history. But you also find yourself looking behind you now and then.Picture shown here.
The White House:
Abraham Lincoln’s son died of typhoid-like disease in the White House and Lincoln’s wife, Mary Todd, supposedly claimed he visited her repeatedly. Years later staff said the ghost of a boy walked the grounds.
The Deane House (Calgary, Canada):
There are stories of suicides when it was a seedy boarding house. A ghost of a man has appeared in the basement. The piano plays on its own upstairs. They hear footsteps all the time.
The Old Angel Inn (Niagara-on-the-Lake):
It’s haunted by a solider who was killed there by the Americans during the War of 1812. They claim that as long as the Union Jack flies over the front door, and no American beer is served he’s at peace.
The Tower of London:
The beef eaters live there with their families, and all have had experiences with ghosts. One beef eater saw a teddy bear float up in the air.
The Catacombs (Paris):
It’s humbling to see endless skulls and bones for 1.6 km (300 km are off-limits). You get a sense of living history. But you also find yourself looking behind you now and then.Picture shown here.
The White House:
Abraham Lincoln’s son died of typhoid-like disease in the White House and Lincoln’s wife, Mary Todd, supposedly claimed he visited her repeatedly. Years later staff said the ghost of a boy walked the grounds.
The Deane House (Calgary, Canada):
There are stories of suicides when it was a seedy boarding house. A ghost of a man has appeared in the basement. The piano plays on its own upstairs. They hear footsteps all the time.
The Old Angel Inn (Niagara-on-the-Lake):
It’s haunted by a solider who was killed there by the Americans during the War of 1812. They claim that as long as the Union Jack flies over the front door, and no American beer is served he’s at peace.
Friday, February 03, 2006
CELL PHONE : A BLESSING
Can technology really help reduce the technical divide in a country like India? Well as far as my insight to the recent developments happening in this field as the cut throat competition and reduced fares I think this so called divide is reducing drastically. And the penetration of the cellular technology is the reason for such a growth! So I consider the cell phone to be a blessing for the betterment of the country and is one of the engines for economic growth. Plus good news from researchers is that cell phones do not cause brain cancer or promote carcinoma! So indeed a blessing!
The latest in cellular growth is the introduction of the 3G technology and the cheaper cost of owning a mobile phone with complete coverage in the rural areas will help in the reduction of this divide. Though the personal computers have not come under the sub-10k region and lack of access to internet are the major hurdles that are hurting the growth, but the silver lining is that the cell phones have reached near 1k mark due to which the cellular density has increased many fold, which helps the poor farmers and other people.
Due to the cut throat competition between service providers and other soaps the cellular density has overtaken the landlines in Oct 2004 and this comes within a period of a decade! Even USA or other developed countries are still to reach such a high growth rate! This has caused a wide spread use of cell phones in India, and due to this fishermen are able to bridge the supply and demand gap and lessen the wastage of highly perishable goods like fish. Now the sellers and buyers are in constant contact even before the fish reaches ashore!
Now with lots of news and other materials available on the cell phones and with access to the wap or gprs at further reduced rates will attract people to use the cell phone as their primary and emergency equipment connecting the world. And it would do wonders if the providers provide flash news in cases of emergencies and other calamities. With further improvements in the networks and rural connectivity there can be faster developments in the backward regions and this will improve the GDP of the country.
Growth in the telecom sector with extra stress on the rural economy and the research and development of newer, cheaper and faster models will help improve teledensity and the government should try to provide computers under 10k and cell phones under 1k mark as this focuses on the fuelling of the economy!
The latest in cellular growth is the introduction of the 3G technology and the cheaper cost of owning a mobile phone with complete coverage in the rural areas will help in the reduction of this divide. Though the personal computers have not come under the sub-10k region and lack of access to internet are the major hurdles that are hurting the growth, but the silver lining is that the cell phones have reached near 1k mark due to which the cellular density has increased many fold, which helps the poor farmers and other people.
Due to the cut throat competition between service providers and other soaps the cellular density has overtaken the landlines in Oct 2004 and this comes within a period of a decade! Even USA or other developed countries are still to reach such a high growth rate! This has caused a wide spread use of cell phones in India, and due to this fishermen are able to bridge the supply and demand gap and lessen the wastage of highly perishable goods like fish. Now the sellers and buyers are in constant contact even before the fish reaches ashore!
Now with lots of news and other materials available on the cell phones and with access to the wap or gprs at further reduced rates will attract people to use the cell phone as their primary and emergency equipment connecting the world. And it would do wonders if the providers provide flash news in cases of emergencies and other calamities. With further improvements in the networks and rural connectivity there can be faster developments in the backward regions and this will improve the GDP of the country.
Growth in the telecom sector with extra stress on the rural economy and the research and development of newer, cheaper and faster models will help improve teledensity and the government should try to provide computers under 10k and cell phones under 1k mark as this focuses on the fuelling of the economy!
HAMAS: GR8 FUTURE... PART II
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's statement on the Hamas election victory in Palestine: "I've asked why nobody saw it coming. It does say something about us not having a good enough pulse."
This is not about having, or not having, a good enough pulse. It's about the consequences of the last decade of Israeli and American policies toward the Palestinians in general, and Islamist resistance movements in particular. This is not a time to play dumb, feign surprise, or persist in simplistic and counterproductive policies that will only further strengthen the forces of military resistance against the Israeli occupation, as well as wider Arab-Islamic political resistance against America's blatantly pro-Israeli policies in the region.
To add a new dose of American perplexity and wonderment now to several existing layers of mistaken and grossly imbalanced policies on Arab-Israeli peace-making will be of no help to anyone. If Washington's initial reaction is bewilderment at why it did not see this coming, and a reaffirmation of its policy of placing Israeli security above Palestinian security, then we are all in far more serious trouble than we can imagine. What is required now is a combination of honesty, independent analysis and composure that have long been missing in Washington's policies on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Though the Hamas victory was surprising for its magnitude, it was no surprise otherwise - because it was the sixth consecutive strong showing by Islamist groups running in political elections in the Middle East in the past year. One after the other since last spring, we have witnessed Hamas victories in municipal elections, Hizbullah's strong showing in the Lebanese parliamentary election, the presidential victory of populist hard-line neo-Khomeinist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran, the Muslim Brotherhood's big wins in the Egyptian parliamentary elections, the victory of Shiite Islamists in Iraqi parliamentary elections, and now Hamas' triumph in Palestine.
If the U.S. government, with all its capacity to collect and interpret information, did not see Hamas doing very well in the Palestinian election in the wake of these other Islamist victories, then it is either willfully blind or totally incompetent - and neither is a very comforting thought.
The domestic and war- and-peace-making implications of the Hamas victory would appear to be rather clear. The movement was elected to throw out the incompetent, increasingly corrupt and aloof Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority, and to try and restore a sense of order and decency in Palestinian governance and life. Its victory patently was not a popular Palestinian mandate to establish an Islamic state, revive the Caliphate, apply Islamic law, or wipe out Israel. The hysterical spin-doctoring and obfuscation coming out of some circles in Washington and Israel to this effect are just that - hysterical scare-mongering.
The fact is, we do not know how Hamas will use its newfound political power. It is, however, the most legitimate political leadership in the Arab world, because it is the only one to be voted in through a free and fair election monitored by the international community. Whether it will be an effective leadership, or a humane, fair and tolerant one, remains to be seen. It will have to make some important decisions in the coming weeks about how to apply its power, bearing in mind the desires of its constituency - the Palestinian people living in the West Bank, Gaza and Arab East Jerusalem - to live a normal life, not a life of perpetual war, occupation or resistance.
The most interesting thing about the Hamas victory, in my mind, is its legitimacy, as the consequence of a free, fair and pluralistic democratic election. This raises a massive new challenge to the American leadership, which is where Condoleezza Rice and her colleagues in government should be overcoming their perplexity and replacing it with some strong doses of realism and rationality.
The choice facing the Bush administration is now very stark and simple: will its tradition of tilting toward the Israeli position triumph over its professed policy of promoting freedom and democracy in the Arab world? Put in more blunt terms: Does the U.S. favor Israeli rights over Arab rights? Or does it in fact see peace in the Middle East as a consequence of a fair approach that judges Israeli and Palestinian rights as enjoying the same weight and priority?
The right thing to do now is to explore how to take advantage of the fact that we have a legitimate, democratically elected Palestinian leadership. The last two times this happened in recent years - the presidential elections of Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas - Israel and the U.S. responded by giving primary attention to Israeli demands, and making Palestinian concerns secondary. That policy has been a colossal failure, and has resulted in part in spurring Islamist victories throughout the region.
If the Hamas victory is taken into account and if the equivalent can be clichéd in other parts of the world like Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, India and other countries which is ridden with the Terrorist Infestation then it will eradicate the problems of the growing terror attacks and bringing them into the mainstream will let them face the real problems faced by the government and the society. This kind of transformation will be helpful in bringing a tide of change and this will solve the problem of Terrorism for once and all and the political situations will improve drastically. And this will be the victory of humanity and the UN.
Hope that the Hamas victory is for the good will of the whole world and the police states like US and Britain are caught off guard with their devilish plans to inherit the earth and their divide and rule policy never works!!!
This is not about having, or not having, a good enough pulse. It's about the consequences of the last decade of Israeli and American policies toward the Palestinians in general, and Islamist resistance movements in particular. This is not a time to play dumb, feign surprise, or persist in simplistic and counterproductive policies that will only further strengthen the forces of military resistance against the Israeli occupation, as well as wider Arab-Islamic political resistance against America's blatantly pro-Israeli policies in the region.
To add a new dose of American perplexity and wonderment now to several existing layers of mistaken and grossly imbalanced policies on Arab-Israeli peace-making will be of no help to anyone. If Washington's initial reaction is bewilderment at why it did not see this coming, and a reaffirmation of its policy of placing Israeli security above Palestinian security, then we are all in far more serious trouble than we can imagine. What is required now is a combination of honesty, independent analysis and composure that have long been missing in Washington's policies on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Though the Hamas victory was surprising for its magnitude, it was no surprise otherwise - because it was the sixth consecutive strong showing by Islamist groups running in political elections in the Middle East in the past year. One after the other since last spring, we have witnessed Hamas victories in municipal elections, Hizbullah's strong showing in the Lebanese parliamentary election, the presidential victory of populist hard-line neo-Khomeinist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran, the Muslim Brotherhood's big wins in the Egyptian parliamentary elections, the victory of Shiite Islamists in Iraqi parliamentary elections, and now Hamas' triumph in Palestine.
If the U.S. government, with all its capacity to collect and interpret information, did not see Hamas doing very well in the Palestinian election in the wake of these other Islamist victories, then it is either willfully blind or totally incompetent - and neither is a very comforting thought.
The domestic and war- and-peace-making implications of the Hamas victory would appear to be rather clear. The movement was elected to throw out the incompetent, increasingly corrupt and aloof Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority, and to try and restore a sense of order and decency in Palestinian governance and life. Its victory patently was not a popular Palestinian mandate to establish an Islamic state, revive the Caliphate, apply Islamic law, or wipe out Israel. The hysterical spin-doctoring and obfuscation coming out of some circles in Washington and Israel to this effect are just that - hysterical scare-mongering.
The fact is, we do not know how Hamas will use its newfound political power. It is, however, the most legitimate political leadership in the Arab world, because it is the only one to be voted in through a free and fair election monitored by the international community. Whether it will be an effective leadership, or a humane, fair and tolerant one, remains to be seen. It will have to make some important decisions in the coming weeks about how to apply its power, bearing in mind the desires of its constituency - the Palestinian people living in the West Bank, Gaza and Arab East Jerusalem - to live a normal life, not a life of perpetual war, occupation or resistance.
The most interesting thing about the Hamas victory, in my mind, is its legitimacy, as the consequence of a free, fair and pluralistic democratic election. This raises a massive new challenge to the American leadership, which is where Condoleezza Rice and her colleagues in government should be overcoming their perplexity and replacing it with some strong doses of realism and rationality.
The choice facing the Bush administration is now very stark and simple: will its tradition of tilting toward the Israeli position triumph over its professed policy of promoting freedom and democracy in the Arab world? Put in more blunt terms: Does the U.S. favor Israeli rights over Arab rights? Or does it in fact see peace in the Middle East as a consequence of a fair approach that judges Israeli and Palestinian rights as enjoying the same weight and priority?
The right thing to do now is to explore how to take advantage of the fact that we have a legitimate, democratically elected Palestinian leadership. The last two times this happened in recent years - the presidential elections of Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas - Israel and the U.S. responded by giving primary attention to Israeli demands, and making Palestinian concerns secondary. That policy has been a colossal failure, and has resulted in part in spurring Islamist victories throughout the region.
If the Hamas victory is taken into account and if the equivalent can be clichéd in other parts of the world like Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, India and other countries which is ridden with the Terrorist Infestation then it will eradicate the problems of the growing terror attacks and bringing them into the mainstream will let them face the real problems faced by the government and the society. This kind of transformation will be helpful in bringing a tide of change and this will solve the problem of Terrorism for once and all and the political situations will improve drastically. And this will be the victory of humanity and the UN.
Hope that the Hamas victory is for the good will of the whole world and the police states like US and Britain are caught off guard with their devilish plans to inherit the earth and their divide and rule policy never works!!!
Thursday, February 02, 2006
HAMAS: INTRO PART I
Hamas (حماس), acronym of Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya (Arabic: حركة المقاومة الاسلامية, literally "Islamic Resistance Movement" and Arabic for 'zeal'), is the largest Palestinian Islamist movement. Hamas is engaged in social welfare activities as well as in violent activities to achieve its political goals. It is listed as a terrorist group by the European Union, Canada, the United States, and Israel; the U.S. State Department provides a list of terrorist actions by Hamas.
Created in 1988, Hamas is ideologically connected to the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Egypt, seeks to establish an Islamic theocracy the area that is currently Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. In pursuit of this end, Hamas affirms a right to engage in armed struggle. Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, a co-founder of Hamas, reportedly stated that the movement's goal is "to remove Israel from the map". While during the election campaign Hamas dropped its call for the destruction of Israel from its manifesto, several Hamas candidates insist that the charter is still in force and often called for Israel to be "wiped off the map" in their campaign speeches.
In the Palestinian Legislative Council elections of January 2006, Hamas won 42.9 % of the vote, which gave it a parliamentary majority with 74 of the 132 seats. This outcome has been seen as a major setback for foreign governments attempting to mediate the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The United States has said that it will not deal with Hamas until it renounces its support of suicide bombings and terrorism and accepts Israel's right to exist, in direct contradiction to Hamas' charter as currently written. At the same time, Israeli president Moshe Katsav and Israel's ex-prime minister Shimon Peres have both said that if Hamas will accept Israel's right to exist and give up terror, Israel should negotiate with the organization.
Its attacks targeting Israeli civilians and other human rights abuses have been condemned by the United Nations, Commission on Human Rights, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. During the second Intifada, the Al-Aqsa Intifada, Hamas claimed responsibility for most of the suicide bombings that took place in Israel. Hamas has observed a respite since an attack on the Israeli southern town of Beersheba in August 2004 (15 dead, 125 wounded) and has violated it once since that time in an attack on the same bus station in Aug 2005 (7 wounded).
Founded in 1987, Hamas won a majority over the ruling Fatah party during the January 2006 Palestinian legislative election. As an Islamic party, it is ideologically opposed to the existence of Israel and has denounced the 1993 Oslo Accords, the foundation of the failed peace process, as a betrayal of God's will. However, in 2004, Hamas offered a 10 years truce, or hudna, in exchange for a complete withdrawal from the occupied territories, thus accepting de facto Israel existence as determined by its 1967 borders. During the second Intifada, Hamas spearheaded the violence through the years of the Palestinian uprising. Hamas is well funded and known to make generous payments to the families of suicide bombers.
The organization is particularly popular among Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, though it also has a following in the West Bank, and, to a lesser extent, in other Middle Eastern countries and throughout the Palestinian diaspora. Based since its 1987 creation on a mix of social, political and military actions, Hamas' popularity stems in part from its provision of welfare and social services to Palestinians in the occupied territories, such as through the building of schools and hospitals. It is also well regarded by the Palestinians for its efficiency and perceived lack of corruption, in particular compared to Fatah.
On January 26, 2006, the Palestinian Central Elections Committee announced that Hamas had won a majority of seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), defeating the ruling Fatah party. According to the preliminary results the List of Change and Reform obtained 42.9 % of the vote and 76 of the 132 seats. Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and his cabinet resigned, leaving Hamas to form a new government. After the victory, Israeli Human Rights organizations have called on Hamas to stop its terror campaign against civilians and to avoid using violence as a tool to achieve a political solution. The US Bush administration and the European Union have threatened to cut financial aid to the Palestinian Authority if Hamas members hold ministerial positions. President Vladimir Putin however said that Russia would not support any efforts to cut off financial assistance to the Palestinians.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)