A view of Old Goa Old Goa’s architectural affluence and mercantile power matched those of major European cities in 16th century. Old Goa wilted under inescapable wrath of time, and now erodes because of selective conservation With its majestic churches, convents, mansions, and other imposing buildings, Old Goa — a sprawling city protected by a 20km outer fortification wall — was on a par with European cities around the 16th century. The grandeur has now been whittled down to a cluster of monuments. From Daugim in the north to Banastarim-Corlim in the east and from Carambolim in the south to Goalim-Bainguinim in the west, Goa Dourada (Golden Goa), as it was called, also occupied a major part of what is now known as the Kadamba plateau. Travellers’ accounts speak about more than 50 churches and convents, and 3,500 houses — the Portuguese occupied only about a quarter of them — that formed the city’s prominent landmarks. Old Goa, perhaps the first city of the medieval period displaying European influence in its architecture outside Europe, reached its zenith under the Portuguese after the ouster of Adil Shahi by Afonso de Albuquerque in 1510. Port of riches & plague “Old Goa was a city with a population of 2 lakh, though it reduced drastically due to plague and other health issues to 20,000 in 1695 and to 1,600 in 1775, according to records,” said Tahir Noronha, an architect and PhD researcher at University of California in the US. Old Goa was an entrepot of trade in horses from the Persian Gulf, and gold, ivory, and spices from other ports. The city began decaying from the 17th century. King of Portugal issued an order to build the 20km outer fortification wall for the protection of the expanding city in the 16th century, during the viceregal tenure of Dom Antao de Noronha (1564-68) Despite the deeply embedded Portuguese footprints, its historical and cultural diversity is considered unique among the old cities of the world. This is due to a rich, multi-layered history spanning Kadamba, Bahmani, Vijayanagar, and Adil Shahi dynasties between 10th and 16th centuries preceding the arrival of the Portuguese. “Long before Old Goa was known as Cidade de Goa, this area was famous as a thriving and bustling port among Arab, Greek, Roman, and Persian traders and mercantile merchants from elsewhere in the sub-continent,” said Heta Pandit, an independent researcher and author. Pandit said the old city space has many social, cultural, and historical layers under it, waiting to be explored. “It’s difficult to say where the boundaries of one dynastic city ended and another began, but the vestiges should provide the clues,” she said. Monumental misfocus The integrity of the site as a whole has suffered massive damage due to the focus on the conservation of only the key monuments. Haphazard development has continued despite demands by activists and heritage lovers for inclusive protection of the former capital. Kiosks, shops, garages, and illegal structures have overrun the heritage area. Restaurants, shops, and a new religious structure are within the area of the Unesco World Heritage site The non-implementation of a master plan to regulate growth for the old city, with seven monuments bearing the Unesco ’s World Heritage stamp, has a lot to do with it. “The domains around Ellapuri (Ella) or Old Goa, within the 20km wall, are hotspots of a multi-cultural fabric that has been handed down to us over many centuries,” said Sanjeev V Sardesai, a history researcher. The routing of the new bypass for NH 4A close to Old Goa’s monuments and the widening of a road linking the new Gandaulim bridge have made heritage areas vulnerable to various developmental stresses. “The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has a mission to explore, excavate, and preserve all these ruins but leaving aside St Augustine, there isn’t any notable excavation,” Noronha said. Explorations less than a metre underground could reveal roads and foundations of a city that rivalled London in its prime, he said. “Excavating the ruins below St Augustine’s tower proved to be a boon for Goa’s heritage tourism. There are several sites in Old Goa which will enrich the heritage diversity,” Noronha said. Ruins stuck in red tape Many ruins, unlisted and hence unprotected, are considered historically important and archaeologically significant, but stand vulnerable to development hazards in Old Goa and the still pristine parts of the Kadamba plateau. Recently, mud was dumped on a 500m stretch of Rajbid, a historical paved road linking Old Goa to Gopakpattan in Agasaim. Rajbid, a historical trail of a 65-foot stone paved road from the old port of Gopakpattan (Agasaim) to Old Goa, is another heritage asset that needs protection The 20km outer fortification is another heritage marvel that faces threats at different locations. “About 11.9km of it is still intact. There were around 900 horse stables (attached to it). Presently, approximately 300 are still intact,” said Abhijit Ambekar, an archaeologist from the ASI. Ambekar, Rohini Pande, and Brian Wilson have carried out a survey of the wall — one of the biggest in India. Heritage activists say conservation of the ruins and remains of the sites can still highlight the old city’s hidden glory. For this, the town and country planning department should initiate a mapping and listing exercise at Old Goa and across the state, said Fernando Velho, an architect and a Central University professor in Gujarat. “This exercise to protect ruins and integrate them into the emerging urban fabric will not only help preserve these historical ruins but also increase the value of the public spaces and real estate that integrate them,” he said. Integrating legacy, urban fabric Others agree that this integration, especially on the Kadamba plateau, will be a win-win situation for heritage and civil society. A 1931 photograph of the facade St Augustine Church Strict administrative policies for the protection of sites and hands-on heritage education in schools are considered a must for heritage conservation. “A long-term vision of preservation, protection, and promotion of these sites spread over Tiswadi could open the floodgates of opportunities for the new generations,” Sardesai said. Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India . Don't miss yearly career horoscopes 2025 for Aries , Taurus , Gemini , Cancer , Leo , Virgo , Libra , Scorpio , Sagittarius , Capricorn , Aquarius , and Pisces .Article content Justin Trudeau’s Liberals are fiddling while Canada burns. And Jagmeet Singh’s New Democrats are performing as their backup musicians. Recommended Videos The Liberals are obsessed with getting their gimmicky GST holiday passed. At the same time, on Nov. 29, Statistics Canada announced that for the sixth consecutive quarter (and the eighth quarter in the last nine), Canada’s per-capita Gross Domestic Product declined. The GDP decline is the far bigger problem. It’s the national fire. A country that is in economic decline cannot afford all its fancy social programs such as health care and pensions. So what are the Liberals doing about that? Nothing. Are they cutting spending so the public sector doesn’t suck as much energy out of the economy? Don’t be silly. Are they lowering taxes, such as the income tax or carbon tax, in a meaningful way so public spending doesn’t crowd out personal spending? Nope. In the spring budget, the Liberals projected this year’s deficit would be in the neighbourhood of $40 billion. Now it’s almost certainly at $50 billion, with four more months to go in the budget year. On top of which they’re thinking of adding $6 billion to pay for their two-month GST hiatus and their $250 cheques to working Canadians (but likely not seniors, the self-employed or small businesspeople). The Liberals’ backup fiddlers – the New Democrats – are demanding even more spending. So, by the end of March, expect this year’s deficit to be nearer $60 billion. That kind of out-of-control spending puts huge upward pressure on inflation — more pressure than the GST forgiveness can relieve. There’s an excellent chance the Liberals’ scheme to give Canadians temporary relief from the high cost of living will end up raising the cost. Borrowing less money might help the Liberals put out the fire threatening our economy. Will they borrow less so the Bank of Canada can continue to bring down interest rates? Not a hope. If you have to refinance your mortgage in the coming months and the interest rate goes up, blame it on the inflationary pressure caused by Trudeau’s GST gimmick. I’m sure as you’ve laid awake nights, wondering how you were going to afford food for your family AND activities for the kids AND repairs to your car AND a new mortgage, the thought never once came to your head, “Gee, I sure wish the federal Liberals would remove the GST on beer until the middle of February. That would be a big help.” Using 1995 as a base, Canada’s per-capita GDP is now only 35% higher than it was 30 years ago; the Americans’ is 63% higher. And since the Trudeau Liberals came to office in 2015, our per-capita wealth has barely budged. It’s up under five percentage points, while the Americans’ has risen 25 points. Over the past nine years, America’s per-capita GDP has risen five times faster than ours, largely for two reasons. Their federal governments during that period have not been as anti-business, anti-investment as the Trudeau Liberals. And they have allowed in nowhere near as many legal immigrants as we have – immigrants who need housing, jobs, health care and other benefits. They have a bigger pie but have grown the number competing for a slice more slowly. A side effect of the GST gimmick will be a huge cost to businesses; it will be felt especially by small businesses. They will have to recalculate every item on which they must still collect GST and every item on which they no longer do. Then at the end of 60 days, they’ll have to go right back to collecting GST on the things they do now. That will eat away any increased business income they might have earned from Canadians spending their GST savings. Fiddle, Mr. Trudeau. Fiddle.Victor Wembanyama plays 1-on-1 chess with fans in New York
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) -The euro faltered on Monday against a strong U.S. dollar on growing concerns about a possible government collapse in France, which would stall plans to curb a burgeoning budget deficit. The greenback, meanwhile, extended gains after strong U.S. manufacturing data from both the Institute for Supply Management and S&P Global reports. However, despite the generally upbeat data, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said on Monday he was inclined to cut the benchmark interest rate at the Dec. 17-18 meeting as monetary policy remained restrictive. Monday’s rise in the dollar against a basket of currencies followed the U.S. unit’s first weekly fall posted on Friday since November 2023. In Europe, the risk premium investors demand to hold French debt rather than benchmark German bonds jumped after France’s far-right National Rally (RN) President Jordan Bardella said his party would likely back a no-confidence motion in the coming days unless there were a “last-minute miracle”. Leading RN lawmaker Marine Le Pen has given Prime Minister Michel Barnier until Monday to meet her party’s budget demands. The euro fell 1% to $1.0469, on track for its largest daily fall since early November. “Crashing political sentiment in France and another activity data beat in the U.S. have handed the euro a dire start to December,” wrote Kyle Chapman, FX market analyst at Ballinger Group, in emailed comments. Ballinger provides currency risk management and trading services. “As expected, the interim government now faces a vote of no confidence that it is likely to lose, and with a new election not allowed until the summer, there is no clear path to reducing the deficit in the near term.” The yield spread between French and German 10-year government bonds – a gauge of the premium investors demand to hold French debt – rose 7.6 basis points to 87.3 bps after hitting 90 bps last week, its highest level since 2012, during the euro area’s sovereign debt crisis. POSITIVE US DATA; WALLER BACKS FED CUT IN DECEMBER Monday’s data once again showed a resilient American economy, with U.S. manufacturing activity improving in November, orders growing for the first time in eight months, and factories facing significantly lower prices for inputs. The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing PMI increased to 48.4 last month from 46.5 in October, which was the lowest level since July 2023. The S&P Global final manufacturing PMI also rose to 49.7, from the initial 48.8 estimate. “With a solid economic situation in the United States, it makes sense of the U.S. dollar to be thriving as the economies on the other side of the pond face more headwinds,” said Juan Perez, director of trading at Monex USA in Washington. “(Positive data) only makes for higher Treasury yields and even lower expectations of the Fed exercising looser monetary policy.” Fed’s Waller, however, noted on Monday that monetary policy remains restrictive enough that a further cut later this month at their meeting “will not dramatically change the stance of monetary policy and allow ample scope to later slow the pace of rate cuts, if needed.” Following Waller’s comments, the markets raised the odds of a 25-bp easing this month to 79%, from 66% late on Friday, according to CME’s FedWatch. At the same time, rate futures reduced the chances of a Fed pause to 21% from 34% on Friday. The greenback had earlier gained as President-elect Donald Trump marked a shift from his prior advocacy of a weaker dollar by demanding BRICS member countries commit to not creating a new currency or supporting another currency. The Kremlin said on Monday any U.S. attempt to compel countries to use the dollar would backfire. The U.S. dollar index – a measure of its value relative to a basket of its main peers — rose 0.3% to 106.33. Key to the outlook for rates will be the November payrolls report due Friday, where median forecasts favor a rise of 195,000 following October’s weather and strike-hit report, which could also be revised given the low response rate for that survey. The jobless rate is seen edging up to 4.2%, from 4.1%, The dollar slipped 0.2% versus the yen to 149.37, having shed 3.3% last week in its worst run since July. Over the weekend, Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said the next interest rate hikes are “nearing in the sense that economic data are on track,” following figures showing Tokyo inflation picked up in October. Currency bid prices at 2 December 09:05 p.m. GMT Descripti RIC Last U.S. Pct YTD Pct High Low on Close Change Bid Bid Previous Session Dollar 106.38 106.04 0.34% 4.94% 106.73 106. index 02 Euro/Doll 1.0498 1.0576 -0.74% -4.89% $1.0587 $1.0 ar 461 Dollar/Ye 149.54 149.49 0.04% 6.03% 150.755 149. n 15 Euro/Yen 1.0498 158.35 -0.85% 0.89% 158.64 156. 39 Dollar/Sw 0.8863 0.8813 0.58% 5.32% 0.8889 0.88 iss 14 Sterling/ 1.2651 1.2741 -0.7% -0.58% $1.2745 $1.2 Dollar 619 Dollar/Ca 1.4046 1.4001 0.33% 5.97% 1.409 1.39 nadian 86 Aussie/Do 0.6473 0.6519 -0.69% -5.05% $0.6527 $0.6 llar 443 Euro/Swis 0.9303 0.932 -0.18% 0.18% 0.9324 0.92 s 9 Euro/Ster 0.8295 0.8304 -0.11% -4.3% 0.8305 0.82 ling 71 NZ 0.5882 0.5924 -0.57% -6.79% $0.592 0.58 Dollar/Do 65 llar Dollar/No 11.103 11.0181 0.77% 9.55% 11.1578 11.0 rway 626 Euro/Norw 11.657 11.662 -0.04% 3.86% 11.6899 11.6 ay 37 Dollar/Sw 10.993 10.8844 1% 9.13% 11.0383 10.8 eden 868 Euro/Swed 11.5413 11.521 0.18% 3.74% 11.5552 11.5 en 165 (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Additional reporting by Stefano Rebaudo in Milan; Editing by Shri Navaratnam, Gareth Jones, Toby Chopra and Jonathan Oatis) Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content. var ytflag = 0;var myListener = function() {document.removeEventListener('mousemove', myListener, false);lazyloadmyframes();};document.addEventListener('mousemove', myListener, false);window.addEventListener('scroll', function() {if (ytflag == 0) {lazyloadmyframes();ytflag = 1;}});function lazyloadmyframes() {var ytv = document.getElementsByClassName("klazyiframe");for (var i = 0; i < ytv.length; i++) {ytv[i].src = ytv[i].getAttribute('data-src');}} Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() );There’s a face behind every great story. Though often overlooked, many women writers significantly shaped the history of Japan in various ways. This two-part series highlights their impact. We will be introducing 17 influential female writers who helped shape Japanese literature and culture throughout history. In this first installment, we focus on seven women writers from the Meiji to early Showa eras. This period was marked by political upheaval, war and cultural transformation, which deeply affected these women’s lives and work. It was a time of turmoil, as Japan experienced the restoration and abolition of imperial power, along with major wars. During this period, European literature and American influence also began to play a significant role in Japanese culture. For women, these challenges were particularly pronounced, adding additional hardships to an already difficult era. . I he is also the first was forced to leave school at age 11. and w . s . However, . T lthough s , s his young Instead, she . . owever, This literary legend was well ahead of her time. Her books are more relevant now than before her death from a heart attack in 1984. Ariyoshi was born in Wakayama, spent some of her childhood in Dutch Indonesia, studied theater and literature at Tokyo Women’s Christian College, and in 1959, won a scholarship at Sara Lawrence College in Performing Arts in New York City. She traveled extensively and visited China five times, where she once lived in a People’s Commune. riyoshi’s t . S
The West is mulling its response after the NATO-operated Ukrainian missile strikes into Russia’s western heartland has escalated the Eastern European war to a new, more dangerous level with Russia’s launch of its latest hypersonic ballistic missile on a key Ukrainian city. Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah Shia militia is hailing the vague ‘ceasefire’ hurriedly negotiated by Washington with the Lebanese Government as Israel’s acknowledgment of “defeat”. The ‘ceasefire’ deal agreed on by the Lebanese Government and Israel allows invading Israeli forces 60 days to withdraw from Lebanon and requires Hezbollah, the Israeli Defences Forces’ (IDF) primary target, to refrain from “operations” against the IDF during this period. But the agreement is full of un-addressed aspects of this new war launched by Israel into Lebanon after its major offensive in 2006. Observers in Lebanon and in the region are pointing out that the two-months ‘withdrawal’ window allowed for the IDF enables it to further dispossess the entire Lebanese population inhabiting the strip of Lebanese territory bordering northern Israel. Israel tried the same after the 2006 invasion. The Israeli–Lebanese conflict peaked during the Lebanese Civil War of the 1970s. This was largely provoked by covert Western and Israeli interferences in Lebanese politics in support of the Lebanese-Arab Christian community (about 45% of its population) to offset the slightly larger Lebanese Muslim population. That population includes the Druze and Assyrian minority religious communities alongside the dominant Shia and Sunni communities. As noted in these columns previously, Israeli is surrounded by over two million displaced Palestinians lodged in camps in the neighbouring Arab states for decades (since the 1948 forcible creation of the Zionist Jewish state). In response to refugee Palestinian militia attacks from Lebanon, Israel invaded the country in 1978 and again in 1982. It occupied a large strip of Southern Lebanon until 2000, while fighting the parallel Lebanese Shia paramilitaries born out of the Palestinian displacement with the founding of the Israeli State. Resistance Israel launched two cross-border offensive operations into Southern Lebanon during the 1990s: Operation Accountability in 1993 and Operation Grapes of Wrath in 1996. But the unrelenting Lebanese militia resistance – essentially urban guerilla warfare – led to the embarrassing failure to eliminate this resistance. After Israel’s partial withdrawal from South Lebanon, Hezbollah and other militia continued attacks to dislodged the IDF from the remaining occupied Lebanese territory, which was arbitrarily held as a ‘buffer’ to distance the Arab populations from Israel proper. Israel used these attacks as the excuse to attempt to ‘pacify’ the many hostile Palestinian and Lebanese militia based in Lebanon. A new period of Israel-Lebanon conflict began in late 2023 along with the massive onslaught by the IDF besieging the Gaza Strip enclave surrounded by Israel. While the Hamas counter attack against the IDF siege lines was itself of a minor scale (relative to its enemy), it then triggered a cascade of military and political actions. The months long, unceasing, IDF offensive against the Gazan population has spurred anti-Israeli militias across West Asia to begin counter attacks in support of the weak Palestinian militias resisting the West-armed IDF’s genocidal might. Ukraine In Eastern Europe, NATO planners are flummoxed by Moscow’s bold response to the ‘crossing of the red line’ by Ukraine when Kyiv launched last week a series of medium calibre missiles actually operated by American and British personnel. Kyiv, unable to push back a slow, bloody, Russian advance all across Ukraine’s Eastern war front, has been pleading with the West to allow its medium range missile batteries be used to offset Moscow’s pressure on the ground. Western officials insisted that NATO personnel remained in control of these missile batteries in order to ensure the secrecy of the weapons systems, because Ukraine is not a NATO member and could not ensure that technology secrecy. As analysts said subsequently, Russia was obliged to counter this clear escalation of the war with the role of Western personnel in battle, indeed, in direct assault on Russian territory. And President Vladimir Putin himself announced Russia’s counter-escalation by acknowledging the use of a previously un-announced new heavy missile. In response to the NATO operated missile barrage, Moscow fired its new intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) hitherto unused in combat at a target close to Kyiv. The Russian President later publicly confirmed that Russia had “tested” an ‘Oreshnik’ hypersonic ballistic missile in an assault on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. The target was a large industrial complex. Russia launched just one missile. But it is a hypersonic missile almost too fast to be detected and countered and, more importantly, it is an IRBM, just below the ICBM threshold of intercontinental warfare. A clear counter-escalation. Already, when NATO installed these cruise missile systems in Ukraine earlier this year, Moscow acted swiftly to adapt its nuclear doctrine – with much fanfare, to reassure its own troops and the general population. The new doctrine provides for alerting, arming and launch protocols that speeds up Russian defensive responses, including the anticipation of a nuclear strike. Arsenal Putin signed off on Russia’s new nuclear doctrine days after the UK and US authorised Kyiv to use the cruise missiles to attack Russia. Under the amendments, Russia has generally lowered the threshold for using its nuclear arsenal. Analysts say that Russia and its ally, neighbouring Belarus, can now consider a nuclear response if they are “conventionally attacked by a nonnuclear state, such as Ukraine, that is aided by a nuclear power”. NATO countries supporting Ukraine, the US and UK included, possess nuclear weapons or host nuclear missile batteries installed by nuclear-armed NATO allies. Russia’s new protocols had been drawn up by September, according news agencies. Analysts now argue that its formal authorisation during the recent missile exchange between Russia and Ukraine has raised the stakes in eastern Europe’s war. So now the West is confronted with a counter-escalation to which it cannot easily respond without endangering its own populations and territories. It looks like a hot festive season in the West (despite heavy snows) this December.
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