Madras Day celebrations at the Government museum in Chennai

Higginbotham's Bookstore In Mount road

The Hindu :Chennai :23 Augg  2012

Madras Day celebrations at the Government museum in Chennai took off on a dark note as the exhibition in honour of the day was inaugurated in the absence of electricity. Attributing the reason to fault in a major transformer, along with failing power backup, the organisers had a tough time in getting the programme to run smoothly.

But that did not dampen the enthusiasm of people attending the exhibition. Apart from historical and anthropological enthusiasts, it was a day out for several school children as well.

When asked about the assortment of articles on display, S. S. Jawahar, the commissioner of museum theatre, said, “The articles on display here give a three dimensional effect of the yesteryears of Madras. Other exhibitions offer photographs, but we have the actual articles or models of objects.”

Apart from a wide variety of sketches and photographs documenting moments of Madras’ history, the exhibition had on display the first radio transmitting set, models of gun carriages, mortar cart, along with unexploded as well as fragments of Emden shells used as artillery.

The exhibition was inaugurated by assembly speaker D. Jayakumar and N. R. Sivapathy, the minister for school education, sports and youth welfare. It will be open to the public for the entire week.

THE FORGOTTEN STORY OF ROYAPURAM STATION

 BY  Shri .V.SUNDARAM I.A.S.

Recently, the Royapuram Railway Station in Madras was very much in the news. The renovated railway station building was declared open by Union Minister of State for Railways Velu on 2 October 2005. Many people may not be aware of the fact that this railway station was inaugurated by Lord Harris, the Governor of Madras on 28 June, 1856 - one year before the onset of Indian Mutiny in 1857. Pycrofts was then the Chief Secretary of Madras.

OLD ROYAPURAM RAILWAY STATION, NORTH MADRAS

RENOVATED ROYAPURAM RAILWAY STATION

This recent news item made me delve deep into my personal collection of antiquarian books, journals and newspapers to gather facts relating to the history of the introduction of railways in the erstwhile Madras Presidency in the second half of the 19th century. Such an exercise is an excursion not only into economic history but also social history. The social scene grows out of economic conditions, to much the same extent as political events, which in their turn, grows out of social conditions. Without social history economic history will be barren and political history unintelligible. It is exhilarating to look at the dusty records of our ancestors, remote and recent, and to see how they lived, how they laughed and how they wept. Viewed in this light event dustier records of the dead take form, colour, gesture, passion and thought. As WinstonChurchill puts it 'History, with its flickering lamp, stumbles along the trail of the past, trying to reconstruct its scenes, to revive its echoes and kindle with pale gleams the passion of former days'. 

The first Madras Railway Company was formed in London on 8th July, 1845, with the aim of constructing rail lines in Madras Presidency. The company approached the East India Company for support for construction of a railway between Madras, Walajahnagar, and Arcot. Despite Mr. F. W. Simms, Director of the Railway Department recommending the project, the Court of Directors of the East India Company (E.I.C.) declined to support the project. With the East India Company showing an indifferent attitude the company became defunct.

However the mercantile community of Madras Presidency did not lose patience and continued lobbying. Finally on 7th June, 1852, the Board of Control of the E.I.C. agreed to a guarantee of 4-1/2% on the capital for the proposal. A new company also called the Madras Railway Company was registered on 26th July, 1852. Construction began and the Company opened its first section, 101.74km long, from Royapuram to Arcot (now called Wallajah Road), the titular capital of the Nawab of the Carnatic on 28th June, 1856.

The Railway Line from Royapuram to Arcot was inaugurated by Lord Harris, Governor of Madras on 28th June 1856.



In The Illustrated London News dated 6 September, 1856 (a priceless copy in my possession) a news item entitled 'Opening of the Madras Railway' was published. It contains a description of the inauguration of the Madras Railway on 28 June, 1856 by the then Governor of Madras, Lord Harris. THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS IN ITS ISSUE DATED 6 SEPTEMBER, 1856 described the function as follows: 

 

ILLUSTRATYED LONDON NEWS

LORD HARRIS (1810-1872 AD)

GOVERNOR OF MADRAS (1854-1859)

The above oil Painting was done by Sir Francis Grant in the 19th century.

'On the 28th of June the inauguration of the Madras Railway was celebrated with great state. The Right Honourable the Governor, His Excellency the Commander-in-chief, the officers of the Government and staff of the Garrison of Fort St. George with all the elite and beauty of the Presidency, honoured the Railway Company with their presence on this important occasion'.

'It was a sight long to be remembered in Madras, thousands flocking to witness the proceedings from any point from which a view of the ceremony to the train could be obtained. The company had issued invitations to about 300 of the leading members of the European society to witness the function, and to take a trip by train to Amoor, up to which place the railway is now completed: there to partake of a dinner, and to return in the evening:- another train was dispatched after the depature of the first one, to a nearer station up the line - Triveloor, which was occupied by the principal members of the native community of Madras and others who has also been invited to join the excursion.’

Royapuram station in 1856 Sketch by

Capt Barnett Fort of the Madras Army

'The sketch by Capt. Barnett Fort of the Madras Army represents the terminal station at Madras at the moment when the religious ceremony was being performed in the noble verandah of the northern side of that building. The rooms here are very elegant and most superbly furnished with handsome punkahs & most etc., the coup d' ail was very picturesque when seen as they were filled with a crowd of elegantly dressed ladies, against the light colours of whose dresses and the black of the civilian who were present at the function. The train is seen ready to come up to the platform for this party, and that for the native community which was to follow is seen already filled, and run up so as to enable its occupants to witness the inaugurations. As soon as the ceremony was completed, the party proceeded on their excursion trip. though a hot day it was not very much felt - the train, by its rapidly, making a breeze for its occupants, who found the carriages well ventilated both about above and below; and with the addition of Venetian shutters and gauze-wire binds, heat and glare were completely got rid of'.

'Arrived at Amoor, the crowds were greater than ever. The hills were covered with varied-coloured masses; the artillery guns roared their welcome to Lord Harris, who on alighting, was received by a guard of honour of the 19th Regiment and officials of the Private Railway Company, headed by Major Jenkins their manager. The guests alighting under a shamianah, or covered entrance-way to the reception stand ? the bands playing, the multitude cheering, and the bright sun shining on the brilliantly-coloured groups, formed a striking picture. Tents were pitched for the guests, who shortly assembling were led to the pavilion which had been temporarily erected for their entertainment at an elegant repast. Lord Harris proposed a toast to the success of the railway and the health of the agent and manager, Major Jenkins. His Lordship's speech was very commendatory upon the economy and expedition with which the line has been thus far completed, a distance of 65 miles in three years at a cost which he stated was estimated at about £5,500 per mile.

'It was stated by Major Jenkins in replying to his Lordship's toast, that the whole line extending to the western coast, a distance of about 450 miles was in course of construction, and that considerable progress had been made upon it. Its course, he stated, lies through Vellore, Salem, Coimbatore, round of the foot of the Neilgherry Hills, terminating at Naypoor, a small port on the Western Coast, a little to the south of Calicut. After some other toasts & c., a signal was given that it was time to prepare for a return to Madras and the shades of evening were beginning to close soon after the train started on its return'.

Disinterested intellectual curiosity is the bed-rock of a real civilisation. Social history constitutes one of its best forms. At bottom, the fascination of history is imaginative. Our imagination longs to see our ancestors as they really were going about their daily business and daily pleasure.

Oh Madras, my Chennai

Krishashok :The Hindu : 23 Aug 2012

Krish Ashok talks about his Chennai, and in doing so, brings to life its myriad inconsistencies and shortcomings. The clincher? They are all as funny as they are memorable, as heart-warming as they are laughably commonplace. Read on.

I am someone who says “Chennai traffic” and “Madras filter coffee”. Even alliteratively, “Madras memories” and “Chennai catastrophes” seem to make sense. But I never ever felt that we as a city particularly cared about this whole name thing. As a city, we have our priorities right. Is there an Aadi sale at Pothys? And if yes, where can one park in T-Nagar? Chennai is not the sort of city that seems to inspire that annoyingly fierce sense of loyalty that we see in many other cities. Bombay vs Delhi. Calcutta vs the rest of the world, and so on. I, for one, like my city because I have roots here (with xylem and phloem extending to other parts of India). The city per se doesn’t do much to inspire the “All you north Indians get out of here” kind of patriotism. Yes, the Hindi is quite dodgy here but it’s never unwelcome.

For starters, Chennai weather is as bad as Bangalore’s pompous attitude about its weather. We also don’t have flyovers as long as the ones in other cities. That’s the new Freudian thing about Indian cities – “My flyover is wider and longer than yours”. The tallest building in town (is it, still?) resembles something that could house the Ministry of Truth from '1984' and our auto drivers have middle class aspirations and a Machiavellian strategy to get there. The city still doesn’t trust its citizens to drink responsibly so it adds a thick layer of government corruption to the problem and one can’t steal a kiss on Marina beach without a marriage certificate in triplicate.

But I like the city, as much as one can like a state of being instead of getting into comparisons and data points. As global cities go, Chennai is a terrible city. Our public transport is still the equivalent of a single share auto handling the population of Bangladesh. But we know it and we laugh about it and occasionally, middle-aged concerned citizens write “Apropos of” letters to the editor about it.

So more than anything else, I like the city for the ability to laugh at itself. A lot of Chennai humour is not targeted at outside individuals or stereotypes. It’s quite abstract in nature and it’s this truly wonderful realisation of the inherent funniness in day to day things and that, in my opinion, is quite precious. I wouldn’t care much about politics, auto drivers and flyovers that could star in adult movies. Humour, I think, is what Chennai’s about and interestingly enough, it pervades every class of society, not just the leisurely upper middle class watching Crazy Mohan plays. It’s not even a USP because we are not selling it to anyone.

So you can come to Chennai and whine about its lousy weather, but you will go back having laughed a bit more than then you normally do. You can laugh at Chennai and if you are slightly more mature, you can laugh with Chennai. There are no late night rave parties and Metallica concerts, or for that matter, too much standup comedy, because most of us are busy sitting down and laughing at ourselves and we should be proud of that.

Krish Ashok is slightly techie, moderately musical, severely blogging and timepassly tweeting

Management Tip of the Day - See the Big Picture Before Making a Decision

Successful strategic thinkers always have perspective. They consider the potential impact of their actions on those beyond their team or unit. Next time you need to make a big decision, here are three ways to make sure your thinking isn't too narrow: Explore the outcomes. With every idea, ask yourself, "If we implement this idea, how will other units and stakeholders be affected? What might be the long-term ramifications?" Expand your range of alternatives. Gather ideas and concerns from everyone who has an interest in the decision or who will be affected by the outcome. Consider the customer. Look at the decision through your customers' eyes. What will they think and which alternative will they prefer? If you're not sure, think about asking them. Today's Management Tip was adapted from the Harvard ManageMentor Online Module: Strategic Thinking.

SBI, BoI allowed to operate in Pakistan

Press Trust of India / Singapore Aug 22, 2012, 19:14 IST


India and Pakistan have agreed to allow two banks each from both the countries to set up branches across the border, Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, Yaseen Anwar said today.

"We have held discussions with the Reserve Bank of India and both sides have agreed to issue a full banking licence to two banks of each country," Anwar told PTI on the sidelines of a conference organised by Institute of South Asian Studies.


The two Indian banks that will be allowed to operate in Pakistan are State Bank of India (SBI) and Bank of India (BoI).

On the other hand, quasi-state owned National Bank of Pakistan and privately-owned United Bank Ltd. Will be running full-banking operations across the border, once licensed by India.

"It will take few months to approve Indian banks' licences on receiving them," he said.

"We are ready to go tomorrow to India" to set up banking operations, Anwar said.

Discussions have been held with RBI Governor D Subbarao to issue banking licences, he said, adding that the process will help normalise trade relations between India and Pakistan.

Meanwhile, officials from the Bank of India in Singapore have recently visited Karachi for setting up an office in Pakistan, said Syed Hasan Javed, Pakistan High Commissioner to Singapore.

India eases domestic, overseas borrowing regulations

Reuters / Mumbai Aug 23, 2012, 10:54 IST


India is looking to make it easier for companies to raise funds by allowing them to issue rupee bonds that are guaranteed from offshore entities, while easing some of its overseas borrowing rules.

Earlier, only infrastructure and infrastructure finance companies could issue rupee-denominated bonds with guarantees from multilateral or regional financial institutions.

 The guarantee for domestic companies from offshore entities effectively lifts the credit ratings of the bonds, benefitting lower-rated borrowers.


Indian companies have been constrained in their funding options due to high domestic interest rates and difficulties in tapping markets overseas.

The government is also keen to take measures to boost confidence in India after the country's image took a beating among foreign investors because of slowing policy reforms.

The actions targeting credit guarantees would especially benefit sectors such as telecoms and energy, where foreign companies often operate via Indian units, but whose domestic borrowing had been constrained if they had lower ratings than their parent companies.

Foreign investors will also be allowed to invest up to $5 billion in these credit-enhanced rupee bonds, although the overall corporate bond limit will remain at $45 billion.

The minimum maturity of bonds issued by these domestic units has been reduced to three years from seven years.
Among other measures, the government will allow infrastructure and manufacturing companies to re-finance a higher proportion of their rupee borrowings via cheaper overseas debt.

These companies can now tap overseas loans up to 75 percent of their average forex earnings over the previous three financial years from 50 percent previously.

The government has also allowed state-run refinance institution S IDBI to tap overseas funds to then lend on to medium and small enterprises.

To boost low-cost housing, India will also allow National Housing Bank and housing finance companies to borrow from overseas markets.

Sonia Gandhi occupies sixth slot on Forbes list of most influential woman,

23 AUG, 2012, 12.11AM IST, PTI 

NEW YORK: Congress party president Sonia Gandhihas been ranked the sixth most powerful woman in the world, ahead of US First Lady Michelle Obama, byForbes magazine in its list of 100 influential women, which was topped by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Gandhi, 65, is among the five Indian women who have been named in the 'World's 100 Most Powerful Women' list released by Forbes. The UPA chairperson was ranked 7th last year.

Giving Gandhi company is Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo Indra Nooyi who was ranked at 12th followed by Cisco Systems Chief Technology and Strategy Officer Padmasree Warrior at 58th place, ICICI Bank Managing Director and CEO Chanda Kochhar at 59th and Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw at 80th rank.

Forbes said Gandhi the "one-time heir to the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty", successfully underwent a surgery last year and was "back in fighting spirit last month when she publicly reprimanded a fellow parliamentarian during session who had criticised her party's handling of this summer's rioting in Assam."

The longest serving chief in the Congress party's history, Gandhi has had to defend herself and the party after a spate of key assembly elections this year, blaming the drubbing on weak candidates and state party organisations.


"Lauded for overseeing heavy economic growth, she is also criticized for tolerating political corruption and failing to forge connections with India's fastest-growing demographic--younger voters," the publication said.

Merkel occupied the spot of the world's most powerful woman for the second year in a row. Calling her the "Iron Lady" of Europe, Forbes said she is the lead player in the eurozone economic drama that continues to threaten global markets.

"As Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal have teetered on the brink of an economic collapse, she (Merkel) has vowed to do everything in her power to preserve the 17-country European Union," Forbes said.

Merkel has been the German chancellor since 2005, and her recent public approval ratings soared to near 70% - a good sign leading into the general election in the fall of 2013.

Merkel is embracing the Internet, and last fall launched a YouTube channel, Die Bundesregierung, where she directly answers citizens' questions, the publication added.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been ranked second in the list, followed by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff at number three, New York Times Executive Editor Jill Abramson at 5 and Obama at 7.

Pepsi Co's 56-year-old Indian-origin CEO Nooyi has been ranked 12 in the list. Terming her the "superstar CEO", Forbes said Nooyi last year returned $5.6 billion to shareholders, when PepsiCo net revenue grew 14% to $66 billion.

Forbes said Cisco's 51-year-old Warrior took on the expanded role as Strategy officer in June, after five years as CTO, and "insiders say the move could indicate she's being groomed for the top spot."

Warrior is responsible for all deals activity as one of the most acquisitive firms in technology reconfigures its business strategy.

Chanda Kochhar, 50, the first woman to run ICICI Bank, oversees assets of $93 billion, more than 2,750 branches in India and the bank's presence in 19 countries.

Banking services come to a halt as two-day strike begins

BL : 23 Aug 2012

Banking services across the country were hit as about 10 lakh employees from public sector, old-generation private sector and regional rural banks stayed away from work on Day 1 of the two-day strike called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU).

The strike, which was called by the umbrella body of nine trade unions to oppose, among others, the Government’s proposal to increase shareholder voting rights, unfriendly human resource policies, received an “overwhelming response,” according to Vishwas Utagi, Secretary, All-India Bank Employees Association.

Due to the strike, it is estimated that cheques aggregating about Rs 40,000 crore across the country could not be presented for clearing and settlement on Wednesday. In Mumbai alone, clearing transactions worth about Rs 7,000 crore could not take place.

Small businesses transacting with only public sector banks are likely to have faced the brunt of the strike as current account transactions were affected.

However, cash transactions were not affected because banks ensured that ATMs are sufficiently stacked with money. “Our ATMs are fully loaded to cover withdrawals till Saturday,” Vilas Palav, Branch Manager, SBI, Fort Branch, Mumbai, said.

“The strike’s motive is to defend the public sector banks. We want banking to expand to rural areas and not allow FDI to hijack our banking system. We have sacrificed our two-day salary… “There is no question of calling off the strike and it will go on as scheduled tomorrow. We will go on strike again if the Banking (Laws) Amendment Bill gets tabled in Parliament,” said Utagi.

TOTAL IN WEST BENGAL

According to Gautam Bose, convenor, UFBU (West Bengal unit), nearly 8,000 branches of public, private and foreign banks in the State were a part of the strike.

Shutters at most of the ATMs of public sector and private sector banks in the State were down as the personnel guarding the machines participated in the stir. “Close to 1.5 lakh employees working across 8,000 branches participated in the strike,” Bose said. Among private banks, only the old private banks are participating in the strike.

LOSS ESTIMATE

Assocham has pegged the loss due to the all-India bank strike on Wednesday at Rs 10,000-15,0000 crore. It has urged the UFBU to call off the strike on Thursday.