A quick read - beautiful :

Photographer Evan Schiller and Lisa Holzwarth were on a game drive in the northern Botswana's Selinda area when they came across a big troop of baboons charging through the bush.

"30-40 baboons were heading in our general direction making a lot of noise," Lisa recalls.

The baboons were obviously frightened by something and they all scampered up trees, shouting, alarming, and making a big scene. It quickly became clear what the problem was: two large lionesses came out of the tall grass and rushed the baboons into the trees, soon joined by two more lionesses.

"Between the baboons shrieking and the lionesses communicating with deep guttural roars, it was a mad scene," Lisa says.

But then the real chaos began! One brave baboon descended the dead tree and tried to make a run for it. but got snapped up in the jaws of a lioness.

The lioness grabbed a female baboon on the run. But there was something else there. As the baboon lay dying in the jaws of the lioness, a little baby (less than a month old) slowly disengaged from its mother's body. Photograph by Evan Schiller

Instinct took over and the baby tried to make a go for a tree, but did not have the strength to climb. At this point the lioness noticed the "little guy" and went over to investigate. Photograph by Evan Schiller

Instead of snapping the baby up in a deadly movement, she started to play with the baboon. Photograph by Evan Schiller

The lioness was inquisitive and gentle at the same time. Photograph by Evan Schiller

After a while she picked up the baboon softly in her mouth and walked away, then settled down with the baby between her paws. Photograph by Evan Schiller

In a strange behavioural twist, the baboon started to try and suckle the lioness. Photograph by Evan Schiller

What happened next blew our minds - the baby, in another instinctual moment, held onto the lioness' chest and tried to suckle.

Photograph by Evan Schiller

The lioness got distracted-this time by two male lions who arrived on the scene. Their advances, however, were met with aggression by the lioness. Was she defending the baby baboon? Or just uninterested in their mating advances? Photograph by Evan Schiller

Here's where it gets interesting: Waiting in a nearby tree is a big male baboon, who is obviously intent on saving the baby. The male lions were causing such a ruckus that it presented a short window of opportunity for the brave hero to descend the tree, grab the baby and head back to safety.

The father baboon had to make a move. Holding the baby, in all sorts of contorted positions, he tried numerous times to climb down the tree. He tested the lionesses' interest with each descent. Photograph by Evan Schiller

The heroic male baboon, having just saved the baby from the lions, cradled him in his arms. Photograph by Evan Schiller

"I was touched by how gently the father baboon held this little baby who was in tough shape after its ordeal."

ASI hopes to unravel Mahabharata link at Purana Qila

Chaitra Krushnapaksha 12, Kaliyug Varsha 5116

Did Indraprastha, the capital of the kingdom of Pandavas, as mentioned in the Mahabharata epic, exist around what we today known as Purana Qila (Old Fort) in Delhi? Historians and archaeologists have long believed so, even though could not be ascertained.

Now, an excavation that is underway at the site can possibly bring out the truth and shed light on that era.

Earlier, there have been indications that this site was related to the era of Mahabharata.
So there is a possibility that once we excavate further will find some evidence," said Vasant Swarnkar, superintending archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India ASI), Delhi circle.
The clue that ASI members are looking for to establish the link is painted grey ware PGW). " PGW is a pottery type that archeologists associate with the Mahabharata period. It is grey pottery painted with geometric patterns in black. Excavating 1.5 metres more is expected to expose the lowest cultural
settlement that was there," Swarnkar said. This also means that it would take one more month of excavation to find any such evidence.
Though the earlier excavations at Purana Qila had failed find any link to Indraprastha, this time the ASI is hopeful of making a breakthrough.
The ongoing excavation at site began in mid- January and in the last three months, ASI team has found a rare 12th century sculpture of Vishnu, a seal in terracotta from the Gupta period, pottery typical of the Kushan and Gupta periods, terracotta human figurines, ivory pendants, human figurines, a Gajalakshmi tablet and structures from the Mauryan period and copper coins.
The Archaeological Survey of India, which had opened its excavation site at the Purana Qila to the public on Friday marking the World Heritage Day, extended the exhibition till Saturday owing to the rush.
So far, the ASI has excavated an overall cultural deposit of 10 metres in the complete area of 30X30 metres.
Calling it a " life- time opportunity" for anyone interested in witnessing excavation, Swarnkar said he saw a huge response with people coming from places as far as Chandigarh and Bhopal to see the site. " It was a pleasure to see that a place that is a hub for couples was flocked by children and families in the last two days," he said.
The ASI has dug in a slopping surface behind Sher Mandal, located at the right extremity of the Qila, and found a history spanning 2300 years.
" I had never been to Purana Qila before. However, this time it was the excavation that got me interested. I enjoy History and this will give me a lot more understanding of different dynasties," said 13- year- old Monya Krishna, a student of Class 8.

About the excavation at Purana Qila

This was the third excavation in Purana Qila after the one ASI did in 1955 and in 1969- 73.
This excavation has been one of the largest excavations where we found presence of artifacts from all the eras in the same area, dating back from 4th century BC to 16th century AD.
On opening the site for public
We wanted Delhiites to witness an excavation site where they could get an opportunity to see the history being unearthed in front of their eyes. The response has been huge and in just two days, we saw over 17,000 people visit the site. However, our team had to slow down the work and we could not do much work for two days.
But this was for the public.

On an open excavated site

So far, there is no open excavated site in Delhi. We are planning to make a glass pathway over the excavated structure and open the site for public round the year which the public can view at any given point in time. However, this will take over an year to be implemented.

On upcoming excavation

Next excavation will be at the Red Fort for the Mehtab Bagh.
Excavation will be carried out in an area measuring more than 70X70 metre ( 4,900 sq m). The excavation site might bring out the original layout of the Mughal Garden, water channels, system of the fountains and the water channel.
Source : India Today

Modi Model Explained in Brief

Centrestage: Inside the Narendra Modi Model of Governance, a book written by senior journalist Uday Mahurkar, will release this week.

While not deviating from the book's main theme, which is Modi's administration, governance and development vision, Mahurkar -- who has been reporting on Gujarat for more than two decades -- has also included areas where Modi has missed and what he means for India.

"The anecdotes and interesting information about Modi are based on my experiences with him over a period of 27 years, but a majority I have listed are largely from the period after he became chief minister," says Mahurkar.

Explaining the Gujarat model of governance, which has come under scrutiny after Modi emerged as the BJP's candidate for prime minister, Mahurkar, image, right, tells Rediff.com'sSheela Bhatt in an e-mail interview that it is all about "tackling a problem in mission mode form. This means taking the bull by its horns with messianic zeal."

How will you describe the Gujarat model?

The Gujarat model is about growth through good governance that benefits all classes of people. And it is based on a sense of national pride based on the past achievements of society and the nation.

Most other models so far have been based on the injuries suffered by one group or the other in the past.

This can't create pride, and so these models are foundations of vote-bank politics. My book brings out this fact lucidly and with very strong evidence.

The Modi model aims at bringing out the latent energy present in every individual by creating a sense of pride and linking that energy to the development of society and the nation.

It is the only model in India that is free from vote-bank politics, which means spending more development money on those who have larger votes for the ruler rather than uniformly.

It is against blanket subsidies and aims at enabling the poor and the common man to stand on their feet rather than 'helping' them, by putting them through skill development and other measures.

But at the same time it doesn't reject subsidy altogether but uses it as a tool in areas like health and education, where the poor need it genuinely.

The biggest thing about the Modi model is the basic commitment to good governance which shows in every sector. Of course, there are grey areas in it like in any other model, but here too what separates this model from others is that there is no slackness on the part of the rulers in tackling the weak areas.

I think Modi has a lot of evidence to show when he says good governance is good politics for him.

Significantly, the Gujarat model is about tackling a problem in mission mode form. This means taking the bull by its horns with messianic zeal.

Take, for example, Khel Mahakumbh, the state Olympics he has been organising since 2010 to overcome Gujarat's weakness in sports with the participation of lakhs of people every year.

The competition has 16 Olympic games and prizes for winners worth about Rs 30 crores (Rs 300 million), which is mind-boggling and shows its scale and the seriousness behind it.

The slogan going along with it, Gujarat Khelega, Gujarat Jitega, is sure to produce results for Gujarat in sports in due course.

Why is Gujarat so pathetic in social indicators?

If one goes deep into this area, the term 'pathetic' doesn't stick even while appreciating there are some problems.

For example, Gujarat is blamed for being poor in infant mortality rate (IMR) and mother mortality rate (MMR). But these two indicators should always be seen in terms of the tribal population.

Where the tribal population is high, as in Gujarat, the IMR and MMR are always high.

This is because tribals don't live in a community but in far-flung areas even within a village and so making medical service available to them is that much more difficult.

Plus, Gujarat's IMR has come down to 38 from 60 in 2002. And it is far better than most other tribal states like Rajasthan, MP, Odisha and Chhattisgarh.

And this is in spite of the fact that Gujarat faces an acute shortage of doctors in rural areas due to social and economic conditions peculiar to Gujarat alone.

On the flipside, many other social indicators in the health sector are extremely good. For example, the state government's U N Mehta Institute of Cardiology, the place where poor people's heart treatment is done, has seen its budget soaring to over Rs 70 crores (Rs 700 million)from just Rs 2 crores (Rs 20 million) in 2001.

The institute has been doing over 1,200 heart surgeries of school and college students free of charge every year under a special scheme.

The figures show that Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, New Delhi and Haryana have fared well in the last 10 years and in most ways better than Gujarat. Do you agree?

I don't agree. Haryana and Delhi are very small states, so the comparison is unjustifiable.

Let us take Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu here. Also note, an exact comparison between any two states is not always fair.

Take, for example, the collection of Value Added Tax. On paper, Gujarat is behind Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, but if you compare the size of the three states and deduct the income from liquor earned by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu (Gujarat has prohibition), then Gujarat is better than the two states.

So going into figures is often misleading. I would say Gujarat is quite ahead in the quality of governance than the two states in most areas.

One area I can recall in which Tamil Nadu is better than Gujarat is potable water supply. Gujarat has some problems in the area of rural sanitation, but there might be social reasons behind it.

Availability of government doctors is one more area where Gujarat has some problems but here again the reasons are peculiar to the state. But what is more, there is no slackness on the Modi's government's part in grappling with these problems.

Gujarat was always a dynamic state. So what's Modi's precise contribution?

This whole thing about Gujarat being a dynamic state is to an extent a misnomer. Gujarat was a well-governed state till the early 1980s and the quality of governance started deteriorating in the mid-1980s.

By 1991 Gujarat became a revenue deficit state for the first time since its inception in 1960.

Then, in 1991, started the phase of political instability in Gujarat which remained till 1998, when the Keshubhai Patel-led BJP government took over. During this phase, governance in Gujarat took a nosedive.

Keshubhai did try to set things in order, but then the earthquake struck Gujarat in 2001, dealing it a big economic blow. So, when Modi took over in October 2001, Gujarat was in a bad shape.

If you compare the situation as it existed in 2001, then Gujarat under Modi has done well or very well in almost all sectors and has in the process set some sterling examples.

For example, Gujarat became a revenue surplus state for the first time in 2006 since 1991, which is an indication of fiscal consolidation under Modi.

The latest GSDP growth figures show that Gujarat has recorded a growth of over 12 per cent between 2007 and 2012. This is a clear indication that the state is reaping the benefits of Modi's leadership and the strong foundation of governance he laid between 2003 and 2007, particularly in key areas in like power, agriculture, e-governance and finance management and also manufacturing.

What are the specific characteristics of the Modi model of governance? How does it differ from, say, the Tamil Nadu or Maharashtra model?

There are a series of characteristics that depict the wide difference in the quality of governance, vision and even implementation. Let's take one example.

In Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, the power sector is an instrument of political trading in which it is used to appease powerful voting groups.

In Gujarat it is a symbol of good governance with the Gujarat electricity Board (GEB, which is now Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd, GUVNL), wiping out an accumulated loss of Rs 2,500 crores (Rs 25 million, which it suffered in 2003) and is now making a profit of over Rs 550 crores (Rs 5.5 billion) every year.

In Gujarat Modi went after power theft for good governance, risking the antipathy of the farmers on the eve of the 2007 state polls and ultimately taught them not to steal and made them realise that they were beneficiaries of not stealing as it ensured them quality power.

In Maharashtra as well as Tamil Nadu, attempts are routinely made to woo farmers by promising them sops in the power sector.

In Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, state PSUs are treated as political fiefdoms for making political obligations. In Gujarat these are largely treated as professional companies with practically no or little political interference.

Even in core governance the two states appear to be behind Gujarat in most areas. E-governance in Gujarat has reached the last village with schemes like e-gram Vishwagram and e-Jamin which is not the case in the two states.

Here we should compare Modi with other chief ministers in India so far. Most good chief ministers are known in history for one or two achievements. For example, M G Ramachandran is remembered for the midday meal scheme.

But Modi will be remembered for a series of sterling governance initiatives, many of which, like the Jyotirgram scheme, which gives 24 hour, three-phase domestic power supply to all the 18,000 state villages, will be remembered in history for long.

Isn't it true that Gautam Adani and Ratan Tata were favoured by Modi?

There is a lot of grey area in this. The rejoinders issued by the Modi government on these also help clear a lot of doubts. That's the reason why I have steered clear of these issues in my book.

I can only share what I felt while doing the chapter on Modi's finance management.

I felt that even the biggest donor to the BJP's political coffers under Modi's leadership can't extract marked favours from him. He can at the most hope for better treatment. I think Modi has largely stuck to policy-driven governance.

Should he come to Delhi, the capital's favour-driven power structure will get a big shock.

Delhi's culture, based on 'personal setting', could get a jolt.

Here I am not saying everything is hunky-dory in this area in Gujarat. There might be grey areas. I am only sharing the impression I carry.

Plus, you can't forget the coming of Tata's Nano to Sanand has made Gujarat one of the biggest auto hubs of India with Ford, Maruti and others following suit. Same with Adani's Mundra zone. These have created unimaginable job opportunities.

Why does the Modi model of governance seem to be more pro-middle class and rich but not at all identified with poor people?

After writing this book I can't share your view. Gujarat's per capita income has gone up by five times since 2002, and on the other hand the poverty levels have come down significantly along with unemployment levels.

Since Modi took over, the Below Poverty Line population has come down by half and unemployment in the state stands at one per cent, the lowest in India.

The ratio of development expenditure to non-development expenditure has improved considerably, thus showing much more is being spent on development than on non-development areas.

Schemes like Vanbandhu have sharply improved the economic conditions and the standard of living of tribals in tribal areas.

In fact, NGOs say Vanbandhu should be made the flagship scheme for tribal development in India because it is a game-changer scheme.

Give us some insights into and anecdotes from Modi's style of governance.

The biggest facet about Modi is that he is a master of convergence. By his ability to converge and add new features to a non-star idea, he is able to sell it.

Like how he has turned Kutch into a great tourist destination by selling the salt desert of the Rann as a flat snow desert of the night and roping in Amitabh Bachchan to sell it.

In one stroke this has ensured economic returns to the people and on the other hand it has taken care of the national security angle in the sense that the border population in the Rann, which is almost entirely Muslim, is feeling better as now they are much more connected with the mainstream against the designs of our neighbouring country.

Then let us look at his unique experiment of celebrating every Independence Day and Republic Day in a state headquarters every year.

Each such celebration is accompanied by three things -- a cultural programme based on the history of the district, thus creating a sense of pride in them, linking this pride to the development process, and an effort to implement already sanctioned development schemes in the district in a focused manner, using the occasion to get the best results.

Such an experiment at the national level has the power to unite the nation by bringing down separatist feelings by creating a feeling of oneness.

Just imagine the National Day being celebrated in Guwahati or Imphal.

If this happens, it is bound to create a sense of true oneness and bring separatist groups into the mainstream.

Do you mean to say that Modi's governance is unblemished?

For that you have to read the book. I have pointed out specific areas in the book in which Modi could have done better or has failed to do. But these are based on realities and not wild allegations.

I have said he could have done better in pushing the Narmada project. I have also pointed out what he could have done in areas like agriculture and power, but couldn't do it.

The Wrong Enemy’ by Carlotta Gall

Book Review: ‘The Wrong Enemy’ by Carlotta Gall

By Sadanand Dhume

In the 13 years since the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, $1 trillion has been spent, and 3,400 foreign soldiers (more than 2,300 of them American) have died. Despite our tremendous loss of blood and treasure, Afghanistan remains—even as we prepare to exit the country—”a weak state, prey to the ambitions of its neighbors and extremist Islamists,” as Carlotta Gall notes in “The Wrong Enemy.”

Could we have avoided this outcome? Perhaps so, Ms. Gall argues, if Washington had set its sights slightly southward.

The neighbor that concerns Ms. Gall—the “right” enemy implied by the book’s title—is Pakistan. If you were to boil down her argument into a single sentence, it would be this one: “Pakistan, supposedly an ally, has proved to be perfidious, driving the violence in Afghanistan for its own cynical, hegemonic reasons.” Though formally designated as a major non-NATO U.S. ally, and despite receiving more than $23 billion in American assistance since 9/11, Pakistan only pretended to cut links with the Taliban that it had nurtured in the 1990s. In reality, Pakistan’s ubiquitous spy service, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), foments
jihad against NATO in Afghanistan much as it did against the Soviets in the 1980s.

At this point, accusations of Pakistani perfidy won’t raise the eyebrows of anyone with even a passing familiarity with the region. For years, a chorus of diplomats, analysts and journalists have concluded that the Taliban and its partners in jihad would be incapable of maintaining an insurgency without active support from across the border. In 2011, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mike Mullen, called the Haqqani network—the group responsible for some of the worst violence in Afghanistan, including an attack on the U.S. embassy in Kabul that year—”a veritable arm” of the ISI.

Ms. Gall’s long years of reporting for the New York Times from the front lines of the war are clear in this book, particularly in her vivid reconstruction of how things went rapidly downhill after the easy U.S.-led victories over the Taliban at the end of 2001. The West’s handpicked leader, Hamid Karzai, turned out to be a lot better at politicking than at running the country. As aid dollars poured in, corruption in the Afghan government soared. The Bush administration, distracted by preparations for the war in Iraq, took its eye off the ball in Afghanistan, argues Ms. Gall. Most important, reassured by Pakistani assistance in nabbing key al Qaeda figures, the U.S. was slow to realize that Islamabad was playing both sides of the street.

Only in 2007, more than five years after the war began, did the CIA begin to pay attention to the deep ties between the ISI and the Taliban. By then, the fundamentalist group, which had all but disappeared in the immediate aftermath of the U.S. invasion, had made an impressive comeback in its original stronghold of southern Afghanistan, reclaiming freedom of movement and seemingly able to strike targets at will. Even today, despite some gains against the Taliban following President Obama’s decision to send additional troops in 2009, the group remains a powerful force. Just last month, Taliban fighters attacked Kabul’s Serena Hotel, killing nine people, including an AFP photographer and a former Paraguayan diplomat. As Ms. Gall notes, the Taliban’s refuge across the border in Pakistan, where it recruits from militant madrassas and where fighters recuperate between battles, makes the group awfully hard to vanquish.

And what of Pakistan’s relationship to al Qaeda and its founder?

Pakistan's intelligence agency hid and protected Osama bin Laden. The chief of the army even knew of the cover up. Some ally.