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Observations
on road problems
Letter to the chief traffic engineer, Ministry of Works and
Transport:
Having lived in the West for several years, it is very difficult
to have to spend the better part of each morning and afternoon
queuing on highways that facilitate one-way traffic.
It is my humble opinion that if errant drivers are pulled
out of the line and some measure of courtesy and common sense
prevails, the journeys in and out, to and from our homes and
places of work would be more meaningful and less productive
time would be lost on a daily basis.
These have been my observations:
Drivers taking the curb to pass the line of traffic and cutting
in at the top of the line. Maxis and taxis are the chief offenders
(“we are all out on our way to make a daily living”).
Drivers changing lanes if they perceive that the other lane
is moving ahead faster.
Drivers cutting in on other lanes to make a left or right
turn. All drivers should align themselves in the direction
that they are travelling.
Drivers leaving the West should choose the appropriate lane
if they are travelling through St James or the foreshore.
Many take the faster-moving right lane and then cross at the
very top of the turn-off to the foreshore.
Maxis and taxis travelling on the major roads should use the
left lane so that they do not have to stop traffic to cross
over when they see a potential passenger on the sidewalk.
Maxis and taxis should pull to the side to pick up passengers
and not stop in the middle of the road—and abuse other
drivers when their attention is called to their indiscretions.
Drivers using cell phones casually cruise along without regard
to the traffic pile-ups that they create.
To alleviate these problems, it is suggested that more Traffic
Management officials and police be assigned to road duty during
peak periods, so that offenders will be wary and less prone
to break the rules.
Public education via electronic and print media is necessary,
with the presence of the respective officials on the road
at the peak traffic periods.
Some of us need help to take the me out of crime, and stop
killing innocent people.
Lilia M Mootoo
Diego Martin
Law-abiding in the minority?
Basdeo Panday, our Opposition Leader, keeps on harping about
constitutional reform. Have we been told what these reforms
are? Is our electoral system going to be affected?
Who will be registered to vote?
“Squatters”
who assume ownership of state and private lands?
“Vagrants”
who go around despoiling the environment?
Strikers who affect the stability of the entire nation?
Convicted bandits, rapists and kidnappers?
Thousands of traffic offenders?
“Rogue”
members of our security forces?
It is only when we have an elected government which cannot
be influenced by these elements that we will be in a position
to say “enough is enough” and get down to the serious
business of health, security and education.
But then again perhaps they are the majority and the law-abiding
citizens are in the minority!
Chris Knaggs
Diego Martin
Amazing election results in India
The results of the general election in India can be nothing
less than amazing. Absolutely no one could have expected the
resurgence of the Congress Party and its allies, together
with the astronomical rise of leftist parties such as the
Communists and the Marxists.
The results clearly vindicate the existence of a dual society,
or society within a society, whereby those in power were ruefully
out of touch with the needs and wants of those whom they governed.
The results indicate that those wishing to remain in power
must focus on people first, not only on economic indicators
that show positive growth and prosperity.
This was the debacle that confronted the BJP, a task eventually
proven insurmountable even for the formidable Atal Bihari
Vajpayee, now former prime minister.
The mantle now falls to Sonia Gandhi and Congress to form
a stable coalition government with willing parties that provide
leadership and not only appears to be but is effectively inclusive,
broad-based and pragmatic.
This election results just go to show that political scientists
and exit polls are not always accurate. In this case, not
one person got it right. Not even Congress in its wildest
dreams thought it would have performed this good.
Congratulations to the Congress Party and its allies.
I take this opportunity to reflect not on the bad, but on
all the positive policies implemented by the outgoing BJP,
taking cognisance of the fact that each and every one of us
must play our role in politics, whether it be in government
or in opposition.
A Anderson Morris
El Socorro
Shades of a dictatorship?
Seems as though no specific bid was made for any particular
World Cup cricket games in Trinidad because there may have
been an agreement with other Caribbean governments that T&T
will not bid for the better games in exchange for the headquarters
of the FTAA.
No consultation with our cricketing bodies. Shades of a creeping
dictatorship?
P King
Port-of-Spain
Flea market — not trade fair
I am a true Trini (Trini to the bone) of Indian descent. I
am proud of my roots and have a great respect for India, the
land of my forefathers. I have visited India twice. Let me
admit, I am still in awe of it—the technological development,
metropolitan cities and, of course, the beautiful temples.
(No, let us not talk about poverty as it is in all countries.)
From that great country came a few traders last year who erected
what could only be described as an indoor “flea market”
at the Divali Nagar site. In a newspaper last week, the Indian
High Commissioner was proudly marketing that as a successful
“trade fair.” I maintain flea market because of
my experience with three items I bought:
A beautiful carved corner table claimed to be of cured mahogany,
which turned out to be some cheap wood that became infested
with wood-lice in two months.
A “Rudraksh Mala” which my pundit confirmed as fake.
Some rasagolla claimed to be packed in an ISO 9000 company.
Now I am not a health freak and can’t resist sweets,
but to my utter surprise and horror there was no nutritional
facts on the pack. As a matter of fact almost all the cans
were dented.
Now I may be the unlucky one but two issues arise:
How can our inspection agencies (Bureau of Standards, Food
& Drugs, etc) allow such products without proper labelling
and ensuring of established standards?
How can the Indian High Commissioner boast about such “trade
fairs” which eventually bring a bad name to his country?
India’s manufacturing and software industry has so much
to offer. Why then are such flea markets being organised and
showcased as improved trade links?
Now I hear the “trade fair” is coming back in June.
Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Health, Bureau of Standards,
awake.
Steve Ramdial
Penal
Charting
history of mathematics
Pandit
Persad’s article (Guardian, May 5) on the contribution
of India to the development of mathematics deserves much praise.
Allow me to add a few comments.
Western historians have misrepresented India’s contribution
to mathematics, and the ancient history of India in general.
William Jones noticed the similarity of Sanskrit and European
languages such as Greek and Latin. Jones confounded two historic
Chandraguptas and reduced by more than 1200 years the chronology
of the Magadha dynasties in India.
To account for the similarities of Sanskrit and European languages,
the European scholars invented the hypothesis of an Aryan
invasion of India. The Aryans were assumed to have originated
outside of Bharat (ancient India).
The German scholar Max Muller, strongly influenced by the
Christian belief that the creation of the world took place
around 4004 BC, set the date of the supposed Aryan invasion.
From these assumed beginnings, later historians of India have
reckoned dates of various events and writings.
However, to be fair to the European scholars, they did much
to advance the study of eastern culture and their ideas were
progressive for their time.
The mathematicians Lakshmikantham and Leela, in their book,
The Origin of Mathematics, have tried to correct the chronology
of Bharat in order to obtain a better understanding of the
contribution of India to mathematics.
Persad states that the Sulvasutras of Baudhayana is approximately
2600 to 2800 years old. Some Indian scholars think that Baudhayana
lived during 3200 BC or more than 5,000 years ago. The Sulvasutras
were texts for the geometrical design of altars but also contain
many important abstract geometrical constructions.
An important aspect of Greek mathematics, the idea of a demonstration
or proof, is also present in the Sulvasutras. Many ancient
Indian mathematicians whose work historians have dated in
the Christian era, actually lived long before the great period
of Greek mathematics.
Aryabhatta (born in 2765 BC) was the father of scientific
astronomy. His knowledge of astronomy was comparable with
that of the Greeks.
Lakshmikantham and Leela’s work has made many ideas more
plausible:
The idea that there was no Aryan invasion that originated
outside of Bharat.
That the great Indian mathematicians predated the Greeks.
That Indian mathematics was the common source of influence
for Greek and Mesopotamian mathematics and science.
Persad has written on the invention of the zero and positional
number system in India, so I won’t say much on this.
Other civilisations invented positional number systems with
a zero: for example, the learned Babylonians, the learned
Chinese and the learned Mayas.
I don’t know if these civilisations imbued the zero with
as much mystical significance as the Hindus have done. What
distinguishes the Indian system of numerals is the use of
distinct symbols for 1, 1+1, 1+1+1, etc. In Roman numerals,
for example, iii denotes 1+1+1. This characteristic of the
Indian system makes it unambiguous, compact enough to represent
very large numbers, and is indispensable for rapid calculation.
C de Matas
St Augustine
cdematas@hotmail.com
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