Survey:World population to be 6.75bn on New Year's Day

The world's population on New Year's Day is set to reach 6.75bn, a German group that encourages birth control

said on Tuesday.

The World Population Foundation of Germany said the planet's human population rose by 82m this year and according to its estimates, the world population on Jan 1 would reach 6,751,643,600.

The Hanover-based group said almost all the growth in numbers was in developing nations, where women faced multiple pregnancies whether they wanted them or not because contraception was not available.

Resources, education and health care

were in short supply in those nations because of rising population, the foundation said.

A child born today in Germany can expect to live 79 years on average, but an African can only expect 54 years.

"If we want to tackle poverty at the source, we have to help women avoid unwanted pregnancy," said Renate Baehr, the secretary of the foundation. "We have to spend more on sex education and contraception."

Museums in India

The concept of museums in India may be traced back to the historic times, in which references to the chitrasala (picture gallery) do occur. However, in India the museum movement post-dates the similar developments that occurred in Europe. The earliest necessity to house objects of antiquarian remains dates back to late 1796 AD when the Asiatic Society of Bengal felt the need to house the enormous collection of archaeological, ethnological, geological, zoological pursuits. However, the first museum by them was started in 1814. The nucleus of this Asiatic Society Museum later provided to the Indian Museum, Calcutta. In Archaeological Survey of India also, due to the various explorative investigations that was initiated since the times of its first Director General, Alexander Cunningham, vast quantity of antiquarian remains were collected. The creation of site museums had to wait until the arrival of Sir John Marshall, who initiated the founding of the local museums like Sarnath (1904), Agra (1906), Ajmer (1908), Delhi Fort (1909), Bijapur (1912), Nalanda (1917) and Sanchi (1919). The concept of site museums is well elucidated by Hargreaves, one of the former Director Generals of ASI: ‘it has been the policy of the Government of India to keep the small and movable antiquities, recovered from the ancient sites, in close association with the remains to which they belong, so that hey may be studied amid their natural surroundings and not lose focus by being transported’.A separate Museums Branch in ASI was created in 1946 by Mortimer Wheeler. After the independence, there was a spurt in the growth of site museums in ASI. At present there are 41 site museums under the control of ASI.

World Heritage Sites - Agra - Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal (1983), Uttar Pradesh

Taj Mahal, the pinnacle of Mughal architecture, was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (1628-1658), grandson of Akbar the great, in the memory of his queen Arjumand Bano Begum, entitled ‘Mumtaz Mahal’. Mumtaz Mahal was a niece of empress Nur Jahan and granddaughter of Mirza Ghias Beg I’timad-ud-Daula, wazir of emperor Jehangir. She was born in 1593 and died in 1631, during the birth of her fourteenth child at Burhanpur. Her mortal remains were temporarily buried in the Zainabad garden. Six months later, her body was transferred to Agra to be finally enshrined in the crypt of the main tomb of the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal is the mausoleum of both Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan.

The mausoleum is located on the right bank of the river Yamuna at a point where it takes a sharp turn and flows eastwards. Originally, the land where the Taj Mahal presently stands belonged to the Kachhwahas of Ajmer (Rajasthan). The land was acquired from them in lieu of four havelis as is testified by a court historian, Abdul Hamid Lahauri, in his work titled the Badshah-Namah and the firmans (royal decrees). For construction, a network of wells was laid along the river line to support the huge mausoleum buildings. Masons, stonecutters, inlayers, carvers, painters, calligraphers, dome-builders and other artisans were requisitioned from the whole of the empire and also from Central Asia and Iran. While bricks for internal constructions were locally prepared, white marble for external use in veneering work was obtained from Makrana in Rajasthan. Semi-precious stones for inlay ornamentation were brought from distant regions of India, Ceylon and Afghanistan. Red sandstone of different tints was requisitioned from the neighbouring quarries of Sikri, Dholpur, etc. It took 17 years for the monument complex to be completed in 1648.

In all, the Taj Mahal covers an area of 60 bighas, as the terrain gradually sloped from south to north, towards the river, in the form of descending terraces. At the southern point is the forecourt with the main gate in front and tombs of Akbarabadi Begum and Fatehpuri Begum, two other queens of Shah Jahan, on its south-east and south-west corners respectively called Saheli Burj 1 and 2.

On the second terrace is a spacious square garden, with side pavilions. It is divided into four quarters by broad shallow canals of water, with wide walkways and cypress avenues on the sides. The water channels and fountains are fed by overhead water tanks. These four quarters are further divided into the smaller quarters by broad causeways, so that the whole scheme is in a perfect char-bagh.

The main tomb of the Taj is basically square with chamfered corners. The minarets here are detached, facing the chamfered angles (corners) of the main tomb on the main plinth. Red sandstone mosque on the western, and Mehman-Khana on the eastern side of the tomb provides aesthetically a clear colour contrast.

The Taj has some wonderful specimens of polychrome inlay art both in the interior and exterior on the dados, on cenotaphs and on the marble jhajjhari (jali-screen) around them.

Open from 6 A.M. to 7 P.M.

Friday closed; open for offering prayer in the mosque between 12 Noon to 2 P.M.

Night viewing on Full Moon Day and two days before and after it, excluding Fridays and in the month of Ramzan

Survey of India-Archaeological

Monuments

The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 defines an ‘ Ancient Monument ’ as follows:-

Ancient Monument means any structure, erection or monument, or any tumulus or place of interment, or any cave, rock-sculpture, inscription or monolith which is of historical, archaeological or artistic interest and which has been in existence for not less than 100 years and includes—

1. Remains of an ancient monument,
2. Site of an ancient monument,
3. Such portion of land adjoining the site of an ancient monument as may be required for fencing or covering in or otherwise preserving such monument, a
4. The means of access to, and convenient inspection of, an ancient monument;

The section 2(d) defines archaeological site and remains as follows:

Archaeological site and remains means any area which contains or is reasonably believed to contain ruins or relics of historical or archaeological importance which have been in existence for not less than one hundred years, and includes—

1. Such portion of land adjoining the area as may be required for fencing or covering in or otherwise preserving it, and
2. The means of access to, and convenient inspection of the area;
   

Protection of monuments

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) under the provisions of the AMASR Act, 1958 protects monuments, sites and remains of national importance by giving a two-month’s notice for inviting objections, if any in this regard.

After the specified two-month’s period, and after scrutinizing the objections, if any, received in this regard, the ASI makes decision to bring a monument under its protection.

There are at present more than 3650 ancient monuments and archaeological sites and remains of national importance. These monuments belong to different periods, ranging from the prehistoric period to the colonial period and are located in different geographical settings. They include temples, mosques, tombs, churches, cemeteries, forts, palaces, step-wells, rock-cut caves, and secular architecture as well as ancient mounds and sites which represent the remains of ancient habitation.

These monuments and sites are maintained and preserved through various Circles of the ASI spread all over the country. The Circles look after the research on these monuments and conservation activities, while the Science Branch with its headquarters at Dehradun carries out chemical preservation and the Horticulture Branch with its headquarters at Agra is entrusted with the laying out gardens and environmental development.

Microsoft preps IE 8 for the web-challenged

Internet Explorer 8 will feature a user-generated list of "compatible" web sites, after trials found many ordinary surfers and major web sites can't work with Microsoft's next browser.

The browser's planned list will be targeted at users that Microsoft considers not "web savvy". By opting to use the list with IE 8, they'll potentially be able to view their favorite sites and visit major destinations such as the BBC or Facebook without IE 8 scrambling them.

The list will be compiled by Microsoft's own people, and will be based on results from customer feedback and "objective criteria applied to telemetry data as well as product support channels."

Web sites making the list will be global "high-volume sites", and sites "we determine high-volume on a market-by-market basis," Microsoft program manager Scott Dickens blogged.

Furthermore, Microsoft said it will "reach out" to sites on the list and tell them what a horrible experience their users are getting when they use IE 8 to access them. Microsoft will then, thoughtfully, explain how the sites can get off of its list. If a site contacts Microsoft to say it's opting out of the list, Microsoft will then remove it in the next scheduled update.

IE 8, currently in beta, makes it hard to view millions of existing web pages because it's the first version of Microsoft's browser that claims to be fully standards-compliant.

Most web-site and online applications are optimized to old versions of IE. Version 8.0, therefore, introduces a significant breaking change as sites won't display the same way.

Microsoft's tried to negotiate this massive problem by giving IE 8 two ways of viewing sites: default mode, which uses standards such as CSS 2.1 and HTML 5.0, and "compatibility view," which lets users switch over to viewing the site using the old standards-contorted mode.

The IE 8 beta two, released in August, introduced a compatibility-view button that users could turn on and off to view sites.

The problem for Microsoft is this button was too complicated for the vast majority of ordinary users who — understandably — simply want log on and view the internet without any site-by-site button fiddling.

Dickens noted that "large groups" of users have therefore not been clicking into compatibility mode and are consequentially getting the screwed-up page views. He claimed the button was working for "savvy end users" but not the great majority of web users who don't meet Dickens's savviness standards.

In a further blow, many sites have not responded to Microsoft's coaxing that they update their sites to work with IE 8.

Microsoft has asked "hundreds and hundreds" of sites to test whether they work with IE 8's default standards mode, or to add a tag or HTTP header to their site to instruct IE 8 to view the site in compatible-view mode. Dickens specifically cited the BBC, CNN, Facebook, and MySpace as sites with pages that still don't work with IE 8.

Nokia Says NO To Android

Post launch of the flagship N97 handset during the Nokia World Conference, Ukko Lappalainen, vice president at Nokia's markets unit has said that the Finnish company is not interested in the Android platform. "I don't see anything in Android which would make it better than Linux Maemo," he quipped.

Nokia uses the Linux Maemo OS on its Internet tablets and Symbian Series 60 on its phones. In the future though, Lappalainen expects a gradual shift towards Linux, and it might as well end up as a serious alternative to the operating systems in the company's high-end devices.

The comments come at a time when Nokia has just completed the acquisition of Symbian. Nokia has also expressed plans to make Symbian an open source operating system.

Do you think Nokia should try out Android as well, especially since competitors Sony Ericsson and Motorola are reportedly eager to go Android?

Zardari meets Rice, says Pak ready to cooperate

US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice met Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari in Islamabad on Thursday.

Pointing out that the focus should be on punishing those responsible and preventing future attacks, Rice said after the meeting, "I hope India & Pakistan will keep communication lines open."

"All responsible nations should cooperate to make sure the perpetrators are brought to justice," she said.

Meanwhile, Zardari said that the government of Pakistan would not let such elements to use country's soil to launch terror attacks.

"Pakistan is ready to cooperate with the investigations into the Mumbai terror attacks. We will take strong action against anyone found involved in attacks," said Asif Ali Zardari.

PTI adds: Putting Pakistan on notice, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday demanded a "robust response" from Islamabad in bringing perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks to justice.

Rice, who flew in to Pakistan after meeting top Indian leaders in New Delhi, said she was not "carrying messages" but going to talk about the "Pakistani response".

"It just has to be a robust response and one that is effective" in bringing the terrorists to justice, Rice was quoted by foreign agencies as telling reporters on board her flight from New Delhi.

Rice said she had also been emphasising the importance of prevention of terror strikes in Pakistan.

"The Pakistanis are sophisticated; they have been dealing with terrorism themselves for sometime. So I am going there to talk about a Pakistani response, not to carry messages," she said.

Soon after arrival, Rice met Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani in the garrison town of Rawalpindi.

In New Delhi, Rice rejected Pakistan's contention on "non-state actors" being responsible for the Mumbai terror attacks and demanded that Islamabad take "direct and tough" action against them.

Rice made it clear that Pakistan must act "transparently, fully and urgently" on the leads in connection with the Mumbai incidents and implement its commitments to India in the probe.