Social & cultural | CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon

08/09/2013

India speaks 780 languages, 220 lost in last 50 years

A few days ago, there was a post about languages in China – https://chindia-alert.org/2013/09/06/beijing-says-400-million-chinese-cannot-speak-mandarin/. This post is about languages in India.

Reuters: “No one has ever doubted that India is home to a huge variety of languages. A new study, the People’s Linguistic Survey of India, says that the official number, 122, is far lower than the 780 that it counted and another 100 that its authors suspect exist.

The survey, which was conducted over the past four years by 3,000 volunteers and staff of the Bhasha Research & Publication Centre (“Bhasha” means “language” in Hindi), also concludes that 220 Indian languages have disappeared in the last 50 years, and that another 150 could vanish in the next half century as speakers die and their children fail to learn their ancestral tongues.

The 35,000-page survey is being released in 50 volumes, the first of which appeared on Sept. 5 to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of Indian philosopher Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, who was also the country’s second president. The last one is scheduled to come out in December 2014.

Ganesh Devy, who supervised the project, said this is the first comprehensive survey of Indian languages that anyone has conducted since Irish linguistic scholar George Grierson noted the existence of 364 languages between 1894 and 1928.

There is a major reason for the disparity in the government’s number of languages versus what the survey found: the government does not count languages that fewer than 10,000 people speak. Devy and his volunteers on the other hand combed the country to find languages such as Chaimal in Tripura, which is today spoken by just four or five people.

One of the most interesting aspects of the project is Devy’s view of language as a marker of the well being of a community. Languages are being born and dying as they evolve – note how Old English is unintelligible today, and how different is Chaucer’s Middle English from ours – and that is a natural process. But bringing attention to Indian languages with small numbers of speakers, Devy said, is a way of bringing attention to the societies that speak them, along with the well being of their people.”

via India speaks 780 languages, 220 lost in last 50 years – survey | India Insight.

Posted in India alert, Internal politics, languages | Leave a Comment »

Tags: India, Languages of India, Linguistic Survey of India, politics, research, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

08/09/2013

Army summoned to quell communal violence that kills 15 in north Indian state

Reuters: “The Indian army was called in, an unusual measure, to contain communal violence pitting Hindus against Muslims that killed at least 15 people in northern Uttar Pradesh state.

Indian army vehicles patrol on a deserted road during a curfew in Muzaffarnagar, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh September 8, 2013. REUTERS/Stringer

An army contingent of up to 800 was dispatched to the area on Saturday night, as armed gangs of Jats, a group practicing Hinduism, stormed a mosque and a village with Muslim residents, the state’s principal home secretary R.M. Srivastava said.

“We had sought assistance of the army last night after we found the violence spreading across to other villages,” Srivastava told Reuters.

“In fact, we were able to bring things under control until fresh violence broke out in (a) village Sunday morning.”

The violence erupted on Saturday following a meeting attended by Jats in Muzaffarnagar district, 140 km (90 miles) northeast of New Delhi. Police said 10 people died, including a journalist and photographer, and about 35 were injured.

Five more were killed in a fresh outbreak on Sunday morning.

A curfew was imposed in three districts,

“I would appeal to all the people there to maintain peace and do not trust or listen to any rumors,” Akhilesh Yadav, Uttar Pradesh’s chief minister, told reporters.

The Jats are demanding the rescinding of charges against members of their community in connection with a communal clash last month in which three people were killed.

Arun Kumar, a senior police official, said tensions were fuelled by an online video purporting to show the killing of two Muslim youths last month.

Local media said about 50 outbreaks of communal tension have occurred in populous Uttar Pradesh since the region’s Samajwadi (Socialist) Party came to power last year. More than 25 people have died.”

via Army summoned to quell communal violence that kills 15 in north Indian state | Reuters.

Tags: communal clashes, Muslim, muslim residents, Muzaffarnagar district, New Delhi, politics, Uttar Pradesh

06/09/2013

Beijing says 400 million Chinese cannot speak Mandarin

BBC: “China‘s Education Ministry says that about 400 million people – or 30% of the population – cannot speak the country’s national language.

Of the 70% of the population who can speak Mandarin, many do not do it well enough, a ministry spokeswoman told Xinhua news agency on Thursday.

The admission from officials came as the government launched another push for linguistic unity in China.

China is home to thousands of dialects and several minority languages.

These include Cantonese and Hokkien, which enjoy strong regional support.

Mandarin – formally called Putonghua in China, meaning “common tongue” – is one of the most widely-spoken languages in the world.

The Education Ministry spokeswoman said the push would be focusing on the countryside and areas with ethnic minorities.

For decades, the ruling Communist Party has promoted Mandarin in an attempt to unite the most populous nation in the world.

But government efforts have been hampered by the sheer size of the country and a lack of investment in education, particularly the rural areas, says the BBC’s Martin Patience in Beijing.

The government’s policies have also long been contentious, particularly among ethnic minorities, our correspondent adds.

In 2010, there were protests in Tibet about the use of Mandarin in schools. At the time, protesters said it was eroding their culture and language.”

via BBC News – Beijing says 400 million Chinese cannot speak Mandarin.

Posted in China alert, ethnic minority, Mandarin, Social & cultural | 1 Comment »

Tags: Beijing, Cantonese, China, linguistic unity, Mandarin, National language, ruling communist party, Standard Chinese

01/09/2013

Jiang Jiemin: China corruption probe into top official

There are increasing signs that this time, anti-corruption is being taken very seriously by the Party and government.

BBC: “Chinese authorities have announced a corruption investigation into Jiang Jiemin, the head of the commission that oversees state-owned companies.

The supervision ministry said Mr Jiang was suspected of a “serious violation of discipline”. He has not publicly commented on the allegations.

The term is used to refer to corruption by managers of state companies.

President Xi Jinping has vowed to eradicate corruption in China, warning that it threatens the Communist Party.

Recent months have seen several high-profile corruption cases against high-ranking officials, including disgraced senior party official Bo Xilai, who was put on trial for bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power in August.

The verdict in his case is expected “at a date to be decided”. Mr Bo denies all charges.

Until March Mr Jiang was head of the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), which has faced a number of corruption allegations.

Last week it was announced that another four CNPC executives were under investigation for corruption.

Earlier in August the general manager of state-owned phone company China Mobile Ltd was detained in the southern province of Guangdong. He too is being investigated for discipline violations.

Internet users are also increasingly pursuing those perceived as having done wrong through online exposes and campaigns.

But in recent weeks there have been signs that this has worried the authorities, with a number of journalists arrested for “rumour-mongering” and a high-profile blogger arrested.”

via BBC News – Jiang Jiemin: China corruption probe into top official.

Tags: Bo Xilai, China, China Mobile, China National Petroleum Corporation, CNPC, communist party of china, corruption allegations, corruption in china, corruption investigation, Jiang Jiemin, national petroleum corporation, Xi JinPing

29/08/2013

Bo Xilai on trial: Settling scores

The Economist: “IN A heavily guarded courthouse in the eastern city of Jinan, the trial began on August 22nd of a politician who was once one of China’s most powerful figures. Bo Xilai, who is 64, has been accused of receiving bribes, embezzlement and abuse of power. His downfall in March 2012 caused the greatest political shock of its kind in decades.

That the trial is under way at last is a sign that Xi Jinping, who took over as China’s leader eight months after Mr Bo disappeared from public view, is confident that he can handle its ramifications. Mr Bo, like Mr Xi, is the son of one of Mao Zedong’s fellow revolutionaries. He remains popular in the parts of China where he has served, including as Communist Party chief in the 29m-strong region of Chongqing in the south-west. He is an icon of diehard Maoists and members of the “new left” who decry China’s move towards money making. Handling Mr Bo’s case without upsetting powerful families and arousing public ire (whether of Mr Bo’s fans or of the many Chinese who are aggrieved at widespread official corruption) has been Mr Xi’s challenge. As the trial began, dozens of supporters gathered nearby. Police dragged several away.

Mr Xi and his colleagues wished to choreograph the proceedings—which at the time of going to press were expected to last just a day or two—with great precision. But Mr Bo, with a characteristic feistiness, queered the pitch from the outset. He denied a charge of bribery involving payments of more than 1.1m yuan ($180,000) from a businessman in the north-eastern city of Dalian. His response to the other charges, including millions of dollars in other kickbacks, are not yet known. Foreign journalists were barred from the trial.

The allegations, even if disagreeable to Mr Bo, would have been tailored to suit all factions—including, to some extent, his own, for Mr Bo had powerful backers, including within the security forces. Speculation has also centred on whether the state tried to secure Mr Bo’s co-operation by promising not to go after his 25-year-old son, Bo Guagua, who was expensively educated in Britain and is now studying in America. The younger Mr Bo may hope one day to to avenge his father’s downfall.

via Bo Xilai on trial: Settling scores | The Economist.

Posted in China alert, corruption, Internal politics, Justice, Politics, Rule of law | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Bo Xilai, China, Chongqing, Dalian, Mao Zedong, politics, Xi JinPing

26/08/2013

Mooncake Austerity Hits China’s Mid-Autumn Festiva

WSJ: “First baijiu, then red carpets, and now mooncakes. For Chinese government officials, the list of taboos keeps getting longer.

One month before the country celebrates its annual Mid-Autumn Festival, Chinese authorities said Wednesday that they are barring officials from buying mooncakes—a centerpiece of the holiday—as well as giving presents or hosting dinners on the public dime.

Traditionally, mooncakes are gifted (and often re-gifted) as a form of tribute during the festival, exchanged among family members as well as among companies, their clients and employees. “But this kind of polite reciprocity, when overdone, becomes a kind of squandering of cash,” ran an editorial in the People’s Daily on Thursday, praising the mooncake crackdown.

About the size of a hockey puck and traditionally stuffed with anything from red bean paste to salted egg yolk, these days, the once-humble mooncake is barely recognizable. Some are now made of solid gold and others come swathed in pure silk. Such is the luxury nature of some mooncakes that in past years, talk of a “mooncake bubble” circulated, while in 2011, China’s government proposed that workers pay income tax on the value of cakes gifted to them by their employers.

Given the frenetic pace of mooncake gift-giving, they’ve long been seen as an easy vehicle for corruption. Many environmental NGOs have also condemned the modern crop of mooncakes, criticizing their elaborate packaging as wasteful.

This week’s mooncake crackdown is part of a broader attempt to quell anger about public corruption, which in recent years has been stoked by the sight of officials gorging on lavish banquets and indulging in other excesses, including luxury watches and more. Thursday’s editorial in the People’s Daily, for example, cited the anti-mooncake move as part of President Xi Jinping’s effort to educate Party members about the evils of the “Four Winds,” i.e. “formalism, bureaucracy, hedonism and waste.”

On Thursday, some users on Sina Weibo, China’s popular Twitter-like microblogging service, though, were less than impressed. “”The system doesn’t change, these kinds of trivialities aren’t of any use,” wrote one.

Others mourned the idea that the confections were facilitating corruption. “A holiday that was once simple and pure has been transformed by China’s corrupt bureaucracy into something with a different meaning,” wrote another. “How sad.”

Still others took the opportunity to rail against mooncakes in general. Despite the holiday zeal for them, many languish uneaten for weeks after they’ve been gifted. “They’re just a mix of stuff high in fat, high in sugar, and high in additives,” wrote one user.

“They’re not tasty and they’re expensive,” added another. “No wonder that other than during the Mid-Autumn festival, people don’t eat them.””

via Mooncake Austerity Hits China’s Mid-Autumn Festival – China Real Time Report – WSJ.

Posted in China alert, corruption, Economics, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: China, Government of the People's Republic of China, Mid-Autumn Festival, Mooncake, politics, Sina Weibo, Xi JinPing

25/08/2013

Police crack down on Ayodhya yatra

The Hindu: “With the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s 84 Kosi Parikrama Yatra set to begin from the banks of the Saryu River on Sunday, the Uttar Pradesh administration on Saturday cracked down on the Hindu rightwing organisation, arresting over 350 of its activists across the State.

Security personnel patrol a street in Ayodhya on Friday.

The administration sealed entry points into the district as the VHP remained defiant, determined to go ahead with its yatra, which is being held in support of a Ram Mandir at the disputed site here. The yatra has been banned by the State.

BJP MLA Savitri Bai Phule, VHP’s provincial coordinator Acharya Kushmuni and Mahant Santosh Das alias Sathu Baba, a VHP office-bearer in Varanasi, were taken into preventive custody or put under house arrest, while prominent VHP leader Mahant Ram Saran Das was held at Ram Sanehi Ghat in Ayodhya.

Scores of VHP activists were arrested in various parts of the State, including Kanpur (100), Allahabad (43) and Basti (18). Arrest warrants have been issued against VHP leaders Ashok Singhal, Praveen Togadia and Ram Vilas Vedanti, Faizabad district magistrate Vipin Kumar Dwivedi said.

The police raided the VHP’s suspected hideouts, forcing many of its leaders and activists to go underground. However, according to local sources, senior leaders could appear with seers.

Lucknow IG Subash Chandra, who conducted a tour of vulnerable spots, said, “This yatra goes against tradition. We are fully prepared not to let it happen. Section 144 Cr.PC has been imposed and action will be taken against those violating it.”

Schools have been converted into temporary jails to keep those booked under Section 144.

The administration expected around 40,000 people to participate. However, the VHP maintained that no common people were invited and that politicians would not get on the dais to address the seers or participants. Around 200-250 seers would participate in the yatra, which the VHP defined as a “padhyatra [march] to awaken the Hindus within the cultural boundary [roughly 250 km] of Ayodhya.”

VHP president Praveen Togadia said that it was “not a large congregation” so the State government should not panic. It was actually a march but since the saints termed it “parikrama” it was being viewed as a traditional parikrama. The State justified the ban, pointing out that the traditional period for staging the parikrama had passed in April-May. Sharad Sharma, VHP spokesperson said, “It is the right of the seers to carry out the yatra. This is religious, not political. The government has ruined the atmosphere for its political gains.”

Amid speculation that the VHP might cancel the yatra at the last moment fearing administrative action and considering the law and order situation, Mr. Sharma said, “This will be decided at the last moment. If the seers decide to carry out rituals at the starting point itself, that will be followed. But there is no possibility of cancellation.”

Mr. Sharma lashed out at the SP government for “working under the grip of Azam Khan [Minister]” to appease Muslims, who are a votebank for the party.”

via Police crack down on Ayodhya yatra – The Hindu.

Tags: Ayodhya, politics, Uttar Pradesh

22/08/2013

Chinese forget how to write in digital age

The Times: “A televised contest that has become hugely popular in China has led to nationwide hand-wringing over the population’s increasing inability to write Chinese characters.

The rapid rise of computers and smartphones has left most young people barely able to write by hand, with many unable to recall the estimated 10,000 characters used in daily life without an electronic prompt.

The state broadcaster CCTV launched the Chinese Character Dictation Competition this month to improve the population’s handwriting amid fears that the country’s fiendishly complex writing system, a highly prized symbol of its ancient culture, is entering an inexorable decline.

While contestants on the show are school pupils, it was found that 70 per cent of adults in the audience were unable to recall how to portray the word for “toad”. Tests showed that fewer than half could write common Mandarin words such as “thick”.

Mastering the language’s estimated 50,000 pictograms takes children years of learning by rote. Yet the predictive text used on digital devices allows people to type characters simply by entering pinyin, the Romanised system of Chinese pronunciation, removing the necessity to remember how to write.“While the keyboard era has not affected other languages, relatively speaking, it has had a big impact on the handwriting of Chinese characters,” Guan Zhengwen, who designed and directs the show, said. “The impact of electronic technology on people’s writing habits is irreversible, there is nothing we can do about this trend.”

However, he added that he hoped to engage people with his mission to keep it alive as an art form, in line with centuries of the tradition of calligraphy.

Educated young Chinese freely admit forgetting how to write all but the most common Chinese words. “I usually write at a very slow pace,” Zang Xiaosong, 29, a newspaper journalist from Nanjing, said. “Most of the time, it seems the characters are somewhere in my head, it’s just that I can’t remember how to write them. Sometimes I use a computer to help me retrieve them.”

Hao Mingjian, the editor of a magazine devoted to Chinese characters, said: “The learning of Chinese characters is a lifelong process. If you stop using them for a long time, it is very likely you would forget them.””

via Chinese forget how to write in digital age | The Times.

Posted in China alert, Mandarin, Social & cultural | Leave a Comment »

Tags: China, Chinese Character, Chinese language, chinese pronunciation, common mandarin words, inexorable decline, Languages, Mandarin Chinese, school pupils

21/08/2013

India’s Maharashtra state bans black magic after killing

BBC: “The Indian state of Maharashtra has enacted emergency laws banning black magic and superstition, one day after a prominent campaigner was killed.

Anti-superstition activist Narendra Dabholkar, 71, who campaigned for the law, was shot dead in the city of Pune on Tuesday by unidentified gunmen.

Many businesses closed to protest against his killing and chanting demonstrators marched through the city.

He spent decades campaigning against what he called “fraudulent” practices.

Critics accused him of being anti-religion in a country where mysticism and spirituality is venerated.

But in an interview with the Agence France-Presse news agency two years ago he rejected such charges.

“In the whole of the bill, there’s not a single word about God or religion. Nothing like that. The Indian constitution allows freedom of worship and nobody can take that away,” he said.

“This is about fraudulent and exploitative practices.””

via BBC News – Narendra Dabholkar: India’s Maharashtra state bans black magic after killing.

Posted in Culture, India alert, religion, Social & cultural | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Agence France-Presse, Antireligion, Constitution of India, emergency laws, India, indian constitution, Maharashtra, maharashtra state, Pune, state of maharashtra, Superstition

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