Friday, October 2, 2015

Hygienic Fish Markets : Fashion of the Day

Nellore Fish Market, Andhra Pradesh, India

Hygienic Fish Markets : Fashion of the Day

 The wind of globalization is introducing new concepts like air-conditioned vegetable and fish markets by private parties providing jobs to entrepreneurial youth. At the same time we have Pondicherry’s over crowded   Main market, a place you have to plough your way in a stream of sweat and foul smell. Ever increasing garbage accumulation poses problems for municipal sanitary workers who toil tirelessly to keep market surroundings clean. The lorries that bring the daily requirements for market and small vehicles that bring fish struggle to catch space with consumers who in a haste to park as they please in the entrances of the market. This is a scene of chaos with increase in population. In Pondicherry region we have fish markets in Pondicherry, Muthialpet, Ariyankuppam, Nellithoppu, Madukarai and Villiyanur and temporary markets have sprung up in roadsides at many sub urban places. Nowadays people are looking for hygiene in every aspect of life and consumer awareness is at its peak. Further the perishable products must be sold in haste thereby fish vendors loose their revenue. The setting up of cost price shops by private parties and cooperative institutions too jumping into that bandwagon not to be left behind is a telling tale of our times. Vegetable stalls that offer fresh vegetables in air-conditioned surroundings have cropped up. Chickens and Mutton are sold in shops making it easy for people to buy at various places. But in spite of all this the fish market, vegetable market, flower market and small shops that sell from provisions to brooms are within a limited space of the main market restricted by various constraints making it impossible to expand.

 In such scenario a new Air Conditioned Fish for You shop set by an enterprising young educated youth K.Ponnambalam of Vanarapet, that has come up at the beginning of the Mahatma Gandhi Road near Railway station is refreshing experiment breaking from past.

A student from nearby Veerampattinam fisher-men village of Pondicherry, P.Saravanane who is the 4 th son of a traditional fisherman, doing his second year in doctorate in fish pathology at the Stirling University of Scotland U.K having completed his M.FSc. (Master of Fisheries Science) at Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute Cochin on his visit to his home felt that fish markets here must be improved to make it places of hygiene in order to attract better prices for fish apart from consumer convenience and comfort of buying in a cleaner environment.

To wash sands and filth in the fish catches that comes to market, P.Saravanane suggests setting up of a one-ton capacity of filtering steel tank at the entrance of the market. Immediately after washing fresh icing must be done for the preservation. The fish market should be completely closed and centrally air conditioned for maintaining low temperature, which can reduce the quick spoilage of fish. Hygienic and decent dressing for the fish vendors encouraged. Separate cabins with a washable fish-displaying table should be constructed for selling the fish and be provided with a clear drainage channel, which eventually leads to a common drainage canal. Display table must have fiberglass doors so that fishes can be displayed on an ice layer in the glass cabinet. Each cabin must be given separate pipe connections for easy and quick washing of cabin before and after selling. A hygienic and eco-friendly bag for packing the fish be introduced. There should be a high capacity and quality flake ice machine inside the market for preserving the fish and also for the display unit. Definite control measures should be taken for fly and other insects. Its also wise to have a cold storage room with two different temperature like 4°c and -20°c with clear racks and boxes for short time and long time storage of fish respectively. The market should also be provided with two doors each one for entry and exit. A separate fish cleaning room should be constructed with same facility like fish selling area with a washable table with the provision of tap water pipe connection for each fish dresser. Use of clean stainless steel knife and other fish cutting instruments be encouraged. There should be an exit in the fish dressing room so that the customers can directly exit the market, says P.Saravanane who wants to see his hometown and its markets improve to reach the western standards at least stage by stage.

Fish lovers are braving all ordeals in fish markets to buy their choice and scared housewives wait for street vendors to bring fish to their doors. Let us make their life not only less miserable but make it pleasant to both sellers and buyers. Let Fish woman who carry head-loads of fish and are frowned upon regain their self respect and dignity in pursuing their marketing with changing needs of our times. Fish is wealth and not filth that comes to markets. Let planners plan ultra modern fish markets, while private stalls come up every where to cater the needs of growing population conscious of cleaner environment.
courtesy :

The New Indian Express 28.08.2004

After reading this in New Indian Express then Local Administration Secretary S.Hemachandiran I.A.S called N.Nandhivarman and P.Saravanane for discussion and initiated steps to modernize Ponducherry Fishing Markets.... 

Thursday, October 1, 2015

ACADEMY OF COSMIC CULTURE PROTESTS NUCLEAR TESTS OF FRANCE



                                        ANTI-NUCLEAR CAMPAIGNS

All those who love humanity will oppose the nuclear designs, ambitions and craziness of the countries of the earth, or to be precise, the madness of their political masters. The French Governments decision to resume nuclear testing at Mururora Atoll was condemned by a team of eminent men/women from Pondicherry.The background to our protest here is given hereafter. THE HINDU, English Daily in a news write up enlightened the Indian public.

MURUROA PROTEST FLEET UNDER WAY

Wellington: August 11:1995
Atleast 14 vessels are under way or preparing to cast off for Mururoa to protest the proposed series of French nuclear tests slated to begin on the South Pacific atoll in September. Several television networks, including U.S.based Cable News Network, plan live coverage from the flotilla of ships and boats that will gather at the atoll., 1300 kilometers southeast of Papeete. The unarmed New Zealand navy research ship Tui,which will depart from Auckland on Saturday, will serve as the fleet's aloof watchdog.

The battle scarred Green peace ship Rainbow Warrior II rammed by the French navy at Mururoa last month, has completed repairs and is scheduled to leave Fiji on Sunday. Greenpeace, another of the protest group's vessels, will pass through Panama on Sunday. The Vega, which 20 years ago was the first Greenpeace boat to visit Mururoa, is set to leave Papeete on Sunday. Other vessels en route for Mururoa include the Manutea from San Francisco and four yachts from New Zealand. A ship chartered by Australian politicians, the German flagged yachts  Colonial Heritage and Tara, now in Rarotonga in the Cook islands.and the Lady Sephora and Stardust 48 out of Papeete and Maiuhia out of Tonga are also scheduled to leave for Mururoa. Other ships may join the flotilla.

The Tui Captain Lieutenant Commander John Campbell, says he is under strict orders not to cross into France's 12 nautical mile(20 kilometer) exclusion zone and if any protest fleet crossed the line they could not expect help from Tui." They are naughty boys after that" said Mr. Campbell. "They are law breakers and I want nothing to do with them to jeopardize my government role". Radio contact with Greenpeace was also forbidden during the mission,as was communication with any vessels that breached the exclusion zone. "We've got to be seen internationally squeaky clean" Brigadier Graeme Talbot of the Defence department said.Government back bench MP,Mr.Brian Neeson,who along with opposition  labour MP, Christ Carter, will be abroad the Tui,for five weeks, is taking Wilbursmith books, country music, and a memory enhancement course. Carter has Collen McCullough books and will do some weight training.

Keating accepts French promise

At Sydney,the Australian Prime Minister Mr.Paul Keating, said on Friday he accepted at "face value" a French promise to close down the Mururoa Pacific test site after a series of eight underground tests starting next month. His comment followed a statement by senior French foreign Ministry official, Mr.Yves Detrieux, on Wednesday that France would stop all forms of nuclear testing and close to its Mururoa facility once it had finished its latest test programme in the South Pacific.

The Australian Prime minister Mr.Gareth Evans , said that while French support for a total ban on testing under a comprehensive treaty would be a major breakthrough,he would prefer to have it confirmed by the French President  Mr.Jacques Chirac.However Mr.Keating told reporters in Canberra that he accepted the commitment. "It was said by an official of the French foreign ministry and we take that at face value that authority brings" he said. Mr.Keating said the announcement by France vindicated Australia's strong campaign against Mr.Chirac's decision to resume testing announced in June.

" We've essentially led the campaign and there is now a lot of European opinion against President Chirac's decision, and very strong public opinion in Germany.", Mr.Keating said. " I think it's German's public opinion that Mr.Chirac would probably respond to, outside French public opinion, and to the extent that we have been influential in that is, I think, shown in expressions by the French that they will sign the comprehensive test ban treaty and shut Mururoa down.

French flags burnt
At Seoul, a group of South Korean environmental activists joined the international condemnation of French nuclear testing on Friday,by burning French national flags and products in downtown Seoul.
Courtesy: -AFP

MUSHROOMING PROTESTS

It was almost like a sequel to a movie. Ten years ago in the day, the RAINBOW WARRIOR, a coveted British trawler that had become the flagship of the environmental group, Greenpeace, was blown up in the Auckland harbour in New Zealand by French secret service agents.A Greenpeace photographer was killed.Greenpeace, a consistent critic of France's nuclear testing programme, had become a menace and the French Government had decided to hit back. Two secret service agents responsible for the explosion were however caught, and France's dubious methods of dealing with the nuclear protesters were clearly exposed. The incident marked a low point between France and countries of the South Pacific, and perhaps contributed in some measure to the moratorium on testing that the then President Mr. Francois Mitterand announced in 1992.

Now a decade later, Greenpeace,the French authorities and the nations of the South Pacific are on collision course once again. The French President Mr.Jacques Chirac's decision to resume nuclear testing in the Mururoa atoll in the South Pacific lead to outrage throughout the region. Greenpeace sent the Rainbow warrior II, the ship the environmental group had got to replace the original Rainbow warrior, into the test site are as a mark of protest.France responded vigorously French naval frigate rammed the Greenpeace ship and naval commandoes released them 15 hours later.

The incident made headlines the world over, and further infuriated opinion in the region. Australia and New Zealand, had done little to conceal their anger the moment the testing programme was announced. New Zealand's outspoken Prime Minister , Mr Jim Bolger denounced the decision as an arrogant action of a foreign colonial power, while the Foreign minister Mr.Don Mckinnon went a step further and accused Mr.Chirac of "Gaulist-Nepoleanic arrogance". The Australian Prime Minister Mr.Paul Keating, recalled the Australiam ambassador in Paris, and announced that all defence cooperation between  France and Australia would remain suspended as long as these tests continued.These governmental protests were backed by popular boycott of French goods and mass demonstrations in front of French embassies. Within the French Pacific territories, the resumption of testing has given a boost to groups demanding independence from France.
The concern in the South Pacific is largely on environmental grounds. France explodes its nuclear warheads deep under the basalt rock that makes up the Pacific atolls. Theoretically, the heat of the explosion should vitrify the rock around the test site, and seal in the nuclear waste. But environmental activists have argued that the radio active material can leak and cause large scale contamination of the Pacific. They also say that earlier explosions could have weakened and fractured the atoll so badly, that radioactive waste would seep through. This has caused great anxiety in the islands of the region, as well as in Australia, New Zealand and Japan, which could all be affected if radiation leaks into the sea. France has argued that the test cause no environmental risks, to which the classic riposte has been"if it is so safe,why don't they test nuclear weapons in mainland France?" Japan has lodged a formal protest.

It was not only in South Pacific that the French decision set off protests. Closer to home, France's European neighbours made no effort to hide their irritation. At a recent meeting of European union Foreign Ministers, seven of the 15 members of the EU publicly expressed their dissatisfaction at the French decision. The European Parliamentarians accorded a cold welcome to Mr.Chirac when he came to address them.

The French decision is embarrassing to the Europeans for two reasons. First, it came just after the conference to review the non-proliferation treaty, and made a mockery of the statements that were made at the conference by the West calling for nuclear restraint in the rest of the world. Second, it has come when negotiations are under way to ban all nuclear weapons tests, and has clearly indicated that despite all the talk of a test ban treaty, the nuclear weapon powers have no intention of mothballing their weapons.

The extent of the protest must have come as a surprise to Mr.Chirac, but it is not in any way going to change his decision. Mr.Chirac is convinced that this series of tests are essential if France is to continue to have a viable, independent and nuclear deterrent, a view that is based on the recommendations of the French defence and nuclear establishments. The timing of the tests has been determined by the possibility of a test ban treaty being ready by the end of next year. Before the treaty, France wants to develop the techniques of simulating nuclear weapons explosions  on computer, a technique which the U.S is already well advanced in. Once France reaches this stage,it will no longer need to conduct nuclear tests in order to be able to develop new generations of nuclear weapons, but will be able to do this through laboratory work. But to reach this stage France still requires to conduct more tests. France, since 1991,has been working on a project to simulate nuclear tests known as the PALEN programme.

The French Government has maintained that its current testing programme, is not linked to developing new weapons, but only to get enough data to ensure the safety of the French nuclear stockpile. Maintaining the safety of warheads has been an argument that all nuclear weapon powers have used to justify nuclear testing.But there are clear indications that France also intends to develop and deploy a new generation of nuclear weapons. The first ofa new generation of nuclear submarines is due to enter into service this year, armed with a new missile., the M-45. Another missile, the M-5 is also on the drawing board and there is suspicion that the current series of tests could be linked with the development of a new warhead for this missile.A new generation of nuclear surface to air missiles is also being planned.

The French decision to resume testing only goes to show that all the concern for non proliferation shown by the nuclear weapon powers is not intended to curb their own weapons programmes, but is only intended to reinforce the current divisions between the nuclear haves and have nots.
Courtesy: The Hindu daily Article by Thomas Abraham in Geneva.

As world was reverberating with protests the Pondicherrians too rose to act
FRANCE ASKED TO DESIST FROM NUCLEAR TESTS
Pondicherry July 18 -1995

A four member delegation of the Academy of Cosmic culture headed by M.K.Sayeekumari on Tuesday presented a memorandum to the French Consul General here Mr.Claude Bonnet, expressing their protest against the proposed violation of the 1992 moratorium by the French government nuclear weapons testing.
The memorandum signed by ten members of the Academy also said the great country France that gave the world three cardinal principles of equality, liberty and fraternity and the nation that placed the individual as the center of all political endeavour could take the liberty to infringe on the human rights of Tahitians and 28 million peoples of the Pacific region and demolish the foundation of freedom, justice and peace. France should prove to humanity that it would live up to its tradition and culture.Non-proliferation talks and treaties continue as never ending exercises in futilty. Nuclear weapon free zones had also been earmarked but the day for the total universe free of nuclear arsenals was still elusive, the memorandum said and hastened to add that it would also become out of reach if countries like France wedded to humanism continued the planned eight nuclear tests within the vicinity of Mururoa atoll.

The memorandum appealed to the French government to refrain from nuclear tests and help humanity develop under a cosmic culture and peace and progress in pushing the borders of human endeavors. The delegation comprised Dr.M.P.Ramanujam( an ecologist), Dr.T.Devidasan( who explained in French the ill effects of the nuclear tests proposed by France to the French representative.) and Mr.N.Nandhivarman.

Courtesy: THE HINDU (July 19-1995)



(Mr.N.Nandhivarman after a self imposed political exile of 14 years was back in Pondicherry and was Associate Editor of New Times Observer. Dr.T.Devidasan, brother of the Poet Laureate of Dravidan Movement Vaanidasan was his neighbour. In order to promote the literary circle with certain global goals,he conceived the Academy of Cosmic Culture, hoping Devadasan will shoulder it. But with this one activity it died a natural death.The vision for this cosmic culture emanated from the writings of M.P.John, octogenarian Editor of New Times Observer)