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Thar Coal Block-I project displaces 2 villages

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Thar Coal Block-I project displaces residents of 2 villages - Sindh Information - Sindh CourierThe project also faces the issue of discharging saline water of coalmine

40 percent mining work completed so far – Thar Coal Block-I Power Generation Company

Karachi: The residents of two villages in Thar Coal Block-I have been displaced where over 40 percent mining work has been completed. This project also faces the issue of discharging the saline water of the coalmine.

A delegation of Thar Coal Block-I Power Generation Co. requested the Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Tuesday to resolve their water issue. “The water being drilled out from the mine has to be disposed of somewhere and the water required for the power plant was also needed at Block-I,” the delegation said.

“The mining work would be completed by the end of 2021 and the first unit of the power plant would also start working from 2022 and the entire project would be completed by 2023,” Mr. Meng Donghai, CEO of Thar Coal Block-I Power Generation Co. said.

Mr. Meng, led a delegation of his company and held meeting with Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in Karachi. The delegation consisted of CEO SSRL Mr. Li Jigen, Deputy CEO SSRL Mr. Huang Jinting and Deputy CEO Chaudhary Qayyum. Minister Energy Imtiaz Shaikh, Secretary Energy Tariq Shah and others were also present.

Thar Coal Block-I project involved a 7.8 million tons per annum (MTPA) open pit coal mine and installation of 1.3 GW ultra-supercritical coal fired power plant.

Talking to the delegation, Chief Minister said he will visit the project by the end of this month.

The chief minister directed Minister Energy Imtiaz Shaikh to conduct a feasibility study where to dispose of the mine water. “As far as provision of water for power plants was concerned a separate project from Nabirsar to Vajihar and then to Block-I has been launched,” he said and added that the Irrigation and Energy department would have to finalize it.

Shah said that the Block-I Power Generation Co. would have to sign a water user agreement with the energy department. “We will provide water to Thar Coal Block-I,” he said.

The chief minister urged the visiting delegation to re-settle the displaced people of Block-I. The CEO of Thar Coal Block-I said that the people of two villages have displaced with the development of the mine. “We are committed to settle them and the settlement process has already been started,” the CEO said.

Murad Ali Shah also urged the visiting delegation to accommodate local people in employment opportunities. “I want to share the fruits of the development with the local people of Thar and they have the foremost right,” he said.

The CM said that he would visit Thar Block-I and would meet with the affected people and review their settlement plan.

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Sindh Courier

Health official meets petrol-addict girl, her family

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Health official meets petrol-addict girl - Sindh Courier - JatiThe 7-year Janat Mallah will undergo some tests for her treatment

Girl, hailing from a remote village, might be sent to rehabilitation center – DHO Dr. Shahnaz Khowaja

By Kamran Khamiso Khowaja

Sujawal: Dr. Shahnaz Khowaja, District Health Officer (DHO) of Sujawal, in pursuance of the directions issued by the Deputy Commissioner, visited the village Mamu Mallah of Jati Taluka on Tuesday and met with the seven-year girl Janat Mallah, addicted to petrol consumption, and her family.

Later, talking to the media persons, the DHO said she acquired the information about the girl’s ailment from her parents and added that the decision about her treatment would be taken after carrying out few tests of the girl.

DHO said that after the treatment of girl’s internal infections that might have developed inside her body, she would be sent to a rehabilitation center for the treatment of her mental disorder.

Earlier, Deputy Commissioner Sujawal M. Ismail Memon took notice of the miserable condition of the girl saying that the life of the girl would be saved at any cost and directed the DHO for medical examination of the girl with the life-taking addiction.

It was expected that a team of doctors will visit village Mamu Mallah for the medical examination of the girl.

Health official meets petrol-addict girl - Sindh Courier - Jati-1The father of the girl told the media that his daughter had been consuming petrol since last two years and whenever they stopped her from consumption, she went ballistic. Further, he said, his daughter was suffering from mental illness since her childhood, and she started consuming petrol surreptitiously two years ago and owing to financial constraints, it was hard for him to afford the expenses of her daughter’s treatment.

When this scribe contacted a local doctor, he viewed that the girl could be treated through a psychologist, as it was an addiction, and a psychologist would help her do away with it.

The girl’s story was highlighted by local journalists, who said if they had not highlighted the issue the people of the area would have come up with the opinion that the girl had been possessed by Jinn.

Health official meets petrol-addict girl - Sindh Courier - Jati-2
A local doctor examining the petrol-addict girl.

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Frontline Health Workers to be vaccinated from Feb 3

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Frontline Health Workers to be vaccinated from Feb 3 - DC Hyderaad - Sindh Courier19 counters with vaccination capacity of 1900 people a day setup at LUMHS Jamshoro

Two wards also established to observe side effects after vaccination; DC Hyderabad visits vaccination center

Hyderabad: Deputy Commissioner Hyderabad Fuad Ghaffar Soomro Tuesday visited the Divisional Covid-19 Vaccination Center at Jamshoro where the vaccination of frontline health workers of Hyderabad district against Coronavirus would be inaugurated on Wednesday February 3, 2021.

Deputy Commissioner directed the concerned officers to perform their duties diligently so that the process of vaccination could be continued in a better manner. He further directed that special care must be taken for cleanliness at the center.

Deputy Commissioner paid a detailed visit to the center and expressed his satisfaction over the arrangements made for vaccination of front line health workers including doctors, paramedics, technicians etc.

Assistant Medical Superintendent, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Science (LUMHS) Dr. Shahid Junejo briefing the DC Hyderabad told that 19 counters have been set up in the center and waiting room has a seating capacity of 200 people with the vaccination capacity of 1900 people on a daily basis while two wards have also been established to inspect the side effects after vaccination.

He further informed that vaccination will be done under the Queue Management System and NADRA registration system and added that availability of ambulances equipped with necessary medical facilities has also been ensured.

DHO Hyderabad Dr. Muhammad Jumman, Focal Person Hyderabad Dr. Imdad Channa, Focal Person Divisional Vaccination Center Jamshoro Dr. Ghulam Qadir Dal, Focal Person District Jamshoro Dr. Niaz Babbar and other concerned officers were also present on the occasion. (PR)

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Thar Children’s Parliament members visit historic sites

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Thar Children’s Parliament members visit historic sites - Sindh CourierDelegation visits Naukot Fort, Sindh Agriculture University Tando Jam, Sindh Museum, Sindhi Language Authority and some other spots in Hyderabad

By Sanjay Mathrani

Hyderabad: A 50-member delegation of Thar Children’s Parliament on Monday visited the cultural, historic, and other places in Hyderabad, Sindh.

They evinced a keen interest in the findings and discoveries of the Indus Valley Civilization, ancient culture, and traditions, children’s literature, and heritage sites.

They started their one-day trip by visiting Naukot Fort, established by Mir Karam Ali Khan Talpur in 1814, Sindh Agriculture University Tando Jam, Sindh Museum Hyderabad, Sindhi Language Authority, Almanzar, and some other spots in Hyderabad and nearby areas.

Publication Officer of Sindhi Language Authority, Khalid Azad welcomed the delegates at Mumtaz Mirza Auditorium, Sindh Museum, and spoke about ‘Children Literature’ to the delegation.

The delegates went through various sections of Sindh Museum that included Sindh art and craft, textile designs, ornaments, Sindhi antiquities, heritage, culture, history, music, folklore, gallery of prominent personalities of Sindh, and the exclusive corners set up to celebrate individuality of Sindh aborigine clans and armory of Talpur times.

They appreciated the management for preserving a rare collection depicting the rich cultural heritage of Sindh. “The museum management provided a treasure of Sindh”, they said and added that such outstanding efforts deserve accolades.

Later, on the invitation of Pakistan People’s Party Senator Krishna Kumari Kolhi, they visited her residence at Hyderabad. She appreciated female members of Children’s Parliament who are taking a keen interest in learning politics and policymaking.

Sharing her story, Krishna Kumari said, “I belong to the Kolhi community, which has been suppressed by landlords and forced to work as slaves since time immemorial. I am very proud to have my efforts honored and would love to encourage you people to take part in politics and represent Tharparkar at the global level.”

Briefing the Senator, Coordinator of Thar Education Alliance (TEA), Sarang Mathrani said that such kind of activities and outdoor exposure have been organized as it will help youngsters to think and grow on a broader level. “A trip itself is a management science, planning, and learning”.

Mathrani added that these change-agents are a source to promote peace, interfaith harmony, tolerance, and acceptance through education, schools, meeting with new people, and has a huge impact.

During this visit, Vinod Sharma, Sunder Kothari, Mahasingh, Shahnaz Jumani, and Maryam Durrani were also present.

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Contemporary World Literature: Poetry from Mexico

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Contemporary World Literature - Poetry from Mexico -1Contemporary World Literature: Poetry from Mexico

Poems by Lilian Michelle Medina

Lilian Michelle Medina (CDMX) is a Mexican poetess and writer, who does not distinguish between the passion for the letters and free running. She studied Hispanic Letters at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana. She has participated in literature conferences as a speaker and moderator since 2015.
Contemporary World Literature - Mexican Poet - LilianShe obtained the first place in the Poetry category of the Literary Creation Contest organized by the XX CEEECIL. Currently participates in independent projects and as an assistant in the System National Researchers. She shares literature on the Instagram account @lectophilica.

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The broken

All the broken know

Of emptiness and absence

They carry ghosts hanging

All over the body

That they weigh and sometimes

Lighten.

All the broken

Discover new fissures

With every stroke of luck

Because they drag doom

Underfoot!

All the broken know

Of families by contract,

Of friends

With a very long tongue

And love

Without significance

All the broken know

Of horizons without sun,

Of echoes in the chest,

Of the rise and fall of the sea

And from elusive hiding places

All the broken

Walk without knowing

How many frayed seams

They carry under their footsteps.

The broken ones don’t go to the tailor,

They fray themselves little by little.

No vacancy

Hidden pain,

Heir of silence

And emotional firstborn,

You come back to me as a guest

That claims your stay

Enduring, ethereal,

Par-a-sit-ic

Just an illusory touch

Of foam on the edge of my feet,

You arrive like the wave

That heralds the tsunami,

Subtle and phony:

You drown out the cry of the body

In the sound of your tyranny

Where had you been?

Split on the pillow

Of my ancient ages

Dreaming that you are death

On the bed of the impossible

Hidden in the bags of my face

Castaway between the stories without waves

Recondite pain, old mirror,

You get to cure me of the illusion that I live;

I would give you free accommodation,

But you become unsustainable

When you are big to my chest!

2 am

Perches under the mattress

(Making me uncomfortable)

Like the old family photos:

Treasure of a generation

Of kisses and caresses

I dive into the pillow

Of the boiling time

And I evaporate myself

In the form of a nightmare:

There is no cloud that shelters me

In the wake of mourning

The distaste of your absence

It rushes me

Disenchanted

Towards a glass of alcohol,

Infected with nostalgia

And loss

I sleep on your memory

And I crush you

With the weight of dreams

That you left orphans

Of dawn

Under my eyes!

(Translated from Spanish to English by Mercedes Soto)

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Read about history of Mexican Poetry 

Sea Intrusion: Khharochhan on the verge of disappearance

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Sea Intrusion Khharochhan on the verge of disappearance - Sindh Courier-1Khharochhan, a settlement along the Arabian Sea Coast in Indus Delta area near Thatta, is on the verge of disappearance due to sea intrusion. Sea intrusion has already submerged the Sokhi Bunder and Khharochhan is also very much on the path to meet the same destiny

BY Kamran Khamiso Khowaja

Khharochhan, a settlement along the Arabian Sea coast in delta area of River Indus near Thatta gives a deserted look today, but once was the busiest town of the coastal belt. It had Sokhi Bunder at one end and Keti Bunder at the other. But the construction of dams and barrages on the Indus River and inadequate discharge of river water gave way to sea intrusion submerging the Sokhi Bunder, the remnants of which can still be found under the seawater approximately six Kilometers away from Keti Bunder.

Sea Intrusion Khharochhan on the verge of disappearance - Sindh Courier-4Khharochhan is very much on the path to meet the same destiny as the population of the town is shrinking with every passing day. The erosion of agricultural lands has caused the migration of people to the urban areas of the district, while the well-off families have migrated to other parts of the province to make their future secure. Lack of basic amenities like water supply for drinking purpose and reducing resources of livelihood further added to their miseries and compelled them to leave their ancestral abodes.

Khharochhan, which covers an area of 778 sq. km and has a status of taluka (tehsil), while there is also a union council with same name headquartered at Baghan.

The Khharochhan union council has 41 revenue villages (Dehs) and 4385 households according to 2011 statistics of Sindh government. A report by WWF-Pakistan says that natural resource pressures have resulted from insufficient water flow downstream Kotri and at least 117,823 ha of land was lost due to sea erosion, of which 81% fell in the category of ‘totally eroded by the sea’ covering 21 Dehs (cluster of villages) out of a total of 41 Dehs in Kharo Chan, according to Sindh government’s 2004 data.

Sea Intrusion Khharochhan on the verge of disappearance - Sindh Courier-2A study carried out by this scribe revealed that the population of the area has radically decreased from 70,000 to 5000 while around 3.10 million acres of land have been pocketed by sea over the past two decades.

Acute water scarcity during June and July further dents the economic state of the local growers and they keep raising their voice for the due share of river water during the particular season every year.

According to residents Reverse Osmosis Plant (RO Plants) were installed by the government but became defunct after some time due to improper maintenance. They said that owing to inadequate supply of water downstream they were facing this dilemma and Khharochhan was on the verge of outright erosion. They feared if sea intrusion continued as it has been, the days are not far away when Khharochhan would become part of the history only.

Sea Intrusion Khharochhan on the verge of disappearance - Sindh Courier-3As per international laws and historically, Sindh, being the lower riparian, has prime right on Indus waters. In the 1950s and ’60s the Indus delta was green and fertile owing to sufficient water discharges but now the reduced and often no water flow in the river has destroyed a vast area of agricultural land. If we happen to face a cyclone like that of 1999, it will further destroy the coastal areas and if the erosion continues, Shahbunder will also disappear by 2035, and the sea will reach Thatta city by 2050.

The residents of Khharochhan have urged the provincial and federal government to take precautionary measures to save this area from destruction.

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A Christmas story from Van Wert….

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A Christmas story from Van WertA Christmas story from Van Wert is a poignant love story about James and Della Young, who sacrificed for each other the single greatest treasure closest to their heart. This simple tale of two young lovers embodies and epitomizes the true meaning of Christmas — that of mutual sacrifice for those we love.

By Nazarul Islam

It was Christmas Eve day and poor Della Young counted her money. She had just $1.87 to buy her beloved husband a Christmas present. Much of the money consisted of pennies she had scrimped and saved for months by skillfully dickering with the grocer, butcher and vegetable man. But it would clearly not be enough! Della was terribly distraught.

Only $1.87 to buy a present for her precious Jim! She had spent many a happy hour dreaming about something especially nice for him – something fine and rare and sterling – something special enough to be worthy of the honor of being owned by him.

There were only two possessions Della and Jim owned in which both took a whole lot of pride. One was Jim’s gold pocket watch, handed down to him by his father and grandfather. The other was Della’s hair. Her long, beautiful, dark brown hair fell down about her rippling and shining like a cascade of waters.

It reached well below her knees and blanketed her lovely body like a long velvet gown. Della studied herself in the mirror. She quickly made a decision and hurriedly put on her old brown jacket with a matching brown hat and went out. Della spent hours searching for Jim’s present before she finally found it.

It surely had been made for him and no one else. There was no other gift like it anywhere in any of the stores, for she had turned all of them inside out. It was a platinum watch fob with a simple chain. As soon as she saw it she knew it must be Jim’s.

Twenty-one dollars it had cost her! But without that beautiful fob and chain on his beloved watch Jim might be properly anxious about the time in any company. For sometimes he was embarrassed to look at his watch in public because of its shabby old leather strap.

When Jim came home from work that evening Della met him at the door. His eyes suddenly fixed upon her. There was a peculiar expression in them that she could not read. It was not anger, nor surprise, nor disapproval, not horror. He simply stared at her with an empty expression on his face.

Della pleaded with him not to look at her that way — but she must have appeared very different to him indeed – for she had cut off her beautiful hair and sold it to buy him the fob. She began to cry softly as she told him she couldn’t bear to live through Christmas without giving him a nice gift. She begged him not to think any less of her.

Shaken, Jim gently hugged her and reassured her that no haircut would ever make him love her any less. It was then he handed Della her present. Della hurriedly tore open the wrapping. She screamed with joy; then she cried hysterically. For there in front of her lay The Combs — the set of combs she had seen in a Broadway window and had worshiped so long!

They were beautiful combs, made of pure tortoise shell, with jeweled rims — just the right shade to wear in her beautiful long, dark brown hair. She knew they were very expensive combs and her poor heart had craved and yearned over them without the least hope of ever possessing them.

She clutched them to her bosom, loving them. But the beautiful tresses that should have adorned the combs were gone. She then gave Jim his present.

Jim took the beautiful platinum fob with the simple chain and sat down on their couch. He looked at her tenderly, and with a smile, told her he had sold his watch to buy the combs.

……So goes a poignant love story about James and Della Young, who sacrificed for each other the single greatest treasure closest to their heart. This simple tale of two young lovers embodies and epitomizes the true meaning of Christmas — that of mutual sacrifice for those we love.

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About the Author

Nazarul-Islam-1The Bengal-born writer is a senior educationist based in USA. He writes for Sindh Courier and the newspapers of Bangladesh, India and America.

 

Selection of Cricketer Zahid Mehmood brings joys for Sindh

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Selection of Cricketer Zahid Mehmood brings joys for SindhZahid Mehmood, hailing form Dadu, has been inducted in Pakistan T20 Squad to play against South Africa

By Allah Bux Khushik

Dadu: It was like an occasion of Eid for the people of Dadu when the Pakistan Squad for the upcoming three T20 matches between Pakistan and South Africa was announced on January 31, as the cricketer Zahid Mehmood Bhatti, hailing from Dadu city, was also inducted in the squad. He is perhaps first Sindhi inducted in national team after several decades.

The people including Zahid Mehmood’s relatives, friends, neighbors and cricket players started distributing sweets and drum-beating and dancing to the cricket songs. A large number of people had gathered at local PCB cricket ground to share their happiness.

Zahid Mehmood Bhatti, whose father Muhammad Salih is an employee of National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), was selected by Pakistan Cricket Board Selection Committee for T20 Squad to show his performance against South Africa on 11, 13 and 14 February in Gaddafi Stadium Lahore.

Selection of Cricketer Zahid Mehmood brings joys for Sindh-1Zahid Mehmood Bhatti, a right-hand batsman and leg-spinner bowler was selected in PSL last year and now he has become part of national team.

Born on 20th March 1988, Zahid Mehmood started his cricket career in Dadu Brothers team and then he played in Larkana, State Bank, Peshawar Region and the Quetta-Gladiators and now after 11 years he was selected for T20 squad.

Speaking to Sindh Courier Zahid Mehmood Bhatti said that his selection was owing to blessings of Almighty Allah, prayers of family members and help of senior cricketers. “From childhood I loved cricket and followed my elder brother who was also a cricket player,” he told.

Selection of Cricketer Zahid Mehmood brings joys for Sindh-2Muhammad Salih Bhatti, father of Zahid Mehmood, said that it looks that he is celebrating Eid because not only Dadu but entire Sindh is happy for great achievement of his son.

Senior cricketer and PPP lady MPA Kalsoom Chandio’s brother Pervaiz Chandio said that Zahid Mehmood’s selection is milestone for Sindhi cricket players and Zahid Mehmood’s entry in National team would open a new window for Sindhi players.

Senior cricketer Mama Lahooti lamented that our elected MNAs and MPAs are not helping cricket players and they are not raising voice in assembly. He said that cricket grounds across the Sindh are ruined. He said that Zahid Mehmood Bhatti was selected for his own hard work but in Dadu the cricket players have no facility. “Neither our elected MNAs nor MPAs have taken any kind of effort for cricket players.” He demanded Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and Sports Minister to take notice of Sindh’s ruined cricket grounds and order for repairing them.

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Pirating and Publishing: The Business of Books

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Pirating and Publishing - The Business of BooksReview of the book “Pirating and Publishing: The Book Trade in the Age of Enlightenment”

By Andrew Pettegree

It is now 55 years since Robert Darnton first became aware of the vast archive of the Société typographique de Neuchâtel (STN), one of the principal suppliers of books to the French market in the late 18th century. It is fair to say that this happy combination of remarkable source material and Darnton’s analytical skill has transformed book history. Darnton’s first major engagement with this literature, The Literary Underground of the Old Regime (1982) was followed in 1996 by The Forbidden Best-Sellers of Pre-Revolutionary France, a book that offered a key to understanding the mysteries of the long established and rather settled French book market. In the late 18th century a network of protected and conservative domestic producers in Paris were increasingly vulnerable to the buccaneering strategies of publishers who were, like the STN, established abroad and therefore beyond the jurisdiction of the French authorities. The novelties flooding the market from these safe havens ranged from serious works of theology to scabrous pornographic novels. It was the latter, needless to say, that caught the public imagination, but Darnton also had serious things to say about the Enlightenment and the importance of the book market in paving the way for a renovation in thought and the collapse of the Ancien Régime.

Like the busy publishers we meet in this volume, Darnton clearly feels the time has come for a stocktaking accomplished in two volumes of which this is the second. The first, A Literary Tour de France (2018), concentrated on the booksellers. Here we are back with the publishers, plotting strategies to outwit the Parisian oligarchs and the institutions of state. For these Neuchâtel publishers were pirates, seeking to insinuate their books into the market in defiance of the laws governing the trade. This pirate trade consisted of two main strands, which it is important not to confuse: mainstream titles in history, theology and natural science, which were illegal because a French publisher held the sole right to publish this work, and secondly, books that were either seditious or immoral and therefore subject to censorship or outright prohibition.

In contrast to Forbidden Bestsellers, here the primary emphasis is on the first category, serious works of history or literature often published in multi volume sets. These were sure of a good sale, but required substantial up-front investment. The problem here for the venturesome pirate publishers was not so much Paris, as the danger that they would be in competition with other pirates from the ‘fertile crescent’ of cities outside the borders of France, stretching from Amsterdam to Avignon. The struggle to publish the definitive posthumous edition of Voltaire or Rousseau flooded the market and left many publishers with substantial debts. This was a high-stakes game that could easily lead to bankruptcy.

Publishers had to be daring yet prudent, convivial and calculating: most of all they had to be well informed. Darnton is especially good about the complex web that underlay this networking: the postal service and its deficiencies, announcing a forthcoming project to scare off a potential competitor, face-to face meetings to glean fragments of business news while giving nothing away. The mistress of the house would pitch in, entertaining visiting booksellers at home: as Madame Bertrand correctly observed, one could say more in 15 minutes of conversation than in 20 letters. Publishing was always, as this book makes clear, a family business.

The book world was also a labyrinth of asymmetric relationships. Paris lorded it over the provinces, publishers treated authors with disdain. In an industry overloaded with risk and debt, booksellers probably had the best of the bargain, particularly when the trade was awash with competing editions. Though (in contrast to the Dutch Republic) there was no provision to return unsold copies, booksellers could limit their liabilities by buying small quantities at a time. Many booksellers diversified by starting small circulating libraries. It was far easier for a bookseller to adjust their business model and diversify in this way, or, if business waned, to pack up and move on. The publisher was moored to their location with bulging warehouses of unsaleable stock.

It was these perilous book mountains that precipitated the huge crash in 1783 that consumed so many pirate publishers, including the STN. Suddenly, the cautious, conservative Paris publishers did not look so stupid after all. This is the paradox of the French book world that Darnton seems least willing to address: to him only the pirates fully ‘embraced Enlightenment as a cause, one that represented tolerance and reason in opposition to persecution and bigotry’. The introduction in this book has a couple of offhand references to the ‘chapbooks, devotional tracts and ephemera’ to which the French provincial publishers were largely confined. In fact, this traditional market was not to be despised, since it made up a large proportion of the regular work of the press, certainly enough to provide provincial publishers with a good living. Devotional works turned out to be rather more popular than the sceptics of the Enlightenment were keen to admit: in terms of volume and durability, the real unknown bestsellers of the age.

There is a curious parallelism here with the first century of print, when the agenda so energetically promoted by humanist boosters of print drove many printers to bankruptcy. The cult of Voltaire and Rousseau was very real, but there were only so many books this part of the market could absorb. For publishers, the quiet piety of the unadventurous reader was a sure bet and it would continue to be, after the brief spasm of Revolutionary atheism, until deep into the 19th century. In the history of media change, the public can be something of a disappointment to promoters of the future.

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Courtesy: History Today

About the Author 

Andrew Pettegree is Professor of Modern History at the University of St Andrews.

Rape and Murder cases: Has Justice System Failed?

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Rape and Murder cases - Has Justice System Failed
Illustration Courtesy: Depositphotos

Rape and murder cases are often reported but the perpetrators are exonerated or are released on bail. Has Justice System Failed in the country? The government must amend the laws to award exemplary punishment to rapists and murderers

Public Opinion

Rapes and murders have become a common thing in our society as such incidents are increasing day by day. Few days back, I heard the story of a girl, which shattered my heart into pieces.

It was a pitch dark night when no-one saw anything and everything was as silent as a smile. A minor girl, who was taking leftover food in a tiffin-box from her master’s home for her poor family, animatedly ran quickly because she wanted to feed her loved father. On the way home, she plucked a daisy flower for her mother. When she took a few steps ahead, instantly, a gang of the people, ring-shaped her in the garden of orchids in the darkness, someone attempting to touch this little girl, she got scared of the people and tried to cry but couldn’t.

Her father became worried. He searched her for two days and went to her master’s home who told him that the girl had left for home two days ago. During the search of the girl, they at last arrived at spot where they found sleeves in the garden and collapsed tiffin. Eventually, they were able to find the body of nine-year old child.

The postmortem report of the dead body said the girl was raped and later strangulated to death. The nine suspects were arrested and they are under the custody of the police.

Such barbaric incidents of rape and murder often occur and are reported by the media but never appeared any report that the courts had ever punished the perpetrators. They either are exonerated or are released on bail. This obviously is mainly owing to failure of justice system. I strongly urge the federal as well as provincial governments to amend the laws so that the culprits could be punished.

The society is aware that rape and murder are heinous crime and the rapists and murderers must be awarded exemplary punishment. Everyone should awake and open their eyes and mind towards this grave situation.

Maria Khushk

Hyderabad, Sindh