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- Denis Giles
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By: *Muthu Pandi
Pre-colonial era
Rajendra Cholan I (1014–1042 CE), one of the greatest kings of the Tamil Chola dynasty, occupied the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to use them as a strategic naval base to launch a naval expedition against the Sriwijaya Empire (a classical Hindu-Malay empire based on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia). The Cholas called the Nicobar Island Nakkavaram, which is inscribed on the Tanjore inscription of 1050 CE. Nakkavaram in Tamil means naked man or land of the naked, which should have evolved into the modern name Nicobar. Marco Polo (12-13th century CE) also referred to this island as Necuveran. The name of the island, Andaman, might have evolved from the Indian monkey god Hanuman. The Islands provided a temporary maritime base for ships of the Marathas in the 17th century. The legendary admiral Kanhoji Angre established naval supremacy with a base in the islands and is credited with attaching those islands to India.
Read more: THE UNTOLD HISTORY OF THE ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS
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- Denis Giles
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People are talking, but not to each other and just like cigarette smoking has restrictions, we need to have strict rules that need to be implemented immediately:
Rule One: The size of the mobile should be such that other people know when he has switched onto talking into his mobile and when he is talking to them. Tiny instruments, which are invisible to the people around should be banned or confiscated and burnt or smashed to the ground or exploded.
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- Denis Giles
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Nothing like the New Year to make resolutions, right? But most of them hardly last a week, and here’s why. Most of us make resolutions that have to do only with ourselves, but if we look around, we will notice that we are all part of a bigger social network, be it a family, nation or world. And so, one way to make a successful resolution is to see whether it will benefit those outside ourselves.
Yes, I’d like to lose weight, but would losing those extra kilos give me more energy and better health in aiding people around me? If yes, then your resolution has suddenly got a bigger purpose. With more energy I will be able to put more time into work which will benefit society at large. My family will benefit, my company will too, and finally I will!
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- Denis Giles
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There’s an aspect of leadership, most so-called leaders don’t like, and that is building others to become leaders. Many don’t realise that ‘building’ is as much an important part of leadership as ‘leading’! Some pretend to build, but just install a weak, proxy leader and hold court from behind.
Which begs the question, why don’t most leaders build leaders?
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- Denis Giles
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And as I look at the New Year messages that’s flooding my phone, I see something that may have escaped many of us, it is that many of us are reaching out! A reaching out to the new year, asking for a change in circumstances, a change from misery, a change from the drudgery of the last year!
What is it you hope for?
I see lonely people, crying for a year when their loneliness will be erased, and my heart goes out to them. I sat for a while and wondered what words of hope I could give to each of us, to ease this year, and the thought that came to me was, ‘reach out’!