Editor,
I am grateful to Mr. Prashant Naik for his article on Perpetual Calendar (S.T. 26th June, 2016) and the information he provided on the origin of the modern calendar starting with the Julian Calendar and progressing to the Gregorian Calendar which is the most widely used calendar in the world today. Naik had written that he had worked on his own mathematics to create a Perpetual Calendar as displayed on S.T. on the above mentioned date but “with the help of my daughter in the Microsoft EXCEL and WORD format.” But what I and many interested individuals would like to know is whether any such Perpetual Calendar existed before 1959, the year when (L) Peter Wahlang published his 300 years Calendar, when computers and calculator were then not available to the common man. For the sake of academic interest I request the Shillong Times to please publish the 300 years Calendar of late P. Wahlang in full together with the comments of Dr. Amadou B. Guisse, Department of Mathematics, Kutztown University, Pennsylvania USA, so that a more enlightened discussion can come forth. In fact, when Wahlang’s son gave me a copy of his father’s calendar in 1986 we got his permission to reprint this calendar in 1992 (15,000 copies) which we distributed to schools, colleges, the university and to the general public but there was no response. So in 2012, through a contact we sent it to Dr. Amadou B. Guisse, to find out whether the calendar of Mr. Wahlang was his original work or if it was copied from someone else. After more than 3 years of study and consultation with other professors he found that it was an original work and his research has not identified that any such calendar exist. The comments of Dr. Amadou B. Guisse, if reproduced in full I am sure it will initiate an intellectual debate on the background of Perpetual Calendars and the ingenuity or otherwise of Peter Wahlang’s 300 years Calendar.
Yours etc.,
Michael N. Syiem,
Via email
Hawkers hawkers everywhere!
Editor,
These days much has been debated about hawkers or street/road side vendors in The Shillong Times. I say hawkers hanker after a livelihood at the cost of the pedestrians. I once again air my views about how I feel towards the road side vendors in Jwai town. According to the news reported in your paper (ST June 24, 2016) Angela Rangad of TUR says the road side vendors or hawkers do not steal or beg therefore they may sell their goods by the street/road side. But I say they steal our footpaths which is not rightfully theirs. In fact both verbal and written requests have been made to the District Administration Jwai to make Iawmusiang spacious and free from road side vendors and the DC promised to take matters seriously but to no avail. So how serious is their promise? Why can’t the District Administration and the JMB not do anything? In the name of poverty can the authorities concerned allow these vendors to steal the right of the pedestrians, when in Jwai there are provisions for them to sell their goods somewhere in Iawmusiang? During Behdeinkhlam Festival we see how spacious Iawmusiang is. Why is that not possible every day? The District Administration and the JMB fail in their attempt to drive away the vendors to their rightful place. It seems they don’t have the courage to do so, to make Jwai town clean and developed. Also it seems that in Jwai we are complacent and afraid to air our views for fear of what others may say. This is our Town and I am sure everyone would like to see Jwai a developed Town. Let not the road side vendors believe that the footpath in Iawmusiang is rightfully theirs, but they instead should occupy the space provided for them. But this cannot materialize unless the authorities concerned assert themselves and make the vegetable vendors shift to their place. Now we see them even making use of the wall below the DC’s office. Are the authorities listening??
Yours etc.,
Omarka Laloo Mynthong
Jowai
Flouting NFSA norms
Editor
Through your esteemed daily I would like to draw the attention of the authorities of Food and Civil Supplies, West Garo Hills that as per the NFSA rules 2013, every beneficiary under PHH household is entitled to avail 5kgs of rice at Rs 3 per kg/per month. On the contrary, taking advantage of the ignorance of rules by the beneficiaries and vigilance committees, some fair price shop dealers of Tura area are selling the same rice well above the specified rate and issuing less than the allotedquantity which contravenes the very objective of NFSA 2013 which is to provide adequate quantity of quality food at affordable price. Therefore, in the interest of the poor beneficiaries, I urge the concerned authorities to look in to the matter and take stern action against the errant dealers.
Yours etc.,
L Ch. Sangma
Tura