US and Germany urge Russia not to arm Syria military

Fierce fighting has been raging around the key Syrian town of Qusair

Syria conflict

The US and Germany have called on Russia not to supply Syria's military with an advanced missile system they say could prolong the conflict there.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said the delivery of Russian weaponry would have a "profoundly negative impact" and put Israel's security at risk.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle urged Moscow not to hinder the chances of mooted peace talks.
In Syria, fierce fighting continued on Friday around the key town of Qusair.

“Start Quote

Everyone's very sad - a lot of crying, a lot of sadness”

Doctor in Qusair

Dozens of opposition fighters reached the town on Friday to bolster it against an offensive involving government forces and militants from Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese group that supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

One opposition activist told the BBC the humanitarian situation in the town near the Lebanese border was worsening, with 800 wounded people needing treatment.
'Unified' government Mr Kerry and Mr Westerwelle held talks in Washington a day after Mr Assad said a Russian contract to supply the S-300 surface-to-air missile defence system was being implemented, without confirming any deliveries.
The S-300PMU-2 - the variant experts believe will be sent - is a highly capable system that, as well as targeting aircraft, also has the capacity to engage ballistic missiles.
Two Russian newspapers on Friday quoted defence sources as saying that it was unclear if any of the missile system would be delivered this year.
Mr Kerry called on Russia not to upset the balance in the region by providing weaponry to the Assad regime, "whether it's an old contract or not".

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Analysis

Jim Muir BBC News, Beirut

After 40 years of tight dictatorship in Syria, it is not surprising that the opposition is finding it hard to produce a coherent, representative leadership to face off against a tough regime team in the proposed Geneva conference.
What was meant to be a three-day meeting of the opposition coalition in Istanbul turned into eight days of in-fighting that has failed to achieve its stated goals of electing a new leadership, approving an interim government and taking a clear position on the Geneva proposal.
After initially saying it would go to Geneva with conditions, the opposition now says it will not go as long as Hezbollah is fighting at Qusair. That buys it time for the great deal of work, and doubtless wrangling, that will be needed to construct a plausible delegation for the talks, and more meetings will be held early next month.
By contrast, the regime side is unified and coherent, and has decades of negotiating experience to draw on. The opposition risks a severe defeat in the talks, unless it gets its act together very seriously.

"It has a profoundly negative impact on the balance of interests and the stability of the region and it does put Israel at risk," he said.

"We hope that they will refrain from that in the interests of making this peace process work," he said.
He added that he was convinced the Syrian opposition would take part in US and Russian-backed talks expected to be held in Geneva next month. Russian and American officials are set to meet next week to prepare the ground for the peace conference.
The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says a lot more needs to be done for the opposition to be in any kind of shape to attend any conference in a coherent manner.
He says that, by contrast, the Syrian government appears unified and confident.
Mr Assad said on Thursday that Syria would "in principle" attend the peace conference in Geneva if there were not unacceptable preconditions.
In an interview with Lebanon's al-Manar TV, which is owned by Hezbollah, he warned that Syria would respond in kind to any future Israeli air strikes.
Qusair crisis Meanwhile, Syrian state television said troops and Hezbollah fighters had captured the Arjun district of Qusair on Thursday.

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Syria's Russian-made military

• Nearly 5,000 tanks; 2,500 infantry fighting vehicles; 2,500 self-propelled or towed artillery units
• 325 Tactical aircraft; 143 helicopters
• Nearly 2,000 air defence pieces
• 295,000 active personnel; 314,000 reserve personnel

Statistics: IISS
 

 

An attempt to get wounded people out of the town on Friday had failed, an opposition activist told the BBC, as the convoy had come under attack, with nine people killed.

The source said 30,000 people were still in Qusair, 80% of which was under rebel control, although these figures cannot be independently verified.
"There is no water at all, because the Assad regime controls the water supply, and there has been no electricity for four months," he said.
More than 80,000 people have been killed and 1.5 million have fled Syria since the uprising against Mr Assad began in 2011, according to UN estimates.

How the Russian S-300PMU-2 missile defence system works

1. The long-range surveillance radar tracks objects over a range of 300km (185 miles) and relays information to the command vehicle, which assesses potential targets
2. A target is identified and the command vehicle orders the engagement radar to launch missiles
3. Launch data is sent to the best placed of the battalion's six launch vehicles and it releases two surface-to-air missiles
4. The engagement radar helps guide the missiles towards the target. It can guide up to 12 missiles simultaneously, engaging up to six targets at once

The vehicle used as a launcher is currently manufactured at the Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant (MZKT) in Belarus, although Russia is now shifting the production to its western city of Bryansk.

China: The electronic wastebasket of the world

By Ivan Watson, CNN

May 31, 2013 -- Updated 0054 GMT (0854 HKT)

Where your used electronics go in China

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• U.N. report: "China now appears to be the largest e-waste dumping site in the world"
• Products originally produced in China are now finding their way back as electronic junk
• The small town of Guiyu as been a major hub for the disposal of e-waste
• "When recycling is done in primitive ways ... it is hugely devastating for the local environment"

Guiyu, China (CNN) -- Did you ever wonder what happens to your old laptop or cellphone when you throw it away?

Chances are some of your old electronic junk will end up in China.

According to a recent United Nations report, "China now appears to be the largest e-waste dumping site in the world."

E-waste, or electronic waste, consists of everything from scrapped TVs, refrigerators and air conditioners to that old desktop computer that may be collecting dust in your closet.

Many of these gadgets were initially manufactured in China. Through a strange twist of global economics, much of this electronic junk returns to China to die.

"According to United Nations data, about 70% of electronic waste globally generated ended up in China," said Ma Tianjie, a spokesman for the Beijing office of Greenpeace.

Much of [the e-waste] comes through illegal channels ... from developed countries like the United States to countries like China and Vietnam
Ma Tianjie, Greenpeace

"Much of [the e-waste] comes through illegal channels because under United Nations conventions, there is a specific ban on electronic waste being transferred from developed countries like the United States to countries like China and Vietnam."

For the past decade, the southeastern town of Guiyu, nestled in China's main manufacturing zone, has been a major hub for the disposal of e-waste. Hundreds of thousands of people here have become experts at dismantling the world's electronic junk.

On seemingly every street, laborers sit on the pavement outside workshops ripping out the guts of household appliances with hammers and drills. The roads in Guiyu are lined with bundles of plastic, wires, cables and other garbage. Different components are separated based on their value and potential for re-sale. On one street sits a pile of green and gold circuit boards. On another, the metal cases of desktop computers.

At times, it looks like workers are reaping some giant plastic harvest, especially when women stand on roadsides raking ankle-deep "fields" of plastic chips.

In one workshop, men sliced open sacks of these plastic chips, which they then poured into large vats of fluid. They then used shovels and their bare hands to stir this synthetic stew.

"We sell this plastic to Foxconn," one of the workers said, referring to a Taiwanese company that manufactures products for many global electronics companies, including Apple, Dell and Hewlett-Packard.

Dirty, dangerous work

This may be one of the world's largest informal recycling operations for electronic waste. In one family-run garage, workers seemed to specialize in sorting plastic from old televisions and cars into different baskets. "If this plastic cup has a hole in it, you throw it away," said a man who ran the operation, pointing to a pink plastic mug. "We take it and re-sell it."

But recycling in Guiyu is dirty, dangerous work. "When recycling is done properly, it's a good thing for the environment," said Ma, the Greenpeace spokesman in Beijing.

"But when recycling is done in primitive ways like we have seen in China with the electronic waste, it is hugely devastating for the local environment."

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According to the April 2013 U.N. report "E-Waste in China," Guiyu suffered an "environmental calamity" as a result of the wide-scale e-waste disposal industry in the area.

Much of the toxic pollution comes from burning circuit boards, plastic and copper wires, or washing them with hydrochloric acid to recover valuable metals like copper and steel. In doing so, workshops contaminate workers and the environment with toxic heavy metals like lead, beryllium and cadmium, while also releasing hydrocarbon ashes into the air, water and soil, the report said.

For first-time visitors to Guiyu, the air leaves a burning sensation in the eyes and nostrils.

Toxic tech

Studies by the Shantou University Medical College revealed that many children tested in Guiyu had higher than average levels of lead in their blood, which can stunt the development of the brain and central nervous system.

Piles of technological scrap had been dumped in a muddy field just outside of town. There, water buffalo grazed and soaked themselves in ponds surrounded by piles of electronic components with labels like Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Epson and Dell.

The enormous animals casually stomped through mounds of sheet glass, which clearly had been removed from video monitors.

Flat screen displays often use mercury, a highly toxic metal.

"Releases of mercury can occur during the dismantling of equipment such as flat screen displays," wrote Greenpeace, in a report titled "Toxic Tech." "Incineration or landfilling can also result in releases of mercury to the environment...that can bioaccumulate and biomagnify to high levels in food chains, particularly in fish."

Most of the workers in Guiyu involved in the e-waste business are migrants from destitute regions of China and poorly educated. Many of them downplayed the potential damage the industry could cause to their health.

They asked only to use their family names, to protect their identity.

It may not sound nice, but we don't dare eat the rice that we farm because it's planted here with all the pollution
Zhou, a local farmer

"Of course it isn't healthy," said Lu, a woman who was rapidly sorting plastic shards from devices like computer keyboards, remote controls and even computer mice. She and her colleagues burned plastic using lighters and blow-torches to identify different kinds of material.

"But there are families that have lived here for generations ... and there is little impact on their health," she said.

Several migrants said that while the work is tough, it allows them more freedom than working on factory lines where young children are not permitted to enter the premises and working hours are stringent.

Used to be worse

Despite the environmental degradation and toxic fumes permeating the air, many in Guiyu said that conditions have improved dramatically over the years.

"I remember in 2007, when I first came here, there was a flood of trash," said Wong, a 20-year-old man who ferried bundles of electronic waste around on a motorcycle with a trailer attached to it.

"Before people were washing metals, burning things and it severely damaged people's lungs," Wong added. "But now, compared to before, the [authorities] have cracked down pretty hard."

But residents who did not work in the e-waste business offered a very different take on the pollution in Guiyu.

A group of farmers who had migrated from neighboring Guangxi province to cultivate rice in Guiyu told CNN they did not dare drink the local well water.

They claimed if they tried to wash clothes and linens with the water, it turned fabrics yellow.

The head of the group, who identified himself as Zhou, had another shocking admission.

"It may not sound nice, but we don't dare eat the rice that we farm because it's planted here with all the pollution," Zhou said, pointing at water-logged rice paddy next to him.

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Asked who did eat the harvested rice, Zhou answered: "How should I know? A lot of it is sold off ... they don't dare label the rice from here as 'grown in Guiyu.' They'll write that its rice from some other place."

Not that surprising considering that the latest food scandal to hit the country earlier this month is cadmium-laced rice. Officials in Guangzhou city, roughly 400 kilometers away from Guiyu, found high rates of cadmium in rice and rice products. According to the city's Food and Drug Administration samples pulled from a local restaurant, food seller and two university canteens showed high levels of cadmium in rice and rice noodles. Officials did not specify how the contaminated rice entered the city's food supply.

CNN made several attempts to contact the Guiyu town government. Government officials refused to comment on the electronic waste issue and hung up the phone.

However, it did appear that government efforts to restrict imports of foreign waste are reducing the flow of e-trash here.

"Why are they stopping the garbage from reaching us?" asked one man who ran a plastic sorting workshop. "Of course it's hurting our business," he added.

Domestic e-waste grows

The Chinese government had some success regulating e-waste disposal with a "Home Appliance Old for New Rebate Program," which was tested from 2009 to 2011.

With the help of generous government subsidies, the program collected tens of millions of obsolete home appliances, according to the U.N.

Even if Chinese authorities succeed in limiting smuggled supplies of foreign garbage, the U.N. warns that the country is rapidly generating its own supply of e-waste.

"Domestic generation of e-waste has risen rapidly as a result of technological and economic development," the U.N. reported. It cited statistics showing an exponential surge in sales of TV's, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and computers in China over a 16-year period.

To avoid a vicious cycle of pollution, resulting from both the manufacture and disposal of appliances, Greenpeace has lobbied for manufacturers to use fewer toxic chemicals in their products.

The organization also has a message for consumers who seem to swap their phones, tablets and other computer devices with increasing frequency.

"Think about where your mobile phone or where your gadgets go," said Ma, the Greenpeace activist.

"When you think about changing [your phone], or buying a new product, always think about the footprint that you put on this planet."

Connie Young contributed to this story

Death rituals in the animal kingdom

Jason G. Goldman

We know humans find some form of value in guarding or watching the bodies of the deceased, but in the first article for his new column, Jason Goldman explains how we are beginning to discover that animals may have similar needs.

The behaviour of an ancient horseshoe crab in its final moments before death has been captured in the fossil record.

When a Jewish person dies, according to tradition, a member of a group called the chevra kadisha stays with the body from death until burial, continually reciting passages from the book of Psalms. For those in the Catholic church, friends and family members gather together in the presence of the deceased in a ceremony called a wake. Similarly, when ancient Romans died, relatives immediately gathered around the body, reciting lamentations. The body was kept close, in the atrium of the family home, until the funeral procession began.
These behaviours transcend cultural boundaries. While the details vary from tradition to tradition, the pattern is undeniable: humans seem to find value in guarding or watching the bodies of the deceased for some period of time following death.
But as we are beginning to discover, these behaviours may transcend species boundaries as well.
On 10 October 2003, a researcher watched as a female elephant named Eleanor collapsed. Her swollen trunk had been dragging on the ground while her ears and legs displayed evidence of another recent fall. One of her tusks was broken. An elephant named Grace, a member of a different social group, galloped towards Eleanor and tried to heave Eleanor back to her feet with her massive tusks, but Eleanor's back legs were too weak. The rest of the herd had moved on, but Grace remained with Eleanor at least another hour, until the sun disappeared below the horizon and night fell over Kenya. Eleanor died the following morning at 11am.
The parade of elephants that followed may – in some deep, fundamental way – be no different from those who gather to pay respects to a dignitary lying in state. Over the course of several days, the carcass was visited by five other elephant groups, including several families that were completely unrelated to Eleanor. The elephants sniffed and poked the body, touching it with their feet and trunks. Even though the carcass had been visited by jackals, hyenas, vultures, and was under the control of lions by the fourth day, the elephants were rarely more than a few hundred metres away during daylight hours.
Since interest in the carcass was not just limited to Eleanor's relatives, the observing scientists tentatively concluded that elephants had a "generalised response" to the dead. Supporting evidence for his conclusion comes from other studies, both observational and experimental. While these behaviours are clearly different from human death rituals, they’re still unique as far as elephant behaviour goes.
Underwater rituals
But humans and elephants aren’t the only ones to visit the bodies of the recently deceased. On 6 May 2000, a dead female dolphin was spotted on the seabed, 50 metres from the eastern coast of Mikura Island, near Japan. Two adult males remained with the body at all times, leaving the body only briefly to return to the surface to breathe. As the cause of death was unknown, divers attempted to retrieve the body. However, the presence of the two males prevented a successful retrieval. Returning the following day in an additional effort to recover the carcass, the researchers found the same two males guarding the female, again making recovery impossible. By the third day, the carcass had disappeared. Researchers assumed that it had simply drifted into deeper waters.
It’s far from being the only documented instance of dolphin death rituals. On 20 July 2001, a dead sub-adult male was spotted on a nearby seabed, wedged between two large boulders, attended by at least twenty other dolphins, both male and female. As divers attempted to approach and retrieve the body, groups of one to three male dolphins displayed aggressive postures, intercepting the swimmers, though their aggression did not escalate beyond posturing. Like the African elephants, the attending dolphins nudged and pushed at the carcass with their beaks and heads, appearing stressed and agitated. After divers finally retrieved the body, several of the dolphins continued to swim around the boat until it finally left to return to port.
And when a dead dolphin calf was spotted by another group of scientists near the Canary Islands in April 2001, it was also surrounded by several other dolphins, one of whom was presumed to be the mother. By the third day, the calf was floating on the surface, and by the fourth day, the calf was started to show signs of decay. While they did not attempt to recover the body, the researchers noted that whenever even a seabird attempted to approach the floating calf, it would immediately be chased away by the other dolphins.
As this group of dolphins was under continuous human observation, researchers could be reasonably certain that they were acting differently than usual. They travelled slower, remaining in the same general area far longer than was typical. Both of these observations suggested that they were responding specifically to the death of the calf. In each case, the attending dolphins worked together to prevent others from approaching the dead body, sometimes showing signs of aggression to those who tried. In each case, the attending dolphins deviated from their typical routines.
Learning about death
Chimpanzees, on the other hand, maintain their routines. When an infant chimpanzee dies, his or her mother will carry the lifeless body around for days. Sometimes for weeks or months. The mother continues to groom the body, slowing the inevitable decay. She only stops interacting with the corpse when it has decomposed so much that it is no longer recognizable. When a three-month-old female chimpanzee was killed in June at the LA Zoo, keepers allowed Gracie to retain her infant's body for several days, so that she'd be able to carry out this sort of chimpanzee grieving process.
This chimpanzee ritual was described in depth after researchers in Zambia chanced upon a female named Masya who was interacting with the dead body of her four-month-old infant. Writing in the American Journal of Primatology, researcher Katherine Cronin speculates: "The behaviours expressed by this female chimpanzee when she first endures physical separation from her dead infant provide valuable insight into… the possible ways in which chimpanzees gather information about the state of responsiveness of individuals around them (hence learning about ‘death’)." Similar practices have been observed among gorillas, baboons, macaques, lemurs, and geladas.
Elephants, dolphins, and chimpanzees all have complex social behaviours that we only partly understand. Since it is so rare for humans to observe a natural death in the wild, most of the information that we do have comes from non-experimental case studies thanks to quick-thinking researchers. Even still, the available evidence offers an important reminder that humans are not the only animals who respond to death in a particular way. And the list of non-human animals that seem to do so keeps expanding: recent reports suggest that giraffes and western scrub jays may mourn as well, each with their own customs.
But we humans like to convince ourselves that we are somehow special, unique among the entire animal kingdom. And in some ways, we are. But for every facet of life that is unique to our species, there are hundreds that are shared with other animals. As important as it is to avoid projecting our own feelings onto animals, we also need to remember that we are, in an inescapable way, animals ourselves.
Is it possible that we're simply offering post-hoc explanations in an effort to justify behaviours to which we're naturally driven? The mortician who carefully embalms the recently deceased may have a great deal more in common than he realises with the chimpanzee who painstakingly removes parasites from her dead infant. What bonds us with the chimpanzee in this sense is that we are, in our different ways, simply trying to understand death.

Do your hair and fingernails grow after death?

The gruesome sight features in literature and horror films, but is it true? To find out, we need to look into the world of organ transplants.

Scientists tracking the dispersal of hatchling loggerhead turtles have resorted to the nail salon to help fit tiny tags to the endangered creatures.

Your hearts stops, your blood goes cold and your limbs stiffen. Yet amidst the signs that you are no more, your fingernails continue to lengthen and your hair grows – or so we’re told.
The young narrator in Erich Maria Remarque’s novel All Quiet of the Western Front imagines the nails of a friend who has died of gangrene continuing to grow into corkscrews as the hair on his decaying skull lengthens “like grass in good soil”. It’s an idea that’s not pleasant, yet seems to endure. Is it true, though?
Not surprisingly there haven’t been many systematic studies measuring daily changes in fingernail and hair length in the dead. For hints we can turn to historical anecdotes and descriptions provided by medical students working with cadavers. Transplant surgeons are also experienced in calculating the length of time the different kinds of cells continue to function beyond death.
Different cells die at different rates. After the heart stops beating, oxygen supply to the brain is cut off. With no glucose store to rely on, nerve cells die within three to seven minutes.

Transplant surgeons must remove kidneys, livers and hearts from donors within thirty minutes of death and get them into recipients inside six hours. Skin cells, meanwhile, are longer lived. Grafts can still be successful if taken 12 hours after death.
In order for fingernails to grow, new cells need to be produced and this can’t happen without glucose. Fingernails grow by an average of 0.1mm per day, a rate which slows as we age. A layer of tissue beneath the base of the nail called the germinal matrix is responsible for producing the vast majority of the cells which form the newest-growing part of the fingernail. The new cells push the older ones forwards, making the nail appear to lengthen from the tip. Death puts a stop to the supply of glucose, and therefore to fingernail growth.

A similar process occurs for hair. Each hair sits within a follicle that drives its growth. At the base of the follicle is the hair matrix, a group of cells that divide to produce the new cells that make hair strands longer. These cells divide very rapidly, but only when supplied with energy. This comes from the burning of glucose, which requires the presence of oxygen. Once the heart stops pumping oxygen round the body in the blood, the energy supply dries up, and so does the cell division that drives hair growth.
So why do myths persist about stubble growing on dead men’s chins and fingernails lengthening? While such observations are false, they do have a biological basis. It is not that the fingernails are growing, but that the skin around them retracts as it becomes dehydrated, making them appear longer. When preparing a body, funeral directors will sometimes moisturise the fingertips to counteract this.

The skin on a dead man’s chin also dries out. As it does so it pulls back towards the skull, making stubble appear more prominent. Goosebumps caused by the contraction of the hair muscles can add to the effect.
So if your mind is plagued by images of graveyards scattered with lids pushed from their coffins by the flowing locks and grotesquely long and twisted fingernails skeletons, you can rest easy. Such scenes may feature in literature and in horror films, but not in the real world.

India's ancient university returns to life

By Yojana Sharma                                          ­                                

Nalanda is emerging from the ruins as an image of India's rising power

It was an eminent centre of learning long before Oxford, Cambridge and Europe's oldest university Bologna were founded.

Nalanda University in northern India drew scholars from all over Asia, surviving for hundreds of years before being destroyed by invaders in 1193.
The idea of Nalanda as an international centre of learning is being revived by a group of statesmen and scholars led by the Nobel prize winning economist, Amartya Sen,
The group wants to establish a new world-class residential university with top students and researchers from around the world, on a site close to ruins of the ancient Buddhist institution in the Indian state of Bihar.
The new Nalanda International University will focus on the humanities, economics and management, Asian integration, sustainable development and oriental languages.
Old foundations But building a top university from scratch, let alone one in a poor under-developed part of India, is a tall order.
Some doubt that an international university can flourish in such an under-developed area.
"Are top students and faculty going to be attracted to rural Bihar?" says Philip Altbach, director of the Centre for International Higher Education at Boston College in the United States.

Nobel laureate Amartya Sen is the university's first chancellor

Amartya Sen, the university's chancellor, is undaunted.
"Our job is to get the new Nalanda University going and establish the teaching. This is just the beginning - the old Nalanda took 200 years to come to a flourishing state. We may not take 200 years but it will take some decades."
"After Nalanda was destroyed in the 1190s it lingered on for a while - from time to time some people noticed that there was some teaching going on in the following couple of hundred years, but it wasn't anything like the university it had been. There is now absolutely nothing. We have to start from scratch."
In 2006, India, China, Singapore, Japan and Thailand announced the plan to revive the university based on the vision of the old Nalanda. And it was backed by the East Asia Summit which also includes South East Asian countries, Australia, New Zealand, Russia and the US.
International staff The new university will be built in Rajgir, 10 kilometres from the ancient site and a competition to design the buildings based on old Buddhist principles has been launched.
For now temporary premises have been secured and the postgraduate university has already published invitations to research fellows and scholars from around the world.

The Dalai Lama has spoken of the historic importance of Nalanda

The first two faculties will be history and ecology and the environment with the first intake of students due next year.
Prof Sen says there will be active co-operation with Yale's school of forestry studies, Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University department of history, Seoul University in South Korea and Peking University in China.
This international outlook could boost India's higher education sector which is seen as inward looking and less internationalised than other countries in Asia, including China.
The new Nalanda will be "Asian in inspiration, Asian in motivation but it is not Asian in terms of its knowledge or the range or expertise or personal involvement. If the knowledge works in Asia, it ought to work in Africa or Latin America as well," said Prof Sen.
If all goes well, it will do Nalanda's ancient reputation proud despite the intervening 800 years.
'Soaring into the clouds' Founded around the 5th Century, Nalanda once had over 10,000 students, mostly Buddhist monks, many of them from China, Japan, Korea and countries across south-east, central and western Asia.
The Chinese monk Xuanzang, who studied there in the 7th Century, left behind an eye-popping account of the thriving, wealthy university, describing a nine-storey library "soaring into the clouds."
Shanghai-based author Mishi Saran followed Xuanzang's route across Asia in her book Chasing the Monk's Shadow.

“Start Quote

It could show that India is present in Asia not only economically and militarily but also intellectually”

Prof Sukh Deo Muni

"Xuanzang was looking to study with the people who knew the (Buddhist) texts best. Nalanda was already reaching the heights of its power and prestige. It was known in Korea and Japan - its reputation had spread through the Asian trade routes," she said.

"When Xuanzang was at Nalanda, it was a vibrant place, packed with scholars, with seminars, teaching and debate. It was a kind of Buddhist Ivy League institution - all the deepest ideas about Buddhism were explored and dissected at Nalanda," said Ms Saran.
The influence of those scholars has survived to this day. While at the Jaipur literary festival in Rajasthan in January, the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama said "the source of all the [Buddhist] knowledge we have, has come from Nalanda."
The new Nalanda hopes to match the intellectual rigour, but will not be a religious institution.
"Nalanda was not only interested in Buddhism. Even at that time it took from universal principles. It had secular studies, public health, it was interested in logic, astrology and mathematics and languages," said George Yeo, a former Singaporean Foreign Minister and head of the Nalanda international advisory panel.
Nonetheless, the "spirit of Nalanda" is part of the attraction. Nearby, the Buddha achieved enlightenment under the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya.
'Severe doubts' But Prof Altbach, an expert on world-class universities, has "severe doubts" about the location.
"The site of an academic institution is important," he said. Nalanda "may attract a certain number of big thinkers, but academics like to be where the infrastructure is. They want culture and amenities and coffee shops, and a wider community of intellectuals than that on campus".
Yet Bihar, has also emerged as India's fastest growing state with economic growth of 12% last year.

The writer George Orwell was also born in Bihar, northern India

"The countryside looked arid and impoverished. Today there are lush fields. The shops are fuller, the saris have become brighter," said Mr Yeo.
The university itself will help to develop the region, working with some 60 surrounding villages to improve livelihoods in agriculture and tourism, according to Nand Kishore Singh, a member of parliament from Bihar and a member of Nalanda's governing body.
The next two faculties to be put in place will be information technology, and management and economics which will help develop job opportunities "to enable Bihar to catch up with the rest of India", said Prof Sen.
Already a huge amount of infrastructure is planned for Bihar, including roads and an international airport at Gaya, with the Bihar State government fully committed to the university project.
But "building a top-class university is extraordinarily expensive, especially in a rural and undeveloped location, even with assistance of foreign donors and the central government", said Prof Altbach.
Soft power, hard cash While the land has been provided by the state of Bihar, the Nalanda's supporters estimate around $1bn (£650m) will be needed. Even that is seen as a modest sum compared to some of the world's major universities.
Australia is funding a dean-level chair of ecology and environment. Singapore will design, build and donate library costing up to $7m (£4.5m). Thailand will contribute $100,000 (£65,000), and China has announced $1m (£650,000) in aid for construction.
"I don't see any dearth of money in the region but they are nowhere near the $1bn endowment, so far not many countries have come forward with their huge purses," said Sukh Deo Muni, a former Indian envoy to Laos and visiting professor at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore.
 

Prof Sen blames India's notorious red tape for holding up funds. But Nalanda will be built up slowly, faculty by faculty rather than having everything at once, he said.

Even its strongest critics admit the idea of a new Nalanda is a viable one. "A country like India must jump on it. It could show that India is present in Asia not only economically and militarily but also intellectually," said Prof Muni.
Others share that bigger vision that will sees Asia asserting itself on the world stage by projecting soft power.
"I'm hoping this project can bring China and India closer together, two great countries, representing two great civilisations of East Asia and South Asia," said Mr Yeo.
But even he admits resurrecting Nalanda "will be a challenge and there is no guarantee that we will succeed. The conception is grand but the implementation will be arduous".

Expat ‘gold rush’ hits Myanmar

Thursday, 23 May 2013

From seasoned investors to recent graduates armed with little more than hastily-made business cards and dreams of striking it rich, foreigners are pouring into Myanmar to stake a claim as it opens up.

This picture taken on May 21, 2013, shows American entrepreneur Tom Bergreen, who has moved to Yangon to open an ice cream parlor and restaurant, shopping at a supermarket in Yangon. AFP PHOTO

It is an expat "gold rush" driven by the promise of an economic boom after the rollback of many sanctions following the end of decades of junta rule.

But some, at least, are also drawn by a commitment to help rebuild the impoverished nation.

The once-empty western bars of central Yangon are now doing a roaring trade, hotels are fully booked and networking nights thrum with the chatter of new arrivals hungry for contacts in the city.

Every day hotel lobbies teem with foreigners hunched over laptops as they talk via Skype with overseas companies eager to hire boots on the ground.

"Once I graduate I'll move here for sure," Peter Morris, a 34-year-old American law student based in Hong Kong, said breezily during a recent week-long reccy for jobs.

But the flurry of arrivals are not universally welcomed.

Some older Myanmar hands grumble about a type of cocky newcomer all too keen to hand out business cards and discuss pie-in-the-sky plans for the future, despite having little knowledge of the country.

"There are a hell of a lot of sharks in Yangon right now... people looking to take advantage of any opportunities they can and often not for any benefit to the Burmese people," laments one long-time expat resident requesting anonymity.

"[There are] lots of opportunists with jumped-up job titles that often don't exist and ideas that will never come to fruition."

Despite that, akin to frontier markets the world over, the lure of riches and adventure is proving irresistible.

Telecom, automobile, oil and gas, and even cigarette firms are rolling into Myanmar, responding to the end of many sanctions and the introduction of business-friendly reforms by President Thein Sein's two-year-old government.

While many are bringing their own senior staff and hiring skilled Myanmar citizens, many of whom are returning after years abroad, a lack of modern business acumen among locals educated within the country's threadbare school system presents openings for enterprising foreigners.

Some have years of Myanmar academic, business or field experience—particularly for the legion of non-governmental organisations—while others are following their noses for the opportunity to spot an opening.

"It hit me that there were all these areas where there was nothing... I could quickly identify niches to work in," says Swedish entrepreneur and consultant Andreas Sigurdsson of his decision to swap a successful banking career in glitzy Shanghai for Yangon's shabby charm.

Within weeks of his arrival last year the 31-year-old had launched his first venture—listings website myanmore.com—turning an idea "that came up over a beer" into a reality a few days later.

Sigurdsson says he is driven by making an "impact" in a poor nation with bags of potential but limited capacity and experience.

"Building new business, training employees, providing jobs and skills... that's one way to make an impact," he said.

Goodwill generated by the nation's freedom struggle, embodied by Nobel Laureate and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, has also drawn many to the Asian nation.

Designer Karta Healy is bringing his bamboo products business to Myanmar, hoping for a repeat of its successful launch in China.

"After 10 years of watching China consume itself, I'm ready for somewhere I can get more involved, explore my design work and give back to somewhere I love at the same time," he said.

Using community-based workshops to make everything from bamboo furniture to bicycles, he hopes the business will quickly gain ground among a population skilled in working with the material.

"Global isolation has forced Myanmar's people to be the most 'eco' [friendly] by default. My dream for Myanmar is that it will become the greenest... wasteless society in Asia, if not the world."

The enthusiasm appears—at least for now—to be working both ways, with many of Myanmar's people glad to learn from foreign expertise after years of isolation.

"I welcome them... we all should," says Aung Soe Minn, owner of a gallery popular with expats.

"Our country had been left behind for a long time... we should work with foreigners to gain experience," he said."

That welcome, coupled with the nation's possibilities, explains why many Yangon expats choose to stay, despite the challenges of living in a city beset by electricity blackouts, slow internet, high rents and stifling bureaucracy.

Things are improving, says Tom Bergreen, 49, an American who has moved to the city to open an ice cream parlour and restaurant, but poor infrastructure remains the "most frustrating aspect of living and trying to do business here".

"But I'm extraordinarily fond of the people and culture. Life in Myanmar is never, ever boring."

 

 

Heaven for atheists? Pope sparks debate

By Dan Merica, CNN

(CNN) -– American atheists welcomed Pope Francis’ comments that God redeems nonbelievers, saying that the new pontiff's historic outreach is helping to topple longstanding barriers.
“The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone,” the pope told worshipers at morning Mass on Wednesday. “‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone!”
Francis continued, “We must meet one another doing good. ‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ But do good: we will meet one another there.”
Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association, said that although he has been skeptical of Francis' outreach to the nonreligious, he welcomed Wednesday’s comments.
“I gather from this statement that his view of the world's religious and philosophical diversity is expanding,” Speckhardt said. “While humanists have been saying for years that one can be good without a god, hearing this from the leader of the Catholic Church is quite heartening."
He continued, “If other religious leaders join him, it could do much to reduce the automatic distrust and discrimination that atheists, humanists, and other nontheists so regularly face. “
Francis’ comments received a great deal of attention on social media, with a number of people asking whether the Catholic leader believes that atheists and agnostics go to heaven, too.
On Thursday, the Vatican issued an “explanatory note on the meaning to ‘salvation.'"
The Rev. Thomas Rosica, a Vatican spokesman, said that people who aware of the Catholic church “cannot be saved” if they “refuse to enter her or remain in her.”
At the same time, Rosica writes, “every man or woman, whatever their situation, can be saved. Even non-Christians can respond to this saving action of the Spirit. No person is excluded from salvation simply because of so-called original sin.”
Rosica also said that Francis had “no intention of provoking a theological debate on the nature of salvation,” during his homily on Wednesday.
Although the pope's comments about salvation surprised some, bishops and experts in Catholicism say Francis was expressing a core tenant of the faith.
"Francis was clear that whatever graces are offered to atheists (such that they may be saved) are from Christ," the Rev. John Zuhlsdorf, a conservative Catholic priest, wrote on his blog.
"He was clear that salvation is only through Christ’s Sacrifice.  In other words, he is not suggesting – and I think some are taking it this way – that you can be saved, get to heaven, without Christ."
Chad Pecknold, an assistant professor of theology at the Catholic University of America, agreed with Zuhlsdorf, pointing out that the pope’s comments came on the Feast of Saint Rita, the Catholic patron saint of impossible things.
“The remarks about atheists show that there is even a saint for atheists,” Pecknold said. “Including all of humanity, on this day especially, remarks like that are almost called for.”
“To stress that the gospel redeems all people, including atheists, is the teaching of the church,” he added. “This is an objective fact that the church believes.”
Greg Epstein, the humanist chaplain at Harvard University, said Francis' comments reflect “the interfaith and inter-community work many of us nontheists are dedicated to.”
That said, Epstein hopes that lay Catholics are listening.
“I hope Catholics, and all people hearing the pope's statement, will recognize that his words about atheists need to symbolize much more than just a curiosity or an exception to the rule,” Epstein said. “If someone thinks there are only a few atheists out there doing good just like Catholics do, that's a major misunderstanding that can lead to prejudice and discrimination.”
The pope’s comments come a few months after he told worshipers that Catholics should be close to all men and women, including those who don’t belong to any religious tradition.
"In this we feel the closeness also of those men and women who, while not belonging to any religious tradition, feel, however the need to search for the truth, the goodness and the beauty of God, and who are our precious allies in efforts to defend the dignity of man, in the building of a peaceful coexistence between peoples and in the careful protection of creation,” Francis said shortly after his election as pope in March.
Even atheists like David Silverman, president of American Atheists, who has had an antagonistic relationship with the Catholic church, welcomed the pope’s remarks.
“While the concept of Jesus dying for atheists is wrong on many levels (especially given that Jesus himself promised hell for blasphemers), I can appreciate the pope's `good faith' effort to include atheists in the moral discussion,” Silverman said.
“Atheists on the whole want no part in Catholicism, of course, but we are all interested in basic human rights.”

Dan Merica - Dan Merica

Before and After the Tornado: Satellite Shots of Moore

By Bryan WalshMay 23, 2013

The tornado that struck on May 20 was 1.5 miles wide, so it cut an unusually wide swathe of destruction as it carved through Moore, Oklahoma. The photos of obliterated homes and ruined streets tell part of the story, as does—sadly—the death toll from the tornado, which now stands at 24. But it’s difficult to realize just how destructive this EF5 tornado was unless you pull back—way back.
These two satellite images, obtained from Google, show Moore before the tornado and after it. The first shot is Moore as it was on April 29,2013—a prosperous suburb of Oklahoma City. You can see neat streets and tidy cul-de-sacs, the houses packed closely together. The median income in Moore is $56,601, higher than nearby Oklahoma City, and it’s not hard to understand why the population of the town grew from just 17,000 people in 1970 to over 55,000 today. Moore is more densely populated than most towns in Tornado Alley, which is why so much property—and so many people—were in harm’s way when the tornado touched down at 2:56 PM on May 20.

April 29, 2013May 22, 2013

Before: Google / Astrium, After: Google / DigitalGlobe

The second image was taken on May 22, and it speaks for itself. You can trace the path of the twister as it tore through the town, pulverizing buildings in a mile and a half wide band. Entire streets are all but wiped off the map, and the debris on the ground is visible even from space. The Plaza Towers Elementary School—where several children died—is gone. But what’s amazing is how selective the damage still seems. Beyond the footprint of the tornado, homes still stand, free of debris. Whether or not property was destroyed—whether or not lives were lost—depended on the whims of a cyclone as it meandered through this suburb.
(PHOTOS: Tornado Flattens Suburb Outside Oklahoma City, Kills Dozens)
Thousands of homes were destroyed or damaged by the tornado, which hit Moore with winds in excess of 200 mph. The total damages could well exceed $2 billion, which may make the May 20 twister the most expensive to ever strike the U.S. And yet, looking from above, it seems as if it could have been so much worse.

Plaza Towers Elementary, April 29, 2013Plaza Towers Elementary, May 22, 2013

Before: Google / Astrium, After: Google / DigitalGlobe

Briarwood Elementary, April 29, 2013Briarwood Elementary, May 22, 2013

Before: Google / Astrium, After: Google / DigitalGlobe

Moore Medical Center, April 29, 2013Moore Medical Center, May 22, 2013

Before: Google / Astrium, After: Google / DigitalGlobe

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Wider World by CS: เหรียญหลวงปู่ทวดยอดดังราคาแพง

Wider World by CS: เหรียญหลวงปู่ทวดยอดดังราคาแพง

เหรียญหลวงปู่ทวดยอดดังราคาแพง

เหรียญเลื่อนสมณศักดิ์  ดูภาพประกอบ (เหรียญนี้เป็นเหรียญเนื้ออัลปาก้าที่สวยสมบูรณ์ของม.โชคชัย ทรงเสี่ยงไชย เนื้ออัลปาก้าคือเนื้อช้อนส้อม)

เหรียญหลวงพ่อทวด วัดช้างให้รุ่น ‘เลื่อนสมณศักดิ์’ ปี ๒๕๐๘ พิมพ์นิยม

          ค่านิยมการเช่าบูชาเหรียญในทุกวันนี้ ได้เพิ่มขึ้นเรื่อยๆ อย่างต่อเนื่อง โดยเฉพาะเหรียญที่ผ่านการปลุกเสกจากพระเกจิอาจารย์ชื่อดังในอดีต เพราะพระเครื่องประเภทเหรียญ สามารถพิจารณาเรื่อง เหรียญแท้ เหรียญเก๊ ได้ง่ายด้วยตนเอง หรือมีผู้รู้ที่ให้คำแนะนำซึ่งมีอยู่อย่างแพร่หลาย โดยไม่ต้องรอการ “ฟันธง” จากเซียนรุ่นใหญ่ เหมือนอย่างพระเครื่องประเภทอื่น เช่น เนื้อผง/เนื้อดิน/เนื้อว่าน ปัจจุบันเหรียญที่เด่นดังที่สุด คือ เหรียญหลวงพ่อทวด วัดช้างให้ จ.ปัตตานี ที่สร้างในยุค พระอาจารย์ทิม ปลุกเสก มูลค่าการเช่าบูชาสูงขึ้นเรื่อยๆ หลายเท่าตัว เมื่อเทียบกับเหรียญพระเกจิอาจารย์ท่านอื่นๆ  ในบรรดา เหรียญหลวงพ่อทวด วัดช้างให้ ทุกรุ่นทุกพิมพ์ พบว่า เหรียญรุ่น ๓ เป็นเหรียญที่มีปริมาณการสร้างมากที่สุด และมีการแยกพิมพ์ย่อยๆ ออกไปอีกมากมายหลายสิบพิมพ์

 
เหรียญรุ่น ๓ ที่ได้รับความนิยมสูงสุด และหายากที่สุด คือ เหรียญเสมา พิมพ์ ๒ จุด รัดประคดข้างเดียว และ พิมพ์ ๒ จุด รัดประคดเต็ม
ตามมาด้วย เหรียญเสมา พิมพ์ ๓ ขีดใน หรือ พิมพ์กิ่งไผ่ ในปัจจุบัน เหรียญรุ่นนี้หากมีสภาพสวยระดับแชมป์ ค่านิยมทะลุหลัก ๕ แสนขึ้นไป หากพูดถึง เหรียญหลวงพ่อทวด วัดช้างให้ ที่ได้รับการยกย่องให้เป็น ที่สุดของที่สุด แล้วมีเพียง ๒ รุ่น ๒ พิมพ์ เท่านั้น คือ เหรียญเสมา รุ่นแรก พิมพ์หัวโต ปี ๒๕๐๐ แล เะหรียญรุ่นเลื่อนสมณศักดิ์ ปี ๒๕๐๘ พิมพ์นิยม อันลือลั่นโด่งดังที่สุดในทุกวันนี้  

 เหรียญมีสภาพความสวยงามคมชัดในระดับเดียวกัน เหรียญรุ่นเลื่อนสมณศักดิ์ ปี ๒๕๐๘ จะมีค่านิยมแซง เหรียญรุ่นแรก หรือ เหรียญหัวโตเสียด้วยซ้ำ ด้วยเหตุผลของความต้องการในทุกแขนงอาชีพของผู้ใช้ที่มีมากกว่าหลายเท่าตัวทั้งนี้ก็เพราะ สืบเนื่องมาจาก ชื่อเหรียญ ที่เป็นสิริมงคล ตรงคำว่า “เลื่อนสมณศักดิ์” ซึ่งหมายถึง การเลื่อนยศเลื่อนตำแหน่ง หรือทำกิจการงานได้ก้าวหน้า ได้เลื่อนฐานะทางสังคมและทางเศรษฐกิจ  กล่าวได้อย่างเต็มปากว่า เหรียญรุ่นเลื่อนสมณศักดิ์ ปี ๒๕๐๘ พิมพ์นิยม ถือเป็น จักรพรรดิแห่งเหรียญของเมืองไทย ในยุคนี้ หรือจะเรียกได้อีกอย่างหนึ่งว่าเป็น เหรียญขวัญใจมหาชน อันดับหนึ่งของเมืองไทย ก็ได้ไม่ยากนัก  เพราะเป็นเหรียญหนึ่งเดียวของเมืองไทยที่ทุกสาขาอาชีพเรียกหามากที่สุด ประกอบกับการมีจำนวนเหรียญที่มีมากเพียงพอต่อความต้องการของพลังศรัทธาความ นิยมสนใจที่จะแสวงหามาติดตัวได้ไม่ยากนัก (ถ้าหากมีเงินมากพอ) เพราะเหรียญรุ่นนี้ยังมีกระแสหมุนเวียนในวงการพระอยู่เสมอ เมื่อเทียบกับเหรียญดังระดับเบญจภาคีอื่นๆที่ เหรียญมีจำนวนน้อยมาก จนแทบจะกลายเป็นเหรียญในตำนานไปแล้ว และไม่มีกระแสหมุนเวียนในวงการมากมายนัก
เหรียญหลวงพ่อทวด รุ่นเลื่อนสมณศักดิ์ ปี ๒๕๐๘ พิมพ์นิยม (คำว่า “พิมพ์นิยม”
หมายถึงพิมพ์ที่มีเส้นพาดผ่านปากหลวงพ่อทวด ที่บางคนเรียกว่า “พิมพ์ผ่าปาก” หรือที่สมัยก่อนบางคนเรียกว่า “พิมพ์คาบดาบ เหรียญเลื่อนสมณศักดิ์ ปี ๒๕๐๘ พิมพ์นิยม เท่าที่ปรากฏในวงการพระ มีหลายเนื้อ อาทิ เนื้อทองคำ เนื้อเงิน เนื้อทองแดงรมดำ และเนื้ออัลปาก้า โดยเฉพาะเนื้อทองคำและเนื้อเงิน พบเห็นน้อยมาก เนื้อทองแดงรมดำ และ เนื้ออัลปาก้า มีเหรียญหมุนเวียนในวงการมาก
             โดยปกติ เหรียญเลื่อนสมณศักดิ์ ปี ๒๕๐๘ พิมพ์นิยม แบ่งออกได้เป็น ๒ บล็อก และ ๒ ตัวตัด (ขอบข้างเหรียญ) โดยบล็อกแรกและตัวตัดแรก วงการมักจะเรียกว่า บล็อกนิยม และ ตัวตัดนิยม ซึ่งมีทั้งกรณีเนื้อทองแดงรมดำ และเนื้ออัลปาก้า  ส่วน เหรียญบล็อก ๒ และตัวตัดที่ ๒ มักจะพบเห็นเป็นเฉพาะ เนื้ออัลปาก้า เป็นส่วนใหญ่ หากพิจารณา รอยตัดขอบเหรียญ อย่างละเอียด  รอบขอบเหรียญในกรณีเหรียญที่สมบูรณ์ จะเห็นว่า เหมือนกันทุกประการ ทั้ง ร่องฟันปลา และ รอยนูน ของทิวเนื้อ เนื่องจากการปั๊มตัดขอบเหรียญดังกล่าว ทั้งที่ก่อนหน้านี้ เหรียญเลื่อนสมณศักดิ์ เนื้ออัลปาก้า ตัวตัดนี้ ได้มีผู้ชำนาญการบางคน “ตีเก๊” (เป็นเหรียญปลอม) อยู่บ่อยๆ ด้วยข้อหา “รอยตัด” ไม่เหมือนกับที่พบเห็นในเหรียญเนื้อทองแดง ทั่วไปนั่นเอง
 

ข้อสังเกตอีกประการหนึ่ง ในเหรียญบล็อก ๒ และตัวตัดที่ ๒ ที่เหมือนกับ เหรียญพุทธซ้อนปี ๒๕๐๙ ที่สังเกตได้ชัด คือ หากมองเหรียญด้าน พระอาจารย์ทิม ตรงปีกขอบเหรียญทั้ง ๒ ข้าง (ตรงตำแหน่งประมาณ ๑๑ นาฬิกา และ ๑๔ นาฬิกา) จะไม่มีลักษณะโค้งดัดอย่างบล็อกแรก และตัวตัดแรก อย่างเห็นได้ชัด นอกจากนี้ หากเป็นเหรียญเนื้ออัลปาก้าดิบ หรือเนื้อเหรียญแบบช้อนส้อม ความคมชัดของเหรียญส่วนใหญ่จะสู้บล็อกแรกและตัวตัดแรกไม่ได้ เหรียญชุดนี้มี บล็อกเก๊ เฉียบขาดมาก ชนิดปาดคอเซียนมาแล้ว เป็นเหรียญที่สามารถทำตำหนิติดคมชัดแทบทุกซอกมุม

             จุดสังเกตของเหรียญเก๊ ที่ว่านี้ คือ แม้ว่าจะสามารถถอดพิมพ์เก็บรายละเอียดได้ดี (บางฝีมือทำตำหนิบางจุดได้คมชัดกว่า “เหรียญแท้” เสียอีก เช่น เส้นผ่าปาก เส้นเฉียง ๓ เส้น โดยการตกแต่งแม่พิมพ์ที่ถอดแบบมาเพิ่มเติม) แต่ธรรมชาติของเส้นสายก็ยังขาดความพลิ้วไหวอย่างธรรมชาติ โดยเฉพาะเส้นตามซอกต่างๆ
จุดสังเกตที่สำคัญจุดหนึ่งของเหรียญพิมพ์นี้ คือ บริเวณเม็ดผม เม็ดตา และรอบดวงตาพระอาจารย์ทิม จะต้องคมชัด และมีริ้วรอยของการปั๊มกระแทกที่เป็นธรรมชาติ (บางเหรียญจะเห็นเป็นการปั๊มซ้อน ทำให้พิจารณาง่ายขึ้น แต่ของเก๊ ก็ทำร่องรอยปั๊มซ้อนได้แล้วในขณะนี้)  และหากมองที่ด้านหลังเหรียญรูปพระอาจารย์ทิม บริเวณขอบเหรียญด้านบนมักจะมีลักษณะเป็นรอยหักพับ นอกจากนี้ การสังเกต “เส้นเสี้ยน” ที่กระจาย ความคมชัดของอักขระตัวขอม รอยตัดขอบเหรียญ และคอหูเหรียญ ก็เป็นสิ่งที่ต้องพิจารณาและศึกษาอย่างชนิดเจาะลึกเหมือนเหรียญทั่วไป

             หากเป็นผู้ชำนาญการจริง เหรียญรุ่นเลื่อนสมณศักดิ์ นี้ ก็ดูได้ไม่ยากนัก เพราะมี จุดตาย ที่สามารถค้นหาได้รอบเหรียญได้ด้วยตัวเอง โดยเฉพาะบริเวณจุดซอกแคบๆ ทั่วทั้งเหรียญ หากหมั่นส่องดู เหรียญแท้ผิวเดิม ไว้บ่อยๆ ก็สามารถอยู่รอดปลอดภัยจากการเช่า เหรียญเก๊ ได้    ขอขอบพระคุณ ข้อมูลบางส่วนจาก ผลงานของศ.ดร.ผดุงศักดิ์ รัตนเดโช ผู้ชำนาญการพระสายหลวงพ่อทวด 

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