Q1 Cuneiform is a system of writing first developed by the ancient Sumerians of Mesopotamia c. 3500 BCE. It is considered the most significant among the many cultural contributions of the Sumerians and the greatest among those of the Sumerian city of Uruk, which advanced the writing of cuneiform. If so how it is dated , a tabloid 6000 BCE? The invention of writing in approximately 3300 B.C. was one of many developments in administrative technology--including the use of geometric tokens for counting and cylinder seals to guarantee transactions--that accompanied the growth of the first cities and states in southern Mesopotamia. Proto-cuneiform is the name given to the earliest form of writing--pictograms that were drawn on clay tablets. Gradually, the pictograms became abstracted into cuneiform (Latin, "wedge-shaped") signs that were impressed rather than drawn. At its greatest extent, cuneiform writing was used from the Mediterranean coast of Syria to western Iran and from Hittite Anatolia to southern Mesopotamia. It was adapted to write at least fifteen different languages. The last dated cuneiform text has a date corresponding to A.D. 75, although the script probably continued in use over the next two centuries. This Late Babylonian period clay tablet demonstrates the ongoing efforts to master the ancient writing and languages of Mesopotamia. The text contains Sumerian entries in the left column and Akkadian translations in the right. The contents of the forty-seven lines are somewhat heterogeneous, including imperative clauses, particles such as "no", and numbers. At the time that this text was written, the Sumerian language was already long-dead and the Akkadian language, once widely spoken across the ancient Near East, was increasingly replaced by Aramaic. The end of the tablet names the scribe who produced the text.
2 Archaeological excavations have discovered artifacts used by early humans, including stone tools, which suggest an extremely early date for human habitation and technology in the area. While the civilizations of *Mesopotamia* <https://www.worldhistory.org/Mesopotamia/> and *Egypt* <https://www.worldhistory.org/egypt/> have long been recognized for their celebrated contributions to *civilization* <https://www.worldhistory.org/civilization/>, India has often been overlooked, especially in the West, though its history and *culture* <https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/culture/> is just as rich. The *Indus Valley Civilization* <https://www.worldhistory.org/Indus_Valley_Civilization/> (c. 7000-c. 600 BCE) was among the greatest of the ancient world, covering more territory than either Egypt or Mesopotamia and producing an equally vibrant and progressive culture. The village of Balathal (near Udaipur in Rajasthan), to cite only one example, illustrates the antiquity of India's history as it dates to 4000 BCE. Balathal was not discovered until 1962 and excavations were not begun there until the 1990s CE. Even older is the *Neolithic* <https://www.worldhistory.org/Neolithic/> site of Mehrgarh, dated at c. 7000 BCE but showing evidence of even earlier habitation, which was not discovered until 1974. Harappa has given its name to the Harappan Civilization (another name for the Indus Valley Civilization) which is usually divided into Early, Middle, and Mature periods corresponding roughly to 5000-4000 BCE (Early), 4000-2900 BCE (Middle), and 2900-1900 BCE (Mature). Harappa dates from the Middle period (c. 3000 BCE) while Mohenjo-Daro was built in the Mature period (c. 2600 BCE). Mohenjo-Daro was an elaborately constructed city with streets laid out evenly at right angles and a sophisticated drainage system. The Great Bath, a central structure at the site, was heated and seems to have been a focal point for the community. The citizens were skilled in the use of metals such as *copper* <https://www.worldhistory.org/copper/>, *bronze* <https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/bronze/>, lead, and tin (as evidenced by artworks such as the bronze statue of the Dancing Girl and by individual seals) and cultivated barley, wheat, peas, sesame, and cotton. *Trade* <https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/trade/> was an important source of commerce and it is thought that ancient Mesopotamian *texts *which mention Magan and Meluhha refer to India generally or, perhaps, Mohenjo-Daro specifically. Artifacts from the Indus Valley region have been found at sites in Mesopotamia though their precise point of origin in India is not always clear. 3 CIVILISATION: (AS DESCRIBED BY G “ *“Civilization”, which is just a fancy word for “having a society with people with specialized skills” was a requirement to keep hundreds of thousands of people alive* in an area where using hunter/gatherer methods may only have been able to support a few ten thousand at most.). It is erroneous as Babylonians and the Europeans were ONLY HUNTER AND GATHERERS but not Indians. River side civilisation started not in Germany or France or Iraq (Babylonians) or Aztec. It was Ganges civilisation long before these places. - 4 Why Riverside is not properly answered: The Indus River Valley Civilization, 3300-1300 BCE, also known as the Harappan Civilization, extended from modern-day northeast Afghanistan to Pakistan and northwest India. - Important innovations of this civilization include standardized weights and measures, seal carving, and metallurgy with copper, bronze, lead, and tin.(Then they cannot be hunters and gatherers) - Little is understood about the Indus script, and as a result, little is known about the Indus River Valley Civilization’s institutions and systems of governance. (Script is yet to be translated on the contrary Babylonian wedge shaped were our PATTI-KANAKKU with the lines drawn which is not a great knowledge.) - The civilization likely ended due to climate change and migration. 5 Drought and water settlement are 2 different things. Drought was never in India. Saraswati river till it dried up between 7000 BCE till 2000 BCE is explained in Rigvedam, its gorgeousness. Ganges and Brahma Putra (only male named river) co-existed apart from 7 other rivers. Copious flow of water was there. Civilised people needed the water and so settled here. There was no spread over as G explains. Q2 Railways and Roads and profitability: Mr Sekar had given a fair view. He argued there is no Free lunch. The ability to transport goods and human beings safely and efficiently across long distances is fundamental to economic life in modern societies. A brief look at the early United States illustrates this principle dramatically. In the first half of the 19th century, Americans built a robust transportation network through new technologies and heroic engineering ventures. These investments in infrastructure, often described as “internal improvements” in the political debate of the time, rapidly transformed the North American continent into a patchwork of overland roads, canals, and railways. These expanded transport links laid the foundation of a bustling nationwide economy of commercial agriculture and industry. During the colonial and revolutionary periods, most of the nonindigenous population of North America lived near the Atlantic coast. Eighteenth-century America depended chiefly on water transportation to link small-scale farming and the artisan industry with transatlantic trade. Farmers living near the Hudson River or other river systems could float their crops downstream to the port cities. Upstream travel was slow and arduous. Post roads between the colonies had been built by the mid-1700s, but they were poorly built and not suitable for commercial transport. As a rule, the movement of agricultural produce and other goods was costly and took a great deal of time. In 1794, a new road opened between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It was the country’s first toll road, financed and built privately by a corporation, which was chartered by the state. Soon, other groups of merchants were incorporating to pave more turnpikes, especially in the northeast. By the early 1820s, thousands of kilometers of graded paths crisscrossed the region. The toll roads usually failed to turn a profit for their investors, but they provided a major boost to regional commerce. The federal government paid for one major highway during this era, heading westward from Cumberland, Maryland, at the inland headwaters of the Potomac River. The Army Corps of Engineers began building the Cumberland Road, also called the National Road, in 1811. By 1818, it had crossed the Appalachian Mountains and reached Wheeling, West Virginia, permitting overland travel between the Potomac and Ohio rivers. Many more private railway enterprises followed in the decades prior to the Civil War. Between 1840 and 1860, the nation saw a ten-fold increase in the amount of track laid, from 4,828 to 48,280 kilometers (3,000 to 30,000 miles). The majority of this development was in the northern states. Because competing companies built railways, the different lines used different rail gauges and track widths and were not interoperable until rails were standardized years later. The first transcontinental line was established in 1869 when the Central Pacific and Union Pacific lines met. Once their infrastructure was completed and initial problems resolved, the railways lowered the cost of transporting many kinds of goods. Railroads became a major industry, stimulating other heavy industries such as iron and steel production. The transportation system allowed Americans to take advantage of the continent’s vast territory and natural resources, and to build an industrial economy on a national scale. This raises your question: where are the negatives and positives? As mentioned before, you can't have industrialization without the contributing advancements in transportation. The two do go together. When looking for negative effects, then, you might consider looking at some of the environmental impacts of industrialization. Additionally, the industrial world was also a story of conquest and domination, and these technologies had powerful military implications. Steamships became the backbone of industrial navies and railroads were key to military operations in the age of imperialism and industrialized war. *Government Support of Railroads* Amtrak has received subsidies ranging from hundreds of millions to billions of dollars since the early 1970s under the Rail Passenger Service Act.6 In the 1960s, after the introduction of the FRA, it became evident that passenger railway service was unprofitable. However, the utility it provided as a public service was deemed imperative to the well-being of the country by both Congress and President Nixon.7 The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act <https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/american-recovery-and-reinvestment-act.asp> of 2009 allocated $8 billion toward the development of a network of high-speed rail lines connecting major American cities. President Obama was a strong advocate of the initiative and signed it into law.8 Because the consequences of railway mishaps are substantial, the FRA has a significant budget devoted to safety and operations, approximately $222 million in FY 2019.9 Railway accidents can be caused by both malfunctioning equipment and human error. The FRA is charged with investigating accidents and implementing measures to ensure steps are taken to prevent avoidable accidents from reoccurring and negatively impacting the railroad sector.10 America's railways received another boost of $66 billion in federal spending resulting from the 2021 Infrastructure and Jobs law <https://www.investopedia.com/infrastructure-investment-jobs-act-5209581> signed by the Biden Administration. This amounts to the largest investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak in 1971, handing the agency billions of dollars to address its repair backlog, modernize its fleet and reduce trip times.11 It can also help with rail line expansion into new cities and routes across the U.S. *Do Railroads Make A Profit? A Comprehensive Analysis* With the amount of railways throughout the world, both private and publicly funded, it is no surprise those who commute daily and enthusiasts alike wonder if they make a profit. Publicly and privately funded railroads have many differences, however, oftentimes the private entities make the profit. Do railroads make a profit? *Yes, railroads make a profit, and a significant one as well. Private railways are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, with shareholders and a well paid chief executive officer (CEO). * Railways, especially in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom experience immense profits from their services. Freight railways in the United States encompass some of the largest market share compared to any other business, and continue to streamline operations to collect additional profit. *United States & Canada* *Background* In the United States and Canada, freight railroads are the main generators of revenue, as it is one of the most inexpensive modes of land transport. North America has the most dense rail freight network in the world, and is the leader in revenues, miles travelled, and volume. This dense network promotes economic growth and viability, while transporting goods in an efficient manner. Alex Trew, *lecturer in economics* <http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~awt2/>, says that government money spent on infrastructure is not always a good thing and can certainly be wasted . For a good example he suggests looking at China where six-lane interstate motor ways have been built but which are hardly used. That points to a greater truth. A top-down approach can lead to wrong decisions. "It is hard for a government to know what to spend its money on when it comes to infrastructure, which is why it gets into such a pickle when it comes to decide," he says. "It doesn't know how to pick the right areas or best parts of the country to connect up." Fundamentally, Dr Trew says, it is very complex to work out what the long term impact will be of any big spending decision. "We still see the impacts today of investments made in the industrial revolution, so the effects can be very long-lasting" he says. "But there are lots of complex relationships between things, because people's decisions about where to live, and business decisions about where to put factories and offices, change," he adds. I have not discussed India because, both the Rail and Roads were subsidised for votes based on poverty, hence ran into huge losses. However, had it not been done, even then the losses cannot be averted as per the notions Dr Trew. Until settlements are finalised to some extent Profit orientations are impossible. Roads add more pressures for the sake of people and hence sudden decision cannot be had, till the length and breadth of the nation is connected as China recently did, which was and is a long history of China. Corruption will not allow the real profit to surface. As the recent search on Senthil Balaji had revealed that in the tasmac, several laks crores profit were real, but the state accounted for only 55 lks . So Public sector functioning cannot make profit initially but in the long run, unless harnessed as BJP did, profit is hidden where free lunches are provided only to the vested interests. KR IRS 16 6 23 On Thu, 15 Jun 2023 at 06:48, 'gopala krishnan' via Thatha_Patty < [email protected]> wrote: > *CULTURAL QA 06-2023-15A* > > Q1 Why did the first civilizations occur around river valleys? > > A1 Steven Haddock, Studied at York University (Canada)Tue > > *It appears that about 12,000 years ago there was a massive worldwide > drought.* > > *Up to that point, humans had been pretty widespread and relied on local > water resources.* > > For example, the Bushmen, who have lived in the Kalahari Desert for tens > of thousands of years, still have dozens of little tricks to extract water > from the environment, such as leaving leaves to pool condensation > overnight, or digging up tubers. > > But as the planet became drier, more and more humans started gravitating > towards places where water was plentiful, and that was rivers fed by large > amounts of rain and snowfall that ran all year without drying up - the > Nile, the Yellow, the Tigris & Euphrates, the Indus, and the Ganges. > > *But packing so many people into so small a space came with loads of > conflict.* Prior to this, people lived in bands that maybe contained 150 > people. All of a sudden you might be crowded in with thousands of people, > many of whom you had no relationship with, and although they had greater > resources the old system of “take everything that’s there and then move on” > stopped working. > > *Independently, several people developed the idea of “agriculture”, taking > food and putting it into the ground to make more food*. This started to > require a lot of organization to make sure that food was saved to plant, to > plant it at the right time, to take care of it, to harvest it when it was > ready, and to prepare it for storage during the times it didn’t grow. You > also needed to protect your stores of food from invaders. > > Now, if you’re a hunter/gatherer, you pretty much have to be good at > everything. However, in this new system, specialized skills were needed. > You needed soldiers to protect the food. You needed potters to make the > vessels to store your grain. Before you knew it, you needed people who > could keep track of everything. > > *Babylonian cuneiform, a writing system from about 6,000 B.C.E. and the > first type of known document in history. These tablets were usually records > of transactions and contracts for agricultural produce.* They were > actually produced as clay for a temporary record, but were subject to > accindental fire and became permanent. > > *“Civilization”, which is just a fancy word for “having a society with > people with specialized skills” was a requirement to keep hundreds of > thousands of people alive* in an area where using hunter/gatherer methods > may only have been able to support a few ten thousand at most. > > Q2 Why did Dr. Beeching cut thousands of miles of railways in the > UK in 1963? > > A2 Rebecca Ball, Former Retired Solicitor Wed > > He didn’t. > > Dr Beeching was asked to report on what changes would be necessary to make > British Railways profitable, and that is what he did. > > It was the British government, not Dr Beeching, which decided to cut the > thousands of miles of railways which Dr Beeching had said would need to be > cut in order to make British Railways profitable. > > But that was a political decision … and Dr Beeching was a civil servant. > Civil servants don’t take political decisions: politicians do. > > *There is, of course, no reason why a nationalised railway SHOULD be made > profitable*. The roads aren’t profitable, after all. We spend millions > and millions of taxpayers’ money every year on building and maintaining the > road network, and the road fund licence paid by every vehicle owner yields > only a small fraction of that. One decision open to the politicians in > light *of Dr Beeching’s report was to say “well, the cuts necessary to > make the railways profitable are unpalatable. We would rather continue to > subsidise rail passengers, just as we subsidise car drivers, and continue > to run the railways at a loss.”* But that was not the decision which the > politicians took. > > Q3 What are the types of Indian Railways coaches? > > A3 Swagata Sarkar, Moderator & Bootleg Attorney General, Indian > Railways Space Jun 7 > > *I have personally seen 3 types of coaches till now, these are the > following:* > > ICF Coaches or INTEGRAL COACH FACTORY Coaches: > > These were not an indigenous design, they were in fact imported from > switzerland way back in 1955 fully built and designed by Swiss Car and > Elevator Manufacturing Co. in 1955, ICF was established in Perambur, > Chennai and they started manufacture of the ICF coaches indegenously till > 2018 when the last ICF coach rolled off the assembly line, giving way to > LHB coaches. > > ICF coaches were developed into EMU and MEMU and DEMU sets later down the > line. ICF coaches were manufactured at ICF Chennai, RCF Kapurthala and > BEML at Bangalore. > > Non-AC ICF Coaches have a maximum operating speed of 110 km/h > > Premium ICF coaches used in Shatabdi and Rajdhani expresses had a speed of > 140 km/h > > Most common Liveries were Bleeding Blue (Navy blue body with cream blue > Waist) and newly introduced Utkrisht livery. ICF coaches are still used > on Military Trains carrying army personnel.They use Screw couplers. > > IRY/IR 20 Coaches: > > RCF Kapurthala under assistance of UN made 3 prototype coaches for > upgradation of rolling stock used in IR. These were IRY/IR 15, IRY/IR 20 > and IRZ/IR 30. > > Personally, i have only seen IRY/IR 20. These coaches were made in > relatively large number (two complete sets, 1 for Swarna Shatabdi and 1 for > Bareilly Shatabdi). Quoted maximum speed was 140 km/h with potential for > 160 km/h. Eurofima bogies with Knorr-Bremse Disk brakes were provided. > > *Only two train sets were made, and they ran for considerable time until > Bareilly Shatabdi trainset was completely taken off to provide spare parts > for Swarna Shatabdi.* > > Swarna Shatabdi ran with IRY/IR 20 rakes till 2010 and sometime after that > was replaced by LHB coaches. Why IR did not go ahead with the design is > unknown, but it was said that the coaches were costly to manufacture.They > also used Screw Couplers > > LHB or Linke Hoffman Busche Coaches: > > Designed by LHB Germany (now part of Alstom), these coaches were ordered > in 1998 to modernize IR rolling stock. FIAT Bogies (very similar to > EUROFIMA). Knorr Bremse Disc brakes. 24 units were Imported units and > were tested till 180 km/h. Local manufacturing started in 2000. > > They are made at ICF Chennai, RCF Kapurthala and modern coach factory > Raebareli. Rated for maximum speed of 160 km/h and non-AC units are rated > at 130 km/h. > > They use CBC couplers (Type H) and are anti-telescopic, that is, they > don't overturn as long as they are coupled to each other. > > Q4 Why can't metros and suburban railways be merged especially in > Kolkata and Chennai (MRTS)? > > A4 Swagata Sarkar, Moderator & Bootleg Attorney General, Indian > Railways Space Jun 3 > > Kolkata has old ICF broad gauge metro rakes which can be shifted to > Suburban lines and new Bombardier Rakes like in Delhi can be brought on > metro lines. > > *It's been quite a while since I got an interesting question just like > this.* > > Well, let’s begin then. > > Short answer, they can't be merged because they use two very different > types of power transmission and collection. > > Long answer, here we go! > > Kolkata metro indeed uses broad gauge rolling stock, in fact, they are > towed on Normal railway tracks all the way from ICF, BEML, or the Ports > (CRRC Dalin Rakes) using an ICF coach to act as an adapter between the > metro’s “Schaku” Coupler and the Locomotive’s CBC coupler. > > *But the similarities end right there*. Apart from the same gauge, the > Broad guage EMU and the Kolkata Metro have nothing else in common, This > also includes the traction equipment. > > *Kolkata metro is electrically powered but unlike the EMUs it uses a > system called “Third Rail*” to collect electricity. The system uses a > “Third rail” (the other two being the ones on which the metro is operating) > that runs parallel to the tracks. This rail is painted red to signify > that it’s a powered rail i.e. it has electricity flowing through it. In > the case of the Kolkata metro, the supplied voltage is 750V DC. > > Every bogie on Kolkata metro’s rolling stock has a collector shoe > attached to it. This collector shoe is always in contact with the third > rail and acts as the medium through which the train receives its power from > the powered third rail. This electricity is then passed through resistor > banks (Series of high capacity resistors ) to control the speed of > traction motors by varying the resistance and then fed to traction motors. > > *In EMUs, it is very different. Indian railways use overhead wires to > transmit power to electric locomotives and also EMUs, the transmission is > done at 25KV 50Hz AC.* > > *EMUs collect this electricity by using an assembly called the "pantograph*". > The pantograph remains in contact with the overhead wires and thus keeps > supplying the EMU with electricity. This electricity is then fed to a > Traction transformer and then to a tap changer that regulates the current > and then to a rectifier that converts 3-phase AC current into single-phase > DC current and then ultimately to Traction motors. > > So now we know why Kolkata metro's old ICF rakes cannot run on the EMU > network because they don't have pantographs and vice versa the EMU network > does not have a Third rail for them. > > Now, the bombardier rakes: > > *Bombardier made rolling stock for DMRC's yellow line, and these can > indeed operate on EMU systems, but they are limited to 8 car rakes and > therefore not suitable for suburban chaos.* > > Bombardier makes traction equipment, and these are being used to produce > EMUs at ICF. These Bombardier rakes are not like DMRC's shiny silver > rakes....in fact they are quite bland. > > But they use similar technology, 3 phase traction system, Air > conditioning, and better efficiency. > > Q5 Indian Railway now charges Rs. 60 for an automatic cancelled > waitlist ticket. Is it fair? Why does nobody complain against it? Why do we > pay 60 for not getting a seat?A5 > > A5 SANJAY JAIN, Jun 5 > > *If there is no charges for cancellation then people will do reservation > without any proper travel plan.* They will just make reservation for > tentative various dates with a mind set of cancellation.Thus there will > be a heavy waiting list numbers. > > However railway can make it 30 or 40 rs. > > *All the above QA are from Quora website on 15-06- 2023.* > > *Quora answers need not be 100% correct answers .* > > *Compiled **and posted by R. Gopala krishnan, on 15-06-2023* > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Thatha_Patty" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/2124121433.317628.1686836880987%40mail.yahoo.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/2124121433.317628.1686836880987%40mail.yahoo.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/CAL5XZorTS6Mw5E2HUc-g4XVYGLdjM7nBkwdhbhB0GRYtSmFSYA%40mail.gmail.com.
