The maritime heritage of India spans many millenia. It is a journey of community, tradition and nautical knowledge which has revealed as much as what is yet to be discovered. On Indian National Maritime Day 2022, our CEO & Founder Cmde (Dr) Johnson Odakkal traced the maritime journey of India. Tracing from Indian mythology to the historical empires that utilised the power of the seas to expand on connectivity, commerce and culture he highlighted the rich knowledge that in the Indian maritime ecosystem and through which a legacy is being further built. The focus lies on how India can change its growth trajectory from another maritime sea power to a centrality as a rich blue economy. It is time for India to build collaborative competence with other nations to strengthen the oceanic networks and sea connections within the region. The talk titled, “Indian Maritime Prowess : Past, Present & Perspective” outlined the rich legacy inherited by the Indian Navy and its evolution from colonial times to today. In 75 years of nation-building the highlights included growth of Indian Navy to become the 4th largest Navy in the world. It is a visible symbol of the policy of statecraft and the power that represents the vibrancy and the aspirations of a resurgent Maritime India. The initiatives that the Prime Minister had declared in 2016 through the SAGAR policy (Security And Growth for All in the Region) are emerging are instruments of revival in the oceanic commons and in the maritime sector. The focus on the seas and ocean has been a way of being a dominant force in global politics. It also enables states with vast amounts of resources that help in the development and attributes to social and economical growth. To access the full talk at Pragna Bharti, watch the full video here . The second chapter from min 11:56 to 45:50 (Chapter II) is the core talk followed by a captivating Q & A Session. Please do allow us to serve you and add value through #KnowledgeInfluence in the maritime domain, heritage, governance & leadership. Do stay connected with us at https://www.johnsonodakkal.com/ & email us at ceo@johnsonodakkal.com for great keynote talks and inspiring conversations.

Indian coasts have a long history of bringing foreign influence through commerce and connectivity within the country. In ancient times, the Malabar confluence through the port of Calicut was a transit point for foreign travelers. As mentioned in an article in the Indian Naval Despatch, Winter 2020, Cmde (Dr) Johnson Odakkal notes how the Malabar coast was dotted with ports that carried on a thriving commerce in the markets of the Indian Ocean Region. The coast was known as a melting pot of communities, religions & languages. It evolved into a confluence of maritime trade routes heading westwards or eastwards. Today, India has 12 major ports and several new and emerging ports. India’s geography owing to the eastern & western has availed the opportunity to have multiple ports which could aid in multiple sectors within the maritime industry. Through this article we would be looking at two south Indian ports, Kochi & Thoothukudi that can be better utilised to build a robust maritime sector. The Indian maritime industry has been through vast changes from Indian independence. A lot of the maritime prowess that India possessed during the ancient and mediaeval was lost due to the colonial period and lack of development in terms of global standards. Few ports although did receive the infrastructural developments from the colonial masters, yet to even be considered a competition to leading maritime countries, that wasn’t enough. Today, achieving the goal of a maritime nation is more than just a show of strength; it leads to the socio-economic development of the country. The Sagarmala project initiative launched in 2016, hosted a maritime India summit in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited the global business community to become a partner in the process of India’s port-led development. From 2014, the Indian government has emphasised on building the futuristic infrastructure in the country through the Sagarmala programme. Along with the Make in India initiative, the government aims to modernise the ports and to integrate them with special economic zones (SEZs), port-based smart cities, industrial parks, warehouses, logistics parks and transport corridors. Opening an avenue for global investors in terms of enormous opportunities through this massive infrastructure transformation programme. In March 2021, the government had released a document on Maritime India Vision 2030 which encapsulates opportunities of growth in maritime industry. The Maritime India Vision 2030, states the total traffic handled at Indian Ports rose from 885 MTPA (million tones per annum) in 2010-11 to 1300 MTPA (million tones per annum) in 2019–20. The 12 Major Indian Ports handled nearly 54 percent of the total cargo in 2019-20 and have witnessed just about 4% CAGR growth in overall cargo traffic over the last 5 years. Given the evolving global shipping market and 10-year traffic projections across commodities and regional clusters, India needs to upgrade its port infrastructure to increase its market share. Through the Maritime India Vision 2030, the government has identified key interventions across 4 areas which are brownfield capacity augmentation, developing world-class Mega Ports, development of transshipment hubs in Southern India, and infrastructure modernization. With the target to achieve 3 ports by 2030, MIV 2030 envisions an overall investment of INR 3,00,000 – 3,50,000 Cr across ports, shipping, and inland waterways categories. This vision roadmap is estimated to help unlock INR 20,000+ Cr worth of potential annual revenue for Indian Ports. Further, it is expected to create an additional ~20,00,000+ jobs (direct and non-direct) in the Indian maritime sector. The development of transshipment hubs is vital for India as it would be a gateway into building southern India’s economy through the maritime industry. It would handle containers, store them temporarily and transfer them to other ships for the onward destination. The task owing to the location and proximity of international ports from South of India, makes it an ideal point to emerge as a leader in the industry. Major transshipment ports today on the Indian Ocean route lie on, Dubai, Colombo & Singapore. With each country charging a fee per container according to the competitiveness of the port. India could leverage its location and break its own container cost as well as gain fees from foreign containers. In the conversation around Port led development the prominence in the narrative is on a few major ports such as JNPT. The larger need requires emphasis and is shared in this piece through developments at Thoothukudi and Kochi. As part of the initiative the government has pushed for development of all major ports and has identified areas for new ports to be developed. To speak of the developments of the existing ports, the V.O. Chidambaranar (VOC) or Thoothukudi port, which was named after the Indian Freedom Fighter, V.O. Chidambaranar. In October 2020, the then Minister of State for Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Shri Mansukh Mandaviya, inaugurated the DPE (Direct Port Entry Facility) at V. O. Chidambaram Pillai Port Trust. The Direct Port Entry Facility will help in reducing the time and cost of exports. Exports will be allowed directly without any delay into the port terminal and finally, the list of compliances is verified to let the export orders and goods out of India. [1] In the past year, reports also mentioned about the port being developed into a major transshipment port, with a new multi-modal logistics park were announced. In August last year, port Chairman T K Ramachandran had said that the port would be transforme d into a transshipment hub at an outlay of Rs 7,000 crore. While launching various infrastructural, social welfare projects in the state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said about 575 projects, which include port modernization, port linked industrialization, coastal community development & port connectivity development which would involve an outlay of over Rs 6 lakh crore and would be implemented between 2015 and 2035. The move would create a domino effect in industries related to the maritime sector and also bolster the economy of the state. With the completion of the project an overall enhancement of the state workforce as well as the country's’ maritime force would be seen and thus, we have a transformed pearl city of Tamil Nadu. Through the years, India has been working towards regaining the maritime might it once had. With the initiatives in the recent past within the maritime industry we see how the shift and developments are being looked at to project and enable India to lead as a maritime power. With growing Tier II cities on either side of the country it is vital to look at the trade routes through sea and inland connectivity that would bolster development. On the western coast of India, in the state of Kerala, the government through Sagarmala has plans to build 63 Projects which would be worth more than Rs 17,000 Cr.. In order to enhance the infrastructure related to port-led industrialization, port modernization, port connectivity enhancement, coastal community development & coastal shipping, and inland waterways. The Queen of the Arabian Sea, Kochi has been a hub of connectivity, culture and commerce throughout history. The Kochi port is a major port which has capabilities to be a transshipment port in the west coast. The Vallarpadam port which was inaugurated in 2011, was the first of its kind in India to make India’s mark in the industry as well as create a milestone in logistic infrastructure development. The added advantage that Kochi has is of the area being developed as a smart city with facilities of IT Park & other transportation facilities. The effort to build the International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) at Vallarpadam in Kochi, took 10 years to achieve the milestone after battling the initial turbulent period. The ICTT also managed to silence sceptics who did not give a chance to the terminal saying Colombo port’s locational advantage and the Vallarpadam’s smaller draft will not help it survive for long. Apart from booming local state economy it adds to the prowess of the southern region. This would ensure all round development within the country and would also be a chance for maritime might & connectivity through the south to regain impetus and as well as focus. It adds to a strong economic case which means enabling a transshipment hub in Southern India that can attract Indian and regional transshipment traffic from the current hubs, save significant revenue loss, reduce logistics inefficiencies for Indian trade which otherwise goes to Sri Lanka or Singapore, reduce risks to country’s export competitiveness and create an opportunity for India to become a large hub for Asia-Africa, Asia-US/Europe container traffic trade. Enabling a socio-economic powerhouse through the maritime industry through the growth and development for the state as well as the country as a whole. Unlike the earlier standard of growth being centric to certain regions due to the prevailing colonial infrastructure, this would enable growth in a sector leading to the development of the country. Powerful industries enabling social and economic growth are essential. They are required to be spread out rather than concentrated near a particular region or area. Southern India has been known for years of connectivity and trade all due to their sea power. Maximizing it and multiplying the forces with abilities to make India be a superpower also lies perfectly within the region. Giving the hand ahead, ensuring that growth and development gets a bottom up approach that would propel a new era of maritime development for India. Through the ideas and developments mentioned above, one prominent call to action comes through, the need for a growth mindset. Channeling this mindset would ensure people in maritime industry, policymakers, young scholars and professionals and even other industries to become leaders and consequently serve the country. References : 1. marineinsight.com/shipping-news/india-to-promote-port-led-development-through-harnessing-indias-7500-km-long-coastline/ 2. swarajyamag.com/infrastructure/how-sagarmala-is-anchoring-indias-port-led-development 3. sagarmala.gov.in/sites/default/files/MIV%202030%20Report.pdf 4. squareyards.com/blog/sagarmala-project-gvi 5. constructionworld.in/transport-infrastructure/ports-and-shipping/tuticorin-port-to-be-transformed-into-transhipment-hub/25915 6. offshore-energy.biz/india-developing-green-freight-corridor-along-western-coast/ 7. newindianexpress.com/cities/kochi/2021/mar/04/a-decade-down-ictt-aims-to-emerge-as-indias-transhipment-hub-2271745.html 8. sagarmala.gov.in/sites/default/files/MIV%202030%20Report.pdf 9. ibef.org/industry/ports-india-shipping.aspx

" No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of half of its citizens. " - Michelle Obama, Former First Lady of the United States In the run up to International Women’s Day 2022, my readings discovered select elements of women’s rights from American and English Legal History. The right to vote nationwide was mandated only in 1920 in the USA, with the right to vote restricted to white men who held properties in the 18th century and certain states allowed women to vote. Two years earlier Britain passed the Representation of the People Act wherein women over the age of 30 who met a property qualification were allowed to vote. Scholarship usually credits Western societies for introducing ideals such as independence and liberty and through it achieving economic independence. Yet, women have been conveniently left out this entire narrative and process. Women have contributed immensely throughout the ages. Mary Wollstonecraft is the first feminist thinker who advocated equality of women. Through her book, ‘ A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)’, she argues that women are not naturally inferior to men, but appear to be only because they lack education. Despite stressing on the need for education to achieve equality, women being involved in the society and its advances does not come through soon. Levels of literacy would have improved but for participation in political and economic spheres, that came quite later. Such movements instead had men in the forefront of the account. Women and their rights were not treated primary or considered equal to that of men. In the contemporary globalized world, democratic institutions ensure participation of people in choosing their elected representatives. As for most matters it is through the west that the world would have gained these critical ideas and thoughts, however, we see another trend in terms of equality in the Asian / eastern part of the world. Women in Asia have been part of political movements throughout history. Although there has been fractured development in terms of literacy rates in several countries among women, it is also true that women have been given voting rights as well as been premiers of their country. The first woman to become head of governance as Prime Minister was Sirimavo Bandranaike in 1960 from the small island nation of Sri Lanka. She was elected to power with a decisive victory which was a big achievement in history. This was in a country that attained independence in 1948 and had its first woman elected representative in just 12 years from independence. India also had its first woman prime minister around the same timeline. In 1966, Indira Gandhi became India’s third Prime Minister. She is known as the Iron Lady of India and was a popular leader in terms of policies as well as leadership skills. While her tenure as prime minister came with several controversies yet the significance was particiular in a nation that was a colony just two decades earlier. Adding to the list of phenomenal women in governance, we have Golda Meir from Israel who served as the Prime Minister in 1969. She had the title of Iron Lady of the Middle East. As the global order changed from the colonial period, we have independent countries choosing women as their leaders and even granting equal voting rights. Unlike in the western world, which has been a leader in these very ideals yet not recognising and promoting gender equality. It wasn’t until 1979, that Britain elected a woman as its prime minister. Margaret Thatcher was popularly referred to the Iron Lady of the West for her portrayal in the media & her stance on several policies. This highlights how the eastern world has produced more women leaders as elected representatives and have been at the forefront in promoting equality among genders as well as bridging the gaps among the genders. In the todays’ day and age we’ve women leading several industries and being world leaders. Probably for the first time in history, through the technological age, women are creating history equally with men. Although the capacity and the women involved in the changes worldwide are still not even a fraction of the total population. Several instances clearly highlight that we still have a long way to go to incorporate women into crucial conversations at each level. Even today, phrases such as breaking the glass ceiling, having a seat at the table or even building her own table are being used to quote an achievement made by a woman. Each win of a woman must be celebrated to ensure young girls and women learn and leap forward to take what is theirs. With each year on the 8th of March, we celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. Alongside raising awareness about women's equality, accelerate gender parity, we must ensure to promote women in all industries equally and provide opportunities through each sphere to women to equip her to grow to her full potential and as well as deliver the best for the world too. I believe it is & must be affirmed as a thought that women have a key role in contributing to the structures and institutions of the world. “Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn't be that women are the exception” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 2nd Women Justice of US Supreme Court Stay connected for great learnings and a #Knowledge #Influence #Life Voyage at https://www.johnsonodakkal.com/

#GoaLiberation1961 Saga of Goa's liberation is one that showcases the power of the peoples' movement, be it indigenous or from neighbor states. While decisive military action sealed the liberation finale in 36 hours, the contribution of ordinary folks helped the region of Goa attain freedom after 451 years of Portuguese rule. Goa had a slightly different story compared to most parts of India as it had a more brutal Portuguese colonization and did not taste freedom for 14 years after Indian independence. As we celebrate the #DiamondJubilee of #GoaLiberation1961 may we unite our hearts with the travails of countless brave fighters of an erstwhile era from different parts of the country who supported Goa and its' people. The Malabar "Jathas" or marches, ran parallel to the main narrative of Indian Independence. Our founder & CEO, Cmde (Dr) Johnson Odakkal in a recent talk at the Goa Liberation Seminar by #IndianNavy on 14th December 2021 highlighted stellar work by veteran journalist, Late M.B. Singh, Shri Narayanan Nair, and his own inspirational father Odakkal Master of Kondotty, Malappuram, Kerala. In 1955, three marches of "Jathas" from the Malabar region of Kerala found solidarity with the Goan indigenous freedom movement. The talk in addition mentioned Dr. Tristao de Braganza Cunha, in addition to local women warriors - Sindhu Deshpande, Libia Lobo, Shashikala Hodarkar, Sharada Padmakar Savaikar in the peoples' movement. They were an assertive resistance against the colonial European power and sent a strong message to the Portuguese, that it was time for them to leave. He spoke of how they were reluctant to give up Goa with flimsy arguments. The changing global scenario, the peoples' movement, and the military action by Indian Armed Forces, all combined to pave the way for a free Goa. A period of 15 long years since Ram Manohar Lohia raised a public protest, Goa was free. The takeaway was the zeal and spirit of the idea of “India” that may not have had a Republic or Constitutional tag prior to 1950 and yet has had a civilizational legacy for many millennia.