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The Independent
5 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Netherlands returns 119 looted artifacts known as Benin Bronzes to Nigeria
The Netherlands on Thursday returned 119 artifacts looted from Nigeria, including human and animal figures, plaques, royal regalia and a bell. The artifacts, known as the Benin Bronzes and mostly housed in a museum in the city of Leiden, were looted in the late 19th century by British soldiers. In recent years, museums across Europe and North America have moved to address ownership disputes over artifacts looted during the colonial era. They were returned at the request of Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments. During the handover ceremony in Edo State, Oba Ewuare II, the monarch and custodian of Benin culture, described the return of the artifacts as a 'divine intervention.' The Benin Bronzes were returned at the request of Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments. The restitution is a testament to the power of prayer and determination, the monarch said. The Dutch government is committed to returning artifacts that do not belong to the country, said Marieke Van Bommel, director of the Wereld Museum. Olugbile Holloway, the commission's director, said the return of 119 artifacts marks the largest single repatriation to date and that his organization is working hard to recover more items looted during colonial times. Nigeria formally requested the return of hundreds of objects from museums around the world in 2022. Some 72 objects were returned from a London museum that year while 31 were returned from a museum in Rhode Island. The Benin Bronzes were stolen in 1897 when British forces under the command of Sir Henry Rawson sacked the Benin kingdom and forced Ovonramwen Nogbaisi, the monarch at the time, into a six-month exile. Benin is located in modern-day southern Nigeria.
Time of India
6 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Insurer cannot delay payment to avoid settlement
Leather Line Tanneries was engaged in the manufacture of buffalo leather. It had mortgaged its assets to Bank of India for availing credit facilities. It had also obtained five policies from Oriental Insurance to cover various losses to the extent of about Rs 48 crore. During the tenure of the policies, a fire broke out in the factory due to an electrical short circuit, causing extensive damage and halting operations. The incident was reported to the insurer who appointed a surveyor. The total loss was assessed at about Rs 1.5 crore on market value basis, and at Rs 3.59 crore on reinstatement value basis. During a joint meeting, it was mutually agreed that repairable machinery would be assessed based on repair bills, while machinery requiring replacement would be evaluated according to the replacement invoices. An interim payment of Rs 1.57 crore was released, which was deposited in Bank of India. Meanwhile, the bank declared the insured a defaulter, which triggered panic amongst the creditors, leading to premature supplier demands and financial distress. The insured filed a securitisation appeal before the Debt Recovery Tribunal which held that there was no wilful default and an opportunity must be given for rehabilitation. The insured also filed a complaint before the National Commission. The insurer argued that only the market value was payable since the insured had failed to carry out the reinstatement within 12 months. The National Commission disagreed it concluded that expecting the insured to spend Rs 3.59 crore on its own for reinstatement constituted a deficiency in service. Accordingly, by its order of May 23, 2025, it directed the insurer to pay the reinstatement value of Rs 3.59 crore along with 9% interest. Additionally, costs of Rs 1 lakh was also awarded.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Nigeria receives over 100 looted artifacts from the Netherlands
The Netherlands on Saturday officially handed back to Nigeria 119 precious ancient sculptures, stolen from the former kingdom of Benin more than 120 years ago during the colonial era. It is the latest return of artefacts to Africa, as pressure mounts on Western governments and institutions to hand back the spoils of colonial oppression. Nigeria celebrated the return of the priceless "Benin Bronzes" -- metal and ivory sculptures dating back to the 16th to 18th centuries -- with a ceremony held at the National Museum in Lagos, showcasing four of them in the museum's courtyard. The selection included a bronze carving of a king's head, a carved elephant tusk and a small leopard. In the 19th century, British troops stole thousands of Benin Bronzes in the then-independent kingdom of Benin, in the south of present-day Nigeria. The sculptures were pillaged from the kingdom's royal palace and have since been held in museums and private collections across Europe and the United States. The four artefacts currently on display in Lagos will remain in the museum's permanent collection, while the others will be returned to Ewuare II, the Oba of Benin -- the traditional ruler of the kingdom of Benin in southern Nigeria. "These are embodiments of the spirit and identity of the people from which they were taken from," said Olugbile Holloway, director-general of Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments. "All we ask of the world is to treat us with fairness, dignity and respect," he said at the ceremony, where he announced that Germany had agreed to return more than 1,000 additional Benin Bronze pieces. "The German government has actually signed a transfer agreement to hand over a 1,000 Benin Bronzes back" to Nigeria, he said. - Dignity - Nigeria's art and culture minister Hannatu Musa Musawa, who signed the handover document with the Dutch ambassador for international cultural cooperation, Dewi van de Weerd, said "Nigeria needs to reclaim its history and its heritage". "The deal reached with Germany further underscores the growing international commitment to right historical wrongs and foster mutual respect," she added. Van de Weerd said the Netherlands said the "return of the bronzes which were stolen in 1897 by the British is historic" and would help to restore "dignity". She said her government was also working with other countries such as Indonesia and Sri Lanka for the restitution of artworks plundered by imperialist nations. Adebimpe Adebambo, a Lagos-based artist who has followed the repatriation of the Benin artefacts over the years, said she had paid "top euro to see the works that were stolen from my country". "Im happy that they have come home to us," she told AFP at the ceremony. sn/sbk
NDTV
10-06-2025
- Health
- NDTV
Supreme Court Pauses Delhi High Court Order Ousting Medicine System Head
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed an order setting aside the appointment of the chairperson of National Commission for Indian System of Medicine holding him ineligible for office. A bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Manmohan issued notice to National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISMC) and others on the appeal filed by Vaidya Jayant Yeshwant Deopujari. Deopujari challenged the June 6 order of the Delhi High Court, which allowed two petitions against his appointment as the NCISMC chairperson. The commission's counsel informed the high court that the process of selection and appointment of the chairperson had commenced following which it directed the expeditious completion of the process. The high court also asked for its observations to be taken into account during the selection process. The petitions in the high court were filed by Ved Prakash Tyagi, former president of the erstwhile Central Council for Indian Medicine, and Dr Raghunandan Sharma. The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions had issued a circular on June 9, 2021 appointing Deopujari as the commission's chairperson. The petitioners alleged that Deopujari could not be appointed as the chairperson of the commission as he does not hold a postgraduate degree, mandated under the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Act, 2020 (NCISM Act). The high court held Deopujari possessed a PhD degree whereas the requisite degree was MD or any other equivalent master's degree in any discipline of Indian System of Medicine. The PhD degree which was awarded to him by Pune University did not presuppose acquisition of lower qualification (Master's Degree in Ayurveda), it said. "We have no hesitation to hold that the expression 'Post-Graduate Degree' occurring in Section 4(2) of the NCISM Act, 2020 in the context it has been used would mean a Master's Degree (MD) in any discipline of Indian System of Medicine which the respondent does not possess and, therefore, he lacks the requisite qualification for being appointed to the office in question," the high court said. Deopujari, the high court noted, was admitted to the PhD course without undergoing the master's degree course, soon after graduating in Ayurveda (BAMS). The high court opined every degree awarded by an university after graduation couldn't be termed as "post-graduation qualification" for the reason that in the domain of higher education in our country "post graduate degree" acquired a special meaning and significance and post-graduate degree means a master's degree like MA, MSc, MD, LLM or MEd. The high court said the NCISM Act emphasised on the functions of the commission to maintain high quality and high standards of education in the Indian System of Medicine and, as a result, phrases such as "head of a department" and "head of an organisation" were to be understood and construed in the context in which Parliament passed the Act.
Nahar Net
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Nahar Net
Bassil calls for fully abolishing sectarianism, not only in politics
by Naharnet Newsdesk 5 hours Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has addressed Prime Minister Nawaf Salam by saying that 'broad administrative decentralization should be also financial or it cannot exist.' Separately, he said in the same X post that 'the constitution stipulated that the mission of the National Commission (for the Abolition of Political Sectarianism) would be proposing methods to fully abolish sectarianism.' 'Exclusively abolishing political sectarianism would stand for the hegemony of the numerical majority over the minority,' he warned. He added: 'To all Lebanese I say: They all granted the government their confidence and only the FPM has become the opposition.'
