Ancient Africans were the first nerds as far as 70,000 years ago.

May be for the first time, the scientists of the West have accepted that modern human behaviour originated in Africa in contrast to their earlier claims that it was in Europe. A publication of the findings in Daily Mail is reproduced below. In this context I thought it is appropriate to reproduce the signs of man with considerable advancement even as early  as millions of years ago as documented in the book Forbidden Archaeology and reproduced in http://commonworldinheritage.blogspot.in/2008/06/forbidden-archealogy-by-richard.html  It is also reproduced below.

From Puranic inputs, Africa was well developed and had a Varna system in the past. The presence of Varna system means existence of division of labour in a self sustained and well knit society. The first migration about a lakh year ago from east Africa to the scattered islands on the Indian Ocean – as indicated by genetic studies of Stephen Oppenheimer – largely contained people who had already mastered stone cutting and building techniques. They were known by the name Mayan who survived the worst catastrophe of Toba eruption which we identify as Tarakasura vada by Lord Shiva. From various clues in Puranic and Ithihasic narration, I would say that the first developed occupation was not agriculture but stone cutting, cutting caves and modifying existing caves (the inhabitants of such caves under the ground were called as Nagas) – from which the art of architecture developed.

The epitome of Mayan's supreme skill of architecture was achieved in and around the volcanoes of Sundaland (Indonesia) where mankind had to live for considerable time during the early period after migration from Africa. They knew how to live in regions restricted by threatening volcanoes and beating the heat. The description on Nivata kavachas and Kalakanjas (the daitya – danavas ) in Mahabharata do indicate that they made a safe dwelling within the network of volcanoes which was possible by the skill of architecture of Mayans. This skill was not new and was present in the population when they moved out of Africa. The present research agrees to the view that Africans were quite skilful.

-Jayasree

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From

http://commonworldinheritage.blogspot.in/2008/06/forbidden-archealogy-by-richard.html

Age	Site	Description	Reference
2.8 billion years ago	Ottosdalin, South Africa	Grooved Metal Spheres. These were found by South African miners. They are housed in museum in Klerksdorp.	Weekly World News, July 27, 1982. 'Scientists baffled by space spheres' - S. Jimison
Age uncertain	Aixen Provence, France	Below 11 layers of limestone at a depth of 50 feet were found coins, handles of hammers and other wood tool fragments. This was in a quary where workers were cutting stones for a building a massive palace.	American Journal of Science 1820 (vol. 2, p 145-146)
Age Uncertain	12 miles North West of Philadelphia, PA, USA.	In 1830, letterlike shapes were discovered within a solid block of marble from a quarry. The block was found at a depth of 60-70 Ft under layers of gneiss, mica slate, hornblende, talcose slate, and primitive clay slate.	American Journal of Science 1831 (vol. 19, p 361)
505 - 590 million years ago	Utah	In 1968, Wiliam J. Meister, a draftsman and amateur trilobite collector, reported finding a shoe print in the Wheeler Shale near Antelope Spring, Utah. This Shoelike indentation and it's cast were revealed when Meister split open a block of shale. " The heel print was indented in the rock about an eighth of an inch more than the sole. The footprint was clearly that of the right foot because the sandal was well worn on the rht side of the heel in characteristic fashion."	Creation Research Quarterly, 5(3): 97-102 'Discovery of trilobite fossils in shod footprint of human in Trilobite Bed' - W.J. Meister 1968
360-408 million years ago	North Britain	10 inch nail was discovered embedded in a block of sandstone in Kingoodie (Mylnfield) quarry in 1844.	Dr. A.W. Medd, British Geological Survey
260-320 milion years ago	Webster City, Iowa	Article titled "Carved Stone Buried in a Mine" from Daily News of Omaha decribed an object that was found at the bottom of a coal mine 130 feet down where the miners were sure the earth had never been disturbed before. He object was a dark grey stone about 2 feet long, one foot wide and 4 inches thick. "Over the surface of the stone are lines drawn forming perfect diamonds. The center of each diamond is a fairly good face of an old man having a peculiar indentation in the forehead that appears in each of the pictures, all of them being remarkably alike. Of the faces, all but two are looking to the right."	The April 2, 1897 edition of the Daily News of Omaha
312 million years ago	Wilburton Mine, Oklahoma	On January 10, 1949, Robert Nordling sent a photograph of an iron cup to Frank L. Marsh of Andrews University, in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Nordling wrote: "I visited a friend's museum in southern Missouri. Among his curios, he had the iron cup pictured on the enclosed snapshot". At the private museum, the iron cup had been displayed along with the following affidavit, made by Frank J. Kenwood in Sulphur Springs, Arkansas, on Nov 27, 1948: " While I was working in the Municipal Electric Plant in Thomas, Okla. in 1912, I came upon a solid chunk of coal which was too large to use. I broke it with a sledge hammer. This iron pot fell from the center, leaving the impression or mold of the pot in the piece of coal, and saw the pot fall out. I traced the source of the coal, and found that it came rom the Wilburton, Oklahoma, Mines". According to Robert O. Fay of the Oklahoma Geological Survey, the Wilburton mine coal is about 312 millon years old.	Creation Research Society Quarterly, 7: 201-202 'Human footprints in rocks' - W.H. Rusch, Sr. 1971
286 Million years ago	Heavener, Oklahoma	ANCIENT POLISHED STONE WALL FOUND IN COAL MINE W.W. McCormick of Abilene, Texas. Reported his grandfather's account of a stone block wall that was found deep within a coal mine: "In the year 1928, I, Atlas Almon Mathis, was working in coal mine No. 5, located 2 miles north of Heavener, Oklahoma. This was a shaft, and they told us it was 2 miles deep. The mine was so deep they let us down in an elevator....They pumped air down to us, it was so deep". One evening, Mathis was blasting coal lose by explosives in "room 24" of this mine. "The next moring, there were several concrete blocks laying in the room. These blocks were 12-inch cubes and were so smooth and polished on the outside that all six sides could serve as mirrors. Yet were full of gravel, because I chipped one of them open with my pick, and it was plain concrete inside. As I started to timber the room up, it caved in; and I barely escaped. When I came back after the cave-in, a solid wall of these polished blockes was left exposed. About 100 to 150 yards farther down our air core, another miner struck this same wall, or one very similar." The coal mine was probably Carboniferous, which would mean the wall was at least 286 million years old. According to Mathis, the mining company officers immediately pulled the men out of the mine and forbade them to speak about what they had seen. This mine was closed in the fall of 1928.	Worlds before our own - B. Steiger 1979, p.27
286 Million years ago	Hammondville, Ohio	James Parsons, and his two sons, exhumed a slate wall in a coal mine at Hammondville, Ohio, in 1868. It was a large, smooth wall, disclosed when a great mass of coal fell away from it, and on its surface, carved in bold relief, were several lines of hieroglyphics.	The Case for the UFO - M.K. Jessup 1973, p. 65
213 - 248 million years old	Nevada	On Oct 8, 1922, the American Weekly section of the New York Sunday American ran a prominent feature titled "Mystery of the Petrified 'Shoe Sole' 5,000,000 Years Old," by Dr. W.H. Ballou. Examined by Scientists and Shoe manufacturers, around the outline of the shoe print ran a well-defined sewn thread which had, it appeared , attached the welt to the sole. Further on was another line of sewing, and in the center was an indentation made by the bone of the heel rubbing upon and wearing down the sole material. Microphoto analysis showed details of thread twist and warp. Even to the naked eye threads can be seen distinctly as well as perforated stitches. The rock that the print was embedded in was found to be from the triassic period, 213-248 million years old.	The New York Sunday American, Oct 8, 1922.
65 million years ago	Saint-Jean de Livet, France	Y. Druet and H. Salfati announced in 1968 the discovery of semi-ovoid metallic tubes of identical shape but varying size in Cretaceous chalk. The chalk bed, exposed in a quary at Saint-Jean de Livet, France, is estimated to be at least 65 million years old.	Ancient Man: A Handbook of Puzzling Artifacts - W.R. Corliss 1978, pp. 652-653
2 million years ago	Nampa, Idaho	A small ( 2 in) clay human figurine coated with iron oxide was found from a well boring in 1889. The r ecord of the well shows that in reaching the stratum from which the figurine was brought up they had penetrated first about fifty feet of soil, then 15 feet of basalt, then alternate beds of clay and quicksand down to a depth of 300 feet, when the sand pump began bringing up clay balls densely coated with iron oxide (some were over 2 inches in diameter). In the lower portion of this stratum there were evidences of a buried land surface where vegetable mold was found. From this point the figurine was found. A few feet further down sandrock was reached.	Origin and Antiquity of Man - G.F. Wright (1912, pp. 266-267)
200,000 to 400,000 years old.	Lawn Ridge, Illinois	In 1870 J.W. Moffit found a Coin-like object with unrecognizable inscriptions, from a well boring found at a depth of 114 Ft. According to info supplied by the Illinoise State Geological Survey, the deposits containing the coin are between 200,000 and 400,000 years old. The strange "coin-medallion" was composed of an unidentified copper alloy, about the size and thickness of a U.S. quarter of that period. It was remarkably uniform in thickness, round, and the edges appeared to have been cut. Researcher William E. Dubois, who presented his investigation of the medallion to the American Philosophical Society, was convinced that the object had in fact passed through a rolling mill, the edges showed "further evidence of the machine shop." Both sides of the medallion were marked with artwork and hieroglyphs, but these had not been metal-engraved or stamped. Rather, the figures had somehow been etched in acid, to a remarkable degree of intricacy. One side showed the figure of a woman wearing a crown or headdress; her left arm is raised as if in benediction, and her right arm holds a small child, also crowned. The woman appears to be speaking. On the opposite side is another central figure, that looks like a crouching animal: it has long, pointed ears, large eyes and mouth, claw-like arms, and a long tail frayed at the very end. Below and to the left of it is another animal, which bears a strong resemblance to a horse. Around the outer edges of both sides of the coin are undecipherable glyphs - they are of very definite character, and show all the signs of a form of alphabetic writing. Note By Common World Blog: (1) Just how many variations of "AUM" can one see? Bottom Left to Right, Letter 2, 4, 8 and Top Left 11 and 12. Not to mention the wear and tear. Think this is just an weird co-incidence or one sees what one wants to see? (2) At 1 or 2'o Clock, there is a picture of Snake - which confirms that in the Ancient Times, the world worshiped Snakes - as also found all over in Middle East, mentioned by William Durant and also reported by Discovery in 2007	Proceedings of the American Philosphical Society, 12(86): 224-228, 'On a quasi coin reported found in a boring in Illinoise' - William E. Dubois of the Smithsonian Institution, 1871.

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From

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2243946/How-ancient-Africans-nerds-Birth-technology-traced-70-000-years-continents-southern-tip.html#ixzz2EKxdRwwg

How ancient Africans were the first nerds: Birth of technology traced back 70,000 years to the continent's southern tip 

• Technology found in southern Africa predates similar artefacts found in Europe by 30,000 years
• Archaeologist claims it decisively shows that Africa is the birthplace of modern human cognition
• Findings debunk widely held belief that modern human behaviour originated in Europe 40,000 years ago

By Damien Gayle

PUBLISHED: 12:46 GMT, 6 December 2012 |

UPDATED: 12:46 GMT, 6 December 2012

Modern human technology began more than 70,000 years ago in South Africa before spreading to communities elsewhere, a new study claims.

It was there that our ancestors made the first bone tools, the first abstract art, the first jewellery and probably the first stone tipped spears and arrows, research shows.

The claims, based on archaeological findings over the past decade, contradict the widely held belief that modern human behaviour originated in Europe about 40,000 years ago.

The first nerds? A reconstruction of a Homo sapiens hunting party from the BBC documentary Planet of the Apeman. New research traces the birth of technology 70,000 years to southern Africa

They chime with findings published just last month which suggested that the development of long-range weapons in Africa was the technological breakthrough which allowed humans to become the dominant species.

Renowned archaeologist Professor Christopher Henshilwood, of Wits University in South Africa, author of the new paper, says the most recent research decisively shows that Africa is the birthplace of modern human cognition.

'All of these innovations, plus many others we are just discovering, clearly show that Homo sapiens in southern Africa at that time were cognitively modern and behaving in many ways like ourselves,' he said.

'It is a good reason to be proud of our earliest, common ancestors who lived and evolved in South Africa and who later spread out into the rest of the world after about 60,000 years.'

The first gadgets: A) bone point from the Middle Stone Age levels at Peers Cave. B-g) bone tools from the Still Bay levels at Blombos Cave; b-e are bone awls; f-g are bone points. H-i) engraved lines on tools c and g. J) engraved bone fragment

Professor Henshilwood's paper is the first detailed summary of research into the Still Bay techno-traditions, dating back 75,000 years, and the Howiesons Poort techno-tradition, which dates back 65,000 years.

The paper, entitled Late Pleistocene Techno-traditions in Southern Africa: A Review of the Still Bay and Howiesons Poort, c. 75 ka, published online today in the Journal of World Prehistory.

These were periods of many innovations including, for example, the first abstract art (engraved ochre and engraved ostrich eggshell); the first jewellery (shell beads); the first bone tools; and the earliest use of the pressure flaking technique, that was used in combination with heating to make stone spear points and the first probable use of stone tipped arrows.

Engraved ochres from the Still Bay M1 phase at Blombos Cave: A) Two groups of incisions, one on the centre and one close to the edge; in the centre two joining lines form a 'Y' that is crossed by a few perpendicular parallel lines; three incisions cross these lines. B) Two lines that cross perpendicularly on the top right margin; converging lines produced with a single lithic point. C) this piece retains only a small area of the original engraved pattern; three straight oblique lines incised on the top left with two sinuous lines that cross them. D) three distinct sets of lines engraved on a natural surface; piece was then knapped and a part of the engraving removed. E) a group of sinuous lines engraved on one face; the opposite face is highly scraped and engraved with a cross-hatched pattern. F) Cross-hatched pattern incised on one long edge

The research also addresses some of the nagging questions as to what drove our ancestors to develop these innovative technologies.

HOW TECHNOLOGY FROM AFRICA GAVE HUMANS THE 'KILLING EDGE'

The development of 'high tech' long range weapons 71,000 years ago in Africa gave humans the killing edge which helped make us the dominant species, research suggests.

Finds in South Africa suggest that by the time our ancestors began to spread across the planet they had developed advanced weapons that made them more than a match for Neanderthal rivals.

Research on stone tools and Neanderthal anatomy strongly suggests that our now-extinct sister species lacked true projectile weapons.

'When Africans left Africa and entered Neanderthal territory they had projectiles with greater killing reach, and these early moderns probably also had higher levels of pro-social (hyper-cooperative) behaviour,' said Curtis Marean, project director and Arizona State University professor in the Institute of Human Origins.

'These two traits were a knockout punch. Combine them, as modern humans did and still do, and no prey or competitor is safe.

'This probably laid the foundation for the expansion out of Africa of modern humans and the extinction of many prey as well as our sister species such as Neanderthals.'

According to Professor Henshilwood answers to these questions are, in part, found in demography and climate change, particularly changing sea levels, which were major drivers of innovation and variability in material culture.

This paper is just the latest to come from Professor Henshilwood and others' research on African archaeology that has debunked the idea that modern human behaviour originated in Europe after about 40,000 years ago.

There is increasing evidence for an African origin for behavioural and technological modernity more than 70,000 years ago and that the earliest origin of all Homo sapiens lies in Africa with a special focus in southern Africa.

Last month MailOnline reported a new study by U.S. researchers which suggested the development of 'high tech' long range weapons 71,000 years ago in the region gave humans the killing edge to help make us the dominant species.

The findings at Pinnacle Point, near Mossel Bay, included Stone Age technology that only took hold in other areas of Africa and in Eurasia about 50,000 years later.

Those researchers noted that the depth of archaeological research in Africa was minuscule compared to that which has taken place so far in Europe, and because of that it was likely that far more would be learned soon.

In the new paper, Professor Henshilwood writes: 'In just the past decade our knowledge of Homo sapiens behaviour in the Middle Stone Age, and in particular of the Still Bay and Howiesons Poort, has expanded considerably.

'With the benefit of hindsight we may ironically conclude that the origins of "Neanthropic Man", the epitome of behavioural modernity in Europe, lay after all in Africa.'

Babri demolition: How HC verdict discredited 'eminent' historians - by Prof R. Vaidyanathan

From

 

http://www.firstpost.com/india/babri-demolition-how-hc-verdict-discredited-eminent-historians-547549.html

 

Babri demolition: How HC verdict discredited 'eminent' historians

 by

By R Vaidyanathan

It runs to more than 8,000 pages and it contains is a marvelous set of documents on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri case. On the 20th anniversary of the demolition, it is worth looking at some aspects of the judgment delivered by the full bench of the Allahabad High Court in September 2012.

The judgment, which awarded two parts of the disputed land to Hindu groups and one to the Muslim one, is now being contested by the parties in the Supreme Court, but it offers an extraordinary insight in to our culture, history, and civilisational ethos. It dwells at length on Persian sources, German writings, French observations, Urdu literature and, of course, Sanskrit evidence. It deals with archeology, history, linguistics, anthropology, zoology, literature, the puranas, the jataka tales and many other subjects and disciplines.

The sweep of the judgment and the canvas covered is mind-boggling and it makes one proud of our judiciary. This judgment will be quoted discussed and dissected by legal as well as academic experts for several decades.

But we shall not discuss the judgment's core aspects, and focus instead on what it has to say on our "eminent historians" who were shown to be not so eminent, and their attitudes fairly unacademic.

Many "independent experts", historians and archeologists appeared on behalf of the Sunni Waqf Board but in the end the special bench of three judges unanimously dismissed the objections raised by them about the ruins of a temple under the demolished structure. It was Justice Sudhir Agarwal who put their claims to judicial scrutiny.

Interestingly many of these "experts" had deposed twice in the court - once before the ASI excavations and another after. Before the excavations they asserted that there was no temple beneath the disputed structure and after it was dug up they began to claim that what was unearthed was a mosque or stupa. Not only that, they found themselves withering under judicial scrutiny in spite of writing signed articles and issuing pamphlets and long public letters.

The judge asked pointed queries which might never been asked by their students.

The cross-examination covers several pages and a gripping reading. It shows the levels to which our academics have fallen and become hand maidens of the political machinery. Let us look at some of their statements, and how they do nothing to enhance their profession's reputation.

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Activists of the Bajrang Dal Party hold torches while standing behind a model of Ram Temple on the 14th anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Masjid. AFP

Supriya Verma an, "expert" who challenged the excavations done by the ASI, had not read the radar survey report on ground penetration that led to the court order for excavation. Verma and Jaya Menon, another "expert," were not present at the time of actual excavations but alleged that pillar bases at the excavated sites were planted.

Suvira Jaiswal says: "Whatever knowledge I gained with respect to the disputed site is based on newspaper reports or what others told." She also confessed that she "prepared a report on the Babri dispute after reading newspaper reports and on the basis of discussion with my medieval history expert in my department".

Jaiswal made an important clarification: "I am not giving (my) statement on oath regarding Babri Mosque without any probe and not on the basis of my knowledge; rather I am giving the statement on the basis of my opinion."

When opinion can be history why are they all screaming that "faith" cannot be an equally relevant criterion?

Archaeologist Shereen Ratnagar admitted she did not have any "field" experience as far as Babri was concerned and had written an "introduction" to the book of another "expert" who deposed before the court, namely Prof D Mandal. This expert witness for the Waqf Board admitted he wrote his "Ayodhya: Archaeology after Demolition" without even visiting Ayodhya and with an eye to the presidential reference to the Supreme Court. Mandal also admitted that "Whatsoever little knowledge I have of Babur is only that Babur was (a) ruler of the 16th century. Except for this I do not have any knowledge of Babur." The judge, Agarwal, was sufficiently moved to say about Mandal that "the statements made by him in cross-examination show the shallowness of his knowledge on the subject".

Suraj Bhan was providing evidence based on medieval history but another expert of Muslim parties, namely Shireen Musavi, says that Bhan is an archeologists and not a historian.

The ASI report submitted to the court after an excavation of the site had brushed aside the so-called Historians' Report to the Nation authored by RS Sharma, M Athar Ali, DN Jha and Suraj Bhan, released in May 1991. This document was a plea to the government of India "to include impartial historians in the process of forming judgment on historical facts". As an example of this "impartial" history, it was argued that "the full blown legend of the destruction of a temple at the site of Rama's birth and Sita ki Rasoi is as late as the 1850s. Since then what we get is merely the progressive reconstruction of imagined history based on faith." But Bhan confessed that the grandly titled Historians' Report to the Nation was written under "pressure" in six weeks and "without going through the record of the excavation by BB Lal".

Shireen Musavi suggested that "the legend of Ayodhya being the birthplace of Rama is found from the 17th century, prior to which there is no legend about Rama's birthplace in medieval history". However, during cross-examination, Musavi admitted: "It is correct that in Sikh literature there is a tradition that Guru Nanak had visited Ayodhya, had darshan of Ram Janmasthan and had bathed in the River Saryu."

Prof Mandal retired from the Department of Ancient History and Archaeology, Allahabad University. He was appointed on an ad hoc basis as Lecturer in 1972 but prior to that he claimed to have worked as exploration assistant since 1960. Initially he appeared as an expert to depose that there was no archaeological evidence to show either the existence of any temple at the disputed site or that a temple was demolished before construction of the disputed structure. The statements made by him in cross-examination show the shallowness of his knowledge and provide a sample about all these "eminences"

A few of his quotes:  "I never visited Ayodhya". "I do not have any specific knowledge of the history of Babur's reign." "Whatsoever little knowledge I have about Babur is only that Babur was the ruler of the 16th century. Except for this I do not have any knowledge of Babur. I do not have knowledge of anything in 2nd Para of the editorial preface to my book (exhibit 63) in which Romila Thapar has written that Vishwa Hindu Parishad, BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, for the first time, raised the issue of the Babri Masjid being located on the place which was earlier Rama's birth place. I also do not know whether or not it is correctly written on page 10 of the aforesaid preface that Ayodhya is a site of pilgrimage for adherents of Ramanand school." "The Communist Party issues a red card, and I am its holder. It is true that I have no faith in religion."

Further: "It is true that I have not seen the disputed building as yet. I did not make any physical investigation of stone used in inscriptions carved out in the disputed building. Likewise, I also did not make physical investigation of basalt stone." "My finding in my book (exhibit 63) is not based  on any article. My finding is based on materials written in this connection and given in the book (paper no.118C-1/35) filed in Suit No.5/89 and chiefly on the photograph (paper no118C-1/36) depicting the excavation undertaken by Prof BB Lal near the Babri Mosque. It is also correct to say that I drew findings, taking the brief report of BB Lal, as given in paper no.118C-1/35 (Ram Janambhumi: Ayodhya) and the reproduction of the photograph taken by him to be sacrosanct." "Many of my colleagues inspired me to write the book (exhibit 63)."

Mandal also said: "It is also true that I had requested one of them to write an introduction to my book, and the colleague thus requested was Miss Shereen Ratnagar."

The learned Judge rightly observes: "A bare perusal of the above makes it clear that he virtually made a critical analysis of the book that is Paper No.118C1/36, a small booklet published by Prof BB Lal and beyond that made no further study/research, etc. Only on that basis, he wrote a book, and analyzed the belief of the people whether the disputed structure was constructed after demolishing a temple or that there existed any temple of 11th or 12th century which was demolished before its construction. The own admissions and clarification this witness has given, we find that the entire opinion of this witness is short of the requirement under Section 45 of the Evidence Act, 1872, to qualify as an opinion of an expert which may be considered relevant on a fact in issue, by this court. "

The list goes on. Justice Agarwal refers to the signed statement of these experts and notes that "instead of helping in making a cordial atmosphere, it tends to create complications, conflict and controversy. The experts carry weight with public opinion and conclude that 'one cannot say that though I had made a statement I am not responsible for its authenticity since it is not based on my study or research, but what I have learnt from what others have uttered."

Clearly, the expertise of eminences has been exposed. If such a thing had happened in physics or chemistry or medicine or accounting, the concerned person would have been taken to task by their professional associations. Unfortunately, the social science disciplines in India are under the grip of Left charlatans and they are not accountable to any. It is important that they are made accountable. Many of the things they said hardened positions on both sides, and they cannot now wriggle out and claim what they said was not their expert opinion.

Their respective universities would do well to initiate action against them or take other disciplinary steps to improve the reputation of the profession of historian. The textbooks written or edited by them for schools and colleges should be revoked and other books of less eminent - but more honest - historians should be prescribed

They need to be made accountable and brought to book, howsoever highly networked or "eminent" they are. Is the HRD ministry, and various universities, listening?

The author is Professor of Finance and Control, IIM Bangalore, The views are personal and do not reflect that of his organisation.