Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 10 (IANS) :
The crow sings! Sita is the most worshipped Hindu goddess!
http://news.newkerala.com/kerala-news/inde...ullnews&id=6903
Errors like these have landed the Malayalam version of the Encyclopaedia Britannica in trouble, with a consumer forum in Kerala ruling that its sale should be banned.
The Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum in Kottayam has asked for the ban because of 3,000 defects detected by K. Ajaykumar, a college lecturer.
The Malayalam version has been published by Ravi Deecee, DC Books, Kottayam, and co-published by Encyclopaedia Britannica India Limited, New Delhi.
The forum passed the order after Ajaykumar approached it, pointing out that it was of poor quality in both content and presentation. The entries had not been arranged in proper order. The cross references were not proper. The translation was poor, editing was inferior and, above all, there were factual errors, he said.
Ajaykumar argued the case himself. He said after going through the book, which he brought for Rs.1,575, he was shocked to find errors.
"I was forced to approach the forum after DC Books refused to take back the inferior quality book. The publishers claimed that the book was error free and released on time, whereas it was not," Ajaykumar told IANS.
Ajaykumar said the glaring factual errors include Sita as the most worshipped Hindu goddess.
"It also says that the crow sings and erstwhile Travancore was ruled by Muslims and the Kerala rulers belonged to the Nair community," said Ajaykumar.
Incidentally, the Malayalam version that was released in September 2003 is the first time that the encyclopaedia had gone for an edition in a regional Indian language. It has three volumes and close to 3,000 pages.
The forum said the petitioner had been able to prove factual errors.
It asked the publisher to refund the Rs.1,575 with interest on surrender of the book and also ordered that the petitioner be paid Rs.1,000.
It asked the publisher to stop unfair trade practices.
"We are satisfied that the petitioner has been able to prove that there is unfair trade practice on the part of the opposite party in publishing the book Britannica Malayalam Encyclopaedia," reads the judgment.
Ravi Deecee said DC will appeal the judgement.
"Every day don't you see mistakes in the TV news and newspapers? There are about 100 odd typographical errors. Britannica officials are also seized of the issue and are studying the case," said Deecee.
He also pointed out that close to 22,000 copies had been sold.