Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Think beyond dams and trees in NE India

Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER)… Dr. Jitendra Singh has announced “Make in Northeast” initiative, beginning with a comprehensive tourism plan for the region

“in the long run seek to promote exclusive Northeast expertise in areas like tea processing, organic farming, food processing, exploitation of wind power through wind mills, AYUSH, wellness therapies like spas, etc”.

Everyone is interested in promoting North-East region; central government’s assistance is also flowing to this area. Hope that, at least this time someone will think beyond constructing dams and cutting down the trees while thinking about development.

Sajeev

References
1. GoI

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Brave Kids of India - Those who lived up to the situation

Republic will confer Bravery awards to 24 brave kids on Jan 26
Confucius once told, “If you see what is right and fail to act on that, you lack courage”.

Many of us often fell in to this situation, where we know something happening in front of us is not right; but we often lack the courage to do something to stop it, to act against it.

Here are those 24(16 boys and 8 girls) brave kids of India upon whom the republic will confer National Bravery Awards. I salute each of those brave kids (and others), who lived up to the situation and fought against injustice.

Bharat Award – went to 16.5 year old Resham Fatma (Uttar Pradesh), a victim of Acid attack, for putting on a brave face while fighting off her persecutor.

Geeta Chopra Award – Went to 13.5 year old Gunjan Sharma (Assam) who displayed exemplary valour in saving her friends from their abductor.

Sanjay Chopra Award – Went to 16.5 year old Devesh Kumar (Uttar Pradesh) who displayed outstanding courage while confronting two chain-snatchers.

BapuGaidhani Award – Went to,
13.5 year old Rumoh Meto - who saved a person from electrocution – from Arunachal Pradesh,
15 year old Late Riya Chaudhary – who sacrificed her life while trying to save her father from those who attacked her family members - from Uttar Pradesh and
16 year old Late Monika - who lost her life while trying to save a child from drowning - from Uttarakhand.

Other recipients of bravery award are,
Zeal Jitendra Marathe, HiralJitubhaiHalpati and Late Master Gaurav Kumar Bharti (all from Gujarat),
Master Sahanesh R (Karnataka),
AshwiniBanduUghade (Maharashtra),
Brainson Singh and Tooldev Sharma (both from Manipur),
Ripa Das (Tripura),
Balram Dansena (Chhattisgarh),
Rajdeep Das (Jharkhand),
Anjith, Aqil Mohammad and Midhun (all from Kerala),
Stevenson Lawriniang (Meghalaya),
Late Mesak K Remnalalnghaka (Mizoram),
Mhonbeni Equng (Nagaland),
Labhanshu (Uttarakhand) and
Late Gaurav Kumar Bharti (Uttar Pradesh)

Once again my salute to all those brave kids. Let’s make a decision that when next time something wrong happens in front of us, we will rise up to the situation and help the victims as well as law enforcement agencies.

Sajeev

Reference

1. GoI

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Boko Haram’s usage of under aged girls as suicide bombers is a crime against humanity

Parents of Chibok kidnapping victims
20 people were killed in a recent blast in northern Nigerian market of Maiduguri. Blast was not unexpected in this part of Nigeria, which is hotbed of Boko Haram’s insurgency.  The word ‘Boko Haram’ means ‘Western education is forbidden’; they are trying everything to justify that name.

What makes this blast different from other suicide attacks is the usage of a girl, no more than 10 year old, as carrier.

Imagine who will suspect a 10 year girl who hides powerful explosives under her veil?  But it’s a reality now; security forces need to be extra careful about people in veil. The sad part of this equation is ‘Boko Haram’ already kidnapped more than 200 girls. There is a possibility that many more will end up as suicide bombers.

Abubakar Shekau, Chief of 'Boko Haram'  Oct 2014

Hope that a stricter vigil from security forces and local participation will help the authorities to save those poor girls from Boko Haram’s grip.

Sajeev

References

1. In Nigeria, New Boko Haram Suicide Bomber Tactic: ‘It’s a Little Girl’ - NYT

New Indian Neutrino Observatory at Theni

 A neutrino hit a proton in a hydrogen atom. The collision occurred at the point 
where three tracks emanate on the right of the photograph.
Kolar Gold Field (KGF) was not simply a gold mine. It hosted India’s neutrino observatory as well. First atmospheric neutrinos were detected in this mine’s observatory (located more than 2000m deep) in 1965. With the shutting down of KGF, observatory also came to a standstill.
Now with Union government’s decision to construct a new observatory at Pottipuram in Bodi West Hills (Theni Dist, TN), we are once again going to be in the forefront of neutrino research.

This project includes,

(a) An underground laboratory (with a rock cover of more than 1000 metres all around) and associated surface facilities at Pottipuram.
(b) construction of an Iron Calorimeter (ICAL) detector for studying neutrinos, consisting of 50000 tons of magnetized iron plates arranged in stacks with gaps in between where Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) would be inserted as active detectors, the total number of 2m X 2m RPCs being around 29000, and
(c) Setting up of National Centre for High Energy Physics at Madurai, for the operation and maintenance of the underground laboratory, HRD and detector R&D along with its applications.

Why Pottipuram?

Geologically “southern Indian mountains have the most compact, dense rock (mostly gneiss) while the Himalayas are mostly metamorphic sedimentary rock with pockets of gneiss. A considerable area of peninsular India, the Indian Shield, consists of Archean gneisses and schists which are the oldest rocks found in India. While the Karnataka region has more schistic type rocks, the rock found in BWH is mainly Charnockite, which is the hardest rock known”.
After rejecting Himalayan sites due to geographical reasons, government’s choice was Nilgiri. However, it was not possible for MoEF to give clearance for construction work at such a critical biological hotspot; which is also having Tiger Reserves and Elephant Corridors. Finally Pottipuram was chosen, where the forests are mainly of shrub type.

What is this neutrino?

Neutrino is an electrically neutral, weakly interacting elementary subatomic particle with half-integer spin. They travel with a speed equivalent to that of light. As Neutrino doesn’t carry charge, they are not affected by Electromagnetic force. They only interact with weak sub-atomic force. This enables them to pass through the normal matters without any problem.

Interesting fact is, around 65bn neutrinos produced by sun is passing through every sq.in of earth - perpendicular to sun - in every second. That means they are passing through our body as well.

With the construction of new observatory, Pottipuram will join with Sudbury (Canada), Kamioka (Japan), Gran Sasso mountains (Italy), Soudan mines (USA) etc. in the world hunt to detect and study neutrinos.

Issues at local level

This doesn’t mean the construction of observatory is an easy task. Local people have some doubts about the project, which the scientists could answer easily. But the problem is with politician’s doubts, in fact that are not doubts. They were waiting for an issue to come up, so that they can rally the people along with them.

If it is not neutrino project then it will be something else. I always wondered how this is working. Most of the time people are against mining in critical biological hotspots, but politicians don’t have problem in giving license. People generally tend to agree for a laboratory (provided they don’t create ecological problem) but many politicians will be dead against it.

See below for three important questions and TIFR scientists’ answers for the same. You can see the entire set of questions and answers at TIFR’s site -
http://www.ino.tifr.res.in/ino/faq.php

1. Will there be any radioactivity?

No. The main reason for locating the laboratory underground is to create an environment free of the radiation that abounds on the Earth’s surface. This radiation is due to cosmic rays and natural radiation of the materials around us. Hence the experiment will neither produce any radioactivity nor can it function well where there is radiation (at the Earth’s surface).

2. Will there be hazardous chemicals and gases?

Detectors measuring the impact of charged particles produced in neutrino interactions with the iron consist of glass sheets kept at a precise separation and hermetically sealed to maintain the purity of a certain kind of gas mixture at about atmospheric pressure. The gas mixture used in the experiment consists of mainly argon, freon (environmentally friendly variety that is now used in all modern refrigerators), small quantities of isobutane and trace amounts of sulphur hexafluoride. These are used regularly in all laboratory environments and the mixture that will be used will conform to international standards of safety. The gas mixture is recycled many times before it is let out in small volumes. The ventilation system mixes the released gases with air to ensure the safety of every one. This is more a precaution to ensure the safety of the workers inside the laboratory.

3. Why should the laboratory be situated underground?

Neutrinos are difficult to detect in a laboratory because of their extremely weak interaction with matter. The background from cosmic rays (which interact much more readily than neutrinos) and natural radioactivity will make it almost impossible to detect them on the surface of the Earth. This is the reason most neutrino observatories are located deep inside the Earth’s surface. The overburden provided by the Earth matter is transparent to neutrinos whereas most background from cosmic rays is substantially reduced depending on the depth at which the detector is located.
Hope that everything will go well and we will have an observatory soon.

Sajeev.

References

1. Tata Institute of Fundamental Research – INO
2. Opposition to the project – The Hindu

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Some reprieve for Nigerian Oil spill victims

Gates of Oil reifnery in Port Harcourt
Shell finally did what it supposed to do years back. They could have done it voluntarily without going through long court cases and all. After all, isn’t it their responsibility to clean up the mess created by them? Two oil spills in 2008 destroyed thousands of acres of mangroves and seafood which sustained a large community.

“Of the total settlement, $53.1 million will go to 15,600 fishermen and farmers, and $30.4 million to the Bodo community. A local chief said the community money would be used for basic services.” - NYT

I hope the money will reach its intended destination and there will be some restoration work. Or will it end up in numbered accounts

Sajeev

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Dalai Lama, Holy See and China

Dalai Lama who is visiting Rome had requested a meeting with Pope and Pope declined the meeting.
“A Vatican spokesman said that although the Pope held him "in very high regard", the request had been declined "for obvious reasons".” - BBC
By the way, no price for guessing the obvious reason!!!
References
1. Pope declines Dalai Lama meeting in Rome – BBC

Rape of 22 year old Japanese tourist – Cruelty beyond imagination

I wonder how those five men turned to cruel animals and inflicted horrible, unspeakable cruelty on another human being. That 22 year old Japanese girl might never thought that, she will be held as sex slave for one month; raped by five men who approached her earlier as tourist guides. As per the allegations this entire thing started in Kolkata and ended in the holy city – Bodh Gaya.


It’s ironic that four years back another young woman was raped in Bodh Gaya; the same place where Buddha attained enlightenment!!!
Is India becoming more unsafe for girls and women with the passage of every day? Even in Bangalore located at other side of India, girls think twice before going out after 8 in the night. They need to think twice, for staying late in the office. In national capital, it’s hard for women to go out alone in the night. In many states girls have to face sexual assault as punishment for so called crimes committed by their siblings. By the way, marrying a person of their choice is also considered as crime; if it’s an inter-caste marriage then punishment is nothing less than death!!!
We claim we are better than everyone; the so called cultured ones; those who issue statements when someone is stoned to death in some Middle East countries; or gang raped in some African countries. We are ready to rise, if someone even mildly criticized our culture, social traditions…
This is a national crisis. After hearing these type of news how many foreigners, especially women, will dare to come to India? Forget tourism, even for business purpose? Police and other central and state government agencies need to wake up and face these grave issues which are tearing apart the very fundamentals of our social fabric. This can’t be allowed in Indian soil.
I want to tell to our Japanese friend that, in this moment of crisis we Indian's are with you.
Sajeev
References

Saturday, January 3, 2015

Why not in the front seat and drive?

Is there any study which establish,
Women drivers makes more accidents?
Women drivers are responsible for more deaths?
Women do rasher driving?
Women drivers break more traffic rules?
Women don’t have the physical fitness to drive?
Women can’t focus on road?

As far as I know there is no study, which answers any of the questions mentioned above positively.
Let’s come to religion? Is there any religion which bans women from driving? Most of the religions, which have mass following, were established more than four hundred years back. In short before the emergence of steam engine and auto mobile revolution. So, if someone is not twisting the rules (for that matter creating their own rules) to suit themselves, religion is also not restricting any women from driving.

If Saudi women can sit in the back of a car and travel then why not in the front? And why such civilian matters are transferring to the courts which deals with terrorism related charges?

Sajeev

References
1. Saudi women drivers referred to terrorism court - The Hindu

World Languages – Dr. McWhorter on languages

Many often say, the best thing British did in India during their time as colonial overload was spreading their language. For a country with hundreds of languages, where it is difficult for people from two ends to communicate each other in their own language; English is a blessing in disguise.

What will be the future of languages? Will India have these much languages after 100 years? I certainly don’t think so. Major languages may be here to stay, but it’s very much possible that the ones spoken by very less number of people may become extinct.

It’s very much depend on which language kids will learn. After all it’s very much difficult to learn new language once you reached adulthood.

Here in this article Dr. McWhorter explains his thoughts on the future of languages - What the World Will Speak in 2115 - WSJ

Sikkim - Leading the way in Organic Farming

Madiwala Agricltural Market - Bangalore, India
People don’t take poison knowingly, unless one is keen to commit suicide. But every day we are doing exactly the same, by consuming food items cultivated using extreme high quantities of fertilizers and then added another set of preservatives to keep it fresh for long time. I don’t have problems with using right fertilizers in right amounts, but…

It is in this situation Sikkim’s (a picturesque state located in the lap of Himalayas) drive for organic farming make sense. State already set a goal of becoming an organic agricultural state. This is indeed a great experiment which other states can also follow. I do believe that fully organic produces will also bring a premium to their cultivators, and less diseases to the consumers.

However this is not enough. It’s the responsibility of government, especially agricultural ministry to regulate the use of fertilizers and ban the ones which are not fit for use.

Sajeev.

References
1. Bhutan crew films Sikkim's first organic festival - TOI