Nov 30, 2015

Maharashtra Government should order an inquiry in to the cinema hall incident

Government of Maharashtra should order an inquiry in to the incident which took place in Mumbai on November 29 2015 at PVR cinema.

No one should take law into their hands. And law should take its own course. Government should undertake a holistic inquiry into the matter, as such no one should be aggrieved in the future and should become news media item.

Family evicted from Mumbai theatre for disrespecting national Anthem - The Hindu

No one should disrespect the national anthem under any cost, everyone should obey the rules and regulations. If any persons having injuries or disabilities, they should be issued colour coded tickets at the Ticket counter, so that there is no such incident in the future, and fuel speculation.

 Valleyz.Blog

Nov 29, 2015

Spate of incidents against minorities in India brings scathing criticism against the Government

News and media reports indicate spate of incidents against the minorities in India since the BJP led NDA government has come to power in Delhi. That has led to widespread resentment among major sections of society including writers, actors, artists and intellectuals .

Many writers and intellectuals in India have returned their prestigious awards like Sahitya academy awards. The list is growing by the day. There has been huge debate going on for several months regarding violent activities carried about by Right-Wing organizations. There has been accusations and counter accusations regarding the situation.

Notable among the authors returning award was Jawaharlal Nehru's niece Nayantara sehgal, who criticised the government's inaction and apt silence against groups perpetuating the situation at hand and often committing violent crimes including murder, arson, manhandling and threats.

Several rationalists namely Govind Pansare, Kalburgi etc., have been murdered after threats, investigations are not conclusive yet. Run up to the elections in Bihar, the northern Indian state bordering Nepal, heightened the tensions between large sections of society.

Actors like Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, and several other Bollywood personalities have come under sharp criticism from Right leaning Politicians, actors, and organizations for speaking out their mind and how they feel about the atmosphere in the country.

India is known for it's religious violence since the demolition of Babri Mosque in 1992, there has been retaliatory violence committed by the extremists in which hundreds of innocent people died. Mumbai the financial hub was attacked in serial bombings . Mumbai riots followed.

Almost after two decades of see-saw politics between the right wingers, the nation has been left scarfaced, particularly after the Gujarat riots, which brought visa restriction regime against the then Gujarat Chief Minister and Present Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Arundhati Roy, notable activist and author, the Bookers Prize winner, has again reiterated the same position voiced by several other luminaries who are protesting silently against the Government and it's policies. She said 'intorelance' is an inadequate word to describe the fear and violence under which the minorities are living in India.

 Valleyz.Blog

Mar 12, 2015

Research report indicates H1N1 has mutated into new strains in India

Media reports about H1N1 are reporting that H1N1 virus has mutated into new strains in the country.

So far the authorities have denied the claims, but Massachusetts Institute research is reportedly indicating mutated strains of the virus. Valleyz.Blog

Swine FLU in India has turned more dangerous 

Jan 13, 2015

Waste Management in India needs scientific approach

India need to improve it's waste management as the metropolitan cities are expanding at a faster pace than the preparedness of it's municipal bodies.

Waste Management in India is only about collecting and dumping the garbage at a location in the proximity of a respective city. There is no treatment of waste and recycling it, as there is no system in place where the trash is separated and collected.

Government of India is neglecting an important issue as it could lead to soil degradation, and also leading dangerous pollutants entering the water system of areas surround the garbage dumping sites. There are several reports in these regards and all the response from municipal bodies is stop gap approach and no scientific and sustainable approach to the problem.

Many countries have offered India technology to treat it's waste generated. But respective governments have neglected the issue.

Why in the world our governments first let the situation go out of hand and pay huge cost later on and seek help from other countries.

Classic example is the situation of river Ganga. Now after decades of neglect, the government has suddenly shown interest in cleaning up, but the cost and effort will have shot up by now, by what it was earlier and also pollutants could have affected the population more than anybody could imagine.

India is developing at a faster pace and the population will shoot up, which will further increase the burden on the municipal bodies to manage the system.

Solid Waste Policy in India 

Columbia University Research Paper on Sustainable Waste Management in India

An Excerpt from the Research paper by : Ranjith Kharvel Annepu

This report is the result of over two years of research and includes data collected from the literature, communication with professionals in India, US and Europe; and extensive field investigations by the author in India and the US. Two field visits in India over a period of fifteen weeks covered 13 cities (Figure1) representing all sizes and regions in India. The visits included travelling to informal recycling hubs, waste dealers shops, composting facilities, RDF facilities, WTE facilities, sanitary and unsanitary landfills, landfill mining sites, and numerous municipal offices. These visits provided the opportunity to closely observe the impact of waste management initiatives, or lack thereof, on the public in those cities.
The author has also visited different WTE plants in the US to study the prospects of this technology in India.


 Valleyz.Blog

Dec 20, 2014

If India is to become superpower it must uphold it's secular credentials.

The ongoing conversion row coupled with controversial statements by the ruling party Members of Parliament is drawing the world to take attention at the kind of politics being played in India.

India is not new to religious based politics, it's been the trend ever since the political parties latched on to the Babri Masjid-Ram Janam Bhoomi issue, which is purely politically motivated.

When the administrators and politicians failed miserably to solve the people's issues at hand, they mischievously generated the idea of creating a communal rift and capture power taking the country downhill on the  road towards obscurantism and no performance.

Majority Indians are gullible to these type of tactics, where the so called secular parties are lagging far behind with their corrupt and inept under bellies of factionalism and favoritism.

Actually in India, politicians are the most happiest people courtesy the hapless and helpless poverty ridden, slum dwellers which comprise the large sections of society and that do not have any voice.

How can you lead a society out of poverty and helplessness, when the same politicians practice caste and religious based politics which are against the very nature of the constitution of the nation.

The same members who take oath of the constitution are themselves the first one's to break that oath and divide the community on the basis of caste, creed, sex and religion. Isn't the right to equality article 21 of the constitution of our country guarantees equal rights to all.

Though we have a secular constitution, but we lack the wherewithal to deliver the justice to the citizens.

What use of development when the nation is plagued by serious problems of corruption, corporate mis-governance, malnutrition and religion based politics.

History has shown us that divisive and communal based politics is detriment to a secular society.

Though there are aspirations by both the majorities and the minorities of religious fulfillment, but those aspirations cannot supersede the secular nature of our constitution.

In these circumstances religious authorities should exercise their freedom with in the ambit of the four walls of our constitution.

 Valleyz.Blog

Oct 29, 2013

No Gold found at the excavation site in Eastern UP in India

The treasure hunt that began 12 days ago at Unnao, in Eastern Uttar Pradesh in India had yielded nothing contrary to predictions by the Archaeological Survey of India(ASI) who accordingly followed the calculations of Geological Survey of India(GSI) that some non magnetic material is buried at the site.

Adding to the speculation and predictions, a local priest too claimed to have saw a dream of 1000 tonnes of gold being buried at the site. But after 11 days of excavations and digging at the site, the ASI has found nothing of significance at the site.

Media frenzy followed the news of excavation procedures taken up by the ASI for retrieval of ' 1000 tonnes of gold' according to Sadhu's dream.

Now since the ASI has decided to call off the operations, questions are being asked, what have led to the procedures to start the digging at site in the first place.

ASI now has no one but to ask itself after the euphoria it helped created in the first place.

 Valleyz.Blog

Oct 18, 2013

Treasure hunt at a fort site in India results in media spotlight

There is lot of media coverage at the fort site of Raja Rao Ram Bux in this remote village of India, Unnao in Eastern Uttar Pradesh. 

Sandwiched between Kanpur in south and Lucknow in the north, this sleepy village suddenly started making headlines in the media.

The reason behind this spectacle is a dream by a Sadhu (Priest) of a local temple in Unnao. It is reported that Sadhu has dreamed a while ago that there is treasure hidden in a fort and made subsequent pleas with the Goverment to excavate it. 

After his representation, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and Geological Survey of India (GSI) made their observations and decided to excavate the area. 

This has resulted in a frenzied activity in this small village, with huge media presence. 

Also people from surrounding towns and villages have arrived to watch the spectacle.

The site is a fort of a 19th century king Raja Rao Ram Bux who is said to have been martyred in 1857 revolt against the British colonial rule.

A public interest litigation has also been filed in the Supreme Court of India, where petitioner requests for the supervision of the court authorities to safe guard if any hidden treasure is found. 

And the matter has been listed for hearing pending some changes in the original application according to reports.

 Valleyz.Blog

Oct 12, 2013

Discrepancies in actual measurements of very severe Cyclonic storm Phailin

Phailin makes landfall approximately around 7.30 Pm Indian Standard Time (IST) according to some International satellite estimates, and it was also reported in some section of the local Indian media that landfall did took place at the time, but was unconfirmed by IMD.

Also, the location of the landfall reported was also subject to differences. 

Firstly, it was reported in the media that the landfall took place in Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh. But those reports were not confirmed by IMD.

And later on IMD officially announced that the landfall took place around 8 Pm IST and in Gopalpur, Odisha.

But there were also differences in reporting the wind speed of the Cyclone Phailin, with Joint Typhoon Warning Center rating it as a category 4 with wind speeds approximately 140 mph approximately 225 km/hr.

But the IMD satellite readings were 25 Km/hr different.

Based on IMD's calculations, the wind speed recorded was 200 km/hr with wind gusts upto 225 Km/hr.

Why was there such a difference in calculations between JTWC and IMD?

This difference in calculation could be found at this blog update by Dr Jeff from Wunderground.

Measurements always carry an element of error but that is negligible, but differences in important measurement data that does matter, need to be studied and rectified.

Satellite estimates confirming the timing of landfall can be found at this status update  i.e., the storm actually made the landfall at 7.30 Pm IST. 

Satellite pictures of NOAA confirms this fact at this link qz.com.

Now, if you have gone through the blog page of Dr Jeff Masters from Wunderground, it is understandable that methods used to determine the measurements in tracking the wind speed of the cyclone vary between JTWC and IMD.

It is mentioned in the report by Dr Jeff that the Indian system takes average of the readings calculated at a duration interval of every 3 minutes that would lessen the actual readings by almost by 2%.

And JTWC's calculation are based on per minute duration of time. 

Since both the methods of measurement depend on satellite imagery and data, it is hard to say which one is more correct.

In my personal view, this would give a more clear and precise picture of what is actually happening with a weather system of such a magnitude and power.

Update : 

Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh remains unaffected by the Cyclone Phailin.

Srikakulam is out of Power. No casualties reported from Andhra Pradesh so far.

The  path of Cyclone Phailin has now veered north towards Gangetic Plains with reported wind speeds of 100 km/hr.

Heavy to very heavy rainfall reported all along the Odisha coast.

Phailin's intensity found to be of level 6 according to IMD updates.

Gopalpur in Odisha bearing the brunt with electricity poles and trees uprooted. 

Cyclone Phailin has affected communication towers and power supply in Odisha.

20 sailors are reported to be stranded off AP coast.  

Reports of MV Bingo and other unknown vessel sinking due to bad weather, resecue and relief efforts could not be carried yet.

MV Bingo was carrying a crew of 10 Chinese sailors and an Indonesian.

Update :Oct 15

17 Chinese crew and a Myanmarese national caught in the rough waters are reported to be found by rescue mission off the coast of Odisha district. 

The crew embarked on the life boat when their ship carrying Iron ore to China, began sinking.

The crew reportedly survived rough seas for almost 36 hours. And were able to contact Chinese authorities through a single mobile phone left with them.

After being contacted, the Indian authorities launched a search mission tracking their GPRS signal and rescued them from the sea.  

18 sailors of MV Bingo rescued from the sea: Indian Express 

Valleyz.Blog

Oct 10, 2013

Cyclone Phailin is expected to turn into a Super Cyclone

Cyclone Phailin has turned into a severe cyclone, and is heading towards the east coast of India between the north coastal Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. Expected landfall is around Brahmapur in Odisha district on saturday evening on October 12.

As it moves ahead, it is intensifying into a very severe Cyclonic storm or a Super Cyclone.

According to this report of the Meteorological department of India(IMD), the intensity of the cyclone 175Kmph-185Kmph predicted by IMD is way too low according to Meteorologist Eric Holthaus of Quartz, qz.com.  

Indian Meteorology Department(IMD) classifies winds packing 210-220 Kmph gusting upto 235 Kmph as a very severe cyclonic storm.

 I think, the authorities should re examine the readings taken from it's sources, regarding the intensity and the impact, with which it will strike the East Coast of India.

There are conflicting reports from other satellite based monitoring agencies including private weather forecasters regarding the intensity of this weather system.

Another report published by NDTV predicted by IMD as not to be a super cyclone ,hopefully this is correct, but the authorities should make precise measurements of the severe cyclone, which is intensifying as it moves ahead towards the coastal districts of India.

The forecast made is that the landfall could be near Brahmapur in Odisha.

Latest Update: 

Oct 11, Friday.

According to some media reports severe Cyclone Phailin, has now been upgraded to Super Cylcone. 

215 kmph wind speeds have been recorded by the IMD which earlier made a forecast, that it would not turn into a super Cyclone, but unfortunately it has now.

Update 2:

This report by India today compares  Cyclone Phailin, with the one that struck Odisha in 1999 and caused widespread damage to life and property. 

Update 3:

Cyclone Phailin has now officially reached category 5 status hurricane,  same strength or more worse than Hurricane Katrina. 

You can follow tweets from Eric Holthaus, on Twitter.

 Valleyz.Blog

Oct 7, 2013

Southern state of India turns into a political hot potato resulting in Power cuts

 The South central Indian region continues to be on the boil over the bifurcation of the Andhra Pradesh state into two new parts namely Telangana and Seema Andhra by the Government of India. 

The four year old Telangana agitation resulted in Indian Government led by Congress party in New Delhi announcing separate Telangana state on July 30, 2013.

The contentious issue is now of the city of Hyderabad formerly known as Hyderabad Deccan. 

It is planned,  that the city of Hyderabad which was the capital of Andhra Pradesh state, will now be the joint capital of both newly formed Telangana and Seema Andhra regions for a period of 10 years. 

During this period, a new capital is to be developed for Seema Andhra region.

Hyderabad state which was established by Quli Qutb Shah rules in 16th Century, is a regional Information Technology hub and a popular tourist destination. 

Known for it's distinct tourism attractions like Charminar and Mecca Masjid. 

The city is popular for it's rich cuisine. 

In the recent decades the city attracted major investments both foreign and domestic sector in the Information Technology sector, particularly after India's liberalisation policy inviting foreign investments.

The political landscape of the city changed quickly with International Heritage city of Hyderabad developing into an IT magnate in the 90's, and broke onto the International Scene. All the major IT companies including Microsoft and Google have regional presence in South Asia.

With city's growing stature internationally, the domestic political landscape quickly changed. 

The historic ethnic differences of the people of the region resulted in divisive politics resulting in this situation. 

With Telangana region visibly remained backward since the formation of state in 1956. 

People of the Andhra region which were formerly under British colonial rule were able to lead educational as well as Agriculture development of the region while investing in the city of Hyderabad simultaneously.

This resulted in biased Seema Andhra Politics being played in the state capital. 

Telangana remained backward all during this period with hardly any development and without any political space to manouvre. 

Comparatively Andhra region prospered, this resulted in the situation now escalating into a free for all. 

Major strikes by employees of Seema Andhra region has now resulted in complete failure of administration in the region. 

Several trains passing through the region are cancelled due to the power failure due to shutting down of Power stations. 

This cascading effect also resulted in power cuts in the city of Hyderabad.


Valleyz.Blog