Eyecatchers-146: Disaster Management

...Bangladesh lost more than 500,000 people during Cyclone Bhola in 1970. It subsequently built 2500 cyclone shelters on elevated concrete platforms and trained more than 32,000 volunteers to help in evacuations. When Cyclone Sydr struck in 2007 with an enormous sea surge, the death toll was less than 4000.

Cyclone Nargis, a similar event in unprepared Myanmar in May 2008, cost 140,000 lives.

Cuba weathered four hurricanes in 2008. It sustained $9 billion of physical damage but very few lives were lost.

The evidence is overwhelming. Yet the lessons of these disasters are forgotten with depressing speed. Many governments have failed to follow through on the practical measures Hyogo proposes. (The Hyogo Framework for Action, a 10-year plan to make the world safer from disasters triggered by natural hazards, was adopted by 168 governments in 2005).

Some states argue that they cannot afford to embrace the prevention model. I say no country afford to ignore it.

We know prevention actually saves governments money in the long run. When China spent $3.15 billion on reducing the impact of floods between 1960 and 2000, it averted losses estimated at about $12 billion.

Similar savings have been recorded in Brazil, India, Vietnam and elsewhere.

.....

Excerpt from "Do not wait for disaster to strike" by Ban ki-moon, Secretary General, United Nations, in The Hindu, Trichy, March 27.3.2010.

For reading the Full Text of
Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015:
Building the resilience of nations and communities to disasters (HFA)
http://www.unisdr.org/eng/hfa/hfa.htm

Grateful thanks to The Hindu, U.N.Information Centre, New Delhi and UNISDR.

India Watch-17:

1. All India Radio is the world largest public service broadcaster.

2. All India Radio has grown from six stations at the time of Independence to 233 stations covering the length and breadth of the country.

Courtesy: The Hindu, Trichy, March 27, 2010.

Grateful thanks to The Hindu.

Letters-80: China's Rise in Science

1. The results of unfettered developmental activity behind the Great Wall are slowly trickling out for the rest of the world to observe, study and emulate (Editorial, The Hindu, March 26, 2010). Notwithstanding criticisms of human rights violations along the road to progress, the Chinese have demonstrated their almost supernatural commitment to hard work, scientific research and patriotism, all of which have ensured tremendous economic growth rate - Sunil P Shenoy, Bangalore.

2. China has indeed travelled a long way. The New Scientist's assessment that "China's emergence as a scientific superpower can no longer be denied" should be an eyeopener for the Indian science and technology establishment. We boast of having the largest pool of professionals in the field of science and technology. But when it comes to original and innovative works, our record is dismal. Not a single science and technology organisation figures in the top-hundred list of quality institutions in this arena (as per the Shanghai index). NASA and companies in the Silicon Valley employ a significant number of Indian professionals. This means that given the opportunity, our scientists can compete at the top level.

It is high time we seized the initiative of channelling our pool of professionals while simultaneously improving the existing institutes - Subodh Kumar, New Delhi

Courtesy: Letters to The Editor, The Hindu, Trichy, March 27, 2010.

Grateful thanks to Sunil P Shenoy, Subodh Kumar and The Hindu.

A Thought for Today-335:

You must be true to yourself. Strong enough to be true to yourself. Brave enough to be strong enough to be true to yourself. Wise enough to be brave enough, to be strong enough to shape yourself from what you actually are - Sylvia Ashton-Warner

Picture of the day-156:

Eyecatchers-145: TN to have more FM stations

Good news for music lovers! The Hindu reports that Tamil Nadu will soon get 53 more FM stations quoting the Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Mr.S.Jagathrakshakan.

Courtesy: The Hindu, Trichy, March 27, 2010.

Grateful thanks to The Hindu.

Letters-79: Reservation for Muslims

1. The Andhra Pradesh government's plea for quota for Muslims is purely vote bank politics and not for the uplift of backward Muslims in the State. Providing reservation on the basis of religion, which is not allowed under the Constitution, is nothing but dividing the people - Jetling Yellosa, Nizamabad.

2. The Supreme Court order, if validated by the Constitutional bench, will lead to further reservation on religious grounds and cause an exodus of people seeking the benefits of such quotas to those religions. It would be most welcome if the Constitutional bench decides to do away with any such privileges on religious lines - Padmakumar G.Nair, Ahmedabad.

3. Islamic scholars maintain that all Muslims are equal. When this is the case, how can a section of Muslims be categorised as backward class? Some parties want to divide the people on the basis of caste and religion just for the sake of votes. They are adopting the 'divide and rule' policy the British followed to rule India - A.Srikantaiah.

4. The Supreme Court has only removed the Andhra Pradesh High Court's stay on reservation for Muslims. A review of the constitutional validity of the quota is pending. A similar case regarding the validity of Haj subsidy has been pending for more than three years. The court should dispose of both these cases without further delay - N.Ramamurthy, Chennai.

Courtesy: The Letters to the Editor, The Hindu, March 27, 2010.

Grateful thanks to M/s.Jetling Yellosa, Padmakumar G.Nair, A.Srikantaiah and N.Ramamurthy and The Hindu.

India Watch-16:

1. 1.4 millions people are working in the Indian Railways.

2. The Govt of India has a stock of 558 tonnes of gold.

3. The salary of the President of India has been reduced to 1.8 million rupees per annum.

Courtesy: Ananda Vikatan, Tamil Weekly (March 3, 2010)

A Thought for Today-334:

Our imagination is the only limit to what we can hope to have in the future - Charles F. Kettering

Picture of the day-155:

A Thought for Today-333:

The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning – Ivy Baker

Picture of the day-154:

A Thought for Today-332:

You have to sow before you can reap. You have to give before you can get - Robert Collier

Picture of the day-153:

A Thought for Today-331:

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much - Helen Keller

Picture of the day-152:

A Thought for Today-330:

They never fail who die in a great cause - Byron

Picture of the day-151:

Eyecatchers-144: "Jail for GM Food Critics!"

I received the following mail, with attachment, from my friend, Professor Subbiah Arunachalam and found it shocking and highly disturbing and thought I would post it in my blog in its entirety for the perusal of everybody:

India Seeks Jail For GM Food Critics

An Indian citizen who questions the safety of any GM food or medicine could be put behind bars for a minimum period of six months under a new law proposed by the ministry. The clause to silence critics of GM food is contained in the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India ( BRAI) Bill,2009 prepared by the Department of Biotechnology, which is a wing of the ministry of science and technology headed by Prithviraj Chavan. 'Misleading public about organism and products' is one of the crimes for which punishment has been prescribed in Section 63, Chapter 13 of the Bill which deals with various " offences and penalties". The clause specifically deals with critics of biotech products including GM food crops. - Devinder Sharma

By Devinder Sharma
20 February, 2010
Devinder Sharma Blog

I am not sure whether you would believe your ears. You can't probably imagine that any sensible government (except for USA, of course) can try to gag your voice. If you thought that your fundamental right to speech and freedom is guaranteed under the Constitution, you need to think again. The proposed National Biotechnology Regulatory Authority (NBRA) bill is actually trying not only to silence the opposition to GM foods, but also has provisions that can put you in jail for a minimum of six months.

Look at the power of the GM companies, the ghost of the Emergency era is back. During the Emergency, all those who opposed Mrs Indira Gandhi were jailed. But the proposed NBRA goes still further. In addition to putting you in jail, it also imposes a fine of Rs 2 lakh. And if you hold a demonstration against a university or try to 'obstruct' research, you face imprisonment for three months and/or a fine of Rs 5 lakh.

This is the power and reach of the GM companies. The US is already contemplating legal provisions which will outlaw organic farming. In India, the Department of Biotechnology, which has possibly framed this legislation, is aiming at turning Indian science into a ghetto.

If the bill was already in force, you and me (those who opposed the introduction of Bt brinjal) would have been in jail by now. Dr M S Swaminathan and Dr Pushpa Bhargava too would have been in jail. Interestingly, and as I told Mail Today: "Environment minister Jairam Ramesh, who has questioned the safety of GM crops, would have been behind bars because he would have violated it."

Here is the report from the front page of Mail Today:

GOVT MOOTS JAIL FOR GM FOOD CRITICS

By Dinesh C Sharma in New Delhi
http://epaper.mailtoday.in/epaperhome.aspx?issue=1922010

Draconian clause in biotech regulatory Bill aims at muzzling debate on safety of GM products

IF THE ministry of science and technology has its way, criticising genetically- modified ( GM) products could land you in jail.

An Indian citizen who questions the safety of any GM food or medicine could be put behind bars for a minimum period of six months under a new law proposed by the ministry.

The clause to silence critics of GM food is contained in the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India ( BRAI) Bill,2009 prepared by the Department of Biotechnology, which is a wing of the ministry of science and technology headed by Prithviraj Chavan.

'Misleading public about organism and products' is one of the crimes for which punishment has been prescribed in Section 63, Chapter 13 of the Bill which deals with various " offences and penalties". The clause specifically deals with critics of biotech products including GM food crops.

Grateful thanks to Professor Subbiah Arunachalam, Mr.Devinder Sharma, Dinesh C Sharma and MailToday.

A Thought for Today-329:

Whatever is flexible and living will tend to grow; whatever is rigid and blocked will wither and die - Lao Tzu