La Lina responsible for snow disaster in China

According to the Chinese meteorologist "the rare prolonged snowstorms and low temperatures that have caused havoc in many parts of China are mainly related to the La Nina phenomenon and abnormal atmospheric circulation" said Du Guodong.
The severe weather strongly resembled the aftermath of La Nina events, which indicated that the latest development of La Nina was a primary cause of the abnormal snow, meteorologists at the Jiangxi Provincial Meteorological Bureau said, reports Guodong.
La Nina is a large pool of unusually cold water in the equatorial Pacific that develops every few years and influences global weather. It is the climatic opposite of El Nino, which is a warming of the Pacific.
"Experts said that the latest La Nina conditions developed last August throughout the tropical Pacific and strengthened at the sharpest pace in 56 years. The sea-surface temperature during the past six months was 0.5 degree Celsius lower than normal years". "The La Nina weather pattern is expected to prevail at least till the end of spring," said Jiao Meiyan, director of the National Meteorological Center.
Chinese meteorologists also pointed out that the abnormal atmospheric circulation in some regions of Europe and Asia, which has persisted for nearly 20 days since mid-January, was responsible for the rampant chilly weather, rain and snowstorms.
Snow storms that hit 19 provinces in southern and central China, the worst in 50 years, have killed more than 60 people and forced nearly 1.8 million people to relocate over the past three weeks, inflicting economic losses of about 53.9 billion yuan (7.5 billion U.S. dollars), according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Friday.

Lin Li reporting from Bejing said that"the Chinese President Hu Jintao called on the public on monday to hold the firm belief on victory over the weather crisis that is still plaguing the southern part of the country". "Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said here on monday that china is confident and capable in achieving the final victory in combatting disasters incurred by low temperature, ice and heavy snow".

References

Guodong,Du(2008), "Experts blame snow disaster on La Nina, atmospheric circulaion", Xinhua, 2 February 2008

Li, Lin (2008), "President Hu: Hold firm belief in victory over weather crisis", Xinhua, 4 February 2008.

Li, Lin (2008), "Premier Wen: China confident, capable in winning battle against disaster", Xinhua, 4 February 2008.

Beatles "Across the Universe" to be beamed by NASA

The Beatles were an English pop and rock group from Liverpool whose members were John Lenon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music.

The songs of The Beatles have always enjoyed a global appeal, of which I'm one. It's a good news that "now one of their best-loved recordings is to be beamed into the galaxy in an attempt to introduce the Fab Four's music to alien ears.NASA will broadcast the song, Across the Universe, through the transmitters of its deep-space communications network on Monday -the 40th anniversary of its recording at London's Abbey Road studios.The music will be converted into digital data and sent on a 431-light-year journey towards Polaris, the North Star, in a stunt that also commemorates the space agency's 50th anniversary" reports Richard Luscombe.
Richard says that the "Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney, who co-wrote the song with John Lennon and played an extraterrestrial concert from Earth to the crew of the international space station in 2005, said he was excited by the project". "Well done, NASA," he said. "Send my love to the aliens."

Whether there is anything out there to hear the broadcast is another matter. But according to Briton Martin Lewis, a Los Angeles-based former producer of Beatles DVDs who came up with the idea, "it would be fun trying to collect the royalties". "We don't know if there's life out there, but I'd like to think the United States government wouldn't be spending taxpayers' money on this if there was no hope," he said as observed by Richard.

Lewis said "he chose the 1968 song, which the group never released as a single, because its title and lyrics represent a spirit of friendship and harmony"."It never had the highest profile and is a bit of a forgotten classic." "But it has universal appeal. It transcends ages, borders, language and other barriers."

Other Beatles favourites, such as Here Comes the Sun, Ticket to Ride and A Hard Day's Night, have been played in space as wake-up music to astronauts aboard the space station and on shuttle missions.

But this is the first time any music has been transmitted deep into the cosmos. Nasa will encrypt the song and beam it into space from its Madrid transmitter on Monday at the start of a 2,5-quadrillion-mile trip (that's 23 zeros for anyone without a large-capacity calculator) to Polaris, where it will finally arrive in the year 2439.

February 4 has also been declared "Across the Universe Day" by Beatles fans across the world, who are urged to play their own recording of the song at the same time as Nasa begins its own broadcast, 7pm in the US, midnight in the United Kingdom and 1am on Tuesday in Spain.

"I see that this is the beginning of the new age in which we will communicate with billions of planets across the universe," said Yoko Ono, Lennon's widow, who has given her backing to the project.

For me on this occasion, I had been listening to the songs that I've of Beatles the whole day.

Cheers!!! for the Beatles...

Reference

Luscombe, Richard(2008), "Beatles to be beamed across the universe", Guardian Newspapers Limited, United Kingdom, 2 February 2008.

The Indian PM Manmohan Singh's visit to Arunachal Pradesh: A Review

Samudra Gupta Kasyap writes the visit in The Indian Express as "Arunachal Pradesh probably is one state that does not always find space in the national media. Politicians, including Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, say the state does not get enough coverage because it is 'neither here nor there'. Neither is Arunachal Pradesh politically important — it has only two members in the Lok Sabha — nor does it have insurgent groups (like Assam, Nagaland or Manipur) which would generate news of violence and killings and grab some media headlines.But it has been in the news for the past few days, especially after China renewed its claim over the state . This was followed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s historic trip to Beijing. And as MPs from the state raked up the issue of Chinese claims over its territory, the Prime Minister also came on a two-day visit to Arunachal Pradesh, which incidentally was also a visit by a Prime Minister to the state after a gap of nine years. H D Deve Gowda was the last Prime Minister to have come to Itanagar".

He further observes that "The Prime Minister’s two-day visit, however, has come as a big boost to the morale of the state, especially after a huge sense of insecurity, triggered off by repeated claims by China, had spread across Arunachal".

A Review: The author's view regarding the cirumstances (the chinese claim of Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of it's territory) that had led to the Indian PM's visit is acceptable to me. Further, his views regarding Northeast's experiences with Central packages sounds good enough. He observes, "Singh announced a massive developmental package for the state, running into over Rs 8,000 crore. But it is also equally important that Delhi ensures proper implementation of this package. Northeast’s experience with Central packages announced in the past has not been very pleasant". Corruption has played as a great deterrent in it's implementation but most of these packages also remains only as "an announced package".

The problem lies regarding his views to the "sense of insecurity, triggered off by repeated claims by China, had spread across Arunachal". There's a big question regarding it. Personally for me, I don't feel threatened by the Chinese claim. The 1962 Sino-India War bears proff for it. It was the Indian's who brought about this threat perception propaganda where the indigeneous people were evacuated to the plains of Assam such as Dibrugarh and Guwahati. People who remained back were well-off. Lego in his book,The Modern History of Arunachal Pradesh observes that "When the indigeneous people took up the rifles left by the Indian Army to fight against the chinese, they didn't fire even a single shot. Rather the indigeneous people were proclaimed as brother's". Therefore, the sense of threat perception for the indigeneous people needs to be questioned.

What threatens the indigeneous people of Arunachal Pradesh? The threat comes from the refugees like the Chakma and Hajong who are from Bangladesh. How is it a threat for us? It becomes a threat for us because the Indian Government is trying to settle them in our land. These refugees will bring down all the indigeneous tribe's to minority. The Chinese threat perception is secondary because the Chinese won't drive us out from our land. The 1962 Sino-India war bears the testimony. The Chinese claim of the state is an issue for the politicians not the public. Therefore, if the Indian Government is really concern about the indigeneous people, the refugee issue needs to be solved. As rational human beings, we have sheltered them for around four decades when they were thrown out from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar instead of sheltering them.We cannot allow foreigners to get settlement rights in our land. It's protection is my birth right. We have shed blood for it and we will fight till death...

Reference
Kashyap, Samudra Gupta(2008), "A PM's visit after 9 yrs boost morale of a 'neglected' state," The Indian Express, 4 Febuary 2008,[Online:Web] Accessed 4 Febuary 2008, URL: http://www.indiaexpress.com/story/268627.html
Lego, N(2007), Modern History of Arunachal Pradesh

Missing World War II Plane B-24J found near Damroh in Taniland

On 25 January 1944, Plane B-24J which was nicknamed "Hot As Hell" took off from Kunming, China with eight crew members for a routine flight to Chabua, India. The plane never reached its destination. The crews were declared dead on 20 November 1944. On 7 December 2006, a private American investigator Mr. Clayton discovered the crash site near Damroh, East Siang district, Taniland (Arunachal Pradesh) with the assistance of Adi (Abor) villagers.

Clayton Kuhles has taken on the project of searching for as many of these Missing in Action (MIA) aircrafts as he can find. Aiding in his service is Oken Tayeng who runs Abor Country Travels and Expeditions. Oken says that "the region is littered with these planes. The locals have seen these planes crash but we do not have the expertise for identification of the planes. Clayton has taken up the initiative of identifying these planes."

Reference

Clayton Kuhles maintained website: http://www.miarecoveries.org/
Prasad, S (2007), Hot as Hell, Found in Paradise, 15 December 2007, http://frontierindia.net/hot-as-hell-found-in-paradise

Adam Gilchrist: Revolution in wicket-keeping

Steve Waugh, the former Australian skipper observes that the retirement of Adam Gilchrist from Test Cricket "was as much of a surprise for me as it was for his many admirers across the world. However the timing was perfect for a keeper-batsman who contineously raised standards not only for others around the world but also for him." As a fan of the Australian team, especially Adam in the world of Cricket (Argentina in Football), I can feel the vacuum that lies after his retirement.

Revolution in wicket-keeping

"I remember the one-dayer when I first made Adam open. We were not having much joy in the C&U Series of 1998 and I was looking for a spark of inspiration in the finals against South Africa.On a hunch, I sent him to open. Success was almost immediate because he scored a century in the second final itself.That was the moment when the asking rate went up for wicketkeepers around the world. No longer was it enough for them to just pass muster when it came to batting-they now had to be counted as batsmen" recalls Steve Waugh.

Kumar Sangakkara, Mark Boucher, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Brendon McCullum are all the result of the revolution that Adam Gilchrist brought about to wicket-keeping. According to Steve Waugh, "While most have impressed in patchness, none has replicated Adam's consistency in scoring and more impotantly in relentless attack." Adam was part of the Australian cricket team through both the 16-Test winning streaks.

The departure of Warne, Glen McGrath and now Adam Gilchrist will make it harder for Australia to win consistency. But they still have great control of the game with Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, Bret Lee and Andrew Symonds. However, the aura that this team possessed seems to have diminished slightly and oppositions will begin to fancy their chances. The Australian team is still far from beatable but the wins will be harder to come by. Historically, as each team has a cycle, the Australian generation next has to prove inorder to maintain status quo.

As a left-handed batsman in Cricket, I'm a fan of this Aussie who is also a lefty. I will surely miss his strokes. But with God's grace, I hope I'll see him in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Waiting for the blast!!!

References

Steve Waugh(2008), "Great timing, Gilly", Hindustan times, New Delhi,29 January 2008,p.21.

"The timing was perfect for Gilchrist", The Hindu, Delhi, 29 January 2008,p.18.

The life of the former Indonesian President Suharto: A mixed record

The former Indonesian President Suharto, controversial for most of his time during his long years in power from march 1966 to mid-1998 and thereafter, pased away at a hospital in Jakarta on 27 January 2008. The 86 year old Suharto, widely known by this singular name in line with a Javanese practice, died of multiple organ failure after battling for life for over three weeks.
Suharto ruled over Indonesia from March 1966 when he as an army commander threatened to use force and acquired executive authority from then President Sukarno, the near-iconic architect of Indonesia's "guided democracy." After ruling Indonesia for around three-decades, he resigned as a President in mid-1998 in the face of a popular uprising for reforms.
A mixed record
Suharto's path to power and long reign were characterised by authoritarian politics and human rights abuses. His one time success at creating political stability and an economic miracle was in the end smeared by allegations of massive corruption as also nepotism and also social inequities.
P.S.Suryanarayana observes that "Suharto's mixed record covered not only the economic boom that later burst as a bubble but also his 'New Order' that was built on a brutal suppression of the Communist Party of Indonesia; the invasion and annexation of East Timor which broke free not long after his fall from power; his pivotal role in the formation of the Associaton of South East Asian Nations(ASEAN) 40 years ago; and his political swings from a pro-West position to a non-aligned stance."
As Hobbes says that" Man by nature is brutish, nasty, selfish and egoistic", all human being tends to commit mistakes. But as Aristole says that "Man is a Political animal",he is also characterized by living within a society with laws and customs. Therefore, our life certainly will have a mixed record which Suharto,the former President of Indonesia had undergone. It can be better understood by the way the current President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed his deep sorrow and asked people to pray for Suharto labelling him "a great leader" though he was popularly known as a "Dictator".

The Mongolian Continent-http://themongoliancontinent.blogspot.com/
Reference
Suryanarayana, P.S (2008), "Indonesia declares week-long mourning:Daughter apologises for Suharto's 'mistakes'," The Hindu, 28 January 2008, Delhi, p.14.

The Indian Anti-tank Nag missile

The advanced third generation, hit-to-kill anti-tank Nag missile is expected to be inducted into the Indian army by the end of the year after the completion of the user trial. S.S.Mishra, project director (Nag), told The Hindu that "We are ready to induct in large numbers by November-December as the user trials are planned to be completed by June."

Suprior range

He said "the land version of the indeginiously developed tactical weapon system was superior in terms of range (four km) to the Javelin of the US and the Spike of Israel.With the Indian army seeking an air-borne version,DRDO scientist have begun work on developing such a variant by extending the range to seven km. The air-borne version named Helina, to be mounted on an ALH helicopter would be ready in two and a half years as the system had to be reworked."

Top attack capability

"Equipped with imagining infrared seeker (IIR), it has lock-on-before launch (LOBL) capability with the seeker tracking the target even before firing.The missile which could be operated during day and night has top attack capability. Since all modern tanks are fitted with explosive reactive armour (ERA) to negate the effect of a missile's war head, the lethal capability of Nag had been increased by enabling it to carry one of the most powerful tandem war heads to defeat futuristic battle tanks. When a missile is fired, a pre-cursor charge would initially tackle ERA, followed by the main charge within 250 microseconds. That way the effect of the ERA is nullified," he said.

Further according to him, "each Namica, a dedicated missile carrier, would have 12 Nag missiles, eight of them in ready to fire mode. The missile has 10 year, maintenance free shelf life."

So, let's wait and watch...

Reference

"Anti-tank Nag missile to be ready by year-end," The Hindu, 28 January 2008, p.7.

PSLV puts Israeli satellite into orbit

On 21 January 2008, India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C10, successfully put the Israeli staellite Tecsar into orbit. It was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

Tecsar, weighing 300 kg, is a remote-sensing satellite that can take pictures of the earth 365 days of the year, 24 hours of the day, through rain, clouds, day and night. It has a one-metre resolution. It was earlier known as Polaris.

Contrary to custom, reporters and photographers were barred from entering the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota to cover the event. Israel reportedly wanted the launch kept under wraps. The launch was executed under a commercial contract between the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), to which Tecsar belongs, and the Antrix Corporation, marketing agency of the Department of Space/ISRO(Indian Space Research Organisation).

A report posted on the website of the Israeli daily Haaretz said that "Israel launched early on Monday a sophisticated new spy satellite, designited Tecsar, which could boost intelligence gathering capabilities regarding Iran." In a separate analysis the daily said "The launch of an Israeli satellite atop an Indian missile from a launch site in India bears a number of aditional advantages. First, it enables a new point of view in space, allowing it photographic angles and reception of Iranian communications, which were unable in prior satellite launches." The Jerusalem Post said the new satellite was capable of imagining with a resolution of upto 10 centimetres.

On the other hand, G Madhavan said that "21 January 2008 signified a landmark event in the history of Antrix Corporation Limited because on that day India's PSLV put in orbit an Israeli satellite called Tecsar in a fullfleged commercial launch transaction." Antrix Corporation is the marketing agency of the ISRO/Department of Space. Antrix has receieved a handsome amount from the IAI for launching the satellite.

Reference

Subramanian,T.S (2008), "PSLV puts Israeli satellite into orbit", The Hindu, 22 January 2008,Delhi, p.1.

Aneja, Atul (2008), "Satellite will spy on Iran:Israeli media", The Hindu,22 January 2008,Delhi, p.12.

Subramanian, T.S (2008), "A landmark event, says Madhavan Nair", The Hindu, 22 January 2008, Delhi, p.13.

Prospects of International Border Trade in Arunachal Pradesh

From time immemorial we had never been so much dependent on others. But today, we are left at the mercy of the Indian Government.Why is it so? Didn't we traded with the people from the plains or beyond the so called International border(present day India with Bhuthan, China/Tibet and Myanmar). Absolutely, we did. The closing down of this border trade has made us totally dependent on the Indian Government, which is a policy outcome of the "Indian think-tanks".

Sometimes, its quite embrassing when ever an Indian questions, 'What is your contribution to the Indian State?' They don't realise that we are the protector of the longest International boundary of the Indian State having 160 Km with Bhutan, 1080 Km with China/Tibet and a stretch of 540 Kms with Myanmar. Above all, our economy have been totally uprooted by the Indian Government by closing down the International trade, so that we be dependent on them. This is nothing, but something comes behind it.

We are contributing to the Indian Economy in the other way round. In what way? On behalf of us, the Indian coastal states are contributing as they are the one who are benefitting a lot out of the closure of our Border Trade which we had been practising since ancient times. The "Look East Policy" of the Indian Government is one such important example through which the coastal states have benefitted a lot, which in real sense should had been ours. Therefore, the Inernational Border Trade should be opened so that we no longer remain under the clutches of Indian Hegemony.

As such, the proposal brought out by the Government of Arunachal Pradesh in regard to the International Border Trade is a wel come gesture.Following are the proposed border trade points/centres as put up by the Arunachal Pradesh Government(North East Sun, November 16-30, 2007, Vol XIII, No. 08, p.10.)-

-Pangsu Pass (Nampong) in Changlang District(Indo-Myanmar border)
-Kibithoo in Anjaw District (Indo-China border)
-Kepangla Pass(Gelling) in Upper Siang District(Indo-China border)
-Lolla Pass(Mechuka) in West Siang District (Indo-China)
-Dumla Pass( Monigong) in West Siang District(Indo-China).
-Taksing in Upper Subansiri District(Indo-China).
-Bumla and Kenzamane (Zeminthang) in Tawang District(Indo-China border).
-Bleeting (Namstering)/Dongshengmang in Tawang District(Indo-Bhutan).

But a big question that lies to be answered is "Who is going to control all the trade?" It's "we" or someone else. When present day trade in our state is controlled by the outsiders, "What do we expect?"

Reference

North East Sun, "Khandu on Look East Policy", November 16-30, 2007, Vol XIII, No.08, p.10.

NIE Report on the Iranian Nuclear Programme

The President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,while on his visit to the Ilam province in western Iran on wednesday said that "Today, the Iranian nation is victorious but you[the U.S] are empty handed." He was quoting the new U.S intelligence report which stated that Iran halted its atomic nuclear programme in 2003. This assessment contained in the latest National Intelligence Estimate(NIE) is produced collectively by washington's numerious intelligence agencies.

The NIE is the consensus view of the 16 U S intelligence agencies. Most of the 16 agencies are components of Cabinet Departments with other roles, with the exception of CIA. The rest include three major intelligence agencies in the Department of Defence-the Security Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office and the Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. There is also the Defence Intelligence Agency, the State Departments Bureau of Intelligence and Research, the FBI, the intelligence organisation of the four military services-Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines-the Department of the Homeland Security, the Coast Guard, the Energy Department, the Department of the Treasury and the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Despite this findings, "hawks" in the Bush administration led by Dick Cheney sought to build a case for punitive action against Iran, including the use of force. Anything can happen because the NIE though supposed to be independent but it is the White House who retains control of whether the estimate will be publish. The U.S President Gorge W Bush even said on Tuesday that Iran remained a danger because it was mastering technology with a military use. He again refused to rule out military action if diplomatic efforts failed to resolve the dispute.

But from the latest report, it is a lesson for all those countries including India, France and Germany for it's uncritically accepted allegations peddled by American officials of Iran and sanction at the IAEA and the United Nations. For the IAEA and its Director-General Mohammed el-Baredi, they stand vindicated once again for their professional apporach as it was in the case of Iraq and its non-existent of WMD. Over the past two years, the IAEA has consistently maintained that there was no evidence of Iran running a clandistine nuclear programme.
Where do we need to place ourselves in such situation?

The Adivasi uprising in Assam: Lesson's for the Arunachalees

The All Adivasi National Liberation Army (AANLA) had threatened to target "innocent civilians" and "the Tarun Gogoi led government's men" to avenge the brutalities on protesters during a procession taken out by the All Adivasi Students Association of Assam at the Beltola locality on 24 November 2007 to press for their demand for ST(Schedule Tribe) status of Assam. It came out with the triggering of an explosion on the tracks between the Khatikhati and Bokajan railway stations in Karbi Anglong district on 3 December 2007 which caused minor damage to the Dibrugarh bound 5959 up Kamrup express. Again on 7 December, it triggered a blast on the tracks between the Tangla and Harisinga railway stations in Udalguri district. This time on Wednesday,the 12 December 2007, five pasengers of the 2423A Dibrugarh-Guwahati-Delhi Rajdhani Express were killed and four injuried seriously in a bomb blast near the Chungajan railway station in Upper Assam's Golaghat district which the AANLA has claimed responsibility.
These instances gives us some beautiful examples to be learned, regarding the betterment of our state(Arunachal Pradesh is the Indian name). This, as well as the various examples of the identity crisis in Assam,we will also be facing if we continue to use the sanskritized name Arunachal Pradesh "where we cannot define who is an Arunachalee(means who is an indigenoious inhibitant)." Here, we should also question ourselves regarding the Politics that had been and it is there, inrespect to the naming and renaming of our beautiful state. We, the indigenious people should therefore, rethink regarding the name of our state. So that, what's happening in Assam or the present crisis in Malaysia should not happen to us where foreigners start to claim "forgeting from where they have come from."

References

"Manufacturing Identities?" , Frontline, 7 October 2005.

"In the name of Tribal Identities", Frontline, 2 December 2005.

"Separatist Strains",Frontline, 1 June 2007.

Prabhakara, M.S (2007) "Behind the Adivasi unrest in Assam", The Hindu, 3 December 2007, p.13.