Letters - May 31, 2012

Focus Rural The interview, “Tribal philosophy can’t be ignored beyond a point” (April 1-15, 2012), is highly relevant in the context of the ongoing conflict between development and tribal philosophy. Mahatma Gandhi was the first pre- and post-Independence politician and social activist to comprehend the importance of rural way of life. He wanted the state to protect it.

Six sins that make drought invincible

It’s drought time again. Nothing new in this announcement. Each year, first we have crippling droughts between December and June, and then devastating floods in the next few months. It’s a cycle of despair, which is more or less predictable. But this is not an inevitable cycle of nature we must live with.

Science and Technology - Briefs

Plant sciences Agent orange & its ruby

2001-2010: Warmest decade on record

The rate of climate change accelerated in the period 2001-2010—the warmest decade ever recorded worldwide, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in its preliminary findings for its report titled Decadal Global Climate Summary. Dramatic and continuing sea ice decline in the Arctic was one of the most prominent features of the changing state of the climate during the decade (see 'Decade of extreme weather events', and map).    

Curse of excess

Concrete invasion

Sri Lanka’s largest city was once dotted with freshwater marshes. The picturesque beauty of the wetland areas, say elders, was breathtaking. Not any more. The marshes have been filled to construct buildings. The remaining ones are highly polluted and taken over with invasive plant species.

Future shock

It is a definite recipe for disaster, barely short of apocalypse. Thousands may die, millions get affected, and assets worth billions of dollars get destroyed. As human-induced greenhouse gases increase, so will extreme weather events like floods, heat waves and droughts.

Polavaram fraud

Fear of submergence haunts Kurturu, a village nestled in the Papi hills of the Eastern Ghats in Andhra Pradesh. In 2005, a band of officials, an unusual sight in this remote village in West Godavari district, visited the place and marked a rock.

Rain Shocked

Archita Bhatta Rising trend of short but intense spells of rainfall is making usable water scarce in India

That sinking feeling

Raging Kosi waters surrounded Ramnarayan Rai for 12 days in Madhepura's Batona village. Holed up in his house, he watched his younger brother, a youth of 28, waste and die of hunger. Two days after the death, his courage gave way when the body started decaying. He lit a matchstick and placed it on the lips of his dead brother--symbolic of Hindu funeral--and threw the body in the river Kosi--Sorrow of Bihar.