Winds of change?

Ever since 1999, anxiety clouds the faces of coastal Orissa's local inhabitants as October and November draw near. Around this time that year, the region was struck by the super cyclone that claimed nearly 30,000 lives. It is a sad reflection on the state of disaster preparedness that three years down the line, residents still knit their brows in consternation during the two most cyclone-prone months.

Drought monitoring: Untapped data

Droughts, an integral part of India's geophysical profile, have registered a steep rise in frequency and ferocity during the past 50 years. To its credit, the scientific community has kept pace by conducting research that can minimise the impact of dry spells. But the government has done precious little to utilise this flood of information for the benefit of the worst affected sector -- agriculture.