In troubled waters - The Glacier Meltdown.

Recently there were lots of discussion about the interlinking of rivers in India. Many people - politicians and scholars alike - argue that it the best way to save the drought ridden and seasonal rainfall dependent south. Though the project need details study of environmental damages and possible relocation of tens of thousands of people from their homes and resulting outcome, looks like it might have run into rough weather even before it's started. Recent study by British group - UK's Department of International Development (DFID) project called SAGARMATHA (Snow and glacier Aspects of Water Resources Management in the Himalayas) - say the glacier feeding these north Indian rivers are melting and melting fast.

Some of the key finding are:

1. In the Upper Indus, the study sites show initial increases of 14 and 90 per cent in mean flows over the next few decades which will be followed by decreasing flows by 30 and 90 per cent of baseline in the subsequent decades of the 100-year scenario.

2. For Ganges, the response of the river near the glacier in Uttarkashi is different from downstream Allahabad. At Uttarkashi, flows peak at between 20 and 33 per cent baseline within the first two decades and then recede to 50 per cent of base line after 50 years.

3. Near the Brahmaputra source, there is general decrease in decadal mean flows for all temperature scenarios as glaciers are few in the area and flows recede as the permanent snow cover reduces with increasing temperature.

4. The catchment in the East Himalayas, which benefit from high precipitation of the summer monsoon every year, are less vulnerable to impacts of deglaciation than those in the West, where the monsoon is weaker.

Missing Names - India Votes 2004

This election, I have seen more name missing from the voters list then any other elections before. Who is responsible, definitely the Election Commission. They are unprepared for this election. They are expecting it to be around august and got screwed up when the ruling government dissolved the parliament early - to capitalize on their recent election victories across four states. But what are the EC doing all these day. Why do they want to compile the voter list at the last moment. India is called the information technology super-power, all western and developed countries look toward India for their software services. But, Indian government departments and ministries aren't able to use the these services effectively. Every now and then they talk about e-governance in India. What kind of governance are the going to achieve if various ministries and departments aren't going to communicate among themselves and make sure the fundamental privilege of democracy - voting - is provided to all eligible voters.

Exit polls - India Votes 2004

The exit polls of second phase of election caused a mayhem in the stock market. At least the congress will be happy - these guys were against any kind of opinion polls. Why should the market react so negatively to the news. Because, people knew little about the congress's economic policies. Even though they brought out a vision document on this, probably, very few believed in what they say. The market feels most of the development and disinvestment program are in peril if there were to be a hung parliament. Yesterdays downfall washed Rs. 50,000cr in market cap - one of the worst in three years. At least the congress should know now, they are not welcome in a section of the society. Oh I forgot!, they want to uplift the poor - what were they doing from 1947-1997?.

Welcome to myblogs. This weblogs are my reaction to events arround me.
This is my first posting as well. I am just typing this this to test every thing is fine.
Ha, i successfully typed my first blog.
Iam sure i will continue doing this.