Serendipity : Musings of an Islander

Being born and brought up in rural South Andaman, passing alongside the fields of   Stewart   Gunj had been a regular feature during my first eight years of schooling at Govt Middle School Kanyapuram. The fields, apart from being the rice bowl of the area, the stunning greenery on both sides of the stretch of road ( kheti raasta ) passing amid the fields of   Stewart   Gunj used to be a visual treat. The   2004 Great   Sumatra-Andaman   Earthquake and the resultant tsunami however changed the landscape of the entire area forever. Sea water breached the British time sluice gate at   Kadakachang and flooded the fields rendering it unfit for cultivation. The present article traces this transformation of the erstwhile fields of   Stewart   Gunj into its present water logged avatar. Andaman and Nicobar Islands is considered an ecological paradise, endowed with lush green Tropical Evergreen Rainforest Ecosystem, Mangrove   Ecosy...

The examinations are on and unlike the past, power cut in the guise of rotational load shedding is back haunting us at a time when it hurts the most. It is no surprise that the DG sets generating electricity in these islands develops technical snag and goes out of service every year exactly when the examinations commence. This year too is no exception. The public is reeling in darkness whereas those hired for production of electricity in these islands ( SCPL : S urya C hakra P ower C orporation L td) and the distributor ( E lectricity D epartment, A&N A dministration) are out in the open blaming each other for the crisis situation. Let us first take at look at what has been put in the public domain through newspapers by both the parties during the last few days. The D aily T elegrams carried a news item in its front page ( M arch 13 th ) which reads “ D ue to forced outrage of two 5MW DG set of 20 MW IPP, SPCL the E lectricity D epartment will exercise two hours load shedding....

As available in M icrosoft ® E ncarta ® D ictionary, “opposition” is “ hostile attitude” or “action” : a disapproving attitude toward something and a wish to prevent it, or action taken to show disapproval of and prevent something. This definition of the word “opposition” however translates into a dreaded fear in political circles causing many a heads to roll. But when it comes to planet M ars “opposition” is considered a celestial treat that the scientific community, especially those in astronomy desires to be a part of. In positional astronomy “opposition” means, a superior planet during its orbital journey falls opposite to the sun in a line passing through the planet (inferior) on which the observer is situated. For an E arth bound observer, planets outside E arths orbit namely M ars, J upiter, S aturn, U ranus, and N eptune are termed “superior” planets whereas those orbiting on the inside namely M ercury and V enus are referred to as “inferior” planets. One such “opposition” ...