Serendipity : Musings of an Islander

The universe is a collection of Planets, Stars and numerous other celestial objects which move in the vastness of the space surrounding them giving rise to several interesting celestial configurations, such as Eclipse, Transits, Occultation etc. Among these, eclipse is common and easily understood whereas transit is rather rare hence not heard very often. But here is a chance, not only to learn but to see (with naked eye) a rare Transit of Venus on June 6th , 2012. Venus, our immediate neighbor planet in the solar system has been known in the prehistoric times as two separate objects namely the morning star and the evening star. The   Babylonian   cuneiformic   texts such as the Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa , dated 1581 BC however described it as "bright queen of the sky” suggesting the two were indeed a single object and named it   Ishtar   (Sumerian   Inanna ), the personification of womanhood, and goddess of love and beauty. As such Venus, ap...

A DECADE OF UNEASY CALM following acceptance of Sekhar Singh Commission report on A&N Islands The issue has its origin in 1998, when K alpavriksh, a P une based NGO reportedly carried out a study on the indigenous peoples and forests of A ndaman islands which ended in reporting violations in logging activities in L ittle A ndaman I sland by the F orest C orporation. Thereafter the S ociety for A ndaman and N icobar E cology (SANE) a local NGO , K alpavriksh and the B ombay N atural H istory S ociety (BNHS) filed a joint petition with the P ort B lair B ench of the C alcutta H igh C ourt and later approached the H on’ble S upreme C ourt. During the course of hearing, the H on’ble S upreme C ourt extended the case to cover the entire A&N I slands and subsequently P rof S hekhar S ingh of the I ndian I nstitute of P ublic A dministration (IIPA), N ew D elhi was appointed C ommissioner (one man commission) to look into the forests and other allied matters of A&N I sl...

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....