Serendipity : Musings of an Islander

Autumnal Equinox (2012) : It is well known that due to ellipticity of the E arth's orbit and the fact that the E arth's axis is not perpendicular to the plane of its orbit, the amount of sunshine hence the length of a normal day and for that matter the night varies from place to place and also from one season to another. The difference widens as one moves from equator towards the poles, and for places in the tropical region, the differences vary slightly . However twice a year, the axial tilt does not seem to affect the sunlight incident on E arth. One such occasion would befall the comming saturday ie., 22 S eptember 2012 , when the geometric center of the S un's disk would apparently cross the celestial equator from N orth to S outh, and this point would remain above the horizon for 12 hours everywhere on E arth. As such, S un’s rays would fall more and more vertically, thus length of the day and night would be equal, called E quinox . The word ...

Once in a BLUE MOON : Most of us might have heard the phrase Once in a blue moon but did we ever see the blue moon!  Well on 31st A ug 2012 , there is an opportunity to actually see a B lue M oon. Don’t believe! read on. We know, as the M oon orbits the E arth, it waxes & wanes through a cycle of phases over a month. Precisely speaking this is not true; in fact, the lunar month is 29.53 days long and not 30 days. This means M oon arrives half a day earlier every month. This “half day” mismatch causes the full moon to advance itself every month. Each calendar year thus usually contains 12 full moons plus an excess of roughly eleven days. Therefore after about every 2.7154 years, there is an extra full moon. During such time, it’s possible to have a full moon early in the month and still fit in a second full moon during the month; this 2nd full moon in a month or the 13th in year is called a B lue M oon. A B lue M oon is thus the 2nd full moon in a calend...

Is A&N I slands onl y about E nvironment, F orests, W ildlife, and T ribes? If the answer is NO , then how come there are 31 G ovt settled revenue villages under B uffer Z one? Andaman and N icobar I slands used to be a place appreciated for peaceful coexistence, untill a cat named B uffer Z one ( BZ ) was let out of the bag on 08/12/2010 , ie the day Buffer Zone was implemented in select areas of A ndaman I slands. Since then islanders, especially settlers from N orth and M iddle A ndamans are having sleepless nights for the reason - the controversial B uffer Z one N otification ex post facto brought 31 historically settled revenue villages into its ambit, that too without public discussion. A look into the background reveals the issue could be traced to S ept 2004 notification ( N o 159/2004/F No 1-752/2002-TW (PF) dated 15/09/2004 ) wherein a bunch of GPS points ( L atitude and L ongitude) relating to some parts of S outh and M iddle A ndaman were released and the...

SAGA OF ENDLESS WAIT FOR THE ERSTWHILE WORKERS OF M/S ATI LIMITED IN THE MATTER OF RETIREMENT CLAIM M/s Andaman Timber Industries  L imited, popularly known as ATI had its plywood manufacturing factory at S hore P oint V illage near B ambooflat J etty in S outh A ndaman. The factory started sometime in the early 60’s with a modest two digit workforce, soon emerged as the frontrunner providing livelihood option, directly or indirectly to a majority of the population residing in rural S outh A ndamans. At its peak the factory operated in three shifts (round the clock) with strength of about 1200 workers who were paid wages over and above the rates fixed by G ovt. Workers too complemented the management’s generosity by their devotion towards work to the extent that plywoods manufactured at ATI were unarguably T he B est. Peoples swearing in the name of ATI plywoods for quality was in vogue. Such was the reputation of ATI during hey days. The symbiosis, churning out good...