Author: athisya

SOLAR ENERGY PANELS IN MUMBAI

by athisya, posted in green environment- south asia
Solar harvesting has gained momentum as a eco-friendly way of sustaining life. Some of the solar product supplier in Mumbai are:
SOLAR ENERGY PANELS
Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg, Mumbai
Twincity Sunlife pvt. ltd.
2-22, EverGreen Industrial Estate, Shakti Mill Lane, Mumbai
Yashika Solar Energy Corporation
Fort,, 10, Hornby Bldg,2ND FLOOR,170/172 ,D.N.Road,, Mumbai
They supply products like
Solar lights
Solar water heater
Solar cell
Some of the outdoor equipments supplied by twin city includes:
Solar / wind powered Lighting of Streets / Expressways / Roadways / Pathways
Solar / wind powered Lighting of Parking Lot / Deck Lighting
Solar / wind powered Lighting of Industrial Areas / Plots
Solar / wind powered Lighting of School Zones, Service Stations
Solar / wind powered Lighting of Gardens & Parks, Picnic Areas / Campsites
Solar / wind powered Lighting of Marinas / Boat Ramps
Solar / wind powered Lighting of Markets / Squares
Solar / wind powered Lighting of Beaches
Solar / wind powered Lighting for Security Purposes
Solar / wind powered Lights for Landscaping…………….and many more applications
This is certainly a motivating move and really encourages common man to take up solar harvesting as a real goal. when the public sector  take up this issue seriously it certainly pushes us to follow suit, keeping aside economic concerns.
This could be a perfect platform to go green  in this city and for a better planet.
These new born corporations support the emerging global consensus that the international community needs to do something sooner.
 pursue a low carbon path and leave a healthier planet for our children. 3 cheers to MUMBAI !!!

SWAT VALLEY

by athisya, posted in contemprory world issues
Swat valley- the Switzerland of Pakistan is a war zone today. In the wake of the conflict between the Taliban and the Pakistan army, this place is witnessing one of the biggest human exoduses in the history of mankind. The conflict has provoked major humanitarian crisis with the displacement of more than two million civilians. As the United Nations, the Goveernmant of Pakistan , and various nations come together to provide relief and support to the internally displaced people. The present predicament is really ghastly.
This gives a picture of how a war hit zone would be. Bombing and militant attacks have become so comman in apkistan(south asia) and nearby valley that it is just surprising if one doesn’t know about it .
The geographical location of this valley combined with constant wars involving weapons has rendered theis plaace completely devoid of vegetation.
Food crisis and starvation is a every day phenomenon in the war ripped swat valley of Pakistan. The trees and vegetation and natural flora anf faune has been completely torn apart giving us a distinct glimpse of what the world would be if world war III was to happen.
Kudos to the rescue camps and organisations od UN helping the people in this place. Similar is the case with the refugee camps in srilanks, displaced people , displaced population has drailed the cology and economy int these regions.
According to the UN, the number of displaced people is 2 million ! And only about 200000 of them are living in the 22 refugee camps setup by the government in the swat valley.
In my opinion providing aid and constant support to come out of poverty is the only way of putting an end to the rise of terrorist activities. We look after them then they look after themselves instead of becoming terrorist.

TSUNAMI ALERT SYSTEM

by athisya, posted in green environment- south asia
Four years after the mother of all monster waves struck, Indian oceans countries will know of a possible tsunami just 3 minutes after an earthquake. This is an article from the IEEE spectrum(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers).
India being a peninsula has a coastline of 7,517 kilometres (4,700 mi) and hence bound to bear the brunt of the catastrophe striking the region of south asia merging with the oceans. This can be a tsunami, cyclone, whirlwind, typhoon or any kind of disturbance happening in the oceans.
Though these deadly disasters cannot be stopped they can be certainly prevented and the impacts mitigated if we take proper and regulatory precautions. The tsunami alert system is one such unit set up in Indonesia. It would be greatly appreciated if more such units were set up along the coastlines of India. This unit gauges the pressure developed beneath the water and sends signals. Scientific breakthrough can be the only buffer against the impacts of natural disaster.
These units will give a good night  sleep especially to the people living in the coast and hope that at least I know what I’m up against.
The detection system uses ocean-floor devices that mesure changes in water pressure and surface buouys that both relay the information to the satellite network and add their own measurements of changes in the sea level. It has to be really quick because whenever the earthquake happens, the waves will hit the coastline in 30-40 minutes.
As america has similar issue to deal with in the new Orleans region we need to certainly ecourage more of these units all around the world.

Ecophagy…….Ecocide…….Grey Goo !!!

by athisya, posted in green environment- south asia

After watching Nostradamus 2012 end time, I was pushed into thoughts of the possibilities of end of the world. But practically nothing seem to captivate my mind more than the fact of the environment consuming the environment itself.

Ecophagy is a term coined by Robert Freitas that means the literal consuming of an ecosystem. Though it is spoken in terms of molecular nanotechnology, it can be aptly related to ‘genetic mutation’. In the documentary movie ‘future of food’ Deborah Koons unveils how the nature is being altered day by day and biodiversity is challenged by every activity of man. She explains how genetic engineering is more of a façade instrument if thought to be life saving.

Having pursued biotechnology for a while I am just disappointed how we are taught to design our own end by meddling nature and invading its little secret to prosperity.

Also I discovered that the “nerve gas” which was used by Hitler during Holocaust was modified into pesticide and insecticide while the chemical fertilizers have their origin some compounds used in the nuclear bombs used during Hiroshima and Nagasaki destruction.

Are we now talking about ecocide?

Little do we know that we are kindling a chain reaction of mass-destruction. Does the environment have a buffer against all this? I certainly doubt it.

But when I look from the point of view of technology, this is just the beginning of the boom.

Global economy bubble gone awry could be fixed but what about ecology? Can the biotechnology bubble with its irreversible consequence fixed?

Right now what we need is a powerful political organization to keep a check on these billion dollar corporations and thereby mitigate the severity.

ASIAN BROWN CLOUDS

by athisya, posted in green environment- south asia

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) reported about the giant brown stain hanging in the air over much of South Asia and the Indian Ocean in 2004 as well as 2007.

The observations were then confirmed by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). This infernal layer of pollutants is said to have amplified the global warming effects in some of the regions like Himalayas.

According to the researchers and scientist these brown clouds seem to have caused by a range of airborne particles and aerosols due to incomplete combustion of fuels used by automobiles, factories, burning of wood. The biomass burning and the various industrial processes happening in Asian countries is held responsible for creating this brown mass of brown cloud.

In my opinion the air pollution is so bad in Asia that this giant brown cloud should be taken as a wake-up call.

It blocks the sunlight, over the planet from India to China. The Asian brown cloud has reduced sunlight by more than 10%, in huge swaths of the planet.

Invasive species are costing governments and citizens billions each year. With the Arctic ice melting at an alarming rate, it seems that humans have, at last, gotten the message. Is it too late?

Jairam Ramesh, the Indian environment minister, accused the developed world of needlessly raising alarm over melting Himalayan glaciers. He dismissed scientists’ predictions that Himalayan glaciers might disappear within 40 years as a result of global warming. …Seven of the world’s greatest rivers, including the Ganges and the Yangtze, are fed by the glaciers of the Himalayas and Tibet. They supply water to about 40 per cent of the world’s population.

IMPACTS:

The brown clouds have masked 20-80% of greenhouse gases fueling global warming.

2 million died due to the conditions related to the brown cloud in India alone each year.

There has been a change in the rainfall pattern especially the northern

China drought and southern China flooding.

Melting glaciers in the Himalayas.

The effect is also crop specific with decrease in crop harvest.

India’s National River-Linking Project.

by athisya, posted in green environment- south asia

Kosi – Mechi link                                                                                                                     Kosi – Ghaghara link
Gandak – Ganga link                                                                                                              Ghaghara – Yamuna link
Sarda – Yamuna link                                                                                                              Yamuna – Rajasthan link
Rajasthan – Sabarmati link                                                                                                  Chunar – Sone Barrage link
Sone dam – Southern tributaries of Ganga link                                                           Manas – Sankosh – Tista – Ganga link
Jogighopa – Tista – Farakka link                                                                                         Farakka – Sunderbans link
Ganga – Damodar – Subernarekha link                                                                            Subernarekha – Mahanadi link

Mahanadi – Godavari Link                                                                                                Inchampalli – Nagarjunasagar Link
Inchampalli – Pulichintala Link                                                                                       Polavaram – Vijayawada Link
Almatti – Pennar Link                                                                                                        Srisailam – Pennar Link
Nagarjunasagar – Somasila Link                                                                                    Somasila – Grand Anicut Link
Kattalai – Vaigai – Gundar Link                                                                                       Ken – Betwa Link
Parbati – Kalisindh – Chambal Link                                                                                Par – Tapi – Narmada Link
Damanganga – Pinjal Link                                                                                               Bedti – Varada Link
Netravati – Hemavati Link                                                                                               Pamba – Anchankovil – Vaippar Link
The national river linking project Is a long-term project initiated in order to ensure equal water distribution throughout India.  The river originating in the north eastern Himalayan ranges like the Ganges and Brahmaputra is known to cause floods and then end up draining ample amount of water into the bay of Bengal while some of the northern and southern rivers like beas , saraswati,  kaveri is known to have little or no water especially during summer. This project aims at linking these rivers and thus mitigating the flooding of the eastern part of ganga basin and rotatiThe national river linking project Is a long-term project initiated in order to ensure equal water distribution throughout India.  The river originating in the north eastern Himalayan ranges like the Ganges and Brahmaputra is known to cause floods and then end up draining ample amount of water into the bay of Bengal while some of the northern and southern rivers like beas , saraswati,  kaveri is known to have little or no water especially during summer. This project aims at linking these rivers and thus mitigating the flooding of the eastern part of ganga basin and rotating the water in water shortage areas.
The national river linking project Is a long-term project initiated in order to ensure equal water distribution throughout India.  The rivers originating in the north eastern Himalayan ranges like the Ganges and Brahmaputra is known to cause floods and then end up draining ample amount of water into the bay of Bengal while some of the northern and southern rivers like beas , saraswati,  kaveri is known to have little or no water especially during summer. This project aims at linking these rivers and thus mitigating the flooding of the eastern part of ganga basin and rotating the water in water shortage areas.
This project on successful implementation is said to be  gigantic water grid that south Asia has never witnessed in the history of its water development. Also, will be one of the biggest interbasin water transfer projects in the world.
The Strategic Analysis of India’s National River Linking Project is an undertaking of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) under the aegis of the Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF).
However, the major concern is the colossal mount of funding this project will require.

CREATIONISM

by athisya, posted in contemprory world issues
Creationism IS a religious belief that almighty supernatural form of deity created the universe, the earth and all the life in it. Creationism demeans the evolution theory and embraces genesis chapter 1 and 2. Scientist and the biological explanations of evolution of life fail to accept the fact of divine intervention in creation of life.
With scientific theories gaining prominence in formal education system globally there are more people being convinced with evolution rather than creationism. Still the majority is in favor of creationism.
Creationists have come up with a concept which merges scientific theories and creationist principles to be presented as a scientific fact calling it “intelligent design”. The book “Of Pandas and People: The Central Question of Biological Origins” written by Percival Davis and Dean H. Kenyon(1st & 2nd Ed)William A. Dembski and Jonathan Wells(3rd Ed, under the title The Design of Life) published in 1989 gives a vivid picture of the intelligent design.
Scientific society believes that the true motive behind “intelligent design” is inbreeding creationist ideas into logical thinking of science and the modern education system. The latest face of creationism is that religious facts be taught as scientific fact in public school which after undaunted defeated attempt in courtrooms keeps reverting back with different disguises.
Adapting their tactics to the barriers posed by teaching of evolution theory in public schools creationist keep agitating towards their motive.
· “Intelligent design” is described as one such attempt to prove that it is better alternative to baseless evolution theories.
· Misinterpreting evolution theory as a scientific controversy is another such attempt
· Under the pretext of defending academic freedom; advocates of creationism continue with their teaching.
· Also the state legislation is claimed to have the hidden agenda to inject creationistic principles in the curriculum of public schools.
However creationism and intelligent design have been categorized as pseudo science by the scientific society.
The legal prospectus of the proceedings of the creation science versus evolution science can be enumerated as follows:
· The 1910s and 1920s witnessed the student exposition to evolution followed by many teachers being convicted.
· 1958 inspired by sputnik and the stress on science gave birth to Biological Sciences Curriculum Study.
· 1981 demanded for balanced treatment towards creation science and evolution science.
· 1989 saw the attack in the form of “intelligent design” with the publishing of “of pandas and people”
· June2008 governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal signed ‘Louisiana science education action’ leaving room for nothing other than critical thinking.
With the failure of intelligent design, creationist propagation continue to focus on claims of flaws in evolution theory and brandish it with insistence that evolution is dangerous to religion, morality and society. And have kept their preaching dogmatic.
According to Dobzhansky, “nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution” hence even biology has no option but to glorify evolution theory.
IMPORTANT POINTS:
· CREATIONISM is a religious concept which propagates the interference of divine power in creating the biotic and abiotic components of the universe.
· Creationism’s rival evolution theory have been undergoing legal proceedings since a century in trying to enter the modern syste of education
· Creationist Attempts include presenting religious beliefs as scientific facts in the curriculum.
· The most amazing attempt being the “intelligent science” whose Irreducible complexity is giving scientific explanations for religious facts.
· THE most recent of creationist view being : be fair and educate both creationism and evolution theory and also that evolution is harmful to humanity.
PERSONAL VIEWS:
As I ponder over the details of creationism and evolution theory I find that “religion glorifies religion” and “science glorifies scientific theory”.
“To believe is to accept,
To accept is to perceive” thus resting the case as a matter of perception.
Creationist claim “evolution is unproven”,
Evolutionist claim “creationism is unacceptable”
I claim that “desperate are the deceivers” !
It is just for past 5 centuries that we believe that the earth is round and not flat and so did one of the brightest minds of the world, Albert Einstein. The question is how much more are we to explore the mysteries of nature and challenge the faiths. It is infinity beyond infinity.
Bibliography:
· http://www.discovery.org/csc/topQuestions.php#questionsAboutIntelligentDesign
· http://ncseweb.org/creationism

Creationism IS a religious belief that almighty supernatural form of deity created the universe, the earth and all the life in it. Creationism demeans the evolution theory and embraces genesis chapter 1 and 2. Scientist and the biological explanations of evolution of life fail to accept the fact of divine intervention in creation of life.

With scientific theories gaining prominence in formal education system globally there are more people being convinced with evolution rather than creationism. Still the majority is in favor of creationism.

Creationists have come up with a concept which merges scientific theories and creationist principles to be presented as a scientific fact calling it “intelligent design”. The book “Of Pandas and People: The Central Question of Biological Origins” written by Percival Davis and Dean H. Kenyon(1st & 2nd Ed)William A. Dembski and Jonathan Wells(3rd Ed, under the title The Design of Life) published in 1989 gives a vivid picture of the intelligent design.

Scientific society believes that the true motive behind “intelligent design” is inbreeding creationist ideas into logical thinking of science and the modern education system. The latest face of creationism is that religious facts be taught as scientific fact in public school which after undaunted defeated attempt in courtrooms keeps reverting back with different disguises.

Adapting their tactics to the barriers posed by teaching of evolution theory in public schools creationist keep agitating towards their motive.

· “Intelligent design” is described as one such attempt to prove that it is better alternative to baseless evolution theories.

· Misinterpreting evolution theory as a scientific controversy is another such attempt

· Under the pretext of defending academic freedom; advocates of creationism continue with their teaching.

· Also the state legislation is claimed to have the hidden agenda to inject creationistic principles in the curriculum of public schools.

However creationism and intelligent design have been categorized as pseudo science by the scientific society.

The legal prospectus of the proceedings of the creation science versus evolution science can be enumerated as follows:

· The 1910s and 1920s witnessed the student exposition to evolution followed by many teachers being convicted.

· 1958 inspired by sputnik and the stress on science gave birth to Biological Sciences Curriculum Study.

· 1981 demanded for balanced treatment towards creation science and evolution science.

· 1989 saw the attack in the form of “intelligent design” with the publishing of “of pandas and people”

· June2008 governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal signed ‘Louisiana science education action’ leaving room for nothing other than critical thinking.

With the failure of intelligent design, creationist propagation continue to focus on claims of flaws in evolution theory and brandish it with insistence that evolution is dangerous to religion, morality and society. And have kept their preaching dogmatic.

According to Dobzhansky, “nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution” hence even biology has no option but to glorify evolution theory.

IMPORTANT POINTS:

· CREATIONISM is a religious concept which propagates the interference of divine power in creating the biotic and abiotic components of the universe.

· Creationism’s rival evolution theory have been undergoing legal proceedings since a century in trying to enter the modern syste of education

· Creationist Attempts include presenting religious beliefs as scientific facts in the curriculum.

· The most amazing attempt being the “intelligent science” whose Irreducible complexity is giving scientific explanations for religious facts.

· THE most recent of creationist view being : be fair and educate both creationism and evolution theory and also that evolution is harmful to humanity.

PERSONAL VIEWS:

As I ponder over the details of creationism and evolution theory I find that “religion glorifies religion” and “science glorifies scientific theory”.

“To believe is to accept,

To accept is to perceive” thus resting the case as a matter of perception.

Creationist claim “evolution is unproven”,

Evolutionist claim “creationism is unacceptable”

I claim that “desperate are the deceivers” !

It is just for past 5 centuries that we believe that the earth is round and not flat and so did one of the brightest minds of the world, Albert Einstein. The question is how much more are we to explore the mysteries of nature and challenge the faiths. It is infinity beyond infinity.

Bibliography:

· http://www.discovery.org/csc/topQuestions.php#questionsAboutIntelligentDesign

· http://ncseweb.org/creationism

G8 to G14

by athisya, posted in contemprory world issues
The group of eight or G8 is originally a forum created by france including
Canada-Prime Minister Stephen Harper,
France-President Nicolas Sarkozy,
Germany-Chancellor Angela Merkel,
Italy-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi President of the G8 for 2009,
Japan-Prime Minister Taro Aso,
Russia-President Dmitry Medvedev,
the United Kingdom-Prime Minister Gordon Brown and
the United States-President Barack Obama
in the northern hemisphere in 1975.
Also represented European Union
Commission President José Manuel Barroso
Council President Fredrik Reinfeldt.
The G8 is an informal body unlike the United Nations (UN) or the World Bank which has a structured administrative hierarchy. The G8 operations are run by The G8 finance ministers, G8 foreign ministers and G8 environment ministers. The country holding the presidency hosts the G8 summits. Japan having held the G8 presidency in 2008 passed it to Italy in 2009 and Canada is allotted to hold the presidency in 2010.
The meetings focus on contemporary global and mutual issues. The array of concerned issues cover
health,
law enforcement,
labor,
economic and social development,
energy, environment,
foreign affairs,
justice and interior,
terrorism,
and trade.
Of late France and United Kingdom has sought to expand the group by including the developing nations as well. This means india, china, brazil, Mexico and south Africa have joined the race. This was referred to as outreach five or plus five. Even Egypt is expected to join soon thus making it G14.
The G8 summits are one important aspect where the leaders of the countries are expected to come together and deliberate upon the issues after debating on it. It is supposed to be a three day event, closely monitored by global media.
Majority of the G8 countries have the highest per capita GDA of the world. Also the major stock exchange countries are part of G8. The 2nd and 3rd largest oil producers of the world and then 2nd largest oil reserves country have G* membership. China, considered as 2nd important country when it comes to world issues has been repeatedly asked to join G8. Thus G8 is a very important body to tackle future crisis.
Also, United States of America, United Kingdom, France, Russia put together has 96-99% of the world’s nuclear weapon.
The 11th July, 2009 issue of Times OF India put up an article which read “G8 is dead, long live G14”. The G14 headlines arose with Italian President Silvio Berlusconi. “We saw that G8 is no longer a suitable format to show a global economic way of doing. Instead, a consolidated G14 representing 80% of the world economy could help create a real dialogue. We want to see if the G14 is the best solution for debates which will bring to us unique results.”
IMPORTANT POINTS:
· G8, a body constituting the developed nations of the united states of America, the united kingdom, Russia, France, Italy, Japan, Canada, Germany with a motto to tackle global issues.
· G14, the proposed extension which will add the developing countries of India, brazil, china, Mexico, south Africa and Egypt to the original G8.
· Unlike G20 which includes the major economies of the world, G14 addresses all the welfare issues of humanity.
· The recent economic crisis which made the developed nations of G8 to succumb towards yearning voices of the developing nations coupled with the protest of their protest has produced G14.
Personal opinion:
In this way the rich and the “wanting to become rich” countries have first time joined hands in promoting the global agendum. This is an interesting and crucial moment because when all these countries are given equal footing in dealing with issues of the world the chances of attaining the utopian “free trade” is dream able.
Cheers to mankind !!!

The group of eight or G8 is originally a forum created by france including

Canada-Prime Minister Stephen Harper,

France-President Nicolas Sarkozy,

Germany-Chancellor Angela Merkel,

Italy-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi President of the G8 for 2009,

Japan-Prime Minister Taro Aso,

Russia-President Dmitry Medvedev,

the United Kingdom-Prime Minister Gordon Brown and

the United States-President Barack Obama

in the northern hemisphere in 1975.

Also represented European Union

Commission President José Manuel Barroso

Council President Fredrik Reinfeldt.

The G8 is an informal body unlike the United Nations (UN) or the World Bank which has a structured administrative hierarchy. The G8 operations are run by The G8 finance ministers, G8 foreign ministers and G8 environment ministers. The country holding the presidency hosts the G8 summits. Japan having held the G8 presidency in 2008 passed it to Italy in 2009 and Canada is allotted to hold the presidency in 2010.

The meetings focus on contemporary global and mutual issues. The array of concerned issues cover

health,

law enforcement,

labor,

economic and social development,

energy, environment,

foreign affairs,

justice and interior,

terrorism,

and trade.

Of late France and United Kingdom has sought to expand the group by including the developing nations as well. This means india, china, brazil, Mexico and south Africa have joined the race. This was referred to as outreach five or plus five. Even Egypt is expected to join soon thus making it G14.

The G8 summits are one important aspect where the leaders of the countries are expected to come together and deliberate upon the issues after debating on it. It is supposed to be a three day event, closely monitored by global media.

Majority of the G8 countries have the highest per capita GDA of the world. Also the major stock exchange countries are part of G8. The 2nd and 3rd largest oil producers of the world and then 2nd largest oil reserves country have G* membership. China, considered as 2nd important country when it comes to world issues has been repeatedly asked to join G8. Thus G8 is a very important body to tackle future crisis.

Also, United States of America, United Kingdom, France, Russia put together has 96-99% of the world’s nuclear weapon.

The 11th July, 2009 issue of Times OF India put up an article which read “G8 is dead, long live G14”. The G14 headlines arose with Italian President Silvio Berlusconi. “We saw that G8 is no longer a suitable format to show a global economic way of doing. Instead, a consolidated G14 representing 80% of the world economy could help create a real dialogue. We want to see if the G14 is the best solution for debates which will bring to us unique results.”

IMPORTANT POINTS:

· G8, a body constituting the developed nations of the united states of America, the united kingdom, Russia, France, Italy, Japan, Canada, Germany with a motto to tackle global issues.

· G14, the proposed extension which will add the developing countries of India, brazil, china, Mexico, south Africa and Egypt to the original G8.

· Unlike G20 which includes the major economies of the world, G14 addresses all the welfare issues of humanity.

· The recent economic crisis which made the developed nations of G8 to succumb towards yearning voices of the developing nations coupled with the protest of their protest has produced G14.

Personal opinion:

In this way the rich and the “wanting to become rich” countries have first time joined hands in promoting the global agendum. This is an interesting and crucial moment because when all these countries are given equal footing in dealing with issues of the world the chances of attaining the utopian “free trade” is dream able.

Cheers to mankind !!!

References:

· http://www.g8online.org/

· http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS-World-Europe-G8-is-dead-long-live-G14/articleshow/4764431.cms

· http://www.g8italia2009.it/G8/G8-G8_Layout_locale-1199882116809_Home.htm

COMMUNIST CHINA

by athisya, posted in contemprory world issues
The term communism refers to common ownership in a classless society abolishing private ownership. In political science this term takes a new meaning because of its amalgamation with Marxism theory. China is one such important communist state. This form of government can be categorized as authoritarian. Vietnam, Cuba, Korea are some of the countries following suit with communism.
China has a rich heritage of one of the oldest and continuous civilizations and cultures aging back to 6 millennia. After continuous reigns of dynasties, the 2000 years of imperialism ended with Qing dynasty. This led to the birth of nationalist party which later became stagnated leading to the civil war of 1949 making way for communist party of china (CCP) led by Mao Zedong. The democratic dictatorship of People’s Republic of China (CCP) made the republic of china (ROC) to retreat towards the islands of Taiwan Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu.
The two Chinese entities ruling china presently are:
· People’s Republic of China (PRC), commonly known as China, has control over mainland China and the largely self-governing territories of Hong Kong (since 1997) and Macau (since 1999).
· Republic of China (ROC), commonly known as Taiwan, has control over the islands of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu.
The congress has every right to elect the President as well as demand him to resign. Presently Hu Jintao is the President of china and head of state of the people’s republic of china on the recommendation of the Chinese communist party.
But the Chinese citizen don’t seem to really like this kind of government though it has been able to procure a niche position for china in the world because according to one of the Chinese journalist “the communist political structure doesn’t promote free thinking in every direction”(the world is flat”-thomas friedman). For which Deng Xiaoping, leader of the Communist Party of China answered that what matters most to china is the jobs and incomes for the citizens of china and not the ideology.
This is because according to the Chinese politicians reform in Chinese politics can bring instability in the bureaucracy. Moreover they feel it will cause destruction of socialist norms and legal values. In short revamping the political system of china will be one big disaster according to them.
This brings to memory the cruel Tiananmen massacre which marks the upheaval of the Chinese students and intellectuals against the government when the world witnessed the fall of many such communist governments around the world. The protest started with the mourning of the death of pro-market, pro-democracy, and anti-corruption official, Hu Yaobang. The cry was for democratic reform which received a military response from the people’s republic of china government leading to the death of 2500 people and approximately 10000 wounded.
IMPORTANT POINTS:
· Communism, though not a people’s favored form of government has been successful in making china one of the leading economies of the world.
· Communist china with the largest population in the world is emerging as the centerfield for cheap labor and manufacture of low cost – high technology goods.
· With the increasing number of university graduates in china and bright minds being incessantly churned out by them a political switch is a much awaited phenomenon in china. This can be best exemplified by the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989.
· Understanding the political ideology of communist china is very important as the super powers are feeling threatened by the impetus demonstrated by modern china in attracting the major trade wind.
PERSONAL VIEWS:
Despite china being the justest solution to the big companies of the world in terms of cost efficiency and high technology I feel communist ideology may not always be amiable for its success. This is because this kind of ideology makes it difficult to focus on a common goal and shared use of resources and effort.
A communist society can be easily destabilized by internal differences in goals of systems in its hierarchy. Also in its motto to “not to disturb the socialist norms and legal values” of china a communist society becomes weak in its ability to learn and compete with external economies.
In a nutshell, if the entire communist state as a society fails to do well, then the whole system will inevitably crash.

The term communism refers to common ownership in a classless society abolishing private ownership. In political science this term takes a new meaning because of its amalgamation with Marxism theory. China is one such important communist state. This form of government can be categorized as authoritarian. Vietnam, Cuba, Korea are some of the countries following suit with communism.

China has a rich heritage of one of the oldest and continuous civilizations and cultures aging back to 6 millennia. After continuous reigns of dynasties, the 2000 years of imperialism ended with Qing dynasty. This led to the birth of nationalist party which later became stagnated leading to the civil war of 1949 making way for communist party of china (CCP) led by Mao Zedong. The democratic dictatorship of People’s Republic of China (CCP) made the republic of china (ROC) to retreat towards the islands of Taiwan Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu.

The two Chinese entities ruling china presently are:

· People’s Republic of China (PRC), commonly known as China, has control over mainland China and the largely self-governing territories of Hong Kong (since 1997) and Macau (since 1999).

· Republic of China (ROC), commonly known as Taiwan, has control over the islands of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu.

The congress has every right to elect the President as well as demand him to resign. Presently Hu Jintao is the President of china and head of state of the people’s republic of china on the recommendation of the Chinese communist party.

But the Chinese citizen don’t seem to really like this kind of government though it has been able to procure a niche position for china in the world because according to one of the Chinese journalist “the communist political structure doesn’t promote free thinking in every direction”(the world is flat-thomas friedman). For which Deng Xiaoping, leader of the Communist Party of China answered that what matters most to china is the jobs and incomes for the citizens of china and not the ideology.

This is because according to the Chinese politicians reform in Chinese politics can bring instability in the bureaucracy. Moreover they feel it will cause destruction of socialist norms and legal values. In short revamping the political system of china will be one big disaster according to them.

This brings to memory the cruel Tiananmen massacre which marks the upheaval of the Chinese students and intellectuals against the government when the world witnessed the fall of many such communist governments around the world. The protest started with the mourning of the death of pro-market, pro-democracy, and anti-corruption official, Hu Yaobang. The cry was for democratic reform which received a military response from the people’s republic of china government leading to the death of 2500 people and approximately 10000 wounded.

IMPORTANT POINTS:

· Communism, though not a people’s favored form of government has been successful in making china one of the leading economies of the world.

· Communist china with the largest population in the world is emerging as the centerfield for cheap labor and manufacture of low cost – high technology goods.

· With the increasing number of university graduates in china and bright minds being incessantly churned out by them a political switch is a much awaited phenomenon in china. This can be best exemplified by the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989.

· Understanding the political ideology of communist china is very important as the super powers are feeling threatened by the impetus demonstrated by modern china in attracting the major trade wind.

PERSONAL VIEWS:

Despite china being the justest solution to the big companies of the world in terms of cost efficiency and high technology I feel communist ideology may not always be amiable for its success. This is because this kind of ideology makes it difficult to focus on a common goal and shared use of resources and effort.

A communist society can be easily destabilized by internal differences in goals of systems in its hierarchy. Also in its motto to “not to disturb the socialist norms and legal values” of china a communist society becomes weak in its ability to learn and compete with external economies.

In a nutshell, if the entire communist state as a society fails to do well, then the whole system will inevitably crash.

URANIUM SMUGGLING>>>NUCLEAR SMUGGLING!!!

by athisya, posted in contemprory world issues
One of the major threats looming over the nations of the world is the nuclear bomb terror. Every major conflict of the world is followed by nuclear attack threatening. As we all know it will create havoc in the environment coupled with a huge toll of human casualty, this issue certainly needs to be addressed
Uranium, one of the major elements in designing a nuclear bomb has become accessible to the anti-social elements at a leisure walk which is a major concern. The best example was the September 11 terror attack which involved smuggling of uranium cylinders right into the country.
In 2006, 39.655 tones of uranium were mined in
· Canada (25%),
· Australia (19.1%),
· Kazakhstan (13.3%),
· Niger (8.7%),
· Russia (8.6%),
· Namibia (7.8%) research reactors.
The mined uranium undergoes enrichment at various levels. The enrichment of uranium gives this form of highly enriched uranium (HEU) which can be fashioned into a nuclear bomb unlike low enriched uranium (LEU) that cannot be converted into an atomic bomb.
The Hiroshima atomic bombing involved 65kg of highly enriched uranium. More recently America uses HEU to fuel its navy and also in medical field.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, 275 confirmed incidents involving nuclear material and criminal intent occurred globally between January 1993 and December 2006. Four involved plutonium, but 14 involved HEU(highly enriched uranium.
In the move to curtail terrorism raising barriers in the illegal supply chain of uranium should be considered as an important motive.
It has been discovered that the US ports are major uranium smuggling channels. The first generation detectors (Radiation Portal Monitors) and the second generation detectors (advanced spectroscopic portal) erected on the US ports failed to restrict the smuggling of uranium. Abcnews   led an operation to actually check the detectors with depleted uranium which has similar properties as of highly enriched uranium. And they happened to successfully bring the uranium right through the scrutiny without being detected. This continuing saga of NRDC’s uranium slug could prove fatal in unimaginable ways.
IMPORTANT POINTS:
· There is at least more than 100 chronology of uranium smuggling incidents since 1993,raising an alarm towards this issue.[ref: http://ftp.fas.org/irp/cia/product/go_appendixa_032796.html%5D
· Trafficking Uranium which constitutes to a major composition of a nuclear bomb is a fearful issue for humanity and environment.
· Highly enriched uranium(HEU) was part of the major nuclear blasts including 11/9 attack, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, etc
· The US government has not replaced the detectors that could not detect HEU at the ports because that would cost them a lot but the expense of the potential consequences will be certainly heavier and irreparable.
· Hypothetically speaking a terrorist could easily smuggle 15 pounds of highly enriched uranium which is the minimum amount of uranium required to fashion a nuclear bomb across the US ports.
· America should Blend the military stock of HEU into low enriched uranium and use physical security for the reserves of HEU under Russia.
PERSONAL VIEWS:
In my view, I favor the national resources defense council of America which calls for a global ban on commercial use of highly enriched uranium. This is a best solution because then the US ports won’t need the specialized detectors for highly enriched uranium. Moreover this will serve as major roadblock to all the HEU supply chains, be it legal or illegal. The other solution is replacing the production of highly enriched uranium with low enrich uranium at the research reactor level itself completely eliminating the possibility of HEU circulation in any part of the world.
The government instead of wasting millions of dollars in tracing down nuclear weapon usable material should rather try to terminate the production of HEU at the grass root level.

One of the major threats looming over the nations of the world is the nuclear bomb terror. Every major conflict of the world is followed by nuclear attack threatening. As we all know it will create environmental havoc coupled with a huge toll of human casualty, this issue certainly needs to be addressed.

Uranium, one of the major elements in designing a nuclear bomb has become accessible to the anti-social elements at a leisure walk which is a major concern. The best example was the September 11 terror attack which involved smuggling of uranium cylinders right into the country.

In 2006, 39.655 tones of uranium were mined in

· Canada (25%),

· Australia (19.1%),

· Kazakhstan (13.3%),

· Niger (8.7%),

· Russia (8.6%),

· Namibia (7.8%) research reactors.

The mined uranium undergoes enrichment at various levels. The enrichment of uranium gives this form of highly enriched uranium (HEU) which can be fashioned into a nuclear bomb unlike low enriched uranium (LEU) that cannot be converted into an atomic bomb.

The Hiroshima atomic bombing involved 65kg of highly enriched uranium. More recently America uses HEU to fuel its navy and also in medical field.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, 275 confirmed incidents involving nuclear material and criminal intent occurred globally between January 1993 and December 2006. Four involved plutonium, but 14 involved HEU(highly enriched uranium.

In the move to curtail terrorism raising barriers in the illegal supply chain of uranium should be considered as an important motive.

It has been discovered that the US ports are major uranium smuggling channels. The first generation detectors (Radiation Portal Monitors) and the second generation detectors (advanced spectroscopic portal) erected on the US ports failed to restrict the smuggling of uranium. Abcnews   led an operation to actually check the detectors with depleted uranium which has similar properties as of highly enriched uranium. And they happened to successfully bring the uranium right through the scrutiny without being detected. This continuing saga of NRDC’s uranium slug could prove fatal in unimaginable ways.

IMPORTANT POINTS:

· There is at least more than 100 chronology of uranium smuggling incidents since 1993,raising an alarm towards this issue.[ref: http://ftp.fas.org/irp/cia/product/go_appendixa_032796.html%5D

· Trafficking Uranium which constitutes to a major composition of a nuclear bomb is a fearful issue for humanity and environment.

· Highly enriched uranium(HEU) was part of the major nuclear blasts including 11/9 attack, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, etc

· The US government has not replaced the detectors that could not detect HEU at the ports because that would cost them a lot but the expense of the potential consequences will be certainly heavier and irreparable.

· Hypothetically speaking a terrorist could easily smuggle 15 pounds of highly enriched uranium which is the minimum amount of uranium required to fashion a nuclear bomb across the US ports.

· America should Blend the military stock of HEU into low enriched uranium and use physical security for the reserves of HEU under Russia.

PERSONAL VIEWS:

In my view, I favor the national resources defense council of America which calls for a global ban on commercial use of highly enriched uranium. This is a best solution because then the US ports won’t need the specialized detectors for highly enriched uranium. Moreover this will serve as major roadblock to all the HEU supply chains, be it legal or illegal. The other solution is replacing the production of highly enriched uranium with low enrich uranium at the research reactor level itself completely eliminating the possibility of HEU circulation in any part of the world.

The government instead of wasting millions of dollars in tracing down nuclear weapon usable material should rather try to terminate the production of HEU at the grass root level.