Reacting Nuclearly on Kudankulam

The nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, erstwhile Russia in 1986 and the recent Fukushima Daiichi disaster at Japan in 2011 has raised alarms and concerns about the safety standards of nuclear reactors especially when these sensitive and radioactive structures are threatened or triggered by natural disasters. The state of the art automated systems designed to curb the nuclear fission whenever things go awry have a limited capacity to stem the rot as no one can win against the vagaries of nature.

Japan is the only country which has experienced the terrible after effects of the nuclear holocaust in 1945.One of the most gruesome and telling tragedy willingly inflicted on the human race till date, and which has been effectively projected on celluloid is very gripping and takes a lot of heart to muster courage and view the ghastly aftermath.

The portrayal is so strong that one feels the pain, heat and the numbness that affected the unsuspecting victims 67 years back.

Japan is sitting on a Virtual time bomb and is ever on the tenterhooks because of the alarming regularity of seismic disturbances often accompanied by ‘complimentary’ tsunamis. The tenacity of the unassuming Japanese to bounce back though adulatory is often cut back by the forces of nature who tries to emphatically assert ‘’who is the boss’’.

The Fukushima nuclear power plant had been built adhering to stringent preventive measures to withstand any accidents but the gigantic tsunami which ultimately ravaged it was not at all contemplated. The Pictures of the devastation was widely seen all over the world thanks to the Satellite television that has invaded the privacy of our living rooms.

 Kudankulam in the state of Tamil Nadu has been in the news after a mass protest against the Construction of the Nuclear power reactor turned ugly and violent after 2 persons were killed in Police action. This reactor has been built incorporating the dicey and unreliable Soviet technology.

 The Chernobyl disaster happened because of lack of alertness and proper safety regulations in place, questionable and accident prone technology and indifference of the stone faced communist bureaucrats whose sole agenda was to ‘’outmanoeuvre the NATO’’ to gain a strategic advantage as a Super power.

 The disaster management Cell in India is worse than the malady itself. We all know about the dismal and pathetic behavior of the authorities during the Bhopal Gas Leak, in 1984. Many of the victims died because of the improper and erratic health care doled out to them.

 God forbid and should any uncontrolled nuclear fission occur in any of our reactors the gushing kinetic energy along with the gamma rays would obliterate everything in its path for generations considering the eternal radioactive chain reaction.

The rising discontent against the Proposed reactor has prompted the authorities to come out with ridiculous and startling allegations like ‘’foreign NGO’s’’ are actively foraging and willfully sabotaging this nuclear power project.

Instead of playing with the innocent lives of the people, wouldn’t it be fair if a greener and cleaner option of renewable energy is given preference than to a precarious piece of radioactive junk forever hovering over our conscience and willing to burst at the seams any moment??.

Unfortunately all this comes up for discussion when the whole project is nearing completion and after colossal investment in such Capital intensive projects.

     

Autonomy for States??

India is a country replete with diverse and myriad cultures and multilingual languages, dialects & interests inter lapping the terra firma amongst the varied topography of the vast sub continent.

The division of the country on the basis of languages was conceptualized in 1956 when  the state of Andhra Pradesh was formally born after the death of P.Sreeramalu who succumbed after fasting and the then PM, Nehru reluctantly agreed to the formation of the new state. This played on the minds of others who too began demanding separate states on the basis of linguistic grounds and this marked the beginning of the end or let us say-disintegration for this land mass called ‘’India’’.

We see ample differences on a/c of regionalism- instigating and inciting the natives or locals over trivial issues against – Supposed OUTSIDERS (people from other states). The craze of Cricket and Cinema signals a brief hiatus to this unending frenzy of hatred and mistrust which raises its head every now and then causing unending hardships besides causing insurmountable damage to life and property.

 Nearly 565 princely states existed even after the formal partition of India and Pakistan took place in 1947. The iron man of India Vallabhai Patel was instrumental in integrating and uniting the scattered and fragmented heart and souls plus curbing the shattered egos of the erstwhile princes.

The state of Jammu and Kashmir has been facing acute pressure since its accession to the Indian union in 1947 where it is experiencing insurgency and militancy with tacit logistical support provided by the Pakistan Army.

 We take umbrage whenever the state of Jammu and Kashmir is shown as disputed territory but our own govt. formulates differential laws for our FORCIBLY unified country. The state has been accorded a special status which confers the Central Govt. to act only on matters relating to defence, external affairs and communication that too within a limited scope. Almost every other law which applies to the Indian Union is NOT APPLICABLE to the state of J&K. Article 370 which was invoked during the pre- accession days should have been scrapped long back but appeasement of the minorities has prevented the successive govts. from taking this retrograde and logical step.

Why should the rest of the Country (tax payers hard earned money) pay for the development of a region which is supposedly not ‘’theirs’’???

A Citizen of India cannot purchase any immoveable property in J&K but the vice-versa doesn’t hold water. Billions of dollars have gone down the drain, countless lives has been lost in trying to hold on to this SLIPPERY state. It is better to let the people of J&K decide on their fate through plebiscite.

The White Paper released by the Govt. in 1948 on J&K has yet to see the light of the day. The ‘’White’’ Paper must have tuned ‘’YELLOW’’ after all these years in isolation and solitude rather than the presence of lignin in them.

It may seem ridiculous and this blog may even attract charges of sedition as per the existing norms and our archaic laws but perhaps the time has come for granting a similar autonomy to all the states within the Indian union. The Central govt. should retain the right to enforce defence, core banking and monetary issues and at most perform an arbitrary role to resolve disputes.

The states can deal with smaller regions and resolve issues within the ambit of a revised constitution and compete with one another for a healthy overall growth.  The state should have first lien on the natural resources within the territory of the state enabling it either to use it first hand or sell the surplus outside. The Centre has made enough mess of mining both by indiscriminately ruining hectares of flora and fauna and allocating lucrative blocks to vested interests courtesy, nepotism.

The innumerable people who dedicated their entire life to achieve freedom might be turning in their graves even contemplating whether the titanic struggle was worth the effort. Those at the helm of affairs have belied, betrayed and throttled the faith, expectation and aspirations of millions by sustained

policies and procedures which are manipulative, coercive and obsolete. 

War and Peace

The Global arms industry is doing a roaring business despite the economic slowdown which has dented and obliterated the economies of countries across the board. The melting economic scenario is in perfect synch with the polar ice cap meltdown at the poles. The European countries perhaps with the bare exception of Germany, are struggling to stay afloat in the swirling malaise of unemployment, uncertainty coupled with ever depreciating currencies and north bound inflation.

As per the records maintained by SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) India is the largest importer of arms accounting for about 10% of world sales- as per volume.(Obviously there could be another reason that the percentage of Kick backs involved in arms deal has prompted these figures to snowball considerably).Arch rival Pakistan is not far behind. The amount of money spent by these two on developmental projects in their respective countries would have yielded a far better result than the bitter enmity that has prevailed since 1947.Economic conditions have remained stagnant for a majority of the population but the Govt. of both countries want to slug it out by procuring the latest and most potent technology. Vested interests and sly business marketing by the sellers (USA,UK, Israel and France) however have seen to it that the acrimonious and rancid behavior between the neighbors stay intact. The irony is after providing fuel to the fire these  zealots come armed with hose pipes (in the name of various aids and consortiums) to douse the flames they themselves have ignited.

Middle east countries like Saudi Arabia has been duped and deceived into purchasing high top end military equipment citing growing Israeli dominance within its proximity. The annual budgeted expenditure is well over 50 billion dollars. It is hilarious to note that the Saudis had to get Pakistani pilots at short notice to man their aircrafts for a while till their own Countrymen got the necessary expertise.

There is a single track motive for the countries who sell arms to developing countries(prevent it from getting ‘’DEVELOPED’’) to wedge animosity and create hostile conditions between warring neighbors, create a war like atmosphere by providing huge cache of arms in lieu of securing permanent air-bases in the region, sabotaging any bid to ease tensions in areas of high economic and intrinsic value (Oil rich Middle East) or planting themselves in places of strategic importance concerning or affecting global trade (Suez & Panama Canal, the Persian Gulf etc).     

The World could have been a much better place to live in had the countries indulging in mass production of these destructive state of the art weaponry chosen to halt this sabotage and channelized the same resources (both men and materials) into evolving technology to breed new machines which could give more yield in agriculture, could reduce carbon emission, create alternative means of clean and green fuel, provide new clan of polymers which would be bio degradable etc. The amount of money invested in R&D to manufacture these unwarranted means of killing machine alone could help correct the imbalance in severely impoverished countries like Somalia, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Ethiopia where Civil unrest is the order of the day with rival factions often backed by western countries for their own self centered motive. The economic disparities and severe food scarcity has aggravated the situation often leading to a free for all which is manipulated by the protagonists of arms to suit their evil design of spreading violence and hatred.