How is the monsoon affecting the country ? Here is a sample:
bq. “Monsoon magic drives up auto counters”:http://www.business-standard.com/today/story.asp?Menu=1&story=18122 Automobile stocks are on a roll. Expectations of gains from the agricultural sector because of a satisfactory monsoon have raised demand for these stocks. It also has boosted the “outlook for cotton”:http://www.bharattextile.com/newsitems/1984184
Reliance is using the Monsoon to make a dashing entry into the mobile telephone market. It is called “Monsoon Hungama”:http://www.rediff.com/money/2003/jul/02reliance.htm. Can two companies use the same marketing name ? Ebony too had a “Monsoon Hungama”:http://www.agencyfaqs.com/www1/news/company_news/Marketing/1011.html. It is not just the people who are watching the monsoons, the Reserve Bank is too.
bq. “No urgency to cut repo: Jalan:”:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=60175 “We are waiting for the inflation and monsoon situation to become clear,” Jalan told reporters on the sidelines of the NCAER annual meeting here.
While the monsoons are good news for some, it is bad for others. For example the “BSF in Jammu and Kashmir”:http://www.ndtv.com/environment/Monsoon.asp?id=40040&callid=1. It has also hampered the “iron ore production”:http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/06072206.htm But the worst has been the news that “1.1 million people have been left homeless”:http://www.terradaily.com/2003/030706120138.qd3sl0ud.html.
Since this blog has been obsessed with monsoons, it was only fair that I write an “article”:http://www.sulekha.com/column.asp?cid=305840 about it.

The Communists of Kerala have implemented a development programme which was “sponsored by the CIA”:http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jul/07iype.htm. The funniest line is this: “In the latest issue of Malayalam bimonthly Padam, leading Marxist thinker Professor M N Vijayan has alleged that the campaign was implemented to ‘derail the Kerala economy'”.

Since most of us grew up in India we may have missed this small piece of information. “India is an Islamic Country”:http://www.sulekha.com/redirectnh.asp?cid=312732 . This comes up from the fact that India has 85% Hindu population, 12-14% Muslim population. Hence.. I don’t know how I missed this.
That piece of enlightenment came to you from C Raja Mohan, strategic affairs editor of The Hindu.

The Supreme Court of India has directed the GOI to complete all the river links, 30 of them by the year 2012. The feasibility study of 6 of them have been completed. Now “Texas wants to partner India on interlinking rivers”:http://www.sulekha.com/redirectnh.asp?cid=312122. The project will cost 5.6 trillion rupees. One NRI Sockalingam ‘Sam’ Kannappan has been actively involved
bq. “NRIs keen on river linking project:”:http://www.rediff.com/us/2003/jun/25us2.htm Realising that the phenomenal cost (estimated at an astronomical Rs 560,000 crore or Rs 5.6 trillion) would probably put off most political parties from investing in it, Kannappan urged the Bush administration to support India when it sought World Bank aid for the project. He also pledged to use his technical expertise to ensure that the proposal report would be acceptable to the World Bank.
Here is some related reading:
* “River Linking”:https://varnam.org/archives/000074.html
* “River Linking – II”:https://varnam.org/archives/000120.html
* “Some facts on river linking”:https://varnam.org/archives/000128.html

For 15 years, V Subramanian and Dr R Madhavan has been riding tricycle carts in the morning carrying tree saplings, finding streets in Chennai which did not have trees and planting them. Read their inspiring story at “How green is my Chennai”:http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jun/27mad.htm

In the article “Waiting For ‘Godaganga'”:http://www.sulekha.com/redirectnh.asp?cid=311699 B. G. Varghese has some interesting facts
* The Sardar Sarovar and Indira Gandhi Canal have been transporting water for many years now
* 110 years back the water of Periyar river was diverted to irrigate dry lands in Tamil Nadu
* Per capita availability of water in India has declined from 5,177 to 1,869 cubic metres since 1951 and will be down to 1,140 cubic metres by 2050.
While presenting the case for river linking he righty says that this alone will not solve the water problem.
bq. The other components in the Hariyali package include rainwater and rooftop harvesting, watershed management, afforestation, groundwater recharge, the desilting of ponds, tanks, beels, jheels and other water bodies, wasteland reclamation and the proper maintenance of canals, drainage systems and embankments

The monsoons which hit India every year had two arms. One arm progresses along the west coast and the other through the east coast. Both of them start off at the same time. Both these branches are now “actively moving”:http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jun/18rain.htm up the country bringing in rains to most of the states including “Rajasthan”:http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/02192019.htm.
Usually one day in a year, the rains hit real bad in Mumbai submerging railway tracks and thus bringing the city to a complete standstill.
“Heavy rain throws life out of gear in Mumbai”:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=33379
bq. “I could not even get on a train because people were hanging on to windows, doors and roofs,” said Manu Kumar, a stock market analyst, who returned home after trying to get on a train for more than an hour.
The next major city awaiting rains is Delhi.

Pritish Nandy consumed by jealousy against rich NRIs writes:
“Pampering the prodigal son “:http://www.sulekha.com/redirectnh.asp?cid=311582
bq. The truth is: they have nothing to offer us. The $ 80 billion we have in our reserves have not come from them. It has come from foreign investors who see a future in India. All we get from our NRIs is gratuitous advice and boastful success stories that we can easily do without. They need India. India does not need them.
The truth is:
“Mayawati invites NRI investment in UP”:http://in.news.yahoo.com/030604/139/24vid.html
bq. “I have come here because in Uttar Pradesh my government has started many schemes to initiate various businesses. People of Indian origin staying here in the U.S. and the state (Uttar Pradesh) will be able to benefit from this,” Mayawati added.
“Budget seeks to boost NRI, FDI inflows”:http://www.rediff.com/budget/1998/jun/01bud07.htm
bq. The Union Budget for 1998-99 announced several measures to revive the economy and encourage non-resident Indian and foreign investment to meet the possible shortfall in resources resulting from sanctions imposed by the United States and other industrialised countries in the wake of five nuclear tests conducted by India last month.
“India seeks NRI investment in highways, IT “:http://216.239.41.100/search?q=cache:j8Kz3Y1b5wAJ:news.sawaal.com/09-Jun-2001/National/8.htm+NRI+Investment+INdia&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
bq. India on Friday invited foreign investments by NRIs in the field of highways, oil exploration, information technology and power projects and assured them all possible support.
“Homeward bound”:http://www.the-week.com/22feb10/biz4.htm
bq. They are pouring money into India, especially into the real-estate market. Since the September 11 attacks in the US, investments in Indian markets have gathered pace. NRIs have pumped in a major chunk of the $1.75 billion India earned in forex between October 26 and November 30 last year. NRIs accounted for 16 per cent of the foreign investments in India in a year.
I did not expect that Pritish Nandy would turn out to be another liar like Praful Bidwai.

According to a Reuters report, suicides are on a decline around the world. But it has been increasing in countries like Russia, Australia and Ireland.
“Suicide Rates Fall in Many Countries, Rise in Some “:http://www.sulekha.com/redirectnh.asp?cid=311564
bq. “It is almost impossible to find a common cause for all the different trends across regions and countries, but certain factors like socioeconomic instability, unemployment, easy access to means of committing suicide, mental disorders and substance use disorders are those commonly implicated,” he said.
Another place where suicide rates are rising in an alarming rate is the land of 100% literacy, Kerala. In May 2002 the average suicide rate was 27 per day.
Continue reading “Suicides” →

“Monsoon Rains Displace 400,000 People in India”:http://ens-news.com/ens/jun2003/2003-06-17-01.asp
bq. With some railway lines submerged, transport links to the district have been disrupted forcing people to use makeshift boats and rafts of banana leaves and bamboo to get around. The International Red Cross says its volunteers are also using such rafts to distribute relief supplies to those who have been affected, including food provided by the government.
This is an annual phenomena. While one part of the country is submerged under water, other parts of the country would be reeling under the heat wave without any water. In his book “Ignited Minds”:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0143029827/jksobservat-20, APJ Abdul Kalam writes on his visit to Tezpur University in Assam.
bq. When I finished giving autographs I faced two interesting questions. One was: “Why cannot water from the Brahmaputra, which is in flood much of the time, be diverted to Rajasthan or Tamil Nadu which are starved of water?”
And his reply to the student was that India needs to connect its rivers across state boundaries. The present Government has started the “river linking project”:https://varnam.org/archives/000074.html under a directive from the Supreme Court.