Maldives planning to buy a new homeland

Maldivian President, Mohamed Nasheed, says that the gradual rise in sea levels caused by global warming means the Maldives islanders may eventually be forced to resettle elsewhere.

The Maldives is the lowest nation in the world. Its highest land is little more than two metres above sea level.

The United Nations estimates that sea levels may rise globally by nearly 60 centimetres this century.

Devastation fears

The Maldives comprise more than 1,000 islands and coral atolls surrounded by the clear waters of the Indian Ocean.

The white sandy beaches are a major tourist attraction bringing in billions of dollars every year.

Now Mohamed Nasheed, who will be sworn in as the country's first democratically elected president on Tuesday, has said that he will set up a fund to acquire land in other parts of the region.

Mr Nasheed's spokesman, Ibrahim Hussein Zaki, told the BBC's World Today programme that the new government had to take action.

"Global warming and environmental issues are issues of major concern to the Maldivian people. We are just about three feet (0.91 metre) above sea level," Mr Zaki said, speaking from the capital, Male.

"So any sea level rise could have a devastating effect on the people of the Maldives and their very survival".

Similar culture

Over the last century, sea levels around parts of the archipelago rose by nearly 20cm. Mr Nasheed fears that even a small rise could leave some islands inundated.

Mr Nasheed's plan is to create a "sovereign wealth fund" using tourism revenues to buy land so that future generations will have somewhere to rebuild their lives if they have to leave.

He wants somewhere within the region, where the culture is similar - possibly India or Sri Lanka.

His fears is that if he does not take action, the future descendents of the 300,000 islanders could become environmental refugees.

Source: Somewhere in BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7719501.stm, me thinks.

Me Talks:

I think this is... funny. Everyone knows that Maldives is a group of islands, so imagine if they bought a place in Bangalore. Your GPS would say stuff like "The Republic of Maldives is approaching. Please keep your passports ready." But what I find put-downing is that Nasheed speaks as though nothing can be done about global warming. It's almost as though he's already given up. Nasheed, if you're reading this (which is most unlikely to happen), please leave your reply in comments or in the tagbox. I hope you're tech-savvy.

Topper!

I can't believe it. I just went online to check the scores for the UNSW Examination results, and guess what! I was the Indian Topper for the Computer Skills exam! And no one else had as a score as I did (which itself wasn't very high either (37/40)), so I was the only topper for Grade 8. Not only that, I got High Distinctions in every subject (English, Mathematics, Science, Computer Skills (obviously lah)). So when I told my teachers, turned out that they knew about this weeks back and they just wanted to keep it as a surprise for me. But too late. The Great *coffcoff* Tharun outwitted them! Oh I can see you all ing at me. Thank you very much, you may arise.

My Site!

Yay got my own site! I haven't really done up much yet, seeing as I started it sometime yesterday. I haven't got any ideas on what to put up on the "Home" page, so I'm all open for suggestions from you guys. The blog tag redirects us to this page, the gallery has a few (2, to be exact) Flash™ animations. On the "About" page you will find a very biased so called "biography" about myself. On the "Contact" page, you will find links to the other pages plus the time plus some stuff about me EXCEPT my contact details. Must protect my privacy mah! As I said earlier, I'm open to suggestions!

Oops, forgot to tell you the URL. http://tharun.firstaspect.net/

Monkeys!

Recently, I was doing a project on my laptop when Tanya came up and told me to come up to the balcony 'cause my dad was calling me. So I just went over to the balcony and whaddya know?! There were monkeys on the nearby brick (I think) factory! Right in smack in the middle of  commercial Bangalore! So we watched them for about half an hour through my dad's Bushnell binoculars and we found that 1 of the monkeys was missing an arm, 1 was pregnant (or maybe just ate too much) and 1 was... well... small (very mischievous though). Then they made their way down the fence into the lawn near the beach volleyball court and started pointlessly roaming around. So for the past week, these monkeys have been the stars of the apartments. Though it was only today that a security guard finally noticed them and then a few guys came with cameras and started snapping. The monkeys then made one of them screeching sounds, but the dumbos still didn't move away! And the monkeys didn't do anything either back, so I guess it was OK...

Well the monkeys looked scared out of their wits though. Looks like I won't be seeing them for a while...

Bird strike confirmed in US crash

It has been confirmed that a collision with a flock of birds caused a US airliner to lose power and ditch in a New York river just after take-off.

Flight data recorders show the engines of the US Airways Airbus A320 cut out simultaneously, National Transport Safety Board investigators say.

The plane had only managed to reach a top altitude of 3,200ft (975m).

All 155 passengers and crew of Flight Flight 1549 survived the landing on the Hudson, which made headlines worldwide.

They were rescued by boats from the sinking aircraft - the captain was the last to leave.

The wreckage of the plane was lifted by crane from the icy waters on to a barge moored to a lower Manhattan seawall late on Saturday and is now being moved to a marina for closer inspection.

'Sound of thumps'

Kitty Higgins of the National Transportation Safety Board confirmed on Sunday that ice floes in the river were slowing the search for an engine thought to have separated from the plane when it ditched on Thursday afternoon.

But she said the "black box" data confirmed pilot testimony that the plane had collided with a flock of birds.

"About 90 seconds after take-off, the captain remarks about birds," she said, quoting the data recorder.

"One second later the cockpit voice recorder recorded the sound of thumps and rapid decrease of engine sounds. The captain acknowledges that both engines have lost power and he takes control of the aircraft."

Earlier, the plane's pilot, Capt Chesley B "Sully" Sullenberger, and his co-pilot, Jeff Skiles, described for the Board how they had suddenly seen "big, dark-brown birds" approaching, then registered them hitting the plane.

Capt Sullenberger took the decision to ditch the plane in the river dividing Manhattan from New Jersey.

Apart from one person whose legs were both broken, none of those aboard are reported to have sustained serious injuries.

The pilot was due to give his first TV interview about the crash on Monday but that has been cancelled at the request of the US airline pilots association.

1 1526 local time (2026 GMT): Flight 1549 takes off from LaGuardia airport 2 1527 (2027 GMT): Pilot Chesley Sullenberger reports birds hitting engines 3 1528 (2028 GMT): Pilot told to land at Teterboro airfield 4 1531 (2031 GMT): Pilot ditches plane in Hudson River

First of all, Wow.


This reminds me of a Hindi movie, Rang De Basanti, where the whole conflict arises because a fighter pilot dies. I forgot exactly what happened, but something happened to the plane and it was about to explode. The plane was right on top of a city. If he had ejected there, the plane would have crashed in the city. So, he steers the plane away from the city, and when he is a safe distance away from it, the plane explodes. With him in it.


I'd like to congratulate Pilot Chesley Sulenberger for his heroic act (yes, these are my own words, no plagiarizing) by saving all those... *checking article* ...ah... 155 passengers on board.

Trusting shopkeeper leaves store unattended

My mom pointed this out to me a few days back. My first reaction was WOW! Here goes:

A North Yorkshire shopkeeper left his hardware store open on Boxing Day - with an honesty box instead of staff.
Tom Algie wanted to give himself and his three staff the day off but without letting down his customers, reports the Daily Mail.
So he left a note telling shoppers to serve themselves and then leave their payment in the box he had left behind the counter.
When Mr Algie, 47, returned at 4.15pm to close up, he was delighted to find the shop in Settle, had taken £187.66 - and two euros.
The father of two said: "I didn't think twice about leaving the shop open. Settle is a lovely quiet rural town and there's never any trouble here. I put my faith in my customers and I wasn't disappointed.
"It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. I just wanted to spend the holidays with my family but thought it would be quite nice to open up the shop."
The honesty box - which he dubbed his newest member of staff - was made out of a funnel and plastic cereal box, and put behind the counter at his shop Practically Everything.
His note read: "Yes, I have given everyone the day off, including me, so please choose the items you want and place the right money inside, Merry Christmas."
Customers also left notes saying what goods they had bought and this, combined with a quick check of his stock, confirmed that his trust was not abused.

Goes to show the honesty of the British!

Back to Bangalore...

Now that I've returned to Bangalore from vacation, allow me to share some of my pix with you guys:

First of all, where Mysore is in India:

Different views of the Mysore Palace


Look closely and you'll see ENORMOUS beehives!


The 'amazing' view includes a power generator, a solar heater, a coconut tree, and an apartment...



 


The garbage lady shouting at a person from another house for dumping garbage outside the house...

P.S. Apologies if the captions aren't very visible.

December

As you may know, my mother reads my blog regularly to see how things are going on it. After her routine check, she pointed out that I had 26 posts in November but only 5 in December. Oh, I know... I can even hear all you guys shouting "Booooo!" at me! My excuses? Well, I have a number of them! 2, to be exact.

The first one - The dreaded word. Something all most of us hate. Doomsday. It is: EXAMS!!! Da-dah-daahhh! If you guys think "So what?!", you're wrong! I had 11 exams and only a week to prepare for them (OK, the procrastination bit was my fault). So, in my fervour to do well in the exams, I totally forgot about R&B.

The second one - The holy word. Something all most of us worship. The day(s) of our lives. It is: HOLIDAYS!!! Ta-da! If you guys thought that that gave me an opportunity to blog, you're wrong! The first few days, I was in Mysore, without using a computer (despite my dad having his laptop, the hotel being a Wi-fi zone, and there being a computer room downstairs XD). I was too caught up in um... having fun and didn't blog until New Year's Day.

P.S. As I write, there are 3 dead mosquitoes on the table.
P.P.S. I'm using my grandma's laptop
P.P.P.S. I'm taller than my mom (lol)

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everybody! Looking back on 2008, I see how things have flown by so fast. My first day at RI, my new friends, how Skatezone still kept in touch despite being in different schools, me leaving Singapore for India, my first day at EISB, topping the class (twice!), Obama's victory (and more importantly McCain's loss), me making new friends, and most importantly, growing taller than my mom.

It's usually at this point in time, after reminiscing about the past year, people make New Year's resolutions. Mine are the following:

• Grow taller
• Eat more
• Grow taller
• Gain weight
• Grow taller
• Do well in the final exams
• Grow taller
• Take life more easily
• Grow taller

Award

Sorry for not posting till Saturday, but anyway, last Monday I'd gone to school to get that award for Literary Activities and not many people came. Just a handful of parents, most of the students and the awardees. Then they call up the awardees, say a few lies about us, then give us a certificate, a trophy and a cash prize. It wasn't anything flashy, but it was good anyway. Everyone was like "omg it's glass!" If I'd told them it was acrylic, they'd have given a blank stare. So I didn't bother. So for getting that thing, my mum gave me a watch. Turns out that she'd already bought it ages ago in Singapore, and was gonna give it to me when I'd done something worthy of getting that watch. It's solar-powered and it has a database to store 30 contacts. She gave my sister a watch too, but that's another story...

No posting

Sorry guys, but I won't be posting till next Thursday, as I have exams for a week. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Betsy!

So I had gone to Coimbatore over the weekend, to do a medical check-up. After the check-up, I went over to mom's house to spend the night (and the next 2 days). And guess what? They'd bought a puppy! Her name is Betsy, she's an Alsatian and she's exactly 70 days old today. Betsy's named after another dog that was in one of my mom's cousin's farm. She has these mood swings, which is kinda unusual for a puppy... She will suddenly open her mouth wide and try to bite you while you're stroking her. Or she could just chase after you and bite you. She bit me twice on the calf, but it didn't hurt, so I guess she was just playing.

She has her own area on the second level of the house (the terrace). It's where she has her meals and plays with us. Talking about meals, she has this weird habit of toppling over her water bowl when she's not thirsty and then lie down in the spilt water. Whenever we bring her downstairs she goes and lies down underneath a car. So we start running away from her and she automatically gets up and starts chasing us. When we set her down in the lawn after a meal or after when she's been eating bugs, or cement (yeah, she did that once) she starts eating grass. My dad says it makes her automatically throw up and get out all those bugs and cement. Then she runs like a madog (mad + dog = madog) all over the lawn. In the sandpit, she starts digging like h-ll. I think that's all I can say about her, so here's a photo of her:



As the pic shows, her fav place is under the swing.
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Award!

So today, after a totally uneventful morning (ask Naman and he'll tell u otherwise (but don't, anyway)), I wuz called up by some 10th std (equiv of sec 4) guy and he told me and this other girl in my class to go downstairs. There wuz a teacher there and he took us up to the Director of Academics room and she gave us a briefing abt an award we were gonna get on Monday. Different students were getting it for different reasons, some got for Academics, some for Athletics, some for Music. I knew I was gonna get the award beforehand, and I thought I'd get it for Academics, having topped my class twice in the previous tests/exams.

 

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Traffic in India

I was saving this for something special, but here goes:

There are many things that India has to be proud of, such as our heritage, culture, and cuisine. But, I can guarantee you that the state of our traffic is not on the list. While driving, the only thought Indians have on their mind is to go from Point A to Point B and back in the quickest time possible. The safety of others is not important to them. Talking on the phone while driving and blowing the horn to break up traffic jams (sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?) are just some items on the list of characteristics of Indian driving.

If you go to other countries such as the USA, UK, and Australia, people obey the traffic rules, which in turn results in minimal traffic jams. In India, obeying the traffic rules is dangerous! Drivers drive wherever they want, left or right, it doesn’t matter.

Another thing on Indian roads is the corruption. “Corruption?” you may ask. Yes, corruption. The traffic police will stop anyone for anything, just to make some extra money. They will ‘fine’ you for speeding, and then pocket the money for themselves. In other words, the drivers bribe the police not to book them.

When an ambulance is seen making a turn, a vehicle will definitely go on the other side of the ambulance because in that way, that vehicle can reach its destination much faster. Next is the condition of the roads. Indian roads are FULL of potholes, ranging from the size of a tyre to about 3 feet wide. The roads, apparently, are not only for vehicles, but for animals such as goats and cows as well. While driving on village roads, you may see a huge flock of goats moving at a speed of half a kilometre an hour, with a small boy carrying a stick behind them. Blow your horn once, and the boy will turn around, see you, then raise his stick and wave it in the direction of the goats. Like a magic wand, the goats miraculously move away from the road. Even on the city roads, you may see a cow taking an afternoon nap in the middle of the road, which is, many times, one of the causes for traffic jams.

Now, let us take a break from finding fault with the drivers and see how we can improve Indian traffic.

1. Why are Indian drivers in such a hurry all the time? They leave home late, and so they have to get there in the shortest time possible.
Solution: Leave home well in advance.

2. Why do Indian traffic police accept bribes? So that they can make money for themselves.
Solution: When you are caught for something, pay the fine and ask for a receipt.

3. Why are Indian roads full of potholes? Because of the poor quality of the materials used to make the roads.
Solution: The government should take more care while giving tenders.

4. Why are cows seen in the middle of the road? Because of their owners leaving them there.
Solution: A fine for the owners of the animals. They should leave the animals to graze in considerably safer areas, far, far away from the roads.

My mum told me not to post this till I had submitted it for the school mag, but seeing as I have done so...

P.S. Being in India, I wrote this in the point of view of an Indian.
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Finished at last!

After like, 2 weeks, I finally finished my geography project. I had to write 6 sections (Location & Extent, Physical Divisions, Political Divisions, Climate, Wildlife and Vegetation, and Culture) along with a conclusion, bibliography, and acknowledgements. I had to write about 1 of these 5 South Asian countries: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal or Sri Lanka. Oh, you may think I chose India, seeing as it is the easiest to do, being in India. Nope. I don't take the easy way out *coughcoughyesIdo*, and so I took Pakistan. You know, Pakistan isn't all that bad. It is quite a nice country. Have to go there one day...

It's all over...

After 62 hours, it's all over. 195 are dead, 327 are injured. And just 40 young men in their late teens and twenties caused these attacks. Among the killed, several are Americans, 1 is Japanese, 1 is German, and a few are British. A Singaporean, too, is one of the dead. Lo Hwei Yen, a lawyer in Singapore, was killed in the Oberoi-Trident hotel. Singapore, a security-conscious island state, is shocked by this incident. The terrorists had threatened to harm her if the Indian authorities entered the hotel.

Now, all the terrorists are dead, except one 18-year-old who has been spilling the beans to the Indian authorities and has said that this attack had been planned 6 months earlier (whoa). He also said that he had been given orders to shoot as many as possible. He was armed with an AK-47 and was at the Chhatrapathi Sivaji Terminus Railway Station. So young, and yet such an efficient killer...

 
The captured killer

India's 9/11?

Looking at the recent events, I see how that everything, and I mean everything, is somehow related to politics. Politicians are obviously the root cause for all these attacks. They live in bungalows and terrace houses, while there are police officers and soldiers giving their lives up just so that we can sleep peacefully at night. And another thing. When there were the train bomb blasts in Mumbai 2 years back, all the commotion died down within 8 hours. When there were bomb blasts in Bangalore a couple of months back, all the hubbub subsided within a day or two. People just forget about things that they must remember and make sure it doesn't happen again! Instead, what happens? They do not carry out any preventive measures so that they are prepared the next time, but instead let it happen over and over and over again!

During an encounter last month or something in Delhi, a police officer by the name of MC Sharma gave his life by taking bullets in the chest. Have you heard anything about his wife now? Today, 3 brilliant officers have given their lives.

Hemant Karkare, the Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad Chief, died last night by taking 3 bullets in the chest. Unlike other corrupt officials, he was leading his men (only about 2 were wearing bullet-proof vests) and not huddling behind the last man for protection. What will happen to his family? Over the next few days, there will be few photos of his crying family members (just as what happened to MC Sharma's wife), and after that, nothing.

Ashok Kamte, the Additional Commissioner of Mumbai Police, was killed while fighting terrorists in the Mumbai Attacks. He, along with Hemant Karkare, will be forgotten. Like them, I am sure there are many others to come.

As for the Mumbai attacks being India's 9/11, I do see many similarities. Both Manhattan Island and Mumbai are major financial centres of their respective countries. But I don't care about the similarities of the attacks. I want to see a similarity in how the Indian government responds to these attacks, just as the USA did. They should see that they are ready for another attack. Yes, you may be wondering why I don't want India to eradicate terrorism and just prevent an attack. It's not that I don't want it, it's just that it's not possible at this point in time! That's the nature of terrorism, ladies and gentlemen! It just can be eradicated. The most we can do at this point in time is to make sure another attack doesn't happen!

There is no use blaming Pakistanis for what has taken place today. We cannot use the small percentage of them as a stereotype for all Pakistanis.

The politicians are currently making all the decisions. They did not give the Army and NSG the go ahead for them to go in. If emergency rule had been brought in, this whole affair would have ended much earlier.

Mumbai Blasts

My dad sometimes, in the morning, turns on the TV to watch CNN. And guess what? There were like 4 bomb blasts (as I'm writing this, there have been 10) in Mumbai!

Turns out that these terrorists, from a group called Deccan Mujahideen (sounds new), a branch of another terrorist group called Indian Mujahideen (another new one). 6 places were/are under terrorist attacks. The Taj Hotel, Oberoi Trident (another hotel), CST Railway station, Café Leopold, Cama Hospital and Nariman Point. My mum says that these guys (aged only like 20-25) barged into the Café and just started firing (btw, they have AK-47s, hand grenades, etc.). Then they rounded up ppl with American or British passports.

As for the hotels, there are still hostages (about 80 in just one of them) in them, with terrorists. There is smoke billowing out the windows, fires, and gunshots are being heard every 10 mins. The NSG (National Security Guard) is moving up the hotel and they directly under the room where the terrorists and hostages are. On a news channel, they had this guy, called Deepak (no offence, Deep) who was trapped in the Taj Hotel, was on the phone with these news people and is saying stuff like "I'm below the 18th floor, above the 10th, not too high, not too low"! What if the terrorists found out?

My mum also says that there are officials from the Singapore Embassy standing under one of the hotels. Diplomats trapped inside, maybe? 

To look at pics, visit this URL: Don't tell them you're a Brit

Who Am I?

That question just occurred to me... and well... I don't seem to know the answer. First I thought: Tharun. But that's just a name. It's simply a way to... I can't put this in words, but I guess it's just a word used to um... describe(?) me. Ok, I need to get better at putting stuff into sentences. Ok back to who I am. Well I guess who I am is something I and only I have, or am. Which apparently, I don't. I am a boy, but there are others (duh!). I am a brother, a son, a grandson, a nephew, etc, but that isn't it. Well, if I put all my qualities together, then I would be 'unique'. But what I am looking for is a word or two that will say it all.

But... what is it? I have absolutely no idea.

This leads me to another question: What am I here for? (to be discussed in another blog post)

Well, maybe I have an answer to who I am, but it can't be expressed in words. I just don't know how to say it. Languages are sooo limited...

Deepak's visit

Today Deepak came to visit (along with Devika, his cousin Nithya, his mum, and his dad)! Yay! I hadn't seen the Skatezoners for almost half a year now, and then Deepak came. Differences:

1. He's much taller now. Though I hear Arunima is still taller than him.
2. His voice is breaking. Singtel really made his voice sound overly manly.
3. Overuse of 'I'm sure'

So we kinda mostly played on the com, which I feel bad about even now, and then we went and played in the 'huge area', as Deepak's mom put it, downstairs. Deepak's as good at swinging as ever, I did a chin-up with great difficulty, and I raced with him. Guess who won? *Answer in the tagbox* Then we came back up to take the table-tennis bats and on the way, we talked about Singapore, India, and stalagmites (sounds real random, eh?). But we got to the clubhouse, and the table was already occupied. So we went back home to play more on the com. Then his dad came, we talked for a while, went to the basement, talked about car, and sent them off. He's going to Thrissur on Monday, and is coming back here on the 13th of Dec, and his mom said we can have sleepover (that's a girl term. I dunno what boys call it).