Danube Delta

This post is about my visit to Danube some time ago. We went by car via Constanta. The drive it self was spectacular. The great plains of Romania offer a panoramic view. Coming from south asia where cultivable land is a premium commodity, it is refreshing to see large tracts of undivided agricultural land.

Danube delta is surely of one of most the beautiful places in the world. The Danube river originating in the black forest in Germany and culminating in the black sea in Romania touches 9 countries and over 400 million people. Civilizations developed around this river which flows through three capitals of the world- Vienna, Budapest and Belgrade. The drive from Bucharest to Constanta to Tulcian and beyond is pleasant. There is a freeway from Bucharest to Slobozia where you have to get off the A2 and drive to Harsova and on to Tulcian. In general, the roads are nice, contrary to many blogs I read. Perhaps, my expectations were low. All along, Romania offers spectacular views. The great plains, mountains and the view of Danube make the drive really enjoyable.

We stayed at Mehmudiya on the banks of Danube. We hired a boat and went further north on the Danube. Further north stale water polluted with oil from steam boats was not a pleasant experience. On the whole a fantastic experience!

Pulicat Bird Sanctuary

I recently visited Pulicat and Nelapattu bird sanctuaries in AP state in India. Pulicat is the 2nd largest brackish water lake in India. You can find more info about Pulicat here and here. I went by bus from Nellore. The NH-5 to Chennai is excellent and I could reach Sullurpet in 2 hours.
Pulicat and Nelapattu are less than 20 km from Sullurpet.

I went in first week of Feb. By that time summer had already set in and the lake water dried out. All I could see was dried lake bed. However, the adjoining Nelapattu sanctuary was a revelation. It is a quite, woody place with a fenced path along the reservoir. There were not many visitors and I enjoyed the solitary walk along the reservoir. I am posting some pics that I took here.

The grey pelican breeds here during winter. Migratory birds from cooler climates in Europe come here for the warm weather. I am now in Europe and the winter is nowhere is as severe as it is supposed to be. I suppose the birds can return early this winter!

TATA Steel buys Corus

So TATAs finally win the bidding war to buy Corus Steel. You can read about it here and here.

The purchase price of 608 pence per share or $11.3 Bn is 33% more than what was initially offered by TATA and accepted by Corus in Oct 2006. Entry of Brazilian rival CSN pushed up the price to this level which most analysts believe to be too high. TATA steel lost 11% on Indian stock market on the first day of the announcement. However, it was seen as a coming of age of The Indian Industry by some. TATA group chairman Ratan Tata described it as a moment of triumph. This catapults TATA steel to 5th position from its 56th position in the list of global Steel makers. Undoubtedly it moves TATA steel to the global arena. The question remains however, if the steep price paid by TATA Steel will cripple the whole group. Did emotion to pull off a big deal like this won over commercial sense? Will TATA steel be able to pull off this acquisition successfully? These questions remain to be answered.

There is a delicious bit of irony here. When Sir Frederic Upcott, Chief Commissioner of Railways in India, heard that TATAs were going to set up a steel plant in India, he replied:

" Do you mean to say that TATAs propose to make steel rails to British specifications? Why, I will undertake to eat every pound of steel rail they succeed in making"
( From: Beyond the last blue mountain, A life of JRD Tata)

Famous words!

As a Chess lover I wonder if Corus Chess will now be called TATA Chess and if it will now be held in Jamshedpur? I would love that!

Map of the countries I visited

I have created a map of the countries I have visited. I found this very cool! you can make one here

Noida Killings

Two news reports brought out the complexity in the world we are living in. There is this news report of San Francisco going free wi-fi all over the city. Imagine the possibilities! It opens up unbelievable opportunities for exchange of information in every sphere.The detais are here.

However, this post is about another world. In this world, children go missing, police either don't register FIRs or if they register no action is taken on time. Between 15 to 30 children and young women have been sexually abused, killed and disposed off into a drainage behind the house in Nithari Village, Noida, a suburb of New Delhi. Here is a report.

What went wrong? Why didn't the police act in time?Why didn't an investigation take place? Why did the police wait till the villages stormed the house where the crimes are alleged to have taken place and the issue became a national headline? The victims belonged to immigrant workers. They didn't have the money or the connections to make the system work. And how does the system work?

An investigation begins only after an FIR or First Information Report is registered. And here is the rub. The police refuse to register the FIR for various reasons. It is extra work for them, it shows higher rate of crime, the FIR has to be investigated and closed. So why bother, seems to be the attitude.

I hope the debates on the prime time television leads to some tangible improvements. Like initiating measures to make FIR registration easier and setting up incentives and disincentives for FIR registration. Here is a good article on this issue.

Registering FIR may not mean a successful investigation. But it is a beginning.
What could improve FIR registration? Can police officers be payed on the basis of successful closure of FIRs? Will setting up an independent help line which can be accessed by the victims if the FIRs are not registered help? Currently, if the local officer refuses to register FIR, the only way out is to go the superiors. For the poor and marginalized, these doors are closed. There has to be another channel to get this information, evaluating it and forcing the local police to register FIRs.

Of course it is a much bigger problem. It is linked to political interference, compensation for the police staff and removing corruption. However, we have to make a beginning some where.

2007 could not have begun on a sadder note. I wish you a very happy new year with the hope that things would get better for the people living in this another world in the new year.