Can animals warn us of an impending earthquake?

Three undersea earthquakes shook the Andaman Islands yesterday and the tremors were also felt in Chennai. Click on this link for news reports about the tremors.

The behaviour of animals can be used for predicting earthquakes . . .

Image: WallpaperNow.net

I confess that neither I nor the others present in our home about that time could feel the tremors. Folks in some areas of the city were able to feel it more than those in other localities, though the power failed several times after the tremors occurred. On two previous occasions when tremors were felt in Chennai - just before the killer Indian Ocean Tsunami and another time two or three years before that, we could feel the tremors. On the first occasion, things shook violently for four or five seconds and we rushed out of the house as did all our neighbours. I was sleeping when the earthquake that caused the Indian Ocean Tsunami occurred and I was woken up by others who felt the tremors.

However, a guy in our home seems to have known that an earthquake was about to occur yesterday. I am talking about our cat. The little fellow behaved strangely for a few hours. He normally welcomes the fellow inhabitants of his home (unlike pet dogs that get attached to people - wild canines are pack animals, cats generally get attached to places - wild felines, with the exception of lions, are territorial animals) as well as guests by rushing out to meet them at the door, meowing and brushing against their legs. Yesterday, when I came home, he did not greet me at the door and I could not find him in his favourite places. He behaved even more strangely after that. There was a steady drizzle yesterday evening after a short burst of sharp showers. I found the furry fellow in an open place that offered little shelter from the drizzle. Cats generally hate getting wet and avoid the rain. His behaviour completely baffled me yesterday until I watched the news and discovered that tremors were felt in the city.

Animals (cats, dogs, birds and almost every other higher animal on our planet) are much more sensitive to the forces of Mother Nature than humans. Dogs are said to behave very strangely when earthquakes are about to occur. Cats sometimes run away from homes if they feel they are not safe. Burrowing animals come out of their burrows. Other mammals are also known to behave very strangely.

Scientific instruments cannot predict earthquakes accurately. But our fellow Earthlings can! Humans may be “intelligent” enough to try and get the better of the forces of Nature but we simply cannot match the instincts of the fellow inhabitants of our planet. So the next time you see animals behaving strangely, do not ignore it. I think it is Mother Nature’s way of warning us of an unpleasant or even a deadly dangerous natural event. But foolish and greedy humans destroy the wonderful diversity on our planet and we end up paying the price by earning the wrath of Mother Nature!

சென்னையின் சாலைகளில் . . . (On the roads of Chennai . . . )

Chennai faces more than its share of traffic congestion . . . this photo was taken at a gridlocked junction . . .

Most of the roads now have central medians . . . these medians have definitely helped in reducing the number of road accidents in the city . . .

Waiting for the green signal . . .

The renowned Anna University (அண்ணா பல்கலைக்கழகம்) is a very old engineering university that also acts as an affiliating university for other engineering and technological institutions across the state of Tamil Nadu now . . .

Chennai has a national park within the city limits . . . wild animals are found at the Guindy National Park . . .

Deer are said to have freely roamed across this stretch of road when the traffic was sparse a long time ago . . . if they step on this road now, the magnificient creatures would probably be killed by speeding vehicles . . .

Chennai is home to several automobile factories . . . all Hyundais are made in Chennai, as are all Mitsubishis, Fords and BMWs, Ashok Leyland buses and Royal Enfield motorcycles . . . while Renault and Nissan cars will be made here as well . . . (the Standard Motors factory closed down a long time ago)

The automobile industries require vendors of auto components . . . there is a big presence of automobile component manufacturers as well, like Lucas TVS . . .

Autorickshaws (autos in Chennai Tamil) can be found in every corner of the city . . .

The traffic police have begun enforcing the rule specifying the compulsory wearing of helmets . . . this has helped in bringing down the number of serious head injury cases in hospitals . . . but it looks like more men follow this rule when compared to women . . .

Waiting in line behind a black car to fill up the tank at the fuel pump . . . with the notorious international killer corporate oil mafia determined to rob Earthlings of our hard-earned money, we have to visit the fuel pump more often than before . . .

The buses of Chennai

மாநகரப்பேருந்து சென்னை (The Metropolitan Transport Corporation of Chennai- MTC) operates Chennai’s buses . . . they have introduced more comfortable buses like this one with a pneumatic suspension and ventilators on the roof . . .

. . . and this one with doors operated by the driver to prevent travelling on the foot-boards . . .

Destination Thailand in Chennai? The MTC rents out advertising space on the buses . . .

This one is a தொடர் பேருந்து (thodar perunthu) or a vestibule bus! The citizens of Chennai don’t like to cut down trees to pave the way for double-decker buses, so we have these long vestibule buses that can carry the same number of passengers as double-decker buses! . . .

This is Chennai’s inter-city bus terminus . . .

. . . intra-city buses pick up passengers from inter-city buses in a separate terminus for MTC buses within the main terminus . . .

Cars and motorcycles and scooters parked at the inter-city bus terminus . . .

The MTC buses are the lifeline of Chennai city . . . the buses are used non-stop during the day . . . this leads to older buses breaking down . . .

The MTC also operates a few late night services for the convenience of those who travel at unearthly hours . . .

The terminus is ISO 9001 certified . . . Chennai speaks தமிழ் (Tamil), one of two languages in India that are classified as national, official and classical . . .

All photographs were taken by me on the roads of Chennai. They are copylefted! You can use them, but providing an acknowledgement and a link to this blog would be considered as civilised behaviour!

Has UNCTAD gone crazy?

I was reading about the world summit on the global food crisis that is taking place in Rome with great interest when I was shocked to read this news report about the United Nations Conference on Trade And Development (UNCTAD) blaming India and China for the rising food prices.

UNCTAD’s Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi said at the summit, ”As rising demand for food resulting from economic growth in such countries as China and India has combined with droughts and high energy prices, the basic cost of food has climbed 54 per cent in the past 12 months.”

The folks at UNCTAD should either find a way to increase food production or they should blame the developed countries and not India and China . . .

Image: www.healthline.com

The President of the USA, George W. Bush said something similar recently, but one could dismiss it as a meaningless statement from a differently disabled duck of a President who is nearing the end of his political career. But such a statement coming from someone like the Secretary-General of UNCTAD is very surprising indeed. What surprises one even more is the fact that Supachai Panitchpakdi is from Thailand, a country that is similar to India and China in several ways, except land area.

What does the UNCTAD Secretary-General’s statement mean? It means that India and China are pushing up world food prices because of increased demand for food products in the two Asian giants. It means that the developed countries can get away with the utterly wasteful lifestyle of their citizens, but the two Asian countries must not aim to get rid of hunger in their countries. It means that the citizens of India and China should not buy adequate food but the developed countries can get away with burning large quantities of grains to keep prices under control while millions of people are starving in Africa. It means that India and China should not attempt to get rid of poverty and undernourishment in their countries but the developed world can get away with unfair trade practices that are robbing millions of Africans of what is rightfully theirs. In short, it means that India and China should perpetually keep their citizens in poverty to enable the citizens of the developed countries of the world get away with their wasteful lifestyles! To sum it up in three words, despicable double standards!

I do not know about China, but let me present a few facts about my beloved country:

# While the food and fuel consumption of the middle classes and above (about 300 million) has increased because of economic growth, there are hundreds of millions of people who still live in poverty in India. Their calorific intake is quite low and they use very little fuel - kerosene/LPG (in urban areas) and firewood/charcoal/bio-gas (in rural areas) for cooking, no fuel for heating - except for a few states that need heating only in winter, India is a hot tropical country that needs no heating, and very little fuel for their vehicles as they use public transport or bicycles or small mopeds for commuting. So even if one takes the average food and fuel consumption of Indians, it is way, way behind the developed countries. Actually, it would be closer to the poor countries of the world. So why the hell should UNCTAD blame India?

# India’s population has a large percentage of vegetarians. I do not have any figures for this, but I am sure that India would have the highest percentage of vegetarians among all the countries of the world, unlike China whose population is mostly non-vegetarian. So how the hell can UNCTAD blame India for rising food prices around the world?

# India is largely self-sufficient in food production and is even a net exporter of food. So how the hell can India be responsible for rising food prices around the world?

The developed countries are responsible for the rising prices of fuel and not India . . .

Image: www.classiccarrestorationparts.com

# India is the second largest two-wheeler market in the world, after China, but 99% of those two wheelers are ultra fuel efficient, low capacity (with an engine capacity of less than 200cc), low emissions motorcycles, scooters and mopeds. India’s emission norms are quite strict, just a notch below those of the E.U. and much, much better than those in China. Also, electric scooters are becoming very popular in India these days.

# India’s car ownership figure is 7 per 1000, compared to China’s 10 per 1000, Mexico’s 142 per 1000, South Korea’s 218 per 1000, Qatar’s 335 per 1000, Japan’s 441 per 1000, the USA’s 465 per 1000, Germany’s 546 per 1000, Canada’s 561 per 1000, Italy’s 590 per 1000, New Zealand’s 592 per 1000 and Luxembourg’s 647 per 1000. So who the hell is UNCTAD trying to fool?

# About 80% of the cars sold in India are eco-friendly, fuel-efficient, compact cars that meet the government norms for small cars - less than 4m in length with an engine capacity of less than 1200cc for petrol/gasoline engined cars and less than 1500cc for diesel engined cars. Though there is no weight limit for small cars, almost all compact cars weigh less than 1150kg. Compare this with the ugly, humungous, fuel-guzzling, fume-spewing cars, SUVs and pick-up trucks that litter the roads of North America. How the hell can UNCTAD blame India for rising fuel prices around the world when the fault lies with the developed countries?

# Thanks to the government’s policy of encouraging compact car production, India is all set to become the global hub for the design, development and manufacture of compact but spacious and comfortable, light but safe, ultra fuel efficient, ultra low emissions and affordable cars like the Tata Nano. One international car manufacturer who was churning out ugly, humungous, fuel-guzzling and fume-spewing SUVs and pick-up trucks has been forced to shut down four plants that manufacture such vehicles due to rising fuel prices. Tata Motors has aggressive plans to market the Nano in the E.U., African, Latin American and ASEAN markets, so now there is a mad scramble by international (and Indian) car manufacturers to develop their own cars that adhere to the ‘nano’car philosophy of affordable, fuel-efficient, eco-friendly, safe and comfortable personal transport. So why the hell should UNCTAD blame India? If anything, they should thank India for showing the way forward to the rest of the world!

I am also surprised by the United Nations’ Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon’s statement that countries should not put export bans in place. That is a ridiculous statement from the UN Secretary-General. What does Mr. Moon want food exporting countries to do? Let the rising food prices lead to food riots within their countries? In times of crises, Mr. Moon, it is every country for itself and its people! Afterall, democracy is supposed to be a government of the people, by the people and for the people of that country!

If UNCTAD still wants to blame India for the ills of the world that are caused by the utterly wasteful lifestyles of the citizens of the developed countries, then it is time for the world to throw out that organisation lock, stock and barrel and find more competent people to do the job!