US lifts Sanction on Iran : Impact on India

Last summer Iran has agreed with P5+1 nation that It will stop the nuclear enrichment program and now upon IAEA confirmation about Iran's obligation, US has lifted the sanction imposed on it. 

This development has impact on India as well; which would be as follows:

• India will now be able to buy oil and gas from Iran without any issue. Earlier also India has been able to buy it but under some limitation like rupee agreement. Because of that, Iran has not been able to paid by India as of now due to sanctions. That due can now be disbursed by India and resume the business.
• Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline: This project has been lingering for quite sometime. Mainly due to sanctions most of the investors were not willing to invest in this. Now, that can be expedited which will be very useful for India from energy security aspect. Security issue in Pakistan through which pipeline is proposed to pass is a different issue on which more focus can be given.
• Business investment in Iran: As sanctions have been lifted, now Indian business houses and companies can plan and invest in Iran in sectors like Oil, Gas, petroleum etc. 
• Chabahar Port: India, for quite sometime, has been looking for(India is developing this port) development of this port but this dream still is far from materialized. If implemented, It will allow India to enter Afghanistan and central Asia bypassing Pakistan. It will be strategically as well as economically win win situation for India.

Though different Geo-political issue prevalent in West Asia has not allowed India to be at its best of the relationship with Iran, Its the time when India can take prompt action and propose in all the areas of cooperation which has been now exposed in a better way after the sanction being lifted..

Plantation sector is better developed in South India, Why? 

Plantation sector is better developed in South India than the rest of the part of India and can be validated with below points:

1) Climatic Conditions: South India, especially regions of Western Ghats have suitable climate for the plantation sector to flourish. For example: Tea and various types of spices are grown in these areas and very profitable for the community as well.

2) Soil type: Soil also plays major part here as black and red soil helps in developing these plantations.

3) Transport and Market: Transport is also better developed in south India primarily roads which helps in moving the output of plantation sector to their destinations.

4)Awareness and Promotion from government: Promotion from government also plays an important role here which is also a primary reason for this sector to develop in south India whereas in North specially Gangetic plain mostly the focus had been on harvesting cereals like wheat, rice and pulses.

Considering the fact that diversity in agriculture should be brought about by developing and promoting different farm options and technologies, it’s high time we should focus on plantation sector too. Many a time, most of the plantation types don’t depend much on rain so we can have an option where this sector can act as cushion to already distressed farmers by bad rains/monsoons. Though we have NE regions where plantation sector is well developed, more need to be done in those areas as well as the plains of North India keeping required climatic and soil parameter into account, in short more research for this should be developed and promoted.

Snowflake Coral issue and its impact on marine ecosystem

Snowflake Coral or Carijoa riisei is a type of species which has been first found off Hawaii coast in 1972 and is believed to belong to western Atlantic Ocean from Florida to Brazil. Recently It has been observed in some parts of Indian coastal region too like Andaman Niobar island, Palk straight, Gulf of Kutch and regions off coastal regoins of thiruvananthapuram and Kanyakumari.

It is believed that this has been migrated to other part of world including India by Ballast water of ships. Snowflake coral disturbs the marine ecosystem by acting as exotic species for the indigenous marine system. They eat out the existing black coral,algae and other species including zooplanktons. These corals prefer dark spaces in ocean and attach themselves with anything like metal or ship wreckage etc. As coral system(Black coral) is the richest region of ocean in terms of marine biodiversity, this exotic species can be a disastrous for the our ocean biodiversity.

As coral reefs helps protect the ocean from erosion and maintain the great marine ecosystem, more research and study needs to be done so as to understand the impact of snowflake coral on this and thereby the ways to mitigate the negative consequences.

link: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/snowflake-coral-a-serious-threat-to-biodiversity/article8066192.ece

                                                     Jallikattu: A false Bravado

Come Pongal and once again Jallikattu has come into the news and if elections are around the corner the debate is guaranteed to be heated one.

In 2014, SC banned this sport which is played in Tamilnadu with bulls; citing it against the "Protection of Animals against Cruelty Act 1960", against the Article 51(g) which states that we must preserve and protect the forest,rivers,lake,animals and also against Article 21(Right to Life).

Animal Welfare Board of India has given detailed report about this extravaganza to MoEF as how the torture and pain is given to bull in the name of false bravery. As per AWBI, in this game coins are stacked to the horns of the bull and participants have to fight to get the coins from there, leaving bull and themselves into dangerous tussle. Bulls are intoxicated through mouth, given chemical into their eyes and much more.

Considering all the points mentioned above, it does seem to be fit for this game to be banned. But the supporters of this game have projected it as the breach of their culture and traditions which SC has rightly mentioned in its order:" Pride of TN is not inflicting pain to bulls(animals) but to save them". As the participants and major people involved in anyway to this sport form a decisive portion of TN electorally, this issue has been exemplified politically too. Recently TN government has requested center to either bring a legislation or an ordinance in order to remove the ban on which center too has responded with "Positive Note".

The supporters have also cited the example of bull fighting of Spain as a point to continue this in TN also. It seems foolish to draw an inspiration from an established wrong. But even if it has to draw, they should know that even in Catalonia a state in Spain has banned this sport in 2012 after a much heated debated has surfaced about "Culture and Right". Germany had gone a step further in 2002 and has given the animals constitutional protection.

Therefore any attempt to revisit this order would be disastrous both from PAC Act and Right to Life provision enshrined in our constitution. There can not be any logic of why this sport should be continued which put people's live both as participants and spectators as well as animals themselves, into danger.

Culture and traditions would be better served if we save and protect our animals rather than use them for the sake of our entertainment and false bravado.

"Climate change and terror are connected by a common source: the greed for fossil fuels without fostering liberal democracy"

In current times, Climate change and Terrorism are the two most pressing issues in front of us. Though it seems overstretched to draw any parallel between these two but reality is that both are correlated in one way or the other. From very start of the modern world history fossil fuel has been the backbone of the the developed world we see today. But this development has shown some dark facets to current generation and has the potential to keep on haunting our coming generations too. Powerful nations and early industrialized nations have harnessed the rich resource of the Earth for their own greed and that too neglecting its impact on climate. Fossil fuel for example has proved to be the major bone of contention among the rich nations and had shown the ability to change the geopolitics of the world. While there had not been any mistake by using fossil fuel in past or in a more just way even today, but using the state which owns the resource politically is wrong. Oil rich countries have been manipulated by every means by the nations interested disregarding the local people and politics which has resulted in mass uprisings and civil wars our world has seen so far in middle east and adjoining regions. This has led to turbulence in the concerned region/country and hence given opportunity for terror outfits to grow and later govern. Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan are the live example of how short term goals have been set on radar but long term goals like climate change has been largely put under the blanket.

Therefore the need of the hour is to move our dependency from Fossil fuel in long run by technology and research and also developed world should stop the Greed Game and set the example for future generations to come.