Rewind 2010: Top 10 disasters of the year in India!

Another of my Trakin posts – http://trak.in/tags/business/2010/12/27/top-10-disasters-india-2010/

2010 has had its own share of disasters. Despite the fact that we have advanced so much in preventing and predicting disasters, it is something we haven’t been able to stop happening. From political to technical to even natural disasters, there was a lot which brought a lot of misery to people.

There were also certain disasters which benefited a lot of people, like Reliance’s failed acquisition of LyondellBasell much to the delight of its competitors

CWG and its sham

From the entire organization, infrastructure to Lalit Bhanot’s comment “Our hygiene standards are different from the Western ones”, it was a complete disaster for the country. The CWG probably caused more damage to country’s name

The only saving grace was the fantastic performance of our athletes who gave all of us a great reason to smile and be proud of our Indian-ness.

Intense heat wave

The heat wave during the summers this year across the country killed more than 250 people and bringing misery to thousands others. It went on record to become the hottest summer in more than 50 years. Global warming anyone?

RIL’s failed acquisition bid

RIL’s failed bid to acquire LyondellBasell despite upping its bid price to US $ 14.5 billion was one of the biggest M & A disasters of the year

Leh floods

Leh which gets very minimal rainfall throughout the year and as is called a high altitude cold desert for the reason got more than its share of rainfall for a year on a single day – 6th August. More than 200 people were killed due to this

iPhone4 Antenna problems

The Apple iPhone’s antenna was a problem across the world and India was no different. With problems in signals and dropped calls, more and more people started voicing their opinion against Apple.

Nano disaster

From being labelled as the world’s cheapest car priced at Rs 1 lac to having safety issues causing fires, manufacturing defects, its shape / design and also poor financial issues – Nano’s journey had come a full circle and it ended up selling lesser units than Mercedes in November

IX – 812 Crash

Air India express flight IX – 812 coming in from Dubai crashed while landing at the Mangalore Airport on 22nd May 2010. It was one of the worst air disasters in the country since a long period of time. In the weeks after that there were more than 10-15 near misses of air crashes / disasters

Cyclone time

From Giri to Laila to Jal the only thing interesting about these cyclones was their names. Otherwise it was all eerily similar – great loss of lives and property. One step closer to 2012, is it?

Scam year

From CWG to 2G to UP Basmati Rice, it was the year of scams in the country with each and everyone wanting a share of the pie. It seemed as though no day would pass of without us hearing of at least some scam or the other. What a shame!

CAT

Last but not the least. The famous CAT test [^] for MBA aspirants which went online last year but had results coming up this year turned out to be such a technical disaster with everyone wondering as to who was running Prometric. From bugs attacking the server [^] to computers losing data, it ended up being such a SHAM!

LATE ENTRANTS

Sky rocketing onion prices make people cry

Whether it was hoarding, unseasonal rains or onion mafia, the skyrocketing Rs 80/kg onion prices brought tears across the country. But as the year was reaching its conclusion the prices dropped dramatically as the government made a desperate measure of bringing down the prices by stopping exports!

GSLV Launch failure

This one was supposed to India’s heaviest and most advanced communications satellite but instead it exploded within one minute of its launch turning out to be a disaster for India’s space research program. A 2nd continuous failure has put the ISRO on the backfoot!

Did I miss out any? Let us know…

Aid in the name of funding militancy? – Pakistan changes its colours by the second!!!

The way our ‘beloved’ neighbour – Pakistan changes its colours, it would even surpass a chameleon. The reactions and statements coming out by ministers, terrorists and others alike in that country everyday show one fact – Pakistan is changing so much every second, that one has lost any idea of what is really happening. One day it blames India for attacks in Pakistan, Baluchistan and other unrest so that the world can target India and Pakistan can train its terrorists to strike and destabilize India while on the other day it says that the Taliban is their biggest threat.

The recent floods in Pakistan which have been probably the worst in their history have left millions dead, stranded, homeless and also led to massive damage to infrastructure, communications and the entire public system. Pakistan knows that its activities of supporting terror groups has literally made it a criminal in the eyes of the world. Even US which gives it billions every year despite knowing that the money goes to the so called war against India has been delaying the payments a bit in recent years. Therefore Pakistan was left wondering as to what to do.

Then they came up with the “most audacious solution” ever thought since 1947. “Say that terrorism inside Pakistan by Taliban and other terror groups is the number 1 enemy and not India”.

This link talks about that -

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-no-longer-Pak-ISI-s-enemy–number-1/Article1-588073.aspx

But sadly all of us know that this is another ploy in their vicious game to attract as much international aid as possible. And then in turn transfer this aid to terrorists to buy new equipment and artillery for their war against India.

These link shows where the aid money is really going –

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Militant-groups-LeT-JeM-HuJI-set-up-relief-camps-in-Pak-for-flood-victims/articleshow/6330834.cms

Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and others have set up camps in Karachi to get aid for people who have suffered from these tragic floods. These groups have set up relief camps with different names to avoid police action (as if it happens). And interestingly they have the highest amount of aid even more than the government.

Yes, I agree that these groups may be helping people at one level to overcome the tragedy. But at another level, it just shows where all the aid is going – IN THE HANDS OF THE TERRORISTS! They want people to support them so that when they give a call for suicide bombers against the government, they are ready. And even despite this, US supports Pakistan because they don’t want problems to their forces in Afghanistan. This just goes to show that everyone is in the game for his / her own personal reasons.

So what do you think should India’s next response be? Turn a blind eye to this statement or regard it as something life changing?

Leh – A mystery or plain neglect?

Leh was the capital of the kingdom of Ladakh but it has been converted to the Leh district now. With an area of 45,110 sq km, it is largest district in India after Kutch in Gujarat. Leh has been for long one of the most important trade routes as it has China to its east, Pakistan to its west and also Tibet to its west. Being at an altitude of 3,500m, its terrain is one of the most hilly and difficult to navigate among all the places across the country.

Being in Jammu and Kashmir, Leh has always had to face a lot of political, social and economic problems. Be it China’s claim over Aksai Chin and Pakistan’s claim over Kashmir, the central government’s neglect in terms of basic facilities like roads, education, health-care etc, the people of Leh have seen it all. They stand with their heads held high at hearing our national anthem everyday. But what they get in return – complete disregard from the government along with the entire population of the country.

The rivers, streams, snow, amazing landscapes and much more at Leh are those to watch out for. It is surely a tourist’s delight. But what about the basic facilities for the people? Does anyone care? The destruction caused by the recent cloudburst is mind numbing. You need to read this article by tarun vijay to know what exactly happened there. It will surely make you cry.

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indus-calling/entry/walking-the-valley-of-death

There is no proper hospital there. There is no morgue to keep the dead bodies. One of the most famous schools there, the one showed in the movie 3 Idiots has been washed away, people have been rendered homeless – the whole area looks like a war ravaged zone. Did we need this to awake the people of our country and also those at the government?

Its a really sorry state of affairs that we talk about other nations attacking us, terrorist and Naxal threats, threats from Dawood Ibrahim and what not. But we cannot sadly provide basic facilities to parts of our country. The same is the case with the North East.

So how many more tragedies, catastrophes and disasters do we need to recognize the fact that even these places however far they are, are the parts of the country?

Do you think Leh / Ladakh is a case of mystery or plain neglect by the men at the center? Would love to hear your views!