Dec 29, 2004
Other than the single item sourced by Pankaj from the A&N admin website, there is nothing very new or useful on www.and.nic.in.
However, there is a great deal of valuable information circulating in various mailing lists and websites, especially this one. Could we organize it into an A&N tsunami blog or website? It would be a valuable resource for those looking for information and those wanting to help, especially since there are many well-wishers scattered all over the world. This could be a long term project, lasting as long as relief and rehabilitation efforts continue.
The fact is, most of us have no idea where meetings are being held, where relief operations are being mounted, how to get to the islands, whom to contact there, and so on. I find lots of such queries appearing in this mailing list, and that's just from those who are already clued in.
Just to give you an instance of the appalling ignorance about A&N in the media and among the public, NDTV interviewed Dr.Lalji Singh (Director, Centre for Molecular and Cellular Biology, Hyderabad) on the 8.30am news today, and the report stated that Shompens live on Car Nicobar. It had Dr.Singh saying that, since the island has been almost destroyed, "we should try to take them and put them on another island that is large enough to sustain them." This is the kind of misinformation that we really don't want to be circulated, especially among the policy makers in Delhi.
We should be prepared for some knee-jerk reactions in the days ahead, and an authoritative blog or website could help to mitigate the second wave of destruction that will shortly be unleashed on the islands by well-intentioned but ill-informed mainlanders.
Sajan.
Other than the single item sourced by Pankaj from the A&N admin website, there is nothing very new or useful on www.and.nic.in.
However, there is a great deal of valuable information circulating in various mailing lists and websites, especially this one. Could we organize it into an A&N tsunami blog or website? It would be a valuable resource for those looking for information and those wanting to help, especially since there are many well-wishers scattered all over the world. This could be a long term project, lasting as long as relief and rehabilitation efforts continue.
The fact is, most of us have no idea where meetings are being held, where relief operations are being mounted, how to get to the islands, whom to contact there, and so on. I find lots of such queries appearing in this mailing list, and that's just from those who are already clued in.
Just to give you an instance of the appalling ignorance about A&N in the media and among the public, NDTV interviewed Dr.Lalji Singh (Director, Centre for Molecular and Cellular Biology, Hyderabad) on the 8.30am news today, and the report stated that Shompens live on Car Nicobar. It had Dr.Singh saying that, since the island has been almost destroyed, "we should try to take them and put them on another island that is large enough to sustain them." This is the kind of misinformation that we really don't want to be circulated, especially among the policy makers in Delhi.
We should be prepared for some knee-jerk reactions in the days ahead, and an authoritative blog or website could help to mitigate the second wave of destruction that will shortly be unleashed on the islands by well-intentioned but ill-informed mainlanders.
Sajan.
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