No rain relief for Delhi

India Meteorological Department (IMD) sources on Wednesday said it was highly unlikely that the monsoon would set in before July. "The monsoon is definitely not going to keep its date for June 29 and we are expecting it instead in the first half of July for northwest India. What is also certain now is that it will be a deficient monsoon at 81% of the long range forecast. Overall a deficient monsoon of 93% for the country is being expected. We are, however, expecting some development in central India by June 30 and only then will be be able to predict more accurately when the monsoon will come to northwest India,'' said B P Yadav, director, IMD. According to IMD records, the 2008 monsoon came a record 14 days earlier than usual. Since 1900, the monsoon has been delayed 63 times while it has come earlier than its scheduled date of June 29 about 38 times. Delhi, more or less certainly, will get monsoon rains only in July and the present heat wave was likely to continue for another three to four days. The situation doesn't bode well for both the water and power situation in the city. The maximum temperature in the Capital inched towards the 44 degree mark as Wednesday recorded a maximum of 43.9 degrees Celsius, five degrees above normal. The minimum was recorded at 31.9 degrees Celsius, three degrees above normal. The highest temperature in the region was recorded in Dholpur in Rajasthan where the maximum temperature went up to 46.5 degrees Celsius. "The situation is not going to change for a few more days and the heat wave that has been affecting northwest India will continue till the end of the week at least. We are expecting no respite and the temperatures will continue to rise. Had the monsoon approached central India at least there could have been some respite but that is expected only at the end of the month,'' said a Met department official. "The heat is becoming just more and more unbearable. It is sheer torture to step out of the house but if there is a power cut then it becomes worse. The children's school is soon to open and I can't think of how they will manage in this weather,'' said Pratibha Kumar, a resident of Preet Vihar. This appears to be the result of Global warming. The whole cycle of summers and winter has gone into disarray.This time around it hardly snowed in places like Shimla, in winters. The rivers are going dry. The very fact is that the rain that we receive is in a duration of 100 hours and it remains a challenge how to utilize this to fullest.There is a hard time ahead for everyone. But we can do something as an individual and that is to conserve energy. This can help in improving the overall power condition in the country. All the best to everyone for facing the severe heat condition

10th Board to be scraped? -Kapil Sibal

Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal has come up with a innovative idea to reform school education system and is planning to scrap the Class 10 board examination.
Sibal not only wants to do away with Class 10 board examination but also set up an evaluation system based on percentiles.
According to Sibal the examination-based system is a source of trauma for both parents and students.
Sibal insists that the gaining knowledge should not be stressful and it is time to restructure the system.
"We need to de-traumatise it and reduce the burden on parents and children. We could, for instance, think of abolishing the Class 10 board exam. Why does a child need to appear for a board exam in Class 10 if he or she is continuing in the same school?" asked Sibal
The Union HRD Ministry will consult and take into confidence the state education boards before taking a final decision.
Sibal also said it this ministry will do its best to implement the Yash Pal Committee report within 100 days.
The Committee headed by Professor Yash Pal had been set up to advise on Renovation and Rejuvenation of Higher Education and has recommended the establishment of a National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER).
The NCHER will be an advisory body responsible for reforms in higher education, the committee had recommended.

Bad Strategy puts India out of contention from 20-20 World Cup

Well It was do or die for Indian team, if they had to be in hunt for the coveted trophy.To qualify for the semifinals it was a must win for them when they came out to field against England at the 'Mecca of Cricket'-Lords.
Well the bowlers restricted the Englishmen to a reasonably defendable score of 153,thanks to a quickfire 50 by Kevin Pieterson and late slog by the taileneders.The bowlers especially R.P. Singh and Ravinder Jadeja bowled a tight line.But Indians were weak in fielding. In twenty-twenty cricket, it is must to save runs and misfielding can not be tolerated.But irrespective of everything ,this target was conceived to be an easy go for the strong Indian batting lineup even in the absence of hard hitting Virender Sehwag.Indians had a poor start as they lost In form Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina. But then the biggest maistake which costed India the match was to bring in Jadeja. He didn't play a single game and was thrown such a responsibility.Then in twenty-twenty we should keep in mind that there are just 120 balls to be faced and your top most and inform batsman should get the maximum of these balls. Jadeja consumed 36 deliveries for his 25 which was almost the 1/3rd of the whole innings.He was sent to throw his bat and propell the inning, but contrary to it his slow innings put pressure on other batsman and when the inning ended Indian team saw themselves 4 runs short of target,with the best batsman on crease. Yusuf Pathan and Dhoni did try to steal the victory but they did not have deliveries to face.
Well it is always good to conduct experiments as it brings out the best but at cruical junctures one should stick to the reliable options.Well defending champions are out and now there are three strong teamswhich I feel can be there in semis-South Africa,Sri Lanka and Newzeland. But there are still uncertainities in this version of cricket, which saw two strong teams-Australia and India out from last four and which saw the emergence of teams such as-Ireland.
But Indian think tank should rethink on the strategies for this version