Reminiscing of times at Baghdad -Israeli air strike on Nuclear facility in 1981

7^th June 1981 was like any other day in Iraq; though a Sunday it was working day since Fridays were the weekly off. As usual the site activities started off at 6.30 am and as we were still mobilizing staff and manpower for the projects the current works involved setting up of labor camps, staff camp and excavation works for foundations of permanent buildings of the township just off Al Baaya, Baghdad. As we were going about our works we saw few jet fighters flying in the sky and it was not unusual as there was a war taking with Iran and it was quite common to see them in air. As there were no air raid warnings there was nothing to worry or take any actions that was told to us in the event of air raid.

Just in about half hour there were loud firing noise and anti-aircraft guns firing in the air from all parts of Baghdad and the air raid warning sirens sounding loudly in all localities of Baghdad. We engineer’s working in the field just dumped everything and was scampering to safety of the trench but in sheer fright all of us just went below a porta cabin. After about 20 minutes all clear sounded and we crawled out of the space and only then we realized that we were fools that we crawled beneath a wooden cabin which would not have given any protection against bombs. Read the earlier post where I have mentioned this incident under .Jinxed June

It was much later in the week that we came to know of the reasons for the air raid warning on 7^th June… it was an air strike by Israelis air force on the Al-Tuwaitha nuclear facility was being built on the outskirts of Baghdad about 17kms southeast of Baghdad. I did not give a thought about this incident till I wrote about it in my blog couple of years back. Few days back while browsing the internet I came across declassified report on this bombing by Israelis and I was surprised to note that the Israeli’s have been trying to stop the construction of this reactor for over 3 years as they were worried that Iraq would build a nuclear device. Their secret services tried various means to delay or destroy the same but were unsuccessful. Then in 1981 Saddam Hussein in an Arab meet proclaimed that the nuclear reactor was going to go critical in a month or so and then he would build an Islamic bomb to be dropped on Tel Aviv. 

Route taken by Israeli Air force Image Courtesy- Google

This statement triggered the final go ahead for the air strike for which the Israelis air force had been training for over 10 months and was code named Operation Opera or Operation Baghdad. Eight F16’s took off from Israel avoided Jordan and flew at 100 feet above ground over Saudi Arabia and then entered Iraq to complete the bombing mission and finally went back to Israel safe. This daring strike took the world by total surprise and all countries decried and condemned the bombing since the reactor could not have developed nuclear bomb. Israeli’s however maintained that this strike was in self-defense of their country since Saddam Hussein was known to hate Israel and had threatened bombing Tel Aviv with nuclear device.

Well you can read about the planning details and routes taken by the fighter pilots on Google or even watch the same on You tube so I am not repeating it here. These moments have been etched in my memories and it keeps flooding back now and then whenever I read or hear about Iraq.

Whistling Hunters

The Indian wild dogs or the dholes are also known as the whistling dogs are highly social and stay in packs numbering anywhere from 2 to 20 or even more. They often hunt in packs and are known to down preys double their size in co-ordinated attack. During my trip to Kabini last year did photograph a pack of 7 dogs going out on a hunt and here are few images of them

This images shows 6 of the dogs in a frame crossing the road that runs in the forest

This was taken as they came out of the bush ... playfully

Two of the dholes relaxing beside the road










They produce a whistle sounding coo -coo and hence they are known as whistling hunters

PreConceived Notions

A colleague of mine seeing me dressed in a jeans and shirt commented “Dress according to your age…jeans are for youngsters”. This actually fueled me to write about Preconceived notions that most people have in India.

It very evident that my friend has a preconceived idea  set in his mind that a man or a woman who are aged 50 and beyond cannot wear Jeans pants. Now what is a preconceived notion and how does it happen… well this starts right from tender age while your parents keep saying don’t do this or if you do this you will be gauged like this and so forth. These opinions of parents or peers are implanted in one’s mind and you have set answers to questions and that are considered as gospel truth.

Most people have the following preconceived thoughts or notions and it is very difficult to convince them that the same is not true…..…..

·         Blonde women are dumb

·         People who wear glasses are studious

·         Blacks are lazy & also most Virile

·         Jews will cheat you in business

·         Men with beards are Muslims

·         All Muslims are terrorists

·         Judge people before even knowing him / her

·         Girls in film / fashion industry have no morality

·         Girls with skimpy dress or revealing dress are the cause of rapes

·         Wife needs to work at home as the man is the bread winner

·         Older men should act their age & be mature

·         A woman cannot be bossing over you at work place

·         Women are bad drivers

The above list is not the entire list and it would go on for pages as we to have preconceived answers for all situations and settings around us.

Instead of judging a person or any other thing with preconceived notions or thoughts have an open frame of mind and gauge accordingly and I am sure you would find that preconceived notions are totally wrong and judgmental

If you readers have any thoughts to add about this please comment !!!!

Common ...yet not so common

In my growing up years i have seen scores of common sparrows or the house sparrows around my home and sadly now you can hardly see few sparrows in Chennai. 

These common sparrows are associated with human settlements and are native to most parts of Europe, Mediterranean and Asia. The decline in numbers of the sparrows has been gradual due to killing by humans as it is conceived as a pest because of its numbers. The house sparrow has long been used as food item in northern Europe where earthen ware know as sparrow pots were hung on projections of roof or trees around the house to attract nesting birds so that the young can be harvested. Sparrow pie was a traditional dish and is associated with having aphrodisiac properties. 

Male and female Common Sparrow at JLR Kabini resort grounds

The myth of having aphrodisiac properties may be one of the reason why there are reduced number of common sparrows ...i am not too sure of this reason ... just kidding :)

Ziggurat of Ur - Iraq

During my employment at Baghdad, Iraq between 1981 and 1983 i have gone round almost whole of Iraq on weekends and holidays along with a group of 9 friends. Each weekend we take the Dyna 3 ton open pickup vehicle and with only three persons in cabin balance of us sit in the open and to make our seating comfortable we use sponge beds and during winters also take our woolen blankets. It was indeed great fun and adventure as most of us were around 24-26 years old. To keep us company we used to take crates of chilled beers during summer and whiskey during winters 

Me with Ziggurat of Ur in background

One such week end we decided to visit a monument near Nasiriyah about  350 kms south of Baghdad known as Ziggurat of Ur  that was built in 21^st Century before Christ in dedication Nanna/Sin - God of Moon , the patron  deity of Sumerians in the city of Ur and it was rebuilt again in 6^th century BCE as it had crumbled to ruins. The building was excavated by an English archeologist in between 1920’s and 1930 and is one of the three  best preserved Neo-Sumerian Ziggurat in the world. The Sumerians called it “Etemenniguru”  which meant Temple whose foundation creates aura.

Reconstructed Ziggurat taken in 2005

The monument was crumbling and under Saddam Hussein in 1980’s a partial reconstruction of the faced was done was done and you can see the reconstructed image taken in 2005 and my Image taken in 1982.

Details and image of reconstructed Ziggurat – Courtesy Wikipedia

Kickbacks by Diagnostic Centers and Revenue generation in Hospitals

Image Courtesy -Google Images

This post is purely based on my personal experiences that I have had in last couple of years. At no point of time do I demean the entire medical fraternity … as the saying goes …There are sure going to be some rotten apples in the basket.

Invariably a list of unrelated tests is prescribed by your doctor when you visit him when sick and we do undertake these tests without any questions for we are worried about our health. Now these tests are conducted in a diagnostic centers or testing centers where the name of reference doctor is noted and accordingly weekly or on a monthly basis a certain commission is sent across to the referring doctor…. This is known as referral fee. This information was given by the test center and as well as a doctor friend and this hold true for most doctors unless they specifically tell the test center to pass on this commission to the patients instead of them( The doctors I know personal are doing this).

Image Courtesy -Google Images

One such incident is while my wife had gone to meet couple of doctors while she was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. We met a particular doctor Dr.xxx who had treated a friend and he after checking my wife suggested PET scan to find out the spread of cancer at a test center. Then my wife went to meet another team of doctors lead by Dr.yyy suggested by my cousin who also suggested same test at the center. The cost of scan suggested by Dr.xxx was Rs. 25,000.00 and whereas the same test if we used the prescription of Dr.yyy would cost only Rs 14,000.00. The tests are the same and hence enquired at the test center why the difference in cost, we were informed that they had to pay a commission of Rs 11,000.00 for each patient referred by Dr.xxx for this particular test.

I was totally appalled by this kickback scheme being operated by the doctors and test centers thereby depriving the patients of their hard earned money. I did raise this point with Dr.yyy and he said… yes this is how it operates but me and my team do not want to fleece our patients who are already suffering with the dreaded cancer and hence we have told the test center to pass on this benefit to our patients. I do know few doctors consider this kickback as immoral and against the ethics of their profession. Medical Council of India clause 6- Unethical Acts in their Code of Ethics addresses the issue of rebates and commissions Read here ,but then as in most cases in India.. the rules are meant to be broken not followed

Most hospitals these days are run by corporates and everyone working there are under pressure to generate revenues for the hospital. Hence if you are a patient in a particular hospital you would be subjected to various tests to be conducted in the hospital even you have had these tests done earlier elsewhere. Also the doctors are told to retain patients in hospital as long as possible to gain revenues. This may sound callous but then this is happening for sure and I have overheard three doctors discussing about this while on a lift within a reputed hospital (They may have thought that I am a doctor too J looking at my appearance)

Gone are the days when individuals would aspire to become a doctor so that they are able to serve the mankind (though I know few doctors do just that and collect a nominal fee just to take care of their overheads for operating their clinics). These days people are becoming doctors with the aim of becoming rich fast and have high income on a regular basis. No doubts the money spent for becoming a doctor also has gone up exponentially in India with donations alone touching a crore of rupees and the fees between 40 to 50 lacs. It is quite natural with this kind of money being spent by an individual to become a doctor he is bound to succumb to the pressures of recovering the same and this directly affects the patients.

I am sure most of you would have experience similar instances and please leave your comments of these experiences.

Retaliatory killing of wildlife India- A bane to conservation efforts

Recent death of a tigress named Bagahinala and two of its cubs due to poison at Pench, Madhya Pradesh is a big blow to conservation and this incident has made me pen few thoughts on the issues that are being currently being debated on various media portals. It has been suggested that the persons involved may be road contractor who has moved in with migrant workers who had poisoned the water hole and i fail to understand as to why this was done since the reason given was to kill deer and boars for their meat... now the poison killing the animal can kill humans too... hence this confusion.

http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/tigress-2-cubs-found-dead-in-madhya-pradeshs-pench-tiger-reserve-1292513

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/orang-national-park-tigress-poisoned-to-death-in-nearby-village/

                     Images : Courtsey Google Images from various new media

Man- animal conflict has been the major cause for death of wildlife be it the tiger, leopard or the elephant in India next to poaching which is quite prevalent in most forests even though the official claim that the poaching is on decline. This is untrue. Man animal conflict has always been present on the fringes of the forest but then with further encroachment into the forest by the local villagers be it for grazing of their cattle / sheep in the forest(to save recurring cost of fodder), hunting of deer & wild boars for their meat consumption has greatly enhanced this conflict. This is true for most reserves and forests in India and additionally hotels /resort buildings are cropping up within the buffer zone thereby reducing the habitat.

The habitat of wildlife is shrinking each day due to the greediness of the human beings be it the government  in the name of development or just individuals who live on the fringes of the forest  encroaching into the forest land. Just today there was news on the TV about an elephant on rampage at Gudalur, Nilgiris Tamilnadu and has killed or injured few human beings. Local populations along with the local political leaders was conducting a strike in front of Forest department office and were demanding that the elephant be shot dead to prevent further incidents. Similar demands were made few months back when a tiger killed a person in the same area (Gudalur) and the tiger was shot to death to appease the locals. Also recently a tiger killed a cattle herder on the fringes of Bandipur and similar situation warranted shooting of the tiger to appease the villagers. Recently a leopard was found dead due to poisoning at Bandipur, Karnataka and tigress poisoned in Orang , Assam , tiger at Koidaikanal, Tamilnadu and these area cause of worry to the conservationist all over the country. Anonymous sources in department say the Villager living on the fringes of the forest or within the forest hold the sword of Damocles over the department, that if no action is taken they would resort to poisoning of wildlife and it may have serious consequences to all animals in the vicinity.

Reduction in habitat has issues in addition to man- animal conflict... fights among animals especially predators who are territorial and this often leads to death of the predators if not driven out to the buffer areas or out of the forest. The number of deaths due to territorial fights may not be as much as the other causes of death as written above.The year 2016 is been bad for tigers in India and as on date official record of tiger deaths is 24 as on 31^st March ..See the list here  but there are many more that we have come to know on social media network that is not included in the list. The body parts of 11 tigers have been seized which means these tigers have also been killed but not listed in earlier list of tiger deaths.See here for body parts

Conservationist have been keeping only the statistics of tiger deaths since the wild tiger population was decimated from estimated 100,000 few decades back to just 2236 numbers as per the last census taken in 2015. There have been innumerable death of leopards and elephants due to poisoning, road kills and mob frenzy that has not come to limelight but does get a passing mention in regional news papers .

How do we address this issue in longer run to conserve wildlife?? Well proper and timely compensation needs to be meted out to villagers for their loss by the forest department instead of procrastinating once the correctness of the incident is ascertained / Verified. To follow the norms set by NTCA with respect to killing of tigers if involved. Try increasing the habitat by relocating the villagers living on the fringes and buffer areas with appropriate compensations. This is not too much to ask of the department and am sure if done judiciously there may be decrease of such incidents in India.

Conservationists , NGO's and wildlife lovers are frustrated with the actions being taken by government , apex tiger body NTCA and forest officials. There has been an immense protest that had been going on for quite a few months because of T24 Ustad case of RTR and finally even the Supreme Court dismissed the petition by a nature lover for reintroducing of T24 into the wild from its captivity in zoo. Protests happening in Pench for pushing the authorities to find the culprits and also to ensure more vigilant force to avoid such deaths.

I only hope that our future generations are able to enjoy wildlife in their natural habitat and not in their school books and zoo. This is possible only if effective actions are taken immediately by all concerned after putting their egos into the closet.