cyclone in Arab desert land !!

A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the land surface of the Earth is arid or semi-arid. This includes much of the polar regions, where little precipitation occurs, and which are sometimes called polar deserts or "cold deserts".  

The word meant  a bag made of palm leaves in the language of the Maldives. A cyclonic storm named as ‘Tropical Cyclone Gonu’ was indeed odd occurring   in the Gulf of Oman and made landfall in Iran, a nation not known for cyclones.  That was considered a thing of the past and a rare occurrence.

The Arab states of the Persian Gulf  refer  to a group of Arab states bordering the Persian Gulf. There are seven member states of the Arab League in the region: Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Yemen is bound to the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, based on history and culture.

The term has been used in different contexts to refer to a number of Arab states in the Gulf region. The prominent regional political union Gulf Cooperation Council includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. 

For those of us watching Vadivelu, Gulf country is Dubai and includes Apitabi. !! 

The Gulf has been severely impacted by heavy rain  in the Persian Gulf, causing flash flooding across the region. Several states recorded nearly a year's worth of rain in a single day. The floods had a significant impact across the region, with Oman and the United Arab Emirates being particularly affected,  resulting in the deaths of at least 24 people, including 19 in Oman.  Southeastern Iran, Yemen, and the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, as well as the Gulf states of Bahrain and Qatar, also experienced heavy rainfall and subsequent flooding.

The Persian Gulf region is known for its hot and dry weather, though heavy rains causing flooding have also occurred with greater regularity in recent years.  A  Senior forecaster  of the UAE’s National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) explained that "a low pressure system in the upper atmosphere, coupled with low pressure at the surface had acted like a pressure 'squeeze' on the air. That squeeze, intensified by the contrast between warmer temperatures at ground level and colder temperatures higher up, created the conditions for the powerful thunderstorm".  Meteorologists from the University of Reading stated that the heavy rain was caused by large thunderstorms.

In Oman, at least 19 people were killed due to the floods that  included 10 schoolchildren and their driver whose vehicle was washed away by flood waters in Samad al-Shan on 14 April 2024.  The UAE witnessed a record-breaking rainfall in a 24 hour period, surpassing Emirati meteorological data since records began in 1949.  

In the aftermath of the floods, some news outlets quoted specialist meteorologist Ahmed Habib linking the heavy downpours to the UAE's cloud seeding program. Due to the arid desert climate and high temperatures, cloud seeding has been used previously in the United Arab Emirates in order to combat water scarcity. Dismissing the allegations,   the deputy director-general of the UAE’s National Centre of Meteorology (NCM), said the institution “did not conduct any seeding operations during this event.  Scientists from the University of Reading, whose cloud seeding program is used by the UAE, denied that cloud seeding was to blame for the heavy rainfall, given that the large-scale weather pattern was predicted in advance and was too large to be influenced by cloud seeding. They added that the effects of cloud seeding are typically short-lived, lasting for a few hours.

Recalling Cyclone Gonu struck the Gulf in June 2007.  It was  an extremely powerful tropical cyclone that became the strongest cyclone on record in the Arabian Sea. The second named tropical cyclone of the 2007 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, Gonu developed from a persistent area of convection in the eastern Arabian Sea on June 1, 2007.  It  turned northward into the Gulf of Oman, and dissipated on June 7, after making landfall in southern Iran, the first landfall in the country since 1898.

Intense tropical cyclones like Gonu are extremely rare in the Arabian Sea, and most storms in this area tend to be small and dissipate quickly The cyclone caused 50 deaths and about $4.2 billion in damage (2007 USD) in Oman, where the cyclone was considered the nation's worst natural disaster.  

With regards – S Sampathkumar
19^th Apr 2024 

How many are standing to vote in your booth ????

Indian Elections are the toughest ones to conduct in a country of 1,439,053,844 as of 18.4.2024, based on Worldometer. Election Commission deserves appreciation for this electoral exercise.  It is fully technology as votes are cast on EVM which has to a large extent eliminated booth capturing and mass voting (by hooligans) 

Am surprised that you can find the no. of people standing in Queue in your booth and go to vote, if you have not voted yet.  Check for yourself at : https://erolls.tn.gov.in/Queue/

 

If it less than 30 in queue, it should take around 15 mins only. No Excuse at all for staying away! Please cast your vote without fail.  Do carry approved photo ID card

 

In a city of educated masses, can we take the polling % to higher 90s !?!??! 

 

19.4.2024 

Technology stops Tilak Varma !! - what is a dead ball ??

Technology has changed the game a lot !  in 1983 tense WC finals – with mighty West Indies tottering, remember a moment, Krish Srikkanth picking up the ball and throwing down  the stumps at non-striker end, most of us believed Faud Bacchus was short of crease ! – he was not given out in an era when we thought every direct hit earned a run out ! – we cursed the Umpire.  Now a days, many a decisions are overturned by referrals with the use of technology.  Yet Tilak Verma would be cursing technology and hopefully, it may not have any impact in the result of today’s match at Mullanpur.

 

Surprisingly in a Team that boasts of Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Tim David,  Romario Shepherd – and a team that had big hitters like Kieron Pollard – Tilak Varma has a milestone of 50 sixers – the quickest to reach that target for MI.    

Whether or not technology is a blessing or a curse has been a heated debate for a while. In cricket, the answer is pretty straightforward. Now that cricket matches are regularly recorded and aired, cameras are an expected feature on the pitch. Today towards the end, when MI was hurrying, Tilak Varma hit Harshal Patel hard and high, but it did not reach any fielders in the long !!   - reason it hit the Spidercam and had its direction changed.   It was declared a dead ball – whether it would have gone for a 6 or 4 or would have landed in the hands of a fielder – not known !!  

Day before at Eden Gardens, there was a man   turning down singles in the 18th over, after Rovman Powell got out following a decent cameo. He later clobbered two sixes and a four off the penultimate over, to get the equation down to nine off the final six balls.  Despite a grand performance by Sunil Naraine, it was Butler show.

Jos Buttler started slightly slow as Rajasthan Royals (RR) aimed to travel at more than 11 an over, making only 25 off his first 18 balls. He was at the crease during what seemed like a debilitating mid-innings slowdown, in which Royals scored only 30 from six overs, and lost three wickets in that time, and with a stunning unbeaten 107 he ensured a dream victory.    Varun Chakravarthy  bowled the final, was hit for a 6 off the first then bowled three dots but Butler finished in the final over. 

Today at Mullanpur, MI put into bat by Sam Curran finished at 192/7  with Rohit, Sky and Tilak Varma contributing. In the final over (19.4 to be precise)  an aerial shot by Tilak on its way to long-on struck the spider camera.    Rule no. 20.1 : defines when ‘Ball is dead’  

20.1.1 The ball becomes dead when

20.1.1.1 it is finally settled in the hands of the wicket-keeper or of the bowler.

20.1.1.2 a boundary is scored

20.1.1.3 a batter is dismissed.  The ball will be deemed to be dead from the instant of the incident causing the dismissal.

20.1.1.4 whether played or not it becomes trapped between the bat and person of a batter or between items of his/her clothing or equipment.

20.1.1.5 whether played or not it lodges in the clothing or equipment of a batter or the clothing of an umpire.

.. ..  and there are many more circumstances when the ball is deemed dead, ie., no runs, no wickets, no action, the delivery too is not counted.  Today it was by hitting an equipment.

 

What would have happened if on the final over needing say 4 – a clean hit, moments before crossing the boundary hits the equipment.  Rule would say a dead ball and what would be fate, if the batsman thus denied legitimate runs, gets out in the next and Team loses !!

 
With regards – S Sampathkumar
18.4.2024

  

leaf battle !! ~ வட்ட செயலாளர் வக்கீல் வண்டு முருகன்

தாவரவியலில் வண்டு தெரியாதவர்கள் கூட இருக்கலாம் !  வட்ட செயலாளர் வக்கீல் வண்டு முருகனை தெரியாத தமிழன் இருக்க முடியாது !

வண்டு என்பது ஆறு கால்கள் கொண்ட ஒரு பறக்கும் பூச்சியினம். இவற்றிற்கு, முன் இறக்கைகள் இரண்டும் பின் இறக்கைகள் இரண்டும் ஆக நான்கு இறக்கைகள் உண்டு. முன்னால் தலைப்பகுதியில் இரண்டு உணர்விழைகள் உண்டு. வண்டுகளின் முன் இறக்கைகள் கெட்டியானவை, பின் இறக்கைகள்தான் பறக்கப் பயன்படும் மென்மையான படலத்தால் ஆனவை. முன் இறக்கைகள் வண்டு பறக்காமல் இருக்கும் பொழுது பறக்கப் பயன்படும் மெல்லிய பின் இறக்கைகளை மூடிக் காக்கும் உறை போல பயன்படுகின்றது. இந்த முன் இறக்கைகளுக்கு வன்சிறகு அல்லது காப்புச்சிறகு (elytra) என்று பெயர். இவை வளைந்து குமிழி போல இருக்கும். இப்படிக் வளைந்து குமிழி போல் இருப்பதால் இவற்றிற்கு வண்டு என்று பெயர். 

1962ல் வெளிவந்த சுமை தங்கி படத்தில் ஜெமினி கணேசனும் தேவிகாவும் நடித்து இருந்தனர்.  விஸ்வநாதன் ராமமூர்த்தி இசையில் PB ஸ்ரீனிவாஸ் S  ஜானகி - குரலில் ஒலித்த கண்ணதாசன் பாடல் : 

மாம்பழத்து வண்டு - வாசமலர் செண்டு

யார் வரவைக் கண்டு - வாடியது இன்று !  

சிலப்பதிகாரத்தில், ‘உங்கள் ஊர் எது?’ என்ற கேள்விக்கு, ‘தாமரை எது? பெண்களின் முகம் எது என்று தெரியாமல் வண்டு திண்டாடும் பூம்புகார்தான் எந்தன் ஊர்’ என்று இலக்கியச் சுவையுடன் சொல்கிறார் இளங்கோவடிகள். 

மாதரார் ‌கண்ணும்‌ மதிநிழல்‌நீர்‌ - இணை கொண்டு மலர்ந்த நீலப்‌

போதும்‌ அறியாது வண்டு ஊசல்‌ – ஆடும்  புகாரே எம்‌ஊர்‌.

Pictured here is Cryptocephalus, a genus of leaf beetles in the subfamily Cryptocephalinae and belonging to the group of case-bearing leaf beetles called the Camptosomata. The insects of the beetle family Chrysomelidae are commonly known as leaf beetles, includes thousands species in more than 2,500 genera, making up one of the largest and most commonly encountered of all beetle families.  

Leaf beetles are partially recognizable by their tarsal formula, which appears to be 4-4-4, but is actually 5-5-5 as the fourth tarsal segment is very small and hidden by the third.  Adult and larval leaf beetles feed on all sorts of plant tissue. Many are serious pests of cultivated plants

Interesting !

With regards – S Sampathkumar

17.4.2024