Quick notes: Peak car, Indus drought...

• Before Peak Oil, here is Peak Car: Woes of megacity driving (and parking) signal dawn of ‘Peak Car’ era



• The ancient Indus: How climate change helped decimate a 4,000 Year old megacity.... More from Scientific American: 200-Year Drought Doomed Indus Valley Civilization



• The new India story: Delayed pregnancies, lower fertility



• India will be safe in Modi's hands - Wronged ISRO scientist Dr S Nambi Narayanan



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  Prof Shyam Gollakota:  Battery-free gesture recognition system  for less than a dollar

Quick notes: Kaangress School, Indus Valley revisited...

• Kaangress School of pSecularism: Shinde advocates separate criminal law application for minorities



• Kaangress School of Looting: Six dud firms to transfer money to Virbhadra, family



• Kaangress School of Budget Fudging: The government will have to cut expenditure by up to Rs 1 lakh crore in the remaining part of the fiscal if it is to meet the budgeted fiscal deficit target 



• Kaangress School of Crony Capitalism: Congress-ruled Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh join opposition-ruled states to squarely blame the Centre in the Supreme Court for alleged irregularities in coal blocks allocation.



• Kaangress School of Sycophancy: After Telangana decision, Sonia is Telaban Goddess - A 'Goddess Sonia' temple



• A fresh look at the Indus civilization: A five-year study by a Japanese research team could change the accepted view of the ancient Indus Valley civilization. (H/T: Sujeev)

Harappan Sunset

"In the last 10,000 years, the Northern Hemisphere had the highest insolation (the solar energy received by the Earth from the sun) from 7,000 to 5,000 years ago, and since then insolation there decreased. All climate on Earth is driven by the sun, and so the monsoons were affected by the lower insolation, decreasing in force. This meant less rain got into continental regions affected by monsoons over time."

Eventually, these monsoon-based rivers held too little water and dried, making them unfavorable for civilization. Eventually, over the course of centuries, Harappans apparently fled along an escape route to the east toward the Ganges basin, where monsoon rains remained reliable.

This change would have spelled disaster for the cities of the Indus, which were built on the large surpluses seen during the earlier, wetter era. The dispersal of the population to the east would have meant there was no longer a concentrated workforce to support urbanism.

"Cities collapsed, but smaller agricultural communities were sustainable and flourished," Fuller said. "Many of the urban arts, such as writing, faded away, but agriculture continued and actually diversified."

LiveScience: Huge Ancient Civilization's Collapse Explained

Squeezing Pak's Throat

Pakistan is alleging that India is now blocking the downstream flow of the Chenab river with its new dam, thereby reducing its flow into Pak. It may all just be fabrication by them, but if true, it would be unprecedented for India to infringe upon the Indus Water Treaty -- especially when this Treaty is backed by the power of the World Bank.

Is it possible that India is doing it on cue from Uncle Sam? After all, Pak is now panicking and threatening to take the matter to the World Bank -- an organization well-known to be controlled by the US. You have to admit, this would be an ideal way to flex muscle against Pak, and quickly make it feel humble. Personally, I certainly don't mind turning Pak into a desert wasteland. And less water for them means more water for us. Works for me. This is how the game of GoodCop-BadCop is played. If the US wants to give us a positive nod on doing this, then I'm all for it. What could Pak do -- threaten to nuke the dam? I don't think they'd benefit much from radioactive water flowing into their territory anyway.