Areas of Sino-Indian Cooperation in Agriculture: Problems and Prospects

VIII
Continuous slide in the arable area is just one side of the story to the present and futire scenario of agricultural resource crunch in China. Wang Xuegen, a researcher with Chinese Academy of Sciences has brought tot he fore the problem of wetlands in Qinghai Tibet plateau. It relates to capability of the soil to retain water and adjusting the water volume of the river. Wang says there is shrinkage of 10 per cent in the last four decades. He notes, "Though rainfall in the region is on increase, the water flow in the rivers had not increased due to faster evaporation caused by higher evaporation.
Notwithstanding, glaciers in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region has receded by 20 per cent in the corresponding period. Snow line has shrank by 60 meters. 300 cities in China face acute water shortage. Untreated sewage and industrial waste has polluted around 70 per cent of the water bodies.
The governemnt is circumspect about the development. While it can do precious little to stop the the shrinkage of the snow line in the immediate future until there is while range of change in the energy consumption pattern, it has earmarked US$2.1 billion to protect and restore endangered wetlands. Only time will tell the effecacy of the governmental response.

Areas of Sino-Indian Cooperation in Agriculture: Problems and Prospects

VII
Chinese 11th Five Year plan has vowed to retain 120 million ha by 2010 to grow sufficient food products for over 1.3 billion populace. Land use plan of the central authorities seldom work. The provincial authorities have their own valid reasons. In 2006, for example, the central authorities had fixed to parcel out just 267,000 ha for construction works. However, at the end of the day, the construction works devoured 289,000 ha. Despite all protestations, the cases of illegal land use is on increase. Only last year, the central authorities had detected 131,777 cases. This goes to suggest that the target of maintaining 120 million hectares of cultivable land may turn a distant dream.

Universality of Indian Thoughts

There is often a criticism of the idol worship. This is since there is little understanding about the intent and purpose. Idols are manifests of ideals. They atre adored and worshiped as they depict most if not all elements of Godhood. Unlike most others, the Indian thought goes to assume each and every piece of creations as manifests of the divine. The worship is at long last not that of idol but the spirit divine (Atman).