Sudarshan, who belongs to AID-US is co-ordinating the Tsunami relief operations. He is sending out a call for or volunteers from AID-Chennai. There’s still a HUGE need for volunteers for different teams. There’s also a similar need of volunteers who can spend a few days in Pondicherry / Cuddalore/ Naagai / Kanyakumari. Preferably those who can speak tamil.

If there are any volunteers for the areas mentioned above, please contact the aid-india office or the telephone numbers given below.

Contact :
The main AID help line is 044-2835 0403, 044 5561 5629.
Chennai : 20, Ratheenam St, Gopalaupuram, Chennai-600086
Cuddalore: Balaji - 94440 61033, K.P.Narayan 04142-229108 and
Damu - 94442 41918
Nagapattinam: Jagadish - 98403 79889 and Ranganathan - 94440 18590
Pondicherry: 0413- 2290733

There are bloggers and there are bloggers. ABC News declares People of the Year: Bloggers. A trivia that’s very interesting is that a new blog is created every seven-and-a-half seconds. More than 10,000 new additions are added to the blogosphere each day. Thats a huge number.

This title of ABC could be hugely attributed to the Blogger’s active participation in the US Presidential Election of 2004 and also other global issues like the latest Asian Tsunami attacks.

This week, their influence has become readily apparent. Dozens of bloggers have been filing firsthand reports from the areas devastated by southern Asia’s deadly tsunamis.

“There is kind of an immediacy that people can relate to — can’t help but relate to that in a very intimate way,” said Jardin.

Bloggers around the world have made themselves useful, encouraging donations to relief groups, posting the names of the missing, and expressing sympathy for the victims.

Read more Internet Phenomenon Provides Unique Insight Into People’s Thoughts.

I’ve had friends/relatives calling up if everything is safe because of the emrgency alerts flying red on the televisions. My friend who lives in Triplicane had informed that a portion of Radhakrishnan salai is blocked because it leads directly to the sea and their are divertions in that place.

Another friend panickly called up and said that people are leaving to their homes and the electric trains are already running full houses.

Update - Two hours after the previous para was written, the televisions are announcing that Tsunami alert in Chennai may be reduced. Looks like the Port Trust of Chennai will start functioning from evening.

There’s panic here as Chennai is put on highalert for Tsunami attack again. The news and rumors are all twined together making people more panicked.

It remains a question as to how many lives are pending to go before 2004 ends. God Bless !!

NDTV reports that the sea waves are seen to be rising near Chennai. Chennai Port Trust is put on highalert and starts evacuating people from there.

[Click thumbnail to read the poem]

Vairamuthu’s tribute to the Tsunami victims was in a form of a poem. A worthy read. This was the same poem which he quoted in Sun News Channel, a couple of days back.

The guys at Google have done a wonderful job by giving a link to Tsunami relief sites on the home page. The websearch main page looks like the image above. By giving the link on the homepage they are spreading the news of relief operations faster.

The linked Tsunami Relief page displays lists of donation sites and information sites. The information site also lists the Tsunami help blog.

The following tribute to Tsunami victims is written in Tamil.

- by Latha

Pirandha Pin Ninaitha Aayiram Aasaigal,
Arivu Thelindha Pin Artham Atru Pogalaam,
Arivu Mazhungi Aadai Inri Mannil Maraiyum Naal,
Aasaigal Artham Ketta Kelvigal Arthamaai Thonralaam
Vaazhvin Artham Edhil Dhaan Irukkiradhu
Annayin Paasathila, Iyarkayin Seetrathila
Illai Vaazhaikai Mudiyum Nodigalil Thonrum Seiyalatra Peedhiyila
Artham Atra Manidhanaai Vaazhavadhai Vida
Artham Thedi Alaiyum Aanmavai Iruppadhe Uyarvo?

This article, Bloggers step in to help tsunami victims, in Sify written by Catherine Hours of AFP talks about the Bloggers are getting into the relief efforts of the recent Tsunami attack.

Not only people from Chennai are helping in Tsunami relief but there are many others around India who are contributing the efforts.

Blogs however should not replace professional journalists, said Robert Thompson, who heads the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University in New York state.

“But they are useful because they can do a lot of important work, they are very good at getting lots of information rapidly,” he said.

The big news media organisations keep offices in large cities “but they can’t be everywhere. The world of blogs means you get correspondents everywhere,” he said.

The Tsunami that swept over the coastal parts of India has left behind scars that would never heal. Apart from the fear of epidemics caused due to de-composition of bodies floating in water and buried in sand, there are many unheard issues cropping. This incident reported in dailythanti was specially heartrending.

A family from Chennai had been to the Velankanni Church near Nagapattinam. And when the Tsunami swept the shores, this boy along with his parents was washed away. After the Tsunami attack, he was lying with other deadbodies in an unconscious state. By mistake he was supposed to be taken for mass burial with other deadbodies. Miraculously at that right moment, Praveen became conscious and blinked at the whole scene.

While this makes one think about the rescue operation’s alertness, we also have to agree that the rescue workers are also working round the clock without food and sleep and it gets tough after sometime. With bodies coming up as they keep digging, it becomes a routine and strenuous. It’s only a hope that such cases don’t happen in the coming days.

Also rescue workers face the wrath of rain and deadly creatures floating on the water. Snakes and scorpions are said to be floating in the waters near Nagapattinam scaring the rescue workers and the public.

The articles taken to purview are limited to the scope of my reading and hence I am not sure if this is a perfect title to be awarded. Yet for the heck, since I’ve been reading a hell of these tech stuff in the last years, I wanted to give it a shot.

There are times when new technology has been criticised by the part of the tech world. Sometime the degree of criticism varies. But when most of the critics are up against a technology indicating the public to shun that tech, to rise up to the occasion and to write an article in support of it is a herculean task. Not just that you got to be politically right. You should also be doubly conscious that you and technology don’t get into something much bigger than the original issue.

While there were many tech articles on Outsouring of US Tech jobs, Open Source on the main-stream industry, IPOD Mania, nature of Google’s IPO and the Search Engine wars that created an uproar and comments from the readers, only a few will stay with us.

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