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Rivers flowing through Ranchi plateau may also contain thorium. By Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi Thorium deposits in India. River flowing near Ranchi city. Pegmatite intrusions in host rocks in Ranchi plateau. Thorium is a naturally occurring radioactive chemical element with the symbol  Th and atomic number 90. It was discovered in 1828 by the Norwegian mineralogist Morten Thrane Esmark and identified by the Swedish chemist Jöns Jakob Berzelius and named after Thor, the Norse god of thunder. Thorium produces a radioactive gas, radon-220, as one of its decay products. Secondary decay products of thorium include radium and actinium. In nature, virtually all thorium is found as thorium-232, which undergoes alpha decay with a half-life of about 14.05 billion years. Berzelius was quite unaware of the tremendous amount of power that this element stores within it. Subsequent development in the field of nuclear science and technology, however, revealed that thorium might well prove to ...

Rivers were overflowing and trees were uprooted. By Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi. Heavy rains on Sunday (13 th Otober) lashed Jharkhand following the "peripheral effect" of cyclone Phailin. The peripheral effect following Phailin that lay centred in Odisha began in Jharkhand since early morning with heavy rains lashing several districts of the state.74.6 mm rain was recorded in Ranchi till 8.30 am. Phailin entered Jharkhand on Sunday around 4am causing heavy rainfall and recorded wind speed of up to 40kmph. Ranchi recorded 117mm rainfall from Sunday 4am till Tuesday morning. Most of the small rivers of Ranchi like Harmu River, Jumar River, Potpoto River, River flowing under the Over bridge etc. were overflowing due to heavy rain in the city. Even many of the local ponds were overflowing. Trees were uprooted and low land area faced water logging.   Pictures below show the some of the impact of Phailin in Ranchi city.             ...

Its impact is nearly everlasting. By Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi Earlier it was controversial report of use of the Depleted Uranium where thousands and thousands of people, including many children, died after the war in Bosnia from the use of depleted uranium projectiles. Completely healthy people who have lived or are still living in locations were targeted missiles out of the blue they got cancer or leukemia and after a longer or shorter disease died. Depleted uranium has been used in at least the last four wars Gulf War 1, Bosnia and Kosovo in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Gulf War 2. The last two of the four wars, took place in 2001 ( Afghanistan ) and 2003 ( Iraq ). Now the latest news is about use of other weapon of mass destruction on the humans. According to UN report there is “clear and convincing evidence” that chemical weapons were used in the August 21 attack in Syria . The conclusion is that chemical weapons have been used in the ongoing conflict between the parties in the Syr...

Permo-Carboniferous time, about 300 million years ago, was a period of great glaciation. By Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi Geologist The Earth has a history of climate change. There have been ice ages and super-volcanoes and with them came evolutionary changes in many of the Earth’s inhabitants; A glacial period (or alternatively glacial or glaciation ) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. There have been five known ice ages   in the Earth's history, with the Earth experiencing the Quaternary Ice Age during the present time. Within ice ages, there exist periods of more severe glacial conditions and more temperate referred to as glacial periods and interglacial periods, respectively. The Earth is currently in an interglacial period of the Quaternary Ice Age, with the last glacial period of the Quaternary having ended approximately 10,000 years ago with the start of the Holocene epoch. The Permo-Carboni...

  A small slide show on concept of atomic power of ancient India. by Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi Our own culture, if we assume a starting point of 4000 B.C. has progressed from primitive agriculture and herding to nuclear fission is only 6,000 years. Considering the age of mankind, there has been ample time for other cultures to have arrived at a level roughly corresponding to ours. A re-examination of some of the ancient records that have come down to us might give some indication of man kind having previously attained our present aptitude for destruction. While there are hints of great blasting of the earth´s surface in the Bible (Sodom and Gomorrah), the Greek myths, and many of the legends of the Indians of North and South America, it is in the ancient records of India, copied and recopied from prehistoric antiquity, that we find, described in considerable detail, the use and effect of what closely resembles atomic explosions in warfare. Unexpected references to such recent developm...

Vulnerability assessment of the Pakur District of Jharkhand State in relation to climate change and its relevance to livelihood of the community and families. By Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi Geologist.               Small slide show on impact of climate change in Pakur.         Agriculture production has reduced due to less or erratic rainfall.                                     Forest cover has reduced.                                          No green cover.            ...

A short film on causes and impact of disaster in Uttrakhand state in India. By Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi Geologist.    This was one of the most challenging disasters till date at Kedarnath so much so that even after few days also it was really tough for a human mind to calculate the loss. It made everyone busy. Media is covering as much as they can. Indian army, air force, navy all are focusing here to save the human lives. Still death is uncountable along with other losses. Analysis differs. While the administration insists that it was a natural calamity, environmentalists hold that this was a man-made disaster waiting to happen. Though it was nature’s fury but the after effects was purely man made. It happened because geology of the area was always neglected in construction and expansion of the affected areas. Observations suggest that inadequate consideration of geology and geomorphology during the road alignment and poor, faulty engineering techniques were major factors re...