The Christian Science Monitor has an interesting article on the Indian government's policy to not share seismology data with international bodies due to concerns that this might compromise the security of our nuclear testing programme. The October 8th earthquake is now apparently forcing a reevaluation of this policy:
Kapil Sibal, the minister of science and technology, acknowledged to reporters in Delhi last week that "India surely needs to network with the rest of the global earthquake community. It needs to re-think on all old issues."
"That's a big policy decision made at high levels within the Indian government," says Rajendra Kumar Chadha, a scientist at the National Geophysical Research Institute in Hyderabad. He advocates that all stations in the Himalayan network be well connected to speedily transmit real-time online data to the Indian Meteorological Department in Delhi, and to the rest of the globe. "Considering how rigid we are about nuclear issues, acknowledging we need to review the policy is a big step forward."
Full Story: Christian Science Monitor.
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