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One of few places on Earth where an international boundary can be seen at night

earthobservatory.nasa.gov

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Re: One of few places on Earth where an international boundary can be seen at night

#21

Post by chimeracoder »

mattzito wrote: post #16

Once flying from the US to Delhi, a flight attendant came to get me in the middle of the night, and waved me over to an open window row to show me the border. It's quite pretty, but it is striking how few lights are on other than the border itself.

> It's quite pretty, but it is striking how few lights are on other than the border itself.

A few reasons for that:

1) The border between India and Pakistan is one of the less populated regions of both countries, for a variety of reasons.

2) Many cities in India have a variety of load-mitigation ordinances in effect to reduce power and water consumption. I'm not sure what the state is these days in Delhi and nearby areas, but it's similar to what's done in parts of the US, just on a larger scale.

3) Power is expensive! In the US, it's astonishing how much electricity we waste, even (or especially) at night. India is overall a less wealthy country, so people naturally conserve electricity much more than we're used to over here.

Re: One of few places on Earth where an international boundary can be seen at night

#22

Post by derefr »

I first misread this as "international date line can be seen at night" and was questioning for a moment whether everything I knew about time zones was wrong. (Though, I do imagine there are some good pictures to be taken where it's 4PM on one side of a border and 5PM on the other side, and very different things are happening as a result.)

Re: One of few places on Earth where an international boundary can be seen at night

#23

Post by electricarc »

20kleagues wrote: post #5

As a Pakistani I feel genuinely sad that so much is being spent on enforcing borders when there's so much poverty on either sides of the border in the southern regions.

You should put one up on the Afghanistan border too if you don't want to be overrun by ISIS.

Re: One of few places on Earth where an international boundary can be seen at night

#24

Post by electricarc »

grokavi wrote: post #6
20kleagues wrote: post #5

As a Pakistani I feel genuinely sad that so much is being spent on enforcing borders when there's so much poverty on either sides of the border in the southern regions.

And as a South Indian I feel cheated that the money I pay as tax is being wasted this way in what is essentially a North Indian problem.

Then don't pay taxes. See, right now you have North India as a buffer against West Asian hordes like ISIS. If North Indians stop defending you, then you will have this border right up to your nose.

Before you are overrun.

Re: One of few places on Earth where an international boundary can be seen at night

#25

Post by electricarc »

grokavi wrote: post #6
20kleagues wrote: post #5

As a Pakistani I feel genuinely sad that so much is being spent on enforcing borders when there's so much poverty on either sides of the border in the southern regions.

And as a South Indian I feel cheated that the money I pay as tax is being wasted this way in what is essentially a North Indian problem.

Then don't pay taxes. See, right now you have North India as a buffer against West Asian hordes like ISIS. If North Indians stop defending you, then you will have this border right up to your nose.

Before you are overrun.

Re: One of few places on Earth where an international boundary can be seen at night

#27

Post by czardoz »

ucaetano wrote: post #13
ajeet_dhaliwal wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Poverty won't be solved by spending less on enforcing borders. This is the same type of thing the BBC says whenever India does something like send a probe to the moon or mars.

Actually, it will. Not because of the extra money, but because of increased trade and job mobility that will come with a more open border.

One could argue that such massive projects generate more employment, and do their bit in tackling the unemployment issues.

Re: One of few places on Earth where an international boundary can be seen at night

#28

Post by 1971genocide »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #20
1971genocide wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice for you to assume my ignorance. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia both fund extremist Islamist groups, but no one seems to acknowledge it since both are US allies. India has its problems but no where the level of Pakistan. The people of Pakistan are extremely brainwashed with religious extremism. I know that because I went to a school filled with them and also Indians. They openly justify terrorism - we are not talking…

> Pakistan and Saudi Arabia both fund extremist Islamist groups, but no one seems to acknowledge it since both are US allies. I thought it was a well-travelled non-secret in U.S. diplomatic circles. The Atlantic ran an article [1] a few years ago that caused quite a stir, in part by showing that the U.S. has active invade-and-defuse ("render safe") plans for Pakistan. [1] http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/print/201…

Did Obama ever come out and condemn pakistani actions ?

He criticized India for its backward views on women - and no words on the saudis.

I view both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to be the most vile countries with extremely vile societies - I used to think its just the govt. But having lived in the middle east and known a lot of saudis and pakistanis I am disappointed to say that the people are not much more different that the terrible views spewed by their govt.

But somehow the countries that require the most attention are Iran and Syria ?

Re: One of few places on Earth where an international boundary can be seen at night

#29

Post by 1971genocide »

sremani wrote: post #17
cocoawhale wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This comment is so discriminatory. India and Pakistan basically have the same problems. Both countries are quite screwy. Read real books on both countries rather than just reading new articles and you would know this.

Disagree. India and Pakistan are similar and have similar problems but the level of white-washing of history and devotion to "Garrison State" does not happen in India. Heck, the education system in India is wildly varied from state to state. After reading real books and what not, India is screwed up, but if Indians want to feel any better they only have to look at Pakistan and take comfort from the fact Pakistan is m…

India is amazing. As a ethnically hindu bangladeshi I would eat a hat to switch my passport so that I could go work in bangalore !

I do not have a problem with muslims - most of my friends are. But islam is a terrible curse in south east asia in general.

I am not sure if its the saudis spreading wahabbism - I mean pakistan was terrible even during the independence.

Pakistan needs some sort of Hiroshima moment like the Japanese to come to terms with the fact that they as a country made a grave mistake breaking away from India.

Re: One of few places on Earth where an international boundary can be seen at night

#30

Post by doodlyboo »

grokavi wrote: post #6
20kleagues wrote: post #5

As a Pakistani I feel genuinely sad that so much is being spent on enforcing borders when there's so much poverty on either sides of the border in the southern regions.

And as a South Indian I feel cheated that the money I pay as tax is being wasted this way in what is essentially a North Indian problem.

This sort of mindset is what is hampering India. Be Indian first, then think south or north. Soldiers at the border are from the entire country and they are protecting our entire nation, not "south" or "north"
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