Experts have seemingly reached a consensus on what constitutes an effective early warning system, although they are yet to figure out the right technology to use in case of the Indian Ocean. In the face of offers being rushed by donor countries keen to contribute their know-how, experts tend to maintain that 'the problem is not the science of predicting disasters but finding a way to reach more people (with the warnings)'. To quote Jan Egeland, the UN relief coordinator, "We have very much accurate means to predict disasters. What we lack is the means to tell the people concerned."

Here, disaster-prone and negative image-stricken Bangladesh has come in for some laudatory remarks from Eva Von Oelreich of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and John Sparrow of the Red Cross Federation's Beijing office. They regard Bangladesh as 'a model' for low-tech measures such as bicycles to spread the word of an impending calamity to thousands of people, thereby enabling them to take safety precautions. True, the last two cyclones caused much less havoc in Bangladesh owing to efficient transmission of warning signals to risk-prone multitudes compared with what used to happen beforehand; but let's not forget, earth-quake is a different ball game, let alone tsunami. We do need to be part of a high-tech early warning system girdling the globe.

Germany's proposal to send buoys fitted with the satellite Global Positioning System to the Indian Ocean so that it could be used by the littoral states quickly is already on the table. But all eyes are now on the Unesco meeting slated to be held within 60 days to determine the technology to be used in the Indian Ocean.