India's uphill battle against 'black money' in real estate

Ulwe, a village of dusty, uneven streets on the outskirts of Mumbai, lacks basic amenities like water supply and electricity, but a two-bedroom, 1,000 sq ft house costs about Rs 50 lakhs, beyond the reach of many middle-class Indians.

Ulwe, a village of dusty, uneven streets on the outskirts of Mumbai, lacks basic amenities like water supply and electricity, but a two-bedroom, 1,000 sq ft house costs about Rs 50 lakhs, beyond the reach of many middle-class Indians.

According to prospective buyers, many developers will demand up to 30 percent of that price in cash, a small slice of the ubiquitous, unaccounted "black money" that costs India's straitened exchequer billions of dollars in lost taxable income.

Legislation that would bring more transparency to the industry will be considered during the winter session of India's parliament, which starts on Thursday.

Also Read: Realty spots that can give 91-145% returns in 5 yrs: Survey

However, investors, tax officials and bankers Reuters spoke with were sceptical the law would stamp out illegal practices they say are closely entwined with politics.

"Four out of 10 developers were ready to do it in full white and six were asking for a black component," said 35-year-old Umesh Kolhapure, who was looking for a three-bedroom house around Ulwe, near the proposed site of a new international airport serving the country's financial capital.

Recent high-profile scandals in the coal and telecoms sectors involving large corporate houses and politicians have rattled investors in Asia's third-largest economy, where undeclared wealth has long been rampant.

Real estate accounts for a large share of illicit transactions, thanks to lax regulation and the numerous approvals needed for projects, making many ordinary people party to corruption and pricing some of the emerging middle class out of the market.

That has prompted the newly-appointed housing minister, Ajay Maken, to push a real estate regulation bill.

Designed to bring greater accountability, transparency and prevent fraud and delay, the bill proposes appointing the sector's first national regulator. However, it will not have control over land deals, which is where illicit activity is widely believed to be rampant.

Have we accepted corruption in public life? -- Prof. K. C. Mehta

Published: November 17, 2012 23:42 IST | Updated: November 18, 2012 00:01 IST

Have we accepted corruption in public life?

Professor K. C. Mehta

The Hindu Social activist Anna Hazare. File photo

Political corruption was there even during the time of Pandit Nehru. But later a rapid erosion in the selfless dedication of leaders led to the growth of corruption in the entire body politic. National interest became nobody’s business. Welfare schemes turned the biggest source for siphoning off public funds.

Scandals of free India

In the post-independence period, only six out of the 14 Prime Ministers had a term of five years or more: Nehru about 17 years, Indira Gandhi 16, Rajiv Gandhi five, Narasimha Rao five, Atal Behari Vajpayee six, Manmohan Singh over eight years to date.

Out of these six Prime Ministers who really matter, five were from the Congress, accounting for 51 years of Congress-led governments. Out of these 51 years, 38 years belonged to the Nehru dynasty. The article gives an overview of corruption during their tenure. All figures are converted to the 2011 price level to make them comparable. The Wholesale Price Index Numbers are used for the purpose.

Govt. of India should act now to stop illegal mining of Atomic Minerals

IAEA Estimates of thorium reserves in tonnes (2005)

Depletion of nation's mineral wealth in placer sands

The note calls attention to a serious issue of depletion of nation’s wealth by illegal mining of placer sands. The illegality is primarily related to avarice of certain individuals controlling corporate entities resulting in a monopoly situation, and failure of government agencies and operatives to enforce the laws of the land to ensure that public interest is served by controlled and regulated but sustainable use of resources of mother earth.

When the fence eats away the field, who is to save the crop for present and future generations? This is the crux of the issue of fighting corruption leading to depletion of nation’s wealth in many sectors. This note is about such depletion of nation’s wealth in minerals of national importance, including Atomic Minerals.

Immediate action is required from Govt. of India:

• To ban mining of Minerals of National Importance (MNIs) from placer sands
• To seize the mined quantities of such minerals from the miners and their associates
• To hand over control of the mining areas to a paramilitary force
• To levy fines on the parties involved in illegal mining activities
• To constitute a Mines Regulatory Authority for Minerals of National Importance
• To cancel and withdraw the illegal notification of DAE issued in Jan. 2006 which transferred ilmenite to Open General Licence treating it as a non-Atomic Mineral (issued in anticipation of Amendment of Act No. 67 of 1957, an amendment which was not approved by the Parliament) which violates the provisions of Act No. 67 of 1957 (List of Atomic Minerals detailed in Item B of First Schedule of the Act of 1957: Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development Act)
• To constitute a Commission of Inquiry on Atomic Minerals and other Minerals of National Importance, on the lines of Justice Shah Commission inquiring into iron and manganese ore mining

Modus operandi of the Rs. 1 lakh crore loot

Gorleben: lessons that India can’t afford to waste

NUCLEAR WASTE, SOCIETY AND CULTURE

While Germany struggles with the nuclear waste menace, Indian policy-makers are oblivious of the risk amid massive expansion of nuclear projects.  

P K Sundaram

Gorleben, once a rather sleepy town on the bank of Elbe in Germany, has become a symbol of both insanity and hope in the nuclear age.

Self-assured that history has come to a halt at their feet, the rulers of what was then the West Germany selected Gorleben as a place where they could silently store their highly radioactive waste. They assumed the tonnes of waste in Gorleben could safely wait for ages till the technology to deal with nuclear wastes arrives. The reason it was selected as just that. Being on the border of East Germany and surrounded on three sides by the river Elbe which formed the border the West German government had no fear of anybody coming from the East. On the west side there was just one road leading in that could easily be controlled.

Now it is in the middle of the country and fairly easily approachable.

Not only they failed to predict about the technology, which has not materialized even after four decades, they also failed to predict about themselves: the German Democratic Republic (GDR) ceased to exist after 1989.  Gorleben, which they thought would be safe for waste disposal as it fell on the well-guarded GDR border, is now a bustling town: with much larger population, an active economic life and some important transport routes passing through it.

Gorleben is to receive 120 tonnes of nuclear waste this year, lots of which is high level waste. The waste comes from La Hague in France where Germany sends its spent nuclear fuel to be reprocessed. According to a  governmental contract with the French reprocessing company Cogema, Germany has to take back the residual waste. The container for the irradiated fuel is called “Castor” (Cask for Storage and Transport of Radioactive Material).  Every year since 1996, the train bringing this nuclear waste from France has met fierce opposition, with anti-nuke activists from all over Germany and other parts of Europe and US joining local farmers to protest against the nuclear dump. Along the Castor’s route in France and Germany, people organize most imaginative mass protests: singing, dancing, blocking the train route and confronting the police while suffering its repression.

A train with 11 containers, holding about 123 tons of refuse, left the treatment plant in France for Dannenberg, a town in about 20 kilometres from Gorleben. (Credit: EPA/RUVR)

The Gorleben transport container storage unit (Transportbehälterlager Gorleben)  hosts about 100 containers at present. Its total capacity is of 420 containers. This is an interim storage where spent fuel elements and vitrified, highly radioactive waste is being stored for next few decades. Once this waste is cooled off, this waste is supposed to be sent to the Long-Term Waste Storage Units in Salt Dome. This long-term storage facility is also controversial as experts have raised serious questions over its viability for coming 24,000 years.  The results of exploratory geological drillings done in 1980s have shown that the rock salt there may prove to be unstable and can even seep into ground-water and contaminate it.

This year, Gorleben witnessed very high-voltage protests. As Germany has recently decided to phase out 

Friends of the Earth’s Resolution on Koodankulam

KOODANKULAM

Resolution in solidarity with the people fighting against the construction of the Kundankulam nuclear power plant in India and against nuclear power plants in other Asian countries

 We, Friends of the Earth International, the largest federation of grassroots environmental justice organizations from 76 countries with over two millions of supporters, gathered at our 2012 Biennial General Meeting  2012 in  El Salvador express our solidarity with the people in Kundankulam, India, who are fighting against the construction of the Kundankulam nuclear power plant.  Similar struggles are also taking place in Malaysia and South Korea and Friends of the Earth International expresses our solidarity also with these struggles.

We reject the propagation of nuclear power plants in the world as it is a dangerous and dirty source of energy that puts peoples’ lives in danger;

We strongly oppose the construction the Kundankulam nuclear power plant on the land of the people of the state of Tamil Nadu, India, putting their lives and livelihoods at risk against their wishes and without their consent;

We condemn the criminalization of anti-nuclear activists and the communities who are fighting to protect their rights.

We demand that the government of India immediately stops the construction of the Kundankulam nuclear power plant, drops all legal actions against communities and anti-nuclear activists, and ensures the rights of the people to life and livelihood.

We also express our solidarity and support for the struggles of our member groups in Malaysia and South Korea for being nuclear free countries.

World Fisheries Day Protest in Koodankulam: MEEENVAR MAKHAL NAMMAL

LATEST

Anitha S.

November 21^st 2012- The World Fisheries Day which is being observed to protect the sea and its wealth, the lives and rights of so many who are connected to and dependant on the vast realm of life. Here too in our tiny coastal village of Idinthakarai on the southern part of Tamil Nadu we observed the World Fisheries Day. We cannot say that it was a celebration because our lives seem to be moving on borrowed time. Like a pendulum of an old clock, our destiny is slowly and painfully ticking from one end to the other. Now the dead date is December 15^th- so many times this has been heard. We see a small ray of hope in the Supreme Court verdict which came the day before that has demanded that the State Government gives assurance about mock drills in 40 villages in the vicinity of the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant. Our State heads are muted beyond imagination. But atleast we exist- till now it was projected that there are not so many of us in the area, that there is no cause for fear about safety and so on. Now atleast we are living enough to be taken care of. Though we realise that the safety drills do not assure any safety, we are relieved. It is just a dress rehearsal for the terrible sadistic One Act Play called Disaster in which we are all actors.

PICTURES

This situation has made our observance of the World Fisheries Day more poignant. We all gathered at our dear Samara pandal which sometimes wears a deserted look. Nowadays we take turns street-wise to be there the whole day. Slowly we have gone back to our lives. We go shopping to Koodankulam to replenish the provisions. We have dried the condiments and made fresh masala powders. We have gone back to our beedi- rolling and tailoring jobs that earn some income. We have planted flowering shrubs and vegetables in the new rains. Our men have started going fishing. After all we are Meenvar Makhal. After all we breathe, feel and live the salty world of the ocean. Till now, many of us were not aware that there is such a day as World Fisheries Day which is being observed all over the world by people living by the sea. It is this unique struggle of ours that has made us knowledgeable about the concerns and thoughts of the world. Through the pain and desperation of fighting to live our simple, safe lives, we have gained the strength of knowledge and consciousness about how our lives are connected to the world.

These were our thoughts as we set out today as a procession to Thomayarpuram, a village a few kilometres from ours. We carried a banner proclaiming the day and shouted slogans. We missed Xavieramma, Sundari and Selvi. On Children’s Day, Sundari’s little daughter Shyamili was in the forefront of the group of children who lit candles and prayed for a safe and peaceful childhood. Likewise we were glad that Chellamma whose tears soaked our shores since September 13^th when her brother Sahayam lost his life is leading us today with her slogans and enthusiasm. Each one of us seem to be more determined with the vision of a day when the nuclear energy program of our country will be shelved forever and we can lead our lives in harmony with the wind and sun, the waves and soil.

The village of Thomayarpuram had prepared itself well to hold this event there. Amidst slogans and cheering, we listened to our dear brothers speak about the struggle, reiterating the determined effort needed to keep the spirit of resistance going. We stood there with our friends from Koodankulam, Kootapulli, Thomayarpuram and many other smaller hamlets and felt the strength of anti-nuclear movements in other parts of the world pouring in. We then walked to the seashore with the banners and stood waist deep in the waters. The sea seemed calmer, the sun milder and the wind gentle and cool. In a moving gesture of reverence, the people of Thomayarpuram brought in pots of milk and flowers and poured it into the ocean. We realised that the sea is our mother, upon which our lives are so dependant. Were we asking pardon or were we seeking her blessings as the waters turned white with the milk? Many of us were tearful and moved by this. We knew that all Meenvar makhal over the world were by the sea today showing their love, respect, reverence and dependence on the Ocean mother in their own ways. Even places far from the sea were holding programs to support the people of the coast.

On World Fisheries Day: A Call for Nuclear Free Oceans

It has been proved on 13th March 2011, through the Fukushima Disaster in Japan, that there is no safety against Nuclear Plants in the World. Nobody knows how to handle the situation in and around Japan, the coast and the sea.

The radiation has reached American waters. What is going to happen in the future nobody knows. The Chernobyl accident in Russia in 1986, has created such havoc there, and the consequence of it still continues. Within a radius of 150kms of the plant, atomic radiation still exists. 97 % of the plant is still alive. They do not know how to close it. About 9 million children have been born deformed with all kinds of problems. Since the Three Mile Accident in the USA, there has not been any new plant erected there.

Nobody knows how to dispose of nuclear waste except, to use it to make atomic bombs.

The Marine Life has been the worst hit. A study done by the Fisheries Department clearly shows this. “Fifty nine out of 103 nuclear plants in the US rely on what are known as ‘once through cooling systems’ to remove waste heat. Nuclear plant authorities have always claimed that their intake and discharge of billions of litres of water a day, does very little harm to the surrounding marine life.

Some years ago, a major report, LICENSED TO KILL: HOW THE NUCLEAR POWER INDUSTRY DESTROY ENDANGERED MARINE WILD LIFE AND OCEAN HABITAT TO SAVE MONEY, released by the well – respected Nuclear Information and Resource Service on February 22, 2001.” These cooling systems suck in and discharge as much as four million litres of water per minute. This water is sucked in at such a high velocity that along with the water, marine life is also sucked in as it is unable to resist velocity. These are dumped back as dead. The high nuclear destruction rates can over take recovery rates, resulting in extensive depletion of the affected species. In this way, entire marine life communities can lose their capacity to sustain themselves.”

“ While millions of litres of hot water is being discharged into the sea every minute, the total heat dumped into the waterway every minute, and tremendous. Roger Witherspoon, the well – known US journalist, author and editor, in a recent article has given some figures. Citing company records, he points out that the nuclear power plantsat Salem, New Jersey, USA, dump about 30 billion BTUs of heat hourly into Delaware Bay. That is equivalent of the heat which would be generated by exploding a nuclear bomb, the size of the bomb which destroyed Hiroshima, in the waters of Delaware Bay every two hours, all day, every day.” Roger Witherspoon, ‘Ravishing the waterways, DEP vs the power Plants’ Dec 13,2010.http://www.nirs.org/reactorwatch.

As a result the Marine Life and its Bio-Diversity is in total danger.

Apathy of Indian Nation

Today Team Kejriwal gave the Indian nation 4th dose of expose on corruption and the government's unwillingness, helplessness and perhaps compulsion not to tackle this malaise. The whole country has been  a witness to the criticism of the team's efforts on grounds of shoot and scoot nature of these expose, not providing a foolproof/sufficient evidence for his expose and not taking everything raised by them to the logical finish to a court case.

To an unbiased and nation loving commoner the following things come to mind which somehow or the other escape the attention of people who govern this nation. 

• The main points raised by the team so far should not be taken as isolated cases of corruption but as pointers to the systemic muck prevailing in the country in the form of politician industrialist nexus and inadequacy of laws and intentions to fight this monstrous menace of corruption. Surprisingly in India such instances are  the rule of the game rather than an exception and deserve topmost priority in terms of systemic changes.

• Whenever there is a pointer to some modus operandi which is brought to the attention of the government which results in windfall gains and creation of black money, it is the responsibility of the government to investigate and plug loopholes at the speed of light so that the government, country and its masses do not have to suffer again and again through the same route by the powerful and mighty of the nation.

• All the rags to riches stories are a result of manipulations of government policies on allocation of national resources, government and community land and change of land use, licences and quotas and it is a naked fact that the beneficiaries invariably belong to polity and those close to power corridors. 

Team Kejriwal must be lauded rather than condemned for bringing out and highlighting these facts. Many a time the nation is told that there is nothing new in the expose and all information is there in the public domain. His efforts in bringing about an awakening of the general public to the biggest problem facing  the country will ultimately prove to be a watershed event in the country's march to prosperity.

Depleted Uranium Contamination: A Crime against Humanity

Arun Shrivastava | Global Research

This article is part of a longer essay on Depleted Uranium weapons, nuclear reactors and their environmental health impacts.

In this article the long term consequences of radiation contamination from unilateral aggression of the US and NATO countries on South and West Asia are discussed. Afpak region is being bombed daily and the cold blooded murder of nine kids out of the seventeen killed is just a small blip when billions are done in.

The world needs a public trial of political leaders for war crimes and genocide. 

Depleted Uranium or DU [1] encased bombs that have been used since 1991 by US and NATO forces knowing well that the use of DU weapons is illegal being weapons of mass destruction [WMD] and amounts to War Crimes. These weapons were used in Gulf War 1 against Iraq, then in the Balkans and later, after 9/11 events, in Afghanistan, Iraq, North Africa, Libya and now being used in Drone bombings in Pakistan.

“When 20 years ago I stated at the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro that a species was in danger of extinction, I had fewer reasons than today for warning about a danger that I was seeing perhaps 100 years away.” Fidel Castro Ruz – March 21, 2012

Area Deniability Weapon

‘Depleted Uranium’ has nothing depleted about it: when this potent hard metal hits a solid surface like concrete or a battle tank, the temperature at the point of impact reaches over 40000C and turns the projectile into uranium oxide gas. These gases are picked up by the wind and carried all over the world creating vast areas of secondary contamination. Based on the population within the contamination map [Map 1], over 35% of India’s population received a heavy dosing of DU aerosolized uranium nano particles within months of the start of Afghan and Iraq wars. [2]

Photo Courtesy: URUKNET (http://www.uruknet.de/?p=64441)

The total estimated population within the two circles is nearly a billion. [3] ‘The capitals of 19 countries are within 1000 mile radius and include New Delhi (621 miles), Islamabad (232), Bishkek (651), Beirut (515), Cairo (806), Ankara (785), Jerusalem (546), Damascus (468), Kuwait City (347), Nicosia (643), Teheran (429), Abu Dhabi (856), Amman (503), Riyadh (615), Ashgabat (645) and so on.’ [3] Countries like India, Pakistan, Nepal, Afghanistan, Iraq, and some Central Asian States do not even have well established, dependable cancer screening facilities, let alone determining whether the illness is due to depleted uranium contamination or careless handling of toxic pesticides in the farms as was fobbed off by a very ‘respectable’ Indian environmental group. If you think that the population of contaminated regions has gone up, think again; it may have dropped significantly and not even India conducts honest Census operation. Asia, Europe and North Africa are slowly becoming sterile; the only virile bastards are those very leaders who screw 4 or 5 year old boys and girls, white boys and girls, often kidnapped by their own police. [4]

The total land area of earth is about 57.3 million square mile, which implies that roughly 8% of total land area is now contaminated. Add another 6-8% of the landmass within 1000 mile radius of Bosnia, Kosovo, Libya, and Sudan and you can guess that the entire West, Central and South Asia, half of Northern Africa and almost entire Europe is contaminated with DU aerosolized nano particles. While the spineless idiots in bureaucracy, foreign services, and the army worldwide are merrily radioactive, those “dumb stupid” soldiers from US and NATO forces are dying. Even the Indian armed forces are using these lethal weapons and they won’t even know why they died in peacetime. According to one report DU weapons have been sold to 27 countries and India is one of them.

Jaitapur, “a first choice candidate to become a second Fukushima”?

INDIA'S NUCLEAR EXPANSION, JAITAPUR UPDATES

The site of the future Jaitapur nuclear plant, in India, is guarded by the police, 20 April 2011

Several associations wrote a letter to Nicolas Sarkozy to request France not to support the nuclear power plant project in India…

It has been months since Indians in Jaitapur are protesting, sometimes facing violent repression from the authorities, against the nuclear plant which is to be built on the coast of Maharashtra in Western India. This plant will have 6 Areva reactors, for a total capacity of 9,900 megawatts, which would make it the biggest nuclear complex in the world. But after Fukushima catastrophe, the seismicity of the region worries the people and the eco-friendly associations, who have addressed on 12 July a letter to Nicolas Sarkozy so that France doesn’t give the export guarantee that it is supposed to grant.

Too many similarities with Fukushima

For Les amis de la Terre (The Friends of the Earth), Greepeace and Reseau Sortir du nucleaire (Network to abandon nukes), the plant project in Jaitapur presents all the risks of a nuclear accident: “It would be an extreme folly to support the construction of one of the biggest nuclear complexes in the world, especially in a high seismicity zone, in a country with low nuclear standards, huge problems of corruption, and which doesn’t have an independent regulating body, nor experience in management of such reactors”, they wrote to Nicolas Sarkozy.

The ghost of Fukushima is haunting the Indian plant. According to the authors of the letter, the similarities with the Japanese plant make it vulnerable to severe accidents. Among other worries, the location of the pools of spent nuclear fuel outside the confinement gate, the proximity of the control room with the reactor which would make it inaccessible in case of important radioactive leaks, and the position of the spare generators near the floor, which would make them vulnerable in case of flood.

Some Questions to Dr. Anil Kakodkar: Vivek Monteiro

BATTLEGROUND JAITAPUR, INDIA'S NUCLEAR EXPANSION

Dr. Vivek Monteiro is a prominent social and labor-rights activist. He holds a doctorate in engineering from Harvard University and is a leading voice in the struggle against Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project.

Dr. Anil Kakodkar, you are a scientist. I am just a simple resident of Madban. Since you are a scientist, I hope you will be ready to answer my questions about the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project. Let me ask them one by one. First, I want to ask you some questions about nuclear radiation.

1: NPCIL has recently published a booklet saying that nuclear radiation is a friend of man. Is it not true that nuclear radiation is dangerous for us, and more radiation is more dangerous? Is it not true that nuclear radiation causes cancer and that more radiation causes more number of cancers? Is it not true that nuclear radiation can cause cancer of the blood, liver, breast, pancreas, brain etc. Is it not true that nuclear radiation is especially dangerous for children in their mother’s womb? If this is true will you ask NPCIL to withdraw their booklet, and make corrections to it?

2: Is it not true that it is this nuclear radiation which makes nuclear accidents far worse than any other kind of accidents? The Bhopal accident killed thousands of people. But today people still live in Bhopal nearby the Union Carbide plant. But after the Chernobyl accident in 1986, those who had to leave the city of Pripyat can never go back. A whole city is empty. I listened to your lecture in January this year. You said in your lecture that only a few people were killed in the Chernobyl accident. The Konkan Bachao Samiti experts told us that even today in about 4000 square kilometers around Chernobyl nobody can live due to nuclear radiation. Is that true Dr. Kakodkar? If it is why do you hide such facts in your lectures? 4000 square kilometers is half of Ratnagiri district. If Ratnagiri district has to be evacuated where will we go to live?

3: Is it true that around Chernobyl, even after 25 years, no agriculture is allowed in about 1 Lakh 25 thousand square kilometers? If this is true, why didn’t you mention this in your lecture? One and a quarter Lakh square kilometers is more than the total combined area of Kolhapur, Satara, Sangli, Pune, Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, Raigad and Thane districts. Dr. Kakodkar, if agriculture and fruit growing are destroyed in all these districts for hundreds of years, because of an accident like Chernobyl at Madban, what will happen to our beloved Maharashtra?

Kejriwal targets Swiss bank account holders in 4th expose

TNN | Nov 9, 2012, 01.34PM IST

Kejriwal targets Swiss bank account holders in 4th expose

See photo

NEW DELHI: Continuing their agenda of demolishing "holy cows" in politics and corporate world, India Against Corruption(IAC) activist Arvind Kejriwal on Friday addressed a press conference to expose the black money account holders in Swiss banks.

Kejriwal gave details of Swiss bank account holders which included top corporate honchos. The IAC activist said the government had details of 700 Swiss bank account holders in theHSBC Bank in Geneva.

He said his information was based on a list of 10 account holders in HSBC bank in Geneva that was passed on to him by a senior Congress leader that was later cross-checked by a team of his India Against Corruption (IAC) organisation.

"We got a CD - HSBC's Geneva branch has 700 accounts of Indian nationals. That list is available with the government with the amounts in the accounts in December 2006," Kejriwal said. He claimed the government was involved in the cover-up.

INDIAN POLITICAL SKIT

Sonia Gandhi,"Congress has taken effective measures to weed out corruption in the country. The way Congress and UPA have fought against corruption, no one has ever done before. The people against whom we had evidence we took action.

....... A loud applause by the congress workers and supporters.........

Non desript Indian," As far as I recall action was initiated against a couple of individuals belonging to one of the allies of UPA. With all the resources and investigation agencies at the beck and call of the government we should have succeeded in hauling a couple of thousand of those who have joined politics because it happens to be the best and most profitable business in India.

........ A hushed silence in the crowd.........

A fearless goof muttered naively," How do you think they are managing their government for all these years with a collection of diverse frogs of different hues? These resources are all used up in helping the UPA's continuing in power by keeping these groups on tenterhooks.

............... The silence continues............

Case Study: Zero Net Energy Building in India

WRITTEN BY ASHIM BOSE | 06 SEPTEMBER 2012

At the Net-Zero Energy Building (SOPL-NZEB) in Bhopal in central India, energy generated by a solar PV system installed by SunCarrier feeds the lighting and air-conditioning load for the building, while also charging the large capacityCellcube vanadium redox flow battery and energy management system. The Cellcube provides adequate power at nights and on days when the solar power generation is inadequate. The facility does not draw any power from the grid, nor does it depend upon the traditional diesel generators for its electrical needs.

Beginning with efficiency

The building with giant 248 metres square PV panels that track the movement of the sun has become a showplace for eco-responsible behaviour and sustainability.

This off-grid facility uses net-zero energy and has near-zero carbon emissions in part because it incorporates demand-side energy efficiency measures, including daylighting for high utilisation of natural lighting; LED lighting and occupancy monitoring sensors. The air conditioning system has an ozone friendly refrigerant and carbon dioxide monitoring sensor system with low noise inverters. It also features a water harvesting system, controlled water discharge toilets and sewage treatment with zero discharge, all of which ensure efficient usage of water. The furniture is also 95% recyclable.

The installation includes giant 248 metre-square PV panels that track the movement of the sun.  The system has an overall rating of 67 kWp, for a planned yield of over 130,000 kWh a year. Three Cellcube FB 10-100 batteries are connected, each with a maximum power rating of 15 kW, and a storage capacity of 100 kWh. And an SMA Multicluster Boxcompleted the configuration (see schematic below).

How global warming made Hurricane Sandy worse by Andrew Freedman

s officials begin the arduous task of pumping corrosive seawater out of New York City’s subway system and try to restore power to lower Manhattan, and residents of the New Jersey Shore begin to take stock of the destruction, experts and political leaders are asking what Hurricane Sandy had to do with climate change. After all, the storm struck a region that has been hit hard by several rare extreme weather events in recent years, from Hurricane Irene to “Snowtober.”

Photo of coastal flooding along the New Jersey shore, taken from a New Jersey Air National Guard Helicopter.

Credit: NJNG/Scott Anema.

Scientists cannot yet answer the specific question of whether climate change made Hurricane Sandy more likely to occur, since such studies, known as detection and attribution research, take many months to complete. What is already clear, however, is that climate change very likely made Sandy’s impacts worse than they otherwise would have been.

There are three different ways climate change might have influenced Sandy: through the effects of sea level rise; through abnormally warm sea surface temperatures; and possibly through an unusual weather pattern that some scientists think bore the fingerprint of rapidly disappearing Arctic sea ice.

If this were a criminal case, detectives would be treating global warming as a likely accomplice in the crime.

Warmer, Higher Seas

V K Singh may join Parliament gherao on sugarcane issue - Indian Express

Former Army Chief V K Singh on Friday took his protest against the central government a step further when he indicated he may join a canegrowers' planned gherao of Parliament on December four.

Appearing on a new platform to back Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan's (RKMS) demand for rejection of Rangarajan Committee report on freeing the sugar sector, he said the committee's recommendation on doing away with State Advisory Price (SAP) and cane reservation area will adversely affect the farmers of northern states.

Addressing a press conference, Singh and RKMS Convenor V M Singh released a letter they wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for rejecting the Rangarajan Committee report.

"In case the report is not rejected, canegrowers of northern states would gherao Parliament on December 4 as a protest against the said report," the letter said.

Asked whether he supports the call for a gherao of Parliament, the former Army Chief said, "I am endorsing a call which is in the interest of farmers."

Hurricane Sandy Uncovers Strength and Simplicity of Renewable Energy Systems

By Elisa Wood, Contributor
November 1, 2012   

Superstorm Sandy can't kill wind and solar.

 

Virginia, U.S.A. -- Wind and solar are relatively safe forms of energy, a feature that we tend to overlook until a disaster hits like the "superstorm" that disabled New York City's power grid this week.

Unlike fossil fuel plants, they require no combustible fuels to generate electricity.  And there is no danger that they will leak radiation as did the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant following last year’s tsunami in Japan.

Hence, the Northeast’s wind and solar farms evoked little public anxiety this week when Hurricane Sandy hit – unlike the nuclear and fossil fuel infrastructure. Safety officials kept a careful eye on the nuclear power plants and three were shut down in New Jersey and New York. And the smell of natural gas in any flooded areas drew quick attention from those who understood the danger.

These anxieties speak to a larger difference between renewables and conventional generation.  Specifically, wind and solar operate under simpler systems that are prone to fewer problems, say renewable energy advocates.

INDIAN POLITICAL SKIT

Non descript Indian," Why are our leaders married to the concept of energy security through nuclear energy when the developed nations seem to be moving to the world of renewable energy sources. Germany is phasing out its nuclear energy, England is investing heavily in wind and solar so much so renewables will exceed thermal and nuclear by 2020. USA has not put up any new nuclear power plant since 1980 and Japan has also decided to phase out nuclear energy."

A wise well informed friend quipped," Obama and Francois Hollande are sincere leaders of their countries and are doing what is in the  best interest of their countries. They are doing their best to improve upon the economic health of their countries by selling nuclear power technologies which are almost defunct, under obsolescence  and out of sync with 21st century concepts of energy security. Also the funds obtained from these sales  will be used for putting renewable energy on a strong footing and ensuring their global leadership for all times to come."
Non descript Indian," But why are Indian rulers buying these technologies?"
Government supporter." Our leaders are true global leaders and  believe in welfare and well being of global community on the whole. They cannot be solely guided by Indian interests. Also Indian contributions to maintaining the global leadership status of developed countries will be rewarded in due course of time with financial and technology help."

Earth is flat, nuclear power is safe

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Sonam Mittal

Sonam Mittal is a journalist and has been involved in studying the impact of environmental degradation on climate and social life. She works as an activist to fight for a clean and sustainable environment.

She can be reached at sonam.k.mittal@gmail.com

Article Courtesy: Daily Pioneer

How do we recreate humanity when we can sit through the total disregard of human rights in Koodankulam? All that the residents there want is a revisit of the national nuclear policies

Even though recent times have witnessed several scams surfacing in the country, allegations of the presence of ‘foreign hand’, and even the crucial international conference on biodiversity at the recently concluded 11th UN Conference of the Parties to the Convention of Biological Diversity in Hyderabad, the one issue that refuses to die and continues to grab media attention is Koodankulam.

Why? Because the violence at K00dankulam hasn’t stopped. It continues. But for how long will it do so?

Recreating history with Koodankulam

Kudankulam police station will remain etched in Indian history for being the only police station post-colonial rule to register over 55,000 cases for this protest, out of which 7,000 are charges for sedition. Ironically, even children have not been spared; nor people with disabilities. They have all been charged with “waging war against the State”. There are reports of houses being ransacked at odd hours in search of the ‘notorious’ anti-Government ‘rogue’ and the master-mind behind the protests in Kudankulam, SP Udaykumar. Villages wear a deserted look since people are too afraid to stay back in their own homes. They have preferred to camp in at the local church to escape  police atrocities.
Understanding sedition

Mahatma Gandhi once said that he was proud to be charged with sedition. Since the last decade, protesters at Kudankulam have invoked Gandhian methods of protest like satyagraha, hunger strikes and dharnas. These peaceful and non-violent protesters face arrest and oppression from state machinery when they choose to exercise their freedom of speech. Right to peaceful gathering has been abused by the Government, which on the contrary, should be respecting dissent and not thwarting it.

Koodankulam Could be Another Bhopal Disaster In Waiting: Noam Chomsky

COMMUNITY UPDATES

Internationally acclaimed academician Noam Chomsky of Massachusetts Institute of Technology of the United States has said that Koodankulam could be another Bhopal disaster in Waiting. In a solidarity letter to the struggling people he said `Nuclear energy is a very dangerous initiative, particularly in countries like India, which has had more than its share of industrial disasters,  Bhopal being the most famous.’  ` I would like to express my support for the courageous people’s movement protesting the opening of the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant.’said Noam Chomsky.

Avram Noam Chomsky is internationally famous linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, logician, historian, political critic and activist. He has worked as a professor  in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT. In addition to his work in linguistics, he has written on war, politics, mass media and a many other areas. Chomsky was cited more often than any other living scholar from 1980 to 1992 and he was voted the “world’s top public intellectual” in a 2005 poll. Described as the “father of modern linguistics, he is most well known for his book called `Manufacturing Consent’

`The support of Noam Chomsky is a major blessing to the fishing community of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, who are unfortunately the first victims of the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant,’ said T. Peter,Secretary, National Fish Workers’ Forum. `We hope more and more groups and individuals will flow now to support the struggle.’

`Chomsky is one of the most leading existing internationally renowned left intellectuals today. It is surprising that while such a great personality has expressed support to the Koodankulam struggle, the left in India is still confused about their stand on the hazards of nuclear energy,’ said Civic Chandran, activist writer. Chomsky’s response came as a part of the efforts of the anti-nuclear activists to campaign on Koodankulam issue through the net in a unique manner through a well known website calledwww.countercurrents.org  The site has been publishing posters using statements in support of the the Koodankulam struggle from well known  national and international personalities every day along with their photographs from October 11, onwards.

Mairead Maguire, the 1976 nobel peace prize winner and Irish peace activist also expressed her  solidarity to the koodankulam struggle. She said the struggle is an inspiration to the world. She also said “I offer my solidarity with the brave people of Koodankulam, as they nonviolently resist the Koodankulam nuclear power plant in their community. The courageous villagers-men and women- who are risking their lives do so to safeguard the lives of their children, the livelihood of all their fishermen,and their environment. We support you all, continue to be brave,

Technology: Using Technology to Create Smart Cities and Smart Governments

By Dick Weisinger, on October 29th, 2012

New technology, particularly Big Data and the cloud are transforming how government works.  And changes aren’t limited exclusively to  federal and state governments.  City governments now see technology as an opportunity to become more efficient and to improve the quality of life that they can offer their residents.  The spending by cities on technology is part of a movement that is being called ‘Smart Government’.

City governments too are expected to spend upwards of $1.4 billion annually on ’smart government’ initiatives by 2017.  Pike Research, a part of Navigant’s Energy Practice, estimates that cumulatively cities will spend $4.8 billion on smart government technologies between 2011 and 2017.

Eric Woods, research director at Pike Research said that “Cloud-based computing, in particular, offers new options for cities that reduces capital expenditure, provides access to new skills and reduces time-to-deployment of new solutions. Cloud-based systems also enable cities to take advantage of the huge amounts of operational data they collect to improve efficiency and develop new services.”

The Pike Research report cites examples worldwide of cities that are executing on plans for building smart government.  New York City and Manchester are building digital commerce tools.  Denver, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam are mentioned for their efforts in innovating and developing municipal clean tech programs.   Barcelona and Friedrichshafen have high technology programs in place.  Singapore and Songdo are investing in technology to remain regional trading hubs.