Indian Dream:Our Chance To Become World Leaders | INDIAN DREAMS Vs REALITY

For long India has been the country of people who have been denied and deprived of prosperity and modern day comforts of life. When we take into account any of the prosperity indices like per capita earnings, per capita consumption of steel, electricity, cement, milk, cloth or for that matter any other parameter, we are no where near even to post world war II figures of advanced nations. This huge gap and magnitude of increase that is required to fulfill the dreams of one billion people is a God sent opportunity to make this country technology leader in many fields. Let us not waste this opportunity by bringing in prosperity through a route which has evolved in this world because of the then limitations in the field of science and technology and material development.

Electricity generation and connected technologies should be topmost priority as its consumption index is the mother of all other economic development indices and we have to increase its production manifold to catch up with the western world. Surprisingly our politicians and technologists both have chosen a path where we will all the time be following the developed nations and be dependent on them. It is not that developed nations do not understand that ultimate answer lies in the Renewable Sources of Energy. These nations themselves will also ultimately  switch over to these sources when their present power plants and plant manufacturing technologies become obsolete and they have squeezed full value by selling them to nations like India. Till such time the use of renewable energy will be kept at exorbitant price. It is for us to seize this opportunity and make power from these sources at prices comparable with power from present day conventional sources through research, technology innovation and scale of production. We should not forget that even with our meagre per capita consumption of electricity we are fifth largest producer in world. Therefore our targeted yearly additions in power production are far more than the yearly obsolescence of American Plants. Since they have all the technologies for setting up of conventional and nuclear power plants available in house they will not be interested in large scale spending on researches in the fields of utilizing renewable energy sources at present.

INDIA'S ENERGY SECURITY : RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES | INDIAN DREAMS Vs REALITY

It was heartening to note that Indian government has finally seen  the reality of clean green energy and this was emphasized by none other than the Indian premier. While speaking at the fourth clean energy ministerial Indian Prime Minister pitches for subsidy to energize clean energy in the context of his opinion on the cost aspects of  power from new renewable energy sources in comparison to conventional fuel based energy sources. His assertions derive strength from the feed back from his experts which he has faithfully echoed . But as the head of the government of one billion plus and a visionary trying to catapult Indian march to prosperity he must understand that all scientific and technology experts also resist change just as any normal human being and additionally they tend to defend their expertise and technology for their own benefit and the benefit of their large following of scientists and technologists. Additionally he should have drawn his own conclusions in the light of the fact that so many global leaders and visionaries have embraced the renewable energy sources in a big way for ultimate energy security of their respective countries.

India is uniquely placed in this quest of energy security as it doesn't have to think that earlier investments will go down the drain as it has barely started its march towards this goal and our yearly addition requirements are much more than the replacement requirements of the developed world. Energy security through renewables is the only way ahead if India has to keep its date with the the great Indian dream of becoming world leaders.

IS INDIA PROGRESSING OR REGRESSING ? | INDIAN DREAMS Vs REALITY

Day in and day out Indian government reels out statistical data on the growth of GDP, per capita income and the consumption of steel, cement, electricity etc., the various parameters of growth of a country. This data brings about the rosy side of government efforts. Some people in the country are satisfied with this pace of growth whereas to a vast majority these are only some numbers and has not made any material difference to their quality of life and the path to poverty alleviation.

The two important parameters, namely the reservations and subsidies are sharp pointers to the failure of India's planning policy.

• Reservations and Quotas: In 1950, the country started with the  reservation policy wherein schedule castes and schedule tribes were given a reservation of 15 % and 7% respectively on the basis of social and economic status. After sixty years, instead of these quotas coming down, the country has reservations to the tune of 50% and some places even much more by additions from newer classes. In fact more population groups are clamoring for additional quotas for themselves. Either the number of people that falls in the quota criterion has risen or it is the boon of vote bank politics. Whatever may be the fact, the answer to ' Is India progressing or regressing ' is clear to any unbiased citizen of the country.
• Subsidies: If India were progressing the number of people in need of subsidies for food, fuel as also the amount spent on doling out these subsidies should have come down whereas the reality is just the converse of this.

EU seeks nuclear power disaster insurance plan

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BRUSSELS -- The European Commission's energy chief says the bloc's executive arm will present a proposal on mandatory disaster insurance for nuclear power plants in coming weeks.

Guenther Oettinger said Tuesday the proposal should be one of the first items on the European Parliament's agenda following elections in May. He declined to elaborate.

The world's nuclear power plants have hardly any coverage. Governments implicitly guarantee they'll pay for the bulk of a disaster.

In several EU nations, required insurance only covers liabilities of a few hundred million dollars, while a worst-case scenario accident is estimated to cost up to hundreds of billions.

In the U.S., the necessary insurance for nuclear operators is capped at just $375 million per plant, with further claims funded by utilities up to a maximum of $12.6 billion.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/11/05/3732827/eu-seeks-nuclear-power-disaster.html#storylink=cpy

Tepco “Decontamination cost is beyond the responsibility of just a company”

Tepco “Decontamination cost is beyond the responsibility of just a company”

Ralph Nader: Dangers of Nuclear Power in New York

http://www.youtube.com/v/ik2eTlh3bHk?autohide=1&version=3&attribution_tag=EjGp8cJKxa3srTqYBp81Uw&autoplay=1&feature=share&showinfo=1&autohide=1

Asia Report: Four Reasons Why Solar Can Unseat Coal in India This Decade

Renewable Energy World Editors 
October 21, 2013  

New Hampshire, USA -- Coal contributes 60 percent to India's power mix today; solar is less than 1 percent. But what was a factor-of-seven difference between the cost of coal and solar two years ago shrank this summer to just a 1.8x gap. Can solar catch up within the next ten years?

In 2011 big coal plants were signing PPAs with tariffs for INR 2.8/kWh while solar was as high as 18/kWh. Now large grid-connected solar can be had at INR 7/kWh, while imported coal, on the rise to help offset a ~10 percent power deficit (baseload) exacerbated by rapidly rising power demand, is pushing INR 4/kWh without taking into account subsidies or cost of externalities. And that doesn't begin to address the challenges of grid-connecting villages, much less the hundreds of millions of citizens who remain off-grid.

The answer to this lies in domestic solar power, both centralized and distributed, built relatively fast at any size and requiring less than 1 percent of the nation's land. Four factors have to come into play, though, for solar to truly supplant coal in India in the next decade, according to Tobias Engelmeier, managing director at Bridge to India:

- Looking at longer-term costs. Getting solar costs down to INR 5/kWh in the next couple of years, and lower beyond that, will require improved materials, production, and efficiencies, but long-term solar costs are heading downward. Costs of non-replenishing fossil fuels including coal, meanwhile, will increasingly depend on foreign supply and demand markets.

- Costs of infrastructure and grid management. As an infirm power source, solar's higher incorporation will require extra investments in a number of areas from storage to demand response. On the other hand, adding more coal plants and imports will mean more infrastructures in mining and a supply chain for imports. It's still unclear how those all will compare.

Greenpeace lays foundation of micro-grid project in Bihar village

PATNA: Greenpeace India on Saturday laid the foundation for its revolutionary rural electrification micro-grid project at the Dharnai Village in Jahanabad district of Bihar. The model for this project will be based on an innovative smart solar based technology.

Earlier on September 4, 2013, Greenpeace had announced the launch of this project Co-implemented with Centre for Environment and Energy Development, the micro grid will involve about 100 kilowatts of solar panels that will supply affordable, sustainable and round the clock electricity to 350 households in Dharnai.

The micro grid, targeted to become operational by early next year, is being installed to showcase that the real solution for rural electrification lies in decentralized renewable energy.

Present at the event and laying the foundation stone for the event DM of Jehanabad Md Sohail, said, "This is the kind of business model & infrastructure where future of energy investment lies which will not only facilitate people's access to modern energy resources but also in building infrastructure owned and controlled by people".

BREDA director Dayanidhan Pandey said, "This decentralized energy delivery system is not just about a couple of lights and a fan for a few hours. It will be a game changer for rural electrification in Biharcatering to the energy ambitions of the people and galvanizing the rural economy". 

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INDIAN DREAMS Vs REALITY: ENERGY SECURITY: THE MAGIC OF SOLAR ENERGY FOR CHANDIGARH.
Chandigarh with its controlled and uniform skyline and vast spaces of parks is potentially one of the most suitable cities to realize its energy security through the magic of solar energy. Recently the government of India has proposed to develop it as a "Solar City". Based on the analysis of potential for demand side measures along with that of supply side augmentation through renewable energy technologies, the following targets are proposed for Chandigarh in order to develop it as a “Solar City”. The concept of Solar Cities  is being taken up all over our globe as humanity is aware of deleterious effects of global warming and fast depletion of fossil fuels. The government of India has also come up with a plan to develop 60 solar cities, Chandigarh being one of them. Looking at the potential of solar energy in a planned city like Chandigarh the targets set are minuscule and a lot more can be done and achieved in this endeavor. The targets set in the master plan are mentioned in the table below.

INDIAN DREAMS Vs REALITY: NEW MANTRA OF INDIAN POLITICS: 

The Indian general elections are scheduled for April- May 2014 and as usual all political parties are working overtime on their strategies to fool the voter to grab power for another five years to make merry at the cost of public exchequer and continue with their loot of the national wealth unabashedly. All leaders are well aware of the public disenchantment and disgust over the way this country has been ruled for the last sixty plus years and the manipulations of all these leaders in sucking the blood of  anemic/bloodless masses.

Earlier elections were fought and won on the capacity and capability of the leaders to malign their opponents, citing dangers to secularism,democracy, constitution and even the existence of the nation. To day it appears that these leaders have developed a realization that such rhetoric is not going to work 

It all started with Indian National Congress when they put all bad governance, failure on economic front including high inflation and failure to rein in corruption and black money on the government of the day. All high rhetoric people centric measures like Right to Information (RTI), Right to Education, Right to Food and National Rural Employment Guarantee Act ( The intentions and efficacy of these notwithstanding ) were attributed to the party/organisation or in short to Sonia Gandhi / Rahul Gandhi combine. To day Mulayam Singh Yadav, supremo of Samajwadi party put up a similar plea wherein he squarely put blame and failures on the party and made a desperate plea for not getting punished for the misdeeds/follies of his party's government in the state. Similarly Bhartiya Janta Party is doing the mockery of dumping some of the big names without doing anything worthwhile to set their house in perfect order. It is a known fact that no leader in this country has vanished into oblivion because of the misdeeds of bad governance, criminal activity or economic offence.

After Fukushima Disaster, Advocates Argue Only Safe Nuclear Power Is None At All

Posted: 10/10/2013

NEW YORK -- What lessons should Americans learn from the continuing disaster surrounding the crippled Fukushima nuclear facility in Japan? A panel of experts, diplomats and activists came together Tuesday to argue their case for an end to the controversial energy source, or improved safety measures at the very least, and to express their concerns about potential causes for a similar meltdown stateside.

The shuttered Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has been an ongoing source ofradioactive leaks since March 2011, when the region was hit with an 8.9-magnitude earthquake and a resultant tsunami. Nuclear regulators formally announcedwidespread leakage this August, and officials have sharply criticized the apparent months-long delay in response. TEPCO, the energy company that operates the reactor, has asked for international assistance to control the spills after announcing plans to build a subterranean ice wall to contain contaminated water. Meanwhile, the leaks persist.

Tuesday's event, titled "The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident: Ongoing Lessons," was organized by the Samuel Lawrence Foundation, an anti-nuclear nonprofit based in California. Speakers included former Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, activist Ralph Nader and Gregory Jaczko, the former head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

INDIAN DREAMS Vs REALITY: ROOFTOP SOLAR THE PANACEA FOR ALL ENERGY PROBLEMS ...: Rooftop solar has the potential of growing into the biggest industry in the world and can be termed as the idea of the megaannum , a harbi...

AT LAST LALU PRASAD CONVICTED IN FODDER SCAM CASE

It was quite heartening to learn that Lalu Prasad along with 44 others has been convicted in the fodder scam case. The case has been hanging in the Indian courts for the last 17 years and the value of scam was of the order of 900 crores. It is one of those rare cases where a political leader of such pan India standing has been convicted and thanks to the supreme court order of 10th July 2013 he not only ceases to be a member of parliament from today onward, he stands disqualified for fighting next elections.

So far so good but courtesy the slow Indian judicial system, the man enjoyed all the perks of being an MP including Z+ security and a long stint as a cabinet minister of the union of India. The ramifications of having a man of doubtful integrity as a senior lawmaker of the country speaks very badly about the country. The national exchequer has spent hundreds of crores on him during this period.

The following questions need be answered by those managing the governance and rule in the country because of the inherent snail's pace of the judicial system.

• How the nation proposes to get back 900 crores involved in the scam.
• How the nation condones whatever was spent on him from the exchequer because law process could not be made faster.

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India To Build World’s Largest Solar Power Plant In Rajasthan

The Indian government will set up the world’s largest solar power plant in its northwestern state of Rajasthan, an official statement said on Friday, and the venture is expected to significantly reduce solar power taxes in the country.

The project, known as the "Ultra-Mega Green Solar Power Project," will have a total power generation capacity of 4,000 megawatts, which is more than double the total solar power generation capacity in India.

“This will be the largest solar-based power project in the world. Being the first project of this scale … this project is expected to set a trend for large-scale solar power development in the world," a government statement said.

The project will be spread across 23,000 acres of land belonging to the state-run Sambhar Salts Ltd, near the Sambhar Lake, which is about 47 miles away from Jaipur, Rajasthan’s capital city. The first phase of the project, which will be for 1,000 megawatt capacity, is expected to be completed in three years and will be run by a joint venture of five state-run utilities, including BHEL, Power Grid Corporation of India and Solar Energy Corporation of India.

"Based on the experience gained during implementation of the first phase of the project, the remaining capacity would be implemented through a variety of models," the statement said. 

The plant, when fully operational, will generate 6,000 million units of electricity a year, and it is expected to bring down the solar power tariffs in the country.

India, which is facing a severe power shortage, has been promoting solar and wind energy to meet its increasing energy needs. Solar power currently contributes less than 1 percent to India’s energy mix, which is heavily dependent on coal and hydro power plants. However, the government aims to increase the current capacity of 1,700 megawatts of solar power to 20,000 megawatts of solar energy by 2020, through its ambitious project, t

WHAT AILS INDIA? | INDIAN DREAMS Vs REALITY

WHAT AILS INDIA? | INDIAN DREAMS Vs REALITY

The whole world recognises the potential of India to become a global economic superpower in the next few decades 

• in the light of availability of global opportunities arising out of the problems being faced by today's economic giants because of 

1. Unsuitable demography
2. Improper mix of human resource
3. Extremely high wage structure not in sync with the commercial aspects of all industrial activity.
4. Over spending on social security and welfare schemes
5. Need to replace current nearly obsolescent technologies with newer revolutionary technologies in the fields of energy security, logistics and transport incurring huge replacement costs. 
6. And above all, depletion of conventional natural resource reserves which have been the strength of twentieth century industrial revolution.

India is most favorably placed as far the demography, human resource and wage structure are concerned. The other irritants can be taken care of with a judicious proportioning of expenditure on welfare schemes and industrial productivity. But strangely enough no big results are either forth coming or appear to be forthcoming in future. Aptly one is forced into asking, ' What ails India' and it is not very hard to find out the answer to this. The following come to one's mind if you try to dwell on this subject.

The Naked Truth About Nuclear Accident Insurance

By Miles Benson

MAY 8, 2013, 12:00 PM

Going without insurance is described as "going naked" in insurance industry lingo. Going without insurance for the worst hazards in the nuclear power industry is business as usual.

One need not look back very far to see the problem. In March 2011, the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster, triggered by an earthquake followed by a tsunami that overwhelmed all of Japan's safeguards, melted down three reactors, displaced 160,000 people and caused an estimated $250 billion in damages and other still-unfolding economic consequences.

Today, in the United States, we have 104 operating nuclear plants producing electricity. The owners, operators, and government regulators who oversee them say an event like Fukushima will not happen here. And even if it did, they insist, there is enough liability insurance in place to cover the damages. The actual amount of that insurance coverage: just $12.6 billion.

You don't need an advanced degree in calculus or risk analysis to see that something doesn't add up, and to start feeling a bit...naked. But when it comes to nuclear insurance, naked is the fashion designed for the American public.

A catastrophic accident in the US could cost way more than $12.6 billion. A worst-case scenario study in 1997 by the Brookhaven National Laboratory estimated that a major accident could cost $566 billion in damages and cause 143,000 possible deaths. Another such study, by Sandia National Laboratories in 1982, calculated the possible costs at $314 billion. Adjusted for inflation, that would put both estimates close to the trillion dollar range today. So $12.6 billion wouldn't cover much.

After Fukushima, which was only the second worst such accident behind the 1986 Chernobyl meltdown in the former Soviet Union, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and its staff scrambled to reappraise the adequacy of their own safety regimens for nuclear power plants. And they re-examined the sufficiency of the limited insurance available to indemnify the American people against property damage, loss of life and other economic consequences of nuclear accidents. Then the NRC hastened to publish the "lessons learned" from the Japanese catastrophe to show they were on top of things. Though the previously existing US system had been described as virtually fail-safe, federal regulators found that improvements were possible after all and ordered that they be made.  

Adelaide creates world’s first solar-powered public transport system

Many local communities are looking at ways that they can incorporate green technology into their city’s municipal infrastructure. One impressive success story is the Tindo electric bus in Adelaide. Although many cities have experimented with using hybrid or electric technology in their public transport systems, this vehicle is the world’s first 100% solar-powered electric bus; and not only is it powered by the sun, but this service is also offered free of charge.

Named after an Aboriginal word for “sun”, the Tindo was designed to be part of the Adelaide Connector Bus service, a free service run by the City Council. What makes the bus unique from other solar-powered vehicles is that there aren’t any solar panels physically on the vehicle. Instead, the car received electric power from solar panels located on the city’s central bus station.

These provide enough energy to allow the bus to run freely from the city centre and the North Adelaide, and will also offer air conditioning and WiFi to its 40 passengers.

Solar power and wind energy now cheaper than coal power in US

By CleanTechnica on 20 September 2013

NRDC, via Clean Technica

Washington — It’s less costly to get electricity from wind turbines and solar panels than coal-fired power plants when climate change costs and other health impacts are factored in, according to a new study published in the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences.

In fact—using the official U.S. government estimates of health and environmental costs from burning fossil fuels—the study shows it’s cheaper to replace a typical existing coal-fired power plant with a wind turbine than to keep the old plant running. And new electricity generation from wind could be more economically efficient than natural gas.

The findings show the nation can cut carbon pollution from power plants in a cost-effective way, by replacing coal-fired generation with cleaner options like wind, solar, and natural gas.

“Burning coal is a very costly way to make electricity. There are more efficient and sustainable ways to get power,” said Dr. Laurie Johnson, chief economist in the Climate and Clean Air Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “We can reduce health and climate change costs while reducing the dangerous carbon pollution driving global warming.”

Johnson co-authored the study, “The Social Cost of Carbon: Implications for Modernizing our Electricity System,” with Chris Hope of the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge; and Starla Yeh in NRDC’s Center for Market Innovation. Power plants are the nation’s single largest source of such pollution, accounting for 40 percent of our national carbon footprint.

INDIAN DREAMS Vs REALITY: NUCLEAR LIABILITY DILUTION : IS INDIA'S RULING POL...: .The recent news of India further diluting the as it is insufficient and meaningless liability clause has come as a shocker to all the well meaning citizenry of this country. The basic  idea of meeting the energy security of any country in the 21st century through nuclear route is an idea which is near obsolescence and totally out of sync with the latest concepts. The Indian government at the time of declaring nuclear power as the only viable option for country's energy security committed an act of great folly. The coming generations will not forgive these leaders on two counts, firstly giving in to nuclear power generation when nuclear fuels are a curse on humanity and secondly denying India the god sent opportunity to become global leader through total reliance and super thrust on renewable energy.

INDIAN DREAMS Vs REALITY: FIVE DEFICITS : THE BANE OF INDIAN ECONOMY AND GRO...: The potential of Indian growth story and chance of India to become a global economic superpower has been a hot topic with the economists and analysts all over this globe. The forty year opportunity window is at India's doorsteps just waiting to be grabbed for fulfilling the dreams and aspirations of 1 billion plus Indians. This great opportunity window exists simply on the back of huge demographic advantage of cheap skilled manpower both in the technical and managerial cadres and the world economies looking for new economic order in the face of diminishing old order energy resources and global warming associated with them.
The demographic advantage of today will become a major disadvantage after a few decades when the bulk of the population becomes old. After all no sanity can deny the fact that ultimately for about 35-40 years of productive life, the same individual is going to be a burden on the national resources for next 25-30 years. The number of aged individuals and non productive years of these aged individuals will keep on increasing as a nation marches on road to prosperity. The problems of developed and industrialized economies mainly emanated from this crude reality of life. Whereas these countries fully utilized the opportunity window that came their way and grew old after becoming rich, it looks quite likely that India may grow old before becoming rich and prosperous unless and until some wisdom prevails on Indian polity and they start addressing the five deficits, the bane of Indian economy and growth story at the earliest in a sincere and earnest manner. If the polity keeps harping on their  vote bank politics with subsidies, doles and freebies  for another decade or so, India would have missed this golden opportunity and all because the nation could not produce leaders who could keep their baser instincts of lust for power and money away while serving/governing the nation.

INDIAN DREAMS Vs REALITY: WHO WILL STEM THIS ROT???: 

The Indian national elections to the 16th Lok Sabha are still about nine months away and all political parties are busy fooling the Indian voter and maligning each other in the murkiest of the manner. The well meaning honest Indian is witnessing  the high voltage drama going on everyday wherein the biggest howlers disguised as spokespersons are at their worst best and keep the nation amused by their daily quota of prowess of gift of the gab with half lies and no truth whatsoever. The hapless common man is all the more helpless as he fully knows that he has no choice of an honest government, and with the choices available his aspirations will just meet the fate 'out of the frying pan into the fire'. All such people would like to vote for the best man but sadly enough either this best man is not a candidate or is not allowed to be a candidate by the system of goons and buffoons ruling/ruining India.

The country which boasts of a galaxy of economists and a committed  polity ( committed to what? Your guess is as good as mine ) is passing through one of the worst economic crisis and the leaders of the advanced western countries of our globe are thoroughly enjoying the hara kiri acts of the Indian government towards destroying the Indian dream and chance to become world leaders. Isn't it really ironic that instead of present advanced countries and economic superpowers working for maintaining their coveted supremacy and global leadership, it is the Indian polity that is helping them all out by not doing anything to meet the challenges before India, the potential superpower of the 21st century. 

INDIAN DREAMS Vs REALITY: INDIAN REFORMS OR SHORT CUT TO DISASTER: ..Indian population of one billion plus had seen high hopes of an end to their woes and miseries in the hands of the trio of highly acclaimed economists but all their hopes and aspirations seem to have bitten the dust because they have miserably failed to put their knowledge to its best use. The polity has all along been thriving on hollow promises, high sounding slogans and true to its basic baser instinct of fooling citizenry at large and lust for power, UPA II has worked hard to manipulate the two path breaking reforms (in their words), namely the food security bill and the land acquisition bill.

It is not that the Indian government on the whole and these three musketeers in particular do not understand the total implications of their actions on the health of the economy and deterioration of the psyche of human resource of India. But their lust of power pushes them to the dictum of everything is fair in love and war, the war to grab power and dictates them to resort to anything and everything that can fetch votes, not withstanding its negative impact on the nation.

It is really sad that total Indian polity has failed to take the food security bill in the correct perspective and all politicians in the country wanted to excel each other in blowing away public exchequer in the most undesirable and inefficient manner. They fail to realize that the country's resources are limited but these vote banks are quite capable of blackmailing the polity into submission knowing its need to ensure votes for its mere existence.

Much has been said about land acquisition bill and that it will have far reaching effect on the fortune of our farmers. A few points any learned politician of the country will like to answer.

WE ARE ALL TAINTED, WE WON'T ALLOW OUR LIFELINE TO BE CUT

United we stand, divided we fall. The Indian polity remembers this saying only when their sole life line to existence in politics i.e. corruption and corrupt practices is endangered.The country had a glimmer of hope till such time the politicians were managing to have their will through deft manipulations on the floor of the house as was done in the case of Lok Pal Bill, forced on them by strong public and media pressure to do something to touch their most valued and cherished right, the  right to corruption and corrupt practices. The shameless polity couldn't care less for even Indian polity being branded as  an insincere polity 

As if not letting anything against corruption  happen was not enough, these guys have been emboldened even to negate the rulings/orders of the supreme court of India as was done when Rajya Sabha bypassed supreme court on convicted politicians. These are extremely dangerous trends because somewhere in the back of their mind that they are supreme, above any constitutional authority of the land. These parliamentarians who according to the constitution of India are the servants of people and they acknowledge and repeat the same thing umpteen times when they go asking for votes during elections. Below are reproduced their concerns against the supreme court order, the concerns of two legal luminaries of the country who are behaving worse than any practicing advocate, who is  wedded only to the loyalty to his client, his paymaster. For him ethics, truth, honesty, country etc do not exist. Are they not aware of the number of tainted legislators, the figure is as high as about 40% and still one man sees something wrong with the courts while the other sees a risk to democracy. Their intellect and the combined intellect of the house could not find ways and means so that at least legislature gets rid of such tainted persons.

These two noble men belong to Delhi, live in Delhi, the capital of bribery, graft, tax evasion and black money generation and consumption and yet have failed to see and recognize the demon of corruption and black money. Is the country to understand that one becomes blind to corruption and corrupt practices the moment one becomes a legislator.It appears to be so, perhaps because politics is corruption and corruption is politics.
God bless India, for what irks India's politicians is any thing that can contribute to the nation's fight against corruption and corrupt practices.

INDIAN DREAMS Vs REALITY: FOOD SECURITY BILL IN CORRECT PERSPECTIVE:

Food security bill is the latest burning issue of Indian politics and seems to highlight the compulsions of the polity. There is no denying the fact that food security is the first basic big element in the chain of value addition in the earning ability of an individual, his health and India's march towards poverty alleviation. Food subsidy bill talks in terms of providing food to 50% of urban India (377 million) and 75% of rural India ( 833 million) at highly subsidised rates at a whopping cost of Rs 1,30,000 crore to the exchequer. Add to this the cost of pilferage, grain rotting and logistics inefficiencies, an estimated amount of Rs 60,000 -70,000 crore. A cost of about Rs 2,00,000 crore for meeting the basic food requirements of 800 million of Indian citizens after 66 years of rule by politicians totally dedicated to the cause of the common man. A matter to be proud of ???? Still let the country grant them credit for at least imbibing the motto 'BETTER LATE THAN NEVER'. ( Excerpts from http://veekay-indiandreamsvsreality.blogspot.in/2013/08/wrong-economics-or-wrong-intentions.html )

There are a few basic questions that any well meaning citizen of this country fails to understand.

India's Untold Story: Solar and Wind Projects Create Jobs and Clean Energy | Anjali Jaiswal's Blog | Switchboard, from NRDC

As India celebrates its 67th Independence Day this week, the country can also celebrate its clean energy opportunities as solar, wind and other renewable energy projects expand throughout India. This week, the Indian government announced a $7.9 billion investment to double its transmission capacity – designed to increase access to power from wind and solar projects. For example, India’s installed solar energy has jumped from a mere 17 megawatts in 2010, when India’s National Solar Mission was announced, to over 1.7 gigawatts today. Not only do these clean energy projects increase India’s energy supply, they also create much needed jobs.

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ENERGY SECURITY NEWS, VIEWS & OPINIONS: DailyNews Online Edition - Renewable energies boos...: DailyNews Online Edition - Renewable energies boost rural electrification drive

WHAT IRKS INDIA'S POLITICIANS

While the word corruption irks the common man because it is the biggest impediment in his march towards end of poverty and miseries, the same word corruption irks the Indian politicians because it is the sole lifeline to their ability to earn a livelihood, to win elections, to come to power and to retain power.The political class as a whole takes a very strong exception when such comparisons are made but do not support any measure that could control corruption even in a small manner.

For achieving success in their lofty dubious goal of not allowing any controls on the demon of corruption, the evergreen goose that lays golden eggs for them, they sing the song of danger to democracy, danger to constitution, danger to principles of jurisprudence in complete harmony and unison. They have the power at their beck and call  to subvert and negate small actions by odd bold bureaucrats to rein in individual cases of corruption, a system under their thumb to neutralize bigger scams and legislative powers to annihilate even the observations/ rulings of judiciary.

And all this in the name of governance and policy making. Following actions and utterances of the polity during the last two years go a long way in showing the glaring differences in the perception of corruption mitigation of a common man and that of the rulers.

• Handling of Lok Pal Bill : The society wants it. All politicians want it as a public posture but nobody wants it in actual. In fact no body can deny the fact that An insincere polity is the crude Indian reality and it will never its own hands with any of its actions.
• Political parties under the Right to Information Act ( RTI ). The national government and the congress has been boasting for bringing in RTI but when Central Information Commission brought political parties under the ambit of this act, the same party along with all others has introduced a bill in Lok Sabha to keep political parties out of the purview of RTI act. Divided on everything else, political parties unite against RTI act as corruption and corrupt practices are their fundamental right.

• Supreme court directions on decriminalisation of poltics
• Supreme court directions to poll panel to act against election time freebies
• Giving autonomy to Central Bureau of Investigation ( CBI ), the caged parrot speaking in its master's voice.
• Politicians do not want Comptroller and Auditor General ( CAG ) to keep a check on their dubious deeds,so much so that most of them say that CAG has no right to challenge government policies  even though they may be deleterious to the national interest and bordering on the realm of corruption and corrupt practices.

INDIAN DREAMS Vs REALITY: SOLAR ENERGY: BEST BET FOR INCLUSIVE GROWTH: The Indian government's thrust on inclusive growth is laudable and it is well known that growth, prosperity, healthcare, education and...

Solar Energy: How Close is an “Off the Grid” Reality?

Basic laws of Supply and Demand dictate that as global demand for energy continues to rise, the price of energy will rise as well.  These expected energy price increases, along with environmental and security concerns, have led to an explosion in the renewable energy industries, especially at the individual consumer level.

Solar is by far the most common renewable energy technology at the individual consumer level.  The main drawback to solar is its relative lack of reliability, for instance on days that are cloudy or night time (though interestingly, supermoons can contribute small amounts of solar energy).  As energy costs rise, so does financial incentive to discover efficient methods of storage for solar energy.

Great strides have been made toward creating and improving grid-scale storage technology, including reverse water pumps, chemical energy storage and industrial sized ion batteries.  However, production of individual consumer scale storage seems to be lagging.

INDIAN DREAMS Vs REALITY: CORRUPTION, THE HARBINGER OF PROSPERITY FOR CHOSEN...: Corruption is the sole lifeline of existence of Indian polity. It governs their ability to earn a livelihood, their ability to win electio...

HEARD ON THE STREET

Throw away your principles, values, virtues and imbibe all the baser instincts of life to give a go to all kind of lusts and be successful in all walks of life.

We, the people of India elect you to legislature to be our masters, to rule us, to have access to all the luxuries of life at our expense and in return give us all miseries.

A politician was once asked by a friend as to which profession he will choose for his academically brilliant son. Pat came the reply,' A good job in a multinational after doing an MBA'. 'Why not Indian civil service for him', Quipped his friend. 'No, I would not like him to be at the mercy of Indian polity, a vast majority of whom has no respect for any professional excellence, any human virtue or even a human being who does not subscribe to the principle of  'you scratch my back I will scratch yours'.

Of late a question on the supremacy of democracy vs bureaucracy is being raked up by certain politicians. One fails to understand as to what is the bone of contention. To any true Indian whosoever talks and performs in the national interest is supreme. Loyalty to the nation is the first and last expectation from all citizens of the country and different organs of state machinery have been created in the constitution to ensure that national interest is supreme. And each and every member of the machinery is supreme at his own place. When will the powerful individuals, power centres and lobbies understand this? 

MERA BHARAT MAHAAN

UP Welfare minister Azam Khan," Mines are open to loot in the state and everyone who can loot is free to do so". Utterly nationalistic!!!!!!!!

Another SP leader, Narendra Bhatti has lashed out at the suspended SDM saying it's the Chief Minister's prerogative/right to transfer/suspend officials to suit their whims and fancies. After all it is a crime to be honest in Mera Bharat Mahaan.

Nitesh Rane,"Those Gujratis who sing praises of Modi's development model should leave Mumbai and go back to Gujerat" What about 25 million Maharashtrian BJP supporters who like Modi and his model? Where do they go????

Germany: 100% renewable energy and beyond

By CleanTechnica on 8 July 2013

While many countries still discuss whether or not a 100% renewable energy system – or “just” a 100% renewable electricity supply – is even theoretically possible, Germans seem no longer bothered by such unscientific doubts. To make matters “worse,” some of them (including myself) are even convinced that a transition to a 100% renewable energy system can and should be accomplished within only a few decades’ time.Cleantechnica

Some people might find this different perception of the problems we face to overcome the energy crisis of the 21^st century so puzzling that they would rather choose to believe that the Germans have simply gone mad. Luckily, nothing could be further from the truth, and I’ve got a few nice examples that might explain the German mindset.

Think Big In Small Pieces

The German push towards a renewable future is often portrayed through the tunnel vision of the author’s worldview and the common themes of the political debates in her or his home country. Quite often, this kind of quality journalism turns a “minimum price law based on technology costs – in combination with guaranteed market access for all investors”(Feed in Tariff) into “generous, (tax-funded) subsidies”. Another popular myth among so called “professional journalists” is that what is happening in Germany is due to on some kind of “big government” program. Obviously, this domestic narrative-driven reporting is not very interested in looking at important details that could explain the big picture.

One of the most important details being missed by most of those common limited observations is the fact that the renewable energy success of the last decade was mainly driven by some pioneering regions, counties, and municipalities. Those local communities moved forward with conviction, while many others have remained dormant willingly or hindered by state governments that blocked investments by passing arbitrary anti-renewable regulations in favor of conventional power companies.

Luckily, some state elections and the spread of knowledge about the positive effects of renewable energy deployment for local economies have removed a lot of the brake blocks of the past. So, what can be accomplished within a decade if local initiatives get the opportunity to shape their energy future without obstruction?

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Nuclear power: Myths about low cost, safety and emission

 

Mathew Thomas

Former president Dr Abdul Kalam’s effort at mollifying the Kundamkulam protesters has not succeeded.

TV debates did not shed light on cheapness, emissions and safety of nuclear power plants. Are the efforts to push for nuclear power a reflection of ignorance? In the 2005 Energy Bill, the US Congress allocated $ 13 billion in subsidies to revive the moribund nuclear power industry. It did not succeed. Why was USA interested in the 123 deal? Public debates on the nuclear power option are needed.

That India signed the Kundankulam agreement with Soviet Union just a year after Chernobyl, speaks volumes both of the cavalier foolhardiness of Indian signatories and the delusional power of nuclear lobby. Fukushima has re-focussed attention on nuclear plants. Several claims about nuclear power should be examined, to avoid a ‘Fukushima’ here. Nuclear reactors are expensive, complex and inefficient burners; they are a sophisticated, yet hazardous, if silly, way to boil water to produce electricity. They consume and pollute huge quantities of water.

The nuclear lobby propagates the myths of cheap and clean power. Now disgraced Enron sponsored the ‘Clean Power Group,’ which constantly met former US vice-president Dick Cheney. Kenneth Lay, Enron CEO, gave Cheney a list of corporate recommendations. These found their way into the report of the US national energy policy development group. Could this be the root of US influence in our government’s anxiety to rush into nuclear power?

Three nuclear power myths are discussed here.

- See more at: http://www.dianuke.org/nuclear-power-myths-about-low-cost-safety-and-emission/#sthash.BUU1fQjc.dpuf

INDIAN DREAMS Vs REALITY: INDIAN WAR AGAINST CORRUPTION

INDIAN DREAMS Vs REALITY: INDIAN WAR AGAINST CORRUPTION: Corruption and black money menace has been the biggest stumbling block in the Indian march to the status of a global economic superpower a...

Wind at parity with new coal in India, solar to join by 2018: HSBC

By Sophie Vorrath on 11 July 2013

The report on India Renewables, Good bye winter, hello spring, published on April 30, says the growing cost-competitiveness of renewable energy with new-build coal – and the arrival of wind parity, despite the upper wind FiT range being around 15 per cent lower than the upper tariff range for new coal capacity (see chart 3 below) – is helping to drive strong renewables growth on the sub-continent.Wind energy is now cost competitive with new-build coal capacity in India, and solar is likely to follow suit sometime between 2016-18, according to a report by HSBC.

India’s share of renewable generation in the total electricity mix increased to around 6 per cent in the 2012/13 financial year – an amount the government is hoping to grow to 20 per cent by the end of 2020, to help meet the nation’s a peak power deficit of 12GW, or around 9 per cent of its demand.

“With electricity demand expected to grow and conventional power capacity facing its own challenges, we expect developers and investors to favour renewable capacity addition,” says the report, pointing to increasing constraints on new-build coal, gas and nuclear, as well as increasing levels of water stress.

“Coal stress has been a key driver of renewables in India,” says the report. “We now see water stress as also supporting renewables growth. For the third consecutive year in a row, some coal-based capacity has been closed down during the pre-monsoon period driven by water shortages. We note that thermal power generation is the largest water consumer within the industry segment in India.”

For wind, favourable policy support mechanisms, such as increased state tariffs (although most remain well below coal tariffs, as mentioned – chart 3) and the expected 2014 reintroduction of the government’s Generation Based Incentive for wind energy projects, are expected to help deliver what some say could be a potential capacity of more than 100GW to a few hundred GW – well above the 50GW the Indian government has long been forecasting.

“Over the past 12 months, across key wind states, except Karnataka, the wind tariff has been raised,” says the report. “Six key states – Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu – have increased tariffs in the range of 2-36 per cent,” it says, while Karnataka’s wind tariff is due to be reviewed next year, and a few other states, like Kerala, have also increased tariffs.

Solar’s rapid coal chase

Tina Casey11 Jul, 10:25 AM

• Climate
• Solar energy

CleanTechnica

In a new interview with Deutsche Welle, the CEO of a Germany-based global solar developer made a good case for the potential for solar power to become cheaper than coal sooner rather than later. That would be Bernhard Beck, CEO of Belectric.

In the interview Beck had some interesting things to say about the direction of the global solar market and the potential for growth in large-scale solar power generating plants, and if anything, we think his forecast could come true even sooner than he thinks.

Solar power cheaper than coal

Belectric specialises in utility-scale solar power plants as well as rooftop solar, and the former area is where the focus of the Deutsche Welle interview takes place.

According to Beck, large scale solar power in Germany is already “approaching the costs” of conventional power, at 10 euro cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh).

Beck was reluctant to lay out a specific timetable, but he did predict that with additional technological improvements, the cost of solar power in Germany (and by extension, other relatively sun-poor countries), will ultimately fall below the cost of conventional energy.

He foresees a much shorter time span in ‘sun-rich’ countries, where the trend is rapidly moving in the direction of solar power for less than 10 euro cents per kWh. That could put solar power below the cost of wind power as well as coal or gas.

However, Beck indicates that these countries have some obstacles to overcome. By ‘sun-rich’ he means countries with a less developed transmission infrastructure, which puts large-scale power plants at a disadvantage in terms of operating costs. Also contributing to higher operating costs is the characteristic dust-heavy environment of the ‘sun-rich’ countries to which he refers, which translates into higher costs for cleaning and maintaining solar panels.

Cheaper solar power and the grid

Regardless of those obstacles, overall Beck is optimistic about the potential for future innovation to drive down costs. That optimism is partly based on his own company’s track record, which goes beyond advanced thin film solar cell technology to embrace the key area of grid integration.

In that regard, Belectric won this year’s InterSolar Award in the Solar Projects category, for its new utility scale solar power plant in Templin, Brandenburg.

The Templin solar array, which is currently billed as the largest thin film, ground-mounted solar plant in Europe, was designed as an “integrated intelligent power plant” that self-adjusts to ensure a stable operating voltage while compensating for grid fluctuations in real time.

Read more: http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2013/7/11/solar-energy/solar%E2%80%99s-rapid-coal-chase#ixzz2YqWFypNM