Showing posts with label Alternate Energy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alternate Energy. Show all posts
Monday, April 16, 2012
Powerless India: Growth story back to history
Tamilnadu is reeling under load shedding, Poor quality transmission with over 30% loss and theft. Now citizens have to pay through their nose at Rs 5.75 per unit- domestic consumption- this is the world's highest rates for the worst and unreliable electric power (voltage and frequency fluctuations causes breakdown of domestic gadgets). Where are we heading? The Politicains make money in poor quality Power distribution with sops, gimmicks and free electricity for the poor. All in all a sordid state of affairs even for a banana republic...
Monday, December 12, 2011
The coming Dark Age of India
The Hindu- RAGHUVIR SRINIVASAN
Need for positive, clear-headed reform measures
Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra… no, this is not a listing of States with high growth. These are States that imposed rolling power cuts as late as in October, well after autumn had set in.
In fact, Tamil Nadu still has power cuts for periods ranging from 1-3 hours across the state. So, what's new, you might ask. Aren't power outages a fact of life in India?
Well, the difference this time is that it is happening not during the height of summer but during winter, a period of relatively low demand. Second, the duration of the power cuts is longer than what was faced during the summer.
The frightening fact though is that this could just be a taste of things to come unless the government takes corrective policy measures to clean up the mess in the power sector. What ails the industry?
There are two mainly. First, a conundrum over fuel, which, even a couple of years ago was non-existent. And second, a mess created by the inability of state electricity boards and distribution utilities to charge consumers the right price for the electricity they consume leading to losses.
Fuel trouble
As a country we may be tapping every available source of power generation but sadly all those sources are mired in problems either due to faulty policies or resource constraints or simply inept implementation. Thermal power is the most critical for India (see accompanying graphic), yet that is where we seem to have messed up the most.
Thanks to protective policies on coal mining in the country, coal output is unable to keep pace with the growth requirements in power. In the first four years of the current Plan period ending 2012, coal demand, mainly for power generation, grew by 7.3 per cent but coal output grew by just 5.4 per cent.
In the coming XII Plan period (2012-17), the projected coal deficit is 200 million tonnes and the sector to suffer the most will be power generation. Though 194 blocks have been allotted for coal production to public and private companies, only 28 have commenced production. This is mainly due to problems of environmental clearances and “no-go” policies for mining.
Imports were an option till recently, but not anymore. Countries such as Indonesia that have large coal reserves are clamping down on exports and making it more expensive and difficult for buyers. Indian companies such as Tata Power, Reliance Power, the Adanis and others who have a toehold there are now finding their toes crushed by the weight of the Indonesian government's policy to tax exports.
The options are just two: push domestic coal output in a big way through positive policies and second, brace ourselves for high cost coal imports, wherever they are available. With more than half of thegenerating capacity being coal-fired, the country just cannot afford to go wrong here.
Gassed out
The technical problems that Reliance Industries is reported to be facing in the KG Basin have affected gas-based generation. Gas output from the KG Basin now is less than half of what was projected as possible by Reliance and even this is being supplied to fertiliser companies on priority basis. Imported gas is an option but it is expensive.
The hope is that Reliance will be able to surmount the problems in the near term and gas output will rise again. But even if it does, the gas-based generation capacity available now may not be enough to substitute for the shortfall from coal-based generation.
Hydro dam(ned)
Hydel power, supposed to be environmentally-friendly, has ironically run into trouble with the green lobby. NTPC was forced to halt work on two of its projects in Uttarakhand after pressure from environmentalists. Even last week there were protests in Assam against a large hydro project, Subansiri, being executed by NHPC in Arunachal Pradesh. Hydel projects have always been sensitive anyway due to submergence of land.
If we thought that nuclear power will be our long-term saviour that hope is also now fading away. The imbroglio over supplier liability clauses means that American companies are unable to commence business for reactor supplies. With the performance of the French EPR reactor being questioned after the experience in Finland where it ran into time and cost overruns, it appears unlikely that the first of the planned ones at Jaitapur will ever take off.
The public protests against nuclear power at Jaitapur and lately, in Kudankulam, also mean that progress will be slow and painful in future. Public opinion is veering around against nuclear power post-Fukushima and the example of Germany, which will be totally off nuclear power by 2021, is being widely quoted as an example for us to move away too.
Financial mess
Part reason for the fuel trouble may lie outside our control but the same cannot be said for the financial mess that the sector is in today which is entirely due to our governments, Central and State. State electricity boards are estimated to have accumulated losses of a massive Rs.70,000 crore. Ratings agency Crisil estimates that distribution utilities alone had a cumulative loss of between Rs.35,000 crore and Rs.40,000 crore as of 2010-11.
Riding on government backing, the state electricity boards have been borrowing merrily from banks to sew up the gaping holes in their finances due to these massive losses. And the hole is only growing bigger. Banks, after initially accommodating the state electricity boards have now grown wiser and are refusing to lend.
According to a Crisil report, the total debt of state electricity boards and distribution utilities touched a huge Rs.3-lakh crore or Rs.3 trillion as of March 31, 2011. The same report estimates that as much as a third of the 56,000 MW of thermal generation capacity is in trouble due to the combined impact of fuel and financial problems.
So where does all this leave us? Hopefully not in darkness. We need positive, clear-headed reform measures to be undertaken, including passing on full prices to consumers who can bear them and subsidising the genuinely poor. Some States have reluctantly allowed their boards to revise power prices in the last few weeks.
We need to cut down on transmission and distribution losses and untangle the environmental problems that coal mining has run into. Policymakers have to balance the needs of development with environmental considerations. But for some urgent steps from the government the country may well return to the Dark Ages, literally.
The coming dark age
Comment: Only solution for home lighting is dependence on Solar Powered LED lighting which can to a extent reduce darkeness in the houses at night- The nation is really heading for the dark age with the looming and spiralling oil and gas prices!
Need for positive, clear-headed reform measures
Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra… no, this is not a listing of States with high growth. These are States that imposed rolling power cuts as late as in October, well after autumn had set in.
In fact, Tamil Nadu still has power cuts for periods ranging from 1-3 hours across the state. So, what's new, you might ask. Aren't power outages a fact of life in India?
Well, the difference this time is that it is happening not during the height of summer but during winter, a period of relatively low demand. Second, the duration of the power cuts is longer than what was faced during the summer.
The frightening fact though is that this could just be a taste of things to come unless the government takes corrective policy measures to clean up the mess in the power sector. What ails the industry?
There are two mainly. First, a conundrum over fuel, which, even a couple of years ago was non-existent. And second, a mess created by the inability of state electricity boards and distribution utilities to charge consumers the right price for the electricity they consume leading to losses.
Fuel trouble
As a country we may be tapping every available source of power generation but sadly all those sources are mired in problems either due to faulty policies or resource constraints or simply inept implementation. Thermal power is the most critical for India (see accompanying graphic), yet that is where we seem to have messed up the most.
Thanks to protective policies on coal mining in the country, coal output is unable to keep pace with the growth requirements in power. In the first four years of the current Plan period ending 2012, coal demand, mainly for power generation, grew by 7.3 per cent but coal output grew by just 5.4 per cent.
In the coming XII Plan period (2012-17), the projected coal deficit is 200 million tonnes and the sector to suffer the most will be power generation. Though 194 blocks have been allotted for coal production to public and private companies, only 28 have commenced production. This is mainly due to problems of environmental clearances and “no-go” policies for mining.
Imports were an option till recently, but not anymore. Countries such as Indonesia that have large coal reserves are clamping down on exports and making it more expensive and difficult for buyers. Indian companies such as Tata Power, Reliance Power, the Adanis and others who have a toehold there are now finding their toes crushed by the weight of the Indonesian government's policy to tax exports.
The options are just two: push domestic coal output in a big way through positive policies and second, brace ourselves for high cost coal imports, wherever they are available. With more than half of thegenerating capacity being coal-fired, the country just cannot afford to go wrong here.
Gassed out
The technical problems that Reliance Industries is reported to be facing in the KG Basin have affected gas-based generation. Gas output from the KG Basin now is less than half of what was projected as possible by Reliance and even this is being supplied to fertiliser companies on priority basis. Imported gas is an option but it is expensive.
The hope is that Reliance will be able to surmount the problems in the near term and gas output will rise again. But even if it does, the gas-based generation capacity available now may not be enough to substitute for the shortfall from coal-based generation.
Hydro dam(ned)
Hydel power, supposed to be environmentally-friendly, has ironically run into trouble with the green lobby. NTPC was forced to halt work on two of its projects in Uttarakhand after pressure from environmentalists. Even last week there were protests in Assam against a large hydro project, Subansiri, being executed by NHPC in Arunachal Pradesh. Hydel projects have always been sensitive anyway due to submergence of land.
If we thought that nuclear power will be our long-term saviour that hope is also now fading away. The imbroglio over supplier liability clauses means that American companies are unable to commence business for reactor supplies. With the performance of the French EPR reactor being questioned after the experience in Finland where it ran into time and cost overruns, it appears unlikely that the first of the planned ones at Jaitapur will ever take off.
The public protests against nuclear power at Jaitapur and lately, in Kudankulam, also mean that progress will be slow and painful in future. Public opinion is veering around against nuclear power post-Fukushima and the example of Germany, which will be totally off nuclear power by 2021, is being widely quoted as an example for us to move away too.
Financial mess
Part reason for the fuel trouble may lie outside our control but the same cannot be said for the financial mess that the sector is in today which is entirely due to our governments, Central and State. State electricity boards are estimated to have accumulated losses of a massive Rs.70,000 crore. Ratings agency Crisil estimates that distribution utilities alone had a cumulative loss of between Rs.35,000 crore and Rs.40,000 crore as of 2010-11.
Riding on government backing, the state electricity boards have been borrowing merrily from banks to sew up the gaping holes in their finances due to these massive losses. And the hole is only growing bigger. Banks, after initially accommodating the state electricity boards have now grown wiser and are refusing to lend.
According to a Crisil report, the total debt of state electricity boards and distribution utilities touched a huge Rs.3-lakh crore or Rs.3 trillion as of March 31, 2011. The same report estimates that as much as a third of the 56,000 MW of thermal generation capacity is in trouble due to the combined impact of fuel and financial problems.
So where does all this leave us? Hopefully not in darkness. We need positive, clear-headed reform measures to be undertaken, including passing on full prices to consumers who can bear them and subsidising the genuinely poor. Some States have reluctantly allowed their boards to revise power prices in the last few weeks.
We need to cut down on transmission and distribution losses and untangle the environmental problems that coal mining has run into. Policymakers have to balance the needs of development with environmental considerations. But for some urgent steps from the government the country may well return to the Dark Ages, literally.
The coming dark age
Comment: Only solution for home lighting is dependence on Solar Powered LED lighting which can to a extent reduce darkeness in the houses at night- The nation is really heading for the dark age with the looming and spiralling oil and gas prices!
Monday, October 18, 2010
Village gets electricity 63 years after independence
Madhya Pradesh village gets electricity 63 years after independence
Press Trust of India, Updated: October 17, 2010 22:14 IST
Indore: Nearly 63 years after Independence, a village situated on a hillock near Indore, got its first ever electricity connection.
Koparwel, a tiny village with 20 households, broke into jubilation with the lighting of a bulb in one of its huts this Friday.
Ambaram is the first villager to get the electricity connection.
No sooner was his house brightened by a CFL bulb, villagers worshipped the instrument, distributed "prasad" and burst firecrackers. "It is a matter of joy that electricity has come to our village," Ambaram said.
Children are happy that they will have electricity to study at night and bid adieu to lanterns shortly while the youths are glad that they will not have to go to neighbouring village to charge their cell phone batteries, he said.
However, it was not an easy task to electrify Koparwel.
"It was a challenge to electrify Ambaram's place given that the village is situated on the hilltop," Madhya Pradesh Western Distribution Company Limited (MPWDCL) Chief Engineer Sanjay Mohase said.
In two to four days, other houses in the village too will get electricity connection, he said.
Read more at: click here
Press Trust of India, Updated: October 17, 2010 22:14 IST
Indore: Nearly 63 years after Independence, a village situated on a hillock near Indore, got its first ever electricity connection.
Koparwel, a tiny village with 20 households, broke into jubilation with the lighting of a bulb in one of its huts this Friday.
Ambaram is the first villager to get the electricity connection.
No sooner was his house brightened by a CFL bulb, villagers worshipped the instrument, distributed "prasad" and burst firecrackers. "It is a matter of joy that electricity has come to our village," Ambaram said.
Children are happy that they will have electricity to study at night and bid adieu to lanterns shortly while the youths are glad that they will not have to go to neighbouring village to charge their cell phone batteries, he said.
However, it was not an easy task to electrify Koparwel.
"It was a challenge to electrify Ambaram's place given that the village is situated on the hilltop," Madhya Pradesh Western Distribution Company Limited (MPWDCL) Chief Engineer Sanjay Mohase said.
In two to four days, other houses in the village too will get electricity connection, he said.
Read more at: click here
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Offshore Wind Farming Gets a Giant Google Boost
A huge offshore wind energy project took a leap forward today with the announcement that Google and the investment firm Good Energies are backing the mammoth underwater transmission lines that would carry clean electricity up and down the East Coast. The $5 billion dollar project would allow for wind farms to spring up all along the mid-Atlantic continental shelf.Google and Good Energies will both be 37.5 percent equity partners in the clean energy infrastructure project; the Japanese industrial, energy, and investment firm Marubeni will take a 15 percent share. The project, proposed by a Maryland-based company called Trans-Elect, would set up a 350-mile long energy-carrying backbone from Virginia to northern New Jersey, first allowing the transfer of the south’s cheap electricity to the northern states, and later providing critical infrastructure for future offshore wind projects.
The AWC backbone is critical to more rapidly scaling up offshore wind because without it, offshore wind developers would be forced to build individual radial transmission lines from each offshore wind project to the shore, requiring additional time consuming permitting and environmental studies and making balancing the grid more difficult. [Official Google Blog].
The transmission line is planned to have enough capacity to carry the energy of five nuclear power plants (6,000 megawatts, which could power almost 2 million homes)–energy that eventually will come from offshore wind farms. These wind farms will be situated in federal waters more than 10 miles from the shore, where the huge towers would barely be visible.
“Conceptually it looks to me to be one of the most interesting transmission projects that I’ve ever seen walk through the door,” said Jon Wellinghoff, the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees interstate electricity transmission. “It provides a gathering point for offshore wind for multiple projects up and down the coast.” [The New York Times].
Construction is scheduled to start in 2013. The first section of the project, a 150-mile stretch between southern New Jersey and Delaware, could be completed in 2016 at a cost of $1.8 billion. From there, the backbone would be expanded to two more nodes, in northern New Jersey and Virginia, and offshore wind farms can be added, to provide power from the strong and steady winds that blow over the ocean.
The complete project will not finish until at least 2021. Trans-Elect estimated the complete cost of the project to be $5 billion, plus permit and financing charges. But there are a lot of unknowns.
Industry experts called the plan promising, but warned that as a first-of-a-kind effort, it was bound to face bureaucratic delays and could run into unforeseen challenges, from technology problems to cost overruns. [The New York Times].
Google sees the project as a step towards building a “superhighway for clean energy,” enabling the East Coast to connect to the potential 60,000 megawatts of wind energy that could theoretically be harvested from Atlantic Ocean winds. Says Google:
We believe in investing in projects that make good business sense and further the development of renewable energy. We’re willing to take calculated risks on early stage ideas and projects that can have dramatic impacts while offering attractive returns. [Official Google Blog]
Offshore Wind Farming Gets a Giant Google Boost
Thursday, September 23, 2010
China defies global censure, to build giant N-Plant in Pakistan
21/09/2010
China defies global censure, to build giant N-Plant in Pak
Beijing/Washington: Unfazed by global concerns, Beijing and Islamabad are in talks to set up a new giant one gigawatt atomic power plant in Pakistan, as China is set to expand its investment in nuclear power generation by nearly USD 120 billion over the next decades.
US and India have both expressed concern after China signed a deal in February to build the additional two 300-MW reactors.
Qiu Jiangang, Vice President of the state run China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), which has already helped built Pakistan's main nuclear facility at Chashma in Punjab province, said his company was in talks to set up another giant nuclear plant in Pakistan, 'Wall Street Journal' reported.
"Both sides are in discussion over the CNNC exporting a one gigawatt nuclear plant to Pakistan", he told a meeting in Beijing without giving any details.
Besides the main plant at Chashma, the Chinese company is completing a second reactor there and has contracts to build two more 300 megawatt reactors.
China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) has already helped built Pakistan's main nuclear facility at Chashma in Punjab province.
Qiu said, that the first reactor was operating safely and the second one was being tested and expected to start formal operations by the end of the year.
US and India have both expressed concern after China signed a deal in February to build the additional two 300-MW reactors.
Quoting US officials, 'Wall Street Journal' said, such plans required special exemption from the 46-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), which China joined in 2004 and which is supposed to regulate the global nuclear trade.
Besides the main plant at Chashma, the Chinese company is completing a second reactor there and has contracts to build two more 300 megawatt reactors.
The paper said, Vann H Van Diepen, the US acting assistant secretary of state for nonproliferation had suggested before the House Foreign Affairs Committee in July that the US would vote against such an exemption.
Pakistan is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and there are concerns by US, Western Nations and India that Pakistan's nuclear material may fall into the hands of Al Qaeda and Taliban who are based close to the Pakistani capital.
The Chinese plans to export yet another nuclear plant to Pakistan comes as Beijing has unveiled plans to invest nearly USD 120 billion to increase nuclear power generation to 70-80 gigawatts by 2020, the 'China Daily' reported today.
The paper said to fund the new spending spree CNNC would list its subsidiary CNNC Nuclear Power Co Ltd.
China has stepped up investment in nuclear power in an effort to slash its carbon emissions and reduce the nations reliability on coal for energy needs.
Read more
China defies global censure, to build giant N-Plant in Pak
Pakistan plans nuclear power surge
China defies global censure, to build giant N-Plant in Pak
Beijing/Washington: Unfazed by global concerns, Beijing and Islamabad are in talks to set up a new giant one gigawatt atomic power plant in Pakistan, as China is set to expand its investment in nuclear power generation by nearly USD 120 billion over the next decades.
US and India have both expressed concern after China signed a deal in February to build the additional two 300-MW reactors.
Qiu Jiangang, Vice President of the state run China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), which has already helped built Pakistan's main nuclear facility at Chashma in Punjab province, said his company was in talks to set up another giant nuclear plant in Pakistan, 'Wall Street Journal' reported.
"Both sides are in discussion over the CNNC exporting a one gigawatt nuclear plant to Pakistan", he told a meeting in Beijing without giving any details.
Besides the main plant at Chashma, the Chinese company is completing a second reactor there and has contracts to build two more 300 megawatt reactors.
China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) has already helped built Pakistan's main nuclear facility at Chashma in Punjab province.
Qiu said, that the first reactor was operating safely and the second one was being tested and expected to start formal operations by the end of the year.
US and India have both expressed concern after China signed a deal in February to build the additional two 300-MW reactors.
Quoting US officials, 'Wall Street Journal' said, such plans required special exemption from the 46-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), which China joined in 2004 and which is supposed to regulate the global nuclear trade.
Besides the main plant at Chashma, the Chinese company is completing a second reactor there and has contracts to build two more 300 megawatt reactors.
The paper said, Vann H Van Diepen, the US acting assistant secretary of state for nonproliferation had suggested before the House Foreign Affairs Committee in July that the US would vote against such an exemption.
Pakistan is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and there are concerns by US, Western Nations and India that Pakistan's nuclear material may fall into the hands of Al Qaeda and Taliban who are based close to the Pakistani capital.
The Chinese plans to export yet another nuclear plant to Pakistan comes as Beijing has unveiled plans to invest nearly USD 120 billion to increase nuclear power generation to 70-80 gigawatts by 2020, the 'China Daily' reported today.
The paper said to fund the new spending spree CNNC would list its subsidiary CNNC Nuclear Power Co Ltd.
China has stepped up investment in nuclear power in an effort to slash its carbon emissions and reduce the nations reliability on coal for energy needs.
Read more
China defies global censure, to build giant N-Plant in Pak
Pakistan plans nuclear power surge
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Gandhian Engineering is not just for the poor
CJ: Sheila Panickar Wed, Oct 14, 2009 10:06:15 IST
WHAT BRANCH of engineering would be the most crucial for the 21st century? Electrical Engineering? Aeronautical Engineering? Computer Engineering? Electronics Engineering? No. None of these. It will be ‘Gandhian engineering’. Dr RA Mashelkar, Chairman, National Innovation Foundation and President of Global Research Alliance in his lecture highlighted the emergence of Innovation and focus on Gandhian Engineering to a large gathering of NIT-W Alumni and students at the Golden Jubilee and Foundation Day of NIT-W Alumni meet at the campus.
Dr Mashelkar started the address at 11:45 am exactly at the same time and day 50 years ago Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru laid the foundation stone for the Institute. Dr. Mashelkar, Chairman of National Innovation said it gave him immense pleasure to be part of the NIT-W Golden Jubilee Celebration as it was a Mashelkar Committee in 1998/99 that had reviewed RECs and recommended that they be converted to National Institute of Technology (NIT).
Read the article: Gandhian Engineering's crucial role in 21st century
Read 37 pages of the innovative concept: Gandhian Engineering is not just for the poor
WHAT BRANCH of engineering would be the most crucial for the 21st century? Electrical Engineering? Aeronautical Engineering? Computer Engineering? Electronics Engineering? No. None of these. It will be ‘Gandhian engineering’. Dr RA Mashelkar, Chairman, National Innovation Foundation and President of Global Research Alliance in his lecture highlighted the emergence of Innovation and focus on Gandhian Engineering to a large gathering of NIT-W Alumni and students at the Golden Jubilee and Foundation Day of NIT-W Alumni meet at the campus.
Dr Mashelkar started the address at 11:45 am exactly at the same time and day 50 years ago Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru laid the foundation stone for the Institute. Dr. Mashelkar, Chairman of National Innovation said it gave him immense pleasure to be part of the NIT-W Golden Jubilee Celebration as it was a Mashelkar Committee in 1998/99 that had reviewed RECs and recommended that they be converted to National Institute of Technology (NIT).
Read the article: Gandhian Engineering's crucial role in 21st century
Read 37 pages of the innovative concept: Gandhian Engineering is not just for the poor
Monday, April 19, 2010
Cyber Security: Anthony to Armed Forces
Defence Minister A.K. Antony interacts with the media after attending the Unified Commanders Conference in New Delhi on Friday. New Delhi, April 16, 2010 Prepare to counter cyber attacks: Antony to Armed Forces PTIIn the wake of reports of hackers stealing vital data from Indian defence and diplomatic computer networks, Defence Minister A.K. Antony on Friday asked the Armed Forces to coordinate closely with other cyber security agencies to prepare a crisis management action plan against cyber terrorism.
The minister noted that cyberspace had emerged as an important medium for information sharing, but at the same time the existing technology was susceptible to misuse by anti-social and anti-national elements.
“Of late, extraordinary and unprecedented cyber crimes have taken place across the globe, exposing gap holes in cyber security systems,” Mr. Antony told the Armed Forces Unified Commanders’ Conference here.
“Although Defence Services at all levels have taken steps to counter cyber threat through stringent implementation of cyber security policy, there is still a requirement to ensure that all loopholes are suitably plugged. A few recent cases are reminders of our own vulnerabilities,” he said.
Close interaction with national agencies like Computer and Emergency Response Team (CERT), NTRO, Home and IT Ministries to prepare a crisis management action plan for countering cyber attacks and cyber terrorism is essential, he said inaugurating the conference.
Minister of State for Defence M.M. Pallam Raju, Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman and IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik, Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma, Army Chief General V.K. Singh, Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar and Chief of Integrated Staff Committee Air Marshal S.C. Mukul were also present on the occasion.
Expressing happiness over the progress made to improve ties among armed forces in various spheres, Mr. Antony said increasing involvement of Integrated Defence Service headquarters in defence issues, the functioning of Andaman and Nicobar Command and the progress of Strategic Forces Command were a few examples of the success of the inter-operability concept.
He said the future of optimal military power lay in joint operations.
“Towards this end, the first-ever Long Term Integrated Perspective Plan for 2012-27 is nearing completion under the aegis of IDS headquarters,” he said.
Referring to the use of large-scale energy resources in the armed forces and availability of alternative sources of energy, Mr. Antony called upon the top brass to bring about strict energy conservation discipline.
Regarding the armed forces modernisation, Mr. Antony assured the commanders that there would never be a paucity of funds.
However, he asked them to control the revenue expenditure by adopting various mechanisms such as increased use of technology, integration of the three Services, adopting joint training and procedures, and uniform inventories.
The Defence Minister said there also exists considerable scope for improving the quality and efficacy of defence expenditure through increased private sector engagement, import substitution and indigenisation, improvement in procedures and practices and better project management within the parameters of the government’s policies.
Unified Commanders Conference in New Delhi on Friday: The Hindu
Monday, August 4, 2008
Energy war: India and China face off in Central Asia
On the streets of Tashkent and Dushanbe, Bollywood numbers incite local people to break into impromptu jigs. And in the war-torn dustbowls of Afghanistan, American workers are building schools and hospitals in the middle of non-stop gunfire. The Indians are doing the same, at the risk of their lives. This is the soft side of the story — efforts to woo the Central Asian Republics. The hard truths of the world's sudden love for the region are hidden behind the barbed wire fences and camouflaged battle gear. In the past few years, military bases have cropped up across the region. The Americans have several bases in Central Asia, including Afghanistan. The Russians, Nato and Chinese too have established military posts in the region. Even India can claim to have set up an air defence unit in Tajikistan.
Already branded villains of this scary scene, the two Asian countries will continue to guzzle more oil to feed their booming economies, even as demand for oil would fall in the industrialized world. In a report last week, the International Energy Agency (IEA) spoke about two future scenarios — the growth of "long-term demand led by China and India..." and "the supply threats, including increasing conflict...."
Energy war: India and China face off in Central Asia
Amazing Statistics: California Uses More Gas than China
Friday, July 18, 2008
Gore Aims High on Renewable Energy Goal for United States
Former Vice President and Nobel laureate Al Gore outlined a bold climate goal for the nation Thursday, challenging the US to create every kilowatt of electricity through renewable energy sources within 10 years.
"Our dangerous over-reliance on carbon-based fuels is at the core of all three of these challenges -- the economic, environmental and national security crises," Gore saidin his speech in Washington. "We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that's got to change."
Gore Aims High on Renewable Energy Goal for US
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