Heat wave grips most states in India

Press Trust of India, Saturday April 10, 2010, New Delhi
From West Bengal in the east to Rajasthan in the northwest, heat wave swept several parts of the country with mercury hovering over 40 degrees in many areas.

In the national Capital, the maximum temperature rose from yesterday's 40.1 degrees to 40.5 deg C, which is five degree above the normal.

The temperature rose to 41 deg C in Kolkata and its neighbourhood while the districts of Purulia, West Midnapore and Bankura remained in the grip of a heat wave.

Jharsuguda in western Orissa recorded highest temperature of 45 deg C even even as the mercury level slightly dropped in coastal districts, including state capital Bhubaneswar. Many parts of the state reeled under the heat wave condition, which has so far claimed 28 lives in the state.

The desert state of Rajasthan also witnessed severe heat wave conditions with Churu remaining the hottest place with a maximum of over 43.3 deg C followed by Sriganganagar at 43.2 degrees.

Hill states also recorded relatively warm temperature. In Dehra Dun, the state capital of Uttarakhand, the mercury shot up to new high of 38.3 degrees, which is 4 degree above the normal?

With scorching sun, Shimla, known as the queen of hills, remained warm with mercury settling at 27 degrees.

Sundernagar in Himachal Pradesh recorded a maximum of 36.8 deg C while it was 35, 32.8 and 40.6 degrees in Bhuntar, Dharamsala and Una respectively.

In Punjab and Haryana, the maximum rose by up to eight notches above normal with Hisar sizzling at 42.7 degrees.

Chandigarh recorded the maximum temperature at 39 deg C, which was six degrees above the normal.
Heat wave grips most states in India

Mumbai woes“This means that while the taps dried up in some parts of the city, a large section of those who received water regularly made wasteful use of the supply,” said a senior hydraulic department official.
Mumbai Metro faces water crisis

Comment: As the Nation sweats alongwith power outages and dry taps the students are hard hit preparing for the examinations. The only beneficiaries are the Politicians who have 24x7 power supply and running water and they take a vacation to foreign lands like Swiss Alps to cool their heels!

Science Exibition on Wheels, 55 locations traversing 18,000 Kms

Indian Railways in the education modeThe Phase-III of the 'Science Express' which was inaugurated by Chairman, Railway Board Shri S. S. Khurana on 2 October 2009 at Gandhinagar will travel to 55 locations, mostly not covered earlier, covering about 18,000 kms in seven months of its journey. It is covering the entire length and breadth of the country. At each of the locations, it would halt for 3-5 days, during which students and general public would visit the exhibition. The 55 locations will include Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Madgaon, Hubli, Bangalore Cantt. Mysore, Calicut, Thirvanthapuram, Salem Town, Balasur, Dimapur, Darbhanga, Chhapra, Amethi, Jammu Tawi, Kapurthala, Delhi Cantt, Agra Cantt, Jhansi and Ujain.

The sparking white, fully air conditioned train has 16-coaches. The exhibition, with more than 300 large-format visual images, over 150 video clips and multimedia exhibits, deals extensively with cutting-edge research and technology. In the 12 exhibition coaches, most of exhibits have been developed by the max Planck Society, Germany noble laureate powerhouse while some exhibits are indigenous. Through these, the visitors explore wide areas in science in a fascinating manner and delve into the mysteries of our world, groundbreaking discoveries, emerging issues, cutting-edge science and future-oriented technologies. The exhibits explain our universe – how it all began, glimpses of space, black holes, galaxies, on the way to the Big Bang, our home in the cosmos, Spaceship Earth, simpler cold atoms, ultra short light, biotechnology, building blocks of life from 'gene to organism', the world of senses, architecture of the mind, renewable energy, technologies and energy sources for future, nanocosmos, bio-engineering, genetics, cell biology, computer applications in medicine and global challenges.

There is dedicated coach on 'Climate Change – Cause, Effect and Mitigation', sponsored by HSBC as an initiative of the 'Earth Sciences Forum'. Exhibits on 'Energy Conservation' from PCRA and poster on 'Nutrition' from Nestle are the new attractions in this Phase.
‘Science Express’ train will travel to 55 locations & cover 18000 kilometres in seven months

Climate Change Your Biggest Enemy: Dr. Pachauri Warns Indian Army

Source: The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)
Saturday, June 27, 2009 07:50 PM IST (02:20 PM GMT)
New Delhi, Delhi, India, Saturday, June 27, 2009 -- (Business Wire India)
Dr. R.K. Pachauri, Padma Vibhushan, Director General, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), gave this warning while delivering the keynote address at the convocation ceremony at the Military College of Telecommunication Engineering, Mhow. As the Chief Guest, he presented the Chief of Army Staff Trophy and other awards to the winners.
In his Valedictory Address, Dr. Pachauri complimented the officers for their performance on the course. He praised the Corps of Signals for their good work in the field of modern communications and computer networks and their remarkable use of advanced systems of Optical Fiber, Satellite Communications, and other networks to conduct its operations, including Low Intensity Conflict Operations and UN missions. Corps of Signals has done exemplary work during various natural calamities across the length and breadth of the country. He stressed on the global issue of climate change. “Climate change poses new threats to India.” “Melting snows in the north open up passages for terrorists, just as melting glaciers affect water supply in the subcontinent’s northern part, sharpening possibility of conflict with our neighbours. Changing rainfall patterns affect rain fed agriculture, worsening poverty which can be exploited by others.”

He added, “Our defence forces might find themselves torn between humanitarian relief operations and guarding our borders against climate refugees, as rising sea-levels swamp low-lying areas, forcing millions of ‘climate refugees’ across India’s border.”

The Commandant, Military College of Telecommunication Engineering in his farewell address, exhorted the passing out officers to apply their knowledge in their units and to keep abreast with the latest in the field of technology.
Climate Change Your Biggest Enemy: Dr. Pachauri Warns Indian Army

Wind Power will compete with Coal and Nuclear Power

Texan energy companies are investing heavily to build wind turbines following a landmark ruling last week
LONDON, England (CNN) -- From Dallas, Texas to Dabancheng, China, energy companies are staking fortunes on harnessing wind power. US and China lead way in tapping wind power. Texas currently leads the world in wind capacity at about 5,500 MW.

But Junfeng Li of the China Renewable Energy Industries Association has a more optimistic outlook. In a paper last month, he wrote: "China is witnessing the start of a golden age of wind power development and the magnitude of the growth has caught policymakers off guard. It is widely believed that wind power will be able to compete with coal generation by as early as 2015."

"By 2020, wind power capacity is predicted to reach 30 gigawatts," said Wang in a meeting at China's annual parliament. "Around the mid-21st century, wind power is very likely to take the place of hydropower as the second-largest source of electric power generation after coal." He added that wind power could surpass nuclear stations as a source of energy within 20 to 30 years.
US and China lead the way in tapping wind power
Wind turbines to power China

Status in India
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is the nodal Ministry of the Government of India at the Federal level for all matters relating to new and renewable energy. The Ministry has been facilitating the implementation of broad spectrum programmes including harnessing renewable power, renewable energy to rural areas for lighting, cooking and motive power, use of renewable energy in urban, industrial and commercial applications and development of alternate fuels and applications. In addition, it supports research, design and development of new and renewable energy technologies, products and services. Till date only 2000MW of wind Power is the installed capacity. More needs to be done to tap wind power to our advantage and reduce the Power shortages. Is the Nation battling the bureaucratic controls?
Ministry of Renewable Energy

Comment: The Defence Forces need to invest heavily in wind power to make available uninterrupted power supply to all Military Cantonments, Establishments, (like Military Hospitals, Air Fields, Ordnance Depots and so forth), and remote areas in the NE. Surplus power can be sold to the National Power Corporations wherever feasible. The assets can be looked after and entrusted to Veteran Bodies. For financing these projects, wind fall profits made by CSD and under the MOD,(approx Rs 4000 Crore per annum) can be utilised for this venture and thereby creating valuable National Assets, instead of distributing piece meal amounts to Units for Troops welfare, which is grossly misused. This venture will go a long way towards Troops Welfare (Power Supply) and also employing large number of Veterans in the process.

The girl who silenced the world at the United Nations