Wind Power

So much power and we still want to cling on to a nuclear power for dear life? It is not as though I am opposed to the Nuclear Power, but when this country has not utilized other resources which is much cheaper then we have no right to talk thus. Producing, maintaining and protecting nuclear energy is very expensive compared to other sources of energy. Wind energy like solar energy still remains a power un-tapped except in few states like TN, Maharashtra etc. Even otherwise TN has always gone ahead with many projects successfully.

Today I read in the news that the Indian Railways may go for more wind power. It has found much unused land in its coastal network and wants to use it to tap wind energy.

“We get power at Rs 6 per unit whereas we can get power from our own generation units at as low as Rs 4.50 per unit,” the official said.
The pilot project at Perambur would need an investment of Rs 40 crore. Depending on its success, larger projects would be set up near existing wind energy farms.
The government has identified wind energy as one of the renewable energy sources where the country has tremendous potential for growth. It is thus encouraging investment in this area by offering sops that include interest subsidy and capital subsidy, 80% accelerated depreciation, tax holiday under Section 80 IA and various subsidy schemes.

The present wind energy capacity is close to touching 5000 MW mark much ahead of the targeted year of 2011-12. The country has potential to add 45,000 MW of power under this route in the next 15 to 20 years.

Worldwide Installed Capacity of Wind Power A Worldwide installed capacity of wind power is 78,728 MW as on 31st March 2007. The first five countries are Germany (20,952 MW), Spain (12,500 MW), USA (12,376 MW), India (7093 MW) and Denmark (3136 MW).

(Source : Wind Power Monthly, July 2007)

The Indian wind energy sector has an installed capacity of 7093.9 MW (as on March 31, 2007). In terms of wind power installed capacity, India is ranked 4th in the World. Today India is a major player in the global wind energy market.
The potential is far from exhausted. Indian Wind Energy Association has estimated that with the current level of technology, the ‘on-shore’ potential for utilization of wind energy for electricity generation is of the order of 65,000 MW. The unexploited resource availability has the potential to sustain the growth of wind energy sector in India in the years to come.

New Wind Power Projects in Kerala It is learned that Kerala Government has given technical approval to Suzlon and Vestas India for developing wind power projects at Agali, Palakkad and Ramakkalmedu in Idduki District respectively. In the first phase, Suzlon is likely to installed 4.8 MW capacity and Vestas India 9.75 MW capacity during the financial year 2007-08.

Of course this energy has its limitations too…

And talking about Nuclear Energy, finally when the nuclear has been signed and ready to be installed, the country will face yet another resistance. Which State will accept the responsibilities that goes with it? Definitely not Kerala, we will be the first one on the streets to make it go away. Anyway the Center will never consider Kerala for obvious reasons so we rest in peace.

That is the way!

I felt very happy reading this news. It is not often that you see such acts coming from those who have achieved much in their lives. They have gained the best education that our country can provide and should be on their way to enjoying some of the best jobs a company can offer. This is enough for one to forget the rest of the world and enjoy what they have gained with their hard work. But they have thought beyond themselves.

IITians run school for children of labourers

Yogesh Vajpeyi, IANS
Hamirpur (Uttar Pradesh), September 27, 2007

The children of Bidokhar village call it Apna Skool, or our school. An NGO – formed by the faculty and student of Kanpur’s Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) – has set up the non-formal school in Hamirpur district of Uttar Pradesh for elementary education of children of migrant labourers.

Inside Man

Since we are having Ramadhan timings, we have much time in our hands and hence all those movies that were waiting to be watched are now being enjoyed.

Inside Man is about a Bank Heist Thriller… the main actors being Denzil Washington, Clive Owen and Jodie Foster. I have always liked Denzil.

We enjoyed this movie and it is the first time that I watched an American Action/Thriller movie where none gets killed!

This reminds me of the day I was first introduced to an American Action movie. It was Arnie’s Total Recall. Until then I never had a chance to see such movies since the place where I grew up did not have a theatre showing English Movies. The nearest theater itself was many kilometers away and our Father used to drive us there only once a month, whenever a new movie was released.

It was in the year 1990 that this picture was released and I was in Trivandrum. It was in Sreekumar theatre and we were a bunch of cousins and friends. As you know Total Recall is a science fiction full of gore and violence. My senses were shocked and jostled around. I just couldn’t take the violence in the movie. It was the first time that I saw a gun being used so freely and dead bodies falling every scene. Somehow I managed to sit through the whole movie. When we came out I from my naivety blurted out how they can show such movies. My cousins who were all veteran American movie goers started laughing. I told them that this could affect the minds and dull the conscience of the movie goers. I guess I did not think about PG rating. But even with PG rating, I still think that some movies go beyond normalcy in showing crime and gore. I am not talking about American movies alone, the same goes for others too. Even now I cannot watch violent movies.. I still close my eyes or watch elsewhere!

Jai Hind

We won! We won! We won.. after so many years.. finally we have done it.

What a game it was! The second we settle down and think that India is going to win, the Paki’s turns it right back! And finally the tension ended. I think both the teams deserve great applause and even this time I wouldn’t have minded if our boys had lost to the Paki’s. It was fantastic cricket.

Hope you caught the Pathans piggy riding, Dhoni shirtless, Bhaji with his moustache turned up and his dance! And what were they digging on the ground? Each of our boys gave their best shot.

And then comes the comments from the veterans. 20-20 is not THE cricket. It is test cricket that tests a cricketer and after that the 50 overs one-day. They talk about “Temperament” . My dictionary says temperament is quality of mind. So did our boys lack it? Dint they continue playing smartly without buckling under pressure? Even when they lost the mighty Yuvraj and their captain dint they take the score to a decent level. But then for them to prove themselves they should be allowed to play for the coming series. Then let us judge them. But for now let us enjoy this moment.. dint we wait too long and to a point where most of were disgusted with Cricket.

Dhoni is a good study material for a “Leader”. I loved the way he came running whenever one of his boy’s faced a tough situation. I also hear that after the win with Aussies, he let the boys celebrate instead of continuing with practicing. For a team that went as underdogs, each win was a victory.

As Kapil Dev pointed out, it is good to remind ourselves that this in only a game. Maybe we shall have to wait again but until then we should stop throwing stones at those players even if they lose. Can we? Dhoni’s house under contruction was razed to the ground and now he has collected enough and more money to build a complete steel structure! Oh.. it is cricket and neither the players nor their fans are going to change!

I still remember the year we lifted the world cup and also the Sharjah cup. And once Ravi Shastri visited Trivandrum for a match while I was in college. I forgot the year. But some of our girls visited him in his hotel room and that was a scandal! I still remember the bickering and snickering behind their backs. How dare they visit a hotel to see a cricketer!

I think the whole country and the Indians all over the world are celebrating. Yesterday we watched on TV the crowd in front of a shop at Calicut. It could have been half a stadium!

Blood Diamond

Finally finished watching Blood Diamond yesterday. A superb movie! Wonderful acting and great originality.

I don’t know if this had any impact on all the movie goers but I am sure only the hard hearted can get out of the theatres without any difference.

Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea on the north and Liberia on the south, with the Atlantic Ocean on the west. The name Sierra Leone was adapted from the Portuguese name for the country: Serra Leoa, literally “Lion Mountain Range”. During the 18th century Sierra Leone was an important center of the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans.

The movie portrays the Diamond smuggling amid the civil war during the period 1991 to 2002.

In one scene when Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou enters a village strewn with dead bodies they meet a guy who still seems concerned. He asks them if they are lost and then rambles on. He wonders if diamonds could do this to a country, what if oil is ever discovered!

It also brings one point through Solomon. He says he can understand the outsiders doing thus to the country but not their own people. And another fact, if one has no unity within one’s own country then it is sure to be trampled upon by greedy blood suckers.

I guess Africa still has child soldiers which happens to be the worst part. Even a matured person cannot live a normal life after a war so imagine a child! So does Sri Lanka among the Tamil Tigers. This is the worst crime against humanity.

Now there is peace in Sierra Leone…. let us pray that it continues…

Jai Hind

Gosh! I cant believe that I am back enjoying cricket. The youngsters lured me back with their positive and energetic game. Was ready to forgive them even they had lost to the mighty Aussies.

Harbajan Singhs’s dance, Yuvi’s mighty roar… it is been a while since we witnessed pure joy from a game. And we have those dancing females barely covered by Reliance. Our son did the same dance for every Six and Four.

Some say that the 20-20 game is like a fast food and not fair enough. Who cares? At least it stops some senior players from clinging to their bats to increase their 50’s or 100’s. We had enough of that. Now, one has to perform or get out. And we reached the Finals with most of our Senior players out of the team. I guess this should have been done even for the last world cup.

I think only the Indian and Pakistan games bring the stadiums to full. And it is going to be a terrific game on Monday. Our Son has already taken permission to bunk his Karate classes and he also has his assessments on Tuesday. I dont think I can keep him away from the game unless India plays hopelessly!

And I am with Dhoni. Whatever the outcome maybe, let us not be tensed, but enjoy the game. Finally our boys are playing positively.

Mallu Land

I was planning to blog this for a while and that is when I read Maddy’s article…

If one looks at the current political dramas one cant help praying that the whole Secretariat building along with its entire occupancy (when it is in full session) disappears! Poof! How great it would be.
We see MLA’s fasting with no visible signs of fatigue on them. The opposition brings a new allegation and the ruling party is quick to come up with counter allegation and then it dies sooner than the media or the poor subjects can even think! Aren’t they all enacting a drama? I am sure behind our backs both the opposition and the ruling parties find ways to cover each other’s back.

This brings to my mind a recent comedy skit on one of the Malayalam Channel Since this is the season of talent contests, our political leaders, namely, Anthony, Chandy, Karunakaran and VS were invited for a contest. The winner will be provided a fully paid trip abroad for 3 months in addition to 10 million or so cash and the same is sponsored by the viewers. And after the usual drama, the judges declare all four as the winner since their performance were equally good. After the price money was declared, the contestants ask the Judges, how this can be afforded since all of them needed to be paid equally. And the judges reply “they are ready to pay even more just to get you guys out of this State” – good riddance to bad rubbish!

It has come to this stage and I wont be surprised if we see the people taking law into their own hands like how it happened in Jhakarnd and Bihar.

Swami Vivekananda, you are right and we at GOC will continue to uphold your verdict

Sister Abhaya

Thought I shall share this shocking video that was forwarded by my friend.

Well.. I dont know what to say.

When ex-minister P.J. Joseph was accused, I never believed initially, but now I have reasons to believe from close quarters. Those who are close to him says he was taking medicines for depression. Does depression make one behave indecently?

Anyway it is time the whole Christian community irrespective of their denomination work towards bringing to light the murderers of Sister Abhaya. To stop speculations, rumours, and character assasinations and to purge the church, it has become necessary.

I pray that the authorities find the courage to publish the facts without any prejudice or fear since CBI has already submitted their report.

Jet Airways

Jet Airways will fly Gulf from Jan-2008.

This is good news to us Gulf wallas specially to GOC residents. All these years we were dependant on the State Carriers Air India and Indian Airlines for direct connection.

Our last trip to India was on Air India and we vowed never to board that plane again. And it was not even a Budget Airlines. We chose it since the kids were travelling unaccompanied and hence we wanted a direct flight. But it was not even direct but flying through Chennai. The agents did not tell us while booking. I know I sound un-patriotic. But then this feeling is shared by many. Air India has contracted Turkish Airways (incl crew) to fly the Gulf Sector. These planes are very small with 2 rows of seats and hence little luggage space. We were asked to shove our bags under our feet! As soon as we were settling down we heard a baby wailing. A Tang bottle had fallen from the luggage hold onto the poor baby’s head! There was shouting and swearing and it was acceptable since even the mother started crying. And the Turkish crew who knows no word of English just couldn’t console them. One of our friend who traveled in this Airlines asked for Pampers and the crew couldn’t understand what he was asking. Finally he had to produce the soiled Pampers to get a new one! (now I don’t know why he dint have a spare pamper with him!)

The worst part was the toilets! It started smelling the minute we settled down and the crew used to empty cans of neutralizers occasionally. And they don’t let you use the toilet while refueling and even when the plane has taken off. They asked us to wait until the seat belts signs are off. I think the pilot or whoever has to do it forgets to switch it off! Since there are less toilets the queue in front of the toilets are a sight to see.

I hear the Jet airways flights are well maintained. I know there will be no concession in rates during the peak seasons but at least the money that you spend is worth.

Good bye my feathery friend..

Yesterday our white Love bird died. It was the most active and we had a special love towards it.

We have been rearing Love Birds since some years and several have died since then. Since both myself and hubby grew up with pets, we thought the kids should have at least the pleasure of seeing a few love birds. For the kids only the initial excitement was there. They lost interest since Love Birds don’t need special attention like a dog and they are not friendly too.

We were surprised when one of the birds started laying eggs and then sitting on it. We never expected anything to come out of it since we saw the same at our friend’s place. But one day we were surprised to hear small chirps and yes they had hatched! They looked like fishes since they did not have any feathers on them. But their growth was very fast, before a week they were covered with feathers. Unfortunately the mother died and it was up to the father bird to feed them. I think it fed them for a while since 2 of them died. The third was very friendly and used to hop on our hands as soon we put our hands inside. I believed that the Father was feeding it, but one day when I came back from work I saw the little one lying down. The minute it saw me, it stretched out and died. I was heart broken. It looked as though it waited for me. I think the Father had stopped feeding it and I had no idea how to feed such a small thing. Then we decided not to have any more Love Birds. That is when Hubby’s friend asked us to look after his Love Birds since it was getting too hot in his flat. And then the cage was full again. And with this batch came our white one.

From the beginning he was special. He did not have a pair and maybe since he was still too young. All the rest were in pairs. And it is always a pleasure to see them preening each other and no wonder they are called Love Birds! Whenever I stand near the cage, the White one will start pecking my clothes.

It was before our trip to India that he injured his legs. We left them with our friend and hoped it would heal. But it was still the same when we returned , but yet he was managing. But 2 days back I saw blood in the cage. We don’t know what happened and how it injured his legs again. Maybe a fight with his partner? Yesterday, he couldn’t climb even to the perch and I took him out and he did not protest at all. We thought it will recover but it was too weak and it died after sometime.

And now we have just one left and I am sure she will die of loneliness since we don’t plan to buy any more Love Birds!