IS DISHONESTY CURRENTLY THE BEST POLICY IN INDIA????

Yesterday evening I was calling from my cell phone. After the conversation, my handset showed the call duration as 00.59 seconds. But I was charged for 2 minutes by my service provider (cant state the name of the service provider, as I don’t have any evidence, as the LAST CALL DURATION record gets overwritten when the next call is made.), which is twice the charge. I rang up the customer care. They replied that my last call lasted for 62 seconds and that’s why I was charged for two minutes. It seems, their software is programmed in such a way that every time a call is made, a few seconds is added to the total call duration of the customer and billed accordingly. This is not the first time, I experienced such an experience. It happened many times before too. Some of my friends and colleagues also had such experiences with different cellular service providers and I am sure you too had such experience sometimes sooner or later. Is this the way the multi-billionaire cell-bosses are becoming multi-billionaire? The cell-companies are having over million customers, if the companies cheat a customer once a day (although I was cheated many times on some days), they make millions of Rupees everyday just by cheating. My case was of a prepaid SIM. If you are a post paid customer, only God and cheating Cell-companies know how many times you are cheated, as in case of postpaid customers bills are generated once in a month. Forget Cell-operators, the other sectors are also equally dishonest. That is why, the reputed company like Videocon is banned by World Bank on dealing with them. The saga of Satyam is not unknown to anyone. These unmask the famous Indian dishonesty to the world. Can you name a place where dishonesty has not placed its root? Right from defense dealings to education, from medical sector to IT sector, Indian dishonesty is on a rampage. I too work in an environment where shameless dishonest employees are selling their soul and honesty in a worse way than that a prostitute does. Here, I recall my experience that I experienced while working with a Two Wheeler Company Authorized Dealer (again I can’t disclose the name of the dealer as I do not have any evidence), where the dealer used to increase the Prices of spare parts of two wheelers by 20-30% in the very next month, whenever the sale of the bike used to go down. Really, honesty is probably the cheapest thing that money can buy here in India. Actually India is ruled by foreigners for about 1000 years. In this long spell of time, we were taught to get our works done by hook or crook and to make money in any way – whether it is an honest way or a dishonest way, it doesn’t matter. So, dishonesty has entered in our Genes and we areGenetically Modified Dishonest. That is the only reason why the Multi Crore Stamp Paper Scan, Share Scam, Defence purchase Scams etc happens only in India.  Here you refuel in Petrol Pumps, 95% of their meter will run fast. You ride a taxi in a metropolis, 90% chance you will be over charged. You ask your gas vendor to supply the cylinder at your home on time, you have to count some extra notes. We are very happy in buying smuggled cheap Chinese products, but while buying Indian Products, we try to escape tax. Escaping Income Tax is seen as a heroic activity. On the other hand, are we getting the total benefit that we suppose to get from the amount collected from tax. A Major portion of the money is spent unnecessarily on the Politicians and Bureaucrats It seems almost every Single Indian is dishonest and in this country if you are honest, you are the most fool one.  

‘Jane Kya hoga Rama re….Jane kya hoga Maula re…………’

Collision between the Ships - Another Threat to Olive Ridleys in Orissa Coast.

Splitting of Oil from the MV Malvika has set a serious threat to life of Olive Ridleys in Orissa coast. The collision between an Indonesian Coal carrier and an Indian Marine Vehicle MV Malvika as resulted in the split of oil from MV Malvika, which reports says, has spread over an area of 16 kilometers along the coast in Ganjam District  and the Rishikulya Delta of Orissa.

This time of the year is the nesting season of Olive Ridleys. An estimated two hundred thousand Olive Ridleys has arrived in the Rishikulya Delta of Orissa this year. This year Olive Ridleys have chosen three places  between Gokharkura and Kantiagara as their nesting ground and have laid eggs. Within three weeks from now it is expected that the eggs would be hatched and thousands of lil Ridleys would born. They have a tendency to crawl towards the sea immediately after their birth. And this polluted water would become a serious threat to their life. Infact, environmentalists feel that the eggs may get damaged before they are hatched..

Surviving the Toughest Time of the Year - The Aftermath of Global warming.

With the mercury touching 45 on Saturday and Sunday, the horrible days are here. Its really unbearable here in Chittaranjan. The hot wind or loo starts blowing around 10.30 every morning and the morning mild weather turns into horrible hot weather within 25-30 mins. Immediately u have to close the doors and windows to save the mild temperature inside the house. But that don't spare you. Around 12.30 the temperature inside the room becomes equally hot.

This is my third summer in this staggering Climatic Zone. I have observed that the weather is getting harsher in every summer. Last time this climatic condition was prevailing in mid - end May and  this year it is only 2nd week of April. God knows where will the mercury reach at the end May!! I am aware of the difficulties that comes along with the hot summer. A few days later there will surely be shortage in water supply here. Since there is no rain since last rainy season, the water level of Sidhabari pumping station, which pumps water for Chittaranjan township from Maithon Dam, must have gone down. Last year when the water level was down, the water for household use was supplied from the dirty local lakes. that water was even not fit for washing clothes and utensils. Some hand-pumps were installed last year but they are inadequate looking at the population here. There will be long queues for collecting drinking water. Last year  I had to purchase drinking water for my house for the first time in my life. It was an amazing experience - good or bad, I don't know.

Why is “The Blog of Anirban” using Black Template?

The background of “The Blog of Anirban” has deliberately been kept black. This has an eco-friendly reason.

A research paper published over internet by an US based environmental agency Energy End Users Forecasting (http://enduse.lbl.gov/Info/LBNL-48581.pdf) says "Image displayed is primarily a function of the user's color settings and desktop graphics, as well as the color and size of open application windows; a given monitor requires more power to display a white screen than a black  screen."

A post published on http://ecoiron.blogspot.com/ says an all white web page uses about 74 watts to display, while an all black page uses only 59 watts. Popular Search Engine like Googe gets around 200 million hits a day. Suppose, on an average, the google home page remains for 10 seconds on a CRT monitor, it consumes 15W (74W – 15 W) more energy than a Black Screened Google would do. This means we can save 8.3 Megawatt-Hour of Energy per day or 3000 Megawatt Hour a year. Using black screen version of search engines like http://www.blackle.com/ can help us saving electricity to a great extent

The Revolutionary Technology - Data Communication Via Power Cable.

Those days will be soon over when people used to had different cables for electricity and data communications. Instead a single power cable will be used for both power supply and data commmunication. In India, most of the high-speed communication service users are cable based till date. An experimental service has already been started in Kolkata. A Delhi Based Organisation Bharat Connect Limited in association with Bengal Engineering and Science University and Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation has started the new experimental service in two Residential blocks of Kolkata, which is christianed as Broadband Over Power Line (BPL).

The technology to supply data through power lines in not new. Countries like USA, Russia, South Africa are already using the technology successfully. In this technology, the gap between the flow of two electron particles are used to transmit data, which lies idle.

This can be a revelutionary technology in India. Connecting all the villages of the country with data communication cables seperately can be very expensive and time consuming. The power distribution infrastructure is already in a better position than data communication structure. This infrastructure can be used to provide internet service to the villages of the country in a quick and cost-effective way.

The new solar powered technology for cell phone base stations.

Recall the television advertisement of a cell-phone company where people of a village used to travel to a nearby city to recharge their cell-phones. Yes, there are still many villages in India which do not have power connectivity. As a result those villages are still out of mobile network.

But those days are over when villages didn’t have mobile base station because of lack of power. A Haryana based company “VNL” has come with a new technology where a mobile base station can be setup using solar charged cells. Only 50-150W power is required for the smooth functioning of the station. One such station can provide service to hundreds of users. A group of such base stations feeds signal to a large VNL station which relays signal to main network. The main large based station is also solar powered. Not only power-friendly, the new system is also pocket-friendly. A calculation says if a customer pays $2 per month on average, the system can run in profit where as the conventional system requires a customer to spend $6 per month to stay in profit.

A series of such base stations have already been installed in some remote villages of Rajasthan, where thousands of villagers have tasted the mobile service for the first time in their life. Apart from the huge number of un-electrified Indian Villages, the company is also eyeing on the African Market for their product.

The brand new feature from Google - Buzz

Another feature for Google users – Buzz. It is a all about sharing photos, videos and conversation regarding any topic anyone may find interesting. Once configured, Buzz runs automatically with Gmail. No download and installation is required. Conversations directly go to the inbox and hence it becomes easier to continue conversation. Moreover, web-albums from picasa, Flickr and Twitter can be shared using Buzz. Real time updates are available and hence no need to refresh every time to see the updates.

Congratulations – together we’ve done it.

Responding to the widespread protest throughout the country, Minister of forest and environment Shri. Jairam Ramesh has announced that government is not in a hurry and is not going to permit commercial cultivation of BT brinjal right now. After a three week long public hearing in different part of the country Shri Ramesh said Since the majority of people are against it, the government has decided to take vigilant step towards it. Moreover, there is lack of common understanding among the cultivators and scientists regarding the pros and cons of BT brinjal. Moreover, Shri Ramesh also clarified that the decision is taken only for BT Brinjal and not for other Genetically Modified Crops like rice, cabbage etc.

A battle has been won, but the war is still on. Never mind – together we can make it happen.

Time to Change – From Fossil fuels to Alternative sources.

Today we are almost completely dependent on fossil fuels of different types for various types of works. Almost 78% of our daily energy requirement comes from fossil fuels. Right from electricity generation to industrial production, from transportation to household requirement, we are heavily dependent of fossil fuel. Not only the availability is limited, and we can be exhausted at a later date but also they are creating huge environmental impact. So an urgent transformation from conventional fossil fuels to alternative source of fuels is the need of the hour. According to US department of Energy, there are more than a dozen of alternative source of fuels are available.

They include: , Natural Gas, Bio Fuels, Wind Energy, Hydroelectric Power, Solar Energy, Nuclear Energy etc.

Natural Gases like Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is often called green fuel because it is lead and sulphur free which reduces emission of harmful gases. It also increases the life of lubricants as CNG does not contaminate and dilute the crankcase oil. It is becoming fast popular in Indian transport industry. More than 30 cities in India have successfully adapted and implemented the use of CNG for the mass transport system. Delhi was the first city in India to adapt the CNG as alternative fuel for mass transport in September 1997. Delhi was one of the world’s 10 most polluted cities, with vehicles accounting for 70 per cent of polluting emissions. After that the presence of pollutant particles in the atmosphere of Delhi has reduced dramatically. But in 2003 Delhi won the US Department of Energy’s first ‘Clean Cities International Partner of the Year’ award for ‘‘bold efforts to curb air pollution and support alternative fuel initiatives’’ The conversion of buses from diesel to CNG has helped to reduce SO2, CO2 and PM10 concentrations in Delhi. The conversion of Autos from petrol to CNG did not had the same benefit because of backdated technology.

The use of windmill for household purpose is in use in the Netherlands is popular since nineteenth century. But the Scandinavian countries like Finland, Sweden, Norway etc. have become the pathfinder in the technology of production of electricity from wind energy. Today the maximum quantity of electricity produced from wind energy is produced by United States with a capacity of 25,170 MW. With an installed system of more than 900 stations, India is the fifth ranked producer of wind power generation. Today India is producing 1267 MW of electricity from wind while the potential is estimated at 45000 MW. Today around 15 domestic in joint ventures with international collaborators and some multinational companies are involved in manufacturing turbines and other components resulting in an annual turnover of Rs. 1500 crores. Suzlon is setting up a mega Wind energy production project in Dhule of Maharastra with a capacity of more than 1000MW when completed.

The technology of producing electricity using solar power is not new. It is in practice in many parts of India basically for household purposes. But still it is not fully utilised. Many of our villages do not have electricity after more than 60 years of independence, which has evolved as a basic need in today’s socio-economic scenario. The use of solar energy can be mustered in achieving the aim of 100% electrical powered India.

Hydro electricity is produced by passing the water flow of a river through a turbine, which rotates inside a copper coil with the pressure of water and produces electricity. Hydro-electricity produces the 15% of total power requirement of India. State Owned National Hydro-Electricity Power Corporation Ltd (NHPC Ltd) is the leading producer of hydro electricity in the country which produces 5175 MW from its 13 projects spread in 8 states. Other important hydro electricity producers includes

Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC)

Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB)

Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC)

Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN)

But there are some socio-environmental issues related with the construction of the hydro electricity projects. Huge areas of land usually get submerged under the water during the construction of the dam, which force thousands of people migrate to other place. Thousands of hectares of agricultural land get submerged in water.

One of the largest dam in Asia, the Tehri Dam is in controversy since the start of the project as its lake is posing threat to a number of adjacent villages in Uttaranchal. Tehri Dam was built on Bhagirathi River in the year 1978, is one of the world’s largest and most controversial hydroelectric projects. With a height of 260 meters (855 feet), the reservoir of the dam completely submerged historic Tehri Town and 40 villages while partially submerging 72 villages affecting more than100,000 people.

The villagers of the adjacent villages of the dam are complaining that the walls of their houses are developing cracks because of the dam. The investigation is still on says local administration. They admitted that the Cracks have been seen in some places in the village and since the water level is receding, this area is under study. Once the investigation is over, some conclusion will be derived.

In 1990 the area was declared sensitive. Around 12 villages are reportedly under serious threat with Bhallargaon, Nakot, Raulakot and Kangsali Villages being the worst affected. The villagers have been spending sleepless nights.

Nuclear electricity is one of the most clean electricity. It is often called the future fuel for electricity. But as India stayed outside the Nuclear NPT (Non proliferation Treaty)because of it s weapons program, India has been excluded from international trade in nuclear material for 34 years, which has hampered the development of nuclear energy in civil sector until 2009. The Indo-US nuke deal has opened new avenues before India in developing its civil nuclear energy setor. Now it aims 20000MWe nuclear capacity on line by 2020.

15.8 billion KWh of electricity were supplied by Nuclear power sector in 2007 from 3.7 GWe capacity and the scenario is going to change after Indo-US nuke deal, since the imported technology and fuel becomes available. India aims to produce 25% of its electricity requirement from nuclear energy by 2050 which is one hundred time of 2020 capacity.

In India, the opportunity for bio-fuel is immense. Here, the production of bio fuel is mainly based on the processing of Jatropha seeds. The jatropha seeds contains up-to 40% oil. It is extracted and directly used as a replacement of Diesel. Jatropha Oil has four way benefits. Firstly it replaces the fossil fuel, and in this way it delivers economic benefits at the national level by reducing the import of diesel, secondly it provides immediate economic benefits at the local level by providing a chance to cultivate in dry marginal non-agricultural land as Jatorpha can be grown in such type of land. Thirdly since it can be grown in dry non-agricultural land, the agricultural lands and not engaged in cultivating Jatropha plants. And finally And since Jatropha oil is carbon-neutral, large-scale production will improve the country's carbon emissions profile. Other forms of bio diesel production is available like – ethanol from corn or sugarcane and palm oil diesel. But since they are cultivated on agricultural land, they may have huge impact on food grain production. Since it is more profitable, farmers would cultivate more and more corn for diesel creating an adverse affect on world food market. India has immense potential in the production of bio-diesel from Jatropha and some works are already been done in some parts of the country. But the work has to be done even more seriously. On 12 September 2008, the Indian Government announced its 'National Biofuel Policy'. It aims to meet 20% of India's diesel demand with fuel derived from plants. That will mean setting aside 140,000 square kilometres of land. Presently fuel yielding plants cover less than 5,000 square kilometres.

Waste Management at personal Lavel

Our home, The Earth is facing the worst environmental crisis. It ranges anywhere from Climate change , Global warming, Global dimming, Fossil fuels, Sea level rise, Greenhouse gases, to Species extinction, Poaching, Endangered species , Environmental impacts of dams, Genetic pollution, Genetically modified food controversies. From Overgrazing, Irrigation, Environmental effects of meat production, to Land pollution, Desertification, Soil erosion, Soil contamination, Soil salination. From Urban sprawl, Habitat fragmentation, Habitat destruction, to Nanotoxicology, Nanopollution, Nuclear fallout , Nuclear meltdown, Radioactive waste, Overpopulation, Ozone depletion — CFC , pollutions – Air, Light, Noise, visual, Water, Acid rain, Eutrophication, Marine pollution, Ocean dumping, Oil spills, Thermal pollution, Urban runoff, Water crisis, Marine debris, Ocean acidification, Ship pollution, Thermal pollution, Urban runoff, Wastewater, Smog, Tropospheric ozone , Indoor air quality, Volatile organic compound, Particulate matter, Sulphur oxide and many more. We will have a detailed discussion on each and every topic that our environment is facing in coming issues. Please read regularly and suggest measures.

Finding a solution to all these problems is the biggest challenge that humankind is facing today. The task is huge, most difficult one but not impossible. A proper planning and a collective effort are necessary on a long term basis. It is the time to react-else it could be too late. Everyone will have to participate in this mass movement.

Waste is a big challenge in our civilised (so called) society. Huge amount of waste are generated in our home, office and other places. Some simple steps, if taken by us can reduce the production of waste to a great deal.

The critical fist step of waste prevention is recycling. Please adapt Reduce-Reuse-recycle policy and create awareness about it in public. Ask your local retailers to stock more products made from recycled materials and buy products made from the highest recycled content whenever possible. In general, try to buy products/containers made from recycled material as often as possible to support the recycled product market. When purchasing paper products, look for paper that has been recycled using a minimum of 50% post-consumer waste. Also, purchase from companies that do not use chlorine to bleach their paper products (which creates dioxin waste). Use natural fertilizers for your flower garden and kitchen garden. Create a compost pit, dump the dry leaves and your vegetable wastes into that when it is full, cover it with soil. The composts will be ready by the next season. While in travel, you may not have recycle bins, pack your recyclables and carry back home.

Simplify your lifestyle as far as possible. The belongings that you use and enjoy on regular basis, only keep them. Once when you’ll reduce your needs, you’ll purchase less and once you purchase less, you’ll waste less.

Before purchasing something, think - Do you really need it? Think about the product’s impact on environment (also associated packaging material) and what impact on environmental will it have during its disposal. When you are thinking about buying something, try the 30-Day Rule - wait 30 days after the first time you decide you want a product to really make your decision. This will eliminate impulse buying.

Minimise the use of tree and tree-products at home as far as possible. Use cloth napkins / towels instead of paper napkins/towels. Adapt USE-WASH-USE policy. At work, edit your works on computer itself. Take the printout only when you are done instead of taking printout-edit-do correction-take final printout policy. Create and use note pads from once-used papers. Install a reusable notice board at home to leave message for your family members and roommates instead of writing in a piece of paper.

Purchase the daily requirement commodities in bulk quantity in lieu of buying again and again. This will eliminate the gathering packaging materials. Store the food items reusable containers.

Avoid creating trash wherever possible. when ordering food, avoid receiving any unnecessary plastic utensils, straws, etc. (ask in advance), buy ice cream in a cone instead of a cup, don't accept "free" promotional products, buy products with the least amount of packaging, etc. Every little bit of trash avoided does make a difference!

Polythene Shopping are one of the greatest threat to the environment today. Carry your own reusable shopping bags from home for shopping. Refuse the articles given in plastic shopping bags. Ask for paper bags while carrying small sized articles like dal, rice, sugar etc.

When staying at a hotel, let the management know that you like to support businesses that adopt environmentally responsible practices (including reducing waste). Suggest the management a Sustainable Solutions for Green Hotels environmental tips.

One of the important step to protect our environment is to switch to vegetarian diet. Also ensure everyone has enough to eat. The United Nations recently released Livestock’s Long Shadow–Environmental Issues and Options, which concludes that the livestock sector (primarily chickens and pigs) emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to our most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global. It is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gases - responsible for 18% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalents. By comparison, all transportation emits 13.5% of the CO2. It produces 65% of human-related nitrous oxide (which has 296 times the global warming potential of CO2) and 37% of all human-induced methane (which is 23 times as warming as CO2). It also generates 64% of the ammonia, which contributes to acid rain and acidification of ecosystems. In addition, the enormous amounts of grain required to feed livestock reduces the amount of food available for the world's hungry. Buying organic, locally grown food also reduces global warming emissions and helps protect the environment.

Think about becoming a lacto-ovo vegetarian (no meat but some eggs and dairy products) or vegan (no animal products).